Chapter 8
Nightmares. Jadepaw had them for the past moon after Fernsong's death.

She was in battle training with Ravenstar, learning some basic moves that she already knew. Jadepaw dove in for a belly rake, and achieved the move with sheathed claws. "Good-" Ravenstar's meow wasn't broke off by a sound, but he just disappeared. Jadepaw felt fear bubble up inside her, and she was in camp, suddenly. It was night, and she and Ravenstar were the only cats in camp. Ravenstar didn't seem to notice Jadepaw, and his eyes turned a red color.

He began yowling a battle chant wildly, sprinting to where Jadepaw was standing. This was the most wild dream Jadepaw had ever had in her lifetime. She jumped up, willing her dream-self to move, but she couldn't. Ravenstar crashed into her. Jadepaw didn't fall, but she felt a series of tingling down her spine.
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Jadepaw couldn't see, but she could hear gentle snoring. She tried to look around, but wherever she turned her head, pitch black surrounded her. She could smell all of her Clanmates, but she also smelled the night air. She shivered, even though she couldn't sense if she had a body or not. She heard pawsteps, and she followed them. Suddenly, loud screeching burst through her ears, and she heard the rustling of cats leaving their nests. Silence.
*. *. *
Jadepaw could see this time, and everything was silent, except for the dripping of water in a pool. The moon reflected in the pool, and the whole cave gave her a sense of peace. Jadepaw relaxed, and a starry cat appeared. Their blue eyes glittered kindly, before letting out a yowl that could bring down the forest. The cave spun, transforming into...a medicine cat den? Jadepaw watched, and she saw unrecognizable cats looking down on a scrawny cat in a bed of moss. The cat writhed in pain, and lay limp. The den disappeared, leaving her in the dark before a blurry image of three kits appeared.

One was white, one was blue, and another was black. They all looked like they weren't related to one another, because they were all separated into different corners of the den, with different cats looking over them. The black kit ran over to the white one, and began to play-fight with it. The blue kit ran over, but Jadepaw didn't get to see what happened next.

The image flickered away, and a clearing replaced it. There were berry bushes everywhere, and the dark red berries exploded into a river of blood. The river was streaming fast, spraying droplets of blood onto her fur. One landed on the tip of her nose. It was a dark red, and it exploded into her face, her eyes. Her mouth. Jadepaw tried to wake herself up, but she felt like she had no power over her body. A voice sounded through the clearing. "The skies will darken, and one cat can throw everyone's faith in one another." The voice boomed in Jadepaw's ears, causing them to ring loudly.

"Jadepaw! Jadepaw! Wake up before you get in trouble for sleeping in!" Jadepaw woke up to see Clearpaw standing over her with a mouse in his jaws. "Are you okay?" He asked through the mouse. Jadepaw nodded and sat up, letting the moss clumps fall from her pelt. Jadepaw left the den and began to clean herself. She licked her paw and drew it absently over one ear. Jadepaw began to lick her back, pausing as she saw Clearpaw out of the corner of her eye. "I just was er wondering if, uh, you know, er...wanted to, um, share the mouse. I mean, this mouse." He corrected himself, showing him the prey.

"I...Um, I went out last, I mean, tonight, Um...this morning and, um, caught it. Not for you, just, uh, for the Clan...do you want it?" Jadepaw laughed. "Um, I , er, sure." She said jokingly. Clearpaw relaxed and sat down beside her, setting the mouse down in front of him. Jadepaw strained her neck to reach the mouse and took a small bite out of it. Clearpaw let out a nervous laugh and nudged it closer to her. "Thanks." She savored the flavor, almost certain that she wouldn't be eating for the rest of the day.

"Don't worry, I woke up late, too. I had a nightmare." Clearpaw shivered. "I did, too. It was really weird." Jadepaw said this after a mouthful. He nodded. "Mine was really confusing and scary. I think I saw StarClan." Wow. I think we had the same dream! Jadepaw swallowed, avoiding talking about her dream. "So....tonight's our first Gathering." Jadepaw said. Clearpaw nodded eagerly, chewing quickly. He swallowed. "Yeah, I'm really excited! They're going to announce us becoming apprentices in front of all of the Clans!"

