Sandra sat in camp, grooming her pelt. It had been raining all day. It was the full moon tonight, meaning there was Gathering. Sandra remembered the Gathering from her book. It could go better.
Sandra looked up and saw Kyoya sitting near Masemune. Masemune was walking with him, but Kyoya didn't seem to be paying much attention. His gaze was fixed on Sandra. Sandra gave him a quick glare and looked away. I've got nothing to say to you! She trotted over to where Hollyleaf was sitting instead, talking to Cinderheart. The she-cats greeted Sandra with smiles.
"Hi, Sandra. It was great when you came back," Cinderheart meowed. Sandra blinked before remembering that Cinderheart had been Cinderpelt before, and Sandra hadn't talked to her much yet.
Sandra smiled back. "It's good to be back in ThunderClan. I've missed everyone."
"Sandra," Brambleclaw padded up to the group. "Firestar wants you to join the group going to the Gathering."
Sandra's ears perked up in excitement. "Really? He want's me to go?"
Brambleclaw smiled and nodded. "Yep. You'll finally see what a Gathering's like." The deputy padded away.
"Well, I'm going to go get some rest," Cinderheart meowed, padding over to the warriors' den.
"She doesn't know who she is," Hollylead meowed, sadly. "To me though, she's still Cinderheart."
"She is Cinderheart. She just thinks that Cinderpelt has a choice, and she doesn't want to make Cinderpelt be a warrior since she was a medicine cat, but Cinderheart herself really wants to be a warrior," Sandra meowed.
Darkness fell and soon Firestar appeared from his den, Sandstorm beside him. "We should leave. The break in the weather might not last long."
Brambleclaw stretched beside the warriors' den before following his Clan leader across the clearing. Sandra got up and joined the group of cats. She noticed that Alex was there, too. Sandra padded over to her side.
"Are you going to the Gathering too?" she asked.
Alex nodded, excitement in her eyes. "I can't wait!"
"Just be careful. The tension between the Clans is pretty bad this time around," Sandra warned.
"I'll be careful, don't worry," Alex promised.
"Let's go," Firestar meowed, leading his Clan away. "There's more rain coming. It may be a short Gathering." Firestar followed the trail to the forest's edge. They soon reached the island. Sandra and Alex padded side-by-side into the clearing, where the other Clans were already waiting. Alex stared awestruck by the scene.
"Wow," Alex breathed. "So many cats. You could hardly believe they're all from four different Clans just by looking."
Sandra purred with amusement. "Well, let's go find a place to sit." They padded around, scanning the clearing as they did so. Blackstar, Onestar and Mistystar were on the Great Oak's branches. Firestar leaped up to join them while Brambleclaw joined Rowanclaw, Ashfoot and Reedwhisker at the bottom. The medicine cats, Littlecloud, Kestrelflight and Willowshine, were gathered below the oak with Dawnpelt pacing in front of them, lashing her tail.
"What's her problem?" Alex asked, spotting her.
"That's Dawnpelt, Tawnypelt's daughter. She's waiting for Jayfeather to show up," Sandra explained.
"But Jayfeather didn't come tonight," Alex reminded her.
"I know, but that's only because the other Clans think he murdered Flametail, Littlecloud's apprentice," Sandra meowed.
"Jayfeather may have a temper but he would never do that," Alex meowed.
"Sandra! Alex!" Sandra and Alex looked to see Emma and Tawnypelt sitting a little ways away. "Come sit with us," Tawnypelt invited.
"Thanks, Tawnypelt! Emma!" Sandra purred, settling beside them.
"Emma? What are you doing here? And how'd you know it was her?" Alex asked.
"You didn't tell them that Ryuga and I were here?" Emma asked.
"I kind of forgot," Sandra admitted.
"Let the Gathering begin!" Blackstar yowled from the Great Oak. The cats in the clearing grew quiet, waiting for the leaders to speak. "Thank you, Firestar," he meowed, dipping his head to the ThunderClan leader. Firestar just narrowed his eyes. Blackstar went on, "You have followed the wishes of the Clans and kept Jayfeather confined to camp until we discover the truth about Flametail's death."
"How will the truth be known?" Spiderleg called.
Littlecloud stepped forward. "We are waiting for StarClan to speak. It's a difficult situation for all of us," he mewed, glancing at Dawnpelt.
"None of us are comfortable with it," Willowshine added.
"I don't know what happened but it's the best way since we have no way of telling what happened," Emma commented, silently.
Tawnypelt bowed her head, grief in her eyes. Alex looked at her. "What's wrong?"
"Flametail was my son," Tawnypelt meowed, sadly.
Sandra rested her tail on Tawnypelt's shoulder, comfortingly. Tawnypelt gave her a grateful look before looking back at the leaders. Onestar had stepped forward.
"WindClan has had good hunting over the past moon. We are ready for the coming season," he meowed.
Mistystar nodded. "We, too. Greenleaf filled the lake with fish and there has been ni illness in RiverClan."
"StarClan has blessed all the Clans," Firestar meowed.
"RiverClan has only one concern," Mistystar continued. "There have been traces of rogues and loners appearing in our territory. No cat has been spotted, but there have been strange scents and paw prints. And yet we have found no trails across scent lines. It's as if the cats simply appeared inside our territories."
