Cloversplash, Sandbreeze, Willowfrost and Brightcloud padded through the night side by side. Tonight was their first gathering as warriors, and they couldn't wait to hear Bramblestar announce to all the clans their new names. It was half a moon since their warrior ceremonies, and it had already gotten much colder. The night they sat vigil for their clan was the first night of the cold weather, with frost covering the ground and their fur when dawn came the next morning. As they arrived to the tree bridge, they found RiverClan there aswell, and smelt ShadowClan and WindClan, who must've already crossed to the island for the gathering. Waiting for RiverClan to finish crossing, then the rest of ThunderClan, Cloversplash and her friends finally got to cross and found themselves a spot in the clearing to sit and listen to the leaders talk. There was one cat that she wanted to see, a ShadowClan apprentice at the time named Pinepaw, who was older than her so he probably had gotten his warrior name aswell. He was a good friend, and a relatable good cat for ShadowClan. As she looked around, she couldn't find his familiar face in all of the huddled ShadowClan cats.
"Cloverpaw. Pssst. It's me, come back here."
Pinepaw! As she wove through the large mass of cats, she couldn't help but feel excited. I wonder if he's a warrior yet, and if so, what's his name? She thought, until finally she met him in a small bush in the back of the clearing.
"Cloverpaw, I'm so glad you came! I have news." He meowed.
"Me too, you go first." Cloversplash answered.
"Okay, I'm a warrior now! My name's Pineheart." He meowed excitedly.
"Really? That's great! I'm so happy for you," she answered, waiting to tell him her name.
"I know. Don't worry, you'll get your name soon." He replied.
"Sooner than you think." Cloversplash said, nudging her friend in the shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Asked Pineheart, bewildered.
"I got my name too! You have to call me Cloversplash."
"That's amazing, Cloversplash! Listen, there's something else I want to tell you..." He trailed off, trying to put his feelings for the confused Cloversplash into words. "I-I, Cloversplash, I really care about you."
"Aww, I care for you too," she responed, nudging him again playfully.
"No, not like that, I mean, I really care about you. I love you." Pineheart meowed.
"You... You... You what?" Asked Cloversplash, stunned.
"I know we are in different clans and all, but since you used to be a rogue and all, I was thinking you could join ShadowClan, and we could be together. We could be mates, have kits and when I'm leader, we could rule together. ShadowClan is great and you'll love it. My sister Lizardclaw knows, and I bet you two could become great friends, so what do you say?" He asked. Cloversplash sat still, stunned and tried to take in all of the new information. After a while she finally got her voice back and replied.
"Pineheart, I thought you thought that we were just friends. I'm so sorry, but I can't leave ThunderClan, they took me and my friends in when we were lost and I've made more friends there too. I also already like someone else too. I'm so sorry, Pineheart, but I don't think this can happen. I really do care about you, and if we were born into the same clan I would love to be your mate, but in separate clans, I-I, I can't. I so so sorry. Can we still be friends?"
"What? Oh, ya, sure. I understand." He meowed, then left the bush back to his ShadowClan friends with his ears flat and his tail drooping onto the floor. He stopped by a cat who was the spitting image of Pineheart, with the same dark brown coat with black stripes and green eyes. She had to be his sister. Feeling down, Cloversplash left the bush and returned to her clanmates and listened to their reports. She had only missed RiverClan's report of plentiful fish and the new apprentices Brindlepaw and Sunpaw. It was now ShadowClan's turn to speak. Rowanscar stepped foward and began his speech.
"ShadowClan has been doing great and we have new warriors, Pineheart and Lizardclaw." As the clans chanted their names, Cloversplash caught Pinehearts eye and he quickly looked away. She felt so bad for him. Why did she have to hurt him like that? Would it really hurt anyone if they were together? Even just for one night? She was so busy with her thoughts that she completely missed the end of Rowanstar's report. Bramblestar was now speaking and she wanted to actually hear her name being shout out.
"ThunderClan is thriving, we have fresh catmint and a new stretch of hunting ground. We also have four new warrirors, Cloversplash, Willowfrost, Sandbreeze, and Brightcloud." WindClan alone kept quiet during the report but snarled as Bramblestar mentioned the hunting grounds and catmint. Cloversplash expected it, but it was also very rude not to chant a new warrior or apprentice's name at a gathering. She would not forget this when WindClan had a new apprentice or warrior, that's for sure.
"And where did you get that catmint and grounds, eh? Appeared out of nowhere did it, Bramblestar?" Onestar snarled. "Cats of all clans, listen to what I say to you. Half a moon ago, ThunderClan came and attacked our camp and stole our catmint and part of forest. It is WindClan's and I won't stand for it!"
"Onestar, did you forget that it was because you murdered my deputy and mate while on a border patrol? It was not unprovoked." Bramblestar meowed menacely. Onestar went quiet after that, and the gathering ended. On the way home, Cloversplash couldn't get Pineheart's grief stricken face out of her mind. Why did she have to hurt him so badly?