"Longpaw says that there will be a gathering of Clan cats tonight," Scar told Jaws.

"Gathering?" he mewed with interest. "Scar, get Bark and Cream here."

Scar sped off to find his two friends. He found Cream talking with Bark excitedly and he coughed.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Jaws want you two to see him," Scar mewed.

Bark's ear twitched while Cream simply gave him a look of confusion.

They followed him silently to Jaws' den.

"Flatten your fur," Jaws mewed. "Both of you haven't done anything wrong... for now. This is good news for all of you."

Jaws' gaze raked over the three cats. "Scar tells me that the Clan cats are having a Gathering. You three have been chosen to spy on them. Gather as much information as possible. Report back to me as soon as possible."

They nodded.

"Get out. I need to speak with Night," Jaws mewed, dismissing them.

~~~~

"I wonder why the Clan cats gather," Bark mewed, "wouldn't they attack each other?"

"Who cares?" Scar shrugged.

"Maybe they promised that they wouldn't fight?" Cream suggested.

"Good thing they have a Gathering," Scar commented. "We could spy on them and gather information."

"For what?" Bark mewed, sounding unconcerned.

"I think we are going to battle them soon!" Scar mewed. "I heard Jaws talking to Night about a huge battle on the Clan cats living closest to us."

"I doubt it's soon. Our numbers are low," Cream spoke.

"True," Scar sighed in disappointment.

"It's a long time to go until nighttime," Bark mewed. "I'm going to take a nap."

"I'm going hunting," Cream mewed.

"Then I will take a nap too," Scar mewed, "I feel too restless to hunt."

"Do I need you wake you two toms later?" she asked in amusement. "Jaws wouldn't be too happy if we miss it."

"No need," Bark purred, batting at Cream's head playfully with his paw.

With a light-hearted growl, Cream pounced on him. "Take that you big lump of fur!" she teased.

"Don't leave me out of it!" Scar protested with a wide grin on his face.

As he leaped in between his friends, at that moment he felt that they were kits; play fighting with each other, sneaking off to explore... it was the best times of his life.

But there will be always a dark spot hidden in his thoughts. It was like a scar, a harsh reminder of what happened, because of the cats Scar believed were the ones who caused his mother's death.

Perhaps that was why Scar was his name. Perhaps it was to give him confidence to defeat the Clan cats. But either way, or both, there was seemingly one path to his future.

For now.

~~~~

"Scar, wake up!" Caw snapped irritably.

Scar jumped, his muscles tense.

"You wouldn't be late," Bark reassured him, casting a look at Caw with narrowed eyes.

The two toms seem to stare at each other, as if waiting for the other tom to strike first.

Scar bristled instinctively. If Bark didn't step forward first, Caw would definitely spring forward.

Luckily, Cream jumped in between the two toms before a fight broke out.

"At this rate all of us will be late," she flicked her tail tensely. "Bark, Scar, let's go."

Scar flattened his fur and glanced back briefly to look at Caw. The older cat was glaring at Bark before stomping away.

The three friends walked in silence as they made their way to the Clan cats' gathering place, a big clearing with a rock in the middle surrounded by four large trees.

It wasn't look until the strong scents of the different Clan cats hit Scar's nose. He recognised ShadowClan scent from his last 'visit' with Bark. There was also a fishy scent, which probably came from the groups of cats known as RiverClan.

They hid in the shadows of the four large trees as the Gathering began. A light gray she-cat with green eyes had leaped onto the rock and began to speak.

Scar turned to Cream. "Should we split up?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "That would be dangerous," she explained.

Scar turned his gaze back to the light gray she-cat with green eyes, only to find that she had finished speaking.

A dark furred tom stepped closer to the middle of the rock and spoke, "ThunderClan has been doing well. We have a new apprentice, Longpaw!"

"Longpaw! Longpaw!" all the Clans yowled Longpaw's name, much to Scar's surprise.

The black tom turned to a white tom. "Rabbitstar, do you wish to speak next?"

Rabbitstar nodded, taking the space in the middle. "WindClan is thriving with the many rabbits in our territory. We will also be stepping up our patrols."

Scar noticed that the white tom shot a dark gray tom a warning glare.

"That is all," he concluded.

The dark gray tom padded forward, his eyes blazing with anger.

"One of my patrols were ambushed along the ThunderClan border," he spat. "Whitestripe and Stoneclaw were severely injured, and Littlepaw could hardly sleep because of it."

The tom's voice was becoming a hiss. "Nightstar! You were the one who sent a patrol of cats, who disguised their scents, and terrified a young apprentice! Don't dare you deny it!"

"Duskstar," the black tom - Nightstar - mewed calmly. "You must have been mistaken."

It was us, Scar thought, catching a glimpse of Bark looking guilty at the same time.

"Mistaken?" Duskstar snarled, unsheathing his claws. "The cats have your flithly ThunderClan scent! If you wish to continue denying it, you have my word that ShadowClan will be ready!"

Duskstar dropped down from the rock and walked off.

"That was... interesting," Bark mewed hesitantly.

"Luckily they didn't fight," Cream pointed out, "or else we might be discovered."

"We better report back to Jaws as soon as possible," Scar mewed. "Let's go."

------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: If you remember the first book, ShadowClan kept attacking ThunderClan. This chapter tells everyone the reason for those quite frequent attacks. :)