A restless wind stirred the still night air, and it awoke Icegaze sleepily.
"I hate wind," he grunted. Although he was of WindClan, that didn't mean he liked the taste of stiff, skinny rabbit and the wind blowing bits of leaves in his fur. Rabbits mostly just had muscle and bones on them, he thought to himself as he scoured the fresh kill for something other than tough rabbit.
Finally settling on a plump lapwing, Icegaze took a quick, neat bite of his prey. The delicious, fatty taste of bird flooded his mouth, almost making him purr. Now that leafbare was taking over, less rabbits were coming out, and the Clan was confined to eating nothing but birds, although they always somehow ended up with mostly rabbit on the fresh-kill pile every day.
Leafbare wasn't only his favorite season for birds. The Clans actually became tough, battling with claws unsheathed over a tiny mouse, and Gatherings were ended quickly because the moon was clouded after cats fought, giving Icegaze more sleep. Although a Clan he imagined, tough and put together like compacted dirt by the roots of a tree.
"Icegaze? What are you doing, up so early?" He sighed miserably as the pesky old elder, Rockfoot, padded slowly over.
"I'd like to ask you the same question," Icegaze growled. Rockfoot sighed.
"Icegaze, I couldn't stay awake with Timberwave's snoring. No cats have severe snoring problems in the warriors den. What's troubling you?"
"The wind. It blowing all over my face, and it's howling like a dog." Rockfoot chuckled, his laugh like stone's falling.
"Ha! A young 'un like you doesn't know how wonderful the wind is. Did you ever come to listen to my tales as a kit?" he suddenly asked. No, and I was glad I didn't, Icegaze wanted to say, but Rockfoot was now telling a story already.
"Long ago, before the great TigerClan, LionClan, and LeopardClan were here, there were only the four powers: Wind, Shadow, Thunder, and the River. Now, they each constantly fought for the whole forest as their own, so they could bring in who they wanted as their own. The River wanted LeopardClan, for their speed, but so did Wind. Shadow wanted TigerClan more than anything else, and Thunder felt that LiionClan was most noble. The biggest battle was between Wind and the River, to decide who would get them. River kept washing up Wind, bringing it down, but soon, Wind, driven by fury and determination, brought up a tornado, and brought up river, and flung him away into an odd dried out path shallowing the ground, and the River has never been able to get out, and became a source of prey for RiverClan. Now the three others had to figure out who deserved the forest. After winning the battle, Wind felt humble, and brought up the idea that they made boundaries. So Thunder, Shadow, and Wind found their desired Clan for their territories, and River was visited by cats with a knack for fishing and settled beside River, making everyone a territory, and then, only then, did the Clans begin. Wind was not only fierce, but also humble and wise." Icegaze has listened to the whole story in an odd, bored expression. Stonefoot sighed.
"I must leave WindClan. I realize their mistake. Though the whole was a ridiculous lie, it brings me to realize that WindClan, although well at fighting, is too weak and compassionate. I will build my own Clan, and stand up against the others, rule the forest!" he charged away.
"Are you the remains of BloodClan?" asked Icegaze. His mentor had briefly told him about their history when battle training one day. Icegaze had always admired Scourge in a way.
"Yes. We followed the Clans when they left the forest." Icegaze smiled cooly.
"If you want to destroy them for killing your old leader, follow me."
Icegaze traveled happily as he led them to the Gathering island.
"This will be camp. Since the full moon just passed, we have a whole moon to recruit more cats, make a camp, and train until we can attack the Clans." The cats around him nodded.
"You! What's your name?"
"Adder."
"Okay, Adder, find five others and start clearing out that large, awkward bush over there. It will be the warrior's den." Adder nodded and went to find five others.
"Hmmmmmm... you, with the tabby orange pelt!" A ginger she-cat with fierce amber eyes whipped around.
"Find three others and go to Twolegplace to find any loners or rogues who might join us. Convince them that the Clans, other than ours, our the worst places to be." She nodded with a jerk of her head and found three other she-cats.
"What about the apprentice den? With the cats that Ginger Blood brings back, they obviously won't be fully trained," said a dark gray tom behind Icegaze.
"Good point. Find five other cats and work on that."
The day had been successful. Plenty new cats to train. Now all Icegaze needed to do was give them warrior names, rename himself Icestar, and they were done.
"Let all cats gather beneath the- Blood Tree!" He quickly took a few red berries and splattered them on the tree, red gush covering it. The cats growled enthusiastically and came over.
"The time has come to give you your names. Adder, you are now Addervenom. Ginger Blood, you are now called Gingerclaw." He named every single cat until he had even done himself.
"The time for BloodClan to rule has come."
"We won!" panted Addervenom. Now instead of just berry juice on the tree, the cats of BloodClan had smeared the blood of their enemies on the tree. Many bodies lay in the camp, lifeless and cold. A few cats were standing up bravely.
"We want to join," they decided. Icestar thought for a moment.
"Possibly. We will let you train as apprentices, and see if you are soft or fierce."
"Please, spare us!" yowled one of the Clan cats, called Clawpaw.
"No. Either go to your puny StarClan or flee." They began to hurdle towards the exit of the camp. The Clans were gone for good. I had been determined.