Chapter 9. This chapter marks the fist gathering. It's really long(by my standards) but I wanted to fit the whole gathering into one. Hope you all like the uniqueness of the tribes' gatherings!
"A gathering?" repeated StepStorm. "What's that?"
It had been about a moon since StepStorm had made her choice. Since then she had spent every moment trying to be the best learner she could be. Her tribemates had been the same. StepLight and StepClaw were training in the water for their first visit to the coral reef a couple shark lengths off shore. StepStorm was disappointed that she probably could never see it but the two had promised to describe it in detail when they did. StepGull, StepTyphoon and StepShells had received their warrior names of SoaringGull, SharpTyphoon and StreakShells. Soon afterwards, CurlingStream had entered the nursery expecting her first litter.
"A gathering is a night where we have a meeting with the ForestRose cats," said StepLight excitedly. "It only happens once every six moons so it's a big thing!"
"The last one took place when we were only a moon old," said StepClaw. "So we couldn't get to go. Didn't you notice the large amounts of fish we had been catching?"
StepStorm nodded. Cats were streaming back and forth carrying fish. What StepStorm had found odd was that the fish had not been taken to the fresh-kill pile but to the small strip of land between the two tribes. The neutral ground. "I've noticed but I didn't ask."
"It's for the feast tonight," explained StepLight. She was about to say more but she shook her head. "No. I'll wait until tonight. It will be so exciting for you since you know nothing about it."
"And what makes it even better is that we are guaranteed to go since it's our first one when we are of age," said StepClaw. "And because of that WaveWhisker even said I didn't have to take care of the elders yesterday or today."
StepStorm was wondering why StepClaw wasn't as snappy as she usually was. During the past moon StepClaw had stayed out late to practice. The side jobs she had to do along with training meant she did not have enough daylight hours to hone her skills, so to keep with the others she had started sneaking out at night to train. It meant she ended up being cranky in the morning as she didn't get much sleep but StepStorm did not hold it against her.
StepStorm glanced at the entrance of the cave. The sun was still high in the sky based on the light trickling through. Darn. She wished the day would go by faster. This gathering was really getting interesting.
"There you are," HealingWave walking over to her. "I need to get some coconuts. Do you mind?"
"No," StepStorm got to her paws.
"We should get going as well," said StepClaw, getting up. "Even though we are going, we're going to need to contribute to the feast."
The three friends headed out together. Once they hit the beach however, StepStorm bid her friends goodbye. Before she headed for the coconut trees she watched as they walked into the water and began swimming like the fish. Although they were not allowed at the reef they could still catch the fish that swam close to the shore-line.
HealingWave made a small sound and StepStorm continued on to the trees. Unlike a moon ago they did not scare her as they had done in the past. They were just like any other tree, only without any branches.
HealingWave sat on the outskirts of the trees. Safely away in case a coconut fell on her head. StepStorm picked the nearest one and used a running start to help being her climb. Her claws had to dig deep into the trunk to avoid slipping but in the short time her paws had gotten stronger. She may not be able to climb to the top with the speed SpiralClam could but she had a pretty decent speed according to her mentor and in time she would get better.
Once at the top she shifted her body, climbing in between the individual coconuts. This was the scary part. She locked her three paws into the trunk while removing the fourth. The fourth one was used to saw at the part holding the coconut to the tree. She rechecked her position again. It would be bad if her body was in the way of the coconut's descent. SpiralClam had told her stories about cats that did that. They suffered broken bones or worse. She felt the weight shift and she removed her paw and slid away as the coconut tumbled to the ground.
After two more HealingWave told her it was enough. She sighed and began the slow descent down. She hated having to look down to make sure her paws were in the right place. She hated to see how high she had climbed. SpiralClam told her it would get better in time but she wasn't sure of that. Whatever. All she could do was do her best right?
Once her paws hit the ground she began rolling one of the coconuts out from under the coconut trees to HealingWave. She went back and did the same with the other two. It was just in case a coconut fell from a tree without warning. It would be horrible if the healer died that way.
The two began rolling the coconuts to the tribe camp. At first StepStorm was surprised to find out there was a small area with a ramp-like surface leading up to the camp. It wasn't practical to use in normal situations because it was narrow but it was perfect for rolling coconuts up to the camp.
