Mintpaw scrambled up, wobbling, due to her sleepiness. Her pelt was bristled, as though she had been jump scared. Her eyes were still blurry with sleep and her head was slightly dizzy from the suddenness of the awakening. Am I still in that awful dream? As the sound of water trickling floated into her ears and the scent of herbs drifted towards her, relief seeped through her bones as she realized that she was now awake. What in StarClan was that?

Echoleaf's head poked out from the herb storage. Her green eyes flashed with amusement as she blinked at her apprentice. "What's wrong? You look like you've just seen a badger!"

Mintpaw forced her fur to flatten, debating on whether or not to tell her mentor about the dream. "Nothing," she mewed, deciding to keep it a secret from Echoleaf for now.

Her mentor seemed to accept her answer without a second thought. "Okay, then. Go grab some prey, and quickly! The Gathering patrol is about to leave. I'll be out there soon." With that, she disappeared back into the cave.

For a moment, Mintpaw's pelt pricked with confusion, before the memories of the events washed back into her mind. Echoleaf had informed her that they were going to a Gathering, and she'd decided to take a quick nap before they left. That nap had brought the dream.

The gray tabby shook out her pelt, then bounded out of the medicine den. The setting golden sunlight beamed in her eyes, making her squint, as she made her way to the fresh-kill pile, a feeling of dread swirling in her belly. The clearing, much unlike her thoughts, was cheerful. Cats were talking and sharing prey before they had to leave. By the apprentices' den, Adderpaw and Flowerpaw were gulping down a thrush. Crowpaw, who had become Crowfur, was crouched beside them, eating a mouse. Icepaw lay nearby, his head on his paws, looking full and resting.

"Hey, Mintpaw!" Adderpaw's voice made the tabby turn towards him. "Want to share?"

At the sight of her brother, Mintpaw's mind flashed back to her dream, and now lifeless his body seemed, laid on the ground. She almost didn't notice Flowerpaw's fur fluff up slightly with annoyance. Who put thorns in her pelt?

"Sure!" she answered cheerfully. Turning towards the prey pile, she snatched up a vole and bounded towards her friends.

As she neared, Adderpaw scooched away from Flowerpaw to make room for her, seemingly making the ginger she-cat even more annoyed, sending pulses of confusion through Mintpaw. They had been such good friends as kits, and now it seems that Flowerpaw was annoyed with the gray tabby. What happened? We've barely spoken. There's nothing I could've said that would annoy her.

Ignoring Flowerpaw's attitude, Mintpaw laid down her vole, taking a bite. "So, how's your warrior training going?"

"It's fine." Flowerpaw's answer was curt. "So, Adderpaw, do you want me to introduce you to some apprentices at the Gathering? I know loads of cats!"

The black-and-white tom shrugged. "Sure. That would be cool."

Mintpaw's pelt pricked uneasily, feeling as though she was getting in the way. Before she was able to say something, the sound of pebbles clattering made her glance towards the leader's den, where Spottedstar was exiting.

"We're leaving for the Gathering now!" the golden she-cat announced, her voice travelling clearly through the camp.

Mews echoed throughout the clearing as cats scrambled to their paws, promising their friends that they'd tell them what happened. Mintpaw hurriedly gulped down the rest of her vole as she spotted Echoleaf exiting from the medicine den. Crowfur pushed himself to his paws and went to join the patrol, Flowerpaw right on his tail.

"Tell me what happened, okay?" Icepaw mewed as Adderpaw scrambled to his paws as well.

"Of course!" Adderpaw chirped back. "Are you coming, Mintpaw?"

The gray tabby swallowed roughly, nodding, and pushed herself up. "Of course! Bye, Icepaw!"

"Bye. Goodbye, Adderpaw!"

As Mintpaw bounded to join the patrol, she couldn't help but sense some coldness in Icepaw's voice. A feeling of jealousy pricked her. It seemed as though she wasn't as close with her friends as she used to be. Maybe that's just because you're busy training. It's not their fault! She shook out her pelt. I need to remember to spend more time with them. Maybe that's why Flowerpaw's annoyed.

