***Arrowpaw's POV***

Arrowpaw trotted over to the Medicine Den, a mouse dangling from his jaws. He was on his way to visit Patchfur. The tom had been moved to a spot right outside the Medicine Den once Lilyspots and Dawnpaw had finished treating him. The MagicClan deputy's nest was stationed underneath an overhanging bush near the healer den so that they could keep a close eye on him.

Arrowpaw knew the two she-cats would have preferred that Patchfur stay in a den but their own den was crowded enough with Puddlestep and Barkstep and none of the other cats wanted him to sleep in their dens, much to the apprentice's disappointment.

He knew it made sense for his Clan mates not to trust Patchfur, he was an outsider after all, but he just wished that his friend was given better living conditions. At least I think we're friends...right? I mean I like him but...I'm not sure he feels the same way....how could he though? I'm just a clumsy and awkward apprentice from another clan.

Patchfur was lazily sprawled in his nest when Arrowpaw made his way up to him. The apprentice was no healer by any means but it looked like the deputy- well former deputy now- was healing up nicely, angry red slashes on the tom's pelt beginning to fade into a pale pink.

For the most part though, many of the black and ginger tom's wounds were still covered in poultices and cobwebs, making Patchfur's pelt look more of an asortment of white, green and yellow than what it normally was.

Tiredly, Patchfur lifted his head up to meet Arrowpaw's gaze. The black furred apprentice felt himself flushing already. Something about Patchfur's golden eyes made him have a hard time functioning.

That might just be Patchfur in general though those eyes of his certainly don't help matters get any better. He hoped that in the duration Of Patchfur's stay in HunterClan that he could learn to at least act normal around the handsome tom.

"Hello Arrowpaw. Is that mouse for me?" Patchfur asked before letting out a gentle yawn.

Arrowpaw managed to stifle a small nod and pushed the mouse toward the injured deputy with his nose. He was pleased to see Patchfur swallow down the mouse in a few mouthfuls. He may be injured but at least he hasn't lost his appetite.

"Thanks." The older tom licked his lips after he said this before going to clean his paws.

Arrowpaw nodded and went to leave. He felt a paw prod at one of his hind legs and stopped with a jolt. Casting his head to look backwards, he saw that Patchfur's paw was stretched out to touch his leg. A small shiver rippled down him from the sensation.

"Now now, why don't you stay awhile. There's so much we can talk about." The former deputy purred, a flirtatious expression crossing his face. Arrowpaw was thankful Patchfur couldn't see how flushed he was. He sank to the floor so he was laying in front of the older tom.

"Uh...er....sure. What do you want to talk about?" Arrowpaw did his best not to stutter. Patchfur licked one of his paws studiously before returning to the conversation.

"I never knew that you were Blossomstar's apprentice. Leaders usually only do that when they expect big things from the cat they're mentoring." Patchfur told him. Arrowpaw had known that being the Clan leader's apprentice was a big honor but he had no idea what Patchfur meant by big expectations.

"Oh, I i-it never occurred to me that she would have er...big expectations." He admitted.

Patchfur let out a soft chuckle at that. The black and ginger tom stretched a forepaw out, grooming down some fur that had been sticking up. Even when he's hurt, Patchfur likes to look nice.

"Young cats never think such things. Oh, the naivety of youth." Patchfur chortled. Arrowpaw was surprised to find himself wrinkling his nose at that, displeased by being grouped with regular young cats. Patchfur noticed this and let out a mrrow of laughter.

"Oh dearest, I don't mean you...well not exactly anyways. I can tell your much smarter than the average young cat...and more handsome too." Patchfur purred our the last part.

Arrowpaw felt very flustered at this point. I can't believe he thinks I'm handsome...just look at him. He's much better looking than I am...

Desperate to change the subject, Arrowpaw scrambled to find words to say. "So err...what happened to you before I found you on our territory? I know it was bad whatever it was and that you-you said you didn't want to talk about it earlier but..." He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

Patchfur, who had been happy and amused for the past few minutes frowned solemnly now and let out a sigh. Arrowpaw felt immediately awful for mentioning it in the first place. You mousebrain, you just had to bring that up.

"No Arrowpaw...I'm sorry but right now I don't really want to talk about it." The former deputy admitted. Arrowpaw felt a twinge of disappointment at that.

