**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Eleven

 "Let me get this straight. You're just here with your healer-mentor to get information and bring it back to your Clan? But you aren't going to, like, represent them?" Twisterpaw was confused. Aside from all the names Fernpaw had just listed, her mind kept drifting off and nothing made sense anymore.

 "Kind of. Cats are allowed to come here, but we don't have to give out any information if we don't want to." Fernpaw confirmed.

 The tortoiseshell had only been talking for a few minutes, but Twisterpaw kept nodding off or admiring her beautiful pelt. She could only remember a few names that had been mentioned to her all night. Her vision kept getting black spots. Actually, they were black with tiny pink dots...

 "Are you okay, Twisterpaw?" Fernpaw looked concerned. 

 "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. I've only stayed up this late one time, though." the apprentice waved her off.

 "Ah, yes. I remember my first time at a gathering. It isn't like the Moonpond, where you can sleep and do the talking there. By the way, don't be surprised if the sun rises and a few of the Clans still haven't left." she warned.

 Suddenly alert, Twisterpaw looked around. The clearing looked much emptier than it did when Fernpaw first introduced herself. She couldn't see any MireClan, DeltaClan, or GroveClan cats. And the MeadowClan patrol was gathering at the break in the trees.

 "It looks like Poppystar is rounding us up." Twisterpaw commented, watching the leader intensely as she turned away from her deputy and nodded at Cardinalheart and Parsleyshade, who were talking to a pawful of WoodClan warriors on the far side of the island.

 Lemonspice... that was the name of the dusty-yellow WoodClan she-cat, wasn't it? She had been attacked by a kittypet- no, that was her apprentice. Wasn't it?

 "You go ahead. I'm just waiting on Vinetrail to quit telling her long stories so we can go home. But I'm here at every gathering, sometimes with our two elders. I can see you're not listening." Fernpaw trailed off as Twisterpaw stood up, wobbling on her paws. "See you." the black-and-white apprentice mumbled.

 Black-and-red spots filled her vision as she turned around, but everything cleared as she stumbled over. Cardinalheart padded over, offering a shoulder for her to fall on. "Woah, there! It looks like someone's excited to get back home!" he said, overly cheerful.

 Twisterpaw brushed off his belittling tone. "Sleep. Please." she managed, her voice muffled in his reddish fur.

 "Come on, ForestClan!" Parsleyshade called a few moments later. Twisterpaw broke away from Cardinalheart, groaning deeply. It was difficult enough to stay awake at a gathering, but the hard part was making it back through the snowstorm.

 That night, the apprentice dreamed of strange cats chasing her through a snowy forest as the sharp pebbles tore through her paw pads. When she finally awoke, orange light was illuminating the den. Twisterpaw shuffled closer to Magpiepaw, who was the only other apprentice in the den. The smaller she-cat curled in tighter, burying her face in her sister's fur. Twisterpaw felt the urge to fall asleep again, but she shook it off. She had things to do.

 She stood up and stretched, feeling refreshed. At the gathering, she had stayed up way too late- but now, as she tried to remember the fuzzy details, everything felt trapped in stone. She only remembered a pawful of names. Sequoiastar and Hazelshade of WoodClan. Sedgestar of MireClan. And that pale tom from MeadowClan whose deputy was having his kits...

 Twisterpaw stepped into the sunset, scanning the camp as she searched for Crowpelt. He was sitting on one of the smooth boulders outside of the elder's den, asleep. She bounced over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Crowpelt! Are we doing anything tonight? Can I go on a moonhigh patrol?" she prodded him enthusiastically.

 "No." he grumbled.

 "But why not?" she pleaded.

 Crowpelt opened a pale blue eye. "Young apprentices aren't allowed on moonhigh patrols. It's a lot more dangerous than during the day." he said apathetically. "So, no."

 Twisterpaw stared down at her paws in frustration, but noticed a shadow creeping up behind her. She peered over her shoulder to see Dovetail and Cardinalheart walking towards them, their tails twined together.

 "Sparrowkit and Finchkit are bound to become apprentices anytime soon. We're going on the dusk patrol to get back in the habit. Would you like to join us?" Cardinalheart offered warmly.

 "Sure!" Twisterpaw felt a new wave of energy. "Is Crowpelt coming?"

 Cardinalheart eyed the dark tom. "I don't see why not. And I think Poppystar is about to make new rules about apprentices going on patrols without their mentors..." 

 Crowpelt lifted his head. "Alright, fine. I'll go. But only because it's been a few days since I went on a patrol with her. Which I've done at least four times, though..." he rumbled on as he sat up slowly, shaking his head. "Hunting or border patrol?" he said, more clearly.

 "It's a hunting patrol. But Twisterpaw, aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten since last evening." Dovetail turned to the apprentice, giving her a knowing nod of the head. "Go get something from the prey-bush. Oh, and Poppystar wanted you two to go on this patrol, but please report to her den at moonrise, or whenever you get back." her voice grew more firm as she concluded.

 "Yes, of course." Twisterpaw dipped her head to the queen and warrior as she trotted over the the prey-bush. She picked out a chipmunk and sat down to eat it. She glanced up now and then to watch Sandyfur on the deputy's rock, pointing to a few of the cats gathered below her. Who was going on the patrol- Her, Crowpelt, Dovetail, Cardinalheart, Sandyfur and her daughter Daisypaw, and who was that spiky-furred reddish tom? One of the senior warriors, no doubt.

 Her mind wandered to the night before, trying desperately to remember all of the names. There was Lemmingpaw, the fuzzy dark brown she-cat from GroveClan. Her brother Adderpaw. Possumpaw, the pale gray tabby she-cat from MeadowClan. One of her brothers was a reddish tom named Shrewpaw. Oriolepaw was that ginger tabby. And there were the two newest DeltaClan apprentices, Finpaw and Gillpaw. Oh, and the RockClan healer, Fernpaw.

 "What're you thinking about?" Daisypaw broke through her mental rambling.

 "Oh. Just the cats I saw at the gathering." Twisterpaw shuffled back, making room for the cream-colored she-cat. "Sit down! Have you ever been to a gathering?" she invited.

 Daisypaw settled right next to her, too close but not enough that Twisterpaw wanted her to move. She tilted her head, narrowing her amber eyes. "Obviously I've been to a few gatherings. But not recently. It's cool, but I don't think the other apprentices like me." she recalled. "Which ones did you meet?"

 "I saw Lemmingpaw and Adderpaw. And I met their parents." Twisterpaw shrugged. "Plus, I talked to Fernpaw. And there's two new DeltaClan apprentices, Gillpaw and Finpaw." she informed Daisypaw.

 "Did you see Saffronpaw?" the she-cat perked her ears up.

 "No, he became a warrior." Twisterpaw shook her head.

 "Oh. That's nice. Well, nice talking to you." Daisypaw spontaneously stood up and walked away towards her mother, who was still perched on the boulder, talking to some senior warriors.

 Twisterpaw stared at the apprentice across the camp. Had she just talked to her... only to get information about Saffronsmolder? She shook her head and examined the remains of the chipmunk. Only its tail had meat in it now. She gnawed at it, trying to savor every last bite before the patrol could leave.

 "Come on, Twisterpaw! We're not going to wait all evening!" the spiky-furred reddish tom called out to her from below the deputy's rock. He sounded cheerful yet sarcastic at the same time. Twisterpaw jumped to her paws, racing over to join the patrol. She was excited- she hadn't caught any prey since she caught that robin as a kit! What would she catch next?