Chapter 4: The Gathering

The breeze of the night was a pleasure to Volepaw's fur as she walked through the grass of the moorland, following Swallowstar as she and the WindClan cats made their way to Fourtrees. Volepaw looked up to see stars twinkling in a black void. She turned her attention back in front of her as she heard Jumpingpelt approach. The tom still had his ears down and he looked like he was on the verge of crying again. "You miss her, don't you?" she asked.

The light gray warrior looked down at the apprentice, confusion on his face.

"What?" he asked.

"You miss Runningbird, don't you Jumpingpelt?" Volepaw repeated. The young warrior looked away as tears fell from his eyes. The tan she-cat nuzzled him and he purred his thanks.

"We all miss her, but she's in StarClan now."

"I know. I just..." Jumpingpelt's voice broke as he spoke, tears running down his face. "I never got to tell her I love her..."

Volepaw was taken aback by his words. Did Jumpingpelt just say that he loved Runningbird? Ivysong andAdderbird quickly made their way to Jumpingpelt's side to comfort him.

Volepaw looked at her paws as she walked, feeling bad for mentioning Runningbird now. Not that she had anything against the old deputy, just feeling bad for causing Jumpingpelt so much pain again. Before she could say her apologies, the brown-eyed apprentice noticed that they were at Fourtrees.

She saw Patchstar, Echostar and Daystar on the Great Rock. Volepaw recognized Owlpaw sitting among the other apprentices and Swallowstar led her Clan down the slope. She made her way over to the Great Rock and Volepaw approached Owlpaw.

The SolarClan apprentice saw her and touched his nose to her's.

"Volepaw, you're here! Have you met Rosepaw?"

Volepaw looked over at a brown she-cat with green eyes, who purred and touched noses with her. The WindClan apprentice purred as well.

"Hello," she said.

The apprentices looked at the cats around them. From what Volepaw could see, from ThunderClan was Longwing, Flamestep, Feathermist and Falconheart. From RiverClan was Creekstorm, Blackwing, Silentstalk and Reedface. And from SolarClan was Harestream, Grassnose, Sageclaw and Swampleaf.

"A lot of cats, huh?" Rosepaw asked the two. Both of them nodded.

Volepaw saw Harestream and Creekstorm at the base of the Great Rock, feeling her blood boil while also freezing. Runningbird's killers...

The image of the dead deputy came back to her. Her green eyes glazed over, her pretty brown fur matted with her own blood...

Volepaw pushed the thought away as she heard Longwing say something. She looked at the ridge and saw ShadowClan warriors, with Spiderclaw in the lead. The gray tom padded down the slope, followed by Toadspring, Blossomfrost, Webpaw and Petalheart. Spiderclaw padded over to the Great Rock and looked up at the leaders.

Volepaw heard the leaders yowl and every cat turned their attention to them.

"Cats from all Clans, welcome." Echostar meowed. "To start off this gathering, I would like to say Shadepaw has completed her training. She is now known as Shadespring."

The RiverClan cats yowled in approval. After, Spiderclaw stepped up.

"ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan and SolarClan, Wetstar has fallen ill to Greencough."

Murmurs rippled through the Clans like wild fire. Patchstar flicked his tail for silence.

The ShadowClan deputy continued, "ShadowClan has plenty of pray this green-leaf. Our apprentices are doing well with their training."

After the deputy finished, Swallowstar stepped up. "I am afraid I have grave news," she hung her head a little. "Runningbird has joined StarClan."

The Clans gasped a little at this.

"What do you mean Runningbird joined StarClan!" Silentstalk asked.

"Her lungs unfortunately gave out and she died... Smokestep is my new deputy," the WindClan leader answered.

Patchstar reported no problems with ThunderClan, other than Streamclaw becoming a warrior. Daystar stood up looked at Harestream.

"Last moon, SolarClan and RiverClan were attacked by coyotes. My friend and deputy Foxtail was killed during the battle. SolarClan's new deputy is Harestream."

Volepaw saw the SolarClan deputy straighten up and puff out her chest. Proud much? she thought. Owlpaw gave her a look that said, are you okay?

"Yes, I'm fine Owlpaw," she reassured him. "Just thinking."

The brown tom scooted closer to her as Sageclaw and Creekstorm padded by.

Volepaw looked confused for a minute. The two cats shot Owlpaw a glare before going away.

"What's wrong Owlpaw?"

Rosepaw looked at the two apprentices before she got closer.

"I'll..." the SolarClan cat looked away before continuing. "I'll tell you about it later. Can you please meet me here in 3 sunrises?"

Volepaw thought for a minute then nodded. "Okay... Oh, the leaders just got done speaking."

As if on cue, the leaders, deputies and medicine cats started to leave. Owlpaw stopped Volepaw by her tail.

"Volepaw... Be careful. And be aware of Smokestep," he told her. He gave her a nuzzle and they both purred, then followed their respective Clans back to their territory.