The Prophecy Foretold: Testing Alliances

Chapter One

The moon cast a harsh light onto the scene below, illuminating the bundle of cats traveling underneath the sky. Scents of other cats carried heavy on the cold wind, and Puddlepaw shivered, fluffing her fur out and stepping closer to her thick furred mentor.

"Are Gatherings always so cold?" The weather seemed to reflect the harsh light of the moon, but Heavytail purred, and shook his head.

"Some nights the Gathering is far too hot, and other times your nose turns into an icicle." Heavytail tapped her shoulder with his tail, looking down at her. "You'll grow a thick fur, like your father, trust me."

"I already have thick fur." A boastful voice rang out, and with two hops forward, a bright orange tom appeared next to Puddlepaw. She scrunched her nose up at him, snorting.

"You're three moons older than me, Blazingpaw. I just became an apprentice half a moon ago. And I'm already going to a Gathering." Blazingpaw sneered at her, huffing. It had taken him two moons into his apprenticeship to go to a Gathering, and the whole clan had to sit and listen to him wail until he was allowed to go.

"You're only going so early because your father is the deputy, Puddlepaw." Puddlepaw hissed lightly, glaring at Blazingpaw. He stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation.

"Then what about me?" A thin gray tom slid beside Blazingpaw, and the older apprentice pouted, then shrugged.

"Redstar just wanted to be fair, I guess." Blazingpaw said cooly, but any old cat could see he was annoyed the younger apprentices had joined them so soon.

"That's enough, Blazingpaw." A speckled white tom looked back at them, shaking his tail. "You know better than to make fun of the new apprentices."

"Sorry, Mudhollow." Blazingpaw mumbled, looking down. Mudhollow snorted, and turned back. Heavytail bent down some, nudging Puddlepaw.

"Look, here's Fourtrees."

Puddlepaw shot her head up, looking to the massive oak trees that created the free territory where Gatherings were held. Strange scents were far stronger here, and it made her head spin. Heavytail chuckled, seeing her struggle to sniff all the scents.

"Soon you'll be able to tell what scent belongs to what cat. Don't let it overwhelm you." Puddlepaw nodded, taking a deep breath as Thunderclan slid into the grove.

The moonlight shone onto the rock centered in the middle with a dazzling gleam that lit up the whole clearing, and Puddlepaw looked around at the other two clans, her eyes wide. Riverclan was full of sleek bodied cats, their fur shimmering like the stars. They also smelled faintly of fish and reeds, and Puddlepaw couldn't tell if she liked it or not. Shadowclan was bundled together, their breaths making a collective cloud around them. They were huge, much larger than Puddlepaw was, and she couldn't tell who was a warrior and who was an apprentice. Were the apprentices bigger than the warriors?!

She watched as some Thunderclan cats branched off, padding over to the other clans with cheerful greetings, and even Shadowclan seemed to emerge from the bundle to greet the Thunderclan cats.

A dark she cat smelling of pine sap approached Heavytail, her tail high in the air. Behind her trailed another cat, with big lumbering paws.

"Petalshade." Heavytail purred. "It's been too long."

The Shadowclan cat, Petalshade, dipped her head, and sat by Heavytail. "It has. This is my apprentice, Mushroompaw." She nodded to the brown tom sitting behind her, anxiety glittering in his amber gaze.

He was an apprentice?! That cat is huge! Or perhaps Puddlepaw is just small. Heavytail purred loudly, nodding to Mushroompaw.

"You've got a good mentor. Petalshade has kicked my rear a few times in battle." Puddlepaw looked at her mentor in shock. Petalshade seemed to be his friend, but they had fought each other in battle? "This is my apprentice, Puddlepaw. She only became an apprentice half a moon ago." Petalshade looked down at the Thunderclan apprentice, tilting her head.