Crane's Wing felt a nervous knot twist in his belly as he padded through the moorland. It was the full moon tonight and ThunderClan was heading to the Gathering. My last Gathering… Crane's Wing subconsciously slowed down a bit, wanting this to last a little bit longer.

"Are you okay?" Lionblaze asked. The golden tom was standing at his side. Crane's Wing nodded but Lionblaze looked doubtful. "The kits told me you haven't been feeling too well."

"We're not kits!" Sorrelstripe called from ahead of them. Her brother and sister were standing at either side of her just in front of them. "We're warriors."

"You'll always be kits to us," Crane's Wing responded.

"Cinderheart would be so proud of you three," Lionblaze said. The three young warrior's eyes glowed in the moonlight as they stared over their shoulders at their father. Lionblaze didn't talk about Cinderheart much.

Hollytuft bounded to his side. "Tell us about her."

Lionblaze purred. "She was the greatest cat I'd ever known."

Crane's Wing wanted to listen to Lionblaze talk about his fallen mate but was distracted when Fernsong went to his side. "Does he know?"

Crane's Wing shook his head. "I didn't know how to tell him. He's my best friend."

Fernsong snorted. "No duh. If you were a she-cat, you two would totally be mates."

Crane's Wing's eyes widened in mock offense and playfully swatted Fernsong in the face with his silvery tail. "How dare you suggest such a thing of your honorary dad?"

Fernsong purred in amusement. "'Cuz you know it's true."

Crane's Wing laughed alongside him. "As funny as that is, don't joke about that. For real. I don't want any cats thinking anything weird about Lionblaze. I'm not really into toms but I really don't want any cat thinking he's not loyal to Cinderheart or anything like that."

"Alright," Fernsong said, sobering up from his laughter though he still had amusement in his eyes. He looked back to the path they were walking on. As per the rules the clans decided on, they were walking along the border of the lake. The island was visible in the distance. Another clan had already made it and had begun walking across the tree bridge. "Will you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"The lake."

"Like the water part or…?"

"The clan part."

"Of course," Crane's Wing responded, surprised that Fernsong would ask such a thing. "Why wouldn't I?"

Fernsong shrugged. "I don't know… I mean, I love it here but it's all I've ever known. I don't know how you feel about it."

"I do love it here, I really do," Crane's Wing told him. "I've got friends here. And the prey runs well. And the weather is nice. And I like how the clans work. I've gotten used to it. I don't want to leave but I have to."

Fernsong nodded. "I understand. Sort of."

"That's all I ask," Crane's Wing said and lapped his ear affectionately.


By the time that ThunderClan reached the tree bridge, Crane's Wing and Lionblaze had gotten separated from the three new warriors and drifted over to Jayfeather and Dovewing. Lionblaze's kits were excited to talk with their former peers from the other clans and Lionblaze, Dovewing, or Crane's Wing usually crossed with Jayfeather. He didn't need the help of course but it made them feel a lot better even if he found it annoying.

The clan getting into a line, Bramblestar was the first to hop up followed by Squirrelflight. The senior warriors seemed to be heading the group after them followed by the apprentices and their mentors. ThunderClan had a lot of cats, a lot more than any other clan, and it took awhile for them to cross.

When they all made it over, Jayfeather immediately made a beeline for where the medicine cats sat, Lionblaze drifted over to where the WindClan cats sat in search of his father, and Dovewing began looking for Tigerheart, leaving Crane's Wing alone. He thought about trailing after Dovewing but one look from Tigerheart told him that he wasn't welcome. He didn't want to interrupt whatever was going on with Lionblaze and Crowfeather nor did he want to intrude on the medicine cats.

Bramblestar told me to come to this Gathering so I could say my goodbyes, Crane's Wing thought glumly. I don't know any cat outside of ThunderClan other than some of the cats who were apprenticed at the same time as me that Brackenfur made me talk to and I don't think they liked me much.

"Cranewing!"

Crane's Wing's head snapped up at the sound of his name. He felt his pelt flush. That looked way too desperate. He looked around for the source of the voice and his gaze fell upon Ivypool who was waving him over with his tail. He was a bit surprised but he picked his way over in a heartbeat.

"What's up?" he asked when he reached her side.

