Birchstar summoned the cats she chose to take to the Gathering with a flick of her tail. "Alright, everybody," she called out, her amber eyes glowing in the darkness. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Olivepaw bounced on her paws as the group of cats murmured their answers. She wanted to tear through the marsh like a cheetah and go to the Gathering island already! She heard so many stories about it when she was a kit, like the dangerous tree-bridge and the island floating out on the water. She heard about the clearing filled to the brim with cats from different Clans, merging together like one big family. Avalanche also told her about when the island was found, and the long-ago times when Clan cats first saw the lake.

"RiverClan wanted the island as their territory," he meowed to her and her siblings. "They sent out a few of their cats to check it out. They swam to the island like furred fish, and nearly claimed it as their own. 'It's perfect!' they said to each other. 'There's fish, suitable living space, and we can be away from the other Clans!' But that island was not destined to be their territory. StarCan struck down a tree with lightning, and it toppled over, connecting the island to the Clans' territory. The cats then realized that the island was the location for Gatherings, and not for individual Clans."

There was also an evil cat named Mudclaw, Olivepaw recalled as the patrol started moving out of camp. The falling tree also killed him, so he would never be WindClan's leader.

I'm not evil like Mudclaw or Tigerstar, she thought to herself as she ran through the dark, sweet-smelling pine forest. The scent of the pine sap stung her nose, but she always enjoyed it. It reminded her that the marsh was her home, her territory. I would never do the things they did, no matter what my Clan thinks.

"Hi, Olivepaw!" A familiar gray shape sprinted up to her, her paws pounding on the marsh floor and cracking through needles. "It's so exciting to finally go to a Gathering, isn't it?"

Olivepaw purred a greeting before swerving around a tree. "Poppypaw! Yeah, it really is exciting. Do you like your training so far?"

"Of course!" Poppypaw's blue eyes sparked with excitement. "Smallpoppy is a great mentor, and learning how to hunt and fight is so fun! What about you? Do you like training as a medicine cat?"

"Oh, it's great," the black she-cat replied too quickly. Poppypaw glanced at her, those eyes of hers thoughtful and calculating, but Olivepaw tore ahead before she could say anything.

The patrol eventually reached the boundary and slowed to a walk when they crossed into RiverClan territory. Olivepaw trotted beside her mentor, looking around with wonder.

"Isn't it against the warrior code to cross into an enemy Clan's boundaries?" she asked Wolfclaw.

"Usually, yes," he meowed, "but this is a night of truce. Whenever there are Gatherings or medicine cat meetings, cats can travel within three tail-lengths of the lake. See? That's what we're doing." Wolfclaw nodded his gray head at the lake.

"Oh." Olivepaw's gaze ranged around RiverClan territory. It had a few trees and bushes dotting the land, but it was mostly bare. It was so open she could spot their camp cresting on a hill, the reeds waving in the gentle wind. It looked like they were waving hello to her, so she waved her tail back, not even feeling a bit silly.

Nature was alive. Trees, flowers, grass, reeds, bushes. They had their own language and lives, even if they led them without any cat noticing. They grow and prosper, just like them.

"Come on, Olivepaw! What are you doing, trying to catch a fish?" She realized she had dropped behind the rest of the group, and Duskpaw was eyeing her with glittering eyes.

"In your dreams!" she fired back. She put on a burst of speed, making her whip past her brother and shoot into the middle of the Gathering patrol, earning a few annoyed mutters.

"We're nearly there." Olivepaw glanced to her left to see Swallowwing padding beside her, eyes shining proudly. "My two daughters and son, going to their first Gathering! Oh, I'm so proud of you all!" She rubbed her dark-gray cheek along Olivepaw's.

"I remember my first Gathering," Ivystem purred, a few paw-steps ahead of them. He was walking next to Poppypaw, and they both slowed down so they were together.

