Tawnypaw thought he had his brother pinned to the ground but was forgetting that Starpaw was much bigger and stronger than himself. Starpaw suddenly threw himself up, thrusting Tawnypaw off his back. The surprised apprentice was on his back. Starpaw took his chance and pinned Tawnypaw to the ground, keeping his stomach exposed.
"What goes around, comes around!"
Tawnypaw smirked. "Alright, you win," Starpaw let go of Tawnypaw. "Oh, great and powerful Starpaw." Tawnypaw already knew that he would lose against his muscular brother. The only reason he thought he had the slightest chance was that Tawnypaw noticed that Starpaw was tired and was hoping his brother's fatigue would limit him.
Tawnypaw had the urge to ask his brother something. "Have you noticed anyone becoming interested in you lately?"
"Sadly, yes. But the one she-cat I really want to notice me isn't at all interested in me."
"Oh, right, Applepaw." Tawnypaw rolled his eyes. Every cat in ShadowClan knew about Starpaw's crush on Applepaw. He'd been crushing on her since the day they had met.
Scarface called Tawnypaw for a patrol with Frostpaw and Embersong. Tawnypaw bowed his head in goodbye to Starpaw. As the patrol walked along the border, Tawnypaw stopped. "I smell fresh Thunderclan scent!"
"It's probably just a the border markings," Frostpaw meowed.
"No, the border marks are across the stream," Embersong reminded her.
"Look!" Tawnypaw hissed, "I spot a Thunderclan tom. Freshly fed, and looking pretty good from the sight of that mange-pelt."
"I don't recognize him. He must be a rogue." Scarface gruffly said.
"But he has the ThunderClan scent!" Tawnypaw persisted.
"Who cares? Whoever and whatever that cat is, he's ThunderClan problem not ours," Frostpaw argued.
"We might want to get a move on. I for one don't want to fight with only two warriors!" Embersong joked. She and Scarface gave a mrrow of laughter and continued to patrol the border with their apprentices not far behind.
There wasn't any other sightings of enemy clans for the rest of the patrol but they did find a trace of WindClan from what Tawnypaw suspected was from Starpaw's battle earlier. Scarface renewed the border markings on the WindClan border. "Just in case those rabbit-eating furballs forget" he said. Then they left.
The camp was just how they had left it. Just then Dovestar lept onto the branch and yowled. Tawnypaw realized something; tonight was the Gathering! He had never been to a Gathering before and was practically bouncing out of his fur to see who would attend!
"I have chosen who will join me at the gathering," Dovestar began. "Scarface, Sparrowpaw, Runningpaw, Muzzleberry, Tulippaw, Twistclaw, Applepaw, Poisonfang, Embersong, Frostpaw, Mossfur, Moonpaw, Eclipsepaw, Starpaw, Robinfeather, Lightningpaw, and Tawnypaw." The crowd seemed to nod in approvement. "I realize there are a lot of apprentices, but that is only because we have a lot of new apprentices to show at the gathering. We want to keep the other clans on their paws."
Tawnypaw leaped with excitement. His first gathering! His first chance to formally meet with the other clans under the sacred oath of StarClan. And he would be able to share the feeling with all of his littermates.
Tawnypaw bounded towards his siblings who were huddled in a circle. Starpaw's head peered out looking for him. He pushed Eclipsepaw over some for Tawnypaw to get in.
"Ah, yes, Tawnypaw! You are finally here!" said Eclipsepaw, her eyes beaming with excitement. Tawnypaw could guess she was as excited as he was.
"Now that we know we are going to the gathering tonight, we should probably head over to Mossfur. Er...Moonpaw?" Starpaw peered around and realized that Moonpaw was nowhere to be seen. He sighed.
"I guess we head over to Mossfur and Moonpaw" said Tawnypaw, only half joking. They were all sad that they would not share training with their now medicine cat's apprentice sister, but they at least had to pretend they were happy for her; so they did.
They four apprentices padded over to where Moonpaw and Mossfur were. Tawnypaw was the last inside of the den only to see several other warriors waiting for their traveling herbs. all for their trip to the gathering. They must be going a long way if we need traveling herbs, thought Tawnypaw.
