Firepaw padded into camp, alone. Her parents had gone in search of whoever had let out the yowl, leaving her to return to camp for the night. As she padded by Stormpaw, who glared at her as though she was a total stranger, something twinged in her heart.
"Stormpaw?"
"No. Leave me alone."
Firepaw nudged her brother. Hard. Taken by surprise, he stumbled to the ground. "Come with me."
"I already told you," Stormpaw snapped. "No."
"Too bad." Firepaw fastened her teeth in his tail and pulled him away from Darkpaw, who padded into the apprentices' den. She didn't need to pull too hard, for Stormpaw, sighing, followed anyway. The two of them padded to the area behind the nursery. "Look, I'm sorry I called you a cheat," she mewed. "I've just got a lot on my mind, that's all."
Stormpaw turned away. "Well..." He looked uncomfortable. "That's fine." He brushed his pelt against hers in affection. "Is Brightwing training you hard?"
"Er... yeah."
That was a decent excuse.
oO0Oo
"No!"
Firepaw pricked her ears as she heard the wail, then padded into the clearing. Froststar and Ashflame dragged in the limp body of Sorrelflight, who, she realized, had recently moved to the nursery.
The cry belonged to Brightwing, who had been staring at her former apprentice's limp form.
Fur rustled beside Firepaw, and she turned to see Scorchclaw. When he saw her staring, he turned his head away. He's grieving, too, she thought. The loss would be heavy on the clan.
"Who killed her?" Blueshadow asked, padding out of the nursery. Two kits, who had been born just days before, bounced out behind her. Firepaw recognized them as Shadekit and Willowkit, a black she-cat and silver-gray she-cat, respectively.
"That's what I'd like to know," Scorchclaw growled.
Froststar flicked her tail for silence. Firepaw looked up expectantly at her white mother. "I don't know who killed her," the leader announced gravely. "We found her body in the clearing that holds the Sky Oak, and if you look closely, you can tell she was murdered. Look at the gash in her throat."
"But this is terrible!" Grayleaf mewed, stepping forward.
"It is," Brightwing agreed.
"Her body was warm, and we couldn't quite pick up the scent of her murderer," Ashflame reported.
"But," Froststar growled, unsheathing her claws, "since no other scent was detected, the murderer is a ThunderClan cat." She had barely finished speaking before yowls broke out thorugh the listening clan, yowls of anger, outrage, confusion, and panic. And chaos.
Firepaw joined in.
She never had thought of any of her clanmates as a murderer before.
But if Froststar said so, she'd believe it. And besides, yowls of agreement came from a few cats who padded closer to sniff the body.
She'd thought the evil was gone when Nightstar was destroyed.
But maybe, just maybe, she had been wrong.
oO0Oo
"ThunderClan, follow me!" Froststar yowled, her voice nearly lost in the wind. Though the breeze temporarily blinded her, Firepaw could make out that the white she-cat was creeping onto a fallen tree, that created a bridge to an island across the lake.
The island.
Firepaw, Stormpaw, Darkpaw, and Heatherpaw had all been amongst the chosen cats to go to the gathering tonight. It would be their first, except for Heatherpaw, who had been to a gathering before, and Firepaw was simply thrilled.
She had been hurling questions at Heatherpaw ever since they had started walking to the island, but it seemed that she had run out of queries now.
Firepaw padded onto the fallen tree. The bark was soft but slippery, so she dug her claws in to stay on balance. Darkpaw padded ahead of her, her pale fur shining in the moonlight, and her black tail and paws blended in with the night.
In her excitement, Firepaw had nearly forgotten about Sorrelflight.
Darkpaw slipped ahead of her, and Firepaw took her scruff in her teeth to steady her. Still, the back end of her body landed in the lake, and she thrashed about as Firepaw, helped by Heatherpaw, hauled her back onto balance. "Thanks."
"You proved Blossomshade right!" Heatherpaw mewed with false anger. "She said that one of the apprentices would fall into the lake today, and if no cat did, she would eat her tail!
Stormpaw pretended to spit crossly. "Now we don't get to see her eat her tail!"
Purring in amusement, Firepaw leaned away as Darkpaw shook out her fur, slapped Stormpaw with her wet tail, then padded ahead. Firepaw jumped onto the island. It was more like a large clearing, surrounded by trees. And one tree stood in the center of the clearing, the Great Oak. This, clearly, was where the leaders would gather. Sure enough, Froststar dipped her head to the ShadowClan leader, Birchstar, and the RiverClan leader, Jaystar.
Heartbeats after she had taken her place in the Great Oak, WindClan poured into the clearing. A red-brown tom leaped onto an oak branch with agility. Firepaw realized that this must be Swiftstar, the WindClan leader.
"Let the gathering begin!" Froststar yowled. She dipped her head. "Swiftstar, would you like to go first?"
"Thank you." The large tom flicked his tail as he spoke. I wouldn't want to meet him in battle. He looks like a strong cat. "WindClan is well. Breezefang has given birth to three healthy kits, Brightkit, Oakkit, and Windkit." He paused, and the gathering grew alive with murmurs of congratulations. "StarClan have blessed WindClan with rich prey."
Froststar padded forward. "Blueshadow has given birth to Shadekit and Willowkit." She paused, and her eyes clouded a little, with sadness. "I regret to announce that Sorrelflight was ki- she has gone to join StarClan."
Birchstar's eyes gleamed. "Sorrelflight was a young cat, and she will be a loss for all the clans. How did she die?"
Froststar hesitated. "Well..." Her voice rose to an authoritative yowl. "That is ThunderClan's business and no one else's!" Birchstar dipped his head, then stepped forward on the branch.
"ShadowClan is well. There is no news to report this moon."
Firepaw watched, awed, as he dipped his head to Jaystar, who bent her neck elegantly as she began to speak. "RiverClan is doing wonderfully. Unfortunately, Mallowtail has gone to join the elders. We shall miss him as a deputy." The tawny-colored tom dipped his head, and another cat padded forward. "Runningstorm is our new deputy. That is all."
"Then the gathering is over," Froststar mewed. "ThunderClan wishes you another moon of peace." So saying, she sprang down, and the other leaders followed quickly. Froststar flicked her tail, her white fur gleaming in the darkness. "ThunderClan! To me!"
oO0Oo
Firepaw padded after her mentor, shuddering. She simply couldn't stop being nervous ever since Sorrelflight had been murdered. Who could have killed Sorrelflight so easily? The young queen was a strong cat, but perhaps she had been weakened ever since she had moved to the nursery.
"Are you all right?" Brightwing asked.
"Fine," Firepaw replied. It had been two moons since her first gathering, and she had successfully passed her first assessment. "It's just that... I can't stop thinking about Sorrelflight."
Brightwing rested her tail on her back. "Don't worry; we'll find the murderer." Her voice dropped. "I hope."