Warriors: Into The Wild - Book One (Completed)

Chapter Six

Waterpaw felt something stabbing her in the side. She woke up with a jolt, eyes narrow with anger. She looked to see it was Runningwind waking her up. "Oh, it's you, Runningwind." She meowed, relaxing herself. She got up to her paws and shook off her pelt. 

"I'm glad you took a nap." He replied, as he scratched his ear, then he shook his head, "You're going to the Gathering."

Waterpaw's ears perked up with happiness. This was going to be her first Gathering, and she was very excited to meet the different Clans. She already knew Crookedstar and Oakheart by scent, but she knew they probably wouldn't recognize her now. 

"Come on!" Hissed Runningwind. He was already several fox-lengths away and in the middle of the clearing. He beckoned her with his tail to hurry up. Waterpaw bounded over to him like a kit ready to be apprenticed. Luckily, Runningwind didn't seem to notice it. He was more interested in mingling with the other cats that were chosen to go. Graypaw and Firepaw were among the apprentices that were joining them. 

A huge golden tom padded up to the clearing, with a small dusky brown she-cat following close behind. "Lionheart, Mousefur." Purred Runningwind, as he dipped his head to the two warriors. Bluestar padded behind Runningwind, with Redtail at her side and sat down wrapping her tail around her front paws. "We're just waiting on a few more and we'll be ready to go." She meowed softly. A pale gray she-cat along with, a pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, and a big white tom showed up not too long after Bluestar.

"Are we all ready?" Meowed Bluestar as she stood to her paws. She beckoned her tail to everyone. The warriors all followed in silence as they padded into the trees. They padded up a small hill and down onto a rather large log they had to cross. Bluestar crossed first and looked back to make sure everyone made it. Runningwind and Waterpaw were almost last to cross with Lionheart bringing up the rear. 

Waterpaw felt a twist in her stomach as she crossed over the log. She was not fond of narrow logs, crossing over a rapid river. If she fell down this side of the river, she would be a goner for sure. When she crossed, she let out a small sigh of relief and continued on after Runningwind. Lionheart trotted across with ease and padded faster to walk alongside Graypaw and Firepaw. Waterpaw and Runningwind kept near the rear. They padded up to another small hill and when they got to the top, Bluestar stopped to look down. The other Clans were already beginning to gather around Fourtrees. Waterpaw's heart began to race with excitement. 

The ThunderClan cats raced down the hill and joined up with the other Clans. Waterpaw got to the bottom and saw her Clanmates talking with the other Clans so smoothly. She hoped that it would go just as smoothly for her. Runningwind put his tail on her shoulder. "It'll be alright." He meowed, as if he could feel her beginning to tense up. "There's a truce, remember?"

Waterpaw nodded her head and padded across the clearing towards some ShadowClan apprentices. "I'm Waterpaw." She purred.

"You must be new." One of the apprentices mewed. He was a gray tabby tom. He was rather large to be an apprentice. Waterpaw guessed that he was close to being a warrior.

"Yeah, I was apprenticed half a moon ago." Waterpaw replied, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her front paws. She hoped that they didn't smell her kittypet scent, but held back any thoughts about it in case they could sense her uneasiness. She puffed out her chest and licked it, hiding any emotions. 

"Well, I'm Wetpaw. And this is Littlepaw." He meowed. "You'll love the Gathering." He added.

"Thank you!" She looked over at Littlepaw. He was a fairly small cat, almost too young to be an apprentice. She tilted her head to one side, "Are you just beginning your training too?" She asked.

"No." He purred, puffing out his chest, "I've been an apprentice for two moons already!" 

Waterpaw seemed like she was going to retort, but before she even had a chance to respond, Bluestar raised her tail for silence. "The Meeting is about to begin!" She yowled. 

All four Clans fell silent and turned toward the four leaders. Tallstar spoke first. He stood tall, and spoke with much confidence. "WindClan is doing well." He meowed, loudly. "We are thankful to have lots of prey at this time of Leaf-fall. Leaf-bare is coming upon us fairly quickly though. Prey will start becoming scarce. I think we should have a right to the fish in the river!"

The RiverClan leader shot him an angered glance. "You will not!" He spat. "The fish is ours. It is all that we eat!"

Waterpaw recognized him immediately. It was Crookedstar. She had almost forgotten about the RiverClan leader. He broad face and crooked jaw was enough to make her listen to him. She did not want to challenge him. She watched with such tension, she almost fell over from leaning in too much. She caught herself with her front paw and shook her head, hoping no one saw it. 

"Why should we hunt, while you fill your bellies full of fish?" Hissed Tallstar. He looked straight into Crookedstar's eyes with such anger. He looked as if he was going to pounce at any moment. Was he really going to break a truce? 

Bluestar stepped in between them. "RiverClan cats feed only off of fish. You have plenty of other animals that are capable of surviving during Leaf-bare. RiverClan has to struggle harder than the rest of the Clans to keep fit." She looked at both Clan leaders for a few moments each before continuing, "Can we all  agree to this like we have for many moons?"

Tallstar looked away and twitched his tail with frustration. "Fine." He hissed. 

Crookedstar puffed out his chest with pride and sat in silence. 

Brokenstar stepped up and spoke, looking over to all of the Clans before him as if he was in charge of all of the Clans. "I have some news." He meowed, happily. "We have a new apprentice." He nodded over to a small brown tom. "Brownpaw!" He yowled. Everyone shouted his name in acceptance. "Brownpaw, Brownpaw, Brownpaw!" His name rang out throughout the Clan cats. He felt a moment of pride and sat up straighter. When Waterpaw looked over, he too, looked very small - almost as if he wasn't old enough. Brokenstar then went on. "We, on the other paw, barely have enough to feed ourselves." He meowed, crossly. "We could also use some fish from the rivers." Bluestar shot him a stern look, but before she could say something Brokenstar continued, "But I know what Bluestar said, so we won't. We'll try to manage." 

Bluestar dipped her head in respect. Brokenstar sat back down and Bluestar stepped forward to speak. "ThunderClan is doing well for Leaf-fall. Leaf-bare is upon us, but we have a few new apprentices to announce here at the gathering." She looked over the crowd then stopped when she saw Firepaw. "We have Firepaw, Graypaw and we have Waterpaw." She scanned the crowd and saw Waterpaw buried with the ShadowClan cats. Everyone shouted their names. Waterpaw laid back her ears against her head. She never thought it would be this intimidating. She looked at all of the cats around her. She met Littlepaw's eyes. They were unusually bright blue for a tabby. She quickly looked away and set her gaze on the four leaders. 

When the noise died down, Crookedstar stood up to speak. "RiverClan is doing as best as we can until Leaf-bare comes around." He looked over at Tallstar and Brokenstar. "If anyone tries to steal our fish, we are not afraid to fight." He flattened his ears and narrowed his eyes. "We will be ready!" He growled.

"Hopefully it doesn't have to come to this." Bluestar meowed, "We can't afford to fight." 

Waterpaw heard her words and wondered if she knew something the other leaders didn't. She was surprisingly happy the Gathering was drawn to an end. She wanted nothing more to do than just close her eyes and sleep. As she left with her Clanmates, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her. She looked over her shoulder and saw those piercing blue eyes again. Suddenly her heart began to race. She couldn't tell if it was her nerves, or excitement.