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The Tribe of Rushing Waters was nothing like the Clans.
Squirrelpaw shouldn't have been surprised by this. After all, why would a mountainous group of cats live their lives anything like she did?
But still.
She was more used to them than her Clanmates. But they were all starved, and hungry cats don't mind if the people feeding them have different words for things.
Hungry cats also don't notice when differences run deeper than that.
Squirrelpaw wasn't as hungry as the rest, and she had been here before. The Tribe treated her differently.
They didn't have any to-bes at the moment, Wing and Flights' kits not yet born. Brook taught her how to hunt, though, in quiet lessons that reminded Squirrelpaw of being mentored.
She didn't like hunting with the Tribe, at first. It was only her, Brook, and Grey, and they had easy experience and teamwork. Squirrelpaw felt like she was failing, and the cave-guard's eyes felt heavy and imposing.
But most of the Clan couldn't hunt, and she felt uncomfortable taking without contributing. So she got to notice the smaller differences, the way Brook treated her more like a kit than an apprentice, and the way she seemed to direct the hunt, more than Grey and the cave-guards watching over them.
She noticed that Brook and Night and Bird were more willing to share prey with her than Stormfur, even though he was just as involved.
Squirrelpaw paid close attention to the differences, noticing wherever there was a surface similarity, some deep difference betrayed it, and she wondered when she stopped being caught off-guard by them.
"Stay close," Firestar said.
Squirrelpaw sighed. "I've been here before," she reminded him. "We were fine then."
Her father looked at her, the look that said, "Squirrelpaw is being difficult," and "She doesn't actually know better," and "I wish she were still a kit," but only ever made her feel guilt, not angry.
"I know," he said. "But I worry."
Leafpaw was walking next to Cinderpelt. That seemed like the more dangerous situation to Squirrepaw, but what did she know?
"Squirrelpaw," Crowpaw said, "do you think we should look for the Tribe?"
He had a urgency in his voice. Feathertail's death still weighed heavy on him.
"I'm not sure," she said, pulling ahead of Firestar. "Tawnypelt is taking us by their territory, so we'll find them sooner or later, and they don't have border patrols. But I don't know how they'll react to all of us..."
"We could take a small group ahead. You, me, and Stormfur. Warn them."
"Yeah," she said. "That might be a good idea. Let's go get Stormfur, and tell Brambleclaw and Tawnpelt."
"Squirrelpaw," her father said, his tone rough with calm anger. "That's not exactly staying close."
Sheepish, her ears flattened.
"It's fine," she said. "I'll have Crowpaw and Stormfur with me, and we've already gone through here, and the Tribe already knows us."
"No," he says. "Crowpaw and Stormfur can go without you."
"Fine," she huffed, her tail and whiskers dropping. Crowpaw, distracted by the memory of Feathertail, didn't even take the opportunity to mock her for being confined to her father's side like a kit. Somehow, she would have rather he tease her. Maybe then, Firestar would change his mind.
"You're not making Leafpaw stay with you," she said.
"Squirrelpaw." Firestar's gaze was fixated on the horizon. She knew that look too, this one was, "Stars above, give me strength," and "Why can't you listen?" and "So help me, I'll bring Sandstorm into this."
"It's not fair," she said. "Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt are ahead, and Stormfur is roaming freely, and Crowpaw isn't being treated like a kit."
Firestar sighed. "Leafpaw is standing with her mentor, and it's not my business how Tallstar instructs Crowpaw. Besides, he's much closer to becoming a warrior than you are. So if you're going to throw a tantrum like a kit, yes, I will treat you like a kit."
Squirrelpaw didn't say anything, because there was nothing she could say that wouldn't make it worse, but she desperately wanted to point out that she wasn't the one who started this.
"Do you want to come hunting?" Leafpaw asked. It was still strange to think of her sister as someone who hunted.
"Sure," Squirrelpaw said. "Who's coming?"
"Me, Sorreltail, Brook, Stormfur, and Crag."
"A big patrol, then. Are you sure you need me?" Squirrelpaw examined the cats gathering to hunt. They would be fine on their own.
"No," Leafpaw said, "but can't I want you go come?"
"Absolutely not," she said, but she laughed and stood, stretching out to join them.
"Squirrelpaw," Brook said, "I'm glad you're coming."
She nodded, brushing her pelt alongside the other cats.
