Heatherpaw opened her eyes to find the sun shining brightly into the apprentices den. She yawned and got up. She prodded her sleeping brother hard with her paw, who jumped up quickly, his fur sticking up.
"Oh, it's just you..." he sighed and started licking his fur. She grinned with amusement in her eyes. Heading out towards the fresh-kill pile, she spotted her mentor's black and white fur.
"Ravenwing, what are we going to do today?" she asked as she chose a plump mouse from the top of the pile and began to devour it, hungrily.
Ravenwing watched with slight amusement. "We aren't training today. There's a gathering tonight!" she paused for a moment and smiled, "Tell your brother that he will be going to the gathering, along with you, of course!"
It took Heatherpaw a moment to realize what Ravenwing had said. She ran back to the apprentices den where Lionpaw was still grooming himself. She tackled him playfully. "Lionpaw! We get to go to the gathering tonight!" she exclaimed, her tail flicking back and forth.
His face lit up immediatly. "Are you serious?!" he asked and she nodded. "I wonder what the other clans will be like! I wonder if all the Riverclan cats really do smell like fish," he smirked. She wrinkled her nose and laughed.
"And if Shadowclan cats are really as bad as everyone says they are!" she exclaimed. "But, what do we do until it's time for the gathering? I'm really excited! Time will go by too slow!" she complained.
"Why don't you two replace my nest and check me for ticks?" a familar voice growled. Bird had apparently overheard their conversation. The young cats exchanged annoyed looks.
"Well, come on now!" she mewed impatiently. "My fur can't clean itself, you know!" Heatherpaw and Lionpaw sighed and gave each other a look meaning "I guess we really have to do this, then". They got up and headed to the elders den.
"I checked her for ticks last time, so you have to do it this time! I'll go get the moss for her new nest," she explained with a look of satisfaction in her eyes. Lionpaw growled at her and swiped at her playfully.
"Fine! But next time, we should make Frostpaw do this!" he mewed and headed to the medicine cats den. Heatherpaw, with a truimphant smile on her face, dragged Bird's old nest out of the elders den and headed into the forest.
It was leaf-fall and the tree's leaves were bright orange instead of their usual green colors. I wonder how leaves change colors... she thought as she headed to the supply of moss.
By the time she reached the moss, she was shaking slightly from the cold air. She got some moss and slowly struggled to bring it back to camp. She tripped clumsily and got back up quickly, embaressed, even though no one was around to see.
Heatherpaw had reached the camp right around the time Lionpaw had finished checking Bird's fur. He quickly ran over to help her carry the moss to the elders den.
"You washed the bile off your paws, right?" she asked him.
"Of course! I'm not mouse-brained like you!" he exclaimed and cuffed her ear with his ear softly. She smirked and jumped on him, pinning him down. Heatherpaw and Lionpaw were closer than most siblings because their father died while their mother was still pregnant with them. She died giving birth to them and Larksong, Whisperpaw's mom, adopted them.
Their play-fighting was interupted when Willowstar yowled, "The cats that are going to the gathering need to meet at the camp entrance. We will be leaving shortly."
They exchanged excited looks before bounding off to the entrance. The rest of the cats that were assigned to go assembled shortly. The group was talking amongst themselves while they waited to leave.
"Everyone, follow me," Willowstar yelled over the loud talking of the cats. She swiftly headed out of the camp entrance and the cats slowly began to follow her.
"We are going to our first gathering," Heatherpaw smiled.