I fixed that error with the format :D and . . WE HAVE PASSED 1000 VIEWS I'M SO HAPPY NOW
Flamepaw padded beside his mentor, trying not to skip ahead. Tonight would be his first Gathering! Hopefully. Surely Bramblestar would let the two apprentices go. Flamepaw wondered what the cats from the other Clans would be like. Hostile, probably. We are from different Clans, after all, he reasoned with himself. I imagine that ShadowClan would be the most unfriendly . . . And RiverClan would just sit there, grooming themselves to perfection, from what Sandstorm's told me . . .
The orange apprentice stopped abruptly, staring down at his soaked paws. Behind him, someone was not-so-discreetly laughing their head off. Flamepaw turned and glared at the white warrior, who was standing on the shore. Cloudtail choked on his laugh and fell silent, averting his gaze to the middle of the lake. Shaking his head, Flamepaw sighed and waded out of the water and onto dry land, trying not to get his paws any wetter. Cloudtail chose that moment to glance at his apprentice once more. He promptly burst out into laughter again.
"You're waddling like a bird!" he exclaimed.
"You try walking out of the lake next time," Flamepaw snapped. "I really don't see what you find so hilarious."
Cloudtail took a deep breath and placed a calm expression on his muzzle, now apparently sober.
"I'm sorry," the warrior retorted, not looking sorry at all. "Sorry that you waked right into the middle of the lake without even realising it."
"It wasn't the middle," Flamepaw corrected. "Can we just get back to camp now?"
Cloudtail shrugged. "We've checked the border. We've even checked the lake."
"Will you just drop that?" the orange apprentice demanded. "I was thinking."
"Nope," the white tom snickered. "Wait 'till everyone at camp hears how you got soaked."
Flamepaw sighed and tapped one forepaw against the ground impatiently. Sometimes Cloudtail could be more immature than him! Actually, that was nearly all of the time. Silverpaw maintained that he was always too serious. Whatever. He didn't care.
The walk back to camp was silent. Cloudtail would let out the occasional snort as he reminded himself of . . . recent events, but otherwise didn't say anything. Which was just as well, because Flamepaw kept glaring sideways at his mentor. When they passed the bramble barrier, Flamepaw headed straight for the medicine cat den, pausing at the entrance to watch his mentor. Cloudtail, to his apprentice's dismay, padded over to the largest group of warriors in the camp.
Oh well, Flamepaw thought. Nothing I can do about him now.
"Flamepaw. Are you planning on coming in, or are you just going to block my exit?"
The orange tom turned to see Jayfeather flicking his tail imaptiently, a bundle of herbs in his jaws.
"Oh. Sorry," he mumbled, scurrying inside the medicine cat's den. Jayfeather put down his herbs and turned his blind blue gaze to his nephew.
"What's wrong?" the medicine cat apprentice sighed.
"I, uh, walked . . ." Flamepaw stuttered, wary of what mockery he might recieve, " . . into . . . the lake. And I got wet."
Jayfeather looked skeptical. "So?"
"I might catch a cold?" the orange tom suggested.
The gray tom grunted in agreement and poked Flamepaw's side a few times to feel how wet he was.
"You'll live. From what I can tell, you just got your paws wet. If you start sneezing, come back," Jayfeather instructed.
Flamepaw nodded and thanked his uncle, padding back out into the clearing. Automatically, he started searching the area for his sister. The orange tom found her sitting by Hazeltail and Cloudtail. Flamepaw barely got a chance to sit down before a loud yowl cut through the afternoon air.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"
Everyone in ThunderClan turned to listen to their leader speak.
"As you all know, tonight is the Gathering," Bramblestar began. Beside Flamepaw, Silverpaw squealed with excitement. "The cats who are going are; Squirrelflight, Sandstorm, Graystripe, Birchfall, Hazeltail, Silverpaw, Cloudtail, Flamepaw, Lilypool, Seedfur, Thornclaw, Amberspots, Dewheart and Snowfire."
Flamepaw turned his head to see his sister doing a small victory dance.
"Calm down, will you?" Hazeltail sighed. "It's only a Gathering." Silverpaw glared at her temporary mentor. "And anyways, you guys should eat before we leave," she added, flicking her tail. Hazeltail walked off to talk to her littermates, and Cloudtail followed.
"She's so annoying," Silverpaw complained. Flamepaw shook his head.
"Whatever you say," he meowed. "We should eat though. I'll grab us something." With that he quickly scurried over to the fresh-kill pile, grabbing the closest piece of prey which looked large enough. Flamepaw hurried back to his sister and together they devoured the small rabbit. When they were finished, they joined the group leaving for the Gathering.
The walk to the Gathering island was surprisingly short, and before Flamepaw knew it, they were at the foot of the tree-bridge. The orange tom hesitated, eyeing the strong currents of the river below.
