"Wake up, it's Gathering time," a gruff voice told him, accompanied by a strong paw shaking his shoulder.

Snippaw opened one eye and was greeted by the gray fur of his mentor, Streambright.

"It's hardly moonhigh," Snippaw pointed out, waving his tail dismissively.

"That's beside the point. Fallowstar said we're leaving, so we're leaving," his mentor growled, starting to get annoyed with Snippaw's antics.

Snippaw rolled his eyes and reluctantly heaved himself to his paws, yawning loudly.

The silver ticked tabby she-cat approached the two toms, giving the younger an affectionate lick on his head.

"Mallowleaper, please tell your son that he needs to listen to me," Streambright begged, his tail flicking in anger.

"Snippaw, are you disobeying Streambright?" she asked her kit, curling her tail around his back.

"Not directly," he mumbled, giving his mentor a glare.

"Snippaw, my dear son, please listen to your mentor. How else do you expect to become a skilled warrior?"

Snippaw shrugged, not exactly caring if he even got past his apprenticeship.

Mallowleaper took her son's dismissal as cooperation and gave him an affectionate head bump. "Now hurry along to the Gathering."

Snippaw stifled a sigh and, reluctantly, trudged after the gray tom, his green eyes staring longingly at the apprentices' den.

As the two toms left the camp, the late leafbare breeze blew the sweet scent of a freshly-killed rabbit from the patrol in front of them.

"Smells like Cloudstripe is bringing her mate a gift," Streambright remarked.

Snippaw didn't respond, instead enjoying the view of the moorland as if it were a leisurely walk.

"Hey, Gorseshine sent me to check on you," a large, silver and white patched she-cat mewed, gaining the attention of Snippaw.

"You can tell her that we're okay. Snippaw wants to take it slow though," Streambright responded.

"Nervous?" she asked, her yellow eyes narrowing slightly as they turned into a bright patch of moonlight.

Snippaw shook his head, making an effort to lift his tail so he wouldn't be seen as nervous.

"Alright. See you later," she meowed as she caught up to the patrol.

"Hurry up, Snippaw," Streambright meowed, nudging the white tom's flank, shoving him forward.

Snippaw rushed forward, barely stopping himself from hissing at the senior warrior.

"Hear that?" someone from the patrol asked as the two toms approached.

Snippaw nodded, not bothering to look at the matted, silver ticked tabby she-cat.

"That's the river that separates BranchClan and the rest of us," the ticked tabby told him.

"I'm one of the only AshClan cats who know how to swim," Streambright boasted.

"Newtpaw can swim just as good as you," the tabby shot back with a proud grin.

As the two cats kept going back and forth, Snippaw focused on the land around him.

Snow crunched under his paws, the white flakes stretching as far as Snippaw could see, even while straining his eyes.

"Snippaw, did you hear what I just said?" Streambright's words snapped Snippaw back to the patrol and he shook his head.

"I was telling you to not cause trouble at the Gathering. It's only been one day and you haven't listened to me at all!"

Snippaw, unfazed by his mentor's frustration at his indifference, shrugged. "I won't cause problems."

Streambright sighed in annoyance and stomped ahead.

"I've never seen anyone able to get under his fur more than you," the silver and white she-cat purred, sliding to his side.

Snippaw shrugged, unable to keep his tail from flicking in annoyance.

"You don't talk much, huh? That's not a problem. I like silence," she mewed, quieting down and trotting beside him.

Snippaw took a deep breath. Finally, peace. He zoned out, instead focusing on his own breathing and the pawsteps around him.

The patrol suddenly stopped and Snippaw slammed into the silver ticked tabby.

"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his muzzle.

He stared past her, his breath hitching in his throat as he saw possibly hundreds of cats gathered in a mossy clearing, surrounded by a small stream, easily crossed.

A pile of rocks sat in the furthest part, three cats already settled atop.

"Alright, let's go," Fallowstar called back, rushing down the soft slope and over the stream.

The patrol followed.

"Adderpaw!" the silver and white she-cat meowed in joy, running to join a muscular, dark gray tabby she-cat, a heavily scarred gray tabby she-cat, and the SunClan tom from Snippaw's first view of the territory.

Intrigued, the white tom slunk after her, instinctively keeping low to the ground.

"And he just walked away!" the dark gray tabby she-cat exclaimed, clearly having told a funny story.

"Hey, Adderpaw," the silver and white she-cat meowed, head butting the foreign cat.

"Fennelpaw, I thought you'd never make it," she purred back, giving the patched tabby a head bump.

"Who's that with you?" the scarred cat, who's scent Snippaw now recognized, asked.

