The Flood Of Power Book 1: New Moon

Chapter 16

The Clan gathered around the entrance to the ThunderClan camp, waiting for Mousestar to emerge from his den. Recently, he'd been spending more and more time away from the rest of the Clan. It didn't really bother the ThunderClan cats, as he was constantly rude or annoying, but it did concern several of them.

The grey tom emerged from his den and padded past his Clan and left the camp. Exchanging glances, the cats followed him at a sprint.

They arrived third to the Gathering hollow. The ShadowClan and WindClan cats looked up at them as they raced down the side of the hollow. Spotting Darkpaw of ShadowClan, Threepaw padded over to him.

He nodded to her. "How are you?" He asked kindly.

"There was a RiverClan invasion a while ago, but Tigerstar came and took her cats away. I'm pretty sure she punished them harshly. I'd be surprised if any of them were allowed to come to the Gathering tonight." Threepaw meowed, sitting down next to him.

"Hey, Darkpaw!" A voice called out. They turned to see Moorfrost padded towards them, his tail straight up in the air.

"Hi, Moorfrost, how has it been?" Darkpaw mewed politely.

Threepaw noticed how friendly they seemed to be. She leaned in close to them and asked in a whisper, "how have those nighttime meetings with apprentices from other Clans been?"

They winced and shared a glance. "How do you know about that?" Darkpaw asked in a shaky voice.

Threepaw let out a purr. "Whisperpaw told me about it, and I've been invited to join the next one."

"Really? Whisperpaw doesn't seem like the type to tell anyone her secrets. Especially if it could endanger her chance to become a warrior, and maybe even deputy." Moorfrost meowed, shifting from foot to foot nervously.

"Yeah, well, she knows that I sometimes sneak out to see the foxes, so it was only fair that I know one of her secrets too." Threepaw answered.

A yowl from the edge of the hollow made every head turn and watch as RiverClan ran down the slope, Tigerstar in the lead. She and a ginger and black she-cat stopped at the base of the four rocks in the center of the hollow. Three apprentices made their way over to Threepaw, Darkpaw, and Moorfrost.

"Hey, Onepaw, Riverpaw and Cirriuspaw!" Moorfrost called.

The fluffy white pelt of Cirriuspaw was glowing brightly in the moonlight, while Onepaw and Riverpaw's tortoiseshell fur only glowed in certain areas.

"Hey! How have you all been?" Cirriuspaw glanced at Threepaw. "Sorry again for being in ThunderClan territory, Codheart is not the smartest warrior, and for sure does not listen to orders."

Threepaw shrugged. "It's perfectly fine, as long as you and Skypaw were okay after we defeated you."

Cirriuspaw let out a purr of amusement. "I was winning against you and Stormpaw, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You went into ThunderClan territory? Why didn't you two mention that at the last meeting?" Darkpaw asked Onepaw and Riverpaw.

"They did that after the last meeting, so we didn't have a chance to talk with you guys about it." Riverpaw meowed, shuffling her paws.

"Meeting? Is that where you two sneak off to?" Cirriuspaw asked, whisking his tail.

Onepaw sighed. "Moorfrost started it when he was an apprentice, and invited us a few moons ago at our first Gathering."

"Squirrelfoot! You're out of the nursery? Are Mistkit and Nightkit apprentices already?" Brackenwish called to a ginger ShadowClan she-cat.

The ginger queen purred. "I just wanted to be at a Gathering again. Mistkit and Nightkit are teaching Horseear what it's like to have kits."