Quick author's notes and a few changes: I'm giving this story a new name which I think fits better, and for clarity, there will be two protagonists. You'll be introduced to the second one soon...
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"You're sure it's not just me, Hollowstalk?" inquired a brown-furred apprentice, glancing up at her mentor with glittering green eyes. She cast a glance to the massive grey tom nearby, who was glaring at her.
"Fallowpaw, of course not!" Hollowstalk responded bluntly. "...Sootnose is just a grumpy fleabag, he'll warm up to you eventually," she added, smirking.
Hollowstalk's short dark fur relaxed, but Fallowpaw's bristling neck fur did not. "Alright.." mews Fallowpaw.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here!" yowled Birchstar.
Cats swarmed in from all directions, collecting at the base of Clanrock. Fallowpaw sat next to Hollowstalk, whose dark eyes were focused on Birchstar.
Fallowpaw exhaled shakily upon realizing what was happening. Oh no, it's the Gathering- I hope I don't get-
Birchstar meowed, "The cats attending the Gathering will be: Bluestorm, Poppyblossom, Twigtail, Whitefur, Hollowstalk, Fallowpaw, Sootnose, Brackenpaw, Sorrelfoot, and Hollypaw. That is all. Everyone going to the Gathering, make sure you get some rest."
The named cats flowed back into their dens. Hollowstalk meowed, "Fallowpaw, go get some rest, 'kay?"
Fallowpaw nodded and padded to the apprentice's den. Laying down and neatly tucking her paws beneath her, she listened to the other apprentices' chat.
"Our first Gathering!" mewed Hollypaw, looking in Fallowpaw's general direction but not at her. "Aren't you excited, Fallowpaw?"
Fallowpaw blinked. "I guess." I hope WindClan's queen situation has been resolved. Although ShadowClan's been coming back early from past Gatherings... she mused.
After all, she had been born in WindClan, and she constantly tried to forget the horror of seeing her mother dead, even for a split second, before being taken to ShadowClan.
Brackenpaw interjected, "Yeah, Gatherings are great. You get to meet cats from every Clan."
Heatherpaw rolled her eyes at her littermate. "Well, don't act so excited. All the past gatherings ended early anyway. ThunderClan and RiverClan just can't seem to bury their conflict, can they?"
Brackenpaw cocked his head at his sister. "Well, someone sounds like they wanted to go to the Gathering." he retorted teasingly.
Heatherpaw huffed, turning over to go to sleep, only to be intercepted by her mentor, Silverflame.
Silverflame stood over Heatherpaw, his silver pelt turning to cinder gray in the darkness of the den. " Oh no, you don't get to nap, Heatherpaw. Come on, we're goin' on patrol." meowed Silverflame lightly, smirking.
Brackenpaw's whiskers twitched as he let out a purr. Heatherpaw made a show of getting up and trailing grumpily behind Silverflame.
Hollypaw watched the spectacle smugly, before flopping into her nest. "Alright, I'm going to sleep."
Fallowpaw settled down and drifted into a light repose.
[``-``]
Fallowpaw felt herself being shaken gently. She looked up sleepily and focused to see Hollowstalk. Nearby, Sootnose and Sorrelfoot were shoving their apprentices rather impatiently.
Fallowpaw heard Sootnose mutter something rude-sounding as he prodded the deeply reposing Brackenpaw.
"Time for the gathering, Fallowpaw." Hollowstalk mews gently.
"Fallowpaw yawned, arching her back in a stretch. She shook each leg in turn before bouncing up. "I'm ready."
She exited the den behind Hollowstalk and joined the group of departing cats along with Hollypaw and Brackenpaw.
Thrushpaw and Dewtail, the medicine cat and medicine cat apprentice, respectively, stayed near Birchstar at the head of the group.
Fallowpaw noticed Snakeye, the deputy, staring out into space.
"Everyone here?" asked Birchstar.
"Yep, everyone's here!" responded Bluestorm, his fur purple-gray in the sunset.
Birchstar nodded and padded out of camp, the group of cats following him.
Fallowpaw noticed Whitefur limping a bit with his hind leg. Maybe Dewtail should take a look at that...
At the edge of the territory, the group of cats dropped into the Thunderpath tunnels, seemingly relishing the darkness underneath for a few moments before emerging.
At Fourtrees, scents from all Clans swirled around the arriving party as two leaders sat upon a large rock in the clearing.
"Wow..." murmured Fallowpaw, taking in the scene.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Brackenpaw meowed, irritatingly nudging Fallowpaw. "Those leaders up there- That's Adderstar from ThunderClan, and Nightstar from WindClan."
Fallowpaw examined the familiar leader, noting his greying pelt and his tired expression.
Birchstar caterwauled, "Shadowclan has arrived!"
Adderstar stared over. "Even ShadowClan arrived before RiverClan?" he meowed dryly. "StarClan, those fish-munching idiots really must be fooling around."
Right- ThunderClan and RiverClan are fighting! Fallowpaw thought as she remembered Heatherpaw's comment. Adderstar must have his tail in a twist...
Hollowstalk aroused Fallowpaw's thoughts. "Go talk with the other apprentices. Bring Hollypaw with you, and Brackenpaw too."
Fallowpaw glanced back at her mentor. "But I'm nervous."
