Squirrelflight suddenly felt very lonely. Exploring didn’t seem like so much fun if she had no one to share it with. Then she heard a voice calling her name, and she glanced around to see Ashfur standing a little way off. She bounded over to him.
“Where do you want to go? That way?” he suggested. He gestured with his tail towards a thicket of trees and bushes in the centre of the island.
“No, let’s go around the outside first,” Squirrelflight meowed. “I want to see every pawstep!” She blinked warmly at him—somehow she knew there was no need to tell him how pleased she was that he wanted to explore the island with her.
They padded along the shore, passing Squirrelflight’s mother, Sandstorm, who was sharpening her claws on the trunk of another pine.
“This is good,” she mewed happily. “Much safer than where we gathered last time, near the horse place.” Her claws sharpened to her satisfaction, she sat down and stared out across the gently lapping water.
Squirrelflight and Ashfur skirted an outcrop of rocks leading down to the water and came to a wider stretch of pebbles and sandy earth, broken up here and there by small, gleaming pools. Squirrelflight crouched down beside one, tongue extended to lap, then sprang back with a meow of surprise.
“There are fish in there!”
Ashfur padded up beside her and looked interestedly into the water. “I can’t see any.”
“Tiny fish—look, there!” She pointed with her paw as a sleek shape flickered from the shelter of one rock to another. “Too small for prey, though,” she added regretfully. “Let’s keep going.”
The island shore grew rockier further around, where the vast, glittering lake stretched all the way to their own territory. Squirrelflight could just make out the mass of trees with the dark bulk of the moorland rising above them.
“This would be great to sun ourselves on warm days,” Ashfur commented, gazing up at a smooth grey boulder splotched with lichen. “We haven’t found anything like Sunningrocks in our territory.”
“No, but we haven’t explored it all yet,” Squirrelflight reminded him. “And it would be a very long way to come to warm our pelts!”
As they scrambled over the boulder, claws scraping for balance, she caught a glimpse of Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost nearer the centre of the island. They were padding side by side, their heads bent close together as they talked. They didn’t seem interested in exploring their surroundings, and they took no notice of the cats from all Clans that swarmed around them. Squirrelflight wrenched her gaze away from Brambleclaw and called a greeting to Tawnypelt, who was peering under a bush with a young ShadowClan warrior Squirrelflight didn’t recognise. Tawnypelt acknowledged her with a flick of her tail, but didn’t speak; Squirrelflight guessed she had her eye on prey.
The ShadowClan deputy, Russetfur, was sniffing around the bottom of a rock, flanked by her Clanmates Rowanclaw and Oakfur. Squirrelflight changed direction to avoid them; Tawnypelt was the only friend she had in ShadowClan.
“Have you noticed,” she mewed to Ashfur, “how we’ve split up into our Clans again? It’s as if the journey from the forest never happened.”
“Well, Brambleclaw is over there with Hawkfrost,” Ashfur pointed out, turning his ears to where the two tabby toms had reappeared from a clump of bracken.
“Huh!” grunted Squirrelflight.
Ashfur’s blue eyes gleamed. “You’re worried about him, aren’t you?”
“Worried? Me?” Squirrelflight mewed. “Certainly not!” When Ashfur didn’t respond, she added, “Honestly, I’m not worried about him.”
Ashfur let out his breath in a long sigh. “Good,” he murmured. “He’s an honourable cat, you know. He may be friends with Hawkfrost, but he wouldn’t betray his Clanmates.”
Squirrelflight flinched. Was it so obvious that she no longer trusted Brambleclaw? Surely she knew him better than any cat in ThunderClan. Or had she become too close to him to judge properly? She shook her head, confused by the thoughts that buzzed in her ears. She wanted to trust Brambleclaw, she really did, but he seemed determined to make that impossible with everything he said and did.
The moon had risen high in the sky by the time the two cats made a complete circuit of the island. Squirrelflight bounded down to the lake beside the tree bridge and gulped down a few mouthfuls; the water was icy cold, and as she lapped at the glittering surface she felt as if she were drinking starlight.
