There's being lazy, there's being lazy, and there's being lazy. Unfortunately for you, I've been a fourth: being REALLY lazy. It's Final Fantasy XIII! How can I refuse! Alright, maybe I can. I just have issues with leaving a game unplayed. Like Eternal Sonata. I don't even care if the story is shit. If the battles are good, count me in. So yes, that's what I've been doing. Luckily for you, this is a short chapter, and, well, things are beginning to fall into place :) Seriously. We have some big shit going to come down soon. Big, big shit.

So, anyways, as I said, the Gathering! Yay! Short chapter, again, only about 2,800 words or so, but hey, whatever. It'll have to do. A bit more action in the next chapter and -gasp- a new POV! Yes, I actually forgot about this last one. He's a side one, really, jsut for convience but... Yes, he's a POV. So I guess I lied. I do that a lot. /sigh

Someday I'll have to fix that.

ONWARD

ADHD kid in jail: Ah, in that case, I'll have to write faster for your curiosity to be stated, no?

GlimmerIcewood: I know! I was trying to get that across. If this was a more a romance, I would have made it take longer for them to fall in love, and make it a little more natural but, meh, it's a short story, and it's not really about them, so we'll keep it moving ;)

baileeYDG: I like White/Cedar too! At least my Cedar... He's a bit snarky, and I've always wanted a snarky, happy-go-lucky cat instead of a snarky emo cat. Like Crowfeather. Or Jayfeather. I hate both of them.

tufted titmouse: Fifteen pages? Good grief. I looked down at my page count and was like 'oh CRAP! But I have so much more to do in this chapter!' I guess that's what you get when you plan a story out chapter by chapter... But whatever. One of these days I should just write a story without knowing what the hell is going to happen. That would be interesting. In fact...

Firestar paused at the top of the ravine, looking down at the cats who were already there. RiverClan was nowhere to be seen, but Firestar could already see Tallstar and Blackstar atop the Great Rock, and Mudclaw and Russetfur talking to each other with another WindClan warrior. Cinderpelt drew up to his side and touched her tail lightly to his fur. Through it she could feel the hardness of his ribs beneath a thin sheet of muscle. Though Firestar had been eating and drinking regularly, he was growing thin, and his handsome face was becoming ragged and bony. Firestar did not glance at her as he usually did, nor did he look at Whitestorm and Graystripe when they drew up next to him, exchanging worried glances. It was too late to suggest to him to go back to camp and rest. Firestar knew that they had been thinking of it since the day before, where he spent the entire day in his den, thrashing in a fever dream and snapping at Whitepaw when she tried to help him.

I am their leader, they must listen to me, Firestar growled to himself, and then flicked his tail, leading his Clan down the slope of the ravine and to Fourtrees. ThunderClan mingled with WindClan and ShadowClan, and Firestar brushed past apprentices and warriors on his way to the Great Rock with Cinderpelt and Whitestorm, both taking their places at the base of the rock while he bunched his leaned muscles and leapt to the top easily. Tallstar and Blackstar meowed greetings to him, their eyes troubled.

"We have much to speak about tonight," Firestar did not even greet them. He could see they were taken aback by his haggard appearance, "But we will wait until Leopardstar is here, we must discuss this together."

Tallstar nodded, "Blackstar and I have already spoken about the order we will speak tonight. With your permission, I would like to speak first."

"Go ahead," Firestar sniffed, "I may go last if you want then. But I will not talk about what is happening until Leopardstar comes."

It was several more minutes until RiverClan arrived in a blur, Leopardstar yowling her arrival. She did not waste any time talking to the warriors of any Clans, making a beeline straight for the Great Rock and leaping up next to Firestar, she nodded to Tallstar and Blackstar and then looked over at Firestar.

"Have you told then yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you." Leopardstar nodded and both she and Firestar turned back to the other two leaders. Firestar told the story of them finding the fish at Sunningrocks, and then Leopardstar took over telling them of their plan to go to Highstones directly after the Gathering with their Medicine Cats. Firestar watched the two leaders carefully, and noticed that both shifted uncomfortable.

"But it's not just happened to us," Firestar said quietly, "What has happened in your Clans?"

