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Chapter One

Windpaw quickened her pace in an attempt to catch up to the rest of the clan. Her mentor, Silverheart, urged her forward with a gentle push from behind while Windpaw's best friend, Ivypaw, ran in front of her, squealing with excitement. A nearby clan member gave the two apprentices a hard glance, signaling them to be quiet.

The group of cats began to slow as they came to the edge of their territory. Whitestar, ForestClan's leader, paused and watched the small stream in front of her. A rusty colored tom stepped up beside her, his eyes also transfixed on the stream.

"It has already risen!" the cat exclaimed. Whitestar nodded and then turned to her clan.

"We'll have to walk along the edge of the forest so not to lose any cat in the water," she said. Windpaw watched her leader turn and carefully pick her way through the branches of a fallen tree.

Ivypaw and Windpaw exchanged a glance, both apprentice's eyes glazed over with worry. Windpaw remembered the end of last leaf-bare even though she had been just a kit. The small stream had expanded to the size of a large river, drowning many cats and much of the prey.

Windpaw's tail lowered as she caught a glimpse of the stream. Rushing water oozed over the banks and already lapped at the base of a thorn bush. A nudge from behind her brought her back and she quickly looked in front of her, noticing that she had fallen behind once again. Quickly, Windpaw leapt over branch after branch from the fallen tree in means to catch up.

She was at the last branch, which was large and looked fairly sturdy. Speeding up, Windpaw stepped onto the branch not wanting to hold up the cats behind her. Suddenly the branch under her paws jerked, causing the apprentice to loss her balance. With a yowl, she tumbled toward the rushing water, her eyes closing ,waiting for the icy water to engulf her; but instead there was a yanked at the back of her neck and she was thrown onto the shore, deeply shaken, but unharmed. Silverheart padded up to her, breathing deeply.

"Are you okay?" she asked, gently licking Windpaw on the head. The apprentice nodded, dazed. Carefully Silverheart nudged Windpaw to her paws, gently licking the apprentice's rustled fur.

"Come on," she said. "You're okay."

After much coaxing, Windpaw finally joined the clan at the back of the line, her eyes still wide from the shock. Silverheart pushed Windpaw forward, trying to make the apprentice catch up once again. Ivypaw fell behind waiting for her friend, and hurried up to her as Windpaw appeared.

"Did you fall in?" she asked sniffing Windpaw's pelt. "Doesn't look like it."

Windpaw shook her head, still unable to speak. Ivypaw gazed at her friend with pity, and then turned to lead the way to the rest of the clan. ForestClan had now stopped at the edge of a clearing, and the leader and deputy gazed down to the cats below. Windpaw, Ivypaw, and Silverheart had finally caught up and now sat quietly amongst their companions.

"Are we the last ones?" Windpaw whispered. Thornfur, a dark brown tom sitting in front of her, nodded. Windpaw watched as their leader, Whitestar, gave a flick with her tail, and then plunged into the clearing. ForestClan followed, surging towards the cats below.

Windpaw slowed as the blast of new and strange smells hit the roof of her mouth. She watched as the ForestClan deputy, Cedarheart, padded up to a small group of warriors and, glancing around, Windpaw followed.

"Hello Cedarheart," a pretty golden she-cat called. Cedarheart dipped his head in reply, and then turned to the tom next to him.

"How are you Eagleclaw?" he asked. Windpaw suddenly recognized the LakeClan deputy, but he looked different, though she had only seen him once before. His pelt was not as well groomed and he looked very thin. He turned his gaze to Cedarheart and nodded with respect.

"Fine and you?" Although his appearance was different, his voice still held the authority that instructed his clan, and his eyes were still filled with wisdom.

"We grow strong," the ForestClan deputy replied. Both toms began to talk about fighting techniques and, growing bored, Windpaw turned her attention to the other three cats that stood in their group.

An older looking tom with deep scars along his muzzle, lay across from the apprentice. He had the smell of MarshClan and talked in a rasping voice. Windpaw glanced at the long-haired golden she-cat embarrassed. This cat was so beautiful that Windpaw had to make sure that she was not staring. The she-cats eyes were amber, bright with intelligence. A light grey tom crouched next to her, their pelts touching. He had green eyes, and both cats smelt of PrairieClan. It was the older tom that was speaking.

"The stream has grown to almost twice its size," he rasped. "Soon it will begin to flood the forest."

The golden she-cat nodded, a worried look in her eyes. The young grey tom next to her sat up staring at the MarshClan cat.

"It could hardly be as bad last leaf-bare!" he exclaimed. The old tom broke his gaze away from the golden she-cat long enough to give the young tom a withering look.

