I trudged to the Gathering, ridiculously tired. Tonight was supposed to be the night I slept. However, I got stuck going to the Gathering instead. I walked next to Tallblaze and Darkpaw as we headed toward the clearing. Silentstorm had stayed behind with Meadowpaw so neither were with us. We entered the clearing where SunClan and SnowClan was already gathered.

"Hey Silkshade!" Moonblossom greeted. "How's Deathfire? Is she alive? Did she get better?"

I hesitated a moment. "She healed well from the head injury," I answered. "And she is alive, but she's missing."

"Missing? Is everything okay?" Moonblossom asked. "What happened?"

"She was kidnapped," I answered. "Wingstar isn't being supportive in the search, but we're doing our best to find her. If you could keep a lookout for any sign of her, that'd be great."

"That's terrible! I'll definitely keep an eye out for her," she responded. "I hope some cat can find her!"

"Yeah, me too," I told her. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you!" she responded.

I went in search of Snakeheart, but she found me first. "Hi!" she exclaimed.

"Hello! I was looking for you," I told her. I lowered my voice. "It's about the Flurrytail problem."

"Come on, let's head to the edge of the clearing," she responded. She added louder, "Mosspaw, you can go talk to some other apprentices. Silkshade and I need to have a word."

"Okay!" Mosspaw responded.

"I kind of want to meet some of the other apprentices too," Darkpaw said. "Can I come with you, if you don't mind?"

Mosspaw hesitated a moment before agreeing and the two ran off. Snakeheart and I went to the edge of the clearing.

"What happened?" Snakeheart asked.

"Deathfire's been kidnapped," I told her.

"She's been what? And you're sure it's them?" she asked.

I nodded. "Tallblaze was there and tried to save her, but it was five against two," I responded. "It's been a little under a moon ago since it happened actually. I just figured it would be nice for you to know and keep an eye out for her."

"Yeah, definitely," she agreed. "Will Wingstar be bringing it up?"

"No, she's announced Deathfire as dead despite the fact we know she's not. I did some spying on Flurrytail and they're planning to use her when they take over the Clans and use her for their own amusement," I answered. "Also Wingstar thinks Deathfire is evil and did all the things Flurrytail did; she's happy she's gone."

"Ah, yes. Deathfire kidnapped Deathfire," Snakeheart stated.

I gave a small laugh. "Well, besides that."

"And how's everybody handling it?" she asked.

"Boulderfang's just keeping himself busy with everyone else, Tallblaze is an absolute mess and blaming himself, the kits are pretty upset about it, and I'm doing as well as I can be. Tired from searching at night and worried, but I'm handling," I answered. "I'm more worried about how Deathfire is handling it."

"I can understand that. I can bring it up to Brownstar after the Gathering so we can tell SunClan to keep an eye out for her," Snakeheart told me.

"Thanks," I responded. "We're doing what we can."

"I should get to the deputy spot. It should be starting soon," she told me.

"I'll see you around then," I said.

I went back into the crowd of cats to find Darkpaw before the Gathering started. It was nice SunClan would keep an eye out for her, even when NightClan wouldn't. I found Darkpaw right before it began.

"I call this Gathering to order!" Wingstar announced. Tall Tree fell to silence. "Prey is running well in NightClan. Rouges came onto our territory and killed one of our warriors, but she wasn't worth anything anyway. We'll be better off without her. She's a suspect for several murders anyway."

"I call fox-dung!" Tallblaze shouted from where the medicine cats were sitting. "I was there! She was kidnapped, not killed! Even StarClan has told me she's still alive! You're the one who wouldn't let us go after her the night she was kidnapped! You're the one who wouldn't let us leave the territory to search! All because you have some mouse-brained bias against her!"

"Do not contradict your leader at a Gathering," Wingstar growled.

"Isn't it part of the medicine cat's job to make sure the leader is in line with what StarClan wants?" Tallblaze asked. "Because StarClan wants you to stop being an utter fox-heart."

"How dare you?" Wingstar yowled. "We will be having a conversation when we get back to camp!"

"Everyone please keep an eye out for Deathfire!" Tallblaze requested.

"SunClan will keep an eye out for her," Brownstar told him.

"You really believe him over me?" Wingstar asked. "StarClan just doesn't want to tell him she went to the Dark Forest!"

"He is the medicine cat," Brownstar answered. "And the way you talk sounds like you're more so wishing she is dead which is something no leader should do. May I remind you Lightstar showed bias, favoring some Clanmates over others, before she turned fully evil."

"Are you comparing me to Lightstar?" Wingstar accused.

"I'm merely warning you," Brownstar responded.

"SnowClan will also keep an eye out for her," Icestar stated. "We'll alert NightClan if we notice anything."

"RainClan as well," Lightningstar said.

Wingstar huffed, but said nothing. The Gathering continued with no interesting news after that. Only news about how prey was running and other typical things. It seemed to end quickly and as soon as it did, Wingstar called NightClan to leave. I caught up to Tallblaze, leaving Darkpaw a little behind, while heading out.

"Nice to see you both," Grasstail said. "Missing something?"

"We'll get her back eventually," I told him. "Mark my words."

"I figure you'll be happy to know she's doing well! She's absolutely pathetic," he told us. "She's doing whatever we say like it will make it easier on her. Whether she obeys or not, we'll have whatever fun we want. It's honestly laughable. Oh, and when she presses herself against the far wall trembling and whimpering like the cowardly kit she is? Absolutely hilarious! I wish you could see her, it's great."

"Why won't you just leave her alone?" Tallblaze asked. "If she's so pathetic, what's the point?"

"For one, it's eating away at our enemies," Grasstail said. "Face it, you're all exhausted and worried and not functioning as well because of it. Although Deathfire is functioning worse, she can barely walk at times. It's fun watching her attempt to stand and just fall back down. She tries, she really does."

"Shut up!" I shouted.

"Come on, let's just go," Tallblaze told me.

We both walked away. I tried to push what Grasstail was saying out of my head, but it was pointless. Was she really that bad off? How much longer could she handle it? I thought back to my time as Lightstar's prisoner and how awful that was, but at least some cats were nice to me. She had completely broken me at one point and it sounded like they had already done that. To them it was just fun. She doesn't even have sleep as an escape with Lightstar. She's terrified and broken and alone and none of us can do anything about it.

Author's Note: Grasstail but remove the g, r, and tail and that's a name that describes him better. Anyway, please leave a review and I'll see you all next week!

-Rowan W.