Cinders to Flames

Chapter 15

Tonight was the Gathering, and being a new warrior, she had to go. Cinderfrost shared a thin shrew with Blackwhisker to give them energy for the journey. She had been spending most of the day fretting over seeing Ashstar. She had been trying hard to make up excuses for not going, and the only time she went after Blizzardstar's death she had stormed off.

"You can't just make up excuses for not going until you die." Blackwhisker meowed.

"I know." Cinderfrost grumbled.

"If you don't go, Ashstar will think you're scared."

She dug her claws into the frosty ground. I'm not scared! She thought. Anger prickled along her spine, and instead of mounting dread, she felt rage. Not the kind of rage that made you go all out of control with hissing madness. It was calm and silent, like a tiger ready to strike. She stood up quickly, feeling new strength seep into her limbs. She felt indestructible. She felt like she could out-race a HeatherClan cat without effort.

"We'd better get going then." Cinderfrost meowed brusquely, striding up to the group going to the Gathering. Blackwhisker followed behind, feeling mildly amused. There she goes again, he thought.

Ravenstar stood at the front of the crowd. Despite his small size, his quiet and commanding demeanour seemed to dominate the group.

"We must make sure to show no fear to DarkClan," he was saying.

"Why should we? We won anyway." Wolfclaw yowled.

Ravenstar flicked his tail to silence him. "You are very much right, but we mustn't go picking fights. This is a Gathering, and there is still a truce, no matter what is happening."

"When are we going to fight back?" cried Berryfang. "We can't let them boss us around like this."

"You will listen to your leader." Houndheart growled to Berryfang, his piercing amber eyes narrowed to slits as he glared at the yellow tabby. He bit back a retort, and stalked away from the huge black tabby to sit beside Hawktalon.

"I have something to say." All heads turned to the speaker. Darkfeather stood at the back of the crowd, close to Cinderfrost. The cats went silent, ready to listen to the black she-cat. Darkfeather rarely spoke, so when she did it was probably a good idea to listen. Satisfied that she had gotten everyone's attention, she continued. "We should play by their game. Sit and pretend nothing has happened, continue on like normal," she paused, waiting for her words to sink in. "And just when they are not expecting it, we strike."

The clearing was silent for a moment. Then the camp erupted with cats, cheering and yowling their anger and determination. Cinderfrost cheered with them, feeling more connected to her Clan than she had felt for moons. Darkfeather sat with her head held high, her yellow eyes alive with triumph. She would be a good leader. Cinderfrost thought.

"Let's go then." Ravenstar meowed when the cheering died down. He led them through the forest and towards the Gathering Hollow. Cinderfrost and Blackwhisker moved to the back of the group. They had always been outsiders, but they didn't mind floating at the edge of the group. Blackwhisker had gotten his dislike for large crowds from Wing, and Cinderfrost, well, she was a natural lone wolf.

"Remember our first Gathering?" Blackwhisker asked.

"Yeah," Cinderfrost replied, "everything seemed so amazing back then."

"I can still remember your expression when Mudsplash told us the Gathering was underground." Blackwhisker added, his eyes wide with amusement. For a moment their eyes met, and Cinderfrost felt a shiver run down her back. It was not unpleasant.