Chapter Eight

                                    

                                          
Strikeslash sighed unwillingly; he didn't think Moonpaw deserved to get a "warrior" name. He found it silly, now that he was obviously a stronger cat alone, that he still followed Clan customs. But Moonpaw couldn't stay an apprentice forever, could he? Even that scrawny SkyClan apprentice - Mudpaw, wasn't it? Mudfang now? - had been made a warrior. It would be embarassing to him that Moonpaw was still an apprentice.
	Well then, it was also very embarassing to him that Moonpaw had attracted an entire group of foxes - well, it was two, Moonpaw had told him - and needed a ShadowClan cat to save him.
	Worse, it was the deputy, Wolfclaw, who had rough, dark gray fur. It had been shocking to Strikeslash when Wolfclaw had to carry Moonpaw back to their camp - like a kit, but he didn't really care. Moonpaw always acted like a kit anyway.
	How did Moonpaw even bother to end up everywhere? First SkyClan - Moonpaw told him about that moons ago, but he remembered as clearly as if it was yesterday.
	Then the "snake", but Moonpaw was clearly lying about that.
	Now a ShadowClan patrol found him? That mouse-brained kit! Strikeslash couldn't help a growl when he thought of this again. But it was time. Moonpaw would get his warrior name.
	"Moonpaw, StarClan isn't real, so we're not doing the ceremony. But you should get a warrior name, because you've trained to become one." Strikeslash turned to Moonpaw, and then his mate. Thistleshell nodded. "I and Thistleshell have thought long and hard about what your warrior name should be," he declared. "You have been like a flame, scorching through the challenges that the Clans have thrown at you. You have trained to become a warrior, a greater warrior than there has ever been in any Clan. You can see beyond the so-called greatness of Clans and their territories."
	So what will it be? Moonpaw's heart pounded with nervousness. I thought he'd want it to be Moonclaw. To fight against the Clans. But now, he says I've been like a flame. Moonflame? Hmm. It didn't sound like his father's style, but it was possible. Or Moonsight? He did say that I could "see" beyond Clans... Moonpaw sighed. He'd always wanted his name to be something strong and symbolic. None of those names seemed too fitting for him.
	"Your warrior name," Thistleshell finished, taking Strikeslash's place, "will be, and you shall now be known as... Moonfire."
	Moonfire! That seemed so fitting. The new warrior's mind could barely think. A small voice that sounded so much like Orangepelt's sounded inside him, saying that he thought so because fire was orange.
	But Strikeslash didn't know, so there was no way that the symbol had been given on purpose.
	And Orangepelt had to get out of Moonfire's mind. 
	Now. Or soon. Sooner or later, Moonfire would have to stop thinking of Orangepelt of a friend or a hero, but as an enemy.
	Moonfire shivered. Orangepelt had helped him once. How could he consider him an enemy? He was a fellow exile, like him. And he didn't even deserve it, like him. Moonfire and Orangepelt had so much in common, but it all meant nothing. It was time for the newly named warrior to prove himself a warrior. It was time to forget his debt to Orangepelt and be loyal to his father and his father only.
	Strikeslash, I will be loyal to you, Moonfire promised inside his mind. But Orangepelt. And ShadowClan!
	He had many, many fond memories of ShadowClan. Too many to remember them all. Bluekit, who would have been an apprentice by now. He'd played with her when he was still a kit, and she would be becoming a full medicine cat by now, if she hadn't changed her mind about becoming a medicine cat. As kits, they'd always chat about their futures. Bluekit - or Bluepaw, surely, now - had always loved working with herbs.
	But he wasn't a kit anymore. And he had nothing to do with Bluepaw.
	When he started his training, his mentor had been Blossomgorse. And he had plenty of memories about her, too. Blossomgorse had been a kind but firm mentor with silky blue-gray fur that Moonfire used to love to lean against when they headed back to camp from training.
	But he wasn't training anymore. He was a warrior.
	Most of all, he missed the feeling of being part of ShadowClan. He used to run through the damp pine trees, letting the pine needles prick his fur. He liked the shadows that shielded him against the blinding sun. He felt a special connection to his Clanmates.
	But he wasn't ShadowClan anymore. The Clans were his enemies, and he was going to be loyal to Strikeslash.
	All of this, he thought Strikeslash didn't know. But sparks flew in Strikeslash's heart as he thought about all the disloyal thoughts that Moonfire had. You think you can hide from me? I know you're still loyal to ShadowClan, deep inside. I know what happened with Orangepelt, which was even worse. You really think you've kept secrets. You haven't, you mouse-hearted kit. I know, MoonKIT, I know everything.
	And I'm not going to let you get away with it.