"Great catch!"

Dropping her squirrel in the fresh-kill pile, Meadowpaw whirled around, widening her eyes with surprise, when she saw Larchpaw standing there.

Had the ginger tom actually complimented her?

"I mean," he licked his chest fur, looking less than confident for the first time in his life, "It's a great catch, for a Half-Clan."

Meadowpaw rolled her eyes, even when he was being nice, he still found some way to insult her.

"I can't believe Whitestar chose you of all cats to go to the gathering," Larchpaw continued, grabbing the squirrel that Meadowpaw had caught.

At the mention of the gathering, her heart fluttered in her chest.

She couldn't wait to go and meet the other clans.

But what if they think I'm nothing more than a lowly half-clan cat as well?

"They'll probably be announcing Kinkfeather's, Kestrelwing's, Flightwing's, and Cougarwing's warrior names," Maplepaw meowed.

Meadowpaw blinked warmly at her friend, glad for the distraction from her thoughts about what the other clans would think of her.

The black and silver she-cat shook her head.

"I don't know why Whitestar gave three of them the same name, especially since two of them are littermates! I hope she doesn't give Molepaw and I the same name!" she took a deep breath, and her dark blue eyes grew with wonder, "I want a name all my own, a name that no cat has ever had before."

"Aren't Kinkfeather and Kestrelwing your sibling's?" Larchpaw asked.

"Yeah, so are Stormfoot, Sweethaze, and Shrewclaw, why do you ask?"

The ginger tom licked his paw.

"Well, as you know, I'm going to be a warrior myself soon, and well, Kinkfeather is a strong and loyal warrior, and well, I think that I could be the perfect mate for her."

Meadowpaw rolled her eyes, as if Kinkfeather would be squirrel-brained enough to be his mate.

"I can try talking to her," Maplepaw meowed, "But I can't make any promises, Kinkfeather isn't exactly the easiest cat to get close to."

A purr rumbled in Larchpaw's throat.

"That's good, because I love a challenge."

Feeling even more annoyed, Meadowpaw padded away from the two cats, fearing that if she stayed any longer, she would claw off Larchpaw's ears, and have her chances of going to the gathering ruined.

"Come on Juniperpaw, just climb the tree!"

Meadowpaw turned her attention to Leopardsoul's irritated groan.

She saw her brother, standing on his hind legs, with his front paws against the trunk of the tree.

"Just put your claws out, and grip it like you're gripping a piece of fresh-kill," she meowed, padding over there to them.

She couldn't let her brother keep failing at being an AcornClan cat, if she wanted the clan to accept her, then they would have to accept her brother as well.

"Yes, like Meadowpaw said," Leopardsoul meowed.

Juniperpaw nodded, and lifted one white paw, extending his claws, and sinking them into the tree, before making a face, and pulling away.

"I don't like the way the bark feels beneath my claws!" he hissed.

"Oh come on!" Meadowpaw groaned.

Why did her brother have to be so useless?

"Try to focus on something else, like, a squirrel or a bird that you're going to catch," Leopardsoul meowed.

Juniperpaw nodded, and padded back over to the tree, Meadowpaw took a deep breath.

Please, StarClan, please let him climb the tree! She silently prayed.

"So, how's my apprentice doing?"

Meadowpaw jumped slightly, and turned her head, to see Badgerstep standing there.

This was the first time she'd seen him since the altercation with BrightClan, and she could barely hold back a gasp, when she saw that his eye, that Frostbite had clawed, had gone from amber to white.

Even though she couldn't stand the black and white tom, she couldn't help but to feel bad for him.

"He's a good cat, he never complains about helping the elders, and he doesn't cause any trouble on border patrols, but I still can't get him to climb a tree," the black speckled she-cat sighed, sounding defeated.

A breeze swished through Meadowpaw's pelt, as Badgerstep blazed paced her, tackling her brother to the ground.

"What was that for?" the black tom hissed, glaring at his mentor, who still had him pinned down.

"Climb the tree now," Badgerstep growled, his teeth dangerously close to Juniperpaw's throat.

Meadowpaw fought the urge to go over there, she couldn't let him hurt her brother!

However, she knew that if she went over there, it would only make things worse for not only Juniperpaw, but her as well.

"Might as well go join those ground cats in BrightClan, or even those fish cats in CreekClan, you will never belong here, your mother made a mistake in kitting you, and now she's dead."

Meadowpaw dug her claws into the ground, holding back a growl, how could Badgerstep call her brother a mistake?

Does he think I'm a mistake as well?

"Your mother is dead because of you."

Feeling anger burn in her pelt, Meadowpaw started forward, before feeling sharp teeth dig in her scruff.

"Don't you dare," Honeyflower growled, "This isn't your fight."