Hollowstalk smirked. "You'll live. Just go!" she responded playfully.
Fallowpaw and Hollypaw made their way to where the apprentices were talking.
A gray she-cat beckoned the duo over. "You must be new!" Fallowpaw nodded as the apprentice continued.
"I'm Mistpaw, and this is Cherrypaw!" The she-cat beckoned to the ginger she-cat next to her. Cherrypaw waved her tail.
"I'm Fallowpaw, and this is-"
"I can introduce myself, thank you very much!" meowed Hollypaw defiantly. "Hollypaw. A pleasure." Hollypaw mewed drily as Fallowpaw rolled her eyes.
"So you two are from ThunderClan?" asked Fallowpaw.
"Yep!" responded Cherrypaw.
Several WindClan apprentices sauntered over. Fallowpaw recognized them as Mothpaw, Shrewpaw, Rainpaw, and Beepaw.
"Hey, you two must be from ShadowClan, right?" meowed Rainpaw eagerly.
"Yeah!" mewed Hollypaw. "I'm Hollypaw! Oh, and that's Fallowpaw if you were wondering." Fallowpaw scoffed in mock offense.
Rainpaw snickered and continued, "I'm Rainpaw, and this is Beepaw, Shrewpaw, and Mothpaw."
"Nice to meet you all," responded Fallowpaw.
"RiverClan is here!" yowled some cat in the crowd.
RiverClan fanned out, their members' tails high as they strutted into the clearing. A dark cream she-cat with amber eyes headed the group.
Fallowpaw noticed the ThunderClan paws' faces harden as RiverClan entered.
"Oh yeah, the dark cream she-cat is Rosestar." mewed Mistpaw quietly, casting anxious glances at the group of ThunderClan cats nearby.
Fallowpaw watched Rosestar leap onto the great rock, and a gray RiverClan cat sat on the lower part. That must be RiverClan's deputy...
Adderstar watched Rosestar with blatant impatience. "You're late," he meowed.
Rosestar shot a glance back at him. "I know," she responded, "but we're here now." "Fish-brain-" she added silently.
Nightstar sat with a worried look crossing his muzzle before yowling, "This Gathering has begun!"
Falliowpaw waved her tail to the apprentices and alongside Hollypaw padded to where ShadowClan had seated themselves.
She noticed Thrushpaw and Dewtail sat at the base of the Great Rock, seated with more medicine cats.
Birchstar sauntered forward first. "The prey is running well in ShadowClan, and we recently gained three new apprentices, Hollypaw, Thrushpaw, and Fallowpaw!"
Fallowpaw winced as her Clanmates called her name, but sat with her chin and tail high.
"That is all." meowed Birchstar, shuffling back and taking a seat.
Nightstar stepped forward next. "The prey is running well in WindClan, and we recently made a new warrior, Stormcloud!"
The named grey tom stood up, reveling in the praise for an instant before seating himself.
"There is something else, however," said Nightstar. "Two moons ago, we found one of our queens, Willowberry, dead in the nursery, and her kit gone."
Fallowpaws' breathing quickened as she looked around, and as she glared at him, Snakeye flinched.
"Now, since I was unable to report this at past Gatherings due to there being-" Nightstar cleared his throat, glaring at Rosestar and Adderstar- "issues, WindClan was able to scrutinize this tragedy and determine the cause to be murder."
Meows of shock rippled the crowd, and a few indistinguishable cats gasped, "Murder!?" in disbelief.
WindClan stayed stoic, although one brown tabby tom was looking shaken. Hawkflight- my father-
"We found Willowberry laying in her nest- her legs had been attacked, but due to the way the blood dried, we believe her throat had been slit first." Nightstar meowed, looking at his medicine cat. "Berryfoot did an exceptional job at inspecting the injuries and determining the cause."
Berryfoot looked at her paws, not even acknowledging the compliment. Fallowpaw remembered that her mother and Berryfoot were littermates.
Nightstar continued, as he had the shocked attention of every cat in the clearing. "We found..a suspiciously fishy scent in the nursery."
Rosestar opened her mouth to say something but paused. "You think RiverClan would stoop that low!?" she snarled.
Nightstar started, "It was an observation of the crime scene, Rosestar. We are not condemning RiverClan of anything."
Birchstar sprang to his paws. "Look," hissed the massive black-and-white leader, "let's not fight at the Gathering."
"If she's defending her Clan already, 'wouldn't put it past Rosestar to do something like that," muttered Adderstar, his expression smug and irritated.
"Excuse me?" hissed Rosestar. "You're just- a fox-hearted rat!"
Mews of shock rippled the crowd once again.
"That's it, RiverClan declares war on ThunderClan!" Rosestar's words rang in the air.
"I'm tired of you ThunderClan idiots trespassing on RiverClan territory and trying to wrench Sunningrocks from our grasp!"
Birchstar's expression turned wry and concerned. "Rosestar, let's discuss this calmy-"
Rosestar turned on him, fur bristling and lips drawn back in a snarl. "Shut up!"
Birchstar rolled his eyes and sat back on his haunches. "ShadowClan, this is not our quarrel. We are departing."
Dipping his head to Nightstar, Birchstar bounded from the Great Rock and beckoned for all of ShadowClan to follow him.
A war between ThunderClan and RiverClan...I wonder what will come of this.
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