August 2021 Gathering

A white tom nearly shouldered him to the ground and Lichenblaze snarled, dropping Beechface back to the earth. From his scent he was another medicine cat. ThunderClan. "Who do you think you're talking to? That's my sister, an' if you do anything to hurt her, I'll skin you." His voice began as a growl, soon wavering with emotion. It was an empty threat, somthing that sprang from his mouth before he thought about it. Swiftly, the medicine cat who he didn't know the name of got to work gathering herbs, and all the SkyClanner could do was pace helplessly. He wasn't even that smart, he knew nothing about herbs or healing.

The white tom came back and barked an order. "Hold her. Now." Barely processing what he said, Lichenblaze moved to straddle Beechface, pressing his weight gently down on top of her to keep her still. Dull, teal eyes watched with a grim expression.

Beechface would be okay. She had to be.

Bloodstrike couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Bearpaw attacking Cloverpaw at the gathering? Did she not realize that if Bloodstrike wanted violence here there would have been? Just as he was about to bulldoze his way through the other cats to get to his daughter, lightning hit the tree that Beechface was in. His heart stopped and his jaw dropped. The branches fell and Bloodstrike practically flew off of the Great Rock.

Fire was nothing new to the tom, nor being burned. Bloodstrike hardly even registered the rain on his fur. His powerful claws tore away furiously at burning branches, and anything that his claws hadn't ripped away he chewed to splinters, on fire or not. He felt the remains of flames burn around his lips and his toes, but it was a small price to pay to get to his medicine cat. His daughter.

Lichenblaze managed to get to her and pull her out, and Bloodstrike moved out of his way. He hadn't expected assistance from anyone... so when Dovefrost approached, he felt a wave of surprise as well as relief. He made sure he got out of the medicine cat's way and turned a grateful look to Minkstar. Other Skyclanners rushed to help, including Dawnpaw. Her appearance startled him at first. Where had she been???

A ruckus from the clearing caught his attention before he could say a word. Bearpaw was still over there, and the marbled Riverclanner seemed to be doing his best to be damage control. The bobbed-tailed Riverclanner seemed to just be trying to stop the fighting... as was well within his right to do so.

Bloodstrike's gaze locked onto Bearpaw... a fury burning bright behind his hunter green eyes. He kicked off of the ground and made a dead sprint towards her, looking and sounding more like a dog barreling towards the cats just based on his heavy foot falls alone. The look on his face, he had no doubt, was one of pure fury.

The striped Riverclanner even panicked momentarily and assumed a fighting stance... but once he realized who Bloodstrike was focusing on, he got out of the way immediately and took his paw off of their Medicine Cat Apprentice.

Bloodstrike slammed his teeth against Bearpaw's scruff and yanked her sharply up off of her feet. He was not happy with her. He didn't care if he drew blood on her or not. She could be the reason Beechface might die. He swiftly carried her away from the Riverclanners and towards the edge of Fourtrees. When he released her, he even gave her a rough toss to the ground.

"ARE YOU COMPLETELY BRAIN-DEAD BEARPAW? WHAT IN THE DARK FOREST MADE YOU THINK STARTING A FIGHT AT A GATHERING WAS A GOOD IDEA???"

Bloodstrike bellowed, spit flying from the tear in his lip. His mouth was red rom the fire that had burned it and blisters were beginning to form. His forepaws too had burns on them. He was sure the other clans could hear what he was saying, but he didn't care.

"LEAVE THE IMPULSIVE STUPIDITY TO THE RIVERCLAN MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE! IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR SKYCLAN CATS DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? IF YOU EVER CAUSE ANY MORE PROBLEMS AT A GATHERING THEN YOU ARE GOING TO BE EXILED FROM MY CLAN AND YOU CAN GO BE SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM IF ANYONE WOULD TAKE YOU AT THIS POINT!" His hackles were raised like hyena bristles the more he yelled. His ears were pinned back flat against his head and his pupils had narrowed into thin slits.

"We may have just lost our medicine cat because you couldn't control yourself. Are you happy now? Was it worth it, you impulsive mouse-brained idiot?" Bloodstrike even knew on some level he was being cruel, but his rage pushed him far beyond caring. "You're going to stay on the edge of the clearing until we go home and your mouth will remain firmly closed or so help me I will see to it that you are no longer part of Skyclan. Am I understood?"

