"Nightpaw, wake up." A voice mewed. Paws prodded at the tom's side. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see his mentor, Goldenblaze. "Patrol?" Nightpaw meowed sleepily. Goldenblaze shook his head, "No, it's time for the Gathering." Nightpaw's perked at those words.
I completely forgot tonight was the Gathering, he thought. Nightpaw stood up and stretched. "Jaystar is waiting for us." The tall black tom followed his mentor out of the den to the entrance to camp. Jaystar dipped his head. "Glad to have you join us, Nightpaw." Nightpaw dipped his head. The leader of ShadeClan always seemed to hold a keen interest in Nightpaw and he could never figure out why. Perhaps it was because the grey tabby tom was Nightpaw's uncle.
"ShadeClan!" Jaystar meowed. "It is time for the Gathering. Let us be off!" The ShadeClan leader bounded out of the camp into the forest, the Clan following behind him. Nightpaw followed behind his mentor, weaving through the undergrowth with his Clanmates. As he ran, he looked next to him and saw a white she-cat next to him. She looked over at him and sped up when she noticed him staring. "Eyes forward, Nyx."
He scowled at the nickname. Icepaw never liked him and he could never figure out why. He grew up with her and her littermates, Frozenpaw and Crowpaw. The two toms were his friends, but their sister was cold. It was as if she saw him as some kind of rogue. Pushing the thoughts away, he kept running. He slowed down as the Clan reached the entrance to the Gathering Cave. Nightpaw waiting for his turn to enter the cave, watching as his Clanmates entered the cave one by one. He tasted the air. ShadeClan was the last to arrive. DuskClan, FlameClan, and LeafClan had already arrived.
Nightpaw padded into the tunnel, feeling the cold air of the cave on his fur. He exited the tunnel into a massive cavern with a hole in the ceiling, moonlight lighting up the entire cave.
"Nightpaw!" A friendly voice meowed. Nightpaw turned to see a pretty light brown she-cat padding toward him. She pushed forward and brushed against him. "It's so good to see you again." Nightpaw shied away. "Dawnpaw," he murmured. "Our Clanmates might get the wrong idea if they see you greeting me like this." Dawnpaw shrunk back. "Right, sorry." She mewed dejectedly. She looked down at her paws. "It's just that you were the first cat outside of my Clan who was nice to me. You're my friend."
He looked at her with sympathy. "I know, but we don't want to get in trouble over a misunderstanding." Dawnpaw nodded. "I suppose that's fair." The she-cat straightened up and look at Nightpaw. "Shall we sit together?" Nightpaw mewed in agreement and padded towards a group of cats mingling. As the other cats settled around him, he felt as if someone was watching him. Looking around, he scanned the cavern. At first, he didn't see anyone looking at him. However, as he looked towards a group of ShadeClan and DuskClan apprentices, he noticed Icepaw staring at him. The look in her eyes was difficult to read. It wasn't the usual scornful look she gave him. It almost seemed like she was sad.
Nightpaw was distracted by his Clanmate's stare by the sound of Fogstar calling for the Gathering to start. "If there are no objections, DuskClan shall go first." The other leaders bowed their heads to the older tom. As the oldest leader, he held the respect of every cat in the Clans. Fogstar stepped forward and rumbled, "There have been some traces of fox scents near our border with LeafClan. Our warriors scented them early this morning. However, they are faint and headed along the border."
"Thank you for warning us, Fogstar," Miststar mewed, dipping her head. "We shall keep a look out for any foxes in our territory." Fogstar nodded and continued, "In other news, Ashfur gave birth to three healthy kits. Her and Firestorm are happy parents of Flamekit, Sootkit, and Ashykit." The Clan cheered in congratulations. Nightpaw looked towards a large ginger tom who was puffing in chest out in pride.
That must be Firestorm, he thought.
"FlameClan has sadly lost Pearlnose." Hollystar mewed somberly. "The elder passed on to StarClan a quarter moon ago in her sleep." Other cats bowed their heads in reverence to the elder. "Also, we have had scents of ShadeClan cats in our territory." Yowls of protest erupted from the ShadeClan cats, causing FlameClan cats to yowl back. Jaystar suddenly screeched, "Silence!" The entire Gathering went silent. Jaystar was the youngest leader, but he was well respected as a kind cat. The grey tabby tom turned to the black she-cat beside him. "Where exactly were these scents found?" he asked. Hollystar looked at the grey tom and mewed, "They were scented a few pawlengths into our territory." Jaystar nodded. "I apologize for this incident. One of our new apprentices accidentally crossed the border while hunting." he meowed. "Their mentor managed to stop them before that got too far or caught anything on your territory."
Hollystar narrowed her eyes. "Very well. Just do not let it happen again."
Nightpaw breathed a sigh of relief as the tension and hostility died down. "On that note," Jaystar mewed. "ShadeClan does not have any news to share." Miststar stepped forward. "LeafClan has no news to share either." Fogstar nodded and rumbled, commandingly. "The Gathering is now over." Cats started saying their goodbyes and exiting the cave. Dawnpaw brushed her nose against Nightpaw's. "Can we talk in private before we leave?" Nightpaw looked at her inquisitively, but followed the pretty she-cat to a secluded area.
