"Tornado! It's time for the gathering!" Dobby shook her with his paw. "Come on, wake up! You've been sleeping all day!"

"It's already time?" Tornado stood and stretched. "Okay, I'm coming." They walked out into the center of the clearing and saw Cyclone talking to two cats that smelled of Thunderclan.

"That's Squirrelflight and Lionblaze." Avalanche told her. "Remember? Lionblaze is the tom that attacked you the day we met."

Tornado grimaced. "I remember." She watched the golden tabby tom carefully.

"Alright, Stormclan! Time to go!" Cyclone called.

Since Cyclone had spoken with Starclan, two new arrivals had joined Stormclan. Flood, a very big dark tabby tom, and Blizzard, an all white she-cat with ice blue eyes. Flood didn't talk much, but he seemed to be great at fighting, from all the scars visible on his body. Blizzard was also mysterious. She was young, older than Tornado but younger than Cyclone. She did talk, but not much about her old life.

As the cats filed out of the camp, Dobby stuck to Tornado's side. "Hey, so what do you think about Blizzard and Flood? I think Flood seems kinda scary, but I'm not sure about Blizzard."

"I think they're probably just nervous around all of us. I mean, they hardly know us after all." Tornado meowed. "What do you think about the gathering? Do you think it'll be scary?" She asked.

"Definitely! All those different cats in the same place!" He shuddered. "And they are all those evil clan cats!"

"Dobby, you do realize that we are clan cats now, right?" Tornado curled her tail in amusement.

Suddenly, Dobby stopped talking and pointed with his tail up ahead. "Look!" He whispered. "She's actually talking to some cat! I wonder what they're saying!"

He was pointing to Blizzard, who was walking with Derecho. "Let's get closer and see if we can hear them!" Tornado whispered back. Slowly, they pushed their way through the bigger cats, until they were right behind the two older cats.

"...do you think this clan will last for a long time? I hope it does. It would be a lot better than my life before." Blizzard was saying.

"I hope so too. It's so much better than living with my boring housefolk! And squirrel tastes better than those pellets they give you!" Derecho laughed.

Blizzard laughed. "Oh, it looks like we're almost there! I see cats up ahead." She craned her neck, trying to see better.

Tornado and Dobby exchanged glances and then raced to the front of the group, shoving cats aside as they ran. "Look, Dobby!" Tornado's eyes widened in awe as she saw the huge tree bridge stretching across the silver water to the gathering island. There were cats that smelled strange going across the bridge.

"Who are they?" Typhoon asked Squirrelflight. "They don't smell like Thunderclan."

Squirrelflight flicked her tail, clearly annoyed. "Shadowclan." She growled. "Steer clear of them."

Tornado glanced at Dobby. "Come on, I'll race you across the bridge!" She dashed to the fallen tree, running past the Shadowclan cats, not stopping despite the growls from them. She jumped up on the tree, latching her claws into the bark.

"Better hurry up, Tornado! I'm catching up!" Dobby called from a few tail-lengths behind.

Tornado started running, digging her claws into the bark with each step, her calico tail streaming out behind her. When she saw the end of the tree near, she leapt up high, landing clumsily on the ground of the island. "I beat you, Dobby!" She called. When she didn't get a reply, she turned around. "Dobby?"

The small gray tom was hanging on to the side of the bridge, yowling for help. The lake lapped beneath him, almost touching his tail.

"Save him! Someone save him!" Tornado yowled. "Please, help him!" Her heart was beating so hard it felt as if it were trying to break out of her chest.

All of a sudden, a ginger tom from Shadowclan leapt onto the bridge and grabbed Dobby's scruff, pulling him up.

Dobby sat on the tree with his claws digging into the bark. "T-thank you." He mumbled, shivering.

"We wouldn't want a cat getting hurt at a gathering." The tom growled. Then he crossed the bridge and jumped down next to Tornado.

Tornado watched as Dobby jumped down next to her as well, and then the rest of Shadowclan crossed, followed by the two Thunderclan cats with the Stormclan cats close behind.

"Dobby, be more careful next time." Cyclone told him, no emotion in her voice. "We need them to take us seriously." Then she pushed past them.

"Okay...Cyclone, is it? You go up into the branches of that big tree with the other leaders." Squirrelflight explained. "And your deputy can just follow me."

Cyclone nodded. "Yes, uh, of course."

"You do have a deputy, don't you?" Squirrelflight asked, watching her closely.

"Yes." Cyclone looked around frantically. "Typhoon is my...deputy." She nodded.

Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. "Okay." She flicked her tail in the direction of the big tree. "Typhoon, follow me." She set off in that direction, not even checking if Typhoon was following or not.

Once Lionblaze left too, Cyclone turned to her clan. "We can't show any sign of weakness, okay? We need to show that we are nothing but strong." She looked at Dobby and Tornado. "And that means no foolish games." Then she left, following Bramblestar and the other leaders to the tall tree.

