The Lost Prophecy: Book 2: Broken Destinies

Chapter 3

The sound of crashing caused Ravenpaw to jerk awake. He bolted to his paws, ready to leap into battle, and wondered why any Clan would want to attack ThunderClan right now; hadn't they been at peace for the last moon? Then he heard his Clanmates' voices, sounding stressed but not panicked. The ThunderClan patrol must have returned from the Gathering.

Giving himself a self-reassuring lick to his chest, he squeezed his way out of the apprentices' den and padded into the main clearing, where most of the ThunderClan cats were already gathered. Ravenpaw weaved his way through the crowd as meows echoed around him.

Bluestar was sitting atop the Highrock, her blue-gray fur gleaming in the light of the setting moon. "There was a great deal of tension at the Gathering tonight. I informed the other Clans of Darkstripe's betrayal, and as expected, they were quite interested as to why a ThunderClan warrior would suddenly attack an apprentice."

"What did you tell them?" Willowpelt called as Ravenpaw slid into an open spot next to Graystripe and Dustpelt.

"That it was none of their concern," Bluestar told her.

"They sure disagreed with that," Graystripe meowed. Ravenpaw felt the fur rise on the back of his neck.

"Yes, they certainly did," Dustpelt spat. "Some of the cats were asking me about him at the end. Since he was my mentor, naturally I should know why he went mad."

Longtail looked over at Dustpelt. "Me too. They thought I was in on it!"

"Surely it wasn't necessary to tell the other Clans about this, Bluestar," rasped One-Eye from the back of the group. "It made us appear weak."

Bluestar waited for the chorus of mews to die down and then continued. "I believe that it was necessary. Darkstripe could trespass on the other Clan territories, and by telling them they won't be able to accuse ThunderClan of anything if they were to find him on their territory. The other Clans would have noticed eventually; Darkstripe was well-known to all Clans and it would seem suspicious if he didn't show up to Gatherings for moons on end." Bluestar paused, watching the crowd. "The meeting changed direction soon after that when Nightpelt gave ShadowClan's news."

"Nightpelt? Isn't he a ShadowClan elder?" Willowpelt meowed, sounding confused. Ravenpaw exhaled, glad that the discussion was moving away from Darkstripe.

Bluestar dipped her head at Willowpelt, acknowledging that she had heard. "He has been named ShadowClan's new leader."

"But he hasn't taken his leader name yet; how can he speak for ShadowClan?" Willowpelt asked. Ravenpaw shared her confusion. He had never heard of a cat not taking their StarClan given name before appearing as Clan leader.

"It is against the warrior code for a cat who hasn't been accepted by StarClan to represent their Clan at a Gathering," One-Eye murmured darkly. Halftail and Patchpelt muttered their agreement beside her.

"He has the support of ShadowClan, One-Eye. Even though he may not have been approved by StarClan, it would be unwise to ignore what he said tonight. When I suggested that we find WindClan and bring them back to their territory, both Crookedstar and Nightpelt disagreed with me. They don't want WindClan to return, although why that may be I am not sure."

"They're hunting on WindClan territory. They want their prey," Tigerclaw growled, clearly disdainful.

"Why though?" Runningwind meowed. "I can understand ShadowClan, maybe, but RiverClan? They have the river. It doesn't make sense." He shook his head, confused.

"Frostfur and I spoke to some RiverClan elders at the Gathering," Dappletail meowed from her spot beside Patchpelt and One-Eye. "They told me that Twolegs were taking over part of the river." Ravenpaw blinked. That seemed like very sensitive information to share with an enemy Clan.