"I was formerly known as Greystripe."

We all sat shocked, some of us with our jaws dropped.

"Honestly, I'm surprised all of you are shocked. You guys are reborn, what's wrong with me being reborn?"

He's got a good point. "Alright, everyone's mouths off the ground, now." Shadeheart said. Everyone quickly picked up their mouths.

"For all of you, here's a bit of information about us." I made a wave with my tail, motioning to the other apprentice reborns, excluding Greypaw. "I'm the smart one. Stone's intimidating, Heron's brave, Swift's Fast, and Flame's strong. All of the ancient reborns also have powers."

"Awww, no fair! I want powers!" Greypaw complained.

I smiled. "I can turn my paws into roots." I gave a quick demonstration.

Shade went next. "I can disappear into thin air in a shadow or when it's night." He disappeared, then reappeared.

"I shoot flames from my mouth." Flame let a small burst of fire into the air.

"I can teleport." Swift started jumping around into different locations, bopping is all on the back of the head.

"I can create anything outta ice." Ice closed is eyes, and a small bird appeared in front of him. "They aren't alive though." Then the bird fell to the ground.

"I can shift the earth." Stone stared at everyone, and then our platform was lifted up a bit.

Heron didn't continue the conversation. "Uh, Heron? What about you?" Shade said.

"Promise not to make fun of me?" Everyone except for me nodded. He wasn't looking at me, so he couldn't tell.

Suddenly, the fur on his sides separated, and wings sprouted from them. His wings grew, and soon enough, he was hovering above the ground.

"Lookin' beautiful." I teased.

"Maple!!! You promised not to make fun of me!"

"I didn't, you just weren't looking at me." Heron knew that he couldn't argue with me, and closed his mouth.

Swift rolled her eyes. "Sibling rivalries."

Stonecreek snorted. "Alright, the Gathering seems to be coming to a close." He took a quick peek over to the group of cats. "Yeah. Anyways, like Shadeheart said, there are other cats, be sure to pay attention to any suspicious activities. We can't hold this meeting every Gathering, otherwise cats might get suspicious. the medicine cats can talk at the half moon about future meetings. Until then, try not to die, and apprentices, master your powers."

"Thunderclan! We're leaving!" Lynxstar called out.

Myself, Shadeheart, and Finchfur nodded to the group, and left. "That went surprisingly well." Finchfur said.

"Half of us already knew each other, and Stonecreek did a really nice job of keeping things together." I replied.

Finchfur nodded. "So roots, huh?"

"Yup! And I can only guess that the evil cats have similar powers. Sparrow probably also has something to do with wings, like Heron, I would guess Lion's is with his claws, and then Dahlia probably has something similar to mine, but with vines."

"What about Moon and Dusk?" Finchfur asked.

"I dunno. Maybe something with light for Moon, and darkness for Dusk? And then Pebble can probably mold rocks. Rose will most likely have something to do with thorns, and then Ivy will have a combination of Dahlia and Rose. She'll be strong."

"And you know all this stuff how?"

"It's not that I know it. Our powers are in relation to our names, so why wouldn't theirs be?"

"Good point."

Now Shadeheart joined into the conversation, "You're too smart."

I snorted. "While I appreciate the compliment, there's isn't a possibility for being 'too smart'. I still have to outsmart Moon when the time comes. And we're pretty even."

Shadeheart nodded, and then sped up to get even with the rest of the clan. Finchfur and I trotted to keep pace, and once we reached the clan, silence settled.

"Where were you?" Moon was suddenly next to me.

"I found Heron, so I talked with him for the majority of the Gathering." Moon seemed satisfied with my answer, and dropped back behind me.

After leaving Windclan territory and entering our own territory, the clan stopped. "I know it's late night, and everyone's tired, but leafbare is coming! I want at least two hunting groups to go out right now. Not for long, just do a quick sweep, and then return back to camp." Lynxstar's voice rang around the silent forest.

Now I heard Greytail's voice. "Oceanbreeze, Sunstorm, and Poppypaw, go along the lake, and then head back to camp. Tigerpelt, Maplepaw, and Shadeheart, go along the Windclan border, close to the Moonpool."

I heard groans from a few of the cats, but there was no verbal complaints. I didn't mind going out, it would give me time to think. And hone my hunting skills.

I moved through the group of cats to where Tigerpelt and Shadeheart were waiting for me. We let the rest of the clan go by us, and then Tigerpelt spoke up. "We won't be too long, I can already see how tired you are, Maplepaw."

Just then I realized how tired I really was, and my mind hurt. Too much thinking.

