A/N: Yay here's Chapter 10 of Terra! Finally I'm updating this on a kind of normal basis, though I'm trying to write as much as I can. This chapter is the longest one in this story so far, but probably not for long. Here's the gathering people, and thanks for the many reviews last chapter, they mean alot!
~Leo~
CHAPTER 10
Looking beyond the diversity of trees that spread across the island,Emberpaw was just able to see the faint outline of cats. And that smell that drifted through the air ever so cautiously, was supposedly WindClan.
He had never seen a WindClan cat before, actually the only ever clan he's seen was ShadowClan. Fernstar was leading her cats down towards the center of the island reluctantly, she still didn't know if this was an ambush.
"They wouldn't really ambush us on the island would they?" he asked Aquashine.
She shrugged, "I wouldn't put anything past the clans, although the Island is supposed to be a sacred place to meet everyone. If this is an ambush, than I can guarantee you StarClan will be deeply angered."
Casting a glance up to the moon, Emberpaw realized he had never seen a StarClan cat either. But did they really exist? Souls of dead cats floating up into the sky seemed a bit farfetched, but all of the clans believed it.
And what about Moonspirit, Emberpaw recalled the name of the cat his mother spoke before she died. If that cat was part of StarClan, than it had to be true! Terra would never lie about such a thing, especially to one of her kits.
As they neared the center of the island, Emberpaw caught a glance of a large rock that stood tall above the ground. Was this what the leaders used to speak to the clans?
"Ivorystar" Fernstar dipped her head to a fluffy white she-cat, who was sitting patiently next to a few cats.
Turning her green gaze, the she-cat looked flustered. "Welcome Fernstar, your the first ones to get here. I hope ShadowClan and ThunderClan don't take to long."
The she-cats words came out fast, as if she didn't quite speak what she felt. Fernstar seemed to notice this, and cast a look across the cats of WindClan.
"You've brought a lot of cats" she stated while looking forward, "And those must be young apprentices, their barely out of the nursery."
It seemed the RiverClan leader already suspected what Aquashine had mentioned, if Ivorystar had brought all of WindClan, then there could be only one reason. Just as Fernstar was about to accuse the WindClan leader,
Ivorystar lifted her gaze and mewed. "Look, here comes ThunderClan!".
Emberpaw turned his dark gray head, to see a large ginger she-cat alongside a dark brown tom, leading cats into the clearing. They padded to a halt and examined the cats, eyeing WindClan as RiverClan did.
"Welcome Crimsonstar" Fernstar bowed her head, "Thornbramble" she nodded to the dark brown tom.
He must be the ThunderClan deputy, Emberpaw would have assumed him of being leader instead.
"Are we late?" the ginger she-cat asked, "I would have expected WindClan to be here after us. How are you faring since the fire?" she asked with concern to Ivorystar.
ThunderClan was nicer than Emberpaw expected, it actually seemed like she cared about WindClan's situation.
Ivorystar lowered her gaze, "Let's save that for the gather, otherwise we'll have nothing to talk about."
As the leaders began to talk about new warriors and kits, Emberpaw felt a nudge in his side. A light gray and white tom was sitting behind him, smiling.
"Hi!" he meowed enthusiastically, "I'm Ridgepaw. Who are you, I've never seen you before?".
Emberpaw smiled, "My name's Emberpaw, I actually just joined RiverClan. My mother was a loner, as was I." He expected the tom to look down upon loners as did ShadowClan, but Ridgepaw's light blue eyes lit up like fire.
"That's so cool! Did you ever see a twoleg? Or...did you ever see one of those big things that live at the Horse-Place with spots?".
Emberpaw thought for a moment, "You mean cows? Yeah I've seen them. Their pretty dumb, but not dangerous, its the Horse's you have to watch out for!".
The ThunderClan apprentice looked as if he just met one of the ancient leaders, his mouth open in awe.
"Is this one pestering you?" a meow came from a well-built golden tabby tom.
Ridgepaw looked up and squealed like a mouse. "Liondusk! This is Emberpaw, he used to be a loner but now he joined RiverClan. Have you ever seen a horse, you better watch out for those horses I'm telling you. And the cows, Emberpaw's seen cows!".
The RiverClan apprentice exchanged a look with the ThunderClan cat, by the looks of it this apprentice Ridgepaw was a little hyper.
"Welcome to the clans young apprentice" the golden tabby meowed, "I'm Liondusk, Medicine Cat of ThunderClan."
This cat was a Medicine Cat! Emberpaw would have never expected such a strong cat to not have been a warrior, but with a small cat like Berryshade as Medicine Cat, what did he expect?
"Is he your apprentice?" Emberpaw flicked his tail to the rambling Ridgepaw, who was actually talking to the air.
Liondusk snorted, "If he was then I'd be in StarClan. No Ridgepaw is the deputies apprentice, my apprentice Baypaw is somewhere around here. You'll have to meet her."
