"Are you sure you want to go? It's not too late to change your mind, you know."
"I'm fine, Frostfur," Brightheart meowed, sounding exasperated. "I have to face the other Clans at some point, you know. Better to just do it now instead of waiting around. Besides, Yellowfang said I can go to the Gathering and I trust her judgment."
Fireheart shook his head to himself as he listened to the two mollies arguing. Nearly a moon had passed since Brightheart left the medicine den, and so far, her recovery had gone smoothly. She still needed work on her fighting skills, but her hunting and stalking technique was almost back to where they had been before her injury. Unfortunately, ever since Brightheart had returned to her regular duties, Frostfur had made it a point to hover around her at every opportunity.
In a way, he supposed he couldn't blame her. Brightheart was her daughter; of course, she was worried. But it was obvious that the ginger and white molly was growing weary of her mother's overprotectiveness. More than once, Fireheart caught her suppressing a sigh whenever she saw Frostfur approaching and she seemed irritated whenever the two spoke to each other.
"Well, if you're sure," Frostfur agreed reluctantly. "But if you start feeling uncomfortable, let me know and we'll go straight home."
"Right, sure," Brightheart muttered.
Frostfur exhaled slowly and turned to head over to the fresh-kill pile, passing by Fireheart on her way there. As she walked past, the white-furred queen shot him an unreadable look. Fireheart twitched his whiskers in greeting, wondering if she was going to say something, but she just continued on her way and picked up a thrush from the pile. Once she had left, Fireheart stood up and walked over to Brightheart, who eyed him warily.
"You should get something to eat too," he told her. "We'll be leaving soon and you don't want to go to the Gathering on an empty stomach."
Brightheart relaxed visibly. "Okay, I will," she agreed. "Thanks, Fireheart."
"No problem," Fireheart meowed. "And Brightheart–try not to be too hard on Frostfur. I know she's overbearing and that's probably incredibly annoying, but she does care about you."
"I know," the younger cat replied, letting out a sigh. "But it's so annoying! I mean, I get that she's worried, but I'm tired of her treating me like a kit. It's like she doesn't think I'm capable of taking care of myself anymore."
"That isn't true," Fireheart reassured her. "Frostfur knows you're a capable warrior, Brightheart. She's just protective of you–as I suppose all mothers are. Believe me, I've been where you are before. I'm sure you've seen the way Bluestar acts around me."
"That's true, I have," Brightheart agreed, her eyes lighting up. "I'm surprised she lets you out of the camp sometimes."
"I can't say I disagree with you there," Fireheart chuckled, shaking his head. "Anyway, go ahead and get something to eat. Bluestar will call everyone when it's time to go."
The ginger and white molly dipped her head politely and walked past him to the fresh-kill pile. Fireheart turned around and walked over to join Sandstorm, Bramblepaw, Tawnypaw, and Goldenflower by the apprentices' den. All four cats had been selected to attend the Gathering, and Fireheart could see the excitement on the two apprentices' faces at the prospect of meeting warriors from the other Clans.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked the group.
"We have," Sandstorm assured him.
"When are we going?" Bramblepaw piped up, his tail twitching eagerly.
"Soon," Fireheart promised the young tabby. "Bluestar just needs to get ready and then she'll call everyone to go."
Squirrelpaw, Redpaw, and Rainpaw pushed their way out of the apprentices' den, blinking sleep from their eyes. Fireheart murmured a quick greeting to each of his kits, giving them a gentle lick between their ears.
"Are you guys leaving soon?" Rainpaw asked. "It's getting dark."
"Almost, sweetheart," Fireheart replied gently.
"Do you know where Snowpaw is?" Squirrelpaw asked her father.
"He's over there with Speckletail," Fireheart answered, gesturing with his tail over to the opposite side of the camp where the white tom was sharing a mouse with his mother.
He suppressed a chuckle as his daughter nodded and hurried across the camp. It was obvious to most of the Clan that Squirrelpaw and Snowpaw were fond of each other. Fireheart had overheard the fluffy ginger molly ranting to her friend a few times about various topics–her training, an argument she had with her brother, and anything and everything in between. Of course, Snowpaw couldn't hear what she was saying, but he could interpret her mood and always knew how to comfort her. The two apprentices had even started practicing signs so they could communicate properly.
Finally, Bluestar emerged from her den, her fur freshly groomed. Fireheart walked over to meet her at the edge of the gorse tunnel, feeling her touch her nose briefly to his ear in greeting.
"Come. It's time to go," she called to the other warriors.
By the time ThunderClan arrived at Fourtrees, the other Clans were already waiting. Meowing a quick goodbye to his mother, Fireheart walked over to talk to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. The two RiverClan warriors nodded to him in greeting, and he was relieved to note that their expressions were still friendly despite the way their Clans had fought not too long ago.
"Hi, Fireheart," Mistyfoot meowed. "Is everything well in ThunderClan?"
"They're alright, I suppose," Fireheart replied, flicking his tail. "One of our warriors was injured, but she's recovering nicely."
"You mean Brightheart?" Stonefur guessed. At Fireheart's questioning look, he clarified, "I saw her when your Clan was coming down the slope. Is she alright?"
"She's doing just fine," the flame-colored warrior assured him. "Yellowfang and Spotpaw are taking good care of her."
A yowl sounded from the top of the Great Rock, and Fireheart turned his attention to the four leaders. Bluestar was standing at the head of the rock with Tallstar and Leopardstar on either side of her. Tigerstar stood at the far end on the opposite side of the RiverClan leader, his amber eyes unreadable as he surveyed the throng of cats below.
