THE FULL MOON HUNG LOW in the midnight-black sky, illuminating the island in a chilling glow that reflected off the freshly fallen snow encasing the bare trees. Shadows milled within the clearing, dozens of cats whose eyes gleamed in the darkness as they huddled together to remain warm, quiet chatter passing between them.

In the center of the island's clearing, a massive oak tree harboring low-hanging branches was the gathering place of five cats in particular, perched upon those twisting limbs and conversing quietly among themselves as they waited to begin the meeting which had brought them all here.

"We should begin soon," one of the cats spoke after a moment, a night-black tom-cat whose green eyes seemed to pierce the gloom intensely. "This cold will only worsen as the night drags on."

A three-legged molly with a brown coat nodded in agreement. "My ears are already numb, unfortunately. ThunderClan has news to share. May we begin?"

SkyClan's leader, a darker tabby with yellow eyes, nodded once. "Of course, Stumblestar."

As she turned to face the cats gathered below, however, to silence the chatter and start the gathering, she became aware of the fact that the silence had already risen up, and most individuals were staring into the undergrowth, ears perked and eyes wide with caution.

The bushes beyond the clearing were rustling, and voices rose up from the shadows. SkyClan's leader now leaned forward, claws digging into the wood beneath his paws.

"Show yourself!" He snarled, his voice piercing the night air like a claw through flesh. "Who dares to interrupt a sacred gathering of the Clans?"

There was silence for a long moment, in which the cats within the clearing seemed to hold their breaths. What awaited them? A hungry fox looking for a quick meal? A badger? Perhaps an overly curious loner?

The truth was revealed when a massive figure melted into the clearing in silence, green eyes glinting with a calm sort of malice that seemed unnerving at first glance. The stranger didn't speak, in fact, it was SkyClan's leader who broke the silence, his snarl ringing through the darkness.

"You."

A smirk grazed the muzzle of the stranger as they lifted their gaze up toward the speaker. "Hello, Hawkstar."

"Ibanishedyou," the brown tom growled. "Why have you come back?"

Before the stranger could respond, Stumblestar cut in, her voice strong despite the discomfort of the situation. "Hawkstar, who is this?"

"A warrior that I banished from SkyClan moons ago, formurderinga kit!"

"You banished me with no evidence," the cat growled, "you just needed someone to blame."

"Her body was found outside ofyourden!"

"Every warrior in SkyClan slept in that den!" They retorted, voice strong despite how quietly they spoke. "Why wasIthe one you blamed?" A pause. "Why did you want to place the blame on anyone instead of trying to find theactualkiller?"

"You had cause!"

"No, I didn't. You knew that. Just because she was different, just because she made a mistake in front of me and I corrected that, you think I killed her?" Their gaze flashed around toward the gathered cats. "She wasmykit."

Hawkstar narrowed his eyes in response as the stranger continued coldly.

"But I'm not here for that." Their voice didn't waver as they stepped further from the undergrowth from which they emerged. "I'm here to take my place among the Clans again."

SkyClan's leader scoffed in response. "Your little statement won't convince me to allow you back, Wolverineholly. You were exiled for a reason."

"Even if you were to find it in your ice-cold heart to see reason," the cat spoke without raising their voice, "I would rather eat carrion for the rest of my life than return to SkyClan." A pause. "And it's Wolverinestarnow."

"Wolverinestar?" ShadowClan's leader, a fluffy white tom-cat, cut in before Hawkstar could reply. "What does that mean?"

The cat who called themself Wolverinestar raised their muzzle, their figure illuminated by the moon. "After our exile, my mate and myself traveled to the Moonpool to make sense of our unjust banishment, and we were greeted by the leaders of the past." They began, raising their voice now that they had captured the attention of everyone in the clearing. "They agreed that the reason behind our exile was unlawful; they knew I did not commit this crime, and so they proposed an alternative."

"An alternative?" Stumblestar's voice was quiet.

