Chapter 15: It's time for a Gathering!

Firestar bounds down from the Highledge. "Is everyone ready?" He meows.

I look around for someone to stay with. It's getting darker, but the full moon makes everyone's fur silver. I see a flash of orange in the crowd of cats.

"Foxpaw!" I yowl out. The orange apprentice catches my eye, and he grins as he makes his way over.

Foxpaw and I walk near the back, just behind the warriors.

The orange apprentice looks sad, and I nudge him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Poor Icepaw doesn't get to come to the Gathering. I think she's upset I'm going without her."

"I'm sure she'll get to go next time." I mew.

Foxpaw nods. "Yeah"

"Look! WindClan territory!" I jump up to get a better view. It looks even better than I ever imagined!

Foxpaw's fur fluffs up as a breeze made his fur stand on end. "It's way too cold out here."

My paws start to hurt, and my legs ache. I push on, keeping a steady pace. We go past the Two-Leg horse place, and I see Daisy give it a quick glance, but she carries on. Does she miss it there? I don't know.

I gape. Oh dear. It's the log to the island. Foxpaw gives me a reassuring look. "It's not as hard as you think."

I nod, but I'm not so sure about that. I watch how the other cats run across, and when I'm next, I look at Foxpaw. "Do you want to go first?"

He smiles at me. "Go on, I'm right behind you."

I flatten my ears as I jump up onto the log. I manage to climb through the branches, one knobbly paw step at a time. I look out across the log, and it stretches out before me.

I feel Foxpaw's breath on my tail. "Go, Featherpaw."

I hurry across, my paws slippery on the bark. Suddenly, I slip. "Whoa-" My breath is cut short as I am yanks away from the cold water, my tail dripping wet. Foxpaw pulls me onto the trunk of the tree. "Are you okay?"

My heart is beating so fast, and my tail is numb from cold. "Yeah," I manage to say.

"Come on, we're holding the last few warriors and the elders up." He meows.

I nod, getting up and walking cautiously the rest of the way. Graystripe jumps off after we did. "That was a close one, Featherpaw. Good thing Foxpaw got you."

Jaypaw looks up. "Huh? What happened?"

"Featherpaw slipped off the trunk and nearly fell into the water. Foxpaw got her just in time." Graystripe explains. He turns to me and Foxpaw. "Do you want to go with Foxpaw to meet some other apprentices?"

He nods. "They're really nice. Oh! But don't say anything that could be used against us!"

I follow him into the crowd, glancing quickly at Jaypaw before I leave. He was with Leafpool, and I think the other medicine cats too.

I meet Scorchpaw, Owlpaw, Heatherpaw, Breezepaw, Mallowpaw and, Sneezepaw, who sneezes quite a lot.

Blackstar yowls and everyone is silent as he steps forward. "ShadowClan has been well off this Newleaf, with plenty of rich prey. We did encounter a fox though, but Ratscar and Kinkfur made sure it would think twice before coming back into our territory."

Leopardstar steps forward. "RiverClan has had a good season too, there has never been so many fish in the rivers, and we are well stocked and healthy for a noisy Greenleaf."

I hear someone in the crowd whisper. "'Well stocked.' As always."

Onestar dips his head as Leopardstar looks at him. "WindClan have been well, we hope we have proved a point this moon, and that things will start to be more peaceful."

I hear a ShadowClan cat mutter. "Trust WindClan to want to be peaceful. I'm actually surprised that they, of all Clans, would want to start a battle."

Firestar stands up. "Many things have happened this Newleaf. First off, we'd like to congratulate our three new warriors, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze and Cinderheart."

The cats cheer, some calling out their new warrior names. I join in with the chant. "Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, Cinderheart!"

Firestar continues once everyone dis down. "And I'd like everyone to welcome ThunderClan's newest member, Featherpaw."

ThunderClan cheers, A few ShadowClan, even fewer RiverClan, but WindClan just glare at me.

Leopardstar glanced at the other leaders, then yowls. "The Gathering is over!"

Day 5

I wake up to see it's still a bit dark, but I get up anyway and go to the fresh-kill pile. Graystripe, Firestar and Sandstorm are eating near the Highledge, and I dip my head to them before taking a wood pigeon from the pile.

Graystripe beckons to me with his tail. "What are you doing up so early? You went to sleep late last night."

"I'm not tired." I meow, hoping he won't send me back to bed or something.

Graystripe nods. "Do you want to go on a dawn patrol when some of the other cats wake up? I've already promised to go,"

"Brambleclaw persuaded you?" Firestar asks, though I can tell by his tone he already knows the answer.

Graystripe grumbles. "He did, but he chose Cloudtail and Dustpelt to go with me, they're still asleep."

"Cloudtail won't be up till late, if I know him well enough." Sandstorm comments.

I sit down quietly and start eating, feeling so small and inexperienced compared to them.

The sun starts to rise a bit, and more cats are waking up. Dustpelt pads over. "Cloudtail's still asleep."

"We figured that would happen. We're taking Featherpaw with us instead." Graystripe meows, getting up.

Dustpelt nods at me. "Okay. Let's go."

When we get to the WindClan border, we remark it, though I can tell my scent isn't as strong as theirs. Even though it should be Sun High by now, it's still overcast and dark. We check the ShadowClan border, but it was all clear.

When I got back, Jaypaw was coming out of the apprentices' den. He looks at me. "Featherpaw, I need to talk to you."

"Huh?"

"We can tell Hollyleaf and Lionblaze later, but you have the most knowledge about us." Jaypaw explains.

I nod. "Kay."

We head out into the forest; Jaypaw knows the path really well, because he swerves from every ditch, every rabbit hole.

He turns to me. "I had a dream. I was in the past, as in the past before we came here, probably even before the Clans exist."

"Already?"

"You knew this was going to happen?"

"Yes." I look at the ground. "Wait, then that means... Oh my gosh, what book are we in?"

Jaypaw gave a baffled look. "What are you talking about?"

If Jaypaw had the dream, it won't be long until the-

I feel icy drops of rain soak through my fur. "Oh no. We have to go back to the camp!"