Chapter 26

The next morning, the warm scent of fresh-kill woke Ripplesky. The silver tom sat up in his makeshift nest and stretched, before gazing around the den. Every cat except for Frogtail and Splashflower was awake. "Did you go hunting already?" Ripplesky asked, padding towards the center of the den.

"Yes," Shellnose reported, tossing a mouse in his direction. "We've caught plenty for every cat, so help yourself."

Licking his lips, Ripplesky bit into the mouse. The juicy scent of his prey bathed his tongue, and filled his starving stomach. As the cats ate, they began to discuss their plans for that day.

"How far do you think we'll need to go?" Minnowfur questioned.

Ripplesky shrugged. "I'm not sure. I don't want to stray too far, because otherwise RiverClan will think we're soft."

Waveheart gave his son a confused look. "But Birchstar-"

"I know what Birchstar said," Ripplesky interrupted, narrowing his eyes, "but I'm not scared of RiverClan, and neither should you be. They've lost half of their warriors, so they're no threat to us. In fact, I say we make our camp right here. We'll call ourselves RippleClan, and I will be leader."

Everyone stared at him, not sure what to say. Finally Reedheart said, "I'm not sure you're capable of being leader. You don't have any experience. I think Shellnose should be leader."

The silver tom turned towards her, his neck fur bristling. "I didn't ask you what you wanted. This is my group, and what I say goes. If you don't like it, leave. I don't want you here anyways."

Frogtail, who had just woken up, let out an angry hiss. "Don't talk to my sister like that!"

Before Ripplesky could reply, Minnowfur quickly walked between the two toms. "Ripplesky doesn't mean it. He's just stressed out." She then turned to her brother and gave him a pleading look. Ripplesky let out a snort, and backed away.

Frogtail rolled his eyes, before grabbing a vole and padding back to his nest. Once the tension had died down, Shellnose, Brambletail and Waveheart decided to go on another hunt, leaving the younger cats alone.

"What's wrong?" Minnowfur asked, pressing against her brother.

"Nothing."

Minnowfur flattened her ears to her head. "Don't tell me that. You've never acted like that before. Is something bothering you?"

Ripplesky let out a frustrated sigh. "There's nothing wrong. I just don't like other cats challenging me."

"They don't mean anything by it. They're just looking out for the well being of the group." Minnowfur said.

He stood up angrily, before walking away from his sister. "If they were so concerned about their own safety, they shouldn't have come. They should have stayed put in RiverClan where they belong."

Minnowfur narrowed her eyes at him. "You should be glad we came along with you! Without us, you'd be left alone out in the wild. We are your friends, Ripplesky. Stop trying to push us away."

Ripplesky was silent. He knew exactly what he wanted to say, but he knew it was pointless as his words would fall on deaf ears. She'll continue to argue with me, he thought letting out a sigh. Curling up in the corner of the den, he placed his fluffy tail over his nose. "I'm going back to sleep," he snapped before closing his eyes.

A few hours later, the sound of chatter woke the silver tom. Blinking his eyes open, he spotted the entire group huddled in the center of the den. What's going on? Ripplesky wondered, before padding towards them. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, turning his attention towards Shellnose and Waveheart.

"We were just talking about the future of the group," Waveheart meowed slowly, his green eyes filled with concern.

"The group is fine," Ripplesky insisted. As he stood there, he could feel his neck fur bristle slightly. Oh great, here we go again!

"For now," Waveheart pointed out. "If we're going to live out here, we need to make some precautions to make sure everything runs smoothly. I know you want to be leader, but-"

"But nothing! I am leader, and that's final!" Ripplesky interrupted. "Why can't any of you accept I'd make a good leader?"

Brambletail stepped forward. "It's not that we don't trust you to be our leader. We just think an older cat with more experience would be better, at least for now. Besides, you're the only cat here with knowledge of herbs. We need you to be our medicine cat."

"I can be a medicine cat and a leader," Ripplesky argued. "Why can't you all just let me be in charge of my own group?"

"You might be the reason we're out here, but that doesn't mean you get to make all the decisions on your own," Shellnose meowed. "If we are going to be a Clan, we need to work together to decide things. Otherwise you will be nothing more than a dictator."

