Chapter seven

Bisonpaw shook with excitement as she walked beside her clanmates. The full moon shown down above their heads making each cat look some shade of gray.

"Excited for our first gathering?" Meadowpaw meowed beside her, his blue eyes shining with amusement.

"Absolutely!" Bisonpaw exclaimed, "It's only one of the most exciting nights in my whole life!"

Meadowpaw chuckled, "I'm sure when you're a warrior you'll think otherwise."

"Sure I will." Bisonpaw snorted

Meadowpaw let out a mrrow of laughter, "I'm think you'll get along well with the other apprentices. You have the charm of a badger."

"Hey!" Bisonpaw meowed playfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have offended the badger." Meadowpaw teased.

"Go bother someone else." Bisonpaw nudged him, a playful purr rumbling in her throat.

Meadowpaw dropped back, turning his attention to Yellowivy.

Bisonpaw found herself trotting beside Firepaw. She averted her eyes from the ginger tom, lifting her chin and holding her head high.

"So you still think you're better than me just because you managed to attack me when I wasn't ready?" Firepaw sneered.

"You have to be ready at all times in a real battle," Bisonpaw retorted, "plus, it's your own fault. You brought it upon yourself by taunting me."

"I was only speaking the truth." Firepaw defended himself.

Bisonpaw looked to glare at him, "Don't make me claw you again."

Firepaw bristled, his fur standing on end, a hint of fear mixed with readiness formed in his green gaze.

Bisonpaw's anger suddenly melted away. He was scared of her. She had never wanted it that way.

"I'm just kidding!" She meowed lightheartedly, her deminor changing just like that.

Firepaw blinked, "Did you hit your head yesterday or am I dreaming?"

"Neither," Bisonpaw meowed.

"Weird," Firepaw muttered.

Just then, the trees thinned and the patrol stopped. Ahead of them was a path of dark, black stone. A stench eminated from it that made Bisonpaw recoil in disgust. She remembered it from the tour, a thunderpath.

"What is—" Bisonpaw got cut of as a huge, red, shiny thing roared past, sending a breeze towards the patrol.

"What was that?" Firepaw voiced Bisonpaw's thoughts.

"I have no idea." Bisonpaw breathed.

"That was a monster." Mushroomhill padded up beside the two young apprentices, "They never stray from the thunderpath, so don't worry. We never saw one pass on the patrol, it was a quiet day."

The patrol gathered around Foxstar, who held up his tail for the cats to wait. Another monster raced by. Once it had passed Foxstar waved his tail, and the patrol took off across the thunderpath, taking Bisonpaw and Firepaw with it.

Bisonpaw could hear a rumble in the distance, and she looked to her left. A black monster with huge paws was charging towards them, it's eyes casting a bright light on their pelts.

Bisonpaw pushed foward and realized Firepaw wasn't next to her. She looked back and saw him frozen on in the path of the monster.

"Firepaw, Run!" Bisonpaw yelled, charging back towards him.

The ginger and cream tom stood still, his face frozen in fear. Bisonpaw grabbed his scruff, pulling him across the thunderpath. She leapt, pulling Firepaw with her. His body felt tense, his face stuck in a fearful expression. The monster wooshed by, grazing Bisonpaw's tail, and she felt a small pinch.

The two apprentices crashed to the ground, panting hard. Bisonpaw's heart pounded in her chest. She lifted her tail so she could see it. There was a patch where the fur had been torn out, and her skin was visible. Small dots of blood littered the patch of skin.

"Are you alright?" Shadedbramble rushed to the young apprentices' side, looking at them worriedly, and Icepaw, Meadowpaw, and Blossompaw joined her.

"We'll be fine, won't we Firepaw?" Bisonpaw got to her paws, brushing herself off.

"Yeah." Firepaw mewed shakily before standing up and licking his chest fur embarrased.

Shadedbramble nodded and signaled to Foxstar that it was alright to continue.

Firepaw was still shaky as they continued, and Bisonpaw felt sorry for him. She tried to give him a reassuring glance but he wasn't paying attention. He was too focused on keeping up with the rest of the patrol.

The cats neared a clearing. Bisonpaw's nose flooded with many scents that overwhelmed her, suffocating her. She found herself surrounded by cats from all clans. Ahead of her were four mighty oak trees surrounding a tall rock.

Bisonpaw watched Shadedbramble slide through the crowd and hung back with the other apprentices.

"Hey, I think I see a group of apprentices over there." Icepaw gestured to a group a young cats.

Bisonpaw filled with enthusiasm, but she noticed Blossompaw shrink back.

"C'mon, Blossompaw!" Bisonpaw nudged the cream she-cat, "It'll be fun!"

"I'm not so sure about that." Firepaw muttered.

"Oh shush, you fur ball!" Icepaw nudged her brother playfully.

"C'mon!" Bisonpaw rushed over, pushing past cats on the way.

"Watch it!" She heard hiss after hiss.

Bisonpaw stopped in front of the group. They seemed to be in a heated argument.

"Hello!" Bisonpaw mewed cheerfully

The whole of the group looked at her. She felt Meadowpaw brush up beside her as the other cats joined her.

"Oh look, ShadowClan cats." A black tom spat.

"Don't be so rude!" Another black tom frowned at the first, "Please excuse my brother, Nightpaw, he can be quite insensitive sometimes." The black tom looked back at them.

"It's alright." Bisonpaw flicked her tail.

"Not really." Firepaw muttered.

Icepaw elbowed him in the stomach and he glared at her.

"We should all introduce ourselves. I'll start." The black tom looked around at the other cats, "I'm Blackpaw from WindClan."

