A lot of people have been telling me that Shrewclaw's dead, Hollytail's dead, Larchpelt's dead, but I've said that the New Prophecy series has never happened in this fic. Sure, I started TTW with the original characters, but the Twolegs did not start to tear down the forest. That also means that Crowpaw never met Feathertail. Okay? Got it?

Good. Now, here's the fourth chapter. : )

Chapter Four

Fwapp! Fwapp!

Creampaw struck hard with wide, white paws. I fell to the floor, gasping, amazed at what my apprentice could do. He backed away, eyes wide.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine," I replied, standing up. "That was great, Creampaw. Who taught you that?"

"Powderstripe," he mewed, standing up a little taller. "She taught me when she was training Glitterpaw."

"Oh." I shook the sand from my silver pelt, and looked up at the darkening sky. "It's time to go. Dragonheart's probably already wondering what has happened to us."

"Okay." Creampaw nodded, always eager to do whatever I told him. He trotted happily ahead of me as we left the Sandy Hollow.

I was pleased to see that the Clan was working well on hunting, patrolling, and making the wall stronger. Dragonheart was doing a good job so far. I told Creampaw to go rest in the apprentices' den with Glitterpaw and Fangpaw as I found Dragonheart eating by the fresh-kill pile. I selected a mouse and went over to share tongues with her.

"Good job, so far," I told her. Dragonheart looked up. "The Clan seems to be completely in order."

"Oh…" Dragonheart looked a little embarrassed. "Well, Spiderpelt did help me a bit."

"He did?" I mewed. "Oh. Well, that's okay, too. Anyway, there's a Gathering tonight. Who do you think should come?"

"Probably not Ebonypaw. I saw him almost feed Rainwhisker a maggot. Nightcloud was not too happy."

I purred with amusement. "I'm sure he wasn't," I replied. "I think Creampaw's too young, as well, and Glitterpaw. But Fangpaw and Mistypaw can come."

"Good. Those two deserve it." Dragonheart yawned. "Being the deputy is very tiring, I'll admit. So, you'd best call the cats to go to the Gathering."

"Right," I mewed, standing up. I padded close to the tunnel leading out of the Clan, and summoned the cats I wanted to take to the Gathering with me. I had already gone over the warriors carefully. "Squirreltail, Spiderpelt, Ashenwind, Nightcloud, Powderstripe, Burrowfoot, Sprucecloud, Mistypaw, and Fangpaw," I announced. I wanted some of the cats there to be ready for an attack from a Clan. WindClan had a reason to hate ThunderClan, as we had killed their leader, but they had killed ours – I hoped that Crowstar would not be as vicious as Robinstar.

I was glad that the named cats followed me without question to Fourtress. I guess they were starting to accept me as their leader. As we trudged through the forest, Spiderpelt moved up next to me.

"How are you?" asked my mate. He was barely visible in the night, his completely black pelt like a shadow. "Is being the leader difficult?"

"What? No, it isn't difficult at all." My mew was sarcastic. "What could be so difficult about leading the best Clan in the forest through terrific times, having a say at Gatherings, and sharing dreams with our ancestors? What could possibly be so difficult about that?" Then I sighed. "It's not as bad as you think, okay? I mean, I honestly do wish that I could dump this responsibility on someone else, but really, no one in the Clan is ready for it. Bramblestar chose me for a reason."

"I didn't expect a long speech," meowed Spiderpelt with a purr of laughter. "You did well in appointing the deputy."

"Oh, really? Are you disappointed I didn't choose you?"

We had reached the river. I winced as I sank into the belly-deep water, so cold for even thick-furred cats.

"No, of course not," replied Spiderpelt, shivering as we waded through. "But…" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I'd look out for Squirreltail if I were you. She was not too happy when you appointed Dragonheart." Spiderpelt let out a shudder. "The look in her eyes…very dangerous."

I nodded. "I understand. I guess I'll have to stay on her good side. I remember one time when we were all apprentices, Dragonheart attacked her…"

ThunderClan had arrived at Fourtress. WindClan and ShadowClan were already there, talking to each other and sharing tongues. RiverClan was late. I led my Clan down to the four familiar oaks, and, not wanting anyone to call me 'Glacierclaw,' I leapt upon the Great Rock to show that I was leader. I turned toward Talonstar and Crowstar.

