Chapter 4

"The Gathering."

3/8/17 - 3/9/17 - 3/10/17

Snowpaw sees a brown rabbit running past her vision and falling on the ground.

"Look. It's injured." She told Driftcloud and Thistlefang. The rabbit's flank was ripped open and bleeding, it hardly has any strength left.

"This is just our luck, too." Driftcloud says, padding toward the rabbit with claws unsheathed with Thistlefang right behind him. Snowpaw bristles her fur.

"You're going to kill it?!"

Driftcloud stops as Snowpaw pads to the brown rabbit and places her paw on its head. The rabbit's beady eyes became fixed on her, its nose twitches nervously.

"Snowpaw, it's StarClan's gift to us that this rabbit came to us."

Snowpaw looks at Thistlefang. "But this so wrong. I mean… can't we just heal it and leave it alone…?"

Both toms were staring at her weirdly.

"Snowpaw, this isn't a cat. It's prey. Watch."

Thistlefang quickly sinks his claws into the rabbit's flank. The rabbit let out a shriek before falling still. Snowpaw sees the life drain from its eyes and stared at Thistlefang in shock.

Thistlefang carries the rabbit by the scruff.

"How could you?!" She yelled at him. "It couldn't even defend itself!"

Thistlefang blinks with shock.

"Snowpaw, it's prey." Driftcloud said gently.

"I don't care! It's just wrong to attack something that can't fight back! I can't believe you just did that, Thistlefang!"

Snowpaw basks in the moonlight as she recalls this afternoon's "breakdown" as Driftcloud calls it. A few warriors found it amusing that she defended a rabbit and teased her a bit, but Snowpaw didn't like it.

She stays far away from the other warriors as Darkstar picks the remaining cats to go to the Gathering, Snowpaw is one of the chosen cats, for the first time since her apprenticeship.

She yawns from the lack of sleep.

"You can't ignore me forever, Snowpaw."

The white she cat flicks her ear to Thistlefang. The dark brown tabby tom looks genuinely upset.

"Look, I'm sorry but I only acted because it would've been a waste to let the rabbit go."

"... We have plenty of prey. I thought you would've been on my side but I guess I was wrong."

Thistlefang winces as if she scratched his muzzle. "Snowpaw-."

"ThunderClan, let's go!"

Thistlefang sighs. "I'll talk to you later."

Snowpaw took her first paw steps onto the island and was already overwhelmed for the past five minutes. She sees different cats, and her nose picks up a strong, fish stink.

"Ugh, my nose…" She groans, using her front paw to cover her nose. She feels a tail touch her flank and sees her brother, Berrypaw, and their cousin, Mistpaw.

"Snowpaw, Mistpaw said there are some apprentices in the far back."

Snowpaw follows Berrypaw and Mistpaw to a small group of young cats. A light brown she cat with dark brown and black patches on her pelt, a black tom with dark brown ears, and a dark grey tom.

The patched she cat notices Mistpaw first.

"Look, she's back."

Berrypaw nods to the other apprentices. "I'm Berrypaw, her cousin."

"I thought Graystream was your cousin." The dark grey tom said.

"More like second cousin." Mistpaw says. "Graystream is my mother, me and my sister, Pinepaw's. Her and Berrypaw's mother are cousins. Understand?"

The dark grey tom slowly nods. "I...think so."

"Ignore the rabbit brain. I'm Cheetahpaw from WindClan, and this is Dewpaw from ShadowClan. And-."

Cheetahpaw stares and shoves the black tom, who looks startled by her.

"What? Oh - sorry!"

The black tom dips his head, briefly. "I'm Beechpaw. RiverClan. Who are you?"

Snowpaw notices Mistpaw and Berrypaw looking at her expectantly. She feels her fur bristling slightly along her spine.

"I'm Snowpaw, Berrypaw's sister."

Cheetahpaw flicks her ear. "Wow… She's chatty."

Snowpaw flattens her ears. Was this one being sarcastic, or funny?

"Actually, would you like to meet my denmate, Spiderpaw? He should be near the medicine cats."

"Sure! C'mon, Berrypaw!"

Mistpaw nudges Berrypaw toward the medicine cats, leaving Snowpaw with the three apprentices.

Snowpaw bites her lip. "So…"

"Mistpaw told us about you." Dewpaw said to Snowpaw.

"... She did?"

Dewpaw nods. "Me and Cheetahpaw were interested with meeting a cat who advocates for rabbits."

Snowpaw's blood runs cold through her veins.

