"What are you going to say to Rainstar about the attacks?"

It was the night of the Gathering, and they were on their way to Fourtrees. Amberpaw was padding alongside Dovepaw, who pricked his ears up when Badgertail asked the question that every cat was thinking.

"I'm not afraid to ask her why. Although it doesn't seem like something Rainstar would do. If she had problems with prey, she would talk to us, not fight," he replied, eyes never leaving the path ahead of him.

Murmurs of agreement passed through the patrol, and Amberpaw heard Cloudscar snort.

"It was probably Firescar's idea, the idiotic piece of foxdung. His head head is so full of bees that he could lead his Clan off a cliff and believe he was a hawk." He snarled, causing Swiftwing to cough to cover up a chuckle.

"Cloudscar, do not disrespect a deputy. I agree with many of those statements, but the Gathering is a time of peace, a time if exchanging news, not exchanging harsh insults." Clawstar warned, flicking his tabby tail.

"So I can insult him when it's not a Gathering?" Cloudscar grinned cheekily when Clawstar twisted his head and shook it in amusement.

Swiftwing shoved him playfully, and Amberpaw felt a rush of excitement as she began to scent the mingled smell of fish and breeze.

Eventually, they reached the top of a large slope. From over Dovepaw's shoulder, she could see many cats already sharing tongues.

Clawstar let out a loud yowl, and ThunderClan raced into the clearing, Amberpaw sticking close to Dovepaw.

RiverClan and were already there, she noticed. WindClan shouldn't be too far behind.

"Amberpaw!" Amberpaw turned to see Dovepaw padding away. "Come and meet the other apprentices!"

Amberpaw bounded over to him, and slowed as they approached 4 apprentices, all about the same age as Dovepaw. She lashed her tail in annoyance as she realised that Waterpaw was among them.
"Okay guys, this is Amberpaw. She's one of my best friends," Dovepaw announced. Amberpaw felt a rush of warmth flood through her as he said that.

"Hi Amberpaw, I'm Creekpaw, and this is Buzzardpaw, my brother," a lean blue-grey she-cat meowed, gesturing to a scruffy yellow tabby, who nodded at her.

"I'm Poppypaw," a white she-cat with light grey patches exclaimed cheerfully.

"You smell like fish," Amberpaw meowed, causing Dovepaw to shove her playfully.

"Yay! I love fish!" She exclaimed. Amberpaw rolled her eyes. How could you be so cheerful? "And this is Waterpaw, my mother's sister's son!"

"We've met," she meowed roughly, glaring at him.

"How? Oh, wait! Are you the ThunderClan cat that fell in the river?" She mewed in amusement. Amberpaw felt her fur bushing out as Waterpaw shot her a grin.

"How many cats in RiverClan know?" She glared at him.

Poppypaw gazed at her nervously. "Waterpaw told the whole Clan.." she murmured, glancing at Waterpaw, who shifted uncomfortably when Amberpaw turned her piercing stare to settle on him.

Before she could say anything else, Buzzardpaw pricked his ears up. "WindClan are here," he announced, causing Amberpaw's claws to slide out of their sheaths.

"Amberpaw.." Dovepaw warned as WindClan thundered into the clearing, a flustered Rainstar at their lead. Amberpaw watched as the lean grey tabby bounded over to Clawstar and Badgertail, a brown tabby following her. They began talking in urgent hushed voices, and gazing around, Amberpaw noticed that Firescar was nowhere to be seen.

Dovepaw raised his tail, and gesturing for Amberpaw to follow him, padded over to two WindClan apprentices. "Hey, Streampaw, Jaypaw. Where's Greypaw?"

Amberpaw gazed at the two WindClan cats, not recognising them. They hadn't been in the battle.

"Greystep, you mean. He's holding vigil tonight," a blue-grey tabby she-cat smiled.

"No way! How long until you and Jaypaw are warriors?" Dovepaw exclaimed, flicking his tail. Amberpaw looked between them uncomfortably, wondering what to say.

A dark grey tabby with deep blue eyes spoke before the she-cat could. "Around two moons. Darkfrost and Lightwhisper are wearing us out!" The cat that must be Jaypaw spoke.

Before Dovepaw could continue, Amberpaw stepped out from behind Dovepaw. "Who's that cat over there?" She questioned, gesturing to the tabby tom next to Rainstar.

"That's Brambleshine," Jaypaw meowed, twitching an ear and glancing at Streampaw, as if asking permission. Streampaw nodded, and Jaypaw continued. "He's the deputy of WindClan."

"Deputy? But Firescar is deputy?!" Dovepaw exclaimed, lashing his tail.

Streampaw gulped. "Rainstar's going to tell everyone anyway, so we might as well tell you now. For the last moon, Rainstar has been sick in her den with greencough, leaving Firescar in charge. He immediately began plotting against ThunderClan. Some of the warriors disagreed, Greystep, Jaypaw and I included, but he had support by a few. They invaded your territory, as you obviously know, and Rainstar caught them coming back. Little did they know, she knew what they were doing, and wanted to test Firescar's loyalty to her. Obviously he failed, and Rainstar forced him to withdraw from his deputy position, giving it to Brambleshine instead," she took a deep breath, and kept going. "He's a very unpopular cat in camp right now. This adding to the events a season ago.." Streampaw trailed off, and Jaypaw continued for her.

"You probably know this, Dovepaw, but I doubt your friend here does. A few moons ago, a ThunderClan cat was knocked off into the gorge accidentally. Rumours had been going around that it wasn't actually an accident," he shivered, and then his eyes glazed over. "I just feel so sorry for that cat's family. I heard that she has kits that were only half a moon old.." He trailed off.

"Jaypaw, this is Amberpaw. She's Aspencloud's daughter," Dovepaw murmured, turning towards the Great Rock where the leaders were getting ready to speak.

Ironically, Silentstar voiced the yowl that silenced the Clans. When they had quietened, she stepped forward to speak, her dark grey pelt rippling. "ShadowClan is thriving in this early Leaf-bare. Lilyshine has given birth to two healthy kits, and Applewhisker has moved into the nursery expecting Grassfeather's kits."

The two ShadowClan warriors raised their heads proudly. Amberpaw gazed at them, watching as they nuzzled each other.

RiverClan went next, and then WindClan. Rainstar thoroughly explained what had happened, and how Brambleshine had StarClan's blessing. However, the WindClan warriors glanced uneasily among themselves, and Amberpaw wondered how many of them approved of the deputy change.

Finally it was Clawstar's turn. Amberpaw felt a rush of exhilaration as he began to speak.

"ThunderClan is strong!" He yowled, causing the ThunderClan cats to howl in agreement. "We have two litters of kits in the nursery, and a new warrior and medicine cat, Lizardstrike and Spotteddapple!" Amberpaw joined in with the cheering, watching as Spotteddapple dipped her head from her position with the other medicine cats.

"We also have three new apprentices, Flamepaw, Stormpaw, and Amberpaw!"
All the cats turned to fix their gazes on her, but Amberpaw tried not to squirm and raised her muzzle proudly, listening to the chants of her and her sibling's names.

When the Clans had silenced once more, Clawstar swept his gaze over the clearing, and after glancing at the other leaders, yowled the final words.
"It is cold, but we mustn't let our hearts succumb to the cold evil that hits us like hailstones on a Green-leaf day. Travel safely, and may StarClan light your paths!"