"They bestowed upon me nine lives and the name of a leader, if only I were to gather other cats with situations like mine and create anewClan." Wolverinestar growled. "Loners and kittypets rejected by the Clans, exiles who were run out of their homes unjustly," their gaze flashed back to Hawkstar as the bushes behind them rustled, and another cat slipped out, "and those left behind to fend for themselves."

The cat who had appeared beside them was a thin-furred and long-limbed molly with a primarily black coat, though ginger markings dappled her face and backside. Upon laying eyes on her, SkyClan's leader narrowed his eyes, malice leaking into his gaze.

"Do you recognize her, Hawkstar?" Wolverinestar demanded, lashing their tail as the molly stepped up on their right. "Or has it been too long since the last time she pleaded for your help in a dream?" They didn't allow him to speak, addressing the other Clan leaders with a booming voice. "Pinewhisker here was a member of SkyClan when I was still a kit, and she was stolen by twolegs five seasons ago."

That alone sent a wave of whispers through the ranks of gathered cats, but the stranger spoke over them.

"Instead of going to find her, or even sending out a patrol — many of us were willing to go — Hawkstar forbade any cat from searching for his missing Clanmate, because he'd already determined her to be a lost cause, when in reality, she just needed some help!"

Hawkstar dug his claws into the wood. "She was gone, Wolverine.Gone. Some filthy pet of the twolegs living a comfortable life. She was useless to me then."

Pinewhisker's tail brushed out. "Ibeggedyou for help, you and Emberglade. You ignored me!"

"What did you want us to do?" A ginger-and-white tomcat called up from the crowd, near to where the two outsiders were standing. "Send out a few of our able-bodied cats to rescue you?"

"Yes." She hissed. "I wanted to come back to the Clan, Hawkstar. I was a warrior. Even more — I was yourdeputy."

At that, there were a few gasps from the gathered cats around them, and the leader of SkyClan pinned back his ears in rage. "We have a new deputy now. Moonmoor fills that role much better than you did, anyway."

Pinewhisker glanced sideways at Wolverinestar. "You were right. This is not the Clan I once knew."

The thick-furred cat gave her a reassuring look, resting their tail on her back. "You will always have a place with us here." They meowed, before grinning up at Hawkstar. "Our time has come. Welcome us under the gaze of StarClan, or refuse, and see their wrath fall upon you."

Sagestar, ShadowClan's fluffy white leader, glanced at the others, Vaporstar, Cherrystar, and Stumblestar, before looking back down at the newcomer. "Have you brought the rest of your Clan with you?"

Wolverinestar dipped their head. "I have. Some able-bodied warriors and an elder have joined me for the gathering tonight."

His gaze seemed to soften. "If StarClan have bestowed their blessing upon a new Clan, then we must welcome them among us." He meowed, much to the horror of Hawkstar, who was the only cat seemingly not in agreement.

"You can't be serious." He snarled, eyes flashing with malice. "This cat is a traitor, exiled for murdering his own daughter."

Wolverinestar leaped up onto a low-hanging branch of the oak tree, just as more cats filtered into the clearing. The shock that followed was like a birdsong to their ears.

A long-furred reddish tomcat walked with his head held high, passing by a ThunderClan elder, whose eyes nearly bulged from her head in shock. "Burningcloud?"

His expression did not shift as he continued walking. "Cardinalfrost, actually.Burningcloudis the cat you left to die in battle, or have you forgotten that?"

Nearby, a brown-and-white tomcat helped a tortoiseshell molly pull herself through a group of RiverClan warriors, dragging two of her legs along with her. The warriors of the other Clan whispered among themselves, before one called out hesitantly, "Swiftcrane? Hickorycurrent?"

The tom lifted his muzzle. "Maybe once, but not any longer." His gaze flashed with burning rage. "RiverClan betrayed them, and left those cats to rot." Now, he turned to his mate. "Come along, Otterdapple. I see a place to sit over there." He then wrapped his tail around the molly and led her away, passing by two others from his own Clan who had been stopped by some WindClan cats.

