Leopardheart tried her best to keep up with the patrol, trying not to limp so she would fall behind. Her wounds stung every step she toke but she ignored the pain. She had to make it to the Gathering tonight. She had to find out if that rogue had something to do with the fight with WindClan earlier.
"Don't you think Leopardheart should stay back at camp?" Leopardheart perked her ears up to hear Ravensong's voice.
"I mean, she just fought in a pretty bad fight today. All the other cats from that patrol are staying behind. Why does she get to go?" Ravensong muttered.
Dawnheart was the one to reply. "I agree but maybe Cedarstar thought she was fit enough to go today."
"Sparrowheart is more fit to travel then Leopardheart. Look at her! She's trying so hard to not to limp that she can barely keep up," Ravensong retorted.
"Calm down, Ravensong. You sound like if you're jealous that Leopardheart is going and you're not. You both are going so there's no need to act like this," Dawnheart whispered.
Ravensong let out a sigh. "Look, I have no hard feelings for her but she should have stayed behind and recuperate with the rest of the patrol. Besides," Ravensong paused for a bit before continuing what she was saying. "She's not the only that I think should be staying behind."
Leopardheart assumed that Ravensong meant Cedarstar because she could see him moving slowly and breathing heavily. Nightfall was talking to him about something but he refused every time. Leopardheart guessed that the deputy wanted him to go back to camp.
"Are you sure you're okay? You keep falling back." Leopardheart turned to see Thornpelt next to her, his green eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine, Thornpelt," Leopardheart replied. Thornpelt still didn't look convinced. "You know, you can always head back. Cedarstar'll understand why and I'll tell you what happens," Thornpelt said, the concerned look never leaving Leopardheart.
Leopardheart brushed her tail along Thornpelt's back. "I know you're concerned about me and I know that you'll tell me every little detail at the Gathering but I'm fine," Leopardheart reassured as she moved faster to catch up with the patrol. Thornpelt caught up with her, a smile crossed his face.
"If you say so," Thornpelt mewed though there was still a little bit of concern left in his eyes. The patrol came to halt and they had finally reached Sky Rock, the place where they went every moon for the Gathering.
"Remember to stay away from WindClan. We don't want to upset our ancestors by fighting tonight," Cedarstar warned. The Clan murmured in agreement and went to about their ways.
Leopardheart padded along with Thornpelt. She could hear the hisses and growls from many WindClan cats but she ignored them. Thornpelt's whiskers twitch in amusement. "It sounds like someone put thistles in their nest," Thornpelt muttered, trying to lighten up the mood. Leopardheart let out a purr but stopped when she heard a horrible, raspy hiss.
She recognized it as Lizardfang's and saw the WindClan deputy spiting and hissing something to Nightfall. She could see that it must be really offensive because Nightfall's pelt was bristling but she said nothing and settled down next to Oakclaw, the ThunderClan deputy.
Leopardheart's claws unsheathed as she dug them into the ground. How dare Lizardfang take to Nightfall like that! Thornpelt laid his tail on Leopardheart's shoulder. "Remember the truce," he whispered. Leopardheart nodded and sheathed her claws but she still wanted to claw the WindClan deputy's fur off.
Leopardheart walked along with Thornpelt, trying her best to ignore what happen with Lizardfang and Nightfall. Thornpelt settled down as did Leopardheart. "Thornpelt, Leopardheart, hello." Leopardheart and Thornpelt turned to see something they didn't expect them to see today. It was Snaketail, son of Lizardfang, smiling and talking to them. Leopardheart's ears twitch in confusion. "Um, hello Snaketail. How are you?" Leopardheart asked, though still confused on why a WindClan warrior was talking to ShadowClan warriors after what happened.
"I'm fine. Do you know where Dawnheart is?" Snaketail asked. Thornpelt and Leopardheart nodded slowly and pointed to where Dawnheart was with her sister. Snaketail padded over to her, saying thanks to Thornpelt and Leopardheart.
Leopardheart still had a confused look on her face until Thornpelt nudged her. "He's always been an odd one," Thornpelt said, his whiskers twitching with amusement. Leopardheart purred in laughter but she had to agree with Thornpelt. For the son of Lizardfang, Snaketail didn't act like her or any of the other WindClan cats.