Patchfur still wasn't being forthcoming about why he was kicked out of his Clan. He had tried to ask Blossomstar about it, hoping that the former MagicClan cat had told her something she'd be willing to share, but she had just told him that Patchfur hadn't told her anything useful, just that he needed somewhere to stay for a while during his recovery. Apparently, Patchfur had helped HunterClan back in the day so Blossomstar had agreed to give him refuge in their camp and speed along his recovery without prying too much into details.

*******time skip******

"Please Dustcloud! Let me come! I really want to go to the Gathering tonight!" Goldenpaw was begging his mentor.

For the past several minutes, the golden furred apprentice had been begging his mentor to change his mind and let him come to the Gathering. All the other apprentices are going...so why can't I?!

Blossomstar had announced earlier the cats that were going to the Gathering. Blossomstar, Dustcloud, Lilyspots, Dawnpaw, Brackenpaw, Arrowpaw, Nightpaw, Silvermoon, Badgerstripe, Ripplefur, Swallowsong, Bearfur, Littlebird, Junipernose, Palenose, Featherflight and Mistwing were all gathering at the entrance of the camp.

The golden furred tom felt envy spreading throughout him seeing them chattering gleefully. Goldenpaw and his siblings hadn't gone to the last Gathering. This would be the second time now that he would miss the opportunity to meet the other clans. I know what I did was wrong...why hasn't Dustcloud forgiven me yet?? Maybe he's ashamed of me...

His mentor had been terse with him ever since he found out that Goldenpaw had been hanging around kittypets. It's been almost a moon though...I feel like his anger should have subsided by now... It was clear that Dustcloud hadn't forgiven him yet though, judging by the scowl on the HunterClan deputy's face as he gazed at his apprentice.

As the two were about the same height now, Goldenpaw no longer had to gaze up to see his mentor's expression. Under the fierceness of the fluffy brown tom's gaze however Goldenpaw felt as though he was a new apprentice all over again, a feeling of uncertainty he'd rather not have settling over him.

"For the last time no. It's clear to me that you haven't learned your lesson yet and until you do you'll remain punished." The deputy's stiff tone brokered no arguments, but stubbornly the apprentice felt himself arguing anyways.

"That's not fair! I've done everything you've asked of me! Absolutely everything and you still won't let it go! Why! Why can't you just forgive me? What do I have to do to get you to forgive me..." He trailed off there. A stormy look appeared in his mentor's eyes now, a look the apprentice was sure he'd never seen before.

"That's enough Goldenpaw. You have no idea just what kind of consequences could've happened to you when you were hanging and around the Twolegplace. I know from personal experience what could go wrong. And that's something that you don't seem to understand." The deputy was giving him a stern look. Goldenpaw felt confused at that. Personal experience...what does he mean by that?

He was about to ask when Dustcloud continued. "If you want to prove that your Sorry then you'll never hang around kittypets again and that includes the foreigner in our camp." The fluffy tom growled out.

The apprentice felt his fur fluff up angrily at that. Clary! But she's practically one of us! It was true that the small ginger she-cat hadn't joined HunterClan fully yet but Goldenpaw had a feeling that she would soon enough. Goldenpaw had never seen his friend so at ease before, it was as if by being in the forest she was finally able to be herself. He was very proud of her.

"But....but Clary is my friend! And her parents were both HunterClan cats! Why can't I hang out with her?" It was his turn to glare angrily at Dustcloud. An annoyed eye roll was sent his way. Dustcloud was not pleased by his response.

"Her parents may have been Clan cats, but they were traitors of their own design. Until we know where Clary's loyalties lie, she cannot and will not be trusted. Do you hear me Goldenpaw? Do not trust her." Dustcloud meowed. Goldenpaw just let out a huff and stormed away, not bothering to respond to Dustcloud's question.

I'm going to keep on being friends with Clary whether he likes it or not! He felt a small tugging in his heart at that. Well...maybe....probably...hopefully more than just friends some day. He sat down next to the apprentice's stump.

Tonight, only Clary and himself would be occupying the Apprentices den until the others got back from the Gathering. Hearing some paw steps coming towards him, Goldenpaw looked up to see his brother Arrowpaw.

