Eveningpaw bounced beside her mentor, breathing in the cool air of the dark night. Her pelt was tingling with excitement, and every step was sprinkled with a skip.
"For StarClan's Sake, stop that!" Mudfur barked when Eveningpaw accidentally crashed into him. "You're almost like Pebblepaw! Act a bit more dignified!"
Pebblepaw had been dashing around in excitement, sniffing at everything and letting out random squeals. Eveningpaw shot a glance at Yellowstripe. The pale yellow-and-gray she-cat was walking slowly, with her head bent and eyes tired. A pang of symphony hit her for the tired mentor. Pebblepaw's excitement must be tough for Yellowstripe, especially since she wasn't too young.
Diamondstar looked back from the front of the party. "The puddles are quite large tonight!" she called warningly. "Nothing serious, but make sure the apprentices don't get wet!"
"Puddles!?" Pebblepaw gasped excitedly.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Yellowstripe snarled, jumping at the little black spotty she-cat. But she missed drastically and crashed to the ground, cursing and grumbling as she hauled herself upwards.
Pebblepaw dashed all the way to the front of the group. Eveningpaw winced when she heard a loud splash and several angered mewls.
"What am I going to do with that pesky kit!" Yellowstripe growled, shaking her pelt. Once looking sleek and smooth like a pale, polished bee, her fur was rumpled and bitted with leaves and twig. "She's too hard to keep up with!"
Addertail nuzzled his mate. "You're always complaining about how sore you are!" he laughed, resting his tail on her back.
"I have a right to be sore." Yellowstripe murmurered, but she was calmer now.
"You'd better go get her." Cricketleg meowed to Yellowstripe. The tabby sighed and ran to get Pebblepaw.
Mudfur shot Eveningpaw a glance, and she shrugged. Mudfur got the message and nodded as they continued walking.
"But Yellowstriiiiiiipe!" A shrill whine came from ahead. "I wanna walk with Eveningpaw!"
"Maybe you should have considered them before jumping into that puddle!"
"It was a small one!"
"A small one got you sopping wet!"
"Not sopping! Maybe damp..."
"A puddle's a puddle, Pebblepaw! What were you thinking!?"
"Well maybe I wasn't thinking!"
Mudfur sighed. "That sister of yours has got Yellowstripe's paws full. I suppose Yellowstripe is making her walk away from the group, and far from you."
Eveningpaw nodded a bit. "Are we getting close?" She asked her mentor curiously.
"Very." Mudfur said. "I noticed you were too busy listening to the drama to realize we've already passed the lake."
"WE HAVE!?" Eveningpaw tilted her head back, but all she saw was a tip of the big silver pool. "Ooh, I missed it!"
"That's alright!" Mudfur laughed. "There'll be plenty of other Gatherings to pass the lake by."
"Oh." Eveningpaw blinked.
Mudfur studied her. "Nervous?"
"A bit."
"I remember my first Gathering!" Mudfur laughed. "I kept tripping over my paws. My mentor-He's in StarClan now-kept telling me to be brave and confident! But when we reached the GreatOaks, I made a fool of myself in front of the MountainClan leader! Ohohoho! You should've seen the look on Copperstar's face, Eveningpaw!"
Eveningpaw giggled, trying to image her strong, jolly mentor as a tiny apprentice tripping and stumbling. Surprisingly, she thought of when Mosspaw was kit. He'd been quite clumsy.
She was sad that he hadn't been able to make it. "Perhaps we can catch up." Echosong had said.
"We've made it!" Mudfur said, and Eveningpaw looked up to see a small hill. It was surrounded by thick bracken and bushes. In the center of the hill was one of the biggest trees Eveningpaw had ever seen.
"EVENINGPAW!" Something wet tackled Eveningpaw. Eveningpaw shook it off and gave her wet shoulder a lick.
"What?" Eveningpaw asked in an exasperated breath.
"Eveningpaw, Eveningpaw! Guess what! I SEEEEEEEEEEEEE IT! AND. ITS REALLY BIG! And, and-"
"I see the tree too!" Eveningpaw said. Pebblepaw beamed.
"Let's go! Let's go!" Pebblepaw called, jumping up and down. Her fur was spiky from drying all wet and rumpled.
"Oh no you don't!" Yellowstipe stomped up to her apprentice. "You're going to groom yourself until you look just like your sister!"
"I can't change pelt colors!" Pebblepaw whined, but she began licking herself furiously. In remarkable time, her pelt looked fine.
