Unedited :3

Streamfeather shifted her paws, suddenly uncomfortable. "What do you mean?" She asked, tightly. Dawnpaw sat down. "I - I know, and we've never heard about him, or anything. What was Hailclaw's story? Who was my father?" She said, her voice almost pleading.

Streamfeather sighed. "Your brother?" She asked, resigned. Dawnpaw blinked. Stormpaw. She'd forgotten about him. He was just as much kin to Hailclaw as she was. He deserved to know. She felt conflicted, thinking fast. "Fine. After the Gathering, we will all talk. But Streamfeather?" She said, calmer than she'd been before talking. Her mother flicked, her tail, signaling Dawnpaw to go on. "Tell us the entire truth." Dawnpaw said, conviction strong in her voice. She didn't wait to see her mother's reaction, instead ducking under the twigs and walking towards Froststar. She hadn't talked to Froststar much, but he had been her mother's father, her kin. Besides, the somewhat grizzled tom had a reassuring presence about him. She greeted the elder with a respectful nod, picking a small trout out of the fresh-kill pile, and sitting near Froststar. He finished the morsel he was chewing on before speaking.

"Do you need something? Most apprentices do, when they come up to me." His tone was amusedly cynical. Dawnpaw smiled. "Not necessarily. I was only wondering what happened with the meeting you'd been planning to have with the ThunderClan leader?" Froststar smiled grimly. "It's been postponed, until after the Gathering tonight. We shall go tomorrow, at sun-high." Dawnpaw nodded. "When will you announce who's going to the Gath-"

She was interrupted by two drenched figures dashing into camp, yelping and making sour faces. Stonewhisker slowly entered camp after them,calmer but also worried. "Sorry Dawnpaw, this is urgent. Would you mind helping Tigerpaw?" She nodded getting up and heading towards the two soaked apprentices. Moonpaw and Tigerpaw. Dawnpaw pointed her ears towards the medicine cat den, and the two frazzled apprentices followed.

Oneeye was busy with sorting, looking up, her one good eye blinking in surprise. "Reedpaw, to get some moss, we obviously need it. Hm. Is everything alright?" She asked. Dawnpaw looked at Moonpaw and Tigerpaw as well. Tigerpaw looked terrified, and was staring determinedly at his paws. Moonpaw was looking at Oneeye. "The Currents. We went to check on the border with ShadowClan there, and the water had risen a lot. It was salty and strange, and it pulled worse than the Currents usually do." She explained. Dawnpaw furrowed her brow. Why were they near the water? The border was on the high portion of moorland that crossed onto RiverClan territory. Oneeye nodded, unconvinced but not pushing it. Reedpaw came back, moss in her mouth. "Go ahead. Use these to dry off. Go to the apprentice den, you're clogging up all the fresh air!" She said exasperatedly, practically shoving them out. Dawnpaw grabbed some of the moss, following Moonpaw and Tigerpaw back towards the apprentice den. Icepaw was there, her expression amused and knowing. Dawnpaw wondered what it was that Icepaw knew. Tigerpaw shot his sister a look, before settling into his nest, ignoring the moss he'd brought with him. Moonpaw looked troubled by this, but said nothing. Dawnpaw looked at her closest friend awkwardly. It'd been at least three moons since they'd stopped talking, and Dawnpaw had barely questioned it, figuring that Moonpaw just didn't have time for her anymore and wanted to hang out with Icepaw and Tigerpaw, the older apprentices. She'd been wrong.

Dawnpaw took a moment, before nudging some more moss over to Moonpaw. The other she cat looked over at her, surprised but grateful. "Thanks." She said. Dawnpaw nodded, before sitting by her. "Hey listen, I think we should talk. Properly." Moonpaw looked up, confused but curious. "What do you mean?" Dawnpaw stared at her paws. "It was so stupid. Look, I'm sorry, about putting the training I had ahead of such an important day for you. It was wrong, and I should be realized sooner." Moonpaw smiled, stifling a laugh. Dawnpaw looked up. "Why are you laughing? This isn't funny." Moonpaw stifled another laugh, before speaking. "You're right. It's just...what took you so long to realize that, mousebrain? Besides, I don't hold a grudge against you. I just wished you'd hurry up and apologize!" Dawnpaw looked stunned. "Oh."

