I had actually forgotten all about the Jesus-cat thing. Whoops! I didn't intend for it to be a reference to Easter, seeing as how I wrote it before Easter...

Well, you'll see how the story will end in this chapter right here! But if this doesn't shock you, then the Epilogue certainly might. That's right - their first Gathering is the last real chapter of this story! The Epilogue should be up sometime later this week, and hopefully the sequel later next month.

Chapter 22

"I can't believe that we're going to our first Gathering together!" Spottedpaw chirped gleefully.

Maplepaw chuckled, twitching her whiskers. "Spottedpaw, you have Bramblestar and Squirrelflight wrapped around your paw," she mewed. "If you asked them to leap into the nearest tree for you they would."

Spottedpaw flicked her tail. "Please!" she mewed. "The only reason I wasn't forced to go last moon was because Father knew I wanted to go with you."

"If you two keep yammering Bramblestar will begin to regret his decision," Berrynose growled.

"Sorry!" Maplepaw chirped.

Berrynose rolled his eyes and turned back around.

"Let's try and keep up," Spottedpaw suggested. "We can catch up when we get to the island."

They were crossing through WindClan territory now, and Maplepaw wondered how WindClan cats didn't just blow away in the wind. Did they dig their claws into the ground the whole time? It seemed like the strong winds wanted to pick her up and take her across the lake with each mighty blow. It carried the scents of peat, sweet heather, and rabbit, though Maplepaw couldn't see any of the latter at the moment.

The Gathering party, led by Squirrelflight and Bramblestar, followed the lakeshore as per the agreement between all the Clans. Soon enough they had passed through WindClan territory and were in the marshy neutral territory that touched the tree-bridge to the island.

Maplepaw curled her lip as her paw slid into a boggy pit. Spottedpaw helped her get out. Soggy-pawed, Maplepaw approached the tree-bridge. Its roots were raised to the sky like dark claws, and its trunk was stripped clean of bark. Scents of the other Clans trailed across it.

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight crossed first. "We're late it seems," Bramblestar mewed as he leaped onto the smooth trunk. "The other Clans are already here."

The older cats crossed easily. Berrynose and Spiderleg stayed behind to help Spottedpaw and Maplepaw cross, following behind them and mewing encouraging words for when it seemed like they would lose their balance. Maplepaw only staggered once – when she did, she dropped into a crouch and her balance stabilized, just like Mapleshine taught her to do on wiggly tree-branches.

"Good save!" Spottedpaw praised as Maplepaw hopped off the tree-bridge. "Your paw's already soggy; wouldn't want the rest of you to be."

Maplepaw flicked an ear at her denmate. Entering her first Gathering with her fur clinging to her bones would be a most embarrassing outing. She couldn't imagine what the other cats would say to her!

"Go find other apprentices to talk with," Berrynose instructed, leaping down behind Maplepaw. His muscles flexed with practiced ease.

"And don't brag too much," Spiderleg warned. "Keep ThunderClan business to ThunderClan."

"Of course!" Spottedpaw purred. She nudged Maplepaw eagerly. "Come on, let's go meet other apprentices!"

It took a moment, but Spottedpaw and Maplepaw found a group of Clan apprentices gathered near the outskirts of the crowd. Their scents were mingled and mixed, but Maplepaw could tell by their body types that they were from the other three Clans.

"See?" bragged a skinny ginger-and-white tom. "I can beat any apprentice!"

The apprentice he had just bundled off of him – a stocky, sleek-furred brown tabby – curled his lip. "Lucky shot!" he growled.

"Don't be so grumpy, Podpaw!" mewed an equally sleek-furred pale gray she-cat. She nudged the brown tabby to his paws. "ThunderClan's apprentices have arrived!"

"Hello," Spottedpaw mewed, her fur standing on end with excitement. "I'm Spottedpaw, and this is Maplepaw. This is our first Gathering."

