The Gathering was like nothing that Berrypaw had ever seen before – which it was. The clearing on the island was bustling with cats from all five clans, sparking curiosity in the little apprentice. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as she walked beside her brother and sister. If what Darkwhisper had said about a truce was right, then Berrypaw knew that there was nothing to fear from these strangers.

"Hi there!"

Berrypaw cried out in surprise, jumping a good tail-length into the air when a cat suddenly appeared net to her. She willed her fur to lie flat, becoming embarrassed as she realized that it was an apprentice even smaller than herself.

A brown tabby she-cat giggled, but didn't seem to be making fun of Berrypaw. Despite that, she was still bitter about getting startled so easily, and embarrassing herself in front of so many cats. She swore that she heard a snicker from somewhere.

Sootpaw came up to flank her, looking over the small tabby and greeting her, "Hi."

"I'm Mothpaw, from ThunderClan! You guys are LustClan cats, right?" the brown tabby asked, seeming genuinely eager to know. Berrypaw figured that the ThunderClanner was fresh out of the nursery, judging by the way she talked with such innocence in her voice. Just like Icepaw, despite the tortoiseshell's age.

"Yeah, we are," Sootpaw replied. The tom didn't appear to have a problem with Mothpaw at all, much to Berrypaw's surprise. Being his sister, she knew that he had little patience for cats like her, now that they were a quarter-moon into their training.

"What's it like? All I could ever get out of my mother is that you guys just came out of nowhere," Mothpaw mewed, "What do you eat? Do you have any special skills? Like, how RiverClan swims and WindClan is really fast?"

Sootpaw gave a side-glance to Berrypaw, and she knew that they were sharing the same thought. Raccoonclaw's words from their first day should have included that ThunderClan cats were sheltered, too.

"Oh, we do, but it's nothing like the rest of you," the gray tom meowed.

Realizing that the conversation was going to continue, Berrypaw decided to leave the two to their own devices and wandered on throughout the crowd. She stopped walking when she noticed Scarletwing, whom was chatting with a cat from another clan. It seemed that she knew the tom well, judging by how open she was being.

The tom trotted away when Berrypaw started approaching, and she watched him meet up with two other cats.

"Who was that?" she asked, turning towards the reddish she-cat.

Scarletwing sighed wistfully, "An old clanmate; my cousin, actually."

Now that she said it, Berrypaw looked back at the tom and noticed that he did look a bit like her, but not so much that it was very noticeable. She was about to speak again when Scarletwing shushed her, flicking her tail towards the oak in which the leaders sat. That likely meant that it was time to listen.

The first leader to speak was a gray-and-white she-cat. She sat up straight and she seemed to emit a strange feeling of authority over the clearing.

"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you all that Birchstar has lost his last life, and I now sit in his place. As you can assume, I am now Bluestar," the she-cat announced.

Her clanmates cheered her new name, thus urging the other clans to do the same. Berrypaw took note that the name felt strange on her tongue, and she supposed that she was only used to saying Stonestar's name. Did all cats feel that way?

Bluestar waited until the voices died down to continue, "ShadowClan has welcomed a new litter of kits, belonging to Marshfoot and Acornleaf. Their names are Dewkit and Thornkit."

As the Gathering went on, Berrypaw learned that two WindClan warriors had become elders, as well as one moving into the nursery with a belly full of kits. Darkstar of ThunderClan announced the apprenticeship of Mothpaw, Toadpaw, and Lionpaw. There was more, but she began to lose interest and spaced out until she heard Stonestar's voice.

"Silverfrost has moved into the nursery with Foxheart's kits, and has welcomed Mistkit and Fernkit as her foster daughters," the leader meowed. The two kits he spoke of had appeared soon after Berrypaw became an apprentice. Fernkit was once a ThunderClan kit, though born a loner, who would soon join the apprentices den. As for Mistkit, her parents had arrived before she was born, with her mother dying during the kitting. They were both lucky to have a cat like Silverfrost.

"We also have three new apprentices: Snowpaw, Berrypaw, and Sootpaw," Stonestar continued. Shortly after, chanting erupted from the listening cats. Berrypaw's ears burned with a sudden shyness as her name was voiced. She noticed her brother and sister lifting their heads proudly. Mothpaw was nearby, cheering happily.

A blue-gray tom, splotched with white, straightened up and prepared to speak. Berrypaw assumed that he must be the RiverClan leader, Rainstar.

"It has come to my attention that one of my warriors is no longer loyal to RiverClan," the tom meowed solemnly. His eyes were fixed on a cat that Berrypaw could not see passed all the others. Why was he saying this here, when loyalty seems like a private matter?

"Minnowflash wishes to join LustClan's ranks," Rainstar continued. Turning to Stonestar, he went on, "It is your choice as to whether she is welcome or not; but from this moment on, she is exiled from RiverClan."

With that, the tom leaped down from his place and lead his clan away, signifying that the Gathering was now over. The RiverClan cats seemed to be just as shocked as everyone else, with a few casting sympathetic looks towards a single she-cat. Now that Berrypaw could see her, she saw that the exiled cat was grayish in color. The she-cat stared after her former-clan with wide, hurt eyes; Berrypaw couldn't help feeling bad for her.

The other leaders appeared to shake off the surprise from the public exile, and lead their own cats away silently. Stonestar was the last to leave his branch, hopping down nimbly and landing on his feet with an unreadable expression. As he approached the she-cat, everyone else watched him with curiosity.

Stonestar looked over Minnowflash before speaking, "Come along, then."

He then brushed passed her, waving his tail for everyone to follow him. Berrypaw found herself gravitating towards her siblings instinctually, but she watched Minnowflash with every pawstep. Scarletwing had come to the she-cat's side, as well as Ambershine. They looked like they were trying to cheer her up. With the two having been clanmates with her before, Berrypaw figured that they were the best for the job.

"She'll feel better when she finds out just how great LustClan is," Snowpaw whispered, eyeing Minnowflash. She was probably right, too.

Berrypaw tore her attention away from the new cat and faced forward instead. She saw that Doetail was rubbing her tail against Ferndusk's pussy, and the white she-cat was already dripping with arousal. It had become common knowledge that the two were friends-with-benefits now, just like Stormfoot and Inksplash.

With a sigh, Berrypaw prayed that the two wouldn't decide to do it in the middle of camp like last time. She needed sleep, for StarClan's sake!

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A/N: Remember to review! I thrive on feedback; it keeps me writing!

If anyone has any ideas for a mating couple or something like that, please tell me! I need some more ideas!

Later, my lovelies!

~ Tina