Wow, that took a lot longer than I was expecting. I had it finished a bit ago, but then I took a really long time in the editing stage, but finally it is here!
Songmistle: OMG I just fell in love with Frondpaw! Frondpaw is now officially going to be the absolute best character in this entire fanfiction (Um, I may be going a bit far, but I really do love her). I'm trying to incorporate all your names in this chapter, and some of them probably won't be mentioned, but a fair amount of them will come up.
Fastbreeze37: Thank you for reading my story! The kit chapters were very hard for me to write, and a lot of the coming chapters are, seeing as the whole book is basically one bigger filler of time till near the very end. But hopefully these chapters give me time to establish the characters and situation better. I'm glad that you liked Rowanpaw and her voice, which most definitely will be coming back again, and the mysterious element is but the only good part of LightClan at all! Oh, Rowanpaw really will have to work out that big mess, but for now, she's just a regular old apprentice.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: AS OF THE CHAPTERS COMING OUT SOON AND THROUGHOUT THE BOOK, CHARACTERS MAY START DYING. IF YOU SUBMITTED A CHARACTER YOU REALLY CARE ABOUT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
Every cat was excited for the gathering happening that night. Of course, it wasn't really about making friends with the other cats, or even the news. It was about showing their perfectness off.
"And don't try to socialize," Swanpaw was telling them. "Socializing is just lame, which is imperfect. Just look perfect, act perfect, and don't chat with those other Clans." She said the word 'other' with a shiver, as if referencing them was too much of a horror for her to deal with.
Robinpaw was hanging on every word as the older apprentice spoke, whereas Rowanpaw was completely ignoring her. It was less likely that she would go anyway; none of her littermates had gotten to go yet, and some of the older apprentices were bound to be chosen. Despite the fact that LightClan always had the most cats attending gatherings, there were still twice as many left back at home.
"Don't expect to be chosen," Swanpaw continued. "If you are, however great an honor it seems, don't act like it. The other Clans are filthy, dirty, imperfect cats, and there is no honor in meeting them."
"Then why are you even bothering to tell us such… helpful information?" Rowanpaw asked with mock innocence.
"Nettlecloud gave me the job to keep a proper eye on all of you new apprentices," the white apprentice announced proudly. Rowanpaw responded to this by snorting and walking away, to Robinpaw's horrified expression.
"Imperfect," she heard her sister mutter under her breath. The statement didn't surprise Rowanpaw at all. She was used to being called imperfect.
The only thing anyone was talking about was the gathering. Of course, the rest of the apprentices were chatting excitedly about going, and meeting the other Clans. Moonkit and Echokit were complaining about why they couldn't go, while the queens chatted fondly of past full moons. The new warriors were talking amongst themselves, and Rowanpaw could hear them hoping for a chance to show off their names to the other Clans. Most of the warriors just wanted to go to hear what SunClan had to say.
"Rowanpaw!" She heard a cat call. Excited, she turned around and she saw a dappled golden she-cat behind her. Her energy dampened, and it was all she could do not to let out a long sigh.
"Yes, Flowerpool?" she responded warily.
"Tomorrow, we will finally get to our unfinished lesson of perfectly graceful leaps and battle training," the she-cat told her grandly.
"Ok," Rowanpaw said dully, hoping Flowerpool would leave her alone, and was rewarded when her annoying mentor joined her crowd of friends.
That had been the third time that her lessons had been delayed for a couple of days, though the second time had stretched into a quarter moon! The first time, of course, had been because of the spat about marking the border, but after that she had made the mistake of outrightly questioning the very concept of perfectness. This most recent time, when Flowerpool was making her do gracefulness training, Rowanpaw had gotten so mad that instead of leaping onto the leaf like her mentor told her to, she had leapt onto the she-cat herself.
Free of her mentor, Rowanpaw sat down to groom herself, reluctantly following the tips she had been given. As she was washing she heard Bristlefern bustle by, Glowingpaw right behind her.
