Chapter 5
The full moon had risen, by now, Shadowclan was all ready to go and Brackenfur and Blackstar were leading them through the forest. Cats were either holding moss, prey, herbs, or even kits. They got through the Thunderpath without any problems and were near fourtrees. Suddenly, Brackenfur got a scent of Riverclan approaching them. Once Brackenfur stopped, so did the Shadowclan cats.
"What's wrong?" Blackstar asked.
Suddenly, the bushes rattled, Blackstar and other Shadowclan warriors were ready to fight. Some cats dropped their things and others kept the kits hidden to protect them. Suddenly, Sandstorm came out of the bushes, followed by Leopardstar and Mistyfoot. Everyone was relieved. Brackenfur approached Sandstorm, she nodded a greeting.
"Brackenfur. Seems like you've convinced Shadowclan." Sandstorm meowed.
"Yes, it seems that you've convinced Riverclan to leave as well." he nodded.
"Yes, I had some help." Sandstorm meowed.
She nodded to Mistyfoot, who nodded back. Brackenfur greeted the Riverclan deputy with a nod.
"Leopardstar." Blackstar greeted.
"Blackstar." she greeted back.
"Um excuse me, but where do we go from here?" Swallowtail asked.
"We're heading to the Windclan camp." Sandstorm meowed.
"Do they know that we're coming?" Leopardstar asked.
"Yes, my clanmates should be at their camp." Sandstorm meowed.
"Plus, I explained what happened to Tallstar, he should be expecting us." Brackenfur added.
"Good, let's keep going then." Sandstorm meowed.
Brackenfur nodded. Everyone picked up their stuff and kept going. They went past fourtrees and headed towards the moorlands. Navigating through the tall grass, Sandstorm realized that she's never exactly been in Windclan's territory before and wondered if she was getting lost.
"Sandstorm, this way." Brackenfur meowed.
Brackenfur went northwest from Sandstorm's direction. Sandstorm was relieved and remembered that Brackenfur was the one to lead Thunderclan to Windclan's camp, along with Gorsetail. Brackenfur led the rest of the way, until they reached the open Windclan camp. Several Thunderclan and Windclan cats were talking to each other, while others were sleeping. The arrival of Sandstorm, Brackenfur, Brambleclaw, Shadowclan and Riverclan alerted everyone and some woke up.
"Sandstorm!" Dustpelt shouted.
He approached her and touched noses with her. Thunderclan and Windclan cats started to gather and Tallstar and Mudclaw approached Sandstorm. She nodded a greeting.
"Greetings Sandstorm." Tallstar meowed.
"Hello Tallstar, it's good to see you." she meowed.
"It's good to see you too. I want to personally thank you for saving Gorsetail, Windclan really appreciates you and your clan's bravery and courage. But also, Brackenfur told us what happened, I'm so sorry, Sandstorm." he meowed.
"Thank you, Tallstar, I appreciate it." she nodded.
"Of course." he meowed.
"Do you want to wait until Firestar and Greystripe come back, to leave?" Mudclaw asked.
"No, I've instructed some friends to tell them where we are, when they return to the forest." Sandstorm meowed.
"Should we leave now then?" Leopardstar asked.
"Absolutely not. The dogs at Barley's farm are out now and with all these cats, it's not a good idea, Leopardstar." Mudclaw meowed.
"Very well, we'll sleep here for tonight." Blackstar meowed.
"I agree. We'll leave at dawn, we'll stay at Barley's farm until we figure out where we go from here." Sandstorm meowed.
"I agree, let's rest here for tonight, Leopardstar." Blackstar meowed.
"Very well, we might as well use the moss we have now. It won't be good anymore after tomorrow anyway." she meowed.
With that, Riverclan and Shadowclan cats started making their nests, putting their prey in the fresh-kill pile, or placed the herbs they carried in the herb pile. The queens went into the nursery and the elders went into the elders den. Leopardstar and Blackstar joined the others, Brambleclaw and Brackenfur joined their clanmates, which left Sandstorm, Tallstar, and Mudclaw alone.
"How are you holding up?" Tallstar asked.
"I'm barely hanging on. What keeps me sane and calm is leading Thunderclan and keeping them safe." Sandstorm admitted.
"I understand, and your daughters?" Tallstar asked.
"Oh, they're both trying to be strong, but even I can tell they're worried sick." Sandstorm meowed.
When she said that, Sandstorm looked to see Squirrelpaw giving comforting licks to Leafpaw, both she-cats were organizing the herbs the other clans brought.
"How long are we going to be at Barley's?" Mudclaw asked.
"Hopefully not too long, but I want to at least come up with another plan that will find us a new home." Sandstorm meowed.
"Are you still hopeful about the sign?" Tallstar asked.
"Yes, of course, but I don't want to wait too long for one." Sandstorm meowed.
Meanwhile
Leafpaw and Squirrelpaw organized the herbs, both apprentices clearly trying to use any type of chores to keep their minds off of the fact that their father and Graystripe were taken away by twolegs. Brambleclaw gave the last piece of Thunderclan prey to one of the starving Windclan cats. It may not have been enough, but it was enough to help them keep going. Brambleclaw approached Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw.
"How are you two holding up?" he asked.
"How do you think?" Leafpaw asked rhetorically.
Brambleclaw realized he shouldn't have asked that. Squirrelpaw gave a comforting lick to Leafpaw's ear again, then she saw Stormfur approaching them.
"Stormfur!" Squirrelpaw meowed.
Brambleclaw and Leafpaw looked to see the Riverclan warrior approached them and like Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw, was trying to hide his shock and worry from everyone else.
"Are you ok, Stormfur?" Leafpaw asked.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." he lied.
"I guess you already know?" Brambleclaw asked.
"Yeah. Sandstorm basically explained everything when she came to my clan." Stormfur meowed.
"I'm so sorry, Stormfur." Leafpaw meowed.
Stormfur's head went down and was about to cry. Brambleclaw placed his paw on Stormfur's shoulder for comfort.