Chapter 4

It was finally dark when Faithpaw entered the camp. Instantly, Earthpaw ran up to him, trying to outpace Duskpaw and Sunpaw.

"Hey Faithpaw there's a gathering tomorrow," She said as fast as she could while Duskpaw and Sunpaw slouched around him. "Would you like to see if you could go to it with me?"

"Well, I'd like to see if I could go to it," He replied, "But not with you." He turned and started walking to the leader's den. Now Duskpaw padded at his side.

"Faithpaw, I feel your pain on Earthpaw. She's crazily annoying. I can help you get rid of her. Want me too?"

"Sure," He said, "And in the meantime, help me get rid of you too." She stayed behind, obviously hurt, as he hurried up to Brightstar's den.

"Brightstar?" He called softly, not wanting to startle her.

She scrambled to her feet. "Dear Faithpaw! Do come in."

He padded into the den.

"Yes, dear cat?" She asked.

"I was wondering if I could go to the gathering tomorrow."

"Yes of course you can! Dear cat, why not? You of course would go! Yes!"

"Thank you," He left the den before she could go on.

It was sunset, and a few golden stars glimmered in the darkening sky. Faithpaw grabbed a mouse from the fresh-kill pile and began to munch hungrily.

"Hi, Faithpaw." Said a calm voice.

Faithpaw looked up. It was Silverpaw.

Without asking, she sat down next to him. "What have you been doing lately?" She asked kindly.

"I went to the border. I met some cats." He said curtly, scooting over and away from her.

She fell silent. "I bet they were mean."
"They were fine." He said.

"You should hang out with me. I'm nice."

"Maybe." He said. He finished his mouse quickly, stood up and walked into the apprentices den.

Thankfully, it was empty, so Faithpaw could go to sleep peacefully without having to push away any of the she-cats.

XXX

"Hey Faithpaw! Wake up! I'll be your mentor for today."

Faithpaw slowly opened his eyes and peered up, seeing Brownclaw, a brown she-cat, above him.

"We'll be going to the training hollow again," Brownclaw said as he got out of the den and stretched. Then she moved into the forest, him after her.

They reached the training hollow instantly. Brownclaw sat down and motioned for him to do that too with a wave of her tail.

"Today we will talk about feelings for different she-cats." She said.

"What about like…learning how to hunt and fight?" He asked her.

"Remember, Faithpaw, you're special," She said, leaning foreword, "You don't have to do the things other apprentices do. Anyway, back to the subject. Before you were born, I had a mate. I never had kits, but I did have a mate. He died in the disease of course. I want to know if you are interested in any of the she-cats yet. They can be in this Clan or not, it doesn't matter to you because you're the only male."

"I don't like any she-cats," he said. "Everyone hits on me and that's annoying."

"That makes sense." Brownclaw nodded in an over- understanding way.

"I like to recommend Earthpaw," Brownclaw said, "She's very nice."

"I don't like her," Faithpaw said.

"Now, that is too bad," Brownclaw said. "We'll, since you don't like anybody, there's nothing much else to talk about. We're basically done. Come on, let's go back to camp."

Sighing, Faithpaw followed her. Once again, it was only sunhigh, and hours until the gathering.

This time, the brown and white tom took the time in camp, out in the middle of the clearing, dozing in the baking sun. Finally, though, Sunpaw prodded him awake.

"Time to go to the gathering!" She said, grinning. He scrambled to his feet. The Clan was gathering under the Highledge.

"These are the cats going to the gathering," Brightstar called from above, "Me of course, Whitefoot, Moonfeather, Northwing, Brownclaw, Silverpaw, Sunpaw, Earthpaw, Auburnwhisker, Chrysanthemumflower and of course Faithpaw. We are leaving now." She jumped down to the front of camp, and the cats gathered behind her.

"Alright, let's go." Brightstar called and the Clan raced out of camp.

Sunpaw fell in beside Faithpaw. "How are you Faithpaw?" She asked.

"Go away," He hissed, speeding ahead.

They sped out of MidnightClan territory and along the banks of the lake, on the edge of AirClan, then WaterClan. Finally they slowed at the tree bridge.

"Want to cross with me?" Silverpaw asked Faithpaw, "It can be kind of hard."

"I think I can manage," He hissed. As soon as Moonfeather jumped onto the tree, he followed. It bounced, but he padded slowly and steadily over it.

He scrambled through the bushes and emerged on a large island that thronged with she-cats. Pine trees grew all over it, but moonlight still could spill in, lighting up the lake surrounding the island and the tiny shells that mixed with the sand.

"Here, Faithpaw," Earthpaw said, tugging at his shoulder, "Let me show you to some of the other Clan's apprentices. Look! It's AirClan! It smells like they're with WaterClan…I guess FireClan isn't here yet. Come on!"
He unwillingly followed her into the throng of she-cats. A group of younger cat sat near by, chatting.

"Hi guys," Earthpaw said.

"Hi Earthpaw!" One yelled. Others chorused her.

"That's Howlpaw, The brown one is Brownpaw, that's Swiftpaw and the silver grey one is her sister Siftpaw."

