A Tail of Two Cats

'''This is a story for Moon's contest. Enjoy!'''

The Gathering:
I watched as the cats gathered around Butterstar. The cream she-cat's coat shines in the rising moon's light as she calls over all the cats that are coming to the Gathering. I hesitantly join the fringes of the group. Luckily, Sparrowleaf is talking to Tulipdrop, so she doesn't say anything. Sweetpaw, my sister, looks up.

"Hey Featherpaw," she says.

"Hi Sweetpaw," I purr, rubbing my chin against hers. Though we're sisters, we're nothing alike, both in appearances and personality. Sweetpaw is popular and outgoing, while I like to stick to the shadows, though I try to be nice to everyone. She has short, strawberry-gold fur and attractive pale blue eyes; I have long brown tabby fur and dark amber eyes. Despite our differences, we get along great. I don't know what I'd do without her.

"Excited about the Gathering?" she asks, dancing on the tips of her paws. I laugh amusedly.

"I can see you are. You're practically floating. But yes, of course I am! Our first Gathering, and we get to go together."

Sweetpaw links her slim tail through my feathery one. "It's going to be perfect."

As if to deliberately disprove her, Sparrowleaf turns around. Her gold-green eyes, which would be pretty if they weren't so mean-looking, fix on me as she approaches. Her long brown tabby coat swishes lightly. Apart from our eye color, cats always say we look alike. I can't see it, and I hate it when they say that. I do not want to be like her. A good medicine cat she may be, but she's just awful to me. I've never been able to figure out why.

"Featherpaw!" she barks. "Are you really coming to the Gathering tonight?"

"Yes," I falter, not sure why that's a bad thing. Then again, I don't understand half the things she yells at me about.

"So that's it, huh? You just go on out to have a grand time without considering the rest of your clan? What if someone gets hurt while we're away? What if there's an emergency? What if-"

"I couldn't help overhearing," a soft voice interjects. I turn and see my mother, Blueveil, standing behind us. Her large cobalt eyes are kind but firm. "I don't think there's any need for either of you to stay behind. It's a quiet night, no queens are expecting, and if something does happen, I'm sure Stoneskip can handle it." Stoneskip was our retired medicine cat, but he still helped out when he could.

Sparrowleaf is practically shaking with rage, but she doesn't argue. "Very well," she says in a clipped tone. Turning to me, she snaps, "Don't waste your time at the Gathering, don't give away any important information about PebbleClan, and don't get too close with cats from other clans."

"Okay," I say. After she leaves, I shoot a grateful glance at Blueveil, who smiles softly. Giving her a lick on the cheek, I join Sweetpaw and the other apprentices once more as we get ready to go.

Just a Friend:
The moonlight comes into the clearing in silver sheaves, slanting over glossy pelts like a river of water. I glance around the Gathering, taking in all the sights and sounds, identifying the PebbleClan cats by their thicker grayish pelts and muscular builds. Shalepaw, a fellow LightClan apprentice, joins me. Her dark cream pelt accentuates her large eyes, which are the shape and color of almonds. Coupled with her slender figure and charming personality, they maker her a great tom's cat. Which is fine with me, because as a medicine cat apprentice, I have no use for toms anyway.

"I'm going to go talk with Nightowl," Shalepaw announces. I glance after her admiringly as she struts up to our deputy, who also happens to be her mentor. Not that it would make a difference if he wasn't her mentor. Shalepaw can talk to anyone comfortably. She's friendly and fearless, a lethal combination on the social battlefield.

With a small sigh, I glance around the clearing. The two medicine cats, Sparrowleaf and my own mentor, Crystalwing, are huddled together talking. A few feet away from them is a long-furred young she-cat. She must be the new medicine cat apprentice, I realize. ''Well, there's no one else around. ''I pad up to her catiously. "Hi."

She turns around and smiles. Up close, she looks like a very pleasant, pretty cat. I think I'll like her. "Hi! I'm Featherpaw. You must be Fernpaw. My mentor," Is it just me, or does her face darken? "has told me a lot about you."

I grin. "Yeah that's me. I guess I'm even more famous then I thought."

"Looks that way," she laughs. "I just started my apprenticeship."

"Well, welcome to the team," I meow. "I've only been an apprentice for two moons, but it's lots of fun." She nods in agreement.

"Featherpaw!" calls Sparrowleaf. Featherpaw's brow furrows. Before I can ask her why, she starts to walk away.

"I have to go right now. See you soon!"

"Bye!" I call. Alone again. Ah well. The Gathering's about to begin anyway. I turn and start making my way towards the front, near where the leaders assemble on the large peaked rocks to adress the clans. Without warning, something hard and furry knocks into me, sending us both sprawling onto the ground.

"Watch it!" I snap without thinking, shoving the cat off me and getting to my paws. When we're face-to-face, I do a double-take. A handsome dark gray tabby tom, olive eyes sparkling with mischief, stares back at me fearlessly.

