Chapter 1
The wind ruffled Honeytail's fur violently, and she grimaced in annoyance, craning her head to smooth the fur on her shoulder, only to be swept off her paws by a larger gust of wind.
She growled. Leaf-bare had never quite been her favorite season, especially when the icy winds picked up. Normally a good-natured cat, Honeytail's attitude grew as cold as the weather itself when the snow arrived. Shaking little bits of white flakes from her fur, she trudged further towards the small fresh-kill pile, her stomach rumbling.
"Honeytail!" called out a voice behind her, and she turned to see Redpaw bounding toward her.
"Oh, hi there, Redpaw," Honeytail meowed to her younger sibling. Redpaw was looking excited and bouncy, as usual.
Redpaw didn't pause to take a breath. "I just caught my first squirrel! It's on the fresh-kill pile, and Rabbitear said he's never seen a larger squirrel."
"Oh, did he, now?" Honeytail asked, a gleam in her eye. She didn't quite want to believe that Redpaw had gotten such praise from a senior warrior.
"It's the biggest piece of prey on the fresh-kill pile," Redpaw added matter-of-factly, her tail high.
"Oh," Honeytail mewed, half-hoping that Redpaw would admit that she'd been fibbing. But, glancing over at the fresh-kill pile for a brief moment, she saw with grudging admittance that it was true. "Well, er, good job."
"Thanks!" Redpaw meowed, astounded at the sudden praise. Honeytail was rarely one to hand out compliments, as she usually was the one looking to recieve them.
"Yeah, well." Honeytail spat. "I'm hungry, so quit holding me up, will you?"
Redpaw stepped aside obediantly to let the older cat past, and Honeytail picked her paws up from the snow, shuddering at the little crystals sticking to her pads, and finally reached the fresh-kill pile. Her fur was by now windblown to and fro, giving her a rather ridiculous appearance. She was still thinking angrilly of Redpaw's catch as she tore into her own skinny mouse. A tiny voice behind her said, "Um, excuse me. Would you mind sharing a bit?"
Her head whipped around to see Whitepaw, the smallest apprentice, even tinier than Redpaw. "What?" she hissed, not having quite heard her nervous mumble, and not wanting to have a conversation with the gittery she-cat.
"Er … nevermind," the apprentice squeaked quickly, and skittered away, ears flat from nervousness.
Honeytail twitched her whiskers as she watched her go, then turned back to her meal. "Temper," she reminded herself, and tore away another strip of meat viciously. Controlling herself didn't seem to be working very well. And another cat that came by was quite likely to get a scathing remark as well.
It was no surprise when she hissed at approaching pawsteps in the crunchy snow. She quickly bit it back upon seeing that it was Patchnose.
"Oh, hi, there," she meowed, embarrassed about hissing at her friend.
Patchnose appeared to be bouncing on his toes in excitement, his amber eyes wide. "Guess what?" he meowed, then finished, not bothering to let her answer: "We get to go to the Gathering tonight!"
Honeytail's tail quivered with sudden happiness. Their first Gathering as warriors! She and Patchnose had practically grown up together, and had gone through all of their ceremonies at the same time as siblings did. Now they were both warriors, and would be honored at the Gathering that night.
"What an honor!" she breathed, and little clouds puffed from her mouth, seeming to freeze in the icy air. Patchnose twitched his whiskers.
Honeytail twitched her tail-tip akwardly. "So… thanks for telling me."
Patchnose nodded, and bounded off. Honeytail watched him go, wondering how many more cats would interrupt her meal.
Honeytail raced with the rest of RiverClan, her long tail streaming out behind her. The moon was high in the sky, glowing bright yellow-white and clear; it appeared that StarClan were at peace tonight, along with the rest of the Clans.
Patchnose trotted alongside her, his large eyes concentrated; they resembled the full moon, somewhat. Honeytail assumed that he must be as nervous as she was about their first Gathering as warriors.
Finally, Whitestar approached the log that led to the small island on which the Gathering of the Clans took place. He flicked his long white tail to signal to the other cats to pause as the leader examined the log, checking for the sturdiness of the wood. Honeytail understood this; the recent rainstorm had softened the earth. The log may have been looser. Still, her tension seemed to grow with every heartbeat as she waited anxiously for the leader to finish checking the bridge. At last Whitestar raced forward onto the log, and the deputy followed, followed by the rest of the cats.
Entering the clearing through the trees, Honeytail noted that it was a bit more crowded than usual. Mostly ShadowClan cats, scattered everywhere in the place. A dark tabby WindClan cat she recognized from the previous Gathering, Tigerpaw, spotted her and nodded. She flicked her tail in response, eager to see how his apprentice test had gone.
"Okay," meowed Whitestar, turning to his Clan, "go on and converse with the other Clans. The meeting shall begin shortly." With that, he hopped nimbly onto the Great Branch, mewing a greeting to the other leaders.
"I'm going to see Tigerpaw," Honeytail told Patchnose, turning her torso towards the WindClan cat. She turned back to see Patchnose shrug. She knew he had never really cared for Tigerpaw much, though Honeytail found him quite likable. With a quiet response, he turned and headed towards a pretty silver ThunderClan cat, Jayfur.
Twitching her whiskers, Honeytail padded away towards Tigerpaw. The apprentice turned to Honeytail, his eyes shining with welcome. "Hi, Honeypaw!" he greeted warmly.
"I go by Honeytail now," she clarified, lifting her chin importantly.
"Cool!" Tigerpaw meowed enthusiastically. "Me too! I mean, I'm Tigerfoot now."
"Nice name," Honeytail mewed. "I guess your warrior ceremony wasn't too long ago?"
Tigerfoot beamed. "It was just yesterday," he added.
Honeytail nodded. She remembered meeting Tigerfoot at his first Gathering as an apprentice, which had been her own first as well. The two had instantly become friends, and Honeytail often found herself wishing that Tigerfoot was in her own Clan, rather than she having to wait every moon to see him at a Gathering. That was considering that she got to attend the upcoming Gatherings.
"Well, how are things in RiverClan?" Tigerfoot asked politely.
Honeytail broke free of her thoughts. "Oh, fine enough," she answered, remembering to keep her answers vague. "Whitestar will give the real news in a moment."
Tigerfoot grunted in agreement. WindClan was a normally content Clan, and drama was usually not expected from the moor.
At that moment, a slicing yowl came from the Great Branch, silencing the clearing. Silverstar was perched before the rest of the leaders, her distinctive tabby pelt shining errily in the moonlight. The ShadowClan leader was usually calm and reserved, with a trademark smirk on her face. Now her eyes were wide with fear, her expression helpless like a kit's.
"Please," she meowed, her voice almost … pleading? "Please, we need your help. ShadowClan has been forced out of our camp!"