Flowerstar's Judgement {COMPLETE}

Chapter 22

SunClan was thriving in greenleaf. Even though the season would be ending in about a moon, SunClan had used the season the best they could. The fresh-kill pile was full of prey and the cats were happy. Willowpaw was now an apprentice with Jayflight as her mentor and Frostclaw had given birth to two very healthy she-cats, Icekit and Snowkit. Tonight was the gathering and Flowerpelt was incredibly excited to show how strong SunClan had been doing the past moon.

Flowerpelt also knew that they would have more kits soon enough, Briarheart and Fernsong were closer than ever and the entire Clan knew that Owlfoot and Moonfur were mates now. Flowerpelt was glad that Owlfoot was able to find happiness after the death of his first mate, Firetail. Sandfoot and Applespots also seemed to be incredibly happy for their father. Flowerpelt also couldn't help but notice how close Tigertail and Sunstream had been lately, they shared prey all the time and looked at each other with loving eyes.

Flowerpelt hoped that the nursery would be crawling with kits soon, they had four apprentices now and would have more in six moons. Flowerpelt really wanted to be mentor to either Icekit and Snowkit. Tigertail told her how enriching it was to be a mentor and she wanted to experience it herself.

With all the kits and mates there were, Flowerpelt had once again began wondering about if she would ever have kits. That requires a mate first. She thought, and it wasn't something that she was super looking forward to. Kits would be nice, but Flowerpelt wanted to be leader and female leaders usually didn't have kits. Goldenstar had kits... A thought intruded into her mind. Flowerpelt shook her head, It's not the time to think about kits!

"Hey, Flowerpelt!" A familiar voice called her name, Flowerpelt turned her head to see Thornpelt who was standing with Alderfang, Moonfur, Snakepaw and Rockfall. "Come on patrol with us!" His amber eyes were shining, they seemed to light up the world around Flowerpelt. With a purr Flowerpelt bounded over to Thornpelt, walking by his side as they went on patrol together. I don't need a mate. I have Thornpelt. She thought joyfully. What if Thornpelt was your mate. Flowerpelt stopped in her tracks, pelt burning and her heart suddenly racing.

"You alright?" Thornpelt looked after his shoulder at her.

Flowerpelt shook away all of her thoughts. "Just fine! Let's go!" Ignoring her own thoughts, Flowerpelt continued on the patrol, just wanting to enjoy the present without focusing too hard on her future.

The gathering hollow was full with cats, which was to be expected on such a beautiful, greenleaf. Flowerpelt walked alongside her sister and mother as SunClan settled in. Flowerpelt spotted Goldenstar talking closely with Cloudstar and Birdstar. It had been a while since Birdstar and Cloudstar had their fight during the gathering, Flowerpelt wondered if LichenClan and MoonClan were still fighting.

She noticed a MoonClan she-cat named Whiteriver talking with a LichenClan she-cat named Fawnsky. Maybe LichenClan and MoonClan had finally found peace, Flowerpelt hoped that they did.

The Clans settled down and the leader's began speaking. Cloudstar was the first to go. "MoonClan is proud to welcome one of our cats back after being missing for a few moons and he has earned his warrior name, Crowsky!" Flowerpelt blinked. Missing? Where had he been? Flowerpelt noticed a black tom with several white markings sitting beside a silver tabby she-cat, he was older than Flowerpelt and he had just received his warrior name? He must've been gone for a long time. "We also welcome two new apprentice, Tawnypaw and Smallpaw!" Two apprentice, a tortoiseshell and a black tabby held their heads high. The rest of the Clans cheered and Cloudstar sat down, letting Foxstar go next.

Flowerpelt held her head high, she always loved sharing great news from SunClan. "Prey is running exceptionally well this season," The ginger leader began. "And we welcome two new kits in the nursery as well as new apprentice, please welcome Willowpaw!" Willowpaw hadn't come to this gathering, but Flowerpelt could see Alderfang and Rowanfall purring with delight.

Next was Goldenstar, Flowerpelt still didn't like the AshClan leader very much after causing the death of Stonewhisker, but she held her claws. "AshClan also welcomes new kits, Batkit, Crowkit, Nightkit and Dustkit!" More cheers followed Goldenstar's news, even from SunClan.

Finally, it was Birdstar's turn. "We are proud to announce our new warrior, Cherrypool! Prey is plentiful and LichenClan is thriving." There were cheers and the leaders got down from their trees so the Clans could talk.

Flowerpelt wasn't sure who to talk to, she really didn't have many friends from the other Clans. She spotted the LichenClan warrior Jaggedtail going up to the new MoonClan warrior, Crowsky. Crowsky looked incredibly awkward, Flowerpelt wondered if they knew each other. The AshClan warrior Echoheart was talking to MoonClan's Cedarclaw while his sister Amberfrost glared from a few taillengths away.

She didn't know what was going in between them and didn't want to try and figure it out. What she wanted to do was talk to someone new. Flowerpelt saw two AshClan warriors, Riverstorm and Lionpelt talking together. She didn't want to hate AshClan forever, so she took a deep breath and approached the two of them. "Hello." She greeted kindly.

Riverstorm and Lionpelt turned to look at her with curiosity. "Hi there." Lionpelt dipped his head in return.

"Flowerpelt, right? Of SunClan?" Riverstorm asked. Flowerpelt nodded. "It's nice to meet you." Both these cats seem pretty nice.

"How are you two?" Flowerpelt asked, staying kind.

"Good." It was Riverstorm who replied. "Greenleaf has been kind to us."

"Same here, congratulations on having kits in your Clan."

"You too." Lionpelt purred. "She's hoping to mentor one of them." He motioned towards Riverstorm who seemed slightly flustered.

"Not all of us can get apprentices right after we become warriors." She flicked her tail, but Flowerpelt could see the playfulness in her eyes.

"Don't worry," Flowerpelt assured with a kind purr. "I'm hoping to mentor one of the kits in our nursery right now. Riverstorm's eyes turned soft. The three cats shared a long conversation talking about mentoring, Flowerpelt was surprised at how much she had in common with Riverstorm. However, Riverstorm seemed a bit more ambitious and bold than Flowerpelt, but she was a very kind cat as was Lionpelt.

When SunClan returned to their own territory, Flowerpelt settled into her nest, eager for a long night of sleep. The gathering was always a long night, but she knew that greenleaf wouldn't last much longer. They had about a moon left of perfect, warm weather before leaf-fall and eventually leaf-bare set in. I can't worry about that. She closed her, listening to the gentle breathing of her fellow Clanmates. I worry too much about the future, I need to focus on now. If I do that, I don't have to panic about what the future holds. With her head in order, Flowerpelt quickly fell into a gentle sleep.