Painted Stones:

Grovestar went up one of the pillars at the Painted Stones carefully while waiting for the other leaders. "This is so exciting! I can't believe this is my first gathering!" gushed Rosepaw. She looked over to Dewpaw. "I mean, it seems cool but whatever."

Dewpaw snickered. "You're such a kit."

Grovestar sighed, thinking about how the leaders were late when she was early.

Eyriestar led his clan into Painted Stones, and took a seat on one the pillars reserved for the three leader's. "Miss me, Grovestar?" he purred, flashing her a smile. Kestreleye sat beside Lightningtail and nuzzled against him.

"Oh look Dewpaw, two EyrieClan apprentices!" said Rosepaw, failing not to sound excited. "Do you wanna say hi or just ignore them. I'm fine with either honestly."

Dahliapaw went to sit with the apprentices, and Shrillpaw stayed close to Lightningtail and Kestreleye. He still didn't trust the other Clan after what happened to DuneClan.

Rosepaw padded over to them and fluffed out her fur, trying to look cool. "Oh sorry, I didn't see you there before. I'm Rosepaw, and this is my friend Dewpaw. Who're you supposed to be?" Grovestar casually rolled her eyes.

"I'm Dahliapaw!" The apprentice mewed.

"Hi, Dahliapaw." Dewpaw formally dipped his head.

"The gathering has begun." Dunestar's meow rang over the cats.

"Hi there!" The apprentice quieted down after hearing the leader's voice.

"We'll talk after," whispered Rosepaw to Dahliapaw. Dahliapaw nodded and turned her muzzle to the leaders.

"Took you long enough," muttered Eyriestar as Dunestar took her place.

"We'll talk after," whispered Rosepaw to Dahliapaw.

Grovestar went first without asking any of the leaders. "GroveClan has been well, we attacked the Children of the Ember and killed two of their comrades, Wolf and Pike. We gave DuneClan their territory back after..uh..attacking them, and GroveClan has plenty of prey."

Eyriestar's eyes widened. "I didn't know about this. What do you mean 'you attacked them?'"

"Pfft," Dahliapaw tried to hold in a laugh.

"He's not very bright, is he?" whispered Rosepaw.

"I know, right!" Dahliapaw whispered, conjuring a quick, invisible wall around then while they spoke, so they wouldn't get in trouble.

"Wow, how did you learn how to do that?" squealed Rosepaw, forgetting to be cool.

Dewpaw looked amazed. "Woah!"

Dunestar raised her chin. "We were raided by GroveClan for no valid reason."

"I have realized my mistakes," Grovestar said.

"That can't be true. Is it Grovestar?" asked Eyriestar.

Dewpaw looked amazed. "Woah!"

"It is true and I'm sorry."

"Well, you said sorry so I'm sure all is forgiven," said Eyriestar. Eagletalon groaned loudly.

Dunestar rolled her eyes. "You didn't seem very sorry when Stargazer visited us!"

"Well now I am!" Grovestar retorted.

"What changed?" asked Eyriestar, enjoying the drama.

Dunestar snorted. "Stargazer made his point clear, you sir did not."

"I'm a ma'am and- I truly am sorry!" Grovestar apologized again.

Dunestar narrowed her eyes. "Sorry for what exactly?"

"Attacking you!" Grovestar retorted.

"Pretty hostile for an apologetic person," said Eyriestar, trying not to laugh.

"Ok? And?"

Grovestar started to grow angry. "Since you want to be rude, you don't deserve an apology!"

Eagletalon coughed. Eyriestar looked disappointed but spoke. "As much as I'm enjoying this, shouldn't we get on with the reports. Grovestar is sorry and I'm sure she's learned her lesson about attacking other clans." He gave Grovestar a wink. "Right?" Grovestar nodded.

Dunestar lashed her tail. "Sure," she hissed. "Prior to the attack, DuneClan has been doing surprisingly well."

"Prey has been surprisingly plentiful as well, and our warriors are strong and prepared if anyone were to try anything," said Sunscar.

