Nightpaw looked around for his siblings among the sea of cats, but he saw no sign of any of them. He sighed and decided to sit by himself until the gathering started.
"Hello Nightpaw, how's it going?" A familiar voice mewed.
"Fine Lilypaw, how are you?" He replied, turning to face his sister.
"It's Lilystream now." She boasted.
"Congratulations!" Nightpaw meowed excitedly. "That's great! You wouldn't happen to have seen Softpaw or Snowpaw yet have you?"
Lilystream shook her head. "No, but none of Windclan are here yet. Guess what I heard."
"I give up." Nightpaw sighed. She sounded a lot like the kits in his clan.
"Softpaw is having kits, again!"
Nightpaw's jaw dropped to the ground. "Great Starclan! Isn't that unhealthy?"
"Yes, very." Lilystream nodded. "I'm worried about her. Birdkit and Cloudkit are only a moon old."
"So that's what she named them. She named Birdkit after Bird?" Nightpaw asked.
"Shh!" Lilystream hissed quietly. "Don't bring that up."
They both felt eyes on the back of their pelts and turned to see Whitefoot staring at them. He padded over, and they were both amazed and frightened of the fierce Thunderclan warrior. "I heard you both speaking of my mate, Softpaw. I would like to clarify. She is expecting my kits, just like last time; no matter what kind of rumors were going around, the truth is what I'm telling you."
"We know Silvertail is the father of the two kits she already has." Snowpaw disagreed. "I'm sure they're lucky to have you though."
"How do you know that?" Whitefoot asked with a questioning gaze. The three siblings shared a knowing glance, each thinking the same thing. Should we tell him? Snowpaw nodded and so did Lilystream, so Nightpaw quietly explained them being siblings.
"So that explains how friendly you four are. I always thought it was strange that apprentices from different clans would talk so freely, but never gave away any information."
The tom didn't react the way Nightpaw, Lilystream, and Snowpaw believed, but they didn't mind. He padded back over to some of the older cats and continued his conversation with them.
"Well that went well." Lilystream meowed bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Nightpaw asked. "That went great!"
"He's not supposed to know. We were telling you not to say it." Snowpaw explained.
"Oh." Nightpaw murmured. "Sorry, but he won't tell any cat. He loves Softpaw too much to want to give away her secret."
The other two nodded and began listening to the gathering.
"Welcome." Smallstar meowed. "The prey runs well in Thunderclan. We have welcomed two new kits, born to Softpaw since the last gathering."
Whispers filled the silence that had been there before he announced that.
"We know that it is strange for an apprentice to have kits at that age, but we welcome them anyways. Even stranger, she is expecting kits again. It is considered high risk for her to have even more kits in such a short period of time, so we are taking every precaution we can to keep her safe until they are born. Other than that, Whitefoot's apprentice, Flamepaw has gotten her warrior name, Flameheart, and she guards the clan tonight in her silent vigil. We have also gained two new apprentices, Acornpaw and Graypaw. Their mentors are Squirrelfur and Shrewtooth, respectively. That is all for Thunderclan. Streamstar?"
"The prey runs well in Riverclan. Harestar?" She meowed quickly. Obviously nothing of interest had happened in Riverclan.
"A kit died." Lilystream whispered. "She was playing near the river and was washed away. I don't know why Streamstar didn't announce that, it was really important."
"Maybe it was so you didn't show any weakness. I mean, you let a kit play by the river." Nightpaw replied. Lilystream just growled and stared up at the Great Rock.
"Applestar?" Harestar finished.
Darnit! We missed his announcement. Nightpaw cursed himself silently.
"Don't worry. Nothing happened." Snowpaw grumbled. "Nothing interesting ever happens in Windclan."
"The prey runs well in Shadowclan. We have welcomed a new kit, Brownkit, and he will grow to be a strong warrior. Unfortunately, Cherrystep, one of our warriors, was killed by a rogue while she was hunting. The gathering is now over. Return to your clan territories and we will meet at the next moon." Applestar announced and jumped of the Great Rock. He led his warriors back to camp and Nightpaw followed them slowly. He didn't tell Lilystream and Snowpaw that he was having problems with Wrenstripe. He actually dreaded having to go talk to her, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He spotted her sitting by herself, eating a pigeon. He padded over to her and sat down.
"Hi Wrenstripe. How are you?" He muttered. She sat still and glared at him. "Why does it matter to you? I'll never be as good as Cherrystep, even though she's dead."
"That's not fair Wrenstripe. I loved her until the day you said you loved me. We would have never had a future together, but I have one with you and I want it." He replied in an even tone.
"Forget it." She growled sourly. "You're an ignorant nobody who doesn't deserve my attention."
"Forget you." Nightpaw snorted. "There are plenty of other she-cats in this clan that are interested in me."
He caught a flash of jealousy in her eyes, but she turned and carried her pigeon away. Nightpaw knew that no other cats really liked him that much, but she didn't. He loved her so much it made his heart hurt, and she felt the same way. He just had to wait until she admitted it to him.