"Welcome!" the ginger-and-white tom decided. He pushed himself to his paws and padded closer to Spottedpaw, his amber eyes flashing with friendliness. "I'm Sorrelpaw, from WindClan. My littermate Oakpaw is sitting over there with Sparrowpaw, a ShadowClan apprentice."

Maplepaw looked to find a pale brown tabby talking with a bigger brown tabby tom.

Sorrelpaw went on, flicking his tail at Podpaw, "This is Podpaw and his littermate Curlpaw, of RiverClan."

"Hello," greeted Curlpaw. She was in a better mood than her brother, who was licking down his rumpled flanks.

"Who else from ShadowClan is here?" Maplepaw asked.

Sorrelpaw glanced around. "ShadowClan brought a few apprentices – Softpaw and this new apprentice, I don't remember his name – but I think they went off to be alone somewhere," he mewed. "I hope they don't get into trouble."

"Sometimes it's hard to socialize with other cats when it's your first Gathering," Curlpaw offered. "That poor tabby seemed so nervous!"

"His name was Hawkpaw, by the way," grumbled Podpaw. He seemed to have finished grooming his flanks. Podpaw narrowed his eyes as Sorrelpaw and growled, "If you want to have a go at it again, I'll be glad to teach you a lesson."

"Are you two fighting? At a Gathering?" Spottedpaw gasped.

Sorrelpaw and Podpaw exchanged a glance, and then they both burst into purrs. Whiskers twitching, Sorrelpaw insisted, "No, no! Not at all! We're just sparring, that's all. Apprentices do that all the time! Podpaw and I do it every time we see each other."

"I'll beat you someday," Podpaw grumbled good-naturedly.

"Of course you will!" teased Sorrelpaw.

Is it right to be so friendly with cats from other Clans? Maplepaw thought, looking at the two apprentices. She glanced uneasily at Spottedpaw, but her friend was too wrapped up in the excitement to get Maplepaw's discomfort.

"So," Spottedpaw mewed, "mind sparring with me?"

Sorrelpaw looked her up and down. Twitching his whiskers again, he mewed, "No offense, Spottedpaw… but I don't fight pretty she-cats."

Maplepaw bristled a little. Could he be any more mouse-brained? If some tom came up to Spottedpaw and said that, they would have a fight on their paws so fast that –

"Oh!" Spottedpaw said, quietly. She flicked her tail-tip. "O-OK."

She sat down.

Maplepaw rolled her eyes.

"Quit your yammering, guys," Sparrowpaw growled. The tom couldn't have been much older than Maplepaw, but he was already twice her size. "The Gathering's started!"

Maplepaw turned her attention to the Great Oak. There stood the four leaders of the four Clans – Bramblestar, Mistystar, Rowanstar, and Onestar. The Great Oak's leaves hadn't fully budded yet, so their pelts glowed silver in the moonlight, clearly visible to all.

"Welcome!" called Onestar. "Newleaf has brought us all together in warmer times. The rabbits have begun running again in WindClan territory. Whitetail and Sedgewhisker bring new kits into our nursery – Cloverkit and Mallowkit were born this past moon, and Sedgewhisker's kits were born just yesterday morning. Spiderkit and Ashkit are the newest additions to WindClan."

"Cloverkit and Mallowkit are Onestar's kits," Sorrelpaw whispered as the Clans murmured their congratulations. "He's proud of them, and they're really cute!"

"And Sedgewhisker's kits?" Curlpaw asked.

"They're too small to see yet," Sorrelpaw told them. "But Emberfoot is really proud."

"Heathertail and Harespring chased a fox off of our territory," Onestar continued. "We'll be keeping an eye out for it in the future, and I advise all of you do the same, in case it wanders into your lands."

"We will," Mistystar mewed. "Thanks for the warning, Onestar."

"There was a small dispute over stolen prey," Onestar announced, "but it has been resolved. Breezepelt, the cat who joined with the Dark Forest in the Great Battle and then abandoned his Clan was trying to sow chaos amongst WindClan, but ThunderClan reported his body in their territory days ago. He will trouble no Clan now."

