The night of the Gathering fell dark and cold. Though the fog from the previous day had faded to the faintest of mists, heavy clouds rolled in to cover most of the sky, leaving only a single patch unhidden, letting the moon shine through, bright, full, and clear. A bitter breeze swept across ShadowClan territory, chilling Russetfur to the bone. Not even the freezing, desolate weather could keep the dark ginger she-cat from being excited tonight, however. Tonight was to be her first Gathering as a warrior, and better yet, as a mentor.

The whole Clan was jittery for this gathering, so soon after the battle with WindClan, not to mention the new warriors, apprentices, and kits to tell of. Russetfur unsheathed her claws and scratched the earth lightly in anticipation. She padded over to the nursery to check on her mother. "Crowtail?" she whispered, not wanting to wake any of the kits. She scented Crowtail's kits, but they seemed to be sleeping. There was no response, so she backed out of the den before she heard the barley audible whisper.

"Russetfur?" A pair of small green eyes glinted in the darkness. It was Vinekit.

"Vinekit. I'm sorry I woke you. You should go back to sleep." breathed the new warrior.

Through the dim light, Vinekit's eyes scrunched up as if she were yawning. "Where are you going?" she murmured curiously.

"To the Gathering. I'll see you in the morning." replied Russetfur softly, starting to edge her way cautiously out of the den.

"Be careful..." sighed Vinekit before falling back into sleep. Confused by the kit's cryptic warning, Russetfur shivered unconsciously as she left the nursery. Why would she need to be careful at a Gathering? The thoughts were driven from her as Nightpaw bounced over to her, ecstatic.

"This is so exciting! What do you think WindClan will say about the battle? Will Raggedstar mention us by name? Will we meet any warriors from other Clans? Or are we supposed to stick with just ShadowClan cats?" he rambled, not pausing for answers until Russetfur flicked her tail over his mouth.

"I've no idea what WindClan will say, but they're sure to twist things around to make us look bad; WindClan's pretty good at that. Raggedstar usually mentions new warriors and apprentices by name, and we can talk to anyone we like. You just stick close to me, alright? there's someone I want you to meet, anyway. A friend of mine." Russetfur smiled. Raggedstar gave the order to start moving but before she could take more than a few steps, Hollyflower's voice made her pause.

"Russetfur, say hi to Fuzzypelt for me." her aunt and ex-mentor told her, a strange urgency in her eyes. Russetfur dipped her head in acknowledgement and promise. Catching up to the rest of the cats, she fell in line between Cloudpaw and Lizardfang, who were hanging toward the back. Cloudpaw looked miserable, and Russetfur didn't need to ask why he was so morose; she already knew. He was thinking of Whitepaw, cooped up in the medicine den, clinging to life, while Raggedstar told him he had to go to the gathering. Russetfur wordlessly laid her tail on his shoulder.

As they neared FourTrees, Nightpaw fell back to walk near Russetfur, looking slightly less excited and a lot more nervous. ThunderClan and WindClan were already huddled by the Oaks, but RiverClan hadn't arrived yet. Only a few feet separated the Clans below; it was too cold for rivalries to make them spread apart. ShadowClan took their place on the other side of ThunderClan; away from the clan they had battled just days ago. "Russetpaw!" came a most familiar voice.

"Tigerpaw! I have so much to tell you!" Russetfur exclaimed as her friend came near. Nightpaw hovered nervously next to her as the huge apprentice came closer.

"Uh... Who's this?" he nodded at the small black apprentice.

Russetfur smiled lightly. "All part of the story. This is Nightpaw...My apprentice." she waited for him to make the connection.

"Apprentice? You mean... You're a warrior now? A mentor, too?" he asked, and Russetfur could have sworn there was a twinge of envy in his gaze.

The dark ginger she-cat dipped her head a bit shyly. "I am Russetfur now. Raggedstar was really pressed for mentors, so Foxheart, Oakfur, and I are mentors now and- hey, is Fuzzypelt here?"

"I.. I think so? Why?" Tigerpaw asked curiously, his eyes darting down to Nightpaw.

Suddenly the black-furred tom darted out of the ThunderClan crowed and peered at ShadowClan, obviously looking for someone. "'Scuse me, sorry." Russetfur told Tigerpaw and padded over to the ThunderClan warrior. "Fuzzypelt."

"Russetpaw! Where's your mentor? Is she alright?" he jabbered nervously, his eyes still scanning through the ShadowClan delegations.

