Graystar pauses at the top of the hollow before leading his cats down to the Gathering. The night is still. Clouds are building up on the horizon, so that Graystar has begun to wonder if StarClan is going to hide the moon to show that it was not their will for the Gathering to take place.
But for now the moon rises high above the clouds, and the scent of cats drift up to Graystar from the hollow below.
"Only Windclan and Riverclan so far," murmurs Longtail, who is crouched at Graystar's shoulder.
"What's keeping the Shadowclan?"
Graystar shrugs. "StarClan knows. Personally, I wouldn't care if Tigerstar never showed up."
He signals with his tail and leads his warriors as they race down through the bushes and into the clearing at the center of the hollow. As Longtail has said, only Windclan And Riverclan cats are there.
Graystar spots their leaders, Tallstar, seated with his deputy, Deadfoot, and Leopardstar seated with deputy Stonefur, near the base of the Great Rock.
"Greetings, Graystar," Tallstar mews, dipping his head courteously as Graystar approaches. "Tornear told me he met you on your way to Highstones. We grieve for Bluestar."
"So does her own clan," Graystar responds, bowing his head in turn. "She was a noble leader."
"But you will be a worthy successor," meows the black-and-white tom, surprising Graystar by the warmth of his tone. "You've served your Clan well."
"I-I hope to serve it even better in future," he stammers. Tallstar nods once more in response, and springs up to the top of the rock. Before following him, Graystar glances around at his own cats. They are already circling around the Windclan and Riverclan warriors and beginning to exchange their news.
Leopardstar mews, "I agree with Tallstar. Despite your flaws and past, you have been a great deputy to Thunderclan."
He dips his head in gratitude for the words Leopardstar has said. Waving with his tail towards Onewhisker and his apprentice, Gorsepaw, who are settling down to talk with Sandstorm, Graystar jumps up to stand beside Tallstar on the top of the Great Rock with Leopardstar following suit.
He has stood here once before, when he took Bluestar's place while she was ill after the fire, but he is still not used to looking down on his cats from such a great height, nor seeing their eyes gleam pale from reflected moonlight as they stare up at him.
Graystar's tension increases as he thinks about what is to come, and the confrontation with Tigerstar that will surely happen before moonset.
"Shadowclan is late," he remarks.
Tallstar and Leopardstar twitches their ears in agreement.
"Clouds threaten the moon," Tallstar points out.
A trace of anxiety crosses his face. "Perhaps StarClan is angry."
Looking up, Graystar sees that the clouds he has noticed earlier are spreading farther across the sky. The air tastes damp, and his fur prickles with expectation. What will it mean, Graystar wonders, if Starclan veils the moon and Tigerstar is left to plot in secret until the next Gathering?
"Tallstar, Leopardstar" he begins, deciding that the time has come to confide in the Windclan and Riverclan leaders and ask for their advice.
"I'm worried about what Tigerstar might be planning—" He never finishes.
A triumphant yowling from the top of the hollow interrupts him, and a heartbeat later more cats race into the clearing as Shadowclan arrives, their cats fanning out below him. Tigerstar reaches the top of the Great Rock in a single bound.
"Cats of all Clans!" Tigerstar declares, not waiting to greet Tallstar, Graystar or Leopardstar to discuss which of the leaders should speak first.
"I have news for you. Listen well, for great change is coming to the forest."
Graystar stares at the Shadowclan leader in confusion. When Tigerstar first mentions news, he thinks for a moment he is referring to Mistyfoot and Stonefur's half-Clan heritage.
Yet that would not merit such a spectacular arrival or make Tigerstar talk about great change. Below them in the clearing there is dead silence. All the cats stare up at the Great Rock, their eyes wide as they wait for Tigerstar to explain.
Every hair on Graystar's pelt begins to bristle, and he does not know whether it was due to the tension of the assembled warriors or the threatening rain clouds.
"Great change," Tigerstar repeats. "And Starclan has shown me that it is ShadowClan's task to prepare every cat in the forest to meet it."
"Every cat?" He hears the quiet mutter from Tallstar.
