A full moon hung in the sky, lighting the way to fourtrees. Iceslide followed his clanmates through RiverClan territory, leaves crunching under their paws as they went. He felt his paws tingle with excitement. I wonder what's new in the other clans? I haven't talked to Firetail and Soakedears in a while. Did Redblaze have her kits? I'll have to ask Baconstripe. Is Tigerpaw a warrior yet? 

Iceslide had many friends in other clans. More than he did in RiverClan. He enjoyed talking to them and learning about what their lives were like in their clans. He imagined it was far different than in RiverClan.

When they reached fourtrees, he saw that many cats were already gathered there waiting. Two leaders stood on the great rock. Whitestar, the leader of SkyClan, looked down at her clan, her white fur glowing in the night. Beside her, Birchstar of ThunderClan sat neatly with his light brown tabby tail over his white paws. 

Iceslide recognized the deputies and medicine cats as well. Strawberryspots, the deputy of ThunderClan, was sitting at the base of the rock, her amber eyes narrowed as she studied the cats around her. Whitestar's deputy, Raventuft, wasn't far from the spotted she-cat, looking awkward. Iceslide couldn't help but purr in amusement. From what I've heard, Strawberryspots isn't the friendliest cat. Even among her clan, she's bossy and has a tongue as sharp as a thorn! On the other side of the great rock, the medicine cats were being more social. Junglefoot and Ryepaw of SkyClan were deep in conversation with Flowerwing of ThunderClan. 

Shimmerstar waved her dappled tail and headed for the great rock to join the other leaders. She leapt up beside them, and Whitestar dipped her head while Birchstar began speaking with her. Frostedcloud went to the other deputies and sat near Strawberryspots, who shot the white tom a glare.

Iceslide turned away to study the crowd as Maplesky and Otterpelt joined the other medicine cats. He recognized Whiskerface, Birdsong, and Broadwing of ThunderClan. A small white tom with tufted ear tips sat near Broadwing, looking around curiously. Deciding to talk to them, Iceslide padded over to the group, purring a greeting. "Hello!"

The ThunderClan cats looked at him, and Whiskerface waved his tail in greeting. "Iceslide, good to see you! How's the prey running in RiverClan?"

"Or should you say, 'how's it swimming'?" Birdsong purred, her yellow eyes gleaming. Beside her, Broadwing dipped his big head.

"It's swimming fast," Iceslide chuckled and sat down, turning his head to the small white cat. "Who's this?"

Broadwing nodded to the cat. "This is my new apprentice, Snowpaw."

"Hello." Snowpaw dipped his head, his nose twitching as he picked up Iceslide's scent. "You're a RiverClan cat, aren't you?"

Iceslide nodded, impressed at his skills. It took me a while to learn the other clan's scents! But then again, I was too busy sniffing other things. "That's right. I'm Iceslide." He noticed that though he was just an apprentice, muscles rippled under his white pelt. "You look like you're going to be just as strong as your mentor!"

Snowpaw blinked his amber eyes at the praise. "Thanks," He meowed. "I hope so!"

"Hey, look," Birdsong meowed, looking over her shoulder. "WindClan has arrived." Iceslide followed her gaze toward the moor.

Gladestar was leading her clan into the clearing, her golden pelt dark in the night. She had only been leader since last green-leaf. She was flanked by her deputy, Monarchwing, a younger orange and black spotted she-cat. As the clan continued into the clearing and broke into smaller groups, he saw the medicine cats, Hivepelt and Silverberry, head toward the great rock. The medicine cats looked at them warmly, and Junglefoot purred a greeting, stepping forward to bump heads with Hivepelt, while Silverberry and Otterpelt began speaking to each other happily.

It must be nice to be a medicine cat. Iceslide thought. You can be friends with cats from other clans, and it's not a problem! If only it didn't come with responsibilities and having to learn about herbs. Yuck!

Iceslide caught sight of Firetail's orange fur and nodded to the ThunderClan cats. "It was nice seeing you. Take care!" They said their goodbyes, and he hurried through the crowd toward his WindClan friends. "Hey, Firetail!"

As he got closer, he noticed Soakedears standing beside him. Firetail turned at Iceslide's call, his ears perking up. "Iceslide!" He stepped forward to meet him and they bumped heads, purring. "It's been a while!"

"I've been busy," Iceslide purred and nudged Soakedears playfully. "How's the prey running?"

The dark warrior purred. "Great!"

"What have you two been up to?" Iceslide prompted, curling his tail over his paws.

Soakedear's green eyes lit up. "Oh, lots! Last moon, me and Firetail found a tunnel with tons of rabbits in it!"

"Yeah," Firetail hissed at his friend in a lower tone. "And no one else knows about it, so keep it down!"

Iceslide chuckled. "Why so secretive?"

"We always bring back the most prey." Firetail's eyes gleamed. "We want Gladestar to think we're the best hunters in the clan." He glanced over his shoulder where Monarchwing sat at the base of the great rock. "With my sister as deputy, I've got to do something to get noticed."

"No one knows we actually have a secret source of rabbits," Soakedears added slyly.