Good riddance, Maplepaw thought. The images of his panicked face slamming into the rocks of the Moonpool beneath her paws flashed behind her eyes. She was glad Bramblestar hadn't told WindClan the whole truth. She could hardly handle the attention from her own Clan – what would all the other Clans think of her?

Mistystar stepped forward. Her report was of new apprentices and new kits, of good hunting now that newleaf had melted the ice, and that RiverClan was doing well. She mentioned in passing that an elder was sick, but Maplepaw recalled hearing that it was an older cat. Sickness at their age was to be expected.

With Mistystar done, Bramblestar stepped forward. When he announced that Maplepaw was an apprentice, she shrank at the praise. All the voices calling her name made her feel… surrounded. The voices soon died down, though, and Maplepaw was able to straighten herself up for the rest of Bramblestar's announcements. He mentioned nothing about giving ShadowClan territory, and told about Daisy giving birth to four kits – not mentioning that two of them were sick, and that Foxleap was more ill than Jayfeather would admit to anyone. He did not mention the dead fox, either.

What use are the secrets? Maplepaw wondered. Couldn't all the Clans benefit from knowing about the Foxleap and the fox? It's not my business to wish for those announcements. I'm only an apprentice.

But not for long.

Bramblestar was done speaking. ShadowClan was next, and Rowanstar's announcements were curt and short, as if he was expecting something back at home. He announced a new apprentice – Hawkpaw – and thankfully made no mention of the territory being given to them. He thanked ThunderClan for Leafpool's assistance, and announced that Littlecloud had passed on – which prompted a moment of silence from all the Clans. Rowanstar was bouncing from paw to paw during that, too.

"Rowanstar's got a flea in his backside, that's for sure," muttered Spottedpaw.

Maplepaw nodded in agreement.

"If that's all," Bramblestar mewed, "then this Gathering is over. We'll see you all next moon!"

He leaped from the Great Oak, and the crowd of cats began breaking up. Maplepaw and Spottedpaw sat good-bye to the other apprentices (Spottedpaw's good-bye to Sorrelpaw was lengthy, and Maplepaw nearly had to drag her away by the tail). They rejoined their Clan at the tree-bridge, tired and paw-sore. Maplepaw wanted nothing more than to curl up in her nest and fall asleep.

"We need to hurry back," Jayfeather hissed as he joined them, his pelt turned silver by the moonlight.

"What's wrong?" Squirrelflight asked.

Jayfeather lashed his tail. "We just need to hurry," he insisted.

They reached the camp as the moon began to set. Maplepaw was winded from the quick pace, and she leaned partially on Spottedpaw while she caught her breath. Thorns bristled in Maplepaw's pelt from the entrance, and her spine tingled as a chill crept up from her paws.

Something was wrong.

There were too many cats awake, and they were clustered in the clearing. A wail of agony rose from the gathered cats, rasping and defeated.

Bristling, cursing, Jayfeather sprinted into the crowd. It parted around him, and Maplepaw whimpered at what she saw.

"We tried," Brightheart murmured, stepping out of Jayfeather's way. "Icecloud and I held him down while he shook, but he wouldn't listen when we called out to him. He is with StarClan now."

Dustpelt's agonized cry went up into the sky again as the last of the moonlight shone on his son's body. Foxleap's side was furless, but he looked more peaceful than he had been in the past two moons.

"StarClan welcomes him," Jayfeather mewed. "He runs with Ferncloud now."

Maplepaw's paws trembled. She suddenly realized why Jayfeather had been so worried – the fox and Foxleap had similar symptoms. Now they were both dead, and there were two sick kits in the nursery. What was next?

She blinked, and the starry shape of Mapleshine appeared – just for an instant. She stood behind Foxleap's body, and her amber eyes gleamed with something that Maplepaw could not identify. When Maplepaw blinked again, Mapleshine was gone.

What's happening to my Clan? She wondered. StarClan, help us all…