Chapter One: Gathering
Rainingstar bit into her mouse, though she wasn't hungry. In fact she felt a bit sick. This was to be her first Gathering as a leader.
'Well, the other deputies probably feel the same way too,' she thought. After all, none of the old leaders had svurvived. This Gathering should be full of surprises.
Desertstripe, her best friend and deputy, popped her head in the den. "Are you ready to announce who's going to the Gathering?"
Rainingstar took a deep breath. "I think so. Everyone wants to go to the Gathering tonight, to see who the new deputies are and such. And some want to know if their friends are safe. So it was really hard..."
"But you've decided and that's what counts." Desertstripe's voice was kind. Rainingstar shrugged.
They both padded outside and Rainingstar jumped onto the Highrock. "I will now announce who will go to the Gathering. Desertstripe, Oakstripe, Waterlily, Fishscales, Stripedface, Whitepaw, Tigerpaw, Whitebelly, and Goldtail." She peered down at Goldtail, who as always had a sneer on her face. She may have been an elder, but definitely not a nice one. Rainingstar knew that the only reason she allowed Goldtail to go was to prove to her that she was not the wrong choice as leader.
As the chosen cats gathered under the rock, Rainingstar added, "Also, Mosshadow, take out a patrol with two more cats."
Mosshadow nodded. Goldtail narrowed her eyes. "Is that wise?" she asked in a disapproving voice. "Some other Clan may attack."
"I honestly doubt any Clan would dare attack us during the full moon," Rainingstar replied. "And also, do you want your Clanmates to starve? The fresh-kill pile is running low." She paused. "Did the chosen cats even eat yet?"
The chosen cats looked at each other and nodded. Lightpaw said, "I didn't eat but I'm not hungry."
"Well, go get something to eat anyways, in case you get tired on the way back."
"But won't that delay our arrival?" Goldtail complained.
"She'll eat quickly," Rainingstar retorted icily. The two she-cats glared at each other as Lightpaw picked out a small shrew from the fresh-kill pile. She quickly ate it. She ran back to the group of cats going to the Gathering.
''See? That didn't take very long." Rainingstar signaled for the cats to follow her as she padded towards Four Stones. Desertscale ran up to her, matching her quick pace stubbornly.
"I honestly don't know how you put up with Goldtail!" she hissed under her breath.
Rainingstar shrugged. "As Clan leader, I have to put aside old rivalries."
"Do deputies have to?" Desertscale asked playfully.
Rainingstar laughed. "No, not yet." Desertscale let out a mock sigh of relief. Rainingstar felt a bit guilty for talking about Goldtail. Leaders didn't do such a thing; apprentices did.
"So how's being a deputy?" she said, changing the subject clumsily.
Desertscale blinked at her for a minute, then replied, "It's ok. I can't imagine what it was like for you though.." Rainingstar knew she meant Strikingstar's death. She closed her eyes for a minute then opened them.
"I do miss Strikingstar. But I cannot change the past. I can only try to make her proud."
"Spoken like a true leader," Desertscale murmured. Rainingstar flicked her tail in gratitude.
As they got closer to the Four Stones, the pungent scent of all the Clans hit her nose. Rainingstar had been to alot of Gatherings, so it did not bother her as much, though. She noticed that alot of trees were nothing but ashy stumps from the lava. The eruption hadn't spread very far but it had spread far enough that most Clans suffered something.
When she raced down to the clearing, she felt a bit self-conscious as the other Clans turned to look at her. She had not been deputy for very long and all the Clans knew it. She felt Redclaw give her a comforting nudge. She turned to look at him, seeing sympathy in his eyes. She took a deep breath and headed towards the stone that many StormClan leaders before her had sat on. The stones very not too high but they were a bit hard to climb on.
"Having trouble Rainingfire?" Rainingstar looked up to see a silver cat, who was sitting on the rock to the right of her.
"Rainingstar, you mean. And yes, I am having a bit of trouble, Silverstar."
"You might wanna try climbing on the other side," she added. "It has more pawholds."
Rainingstar nodded and did so. It worked, too. "Thanks!" She felt strange on top of the rock. She usually sat under it. But now, Desertscale was the one under the rock.
"This feels funny doesn't it?" rasped a familiar voice. Rainingstar looked to her left at a ginger cat.
"Yes it does."
"It feels the same for all of us, don't worry," Phoenixstar replied. Rainingstar nodded and looked down. She stared at the mark that had been on the rock for a long time. The top of the rock had a small opal embedded in the shape of a thunder bolt. It was the mark of StormClan. She glanced at Silverstar's rock. It had an emerald the shape of a leaf.
"Pretty thing isn't it?" Silverstar smiled when she saw Rainingstar looking at it. "I never imagined that I would be sitting up here so soon. But it must be harder for you," she added.