A flash of white in the corner of his vision.

Bloodstrike's eyes shot over to it, feeling his heart stop once more. A new wave of rage threatened to overwhelm him as he watched the retreating form of Dawnhawk slowly disappear into the distance. He had been here... The scarred tom took in several deep breaths to calm himself. There was no need to get Skyclan anymore riled than they already were... and bringing up that he saw Dawnhawk would do just that. This was one thing that he'd keep to himself for now.

The explanation wasn't what he'd been expecting. The coldness in his expression gave way to a multitude of emotions as SkyClan's deputy stepped up and spoke again, his eyes widening momentarily before narrowing, the tip of his tail twitching. So it had been WindClan. WindClan, who had been harbouring a war criminal and murderer of the worst kind. His eyes flashed at the mention of Asylum, a hint of tooth showing as his lip curled slightly. No wonder they ordered his execution. The crimes kept piling up, and he found himself amazed that this cat had somehow torn his blood-stained way through SkyClan's ranks like this. What was he, the Dark Forest incarnate?

Holding his place, he let his eyes flick from Bloodstrike to Ivystar, the new information swirling through his head. I doubt anyone knew what exactly they were dealing with. Whether SkyClan would be content with that explanation, though, he couldn't tell. Not with the look currently on the massive tom's face.

And then he found they had bigger problems, a flicker of movement catching the corner of his eye a split-second before yowling split the air. Snapping his head around, he caught the RiverClan apprentice - medicine cat apprentice, of all things - reeling back, thin red lines slashed across her face. Icy water flooded his veins, crackling electricity brushing the tips of every hair on his pelt.

And with a crack one of the Great Oaks split in two.

The boom almost flattened him, the bright flash blinding his eyes as claws shot from his sheaths to grind against the stone underneath, his ears screwing down against his head too late. Chaos - he found himself half-crouching against the Great Rock a pawful of thundering heartbeats later, teeth gritted against the watering in his eyes from the flash and smoke starting to fill the air. Standing on end, his pelt still tingled from the sudden flicker of lightning, and he struggled to see around the purple blotches scarring his vision as he leapt to his paws, burbled sound barely recognizable as yowling reaching his paralyzed hearing. What in StarClan-?!

In StarClan was right. His pelt abruptly flattened under a sleeting sheet of rain, the drumming of it further obscuring any useful sound, though as he finally got some semblance of night vision back he could see Flintstar leaping from the rock. Shaking his head, anxious and sodden shapes from his own Clan catching his peripheral vision, he tried to clear the ringing from his ears, Quaildock and Dovefrost's distant calls half-heard. Everyone was yowling. Everyone was panicking.

A growl rumbled deep in his throat, his tail lashing as a flash of heat seared up from the pit of his chest, bursting out in a roar that ripped at his own throat, "THUNDERCLAN! WE'RE LEAVING - NOW!"

It cut out over the pandemonium, his paws leaping from the rock and hitting the ground of the clearing a moment later, the fire burning in his eyes dimming as he took a deep, rain-scented breath and whirled around to Thrushnose, his voice slightly cracked as he ordered, "We need to make sure everyone's in the patrol. Take some responsible warriors and tell them to round up the apprentices. They-"

White flashing in his vision caught his attention, and widened eyes caught Dovefrost dashing away to the site of the fallen tree, and a dark mound he could just make out with a small crowd around it. "Foxdung. Murr, take them home - me and Dovefrost will join you later. Daris, go join the others."

He'd bounded away before he could catch any cries or questions, sounds still distorted, even if they were starting to return to normal. If Dovefrost was staying here to help whoever had been hit by that tree, he wasn't going to take the rest of the Clan and leave him to who-knew-what the other Clans would end up doing now that the truce had been broken.

He skidded to a halt, blinking raindrops from his eyes, just in time to catch some crazy SkyClan tom snarling at the medicine cat, and his claws automatically sprang from his sheaths. To his relief, though, the other stood down as Dovefrost dived headfirst into the job of healing what looked like a burnt pile of fur possibly related to Bloodstrike from the size. "Stand down - he's trying to help," He snapped, the words coming out sharper than he'd intended, his gut churning in spite of himself as he saw the severity of the wounds. Stars above....

