Warriors: The Birth of A Clan: Book 1

The Gathering

        The full moon shown brightly through the trees, and Amberpaw smiled up at it. His sister was next to him going on about how excited she was for the gathering. Amberpaw shared her excitement, but he felt calm more than excited. He'd worked really hard the last three days to earn back his privilege to go to the gathering, he also felt wiser after what Ravenaster had told him. "It's not about becoming the best warrior, it's about being the best apprentice so you become the best warrior" Ravenaster had told him as they waited for the rest of the clan to gather. That's one thing he hadn't known about his mentor, Ravenaster was wise. He could see the tree bridge, and beyond it was the island only a few tail lengths away! "It's cool, huh? Just wait until you see the actual clearing!" Ravenaster meowed behind them as Hazelspeckle slipped in front of them. Amberpaw craned his neck to see cats walking across the bridge, and suddenly the calm turned into a bubbling excitement. It wasn't long before he saw Chickenpaw hop up onto the bridge, and he was more than happy to let her go first. Since he wanted to enjoy his experience without her mews telling him to go faster.
         As soon as Amberpaw jumped onto the bridge his excitement drained, below him water splashed some droplets hitting him. Amberpaw was about to offer his mentor to go first but Ravenaster had other plans, "It looks scary and it feels as if you could fall off, but the pawprints of our ancestors will hold you". Amberpaw was confused at first but then he took a tentative step forward, and felt his paw land in another paw print. When he looked down he saw the shapes of many paw prints before him, indented in the wood from countless cats. Amberpaw felt safer as he walked across the bridge, it was like every step cats were by his side ready if he slipped. Before long he landed in the sand of the shore, and without a warning he shot off.
        The clearing was full of cats, and it was a lot to take in. Amberpaw tried to look for his sister, but he lost hope after awhile and joined a group of apprentices. Not including him, there was three apprentices in the group. Two were from Wind Clan they introduced themselves as Longpaw and Mosspaw, Longpaw was a golden brown tom and Mosspaw was a white and black she-cat. The other one was from Shadow Clan and she was Flickpaw, Flickpaw was a grey and white she-cat with black stripes.
         "Your father is Redclaw right?" Longpaw asked. "Yeah" Amberpaw shrugged. "Mosspaw and I's dad is Howlstar!" Longpaw puffed his chest out proudly, "Smart and strong leader of Wind Clan". Flickpaw flinched, "we get it he's your father". Amberpaw glanced at her, "Who's your father?". "That's a mousebrained question" Flickpaw meowed sharply, "Can we talk about something else?". Amberpaw wasn't sure these were the best apprentices to hang out with, Flickpaw seemed grumpy and Longpaw seemed a bit hollow-headed. Mosspaw hadn't said anything but now she meowed, "How long have you been apprenticed Amberpaw?". "One moon, I'm new" Amberpaw answered, "You guys?". "Longpaw and I have been apprentices for two moons" Mosspaw nodded, "I think Flickpaw is new too". Flickpaw looked like she was about to get mad but then she smiled, "Yeah I'm new, but I been having so much fun being an apprentice". Slowly but surely Amberpaw felt the group get more comfortable with eachother, and he started to smile. Maybe having a weird group of friends from other clans wasn't so bad.
         A yowl sounded from the big tree, and Amberpaw was about to wander over to his own clan but he saw his group wasn't moving. Before he could ask if he was supposed go back to his clan Lakestar started talking, "River Clan is good, Green leaf hasn't stolen much water so hunting has been going as usual". "Lakestar is so secretive, if his clan was dying of greencough he wouldn't tell us" Longpaw hissed, "He's got his ego lodged in his throat". Amberpaw was taken back by how disrespectful Longpaw was being, "How would you know that?". "Because it happened last Leaf bare" Longpaw's eyes flashed with anger and sadness. A shiver ran down Amberpaw's back at the thought of a leader choosing his pride over his clan.
         Flamestar finished talking and backed up to let Pebblestar have his turn. "Thunder Clan has been doing wonderful not only has our prey been plentiful, but we have two new apprentices. Amberpaw and Chickenpaw!" Pebblestar smiled as cats cheered his name along with his sister's. Amberpaw sat proudly, he was going to be the best apprentice! "Other than that we have no more news to share". Howlstar went then cats started to split up back into their clans, and Amberpaw said goodbye to his new friends.
         On the way back Amberpaw asked Ravenaster something, "Is it bad to have friends in other clans?". Ravenaster was silent for a moment and then said slowly, "Some cats see it as bad because they think cats will become disloyal, but I think they're wrong. If we were all friends then we wouldn't fight so much, and less loved ones would die because of it". Amberpaw didn't mind the silence afterward, he was just glad Ravenaster didn't care if he had friends in other clans. Unlike his dad.