Once the last coconut was in place in HealingWave's den, the sun was beginning to set.
"All cats of the tribe. Gather under the High Rock!" yowled ShiningFeather. She did not really have to say it for the tribecats were already gathered. StepStorm hurried over to her friends. The two she-cats eyes were wide in excitement. "As you all know, tonight is the gathering night. Like always, HealingWave CrashingDark and myself will be in attendance. The other chosen cats are our new warriors, SharpTyphoon, SoaringGull and StreakShells, our learners, StepStorm, StepLight, StepRiver, StepPalm and StepClaw, as well as SpiralClam, FastFlight, RagingSand, DriftingStick and ShadowStripe." She dipped her head and gracefully jumped off the High Rock to stand by the entrance.
"This is so exciting!" whispered StepLight as they joined the small procession of cats. "Our first gathering!"
"Where's SpiritCave?" asked StepStorm. Now that she thought of it she had not seen him around all day.
"He is preparing for the gathering," replied StepClaw as they left the cave and headed up the beach to the small strip of neutral land. "It's the job of the spiriter to well…" She chuckled. "Well, maybe we should wait until we get there. You'll see what we mean."
Once the group entered the neutral ground the smell of the forest overwhelmed her as she saw a group of cats waiting for them. ForestRose.
"Took you long enough ShiningFeather," laughed a gray tom with black spots. "We thought you never would get here!"
"That's ShiningBlade," whispered SpiralClam to the three young learners. StepStorm jumped, not realizing her mentor had been behind them the whole time.
"So that's the leader of ForestRose," commented StepClaw. "Doesn't look so tough. I can take him."
"Of course you would say that," said StepLight in disbelief.
"Sorry ShiningBlade," said ShiningFeather. "Anyway. Shall we begin? I know my clanmates are hungry."
"Of course," replied ShiningBlade.
The two leaders walked over to two weird rock structures. The rocks were a long flat piece held off the ground by smaller rocks so there was a small opening under the flat pieces. That was odd. On closer inspection StepStorm noticed that there was wood piled in the small openings.
"What are they doing?" she whispered to her friends.
"Just watch," replied StepLight. "I've heard it's awesome the first time."
StepStorm returned her attention to the weird rock formation. The leaders were standing before their rock formation. CrashingDark and a russet she-cat(RedFern, the ForestRose deputy, according to SpiralClam) were pulling banana leaves piled high with fresh-kill. CrashingDark's held different types of fish while RedFern's had what SpiralClam called monkeys, snakes and other jungle creatures.
Once the piles of fresh-kill were next to the leaders the deputies dipped their heads and backed away.
"With this fresh-kill," spoke ShiningFeather, her voice shining with more wisdom than ever. "I share what OceanTide eats to the cats of ForestRose." She carefully picked up one of the fish in her jaw and placed it on the rock formation. Then she did a curious thing to StepStorm. She carefully used her claws to slice the fish in half and then cut the two halves into smaller pieces and began arranging the pieces on the rock in rows.
Once she was done ShiningBlade spoke, "With this fresh-kill, I share what ForestRose eats with the cats of OceanTide." He carefully picked up one of the monkeys and placed it on the rock formation. Like ShiningFeather he cut it up into small pieces and arranged it on the rocks.
The leaders fell silent as they continued to place fish and monkey on the rock formations and cut them up until the rocks were covered with the fresh-kill. The cats were silent as well, all of their eyes trained on the leaders.
"Now," said ShiningBlade taking a step back from the fresh-kill.
ShiningFeather did the same. "We begin this gathering."
The two leaders turned in the direction of the Spirit Flame cave. Hearing a crackling sound, StepStorm saw the spiriters walking towards them. What almost made her cry out were the sticks held in their jaws. The ends were on fire!
The ForestRose learner AuraGaze was walking in front of her mentor. The young cat stopped in front of the two rock formations. She looked calm and collected, all eyes were on her as the two spiriters positioned themselves before a rock formation. Curiously the spiriters were in the opposite rock formation that their leader had cut the fresh-kill on.
