Chapter 7
Laurelpaw looked up at the full moon. It shown down upon the small group of cats moving through the moor grasses. The apprentices were sticking close to their mentors, finding comfort in their larger, more confident forms. Before they had left camp, they had been warned about giving away information to the other apprentices that could be used against their clan. At the beginning of the moonlit trek, each mentor tested their apprentice by asking them questions, some focused on gleaning information, others simple questions, directed to relax the apprentices and lull them into a false sense of security, but now they fell silent, sensing the tension coming from the other warriors. They leaped across one of the rivers that snaked through their territory, then paused as they finally reached the tree. Barkstar held up his black-striped tail in a signal for them to stop. He turned around, and gathered the apprentices around him.
"Remember not to give away any information that could jeopardize our Clan's safety. Do not start a fight with any other cats, no matter what." Barkstar mewed, green eyes flashing. "The gathering is a time of truce. You must not do anything that could upset StarClan. Let's go." He turned, then raced towards the tree. Laurelpaw pelted after him, realizing how small and kit-like she still was. Her legs were short, fur soft, and her tail was still a little stumpy. She was a little bigger than Rowanpaw, Crestpaw, and Streampaw, but not by much. Opening her mouth, Laurelpaw tasted the air. The cold, dank scent of StoneClan was the freshest, smelling like tumbling water and stones. Under the StoneClan scent, she scented the pine and oak smell that was the ForrestClan scent.
"What do you smell?" Lightfur, asked studying her carefully, green eyes questioning.
"I smell StoneClan scent and ForrestClan scent. It looks like ForrestClan was here first, then StoneClan." Laurelpaw replied. Lightfur nodded her head, then turned to watch Barkstar leap up onto the tree that crossed a churning river of water. Dusktail and Jaypaw followed him, and then it was Laurelpaw's turn.
"Dig your claws into the bark. It's slippery and wet from the water, but if you fall, I'll be here to catch you, don't worry." Lightfur mewed from beside her. Laurelpaw nodded her head, then leapt up onto the tree. It bucked under her weight slightly, then steadied. Laurelpaw walked slowly across the tree, digging her sharp claws deep into the slippery bark. When she got to the roots of the tree, she wove around them, then leapt down into a small pool of water, sending it splashing everywhere, causing Dusktail to turn around sharply with a hiss and flattened ears. Laurelpaw backed away, ears flat against her head. Lightfur landed lightly beside her, and gave her a nudge towards the center of the Island. Laurelpaw followed Lightfur as she padded ahead of her, suddenly nervous. What were the other clans like? Did ForrestClan really sleep in trees, like the elders told stories of? Were StoneClan cats as big as wolves? Laurelpaw shook her head. Cats couldn't be as big as wolves, because wolves were dogs and dogs were big, and cats weren't dogs. She wasn't too sure about the ForrestClan cats not sleeping in trees though. There were a few bushes on the muddy shore. Laurelpaw lifted up her dirty paws in disgust, curling her lip at the mud that now coated them.
"Come, Laurelpaw." Lightfur called to her, standing by a thick wall of bushes. Laurelpaw scrambled over to her, paws slipping in the mud. Together, they pushed through the scraggly bushes, their branches tugging at their fur. In the center of the bushes, a clearing covered in silvery grasses tugged by gusts of wind. In the center of the clearing, a shimmering boulder stood majestically, towering over Laurelpaw. As she continued to look around the clearing, she saw many cats from the two other clans. Their scents mingled together, making it hard to tell which clan each cat was from. Eventually, Rowanpaw joined up with her, green eyes huge.
"Let's go find some other apprentices to talk to." Laurelpaw suggested. Rowanpaw nodded his head, and eventually, they found a group of smaller cats. A small black she-cat with sparkling blue eyes was telling a story about how she fought off a fox. A long-legged grey tabby with black legs was cutting into the story and helped tell it to a brown tom and a brown tabby with black paws. Rowanpaw and Laurelpaw padded up to the cats and settled down to listen.
"So then I clawed the fox's nose to pieces! It was so surprised, it froze, and then Longpaw jumped at it, but he missed one leg-"The black-legged tom interrupted the she-cat "Shadowpaw! I would have gotten it, but it moved away. That fox would have been crow-food if it hadn't moved." Longpaw mewed.
"So what happened next?" The brown tom asked, his brown eyes shining. Shadowpaw's mouth opened, but she was interrupted by a yowl from the shimmering rock. All of the cats gathered below turned to look at the rock. Laurelpaw picked out Barkstar on the top of the rock, sitting in between a grey tom with blue eyes and a brown spotted tabby with fur that stuck out everywhere. Below Barkstar, Ivyleaf sat, looking like a queen that should have been in the nursery rather than sitting in her deputy position. A small black and white patched she-cat sat below the grey tom, and a light brown tabby sat below the leader with the funny spiky fur.
"Everything in StoneClan is going well. Amberpaw and Hailpaw have completed their apprentice training, and are now warriors by the names of Ambereye and Hailpelt." The clearing below erupted into yowls of coagulations. A black she-cat was sitting next to a grey and black patched she-cat. The black she-cat had her head held high, while the grey and black she-cat had tucked her head down. After the cats had quieted down, the grey tom continued his announcement.
"Prey is running well, and so far there has been no trouble with wolves." He said, blue eyes flashing with a unspoken challenge as he stepped back. A large tom with spiky brown tabby fur let out a hiss, and flexed his scarred shoulders.
"There's always trouble with wolves during this time of year. How could he brush it off like it's nothing? My patrol had to help three of their cats fight off a wolf earlier." His speech became muted, and turned to muttering, but his green eyes flicked warily from side to side, uncertain if any cat had heard him. Laurelpaw focused her attention back onto the rock again.
"We welcome Pricklepelt as a full warrior of ForrestClan." Again, the clearing erupted into cheerful yowls. Pricklepelt had ducked his spiky blue-grey furred head, but his grey eyes were shining with pride. When Laurelpaw turned back to the stone again, Barkstar had stepped forwards.
"Prey is abundant in SwampClan territory. We also have five new apprentices this moon. Streampaw, Crestpaw, Rowanpaw, Jaypaw, and Laurelpaw." Laurelpaw felt all of the cats in the clearing staring her, then they started cheering. Laurelpaw held her head up proudly, she was an apprentice of SwampClan! She had been accepted by the other clans at a gathering, under StarClan. She was on her way to becoming a warrior!