The full moon was glaring down over the towering trees which circled one another in the large clearing of the Gathering. From every angle, Spiderpaw could hear the chattering of cats around him, so loudly that they nearly blocked out Briartail's voice as she twittered beside him. He felt a mixture of relief and regret that he hadn't really been listening and didn't know what story she had been telling him for last hundred paw steps, but her ears were twitching with pride and her tail was bushed up like a stalk. Spiderpaw knew that both his sister and brother had every reason to be excited tonight - this was their first Gathering as warriors.
Spiderpaw scanned across the clearing for his brother, and eventually saw him conversing with two SunClan cats. He turned to Briartail. "Should we go over?"
Briartail's ears flattened. "I haven't finished telling you about the adder I found!"
"You can tell me later," Spiderpaw spoke. "I think it's Aspenclaw's turn to tell me a thousand stories."
Briartail rolled her eyes and followed Spiderpaw past a forest of cats from differing Clans until they reached their brother, who welcomed them with a quick flick of his tongue on their ears. The two SunClan cats Aspenclaw was standing with gave them flickering glances. Spiderpaw knew he hadn't met these warriors before, although he was sure he had seen them at previous gatherings.
"You're ThornClan's medicine cat apprentice, aren't you?"
Spiderpaw looked up, nodding politely as he locked eyes with a slim black tom with a splash of white across his chest and a flickers white across his nose and face. "I'm Crowcall," he meowed, looking over to his companion, a huge golden tabby. "This is our first Gathering as full warriors."
"Us too," Briartail added.
"Aspenclaw was telling us." There was a moment of silence until Crowcall spoke again. "What are your names?"
Spiderpaw tried not to shudder. He had never met a SunClan cat that managed to make him feel so pressured with just the piercing look of his eyes. "I'm Spiderpaw," he meowed, suddenly feeling much weaker and more vulnerable than before.
"I'm Briartail," his sister meowed with no falter in her confidence, flicking her silver tail around her back and dipping her head. He watched as she signalled to the large golden tom standing besides Crowcall. "What's your name?"
"I'm Eaglefang," the tom meowed. Spiderpaw flicked his ears, not at all surprised by the warrior's name. He reminded him a lot like Talonstar, due to their similar coat patterns and sharp teeth that stuck out of the sides of their jaws.
Crowcall must have noticed him staring at the jaws of his brother. "Believe me or not, I have the snaggy teeth too." He took a pause, glancing to his white paw. "Actually, I only have one."
Spiderpaw felt surprised by the friendliness of this cat. By their appearances, he guessed that any cat would have thought Eaglefang to be more welcoming, but the tom seemed much more shy than his look covered him to be. He watched as Crowcall twisted his head slightly to reveal one drawn down fang at the side of his head.
"I remember when you used to hate having one side tooth," Eaglefang suddenly spoke, stepping forwards. His voice was deep and fierce, and Spiderpaw seemed to be wondering if he was even shy at all.
"He's right," Crowcall continued. "I didn't know for a while until Eaglefang was making fun of me and took me to a puddle. I thought Talonstar was going to rename me Snagglekit!"
"Snagglekit," Aspenclaw breathed. "That sounds adorable."
"Adorable until you receive your warrior name, Snaggletooth," Eaglefang purred.
"Stop that, you!" Crowcall budged him aside happily, as if this had been a joke among them for a while. "If you keep calling me that, I'll turn you into crowfood."
"You remind me of Spiderpaw and I when we were kittens," Aspenclaw meowed with a friendly side glance to his brother.
"I suppose that's what siblings are like," Crowcall spoke. "You've been around eachother as kittens, so you never feel the need to act mature around them.
"Speaking of siblings," Spiderpaw meowed quickly, a flick in his tongue and a spark in his voice. "Are Vinetail and Slatestripe here today?"
Crowcall shook his head. "Talonstar told us we could come as we're the newest warriors."
Spiderpaw felt his stomach drop with disappointment, but he raised his head.
Crowcall opened his jaws to continue speaking, but then stopped as the loud yowl of Muskstar swooped over the clearing, grasping the conversations of the cats and putting them to a finish.
"Shut up Snaggletooth," Eaglefang smirked. "The Gathering is about to start!"
Spiderpaw watched as Aspenclaw took a step back and sat between he and Briartail. He gazed up quickly, but his heart seemed to fall as he remembered the yowls that had taken place between Echostar and Cometcloud before the Gathering. He could see how bristled her sandy coloured tail was, and he even noticed from so far down below that her claws were unsheathed. Cometcloud sat on the branch below her, reasonably calm. He had an eyebrow lowered, and his grey furry tail was swishing back and forth, his eyes set nastily on one particular figure, who didn't seem to even notice his gaze lingering on him.
Spiderpaw's gaze flicked over to Talonstar as the golden tabby tom stepped forwards. Spiderpaw could see a ginger figure sitting below him, although there was not enough light to make out the face. That must be their deputy.
"May I speak first?"
No other Clan leader spoke up or made any obstruction. Muskstar dipped her head.
"SunClan welcomes three new warriors," Talonstar began, his huge head moving from one side to the other, where his eyes met with the two cats seated in front of him. "Please welcome Crowcall, Eaglefang and Willowfrost."