"I told you it was Leopardheart." Leopardheart and Thornpelt turned to see Silverfur, Mistcloud and Russetfur, RiverClan warriors.
Silverfur dipped his head in greeting. "I heard from some of the WindClan cats that you were in a nasty border fight. Is it true?" Silverfur asked, his blue eyes were gleaming with excitement that Leopardheart didn't get why.
"Um…Yes, I was there," Leopardheart replied, still confused with Silverfur's tone of voice and the gleam in his eyes.
Silverfur's eyes got bigger. "Did ShadowClan beat WindClan. WindClan is too stubborn to admit it," Silverfur asked.
Leopardheart nodded. "Yes, we won," she replied. Russetfur and Silverfur let out purrs of happiness.
"Excellent! I hope you clawed them really good. That'll teach those prey-stealing fox hearts," Russestfur snarled, as he swiped the air.
'Wait! Did Russetfur say something about WindClan stealing prey?' Leopardheart wondered if this had something to do with that rogue.
"Wait, did you say that WindClan has been stealing from RiverClan?" Leopardheart asked. Russestfur and Silverfur nodded.
"Yeah, they are. I guess RiverClan fish tastes much better then WindClan rabbits," Silverfur chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "It's great that someone put those mangy flea-pelts in there place," Russestfur mewed.
Leopardheart nodded but she notice something unusual. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Mistcloud was looking down at her paws, shifting them uncomfortably. Wouldn't Mistcloud be happy with Russestfur and Silverfur as well?
"Let all cats gather around the Sky Boulder and let this Gathering come to a start," yowled Pebblestar, the WindClan leader. With little time at all, all the cats began to gather around the boulder. Leopardheart noticed that Cedarstar was not with the rest of the leaders. Then see saw Cedarstar struggling to climb the tree branch that lead to the top of the boulder, Nightfall trying to help him.
Pebblestar snorted in impatience but was quieted by Snowstar, who glared at the WindClan leader. As Cedarstar managed to climb on the branch and was helped to get to the boulder by Snowstar. Cedarstar dipped his head in thanks and the gathering began.
"I'll start," Badgerstar said. "RiverClan is doing well. "Smallbird has given RiverClan two kits, Toadkit and Duskkit. Prey is bountiful and," Badgerstar narrowed his eyes at Pebblestar. "RiverClan will be increasing its border patrols."
Pebblestar's pelt bristled with anger. "Are you accusing WindClan of stealing RiverClan prey?" Pebblestar asked, narrowing his eyes back at Badgerstar.
Badgerstar's eyes flared with annoyance and frustration. "I never accused any Clan of stealing our prey. All I am saying is that we will be increasing our border patrols to make sure that intruders keep out," Badgerstar said sternly, almost like a growl or a hiss.
Pebblestar glared at Badgerstar but said nothing more. "WindClan has something to say," Pebblestar yowled. "I bring grave news. Fallownose was killed by a badger not long ago and she is in StarClan now. A patrol managed to chase the badger over the ShadowClan border," Pebblestar said, looking over at Cedarstar.
"However, we have good news as well," Pebblestar continued. "WindClan has a newly named warrior and two apprentices. Ashpaw, Breezepaw and Whitefoot."
The Clans began cheering for Whitefoot, Ashpaw and Breezepaw expect for ShadowClan, who stayed silent.
Pebblestar lifted his tail for silence and pressed on. "I have one more thing I would like to share," Pebblestar said, giving a hard look at Cedarstar. "WindClan will also be increasing our border patrols."
Cedarstar's pelt bristled with anger. "I would like to point out that ShadowClan did not steal anything from WindClan," Cedarstar said.
Leopardheart could hear the WindClan cats muttered among each other.
"Typical ShadowClan. Always thinking they're the best," one said.
"Everyone knows they are a bunch of lying, stealing, good for nothing fox-hearts," another murmured.
