Chapter 1

Eaglepaw sat in the clearing of Thunderclan, her home clan. She licked her paw and wiped it over her ear, a soft breeze ruffling her brown tabby fur. It's been a good green-leaf. New kits were born, new apprentices and warriors were made, and everything seemed to be going perfectly.

"Eaglepaw!" Hollypaw called, bounding over to her with Spottedpaw, Eaglepaws sister, by her side. Hollypaw stopped by her side and her eyes glowed with excitement.

"Were going to the gathering tonight! You, me, Spottedpaw, and Nightpaw! All of the apprentices!" Hollypaw's tail was sticking up straight and her fur was fluffed out in excitement.

"Well I sure hope you don't go like that, you look like a giant fur ball!" Eaglepaw giggled and sat up, stretching in an arch.

"I'm so excited! We finally get to see cats from the other Clans!" Spottedpaw chipped in, eyes glimmering.

"Yeah, I wonder if Riverclan cat's smell like fish! I wouldn't be surprised." Eaglepaw spun in a few circled before spotting a dark spot in the clearing coming towards them.

"Hey Nightpaw!" Spottedpaw greeted the black furred apprentice as he came running up to them.

"Hey! Were leaving for the gathering soon! We need to fix our fur, especially you, Hollypaw…" Nightpaw licked his shoulder a few times

"Hmph!" Hollypaw licked her chest in embarrassment before going on to the rest of her pelt.

Eaglepaw had already washed her pelt before the three cats approached her, so she sat there wondering what the gathering would be like.

How many cats will there be? What do the other leaders and medicine cats look like?

Eaglepaw looked up to see their own medicine cat at the front of her den, setting herbs out to dry in the sun. Blossomblaze is their medicine cat, her grey pelt gleaming in the sunlight light Silverpelt at highmoon.

"Why don't we get to go to the gathering!" Eaglepaw looked around to see Featherkit and Skykit complaining to their mother, Moonwing.

"Because your not apprentices yet. Once your apprentices you'll be able to go." Moonwing replied calmly, sweeping her white tail across the ground.

"But it's not fair! Why do all the apprentices get to go, but not us!" Featherkit whined

Eaglepaw padded over to the three cats and looked down at the kits.

"I promise I'll tell you every detail about the gathering when I get back." Skykits eyes sparkled with excitement and Featherkit fluffed up and grinned.

"Thank you Eaglepaw! You're the best!" Featherkit looked at Skykit and pounced on him, the two bundles of fur wrestling together.

Moonwing looked over at Eaglepaw

"Thanks. I swear they should already be out of the nursery, with all that energy they could feed the clan on their own." Moonwing purred before looking back at the two.

"Eaglepaw! Let's go!" Nightpaw called, his green eyes glittering with excitement.

"Coming!" Eaglepaw ran over to Nightpaw and smiled as more cats gathered around to go to the gathering. Eaglepaw looked around and found Spottedpaw and Hollypaw, the two of them already running up to them.

"I'm so excited! I heard Riverclans' medicine cat is crippled. Maybe she's like Cinderpelt!" Spottedpaw meowed, her orange tail flicking

"Cinderpelt? The cat from the nursery tale?" Hollypaw questioned

"Yup! She died helping a cat give birth while badgers were attacking the camp! After she died, she was reborn into a cat named Cinderheart, and she became mates with Lionblaze, one of the three from the prophecy!" Spottedpaw grinned and her tail was straight

"Jeez, you know a lot about Cinderpelt, don't you…" Hollypaw replied, a look of awe on her face.

"Not only Cinderpelt, but most of the cats from that time… cats including in the prophecy anyways…" Spottedpaw looked at her paws

Eaglepaw giggled and started to say something, but a call stopped her

"Hey! It's time to go!" Maplestar, Thunderclan's leader, called to them.

"Let's go!" Eaglepaw stood up and raced towards the group of cats that were going to the gathering.

Eaglepaw leaped off of the tree that connected the island and the mainland. Her claws her still out, she dug them into the earth to steady herself. She felt Nightpaw land beside her, his fur brushing hers.

"I can smell the rest of the Clan's already!" Eaglepaw liberated, looking beside her to see that Nightpaw moved away from her side.

