Wind

Chapter 8

It was now nighttime, and Rising Moon, Floating Clouds, and Prowling Tiger were waiting by the split tree. Bramblestar suddenly appeared, along with a blind and silver tom, a light brown she-cat, the Alderpaw cat, and a brown she-cat with a poofy tail. "These are my medicine cats, Jayfeather, Leafpool, and Alderheart." he indicated with his tail to the first three. "And this is my deputy, Squirrelflight."

"Nice to meet you all." Rising Moon meowed politely. "This is Floating Clouds the... heal- medicine cat." she struggled to remember their words. "And this is my... comm- deputy, Wild Flame." both cats dipped their heads in respect. "Well, we must be going now." Bramblestar meowed, looking at the moon. On the way there, Bramblestar asked, "Good use of clan words. Did you decide to keep your clan name?"

"Yes." Wild Flame spoke before Rising Moon could. "It is still MoonClan since Stellar Moon inspired us." Bramblestar nodded, accepting the clan name. "That is a good clan name," he admitted. When the two clans arrived at the island, a gray she-cat saw them and wandered over curiously. "Who are these new cats?" she inquired to Bramblestar.

"They wish to join as a new clan, Mistystar" Bramblestar meowed. Mistystar narrowed her eyes, but Bramblestar spoke quickly. "They have their own land, so there is no reason to give up ours." Mistystar nodded, settling down.

"Welcome to clan life. I am Mistystar of RiverClan." she meowed to Rising Moon.

"Thank you for your kind welcome. I am Rising Moon, and these two cats are Wild Flame, my deputy, and Floating Clouds, my medicine cat." Mistystar nodded and padded away. Rising Moon could see her jump onto a tree branch.

"Let's get going." Bramblestar meowed. "The gathering is starting. Rising Moon, when I jump onto a tree branch, you jump onto the same one as mine." Rising Moon nodded as they walked along the tree to the island. They arrived about five minutes later, and the small clan looked around in awe. Rising Moon's mouth gaped as she saw how many cats were gathered in the clearing. Rising Moon was starting to feel dizzy because of all of the different scents.

She followed Bramblestar to the great tree in the middle of the clearing. Mistystar and three other leaders were already sitting on their branches, waiting for Bramblestar to jump on his. Rising Moon watched Bramblestar jump onto his branch, and then followed. The black-pelted leader raised an eyebrow but did not say anything. The other two leaders didn't take any notice of Rising Moon, probably just thinking she was just another cat. 'Well, They're wrong then.' Rising Moon thought.

"The black leader is Blackstar of ShadowClan, the tiner one is Leafstar of SkyClan, and the gray one is Onestar of WindClan," Bramblestar explained.

"Now that ThunderClan has arrived, we can begin." Blackstar meowed. The clans grew silent in a matter of seconds and looked up at Blackstar. He nodded to Bramblestar, motioning for him to start. "The prey is plentiful, and there are no dangers about." he began. "One of our elders, Moonpelt, has died peacefully in her sleep." he paused for a moment of silence, and then continued, "I have found a group of cats just outside ThunderClan's territory, and they claim to be from a tribe in the mountains. I have brought their leader, Rising Moon, to talk to you all. She has brought her medicine cat and deputy along." The cats below broke out whispering angrily to each other. "Quiet!" the smaller leader hissed. he nodded at Rising Moon to speak. She shifted her paws nervously; she had never spoken to this large of a group.

"I am Rising Moon, leader of MoonClan." she meowed nervously. "My clan comes from the Tribe of the Glowing Moon up in the mountains." this comment started the chatter back up. A cat from the crowd yowled, "Aren't mountain cats in that prophecy? They must be the ones!"

His leader glared at him, motioning for him to sit down with a quick swoop of her tail. She nodded at Rising Moon to continue. She glanced at the leader gratefully before continuing. "We received two prophecies: one from our healer, and another just yesterday. Our healer's prophecy was the rising wind will blow over and away, taking the stalking tiger and the drifting river with it. It referred to my old name, Rising Wind, my medicine cat, Flowing River, and my deputy, Prowling Tiger." she paused for a moment, looking at Bramblestar nervously. He nodded in encouragement. Rising Moon smiled and continued. "The second prophecy was Beware the Crescent Moon, for they will destroy your home of brightness. The only way to stop the darkness is with the Morning Star." The Clans gasped, looking at two cats sitting next to each other.

"Crescent Moon and Morning Star? Does that prophecy refer to them?" A cat called out.

The five leaders sat in shock for a few moments. Morning Star looked at her brother in fear. All he did was lash his tail angrily and stood up. "Why have you come here?" He demanded. The cats gasped in shock. "Why did Stellar Moon send you all? Was it to mock me and my sister?" Now Rising Moon was the one to be shocked. Not only had he known her former leader's name, but she had just began to realize that Morning Star and her brother had tribe names. Tribe of the Glowing Moon names. Rising Moon searched her memories of legends and stories she had heard as a kit. "You two were in the tribe once, weren't you?" she asked carefully.

Crescent Moon started to snarl something, but Morning Star covered his mouth with her tail. Her brother nodded and sat down, still glaring at Rising Moon. "Yes, we were." Morning Star said in a soft voice. "The Tribe of the Glowing Moon was once my home. It was my brother's too, but he does not want to admit it."

Rising Moon nodded slowly, her suspicions correct. "We have a story about you two." she looked over at Bramblestar, who nodded for her to go on. "My tribe once had a battle against a very vicious pack of rogues. Crescent Moon led the tribe against them, but we only won when he ordered the guards to kill every last rogue in the mountains. Stellar Moon challenged Crescent Moon after he ordered this execution. They fought for days until Crescent Moon finally was too wounded to continue. Stellar Moon banished Crescent Moon from the mountains forever, and Morning Star went with him."

By now the cats around the siblings were glaring at them. Morning Star shuffled closer to her brother, but he just stood up again. "So now you all know my story." he sneered. "I'm so scared! What are you all going to do?" Morning Star tugged him back down and whispered something in his ear. Leafstar stood, and silence rippled across the clearing. "When we took you in on our journey, Crescent Moon," she began, "You had us believe that you and your sister were loners looking for a place to call home. You promised me that you would not harm my clan." While Leafstar was speaking, Onestar stood up and interrupted.

"Don't forget, Leafstar," he warned, "That you too are new to this territory. You can't go around accusing other cats."

The SkyClan leader's tail lashed in anger, and the two leaders stared at each other in anger. "Crescent Moon is MoonClan's problem, not the clans'." a cat snarled from below. The rest of the clans yowled in agreement. Rising Moon just stared. When the cat said MoonClan's name, they had been accepted into the clans.

"Very well." Leafstar meowed, her tail still fluffed out. "Crescent Moon and Morning Star will accompany Rising Moon and her companions back to MoonClan." she looked over at Rising Moon, who had been sitting quietly, nodded. "If we have nothing else to discuss, then this gathering is over."

The clans started to disperse, making their way over to their own boundaries. Crescent Moon stalked over to Rising Moon, his sister trailing behind him. "Let's get on with this, then." Crescent Moon grumbled. Rising Moon made her way to her side of the border, her clanmates, Crescent Moon, and Morning Star following her.