“She might have caught it if she’d been faster.” Spiderleg rose to speak. “But once it got as far as the branches, there was no chance of finding it again.”

Lionblaze glared at the black warrior. There’s no need to make it sound as bad as that!

“What about her team hunting?” Firestar prompted.

“She organized herself and Icecloud well,” Lionblaze meowed. “She positioned Icecloud in undergrowth to hide her white pelt, and started driving a blackbird toward her. But then…” Lionblaze hesitated. He was aware that this next part wouldn’t sound good at all. He couldn’t mention Dovepaw’s extra powers, to explain why she had suddenly gone chasing after Icecloud. “Then she must have heard something,” he went on. “She left the blackbird and ran through a bramble thicket to help Icecloud, who had fallen into the hole. The blackbird got away.”

“So Dovepaw didn’t catch anything today?” Firestar inquired.

Lionblaze shook his head, feeling hot under his pelt. “No.” Never mind that Dovepaw is one of the best hunters in the Clan, he thought sadly. Whether she becomes a warrior or not depends on what she did today.

“Not a feather, not a whisker,” Spiderleg confirmed. “If you ask me, she’s far too easily distracted. If she’d kept her mind on what she was doing, she would have caught the squirrel and the blackbird.”

Lionblaze could see his own disappointment reflected in his Clan leader’s eyes. “In that case—” Firestar began.

“Hang on, Firestar, I haven’t finished,” Spiderleg interrupted. “Dovepaw made a mess of the hunting, true. But she ran to help a Clanmate in trouble when she had no idea what danger she would have to face on the other side of that bramble thicket. And when we couldn’t get Icecloud out of the hole, she was quick to volunteer to be lowered down to help her, even though no cat really knew what might have been down there.” He gave Dovepaw an approving glance. “These are the qualities ThunderClan needs most,” he went on. “Courage, loyalty, and the willingness to face danger for the good of a Clanmate. In my opinion, we’d be mouse-brained not to make her a warrior.”

Dovepaw was staring at him incredulously, as her Clanmates yowled their approval. Her eyes shone as it sunk in that she would become a warrior that day. Ivypaw skipped around her, as excited as a kit.

Firestar waved his tail for silence. “Thank you, Spiderleg,” he meowed when he could make himself heard. “ThunderClan will be all the stronger for the two new warriors I shall make today.” He bounded down the tumbled rocks and stood in front of his Clan, beckoning Ivypaw forward with a flick of his tail. The Clan quieted down to allow their leader to begin the ceremony.

Firestar raised his head and looked around at his Clanmates. His voice rang out clearly as he spoke the ancient words. “I, Firestar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” Gazing down at Ivypaw, he continued, “Ivypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”