Flicking her ears, she replied, "I'm Russetfur now, and Hollyflower wasn't chosen to go to the Gathering this time. Why wouldn't she be alright?"

Disappointment flashed in his bright yellow eyes and he hesitated before answering. "No reason. Er, you're a warrior now? Congratulations..." he changed the subject awkwardly.

"Yes...Thanks. Hollyflower told me to give you her greetings. What's going on?" Russetfur asked sharply.

Struggling for a reply, a sudden idea hit him and he he smiled, talking fast. "Oh! I uh, heard about the battle with WindClan from... Umm... Reedfeather of WindClan told me. I was just worried she had gotten.. Injured." He nodded eagerly.

Reedfeather... Reedfeather was the cat Foxheart had killed in the battle! As Russetfur opened her mouth to question his lie, Raggedstar started speaking from the Great Rock. The dark ginger warrior turned her head to see that sitting below with the deputies was the WindClan warrior she had fought; the one that looked like Vinekit. Fire smoldered in her heart as she thought of Whitepaw, but she swallowed her anger and turned back to find Nightpaw and Tigerpaw.

"Hello." began Raggedstar in his great booming voice, "ShadowClan has much to report. First, I would like to mention the birth of a litter of kits, Crowtail's. All five," he paused for effect, "are healthy and thriving. We also have three new warriors, Foxheart, Oakfur, and Russetfur, as well as four new apprentices - Brightpaw, Clawpaw, Nightpaw, and Stumpypaw. " he paused as ThunderClan, RiverClan, and ShadowClan cheered for the new warriors and apprentices. WindClan remained silent. "However, there is other news, news not so happy. WindClan attempted to take a portion of our territory, including our Carrionplace. They were not successful. There were losses, the most prominent being that of Whitepaw. This apprentice, only a few moons away from being a warrior, had her future brutally taken away by the WindClan cat Redclaw. He took her eye and half of her face. She will never be able to see out of that eye again. Archeye and Littlebird decided to leave the life of a warrior and join the elder's after sustaining injuries they may never fully recover from. On that note, I invite the other leaders to share their news." He sat down, his final words making it awkward for any cat to step forward. Finally, Bluestar did.

Hailstar and Bluestar reported the usual struggles of leaf-bare and a few new apprentices and warriors were named, but nothing supremely fascinating held Rusetfur's interest until Heatherstar started her report. "WindClan is doing as well as it can, for early leaf-bare, but prey is poor, and we are hungry. We tried to take ShadowClan's land to help feed our kits, but not only did we lose, but our former deputy, Reedfeather was killed by a ShadowClan cat. Our new deputy is Talltail, and we appointed a new warrior; Mudclaw." There were a few half-hearted cheers, and Nightpaw snickered. Russetfur made no attempt to chastise her apprentice.

ShadowClan left the Gathering with their heads held high, while WindClan slunk away morosely under the glares from all sides. Nightpaw hissed as Talltail walked past and the amber-eyed warrior fixed him with a glare. Russetfur stepped in front of him with her claws outstretched ad her teeth bared. He obviously remembered her from the battle as recognition flared in his eyes; apprehension also glimmered in their depths.


Russetfur had hardly reached camp before Hollyflower came up to her again. "Russetfur! Did you, er, tell Fuzzypelt?" Recalling the suspicious exchange she had had with him, she dipped her head cautiously.

"Yes... He seemed very concerned about you..." Said the ginger warrior.

Hollyflower suppressed a small smile. "Really- I mean, Oh. Well. I found out a few days ago that I'm having kits, plus the battle with WindClan and all.. What friend wouldn't be worried?"

"Did he know you were expecting?" Russetfur asked lightly, as if her mind was on other things.

"Yes.. I mean, no! Well, sometimes friends just..know these things? We're close.. He probably.. guessed. I- I'd best get some rest. Really tired. Good night!" she said this all very fast, then sped to the warrior's den. Russetfur narrowed her eyes. First Fuzzypelt's slip up about finding out about the battle from Reedfeather, who was dead, and now he just seemed to know that his "friend" happened to be pregnant? Even though she only knew a few days ago, so there was no way she could have told him at the previous Gathering... It was all very, very suspicious, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it all.

A/N: I know it's been a LOOOOONG time since I last updated, but I'll never be able to apologize enough, so, sorry. Reviews always appreciated, but I already know this chapter kind of blows. The next one will be better. Promise. Something very exciting is going to happen in the next few chapters... Heh heh heh heh heh...