"The cats coming to the gathering will be Rainleaf, Stonebloom, Redscar, Cloversky, Dustwish, Nettlejaw, Shortstride, and Troublepaw, along with Blacklight and Pebblefur. Goldpelt will be on watch while we are gone, and Rascalpaw will stay here to tend to injuries."

Troublepaw felt a jolt of excitement as he heard his name. He glanced over at his littermate, who didn't look disappointed. As he joined the rest of the patrol, he felt a slight pang of worry, but brushed it away. He was going to the gathering! While they headed across the territory, he bounced along next to his mentor, wondering if any other apprentices would be there. He'd always wanted to meet a ShadowClan or WindClan cat... 

Before he realized it, they were at Fourtrees. Brownstar flicked her tail, and they darted into the clearing. Troublepaw froze. There were so many cats! He swallowed as the others split up and mingled, notably ignoring and avoiding RiverClan. He hesitated before heading over to a clump of apprentices. They all looked up as he slowly walked over. There were six of them; four she-cats and two toms. The brown, gray, and white tabby she-cat tasted the air and hissed. "ThunderClan."

"Cool it, Snakepaw. This poor kit didn't kill him." The speaker this time was a white and ginger she-cat. Seeing Troublepaw's confusion, she added, "Snakepaw's dad was murdered by ThunderClan cats this afternoon. I'm Dreampaw, by the way. Who are you?"

"T-Troublepaw," he stuttered. "I'm not a kit. And Cherryleaf only killed him because he almost killed Mintleaf. And even then, she didn't mean for him to die." His words were directed at Snakepaw, but he paused. Was that true? She narrowed her eyes and turned away.

A scary-looking large gray tom spoke in a low, growl-like voice "My sister" —he nodded to Dreampaw— "was joking. You're younger than us, though. I'm Primepaw. That's Willowpaw." This time he nodded to a soft silver she-cat who was so similar to Dreampaw in build and size that they had to be related. Three littermates. Just like— no. He would not break down in front of these strange cats. "We're the WindClan apprentices. As you seem to have already figured out, Snakepaw is RiverClan."

"And we're ShadowClan!" The last she-cat exclaimed, bouncing up and down. She waved her tail between herself and a white tom with gray, tabby-patterned spots. "I'm Applepaw. This is Pigeonpaw, my scaredy-mouse brother." They were closer in age to Troublepaw than the rest, but still older. Was he the youngest cat at the gathering? Applepaw rambled on. "Weren't there three ThunderClan kits? Where are your littermates?" She looked around as if they would suddenly pop out of the shadows. Troublepaw winced.

"Um, I— my brother, Rascalpaw, is a medicine cat apprentice. He stayed behind to look after the wounded cats from the battle. And..." He swallowed, hard. "My sister Runtkit is dead. Struck by lightning in the big storm a few weeks ago." Had it really only been a few weeks? It felt like so long... The other apprentices, except for Snakepaw, of course, dipped their heads. But Snakepaw did glance over her shoulder.

"My littermate, Ravenkit, died. He caught greencough when we were a few moons old. I'm sorry for your loss." Troublepaw nodded.

"I'm sorry for yours. Both your brother and your father." Snakepaw nodded as well. They had more in common than Troublepaw would have thought. They had both lost a littermate. They both had murdered fathers.

They had more in common than Troublepaw could imagine...