Chapter 8

Firepaw stared at Dovepaw in disbelief.

"Redtail is dead?" he asked. She gave him a sad nod. "How did it happen?"

"It happened during a battle they had with RiverClan a day ago. Oakheart, RiverClan's, deputy died as well." she meowed. Firepaw froze. 'A day ago? In a battle with RiverClan?' Firepaw's thoughts went to the other day when he saw Stonetooth drying his fur close to the ThunderClan-RiverClan border. 'Did he see the battle? Or maybe he heard something?' Firepaw once again was curious why Stonetooth's pelt had been wet that day and why he had been near the merged border. He was shaken from his thoughts by Dovepaw who was watching him with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay?" Firepaw nodded

"Yes I'm fine it's just a shock to hear that Redtail is dead, I saw him on a patrol with Goldenstar a few days ago." Dovepaw was surprised.

"Really? I didn't know you had met him." Firepaw nodded.

"You said the RiverClan deputy died in the same battle?" he asked curiously.

"Yes he did, it's a shame really Oakheart was a great warrior, it was a hard blow to RiverClan." she meowed softly.

"Will Goldenstar hold a meeting about what happened in the gathering?"

"Yeah she probably will, it's important to know who's leading the Clan's and who will be replacing a leader." she meowed. "We should get some rest we have our apprentice duties tomorrow. Firepaw nodded and curled up in nest thinking about the fallen ThunderClan deputy, before sleep overtook him.

Firepaw was crouched behind a bush waiting patiently for the right moment to pounce on a magpie that was pecking at seeds that were on the ground. Firepaw flexed his hind legs before spring onto the back of the bird and delivering a swift bite to the neck. He picked it up and began to head back to camp. It had been two moons since he had joined SkyClan. He still wasn't quite ready to actually hunt in trees but, he fully mastered the Sky Drop, as well as many other battle moves.

When he arrived at camp he placed the magpie into the fresh-kill pile, along with some other prey he had caught earlier in the day. He made his way back toward the entrance when a brisk meow stopped him.

"Hey Firepaw, wait up." meowed Dovepaw. Firepaw waved his tail in greeting waiting for her to catch up to him.

"Hi Dovepaw, what are you doing?"

"I was going to go hunt, did you want to come with me?" she asked. Firepaw nodded and Dovepaw purred happily before leading through the tunnel and out of camp. She began to head toward the Thunderpath, with Firepaw right behind her. They padded along until Dovepaw caught the scent of a thrush and began to lead Firepaw toward the unsuspecting bird. Firepaw was following closely behind her, when an strange yet familiar scent caught his nose. He froze and took in the scent trying to figure out where it was coming from and where he had smelt it before. His fur stood on end when he realized it was ShadowClan scent; he rushed over to Dovepaw, who had just finished catching the thrush.

"Dovepaw, do you smell that?" he asked her urgently. Dovepaw looked curiously at him before putting down her thrush to take in the air around them. She too stiffened.

"That smells like ShadowClan, what are they doing in our territory?" she meowed and looked around cautiously almost as if she expected to a ShadowClan patrol to leap out and ambush them.

"Let's follow the scent." Firepaw meowed catching Dovepaw's attention. Dovepaw shook her head.

"I don't think so, we should report this to Goldenstar." she meowed starting to head back to Camp when Firepaw stopped her.

"But, shouldn't we at least find out what they were doing here?" he asked. Dovepaw sighed before turning to look at Firepaw.

"No we shouldn't, you haven't been in the forest long enough and you haven't met any ShadowClan cats so you don't know just how dangerous they can be and we don't know how many warrior's there are, we could be walking straight into an ambush." she meowed. Firepaw fur began to rise in anger when Dovepaw had mentioned his kittypet roots but, after careful thought he realized that she was probably right, but that didn't mean he was happy about it.

"Fine" he grumbled snatching up the thrush before shoving passed Dovepaw, racing back to camp. Dovepaw looked shocked and slightly hurt before following after Firepaw. Firepaw ignored Dovepaw all the way to the camp. The two entered camp in silence, Dovepaw raced off to tell Goldenstar what they had found and Firepaw went to put the thrush in the fresh-kill pile. Longpaw was just coming out of the Elder's den with a grimace on his face. He spotted Firepaw and ran over to speak to him.

"Hey Firepaw, what's up?" Longpaw asked noticing his friend's annoyance. Firepaw told about the ShadowClan scent and about how he thought that they should at least figure out why they were there and what Dovepaw had said to him.

