Warrior Cats: Thunder And Fire

Chapter 9

Redpaw lied down in his nest, closing his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, he heard Goldenstar's voice ring out across the camp.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!"

Redpaw sighed and stood up, exiting the den. He walked over to Squirrelpaw, who was sitting next to Mousepaw, and sat on her other side. "Do you know what this is about?" He asked her.

Squirrelpaw looked at him. "No, but tonight is the full moon, so that means it's a gathering tonight, so it's probably something to do with that," She meowed. "I hope I get to go! It'll be my first one!"

Redpaw looked up as Goldenstar started speaking. "Tonight is a full moon, which means tonight is a gathering. I will now choose who will go to the gathering. The cats going to the gathing tonight are Wetfoot, Luckyclover, Rabbittail, Embershadow, Smokefur, Treefur, Blizzardstripe, Redpaw, Squirrelpaw, Mousepaw, Tigertail, and Ravennose." She called.

Redpaw perked up when he heard his name. He felt excited, this was his first gathering! He looked over at Squirrelpaw, and saw she looked so excited that he thought she might explode.

"Get rest, and we will leave at sunset," Goldenstar meowed. "Clan dismissed."

Redpaw stood up and walked to the apprentices' den, laying down in his nest. He saw Squirrelpaw and Mousepaw talk a little more before walking to the den together and laying down.

Redpaw closed his eyes and let sleep overtake his brain.

Redpaw flicked his eyes open as he heard a voice.

"Redpaw. Redpaaaaawww. Get up, sleepyhead! REDPAW!"

Redpaw shot up, ears perked, and saw Squirrelpaw smiling down at him. "What's going on?" he asked.

"It's sunset, time for the gathering!" Squirrelpaw meowed.

"Oh, ok, let's go then," Redpaw stood up, shaking his fur. He followed Squirrelpaw out of the den, where the rest of the clan was waiting. Squirrelpaw and Redpaw joined the group.

A few minutes later, they left the camp and started walking through the forest. Redpaw walked in silence, until Wetfoot walked over to him.

"Now, this is your first gathering. You can make friends with the cats from other clans, but don't give anything away about Thunderclan," Wetfoot meowed.

"Ok, Wetfoot," Redpaw meowed with a nod.

They walked for a while more until they reached the clearing known as Fourtrees. They stood at the bushes next to it before Goldenstar flicked her tail and they bounded into the clearing.

Redpaw took in the sight of all the cats, there seemed to be hundreds there, different clan scents mingling with each other.

Three cats sat at the bottom of the huge rock in the clearing. Redpaw saw Goldenstar walk over and join them. Redpaw walked around, gazing at the cats around him, and was so distracted that he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh! Sorry," Redpaw meowed, shaking his head.

"It's fine," The cat meowed. He was a black tom with amber eyes. "I'm Slatepaw."

"Hi, Slatepaw, I'm Redpaw," Redpaw meowed.

"Nice to meet you, Redpaw," Slatepaw meowed.

"What clan are you from?"

"Riverclan, you?"

"Thunderclan."

"I'm a medicine cat apprentice," Slatepaw meowed. "I'm guessing you're a new apprentice, I haven't seen you before."