TORNADOSTORM
The full moon rose high into the sky as a group of cats stalked cautiously through the undergrowth, glowing silver under the gleam of the night skies. Their muscles were taut and rippled smoothly under their neatly groomed battle-scarred pelts. Many pairs of eyes glinted like amber in the strong moonlight. At the top of a ridge, a very light-colored tabby tom halted, waving his tail commandingly for the cats behind him to wait. Behind him, a dark gray tabby waited at his shoulder; a delegate's position. The dark gray tabby glanced over his shoulder with round golden eyes, staring at back at his Clan, MeadowClan. He felt pride warm his white tabby paws as he noticed how calm and collected they appeared, even though they were being picked off one by one by CoralClan. As his eyes passed over each one of them, a rush of affection tingled through his paws. Acacialeaf, their loyal healing cat, and Mangrovepaw, her silent but devoted learner; Dovefeather, his beloved, and one of their kits, Mudpaw; Falconclaw, one of the bravest protectors on the island, his pelt closely brushing with Morningfrost's; Heronwing, Mudpaw's trainer and a new protector, but a valuable one all the same; Nighthawk, one of the senior protectors, who was flexing his claws anxiously; and, not looking sure how she had been invited, Seapaw, her silver tabby stripes glowing in an almost unearthly way as her ocean-colored eyes flashed with excitement.
"Sandstar," Tornadostorm turned to see Nighthawk pushing his way towards the front of the throng of MeadowClanners. The light-colored tabby pricked his ears and turned to the jet-black protector, whose orange eyes had a glint of fear in them. "Will you mention the death of Branchpaw, or the attack on Seapaw?"
It was as if thorns had wedged their way into Tornadostorm's heart, and he felt his blood run like ice. Dovefeather turned her gaze to his, and he saw grief mingled with anxiety in her leaf-green orbs. The delegate forced himself to shrug off the memory of Stonepaw, and instead pricked his ears alertly to await his ruler's reply.
"I see no reason to cause more trouble with CoralClan, unless they are foxbrained enough to try to start anything at this Meeting," Sandstar replied cooly, although the swishing of his ginger-striped tail gave away a bit of his anxiety. Nighthawk seemed satisified with this reply, and dipped his head submissively to the MeadowClan ruler. The dark gray tabby tom visibly relaxed, and parted his jaw; CoralClan was already here, in addition to StoneClan. Sandstar flicked his tail, and the MeadowClan cats followed him into the Meteorplace, their bushy tails streaming out behind them.
Tornadostorm still felt a sense of awe whenever he entered the Meteorplace. The Meteorplace had been formed uncountable moons ago, when their ancestors had arrived on the island on a shooting star, which was also the Blazingrock that the rulers stood upon to address the four Clans. The Meteorplace was a dip in the normally flatland of this area of the island, because the force of the impact of the Blazingrock had been so great that it created a valley large enough for all the Clans to gather in. The MeadowClan delegate saw the tunnel leading to the Protector, and his white paws tingled as he saw a faint glow from the tunnel. Inside the tunnel, which ran for many tail-lengths, was a stone-statue of the Protector, who had ended the Great War many, many moons ago after being slain. The Protector, who, according to legend, was a golden cat, had not wanted to join IslandClan without ending the Great War between the four Clans first, so he had chosen to stand forever in stone. At the half-moon, the healing cats and their learners traveled to the Protector, where they sought guidance from him.
