**As a disclaimer. I'm sorry this chapter is less than up to par. I struggled with Talonpaw's character, but I know that going forward, it will be easier. I was just having trouble with her departure from the clan. Please don't let this sway you from this story! I really appreciate all of the people who have read, reviewed, and favorited this story so far and I hope for many more! 3**

Chapter 3

The morning of the gathering, Talonpaw woke up feeling like she'd eaten rocks before going to sleep. The apprentices den was already empty, and she figured the others had gone off to train with their mentors before the day got too late. She wondered why Honeyfeather hadn't taken her out. She needed something to keep her mind off of tonight. This would be her last day in the clan for six whole moons. She wouldn't see her mentor, her friends, or her brother for six whole moons. Now that I think about it, maybe I don't want to ever move again. Talonpaw thought, curling her body up tightly in a ball. She wasn't able to enjoy the peace for long.

"Talonpaw, are you in there?" it was Frostpaw, and the next second, her white head appeared in the entrance of the den.

"Talonpaw's not home," she answered, peeking over her tail at her best friend.

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad! You get to go to SnakeClan. How awesome is that?" Frostpaw purred, slipping all the way into the den and sitting down in front of Talonpaw.

"I don't want to go to SnakeClan. Or RavenClan. I just want to stay here, with all of you,"

"Then tell them no." Frostpaw shrugged like it was no big deal.

Easy for her to say, Talonpaw thought. She doesn't have to leave the clan.

"Can you just leave me alone?" Talonpaw huffed, covering her eyes again.

Frostpaw sighed, crouching down and nudging Talonpaw with her nose. She let out a grunt of frustration and nudged her friend harder. Talonpaw shifted, trying to move away from Frostpaw's harassment, but she wouldn't stop. Finally, Talonpaw let out a frustrated huff and stood up, shaking her head.

"Alright, stop." she hissed. "What do you want?"

"Come out and eat with us," Frostpaw insisted, and didn't wait for an answer, and just slipped out of the den again. Talonpaw watched her go, and finally walked out of the den as well, her tail dragging on the ground.

"Alright, I'm here. Against my will." Talonpaw muttered.

"Good! So listen.." Frostpaw began talking about something Talonpaw really wasn't sure about. Heatherpaw was on her other side, nodding along, but it was obvious she wasn't actually listening either.

All Talonpaw could think about was what was laying ahead of her. When Sunstar had called her name during the meeting days ago, she hadn't known how to answer. The only thing she could think of was looking into the faces of cats who lost clanmates because of her. There was no way she could handle this. Gatherings were tense as it were, none of the clans really bothering to associate with one another, until the leaders said what they needed to say. How was she going to spend six entire moons with strangers...and be okay? And she didn't know how happy she would be not sitting next to her best friend, barely listening to her chatter on about nothing important. Or going out with Honeyfeather and learning all the ways of her clan.

Now I have to learn all brand new things. LIke I'm starting my apprenticeship over again. Talonpaw couldn't bear the thought. All she wanted to do right now was march into Sunstar's den, and tell him he could suck on a wild turkey feather, because she wasn't going to go anywhere. But for some reason, her feet didn't move. She knew in her head this was what needed to happen, even if her heart told her to hide in her nest until the gathering was over. Across the clearing, she saw Sunstar exit his den and head over to the medicine cat den. Before he entered, he turned and looked at her, nodding his head to call her over. Talonpaw sighed, standing up.

"I guess duty calls," she muttered to her friends and trudged away with heavy paws.

When she entered the medicine cat den, Sunstar was waiting for her, sitting next to Spiderfall's nest, while the medicine cat shuffled around her patients, giving them doses of herbs or reassuring words and licks on the ears. Talonpaw watched her for a few moments, avoiding looking at her leader. She wondered briefly if Frogpaw was as worried as she was about this whole thing. Yeah right. He's going to RavenClan. At least he isn't going to SnakeClan, where they are all evil. She thought bitterly.

"Talonpaw," Sunstar spoke finally, calling her attention to him. "We should talk about tonight."

"I've thought about it so much today, we don't need to talk. I've got it all figured out in my head. I'm going to leave the gathering with SnakeClan, and then run away and never come back." Sunstar let out a purr of amusement at her words, and she glared at him. She didn't understand why he thought she was joking, she was serious.

"I understand that you are worried to leave. But you shouldn't be. SnakeClan are just like us, just with their own rules among their camp. They fight, hunt, and struggle to provide for themselves, just as we do. And right now, they still have cats in their medicine den, being healed from a brutal battle-"

"That they started!" Talonpaw interrupted hotly.

"SnakeClan did not start this war," Sunstar replied, and Talonpaw noticed he looked very tired.

He wasn't much older than her, to be the leader. In fact, when she was very young in the nursery, he was just an apprentice, training to be a warrior. However, shortly after he had become a warrior, the leader at the time - Larkstar - had passed away. Sunstar had been made the deputy, despite many complaints from the clan at his age. A moon after Talonpaw had begun her apprenticeship, Nightstar had caught ill and it had taken all of his lives, unfortunately, thrusting Sunstar into leadership.

"This battle began long before any of us were even here. Maybe it began when the clans first established these territories. Maybe it was after the first struggle of who had more territory. No one really knows who 'started' it. All that matters is that we need to be the ones to end it. You, Talonpaw, and the other apprentices who are participating will end it. The needless fighting, the bloodshed, it's all in your paws," Sunstar looked at her with a look that was so full of emotion, she wasn't really sure what to say.

"Way to give her the reassurance she needs," Spiderfall chimed in, saving Talonpaw from having to. She had padded over and sat down beside of the apprentice, looking perfectly at ease. Her tail was laid out behind her and twitching lazily. "No pressure or anything."

