Badgerpaw's paws tingled in anticipation as the cats attending the gathering began to gather in the center of camp. Badgerpaw saw Fernleaf, Heathertooth, and Blossomwhisker among them, as well as Featherleg, Raventail, Willownose, and Birdpaw.

"This is wonderful!" Cloudflower purred, walking up beside her. "Your first gathering!"

Badgerpaw shuffled her paws a bit. "Yep," she meowed. "I'm a bit nervous."

Cloudflower purred. "Don't be. You'll always hear bad things about the other Clans, but really, most of them are fine."

Badgerpaw felt skeptical, but she nodded. "If you're sure."

Her mother twitched her tail. "I do wish that Smokepad or I was coming," she admitted. "I would feel a lot better if one of us was there to watch you two."

"Our mentors will be there," Badgerpaw assured her, "and Birdpaw. I'll be alright."

"If you're sure," Cloudflower mewed. "I can ask Raventail if one of us can go…"

"No, really, it's fine," Badgerpaw insisted. Then she looked around. Where was Thistlepaw. The sun was getting low in the sky; they would be leaving soon.

Then, Thistlepaw emerged from the nursery, with Sparrowkit and Leafkit at her paws. The two kits were pouncing after her and chattering away. Badgerpaw felt slightly amused. Her sister hadn't been very appreciative of the kits when they were first born, and now she was willingly playing with them.

"I wish we could go," Leafkit mewled. "It's so unfair that you can but we can't!"

"It is too fair," Thistlepaw purred. "I did my waiting, you've got to do yours!"

Sparrowkit lifted his head and sniffed. "I think Raventail should let us go," he meowed. "He should be showing us off, because we're gonna be the strongest warriors ever."

"Right, mouse-brain," Thistlepaw meowed, rolling her eyes. "I've got to join the others."

"Aw," Leafkit meowed. "Have fun at the gathering! Fight some WindClanners!"

Thistlepaw looked at her. "I will not! The gathering is a time of piece! Behave yourselves," she called over her shoulder as she padded to the group.

"Since when are you so interested in playing with the kits?" Badgerpaw asked.

Thistlepaw licked her chest fur. "Since they stopped mewling in the middle of the night and making it impossible to sleep."

Cloudflower gave both of them a lick on the top of the head. "Good luck," she meowed. "Don't talk to much about any problems we may be having to the other Clans. And don't fight with the other apprentices."

"We know," Thistlepaw meowed.

Redstar emerged from his den. "Raventail, Willownose, Featherleg, Fernleaf, Heathertooth, Blossomwhisker, Duststripe, Birdpaw, Thistlepaw, and Badgerpaw," he called. "You will be attending the gathering with me tonight. Let's move out."

"Bye, Cloudflower," Badgerpaw meowed before trotting after the rest of the cats. Everyone pushed through the entrance. Badgerpaw looked around for a moment before spotting Birdpaw and running to catch up with her.

"This is your second gathering," Badgerpaw meowed. "Do you know any of the cats in other Clans?"

"I met a few," Birdpaw meowed. "But mainly just the other medicine cats. I remember Flypaw from WindClan is a real piece of work, though. And Runningpaw and Specklepaw from RiverClan were alright, according to Palepaw."

"Flypaw was one of the WindClan cats I saw on patrol on my first day out," Badgerpaw meowed. "Isn't he Ashstar's apprentice?"

"I think so," Birdpaw nodded. "I said hello to him and he looked like he was about to rip my fur off. No idea what I did."

"What about the medicine cats?" Badgerpaw asked. "Isn't there another apprentice?"

Birdpaw paused for a moment. "Well, yes," she meowed. "Echopelt is the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice, but she's basically a full medicine cat. She's just waiting it out until Amberstripe dies or retires."

Badgerpaw nodded. "Maybe there'll be another one soon," she suggested.

Birdpaw shook her head. "Probably not. Flowersong and Wildstone are too young to be needing apprentices, and Echopelt won't be taking one on right after Amberstripe's gone."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Badgerpaw meowed. "Is it lonely, being the only young apprentice?"

Birdpaw hesitated. "Sometimes," she admitted. "But they are all very welcoming to me. And I've got Willownose to help me," she added, looking over to her mentor who was walking beside Featherleg. "Isn't it odd that our mentors are littermates?"

"Wait, what?"

Birdpaw looked at her, a bit surprised. "You didn't know? Featherleg, Willownose and Raventail are littermates."

Badgerpaw was stunned for a moment. "But that would mean the deputy and the medicine cat are in the same family."

"So?" asked Birdpaw. "It's not like it matters much."

"I suppose," Badgerpaw meowed.

They arrived at the stream that marked their border with WindClan, and Redstar raised his tail for everyone to stop.

"Remember to remain as close as you can to the banks on the lake," he meowed loud enough for the whole patrol to hear. "We don't want to give them any reason for excusing their own border crossing."

The cats murmured their acknowledgement and the cats began to jump over the flowing water.

Badgerpaw and Birdpaw continued to walk in silence until they reached the fallen tree bridge.

"You'll want to watch your step," Birdpaw meowed. "I almost slipped in last moon."

Badgerpaw purred in amusement and scrambled up the log and crossed. She snaked off the branches on the other side and waited for her friend.

