| abstract | - Snowfire was not excited for the gathering. The images of the war were flicking through her head, this would be the time she would meet the cats who killed her father and mentor. Darkstar, the leader of Shadowclan. She resisted the urge to unsheath her claws, starting a fight would destroy Thunderclan in its current state. Snowfire couldn't help but feel helpless, her father's death was unnecessary, Hawkfeather's death was cruel to the highest degree. She had already gathered the cats who were going, which was the best warriors, Riverflight included, and some of the apprentices, who practically begged Snowfire to let them come, she had tried to warn them that it would be possibly dangerous, but the apprentices didn't seem to care. She sighed, and thought, Hopefully the tension underneath doesn't explode on us. Vinespeck wasn't going, not a lot of cats were, Snowfire wasn't sure if this was true for all the clans, but Thunderclan didn't have a lot of cats anymore anyways. Snowfire sighed, and jumped down from the leader tree, "Let's go, let's get this over with and for Starclan's sake," she looked back at her warriors, who were bristled, "We're not going to a battle, don't start one when you can't finish it." She growled. The warriors bowed their heads, and Snowfire led them to the island, they passed the Windclan border, she saw a group of Windclan cats. Snowfire halted, and tried to relax. A sooty coloured tom walked up to them, and waved his tail. A pitch black tom was behind him, something about his expression reminded her of Hawkfeather, she felt a pang in her heart. "So, are you the new leader?" The tom asked curiously, Snowfire tried to search his voice for any malicious intent, but there was none. Snowfire sighed, "I'm Snowfire, yes, I'm the new leader of Thunderclan." She expected the tom to ask her about her name, but he never did, instead, the black tom behind him joked, "I kind of want to see snow on fire." The tom laughed, while Snowfire twitched her whiskers, the Windclan leader turned back, and bowed his head, "I'm Sootstar, the funny tom behind me is Ravenwing. I understand your clanmates hostility." He pointed out, and when Snowfire stared at him in confusion, he flicked his tail towards her clanmates, and they looked ready to fight. Snowfire sighed, then looked at Sootstar, "I guess tensions are still high after the war, thanks for the understanding though." She said calmly. Sootstar shrugged, and led his cats towards the gathering, Snowfire followed behind, and Riverflight walked up beside Snowfire and whispered, "Do you trust him?" "Of course not, not so soon, but, he doesn't seem to have any malicous intent, so let's just stay calm for now, Windclan got lucky." Snowfire replied. Riverflight didn't seem satisfied by this answer, but fell behind to the other warriors. Hawkflight mumbled, "They weren't lucky, they were smart." Snowfire ignored this, but she couldn't help but agree. She resented Sootstar and his clan for it, they suffered minimal losses, and jumped in at the last minute only to attempt to midigate the damage. Even though Sootstar wasn't leading at the time, his clan was prospering under his rule. A lot of cats resented Windclan. They reached the tree bridge, and Sootstar flicked his tail for Snowfire to go first, Snowfire was unsure, but went anyways, when she reached the end, Sootstar and his cats finally started to climb the bridge. Snowfire looked up at the big rock in the centre, and flicked her tail nervously. The black tom was sitting by the water side, as if he was thinking of something. Snowfire couldn't help but look at the water as well, she didn't look any different, but she felt different. Even her eyes were narrowed in nervousy, she looked back and watched as Sootstar jumped onto the rock with ease, without hesitation. I can't help but resent this cat. Snowfire thought grimly, she tried shaking the feeling, there were worse cats to come, compared to them, Sootstar never wronged her. Riverflight seemed to sense this, because she closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. The Thunderclan cats kept to themselves in a small group, while the Windclan cats seemed concerned. Snowfire sighed, and looked up at the slowly darkening sky. Ashpaw was excited, however, Fogheart seemed less so, Ashpaw determined that Fogheart was mentally preparing himself for something. His parents were staying behind, and Darkstar didn't seem too excited himself. Fogheart noticed this, and asked darkly, "Afraid