Thanks to Satire47 for reviewing!
A lush Greenleaf wind blew across the camp, spilling dust into the parched river.
"Flamepaw! Flamepaw! Flamepaw!" Silverpaw yowled his sister's name loudly, but nothing surpassed the proud roar that ripped from Redtalon's chest. Silverpaw felt guilty for the swirl of dark envy in his belly.
Silverpaw raced to Flamepaw, but stopped in his tracks as Moontail wreathed in front of her. Silverpaw winced. Sleetstar, for all of his wisdom, had assigned Flamepaw quite possibly the worst mentor he could have.
The light grey tom sighed, shaking his head and padded to the apprentice's den.
He turned just in time to see Stormpaw fling Featherpaw from the den. The long furred she-cat landed sharply on her side.
"What are you doing?" Silverpaw snarled, stalking up to the siblings. He felt strong. Hailbreeze's harsh training had payed off, building hard muscles that rippled under Silverpaw's pelt. Silverpaw helped Featherpaw up and glared at the tom.
"You're just a weakling, Oddpaw. I can do whatever I please with my dear sister," But there was a waver of uncertainty in Stormpaw's voice. Silverpaw now matched his old tormentor in both height and breadth of shoulder. Stormpaw's voice was smooth, like a snake. It wasn't too hard to imagine the dark grey tom as a snake. A sniveling adder with venom dripping from its fangs.
Suddenly, Stormpaw waggled his hindquarters and pounced. Silverpaw ducked out of the way, but Stormpaw's foot caught him on the side of his face. Silverpaw faked a gasp as Stormpaw pinned him down.
"You'll never beat me, SkyClan scum," Stormpaw laughed smugly.
"Wolfstorm, stop them!" Leopardspot's worried cry reached his ears.
Wait for it-
"Don't worry, my son is just teaching that runt a lesson,"
Silverpaw turned to look at the grey tom. Wolfstorm's orange eyes burned with pride and mocking.
Wait for it-
"What's the matter, Oddpaw? Are you so scared that you can't move?"
Now!
Silverpaw shoved his hind paws into Stormpaw's stomach, throwing the tom off and across camp. He darted at the dark grey tom immediately, sweeping the ground from beneath him just as he stood up. With a quiet smirk on his face, Silverpaw daintily put a white paw on Stormpaw's throat.
Shoving his face close to the other apprentice's, he asked a taunting question.
"Who's weak now?"
Without a backward glance, Silverpaw walked up to Featherpaw.
"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm fine. Just can't help the fact that my mentor was in the medicine cat's den for a moon," Featherpaw replied bitterly.
The light tabby apprentice looked at him shyly.
"Thanks for that,"
Silverpaw gently rested his tail-tip on Featherpaw's shoulder. Amberclaw was finally out of the medicine-cat's den after an entire moon. But there weren't enough mentors to go around, so Featherpaw had to squeeze the training sessions of other apprentices.
"Let's go, Silverpaw," Hailbreeze waited at camp entrance. He was still hard on Silverpaw, but no more taunts came from his mouth.
INSERTEPICLINEBREAKHERE
"The cats who will be attending the gathering are Pinespring, Redtalon, Kestrelpaw, Moontail, Silverpaw, Hailbreeze, Fernshadow, Featherpaw, Darkblaze, Birchheart, Meadowpaw, and Willowfur,"
Silverpaw felt a rush of excitement as he name was rattled off the list. His first gathering!
He smiled inwardly at Stormpaw's outraged look, Rainpaw's furious gaze. As if they couldn't believe that their "weak" siblings were going and not them.
Silverpaw padded beside his mentor silently. A bored expression dulled Hailbreeze's eyes.
Silverpaw's eyes widened as they reached the hollow. Four massive oaks, bigger than any tree in the forest, looked down on a great boulder that jutted out at the middle. Dashing forward, Silverpaw slipped on a stone, tumbling down into a throng of lithe shapes.
Embarrassed, he scanned around. To his relief, only Featherpaw had noticed, her eyes flashing with amusement.
"Woah there, you almost crashed into me!" A creamy-brown she-cat was looking him, expression faintly perturbed.
"I'm Dawnpaw. Haven't seen you before. First gathering?" Dawnpaw's eyes were warm and open.
"Silverpaw. Yeah, that sums it up. Sorry about that," Silverpaw replied sheepishly.
"ThunderClan?" She asked, conversing.
"Um, yes. ShadowClan?" Silverpaw took in the she-cat's light coloured pelt and elegant figure. Dawnpaw certainly didn't look ShadowClan.
"Right on. Come on, let's go meet some other apprentices!"
Silverpaw followed Dawnpaw through the crowd of cats, feeling small and utterly insignificant. There was Featherpaw, talking with a few WindClan she-cats. Darkblaze's ginger and black fur stood out among a group of grey and white RiverClanners. ThunderClan had not been the last to arrive; SkyClan cats were absent from the mix.
"These are Pikepaw and Streampaw of RiverClan," Dawnpaw gestured to two identical grey tabbies. The she-cat nodded, whilst the tom looked at Silverpaw scornfully.
"Ahem."
A tortoiseshell she-cat was staring at Dawnpaw expectantly.
"Oh, oops, sorry Rowanpaw. That's my sister-"
"Her better looking sister!" Rowanpaw teased, amber eyes sparkling.
Silverpaw backed away from the loud, squabbling she-cats. It was simply too much to take in.
"The stars are bright tonight," Silverpaw murmured to no one in particular.
