Chapter 8

Mist from the river blew onto the four Clans, and all was quiet. At the great Talloak, a space vacant of a certain ginger leader was filled as the tom jumped up. Vixenstar sat adjacent to Lizardstar, who was MarshClan's leader. Above Lizardstar was the calm leader Thornstar of PineClan. As always, Cloudstar sat as the icy-eyed she-cat from FrostClan.

"So, I see you've finally joined us? That being the case, let's start the Gathering," Pinestar said observantly.

"My Clan," continued Pinestar, "is doing well so far. We have a new warrior, Thistletalon." The warriors of all the Clans cheered the new warrior, who was a built dark brown tom with fur that needed grooming bad, Stormflower noticed.

Cloudstar spoke of the usual; things that didn't endanger the Clans, like Pinestar had.

Lizardstar nodded to Cloudstar and spoke up. "All is well in MarshClan, also, although we did have an issue with the elders' den flooding from rain. None of the elders got hurt, though."

Stormflower was listening to Lizardstar, but was off in her own world. I'm glad our dens aren't how MarshClan's are. I mean, they have clumped-together bushes and raft-like things for dens. The elders' den is probably a dugout or something where the elders won't get too hot or cold easily.

Stormflower's ears pricked up as Vixenstar spoke. "SpringClan did have a conflict with some rogues who were, surprisingly, in the neutral territory. They are a ways from here, the Gathering spot, though. Two of our warriors sustained serious injuries, but are doing fine as of now. The rogues wouldn't leave, and, to make a point, one of the warriors on the patrol that fought the rogues killed her enemy."

Some cats gasped, but Vixenstar continued on. "There were two cats in the fight that chose to come with us as prisoners, and shall remain so until further notice."

"So, the cats were in neutral territory? Why wasn't FrostClan told?", Cloudstar scolded.

"Time wasn't on our side, Cloudstar. Besides, the patrol said there were only several rogues, who were easily outmatched by my warriors."

"Well, Vixenstar, this is important."

"I know," said Vixenstar through gritted teeth. "I don't know if the rogues will come back- or not. I shall double patrols near there, and I advise you do the same, Cloudstar."

Stormflower expected Cloudstar to tell Vixenstar that he wasn't her leader, but for once, Cloudstar agreed. The Gathering began to break up, but the SpringClan cats waited for their leader, who was conversing with Thornstar. "Hey, Stormflower, got a minute?", asked Tawnyrose.

"Yeah, I do. What is it?"

"Well, you know how I like Stonefeather, right?"

"Yes, Tawnyrose, I do, with you mooning over him constantly," Stormflower teased.

Tawnyrose fake-hissed, and continued on, saying, "I was thinking that I could strategically hunt with him, and confess my feelings to him!"

"Wait, what? You don't know if he has feelings for you back yet! That's taking a risk, Tawnryose!", Stormflower exclaimed.

"That is a risk I am willing to take."

"I wish you wouldn't, not yet, Tawnyrose," Stormflower reasoned.

"Hmm….alright, Stormflower, I see your point. I'll wait until Stonefeather is accepted into the Clan to do anything," Tawnyrose replied.

Tawnyrose makes such foolish decisions sometimes, thought Stormflower. But she couldn't get head over heels, not yet. Something still irked her about Stonefeather- and Ember. Ember was nice though. Doubts began to come to Stormflower, but she pushed them to the back of her mind.

A couple of SpringClan's cats walked to the river to get a drink. Stormflower saw Silverfeather going to drink; she couldn't miss this opportunity. Silverfeather bent down to lap at the water, all the while with Stormflower approaching behind her. "Boo!", Stormflower uttered.

This, as Stormflower planned, did surprise Silverfeather, who jumped in surprise into the river. Silverfeather thrashed around, but got out of the river where it bended. Silverfeather's eyes locked into a staring match with Stormflower's. Stormflower looked away, and caught up with the other cats of her Clan.

"Nice one, Stormflower!", Swifteagle chuckled. The cats continued through the expanse of trees warily. Cats could be heard swimming upriver; it was probably PineClan, since they had to swim across the river to get back to their territory. So did MarshClan, thought Stormflower.

"Where does the river go to?" , Stormflower thought. Sure, she knew it began somewhere in the mountains, past FrostClan's territory, but after her own territory, where did it go? The Twolegs who came down the river in small, what was it, boats, probably knew. Stormflower didn't want to know where the river went bad enough to ask a Twoleg – like she could, anyways.

As they passed Furbald Flats and wound their way through Crookedtail Pass, Stormflower talked to Tawnyrose and then her brother, Falconclaw. Vixenstar conversed with Tallminnow about the rogue situation. All the while, Silverfeather icily glared at Stormflower, like always.