Emberpaw nodded, as the ThunderClan Medicine Cat went off to talk to the other Medicine Cats. He had already met the WindClan one, she wasn't as nice as the others, her name was Iceblossom.
As the young apprentice gazed across the island, the scent of rat drifted through the air. But that wasn't possible, were there even rats on the island?
"Well look who it is" a recognizable voice sounded behind him.
Turning around, he was astonished to see who the voice belonged to.
"Dovepaw!" he hadn't seen the ShadowClan she-cat since their encounter at the border, she was going to help him confront Lightningcloud.
"Miss me?" she meowed, plopping down onto the grass and licking a paw.
He sat down next to her, "Maybe. What took ShadowClan so long? Isn't ThunderClan the farthest away?".
Dovepaw looked up, "Yeah they are, but Flintstar called a meeting, he was warning us..." she was cut of by a body walking in between them. A dark ginger she-cat stood tall above Emberpaw, her eyes an almost dark scarlet color.
"What were you going to say Dovepaw?" she meowed to the apprentice, "You were just telling this apprentice how Flintstar told everyone to keep their mouths shut weren't you?".
The apprentice sighed, "Oh cool it Bloodpool, you think your so much better than everyone just because your a warrior. Newsflash your not even two-moons older than me!".
The warrior looked as if she were about to respond, but stopped as a yowl sounded from the Tall Rock.
"Everyone gather around!" Fernstar's loud voice echoed around the cat-filled clearing. Behind her stood the other three leaders, Ivorystar of WindClan, Crimsonstar of ThunderClan, and Flintstar of ShadowClan.
As cats padded towards the rock, Emberpaw sat down on the cool grass next to Dovepaw. He exchanged a quick glance with her, staring into her bright blue eyes.
A shard the color of emerald lay beneath her one iris, she truly had the most beautiful eyes.
"RiverClan are faring well" Fernstar announced loudly, "We have one new apprentice since last moon, his name is Emberpaw."
Cats cheered and welcome him, as Emberpaw felt the hot glare of many cats on his pelt. A snort came from Flintstar, who was looking at the gray apprentice cautiously.
"I never heard of his birth, was he born in RiverClan?" he asked, having no right to ask the question.
The gray spotted leader glared, "No he wasn't Flintstar. Emberpaw was a loner until we found him, his mother and sister were killed in an adder attack. But he is a full fledged member of RiverClan now."
Lowering his gaze, Emberpaw could tell some cats were skeptical of her choice, but Fernstar seemed proud of him. The leader continued to speak of the lack of fish there once was, and as soon as she finished, it was Crimsonstar's turn.
"Not much has changed since last moon" she began, "Sunpoppy has had her litter of kits, three healthy toms". Many ThunderClan cats yowled in joy, as some ShadowClan cats rolled there eyes.
Next to speak was Flintstar, who was rambling on about twolegs setting up dens close to their home. Other than that they mentioned a queen named Twilightfern's new litter of kits, along with the deputies mate Echoscream expecting another litter.
As the dark strong-muscled leader finished up, he moved aside to allow Ivorystar to speak. Her gaze was clouded with something Emberpaw couldn't quite judge, something was troubling her deeply.
Looking around, he noticed that cats began to see the WindClan kits hiding behind a tree, along with a few elders. Emberpaw was beginning to think Aquashine was right.
"As many of you know, a fire spread through our camp a quarter moon ago. It destroyed everything, burning our dens to a crisp, and killing all of our prey. We managed to get everyone out, but two of our kits died from the smoke."
A yowl sounded from a pure white queen, who was huddling next to a small kit on the ground. That must be the mother of the two dead kits.
"But why is your whole clan here!?" Smokehaze of ThunderClan called out, flicking her tail to a small kit who as wandering over to a ThunderClan elder.
Ivorystar took in a deep breath and puffed her fur out. "We have had no other choice but to live on the island temporarily, there is few prey here, but we are surviving."
Yowls of disapproval sounded around the clearing, most coming from ShadowClan.
"Whats the big deal?" Dovepaw hissed into his ear, "We only meet here once a moon, and its not like we eat any of the prey here."
He agreed with the apprentice, WindClan's home was destroyed, they should be helping them not attacking them!
"It is against StarClan's will, go find somewhere else to live!" Moonclaw growled, his long claw scratching along a boulder. The WindClan deputy Daybreeze stood up to meet his gaze, anger filling her blue eyes.
"We have no other choice" Ivorystar hissed loudly, "I doubt any of you would give up part of your territory for us, especially you Flintstar."
The gray leader narrowed his ears back in a snarl, his fangs baring like an adder's. Emberpaw stared in horror as one ShadowClan cat through himself into a WindClan cat, fighting ruthlessly.
And then one after another, cats from each clan began fighting on the island.
He had no training! And now he was totally defenseless, in a battle against Tooth and Claw.