Thanks for all of my new reviewers (and the old ones too ;D). You all get Littlepaw plushies! *pulls rope and Littlepaw plushies rain down from the sky* Well here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!
I woke up to see Sparrowtail pawing my shoulder.
"Come on, we're leaving for the Gathering," he whispered.
I stretched and yawned and exited the den. Thrushpaw came running up to me.
"You'll me tell me everything that happens right?" she asked.
"Of course," I mewed.
She licked my forehead before running over to the warm rocks Adderfang came up and stood beside me. He seemed bigger now that he was a warrior.
"You nervous?" he asked me as we began to exit camp.
"Of course not!" I snapped bravely.
"Well you might want to get the moss out of your pelt," Adderfang suggested.
I flicked a piece of moss off my shoulder and I felt Adderfang's rough tongue smoothing my pelt.
"What are you my Mother?" I snorted.
"There, all better," Adderfang meowed.
I looked at my reflection in the lake, and decided I did look better.
It was silent as we headed towards the Gathering Island. It looked so much bigger then it did from the moor. Slowly our clan headed across the tree bridge.
"Careful, the bridge looks extra slippery. I think I see frost on it!" Adderfang warned me.
When it was my turn, I leaped on and slowly walked across it, digging my claws deep into the bark. Then I saw the icy part in the middle. I attempted to leap across it, but I couldn't jump far enough. I slipped at the end, but managed to stay on the trunk. I then bounded down the roots and landed on the Island. It felt good to have my paws on solid ground again. I felt Adderfang hit the ground beside me.
"Come on, don't be nervous," Adderfang said.
We both padded forward, and I was overwhelmed by the smells of the two clans that were here. I recognized Riverclan's fishy smell, and then there was another smell. It smelled of pines and trees and moss, and it wasn't a good or bad smell.
"I see Riverclan and Thunderclan have already arrived," Adderfang observed.
I looked up to see Goosestar bounding up the large tree. I recognized Moonstar sitting on one of the branches along with a ginger tabby tom that must have been the Thunderclan leader.
I looked around, and saw cats of all pelts, shapes, and sizes. Then suddenly I spotted Robinpaw, Bramblepaw, and a haughty looking Archpaw by the tree trunk. I dashed away from Adderfang and into their direction.
"Lightningpaw!" Robinpaw mewed in welcome as I ran over to her.
We nuzzled and Bramblepaw and I touched noses.
"You're an apprentice already?" Bramblepaw asked.
"Yup! And I caught a rabbit bigger then me today so Sparrowtail let me come to the Gathering," I mewed, deciding not to mention that I was here because I could defeat a full-grown warrior on my own.
"You sure are small for an apprentice," Archpaw scoffed.
"Well I'll be bigger and badder than you someday, so shut your mouth!" I snorted.
A purr rumbled in Bramblepaw's throat.
"He's so cute isn't he?" Robinpaw whispered.
I pretended not to hear that.
"Look! Its Shadowclan's new leader, Timberstar," Archpaw hissed.
I looked over to see a large brown tom pushing his way through the crowd, followed by a black she-cat with pale green eyes.
"They say he killed the former leader, Fallowstar, just so he could rise to power," Archpaw whispered.
Swiftstar let out a yowl, and the swarm of cats grew silent.
"Thunderclan will share first. Kinktail recently gave birth to two kits, Pinekit and Frostkit. Snowstorm is their proud father," Swiftstar started.
Mews of congratulations rippled through the clans and the white furred deputy at the bottom of the trunk had eyes that shone brightly with pride.
"The prey is running well despite the recent snow," Swiftstar dipped his head, showing the signal another leader could now speak.
Timberstar was about to step forward, but Moonstar stepped in front of him, shooting him a glare.
"Riverclan will share next. The fish have started to swim upstream, so right now prey is plentiful. We also have a new litter of kits, Bumblekit and Driftkit," Moonstar reported.
"The prey is running well in Windclan. We have three new warriors: Adderfang, Windflight, and Dawnstripe," Goosestar said before Timberstar could start talking.
The clans let out yowls of congratulations, but I couldn't spot any of the new warriors in the crowd.
