Warriors: Starfaith's Fate (SOB short story) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 12

A full moon shone brightly in the sky, shedding light on the cats who were gathering at fourtrees. WindClan and SkyClan were the first to arrive. Starfaith sat down with Silverberry by the roots of a great oak, watching as Gladestar leaped onto the great rock and meowed a greeting to Ravenstar.

"Hello," Ryeheart purred and leaned forward to touch noses with each of the WindClan medicine cats. "I hope all is well in your clan?"

Silverberry purred and curled her tail around her paws. "Yes, we are very well. How are things in SkyClan?"

The brown tabby turned his head to look at his clanmates, who were mingling with the WindClan cats and meowing greetings. "One of our elders died, sadly," He meowed. "But besides that, we are well."

Starfaith strained to see over the heads of the crowd of cats in the clearing and brightened when she saw Depthstar arrive with ShadowClan. Cobratail, Hawkfeather, and Dewstorm were close behind him. 

As the ShadowClan warriors branched off to speak to the cats already gathered, Depthstar continued through the crowd with his deputy and medicine cats. While Cobratail went to join Snowfalcon and Sandblaze, Depthstar dipped his head politely to Starfaith and the other medicine cats before joining the other leaders on the great rock.

"Greetings," Hawkfeather meowed, glancing over his shoulder. "I don't expect this gathering to last long. It's going to storm." Beside him, Dewstorm sighed and shook his head.

Silverberry blinked. "What do you mean?" She asked, looking up. "It's a clear night."

"Yes," Starfaith agreed, tilting her head. "And it would only storm on a full moon if StarClan were angry about something."

"Exactly." Hawkfeather's eyes were dull and grim as he looked over his shoulder through the crowd. "Like if a future murderer was here, and-"

Dewstorm gave his mentor a sharp nudge with his shoulder. "That's enough, Hawkfeather!" He snapped, and the tabby flattened his ears. "You're being ridiculous."

"Just because you're a young cat doesn't mean you know everything," Hawkfeather retorted, his eyes flaring with frustration. "One day, you'll see that I'm right!" With a growl and a lash of his tail, he padded away to speak to Otterpelt, who had just arrived with RiverClan.

 The medicine cats stared after him for a moment, then turned to Dewstorm. "What is he talking about?" Silverberry asked in bewilderment. "Has he gone mad?"

"Pay no attention to him," Dewstorm let out a sigh, his fur flattening. He was clearly very frustrated with his fellow medicine cat. "He's not himself these days. I... I suppose it's age."

As Ryeheart and Silverberry exchanged a solemn look, Starfaith stepped forward to sit close to Dewstorm. She could see right through is lie. Hawkfeather is still paranoid about Bloodkit. "Hello, Dewstorm," She meowed quietly.

The gray spotted tom looked at her, and the frustration faded from his eyes. "Starfaith, I'm so glad you're here," He murmured with a glance at Hawkfeather. "He's getting very difficult to deal with."

"I understand." She rested her tail around him and looked behind her at the other cats. "Bloodkit is here, isn't he? He's been apprenticed?"

Dewstorm turned his head and nodded toward the group of ShadowClan cats. "Bloodpaw is there, just behind Greenpine and Cliffshade."

She followed his gaze and spotted the dark red tabby apprentice. He was watching the clan leaders on the great rock, his yellow eyes nervous, but full of interest. Beside him, a black and white apprentice was pointing toward the leaders with his paw, pausing and looking at Bloodpaw occasionally with blue eyes full of patience and happiness.