“I can see why Hawkfrost wanted this to be the RiverClan camp,” Ashfur mewed. “There’s everything here a cat could want!”
“Except enough prey,” Squirrelflight pointed out. “RiverClan don’t eat fish all the time. Imagine trying to swim across with fresh-kill in your jaws.”
Ashfur shifted uneasily. “I hope RiverClan don’t change their mind now that the tree bridge is there.”
Squirrelflight stared at him in alarm. “They couldn’t!” she protested. “StarClan put the tree here for all of us.”
“Well, if Leopardstar is planning to claim the island for RiverClan, we’ll find out soon. The Gathering must be due to start.” Ashfur glanced up at the moon.
Squirrelflight shook starry drops from her whiskers. “We still don’t know where we’re meeting.”
“Let’s head for the centre,” Ashfur suggested. “We should be able to hear the other cats, even if we can’t see them.”
The two warriors headed for the central thicket. They hadn’t gone far before they heard the gentle murmur of many cats greeting each other after a moon apart.
Ashfur paused to taste the air. “All four Clans are here. This must be the place.”
He led the way through a clump of thorns, swerving to avoid a particularly prickly branch. Squirrelflight could hear prey rustling in the leaves around her, but she was too excited to think of hunting. She tried to push her way through the brambles more quickly, but thorns caught in her pelt.
“I’m not going to get stuck again!” she muttered.
Ashfur let out a mrrow of laughter. “Don’t worry. If you do get stuck, I’ll help you. We can’t have you missing the Gathering.”
Squirrelflight crouched down until her belly brushed the crisp dead leaves underneath the brambles, then she wriggled forward until the branches thinned and she broke out into the open.
“Wow!”
She was standing at the edge of a wide circle of grass that shone silver in the moonlight. It looked like a much smaller version of the lake, its surface rippling as the breeze brushed against the stems. A single oak tree grew in the centre. Roots thicker than a cat’s body clutched at the ground, while branches shifted overhead and cast trembling shadows on the cats below.
“This is perfect!” Ashfur exclaimed, emerging from the bushes beside her.
Squirrelflight looked around for her Clanmates. Goldenflower was stretched out in a clump of longer grass with a couple of elders from other Clans, and Cinderpelt had joined Leafpool and Mothwing near the tree roots. Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat, was padding over to sit beside them. Cloudtail and Dustpelt were standing in the shelter of the bushes further around the circle; after a shared glance they went over to Mistyfoot and Blackclaw of RiverClan, dipping their heads in greeting.
Squirrelflight suddenly realised she had been nervous that ShadowClan and RiverClan would be as hostile as WindClan had become since they reached their new home. But this looked more like a regular Gathering back in the forest, with cats from different Clans comfortably sharing news.
She twitched her ears to welcome Leafpool, who had left the other medicine cats and padded across the grass to join her sister.
“I love it here.” Leafpool’s eyes shone; Squirrelflight guessed she felt especially close to StarClan here. “It’s smaller than Fourtrees, but it feels so safe.”
As Squirrelflight started to agree, she saw Firestar race across the clearing and leap into the tree. He clawed at the trunk, then pulled himself on to a low branch and stood looking down at the four Clans.
“Blacks
tar! Leopardstar! Onestar!” he called. “We could sit here for the Gathering.”
Blackstar was the next to appear, agile for a cat of his bulk as he swarmed up the tree to crouch on the branch beside Firestar with his tail hanging down.
“I bet Blackstar wishes he thought of sitting in the tree first,” Ashfur murmured into Squirrelflight’s ear.
Leopardstar settled herself in the fork between two branches not far from Firestar and Blackstar; Onestar climbed a little higher so he could look down on the other three.
Mistyfoot sat tidily on one of the thick, twisting roots at the foot of the trunk. When the other deputies, Ashfoot and Russetfur, joined her there, a pang as sharp as a thorn pierced Squirrelflight’s belly. It was blindingly obvious that there was no ThunderClan deputy to sit with them.
Firestar let out a yowl. “Cats of all Clans, welcome to this new Gathering place. StarClan has brought us here, and we thank them.” He waited for a moment while the warriors grew quiet, then courteously dipped his head to the WindClan leader. “Onestar, would you like to begin?”