Before Ripplesky could say anything, Splashflower came to his defense. "Have you all forgotten that by leaving RiverClan, we chose to follow Ripplesky's lead? Whether you like to admit it or not, he is our leader."

Shellnose let out an annoyed snort. "You coddle him too much, Splashflower. Have you forgotten he's a possible murderer?"

Splashflower's fur bristled angrily. "Don't you dare call him a murderer ever again! He is innocent."

"Do you really believe that?" Shellnose demanded, turning his attention back to Ripplesky, "because I don't! I believe he's guilty."

"If you think he's guilty, why did you even leave RiverClan in the first place?" the silver queen snarled, her eyes full of disgust.

"Brambletail and I left RiverClan for our kits. We would never allow Frogtail and Reedheart to run off with this mange-pelt," Shellnose replied angrily.

"Maybe we should just go home?" Reedheart spoke up, her eyes wide with fear.

"It's too late now," Ripplesky hissed. "You've made your choice, so you're stuck here. Do you really think Birchstar will allow you to come crawling back to him? He was right when he said you're nothing but a bunch of traitors. You have no loyalty for anyone except yourself. You should have thought things through before you decided to give up your cozy lifestyle to live with a murderer." He spat the last word out as if it were poison.

"We'll see about that at the next Gathering." Shellnose glared at Ripplesky and Splashflower, before stalking outside. Brambletail and Reedheart followed him. Frogtail watched his family go, before padding over to the nest he shared with Minnowfur.

"I'm so sorry," Splashflower crooned, wrapping her tail over his shoulders. "You don't deserve to go through any of this." When he didn't reply, she let out a sigh and padded away, leaving Ripplesky alone.


The full moon glowed in the sky as Ripplesky and his band of warriors followed him towards Fourtrees. I can't wait to see the look on Birchstar's face, Ripplesky thought smirking.

Suddenly, the group came to a halt at the top of the rise that lead down into the clearing. Below, Ripplesky could see Swiftstar was in the middle of making an announcement for WindClan.

"-but our warriors successfully chased the fox out. Also have some sad news to report this moon. One of our elders, Owlflight, has died. He was a member of WindClan for many seasons, but he walks with StarClan now. Since his death, Badgerstrike, Gorseclaw and Waspfall have decided to retire. It was a tough choice for them to make, but they deserve to have peace after serving WindClan for so long." Swiftstar dipped his head, allowing Birchstar to step forward.

Just as the RiverClan leader opened his mouth to speak, Ripplesky sprang forward. "Wait!" he yowled, pushing his way through the crowd. The rest of his cats slowly followed after him, their eyes wide with fear.

"What are you doing here?" Birchstar hissed, his hackles raising.

"Isn't that your medicine cat?" Flystar questioned in a confused tone.

"He was our medicine cat, until I found out he's nothing but a murderer!" Birchstar spat, making the crowd gasp.

Ripplesky leaped up onto the already crowded Great Rock. "I'm here to announce there is now a sixth Clan in the forest: RippleClan!"

Cries of protest rang out from the cats below. "You can't do that! There are only supposed to be five Clans in the forest."

"Who does he think he is?"

"The nerve of him!"

"Why isn't StarClan sending a cloud to cover the moon? Don't they disapprove?"

Ignoring their cries, Ripplesky continued. "The warrior code says nothing about the number of Clans allowed in the forest. Besides, if StarClan really disapproved, they would have stopped this Gathering by now."

"Since when do you care about the warrior code, you murderer?" Birchstar growled.

"I've always cared about the warrior code," Ripplesky replied, flicking his tail in annoyance.

The RiverClan leader rolled his eyes. "You don't care about any code whatsoever. All you care about is yourself!"

"That's all anyone cares about these days," Bramblestar spoke up, his voice shaking. As Ripplesky looked him over, he noticed how frail the ShadowClan leader was starting to look. "No one has any sense of loyalty anymore. Every cat only does what they want, not what will be best for the Clan in the long run. Not even our medicine cats have the slightest bit of decency. They're murderers, pregnant-"

"Pregnant?" Redstar interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

"Bramblestar, this doesn't concern the other Clans," Honeyleaf spoke up, her voice filled with sadness. Beside her, Willowblaze crouched low, her eyes shut.

