"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!" the leader yowled.

Littlepaw's eyes sparkled, the tortoiseshell and silver she-cats next to him-his siblings, Leafpaw and Mistpaw smiled.

"I, Shimmerstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained...not hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as an undeserving warrior in their turn. Littlepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even though you absolutely won't?" Shimmerstar asked.

"I will uphold it!" Littlepaw declared, "I do!"

"As if," a cat muttered, a ripple of agreement in the crowd. Even Shimmerstar gave them a small nod.

He had to bite back a sharp retort.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Littlepaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Littlenose. StarClan honors your...fox-heartedness and mouse-brainedness... and we don't welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Shimmerstar announced.

Littlenose reached to be touched on the muzzle and to lick her on the shoulder, but Shimmerstar jerked away. I should have known.

"I, Shimmerstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained...not hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as an undeserving warrior in their turn. Leafpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even though you absolutely won't?" Shimmerstar asked.

His sister's legs, though trembling, had to bite back her nervousness as everyone glared at them. "Of course I will defend the Clan and uphold the warrior code. I do."

Cats snorted.

He had to bite back a sharp retort for his sister.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Leafpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Leafstem. StarClan honors your...fox-heartedness and mouse-brainedness... and we don't welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Shimmerstar announced.

Leafstem reached to be touched on the muzzle and to lick her on the shoulder, but Shimmerstar jerked away. Poor Leafstem.

"I, Shimmerstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained...not hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as an undeserving warrior in their turn. Mistpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even though you absolutely won't?" Shimmerstar asked.

His sister's legs, though trembling, had to bite back her nervousness as everyone glared at them. "Of course I will defend the Clan and uphold the warrior code. I do."

Cats snorted.

He had to bite back a sharp retort for his sister.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Mistpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Miststream. StarClan honors your...fox-heartedness and mouse-brainedness... and we don't welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan," Shimmerstar announced.

Miststream reached to be touched on the muzzle and to lick her on the shoulder, but Shimmerstar jerked away. Poor Miststream.

"Okay, uh, go sit vigil now, weirdos," Shimmerstar hissed. "Just...don't lure our enemies here, okay? Or foxes, rogues, badgers. Of course, you wouldn't listen. After all...your parents are...uh...terrible cats."

Anger swirled in his heart as he stalked angrily towards the camp entrance and his littermates followed him, and they sat down gruffly, in the eerie, cold night as the wind buffeted their fur. 

The coldness swirled around Littlenose. But he didn't care. All he knew was the Clan obviously disrespected and hated him and his littermates. And yet he didn't do anything at all to earn that disrespect.