It was midday the next day. Sunpaw was sitting in camp, on a large flat stone with Lightningfeather and Cinderpaw. She glanced over to where Goldleaf was sitting with Applefoot. Applefoot turned and whispered something in Goldleaf's ear. Goldleaf smiled and licked her ear. Sunpaw sighedm feeling unexpectedly unhappy, and looked back at Lightningfeather and Cinderpaw.

It was obvious that the gray she cat had feelings for Lightningfeather, and it was also obvious that the ginger-spotted black tom liked her too. They were sitting close together, pelts brushing, with their tails intertwined. Thankfully, they were chatting with Sunpaw.

Lightningfeather leaned in a little to her. "I'm sorry about Goldleaf," he meowed quietly. Sunpaw scooted in a little, her back to Goldleaf and Applefoot. "That's okay." Only her eyes betrayed how miserable she really was. Why did he choose her? Why not someone else? Someone like...

She couldn't complete the thought. Lightningfeather snorted. "It is not okay! For pretty much his entire life, he's hated Applefoot. And everyone thought he liked you. But he was just playing with you. Just ignore him."

Sunpaw nodded, her eyes downcast. "Why, though?"

Cinderpaw shrugged. "All anyone knows is that she was mad as a badger when she came in and saw Goldleaf curled up with you!"

"He was curled up with me?" Sunpaw gasped. Lightningfeather nodded grimly. "Started dozing right beside you. She was mad."

Sunpaw growled. "Why would he do that? The mouse heart."

Cinderpaw nodded. "I know."

Sunpaw lay down, averting her eyes. Her heart felt like a stone. "Look! It's Silverstar, announcing who will be going to the Gathering!" Cinderpaw gasped suddenly. Sunpaw looked up. Lightningfeather's silver mother was indeed mounting the Rock Pile. "Cats of CloudClan!" She yowled. "The cats going to the Gathering will be me, Brightsky, Featherpelt, Cloverfur, Willowfur, Skypelt, Hailheart, Whiteswirl, Greenflower, Applefoot, Goldleaf, Lightningfeather, Sunpaw, Stonepaw, Cinderpaw, Rosefoot, and Windheart. Be ready by twilight."

She leaped down off the Rock Pile. "Yes!" Lightningfeather hissed, grinning. "We have the Gathering together!" He touched noses with Cinderpaw.

Skypelt padded over. Hastily, Lightningfeather and Cinderpaw untwined their tails and moved away from each other. "We're going to do swimming practice in a few minutes with Frostpaw, Stonepaw, Cinderpaw-" she dipped her head to Cinderpaw and Lightningfeather, then continued. "Lightningfeather, Applefoot, and Goldleaf."

Sunpaw nodded. "Why so many cats?" Lightningfeather asked. "Remember Raincloud?" Skypelt meowed. Lightningfeather blinked. "Oh."

"It's in ten minutes, so meet at the entrance to camp," Skypelt instructed before hurrying off. "Who's Raincloud?" Sunpaw asked. "Snowblaze's sister. She drowned a while ago, when they were both young warriors."

Sunpaw nodded, lowering her eyes.

✨🐱✨

It was twilight. Sunpaw was hurriedly chewing a mouse. Silverstar had decided to allow them to eat fresh forest prey, seeing as they had so much prey. Sunpaw couldn't remember the last time she'd had fresh mouse.

"CloudClan! Time to go to the Gathering!" Silverstar yowled. Sunpaw got to her paws and padded to the entrance. "Sunpaw?"

Sunpaw turned around. Goldleaf was standing there. "What do you want?" She snarled. "Sunpaw, listen, I-"

Sunpaw cut him off, her tail lashing angrily. "I have nothing to say to you, Goldleaf. Go tell it all to your mate." The last word was scathing as Sunpaw whipped around, tail swishing through the air. She stalked over to Cinderpaw and Lightningfeather.

The Clan set off. "This is so much fun!" Cinderpaw gushed to Sunpaw. They padded through the leafless trees. "Every cat talks about training and prey and news and stuff, then the leaders talk. It's a lot of fun."

Finally they came to a thick circle of oak trees in the middle of the forest, on the corner of the all of the territories where each Clan met the other three. Silverstar pushed her way through a leaf. Sunpaw, Cinderpaw, and Lightningfeather followed.

Sunpaw gasped when she entered the hollow. Cats from every different Clan sat there, talking. A wave of unfamiliar scents hit her nose. "Come on!" Cinderpaw meowed confidentially, obviously not bothered by the large number of cats in the clearing. "We want you to meet some cats."

