A/N: Sorry for taking a while to update; reality has been unpleasantly real. My spring break started, so I should have plenty of time to work now. As always, big thanks to reviewers for taking the time to leave your thoughts!

Ah yes...Icepaw being part of the prophecy? I've been waiting to see if that would come up. Read through the chapters and find out.

Chapter Eight

"Have you named them yet?" asked Rainpaw.

She and Sunpaw sat in the nursery, admiring Yellowflower's two newborn kits. The she-kit was a pale tawny color like her mother, while the tom had the same dark orange tabby pelt as Orangestripe.

"The she-kit is Softkit. The tom is Rustykit."

Sunpaw bent her head to sniff both kits. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she may well be mentor to one of these kits when they were old enough. Raising her head, she murmured her congratulations to Yellowflower and slipped out of the nursery.

Flexing her claws, Sunpaw swung her gaze around the camp. There was truly nothing to do; the fresh-kill pile was well-stocked, the elders were content to bask in the sun, and all sun-high patrols had already left. As her emerald eyes roamed over to Treeshadow's den, she noticed the pale gray shape of Morning. The she-cat sat tall and straight as she always did, her amber eyes observing all that went on in the Clan.

Sunpaw watched the Tribe she-cat out of the corner of her eye, trying not to attract the gray cat's attention. It had been almost a quarter-moon since Sunpaw found her on ThunderClan's cliffs, and still she had not spoken the name of the midnight-pelted fox who was commanding the Tribe she had left.

Tonight, Sunpaw told herself. Ask her tonight, after moonhigh.

The sun-furred apprentice turned and padded out of the camp, sending herself on a hunting patrol.

;-;-;-;

"This tastes vile."

"This doesn't."

Sunpaw looked at Icepaw with a mock-irritated gleam in her eyes. "What say I gather catmint next time and you dig up the bluebell roots?"

The two apprentices had been assigned to help Treeshadow collect supplies. Their day off of training had passed uneventfully, and Sunpaw had been unable to talk to Morning at all. She had crept out of the apprentice's den at moonhigh as she had planned, but had found Hawkclaw sitting in the middle of the camp. She had kept one eye open, but before long, sleep had overcome her and she had stayed asleep until dawn.

Sunpaw was woken from her thoughts when a wave of catmint scent rolled across her nose. Icepaw had walked over to stand beside her, his head bent so he could lap up some stream water. Stretching her neck out to sniff his pelt, Sunpaw noticed the catmint scent clung heavilyto his fur.

"What did you do, roll in the catmint?" she asked him.

"Yes," he answered, lifting his head from the stream.

"You trying to impress somebody?" she said, half-seriously.

"Don't tell me you've never rolled in catmint."

"You're avoiding the question."

"I'm not."

"Now you're in denial."

With a good-humored snort, the silver-white tom shoved Sunpaw with his shoulder. Her eyes gleaming, Sunpaw shoved him in return, then turned her gaze back to the roots and catmint leaves they had gathered. It was nearly sunhigh, and they had been told to return before then.

"I'll do you a favor and carry your catmint back to camp. You can get the bluebell roots. They're much easier to hold."

"My thanks to you come from the deepest part of my soul."

"Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your tone?" Sunpaw flicked her tail playfully.

"Your perceptive abilities astound me."

Sunpaw poked him sharply in his ribs with her forepaw. They walked back to camp in silence, but it was a comfortable silence borne from close friendship.

;-;-;-;

"Jaywing, Treeshadow, Quickriver, Roseleaf, Sorrelflower, Badgerclaw, Sunpaw, Rainpaw, and Icepaw," said Lightningstar, reeling off the names of cats who would be attending the Gathering. "Darkcloud, you will be senior warrior here." The black tom dipped his head.

Sunpaw, Icepaw, and Rainpaw all sat just outside the apprentice's den. Shadowpaw sneered at them; it was plain he was disgusted that they had been selected to attend the Gathering and he had not.

