The Gathering smelled like all four clans, and to Kindlelichen, that was unanimous with the scent of freedom, no questions asked. This was not their first gathering – that had been when they were still an apprentice – but the excitement of being chosen to wander to the center of all four territories never quite grew old. The eucalyptus trees towered above the colorful crowd of varying pelts, mixing their scent with that of ocean spray and pine needles, cool earth and wildflowers. The air was filled with the murmur of voices, friends from across clans greeting each other and apprentices chattering their excitement to anyone who would listen. The orange warrior found themself pausing for a moment to look up at the stars above, smiling when it seemed like they winked back. All around them, their fellow Redwoodclan cats moved carefully towards the center of the grove, gathering in small clusters and looking up at the massive pile of boulders upon which the clan leaders sat. 

Next to them, a younger warrior with golden eyes and brown tabby fur paused, glancing around at the crowd as though he might be having second thoughts. Kindlelichen glanced at him, trying to remember who he was. Tufted ears, two notches, nervous…

Right. Lastlight. 

Kindlelichen and Lastlight had never really spoken to one another before, but were only two moons apart in age. They carefully caught his eye, and gave him a smile of wordless encouragement. He nodded his acknowledgement back, followed by an awkward curve of his muzzle into what was probably his best version of a reciprocal friendly gesture. It was awkward as all hell, but Kindlelichen didn’t mind.

“Ravenpaw! Ravenpaw, get back here!”

A tuxedo blur raced past the two tabbies, followed by a shot of calico and one very exhausted pigeon. Kindlelichen recognized the calico instantly – it was impossible not to know about Chirpbreeze. 

As her disobedient apprentice disappeared into the crowd with much enthusiasm, Chirpbreeze accidentally knocked into another cat from a different clan, exclaiming a hurried apology as the smoke molly with a green collar regained her footing and asked if she was okay. As Kindlelichen drew closer, pushed along by the crowd of cats, they could hear the conversation.

“I’m so sorry, my apprentice-”

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” the smoke molly assured the calico before she could finish her sentence. Kindlelichen found that she smelled of Oceanclan. “I’m not hurt. Are you okay?”

The calico warrior shifted nervously, but kept her head held high. “I’m uninjured, thank you,” she replied. “Once again, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

The pair faded away in the sea of cats as Kindlelichen finally pulled away from the crowd and found a good vantage point to sit at, right as someone else called “CHRISSYSCRATCH!” and the molly with the collar called back “ONE MOMENT, BONEWILLOW!”

Like a drowned rat climbing from a river, Lastlight flopped down a few feet away, watching with perked ears as Chirpbreeze made her way over to him, defeated. Neither said a word to one another, and the moment Chirpbreeze settled down, the pigeon that always followed her strutted over and made itself comfortable on her back. Kindlelichen frowned, leaning over to look at the two.

“Hey,” they said softly, catching Chirpbreeze’s focus, “If you need any help finding your apprentice, let me know.”

The calico warrior seemed briefly astonished by the offer, then schooled her face into a neutral, put-together expression and replied. “I appreciate the offer, but I should have this just fine on my own. Thank you, though.”

Both Lastlight and the pigeon glanced at her like she’d just told them the most obvious lie of their lives, but neither said anything. Kindlelichen wasn’t even sure the pigeon could speak, anyhow. They were by absolutely no means a bird expert.

More cats filed past through the crowd, calling to one another and exchanging greetings or dragging one another off to sit in different spots. Olmsight and Aspenleaf made their way towards the Rockpile to sit with the other medicine cats, while Rubblescream bantered with Furzeshoulder on the way to a large patch of warriors on the other end of the grove. Kindlelichen whistled to Furzeshoulder as they passed, and he turned to smile challengingly up at them. They’d have to wrestle him later, once the gathering was over and they could get up to as much cousinly rivalry as they pleased. Kindlelichen had lost the past five rounds, but they were by no means a quitter.

“This is… a lot of cats,” Lastlight observed softly from his spot a few feet away.