"Sorry." He doesn't look it, and I tell him so. His grin only gets wider, which infuriates me. "What's your name?" he inquires.

I bush my tail. "Like I'd tell you."

"Hey Fernpaw!" I wince and turn. Featherpaw is gesturing from next to Sparrowleaf and Crystalwing. "Come over here. Butterstar's starting."

I'm about to leave as he says, "Fernpaw. Nice to meet you. I'm Flashpaw."

I pretend not to hear as I make my way towards Featherpaw, but the name sticks with me. ''Flashpaw. ''

A New Friend:
Butterstar approaches the top of the rocky peak and scans the Gathering with her steely gray-blue eyes. "I'll begin," she meows. "PebbleClan is doing quite well. We have two new medicine cat apprentices. Sweetpaw," she nods at my sister. "And Featherpaw, who has chosen the important role of being a medicine cat."

Sweetpaw nudges me and I nudge her back, relieved at the distraction from all the eyes fixed on us.

"Other than that, we are enjoying the greenleaf weather and the prey it brings with it. Our kits are growing strong, and everyone in our clan is healthy. Just a warning to you and your clan, Toadstar, some of my patrols have scented a fox near your territory."

The mottled brown tom looked up sharply. "Is that so? Thank you for the information Butterstar." The two leaders regarded each other coolly for an instant before Butterstar stepped back and he took her place. "LightClan will watch out for the fox. We have more than enough warriors to spare," he adds meaningfully. Sweetpaw and I roll our eyes at each other at his bragging. Fernpaw glares at me and I quickly refocus on her leader. Glancing around, Toadstar says, "I think that's all. The Gathering is over."

With that, he scrambles down from the rock-pile, Butterstar at his heels. The two leaders confer with the deputies, Birchwhisper and Nightowl, probably about the scented fox.

Fernpaw turns to me as Sweetpaw goes off to join a dark cream LightClan she-cat. "So, will I see you when we go to the Moonstone tomorrow?"

I nod seriously. "Unless I kill someone with herbs and am not a medicine cat anymore by tomorrow, yes. Which isn't a problem, because I'm not going to kill Flashpaw till next week." Something flickers in her face. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she says, shaking herself. "You know Flashpaw, huh?"

"Unfortunately," I wink.

"I'll bet," she says. "He seems like a real pain in the neck of a furrball." I nod.

"He is." But despite her oblivion, I detect a charade. She's acting almost like Sweetpaw does when she likes a tom but is playing hard-to-get. I shake it off. She's a medicine cat apprentice. No good medicine cat has ever broken the warrior code just for a mate. My gaze travels around and locks with Sparrowleaf's. Ever.

A Book By Its Cover:
Featherpaw yawns and waves her tail at me. "See you tomorrow Fernpaw," she calls.

"Bye!" I say, trying to tell myself that I am not relieved to be alone. But there's no denying the queer leap my heart gives when I spot Flashpaw's dark gray pelt in the crowd. ''So what? ''I think to myself. Admittedly, he is cute. But that's it. He's from a different clan, and to make things worse, I'm a medicine cat. I don't even like him; he seems to think no end of himself.

With a sigh, I turn and find myself facing him once again. I just can't escape the nuinsance. "You again."

He gives me a mockingly hurt look. "Well, that's no way to greet your best friend, is it? Let's try again. You were saying something about how good it was to see me and how great I looked."

I feel my face growing uncomfortably hot. I've never been a social butterfly, but Flashpaw really has a way of getting me tongue-tied. "Excuse me, I need to go to my clan. We're going to leave soon."

He glances towards Toadstar, who is still deep in conversation with the deputies and Butterstar. Dumb leader. Isn't it time to go yet?

"Oh really?" he says, falling into step with me as I head for the edge of the clearing. "I don't think you'll be forced to leave just yet. Besides, we can use this opportunity to get to know one another."

I feel my irritation growing at his falsetto of friendliness. I can tell he's mocking me; he has a smirk on his face. He knows what effect he has on me. Well, no more of this. I raise my head and fix him with a full-on glare. "I'll thank you to keep your bumbling advances to yourself. I do not regret to inform you that I do not like you, and would enjoy this evening much more if you weren't here."

He blinks. "Okay..."

When he makes no move to leave, I snap again. "Go! What do you want?"

With a sigh, he sits down and stares at his paws. "I don't know exactly. I hoped by talking to you I would figure it out. But- never mind."

My curiousity is aroused, but I don't show it. Instead I give a small smile. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that. I'm just not that good around other cats." As soon as I confess it, I regret it. But he doesn't seem to look down on me for it.

"It's okay. I understand. I was being mean too. How about we start over? You're training to be a medicine cat, huh?"

"Yeah," I say. "Crystalwing's my mentor."