The WindClan leader rose to his paws, balancing confidently on the thick branch. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight, his tabby pelt turned to silver. Squirrelflight remembered how nervous he had been about addressing the Clans when Tallstar died. There was no trace of that uncertainty now. He looked as if he had led his Clan for many moons.
“All is well with WindClan,” he reported. “I have made the journey to the Moonpool and received my nine lives and my name from StarClan.”
Murmurs of congratulation rose up from the cats in the clearing: from all four Clans, Squirrelflight noticed. Onestar had been popular as a warrior, and his leadership had received powerful approval from StarClan when they made the tree fall, killing Mudclaw. She glanced around to see whether Webfoot and Mudclaw’s other supporters were joining in; she couldn’t see Webfoot at all, but the black she-cat Nightcloud was crouching under a bush, gazing up at her leader with an unreadable expression on her face.
Onestar bowed his head. “This morning Ashfoot, Tornear, and Crowfeather drove a fox from our territory,” he went on. “They fought well, and I’m sure we’ve seen the last of it.”
A yowl of approval came from the cats below—mostly from WindClan, but some from other Clans too. “Ashfoot! Tornear! Crowfeather!”
Squirrelflight didn’t join in. “He hasn’t mentioned Mudclaw’s rebellion at all,” she muttered to Ashfur. “Or ThunderClan—how we helped in the battle, and how we warned him about the fox.”
Ashfur glanced sideways at her. “Did you really think he would?”
Onestar continued: “We have held warrior ceremonies for two apprentices. Owlwhisker and Weaselfur are here tonight as full warriors of WindClan.” He sat down again as the new warriors were welcomed by the other cats.
Leopardstar was on her paws almost before Onestar had finished, impatiently waving her tail for silence. “There is no sign of the badger that we drove out a moon ago,” she announced. “We think it has gone for good.”
Squirrelflight looked across the clearing to Hawkfrost. He had led the patrol that got rid of RiverClan’s badger. Squirrelflight curled her lip when she saw how pleased with himself Hawkfrost looked. Like he’s the only warrior who ever fought a badger, she thought resentfully, twisting her head to lick the healing wounds on her flank.
“RiverClan have also made a new warrior,” Leopardstar went on. “Voletooth sits vigil in the camp tonight.”
“Onestar and Leopardstar seem very keen to report new warriors,” Squirrelflight whispered to her sister. “It’s as if they’re trying to show the other Clans how strong they are.”
“It’s ridiculous!” Leafpool hissed, startling Squirrelflight with the ferocity of her reply. “Why is it so important for us to be rivals instead of friends? Have they forgotten everything we went through to get here?”
Squirrelflight was a bit surprised that Leafpool felt so strongly; medicine cats usually kept apart from ordinary Clan rivalries, and her friendships with Littlecloud, Barkface, and Mothwing wouldn’t change however hostile the Clans became. But then, Leafpool had probably grown as used to living with all the Clans together as Squirrelflight had.
“At the last Gathering,” Leopardstar went on, “I agreed that the marshy ground where we first camped could be neutral territory so that we would have somewhere to gather. But now that StarClan have given us this island, I’m claiming the marshes for RiverClan.”
Squirrelflight heard several cats muttering discontentedly; Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, exclaimed, “Mouse dung! Now I won’t be able to collect herbs there.”
“The rest of the Clans have to agree,” Blackstar pointed out, sinking his claws into the bark beneath his paws. “There was neutral territory around Fourtrees.”
Leopardstar lashed her tail. “You can’t turn this place into the forest. Things are different here. For a start, every Clan but RiverClan has to cross another Clan’s territory to reach the island. There’s no point in having neutral territory.”
“Leopardstar’s right,” Firestar meowed. “I don’t see any reason why RiverClan can’t have the marshes.”
Leopardstar dipped her head to him, acknowledging his support.
“Onestar, what do you think?” Firestar asked.
Onestar hesitated; Squirrelflight guessed he would like to claim the marshes and their stock of useful herbs for his Clan, but WindClan already had the largest expanse of territory. “Very well,” he growled.