Swallowwing scoffed. "You would've had it sooner if you didn't get in trouble!" To her kits, she explained, "Ivystem got in trouble before a Gathering, so Sandstar didn't allow him to go as a way of punishment. He was stomping around camp, complaining and giving everyone dirty looks!" She butted her mate's shoulder playfully. "Though he forgot all about it when he got to go to the next one."

"What did you do?" Poppypaw asked eagerly.

"Your ol' father may have been stealing some ThunderClan prey." Ivystem released a long mrrow of laughter. "It was furry and tasteless. Same as ThunderClan themselves."

"Half-infested with kittypets," a warrior nearby spat.

Swallowwing grimaced in agreement. Olivepaw rolled her eyes. ThunderClan was always trying to be the hero, being all noble and trustworthy. But ShadowClan could see through it all. They know especially, since they were attacked by Coalstar and his warriors.

"We reached the tree-bridge." Olivepaw was jolted out of her memories by the words. She gaped up at the looming tree in front of her, collapsed on its side. Branches, twigs, and dead leaves surrounded the trunk, making the path tricky. Water churned and splashed under the tree-bridge, a growling monster ready to reach up and take its prey.

"It'll be hard at first, but it'll get easier once you get used to it," her mother told her before bunching her muscles and jumping on the trunk. Olivepaw shook out her fur and flexed her claws. She wasn't going to let some tree scare her!

She leaped, but she misjudged the height and fell too short. Snarling in fury and her fur burning with embarrassment, she scrabbled up between the roots with her curved claws. Finally, she reached the trunk, which had scratches in the bark from where countless cats dug their claws in. It was worn away and old, and Olivepaw picked her way across carefully.

She glanced down once, and the swirling river looked so deadly... so close...

Her head spun, but she forced herself to look back up and walk to the edge. Olivepaw jumped down with weak legs. Imagine if I fell in...

The young apprentice ducked under a hazel bush and emerged on the other side. She gaped at the scenery around her.

Tall, winding trees, way taller than the pines in ShadowClan, stretched towards the pitch-black sky. A smattering of stars dotted it, white eyes twinkling down in a face of black. Soft grass brushed her paws, striped with milky moonlight and wavering shadows of cats.

There were so many cats! Apprentices to elders, medicine cats to deputies, they all merged and mingled on the island. White, black, brown, tabby, tortoiseshell, spots, ginger, gray, golden... They flashed before Olivepaw's eyes, a sea of colors drowning her.

"Hey! Are you newly apprenticed? My name's Horsepaw, and I'm from WindClan." Olivepaw turned around to see a muscly tom blinking at her, his brown pelt almost indistinguishable in the darkness. Only his eyes gave him away, flaring amber blinking at her.

"Yeah, I've only been an apprentice for a few days." Olivepaw pawed the ground shyly. Why was a cat from another Clan talking to her? "My name's Olivepaw."

"Hi, Olivepaw! It's so nice seeing another apprentice. I'm the only one right now, beside Heatherpaw, but she's a medicine cat apprentice, so I don't see her much." Horsepaw gasped in a breath before continuing. "We have so many kits, though! I'll be happy when the apprentice den is less quiet and lonely. We have Molekit and Cloudkit—"

An earsplitting yowl cut through the low chatter, silencing everybody completely. Olivepaw secretly thanked whoever had started the Gathering, because she thought Horsepaw was gonna talk her ears off. She flicked her tail at him and padded to Duskpaw's side, feeling her awkwardness around the different Clans like flame against her skin.

"The Gathering has begun!" a golden she-cat with black spots announced. She dipped her head to a gray she-cat, who was perched on the lowest branch of the Great Oak. The four leaders sat on the branches of a tree in the center of the island, the light of the stars igniting their pelts to a silver glow. "Do you wish to start, Squirrelstar?"

The lean gray she-cat nodded curtly. Guessing by her size and weight, she was WindClan's leader."Thank you, Jaguarstar." Her eyes swept the mass of cats below her, her eyes cold and icy. "I have a rather disappointing announcement to make."

