New chapter. Hmmm, what will happen at the Gathering?


Snowpaw trotted out of the apprentice's den. He gave a luxurious stretch in the sun and breathed in the scents. It was just after the sun rose, and Molepaw and Cherrypaw were gone. They had gone on the dawn patrol with Foxleap and Icecloud, their mentors.

Breathing in scents again, he smelled Dapplepaw heading over, Flarepaw was waking up, and that the fresh kill pile was newly stocked.

"Hi," he called to his sister as she padded up to him.

Dapplepaw let out a purr. "I'm starving."

Flarepaw was scratching her back on the den wall. "Me too. Go pick something to eat, you two."

Snowpaw never got to pick anything he wanted. It always had to fit his mother's standards. But Quailsong is a warrior now. She doesn't have to fuss over my prey.

The siblings went to the fresh kill pile. They chose a small red squirrel to split as their breakfast and sat down in a pool of sunlight to finish it. Flarepaw grabbed a vole and sat by them. The three ate their breakfast and shared tongues. Snowpaw never felt more peaceful and happy.

"Snowpaw!" He heard a voice call him from the clearing. "Time for training!"

"Good luck," whispered Dapplepaw. "I'm going to the medicine den."

Snowpaw nodded to Flarepaw. "You coming?"

"No. I'm going hunting in a bit with Millie." That was her mentor. "Okay."

Snowpaw trotted to the main clearing and greeted Mudfur. "What will we do first?"

"I'm going to show you the territory," said Mudfur. "We can hunt on the way."

Snowpaw's tail stood straight up in the air. Great!

The two trotted out of the gorse barrier tunnel and stood looking at the woods. Snowpaw felt a rush of excitement.

"I'll take you up the old Thunderpath and up to the Twoleg nest," Mudfur decided.

Snowpaw gave a small nod, and the two toms exited the stone hollow and trotted toward the "Thunderpath."

Mudfur stopped in the midst of the forest. "Can you smell something harsh?"

Snowpaw breathed deeply. "Yuck! It smells like stone, with a slight tang to it."

"Wait till you smell a used one," Mudfur chuckled.

The toms padded along the hard stone edge for a while. They found a small pool and began to drink from it. Snowpaw was getting quite hot, and the earliest insects and birds were singing in the trees.

Soon Snowpaw smelled something rotting, and they came upon some wooden Twoleg thing.

"That's a Twoleg nest," Mudfur explained. "They live in those."

"Why do they need such big nests?"

"Dunno."

The mentor and apprentice stopped. "Okay," said Mudfur. "I really shouldn't be doing this, but I'll try to teach you the hunter's crouch as quick as I can."

Snowpaw nodded excitedly.

Mudfur folded his limbs and flattened himself to the ground, and glided forward silently, forepaws gliding over the ground.

"This is how you stalk a mouse, squirrel, vole, or rabbit," explained Mudfur. "These animals will feel your pawsteps through the ground. However, a rabbit will also smell you, and they are extremely quick, so I'll have to show you that and birdstalking another time. You try it."

Snowpaw copied his movements. They felt funny, and he staggered, but Mudfur blinked at him proudly.

"Good try. We can see if you can catch any prey on the way back."

Snowpaw and Mudfur kept a nice, steady trot through the woods. They got to a meadow.

"We fought ShadowClan over this before you were born," explained Mudfur. "There isn't much prey, so I don't know why we fought over it. Sometimes you find something, though. However, when we fought, Russetfur, the old deputy, died, and Firestar lost a life."

Mudfur's eyes clouded with pain. "About a quarter moon though, ShadowClan came to get revenge. They came crashing through the tunnel about sunhigh." His legs began to shake. "A tom named Blackfire killed Skipelt. Then when Silverfur, a young warrior- she was a pretty young thing- jumped on him to get revenge, he slashed her eye. She killed him accidently soon after that, but it got infected and she died the next day." Skipelt was his mate.

"The battle went on for the rest of the day. Two ShadowClan toms fell- Hawkeye and Foxpelt- from our warriors. Then Sunpaw, one of our apprentices, went as well.

"But there was nothing worse than the aftermath. All our food- gone. Our herbs were trampled. Cats hurt, scarred. And what hurt the most was that Frostkit, Flarekit's sister, was gone. She had bolted away from the patrol that came to rescue the kits. Something got her out in the forest. But we had won. ShadowClan retreated. But we lost the most."

Snowpaw said nothing. He drew the scents in over his tongue- Mouse!

He tapped Mudfur on the shoulder and began to stalk it. The brown furred small creature was sitting on a tree root nibbling a seed, its back to him. He crept up on it. Soon he would have it- his first prey…

The mouse suddenly froze and gave a bolt. Mouse dung!

