Leader: Sunstar- Tom with yellow tabby stripes and long fur. A fair leader.*
Deputy: Tawnyspots- A small tawny colored tom with darker patches and spots.*
Medicine Cat: Featherwhisker- Pale, silvery gray tom with bright amber eyes, unusually long feathery whiskers, and a sweeping plume of a tail. Works tirelessly* (Soon to be Spottedleaf’s mentor)
Warriors: Smallear-Gray tom with very small ears. Swiftcloud’s brother. Father of Bluekit, lionkit, Snowkit, and Dapplekit. *
Patchpelt-Small black and white tom. APPRENTICE: Specklepaw*
Halftail- Big dark brown tabby to with part of his tail missing.*
Swiftcloud(One-Eye)-Pale gray she-cat. Smallear’s sister.*
Ivytail-Orange she-cat with white paws and striped tail. Senior warrior. Green eyes. APPRENTICE:Whitepaw*
Ashtail- Small white tom with a pitch black tail and amber eyes.
Dawnfrost- White she-cat with pale gray spots and blue eyes.*
Woodfur-light brown tom with yellow eyes.*
Stonepelt- Solid gray tom.
Apprentices: Specklepaw(Speckletail)- Pale tabby she-cat. The oldest apprentice. *
Redpaw(Redtail)Brown tom with a thick reddish tail . Youngest Apprentice.*
Queens: Moonflower- Slender silver she-cat with soft yellow eyes. Mother of Dapplekit, Lionkit, Snowkit, and Bluekit. *
Rosetail-Dark tabby she-cat with an orange tail and orange eyes. Expecting kits soon. *
Kits: Bluekit(Bluestar)- Small gray-blue she-cat almost like her father, Smallear.*
Lionkit-(Lionheart) Big golden tom with green eyes.*
Dapplekit(Dappletail)- Pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with a lovely dappled coat. *
Snowkit-(Snowfur)Pure white she-cat.
Elders: Blacknose- All black tom with a black nose and yellow eyes.*
Longfur-White and brown tom with blue eyes and very long fur. Formerly the deputy. *
Rosetail’s kits: Thistlekit Foxkit
Prologue
A single cat sat in the clearing. It was midnight, and snow fell lightly as the chilly wind rattled the leafless branches above, in the forest. Suddenly a single call echoed through the frozen night,
“Featherwhisker! Come quickly! The kits are coming! And now!” The elderly cat sprang up and dashed toward a den made by brambles and thorns. A gasp came from the den, making the old cat go faster.
“I’m here, Smallear, Moonflower! Don’t worry!” The cat stepped in the den and hurried toward a small queen, with a gray tom next to her. Her belly bulged with kits, and her amber eyes were frantic and scared.
“Here, eat these, they will help you have your kits” The elderly cat meowed, pushing a pawful of herbs toward her. She nodded and blinked, barely noticing they were there.
A minute after she had swallowed the herbs, her belly rippled and she yowled in pain.
“A kit is coming! Hold on, Moonflower! You can make it!” Smallear meowed, desperately. Then a small bundle of fur appeared, wet and slimy.
“Lick it! It will get it breathing!” Featherwhisker ordered. Smallear bent down immediately and licked the little kit until it let out a faint squeak.
“You’re doing good, Moonflower, keep them coming!” Featherwhisker
urged. Then she let out another yowl and another kit landed in the moss. Smallear then started to lick the new kit. It took longer, but after a while the tiny kit also began to squeak
Featherwhisker and Smallear held their breathes and waited for the last two kits. Finally the last kits plopped onto the ground and Featherwhisker started to lick it.
“You did it, Moonflower! You had your kits!” Featherwhisker purred. Moonflower looked up at her new kits weakly with a sigh of relief. One of the kits was a golden tom. Another kit was a pretty tortoiseshell she- cat with a lovely dappled coat. The third was a snow white she-cat. The last one was a gray, almost blue she-cat, Moonflower’s first born. She looked just like her mother.
