The Apprentice's Curse (A Shrouded Path book 1) {COMPLETE}

Chapter 4

Bright white moonlight bathed the forest, turning the trees and rocks silver as the Gathering patrol approached the river and began to cross the stepping stones. Minnowpaw, flanked by Flamepelt and Sorrelpaw, followed Cloudsplash and Sweetstripe. Troutleap and Cherryheart brought up the rear. Ahead of the patrol, Ashstar crossed the river first, followed by Shadebelly, Twigtail, and Nightwhisper.

The stones were easy to cross, and as soon as Minnowpaw found herself on the other bank, Ashstar was leading his cats farther along towards Fourtrees. Minnowpaw had never seen the massive oaks before, and her fur was bristling with excitement. Flamepelt looked at her. "Nervous?"

"A little," Minnowpaw admitted. She knew she would be among cats from all four clans, and the idea of talking to any of them seemed daunting. "But mostly I'm excited." Flamepelt and Sorrelpaw had promised to introduce her to some of the other apprentices, and she wondered what the other Clans would be like. All she knew about them came from stories she'd heard from her Clanmates.

At last Ashstar stopped at the top of the ridge that sloped down to the moor. After making sure that all his cats had caught up, he flicked his ears in signal and he and Shadebelly led them all down towards the clearing.

The sight of Fourtrees nearly took Minnowpaw's breath away. The trees were huge! In the middle of them stood the Great Rock, which Minnowpaw had heard from the elders was rooted as deeply as the four oaks. Already cats were gathered around Fourtrees, and Minnowpaw picked up the vaguely familiar smell of Windclan, which she knew from border patrols.

The RiverClan cats streamed into the clearing and immediately dispersed among the skinny, wiry WindClan warriors. Minnowpaw immediately lost sight of Flamepelt among the throng of unfamiliar cats, but then she felt herself guided along by Sorrelpaw. "Come on," the pale ginger apprentice said. "Let's go see the WindClan apprentices. I think ShadowClan is here, too."

A strong, unpleasant smell wafted towards Minnowpaw's nose and she saw more cats slipping silently into the hollow from the darkness of the pine forest. Their eyes glinted coldly in the moonlight, and Minnowpaw wondered if they were as fox-hearted as her Clanmates said they were. They certainly didn't look very friendly.

Sorrelpaw was leading Minnowpaw towards a group of young Windclan cats, and suddenly Flamepelt was at her side again. He apologized. "I wanted to say hi to Rowanheart. He's only just been made a warrior."

Sorrelpaw was now introducing Minnowpaw to the group. "This is Minnowpaw," she said to them. "Minnowpaw, this is Yellowpaw." She nodded to a fluffy sand-colored tabby, who dipped her head in greeting. "And this is Sparrowpaw." Minnowpaw mewed a greeting to the black tom.

"Hi!" The tom replied eagerly. Before he could say more, two ShadowClan apprentices joined them.

"Hi, guys!" Sorrelpaw greeted them with a friendly mew. "This is my friend Minnowpaw," she said to them. "She's RiverClan's newest apprentice."

"Hi, Minnowpaw," one of the apprentices mewed. She was a pale blue-gray, almost white, and her tail was striped. "I'm Icepaw. This is my brother, Snakepaw." She gestured to the other apprentice, a dark-spotted gray tom. He nodded, but said nothing.

Minnowpaw was about to ask them questions about their clans and territories, but suddenly Flamepelt hissed, "The Gathering is starting." ThunderClan had arrived quickly and silently, and now Minnowpaw could see the four Clan leaders bounding onto the Great Rock. She felt a pang of disappointment; there was so much she wanted to know about them!

Duskstar, ThunderClan's leader, yowled across the clearing to gain the attention of the gathered cats. His long gray fur was neatly groomed. Ashstar sat calmly next to him, and on his other side was Featherstar, WindClan's leader. Tanglestar jumped up last, his black fur sticking out at funny angles.

Duskstar nodded to Ashstar to speak first. Minnowpaw felt pride as her leader addressed the four Clans. "The prey is running well in RiverClan," he began. "We're seeing more Twolegs around since newleaf has begun, but they aren't causing us any trouble. And we have one new apprentice: Minnowpaw!"

Minnowpaw ducked with embarrassment as her name was cheered by the other cats. She had forgotten that Ashstar would announce her. Her leader finished, "The river is running and we are full-fed."

Hardly waiting for Ashstar to finish, Tanglestar stepped forward and called, "ShadowClan is strong!" ShadowClan warriors yowled their agreement enthusiastically below, including Icepaw and Snakepaw. They really are very proud, Minnowpaw thought as Tanglestar continued.

"Lilyheart has had three kits, and we have two queens expecting: Mosspelt and Foxtail." He spoke the last name with beaming pride, and Minnowpaw didn't need to wonder who the father of those kits was. Tanglestar finished, "The prey is running well and our borders are secure." He flashed a quick look at Featherstar as she said that.

Featherstar's neck fur bristled, but she paid no attention to the ShadowClan leader as she stepped forward. "WindClan is faring well, too," she called. "Prey was scarce in leaf-bare, but the rabbits have come back," she returned Tanglestar's glare at last, "and we have named two apprentices, Thornpaw and Sandpaw, and two warriors, Briarwhisker and Rowanheart."

Cheers from all Clans, except ShadowClan, erupted through the clearing. There was obvious tension between the two Clans. Did ShadowClan think WindClan was stealing prey? Were they stealing prey?

Lastly, Duskstar stepped forward. "Two sunrises ago," he began, "we chased a fox off of our territory. It ran into ShadowClan territory, so keep a lookout for it," he said to Tanglestar, who dipped his head. Minnowpaw knew RiverClan had little to worry about; a fox was unlikely to cross the river. "One of our warriors, Mintfur, was injured, but thanks to Dawnpelt she is doing fine.

"We've also named a new warrior and an apprentice, Oakfoot and Darkpaw," he continued. Once again, the cats cheered. "And we have three kits in our nursery."

Minnowpaw gaped at all the Clan leaders. It seemed as if all the Clans were growing faster than RiverClan! Suddenly she was worried; this could be a serious problem for her Clan.

Flamepelt must have been thinking the same thing, for he muttered, "We must be the smallest Clan now."

Cherryheart, who was sitting in front of them, turned and mewed reassuringly, "Don't worry; there will be more kits before you know it." Minnowpaw wondered what she meant.

Just like that, the Gathering was over. "Normally, the Clans stick around a bit longer to share tongues," Flamepelt explained quietly as he and Minnowpaw padded over to join the rest of RiverClan, "but I don't think most cats are in the mood."

Minnowpaw nodded. The tension between WindClan and ShadowClan was so strong a kit could feel it, and she felt uneasiness pricking her own pelt as well as those of her Clanmates. Clearly she and Flamepelt weren't the only ones to notice that the other Clans seemed to be growing much stronger than them.

Worry filled Minnowpaw's mind. There were only three apprentices and three kits in RiverClan. Cherryheart had said there would be more kits soon, but when? And even then, it would be six moons before those kits became apprentices, let alone warriors! RiverClan couldn't spend all that time sitting on their tails waiting for more warriors, living in fear of being overpowered by the other Clans. They had to do something! But as Minnowpaw returned to camp with her Clanmates, she couldn't think of any solution.