A/N: Deepest thanks, reviewers. L.e.g.e.n.d., you're quite right; I really need to work on describing what Sunfire is feeling. Safaricat Dawnheart, your question'll be answered in this chap. To all, I am SO sorry for taking so long to update. Delays were due to two tests per school day and a really nasty-arse cold.

Chapter Fourteen

Sunfire slipped under the trailing branches of the great willow, padding into the clearing where the other three Clans had already gathered. She held her tail jauntily high and straight, her eyes gleaming, for this was her first Gathering as a warrior and she was going to let the world know it. Walking deliberately, she slowly scanned the assembled cats, looking for Pinepaw. Assuming the mottled she-cat still went by Pinepaw; she could've been made a warrior since the battle.

"You're acting like you've just been made leader," Icestorm commented from beside her.

"Said the one who just came strutting into view," she shot back. Helooked sheepish.Sunfire craned her neck, still trying to pick out one RiverClan cat from the others. It wasn't easy; RiverClan's group was much larger than was average.

"Who're you looking for?" asked Raintail, coming up on her other side.

Just as Raintail asked it, Waterstar, RiverClan's leader, yowled from where the leaders always stood, on the platform created by the willow tree's sweeping branches. Lightningstar and the other leaders, Hickorystar and Reedstar, hurriedly leapt up beside her.

"Staring this Gathering rather abruptly, aren't we?" said Sunfire, to no one in particular. She felt rather nettled that she hadn't had the chance to find Pinepaw.

"And why's she calling the start of the Gathering?" asked Raintail. "Lightningstar's senior leader; he should be calling it."

"Cats of WindClan, ShadowClan, and ThunderClan," called Waterstar, "I bring news of the Tribe. As you may or may not know, RiverClan was attacked by the Tribe a little less than a half-moon ago. I have made the decision–"

"No mention of the fact that ThunderClan saved their tails," muttered Sunfire.

"Shut up!" hissed Icestorm, poking her with unsheathed claws. Sunfire glared at him, but the glare was half-hearted at best.

Waterstar's voice drew her attention. "–to ally with the Tribe. We will–"

The rest of her sentence was drowned out by yowls and snarls from nearly every cat, including, Sunfire noted with both interest and confusion, most of the RiverClan patrol.

"Have you gone mad?" yowled Jaywing. The ThunderClan warrior's blue-gray pelt was bristling. "Joining with them? Do you have any idea of what–"

"Insanity!" Another cat's voice rose over his; it was a ShadowClan she-cat, Goldear. "You're just proving the Tribe–"

"Silence!" Waterstar's glare landed on every cat in the clearing in turn. When complete silence had fallen, she continued. "I have done this to both protect and strengthen my Clan. RiverClan will be safer, living with the Tribe, and we will also learn fighting techniques from them." Her blue gaze was as icy as her tone. "I acted for the best."

Sunfire's stomach was churning. Flame rose inside her, and her thoughts spilled out her mouth. "Did you even consider for a minute how this will affect us?" she shouted. "The Tribe will figure that if they got one Clan to collapse and join with them, the rest will follow! You're only making them stronger!"

"The decisions I make for my own Clan are not your concern, Sunpaw!" snarled Waterstar.

"Sunfire!" she spat. "And if you're making decisions like this, they're the concern of every cat in the forest! Everyone will suffer from this!" Sunfire was, somehow, losing anger as she plowed on. She became less a furious young warrior and more a leader determined to defend her Clan, defend all the Clans. Her voice rang through the trees, seemed to carry all the way to the stars. If she could have seen herself, she would have been surprised how noble she sounded.

"You would rather fight for the cats who have tried to kill you than for the cats who have helped keep you alive?" This was Icestorm, his blue eyes blazing in the moonlight.

Waterstar was about to respond when, without any warning rumbles from the sky, a bolt of lightning shot down, nearly touching the top of the great willow. Sunfire's fur crawled like ants had swarmed over her, and the air felt thick and hot. Along with many other cats, Sunfire shuddered, both from the horrible sensation in her fur and from StarClan's apparent warning.

"This Gathering is over, by the will of StarClan." Lightningstar's voice rang through the clearing, his words too loud in the sharp silence that had fallen with the lightning bolt. He could be clearly seen jumping down from the tree; the moon had not been covered with clouds. The other Clan leaders followed suit, calling to their Clans. Slowly, apparently puzzled by the abrupt end to the Gathering, cats began milling their way over to their respective leaders, muttering about Waterstar's decision.

Sunfire forced herself to linger, though instinct told her to run from the lightning that had fallen so close to the gathered cats. Every hair on her pelt still tingled unpleasantly, partially from the lightning, partially from Waterstar's proclamation. Despite the mingled scents, a familiar RiverClan wafted over her scent glands just as the voice that matched the scent spoke.

"Sunfire, huh? Nice name." Pinepaw stood at her shoulder. "I'm Pinefur now," she added. "A less than elegant name."

"You're a warrior, don't complain. What in the name of StarClan is Waterstar–?"

"Give you the details later," interrupted Pinefur. "Can you get on a hunting patrol tomorrow at sunhigh?"

