Chapter Text
His fur bristled with excitement, eyes bright as he followed after his clanmates to Four Tree's. It would be his first gathering, having been made an apprentice only six sunrises ago.
His mentor, Nettlespot had already explained the rules to him. Not that he needed to be reminded, his mother, Hollyflower had already drilled him and his littermates on gathering edict. But he had let the ginger speckled she-cat ramble on, she seemed to enjoy it.
Amber eyes widened as he saw Four Tree's up close for the first time. It was huge! Bigger than anything he'd ever seen before. He waited at the edge with the rest of his clan, then burst forward as his clam leader gave a lash of his tail and surged forward.
Blackpaw had to unsheath his claws to keep control of his speed. His large paws trampling the small budding wild flowers beneath.
Turning to ask his mentor a question, he frown when he found himself amongst strangers. He wasn't lost, just a little misplaced.
Okay, he was a bit lost, he would admit that. He had tried to find his clan again, or even just the group the older apprentices had mentioned but he'd had no luck. So he had began to wander while waiting for Windclan or maybe Riverclan to arrive. Which is how he ended up running into a Thunderclan warrior.
A warrior that had the same ears as him. The same pointed tail and lanky limbs.
The two cats stared at one another, not blinking for a long second.
"Fuck." The curse left the yellowe eyed stranger with a heaving sigh.
What?
Blackpaw tilted his head to the right in confusion. "Mister, are you alright?"
The strange warrior didn't say anything for a long while. Then raised his head and yowled, "Stormtail!"
Blackpaw flinched, eyes widening with surprise.
The nameless rival warrior stared at him some more, silent as ever. It made him nervous.
"Mister—"
He was interrupted by the arrival of two more Thunderclan cats. One large with thick black tabby stripes, and red-brown fur. The other with familiar features.
The same features that were on the tom he'd run into.
The same features he saw every time he looked into a puddle.
The new warriors stared at him for a long second.
"Fuck."
Came the empathetic mew from the blue-eyed tom that shared his features.
The dark tabby next to him chuckled. "Oh, you are soooo fucked, Stormtail."
"Yeah, I'm not dealing with that right now." The yellow eyed tom meowed dryly.
"Rookfall—"
"No. No. No. I'm not dealing with this. Maybe next moon." Rookfall mewed, before turning and padding away.
Blackpaw was confused.
And a little concerned.
"Whats going on?" He asked, gaze flickering between the two remaining Thunderclan toms.
"The consequences of Stormtail not being able to keep it in his sheath." The dark tabby mewed, with twitching whiskers.
What? He blinked. Oh, that's an adult joke isn't it?
"I'm so dead." Stormtail mewed dramatically.
Blackpaw was still confused.
Then twin yowls rang out, clearly furious.
"Stormtail!"
Stormtail crouched down as his ears flattened against his head. "Oh, I am so Dead." He whispered, with wide fearful eyes.
The nameless dark tabby blinked, and nodded solemnly. "I'll mourn you."
Blackpaw blinked at the two warriors, and decided that Thunderclan cats were crazy.