"Can't go tonight, Lavenderstripe is too close to kitting," the medicine cat was saying.
"Can I go without you?" Glowingpaw asked.
"No, and anyways it would be more educational for you to learn how to help a queen. I promise you'll go next time," Glowingpaw's mentor explained.
Bristlefern hurried away, with Glowingpaw following her, probably to sort herbs or do some other medicine cat business. Rowanpaw felt a bit sad that Glowingpaw couldn't join in on meeting the other Clans, but her sister would have many more chances, seeing as medicine cats were usually required to go.
Not sure what to do, Rowanpaw headed back into the apprentice den. Swanpaw was still lecturing, but to Sunpaw and Leafpaw instead, and she was pleased to see neither one of them was paying any attention whatsoever.
Finally, the Clan was called over for a meeting, in which every cat knew the cats going to the gathering wouldn't be announced. They all quieted for their leader to speak, but Rowanpaw could still feel the constant buzz of whispers her Clanmates were trading around her.
"The cats going to the gathering are…" Flashstar declared, taking his time. Rowanpaw held her breath. "Nettlecloud, Ivorystorm, Pondwillow, Mistystorm, Beechnose, Nightflame, Blackbirch, Petalfrost, Flowerpool, Breezedawn, Aspenfrost and Skyblaze, Swanpaw, Riverpaw, Robinpaw, Maplepaw, and Rowanpaw."
Rowanpaw felt excitement course through her as she heard her name. Like always, not many cats were going to the gathering, and this time Flashstar had chosen to include many more young cats than usual. Now she would get to meet the other Clans, even if by Swanpaw's rules she couldn't talk to them, and she would get to witness the latest news on SunClan's demand.
Finally night came, and she filed out of camp with the other cats called. Rowanpaw was awestruck as soon as she saw the birch clearing. The thick birch trees surrounded the whole path of the woods, with the moonlight shining right on the thick twisty trunk of an oak that winded down and up. She could see all the cats from the other Clans, and smell them too. On their left was StormClan, and on their right was MoonClan. On the other side of the Large Trunk, SunClan had not yet arrived.
She looked around to see all the other cats mingling and talking. Not knowing what to do, she stood idly, before seeing a dark ginger StormClan apprentice motion her to join him, and a group of some others.
She followed, but then stopped for a half a second. She was about to do the exact thing Swanpaw had told her not to. Looking around, it didn't seem that many cats from LightClan were mingling, but she did see Mistystorm and Beechnose talking with a few from MoonClan, and Aspenfrost and Skyblaze seemed to be sharing their news with a ginger tom from StormClan. Rowanpaw was already in trouble, and going against another of LightClan's rules might be pushing it too far. Flowerpool would be horrified if Rowanpaw joined him.
So she did.
The tom was chatting animatedly with a tortoiseshell, while a light gray she-cat was looking on shyly, and a cat with a different scent, MoonClan, was trying to engage in another conversation. The ginger tom looked up at her and suddenly started speaking.
"Hey, what's your name?" The tom asked.
"Rowanpaw," she answered.
"I'm Applepaw!" He meowed cheerfully. "This is my sister Skypaw, the light gray she-cat is Frondpaw, and the white and brown one is Lilypaw. You're new, aren't you?"
"Yeah," she told him. "How long have you been an apprentice?"
"Me and Applepaw only have a couple moons left." Put in the tortoiseshell, Skypaw. "This is Lilypaw's second moon, and Frondpaw here only became an apprentice a quarter moon ago."
"So we'll be warriors at the same time," the she-cat said shyly. Rowanpaw instantly decided that she liked the light gray tabby.
"Let the gathering begin!" A cat yowled. Rowanpaw turned to see that SunClan had arrived, and all four leaders were sitting on the large curvy oak trunk. She could see Flashstar among them, with a dark gray tom on one side and ginger tom on the other. On the very end of the trunk, separated from the rest, a ginger she-cat stood.