He shook it as best he could from his mind, turning to Dovefrost and noting what few herbs he'd managed to collect. It looked like he didn't need any extra help keeping her down, not that he would have been able to fit into the crowd without suffocating the injured molly. "Dovefrost, what herbs do you need?" He'd spent more than enough time in the medicine cat den to pick up a few of the most important ones and recognize them. Maybe he could put that knowledge to good use.

Still crouched and battle- ready, Spottedfrog watched her sister approach Cloverpaw, ears twitching to tune into what Bearpaw had to say. Despite the tense situation, she couldn't help but allow a smile to play at her lips, that was, until, in a flash it had gone from cutting words, to cutting claws, and a flurry of chaos-filled movement saw a RiverClan tom dragging Bearpaw off. Spottedfrog snarled, leaping forward to retaliate in her sister's honor, but as her paws hit the ground, Bearpaw was already free, and the RiverClanner was fumbling an apology to Ivystar. Ears slicked back, Spottedfrog turned back to Bearpaw and began to look her over.

And then, in the clearing, pandemonium.

The noise from the lightning strike was still rumbling in her brain as the rain began, and the SkyClan warrior shook her head, blinking bright spots away from her vision. She'd never seen anything so bright, heard anything so deafening, and it was terrifying. Cats began to flee Fourtrees, racing this way and that like confused prey. Spottedfrog flattened next to her sister, waiting for the chaos to dissolve, and once the panicking cats had mostly gone, she stood, swinging her gaze wide to observe what was going on. Most of the leaders had vacated the rock, and she saw Newtpaw and Lichenblaze gathered around something - someone? - on the ground beneath the charred oak. A third cat, ThunderClan's meddie, joined them and began working on... wait, was that Beechface? Spottedfrog's eyes widened slightly, and then narrowed, tail flicking apathetically.

She couldn't understand why Newtpaw seemed so bothered about their half-sister's state... Beechface had never been kind to any of them, and had been downright cruel on more than one occasion, but she didn't get to ponder it long before a hulking shape detached itself from the growing crowd around Beechface and made a beeline straight towards them. Ohhhhhhh... dad was mad. Real mad. Scrambling back to avoid being physically caught up in the altercation, Spottedfrog watched Bloodstrike snatch Bearpaw up and drag her to the edge of the clearing... and a cat clear on the other side of the forest probably could have heard the words that rushed from his furious, gnashing maw. Sympathy for her sister - the only good one she had left - flooded Spottedfrog, and without thinking about the repercussions, she abandoned caution and slunk to Bearpaw's side. She pressed against her sister, ears flat, tail drooping from more than just the rain that bogged down her silky coat, and she looked up at Bloodstrike with a baleful expression, not defying him, no, but comforting her sister the best she could given the circumstances. SkyClan had lost enough, and the young warrior wasn't ready to lose another sister so soon... not by death or by exile.

Without an ounce of shame—with relief, even—Thrushnose tilted her muzzle upward to better hear SkyClan’s deputy. He could be lying, at least altering fact to spin the story his Clan’s way, but the more she considered that, the less likely it seemed. She’d only ever heard Dawnhawk’s name used in conjunction with words like “liar” and “murderer.” It all lined up. Wolfstar’s warnings, the growing tension, tonight’s wounds. But what had possessed WindClan to harbor a murderer?

Before she could ask—before she could even glance at Dayspring—the sky caught fire.

Thrushnose instinctively threw herself against the Great Rock, though not quick enough to avoid the downpour, and scrunched up her face until her vision returned, revealing a Fourtrees darkened by rain and thick, threatening clouds. The truce was broken. Cats yowled in fear and fury. Leaders called their Clans away. Her kits. Her siblings. At least Sablepaw was safe at home. Beside her, a set of paws thumped against the ground. “Dad—” Thrushnose looked from Minkstar to the fallen tree and the pile of burnt cat-flesh beneath it, eyes bright with fear. Had…had that bolt hit someone? She stared a moment longer, caught between curiosity and paralyzing horror, before finally wrenching her focus back to her father with a mighty shake. She’d been playing deputy on her mother’s behalf for moons. Now it was time to be one. “Just…stay safe. Please.”