"We have also seen signs of rogue intruders," Firestar meowed. "They've come at night and we've set up extra patrols, but no cats has actually been seen."
Onestar shifted his paws. "We've had strange scents, too," he admitted.
Blackstar hunched his shoulders. "There have been rogues in ShadowClan's forests as well."
"Have you actually seen anything?" Firestar questioned, leaning forward.
Blackstar shook his head. "Just scents, broken branch tips, tufts of fur."
"Whereabouts?" Mistystar pressed, her fur on her spine rising.
"Deep in our territory," Blackstar replied.
"Same here," Onestar added. "Nothing at the borders, but traces right at the heart os the moor."
"Most scents have been found in areas perfect for ambushes," Blackstar growled, his claws scraping the bark.
"As though an enemy is scouting for an invansion," Firestar meowed, grimly.
Pelts bristled around them. "i found orange fur on a gorse bush! It smelled like no Clan cat I know," Heathertail called.
"There were paw prints near our training ground that had a foul scent," Smokefoot chipped in.
"There was a trail of footprints tracking the river around our camp," Dapplenose rasped.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about," Blossomfall called. "Greenleaf has been warm and sunny. Kittypets, rogues and loners always stray father during fine weather." Sandra narrowed her eyes. Sure, Dark Forest apprentice!
"These were no rogues! I smelled RiverClan among the other scents!" Rowanclaw yowled.
Brambleclaw nodded. "And there was definately ShadowClan scent in ThunderClan territory."
"No ShadowClan warrior has trespassed across your border!" Blackstar growled, narrowing his eyes.
"RiverClan has no need to stray into other territories. We have everything we need in our own!" Mistystar growled.
Cats began shifting away from one another. "Listen to what you're saying!" Firestar hissed. "We haven't all been invading one another's territories!"
"Then how do you explain the scents?" Dawnpelt challenged.
"If rogues have been traveling across all the territories, they could have picked up scents and spread them like fleas in their path," Firestar explained.
"The scents have been confusing," Mistystar agreed, her fur smoothing a little.
"If rogues could carry scents from one territory to another, so could a Clan patrol," Onestar pointed out, his eyes narrowed to slits.
Sandra tensed. This wasn't the time to be arguing! The Clans needed to stand together!
Firestar met Onestar's gaze. "Then we should all step up patrols and try to find these cats."
"Send out more patrols!" a ShadowClan cat called.
"We must stay alert!" a RiverClan warrior yowled.
"And if any Clan finds evidence, we must share it with the other Clans!" Firestar pressed.
Onestar bristled. "And warn them they've been found out? Never!"
"I protect my own Clan. No other," Mistystar growled, stepping away from the other leaders.
All the cats began heading toward their own Clan. Sandra nudged Alex and led her toward the ThunderClan cats. "Come on. We don't want any trouble." Alex nodded and followed her.
The leaders leaped down off the Great Oak, leading their Clans away from the island. "Come on!" Sandra mewed to Alex, leaping away in search of Emma. Alex followed her.
"Where are we going?" Alex asked.
"We're looking for Emma. I need to fill her in, and I might as well fill you in too," Sandra explained, looking for Emma among the ShadowClan cats. She soon spotted her glancing around. "Emma! Over here!" Sandra called. Emma spotted her and padded over.
"Mind explaining all of this to me now?" Emma asked.
"We can't talk here. Follow me!" Sandra hissed, leading the two away from the clearing and into the bushes. "This should do."
"Now, what's going on?" Emma asked again.
"Those scents aren't rogues," Sandra meowed.
"So, the Clan cats really are trespassing on each other's territory?" Alex asked.
Sandra shook her head. "The scents come from the Dark Forest cats. They consist of Tigerstar, Darkstripe and all other former Clan cats like him. They have their hearts set on destroying the Clans and are preparing for battle as we speak. They are the ones who have been scouting the territories. They have also been training some Clan cats in theur sleep, though those cats don't know what they are doing."
"Who are they training?" Alex asked.
"Redwillow, Tigerheart and Applefur from ShadowClan, Hollowflight, Minnowtail, Icewing, and Beetllewhisker from RiverClan, Breezepelt, Sunstrike and Furzepelt from WindClan, and Ivypool, Blossomfall, Birchfall and Mousewhisker from ThunderClan," Sandra answered, not sure if she should tell them about Kyoya and Masemune. "They always wake up with unexpected wounds."
"Unexpected wounds...hey! Kyoya and Masemune wake up with wounds! Maybe they're training in the Dark Forest!" Alex meowed.
Sandra sighed. "Yeah, they are. That's what I fought with Kyoya about. I haven't talked to him since."
"They can't know what they're doing, can they?" Emma questioned.
"They don't. The only one's that do are Ivypool and Breezepelt, and Ivypool is spying on the Dark Forest for Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Dovewing. They're part of a prophecy and are meant to stop the Dark Forest cats," Sandra explained. "Breezepelt, however, wants the Dark Forest to win."
"How could any cat think that? It's awful!" Alex meowed.
"We can talk later. We've got to get going before we're left behind!" Emma pointed out. "I'll keep an eye on the ShadowClan cats that are training in the Dark Forest," she promised before dashing off.
"We'd better go too," Alex meowed. Sandra nodded and followed her as she dashed away.