Chapter 12
Firepaw, Greypaw, Ravenpaw, a few Thunderclan elders, queens, and warriors arrived near four trees. Firepaw peered from a bush to see the four trees filled with cats from different clans. Firepaw had not been there since his tour with Bluestar and now the scenery was different. The leaves and the forest glowed from the moonlight and at the bottom, the four oak trees that marked the corner of each clan's territory touched each other. The air was thick with the scents of cats from other clans, Firepaw could see them from the moonlight, in the grassy clearing.
"Look at all those cats!" Ravenpaw hissed.
"Look! There's Crookedstar, Riverclan's leader!" Greypaw hissed.
Firepaw looked and saw a brown and light brown tom with a white chest, belly, a crooked jaw, and green eyes, sitting on the great rock, talking to Brokentail.
"There's Brokentail." Firepaw meowed.
"Hmm, I wonder where Raggedstar is?" Greypaw wondered.
"Maybe he's still suffering from his injuries?" Ravenpaw guessed.
"Maybe. Hey, did you see Dustpaw spit when I told him I hoped he had a nice evening at home?" Greypaw snickered.
"You bet!" Firepaw purred.
"Keep quiet you two, Bluestar will be giving the signal to move, soon." Lionheart shushed.
After a brief silence, Bluestar stood up with her tail high and flicked it. Firepaw was the first to approach the meeting place, with everyone else behind him. Everyone stopped at the edge of the clearing, outside of the oak trees. Bluestar sniffed the air, then she nodded and everyone moved into the clearing. Firepaw was thrilled and looked around. Cats from all of the clans were talking to each other, telling each other stories, and showing off their powers. Firepaw couldn't help but feel intimidated and excited at the same time.
"There's Blackfoot and there's Deadfoot." Ravenpaw meowed.
Firepaw looked and saw Blackfoot under the great rock, talking to a black tom with white eartips, chest, belly, and yellow eyes. Firepaw looked at Ravenpaw, confused.
"Deadfoot?" he asked, curious.
"The Windclan deputy." Greypaw explained.
Firepaw nodded and looked up at the great rock. Crookedstar and Brokentail were still talking and there was a tall, black and white tom with amber eyes and a really long tail.
"I'm guessing he's Tallstar?" Firepaw guessed.
"Yep, did his height give it away?" Greypaw asked.
"Yep." Firepaw meowed.
Suddenly, Bluestar approached the three apprentices, getting their full attention.
"Don't waste any time tonight, there is a good opportunity to meet your enemies. Listen to them, remember what they look like, and how they behave. There is a great deal to be learned from these meetings and it's a good place to seek advice from others about your powers." She meowed.
"Say little, don't give anything away that might be used against us once the moon has waned." Tigerclaw warned, sternly.
"Don't worry, we won't!" Firepaw promised.
He knew well that Tigerclaw still didn't trust him, his glare said it all. Bluestar and Tigerclaw nodded and walked away, leaving all three apprentices alone. Ravenpaw, Greypaw, and Firepaw looked at each other.
"What do we do now?" Firepaw asked.
"What they said, listen and don't say too much." Ravenpaw replied.
"Well, I'm going to find Lionheart. You coming, Ravenpaw?" Greypaw meowed.
"No thanks, I'm going to find some other apprentices." He meowed.
"I'm going to look around, so we'll meet up later." Firepaw meowed.
"Alright, be careful, Firepaw." Greypaw meowed.
And with that, Greypaw and Ravenpaw bounded off. Firepaw looked around and was amazed by all that he had seen. There were cats with wings, flying with their own unique powers. There were cats growing different types of flowers, there were cats teaching other cats about their powers, and Firepaw even saw one cat forming clouds and literally running on them. Firepaw was really amazed by all he was seeing.
"Hi!" a cat spoke.
Firepaw looked and saw a ginger she-cat with white stripes, eartips, chest, belly, muzzle, tailtip, and yellow eyes bound towards him. Her scent told Firepaw that she was from Riverclan and he had to admit that the she-cat made Firepaw jump a little. The she-cat stopped and looked at Firepaw, excited.