"There!" Pebblepaw coughed, then stuck out her tongue and pawed at it, spitting some black fur from her mouth in disgust. "I'm nice again! Can I go now?"
"Fine." Yellowstripe leapt through the bushes.
"HEY!" Pebblepaw charged after her mentor, crashing straight through the bushes.
"Go on." Mudfur nudged Eveningpaw. "The bushes are softer and kinder in the parts that are the most parted. Jump through there."
Eveningpaw did-and she crashed into the Gathering area. She rolled along the grass until she bumped into what felt like paws.
Once the pale orange cat blinked, she looked up and met two glaring eyes of hard, sharp ambery gold. It was a tom, a massive tom at that. His dark black-and-brown tabby pelt rippled under strong muscles. One ear was torn, and his left shoulder had a long scar running across it. The large tabby let out a loud hiss, his brown fur spiking up menacingly. Eveningpaw let out a squeak and scrambled backwards.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she squealed, shivering as the big warrior glared at her. He had a very strange scent, and it didn't smell nearly as good as the scent CloudClan cats carried on their pelts. I wonder which Clan he's from. Part of her wondered. The other part of her was very scared. "I didn't mean to crash into you!"
"Now, what's this?" Eveningpaw turned to see Mudfur. Her heart thumped in relief. Her good-humored, reliable mentor would help!
"Is this your apprentice?" the big tom rumbled in a deep voice.
"Yes." Mudfur said.
"Keep her in line." the tom growled. "MountainClan doesn't let puny kits roll around into the claws of enemies."
MountainClan! Eveningpaw gasped a little. A MountainClan warrior! MountianClan is evil!
"I will, Starkstar." Mudfur said with a nod.
Starkstar!? Wow, the MountainClan leader!? You screwed up for good, Eveningpaw, rolling into the MountainClan leader's own giant paws!
Starkstar let out another rumbly growl and stalked off, his bushy tail twitching.
"W-wow…" Eveningpaw muttered. "I can't believe that he didn't slice me into bits!"
Mudfur laughed. "It's the Gathering! Nobody will be slicing you up, just don't pick a fight." The brown tom chuckled to himself. "I guess I wasn't the only one who made a fool of themselves in front of the MountainClan leader. Anyways, why don't you go meet some apprentices from the other Clans?"
"Okay!" Eveningpaw said, nodding a thanks to her mentor. She wasn't too sure where Pebblepaw was, but there was little chance of finding the black-and-spotted she-cat now. The whole clearing was bustling with cats, from huge warriors to apprentices around her size.
Eveningpaw was looking around, her nose twitching at every new scent. There was so much going on that her head started spinning. There was so much to take in!
"GAH!"
Eveningpaw found herself tripping on something. She pulled herself up quickly, not wanting to make a fool of herself for a second time. Then she turned to see whatever root or rock she'd misplaced her paws on.
It wasn't a root or stone. It was a cat. A tiny cat.
"Watch where you're going!" the tiny cat huffed. It was a tawny calico tom, with sharp amber eyes. Everything about him seemed small, and his fur still had that kit-soft fluff to it.
"Don't you know kits aren't allowed at Gatherings?" Eveningpaw asked, tilting her head at the small cat.
The little tan and dark brown cat gasped. "RUDE!" he hissed. "What makes you assume I'm a kit!?"
Everything. "You're small." Eveningpaw tried.
The patchy tom sighed. "I look as if I'm 3 moons old." he moaned.
"I have a friend who was quite small as a kit." Eveningpaw said. "But he's grown a lot now. He's 8 moons old and big!" And Eveningpaw wasn't kidding. Mosspaw had gone from an undersized, weak kit to a strong, sturdy apprentice.
"I'm 7 moons old." the kitten meowed. "And I got held back from apprenticeship!"
So did Mosspaw… Eveningpaw thought, but she stayed quiet.
"I'm Eveningpaw." she said to him. "Um…sorry for tripping on you."
"Eaglepaw." he said back with a polite nod. He didn't mention her apology. "I'm from WindClan. And I'm guessing you're from CloudClan? You have that misty scent on you."
"You have a sharp nose." Eveningpaw said.
Eaglepaw purred. "You need one when you're sniffling at herbs all day!"
"Oh, you're a medicine cat apprentice?" Eveningpaw could see the tiny calico sorting herbs. It was more likely than him being a warrior.
"Yeah." Eaglepaw said. "I'm Brightberry's apprentice."
Eveningpaw would have said more, but she suddenly heard a loud mewl from above.
"THE GATHERING HAS BEGUN!"