"Let's go over the rules again shall we?"
Thistleprick groaned and rolled his head back immaturely. Greysight shot him a harsh look causing the tortoiseshell to sigh. "No talking about where we came from, no talking to she-cats, no talking about what's going on in the clan, no talking about our clanmates, and no talking when the leaders are talking." Thistleprick took a short pause, "Can I even talk at all?"
"No."
Greysight padded away from Thistleprick and towards the other tortoiseshell that sat near the side of the warriors den. Right now, DarkClan was preparing to leave for the Gathering. Browneyes offered to stay in camp with Longtail, and Greysight was making sure the newcomers knew what not to do.
Raggedear sat away from the others, causing Greysight to wonder why he was being so distant. "Hey Raggedear, I thought I'd go over what to do at the Gathering again, but you've probably got it. You're a lot more competent than your brother."
Raggedear was silent for a moment. "...How many clans are there again?" he asked.
"Four," Greysight replied casually, "Including us. Then there's OceanClan, TreeClan, and LightClan; but not all the cats go to the Gathering. We do it in an effort to fit in, our clan is the smallest."
Raggedear nodded, making Greysight nod her head appreciatively. "Good. We're going to head out now, it looks like Sunstar is already on his way."
Raggedear blinked and looked past Greysight, sure enough, the golden tom was already making his way toward the tree tunnel with their group of cats following behind him. He decided not to question how Greysight knew that, a part of him already knew that the blind she-cat was different from most.
Together the group followed Sunstar into the forest, prepared to take on any challenges that this Gathering might throw at them.
Greysight became tense as they approached Fourtrees, it wasn't far now, only a few fox-lengths ahead. She could feel the movement of numerous cats, and could tell that the other three clans had already gathered.
Would Willowstar say anything about Fallenstep? Would Sunstar? Would the other clans realize they had been taking rogues into their clan? Would Brisingstar mention their trip to OceanClan?
She found herself becoming more worried as they approached, but it was too late to turn back now. As they stepped into the ring of trees, she could feel the cats turning to look at them. Greysight was so nervous she was beginning to pick up on her own fear scent.
'Wait-' That wasn't her fear scent! Greysight tried to pinpoint the location of the cat giving off such fearful vibes, but was distracted as several cats shouldered past her and her clanmates began to disperse among the crowd.
Lostheart hung back as the cats began to take their places or go off to speak with friends from the other clans. It was easy for her to pick out Roseclaw's snowy white pelt moving throughout the crowd with Mintpaw toward where the medicine cats sat, no doubt to thank Tidepool for her help.
As she watched her sister move through the cats, Lostheart began to feel like she was being watched. She blinked and turned to her side to see Eagleclaw and Nettlewhisker looking at her, their eyes filled with...disbelief? When their eyes met, the two toms suddenly turned away and began muttering to each other.
She watched as Eagleclaw shoved his brother away, growling something which Lostheart had no doubt was along the lines of "shut up Nettlewhisker" and stalked away toward the side where most of the TreeClan cats were gathered.
'That was weird...'
Lostheart didn't see any other sign of the three traitorous siblings or Pineneedle in the crowd while she waited. She tried to stay as far back into the shadows as possible, but as always, she could still see the new apprentices looking at her in fear. Some things never changed.
"I really appreciate it Tidepool, DarkClan really owes you one."
"It was nothing Roseclaw, I just hope that your clanmate is feeling better now." Tidepool meowed kindly, smiling down at Mintpaw. She knew Roseclaw must be proud of her apprentice, and she could see the DarkClan medicine cat apprentice was practically radiating pride herself from the grin on her face.
Petalwing and Hazeltail were there as well, along with Hazeltail's apprentice Owlpaw. The young tabby apprentice looked to his mentor distastefully, "Clans shouldn't share herbs, StarClan made it so that we all get our share in our territory. Right, Hazeltail?" he meowed.
The chestnut-colored she-cat blinked in surprise and shuffled her paws awkwardly, shooting her apprentice a harsh look. It was clear the apprentice had been quoting something he had heard in TreeClan.
The other medicine cats ignored the apprentice's remark and returned to their conversation. Petalwing turned to Tidepool, "How is the tide? From the edge of the cliffs-"
"Hey there! Are these your friends or something?"
Roseclaw guffawed as Thistleprick suddenly appeared by her side, grinning mischievously. He sat close enough to her so that their pelts were brushing up against each other, causing Roseclaw to heat up in embarrassment in front of the other medicine cats.