"Who's your friend, Earthpaw?" Brownpaw asked.

Howlpaw cracked up in laughter. It sounded like hooting.

"His name is Faithpaw," Earthpaw said.

"You're a tom," Siftpaw said to him. Faithpaw looked over.

"Do you have something wrong with that?" He growled.

"No," She said, and her voice was surprisingly calm and dreamy, a slight smile on her face. "I just thought they were all dead."

"Well, I was born after the disease," He said, glancing uneasily at Siftpaw. He didn't like some of the cats here.

Faithpaw sat down between Earthpaw and Siftpaw.

Howlpaw gave a wild hoot of laughter. "Who's gonna be your first mate, Faithpaw?" She asked, "You have so many cats to choose from!"

"I'm not taking a mate," He growled. Everyone kind of fell silent.

As chat started up again, Siftpaw turned to Faithpaw. "Do you get annoyed with the she-cats?" She asked in a strangely spooking, dreamy voice.

"Yes," he said, "because they always hit on me."

"That'd be annoying," Siftpaw said. "Do you wish you could have any tom friends to talk to?"

"All the time," He said, "It's too bad they're aren't any."

"All the she-cats in my Clan are talking about what kind of mate they would want, if a tom ever comes around," Siftpaw mewed, "Unfortunately, they really don't get any choice."

"And they also aren't even going to get a mate, because I'm not taking one," Faithpaw said curtly.

"I wouldn't either, if I were you," Siftpaw said. "I really don't want a mate. The idea just seems sort of…gross. And usually cats don't talk to obsessively about a mate, and make plans for them, because usually there's an abundance of toms, and they don't have to worry about finding one."

"I know," Faithpaw said, "I wish it could be that way now."

Before Siftpaw could answer, a yowl sounded from the leaders perched on the great pine.

"FireClan arrived," Siftpaw said. "I must have missed them."

Earthpaw was tugging at Faithpaw's shoulder. "Here, sit nearer to me. You can't trust other cats." She looked over Faithpaw and gave Siftpaw a glare. But Siftpaw was staring straight ahead, smiling dreamily.

Earthpaw was tugging at Faithpaw again, trying to get his attention. Faithpaw refused to look at her. Across the clearing, Duskpaw and Sunpaw were huddled together, glaring with fury at Earthpaw.

"Faithpaw! Pay attention to me!" Earthpaw hissed. Unwillingly, Faithpaw looked over at her.

"That cat is Inkstar, she's the leader of WaterClan…and that wiry brown she-cat is Longstar, of AirClan...You know Brightstar…then there's Birchstar…of FireClan…you know the stuff. Down there are the deputies. Greenflower of AirClan and Graypelt of FireClan. Fearfeather- WaterClan of course-,"

"Will you shut up? I'm trying to here the leaders talk!" Faithpaw snarled at her, pulling away. She flicked her tail, hurt again, and stared straight ahead.

Longstar stood up. She was flicking her ears as she mewed. "All of our pregnant queens have kitted but there were no toms. We also found some of the tom-killing disease in a hollow oak, and even though there are no tom, we still smothered the opening into the hollow part of the tree with spiderwebs, so nothing can get into it and bring the disease back out."

Brightstar jumped foreword now. "Longstar, I am glad to hear you are protecting the Clans from the disease. Thank you. But there is one male. His name is Faithpaw, he is in my Clan. Stand up, please, Faithpaw."

He got to his feet. Every she-cat in the clearing was staring at him, eyes boring into his pelt.

"If he dies, I'll kill you, Brightstar," Inkstar muttered. Brightstar flickered her ears. "He will be fine." She said, then pulled back.

Inkstar took her place. "We have no males in out Clan. But we are still thriving. There are many fish in the streams and rivers, so we are fine."

Birchstar moved up. "FireClan has no males. It looks like special little Faithpaw is the only one. What a lucky cat. All those mates to pick from."

Anger filled his vision. It pulsed through his pelt. Faithpaw stared at Birchstar, his heart hammering with fury. Red coated everything. Heat radiated from his body. They must learn, he thought, they must learn.

"Is that all there is to say?" Longstar asked.

"Wait a bit!" Brightstar mewed loudly, "I have more to say." She went on about prey and badgers found in the woods. It went on and on so Faithpaw stopped listening.

He blinked when we saw a small tabby padding slowly up to him. She stopped in front of him. "Hi, Faithpaw," She muttered.

Faithpaw blinked, trying to recognize her. Oh yes! She was the strange little apprentice from the WaterClan border patrol. Clockpaw was her name.

"What do you want?" He said curtly.

"I wanted to say hi," Clockpaw said, "And I wanted to know if you thought about it."

"About what?"

"About if you're really a tom or not."

Faithpaw stared at her. "What is the matter with you?" He asked, pulling away. "Why are you asking me stuff like this? Go away! Go away before you try to do something creepy to me."

"I won't do anything creepy to you," Clockpaw muttered under her breath as she stood and walked away, "Because I can't."

Faithpaw stared after her in shock. Fear and shock.

Please review! Sorry for the lack of updates. The end of sixth grade is always chaotic. But now its summer, so I'll update a lot!