"Let's all sit together." Derecho whispered. "And try not to look scared." He led the way to a place where they could all sit, that was still close to the leaders so they could hear the news. The deputies, including Typhoon, were sitting at the roots of the tree below the leaders. The ginger tom that saved Dobby was also sitting there.

Bramblestar stood on his tree branch, signaling for silence. "As you all know by now, a new clan has entered the forest. Starclan has given their blessing, and these cats will get their own territory." He watched as cats from the original clans gasped, and started whispering. "I know it is a big surprise, but it is Starclan's will." Then Bramblestar changed the subject to boring things about Thunderclan life.

Tornado watched the other leaders closely while they delivered their news, and not one said anything about Stormclan. When they got to Cyclone, Tornado noticed that despite all the suspicious eyes on her, Cyclone's gaze was steady, and she was showing no emotions.

"I understand that all of you aren't very happy about Stormclan joining the forest, but your ancestors have given us permission, and they have given me nine lives." Many of the clan cats seemed too surprised to speak. "I'm sorry if this isn't what you want, but we will stay here. Stormclan is meant to be here for centuries to come, and we will be." She swallowed. "We only must ask one thing from your clans." She began. "Starclan has told me that I must choose a medicine cat, and that he or she must be trained by one of the original clans."

All the leaders were silent.

Until a huge white tom sitting below her on the tree sighed. "Shadowclan can train your medicine cat." He growled.

The ginger tom that had saved Dobby gasped. "Blackstar! Are you crazy? This might be a trick!" He watched the cat called Blackstar in astonishment.

Blackstar shook his head. "I've made up my mind, Rowanclaw. If Starclan is accepting these cats, it's only a matter of time before we are forced to accept them too." He coughed.

Cyclone seemed surprised. "Thank you, Blackstar." She dipped her head in respect.

"Have you even chosen a medicine cat yet?" Rowanclaw asked grumpily.

Cyclone's eyes widened but she stayed calm. "Actually, I...I haven't-"

Blizzard stood up. "Yes, she has." All the cats' eyes turned to her. "I will be Stormclan's medicine cat."

Many Stormclan cat's gasped, but Blackstar nodded. "Very well. You will come back to Shadowclan camp with us, so that Littlecloud can train you." He jumped down from the tree with a huff.

As the other leaders jumped down, Cyclone and Typhoon ran to Blizzard's side.

"Blizzard, are you sure about this?" Cyclone asked worriedly. "You don't have to do this. You will lose a lot of your freedoms. You won't be able to have a mate or kits...or fight in our battles." Cyclone finished.

Blizzard dipped her head. "I'm sure, Cyclone. I think...this is my destiny." She waved goodbye with her tail, and then she was lost amongst the Shadowclan cats.

Derecho's head drooped. "I wish she wouldn't have gone. We got along really well."

"Don't worry, she'll be back. You can still be friends." Tornado meowed.

Cyclone raised her tail for silence. "It's about time we leave, cats." She meowed. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Dobby woke Tornado up at dawn. "Come on, Tornado! We are going to find where our territory will be!" He meowed excitedly. "Don't you want to help decide?"

"Yeah." Tornado sat up groggily, the stale moss in her nest feeling scratchy and uncomfortable. "Anything to get out of this camp." She laughed, and they dashed out into the bright clearing where the rest of the clan was gathered.

Avalanche padded up to them. "Squirrelflight is here again." He rolled his eyes. "She's here to show us where the other clan territories are, so we don't choose them on accident. But she's just as grumpy as ever!" He laughed.

"So is it true?" Tornado asked him. "We get to choose our own territory?" She meowed excitedly.

"Yes." Avalanche replied, not looking very optimistic. "If any of the forest is even left for us." He looked over at Squirrelflight. "I hope there is."

"Let's get going, cats!" Cyclone yowled. "Everyone gets to come, because when we find our territory, we're staying there." She explained. Then she let Squirrelflight lead the way towards Windclan territory.

"I'm taking you along the lake, but when we reach the border between Thunderclan and Windclan, we will follow the river up to the moonpool. I think there might be some territory that no cat owns up that way." Squirrelflight snorted. "I'm not sure how much prey is there...but you will have to deal with whatever you get." She flicked her tail.

Tornado was silent during the whole trip, thinking about how her dream for a clan was coming true just as she was thinking it. Dobby chattered on next to her about who knows what, but she kept her eyes straight ahead until she caught sight of the moonpool. It looked different during the day.

Squirrelflight cleared her throat. "Well, up there is where Thunderclan and Windclan territory stops." She pointed to a very rocky and barren looking area. "It doesn't look fit for cats, but it's all you've got. I will turn back now; if you have any questions...ask Windclan. Your clan is no longer Thunderclan's problem." She growled.

As she stalked away back the way they came, no cat spoke.

Tornado padded slowly over to the rocky expanse, which only had a few small trees and shrubs here and there. A few strands of grass popped up a few tail-lengths apart, but that was it. "Well..." she meowed. "If this is all we got, we have to make the most of it!" She meowed, trying to be optimistic. "Look!" She gestured all around with her tail. "There's tons of hills! There must be a dip in the earth big enough for our camp somewhere!"