"Hey." Arrowpaw mewed in greeting.

Goldenpaw gave him a similar 'hello'. The other apprentice sat down next to him and together the two stared out at camp. Out of all the cats here, Goldenpaw knew that it was Arrowpaw that understood him best. They had what Badgerstripe described as a soul deep connection, one that parabatai had.

At the thought of the word parabatai, he felt his spirits brightening. Someday, Arrowpaw and himself would be connected by a runed bond from StarClan themself, and Goldenpaw knew that he and his brother would an even stronger force then.

"So, I overheard your conversation with Dustcloud." Arrowpaw began softly, his tail curled neatly around his paws. Goldenpaw mentally groaned at that, the last thing he wanted was a lecture from his brother.

"Yea. What about it? Do you have something you need to say? You and I both know he's wrong." He couldn't help but sound defensive now.

The golden tabby wasn't sure what Arrowpaw thought about Clary. His brother had been nice enough to bring Clary to camp to keep her safe, something that Goldenpaw greatly appreciated but other than that Arrowpaw hadn't really interacted with her. Goldenpaw had a hard time knowing what Arrowpaw was thinking sometimes, something he hoped would change for the better once they became parabatai.

"Yea he is wrong brother, I know that. Clary isn't a bad cat and sooner or later the others will realize that." Arrowpaw spoke calmly, his gaze fixated across camp. Goldenpaw tried to see where his brother was looking, and was confused to see that it seemed that his brother was focused on the former MagicClan cat, Patchfur.

I wonder why he's looking at him? Patchfur was another cat that Arrowpaw had brought back to camp. Unlike Clary, the former deputy had been heavily injured when Arrowpaw had arrived with him in HunterClan camp.

Arrowpaw was held responsible for caring for Patchfur too all the while continuing his training. So far no one seemed to know why Patchfur had been kicked out of MagicClan, and the apprentice guessed that issue would get addressed at tonight's Gathering.

"Then what do you need to tell me then?" He was surprised that Arrowpaw responded the way he did. Hardly ever did the black furred apprentice consider Goldenpaw to be right on anything.

"I'm going to talk to Dustcloud, see if I can change his mind. In the mean time, you and Clary will be the only ones in the Apprentices den while we're gone...so you might as well enjoy it." Arrowpaw gave him a small smile.

Goldenpaw was happy about that too. He hadn't gotten to spend much time with Clary since she had arrived in camp. Now is my chance! He dipped his head in agreement.

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. Just make sure to tell me all about the Gathering when you get back." Arrowpaw nodded at that and then turned to go join the rest of the cats gathered by the camp entrance, ready to leave. Goldenpaw watched them file out of camp, before going off to spend time with Clary.

******Arrowpaw's POV/time skip********

It was a clear night sky that greeted the HunterClan cats as they made their way out into the forest on their way to the Gathering. Arrowpaw, Nightpaw, Dawnpaw and Brackenpaw were in the middle of the crowd. With a glance over his shoulder, Arrowpaw saw that Badgerstripe, Silvermoon, Palenose and Ripplefur were bringing up the rear. His parents were moving together, side by side through the undergrowth. He was always happy to see just how much his parents loved each other.

In front of the apprentices were the other warriors along with the Dustcloud, Blossomstar and Lilyspots. It was odd for the apprentice now with his brother absent from the group. Of course, they had been separate before, what with training and all but Arrowpaw had never attended a Gathering without his brother. Judging by his sister's frown, she too felt the same as he did.

I need to talk to Dustcloud later for sure. He was pretty certain that Goldenpaw had learned his lesson about fraternizing with kittypets, it had been a moon since his golden furred brother had any warrior training and he knew that wasn't good. He's going to fall behind...

Dustcloud wasn't budging on his decision to keep Goldenpaw from training though, and it made him even more concerned. It's like Dustcloud is holding a grudge over Goldenpaw for some reason. The more and more times Arrowpaw overheard Goldenpaw and Dustcloud's arguments, the more clear it seemed that the deputy had some underlying anger in the problem. And I doubt it's from his apprentice's interactions with the likes of Clary...I'll have to ask Dustcloud about it.