Snowpaw propelled himself through the air at it and trapped it between his paws. He stuck his claw through the back of its neck. The mouse flailed and lay still.

Snowpaw sensed Mudfur behind him. "Well done," he praised warmly. "Though it ran, and the kill wasn't so clean, you got it. And that's what counts in the long run."

Snowpaw was proud as he carried his mouse into camp.

"Woah!" yelled Hazelkit as she ran out of the nursery. "You got one on your first try!"

But deep down Snowpaw felt self-conscious as Mudfur bragged to all the warriors about how his apprentice killed a mouse on the first try.

Snowpaw set the mouse down and asked Mudfur what to do with it.

"Take it and put it in the apprentice's pile."

Snowpaw carried it to the apprentice's clearing and just ate it. It was midday, and everyone was eating anyway.

Dapplepaw trotted over. "I heard about your-"

"Don't say it," Snowpaw grumbled. "I've heard it enough."

"Okay," Dapplepaw said. "I saw the territory. Jayfeather and I gathered marigold." Her eyes sparkled. "What did you do?"

"I saw the territory and caught this mouse. Are you hungry?"

"No thanks," said Dapplepaw. "Jayfeather and I shared a rabbit. Come on, let's go see if we're going to the Gathering!"

Firestar was naming who would go to the Gathering. "Me, Brambleclaw, Jayfeather, Dapplepaw, Quailsong, Thornclaw, Ivypool, Dovesong, Mudfur, and Snowpaw."

Dapplepaw nudged him. "Told you so!"

Snowpaw turned to Mudfur. "What should I do now?"

"We're going to go to the training hollow for a bit. Then you'll take a nap for the Gathering. Come, I'll show you how to stalk rabbits and birds."


A paw was shaking him awake. "Wake," said Dapplepaw in her soft voice. "We must leave."

Snowpaw had some battle training and some stalking demonstration. He didn't even eat before he fell asleep.

Snowpaw and Dapplepaw padded softly into the moonlight up to Thornclaw and Quailsong.

Thornclaw nudged him. "Excited?"

"Can't wait!"

"Well, you must eat first, you two," Quailsong said gently.

She took two mice from the fresh kill pile. Then she sat down with Thornclaw to eat one. Dapplepaw and Snowpaw ate it hurriedly.

The father, mother, and kits padded up to where everyone was getting ready to leave.

Ivypool stood over him, eyes glowing softly. "Cats from all Clans will be there. Don't fight. You'll probably kill them."

A purr formed in Snowpaw's throat and he brushed pelts with her.

"Time to go," alerted Firestar.

The band formed together. Snowpaw stuck close to his parents and Mudfur. He also noticed Ivypool stayed near him.

They approached the sands by the lake. Snowpaw breathed in. He smelled rabbits, and fresh smells of cats. WindClan.

They soon approached the marshes near the island before the moon got any lower. It was full and at its highest point in the sky, shining silver.

"Okay," Mudfur told him. "Grasp the log with unsheathed claws and use your tail to keep balance. Watch me."

Mudfur crossed the log and jumped off. "Try," he called to him.

Snowpaw felt odd crossing the log, but he didn't fall.

When ThunderClan was safely across, the groups broke up.

"Go talk with other Clan apprentices," said Quailsong. "Just remember that one day you may face these cats in battle. That is why you cannot love another cat from another Clan."

Snowpaw looked around for the apprentices. There were two groups- one of toms, one of she-cats, sitting in a circle.

She-cats! Snowpaw's excitement spiked as he scanned the circle for one to talk to.

That's when he saw her.

Her pelt glowed even more silver in the moonlight, crossed with stripes as black as night. Her eyes shone a soft green. Snowpaw felt an overwhelming urge to talk to her. He remembered his mother's warning, but it seemed to disappear as he padded toward her.

"Hi," he said breathlessly when he approached her. "I'm Snowpaw."

"Jadepaw," she said as she stared into his eyes.

The other she-cats giggled nervously.

"I'm from RiverClan," said Jadepaw. "And you're from… ThunderClan?"

"Yes. Can you show me the island?"

Jadepaw turned to her friends. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," said a small leopard-patterned female from ShadowClan. "Go have fun with your new partner."

"Shut up, Leopardpaw," said Jadepaw as they began to pad away.

I can't believe it! I totally scored with the prettiest apprentice!

"So, how long have you been an apprentice?" he asked Jadepaw.

"About a moon and a half. You?"

"A day…"

Jadepaw showed him the Gathering clearing and the Great Oak where the leaders sat.

As the two of them padded alongside each other, Snowpaw felt a great feeling for her. Like intense attraction. He wanted to be near her, to smell her fur. He hoped she felt the same way.

The two of them suddenly heard a yowl: "Cats of all Clans!"