He glanced around with wide amber eyes, and with a faint flash of anger, he saw that Twilightstar was already seated upon the Blazingrock, her menacing green eyes surveying the three Clans already assembled there. Wavestar, a huge light gray tabby tom with white paws, and the ruler of StoneClan, was sitting beside Twilightstar, his amber eyes shining as he spoke comfortably to the CoralClan ruler. Cliffstorm was seated at the foot of the Blazingrock, where the delegates sat during the Meetings, and Tornadostorm felt a pulse of rage as the brown tabby tom glared at him with scorching amber eyes like the sun. Tornadostorm watched as Sandstar stalked past Cliffstorm without any greeting and leapt onto the Blazingrock, mewing a greeting to Wavestar and Twilightstar. Pride flooded through the delegate's tabby body as he took his place next to Cricketsong, the delegate of StoneClan, who was a sleek jet-black tom with a white blaze on his nose. Cricketsong mewed a friendly greeting, and Tornadostorm dipped his head respectively to the StoneClan delegate. Cliffstorm peered around from the other side of Cricketsong and let out a furious hiss, his black tabby stripes bristling against his brown fur. Bewildered, Cricketsong narrowed his green eyes, but said nothing as they waited for CaveClan to arrive, and for the Meeting to begin.
SEAPAW
Seapaw's silver-striped fur was bristling with pure excitement as she raced into the hollow alongside Mudpaw and Mangrovepaw. She turned her ocean-blue pools onto Mudpaw, who was trying to appear collected and calm, but the swishing of his dark brown tabby tail and his glowing amber eyes gave away his anticipation for the Meeting. Seapaw felt a small pang of disappointment that her brother, Duskpaw, could not be with her at her very first Meeting. Even though Duskpaw had shown no signs of anger when Sandstar announced who needed to stay and guard the camp, she did not miss the flash of jealousy in his light golden eyes as they turned to leave for the Meeting.
Mudpaw stopped suddenly, and Seapaw, feeling a bit intimidated by all the scents of enemy protectors, stayed close to his side, the fur along her spine prickling in anxiety. Mangrovepaw brushed her beautiful dappled pelt against Mudpaw's, her green eyes frightened, and Seapaw surpressed a small purr of amusement; it was not difficult to see that Mudpaw had been padding after the silent learner for moons.
Seapaw's gaze was drawn to a golden-brown tabby stalking past them, his muscles rippling as he walked underneath his smooth, neatly-groomed pelt. His chest was whiter than a cirrus cloud, and his paws were the same ivory. As Seapaw caught the scent of CoralClan on the tomcat, she felt surprised to see his deep amber eyes glowed with a sort of warmth that she hadn't seen from CoralClan in moons.
"Hello, young ones," The golden CoralClan tomcat meowed, tail curling up in amusement as he saw Seapaw's cerulean eyes flash. Young ones? He's probably less than two seasons older than me! She thought angrily, her paws pulsing with anger. "I heard that Acacialeaf had brought her learner along, is that right?"
"What does it matter to you?" The silver tabby learner spat, feeling as if this protector's cheerfulness was all just a charade. She saw a glimmer of frustration in his amber eyes, and she felt her annoyance fade. The handsome golden tom gave her a strange look through narrowed amber eyes, and to her surprise, she saw him roll them at her companions.
"I'm Goldenhawk, healing cat of CoralClan," The golden tabby meowed, a trace of smugness across his face. If not for the truce, Seapaw would have liked nothing more than to claw the smug look off of his face. "And I will say this much; in CoralClan, we are taught to respect our healers and our veterans, and I'm quite frankly a little shocked to see how rude you are."
Seapaw hissed angrily, but she did not say anything else for fear that she would end up ripping out his tawny fur. Mangrovepaw dipped her dappled head to Goldenhawk politely, her green eyes glowing with amusement.
"Well, I'm Seapaw, and this is Mangrovepaw," Seapaw introduced her friend to the rude CoralClan healing cat, her silver tail still lashing with anger. "She is Acacialeaf's learner, but she doesn't talk." Goldenhawk's tawny-colored eyes flashed with surprise, and he dipped his head in greeting to the tortoiseshell she-cat, though his eyes still burned into Seapaw's. She flinched, and looked away, finding she was unable to meet his burning amber gaze.
