(Cat above is Frogfang)

Petalpaw sat outside the apprentices' den, waiting anxiously. Any moment now, Gorsestar would announce the cats attending the gathering. Tawnypaw, Mintpaw, and Featherpaw sat with her, all just as anxious as she was.

"I wonder which of us is going." Featherpaw wondered. "Do you think all of us will go?"

"We have to all go." Mintpaw meowed. "It'll be our first!"

"Quiet, you two." Tawnypaw hushed his siblings.

Gorsestar had appeared from his den and was now standing on the Highrock. "The cats attending the gathering are Hawkflight, Coalfoot, Ravenfeather, Silverhaze, Tinybreeze, Lionscar, Yarrowwhisker, Petalpaw, Marshpaw, Tawnypaw, Mintpaw, and Featherpaw."

Petalpaw felt her heart race. She was going to the gathering! She gazed around the camp as the called cats began to make their way to the gorse tunnel. Yarrowwhisker emerged from the warriors' den, his fur neatly groomed and fluffed with excitement. He had done his warrior assessment that morning and had proudly received his warrior name.

"I can't believe it! All five of is are going!" Featherpaw exclaimed.

Petalpaw nodded. "Speaking of which,Where's Marshpaw?" She  glanced around but she didn't see her brother.

"There he is." Tawnypaw meowed.

Petalpaw followed his gaze. Marshpaw was across the clearing getting a stern talk from Coalfoot. Petalpaw seperated herslef from the other apprentices and got closer so she could hear.

"Marshpaw, I want you on your best behavior tonight." She heard coalfoot meow."That means no bragging and no rude behavior. You will be polite to any and every cat that speaks to you. I'll have the other apprentices keep an eye on you and they'll report any awful behavior. And if I get even one bad report about you, you'll be spending a moon doing nothing but tending to the queens and elders. Am I clear?"

Marshpaw lowered his head then looked up to meet his mentor's gaze. "Yes, Coalfoot."

Petalpaw studied her brother. She had never seen him act like that before. But she knew it wouldn't last.

After a while, Gorsestar gathered at the gorse tunnel with the group of attending cat behind him. "The moon has risen. Let's go."

The light brown tabby turned and padded out of the camp. The other cats followed him,slipping through the gorse tunnel one by one.

Ravenfeather looked over his shoulder at Petalpaw and the other apprentices. "Come on; you don't want to be left behind."

The five young cats raced to catch up with their clan. As Petalpaw walked beside Ravenfeather, Marshpaw suddenly appeared at her side.

"Are you excited about the gathering?" He asked.

Petalpaw stared at him. The question certainly had caught her off guard. Was her brother actually being nice to her for once or was it just an act because of Coalfoot's talk.

"Of course I am." She answered. "Are you?"

Marshpaw nodded. "It's our first gathering. Why wouldn't I be?"

Petalpaw smiled. The group had stopped at the top of the slope. Petalpaw peered over the brow of the bush-covered slope. Tawnypaw and Mintpaw crouched beside her, waiting in the undergrowth for Gorsestar to give the signal.

The richness of the woods had been washed away by the cold, bright light of the full moon, and the leaves on the trees glowed a beautiful silver. At the bottom of the slope, stood the four large oaks that marked where the corner of each Clan's territory touched the other three.

The air was thick with the warm scents of cats from the other three clans. Petalpaw could see them clearly in the moonlight, moving around in the grassy clearing that lay between the four giant oaks. In the center of the clearing, a large, jagged rock rose from the forest floor like a broken tooth. Petalpaw's pelt prickled with excitement.

"There're so many cats down there!" Mintpaw mewed under his breath.

"I see Shimmerstar!" Tawnypaw hissed back. "She's RiverClan's leader."

"Where?" Petalpaw asked.

"That silver cat beside the Great Rock." Tawnpaw answered. "Owlfeather told me about her."

Please followed Tawnypaw's nod and saw a sleek, beautiful silver she cat sitting at the center of the clearing. Her silver coat shone in the moonlight.

Mintpaw interrupted them. "Look! I think that's  Redstar—ShadowClan's leader." he meowed.

Petalpaw looked down and spotted a large red tom. His fur was short and his face was broad and flattened.