Finally Moonflower spoke.
“T-the golden one shall b-be named Lionkit. The tortoiseshell will be named Dapplekit. And… t-the blue-gray sh-she-cat w-will be n-n-named… Bluekit…The white kit shall be named Snowkit…” Then her head collapsed onto the soft moss bedding. Smallear gasped.
“ Is she okay? Is she dead?!?!” Featherwhisker stepped forward to inspect her. He could tell by the faint rise and fall of her chest that she was alive.
“No. She is alive. She is just unconscious.” Featherwhisker rasped.
“Here, stay with her and her kits, make sure they get to their mother’s belly. I will be right back.” he ordered. Smallear nodded and whispered something in Moonflower’s ear. Featherwhisker , feeling that the kits were
safe with Smallear, stepped outside. He raised his eyes to the silvery streak of stars above. Just then a different star caught his eye. He gasped. The star was blue. Then a single word popped into his head; Bluestar. Bluestar?! He raised his head to the sky again. A scene formed in the stars, of Bluekit, growing, bigger stronger, until she was a full grown cat. Featherwhisker blinked, and the image disappeared. What could it mean? Did it mean Starclan was trying to say that that tiny kit would… Become a leader?
“Bluestar…” he murmured. A chilly wind blew right through his thin fur and he shivered. He would think about this later, but now he needed to check on the kits. Featherwhisker fluffed up his fur in the cold and entered the warm nursery once again.
Chapter 1-end
Chapter 1
“Come on, Lionkit, Dapplekit, Snowkit! We’re going to be apprentices tonight! Apprentices!” Bluekit yowled.
“Yippee!!!” Lionkit and Dapplekit meowed happily.
“I’m going to be just like Sunstar!” Bluekit announced.
“I wanna be like Smallear! He’s so brave! He once told me he climbed to the top of the Great Sycamore!” Lionkit marveled.
“Wow! Really?!” Dapplekit and Bluekit widened their eyes in awe.
“I’m going to be just like Featherwhisker ! Only I won’t be a medicine cat! He never gives up on goals!” Dapplekit explained. Snowkit’s eyes glowed. “I’m just going to be the best warrior ever!” she whispered.
Bluekit was one of the four kits in the nursery. She was a blue-gray she-cat. Lionkit was a golden tom, Dapplekit was a tortoiseshell she-cat with a dappled coat, and Snowkit was a pure white she-cat. They were kits of Thunderclan. Thunderclan was one of four Clans that lived in the forest. The leader of Thunderclan was Sunstar. The other Clans were Windclan, Shadowclan, and Riverclan. The Clans all had queens, kits, elders, apprentices, warriors, a medicine cat, a deputy, and a leader. Bluekit, Dapplekit, Snowkit and Lionkit would were kits, and would become apprentices!
“Hey wanna play Save Sunningrocks?” Dapplekit suggested. “Yeah!!!” Lionkit and Bluekit yowled together. Then a slender silver queen stepped out of the nursery.
“Hush, kits, Rosetail needs to sleep, her kits will be born soon.” She told them.
“Yes, mother.” they mewed. The she-cat let a mrow of laughter.
“Oh don’t worry, tonight you’ll become apprentices. And then you can make all the noise you want!” The kits looked at each other with excitement gleaming in their eyes. Then Snowkit spoke up.
“Mother can we play by the apprentices den, by the stump? Were almost apprentices?” The she-cat thought for a minute. Then answered,
“Okay but don’t leave camp or Sunstar will have your tails off. Remember? No kits out of camp while Shadowclan is lurking around!” “Yes mother!!!” The kits raced down toward the apprentices den, mewing excitedly.
“Okay! Lets play Save Sunningrocks now!” Bluekit yowled.
“Yeah! I’ll be Riverclan leader!” Dapplekit volunteered.
