The Gathering: A Warriors Oneshot

THE GATHERING

Nightstar was anxious. She shifted her paws as she gazed upon the other leader present, Tigerstar. He was a burly black tabby, with amber eyes and notched ears.
"How are you?" Nightstar asked, trying to keep his tongue steady.
"I'm alright," Tigerstar said, staring at the large group of cats. "Could be better. Yourself?"
"Same." Nightstar shrugged.
Silence reigned; then Tigerstar spoke. "Did your Clan tell stories of an ancient times, when the Clans' ancestors all lived in one large group, following the same rules and morals, before a split occured?"
"Of course," Nightstar said easily. "Why? Are you considering merging?" Please say no!
Tigerstar shook his head. "No, of course not." Nightstar breathed in relief. "Someone in CanopyClan mentioned it to the kits."
"I wonder if life was easier or harder back then," Nightstar mused. Her guard backed down for just a moment, but she forced it to return, remembering who she was talking to.
The bushes across the clearing shifted. "Must be Cloudstar," Tigerstar commented. "She's a touch late."
"Perhaps she was only held up by accident," Nightstar defended gently. "Don't blame it on her. She's not known to be a lazy leader."
"None of us are," Tigerstar hissed. Nightstar agreed.
Cloudstar came loping up to the great log and jumped onto it swiftly. "Apologies for the wait," Cloudstar said, looking at Tigerstar, panting softly. "The storm a few days ago knocked a tree onto our path and we had to find an easy detour."
"Hm," Tigerstar wrinkled his nose and nodded. "Yes, I see."
"Who will speak first?" Nightstar asked, listening to the cats mill below her. Elders and medicine cats laughed and joked among their peers, while warriors introduced their new apprentices to cats of the other two Clans. She thought of Smallpaw, who even now only came up to Mallowtail's elbow. Hopefully the apprentice would grow into their size as well as their abilities!
"I will," Tigerstar said forcefully, "Since I was here first."
Cloudstar nodded, then looked to Nightstar. Both mollies moved behind the log to let Tigerstar take primary stage.
"CanopyClan has been faring well these past moons," He announced, "However, there are incidents we cannot ignore that pertain to our ability to keep our Clan alive." His amber eyes turned to Cloudstar, dark. "We have smelled BrushClan all over even our highest branches, and the Seer says there are less herbs than normal this moon. Our only valid assumption is that your Seer has been stealing herbs!"
"That's absurd!" Nightstar interjected, but Cloudstar waved her tail.
"Tigerstar," Cloudstar said gently, "You know as well as I that the herbs grow the same rate in every territory! Why would I send my Seer, a precious part of the Clan, into enemy territory only to keep the same chances of finding herbs?"
Cats from BrushClan cheered their agreement with their leader; CanopyClan cats howled their disagreement. Nightstar's cats stayed silent as she did, awaiting their turn.
Tigerstar thrashed his tail. "We all know BrushClan is an indecisive Clan of rats! You could be accusing us of lying one moment, but then prove us right as we speak?"
Nightstar flicked her tail. "Tigerstar, this is getting out of hand." Worry of her own speech caused Nightstar to gaze up at the sky. As if jolted into memory the rest of the cats did as well; the moon was still full and bright, the Eye of StarClan gazing down at them like an entertained mother gazing on her kits.
She sighed in relief and looked to Tigerstar. "You should let Cloudstar speak," She said. "And cool yourself off while she does."
Direct eye contact was held between Tigerstar and Cloudstar for a moment; then the black tabby tom backed down, sliding where Cloudstar used to be.
The pale leader sat up straight. "BrushClan is also prospering," She said proudly. "We have two new kits, Rainkit and Thistlekit, born to Dawnflower."
The Gatheringgoers cheered "Dawnflower!" over again until Cloudstar raised her tail for silence.
"However," She growled, "Like Tigerstar, I have something to discuss. Nightstar, TunnelClan entrances have been found in our territory."
A jolt of surprise went through her. "You have?" She asked in surprise. "I  never authorized them."
Cloudstar lashed her tail. "Don't kid yourself," she replied simply. "All the entrances are derived from rabbit holes in our land! How can we be certain you're not stealing our rabbits and spying on our Clan activities?"
"You wouldn't be worrying that if you didn't have something to hide," Nightstar shot angrily. She glanced up at the sky; the clouds were inching dangerously close big and bright moon. "I will speak, Cloudstar."
The white queen lashed her tail, eyes narrowed. Then Nightstar stepped forward, twitching her tail viciously.
"Let's cut to the chase. Tigerstar and his cronies over in CanopyClan have purposefully sabotaged our lakeward tunnels."
A gasp from CanopyClan whispered through their ranks. Nightstar glared at Tigerstar.
"I've seen them fishing by the lake, right at the entrances, and when someone slips and destroys a sturdy entrance, noone gives a rat's to fix it!"
Tigerstar spat. "We would if we knew how to fix it."
"It's easy." Nightstar lashed her tail. "Just push the mud away from the entrance! Our warriors have been drowning and getting caved in because of your stupid actions."
"How so?" Tigerstar asked.
"The mud seeps up the water and lets the roof of the tunnel grow soft!" Nightstar snapped. "You've killed many young hearts. You fools will never admit what you've done."
Tigerstar bristled, and suddenly the truce was gone from his eyes. He launched into Nightstar, and she reared up to catch him, chests colliding as they tumbled off the log. Cats flooded out of their way as the two cats wrestled on the ground, and soon Cloudstar was in on the fight, tearing at Nightstar's ear while she ripped away Tigerstar's pelt.
A raindrop hit Nightstar's nose as she whipped around and slapped Cloudstar away. More raindrops fell as she bit into Tigerstar's leg. Cloudstar tackled the tom, then bit Nightstar's haunch. Soon the Gathering was coated in rainwater, and out of the corner of her eye she could no longer see the moon.
A deep BOOM-CRACK! echoed through the clearing, and Nightstar flinched. This gave Cloudstar an opening to tackle Nightstar to the ground, biting the other molly's scruff while black legs kicked into her belly. Tigerstar grabbed Cloudstar's leg and pulled her off, getting a swift bat to the ears, claws tearing through the flimsy skin. Blood dripped down Nightstar's face. She could hear a shriek and a strange, distant rumbling sound. Thunder, she remembered.
As she lunged for Tigerstar's throat she noticed cats retreating. They were going home for the Gathering, of course. The moon had been covered and rain had come down. They would be cosy in their dens-

Nightstar never saw the fallen tree that killed all three leaders that night.