Curled Silence *Completed*

Chapter Eight

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join here beneath Highledge for a Clan meeting." I slid out of the apprentices' den to see cats gathering in the clearing. It was very cold outside today, and I realized that leaf-bare really had arrived. Thin white flakes were drifting down from the cloud covering above. It felt as if my limbs would crack and break into countless pieces when I stretched. Bramblestar had worked me hard yesterday.

Bramblestar was speaking. "Tonight's gathering will be important, and I shall see how the other leaders are fairing after the Great Battle. The cats that are going tonight will be Lionblaze, Graystripe, Cloudtail, Thornclaw, Leafpool, Spirderleg, Birchfall, Berrynose, Cinderheart, Toadstep, Rosepetal, Stormpaw, Hollypaw, Curlpaw, and Purdy. We shall leave at moonrise." The great leader leaped down from Highledge and padded over to the fresh-kill pile, joined by some of the companions that he would take to the gathering. Energy surged through me at the thought of meeting all of the other Clans.

"Isn't this great?" I turned to see Stormpaw, eyes bright. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Come on, let's go and get something to eat, I'm starving!" I walked over to the pile of fresh-kill and squeezed my way through the warriors. I got some grumbles, but no one stopped me or my brother. I chose a juicy chaffinch from the pile, and I headed over to the apprentices' den to share it with Stormpaw. Hollypaw was sharing a tiny brown mouse with Lilypaw, which by some news I had recently been hearing, was the new medicine cat apprentice. I set my chaffinch down, and went over to Hollypaw.

"So, how do you feel about going to the gathering," I asked her. The two young she-cats looked up at me.

Hollypaw frowned and meowed, "I think it would be a good time to get to know our enemies. You never know what secrets they'll spill." I nodded, thinking this over.

"Aren't you any excited about meeting the other Clans?" The gray and silver apprentice shrugged.

I sat down and began plucking gray feathers out of my chaffinch. My stomach was flipping around with excitement and fear about the gathering, I found it tough to eat, even though I was starving not too long ago.

"I'm excited about meeting the other medicine cats. I'll get to learn so much about all the herbs and new ways to heal cats!" Lilypaw commented. She devoured the rest of the mouse in a few famished bites. I never really thought about what medicine cats do at gatherings. They probably just sit around and talk about dock leaves or ways to cure a cough. It didn't sound very appealing.

When I finished my prey, I looked to the Warriors of StarClan and saw the moon was almost at its peak. The silver disk was floating among a sea of tiny specks of twinkling light, high up in the sky. I looked to the camp entrance and saw cats gathering there, their pelts turned silver by the moonlight, ready to leave on the journey to the gathering. I padded over to see Bramblestar talking quietly with the senior warriors. I strained my ears, and heard him mutter, "Don't act like we are weak, act as if the battle had never happened. We are strong. . ." I stopped listening, in case I heard something that was not meant to be heard. The Great Battle, as the older warriors called it, was the battle between StarClan and the Clans, and the Dark Forest. Of course, I was not there to witness it all play out, I was not born yet, but I can imagine the slashing claws, the yowling and screeching as the Dark Forest cats fled the Clans' home. . .

"Curlpaw, you coming?" The meow yanked me out of my imagination. I looked up to see Stormpaw looking behind his shoulder. The Clan had already filed out of the camp, and me and Stormpaw were last in the patrol. I nodded and bounded after my Clan, excitement bubbling up in my chest. I'm going to a gathering!

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A yowl sounded behind the gathering patrol. I turned to see a group of gray and brown lithe cats bounding across the grassy moor. The cat in front, Onestar by the way he looked and acted, had worry glimmering in his eyes. He stopped beside Brambleclaw, and his cats mingled with the ThunderClan cats. I was beside Brambleclaw, and could hear what Onestar was whispering to Bramblestar. ". . .happened to Firestar?" As they padded along WindClan territory, the ThunderClan leader's eyes filled with grief.