"Right? I think Riverclan just arrived, their scent smells strong." Nightpaw replied, smelling the air.

A flash of white fur made Eaglepaw jump, and then she calmed down as she realized that it was Iceclaw.

"Your right Nightpaw. Your nose is strong, that'll come in use." Iceclaw swept his white tail across the ground and kept on walking until he reached Maplestar, rubbing his muzzle against hers. Maplestar reacted by licking his shoulder.

I'm so happy that I'm their daughter… their noble warriors and their relationship is so strong.

Spottedpaw landed beside Eaglepaw and Hollypaw landed in front of them, her black tail fluffed up with excitement.

Maplestar sniffed the air, and then flicked her tail, which signaled that they could go to the clearing.

Eaglepaw stared at the sight in front of her, amazed. There were more cats than she could've ever imagined, and to think that they are from different clans!

More cats filed out into the clearing from behind her, and she felt like a leader.

A familiar scent filled her nostrils and she looked to her left to see her mentor, Cherryclaw.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Cherryclaw looked at her and smiled gently.

"Yeah…" Eaglepaw blinked a few times before stepping forward, feeling her paws touch the dirt that have engraved paw prints in them, and Eaglepaw felt as if she went back in time.

"Hey! Lets get going! I want to get a good spot!" Spottedpaw raced past her and into the clearing, Hollypaw came soon after. Eaglepaw smiled and raced after them, almost bumping into Nightpaw as he came in right behind her. Eaglepaw saw many kinds of pelts and cats go by her, many scents filled her nose and were confused at first, but soon she picked out each scent.

Eaglepaw skidded to a stop when Spottedpaw and Hollypaw did, and soon did Nightpaw. They found a good spot in front of the great tree, though they had to squeeze in-between a few cats. Eaglepaw noticed that Maplestar wasn't on her branch, and Eaglepaw looked around and saw her mother with a brown tom with green eyes. She was amazed on how much she looked like the tom, but she thought that maybe it was just a coincidence.

Maplestar then padded away from the tom and leaped onto her branch, her tail off the side.

"The gathering has begun!" Maplestar called, letting Vaporstar of Shadowclan speak first.

Vaporstar nodded her gratitude and looked at the cats below her.

"Shadowclan is well, we have two new apprentices, Jaypaw and Tigerpaw." Vaporstar shifted her gaze upon the two apprentices, who hung their heads in embarrassment as cats called their names.

"Duststar." Vaporstar looked at the light brown tom, which blinked.

"Thank you, Vaporstar." Duststar swept his tail across the branch before speaking again.

"We have a new medicine cat apprentice, Quietpaw." He looked down at the new medicine cat, which wasn't the prettiest cat to Eaglepaw. Her back left leg was twisted back words, and from where Eaglepaw was, her toes looked to be sticking out oddly. Quietpaw looked at her paws and didn't react to her leader.

"Maplestar." Duststar lowered his head to her, and she smiled gently.

"Thank you Duststar." Maplestar looked at the cats below her and then found the four apprentices.

"We have gained four new apprentices. Eaglepaw, Spottedpaw, Nightpaw, and Hollypaw." Cats from the clans called their names, and Eaglepaw held her head high. She spotted the brown tom from earlier staring at her and Spottedpaw.

What a freak!

"We have two more kits as well, Featherkit and Skykit," Maplestar looked over at Birdstar and bowed her head.

Birdstar seemed to be upset, for her tail tip was twitching quickly.

"We have two new apprentices. Rosepaw and Petalpaw." Birdstar looked over at the two apprentices, who looked identical. Eaglepaw couldn't even tell which was which. The two held their heads high, everything about them identical.

"The gathering is over!" Birdstar growled, leaping off her branch and stalking away, her clan following her. Rosepaw and Petalpaw padded after their leader, matching step by step.

Maplestar leaped off of her branch and headed for the brown tom, and Eaglepaw was curious.

Why is Maplestar around him so much?

Eaglepaw watch as her mother approached the Shadowclan tom, and then spoke with him. He spoke with her, and they had a short conversation before Maplestar started to pad away, and so did the tom. Their tails intertwined, and soon left each other. Eaglepaw narrowed her eyes and slid her claws out.

Why is that creep with my mother!