A Misty Path (A Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 25

"Are we going to the Gathering?" Speckledleaf pricked her ears and turned her head slightly so she could see Palestar and Iceshine, crouched in a corner of the Twoleg den. She glanced out a square hole in the Twoleg den wall, staring at the full moon, gleaming silver, on the horizon. Her fur bristled apprehensively. The Gathering was approaching, and still the RiverClan leader Palestar was uncertain whether or not to attend. It was mandatory for all Clans, but after RiverClan's exile by ThunderClan and ShadowClan, no one was sure if they were getting an invite.

"I..." Palestar took a deep breath. "I don't know."

Iceshine fluffed out her snow-white fur angrily. "You can't be serious!" she hissed. "There's no way we're going! Not only are they going to rake off our pelts the second they see us, but why in the name of StarClan should we be obliged to attend the Gathering of those who exiled us!"

"I disagree." Iceshine's ears perked up as Mistlefrost padded calmly towards the pair. Her beautiful dark blue eyes met Speckledleaf's light green ones and the younger she-cat flinched away from her gaze. Mistlefrost acted as if she'd noticed nothing. "We can't live here forever. It isn't safe or healthy, and if we stay here for too long the Twolegs who live here will come back."

"Going to greet ThunderClan and ShadowClan like nothing's happened won't bring our land back!" Iceshine snarled.

"Ah, yes, ThunderClan and ShadowClan," Mistlefrost mused quietly. "Seems like we're missing something here. What about WindClan?"

"What about them?"

"Surely they won't agree with this. It goes against all of StarClan's ideals. And WindClan is connected with StarClan to an extent we can't even imagine."

"But what can they do? What will they do? It'll be ThunderClan and ShadowClan versus WindClan and whatever we can offer. Which is nothing." Speckledleaf, staring at the ground and pretending to be fiddling with herbs, could hear Iceshine rake her claws through the hard ground in agitation.

"Will it be? Not only is it safe at the Gathering, but it's our chance to negotiate properly -"

"What is wrong with you?!" Speckledleaf jumped at Iceshine's outburst and, unable to resist, crouched down lower and glanced back at the arguing cats. Iceshine had risen to her paws, her fur bristling aggressively, her yellow eyes flashing furiously. "You're too naïve, thinking everybody will listen to your little speech about why we should be let back. That might be how you talk to the other medicine cats, but that isn't how actual Clan cats work. They're not going to let us back after they kicked us out!" Realising she'd gone too far, Iceshine took a deep breath, flattening her fur and relaxing her muscles. Sitting back down, she meowed, "Look, we can't resolve everything by talking. We've survived this long because we can fight, because we know how to unsheathe our claws and attack those who hurt us. And we're here, cooped up in this dingy dark Twoleg den, because we couldn't do that."

"So we need to approach it from a different direction," Mistlefrost continued calmly, completely unfazed by Iceshine's outburst. She shook her head. "The mentality of you warriors is so... aggressive nowadays. Remember, we're all Clans. We have rules to abide by, and so do ThunderClan and ShadowClan. They didn't kick us out to hurt us. They kicked us out because they needed more fresh-kill."

Iceshine, still unconvinced, opened her mouth to argue more, but Palestar interrupted: "Very well." Ignoring his deputy's shocked glance, he continued. "This could be our only chance to have a civil talk with the other Clans." He stood. "My decision is final," he added to an enraged Iceshine, who furiously dipped her head mutinously. "I want to take all my warriors, spare perhaps... Dewspeck and Jayclaw. Leafsplash, Speckledleaf and the elders will stay."

"I understand," Iceshine mewed through gritted teeth before turning away and calling the Clan together for a meeting.

Leaping onto a wooden box, Palestar began. "I have decided that this moon, we shall attend the Gathering. This could be our chance to talk to Goldenstar and Dovestar and regain our -" He cut himself off, looking around. "We're missing warriors, " he commented.

"Mistflower went to drink some water," Mossystone called out, his dark eyes stormy. "Although she's taking a long time," he frowned. Speckledleaf was just close enough to hear him meow: "She'd deserve to get captured by the other Clans, going to the river."

"When we're heading off, we'll check on her," Palestar meowed, his golden eyes narrow as he tried to figure out who else was absent. "Is Cloudpool still drinking?" he asked incredulously.

Speckledleaf's heart panged as she remembered the state of the once-pretty white warrior when she returned from the pool. "Cloudpool...

"Cloudpool isn't feeling too well."