Chapter 27

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Nightclaw listened to her friends drift off to sleep but she just couldn't do it herself. Finally she got up and padded outside the den. Outside the stars shone down brightly and the near full moon accompanied them.

She gazed up at the sky, wondering as always if she was doing the right thing. A movement out of the corner of her eyes made her turn away. It was Grasspelt. Almost instinctively Nightclaw lifted her lips into a snarl. The brown queen turned to see whom it was and narrowed her eyes.

"Shouldn't you be in your den?" she asked. "You'd better not be up to something. Anyway it would be no use; you can't do anything. I control the clan." Nightclaw impulsively looked up at the moon, and then looked back down again quickly. Grasspelt followed her gaze suspiciously as Nightclaw returned to her den.


"Can't we just go?" Goldfur hissed in exasperation. Nightclaw shook her head impatiently.

"We have to wait for her to come to us," she said. Her tone suggested that they had been over this already. Goldfur kneaded the ground in frustration. She felt so helpless just waiting here! The sun got steadily higher until finally Sunpaw came in.

"How many cats are in SnowClan?" Nightclaw meowed urgently.

"There's Skystorm, me of course and all of the apprentices except Littlepaw," Sunpaw answered. "Why?" she asked.

Goldfur quickly told her about the dream and their plan. Sunpaw nodded slowly.

"That should work if Grasspelt goes to the gathering." she meowed. "Then I can get someone to let you out of the camp." Nightclaw hesitated, not sure of how Sunpaw would react to her idea.

"You know how we are called ForestClan and you are called Snowclan?" she began. "I think that we should join together and become a bigger clan, one that has its own territory," she mewed nervously. Sunpaw's eyes grew round and wide in shock.

"Where would we go?" she asked. It was only one of the many questions that circled her head.

"The territory at the end of SandClan and ShellClan's territory furthest away from the ocean." Nightclaw answered. "We know how to hunt in that type of terrain and none of the other clans want it."

Suddenly Sunpaw realized that her questions weren't ones that she could just ask for the answers and have them straight away. If they wanted to go through with this she had to take a chance and hope that fate turned out well.

She swallowed and nodded slowly, fully aware of what she had just agreed to. Suddenly she froze. She could hear voices! She quickly pressed herself against the wall.

"Let's go hunting together Icefur!" A flirty voice mewed. Sunpaw recognised Grasspelt's voice and her eyes hardened. Nightclaw peered out of the den and when she pulled her head back, her eyes held a murderous glare. Sunpaw noticed this and suddenly something make sense.

"You like him don't you?" It was a statement not a question. Nightclaw went to shake her head then realized that it was a waste of time. She sighed and nodded. Sunpaw understood a lot more now. That explained so much. That was why Nightclaw hated Grasspelt so much and that was why Grasspelt drove her out in the first place.

"When is the gathering?" Goldfur asked. Her face held an unreadable expression. An almost frightened look entered Sunpaw's eyes.

"Two days from now," she mewed.

"I just hope we'll be ready." Nightclaw meowed, her voice so quiet the other scarcely heard it.


The next few days passed slowly for ForestClan. They had finalised the plans but now there was nothing to do. Petalpaw was especially bored and the warriors could not entertain her. Tension rose and even ShellClan were edgy. Nightclaw wondered why but she had no way to ask.

Nightclaw woke up in the night and peered out of the den. Movement caught her eyes and she turned to see Grasspelt cornering Sunpaw.

"Why are you always hanging around the prisoners den? I know you're up to something!" Grasspelt glared at the orange apprentice but there was something more in her eyes. Suddenly Nightclaw realized what it was. Fear! Grasspelt was scared of being revealed.

"Well, you can't do anything to me," The brown queen turned away, flicking her tail in Sunpaw's face.


The next day was the day of the gathering. It passed slowly again but finally night fell and Leafstar leapt into the tall tree.

"The cats going to the gathering are Dappledstorm, Beachstripe, Skystorm, Rockclaw, Icefur, Grasspelt, Badgertail, Sunpaw, Lilypaw Branchpaw and Smokecloud," she meowed, then jumped down and waited for the chosen cats to follow. As she walked over Sunpaw made a small detour to see Nightclaw.

"Rosepaw and Starpaw will help you out. Be ready," she hissed. Nightclaw watched her leave with all the other cats to the gathering. She waited with her friends as the minutes dragged by. Finally Starpaw and Rosepaw slithered in.

"We have to be quiet, Ambereyes is outside." Rosepaw warned. Nightclaw nodded, her paws itching to get moving. They followed Rosepaw out of the den and crept past Ambereyes and all of the other warriors guarding the camp.


Sorry this took so long! It's a bit of a filler, sorry. Please review anyway! And thankyou very much to everyone who has been reviewing, its been great! Only two more to 100! I'll try to get the next one up soon!