Lilypaw hurried out of Windclan territory and raced back to camp. As soon as the other cats realized she was there they crowded around her and Lilypaw's mother burst out of Streamstar's den. The cats saw Lilypaw was okay so they turned around without even talking to her.
"Great Starclan! You're covered in blood! I was so worried when you didn't come back with the other cats. What happened? Where were you?" Her mother covered Lilypaw with loving licks, trying to clean her up.
"Daisypelt!" Lilypaw whined. "I'm fine! A cat from Windclan saved me. His name is Snowpaw and my leg was dislocated but he fixed it!"
"Did you thank him?" A blue-gray she-cat meowed.
"Yes Streamstar, I did." Lilypaw answered her mentor. She looked to see if any other cats came to ask how she was doing, but no other cats stepped forward. Lilypaw knew she wasn't too popular within the clan, but she thought that some cat would talk to her. Daisypelt licked her daughter's head comfortingly. "Perhaps you'll make some friends at the gathering tonight. Just make sure you don't get too close."
Lilypaw's jaw fell open in disbelief. "You mean I actually get to go? Even though I didn't come back in time?"
Daisypelt nodded with assurance. "Of course, you were injured."
Lilypaw's whiskers twitched in excitement. She might get to see Snowpaw!
"Let's go!" Streamstar yowled. Lilypaw looked around and saw Oaktail, Blackfur, Leopardtail, Ashclaw, and Fishpaw padding after Streamstar. Lilypaw bounded after them and started talking to Fishpaw. "Hi! How have you been lately?" She stopped when he wouldn't look at her. "Why won't you ever talk to me?"
Fishpaw still wouldn't turn to look at her, but he replied. "You aren't normal. You don't follow the rules like you're supposed to and you never get into trouble. It's not fair. You're not anything special."
Lilypaw couldn't believe Fishpaw. He was Streamstar's son; he got all the extra privileges. He was probably just jealous of her because she spent most of her time with Streamstar. Lilypaw shook her head and ran ahead of him and walked along with Blackfur. He was the one cat that actually paid attention to her. When he noticed the younger cat his green eyes warmed from their usual minty stare. "Hi Lilypaw. I haven't seen you since the battle. I missed you."
They stopped and saw that they were at Fourtrees.
"Well I have to go sit with the other deputies. I want to finish this conversation later, okay?" Blackfur licked her awkwardly on the head and padded away leaving her alone. She looked around for some cats she knew and saw Snowpaw, but he was with a light gray and white cat and a silver tabby tom with two black paws. She slipped through the cats from the other clans and squeezed in beside Snowpaw. "Hello." She meowed brightly.
"Hi." Snowpaw meowed just as enthusiastically. "This is Nightpaw from Shadowclan." He pointed at the silver tom with his tail. "And this is Softpaw from Thunderclan." He gestured at the light gray and white she-cat. Lilypaw dipped her head in greetings. "I'm Lilypaw of Riverclan."
Softpaw muttered a quick hello and Lilypaw noticed that she was really pudgy. Thunderclan apprentices obviously didn't work as hard as Riverclan's. Softpaw noticed her critical star and looked at the ground. "I'm not fat, I'm expecting kits." She meowed miserably. Lilypaw felt really bad for the she-cat. She looked about the same age as herself so she moved closer and brushed her pelt comfortingly against Softpaw. She felt kind of protective of her.