Reedpaw didn't like WindClan.
"You smell disgusting!" exclaimed one. She looked like a kit, with kit fluff.
"Yeah," agreed her orange and white sister.
"Who're you?"
"I'm Amberpaw, and she's Orangepaw," the gray and brown tabby replied simply. Her eyes glittered. "And you? Obviously, you're a moron in RiverClan, but besides that…" She giggled mischievously.
Reedpaw remembered his thoughts about these sort of friends.
"Where are your parents?"
"Our mother is back in camp," mewed Orangepaw. Pride began creeping into her tone as she as she declared, "And our father's up there!" She batted one paw toward the tree branches.
"There's only Graystar there."
"Exactly!" exclaimed Amberpaw. "He's our father."
Reedpaw sniffed. "Fine."
"He'll announce our apprenticeship tonight," Orangepaw informed him.
Orangepaw was definitely friendlier than her sister. Orangepaw craned her neck to gaze at the medicine cats. "Y'know," she meowed, "That medicine cat, Magpiefeather, is our father's sister's kit." She grinned, shifting proudly.
"Whoa."
Her family tree was rather powerful.
"Thanks," Amberpaw exclaimed. "There's this Honeykit. She's younger than us, but I think she's going to be Magpiefeather's apprentice! In fact, she's our father's sister's kit's kit." She raised an eyebrow. "Cindershine's."
Ah. So she's bragging.
"Do you know Whitepetal?"
"No."
"Mistshade?"
"Excuse me?"
"Tawnyclaw?"
"Er… I've seen him when we were kits," Orangepaw replied helpfully. "He came in our camp to demand some help."
"Ah. Then maybe Sundawn? Maybe Sparrowheart."
"Oh, Sparrowheart!" exclaimed Amberpaw. "Yes, we know him! He's already real famous."
"Why?"
Amberpaw blinked. "We saw him while our mentors were showing us territory."
"But you couldn't have met him."
"Maybe he swam. Froststorm tried to drive him away, but he just calmly jumped into the water."
Orangepaw shrugged. "Later we saw some wet prey. Maybe it was an act of apology. It sort of stank of SkyClan, though."
Reedpaw froze. What?
That was definitely a big puzzle piece. A piece of a puzzle he hadn't started yet; and did not know it existed.
Amberpaw glanced left. "Ooh, there're some SkyClan cats."
"I want to see ThunderClan cats," objected Orangepaw.
"Then let's go separate ways," decided Amberpaw.
"But Lightleaf told us to stay together!" protested Orangepaw.
"Who cares?" Amberpaw replied. "I don't want to see ThunderClan, just like you aren't interested in SkyClan. Right?"
Orangepaw sighed. "Fine," she muttered.
"Can I go with you?" asked Reedpaw.
Orangepaw glanced back, her ears twitching suspiciously. "Okay," she meowed. "But Lightleaf and Amberpaw aren't going to like it."
Reedpaw barely surpressed the urge to mew, Who cares? to the overly cautious she-apprentice.
He just flicked his ears in acknowledgement.
Sighing, Orangepaw padded over to the ThunderClan cats. "Hi," she mewed cautiously.
A small white she-cat whipped her head back. She gazed at the small orange apprentice, and mewed quietly, "Hello."
"What's your name?" Orangepaw asked nervously.
"Maybe you could talk to cats your age," mumbled Reedpaw, feeling hot under his pelt.
The white she-cat looked rather disturbed.
He looked back to see Whitepetal staring at him in horror. Her hazel eyes darted, and they met the white cat's amber ones.
What…?
"I'm just going to um, ask something to my mentor. Be right back; wait for me!"
"Sure."
Reedpaw ran to Whitepetal, looking at her inquiringly. "What's the matter?"
"She was Lightflare," hissed Whitepetal.
"Oh, oops."
"I cannot believe it. Lightflare was the one who helped me, remember?"
Reedpaw was intrigued that ThunderClan cats had helped an enemy cat, and had sort of wanted to see Lightflare and Lilywillow. But he hadn't really meant to, if anyone could understand what that meant.
"She stared at me," Whitepetal muttered. "That's chilling."
Reedpaw nodded awkwardly. "And I'll… just go now."
Whitepetal nodded. "Have good time with your friend…"
Reedpaw scurried back to Orangepaw, who was waiting patiently. "Hi," he mewed breathlessly.