Iceslide was impressed by how clever they were. "That's great! I need to think of something like that." He cast a glance at the deputies. "Frostedcloud keeps putting me on patrols, and I'm sick of it."

Firetail rolled his eyes. "You poor thing, getting noticed by the deputy." The three of them chuckled.

"At last! There's ShadowClan!" A cat meowed from near Iceslide, and he looked over his shoulder.

A dark gray tabby tom stood at the edge of the clearing, his green eyes glowing. It was Stormstar, the ShadowClan leader. He nodded to his clan, and they made their way through the crowd. He was followed by his deputy, Pinetail, a dark gray and brown tabby she-cat. 

"About time!" He heard Strawberryspots scowl as the ShadowClan deputy reached her. "What were you doing, counting frogs?"

Pinetail flicked her green gaze to the ThunderClan deputy. "Perhaps you should be counting the many thorns you so clearly have in your rear." Strawberryspots' jaw dropped, her amber eyes flaring with anger. Pinetail settled and curled her tail neatly over her paws, ignoring Strawberryspots' growl and gazing up at the leaders.

"I can't believe she said that!" Firetail hissed in amusement to Iceslide. "And didn't get her fur ripped off!"

Iceslide chuckled. "If any cat's a match for Strawberryspots, it's Pinetail."

Across from the deputies, the ShadowClan medicine cat, Hawkfeather, was settling among the other medicine cats. He was relatively young, and had only become sole medicine cat of ShadowClan a few moons ago when his mentor died.

"Let the gathering begin!" Birchstar meowed as Stormstar settled on the rock beside Gladestar. "The prey is running well in ThunderClan. We have three new apprentices, Snowpaw, Vanillapaw, and Breezepaw!"

"Snowpaw! Vanillapaw! Breezepaw!" As the clans cheered, Iceslide looked around and saw Snowpaw sitting by Broadwing, puffing out his chest proudly. 

Shimmerstar padded forward to speak next. "RiverClan is very well," She announced. "We have plenty of young cats on their way to becoming warriors. We have three new apprentices, Newtpaw, Warmpaw, and Duckpaw!"

The clans began calling out their names, and Iceslide saw the three new apprentices sitting together, their eyes lit with excitement. Their parents, Mudslip and Vixenwhisper, watched proudly from a distance.

"Petalfin has also given birth to Willowkit, Darkkit, and Mintkit." She finished. "That is all that RiverClan has to share." She stepped back and dipped her head as Stormstar took her place at the front of the rock. 

"Thank you, Shimmerstar," The gray tabby meowed before looking at the cats below. "ShadowClan also has many apprentices in training and kits in the nursery. Our newest apprentices are Maplepaw, Rosepaw, and Milkpaw."

"Maplepaw! Rosepaw! Milkpaw!" The three young cats looked proud and excited as the clans cheered and congratulated them. Maplepaw was a creamy tabby tom. His yellow eyes shone with pride as he looked around him. His siblings looked just as overjoyed in the moment they'd been waiting for. They all had creamy fur like Redblaze. Those must be she and Baconstripe's kits. Iceslide realized.

As the cheering died down, Stormstar went on. "Additionally, Foxshine has given birth to two healthy kits, Poppykit and Cobrakit, and Bluerain is expecting a litter."

As Whitestar began to speak, a paw tapped Iceslide on the back. "Psst!" He blinked and turned to see a familiar orange striped face. 

"Carrottail!" Iceslide purred a greeting to the ShadowClan warrior. "How are you?"

"I'm great!" The warrior purred back. "Did you hear about Bluerain?" 

Iceslide nodded. "They're your kits?" He guessed.

"Yup!" His eyes shone with pride. "They'll be great. I'm so excited!"

He couldn't understand how any cat could be so excited about having to deal with kits. But seeing how happy Carrottail was, he didn't dare put in his opinion. "That's great!" He purred. "Congrat-"

"Shh!" A ThunderClan warrior glared at them. "Some of us want to hear what the leaders have to say."

Carrottail looked embarrassed. "Sorry." Iceslide rolled his eyes. 

Whitestar finished speaking, and Gladestar took her place. "WindClan has little news to share," She meowed. "The prey is running well, and our bellies are full thanks to our skilled warriors." Her gaze rested on Firetail and Soakedears, who straightened proudly. 

Iceslide shook his head, his eyes gleaming. Those tricksters!

Gladestar stepped back. "That is all I have to say. Does anyone have any other news?" She looked from side to side at the other leaders, who shook their heads. "Then that brings the gathering to an end."

As the cats dispersed, Iceslide nodded to Carrottail. "See you." The warrior purred and turned away to join his clan. Firetail and Soakedears turned to him, and Iceslide let out a purr. "You keep being the skilled warriors that you are."

"Will do." Firetail winked before he and Soakedears turned away. "Bye, Iceslide."

Iceslide started toward his own clan when he noticed one of his clanmates, Sunripple. He was standing by a WindClan she-cat, purring. He bumped heads with her before slowly turning away. The she-cat stared after him warmly.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with close friends in other clans! Iceslide thought. Maybe Sunripple understands that it's okay too. He must know how different it feels from being stuck with your own clanmates.