The Clan cats tensed, bracing for the worst.

Squirrelstar curled her lip diagonally above her, at a cat with an almost-black pelt. "We detected a rabbit inside our border with ThunderClan scent all over it."

Yowls of dismay quickly followed her words. A dark ginger she-cat leaped to her paws and screeched, "Are you accusing ThunderClan of prey-stealing?"

Squirrelstar's eyes glimmered with satisfaction. "Yes, I am," she answered dramatically. "Don't try to hide it, Coalstar, because it is just too obvious."

A surge of hatred suddenly crashed down on Olivepaw. That cat tried to tear her Clan apart! ThunderClan was always trying to play the hero, being the bravest at everything, but she knew now that that was nothing more than a mask. ThunderClan was nothing more than a Clan filled with lying, scheming, unworthy mange-pelts!

She glared at Coalstar, daring him to lie. Squirrelstar put him on the spot, a spot he couldn't get out of. Admit your crimes! Admit the terrible deeds your Clan has done!

Coalstar frowned at the gray she-cat. "Do you have proof of this accusation?" he asked her, voice as smooth as silk. "For all we know, this is nothing but a lie."

"Are you accusing WindClan of lying?" a cat near Olivepaw inquired loudly. Some cats snarled at the ThunderClan leader.

"If you have no proof, then yes," Coalstar replied.

Squirrelstar's fur bristled as she stared at him. "Our word is not enough for you?" she growled, low in her throat. "Do you think we don't have any honesty?"

"Now, now, don't bring that into this," Coalstar meowed, his tone cool and unflinching. "ThunderClan didn't steal any of your prey. Maybe some of the wind carried our scent on the border line to a rabbit one of your warriors forgot to bring back."

"Why would my warriors leave a perfectly good rabbit wide out in the open?" the WindClan leader challenged. She glanced up, checking the moon for any clouds covering it. Olivepaw heard that if clouds covered the moon, it meant that StarClan was angry and that the Gathering should draw to a close. She checked the sky, too, and smoky-gray clouds were creeping dangerously close to the moon.

Squirrelstar sat back down with a huff. "This isn't over, Coalstar," she warned him before falling silent. She nodded to Birchstar, who's relief showed on her face as she reported.

"ShadowClan is doing very well," she mewed coolly. "Prey is running, and the nice weather is splendid. We are thriving, and we have three new apprentices." She gestured with her tail to Olivepaw and her siblings. "Olivepaw, Poppypaw, and Duskpaw."

Cheers erupted in the crowd, but most of it was ShadowClan. Olivepaw tried to ignore the whispers floating around the island.

"They don't seem wounded yet. I heard ShadowClan trains with claws unsheathed."

"Really? I heard they kill their elders because they're useless!"

"They always say they're fine, just to hide that they might be weak."

Olivepaw shook them off and basked in the glory of being cheered for. Nothing was going to bother her! She was a ShadowClan cat, better than any other Clan. They didn't understand her; no one outside her Clan knows what kind of cat she is. Not even Horsepaw.

"Ignore them," a low voice behind her murmured. Olivepaw twisted her head around to see her father's sympathetic gaze raking her pelt. "ShadowClan is the best Clan. Never forget that."

Olivepaw nodded and turned back around. Jaguastar nervously reported that the fish were swimming and went on about how the nice weather was such a blessing. Coalstar and Squirrelstar didn't add anything, so the Gathering was finally at an end.

"Whew! That was tense!" A familiar light-gray shape bounded toward her, a flit of moonlight-streaked fur between large, jostling bodies. Poppypaw!

"Yeah, especially for our first Gathering," Duskpaw chipped in, who was right behind her. "Do you really think ThunderClan was prey-stealing?"

"I wouldn't trust them for a couple of rat-tails," Poppypaw scoffed, rolling her eyes. She licked her paw and drew it over her whiskers, studying her brother and sister. "What do you two think?"

