AN: I'm sorry guys! I can't believe it's been a month, one of my other fics has been taking a lot of my attention recently and I was having issues working out the plotting in this one. I really am going to try to get out at least a chapter a week from this point.
Even though no ThunderClan cats had died, the battle had not been without losses. Lionheart's shoulder injury was so severe that he had to retire to the elders' den early, and Patchpelt's wounds were healing much too slowly.
Looking over at the two cats now, Bluefur could have yowled at the waste. Lionheart was much too young- younger than her even- to have his warrior hood cut short.
"Are you coming?" Thrushpelt pushed his head inside the warriors' den, obscuring Bluefur's view of the two injured cats. "The Gathering patrol is about to leave."
"Just a moment." Giving Mosstail's ear a lick, she stood up. Her daughter was confined to camp because of a leg sprain she'd received from the battle, and was looking a bit put out that she couldn't attend the Gathering.
Thrushpelt flicked his tail as Bluefur joined him. "Don't worry, Mosstail, you'll hear about it after," he meowed.
"I'd rather be there myself," Mosstail sighed. Bluefur's pelt prickled. This Gathering promised to be an eventful one; she could understand why a young warrior would want to see it. She wondered if Crookedstar would demand ThunderClan to return the territory they'd conquered, and Bluefur could only hope that if he did, it wouldn't end in a fight during the full moon truce.
Even among cats that received non-life changing injuries, there were still several at less than full strength. Featherwhisker and Spottedleaf had their paws full; neither would be going to Fourtrees tonight. Bluefur worried they were leaving the camp too unguarded; most of the cats left behind were injured, and if for some reason RiverClan decided to attack the ThunderClan camp tonight... Shuddering, Bluefur put the thought out of her mind. The situation in the Clans wasn't that dire. Not yet.
Bluefur walked near the back of the patrol, and the forest seemed oddly quiet as they made their way to Fourtrees. Stars gleamed brightly in the pitch black sky. They seemed to be speaking to her, whispering her name, and she felt the presence of not just her Clanmates, but of StarClan as well. She took a deep breath, and her fur was ruffled by a light breeze that smelled of Oakheart.
She closed her eyes, remembering the good times she'd shared with the RiverClan warrior. What she wouldn't give to go back to those days, when threats of war didn't hang over their heads like storm clouds, when Sunstar had been leader and could be trusted to react calmly and fairly to any problem ThunderClan faced. Bluefur sighed, her thoughts bringing her back to her former mate once again. She couldn't help but wish her kits knew Oakheart as their father, not an enemy warrior. She supposed she had given up that right when she had decided to raise her kits in ThunderClan.
Bluefur resolved to speak to Oakheart as soon as she could, for old time's sake if nothing else. She figured she'd get a chance at the Gathering, after all Oakheart's scent had been carried in the wind. He wouldn't mind speaking to her even though their Clans were in the midst of a conflict; that hadn't stopped him before.
They had soon reached Fourtrees. Thistlestar's dark figure loomed above the rest of the ThunderClan cats for a brief moment, his long shadow blotting out the starlight. Then he flicked his tail and the Gathering patrol bounded down the slope, merging into the crowd of ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan warriors.
Bluefur looked across the crowd of cats, looking for a single familiar reddish brown pelt. But there was no sign of Oakheart. Perhaps his injuries were worse than I thought. He's probably still recovering back at camp. That didn't explain why she'd scented him though. Bluefur shook her head to herself. I must have imagined it.
As Bluefur padded about the clearing, it quickly became clear that the normal cordial atmosphere was not present at this Gathering. Instead, cats of all Clans were bristling, some even looking ready to attack. Compared to this one, the previous Gathering in which Thistlestar and Crookedstar had argued over trespassing was calm.
Even Stoneclaw seemed tense, and Thrushpelt flicked his side with his tail. "Keep your fur flat. RiverClan is looking for any excuse to attack us."
Stoneclaw nodded, digging his claws into the ground.
Bluefur peered up at the Great Rock. "I wonder what Thistlestar will say," she murmured.
"He will certainly make sure it's clear to the other Clans that RiverClan trespassed first." Tigerclaw appeared at her shoulder, his massive paws forming indents in the sandy ground as he padded up. "We were clearly in the right; RiverClan should have known better than to keep sending cats onto our territory."
"I doubt RiverClan sees it that way," Bluefur replied. She twitched her whiskers; Mistyfur had tried to greet a WindClan cat but a RiverClan tom already speaking to the cat hissed, driving her back.
Tigerclaw lashed his tail. "It doesn't matter what RiverClan thinks." Bluefur continued to look around the moonlit hollow. Was that really true? She knew ThunderClan's needs came first, but at what cost? Was additional territory worth going to war? Tigerclaw's mew interrupted her thoughts. "Hear anything interesting yet?"
Bluefur shook her head. "I haven't spoken to any cat outside ThunderClan."
"I don't think any Clan wants to talk to us," Thrushpelt put in. "I just saw a ShadowClan cat nearly claw Goldenflower."
Tigerclaw snorted. "RiverClan may have gotten to them first, but the other Clans will soon realize how wrong they were."
Mistyfur, Runningwind and Mousefur were standing next to each other, while Whitestorm and Goldenflower were talking quietly to each other as well. No ThunderClan cats were even trying to mingle with cats outside their Clan at this point.
A yowl signaled the start of the Gathering.
Bluefur shifted to get a better view as Thistlestar's caterwaul rang out. "Finally! There is much to announce tonight. I will speak first-"
"No, I will speak first!" Crookedstar cut across him, sounding more furious than Bluefur had ever heard him. Something about the RiverClan leader's tone made even Thistlestar back down, although a growl rumbled in his throat. Crookedstar pushed past the other leaders to the front of the Great Rock and raised his head. "ThunderClan has broken the warrior code and taken territory that is rightfully ours." Bluefur bristled as yowls rose into the sky from the RiverClan cats. "Many cats were injured in this cowardly, unprovoked attack." Yowls of protest from ThunderClan pierced the air now, and Bluefur couldn't help agreeing with her Clanmates. It hadn't been unprovoked; RiverClan cats certainly had trespassed upon ThunderClan territory, even if Bluefur didn't think it warranted the level of response it received.
But Crookedstar was still talking. "Leopardfur was blinded in one eye. Blackclaw still hasn't recovered the full use of his leg. And that's not all." Crookedstar paused. When he continued his voice shook. "Oakheart, my brother and my deputy, received very severe wounds. Mudfur did everything he could, but his injuries were too great. He died yesterday."
With those words, Bluefur felt as though she had been disconnected from every cat around her. Oakheart was dead.
She missed everything else that happened, and numbly joined her Clanmates when the Gathering was over. Cats were discussing the leaders' argument all around her, but all Bluefur wanted was to go home, to get away from the suffocating presence of other cats.
Thrushpelt slowed his pace to walk beside her. "Are you alright?" Bluefur wondered if he suspected anything.
"Yes, I'm fine." She looked back, watching the last RiverClan cats leave the clearing, and then turned away. Thrushpelt seemed to sense her distress, and stretched his tail onto her shoulder. Bluefur jerked away. As much as she wanted to confide in him, she couldn't afford to let any cat know the true depth of her grief. Her secret would be safe forever now.