A couple of days had passed and it was finally the night of Blazepaw's first gathering. He was a bit worried at first. But thankfully, Tallstar allowed Morningpaw and her sister to come after she had begged Tallstar to let both of them go. While he was glad, he was still mostly nervous about what the other clans would think of him.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Blazepaw. Not all of the cats from the other clans will be as hostile as Mudclaw," Ashpaw reassured him.

"There won't be any warriors making fun of my bestie, I'll claw their ears off if they do," Morningpaw purred triumphantly.

"Thanks, Morningpaw, but you don't have to attack anyone for me. I'm sure I'll be fine," Blazepaw said with a smirk on his face.

The strange feeling he had felt for Morningpaw still not gone away, it had only gotten stronger. It always acted up when he was close to her.

He wasn't sure what it was, but he hoped it wasn't the beginning of a sickness that clan cats often had to deal with.

Nevertheless, he knew it would be pointless thinking about it for too long. He knew he needed to keep his head clear if he wished to seem normal to the other clan cats.

Tallstar, who was leading the group of cats to the gathering stopped and looked back at his clanmates.

"All of you be on your best behaviour, especially you Mudclaw. I know your temper can get the better of you," Tallstar meowed.

Mudclaw didn't look pleased but only twitched his ear in response, he didn't dare to comment on his leader's choice of words.

The group followed Tallstar until they made it to a clearing that was filled with cats from other clans. Four trees shaded much of the clearing from the night sky.

Moonlight did light up a large rock in the middle, however. It made it a lot easier for Blazepaw to notice two cats were already sat waiting. One was a large brown tabby with a twisted jaw and the other was a sleek blue-gray she-cat.

"Who are they?" he whispered to Morningpaw.

"That's Crookedstar and Bluestar, their leaders of Riverclan and Thunderclan. Tallstar is more acquainted with Crookedstar, but I barely see him make any small talk with Bluestar that much. I have no idea why".

Tallstar dipped his head to the group and quickly leap onto the large rock. He greeted Crookedstar warmly and dipped his head respectfully to Bluestar, who did the same.

Despite their strange sense of hostility, he found the leaders looked quite majestic.

The Windclan cats took their places surrounding the large rock. Morningpaw had somehow managed to scarper off without him knowing, most likely to talk to the apprentices from other clans.

"You love her, don't you Blazepaw?"

Blazepaw looked in surprise to see it was Ashpaw who had said those words, making him feel a bit panicked by her choice of words.

"What?! Me, in love with Morningpaw? No... I'm not in love, I'm fine," he lied.

Ashpaw snorted a laugh at his lackluster attempt to hide his real feelings. "So you do love her! Your'e always on patrols and doing more hunting with Emberblaze. Now I know why".

Blazepaw sighed and finally gave in.

"Yes? No? Ugh...I just don't know. I've been getting this strange feeling in my chest for a while, surely it's not because I have a crush on her. We only met half a moon ago," he said embarrassingly, "I just don't know what to tell her".

"Then tell her!" Ashpaw said.

Blazepaw looked at her with even more panic in his eyes. "I can't do that now, what will she think of me if I do?!"

Before Ashpaw could reply, Morningpaw came racing towards them with panic in her eyes. "He's here!"

"Who's here?" Blazepaw asked.

"Brokenstar!" she whispered harshly.

Mummers went through the crowd when all of them caught a glimpse of a dark brown tom with tangled fur and a tail that was bent at a weird angle.

A white tom with black markings followed him towards the rock, most likey the clan's deputy.

But what caught Blazepaw's eye the most was a small cat followed behind them but was quick to join his other clanmates. He looked even younger than Onekit!

Ashpaw seemed to notice as well, she was just as surprised as Blazepaw. "What's a kit doing here? Surely they forgot to return him back to the nursery?

"I don't know," Morningpaw whispered, "But I have a bad feeling about it".

After the leaders finally made room for Brokenstar, Bluestar was first to speak for Thunderclan.

"Thunderclan has been doing well, our prey is bountiful and our clanmates have never felt more alive in moons".

Ashpaw scoffed under her breath. "Typical Thunderclan, always claiming to be the best".

When Bluestar was finished, Crookedstar took her place.

"I'm happy to report that fish have also been quite bountiful in RiverClan territory. We've been doing great overall".

When he had finished, Tallstar took Crookedstar's place.

"Windclan has been doing good. Prey is running well and we have a new apprentice, Blazepaw".

All at once, the eyes on the other clans were looking at him. It felt like they were staring deep into his soul.

After a long, awkward silence, the clan cats called out his name. "Blazepaw, Blazepaw!"

Even before the crowd died down, Brokenstar rudely pushed past Tallstar as he went to sit back down with the other leaders.

"Shadowclan is stronger than ever," he meowed triumphantly as if he too was gloating over the strength of his clan, much like ThunderClan. But it felt a lot more differently coming from a younger clan leader than from Bluestar. It was as if he was already gloating over a battle that had yet to begin.

"We have been challenged on each border, but have won every battle. Let all cats that we will tolerate no trespassing, no prey-stealing, and no dishonour".

Blazepaw quickly gave a glance at Mudclaw who sat next to Ashpaw. He was trying to keep his anger in check, he looked as if he was close to fuming in rage.

"And we have a new apprentice, Badgerpaw," he finished.

Some cats were whispering among themselves, while others had already called out the young apprentice's name. "Badgerpaw, Badgerpaw!"

The leaders ended the meeting and slowly gathered up their warriors. He saw many of the WindClan cats were finishing up their chats with the Riverclan cats.

In the distance, he saw Badgerpaw so full of life next to Brokenstar talking as they headed out the way they came.

Blazepaw wondered what they could possibly be talking about. Especially with such a young cat.

Likey nothing good.

"Hey, Blazepaw! Are you coming?" Ashpaw called to him, making him snap back to reality.

He noticed that Ashpaw had already turned to face Morningpaw.

"Blazepaw told me to ask-".

"I'm coming!" Blazepaw shouted and quickly scampered to his denmates preventing Ashpaw from telling Moringpaw about his feelings for her.

Moringpaw looked at him with a bit of confusion. "So what was the thing you wanted to ask me?"

"I..um...wanted to ask if you would you like to go hunting tomorrow?" Blazepaw asked awkwardly.

"Sure! Maybe we could impress our mentors with our hunting skills," she purred.

Blazepaw lightly smiled. "Yeah...our mentors".