“I’ll be a Thunderclan warrior!” Lionkit meowed, flicking his golden tail.
“I’ll be a Riverclan warrior!” Snowkit mewed.
“Then I’ll be Thunderclan leader!” Bluekit meowed joyfully.
“Grarrrr! Sunningrocks is Thunderclan territory, Snowstar! Get off of our land!” Bluekit shrieked at Dapplekit!
“Yeah, Snowstar! Surrender now!” lionkit yowled.
“Never!” “Sunningrocks belongs to Riverclan, Sunstar!” Snowkit and Dapplekit hissed. Then all four cats flew at each other and locked in a tangled tussle, yowling battle cries. Then they broke apart, gasping and laughing.
“Owowowow!” Dapplekit wailed playfully.
“We will return, Thunderclan! Sunningrocks will someday be ours!”
*****
The almost full moon was almost covered in snow clouds. It was the night of the ceremony that the kits would remember for the rest of their lives. Snow still fell lightly, covering the ground with soft, white ice. Then a yellow tabby tom hopped up onto the tall rock in the middle of the clearing in the camp. After a minute he yowled,
“All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the Highrock for a Clan meeting!”
Cats streamed out of their cozy dens to see what their leader, Sunstar wanted. And out of the nursery came Bluekit, Lionkit, Snowkit, Dapplekit, and Moonfower, all washed up for the ceremony. Dapplekit was complaining,
“But we can’t catch prey yet! How can we come to the meeting?!” Moonflower shushed her.
“Kits can come to the meeting if they’re becoming apprentices!” Bluekit settled herself between her father, Smallear, and Dapplekit, who was still complaining.
As soon as all of Thunderclan was settled by the Highrock, Sunstar started talking.
“This moon high we gather together to name four new apprentices.” He flicked his tail at Bluekit, Snowkit, lionkit, and Dapplekit.
“Come forward you four.” Bluekit slowly stepped out of the crowd and stood at the bottom of the Highrock. Lionkit and Dapplekit followed. Snowkit followed more slowly. Sunstar gazed proudly down at the four kits and his eyes rested on Bluekit.
“From this day forward, until she has earned her warrior name, this kit will be called Bluepaw.”
“Stonepelt, you are ready for your second apprentice. You will begin Bluepaw’s training. I expect you to pass everything your mentor taught to you to this young apprentice.” Sunstar finished. Then a solid gray tom stood up proudly. He stepped over to Bluepaw and touched noses with her. Wow! A great warrior is my mentor! I’m honored! Bluepaw thought. Sunstar looked at Lionkit.
“From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this kit will be called Lionpaw. I will mentor Lionpaw myself. I promise to teach this kit everything I know.”
“And next, from this day forward, this kit will be called Dapplepaw.” Sunstar gazed at the newly named Dapplepaw, gently.
“Smallear, you are ready for an apprentice. You are these kits’ father too. You will begin Dapplepaw’s training. I expect you to pass everything Longfur taught you to this young apprentice.” Bluepaw glanced over where the elders, Longfur and Blacknose were sitting. Longfur was looking proud, as his old apprentice was getting one of his own. Smallear got up and walked over to Dapplepaw and touched noses. His eyes shone with excitement with mentoring one of his own daughters. Then Sunstar called Snowkit up.
“From this day forward, this kit will be called Snowpaw. Dawnfrost, you are ready for an apprentice, I expect you to pass on everything your mentor taught you, to Snowpaw.”
Then a young white she-cat with pale gray spots stepped forward and touched noses with Snowpaw.
“I am honored, Sunstar.” she meowed quietly, just like Snowpaw meows.
“Bluepaw! Lionpaw! Dapplepaw! Snowpaw! Bluepaw! Lionpaw! Dapplepaw! Snowpaw!” The Clan chanted.
“The Clan is excused. Thunderclan is very fortunate to have so many apprentices." Sunstar's yowl sounded from above. He leaped gracefully off the Highrock and touched noses with Lionpaw.