They huddled in bushes, and Squirrelpaw spotted a rabbit at the same time as Brook. Stormfur held Leafpaw back, but she waited, as Brook waited and waited and pounced, killing it in one leap. She carried to them, head held proud, and Leafpaw lunged for another rabbit.
"Impressive," Crag said. "You could smell both?"
Leafpaw talked about forest hunting, and the scents.
"How do you know when to leap?" Squirrelpaw asked quietly, talking to Brook and trying not to ruin Leafpaw's moment.
"Practice," she said. "But if you watch the rabbits, you see. There's a moment right before they move, and you can tell what direction they're going in. They look the opposite direction. It will get easier — experience develops an intuition for it."
Squirrelpaw nodded. She didn't think she could ever wait for as long as Brook did, but it was an impressive skill.
"I like the eagles better," she said. "I like hunting the eagles better."
Brook laughed. "It's certainly more exciting."
Squirrelpaw shared prey with Leafpaw, and thought about how Brook thought she would have more practice hunting rabbits.
Stormfur shared prey with Brook. He watched as Squirrelpaw talked to Leafpaw, the sisters comparing all they had learned with the Tribe.
"She'll make a good prey-hunter," Brook said, "if she stayed here."
Stormfur had told Brook he intended to stay with her, and she had noted how close he was to Squirrelpaw.
"She hasn't caught anything," he said. "Leafpaw got the rabbit."
Brook shook her head. "Squirrelpaw watched how I caught the rabbit. Leafpaw used her old skills."
Brambleclaw approached Squirrelpaw, and their conversation was too hushed to overhear.
"Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw are close," Brook said. "Did something happen between them?"
Stormfur paused, considering the question. "I think they got close over the quest," he said, "when we were going to the sun-drown place."
"You and Squirrelpaw were close over that," she said, "but I don't like him."
"He's a good cat," he said.
"He's too old for Squirrelpaw," she insisted. "And she shouldn't be thinking about that now, anyway. She doesn't even have her name."
Stormfur didn't have a justification prepared for that.
"I'm just worried," she said. "She's very young." Her tail was twitching, her ears flattened back.
"I know," he said. "But I don't know what to say. They've been growing closer over the journey. And it's not strange, for us."
"Well," Brook huffed. "It's strange here. He could at least wait until she was a warrior."
"Yeah," Stormfur said, because what was he supposed to say here? He knew Brook was right, just as he knew there was nothing he could do or say that would change things. "But I don't think there's anything we can do."
That was the wrong thing to say, because Brook stood up, abruptly, with her tail wagging.
"Maybe there's nothing you can do." She turned on him, stalking back to her Tribemates, not sparing him a second glance.
Well. He certainly had no idea what to say now.
Squirrelpaw started to spend more time with Stormfur and Brook. They would be leaving soon, kept only by the snow, and waiting for cats to recover, but the snow was melting and cats were better.
She liked Stormfur and Brook, though.
They were sitting in the sun, although they weren't far from the cave. There was always the risk of an eagle attacking, even if Squirrelpaw thought it would have to be pretty mouse-brained to attack three cats.
"You know," Stormfur said. "I haven't told anyone this, but I'm staying here."
She wasn't surprised by this. "I'm not surprised by that.'
Brook laughed. "I told you," she said. "It's obvious."
"Nah," Squirrelpaw said. "Clan cats assume loyalty above all else. They'll miss the obvious unless it smacks them in their face."
No one commented on it, but Stormfur and Brook Where Small Fish Swim both noticed that Squirrelpaw didn't say we.
Brook took her to a sunny hollow.
"Can I teach you some things?" she said.
"Sure," Squirrelpaw said.
Brook showed her how to stalk, how to keep her feet quiet on the mountain stone.
"It'll get harder," she warned, "when your pads toughen."
Squirrelpaw nodded, focusing on keeping her balance. Brook was having her keep her feet closer together than usual, in preparation for the tighter mountain paths.
"You're small," she said, "but mud will keep your pelt down. The red doesn't stand out too badly, on the rocks."
Squirrelpaw lashed her tail, then pounced at Brook.
Brook laughed, defending herself weakly. "I'm freshkill," she said.
Squirrelpaw giggled, letting her up. "Brook," she said, "do you think I would make a good Tribe cat?"