"Yeah, you're actually famous to the apprentices in my Clan. Hey Owlpaw, Swiftpaw, Poolpaw, Mosspaw!"

The named apprentices pad to Dewpaw as Snowpaw bristles her fur with fear.

"This is the one who Mistpaw told us about. The rabbit protector."

Swiftpaw snickers. "Ooh, that's so noble that you protect rabbits, Snowpaw."

Owlpaw looks at his denmates. "Hey, lay off her."

"Don't tell me you like the rabbit lover." Poolpaw teased. Owlpaw clamps his mouth and quickly pads away.

"Say, why don't you come by WindClan?" Cheetahpaw cooed. "I'm sure we'll appreciate you drawing out the rabbits for us."

Snowpaw looks around for her brother, Mistpaw, even Thistlefang.

Thistlefang? Where are you? I'm sorry for being mean to you - please help-!

"Leave her alone."

Beechpaw stands next to Snowpaw, glaring at the crowd of apprentices. Dewpaw glares at him back.

"We were just having fun!"

"Yeah, harmless fun. It's not our fault the she-cat's too sensitive." Cheetahpaw adds.

Beechpaw lashes his tail. "You call taunting a cat's compassionate nature fun? No. That's just being a bully."

"That's just how Cheetahpaw plays."

A black tom with a long tail pads towards them with an angry Berrypaw and shocked Mistpaw.

"Starting trouble again?" He questions Cheetahpaw. The light brown she cat narrows her eyes.

"This is none of your business, Spiderpaw."

"No, but it's our business."

All apprentices look at Darkstar, Creekstar and a brown tabby she cat. The ShadowClan apprentices quickly retreat from the group.

"What is going on here?" Creekstar growls.

"Cheetahpaw seems to have a problem with-." Spiderpaw looks at the white she cat.

"Snowpaw." She replies.

Darkstar looks at Creekstar. "Who is Cheetahpaw?"

"This one." Creekstar points his tail over to the light brown she cat. Darkstar glares at the young she cat.

"Do remember to keep your apprentices in line, Creekstar. We wouldn't want you to lose an ear for arrogance, would we?"

Cheetahpaw bushes her tail and falls beside Creekstar for support. The WindClan leader glares at Darkstar. "I know how to handle my apprentices."

"Not the way I see it." Darkstar retorts. He looks at his three apprentices.

"If there's nothing left for you here, let's go."

Nightpaw sees Berrypaw and Mistpaw returning to their respective mentors, Snowpaw chose to sit next to her and not Driftcloud.

Nightpaw leans toward Snowpaw.

"Hey, what happened over in the back? I heard loud voices and your name-."

"Drop it."

Nightpaw blinks. "But-."

Snowpaw gives Nightpaw a seething glare. "Just. Drop it."

Nightpaw closes her mouth and forces herself to look at the tree the leaders were in.

"The Gathering will begin, I'll begin." The brown tabby she cat from before calls out.

"As you can see, Cloudstar has unfortunately passed away in his sleep, losing his last life. He went peacefully. I went to Moonpool and received my nine lives and stand before you as Olivestar of RiverClan."

"Olivestar! Olivestar! Olivestar!"

"And my deputy is Silversnow."

Olivestar looks at the white and silver she cat sitting with Littlefalcon, Brackenfall and Rabbitstep.

"Silversnow! Silversnow! Silversnow!"

"Also, our queen, Berrystripe, has given birth to two kits, Minnowkit and Carpkit are both she cats, and their father is Birchfang."

Nightpaw sees a mottled brown tom in the crowd puffing his chest out.

"He looks like he's ready to burst." She whispers to Snowpaw.

The white-silver flecked she cat gives her the smallest of smiles before turning her attention to the leader's tree.

"We have two new apprentices, Beechpaw and Bearpaw. That is all RiverClan has to report."

Olivestar steps down from her branch, Heatherstar says, "ShadowClan has nothing to report except for one. Splashpelt's kits are apprenticed and here with us tonight, Owlpaw, Swiftpaw and Mosspaw."

Nightpaw feels Snowpaw nudge her, and looks at her second cousin.

"Check out that WindClan tom." Snowpaw points toward a dark grey tom near the WindClan cats. He was boring his eyes on the three named apprentices with an unreadable emotion.

"He looks like Littlefalcon when he watched your apprenticeship." Snowpaw told her.

Creekstar takes his place on the branch.

"Like RiverClan and ShadowClan, we also have new apprentices. Cheetahpaw and Spiderpaw are warrior apprentices, and Softpaw is training as a medicine cat apprentice under Hazelheart."

