I finally updated! I try to do it semi-often but sometimes I just really don't want to write.

Also, look out! I told you a little bit about Silver's origins this chapter, so try to catch it.

Silverpaw

I got up, anxiously awaiting the night's festivities. I had been told to take a nap since we would be travelling today. I rose and went outside, wandering around the camp aimlessly. I kneaded the ground and hopped around, delighted to see Flowerfur approaching me. "Hi Flowerfur! How's it going?"

"Pretty good Silverpaw. You seem anxious, what's up?"

"Planning for the Gathering. How much longer is it until we go?"

"We'll be going very soon. It shouldn't be longer than three walks around camp."

"Oh! Really? That soon?" I was delighted to be able to go, but also a little nervous. What was I going to say? I was supposed to try and recruit cats, but what if they didn't like me? What if they hated me? How could I even talk about it? You can't just bring up world peace.

I pulled out of my thoughts to see I had made my way around the camp. Two more laps, no more. I kept planning and thinking. The cats that I recruited would be preferably she-cats and hopefully apprentices. I would take whatever I could get, but it would be nice to have friends as well as allies. Second lap done. I looked over at the center of camp and saw a group of cats preparing to go, and I joined them.

"I didn't see any other apprentices, am I the only one, Flowerfur?"

"Yeah. For whatever reason Graystar decided that a young apprentice meant one apprentice. Now hush, we're about to go."

"Ok." Our leader said some words which I didn't catch, I was too absorbed in thought, and we were off. I knew it was a long walk but I still had a hard time stopping myself from running ahead. However, I was soon grateful for my decision. I got rather tired pretty quickly, and had to consider whether I was ready for my first Gathering. Then I remembered that I had an important mission and I pushed on.

When we finally reached Fourtrees, I was surprised by the trees. I had already been there once but their size still amazed me. I was also caught off-guard because we were the first ones there. The walk had taken so long, surely other Clans should have gotten there before us? But nope, there they weren't.

I had time to walk around the clearing and adjust to the size of the open space and the Great Rock before another Clan came. I recognized their scent immediately: WindClan. They were already friends with our Clan, so making a friend there should be easy. I started scanning their ranks and was delighted to see a few apprentices in the fray.

I gathered my courage and walked up to the younger cats after they split off from the group. They seemed nice and they were happy to meet a CaveClan apprentice. "Hi! I'm Silverpaw. What are your names?"

The biggest cat there, who seemed to be the leader of the group, responded. "Well, I'm Foxpaw and that white cat," she started, pointing with her tail, "is Snowpaw. The black-and white cat with green eyes is Cinderpaw, and the creamy-white one is Cloudpaw."

Each one of the cats raised their tails when called regardless of Foxpaw pointing them out. I went to work trying to remember who was who. Each of them was pretty easy to tell apart, but Snowpaw and Cloudpaw were a bit hard not to mix up. "Have you all been to Gatherings before?"

Just then I found something that would help me distinguish Snowpaw and Cloudpaw. Snowpaw was a male while Cloudpaw was a she-cat. Even if I hadn't been able to tell, Cloudpaw's next comment made it apparent. "Well, we haven't all but Foxpaw has because he's older. He's super cool!" She said it shamelessly, but she was blushing so much it was obvious she had a crush. Of course, also being a she-cat I knew how it felt to have a crush so I wouldn't tease.

"Well, what usually happens? We've been here a while and nothing has happened."

"Well, soon enough the other Clans will get here, but until they do we should chat." This time Cinderpaw spoke up. Whether or not they knew it I was gathering information about them. Cinderpaw and Foxpaw were apprentices longer so they were probably a little more respected, but Snowpaw and Cloudpaw would probably be easier to convince.

"Ok then! What's your favorite food?"

Foxpaw spoke again. "Well, we really like rabbits of course, since they're WindClan's main food, but I prefer voles. They're rare though."

"I love rabbit! But they're scarce on our territory. And voles are all right, but there are tons of them. Maybe we could trade some food!"

Cinderpaw perked up at that. "I was thinking about that. So many cats are starving and everything. Maybe WindClan and CaveClan should work together."

I was delighted. I hadn't expected any other cats to have a plan like mine, but it shouldn't have been surprising. "Yeah! I've actually been planning this. What if we got our Clans to work together-share food, berries, even shelters? Then we would have so many fewer kits die."

Foxpaw seemed surprised that I would bring something like that up, but my face must have darkened when he looked at me as he didn't speak about it. "That would be smart. Maybe we could do it. I'll speak to Tallstar. Try and meet at the big rock where our boundaries meet this half-moon."

Just then, three other Clans poured into the clearing and the Gathering officially began.