Cedarpaw paced anxiously near the entrance to camp, waiting for the leader to finish her announcement. The large tabby she-cat was announcing who would go to the gathering. "To begin, Acornspot, Mulberrystone, and myself will be going of course. Cloverpatch, Ravenpaw, Stripeclaw, Cedarpaw, Robinpaw, Pufftail, Snowkit, and Dustkit. That is all." Butterflystar signaled for the mentioned cats to follow her, which they did, the two kits scampering behind her.
Robinpaw dashed up to Cedarpaw, eyes shining. "This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to see how much better we are then the other apprentices!" Cedarpaw chuckled. "Cool it, firebird. The only apprentices there will be Rockpaw's age."
Cedarpaw shivered, the crowd of cats not doing much to keep out the wind. She padded behind Robinpaw, who was scampering towards two she-cats, one pale gray with gingery patches and a gnarled scar crossing her cheek, and the other, a darker ginger with piercing yellow eyes. "Hey! I'm Robinpaw!" The small tabby squeaked. The ginger cat giggled. "I know your name Robinpaw, we all shared a den at the temporary camp." "Oh. Sorry Hemlockpaw." Robinpaw mumbled sheepishly.
Hemlockpaw grinned. "Hey Rosie! Those Cloudclan 'paws are here!" The gray she-cat, Rosepaw, turned to look. "..Hi." She said distantly. Cedarpaw wasn't sure, but she thought she caught a whiff of fear scent on the apprentice.
Cedarpaw glanced up at the leaders, up on a stone. One cat, she thought he was the deputy, looked at her, and she quickly ducked away.
"We've recovered well from the storm, all things considered. Mulberrystone has proven herself a capable medic in the place of her late mentor, and thanks to her efforts, Pondpaw should be a warrior sometime within the next moon. " Butterflystar yowled, gesturing to the cat beside her with her long tail. "Leafclan is doing well. That is all we have to report, besides our stolen warrior. We want Stripeclaw back. He's full blooded Leafclan, and there is no reason he shouldn't be in our clan. We need all the healthy warriors we can get, and while he may be sub par, we wish for him to return." The cream cat deadpanned.
"You can't do that! He's said time and time again, Cloudclan is his clan, and you can't make him leave!" A spotted she-cat yowled with discontent. "Cloverpatch, I can speak for myself you know. Doesn't really matter, because I'm never going." A small gray tabby mewed from beside her.
There was an outburst of yowls, some of fear, some of hate, and others still of jealousy. "This gathering is at an end!" Butterfly yowled, taking her kits by the scruff, and running off, her clan close behind.
Robinpaw groaned. First the gathering had been ruined by Flowerstar, and now, Cloverpatch and Stripeclaw had taken the apprentices a longer route home to see if they could catch any prey.
She heard a rustling in the bushes, and suddenly, a group of cats leapt out. It was the Leafclan gathering patrol!