Acornpaw blinked open her green eyes and glanced around the apprentice den, seeing the sleeping bodies of the others. Sunlight shone through the entrance, causing her sister Emberpaw's orange colored pelt to glisten. A yawn escaped Acornpaw's jaw as she rolled over onto her side, stretching her legs while she did. She lay there for a few moments, enjoying the silence, then stood up and arched her back. She made her way to the den's exit, careful not to wake the sleeping apprentices. Eventually, she padded out of the den and breathed in the cool autumn air. Acornpaw spotted Cloudpaw, another apprentice, sitting by herself. Acornpaw was feeling the need to start a conversation, and Cloudpaw looked lonely. She walked over to her, smiling and trying to look as friendly as possible.

"Good morning, Acornpaw. Are you going to the gathering tonight?" Cloudpaw asked once she saw the brown she-cat approaching her.

Acornpaw shrugged. "I don't know. My mentor hasn't told me yet." She replied, sitting down next to her friend.

"Oh, well, you should ask Maplecloud when he wakes up. I heard Duskstar's kits are becoming apprentices." Cloudpaw mewed.

"Ha, that is if Maplecloud even wakes up." Acornpaw joked. They watched the clan stirring in the camp for a while; the elders sharing tongues, Owlflower's kits playing, Cherrystar chatting with Thrushcloud, the deputy. A sudden tail brushing her shoulder lightly made Acornpaw jump forward. Cloudpaw and the ginger tom, who was the owner of the tail, laughed as she licked her chest fur, embarrassed.

"Hey, Juniperpaw and Dustfang are battle training with the others. You should join them." The tom purred. It was Maplecloud, Acornpaw's mentor. He was a friendly sort who always liked to be around others. It was quite a surprise that he wasn't with Sandpelt, his mate. The two had been seen together more often recently, suggesting that Sandpelt was pregnant with his kits.

Acornpaw nodded and they walked away to the training hollow. Sure enough, all of the apprentices were watching Emberpaw and Tigerpaw training. Emberpaw was swift, using her agility to her advantage and dodging Tigerpaw's moves gracefully. Tigerpaw was heavier and relied on his power. The apprentices cheered the two cats on, their mentors doing the same and calling out different attacks to preform.

Emberpaw slashed out her paw, hitting Tigerpaw on the cheek. "Hey, no claws!" He hissed, lunging at the flame-colored she-cat.

"That's enough, Tigerpaw!" Boulderfang mewed as he stepped into the battlefield to break up the fight.

Just then, Cherrystar's call erupted over the  camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the highstone for a clan meeting!" She called. 

The apprentices all padded back to camp and sat under the stone, gazing up at the leader. 

Once all of the warriors had arrived, she began the meeting. "As most of you know, there is a gathering this afternoon. I want to see Maplecloud, Hawkwhisker, Boulderfang, Applefur, Bramblefang, Blueflower, Mothface, Acornpaw, Cloudpaw, Emberpaw, and Tigerpaw there, along with my loyal deputy and medicine cat. Everyone who is staying at the camp must protect it from outsiders. I also want Thrushcloud to take a hunting patrol and Hawkwhisker to take a border patrol." Cherrystar mewed. She leaped off of the stone, signalling that the meeting was dismissed. 

Acornpaw purred with excitement. She got to go to the gathering! It would be her third gathering, but she was still excited.

Her mentor, Maplecloud, padded over to her. "I guess we're going to gathering. Are you excited?" He asked. 

She nodded. 

"Good. I remember when I was your age; I hadn't been to very many, but it was very enjoyable. Do you want to go hunting for a bit?" He asked. 

Acornpaw nodded and they headed out into the forest.