Blackstar shrugged. “I won’t object, if you all agree.”
Leopardstar’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Then we will set our scent markers by the horse place tomorrow.”
Yowls of approval rose from the RiverClan cats; Firestar waited for them to die down before he started to speak.
“I don’t have much to report,” he admitted. “Like RiverClan, we found a badger on our territory, and Brambleclaw led the patrol that sent it away. Apart from that, everything is going well, and we have seen nothing of Twolegs since we moved into the territory.” He stepped back and gestured with his tail to Blackstar.
Squirrelflight tensed as the ShadowClan leader stood up. Would he mention the badger? Did he know that ThunderClan had driven it into ShadowClan territory? But when Blackstar spoke, it was to report that prey was plentiful in the pinewoods. “We found an old badger set not far from the Twoleg nest,” he rasped. “But we could barely detect the scent. It must have been abandoned long ago.”
Squirrelflight exchanged a glance with Ashfur, feeling the fur lie flat on her neck again. The badger and her cubs must have retreated deeper into the forest, well away from any Clan’s territory. From the number of old sets being reported, it looked as if several badgers had once lived around the lake. Perhaps the Clans were lucky they hadn’t encountered more. “I hope we’ve seen the last of them,” she murmured to Ashfur.
“If they come back, we’ll deal with them,” Ashfur meowed. “Anyway, I thought you liked badgers,” he teased. “What about Midnight?”
“Midnight’s different,” Squirrelflight told him. “As for the rest—I don’t care if I never see another one. Badgers and cats don’t mix.”
Now that Blackstar had finished speaking, she assumed the Gathering would be over, but the full moon still floated overhead, and Firestar began to speak once more.
“Clan leaders, and cats of all Clans,” he began, “there’s something we need to decide. This is the Gathering place StarClan have chosen for us, but as Leopardstar said, all of us except RiverClan have to cross another Clan’s territory to reach it. We need to decide exactly where cats can travel in each other’s territory when it’s time to gather.”
“Good idea,” Squirrelflight commented under her breath.
“Well, there’s no need for ThunderClan to cross through our territory to get here,” Blackstar meowed instantly. “It’s much quicker for you to come across WindClan.”
Squirrelflight saw her father stiffen, and
she guessed that he was holding back a sharp retort. “Yes, but we still need to discuss it.”
“I don’t mind any cat coming from either direction as far as the tree bridge,” Leopardstar mewed. “But no cat has permission to take prey from RiverClan.”
“The same goes for WindClan,” Onestar added, rising to his paws again. “Firestar, you can bring your cats across my territory, but I want you to keep within two fox-lengths of the lake. If my warriors catch you anywhere else, we’ll regard it as trespass.”
“That sounds reasonable,” Firestar replied calmly. “Let’s make that a general rule.” He raised his voice so every cat could hear. “A Clan may cross another territory to come to Gatherings, but they must stay within two fox-lengths of the lakeshore, and travel without stopping.”
“And take no prey,” Blackstar added.
Firestar nodded. “Does every cat agree?”
A murmur of agreement hung in the air above the cats; what Firestar proposed sounded fair.
Cinderpelt stood up. “Will the same rule apply to cats who want to visit the Moonpool? Because they would have to leave the lakeshore and cross either our territory or WindClan’s to reach the hills.”
“WindClan always allowed cats to cross our old territory when they were going to the Moonstone,” Onestar pointed out. There was a touch more warmth in his voice; he shared the respect that all cats felt for Cinderpelt.
“True,” meowed Firestar. “And I don’t see any reason not to do the same here.”
“But those should be the only two exceptions,” Blackstar put in, with a glare at Firestar. “Otherwise we may as well forget about our boundaries altogether.”
“No, wait.” Mistyfoot looked up from her root. “Cats who cross borders aren’t always hostile. We all need to visit other Clans sometimes. Surely we don’t need to be more suspicious here than we were in the old forest?”
Squirrelflight remembered Mistyfoot’s urgent visit to Firestar when she discovered that Mudclaw and Hawkfrost were plotting together. She had risked crossing ShadowClan’s territory and nearly been caught by a patrol.