Avalanche snorted. "Those aren't hills. They're mini mountains! They are just big rock outcrops!" He laughed halfheartedly. "We'll never find a camp."

Tornado shuffled her paws on the sharp rocks laying on the ground, thinking. She wondered if her clan really wasn't meant to be.

"Hey!" Derecho called out. "Don't give up hope now, everyone! Let's just split up and see if we can find a camp!" He looked around at everyone's defeated faces. "We can't give up, we've got so much more to do!"

Cyclone finally nodded. "Come on, everyone. We have to at least try." She started walking away. "I'll search over this way, and the rest of you; split up and try and find a good camp!"

Tornado's paws itched with anticipation. "Come on, Dobby!" Then they set off, climbing hill after hill, rock after rock, until Tornado was ready to give up. But then, all of a sudden, she spotted moss growing up ahead. "That's strange." She meowed. "That moss is growing randomly in that spot, not close to any trees or grass or anything."

Dobby craned his neck to get a better look. "Let's go check it out!" He dashed away.

"Wait for me!" Tornado called, chasing after him. But her excitement was cut off by Dobby's yowl.

"Stop running, Tornado! Stop running!" He yowled.

But before she could stop, she ran right over the side of a deep hollow. The moss had been growing right up the side. "Dobby!" Tornado wailed as she slipped off the side. Frantically, she tried to grab the moss with her claws, and finally found a pawhold. Breathing heavily, she pulled herself back up next to Dobby.

"That was close!" Dobby breathed. "But hey! Check this place out!"

Tornado leaned over to look into the large hollow. It was shaped sort of like the round bowl her housefolk used to give her milk in, but a little less round, and it was uneven all around the top. There was a pool of water in the middle, being fed by a small waterfall that started about halfway down, seemingly coming right out of the cracks in the rocks. There were several small caves on the sides of the hollow, some with vines covering the entrance. "This...would be the perfect camp!" She meowed excitedly. "The only thing we need is a way down in there!"

"I'll go get everyone else!" Dobby began to race away, but stopped when he realized that everyone had already gathered around.

"We all heard Tornado yowling, and thought something bad had happened." Cyclone explained. "But now I see that it's exactly the opposite!" She curled her tail in amusement. "This is definitely our camp." She meowed.

"Totally! Look, I found a good way down!" Derecho called from the far side of the hollow. He was walking carefully down a set of rocks that jutted out from the side. "It seems to trail all the way to the bottom!" He walked all the way down and then gave an excited leap.

"Yes! Come on, Dobby! Let's choose where everyone will sleep!" Tornado ran over to the top of the rock path and walked slowly down them until she reached the bottom. She waited for Dobby and then ran off to look at all the caves.

When everyone was down in the hollow, Tsunami suddenly called out. "Look! There's a cave behind the waterfall! It's a few tail-lengths up, but there is a trail leading up there too!" She walked up the trail quickly, followed by Cyclone and Typhoon.

"This definitely should be Cyclone's den!" Typhoon called out.

Meanwhile, Tornado and Dobby were scoping out the cave with vines growing over it. "Let's go in." Tornado pushed her way through the vines and found a pretty small cave, the ceiling a tail-length above their heads.

"Look, Tornado! There's a smaller cave attatched to this one!" Dobby went into the smaller cave. "The only way to get in here is through the cave you're in! There's huge tree roots growing in the way of this entrance." He called.

Tornado thought for a moment. "Maybe this can be the medicine cat's den!" She meowed thoughtfully. "She can store her plants in the cave you're in, and sleep in this one! Because it's definitely not big enough for all our cats to sleep in."

"Great idea, Tornado!" Dobby meowed. "I'll go tell the others; you keep exploring!"

Tornado padded out of the cave, looking around. Spotting Avalanche's tail peeking out of one cave, she bounded over to him. "What's in there?" She asked.

He came out, shaking cobwebs from his whiskers. "This cave has a smaller entrance, but it is really big inside. Not big enough for us all to fit in, but, it's big." He sat down, licking a paw and drawing it over his face, cleaning off the rest of the cobwebs. "Maybe when it's cleaned, it could be a nursery?"

Tornado nodded. "I guess we'll be needing one of those!" She laughed.

"Hey everyone!" Flood called out. "I think I found a den big enough for all the warriors!"

All the cats followed him to a huge den. The ceiling was pretty low, only a few mouse lengths above their heads, but there was three entrances, all of which were covered in vines.

"I think those vines will keep the cold air out in the winter." He meowed.

"This is great!" Cyclone looked all around. "Well, if we're going to get any sleep tonight, be better start making our nests now. The moss at the top of the hollow should work for that, but be careful carrying it down. And I think I saw some feathers laying around here that we could put in our nests to make them softer." She left the den.

"This is gonna be awesome!" Tornado excitedly squeaked before dashing out of the den to collect some moss.