to face them? You going to let them look down on you?" Darkstar glared down at Fogheart, "No, but I don't see you as nervous, you've caused your fair share of pain. I've said before, I regret what I did." He pointed out dangerously, causing Ashpaw to blink. "Thunderclan is a ruin, they shouldn't even faze you now." Fogheart growled. Darkstar narrowed his eyes, "You made the same mistake with Hawkfeather, you underestimated him. There was no way a bumbling Thunderclan cat could beat you and your best warriors. Do not underestimate Thunderclan, do so, and they'll find any way to destroy you, Hawkfeather practically ruined our best warriors." He grunted back. Fogheart finally relented, and huffed. Ashpaw looked up at the dark blue sky, he flicked his tail in awe as stars sprinkled the sky, as if little bright raindrops were raining on Starclan. Ashpaw mewed, "It can't be that bad." Fogheart ignored his apprentice, but Darkstar didn't, he looked up as well, and he laughed softly, "Even if we on this ground cause toil and bloodshed, the world will always stay pure and true, we tend to forget the beauty that surrounds us and is above us." Ashpaw nodded, "Then, maybe the past should stay the past, if you regret what you did, my mom said it's better to own up to your mistakes then look away from them!" He pointed out to the older tom. Darkstar twitched his whiskers and said nothing to the apprentice, he mewed, "Come on, it's time." Ashpaw followed closely as Darkstars and many warriors made their way to the beach side. Riverclan seemed to be waiting for them. A big burly tom broke away from the group, and grumbled, "Darkstar." "Sparrowstar." Darkstar muttered. Ashpaw looked at the Riverclan cats in curiousity, and made an oo sound. A sleek dark grey she-cat looked down at Ashpaw, and twitched her whiskers. Sparrowstar didn't seem as impressed by the smaller apprentice, however, he ignored him, and turned to lead his clan to the meeting place. Darkstar stood there sadly, and continued on. Fogheart grumbled to his apprentice, "Darkstar is showing weakness." Ashpaw wasn't sure what to say to that, while Darkstar before the war was in his prime, the war took a toll on his disposition. Many Shadowclan cats believed him to be unable to lead Shadowclan properly now, even if he wasn't old enough to be an elder and step down. Ashpaw looked up at the sky again. "Are you paying attention, Ashpaw?" Fogheart asked darkly. Ashpaw blinked, and nodded silently, this seemed to satisfy Fogheart, and he sped up to talk to other warriors. Ashpaw stared at the water lapping at the shore curiously, and flicked his tail as they reached the bridge. Sparrowstar had already made his way to the other side. Darkstar followed. Ashpaw finally touched the ground, and looked around excitedly at all the cats, unaware of the tense atmosphere. However, some different clan cats were already mingling, the sleek dark gray she cat was chattin up a rather windswept tom by the water side, Ashpaw stared at a rather large and close knit group of cats, who looked like a moving spikey mass as soon as Shadowclan arrived. A soot coloured tom was already on the rock, while another pure white cat with black tufted ears stared up at the rock with a weird expression. Ashpaw wasn't sure where to start first, with all the talk that Fogheart gave him about Shadowclan staying strong through the bad times and the other clans were inferior, Ashpaw couldn't tell the difference between him and them. Ashpaw finally turned to the two chatting cats by the riverside, and made his way to them. "A lot of interesting cats showed up today," Ravenwing pointed out to Silvershade as Shadowclan and the rest of Riverclan piled in, "I met the new leader of Thunderclan." He said. Silvershade laughed, and asked, "How was that?" "She was pretty tense, she's over there." Ravenwing flicked his tail towards a snow white she-cat sitting away from her rather small group, she seemed to be steeling herself for the meeting ahead, Ravenwing couldn't blame her. Silvershade followed his gaze. Silvershade seemed to be considering the other she-cat, and asked, "What's her name? Did you find out?" "Snowfire, she said so specifically, she didn't even put the star at the end." Ravenwing shrugged, and continued looking over the lake. Silvershade blinked, Ravenwing shrugged. Silvershade asked, "She didn't take a leader name?" "Nope," Ravenwing answered, "Sootstar seemed intrigued by her enough though, maybe he thinks Thunderclan will be a bit more friendlier