A Misty Path (A Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

The buzz of the massive crowd rang in Mistpaw's ears as she gazed up at the four giant oaks that surrounded her. The scents overwhelmed her, and her head hurt just trying to separate them: the fresh forest scent of ThunderClan mingled with the dusty smell of the WindClan moor, added with the wet rotting stench of the ShadowClan warriors, fresh from the dark slimy marshes. She felt Sandpaw brush against her, and she felt comforted by his presence: surely he was just as frightened and shocked as her. She, along with Sandpaw and Mudpaw, had to wait for Frostspike and Palestar's kits to become apprentices before they attended a Gathering, and so she looked too old to still look scared. She took a deep breath and dug her claws into the ground. She was braver than this. They were just cats, what could they do, with the full moon hanging above casting an eerie silver light onto the gathered Clans? They were being watched, being judged. No one would dare attack another during a truce declared by StarClan.

"Hi!" Mistpaw whirled around. A young-looking warrior stood before her, her pale brown pelt reeking of ShadowClan. "RiverClan, right?" Sandpaw nodded, looking nervous but determined. "Hm, I haven't seen you around before!" Her yellow eyes glittered. "Ooh, you must be those new kits RiverClan got!" She smiled and laughed, a high-pitched shrill giggle. "It's about time! You haven't had any in, like, how long?" The two RiverClan cats blinked, not knowing how to answer. The she-cat didn't seem to need one, and continued: "I've seen so many new young 'paws around, it's like the queens just had a two year break and popped out, like, five kitties!"

"Um..." Sandpaw looked eager to change the topic. "Yeah, I, uh... what's your name? I'm Sandpaw, and this is Mistpaw." He flicked his tail at Mistpaw, and she fluffed up her fur indignantly. I can introduce myself, y'know! But she was silently grateful that Sandpaw was talking, not her, as she had no desire to converse with this strange she-cat. Are all other Clan cats this weird?

"I'm Smallmouse," declared the brown cat, lifting her chin. She blinked and tipped her head to one side. "What happened to your eye, Misspaw?"

"Mistpaw," Mistpaw corrected. "And its natural." She shot Smallmouse a hostile look; she did not want to talk about her "condition" right now.

"Oh." Smallmouse beamed, gold eyes lighting up. "I think its really cool!" she trilled. Mistpaw almost audibly sighed with relief. At least not everyone thought she was a freak. The Clan had warmed up to her, too, deciding she wasn't a curse from StarClan. About time, too. Mistpaw smiled inwardly.

Suddenly, a gray shape appeared, and Mistpaw grunted with annoyance. Well, look who's turned up? "What are you doing, Mossypaw?" she asked impatiently.

Mossypaw turned to stare at her and Sandpaw. "I'm doing top-secret things for RiverClan!" he declared. He flashed a suspicious glare at Smallmouse, who sniffed with disbelief, nodded at Sandpaw and Mistpaw enthusiastically, and strolled away. "Spying," Mossypaw hissed under his breath. "It's very important, and me and Snowpaw and Willowpaw and Whitepaw are the only ones who can do it!"

Sandpaw scowled. "Good for you, Mossypaw," grumbled Mistpaw dully. "But I don't care, so go do your dumb 'spying' somewhere else."

Mossypaw growled under his breath. "You're just jealous!"

Sandpaw flicked his ear. "Sure. Keep believing that. Off you go! I thought you said it was important, why are you still hanging around here doing it?" Mossypaw nodded, dark green eyes wide, and scampered off.

"Good riddance," Mistpaw mumbled under her breath. Sandpaw laughed.

"The way he behaves, you'd think he's still a kit," the pale ginger tom remarked, his green eyes glinting with amusement.

Mistpaw smirked and flicked her long tail at him. "I remember when you were still a kit, always bugging me."

Sandpaw smiled. "Yeah." He looked around. "I'm going to go find Speckledpaw," he meowed. "I hope she hasn't gotten into an argument."

"Speckledpaw's too quiet and secretive for something as public as an argument," Mistpaw joked, but her mind was still on Sandpaw, and what she'd said to him. He's grown a lot since then, she thought. She watched him as he smiled and padded away. He's no longer that silly little tomkit I grew up with.

"Smallmouse said RiverClan got new apprentices." Mistpaw jumped and whirled around. Two toms stood before her, with fiery ginger pelts and ice-blue eyes. The tom who had spoken blinked at her, eyes emotionless, his paws snow-white against his bright orange fur. "Is that true?"

"Um, yes?" Mistpaw felt unnerved by the toms' eyes; they were so bright, so cold.

The first tom sniffed. "I see. That would be you, then, would it?"

"W-well, it's not just me, but yes." Mistpaw took a deep breath, letting her confidence enter and her nervousness blow away.

The first tom nodded. "My name is Sparkfang. And this is my brother Fireblaze." The other tom, larger and more muscular, dipped his head.

Suddenly, a cat upon the Great Rock, a massive golden tom, let out a howl. Sparkfang's eyes flashed. "The leaders are ready. It was nice meeting you." And with that, the two toms padded away. Mistpaw watched them go, her pelt prickling with unease. Well, that was weird. They didn't even ask for my name.

The bright golden tomcat turned out to be ThunderClan's leader, Goldenstar. Next, the young pretty ShadowClan leader Dovestar spoke. Palestar was next, and when he announced that RiverClan had eight new apprentices, she heard murmurs ripple through the gathered crowd. "Finally!" she heard someone nearby whisper. Lastly, the WindClan leader Boulderstar gave an extremely dull report.

When he finished, the four leaders leaped down from the Great Rock. Mistpaw frowned. What do I do now? Is it over? Do we leave? Do I have to wait for Palestar or can I just go now? What if they leave me behind?! But before she came to a conclusion, she heard her mentor call out: "Mistpaw!" Perchscale!

"Coming!" she called, hurrying over to the sound of his voice. She could see his dark gray pelt within the blur of colours, and rushed to his side. "What?"

"It's time to go. Stay close." A little way away, Palestar lifted his chin and called out for the Clan to follow. The light gray leader led RiverClan out of Fourtrees, towards RiverClan.

"Hey, Mistpaw!" Sandpaw, Mudpaw and Speckledpaw appeared in front of her suddenly. "Wow, that was so cool!" Mudpaw gushed. "There were so many cats around! Did you meet Stormpaw and Cornpaw? They're the WindClan apprentices, and they're really cool!"

"Oh, get over it," scoffed Speckledpaw. She smirked. "Ivypaw's okay - that's the ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice. And her mentor, Thornberry, is pretty nice." She scowled. "They're really stuck-up though."

"Mistpaw and I met this warrior named Smallmouse," Sandpaw reported.

"We know, Sandpaw, you already told us - "

"Shut up, Speckledpaw! As I was saying..."

Mistpaw smiled with amusement. She was lucky to have such good friends.