It wasn't something she had been consciously thinking about. She had just been spending time with Stormfur and Brook, away from Brambleclaw's irritation and her father's worry, and it felt nice. Happy.
"Yes," Brook said. "I think you would."
"I don't think I'm going to stay," Squirrelpaw said. "I just..."
"It's alright," Brook said. "You'll always be welcome here."
Brook licked Squirrelpaw's head. "But here, why don't you see if you can sneak up on me?"
She walked a few tail-lengths away, and Squirrelpaw began creeping, thinking about the rocks and gravel beneath her feet. She made it until she was only a body's length away from Brook, when she put down her paw too heavily.
"That was good," Brook said. "Again?"
"Did she want to stay?" Stormfur was resting his head on Brook, staring out at the Tribe. The Clan was clustered, leaders discussing when to leave. It would be tomorrow or the next day.
"She said she was going," Brook said. "But she didn't sound very sure."
"I don't want to push her," he said. "But she seems happy here."
"Yeah," Brook said, "she does."
"That was a nice catch," Squirrelpaw said. "I didn't even notice it."
Leafpaw looked down. "Well," she said, "you were watching Brook. Working on your Tribe techniques?"
Squirrelpaw laid down next to her sister, avoiding her gaze. "It's interesting, and different," she said, "even the way they walk. Besides, you've been fascinated with the herbs since we got here."
"You would be too," Leafpaw said.
A moment passed between them, friendly bickering reminiscent of days past, when their biggest worries were what their names would be.
"Squirrelpaw," Leafpaw said, "are you happy?"
Squirrelpaw tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"It's just," Leafpaw said, "I always thought you were happy, but you're not like this at home. And..."
"I'm a Clan cat through and through," Squirrelpaw said. "It's just nice to have some new experiences."
Leafpaw sighed. The ease was gone between them, replaced with a thick tension that had been swirling. Squirrelpaw searched for something to break it with.
"So," she said, "Crowpaw, huh?"
Leafpaw's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "He's just a friend."
"Sure he is," Squirrelpaw said, resting her head by Leafpaw's. "Around Cinderpelt."
"You know," Leafpaw said, "he's still grieving for Feathertail. He hardly goes two sentences without bringing her up." Her words were cool, but Squirrelpaw could hear how her heart had started beating faster since they started talking about him.
"Doesn't mean he's off-limits," Squirrelpaw pointed out, laughing at the way Leafpaw spluttered out protests.
Friendly banter restored, Squirrelpaw closed her eyes. She liked these moments with Leafpaw, when everything was easy. There were just less and less of them.
That's what growing up was, after all.
"Where were you?" Brambleclaw snarled.
"I told you," Squirrelpaw huffed, "I was hunting with Brook."
"You should've been here," he said. "We were discussing where to go from here."
"It's not like Firestar would've listened to me," she said. She turned away from him, but he followed her.
"I would've stood up for you," he said, "and anyway, that's not the point. You wanted the responsibility of going on the quest, so take it."
"Well, maybe if you treated me like-"
"Squirrelpaw," Stormfur said, stepping between her and Brambleclaw. "It's fine."
"No," she said, "no, you don't get to just tell me to shut up!"
"Stormfur," Brambleclaw hissed at the same time, "this isn't any of your business."
"You don't need to yell at her," Stormfur said, and oh.
Squirrelpaw would have to remember to apologize to him later.
He kept Brambleclaw talking long enough for her to dip away. There wasn't anywhere to hide in the cave, but Brook and Night made space for her.
"I sent Stormfur over to interfere," Brook said.
"Thanks," Squirrelpaw said. "But you didn't have to. I would've been fine."
"He shouldn't yell at you like that," Brook said. "He's fully-grown, you're barely more than a kit."
She flattened her ears. "That's not fair," she said, "I'm nearly four seasons old."
"Barely more than a kit," Night said, looking over her head. Brook and Night shared a glance. "But we're splitting hairs."
Squirrelpaw huffed, but she listened to the two older she-cats talk, and when Brambleclaw came to find her, he didn't even try to get past Night of No Star's glare.
(She didn't mind that part so much.)
Stormfur and Crowpaw sat at Feathertail's grave after the others had left.
They were quiet. This wasn't a night-long vigil, just a moment of grief made lighter by sharing.
"Do you think," Crowpaw said, "that she knew?"
"Knew she was going to die?"
