Echostar let out a soft sigh as he padded through the woods. Tonight was the night of the Gathering, and yet, he couldn't feel at ease. His dreams had still been plagued by bloody images of Littlekit at his mother's feet, and it had been nearly a moon since he first had it.
Behind him, his patrol consisted of Gingerfur, Minnowstream, Crookedtail, Forestgaze, Sunpaw, Tallwhisker, and Blacktail. He hadn't been choosing Blacktail for Gatherings lately, due to the two's rather unhealthy relationship. Even when Echostar told the warrior that he was going, Blacktail merely grunted and turned away without a word. Was he truly still a loyal warrior?
"Echostar," Forestgaze's mew whispered in his ear. "Is it really wise to go to a Gathering under these circumstances?"
"It'll be fine," he replied. "After all, the moon is still visible."
"But Silverpelt is not. StarClan isn't watching over us tonight."
He hesitated. "Even so, we must continue with the Gathering. Elmstar may not have been informed about the…predicament."
She dipped her head. "Very well," the medicine cat mewed dryly. "But don't be surprised that if we fight, no one will intervene."
Echostar did not reply, for they had arrived at the gorge. LeafClan was already there, but something strange was in the air. Instead of talking, the other Clan just remained silent and tense.
"What's wrong with them?" he mewed.
"They could be sick," Tallwhisker guessed. "After all, they all look hungry. You can see their ribs!"
Sure enough, the black and white warrior was right. Every cat, from the youngest apprentice to the most experienced warrior, was thin, as if they hadn't eaten in the moon that the two Clans had been apart.
Jumping up onto the Large Stone, Echostar nodded towards Elmstar. "Greetings, Elmstar. How is the prey running in LeafClan?"
"We are fine." Her voice was unusually taut.
Scanning the area, Echostar spotted Sunpaw padding over to his sister, Rainpaw, whose usually bright amber eyes were flat. The ginger tom mewed something to her, but all she did was nod and give a half-hearted smile.
"Let's begin, Echostar," Elmstar muttered and then let out a yowl, signaling the cats below. "The Gathering has started!" She then nodded to Echostar to start.
Steppinng forward, the WillowClan leader began. "WillowClan has been doing well. Our first litter of kits are strong and our territory has enough prey to support us all." Stepping back, he looked at Elmstar.
"Unlike WillowClan, my Clan has been suffering," she growled. "Our prey is dying off, and the live prey doesn't have enough meat to satisfy us." Her yellow eyes focused on his blue ones. "I never beg, but I ask you, let us hunt on your territory. At least, until our prey has returned."
Echostar blinked in shock. What should he do? If he let them hunt on WillowClan territory, they wouldn't starve, but there wouldn't be enough prey to support both Clans. After a few minutes, he murmured, "I'm sorry, Elmstar. But I can't do that."
His answer earned a chorus of gasps, some coming from his own warriors. Below, he saw Blackspots flash a desperate glance at Forestgaze, while Sunpaw mewed urgently to Rainpaw.
"What?" Elmstar lashed her tail. "Echostar, please rethink this. My Clan is dying."
"You know as well as I do that my territory can't support both of our Clans," he meowed firmly, but not unsympathetically.
The brown she-cat bared her teeth in a snarl. "Just because StarClan chose you to come here doesn't mean your Clan is any better than mine," she hissed.
"I never said that," he replied defensively.
Elmstar advanced towards him, her fur bristling. "You never had to. The fact that you are denying cats the right to live tells me enough."
Echostar felt a growl catch in his throat. "Nobody said you would die."
"We don't have enough food!"
"I've given you my decision. This Gathering is over." With that, he jumped off of the Large Stone.
"Echostar!" he turned to see Crookedtail looking at him, alarm in the old tom's eyes. Before he could do anything else, Elmstar came crashing down on him, snarling with rage.
Yowling in pain as her claws dug into his back, he writhed around in an attempt to turn the tables, but the she-cat was larger than him. Finally, he was able to roll over and throw her off. Getting up and panting with pain and shock, he stared at the leader. "This is a Gathering!" he managed to say.
"What's the point?" she hissed. "My Clan is going to die, and you're the one at fault."
The two stood still, staring at each other, until Elmstar finally stalked away, her cats following her. Echostar relaxed, but winced at he did so, for the wounds on his back burned as if Elmstar had put all her fury into his wounds.
"Echostar!" Forestgaze came bounding up, followed by Minnowstream.
"Are you alright?" the silver she-cat breathed.
"I'm fine," he muttered. "The wounds sting, but they aren't deep." Forcing himself to stand up, he added, "Let's go home."
When he said this, he noticed Blacktail staring at him, a strange light glimmering in his eyes. Peering closer, Echostar's fur bristled at what he saw.
Was that satisfaction in the tom's green gaze?
-
Amberstorm paced impatiently near Jasper and Borace, her anxiety coming off her in waves. "It's been days now!" she hissed. "Is Lilly alright or not?"
Jasper studied his paws. "We don't know," he replied carefully. "Our housefolk haven't brought her home yet."
"Then what if she's already dead?"
Borace sighed. "How about this: We'll give her three more days. If she doesn't come back by then, then we can assume that she's…gone."
Amberstorm nodded. It killed her to agree with the fat tom, but she couldn't stay here much longer. As Bramblestar and Squirrelflight said, StarClan is gone. She needed to return to WillowClan, no matter the consequences.
Turning around, she walked out of the entrance and into what Jasper called the yard. Looking around, she finally saw Bramblestar grooming himself and Squirrelflight looking at the sky, a strange light in her eyes.
"We're giving her three days," the tabby she-cat announced. "After that, we can leave, with or without her."
Bramblestar nodded. "Good. We need to get back to the Clans as quick as possible."
Sitting down, Amberstorm met the leader's eyes. "Why? What's going on?"
This time, Squirrelflight replied. "A war is about to break loose among the two Clans. Nothing will be the same if we can't stop it."
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"No."
Well that helps, Amberstorm inwardly sighed. "Okay…Then can you answer another question?"
The ginger cat stared at her. "It depends. What's the question?"
"How is Blacktail?" She flattened her ears when Bramblestar snorted with amusement.
"Blacktail is…alright, I suppose."
She turned back to Squirrelflight. "You suppose?"
Squirrelflight sighed. "Well, he has received Sunpaw as an apprentice, but…his judgment is being clouded. Echostar assumed that you purposely killed Mistpelt, you see."
"I expected as much," Amberstorm murmured. She tried to sound indifferent, but her heart wrenched at the thought of her old friend being so quick to assume that she was a killer.
The warrior nodded before continuing. "Blacktail doesn't believe you did. He's one of the few. Ever since Echostar said this, he hasn't held Echostar in the esteem that a leader should be held in. It seems that the two are enemies."
"All because of me," Amberstorm whispered and looked down.
"Don't be so quick to blame yourself." Bramblestar grunted. "Some things just happen this way."
"You don't think that Blacktail will try to…harm Echostar, do you?"
She had expected a comforting answer, but the two dead cats just exchanged a glance and Squirrelflight closed her eyes.
"I don't know, Amberstorm. I just don't know."