Ivypool jerked her head to the side, eyes sparking with amusement. "Watch these two go at it. Dovewing tells me you like this kind of thing."

Crane's Wing followed her gesture and his eyes fell upon two toms glaring at each other. One had the sturdy build of a ThunderClan cat, the other the lean frame of a WindClan cat. The latter had dark black fur and the former had a cream pelt and a stump for a tail.

"Is that Breezepelt and Berrynose?" Crane's Wing asked, recognizing his clanmate and his friends' half-brother. Crane's Wing hadn't gotten along with Berrynose upon his arrival but the two eventually made some peace. Crane's Wing didn't know Breezepelt all too well but after he and Lionblaze began an effort to make up, Crane's Wing spoke to him a number of times.

Ivypool nodded. "Yeah. The two most annoying cats in the clans."

"Really? I mean Berrynose is annoying and Breezepelt is kind of a jerk but he's not all that bad."

"You don't know him like I do," Ivypool snorted. Crane's Wing didn't ask what she meant by that. "Look at the two of them. They do this all the time."

Crane's Wing turned his attention back to the pair. They were facing each other, the cats around them giving them some room. They were talking. It seemed rather forceful but he couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Berrynose doesn't know when to stop boasting and Breezepelt doesn't know how to let things go," Ivypool explained, watching them casually. "It's pretty funny watching them try to one up each other, even if you can't hear what they're saying."

Crane's Wing purred. "You're right. It is."

Ivypool opened her mouth to say something but before she could, she was interrupted by the call for the Gathering to start. "Let the Gathering begin!"

It was Rowanstar who made the call. He settled down on his branch of the oak tree and looked to the other leaders. "Onestar? Would you like to begin?"

Onestar have a curt nod. "The prey is returning to the moors after last moon's battle with the stoats who invaded our territory and we are eating well thanks to WindClan's new warriors Fernstripe, Larkwing, and Featherpelt."

"Fernstripe! Larkwing! Fernpelt!"

Crane's Wing's voice joined the chants as he scanned the island for the three warriors. They stood there glowing with pride. His mind went back to when Bramblestar announced his own success in becoming a warriors. The island was filled with chants of his name. Some murmurs and questions had been mixed in with it but it was still a good memory.

"WindClan has nothing left to report," Onestar said and looked to Mistystar.

"Greenleaf is always a good season for RiverClan. The ice upriver has long since melted and the river is filled with fish," Mistystar informed. She looked to Rowanstar and Bramblestar. Bramblestar dipped his head to Rowanstar, prompting the ShadowClan leader to speak. Rowanstar gave Bramblestar an odd look but spoke anyway.

"ShadowClan is doing well. Twolegs have returned to the greenleaf twoleg place and some nosy kittypets wandered onto ShadowClan territory but thanks to a patrol lead by Wasptail they won't be coming back anytime soon."

Rowanstar nodded for Bramblestar to speak. Crane's Wing felt a nervous twinge in his belly.

"ThunderClan has three new warriors as well," Bramblestar announced. "Hollytuft, Sorrelstripe, and Fernsong."

"Hollytuft! Sorrelstripe! Fernsong!"

Crane's Wing momentarily forgot his nervousness and let his voice rise above the others to recognize the three cats that he'd come to know as his kits in all but blood.

Once the chanting died down, Bramblestar opened his mouth to speak again. "Three new warriors to replace one that is gone."

Murmurs of confusion sounded from the ThunderClan cats.

"What's the talking about?" Ivypool whispered. "No ThunderClan cat died."

"Just wait and listen to what he has to say."

"Crane's Wing has decided to return to his tribe and give up his warrior name to reclaim the name he came to us with."

Crane's Wing ducked his head and flattened his ears as yowls and hisses of outrage erupted from the island.

"Traitor!"

"Once an outsider, always an outsider."

"What? Why?"

"Did he say tribe?"

"What kind of name is Crane's Wing?"

"I can't believe I ever accepted him into the clan!"

"Good riddance! He was never going to be a clan cat."

Ivypool looked at Crane's Wing with wide eyes. "What? You're leaving?"

Crane's Wing nodded sadly and was about to explain himself when Bramblestar spoke again.

"That is not all. Due to his reasons for leaving, Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Jayfeather shall accompany him on his journey," the ThunderClan leader announced.