"I will start," announced the dark gray tom. "Prey has been running well and our Clan is doing well. We have one new apprentice, Frondpaw." The Clans chanted her name, and she ducked away shyly. "There was a fox sighted, but it left before we could chase it out. We are doing fine, and plenty strong." That last bit was direct with a hint of menace to SunClan's direction.
"That's Frozenstar," Skypaw whispered to her. "He's a good leader. The ginger tom is Brightstar, and the she-cat is Cloverstar. She's a mousebrain, though."
"LightClan has been doing perfectly fine," Flashstar meowed. "We are healthy, and our cats are strong. We welcome three new warriors, Elmfang, Aspenfrost and Skyblaze!" Once again the Clans chanted, welcoming the new warriors. Cloverstar opened her mouth to speak, but Flashstar cut her off. "We also welcome eight new apprentices, Lemonpaw, Robinpaw, Sunpaw, Larkpaw, Maplepaw, Glowingpaw, Rowanpaw, and Leafpaw." Once again the Clan's cheered, though Rowanpaw noticed that SunClan stayed quiet. Seeing LightClan's leader was finally done, Cloverstar swooshed her tail, and a menacing hush fell over the crowd.
"SunClan is still in need of more territory!" The she-cat pressed. "We have many more cats than you and we don't have good enough prey in our land. We insist that you let us hunt in your territory, and in a quarter moon, we will begin coming around. You will let us do it." The leader put a sense of authority into the declaration, and Rowanpaw could see that every cat was either smirking at her idiocy, or speaking in hushed voices with one another. SunClan was just sitting there, looking smug.
Brightstar looked around the tense crowd, not knowing if he should give his report, and then finally decided he should. "MoonClan is also doing well. Prey has been running well enough. Primroselash has just given birth to Pinekit, and is expecting to join the elders' den after many moons of serving the Clan." Everyone came together to cheer for the old queen; she was well known, and well respected.
Rowanpaw saw Flowerpool turn to mutter to Breezedawn. "No honor in joining the elder's, being old is a disgrace." The cream she-cat nodded in agreement, and Rowanpaw thought she saw Flowerpool looking pleased with herself at the nasty comment she had made.
The leader's leapt off the Large Trunk, and cats started to mingle. Rowanpaw found herself being pulled back into the group with Applepaw. Frondpaw looked nervous, but more so than that Skypaw was furious, and Rowanpaw heard her mutter a series of insults.
"That flea-pelt of a SunClan leader!" The tortoiseshell finished.
"They expect us to give them hunting rights?" Applepaw challenged. Rowanpaw nodded fervently in agreement.
"They should know better," she added. "And we'll show them once we fight back!"
Applepaw gave a pointed look to Lilypaw. "Yes, at least they'll be fighting double their numbers." Lilypaw shot a wounded look back.
"It's not my fault that Brightstar doesn't want the MoonClan to fight," the MoonClan apprentice said. "We don't have a lot of cats, but we have enough prey, and SunClan probably couldn't catch many of our rabbits."
"Please just stop arguing!" Frondpaw pleaded. One look at the sweet she-cat, and Rowanpaw knew it would be impossible to keep bickering.
She heard a huge crash, and looked around hastily, to see her brother's brown and white pelt mixed up with a big yellow tabby's, as they tumbled around and swiped at each other. The crowd around them was chanting fight, while some cats were rushing through to separate the two. One glance up and she could see clouds covering the moon, meaning that StarClan didn't approve.
"Maplepaw," she sighed.
"You're brother?" Lilypaw asked with a bit of a smirk. "Glad to see him mess with Sunnypaw, he's the biggest oaf I've ever seen." The MoonClan cat raced off to get a better look at the scene, along with the other she-cats, leaving Rowanpaw and Applepaw all alone.
