Here comes the second part to the gathering! And the introduction of a mysterious character...
Snakestar hopped up on the branches, his intimidating aura seeming to dominate the thick branches the leaders sat upon. He turned to the other cats in the branches, bowing his head, and whispered, "You three wouldn't mind if I started, did you?" The others shook their heads respectfully, and Snakestar walked to the edge of the branch, yowling out for silence and attention to the trees.
Upon hearing the leader's voice, the mingled cats turned their collective attention to Snakestar, who swayed on the branch. "I would like to start out this gathering with a message to the cats of Greenclan and their leader, Lionstar," the scarred tom nodded back to the golden one, who listened on in mild confusion. "A few days ago, one of my warriors crossed your border after being wrapped up in her hunt. She is here today, to make things right. Cedarheart, if you will."
A light brown she-cat from a group of Darkclan cats stood up, then bowed her head deeply, crying out, "Forgive me, Lionstar! I didn't mean to tread on your territory, and it will never happen again!"
Lionstar let out a warm chuckle and stepped forward on the branch, declaring, "I'll be merciful, Cedarheart. I understand that if I was in your place, my main focus would be getting prey back to the nursery to feed… is it your second litter of kits, Snakestar?"
The Darkclan leader beamed, and nodded. "Yes, indeed. But that is old news, other than that, Darkclan has no news to report."
"That's what's so great about Snakestar, Cloudpaw whispered from beside Redwhisker. "He's responsible, respectful, and a big enthusiast of family." Redwhisker nodded, feeling some of the pride the Darkclan leader was projecting.
"I'll go next," Lionstar said, watching Snakestar jump back to the trunk. "Greenclan has good news. One of our queens, Grassfur is now the mother of her and Longears' three healthy kits: Gingerkit, Poppykit, and Leafkit."
The clans mewed happily at the new life, then quieted down as Lionstar retreated, letting Beachstar have the branch. She stepped forward gingerly, saying, "Mooreclan has little news, except that we've chased a badger from our territory off our territory away from the clans. That is all."
Mews of approval echoed through the clearing, and quieted down as the sand colored Mooreclan leader stepped back, giving way to the tall and smooth furred white tom, Whitestar. He stepped forward, and in a smooth voice, he spoke, "Streamclan's prey is plentiful in this time of greenleaf, and I'm happy to announce that we have one new warrior, Mossclaw…"
Redwhisker stared up at the Streamclan leader as he spoke in his smooth and low voice, gazing with something of an unknown perspective. When has this cat's voice been so… comforting? He looked closely at the tall tom, his own green eyes staring into Whitestar's eyes. If Redwhisker had to guess from that distance, they were a soft smoky yellow, almost like his friend Lionstar's amber ones, except less intense. Then, a spectacular thing happened to Redwhisker. Whitestar's gaze, which had been wandering around the crowd of cats, landed on the dark red tom's. Then, the leader smiled, and continued talking. The shared eye contact gave Redwhisker a brief feeling of reassurement, almost like the Streamclan cat was talking to him. What an amazing aura Whitestar resonates, Redwhisker thought.
"...That is all from Streamclan." The cheering of Mossclaw's name rang out, and died down as Beachstar once again took the place on the edge of the branch.
"Cats of the four clans," she proclaimed in her elderly voice. "You may have noticed that there was an extensive period of time for you to mingle with cats of other clans before our gathering started, and there is a reason."
Redwhisker had noticed that prior to Snakestar starting, the leaders were taking an awfully long time to get ready. Nonetheless, he awaited the rest of Beachstar's speech curiously. She continued, "The other leaders and myself have been discussing, and we've seen that we are in a current in a long period of peace, and we have good relations with our neighboring clans. Therefore, we have decided to try a method strengthening the bonds further, while staying in the lines of the warrior code and the boundaries Starclan has set for us."
At this point, most of the warriors present were curious at the old leader's words, eager to learn of the leaders' plans. "We are proposing an event that takes place at night, once every moon, on the day of the shadowed new moon. During this event, any cat from the clans will be allowed to come to the gathering island, staying within two fox-lengths of the lake of course. Here, cats will be allowed to get together peacefully under Starclan, and any cat will be allowed to climb the oak tree us leaders sit upon, and tell stories or entertain other cats."
Whitestar nodded humbly, and said alongside her, "Streamclan will not chase out any cats from other clans from the lakeshore. Only on these two nights of the new and full moons shall we let you pass without question."
Cats in the clearing immediately broke out in talking and chattering, some confused and others happy. From among the bustle, Snakestar called out, "This gathering is done, Darkclan, let's go!" A few cats slowly shifted from their places while chatting with other cats, but most took their time.
From besides Redwhisker, Cloudpaw asked, "Do you think you're going to come on new moon? I think it would be fun, getting to know some other cats some more and listening to them tell stories."
"Yeah," Redwhisker said absently, looking at the white furred Streamclan leader hop down from the tree. To the red tom, Whitestar seemed elegant, but he noticed that now that the leader was off the tree, he seemed less outgoing. Perhaps the cat was tired, Redwhisker decided. "What were we talking about?"
Cloudpaw seemed annoyed that Redwhisker was distracted, and restated, "The new moon event. Are you coming to it?"
"I'll be there, maybe I'll even attempt to entertain the crowd," Redwhisker nodded, his full attention on Cloudpaw now.
The silvery apprentice nodded at the short tom, her eyes taking on a strange glint as the full moon reflected in her dark eyes. Redwhisker seemed not to notice and politely excused himself from her side, going back into the dispersing crowd of cats.
Darkclan and Mooreclan had slowly filtered out, along with most of Streamclan and Greenclan. The island became still as the last few cats left the island, Redwhisker expertly climbing on top of the log. While most Greenclan cats had it in their training to learn to climb trees, Redwhisker was especially good at it. His physique, smaller than most Greenclan warriors, let him weave through tree branches quickly and effectively. He hopped off the tree bridge, loosely following his clan as they kept to the shoreline, heading upward to their territory.
Redwhisker stopped abruptly, his paws sinking lightly into the sandy beach. He was still bothered by the strange vision he had seen on the oak tree, blood leaking from the two big leaders' branches. It's too weird to dwell on, he thought to himself, shaking his head slightly. Greenclan was gone from his sight, and the lake glimmered beautifully. At least the lake is a nice sight.
A tired but masculine voice grunted from behind Redwhisker, "Come here often?"
Oho! Looks like Redwhisker's been found out by a cat from another clan. What will the repurcussions be?
