LOST

Chapter 4

The frosty, snowflake-filled air was swamped with the string scents of StormClan, WaveClan and ShadeClan, mixed with the familiar BrightClan scent. The four clans had met by Fourtrees, the gathering place. I guess this is sort of the gathering place, Ivypaw thought to himself as he looked around. Except that all the members of each clan were here! Well, except for Berrypelt, Whitepool and Soeckledfur, Ivypaw remembered sadly. He wondered if any of the other clans had cats that refused to go.
The dark down pressed close to Bluefeather, his yellow gaze watching the strange cats. He saw kits, queens with swollen bellies and elders, who's muzzles were grey like a doves wing.
"Bluefeather," he meowed, "who are the leaders?"
"The leaders are the four cats on the four trees. Hazelstar is on the far right one. The one next to her is Rosestar."
Rosestar was a white she-cat with yellow eyes.
"The one nearest to us is Pebblestar, and the brown tabby tom is Brackenstar." Bluefeather said. Pebblestar, a dark grey tom, perched almost above them, his stern amber gaze resting on the loudly chatting cats.
"Rosestar is the leader of StormClan, Pebblestar of WaveClan, and Brackenstar of ShadeClan."
Ivypaw nodded.
"Cats of all clans! Please be quiet! We wish to speak!" Rosestar yowled. Pebblestar, Brackenstar and Hazelstar pounced from branch to branch until they standing next to her.
"As you all know, we are leaving the forest and traveling over the mountains to find a safe home." The white she-cat announced. "We, the leaders, have come to agreements and have made some rules. Pebblestar?" She stepped back to let the WaveClan leader take her place.
"Firstly, one of our rules is: no hostility against other cats. As we will be travelling together we do not want trouble and fights breaking out. Until we have settled in the new territories, those who are hostile to other clan cats will receive a punishment! We shall be at peace!"
The cats below yowled in agreement.
"The second rule is- we must share prey. For us all to survive, all cats must share with the needy. Which brings me to the next rule- as you know we will be travelling with queens, elders and kits. These ranks must be cared for first. Fourthly- may I request that all cats work together to keep everyone safe. Fifthly, apprentices will continue their training. There will be chances to teach and practice hunting, fighting and all those other things."
"Let us all work together to reach our new homes!" Brackenstar added. The clans yowled in agreement again, cheering loudly.
"Let's go!" Hazelstar yowled.

"How long till we reach the mountain tops?" Ivypaw panted. The steep uphill climb was torturing him, and the harsh wind east helping. At least it had stopped snowing for once. But Ivypaw knew it wouldn't be long before it started again.
"We're almost there!" Bluefeather answered. "Don't worry, we're all pretty tired!" She told him. Ivypaw looked up. It still looked like hey had a while to go, but when he looked down, he was happy to see they had already managed two thirds of the climb.
Suddenly a screech rang through the frosty air.
"RAINPAW!" Someone shrieked, then a rumble echoed through the air. Ivypaw swung around. Behind him, snowy rocks were crumbling, sending tumbling down the hill. A dark grey tom, Rainpaw, was all the way at the bottom where there was a steep cliff. He was clawing at the icy edges, struggling to keep hold. Bramblepath bolted down, his dark brown pelt blurred by the swirling snowflakes. Him and two other warriors grabbed Rainpaw's scruff and hauled him into safe ground. The apprentice's legs trembled, and he was too shocked to shake out the snow in his pelt.
"Is everyone alright?" Pebblestar yowled, making his way down to the cliff.
"We almost lost Rainpaw, but everyone is alright, Pebblestar." A grey she-cat who had helped rescue Rainpaw replied.
"Well, there's no going back now," Mistypaw shuddered next to Ivypaw, staring out at the cliff. The snowy forest below seemed nothing more than a little camp drawn out by kits. His heart ached with homesickness even though they hadn't even reached the top of the mountains.
"Let's keep moving!" Hazelstar called. "We plan on arriving in the mountains by nightfall so we can rest and hunt."
The four clans mumbled complaints about their sore legs but obeyed, continuing the torturous journey uphill.
"Are you alright?" Ivypaw heard Mistypaw say. He turned, seeing Rainpaw trudging next to the two littermates.
"Yeah. I'm fine." He muttered. "Just had a bit of a tumble. It was nothing!"
Mistypaw snorted with amusement. Typical show-off, Ivypaw thought.
"Since when are you an apprentice?" Ivypaw asked the dark grey tom.
"I'm almost a warrior!" Rainpaw announced proudly. "Fogleaf said it won't be long till I get my new name. I was actually going to get it today, but... well, WaveClan's been busy!" He grinned.
"So you're from WaveClan. And who is Fogleaf?" Mistypaw replied.
"She's my mother." Rainpaw rolled his eyes. "She's the one who screamed out when I fell and she was the grey one who helped pull me up. By the way, I'm Rainpaw. But I think you already knew that."
"I'm Mistypaw and this is my brother Ivypaw. I have two other sisters but I don't know where they are." Mistypaw flicked a snowflake off Rainpaw's ear, purring. "Nice to meet you!"
"Bye." Rainpaw dodged away and scampered over to a grey she-cat who Ivypaw recognised as Fogleaf.
"Come on!" Mistypaw purred. "There's Emberpaw and Bluepaw!" She scampered up toward two ginger and blue shapes. Ivypaw admired her energy as he forced his stiff legs to follow her.