Rainingstar shrugged. In the corner of her eye, she saw the PhoenixClan mark, a ruby in the shape of a flame. And though she couldn't see it, she knew the WinterClan mark as well: a sapphire in the shape of a diamond.
"So who is your new deputy?" she asked.
"Whiteclaw," she replied, looking down at the older cat who sat under her rock. "He seemed like the perfect choice. He's experienced and a great warrior. I see you've chosen Desertscale, by the way."
"She's more familiar with StormClan territory than me," she pointed out. "And she's a loyal cat. She may
be young, but she's smart and will live long enough to still be fit to lead when I..." She hesitated. "...die."
Silverstar blinked sympathetically. Rainingstar felt a bit nettled. Why was everyone feeling sorry for her today? Just because she wasn't deputy long didn't mean she was going to be a bad leader...did it?
"Shatteredstar has arrived," Phoenixstar commented. Rainingstar looked up to see the long-legged she-cat padding towards her rock. She was walking with her head held high. She bunched up her muscles and lept onto the rock with grace. A grey cat sat under her rock.
Silverstar flicked her tail in a friendly way. "Greetings Shatteredsoul."
"Shatteredstar," she replied icily.
"I'm sorry. I'm not used to all of us being leaders yet."
Shatteredstar gave a curt nod. She was never too friendly around the others when they had been deputies and becoming leader was obviously not going to change that.
Phoenixstar gave a loud yowl. The clearing of cats gradually became quiet. Phoenixstar looked at the other leaders. "Who wants to start?"
"I will." Shatteredstar stood up, her white figure looking extra impressive in the moonlight. "WinterClan mourns the death of Brokenstar, Ashleaf, Snowhare, Yewpaw, and Darkpaw," she said. Though her tone was formal, her eyes betrayed the grief for her dead Clanmates. "Our deputy is Stonefrost." She paused as murmurs of congradulations sounded. Stonefrost stood up proudly, his green eyes flashing proudly before he sat down. "I have received my nine lives. And Bayface has had her litter of kits." She dipped her head before sitting down.
"I will go next," Phoenixstar said. "PhoenixClan grieves for the loss of Sunningstar..." His voice trailed away. Rainingstar felt a stab of pity. Sunningstar had been his mother. Phoenixstar shook his head and continued, "We also grieve for Rowanpelt, Squirrelheart, and Dogpaw." Muttering broke out below, suprisingly from PhoenixClan. Phoenixstar glared at them and they became silent. "Our new deputy is Blue-eyes. Also, we thank EmeraldClan for letting us run to safety there. We thank StarClan that the lava had not flowed throughout the whole island, for no cat would've survive even if they made it to the ocean. And we all know that the only safe way to go to the ocean is if you go through StormClan. PhoenixClan is sorry that the lava had destroyed half of every Clan's territory."
"You need not be sorry, Phoenixstar. You could not control the volcano anymore than we can," Silverstar said gently. He blinked gratefully before sitting down.
"WinterClan's territory did not suffer any damages from the lava," Shatteredstar reported. "But as you can see, some cats did not run to our territory fast enough." Phoenixstar nodded at her, before turning to look at Rainingstar.
The blue-grey she-cat felt dread rising in her. She didn't want to go next. She looked at Silverstar and saw her own dismay reflected in her eyes. They both were the least exeprienced deputies, Rainingstar being the very least. Silverstar gulped before standing up.
"I-I guess I'll go next. EmeraldClan mourns the death of Blizzardstar, Branchpaw, and Hollypaw. We are lucky that we did not lose too many cats. Thankfully, some of the lava went into the river that seperates our territory from PhoenixClan. Yes, parts of our forest are burned down but the Twolegs have replanted some tree shoots. For once, they are being useful." Amused purrs broke down from below. Once they settled down, she announced, "Whiteclaw is our new deputy!" Loud cheers broke out. Whiteclaw was a very popular cat. He sat up proudly. When the noise died down, Silverstar dipped her head and sat down.
Rainingstar's eyes opened wide. It was now her turn. Her stomach churned and her heart thumped faster. She tried to lay her fur down flat and hoped that no one could smell her fear scent.
"Get on with it!" Her own Clanmate Goldtail was dogging her. She felt a rush of anger. She had chosen Goldtail to come to the Gathering to see that she was fit to be leader. And if she couldn't speak for the Clan, it would only make Goldtail's words seem true. She took a deep breath before standing up.
"StormClan mourns the loss of-"
Phoenixstar cut her off. He looked guilty as he said to her, "As you can see, Bluepelt and Firetongue are not here."
Rainingstar blinked. Bluepelt and Firetongue were her parents, whom she had left when she had left PhoenixClan to join StormClan. She looked into Phoenixstar's eyes and saw sadness there. She felt cold claws grip her heart. "They..they're not..."
