Warriors: A New Beginning #1: The Beginning

Chapter 11

When Wavepaw got to camp, the first thing she did was wash herself in the river. Tussledpaw saw this and laughed.

"You would do the same if you stank like fox!" Wavepaw glared at Tussledpaw. She shivered as the icy water bathed her paws. She vowed never, ever to roll in fox dung again.

She finished washing herself and stepped into the clearing.

"I hear Reedstar's choosing who will go to the Gathering tonight!" Flamepaw padded up.

"Really?" Wavepaw perked up. She had only been to two Gatherings in the six moons she had been training. She really wanted to go to this one.

She went to the fresh-kill pile, where Reedstar was giving out names of cats who would go to the Gathering.

"Treetail, Tussledpaw, Waterfall..." the young leader was saying. "Bushpaw, Speckledfur, Wavepaw, Sandypelt, Whiteheart, and Dawnpool."

Bushpaw's face lit up at the mention of his name, as did Wavepaw. She couldn't wait to see Pinepaw again.

Tussledpaw bounded over to her. "We get to go to the Gathering together!"

Wavepaw nodded absentmindedly. She was thinking about Silver and Trinity. Trinity would certainly not want to live in the forest, she had said so herself. But Silver? He had seemed very intrigued on Clan life. He would make a great member of ThunderClan, Wavepaw thought, then shook her head. Silver was a kittypet. The bell on his collar would scare away all the prey. He was probably bad at fighting. But...he seemed eager to learn. Wavepaw couldn't put the idea of Silver fighting for ThunderClan out of her head.

"Wavepaw." Speckledfur walked up to her. "It's time to go to the Gathering." Without waiting for an answer, Wavepaw's mentor ran to join the cats already leaving the camp. Wavepaw hurried to catch them.

***

Fourtrees was empty when the ThunderClan patrol leaped in the clearing.

"Where is everyone?" Wavepaw asked.

Speckledfur shrugged. "We're just early."

Speckledfur was right. Soon, the odor of ShadowClan filled Fourtrees. Wavepaw wrinkled her nose. How could ShadowClan smell so bad? WindClan scent mixed with ShadowClan, and Wavepaw relaxed.

She noticed a ginger apprentice entering the clearing and ran over to him.

"Pinepaw!"

Pinepaw was looking around, and when he saw Wavepaw, he beamed.

"Hi Wavepaw!" he meowed happily as Wavepaw joined him. "How's life?"

Turbulent images of the badger flew into Wavepaw's head, images of Squeakkit, dead, images of Berrytail giving the fatal blow to Goldstar.

"You'll see," she said darkly.

Pinepaw's eyes looked worried but he didn't say anything. Instead, the WindClan apprentice's gaze toured Fourtrees.

"Where's RiverClan?" he asked.

Wavepaw shrugged. "No idea."

Reedstar had already climbed up on the Great Rock, his tail curled around his paws, waiting patiently. Icestar and Rabbitstar were climbing up, their claws scrabbling the surface. The Clan cats had mixed and were chatting. Wavepaw saw Bushpaw with two WIndClan apprentices-- Barkpaw and Ledgepaw, she guessed. Sandypelt and Whiteheart were telling stories to a ShadowClan elder-- Owlclaw, was it?

Wavepaw looked up at the Great Rock. Reedstar was shifting his paws anxiously and the tip of his stiff tail was twitching. Wavepaw could tell that he was growing impatient, as well as Icestar and Rabbitstar. Icestar was sheathing and unsheathing his claws, and Rabbitstar had his eyes closed and his teeth gritted.