It was past sun-high when Birdpaw came back to camp, a small mouse dangling from her jaws. She added it to the fresh kill pile and retreated to a hidden part of the camp, under a roof of brambles. She groomed her fur while watching as the Clan went about their activities. Silversong came out from the nursery, her belly swinging with kits that would be due any day. Cloudspot shared a shrew with Stormwind and Shadeleaf's border patrol returned, with Emberpaw and Sparkclaw following behind.

"Are you going to talk to me now?" asked Dewpaw, shuffling into the bramble cave and settling down next to Birdpaw, his green eyes looking at her. The tortoiseshell and white apprentice sighed and looked out of the bramble cave, putting her head on her paws. She would have to tell him eventually, there was no way she could avoid it. Knowing the cream tom, he would keep pestering her until she told him. She took another deep breath and launched into her story, starting from when she went into the medicine cat den after her apprentice ceremony and finished at when she had her vision at the Moonpool. The whole time, the cream tom stayed silent, taking in all of the information while gazing out of where they were sitting. When Birdpaw finished her story, Dewpaw stayed silent before he whispered word that she had to strain to here.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He looked at her and she saw mixed emotions burning in his emerald green eyes. Sadness, fear and something else flitted across his face and Birdpaw could almost seeing him breaking at the thought of someone murdering her. She tore her eyes away from his.

"I don't know," she whispered back, choking back her sadness, "I suppose I didn't want you worrying about me."

"Of course I am going to worry out you," he replied softly, "there is someone out there who wants to kill you! And besides, you are going to need help defeating him." Birdpaw shook her head, and looked him in the eye.

"You can't!" she meowed, worried at the thought of what Maplestar could do to him "he will end up killing you as well. I don't want you to die."

"But you will end up dying as well!" he meowed back, fear lighting up his green eyes, "and th-"

"It is better me than you," she retorted, standing up with her fur brushed out, "I am the one he want, not you." In no more than a whisper she said, "If you died, it would kill me."

She walked out of the den, only to be summoned by Whiskerstar's call, along with the rest of the Clan.

"Today is the full moon gathering," said the leader, standing up on the Highrock and gazing down at the Clan, "Moonflower, Stagleap, Vineleaf, Sparkclaw, Emberpaw, Seedspot, Windpaw, Birdpaw, Honeypaw, Petalsplash, Dewpaw, Flowerstem, Mothleap, Stripecloud and Foxleap, you will all be coming. I expect good behaviour from all of you." At this, he looked towards the apprentices that had been invited, giving them a stern look. He jumped down from the rock as the selected cats clustered together in a group, moving towards the camp barrier. Birdpaw sighed, wishing that she could just have some time to herself but she had no choice to follow. The rest of the cats left in the camp yowled out their farewells and wished good luck.

"Are you excited?" asked Birdpaw's brother, Emberpaw, bouncing away on his paws as they walked out of the camp barrier.

"Yeah, sure," replied Birdpaw, not at all excited. She felt guilty about yelling at Dewpaw, but what she had said was true. There was no way she was going to let Maplestar get to him. Sparkclaw, Emberpaw's mentor, flicked the dark ginger apprentice over the ear with his tail but the apprentice barely calmed down. Instead, he and Windpaw raced ahead of the group, scattering leaves on the ground. Sparkclaw rolled his eyes and walked up to Foxleap. Birdpaw watched Whiskerstar and Flowerstem, who were walking together at the front of the group. They were whispering to each other, their heads bent before Whiskerstar stopped and turned his head to look at this Clanmates.

"Single file SpringClan," he called, "and be careful as you walk over the log. We don't want to be dragging anyone out of the water." Birdpaw looked up again and began to try and shuffle into line. Eventually, she shuffled in behind Mothleap and slowly the clan began to walk across the log onto the Gathering Island.

The Gathering Island was not a very big island, it was most surrounded by tall pine trees that looked like they were going to touch the sky. Clear water lapped at the pebbly shore and reflected the moonlight. The ground was coated in a pale green moss that shone under the moonlight.

Whiskerstar, Flowerstem, Emberpaw and Sparkclaw had already made it across to the island and were waiting for the rest of their Clanmates. When it came to her turn, Birdpaw took a cautious step onto the wooden log, pleased to find that is was mostly sturdy. She walked across it confidently, digging her claws in only once when an owl flew over, spooked her.

When the whole Clan eventually reached the island (with only Honeypaw losing her balance), the sight of all the cats left Birdpaw with wide eyes, she had never seen so many cats before. There were long-haired cat, short-haired cats and pelts of all different shades. She moved when Emberpaw and Windpaw went racing past her over to a group of apprentices their size. Birdpaw wasn't really in the mood to find any new friends in the Clans and instead went to a far corner of the gathering space, sitting under a tree branch and watching the leaders on top of a larger version of the Highrock. Next to Whiskerstar was a sandy coloured tom with short fur and green eyes. Next to him was a dark brown she-cat with white paws and green eyes. The last leader was a huge, grey tom with long fur and ice blue eyes.

"Hey Birdpaw," came Dewpaw's voice from behind her and she turned around, "I am sorry for upsetting you before, I really didn't mean to. I was just worried about you, what would happen to you." There was an awkward silence before Dewpaw spoke again.

"Are you mad at me?" Birdpaw hesitated before shaking her head, still facing away from his. She heard the cream tom sigh but before he could say anything else, there was a loud yowl from the leaders, who were sitting on the branches of a large tree, gazing down at the Clan cats.