“Well, it is a Gathering,” Chirpbreeze replied in a matter-of-fact tone. Not mean, exactly. Just… practical. Kindlelichen found themself staring at her, trying to recall more about her. She was something of a local legend in Redwoodclan – a ‘star warrior,’ as her family proudly proclaimed – and quite possibly the youngest mentor in the entire clan, but as a person? Kindlelichen’s extensive knowledge of their clanmates came up completely empty.

“… Fair point,” Lastlight conceded to her, failing to come up with any form of snarky retort. He was smiling, an awkward and lopsided shape that seemed to glow like his namesake.

“A small Gathering would be pretty boring, wouldn’t it?” Kindlelichen observed. It was rude to drop in on strangers’ conversations, but Kindlelichen couldn’t help themself. “Half the fun is getting to see so many cats.”

Chirpbreeze, surprisingly, didn’t fix Kindlelichen with her signature no-nonsense stare that they’d seen around camp from time to time. “I guess it is, yeah,” she mused, glancing out across the crowd. “I’d never realized how many cats there were in all the clans until my first time coming here. It’s…”

“Breathtaking?” Kindlelichen finished for her, feeling like they knew what she was going to say.

“… Yeah. Breathtaking. Kind of terrifying, but breathtaking.”

Lastlight glanced between the two, then back out to a spot in the crowd where he’d been staring. One paw came up to gently prod Chirpbreeze in the shoulder, much to the disgruntlement of her bird.

“Look over there.”

Both Chirpbreeze and Kindlelichen cast their eyes in the direction of Lastlight’s pointing paw. Amidst the throng of cats stood the tuxedo molly from earlier – Ravenpaw – next to a few other apprentices, who she was holding a very animated conversation with. The gusty sigh of relief that left her sister upon seeing her was stronger than the winds of any winter storm. “Oh, thank Starclan…”

“Good to see she’s making friends,” Kindlelichen murmured, still observing the little pack of apprentices. Ravenpaw stood next to a brown tom – Bilbypaw, if Kindlelichen was remembering Redwoodclan’s allegiances correctly – and four other apprentices they didn’t recognize. The tallest of the six was a lanky tabby tom with silver fur that seemed to glow in the moonlight that filtered through the boughs above. Next to him was a brown tabby molly, who was glancing around herself like the Gathering was a completely different plane of existence. She was being watched by another cat on the silver tom’s side, with a long, short body and brown fur framing two big, pale green peepers. Another apprentice – this one with fluffy ginger fur and a very animated set of expressions – was enthusiastically saying something Kindlelichen couldn’t catch from that far away.

“Cross-clan friends?” Chirpbreeze asked, scrunching up her snout in something like disdain when Kindlelichen glanced over at her. Her eyes flickered with concern… or perhaps some kind of dread. “I swear, if she starts sneaking out to see them, I’m going to spontaneously combust.”

She sank down, putting her paws over her head with a groan, then took a deep breath and went right back to her usual graceful demeanor.

… Disconcerting.

It wasn’t that Kindlelichen had any kind of problem with cats who were straightforward and serious, or that they had any problem with cats who sometimes needed a minute to calm down. The part that disturbed them about Chirpbreeze in particular was how quickly she’d calmed herself… and how forced the serenity on her face seemed to be. It was far from their place to analyze the behaviors of a near-stranger, but Kindlelichen felt a pang of concern for her in their stomach nonetheless.

“She’s a good kid,” Lastlight pointed out, obviously trying to be comforting to his friend. “I don’t think she’ll go that far.”

Rather shockingly, the pigeon nodded and cooed its agreement. Kindlelichen reached down and quickly gnawed one of their wrists. Ow… Okay, definitely not dreaming.

They sat back up, turning to Chirpbreeze and Lastlight with a curious, friendly expression on their face. “Hey, I’m sorry if this is rude to ask, but can I ask about the b-”

“Bluebreath? Bluebreath, where are you?”