“Come on!! Lets go to the apprentices den!" Dapplepaw squeaked and bounced over to the small den. Bluepaw turned and looked at the apprentices den. Then she suddenly had a feeling that someone was watching her… Bluepaw turned around to face the other direction, toward the medicine cat’s den. There sat Featherwhisker, the elderly medicine cat, staring at her with a gleam of knowing, just as if he was reading her mind. Then Featherwhisker turned away, embarrassed. Bluepaw shivered. She would think about this later. She and Lionpaw flew after Dapplepaw with their little tails sticking straight up in excitement. Snowpaw bounded quieter that a leaf falling from a tree, after them. When they got all inside they found both of the other apprentices waiting for them. One of them was a big white tom, youngest of the both of them. He was called Whitepaw. The other one was Specklepaw, a pale tabby she-cat. They greeted the new apprentices with warm welcomes.
“Yay! New apprentices! Now it won’t be so empty in here!” Specklepaw cheered.
“I remember my first day of apprenticeship! It was great!” Whitepaw meowed.
“We made dens for you!” Specklepaw meowed, flicking her tail toward four freshly made dens, in the corner of the apprentices den.
“Wow, thanks!” The four apprentices meowed and padded over to their new sleeping spots and started settling down. The other two apprentices laid down in their spots, not far away. As Bluepaw sat down in her den, she couldn’t help remembering the look on
Featherwhisker’s face earlier. He knows something, something that no one else knows… But what?
Chapter 2
A stream of early dawn light reached the inside of the apprentices den. Bluepaw jumped a foot into the air in excitement, waking everyone else up.
“What is it, Bluepaw?” Lionpaw asked groggily.
“It’s today!!! We’re apprentices now, remember?!” Bluepaw squealed. “Oh yeah!!!” Dapplepaw and Lionpaw mewed, now hopping up and down. Snowpaw got up and stretched. Her eyes were round and excited.
“Come on! Lets look for our mentors!” Dapplepaw raced out of the apprentices den and almost bonked into Stonepelt, Smallear, Sunstar, and Dawnfrost on their way in to find them. Lionpaw and Bluepaw ran over to them and Lionpaw questioned, “Train?! Now?!”
“Whoa whoa wait a second!!! You kits need to settle down or you’ll scare away all the prey from here to Fourtrees!” Stonepelt laughed. So they stopped bouncing in the air and sat wriggling in the grass.
“Good, now today we will show you the territory!” Sunstar meowed. The three apprentices looked at each other eagerly. Then Dawnfrost and Smallear stepped forward. “And we’ll show you the Riverclan and Shadowclan borders!” Smallear meowed. Dapplepaw gasped. “W-will we see any Shadowclan Warriors?” “Maybe, but we don’t necessarily need to see Shadowclan right now… But we might see a Riverclan patrol!” Dawnfrost meowed, glancing at Stonepelt.
"Well, lets go before we waste our daylight!" Sunstar meowed and turned around, beckoning with his tail to follow. Bluestar bounced after Stonepelt with the rest of the cats following into the forest.
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Bluepaw padded after Stonepelt with her fur fluffed up.
“Now where are we going?!” Bluepaw meowed with round eyes. She loved the tour so far! Stonepelt had suggested that the group split up so they could go explore faster. He had shown her A huge sycamore tree, called the Great sycamore, and a bunch of rocks with little long slithery things. Stonepelt had explained that they were a very poisonous animal called adders. And that the place the were at was snake rocks. They had taken a peek at the Thunderpath too, but there were too many monsters on the path that they couldn't get any closer safely. Oh well, she would check it out later.
Then Stonepelt skidded to a halt, and Bluepaw tripped over a stone in surprise.
“Are you okay?” Stonepelt meowed, sniffing Bluepaw’s pelt.
“Yes, I just tripped.” Bluepaw assured and got up off the ground and shook herself.
