One is All: Warriors Fanfiction

Chapter 10: The Gathering

Mottlepaw stood impatiently in the fresh new leaf air. "Where is Firecloud?" She whispered to herself. This was the night of the Gathering, where Lionstar would probably confront Froststar, and there could be a battle. But, it was a good thing Mottlepaw has been trained- she was more ready than she had been, even through one training session.

One.

There was that stupid word again. That dumb prophecy could mean anything in the entire world. One what? One cat, one Clan, one enemy, one battle, one plant, one stick, one leaf. There were so many suggestions. But tonight, Mottlepaw wanted to forget about that prophecy and try to make friends at the Gathering.

T"there you are!" Firecloud's voice sounded behind her, and Mottlepaw spun around to see her mentor.

"Let's just go," Mottlepaw grumbled as Lionstar finally gave the signal to move.

After the cats headed through RiverClan territory, they arrived at the fallen log. "Apprentices first!" Lionstar called out, and then Badgertail started laughing for some reason.

There were only two apprentices out tonight, Lilypaw and Mottlepaw. They scrambled up the log. Lilypaw sent a glare towards Mottlepaw and whispered, "You better not push me off." Mottlepaw rolled her eyes and unsheathed her claws. Lilypaw took one delicate footstep, then another. Her skinny legs and small paws had no problem crossing the log. Mottlepaw looked down at her thick legs and broad paws. I look like a tom, but I can still get across, she thought as she took one small step.

Badgertail laughed again, and then Mottlepaw saw Lilypaw was already on the other side. Mottlepaw seethed with anger. I'll get you...

But just as she started to step forward, Mottlepaw felt she was slipping. She slid her claws out into the log, but she fell anyway into the freezing cold water.

Lilypaw laughing was she last sound she heard as her head hit the water. Mottlepaw stayed calm for some reason and steadily pushed the water with her paws. How am I doing this? I'm not RiverClan! She roared in her head. Feeling the water soak her ear tips, she gradually lifted her self back onto the log and hauled herself up. Looking around, she saw almost every cat in all four Clans was looking at her. "Umm... carry on," she mumbled as she scrambled across the rest of the log.

"That was something," she muttered to herself as she sat down next to Firecloud and a sleek dark grey tabby tom who looker about her age. "It was more than something," Firecloud whispered, and Mottlepaw caught his pelt in the moonlight. He was shaking with joy. "I've never seen something like that in my life," he mumbled.

Shivering, Mottlepaw rolled her eyes and looked towards the tom. He looked RiverClan to her. "Do you think it was that good?" She asked.

He turned to look at her. "If by it, you mean that a new ShadowClan apprentice with no training in swimming whatsoever can somehow swim up to a log in a deep lake with everyone watching, then yeah. " he rolled his eyes.

"Really?"

"Well, actually, your technique could use some work. You paddled with your left paw first, which is always considered unlucky, and you let your whole head go underwater." The tom said.

"Oh, now you're criticizing me? I'm not exactly an expert at swimming- as you said before."

"I could teach you," the tom said nonchalantly.

"You what?!" Mottlepaw whispered, but then the leaders started talking and Firecloud nudged her to get her to be quiet.

Troutstar stepped up first. "RiverClan is faring well this season, we have plenty of fish and our cats our confident." He said. Yeah? So confident they'd teach a random ShadowClan cat how to swim?

Then Ashstar stood up. "WindClan is also thriving," she whispered and stepped back again. Mottlepaw sniffed. Something fishy was definitely up.

Then Froststar stood up. "ThunderClan is probably faring best of all. We have plenty of shelter and prey-"

"Probably because you're taking our land!" Lionstar interrupted. Mottlepaw looked around and saw many of her Clanmates were unsheathing their claws. We can't fight at a Gathering!

"If you don't think we are deserving of the territory, we can always fight for it." Froststar said calmly.

"Alright then. Let me make my report." Lionstar growled and stepped up. "ShadowClan has two new apprentices, Lilypaw and Mottlepaw."

"Which one are you?" The tom whispered.

"I'm Mottlepaw," she whispered back. "How come you weren't announced?" She asked him.

"They announced me four moons ago," he told her.

Then Lionstar wrapped up his speech and the cats began to disperse. "So wait, how are you going to teach me to swim?" Mottlepaw whispered to the tom.

"We could meet at our borders every other night and swim in the lake." He said calmly.

"The Gathering's over!" Some cat called.

"Coming!" Mottlepaw yowled, then turned back to the tom. "That's against the warrior code!"

"No one will know." He said, swiping his tongue across his paw idly. "You should probably get back to your Clan."

"Wait! What's your name?" She called.

"You there! Hurry! Gathering's over!" The cat called again.

"Stormypaw," the tom said, and then walked away.

Okay guys, before you start yelling at me about different Clans falling in love and bla bla bla, let me just say I didn't really intend Stormypaw and Mottlepaw to like each other, I just want them to be buddies. Sorry for the spoiler, but I had to shut you guys down. And to be honest, at this point I don't know who Mottlepaw's mate will be or if she will even HAVE a mate, because if you ask me it seems a little out of character but whatever