Summary: A battle is about to erupt in the forest. Thirteen mysterious cats appear out of nowhere.

But who are they? And what are they doing here in the first place?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Moonlight, Sunshine, Spottedpath, Rockpath, Tanglepaw, Clawpaw, Icekit and Dawnkit.

Battle of the Clans

By: PokeTrainer

Chapter 1: The Gathering

Tonight was yet another full moon. The clans were going to meet tonight like any other full moon. But tonight was going to be different; I could feel it in my pelt. Tonight I was going to the clan gathering, my kits would be cared for by Ferncloud who has been remaining a queen for some time even though she does not care for her own kits. The clans have all been arguing with Thunderclan for some time even though we have saved their sorry tails more times than I could count.

It was Sun high when Rockpath had scurried into the den.

"Spottedpath, I hear that you will also be attending the gathering tonight. It will be nice to see you there after some time. You haven't been to one in some moons," he purred.

"I know, I hope to find some news from the other clan cats before our leaders actually talk." I responded.

"Why is that?"

"I have been getting this weird feeling since you brought news from the last gathering. I think that a battle may start if they continue to argue." Rockpath then walked next to me. He put his paw on mine.

"Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you. I'll be by your side no matter what." At that moment I heard pawsteps coming into the den. Icekit and Dawnkit came into the room along with the other young kits.

"Mother, is Ferncloud going to watch us tonight? And why is daddy here?"Icekit asked with curiosity in his emerald eyes.

"Icekit, mom told us that before we all went to play. Don't you remember?" Dawnkit told her brother. Her baby blue eyes were glistening, she had enjoyed it when Ferncloud watched them because she was always nice to the two of them.

"You don't have to be so hard on him Dawnkit, he could be as forgetful as Rockpath was when he was an apprentice. I remember when he mistook me for a ShadowClan cat on our first time hunting as apprentices and when we were kits he got Mousefur so annoyed that she swatted him so hard that he still has that scar on his ear." I told them. Rockpath blushed a bit by that comment but the kits just giggled.

"Listen dear, we should get some rest we have a long night ahead of us." Rockpath said laying down ready to sleep.

"Okay, you two be good."

"See you in the morning," the two siblings said walking back out of the den.

Later at sunset:

I awoke along with Rockpath when the sunlight exited our den. We had made our way to the Highledge to meet Firestar and the other cats. Brambleclaw, Leafpool, Firestar and Jayfeather were obviously coming. Along with them Squirrelflight, Brackenfur, Brightheart, Spiderleg, Birchfall, Cinderheart, Lionblaze, Berrynose, Millie, Dovepaw, Ivypaw, Clawpaw, Tanglepaw, Longtail and Mousefur were waiting.

"Is everyone here?" Firestar asked. Everyone nodded. "Then let's head out before it gets any darker."

Then the cats headed out through the tunnels on through the forest into WindClan territory. Once in WindClan territory we met up with Onestar and the cats of his clan. We had all decided to continue on together.

Tanglepaw's P.O.V

Clawpaw and I have been walking together since we started off to head to the gathering. When we met up with WindClan we started to talk with some of the friends we made at the other gatherings. I had become friends with the two tom cat apprentices while my sister became friends with the she-cats. Luckily all five of the apprentices were there. Eventually even Ivypaw and Dovepaw joined us. All nine of us were sharing stories about gossip and what we've been doing this past moon. We were all friends even with the other clan's apprentices. Soon we reached the island and all looked for the other apprentices. We had found Flamepaw, Tigerpaw, Dawnpaw, Olivepaw, Minnowpaw, Robinpaw, Copperpaw, Sneezepaw, and Mallowpaw all sitting in a circle waiting for us. Unfortunately the other apprentices could be here because they had other duties. All eighteen of the apprentice's had gathered and continued to talk about their lives.

"So Flamepaw, Kestrelpaw how is life as medicine cat apprentices?" I asked knowing that medicine cats do different things in each clan.

"In ShadowClan we are doing great, we have had minimal injuries and our stock is full. We should last for some time." Flamepaw responded.

"Same here but we still are missing a few things in our stock but we know where to find them."Kestrelpaw responded. "How's the training going guys?"

"Over in ThunderClan we are doing well, soon some of the kits will become warriors. Our training is also doing well especially our hunting skills." My sister Clawpaw answered.

"Same thing in RiverClan, but we've been doing a lot of battle skills. The other warriors have been hunting." Robinpaw replied.

"In ShadowClan we've been doing a lot of border patrols than anything else."Olivepaw said.

"In WindClan they have been over working us. They don't understand that there is only four of us to hunt or do border patrols. Onestar is making all the warriors do the battle skills."Sunpaw complained.

"Why are they doing that, we are supposed to be trained in each thing equally right? I mean if we focus more on one thing then we fail to learn our other skills well." I wondered.

"You know, you are right. It's like we are soldiers in a war preparing for the largest battle we'll face."Thistlepaw, Sedgepaw and Swallowpaw pointed out.

"But if they are doing that shouldn't we ALL be focusing on battle skills?" Dawnpaw asked.

"Not always because if the others are working on fighting skills then they'd need someone else to do the other work." Ivypaw explained. Then everyone nodded now understanding the situation they were in.

Then the meeting had finally started and boy were we in for a surprise. It had only been minutes into the Gathering when Blackstar had spoken.

"Firestar we found your warriors on our territory. I don't know about you but if I find one more of you clan then we will have problems." Blackstar said. Then the ShadowClan apprentices let out a small growl, but Blackstar failed to notice.

"How dare he! Only one cat stepped on the border but it was only a pawstep in. And we know because we have been on every patrol we had to do in ShadowClan." Tigerpaw spat. Then all the apprentices made a low growl.

"I'm sure it was accidental, I make sure that we beware of the border. My warriors would never purposely step into your territory." Firestar explained.

"I've had enough of your lies Firestar. If this continues to happen then-" Blackstar was then cut off.

"Enough Blackstar!"The ShadowClan apprentices exclaimed. The other apprentices growled at the ShadowClan leader. All the other clan cats were to shocked to say a sound.

"What is it young ones."He growled in a low voice.

"Blackstar we have been on all the border patrols you sent out and in all the patrols we did only a single cat stepped in our territory and it was less than a tail length in. He isn't the liar hear so stop accusing him of such little things. We've all had enough of it!"

"How dare you speak to me like that!"

"It's better than starting a pointless fight. And even if there was a fight no way would we fight in it no matter what you did to punish us."Then the other apprentice's stood up. "We're with you one hundred percent. What's the point of fighting if you don't have a good reason to."

Blackstar then turned to the other clan leaders, "You have done a poor job of raising your apprentices."

Leopardstar then stated, "At least ours didn't turn on their leaders in front of everyone here."

All Blackstar did was growl. All I know is that we would all be in trouble later. The gathering then continued with no problems at all. Then we all said our good-byes and left for our camps.