After battling the clouds of fog, the group of FernClan cats had placed their paws on smooth stone, hugged by moss. They heard the distant hum of cats, and the scent of MoorClan was thick in the air.

"That's strange," Goldstar mumbled, "MoorClan usually comes last". The cats took a few more pawsteps until the leader halted them. They waited a few seconds for Goldstar to meow, "Lets go"

Goldstar, Sprucefrost, Acorncloud, Dawnsong, Dusksong, Chestnutpaw, Hollypaw, Sunpaw and Honeypaw padded into the heart of the Ruinstones, where crumbling stones were held by vines and moss, which crawled over eachother. The fog had become thinner here, and Honeypaw could see MoorClan cats peering through the mist to spot the FernClan cats. At the back of the ruins were stone stairs, some of which that had crumbled away. A cream-coloured she-cat with swirls on her fur sat upon one of them, her head held high and her hazel eyes sparkling. Goldstar padded over to the beautiful she-cat, leaping onto the step beside her. "Creamstar" greeted Goldstar, dipping her head in respect. Honeypaw supposed this must be MoorClan's leader.

Honeypaw scanned the clearing to see a friendly group of cats she could talk to. A dappled gold she-cat bounced around a pale tom, who was deep in discussion with a silver tabby she-cat with glazed eyes. The cat with glazed eyes meowed angrily to the bouncing dappled cat, who taunted, "You can't see anyway, Blindstorm". Deciding it wasn't a friendly group, she turned her head to see Sageswirl, nestled in the corner of the ruins, already with a group of apprentices. Hollypaw and Chestnutpaw was among them, along with a fluffy, white she-cat and a shorthaired tom with grey splotches on his fur. They were both apprentices, only a couple of moons older than Honeypaw. She decided she'd join them later when she saw a young warrior with half grey fur and half ginger smiling sadly at a tuxedo apprentice, who was chatting happily about something. Honeypaw noticed that many of the MoorClan cats sat away from the pair. Curiosity washing over her, Honeypaw padded over.

The two cats widened their eyes in surprise as the apprentice padded over. For a brief moment, the young warrior's eyes flashed with fear, which disappeared as the tuxedo apprentice placed her paw on his. The warrior took a deep breath. His shoulders began to relax.

"I'm Moonpaw" Meowed the apprentice, "Nice to meet you! Oh, and this is Halfpelt". Moonpaw flicked her tail to the warrior, who shuffled his paws shyly.

"Hello" Halfpelt said meekly, looking down at Honeypaw. For a young warrior, he was quite tall and skinny. It was as if he hadn't eaten anything in moons. The rest of the MoorClan cats seemed well fed, Honeypaw observed as she turned her head around. Realising she hadn't introduced herself, she said, "I'm Honeypaw. And it's nice to meet you too"

Honeypaw could sense social interaction was strange for these cats. Some MoorClan cats, including the ones she had seen earlier, were staring at Honeypaw as if she was mad. Blindstorm, however, was batting a leaf that had landed on her face off. There was silence between most cats, except between Sageswirl and the apprentices and between Goldstar and Creamstar. A dappled tom who sat close to Creamstar also stared at them, but it wasn't the staring that made her uncomfortable. It was his fur. Mud-coloured dappled fur.

Honeypaw waited for the MoorClan cats to return to their conversations before she asked, "Who is that?". She flicked her tail to the dappled tom, who had joined a discussion with Acorncloud and Sprucefrost.

"That's Dappledpelt" Moonpaw said gravely, "He isn't particularly nice to us"

"Why not?" Honeypaw questioned, sitting down next to the tuxedo cat.

Moonpaw looked up at Halfpelt, who nodded. "His fur. MoorClan isn't particularly accepting with those who are different. I hate it there, they practically starve him. Luckily I exist or you'd be a pile of bones!" Moonpaw joked half heartedly.

"It's true. They think I haven't noticed that Creamstar and Daisyclaw go out of their way to make me feel included" Halfpelt mumbled, "But they haven't really done anything about how the other cats treat me. Dappledpelt tends to treat me like fox dung"

Honeypaw's eyes became pools of sympathy. It was awful to be treated badly by anyone, but to be at the point for it to be normal that your own clanmates bully you- Honeypaw was disgusted.

But her mind wandered away to her mission given by Mothpaw, who was probably having to deal with a wailing mother and kits. She didn't want it to be, but Dappledpelt could very well be her father.

