Life in the Forest

The Gathering-Part Two

After a slow hour of arguments and doubt later, they had finally made a real plan, one that nobody had any objections to, but now they had to complete it. Goldenstar worried that her clan wouldn't follow through with it, as they were so anti-peace with the other animals at the moment. She couldn't blame them, she didn't much like this plan either. They had to team up with the wolves and save each other to save themselves. Goldenstar wished there was another way to survive, but she knew there wasn't.

She jumped off the rock and summoned her cats to the outer edge of the clearing, making sure that none of the animals could hear them.

"Alright now, does anyone have any concerns with this plan, or are we, as a united clan, going to work with the wolves?" Goldenstar asked her clan.

"Are we going to do this?" Stormshadow hissed disgustedly from the back of the crowd.

"Have you figured out a better way to save the clan?" Sunstone fired back from the spot next to him.

"Have you?" the dark gray warrior retorted.

"Break this up now." Goldenstar hissed. "We can't afford to make any enemies in our clan when we have such big problems outside of it."

"Fine." they grumbled, narrowing their eyes at each other, as if to say, "This isn't over."

"I mean it," she said sternly, reading their expressions. "So, if nobody has any real problems with our plan, I suggest we do it unless you prefer to live in StarClan." Goldenstar meowed.

The rest of the cats murmured their assent and they padded back into the clearing, Goldenstar jumping back onto the rock where the rest of the leaders were deep in discussion.

"My clan has made a decision," she announced, "we are going to participate in this plan, so long as you all respect and work with us like we will with you." The cats meowed their agreement from the crowds below. They sat for a moment, holding themselves high with dignity as if it was a very respectable and daring thing to be cooperative with a plan they had participated in creating.

After a few minutes had passed, Willow broke the murmuring of the planning animals. "Hey um, I'm going to go get something to eat. Anyone wanna come?"

Most of the animals in the clearing got up to hunt, and to Goldenstar's disgust, so did most of her cats. She flicked her tail angrily, but after a moment, hunger won over her dislike of the other animals, and she grudgingly made her way to the hunting party forming on the edge of the clearing.

She stood at the head of the party with the other clan leaders, dozens of animals thronging behind them, then gave the signal for her cats to begin prowling the undergrowth. She streaked away to follow them, but was stopped by a rather large wolf blocking her path. She arched her back defensively, but after a moment, the wolf offered to help them hunt. She let herself relax, reminding herself that this was a peaceful gathering, then set off in less hostile spirits to hunt with her clan.

The animals raced through the forest together, and Snowfur set his pace to match hers, his powerful muscles bunching and flexing as he raced by her side.

"I noticed that we catch lots more prey with the other animals hunting with us," he remarked, leaping over a fallen tree and landing skillfully on a mouse crouching there.

"Nice catch," Goldenstar said, admiring the silky white tom.

"Thanks." He purred, the prey hanging limply from his jaws. They ran through the forest together, losing track of time as they laughed and talked and caught more prey. A while later, they heard a wolf howling through the forest, signaling the end of the hunt, and made their way towards the clearing again. Snowfur continued his earlier speech about the groups working together.

"Really, you should act less defensive of our clan." he persisted, trying to get through to his leader. "I mean, there isn't any point of keeping up this hostility. The clan would benefit greatly from joining forces with the other animals."

"I like that idea, I honestly do, but is that the best choice? Breaking the tradition of rivalry that we have had for generations?" Goldenstar asked. "It seems like the path our ancestors have forged for us, to keep up the division between Clans that we have had for seasons upon seasons."

"I think you should do whatever you see fit for the clan, but please at least take this idea into consideration," Snowfur replied as the hunting party began to meet up again at the clearing.

"I will, I promise." Goldenstar purred, touching her nose to his ear before padding once again to the rock in the center.

"You don't need to sit there again." a bear said gruffly to her. "It's mealtime, go eat with your group."

She nodded and leaped away, heading to where the cats had gathered.

"Goldenstar!" Dovewing called to her. "Come eat with us, we caught plenty."

She purred gratefully as she sat with the group of cats crouching under the roots of a large tree that made a small cave for them, grabbing a mouse from the shared pile of prey as she went, noticing that it was indeed much more than they would have caught on their own.

She sat at the back of the small cave next to Snowfur, and they shared their prey and talked over the day's events.

Pebbles clacked down the slope of the cave and rested by Goldenstar's paws as Willow walked in, and the cats edged away from her as she passed. "Hey, um Kat?" she asked, using Goldenstar's human name, even though she barely ever used her human form. "I have to go. See you tomorrow for the plan?"

"Sure." she meowed, and Willow backed out of the den, nodding at her. Snowfur nudged her, motioning towards the wolf leader, and she remembered her promise to bring up their future collaboration.

"Hey, Willow," she called before the wolf made it out.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around and stepping towards the golden cat.

"Snowfur and I were thinking, noticing how much more successful we could be if we worked together more in the future. Do you think we could maybe do more things like this, especially in the winter when we can work together to hunt enough prey for everyone?"

The wolf leader tilted her head, considering. "You know, that's actually pretty smart. I'll work on that later, thanks for bringing it up."

"Thank you," Goldenstar meowed, dipping her head.

"Well, now I have to go to get our pups to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow when we combine our powers, same time and place." Willow said.

"Goodbye then," Goldenstar said, waving her tail. The wolf backed out again and the cats relaxed again and finished their meal. After a while, the kits started to drift off and every cat felt tired.

Goldenstar jumped onto the rock in the clearing and announced that they would be going home for the night, then the cats said their goodbyes and started towards their camp. She leaned up against Snowfur, feeling the warmth in her friend's pelt as the drowsy line of cats slowly padded off to their territory.

"Overall, I'd say that this was a successful day," the white tom meowed.

Goldenstar laughed tiredly. "Sometimes I think you should be the leader," she meowed, "you're more focused on the things I should be concerned about than I am."

"Nah, I could never juggle the amount of responsibility that you have," he meowed.

"Then you can just keep helping me, and I'll deal with that."

"Deal," he laughed.

They reached their camp and said goodnight, then slipped into their dens for a much-needed rest. 

Btw, the next part will be long so it's gonna take a while, sorry about the wait.