Hawkeye spent the next day learning to hunt. Silverfur showed him all the different stalking techniques: one for birds, one for mice, and so on. Hawkeye was surprised to find out the ThunderClan cats didn't fish.

"Only RiverClan cats can fish," Silverfur had said when Hawkeye had asked; puzzled that Hawkeye would think something so silly.

Now they were returning to camp.

"Tonight is the Gathering," Silverfur said. "It is held every full moon when all the Clans meet to exchange news under a truce at Fourtrees."

"Fourtrees?" Hawkeye had never been shown that part of the forest.

"In the center of all the territories is a clearing that owned by no Clan, and yet by all Clans. It is sacred to the Clans; it is where Clan rivalries are put aside for one night. In it, stand four great oak trees, one to represent each Clan. There is also the Great Rock, the boulder where the leaders of all four Clans stand to address the cats below."

Address the Clans? Great, politics. Should have known.

"You'll be going," Silverfur informed him.

"Really? But- I'm just an apprentice. Isn't this more of a warrior thing?" An accepted warrior thing, not for outcasts, I would have thought.

"A few apprentices usually go. Foxpaw is going also. Now why don't you go eat before we leave?"

Hawkeye murmured agreement and turned away. He was mildly curious to find out whether cat politics were as obnoxious as human politics and he was pleased Foxpaw was coming with him. However he still hadn't come to terms with eating "fresh-kill". He closed his eyes and dragged some small animal from the pile over to the tree trunk by the apprentices' den. He spotted his "denmates," Rabbitpaw and Foxpaw, approaching and waited until they came, so he could focus on their conversation and not what he was supposed to be eating. This was easy to accomplish since the two apprentices almost always had something to talk about at the end of the day: prey caught, battle moves learned, or whatever else had happened. Although Hawkeye couldn't sympathize with their endless enthusiasm for warrior training, he liked their youthful enthusiasm.

Youth, he thought. What a wonderful thing. They're lucky their youth won't be wasted in a war. The image of the fight at Sunningrocks flashed through Hawkeye's mind. Hopefully.

Foxpaw ran at Hawkeye's side at the back of the group of ThunderClan cats who were going to the Gathering. They went through a part of the forest Hawkeye hadn't seen yet, so the boisterous apprentice took on the role of tour guide again.

"You've seen most of the exciting stuff," he fretted. They leaped over a narrow stream and Foxpaw pointed with his tail to a tree. "That's the Owltree. It's a rotten place for hunting because any prey that's stupid enough to go there is eaten by the owl that lives in it."

"Are we almost there?" Hawkeye panted a little later, unaccustomed to so much running.

The cats in front of him slowed to a stop at the top of a hill. "Yes," Foxpaw answered. "We're here."

Hawkeye noticed that all the cats were staring at Graystar. He was standing at the head of the patrol, standing stock-still. His tail was straight up and when he flicked it from side to side, all the cats charged over the hill.

Fourtrees was a hollow with the four trees and the boulder Silverfur had described, but Hawkeye barely noticed. He was too busy trying to take in the huge crowd of cats. He had never seen so many all in one place. There has to be at least sixty cats here!

He turned to talk to Foxpaw and realized he wasn't there. After a moment of scanning the crowd, he saw him with a group of apprentices from the other Clans. Silverfur was with Graystar at the base of the boulder, the "Great Rock" as Silverfur had called it earlier. Hawkeye didn't want to disturb them, but he felt a little nervous with so many strange cats. He couldn't get the blood and claws at the fight at Sunningrocks out of his mind so the cats were making him a little nervous.

"Hello, Hawkeye."

Hawkeye jumped and whipped around to see Ravenwing. She purred. "A bit intimidating the first time, isn't it?"

"Yes. I've never seen so many cats in one place." And I've never been so afraid of cats until I saw Snowcloud try to shred that one cat's ear off.

"The leaders are bound to start soon. I'll tell you who's who."

Then Graystar jumped onto the Great Rock with three other cats. There was a small white she-cat, an orange tom, and a skinny black and white tom. The white cat yowled and the cats fell silent.

"That's Moonstar," Ravenwing whispered. "ShadowClan's leader."

"ShadowClan is proud to announce the birth of a healthy litter of kits," Moonstar announced. "Other than that, we have nothing to report."

Next, the black and white tom stepped forward.

"That's Patchstar, the WindClan leader," Ravenwing murmured.

"In WindClan, prey has been running well. We have two new apprentices, Honeypaw and Leafpaw."

"Honeypaw! Leafpaw! Honeypaw! Leafpaw!" the Clan cats chanted. Hawkeye quickly joined in, remembering Rabbitpaw's horror that some cats were rude enough to not chant Hawkeye's name when he first arrived. He saw that a light ginger colored she-cat and a small tabby ducked their heads, embarrassed.

"We also regret to report the death of one of our elders, Blackfur."

A few cats murmured sadly as Patchstar stepped back to make room for Graystar.

"A loner was found on our territory that has joined the Clan. His name is Hawkeye."

"Hawkeye! Hawkeye!" Hawkeye noticed that several cats gave each other anxious glances and the worried murmurs were just as loud as the chanting of his name. A few cats downright glared at him.

An outcast. That's all I am. I don't belong here! As much as I hate it, I belong in Korea.

"Hush! Hawkeye should be given just as much chance as any other cat!" Graystar glowered at the cats. "Though ThunderClan has found some unwelcome cats on our territory recently. A patrol of RiverClan cats were found trying to steal Sunningrocks!"

The orange tom bared his teeth. "It's not stealing if it is rightfully ours!"

"That's Flamestar, the leader of RiverClan," Ravenwing spat, her ears flattened. Hawkeye remembered she had been at the fight with RiverClan, too.

"The past is the past, Flamestar," Graystar said, trying to remain calm. "Sunningrocks is ours."

"Oh, yes?" Flamestar hissed, his fur beginning to stand on end. "Well, you'll have to fight for it!"

"Would they fight now?" Hawkeye asked, alarmed.

"No, the full moon is a sacred truce," Ravenwing answered. "We would anger StarClan by fighting tonight. But there will be a battle later, I'm sure."

"That will have to be settled later," Graystar said, barely suppressed fury evident in his voice.

He stepped back and Flamestar came forward. "A RiverClan apprentice was recently made a warrior. RiverClan welcomes Pebblefoot as a full warrior."

"Pebblefoot! Pebblefoot!"

Hawkeye joined in the chant, although he noticed that many ThunderClan cats did not.

Then the Gathering ended and the four leaders jumped down. Foxpaw reappeared by Hawkeye's side, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Wasn't that fun? For a moment, I thought Graystar and Flamestar were going to fight, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I did."

When they got back, Foxpaw ran to the apprentices' den, calling Rabbitpaw's name.

"Guess what, Rabbitpaw?" He then launched into a detailed account of the Gathering, particularly the confrontation between Flamestar and Graystar.

After the story, Rabbitpaw glanced at Hawkeye. "What's wrong?"

"I'm nervous about a battle coming."

"I'm excited about a battle coming!" Foxpaw exclaimed. "I hope I get to fight in it!"

Hawkeye nearly yowled aloud in despair.

Once again, Hawkeye had trouble sleeping. He couldn't get Ravenwing's calm prediction of a battle out of his mind, or Foxpaw's eagerness to fight in it. There was also the fresh rejection of the cats at the Gathering.

Belle, you were right! I have as many problems here as I did in Korea!