CHAPTER 2

Icestar called all the cats heading to the Gathering together just as the sun set. Gorseclan had the longest trek out of all clans, so they needed to leave early. The massive white tom stood up on the High Stone and yowled out. "All cats attending the Gathering; we're leaving now." He hopped down and in passing muttered a word to Weedfur; who had a distinctive curly coat. "Keep an eye on things while we are gone." Weedfur dipped his head with a quiet murmur of acceptance. Aside from the elders, the tabby tom was the oldest, most experienced cat in the clan, and a member of the elite guard; Icestar's inner circle of most trusted warriors. Dappledpaw agreed with her mentor that he was a good choice to keep watch over the clan while the leader and deputy were absent.

"Sedgepaw, behave yourself." Weedfur called out to his apprentice as the group started to file through the camp entrance. Sedgepaw waved his dark-tipped tail in response before bounding off. Dappledpaw glanced the older cat's way before following after her brother's pawsteps. Weedfur's worries were not unfounded. Her brother could be a bit silly, and in front of the other clans… Well. She could keep an eye on him anyway.

With her brother ahead of her hassling Rowanpaw, Dappledpaw fell into step with one of the younger warriors; Mottledtail. The dark tortoiseshell was her mother's sister from a younger litter, and yet she couldn't be more different from Shadefeather. Dappledpaw and her brother had taken after their mothers sleek, elongated build. Mottledtail did not share that family trait. She was thickset and muscular; a more typical Gorseclan shape, with a massive shaggy coat that was constantly snared up with leaves and twigs. Her green eyes lit up as her niece appeared.

"Dappledpaw! There you are; I figured you must be up with Icestar." Her voice was as bombastic as her physical appearance. Honestly, Dappledpaw found her kin a bit… much. But she was a good warrior. Strong, bold, sturdy. Traits valued in the clan.

"I figured I would give him space to discuss the Gathering with Sorrelwind before we arrive." Dappledpaw replied smoothly, her ears angling slightly away to reduce Mottledtail's… volume.

"Aren't you just the perfect wee apprentice?" Mottledtail laughed and bumped her shoulder against Dappledpaw's, in a way that she was sure the older cat thought was gentle. Well-honed reflexes stopped her from tripping over her feet and falling over at the shove. "You must be taking a final assessment pretty soon, huh?"

"Hopefully." Dappledpaw meowed in reply as she collected herself. "You know Icestar, he doesn't like to give things away."

Mottledtail pulled a face, twisting the features on her broad skull into one of bemusement. "I ain't in the privileged position to know Icestar much at all. You're practically inner circle, brat."

"I have a long way to go yet, but I hope to one day count myself among the trusted elite." She replied diplomatically.

Somehow that teasing statement made Dappledpaw feel kind of warm inside; she was proud of her status as a leader's apprentice, and the idea that she was basically already in a privileged position with him as much as his elite guard made the young cat feel special… Well, she was special after all, Icestar said as much. She was the best hunter and fighter as an apprentice that had come through Gorseclan in seasons; that's why Icestar had picked her! He had no kits of his own yet, so she was practically his successor! She had a great future ahead, and every day she worked to further it.

"No kidding." Mottledtail meowed in reply, already starting to look a little bored with the conversation. Nothing ever held the hyperactive young warrior's attention for long, and she also wasn't very aware of following good manners. "Well, good luck with that, I guess. If any cat can, I'm sure it's a little miss perfect. My sister's always going on and on about you."

"Only good things I'm sure." The dry reply hid the apprentice's mild surprise. Her mother surely was more preoccupied with her rambunctious litter of three in the nursery? Though again, that warm pride bubbled up despite herself at the news she was still in Shadefeather's thoughts enough to tell other cats as much.

The dark warrior laughed heartily at her reply and reached a paw up to try and ruffle the top of Dappledpaw's head, but the apprentice quickly side-stepped to evade the rough contact. This only made Mottledtail cackle more, and she bounded off, calling back over her shoulder. "Make sure you pay your mother a visit in the nursery some more, huh? Then she won't have to chew my ear off every time I take her food!"

Dappledpaw let out a small huffing exhale as Mottledtail departed to assault Rimuleaf and Rowanpaw's mentor Kowhaifall instead. More pity for them. The rambunctious warrior could only be tolerable in… small doses.

"I know that feeling." Sedgepaw's casual voice broke through her thoughts. "You know we are going to have to sleep in the same den as her when we become warriors. You'll have to get used to it." The pointed tom had slowed his pawsteps and allowed himself to fall back so he could come up alongside Dappledpaw.

"Perhaps it's a cure via exposure." She replied wearily, blue eyes narrowing a touch as she observed her aunt's interactions with the other two young warriors ahead. "Kowhaifall and Rimuleaf seem to be able to tolerate her."

"It's because they are both super nice, let's be honest." Sedgepaw chuckled. "I keep trying to get Rowanpaw to swap mentors with me, but for some reason he doesn't want to."