"Like all gatherings of the past," began the young she-cat, her voice echoing with wisdom. StepStorm figured it probably had something to do with being a spiriter. "This one is also to honor the lives lost a long time ago. Let us hope they are proud of our ways on their journey on the Spirit Wind. Let them know that we are still thinking of them." She dipped her head.
The two tribes followed her lead. StepStorm dipped her head as well but she wasn't sure why. She made a note to ask StepLight or StepClaw later.
"And now," yowled AuraGaze. "The lighting of the wood!"
The two spiriters twisted their heads and placed the burning end of the torches into the pile of wood. With a jolt StepStorm realized what was going on. She had seen the boatfolk do this sometimes. They were cooking fresh-kill!
Yowls rang around her as the flames caught hold on the wood.
"Now we have to wait," said StepLight. "We have to wait until the first batch is done cooking and then we can finally eat and move."
StepStorm noticed that everycat around her was talking but not to the other tribe. She voiced the question and StepClaw answered, "The formalities are not done yet. The only reason they let us talk now is because a lot of cats get restless and bored just sitting around so we're allowed to talk to our own tribe and only our own tribe."
"Oh," said StepStorm. She would never understand these cats sometimes. "Well how long will it take?"
"From what I heard not that long," said StepLight, "But it is still a while."
"Great," replied StepStorm, "Then can you explain what AuraGaze meant by the lives lost?"
"How did you know her name?" asked StepClaw.
"I met her a while ago," StepStorm looked away. She had never told anycat about what happened on that day. She felt like it was something private, only for her ears only. "Anyway. Can you explain?"
"Sure," StepLight stretched. "The whole gathering is centered around an incident that happened many moons ago. It seemed that a long time ago the two tribes were constantly at odds with each other, fighting each other whenever they met. Many cats died but they could not stop.
"Then, one horrible day, a strike from lightning caused a massive forest-fire. Many cats died that day. From both sides. When the ordeal was over only a pawful of cats were left from both tribe. A rainstorm had saved them. A spiriter found a small flame which had continued to burn even through the rainstorm. It was viewed as a sign from the Spirit Wind that the fighting between the tribes should never have happened. That flame was the Spirit Flame and it was transferred to the cave. And to honor the lives that died in that fire the gathering was created. We eat cooked fresh-kill to symbolize the fresh-kill killed in that fire that was caused by the fighting cats."
StepLight took a deep breath. "Well, that's it."
StepStorm's eyes were wide. That was why there was a gathering? That was why the Spirit Flame existed? Amazing!
"Oh, looks like the first batch is done," said StepClaw.
StepStorm's eyes darted to the front again. The spiriters were using sticks to knock the fresh-kill off the rocks and into a large banana leaf situated between the two rock formations. Once all the fresh-kill was off the leaders began cutting up more fresh-kill but they did it on the banana leaf the fresh-kill was on instead of on the rock formation. It probably was because the rocks were hot from the flames. The leaders then used their mouths to transfer the fresh-kill onto the rocks. A sizzle rang out as the fresh-kill touched the rocks.
Once they were done the leaders walked over to the center banana leaf with the cooked fresh-kill.
"By eating the fish of OceanTide, I allow my tribe knowledge to speak to the cats of the sea," yowled ShiningBlade, eating one of the pieces of cooked fish.
"By eating the monkey of ForestRose, I allow my tribe knowledge to speak to the cats of the forest," yowled ShiningFeather, eating one of the pieces of cooked monkey.
The leaders stepped back and dipped their heads.
"Alright!" yowled StepLight. "Food time!"
Cats from both tribes began mingling at that moment. StepStorm was surprised by the friendliness the tribes were treating each other. Did this gathering mean that much to them?
"Hey," said a snow white she-cat walking over to the three learners. "I'm guessing you three are learners right?"
"Yup," said StepLight, "I'm StepLight, this is StepClaw and StepStorm. Oh! Hey. These two are StepRiver and StepPalm."
StepLight's siblings had joined the learners, each held a couple of banana leaves.
"SpiritCave gave these to us to pass out to you," spoke up StepRiver, dropping the leaves in front of the five OceanTide learners.