Nightpaw walked up to Sunpaw, her yellow eyes gleaming in the deepening darkness. "I never thanked you," she whispered.

Sunpaw started. "For what?" Nightpaw had almost never spoken to her; in fact, the only cats Sunpaw saw her speak to regularly were her mentor, Waterdrip, and Yellowflower. Come to think of it, the long-haired black she-cat rarely even talked to her brother.

"For helping me after the battle, when I couldn't walk to Treeshadow's den. Thank you."

It was on the tip of Sunpaw's tongue to tell the other apprentice that she had acted out of loyalty to the Clan, but something stopped her. "Y-you're welcome," she managed to say. She had assumed Nightpaw hated her as much as her brother Shadowpaw did, but now, as she met Nightpaw's pale yellow eyes, she saw something else: the black she-cat was simply extremely shy.

Nightpaw nodded in acknowledgment of Sunpaw's words, then turned and padded away.

Sunpaw turned and followed the rest of the Clan out of the camp, ready to attend her first Gathering.

;-;-;-;

"Be careful when you cross," Roseleaf cautioned them. The tortoiseshell she-cat lingered with the three apprentices at the back of the crowd.

The Meeting-Tree had four roots that were far longer and thicker than the rest. A stream flowed from each Clan's territory, and all four streams met at the Gathering place. An island stood in the middle of the great pool that was formed by the streams, one enormous root extending over the bank in each direction and into each Clan's territory.

The tree itself was a weeping willow. Some of its branches swept together, forming a wide platform for the Clan leaders to stand on. Sunpaw found the willow a thing of beauty; the smooth, pale gray bark, the thin branches trailing into the water in a way almost elegant, the razor-thin leaves.

Unsheathing her claws to better grip the slippery bark, Sunpaw padded across the thick root, slipped under the silvery branches, and stepped onto the grassy island.

RiverClan and WindClan had arrived already, and the two Clans were mingling with each other, exchanging news, greeting friends. Some of the RiverClan cats' pelts dripped water; they must have chosen to swim across the stream rather than walk over it.

"Now what?" Sunpaw asked out loud. Icepaw and Rainpaw stood on either side of her, neither knowing quite what to do either.

"Go and meet the apprentices of the other Clans," said Lightningstar, who sat beside them. "Talk to them, learn how they act, remember their style. This is the one time and place we meet in peace; outside the Meeting-Tree, we are all different Clans; we are all rivals. These are cats you will fight against one day."

"Lightningstar," meowed Sunpaw, turning to look up at her mentor, "will you tell the other Clans about the Tribe and the fox?"

He nodded. "If the other Clans have not been attacked by the Tribe, it would not be right to refrain from telling them of the danger. If Morning speaks the truth, then the Clans need to unite to fight the darkness." With that, he went to greet a dark brown-gray she-cat that looked like a Clan leader.

"That'll be a happy note to start a Gathering on, huh?" Sunpaw said.

"Shall we go and see the other apprentices, then?" asked Rainpaw, her pale blue eyes holding their usual worried look.

"I'm going to find Jaywing," mewed Icepaw. "Meet me later," he tossed over his shoulder, flicking Sunpaw's flank with his tail as he walked away into the throng of cats. The feel of his touch lingered, and Sunpaw felt a brief, happy prickle where his tail had brushed her fur. Shaking it off, she said to Rainpaw, "I'm going to talk to those RiverClan apprentices."

"I'm coming," Rainpaw said immediately. In a low voice, she said, "I'll admit, I'm nervous around so many cats from different Clans. Especially after the Tribe attack. I keep thinking they'll come bursting in here...," her voice trailed off.

"We're fine," Sunpaw told Rainpaw, giving her friend's cheek a reassuring lick.