“Good. This is Tallpines, there isn’t much undergrowth here so we have to creep silently through the forest now.” Stonepelt whispered.
“Alright!” Bluepaw mewed.
Stonetail crept forward. Bluepaw quietly followed him, sniffing the trees every once in a while. Soon they came to a large clearing and Bluepaw gasped. There was cut logs! Stacked in piles along a small Twoleg hut.
“Wha…? Bluepaw gasped.
“Shhhh!” Stonetail hushed.
“This is the Treecut Place. The Twolegs plant trees here, and let them grow. When they are big enough they take their horrible Twoleg monsters and come cut them down in Greenleaf.” Bluepaw shivered. The smell of Twolegs made her feel sick. Stonepelt saw her look and meowed.
“Lets get out of here, we’re not half done with our tour yet!”
Stonepelt raced ahead.
“Come on! I have to show you Sunningrocks!” she gasped. Bluepaw tried as hard as she could to catch up but she was too slow. Stonetail slowed down a little.
“Aw come on!” he joked.
“Your as slow as a Windclan cat in Thunderclan!” All of a sudden Stonepelt stopped.
“This, is Sunningrocks.” He padded into the clearing and flicked his tail at some huge flat rocks. Bluepaw clambered onto one of them.
“Whoa it’s so smooth!” she purred. Then she saw the river behind Sunningrocks. It was beautiful! On the other side was a lot of reeds, and an odd smell… Riverclan! Bluepaw jumped when Stonetail hopped up beside her and meowed,
“That’s Riverclan territory. We shouldn’t get too close to the borders, or they might be suspicious of us. Come on, we’re going to follow the river up to the Owl Tree and the Sandy Hollow!”
“The Owl Tree?” Bluepaw repeated.
“Yes, lets go!” Stonepelt hopped off the flat rock and padded through the grass up the river. Bluepaw flew after him and landed nimbly in the grass. Then they heard a far away voice.
“Hey! Hey Stonepelt! How’s the prey running?” Bluepaw looked across the river to see two full grown Riverclan cats and their two apprentices following them. Stonepelt stopped and dipped his head.
“Hello, Reedfur, hello Streampelt! Pretty good! Especially now we have new apprentices!” he called back. As the cats reached the riverside, Bluepaw could see one of the full grown cats was a light brown tabby, and the other was a silver tabby with a lighter belly. One of the apprentices was a bracken-colored tom and the other was a light-colored tabby tom with an out of place jaw.
“We do too! This is Crookedpaw, he got in an accident a few moons ago that twisted his jaw,” The silver cat meowed, flicking her tail at the light tabby.
“And this is Oakpaw, my apprentice.” The brown tabby meowed. Bluepaw caught Oakpaw’s eyes just for a second. He blinked and looked away, embarrassed.
“This is Bluepaw! My new apprentice!” Stonepelt meowed.
“We should be going now, we still have to explore the territory!”
“Alright, we do too!” Reedfur meowed.
“Bye!” they called.
“Come on, we’re almost to the Sandy Hollow, where we go to train you to fight!” Stonepelt meowed and bounded off with Bluepaw scrambling after him.
Chapter 3
Bluepaw padded into camp with Stonepelt, panting. Stonepelt had shown her The Owl Tree, Fourtrees, where the Clans meet every full moon, and the sandy hollow! She even caught a whiff of Windclan! The Sandy Hollow was perfect for training, no roots or leaves to cause you to slip. Just sand.
Then the bushes rustled beside them. Out came Dapplepaw, Snowpaw and Lionpaw, with their mentors, Smallear, Dawnfrost, and Sunstar. “Hi!” They meowed.
“I’m hungry!” Dapplepaw complained. “Well then, go pick out something from the fresh-kill pile. You did well today.” Smallear praised.