She snapped out of her thoughts as a new group of cats paraded into the clearing, fur soaking wet. In front of the cats was a black she-cat, with glowing amber eyes. She confidently strode into the Ruinstones, holding her head high. But Honeypaw wasn't focused on her; she was focused on a looming, orange figure behind her.

"Fox!" Hollypaw hollered, sprinting behind Sageswirl. The black cat tutted,"That is my deputy, Blaze. There is no problem". Honeypaw couldn't ignore the LakeClan cats shaking their heads, some even glaring at Blaze.

"She looks exactly like a fox! And Blaze isn't even a warrior name!" Moonpaw whispered to Halfpelt, her green eyes wide in alarm. Halfpelt whispered back pointedly, "Her name is Foxblaze. And anyway, it's rude to talk about others like that". Moonpaw opened her mouth to protest, but then hung her head in shame.

The Lakeclan cats had split up into groups. Honeypaw watched a grey apprentice with a single stripe down his back and a white apprentice with grey, rosetted fur bound over to Sageswirl. She also noticed a greenish-grey tom with a greying muzzle sat beside Sageswirl. They were both talking contently about their adventures. Meowing a brief goodbye, Honeypaw padded over to the storytelling Toms.

"I leapt onto Stoneflare, my claws unsheathed. She struggled under me, and eventually decided to bite my leg. But I kept a firm grip. Together, me and Sageswirl left many cuts on her flank, blood on her pelt and justice in the air"

Honeypaw wrapped her tail around her paws, settling herself next to the grey apprentice, who was looking interestedly at the two elders, wonder in his pale blue eyes.

"Yes indeed Mosswave, but I believe I was the one doing most of the fighting" Sageswirl said, humor dancing in his eyes.

Mosswave shook his head, "No. My story was completely correct. DeathClan didn't stand a change against me!" He purred, puffing out his chest.

Hollypaw opened her mouth to speak, before the grey apprentice meowed, "Why doesn't DeathClan ever go to gatherings?".

Honeypaw realised she had been wondering this very question herself. She felt as if there should be more cats. She felt as if she was missing something.

Sageswirl turned his head to the grey apprentice, who was still waiting for an answer.

"What's your name, young apprentice?" He asked.

"Ashpaw" said the grey tom, grinning at the elder. Honeypaw supposed he was happy that other clan members have been treating him well so far.

"Well, I was but a kit when it happened. In fact I was 2 moons old," Sageswirl said, turning his head to Mosswave, in case he knew any more.

Mosswave nodded and cleared his throat, "I was 4 moons old. My mama told me what had happened, though I didn't understand at the time. Before Deathclan, there was a clan called ThornClan. They lived not too far away from a group of loners." Mosswave took a brief moment to cough, "There was a time when ThornClan was taken over by a disease, which we now call ' Blue cough'. It was caused by crowfood. When one would catch it, they would stop serving the clan; become less productive. Within a moon, they would crumple and be reduced to bones. The only known cure was to sacrifice a leader's life. Goosestar did all she could, eventually losing her last life to save a traitor. The traitor was called Darktuft-"

"Why was Darktuft a traitor?" The fluffy, white she-cat asked.

"Because she killed the deputy in order to become leader. Anyway, may I continue?"

The apprentices nodded eagerly.

"Darktuft gathered the remaining clanmates and many rogues. They called themselves Deathclan. Many moons later, Darktuft was becoming old. Starclan hadn't given her any lives, so she knew that one was precious." Mosswave turned to Sageswirl, as a prompt to let him continue.

"She challenged a young FernClan warrior to kill her. He obliged. After a long battle, her wounds were too deep. Blood soaked the floor and seeped into the soil. The new DeathClan leader was Brokennight. He encouraged his brother to join him, in exchange he would become deputy. He agreed, although he had to leave his mate behind,". She didn't know if she imagined it, but Honeypaw could've sworn she saw Sageswirl glance at her warily.

"After knowing that the Brokennight had no belief in Starclan, and was willing to kill anyone who disagreed with him, Duststar, Goldstar and Eaglestar banished them from the gathering, now and forever more." Mosswave finished, dipping his head.

Every apprentice's jaws dropped. Ashpaw was whispering to the white rosetted tom, who purred and nudged him affectionately.  Honeypaw noticed the way they exchanged glances was a little different from the others.

"What was the name of the FernClan cat who abandoned their mate?" The shorthaired grey tom piped up.

Sageswirl blinked in surprise. Honeypaw noticed his paws shaking. He took a deep breath.

"Copperbrook. His name is Copperbrook"