Tallstar lowered his eyes, "Barkface came across sage that smelled strange, and when she used it in one of her poultices, a sick kit died screaming riddles. Another night we came across a crow with six wings and seven eyes. I threw it in the gorge before any other cat could find it."

Blackstar shifted and looked away as well, "The number of rats at the carrionplace has increased, and many of them are growing tumors. Some are speckled white, and foam at the mouth. Others are rotting alive. A kit was born, killing his mother, without skin and speaking riddles, as it sounds your kit was, Tallstar, as soon as it came out. I had to kill it and bury it by the thunderpath to keep the Clan from knowing."

"So we are in agreement," Firestar said, "Something is happening to the forest. Will you come with Leopardstar and our Medicine Cats to Highstones tonight?"

Blackstar and Tallstar glanced at each other, and both of them nodded.

"We should not tell our warriors though," Tallstar said, "They will sense something is wrong but… better they stay ignorant to the nature of our worry."

"Very well," Firestar said, "Tallstar, you may begin the Gathering."

"That's Mudclaw, deputy of WindClan," Swallowpaw pointed to a cluster of powerful-looking warriors, "He's talking with Russetfur, who's ShadowClan's deputy, and that warrior next to him is Tornear, from WindClan. Those two are Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw, they're siblings, even though they're in different Clans, and that's Graystripe, he's Stormfur and Feathertail's father, remember?"

"Who's that?" Reedpaw asked, pointing to a ragged-looking warrior near the Great Rock.

"That's Runningnose, the ShadowClan Medicine Cat. Next to him is his apprentice, Littlecloud, and next to him is Cinderpelt, the ThunderClan Medicine Cat. Now come on, let's go meet the other apprentices!"

Reedpaw shyly followed Swallowpaw, avoiding stepping on tails of other warriors as he passed. It was his first time at the Gathering, Swallowpaw's second, but she knew everyone by name, as if they were all in the same Clan. Reedpaw flinched when he accidentally bumped into a dark gray, almost black, ShadowClan warrior. But the warrior just flicked his ear and squeezed out of the way, his amber eyes glowing in amusement. Reedpaw scrambled after Swallowpaw, and almost collided with her with she stopped next to a couple smaller cats.

"Hi, everyone. This is Reedpaw, it's his first time at the Gathering."

"Reedpaw?" There were apprentices from all three other Clans here, and many of them were larger than Reedpaw. He nodded slowly to all of them and sat down a little behind Swallowpaw. Swallowpaw went around an introduced him to all of the other apprentices until she reached two sitting next to her, one from WindClan and the other from ThunderClan.

"This must be your first Gathering, like Reedpaw," Swallowpaw laughed, "I don't remember you, and I always remember a name and a face."

The ThunderClan apprentice, a small white she-cat with green eyes, smiled shyly, "I'm Whitepaw, you must be Swallowpaw."

"Your reputation precedes you," said the WindClan apprentice, a gold-and-brown tabby tom with yellow eyes, "I'm Eaglepaw, Mudclaw's apprentice."

"Mudclaw has an apprentice?" Swallowpaw laughed, "First I've heard of it. You must just barely be an apprentice then!"

"I was made an apprentice shortly after the last Gathering," Eaglepaw said.

"Oh, I see, that makes sense. Are you the brother of that-"

"We will begin the Gathering. Cats of all Clans, your attentions please!" Tallstar yowled from the top of the rock. The cats hushed each other, and a few of the more boisterous apprentices were batted at by their mentors. Mudclaw and Russetfur moved to the bottom of the Great Rock, where Mistyfoot and the ThunderClan deputy, Whitestorm, were waiting with the Medicine Cats. Swallowpaw bit off her question and all eyes turned to the long-tailed leader of WindClan.

"There will be an announcement at the end of this Gathering," Tallstar spoke loud and clearly, "But first we will proceed with the regular Gathering. One of our apprentices, Crowpaw, was killed shortly after the last Gathering, while disobeying orders and hunting in the territory of another Clan. We would like to formally apologize for this and plea that, in the future, apprentices to not meet such harsh penalties so soon after becoming apprentices."

His eyes flickered back to Leopardstar, who nodded her head and said, loud enough for the Clans to hear, "We apologize as well, Tallstar. We hope that your apprentice hunts long and free in StarClan."

