Before he got to advance his searches further, a gray ball of fur hurled itself at Scorchpaw, surprising him. “Hey, Scorchpaw!” The cat meowed happily, as a grin spread across Scorchpaw’s face. “Hey, Dovepaw!” Scorchpaw mewed, as the slightly younger she-cat apprentice got off of the ginger furred tabby. They had met at some point on a patrol between the Dawnclan and Cloudclan borders and they instantly hit it off and their friendship had begun. “How’ve you been?” Dovepaw meowed, sitting and curling her tail around her paws. “Just fine! Caught a hare by myself earlier today,” Scorchpaw boasted proudly. “Woah! Really?! That’s amazing, dude!” Dovepaw congratulated him. A collection of yowls fill the clearing and gain almost everyone’s attention, turning their heads to the Highstones. “We are now ready to begin the gathering,” Flintstar meows loudly, as the other leaders, Needlestar, Hawkstar, and Fernstar nod in agreement. “You may go first,” Needlestar would say, as Flintstar smiled and nodded quietly, stepping up. “Dawnclan has been performing surprisingly well this leaf-bare compared to seasons prior! We’ve only had one case of whitecough, but thankfully Cloverleaf was able to cure it to prevent its spread. We’ve 4 new apprentices since the last gathering as well! Scorchpaw, Twigpaw, Chestnutpaw, and Asterpaw!” Several cats chanted the quadruplet litter’s names repeatedly before dying down once more, as Needlestar stepped up. “That’s great to hear, Flintstar. As for Duskclan, we’ve not been as lucky. While we search for creatures of the night, leaf-bare has made this difficult. Most of the nightborne critters we feast on have gone to sleep, and because of the cold air, it’s hard to pick up discernable scents. Relying on sight has no use, as they’re all in their dens, and refuse to come out. The only hope is during the day, but even then we have not much luck… However this doesn’t mean we are vulnerable. We’ve been pushing ourselves to search, and we’ve had a few successful hunts,” Needlestar would say, flicking his tail, annoyed with how much he’d let slip. But it was a plea for help, hoping his peers would be willing to send it. “Well, we’d be willing to perhaps allow you to hunt on our land for a few quarter moons. Just long enough to get back on your paws,” the Iceclan leader, Hawkstar, offers. “We could train you a bit on ice fishing.” Needlestar bit back a retort, his pride slowly seeping through. Hawkstar shot the tom a harmless, teasing smirk, knowing she was pushing the right buttons to make him flip his lid. But he remained calm. And was partially grateful. “Thank you, Hawkstar, for the offer… we’ll think about it. Please don’t allow your warriors to attack me if I visit on a particularly hard day,” he’d say. He refused to give in just yet. “M’kay, Needlestar,” Hawkstar would say, keeping in a snicker, before regaining her composure. “Iceclan, per usual in leaf-bare, is thriving, as I’m proud to say! However… We unfortunately lost a life to Greencough, though they were an old soul. Bluebird will be missed,” she sighed, shaking her head.
This made Scorchpaw gasp. He, being the tiny historian he was, had known that he was Berryclaw’s, one of the Great Four, siblings. A half Dawn, half Cloudclan cat. He was actually the one who’d spotted Jadefur when she killed Lionpelt many seasons ago. He frowned, dipping his head. ‘May Starclan guide his path…’ He thinks with a sigh. Hawkstar stood up tall, before silently looking at Fernstar, stepping back, as the Cloudclan leader stepped forward. “We’re so sorry to hear of his untimely passing, Hawkstar. He was a well respected warrior, may Starclan guide his path. Cloudclan is managing this leaf-bare at the very least, though one of my patrols, earlier this quarter-moon, spotted a fox. We chased it out of our territory, but we’ve no idea if it went to any of yours, or left the clan’s entire territory as a whole. So we just saw it was best to alert you, but we feel now that it’s unlikely the fox wandered into your clans seeing as you apparently haven’t known of it’s wherabouts. Still, be wary,” the grey, small she-cat meowed. “We’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Fernstar. Thank you,” Flintstar mewled, as he nodded, looking up at the sky. Clouds covered most of it, not counting the moon. Most of leaf-bare’s nights were like that; cold and cloudy. “Well we should all be getting going, we mustn’t linger too long if we want to survive this leaf bare to see another. I wish everyone luck, and until the next gathering, au revoir, may Starclan light your hardest nights,” the grey tom meowed, hopping down from the stones as the others did the same, starting to lead their clans back to their respective territories after allowing the cats to say their goodbyes. Twigpaw ran back up to Scorchpaw, who was walking behind Rainwhisker with a tired yawn. “That was exhausting,” Twigpaw meowed quietly, leaning against his brother, who sighed with a small chuckle. “Yeah, it was. And we weren’t even doing most of the talking. Did you see the way Hawkstar was silently taunting Needlestar?” “Mhm! I found it pretty funny. Sad to hear Bluebird died though, I knew he was one of your favorites from the story of the Jadefur Masacre,” Twigpaw trailed off quietly. “Yeah… Maybe I’ll see him in Starclan someday, hmm?” Scorchpaw would say, looking up at the sky. “Hopefully not anytime soon,” Twigpaw would say. “Yeah,” Scorchpaw yawned again, before spotting the same yellow eyes from earlier that evening staring at him, his fur standing on end. Blinking, he looks again. But they’re gone, like magic. “Wh-?!” Scorchpaw muttered quietly. “Hmm?” Twigpaw turned to him. “Hmm? Oh, nothing, just seeing things,” Scorchpaw replies. ‘Can’t have my little brother thinking I’m crazy…’ he thinks. ‘Maybe I was hallucinating. Man, I need some sleep…’ He thinks, walking ahead. ‘Yeah… Sleep…’
