Gathering! . . . what happened to the tne . . . :sob: CHAPTER 4 “Wow . . .” Mintpaw was looking down at a sloped, giant clearing. Four old, strong oak trees stood back to back, as if protecting each other, and it seemed like Thunderclan was already here. Cats were spread across the clearing, talking, laughing, just sitting. A light orange tabby she-cat was sitting in one of the branches of a tree, and a light gray tom was sitting at the roots of it. “That’s Lilystar, and her deputy Shrewtail,” Reedtail told Mintpaw as they bounded down the slope. “Cool!” Mintpaw said, as Troutpaw came up next to them. “Let’s go find somewhere to sit!” Troutpaw meowed to Mintpaw. “Okay,” Mintpaw followed Troutpaw, as they made their way to a shaded area at the edge of the clearing. “This looks good,” Troutpaw commented. They sat down, watching the other cats find their friends in the other clan, talking, laughing, having fun. “Hey!” The light gray Thunderclan apprentice from the patrol ran up to them, “I’m Moonpaw! You’re the cats from the patrol, right?” “Umm, yeah,” Mintpaw said kinda awkwardly, not ready to socialize. “Cool!” Troutpaw jumped in for her friend, “I’m Troutpaw, and this is Mintpaw!” “Okay,” Moonpaw said, seemingly not interested in talking to Troutpaw, and turned to Mintpaw, “Nice to meet you! So-” She was interrupted by a call. “Let the Gathering begin!” Hailstar called from the FourTrees. “Ooh, that’s your leader, right? Hailstar. Squirrelfoot says she’s very wise.” Moonpaw sat down, squeezing right in-between Troutpaw and Mintpaw. “Yeah, I guess,” Mintpaw said, exchanging a look with Troutpaw. One that said, ‘is she really serious?’ “-and we have two new apprentices, Mintpaw and Troutpaw.” Hailstar announced. “Mintpaw! Troutpaw!” The cats of both clans called out. When it died down, Lilystar began to speak, “Thunderclan’s prey has been running well, and no-one in the clan is sick. We also have an apprentice to welcome, Moonpaw.” “Moonpaw! Moonpaw!” The cats of both clans began to mingle, talking and laughing with each other. The leaders seemed to be talking amongst themselves, and Hailstar looked worried, she looked at Mintpaw from where she was sitting, her eyes blank. “Come on! I can’t wait for you to meet my clanmates!” Moonpaw said, “They're just down there!” She rushed ahead. Mintpaw leaned towards Troutpaw, “So, what just happened?” “No idea,” Troutpaw answered, “But she didn’t get the hints, I guess.” They could see Moonpaw looking up at them, with a group of cats a little older than them around her. “I guess we have to go,” Mintpaw sighed, “Come on.” The two cats walked down from their secluded spot, and up to Moonpaw, who said, “Hey! These are the Riverclan apprentices I was talking about! Mintpaw, and, uhh, sorry, what’s your name again?” “Troutpaw,” She dryly replied. “Oh yeah! Troutpaw!” Moonpaw’s eyes lit up, “and these are my friends, Leafpaw,” She flicked her tail at a ginger and white she-cat with green eyes, “and her littermate Barkpaw!” The dark brown tabby smiled. “Hey there! So, both you guys are new apprentices?” Barkpaw said. “Well, no,” Troutpaw said, “You probably met Whitepaw last moon, I was sick that moon, so I couldn’t come to the Gathering. And Frostpaw and Mudpaw are my older siblings. They’ll probably be warriors in a moon or two.” “So, you guys aren’t siblings?” Leafpaw asked, peering at Mintpaw. “Uhh, no, just best friends!” Mintpaw replied, trying to sound like she wanted to have this conversation. “Yeah! We’ve been training together ever since Mintpaw got apprenticed.” Troutpaw said. “Cool!” Leafpaw said, “We’ve been helping Moonpaw with fighting, she’s worse than a squirrel!” She joked, nudging Moonpaw. “Hey! I’m getting it!” Moonpaw shot back. Well they have no problem telling another clan their secrets. Mintpaw thought. Troutpaw jumped in, “Well, Mintpaw here is probably already one of the best fighters in the clan! I owe her more fish than I can count!” CONTINUED IN NOTES AND CREDITS
CONTINUED FROM INSTRUCTIONS Mintpaw blushed slightly, “That’s not true . . .” She said shyly. “Of course it is! You beat Reedtail!” Troutpaw said. “Woah!” Moonpaw said in amazement, “As in Reedtail, one of the greatest fighters in the territories? She’s one of your guys' mentors, right? ‘Cause Squirrelfoot said she was on that patrol too.” “Yeah, she’s mine, Troutpaw has Rushingwater.” Mintpaw replied, “Oh! I think we’re leaving, come on Troutpaw.” “Okay! Bye guys! See you next moon!” Moonpaw called after the two, as they turned to walk back to their mentors. “Or maybe sooner,” Barkpaw murmured to Leafpaw, just as they were leaving earshot. But Mintpaw caught what he said, and she turned around. “What?” But they were already heading back to their clan. “What is it?” Troutpaw asked, since she hadn’t heard anything. “Barkpaw said something strange, he said that we might see them sooner than next moon . . .” Mintpaw said, “What does that mean?” “I don’t know,” Troutpaw replied. “Hey guys!” Reedtail walked up to the pair, “Why do you look so worried? First Gathering was that bad?” “Not that, but Thunderclan certainly is . . outgoing,” Mintpaw said, “We heard one of the apprentices say that we might see Thunderclan sooner than next moon? What does that mean?” “Hmm. Thunderclan has no reason to attack us, so maybe they were just predicting something in the future.” Reedtail thought aloud, “I’ll tell Hailstar about this, but don’t worry too much about it! Let’s go back to camp.” “Okay,” Mintpaw said, falling in line with the rest of the clan. TO BE CONTINUED
