Warriors: The Prophecy of Frost - The Darkest Battle

Chapter 7 - An Old Friend and a New Enemy

"Frostblaze, wake up," Timberclaw's voice woke her.

Blinking, Frostblaze looked around. "It's at night," she mewed in confusion. "Why did you wake me up?"

"We are having a meeting," Timberclaw explained.

"Who's 'we'?" she asked.

"A couple of warriors from each Clan," he mewed. "We are meeting at Fourtrees."

"Okay..." Frostblaze mewed hesitantly.

She followed her former mentor towards Fourtrees, unsure of the reason why warriors from each Clan are meeting.

At Fourtrees, Frostblaze spotted Shadowclaw and Blazestrike talking to each other in hushed voices and Beetlefur pacing around anxiously.

"Welcome, Timberclaw said that you were coming," Driftwind, a WindClan warrior, mewed.

"So, why am I here?" Frostblaze asked.

However, Driftwind had already sped off to speak to a snowy white she-cat.

"We are here because we need to settle the problems within our Clans," Wolfstrike explained, padding over to her. "If you didn't notice, a couple of cats stayed behind the last Gathering to discuss what we should do. We all agreed to meet at this time."

"Who else is supposed to be here?" she asked curiously.

"Pinepaw - my apprentice, Juniperpaw, Mosspaw, Lilyflower, Icetail, Mudpelt and Brightdawn," he replied.

"Isn't Mudpelt an elder?" Frostblaze mewed in confusion.

"Yes, but he insisted to come," Wolfstrike sighed. "Look, he's coming. "

"This is a rare meeting," Mudpelt rasped, walking steadily towards them. "Warriors, apprentices, and even an elder myself gathering in peace to discuss things that concern all the Clans."

"You forgot something, Mudpelt," Driftwind broke in. "Feather is here as well."

"The kittypet?" Mudpelt mewed. "Well, that's interesting."

"Who's Feather?" Frostblaze asked hesitantly.

The snowy she-cat padded towards her, her light blue eyes reminding her of Honeyfrost's ones.

"My name is Feather, as you already know," the she-cat mewed. "I was just a kittypet until I met a couple of RiverClan cats. I got to know Mudpelt - who is a senior warrior that time and Greenstar - the RiverClan leader before Breezestar. Although the meeting wasn't very pleasant, I became interested in the Clans."

Feather paused, taking a moment to look at Frostblaze.

"Then, one day, I met Froststar - or rather, Frostleaf at that time. She asked me for help to get to the lake," she continued.

"The lake?" Frostblaze interrupted. "I had to go to the lake as well - quite recently in fact."

"Since my housefolk - or rather, Twolegs - were going to the lake to fish with their friends, I let Frostleaf to come along with me to the lake. We took my Twolegs' monster to get there," Feather mewed.

"Wouldn't the monster eat you?" Wolfstrike questioned.

"No, monsters do not eat anything, except for a few types of them," she explained patiently. "So that's how I met the cat you were named after, Frostblaze."

"That is... I mean, I never knew the details of Froststar's journey to the lake," Frostblaze mewed.

Timberclaw padded over to them. "The meeting is starting," he informed them.

Frostblaze caught a glimpse of Shadowclaw leaping up the Great Rock and beginning to speak.

"I thank all of you for coming here tonight when you could have rested in your nests," he mewed. "But there is a matter, too important to wait any longer."

"Wait!" Beetlefur called. "Why are you the one speaking?"

"Isn't the Great Rock only for leaders?" Juniperpaw asked.

Shadowclaw lashed his tail in annoyance. "Because I am the oldest warrior here - excluding Mudpelt of course. Also, if I stand on the Great Rock, it is easier to address all of you. I'm sure StarClan wouldn't object to this."

Frostblaze shifted her paws to get comfortable as the black pelted tom continued. "As all of you probably know, in the last Gathering, two Clans accused the other two of something they claim they did not do. However, the two Clans who were attacked had proof of the other Clans' doings."

"After the Gathering, the Clans' relationship with each other became strained. But I have a question: why did this happen at this particular time? Why didn't it happen a couple of moons ago? Isn't it strange?"

The cats who were listening muttered in agreement.

"The Dark Forest could be the cause of this," Blazestrike added. "To make us fight within ourselves, so that they can win easily."

"That sounds reasonable," Mosspaw commented. "Although StarClan didn't send a sign to me or Sparrowpelt, it sounds pretty convincing to me."

Suddenly, Fourtrees was coated with darkness. Standing beside Shadowclaw was the cat that threatened the Clans and declared a battle on them.

"Snarlfang!" Blazestrike growled.

Shadowclaw slid down from the Great Rock quickly, bristling with fear and surprise.

"Finally, some cat got what I was doing," he hissed. "I was getting bored of the mousebrained debates."

"Why are you here?" Wolfstrike snarled, unsheathing his claws.

"Nothing much," Snarlfang mewed casually. "Just checking out how you were managing."

"Really?" Brightdawn mewed, unconvinced.

"It would be rude to just attack when all of you are not expecting it, wouldn't it? So I am sending a message to you all that the battle will be in five days. So all of you better get practicing," Snarlfang meowed tauntingly.

"I thought it would be easier for you if you ambushed us," Frostblaze growled, sinking her claws into the earth.

The dark brown tabby simply jumped down from the Great Rock to face her. Frostblaze felt herself instinctively drawing back from the tom.

"Why, you ask?" he smirked. "It's simple; watching all of you losing hope is the reason."

Dropped into a whisper, Snarlfang added, "We will meet in battle, but not now."

As soon as the Dark Forest cat appeared, he disappeared, leaving the Clan cats looking bewildered and confused.