But Minkstar was already gone. With a sharp, bracing inhale, Thrushnose turned toward Quaildock. “You heard him,” she said simply, and plunged into the crowd. By good fortune, she soon ran into two warriors curled together: her level-headed brother and bright, ferocious Wolfblaze. They would do. “Kestrel, Wolfblaze,” she barked once she’d skidded to a stop, winded more by barely-suppressed panic than the sprint, “make sure everyone’s with their apprentices. We’re getting out of here.” Her gaze shifted to Kestrelswoop. “Dad said he’ll meet up with us later.” Hopefully that would stave off his concerns better than it did hers.

Onward she went, repeating the message to every ThunderClan face she passed, until she reached the edge of the clearing and spun to face her Clanmates, her striped tail waving high. No sign of Badger or Stoat. They were here somewhere, they had to be—but logic dictated she stay put. With Minkstar and Dovefrost otherwise occupied, ThunderClan had no one left to guide them. She raised her voice until she could feel her throat straining: “ThunderClan! Follow me!”

---

Again, the tension in the air burst into open flame. It started with a scarred apprentice Emberleap didn’t recognize claiming SkyClan were no better than a bunch of rogues; Bloodstrike, from the top of the Great Rock, retorted with an address to the whole forest. Emberleap’s stomach twisted as the deputy detailed every drop of blood Dawnhawk had spilled (a three-moon-old kit, not even old enough to be an Asylum trainee, much less an apprentice). At last, he had a real reason to hate Dawnhawk. His stomach wrenched again, this time in disgust. At himself, at Dawnhawk, at WindClan. Seven cats dead, maybe eight or nine. SkyClan had brought warnings and requests for information before the Clans for moons now—and all that time, Dawnhawk had been sitting pretty on the moor under Lilacstar’s protection. What happened to not housing killers? Where was his trial?

A chill jerked Emberleap back to reality. He blinked, and realized he’d somehow pushed his claws into the soft soil. But that wasn’t all. Wind swept through the clearing, rising in volume and ferocity until he found himself leaning into it just to keep his balance. A single bolt of lightning reached down—and from the sudden, blinding white, too close for comfort, came a bone-deep crack as if the earth itself were splitting in two.

Mistyfalcon had told him about this forever ago, when he’d been Pyrik. Gatherings were meant to be peaceful; if someone dared break that peace, StarClan would send clouds to cover the moon. Emberleap eyed the scarred Great Oak, or what remained of it. This was…a little more drastic. Whether coincidental or divine, it gave him the push he’d been looking for all night. Surging to his paws as if about to throw himself into battle, Emberleap ran after the retreating ShadowClanners, only slowing once he had slipped into the crowd.

---

“Not like Wolfstar’s any better.” Upon realizing he hadn’t quite kept that thought internal, Flypaw buried his muzzle in his chest fur. “Sorry. I know he’s a leader and all...” No matter how much like a rogue he acted, Wolfstar had been handpicked by StarClan; he deserved respect for that, if nothing else. No sooner had he decided that than Cloverpaw stepped forward. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she’d gotten maimed by some SkyClanner, but to hear it’d been the very leader he’d just been badmouthing—

Flypaw rose in a dark, bristling fury. The sharp look in his mentor’s eyes made him wilt. “O…okay,” he called to Turtlefur’s departing form. His determination to sulk his way through tonight’s Gathering faltered more with every second, replaced by a growing certainty that all this tension was leading somewhere. Another ambush, maybe, or just a lot of shouting.

He didn’t expect to see a splash of red on white, or the light that cut through the sky into one of the Great Oaks. Jumping at least his own height at the roar that followed, Flypaw landed on his feet, tail curled over his back and bristling. Then came the scent, clogging his nose and tongue. It was like the fires the Twolegs set along the riverbank every night, but not really. Like blood, but not really. Flypaw leaned to the side and was quietly sick. As he straightened again, wobbling, eyes wet, he kept his paws planted against the swaying earth. He couldn’t leave. Among all the cats yowling around him, Ivystar’s voice was absent, and so he would measure his breaths, and would not take the tiniest kitten-step toward home.