Petalwing, Tidepool, and Hazeltail all looked extremely surprised at the strange tom's sudden appearance. Unbeknownst to each other, they were each trying to place which clan he was from, but they couldn't recall ever seeing him before.
"Thistleprick." Roseclaw growled through a tightly gritted smile. Thistleprick seemed to get the hint and leaned off her side, giving the other medicine cats his full attention. Hazeltail shot Roseclaw a dirty look, clearly getting the wrong idea.
Roseclaw felt like screaming. Petalwing and Tidepool blinked and laughed in an effort to escape the awkwardness that now hung over the group. Petalwing smiled, "I thought I knew every cat, but I'm afraid I don't know you." she meowed. "Thistleprick, is it?"
"That's me. I'm from DarkClan, Rosie's favorite patient, right?" he meowed, turning towards the she-cat with shining violet eyes.
Was he trying to make it obvious?! That and he was ruining her credibility as a medicine cat, Hazeltail was already giving her a look that made the white she-cat uncomfortable.
Roseclaw let out a fake laugh, "Shouldn't you be with your brother?" she meowed, giving him a signal with her eyes. 'Leave'.
Thistleprick followed her gaze to where Raggedear sat among the crowd of cats. The tortoiseshell tom blended right in among the cats and sat stiffly watching the Greatrock for the meeting to start.
Thistleprick opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a yowl from the Greatrock. It appeared that the leaders had finally decided to start the meeting. While the others were distracted, Roseclaw shoved the tom away.
"Go." she mouthed.
Thistleprick complied with a small grin and padded towards Raggedear, looking away from Roseclaw as he sat beside his brother.
Lostheart padded out from the shadows to get a better look now that everyone else was watching the leaders as well. Inside, she felt a small wave of shock as the leaders padded to the front of the stone. Morningstar looked horrible!
The normally bright and shining leader looked dull and lifeless. Dark rims could be seen under her eyes and she suddenly appeared more thin and fragile than she ever had before. Lostheart's eyes instinctually drifted to Sunstar and she could see that his gaze had hardened as well. No doubt for the same reason.
She also found it strange that she hadn't heard anything about Fallenstep, not even from the TreeClan cats. It was almost as if the tom had never existed. Thoughts of Fallenstep brought her to a new question, who was the new TreeClan deputy?
Peering over the cats, Lostheart looked toward the bottom of the Greatrock. Despite herself, Lostheart was not surprised to see the new cat sitting among the deputies.
It was none other than Pineneedle, Willowstar's own son. 'Of course.'
The crowd was silent as they waited for one of their leaders to speak. The four cats glanced at one another for a moment before Morningstar stepped slowly forward to the edge of the stone.
"Cats of all clans, I have an announcement..." she meowed, her voice clearly strained. Morningstar's normally bright eyes were jaded, "LightClan has decided to join with TreeClan-"
Yowls of shock and protest erupted from the crowd, cutting Morningstar off. Thistleprick and Raggedear looked at each other in confusion, the two toms had no idea what was happening.
Sunstar couldn't believe it. His eyes drifted to Willowstar, but the tom gave barely any reaction at all. However, Sunstar could see the familiar pleased sheen in his eyes. Sunstar turned back to Morningstar, regret and guilt running through his mind. 'Morningstar...How could he?'
Sunstar could feel his anger beginning to grow, how dare he! He had no right!
Brisingstar stepped forward and made a move to silence the noisy crowd. "Silence!" he yowled, voice booming across the clearing. Morningstar blinked and turned toward the furious looking tom.
"What is the meaning of this?! There has always been four clans in the forest! It is the way of our ancestors and our code, you can't just decide to form together!"
Willowstar's eyes gleamed as the narrow slits rolled over toward Brisingstar. "Actually," he drawled, "There was always three."
Brisingstar ignored Willowstar and instead focused on Morningstar. "This isn't right, the code-"
"Says nothing about two clans coming together." Morningstar meowed. "Calm yourself Brisingstar...this was my decision. What LightClan does is none of OceanClan's concern."
The brown patterned tom was shocked to hear Morningstar's words and was turned into a state of disbelief. He blinked and turned towards Sunstar, "Don't you have anything to say about this?!"
The cats in the crowd could only look up and watch their leaders anxiously. Lostheart could feel her own worry beginning to rise as well. It was only now as she looked around the clearing that she realized there were barely any LightClan cats even here.
"Look! Look at the moon!"
A cat's yowl from the crowd caused the clans to look up at the sky. A few gasps could be heard as cats saw the shadow now beginning to stretch over the glowing white orb. Brisingstar blinked briefly and returned his gaze to Sunstar.