"I don't mean to put more on your shoulders, Talonpaw. I just don't want you to think this is for nothing. I fear that no one understands what the purpose of this is. I know that most of you all think that this project is pointless, but it isn't. This is so important-"

"We get it, Sunstar!" Spiderfall interrupted, shaking her head. "It's important, but you don't have to keep throwing this stuff at her. Can't you see how upset she is? Give it a rest!"

"I'm not trying to scare her-"

"Well, it's not working. She's terrified."

"I'm not...terrified," Talonpaw interjected, frowning between them. The tension had built very quickly, and she wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she had a feeling it was about more than just the swap. "I'm just worried to leave my friends, and my family. I'm worried that SnakeClan won't accept me, or that they'll like the RavenClan apprentice better." she looked down at her paws in embarrassment at the last part.

"Talonpaw, don't be silly! You've got a wonderful spirit," Spiderfall purred. "There's no reason they won't love you. Well, aside from the fact that you're from an enemy clan anyway."

"Despite her horrible way of approaching something so serious, Spiderfall is right," Sunstar growled, glaring pointedly at the medicine cat and then back to the apprentice. "You are going to do wonderfully."

"Is there anything else you needed? Or did you just call me in here to tell me that the fate of my clans is in my paws and that I'm cool?" Talonpaw mewed, not looking up at them.

"We just want to make sure you understand what is going to happen. I spoke with Frogpaw earlier this morning, he is about as excited about this as you are. I told Honeyfeather to give you the day off." Sunstar answered her. "I thought you might want time to prepare."

Talonpaw didn't say anything, just looked up at the two expectantly. Sunstar sighed, looking like he had something else to say, but instead he just flicked his tail in dismissal. Talonpaw jumped up and hurried out of the den. Frostpaw and Heatherpaw were no longer sitting by the apprentices den, and she didn't know where they had gone. Treeleg was lounging outside of the nursery, and Grasspelt was talking to Aspenbelly and Rabbitear by the fresh-kill pile. Talonpaw scanned the clearing for her mentor, but she couldn't find him. She didn't want the day off. She wanted one more day of just being a normal apprentice that wasn't about to leave her home for six moons.

"Hey, Talonpaw," she jumped at the voice and turned around quickly to find Frogpaw standing behind her. "Thinking about tonight?"

"Doing my best not to, actually," she admitted. "I was looking for Honeyfeather, I wanted to go out and hunt."

"I think he's on a border patrol right now. But maybe we could go together?" Frogpaw suggested, looking hopeful.

"That actually sounds amazing," Talonpaw answered, relieved at his offer.

Frogpaw perked up at the acceptance and he led the way out of camp. Talonpaw trailed behind him, her paws dragging even more. The day was getting later, and soon, they would be leaving camp for the gathering and she wouldn't be coming back. This was the last time she'd be able to go out and hunt in her own territory with her friend. She didn't want to leave, but she knew that what Sunstar had told her before was right. This was the only chance they had to save the clans. It didn't exactly make her feel better about it, if anything, it made her feel worse. She couldn't even focus on hunting. The more she tried not to think about it, the more she ended up worrying. Everything she saw reminded her of the fact that she wasn't coming back for a long time.

"I know what you're thinking," Frogpaw interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up. "That this won't work."

"That's not exactly what I was thinking, but I guess I'm worried about that too."

"I don't know what the point of all this is. Sunstar seems to think it's the only chance we have of saving the forest, but I'm skeptical of that," Frogpaw went on, slowing his pace to walk beside of her. It seemed like he didn't really have hunting on his mind either. "Do you ever wish you were born somewhere else?"

"Like in another clan?" Talonpaw asked, confused as the where the question had come from.

"No. I mean like in another forest. Where there are no clans. Just cats living their lives and survive. No rules, no enemy clans, no battles." Frogpaw said wistfully.

"I don't know. That sounds pretty boring,"

"Boring, sure, but at least it's better than this." He waved his tail to motion everything around them. "Talonpaw, I like you a lot."

Talonpaw stopped moving, not really sure what to say to that. She had never thought too much about her relationship with Frogpaw. As far as she was concerned, they were best friends. Frogpaw was her best friend next to Frostpaw, and she enjoyed spending time with him. They had been friends since they were in the nursery together, and nothing had changed as apprentices. He was always there for her when she needed him, and she knew she could count on him for anything. It struck her just then that maybe there was more to this than she had originally thought. She felt her stomach clench up, sadness once again clutching her.

"Frogpaw, I…" she looked away from him. "...I don't think it's smart to talk about this."

"I know it's not, but I wanted to tell you before we left. I wanted to know if you felt the same way, just in case…"

"In case what? I fall in love with someone from SnakeClan? Really? Frogpaw, you're ridiculous!" Talonpaw purred, batting him over the ear with a paw. "I could never do that."

"So…?"

"I do like you Frogpaw, but I don't really want to get into this, especially since we're leaving tonight," Talonpaw told him. To her surprise, his eyes lit up at her words, and he gave her ear a lick.

"Then we can talk when we get back."

"Yes we can," Talonpaw promised, feeling reassured with his positivity.

"We should get back to camp. The gathering group will be leaving soon," Frogpaw meowed, glancing up at the sky.

Talonpaw nodded her agreement and she led the way back towards camp, a new feeling of promise running through her mind. Now she had a reason to look forward, instead of dwelling so much on what she was doing right now, she could now look forward to what she would be coming home to. A warrior, a new world, and potentially... a new family. It was the first time since she had heard her name called in that clan meeting that she was excited to leave.