Well, this is my second story, I hope you enjoy. I'm probably going to start posting on weekends, or Fridays, because it's easier. Anyway, this is a short little thing that I was writing and then, somehow, it turned into a story.

Of Cats And Blocks

Stormstar waved his tail, signaling for WindClan to mingle with the other Clans at Fourtrees. Skypaw looked at his mentor, Rabbitear, for permission, then ran all the way the the Gathering ground. Skypaw stopped, looking around at all the multicolored pelts and different scents.

Rabbitear came up alongside Skypaw, and pointed to different cats. "That one's Yellowstar, leader of ShadowClan. The one grooming his fur is Shadestar, and the she-cat is Palestar." Skypaw sniffed the air.

He could smell the scents of the different Clans in the air. This was Skypaw's first Gathering, but he could tell the fishy smell coming from Palestar was RiverClan, and the mouse scent drifting off Shadestar told Skypaw that ThunderClan's leader had eaten shortly before.

Skypaw roamed around, looking at the other Clans' pelts and the different shades. WindClan just had a brown-gray pelt color that made it difficult for rabbits to spot them, and hide-in-the-heather easier. Skypaw's pelt was gray with brown tips on the ears, paws, and tip of his tail, with a yellow splotch on his chest.

Palestar leaped up onto the Great Rock, but none of the other Clan leaders did. Yellowstar looked up at her quizzically, and Palestar looked down at him as if to say I have my reasons.

Skypaw spotted a group of apprentices, and walked over to them. A ThunderClan apprentice rolled his eyes. "Great, here comes a little guy." He said it mockingly. "Probably his first time here." Skypaw gritted his teeth.

He was smaller than the other WindClan apprentices- Icepaw and Bluepaw- and therefore, was teased.

Skypaw walked away and saw the leaders jumping up to the Great Rock. "Let the Gathering begin!" Yellowstar's voice echoed through Fourtrees. "All is well in ShadowClan, and we have a new warrior to welcome. Whitefrost!" Whitefrost stepped forward, her head high, eyes shining.

"ShadowClan are strong, despite WindClan's attack last moon." Yellowstar's eyes flashed as he said the last part, as if daring another Clan to respond. Yellowstar stepped back for the next leader.

Shadestar stepped forward. "ThunderClan is thriving, and we have a new litter of kits to welcome. Also, we chased a fox out of our territory, onto the marsh after your territory, Yellowstar." Shadestar dipped his head and moved backward. The leader of ShadowClan nodded. "We'll watch for it."

Stormstar walked to the front of the Great Rock. "We have fared well these past moon, and we hope to do even better. We have a new apprentice, Skypaw!" Skypaw raised his head. The other Clan's shouted his name. "Skypaw!" "Skypaw!" Then Skypaw's mouth opened, and he looked around in confusion. A voice he had heard... Eh, probably nothing.

Stormstar finished, and let Palestar take the front. "RiverClan has been well." She glared at Shadestar briefly. "We have a new litter of kits, a new warrior and a new apprentice. Deadpaw and Redpelt, come forward!"

Skypaw missed the rest, because when he saw Deadpaw, the memories came back.

They all came back, and suddenly, Skypaw remembered. He remembered the video they were recording... He remembered when Seto had come and knocked angrily on the door... He remembered when Ty had gotten up to answer, and... and...

That's where he couldn't remember anymore, because as the Gathering broke up, Deadpaw ran over to Skypaw. "A-adam?" Skypaw smiled. "Ty?" That's when Skypaw saw Deadpaw's tail. It hung, limp and useless, dragging in the dirt, behind Deadpaw. Skypaw guessed he couldn't move it.

Stormstar and the rest of WindClan were dispersing. Rabbitear called Skypaw, and Skypaw hurried away from Deadpaw. "See you next Gathering!"

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Skypaw was lying in his nest, next to Bluepaw and Icepaw, and thinking, trying to retrieve what had happened after Seto had come in. It was like there was an invisible barrier in his mind that he couldn't get through. Skypaw shuffled his paws until Bluepaw woke up, and mumbled "Go 'way, I'm sleepin'."

Skypaw got up, and stretched. He peeked through the entrance to the den, and, seeing no one, went out.

Skypaw thought furiously. Deadpaw's fur was brown, and then he had those black patches on his ears... It must have been him. I don't know how, or why, but it was Ty, just like I'm Sky, and I'm stuck here... for how long? Who knows-

Heathersprig looked out of the warriors den, her eyes glinting in the moonlight. "Skypaw? What are you doing outside?" Skypaw didn't realize he had been pacing, and kicking up dust. Other warriors were shifting in their beds, and waking up.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and Skypaw hadn't gotten much sleep, with going to the Gathering and then waking up an hour before anyone else. One question ruled his mind the entire day, through hunting and patrolling.

How did they get here?

()

Deadpaw shuffled his feet. He was extremely excited to go to his first Gathering. He'd been made an apprentice two months ago, but a monster from the Thunderpath had hit his tail, reducing his muscle ability to zero. Everyone had thought he was going to die, or lose his tail.

The reality was worse.

Without a tail, Deadpaw would've had to learn to balance without the weight on his hindquarters. But with a tail that didn't work, he needed to find a way to balance with a useless tail. At least he wasn't in ThunderClan. They climbed trees all the time, and Deadpaw couldn't hold his balance on a stepping stone.

Nevermind a thin branch, high above the ground with wind swiping at you with invisible claws.

