Chapter 8- The First Gathering

Redpaw bounced out of the apprentices' den, barely able to keep from yowling with joy. Lightpaw and Spotpaw popped out after her, both just as excited. Greenpaw slipped out slowly, her tail dragging sadly on the ground.

"Cheer up, Greenpaw," mewed Lightpaw, "We'll tell you all about the Gathering when we get back."

Greenpaw turned her head away from him. "It won't be the same." Suddenly her head snapped around, her eyes glowing with anger. "It's just not fair! This would have been my first Gathering! And I only did one thing wrong! And that was half a moon ago!"

"Greenpaw, Moonstar wanted you to come," Spotpaw mewed, standing beside the angry she-cat. "But Rockfall said you should be punished for wandering off on the first day you're an apprentice. If you behave this next moon, Moonstar promised you would get to go to the next Gathering. And don't worry, things shouldn't be too boring with Tidalpaw staying behind with you."

Greenpaw sighed and nodded. "Well, there's nothing I can do about this Gathering…"

Redpaw pressed her muzzle into her sister's side. "We'll be back soon."

Greenpaw nodded and padded into the apprentices' den.

"Redpaw, we're leaving!"

Redpaw glanced at Beesting, who was standing at the camp entrance. Lightpaw's tail was just disappearing through it. Redpaw raced past Beesting and out of the camp, quickly catching up to the other cats. They raced along the boundary, passing a small part of the desert, and then out of ShadowClan territory. Finally, they came to a line of trees.

Moonstar signaled for them to stop. She sniffed the air, and then signaled for her Clan to continue. They dashed through the trees and Redpaw stopped dead at the base of a small hill. There were cats everywhere, milling about and swapping battle stories.

Redpaw spotted Lightpaw and Spotpaw trailing behind Snowpaw. She saw Brackenpaw and Beesting chatting with a mottled brown tabby apprentice with a scent she did not recognize. He obviously had to be a WindClan or RiverClan cat. Redpaw scampered up to them, passing Poppytwig, who was conversing with some elders from the other Clans.

"Hi," Redpaw mewed, "Can I join you?"

"Of course!" meowed Brackenpaw happily, "I'm so glad you're here. Redpaw, this is Fogpaw, a RiverClan apprentice. Fogpaw, this is Redpaw. She's one of our deputy's kits."

Fogpaw nodded to Redpaw. He had yellow eyes, and Redpaw noticed a patch of white fur on his left side. She scuffed the ground with her forepaw self-consciously.

"So, where's Prairieleaf?" asked Beesting.

"Right here," meowed a ginger she-cat, slipping out of a clump of bracken on the edge of the line of trees. "Hello Beesting, Brackenpaw. How's the prey running in ShadowClan? And who's this?" she asked, her moss green eyes falling on Redpaw.

"I'm Redpaw," mewed the uncomfortable apprentice, "It's nice to meet you, Prairieleaf." Redpaw noticed that the RiverClan she-cat's belly bulged slightly. She was going to have kits.

Amberclaw padded over and Beesting gestured with his tail for the others to follow him as he padded away. Redpaw, Brackenpaw, and Fogpaw followed him, but Prairieleaf stayed behind. She greeted Amberclaw warmly, causing a thought to pop into Redpaw's head.

"Beesting," she asked, her voice just a whisper, "are Prairieleaf and Amberclaw mates?"

Beesting nodded. "Yes, but you must keep this a secret. Only Brackenpaw, Fogpaw, and you and I know. You can't even tell your parents or your littermates. Do you understand?"

Redpaw nodded, and the scampered over to Lightpaw. He was talking to a light gray apprentice with amber eyes. She had to be a WindClan cat. Her scent was the only one of the four she did not recognize.

"Hi, Redpaw," Lightkit mewed, "Stonepaw, this is Redpaw, one of my sisters."

"Hello, Redpaw," mewed Stonepaw, "Lightpaw told me this was his first Gathering. This is my first too!"

"We were made apprentices half a moon ago," added Lightpaw, "What about you, Stonepaw?"

"Just a quarter moon ago for me. Oh, look! There's Fishstar and Nutstar!"

Redpaw looked in the direction Stonepaw had turned. A light tortoiseshell tom was greeting a small, silvery-gray she-cat.

"There are sure a lot of gray cats in the Valley," Spotpaw commented as he passed by.

Redpaw ignored him and continued watching the other leaders. The she-cat looked slippery, just like a fish, with her oily, water resistant pelt. She had to be Fishstar, RiverClan's leader. Nutstar, Redpaw remembered, was WindClan's leader.

"Fishstar came to see Nutstar shortly before I was made an apprentice," continued Stonepaw, "Apparently one of her cats disappeared, and she wanted to see if WindClan had found any trace of a runaway."

"Maybe…" Redpaw's reply was cut off by a sharp yowl.

The leaders had gathered at the top of the hill. The cats around it quickly settle down and a tom Redpaw did not recognize stepped forward. He was Eaglestar, ThunderClan's leader. Strange black swaths of fur against his otherwise white body created the impression of huge, black wings. Eaglestar's sharp eyes scanned the cats below. His eyes landed on the deputies, sitting halfway up the hill. One in particular stood out amongst the others. He was a copy of Eaglestar. The same black 'wings' decorated his pelt. He had the same piercing, smoky blue eyes and the same haughty set to his thin, powerful shoulders. The only difference was one black paw, the deputy's back left one. Redpaw didn't like the look in their eyes.