There were a few murmurs and hisses among the cats of the Gathering, mostly RiverClan cats voicing their disapproval of Leopardstar apologizing. Leaders weren't supposed to do this at Gatherings, they were supposed to be Leaders, show the strength of their Clans, not their faults. What were both of these leaders doing? What were they planning?

Tallstar continued; "That being said, we have a new apprentice here with us tonight, the brother of the apprentice Crowpaw, Eaglepaw."

Reedpaw glanced over to Eaglepaw, who hunched his shoulders under the eyes of so many cats and bristled the fur on his shoulders. He glared at his paws and worked his long claws into the ground, tearing at the hard-packed dirt. But only Reedpaw noticed this, as Tallstar continued to talk about WindClan. Reedpaw watched Eaglepaw for a long time, his kneading paws and gritted teeth, and then felt a prickle run up his spine. He turned in time to see a small white body dart into one of the bushes surrounding Fourtrees, and the scent of ThunderClan and then, as he turned back to Swallowpaw, he saw the almost-black ShadowClan tom he had bumped into slip off into the bushes as well, not even saying where he was going to his friends. Reedpaw watched where he had gone for a long time, feeling a prickle run up his spine.

He didn't know why it was important, but he suddenly got to his feet and backed into the bushes as well, following Whitepaw's trail as she circled around the far side of the Great Rock, where less cats were and the ground dipped towards RiverClan territory. Reedpaw pressed himself flat to the ground as he hear the bushes nearby tremble as well, and a moment later the ShadowClan warrior pressed out of them, almost on top of Reedpaw, and passed by. Reedpaw's heart trembled, though he didn't know why. It was a Gathering, there was nothing to be afraid about. Nonetheless he crept forward as Whitepaw glanced around. The dark tom snuck up behind her expertly and stepped on her tail, and Whitepaw squeaked and jumped.

"Cedarheart!" she cried, and quickly bounded back to him, touching his nose with hers. Cedarheart laughed and cuffed her gently over the ear.

"How have you been in the day since I've last seen you?"

"Great! My mentor was reassigned, so Firestar's my mentor now!"

"Oh really? I remember Brambleclaw was his last apprentice, right? Who was your mentor before?"

"My father, Cloudtail."

"Really? It's strange to have a father as a mentor… I can't remember hearing about it in ShadowClan, at least."

"Snakepaw's mentor is Whitestorm, and Whitestorm is his father. Firestar gives weird mentors."

Cedarheart laughed, "Yes, I suppose he does."

Whitepaw grinned and craned her neck up to look at him. She was a particularly small cat, and Cedarheart was a very tall warrior, Reedpaw realized. But that still didn't answer his question: Why were they here? And why were they missing the Gathering just to talk?

"You know when you look at me like that, all I can see is the moonlight in your eyes. It's quite disconcerting, really," Cedarheart said. Whitepaw tilted her head to one side mischievously and Cedarheart laughed, "Yes, there we go, I can see your lovely green eyes now."

"You think my eyes are lovely?" Whitepaw said coyly.

"I think your eyes are very lovely. Green, like newleaf."

"Well, I think your eyes are 'lovely' as well."

"My eyes? My eyes are as yellow as yarrow and as lovely as a lunatic badger."

"Well I like them, and that's all that counts." Whitepaw huffed.

"Oh does it?"

"Yep, and besides, you're eyes aren't just yarrow-yellow-yucky, there's a little bit of green in them as well."

"Really, where?"

"Right… there!" Whitepaw poked Cedarheart just above on of his eyes with her paw. Cedarheart laughed and took a closer look at Whitepaw's eyes.

"Well I can see a little bit of yarrow-yellow-yucky in your eyes as well, right here!"

Cedarheart batted his tail in front of her eyes, blinding Whitepaw and then bounding off, laughing. Whitepaw sneezed from the kicked-up dust, but recovered and rushed after him, pouncing on his tail just as he jumped through a bracken bush. Cedarheart laughed, doubling back to bat Whitepaw a few times on the ears, and she responded by jumping on his back and biting his ear playfully.