He looked to his brother sitting next to him.

"Nightpaw from WindClan." Nightpaw grunted.

"Bunnypaw from WindClan." A cream she-cat meowed softly.

"I'm Pebblepaw from RiverClan." A pale silver and cream tom said smoothly.

"Dewpaw from RiverClan." A gray and cream she-cat meowed quietly.

"Beepaw from RiverClan." A black and gray striped she-cat said confidently.

"Shatteredpaw from ThunderClan." A blue, silver and ginger patched she-cat blurted a little too loudly.

"Swanpaw from ThunderClan, Shatteredpaw's sister." An elegant, pure white she-cat meowed, a complete opposite of her sister.

"Frondpaw from ThunderClan." A dark brown tom grunted.

"Littlepaw from SkyClan." A small white tom stood tall and proud.

"Bisonpaw from ShadowClan." Bisonpaw introduced herself, her voice full of enthusiasm.

"Why is your tail bleeding?" Bunnypaw asked.

"As we were crossing the thunderpath, it got hit by a monster." Bisonpaw replied simply, glancing at Firepaw.

"Oh, sounds scary." Blackpaw watched Bisonpaw's tail as it flicked back and forth, "Continue," He looked up at Meadowpaw.

"Meadowpaw from ShadowClan!" Meadowpaw said calmly.

"Icepaw from ShadowClan." Icepaw said joyfully.

"Firepaw from ShadowClan, Icepaw's brother." Firepaw muttered.

"Blossompaw from ShadowClan, Meadowpaw's sister." Blossompaw mumbled.

"Could you repeat that?" Blackpaw asked softly.

"Blossompaw from ShadowClan, my sister." Meadowpaw answered for his sister.

Blackpaw nodded, then moved on, "We were just talking about the—" He was abruptly interrupted by a yowl that traveled throughout the clearing.

Each cat turned their heads towards the four oak trees where five, strong figures sat. Foxstar sat to the far right, his chest puffed out and his gaze scanning the crowd. Four other figures sat to his left. A cream colored she-cat with black dapples and happy blue eyes, a lean black and white speckled tom with cautious green eyes, a short, angry looking black she-cat, with a piercing yellow glare, and a blue, black, and white patched tom with calm amber eyes. Each cat had an air of importance, though each one portrayed it differently. Some looked down on the cats below them, and others looked down on each other.

"Jaystar, would you like to go first?" The cream colored she-cat asked the patched tom.

Jaystar nodded in response and stood up, "SkyClan is well, we have recovered from the recent attacks from ThunderClan," He shot a glare towards the black she-cat and a ripple of murmurs echoed through the crowd.

Attacks? Bisonpaw glanced at Shatteredpaw and Swanpaw, who both had a grimace etched on their face.

"Prey is running well, and we have a new apprentice to make our clan stronger. Littlepaw." Jaystar finished and stepped back to allow The black she-cat to step foward.

"I, Hollystar, deny your accusations against us. We have done nothing to your clan." She stared hard at Jaystar, who only shook his head in disbelief, "You have no right to accuse my clan of such things. If it's a war you would like to start, you are doing a great job." Hollystar stepped back, never tearing her eyes from Jaystar. The two leaders were locked in a staring contest of some sort.

Bisonpaw noticed Littlepaw shifting away from Shatteredpaw and Swanpaw, just as every other SkyClan cat in the throng.

"Runningstar," Foxstar flicked his tail impatiently, "We haven't got all day."

Runningstar jumped, as if he had been caught dozing off, "Huh? Oh, right." He looked embarrassed as he stepped foward, "WindClan is well, we have a a new apprentice, Bunnypaw, and prey is running well." He meowed nervously before quickly stepping back.

The cream colored she-cat looked kindly at him and stepped forward, "RiverClan also has new apprentices, Pebblepaw and Dewpaw. The fish in the river are plentiful." She nodded to Foxstar.

"Thank you, Willowstar." Foxstar nodded in return, stepping forward confidently, "ShadowClan is well, prey is running. We have five new lovely apprentices." A murmur of surprise traveled through the crowd.

"Five new apprentices?" Bisonpaw heard a voice whisper near her.

"Firepaw, Icepaw, Meadowpaw, Blossompaw, and Bisonpaw." Foxstar finished.

Bisonpaw had just started to notice the bright moon had begun to travel towards the trees, casting eerie shadows down on the cats gathered there.

Willowstar looked up at the moon, "The gathering is over." She announced.

Each leader began gathering up their clans, cats moving like a river around Bisonpaw.

She turned to the other apprentices, "Goodbye," She purred, "May StarClan light your path."

"You as well," Blackpaw purred in return before bounding in the direction of where his clan was gathering.

Bisonpaw turned and rushed towards ShadowClan, the excitement of the night filling her to the brim.

Meadowpaw was wrong, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Bisonpaw thought happily to herself, despite the dispute between SkyClan and ThunderClan.

Bisonpaw neared and and halted, just before bumping into Shadedbramble.

"Have fun?" Shadedbramble asked.

"Definitely!" Bisonpaw couldn't hold still, so she shifted from paw to paw.

"Good." Shadedbramble purred.

"Everycat ready?" Foxstar asked.

Each cat nodded, and Foxstar made sure he had everycat before taking off, back towards camp.

Hello, again. I always forget to write a note at the end! It's Bisonpaw's first gathering so I didn't want too much drama, but it snuck in there. I put just a little character development with Bisonpaw and Firepaw as well.

Question time!: Which apprentice from the other Clans was your favorite? (I know there isn't a lot to go off of, but I had a clear winner)

— Theoneandonlylonelypotato