"What do you mean, you were Clanborn?" The young warrior demanded, her ginger pelt, only a shade paler than the two newcomers, bristling with rage.

"What he just said." One of the new cats replied, swishing her tail slowly. "Our mother was a cat from the moors, and according to the barn cats who raised us, a child herself, less than twelve moons."

"No cat from WindClan would haveevermade such a mistake with herself!" The Clan cat retorted, tail whipping back and forth.

As they argued, a golden spotted she-cat watched from the shadows, before she was approached by a fluffy golden tabby ShadowClan warrior. "Creekdaze! You're here? Why?"

Her spotted tail fluffed out at the use of that name. "I no longer associate myself with that name," she meowed softly.

"But . . . that's yourname. Our parents—"

"— never knew the real me," she interrupted. "They ignored every sign. They laughed at me when I told them that I never felt like a tom. They purposely kept using the wrong name, the wrong form of address. They told me I couldn't love someone because she wasn't approved by them." She shook her head. "Creekdazeis dead, I'm Pheasantfall now. Wolverinestar and the rest of my new Clan accept me for who I am."

Wolverinestar didn't stop the rising tension, and waited for the other leaders to call attention to their warriors. When the murmuring had quieted down, and their own Clan had taken their place among the gathered cats, with their deputy catching their eye and smirking as she sat down pointedly next to SkyClan's deputy, who looked stunned at the sight of her but wisely kept quiet.

Hawkstar's eyes roamed over all the cats in the Clans, before he turned to glare at his former warrior. "So what are you calling this little joke of a Clan?" He mocked.

The fluffy gray tabby seemed unbothered by his tone. "We are ScrapClan."

"Oh, because of the sorry scraps of a Clan you clearly have shown yourselves to be?" His tone didn't change.

Wolverinestar shook their head. "Because we are the scraps that you and the other Clans left behind. We are the scraps that came together to form a Clan that accepts any and all cats into their ranks." Their gaze flashed. "And because our camp lies in the large scrap yard just beyond the border of the horseplace."

Hawkstar bared his teeth. "You are just a bunch of rogues trying to act all high and righteous. I doubt StarClan has even granted you the nine lives you spoke of."

"You have some nerve to go against the word of our ancestors." ScrapClan's leader growled.

"And look at the sky," Cherrystar of WindClan pointed out. "No clouds, and the moon and stars look down upon us. Does that not hint at their favor over this new Clan." He dipped his head to Wolverinestar. "Welcome to the lake, ScrapClan."

"Are you just going to allow this?" Hawkstar sank his claws into the wood. "There have never been six Clans!"

Vaporstar of RiverClan tilted her head. "Things change. SkyClan had no place here for a long time, and now they are considered one of our own Clans, like they never weren't among us. Why can't we do the same for this . . . ScrapClan?"

"Because there are traitors and exiles and runaways among them!" SkyClan's leader snapped. "At least the new SkyClan was made from the blood of the old and noble warriors. These cats are . . ." he waved toward Wolverinestar, "degenerates!"

"And yet, some of us have stronger Clan blood than you do, Hawkstar," Shrikeblossom, the deputy of ScrapClan called up.

Ignoring her, Hawkstar kept his hostile gaze upon his former warrior. "I will never stand for this. Your little stunt tonight willneverstick. You little rats and your followers will never be anything more than a ragtag group ofstrays!"

Wolverinestar held his gaze. "Believe what you like, but StarClan will be the one to judge you. My Clan exists now, and it always will until the day the stars decide of their own right to disband us, if that ever happens." They lowered their voice. "I protect those that the Clans will not. It is what they deserve, not to live as rogues for the rest of their lives, and it is what Pinewhisker deserved, to not live in twolegplace fearing for her wild instincts."

The leader of SkyClan stalked forward, dismissing the other leaders' attempts to get him to back off, and leaned in closer to Wolverinestar, who almost flinched back. Almost. "I will make sure that you regret this decision, Wolverine."

The exiled warrior pulled back slightly, their form towering over Hawkstar. "We will see if the stars are in your favor, then."