"Like the sprinkling of frost on leaf-fall grass,"
Silverpaw turned around. A ginger tom, broad shouldered and smelling of the moor, was looking at him. Behind the mask of seriousness in his amber-green eyes, there lay mischief.
"My name's Silverpaw. What's yours?"
"Cinderpaw," The tom replied, not attempting to say any more. His greenish gaze was fixed almost wistfully on the stars. Cinderpaw didn't seem to crowd him like the other apprentices, leaving him to start the conversation if he wanted to.
"Cinderpaw-that's a nice name." Silverpaw meowed awkwardly. Changing the subject, he pointed at a sturdy grey tom with his tail.
"Who's he?"
"Boulderpaw," Cinderpaw's eyes glinted in good humor. "I wouldn't try to talk with him if I were you. He's as strong as his namesake-and probably as intelligent as one too,"
Silverpaw decided he liked this cat.
Recalling one of the few facts he knew about WindClan cats, Silverpaw flicked his ears.
"WindClan huh? Are you a moor-runner or a tunneler," Cinderpaw looked directly at him with a smile.
"Guess."
Silverpaw was stumped. Judging by the Cinderpaw's large size, he could be a tunneler. But there was no dirt trapped between Cinderpaw's impeccably groomed paws.
"I have no idea," Silverpaw confessed.
"I'm a moor-runner, rabbit-brain!" Cinderpaw purred.
"Jeez, Silverpaw! Cats would think that you don't know the difference between a rabbit and a hare!"
"What's a hare?" Silverpaw blurted out.
Cinderpaw looked dumbfounded.
"What?" Silverpaw made his voice a high pitched pout.
They both started laughing, voices ringing out over the hollow, rebounding off moist air. Cats turned around with strange expressions on their faces, but Silverpaw couldn't care less.
"No, but actually, what is a hare?" Cinderpaw stifled a purr.
"They're almost like rabbits, but have longer legs," Even rabbits were a rarity in ThunderClan, brought back only occasionally by hunting patrols by the WindClan border.
"I may not have tasted hare, but magpie is delicious," Silverpaw announced. Cinderpaw wore a confused expression on his face.
"What's that?"
Now it was Silverpaw's turn to gawk.
"You know, we should meet to simply just share prey tomorrow," Silverpaw expected to see a joking look in Cinderpaw's eyes. But it wasn't there.
"Share prey? Great!" A feminine voice broke Silverpaw from his thoughts. Dawnpaw twitched her ears excitedly.
"I'll bring frog. It's really good," Cinderpaw curled his lip in disgust.
"Sounds slimy," Silverpaw remarked, sticking out his tongue.
"What? Just peel the skin off, and it's good as any of your forest prey," Dawnpaw insisted. Nose twitching, she continued. "I'd rather not choke to death on fur and feathers, thank you very much!"
Before Cinderpaw could reply, SkyClan cats streamed into the hollow. Their leader leapt onto the Great Rock in one easy bound. His deputy settled down at her predetermined spot at the foot of the boulder.
"SkyClan's leader, Flystar," Dawnpaw told Silverpaw, catching his glance at the tom. Flystar stood powerfully on the rock, silhouetted by the glowing moon.
"His deputy, Petalfall," Cinderpaw added helpfully. The she-cat's long cream fur had a strange rose coloured shine to it.
"RiverClan's leader is Pikestar, that big tabby in the front," The glossy furred tabby was overlooking the clans, chest puffed out.
"The brown tabby is his deputy, Birchsplash," The pretty she-cat was seated next to Petalfall, eyes looking intently at the leaders.
"Who's the black tom?" A dark tom had instantly attracted Silverpaw's attention. His broad shoulders and muscular build strangely reminded the apprentice of Redtalon. A grotesque, winding scar went across the tom's one eye, trailed down his neck and belly, before finally settling his hip. The look in his eyes scared Silverpaw. Defiant, proud, angry.
"Clawscar. The ShadowClan deputy. I wonder why he's up there." Cinderpaw meowed thoughtfully, looking at Dawnpaw questioningly.
"Clawstar." Dawnpaw corrected. "Mallowstar passed away in her sleep a half-moon ago,"
"Let the gathering begin!" Sleetstar's powerful yowl sounded from the boulder. Clawstar stepped forward.
"ShadowClan will go first."
"Mallowstar unfortunately joined the ranks of StarClan," Clawstar began. Murmurs of sadness and condolences erupted through the clans. Clawstar waited until the mews quieted down before continuing.
"We have three new apprentices. Dawnpaw, Rowanpaw, and Ivypaw. Dawnpaw and Rowanpaw are here tonight."
Dawnpaw tipped her head forward as the clans chanted her name.
"I have named Newtsnout as ShadowClan's deputy," Noticing the blank look Silverpaw had in his eyes, Dawnpaw jabbed a claw toward a scruffy white tom with grey and yellow ears.
"ShadowClan has nothing else to report," With a polite nod at a dark grey tom, Clawstar stepped back.
"Swiftstar of WindClan. Deputy, Milkfur," Cinderpaw puffed his chest.
"WindClan has two new warriors, Harespring and Wildpelt."
RiverClan reported a new litter of kits and two new apprentices. SkyClan announced that they had chased a badger out of their territory.
"ThunderClan has a new warrior, Sparrowcloud, and two new apprentices, Flamepaw and Silverpaw!"
Yowls of congratulations echoed off the walls of the hollow.
"That is all,"
As they got up to leave, Cinderpaw ducked his head close to Silverpaw and Dawnpaw.
"Tomorrow night, moonhigh. Bring prey,"
Silverpaw's ears twitched at the prospect of breaking the rules.
This better end well...