Tigerpaw glanced shyly at Ivyleaf, who smiled encouragingly back at him. Ivyleaf was his mother, the popular ShadowClan medicine cat, Tigerpaw loved his mother's tales of the days before medicine cats could have kits. She said that medicine cats still couldn't have kits like warriors could, seeing as they could only have kits with the medicine cats of other Clans, and they both had to have half trained apprentices first, but it was better than nothing! he had envied the other kits, those whose mothers slept with them in the nursery; but then again, none of them had a mother who was as important as his was! She'd taught him all about herbs, and even let him gather some with her. But none of that was as nice as the memory of his first six moons, when Ivyleaf had always found time to be with him, no matter how busy she was. He knew that she really loved him, and to Tigerpaw, that was all that mattered. "Hey, Tigerpaw!" one of the older apprentices, Stormpaw, bounded over to him. Tigerpaw had always liked Stormpaw, who knew quite well what it was like to be half-Clan. His father, Thornstrike, had fallen for a ThunderClan queen named Lilyheart. His mother had died at his kitting, but his father brought him back to ShadowClan, and Maplefang, one of the queens, had raised him. Stormpaw had reached him and was chattering excitedly, "Isn't this great? We get to train together now! I can't believe that you got Thornstrike for a mentor!" I can't believe it either... thought Tigerpaw, though he was happy to be an apprentice, he'd hoped for a more experienced mentor. Instead,he got stuck with the tom that most cats still viewed as a traitor for taking a mate outside of the Clan. (For more details on Stormpaw's past, see my other story, "Passing Storm" link can be found in my profile) At that moment, Tigerpaw's new mentor padded over to them, "Dawnstar wants you both at the Gathering tonight," Thornstrike began slowly, "And I'm taking you on a tour of our borders." Stormpaw looked as if he wanted to speak, but his father silenced him with a sidelong glance and continued, "Yes Stormpaw, you're coming with us. Birchpelt has a torn pad and he agreed with me that you could use reminding of our boundaries." He gave his son a hard stare, and Stormpaw gazed innocently back, "Who, me?" he exchanged a look with Tigerpaw, and both apprentices burst out laughing uncontrollably. Thornstrike gave an exasperated sigh, " the sooner we patrol the border, the sooner you'll be at the gathering!" both apprentices became suddenly more serious.
Tigerpaw fizzed with excitement. He was crossing the tree bridge on the way to his first Gathering! He and Stormpaw had planned it all out: they were gonna go and introduce themselves to other toms first, then Stormpaw was gonna beam proudly at Tigerpaw while he was announced, and then they were gonna flirt with she-cats once the meeting was done. "Tigerpaw," his mother mewed quietly, he and Stormpaw turned to face her. She shook her head, "Stormpaw, go over with Thornstrike, there's someone that Tigerpaw needs to meet." The two toms exchanged a puzzled glance, and she said, "alone." but neither could find a reason to argue with a senior medicine cat. Ivyleaf waited, looking impatient, and Tigerpaw had no choice but to follow her across the clearing to where a small group of cats sat, heads down in a close huddle. They looked up as Ivyleaf approached and one of them, a handsome white tom, called a greeting, "Ivyleaf! Have you got a new apprentice already? What happened to Cedarpaw?" he demanded, and the others looked seriously at the white and gray she-cat who stood before them, her amber eyes alight with laughter, "Cedarpaw's at home taking care of a torn pad I'm afraid. I don't care what you say, Willowhine, cats shouldn't have anything to do with rivers. Poor Birchpelt slipped off a stepping stone and split his pad right to the bone, we've given him a special paw covering that holds the wound shut and keeps it from getting dirty, but we can't do much more than treat it for infection. To be quite honest, I don't think that it'll heal." there were sympathetic murmurers from the others, and a pretty black she-cat looked uncertainly at Ivyleaf. After the handsome tom pressed reassuringly up against her, she said, "Have you tried sealing the pad in pine sap? I'd say honey, but honey wouldn't set firmly enough." The other cats looked surprised, then began to look approving, even congratulating her. Then one of the toms turned an intense stare on Tigerpaw, "Ivyleaf, you still haven't introduced him," Ivyleaf looked surprised, then dipped her head to he tom, "of course, Jayfeather," she laid her tail acorss Tigerpaw's shoulders,"This is my son,Tigerpaw, It's his first night as an apprentice." Jayfeather continued to stare at Tigerpaw , "It's not like you to lie, Ivyleaf." he commented. Ivyleaf shot him a warning glare, "Tigerpaw, go find Stormpaw, there's some time before the meeting begins." Feeling confused, Tigerpaw raced off to find Stormpaw.
Tigerpaw padded into camp at the rear of a hunting patrol, his jaws laden with prey. As he deposited his catch onto the fresh-kill pile, his friend, Stormpaw, padded up to him. Stormpaw was offered a nest in the warriors den, but he'd said that it wouldn't be fair to his 'little tabby friend'. While Tigerpaw was honored that he was worth an extra moon of apprentice duties, he was slightly annoyed that he wouldn't be given a moon in his den alone with Willowpaw, a pretty gray she-cat that had always given a soft spot in his heart. Tigerpaw would've loved a moons worth of opportunities to get closer to her, but his friend was just as important. Stormpaw looked puzzled, "Hey Tigerpaw! Ivyleaf wants to see you, she said it was urgent."Stormpaw scuffled his paws, looking embarrassed, "She said that you needed to come alone." Tigerpaw nodded, heading toward his mother's den. When Tigerpaw got there, he poked his head in to the den, and was quite surprised at what he saw there. At first he saw the Handsome white tom who'd asked if he was Ivyleaf's apprentice, and the pretty black she-cat who'd suggested sealing Birchpelt's torn pad at his first Gathering nearly 6 moons ago. then he saw his mother. She looked unusually anxious, and was speaking urgently to the two cats, "Are you sure you want to tell him? Once he knows, well, once he knows, he knows. If he doesn't like it, there's nothing you can do about it. He's worked hard all of his life to be a loyal ShadowClan warrior, he might not welcome the idea that it's been for nothing." Ivyleaf warned them, though they didn't seem to take much notice, they exchanged a determined nod and the tom said, "Ivyleaf, you've done well with him, and I'm grateful to you for raising him, but he's lived in the dark for too long, it's time that he knew the truth." fear flashed in Ivyleaf's eyes at the words, but she dipped her head and turned slowly towards the entrance. Suddenly not unwilling to have it be known that he'd been spying, he backed up, and then brushed noisily in, "Stormpaw said that you needed me?" he mewed questioningly, Ivyleaf nodded, "I never introduced you to someone." she gestured at the tom and she-cat in their turn, "this is Snowpelt, hte ThunderClan medicine cat, and Nightecho, the SkyClan one." She shot a swift glance at the two, "It's not too late to back out" she murmured, when both cats shook their heads, she continued, "Do you remember your first Gathering? When I asked you to meet someone? These are the cats that I wanted to show you. You were much too young then, but you're old enough now." Nightecho stared at him, her eyes filled with emotion, "You've grown" she whispered, "You've grown so big!" Her voice broke, so she looked at him, tears welling in her eyes, as if she could never see enough. Ivyleaf cleared her throat, "I owe these cats my life, because without them... Without them I would've never met you." A cold dread was gathering like a heavy stone in Tigerpaw's belly, "Did they help you give birth to me?" He desperately wanted it to be true but he knew that it wasn't. Ivyleaf looked sadly at him, "You know that's not true." she mewed quietly, "I'm not your mother." Nightecho stepped forward, "I am your mother, Tigerpaw, Snowpelt is your father."