"Cats of all Clans, welcome," Bluestar meowed, her voice ringing out across the clearing. "Tigerstar has informed me that he would like to speak first tonight."
She dipped her head to the ShadowClan leader and stepped back, allowing him to take her place at the front of the Great Rock. Fireheart admired his mother's ability to show such respect toward the cat who had tried to murder her, especially when Tigerstar brushed past her without so much as a glance in her direction. He stared down at the cats below him, an odd look in his eyes.
"I come tonight with a request for ThunderClan," the massive tabby meowed. "As you know, when I left ThunderClan–"
"You mean when you were exiled from ThunderClan," Fireheart heard Squirrelpaw mutter. He shot his daughter a warning look, and she ducked her head apologetically.
As if he hadn't heard her, Tigerstar continued, "When I left ThunderClan, two kits of mine were in the nursery. They, of course, could not travel with me then, but they are apprentices now and it is time for them to join me in ShadowClan. Bluestar, I ask that ThunderClan hand over Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw."
"Never!"
Fireheart turned his head around. It was not Bluestar who answered, but Goldenflower. The golden-furred queen was on her paws, her fur bristling and her eyes gleaming with fury as she glared up at Tigerstar. The ShadowClan leader stared back down at her, seemingly unbothered by his former mate's anger.
"I'll never hand over my kits!" she spat, her voice filled with hatred and disgust. "Not for all the prey in the forest, and certainly not to you. They are not your kits anymore. You lost any claim to them when you betrayed ThunderClan. If you wanted to be a part of their lives, you should have thought about that before you tried to murder Bluestar. But you didn't. You put your own wants and needs before theirs, and now you're paying the price."
Tigerstar narrowed his eyes, but his voice was calm as he replied, "Goldenflower, I understand. You're their mother, and this must be hard for you to understand. But I assure you that–"
"I understand that you want to take my kits away from me," Goldenflower interrupted him. "That's all I need to know."
"This isn't your place to make demands like this, Tigerstar," Bluestar meowed warningly. "After all, Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw are ThunderClan apprentices. Their safety is our biggest concern. How can we claim that we care about the well-being of our young warriors if we send our two newest apprentices to live in a Clan under a leader that named a kit murderer and a prey thief to the position of Clan deputy?"
"I didn't know what Darkstripe was doing!" Tigerstar insisted, his tail lashing.
"You say that, but can you prove it?" Bluestar asked.
Tigerstar didn't answer, which was more than enough of an answer. Hesitantly, Leopardstar stepped forward, glancing between her fellow Clan leaders. Fireheart narrowed his eyes, knowing that whatever she had to say, it couldn't mean anything good for ThunderClan.
"Might I make a suggestion?" the RiverClan leader asked. "Why not share the apprentices? One can go to ShadowClan and the other can stay in ThunderClan."
The cats from ThunderClan and ShadowClan all turned to look at the spotted molly as if she had grown another head.
"Are you mad? You want us to share my kits?" Goldenflower asked furiously. "You're pathetic! Just who do you think you are?"
"You're out of line," Leopardstar meowed imperiously. "It's not your place to speak like that to a leader."
"No! You are the one who is out of line," Goldenflower spat. "My children are not mice to be divided up between quarreling apprentices. They are not balls of moss to be tossed out when kits grow bored of them. Bramblepaw and Tanwypaw have spent their entire lives in ThunderClan, and you want us to split them up? To send one of them to a father that only ever cared about getting what he wanted? That is terrible, Leopardstar, and if you truly believe what you're saying is right, then it's no wonder why you've never found a cat who wants to be with you."
Leopardstar glared down at Goldenflower, her claws sliding out. On top of the Great Rock, Fireheart saw Bluestar glaring at Leopardstar and Tigerstar. Several ShadowClan and RiverClan warriors were snarling at Goldenflower as well. Frostfur and Sandstorm were glowering back, and Brightheart, Rainpaw, and Squirrelpaw had taken up a protective stance around Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw.
"This is no place to be fighting!" Tallpoppy, a ShadowClan queen, exclaimed.
"She's right," Mistyfoot meowed. "We can't forget the truce!"
Suddenly, a dark cloud fell over the clearing. The quarreling warriors suddenly froze and looked up at the sky. Fireheart glanced up as well to see that the moon had been covered by a black cloud. A rumble of thunder sounded, and the entire clearing fell, if possible, even more silent. Finally, after several heartbeats, Bluestar spoke up again.
"Come, ThunderClan. We're going home," she meowed.
Fireheart rose to his paws and walked over to meet his mother as she bounded off the Great Rock. As he headed over, he spotted Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw pressed up against Goldenflower, their eyes wide and fearful. Brightheart, Rainpaw, and Squirrelpaw were still surrounding them protectively, but Fireheart could see Tigerstar gazing at his kits from the opposite end of the clearing.
How far would Tigerstar go, he wondered, to ensure that Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw were handed over to ShadowClan?
Tigerstar still wants his kits...and Goldenflower is not having any of it.
So just to clear one thing up, this Gathering actually takes place about two moons after the Gathering where Darkstripe was exiled. Fireheart and Sandstorm's kits have already gone to a Gathering, but it wasn't shown in the story. This Gathering was supposed to be the one where Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw's apprenticeships were announced, but Tigerstar kind of ruined that.
Also yes, Squirrelpaw and Snowpaw will be getting together. Well, when they become warriors, that is.
One final note, I'm working on the first chapter of a new story. In this new story, Moonflower survives the raid against WindClan and gets together with Sunfall/star. They have a daughter named Lilykit, so Bluepaw and Snowpaw get a new baby sister.
Thanks for reading!
-TheShadowedWarrior