The golden tom said nothing causing Brisingstar's deep blue eyes to widen slightly before shaking his head. "I won't say I accept this, but I know there is nothing I can do." he growled. "Do what you want then."
Brisingstar was no fool, there was no way OceanClan would be able to fight both LightClan and TreeClan at the same time. Besides, fighting would accomplish nothing. The OceanClan leader stepped back, choosing not to speak any further.
Lostheart watched as the shadows covering the moon slowly receded. StarClan had never done something like this before, the clans' fighting must have upset the truce.
Once he had stepped down, Willowstar wasted no time in taking his place. The large tom looked down upon the clearing, his shadow stretching over the crowd.
"Yes, TreeClan and LightClan are one now. And in being so, so too is our territory. Morningstar and I rule side-by-side." he meowed. "I also have important news. During the past moon, our deputy Fallenstep went rogue, and I fear the tom has lost any sense of reason. I warn you to be careful and keep a watch on your territories. I fear he was never able to fully adjust to clan life."
From down in the clearing, Greysight couldn't believe what she was hearing, 'Went rogue?! That's a load of foxdung!' Or was it?
"The new deputy of TreeClan is Pineneedle." Cheers erupted from the TreeClan section of the clearing, and Lostheart could see Nettlewhisker, Eagleclaw, and several other toms congratulating the tabby.
"Three of our apprentices have also become warriors, and TreeClan is happy to accept the new litter of kits that has joined our clan this moon."
Willowstar took a step back, and turned his head to look at Sunstar. The ghost of an eerie smile growing on his face.
Sunstar looked past his brother and stepped to the edge of the rock, mouth set into a firm line. "DarkClan is well. Like TreeClan, we are proud to accept two new warriors. Thistleprick and Raggedear." he meowed, looking down at the two tortoiseshells.
The two toms went rigid from where they sat in the crowd as cats began to turn and look at them. Thistleprick could feel his brother's breath hitch from beside him.
However, the cats' attention was suddenly distracted as laughter erupted from the Great Rock. Thistleprick blinked and looked up to see the cat with the wild fur from before laughing darkly. Willowstar's mouth stretched into a toothy grin and he looked at Sunstar with an amused glint in his eye.
"Is DarkClan really so desperate that they need to take in filthy rogues so that they can defeat us?" he leered. "I wonder," he continued, "How many of your cats actually have warrior blood."
Morningstar said nothing from beside him, and her broken gaze remained focused on the stone beneath her paws. Cats immediately began to focus on Thistleprick and Raggedear again, whispers and murmurs beginning to grow amongst them. Some even eyed the toms distastefully, disgust and suspicion in their eyes.
Raggedear and Thistleprick could only look around in confusion. 'What is going on?!' Thistleprick thought desperately.
Willowstar scoffed. "This meeting is over." he declared, leaping down from the Greatrock. Morningstar followed wordlessly after him, eyes downcast as she refused to look at the other leaders.
Thistleprick looked back and forth among the clearing as cats began filing away in an attempt to locate someone he knew, the leader's words spinning in his head. He and Raggedear really had no idea what was going on here after all, and he didn't like it.
"Hey!"
Thistleprick's ear twitched and he turned to see a tabby, leering at him and his brother with mocking golden eyes. "You guys must be pretty pathetic to go joining cats like DarkClan. Then again, you're just pathetic rogues." The tom snorted, "Nice ear buddy, almost matches your brother's dopey face."
With his final remark, the tom padded away to join Pineneedle and the other TreeClan warriors. Thistleprick's eyes narrowed slightly, but he ignored the tabby's rude remarks and instead turned to check on Raggedear.
He felt a spark of worry when he noticed the way Raggedear was staring off into the spot the TreeClan cats disappeared to.
"Come on Raggedear, let's go." he meowed gently nudging his brother. Those DarkClan cats had a lot of explaining to do.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
First I'm going to answer some questions. To justsmile77 about the OceanClan dens, I have no idea how they do it, but plenty of other animals do. ((I even looked it up before using it for authenticity)) The deeper you go into the sand, the harder and more compact it gets. To ty7769 and others, YES there will be pairings. Patience my friends, patience. I didn't have any AUs for the past two chapters because by the time I uploaded each of them I was way too tired. ALSO, Thank you to all my new readers! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my trilogy! :) Remember to leave any questions/thoughts/comments/ideas in reviews.
Lost Out
P.S. I need to make sure everyone is following a concept I mentioned earlier, but you may not have caught on to it. What can you guess is wrong with Morningstar?