That night, Wingpaw padded out of the apprentices den, his eyes wide with curiosity. He wondered who was coming to the Gathering, and what would happen. As he walked over to the group of cats at the entrance, he saw Lynxpaw chatting with Thymepaw, his eyes narrowed slyly as he talked. Thymepaw's tail was drooping onto the ground, and she answered in a slow uninterested tone of voice. As Wingpaw's footsteps sounded behind them, Thymepaw turned around. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she grinned in welcome. "Hey, Wingpaw!" She mewed excitedly, bouncing up and down. "Where've you been?"

"Sleeping." Wingpaw replied shortly. He didn't like the way that Lynxpaw was glaring at him, but Thymepaw didn't seem to notice. She purred and entwined her tail with his for a moment before stepping away. "Are you coming to the gathering too?" She asked, her eyes glowing with warmth.

The black apprentice nodded, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes. Who else is coming?" He asked, looking around. He saw Flowerfur, Silversun, Brownstar, Cougartooth, Mousefang, and Thornheart standing by the entrance, talking quietly.

"Oh, them and us, I believe. Brownstar's tightened up security on the camp for tonight, because we're going to be away. Leafpaw and Spotpaw are staying behind, because they didn't catch much today." She meowed, rolling her eyes. Wingpaw growled, his eyes flashing with suspicion. "Leafpaw caught more than I did today, and I caught a lot."

Thymepaw took a step back, her eyes sparking with apprehension. "Sorry, but that's what Flowerfur told us."

Wingpaw growled. There it was. The dreaded us. Now Lynxpaw was starting to bare his fangs at Wingpaw from behind Thymepaw, his eyes flashing with hatred. He took a step forward. "Come on, Thymepaw. They'll leave us behind if we're not careful." He cautioned her, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, right…" Thymepaw nodded and followed Lynxpaw towards the warriors. Silversun turned to see Wingpaw and flicked her tail, beckoning him over. He obediently ran over to her, and, before she could say anything, he asked. "Couldn't we leave Lynxpaw and Thymepaw here? I think that they're stronger than Spotpaw and Leafpaw, and if we left them guarding the camp, I'm sure the camp would be a lot safer."

Silversun narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but nodded seriously, thinking. "Maybe you're right. I'll talk to Brownstar." She meowed. She padded over to the dark brown leader and engaged her in quiet conversation, her eyes glowing with thought. Great, thought Wingpaw. One for me, zero for Lynxpaw…

That morning, the forest was shrouded with light grey-blue fog, and the atmosphere was still and quiet, as if the entire forest was waiting, expecting something to happen. Wingpaw opened his red eyes into slits, and carefully edged away from Leafpaw's curled up sleeping form. He didn't want to wake her so early in the morning. He stood, and ignoring the longing to stretch his wings, made his way out into the still camp. The impenetrable fog had made it hard to see, and as he looked upwards, he could just barely see the treetops above. They seemed to loom over him, looking like shadowed pine mountains, and he suddenly purred, feeling calm. As long as he could see the tops of the trees, he felt at home. Something was going to happen. He could feel it. He felt a purr of laughter escape him as he recalled the incident that had occurred the night before, on their way to the gathering. As he had suggested, Brownstar had left Thymepaw and Lynxpaw at camp, and had brought Spotpaw and Leafpaw instead. That had been great, and feeling Lynxpaw's jealous eyes on his back had made him laugh with exhilaration.

"Wingpaw?" Pawbright's cream coloured head poked out from behind the bracken bush that sheltered the nursery. As she spotted her son, she loped gracefully out towards him, purring a greeting. "Good morning."

"Good morning, mother." He replied, smiling warmly at her. He let her sniff him over before inquiring. "How are you doing? Are you eating well?"

She smiled at him, her whiskers twitching with amusement.

"I'm well, and eating. You know I have to, what with your siblings coming soon." She purred.

Wingpaw nodded. He had heard that his mother was pregnant once more, and was thrilled. He had no curiosity as to know the father, however, as he had never known his own, and had never been in real need of one. He flicked his tail back and forth. He wanted to ask whether she knew how many siblings he would have, but he didn't want to be or seem too impatient. His mother, as he remembered, didn't like to be pressured or pushed. Pawbright looked around and then murmured. "Can you fly yet? I've always been so eager to see! How big are your wings now?" Her eyes gleamed with excitement, and Wingpaw felt his heart skip a beat.

"Y-yes, I can. Look, I'll show you!" Quickly turning around in a full circle to see if any cat was out of the dens yet other than him and his mother, he looked at Pawbright and meowed. "Come with me. We'd better get out of sight of the camp. I don't want to be seen."

Pawbright nodded, her eyes twinkling. She followed her son out of camp, and towards the small clearing where he always practiced his flying, and where he had caught and killed the nuisance raven a moon before. As Pawbright peered around the clearing, she saw her son leap onto the stump in the middle, and unfurl his wings, which had actually grown outwards into handsome black furred wings. He flapped them experimentally once, twice, thrice, and then looked down at his mother. He was startled to see tears in her eyes. "Mother, are you alright?" His red eyes flashed with concern.

The cream coloured she-cat nodded, sniffing once. She seemed to steel herself, and then meowed. "Show me what you can do, my son."

At once, Wingpaw leapt into the air, flapping his wings and giving a loud exhilarated yowl of joy. His heart seemed to lift as he soared into nothingness. He rose into the air, flying through the fog. His paws were left to dangle as they left the base of the tree trunk, and he spiralled up, up, up, into the sky. By this time, he could barely see a thing, and was sure that his mother couldn't see him either, so he dove down until he could see her leaping from side to side, happiness sparkling in her eyes. She was so proud of her young son. As the black apprentice landed once more on the tree stump, she bounded up to him, purring loudly. She seemed to glow with happiness, and covered her son in loving affectionate licks. "That was brilliant! StarClan has surely blessed you, Wingpaw." She mewed, flicking her ears.

Wingpaw purred, and he opened his eyes to stare into hers. "Thanks, mother."

The two then turned, and began to pad back towards camp, Pawbright chattering excitedly about how proud she was of him, and how well he had done. She grew quiet as they reached the camp, and then stopped talking fully once they padded into the well hidden entrance. They found the camp all awake and bustling around busily, exchanging words of greeting or farewell, or simply sharing tongues and bringing prey to the fresh-kill pile. Wingpaw spotted Leafpaw exiting the apprentices den, and bade his mother goodbye before making his way towards her. "Hello, Leafpaw!" He meowed. The pretty light brown apprentice turned to meet his gaze, and gave a small smile of welcome, waving her tail. She padded forward to meet him, and meowed. "You must have been up early this morning. I couldn't find you!"

"Sorry, I was out with my mother." He apologized, falling into step beside her as she continued to walk onwards. "Did I miss anything?"

Leafpaw shook her head. "Nope, you didn't."

(Big whoop.)