"Want to that to our faces, you mangy flea-bitten cowards?" Leopardheart turned to see Crowclaw with his back arched and his claws unsheathed, hissing at a group of WindClan warriors who also had their claws unsheathed. "Say that again, and I'll claw off your ears!" he spat, just about to attack the WindClan cats until Ravensong stepped between them.
"That's enough Crowclaw! Remember what Cedarstar said," Ravensong spat.
Crowclaw flattened his ears back. "But they-" Crowclaw started but Ravensong interrupted him.
"I don't care what they did. You know how to behave at a Gathering. You're a mentor for StarClan sake! Set a good example for Birchpaw," she hissed.
Crowclaw looked down at the white tom, his eyes wide with shook that his mentor was going to start a fight during a truce. Crowclaw backed down, sheathing his claws and hung his head in shame.
Leopardheart knew that Crowclaw would never argue with Ravensong. Every cat in ShadowClan could see that he had a crush on the black and white she-cat.
Pebblestar stared at Crowclaw and turned his attention back to Cedarstar. "Like we said, the badger headed to your side of the territory. We just want to make sure that that badger and other creatures don't cross our territory," Pebblestar said with a snide tone in his voice.
Cedarstar's pelt bristled. "I want you to know that those herbs were right on the border. They belonged to ShadowClan as much as another other Clan," Cedarstar hissed.
"They also are much WindClan's herbs as they are ShadowClan's. Beside, I heard that a ShadowClan apprentice did cross the border, am I not mistaken?" Pebblestar asked, keeping the same snide tone in his voice from before.
Cedarstar's pelt bristled even more, his hiss now a low growl. Leopardheart was afraid that Cedarstar was going to attack Pebblestar right then and there, even though he told ShadowClan not to start a fight with WindClan tonight.
"Cedarstar, remember the truce, or StarClan will get angry," Sageberry called out from the ground.
Cedarstar looked up at the sky, a thin cloud covering a bit of the moon. Cedarstar toke a few deep breaths to calm himself down.
"Thank you about the badger warning, Pebblestar. I'll make sure to get Nightfall to organize extra patrols in case we come across it," Cedarstar said, beckoning to the black she-cat next to Sageberry.
"Now ShadowClan has something to share as well," Cedarstar pressed on. "Frostfire has joined the elders today. ShadowClan is thankful for many moons of service that Frostfire provided us. We also have a new warrior today, Fawncloud, who is sitting vigil tonight."
The Clans cats, all expect WindClan, cheered for Fawncloud, even though she wasn't there. Cedarstar waited until their cheering died out before continuing.
"ShadowClan also has three new apprentices as well. Sedgepaw, Mosspaw and Mudpaw, who are not with us this evening. Also, there is some important news that ShadowClan wishes to share," Cedarstar paused before continuing on. "A few days ago, one of our warriors spotted a rogue cat on ThunderClan territory. We caught the rogue scent on ShadowClan territory as well, its scent mixed with ThunderClan's. We believe that this rogue crossed into our territory from ThunderClan and went into the other Clan's territory."
Yowls of disbelief came from the crowd. Leopardheart could hear the other warriors murmur and whisper among each other about Cedarstar.
"Does Cedarstar have bees in his brain? What rogue would be mouse-brained enough to cross one let alone more of our territory?" one muttered.
"Poor Cedarstar. The heat must be getting to him. Why else would he think a rogue would cross more then one Clan's territory?" whispered another.
Pebblestar let out a smirk and rolled his eyes. "You're going senile, Cedarstar. Use your brain. What rogue would be stupid enough to cross one, let alone four Clan territories? Even if it did, a patrol would have found it," Pebblestar sneered.
Leopardheart dug her claws into the ground. She wanted to jump up there and rip the fur off of Pebblestar's pelt but she restrained herself. She could see her Clanmate's pelts bristling as they restrained themselves from attacking any cats.