Timberpaw's tail flicked back and forth. His ears were pinned to his head, he was trying to have a normal conversation but an apprentice-sized cat just started... arguing? With the leaders and deputies? Poor Timberpaw was terribly confused and even more when another cat, also an apprentice stepped in and... Wait.. what? That apprentice didn't just... try to fight a cat.. did.. they? He almost hissed, wasn't this a gathering? He was told that cats don't fight at gatherings... That was the warrior code... wasn't it? He lashed his tail, wanting to shout but... Starclan was already three tails ahead of him. He pressed his ears even tighter as the wind started to howl loudly, whistling like he had never heard wind whistle, and he was a Windclan cat.

Suddenly, he flinched as a bright light crackled down with a loud, booming thunder noise. It hit one of the great oaks and after that flash, the only thing that was lighting up the area was fire. He wanted to run, he wanted to hide and as rain started falling he wanted to go home... The fire was his only light and now.. it had disappeared. "Henpaw- I- I wanna go home..." He whispered as he felt his sister's tail on his shoulder. "I-I can barely see I'm scared, I'm scared Henpaw! Y-You always know what to do.. What do we do...? Di- Is- Wa- Was a cat on that branch.. are they okay?" He started stepping backwards but he seemed to lose focus and fall onto his side. "Henpaw.... I wanna.. go home..." He curled up, burying his head in his paws, trying to forget about all the rain, the tree, the arguments.

Quaildock nodded at his father's orders, joining Thunderclan. This was a weird night, that Quaildock hoped was just a dream. Yea, maybe he'll wake up all cozy in his nest, with this night never even happening in the first place.

But that was just wistful thinking.

Unable to stand any longer, Beechface slumped against the tree, her head swimming. She closed her eye for a moment, struggling to simply breathe through the agony of her injuries. She heard voices, but they sounded distant and far-off, almost muffled. Her ears still rang, and Beechface gingerly attempted to shake her head in an effort to clear it.

And she regretted it immediately as her vision swam and pain flared. A soft hiss escaped her, and Beechface struggled to focus through her double-vision and too-rapid heartbeat. A flash of white fur caught her attention and the mingled scents of Thunderclan and Skyclan filled her nose, breaking through the acrid stench of burnt flesh.

Lichenblaze, Dovefrost... Newtpaw? A slow blink from the injured medicine cat, her confusion evident. Newtpaw would never help her, she’d been nothing but hostile to him and his sisters. If he was here, it was because Lichenblaze had told him to be. She caught Bloodstrike’s scent, but before Beechface could focus on him, he was... Retreating? Did he care for her that little or was she simply a lost cause? He’d probably written her off moons ago, anyways. The thought didn’t even hurt anymore, she was numb to it.

She could make out the tone of his voice, not words, but it was distant, far off... And angry. She wondered who he was yelling at, but she supposed the answer mattered little. She doubted it was Bearpaw, that was the daughter he actually seemed to like. He’d tossed Beechface and her real siblings aside moons ago for the Shadowclanner and her half-bred mongrels. Maybe he was yelling at Cloverpaw, she would have deserved it for how she went about antagonizing everyone. She’d deserved Bearpaw’s attack too. Beechface didn’t like her and they’d never been close, but she’d have to thank the half-clan ‘paw for that later... If there was a later. Her only regret was that she hadn’t been closer to give the Riverclanner a few scratches of her own.

Dawnpaw was by her side, and Beechface turned her head ever-so-slightly towards her niece. She wanted to smile, to say something reassuring, the anxiety and panic rolling off of the little apprentice was almost a tangible thing, but Beechface found herself unable to concentrate, unable to find the energy to form words or a smile. Her face hurt, and the pain was starting to blend together, she couldn’t tell what hurt more.

Another scent caught her nose, and Beechface’s gaze flicked upward, suddenly frantic as she realized who it was. Shadewing. Her daughter. She had to be okay, if anything had happened to her Beechface would-

The sudden press of paws against her ripped the thoughts away. If Beechface’s fur wasn’t already standing completely on end, it would have then at the sheer agony the touch caused. Her body tensed in protest, the beginnings of a flinch as she attempted to pull herself away, but it got no further than that, the pain was simply too overwhelming and moving only made it worse. Beechface forced her body into stillness, her breathing ragged. A hoarse cry of agony escaped her throat, weak and barely audible. Dovefrost was saying something, and the sharp scent of herbs filled the air, but she couldn’t hear the Thunderclanner above the ringing in her ears. She wanted to tell him not to bother, to just end her suffering. The pain was too much to bear and her vision faded. Maybe the stars would for once show a bit of mercy and let her rest.