“Yeah!” Dapplepaw mewed and raced over to the small dip in the middle of Thunderclan camp, ideal for storing prey in. “You three can follow her!” Sunstar purred. Bluepaw and Snowpaw dipped their heads and followed Lionpaw and Dapplepaw to the fresh-kill pile. Bluepaw carefully picked out a mouse. Dapplepaw had a large rabbit.
“Err…. Why don’t we share that, Dapplepaw?” Lionpaw and Snowpaw stared wide-eyed at her overlarge piece of prey she had chosen for herself.
“Awww, ok….” Dapplepaw agreed. Bluepaw took a bite out of her mouse. Mouse was her favorite of all prey. She gulped down the last morsel of mouse and turned to Lionpaw, Snowpaw and Dapplepaw. They were still eating, but they looked full. Bluepaw knew just one mouse wasn’t enough to fill a cat, and she was still hungry.
“Can help you with that?” Bluepaw asked.
“Sure!” Lionpaw meowed before Dapplepaw could say anything.
“Thanks!” Bluepaw purred and tucked in.
Later, the four apprentices washed themselves until the Dusk Patrol arrived in camp. Three warriors, Patchpelt, Halftail, and Swiftcloud pushed through the brambles, with Specklpaw and Whitepaw following. Bluepaw watched Halftail. He looked odd with no tail, he had lost it a moon ago when a badger bit it off… Well, Sunstar had warned them not to go near Snakerocks, where there was many caves for them to live in.
The four returning cats dropped their fresh-kill in the fresh-kill pile and headed straight for Sunstar’s den.
“I wonder what they found?” Snowpaw wondered. After a few minutes they padded out and headed for their dens for the night.
"That's what we should be doing!" Dapplepaw yawned. The four apprentices slowly got up and entered the apprentices den. Bluepaw settled herself in her spongy moss bed and started to doze off. As soon as she heard sisters and brother's slow breathing, she finally gave in to sleep.
*****************************************­***­***­***­***­***­***­**
Bluepaw yawned and stretched. Then she remembered. Stonepelt had promised to teach her how to hunt today! Suddenly all the sleepiness evaporated from Bluepaw’s head, and she leaped to her paws.
“Come on, guys! We’re learning to hunt today!” she whispered loudly.
Her siblings were up and about in an instant.
“I’m going to catch an eagle!” Lionpaw hissed.
“No, I don’t think so, I think the eagle would catch you!” came the wise, rumbling voice of Sunstar. The apprentices jumped. Sunstar, Stonepelt, Dawnfrost, and Smallear padded into their den. Bluepaw, Lionpaw, Snowpaw, and Dapplepaw dipped their heads in respect.
“Come on,” Smallear meowed. “We’re going to teach you how to hunt today!” Everyone scrambled out of the warm apprentices den and out into the crisp morning Leafbare air. Leafbare had come early, and had stayed late, but now it was slowly leaving the forest, thank Starclan.
The four mentors headed toward the entrance to camp, leaving the four apprentices to hurry after. Once they were all the way up the ravine, Dawnfrost spoke.
“Today we are going to train separately again.” she meowed quietly.
“Yes, each mentor has to teach his own apprentice, the way they think is best.” Sunstar explained. Bluepaw looked at Stonepelt. He nodded for her to follow him, and turned toward the training hollow. Bluepaw mewed goodbye to her brother and sisters and raced after Stonepelt.
Stonepelt slowed down when they neared the Sandy Hollow. Bluepaw loved to stretch here, there was nothing in her way.
Stonepelt turned to Bluepaw and nodded.
“Now today,” he began. “I will teach you the arts of hunting.” Stonepelt dropped to a crouch.
“When you hunt, be sure to put most of your weight on your hind paws, so your front paws don’t make noise. Creep silently through the forest like this.” he demonstrated how to stalk through the undergrowth.
“Lets pretend that rock is a mouse. When you spot it, make sure you are down-wind of the mouse, so it doesn’t smell you. Then slowly creep forward until you are in pouncing range. When you are comfortable with that, jump as quickly as you can, on top of the mouse, and trap it with your paws. Then swiftly bite its throat, to kill it.” he explained. Bluepaw nodded. This wasn’t too hard!