We kept a fast pace, only stopping when someone heard a rustle or spotted a lone mouse.

I perked as I caught the scent of a mouse. I turned towards the scent, and circled around it, positioning my body downwind. I lightly stepped as I neared the mouse. A mouse will feel you before they hear you.

Now I could see the mouse, nibbling on one of the last berries of a bush. I bunched my hind legs, and took a massive leap towards the mouse, landing on it, and then giving it the killing bite.

"Nice catch Maplepaw! That was a huge jump for someone your size." I deadpanned, and gave Tigerpelt the stare of a lifetime. "This is plenty, especially for leafbare. Let's head back to camp, and then we can get some rest."

We turned back towards camp, accompanied by two mice, a sparrow, and a vole.

As we neared the camp entrance, Shadeheart let Tigerpelt take the lead. "You can sleep in tomorrow. Training won't start until sunhigh."

I sighed in relief. I don't know how much sleep I'm going to get in the first place, tonight was stressful. Seeing everyone again was nice, but the reminder that there are evil cats, one of whom is my brother, is a great life-worsener.

Don't know if that's a word or not, but I'm too tired to care.

I entered camp, dropped my mouse on the fresh-kill pile, and immediately turned towards the Apprentices den. I was drop-dead tired, so I curled up quickly and laid my tail over my nose.

"How was the Gathering?" Frostpaw was up, her hyper self keeping her awake.

I mentally groaned. "It was fine, nothing too exciting. You didn't really miss anything. Did anything happen while we were gone?"

Frostpaw smiled. "Except for Barkfur complaining about his joints again, nothing exciting."

Frostpaw settled down, and closed her eyes. I did the same, but kept my eyes on her outline. She's such a nice cat. She's no Doe, but she's great.

I shifted in my nest, and finally closed my eyes. I wouldn't mind having her as my mate.

'~******~'

I drowsily opened my eyes to see sunlight filtering through the small gaps in the den. I stood up and poked my head out of the den, looking into the sky. It was still before sunhigh, which means I still had time before training started.

I looked back into the den. Everyone was already awake, I was the last one up.

I walked over to the medicine cat den. "Amberpaw? Finchfur?" I poked my head into the den.

I saw a tortoiseshell head perk up in the den. "Maplepaw? What do you need?" Amberpaw asked.

"I was looking for some mouse bile. I don't have anything better to do, so I might as well get the elder's ticks."

Amberpaw shook her head. "You confuse me, Maplepaw. A normal apprentice would want to play with their littermates and friends."

I shrugged my shoulders in response. "No one's been getting in trouble lately, so Barkfur and Cloudeye probably haven't had their ticks cleaned off in awhile." 

Amberpaw nodded and gave me a small amount of mouse bile. "Remember to clean off your paws when you finished."

"I will. Thanks, Amberpaw!"

"No problem."

I walked out of the medicine cat's den, and headed towards the elder's den. When I entered, I saw Cloudeye wide awake, while Barkfur was sleeping soundly.

"Hello Maplepaw. Have you come to clean our ticks?" I nodded. "Perfect. I can feel one on my left hind leg. Could you take care of it?"

I nodded once again and moved to her flank. I carefully parted her fur with two of my claws, and with my other paw, I moved the mouse bile to where I saw the tick. I placed my mouth over the mouse bile, and waited for a few seconds for the tick to remove itself. When I felt that it had been long enough, I bit down on the leaf, hearing the crunch of the tick being bit into.

"Ah, that feels much better. I can tell I don't have any other ticks, but you may want to check over Barkfur."

I moved over to Barkfur, and after giving him a quick once-over, I headed towards the entrance to the den. "Barkfur's clean. I have some training with Shadeheart to get to. If you need anything, tell Finchfur or Amberpaw, and then I'll talk to them and help you out."

"I will. Thanks again, Maplepaw!" 

I quickly went back to the medicine den to return the leftover mouse bile, and then sprinted out of camp to the nearest stream.

After washing my paws, I jogged back to the entrance of camp, where Shadeheart was already waiting. "Ready?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Alright, let's go."

ANNNNNNNNNDDDDD THAT'S CHAPTER 12! Only four days apart, pretty darn good.

I think that for awhile I'll be able to throw a few chapters out. I have some things going on where I can write.

Don't ask.

Next chapter will probably be up within the next week, no promises though.

Let's see if I can come up with a question....

Oh! What should I call the next book?

I'm not going to give a summary for any ideas, because that would spoil a HUGE plot twist I have planned.

Two, actually.

See ya soon,

-Maple