Chapter 4: Pinestar

Pinestar led his warriors to his first gathering as leader, his newly appointed deputy, Ravenclaw, by his side. The dark black tom had beamed with pride when he was dubbed as so, his amber eyes twinkling with delight. Pinestar knew the warrior was fiercely protective of Shadowclan and would lay down his life for his clan-mates, he would be a great leader someday.

Pinestar chuckled, imagining himself as an old, old cat on his last life. He was a very young tom, barely out of his thirteenth moon, and when he was named deputy shortly after becoming a warrior, many of his clan-mates had protested. He eventually won them over, though.

They ran along the Riverclan side of the lake, their paws hammering the ground beneath them, sending clouds of dust unfurling behind them. When they came to the tree-bridge, ThunderClan was waiting there.

Pinestar searched the crowd for their leader, a golden tom named Sunstar, but an attractive gray tabby she-cat caught his eye instead. She's really prett-What are you doing! His conscience screamed.You can't think the enemy is attractive! He quickly shook his head, looked away, and led his group across first.

They padded single-file across the twoleg bridge that had been built many seasons ago. The stones beneath his paws were held together with some kind of joining substance, and large stone walls two fox-lengths high arose on either side of the bridge.

Pinestar had always liked it, the bridge had an air of stability that could not be found when traversing a log or a tree-like twoleg bridge. He confidently trotted across, his clanmates fanning out behind him.

When they arrived on the island, the brown tom instinctively headed towards the crowd, but he stopped himself before he joined them. Pinestar then turned and climbed up the giant tree, balancing on one of the lower limbs. The cats conversed below him, their chattering easily rising to his ears, and he couldn't help but listen in.

"So that's the new ShadowClan leader eh? He doesn't look too tough to me." Pinestar heard a gray RiverClan warrior say.

"Have you heard about the twoleg monsters? I've been told that they're super scary, but I've never seen one." A young brown Windclan apprentice mewed.

"There's a new Shadowclan leader?" He heard an old brown tom, probably an elder, yowl.

Pinestar, uninterested in all the blather about himself, turned his attention to the medicine cat's below him, they were discussing remedies for greencough. Their voices were excited and gleeful to share, but the information just sounded like a monotonous drone to the tabby tom. He flicked his tail in annoyance. Why does being up here have to be so-so boring! Eventually, Pinestar eventually grew even more blasé, and he laid down with his head on top of one paw and the other hanging down off the branch.

His eyes strayed to the grey she-cat he had seen earlier. He didn't know what it was about her, but she just seemed to be so familiar, as if he should know her somehow.

She was sitting next to a golden cat. But from his high perch, Pinestar couldn't tell if the golden cat was a tom or not. He smacked himself with his free paw. Why would I even care if it were a tom or not? She's a ThunderClan cat! She has nothing to do with me.

The Sunstar had joined him when he had been listening in, and the other two had been above him the whole time, but Pinestar hadn't noticed them. He nodded respectfully to the three, before standing up.

Reedstar, stepping forward, decided to begin the gathering. "RiverClan is flourishing. Prey is plentiful and we have a new warrior, Shellspirit."

A small ginger she-cat stood up in the crowd. All of RiverClan cheered for her, and apprentices from the other clans did too.

The dark gray tom stepped back and Breezestar made her way to the end of her branch to address the crowd. "WindClan is doing well. The prey is plentiful and we welcome four new kits to our clan."

Yowls of approval rang across the island when the grey she-cat announced the arrival of kits. She returned to her previous perch and nodded to Pinestar. He padded forward casually, even though he was apprehensive inside.

Pinestar decided to keep it simple, lest he stumble in his speech. "ShadowClan is also thriving. I am the new leader, and Ravenclaw is my deputy."

Members of ShadowClan cheered. Pinestar waited for the crowd to calm down. Then, he continued. "We also have a kit born to ShadowClan."

The cheers sounded again. He stepped back and nodded to Sunstar, glad to no longer be the center of attention.

Sunstar, his chest puffed out and a smile plastered on his face, proudly announced, "The prey in ThunderClan is growing in numbers. ThunderClan also welcomes a new warrior, Greyleaf."

Pinestar watched as the grey she-cat he had been eyeing stood up proudly. Her green eyes sparkled with joy, and her long, fluffy tail streamed out behind her. All of ThunderClan seemed to be cheering, their yowls lifting to the sky and piercing the night. Greyleaf was obviously popular.

Sunstar continued. "ThunderClan also welcomes three new kits."

The crowd cheered again. After his speech, Sunstar started to climb down the tree. The rest of the leaders followed in suit.

Wow, WindClan and ThunderClan are both welcoming lots of kits. I hope they don't grow too much. That would mean that we could be outnumbered. The life of foresight that he had received seemed to have fueled that thought, the memory of it sent a warm chill through him, confusing his senses with the opposites.

His mind strayed to Greyleaf. NO! I must not think of her. I don't even know her. Plus she is ThunderClan and I am ShadowClan. She has no effect on my life. He wiped the grey she-cat from his mind, gathered his clan, and they headed home.