"I feel the same way you do, I probably would have wanted to follow the scent also, but Dovepaw was right, that's the warriors' jobs. We shouldn't do anything like that unless we are with a warrior. Besides Dovepaw, Runningpaw and I hate to admit it but Lightningpaw each have had more training than either of us. I don't think we would stand a chance against an experienced warrior. To be honest I think Dovepaw was worried for your safety since you lack a lot of training and I don't think she meant to insult you." Firepaw sighed

"You're probably right, sometimes I just get caught up on trying to prove that I have what it takes to someday be a warrior that I jump to conclusions every time someone brings up my kittypet roots." Longpaw touched Firepaw's shoulder with his tail gently.

"Hey Dovepaw's a pretty sweet and gentle cat, just apologize to her, she should forgive you." meowed Longpaw.

"Yeah I'll try and talk to her after she gets done with Goldenstar. I just hope she'll forgive me." Firepaw meowed

"Well she does like you it should work. " Longpaw muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Firepaw meowed looking at Longpaw.

"Nothing let's just go." Longpaw meowed padding toward Goldenstar's den. Goldenstar sat outside her den looking serious. Smokecloud sat beside Dovepaw murmuring to something to Goldenstar. Goldenstar motioned Firepaw over looking back and forth between him and Dovepaw.

"Tell me Firepaw, what you found?" she asked. Firepaw quickly explained that he and Dovepaw had gone hunting not too far from the Thunderpath and the creek and how he smelt ShadowClan scent not far from where they were. Goldenstar nodded and told Smokecloud to get Blackflower and Hawkwing. Firepaw remembered Longpaw telling him that they were two of the best trackers in SkyClan. Goldenstar moved to speak with Ashstorm, who had just come in from leading his patrol. Firepaw looked over at Dovepaw who glanced hurtfully at him before moving to follow Smokecloud. Firepaw quickly blocked her path.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did Dovepaw, I was just frustrated because you brought up my kittypet roots, and it made me think that you thought I was mouse-brained." Dovepaw looked at him a moment before purring and brushing her tail over his ears.

"But, you ARE mouse-brained Firepaw." she purred teasingly "and because you are mouse-brained, I will accept your apology." Longpaw watched the two with an amused satisfaction. Firepaw open his mouth to retort to Dovepaw that he wasn't mouse-brained at all, when Goldenstar called for the both of them. They bounded over to Goldenstar with Longpaw following close behind. When they reached Goldenstar she looked directly at them with Blackflower and Hawkwing standing beside her.

"Dovepaw, Firepaw I want you two to show Blackflower and Hawkwing where you scented ShadowClan. If ShadowClan has invaded our territory I'll need one of you to come back to alert us." she meowed calmly she let her eyes meet each of them as she spoke her next words. "You are not to confront them unless you have no other option. Is that understood?"

"Yes Goldenstar." meowed the patrol. She nodded and sent them off. Dovepaw and Firepaw lead the way through the forest as quickly as possible until they reached the spot where they and smelt ShadowClan. The scent wasn't as strong now as it had been, but they were still able to tell which way the scent had gone.

"I got the scent trail, stay close and keep an eye out for any cats that might be hidden." meowed Hawkwing as he lead the group in the direction of the creek. They followed Hawkwing as he led them to through their territory keeping a look out for any ShadowClan cats. When they reached the creek the scent became harder to follow and Hawkwing lost the scent when he reached the bank of the creek. Blackflower crossed the creek and was able to pick up the scent once again. She led the patrol until they reached the border with ThunderClan.

"I suppose we should tell Goldenstar that ShadowClan went into ThunderClan territory." Blackflower meowed. Hawkwing nodded and began to lead the patrol back toward the camp.

"Why were they here?" asked Firepaw.

"Good question, I didn't see any signs of them hunting here and I didn't smell any scenting marks." meowed Hawkwing.

"It is very unusual, usually when ShadowClan has been in our territory they make their intentions clear." Blackflower meowed.

"What's even stranger is that it only seemed to be one cat rather than a patrol." Hawkwing added. Firepaw continued to contemplate all of this information as he padded back to camp. 'Why would a ShadowClan cat come alone into our territory, if they weren't trying to steal our food?'

Firepaw made a swift leap over the creek and landed perfectly on the other side. Longpaw came to stand beside him as they waited for the other cats to cross the creek. It was the night of the gathering and five sunrises since they had scented the ShadowClan cat in their territory. Goldenstar had increased the patrols, but nothing had been happening at their borders and there hadn't been any sign of the ShadowClan intruder.

