---Chapter Fifteen---
Flamepaw could feel the nice warm air, slowly heating up his fur. His pelt shined in the sunlight like a brand of fire. It was a beautiful green-leaf day, and beside him his littermates, Foxpaw and Rollingpaw, were tumbling together playfully next to the peaceful lake. A warm breeze ruffled Flamepaw's fur. The trees were blooming with fresh, green leaves and the whole forest was livelier than ever before. The sweet scent of prey flooded his scent glands—and an even sweeter scent followed that.
"Spottedleaf!" He purred and wiped around, expecting to see the ghostly cat padding up to sit next to him. But she was not there; no one was there but the wind in his ears. Remember, It seemed to be saying, remember both Fire and Tiger…
As a strong smell of death and blood came over him, he jerked awake, only to find an empty spot next to him. Flamepaw yawned and stretched out his limbs before poking his head out of the apprentice's den. The sun had gone down a little, and the first few stars were starting to appear in the sky. A huge group of cats that carried the powerful scent of WindClan were gathered in one side of the camp. Flamepaw could just make out the pelts of Barkface and Leafpool going from cat to cat and Ashfoot, the WindClan deputy, was double checking that no one had been left behind.
Towards the center of the camp, the two leaders were chatting, and Flamepaw raced over to sit next to his father. When he approached, he could just make out a few words the leaders were saying.
"WindClan owes much to you." Onestar said disappointedly.
"Right now you should worry more about your clan, Onestar." The ThunderClan leader pointed out. Onestar stood up on all fours and looked Firestar in the eye.
"I ask you for you permission to stay here, at least until it is safe for us to return back to the moorland." He asked pleadingly.
Firestar stared at him in silence for a long moment before raising his eyes to Silverpelt, who was only just starting to appear in the darkening sky. Flamepaw looked up too, and noticed for the first time the full moon which beamed down at them. "Looks like we'll be traveling together for the Gathering." Was all the ThunderClan leader said before padding away to begin selecting cats to join him for the meeting of all four clans that would take place on the island which was towards the RiverClan side of the lake.
Flamepaw wondered if he would be able to go this time. It would be his first Gathering ever and he couldn't wait. He had longed to meet cats from the other clans and learn more about them. He quickly brushed passed Onestar and followed his father over towards the warrior's den. He noticed that a good bunch of the ThunderClan warriors were over by the group of WindClan cats, greeting old friends that they usually could only see at Gatherings.
A long time ago, Flamepaw's mother told him of how they use to live some place else but had to leave due to Twolegs disrupting the forest. During the journey to their new home a lot of the cats, who were once enemies, bonded. It had been hard for them to break up into separate clans again once they made it to the new forest. Firestar had been talking with Ferncloud and Spiderleg when Thistlepaw and Sunpaw suddenly bounded up to him, all ready for the Gathering.
"Err, no… I think you two would be better off staying here." Firestar was saying. "I already have plenty of other apprentices coming. Flamepaw," His eyes brightened when he spotted his son. "There you are. Go get Foxpaw and Rollingpaw. You three are coming."
Flamepaw felt a wave of excitement surge through him as he looked over at Thistlepaw and Sunpaw's let down and displeased faces. Thistlepaw snorted and he heard Sunpaw shout "HUMPH!" before she bounded away towards the apprentice's den. Flamepaw looked up at the full moon once more. This was to be his very first Gathering! He rubbed his body against his father's flank but before he rushed off to go find his littermates, Firestar added:
"And tell Moonpaw too. He's coming as well." Flamepaw shrugged. He found that with every passing day he disliked his sister's one and only son more and more, but not even that would ruin this special event.