Not much has changed since I last updated, just a couple minutes ago lol.

Here it is!

Chapter 22: Featherbreeze

The clan was quickly preparing to rescue Leafstar. A small gathering patrol had been selected, and the rest of the clan would go to the OakClan camp.

"Featherbreeze! Come over here!" Mintleaf called. She was standing by the apprentices' den, the apprentices gathered around her.

Featherbreeze trotted over to her sister. "What?" she asked.

"Thunderstrike told me to take the apprentices battle training. Will you come?" Mintleaf looked daunted at the idea of having to take so many apprentices out.

"All nine of them?" Featherbreeze gasped. "I don't think you'll survive alone!"

Snowpaw scowled. "What do you think we're going to do?"

Featherbreeze glanced at Finchpaw, Robinpaw, and Wrenpaw, who were tussling over a squirrel. "Maybe something like that," she suggested, flicking her tail to them.

"But Snowpaw and I are more mature then they are," Frostpaw meowed, sitting up very straight.

"Whatever," Mintleaf meowed, rolling her eyes. "Let's grab them and go." She bounded over to the other apprentices, who were eating the squirrel now, although it looked dirty and torn apart.

…

"Can we go fishing instead?" Wrenpaw whined as they entered the training clearing.

Featherbreeze looked at Mintleaf. "I could take some of them fishing," she meowed uneasily.

Mintleaf shook her head firmly. "We're going to follow orders. If Wrenpaw wants to be a brat, she can be."

"Fine," Featherbreeze meowed, although she didn't like the idea of Wrenpaw complaining the entire training session. "Where are the other mentors anyway?"

"Apparently," Mintleaf meowed wryly, "we are the only cats old enough to oversee the apprentices, but young enough not to be included in all the meetings. So, we end up here."

"Frostpaw, Snowpaw, Leafpaw, Slatepaw!" Featherbreeze called. The four apprentices turned toward her and pricked their ears. They're the well-behaved ones, Featherbreeze thought, pleased. "You four will train with me."

"You're leaving me the bad ones?" Mintleaf hissed into her ear.

"You're stricter than I am," Featherbreeze replied, shrugging.

"I don't like it, though," Mintleaf muttered, before bounding away to round up the young cats.

"Come on," Featherbreeze meowed, leading the apprentices to the other side of the clearing. "Today we are going to practice the leap-and-hold move," she began.

…

Featherbreeze dug her claws into the ground, her heart beating rapidly.

"Ivybreeze," Thunderstrike meowed. "You will lead the clan tonight. Tell the clans that I am still recovering from my injuries."

Several cats bristled. "That'll make us look weak!" Smokesplash snarled.

Thunderstrike hissed loudly. "It won't matter when we prove to the other clans that we will win this war!"

"Understood," Smokesplash muttered, dipping his head, and taking a step back.

"Frostpaw and Snowpaw will come on the mission," Thunderstrike meowed. "The rest of the apprentices will go to the gathering."

Several cats started muttering, giving dubious looks to the apprentices. "Isn't that a lot?" Sootsong muttered into Featherbreeze's ear.

"Yes," Featherbreeze replied simply.

"Sootsong, Stormshade, Silverriver, and Hollyfire will also come on the mission," Thunderstrike continued. "Willowwind and Rowanstem will stay behind at camp. If I didn't say your name, you are part of the gathering patrol."

…

Anxiety wormed in Featherbreeze's belly while she sat talking to Stormpaw. She could see the OakClan and PineClan cats sitting on the opposite side of the clearing. What if they left a lot of guards? What if Leafstar isn't there? She must be guarded, right?

"Featherbreeze!" Stormpaw's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hmm?" she muttered, casting a glance at Flamestar.

"I said, 'Can we go fishing tomorrow?'" the apprentice meowed, sounding impatient.

"I don't know, Stormpaw. Maybe." I don't even know if I can teach him to fish! I hardly learned, because Fawnlight died, and Sparrowheart mostly assumed I already knew how, because I was kind of naturally good at it.

Stormpaw sighed. "I'm going to talk to Leafpaw," he muttered, and trotted away.

Featherbreeze felt bad for being so dismissive, but with everything going on, she just didn't have time to figure out teaching her apprentice to fish.

"Let the gathering begin!" Flamestar yowled. Featherbreeze dug her claws into the ground, guessing exactly what he was about to say. "I will begin. But before I do, I have a question for LakeClan." He turned and narrowed his eyes at Ivybreeze. "Where are your deputy and leader?" he meowed teasingly.

Ivybreeze flinched, but stood up to face him. "You know very well where Leafstar is," she snarled. "As for Thunderstrike, I would suggest that it's LakeClan's business, and only LakeClan's business!"

Flamestar shrugged and turned back to face the gathered cats. "I have an announcement to make!" he yowled, unsheathing his claws. "This war has raged for too long! The time has come to end it!"

Yowls of excitement came from his clan. "Yes!" one cat called. "We should've beaten them long ago!"

Suddenly Featherbreeze noticed something she hadn't seen before. In place of Smallfoot, who usually sat with the leaders to represent StreamClan, there was a small ginger she-cat Featherbreeze had never seen. Who is she? Is she their new leader? But why hasn't any cat said anything? Looking around the clearing, she realized some cats were staring and frowning at her.

The ginger she-cat stood up, radiating calm authority. "Cats of the clans," she meowed calmly. Her voice was different from the rest of the cats.

"Who are you?" Flamestar hissed, looking as if he had just noticed her.

"I am Ryestar, the new leader of StreamClan."

"No, you're not!" Brackenstar meowed, a slight hiss in his voice. "You're not even a clan cat."

Fernspark stood up from the deputies spot, and cleared her throat. "Two moons ago, Ryestar came to our clan as a kittypet."

"A kittypet?" several cats hissed, unsheathing their claws.

"At first, we turned her away," Fernspark meowed, glaring at the cats. "We told her we could not take another member of our clan. We were already weak, without another mouth to feed. But then Smallfoot had a sign." She nodded to the medicine cat and sat down.

Smallfoot dipped his head and started to speak. "I had a vision. I was walking through a meadow, filled with dead plants. It was as if StarClan had given up on helping us. But then, I saw a single stalk of rye. The sun rose up into the sky, and it turned the stalk golden. I immediately realized that it meant Rye was to stay with our clan. In time, she proved that she deserved to be the leader, and already had the full skills of a StreamClan warrior."

"Wow," Featherbreeze murmured, staring up at Ryestar, who dipped her head.

"As I was saying," Flamestar interrupted, nearly pushing Ryestar out of the tree. "The time has come to end this battle. Tomorrow night, here on the island, we will fight the final battle. Whichever side wins will be the victor of the war."

"We will fight," Ivybreeze meowed, squaring her shoulders.

Brackenstar nodded. "So will we," he meowed.

"Good," Flamestar growled. He turned to Ryestar. "Will StreamClan participate?"

Ivybreeze shot Ryestar a pleading look. Please, Featherbreeze saw her mouth.

Ryestar dipped her head. "We will fight."

"Every clan will meet here tomorrow night!" Flamestar yowled. "Now, we must return to our clans."

Expect the next chapter before Sunday. If it's not out by then... I will be very sorry.

QOTC

Should Ryestar have been accepted by StreamClan?

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