The next few moments happened faster than Bearpaw’s brain could physically process. Teeth sunk into her scruff as an unknown RiverClan cat yanked her back and away from Cloverpaw. When she was eventually dropped, she let out a hiss of protest and whirled around to face the warrior, who was staring up at the RiverClan leader with an apologetic look in his eyes.
“Don’t ever touch me agai-“

Crack.

White lightning cut through the dark sky, zigzagging through the clouds and heading straight toward one of the Great Oaks. It hit the bark with a startling, high-pitched boom, and Bearpaw immediately jumped with fright. Her eyes were now glued on the tree, watching as red flames sprung to life and coated the bark of the tree as half of the oak tumbled to the ground. She only realized who was in the tree when it was about to hit the terrain.
“Beechface?!” She whispered under her breath, before scrambling back as a dirty cloud of dust, smoke, and debris flew around the clearing

The fire was put out quicker than it had begun, and the apprentice rapidly blinked water out of her eyes as rain drops hit the Fourtrees floor. This was StarClan’s wrath… they had caused this. Her eyes widened in shock for a few moments before she turned her head to shoot Cloverpaw another threatening glance. StarClan frowned upon her actions, but Bearpaw still believed that the RiverClan medicine cat apprentice had deserved everything that she had got.
“You better not let me catch you anywhere outside of Fourtrees.” The SkyClan she-cat warned, her voice coated with outrage.

No matter how unbothered she seemed to be by the situation, there was still concern toward Beechface in the back of her mind. She craned her neck to glance over at her half-sister who was being tended to by a medicine cat from another medicine cat and a few of her own Clanmates. A frown crossed the apprentice’s features.

Teeth met her scruff once again as she was dragged to the edge of the clearing, but this time, it was by her father. She was thrown to the ground like a piece of fresh-kill would be tossed into the pile. The force from being dropped caused her to let out a huff of shock before her eyes lifted to meet Bloodstrike’s. Her gaze was glowing with anger as he launched into a spiel about the carelessness of her actions. Even though they were looking at each other eye to eye, Bearpaw was barely listening, and she certainly wasn’t afraid. She simply stared at the tom in front of her as if she could see through him. All she heard was something about an exile, a mention of Beechface, and a few insults.

“It’s not my fault that StarClan is so odd that they don’t move when they see the forest being terrorized by killers like dogs and Dawnhawk, but send the full force of their wrath when a cat gets a little scratch on the forehead at a Gathering.” Bearpaw stated, simply, before redirecting her glare to look at another tree.

Spottedfrog was beside her in an instant, and Bearpaw was relieved to feel her sister’s warmth. She pressed against her littermate with a quiet sigh.
“I don’t regret anything I did.” She muttered to the warrior.

Dayspring was quiet and still, as usual, even as Cloverpaw padded forward to throw her accusation at SkyClan. She gave the medicine cat apprentice a calm glance, although inwardly she was afraid for Cloverpaw and what would happen to her. She had seen SkyClan’s ruthlessness firsthand when the leader decided that it was a good idea to make a medicine cat apprentice his first target at the beginning of the battle. If a fight were to break out, then Dayspring knew that she would be useless and unable to defend anyone due to her current condition, so all she could do was silently pray that all of the cats in the clearing would remember just how sacred the peace truce of Fourtrees truly was.

That was when Bloodstrike began to speak. The mere sound of his voice made Dayspring want to crawl into a nest in the very back of a den and hide for the rest of her life. She couldn’t even bear to look up at him as he addressed the clearing, or images of the battle would replay in her brain over and over again until a headache formed and caused her to grow tired. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the she-cat took deep breathes. Considering the fact that Lilacstar still was unable to speak, she was still WindClan’s representative high rank, and all eyes would be on her as Bloodstrike spoke about WindClan.

Panic began to flood her body and clog her throat to the point that the she-cat could barely breathe properly. Her rapid heartbeat only increased every time she shakily inhaled, and her breathing pattern seemed to grow faster by the moment. The SkyClan deputy suddenly began to pester WindClan with questions. Every time he spoke, it felt as if a tree branch whacked her on top of the head with enough force to break her skull. If she was having trouble breathing, then speaking was going to be nearly impossible. She knew that it was up to her to say something, though… and WindClan would only seem weaker if both the leader and deputy were silent.