Bluepaw dropped into a hunting crouch and tried to stalk forward. Instead she heard a laugh from Stonepelt.
“You are putting most of your weight on one side! Try to balance your weight evenly. Don’t worry, I couldn’t get it my first time either!” he advised. Encouraged, Bluepaw tried again. This time she concentrated on balancing her weight and crept forward.
“Good!” Stonepelt praised. Bluepaw spotted a rock she would pretend was prey. She made sure she was down-wind and stalked toward the rock, through a patch of long yellow-green grass. When she knew she was in pouncing range, she jumped forward and trapped the rock with her paws.
“Good you did it!” Stonepelt meowed happily. “Now, would you like to try it for real?” Bluepaw gasped.
“Really? Okay!” she meowed eagerly.
“Follow me, then.” Stonepelt mewed and bounded into the woods. Bluepaw hastily followed him.
When they had reached a good spot, Stonepelt stopped.
“Squirrel!” he hissed. Bluepaw sniffed. He was right! This was her chance! She spotted it, about two fox-lengths away, nibbling on a beech nut. It was huge!!! She started to go forward, using everything she learned so far. Soon, she was only two tail-lengths away, so she pounced. The squirrel saw her at the last moment, but Bluepaw was too fast. She landed on top of the squirrel and bit its neck, killing it.
“WOW!” Stonepelt meowed, amazed.
“That, is about the biggest squirrel I’ve ever seen!” he mewed. Bluepaw stood up with her catch, proud. It was as big as her! Her eyes glowed with happiness, and she tried to drag it over to Stonepelt. It was too heavy for her. Stonepelt leaped forward and helped her carry it. Together, they heaved the fat squirrel all the way to Thunderclan camp. The other mentors and apprentices were already there. Their eyes widened in disbelief at her catch.
“Which one of you caught that?!” Sunstar meowed, surprised.
“Why, Bluepaw did! Herself!” Stonepelt replied. Everyone gasped.
“Wow!” they marveled.
“Well, you might as well add that to the fresh-kill pile!” Stonepelt meowed. “One thing is certain. You, are going to the gathering tonight!”
Chapter 4
Sunstar lead his Clan to the top of the forest hill and stopped. He proudly skimmed his eyes across the clearing. With a flick of his golden tail, Thunderclan followed him down the ravine and to four great oak trees, with a large stone in the middle.
Bluepaw ran beside Moonflower and Stonepelt, her tail held high. Her brother and sisters had came too. She gasped at the sight of the legendary grounds. The Great Rock jutted out of the ground, in the center of the clearing. She was baffled at the smell of so many different cats, Shadowclan, Windclan, Riverclan!
Thunderclan was the last to get to the gathering.
“Follow me!” Moonflower meowed. She bounded away to a group of Windclan and Riverclan cats. Dapplepaw, Snowpaw, and Lionpaw went off to a group of Riverclan apprentices. Bluepaw interestedly followed Moonflower. My first Windclan cats! she thought. Moonflower skidded to a halt beside the large group.
“Moonflower!” a she-cat from Windclan purred.
“We haven’t seen you in a while! Are your kits apprentices yet?” A Windclan tom asked. Moonflower nodded.
“Yes, this is Bluepaw, on of my daughters!” she purred proudly.
“Hello, Bluepaw.” they meowed to her. Bluepaw blinked. She was being greeted… By real other Clan warriors!
“H-hi!” she mewed shyly.
“Bluepaw, this is Brambleberry, the Riverclan medicine cat.” she meowed, flicking her tail at pretty white she-cat with black spots. Bluepaw dipped her head.
“And this is Greentree, Thrushpelt, Barkpaw, Hollyleaf, Pinkpetal,
Diamondleaf, Sandcloud, and Brownstripe.” she meowed, flicking her tail at each cat in turn. Bluepaw dipped her head, amazed.
