"I, Pearlstar, leader of EmberClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices," Pearlstar announced as she stood in front of Whitepaw and Blackpaw as they're named to become EmberClan's newest warriors. Excitement filled Thistlekit's body like a bolt of lightning as he thought of what it would be like once he were told enough to receive his very own warrior name as he stood next to his littermates.

"They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Whitepaw, Blackpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do," the sisters agreed in unison as they bowed their heads respectfully.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior names: Whitepaw, from this moment you will be known as Whitefrost. StarClan honors your bravery and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of EmberClan." Pearlstar stepped forward and rested her muzzle on the newly appointed warrior's head as Whitefrost respectfully licked her chest. The leader padded over to Blackpaw next. "Blackpaw, from this moment you will be called Blackpool. StarClan honors your bravery and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of EmberClan. Serve your Clan well, young ones." Pearlstar did the same with Blackpool as she had done with her sister.

"Whitefrost! Blackpool! Whitefrost! Blackpool!" The Clan yowled and chanted for the newly named warriors. Thistlekit saw Graywhisker outside the elders' den nodding with pride to his kits.

The cheering finally died down as the cats started parting to begin organizing hunting and patrol parties. Foxtail approached Whitefrost and Blackpool and licked between her kits' ears.

"Wow, Whitefrost and Blackpool are finally warriors!" Thistlekit gasped. "They're so lucky! I wanna become an apprentice now!"

"You aren't six moons old yet, but it won't be much longer now," Silverheart purred sweetly as she bent down to lick his head. "Speaking of which, it's about time you tried your very first fresh-kill."

Excitement replaced Thistlekit's disappointment immediately and he hopped to his paws excitedly, his littermates doing the same. Silverheart padded to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a mouse in between her sharp teeth, then padded back to them and placed it down in front of them.

Moonkit stretched his neck out to give the mouse a cautious sniff as Treekit pawed at its limp tail.

"One of the most important lessons about fresh-kill is that it had died so that we may live," Silverheart meowed as she looked mainly at Treekit. "Always give thanks to StarClan for the life of prey so that we may eat it. Never play with your food; it's disrespectful."

"Oh..." Treekit mewed as her gaze lowered and she stopped pawing at the mouse's tail.

Blossomkit sniffed the mouse before widening her jaws and digging her tiny white teeth into its side, ripping off a bit of flesh. She chewed it and immediately squealed. "It's so good! You guys try it!"

Thistlekit waited until his littermates had their first bite before tearing off some meat from its haunch. He purred loudly as the juiciness of the meat and blood mingled with the scents of the forest beyond the camp on his tongue. He was about to grab another mouthful of mouse when Silverheart scooped up it.

"Now, now, kits, don't forget that you have to share with the other cats," she chided softly. "Why don't you bring the rest of what's left of the mouse to Graywhisker and Cloudflight? I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

"But we wanna eat it!" Lovekit whined.

"You're almost apprentices, therefore you must learn that apprentices and warriors should hunt first for the queens and elders before themselves." Silverheart placed the mouse back down in front of them. "Run along and share this with the elders. Then you can choose a much smaller mouse together in front of the nursery."

Thistlekit lifted his tail up excitedly as he grabbed the mouse by the tail and tried to haul it over to the elders' den, proving to be difficult. He heard a few amused purrs coming from some of the warriors and he felt his ears grow hot with embarrassment. Almost six moons old and I can't even drag a mouse over to the elders...

The kit blinked thanks to his littermates as they assisted him in bringing the half-eaten fresh-kill to the elders. Once they delivered the food and received thanks, they scampered off to the fresh-kill pile as quickly as they could to grab another mouse to share together.

The sunlight flowed through the mossy entrance of the nursery. Thistlekit stirred as he began to open his eyes to the light. Drawn by the beautiful shine of the dawn sun, he climbed out of his nest past Silverheart's tail and padded past the mossy entrance. He opened his mouth a bit to taste the air, noting a lack of fresh-kill at the pile; he guessed the dawn hunting patrol hadn't left yet.

Thistlekit pounced into the center of the clearing and looked up, gasping at the sight of bright orange and black clouds in the sky up above, the last stars of Silverpelt disappearing.

He looked around in the camp and spotted Whitefrost and Blackpool sitting at the entrance of the camp staring out into the forest on their warrior vigil. Violeteye, a fluffy jet black she-cat and EmberClan's deputy, was seen padding over to the two warriors and meowing something quietly to them. The two littermates nodded and sleepily dragged themselves towards the warrior's den, and seconds later Foxtail walked out. She poked her head into the apprentices' den and a young pale ginger she-cat with unusually large ears, Rabbitpaw, emerged from the den seconds later. They must be going out to hunt, Thistlekit thought.

"What are you doing out here?" a voice mewed behind him, making Thistlekit's already prickly fur stand on end.

He whipped around and sighed when he recognized his littermates. "Moonkit, Swiftkit, you two startled me."

"Sorry about that," Moonkit apologized guiltily.

"Hey, is Violeteye leading a border patrol?" Swiftkit asked as she watched the three warriors leave.

Thistlekit shook his head. "No, hunting patrol. The scents of Sharpscar, Runningleaf, and Hazelclaw are fresh at the entrance."

"If only we could go, too," Moonkit sighed. "I really wanna hunt so I can help feed the Clan."

"Not to mention the Gathering's tonight, so we won't be able to attend that, either," Swiftkit added.

"Maybe we can ask Redpaw to teach us some battle moves and hunting techniques before we're apprenticed!" Thistlekit meowed ecstatically. Moonkit's amber eyes brightened at the sound of the idea.

"You two go on ahead, I'm gonna see if Stonefeather needs any help sorting out herbs," Swiftkit mewed before scampering off to the medicine den.

"I still don't get how Swiftkit wants to become medicine cat of EmberClan one day rather than a warrior," Moonkit huffed.

"Me, neither, but that's his problem," Thistlekit shrugged. "Come on, let's go wake up Redpaw!"

"Not yet, you won't," Stonefeather meowed from the entrance of the medicine den as he invited Swiftkit in. "He's been hunting since sunset yesterday for fresh-kill to celebrate Whitefrost's and Blackpool's warrior naming ceremony and he needs the rest until at least sunrise."

"But how will we learn how to hunt and battle?" Thistlekit couldn't help but whine.

"Wait until one of the patrols return. You kits shouldn't even be practicing those things anyway until you've been apprenticed. If you need something to do, you can visit the fresh-kill pile or help Swiftkit assist me. But don't wake any cat, do you understand?"

"Yes, Stonefeather," Thistlekit and Moonkit both mewed in unison, unable to keep disappointment out of their voices. Stonefeather padded back into the den and Moonkit turned to look at his littermate. "What do we do now? I was really looking forward to learning those things from Redpaw."

"Me, too," Thistlekit admitted. "But it can't be helped unfortunately. Let's just share a vole in front of the nursery, then bring the elders some fresh-kill once they wake. If we can't learn how to fight or hunt yet, at least we can help the elders like any cat can."