Talonstar narrowed his eyes at me. "Glacierclaw?" mewed the huge gray tom. "Or are you Glacierstar?"

"She's Glacierstar," growled Crowstar, glaring at me. "I just hope that she doesn't kill me as brutally as Bramblestar killed our leader, the piece of foxdung…"

I hissed loudly and unsheathed my claws. How dare he! How dare he call Bramblestar a –

"Glacierstar," began Talonstar, taking a step forward, his single white paw the only thing visible on him, "now is not the time for a fight. StarClan would be angry."

I relaxed. Though it infuriated me to have another leader tell me what to do, I could not start a fight when StarClan had forbidden violence at a Gathering. It was a sacred truce that had never been broken in all my time alive.

I scented RiverClan before they arrived; frail, sickly cats streamed into the clearing. The other three Clans backed away from them, recognizing that they were contagious. I did not want to stand up on the Highrock with a leader who was sick…but I did not see Swallowstar's dark brown pelt rushing up to the Highrock; I instead noticed a silver streak running toward the three of us, and leapt up next to us.

This new cat was a she-cat. I was startled to notice that she looked a lot like me – the only thing she was missing were the thin white stripes on my pelt. But hers was a shiny, silvery color that seemed to be jagged, like mountains at a distance. She was fairly young; probably about as old as Graytail or Sprucecloud.

"Who are you?" I blurted out, not liking this cat immediately.

The she-cat avoided my gaze. Instead, she spoke directly to Talonstar as though he had asked the question. Very strange. "My name is Iciclestar. I am the new leader of RiverClan."

"I never remembered Swallowstar appointing you deputy," mewed Crowstar, narrowing his eyes at her. "What happened to Splashcloud?"

Iciclestar turned her fierce green gaze on him. "She died," she replied. "Blackcough." She turned toward the Clans now. I was amazed how confident this new leader was. "Cats of all Clans," yowled Iciclestar, "a ferocious sickness has ripped through the great Clan of RiverClan. Both Swallowstar and Splashcloud are dead, both incredible and honored warriors. Nearly half of RiverClan's cats were gone, and the medicine cat was doing her best, but not even she could stop the sickness."

I looked down at Mothwing, the very old RiverClan medicine cat. The once-pretty golden she-cat looked a little embarrassed, staring at her paws as her new leader spoke about her.

"RiverClan was almost dead, before a new leader showed them the way." Iciclestar was pacing now. "I taught them how to cure themselves of the sickness. Even though they are not entirely cured now, they are doing much better since the last Gathering."

It was true. The RiverClan cats could barely stand up during Bramblestar and Robinstar's last Gathering, when I was still deputy. Iciclestar had really done an incredible job.

"Since I had saved them, StarClan accepted me as their leader, since no one was ready to take the job," yowled Iciclestar. "And I am ready for the full responsibility the position requires."

It was a good speech, very convincing. The other Clan cats were even nodding their heads, respect and admiration in their eyes. Crowstar, as expected, was not that convinced.
"Where did you come from, then?" he demanded. "Are you a loner, like she is?" The dark gray tom nodded toward me. I felt fury bubble deep inside my mind. StarClan, I hated Crowstar.

"Yes, I am a loner," admitted Iciclestar. "But you Clan cats have much to learn about loners. They are not as untrusting and insane as you might think. Loners can be…extremely helpful. If loners are so terrible, then how was I able to help RiverClan?"

Crowstar opened his mouth to retort, then considered what Iciclestar had just said, and stayed silent.

Talonstar was the only leader who was not completely new. "Let's get this over with," he grumbled, obviously troubled by this new leader of RiverClan.

I decided to go first to show I was not afraid. I took a step forward and sat down, addressing the entire forest of cats. "Since Bramblestar died in the battle with WindClan," I yowled, "I, Glacierstar, am the new leader of ThunderClan." I was relieved to see that my Clan was yowling their approval. "The two new apprentices that I have mentioned previously are here tonight: Mistypaw and Fangpaw." The Clans nodded their approval toward the two young apprentices. "The new deputy of ThunderClan also needs to be named," I added. "The new deputy is Dragonheart."

