"Bramblepaw, wake up!"

I growled as something prodded me in the side over and over.

"Bramblepaw, you lazy furball!" I opened my eyes and saw Mudpaw standing over me, her left front paw raised to prod me in the side again.

"What?" I mumbled, closing my eyes again.

Mudpaw sighed and used her nose to push me out of my warm nest. "You have to get to training today! Me and Runningwind and going with you and Mousefur today to work on our hunting skills."

I stood up and stretched, yawning. The other apprentices must have already woken up and left for their training. "Okay, let's go."

"You're not gonna eat?"

"I'll eat later," I replied and she shrugged before leading me out of the camp. We climbed up the ravine and headed out into the forest, running a bit of the way to warm up before our day of training.

The sun had already risen and the day promised to be warm, a great day to train. We trotted through the forest, the leaves under our paws making a tiny crunching sound.

We reached our destination, the Training Hollow. It was just a big sandy hollow where the apprentices trained most of the time. Mousefur and Runningwind were already there, chattering away, waiting for us to come.

We climbed down into the hollow and the two warriors sat up properly to look at us. "Good morning, you two," Runningwind purred. "Ready to hunt today?"

We nodded.

Mousefur purred. "First, a review about hunting. What is the difference between creeping up on a rabbit and creeping up on a mouse?"

I thought for a moment, trying to figure it out. Mudpaw looked like she knew the answer. "I know it!" she said. "It's on the tip of my tongue."

"I wouldn't expect you to know the answer," Runningwind looked at me. "You are a new apprentice after all."

I shrugged and thought a little harder, thinking about what it would be like trying to hunt both creatures. The answer came to my head instantly. "A rabbit would smell you before it sees you, and a mouse would feel your pawsteps through the ground before it can even smell you."

All three cats seemed to be surprised by my answer and I was kind of nervous. "Was that wrong?" I asked.

"No, that was absolutely right," Runningwind murmured. "How did you get the answer?"

I shrugged. "It just came into my mind....."

Mudpaw purred and nudged me, nearly throwing me off my paws. "Nice one."

Mousefur shook herself. "Well then, Bramblepaw, what must you keep in mind whilst hunting a rabbit and a mouse?"

I looked at Mudpaw, wondering if she knew the answer. She obviously did, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes and she decided to follow the movements of a squirrel high in a tree.

I thought for a moment, running over the obvious answers. "For a rabbit, you stay downwind so it won't smell you or sense you until your final leap. For a mouse, you have to keep your pawsteps as light as possible so it won't feel your steps."

"Very well done," Mousefur purred, but I could tell there was confusement in her eyes.

"Show us the hunter's crouch," Runningwind ordered. "Remember, keep all your weight into your haunches and keep your paws light."

Mudpaw was the first to crouch down. She was deep in concentration as she started to stalk across the ground, keeping her ears and tail low. She sprang on a leaf and fell on her side, throwing the leaf into the air and batting at it with her paws.

"Mudpaw!" Runningwind growled and the young apprentice got straight back up, shaking the sand off her pelt.

"Sorry, Runningwind," she ducked her head in embarrassment.

Mousefur looked at me. "Now you try it, Bramblepaw."

I nodded and dropped into the crouch, not sure if I got it right or not. I started creeping across the ground, keeping my paws as light as I possibly could.

"Very good," Mousefur purred. "You learn fast."

I sat up straight and nodded my thanks.

"Now, why don't you try hunting real prey?" Runningwind suggested. "Try and bring back as much as you can. Mudpaw, you go up towards Tallpines as far as Twolegplace and see what you can catch there. Bramblepaw, you follow that rabbit track as far as the stream and see what you can find. Come back to camp by sunset."

We both nodded and scrambled out of the Training Hollow, heading off in different directions.

I stalked through the trees, following the rabbit track like Runningwind had told me to do. I came all the way to the stream, it was full of water so I decided to stop and take a drink. It was cool and refreshing on my tongue as I lapped it up. I lifted my head and took another sniff, my senses stronger now. I smelt a water shrew and crouched down to the ground, keeping all the weight into my haunches. I stalked forward, relying more on scent than sight to locate my prey. My body burned with anticipation for the catch, but I remained calm, focused on my task.

