AN: Sorry for the super long wait... I was unsure about this story. I reread the beginning chapters and made a big decision- I'm going to redo it all. But I will post the rest of the story first.
Weedstripe's whiskers twitched impatiently. The cold thrust through his pelt and all the way down to his bones. He was utterly frozen to the spot. The snowy air buffeted his fur and he shivered violently. Up above, the full moon glowed white, and the stars shimmered in a steady rhythm with each other, pulsing with the heartbeats of warriors fallen. Somewhere up there, Hollyclaw watched him. The clouds that dotted the sky sent down flurries of frozen rain in a white, billowing cloud, but nothing could block out the moon. He really hadn't wanted to come here. He had been spending time with his daughter, one of the only luxuries he had left. His parents were too busy and his sister was spending an awful lot of time with her mate.
Silently, Weedstripe pushed away his cold and wondered if his mate would approve of everything he'd done without her. His dreams had been invaded more often after the death of Hollyclaw by the other Weedstripe in the Place of No Stars, and he wondered if she knew he had been going there, and if she was disappointed in his inability to stop going.
"Come on!" Finchstar yowled as she led her Clanmates racing down the steep hillside and into the clearing. Like the past few moons, they were the first to arrive.
It didn't take long until SkyClan showed up, with whom the ThunderClan cats were hesitant to converse with, then RiverClan, which made the situation even worse, then WindClan, and finally ShadowClan, which was led by a rather flustered-looking Heatherstar. Silently, Spottedstar beckoned for the leaders to come to him and whispered something inaudible to them. Then the leaders dispersed, both Finchstar and Bearstar looking rather pleased with whatever the RiverClan leader had said.
Before any of the leaders could start the Gathering, Heatherstar hissed at Guststar, who glared a death-stare back. Eyeing the two quarreling leaders carefully, Finchstar swept her tail around her paws, seated at the very peak of the Great Rock.
"Let's start this Gathering!" Finchstar yowled. "ThunderClan's prey is running well- we have endured yet another leaf-bare! We will fully welcome this coming newleaf as a time to rebuild bonds with other Clans. We hope to maintain the peace," Weedstripe was unsure about his leader's words. He hoped that the other Clans didn't interpret it as a sign of weakness. "Also," she continued. "We are proud to inform you that though Toadleap was infected with whitecough, he fought it off and did well to keep it away from his Clanmates," she nodded to Bearstar. Weedstripe noticed how his leader said nothing about Hollyclaw's death.
"SkyClan," Bearstar started, his deep voice reverberating around the hollow, "Regrets to inform you that one of our warriors, Fanwhisker, has been killed. Webstep has taken over Barkpaw's training. On a lighter note, we have welcomed the birth of Plumheart's kit- Cloverkit- as well as the recent naming of three new warriors. Welcome Flystripe, Dewdrop, and Beetleflight," Weedstripe yowled his approval along with many of the other warriors. He didn't much like Flystripe or Beetleflight, but Dewdrop was nice enough. He'd have to congratulate her after the Gathering. When he looked back at the Great Rock, Bearstar was nodding at Spottedstar, who stepped forward with flattened ears.
"RiverClan admits defeat on our assault of the river's shores. But take heed Clans- we are not weak. In fact, we have moved two of our warriors into the nursery and have welcomed Waspstorm and Berrylight as warriors." The hollow rang with cheers and murmurs of approval, though most were from RiverClan. "RiverClan's prey is already swimming well, and I am sure that it will only swim more fruitfully as we pass into newleaf." The spotted brown tom dipped his head slightly to Guststar.
"WindClan too has welcomed new warriors- Coppertail and Swallowheart." Once more, cheers rang from all Clans, except, curiously, ShadowClan. "And we have also welcomed the birth of four kits to Ripplestorm. Other than that, WindClan has little to report." Heatherstar hissed exasperatedly as she took Guststar's place.
"Mouseheart!" she snarled at the WindClan leader. More than a pawful of surprised shrieks rose from the assembled Clans, and Weedstripe saw the WindClan cats start to bristle. "Admit it to the other Clans- you stole our two kits!" she cried, unsheathing her claws.
"Those kits are as much mine as they are Poppywhisker's," Guststar whispered in reply. All around the hollow, cats gasped. Weedstripe was shocked. Poppywhisker was a ShadowClan queen. It was bad enough that a cat would break the warrior code and have kits with a warrior from another Clan, but this was a Clan leader.
"Give us the kits!" Heatherstar yowled. She took one more menacing step toward the WindClan leader. He bristled, his fluffed-out fur buffeted violently in the chilling wind. Weedstripe glanced nervously up at the moon. Still, no clouds touched its silver surface.
Suddenly, a threatening glare turned into a scuffle, and a scuffle turned into a war between the two battling Clans. All around him, ShadowClan fought WindClan, and SkyClan and RiverClan cats fled the scene to their leaders, who were waiting away from the thick of the battle. Weedstripe raced to where Finchstar stood away in the quietest part of the hollow. She summoned the Gathering patrol with her tail.
"I'm going to see if I can stop Heatherstar from ripping all of Guststar's fur out," she huffed. "Torneye, come with me. The rest of you stay here," Weedstripe was tempted to follow his leader, but instead obeyed her orders. All of ThunderClan was silent as Finchstar and her deputy made haste through the ongoing fights and leapt up onto the Great Rock, where Guststar had Heatherstar pinned to the rock. Finchstar and Torneye struggled to pull the old tomcat off the ShadowClan leader.
"Look, the moon!" some cat cried from the battlefield. Weedstripe looked up in alarm and was shocked to see the moon shining an unnatural orange-red.
At once, all of the fighting cats joined their peers in silence. A few patches of dark clouds moved over the bloody moon, and the wind yowled in Weedstripe's ears. Suddenly, a loud clash of thunder followed a claw mark that scratched the sky. Then another bang as another band of lightning fell down on the cats in the clearing. Then, all Weedstripe could see was the golden paw of StarClan striking down the warring leaders.