Chapter 3
Snakefire and the rest of the incident forgotten, Larkpaw couldn't be any more excited!
My first Gathering! She trailed after Sapphirecloud and the rest of the ForestClan cats as they headed towards the Ancient Moon Falls. She had heard many stories of the Ancient Falls from her uncle, Pinefoot.
The partially blind tom had moved into the elder's den with Blueflower after his eyes were slashed by an enemy warrior during the battle that her mother was killed, but still helped the Clan by distracting the kits with his stories and keeping them out from under paw, including Larkpaw. (Lark-kit at the time)
As they arrived at the Moon Falls, Larkpaw felt her jaw drop open in awe. None of Pinefoot's stories could compare to what she saw in her own eyes. There could be nothing more beautiful. Though the pool below had dried up thousands of moons ago, it still shone like the stars themselves when the moon appeared above.
There were bits and pieces of reflective rocks in the large dried up pool, but they were smooth and never harmed the cats. Rowanstar scaled the tall cliffs that led up to the Falls where the leaders stood.
"Was it as you thought it would be like?" Larkpaw jumped in surprise. Pinefoot chuckled.
"Even better." She mewed. She smelled dry earth then the empty pool was filled with-
"These are FireClan cats; they are the closest Clan to us other than WindClan and RiverClan."
FireClan? Would that mean…
Larkpaw stood up and scanned the crowd of incoming cats. None of them had the same dark red pelt that Briarpaw had. Then she noticed a dark red she-cat race after her clanmates into Starpool.
"Who is that?" Larkpaw asked Pinefoot as other cats started arriving. The tom looked towards the she-cat who was surrounded by other cats. She looked familiar. Was she related to Briarpaw?
"That is Redheart. She is a young warrior of FireClan. She's very popular between the clans. Would you like to meet her?" Pinefoot twitched his ears. "We should hurry if you want to meet her; it looks like Sandstar is eager to get this over with."
Larkpaw looked up at the leaders who were gathered up on the Falls. A small sandy brown tom looked down at the growing group of cats below him with eyes half open with apparent annoyance. Pinefoot was right.
She hurried after her uncle through the maze of strangers and finally got to see the she-cat up close. She had very dark red fur, and only a little pale red fur on her fronts paws.
"Pinefoot! It is good to see you!" The she-cat purred and flicked Pinefoot with her tail. She looked past him and noticed Larkpaw standing twitching with nervousness.
"Who's this?" She asked curiously while looking the young she-cat over.
So this is where Briarpaw got his friendly and curious side! Larkpaw mused.
"This is my kin, Larkpaw. Larkpaw, meet my good friend Redheart."
Larkpaw dipped her head respectfully. "It is nice to meet you, Redheart." She mewed.
Redheart twitched her whiskers in amusement. "At last I have found a true respectful apprentice! They are rare to come by!" She purred playfully.
Larkpaw laughed. "I've been trained by the best!" She glanced over at Silversnow who smiled proudly at her from another group of cats.
"Seems like you've been raised by some of the best too, little one." Redheart smiled at her and Pinefoot and then looked up at the leaders where Rowanstar was standing.
"Now run along, the Gathering is about to start!" The red she-cat said which was followed by four powerful yowls piercing the air.
"Larkpaw!" A voice hissed. Larkpaw looked over her shoulder to a familiar grinning face.
"Briarpaw! Funny to find you here." Larkpaw mewed playfully and ducked from his paw.
"Very funny!" He laughed quietly as they were shushed by random (and annoyed) warriors. "Follow me!"
Briarpaw led her to an empty space the rest of the crowd of cats.
"We can talk more here, but at the same time listen." He purred, whiskers twitching.
Larkpaw paid attention to the leaders above them. Rowanstar was speaking.
"ForestClan is doing well. Newleaf has brought plentiful prey. Also, we have new apprentices and warriors. Please welcome Heatherpaw, Nightpaw, Larkpaw, Fawnpaw, and Kindlepaw!"
I ducked my head in embarrassment as warriors turned around and looked at me as they called my name. Rowanstar waited for the crowd to settle down before continuing,
"We have to new warriors, Rosesong and Sapphirecloud!"
The crowd roared into life again.
"One day that'll be us." Larkpaw's fur bristled at the same words Jaypaw had said earlier.
One day.
The pool had become quiet. Larkpaw looked around curiously, and then looked up.
Witherstar had stepped up to speak.