Chapter 3: Gathering

The sun shone behind the trees signaling another hard working day was coming to an end. Honeypaw and I along with Oakpaw were sent on a hunting assessment today to see how much prey we could catch. I won with 6 pieces of prey. Honeypaw caught 4 pieces and Oakpaw tied with her. Our mentors decided that our catch was good enough to let us go. The three of us decided that we would take a nap before going to the gathering.

I woke up first and went ahead to grab something from the pile. Heading back, I trotted over with a vole and a mouse for Honeypaw and I to share before we left with the patrol. I entered the den and placed the prey down beside the space between Honeypaw's and my nests.

Seeing that she was still asleep, I prodded her fluffy side. "Honeypaw, Wake up. It's almost time to go!"

My golden friend rolled over and peered up at me groggily. "Go-" she yawned widely showing her sharp teeth."-Where?"

Oakpaw was shaking the moss out of his silver and brown tabby fur and stretched with a purr. "The gathering, silly."

Honeypaw leaped to her paws, all traces of exhaustion gone. "Really?"

We smiled as she bounced around like a tiny kit. Oakpaw ran to grab a robin and all three of us settled down by the den to eat. Just as we were finishing up, Bramblestar jumped up to the Highledge "All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the Highledge for a clan meeting!" LionBlaze sat next to Bramblestar, not giving a trace as to why our leader is giving a meeting before the gathering. We hurriedly buried the bones of our meal and ran to join the others gathered under the meeting place. "Today is a great day for ThunderClan. By naming apprentices we show that we are strong and by naming warriors we show that we won't be beaten. Dawnpaw, Lightpaw, and Lilypaw step forward. Icecloud is Dawnpaw ready to be a warrior?"

The pretty white she-cat nodded her green eyes lighting up with pride. "He will make a terrific warrior."

Bramblestar lept down. "Dawnpaw do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," Dawnpaw said softly.

Icecloud looked ready to burst with pride in her former apprentice as our leader continued. "Then by the powers of Starclan, I am proud to give you your warrior name. Dawnpaw from now on you'll be Dawnheart. We honor your bravery and courage and welcome you as a warrior to Thunderclan." He touched his muzzle to his head and he respectfully licked his shoulder. The same was done to Lightpaw and Lilypaw. Lightpaw became Lightwhisker and was known for her hunting and fighting skills. Lilypaw's new name is Lilydrop and she was known for her compassion and loyalty. The three newly named warriors beamed with pride and stepped back to join the ranks of warriors. "Now I have one more ceremony to perform. Cliffkit and Shadowkit, come here." The two rambunctious kits came forward. Cliffkit tried to walk calmly but couldn't contain a bounce and Shadowkit ran forward to meet her father. Squirrelflight hissed in annoyance and Bramblestar's eyes twinkled. "Cliffkit, from now on until you receive your warrior name, you'll be Cliffpaw and your mentor will be Lionblaze."

Bramblestar turned to Lionblaze as the golden tabby stepped forward. "Lionblaze you were mentored by Ashfur and I know you were taught well. I couldn't have been prouder of who you and your littermates have become than if you were my own. I know that you'll teach Cliffpaw everything Ashfur and I've taught you." Lionblaze nodded warmly at his leader/adopted father and walked up to the new apprentice. Cliffpaw showed no nervousness except for the twitching of his whiskers. Lionblaze murmured something to the tom and he visibly relaxed and touched noses. The pair moved off to the side of the clearing to watch Shadowkit.

"Shadowkit, from now on until you receive your warrior name, you'll be Shadowpaw and your mentor will be Badgersnout." The newly named Shadowpaw whirled around to look at her new mentor as he strode up to the high ledge. "Badgersnout, you have known grief and pain and have risen above that to become the respected warrior you are today. I expect you to pass on all your skills to Shadowpaw."

"He better!" Ivypool called. Badgersnout flicked his ears affectionately at his former mentor and looked at his leader. Badgersnout nodded and leaned down to touch noses with his apprentice. Shadowpaw! Cliffpaw! Lilydrop! Dawnheart! Lightwhisker! The clan cheered their names and I called my older siblings' names the loudest. Lionblaze yowled for us to fall silent.