"Last leaf-bare was nothing compared to others. StarClan was merciful then, but this leaf-bare will be a hard one," his voice had hardened at these words, but then softened, as his gaze turned back to the beautiful she-cat.

The young grey tom grumbled and shifted his weight, crouching back down. The golden she-cat purred quietly and gently pressed her muzzle against the grey tom's flank. Suddenly she spotted Windpaw.

"Hello. Who are you?" She asked. Windpaw flicked her tail uncomfortably as the two toms also turned their to her. She lowered her head so that she was now looking at the ground, and scraped the dirt self concisely.

"I'm Windpaw," she murmured. The older tom stretched his neck forward and sniffed.

"ForestClan," he grunted, before making himself comfortable once more. The golden she-cat purred.

"I'm Dawnwing and this is my brother Greyfeather," she motioned toward the young grey tom sitting next to her. He nodded to the apprentice, and then glanced over at the older tom.

"That's Jaggedwhisker," Dawnwing said nodding toward the older tom. Jaggedwhisker flicked his tail in reply and then pointedly turned away from the group. Dawnwing turned back to Windpaw, her eyes filled with remorse.

"Sorry about Jaggedwhisker. He can get a bit grumpy," she said. Windpaw cocked her head, staring at Dawnwing with astonishment. Didn't Dawnwing notice the way that the older cat had looked at her? He admired the beautiful golden she-cat, and yet she had talked to him like she was talking to Windpaw now; a simple friendly acquaintance. Windpaw had thought nothing of it before since she had thought that Greyfeather was Dawnwing's mate, considering that he seemed to dislike the way that Jaggedwhisker had looked at Dawnwing; but if he was her brother, why should he care?

Dawnwing froze as she gazed into Windpaw's confused face and the apprentice watched as the golden she-cat's eyes glazed over with sadness and anger. Without another word she turned and trudged away to a group of queens nearby.

Shocked and confused, Windpaw turned to Greyfeather hoping for an explanation but a yowl from nearby silenced the apprentice. The clearing became silent as all of the cat's heads turned toward a large boulder that sat in the middle of the clearing. All four clan leaders sat upon it, Whitestar standing forward ready to start the gathering.

Windpaw glanced away from the leaders just long enough to see Greyfeather slip away toward his sister. Ivypaw now sat in his place, her eyes filled with excitement as she met Windpaw's gaze. Windpaw purred happily to her friend before turning to look back at the leaders.

"We will now start this gathering!" Whitestar yowled. "Oakstar do you wish to start?"

The MarshClan leader nodded and padded forward, while Whitestar retreated back to the other leaders. Oakstar was a very large brown tabby with black stripes. His muscles rippled under his well groomed pelt, and his yellow eyes flashed in the moonlight.

Windpaw shuttered. She would hate to meet him in battle!

Oakstar began telling about the new litter of kits that had been born and about the activities of twolegs near his territory. Windpaw listened for any exciting news, but fell bored with the tom's announcements.

"We also would like to welcome a new apprentice, Sunpaw whose mentor is Brookfur. This is her first gathering."

Windpaw turned her head half-heartedly to look at the new apprentice. She was small for her age and her yellow fur ruffled. She slinked way from all of the staring eyes, pressing herself against the she-cat next to her.

Windpaw remembered when her name had been announced and when every cat in the clearing had stared at her. She had stood tall then, and though she had been very self conscious, she had never shown any weakness that this apprentice had. Windpaw directed her gaze back to Oakstar who now looked slight angered.

"MarshClan continues to grow strong," he said, but he did not seem to be paying attention to what he said. His gaze seemed to still be fixed on the new apprentice Sunpaw. Oakstar stepped back to allow the PrairieClan leader, Brownstar, step forward, but Windpaw continued to watch the MarshClan leader. He was still staring at Sunpaw with a sour look on his face.

"Oakstar doesn't look too happy," Ivypaw whispered into Windpaw's ear. Windpaw nodded in agreement and then turned her attention to the PrairieClan leader. He was light brown with darker speckles on his pelt. He was very handsome and his green eyes glowed with anticipation.

"PrairieClan has very little to report. One of our elders, Morningbrook died. She was a great friend to many and her clan mourns her. Also a litter of kits has been born. The stream has overflowed beyond its banks, and some of our prey has been killed, but we feast upon the rabbits that roam slightly beyound our land and so we stay strong."

Brownstar stepped back to sit with the other leaders. Whitestar turned to the LakeClan leader, Amberstar, but the young leader did not move from her place. In fact, she did not even look up. Amberstar gazed down at the rock in front of her, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Amberstar?" Whitestar said. Amberstar looked up, and then stood slowly. She padded forward to the edge of the rock and sat down. Her gaze swept over the cats below. The young leader hesitated at first, and then opened her mouth tell the news of her clan.