“I suppose that’s some comfort,” Bramblestar whispered back.
Glancing around the clearing, he realized that WindClan was not the only Clan looking ill at ease. ShadowClan seemed restless, and divided into little muttering groups rather than standing together. Bramblestar wondered if Blackstar was too old and frail to pull his Clan together after the Great Battle, and whether some cats were already looking forward to a younger, stronger leader.
“What’s going on with RiverClan?” Squirrelflight muttered.
The usually sleek-furred cats looked nervous and ruffled as they clustered around their leader, Mistystar. Some of them were limping, or favoring paws with visibly ripped claws. What in the name of StarClan have they been doing to end up so battered? Bramblestar’s curiosity grew as he realized that it was the strongest warriors who showed most signs of hard, physical effort.
“Something’s wrong, that’s for sure,” he replied.
Mistystar left her Clanmates to thread her way across the clearing and jump into the branches of the Great Oak. Bramblestar realized it was time to begin the Gathering. He thrust a path through the crowd of cats and joined Mistystar in the tree.
Squirrelflight followed him to sit with the other deputies on the roots of the oak, while the medicine cats gathered nearby. Onestar jumped up into the tree beside Bramblestar, but Blackstar remained on the ground. Bramblestar tensed. Was the ShadowClan leader going to do this at every Gathering?
Blackstar waited until the other cats had found places to sit, and then announced, “Let us remember the fallen.” An uneasy silence settled over the clearing as he continued. “From ShadowClan: Redwillow, Shredtail, Toadfoot, Shrewfoot, Starlingwing, Olivenose, Applefur, Cedarheart, Tallpoppy, and Weaselkit. From ThunderClan: Firestar, Hollyleaf, Mousefur, Ferncloud, Sorreltail, Foxleap. From WindClan: Ashfoot, Owlwhisker, Swallowtail, Thistleheart…”
Bramblestar twitched his tail uncomfortably. Shouldn’t I be the one to speak the names from ThunderClan, and Onestar recall his WindClan Clanmates, if we have to do this at all?
At the first Gathering after the Great Battle, Blackstar had offered to recite the names of the cats who had died. Back then it had seemed appropriate, but Bramblestar wasn’t sure if they needed to begin every Gathering like this. He sensed that the other leaders shared his uneasiness, and when Blackstar began to announce the RiverClan names, Mistystar stood up and balanced gracefully on her branch.
“Blackstar,” she interrupted with an edge to her voice, “none of us have forgotten the Clanmates that we lost to the Dark Forest. Let us remember our fallen in our own way. Since when have you spoken for all of us?”
Chapter 5
Blackstar looked up at the WindClan leader; Bramblestar could see shock and horror in his eyes.
“These cats are still with us, watching the Clanmates they died to save!” Blackstar protested. “We need to honor their memory!”
“But Blackstar,” Mistystar mewed more gently, “life moves on, just like the seasons. We don’t list every piece of prey we’ve eaten in the last moon, or remember every fallen leaf.”
Blackstar looked even more outraged. “Our Clanmates are not prey and fallen leaves!” he gasped.
“I didn’t mean…” Mistystar began, but she was drowned by a growing clamor from the cats in the clearing. ShadowClan supported their leader, but many of the others were obviously as unhappy as Bramblestar about the List of the Fallen.
“Why aren’t we capable of honoring our own dead?” Cloudtail demanded.
“And why is Blackstar the only cat allowed to speak?” Crowfeather challenged from WindClan.
Bramblestar jumped to his paws, waving his tail for silence. This wasn’t an issue to break the truce over. “I agree with Mistystar,” he meowed when he could make himself heard. “Each Clan should be allowed to remember the fallen in its own way.”
Blackstar’s neck fur bristled and he drew his lips back in a snarl. “You are too quick to forget that we fought as one Clan against the Dark Forest.”
“But we are not one Clan now,” Bramblestar reminded him. “We are four Clans, just as we were before.”
Blackstar whirled around and began to stalk away from the Great Oak. “My Clan will not stay to hear our dead warriors scorned by the other Clans!” he hissed. “You all owe them a debt, just as we do.”
Instantly his deputy, Rowanclaw, jumped up from his place on the oak roots and ran after his leader. “Come back, Blackstar,” he urged. “No cat has shown any disrespect to us. Things are changing, that’s all.” As Blackstar halted, looking bewildered, Rowanclaw added, “Each Clan faces new challenges, and nothing stays the same forever. Look at ShadowClan: We’re not weak and broken now as we were after the battle. No, we’re a Clan you can be proud of. And we owe that to you, our leader.”
After a long pause, Blackstar turned and scrambled up into the Great Oak to take his place with the other leaders. Bramblestar sought out his sister Tawnypelt and met her gaze, giving her a nod to acknowledge Rowanclaw’s well-judged words. Tawnypelt’s green eyes glowed with pride in her mate.
“Thank you, Blackstar,” Mistystar meowed, dipping her head to the ShadowClan leader. “You can be sure that all the Clans will remember their dead for as long as the forest lasts.” Raising her eyes to the stars, she went on, “Ancestors of all the Clans, look down on us here and guide us through the hard days to come. Welcome the new starry warriors among you, and keep the memory of them fresh in our minds. We honor them, and all of you, now and always.”
A ripple swept through the clearing like wind through grass as each cat bowed his or her head to hear Mistystar’s prayer.
“Now,” Mistystar continued more briskly, “moonlight is passing, and we still haven’t begun. I’ll go first, shall I?” She glanced briefly at the other leaders, then announced, “We have had to move our camp a little farther back from the lake, because the water level is so high. But all is well, and there’s still a good supply of fish.”
Bramblestar caught Squirrelflight’s eye below him. That’s why the RiverClan warriors look so tired and pawsore, and why they seem so unsettled.
“And we have new kits in RiverClan,” Mistystar reported, with a satisfied swish of her tail. “Petalfur gave birth to a she-cat and two toms.”
Bramblestar spotted the brown tabby warrior Mallownose looking very proud. He must be the father.
As the other cats murmured congratulations, Mistystar stepped back. “Would you like to speak next, Blackstar?”
The ShadowClan leader rose to his paws. Bramblestar thought that he looked older than ever, white as bone against the dark branches. “ShadowClan is strong and thriving,” he announced. “Snowbird has had three kits, all she-cats.”
He sank back down on his branch, while below in the clearing Scorchfur looked smug, licking one paw and passing it over his ear.
Onestar stood up. “There’s excellent hunting in WindClan,” he reported. “Birds have been coming inland from the sun-drown-place, blown by the wind. They don’t seem to be comfortable landing on grass, which makes them easy to catch. And although we have no new kits yet, we expect good news soon.”
His gaze rested on Sedgewhisker, who gave her chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks, and leaned into her mate, Emberfoot.
Bramblestar’s pads prickled with disquiet as he stepped to the end of his branch and looked out over the cats. Why are the other leaders making such a big deal about new kits? It’s barely newleaf; there’s plenty of time to fill the nursery. “We have been strengthening our boundaries,” he announced, his tail-tip twitching. Pay attention, ShadowClan and WindClan! “And five new apprentices have begun their training: Lilypaw, Seedpaw, Amberpaw, Snowpaw, and Dewpaw. Lilypaw and Seedpaw have been apprentices for three moons, but this is their first Gathering. All are learning fast, and will make excellent warriors.”