"I'd better go with Willownose," Birdpaw meowed when she got off the trunk. "Try and find Featherleg, maybe he'll introduce you to some of the other warriors and their apprentices." She padded off, and Badgerpaw was left alone.

The she-cat looked around wildly for her mentor, who was standing beside Ravnetail with Thistlepaw. She ran up to them.

"Oh, good," Featherleg meowed. "There you are. We just wanted to say a bit more before you started greeting the others."

"Try not to talk to WindClan too much," Raventail meowed. "We don't need to create tension between us and them tonight."

Badgerpaw and Thistlepaw nodded.

"And don't bring up the border if you do," Featherleg added. "WindClan and RiverClan are already here. Be nice."

"Yes, sir," Badgerpaw meowed. The toms walked forward and started talking to what Badgerpaw assumed was a RiverClan tom.

"We're actually here!" Thistlepaw whispered, her voice laced with excitement. "Let's go meet some other apprentices!"

Before Badgerpaw could stop her, she went barreling into the clearing. Badgerpaw raced after, not wanting to be left alone.

"Don't run off," Badgerpaw panted, catching up to her sister.

"Over here," Thistlepaw meowed, beckoning her sister with a flick of her tail and flouncing over to two young RiverClan cats. Badgerpaw had no choice but to follow her.

"Hello," Thistlepaw meowed. "My name's Thistlepaw."

One of the apprentices looked up. "Hello," he responded. His breath reeked of fish, and Badgerpaw tried not to wrinkle her nose to be polite. "I'm Runningpaw. This is Specklepaw." He flicked his tail to the she-cat that sat beside him. The ginger she-cat dipped her head.

"I'm Badgerpaw," Badgerpaw put in. "We're from ThunderClan."

Specklepaw twitch her whiskers. "Oh, we're well aware," she meowed. "You smell like dried leaves."

Badgerpaw felt her sister stiffin beside her. "And you smell like fish," she snapped. "But we didn't say anything. My sister was just being polite!"

Badgerpaw placed her tail on her sister's shoulders. "Calm down, Thistlepaw," she murmured. "I'm sorry," she meowed, looking to the RiverClanners. "This is our first gathering. We're not used to being kind to the other Clans."

"Don't worry," Runningpaw meowed. "Sometimes cats can't help but be hostile. She'll get used to it when she's smelling our fish scent for the rest of the night."

Badgerpaw sighed in relief, but Thistlepaw remained a bit tense. "Are you friendly with any of the other cats? We'd like to meet some new cats."

Specklepaw and Runningpaw exchanged glances. "Not at the moment," Specklepaw meowed carefully. "But once ShadowClan shows up, we can introduce you to Nightpaw and Breezepaw, if they're here."

"Breezepaw," Thistlepaw meowed. "That's what our brother would've been named."

Badgerpaw glanced over at her sister, wide-eyed. Why was she bringing him up?

"What's his name now? Is he here?" Runningpaw asked, looking around curiously.

Badgerpaw paused a moment before saying, "Breezekit died when we were born."

"Oh," Specklepaw meowed, blinking. "I'm… sorry."

"Yeah," Runningpaw meowed, looking uncomfortable.

Badgerpaw wanted to claw her sister, but tried changing the subject instead. "So, why don't you know anyone in WindClan?"

The apprentices looked around, as though checking to make sure that the WindClan cats weren't nearby. They leaned in close to answer.

"WindClan has been crossing the border," Runningpaw meowed. "It's not easy to trust them right now. And it's not like Flypaw and Bluepaw have stellar personalities to make up for it."

"They've been crossing our border, too!" Thistlepaw meowed. "That's so weird!"

Before they could continue talking, ShadowClan came bounding into the clearing. Specklepaw looked up. "Do you see them?" she asked her brother.

"Yeah! And Molepaw's here, too," Runningpaw meowed. He raised his tail to get their attention.

Two gray cats came bounding over, followed by a cream tom.

"Hey, you three," Specklepaw meowed. "Meet Badgerpaw and Thistlepaw."

The gray tom smiled. "Hey," he meowed. "I'm Nightspring."

Runningpaw's eyes widened. "You got your warrior names!" he cried, his voice full of jealousy. "I can't believe it!"

"I'm Breezetail now," the she-cat meowed. "And this is Moleclaw."

The big cream tom dipped his head but didn't speak. Instead, he turned and walked away to be with more ShadowClan cats.

"He's really shy," Nightspring explained. "Anyway, is Berrypaw here?"

Badgerpaw shook her head.

"Shame. I really like her," the gray tom meowed.

"I think you like her a bit too much," Breezetail meowed. "I hope you aren't planning on breaking the code for her."

"Of course not," Nightspring meowed, his fur ruffled. He licked his chest.

Badgerpaw briefly considered informing the tortoiseshell of her secret admirer, but quickly decided against it. She shouldn't encourage an inter-Clan relationship.

"I think the leaders are getting ready to speak," Specklepaw meowed, nodding her head to the tall tree in the center of the island. "Come on, let's get good seats."

The group padded closer to the tree and sat down. A scarred brown she-cat, whom Badgerpaw assumed to be the ShadowClan leader, Wrenstar, yowled.

"Let the gathering begin!"