"He looks bigger than Hawkflight." Petalpaw commented.

"I know!" agreed Mintpaw. "I head he hasn't been leader that long. Only like five mons or something."

"What does WindClan's leader look like?" Petalpaw asked.

"Webstar? I've heard from Nightfall that he has white fur and a nasty scar across his muzzle." answered Tawnypaw.

"Is that him?" Mintpaw asked.

Petalpaw followed his gaze. On top of the slope at another end of the clearing, stood another group of cats. In front of the group stood a powerful snowy white tom. His fur was nearly groomed and the scar on his muzzle was clearly visible. Petalpaw guessed he was probably a well respected leader.

"I think so." Tawnpaw meowed.

"Come on, you three." Featherpaw hissed.

The three cats suddenly realized they were descending into the clearing. Petalpaw looked to see WindClan descending as well. As they entered the clearing, the group of ThunderClan cats began to disperse.

Petalpaw felt thrilled. A pitch-black tom strode past. Petalpaw looked at him in awe.

"His fur's so dark!" Mintpaw murmured.

"It must be Minnowpelt," mewed Tawnypaw. "RiverClan's deputy."

Minnowpelt padded over to Ashwhisper and Ashwhisper greeted him with a curt nod.

"When does the meeting begin?" Featherpaw asked.

"Be patient." Ravenfeather answered. "We have plenty of time."

Silverhaze joined them and added, "We like to spend a little time chatting with cats from the other clans while there's a truce."

"Why don't you five go find the apprentices." Ravenfeather meowed as he walked away with Silverhaze.

"Come on." Featherpaw meowed.

Petalpaw and the rest followed her to a group of young cats.

"Hi." Featherpaw greeted them. "Are you all apprentices?"

"Yes." A yellow tabby she cat answered. She looked bigger than the rest. Petalpaw assumed she had been training for a while. "This must be your first gathering. I'm Beepaw, from ShadowClan."

"I'm Petalpaw." Petalpaw meowed. She pointed to Marshpaw. "This is my brother, Marshpaw."

"It's nice to meet you." Meowed a dark gray tom. "I'm from RiverClan. My name's Ripplepaw."

Tawnypaw flicked his tail in greeting. "I'm Tawnypaw. This is my brother, Mintpaw and my sister, Featherpaw."

After exchanging a few more greetings, the ThunderClan apprentices had blended in well with the other apprentices. Petalpaw kept a close eye on Marshpaw just as Coalfoot had asked. So far her brother was being polite and respectful.

"Hi." A voice meowed from behind her.

Petalpaw turned around to find a light brown tabby tom with white paws sitting behind her.

"I heard you say this was your first gathering." He meowed.

Petalpaw nodded. "It is."

"It's my first too." The tabby mewed. "I'm Crouchpaw. I'm from ShadowClan."

"I'm Petalpaw, from ThunderClan."

Suddenly a gray and white she cat and gray tabby tom joined them.

"This is our first gathering." The she cat meowed, shyly. "We don't really know anyone."

"That's okay." Petalpaw mewed. "It's ours too. I'm Petalpaw from ThunderClan and this is Crouchpaw from ShadowClan."

"I'm Hazelpaw from WindClan." The gray and whie she cat meowed.

"And I'm Curlpaw from RiverClan." The gray tabby added.

Before they could talk anymore, a white tom with blue eyes trotted up to them. "We ought to join our Clan," he told Crouchpaw, ignoring the ThunderClan apprentices. "The meeting's about to begin."

"This is my brother, Frostpaw." Crouchpaw told Hazelpaw, Curlpaw, and Petalpaw. "He's not to fond of socializing."

Froatpaw stared furiously at his brother, and the tip of his tail flicked from side to side.

A commanding meow sounded from the Great Oak. "We meet beneath Silverpelt—"

"That's Webstar calling for the meeting to start!" Hazelpaw meowed.

Frostpaw flashed Crouchpaw a look that said, I told you so, and hurried away to join the rest of his Clan. Petalpaw joined the cats gathering around the base of the rock. She weaved among her Clanmates till she found a space between Tawnypaw and Featherpaw.

Gorsestar sat beside Webstar on the rock. Shimmerstar sat on Webstar's other side with Redstar on Gorsestar's other side.