"Is everyone here?" Spottedstar's green gaze swept over the patrol. "Okay, let's go." She flicked her tail, leading the cats out of the camp.

Excitement surged through Mintpaw as she followed her leader, pushing all worrying thoughts out of her mind. For now, she was focused on one thing, and one thing only. The Gathering.

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All different scents bathed Mintpaw's tongue as they drew near to the Gathering clearing. She could clearly smell EarthClan's damp forest smell and WaterClan's fishy scent. However, there was a new scent, one that smelled of crisp grass and sun. It must be FireClan.

As the AirClan patrol burst into the clearing, Mintpaw's eyes widened with surprise. Cats from all different Clans were gathered there, their scents mingling together. Her fur fluffed, a little nervous and shy.

Spottedstar trotted to the center of the clearing, where a large oak tree was planted. There, she greeted a white she-cat with black stripes and blue eyes, a dark brown tom with amber eyes, and a blazing orange tom with sparkling green eyes. Thristlefur, the AirClan deputy, was right on her tail. Those must be the other leaders, Mintpaw realized.

Adderpaw and Flowerpaw brushed past her. The two apprentices soon had disappeared in the crowd of cats, making Mintpaw's pelt prick only more with uneasiness. She had hoped they could all hang out together. Soon, the AirClan patrol had practically split up, disappearing in the large group of cats.

Echoleaf padded up to her apprentice, brushing her pelt gently with hers. "Come on. Let's go meet the other medicine cats."

At this, Mintpaw felt her ears prick cheerfully. "Okay!" She'd met them at the half-moon meeting, and was more than happy to see them again.

Echoleaf nodded, leading her apprentice through the crowd of cats to the back of the clearing. Mintpaw recognized them easily. There were four of them, sitting beside some bushes. She wasn't able to recognize them by pelts only; she hadn't really paid attention to their appearances, for she'd been so entranced by seeing the Starpool for the first time.

As they got closer, her brain began whirling, slowly and hesitantly recognizing the medicine cats. One was a dark gray tom, Raincloud, medicine cat of EarthClan. His blue eyes spun towards them, lighting up in greeting. Beside him sat a gray-and-white tabby. She must be his apprentice. Mintpaw tilted her head, intrigued. I didn't see her at the half-moon meeting. She must be really new! 

On the other side of the bush sat two black cats. One was Nightpool, medicine cat of FireClan. His gaze turned towards Echoleaf and Mintpaw as well, flicking his tail in greeting before returning to his discussion with Ravenleaf, the WaterClan medicine cat. The black she-cat's green eyes were warm as she blinked at the arriving AirClan cats.

"Echoleaf!" Raincloud greeted, jumping to his paws.

"Hello, Raincloud," Echoleaf replied, her voice just as warm.

Raincloud blinked at Mintpaw. "Well, I suppose we should do introductions. This is my apprentice, Cloverpaw. She became an apprentice around a week ago, which was why she didn't attend the half-moon meeting."

Echoleaf ducked her head in greeting, Mintpaw copying her action. "And this is my apprentice, Mintpaw."

"Hi!" Mintpaw chirped. A new friend!

"Hello." Cloverpaw blinked warmly.

Before either cat could get another word in, Spottedstar's yowl rang across the clearing. "Let the Gathering begin!"

Mintpaw hurried to plop herself down next to Cloverpaw, wrapping her tail around her paws as she leaned forward eagerly. The Gathering is starting! 

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Word Count // 1314

Edited

Hi! This chapter's pretty boring; nothing much happens, other than the new character introduction, and there isn't even that much interaction with Cloverpaw. Still, any thoughts? Based on just what you've read, what do you think of Cloverpaw? The next chapter should be a lot more interesting! I thought about adding it in this chapter, but then it would've just been way too long. Also, in case you're confused, the Starpool is the Moonpool in this world. Okay, the cat at the top is Cloverpaw! That's all, bye!