"Lilypaw! Cometpaw! Solarpaw! Lilypaw! Cometpaw! Solarpaw!" The clan cheered warmly.

I glanced at Lightningpaw. His muscles had grown since he started training. Before, his coat had only a faint sheen to it, but now his yellow pelt shone golden, always a glimmer to it. His muscles bulged beneath, but he still had the friendly glimmer to his eyes. "Now you can train with us!" he trilled happily.

I purred. "I have a lot of skills to catch up on."

"Well, yeah, but don't worry, you'll be great."

The newly named Cometpaw, Solarpaw, and Lilypaw hopped up. "We're apprentices! Just like our parents!" Lilypaw announced.

I realized how strange that was, for apprentices and their parents to both be apprentices. Gazing at Lilypaw for a second, I remembered something I heard the day I came back. 'Only the one with the heart of a flower can save the forest against a force even the strongest storms cannot stop.' I still wondered if it was speaking of Lilypaw, since a lily is a kind of flower, but I wasn't sure, and I wasn't going to tell anyone until I was sure.

Wingflight padded up to me. "Well," he murmured. "I would tell you to start on training, but I'm taking you to the Gathering tonight." He twitched his ears towards Lightningpaw and the other three. "You're all coming too."

In the time before we came back, Lighteyes had two kits, both apprentices now, Moonpaw, a sleek black she-cat with white patch of fur on neck and blue eyes, and Owlpaw, a tawny and brown mix longhair. They were going, too. I glanced up at the darkening sky. The Gathering would start soon. It hit me when I realized that I had never been to a Gathering, although I was as old as Bluestar.

"All cats going to the Gathering! To me!" Bluestar yowled. The cats chosen crowded around her. "Lets move!"

As I followed my clanmates towards Fourtrees, Lightningpaw caught up to me. "How many cats are going to be there?" he asked nervously.

I purred. "No more than there was at your cave I promise!"

"Have you ever been to a Gathering?"

"No, I left before I had the chance to."

When Fourtrees was in sight, I gaped at the amount of cats there. Cats of all shapes and sizes. Toms and she-cats, tabbies and tortoiseshells, long-furred and short-furred, cats of all four clans gathered around the four large oaks that gave the clearing it's name. In the center, a large rock protruded out of the ground and gave just enough room for four leaders to sit atop. Lionheart hadn't come, but Graystripe did, and he approached me just before I entered. "Gatherings are a time to news and learn about your enemy. Listen, and don't give away too much. You can be nice to other clans, but, just remember, that they are your enemies. That goes for you too, Lightningpaw." He looked into the clearing.

Lilypaw, Cometpaw, and Solarpaw had already engaged in conversation with a small group of apprentices. "I can climb the Great Rock!" Cometpaw boasted.

"Please don't try!" A Riverclan she-cat pleaded.

A Shadowclan apprentice glared at me. "Oh great," he muttered. "A warrior to boss us around."

"That's not a warrior!" Solarpaw exclaimed. "That's Phoenixpaw, she's my mother," he added with a touch of pride.

"Phoenixpaw is your mother? Since when do apprentices have kits that are apprentices with them?" the Shadowclan apprentice scowled.

"She's been an apprentice a long time," Lilypaw explained. "She left the clans awhile back ago and came back, she'll become a warrior once she proves her loyalty."

All the other apprentices glared at me. "Let's go," another Shadowclan apprentice muttered to the others, who nodded agreement.

They looked sadly after the leaving apprentices. "How can we make friends like this?" Solarpaw mewled unhappily.

"Well you're not really-"

"Let the Gathering commence!" Bluestar yowled.

I twitched my ears but didn't bother to try and finish my sentence. "Bluestar, you may begin," A copper-colored tom spoke.

"Thank you Copperstar," Bluestar answered coolly. "A couple of moons ago, one of our apprentices returned from what we thought as the point of no return. She is here today with her mate and kits. "Lightningpaw, Lilypaw, Cometpaw, and Solarpaw. Welcome back Phoenixpaw!"

The clans were silent other than a couple of halfhearted mews from Thunderclan. Bluestar glared at the other leaders, but sat down without another word. I shuffled my paws in embarrassment and slunk to the outskirts of the clearing, closing my ears and waited for the failed Gathering to end.