Sorry it took so long for me to update this, been a bunch of stuff going on in real life.

"That's it! Use your size and speed to your advantage to evade and strike back!"

Icepaw listened to his mentor's coaching as he ducked to dodge a pawswhip from Graypaw, slipping under the large apprentice and pushing up with his body to unbalance him. The gray tom wobbled and with another pawstrike from Icepaw, toppled to the ground. Icepaw placed a paw at Graypaw's throat, ending the practice fight.

"That's enough," Lionheart rumbled from where he sat next to Longtail. "Great work, Icepaw. Graypaw, you need to work on your balance some more."

The black tom's chest swelled with pride over the praise as he stepped away from the gray apprentice. It had been a hard couple of moons since he joined ThunderClan, but he thought he was finally settling into things. He awaited every training session with excitement about what he would be taught next, excelling at fighting, but left something to be desired about hunting and tracking. Still he had no thoughts about ever returning to kittypet life.

Icepaw turned to look at his mentor for any sort of praise from him. It was hard to get the pale tabby to verbally praise him, but the silent nods and looks of approval encouraged him to work even harder. Longtail prefered to train him with another warrior and apprentice, usually Stonefall and Ravenpaw, but they were out on border patrol and Lionheart had asked for two to join them for battle training.

"Good job," Longtail meowed to his apprentice with a nod. He looked up at the sky through the branches to see how late it had gotten. "We should get back to camp and grab something to eat, the Gathering patrol will be leaving soon."

The former kittypet nodded, glowing with the praise. This would be his first Gathering since he was accepted into the Clan that he would be allowed to come on and he was excited to finally be able to go. He bounded over to the entrance of the sandy training hollow.

Longtail was speaking with Lionheart, thanking him for training with them.

"I wish I was going to the Gathering with you," Graypaw meowed as he got back to his paws.

"I'm sure you'll be able to come next time," Icepaw mewed back.

"But it'll be so boring waiting for you to come back," the gray apprentice groaned.

"Come along, Icepaw," Longtail called as he slipped out of the training hollow.

Icepaw scrambled to follow him back to ThunderClan's camp. "Get something to eat and wait for when Bluestar to call for the cats going to the Gathering. And for StarClan's sake groom yourself before we leave, I don't want my apprentice to look like dust cloud with legs," Longtail meowed as they arrived at camp before heading toward the warrior's den.

The black apprentice nodded in his mentor's wake and went to the fresh kill pile. Picking up a mouse, he headed for the stump outside the apprentice's den.

"Icepaw! Icepaw!"

He looked up from the mouse he was beginning to eat to see a group of kits running towards him, a black and white tomkit in the lead. "Will you tell us what happens at the Gathering when you get back?" the tomkit asked when they reached him, fur fluffed up in excitement.

"Yeah! Tell us everything, Icepaw!" a small dark gray she-kit mewed.

Icepaw purred in amusement at the kits. When he wasn't doing his apprentice training or duties, he was with the kits, entertaining them for the queens to have a break. He was a tad jealous of how carefree and friendly all the kits were and wished he had a kithood like them.

"I'll tell you tomorrow; it will be far too late when I get back, you all will be asleep," he tells them.

"No I won't!" the black and white tomkit, Swiftkit, declared. "I'll wait up all night for you to come back!"

"You can try, but your mothers won't like that," Icepaw meowed. "Look, if you promise to go to sleep when your mother tells you to, I'll tell you all about the Gathering as soon as you wake up tomorrow. If I hear any one of you giving any trouble, I won't tell any of you."

The kits broke out in excited murmurings before they all agreed with the apprentice. "Ok," they chirped.

"Kits! Stop bothering Icepaw!" Goldenflower called from the nursery entrance.

"Awwww," the kits groaned. "Bye Icepaw," they mewed before scampering back to the nursery, leaving Icepaw to finish his mouse in silence.

Not long after he finished his mouse and groomed himself, Bluestar called for the cats going to Gathering to join her by the camp's entrance. Icepaw joined the warriors, being the only apprentice going on this Gathering. As the cats began to head to the Gathering, Icepaw found Longtail and Stonefall and kept behind them, not wanting to be left behind.

Four Trees was breathtaking at Icepaw's first sight of it as the ThunderClan cats crested the ridge. The land stretched out in front of them, four giant oaks marking the place as the Gathering site, a large number of cats milled below, awaiting for the Gathering to begin. ThunderClan joined the other Clans waiting below the trees.

