Minnowpaw gulped down the rest over prey and turned to Squirrelpaw, who was finishing off her meal. They were both excited for tonight, which was quickly approaching. Dusk was slowly but surely inching its way onto the sky, the shining stars starting to peek out from the clouds. In the distance, Minnowpaw could make out the radiant full moon glowering with pride at its glow.
She glanced at the entrance to camp where some warriors were starting to gather, murmuring excitedly on the occasion. However, some cats were looking wary and were shuffling their paws nervously. Minnowpaw couldn't blame them, she herself was a bit anxious with all the tension between LightningClan and Streamclan. Especially because of the news that LightningClan had stolen a piece of their land.
Minnowpaw turned back to her sister. She was turned towards the opposite side of camp, where their mother was nearing from. "Oh, my kits! Look how grown up you are! You're going to your second gathering already!" She exclaimed while she started nuzzling them affectionately. "We're only like eight moons old!" Squirrelpaw purred back.
"Actually, we're seven and a half-moons old. Which means Volepaw and Nightpaw are eight and a half-moons old" Minnowpaw corrected. Squirrelpaw just rolled her eyes and Minnowpaw snickered. "Hey", Squirrelpaw started, looking around, "Where are Volepaw and Nightpaw? Are they coming?".
Brightstorm shook her head, looking apologetic. "No, I'm pretty sure with all the trouble Nightpaw's in..." She trailed off. Minnowpaw felt a pang of sorrow for her friend. She had managed to stop Nightpaw with his shenanigans whenever she's on patrol with him, but its not like the past skirmishes just stopped happening.
She shook her head and pushed the thoughts to the back of her head, turning her attention back to her kin. "What about Volepaw? He wasn't causing any trouble!" Squirrelpaw huffed. "I'm sure he's just staying back to give Nightpaw some company" Brightstorm smiled reassuringly. Squirrelpaw still didn't seem convinced. "Needlepaw could've done it just as good! She isn't even going either!".
"Oh stop complaining! It's one gathering you'll be fine!" Minnowpaw rolled her eyes at her sister's dramatic tantrum. Squirrelpaw just glared at her. "They're about to leave, we should get going" Brightstorm observed as she watched Smokestar pad over with Mossfin and Dustface at his heels. Minnowpaw nodded and got up with Squirrelpaw, following their mother to the group of gathered warriors at the entrance.
Smokestar looked around, his eyes sweeping over the crowd of cats and asked, "Is everyone here?". A few cats muttered a 'yes' while others just nodded. Satisfied, he beckoned with his tail to exit and the gathering patrol set off. Minnowpaw trotted with Squirrelpaw at her side to keep up with the patrol, their mother bringing up the rear.
Minnowpaw breathed in as the night breeze flowed over fur, flattening it and cooling her skin. She felt grateful, especially since the past moon had been filled with fighting training in the hot greenleaf sun almost every other day. She hopped over a small stream as the patrol headed on.
Surprisingly, Minnowpaw could feel the tension grow as StreamClan made their way closer to the gathering place, which made her nervous too. Even Smokestar looked a bit uncomfortable, giving his chest fur a few licks every now and then to keep him occupied.
Finally, the patrol came to an abrupt stop, which made Minnowpaw almost bump into the flank of Splashfur who muttered 'apprentices' with a roll of his eyes. She mumbled a sorry to him before turning her attention to Smokestar, who was now addressing the gathering patrol.
"Alright, this is it. I know some of you are anxious, especially about the border change recently", he began, and a few warriors fluffed up their fur in anger at the situation, "But we'll work all of this out now that we can meet with LightningClan. And I want no fighting!" He growled the warning and raked his gaze across the cats.
Pleased with himself as a few cats nodded, Smokestar beckoned to enter through a narrow passage through the bushes that were surrounding the gathering place and plunged in. Minnowpaw watched the warriors one by one enter until her sister padded through in front of her.
It wasn't her first gathering, though she felt nervous to see what was on the other side. She could already smell the woodland LightningClan scent through the bushes, which means they've arrived first. Stars, they were probably waiting for them! Taking a deep breath, Minnowpaw pushed through the bracken and leaves, wincing slightly as the tendrils dragged at her pelt.
LightningClan was waiting for them alright. They were sitting on one side of the clearing, keeping to themselves for whatever reason. Some were glaring at them with hostility, others were flat out ignoring them. Most of them, however, were sitting there with smug faces as they watched the StreamClan cats enter in and sit down quietly.
Minnowpaw heard some cats mutter under their breath, the noise coming from both clans. She flattened her ears as they stared at them and scampered to where Squirrelpaw was sitting by Goldenfish. "What's the deal with these cats? They're acting as if we stole their territory, not the other way around!", Squirrelpaw muttered to her.
Minnowpaw shrugged as she returned a glare some cat was eyeing her for. "They definitely have something up their pelts, that's for sure", she mewed quietly. "You think they're going to plan to attack?" Her sister asked, suspicion making her golden fur stick up.
Before she could reply, Goldenfish cut through their conversation. "That's enough gossiping you two. You're supposed to act formal, not insult the other clan!" He scolded. Minnowpaw shut her mouth and so did Squirrelpaw with a roll of her eyes. If any cat's going to be insulting, it's definitely going to be LightningClan!