I heard it scuffling around by the edge of the water and I lifted my head a little bit to see it dashing back and forth, grabbing grass stalks for its nest. I crouched low to the ground again and wriggled my haunches a couple of times before I sprang.

I landed on top of the startled shrew and held it down with my front paws. I bent my head and killed it with a quick bite to the neck. That was a quick kill, I thought. That was really amazing. Almost as if I'd done that a thousand times............

I shrugged it off and buried my prey, going to come back for it later while I caught more prey. Burying it would keep it away from other predators that might want to take it.

I purred as I trotted off through the forest in search of more prey, Mousefur would be proud of me. My first catch was brilliant. I was a real Thunderclan apprentice now.

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"Bramblepaw, you coming or what?"

I lifted my head. "Huh?"

"Hunting couldn't have been that hard," Graypaw purred as I rose from my nest and stifled a yawn. "Don't forget, you're coming to the gathering tonight."

My paws tingled with excitement at the thought of my first gathering and I was instantly awake. I had been an apprentice for three moons now and I had been hunting all day to feed the elders. This would be my very first gathering. I crept out of the den, leaving Sandpaw and Dustpaw to sleep.

We strolled over to the larger group of Thunderclan cats that were ready to go to the gathering, Bluestar in the lead. When there was all the cats among the group, she lifted her tail and headed out of camp with the group following in single file behind her.

When we got out into the forest, we broke into a run and our pawsteps were silent in the quiet night. Every creature was asleep, except for the owls. There was no birdsong, no rustle in the bushes as prey scattered everywhere. They would all be hiding in their holes, asleep, waiting until day.

I ran beside Ravenpaw and Redtail, swerving around bushes and trees, keeping up well.

Redtail looked at me. "You ready for this gathering?" he asked me.

I purred my reply. "You bet! I've been waited for this for a long time!"

Redtail nodded and raced ahead to run beside Bluestar. I ran beside Ravenpaw the rest of the way. I looked at the black-and-white apprentice. "Are you okay, Ravenpaw?" I asked.

He looked at me. "Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You just seem upset by something," I blinked. "Was it because of something Tigerclaw said today?" Ravenpaw had never liked his mentor, he was afraid of the dark tabby warrior.

"I guess so...."

"What did he say?" I asked, looking ahead of the group to see Tigerclaw running beside Whitestorm, Sandpaw's mentor.

"Just that my fighting skills need improvement, otherwise the other clans will laugh themselves off our territory," Ravenpaw replied.

I growled. "That wasn't very nice!" I had never liked Tigerclaw either, for some reason he had a problem with me. I didn't know what that problem was, but I now had a problem with him!

We stopped at the top of the slope that led down to Fourtrees and I stopped behind Redtail with Ravenpaw beside me and Longtail on my other side, the pale tabby warrior seemed excited by this gathering. It wasn't like he'd never been to a gathering before, he went last time.

I shrugged, maybe it was just because the four clans met for the one night every full moon in peace.

I looked up at Bluestar, sitting on a higher rock, all the cats were waiting for her signal. Mudpaw had told me that before a gathering, Bluestar liked to gather her thoughts and she raised her tail as the signal for her clan to go down the meet the other clans.

I could smell the other three clans, Riverclan, Windclan and Shadowclan. After hearing about the Shadowclan leader killing Brambleclaw, I had always thought of them as evil, and now I was going to meet them, and maybe even the leader.

I looked at Mudpaw further along the line, in between Mousefur and Darkstripe. She had been to a gathering four times now, she was lucky.

Finally, Bluestar rose to her paws and flicked her tail as the signal to move. She shot down the slope and the clan ran after her. I found myself sprinting beside Ravenpaw and Longtail, dodging bushes and trees on the way down. This felt so familiar to me as we approached Fourtrees, and not because I had come down this way with Mousefur on my first day of training. I felt like I had come to a gathering before, running alongside my comrades down to the massive hollow where the four clans met together.