"He was fighting Tigerstar when lightning hit the tree next to him. No cat knows if he died from the fire, the smoke. . ." I stopped listening to this, seeing that I had heard this conversation many times about my Clan. Most think he died from the fire, but some believe it was the smoke that took his life. I don't really care how he died, I just know he is dead.

I looked up and saw that a island had appeared, and a pine tree next to the island had fallen. The trunk spanned the length of the inlet between the island and the main land. I figured that this was the way to get to the island where the gathering would take place. As we approached, the island got bigger and bigger, until it became bigger than my camp. On the edges, there was a sandy shore, then there were trees that were so thick that I couldn't see what was at the center, though I could guess. All the warriors told of the Great Oak that sat in the middle of the clearing, where all the leaders addressed the Clans.

Being in the front of the ThunderClan group, I could see Onestar politely dipping his head to Bramblestar, letting his Clan go in front of his own. Bramblestar gave a mew of thanks, then hopped up nobly onto the fallen tree. Lionblaze followed, then it was my turn. I leaped up onto the pine, and immediately felt the bark had been washed away, and smooth wood had been left in its place. I extended my claws into the smooth wood, trying to get some kind of a grip. Carefully lifting one foot from the tree, I took small steps, as if I was a kit just learning how to use its legs. Once I got the hang of it, I started to walk normally, and found I could do it with quite ease, and jumped down on the other side, the gathering island.

It felt good to be on sturdy and safe ground, but I also missed the rush of excitement it gave me. Two cats, Bumblestripe and Icecloud, were standing behind me, and we're heading for the bushes in front of me. I followed them, not wanting to get lost on this strange island, and found myself emerging into a medium-sized clearing. It was packed full of cats with different scents and smells. There were three main types of cats, I decided after studying them for awhile. There were the sleek and well-fed kind of cats that I identified almost at once as RiverClan, because of their fishy sent. I wrinkled my nose when I smelled them. Then of course there was ThunderClan, who had the hard muscles, and broad shoulders. Then there was ShadowClan, who was also pretty easy to identify by their darkened pelts and piney smell.

I wandered over to a group of other apprentices, bigger than me. Looking them over, I saw that they were a mix of WindClan and ShadowClan. They were all looking towards a heavily muscled tom. ". . . shoved the mangy ThunderClan cat's face into the dirt. He nearly begged me to let him go." I shivered, and slunk away from this group.

Spotting my brother talking with a different, more friendlier band of apprentices, I padded over. "Hey Stormpaw." He looked already like the other apprentices, big and strong muscled. The two other cats looked over and I identified them as both RiverClan, brother and sister by the looks of it.

"Hi Curlpaw," he meowed brightly. "This is Troutpaw," he pointed with his tail to the pale gray tabby she-cat with yellow eyes. "And this is Rushpaw." Rushpaw was a light brown tabby tom, with the same yellow eyes.

The two apprentices were looking at me with curiosity. After a long and drawn out awkward silence, I meowed, "I'm Curlpaw."

Troutpaw gave a little chuckle. "Is it because of your ears?" I looked up instinctively, then realizing I couldn't see my ears, I nodded.

Suddenly, a loud yowling broke through the ongoing buzz of conversation, silencing the cats in the clearing. I looked up to see a huge white cat, except for his jet black paws. He looked very commanding. "Who's that?" I whispered to Rushpaw.

"That's Blackstar, the ShadowClan leader," she whispered back. "My leader is Mistystar, who is that blue-gray she cat. Onestar is WindClan leader, which is the brown tabby." I nodded my thanks to her.

"ThunderClan, I am sorry to accuse," he broke off in a coughing fit. A small tabby rushed up to the roots of the tree, but Blackstar shooed him away. He stood to full height and began again. "I accuse ThunderClan-" this time it wasn't a coughing fit, but he slipped off the branch, and plummeted to the bare earth below. I heard a thump and a faint crack as he hit. I gasped, but it was masked in all of the other cats yowling of confusion and worry. The leaders on the tree looked as stunned as any other of the cats. This was not planned. Medicine cats swarmed Blackstar to check if he was okay

There was noise from every Clan, but one yowl rose above the rest.

"Blackstar is dead!"