Chapter Five
Please remember, no flames, or you shall be thrown in the dungeon! Bwa ha ha ha!
DISCLAIMER
If I owned warriors, Feathertail would've survived the fall, the three would belong to Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, and Spottedleaf and Firestar would never have loved each other.
Clearpaw sat next to Bumblepaw, seeking comfort from the warmth of his fur. Ten sunrises ago, Clearpaw had woken up after a long vigil beside her father's cold body. They were now sharing a chaffinch; leaf-fall was coming, and prey was already becoming scarce. Tonight Clearpaw and her siblings were going to the gathering. Firestar had said that they were apprentices and should be able to go to gatherings, but Clearpaw knew he was just trying to cheer them up slightly by presenting them to their first gathering. Though she was still grief-ridden, she couldn't ignore the tingle in her paws as she thought of the gathering. Bumblepaw sat up, and shook himself.
"Are you ready, Clearpaw?" Clearpaw looked at Bumblepaw, fixing him with friendly blue eyes.
"Yeah, come on!" She took a last mouthful and started padding to the camp entrance, where the other cats were slowly gathering. Bumblepaw sat down beside Clearpaw as they waited for Firestar at the entrance of the camp.
"I can't wait!" Beside Clearpaw, Lighteningpaw's amber eyes flashed with excitement and anticipation. The flame-coloured apprentice waved his tail in greeting as Firestar bounded toward the group.
"Come on." He led the way through the forest, soon reaching WindClan territory. Silverpaw dashed around, her green eyes glinting in the moonlight.
"I never knew that there was so much territory past ours!" Clearpaw purred agreement, and gave her sister's shoulders a quick lick. They soon reached a fallen tree. Clearpaw had heard the story of how it got there, many times, as she tended to the elders on various occasions. She wriggled her haunches, ready to leap up and grip the slippery wood, but she heard her name called behind her.
"Clearpaw, look at you! Your fur is sticking out everywhere! This is your first gathering, and Brambleclaw would've expected you to be clean." Clearpaw turned around and saw Squirrelflight angrily looking at her. She bounded over to Clearpaw, and started swiping her tongue over her fur until it shone softly in the moonlight.
"There." Though her tone was brisk, Clearpaw saw her mother's eyes shining with pride. She followed the ginger warrior to the slippery trunk, sinking in her long claws. She jumped down, where Firestar was waiting at the top. Waving his tail, he sprinted down a slope, bursting into a clearing full of cats. Suddenly daunted at the sight of these lean warriors, Clearpaw pressed against Bumblepaw, trying to comfort herself with the familiar scent.
"Come on! I want to meet some other cats!" Silverpaw mewed to Bumblepaw, bouncing up and down like a kit.
"Yeah, Bumblepaw, you promised you'd introduce us." There was a playful gleam in Lighteningpaw's eyes as he batted Bumblepaw's flank with his tail.
"Ok then. Come with me." Bumblepaw trotted toward a bundle of fur, which looked nearly the size of three warriors. He flicked his tail over one of the ears.
"Hello Dawnpaw."
"Hmm? Who's Dawnpaw? I only know a Dawnpelt."
"That's great!" Bumblepaw mewed excitedly. "I want you to meet my friends, Clearpaw," he flicked his tail over her ear affectionately, "Silverpaw," he pointed to the tortoiseshell with a flick of his ears, "and Lighteningpaw." He nodded toward the flame-pelted tom. Clearpaw felt a twinge of jealously stir in her stomach when Dawnpelt twined her tail with Bumblepaw's. She shrugged it off. Dawnpelt was his friend, nothing more, and besides, why should Clearpaw care where Bumblepaw's affections fell?
"Hello Clearpaw." Dawnpelt purred politely. "These are my brothers, Flametail and Tigerheart." Flametail was a ginger tom – quite like Lighteningpaw. Tigerheart was a dark tabby that reminded Clearpaw of somebody… Brambleclaw! Of course, Brambleclaw was Tawnypelt's brother! This was her kin.