I shook it off, this was my first time at a gathering, and I was going to make the most of it.

We cleared the trees and ran down the rest of the slope and reached Fourtrees. I was surprised again by the height of the four great oak trees, but that wasn't my main attention. Bluestar gave the signal and the clan dispersed into the hollow to greet other warriors. Ravenpaw and Longtail disappeared and I was left by myself. I looked around and saw many cats. Never before had I seen so many cats in one place, but it felt like I had.

One warrior passed me and I looked up at the massive tom. He was white, but when I looked down at his paws, they were not only huge, but jet-black. This must have been Blackfoot, a Shadowclan warrior that I had heard of from one of the Thunderclan warriors talking amongst themselves.

He shot a surprised glance at me and I blinked at him in confusement. He shrugged off whatever thought he had in his mind and stalked off.

Mudpaw strolled over to my side. "What's the matter, Bramblepaw?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Just looking around."

Mudpaw purred. "Okay. Well, come on, do you want to meet some other apprentices?"

"Sure," I turned and followed her through large crowds of cats. Elders were sitting in a circle, talking about what the forest was like before Twolegs came. Warriors were boasting about their victories to their audiences. I followed Mudpaw over to a group of younger cats that were apprentices, by the looks of them. I took a big sniff, they were Riverclan and Shadowclan apprentices.

"Hi, Mudpaw," a black Riverclan apprentice purred and touched noses with the light brown cat.

"Hello, Shadepaw," Mudpaw replied and turned to the other cats. The other Riverclan cat, a silver tabby tom, was called Silverpaw. The two Shadowclan apprentices were called Brownpaw and Littlepaw. Brownpaw was a dark brown tabby and Littlepaw was a black cat with a white chest, white paws and a white-tipped tail. He was rather scrawny.

"Who's this?" Silverpaw asked, glancing at me.

The other apprentices looked at me and Mudpaw sat beside me. "This is Bramblepaw. She was made an apprentice three moons ago. This is her first gathering."

Shadepaw let out an amused purr. "Nice to meet you," I touched noses with him, and then with the other three cats. The Shadowclan cats I was more nervous with, but they were quite friendly.

"You look a lot like a warrior that died a long time ago," Littlepaw meowed to me.

I nodded. "So I've been told."

"Yeah, she looks like Brambleclaw," Silverpaw murmured. "How did she die again?"

Littlepaw and Brownpaw shrugged. "We don't know."

"We were told it was-" Mudpaw put her tail to my mouth to stop me.

"It was what?" Brownpaw asked.

"It was a badger," Mudpaw spoke up. "That's what we were told. She had a huge gash on her shoulder to prove it I guess."

She took her tail back and I looked at her, she flashed me a warning glance. "Excuse us for a minute," Mudpaw sighed and dragged me away from the group. When we were alone she hissed under her breath. "Didn't Mousefur tell you to watch your mouth before a gathering!?"

"No," I blinked. "What did I do wrong?"

"You don't just go blabbering on about secrets of Thunderclan!" Mudpaw growled, I had never seen her so angry, except that time when she came back with the patrol that went to drive Riverclan from the Sunningrocks. Her fur was standing on end. "The truce only lasts for the night! If you go blabbering on about our clan secrets, the apprentices might tell their leaders and they could use it against us! Do you want war between the clans!?"
"No!" I was nervous. "I didn't mean to! I swear!"

Mudpaw let out an exasperated sigh. "Just watch your tongue next time."

I nodded and Mudpaw relaxed, her fur lying flat again. "I think I'll go find Mousefur," I murmured. Mudpaw nodded and walked off, brushing her tail across my flank to take the sting out of her words.

I opened my mouth to pick up Mousefur's scent and I caught it instantly. I turned and followed the scent, but I was intercepted by a massive long-haired brown warrior. He looked down at me with a shocked expression on his face. His scent was Shadowclan.

"Who are you?" he asked.