"Yeah."
Stormfur was silent for a moment. He still saw Feathertail's death every time he closed his eyes.
(It wasn't fair that she had to die, that she would never know a life of peace. Stormfur failed her and failed her and failed her and he couldn't even keep her alive to see their father again.)
"I think so," he said, choking on his words. "I think she knew."
"Tallstar wants to do my warrior ceremony before we leave," Crowpaw said. For a moment, Stormfur couldn't follow his logic.
("Do you think Leopardstar named you after Stonefur?"
"Feathertail, shh, it's supposed to be a silent vigil."
"That's not an answer."
Stormfur, newly made warrior, had to suppress the desire to tackle Feathertail for breaking the silence, even if it was for a question he was trying to answer for himself.)
"Do you know what your name will be?"
Crowpaw laughed, bitter and short. "Crowpelt, probably. Maybe Crowfur. Not exactly a lot of options."
"I think she'd be okay with whatever your name was," Stormfur said, hoping Crowpaw heard his implicit permission.
"Yeah," he said. "I guess."
He left shortly after that. Stormfur wondered if he said the right thing.
After Crowpaw left, Stormfur stayed out for a while.
He tried to imagine his father, wished Graystripe was here.
"Brook is a nice cat," Graystripe would say. "I see why you like her."
"It's obvious enough," he would continue. "I remember what I was like with your mother."
"You loved her so much you changed your Clan," Stormfur said, mostly to himself, breath fogging in the night are.
"You would do the same, wouldn't you? I understand. I'll miss you."
"I don't know what I want," Stormfur admitted, "but I can't imagine leaving."
"Just promise me this won't be the last time I'll see you," Graystripe would say.
"You're not here," Stormfur hissed. "I can't...you were supposed to be here for us, and you didn't get to say goodbye to Feathertail, and now you won't see me."
His ears flattened. "I miss you."
Stormfur turned away, heading back into the cave.
Brook was waiting for him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," he said. "But I'm better now that you're here."
She purred.
I'm sorry I can't wait for you, Graystripe.
"You should apologize to Brambleclaw," Sandstorm said.
"What for?" Squirrelpaw huffed.
"You snapped at him, Squirrelpaw, stars, he's just worried about you."
Squirrelpaw turned on her mother. "I was hunting. With Brook. I was fine. And he's not my mentor or my leader, so it's not his job to harass me about where I am."
"Squirrelpaw!" Sandstorm said. "That's enough. You're going to apologize."
"I didn't do anything wrong," Squirrelpaw said.
"Apologize!"
"Fine!"
Squirrelpaw hissed, and turned around.
"Are you okay?" Leafpaw asked.
Squirrelpaw blinked in surprise.
"I don't know."
"Well," Leafpaw said, "Brambleclaw is asleep, so you can't apologize now. Why don't we sleep?"
"Sure," she said.
When did I start fighting with Sandstorm like that?
Morning broke.
Squirrelpaw stretched, her limbs aching.
"We're leaving today," Firestar announced.
So the Clans are leaving the mountains.
"Leafpaw?"
Her sister looked at her, tilting her head slight. Her ears were perked forward, her tail curled around her feet. Squirrelpaw took this moment in, memorizing the shape and form of her sister.
"You're my favorite sister."
"I'm your only sister," Leafpaw protested.
"Doesn't matter, you're still my favorite."
Leafpaw shook her head, purring softly.
Tallstar decided to hold Crowpaw's warrior ceremony before they left.
Stoneteller nodded his approval, and Tallstar began. The WindClan leader was frail, and Squirrelpaw couldn't help but wonder if this would be the last ceremony he would perform.
"Crowpaw has served his Clan with bravery and loyalty. He should have received his warrior name long ago, but the tragedies of the past moons have prevented this. Stoneteller has given me the kindness of letting a Clan ceremony into his Tribe's home, and I wish to honor Crowpaw's great skill and courage by giving him his warrior name."
The low-sun light was weak, its warmth barely reaching past the wind, but Crowpaw looked confident and unshakeable. He stood, but before Tallstar could continue the ceremony, he began to speak.
"May I ask something, Tallstar?"
Tallstar looked bemused, sharing a swift glance with Barkface, who dipped his head, although worry danced across his face. Turning back to Crowpaw, he tipped his head.