The group came to a halt. Fourtrees was looming up ahead of them, the scents of the other clans intermingling. I guess I'll talk to Dustcloud later then. The HunterClan cats swiftly streamed into the clearing behind their leader.

The moon's light shone brightly overhead as the HunterClan cats streamed into the clearing. Arrowpaw noticed that most the other Clans were already there. FaerieClan, MagicClan and FangClan cats were all mingling about already.

He was surprised to see that the WolfClan cats weren't there yet. Often, Rookstar and his Clan were the first to arrive to Gatherings, claiming that as they were the fastest clan they should be the ones to show up first. I guess something held them up then.

Usually, he would go find Silverpaw and talk to her but seeing as she wasn't there he stuck with Brackenpaw and Nightpaw as they headed towards some other apprentices. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw that Dawnpaw and Lilyspots were headed over to where the rest of the Medicine cats were sitting.

He recognized Berrypool chatting away with Doebelly and Seedpaw. Out of all the medicine cats, Berrypool was the only one to not have an apprentice yet. I wonder when she'll get one? At the bottom of the Great Rock, Dustcloud was joining in the conversation with the other deputies. His fur fluffed up slightly when he saw that another cat had taken Patchfur's place.

That cat being Weaselfur, his brown fur and cream colored belly easily recognizable from past Gatherings, that and what Patchfur had told him. Apparently the tom was a sniffling suck up to Wishstar. Arrowpaw was surprised that Weaselfuf was Patchfur's replacement and he wondered what Patchfur would think when he told him. I guess there's nothing we can do about it now though...

"And this is my brother Arrowpaw. Bro, say hi to Harrypaw and Beckonpaw." Startled out of his thoughts, Arrowpaw focused his attention on his sister Nightpaw, who was gesturing to the two toms in front of them. Harrypaw was a light brown with mismatched blue and green eyes while Beckonpaw was a gray tabby tom with yellow and orange eyes.

"Oh er hi." He told them. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else." He admitted sheepishly. The two FaerieClan cats looked amused at that.

"Oh it's fine, I think Nightpaw is the most interested in this situation anyways." Harrypaw mewed, a small mischievous gleam in his eyes. Arrowpaw briefly pondered who it was for. Beckonpaw on the other paw remained quiet, as if thinking.

"Suuuuuurrrreeee I am. I'm going to go talk to Echopaw, I'll leave you four alone." She brushed her fur along his reassuringly before heading over to where he presumed Echopaw was among three other cats.

When it came to FaerieClan cats, Arrowpaw was never sure how to talk to them. The Clan was full of cats that couldn't lie, but as his mother liked to say "cats that can't lie just find other ways to manipulate the truth." Since this was a time of truce though, Arrowpaw decided to relax a little and just talk with them.

At first, he had let Brackenpaw do most of the talking, but at some point the older apprentice had left, presumably to talk to someone else. Arrowpaw learned that Harrypaw and Beckonpaw were apprentices for the wild hunt, a special part of FaerieClan.

He was a bit surprised too to learn that apparently only toms were allowed in. He thought about scrutinizing how sexist that was but then decided against it, reasoning that it was best not to cause trouble at the Gathering.

He listened as intently as he could as the two apprentices talked about their latest adventures. The Wild Hunt apparently had some very distinctly different ways of hunting compared to what Arrowpaw was used to. The cats in the Hunt would hunt in duos or trios and corner their prey before killing it.

They also loved to hunt in trees too, something Arrowpaw could relate too. Eventually he bid Harrypaw and Beckonpaw farewell though and made his way back to his sister, who was eagerly chatting away with a white she-cat he assumed was Echopaw.

He stood silently by Nightpaw's side as she talked, looking out at the other cats. Most of the leaders were already gathered at the top of the Great Rock. Venomstar and her slim dark brown form was sitting between Wishstar and Vinestar. He was surprised to see his mentor Blossomstar sitting below the Great Rock a little ways away from the deputies and medicine cats talking to two cats Arrowpaw didn't know.

He caught the eyes of one of them and wondered who she was. The she-cat had a light brown tabby coat and warm amber eyes that were staring at him curiously. She looked oddly similar to Blossomstar, whom the she-cat turned her focus back to.