I guess RiverClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan thought I had made the right decision in appointing Dragonheart because they moved to congradulate my best friend.

"With that being said," I continued, "I would also like to mention an incredibly brave cat who was once in our Clan, the great Whiteflower, who was taken away by Twolegs a moon ago."

I listened to the sad murmurings coming from the other Clans as I stepped backward, unable to stop thinking that if Whiteflower had been here, she might have been made deputy instead of Dragonheart.

I was relieved that the Gathering went by very quickly. The new deputy in RiverClan was apparently a young cat named Borealfur, who had been luckily unaffected by the sickness spreading in his camp. I led my Clan back to camp, feeling tired and cold and nervous. I didn't like that new leader, Iciclestar, one bit. She also acted as though I wasn't even there. What was her problem?

As soon as we were back, the Clan told the cats who had stayed behind exactly what had happened. Some of them were shocked to hear about Iciclestar, others were happy that RiverClan had survived.

It was then, when I was talking to Dragonheart, that Ashenwind padded up to me. "Glacierstar," she murmured, "we have a bit of a problem."

"What?" I demanded, my tail fluffing out. "Is WindClan attacking?"

"No, no," the white she-cat answered quickly. "It's just…I can't find Nightcloud anywhere. The last I saw of him was back at the Gathering, talking to this she-cat from WindClan."

I swallowed nervously, remembering what had happened to Graystar and a RiverClan cat, and was determined to keep my voice down. "Erm…this may seem like an odd question, but how long were they talking?"

She blinked, surprised. "A long time. They disappeared when Talonstar started to speak. I guess they were bored."

I hesitated. Then, "Dragonheart?" I mewed to my deputy. "You're in charge of the Clan at the moment. I've got to find my son."

Dragonheart nodded. "Understood."

"It's best if as few cats as possible know about this," I mewed. "Come on, Ashenwind. Let's go find him."

She nodded, and the two of us took off, into the forest. I was worried that Nightcloud had fallen in love with a WindClan cat, which was strictly against the warrior code. Graystar had sent a great example, I thought, feeling an unexpected rush of anger toward the gray-pelted leader.

"I smell something over there," mewed Ashenwind. She was ahead of me. "It smells like another cat, too."

"I hope he's not being attacked," I said, though that was the last thing I believed he was doing.

Ashenwind and I were right by the river. I could smell cats right by the owl tree – and one of them was definitely not ThunderClan. Angrily, I pushed past Ashenwind and leapt through the tall grass, nearly crushing two very surprised cats.

"Whoa! Glacierstar!" I recognized Nightcloud. But the she-cat sitting beside him carried the obvious scent of WindClan.

She was a pretty, long-haired, white she-cat, who looked very embarrassed and terrified. Apparently, the two had just been talking, like they had at the Gathering, but this WindClan cat was on ThunderClan territory, and I could not allow that.

"What is this?" I demanded of Nightcloud. "What's going on?"

"You'd better go." Nightcloud completely ignored me. I was infuriated. The white she-cat gave him an affectionate lick on the forehead and turned to leave, but I blocked her path.

"Who are you?" I snapped.

"I…my name is Snowfrost," she stammered. "I am very sorry for being on ThunderClan territory."

"Yes, you'd better be," I sneered. "Go home."

Snowfrost hesitated, then leapt into the tall grass. I could hear her scampering back to WindClan territory. Ashenwind stared at Nightcloud in shock. The black warrior glared at me.

"I hope you're happy," he snapped. "Snowfrost is the best she-cat I have ever met. Are you going to punish me? Send me into exile?"

I paused, considering. Then, "No, Nightcloud. I will not tell anyone about this, not even Dragonheart or Leafstorm. But I must ask you not to be sneaking away from the Clan again to see this cat. Sooner or later, someone will notice."

Nightcloud shrugged. I knew that he would keep seeing Snowfrost, no matter what I said. Sometimes, cat's minds cannot be changed. This was definitely one of those times.

Oooh, the trouble starts. Iciclestar will have a bigger part in the later chapters. And please, please don't forget to review!