"We also have two new apprentices, Lightningpaw and Thrushpaw," Goosestar continued.
My eyes shone brightly as more mews of congratulations rippled among the cats.
"And we are also thriving despite the recent snow," Goosestar finished.
Timberstar stepped forward, his whiskers twitching angrily.
"As you can all see Fallowstar joined Starclan in the past moon. And Starclan has declared me as the new leader of Shadowclan," Timberstar said.
Suddenly everything went dark. I heard gasps from all the cats.
"What happened?" I hissed to Robinpaw.
"The clouds covered the full moon. This means Starclan is unhappy," Robinpaw whispered back.
"It means Timberstar is not meant to lead Shadowclan!" a tabby Thunderclan tom only a few fox-lengths away from me yowled.
"What? That's mouse-dung! He was Fallowstar's deputy and he was granted his 9 lives from Starclan!" the black she-cat that was his deputy spat back.
"How do you know Larksong? You weren't at his leader ceremony!" Brackenclaw snapped from somewhere in the crowd.
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the cats.
"Quiet all of you! Starclan did not cover the moon! Haven't you ever realized that the clouds move across the sky? Well the clouds just moved over the moon because they move regularly! See, the moon is uncovered now!" Timberstar yowled.
"How dare you go against Starclan's decision!" some cat screeched.
I heard yowls and snarls and hisses of protest until Moonstar took control.
"All of you stop! We are supposed to be meeting here in peace. And it is Timberstar's fault for starting the outbreak by going against what Starclan says. This Gathering is over!" she yowled.
Moonstar was about bound down the tree when Timberstar leaped forward and pinned her down by tail. So Moonstar was dangling from a tree branch by the tip of her tail.
"Stop that you ungrateful warrior!" Goosestar yowled as he shoved Timberstar.
Moonstar fell to the ground, but luckily landed on her paws, shocked, but unharmed.
Timberstar clawed at Goosestar's shoulder and I saw the blood drip down the tree trunk.
Can I go kill him? I asked Nightstar.
Sure why not. Nightstar shrugged.
"I'll be right back," I whispered to them.
Timberstar managed to shove Goosestar off the trunk, but Timberstar raced down after him and continued to fight him. I unsheathed my claws and dashed forward, my claws itching for battle.
I let out a yowl, and leaped onto Timberstar's back, digging my claws into his flesh. He let out a yowl, and released his grasp on Goosestar. I let go and dashed under his belly, clawing his underbelly and nipping his ankles. Timberstar attempted to claw at me, but I dodged every one of his blows easily. Then a wonderful idea came to my head. I would let him beat me, and he seemed so blood-thirsty he wouldn't stop until I was dead or almost dead. So I would let him give me a few blows, and then act like I was dying.
I dodged another claw blow and then attempted to dodge the next one, and I went flying. Blood poured out of my side, and I looked at Timberstar. He tossed me aside like a piece of dead prey, and bit my shoulder. I let out a yowl and began whimpering and panting exaggeratingly.
Now the deputies got into fighting with Timberstar, and soon they had him pinned down.
"Lightningpaw!" Lilyfoot yowled as she rushed forward.
I closed my eyes and turned my head to the side.
"My baby!" she screamed.
"Timberstar you do not deserve to be leader. Nearly killing an apprentice that only clawed you once. We have no choice but to kill all of your nine lives," Moonstar said.
I heard a loud yowl as Moonstar gave him a fierce killing bite. All of the deputies stepped back as he writhed and twisted in pain. Then he shuddered and died. A ghostly cat appeared beside him.
"Fallowstar?" Larksong asked.
"I don't understand how I never saw his thirst for blood. Larksong, you will make a much better leader then he ever would. And I give my deepest blessings to Lightningpaw, who was the cat to suffer and stand up to Timberstar," Fallowstar said.
"I didn't either," Larksong shook her head.
"Well thankfully we ended his reign before he could claw the forest to shreds, Larksong, you must go to receive your nine lives tonight. This Gathering is over," Fallowstar ordered before fading away.
Robinpaw and Bramblepaw came running up to me.
"Lightningpaw! Are you okay?" they asked.