Deadpaw's mentor, Troutclaw, motioned for Deadpaw to go with the rest of the group going to Fourtrees. Troutclaw was also the deputy, and he drew back to where Palestar was walking with Ivyfrost, the medicine cat.

Deadpaw's sense of smell was better than most cats, but they often overlooked it and just assumed he was worthless in battle because of his tail. Troutclaw had said he could use his tail as a distraction in battle, by spinning around and whipping his opponent's face.

Deadpaw could smell the other Clans up at the Gathering, but he couldn't seperate the scents very well. He knew ThunderClan scent well, though. The fish-brains had tried to take back Sunningrocks a moon ago, and failed. They'd left their scent everywhere, and the battle patrol had to mark Sunningrocks many times.

Palestar, Troutclaw and Ivyfrost ran through RiverClan, and led them across the Twoleg bridge. The Clan arrived at Fourtrees and threaded their way through ThunderClan and ShadowClan.

Palestar padded to the Great Rock, and looked up from the base, seeing WindClan arriving. She leaped onto the rock and sat down, tail curling around her paws.

Deadpaw walked over to the edge of the crowd, his limp tail leaving a trail in the dry dirt.

The apprentices in the other Clans were in groups, glancing at Deadpaw and snickering. "Heh, his tail doesn't work." "He's lame." Deadpaw sighed, and traced a line in the dirt with a claw. None of the other apprentices would tease him if they knew what it was like with a dead tail...

He looked up to see a gray cat with a yellow splotch on his chest and brown tips of his ears, paws and tail walking away from the other apprentices. Probably just a cat going to see if Deadpaw's tail was really dead.

Yellowstar stepped up, holding his tail high. "Let the Gathering begin! All is well in ShadowClan, and we have a new warrior to welcome. Whitefrost!" The new warrior, Whitefrost, held his head high as the other Clans shouted his name. "ShadowClan is strong, despite WindClan's attack last moon." Yellowstar spat the last words, and glared at Stormstar.

Shadestar stepped forward. "ThunderClan is thriving, and we have a new litter of kits to welcome. Also, we chased a fox out of our territory, onto the marsh after your territory, Yellowstar." Shadestar dipped his head and moved backward. The leader of ShadowClan nodded. "We'll watch for it."

Stormstar moved forward. "ThunderClan has fared well this leaf-bare, and we hope to fare even better with our new apprentice, Skypaw!" Deadpaw gasped. The face of the cat standing at the base of the rock... No, no, he'd probably just thought that Skypaw was one of his Clanmates. Deadpaw heard his name, and realized that Palestar had named him as an apprentice. He stepped forward with Redpelt, and heard a gasp of recognition from the crowd.

The Gathering started to break up, and Deadpaw raced through the cats, his pelt bushing out. He stopped right in front of Skypaw, and his eyes lit. The video! Seto had come halfway through the recording... and... Deadpaw didn't remember. Deadpaw meowed "A-adam?" Skypaw blinked slowly. "Ty?"

Then Skypaw's eyes traveled down Deadpaw, until Skypaw saw Deadpaw's tail. Skypaw looked at Deadpaw, his eyes widening. Then another cat called Skypaw, and he spun away. "See you next Gathering!"

Skypaw joined the group of WindClan cats heading away, across the moor. Deadpaw's head spun. Had that really just happened? It must've, because Skypaw was looking back at him with wide eyes.

Troutclaw tapped Deadpaw on the shoulder with his tail, and Deadpaw joined the rest of RiverClan. Palestar and the rest of the RiverClan cats slipped through the willow trees, like fish through water.

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Deadpaw lay in his nest in the apprentice's den, thoughts racing. He tried to remember what had happened after he opened the door and Seto came in, eyes silver... But he couldn't. He just couldn't remember, like there was a wall in his mind.

Deadpaw rolled over, and snorted. He was just at the beginning of this mystery, and he-

Deadpaw's tail twitched.

Deadpaw lifted his head, pupils wide. He looked back at his tail. It might've just been a figment of his imagination, but-

His tail moved again. It was just a little, side-to-side movement, but after two moons of no movement, it was huge. Deadpaw tried to move his tail. It twitched again.

Deadpaw burst out of the den, and ran to Ivyfrost's den. Her apprentice, Smokypaw, poked her head out. "Wha' you wan'?" Deadpaw's eyes were wide, and Smokypaw, despite her sleepy state, could tell something was up. Deadpaw shoved past her. "I need to see Ivyfrost!"

Smokypaw pointed to a reed nest, and Deadpaw nudged Ivyfrost. Ivyfrost's eyes opened, sleepily looking at Deadpaw's brown ones. "Huh? Deadpaw, wha' is it?" Deadpaw motioned with his head for her to come outside. Ivyfrosy stretched, and padded out of the den. Deadpaw twitched his tail. Ivyfrost drew back, then sniffed his tail cautiously. "Can you do anything else with it?" Deadpaw shook his head.

Smokypaw looked out from the medicine den, her eyes gleaming in the moonlight. "Can we deal with this in the morning? I think we're all tired." Deadpaw nodded.

"Let's go to sleep, my tail won't fall off during the night." Ivyfrost looked up at Deadpaw from where she crouched. "Ok." Deadpaw crawled inside his nest, thinking I probably won't be able to sleep the whole night.

Deadpaw smiled, and lay down to wait for morning.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this. It's the first chapter of (hopefully) a many chapter story. I'm gonna post the next chapter next week, or something about Bluestar. Bye!