"If it is alright, I wish to be known as Crowfeather. I would like to keep alive the memory of..." His breath caught, and Squirrelpaw saw him turn his head. He made eye contact with Stormfur, who dipped his head. "Of Feathertail," he continued, his voice nearly a whipser.
Tallstar did not respond, at first. He beckoned Barkface to him, and they shared a curt and hushed conversation Squirrelpaw could not overhear.
After several breaths in held silence, Tallstar returned to face the Clans. "An unusual request, but a noble one. If this is what you desire, I will grant it. I name you Crowfeather. May StarClan protect you and accept you as a WindClan warrior in life as well as after."
All the Clans chanted Crowfeather, and some of the Tribe joined in. Leafpaw hurried to greet him.
Squirrelpaw didn't follow.
After the clamor of celebration died down, Stormfur jumped into the position that Tallstar had been in. Leopardstar was watching with sadness in her eyes.
"I want to say," he began, "that I am not leaving with all of you."
Scattered protests broke out, but not from many cats, and not from any cat who knew him. Stormfur had barely left Brook's side since they had arrived, going as far as sleeping in her nest.
"I am staying with the Tribe of Rushing Waters, with Brook where Small Fish Swim." Brook was sitting between the Tribe and the Clans, and a few cats from each looked at her, hostility barely concealed.
"Could've expected enough from a half-Clanner," someone called.
"Enough, Hawfrost!" Mistyfoot called. "Or have you forgotten the loyalty Stormfur has shown us, even in the face of hostility?"
Cowed, the RiverClan tom did not respond.
"I am sorry to leave RiverClan," Stormfur said. "But Brook is my mate, and I am staying with her."
This time, the mutters of complaint were muted and scattered. Squirrelpaw knew how much he valued Brook, that he had no family left in RiverClan, or the rest of the Clans. She couldn't blame him for not wanting to leave her behind.
After he jumped down, she saw Leafpaw wave her tail, trying to beckon her over, but Squirrelpaw wove through the crowd, trying to find Stormfur.
"Stormfur!" she said, and he turned to her. "I'll miss you." She reached forward, touching her nose to his.
"I'll miss you too," he said. There was a heartbeat of silence. Squirrelpaw knew he was questioning whether or not to ask her to stay again.
"I can't leave my family," she said, quieter.
"I understand." He paused, and then added, "If you see Graystripe, tell him I'm sorry I couldn't wait for him."
"I think he'll understand," Squirrelpaw said.
Brook joined them, brushing up against Stormfur and touching noses with Squirrelpaw.
"I'll miss you too," she said.
"I know," Squirrelpaw said. "Thank you for..." Squirrelpaw took a breath. "Thank you for everything."
"Of course," Brook said. "We are friends, aren't we?" She blinked slowly, then brought her head close to Squirrelpaw's, her chin resting near the top of Squirrelpaw's head. "The offer to stay is still open."
"I have to go," Squirrelpaw said. "My Clan needs me. Brambleclaw needs me. Leafpaw needs me."
They felt like hollow points, but they were true. That was the life of a Clan cat.
"Well," Brook said, "maybe. Or maybe not. But if you want, we're here." She licked Squirrelpaw's head. "I'll be your friend no matter what," she said. "You are welcome in my kin."
Squirrelpaw nodded, the offer like claws in her chest. She heard Leafpaw calling for her.
"I better go," she said. "I think we're leaving now."
Brook and Stormfur nodded.
"Bye!" she called, racing to find her sister.
She didn't look back over her shoulder.
It wasn't easy.
Squirrelpaw's chest was tight as they set off, wound into something painful. Her steps felt slow, like every time she put her paws down, they were sucked into honey.
No one around her seemed to notice. They weren't exactly a quick moving group, with all of the sick cats and kits travelling with them, and while Squirrelpaw usually ran ahead with the other younger cats, Firestar seemed happy she was staying near him, and Sandstorm seemed to think she was making up with Brambleclaw.
"I thought you were going to stay with Stormfur," he said purring. "But I'm glad you stayed with me."
"I wasn't going to stay with Stormfur," she hissed. "I was going to stay with the Tribe."
Firestar looked over. "Squirrelpaw? You were going to stay?"
"Yes," she said, "no, I don't know, I was..."
I was happy.
"I am," she said, "I'm going back."
Their circle of cats froze.
