The fellowship of the stars [Plot]

It was hard enough slipping out of camp unseen, but now he had to navigate all the way to Highstones with his short legs and not really knowing where he was going. Trudging through SkyClan territory, Tinypaw wouldn't give up, for he needed prove to everyone that he was capable of going a long way, even with his... abnormalities. There were a few times that he needed to stop and take a break when his back started to hurt, though he tried not to take too long. I'll probably be the last one there. The apprentice thought glumly to himself. The gathering would be starting around now, and he wished that he'd been able to go. It would have been his first one, and even though he was helping the clans by meeting with this group of cats, Tinypaw was still mad about missing the gathering.

He had to admit, as much as he kept walked, the journey was extremely long, or at least felt long. All the new sights and smells were overwhelming, and at one point, he was challenged with the task to cross a Thunderpath, and although the stench was unbearable, he manged to awkwardly run across the smooth surface. Alone and scared with his head head hung low, Tinypaw kept a sharp eye out for anything dangerous. After what seemed like ages, the apprentice soon arrived at his destination. Now he understood why they were called Highstones. The huge rocks that jutted out of the ground toward over him and he felt extremely small. A few fox lengths away was a area of the land that was filled with nothing but dirt, small rocks, mud, and what seemed to be a cave down towards the bottom of this weird place. Exhausted, he sat down and slightly opened his mouth, scenting the unknown air around him. There didn't seem to be anyone else around, and he was surprised that he was the first one to make it here. "Hello?"

It had been relatively easy for Nightpaw to sneak out. A majority of the clan was at the gathering, and no cat asked when she went out to the back of camp to make dirt like all cats do. The apprentice squeezed through a small gap in the thorns and waited for Alderheart to make his move to get out of the camp. She didn't know where to go, so Nightpaw let the other apprentice lead the way. She hadn't expected to walk as far as they did to get there. The apprentice didn't think the trip was going to be enjoyable if they had to walk farther than that to find Starclan. The things she does for her clan. Seeing the other cat there, Nightpaw greeted him with a flick of her ears. "The others are on their way, huh?"

Stormpaw hurried over to highstones "sorry i'm late" she said

Fawnpaw snuck out of the camp with relative ease. Almost everyone was at the gathering, and those who weren't paid hardly any attention to her sudden disappearance. She wondered what her family might think when they realized she was gone. Would they worry? What about Maizepaw? Would he even realize she was gone? Fawnpaw's heartbeat sped up as she thought about the tom.
Soon she had left Windclan territory behind, and was crossing a Thunderpath. She waited, crouched on the side of black stinking path. One monster passed, then another, and the small brown she cat darted across. She made it to the other side just as another monster roared past. It wasn't long before Highstones came into view, huge rocks raised from the ground. Fawnpaw stood in amazement for a few heartbeats before urging herself onward. "Almost there..." she assured herself, scrambling up the rocks. "A-Am I late?" she asked nervously, looking around at the few cat who had already arrived.

Slipping out of camp was a little harder for Alderheart, as the newly named medicine cat, the tom was surrounded by well-wishers and his mentor, Dawnflower, promptly training him in every way as if she thought she'd die soon. Not telling her had been painful, doubly so when he had to sneak out to go 'look for marigold'. Dawnflower probably realised by now that their marigold stock was aplenty and it was just an excuse. But their was nothing to be done about that, StarClan had ordered them to go on this journey.

Following behind his clanmate, Nightpaw, the tom solemnly greeted Tinypaw, Stormpaw, and Fawnpaw. "It's good to see that you all made it. Who else are we waiting on?"

OOC: We'll wait for two more days, and if no one else posts, the plot will begin without them.

OOC: Uh, Thinstripe is kind of dead so...Should I still play her or no?

OOC: Nope, if Thinstripe is dead, Thinstripe is dead.

