**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 2- Poison Clouds

Chapter Seven

 "Maybe this is why we never go to all-Clan gatherings!" Palepaw complained as she shifted uncomfortably on the sharp pebbles of the island's shore. "How do valley-Clan cats do this every moon?"

 Onyx-eye twisted her head around to glare at her daughter with her good eye. "Hush, you!" she scolded. "I'm trying to listen here!"

 Palepaw ducked her head, glancing around at the chilly night. It had been the longest walk she had ever taken to witness an actual gathering, but so far it had been painfully uneventful. She could hear the cats talking, but couldn't see them through the thick trees on the island. Seeing no end to the awkward waiting, she sat down once more in the wilting grass under the low-hanging branches of a conifer tree.

 "What are they saying?" she asked, just as the silence was unbearable. 

 "Tawnystar just finished her long ramble about how proud she is of her kits. Once the leaders of RockClan and ConiferClan speak, then we'll get down to business." Onyx-eye commanded, not looking away from where she was peering through the dense needles.

 Palepaw settled down into the thick foliage, straining her ears to hear a voice in the clearing on the island. Once Tawnystar's low voice had stopped speaking, Ivorystar's high-pitched meow broke through. Her pitch rose and fell, while every now and then she paused for the crowd of eight Clans to contribute their murmuring. From what Palepaw could piece together, there had been an internal conflict in CloudClan. Since they couldn't make the journey, it was up to Ivorystar to explain, and give a warning Sapphirestar had requested to be shared: There was a stray kit, Bumblekit, somewhere along the Moonstream. How odd...

 There was a particularly long pause, but then all cats began clamoring. For a moment Palepaw thought something exciting must have happened, but then she remembered learning how, after the gathering, the valley-Clan cats would all talk.

 "Onyx-eye? I'm assuming that's you?" a shy voice travelled through the leaves.

 "Yes, yes. Come over here." Onyx-eye said urgently, standing up. She waved a thin black tail at her daughter, beckoning her. A cream-colored tom slithered out of the dense trees, and Palepaw immediately recognized one of the Clan scents her mother had pointed out on the shore- ForestClan.

 Following the tom was a scarred, dusky-ginger she-cat with fierce amber eyes. The two ForestClan cats sat down with their backs to the trees, and the cream-colored tom spoke once more. "Thank you for speaking with us here, Onyx-eye. I know a trip all the way from CliffClan must take a while."

 "It does." the black warrior said flatly. "Anyways, here we are. All we want is some information. Some of our apprentices..."-she cast a glance at Palepaw, even though it was Whitepaw's idea-"...Have been so desperate to know more about this situation. They were the ones to stumble upon Twistedbramble's scene, after all. We could help you find the missing Bumblekit."

 "Bumblekit is safe, actually." the tom said politely. "All we want to know is how Crowpelt and Ratchaser were involved in this, and how it may affect Squirrelstrike and Mousefall in ForestClan."

 "But if you know anything about Twistedbramble, please, let us know." the ginger she-cat said in a gruff tone, although her voice held a strangely familiar tiredness.

 "Wait. You're the cat we saw a few nights ago!" Palepaw pointed out suddenly, even though she had been instructed not to interrupt.

 "Ah, yes." the dusky ginger she-cat still sounded tired. "That's me. I'm Squirrelstrike, and this is the senior ForestClan healer, Sagepool." Beside her, the cream-colored tom nodded in acknowledgement.

 "These are the cats that visit the Moonpond most often." Onyx-eye detailed. "I wanted to talk to them because they were there on the night of the murder."