Once all the cats had crossed the creek, Goldenstar lead them to the merged border with RiverClan and ThunderClan. When they reached the border they walked along the border, passing through Sunning Rocks, they continued to move along the bordered. They padded pass the Owl Tree and they padded up the slope where four great oak trees stood proudly ahead of them. Firepaw heard Longpaw murmur 'Thank StarClan' under his breath and couldn't help but think the same thing. He was more than grateful that Fallowpelt had given them traveling herbs for their journey to the gathering. When they reached the top of the slope, Firepaw and Longpaw stared down amazed at the cats that were already present.

"Wow, look at all of them. "meowed Longpaw. Firepaw just nodded in amazement. He still couldn't believe that he and Longpaw were the only apprentices chosen to go to the gathering. He turned to look at Goldenstar who was crouched watching the cats down below as Ashstorm murmured in her ear about something. Firepaw peered around at the other cats present in their group. Hawkwing, Sootpelt, and Blackflower were talking to each other. Finchflight and Snowfall seemed to be discussing Snowfall's kits. Grayfeather and Icefeather were waiting patiently for Goldenstar to lead them down the slope. Fallowpelt was speaking reassuringly to Ivyclaw telling her not to worry and was also patiently waiting for them to make their entrance to the gathering. Firepaw was still surprised to see the female elder outside of the camp, he didn't think she would have been able to handle the distance, but it didn't seem to faze the elder at all. The last cat present for the gathering was looking at him with cold amber eyes, causing Firepaw to involuntarily shiver. Stonetooth looked almost impatient for Goldenstar to lead them down to the gathering. As if she heard his thoughts, Goldenstar turned to face her clan.

"I don't want anyone to mention anything about finding ShadowClan scent in our territory yet, if anyone is going to bring it up it'll be me understood?" she meowed giving a hard stare at everyone present, she let her gaze linger on Firepaw and Longpaw. Every cat nodded their head in understanding. Goldenstar turned back to the slope and raised her tail in signal for them to follow her as she charged down the slope. When they reached the bottom, Firepaw began to smell the familiar scents of RiverClan and ShadowClan.

"ThunderClan and WindClan aren't here yet." meowed Longpaw as he glanced around. Firepaw nodded and looked around the clearing.

"Who do you think we should talk to?" Firepaw asked as he looked at the warriors who were present.

"We should probably steer clear of ShadowClan for now since we don't have any idea about why they were in our territory since we may be at war with them over this." meowed Longpaw.

"And if a battle is to be fought over this you must know your enemies and be able to recognize them." meowed Finchflight who had snuck up behind the two of them. "It is fine for you to talk to any cat as long as you don't say anything about ShadowClan being in our territory. I'd suggest speaking to the apprentices since this is the first gathering for the both of you."

"But, what if a warrior tries to talk to us?" Longpaw asked with a confused expression.

"Then act respectful and talk just don't say anything that might make us look venerable to the other Clans." Both Firepaw and Longpaw gave him a nod after soaking up the information that Finchflight had given them. They padded over to a group of apprentices who were all discussing the first piece of prey they caught as an apprentice.

"I caught trout when I first went fishing" meowed a light gray tom with a fluffy tail. Beside him a mottled light gray tom was sitting and on the other side the light gray tom was a brown tabby tom long thick tail. Firepaw could tell that they were from RiverClan. There were two ShadowClan apprentices sitting with them, a very small brown tabby tom and white and gray tabby she-cat. Firepaw looked closely at the brown tabby and thought he looked a bit young to be at a meeting. He was tempted to ask the young apprentice how old he was and whether he should be at a gathering, when he felt Longpaw nudge him slightly.

"Hey look ThunderClan is here" meowed Longpaw as he pointed his tail toward the cats coming into the clearing. Firepaw's eyes widen when he spotted some familiar pelts from ThunderClan. He recognized the golden pelt of Lionheart as well as the gray apprentice that he had seen on one of his patrols with Goldenstar, but the most familiar pelt, a black and white pelt, was heading straight for him and the cat who wore the pelt had the same look of shock on his face.

"Rusty is that you?" spoke the black and white apprentice.

"Smudge you're in ThunderClan?"

(I was tempted to leave it here but thought of a better place to put it.)

Longpaw looked between the pair before settling his eyes on Firepaw. Firepaw looked at Longpaw.

