I'm too afraid to tell you I love you (Thunderclan)

Applepaw jumped up and down excitedly, "Yes!" She flicked her tail anxiously. "Are we going to have to swim? How do we get to the island?"

Softcloud looked ahead, seeing that they weren't that far behind the Windclan patrol.

"It must have been a sign from Starclan that it was the gathering place, right?" Applepaw mewed, excited of the thought that Starclan really did do it.

The Thunderclan patrol approached the tree bridge and Softcloud gestured for Pinepaw to climb on ahead of him. "Be careful, dig your claws into the bark so you don't fall."

Applepaw nodded and waited for her turn to jump up onto the fallen tree.

Softcloud jumped up after Pinepaw and started walking across, looking down into the pitch black water.

Softcloud jumped off of the tree and landed on a soft patch of grass. "C'mon, Pinepaw." He walked through the trees and into the clearing, where Windclan and Riverclan were already gathered.

Applepaw climbed up onto the tree after Fawnleap, unsure that it was stable. She looked down at the water, imagining her falling in and being swept under the waves.

"You can go talk to the other clans if you'd like." Softcloud gazed around the clearing before flicking his tail at a small group of cats. "There are some Windclan and Riverclan apprentices."

Applepaw smiled up at her mentor and quickly finished crossing the tree-bridge. "Is that Shadowclan?" She meowed, looking across the water at a group of cats making their way over to the island.

Softcloud smiled to himself and spun around when he heard someone call his name. "Fernpaw!" He ran over his his sister and purred. "It's Fernpelt now!" She grinned. Softcloud jumped up and down. "Fernpelt, that's amazing!"

"Hi!" Applepaw smiled, instantly liking the other medicine cats. I hope they're all nice! She thought, flicking her ear.

"Hi!" One of the cats meowed to Pinepaw. "I'm Distantpaw, this is Brackenpaw, Bluepaw, and Riverpaw!" She meowed, flicking her tail at each cat. Her voice dropped down to a whisper. "It's weird, Riverpaw is from Windclan." Distantpaw snickered. "Are you talking about me?" Riverpaw growled before playfully tackling Distantpaw.

Applepaw padded after Fawnleap and looked at the others. These must be the other medicine cats! She thought.

Distantpaw jumped up and smiled, "Nice to meet you! Is this your first gathering?" She pushed away Riverpaw and looked at Pinepaw.

"Hi, I'm Applepaw." She introduced herself to the other medicine cats.

"Sweet!" Distantheart looked over at one of the other apprentices. "It's Brackenpaw's first gathering too." She stopped as the leaders called the gathering to a start.

Applepaw smiled and looked up at the leaders. "It's starting!" She mewed excitedly.

The Thunderclan leader started, "We have six new apprentices, Ripplepaw, Barkpaw, Thistlepaw, Thornpaw, Applepaw, and Pinepaw!" He paused for a moment and looked at the apprentices.