Warriors: Stripeblaze's Path

Chapter seven

As Stripepaw finished off his mouse, Mosssting padded over to him, the early moonlight of the full moon bathing his pelt. He flicked his tail along his apprentice's flank.
"Come on, you're coming to the Gathering as well," he meowed. Stripepaw stood up as quickly as a lightning bolt and raced to the camp entrance where a patrol of cats was waiting. Turtlestar was counting everyone and nodded as the two medicine cats joined them.
"Alright, let's go," Turtlestar meowed. Stripepaw padded along excitedly, waiting to get to the Gathering. This was a big part of the apprentice's life, it was the very first time he would be introduced in front of the other Clans.
He padded at the back of the group, staying close to Mosssting. "Do you think Turtlestar will mention what happened with WindClan? Or will Stonestar say something?" he meowed.
"I'm not sure. I don't think Turtlestar would say anything, but I'm not sure about Stonestar," Mosssting replied. Stripepaw sighed and continued padding along.
Soon the ThunderClan patrol crossed over into WindClan territory. They stayed only a few tail-lengths away from the shore of the lake, and bristled their fur in the cold, even though it was nearly new-leaf. Suddenly, the patrol stopped and everyone looked up the slope of the moor. Stripepaw followed their gaze and saw a WindClan patrol making their way down to the ThunderClan cats. Stonestar dipped his head to Turtlestar as his patrol neared them.
"We will put our rivalry aside for tonight, and enjoy the truce of the full moon," Stonestar meowed. Turtlestar nodded and led his patrol on. When the two patrols came to the tree-bridge, Turtlestar dipped his head.
"Your Clan may cross first," he meowed politely.
"Thank you." Stonestar gave his fellow leader a curt nod and led his Clan across the bridge. Even though they were being polite, there was no disguising the hostility between the two Clans. Neck fur bristled and teeth were bared, but no one moved to attack. Turtlestar flicked his tail and started to cross once WindClan was across. Stripepaw gulped when he saw the bridge; it was double his height, and was covered in icy frost, making it slippery and cold. Mosssting nudged him up and held onto his tail with his jaws for extra support. Stripepaw was halfway across when his front paw gave out from underneath him. He slipped across the ice and fell on his chin with a thud. He groaned as his jaw ached with pain, but he pushed himself up and padded on. When he reached the end, he leapt as far as he could to get as far away from the tree-bridge as he could, and followed his Clan into the clearing further inland.
He pushed through the reeds and padded into the large clearing, where the other Clans were all gathered. Plumstar, the leader of ShadowClan, was already perched on a branch on the large tree in the centre. Stonestar and Turtlestar were both padding over to join him. A ginger-and-tortoiseshell she-cat stood at the base as well, waiting for the two leaders. She was, no doubt, Dapplestar, the leader of RiverClan. Whiteshade had told Stripepaw about her when she became leader a few moons ago. The previous leader, Flowingstar, had died saving an apprentice in a fire that had broken out when lighting struck their camp. From what Whiteshade had told him, she sounded like a nice cat.
Stripepaw watched as the three leaders clambered up the tree onto branches of their own, and silenced the Clans with flicks of their tails.
"Let the Gathering begin!" Plumstar yowled. He was the oldest of the leaders, which was evident as grey fur stuck out in his black and brown pelt. Stripepaw sat down with Mosssting and the other medicine cats. A few other cats from other Clans surrounded him, and he shifted uncomfortably.
Plumstar stood up first to speak to the Clans.
"ShadowClan is doing well, and we have recovered well from the bought of greencough we had earlier in leaf-bare. Prey is starting to run more and more each day, and we will recover fully after the deaths of a few Clan-mates. But, we did lose our medicine cat, Leapwing, so her apprentice, Greypaw, will be taking over as medicine cat. Leapwing died protecting her Clan from sickness, and she will forever be honoured in our Clan." He sat back down and let Dapplestar take over.
"RiverClan is doing well and we have two new warriors; Fluffspot and Blackface."
Stripepaw looked ahead of him and saw two cats stand up. One was a small tortoiseshell she-cat and the other was a brown tom with a black patch on his face. Mosssting leaned over and whispered in Stripepaw's ear.
