MOUSETAIL WATCHED, LEANING into Skystorm, as Blizzardpelt and Owlheart led Spotted-song and Dawnsplash away to the prison. The air seemed cold, even on a hot day like this. Skystorm stared after them, his green eyes clouded with despair. Mousetail could understand. Spottedsong was his sister. He couldn't possibly be able to take this calmly, considering how much of a sympathetic personality he had.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to Skystorm. "I know this must be a shock and a pain to you. It was unpredictable."

Skystorm just sighed in reply. "Yeah, super unpredictable. But it makes sense. So many other cats have been affected like this by MoonClan, so why shouldn't she? She was always destined to be part of their games. I mean, I think it's MoonClan. It only makes sense. I shouldn't be so surprised."

"Don't say that. You have every right to be surprised, or angry, or hurt. She kept it a secret from you. She shouldn't have done that." Mousetail gave his ear a comforting lick and pressed close to him. "I'm going to check on Dovepaw. Do you want to come with me?"

"Oh, no, that's fine. Thanks for the offer, though," Skystorm meowed.

Mousetail nodded, touched his nose with hers, and swiftly strode to the medicine den. She peeked inside and saw Dovepaw lying completely still on a moss nest. One side of her face was bandaged, and her shoulder was swathed in cobwebs. Frozenfang was resting in a nest behind her. The strong reek of wounds and herbs sent Mousetail's head spinning, but she ignored it and went in. "Hi, Dovepaw. How are you doing?"

"Fine. I'm disappointed that I don't get to go to the Gathering," Dovepaw responded quietly. She looked sad about something. She turned her gaze to her paws again. Mousetail inched closer, curious to what it was.

"It's something else, though, isn't there?" Mousetail asked. Dovepaw looked up at her again, looking agitated. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Dovepaw studied her silently, her blue eyes thoughtful. "I don't think I should tell. It's Spottedsong's secret. I think she told me because she thought I wouldn't live to tell anyone."

"Sure. But she's in prison now. You can tell me, and her secret's safe with me," Mousetail promised.

"I'm not going to tell you. If I told you, her life could be in danger. I haven't trusted you with secrets ever since you told Lynxstar that I was meeting with Foxclaw again," Dovepaw explained, clearly trying hard to keep her annoyance secret.

"That wasn't a secret because I didn't agree to keep it a secret," Mousetail answered. "Besides, I didn't think about how it would affect you before I went ahead and told her. It was my mistake. I promise I won't do it again. Just tell me what you know."

"No."

"Please?"

"For StarClan's sake, will you just leave it alone?" Dovepaw snapped finally.

Mousetail held her gaze for a moment before deciding it was no use. "Okay, fine. But tell me something else."

"Here we go," Dovepaw muttered.

Mousetail ignored her comment. "Have you discovered anything else about your powers? Why didn't they work for Frozenfang?" she asked desperately, hoping that Dovepaw wouldn't be as stubborn this time.

"We haven't discovered anything new. I was kind of busy with other things," Dovepaw replied. "Does that answer your question?"

Mousetail frowned. You have a new ability and you haven't taken the time to figure anything out? "Yeah. Thanks. I'm going to find Skystorm again. We might be leaving for the Gathering soon."

"Okay. Bye." Dovepaw settled down again and Mousetail left the den. She looked around for Skystorm and found him talking to Cloudsky.

"Hi," Mousetail greeted them as she walked up to join them. She gave Skystorm a friendly lick on the cheek. "How are you doing?"

"I'm going to say bye to Frozenfang," Cloudsky meowed as he headed in the direction of the medicine den.

"Fine. I was talking to Cloudsky about Spottedsong and the Gathering. You know, things that could happen when we're there," Skystorm explained. "Does Dovepaw know anything about Spottedsong?"

Mousetail let out a frustrated huff. "Yes, but she's being stubborn and won't tell me. She says she can't trust me with secrets ever since I caught her with Foxclaw a few moons ago. So much for not holding grudges."

"I'm sorry," Skystorm mewed. "Hopefully you can get some information out of her soon."

"Maybe, but you know I'm not the type to force information out of any cat," Mousetail pointed out. "So it will be a while before she opens up and tells us."

"Sure." Skystorm glanced up at the sky. The full moon was appearing in the wide expanse of the night sky. There was beginning to be a chill on the wind. The cats of FrostClan were gathering at the entrance of the camp, ready for the Gathering. "Should we start going?"

"Of course. Will you be okay if Lynxstar mentions what happened today?" Mousetail asked as they joined the crowd.

"Of course, I will," Skystorm purred reassuringly. He twisted his tail around Mousetail's. "You don't have to be so worried about me."

"Sure, I do. I love you. If you aren't worried about the cat you love, that's not real love," Mousetail pointed out, gazing into Skystorm's eyes lovingly.

Skystorm smiled. He licked the top of her head affectionately. "That's why I like you."

***

At the Gathering, Mousetail leaped onto the ground of the island, her legs shaking and her heart thumping in her chest from the daring walk across the tree-bridge. Skystorm landed beside her and they headed into the swarm of cats together. It looked like they were only waiting for WindClan to get there. She looked around for one of her friends and spotted Gingerpaw. She glanced at Skystorm excitedly and dashed toward the pretty ginger apprentice. "Hi, Gingerpaw!" she greeted her.