"And I'm Mudpaw," The dark brown tabby learner broke the awkward silence that hung over them, his fur prickling; Seapaw was sure that the MeadowClan tabby could feel the tension in the air as much as she did. "Herongwing is my trainer."
"Well, it's very nice to meet some polite MeadowClan learners," Goldenhawk meowed, his goldenrod eyes snapping instantly to Seapaw. Seapaw felt frustration pulse through her paws, and she turned to stalk away from the CoralClan healing cat before she did anything rash. He was, she decided, the most obnoxious cat she had ever met. Really, how much more inflated could his head get? Just then, a distraction arrived in the form of CaveClan arriving, with Lightningstar, a huge white she-cat with smoky gray splotches, leading them. Lightningstar sprang onto the Blazingrock, while her delegate, Ravenstreak, sat down next to Tornadostorm, who was anxiously flexing his claws in and out of the cold earth. Ravenstreak was a small white tom with very distintive black tabby stripes and wide green eyes. Seapaw watched as Ravenstreak meowed a friendly greeting to Tornadostorm, who blinked back at the CaveClan delegate with warmth in his amber eyes.
Seapaw sat down beside her mother, Morningfrost, who blinked at her fondly through narrowed blue eyes before turning to speak with Nighthawk, who awas on her other side. The silver tabby gazed up at the top of the Blazingrock. Twilightstar and Wavestar sat so close that their pelts brushed very faintly, and for a moment, Seapaw wished that her her ruler was as close to Twilightstar as Wavestar was. It was well-known that Wavestar and Twilightstar had been good friends before they both became ruler. Perhaps, Seapaw reflected, her blue eyes trained on the CoralClan and StoneClan rulers, if Sandstar had been allies with Twilightstar, this war needn't have happened.
Suddenly, Mangrovepaw sprinted up besides Seapaw, her amber-and-brown tail between her legs. Seapaw smelled her fear-scent, almost overpowering, and she touched the white tip of her silver-striped tail to her friend's side, wondering what could have spooked the healing cat learner so badly. Mangrovepaw sank to her black paws, and pressed her side against Seapaw's. Seapaw could feel Mangrovepaw's heart hammering, and she followed her friend's gaze to Cliffstorm, who was glaring at Mangrovepaw with undisguised hatred in his amber eyes.
"Why are you so scared of Cliffstorm? I know he's a great big furball, but I beat him, right?" Seapaw nudged her friend heartily, but Mangrovepaw's viridian eyes were still clouded with terror. Mangrovepaw opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, and her mouth gaped uselessly. For the first time, Seapaw felt a rush of pity for her friend. It seemed as if Mangrovepaw really couldn't talk. The silver tabby quickly meowed, "You don't have to tell me if you can't yet, okay?"
Mangrovepaw nodded, her body still trembling slightly, and turned her green gaze to the Blazingrock. Seapaw stared up at the Blazingrock, blue eyes wide with awe as she saw the moon gleam down on the four pelts of the rulers. Seapaw glared at Twilightstar, hardly able to bear being near a cat who had caused so much bloodshed. The silver-striped tabby she-cat noticed that Twilightstar was staring straight at her, with a strange emotion in her green eyes. Seapaw blinked, and realized that the burning gaze of the CoralClan ruler was not focused on her, but on Mangrovepaw. Seapaw tilted her head questioningly, but Twilightstar blinked quickly and turned to talk in a hushed voice to the other three rulers.
Seapaw, head buzzing with questions, saw a pair of golden eyes glinting in the moonlight, and she saw, with a flash of annoyance, that Goldenhawk was staring right at her with something like contempt in his eyes. She dug her front claws into the cold earth of the Meteorplace, and she found comfort in its tight grip. As she turned away from Goldenhawk's burning amber gaze, she heard a silencing yowl sound from Sandstar, and excitement pulsed through every silver hair on her pelt; the Meeting was about to begin!
A/N: You know the drill, R&R please! And I'm sorry, it was kind of a boring chapter, but necessary.