"Why'd you bring me to join you instead of the others?" Rowanpaw asked him.
"Because you seemed the least… perfect of all the others, if you know what I mean," he said, then grinned sheepishly. "Er… I'm guessing that's an insult in your Clan."
"Oh, it is," Rowanpaw meowed with a big smile. "But the warrior code requires it, so all of us have to be perfect."
"The warrior code doesn't say it," Applepaw said suddenly.
Rowanpaw looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean it doesn't? Of course it does."
"No, the warrior code is the same for all four Clans, and it doesn't say anything in the leader about being perfect. I'm sure if you checked with Lilypaw, and your brother's friend Sunnypaw over there, they'd say it doesn't either."
"Well then that means that all of your Clans are wrong…" Rowanpaw started.
Applepaw looked at her with wide eyes. "Or LightClan has done something to change the warrior code!"
Now that's a chapter! I hope I made a cliff-hanger here, I'm not particularly good at coming up with suspenseful chapter endings. Also, as of Rowanpaw's first gathering, here comes the rest of the allegiances!
StormClan:
Leader: Frozenstar - Ruffled dark gray tom with white paws and amber eyes
Deputy: Ebonynose - Gray tabby she-cat with a long tail and soft green eyes
Medicine Cat: Littlepond - Calico tom with sky blue eyes
Warriors: Rockwing - Mottled gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Wildsnow - Gray and white she-cat with blue eyes
Violetheart - Dark gray she-cat with golden paws and amber eyes
Shimmerflight - Ginger and white tabby tom with yellow eyes
Foxsnow - Ginger tabby tom with dark blue eyes
Apprentices: Applepaw - Dark ginger tom with green eyes
Skypaw - Tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes
Frondpaw - Light gray tabby she-cat with light green eyes
Queens: Specklefire - Brown speckled white she-cat with yellow eyes (kits Smallkit, small golden she-kit with amber eyes, Mudkit, dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes)
Elders: Pondlight - Golden tabby tom with blue eyes
MoonClan:
Leader: Brightstar - Ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes
Deputy: Oakshadow - Tortoiseshell tom with dark amber eyes
Medicine cat: Jayleaf - Pale red speckled light brown tom with green eyes
Warriors: Nightnose - Black and white tabby tom with blue eyes
Swiftfoot - Light gray tabby she-cat with green eyes
Creekwhisker - Dark gray tom with amber eyes
Dawnleaf - Ginger and white tabby she-cat with green eyes
Fuzzyheart - Golden she-cat with white paws and amber eyes
Apprentices: Lilypaw - Brown and white she-cat with amber eyes
Eveningpaw - Soft dark gray she-cat with amber eyes
Queens: Primroselash - Black and gray she-cat with yellow eyes (kit Pinekit, black tom with bright blue eyes)
SunClan
Leader: Cloverstar - Ginger she-cat with emerald green eyes
Deputy: Flarewhisper - Dark ginger tom with a bushy tail and blazing green eyes
Medicine Cat: Waterflight - Black tabby tom with amber eyes
Warriors: Gingerclaw - Dark ginger tom with blazing yellow eyes
Softflower - Fluffy white she-cat with blue eyes
Snowstorm - Pale silver tabby tom with thick, long fur and light blue eyes
Mistynose - Short-furred white with small dark gray patches, amber eyes
Mapleleaf - Pale brown tabby tom with green eyes
Petalsky - Cream tabby she-cat with golden eyes
Apprentices: Burnpaw - Dark ginger tom with bright yellow eyes
Sunnypaw - Big yellow tabby tom with yellow eyes
Queens: Sparrowdusk - Light brown striped black she-cat with green eyes (kits Fawnkit, light brown speckled white she-cat with green eyes, Fogkit, silver and white tabby tom with green eyes, Barkkit, mottled brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes)
Berryshine - Cream she-cat with golden eyes
These aren't official yet, feel free to submit characters to help build up these Clans!