"Hi," Rainpaw greeted the couple of RiverClan apprentices. One was a pretty she-cat, her fur mottled gray and brown, her eyes dark green. The other was a tom, but the two smelled too different from one another to be siblings. His spotted gray tabby pelt was longer than his companion's, and his eyes were amber.

"I know you," the tom said abruptly, his gaze fixed on Sunpaw. "You're the one who told Oakfur he had crossed over the boundary line." Before Sunpaw could speak, the tom plowed on. "Oakfur wouldn't do that. He's my mentor, and-,"

Thrusting her face in the tom's, Sunpaw growled, "I told him he was nearly over the boundary line."

The tom's eyes glinted. "You're the half-blood ThunderClan cat. Whatever you say is a lie." With that, he whipped around and stalked away.

"I'm sorry about him." The she-cat spoke up for the first time. "Rockpaw...well, he's defensive, you might say."

"I can think of several things I could also say," growled Sunpaw.

"I'm not too fond of him either," the she-cat admitted. "I'm Pinepaw."

"I'm Sunpaw, and this is my friend, Rainpaw." Pinepaw and Rainpaw nodded in greeting.

"Treeshadow's over there," Rainpaw whispered. "I'm going to see if he'll take me to meet the other medicine cats." Sunpaw nodded as the white she-cat trotted off.

Once Rainpaw had disappeared, Pinepaw leaned in closer to Sunpaw. "I've heard about you," she began.

"Yeah, I expect you have," Sunpaw said bitterly. "The birth of a half-blood must make great news for a Gathering."

"No, listen," the she-cat said. "I know how you feel. Neither of my parents are RiverClan."

In spite of herself, Sunpaw felt a prick of interest. Someone like me, she thought. Out of all the cats, someone who probably knows how I feel. "So, your parents are rogues?"

"Loners. My mother has joined RiverClan, but she's not here tonight. My father...well, I've never seen him, I don't know his name, and my mother never told me what he looks like. I don't even know where his territory is."

"Roseleaf is my mother," Sunpaw said. "Do you know her?"

"The small tortoiseshell with amber eyes?"

"Yeah." Sunpaw believed Pinepaw when she said she wasn't Clanborn. The brown-gray she-cat lacked the sleek, dense fur and webbed feet all RiverClan cats possessed; that alone would be enough for any cat to tell RiverClan blood did not run in her veins.

The four leaders had gathered on the sweeping platform, and Lightningstar had called for silence.

"Maybe I'll see you another time," Pinepaw said. "'Bye."

"See you," Sunpaw returned. She weaved her way through the cats to sit beside Icepaw. As Lightningstar told the other Clans about the Tribe attacking, Hickorystar, the tom who led ShadowClan, stepped up and added to the news.

"We, too, have been attacked by strange cats who were led by a black fox. The cats that came wounded our Clan badly, but there were no fatalities."

"We have seen a black fox lurking around our territory," said Waterstar. The RiverClan she-cat turned to Reedstar questioningly. The bracken-colored tom shook his head.

"None of my patrols have detected any trace of these cats. Or the fox." Turning to the other leaders, he dipped his head. "WindClan will keep careful watch on our borders."

Lightningstar spoke up again. "We must all keep careful watch on our borders. I feel a new danger rising in the forest, one that will threaten us all."

After a long silence, Lightningstar shared the news of Badgerclaw becoming a warrior and of Yellowflower's kits. When he finished, Waterstar stepped up and relayed similar news.

Sunpaw was barely listening. Lightningstar's words of rising danger had sent a chill through her, and she looked up at the sky through a break in the willow's branches.

Holy StarClan, she prayed, watch over us, and stand by us all if danger should come.

;-;-;-;

A/N: Okay, so this chapter didn't get us very far plot-line wise, but the next chapter will. I couldn't find a suitable quote this time, so that's why it's absent from its usual place. I have read Starlight by now, but I'm not changing the landmarks or anything; I'd end up confusing myself. Hope to have chapter 9 up in a few days.