"No," Firestar said. "You're not. You're my daughter, and my Clanmate, and you're staying."
"You can't leave your family," Sandstorm said. "Stormfur was alone in the Clans."
"You can't leave me," Brambleclaw said.
"Yes," Squirrelpaw said, a rush of anxiety and fear and relief crashing over her, "I am leaving, and I'm sorry, and I wish I decided earlier and said goodbye properly, but I am, I have to do this."
She shook herself down, feeling her heart beat faster and faster, energy flowing back into her. "I'm sorry, I am. I'll miss all of you so much. But Stormfur had his Clan, too, and aren't Clans supposed to be kin? No," she said, seeing the hurt in Sandstorm's eyes, "I know. But I have to, you don't understand."
"I don't," Firestar said. "I don't understand why you think you can just leave. That's not how this works."
"It is, though," she said. "I need, I need this."
The other cats had stopped, too, surrounding their family. (And Brambleclaw, when did he start counting as family?)
Leafpaw pushed through the circle.
"Squirrelpaw, you're leaving?"
"Yes," she said, and she saw and felt Leafpaw's hurt, the sharp pain like a stabbing beneath her ribs. "I'm sorry, I don't want to leave."
"So don't," Brambleclaw hissed. "This is mouse-brained, Squirrelpaw, and you're holding us all up."
"No, no, that's the thing, Brambleclaw, you don't get to decide what I do. I do."
Her family stared at her. She leaned forward and touched noses with Leafpaw, still gaping with shock.
"You understand," she whispered, hoping no one would pick up the implications of what she was saying, "what it's like to do something like this, don't you?"
Leafpaw nodded slowly, realization dawning in her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Okay, okay, but...this can't be the last time I see you."
"I can't promise that," Squirrelpaw said, "but I'll do my best, okay?"
Leafpaw nodded. Squirrelpaw could tell how much she wanted to run away from this, could see how she was tensing her muscles in an effort to stay here.
"You're really sure?" Firestar asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry." She swallowed. "Brook where Small Fish Swim...she asked me, if I wanted to stay. When she was teaching me hunting. And I said no. I didn't want to leave you but, I...I don't know. I was happy," she said. I won't be happy if I stay.
"Alright," he said slowly. "But there will always be a place for you in ThunderClan."
Squirrelpaw nodded. He rested his chin on her head.
"You don't have your warrior name," he said. "We can do the ceremony—"
"No," she said. "I haven't earned it."
"Okay," he said. "I was going to name you Squirrelflight," he said softly. "Because of the journey."
He purred, the fearful anxious purr of a parent saying goodbye to a child they'll never see again.
Sandstorm pressed in on them.
"You'll always be our daughter," she said. "I wish you weren't leaving. But you'll always be ours."
Squirrelpaw let her parents surround her, tried to memorize the sound of their purrs, the way it rumbled through her. She breathed deep, wondering when she forget the scent of them.
"I'm sorry," she said, and then she was off, running through the stragglers of the Clans, who watched her in shock.
No one called after her, or protested. Either she had been more obvious than she realized, or they were in too much shock. She could hear them talking quietly as she left, could hear them slowly start to move again.
She was sorry. But she was right, going back felt right, all of her tenseness gone, replaced by energy and mirth.
Stormfur and Brook were sitting outside of the cave.
"Squirrelpaw!" Stormfur said. "You came back."
"Yeah," she said, "yeah. I couldn't leave."
He purred, and she squeezed between the two of them.
"I'm glad you came back," Brook said.
"I am too," Squirrelpaw too. "I think I belong here."
"Is it your wish to join the Tribe of Rushing Water?"
The Teller of Pointed Stones stared at her, a warm but stern look in his eyes. Brook had said he had agreed to allow her to join the Tribe, but she would have to ask for herself.
"Yes," she said. "It is."
He nodded. "When a Tribe kit is born, the Tribe of Endless Hunting sends an omen of their destiny. Today, you join the Tribe as a to-be, and you will train as a prey-hunter."
He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her again. "I am glad you chose to join us, Squirrelpaw."
Brook guided her out.
"I'll take you to start training tomorrow," she said. "We don't have mentors, but you already know me and Gray Sky Before Dawn, and the two of us will be responsible for you."
"What about Stormfur?"
Brook purred.
"He's training as a cave-guard," she explained. "Well, maybe training isn't the best word for it, he has most of the skills already."