Bramblestar moved his bright gaze over the crowd to allow each of us a moment of his attention as he made the next announcement. "Now here are the cats who'll be going to the gathering. Honeypaw, Oakpaw, Lightwhisker, Dawnheart, Lilydrop, Firepaw, Badgerfang, Lionblaze, Shadowpaw, Cliffpaw, Berrynose, Brightheart, Cloudtail, Daisy, Ambermoon, Cherryfall, Birchfall, Spiderleg, Brackenfur, and Ivypool."

Jayfeather walked over with his apprentice and murmured something in his clan leader's ear. Bramblestar nodded and Sorrelpaw raced over to join us. "Hey what are doing here without Jayfeather?" I asked. Sorrelpaw sighed and shook her pelt. "Berrybush is overdue and Clovertail has been restless all day. She isn't due for another quarter moon, so Jayfeather stayed to keep an eye on them." We all nodded seriously. Berrybush squeezed out of the nursery and stumbled over to Badgerfang. The muscular tom licked his mate's ears affectionately. The two shared a few moments together before Bramblestar flicked his tail for them to leave.

Brightheart ran by my side to make sure I wouldn't fall. It was harder I noticed to run at night than during the day. As we raced across the tree to the island one by one, I couldn't help but shudder at the feeling of falling over.

"Firepaw, you'll be fine. Just dig your claws in a bit more." I nodded at my mentor's advice and walked across the trunk. We waited for Bramblestar's signal before crashing through the bushes to signal our arrival. Many different cat scents flooded my nose and I couldn't tell where exactly one clan ended and the other began. Cats were mingling about before the gathering started. Brightheart nudged me forward and went to join the other elders under a bush.

"Hey, Firepaw, let's go find some apprentices." Honeypaw suggested. I nodded and followed Honeypaw with Oakpaw trailing behind. Sorrelpaw followed us for a bit before saying her goodbyes and heading over to join the medicine cats. A group of five apprentices noticed us and waved us over. There was two Windclan apprentices, two Riverclan apprentices, and one Shadowclan apprentices.

"Honeypaw! It's great to see you. Who are your clanmates?" A pretty silver she-cat asked.

"That's Fallowpaw of Windclan. The small light brown and gray apprentice is her sister Tinypaw. She's the medicine cat apprentice. The Calico tom is Strikepaw of Shadowclan. The Black tom is Blackpaw and the russet tom is Foxpaw of Riverclan." Honeypaw mewed in our ears. Turning to Fallowpaw, she said, "This is Firepaw and Oakpaw." The other cats nodded in greeting and we nodded in return.

"So how's your training going, Firepaw?" Foxpaw asked. He seemed nice enough.

"Training is going great!" I mewed kindly but cautiously. Foxpaw and I talked until the leaders gave the call for us to be silent. I noticed just before we sat down next to our respective mentors, Oakpaw glared at Foxpaw, but quickly reverted back to his normal happy self. The leaders gave the normal report about prey and all that. I cheered loudly again along with my new friends when my sister and brother were announced. We said our goodbyes rather hastily and left.

"So Firepaw, how was the gathering?" I looked up into the wise eyes of my mentor.

"It was great!" I purred. She purred and flicked my ear with her tail tip before going to her den. I yawned and walked over to the apprentice's den and laid down in my nest. It felt like I was only asleep for a blink before an ear-splitting shriek woke me up. I jumped on my paws thinking that we were under attack when I saw Jayfeather run into the nursery with a bunch of leaves in his mouth. Sorrelpaw followed nervously carrying a stick.

Honeypaw padded blearily up to me. "What's wrong?" I turned to her. "I think Berrybush or Clovertail is kitting." I whispered, angling my ears in the direction of the nursery where you could see one either Badgerfang or Waspwhisker pacing. Clouds had covered the moon and it appeared to look like rain. It was too hard to tell which one it was.

She nodded. "Well staying up won't make them come any faster. Let's go to sleep and see our new clanmates in the morning." I mewed a quiet agreement and curled back up next to her. Oakpaw rolled over in his nest and pressed his head against my back purring. I let out a sleepy purr before closing my eyes to go to sleep.


OOOooo, he's getting jealous