Later that evening, Nightpaw sat waiting beside the bramble tunnel. Beside him sat Skypaw and Silverpaw. Nettlepaw, Barkpaw and Rosepaw were staying behind in camp. Icestar had chosen to leave some of the strongest fighters in camp, in case ShadowClan decided to stir up trouble. Accompanying Nightpaw to the gathering were Goldmist, Foxtail, Rainmask, Bluefire, Snowpetal, Darkfoot, and Shadowstripe. Nighpaw wasn't sure it was wise to bring Darkfoot to the Gathering. He didn't know why, but he got a strange feeling that the jet-black warrior was not to be trusted.
Once the final cat had assembled outside the bramble tunnel, Icestar pelted up the slope and out into the forest. Nightpaw quickened his pace so that he was running alongside Silverpaw. They kept their pace until they reached the stream that separated WindClan territory from ThunderClan territory. Once they reached the barren moorland, they slowed to a trot. By the time they reached the tree bridge, both RiverClan and WindClan had already arrived.
Nightpaw stepped off the bridge and looked around for his Clanmates. Icestar was looking over her shoulder nervously, her silver-blue tail flicking anxiously. Rainmask padded up to her and touched his nose to her shoulder. His emerald green eyes were full of concern, but he looked slightly distracted.
"Come on, Icestar. Not even Darkstar would dare anger StarClan so much as to launch an attack on our camp on the night of a Gathering!" he meowed gently.
"Yes... yes, I suppose you're right. And the moon is still shining, which must mean that StarClan is happy," she sighed. "Okay, let's go." With a flick of her tail, the ThunderClan warriors followed their leader towards the clearing in the centre of the island.
As they emerged into the clearing, Nightpaw was hit by the powerful mixed scent of RiverClan and WindClan. He followed Silverpaw towards two WindClan apprentices. One was a pale blue she-cat, and the other a tortoiseshell. "Hi Streampaw, Blossompaw!" Silverpaw mewed eagerly. "This is Nightpaw, by the way."
"Hello, Nightpaw," Streampaw meowed, her light blue eyes glowing. Blossompaw merely nodded.
"So, Silverpaw, how's the training going?" asked Streampaw. The two apprentices immediately launched into an intense conversation about their mentors, while Nightpaw was left to talk to Blossompaw.
"So... how's the prey running in WindClan?" he asked, nervously.
"Fine, thank you. I heard ThunderClan had a bit of a border skirmish with ShadowClan yesterday," she replied, surveying him with pretty deep green eyes.
"Yes," he mewed. "We're all fine though. We drove them back." He didn't want to make his clan seem weak.
"That's good," she mewed coolly. "Talking of ShadowClan, where are they?"
Just as she spoke, the tell-tale scent of ShadowClan filled Nightpaw's nose. Nightpaw looked around, and saw the huge outline of a jet-black tom swaggering across the moonlit clearing. He was far bigger than any of the cats around him, except for perhaps the dark brown warrior walking beside him. He had a huge ugly scar across his left eye, but his one good eye glowed blood red. He realised that this must be the ShadowClan leader, Darkstar. Nightpaw shivered. If there was going to be a battle with ShadowClan, he didn't fancy any cat's chances against Darkstar.
He noticed a sinister-looking dark ginger warrior padding across to talk with Darkfoot. The ginger warrior had a long scar across his back, and part of his tail was missing. Shadowclaw was following him. Nightpaw recognised his dark brown pelt with black stripes and his yellow eyes from the border fight the previous morning. Next to Shadowclaw walked a muscular dark grey tom with brown eyes. He looked over his shoulder guiltily, and Nightpaw recognised Rippleshadow, a cat who had been pointed out to him by Tawnyleaf at a previous Gathering. He wasn't sure what the sinister trio were doing talking with the ThunderClan leader's brother, and he wasn't sure he liked it. Maybe they're just being friendly, he thought to himself. But, as he watched the three cats settled around Darkfoot, he wasn't so sure that any of the four cats had ever been friendly towards any cat in their entire lives.
Darkstar didn't stop to talk to anyone. The other cats drew back slightly as he and his deputy, Batslash, passed them. Darkstar ignored the other leaders gathered around the oak tree, and leaped up onto one of the branches. Icestar clambered up after him, followed by Silverstar, the RiverClan leader, and Swiftstar, the WindClan leader.
Silverstar let out a yowl to start the Gathering, and silence fell over the clearing. Nightpaw trotted forward to sit in between Rainmask and a dark ginger RiverClan warrior with a red streak along his spine, called Sparknose. Although Silverstar had begun to speak, he noticed that Sparknose's amber eyes were fixed on a creamy-white she-cat with pale green eyes. There was something in his intense stare that Nightpaw could not put his finger on, but it was almost like sadness.
Nightpaw turned his attention back to Silverstar, who was just finishing. When she was done, she nodded towards Icestar, who stood up and addressed the listening cats.
"Prey is running well in ThunderClan territory, especially along the ShadowClan border," Icestar began, with a meaningful glance towards Darkstar, who bared his teeth, but didn't interrupt. "ThunderClan wishes to let every cat," she put a great deal of stress on the words, "Know that ThunderClan is as strong as ever, and we will not tolerate any crossings of our borders without good reason." There were a few yowls of agreement among the ThunderClan cats, while a few ShadowClan warriors hissed menacingly.
Icestar stood back, and Swiftstar began to speak, his white pelt glowing silver in the moonlight. Nightpaw let his attention wander until it was Darkstar's turn to speak. The huge tom stepped forward and spoke in a low, rough voice.
"Prey has also been running well with us. We have no news to report." He stepped back, and leaped down from the tree, calling his warriors to him. The other leaders took this as a cue to leave. Icestar padded across the clearing towards the ThunderClan cats, her blue eyes cold and full of anger. She strode towards the treebridge, without checking to see if her warriors were following her. The ThunderClan cats hurried after their leader, muttering amongst themselves.
Nightpaw could sense something brewing in the thick atmosphere. He felt sure that ShadowClan had something to do with it, but he had no idea what it could be.