Yay, next chapter! This one's in Dawnstar's POV! And thanks flareon200 for reviewing! Oh, and I've decided that I'm just going to update all of the chapters I have, just to get this done and over with^^
Dawnstar felt her eyes gleaming as she watched her Clanmates, which were so few, gather around each other. Scorchfur would make a fine deputy, she kept telling herself. He was as brave and loyal as any other Clanmates, but he seemed different from them. He was even different from his sister, Shrewfoot, who had also survived.
Only six cats survived from the eruption, and of those six, Mangokit was still considered a ThunderClan cat. She had been too young to remember her exile, considering Russetstar had been half-crazed.
The ShadowClan leader shook her head as she remembered clearly the days when Russetstar had made a fine, wonderful leader. She passed Blackstar's reign easily, and now, Dawnstar had to live up to their reputation. And even if she did, would the other Clans trust her so easily? After all, she had sided with Snakeclaw when he tried to take over all Clans.
But her mind had been clouded with his poisonous thoughts then. And she would never allow another cat to control her like that again. Never in her lives. She lifted her chin proudly as Scorchfur padded over. His yellow eyes were gleaming with a look of worry.
"Shrewfoot said that she's expecting kits," he murmured in a soft tone.
Surprise flickered in Dawnstar's eyes. Shrewfoot had been a warrior before Hollystar became leader, so it was really not surprising that she should be expecting kits. It was just surprising that the gray she-cat would be loving enough to take care of her kits. Shrewfoot was almost as ferocious as her brother, if not worse.
"She'll make a fine mother," Dawnstar forced herself to purr.
Scorchfur's eyes were still troubled though. "Yes," he mewed, though his paws shuffled the ground as he spoke. "Dawnstar, would...would StarClan be...angry if-" He didn't get to finish when Cinderstar's yowl carried off from the boulder where they had addressed the Clans earlier.
She sighed and looked at her deputy for a moment. Than the cream-colored cat launched herself onto the boulder, followed quickly by Weaselstar and Reedstar. Dawnstar narrowed her eyes at the RiverClan leader, whose pelt was gleaming in the bright sunlight.
He had agreed with leaving first hand, but she knew that he was only siding with Cinderstar because his mother, Mistystar had been good friends with her. Reedstar was old and foolish, and for that, Dawnstar just couldn't bring herself to trust him.
"The leaders have made their decisions," Cinderstar meowed, though she was looking at them as she spoke. Dawnstar dipped her head, thinking that the gray tabby wouldn't be addressing every cat forever. "We are going to leave in two suns. The Clans must prepare themselves, for we do not know exactly where we are going, but we'll think of something. Jayfeather told me in a dream that we must leave, or die."
Yowls of dismay and anger erupted from the cats around the clearing. "Who put you in charge?" Specklefoot hissed.
Cinderstar just waved her tail and looked at the other leaders. "Enough!" Dawnstar finally caterwauled. She was tired of seeing her Clan arguing, it was time they were put in their place. "Listen to Cinderstar."
There were a few disgruntled mutters and growls, but the Clans fell silent as Cinderstar gratefully continued. "Jayfeather told me that we must unite as one," she meowed, though even her eyes held a hint of confusion in them.
Dawnstar stared at her curiously. Didn't she trust her own former medicine cat? Was he really lying?
"The Clans must use the time we have to prepare themselves," Weaselstar meowed, cutting Cinderstar off. "WindClan! Hunt as much as you can, for this journey may not provide enough prey."
"RiverClan, gather herbs for Willowshine," Reedstar yowled. "We will need all the herbs we can gather if we are to survive."
Cinderstar nodded as she watched the Clans spring into action. Dawnstar made her own Clan help the others, and Cinderstar did the same. The time of the journey was upon them, no matter how much they didn't want it to be.
She slowly rose to her paws and padded over to where Scorchfur was giving orders. It was as though he was born for the job, but he still looked uncomfortable. As Dawnstar tried to figure out why, she noticed that his sister was no where to be seen, and Flamecloud was missing as well.
Suddenly his fear made sense. Shrewfoot was expecting Flamecloud's kits, one of the most forbidden parts of the warrior code.