"This is probably going to take a while," Tawnypaw heard Frostpaw whisper to Eclipsepaw. She was right though, this probably will take a while. With Moonpaw scampering around their storage, trying to remember everything Mossfur had taught her, and Mossfur doing the same, the gathering would already be over by the time they had gotten their share of traveling herbs.
It was only after two cats had gone that Moonpaw seemed to noticed them. Her eyes lit up in excitement. "I can't believe it!" She sighed. "Our very first Gathering!" Tawnypaw twitched his whiskers. This was the first time in a while since he had seen Moonpaw this excited. The last time he saw her like this was when they were playful, carefree kits.
He sighed at the memory. Would it ever be as simple as that again? No. It never will. Tawnypaw had to face the facts; Moonpaw is not coming back. Even still, Moonpaw looked excited that they were here and immediately started to prepare for them while Mossfur did the others.
"I suppose you want traveling herbs, correct?" She questioned.
The four nodded. With that, Moonpaw jumped to her feet and raced away into the back of the den. It was only a few minutes later that the young apprentice returned with traveling herbs for each of them.
Tawnypaw decided that he would have enough time to take a small nap before they left if Applepaw would leave him alone for a second . He lied down in his nest and fell into a deep troubled sleep. His brother was crushing on Applepaw and even though she didn't notice him now she would at some point. But, who would he end up with. There was no she-cat that had caught his interest. Finally he fell into the darkness of sleep
Tawnypaw felt a sharp stab repeat soon after. He awoke with a start to realize that Applepaw was prodding him in the side. He forced his bristling neck fur to lie flat when he saw the desperation in her eyes.
"Tawnypaw! Wake up! We are leaving for Gathering!"
Tawnypaw got up and stretched. His traveling herbs were exactly where he left them. He quickly swallowed them, wincing at the bitter taste of the herbs. He attempted to spit one out in the moss, but instantly stopped when he saw Moonpaw's stare boring into his pelt. "Don't even try it" she growled. "If you spit out just one of those herbs then you will regret it." Moonpaw stalked over and waved her tail over Tawnypaw's muzzle. "Besides," her voice became her usual soft purr. "The bitter taste will fade soon enough."
Tawnypaw was just standing up when Applepaw bounded over and gave him a prod in the side. Her whiskers were twitching and Applepaw's eyes were blazing with excitement for the Gathering. "Hurry up. We need to get there soon. Plus this is our first Gathering and I-I just can't wait!" She mewed
"Okay. Settle down Applepaw. It's not like it's the end of the world." Tawnypaw muttered. He didn't understand how Starpaw liked Applepaw so much. She was so… energetic. Tawnypaw just sighed. Starpaw was energetic, after all. Applepaw rolled her eyes and gave a sniff. "It will be if you don't hurry up!"
Tawnypaw flicked his tail, as Applepaw sped off, to signal that he was coming. He staggered over to the group of ShadowClan cats; his midday nap had made him dizzy on his paws. Tawnypaw took this chance to signal for the rest of his littermates to follow him.
"Isn't our first gathering going to be so exciting?" Applepaw said excitedly. "I can't wait to meet all the cats from the different clans! Just think, we get to meet cats from Riverclan, Windclan, and ThunderClan ! I'm so excited!"
"Okay, I think we get the point," Twistclaw growled as he slunk past.
"Yes, Twistclaw," said Applepaw, trembling.
"Applepaw, just because he was made a warrior recently, doesn't me he has as much authority as clan leader!" Tawnypaw muttered to Applepaw.
"Right, but he has a point, and we are not warriors yet."
Tawnypaw was about to reply but his littermates finally caught up with him and Applepaw, anxious and excited for their first gathering. The two slowed down so they would be in union on their way to the gathering, all the while making sure that they stayed the agreed upon five tail-lengths distance from the shore.
Moonpaw's fur was bristling with excitement. "Do you think I should stay with Mossfur? She told me that I didn't have to stay with her getting there, but it would be wise to stay close once the gathering actually starts."