"Longpaw would it be okay if I talk to him alone for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure I'll talk to these apprentices okay?" Firepaw nodded as Longpaw made himself comfortable among the RiverClan and ShadowClan apprentices. Firepaw watched as Smudge nodded his head in the direction of a more secluded area to speak with Firepaw. Firepaw asked his question again. Smudge answered

"Yes I am, I was so worried about you, I came to see how you were doing in the forest and against my better judgment I went to find you, but I got lost in the forest and not long after that this cat comes out of nowhere and started chasing me. He chased me clear over the ThunderClan border where Bluestar, my leader, and Whitestorm, one of ThunderClan's warriors, found me, they were kind enough to let me join ThunderClan though I wasn't exactly as welcomed." Firepaw nodded

"So it was you that Lightningpaw chased over the border." meowed Firepaw. Smudge stared wide eyed.

"You know that cat?"

"Yes he is one of SkyClan's apprentices as am I, my name is Firepaw now." He meowed. Smudge blinked surprised.

"He's an apprentice? From the way he was acting I would have thought he was a rogue. I'm surprised your in the same Clan as him, oh and my name is now Scorchpaw" he meowed. Firepaw purred happily.

"Yeah well he wasn't exactly nice to me when I joined either. I'm just glad I have Longpaw, Runningpaw and Dovepaw to help me get through training." Scorchpaw nodded.

"I understand fully sometimes I wonder what I'd do without Graypaw and Ravenpaw." he meowed. Firepaw looked at him curiously.

"Graypaw is he that gray apprentice that was talking to Lionheart?" Scorchpaw stared at him surprised

"Yes but, how do you know Lionheart?"

"I saw him on a patrol with my mentor Goldenstar." Firepaw explained. "I'm sorry to hear about Redtail though, that must have been a blow to your Clan." Scorchpaw shrugged.

"I personally didn't get a chance to know him that well, he died the day I joined the ThunderClan." Firepaw nodded in understanding.

"In a battle with RiverClan right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Tigerclaw, one of our warriors, told us that he got vengeance for Redtail by killing the RiverClan deputy, Oakheart." meowed Scorchpaw. Firepaw blinked slowly, surprised by the information that Scorchpaw had shared with him.

"Uh, do you really think its okay to be telling me all of this Scorchpaw?" asked Firepaw squirming a little uncomfortably. Scorchpaw looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we aren't in the same Clan, don't you think that this would be something that you would want to keep to yourself?" Scorchpaw nodded his head in understanding.

"I understand, but we're friends aren't we? You won't tell anyone about what I said will you?"

"No, I won't, it will stay between us." meowed Firepaw. Scorchpaw purred happily. Firepaw briefly touched noses with Scorchpaw before thinking about what he said about the day Redtail died. Scorchpaw nudged him in the direction that Graypaw went.

"Come on I'll introduce you to Graypaw, he's a great cat." meowed Scorchpaw leading Firepaw away from their spot. Firepaw followed closely behind him, taking in the other cats that were exchanging greetings. Firepaw saw Stonetooth talking to a large dark brown tabby tom with unusually long claws. He shivered slightly at the sight of them.

' I'd hate to have to face him in battle.' he thought briefly. Scorchpaw stopped and glanced over in the direction that Firepaw was looking.

"Oh there's Tigerclaw, talking to that gray tom over there." Firepaw's eyes widened.

"That's Tigerclaw? Wow he looks intimidating. The gray tom that he's talking to is Stonetooth, he's a Skyclan warrior."

"Really? Well he's pretty intimidating himself." Scorchpaw commented. Firepaw nodded his head in agreement. Suddenly a sweet smelling scent reached Firepaw's nose. Before he could discover it's source, a soft voice spoke up from behind them.

"Hello Scorchpaw, whose your friend?" meowed a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat. Firepaw felt his fur warm up slightly as he took in the sight of the she-cat. He stared almost entranced by her beautiful amber eyes as he took in her sweet scent. Scorchpaw glanced amusingly at Firepaw before turning back to answer the beautiful she-cat.

"Hello Spottedleaf, this is Firepaw, he's a SkyClan apprentice." Scorchpaw turn to face Firepaw. "Spottedleaf is ThunderClan's medicine cat." Spottedleaf turned to looked at Firepaw before purring softly.

"It's nice to meet you Firepaw, is this your first gathering?" Firepaw wordlessly nodded. "I thought it might be, you're the new apprentice from the twolegplace right?" Firepaw shifted on his paws a little in embarrassment.

"Yes I am," he mumble a little. Spottedleaf touched her tail to his shoulder softly.

"It must have been hard for you to adjust to clan life, but I can tell your turning into a fine warrior." Spottedleaf purred gently. Firepaw almost puffed out his chest in pride.

'Thank you Spottedleaf." Firepaw meowed as he leaned down to lick his chest to fight off his embarrassment. Scorchpaw continued to watch the exchange with a look of amusement, before nudging Firepaw to get his attention.