"Why did you want to talk in private?" Nightpaw asked. Dawnpaw shuffled her paws. "Would you maybe want to meet up at the border at moon high in a quarter moon?" Dawnpaw asked timidly. Nightpaw's ears flickered in surprise. "Dawnpaw, one of my fellow apprentice's just got in trouble for accidentally crossing the border into your Clan." he mewed. "If I get caught crossing the border on purpose, I could get in much more trouble." Dawnpaw shook her head. "There is a part of the border that no one ever goes near. It's towards the north part of the border." she mewed. "Just follow the border all the way to the end and there will be a cave at the end. I'll be waiting behind the bramble entrance." She touched her nose to his and whisked away without giving him a chance to respond.
Nightpaw sat there for a moment before he heard his leader calling for ShadeClan to gather to leave. Shaking his fur out, he turned and made his way back to his Clanmates. "You seemed very friendly with that FlameClan apprentice." Someone meowed behind him. Nightpaw turned to see Icepaw. "Dawnpaw?" Nightpaw asked. "She's a friend." Icepaw narrowed her eyes. "Then why did you two walk further into the cave after the Gathering?"
Nightpaw's fur bristled. She saw us?
"She wanted to ask me a question," the black tom meowed. "Why do you care? You've never even considered me a Clanmate." Icepaw's ears flattened at that. "What gave you that idea?" she meowed, a tone of hurt in her mew. Nightpaw snorted. "You treat me like an outsider. You call me "Nyx" instead of Nightpaw, as if I'm some sort of rogue. You don't like me. You just want to find a reason to out me to the Clan as some code breaker to get me kicked out, don't you?" Icepaw's eyes widened at that and Nightpaw could see the hurt in her eyes.
"Nightpaw, I don't hate you," she mewed, her voice quiet. "I call you Nyx because it was a special nickname. And I-" she cut off before she finished her sentence. Nightpaw could see that she seemed upset by what he said. Before he could ask her what she was going to say, Icepaw bolted out of the cavern, following the rest of their Clanmates. Nightpaw sighed. Maybe I was too harsh, he thought. He followed his Clan out of the cave and back to camp.
The next morning, Nightpaw awoke early. Blinking until his eyes adjusted to the dimly lit den, he looked around. Frozenpaw and Crowpaw were still asleep, but Icepaw wasn't in her nest. Standing up and stretching, the black tom weaved through the nests and pushed his way out of the den. It was still dark out. He stepped out into the clearing. He couldn't see any cats around, but he could scent one. Icepaw? The white she-cat's scent was leading towards the dirtplace, but it was faint, as if she hadn't been there for quite some time. Nightpaw padded toward the dirtplace, when he was stopped by someone behind him. "Nightpaw?"
The black tom stiffened and whirled around, seeing his fathe, Blackheart. The massive black tom was standing guard over the camp. He did I not see him? Nightpaw thought. Shaking the thought away, the tall tom dipped his head toward his father. "Hello father." The older tom flicked his ears. "What are you doing up so early?" he mewed. Nightpaw looked towards the dirtplace tunnel and then back towards Blackheart. "Just need to make some dirt." he meowed. Blackheart nodded and Nightpaw continued on his way to the dirtplace tunnel. He could smell Icepaw's scent leading to the tunnel out of camp through the dirtplace. Following the scent, the black tom silently moved through the undergrowth.
He made his way towards the area of ShadeClan territory bordered neutral territory. Exiting the forest, he saw Icepaw sitting on the shore of the Lake that the Clan territories surround. "Icepaw?" he mewed. The small white she-cat spun around in alarm, but when she realized it was Nightpaw, she relaxed. "Hey Ny- I mean, Nightpaw," she murmured. "How did you find me?" The tom chuckled. "I'm one of the best trackers in the Clan. It was easy to find you once I noticed your scent leaving the dirtplace tunnel." Icepaw hummed in thought. "I see," she meowed. An awkward silence fell over them. Nightpaw shuffled his paws and mewed, "Icepaw." The she-cat looked towards him. "I'm sorry for the things I said at the Gathering. I was harsh and that wasn't fair to you." Icepaw sighed. "Like I told you, I don't hate you. I have trouble talking to you because whenever I try to, my brain gets fuzzy and I can't think. I didn't understand why at first, until my mother explained why." Nightpaw tilted his head curiously.
"What did she tell you?" he asked. Icepaw looked down at her paws. "I had feelings for you." Nightpaw blinked in surprise. "I don't anymore, just to be clear. I just still haven't been able to speak to you properly." Nightpaw let out a mrrrow of laughter.
"Hey, what's so funny?" The white she-cat meowed. Nightpaw padded up to her and sat down beside her. "I never would've guessed," he mewed. "I always thought you didn't like me at all. You were always so cold and distant." Icepaw ducked her head. "I couldn't talk to you for some reason."
"Well, you're talking to me right now, aren't you?" Nightpaw mewed. "Doesn't seem like you are having a hard time." Icepaw's whiskers twitched in agreement. "Guess not." she meowed. "So now what? Do we become friends?" Nightpaw flicked her flank with his tail. "I guess." Icepaw stood up and shook out her pelt. "Let's get back to camp. If someone notices we're gone, we could be in trouble." Nightpaw nodded and followed Icepaw back to camp.