Chapter 13

Nightcloud stretched out in her nest, careful not to wake her three sleeping kits. Watery sunlight was beginning to stream through the nursery's entrance, alerting the queen that morning had come. The black she-cat slowly stood up and stepped out of her nest, poking her head through the entrance. A blast of chilly air hit her face, causing her to blink quickly to get her eyes used to the cold.

"Good morning, Nightcloud!" a dark ginger she-cat meowed pleasantly, padding up to the queen.

"Greetings, Squirrelflight," Nightcloud replied, dipping her head respectfully.

Squirrelflight sat down on the frosty grass and ran a paw over her face. "Leaf-bare has finally arrived, hasn't it?"

"Yes," the queen agreed. "It won't be long until the snow comes."

"My kits are excited to see snow for the first time," Squirrelflight meowed. "They'll enjoy it for a day before they realize how much harder hunting is when they sink through it."

Nightcloud nodded absently. "How are the warriors recovering?" she asked, changing the subject. "I know Thornclaw, Brightheart, and Cloudtail were wounded badly in the battle."

The ginger she-cat sighed heavily. "Jayfeather says Cloudtail and Brightheart may join the elders. Their wounds may have taken a greater toll on them than we thought."

"I can't believe it's been a half-moon already since that awful night," the queen mewed. "I wonder what Onestar will do next. Surely he'll want to avenge Heathertail's death."

"I guess we'll find out at the Gathering tonight," Squirrelflight said. "I'm sure Onestar will start some kind of trouble." She sighed again, her green eyes staring at some imaginary scene in front of her. "It's hard for me to admit, but I'm glad I didn't ask to be deputy again when my kits were made apprentices. I'd gladly let Brackenfur make the decisions now."

Nightcloud nodded, understanding. "You just want your kits to be safe."

"Isn't that what we all want?" the ginger she-cat asked. "What kind of world do we live in where a queen can't protect their kits?"

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath High Ledge for a Clan meeting," Bramblestar called from his perch on the smooth gray stone.

Nightcloud glanced up at the leader from her spot outside the nursery, where she was eating a thin vole. Her kits bounced around her while she ate.

"He's going to announce who's going to the Gathering!" Swallowkit mewed.

"I wonder who gets to go," Eaglekit squeaked, watching the leader with wide green eyes.

Streamkit sat down next to her mother. "I wonder if Onestar will cause more trouble," she growled, a serious look in her dark amber eyes.

Their mother stood up and shook her pelt. "You'll have to stay quiet if you want to hear," she scolded gently. "Sit still now!"

Bramblestar looked out over the crowd of cats gathering in the center of the camp. Once he was satisfied at the turnout, he stood up to begin his announcement. "We have had quite an exciting moon. First Onestar, Harespring, and Crowfeather threaten us in our own camp, and then Onestar leads an attack against us. This will be an important Gathering, and I expect we will have a rather hostile reception from WindClan."

"Are you going to challenge them for attacking us?" Berrynose hissed, leaping to his paws. "They attacked in our camp! Kits could have been hurt!"

"I will certainly mention the battle tonight," the dark tabby leader growled. "Onestar must answer for his actions."

Berrynose snorted as he settled down, lashing his tail furiously. Poppyfrost pressed up against her mate, whispering something in his ear that seemed to soothe him.

Bramblestar sighed heavily, shaking his head slowly. "WindClan will be angry tonight, but so are we. I can only hope they keep the truce. It would not surprise me if StarClan sent clouds to cover the moon."

Brackenfur leaped up on the ledge beside his leader. "We would like Nightcloud to come with us tonight. We think that perhaps maybe she could persuade Onestar to back down and let us be."

The queen's eyes widened. "Me?" she gasped. "Surely seeing me would only cause more problems!"

"But it's worth a shot," the golden tabby meowed. "I don't think Onestar's going to listen to Bramblestar. If he won't listen to reason from us, maybe he'll listen to you."

"What would I say?" Nightcloud asked, a wave of nervousness pulsing though her. "What if I only make him angrier?"

Bramblestar exchanged a glance with his deputy. "We're hoping that if you can convince him that the kits are alright and safe that he will back down for their sake. If he truly cares about them, then their happiness should mean more than having them in WindClan."

The queen shifted her paws, glancing at her kits. They were sitting in a stony silence, not reacting to the leader's words. Sighing, Nightcloud nodded. "Then I will come to the Gathering. All I want is my kits to be safe. Hopefully Onestar will want that as well."

"Very good," the dark tabby meowed. "I would like to try to resolve this peacefully without any more spilled blood if possible. Onestar's already lost one warrior, and surely won't want to risk losing more. If we can't reach an agreement peacefully, though, I want him to know ThunderClan will fight to keep those kits safe."

Nightcloud dipped her head. "That's all I want."

Brackenfur nodded, giving the queen an approving glance. "We will also take Mousewhisker, Molewhisker, Cinderheart, Rosepetal, Birchfall, Whitewing, Spiderleg, Sorrelpaw, and Fernpaw to the Gathering."

"Those of you who are going tonight should rest," Bramblestar ordered. "We will leave when the sky begins to darken."

"Why does our father have to be so mean?" Eaglekit squeaked, giving his mother a worried look.

Nightcloud shook her head sadly, wrapping her tail around her son's shoulders. "I don't know. I thought he wanted kits, but as soon as he learned I was going to have you he got really mean."

"That's not nice!" Swallowkit hissed. "I wish I was old enough to go to the Gathering. I'd give Onestar a piece of my mind!"

"Now, I'll have none of that," the queen scolded. "We must try to reason with him. Maybe if we are nice to Onestar, he will be nice to us."

Eaglekit pushed away from his mother, unsheathing his claws. "Father made you leave home! He doesn't deserve us being nice to him! We should fight and make him be nice."

Streamkit sat quietly in the corner of the nest, her striped tail wrapped delicately around her paws. "Fighting should never come first," she mewed, barely loud enough to hear. "Violence never solves problems. It only causes more."

"But Father deserves violence!" Eaglekit pressed, digging tiny claws into the mossy nest. "He kicked Mama out of camp and nearly let Crowfeather kill her! Peace doesn't work."

The tabby kit only shook her head. "If we fight fire with fire, we only cause a bigger fire."

Nightcloud stared at her little daughter, surprised to hear such wisdom from the kit. "Streamkit is right, Eaglekit," she meowed. "We need to try to bring peace first. We only fight when we have to."

The tom narrowed his eyes, lashing his tail. "As long as our father is around, there will never be peace. You need to fight to get the peace you want."