Sorry about the wait. (That seems to be the way I'm starting all of my A/Ns lately XD) Thanks to Yellowfang4ever, Silverflame, and Jkitty for reviewing so far! Enjoy this chapter: things will start to pick up the pace here.

A few nights later, Beekit found herself watching Bramblestar organize the patrol of cats to go to the Gathering.

The pale gray tabby felt a little spark in her paws as she looked on. I'm sure there'll be all kinds of juicy gossip from the other Clans! And I'll get to hear all about it once they return…

After some negotiating, the cats who ended up standing by the thorn barrier were Cloudtail, Brightheart, Hazeltail, Lionblaze, Tigerheart, Foxleap, Bumblestripe, Lilyfern, Dewclaw, and Snowtail. Smokypaw got to go as well, along with Squirrelflight and Jayfeather of course.

Excited for her father, Beekit flounced up to Bumblestripe, and bothered him until it was time to go, at which point Bumblestripe had to shake the clingy Beekit off his leg. Dovewing chuckled, murmuring goodbye to her mate before curling their daughters into her tail.

"Is the Gathering dangerous?" Beekit mewed curiously as Dovewing ushered them and a few additional stray kits into the nursery.

Even though Beekit despised the den, for once her limbs were weary enough to make her eager to settle in the nest she shared with her mother and sister. They lay down, all snuggled together, going to bed early since they would be up later to hear the news produced from the Gathering.

Dovewing took her time to answer. "A large percentage of the time, it's not dangerous," she finally decided to say. "

"And the smaller percentage?" Morningkit mumbled, already closing her eyes.

"Well, you see, there's a truce the Clans call when they're on the Gathering island. If there is any bad fighting, StarClan will tuck the mood behind the clouds, which will tell the Clans to stop arguing because StarClan does not approve."

Beekit nuzzled her mother's paw, and rested her tail on Morningkit's shoulders. "I miss Bumblestripe already," she uttered.

"You are certainly your father's daughter," Dovewing laughed gently. "Your names even go together: Bumblebee."

Beekit felt her heart swell. Bumblebee.

"What about me?" Morningkit whispered, half-asleep.

"Your name goes with mine: like mourning dove."

Morningkit's smile burned into Beekit's mind as the two sisters drifted off.

ThunderClan burst into the clearing, the final ones to arrive. Nodding swift greetings to most of the cats, Bramblestar jogged over to the Great Tree and clawed his way up.

"Let the Gathering begin," Ashstar of WindClan rasped. The very elderly gray she-cat had only recently received her nine lives after the former leader, Onestar, drowned in the flood. In spite of her eight extra lives, Ashstar still looked just as thin and bony as ever.

"WindClan has welcomed the incoming greenleaf with open paws. The rabbits are plentiful, and almost all the flood damage is gone now. Sedgewhisker and Whiskernose's kits, Antpaw, Dewpaw, Thistlepaw, and Willowpaw have been apprenticed to Harespring, Leaftail, Emberfoot, and Heathertail, respectively. We are also pleased to announce the return of a skilled warrior, Breezepelt, to our ranks."

Murmurs arose from the crowd at hearing the last name, but every cat cheered the apprentices' names with some Breezepelts mixed it. More than a couple WindClan cats looked slightly disturbed that their leader had announced Breezepelt.

Reedstar from RiverClan stepped forward next, after neither Rowanstar or Bramblestar moved a muscle. The tom meowed, "We are still working on repairing major flood damage, but we are much better off than we were at the time of the last Gathering. In addition, Rushtail has given birth to Mallownose's kits, two toms and a she-kit: Jumpkit, Leapkit, and Pouncekit. That is all." He sat down, sweeping his skinny black tail over his paws.

Rowanstar was still stone-still, so Bramblestar exhaled and rose upward. "Prey is running excellently for ThunderClan. We have three new warriors: Amberear, Dewclaw, and Snowtail. There are also four new kits. Dovewing and Bumblestripe have two daughters, Beekit and Morningkit; Ivypool has two sons, Lakekit and Fogkit." Dewclaw and Snowtail had stood stiffly, lowering their heads in embarrassment as their names were cheered. Meows of congratulations were said by those who knew Bumblestripe. It was clear some cats were wondering why there wasn't a father named for Lakekit and Fogkit.

