Chapter 1 - Gatherings and Worries
(Specklefur's POV)
The trees swayed gently in the light Greenleaf breeze. It had been warm and sunny during the day, but now that it was close to midnight, the moon was shining bright in the sky, giving just enough light so that they were able to see where they were going.
Who is 'they', you ask? Well, they are the wild Clan cats, strong and loyal. And these Clan cats were going to the Gathering Island, which is where special meetings are held for the four Clans every moon and they would discuss things in peace.
"Hurry up, Specklefur!" someone called from the front of the WindClan cat group waiting to cross the fallen oak. Specklefur quickly snapped out of her thoughts. She had been thinking of the kits that she would deliver in a moon or so. She was already thinking of a few names to name them once they finally arrived. And since her mate was the deputy of WindClan, she knew that these kits would have to be perfect in every way possible.
"Sorry Cloudclaw! I was just thinking about our future kits," she replied in a hurry. Her mate smiled at her. He padded over to her and they touched noses. "I love you, you know that." Specklefur purred. "Of course I do! We wouldn't be having kits if we didn't. Come on, Treestar is calling us."
Sure enough, Treestar, leader of WindClan, called the rest of the Clan together. Specklefur and Cloudclaw quickly rushed over. " ... going to cross the fallen oak now. Stay close," Treestar finished as the two cats rushed over. Specklefur grunted and stood in the line, unsure whether this was a good idea kits her belly full of unborn kits. "It'll be fine," Cloudclaw murmured, reading her thoughts as he pressed his white pelt against her spotted flank.
Finally, after the WindClan medicine cat, Berrytail had crossed the log, it was her turn. With her paw, she prodded the fallen oak. It wobbled, and it looked very slippery. She gulped and hopped on, determined to get to the other side. The bark of the tree was indeed quite unstable, so she dug her claws into the soft bark to hold her down. I can do this... She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and sprinted to the other side. Finally, when her paws touched the soft grass on the island, she let out a large breath. She was across, and she was alive. She sighed in relief as Cloudclaw landed next to her, safe and sound. They twined their tails together and without another word, they went to find a good spot on the island to listen from when the Gathering began.
As the young couple sat down, something barreled over Specklefur with a squeak. She shoved the thing off of her with grunt. The thing was indeed a kit, or a very young apprentice. Either way, that little cat smelled strongly of fish and she wrinkled her nose. "RiverClan," Cloudclaw whispered. The small apprentice's eyes widened at the sight of the tough WindClan cats.
"I'm so sorry!" the little cat wailed. "My name is Troutpaw and I'm 7 moons old. Now that I've given you some personal information, please don't eat me!" The frightened apprentice cowered back as Cloudclaw and Specklefur started to laugh.
"We won't eat you. Don't worry," Cloudclaw soothed Troutpaw when their laughter died down. Troutpaw nodded with relief, mumbled a little thank you and scampered off to join his other apprentice friends.
Specklefur noticed Treestar talking with another she-cat from another Clan. ThunderClan, by the looks of her. "I'll be back," she whispered to her mate as she stood up and padded near the two talking cats.
"How's ThunderClan, Fernstep?" Specklefur heard Treestar asked the pretty she-cat. Fernstep grinned back at the leader of WindClan. "It's all good. There's so much prey in the forest that we aren't even able to eat it all!" But then Fernstep frowned. "Though the prey did end up attracting foxes. Luckily, no one died, but Puddlefoot did end up spraining his paw pretty bad."
Treestar nodded. "Tell him that I wish him a speedy recovery. Now I have to go, the Gathering starts now," he dipped his head before scampering up the Gathering Tree to sit beside the other leaders. Specklefurl tail swished in excitement; ever since her first one, Gatherings had always been her favourite Clan activity.
"Cats of all Clans! Listen up! The Gathering will now begin!" yowled the ThunderClan leader, Scorchstar, from the Gathering Tree. Specklefur sat down and soon realized that the Gathering Island hollow was fully packed with cats from every Clan. The four leaders were seated on the high branches of the tree, while the deputies took place amongst the gnarled roots. Specklefur glowed with pride when she saw Cloudclaw sitting with the other deputies.
All of the cats in the clearing settled down, and the Gathering begun.