An impatient voice spurred him on before he could back out. "Come on, slowpoke!"
Still unsure, Flamepaw placed a paw on the trunk experimentally. It seemed sturdy enough. The apprentice climbed fully onto the tree, but kept in a crouch. Flamepaw crawled along the trunk, keeping his gaze on the opposite bank until he was close enough to leap onto it. When the whole group had crossed, Bramblestar led the way through the undergrowth to a large clearing. Cats who Flamepaw had never seen before filled the area. A large oak tree sat in the centre of the clearing, which he guessed was the Great Oak.
"Come on, let's find the other apprentices!" Silverpaw squealed, hooking a forepaw around her brother's leg and tugging. Flamepaw sighed and let the silver she-cat drag him to a group of cats who looked to be about their age. There were four cats, not including Silverpaw and himself.
"Hi!" a pretty gray she-cat greeted warmly. Next to her, a black tom slouched, his expression one of pure distaste. "I'm Larkpaw," she announced. "My brother," she flicked her tail to the black tom, "is Crouchpaw. We're from WindClan."
A ginger tom shouldered Larkpaw out of the way, puffing out his chest. "I'm Stoatpaw of ShadowClan. Nice to meet you . ." He trailed off, looking at Silverpaw.
"Silverpaw and Flamepaw," Flamepaw cut in, glaring at Stoatpaw. "We're from ThunderClan."
"Silverpaw. Pretty name for a pretty she-cat," Stoatpaw meowed, winking at Silverpaw. Flamepaw glanced sideways at his sister, but to his relief she seemed unimpressed.
"Anyway," Larkpaw said loudly, "that one over there is Heronpaw, from RiverClan." Flamepaw turned to see a brown tabby tom who he didn't notice before flick his ears in acknowledgement. "So, enjoying being an apprentice do far?" Larkpaw asked pleasantly.
"Not as long as you're around," Crouchpaw growled, speaking for the first time. Larkpaw pouted at the black tom.
"Be nice, brother," she chided.
"'Be nice!', 'Don't be mean!', 'Stop being so grumpy all the time!'," Crouchpaw mimicked.
Larkpaw just flicked her ears at that, shaking her head in disapproval. "Ignore him," she advised.
Flamepaw nodded absently. These two were apparently siblings, but they seemed like yin and yang.
"Ignore her," Stoatpaw meowed. "You know," he started, looking at Silverpaw, "the other day I caught ten frogs all by myself."
"Wow!" Larkpaw exclaimed. "You must be really good at hunting!" Her eyes went wide in admiration.
"Oh really?" Crouchpaw drawled. "Well, the other day, I caught five hundred rabbits all by myself and it was so amazing that everyone loves me now."
Stoatpaw glared at the WindClan tom, ignoring Larkpaw.
"You two are so contradictory of each other," Silverpaw remarked. "You're like Happypaw and Grumpypaw." Flamepaw laughed at this, nodding along.
"Well, this has been great and all, but I think that the Gathering's starting," Heronpaw meowed, subtly edging away from the group.
"No it's not!" Larkpaw exclaimed. "Stay with us! Pleeeaase?" The gray she-cat batted her eyelashes and pouted.
Heronpaw sighed and muttered sarcastically, "How could I possibly so no to a face like that?"
Larkpaw's face brightened, if that was even possible.
"I do it all of the time," Crouchpaw informed the RiverClan apprentice.
"I imagine you do," Heronpaw replied coolly. "But really, the Gathering is about to start." The group of apprentices turned to the Greak Oak, where the four Clan leaders sat.
Bramblestar spoke before anyone else.
"Cats of all Clans, I have something important to tell you all. We must prepare for battle. BloodClan has returned! And to add to that, a mysterious group of rouges have started ambushing patrols."
Cats all around the clearing started to talk at once. The four leaders had to yowl over the noise to get quiet once more.
"Bramblestar," Onestar said. "How do you know of this?"
The ThunderClan leader didn't get a chance to reply before a cat spoke out.
"Why hello!" Everyone turned to see a muscular white tom stride into the clearing. He had a bright orange blaze on his forehead. "Now that I have your attention, I'll introduce myself. My name is Frost. Move aside now, so I may take my place." Frost trotted through the crowd of cats until he got to the Great Oak. With one powerful leap, he joined the Clan leaders in the branches.
"Who do you think you are?" Mistystar demanded.
"Why, I am a Clan leader, am I not? So why shouldn't I be up here with the rest of you?" Frost asked, feigning confusion.
"Oh yes?" Blackstar replied. "Then where is your Clan?"
Frost smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "Right here." At this, cats of all ages came streaming into the clearing, forming a group about the size of the cats ThunderClan had brought. They didn't seem hostile, and just settled down with everyone else. "Okay, please continue," Frost commanded, flicking his tail at Bramblestar. "BloodClan has arrived."
