Previously in Hunter and Prey: Sky's Story...
Shadowheart sighed, as if Rabbitkit had just asked him the most obvious question in the world. "Once a season, there's what you would call a gathering. It takes place for a half moon, during which time the cats mate."
Chapter Three of HPSS: Arrival
At almost exactly sun high, Skykit saw two cats waiting by the side of the Thunderpath several foxlengths away. One was brown, like Bearclaw, and the other was black, like Shadowheart. Bearclaw greeted the brown cat as Grizzlyclaw and the black cat as Longtooth.
Neither looked particularly friendly.
"What Clan are you from?" Stormkit asked. "And why are all your pelts dark colors?"
"BearClan," Grizzlyclaw answered. "All BearClan cats are dark gray, brown, or black, just like all dark-colored she-cats are in RabbitClan."
Skykit noticed Rabbitkit studying the two new toms. "But suppose a kit is born to RabbitClan and the kit is light gray?" her sister asked.
Grizzlyclaw blinked, looking annoyed. "The kit goes to WolfClan if it is male and BirdClan if it is female."
"What about its birth clan?" Skykit meowed. Birth clan seemed to be everything in the four forest Clans.
"Kits are not born to Clans." It was Bearclaw who spoke this time. It seemed as though Shadowheart and Longtooth didn't speak unless they had to. "They are just kits. When they are apprenticed, they are assigned a Clan according to their pelt color and gender."
"What about us?" Rabbitkit asked. Skykit noticed that neither Stormkit nor Silverkit seemed eager to ask questions. "All our pelts are different colors."
"You will stay together until you are apprenticed, then you will each go to a different Clan."
XXX
"Here we are," Shadowheart meowed blandly. The six cats had been traveling off the Thunderpath for hours now, and finally, they entered a clearing surrounded by brush.
Bearclaw was ever ready with explanations. "Since it's the first moon of New Leaf, all the Clans have come together. From the new moon to the half moon, in the first moon of every season, all the Clans join here. It's a time for socializing, telling news, and mating. It's like a gathering that lasts for half a moon. This is our joined camp."
Skykit let her eyes wander around the clearing. She knew that there were about seventy cats in ShadowClan, WindClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan combined, and here there were eight Clans instead of four – and at least twice as many cats, maybe more.
"Where do we have to go now?" Skykit demanded.
Shadowheart regarded her with a cold eye. "You will come with us to Jagged Rock and our medicine cats will use the Bloodstone to speak with AirClan."
A beautiful golden she-cat padded up to them. "Hello, Shadowheart," she purred, her voice smooth as honey. "Where do these four kits come from?"
Shadowheart stared at Goldenheart. He blinked twice and turned back to Skykit and her sisters. "Follow Goldenheart. She's the FishClan medicine cat. She will take you to the den underneath Jagged Rock, where AirClan will decide your futures."
Skykit looked at her sisters. She was beginning to wish there were some aspect of this where they got any choice. The four kits padded slowly after the golden she-cat.
The Jagged Rock stood in the middle of the clearing. It was very large – larger than the Great Rock Skykit had seen at Fourtrees.
Goldenheart slipped into a small cave in the bottom of Jagged Rock. Skykit glanced back at her sisters, and then slipped into the cave as well.
After about a foxlength, the cave opened up. Jagged Rock was almost hollow inside. From a hole near the top of the rock, light shone directly on a blood red stone in the middle of the cavern.
"Don't worry, kits," Goldenheart meowed as they neared the stone. "The Bloodstone won't hurt you. Just a moment. Sit quietly, please."
Skykit and her sisters watched as Goldenheart lay down next to the Bloodstone and pressed her nose to it. Soon, she was in a dream state – or whatever it was that happened to medicine cats.
"I…"Stormkit began.
"Shh! Not so loud," Skykit mewed softly.
More quietly, Stormkit meowed, "What if they do split us up? I don't think we'll be able to get back to ThunderClan by ourselves."
"I think you will."
The four kits jumped. Goldenheart had stood up and now sat behind them.
"Your future lies in the paws of both AirClan and StarClan. Both ancestor Clans visited me and told me of what is to come. I cannot tell it all to you now, but you are to free our eight Clans. Sadly, you'll have to be split up at first, but you will bring us together."
Skykit pondered what this could mean, and suddenly a question popped into her head. But could she trust Goldenheart? She didn't seem to like Shadowheart all that much…or any of the kitnappers, really. Skykit decided to take a chance. "Why do the names of the tom Clans begin with types of hunter animals, and all the names of the she-cat Clans begin with prey animals?"
Goldenheart sighed. "That is a very long and complicated story. I can begin it now – but you must promise never to tell Shadowheart I told you." The medicine cat was speaking very quietly now.
"Promise," Rabbitkit meowed quickly. Skykit and the rest of her sisters spoke in unison, promising as well.
"Alright, then." Goldenheart sat down. "Gather around and listen closely."