Chapter 8

Mistpaw lowered her head, tears running down her face. Pinespeck leaned down and put his tail on her shoulder. "There, there," he mewed sympathetically. "I know how you feel. I felt this way when I lost my dad-" Mistpaw snarled. "Get your paws off me!" she spat. "You don't even know how this feels!" she turned away, sobbing quietly. Eventually, a poppy seed apeared next to her. The apprentice gulped it down and grieved untill she fell asleep.

(*)~~~~~~~~~~~~(*)

Mistpaw stood in her camp. Badgers snarled and she saw her siblings cowering. A badger loomed over them snarling. Mistpaw watched in horror. A voice whispered in her ear, "Save the ones you love." Mistpaw turned and saw a StarClan warrior. "Who are you?!" she growled. The cat blinked at her. "I'm Firestar," he mewed.

Mistpaw stared at him. "No way. The legendary one?" He nodded. "Like, the one who used to be a kittypet?" Firestar nodded again. She stared. Then everything began to fade. "Wait!" she called. "Why is everything fading?! Come back! No!"

She woke up writhing in her nest and panted. What was that dream about? she wondered.

(*)~~~~~~~~~~(*)

It was a half moon after Raintail's death. Mistpaw followed her Clan to the Gathering. They crossed the tree-bridge and hopped down to the other side. Then ShadowClan entered the Gathering. Mistpaw's eyes widened. So many cats! The other three Clans were already there. Mistpaw stared around with wide eyes. "Go talk to the other apprentices," meowed Redfox over his shoulder as he walked away. Mistpaw nodded and walked toward a small cluster of apprentices.

"Hi," she said timidly as she walked up. The other apprentices stared at her. "Why is ShadowClan bringing kits to Gatherings?" an apprentice then asked. Mistpaw flinched. "I-i'm actually an apprentice," she mewed. "Oh." the apprentices continued to stare, then a WindClan apprentice asked, "Er...wheres your mother?" Mistpaw winced, and grief came rushing back. "Um..a ThunderClan warrior killed her." More silence. Mistpaw was aware that Wingpaw was staring at her.

Luckily Swiftstar called, "Let the Gathering begin!" Cats gathered together in their groups. Mistpaw sat down in between Darkpaw and Applepaw. Applepaw smirked at her as she sat down. "WindClan is thriving, despite leaf-bare approaching," meowed Swiftstar. "I'm happy to say that we have two more warriors in the Clan! Skyclaw and Maplewind!" cats called their names. Mistpaw called aswell.

Squirrelstar of ThunderClan rose on her branch-Mistpaw felt a growl rise in her throat, remembering how the orange she-cat had almost killed her. "ThunderClan is amazing. We fought off a ShadowClan raid, that sadly killed Smallfoot-" she shot a glare at Owlstar-"but other than that, everything is fine. Prey is running well." Then Mistystar rose on her branch of the tree. Mistpaw looked at the old she-cat in awe. She had been leader during the Great Battle. "RiverClan is well, and fish are practically jumping into our mouths." Mistystar nodded at Owlstar and sat down.

Owlstar looked tired, hungry, and battle-scarred compared to the other leaders. Why are all the other Clans doing so much better than us? wondered Mistpaw. "Although ThunderClan has attacked us-" Squirrelstar hissed. "You attacked us, mouse-brain!" Owlstar glared at her and continued. "Although we lost the battle with ThunderClan, we are doing well. Sadly, Raintail has been killed-" Mistpaw felt the familiar grief rise in her throat- "but we have three new apprentices. Mistpaw, Applepaw, and Bluepaw!" Mistpaw froze- everyone was calling her name! She noticed that WindClan and ThunderClan were sitting in tense silence.

"That's it." Owlstar nodded and jumped down from his branch, along with other leaders. "I thought the Clans shared tongues after the leaders speak," commented Mistpaw in surprise to Darkpaw. "I guess it's too tense among the Clans to speak tonight," responded Darkpaw. "C'mon."

The she-cats ran to catch up with their Clan. What a night! thought Mistpaw. What an eventful night. And she raced after ShadowClan.

(*)~~~~~~~~~~(*)

Hey there! :) I hope ya like this Chapter! Thanks to all the people who are actually reading this FanFic, I really appreciate it! Mistpaw went to her first Gathering, finally! But looks like more tension between WindClan, ThunderClan, and ShadowClan. Will there be another battle? Who knows! (Probably not though lol)