Warriors: Crow's Carrion

Chapter Eight

     The full moon in the sky signified the night of the Gathering. Ospreypaw's very first Gathering, as well as their littermates'. Poolpaw and Currentpaw went to the previous Gathering, and apparently the NightClan apprentices gave them some trouble. They'd been teased about something, but neither of the siblings would say what for.

     Now, Ospreypaw followed their Clan into the clearing cautiously. Huge crowds of cats milled about, the biggest of which belonging to none other than NightClan. Ripplestar made a beeline to the huge cluster of stones with Eveningshell and Riverflower close on her tail. While the three mollies got to their spots, Ospreypaw saw their other Clanmates start to mingle with cats that must have been from BlazeClan. They recognized a few from border patrols, but couldn't place any names to the faces.

     They hesitated with their brothers at either side. Ospreypaw looked around and thought they saw a few smaller cats—the apprentices of the other Clans, they hoped. They motioned in the direction of the cats and started leading their brothers there when they noticed a group of NightClan cats glancing over at them curiously.

     "Hey, watch this!" one of them hissed, their back turned to Ospreypaw.

     They recognized this one; it was the dark grey cat who got scolded by her superior, Silvermist. Suddenly, the cat tilted her head backwards until she could look directly at the apprentices. She stared right at them with an exaggerated, crazed expression; her teeth glinted menacingly in the moonlight, but Ospreypaw held her gaze unflinchingly.

     Splashpaw and Crabpaw both started at the NightClan cat's antics, however. The group of warriors around her started to snicker at them, and anger immediately flared up within Ospreypaw.

     "Are you serious?" they growled furiously, baring their teeth. They stomped forward, all too ready to give the NightClan cats a piece of their mind, only to be halted by some cat's outstretched paw. They glanced over and saw a pure-white tom with green eyes glowering at the grey molly.

     "Pay them no mind, apprentice," he said steadily. A hint of a venomous tone was hidden in his voice, and he barely flicked an ear as he continued. "Some warriors are never taught how to behave. Isn't that right, Ashenpeak?"

     The dark grey molly quickly corrected her posture and sneered at the tom in response. "Yeah, yeah, we get it, Blizzardfur; you think you're better than all of us."

     With a huff, Ashenpeak rose to her paws and stalked away from Blizzardfur and Ospreypaw. The group of NightClan cats promptly stood and followed her, each of them taking a moment to shoot dirty looks over their shoulders. Once they were gone, Blizzardfur shook out his fur and turned to address Ospreypaw and their brothers.

     "You must be the newest RushClan apprentices," he mewed with a glance at each of them. "I'm Blizzardfur of BlazeClan. Don't worry about Ashenpeak and her buddies—they're just a bunch of bullies. Come with me, and I can show you where the apprentices sit. All of our apprentices are here tonight, so they'll ward off any of the other mouse-brains who want to pick on you."

     Ospreypaw, Splashpaw, and Crabpaw quickly followed him without a word of objection. Soon, they were met with the three cats Ospreypaw saw earlier. One was a fiery orange-and-white tabby, another was pure white with blue eyes, and the third was white-furred with pale brown tabby patches.

     "Scorchpaw," Blizzardfur mewed, calling the orange-and-white tabby over, "meet the rest of RushClan's apprentices. Please, welcome them with your cousins, and make sure they aren't threatened by any of the NightClan cats."

     Scorchpaw dragged her paws as she came over. She offered a nod, looking at Ospreypaw and their siblings. "Of course. Father already told me to watch out for them."