Starpaw rolled his eyes. "Nah, stick with us until she thinks you should go with her."
"Besides," added Frostpaw, "We have some important 'business' to discuss."
"Oh! What type of business?"Applepaw inquired.
At that moment, they realized with a jolt that Applepaw was still with them. Starpaw signaled Frostpaw to try to lead her somewhere out of hearing. The white apprentice rolled her eyes and scanned the crowd for Tulippaw.
"Hey, Applepaw," started Frostpaw. Applepaw turned her attention to Frostpaw. "I think Tulippaw is looking for you, over there."
Applepaw flick her ears in goodbye and bounded ahead to catch up with her sister.
Eclipsepaw rolled her eyes. "Starpaw, I can't believe you like Applepaw. She so, well, you know."
"Energetic?" Offered Moonpaw, "Sprightly?"
"So? She is good natured and has a pure heart. How could a tom not like her?"
Maybe because his brother in love with the her, yet she loves him even when it's obvious that he only thinks of her as a friend? Tawnypaw thought to himself.
The log bridge was just up ahead. Tawnypaw had heard stories from elders about how the log bridge got there. They had said that a WindClan cat named Mudclaw had tried to attack WindClan with some of his followers. His plan failed and he fled only for a tree to fall on him. They say that StarClan was so angry with him, that they sent that tree to fall on him. And now they use that tree to cross onto the island.
Tawnypaw was the last to jump on the log. He leaped onto the bridge and soon found that it was much more slippery than he predicted. He dug his claws into the bark like a squirrel and began to carefully make his way across the log. His nose was overwhelmed with the scents of RiverClan and ThunderClan. He turned around to see WindClan cats right behind them.
Tawnypaw noticed that the others were already of the log. He leaped of the log and onto the mushy sand. The sky was clear and the moon was shining bright, a perfect night for a gathering. Eclipsepaw flicked her ears towards the clump of ShadowClan cats, waiting for Dovefeather to give the signal to dive into the brambles. Tawnypaw made his way closer to Dovefeather and Swanfern.
At the flick of Dovefeather's tail, the ShadowClan warriors dove into the bracken surrounding the island. Tawnypaw was surprised at the amount of RiverClan and ThunderClan warriors were there. His nose picked up the scents of cats of all clans over the generations. Frostpaw and RiverClan apprentice almost immediately bounded over to Tawnypaw. Already making friends, typical Frostpaw.
"Tawnypaw! This is Frostfern, she is a new warrior, and I'm glad. Just imagine, if we both went to the Gathering and we were both apprentices. You would call, "Frostpaw," and we would have both turned around. Wouldn't that be funny, Tawnypaw?" Frostpaw padded up to her brother and brushed her flank along his, purring loudly.
"Yeah... so funny," he didn't really care that Frostfern and Frostpaw had the same apprentice names, but Frostpaw didn't notice the edge to his tone and continued babbling about nothing important. However, Tawnypaw's mind was elsewhere.
The Gathering was filled with cats. There were so many different colored pelts. And these were just a few cats from every Clan! Tawnypaw glanced over at Starpaw who was happily chatting away with Hawkpaw, a WindClan cat.
Tawnypaw's pelt bristled. He knew his brother's hatred for WindClan cats. But now he was talking to a WindClan apprentice as if they were clanmates! He felt warmth rush through him to see the friendliness in Starpaw's gaze, but it was only because of the truce of the full moon. Would Starpaw have attacked Hawkpaw if StarClan never created the truce? Would Starpaw attack anyone if there was no truce to protect the other Clans?
He put the question aside since it wasn't up to him to dictate who his brother talked to. Tawnypaw walked away looking for someone to talk to. His head turned toward the Thunderclan apprentices and he saw a beautiful white she-cat sitting next to a gray tabby tom, and she was gazing back at him curiously. Tawnypaw was starstruck by this cat's beauty, but he shook those thoughts from his mind. How could he love someone he did not even know and from another clan nonetheless. Still though Tawnypaw could not shake the beautiful feline from his mind for the rest of the night.