Jadepaw shrunk into her pelt, standing up. "We get to meet all of the apprentices from different Clans, too! I've always wanted to meet RiverClan cats, I've heard that, by the time they're warriors, they've ate so many fish that they grow scales." Jadepaw nodded. She padded away from Clearpaw after a while of silence. "Wait-uh, er, never mind." Clearpaw stuttered and left Jadepaw to leaving.

Drizzlepaw was at the entrance, his eyes bewildered. "What's wrong?" Jadepaw asked. "Nothing. Just a bad dream." Drizzlepaw yawned and stretched. "I didn't get much rest." Jadepaw knew she got more rest than any cat in camp except the elders, but she yawned, too. "Jadepaw!" Jadepaw turned to see Ravenstar waiting across camp at his den. She sighed and left Drizzlepaw to himself. I wish I had gotten a different mentor, and then maybe I could learn more things. Ravenstar met her halfway there. "Today we'll be learning some battle moves." Battle moves were the only things that Jadepaw had been taught, except for the occasional hunting move.

They left camp. Jadepaw loved when the sunlight hit her pelt. When they arrived at the training grounds, Ravenstar immediately dove headfirst into training. "We'll be practicing surprise tactics. Now, sneak up on me." Confused, Jadepaw ran back into the trees. Ravenstar had his back facing her, and Jadepaw watched him through the tree branches. She silently padded her way back through the leaves, careful not to crack a twig. She lurked through the shadows. As long as she could make it through the leaves, she would be great.

The moment she appeared from the shelter of the trees, Ravenstar held up his tail. "Wai! I know you're just out of the trees." Jadepaw froze, watching Ravenstar slowly turn around. "I could smell you," he meowed creepily. "How could you not smell me?" Jadepaw argued. "You could start by sneaking up on me downwind." Ravenstar meowed calmly. Jadepaw felt her fur bush. "It would help if I knew what downwind meant!" "Every cat knows what downwind means!" "Well, obviously, not me. You never taught me!" "Maybe you just don't remember."

Ravenstar took a deep breath. "Face the wind, that way, the wind isn't blowing your scent towards the cat you're sneaking up on. That's what downwind means." Jadepaw nodded silently and snuck up on him from the other side-now she could smell him. She picked her way through the leaves carefully, paying extra attention to them when they look brittle and dry. Jadepaw looked at Ravenstar, who was wandering around the clearing, sniffing the bordering bushes. Jadepaw began to charge at him. Smell me or not, here I come! She landed on Ravenstar's back, her claws sheathed, and he dumped her off, rolling over.

"What are you doing?" He snarled, shaking out his pelt. "I was-" "Save it for later. You can start making your way back to camp. I'll meet you there." But we just started! Jadepaw thought angrily, stomping out of the training grounds. She ducked under a low-hanging branch and let out a frustrated grunt. Out of every cat in the whole Clan I could've got for a mentor, I had to get the Clan leader, which I'm pretty sure isn't even allowed. Jadepaw's spirits lightened some as she remembered the Gathering. She trudged on through the forest, taking a shortcut through the thick undergrowth.

All Jadepaw wanted to do was be alone, but she knew she'd better get back to camp. She hurried through the undergrowth, and her pelt began to itch. She shook out her fur and observed her legs. Burs were tangled into her fur. Maybe this wasn't the best way to travel. Jadepaw was halfway back to camp, so she decided not to turn back around. She trudged on, feeling a bur dig its way into her skin. It was a relief when Jadepaw arrived at camp. Adderjaw was in the medicine cat den, and she didn't see Moonrise anywhere, so Jadepaw went into the den to go and complain to Adderjaw about the burs.

