Never has a summer day seemed so cold. There is a freezing sensation to all of it, a chill, something that rushes up my spine and makes me shiver just at the thought of it.

Fear. Anticipation.

Why? What could they possibly say? I passed.

No, it's unreasonable to be afraid of something like becoming a warrior or not. There's something far more sinister than that in the works here. I look to my fellow apprentices, and notice how all of the ones bound to be warriors today are awake yet none of them are outside.

They're not talking to each other.

"Hello?" I ask. My ears flatten. Something is unnatural about me breaking the silence. I'm the quiet one, after all. They don't know why I was so quiet, which is a relief, but there's some semblance of order, silly or not, that should be kept.

You don't know what they saw down there.

Sharppaw answers first, to my surprise. "Hello, mousebrain. Trying to wake us all up?"

Some things never change.

"She's right. We should be awake. After all..." Goldenpaw trails off as she gets up to her paws, "It's a big day for us all."

"That's mouse dung. Let me go back to sleep." mutter Sharppaw contemptfully.

"She just said hello. I'm pretty sure this entire argument is mouse dung." Thistlepaw states.

"Too bad, because we're going. Right now. All of you." Crowpaw says, unusually aggressive as she pushes us all up. Her eyes are large and sympathetic as they meet mine, as if she feels sorry for me.

We walk through the camp and no one is talking. A few cats have their heads bowed in mourning. I squint upwards to see the sun is already high in the sky, burning my eyes as it sneers at me.

Knottedstar sits on the Highfall, and we walk over as a group. At least half the clan is finally there. The roar of the waterfall is louder than usual, an angry ambience to break the silence of the cats sitting just to the side of it.

The others clear out when we sit down. Even Carbonfrost looks disappointed in me. I meet his gaze and silently ask him what I'm doing wrong, but he doesn't even shake his head.

We all turn as Knottedstar begins speaking, her voice just as powerful as ever over the crashing water. "I know many of you are wary about these ceremonies. It is true they have come at an unprecedented time. However, the accident with Amberstreak and Snowpelt had nothing to do with their warrior trials. Instead, our evidence indicates that Amberstreak returned to camp with everyone else and returned to the tunnels later that night. Snowpelt may or may not have gone down there with her, or she might have gone after her. Regardless, it is true that both of their bodies were found in the tunnels, close to the skull of what appears to be another victim. There was dark black fur found next to the body with no discernable scent. That is all the facts we currently have."

The clan seems restless even with this answer. I look around with disgust. Did nobody think to tell any of us?!
"Knottedstar, have you stopped to consider that this disappearance coincides with Jetpaw's?"

Knottedstar sighs. "We still have no leads as to where Jetpaw went. He could just as well be dead with Amberstreak and Snowpelt. For now, we will have no replacement tunnelkeeper and no one is to go into the tunnels under any circumstances. Am I clear?"
No one replies to Knottedstar's furious glare, and she takes that as agreement. The clan is distraught over both warriors, but Amberstreak was not only a senior warrior but a deputy. Her silent kindness and authority will be missed by the clan, including myself... though we rarely spoke.

A pang of regret washes over me. I hardly knew both she-cats.

Knottedstar continues, "I ask the seven elder apprentices to step up. Rushpaw, Novapaw, Sparrowpaw, Sharppaw, Thistlepaw, Goldenpaw and Crowpaw, please step forwards." We step onto the rock beneath her, staring up into her eyes as we did so many moons ago.

"I, Knottedstar, present to all of you this day these apprentices in the hopes that they might grow into the leaders and warriors we so desperately need. Out of the darkness comes great light, and in the same way these warriors come to us in our time of greatest necessity. Rushpaw, Novapaw, Sparrowpaw, Sharppaw, Thistlepaw, Goldenpaw and Crowpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Silence.

The waterfall.

My heart.

Their breath.

Everything comes to a single moment.

We answer as one. "I do."

Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Novapaw, from this moment you will be known as Novablaze. StarClan honors your bravery and courage. Sparrowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Sparrowsong. StarClan honors your kindness and integrity. Sharppaw, from this moment you will be known as Sharpfoot. StarClan honors your tenacity and determination. Thistlepaw, from this moment you will be known as Thistleheart. StarClan honors your wit and skill in battle. Goldenpaw, from this moment you will be known as Goldenfire. StarClan honors your intelligence and devotion. Crowpaw, from this moment you will be known as Crowfeather. StarClan honors your compassion and optimism.

Now, finally... Rushpaw."

I stand perfectly still. Her eyes meet mine and I feel my heart stop. I never realized how much I cared about the present until this moment.

"From this moment on, you will be known as Rushcall. StarClan honors your loyalty and determination. We welcome all of you as Warriors of DragonClan."

"Novablaze! Sparrowsong! Sharpfoot! Thistleheart! Goldenfire! Crowfeather! Rushcall!" There are so many names that the clan only calls them all three times, but all three are heartfelt and louder than a thousand Highfalls.

Knottedstar silences them with only a single step forwards. "I have a new announcement. As you know, following Amberstreak's death, a new deputy must be chosen. While this may be unconventional... I believe one cat in this clan has the potential to be a great leader. Novablaze, you will continue Maplepaw's training in the wake of Cloudpelt's death, and you will be the new deputy of DragonClan."

His mouth opens in protest, but there are no words that come out.

The clan erupts in dissent, and Knottedstar jumps down the rocks back to where we stand and drags him along with her. The rest of the clan follows, including the other former apprentices.

"This is so odd..." I mutter to myself. "Tunnels. What could have happened-"

A voice whispers, "The fox got her." Thistlepaw- heart.

My fur stands straight on end.

I'm not taking this.

"Thistleheart, if you know something, you better-" I wheel around angrily, but he's gone.

***
Moments before our vigil, all of us meet up again.

The silence from that morning is back.

"So." Sharpfoot starts us off strong.

"So." echoes Crowfeather.

Novablaze looks around uncomfortably. "This was so unexpected."
"I can't think of anything like this ever happening before. Why would Knottedstar put you as the new deputy?" Goldenfire asks, then quickly adds, "Not that you aren't capable."

"I was aiming for it, but this feels too sudden. Too fast." Novaflare shakes his head.

"That's not the worst of it. It was so cold today. Everyone was acting like we murdered Amberstreak ourselves." Crowfeather says sadly. "What did we do?"

"Don't even get me started on the tunnels." Thistleheart scoffs.

Everyone turns to him.

"There were ... some things I saw down there. I thought I was going mad. For a second, I thought it was more than a delusion. That... maybe... some of you had seen the same things." Thistleheart finishes, looking around with an expression that implies he doesn't want to know the answer.

"Of course not." echo a few of us at different times, a cacophony of uneasy mews filling the air and resting on it with a cold certainty.

Silence returns to the clearing, a chill wind blowing over our fur, an oddity against the muggy greenleaf that has once again returned to DragonClan.

"So..." Sparrowsong says cautiously, "What did you see?"