Nevermind. The hyper-intelligent bird could wait for later. Kindlelichen’s eyes shot down to the source of the newest voice, coming from the base of the rock they were sitting on. A little below them was a white cat with black splotches, scanning the crowd with pinned ears and a tucked tail. Immediately, Kindlelichen was hit with the anxiety that they radiated like heat from sand on a hot day.

“Hey,” they began softly, catching the other cat’s attention. Their golden eyes met silver-blue ones, staring them down like a mouse facing an owl. “Are you okay?”

“Oh… Uh… I’m alright,” the stranger replied, already looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. “I just… Lost track of a friend. And now I can’t find him.”

The orange tabby frowned in sympathy, shifting to a more upright position. “Do you need any help finding him?”

The strange cat at the base of the rock looked like they were about to disappear from reality with a pop for a second. Then, they seemed to relax… by a fraction, anyways. “That… That would be good. Thank you.”

Kindlelichen glanced over their shoulder at Chirpbreeze and Lastlight, who were now engaged in banter while the pigeon sat unamused beside them, and then back at the new cat. With a single, lithe movement, Kindlelichen hopped down to join them on the carpet of eucalyptus leaves. Taking a deep breath, they took in what they could about the stranger.

Meadowclan scent, wildflowers and river water.

“What’s your name?” they asked, falling into step behind the stranger, who was already hurrying ahead of them with singular determination. “I’m Kindlelichen. From Redwoodclan.”

The word ‘Redwoodclan’ seemed to make the other warrior’s steps falter for a split second, but was gone as quickly as it had come. “I’m Valleyprint. From Meadowclan. And very against spies.”

“… Okay? It’s… uh… nice to meet you.”

“You too,” the black-splotched cat replied as though the pair were holding the most normal conversation ever. They walked together for a moment in cripplingly awkward silence, then had it break again when Valleyprint’s braincells decided to finally connect again.

“We’re looking for a blue tabby with golden eyes,” they explained, eyes scanning the crowd. “He’s a little short, you may have to crane your neck.”

Blue tabby, short, golden eyes. Got it.

“Is there anywhere he might’ve gone?” Kindlelichen inquired with a tilt of their head, ears perked forward to show they were listening. “Like, does he have a favorite place to sit at gatherings? Any friends he might be with?”

Valleyprint shook their head, and Kindlelichen noticed the dragonfly wing they had tucked behind one ear, hidden by the flattened triangles as they scanned the crowd. “He’s… not very social. It’s possible he’s with his apprentice, or maybe his sibling, but Splashpaw’s already run off by now and I don’t think Frosthopper came this time around. Starclan, what if he’s hurt?”

To Kindlelichen, that seemed like a big jump to make, but Valleyprint looked like they genuinely believed a catastrophe might be at hand. The orange warrior frowned softly, gently elbowing Valleyprint for their attention. “Hey, hey, let’s not get hasty. It’s a Gathering, there’s no violence allowed, and it’d be pretty hard to have an accident. When did you last see him?”

“As we were walking into the grove,” replied Valleyprint. It pleased Kindlelichen to see that their gentle reasoning seemed to be keeping their timid new companion from literally melting into a puddle on the floor. “He was talking to me, and then I looked away to say something to our medicine cat and when I turned back he was gone.”

“Alright, so that means he’s probably somewhere in the big crowd here. Come on, let’s look for blue fur.”

---

After about four unsuccessful encounters with blue cats, Kindlelichen was beginning to realize that they’d underestimated how many cats had blue fur across the four clans. The first cat they’d stumbled across was an Oceanclan cat. The second was Cavernclan. The third was also from Oceanclan, and then how they’d managed to mistake Cinderstar of Cavernclan for literally anyone else was beyond Kindlelichen entirely.

“Maybe this is the one,” they told Valleyprint hopefully, approaching another blue cat who was hunkered down in the shadows. “Hey, are you Bluebreath?”

They reached out a paw to tap the stranger’s shoulder… only to discover another very bewildered bystander who looked at them like they’d gone mad. Now that they were up close, they could smell the seafoam scent on him. Oceanclan. Again.