Meadowpaw opened her jaws to protest, when her brother raised one paw, catching Badgerstep above his good eye.

The black and white tom reeled back with a shriek of pain, and Meadowpaw was released, when Honeyflower darted over to her mate.

"What have you done?" she hissed at Juniperpaw, "You could have blinded him!"

The black tom flicked his tail.

"Yeah, I could have, but I didn't, but next time, he might not be so lucky."

A shiver of fear ran down Meadowpaw's spine at her brother's cold voice, what had turned him this way?

The brother she knew was kind, and always willing to help others, but now, he seemed just as mean as Amberfern.

"It's time to go to the gathering!" Talonleap announced.

Meadowpaw shot one last look at her brother, before shaking her head, and following the deputy, and the rest of the cats who were going to the gathering, out of the camp.

"Isn't it great that we're going to the gathering?" Maplepaw exclaimed.

"Yes," Meadowpaw meowed, swallowing back a twinge of jealousy, she hadn't been chosen to go to the gathering when she first became an apprentice.

She wondered if she and Juniperpaw were even mentioned as being new apprentices of AcornClan?

"I wonder if we're going to meet any mean cats?" Molepaw meowed.

"Don't worry, we're the meanest cats in the forest," his mentor, Wolffang, meowed with a teasing flicker in his amber eyes.

It might be true though, Meadowpaw thought, thinking of Badgerstep, Honeyflowerflower, Amberfern, Whitestar, Shrewclaw, a lump formed in her throat, and Juniperpaw.

"Look! There's cats here!"

Maplepaw's excited squeal broke into Meadowpaw's thoughts, and she gazed around the clearing, to see a group of sleek furred cats milling around.

"That's CreekClan, they have the prettiest fur, but the smelliest breath!" Talonleap wrinkled his nose, "I'm going to go say hello."

"Feel free to talk to the other cats from CreekClan, and when BrightClan arrive, you can talk to them too, that's why we're here," Honeyflower meowed, before racing over to a brown and white tom.

Meadowpaw blinked with surprise at her mentor, had she actually been nice to her?

"I haven't seen you here before."

Meadowpaw turned, to see a black and white she-cat with pretty silver-blue eyes standing there.

"I'm Seraphpaw, from BrightClan, and you are-" her nose twitched, "From AcornClan I'm guessing?"

"What kind of name is Seraphpaw?" Maplepaw blurted out, before Meadowpaw had a chance to reply.

"The name that my mother gave me," the black and white she-cat responded.

"Come on Seraphpaw!" a golden yellow tom, with black stripes on his legs called.

"That's my mentor, Shrikeclaw, hopefully I'll see you around!"

Wow! I can't believe I actually talked to a cat from another clan, and we didn't even fight! Meadowpaw thought, excitement bubbled in her chest, as she scanned the clearing.

Suddenly, a dark brown and cream face appeared in front of hers.

"Hello, I'm Bloomingthistle of CreekClan, this your first time here?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Meadowpaw felt the fur rise along her spine, did she really seem that out of place?

"I haven't seen you around here before, and I make it my mission to get to know every cat in the forest."

"She's hoping to be deputy someday," a grey tom meowed wryly.

"Cats of all clans, gather around!" an elderly, sleek furred, brown tabby she-cat yowled from her perch beside Whitestar, and a golden she-cat.

With her heart pounding in her chest, Meadowpaw padded over with Maplepaw and Molepaw, to sit among her clanmates.

When it was Whitestar's turn to speak, would she announce the fact that she was half-clan?

"Things in CreekClan are going as well to be expected," the brown tabby coughed, "We are thankful that the stream has not yet dried up."

When the CreekClan leader sat down, Whitestar stood up.

"We have four new warriors in AcornClan, Kestrelwing, Kinkfeather, Cougarwing, and Flightwing."

Yowls erupted from all the cats, as everyone cheered their names.

"There are also new apprentices in AcornClan!" Whitestar exclaimed, "Maplepaw and Molepaw!"

I wonder if anyone cheered my name like that? Meadowpaw thought, or if I was even announced as an apprentice at all?

"As you might have already heard, our medicine cat, Rosestem, left the clans to go be a kittypet," the golden furred she-cat began.

Hisses of outrage erupted from the clearing.

"How could she betray her own clan like that?" a pale tabby warrior hissed.

"Especially this close to leaf-bare!" a mottled she-cat exclaimed.

The golden leader lashed her tail, silencing the yowls of protest.

"Not all is lost, soon after Rosestem left, StarClan granted us with a new medicine cat!"

Meadowpaw's heart stopped in her chest, when she saw a familiar light brown tabby take his place among the other medicine cats.

Beeflight?