"So how long have you been warriors for?" Silverpaw gazed with grass green eyes at Dawnpelt and her brothers.
"Tigerheart and I have been warriors for almost 2 moons." Turning to face Bumblepaw, she added, "You weren't at the gathering last moon, so you didn't hear."
"Oh, ok."
"What about you, Flametail? When did you become a warrior?" Lighteningpaw was looking at Flametail now, a questioning look in his amber eyes.
"Oh, I'm not a warrior." He mewed.
"Really?" Clearpaw looked at the older tom in surprise. He had sturdy, well-built muscles as if he often used them.
"I'm a medicine cat. Mind you, I do collect herbs and climb up trees. Just because I'm a medicine cat, doesn't mean I can't hunt either." Clearpaw looked down in embarrassment; he had practically read where her thoughts had led. Turning back to Lighteningpaw, he added, "I became Flametail at the half-moon." Clearpaw jumped in surprise as a yowl sounded nearby.
"That's the leaders calling to start the gathering." Bumblepaw explained quietly. Clearpaw looked around in embarrassment hoping no one else had seen her surprise. She faced Dawnpelt.
"It was nice to meet you. I hope we each other at the next gathering." Clearpaw licked her shoulder and Dawnpelt returned the friendly gesture.
"I hope so too." She padded off with her brothers.
"Come on, Clearpaw. Are you going to stay there all night?" The impatient mew of her sister came behind her.
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Clearpaw blinked as a much gentler and deeper voice sounded near her ear.
"Let's sit over there." Bumblepaw gestured with his tail toward a tree where other cats were gathering. She settled down, and pricked her ears as Blackstar, a white tom with huge jet-black paws, began reporting.
"ShadowClan do well this Greenleaf. We welcome Flametail, who received his name at the Moonpool at half-moon." A murmur of congratulations rose up and the ginger tom nodded in acknowledgement. Blackstar stepped back, allowing Leopardstar to report.
"RiverClan do well too. The fish are practically jumping out of the stream. We welcome three new warriors. Beetlewhisker, Petalfur and Grasspelt sat vigil a quarter moon ago." Three cats stood up, but they were on the other side of the clearing, and Clearpaw did not see them properly. Leopardstar had stepped back and Firestar was speaking.
"We have also done well this greenleaf though a great warrior joined StarClan. Brambleclaw was fighting a badger, fatally wounding himself to protect his clan. We mourn for the loss. Spiderleg is the new ThunderClan deputy." Firestar stepped back, his eyes clouding with grief. Many cats bowed their heads, and an anguished yowl echoed in the silent night. Clearpaw guessed it was Brambleclaw's sister, Tawnypelt. A murmur of sad congratulations rose, Spiderleg raised his head proudly, but his eyes gave away the grief he felt. Onestar stepped forward, and a few WindClan warriors muttered something, glaring angrily at Firestar. Only Crowfeather who had travelled to the sun-drown place, and was honoured in nursery stories, had his head bowed in grief.
"Firestar, I believe you have left something out." Onestar mewed quietly, as Firestar's ears pricked, eyes clouded with confusion and pain. Clearpaw looked at the mottled WindClan leader. Did he have bees in his brain? He must, otherwise he wouldn't accuse Firestar of leaving out news about ThunderClan.
"You're clan is full of thieves!" Clearpaw gasped at the leaders hissed words.
"Are you calling my warriors disloyal?" Firestar said, fire burning in his eyes.
"Are you saying I can't pick up your rank scent when I smell it?" The two leaders glared at each other, tension crackling through the island like lighting in a storm.
"ThunderClan have been stealing prey and leaving behind crowfood!" His hiss broke off into a threatening snarl, and the two leaders stared at each other, confusion and anger swam through the clearing.
Ooooh, a cliffy! Bwa ha ha ha!