"That tortoiseshell is the apprentice that Flowingstar died saving," he whispered. Stripepaw nodded and watched as they sat down again. "Also, some of my warriors have reported seeing twolegs gliding along the frozen lake with sharp blades strapped to their feet. I think it would be best if everyone stayed away from there." Dapplestar sat back down and let the next leader speak. Turtlestar nodded to Stonestar to let him speak.
"WindClan is fairing well. Ebonystar gave her last life to protect her Clan, and I am now leader. My deputy is Mothstorm, and I have complete faith in him. One of our warriors, Redheart, has moved to the nursery as she is expecting kits." He sat down again and Turtlestar finally stood up to address the Clans.
"ThunderClan is doing well. Prey is running and sickness is gone. But since our last Gathering, two of our warriors drowned in the lake; Whiteshade and Stormfeather."
Stripepaw felt a lump in his throat as his leader talked about his dead parents.
"And we lost another warrior, Flamelight, in battle. But, Mosssting has taken an apprentice, Stripepaw."
The Clans started to cheer for the new medicine cat apprentice, and Stripepaw shrank down to the ground in embarrassment.
"And we have three new warriors: Hazelbelly, Berryclaw and Branchheart." Only a few soft murmurs were heard for the warriors. Turtlestar nodded to the other leaders. "The Gathering is over!" he yowled, and leapt off his branch. Stonestar nodded and jumped down after him, followed by Dapplestar and Plumstar, who lost his balance as he landed in the ground. He was only a little bit older than Turtlestar, but the ThunderClan leader was still a lot stronger compared to the black and brown tom.
Stripepaw said a last goodbye to his fellow medicine cats and followed Mosssting to the tree bridge. ShadowClan was just ahead of them, crossing the slippery log. Stripepaw padded forward to get ready to cross, and didn't notice the figure in front of him, and crashed into the cat. A light ginger tom whirled around to face Stripepaw, his one grey ear flicking with irritation. His brown eyes pierced into Stripepaw's and the medicine cat apprentice sank to the ground with discomfort. His neck fur started to rise as the ShadowClan warrior bared his teeth.
"Watch it, mouse-brain!" he snarled. He turned back to face his Clan-mates, where he whispered into one of their ears, "Are all ThunderClan cats this stupid?"
Stripepaw shrank to the ground in a mixture of anger and fear. He gulped and stood up straight, licking his chest fur with embarrassment and looked away from the ShadowClan tom. The ginger warrior huffed and padded swiftly across the tree-bridge into the darkness of the night.
Turtlestar and Flamestripe jumped up and led the Clan across the bridge. Mosssting nudged Stripepaw up and again, held his tail in his teeth. This time, Stripepaw was much more careful where he placed his feet and padded across with ease. He followed the rest of his Clan as they all made their way back to their territory, and was very wary as he padded only tail-lengths away from the shore of the lake. Images of Stormfeather diving into the water after him flashed in his mind, then Whiteshade jumping in after her. More pictures of their sodden bodies entered his mind, so he squinted his eyes shut tightly to try and push them away. He felt a tail rest on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes slowly to look up at his mentor, who's eyes were filled with sympathy and understanding. The old, grey cat smiled at him and continued on.

As Stripepaw padded through the tunnel entrance, he could feel his paws dragging across the ground with exhaustion. He started to make his way to his den, but was interrupted by Rosekit and Leopardkit. They jumped around him excitedly and bumped against his shoulders.
"How was it? Was is exciting?" Leopardkit asked, still leaping around.
"Tell us all about it!" Rosekit meowed and looked up at Stripepaw with her big, blue eyes. He smiled at her and flicked her ear with his tail.
"It was great, and you'll get to go in a couple of moons," he meowed. He watched as her face lit up and she started to jump around more enthusiastically than ever. He smiled at the kits one last time before padding away to his den, hoping to get a good, long sleep.

{Ok, short chapter I know, but this chapter was solely for the Gathering. More long chapters to come!
warriorcats-mlp out!}