towards us now that they have a new leader once time passes." Silvershade sighed, "I feel for her, she looks no older than us and it seems she was forced into this." Ravenwing looked back at the she-cat, she had finally leaped onto the rock, but kept her distance from Darkstar, he could almost sense some sort of anger coming from her. He asked, "Did you know Jaystar and Hawkfeather?" Silvershade seemed unnerved by his question, but answered anyways, "Yes. Jaystar was noble, at the time it was hard to find that type of cat," she looked back at the waterside, "Hawkfeather had this sense of fun to him, you wouldn't know it from seeing him, he was a big strong cat, he was intimidating at first, but the first words out of his mouth would have you on the ground laughing." Silvershade mewed wistfully. Ravenwing laughed, "I have a feeling I would have gotten along with him." Silvershade didn't laugh, she frowned, "He did get along with a lot of cats, from all clans, but..." She looked back up at the stars, "He was still killed in cold blood, died protecting his clan. Cats say that right until the end, he had a smile on his face." Silvershade whispered. He wasn't sure what to say about that, he jumped when a small ash coloured cat came up to them, and stared at them curiously. Ravenwing asked, "What's up?" The cat squeaked, and said, "I'm Ashpaw!" Silvershade laughed, "Oh, I remember you, you're from Shadowclan, you're quite the fluff ball to be a supposedly rugged Shadowclan cat." Ashpaw thought nothing of this comment, and laughed, "Maybe I'll get bigger someday! Are you Riverclan? Your pelt looks really sleek and shiny." He said in an inquisitive tone. Ravenwing twitched his whiskers at the younger cat's curiousity. Silvershade seemed to think the same, she fluffed out her fur. "Yeah, it's from the water, our main diet is fish." Silvershade answered the young tom. Ashpaw widened his eyes. He asked excitedly, "What does fish taste like? I want to try it!" Silvershade looked at Ravenwing, and laughed, "See? There's some cats who are willing to eat fish." Ravenwing rolled his eyes, "I just didn't like the scales." He pointed out jokingly, while Silvershade twitched her whiskers, and turned back to Ashpaw. "They have this taste to them, like my good friend Ravenwing here, who would rather race with rabbits all day, of course, I will agree that scales aren't the best part of the fish, but the meat definately is, maybe someday you'll get to try it." Silvershade answered, while Ashpaw seemed to wiggle in excitement. Ravenwing laughed, "I won't lie, it definately had an interesting taste to it." He flicked his tail at Silvershade, and winked. Silvershade shook her head in mock disapproval and shrugged at Ashpaw, who then looked at Ravenwing. "So you're Windclan?" Ashpaw asked. "Yep." Ravenwing answered. "Is it actually windy out in the plain?" Ashpaw asked. Ravenwing nodded, "Yeah." He replied. Ashpaw seemed to be ready to launch more questions their way, but soon, Sparrowstar called over the crowd, "The gathering has begun, all cats pay attention!" Ravenwing turned to the rock, and compared to her darker furred companions on the rock, Snowfire was like a blinding light in the mass of darkness. Silvershade wasn't expecting Thunderclan's new leader to be a rather young warrior. However, she looked youthful compared to the others. Sootstar before was the youngest leader, but now it seemed Snowfire was the new one. Sparrowstar was past his prime, being the oldest surviving leader of the war. Silvershade felt a pang of sadness for her once great leader, since Blackpaw's death, he quickly withered away. Sparrowstar seemed to be considering Snowfire, and he said, "Riverclan has reinforced all borders and hunting grounds. Any trespassers will be dealt with immediately, do any of you have a problem with that?" While the question was directed at all of the other leaders, it seemed to be more directed at Darkstar, who blinked at this proclamation. He mewed calmly, "No, I do not have a problem with that. I never had a taste for fish anyways, you can keep them." Sparrowstar ruffled out his dark fur and grumbled something under his breath. Sootstar and Snowfire were staring at him as if he was going to go to sleep right then and there. Silvershade felt her claws unsheath, to which Ravenwing seemed to tense beside her. Silvershade murmured under her breath, "Sorry, but Sparrowstar has been our leader for a long time, I don't care for it when someone disrespects him." Ravenwing said