Gradually Rowanstar took his time unbending his legs. He spoke quietly. "All is well in ShadowClan. We have three new apprentices, Flamepaw, Wetpaw, and Russetpaw, with mentors Shrewfoot, Scorchfur, and Pinenose." Pelt bristling a little, Rowanstar turned to Bramblestar and asked even less audibly, "How is Tigerheart doing in ThunderClan?"

Bramblestar frowned. Tigerheart had left his father, mother, and sister in ShadowClan to be with his mate, Icecloud, and their three kits in ThunderClan. Rowanstar and Tawnypelt happened to be his parents. "This isn't the business of the other Clans," Bramblestar muttered. "But Tigerheart is fine. He is here, if you would find him and speak to him before we go."

The ginger ShadowClan leader just flexed his claws and grumbled something unintelligible. "Let's go, ShadowClan," Rowanstar called before he was even all the way down the Great Tree. The other three Clans watched as ShadowClan quickly fled the clearing in a hush.

Ashstar and Reedstar exchanged perplexed glances, then summoned their own Clans after a rushed farewell to Bramblestar. Eventually, ThunderClan was the only Clan that remained.

Slowly Bramblestar climbed down the tall tree and strolled right up to Tigerheart. The broad-shouldered warrior was the near spitting image of Tigerstar, his grandfather and namesake. This cat was the son of Bramblestar's sister. He also looked just like the ThunderClan leader himself.

"Did your father speak with you at all?" Bramblestar mewed briskly to the dark brown tabby as the Clan whisked across the tree-bridge.

Tigerheart ducked his head. "No," he said. "If he had approached me, I would've been dreaming."

Bramblestar felt a pang of remorse for his nephew. "What about your mother?" Surely his sister had to acknowledge her living son at least once since he left ShadowClan.

"A few times, yes," Tigerheart admitted. "But not this time. They left so quickly… maybe something's wrong."

The ThunderClan leader just wanted to brush this off and claim that ShadowClan was being antagonistic as expected, but that would only plunge Tigerheart further into darker spirits. He just heaved a sigh and muttered, "Let's hope not."

Beekit's pricked ears picked up the sound before anyone else. The moment she heard the paws crunching through the thorn barrier, she leaped to her paws and shook awake her mother and sister. "They're back! They're back!" she cheered. Morningkit emitted a groan, and Dovewing took her time to rouse.

"You made it back alive!" Beekit continued to squeal, targeting Bumblestripe and practically bowling him over.

Bumblestripe chuckled but then seriously asked, "Who told you I might die there?"

"Never mind that," Dovewing said, suddenly materializing with a playful smirk as she helped her mate up. More quietly, but still audible enough for Beekit to hear, she went on, "How was it?"

Bumblestripe just frowned and jerked his head in the direction of Bramblestar, who was summoning the remainder of the Clan. "He'll be able to explain better. If he even shares everything that happened."

Beekit felt her heart drop into her stomach and roll around like a heavy stone as she followed her parents' pawsteps to under the Highledge. Somehow Morningkit turned up beside her, still bleary from sleep. "Dream?" she asked the silver kit shortly.

"Hardly," Morningkit mewed. "I slept so soundly, I didn't want to get up."

The gray tabby looked away from her sister. What kit doesn't have enough energy to immediately wake up? She's not like most others…

Bramblestar, of course, wasn't going to wait for Beekit and Morningkit to resolve their slight chilliness. "The Gathering went well," the dark tabby declared. "Prey is abundant in all three Clans. WindClan has four new apprentices: Antpaw, Dewpaw, Thistlepaw, and Willowpaw. And they have a new warrior, Breezepelt."

Beekit felt a chill whisper down her spine at the name Breezepelt. She shuddered as she thought, What's the big deal? Just a cat with a new name, right? But from the stiffening and tensing around her, she realized that this Breezepelt cat was a big deal.

Leafpool, one of the medicine cats, stood and meowed tacitly, "W- what about Nightcloud?"

"Who's Nightcloud?" Morningkit uttered to no one in particular.

"Someone else who's bad, obviously," Beekit said.

Dovewing shushed them. "It's a privilege for you two to be up at this time. Please be don't speak during the leader's important announcements." The firmness in her voice didn't hide the glint of uncertainty in her sky-colored eyes, however.

Breezepelt has brought sexy back... and not his mother.