“Oh… uh, sorry. I think you have the wrong cat. I’m Elkwail.”

Fuck my life.

For the fifth time that night, Kindlelichen muttered a friendly but awkward apology and strode back to Valleyprint’s side, unsuccessful.

“Who was it this time?” The other warrior asked, looking like they were about to start weeping through their wildly unconvincing brave face.

“He said his name was Elkwail,” Kindlelichen replied, already taking a mental inventory of blue cats they’d seen so far. So that’s Bonewillow, Doofenschmirtz, Cragsmoke, Cinderstar, and Elkwail.

“We’re making terrible headway.”

Kindlelichen watched as their companion gradually crumpled to the floor, turning into a miserable puddle, and sighed softly. “Hey,” they tried to soothe, “Don’t give up just yet. It’s not like he’s magically dissipated or something. He’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

Valleyprint looked up at them, glaring at them like they’d just insulted their mother’s mother’s mother, but said nothing else. After a moment – and a gusty sigh that felt like the winds of an incoming storm – they simply nodded, flopping limply to one side and gazing up at the stars.

“I mean, I guess…” the splotched feline conceded, frowning as they spoke. “I just… Nevermind.”

Kindlelichen, ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a crowded area, plopped down next to Valleyprint and tucked their paws under themself in a loaf. “Hey, it’s okay if you’re anxious being on your own. I know you probably feel pretty overwhelmed right now.”

“I’m not alone, though,” Valleyprint replied, glancing over at the ginger tabby. “I have you. I’m… I’m just thinking about the worst-case scenario. That’s all.”

They should’ve been flattered that such a shy cat seemed to be warming up to them so quickly, but Kindlelichen’s mind caught more on Valleyprint’s self-dismissal than it did on the sweetness of their statement. For a moment, they contemplated protesting, insisting that the fears were valid and that Valleyprint was allowed to be concerned, but they knew that wouldn’t help. As Valleyprint cast their eyes upwards to the eucalyptus boughs grasping the night above, they decided to shelve the thought instead, rolling over onto their back next to the other warrior.

“There’s Silverpelt,” Kindlelichen observed idly, pointing to the spray of stars clustered in the sky above with a paw. The moonlight illuminated their fur in a silvery glow, the white socks of their forelegs casting a glow like a beacon.

Next to them, Valleyprint also raised a paw and pointed. “And there’s the bird,” they added, indicating a string of stars that Kindlelichen had never really noticed before.

“… That’s a bird?” they found themself asking, sounding as befuddled as they suddenly felt. Stars, unlike people, had never quite been loud enough to draw Kindlelichen’s thought or attention.

“Yeah,” Valleyprint replied, moving their paw with great care to point out different parts. “That’s the head, and those are the wingtips, and there’s the tail. It’s a goose.”

Kindlelichen, who had seen exactly zero geese in their life, nodded politely and pretended that they understood. Maybe they get a lot of those in Meadowclan, they mused, trying to imagine what one might look like. All they could really come up with was the egrets and herons glimpsed around Redwoodclan territory, but with much shorter legs.

Eh. Close enough.

“Do you think Starclan, like, hunts the goose or something?” Kindlelichen asked tentatively, gaze fixed on the twinkling shape in the sky. There was a shuffling sound as Valleyprint shook their head.

“Probably not. Geese are big. And mean. Like, really mean. They hiss like cats when they’re upset, and they do it if you even glance at them wrong.”

“So like a really cranky elder?”

Valleyprint snorted, limbs shaking against the sky as they giggled. Kindlelichen could’ve sworn they saw a happy little leg kick. “I mean, I guess? I’ve never met an elder that cranky before, though.”

“Well, let’s pray you never cross paths with Snailputter. She hates everyone.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

As Valleyprint went back to pointing out the stars, Kindlelichen found themself sinking comfortably back against the forest floor, finally basking in the glory of the night sky above them.

For some reason, they could’ve sworn the stars stared back.