War is upon us once more. [Important RC Meeting, JOIN IN]

Following the disastrous gathering, Ivystar stalked into camp a mixture of frustration and rage.

"Who's on guard duty to Lionspark?!" Ivystar called out to no warrior in particular. The leader's tail twitched in frustration as she paced below the stripped bare willow tree. Her pelt seemed luminous in the moonlight, yet even that couldn't soften her harsh movements. Her whiskers twitched violently at the lack of response, green eyes shooting daggers as she looked around at the camp for someone to give her the answers she wanted. "Rainstorm... I need Rainstorm. Jaystream, gather the Clan, we need to have a meeting."

The leader pounced onto the very top willow branch, claws slashing into the bark as she yowled for all to hear. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the willow branch for a Clan meeting!"

Spotpaw, who had been trying to fall asleep, scrambled out of the den and skittered over to underneath the willow branch. Ivystar sounded agitated. Even her claws showed it. Just from looking, he knew. Lionspark was probably gone, or Thunderclan was trying to take back Sunningrocks, or there's a great big war now. Ivystar was usually a cool, calm leader, but now? Now she just seemed war-hungry, sending everyone in the clan out to fight for a few tail-lengths of rocks!

Jaystream was organizing the daily patrols when he suddenly heard the angry voice of her mother. The tom turned his gaze to her and nodded quickly, a bit surprised by her impatience. Hurrying, the deputy left her side and started calling every warrior he saw, announcing the incoming gathering. "All cats gather around the Willow Branch! Ivystar has an announcement to do so be quick!" He mewed as he searched in every den for all the warriors and apprentices. The grey tabby warrior knew that this wasn't a warrior ceremony... This sudden anger of his leader only meant that something bad was coming.

Reedpaw heard the urgent calls of his leader, only to be followed up by more calls to meet from Jaystream. The dark tabby moved to beneath the Willowbranch with the rest of his clan mates. Reedpaw took a seat next to his brother, Spotpaw, who looked as though he shared the same concerned attitude towards this situation.

While taking some fresh-kill, Heronpaw suddenly heard Ivystar's loud, angry voice bellow out, and then suddenly followed by Jaystream's calls. Not again... he thought as he gathered underneath the willow branch.

The tone if Ivystar's voice made memories from not too long ago fly through Nutfur's mind. She recognized it, and now loathed it. If there was another war, she wasn't fighting for this tyrant. She wasn't fighting for any clan or leader. She was fighting for her friends. She was fighting for common decency. Ironically enough, she would be fighting for peace. But hopefully there wouldn't be another battle where she would have to do that. She sat down near the Willow Branch and wrapped her tail around her paws, looking up at the leader with an indifferent expression. In truth, she was not feeling that way in the slightest, but after moons of hiding her emotions and secrets from the world, she had the straight face down. She just prayed to StarClan that everything would be okay.

Brightpaw went to go sit with his siblings. The tone in Ivystar's voice was one he had come to associate with battle and wars and danger. He shot Spotpaw a glance when he recognised he was there, and pointedly stood to sit beside Reedpaw instead. His brother was being completely ridiculous lately, and he already hated Brightpaw. Why should he bother to make up?

It was as if Duckpuddle was having déjà vu. The tone of Ivystar's voice made a shiver go down the brown she-cat's spine as she padded out of the warriors' den to join her Clanmates below the willow branch. As if the events at the tumultuous Gathering hadn't made it clear enough, there was obviously going to be another battle. She knew that this time, it probably wasn't going to involve just ThunderClan and RiverClan considering that requests for allies had been made. Duckpuddle felt a bit sorry for SkyClan, ShadowClan, and WindClan, considering that they had practically been dragged into all of this. With a small and barely audible sigh, the RiverClan cat sat down and glanced up at the Willow Branch and the cat that was on top of it. Duckpuddle's green eyes glittered with sadness. This routine was being repeated once again. She glanced over her shoulder, briefly, and look down at her splint. If the Clan was going to be sent off to war, then she wouldn't even be able to fight with a broken leg. However, check-ups every now and then had told her that her leg was close to being completely healed. Somehow, Duckpuddle couldn't help but hope that her leg would still be in a splint by the time the battle came.

Spotpaw looked away from Brightpaw's glance. He wanted his brother to understand, but... he couldn't. Spotpaw, at least, could see where Brightpaw was coming from, but Brightpaw wanted nothing to do with him. Why? Why was every cat important to him turned against him? He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, putting on a cheerful, friendly face. "Hi, Brightpaw, hi Reedpaw!" Then he let his face fall to his usual sad and scared agitation. "What do you think it is?
I'll bet it's more battles, or war, or something horrible. Maybe they stole back Lionspark." Now he could let his feelings of fear, sadness, and anger show. War was sweet at times.