"I'll try, but–"

"Sunfire!" Icestorm was waiting for her at the edge of the clearing; Sunfire felt a sudden, happy twinge in her belly as some of the weeping willow's trailing branches danced around him, making for a nice view. "You coming?"

"Working on it," she called, already starting towards him. Flicking her tail in farewell to Pinefur, she added quietly, "I'll try and be there," before breaking into a run to catch up with the rest of ThunderClan.

;-;-;-;

"Waterstar what?" Badgerclaw's face was twisted with incredulity. He hadn't been to the Gathering, but Lightningstar's first action upon returning to camp was to summon the Clan and fill them in on what the RiverClan leader had done.

"Why would she do that?" called Nightwhisker, seated beside him. "She's only making the forest weaker."

"She was intimidated into it, I'll bet," Quickriver said from the back of the crowd. "Only explanation that makes sense."

"What, the most sensible explanation is always the right one?" Sunfire shot over.

Quickriver looked irritated. "Well, it–"

"Rhetorical question," Sunfire shouted over the brown she-cat.

Lightningstar's caterwaul silenced them. "The point," he said once total quiet was restored, "is that the Tribe now have a whole Clan added to their numbers."

"But will all of RiverClan even fight for the Tribe?" asked Raintail from the head of the Clan. "Next time the Tribe attacks, will RiverClan stand and fight against us, or turn and fight with us?"

Arguments rose again; Sunfire tuned them out and thought. She had courage; Lightningstar had named it as a virtue at their warrior ceremony. Regardless, a needle of fear pushed into her when she thought of the Tribe's numbers now. Why would Waterstar even agree to join with the fox? She was giving up the freedoms of every cat in her Clan, as well as making the Clans who refused to buckle vulnerable.

"The only thing we can do right now is wait. In a few nights, I will go to the Silverstone and listen to what StarClan tells me," continued Lightningstar.

"Hardly seems sufficient," Sunfire heard Badgerclaw mutter a few tail-lengths away. "But I suppose it's the most sufficient thing we can do right now."

For the first time, Sunfire agreed with him. Must be a sign the world's going to come to a screeching halt.

;-;-;-;

"Where are you going?" asked a gray bundle of fur that bounced around Sunfire's chest.

"Can we come?" squeaked a grubby brown bundle, busying itself running circles around her legs.

Sunfire danced from forepaw to forepaw, amusement and mild annoyance both rising in her chest as she tried to avoid stepping on the kits. She grunted as Dewkit cannoned into her flank.

"Will you three let up?" she said, half-laughing. She felt relief, surprise, and amusement bubble up as all three kits immediately ceased their assault on her, stepping back a few paces. "I'm going hunting," she told them. "And no, you can't come. You're hardly old enough to be out of the nursery."

Rootkit and Dewkit looked crestfallen, while Fogkit looked offended. "I'm strong," he mewed defiantly, though his kit-squeaky voice made Sunfire fight her twitching whiskers. The gray kit was strong for his age, she had to admit; his already-broad shoulders and chest and thick legs mirrored those of their father Jaywing.

"You'll have to take it up with Waterdrip," said Sunfire, starting up the slope. "Where is Waterdrip?" she added as an afterthought. The silver queen, like many others, was highly protective of her kits while they were so young.

"Gone to see Treeshadow," said Rootkit, her eyes following the complex flight of a dragonfly. As if on cue, the silver tabby appeared from under the fallen tree the medicine cat made his den under. At the sight of her, the three kits pranced over, deciding to continue their assault on her rather than Sunfire.

"Hope they didn't bother you," said Waterdrip. "They're quite–Fogkit, that hurt--active today."

"No trouble," called Sunfire from the top of the slope. It was nearing sunhigh, and she had intent to try and meet Pinefur.

She turned her head around and found herself nose-to-nose with Icestorm. He took a few steps back, looking mildly amused.

"It's a whole new Sunfire that comes into being when kits are in the near vicinity," he said.

Sunfire worked her jaw slightly, trying to stop her whiskers itching from where they had mingled with Icestorm's. "Yeah, I believe we've already reached that conclusion."

His tail tip twitched. "You going hunting?"

"No, thought I'd just ramble aimlessly around the woods for a while."

He ducked his head and huffed out a short laugh. "Have fun," he said, grimacing as hebent his head to pick up his fresh-kill. "Mudspeckle's assigned me on WindClan patrol with Shadowfur."

She grunted sympathetically, nudging him in farewell as he started down the slope and she started off towards RiverClan territory. It was a nice day, she thought, as she had for almost every day since greenleaf started. Bright sun, plenty and fresh-kill, just enough rain to prevent the forest from drying up.

A sparrow flitted past in front of her, and it took her a moment to decide whether to go for the bird or keep moving for RiverClan territory. Instinct won, and as she slipped into the hunting crouch something nudged the back of her mind. It was almost unnatural, all this nice weather and good fortune. Like StarClan were giving the Clans a small gift before trouble came.