"Pebblestar, Cedarstar isn't senile! He's telling the truth," Snowstar hissed at the WindClan leader. The pretty white she-cat turned her attention to all the Clans. "ThunderClan scented a rogue a few days ago and the scent seemed to lead towards ShadowClan territory. We've been increasing our border patrols around that time because of a fox that settled itself on our territory. Oakclaw had told me that no one saw the rogue but they did scent it. I went on a patrol to investigate the scent to see," Snowstar stooped and toke a few deep breaths as if to calm her down. "We saw the fox, dead, with its throat torn out. The rogue's scent was strongest where fox's corpse was. We believed that the rogue and the fox had a brawl…and the rogue killed it."
Pebblestar burst out laughing. "You too, Snowstar? Please, I expect Cedarstar to have bees in his brain but you? I know you, Snowstar. You aren't an old badger like him. Do you really expect me to believe that a rogue killed a fox when it takes a patrol or two of Clan cats to drive out a fox?" Pebblestar jeered.
Badgerstar looked at Snowstar. "Are you sure this wasn't a group of rogues?" Badgerstar asked, concern in his eyes.
Snowstar shook her head frantically. "No. Every cat from my patrol only smelled one unusual cat scent. We're pretty sure only one cat was there."
Pebblestar rolled his eyes again. "Do you honestly believe that any cats will believe that a lone cat could kill a fox?" Pebblestar jeered.
"She's not lying! I saw it myself," Leopardheart shouted. All cats directed her attention to her, their feel their gaze hard on her pelt. Leopardheart felt hot with embarrassment. Pebblestar's whiskers twitch with amusement.
"Oh really? Tell me, what does this so called fox killing cat look like?" Pebblestar asked, a smug cockiness in his voice.
Leopardheart's throat grew hard and dry as she struggled to explain to everyone what she saw. She had never had this many cats turn their attention towards her. However, she couldn't let the other Clans see how nervous and panicked she was. 'Calm yourself, Leopardheart. You need to get use to cats paying attention to you if you want to be leader someday,' Leopardheart mentally reassured herself, taking a few deep breaths to calm her down and looked steadily at Pebblestar.
"It was a big cat. Probably the biggest cat I've seen in my life. It also had a spotted pelt," Leopardheart explained.
Pebblestar let out a curt snort. "Well, that's vague," Pebblestar snorted.
"Well sorry I didn't trespass on another Clan's territory to see what a rogue looks like!" Leopardheart hissed, sick of Pebblestar's attitude.
Pebblestar's whiskers twitch. "Really? If I remember correctly, wasn't your apprentice that trespassed on our territory? I guess ShadowClan apprentices are too stupid to know a simple rule in the warrior code?" Pebblestar sneered.
That's it. Leopardheart had had it with Pebblestar's arrogance. She was just about ready to pounce up there and claw Pebblestar's face up until Thornpelt placed his tail in front of her.
"Calm down, Leopardheart. We can leave soon. It's not worth it," Thornpelt whispered. Leopardheart settled herself down and toke a few quick, deep breaths to calm her down but her blood still boiled with rage.
Pebblestar let out a smug smirk and turned his attention away from Leopardheart. "I think we should go now," Thornpelt whispered to Leopardheart.
Leopardheart agreed with Thornpelt. She had found out what she needed to know. There was no point in staying here any longer. Leopardheart nodded and she staggered to get up but her injuries were making her stiff. Thornpelt supported the golden she-cat and the two ShadowClan cats quietly snuck out of the Gathering.
Thornpelt and Leopardheart entered the ShadowClan camp. Fawncloud was at the entrance, sitting for her vigil.
"They'll be back soon, Fawncloud," Thornpelt said. Fawncloud nodded at Thornpelt and continued her vigil.
Leopardheart collapsed the ground, exhausted. Her muscles ached so hard that she felt like she would be feeling them for another quarter moon.
Sedgepaw came over to Leopardheart, a lizard in her jaws. "Leopardheart! You're back early. How was the Gathering?" Sedgepaw asked, dropping the lizard in front of her mentor and nudged towards her.
Leopardheart gave Sedgepaw a grateful look. "Thank you, Sedgepaw. It was fine," Leopardheart replied as she toke a bit out of the lizard.
"So, what happened? What did the leaders say?" Sedgepaw asked frantically, her tail twitching with impatience.
