Tumblesoar above! Base by Louixie

The dawn wind shrieked, weaving its way through stone and snow, and into Hopepaw's fur as she trekked the rocky ridge above the camp. In front of her, three more cats padded steadily along. Bluepaw, Pinestalk and Tumblesoar.

She shivered as another gust buffeted her stubby frame, and she couldn't help but gaze longingly down at the green forest far below. Snowgone season had come, but up on the mountains, it was still cold. The wind and the early hour only added to the bitterness of the cold.

"Wouldn't it be more helpful to hunt down there, and not freeze our tails off up here? There's plenty of prey in the forest." She grumbled, gasping as the stones under her paws shifted. "We're patrolling the border." Pinestalk rumbled, bushy ginger-and-gray speckled tail swishing stripes into the thin layer of snow. "For what? There's no cat alive, dumb enough to trek through moons of icy mountains to reach one measly camp." Hopepaw retorted, still grumpy from being woken up at the break of dawn for the patrol. 

Tumblesoar turned his head and gave the apprentice a hard stare. "And I didn't think there'd be any apprentice dumb enough to talk back to a senior warrior." He hissed, obviously at the end of his patience. She opened her mouth to give a stinging reply but then decided against it. It was too early to be in trouble already. Bluepaw glanced back at her and curled his lip into a nasty, sneer-like smile. She sneered right back and continued to walk. 

                                                                             ~❆~

When the last border had been marked, the sun was high in the sky. Weary and sore, she headed straight for the fresh-kill hole and found something to eat. Luckily, a hunting patrol had just returned, laden with Snowgone-plump prey. Even a hawk, fierce and difficult prey lay on top of it all, dark tawny feathers ruffled from the scuffle. But she left the hawk, instead choosing a small, silver-coloured fish. 

She'd only had fish once, and it had been quite literally writhing of a type of small, thin white worm. As a result of the worms, the fish tasted rancid. Warily, she took a bite, relaxing when she didn't find any trace of the worms. In fact, the fish tasted amazing, like fresh water, and she devoured it. Those RippleClan cats have it figured out...

 While enjoying her food, she heard Tumblesoar pad up behind her. "Once you're done eating, we'll do a quick battle training session. After that, you have the rest of the afternoon off, to rest. Tonight is the night of the gathering." Hopepaw's eyes went wide. "The gathering? I didn't realize it was tonight!" Her mentor nodded, blue tabby tail twitching. "You're lucky I'm letting you come after talking back to Pinestalk." Isn't that how a conversation works?  "Thanks, Tumblesoar." He dipped his head and padded away, to wait by the entrance to the tunnel. 

Finishing the last of her fish, she quickly cleaned the scales from her whiskers and hurried over to the lanky tom. "Where are we training? And with who?" Without looking back, he simply replied: "You're going to be fighting me today, at the Rock Tumble. You've been an apprentice for four moons, so I think you have a chance." He announced, before quirking an eyebrow teasingly. "Even if you do have short legs." 

"Try me, if you're so tough. Snake-tail."

"I never said you'd beat me. I'm a trained warrior." 

"Well, you implied it." Purposely walking faster to outpace her mentor, she headed for the Rock Tumble. Maybe he's not as bad as I thought. 

                                                                             ~❆~

"Okay, we're working on ambush fighting for the moment. I'll give you a few seconds to hide. You have to catch me off-guard and hold me down for at least three seconds. Ready?" Hopepaw nodded, bristling with excitement. She liked fighting and training better than hunting, so any day was a good day when she got to skip out on her least favourite activity. 

"Go!" Hopepaw glanced wildly around at the Rock Tumble. Small shrubs sprung from the cascade of stone and the sky was a clear blue, covered in fluffy, slow-moving clouds. Her mismatched gaze landed on a crevice between two rocks, higher on the slope. If he passes below me, I can leap onto him. She thought, carefully scaling the incline, and fluidly slipping into her newfound hiding place. 

She crouched, tense in her spot, waiting for Tumblesoar to start looking for her. When he lifted his head and started searching, Hopepaw was delighted to see that he wasn't even looking in her general direction. Fangs bared, she began to slide out of the gap, posed to leap. His left back paw half-collapsed under him as he stepped carelessly across a small scattering of slate, and he hissed, looking down.

