We Rise Above [Phase Two Gathering]

Cinnamonpaw nodded with satisfaction, still confused at what the things that happened earlier to her meant.

Scorchpaw shifted on his paws, unsure if he should bring up the tensiom between his and Jaypaw's clans. He shrugged and licked a paw nonchalantly. "I suppose we're doing alright. As long as there's prey and no disease, we can get along. Our clan is strong, we're no pushovers." He smoothed his fur with his paw and curled his tail over his paws, looking like a soldier stiff with alertness.

Jaypaw nodded "Good, there's some cat there who I l-" he cut off realizing that he was about to tell Scorchpaw about Gentlepaw and him.

There were many cats here, many, many lovely living cats with their hearts still pumping and their fur warm. She could smell the life in them; so refreshing compared with the death-stench that always floated about in this cursed land. Some were bickering, but the she-cat didn't particularly care. Hearing their voices was enough to excite her. She was a small tawny she-cat with one bright green eye and a gaping hole in her face where her other eye used to be. One-eye prowled through the living cats and sent glances to her dead allies through the bodies. Everything was perfect. She'd finally take revenge on those StarClan fiends by ruining everything they thought they owned. Yes, they thought they owned the forest of the cats who were alive, but they were very, very wrong...

Firepaw trotted through the mass of cats. The sound of their heartbeats in his ears was almost maddening; he'd spent his entire life trying to make the heartbeats stop. One didn't use their rank as medicine cat apprentice to poison countless clanmates for trivial reasons, now. His claws sank angrily into the ground, but he shouldered off the temptation to halt the noises as best as he could. The leader would not be happy if Firepaw struck out when they were so close to accomplishing their goals. The small ginger tom cast a glance about the clearing; which had he tricked into joining again? He couldn't remember, and he didn't really care. There were cats there who'd been ensnared and still more to come.

Smokestorm glided through the surrounding warriors and apprentices like a phantom. The whole affair was running smoothly. An astonishing success... except it wasn't very astonishing. No one could overcome the might of the Dark Forest, the Place of No Stars. They had seen to that. His unnaturally sharp amber eyes traced the crowd with scrutiny. There was Frostfall, quiet and observant. His pupil was dedicated and most likely understood exactly what was going on. She was his favorite pupil. The other student of his, Webtail, had been in a near-altercation earlier. The tom was eager and took Smokestorm's teachings to heart, and soon would be rewarded well. Frostfall would be more difficult reward, it would seem, as her leader and deputy were also pawns of the Dark Forest. Still, the victory would be a reward in itself for the right cat. Smokestorm sat down quietly and nodded to the other dead cats. The living were of little concern to him, and he ignored them as he sat and waited for it to fully begin.

Jaypaw scented three more cats "Seriously...." he growled "I thought that was all of them!" he complained "I don't want to be crowded with more cats" he murmured in a small hiss.

Smokefang, a dark gray smokey looking cat, strode into the clearing. She held confidence in her walk, but being among the living cats her eyes showed caring, and compassion. She was careful when she walked among the other cats making sure she didn't run into a single one as she wove among them. When she was decently closer to the front of the group was when she finally stopped. She looked among the group in silence, but pride in her eyes. They made this possible. She looked forward once again when she got a good look at everyone.


The next cat to walk in was a simple orange tabby. Her piercing green eyes looked around at the sizable group of cats, and happiness spread across her face. She could easily lead a group of these cats. They were all looking for a strong leader, someone to make them stronger, and she could do it. She could easily lead some of these clan cat into a battle. She worked her way into the group, and settled down between the cats.

Two cats walked in together next. A warrior and an apprentice. The two looked like they were mentor, and apprentice from the way they walked together. The tall white warrior looked forward with his yellow gaze. Whitefur the warrior, walked through the cats without a regard if he ran into anyone or not. He was a big tom, bigger than most, and if someone wanted to pick a fight with him, then they would soon learn that it was a mistake. Stormpaw, the apprentice, followed behind the dead warrior. Awe sat in his blue eyes as he looked around at all the other cats. There were so many! The dark gray cat, looked up at Whitefur in front of him, and held his head high like the warrior was doing.

Jaypaw sat quietly again, their were so many cats here he could befriend and some who were his enemies. His gaze laid on Lionpaw, he blinked over a over as he looked at her.

"Can I tell you something?" she leaned towards jaypaw, something told her that he would find it interesting.

Jaypaw shook his head and looked at Cinnamonpaw "Huh, ya, ya sure"

"I saw them." she stated semi-awkwardly.

Jaypaw looked confused "Who?" he asked.

"them." she made a star symbol with her paw.

"S-StarClan?" he guessed "Come on, StarClan is terrible! They abandon us!" he hissed in a still nice tone.

"I know, I am not very fond of them as well." she said semi-startled because of his surprise, yet she understood. "They told me something... A-atleast I think so." she started to be unsure of what she was saying. But she held her ground, determined she was right.

Jaypaw chuckled "Your a dark forest cat, you don't look like a StarClan cat to me. You belong here, like your brother and you have to follow your fathers paw steps" he added.