I tried to keep up with this story. I tried, I said.

Song of the Shadows: Losing Myself will be my first priority, with a new chapter every day. Go check that out for me.

Warning: I am getting kind of uninspired for this story, to put it lightly. I will be continuing this, but I will be speeding it up tremendously, so it will seem like there is no middle: just a beginning intro to the characters and then a sudden enemy and ending. I am sorry.

I was following someone- Wave, probably, through the thick path overgrown with bushes and trees and grasses, and it wasn't until Sunstar halted at the front of the group that we all stopped, too.

"We are approaching the Gathering," he said in a hushed voice. "Come on over."

I heard a few 'ooh's and 'ah's from some of newer apprentices, but for me, it was all just the same. There was darkness, and that was all, but there was a special scent coming from beyond, one of many new cats and new possibilities. I found that I was already anticipating what could happen.

We stepped onto a flat plain, where the thick, overwhelming tang of various cats and various places continued to grow. This must be it, I thought. We're here. My first Gathering.

Sometimes, you get feelings when something is about to happen. Other times, you are still confused even when the event is already occurring. I definitely belonged to the second group.

First, there were meows of confusion around me. Barely audible among all the other noise there was, but they were there all the same. I could make out small snippets of what they were talking about, but nothing entire or whole. "...The moon..." "Too many clouds tonight..." "...ancestors... angry..."

"What's going on?" someone yowled, but he never got an answer. The whole place quieted down, and there were some murmurs and much fear-scent as something occurred. I fought through the crowd, as if that would help me understand the situation better, but I still was very much confused.

Mutters of anger. Change in the mood. I stiffened. "Pearlpaw," I said suddenly, before realizing that she wasn't here. Calm down, I told myself. She would tease everything out of you if she ever found out that I had called to her for help.

But that was on the back of my mind now. There was a scream in the background- probably someone being tripped over- and suddenly, a she-cat's voice rang out, clear and strong. I couldn't recognize it; she must not have been from FireClan.

"Friends and foes!" she shouted, and all four clans began quieting down again. When even the sound of trickling dew could be heard in the still night air, she continued. "MoonClan has spoken. The hawk, tiger, wolf and salmon must be destroyed before they join together to get rid of a great force."

I was still very much confused, but I shivered when I heard my own name being spoken aloud. Wolves? I had no time to question anything, though, because some of my own clanmates were beginning to crowd around me- and it wasn't a friendly hug, either.

I did the only thing I could. I ran. Tripping over pebbles and pushing over many cats along the way. I heard my name being shouted, but I didn't care, because that was all in the past now.

In the present, right now, I was being chased. Soon, that would be history, because suddenly, I felt something like falling and my flailing paws were moving on thin air.

I felt like screaming, and I still didn't know what was going on.

I landed.

My bones felt like they were splintering, there was a light buzzing in my head, and I felt as if I would never feel happy ever again. The very place seemed to drain the life out of me. Standing up and groaning all at the same time, I found myself to be alone.

I couldn't remember much, but it was slowly but surely coming back. The Gathering. The prophecy from MoonClan. I ran, and then...

I ended up here. Where was I?

"It worked out finely, didn't it?" a soft, raspy voice sounded out. I turned around as I sensed it coming from my right. It sounded menacing, even though I didn't know why, and I instinctively backed off.

There was a pause, a sort of total silence for a few moments. "What are you waiting for? Get him already!" another cat hissed. They were both toms, by the sound of it, and both sounded unpleasant. "The clans are now... fortunate enough to not have these little monsters running around." There was a hint of scorn in his tone. "Right, Snaketalon?"

"Yes, Lionspring," the one that was known as Snaketalon responded. "Quite."

I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned to run, but just as I thought they would be coming after me, I sensed no movements in the air. Pausing, knowing full well that this could have been a trick, I asked, "Why aren't you going after me?"

"Because this is the place of the Ones That Feed Off Fears," Snaketalon growled. "You have nowhere to run."

I sensed truth in his words, but just as I was about to panic, I heard something else.

Snuffles. Curses. Rustles in the forest beyond. My hopes completely shattered. "There- there's more of you?"

Lionspring sighed. "No, instead, more of your friends, I fear. Looks like they also ended up here. Unfortunate for them."

Read the announcement up above.