 Seeing her perfect chance, she launched into the air, striking her mentor to the rocky ground. He let out a cry of shock, twisting to try and rid his pelt of the undersized apprentice. At one point, he got one paw on her head, the other on her shoulder, and nearly forced her down, almost winning the fight. But she wrapped one fluffy ginger-and-cream limb around his neck, claws sliding out before swiftly retracting again. The other, she planted between his skinny shoulder blades, knocking him down, and holding him there. 

Panting, eyes wild and bright with the adrenaline of battle, she sat down, triumphantly flicking her tail. "Who are you calling Short Legs now?" 

"Still you," He wheezed, getting to his paws. "But I'm impressed, Hopepaw. That was very smart, using height to your advantage." She smiled at his words, and he gave her a swift nod. "Obviously, your fighting skills are better than your hunting skills. Some cats are just like that. Let's go back to camp, and you can rest." Proud she had won a fight against her mentor, she let a good mood overtake her. For the first time in her apprenticeship, she actually felt like it was going well and was even kind of fun. 

                                                                             ~❆~

Hopepaw was attempting to nap in her nest when she heard a trio of voices rise over the soft murmur of the rest of the Clan, who were all excited about the gathering. Bluepaw, Screechpaw and Emeraldpaw. Bluepaw's voice had developed a bit of a rough quality and was easy to pick out from Emeraldpaw's smooth, soft mew, and Screechpaw's higher call. 

Screechpaw sounded upset, and his voice was rising in pitch by the second. "I'm going to tell Adderstar what you did!" He cried, and Hopepaw hastily opened one eye. "No, you won't, you little twerp. You tell anyone anything and you're going to have a nice trip down the mountain backwards."  Now, she was wide awake, listening with every bit of her consciousness. "You stole from EmberClan, Bluepaw! Are you so feather-brained, that you think they won't bring it up at the Gathering tonight? You left your stink all over their land!" 

Bluepaw scoffed. "They won't notice. It's one measly squirrel. Don't be so paranoid." Emeraldpaw's voice broke in beside his. "Yeah, and it was delicious," She taunted, tail flicking as Hopepaw made her way to the entrance of the Apprentice den. "Why don't you try some?" Emeraldpaw's eyes held a malicious light, as she produced some russet fur from under her claws, and between her paw pads. Bluepaw did the same, before grabbing the small cream tabby tom by the scruff, forcing his nose into the small pile of fur. Hopepaw rushed forward, but before she could stop them, they rubbed the squirrel's scent all over his fur. 

"What's wrong with you?!" She snarled, pulling Screechpaw behind her, and into the Apprentice den, where he cowered, shaking. "You're sick! Bluepaw, how could you bully your own brother? And Emeraldpaw- I swear on the Land of Shining Stars, there is something wrong with you. Get away from us, before I report the both of you!" Chest heaving, nearly seeing red, she gave Bluepaw a hard shove and turned back toward Screechpaw. His golden eyes were wide and full of terror, and he rushed to Hopepaw, burying his muzzle in her fur. 

"They stole from EmberClan?" She asked him gently, looking for confirmation from her brother. He nodded. "I- I was out looking for herbs, and I saw them. I followed them back to camp, and then..." He sniffed and pulled away from her. "I'm scared, Hopepaw. I'm worried they'll do something to me." Hopepaw felt a surge of pity rush over her, and she sighed. "If they try anything, go to Mother, or me. Or Adderstar. You'll be safe as long as you're with them, or me. I promise." He gazed at her, eyes still shimmering with tears. "Okay. You promise?" 

"Yes. I-" She was cut off by Adderstar's commanding yowl. "BleakClan, gather at the top of the tunnel! We're leaving for the Gathering." Excitement tingled through her, rising up above and breaking up her anger and fear, and she pulled Screechpaw with her, toward where the rest of the Clan was streaming up the tunnel. "Let's go! It's time for the Gathering

Fun Fact: In these Clans, Gathering only happens once every five moons and Medicine cat meetings happen every three moons. Everyone attends the Gathering, unless not physically able to. (Extremely sick, heavy with kits/caring for a new litter, etc)