Morningpaw was tired, she could admit that. She had received a dream from Thinstripe, her grandmother, about having to go to a meeting with other Clan cats. At first, Morningpaw had thought it was a joke. She was just a ordinary apprentice...right? The easiest part for the she-cat was slipping out of camp without being noticed or seen. The majority of cats had left to participate in the Gathering, and the rest were sleeping. The only part that was rather difficult was having to step over her sleeping denmates. Fortunately, they were heavy sleepers. Another fortunate thing for Morningpaw was that the night guard was looking in the opposite direction, and Morningpaw was able to dart into the cover of the bushes. The ThunderClan apprentice had been instructed to go to Highstones, a place that Morningpaw had heard of many times by other cats. Even though she had never been there, her paws seemed to guide her towards it. Everything looked so different at night, and creatures that she had never laid eyes on before were roaming about. She blinked in surprise as an owl swooped down just above her head. Her steady walk grew to a quick trot. She didn't want to let Thinstripe down by missing the meeting.
As the ThunderClan apprentice came closer and closer to Highstones, the scents of all of the Clans began to mingle in the air. Even though she couldn't recognize anyone's scent here yet, she still knew that the fresh scents meant that there were cats inside. As she quickly climbed up the rocks, four cats came into view. They must be from the other four Clans...which meant that Morningpaw was the last cat to arrive.
"Hi...I'm here...am I the last one? I probably am." Morningpaw said quickly as she stopped, standing with the other cats. She recognized none of them because Morningpaw had never been to a Gathering before, and she wouldn't make it her business to go around and recognize everyone's name and scent if she did ever go to one.

"Morningpaw, I think that's your name. Where's Thinstripe and Icedpaw?" The tom asked confused, this wasn't the cat that appeared with them in the prophecy. Had something happened to the she-cats? Worry clouded his mind as he tried to think of anything dramatic that had happened so far, and could come up with nothing. There had been no wars, no dog raids. Surely nothing would have occurred to them, StarClan had chosen them for this journey for a reason. Right?

Alderheart reflexively clawed at the ground in concerned, flicking out his tail to Nightpaw to seek comfort in the fellow ShadowClan apprentice.

Falconstone had been left behind. It wasn't much of a change considering his father had done the same when he moved to ShadowClan. And Minkpaw and Sablestar when they died. The tall tom, still shorter than his father and grandfather, sat guard at the entrance of the mostly empty camp. His orange eyes scanned the moor, careful of any movement. A dark flicker, coming from his right caught his attention and the new warrior stood, fur bristled. Opening his maw, he could only scent WindClan. As they say, curiousity killed the cat. Quietly the warrior followed the dark shape. It was too dark for him to tell until the cat hit a strong beam of moonlight. Fawnpaw? What is she doing? Falconstone picked up speed as they trotted to a place that could only be Highstones. His fur bristled as they neared a group of non-WindClan cats. "Fawnpaw!" he scolded, coming to a stop just behind the apprentice

Before Tinypaw could answer Nightpaw, more cats started to arrive. He recognized most of the faces, except one, a ThunderClan cat. He assumed something had happened to Thinstripe and Icedpaw, for they weren't here and it must've been important enough for them to send this she-cat instead. Looking to Alderheart with his big blue eyes, the short tom flexed his claws into the soft earth bellow his white paws. "Should we get going now?" he didn't want to sound impatient, but the apprentice was eager to get started, before the night got away from them and their clan mates started noticing that they were not resting in their dens where they should be.

Tinypaw gave his short pelt a shake, about to head to the mouth of the cave, when an unfamiliar and somewhat angry voice caught his attention. A WindClan cat? What was he doing here? Fur bristling and arching his long back, the small cat looked from the cat called Fawnpaw to the strange cat. They had to get to StarClan and didn't need some random warrior distracting them.

Blue eyes narrowed at Morningpaw. She hadn't been at the dream as far as she remembered. Why would she be here? How did she know to meet? Surely StarClan hadn't sent her a message? Nightpaw gave Alderheart a glance, flicking out her tail in response. The dark coated she-cat didn't know how the new apprentice got there either, and was definitely confused by her appearance.

The she-cat froze on any words that were going to come out of her mouth. Her black nose twitched, and her ears rotated to the side. Another WindClan cat? Quickly, the ShadowClan apprentice stood, tail lashing from side to side. What next? An entire clan accompanying them on their journey?

Fawnpaw spun around, stumbling a few steps back as Falconstone's angry cry reached her ears. Before she could get more than a fox-length away, her hind leg hit a stone and she fell back on her rump. "F-falconstone?" she stuttered in surprise and shock. A sickening feeling of dread overtook her as she realized what Falconstone's sudden appearance could mean for her. "P-Please..." she fought for words, unable to think straight. "You... you don't understand... I..."