"Come on Firepaw, let's go find the other apprentices." meowed Scorchpaw. Firepaw opened his mouth to protest, when Fallowpelt called out to Spottedleaf.

"Oh excuse me, I wanted to ask Fallowpelt about her supply of herbs." meowed Spottedleaf as she waved her tail in greeting to Fallowpelt. "It was nice meeting you Firepaw."

"It was nice meeting you too Spottedleaf." meowed Firepaw trying not to sound sad that she was leaving .Spottedleaf waved her tail in farewell as she padded off to talk to the SkyClan medicine cat. Firepaw watched her go with a little regret. Scorchpaw touched his shoulder to catch his attention.

"Come on lets go before the leader's decided to start the meeting." Firepaw nodded reluctantly as he followed Scorchpaw over to a small group of cats. Among them was a familiar gray pelt. Scorchpaw padded over to sit next to the gray cat before motioning with his tail for Firepaw to come over.

"Graypaw, this is Firepaw he's my friend from when I was a kittypet." meowed Scorchpaw. Graypaw waved his tail in a friendly greeting.

"Hi, I remember you, you were on a patrol with your leader right?" Graypaw asked.

"Yeah, your patrol was lead by Redtail and you and Lionheart were their with that gray she-cat." Graypaw nodded

"Yep, He's our new deputy." Graypaw meowed with a his chest puffed out proudly. Scorchpaw nudged his friend.

"Yes we all know how great Lionheart is Graypaw, you don't need to keep reminding everyone. Come on lets go find Ravenpaw." he meowed padding off with Graypaw falling in step behind him. Firepaw was half tempted to see where Spottedleaf had gone but, he really wanted to meet Scorchpaw's other friends in ThunderClan. So he quickly caught up to Scorchpaw and found him sitting with some apprentices. He came to sit beside him and saw him watching a skinny black tom with a white chest and tail tip talking among the group of apprentices. He seemed to be telling a story. He also saw Longpaw sitting with the group. Scorchpaw pointed his tail in the direction of the cat telling the story.

"That's Ravenpaw, he's the one telling the story. He can be a bit skittish at times, but he's a nice cat." meowed Scorchpaw. "It's about the battle we lost Redtail in." Firepaw looked surprised but settled down to hear the story.

"..I had just finished fighting off a huge RiverClan warrior when I heard a scream. It was Oakheart. He had tumbled down a slope and rocks had fallen down after him. A huge gray cat raced down the slope to help him, but it must have been too late because the cat's paws were covered in blood and Oakheart didn't come back up the slope." Firepaw froze for a moment.

"Where did that cat go?" One of the apprentices meowed. Ravenpaw shrugged a little

"I don't know, he must have swum back over to RiverClan territory. He ran in the direction of the SkyClan border, but he must have been confused." Firepaw thought back to the day he saw Stonetooth with his pelt wet and his paws covered in what he thought was mud. 'Could that have been blood on his paws? Oakheart's blood? And if so why was he there in the first place?' Firepaw thought. Why he was pondering his thoughts he saw the dark tabby pelt of Tigerclaw out of the corner of his eyes. He saw that the dark warrior had an angry look on his face as he looked at Ravenpaw. 'Why would he look at his own Clanmate so fiercely?' thought Firepaw as he watched the dark tabby. Then Firepaw remembered what Scorchpaw had said about Tigerclaw being the one to get vengence for Redtail after Oakheart killed him. 'But Ravenpaw just said that Oakheart died before Redtail.' Was Ravenpaw mistaken? He was about to ask Scorchpaw when a yowl rang out from the Great Rock. He looked at the Great Rock and saw four leaders standing on the rock. He vaguely remembered Dovepaw telling him what the other leader's looked like. He saw a light-colored tabby with a crooked jaw and knew that it must have been the RiverClan leader Crookedstar. Standing closer to the shadows was a menacing looking, long-furred dark brown tabby tom. 'Wow he looks pretty vicious.' Firepaw thought as he looked at the tom and figured that it must be the ShadowClan leader Brokenstar. He saw the golden fur of Goldenstar standing beside a blue-gray she-cat with a silver muzzle. 'That must be Bluestar, the ThunderClan leader.' Firepaw looked over each cat as he sat beside Scorchpaw until a thought crossed his mind. 'Where is the WindClan leader?' as if one the cats had heard his thoughts one cried out.

"Where are the WindClan representatives?"

(Okay longest chapter I've done for this story. Sorry I haven't updated sooner but I was having some severe computer problems and had to get it repaired, but I have it back now and will try to update both of my stories sooner.)