The other cat, a fluffy yellow tom with green eyes was sitting next to the she-cat, his focus fully on Blossomstar and his expression wry. Soon enough, Blossomstar broke away from the two cats Arrowpaw still didn't know the names of and hauled herself upward to sit with the other leaders, settling herself next to Vinestar. Rookstar and his cats were still no where to be found. I wonder where they are...?

"Cats of the Clans" Vinestar began, "seeing as WolfClan has had more than ample time to show up we will now begin the Gathering." Everyone gathered in the clearing focused on the Great Rock at the dark ginger she-cat's words.

Arrowpaw glanced back and forth to both sides to see Nightpaw and Brackenpaw had taken their places at the right and left of him respectively, Echopaw having left to rejoin her mentor Hopfoot on the other side of the clearing.

I'm surprised the leaders are willing to start the Gathering without WolfClan...they aren't wrong though, they had been given plenty of time to get here. Meeting Blossomstar's amber gaze and seeing the frown on her face, the apprentice guessed that his mentor wasn't that happy about the circumstances either.

Vinestar gave a decent report on life in FaerieClan to the cats gathered below. A queen named Coldwind had given birth to two kits in their Clan: Rufflekit and Heronkit. Arrowpaw somewhat remembered the she-cat and with amusement found her warrior name fitting; if the white and gray she-cat's eyes weren't enough to go by, the permanent scowl that seemed to always be on her face more than made up for it. In other news, Bellowpaw had been made into a warrior, the blue and green eyed tom now went by the name of Bellowstep.

When Blossomstar stepped forward to give her report Arrowpaw made sure to listen very closely. He was hoping that she might talk about what had the senior warriors in HunterClan so uneasy. A small part of him was worried that she would bring up Patchfur, he wasn't quite sure why he needed to be so concerned though.

It wasn't like MagicClan would attack them for sheltering their former deputy after whatever had caused his banishment. She mentioned neither though, much to Arrowpaw's great relief and disappointment. Then Wishstar took his turn.

Unlike the Clan leaders that had given their announcements thus far, Wishstar's report was not so pleasant. "Cats of the Clans, MagicClan has been prospering greatly this past moon. Two of our apprentices, Fernpaw and Thrushpaw have earned their warrior names: Ferntail and Thrushfeather."

The gathered cats called out the two new warriors names. "Ferntail! Thrushfeather!" Arrowpaw glanced over to where the two former apprentices were sitting, their eyes gleaming with pride as their warrior names were announced. Once the crowd has quieted down Wishstar continued.

"In light of all this news I unfortunately now have to speak of the bad. One of our cats murdered Springfern's daughter Willowkit almost a moon ago." Gasps and shocked murmurs arose from the gathered cats. The act of murdering another cat in cold blood, especially an innocent kit was unthinkable.

A shudder rippled through his body at the thought of Vultureclaw, as he too had murdered a cat, their former deputy Foxtail only around two or so moons ago. We still haven't found a way to stop him yet.

With Dawnpaw being a Medicine Cat apprentice now, that made her much more better protected from her former mentor. Despite the older she-cat's testimony though, Arrowpaw knew that they would need physical proof before they could convince Blossomstar of the senior warrior's treachery.

"Once we found out who the murderer was, I banished them from our Clan. They will never be allowed back on our territory again. I warn you to keep an eye out for this cat." Wishstar concluded, his expression solemn. More murmuring arose from the crowd of cats.

Arrowpaw could see Twigflight whispering something to Thornpelt. The stoic FangClan deputy had a carefully blank expression on his face, and Arrowpaw figured that he too was angry at the news of a kit being murdered. Sitting next to the other deputies, Dustcloud was having a harder time controlling his anger, his sharp claws tearing into the grass under his paws.

Weaselfur, the other deputy (Arrowpaw refused to think of him as anything other than Patchfur's replacement) had a strange smirk on his face. Why in the name of StarClan would he be smiling?

From what he knew, Springfern was Wishstar's mate meaning that Willowkit was the leader's daughter. He shouldn't find pleasure in the death of a kit. That's sick. He felt a sharp tugging in his mind then and then realized something with horror. The cat they're talking about is Patchfur!!!!

