Owlpaw
Owlpaw’s Clanmates made their way to the Gathering. Cinderheart walked next to him in silence. As they reached the clearing where RiverClan and WindClan were already waiting, she whispered in his ear, “Have fun.” Without another word, she disappeared into the crowd of cats.
Owlpaw slowly trotted forwards. Almost immediately, a cheerful voice shouted, “Hi! What’s your name?”
Owlpaw quickly spun around. A golden she-cat with green eyes stared at him. She gasped suddenly. “What?” Owlpaw asked.
“Y-your eyes,” she stammered.
Owlpaw felt a wave of panic. Has this she-cat noticed that I am blind? Owlpaw thought.
“What about my eyes?” he asked slowly.
“They are beautiful,” she whispered.
Owlpaw trembled with relief. “You have a beautiful pelt,” he meowed.
She nodded slowly. “My name is Sweetpaw, and I am from WindClan. What is your name?” Sweetpaw asked.
“Owlpaw,” he said.
“Owlpaw,” Sweetpaw whispered. “Do you want to meet me tonight?”
“Where?” Owlpaw asked.
“You know about the underground tunnels, right? Meet me in the big cave,” the young she-cat said.
Owlpaw wanted to say yes to the pretty WindClan apprentice. But what if my father finds out? Or my sister? Or my mother…I can’t meet Sweetpaw in the tunnels! he thought.
“No, I can’t,” he meowed after a long moment of hesitation. “It’s against the warrior code.”
“But...” Sweetpaw began.
She was interrupted by Harestar. “We gather before StarClan to…” the WindClan leader was yowling from the Great Oak.
“We can discuss this after the Gathering,” Owlpaw hissed.
“WindClan has been doing well,” Harestar meowed. “We have three new apprentices. Featherpaw, Stonepaw, and Squirrelpaw.”
As soon as the cheering died down, Lionstar stepped forward. “Moonpaw and Owlpaw are our two new apprentices. Leopardpaw is now known as Leopardheart,” he said.
Reedstar lifted his head and stared down calmly at the crowd of cats with big green eyes. “RiverClan has two new warriors. Nettlepaw has become Nettlefur and Smallpaw has become Smalltooth,” Reedstar said.
Rowanstar’s piercing blue gaze swept around the clearing. Finally, he turned his head and glared pointedly at Reedstar. “Prey is precious, even in the season of newleaf,” the ShadowClan leader began. “We cannot afford to have uninvited guests crossing our borders and stealing prey, Reedstar!”
Loud yowls of protest came from the RiverClan cats. Reedstar stared calmly back at Rowanstar, meeting the ShadowClan’s leader’s eyes. “RiverClan are not the ones stealing prey, Rowanstar,” Reedstar spat.
Hisses came from ShadowClan. Owlpaw saw Rowanstar unsheathe his claws. “Are you accusing ShadowClan of stealing your prey?” Rowanstar asked.
Reedstar unsheathed his claws and stared defiantly into Rowanstar’s eyes. “Yes,” Reedstar meowed.
Hissing, Rowanstar flung himself onto Reedstar’s back, sending them both tumbling off of the Great Oak. They landed with a loud thud. Reedstar managed to fling Rowanstar off of his back. Around the clearing, RiverClan cats and ShadowClan cats were fighting. Sweetpaw trembled with fear next to Owlpaw. “I doubt that the RiverClan cats have been stealing ShadowClan's prey!” she whispered in Owlpaw’s ear.
Lionstar yowled for peace, but his words were drowned by the screeches of fighting cats. Owlpaw noticed that Sweetpaw was looking up at the sky. Slowly, he lifted his head and stared at the night sky. Gray storm clouds were covering the moon. “Stop!” Harestar screeched, his gaze fixed on the sky. “StarClan is angry!”
The fighting immediately stopped. “This Gathering is over,” Harestar meowed.
“ThunderClan, let’s go home,” Lionstar said, leaping down from the Great Oak.
“Owlpaw,” Sweetpaw said. “Remember to meet me in the tunnels tomorrow night. I’ll be waiting.”
The WindClan apprentice began to trot away. “Wait!” Owlpaw called after her. “I said I wasn’t going to…”
But Sweetpaw was already gone. Her scent still lingered in the air. “Owlpaw!” Lionstar yowled. “Are you coming?”
“Yes,” Owlpaw shouted.
It couldn’t hurt to meet her in the tunnels for just one night, could it? If it doesn’t feel right, I wouldn’t go again. Owlpaw thought. Should I go?
“Owlpaw, wake up!” Cinderheart shouted. “You are going to get left behind!”
Yes, he decided. I will meet Sweetpaw in the tunnels tomorrow.