Splashwillow's thick fur rippled uneasily at Ivystar and Jaystream's summons, the lightning storm of tension that besieged the camp making her muscles stiffen anxiously. The calico had slipped back into the nursery as soon as they returned from the disastrous Gathering, but it seemed as if there was more to be said about the subject brewing at paw. Peering out from the thickly woven reeds of the nursery, Splashwillow's face was drenched with apprehension as she gazed at Ivystar.

--

Adderkit had been restless since the moment that Splashwillow and Rainstorm had left her and her littermates by their lonesome- without so much as a shred of entertainment to keep them preoccupied! It was a wonder that she didn't die of boredom. However, seemingly seconds after her mother returned to the camp, something seemed to be happening. Brushing up underneath Splashwillow's soft belly fur, Adderkit gazed at her Clanmates with owl-like eyes.

Brightpaw dipped his head in acknowledgment to Spotpaw. He was still feeling a little salty after the, erm, incident, but it seemed his brother was ready enough to put that aside for now. "I wouldn't be surprised. It could be anything."

"RiverClan, ThunderClan has made their move. They ready for war once more. They come to take Sunningrocks with our old enemy, WindClan by their side. They've shown their hand to us, they will do whatever it takes to crush us. Blizzardstar, for all her platitudes is no better than Spottedstar of the old."  Ivystar shot a venomous glance at the trees over yonder, as if she could burn down the forest with her gaze alone. She wished she could, that she could burn them all to keep her clan safe. For all their preaching, ThunderClan would bring death to them. She knew it deep down inside. The omens were there, the deep red of each sunrise since the meeting with WindClan. No one would dissuade her. "I am no fool, I sense that some of you doubt me. That you'd rather we showed our bellies and made nice with ThunderClan. For a while, I let it go as the naive thinkings of youth, but now our lives are on the line. Nutfur, Sweetheart, Spotpaw, Heronpaw, none of you will guard Lionspark from now on. There is no greater sadness to a leader than to not be able to trust her clanmates, but I must do what I must to keep our clan safe. Jaystream, only those who you know hold no sympathy to ThunderClan will guard Lionspark. Lionspark is our last line of defence against Blizzardstar, without her, she will attack us before Leafbare ends. We withstood her assaults once, but with WindClan to aid her, I fear for our lives."

"Duckpuddle, Splashwillow, I leave you two in charge of fortifying our camp. Make sure there are no patches of frozen ice for those foxhearts to cross. Have Spotpaw and Heronpaw aid you. Brightpaw, Reedpaw, assist Cloudstone and Goldenpaw in gathering whatever herbs they need." Her claws carved neat groves into the branch as her eyes scanned the clearing for things that needed to be done. Her fears would not rest, her heart beating irregularly inside her, like a butterfly trying to escape it's cage.

Spotpaw wanted to curl up into a ball and die. He flushed as Ivystar mentioned his name in the list of cats she did not trust. Despite the fact that he wasn't exactly battle-hungry, he still would guard Lionspark with his life. But he didn't need to worry about that. It consoled him slightly to know that Nutfur, Sweetheart, and Heronpaw were sort of by his side in the opinion matter. Breaking ice and fortifying camp surely couldn't be too bad. Duckpuddle seemed less wildly war-wanting as the rest of the cats, and Splashwillow seemed to have the kindness of a queen. Perhaps his thoughts were incorrect, but at least he had Heronpaw with him. One of his few friends. Could he count Violetpaw among them? No, this was not the time for his mind to be across the border. He had to help fortify camp, in case Blizzardstar led her clan straight into the heart of Riverclan. He glanced at Heronpaw as he stood up slowly and dragged himself over to camp entrance, tail between his legs and eyes watching only the ground.

"I fear that there will be no herbs to heal us all if any at all. If we win this battle at all, Ivystar. I vote that we pillage Thunderclan of their herb storage. It is cruel but if it is what it takes for Riverclan to make the leaf-bare, then it's a must." Goldenpaw meowed, looking up to Cloudstone, hoping that he approved of her, even if it was begrudging approval.

Brightpaw almost felt bad for Spotpaw as he watched his brother walk away.

Almost.

Ivystar didn't trust Spotpaw, and that was that. If Brightpaw wanted to be the best warrior in RiverClan, he had to be loyal to his leader and ignore whatever his brother was doing. He nodded briefly at the leader's instructions and flicked his tail against Reedpaw's shoulder. At least he had one sibling left. He started towards Goldenpaw and Cloudstone. He really needed to prove himself, and what better way than to help the medicine cats? Gathering herbs would be a good thing, too, for helping his Clan survive. He pushed his thoughts away from his brother and towards the matter at hand. He went to stand next to Goldenpaw, listening to her words. Perhaps that really would be the best thing to do. Brightpaw twitched an ear in silent agreement of her words. It wasn't his place to give his opinions on the matter.