"I'm sorry Rainingstar," Phoenixstar whispered.
"What about my sisters?" she asked, her eyes wide with despair.
"All three of them are fine."
"And Riverfoot?"
Phoenixstar didn't answer.
She felt herself sink onto her haunches. A terrible wail of grief echoed through Four Stones. The cats from down below also joined the wail. Firetongue had been PhoenixClan's strongest warrior, while Bluepelt had been their best hunter. Both were well known throughout the Clans.
Rainingstar swayed a bit on the rock, before going on weakly. "We all...mourn my parent's death, as well as my brother's." She took a deep gulp, trying to keep her hot tears from pouring out. "StormClan also grieves the loss of Strikingstar, Flowerpetal, and Brightpaw. We are also lucky that we hadn't lost many cats. Thank goodness that the island is so wide and that the lava hadn't spread any further." She dipped her head to signal the end of her report.
"This Gathering is over!" Shatteredstar yowled. Phoenixstar and Silverstar jumped off the rock to their Clans. Shatteredstar looked over at Rainingstar, her usually cold eyes soft. Rainingstar felt slightly wary. When they were apprentices, they had been the best of friends even though they came from different Clans. When they became warriors, Shatteredstar insisted that they go on as rivals, for the sake of their Clans. And Rainingstar had agreed.
Now, even though they were rivals, she still felt a bond with her old friend. They stared at each for a minute before Shatteredstar jumped down to join her own Clan.
Rainingstar did the same. Her eyes were dull with grief as she padded towards her Clan. Suddenly, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to face a familiar face.
"Sootypaw!" she purred, pressing her muzzle against her younger sister's.
"It's Sootytalon now," her sister replied. "And our sisters are now Silverheart and Miststripe."
"How are they?" Rainingstar asked.
"They're fine," she assured her.
Rainingstar stared fondly at her sister, who was the oldest in her mother's second litter. Sootytalon, Silverheart, and Miststripe were silvery cats, while she and Riverfoot had been blue-grey cats. Sootytalon was the odd ball of her litter, because unlike the other two, she didn't have stripes, she had dark flecks scattered across her body. And though their father was a ginger cat, none of the siblings had a trace of ginger on them.
"Also..." Sootytalon's voice dropped to a low whisper. "I don't know what happened to River really. None of us do. We assume he died in the lava but no one has found his body."
"He might've been one of the ones nearest to the volcano," Rainingstar, remembering how the rogue leader Whip, who called himself Whipstar, had made the Clans sit near the volcano as he had his rogues throw the leaders into the volcano. The rogues had been near the mouth so none of them had survived. The rogue take-over had been horrible but at least they were gone now.
"Perhaps. But some of the others had gotten away."
Rainingstar shrugged. "I don't think River could survive without a Clan now, unless he goes to the Twolegs, or the neutral territory behind them, which as you know, you can't reach without going through Twolegplace."
Sootytalon nodded. "I must go. But congradulations on becoming leader!" Her sister gave her ear a lick before padding away. Rainingstar turned to go to her own Clan.
"What took you so long!" Goldtail hissed.
Rainingstar didn't reply. Telling her that she was talking to her sister opened up the topic of her not being loyal to the Clan. And lying wasn't something Rainingstar liked to do.
She looked around at the gathered cats. "Where is Oakstripe?"
"I'm here!" The shaggy tabby tom was running towards her. He skidded to a halt just before he would ram into her.
"Where were you?" she snapped.
His eyes flashed fearfully for a moment. It happened so fast, she wasn't sure if she had seen it at all. "Well, you were talking to your sister so I wanted to speak to my friend."
"But all the other Clans are gone!" Desertscale said skeptically.
"Can we go now?" Goldtail asked.
Rainingstar signaled with her tail for the Clan to follow her as she quickly walked back to StormClan camp. She felt the death of her parents and her brother weighing her shoulders down and she wanted to curl up in her den as soon as she can. After all, who would she talk to? Telling any of her Clan members about how much the deaths were effecting her would only strengthen any doubts they have of her.
As soon as they reached camp, she headed into her den. The blue-grey she-cat curled up into her nest of moss, burying her nose into her own tail, trying to find the comforting scents of her parents and her brother back. But their PhoenixClan scent had faded off of her. She was leader of a different Clan now. And they didn't even get to live long enough to experience it.
'It's time to move on,' she thought to herself, closing her eyes. 'Bluepelt, Firetongue, Riverfoot, I hope you can see me from StarClan. I hope StarClan made the right decision when they had told me to go join StormClan...away from my family...' As she drifted off to sleep, the wind started playing dancing around outside. A small draft of air entered her den, carrying two very soothing scents to her...