Sunpaw followed after Cinderpaw and Lightningfeather bemusedly. She wondered if Blazepaw were here as she sat down in a group of cats. By sniffing carefully, she realized there was one apprentice from every Clan. Blazepaw wasn't there. "This is Mousepaw," Cinderpaw meowed, indicating a small gray-brown she cat from HollyClan. "This is Grasspaw," she said next, flicking her tail at a black and cream tom from BreezeClan, "And this is Oakpaw."

She nodded towards a handsome dark brown tom. His amber eyes glowed as he dipped his head. "Greetings. Who are you?"

Sunpaw felt like she couldn't speak for a heartbeat, but then regained her composure. "I'm Sunpaw," she meowed. Oakpaw smiled at her. "Congratulations."

"And I'm Mousefoot now," The gray brown she cat bragged proudly. Cinderpaw butted her gently with her head. "Congratulations!"

"We have a new apprentice," Oakpaw added. "Mistpaw."

"Cool," Lightningfeather meowed cheerfully. "Goldleaf's a warrior now."

Oakpaw smiled and touched noses with the black tom. "That's wonderful! You must be so happy for him. Where is he, anyway?"

They all looked around, Sunpaw included. "No, I'm not proud of him," Lightningfeather muttered, then raised his voice. "He's taken Applefoot as his mate."

Oakpaw, Mousefoot, and Grasspaw froze. "What?" Oakpaw meowed as if he hadn't heard. "He's Applefoot's mate," Sunpaw repeated quietly. "That's not good," Oakpaw meowed softly. "Not at all," Cinderpaw agreed. "But-"

She was cut off as four loud yowls screeched to the night. "Quiet! The Gathering will now begin."

Sunpaw turned and scooted back a little, ending up next to Oakpaw. She heard a soft purring as a dark ginger tom stepped forward. His voice echoed around the clearing as he began. "BreezeClan is doing well. Brownfur has had my kits, Blossomkit, Hailkit, and Mothkit. That is all."

The Clans erupted in cheers. "Blossomkit! Hailkit! Mothkit! Brownfur!"

When the cheering had died down, Leafstar stepped forward. His golden pelt shone and Sunpaw growled in hatred. She would never forget that this tom was the leader of the Clan that had killed Rainfur. "Cats of all Clans, HollyClan is thriving. We have one new warrior, Mousefoot."

"Mousefoot! Mousefoot! Mousefoot!" The Clans cheered. Mousefoot purred. "Also, we chased a badger out of our territory into unknown land. Be careful, it may still be hanging around."

Next, a handsome brown tom stepped forward. "That's Cheetahstar, my dad," Oakpaw whispered to Sunpaw. Sunpaw nodded. The two looked alike. "We too have prey rich land and are catching more than enough prey to feed ourselves. We have a new apprentice, Mistpaw."

He stepped back and Silverstar stepped forward. "CloudClan is prey rich. A former loner has asked to join us, and we accepted. We welcome Sunpaw to the Clan."

Sunpaw felt happy as cheers rained down on her. Cinderpaw nudged her. "Goldleaf's cheering super loud," she whispered. Sunpaw looked over. Goldleaf was indeed cheering loudly. He looked at her and their eyes locked for a heartbeat, then he looked away. "Goldleaf has also become a warrior, and we were attacked by HollyClan. Raintail was killed."

Leafstar hopped to his feet instantly, eyes blazing. "How dare you accuse HollyClan of his death!"

"It was HollyClan's fault!" Goldleaf called out, and Sunpaw remembered that Raintail had been his father. Mousefoot growled. "It's not polite to announce it in the middle of a Gathering, fox breath!" She yowled. Sunpaw winced. What was happening to the Clans? BreezeClan was on their feet now, joining in with the fray. "HollyClan killed Sleetwjiskr last moon!" A light gray she cat screeched furiously. "And wounded Bluepelt!" A golden brown she cat added. Silverstar leaped off of the rock where all of the leaders had been sitting. "CloudClan, we're leaving!"

She hurried off, CloudClan following close behind. Sunpaw threw a last, sad glance at Mousefoot, Grasspaw, and Oakpaw. They all wore expressions of unspeakable sadness.

OH NO!!!!!! The Clans are turning against each other!!!!! 😿😿😿😿 No not really XD 😸😸😸😸

How was the chapter? Not to be... Annoying... But please float me a vote/comment/even follow if you enjoyed the chapter ^.^ If you want, of course. Also, if you want me to read your story, just ask ;)

Oh, and I finally worked out that new schedule ^.^ It'll be on my message board soon.

And a quick update! Tell me what hidden messages you might see in the chapter 😏😏

Thanks for reading!

~ ✨🐱✨ Rainfeather ✨🐱✨