"Wait what?" Crane's Wing said loudly.

"Yeah, what?" Jayfeather repeated. "I never agreed to anything. Crane's tribe lives a over season's journey away. I can't leave my duties that long. And, y'know, I'm blind."

"My kits just became warriors. As much as I'd like to see off the cat who helped raise them, I want to be here for the start of their new life as warriors," Lionblaze added.

"I don't really have a reason other than that Crane's Wing is the only one who knows the way so I don't really see the point in the three of us going with him," Dovewing said.

Brambleclaw rose his tail for silence. "I'm sure Crane's Wing has explained himself to the three of you. There is-"

"This fluff brain doesn't explain anything."

"He talked to me about a dream but I told him to walk it off."

"I've never heard anything about this."

Bramblestar coughed. "As I was saying, Crane's Wing has received a dream from the ancestors of his tribe that may concern the clans so I'm sending Jayfeather, Dovewing, and Lionblaze with him. If any of you have had any dreams lately, please speak up and we can delay their journey to accommodate."

Rowanstar and Onestar's gazes swept the assembled cats while Mistystar looked to the medicine cats. "Have any of you heard anything?"

Littlecloud, Leafpool, Kestrelflight, and Willowshine shook their heads.

"If it was anything concerning, I'm sure StarClan would have contacted us," Willowshine said.

Jayfeather snorted. "StarClan doesn't know everything. Crane's Wing has different ancestors than us. They know things StarClan doesn't."

There were a few gasps and a ripple of murmurs through the clans at the sound of a medicine cat disregarding their ancestors but no voices broke out from the rest.

"Has any warrior or apprentice had any dreams from our ancestors StarClan or otherwise?" Onestar asked. A series of 'no's came from the crowd and a number of shaking heads.

"There doesn't seem to be any issues," Rowanstar said. "Bramblestar, are you sure your warrior isn't just lying to have an excuse to leave the clan without dishonor? After all, he claims to have received a dream from cats that our medicine cats know nothing of."

"Crane's Wing wouldn't-"

"How dare you disrespect my ancestors!" Crane's Wing hissed. He felt dozens of eyes fall upon him. He ducked his head, embarrassed. "Sorry Rowanstar. I speak before thinking sometimes. That was rude."

Rowanstar blinked and flicked his ear in acknowledgement.

"Anyway," Bramblestar went on, "if no cat has anything useful to contribute, the four of them will leave in a few sunrises. If cats from other clans who have experience with tribes wish to join them, they are welcome to ask Crane's Wing if they can but it may be a bit unnecessary."

No cat spoke up.

"Well, that's the most lively Gathering we've had in some time," Mistystar stated. She waved her tail in the air then jumped down from the oak. "RiverClan! We're leaving."

"WindClan after them," Onestar called but he turned to his fellow leaders rather than jumping down. Rowanstar seemed to be talking with Bramblestar in an urgent tone but Crane's Wing couldn't hear what he was saying.

Crane's Wing found himself being swarmed with cats as the Gathering was dismissed.

"You're from a tribe?"

"How dare you speak to Rowanstar like that."

"You don't believe in StarClan? What kind of cats is Bramblestar letting into ThunderClan?"

"Can I come? I've never met a tribecat but I've always wanted to explore beyond the clans."

"How could you just abandon your clan?"

Crane's Wing curled up defensively as he was pelted by furry bodies. "Ivypool! Lionblaze! Help!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lionblaze's golden pelt standing off to the side. "You brought this upon yourself."

"Screw you for not telling me you were leaving," Ivypool said but her voice held no resentment. If anything, she and Lionblaze were getting a kick out of watching Crane's Wing drown in angry cats.

"Let him be." A voice cut through the cluster. Crane's Wing uncoiled himself to see Brackenfur pushing cats away from him. His former mentor's eyes met his and he beckoned him with his tail. Crane's Wing scrambled to his feet and chased after him curious as to what Brackenfur wanted to tell him.


AN: Okay, so it's been awhile. I'm back. As I said, I was visiting some universities. I realized I really need to get my life together. Nothing new.