"Calm down Sedgepaw. Let me finish eating first," Leopardheart chuckled, finishing the last bit of her lizard. "There have been a lot of issues with cats crossing the Clan borders. Snowstar believes that a rogue might have been the one doing it and not any Clan cats."
Sedgepaw's eyes widened as she leaned in closer. "Do you think it's that rogue you saw a few days ago?" she asked.
Leopardheart paused for a bit. It did seem suspicious that all of the Clans were having border problems and that ThunderClan actually scented the rogue on their territory but Leopardheart couldn't jump to any conclusions that she may be wrong about.
"I'm not quite sure yet but it seems like it'll most likely be that rogue," Leopardheart responded.
"If that rogue ever comes back again, I'll make sure it'll never cross ShadowClan territory as long as it lives," Sedgepaw snarled playfully as she nudged Leopardheart's injured shoulder.
Pain stung Leopardheart as she bit her lip to prevent from yelping in pain.
"Sedgepaw! Be more careful around Leopardheart. She's still hurt, you know," called Sageberry from her den. Sedgepaw looked at her paws with a bit of embarrassment.
"Sorry Leopardheart. I guess I forgot," Sedgepaw mewed.
Leopardheart swiped her apprentice's ear playfully. "No worries. Just be more careful next time," Leopardheart said.
Sageberry came over to Leopardheart, a bunch of herbs in her mouth. Sageberry started separating each and every different herb into neat little piles. "Sedgepaw, can you give these to Brindlekit? Rosethorn told me she caught a fever not to long ago. Make sure she eats them," Sageberry ordered Sedgpeaw, pushing the white flowered herbs towards her.
Sedgepaw nodded and grabbed the herbs. "I'll make sure she eats every leaf, you can count on me," Sedgepaw declared and rushed off to the nursery.
Sageberry turned back to her herbs and nudged some poppy seeds in a leaf wrap. "Here, eat these," Sageberry said as chewed some leaves into a paste and applied it to Leopardheart's shoulder.
Leopardheart perked up her ears as she heard Nightfall burst through the camp, rushing over to Sageberry, panting hard.
"Nightfall, is something the matter?" Sageberry asked.
"Sageberry…Cedarstar's in trouble…He started walking awkwardly…and then…he just collapsed and started wheezing and coughing…really badly," Nightfall panted, gasping for breaths in between her words.
Sageberry's eyes widened in shock. "I'll be right there. Maplepaw! Come over here and keep applying this paste onto Leopardheart's shoulder. Cedarstar's in trouble," she yowled and rushed to her den and was out with a bundle of herbs in her mouth in no time.
Maplepaw come soon and continued to apply the paste on Leopardheart's shoulder. "Is Cedarstar alright? Sageberry sounded worried," Maplepaw asked, concerned.
Leopardheart shook her head. "Honestly Maplepaw, I have no idea," Leopardheart grimly replied.
Maplepaw slowly nodded her head but there was still a grim look in the tortoiseshell's blue eyes. She took the paste off her Leopardheart's shoulder. "That should be fine for now. Try not to overwork it for a couple of days," Maplepaw muttered, her mind clearly on Cedarstar's well-being.
Not long after, Cedarstar stumbled into the camp and collapsed on the ground, his breathing heavy and rapidly. The Clan gathered around the rasping Cedarstar.
"Alright, alright, give him some space! How's a cat going to breath with the whole Clan gathering around them?" Sageberry pushed and she gestured the Clan to move back. Everyone did so but Leopardheart could hear the Clan muttering among each other but she couldn't hear what exactly what they were saying but she guessed that they were worried about Cedarstar's well-being.
Nightfall padded up next to Sageberry. "Will he be alright?" Nightfall asked, her voice filled with panic.
Sageberry didn't reply. She squeezed the juice from the herbs into Cedarstar's mouth but it was no use as Cedarstar kept coughing up the juice right back out. Leopardheart's stomach felt knotted as Cedarstar's breathing became more swallow distant until Leopardheart couldn't hear it at all.
Sageberry pelt bristled as she looked up at Nightfall, her blue eyes filled with sorrow and grief. "I'm sorry, Nightfall," she murmured. "He's losing a life."