Spiderpaw listened, cheering along as the Clan cats broke out into voice, chanting their names as per Gathering tradition. He barely recognised Willowfrost, who he could barely see way up ahead, seated besides Gingerspot, the medicine cat of RiverClan. He could remember her being in ThornClan land during the fox attack, specifically when Cometcloud had shoved her out of the way of a deadly fox bite.
At last the cheering had gone down, and Talonstar had stepped back. Stemstar quickly stood forwards, glancing around at the other Clan leaders. "All is well in RiverClan," he announced. "The prey is running well, and I haven't much more to say other than RiverClan is prepared for the months ahead." Spiderpaw flicked his eyebrow up, impressed that the new leader had built so much courage since the loss of Berrystar. He stepped back, and Spiderpaw watched with tension as Echostar stepped forwards. He noticed she took a deep breath in before she finally began to speak.
"We welcome two new warriors to the Gathering, Aspenclaw and Briartail."
As if the pressure was picked up off the ground for a moment, Spiderpaw cheerfully joined in the callings of his sibling's new names. He could see Aspenclaw beaming proudly, whilst Briartail looked amazed, her eyes wide with pride and her tail stuck in the air. But the chanting seemed to dissolve quickly, and his eyes locked quickly back up to his leader. "Since we were attacked, we have been healing fast." He noticed she paused and began to stumble on her words, but she was able to pull herself together quickly. "One of my kittens, Stonekit, was killed."
There was a moment of silence throughout the clearing. Spiderpaw couldn't even bare to turn to look at his siblings. Instead he stayed focused, not letting his eyes drift away. Stemclaw spoke up first, his voice cracked with surprise. "Stonekit shall be a great loss to your Clan," he murmured. Only moments behind him was Talonstar, who stepped forwards after. "Those foxes were sent away moons ago. What attacked you?"
Spiderpaw could feel his heart pounding as he awaited Echostar's response."
"My kitten was - killed - by a single CedarClan warrior," she hissed, a cold spark set in her voice. Murmurs of panic and confusion broke out among the cats below, and Spiderpaw could see Echostar's green eyes set aflame with fury, but she had no more time to speak until Muskstar zoomed forwards, her grey ears flashing back to the sides of her head and her teeth drawn back into a snarl. "How dare you?" she growled, her claws unsheathing and stabbing into the surface below her. "None of my warriors would ever do something of that manner!"
Spiderpaw thought the weather was cold tonight, but he had only just began to shiver at Muskstar's furious tone. He had never heard CedarClan's leader so furious before. Was she really surprised that her attacks were called out at the Gathering?
"None of your warriors perhaps," Echostar replied coldly, her eyes narrowing. "What about your own deputy?"
"Silence yourself! Rocktail is a noble warrior," Muskstar roared, hurling herself back as if she was about to pounce off her own tree.
"Do not order me around, and especially do not accuse me of faking the fatality of my own son."
To Spiderpaw's surprise, Muskstar did not speak back straight away. Instead she bent her head until her gaze was peering down below. "Rocktail," she hissed. "Speak for yourself now. Is this true?"
There was a period of quiet. Spiderpaw felt as if he was about to leap for vengeance. Was Rocktail really not going to back himself up? This could be the time where he is finally exiled from the Clans for good!
"I'm sorry Muskstar," Rocktail finally spluttered. Spiderpaw felt as if his heart had been saved from the weight of a boulder.
"Sorry for them. These cats have no right to accuse me of something to treacherous!"
With Rocktail's very line, Muskstar's head swooped straight back up, and she glared fiercely at Echostar. "You are a liar," Muskstar hissed. "Every cat here knows that Rocktail would never, ever attack without my order." She gritted her teeth. "I won't forget this, Echostar." Her body was twisting as if she was releasing her energy before she pounced. "Perhaps you never stopped living like a vicious rogue after all."
She breathed in, and Spiderpaw could see that Echostar was doing all she could to hide her emotions from the cats below. But before she could speak, a small voice called up towards the leaders. "Please stop!" he yelled. "The clouds are covering the moon - StarClan is angry!"
Spiderpaw recognised Sedgepool's voice from their meetings every half moon at the Pool of Stars. He felt as if his stomach was tied in knots. But the medicine cat was right, Spiderpaw looked up to see the clouds coating the moon like smoke over a beaming light.
He was convinced that either of the furious leaders were going to jump to the other, until suddenly Muskstar paused. "You're right, Sedgepool," she meowed, fixing her posture and reaching her head up high again, flicking her ears upwards and sheathing her claws. However, when she continued to speak, her voice was just as cold. "Echostar, you must not leap to a conclusion. The Clans have had trouble with rogues in the past, and in all fairness I think considering what really happened would be a beneficial idea."
Spiderpaw expected Echostar to straighten herself up, but her back stayed arched, and she let out a hiss at the CedarClan leader. Her jaws were parted as if she was about to speak, but she looked as if the words just would not come to her. Spiderpaw watched trembling as Echostar clambered down the tree, hitting the floor hastily with a thud of her front paws.