The full moon shone down into the Gathering clearing as Bluestar observed the throng of warriors beneath her. They were late in starting the meeting, but WindClan had yet to show and the warrior code demanded that all four Clans be present before the Gathering began. Briefly, she wondered what could be keeping their moor-dwelling neighbors. It wasn't like Tallstar to be late and Bluestar worried that his sudden inability to keep to a timely schedule had something to do with BloodClan.
But how would they even get all the way to WindClan territory without being seen? she asked herself.
Leopardstar was still seated at the base of the Great Rock, most likely waiting to join Bluestar and Tigerstar once the meeting officially began. As Bluestar watched, she saw the RiverClan leader pad over to speak to Fireheart, who was in a conversation with two queens from ShadowClan whose names she couldn't quite remember. Fireheart, she noticed, did not appear too pleased by the arrival of their new companion.
"Greetings, Fireheart," Leopardstar meowed coolly. Bluestar wondered why she was speaking to him when she obviously held no fondness for the ThunderClan deputy.
"And to you," the flame-colored tom replied warily.
"I heard your Clan had some trouble with dogs recently," the spotted molly meowed, a glint in her eyes. "That is some terrible misfortune, I must say. But I trust that you were able to take care of the problem?"
Instead of responding, Fireheart explained to Leopardstar the best way to ingest a pile of fox dung before turning around and stalking over to Sandstorm, Ravenflight, and Silverstream, leaving the RiverClan leader looking extremely offended. Bluestar chuckled to herself, watching her kit fondly. She knew she should have reprimanded him for speaking so disrespectfully to a Clan leader, but she found it difficult to care about manners when it came to Leopardstar. A furtive glance in Tigerstar's direction told her that he, too, had found Fireheart's retort amusing, though he appeared to be trying hard not to show it.
After some time, the WindClan representatives finally arrived at Fourtrees. The WindClan warriors bounded into the clearing to mingle with the other attendees as Tallstar bounded onto the Great Rock to sit between Bluestar and Tigerstar. Leopardstar joined them a few heartbeats later, still looking irritated from her earlier confrontation with Fireheart.
"Good evening, Tallstar," Bluestar meowed respectfully. "What kept you tonight? It's not like your Clan to be late."
"I apologize, we ran into some trouble with a fox on our territory," the black and white tom apologized. "But it's all taken care of. We chased it across the border."
Bluestar wondered which border they had chased the fox across but decided not to ask. There were more important matters to be dealt with tonight. Clearing her throat, she let out a yowl to signal the start of the Gathering.
"Cats of all Clans, welcome," she meowed once the clamor had died down. "I know we all have news that we wish to share, but I'm afraid there is an urgent matter that needs addressing. My warriors have become aware of a force that threatens the forest and all who live within it."
Murmurs of alarm began to rise from the cats below the Great Rock. Only the ThunderClan warriors remained silent, but Bluestar could see the worry in their tense shoulders. Silverstream meowed something to Fireheart, who gave her a sympathetic look and flicked her shoulder gently. She glanced over at her fellow leaders and saw that all of them, even Tigerstar, looked grim at the thought of something coming to destroy their Clans.
"What is this threat you speak of, Bluestar?" Tallstar asked, his fur fluffed up.
"My deputy has informed me of a group of rogues claiming to be part of a group known as BloodClan," Bluestar replied, though she addressed her words to the throng of warriors beneath her. "They reside in the Twolegplace and are led by a cat who calls himself Scourge. I warn you, these cats are not like your typical rogues or loners. They fight as well as Clan cats and they wear collars embedded with dog and cat teeth."
Several cats let out exclamations of disgust and horror. Once they were finished, Leopardstar meowed, "Do you suppose these...BloodClan cats are the ones who attacked Loudbelly and Graystripe?"
Bluestar couldn't help feeling surprised that the proud RiverClan molly was openly admitting that two of her warriors had been attacked by rogues. Perhaps the potential threat to the forest was greater than her need to appear strong in front of the other Clans. Out loud, she replied, "We believe so, yes. The scent we found on Graystripe matches that of the description Fireheart gave of the rogue his patrol chased off a few days ago."
"But if they're part of an entire Clan, then why haven't we seen more of them yet?" Mistyfoot called out.
Fireheart spoke up this time, turning to address his older half-sister. "We think it's part of their plan," he meowed grimly. "The rogue we met said that they were going to pick us all off one by one so they could take over the forest. Most likely, they don't think they have enough forces to stage an all-out attack, so they're resorting to sending their weaker warriors to attack Clan cats who wander out alone."
"That's cowardly," Stonefur growled.
The ThunderClan deputy flicked his tail. "They're rogues, what do you expect? They can call themselves a Clan all they want, but that doesn't make them one."
Tigerstar spoke up next. "ShadowClan hasn't had any trouble with these cats," he began. "Although I doubt these cats would be able to cross the Thunderpath. But we will be sure to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity."
"You do that," Bluestar replied, not particularly caring what the ShadowClan leader chose to do with regards to the threat from BloodClan.
"Thank you for warning us, Bluestar," Tallstar meowed, dipping his head to her. "I don't suppose these cats will be any threat to WindClan anytime soon, but we will take this seriously. The forest has been our home since before either of our time and I would not like to see it lost."
The rest of the meeting progressed without incident from there. After Bluestar had stepped back, Leopardstar moved forward to speak next. Since she had already mentioned the attacks on Loudbelly and Graystripe, there was no need for her to repeat the announcement. Instead, she simply told the Clans that prey was running well in RiverClan and that they expected to be well-fed throughout the coming cold season. Tallstar announced that one of his Clan's apprentices, Gorsepaw, had earned his warrior name and was known as Gorsefire. Bluestar had a sneaking suspicion she knew where the suffix had come from and was unsurprised to see Morningflower giving a warm look to a rather embarrassed Fireheart. Finally, it was Tigerstar's turn to speak.
"ShadowClan has been doing well this past moon," he rumbled. "Prey is running well in our territory and the training of our apprentices is more than up to speed."
"I wonder if he enjoyed the gift we left on his territory," Bluestar heard Fireheart mutter to Sandstorm, who snickered.
Whether Tigerstar heard his former Clanmate as well or not, however, she never found out. For at that moment, a sharp exclamation came from one of the RiverClan warriors at the edge of the clearing. Lifting her gaze, Bluestar felt the fur rise along her neck as she saw the silhouettes of a long line of cats appear at the top of the slope. One by one, they descended into the clearing, led by a small black tom with icy blue eyes. She didn't need to ask to know who these cats were; their collars told her all that she needed to know.
The black tom padded forward until he was standing right at the base of the Great Rock. He lifted his head and spoke in a high, cold voice that sent a shiver down Bluestar's spine.
"I am Scourge, the leader of BloodClan," he meowed. "I do hope you have room for a few more tonight."