Orangepaw winked. "The leaders seem to be squabbling amongst themselves," she whispered, and nodded her head towards Silverstar and Maplestar.
"You!" snarled Silverstar angrily. "First it's WindClan, and now ShadowClan?" She whipped her head back to face ThunderClan. "Why on earth are you swimming past the lake, or walking all those pawsteps to intrude on our territory?"
Eaglestar hissed. "What nonsense! Have you eaten squirrel brains for lunch? That would explain the idiocy!"
"How dare you call me…"
Reedpaw sighed. These recent border squabbles were getting more and more frequent.
Orangepaw was staring at him. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Er, no."
"Well, then." Orangepaw shrugged. "Look. There's a dark ginger cat that might be my age."
"My age, I think," Reedpaw corrected.
"Whatever," Orangepaw objected. "Still, she's an apprentice."
"True."
"Hi!" Orangepaw's voice was tight with anxiety.
The dark ginger she-cat turned around. Her dark green eyes were friendly, and she meowed, "Hi. I'm Quincepaw. What's your name? You're new, aren't you? I've never seen you before."
"Yes. I'm Orangepaw, from WindClan."
"And you?"
Reedpaw blinked. "I'm Reedpaw. RiverClan."
"Okay. I'm a ThunderClan cat. Mistfall, the deputy, is my mentor." She grinned. "Would you like to meet Leafpaw?"
"Er?"
Leafpaw was a small white cat with gray mottled fur. "Hi," she mumbled.
"Hi!" Orangepaw meowed happily.
"Leafpaw's older than me," Quincepaw meowed. "She's really smart."
"No I'm not," Leafpaw murmured, not meeting anyone's gaze. Her eyes were firmly fixed upon the ground.
Reedpaw could relate.
"Well, then," began Orangepaw. "Quincepaw. That's a great name."
"Thanks! I love your name too," gushed Quincepaw. "Who're your parents? Mine are Feathernose and Whiskerpelt."
"Mine are Lightleaf and Graystar," exclaimed Orangepaw. "Amberpaw loves to boast about this."
Quincepaw raised an eyebrow. "Wow," she purred. "That's quite… a something."
"That's what Amberpaw says."
Feeling a bit left out, Reedpaw scrunched away. It didn't seem like Leafpaw would say anything, either. So he started to slip away quietly.
"Wait, Reedpaw!" exclaimed Quincepaw. "Who're your parents?"
"Mistshade and Tawnyclaw."
Recognition did not pass Quincepaw's face. "Er, okay," she mewed finally. "That's good. What prey do you like most?"
"Minnows," Reedpaw answered, knowing the only expression Quincepaw would give was an expression of disgust. And so she did.
"Ew!" she exclaimed. "Fish? Well, mine is squirrels. They're tasty."
Reedpaw frowned. Respect! "Squirrels are just so tufty."
"You must have bad ones in the marsh," Quincepaw responded. "Usually they're the best."
"You should honestly try minnows, though."
"No thank you!" exclaimed Orangepaw, Quincepaw, and Leafpaw together.
Reedpaw sighed. "Your bad," he mumbled.
"Yes, ours," agreed Orangepaw, looking amused.
They were teasing him for sure. "Eh, yeah. I'll just be going now."
Only Whitepetal, Windfeather, Sundawn, Dewpaw, and Cherryfern were here, with the deputy Tansyflight and Silverstar.
He wandered next to Dewpaw. He wasn't exactly friends with him, but they did know each other. "Hi, Dewpaw."
Dewpaw glanced back. "Oh, hi, Reedpaw! I haven't found anyone friendly, so I was just waiting. I'm so glad to see you."
Reedpaw nodded. "Me too."
"I thought you were talking with a group."
"They didn't like fish."
Dewpaw purred. "Well, nice reason."
"Cats of all Clans!" A familiar yowl rang out in the dark clearing. It was Silverstar, her eyes blazing with resentment. She glanced at the other leaders. "I will like to speak first tonight…?"
Eaglestar dipped his head, and so did the others.
"RiverClan is thriving. Still we have noticed some scents that are clearly not ours."
"Not as fishy?" hissed a voice from Reedpaw's right, and realized there was the fluffy white she-cat – Fluffypaw.
"Yes, not as fishy!" snapped Dewpaw.
The she-cat whipped her head. "Who are you?" she asked.