Even if she did feel intense resentment toward SkyClan, she still felt sympathy toward them. Dawnhawk had terrorized them, killed multiple cats of all ages that ranged from kits to elders, and despite all of that, he was still alive. When Dawnhawk had revealed his true identity in the form of a Clan meeting, Dayspring had surprisingly been the first cat to speak up and reprimand him. She had specifically said out loud that she wanted to march over to SkyClan and turn him in, but the leaders’ word was the warrior code, and she had stayed silent in order to respect Lilacstar’s wishes. A pit opened in her stomach as she turned around to stare up at Bloodstrike, her aggressor, the one who had put her in the splint. Lilacstar stood on the rock with him. Would it be wise to throw her leader under the bus if it meant clearing her name and the names of her Clanmates?

Was it worth even saying a word at all?

“I’m sorry.” She directed her words toward Bloodstrike alone despite the fact that the eyes of all five Clans were on the Great Rock.
“I know an apology means nothing at this point, but it’s really all I can say. When Dawnhawk told us of his crimes… he made it seem a lot less worse than it actually was, and no Clan deserves to go through what you and your Clanmates did.”

She paused, glancing away for a moment. In that moment, it was either time for her to defend Lilacstar’s name, or the rest of WindClan’s. A deputy was supposed to support their leader, but a deputy was also supposed to protect their Clan. Which option would seem more cowardly than the other?

“Most of the cats in WindClan never wanted Dawnhawk to stay, including me…” she began, not even thinking about her words as she spoke, “…and I even wanted to turn him in to your Clan or cast him out the moment that he revealed who he was, but I stayed silent in fear of what he would do to my own Clan if we drove him away. I just-“

Dayspring paused as another voice floated to her ears. She turned to face the speaker, a SkyClan apprentice, and watched as she addressed Cloverpaw from where she stood. Surely they were just bickering, right? They both had the common sense to not shed any blood while at a Gathering… right?

Wrong. The deputy gasped in shock as one apprentice attacked the other, and a warrior stepped in to drag the SkyClan one off. Ice ran through her veins as she glanced back up at the Great Rock and then down to the scene. StarClan was not going to be happy, not at all, and Dayspring was instantly proven to be correct. She quickly flinched as lightning struck the Great Oak with an earsplitting sound, and quickly backed up as half of the wood dropped directly to the ground. The rising cloud of smoke elicited a cough from her, and it caused her to tear up even as she blinked to ensure that no debris would get lodged in her eye.

As rain followed, she frantically glanced around the clearing before locking eyes with Swiftspirit and Ashfall. The frightened voices of her Clanmates alerted her instantly. They knew that it was time to head home, and Dayspring agreed.

“WindClan! Let’s go home!” She yelled as loud as she possibly could, her voice hoarse due to the smoke in her lungs.
“Please!” She added, hastily.

With that, she began to pad out of Fourtrees with Ashfall and Swiftspirit at her side.

Henpaw laid a paw on her brother’s shoulder, gazing at him with serious, unwavering green eyes. “We wait. We’re out of the way here. If anything goes seriously wrong, we can bolt. But we don’t until we’re told to or it becomes seriously dangerous- for us, specifically.” Beechface was probably dead. Henpaw felt a bit of regret at that- she’d always admired the SkyClan medicine cat’s battle skills. Still, StarClan apparently wanted her dead, and who was she to argue with her ancestors?

The two young cats stayed in Fourtrees, close to the WindClan border until Henpaw’s sharp ears caught Dayspring’s words. It was about time, too. “Come on, Timberpaw,” she meowed. “We’re going now, do y’ hear me? Let’s get out of this stars forsaken place- but we were good, true WindClan cats today, d’ y’ hear?” Timberpaw ought to be proud of himself. He’d been scared but had persevered. Henpaw herself had been startled, but she’d remained calm. Still, she was glad to lead her brother away from the smoke-filled air, out onto the clear-skied moor.

Timberpaw raised his small head as Henpaw spoke. "Really...?" He slowly got to his paws, shaking a little bit. "I don't like gatherings..." He looked to where Dayspring was leaving with everyone. "I don't wanna go to a gathering anymore." He was close to the ground as he moved to leave, making sure to stay with Henpaw.