"Is he happy about that?"
"I think he expected to be made a prey-hunter," she said. "But his hunting skills are mainly fishing, and fishing here is very different than what he's used to. His eyesight will be better put to use watching the skies."
As they reached the main cave, Stormfur joined them.
"So," he said, "how does it feel to be a to-be?"
"You know," she said, "I was almost a warrior."
Stormfur laughed. "Well," he said, "You chose this."
"Yeah," she said, closing her eyes. "I did."
"Stormfur?" Brook's voice was softer than usual.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes," she said. She sat beside him, carrying a rabbit. "Stoneteller agrees that Squirrelpaw is ready to be a full prey-hunter."
"Oh, that's fantastic! You must be proud."
"I am," she said.
Squirrelpaw had befriended Moss that Grows by River, a younger to-be training to be a cave-guard, and they were excitedly swapping stories of their day. She had fit into the Tribe well, with only her name marking her out.
"He wants to offer her a Tribe name," she said, "but we don't have squirrels here, so he wasn't sure where to start."
"She said once Firestar was going to name her Squirrelflight," Stormfur said. It was a quiet moment between them, sharing in their grief for the Clanmates they left behind. "Squirrel that Flies through Air, maybe? The only reason she turned down the naming ceremony was because she felt she hadn't earned it yet."
"I'll tell him," she said. "Also, once she becomes a full prey-hunter, I'm going to move to the kit-mothers."
"Of course," he said, and then he paused. "Wait, you're with kits?"
She nodded.
"Oh, Brook." He purred. "When are they due? How long've you known? Why have you been hunting this long?"
"Hey," she said, "I'm expecting, not dying. Flight of Startled Heron says within the next moon or so, I've known for a few days, and if you can't even tell, then I'm perfectly fine to keep hunting."
"I'm happy," he said, "but honestly, Brook—"
"So," Squirrelpaw said, throwing herself over Stormfur without warning, her voice steeped in satisfaction, "did you tell him, Brook?"
She really did look like a fully-grown warrior. When they had first joined the Tribe, she still had an air of a younger cat to her, even though she was fully-grown. Now, though, she had matured. She had a certain confidence that made it impossible to mistake her for a young cat. It was getting awkward to call her Squirrelpaw.
"Wait," he said, "you told Squirrelpaw before you told me?"
Squirrelpaw tilted her head up, faking offense. "I'll have you know I actually noticed. Someone's lost their skills."
He shook his head. "Fine, be that way. Gang up on the hapless tom. I'll just be here, watching the skies for you."
Brook purred. Squirrelpaw brushed her cheek against Stormfur and touched noses with Brook. "Congratulations again, Brook. I've got to go set Storm straight about today's hunt."
"I'm proud of her, too," Stormfur said, as soon as she was out of earshot. Brook purred, flicking her tail gently at him.
"I'm going to get some rest," she said. "Come with?"
He followed her.
"Squirrelpaw," Stoneteller said. "You have trained as a prey-hunter for eight moons, and the Tribe of Endless Hunting has said it is time for your skill to be evaluated."
Squirrelpaw tried her best not to look nervous. Brook had told her how the ceremony went, but she hadn't witnessed it before. Storm Clouds at Dusk and Moss that Grows by River would go through it in several moons, so she wanted to look strong for them. Being the oldest to-be by far, she felt some level of responsibility for them.
"Brook Where Small Fish Swim and Gray Sky Before Dawn have cast their stones and deemed you worthy of becoming a prey-hunter."
There was the briefest of pauses — he was supposed to say one more line, to complete it.
"In the Clan where you were born, it is customary to offer a new name upon becoming a full warrior. Today, I make you a full member of the Tribe of Rushing Water and name your Squirrel that Leaps into Flight. By the will of the stars, let it be done!"
Squirrel that Leaps into Flight. He must have asked Stormfur.
The Tribe cheered around her, and she basked in it. They had accepted her almost immediately, much faster than Stormfur. (Something about being the only to-be and caring for the elders, nominally, although she believed her youth had done her favors.)
"How does it feel?" Stormfur asked.
Squirrel that Leaps into Flight looked around. She knew every cat by name and scent. She knew each crevice of rock by memory, and she knew that Storm was too impatient to catch eagles, and that Moss was still anxious and called danger too early.
"I feel happy."