Not like he'd care or anything. Adderjaw looked up from a pile of herbs he had been sorting. "What do you want?" He asked. He was looking back down on his herbs. "Um...I need help getting these.." "Burs?" Adderjaw grumbled, and turned to his stores of herbs. He plucked off the burs with one claw and placed a thin layer of cobwebs where the burs used to be. "Um...why cobwebs?" "So no more burs can get on your leg." "Do I really need cobwebs?" Adderjaw shook his head as he grabbed a big leaf from a pile. "No." "Then why do I have these on?" "Because there's no treatment for burs," Adderjaw grumbled.

"How about something to keep it from itching?" Adderjaw widened his eyes as far as they could go and rolled them. "I can't help you with that," He grumbled. Jadepaw narrowed her eyes at him, and she wished that Adderjaw would turn around and see the look he was getting from her. Jadepaw left the den and laid in the patch of grass outside of the apprentice den. She grass was cold in the shade of the den, and she gratefully let the grass cool down her itchy pelt. The sun was high in the sky by now, and Ravenstar still hadn't returned.

Jadepaw watched Goldenpaw snatch up a squirrel and carry it over to where Cloudpaw was basking in the sun. Sometimes life just isn't fair. Jadepaw thought. Finally, Ravenstar appeared in camp, dropping a plump mouse onto the fresh-kill pile. Jadepaw cocked an eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything when he passed her. Jadepaw knew that when sun began to set, the Clan would leave, and at the Gathering, the leaders would announce important things to the other Clans, and she had heard a rumor that if StarClan got angry, the moon would be clouded, but she just didn't feel prepared.

If every time StarClan got angry they made the sky cloud, then I still wouldn't have seen a speck of daylight by now. Jadepaw thought ruefully. She continued to question everything she had heard, and she stopped at the warrior code. Everything about the code was honorable and within reason. She looked at Goldenpaw, and repeated the rule about no killing cats in her head. Jadepaw doubted she would ever try to kill Goldenpaw, but seriously hurt wasn't ruled out. Goldenpaw was sharing her squirrel with Cloudpaw, her glossy pelt pressed against his. Jadepaw almost laughed out loud when she saw the look on Cloudpaw's face.

He looked miserable, his eyes were focused only on the squirrel while Goldenpaw tried to force a conversation out of him. When Jadepaw saw Drizzlepaw pad over with a scrawny mouse in his jaws, Jadepaw braced herself from the other side of camp. This is going to be good. Jadepaw watched Drizzlepaw sit down next to Cloudpaw and begin to talk to him. Surprisingly, Goldenpaw let him and just sat there, eating her squirrel by herself. Jadepaw almost felt bad for her, but only for a moment, then she began to let a smirk slide across her lips.

"Okay, everybody! Gathering time!" Ravenstar callled, and Jadepaw rushed over to Ravenstar, as if she was worried he would leave without her. I couldn't care less if Ravenstar got buried alive right now, but I need to get to that Gathering, no matter which leader is taking me. Jadepaw knew that she shouldn't even think that, but she couldn't help herself. She was surprised she hadn't said it aloud yet. Starlight and her siblings were next to Jadepaw when they left, and the Clan was as loud as a pack of twolegs tromping through the forest.

By sunrise, the prey would be settled down again, ready to be caught. Starlight yawned, and Jadepaw whipped around. "It's not even sunset yet! You can't go to sleep!" Starlight just laughed and parted his jaws, yawning again. "I'll try as hard as I can." He joked. Jadepaw followed the group, not knowing where to go, since this was the first time she had attended a Gathering. She felt her heart pounding-this was her first Gathering, and she didn't know what to do when she got there.

Drizzlepaw purred excitedly. "Just a little bit longer, and then we're at the Gathering! Which Clan are you going to meet with?" Jadepaw shrugged. "Probably RiverClan. I want to see if they really have scales." Drizzlepaw nodded. "I'll probably see ShadowClan or WindClan. Not RiverClan. They're too much like fish." Drizzlepaw shivered. "Look, we're almost there!"