The night of the Gathering brought with it clear skies, and the moon shone bright over the forest. The clan cats gathered below the Greatrock and the Tallstar stepped forward to speak first.

"There's been a vixen scented along our north border, but no sight of her or her kits." He glanced at Russetstar. "Given the prey scarcity, we think she may have gone towards ShadowClan territory."

Russetstar frowned. "There's been no fox-scent in our territory, but we'll keep an eye out for it nonetheless. Thank you." She looked at Bluestar and Crookedstar, who exchanged glances, with Bluestar motioning for Crookedstar to speak.

"The river remains frozen at its edges, but towards the center, it's not, and we once again warn cats from wandering out onto it." Crookedstar raised a brow. "No matter how much you might wish to see someone on the other side."

There was a shifting among the cats below as heads turned towards Graystripe and Silverstream, who were sitting with their heads together, lost to the world around them.

"We're almost through another Leaf-bare," Bluestar mewed, tail curling over her paws. "And it wasn't as harsh as we'd feared."

"There's still one more moon of it though," Russetstar pointed out. "We've been hit with last-minute snaps before."

Bluestar nodded thoughtfully, before looking around at the other leaders. "Then if there's nothing else…?"

The other leaders shook their heads.

"Then this Gathering is over," Bluestar mewed, before jumping down from the stone.

Spottedleaf threaded through the feline throng and tapped Raventhroat's shoulder with her tail to get his attention. The black cat turned from Fireleap to look at the medicine cat curiously.

"I'm going to visit Rusty. Would you like to come with me?" she asked.

"Sure," Raventhroat mewed, then looked at Fireleap. "Would you care to join us as well?"

"Haven't seen him in a while, so I'm in," Fireleap mewed.

"Give Rusty my regards," Bluestar mewed when they told her of their detour, and they set out towards the barn.

They arrived at a most peculiar scene, where Rusty seemed to be fighting himself. The ThunderClan cats watched in bemusement as the two gingers rolled around, each trying to pin the other, yet they always seemed to slip out at the last moment.

The two broke apart, panting, with the sleeker of the two twitching his ears and looking towards the clan cats in surprise.

"Ah! You must be from the clans." He looked at the other cat, who blinked in greeting at the guests. "Friends of yours?"

"Spottedleaf, Raventhroat, and Fireleap," Rusty mewed, indicating them each in turn. "Say hello to Jake, my father."

The clan cats dipped their heads respectfully and Fireleap tilted her head as she looked at the two gingers. "I can see where you got your looks from," she mewed to Rusty, who snorted softly.

Jake frowned slightly as he looked at her. "I could say the same for you. I don't suppose you know who your mother was?"

Fireleap shook her head. "I was taken from her when I was very young. I spent my first few moons living down at Twolegplace and tending to the cats there, which is what led to me becoming a medicine cat apprentice once ThunderClan took me in."

Jake's brow furrowed. "Twolegplace… Hm, can't recall if I had any mates there." He flicked his tail at Rusty. "His mother was named Quince, although she was from the far western lands where the Folk make their homes."

"Do you remember any names of the felas you spend an evening with?" Rusty asked, not trying to hide his sarcasm.

"They don't always ask for my name, or give theirs, so I kinda stopped caring after a point," Jake mewed, before flicking his ears sheepishly. "But that's neither here nor there. It's nice to meet all of you. I do hope you'll stop by and share some stories. I love hearing about clan life."

"Couldn't settle down long enough in one place to become a part of a clan back when you were first around?" Spottedleaf asked.

"Thought about it," Jake admitted. "Almost went with Tallstar back in the day, but I wanted to get out and explore, so that didn't go anywhere." His tone was wistful and he sighed. "I hope I can make up for lost time, at least." He shook his head and twitched his nose, before looking at Raventhroat curiously. "That's quite the scar you have there."

Raventhroat chuckled. "Got it courtesy of a rock collapse a while back."

Jake perked up at that. "A quake, I take it? There was a massive one where I was some time ago. Split the land open like an egg, swallowed a city whole, and sent the Twolegs running around in a mad panic for a very long time."

Raventhroat's eyes went wide. "All we had was…a hiccup compared to that. That sounds terrible!"

Jake's gaze turned thoughtful. "I guess the quake got weaker the further out it went. I'm glad nobody was hurt, and that you seem to have made a full recovery." He glanced at Fireleap. "I suppose we have you to thank for that?"

"Spottedleaf did most of the work, and I helped, yes," Fireleap mewed wryly, grinning. "Quite the model patient too. Only mewled like a kitten once, if I recall."

"Impressive," Jake mewed, nodding to the medicine cats. "Your clan is lucky to have the both of you looking after them."

"Our skills thankfully haven't been in high demand or need recently, which is a relief," Fireleap mewed. "Even in Leaf-bare, which had a lot of cats worried about fights over prey, but it's been very quiet so far."

Jake raised his brows in surprise. "I thought the clans were…less than cordial to one another? Has something happened?"

"In a manner of speaking," Raventhroat replied. "A few cats learned how to be polite to one another and passed it around, further helped by our ancestors also reminding us of how the clans were founded in the first place – literally unite or die. So there's been some…I suppose you could call it…course correcting, lately?"

Jake chuckled. "That's splendid news." He shivered, giving himself a shake. "Although I suppose you've been kept here long enough and are eager to be getting back to the warmth of your clan?"

Spottedleaf glanced at Raventhroat and Fireleap, whose pelts were the shortest among them, and while they weren't shivering or had chattering teeth, she did realize they'd been out in the cold since the Gathering and she flicked her tail at them. "Right, I do think that's enough time out here." She nodded to the loners. "Thank you for your hospitality. I do hope to stop by again once the weather's warmer. I'd love to learn more about where you came from."

Jake inclined his head. "I shall be happy to tell you about it. Safe travels to the lot of you."