Hawkfeather padded along with his clanmates with his amber-hued eyes trained on the path before him, his tail lashing behind him with each step that he now took further. His heart was pounding within his chest and honestly, he didn’t know what to think at this very moment. The young warrior’s claws flexed underneath him, snagging grasses and kicking up loose dirt as he continued on his way. This was far from any normal Gathering that was about to greet them, drama and so much more brewing within the cats around him now. In the past, he usually enjoyed going to Gatherings, being able to talk with Flintheart, Pinwhisker and Sproutwhisker, his dear friends from other clans. Oh, Starclan, was Sproutwhisker going to be here? He had heard that his mate had just given birth to a new litter of kittens after having a quiet chat with Pinewhisker on the borders when he had been on a border patrol. He hoped not, the thought of the black-furred tom getting hurt, if this were to somehow go wrong, made his fur prickle with uneasiness. Despite him not even being apart of this drama, he still worried about his friends. Hawkfeather shook his head, his ears pinning against his head. He glanced at Carcalspirit, who was now walking beside him as they headed forth. “Maybe you should’ve stayed back at camp..” He murmured to his mate, his tone thick with worry, “We don’t know what’s going to happen tonight and I don’t want you to get hurt.” His first priority, even before his close friends, was his beloved Carcalspirit. He hated having even the slightest image of her getting hurt if one cat were to have an off mood about what was to happen under the moon tonight. He gave a small sigh, though, knowing he was worried about everything too much right now. Hawkfeather hoped to let things go calmly and perhaps, on the slightest chance, things would go right. His ears twitched as he lifted his head to look up at the stars with his eyes sparkling with various emotions that were far from easy from being explained.

“So, Newtpaw, how’s training with that new mentor of yours been going?” Blackfrost asked the small apprentice as the two of them followed the rest of Shadowclan on the way to the gathering, “You’ve been with them for, what, a moon now? Are they treating you well?” The black-and-white-furred shecat had seen the munchkin as a close friend of hers for a few moons, the both of them occasionally sharing a piece of prey and acting almost like a motherly figure to Newtpaw these days. “Oh, things have been going great!” Newtpaw purred, giving a small bound on her paws, “Raspberrybubble really sees the potential in me, I believe, she thinks I’m quite good when it comes to my fighting training. I’ve learned so many cool new battle techniques.” She said this with a happy purr stirring from her throat, her skinny tail waving behind her, “She’s very kind to me, despite my shortened legs and such, but that’s beside the point now.” Blackfrost glanced down at the small shecat, with brown and white fur, “You shouldn’t be seen as different because of your legs, Newt. There are many cats out there that have similar or even worst things to deal with and they’ve become great warriors.” She mentioned, “You’ll be an amazing warrior someday, I know that with all of my heart.” Newtpaw looked up at the larger shecat for a moment in silence before giving a lightened nod. “You’re right.” As the two of them finally reached the Seastones, where all the clans would gather, they could already see Windclan in the area. “I’m gonna go see if Ferretpaw is at the Gathering.” The munchkin remarked to Blackfrost, “I’ll see you later, Blackfrost.” She bounded off into the open area under the light of the moon as the shecat watched in a blissful silence. “Such an innocent youth, it’s such a shame that cats give her such a hard time because of her appearance.” Blackfrost murmured, shaking her head before turning to her mate, Crowhawk. “Where should we sit at the Gathering tonight, love?” She asked him with a warm smile as she gave him a softened nuzzle, “I chose where we sat last time, this time we can go wherever you want.”

Once Newtpaw had bounded away from the watchful eye of Blackfrost, the small apprentice bounded through the sea of cats of different clans with an excited bound in her step. She wondered if Ferretpaw was around for her to talk to, having not talked to the dark-furred tomcat since the last Gathering a few previous moons ago. Much had changed since then, but the shecat still saw him as a friend of hers to call her own. The two had bumped into each other at the Gathering and immediately became good friends, which made her smile. However, to her dismay, he didn’t seem to be around for this one, which made her ears flatten slightly. Since Lionpaw was not with her tonight, the apprentice now realized that she was all alone. It was a sign to young Newtpaw which meant that she had to be more social and try to make more friends. As she came to this conclusion, the munchkin's eyes landed on another apprentice, who looked rather excited and hyper as she was. They must’ve been from Windclan, considering that she had never seen them before. She bounded over to Ebureanpaw with a polite smile resting on her maw. “Hello there.” She purred with her long tail swishing back and forth behind her, “My name’s Newtpaw. Is this your first Gathering?” The apprentice asked, tilting her head to the side with curiosity sparkling in her lightened blue-hued eyes. She then noted of the other apprentice that had come over to talk with them as well. "Oh, I'm sorry to intrude.." The young shecat mewed, taking a few cautious steps back. Newtpaw wasn't the most social and confident of cats, wondering if approaching these two was a good idea afterall.

The small apprentice was relieved when the tomcat showed signs of friendly behavior and didn’t mind her being over here, despite being in different clans too. “I’m Newtpaw.” The shecat repeated with a slight purr coming from her as she spoke, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Eburneanpaw. This is actually my second Gathering, but it still feels like my first one.” She admitted this with a softened chuckle as she sat down beside the other two apprentices, her tail curling around her paws. Perhaps she would make more friends tonight and things would go better than expected. This apprentice seemed to be kind enough to be friends with and so far, he didn’t point out her shortened legs or made fun of her. “It sure is a beautiful night out tonight. The stars are so bright up there.” She mentioned, lifting her gaze to look up at the marvelous night sky that stretched out overhead, bathing the area in a soothing moonlight.