The ForestRose cat didn't seem offended by this. "I'm StepCloud," she said, "StepRock and StepSky are coming. They are picking up our banana leaves. Oh! Here they are!"
A ragged brown tom and a black she-cat joined the small group of learners. StepRock gave a banana leaf to StepCloud before sitting down.
"Hello," said StepSky, "Pleasure to meet you."
"The same," said StepRiver.
"What are we doing with these leaves?" asked StepStorm.
"They are for the-oh look. SpiritCave is doing it right now."
SpiritCave walked over to the group of learners while dragging the banana leaf full of cooked fresh-kill. He did not speak but gave each learner two pieces of fresh-kil on the banana leaf. One fish piece and a monkey piece. He did not speak as he moved on to the next group.
"What's with him?" asked StepStorm. She was hurt that he had not spoken.
"The spiriters are on an oath of silence tonight," replied StepPalm, staring at the piece of monkey meat. "They are not allowed to speak. I don't know the specifics."
"No one knows," said StepSky rolling her eyes. "They are so mysterious. Remember how AuraGaze used to be before she was a spiriter learner? She was so open with us and now she's so…reserved."
"It's the spiriter position," replied StepRock, beginning to eat the piece of fish. "They are always odd."
StepStorm noticed the learners were eating the fresh-kill not from their tribe first. Gulping she did the same with the cooked monkey. At first she was surprised by the warm taste and the easy way it broke apart in her mouth but it was good!
"I don't like fish," sighed StepCloud. "No offense."
"None taken," replied StepRiver. "I don't like monkey much."
"You have to eat at least one piece of fresh-kill from the other tribe," explained StepClaw for StepStorm's sake. "And you have to eat it first or you're disrespecting the other tribe."
"I've been meaning to ask," said StepSky, "But it seems like you don't know much of tribe life and you…look different. Not like an OceanTide cat."
StepStorm jumped. Was it that obvious? "Well," she began, "I'm not from OceanTide. I'm from across the sea-"
"That's so cool!" exclaimed StepSky. "What's it like? Across the ocean? We almost never have outsider cats. They wash up like once every hundred moons or something!"
StepStorm was surprised. They really didn't find her weird? From the looks on the other ForestRose cats it was the same.
"Go on," pushed StepLight, "Tell them all the things you told us! Like about the boatfolk! And that weird thing…was it called a pier or something?"
The encouragement continued and StepStorm began talking about her short time with her mother on the fishing boat. The cats were in awe and listened to her every word. In turn the ForestRose cats told stories about their home. StepStorm could hardly believe the kinds of things they were telling her. Bug eating plants, flowers of multiple colors as well as birds. SpiritCave would come by every now and then and gave the learners more fresh-kill to eat. Before she knew it, StepStorm was stuffed. She had eaten so much fresh-kill!
However, like always a good thing always came to an end. The moon was high in the sky when the leaders yowled for attention.
"Like always, the gathering has brought our tribes closer," spoke ShiningBlade. "I hope we can get along in the coming six moons."
"I do as well," said ShiningFeather. Together the leaders threw dirt onto the small fires under the rock formations until the flames went out. "And now we return to our tribes."
"I hope we see you again in six moons!" cried StepCloud as the ForestRose cats hurried after their tribemates.
"Me too!" StepStorm yowled back. She turned to her friends. "They're so nice! I hope we see them on a patrol or something. We can talk a lot more."
"Let's hope we don't see them on a patrol," replied StepClaw curtly.
StepStorm was surprised by StepClaw's voice. "Why? They're so friendly."
"Only for tonight," explained StepLight, "It might be hard for you to picture but the truce is over. We are not friends anymore until the next gathering. That's just the way it is."
"But that makes no sense," protested StepStorm. "Why must we stop being friends because we're from different tribes?"
"That's just the way it is," said StepPalm. "There's nothing we can do about it. The truce was put in place so we could get along for one night only. Now come on, or we're going to be left behind."
StepStorm followed her tribemates but her thoughts were in turmoil. She didn't understand why they couldn't be friends because of one little thing. However what did she know? She was not truly a tribe cat. She glanced back to look at the place where she had made friends as well as enemies.