nothing, but seemed understanding of her feelings. They looked back up when Sootstar took the rock, he murmured, "Like Sparrowstar, any trespassers will be dealt with, I understand the rough patches some clans may be facing," he looked at Snowfire and Darkstar as he said this, "However, if we don't want history to repeat itself, we should stay in our own borders." Ravenwing didn't seem to agree with this, Silvershade didn't pry though as Sootstar continued. "I want to bring up the medicine cat gatherings," he looked at the other leaders, "We have been cut off from Starclan ever since the war began, and since then, we have no idea what may come, I suggest that those begin again, and medicine cats get protection unless they attack first, the Windclan medicine cat died saving many of the other clan cats, not even our own. Yet was still killed by an enemy just for being a Windclan cat, and not being a medicine cat." Sootstar added with a bit of bitterness to his voice, while Ravenwing's ears drooped. Silvershade asked, "Who was it?" "My brother," Ravenwing mumbled, but seemed to recover from his sadness, and pointed out, "But I know him, he died knowing the risk, but chose to do it anyways, there was no better cat I knew." Sootstar's story seemed to affect Snowfire more than the other leaders, her paws were shaking a bit, not out of fear, but out of anger. Silvershade frowned, Sootstar seemed to notice this, and switched to a gentler topic. "However, we have a new warrior in our mist, Nightshade! She's worked hard to get to where she is, and part of the new generation that'll bring the clans out of the unstability." A lot of cats seemed to cheer for the new warrior, mostly Windclan cats, Silvershade cheered along with Ravenwing, which seemed to lift Ravenwing's spirits. "She was my apprentice." Ravenwing mewed and puffed out his chest in pride. Silvershade laughed, "I'm sure she'll be great then, but hopefully she's less clumsy then you are." Ravenwing twitched his whiskers as the gathering went on, Silvershade finally felt at peace, something she had never felt since the war, where everyone was not at peace with the world around them Snowfire felt out of place on the rock, while Sparrowstar's proclamation wasn't surprising, considering next to Thunderclan, Riverclan suffered also. She understood his paranoia and didn't plan on crossing him as long as she was leader of Thunderclan. I'd only be making things worse, I'd be starting everything over again, just like Sootstar said. She thought grimly. Sootstar and Sparrowstar finally looked at Darkstar, the tom that killed her father. She was expecting this prideful boastful tom, but she only saw a battle weary tom who seemed to have gone through a lot in his time. The most painful thing was he wasn't as old as Sparrowstar or as young as her, he was the perfect age to be a leader, but because of his kitten mistakes, many cats, including her father, died by his paws. Snowfire resisted jumping at the tom, but Darkstar finally spoke, "We have a new apprentice, Ashpaw," he flicked his tail into the crowd. Snowfire and looked and saw a small ashy coloured kitten next to two very different warriors, one was a darkish grey with a sleek cloak, while the other was pitch black and windswept. The young cat jumped up and down excitedly, while many cats around them laughed. Snowfire couldn't help but smile. She looked back at Darkstar when he spoke again, "I agree with what Sootstar said, there is no point repeating history, lest we all end up in Starclan. I will continue having warriors watch my borders, and trespassers will be treated fairly," he looked at Sparrowstar, "You may deal with trespassers, but why step on tails for last resort actions?" He asked, at which Snowfire stared at him in surprise. Sootstar nodded, while Sparrowstar seemed to huff, the paranoid tom was flicking his tail dangerously, eyeing Darkstar with hatred. Snowfire sighed, and looked down at her clan, who were so tightly knit from the other cats that anyone could see that it was the Thunderclan cats. She thought sadly, How far we've fallen... "Snowfire?" Sootstar mused, Darkstar and Sparrowstar turned to her, Snowfire sighed, and took her place on the rock. Snowfire took in a deep breath, and murmured, "I have been named Thunderclan's new leader by Starclan," she eyed her clanmates as she said this, and flicked her tail, "I want to make this clear to the other clans, just because Thunderclan is not at it's best, don't think I'll allow any of you to think