"Yah I'm fine. I totally faked it so they would kill Timberstar. I could tell he wanted nothing but evil," I said as I stood up.
"Alright, but you're still getting checked out back at camp. That blood isn't fake," Lilyfoot said.
"I know it's not," I replied.
I began to walk over to where Adderfang was in the crowd when Archpaw intercepted me.
"You and I both know you did that little stunt for attention. You just want all of the clans to know your name, and about your secret ability to be as strong as an average warrior. Well not on my watch. I know you're just a snobby little apprentice, trying to get my sisters' attention so you can betray them and let all of Riverclan fear you," Archpaw growled.
"I am nothing like that! And maybe you're just a snobby and grumpy apprentice who is too conceded to realize that I will become a better warrior then him," I snapped to my defense.
"I'd fight you, right here and right now. But the Gathering is a truce, and I refuse to break the warrior code. Plus, you have injuries which is a disadvantage, and will not make our battle fair. But someday we will fight to the death, and see who the better warrior is," Archpaw hissed before following his clanmates onto the tree bridge.
I fought back the urge to tackle the cat, and raced over to Adderfang's side instead.
"I can't believe you just ran up and attacked Timberstar! How could you lose though? That one blow that hit ya, you could have dodged easy!" Adderfang exclaimed.
"I let him beat me. If the clans realized he would kill an apprentice that only got a few scratches on him, then they would refuse to let Timberstar continue being leader. And I could just tell he would be a very blood-thirsty leader," I replied.
Adderfang didn't ask anymore questions as we walked back to camp. Goosestar slipped through the clan like a fish in the river until he was at my side. But instead of yowling at me like Lilyfoot, he congratulated me.
"That's outstanding what you did over there. As an apprentice I would have never found the courage to attack a leader, no matter how blood-thirsty. I'm very proud of you," Goosestar congratulated me.
"Thanks Dad. I just knew it was the right thing to do," I replied.
"Yes. Well when we get back to camp, I need to have a word with you in my den please," Goosestar ordered
I gulped as he walked away. Uh-oh, I was in trouble most likely. But for what? I tried to think of an explanation, but by the time we had gotten back to camp I could not think of one. Thrushpaw came bouncing up to me the second I entered camp.
"So how was it? Was it fun? Did a fight break out? Why are you bleeding?" Thrushpaw pondered.
"Ask Adderfang," I meowed as I walked back to Goosestar's den, tail drooping.
The glow in Thrushpaw's eyes faded as I turned away. She knew something was wrong. I entered Goosestar's den, and he was grooming himself in his nest. At the top of his den was a hole that let moonlight pour into his den.
"Come here Lightningpaw. You can sit down on some spare moss if you wish," Goosestar said.
I inched forward and sat next to Goosestar, staring up at his magnificent blue eyes.
"Lightningpaw, you are not in trouble. I just have a few questions for you. Most of the clan has realized that you are as tiny as a kit still, but yet you have the strength and knowledge of a warrior. Do you know how this is possible?" he asked.
Remember Lightningpaw, if you speak of me, I will never train you and you will lose all your powers… Nightstar hissed in my head.
"I have no idea. It just happened," I lied.
Goosestar looked at me skeptically, but I managed to keep a serious-looking, straight face. Normally I wasn't a very good liar. Thank Starclan I was a good liar now of all times. Maybe it was Nightstar's power again.
"Are you sure?" Goosestar asked again.
"Positive," I replied.
"Very well. You may go and sleep. But if you stay as strong as you are now, you will be very young when you become a warrior," Goosestar added.
I nodded and left his den, before scampering into the apprentices' den and into my nest. Thrushpaw was already fast asleep. She had been very tired from staying up all night waiting for me. I hoped Adderfang had told her everything. I curled up in my nest and fell almost instantly asleep.
Yes, I know this chapter is a little weird with the whole apprentice attacking a clan leader thing. It seems like kind of time-filler (which it is) but it's a little bit important too. Well, you might not notice it so I guess I'll explain later *sighs*. Okay so this time you will get a…..Timberstar plushie! And if you don't like him for being evil and hurting the other leaders then you get a chainsaw to get with him! (: please review!