Murmurs of relief rose from the assembled cats; a couple of them called out, “Jayfeather! Jayfeather!”

“I’ll check the hole myself later on,” the Clan leader continued. He shot a glance at Lionblaze from glowing green eyes, clearly asking Lionblaze to guide him there; Lionblaze replied with a nod. “Meanwhile, Dustpelt and Brackenfur, you’re the best at building. I want a solid barrier around that hole by sunset today. We can’t fill it in, and we don’t want any other cats falling down there.”

“Sure, Firestar,” Dustpelt called. “We’ll get to it as soon as Brackenfur returns from patrol.”

“And don’t either of you two dare go anywhere near the hole,” Poppyfrost warned her kits, reinforcing her words with a flick of her tail around their ears.

“Like we can!” Molekit complained. “We’re not even allowed out of the hollow.”

“And that’s totally unfair,” his sister agreed.

“There’s another reason that I called the Clan together,” Firestar went on. “Two apprentices completed their warrior assessments today.”

A ripple of excitement ran through the cats; Ivypaw’s eyes were shining, but Dovepaw just studied her paws. A pang of worry shot through Lionblaze and he glanced at Spiderleg, but the black warrior’s face was expressionless, giving nothing away.

I hope Spiderleg’s not too hard on her, he thought, wishing he had managed to consult the black warrior before the meeting.

“Cinderheart?” Firestar waved his tail, inviting Ivypaw’s mentor to speak.

The gray warrior rose to her paws. “Ivypaw works hard,” she began. “Her battle training in particular is exceptional. Her hunting could still use some work, though. When she was hunting alone today she caught a vole, but it was a messy catch: She let the vole get downwind of her and it nearly escaped.” The gray warrior turned and dipped her head politely to Millie. “What do you think?” she asked.

Millie rose in her turn and took a step forward to stand beside Cinderheart. “Yes, I agree,” she meowed. “And when Ivypaw was hunting with Hazeltail, she seemed embarrassed to be telling her what to do. She’ll have to shape up if she’s ever put in charge of a patrol.” She cast a kind glance at Ivypaw, who was listening with wide, troubled eyes. “But Hazeltail and Ivypaw worked well together. They caught two mice, and they were really neat catches. The mice never had a chance!” Her voice grew warm. “In my opinion, Ivypaw deserves to become a warrior of ThunderClan. We’re lucky to have her!”

A chorus of approving yowls broke out, while Dovepaw gave her sister’s ear a lick. “Congratulations,” she purred. “Millie’s right. You do deserve it.”

Ivypaw’s eyes glowed with relief. “I was so scared when Cinderheart said that about the vole,” she confessed. “It was a really awful catch.”

“Lionblaze?” The Clan grew quiet again as Firestar spoke. “What about Dovepaw?”

Lionblaze felt a twinge of apprehension as he rose to his paws. He wanted to do the best he could for his apprentice, but he couldn’t hide the fact that she hadn’t caught anything. “Dovepaw is the best apprentice any cat could hope for,” he began. “She works hard, and she learns fast. Today, she started by looking for a squirrel. She found one quickly, and she did some excellent stalking work, getting into position. The squirrel had no idea she was there.” He flashed a glance at Dovepaw, who still wasn’t looking at him. “But then,” he went on, “as she was creeping up on it, she accidentally disturbed a leaf. The squirrel spotted her and fled up a tree.”