Erin Hunter - Midnight

“Hi, there,” Leafpaw meowed. “How are you getting on?”

Mothwing paused. “Fine, I think, but there’s so much to learn! And there are times I don’t feel any closer to StarClan than before I went to Mothermouth.”

Leafpaw let out a wry meow. “We all feel that. I think every medicine cat in the forest has felt it at some time.”

Mothwing’s huge amber eyes were confused. “But I thought I’d be wise now that I’m a medicine cat. I thought I’d walk closely with StarClan and always know the answer to everything.”

She looked so dejected that Leafpaw leaned over and gave her ear a comforting lick. “One day perhaps you will. We walk closer to StarClan every day.” When Mothwing still looked uneasy she added, “Mothwing, is there something in particular bothering you?”

Mothwing started. “Oh, no,” she replied, shaking her broad golden head. “Nothing at all, only—”

Leafpaw never found out what she was going to say. A loud yowling drowned out Mothwing’s voice as Tallstar, on the top of the Great Rock, called for silence. Leopardstar stood beside him, while Firestar and Blackstar, the leader of ShadowClan, sat a little way behind.

Leopardstar was the first of the leaders to speak. “Tallstar,” she meowed, “rain has fallen many times on the forest since the last Gathering. Do the streams run freely again in WindClan territory?”

Tallstar inclined his head toward her. “They do, Leopardstar.”

“Then I take back the permission I gave to you and your Clan to enter RiverClan territory to drink. From now on, my warriors will drive out any WindClan cats we find across our borders.”

She said nothing about the way that WindClan had gone on visiting the river even when they no longer needed to, but her voice was sharp, and Leafpaw could see the displeasure she was not expressing in words.

Tallstar faced the RiverClan leader, unblinking. “Leopardstar, WindClan thanks you for your help and will not abuse your trust.”

The RiverClan leader gave him a sharp little nod and stepped back. Suddenly there was a disturbance among the cats in the clearing, and a sleek tabby cat with massive shoulders rose to his paws. It was Mothwing’s brother, Hawkfrost.

“With your permission, Leopardstar, I would like to speak,” he meowed.

Leafpaw was surprised; young warriors did not usually speak at Gatherings.

“Well?” Leopardstar mewed.

Hawkfrost hesitated, scuffling the ground in front of him with one paw in apparent shyness, though Leafpaw noticed that his ice-blue eyes flicked from side to side as if making sure that every cat was watching him. “I’m not sure I should say this, but… well, when WindClan came to the river, they didn’t just drink. I’ve seen them stealing fish.”

“What?” Tallstar sprang to the edge of the rock and crouched there as if he were about to pounce on the RiverClan warrior. “How dare you! No WindClan cats have stolen prey!”

Leafpaw knew that was a lie; she remembered Squirrelpaw telling her about catching a WindClan patrol on ThunderClan territory with a stolen vole.

“Did any other cats see this?” Leopardstar asked Hawkfrost.

“I don’t think so.” Hawkfrost sounded apologetic. “I was on my own at the time.”

Leopardstar’s gaze raked the clearing, but no cat spoke.

Leafpaw wondered if she should say anything, but she had not seen the theft for herself; Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw were long gone, and Dustpelt, who had also seen it, had not come to this Gathering. She kept silent.

Tallstar turned to the RiverClan leader. “I swear by StarClan that WindClan have taken nothing but water from the river. Are you going to condemn us on the word of one warrior?”

Leopardstar’s neck fur bristled. “Are you saying that my warrior is lying?”

“Are you calling my Clan thieves?” Tallstar’s lips drew back in a snarl, his teeth bared and his claws unsheathed.

Yowls of protest broke out in the clearing from both RiverClan and WindClan cats. Leafpaw watched the warriors turn on each other, spitting challenges. She felt her fur stand on end, suddenly terrified that the sacred truce of the Gathering would be broken.

“Did Hawkfrost have to start this?” she murmured, half to herself.

“What should he do?” Mothwing’s voice was sharp as she defended her brother. “Keep quiet and let WindClan get away with it? Every cat in RiverClan knows that for a couple of mousetails those cats would steal the pelt off your back.”

Her amber eyes blazed and she sprang to her paws as if she were ready to join in a fight the moment it started.

A furious hiss came from her mentor, Mudfur, reminding her that medicine cats were meant to keep peace, and Mothwing shot him a glance, half-angry, half-ashamed.

“Wait!” The single word carried clearly across the hollow.

Leafpaw saw that Firestar had come forward to the edge of the rock. “StarClan is angry—look up at the moon!”

With every other cat, Leafpaw gazed upward. The full moon floated above the trees; not far away a single cloud was being driven toward it, even though there was barely a breath of wind in the clearing. She shivered. If StarClan were angry enough to cover the moon, the Gathering would have to break up.

The warriors crouched down, their hostility fading to fear.

Firestar’s voice rang out again. “Leopardstar, Tallstar, will you lead your Clans into battle on the word of one warrior?

Hawkfrost, is it possible that you were mistaken in what you saw?”

Hawkfrost paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing to slits as he stared at the ThunderClan leader. “I believe what I said,” he replied at last, “but I suppose it’s possible I got it wrong. I might have been dazzled by the sun on the water, or something.”

“Then let there be friendship between RiverClan and WindClan,” Firestar meowed. “Tallstar has already promised not to come down to the river again.”

“And I’ll keep my promise,” Tallstar spat. “But you should teach your young warriors to show a bit of respect, Leopardstar.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Leopardstar was still angry, but Leafpaw recognized that the threat of battle was over. Above their heads the cloud was carried away from the moon, as though StarClan’s anger were fading.

“Remember how good life is in the forest just now,” Firestar urged both leaders. “Prey is plentiful, and the streams are full again. We are all well prepared for leaf-fall and leaf-bare. There is no need for us to invade one another’s territories.” He flashed a glance at Blackstar, who had been sitting with a knowing look on his face, as though he were enjoying the disagreement between the other Clans. “That doesn’t mean my borders are not well guarded,” he added pointedly.

“And so are RiverClan’s,” Leopardstar hissed, but she took a pace back, as if acknowledging that the dispute was over.

Tallstar moved away, too, leaving Firestar at the front of the rock. Leafpaw knew what was coming; her father paused before he began to speak, and she guessed that he was choosing his words with care. He would not want the other Clans to think that he had driven out his own cats.

“A quarter moon ago,” he began, “the warrior Brambleclaw and Squirrelpaw, an apprentice, left ThunderClan. We do not know where they have gone, but we have reason to believe that they did not go alone.” Turning to the other leaders, he went on. “Have any of your warriors gone missing?”

Leopardstar replied willingly enough; Leafpaw guessed that Mistyfoot had told her she had already passed on the news about Stormfur and Feathertail. “Two warriors left RiverClan—Stormfur and Feathertail—just before the half-moon. At first we assumed they had crossed the river to live in your territory, Firestar. Since they have connections in ThunderClan”—she spoke with icy disapproval of her warriors’ half-Clan heritage—“we can assume they have all gone together.”