Moonpaw nodded, cheerful. "We need to catch up. Three moons is forever!" Dawnpaw nodded, putting away the confusion and instead smiling widely. "Let's get a trout, and talk." She suggested, getting up. Moonpaw nodded, shaking out the rest of her drenched fur, sending droplets of water everywhere, to the annoyance of Snowpaw, who had just gotten back from a hunting patrol. The two crept out of the den, picking out a trout and settling down. "You can eat, I already ate." Dawnpaw explained. Moonpaw nodded, obviously too hungry to protest. "Alright, so what's the deal with you and Tigerpaw? What happened?" Moonpaw looked somewhat flustered at the memory. "Well, actually we were with Stormpaw. Stonewhisker had taken us to train out by the Currents, since we'd picked out the elders' ticks last sunhigh. We finished early, and wanted to go hunting, but Stormpaw wanted to stay, train on his own. Stonewhisker accepted that, giving us a small area to hunt within, at the Lake. We were talking and...Tigerpaw told me something." She explained. Dawnpaw nodded. "What was it?" Moonpaw looked at her helplessly. "I wish I could say, but it's his secret to tell." Dawnpaw felt disappointed, but nodded for Moonpaw to continue. Anything that would take her mind off of what Streamfeather might say after the Gathering. "I was going to comfort him, but then, as we saw a fish underwater, the Currents rose, in front of us! It was strange. We tried to head back, but Tigerpaw...slipped, and almost got pulled away. I was helping him get up, when Stonewhisker came, and helped us both out of the water. It was terrifying. On the way back, we tried to dry out our pelts, but the water wouldn't immediately slink off our pelts, like the Lake water usually does. That was probably what made swimming out so difficult. Anyways, we tried licking h e water out, drying it like the other Clans do. The water was salty though, not like the water we drink at all." She said. "That's why we were so freaked out when we burst into camp. Something's gotten into the Lake water."

Dawnpaw nodded, troubled. "Do you think Froststar will tell the Clans this at the Gathering?" Moonpaw shook her head. "He should consult Oneeye first. Then, well, maybe." Dawnpaw nodded. "We should tell Oneeye too. But wait, why was Tigerpaw so...strange right now?" Moonpaw shrugged. "I don't know..." Dawnpaw smiled, resting her tail on her friends shoulder. "I guess we can't know everything, right?"

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Ripplewing nudged Stormpaw, Snowpaw, Moonpaw, Foxpaw and Dawnpaw, herding them together one at a time. Once shed collected them all, she'd sat them down under the willow tree that grew near the side of camp, and began to explain things about the Gathering sternly. "This is the first time any other Clans will see you. Their opinions of you may make or break RiverClan's fate once and for all someday. You are allowed to socialize with other Clan cats, encouraged even, but do not make strong ties. Although we may seem peaceful  and friendly on the night of the full moon, in battle, we are enemies. Once the leaders begin to speak, do not utter a word. It is disrespectful and annoying, and makes hearing what the leaders are saying difficult. Sit neatly, do not lewisite around, or lay down. This isn't a time for lazing away. We discuss important Clan things. Especially these days...do you understand?"

The apprenticed shared uneasy glances with one another. "Um, how are we supposed to remember all that?" Snowpaw asked, voicing the concern in their minds. Ripplewing softened her voice as she replied. "You will, don't worry." With that, she to,d them to consult Oneeye if they were nervous or if they felt that they were too tightly wound or might need some thing to make the journey. The apprentices nodded, taking the time to sit down  and discuss. Icepaw was tersely talking to Tigerpaw in the corner of camp, to Dawnpaw's curiosity. "Hey, don't be nosy." Foxpaw said, flicking his tail at her ear to gain her attention. "Oh, be quiet." Dawnpaw answered, batting at his ear. Moonpaw smiled, walking beside her. Dawnpaw figured she'd ask why later. "Stormpaw?" She called, remembering suddenly. "Um, Streamfeather wants to speak with us after the Gathering." Stormpaw groaned. "Doesn't she know how tiring it is to get there?" Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. "Maybe it'd be less if you stopped eating so many fish all day?" Moonpaw suggested teasingly. "It's the fur!" Stormpaw retorted, to the amusement of everyone else. They sat down, on an outcropping near camp. The sun was beginning to dip down in the sky, and it washed the sky with lovely colours.

"So, we're officially going to be known as apprentices now." Snowpaw murmured. Moonpaw made a sound of agreement. "No more being a kit." Dawnpaw nodded. "Well hey, now that we're apprentices, we can still be like kits, right? We've got plenty of time till we are warriors, and we should make use of it. We're nine moons old." She said, smiling. "Eight and a half, actually." Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Same thing."

The others smiled. Nostalgia, strangely, hit them, flashbacks of ambushing one another and playing mossball, and hiding in the reeds and wading in the shallow pond when the queens weren't paying attention.  "Maybe...just one last time?" Stormpaw suggested. They nodded. "Let's try and ambush one another! One cat can be the predator. the badger!" Dawnpaw smirked. "I call not-badger!" She backed away. The others all chorused the same thing, a mere second apart. "Oh. Foxpaw you were the last one to say it." Snowpaw informed him. Foxpaw grumbled, but accepted the role. "You have until the last ripple of this rock in the water till I come and get you!" He said, throwing a pebble from the shoreline of the hill.

The other cats darted away, in dfferent directions. Dawnpaw headed for the murky water of the river that cut through the territory, quickly swimming into it and settling down. She could her breath for a very long time, and would submerge once Foxpaw was gone. The game was on. She planned to win.