A/N: We're very near the finish now; I'm aiming for only two more chapters and an epilogue. I'm planning a sequel, so start thinking about if you want one. I've got a title and (very) basic plot line. Also, I realize the gaps between my updates are pretty bad, but blame my English teacher and her bloody research essay.
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Moonlight dappled the Gathering island. Silver pools of cold light were spilled across the frozen, frost-coated grass that crunched underpaw. Sunfire's pelt was bleached silver, while Icestorm's white-silver coat glinted with a hard shine. Raintail–and other white cats in attendance–were almost painful to look at, given the harsh glint the moon created.
Softpaw tagged close behind Sunfire, staring around in wonder, her eyes darting from cat to cat, trying to decide what to do. Sunfire felt a strange urge to smile at Softpaw's typical first-Gathering behavior. Rustypaw, usually the more cautious of the two, stepped up to his sister and began nudging her towards a couple ShadowClan apprentices.
"Seen your father yet?" murmured Icestorm, coming up beside her.
"No. He might not be able to risk coming; it'd look suspicious if he disappeared from the mountains every moon."
Icestorm grunted his agreement. Sunfire glanced at him; after much poking and prodding at her flanks and belly, Treeshadow had confirmed that she was carrying kits. She hadn't yet told any cat, even though her visit to Treeshadow had been a quarter-moon ago.
A loud call sounded from the tree where the leaders sat. Sunfire saw Lightningstar's thin frame flanking Hickorystar; the ShadowClan leader's heavy, solid build was in stark contrast to Lightningstar. Sunfire, beckoning to Icestorm with her tail, wove through the throng of cats to the center of the clearing, where Raintail sat with Morningcloud.
Hickorystar began speaking, giving the usual news; he got as far as having a new litter of kits in the Clan when an explosion of snarls came from the far edge of the crowd. Alarmed, Sunfire and several others sat up on their hind legs, turning towards the sound, spines bristling. A calico she-cat form ShadowClan was backing away from the island's edge, spitting.
"What is it?" asked Raintail shrilly, standing on her hind legs and stretching to her full height to try and see.
With a quiver an anger, Sunfire recognized the scent on the mild breeze. "Tribe," she growled. This was the second Gathering in a row in which the Tribe had sought to attack them! Instinctively, the assembled cats formed the defensive line, shielding the apprentices and elders. Sunfire saw Softpaw spit at a WindClan warrior who shouldered her aside.
Snarls were rising from nearly every cat. Craning her neck, Sunfire tried to determine how many had come, but Redflower, a WindClan queen, called out scornfully: "There's only two of them! Two cats came to challenge us at a Gathering!"
Sunfire turned to Icestorm and Raintail. "I'm moving up front," she said, raising her voice over the ripple of mocking mews coming from the cats around them. "Something's going to happen and I want to see for myself. We're too far back to see. Coming?" Without waiting for an answer, she started for the crowd's edge when Lightningstar yowled for silence, his voice deep and authoritative, with no hint of the sickness that had recently hindered him.
"These cats have clearly traveled here for a reason," he called, glancing to where they apparently stood; Sunfire still couldn't see them. "We will let them speak. Are there more of you?" He directed the latter towards the Tribe cats.
A harsh, grainy tom's voice answered, "I will swear on anything you hold sacred that there are no more of us. We come solely to carry a message to the Clans."
Lightningstar bowed his head. "Very well. Speak."
"Only if you all command your brave warriors to stand their ground," spat the tom. Lightningstar promptly complied, as did Reedstar; Hickorystar did as well, though grudgingly.
A she-cat's voice, not nearly as rough, began speaking. "Nero and Shadowfur have agreed that the Clan's refusal to surrender the forest has gone on far too long." Cats started shifting nervously.
"They have a proposal," continued the she-cat. "In a quarter-moon, Nero and Shadowfur are willing to meet the Clans in a final battle–a battle that will determine who stays and who retreats for good."
Some elders and apprentices wailed; Sunfire felt a cold shiver run through her that had nothing to do with the wintry air. Raintail was quivering, and on Sunfire's other side, Icestorm's tail had fluffed up hugely. The moonlight dimmed; Sunfire looked up and saw thick clouds drifting across the moon.
The she-cat continued speaking, clearly enjoying the effect her words had had upon the Clans. "Leaders will bring their Clans north to the mountains in exactly a quarter-moon. If the Clans do not appear...," (she paused dramatically) "...then Nero and Shadowfur will lead us–the entire Tribe–into your camps one by one. We're giving you a fair chance, really. It would do you good to come."
Sunfire slithered between some WindClan she-cats and was just able to see the Tribe cats turn and run swiftly away into the night.
A silence full of fear and hatred filled the clearing; Reedstar broke it."What do we do?" he asked quietly, addressing no cat in particular.
"It's plain, isn't it?" said Lightningstar, looking first at the WindClan leader, then at all the assembled cats. "We accept Shadowfur's challenge. It's all we can do to keep the forest in StarClan's paws." Murmurs of agreement swept through the island. Lightningstar looked at the other leaders. "I suggest we begin preparing now. A quarter-moon is not much time to strengthen all our warriors and apprentices, but it's all we have. We must do as the Tribe cats said: join together for battle."
"But we are separate Clans!" called a ShadowClan warrior. "Only when our ancestors journeyed here so many seasons ago did the Clans join together! It's almost unheard of!"
