Orchidfrost's Trials

Chapter 7

A/N: if you have not read past Firestar's Quest or a Vision of Shadows, there may be spoilers in this chapter, here is your warning.

    Orchidpaw stood in front of the fallen tree that bridged the gap to the gathering island. It had been dead a very long time. As her clanmates began to spring up and cross the bridge, she picked up the scents of RiverClan, ShadowClan, and what she could only guess as WindClan. Two pelts brushed against hers and Orchidpaw looked to see Tumblepaw and Twilightpaw looking at her reassuringly. She watched as Tumblepaw followed his mentor, and Twilightpaw came up behind them. Orchidpaw bunched her muscles and leapt. She dug her claws into the smooth, bark-less wood and started inching forward. She quickly got the hang of it and padded across more confidently. She hopped down onto the gravel shore of the gathering island and followed Twilightpaw's tail through the brambles and into the clearing. 

    Woah... was all Orchidpaw could begin to think. There were cats from four clans in the clearing, with one more on the way. So. Many. Cats. And this was only a fraction of their whole clans! Twilightpaw was beginning to scamper off in search of apprentices from other clans and Orchidpaw, not wanting to be left behind, followed him. She caught him while he was introducing himself to an apprentice from ThunderClan, by the smell of it.

    "...and this is my first gathering, too!" Twilightpaw was finishing, when he caught sight of her and gleefully introduced the large ginger Tom to her. "Orchidpaw! Meet Bearpaw from ThunderClan! It's his first gathering just like us!"

    "It's nice to meet you Orchidpaw!" His mew was surprisingly deep for his age.

    Orchidpaw just dipped her head shyly, not wanting to make a fool of herself. Twilightpaw and Bearpaw began chattering away like starlings, and Orchidpaw listened intently. She learned that Bearpaw had been an apprentice for a moon and a half but couldn't go to the last gathering because he had hurt himself. Twilightpaw seemed to think that was the coolest thing he'd ever heard, and began to boast about himself, particularly the rat he'd caught much earlier in the day.

    The sound of SkyClan's arrival abruptly cut off their conversation. More cats flooded the clearing and their leader, Sleekstar, leapt onto a branch beside the other four clan leaders. Orchidpaw took note of every one of them.

     Cinderstar stood on a low branch, clinging to the shadows, to the point where it almost looked like he was just one pair of floating amber eyes. Her eyes found a skinny white she-cat with darker spots on her flank that sat on the branch right above Cinderstar. She must be the WindClan leader, Berrystar. Next to her was a broad-shouldered light-brown tabby she-cat with striking green eyes. She looked kind of similar to Bearpaw in build, so that meant she must be ThunderClan's leader, Mintstar. That left the small, dark ginger Tom, now sharing a branch with Sleekstar, to the left of Berrystar. Otterstar, leader of RiverClan. She gazed in awe up at the leaders, looking so powerful on their branches, gazing down on the clans.

    There was a bit of rustling as cats settled down to listen to the leaders and Berrystar was the first to speak.

    "Prey in WindClan has been plentiful, and Willowwisp has had a new litter of kits," Cheers rose up from the cats gathered below. New kits were a good thing for any clan. "We chased a fox out of the territory two sunrises ago, it went above the territories, close to RiverClan," she nodded to Otterstar, "that is all."

    Cinderstar rose and padded into the moonlight at the end of his bough. "ShadowClan would like you to welcome our new apprentices, Twilightpaw and Orchidpaw-" cheers began rising up from the cats of all clans, making heat rise underneath Orchidpaw's fur, "-who will be training as warriors, and Tumblepaw, who has gone to the moon pool and has been accepted by our ancestors to train as ShadowClan's new medicine cat!" A split second of silence was broken by excited whispers. A new medicine cat was interesting to all the clans. Orchidpaw glowed with pride for her brother. The Clans began chanting their names. Orchidpaw shrunk back while Twilightpaw lifted his chin. Otterstar waved his tail for silence.

    "RiverClan appreciates the warning about the fox," he began, dipping his head to Berrystar, "though it has not been sighted in our territory yet. The two legs have gone as Leaf-fall has come, and the fish are bountiful in our rivers and the lake." He stepped back and Sleekstar padded forward.

    "Dapplewhisker joined StarClan, half a moon ago, she died peacefully in her sleep," there was a moment of silence then sympathetic murmurs rippled through the clan cats. Orchidpaw thought that would be a nice way to go, fall asleep then wake up in StarClan. It would be a lot better than being poisoned or something. That seemed to be all the news she had to share because Mintstar rose to her paws and Sleekstar did not object.

    "Snowflower has had a new litter of kits, one Tom, and one she-kit. In other news, we have a new apprentice, Bearpaw!" The clans chanted his name, and Orchidpaw joined in this time. Twilightpaw nudged her playfully, and she batted the back of his head with her paw.

    "Sh-shut up!" She hissed half-heartedly. Settling back down in her spot she saw the leaders beginning to jump down and gathering up their respective clans. Orchidpaw threw Bearpaw a smile goodbye and followed Twilightpaw to the edge of the hollow. Something made her stop just before she reached the brambles. She looked behind her, and even from the distance she could see Bearpaw's soft green eyes staring after her.

    "Orchidpaw, come on!"

    "S-sorry!" And she scampered off after her clanmates.