"I'm Emberpaw, from Riverclan. What's your name?" she meowed.
"I'm Firepaw, from Thunderclan." He meowed, calmly.
"Ohh, another fire cat. Come, you must meet the others." Emberpaw meowed.
She bounded off and Firepaw followed her. Both cats reached the back clearing, nearly leaving four trees, but not completely. There, Firepaw saw a white she-cat with black patches and blue eyes, an old, dark ginger tom with yellow eyes, a ginger tom with darker stripes, white chest, and yellow eyes, and a dark ginger she-cat with darker stripes and green eyes. Their scents mixed between Shadowclan, Riverclan, and Windclan. Each of these cats saw Firepaw and Emberpaw and gave a warm smile.
"Everyone, this is Firepaw, he's from Thunderclan. Firepaw, this is my mentor, Mossfire." Emberpaw introduced.
"Pleasure to meet you." She greeted.
"Pleasure's all mine." Firepaw meowed.
"This is Flamepelt, from Windclan. And this is Russetfur and Scorchwind, they're from Shadowclan." Emberpaw meowed.
"Nice to meet you, youngster." Flamepelt meowed.
"So, you're a Fire cat, right?" Russetfur asked.
"Yes, I am." Firepaw meowed.
"What kind?" Russetfur asked.
"I'm sorry?" Firepaw asked, confused.
"What kind of fire power do you have? Scorchwind asked, explaining.
"For example, my paws ignite on fire, but not my whole body, and I can glow when its dawn." Emberpaw meowed.
As she said this, her paws ignited on fire. Firepaw didn't realize there were other types of fire powers.
"And I can set moss on fire." Mossfire meowed.
There was a small patch of moss in front of her, she touched it, and the moss was set on fire. After a few seconds, the moss was burned into ashes.
"You just ruined a patch of perfectly good moss." Scorchwind joked.
"So what is it, Firepaw, your fire power?" Russetfur asked, again.
"Oh, well, uhh…" he meowed, nervous.
Firepaw was unsure on how to describe his power, he was still on the basics with Bluestar, so he wasn't sure on how to describe it. Plus, no one told him that there was different versions of the fire power, he honestly thought that any cat with his power was the same. Before Firepaw could try to explain his power, something suddenly got on top of him. Firepaw looked and saw a badger cub on top of him. Firepaw was shocked and didn't know what to do, Mossfire, Emberpaw, Scorchwind, Flamepelt, and Russetfur jumped in alarm, everyone thought a badger attack was about to happen; only, the badger cub was calm, no sign of any aggression what so ever.
"Badgerpaw!" a voice yelled.
Firepaw looked and saw a dark brown tom with yellow eyes approach them.
"I told you, stay in your normal form. Unless you're asked to show them your power, do not approach or scare others like that." The tom scolded.
As soon as he said that, the badger cub glowed. Firepaw closed his eyes for a bit, than opened to reveal a black and white tom with a stripe like a badger's and yellow eyes.
"I'm sorry about Badgerpaw, this is his first gathering." The tom apologized.
"Sorry about that." Badgerpaw meowed.
"Its…Its fine." Firepaw meowed.
Badgerpaw got off of Firepaw and Firepaw slowly got up. Everyone else started to calm down.
"For Starclan's sake, Badgerpaw, don't scare us like that!" Russetfur hissed.
"Sorry Russetfur." He meowed.
"Let me guess, Shadowclan?" Firepaw guessed.
"Yep. I'm Badgerpaw, from Shadowclan. This is my mentor, Deerfoot." He introduced.
The tom nodded, which Firepaw nodded back.
"I'm Firepaw, from Thunderclan." He introduced.
"Oh, you're the kittypet Bluestar announced at the last gathering." Deerfoot meowed.
"We know, I was testing him to see what kind of fire power he "supposedly" has." Russetfur sneered.
Ohh, how exciting. Show us your power, show us your power!" Badgerpaw beamed, excited.
Before Firepaw could demonstrate his power, a yowl was heard, and it got everyone's attention.
"LET THE GATHERING BEGIN!" Bluestar yowled.