Disclaimer: Warriors by Erin Hunter

Chapter 34

It was the first Gathering Fallingsnow was experiencing as a warrior. It was a half moon since Darkfire came and WindClan had attacked. To Fallingsnow it had been such a long time. So many things had happened this moon.

She currently sat next to her siblings, Frostshine and Nightshade. They waited for Firestar to proclaim their warrior names. They waited almost impatiently. Nightshade had already spoken to his many friends and Frostshine had stayed next to Fallingsnow. She didn't have many friends outside of her Clan. Fallingsnow almost felt bad for her sister. But then she realized she didn't have many friends either and the only cat she really knew was Brownfeather, who she wasn't supposed to be that close to.

Fallingsnow looked around. Leopardstar was starting the Gathering and the other cats slowly settled down. Nightshade sighed.

"Firestar should have gone first," he meowed.

Fallingsnow smiled at him. "He'll get around to it."

"But I wanted everyone to chant my name." He almost sounded sulky.

"Your head will get too big," Frostshine teased him.

"Well yours is as big as the moon," Nightshade retorted.

Fallingsnow looked away. They might be warriors but her siblings were acting like apprentices still. Sometimes she wished they'd grow up.

As Fallingsnow tried to ignore their arguing, she noticed a cat slinking in the shadows near them. Fallingsnow scented the air. Many cat scents came to her, some she didn't recognize, but finally she identified the cat. It was Brownfeather. She blinked. What was he doing away from his Clan?

She looked over to their section. All the other ShadowClan cats seemed to be there. Fallingsnow could recognize Redsky, Fernstripe, and five others that had surrounded her, Darkfire and Needlefur when they went to visit them. Fallingsnow glanced back at Brownfeather. He waved his tail impatiently.

"I'll be back later," Fallingsnow meowed to Frostshine.

"Where are you going?" Nightshade asked, looking around his light gray sister.

"I'm going to walk around," she meowed. "Leopardstar is a bit boring tonight."

Her siblings didn't look like they believed her, but they let her go while Leopardstar complained about prey theft.

Fallingsnow cautiously wandered over to Brownfeather, by the time she got there, Onestar was speaking.

"What are you doing here?" Fallingsnow whispered to Brownfeather.

"I wanted to see you," he meowed.

"We see each other almost every night," she meowed. She looked around, worried someone had seen them. But no one was paying attention to her. They were listening to the leaders.

"Come on," Brownfeather meowed. He pulled himself into a bush.

Fallingsnow cautiously joined him. She could remember doing this one other time when she'd tried to reach Brownfeather. She'd seen cats who weren't supposed to be together. Now Fallingsnow was among their number. It was a thought that almost made her leave Brownfeather behind. But she shook off the thought and joined him. It was dark in the bush and the leaders' voices were muffled.

"So?" she asked.

Brownfeather grinned at her.

"No one even knows we're here together. It's awesome."

Fallingsnow narrowed her eyes. Had he been in catmint? He was being kind of strange. If he wanted a thrill of danger, he could go play with a badger.

He noticed her look and immediately grimaced.

"I guess it isn't that exciting."

"No," Fallingsnow shook her head. "We do have to get back to our Clans. Firestar is going to announce my name. And your Clan will miss you. What did you tell them to get away?"

"Um, that I had to make dirt," he meowed.

Fallingsnow laughed. That seemed like a common excuse. She wished it had worked on Darkfire. He still didn't believe her but he was trusting her for now. Fallingsnow knew that soon she'd have to ask about going with him. Four nights ago she'd told Brownfeather the plan. He'd been confused at first and then very sad when she explained. He didn't want to leave behind his Clan. He was finally a warrior and he was serving his Clan the best he could. He didn't want to leave it behind. But he told Fallingsnow that for her he would. If they had to leave, he would follow. Fallingsnow just had to get the opportunity to ask Darkfire.

It was harder than she thought. Darkfire was rarely ever alone and now he was preparing to leave. Currently the black warrior, Needlefur, and Hickorypaw were at the Gathering. This was Hickorypaw's very first and Darkfire had wanted to give her the opportunity of enjoying it. Soon they'd be leaving and Fallingsnow would have to catch him before he did.

"Well you came to me last time," Brownfeather explained, bringing Fallingsnow's attention back to him. "I decided I might as well come to see you. It is nice to meet together at a Gathering."

Fallingsnow had to agree. It usually was nice to see him all the time. Then Fallingsnow recognized Firestar's voice as he spoke on the tree branches. Her eyes widened. She had to leave.

"I've got to go," she whispered fiercely.

Brownfeather nodded. "I better get back too. See you tomorrow." He licked her head and jumped out of the bush, back to his Clan. Fallingsnow waited a few moments before slipping out in the opposite direction. She hurried to her siblings. Just as she got next to them, Firestar proclaimed their names.

The other Clan cats looked at the three new warriors. Then their names were chanted.

"You took a long time," Frostshine murmured. "Firestar explained how we survived the attack but Hazeltail died. RiverClan growled at WindClan at that."

"Onestar named new warriors as well," Nightshade meowed.

Fallingsnow had a feeling who. She looked over at the WindClan cats. Four cats looked on proudly. They were the cats formerly known as Cricketpaw, Goldpaw, Fadepaw, and Silverpaw. Fallingsnow wondered what their names were now. She was about to ask her brother, but that was when Kinkstar spoke.

What is she going to say? When will Fallingsnow speak with Darkfire?

Isn't Brownfeather sweet to agree to go anywhere with Fallingsnow?