"I would like to announce that ThunderClan has a new deputy!" began Eaglestar, "Eaglewing received his position after the treachery of Twistedtail was revealed and he was exiled from the Clan. I wish to convey a warning to every Clan in the Valley, Twistedtail is evil, but not just that, he is insane. He has renounced the path of StarClan since Pebblestar's death three moons ago. He has taken a new name, StarMaster Elder. Beware him. He will steal your kits and kill your warriors. He has already killed a kit-heavy ThunderClan queen, Ivypad, by slitting her belly, and he has stolen Foxfire's only kit."

A ginger, foxlike she-cat yowled. Redpaw's belly had already tightened in fear, but now she felt like she was going to vomit. Eaglestar continued.

"ThunderClan is willing to aid any Clan that finds StarMaster Elder on their territory!"

Having now finished, Eaglestar stepped back and Fishstar stepped forward.

"RiverClan has only to say a warrior, Tallear has disappeared. I now fear that he may have joined or be killed by this…StarMaster Elder. RiverClan is also sorry for ThunderClan's loss," she added, almost as an afterthought.

A couple of cats around the hill hissed as Fishstar steeped stepped back, but things settled down again when Nutstar stepped forward.

"WindClan is truly sorry for the losses of RiverClan and especially ThunderClan. I vow that if we find any trace of StarMaster Elder on our territory, we will go to ThunderClan for aid. I would now like to announce two new WindClan apprentices, Stonepaw and our medicine cat's new apprentice, Willowpaw."

Many cats cheered, Stonepaw especially.

"Twigfur's getting old," said the WindClan apprentice, "It was such a relief for the entire Clan when he took Willowpaw as his apprentice."

Nutstar flicked his tail for silence. "We also have a new warrior. Dogfang received her warrior name earlier today."

The hill again erupted into cheering. Dogfang was apparently well liked. But Redpaw detected an undercurrent of fear. The raucous cheering was an attempt to ease the fear that gripped every cat at the Gathering. Nutstar finally stepped back, allowing Moonstar to take her turn. Her voice rang out over the once again silent hill.

"In light of recent events, ShadowClan would like to lend a paw in stopping StarMaster Elder. We, I, sorely hope that Tallear and Foxfire's kit are safe and well and that they will return or be returned home. We will be conducting an extensive search of our territory as soon as possible. Thank you, Eaglestar, for this warning.

"Now I would like to announce four new apprentices. Spotpaw, Greenpaw, Lightpaw, and Redpaw are now training to become warriors. Unfortunately, Greenpaw was unable to attend the Gathering."

Redpaw had watched her brothers swell with pride at the mention of their names, but their ears drooped when they were reminded of Greenpaw's absence. She sighed and joined her Clanmates as they prepared to leave.

Brightwhisker tapped Redpaw's shoulder with his tail tip and motioned for her to follow him. He led her to an old, grayish-brown tom with wise, piercing brown eyes. An apprentice about the same age as Redpaw shuffled around him, obviously intent on leaving. Her thick, wiry pelt, only a shade more brown than the old tom's, bounced with her every pawstep.

"Redpaw, this is Twigfur, WindClan's medicine cat," said Brightwhisker as the old tom nodded, "and this is Willowpaw."

Willowpaw stopped trying to escape and nodded proudly, her soft green eyes gleaming. "Hi. Twigfur didn't tell me Brightwhisker had an apprentice."

Redpaw stepped back, offended. "I'm not Brightwhisker's apprentice! Beesting's my mentor! Brightwhisker didn't even say I was his appren…" She shut her mouth with a snap as Brightwhisker rested hit tail tip on her shoulder.

Twigfur's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "A special warrior apprentice, eh?" he meowed. The old medicine cat's voice was deep, mellow, and soothing. It had a mysterious lilt to it. He continued softly, "I suppose this little one has seen or heard StarClan at least twice?"

Brightwhisker nodded. Seeing the look in her mentor's eyes, Willowpaw decided she wasn't needed and scampered off. Redpaw realized that she, Brightwhisker, and Twigfur were now the only three cats at the Gathering place. Her Clanmates were probably worried.

"The first instance was when she was a kit," Brightwhisker continued. Redpaw shook her head; she hadn't realized he was speaking. "She and her littermates had snuck out of camp. Strong little scamps, and troublesome too. Redpaw hadn't even opened her eyes yet. They ended up running into a fox. One of the others told me she had seen Redpaw face to face with it. Apparently she opened her eyes for the first time when it lunged at her."

"I heard a cat whispering in my ear," interjected Redpaw, "He told me to open my eyes and he guided my claws to the fox's muzzle. Then when it lunged at me, the voice told me to stay still, and then…"

Brightwhisker cut her off sharply. "The next incident was just after she was made an apprentice, the same day in fact. Beesting was teaching her to find water in the desert..."

"And to hunt," interrupted Redpaw for the second time. "He dug a hole in the sand until he found water. When I went down, he splashed me, and I lost control and attacked him. A moment before I struck him the same voice yowled at me to sheath my claws. I actually saw him this time. He was…"

"That's enough, Redpaw," meowed Brightwhisker sternly.

"Sorry," she mewed.

Brightwhisker nodded. "Beesting he had seen a large river of flowing blood when he looked into Redpaw's eyes."

"And you want me to tell you what I think," finished Twigfur, "so I will. Redpaw is obviously special, but I do not believe the path of a medicine would suit her at all. Redpaw is a special warrior. I also believe that you should ask Moonstar if she's had any dreams in the past…eight or nine moons, I think."

Brightwhisker nodded. "Thank you, Twigfur."