"It's awfully convenient that a warrior forgot a piece of prey and that the wind carried ThunderClan scent over to it," Olivepaw mused, her eyes straying to the Great Oak. Birchstar was already on the ground and was talking to Frogleap and Wolfclaw. Jaguastar was nowhere to be seen, but Squirrelstar and Coalstar still sat on the branches, glaring at each other. The old, worn branches creaked and groaned under their weight, but they didn't bother to jump off.

"Exactly!" Poppypaw's exclamation brought her back to the conversation. "Plus, we know what Coalstar is capable of. It's not hard to imagine his warriors prey-stealing."

Olivepaw suddenly remembered the cats who found her at the border. Applefume seemed really friendly, incapable of breaking the warrior code. With his gleaming eyes and good humor... could he really be okay with Coalstar's leadership? Frothsplash seemed too cowardly to steal prey, heck, too cowardly to make eye contact with a ShadowClan apprentice, and Coldsoul...

Well... she had mixed feelings about her.

"Yes, but even so, Coalstar could be telling the truth." Duskpaw glanced at the sky, his eyes thoughtful. "Squirrelstar has no proof, either."

"But why would she lie?" Olivepaw pressed. She felt like a real warrior, discussing important decisions that could affect the outcome of her Clan. A little thrill shot through her, but reality clawed its way to her mind. You will never be a warrior, Olivepaw. You will spend your days in the medicine den, hunting only herbs and battling sickness.

Olivepaw shook out her black fur, trying to buck the thought out of her mind like a fox throwing off a cat. She wasn't going to let that thought ruin this experience.

"She may have a quarrel with Coalstar," Poppypaw meowed. "Like ShadowClan. Besides, it's not our problem."

"Exactly." A pelt bleached with moonlight approached them, making the cat look like a warrior descended from StarClan. Olivepaw recognized Honeyfrost even though the moonlight disguised her golden fur.

She wove around the siblings in a circle. "Their little skirmish is up to WindClan and ThunderClan," she declared. "Not ShadowClan's. It's not our problem, so therefore we will not interfere. I'm sure they can take care of themselves just fine. After all, they're not kits just out of the nursery." She flicked her tail in distaste and headed towards Jaywing and Mudstripe.

Olivepaw stared after them before someone called her name. She whirled around and saw Wolfclaw glaring down at her, his yellow eyes fierce.

"I couldn't find you anywhere!" he hissed, so close Olivepaw could feel his breath on her face. "You do know medicine cat apprentices sit with the medicine cats, who take their places near the Great Oak, right?"

Oops. Olivepaw didn't know that. She was too distracted trying to find a place to sit when the call rang out that she forgot she should be with Wolfclaw.

"I'm sorry," she meowed apologetically, and dipped her head respectfully. "I'll stick with you when the next Gathering comes."

"Please do," he replied gruffly before Birchstar called out, "ShadowClan, to me!"

Her Clanmates headed toward Birchstar, who raised her tail and disappeared through an elder bush. Wolfclaw bounded away, and Poppypaw and Duskpaw dashed after him.

"Come on, Olivepaw!" Poppypaw cried out before wriggling in between the roots of the bush.

Olivepaw sighed and padded after her sister. With the Gathering over, she realized she had to go back and do her boring duties that she had to carry out for the rest of her life.

I wish I was a warrior, she thought miserably as she navigated the prickly maze of the fallen tree-bridge. Then I could do things everyday that affect my Clan.

Instantly, guilt crawled up from her stomach, swarming her like a hive of bees. Medicine cats affect the Clan every day, too! They cure sicknesses, heal wounds, and interpret messages from StarClan. Her claws slid out and scored the old, slippery bark, a fuse of anger lit in her heart. But warriors go out there and risk their lives, not medicine cats, who bunker down in their dens like rabbits!

