The Budding of Flowers [c]

The flower buds were starting to pop through the softening ground as Sleepyhollow and Kestrelpaw weaved their way through them. Time had caused Kestrelpaw to sprout as well. He was towards the end of his apprenticeship now and had taken the average between Coyotegrin and Shrikestar's height. He wasn't the tallest, but he wasn't the shortest. He did, however, take on Shrikestar's form and looked strong as he strode next to his sister and mentor. Since he would soon be getting his name, Kestrelpaw had asked his sister to take him out for a spar at least one more time to fine tune his abilities. Glancing over to his sister, he said in his deepening voice. "What do you think Shrikestar will name me when I become a warrior? I bet that Coyotegrin will have a paw in it too."