My fur started to bristle and I crouched low to the ground, my ears swiveled back against my head. "Bramblepaw," I replied quietly. "Who are you?"

The huge warrior let out a mrrow of laughter. "My name is Brokenstar, I am leader of Shadowclan."

My fur stood on end, I was visibly tense. This was the warrior that killed Brambleclaw!

"For a second there I thought you were a warrior I used to know," Brokenstar meowed calmly. "There's no need to look so frightened," he could smell my fear-scent. "Are you a new apprentice?"

I forced my fur to lie flat and I pricked my ears up, rising into a sitting position. "I'm three moons into my training."

Brokenstar purred. "You look strong for a young cat. Brambleclaw would be proud of you if she was still alive."

"What happened to her?" I asked to see what he would say. "I have heard many stories, but I thought that if I asked a clan leader then they would tell me the truth."

Brokenstar seemed impressed as I dipped my head in respect. "Well, a clan leader is bound to the truth. Brambleclaw was a foolish young warrior and she tried to drive a badger out of Thunderclan territory. No one had told her that badgers were dangerous even for a strong warrior."

The fur along my spine prickled with fury, so much for being bound to the truth! I straightened up and relaxed. "Thank you," I let out a rusty purr. "I guess she was nothing but a troubler-maker."

"Yes, so it seems," Brokenstar's eyes glowed with something unknown. "How is it that you look like her double?"

I shrugged.

"Is it possible she had kits?"

"No, Brindleface is my mother," I meowed.

Brokenstar seemed displeased and a growl rumbled deep in his chest. I shrinked back, my fear-scent growing stronger.

He was about to speak but I saw another cat approach. "Brokenstar, do you always pick on apprentices?" it was Spottedleaf, the Thunderclan medicine cat.

He turned to her. "Spottedleaf, I was just talking to the young cat."

Spottedleaf sat beside me. "Pick on somebody your own size!" she said in a controlled calm voice.

Brokenstar dipped his head and turned, stalking off with his fur prickling.

Spottedleaf looked at me. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you."

"He bothering you about why you look familiar to him?"

I nodded. "I wanted to see what he would say if I asked him how Brambleclaw died. He lied."

"I guessed as much," Spottedleaf growled, which took me by surprise. "He was always one to cause trouble and tell lies."

"Spottedleaf?" I looked up at her.

Her beautiful amber eyes looked down at me calmly. "Yes?"

"Why do I look so much like Brambleclaw? She's not my kin, so..... why?"

Spottedleaf was thoughtful for a long moment. "That I cannot answer," she replied. "Starclan have not told me."

I nodded. "Thank you."

There was a loud call and all the cats were silent. I looked up to the rock in the center to see four cats up there, two including Brokenstar and Bluestar. The other two were most likely the Riverclan and Windclan leaders; Crookedstar and Tallstar.

Spottedleaf settled herself and I sat calmly beside her.

"Cats of all clans, welcome to tonights gathering," the Windclan leader meowed clearly for all cats to hear him. All the cats were silent.

I looked up at my leader, Bluestar, she seemed displeased to be seated beside the Shadowclan leader. It was clearly visible that she was trying to keep her fur lying flat.

"Who would like to speak first?" Tallstar, the black-and-white tom turned to the clan leaders.

"I will," the Riverclan leader meowed, his light tabby fur shining silver in the moonlight. He stepped forward to take his place on the rock and Tallstar stepped back, his long tail swishing in dismissal. I looked at Crookedstar, his jaw looked like it had been broken once and healed badly. He looked like he was mocking all the cats below in the hollow. He shared news of new kits, two new warriors and plenty of fresh-kill in Riverclan territory. Windclan only had to share that the clan was thriving with lots of rabbits on the moors. When it came to the Shadowclan leader, I was eager to see what he would say.

"We have a new deputy after the retirement of Blackfoot," Brokenstar announced. "The new Shadowclan deputy is Scarpelt!"

There was meows of acceptance and I looked up to see all eyes on a dark gray tom with a huge battle-scar on his left shoulder. His head was raised proudly, he looked dangerous.