Sunfire remembered a tale Sorrelflower had told her when she was a kit, and wondered how any cat could possibly forget it. "When the great Firestar lived, the cats who called themselves BloodClan attacked the old forest," she began. All eyes turned towards her, and she then saw a cat she had not seen for so long. Firestar's spirit appeared beside Lightningstar, his green eyes gleaming proudly. His presense encouraged her. "If the Clans had not banded together for that battle, the forest would have been lost to our ancestors, and much would have been different. We might not even be standing here now."
"She's right," said Raintail, and Sunfire felt a rush of affection for her friend. The snow-white she-cat looked around the clearing and raised her voice as she said, "The only way we'll get through this is if we repeat the actions of our ancestors and combine our numbers, our skills. From what we've seen in past moons, the Tribe have cats that are equal in number to the amount of cats in all our Clans combined."
"We can't possibly triumph if each Clan takes on the whole Tribe alone," added a WindClan tom, Lichenfur.
"It is decided, then," said Hickorystar. He looked at both Lightningstar and Reedstar. "In a quarter moon, we each take our best cats to the mountains."
"We should meet together at the edge of WindClan's territory," said Reedstar. "Our land is closest to the mountains, and we will feel stronger if we arrive together."
A new silence hung over the clearing, this time one of new, strong alliance. Sunfire stared at the pale image of Firestar, still standing on the Great Tree. He somehow looked nervous and confident at the same time.
Sunfire swallowed hard. A small fire began to burn within her, an urge to start running for the mountains now, to conquer the Tribe for good.
The leaders bid farewell to each other, exchanging wishes of luck. As she waited for Lightningstar, Sunfire turned to look at Icestorm. He had his gaze fixed upon the night sky, his white-silver pelt gleaming in what little moonlight shone through the clouds. All at once, Sunfire knew she had to tell him of their kits. Of all cats, Icestorm had the most right to know, being the father.
Sunfire looked at the Great Tree again, only to see that Firestar had vanished. StarClan, she thought, staring hard at the spot he had stood in moments ago, I trust that you will do everything in your power to keep the forest in your paws.
Her only response was the thick, large snowflakes that began to drift down from the clouds.
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Lightningstar led a very subdued ThunderClan back to camp. Some cats were talking in low voices about the battle; others took their minds off the imminent fight by saying how pretty the snow was, and others of the prey shortage that would be caused by the white covering.
Sunfire had one thing on her mind: getting Icestorm alone. If she dragged him away now to tell him, Raintail would be sure to miss them. Making up her mind, she stepped aside from the Clan and beckoned to Icestorm with her tail. He looked at her curiously, but said nothing as he dropped back and stood quietly in the shadows until the Clan had disappeared down the slope.
"What is it?" he asked softly, his velvet-blue eyes searching hers.
Sunfire shifted; she watched the snow fall for a few moments, then turned to her mate. "I don't want to beat around the bush," she said, meeting his gaze squarely. She took a deep breath, suddenly nervous of what his reaction would be. "I'm expecting kits."
His eyes widened until they were impossibly round. He gaped for a moment, then said stupidly, "Kits? Mine?"
Sunfire huffed out a laugh that was mostly exasperation. "No, Icestorm, Shadowfur's. Honestly, of course they're yours!"
He stared at her for a dozen heartbeats. Then he laughed quietly in amazement. "Kits," he said softly. He repeated the word more quietly, his gaze fixed on a rock that was acquiring a blanket of snow. The he turned to her, eyes blazing with excitement and fear. "When?" he demanded.
Sunfire felt the same way he did: frightened, elated, and somehow still disbelieving. "Not sure. Treeshadow thinks a moon and a half, maybe a little more."
He nodded slowly, then stepped closer to her and wound himself around her, purring deeply. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her. "The battle," he said softly. "You can't afford to fight. Not now. The kits might be harmed."
Sunfire curled a lip and said hotly, "You can't expect me to stay in camp and wash my tail while the rest of you go and fight for the survival of the forest!"
He pulled away from her, his muscles tensing. "I just don't want you hurt," he said. His voice was calm yet hard. "What if you die? Then the kits die too."
"I won't die!" she hissed. Why was he doing this–getting protective and treating her like she was a new apprentice? She could fight for herself! "The Tribe couldn't kill me when I was a seven-moon-old kit—do you think they'll be able to kill me now? I've survived every fight we've been in with them!"
He stared at her, his eyes never leaving hers. Snow was clinging to his pelt and eyelashes, and his eyes burned with a dark light. Sunfire saw fear there–fear for her. After nearly a minute he sighed, relaxing his taught muscles, but keeping his gaze locked on hers. "You're not going to give in, are you." He intoned no question, but Sunfire felt compelled to answer anyway.
"Icestorm, I'm going to fight and I won't say I'm sorry, because I'm not. StarClan won't allow me to die, not when I'm carrying kits." At least I certainly hope so.
Her words had the desired effect; he looked comforted at that and pressed himself against her again. As one, they started over to the slope. Sunfire had an ultimate goal to accomplish in the battle: she wanted to be the one to strike down Nero, no matter how many Tribe–or possibly even Clan–cats would try and stop her.
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No day, no night, no moment
Can hold me back from trying –Enya, Book of Days