"My mentor is Birchwhisper," he says.

I look up in surprise. "The PebbleClan deputy? Wow. You must be a really good apprentice if they chose her as your mentor."

He shrugs modestly. "I guess. That's what other cats think anyway. But hunting and fighting is just as hard for me as any other cat, really. I just don't show it."

"LightClan, we are leaving!" calls Toadstar. I sigh, somehow dissappointed now that we're actually going to leave. Once glance at Flashpaw tells me he feels the same way, but he quickly hides it.

"Well, see you around Fernpaw," he says nonchalantly. I nod, a bit stung that that's all he says, but then he adds, "You're really cool. Maybe we could meet up some other time."

Too shocked to do anything but nod, I give him a warm smile and hurry over to my clanmates. Spotting a long-furred she-cat near Sparrowleaf, I call, "Bye Featherpaw!"

She looks up from her conversation with her mentor, and to my surprise I think I see tears glimmering in her amber eyes. What could have caused that? But then she pastes a grin on her face and calls, "Bye Fernpaw!"

I follow my clan into the woods, but my thoughts are back in the clearing with my two new friends. Thinking of Flashpaw, I realize that you can't just judge a book by its cover. Maybe that is true for Featherpaw as well. Maybe her life isn't as perfect as it first sounded. Whatever is going on, I know somehow, I'll get caught up into it. Surprisingly, I think I want to.

Something Fishy:
"Featherpaw!" Sparrowleaf's voice cuts through the quiet of the afternoon. I look up from my pile of herbs as my mentor stalks into our shared den.(Yes, I know, sharing a den with Sparrowleaf. Fun.)

"Yes?" I inquire, stuffing some marigold into a crevice. There's plenty of everything to go around now that it's greenleaf, but soon we will have to start drying and storing herbs in preparation for leaf-bare.

"Can you go out and collect some borage?" she asks.

I glance at the pile of herbs. "Don't we have enough?"

"No! Stop thinking about the now. You have to plan for the future." I stare at her in disbelief. Doesn't she think I know that? It still makes no sense for us to dry out the borage now. It's barely greenleaf.

"I know, I just- Okay," I sigh. I was thinking of resting before our trip to the Moonstone. So much for that idea.?

The camp is relatively still today; the warriors who went to the Gathering last night are resting, and the others are out on patrol or sharing tongues quietly. I head out the entrance. As I pad through the sunny grass, I think back to my training. Borage grows in a field near the river, hidden by bushes and trees. I adjust my course towards it. As I pass by the training hollow, a dip between two grassy hills, I spot Sweetpaw and Flashpaw training. My sister looks up and waves. I wave back, then grin as Flashpaw tackles her.?

Just before I reach the river, I veer off to the side, entering the familiar shaded path between bushes. The heavy smell of herbs sinks over me like a second skin, and I breathe in deeply, enjoying it to the fullest. Then I enter the small field, dotted with dark clumps of catmint, assorted berries bright against the dark of bushes, and there! Borage, its pink and blue flowers glowing against the stems. I gently clip off the ripe plants, careful not to disturb any young, tender shoots.

As I head back, I decide to walk along the river and get some yarrow as well. Just then, an unfamiliar scent reaches my nose. I whirl around. A LightClan cat! On our side of the river! My paws prickle uncomfortably. I can't fight him off; even though medicine cats are supposed to know the basic moves I'm just really bad at it. But there isn't time to get help. And before I can do anything else, he turns and sees me. My blood runs cold. Uh oh.

Wait. Why is he...? The tom runs toward me, joy sparkling in his amber eyes. Then as he gets closer, he skids to a stop, eyes widening in shock. "S-Sparrowleaf?"

"Uh..." I say intelligently. "What? I'm Featherpaw."

He blanches. "W-what?" I wonder if he's even capable of speaking without stammering. "Uh oh," he gasps. Then, without any further ado, he throws himself into the river and makes for the border.

I frown. Something's weird here. Why is a LightClan tom on our territory? And why on earth was he looking for Sparrowleaf?

Daydreams:
I rest my head against the side of the smooth, sun-warmed rock and close my eyes, letting the breeze play with my fur. However, as soon as darkness envelopes my senses, an image pops into my head like it's been emblazoned into the backs of my eyelids. I scowl and reopen them, glaring at the grass around me as if it was the one who created the olive-eyed tom. Why can't I get him out of my head?

With a sigh, I pick up the bundle of dock leaves Crystalwing asked me to gather and head back to camp. As I'm passing the PebbleClan border, I pause for a second and gaze into the leafy woods. The river is extremely thin and shallow here, so thin that even a LightClan cat(we hate water) could cross quite comfortably. Giving a small sigh, I turn to move on, when a cat comes padding out of the PebbleClan woods. We both stop in our tracks and stare at each other. My heart starts thumping crazily. It's Flashpaw.