Chapter 5
Pale moonlight washed over the forest as the RiverClan cats made their way to Fourtrees. With each pawstep, Ripplepaw's stomach churned nervously.
"I want to go home," he whispered, fluffing out his pelt.
Nightsky gave him a stern look. "No. Now, stop worrying so much. Everything will be fine! I bet you'll make tons of new friends tonight," his mentor meowed.
Ripplepaw glared. "I don't want to make new friends. I want to go home!"
"Well, you're not! So be quiet and stop complaining." Nightsky gave him a cross look, before pausing beside Birchtail.
The RiverClan cats were paused at the top of the slope leading down to Fourtrees. Finally, Morningstar signaled for her cats to go down into the clearing. As Ripplepaw followed Nightsky down into the clearing, his heart thumped wildly in his chest.
"It looks like ThunderClan and SkyClan are already here," Shellnose commented, before padding off in the direction of a large golden tom. Briarpelt and Mudfoot followed after him, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Why don't you go talk to Weaselpaw?" Nightsky suggested, flicking her tail towards a plump brown tom. "He's a new SkyClan apprentice, so you two may have a lot in common." As the black she-cat nudged Ripplepaw towards the SkyClan apprentice, Ripplepaw dug his claws into the ground.
"Making friendships with the other Clans is against the warrior code, remember?" he said.
Nightsky flattened her ears to her head. "Tonight is special," she insisted. When she realized her apprentice wasn't going to obey, she stalked off in the direction of a white she-cat.
Now alone, Ripplepaw flattened himself to the ground. He tried to scan the clearing for any cat he knew, but he couldn't. There were too many sights and scents that it confused him. Suddenly, he felt a cat brush against him. Looking up, he saw a light brown tabby she-cat.
"You seem lonely," she commented, taking a seat beside him.
Ripplepaw's neck fur bristled slightly. "I'm fine," he snapped, turning away from her.
The she-cat flattened her ears to her head. "I'm Willowpaw of ShadowClan. What's your name?"
He stared at her. Doesn't she understand I'm not interested in making friends? He thought irritably. Letting out a small growl he muttered, "My name is Ripplepaw."
"Nice to meet you, Ripplepaw! I assume you belong to RiverClan. Is that correct?" Willowpaw asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
The silver tom nodded. "Correct," he said.
Before Willowpaw could ask him anything else, Morningstar let out a yowl, "Now that all five Clans have arrived, let this Gathering begin!" Once the clearing was silent, she turned to a dark gray tom and asked, "Would you like to begin?"
The dark gray tom nodded, before stepping forward. "I have sad news this moon. Burrowstar was killed by a dog a few sunrises ago. WindClan mourns him deeply, but since his death I have been given my nine lives. I am now Swiftstar, and Milkfur is my deputy."
"Swiftstar! Milkfur! Swiftstar! Milkfur!" cats from every Clan cheered.
Once the noise died down, Swiftstar continued, "I would also like to announce we have a new litter of kits. Mottleflower has given birth to two healthy kits, whom she has named Larkkit and Eaglekit." Stepping back, the WindClan tom dipped his head to a black she-cat. "Would you like to go next, Ravenstar?"
Nodding, the she-cat stepped forward. "ThunderClan is thriving this moon. Prey is plentiful, and things have been peaceful. However, we did scent a fox in our territory a few sunrises ago. It seemed to be heading in the direction of ShadowClan's territory, so I would keep an eye out, Bramblestar."
Bramblestar dipped his head. "Thank you for the warning," he meowed, before stepping forward. "There is not much to report for ShadowClan. The only news we have is that Honeyleaf has taken on a new apprentice, named Willowpaw."
"Willowpaw! Willowpaw! Willowpaw!" As the cats cheered, Willowpaw ducked her head in embarrassment.
"Everyone is staring at me," she whispered to him as she shuffled her paws on the ground.
Ripplepaw flattened his ears to his head. The same thing is going to happen to me! He realized. The silver tom leaped to his paws, before pushing his way through the crowed. He wanted to make his way back to camp, before Morningstar could announce his apprenticeship to Nightsky.
Just as he was above to dive into a clump of bracken, Morningstar yowled, "RiverClan also has a new medicine cat apprentice, named Ripplepaw."
Ripplepaw froze. Suddenly, he could feel the gaze of every Clan cat burning into his pelt. As they stared, he could feel his chest and throat tightening up.
"Congratulations!" a black-and-white tom said to him.
The apprentice flattened his ears to his head, too stunned to speak. Then, he darted into the bracken and raced in the direction of camp. As he ran, his chest tightened up, making it impossible for him to breath. Plopping down onto the ground, Ripplepaw sat there trying to catch his breath.
As he lay there, the undergrowth around him rustled. Finally, Willowpaw stepped out. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. "Where are you going?" she demanded, taking a seat beside him.
"Home," he spat, looking away from her.
"But why?" Willowpaw wondered, her tail tip twitching slightly.
"I just don't want to go to the stupid Gathering, all right?" Ripplepaw growled, standing to his paws. As he limped down the slope that lead to the Twoleg bridge, he could feel Willowpaw's gaze burning into his pelt.
"I hope we can see each other again. Goodnight!" she called out, before turning and padding back to Fourtrees.
By the time Ripplepaw reached camp, he felt sick to his stomach.
"You're back early," Rainfall commented. "Is everything okay? Did a fight break out?"
He shook his head. "I'm just not feeling very well," he muttered, making his way towards the medicine cats den. As he curled up in his nest, he heard the entrance rustle. Looking up, he saw Nightsky standing there. The black she-cat's amber eyes were blazing with fury.
"I am very disappointed in you," she snarled, stalking up to him.
"You're always disappointed in me," Ripplepaw retorted.
"I am trying to do you a favor," Nightsky continued, ignoring him. "But you clearly don't want my help. Honestly, I think I'm just wasting my time with you."
Ripplepaw flattened his ears to his head. "You're right. I don't need your help, and I never wanted it! You're the one who forced me into this stupid position, despite the fact I didn't even want it. And you keep telling me it's to protect me, but from what? Maybe if you told me what you were so worried about, I would understand!"
Nightsky stared at him for a few moments, before taking a deep breath. "You want to know what your fate is?" she spat. "Very well." The black she-cat began to circle him, the fur along her spine bristling. "You walk a very dark path, Ripplepaw. StarClan has told me you're destined to destroy RiverClan."
Ripplepaw stared at her, in shock. He then narrowed his eyes before hissing, "You're just making this up because you don't like me! I would never do anything to hurt RiverClan. I love my Clan, and I would do anything to protect it. I can't believe you would say that about me." Before Nightsky could say anything more, he turned and fled.
Despite the tight feeling in his chest, Ripplepaw ran as far as he could. With every stride, his lungs burned for air, but he continued on. Finally, he stumbled under a beech tree. Glancing up, he decided to hide up in the tree for the night.
Gathering his strength, he slowly clawed his way up the trunk of the tree, before curling up on one of its branches. As he caught his breath, he gazed out across the territory. There was still blackened patches of ground around the RiverClan camp, from where the fire had been.
I should just run away, he thought. No one likes me anyway. The young tom felt tears well up in his eyes as he thought about what Nightsky had told him. Why would she say such a thing to me? I would never do anything to hurt another cat! As he thought about his mentor, a surge of anger rose up inside of him. Except maybe her...
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I wanted to finish Extinction before I continued with this story, because I wanted to put all of my attention into it. Also, I am working on Allegiances for this story. They will be posted under the prologue, so keep an eye out for that if you're interested. And in case you're wondering, this story takes place about four or five years before SkyClan is driven out of the forest.
As always, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