"Hi, Mousepaw. Actually, I'm Gingerstripe now." The ginger warrior beamed proudly, puffing out her chest.

"And I'm Mousetail. And this is Skystorm, not Skypaw." Mousetail introduced Skystorm, proudly emphasizing his new name. "Are Silverpaw and Darkpaw warriors, too?"

"Yep. And fighting. Like always," Gingerstripe responded, flicking her tail toward where the two ShadowClan cats were muzzle-to-muzzle in an argument. "Twistedclaw will deal with it or they'll fight it out. Either one works. Great StarClan, those two are a pain in the tail."

Mousetail purred. Gingerstripe often talked on and on about how her friends were forever arguing, but they were still best friends. But her purr died down as she had a disturbing thought. Is that how Dovepaw and I will end up? She's always being so stubborn and distant lately. "So, what are their new names?"

"Silverfoot and Darkclaw. If they weren't my Clanmates, I would have clawed off their ears by now," Gingerstripe meowed through clenched teeth. She edged closer to Mousetail, glancing at Skystorm nervously. "Did you tell him yet?"

"He told me," Mousetail answered, nudging her friend away gently. "Now I hope we have kits soon," she added happily.

Skystorm purred and pressed closer to Mousetail. "Me, too."

"That's amazing. Congratulations," Gingerstripe mewed cheerfully.

"The Gathering is about to begin!" Brightstar announced over the chatter. The WindClan cats were arriving from the tree-bridge. Some FrostClan cats bristled slightly and hissed.

"What is up with them?" Gingerstripe asked, staring at the angry FrostClan cats with wide green eyes.

"It's a long story," Mousetail admitted. "I'm sure Lynxstar will explain it during the meeting."

"Oh, okay." Gingerstripe looked concerned, but she didn't question any further. She dipped her head and joined her Clanmates as the Gathering began. Mousetail and Skystorm joined their Clanmates, too. Cloudsky had been waiting for them.

When the Clans settled down, Brightstar stepped forward and announced, "Tonight Lynxstar will share first."

There were some concerned murmurs that rippled through the Clan, but the cats didn't protest as Lynxstar began to speak.

"There has been another battle. But not from MoonClan." She shot a look at Breezestar, who looked tense as he watched Lynxstar steadily. "WindClan."

Shocked murmurs and yowls began to rise from ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan. But the WindClan and FrostClan cats stayed silent, not daring to look at one another.

Lynxstar continued. "One of our warriors was injured badly. Frozenfang nearly died after the battle. But other than that, the battle has not affected us." She turned to Breezestar, anger showing in her eyes. "What drove you to command your warriors to do such a thing?"

She won't tell the Clans what happened with Dawnsplash and Spottedsong. That's probably a good idea. But what if MoonClan is coming for them? They have to know! Mousetail glanced at Skystorm and Cloudsky. Cloudsky was tense as Lynxstar mentioned Frozenfang. He had been particularly close to Frozenfang, especially after she nearly died. Skystorm, on the other hand, looked worried. Probably for the same reason that Mousetail was.

Breezestar looked hesitant, as if he were making up a lie. But why? What was he hiding? Was MoonClan involved? Were they already targeting the other Clans? Mousetail shifted her paws uneasily in the dust.

Breezestar glared back at Lynxstar and snarled, "Don't you remember the first time we had a Gathering with your Clan? Remember when we wanted to drive you out if MoonClan is supposedly targeting us, too? I'm keeping that night's argument alive. You must be driven out or wiped out if all of the Clans are in danger!"

"That simple argument was nothing to keep arguing about," Lynxstar responded calmly. "We will get this settled, I promise you."

Mousetail flicked her ear disbelievingly. I don't know about that. Even after running away we still aren't safe from them.

"Simple?" Breezestar scoffed. "That argument was not simple. Especially to us." He flicked his tail toward all of the Clan cats below. "It may be easy for you because you have been dealing with this for a long time. But cats are dying. From your Clan, from ThunderClan, and now what? Who will be next to suffer?"

"No one will need to suffer if you leave us alone," Lynxstar retorted.

"That's not true!" called a WindClan warrior, Juniperstorm. The soft murmuring of the cats died and they turned their attention to the red tom. "After you came here, and ThunderClan helped you settle in, one of their cats almost died, and another was brutally murdered and we still don't know who killed her."

Yowls of agreement erupted from the Clan cats.

Lynxstar still held her head high and pridefully. "Say whatever you want. We are trying our best."

Fallenstar scoffed. "Sure," he muttered. Then he raised his voice. "You call hiding out in your camp and not even taking action to stop MoonClan 'trying your best'? Unlikely."

When more angry protests rose, shadows fell over the clearing. Mousetail looked up at the sky and saw clouds drifting across the luminous white moon. "StarClan is angry!" Fawnspots yowled. "The Gathering is at an end."

The leaders hesitated before they leaped off of the Great Oak. They gathered their Clanmates and took turns leaving the island. Mousetail stayed close to Skystorm as they neared the tree-bridge. "We might be on our own on this," Mousetail meowed softly to Skystorm.

"Unlikely," Skystorm responded. "The rest of the Clans may be stubborn now, but we'll be able to get them to help us on this if not at least trust us."

"I hope you're right," Mousetail sighed.

Skystorm touched the top of her head lightly with his muzzle. "I am. I'm always right."