Morning Rays

Chapter 10

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather together!" Hawkstar yowled.

"I have started this meeting early because I have three new warriors to name," he announced. "Tumblepaw, Lavenderpaw, Yellowpaw, please step forward."

The apprentices, wide-eyed, stepped forward.

"I, Hawkstar, leader of BlazeClan, commend these young cats as warriors! They have shown true passion about training, and I hope they sereve their Clan well in the moons to come."

"Apprentices, step forward." Yellowpaw did so. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and defend your Clan at all costs?"

"I do," said Yellowpaw confidently.

"I do," meowed Tumblepaw triumphantly.

"I do," Lavenderpaw said calmly.

"Yellowpaw, I name you Yellowclaw, in honor of your hunting ability. Lavenderpaw, I name you Lavenderfern in honor of your gentleness and compassion. And Tumblepaw," he went on."I name you Tumbletooth in honor of your outstanding fighting ability.

"Now, I am sorry that you cannot come to the Gathering tonight, but I will be sure that the Clans all know about your achievement. You will sit vigil in camp tonight."

"Yellowclaw! Tumbletooth! Lavenderfern!" called the Clan.

Velvetcloud stepped forward. "Now, for the attendees at the Gathering: Silversprout, Timbertree, Jasminebloom, Cloudchaser, Jadeshine, Fernwillow, Runningbrook, Lightstep, Fawnspeckle, Oatpaw, Quickpaw, Sunpaw, and Rustfoot."

Moompaw's face when she heard that Sunpaw would go without her to the Gathering.

"Yellowclaw, Lavenderfern, Tumbletooth, you know what to do," called Hawkstar as he lead the cats toward the exit.

The three newest warriors nodded, positioning themselves at the entrance, but leaving enough room for the Gathering patrol to leave.

"Tell me about it when you get back," Moonpaw whispered as Sunpaw followed the rest of the Clan outside.

Sunpaw flicked his tail to show he heard, and filed out of the camp.

. . . . .

Sunpaw looked up at the huge tree stump from where he was by a MeadowClan apprentice, Orangepaw.

"Let the Gathering begin!" Hawkstar called when EchoClan finallly arrived.

"I will begin," called Hawkstar. "We have three new warriors sitting vigil at our camp: Lavenderpaw, Yellowpaw, and Tumblepaw are now Lavenderfern, Yellowclaw, and Tumbletooth!"

A few cats called their name, even though the new warriors were not present.

"Jasminebloom is also expecting kits! We expect them to arrive within a half-moon!" called Hawkstar.

Again, a few cheers broke out.

"We also will be watching out borders, very closely," hinted Hawkstar, glacing at Nightstar pointedly.

Nightstar let out a soft growl and stepped forward.

"TwilightClan is flourishing in greenleaf. We have a new warrior, too. Weedpaw is now Weedleap, earning his warrior name due to fighting a dog single-pawed off of our territory."

"Weedleap! Weedleap! Weedleap!" called the Clans. A green-eyed, brown tom across from Sunpaw puffed out his chest, clearly proud of himself.

Dawnstar opened her jaws, only to be beaten by Silverstar, the EchoClan leader.

"EchoClan has three new apprentices!" she called. "Graypaw, Poolpaw, and Frecklepaw!"

"Graypaw! Poolpaw! Frecklepaw!"

"EchoClan has chased a few rogues off of our territory in the past moon. Hawkstar, they may have retreated into your territory."

"Thank you for the information, Silverstar," the tom said, "But BlazeClan can handle it."

"May I speak now?" interrupted Dawnstar. The leaders, looking annoyed, nodded.

"MeadowClan needs more territory," she demanded. "Our Clan needs it, and our territory is smaller than any other. Even in greenleaf, though prey is plentiful, he have troubles feeding the entire Clan. I must ask that EchoClan give us the end of the hills to hunt, which will make the territories even again."

They Clans were silent to this demand. Then yowls broke out, mostly from EchoClan.

"You have no right to demand this!"

"EchoClan won't give in!"

"Never!"

Silverstar looked calmly at Dawnstar. "I am sorry, Dawnstar, but EchoClan relies on the tunnels in that territory to make it through leaf-bare. Why don't you try hunting further west? I'm sure there's plenty of territory farther up."

"It's all trees, Silverstar, and only BlazeClan hunts among trees," she growled.

"Surely you can adapt?" asked Silverstar.

"We have light pelts specifically for hunting in meadows and thickets. If we were to hunt in trees, wouldn't we all have dark pelts?" said Dawnstar through gritted teeth.

"You have a few dark-colored cats in your Clan. Surely you could send just them to the new territory?" suggested Hawkstar.

Dawnstar growled. "We will discuss this at the next Gathering. This Gathering is at an end!"

The Clans quickly went back to their own after Dawnstar ended the Gathering. Sunpaw rushed away from Orangepaw and back to his leader.

"BlazeClan! We're leaving!" called Hawkstar.

"What? Already?" whined Oatpaw. His mother, Fawnspeckle, shushed him.

. . . . .

"So, how was the Gathering?" asked Moonpaw when Sunpaw got home.

"Dawnstar demanded that EchoClan gives her part of their territory," answered Sunpaw.

"She can't do that!" exclaimed Moonpaw.

"She did," meowed Sunpaw grimly. "She might pull all of the Clans into the battle."

"But we're on the other side of the territories!" meowed Moonpaw.

"We could be forced to pick a side," Sunpaw meowed back.

"BlazeClan! Join here together for a Clan meeting!" called Hawkstar.

"Oh, boy," said Sunpaw. "Here we go."

"BlazeClan, if sure you all know that MeadowClan threatened to take some of EchoClan's territory," Hawkstar reported. "But we, if needed, mind you, will support EchoClan. I believe it is rightly their territory, decided moons ago."

The whole Clan murmured agreement.

"So I've decided to speed up the training of the apprentices and warriors alike. Tomorrow, Moonpaw will train with Turtlepaw, Oatpaw, Featherear, and me. Sunpaw, Quickpaw, Velvetcloud, Timbertree, and Lavenderfern will be in another group. Stormheart and Cloudchaser, pick three warriors, and that goes for Runningbrook and Jadeshine, too."

The cats who's names had been called nodded.

"The rest of the cats will hunt, and patrols will be sent out later. Apprentices, after your training you will be in charge of the den reinforcing, and Featherear will supervise. Let's get some sleep; we have a busy day tomorrow."

Velvetcloud stepped forward. "I would like a patrol to go out and refresh the border marks. Briarberry, lead two warriors to do so."

Hawkstar nodded with approval.

Sunpaw and Moonpaw walked back to the apprentice's den in the hollow stump to sleep.

"Sunpaw, do you think we'll be dragged into battle?" asked Moonpaw.

"I don't know Moonpaw. I just don't know."

Please tell me if you notice a typo!