we are weak enough to turn a blind eye." She growled, and turned to Darkstar, who widened his eyes. Snowfire finally fully turned to Darkstar, Sparrowstar seemed intrigued by her, while Sootstar looked nervous. She mewed clearly, "If we don't want history to repeat itself, don't repeat the mistakes of our predecessors, or in some cases, your own mistakes. A lot of cats died in cold blood, and I'll no longer allow it to happen!" Sparrowstar nodded in approval, while the Shadowclan cats were taken aback by this direct confrontation to their leader. Snowfire felt all eyes trained on her, she noticed the three other cats staring at her in surprise. "I agree with her." The black Windclan tom stood up, everyone turned to him in surprise, Snowfire recognised him as the Windclan cat that reminded her a bit too much of Hawkfeather, "If we just kept doing what we did, the war might as well have never finished, and then none of us would be here." He pointed out with a laugh. Sootstar laughed, "Ravenwing has a point," he turned to Darkstar and Sparrowstar, "Which is why I suggested what I did, I agree that we should be wary of trespassing, but be just enough to understand that not all cats are malicious, it's better to get both sides of the story instead of walking blindly into a war without really knowing the cause." Ravenwing seemed to twitch his tail, and looked at his two companions, who seemed to agree with him, Ashpaw was nodding vigourously. Snowfire watched some of the other cats nod in agreement, finally, the she-cat beside Ravenwing stood up, "It won't be enough to just say the words, to make these things happen you have to take action, if you can't back up your words, there is no point even trying." She mewed calmly. Sparrowstar seemed shocked at her, but Sootstar nodded, "Your warrior is right, Sparrowstar, if we say we will change but don't change, then we're no better than when we started, if anything we are worse off." He pointed out as gently as he could, Snowfire had a funny feeling that Sootstar was slightly afraid of Sparrowstar more than he was of Darkstar, who practically started the war that killed her father and mentor. Sparrowstar seemed to have this funny feeling too, he murmured, "Considering, I've had some of my cats watching the Windclan border carefully, and I'll continue doing so, I don't plan on being leniant to any Windclan cats I find on my borders." Snowfire finally murmured, "Except trespassing isn't what caused the war." The clearing seemed to go silent, and she felt her stomach drop as Sparrowstar and Darkstar turned to stare at her. "Do you want to elaborate on that, Snowfire?" Sparrowstar hissed dangerously, but Snowfire wasn't afraid of the old tom, nor was she afraid of Darkstar, who seemed intrigued by this statement, as if he was mocking her. Snowfire went to say something, but nothing came out, she finally sighed. "I was only an apprentice when that war started, as far as I'm aware, it started because some of the leaders couldn't keep their pride in check, they took any slight as an excuse to fight, tempers ran high, so all we needed to start an all out war was just a tiny innocent comment." Snowfire growled, and turned to Darkstar, who narrowed his eyes. The clearing seemed to hush, Darkstar finally grunted, "Not exactly wrong, but not totally right either," he continued, "It is not enough to make an innocent comment, some of us weren't slighted, we were provoked and aggravated continously, so we fought back." Snowfire murmured, "Then what did Jaystar ever do to you?" Darkstar seemed taken-aback by her question, "To be honest, he never truly wronged me, he made the mistake of siding with Riverclan at that time, Sparrowstar was the one provoking us, while the old leader of Windclan just seemed to watch and laugh, but when we started poking at each-other, Jaystar jumped in, and then you got a full out war on your hands, Jaystar's death was unfortunate, but it happened." Snowfire twitched her tail, while some of her clanmates stared at her in disbelief, some of them appeared angry, but Snowfire tried to keep her cool, and ignored the angry calls of her clanmates. Finally the Thunderclan cats couldn't take it, they threw insults every which way, while Snowfire flicked her tail nervously, Darkstar turned to her, and he asked, "Have I wronged you in some way? Please, feel free to be honest." Snowfire growled, "It was cats being honest that started the war in the first place, I'm not fool enough to begin another one, you've wronged