was right to feel confident. He shook his head, forcing his concerns away, and listened to the warrior ceremony.
“Squirrelpaw,” the ThunderClan leader was saying, “do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”
Squirrelpaw’s reply rang out clearly. “I do.”
“Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Squirrelpaw, from this moment you will be known as Squirrelflight. StarClan honours your courage and your determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.”
Firestar rested his muzzle on Squirrelflight’s head, and she gave his shoulder a respectful lick. Determination was an unusual virtue to mention in the warrior ceremony; in Squirrelflight, it sometimes showed as stubbornness, and had led her close to trouble more than once. Brambleclaw wondered if father and daughter were remembering all the times they had clashed, when Squirrelflight’s fierce independence had brought her into conflict with her leader and the warrior code. But then, Brambleclaw reflected, there had been times on their journey when her determination and will to succeed had put fresh heart into all her companions. Pride flooded him as he remembered her tireless courage, her refusal to think they would ever fail to reach their journey’s end.
When she stepped away from Firestar, Leafpaw bounded up to her, greeting her by her new name. “Squirrelflight! Squirrelflight!”
Her call was taken up by the cats around them. Squirrelflight looked around, her green eyes shining with pride. All four Clans seemed pleased that she had been given her warrior name—but then, all four Clans had had plenty of opportunity to see how much she deserved it. As Brambleclaw thrust his way to her side he saw Tawnypelt and Crowfeather heading towards her, too. Those who had made the journey to Midnight’s cave would always have the most special bond with Squirrelflight.
“Congratulations,” Tawnypelt meowed, while Crowfeather nodded and rested his tail-tip on her shoulder for a moment.
Brambleclaw pressed his muzzle to hers. “Well done, Squirrelflight,” he murmured. “Mind you,” he added teasingly, “you’ll still have to pay attention to senior warriors.”
Squirrelflight’s eyes gleamed with wicked amusement. “You can’t order me around now—I’m not an apprentice anymore!”
“I can’t see that it will make much difference,” Dustpelt put in, overhearing her. “You never did as you were told anyway.”
Squirrelflight let out a mrrow of laughter and affectionately butted her former mentor on his shoulder. “I must have listened to something,” she meowed. She blinked, and added, “Really, thanks for everything, Dustpelt.”
The meows of welcome died down as Blackstar stepped forward and signalled with his tail for silence. “This is all very touching, but now we must find out about this new place so that we can start establishing our new territories. We’re going to send a patrol with one cat from each Clan to explore the lakeshore and the land around it.”
Brambleclaw’s ears pricked, and he felt Squirrelflight tense beside him, her pelt just brushing his. He caught Tawnypelt’s eye, and saw an answering gleam of anticipation.
“We decided to send three of the cats who made the first journey together,” Firestar went on. “Brambleclaw from ThunderClan, Crowfeather from WindClan, and Tawnypelt from ShadowClan.”
Excitement thrilled through Brambleclaw from ears to tail-tip. It felt right that the cats who had made the first journey should be chosen.
Blackstar curled his lip as Firestar named each cat, but didn’t argue.
“Huh!” Tawnypelt muttered. “It’s the first time he’s ever let me represent ShadowClan.”
Brambleclaw swept his tail soothingly over her shoulder. He knew that Blackstar was unlikely to forget that Tawnypelt had been born in ThunderClan, however hard she tried to prove she was a loyal warrior of ShadowClan.
“Mistyfoot will go for RiverClan,” meowed Leopardstar, speaking for the first time, and reminding Brambleclaw painfully that neither of the RiverClan cats who had made the journey was still with their Clan. A hollow place yawned inside him as he thought of Feathertail and Stormfur.
“But what about me?” Squirrelflight protested. “I went on the journey too. Why can’t I go on the patrol?”
“Because that would make two cats from ThunderClan,” Blackstar replied crushingly. Brambleclaw knew the ShadowClan leader was wrong if he thought that would silence Squirrelflight.
“A patrol of four cats isn’t enough to go into unknown territory,” she objected.
Blackstar opened his mouth to disagree, but Firestar spoke first. “She could be right,” he pointed out. “I think we should let her go. It could be her first warrior task. She can’t sit vigil tonight like other new warriors, as we have no proper camp.”
Blackstar glanced at Leopardstar, who twitched her tail, giving nothing away, and then at Mudclaw, who dipped his head. “WindClan has no objection,” he meowed.
“Very well,” Blackstar growled. “But don’t think for one moment that will give ThunderClan any extra rights over the territory.”
Brambleclaw exchanged an exasperated glance with Crowfeather. Trust Blackclaw to think that other Clans were trying to steal an advantage before the new territories had been divided up!
“Of course not,” Firestar replied evenly. “Squirrelflight, you may go with the patrol.”
Squirrelflight’s tail curled up in delight.
“Go all the way around the lake, and explore as much of the surrounding land as you can,” Firestar instructed. “We need to know what kind of territory it is, and where the best hunting places will be. Think about the different sorts of hunting each Clan will require, because it might help with setting boundaries later on. It would be good to get an idea of how the territory could be split up, and where might be good places for camps. And keep a close watch for Twolegs, or anything else that might be dangerous.”
“Is that all?” Crowfeather muttered.
“I reckon you’ll need two days to travel all the way around the lake,” Firestar went on. He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes as he peered across the water, trying to judge the distance. “Try not to spend too much time exploring. We’re exposed to danger while we stay here, so we need to get all the Clans settled as soon as we can.”
“We’ll do our best, Firestar,” a new voice called out. Brambleclaw glanced over his shoulder to see Mistyfoot, the RiverClan deputy, padding over to join them.
“Hi, there,” he mewed, moving up to make room for her. Mistyfoot looked wary about joining the close band of cats that had made the first journey.
“Good luck,” called Leopardstar, and Firestar added, “May StarClan go with you all.”
By now the sun had risen well above the hills. His paws itching to be off, Brambleclaw dipped his head towards Firestar and the other leaders, and raised his tail to signal the others to follow him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tawnypelt wince, and he heard a hissing intake of breath from Crowfeather. His fur prickled with embarrassment as he realised that Mistyfoot ought to