************time skip (more like POV change but yea)**************

Blossomstar kept her expression carefully blank as she listened to Wishstar. At this point she figured that the cat Wishstar was talking about was Patchfur. Judging by how tense many of her Clanmates were they too had figured out that Patchfur was the banished cat. She could see her apprentice in the crowd. Arrowpaw was wedged between Brackenpaw and Nightpaw, his eyes filled with worry as the information sunk in.

The HunterClan leader had figured that whatever happened back in MagicClan to get Patchfur banished had to be severe. The black and ginger tom was one of those few warlockian cats that were gifted with what was called slowage (slowed aging, not immortality——I will explain why in the future...just know that full on immortality will likely not exist in the story, it just wouldn't make any sense). Patchfur had been a MagicClan warrior since she herself was an apprentice under Emberstar's leadership.

She knew Patchfur to be a lot of things, but a cold-blooded murderer was not one of them. She eyed her clanmates carefully. I'll have to talk to them when we go back to camp. Most of the warriors in HunterClan also considered Patchfur to be a respectable warrior. News like this would definitely freak them out though, so it was up to her to calm them down.

She had hoped when Venomstar took her turn to speak that an unspoken concern would finally be talked about. She remembered a few days ago when Badgerstripe's patrol had came back and reported that the WolfClan border hadn't been marked by the WolfClan cats recently, making their scent along the border line faint.

She had went out to investigate herself to find the same troubling findings. Where are they? It's like they've up and left. The Clan leader had hoped that they would show up tonight, but since they didn't, her worry for the absent Clan was only growing.

Venomstar stepped forward on the rock and Wishstar stepped back, letting the FangClan leader take the center position. "In this past moon, FangClan has flourished greatly. So much so that we now need more territory than ever to support our Clan." Murmurs arose from the crowd, from HunterClan and FaerieClan those of suspicion and from FangClan those of agreement.

Blossomstar cocked her head sideways at the other leader. What in StarClan's name is she talking about. FangClan hadn't grown to the point where they needed to expand by any means as far as the HunterClan leader knew.

"Wishstar has already agreed to let FangClan use a stretch of their river for hunting to support our growing Clan. We would greatly appreciate it if HunterClan and FaerieClan were to do the same and give us hunting rights on some of their territory."

Cries of outrage rose from HunterClan and FaerieClan. Blossomstar stared at the other leader in shock. Why would we ever share territory with them?! As far as the tabby she-cat knew, this had never happened before in Clan history....so why now? She was about to voice her protests, but Vinestar beat her to it.

The FaerieClan leader stood erect as she faced the FangClan leader, her hackles raised in anger. "And why in StarClan's name do you think we'd ever willingly let you hunt on our territory? Each Clan must struggle to survive without the help of the other clans, that's the way it has always been." Despite Vinestar's anger, the she-cat remained calm and collected, something Blossomstar appreciated. The last thing we need is for a fight to break out to anger StarClan.

Venomstar let out an amused chuckle. "You all were wondering why WolfClan wasn't here tonight right? Well, we propositioned them and they said no. Let's just say they can't keep us off their territory anymore...or should I say their former territory." Venomstar said this in her silky smooth voice, her eyes boring into Vinestar's.

Blossomstar's breath caught in her throat. FangClan drove WolfClan out of their own territory....how could this be?? Venomstar had done more than one questionable thing during her leadership, that much Blossomstar knew, but to go as far as to drive a clan out of their own territory, that definitely took the rabbit.

"You....how could you drive WolfClan from their home?!" She felt her fur standing on end, bristling with outrage. Venomstar's sickly sweet smile turned on her, the FangClan leader's gaze ice cold.

"We did what had to be done. I suggest you take the next few days to consider my offer." With that Venomstar leapt off the Great Rock, signaling her cats to follow her. Wishstar followed the other leader's example.

"This Gathering is at an end. Until next moon may StarClan light your path." The MagicClan leader leapt down from the Great Rock as well and signaled for his cats to follow.

With Weaselfur and Berrypool flanking him, Wishstar and his cats headed out of the clearing. With a numb mind, Blossomstar gathered up her cats and left too, Vinestar doing the same.

Soon, the clearing was completely void of cats. It was as if they hadn't been there to begin with, only the signs of crumpled grass indicating cats had been there earlier. Overhead, some clouds began to drift across the moon. StarClan wasn't pleased.