"Um, hi, Fluffypaw," meowed Reedpaw quickly.
Fluffypaw tipped her head to one side. Her blue eyes flashed with recognition, and she mewed, "I'm not Fluffypaw anymore. I'm Fluffytail."
"Oh! Nice name."
Fluffytail shook her fluffy tail. "Everyone's been saying that. Isn't it sort of funny?"
Privately, Reedpaw did think so. But instead, he mewed, "No. It's good."
"Thanks, then."
"Don't insult our Clan," warned Dewpaw.
Looking amused, Fluffytail looked back. "Sure."
"So I advise you all to take special care," meowed Silverstar firmly. "We have three new warriors; Roseleap, Sparrowheart, and Sundawn." She sat back while the other chanted names. Luckily, they seemed to be truly happy for the newly named warriors.
Eaglestar stepped forward. "Like RiverClan, we've found clear traces of other Clans." He hissed. "Specifically ShadowClan and SkyClan." He lowered his voice. "I have permitted my cats to… do anything in order to capture the cat that has intruded. Beware. Besides that, our Clan is thriving. Specklepelt has retired to the elders' den." He sat back, nodding his head briskly.
Dapplestar raised her head high. "SkyClan does not want to cause war!" she yowled into the night sky. "Why do you think we would want needless bloodshed?"
"My mother's amazing, isn't she?" asked Fluffytail proudly.
"Silverstar's logical, too," Reedpaw meowed.
"Yes, I'm sure she is."
"Think, my friends. Other than my defense to your ridiculous accusations, I report SkyClan is well. But it is suspicious. ThunderClan; why are you crossing borders? There are so many scents, mingled with RiverClan. I suspect they're swimming." Dapplestar frowned. "So many things do not make sense; we must not jump to conclusions."
Silverstar raised her head. "It's rather hard!"
"Then try!"
"If SkyClan is finished," meowed Maplestar silkily, "I shall start my report. We have scented other Clans, like the others, and I will assume everyone knows that. We have new kits in the Clan, Graykit, Willowkit, and Blackkit."
Cats murmured congratulations.
"We also have a new warrior. Bramblebush."
"Bramblebush!" shouted out a few voices.
Maplestar shrugged, and sat down, as if she could not care less. A dark brown cat hunched his shoulders, and a gray-and-white she-cat licked his shoulder reassuringly.
Graystar stood up. "Enough!" he ordered. "WindClan is thriving." His blue eyes were hard, and it seemed as if he was determined not to bring up the invadings of the other Clans. "We have two new apprentices, Amberpaw and Orangepaw."
"Amberpaw! Orangepaw!" Reedpaw chanted absently.
"We have three newmade warriors, Marigoldheart, Chivefang, and Fernsnow."
"Marigoldheart! Chivefang! Fernsnow!"
Did RiverClan have new warriors? Yes, they did.
"We have nothing else to report," Graystar added. "The Gathering is over."
Reedpaw stood up, and Fluffytail bounced up, her fluffy tail bouncing with her. "Good-bye, then," she said, almost happily. "I won't see you for a moon."
"Oh, yeah, bye."
He looked around for his Clanmates saw Roseleap talking with Sparrowheart.
Sparrowheart dipped his head, stood up, and left. Roseleap's ears drooped visibly.
"Hi, Roseleap," he mewed uncomfortably.
She looked up. "Oh, hi, Reedpaw," she muttered. "The recent border disputes… They're just getting scarier and more serious, aren't they? Sparrowheart's been talking. He says he expects a fight soon, and I think I do, too."
Reedpaw's heart skipped a beat, and his pelt started pricking uneasily as he thought of a battle ahead. "Don't thin like that," he meowed optimistically.
"But it's clear. Every Gathering we talk about scent marks. We're all in an uneasy state. I'm really scared." Roseleap's eyes were wide. "Did you hear Dapplestar? She's claiming she didn't do anything, and Eaglestar and Maplestar were all pissed off by it. They'll probably cause a battle, and those battles won't not affect WindClan and RiverClan. ThunderClan and ShadowClan border WindClan and RiverClan. This is getting big.
"I wish everything could be rosy. That's my dream; a big, rosy scene where Clans live; I wish that could be true, if only for a moment. My heart screams with anxiety whenever anyone rushes in camp, their eyes wide with fear and annoyance."
"Don't worry, Roseleap," mumbled Reedpaw. "It'll all be fine."