The Windclan leader takes a step forward. "Tigerstar—"
"ShadowClan has the favor of StarClan," Tigerstar keeps on, ignoring the interruption. "We are blessed because we survived the sickness, and I have received the blessing of our warrior ancestors most of all because it was my task to restore the clan and make it great again."
Oh, yes? Graystar thinks, rolling his eyes. He refuses to believe that Starclan are showing favor to Tigerstar after all that he has done to his birth clan. Glancing down into the clearing, he looks for Runningnose. The ShadowClan medicine cat has done his best to support his clan during Nightstar's leadership, and Graystar has an idea that he is not entirely happy with Tigerstar as the old tom's replacement.
He wonders what Runningnose thinks of the announcement Tigerstar has just made, but though his gaze searches the clearing carefully he can see no sign of the medicine cat.
Left at home, Graystar asks himself, so he can't deny what Tigerstar claims?
One cat Graystar does spot in the clearing below is Darkstripe. The former Thunderclan warrior is sitting beside Blackfoot, the Shadowclan deputy, and his eyes shine with admiration as he looks up at Tigerstar. It is clear that he has gone straight to his old ally after being driven out of Thunderclan.
"All of you know," Tigerstar goes on, "that changes have already come to us—unwelcome changes beyond our control. Last leaf-bare much of the forest was covered by floods. A fire swept through Thunderclan territory."
As he mentioned the fire he flashes a look at Graystar, who would like to claw the arrogance off his enemy's battle-scarred face.
"Twolegs are moving into our territory in ever greater numbers. Life is growing harder, and as the forest changes around us, we must change to meet the crisis."
Yowls of support rise from below, though Graystar notices that they come only from Shadowclan cats.. The warriors of Thunderclan, Riverclan and Windclan are exchanging stunned glances, as if they can't work out what Tigerstar is trying to say.
Graystar fee;s just as shocked. He has been so certain that Tigerstar would reveal Mistyfoot and Stonefur secret at this Gathering.
He had braced himself, but now he is left to face a completely different challenge.
"Starclan have shown me the way," Tigerstar meows with a glance at the sky, where the storm clouds are massing more thickly still.
"To survive the hardship ahead of us, we must join together. As four clans, we waste our energies in striving against each other. As one, we would be strong. We must unite!"
Total silence meets his words. Graystar can hear a faint breeze stirring the leafless branches of the four oak trees, and in the distance a mutter of thunder. He gapes at Tigerstar. A single Clan in the forest? When Starclan has always decreed that there should be four? He is reminded of what Leopardstar said to him the day Bluestar died. But before he continues that thought, Tigerstar continues.
"Leopardstar has refused to join RiverClan with ShadowClan. But I hope she reconsiders when the other clans, Thunderclan and Windlcan join me."
Tigerstar tells them. "We shall be joint leaders of a greater clan, to be known as TigerClan."
Joint leaders? Graystar doesn't believe that for a moment. Tigerstar would never share his leadership with any cat. Now Tigerstar turns to him and the two other clan leaders.
"We have come to invite you to join the new clan," he meows, his amber eyes glittering.
"Let us rule the forest together in friendship and peace."
Before he has finished speaking, Tallstar steps forward, his fur bristling aggressively. But it is not to Tigerstar that he speaks; instead he addresses all the cats in the clearing below.
"Tigerclan is the name of one of the great clans of ancient times." Tallstar's voice rings out as strong and clear as if he were still a young cat.
"Tigerstar has no right to use it now. Nor does he have the right to change the number of clans in the forest. We have lived as four clans for innumerable seasons, following the warrior code laid down for us by StarClan. To throw aside our ancient ways would bring disaster."
Turning to Tigerstar, he hisses, "I'll die before I join my clan to yours!"
Tigerstar blinks slowly. Graystar can see a dangerous gleam in his eyes, but his voice is calm as he replied, "Tallstar, I understand. These are important matters, and an older cat like yourself will need time to see that what I'm suggesting is for the good of all our clans."
"I'm not so old that I've lost my wits, you piece of fox dung!" Tallstar snarls.
Tigerstar flattens his ears, but he keeps his temper.
"And what does the new leader of Thunderclan think?" he sneers.