"WindClan has four new apprentice," Webstar began. He looked down at Hazelpaw along with a brown tom, a gray tom, and a brown and white tom. "Hazelpaw, Graypaw, Deerpaw, and Barkpaw."

Hazelpaw and her brothers lifterd their chins, thier eyes glowing with excitement.

"Other than that WindClan has nothing to report." Webstar meowed, retaking his spot.

He turned to Redstar, nodding for him to speak next.

"ShadowClan has four new apprentice this moon," Redstar announced. "Crouchpaw, Whitepaw, Lizardpaw, and Frostpaw."

Crouchpaw and his siblings raised their chins, thier eyes beaming with pride. Redstar retook his spot and dipped his head to Shimmerstar.

Shimmerstar rose from her spot. "RiverClan has four new apprentices." She announced, her tone sounding as if she tired of hearing of new apprentices. "Curlpaw, Stormpaw, Ravenpaw, and Viloetpaw."

Curlpaw and his brothers raised their chins while their sister lowered her head shyly.

"Also we recently suffered a small rogue attack. Thankfully no cat was severely injured." Shimmerstar went on. She dipped her head then retook her spot.

"It's our turn." Tawnypaw whispered.

Petalpaw's ears twitched. Pride and anxiety churned in her belly. But before Gorsestar could speak, a challenging mew sounded from the clearing.

"You're familiar with rogues aren't you, Gorsestar."

Every cat's eyes turned to see who it was and murmuring could be heard. Petalpaw strained her neck to see who everyone was looking at. Her eyes landed on a black and brown tom. There was something about his tone and they way he sat that made Petalpaw's stomach churn.

His fur was unkept and his whiskers were wirey and bent. His face was broad and flattened. His eyes were a dark amber that never left Gorsestar.

"Who is that?" Petalpaw asked.

"That's Frogfang." Lionscar meowed from behind her. "He's from ShadowClan."

"What does he mean that Gorsestar's familiar with rogues?" Tawnypaw asked.

Lionscar shook his head. "It's nothing."

"Then why would he blurt it out?" Featherpaw asked.

"Because that's how Frogfang is." Tinybreeze muttered from beside Lionscar. "He's just looking for trouble."

When the murmuring died down, Gorsestar rose to his paws. He kept his gaze lock with Frogfang's for a moment before he tuned, ignoring the tom's remark, and spoke.

"ThunderClan has five news apprentices- Petalpaw, Marshpaw, Tawnypaw, Mintpaw, and Featherpaw." Gorsestar announced.

Petalpaw could hardly hear anything for the blood rushing in her ears. She puffed her chest out and held up her chin, feeling her pelt burn under the stares from the other cats.

"We also have a new warrior- Yarrowwhisker." Gorsestar went on, pausing as the new warrior was welcomed. "And prey has continued to run well."

He dipped his head and waited as the other leaders rose to their paws. "Then that concludes this gathering." Webstar meowed.

He leapt of the rock and flick his tail for his clan to follow. The reat of the leaders did the same and soon the Hollow was deserted of cats.

Petalpaw dipped her head to Crouchpaw, Hazelpaw, and Curlpaw. My first gathering and I already met three new cats that like me. She fell in beside Tawnypaw as they followed their clan home.

"Are you still thinking about what Frogfeather said?" He asked.

"Yes." She mewed. "He had to have blurted it out for a reason, right?"

Tawnypaw nodded. They continued on in silence, except for the crunch of leaves under thie paws.

"How was Marshpaw tonight?" Coalfoot asked.

"He obeyed your oders." Petalpaw reported. "He wasn't rude at all."

Coalfoot gave an aproving nod. "Good."

When they returned home, most of the cats filed to their den for the night. As Petalpaw made her way to the apprentices' den, her foot got caught on something, causing her to fall. She looked behind her. Marshpaw was standing in front of her with his leg out. He made me trip! His behavior tonight was just an act!

He shot her a smug look and as he turned to head to his nest his kicked his back paws so that dust would go into her face.

Petalpaw unsteadily rose to her paws. She gave fur a quick shake then padded over and curled up in her nest.

She looked over at Marshpaw, who was already fast asleep.

What did I ever do to make you hate me?