I'm so sorry I haven't been updating! And it was a cliffhanger too! I'm so sorry! Thank you to all my followers and reviewers! I will try to update this story as fast as possible from now on.

SwiftStar1: O.O Indeed! XD

Nayeli Kigaliss: Thank you so much! I'm sorry for the cliff, but I personally needed some excitement. The last Chapter was pretty dull to write.

Falling Silver29: Oh no! Don't kill me! XD You won't find out what happens next! :P Thanks for your support!

Chapter Seven

"Dogs!" came a long, loud, high-pitched wail as dozens of huge, brown shapes raced down into the Fourtrees clearing. Echopaw's fur bristled with fear. One dog came straight for the group of apprentices, charging at Milkpaw, who was the closest. With a yowl, Starpaw leapt onto the dog, followed by Minnowpaw and Darkpaw. The other apprentices circled it, clawing at its legs. The dog, realizing it was outnumbered, roughly shook off the apprentices on its back and fled for the forest.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Thornpaw, looking around wildly in case any other dogs came for them.

"I think so," called Lightpaw. "No, wait, Starpaw are you okay?" Echopaw turned herself to see Starpaw. She didn't look too bad, despite the fact she was limping.

"Just a torn claw," Starpaw reassured them. A small thought slowly crept into Echopaw's mind, causing her to bristle. Where were Flowerpaw and Stormpaw? Thornpaw seemed to think the same thing. One look at each other, and they were running side by side, weaving through cats and dogs, looking for two of the three newest ThunderClan apprentices. There were dogs and cats everywhere. Even though the Clans had chased out many of them, they just kept coming.

There was a sizzling sound, quite soft but loud enough to be heard. A huge bold of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the Great Rock with a force ten times the ferocity of TigerClan. The dogs howled and scrambled for the forest, leaving the cats staring up at the rock, frozen in fear. A ginger cat appeared on the rock, stars shining in his fur.

"Firestar," Thornpaw whispered.

"Two of eight shall journey high; through the mountains, through the sky. Darkness shall come to rise the light. The arrival that brought it shall stop the fight." And with that, Firestar disappeared into wisps of smoke. It was chaos, so many cats in confusion, until the ShadowClan leader, Snakestar, jumped onto the Great Rock and called for quiet. The other leaders followed.

"Everyone should group into their own Clans," he yelled. "Then, deputies, check that every cat is there." While everyone shuffled around to obey orders, Echopaw kept her eye out for her two other siblings.

"Now," continued Fallingstar, the RiverClan leader, "Is everyone okay?"

"We're okay, Fallingstar," came a yowl from the RiverClan side. Something caught Echopaw's eye; a bloodied warrior dragging a dead body over to the ShadowClan side of the Fourtrees. When the deputy caught sight of the pretty white she-cat, he raced over to her immediately.

"No Snowwing, no!"he yowled to StarClan, his voice cracking. Snakestar flinched, along with many other warriors, not just from ShadowClan. A blue-gray she-cat, Moonriver, leaned over to her and whispered, "Snowwing was his mate. She was expecting kits any day now."

Echopaw dipped her head in grief. Now the kits that were in her belly would never get to experience the glory of being in one of the four Clans, even if it was ShadowClan.

"Springpaw is injured," called a gray tabby from the WindClan side, "But he'll be okay." Songbreeze could be seen weaving through the throng of ThunderClan cats.

"I can't find Flowerpaw or Stormpaw," she said in a panicked voice. You could tell she was trying to stay calm, but her voice rose to a wail.

"The Gathering has come to an end,"meowed Snakestar softly, leaping down from the Great Rock. He bounded up the the edge of the forest, his Clan right behind him. Before running into the thick woods, he turned around and announced, "All Clans be careful. We don't know it they're still out there." And with that, ShadowClan fled into the trees. ThunderClan left next, anxious to search for their missing apprentices. Some ways into the forest, Redstar halted, causing everyone to bump into the cat in front of them. When Redstar didn't move, everyone started pushing forward to see what the disturbance was. When Echopaw made her way to the front, her eyes widened at the sickening sight laying there in front of her.

Because laying there, on the forest floor, were the broken, bloody bodies of Stormpaw and Flowerpaw.

Lol, I'm sorry. I just needed one more cliffhanger. I already have most of the eighth chapter written out, so it shouldn't be too long before that one's up. Thanks for reading!

-Shadow