All the hatred he has ever felt toward the gray-colored warrior is contained in those words, and even the air feels scorched.
Glancing down, Graystar sees unease spread among the Thunderclan, Windclan and Riverclan warriors despite Leopardstar already denying Tigerstar's proposal.
Sandstorm is on her paws, yowling, "Never, Graystar, never!" but some of the Windclan cats are talking urgently to each other, as if they were considering Tigerstar's proposition. The dark tabby warrior has been clever, Graystar realizes. Much of what he has said is true—times are growing harder, for all the reasons he has given. Maybe some cats would believe their problems could be solved by joining together as one clan.
But he is convinced that the cats of the forest can fulfill their destiny only if there are four clans. And even if he has considered for one moment the idea of joining together as one, he would have rejected it if Tigerstar is to be the new clan's leader.
"Well, Graystar," Tigerstar rumbles, with another swift glance at the storm-dark sky.
"Have you lost your tongue?"
Graystar takes a couple of paces that bring him to Tallstar's side.
"I'll never let you take over my clan," he spits at Tigerstar.
"Make us," Tallstar invites. "If you can."
"Make you?" Tigerstar's amber eyes widen; for a heartbeat he looks almost genuinely hurt.
"I came here in peace with a plan to help us all. Tallstar, Graystar, Leopardstar, I want you to recognize that this is the right decision and come to me willingly. But don't delay too long," he adds, a hint of menace in his voice.
"Starclan will not wait forever." Fury blazes up in Graystar. How dare Tigerstar claim that his attempt to take over the whole forest is the will of Starclan?
"How dare you say that after what you did? You're nothing but a murder and are now trying to force us to deny our heritage! You're too power hungry to let us co-lead even if what you're saying is true. Besides, why should any of us trust you after what you've done to your birth clan? Sending a pack of rabid dogs after us that almost killed us if it weren't for my plan and for Bluestar sacrificing herself to save me after you stood in my way and let the pack leader get his jaws on me?!"
Gasps of shock come from Windclan, they knew Bluestar died but not how.
When Tigerstar opens his mouth to protest, Graystar growls, "Don't you dare deny it! Mistyfoot and Stonefur were there and Riverclan saw my clan seeking protection in the trees at Sunningrocks. You can't hide what you've done."
Tigerstar opens his mouth to protest and mews, "I…"
Lightning stabs down from the sky, a blazing claw of white fire that rakes the forest. Thunder crashes overhead, drowning Tigerstar's words; it sounds as if the Great Rock itself were being torn up.
"It's a sign!" Leopardstar yowls. "Starclan is cross with you Tigerstar for insisting your wrong way of thinking onto us! They are also cross with you for almost destroying your birth clan with the help of a pack of dogs sunrises ago! You are not the right leader for Shadowclan!"
"Yes I am!" growls Tigerstar, "And I am right! You'll see! Think about my offer!"
He jumps off the Great Rock and with the rest of Shadowclan heads into the forest, slinking into the shadows. Almost blinded by the lashing rain, Graytar half jumps, half slithers down the side of the rock and streaks across the open ground to the shelter of the bushes, calling to his warriors as he goes. Moments later he finds himself crouching beneath a hawthorn bush with Longtail and Sandstorm huddled close to him.
Shaking rain from his pelt, he looks around for Tallstar and Leopardstar, but the Windclan and Riverclan leaders have not followed him. The rain is striking the ground so hard that the drops scatter into a mist of spray.
The four oaks thrash and groan in the wind. Grasses and ferns are flattened in the fury of the storm.
Graystar can't help thinking of Bluestar's prophecy during his dream at the Moonstone while he and his two companions shelter from the harsh storm.
Three will become one. Lion, shadow and blood will meet in battle. "Shadow" must mean Shadowclan, but who or what is "Lion" and "Blood?
Graystar pushes the question aside as he remembers Bluestar's ominous parting words. Blood will rule the forest.
Author's Note: Yes I skipped some chapters. Mostly because they don't connect with this AU, which is why we are at the gathering as soon as we are as those chapters concern Tigerclan, which does not happen in this AU. Anyway's I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
~Leafbranch