Berrypaw sprinted into the clearing on Brightstar's signal and headed for the apprentices. It was time for the gathering, and ThunderClan was kind of late. He and Lionpaw sat down with the other apprentices. Horsepaw was telling the story about when he warned the clan of a badger that they still hadn't gotten rid of yet.

"You know," Berrypaw remarked, "there's a badger in ThunderClan territory too."

"There have been sightings of badger in WindClan in three different places!" Featherpaw piped up.

"We've seen them in RiverClan too!" Mosspaw mewed in alarm.

"I've never seen a badger." Lionpaw meowed. "What does it look like?"

"It's huge!" Dogpaw exclaimed.

"With gigantic teeth and claws!" Burningpaw added.

"And it's black and white." Runningpaw finished. "With a long snout."

"Why does that sound familiar?" Lionpaw looked at Berrypaw to see if he had the answer. He just looked back at him, confused. They heard a loud meow from the top of the Great rock. Venomstar was standing there along with the other clan leaders.

"May I start?" He asked.

"Of course you may." Hawkstar answered as she took a step back.

"Cats of all clans," Venomstar announced. "I have an important announcement. We have spotted badgers in our territory. They have been found in four different places, and their smells were slightly different. We must take action about this."

"Excuse me," Bramblestar took a step forward. "May I interrupt?"

"Certainly." Venomstar took his place next to the other intently listening leaders.

"There are badgers in our territory too!" She mewed. "Three of them, all in different parts of our territory. They have already taken two of our kits."

"The same with us." Brightstar interrupted. "Except that they have not taken any of our kits. Plus we have killed one."

"What fine warrior has done this?" Venomstar asked.

"It wasn't a warrior." Brightstar purred.

"Then you must have slain it yourself, right?" Hawkstar guessed.

"I wasn't finished. It wasn't a warrior. It was an apprentice." She looked over at the apprentice group. Everyone looked confused.

"You must be joking!" Bramblestar exclaimed. "Very funny."

"No, I think she's serious." Venomstar mewed. "And which apprentice was this?"

"Our very own," Brightstar took a deep breath, "Lionpaw." Everyone looked immediately at Lionpaw. Lionpaw jumped.

"That was a badger!?!" She shouted. "I thought it was a big mouse!" Everyone started laughing.

"Whoa." All the apprentices mewed in awe.

"According to Grassear," Brightstar went on, "she killed it like it was a mouse."

"That's because I thought it was a mouse!" Lionpaw piped up.

"However you did it," Venomstar meowed, "you killed a badger as an apprentice. Do you think that maybe you might be able to visit ShadowClan and I don't know, kill our badgers?"

"Or maybe RiverClan?" Hawkstar suggested hopefully.

"Or how about WindClan?" Bramblestar mewed. Soon, the whole crowd of cats was asking her to kill off their badgers. The ThunderClan cats were either telling her to do it or not to do it. Berrypaw was in awe. Lionpaw was getting popular with all the clan cats fast. Lionpaw climbed up on top of the Great rock and padded over to Brightstar.

"What should I do, Brightstar?" She timidly asked. "Should I take the offers, or turn them down? I'm really confused!"

"I say you should take the offer, but it's your choice." Brightstar meowed. She got closer and whispered, "This is your time to shine, Lionpaw. You could save the forest from a badger infestation. It's time to see if your really warrior material."

Lionpaw walked up to the edge of Great rock, and everyone silenced. "I have decided. I will get rid of these badgers once and for all." The crowd cheered. She looked down at them. "On one condition." The crowd silenced again, bracing themselves for the roar of disapproval when she said that she wanted hunting rights on their territory for her clan.

"I get to keep the dead badger." She finished. The crowd sighed in relief.

"That sound fair enough." Hawkstar purred. "She's the one who's going to kill them, she should keep it."

"Besides, what use would a dead badger be?" Venomstar pointed out.

"It's settled then." Bramblestar decided. "You will be granted entrance to our territory until all the badgers are gone. We will keep an eye on you when you enter our territory, and will be forbidden to hunt there, except for badgers. You keep whatever

badgers you kill. Do all the clan leaders, and Lionpaw, agree to this?" Everyone nodded.

"It's settled than." Hawkstar purred. "Let's get on with the gathering."