Bramblestar ignored her. "Willowblaze doesn't deserve to be protected after what she's done. She broke the most sacred law, so she is to be punished and humiliated. Once this Gathering is over, she will not be welcomed back into ShadowClan."

Ripplesky stood there, completely frozen. This is all my fault, he thought, his heart racing. "She hasn't done a single thing wrong. It's my fault. Please don't exile her."

Birchstar let out a snort of amusement. "You just can't keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"

"Be quiet!" Ripplesky hissed, unsheathing his claws. He wanted to rake his claws across Birchstar's smug face, but he had to refrain himself. Taking a couple deep breaths, Ripplesky yowled, "Think what you want, but Willowblaze is a good cat. It's my fault she's pregnant. Please don't judge her."

Suddenly, the moonlight disappeared, leaving the clearing dark. Looking up, Ripplesky spotted a gigantic storm cloud covering the moon.

"StarClan has spoken. This Gathering is over," Flystar muttered, leaping down from the Great Rock.

Ripplesky let out a sigh, before jumping down after him. He felt incredibly guilty for getting Willowblaze in trouble. I need to find her, he thought, pushing his way through the crowd. Finally, he spotted her and Honeyleaf standing beside a holly bush.

"Willowblaze, I'm so sorry..." he whispered, not sure what to say.

"It's okay," Willowblaze whispered, unable to meet his gaze.

The three cats stood there for a few moments, before Honeyleaf asked, "Are you going to live with Ripplesky?"

"Can I?" Willowblaze finally looked up at her mate, her eyes full of tears. "I understand if you don't want me to live with you, but I have no where else to go."

"Of course you can live with me. After all the trouble I've caused you, I could never turn you away. Y-You're carrying my kits, after all." Ripplesky's throat tightened up, and his stomach churned nervously. Things weren't supposed to happen like this! Now I'm going to be a father to kits I don't even want.

She let out a sigh of relief, before standing to her paws. "Thank you so much," she whispered, touching her nose to his. After saying a quick goodbye to Honeyleaf, Willowblaze and Ripplesky began to climb the slope back towards RiverClan's territory.

At the top, the members of RippleClan were seated by a clump of ferns. Birchstar sat close by, his eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here?" Ripplesky asked, mocking the tone the RiverClan leader had used earlier.

Birchstar ignored Ripplesky as he meowed, "I've made a big mistake by allowing you all to leave with Ripplesky. RiverClan isn't the same without you all. If you come home with me, we can just pretend none of this ever happened."

Shellnose, Brambletail, and Reedheart stood up and padded over towards Birchstar. The cats all waited for Frogtail to stand up and join them, but the brown tabby sat still.

"Of course you decide to leave. I knew you would eventually turn your backs on me," Ripplesky hissed.

"Come on, Frogtail," Brambletail called out softly, ignoring Ripplesky's comment.

"I can't," Frogtail whispered, letting out a sigh. "I've made my choice to join RippleClan, and I'm going to stick with it. I'm not going to flip flop back and forth with my loyalty," the brown tabby tom replied, his head low. "I'll always miss you, but I've been thinking about what everyone has been saying these past few days, and they're right. Cats aren't being loyal to their Clans. They're being loyal to themselves. I don't want to be that kind of cat, so I'm going to live with my decision"

"Please, come with us, Frogtail. No one will think you're being disloyal if you decide to come home," Reedheart begged.

"No." Frogtail stood his ground.

"Are you sure? Because-" Birchstar began.

"I'm sure," Frogtail snapped, flicking his tail back and forth in annoyance.

Shellnose opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. He let out a sigh, before following Birchstar, Brambletail and Reedheart back to camp. As Frogtail watched him go, his eyes began to tear up.

"Thank you," Ripplesky meowed. "I would have never expected that from you. I really thought you would leave again. Now let's go home."


I'm sorry I haven't updated in almost a month. My internet went out for a few weeks, so I had no way of updating. I've also been going through a really hard time, which has left me depressed and to be honest, uncertain about this story. I used to be so proud of it, but now I feel as though it isn't that great. I still appreciate all the support you guys have been giving me, and all my work in the past. I will try to update as soon as possible, but with my internet being so unpredictable it's hard to tell.

Thank you for reading.