"We have a new litter and the whole clan is always full-fed. Starclan has gifted us with plenty of prey this greenleaf," Brokenstar meowed and all the cats murmured with approval.

"Well if that's the case, we shouldn't see any Shadowclan warriors hunting on our territory for a while," Bluestar growled, shouldering past Brokenstar to take her place on the front of the rock. "We already lost one warrior because of it."

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Brokenstar hissed.

"You know very well what I mean!" Bluestar spun to face him. "Keep your warriors off our territory, Brokenstar! There will be consequences if we see any of them on our land!"

"You have plenty of food in your territory," Brokenstar growled, his fur bristling.

"And you do too!" Bluestar had her fur standing on end. "Which means there is no reason for your warriors to hunt on our territory!"

Both clan leaders glared at each other, claws unsheathed, looking ready for a battle.

I looked around and saw Mudpaw back away from Littlepaw and Brownpaw, all three cats hissing and spitting threats. I looked in another direction and saw my mother, Brindleface, turn against a small group of Shadowclan queens that she had been sharing tongues with not that long ago. Thunderclan cats and Shadowclan cats were snarling and hissing at each other, ready to spring if the two leaders started a battle. It was hard to watch, I had never seen a battle before, but it would not end well.

Tallstar got in the way of the two clan leaders. "This is not a time to be fighting!"

Everything went dark and I looked up to see that a cloud had covered the moon, making the forest darker than before. All the cats got nervous.

"Tonight is a time for truce," Tallstar meowed. "Starclan do not wish for us to fight amongst ourselves now."

Brokenstar was the first to relax and he stepped back. Bluestar took a few more moments to straighten up and let her fur lie flat again. The cloud left the moon and the forest became bathed in moonlight once again. The gathering would not have to end just yet. Thunderclan and Shadowclan relaxed and settled down again, Mudpaw, Brownpaw and Littlepaw sat together again, but visibly cautious of one another. Brindleface turned and went to sit beside Redtail, she was well known for her mis-trusting temper towards the other clans, I was nothing like that.

Bluestar cleared her throat. "Thunderclan have a new apprentice," she purred and I knew what was coming. "Her name is Bramblepaw and she is training to be a great warrior of Thunderclan!"

All eyes turned to me, the cats of the other clans seemed curious and there was pitch silence. I became nervous and scuffled my paws on the ground, looking down. But then I realized that there was no need to be nervous, I was going to be one of the best warriors that I could be. I stopped scuffling my paws around and lifted my head high, meeting the gaze of every warrior around me. There was still silence, but I didn't care. I was proud.

One cat, from Windclan I suspected, started to murmur an approval, then the others starting purring and murmuring their acceptance, some quieter than others.

Bluestar moved on and spoke about extra Twolegs by the river close to Sunningrocks and Crookedstar nodded his thanks for the warning.

When the gathering was over, Bluestar was the first to jump down from the rock and the group of Thunderclan cats gathered around her to escort her back to camp.

Brokenstar jumped down from the rock. "Be careful what you say, Bluestar," he growled and she glared at him. He caught my eye. "Sometimes it seems that Brambleclaw is still alive, ready to protect you."

"I don't need protecting. The clan can fight off any patrol that attacks us! We're more than ready!" Bluestar said.

With that, Bluestar turned and led her cats up the slope and out of the hollow, I blinked at Brokenstar for a long time, his eyes burning into me.

"Bramblepaw!" I looked up and saw Bluestar and the group waiting for me, Bluestar signaled for me to hurry up with a flick of her tail.

I glanced at Brokenstar again before scrambling out of the hollow and running to catch up with the group. Bluestar looked at me and turned, leading the group back towards camp.

Mudpaw ran beside me. "What was that about?" she asked me.

"Nothing," I replied. "I just feel uneasy about Brokenstar."

"All of the Thunderclan cats do," Mudpaw sighed. "He's one dangerous cat to take down a great cat like Brambleclaw. But we'll get him one day, that's for sure."