The party was near their border with Flaxclan now… Dappledpaw could make out the fence that marked it's edge in the darkening light. They had left the scrubland near their camp behind a while ago, and had been wandering through the open grassland for a bit. Around the group of cats was the odd large dark shape and shuffling movement of sheep. They paid them no mind, and so the cats did in turn. Dappledpaw glanced at one only a few cat-lengths away and trotted a little quicker to pass by. It was a male, and sometimes they didn't like the cats being too close, and had been known to charge. The elders liked to tell kits stories of a ram breaking an apprentice's back that way, to make sure they respected the larger animals. She'd rather avoid that happening to her!

"You should be proud of your mentor; Weedfur is a highly experienced warrior!" She answered Sedgepaw once they were clear and slipped under the fence, putting them in Flaxclan territory. "It's an honour to learn from him; almost as much as a leader or deputy."

"Yeah, and he's also a stick-in-the-mud! Kowhaifall seems way more fun. I would have taken Rimuleaf too! He's like me, I bet we would have gotten along." Rimuleaf, like Sedgepaw,had decided that they preferred to be known as a tom. Tussockclan called such cats "other-souled" but Gorseclan were a fiercely practical clan and didn't really buy into it all; especially in any kind of mystic sense, which Tussockclan applied almost anything to and were considered a bit airy-fairy for it by the other clan. It didn't matter to Dappledpaw what her kin preferred. Sedgepaw was Sedgepaw, even if their father kept telling him he'd grow out of this "phase".

Dappledpaw sighed. As usual her brother's priorities weren't exactly in the right order. "I think our mentors were assigned to bring the best out in us. Rowanpaw needs Kowhaifall's soft patient touch with his hot head… and her talent in hunting to patch up his weakness." She snorted with amusement. "And you, dear brother, need a serious mentor. If you had one matching your lackadaisical attitude you'd never get anything productive done."

"Oh yeah," Sedgepaw replied with a frown on his dark-masked face, blue eyes stark against the colour. "And why did you get Icestar then?"

"Isn't it obvious? To hone my natural talent."

"Careful Dappledpaw, if your head gets any bigger you won't be able to stand up straight!" Sedgepaw teased as she puffed out her chest, flicking his tail in her face which she swatted at with a paw. "You'll totter over face-first like a kit just learning to walk!"

"Dappledpaw!" Icestar's commanding voice from up front interrupted their playful scuffle.

"I better go and see what he wants. We're nearly at the Gathering Hollow." Dappledpaw looked ahead to see the looming crest of trees that marked the site where the four clans met. "Go annoy Rowanpaw some more."

"I already did plenty of that earlier." Sedgepaw laughed. "He's stopped talking to me; you know, I don't think he wants to be friends!"

Dappledpaw chuckled at that, then waved her tail and raced to the head of the group where Icestar was waiting. She was sure Sedgepaw would find a way to entertain himself for a moment. Sorrelwind blinked slowly at the apprentice in silent greeting from her place next to Icestar as Dappledpaw reached the pair.

"Good, there you are." Icestar inclined his head slightly as she fell into step on his other side, ensuring to be slightly behind them out of respect."I have a task for you at this Gathering."

Dappledpaw dipped her head faithfully. "What would you ask of me?"

"Keep an ear on the conversations of Flaxclan and Tussockclan cats your age; apprentices, young warriors." Icestar's orange eyes seemed to glow like coals in the darkness as he paused. They were right on the lip of the bank that led down into the hollow now. He flicked his tail and Sorrelwind nodded, leading the rest of the group down ahead of them. She noticed Sedgepaw chatting away at a sour-looking Rowanpaw as they passed by. She could feel Rowanpaw leering at her.

"I can do that." She would be mingling with her peers anyway, so it wasn't that hard.

"This is Dewstar's first Gathering as leader, and Swallowstar's age is catching up with him more and more. I want to know what their clan's moods are. Listen for what's unsaid." Icestar clarified, his small ears angling back behind him towards the drone of cats chatting that had stirred up from the Gathering Hollow, as if he was already trying to catch words of conversations. "Report back to me when we return to camp."

Dappledpaw's first instinct was to think it a rather pointless endeavour but then she took a moment to consider it. Of course, it was important to know thy enemy. If there were signs of weakness or infighting, Gorseclan could take advantage of that to strengthen their own position. "It will be done, Icestar."

"Your sibling won't be much help," Dappledpaw could agree with that; he wouldn't take it seriously and properly remember what other cats said. "But perhaps Rowanpaw could aid you; he's got a good head on his shoulders for this sort of thing too."

"No, it's fine. I can do it myself."

"I appreciate your confidence, Dappledpaw, but even you can't listen everywhere at once." Icestar seemed mildly amused at her hasty insistience.

"It's not that, sir. Rowanpaw's too abrasive. He won't be able to get along with the other cats enough to steer the conversation naturally." While she wasn't incorrect in that statement, really, she just didn't want him butting in on her special mission.

Icestar shrugged. "Very well."It didn't seem to bother him either way, and so the apprentice was relieved. "Shall we, then?" He flicked his head towards the hollow, and started padding down the bank, with Dappledpaw slipping in behind him.