🔱Hazel🔱

I stood before my cats,my eyes scanning each of their faces.

"Tonight,we go to meet our neighbors in the other Groups as rivals of different backgrounds, but I hope that after this night,we will become one as friends. River, Minnow, Kelli, I leave the rest of our cats in your safe paws."

They dipped their heads.

"We will do our best, Hazel." 

I nodded and padded over to the group of cats that Night had chosen to accompany us and we headed through the trees,using our tree climbing skills until we came to a large clearing with a huge stone.

Ava and Paul were looking around excitedly.

"Is this the place?" I heard Whisper mew to Reese, who nodded.

My heart skipped a beat as I heard a familiar deep mew,"Ah. Hello, Hazel."

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💎Earth💎

I stared into her fiery amber eyes and got lost in them...

"Hello, Earth."  She mewed happily, following me and Savanah over to the strange stone.

Her Second glared at me briefly before taking a place at the base of the rock next to Savanah and began to chat while Hazel and I leaped on the top, me struggling a little.

"Greetings, Hazel. Earth." I heard the soft voice of Winter and we nodded.

"Greetings, Winter." We mewed.

She nodded,shaking snow from her pelt.

The thumping of paws could be heard from the rocky slope leading to the far mountains.

"Greetings,Hazel. Earth. Winter. Prey running well?" A deep voice rumbled and I turned to meet the dark blue eyes of Mist.

We nodded.

"Where is your Second, Mist? Stone is her name I think?" Hazel asked curiously, looking down at the Groups below.

He purred.

"She is tending to one of our expecting Queens."

She flicked her tail.

"Oh, alright. Has any cat seen Feral and Rain? The moon is getting higher in the sky."

Winter, me, and Mist shook our heads.

Hazel looked up at the sky, tail lashing.

Finally,the annoying odor of fish and river water filled my nose.

I met Rain's light blue eyes with a small smile,having been on good terms with each other for a quarter moon.

"Greetings, Rain."

He nodded,purring as he leaped to join us on the stone.

"Greetings,Earth.Winter. Mist. Hazel. How are you? "

I dipped my head.

"I'm fine. Prey running well, everyone?"

Winter and Hazel nodded.

Mist pawed the ground,but nodded eventually.

"Everything is going well, Earth. And you? " He asked coolly.

I nodded. "Fine. Thank you."

We sat in cold silence for the next few heartbeats, watching our cats mingle with the other Groups, when suddenly, a battle cry rung out....

💗Rain💗

I looked at the clearing in horror as Feral's cats rained down from the branches and bushes, their eyes blazing with bloodlust as they ripped apart my cats.

My friends... My family...

Hazel's fur bristled, her eyes narrowed into slits.

Winter gasped,tears streaming down her muzzle.

Earth and Mist looked ready to tear every cat apart.

"We have to go down there and stop this!" I hissed, leaping down and launching myself into the battle,  the other Heads nodded, joining me, fighting alongside their cats.

Clouds seemed to chase the moon as thunder crashed around us and rain soaked our bloody pelts.

I quickly spotted Earth's cat  Kaden through the downpour  and Wasp facing off against a large broad-shouldered tom,blood and mud coating all of their pelts, so I leaped onto the  tom's back, scoring my claws down and having him face off against me instead.

"Filthy fish-eating crowfood!" He hissed, swiping at my muzzle and I quickly ducked as Wasp bit his hindleg, making him howl with pain.

Kaden panted, but still seemed able to fight as he clawed the tom's flank while I went for his soft belly fur.

He gasped,coughing up blood before collapsing.

We backed away as a she-cat cried out,  "Leo! No!"

I flicked my tail.

"Come on! We have to find the others and help the other Groups!"

They nodded and took off.

It seemed like forever before the call of a retreat was yowled.

The dead laid around my paws,their faces blending together in a horrible blurr...

I looked at the mirrored grief on the faces of those who survived.

"This wasn't suppose to happen! Feral told me that we wouldn't be harmed! And now...I'm truly sorry for your losses...None of you deserved this." Winter yowled,tears and rain streaming down her muzzle again,her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

Hazel hid her emotions well, I noticed as she comforted her cats,whispering something in their ears.

Earth looked deeply saddened,staring out into  the black, rain soaked night...

Mist kept shaking his head, as if trying to deny what just happened.

A heavy ache filled me.

Oh, stars above, why did this happen?

A dark chuckle sliced the air like a claw and we all banded together as Feral stepped into the clearing,his head held high,blood on his paws, and as usual, surrounded by his cats.

"You mouse-brained fools! You think this Gathering was for a talk of peace? It was simply a trap that you all fell into. I rule this forest. You don't belong here."

Earth stalked forward, blood from a scar on his shoulder and muzzle making him look older.

"We made a home here. And you are not driving us out!"

We yowled our support.

Feral chuckled again,his eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Very well then. Kill them. Kill them all!"

"Warriors!  Stand together!  Don't let them divide you!" ordered Hazel, her eyes blazing as she stood back to back with Winter against a black she-cat with two colored eyes.

I quickly found Cinder,Sap and Wasp along with the other Groups's Newbies fighting together.

The Wise Ones fought together as well against three toms.

Suddenly,a flash of claws hit me upside my head,blood pouring from the wound onto the stone clearing....

Faces of the fallen cats flashed before my eyes before the night and cold rain swallowed me whole,the sounds of the battle fading into deep silence as if the newly fallen snow muffled the sounds...

"Rain! No!"

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I blinked,looking around the sunlit meadow, confused.

"Hello, Rain."

Spider stood before me,as bright as stars,smelling of fresh leaf-bare snow.

I gasped, my eyes wide with fresh grief.

"Spider? Is that you? Where are we? Who else is here? Am I-?"

His dark blue eyes gleamed with wisdom as he spoke again.

"Peace,old friend. We don't have much time for mindless chatter. There's important business that I must take care of before I go. I'm here to bring you a message."

I waited, feeling a terrible ache in my chest.

"The wild threat shall come to an end when a poppy's storm begins and creates anew."

I stared at him as he began to fade,desperate for answers.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He just smiled and touched his muzzle to my forehead,filling me with new strength.

"Tell Berry I didn't mean to leave her... And our kits."

Then,just as he came, he vanished in a gust of wind....

"SPIDER! No! Wait!"

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"Rain? Rain? Can you hear me?"

I blinked my eyes open to meet the ice-blue,light blue and amber eyes of my fellow Heads,looking down at me in concern.

"What happened?"

Mist cleared his throat.

"We managed to drive Feral and his cats away as far as  Echoing Falls near my territory, but there's something else you must know. Hazel? Would you care to explain?"

She stepped forward,her eyes shadowed.

"While you were out, we rounded up our surviving warriors and now,we are deciding what to do next."

She flicked her tail toward Earth and Winter,who were pacing around the clearing.

I rose to my paws quickly.

"We should gather our dead and head home to sit vigil for them and meet back here at the next full moon if possible. "

"I think that's the smartest idea I've heard all night." Winter mumbled, dipping her head.

"I agree." Hazel mewed.

Earth and Mist nodded.

I dipped my head.

"It's settled then. We meet at the full moon and figure out a way to get rid of Feral once and for all."

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THERE YOU GO!

THE FIRST GATHERING IS OVER!!!!

WHAT'S NEXT?

FORESTCLAN ONLY KNOWS!

UNTIL THEN, PEACE!

🐾Moonshadow🐾