plenty of cats, why I feel animosity towards you is insignificant in that regard." Darkstar didn't seem surprised by this answer, he only shrugged, and didn't react after that. Sparrowstar pointed out, "Not insignificant enough it seems, your clanmates seem to want to pick a fight." He flicked his tail to the crowd. Many of her clanmates were grumbling or straight up calling for a fight, as if fighting Darkstar now would fix anything, or bring Jaystar or Hawkfeather back. Darkstar seemed to be waiting for Snowfire to attack, I'm not going to fall for it, he's going to get what's coming to him eventually. I would be no better than him if I striked now, I would only be restarting the war. She thought dangerously. Snowfire looked up at the stars, Please father... Please give me strength, I want to avenge your death, but doing so now would ruin everything you died for. She thought sadly, she finally turned to Darkstar, and mewed, "You're not worth my energy in fighting, Darkstar." Sootstar and Sparrowstar seemed impressed by her self control, her clanmates weren't as impressed, they continued calling for something to happen, Snowfire ignored their cries though, and murmured, "If I do something now, there will be more bloodshed, there will never be peace." Sootstar finally nodded, while Sparrowstar seemed to twitch his whiskers in amusement, Darkstar looked over the clearing, and twitched his whiskers. Snowfire felt like this was all just a bad dream she couldn't wake up from. She wanted so badly to go back to her apprentice days, where her father would show her the view of the leader tree, while Hawkfeather would make various jokes about the clans and how her father used to be really tense. But that time was over, she was alone, quickly losing control of her own clan as they called for vengeance. Snowfire watched in surprise as some of the other clans stared up at her with varying levels of respect, even if her own clanmates didn't show the same level of respect. Ravenwing stood up, and laughed, "Seems she's not afraid of you, that's a feat, you all should have learned that taking blind vengeance is what started the war." The Riverclan warrior stood up as well, and called over the crowd, "All of the clans suffered their own losses, yet you don't see us trying to pick a fight because we feel pain, we need to accept that those we love are gone! To continue fighting is disrespecting their deaths! They died trying to bring peace!" She took in a breath, and continued, "It's up to us to live up to our words, and take action, if you don't want to lose any more of your loved ones, for Starclan's sake, don't be the cause of more loss." Ashpaw mewed innocently, "Are we really any different to each-other? We all travel to Starclan as one." The cats went quiet at the apprentices words, some laughed, and started cheering. Ashpaw looked excited, Ravenwing laughed. Snowfire watched in disbelief as all but her own clanmates started cheering, Sootstar laughed, and he mewed, "I've never seen us thinking in unison, for a new leader, Snowfire, you sure have a way with words." Snowfire looked at the three other cats that followed her call, If you didn't say anything, no one would think about it... Thank you... Ravenwing seemed to wave his tail at her, while the Riverclan warrior followed suit, Ashpaw jumped up and down excitedly, Snowfire finally let out a breath, and relaxed her muscles, Sparrowstar seemed amazed by this change of atmosphere, he seemed almost happy about it. Darkstar himself even seemed energized. "So we're all agreed then?" Snowfire asked the other leaders, "We protect medicine cats in times of battle unless they attack first, start medicine cat gatherings, and watch our borders more carefully from now on? Does anyone else want to add anything?" Sootstar and Darkstar shook his head, while Sparrowstar nodded in disgrunted approval, but even he looked at Snowfire with respect. Snowfire mewed, "Then, we need to learn from our mistakes, so we can finally prosper together again." The cats below started cheering again, Snowfire smiled, she could almost see Jaystar nodding at her words, with Hawkfeather making a joke about how her voice could be whispering and cats would still hear her. The Thunderclan cats finally seemed to relax, albeit begrudgingly. Sootstar called, "Then let's adjourn this meeting, and go back to our daily lives, without stepping on eachother's tails!" The cats below laughed, and for once Snowfire felt confident about being Thunderclan's leader.
|
