| abstract | - Cinderflower rolled onto her back, kicking her paws into the air. "Stop that!" Rainsplash said, swatting her gently on the muzzle. "We've just become warriors. Do you want to get demoted?" "Sorry," Cinderflower leaped to her paws, staring at Rainsplash excitedly. "I'm just so excited. Our first Gathering as warriors. The other clans will-" "What?" interrupted Rainsplash, purring. "Bow down at our paws? To them, we're just competition." But Cinderflower could tell by the gleam in her sister's blue eyes that she was just as excited. "Blackstar!" she called to the black tom coming down from the rock-pile. "We're coming to the Gathering tonight, right?" Blackstar nodded at the two sisters. "Yes Cinderflower." Rainsplash and Cinderflower padded into the clearing and lay down, sharing tongues. Cinderflower couldn't stifle the purr that vibrated through her body. Rubbing against her sister, she selected a vole from the fresh-kill pile. They ate, then walked over to Dovefur and Swifttail, who were talking. Rainsplash sat besides Doverfur. "Aren't you excited? I can't believe we all get to go!" Dovefur nodded. "I wonder if the other warriors will treat us differently now." "Yeah, especially old Darkclaw," added Swifttail. "He was such a grouch to us as apprentices." Rainsplash grinned at her sister. "Now we'll show him!" Blackstar called all the cats going to the Gathering to the exit of the camp. Grayheart and Angelwings were in charge of guarding the camp. Nettleflash and Flowersplash, two sisters, sat outside the nursery. "Tell me everything!" Nettleflash called to her mate. Sootfur nodded and touched noses with her. Both she-cat's sides were plump; they were due any day now. Cinderflower followed her leader through the entrance between the bushes and loped through the forest. The shadows of a canopy of leaves dappled her tortoishell coat, and the grass was soft and springy beneath her paws. Blackstar paused at the top of the rise to look down on the Gathering. The Great Oak stood proudly in the middle of the clearing, it's branches reaching into the indigo sky. Cinderflower had seen it before as an apprentice, but it felt different now. She streaked down with her clanmates, happily aware of Rainsplash running alongside her. Cats mingled and sat together sharing tongues. No one noticed her. Cinderflower felt like yelling, "Hey! I'm a warrior now!" Rainsplash and her best friend, Dovefur, walked over to a group of older warriors. They were instantly accepted. Rainsplash had that about her. With a sigh, Cinderflower began weaving through the crowd. This wasn't what she had expected. Just then, she bumped into a cat. "Sorry," she muttered. Could this day turn out any worse? "It was my fault. I never look where I'm going," the tom meowed. Cinderflower studied him. He had a very handsome face, with a pair of keen golden eyes and a unique pattern of blazing ginger stripes on his ears, tail, and legs which stood out against his cream coat. "I'm Glazefoot," the tom continued. "of DarkClan. I've seen you before. You're Cinderpaw, aren't you?" "Cinderflower," she hastily corrected him. "My mentor was Peachfur, but she just retired after I became a warrior." "Congratulations," purred Glazefoot, his eyes sincere. Cinderflower felt a twinge of surprise. She'd never met such a friendly DarkClan cat. "I became a warrior one moon ago, so I'm still young too." Cinderflower felt a smile coming on. Stop that, she told herself. He's a DarkClan cat. We can't even be just friends. A yowl cut through the chatter just then. Nightstar stood on the edge of a branch, the moonlight glinting off her dark gray fur. Her muzzle was flecked with silver, and Cinderflower remembered with a jolt that Nightstar was rumored to only have two lives left. But there was nothing weak and frail about the she-cat now. "FireClan has been stealing prey," she declared, with no more ceremony. Blackstar leaped to his paws, his gray-blue eyes blazing. Nightstar ignored the yowls of anger and protest that came from Cinderflower's clanmates. Glazefoot's ears flattened against his head, and he glanced at Cinderflower. She turned away. They were enemies. "We found prey killed within our borders." "Are you sure it wasn't killed by your own feather-brained cats and then left there?" taunted Grayheart. He was on his paws, fur bristling. "Quiet," Blackstar said calmly. He padded down a different branch. Cinderflower noticed, with a glimmer of satisfaction, that it was above Nightstar's. Windstar and Quakestar sat quietly. Windstar's eyes glimmered; she was always ready to take advantage of hostilities between other clans. Quakestar only looked concerned. "Did you smell FireClan scent on the prey?" Blackstar asked. A tiny flicker of uncertainty appeared in Nightstar's cold gray eyes. "No, but the prey was besides the FireClan border." Caterwauls of ridicule errupted from the cats. "It probably wasn't even killed by a cat," yelled Grayheart. His mate, the docile Angelwing, laid her tail across his shoulders to calm him down. Nightstar was bristling furiously. "We have doubled the border patrols," she spat at Blackstar. "And we will shred any FireClan cat caught on our territory. Other than that, we have two new warriors, Pumpkinstripe and Fernshade." Two DarkClan she-cats nearby raised their heads, but no cat cheered. Nightstar had ruined it for them. Pumpkinstripe, the ginger tabby, lowered her head sadly. Glazefoot touched his nose to her shoulder, and suddenly Cinderflower felt a wave of jealousy course through her. She's his clanmate, she reminded herself. Blackstar announced that FireClan was well and then added, "We also have two new warriors. Rainsplash and Cinderflower." Cinderflower searched for Rainsplash in the crowd, and met her sister's clear blue gaze. Her fur prickled with a combination of embarrasment and delight as the cats chanted her name. Glazefoot purred at her, and she felt a tingle ripple down her spine. Once the Gathering was over, Cinderflower was surprised that Glazefoot stuck around to talk with her. They discussed the prey, nice greenleaf weather, and their clanmates. When Blackstar summoned FireClan, Cinderflower felt strangely disappointed. "Bye Glazefoot," she said. "Bye Cinderflower," he said, touching his nose gently to hers. He looked like he was about to say more, when Rainsplash called: "Cinderflower! Let's go!" Shooting one last glance over her back, Cinderflower turned and followed her clan back to camp.
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