Icepaw looked around, amazed at the number of gathered cats and the variety of pelt colors and before he knew it, he had lost sight of Longtail and Stonefall. Nervousness shot through him; he was in the middle of a bunch of strange cats and his mentor had just disappeared, leaving him alone. His eyes flickered around to the cats around him, looking for any ThunderClan cats.

"Hello!"

He jumped and spun around to find a tabby she-cat, playful amusement in her green eyes. "Sorry if I scared you, but I haven't seen you before. I'm Runningpaw from WindClan," she meowed.

"I-Icepaw," he stuttered out. He stared at her, her light gray pelt turning silver under the moonlight.

"Oh so you're ThunderClan's new apprentice? I've been wondering when I would get the chance to see you," Runningpaw said.

"Yes, I am," Icepaw meowed. "How long have you been an apprentice?"

"Only a couple of moons. I've got grouchy Tornear as my mentor, I wish Tallstar had given me someone nicer like Dawnheart, but I guess I don't have very good luck," Runningpaw meowed.

Icepaw had not heard of Tornear before, but he had heard of Dawnheart before as she was a former kittypet like he was. He wondered if she was here or not.

"Cats of all the Clans, I wish to speak to you under this moon of truce!" Bluestar called out, getting the cats' attention.

Icepaw turned to see his leader and three toms sitting upon a great rock at the base of the four great oak trees.

"ThunderClan has continued to scent the fire-smelling rogue on our territory, he has continued to elude our patrols," Bluestar said.

One of the toms on the rock, a thick-furred white tom with a wicked looking scar on his neck, lifted his tail up and meowed, "ShadowClan too has scented this rogue on our territory. However we have scented him with that traitor Brokentail and StarClan knows that that's not a good sign."

"What do you propose then, Cloudstar?" the black and white tom on the rock asked. "We've tried tracking both rogues down and the scent trails all lead back to Twoleg Place. Do you propose we send in patrols into Twoleg Place and question the kittypets?"

"No," the white tom meowed. "That would get us nowhere. ShadowClan has increased patrols on our borders, we'll catch them and teach them not to trespass on Clan territory."

"Now that all the news of the rogues are out of the way, let us start this Gathering for real," a tabby tom with a twisted jaw said, sitting strangely close to Bluestar on the rock. "The fish in RiverClan has been swimming well this past moon and all is well."

"WindClan has been doing well also," the black and white tom meowed. "We've brought one of our newest apprentices, Runningpaw, to the Gathering."

"Runningpaw! Runningpaw!" the gathered cats chanted.

Icepaw looked around at the chanting cats in amazement, seeing Runningpaw's green eyes shine with excitement. He joined in the chanting before it ended.

"Other than the rogues, ShadowClan as been peaceful. Brightflower has had her litter of kits," Cloudstar announced.

"Brightflower! Brightflower!"

"Prey has been running well for ThunderClan. A couple moons ago, we took in a new apprentice and he has finally joined us for a Gathering, his name is Icepaw," Bluestar meowed from the rock.

"Icepaw! Icepaw!" Cats from all four Clans chanted his name and Icepaw felt very small right then. He looked around and caught the sight of Runningpaw chanting his name. He lowered his head and gave his chest a nervous lick.

Each Clan leader had finished talking and they jumped down from the tall rock, ending the Gathering as they gestured for their Clanmates to follow them out of Four Trees.

"Bye, Icepaw," Runningpaw meowed. "Maybe we'll see each other again?"

Icepaw felt his pelt bristle with excitement and he had no clue why but he meowed "Next Gathering!" back at the she-cat.

Runningpaw laughed and it sounded like tinkling bells. "Sure! See you then!" she mewed before bounding off to rejoin her Clan.

Icepaw watched her go and silently hoped he could see her before next Gathering, but that probably wouldn't happen since WindClan and ThunderClan didn't share a border.

"Icepaw! There you are!"

The black apprentice turned and found his mentor calling for him. "We're about to leave, don't get left behind!" Longtail meowed.

Icepaw ducked his head and followed his mentor to where ThunderClan was getting ready to leave. He wished the Gathering lasted longer and he could of talked to Runningpaw some more. Perhaps next full moon he could.

Going to be looking for a Beta reader for this, please message me if interested.