"Come on!" Jadepaw called as she hared toward the clearing.

Snowpaw was on her tail. Cats from all four Clans were in the clearing, talking, staring up at the leaders. Four cats were in the branches, Firestar one of them. On a root at the bottom of the tree sat four more, one of them Brambleclaw. And on a root on the right of the tree sat seven cats. Snowpaw made out Jayfeather's striped pelt and Dapplepaw's mottled pelt among them.

"In the branches are the leaders," Jadepaw hissed quietly. "The ginger one is your leader, Firestar. The brown tabby is WindClan's leader, Onestar. The white tom with black paws is ShadowClan's leader, Blackstar. And the gray she-cat is Mistystar, RiverClan's leader. My leader."

The two found a spot near the other apprentices and watched the leaders.

"Now, down on the left root are the deputies," continued Jadepaw. "The golden tabby tom is Rowanclaw of ShadowClan. The dark brown tabby is your deputy of course. The dark gray queen is Ashfoot. She's from WindClan. And my deputy is the black tom, Reedwhisker."

"The cats on the right root are medicine cats. The golden tabby and gray tabby queens are my medicine cats, Mothwing and Willowshine, respectively. The splotchy gray and white tom is the WindClan medicine cat, Kestrelflight. Then the small brown tabby tom and ginger tom are the ShadowClan medicine cats, Littlecloud and Flametail. Then your medicine cats, Jayfeather and Dapplepaw. Isn't she your sister?"

"Yep."

"Cats of the four Clans," said Mistystar in a smooth voice, "we gather tonight under the full moon in peace to share our news. I will start for RiverClan."

"Now she announces what's new with us," explained Jadepaw.

"We have two new warriors, Mossyfur and Hollowtree," said Mistystar.

A chant rose up from the crowd: "Mossyfur! Hollowtree!"

Jadepaw poked Snowpaw in the side. "Chant with them!"

The chants soon died down and Mistystar spoke again. "And Duskfur has one kit, of Pebblefoot's. She had one tom kit, Rockkit."

"Duskfur! Duskfur!"

"The fish are in great numbers and there isn't a single hungry belly."

WindClan reported the pregnancy of Swallowtail with Harespring's kits, and ShadowClan reported the death of Cedarheart and chasing a fox off their borders.

Then Firestar stepped up.

"ThunderClan has two new apprentices, Dapplepaw, who is the new medicine cat apprentice, and Snowpaw, a warrior apprentice."

Snowpaw puffed out his chest while the chant rose up: "Snowpaw! Dapplepaw!"

It was over all too soon. "Clans leave soon," called a deputy. "Say your goodbyes."

"Come with me," Snowpaw said to Dapplepaw.

Too bad this will only last for tonight. I won't let it go on. But I'll enjoy tonight as it lasts.

Snowpaw spotted a small secluded beach on the west of the island. He padded toward it.

"Where are you going?" mewed Jadepaw.

"To the beach. I want to see it," replied Snowpaw.

Snowpaw and Jadepaw sat down by each other, watching the tide roll in.

"The moon's so pretty," Snowpaw said as the pair looked up at it.

"Yeah…" sighed Jadepaw.

Snowpaw inched a bit closer to see how she would react.

Jadepaw did nothing. She just let out a purr.

So taking that as happiness, Snowpaw twined tails with her.

Jadepaw was silent, staring at him.

"We're breaking the warrior code," she finally mewed in a small voice, drawing her tail away.

"I'm sorry," Snowpaw meowed.

"I liked it…" Jadepaw said. "I've only known you for one night, and I already… really like you…"

"Me too…"

The pair twined their tails again for a while, staring up at the moon, pelts brushing.

"ThunderClan is leaving!"

"Bye, Jadepaw," sighed Snowpaw.

He padded toward his group and they began to leave.

Snowpaw and Dapplepaw chatted about what they saw and who they met as they approached the log. He crossed it with ease.

However, right before he jumped off, he heard his name:

"Snowpaw!"

Snowpaw turned around to see Jadepaw running across the slippery log. "Snowpaw! Snowpaw!"

"Jadepaw…"

Before he could get her name out, Jadepaw slipped and fell into the water with a splash.

Snowpaw rushed forward, ready to help.

Soon a silver head popped out of the water and Jadepaw emerged, shaking herself. "Yeah… Bye, Snowpaw."

His whiskers twitched. "Bye, Jadepaw."

Snowpaw hurried toward the group, his head full of thoughts about the pretty she-cat. Yet he couldn't help thinking he had to have saw her before…


An extra long chapter. I typed it in two days!

So who do you think the silver cat is? Is it an older Hazelkit with a silver pelt? Is it Ivypool? Could it be… Jadepaw? Or someone else?

Comment with your vote. However, I won't tell who it is!