"Do you mind?" a voice drawled behind her. Olivepaw jumped as someone shoved her from behind, making her teeter on the edge of the tree-bridge. "Do you have anything else to do besides hold everyone up?"

"Excuse me for wasting your valuable time!" Olivepaw snapped back before leaping down. She growled at the cat behind her, a ginger she-cat with fuzzy fur and glaring amber eyes.

"ShadowClan, not teaching any of their apprentices manners!" the she-cat muttered, glowering at her before padding off with a white cat.

"Why are ShadowClan cats always the bad guys?" Olivepaw turned to find Duskpaw gazing at her with a crestfallen expression on his face. "It's not fair. She doesn't know who we truly are!"

"Peachtail means well. She's just impatient, that's all." The siblings turned to see Birchstar, her tail flicking. "Now come on, you two. It's tine to go home."

"Olivepaw."

Olivepaw murmured and rustled around her nest. "Leave me alone," she slurred, hazy with sleep.

"Olivepaw, wake up!"

"Leave me alone!" she meowed louder.

"I don't care! For the love of StarClan, wake up!"

"Fine, fine! I'm up!" Olivepaw hoisted herself to her paws and shook scraps of leaves off her fur. Wolfclaw always left herb fragments lying around, and they always seem to stick to her pelt. Why, for StarClan's sake, can't he do a proper clean-up? "Who are you? What do you want?"

A faded white tom with stars shimmering in his fur and around his jet-black paws stared at her for a moment. As soon as she realized this cat wasn't any of her Clanmates, she opened her jaws to yowl an alarm, but before she could he slapped his tail over her mouth. "I'm not an intruder, for StarClan's sake! Speaking of StarClan, I hunt with them now. I used to be ShadowClan's leader, many moons ago. No one else can see me, mouse-brain, so don't call for anyone!" His voice softened as he added, "But I admire your quick thinking and undying loyalty, Olivepaw."

"You know my name," Olivepaw mumbled against his tail. Assured she wasn't going to send an alarm, he hung it back by his hind legs.

"What was that?" the cat asked.

"I said you know my name," Olivepaw repeated. "You're Blackstar, right? You let Sol brainwash you."

She spotted Blackstar flinch, but he didn't deny her. "I prefer not to talk about that," he mewed under his breath. "Come with me, young one. Let's take a walk by the lake."

"Am I dreaming?" Olivepaw asked as she slid out of the medicine den, pine needles raking her belly. She winced as she hauled herself back up.

"No, I decided to do this while you're awake. You can't blame what I'm about to do on a weird dream. This is reality."

"What are you about to do?" Olivepaw queried as she followed him out of camp. A brown-and-black she-cat who was on night guard, Blossompetal, peered at her from curious blue eyes. She shrugged and kept on walking besides Blackstar.

"I'm going to tell you something very important," he replied, curving around a tree.

Olivepaw made sure she wasn't in within earshot of Blossompetal before she replied. She wouldn't want her Clanmate to think she was crazy, talking to nobody! But I am talking to someone, she thought excitedly. A warrior from StarClan!

"That's cool," she meowed.

Finally, they reached the lake and sat down. Blackstar gazed over the rippling water, the current emitting a rushing sound. Water lapped against the pebbly shore, and in the center was a reflection of the full moon.

Eventually he spoke. "Olivepaw..." She glanced at him. His eyes were faraway, seeing things in places only he could see. Was he seeing the future of the Clans? "You're not where you're supposed to be," he meowed. "You have stumbled into the wrong path, and you have not righted it yet, though you keep thinking about it."

"Um..." Olivepaw shuffled her paws. "Are you crazy? You seem crazy. You, Blackstar, are the reason we need an herb to keep a cat from going crazy."

"Mouse-brain!" he snapped, and started to fade away. "I cannot tell you specifically, but you are on the wrong path. Change it, and fast, or else your Clan will be on the line!"

He winked out of sight, leaving the small black apprentice alone on the lakeshore.