She pounced on the sparrow and hid it in a clump of lavender, then continued over to the RiverClan border. Sunfire really couldn't explain why she felt strange; intuition, she supposed. It was just mostly that since the Tribe's first attack, when Sunfire had been barely seven moons old, every cat had expected an almost non-stop flow of attacks. And now, in early greenleaf, few attacks had come, but somethingdark almost hovered overhead.

Was she thinking about it too much? Or not enough? We do need to do something, thought Sunfire, craning her neck over some reeds. Trouble is, we can't do anything.

"Hey, Sunfire?"

Sunfire turned left and saw Pinefur's head poking out of a clump of cattails. The RiverClan warrior pushed through the reeds to stand a whisker away from where ThunderClan's scent markings began. "Glad you made it," Pinefur added. "Can't be sure I would've–"

"What was Waterstar thinking?" interrupted Sunfire. "She's just put all the Clans in trouble by–"

"You think we haven't told her that?" said Pinefur in a harsh whisper, flattening her ears. "Not too long after ThunderClan left after the fight–thanks for that, by the way–the fox came bounding over the camp wall, knocked Waterstar flat, and killed her with a hit from one paw." Sunfire sat down in front of Pinefur, her ears pricked not to better hear her friend, but to listen for patrols, RiverClan or ThunderClan.

"It wasn't Waterstar's last life, obviously, so when Waterstar woke up again the fox said she would keep killing her, and every cat in the Clan, unless Waterstar did what she wanted. And the fox wanted RiverClan on her side. So, she–"

"But are any of RiverClan really going to stand with her, or are all of you just going to turn in battle and attack the Tribe?"

Pinefur crouched close to the ground, her eyes wide as she stared up at Sunfire. "Sunfire, I don't know! I don't know whether to be loyal to Waterstar or the warrior code or the fox or Shadow–"

"You follow the orders of the fox or the Tribe and they own you," Sunfire cut in. Anger coiled up inside her as she thought about what the fox was doing: inducing fear to rally the Clans to her side. "And if RiverClan–" Then something Pinefur had said sunk in. "Wait, what about ShadowClan? Have they–"

"No, not–" began Pinefur, but she stopped talking abruptly. Pawsteps were sounding from behind Pinefur, growing louder rapidly. "Go!" hissed Pinefur. Sunfire was already turning away, putting a safe distance between herself and the RiverClan border.

As Sunfire walked through the forest, she hardly saw where she was going. From the sound of it, nearly all of RiverClan disagreed with their leader's decision in joining the Tribe. That would certainly have an effect somewhere down the line.

Everyone, Sunfire included, would just have to wait to see where Waterstar's decision led them.

But it didn't mean she had to like the waiting.

;-;-;-;

"Sunfire?"

Hearing her name, Sunfire raised her head groggily. It was nearly dawn, two days after her meeting with Pinefur. Blinking sleep away, she turned to the den's entrance to see pale amber eyes staring back at her. "That's me," she yawned, unsure who was calling her. Morning and Raintail had similar voices.

"I've got a need to be telling you something." It was Morning; the she-cat had a tendency to use extra words.

Moving slowly so as to not wake any other warriors, Sunfire uncurled herself and stood, arching her back. Stepping carefully over Icestorm, she pushed out of the den.

"What?" she asked, settling into the cool grass across from Morning.

"You should know this...I have been scenting the..." she gulped, hesitated, continued. "The f-fox for a some many nights now."

Sunfire was awake now. For less than a heartbeat, fear needled up her spine; anger replaced it a moment later. "Exactly why haven't you told Lightningstar?" she hissed.

Morning flinched slightly, but said, "I had thought that Lightningstar had to already know. I had thought some cat would have been catching the scent." Before Sunfire could say something, Morning added, "Her scent is always being accompanied by the scent of the warrior Shadowfur, sometimes by the warrior Hawkclaw."

It was anger, not fear, that had a grip on Sunfire now. "All more the reason you should've told Lightningstar, or Mudspeckle, or Treeshadow, or anybody before now! How many days have you scented them?"

"Well...it is a little difficult to pinpoint, but..."

"How many?" insisted Sunfire.

Morning flinched again. "Two nights more than a quarter-moon. And Sunfire," she added, "never are they involved in a fight when they are meeting. Always calm, I can tell by their scents."

Streaks of pink and purple were showing just above the trees; Silverpelt was fading.

"We should be telling Lightningstar when he comes returning," said Morning nervously. He'd started out for the Silverstone yesterday.

"Should've told Lightningstar the first time you scented them," snapped Sunfire, not caring that she made Morning flinch for the third time in two minutes. Well, she should've.

Behind Morning, the palest outline of Firestar appeared. His dark green eyes were wide, shining with fear. Before he faded completely, he indicated the sky with his muzzle. Raising her head, Sunfire saw a blood-red streak amidst the soft pinks and purples of dawn.

"There will come the time of shadows."

Lightningstar appeared on the crest of the slope, looking defeated.

;-;-;-;

"Things are now in motion that cannot be undone."

–Gandalf, The Return of the King

A/N: Yes, not much done, but I'm still slightly ill and couldn't write much more this chap. And let's not turn our reviews into arguments with each other, shall we? Generally, I'm pretty fair-tempered, but when people write reviews to snipe at each other it irks me.