Minnowpaw knew there was probably insults getting thrown around about her clan. She'd heard that LightningClan used different ones from StreamClan at her first gathering. Apparently, they used 'mouse-brain' instead of 'fish-brain'. It was the same for 'fish-dung'. She shook her heads from the thoughts and turned her attention to the great rock in which Beestar was already seated upon.
The LightningClan leader had her chest puffed up proudly, while her gaze sliced through the two clans below her. She had a similar look on her face to the sneering LightningClan cats below her. Minnowpaw scowled at the smirking leader and watched as Smokestar leaped up and sat next to her on the great rock.
"Attention! Cats of the clan! Thye gathering will now start! I will go first.". Minnowpaw watched as her leader announced the usual news that get thrown about in the clans. She wasn't really listening though. Is he going to acknowledge the border dispute? He can't let LightningClan get away with this! She grumbled in her mind.
Just as if he read her mind, Smokestar turned to Beestar. "I noticed that you've moved the border a bit to take up more of our territory, what's with that?" He demanded, his tail twitching aggravatedly. Beestar looked up with a pleading look in her eyes. "Oh Smokestar, can't you just lend us another strip of the marshland!" She practically begged. "We're able to thrive much more with the luscious prey your territory gives! We're not used to the shortage of food!".
This however, just annoyed Smokestar even more. They're probably trying to guilt trip us into letting up! "Beestar it seems that you and your clan are well fed and fine with the land you have now supporting you. I see no reason to give up yet another strip.". Some LightningClan cats muttered angrily as he finished.
Minnowpaw could make out some of her own clan murmur gratefully that Smokestar wasn't giving in to LightningClan's demands yet again. "Why not? It's wrong to turn away any clan when they need help! Its in the warrior code!", Beestar growled, starting to get a bit antsy.
"If it were wrong, then why isn't Starclan sending any clouds to cover the moon, huh? If it went against StarClan, they would surely stop it, wouldn't they?", Smokestar countered. Beestar had a snarl fixed on her face and glanced up at the shy.
Several cats from both clans did the same. Minnowpaw looked up at the night sky. It surely was peaceful as the stars glimmered brightly and the moon even brighter. There wasn't a cloud in the sky either, the night seemed to be mocking the LightningClan leader.
Smokestar sat down with his tail curled over his paws with a triumphant glare. "See, StarClan is practically agreeing with us!". Beestar didn't say anything and looked away with a displeased huffed. Some StreamClan cats yowled victoriously while some just murmured excitedly to each other.
Minnowpaw turned towards Squirrelpaw. "Looks like it worked out after all!" She grinned back at her sister. They turned their attention back towards the two leaders as Goldenfish directed them to. Smokestar held his tail up for silence and the two clans hushed up quickly.
"I will be setting the border back to where it was a few sunrises ago. I expect my land to be rid of LightningClan scent or any traces of hunting activity. I will also be doing the same for the strip of territory I lent a moon ago when it becomes Leaffall." He finished with a gaze full of pride.
Beestar looked like she wanted to protest but just nodded and straightened up her position. "Alright Smokestar, pleasure doing business with you.". She stood up and gave a wave with her tail that signaled to Lightningclan . She then jumped off the rock and started into the trees of her territory, her clan quickly following behind her.
Minnowpaw let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Things went well. The agreement of shared territory was going to last until leaffall, and then the tension will disappear. Just until Leaffall, she thought to herself. Minnowpaw stood up, as she watched Smokestar leap down from his spot onto the forest ground.
He signaled for the clan to gather to start to make their way back to camp. Minnowpaw turned to Squirrelpaw as they started to pad with the rest of the gathering patrol back to camp. "So that went suprisingly well." She began. Squirrelpaw chuckled, "Yeah, they definitely have to have more up their fur. Beestar couldn't have given up that easily!" She followed up.
Minnowpaw hummed and thought for a moment. "Do you think Beestar will actually give up the strip?", she questioned. "Probably, but maybe there'll be a come back? To me, Beestar didn't look like she was done!", Squirrelpaw answered. Minnowpaw nodded.
"Hey, stop gossiping and move it! Apprentices...", Goldenfish prodded them both on the flank, which made them jump. "Yeah, yeah!" Squirrelpaw muttered, and started to make a mocking face to Minnowpaw when he turned away. She snickered as her sister held up a paw and made a mouthi8ng gester with it.
"Goldenfish is sooo boring and bossy! I can't believe we got stuck with a father like him!" Squirrelpaw pouted. Minnowpaw didn't say anything. As much as she agreed with Squirrelpaw, she couldn't bring herself to say it. She guess it was because how much time she had spent with him as her mentor, he had grown on her. Goldenfish may not be a good father, but he was definitely a good teacher.
Still, she let Squirrelpaw rant about him while she started to zone off and just enjoy the scenery as they made their way back to camp. Minnowpaw thought back to camp. She couldn't wait to tell Nightpaw how successful the gathering had been. Perhaps she could even persuade him to lay off of the fights, just so tensions could relax for some time.
Minnowpaw could feel herself get a warm feeling in her chest. Just yesterday it felt like the whole clan had been preparing for a war, but now it seemed like it was getting fixed again. Life was going to be just fine, at least that's what she hoped.
Sorry for the short chapter. Next chapters will be even longer though! I'm thinking of making them to 5,000+! And with the whole pandemic going on, it'll give me more time to write. Also, how is everyone? Staying safe I hope! Anyways, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