“It looks like the gathering is starting soon…” A Shadowclan elder rasped to a group of other-Clan elders nearby. Then Bluepaw heard Sunstar yowl for the meeting to start. At the top of the Great Rock, was Sunstar, leader of Thunderclan, Snowstar, leader of Riverclan, Hazelstar, leader of Windclan, and Thornstar, leader of Shadowclan.
Everyone fell quiet. Sunstar dipped his head to Hazelstar.
“Would you like to start, Hazelstar?” he asked. Hazelstar nodded.
“Thank you. We have had good luck this season, even though it is a very cold Leafbare. We have a new medicine cat apprentice, Barkpaw.” he paused. Everyone turned to stare at the brown tom next to Bluepaw. He twitched his ears, nervously. Then Hazelstar continued.
“We also have two new warriors, Moorflower and Feildstripe.” Everyone also stared at the two new warriors sitting next to each other a little bit away from them. Hazelstar turned to Snowstar.
“Would you like to go next?” he asked.
“Yes. Riverclan is good too. We have a new litter of 3 kits, by Skywillow. We also have two new apprentices, Crookedpaw and Oakpaw.” Snowstar turned to Sunstar.
“Sunstar, you know Sunningrocks is ours, our clan is hungry. You have refused before, but if you refuse now, you will have trouble.” She warned. Sunstar shook his head.
“Sunningrocks truly belongs to Thunderclan. It is on our side of the river. No.” he mewed. Snowstar hissed and dipped his head to Thornstar.
“We, have one new litter of kits, Raggedkit was born yesterday. We also have two new apprentices, Shadowpaw and Marshpaw. Old loyal Sandstripe has now moved into the elders den. She has served her Clan well.” Thornstar meowed. Sunstar was next to speak now. He stepped forward.
“Thunderclan was very fortunate two days ago. We have four,” he paused, sweeping his eyes over the clearing. “new apprentices.” he continued.
“Bluepaw, Snowpaw, Dapplepaw, and Lionpaw are learning quickly.” All four Clans stared at her and her siblings. She was uncomfortable, but it only lasted a few seconds.
“Before that, we made two new warriors, Dawnfrost and Ashtail.” Sunstar stopped. All eyes turned to the new Thunderclan warriors. Ashtail was a white tom with a black tail.
“I am done. The gathering is over!” Sunstar yowled. At once cats from every Clan was trying to rush to their Clans.
“ Bye, Diamondleaf!” Moonflower called over her shoulder. Finally, she found Sunstar and Stonepelt trying to get Thunderclan together. They stalked to the top of the ravine, and waited. When everyone was there, Sunstar lead his Clan back to camp.
“That was great!” Lionpaw and Dapplepaw had caught up to Bluepaw.
“I know!” Bluepaw breathed. “Moonflower showed me some Windclan warriors! And Riverclan!” she paused.
“Where’s Snowpaw?” she wondered.
“Oh she’s with Dawnfrost.” Dapplepaw mewed. “Lets catch up to her!” The three apprentices raced forward. Bluepaw’s muscles worked smoothly as she ran. Finally they saw Dawnfrost with Snowpaw.
“Hi Snowpaw! Wasn’t the gathering great.” Lionpaw meowed. Snowpaw turned, her eyes shining.
“I loved it.” she whispered. She looked forward, then back.
“There’s the ravine, we’re almost home!” she meowed happily.
Finally Thunderclan poured into camp. Redpaw and Specklepaw padded out of the apprentices den. They hadn’t gone today, because Sunstar said not all of Thunderclan could go. They would go next time. Bluepaw went straight to bed, she was tired from the long walk. Lionpaw and Dapplepaw went to go tell the other apprentices what happened, while Snowpaw curled up beside her.
someday… she thought, I will be as important as Sunstar… and soon fell asleep