Wooh, chapter four. This one's kinda short but essential to the plot c:
Tigerpaw blinked. The gathering? Right now?
He leapt up from his spot immediately, racing over to Wheatstar through the dispersing cats. He hadn't even realized he'd left Stoatpaw behind until the chubby tom appeared behind him, wheezing. Tigerpaw looked back at his brother and frowned.
"Tigerpaw, you really need to be faster. And stop eating like, fifteen robins when it's dinner."
Stoatpaw flattened his ears against his head. "I'm not fat, I'm just covered in fur." he defended, his white fur puffing up in anger. But Tigerpaw didn't notice- he was too busy focusing on Wheatstar. Fuzzytail came right up to him, flashing him a smile.
"There'll be a lot of clan cats at the gathering, which is always at Hawk's Talon Tree. I hope you're up for a hike!" she laughed, before padding off. Tigerpaw flicked an ear, looking back at Wheatstar. Turning his head to look around, he saw Shiningeyes bidding an awfully sincere farewell to Rowanleap. He snickered inwardly. His mentor had a crush!
"Alright, Steamclan. Time to head out to the gathering!" The group of cats gave a cheer, following their leader up the cave wall and too the outside. Then, they had to wait as Stoatpaw struggled to make it out of the cave.
When Fuzzytail said that it was going to be a hike, she meant it. By the time they reached the entrance to Fuzzy Peach's Grove, where Hawk's Talon Tree was located, his paws felt like they were going to fall off. Stoatpaw collapsed beside him, wheezing.
"I... I do not like gatherings." Stoatpaw stated firmly, groaning when the group began to make their way to the tree. Tigerpaw's ears twitched as the sound of a thousand cats mewling filled his ears.
There were hundreds of cats, more than he'd ever seen in his life! Some had thick fur, others had short. Some didn't have a lot of fur at all! But what he noticed most of all were the two huge toms sitting in Hawk's Talon Tree. He watched as Wheatstar hopped up to join them, and was completely dwarfed by their size.
Unsure of what to do next, he glanced around. Stoatpaw was perfectly content in his spot, and did not want to move. He looked around and spotted a group of young cats that looked his age. He coughed, padding up next to them.
The group was chittering about who knows what, and turned when he entered. There was a small ginger tom, a hefty brown tabby, and a sleek silver she-cat with pretty, almond shaped eyes. She was the one to speak.
"Another apprentice, guys! He looks new!" She leapt up, sniffing him around and scrunching her nose. "Eugh, Steamclan. I'll never get used to that stench!"
"You don't smell too great yourself," Tigerpaw shot back, and the group laughed. His fur tingled with exhileration and excitement at meeting other apprentices! "My name's Tigerpaw. What're yours?"
"I'm Sparkpaw," said the ginger tom. He spoke unbelievably fast. "The brown tom's Turtlepaw. We're from Hollowclan. And the tiny silver she-cat's Silverpaw. She's from Oakclan." Tigerpaw nodded, and soon, the group became endorsed in coversation when even more cats showed up!
Glancing at the newcomers, Tigerpaw watched three apprentices make a beeline for their group. They settled in and greeted Sparkpaw, Turtlepaw, and Silverpaw, before looking quizically at Tigerpaw.
"Who's that?"
"A new apprentice?"
"What clan is he from?"
Silverpaw quieted them with a raised paw. "He's Tigerpaw. Tigerpaw, this is Hazelpaw, Dovepaw, and Pigeonpaw." the three identical, light brown she-cats bowed their heads; they reminded Tigerpaw of Fuzzytail and Sageberry.
Just as the group was about to delve into conversation, one of the big toms spoke up. "I do believe it is time to get this gathering started," he spoke, in an old, rusty voice. The cats quieted down, turning their bodies to face the tree. Tigerpaw did the same thing automatically, as if he'd been going to gatherings for ages. "Wheatstar? Would you like to begin?"
The scarlet she-cat nodded, sitting on her branch. "Thank you, Nettlestar. Steamclan has been thriving and thanks Oakclan for it's supply of fish as gratitude for the use of the springs." she glanced at Nettlestar, who bowed his head. "I would like to introduce three new warriors, who will be doing their vigil after tonight's gathering. Fuzzytail, Sedgeberry, and Sandfoot." the three new warriors stepped forward: Sandfoot with an air of elegance, Fuzzytail about to jump out of her fur, and Sedgeberry almost shying away. The whole gathering whooped and cheered their names, then died down when Wheatstar flicked her tail. "I would also like to present two new apprentices, Tigerpaw and Stoatpaw."
An audible "woosh" was heard as all of the cats turned to face the back, then cheered their names. Pride and glory swelled inside Tigerpaw, and he puffed out his chest.
"Thank you, Nettlestar," Wheatstar ended loudly, causing the cats to quiet down. "Would you like to say anything?"
"Nothing important but that the prey's been running swell in Oakclan, and that we welcome three new kits into the world: Ryekit, Beetlekit, and Tansykit. Jaystar?" he turned his head to the other tom, a large, blue-gray tabby with green eyes. He sat up and addressed the gathering.
"Hollowclan would like to announce that we have new warriors as well. Sadly, one of our warriors, Doepetal, could not make it tonight. But, we have her brother, Tigerstorm." Tigerpaw swiveled his head around to face a dark brown tabby tom with a nick in his ear; he looked strong, and didn't seem like he would mess around. The cats cheered, only to be silenced by Jaystar. "Lastly, Beetlestar. Anything to say?"
Tigerpaw had to stand on his hind legs to see the tiny black tom that was Hailclan's leader. He swelled up, casting an angry glance as Jaystar. "Two sunrises ago, we caught the scent ofHollowclan warriors on Hailclan turf. Care to explain, Jaystar?"
The gray tom sat up, glaring at Beetlestar. "I am just learning of this, Beetlestar. I will have a nice, thorough talk with my clanmates about it." he finished, dipping his head, and Beetlestar muttered something, leaning back. Nettlestar and Wheatstar sat wide-eyed through the bad blood episode, before Wheatstar carefully said, "I believe that ends tonight's gathering."
"Don't listen to Beetlestar," Turtlepaw assured, looking at Tigerpaw. He glanced at the three identical she-cats as they left without a word. But Turtlepaw demanded his attention, which he gave. "No Hollowclan warriors were ever on his territory because we were all in the camp two sunrises ago because there was a fox near the Hailclan border. No one wanted to go out of the camp, because foxes are incredibly scary and dangerous in Hollowclan territory. If any cat did go over the border, it was to chase that mangy fox away." Tigerpaw nodded, watching as the two toms left. He was alone with Silverpaw.
"Well, it was really nice talking to you," Tigerpaw told her, and she nodded. An air of awkwardness settled over them. "Uh, bye, I guess."
"Bye."
They parted, Tigerpaw heading over to Stoatpaw, who was standing up and looking much better than he was when they arrived. "Ready to go?" he asked, and Tigerpaw nodded.
Steamclan made it back to their camp without any trouble. Tigerpaw and Stoatpaw crawled into their nests, astounded at how opened the apprentice's den seemed now that Fuzzytail, Sandfoot and Sageberry were gone.
Closing his eyes, he fell asleep, hapoily frolicking through dreamy fields as he slept.