1Chapter 23
Blackstar hesitated but Firestar nodded instantly. "My clan and I will stand beside you and fight for our clan's safety," he mewed. The rest of his clan yowled their approval.
Blackstar continued to hesitate and Echostar turned to glare at the white tom. "Would you rather have your whole clan wiped out without a fight?" she hissed.
"I will discuss it with my clan and give you your answer whenever I get the chance," Blackstar meowed.
Echostar nodded, "but you better decide quickly, for time is running out," she meowed. "What do you mean?" Blackstar demanded.
"I mean, I have this strange feeling Jadeclan is almost here," Echostar replied.
"I thought they were following us, I guess my intuition was right," Stardream muttered. Echostar nodded, "it is up to you Blackstar, do you wish to hand Angelfeather and Wolfsong over or do you wish to stand and fight," she meowed.
"Like I said, I'll discuss it with my clan," Blackstar hissed. "And like I said, time is running out," Echostar retorted.
"Fine, does anyone else have anything to report?" Blackstar asked.
The other leaders shook their head and Blackstar meowed, "then this Gathering is over." he leapt down from the tree and padded away, singling for his clan.
"I guess I better go," Wolfsong meowed, Angelfeather nodded in agreement. And, after touching noses with their once leader, raced away to catch up with their new clan.
"Come on ,we better get back and prepare," Firestar meowed, from behind them, "from what you said, they could be here now for all we know."
Echostar nodded and followed Firestar as he lead his cats across the tree bridge and headed for home. Stardream and Eaglewing brought up the rear of the group.
But for some reason, Stardream paused and sniffed the air. She smelt a strangely familiar scent.
"You go on ahead, I'll catch up," Stardream meowed to Eaglewing. Eaglewing, after a hesitated moment, nodded and padded away.
When the group of cats where out of view, Stardream dashed for the other end of Riverclan territory, keeping to the shadows. The familiar scent grew stronger as she ran.
Soon she was at the edge of Riverclan territory. She ducked under a bush, just outside Riverclan territory. She sniffed the air and knew, for some reason, her intuition was right.
Echostar was right, she thought, Jadeclan has followed us here. She padded deeper into the bush and saw a familiar black cat pad into the open. Darkstar! She thought, curling her lips back in the beginnings of a snarl.
"They went this way, Darkstar," a white tom, Stardream recognized as Icecloud, hissed. "I can smell a cat from Sapphireclan near here," Darkstar hissed.
Stardream ducked down and thought, mouse brain, you should have diguised your scent. She shook her head, it's to late now, she thought.
"So, we know for a fact that the five cats came here," Darkstar hissed.
"I guess, but where did they camp?" A dark tortoiseshell asked. Stardream recognized him as Creekfur. "In the clans, mouse brained," Darkstar meowed, "where else would they camp?" "But which clan?" Icecloud asked.
"We don't have time to check all the clans, why don't we just follow the cat of Sapphireclan that has decided to listen in on our conversation," Darkstar meowed. Stardream had heard enough, when the cats of Jadeclan weren't looking, she sped off.
She dodged past the horseplace and past Windclan territory as fast as she could. But instead of going straight to the camp, she fled into the woods that lead to the Moonpool.
I have to lead them away from the Thunderclan camp, she thought, so when I return, they can have some time to prepare. But the Jadeclan cats had heard her flee and were hard on her paws.
Stardream spotted the Moonpool and made a dash for it. She got there and ran toward the woods behind the Moonpool.
"Ugh, this is like following Echostar all over again,"the gray she cat mewed. Stardream knew her as Midnightpelt, the cat that had helped Darkstar murder her father.
She wanted to turn around and fight them, but not against these odds. The best thing I can do, is lead them away from the Thunderclan camp, she thought.
She continued to run, faster intil she thought she would explode. "Come on, faster, she's getting away," Darkstar hissed. Stardream forced herself to move faster, but it was hard, she was getting really tired.
But before she could go another step, Midnightpelt sprang forward and crashed into her, pinning her to the ground. "Darkstar, I've got her," Midnightpelt yowled.
A/n what will happen, I just had to leave you hanging, please review, next chapter soon