"... Doesn't Spiderpaw look upset with Softpaw?" Nightpaw asks Snowpaw.

"I think that's his sister. Cheetahpaw is a total jerk, he must be sick of being stuck with her as a denmate."

"Poor kitty." Nightpaw cooed.

"That is all WindClan has to report."

Creekstar climbs off the branch, and Darkstar takes his place.

"We have four new apprentices with us tonight. The kits of Littlefalcon and Ivyheart."

Darkstar gives Creekstar a dark, snide glare before looking at the cats below him.

"Morningpaw is apprenticed under Volefang, Acornpaw is apprenticed under Goldflame, Fishpaw is apprenticed under Lightstripe, and Nightpaw is apprenticed under Thrushwing."

The other Clans cheer their names, except for WindClan. Nightpaw does see Spiderpaw mouthing "congratulations" to her.

"Hailstone."

Duskshade sees Kestrelwing speaking to his mentor.

"Do you mind if I borrow your apprentice for a spell?"

"... Not at all. Duskshade, stay near us and be ready when Darkstar wants to leave."

The pale brown tabby tom nods and follows Kestrelwing into a thick brush.

"What do you want to talk about?" Duskshade asks.

Kestrelwing looks out the brush to make sure they weren't being eavesdropped, and looks at Duskshade.

"Have you gotten any messages from StarClan lately? Or do any of your apprentices show odd behavior or anything out of the ordinary?"

Duskshade recalls the prophecy Stealthfire gave him during his visit to StarClan after earning his name. It still lingers in his mind…

"Yes. I do, but what has brought about this question?"

"One of the apprentices, Owlpaw, has confided in me with dreams he's been having for a couple of days, hearing voices even when he is awake."

"Like what?"

Kestrelwing flicks his ear. "It goes like, "Snow of the rose and night of the falcon, spider woven in web of lies, a restless owl and a towering beech. All must go to the mountain and fight the ancient enemy of cats or risk the fall of the Clans forever."

Duskshade's fur bristles with tension. "Stealthfire told me the same thing."

"Really? When?"

"Two moons ago, when Hailstone gave me my name. You said Owlpaw heard the voice?"

Kestrelwing nods. "Yes, and I believe he is the one that the prophecy talked about. StarClan might be communicating with the chosen cats through their dreams and whispering in their ears. Poor Owlpaw's training is suffering because of this, he's always tired…"

Duskshade frowns. "Now that you mention it, Snowpaw looked a little tired before we came here. What do you suggest we do for the rest?"

"... Considering what we've learned, the prophecy might be about the apprentices. Until we know who the other two cats are, we should keep an eye on the apprentices for the time being."

"Maybe you should tell Hailstone, too."

"Actually, Stealthfire told me to keep it to myself. I haven't told Hailstone anything about the dreams."

Kestrelwing nods slowly. "Okay… Then when we go to the Moonpool, we can discuss this with the other medicine cats on our next steps to complete the prophecy, and it might also mean you have to tell Hailstone what you know."

ThunderClan goes home and rests in their nests. Nightpaw and Snowpaw were kicking in their nests…

"Run, run!"

Nightpaw looks around the mountain terrain, and sees Snowpaw dangling over a cliff.

"Snowpaw!"

The white she cat looks to see Nightpaw running toward her. "N-Nightpaw?"

"Hold on, I'll pull you up!"

Nightpaw firmly grasps her teeth into Snowpaw's scruff, and slowly lifts her up. Snowpaw grips her claws in the stone. Nightpaw sees a blur of fur and a blunt force hits her, and she loses her grip on Snowpaw.

"NO!"

Nightpaw sees Snowpaw falling into the abyss. She looks up and her heart freezes.

A white, shaggy furred canine bares its teeth and sinks its fangs into her body, sending a spray of blood flying into the air.

"Snowpaw!"

Nightpaw wakes up and clumsy runs to Snowpaw's nest in the far back, stepping on cats and waking them up. Snowpaw's cries were covered by her front paws as she looks at Nightpaw.

"You let me fall…!"

"No, no I wouldn't do that!" Nightpaw whispers, licking Snowpaw's forehead.

The other apprentices watch them with confusion, drowsiness and curiosity. Nightpaw decides to stay with her scared cousin, and wills herself and Snowpaw to go back to sleep without nightmares.

I wanted to post this yesterday but… *sigh* technical issues prevented that from happening. I prefer not to go into details.

What's important is that you got a chapter out. There is also a call back to the last chapter, see if you can find it. ;)

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great morning. :) ~ Kyubi