"Oh! This is Snippaw. He doesn't like to talk. Snippaw, this is Adderpaw, Shellpaw, and Coyotepaw." She gestured to each cat as she said the names.

Coyotepaw looked away, shuffling his paws uncomfortably.

"You're the cat who was trespassing earlier," Snippaw remarked, tilting his head at Coyotepaw.

"Hey! He didn't know," Shellpaw snapped, taking a step in front of him.

Snippaw shrugged, settling down beside Fennelpaw.

"Anyway, what's been up in BranchClan?"

"Not much. Lilypaw has been getting even more insufferable lately." Adderpaw rolled her eyes. "Especially since he thinks being trained by Bumblecreek is almost as high an honor as being trained by Olivestar herself."

"How's SunClan been lately, Shellpaw?" Fennelpaw gave her chest fur a few licks.

"You know we're not allowed to talk about that. Sandystar think we'll give away everything, apparently," the scarred she-cat scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I caught three fish yesterday! Two more than Lilypaw!" Adderpaw boasted, changing the subject back to her.

Fennelpaw purred at the friendly competition. "I caught a chaffinch!"

"That's nothing compared to the mouse nest I found!" Shellpaw shot back. "What'd you catch, Snippaw?"

"Haven't hunted yet," he replied, not caring for these comparisons of skill.

"He just became an apprentice today," Fennelpaw explained.

"But he's larger than Lilypaw!" chirped Adderpaw in surprise.

"So is Coyotepaw and none of you doubted for a second that he just became an apprentice," Shellpaw meowed, somewhat defensively.

"Well, yeah. He seems like a new apprentice. Snippaw's not even engaging in our fun."

"Because it's childish," a deep-voiced cat meowed behind them.

Every cat turned to stare at the wiry lilac tom.

"It's childish to do it without me!" He grinned and plopped down beside Adderpaw, his large ears perked. "I can swim better than any of you!"

"Oh yeah? Let's test that!" Adderpaw challenged, gesturing to where to stream lead into the river.

"You're on!"

As they raced away, Fennelpaw turned to talk with Shellpaw, leaving Snippaw free to do whatever.

He slunk away into the throng of cats, soon finding himself a comfortable spot.

"What're you doing here, AshClan dung?" snapped a small, bushy-furred gray ticked tabby tom, his ears pinned down and his eyes narrowed.

"Sitting," Snippaw replied, having a feeling that this SunClan cat didn't like him.

"Not if I have anything to say about it." The tom took a threatening step toward Snippaw, only to be stopped by a black paw.

A large, black ticked white tom stood there, his blue eyes staring into the SunClan cat's soul. "You know the gathering is meant to be peaceful," he meowed gruffly.

"Sorry, Lilypaw," the tom squeaked, slinking away.

Snippaw gave the large tom a grateful nod, then noticed a rather large tuft of fur sticking up on his head.

As he smoothed it, he saw Lilypaw watching him curiously.

"Snippaw of AshClan," he introduced, not bothering to pause in his cleaning.

"Lilypaw of BranchClan."

A loud yowl from atop the rocks attracted the attention of all gathered cats.

"Olivestar, why don't you start us off?" Fallowstar offered with a polite dip of her head.

A broad-shouldered tortoiseshell she-cat gaze down at the four clans, her green eyes betraying no emotion.

"BranchClan has been well-fed lately. Chirpstream has moved to the nursery with Splashmoss's kits and Sleepypaw is expected to take her final assessment soon. That is all," she meowed, stepping back to let another leader take their turn.

"DeepClan has nothing to report," a dilute calico tom stated dryly, his tail curled neatly around his long legs.

"Lavenderbrook has become the mentor of Barkpaw. Cedarpurr has become the mentor of Scarletpaw. Fawncreek has become the mentor of Coyotepaw. Hazelstalker is expecting my kits. That is all SunClan has to report." The ginger tabby stepped back.

"But Barkpaw and Scarletpaw were born five moons ago!" someone in the crowd yowled.

"What happens in SunClan is SunClan's business!" a muscular, dark ginger tabby from below Sandystar hissed back, his tail spiking.

"Thank you, Scarletwillow. I assure you, Barkpaw and Scarletpaw are old enough to be apprentices. I would never endanger young cats," Sandystar purred silkily, gesturing for Fallowstar to step forward.

"Snippaw has been apprenticed to Streambright. That is all."

"Can we end this Gathering now? I would like to get back to camp," Olivestar meowed, leaping off the rocks.

"Very well. DeepClan, we're going!" The dilute calico left, hardly letting his cats say goodbye.

"Snippaw, c'mon." Fennelpaw peeked through the crowd and gestured for the white tom to follow her.

He gave Lilypaw a polite nod and hurried after his clanmate.