I did have a nice AN written but since it's been awhile, things have changed regarding the "Great Feathershade Wars" as Darth Jay called it. The fake Feathershade confessed and it turns out it was all in good fun but the problem may have gotten worse due to Feathershade's announcement and other people are impersonating them. I haven't been on fanfic for like a week and a half and I've got real life to deal with so I lost track of everything going on. Some people mentioned and I looked into things but I don't think this issue had to do anything with the stuff going on with their story/ stories. Crimson isn't responding to PMs and I really don't have any interest in reading all their ANs and reviews to figure out what's going on nor do I really care. Therefore, since this isn't a minor lighthearted thing anymore, I'm not going to write a fun lighthearted chapter making fun of it.

Anyway, about the chapter now.

I wrote this before I got any reviews about Lionwing. I would totally ship those two but I didn't know how the readers would take it and I don't really want to write romance.

My story The Wrong Pawsteps is coming to a close. Personally, I think it's way better than this story because I use an entirely different writing style. I encourage you to check it out. For those of you who have read it, do you like the more serious, professional writing style or just this stream of consciousness writing? I can write TAT chapters when I don't feel like writing or when I'm busy but TWPS is a type of writing I can be proud of. Which do you prefer? If you like the TWPS style better, I may put more of an effort to make TAT better but I doubt I'd bring it up to that kind of quality.

I kind of deleted my review responses so here are some new ones.

Reviews (Chapter 6)

Hilary Clinton- Yes, I know you're not the real one. I doubt any senior citizen reads Warriors or fanfic. I do find your reviews amusing though and I rather enjoy them. Normally I steer clear of politics on the internet but you're doing a good job of avoiding anything trigger worthy and everything is in good fun. The liar thing was a joke, don't worry. Also, it legit took me ten solid days to get the email/ liar joke (really, I wrote the response on the seventh and deleted it on the tenth and reread the review and finally got it). I'm a fairly educated person so I feel like an idiot for not getting it. That was funny, good job with that one. Yes, Midnight is smart. I think she's smarter than you though. She speaks a lot of languages, I'm sure she's learned some stuff from us twolegs over the years.

Darth Jay- I thought that was funny when I read it but ten days later I'm kind of over the whole thing. Good name though. As you can see, I'm using it.

lolololololololololno- If you're going to keep changing your user, make it something easy to spell. I can't copy and paste usernames. I'm just kidding, I don't care what you do with your account but it may make it hard to keep track of you if you keep doing it. Thanks for stopping those irrelevant reviews btw. Anyway, no the Tribe of Darkest Void is not a satanic cat tribe. I'm not a religious person and I don't like incorporating religious elements into my stories (I usually avoid even expressions regarding it). The tribe stuff is purely based off logic. For the clans, there is StarClan and the Dark Forest. Most cats honor StarClan but some "worship" the Dark Forest. Logically, the Tribe of Rushing Water has an ancestral tribe opposing the Tribe of Endless Hunting since they are the ascendants of the clans therefore the other two tribes would also have a "heaven" and "hell" (again, no religious intentions). The world isn't perfect so surely someone would make a mistake at some point and the Tribe of Darkest Void is that mistake I suppose. They live with foxes and badgers just because they've learned to look past species divisions. I find it highly amusing to picture you and Hilary Clinton in a dumpster with a bunch of weird animals and Hilary Clinton trying to keep everything all neat. No, I do not worship slenderman. I find the game interesting but not the actual superstition. I don't remember how I responded to your last review but if your serious about the taking candy from strangers, don't do that.

Feathershade (real)- Yes, Crane's Wing has terrible self esteem. About the troll thing, as stated above, the faker on this story has come clean and seems to have good intentions but asked me to let you know that your announcement may cause you some problems from other trollers. Which it seems to have. If you need to talk about anything or need help, feel free to PM me. I can't really do much more than you but I feel like you said somewhere that you're pretty young and (with age does not come any superiority, I'm sure you can handle this yourself if you want to) I personally wouldn't want to deal with this sort of thing when I was younger. I will slap anyone though the internet if they have wronged any of my readers without god reason.

That potato on the side of the street (real fake Feathershade)- I've decided I will call you That potato on the side of the street because Feathershade made a joke about that and I feel like you deserve your own name for now. You don't have to take it. If you want to be called something else, let me know. Anyway, thank you so much for coming clean about everything. I know your reviews were light spirited and some of the others really weren't and I appreciate that you're kind enough to be upfront instead of just continuing the joke or making it worse.