Reedpaw sat back in his hiding place, thoroughly confused. Not at why the two cats were meeting here, but why they were so open. Reedpaw could see the subtly in their actions, the coy looks, the jokes and playfulness… But he didn't know why. His mother once told him that Blackclaw was one of the greatest assets to the Clan, and was his father, and often times he had seen the two of them interact. A brush of the tail, a quick glance and sharing tongues, all signs he had come to recognize with love. This… The methods weren't the same, nor the cats, but Reedpaw could see, sense, that these two cats were in love. Perhaps they didn't realize it at the moment, but they would, and then… then what would they do?

Love between clans was old and well-known and heavily frowned upon. Clan leaders would rather you mate with your own brother than mate outside of the Clan, even if that cat is a rogue or a loner or even in allegiance with your own Clan. Reedpaw's own mother was the product of a cross-clan relationship, and some cats still ridiculed her for it, as was Stormfur and Feathertail, and though they were very nice, other cats didn't quite like them very much. Their mother had died giving birth to them, and their story, no matter how you looked at it, was a tragedy. Forbidden love always ended in tragedy. So why did it keep happening? Reedpaw watched as Cedarheart, still laughing, pinned Whitepaw beneath him and licked the top of her head while she wiggled and giggled.

Blackclaw was his father, and his father deserved respect, even if he was a grumpy, irritable cat. He thought back to a few nights before, when his father stood beside him, looking out at the WindClan territory with a dark look in his eyes, stating that he wished that WindClan had a weakness, so that RiverClan could exploit it. The best way to protect a Clan, Blackclaw always said, was to strike first, and that idea governed all of his thoughts. Reedpaw placed his head on his paws, curling his tail closer to him. Would Ashfoot losing her mind count as a weakness? Reedpaw wasn't sure at the time. But forbidden love – surely that was a weakness, right? If he told his father that Whitepaw and Cedarheart were in love, he could help make the clan stronger by making the other Clans weaker. But when could this happen? Blackclaw could hardly march into the ThunderClan camp and declare that Whitepaw was breaking the warrior code. Reedpaw sighed quietly and continued to watch the two cats playing.

The two cats in love continued to play for a while longer, until all three of them heard a yowl that ended the Gathering. Whitepaw glanced back at Cedarheart, still a little breathless from their playfighting, and grinned, "Can we meet again? Tomorrow?"

"Perhaps not tomorrow," Cedarheart laughed, "Russetfur wants me for an early-morning patrol tomorrow, and will probably make me go hunting with Rowanclaw and Talonpaw. How about in three days, here, at sunhigh?"

"Sounds great!" Whitepaw bounced over to Cedarheart and touched noses with him again, "I'll see you then, Cedarheart!"

Reedpaw waited until both had gone, and then followed them up the slope around the Great Rock and slipped back in next to Swallowpaw, who was chatting excitedly with his sister, Ashpaw. She turned when Reedpaw came up to her, smiling sheepishly.

"Where have you been?" Swallowpaw demanded, "Never mind, did you hear what the leaders are going to do?"

Reedpaw flicked an ear shyly and said no, and Swallowpaw rolled her eyes, "They're going to the moonstone, all of them! Blackclaw says he can't remember a time when all four leaders and their medicine cats have gone to the moonstone together, and they won't tell us why! Blackclaw says it must have something to do with the fish dying in the river, but I think that-"

"Enough with your theories," Mistyfoot laughed when she walked over and touched Ashpaw and Reedpaw on the top of the head affectionately, "Come on, we're leaving now and you don't want to fall behind."

"Mother?" Reedpaw trotted after Mistyfoot, keeping pace with her as she led the Clan down the ravine and towards RiverClan territory, "I have something I need to tell you, something I saw."

"Of course, Reedpaw, talk to me while we walk."

"Well, I noticed that a ThunderClan apprentice, Whitepaw, and a ShadowClan warrior, Cedarheart, both left the Gathering as soon as the leaders started to speak, so I followed them…"

Dah-dah!

I threw in a little more White/Cedar, just to entertain myself and flesh out the chapter a little more. So, nothing different than usual: find my errors, review 'cause I love reviews, and enjoy! The next chapter is going to be back at moonstone and remember: new POV that I forgot about. I KNEW I had four, I just couldn't remember which was the fourth...