Grovestar nodded to Dunestar and waited for Eyriestar to speak, so she could go back to her Clan because she was tired.

"Oh, that's nice. My clan's a mess. An eagle snatched an apprentice, prey's nowhere in sight-"

Eagletalon coughed very loudly. Eyriestar stared into space for a few moments. "Prey is plentiful in EyrieClan this Leaf-bare. All our cats are strong, yadda yadda, I'm done."

Grovestar nodded and jumped off the stone, racing back to GroveClan camp.

"Now's your chance!" hissed Sandyflight. "Sandsky, get to know those two apprentices. We might not get another chance for a moon." She pointed to Rosepaw and Dahliapaw with her tail.

Sandsky did as Sandyflight said and walked over to the apprentices. "Umm hi are you Rosepaw and Dahliapaw?" She asked

Rosepaw looked up, eyes narrowed. "Oh look Dahliapaw. An old person. What do you want?"

"I dont want to waste too much of your time, I will try to be quick. You may not believe me but..." Sandsky glanced around making sure no other cat was watching. Just tell them, she thought to herself. "You guys are most likely part of a prophecy that I dont know much about, but it's definitely important," she blurted out.

Rosepaw looked at Sandsky, suddenly interested. "I... uh, definitely don't know what you're talking about. Out of totally random curiosity, what do you know about the prophecy?"

Of course when she needed to remember it most she forgot most of it. "Something about fire and sand...I think...point is there are 6 chosen cats and you guys are one of them," Sandsky told them.

"Well, since I didn't already know that, thank you Sandsky." Rosepaw chuckled. "If you ever remember more of the prophecy, let's meet here and maybe we can figure the whole thing out. Honestly, you two'd be lost without me."

"Ummm...ok," Sandsky said

"See ya," said Rosepaw, padding away with her tail held high. "Bye Dahliapaw."

Dewpaw followed after Rosepaw. "She's sweet." Dewpaw smiled. "It'd be nice if our own Clan had sweet clanmates like her."

"I guess," said Rosepaw. "Well, I guess you can come along to see her with me if you want Dewpaw." She looked up at the moon. "Foxdung, we're late! Grovestar will have our pelts!"

Sandsky just stood there for a while and went back to Sandyflight."Well, how were the little brats, Sandsky?" asked Sandyflight.

"They were...okay," Sandsky responded. "Rosepaw said to come here again so I can tell them more about the prophecy. I forgot most of it. Can you tell me it again, so I remember?"

"Sure," hissed Sandyflight. "I've memorized the whole bloody thing. It goes:

A fire lights a collar left on the sand,

6 will be chosen when all seems lost,

3 to preserve, 3 to destroy.

If 3 become one, the clans will die,

But only their sacrifice will heal the poison of hate."

Sandsky nodded "I will do my best to remember that."

"I don't blame you if you forget," muttered Sandyflight. "It's a mouthful."

"It really is," Sandsky agreed

A cold breeze blew through Painted Stones. "Let's get back to camp, before I freeze my pelt off," grumbled Sandyflight. Sandsky nodded and followed Sandyflight back to camp.

The Children of Ember pt. 1:

Owl limped into the temporary camp, gasping in exhaustion. His leg was shooting pain and it looked weirdly out of shape. He sighed, collapsing. Fox moved over to Owl. "Here, I brought you a vole. Need me to fix you a splint?"

"Yes please. I would do it myself but I can't really move," admitted Owl

"Just hold still, I'll find the right stick." Fox raced away and came back with a few different sized sticks, some fresh cobweb and comfrey leaves. She measured out the sticks until she found ones that matched Owl's leg perfectly. She removed his dirty old bandages, wound his leg to the splint with cobwebs and wrapped the whole thing in comfrey leaves. "There," she said, stepping back to admire her handywork.

Owl looked at her gratefully. "Thank you Sister." He licked her ears.

Fox purred and looked up at Owl, smiling. "It was my pleasure."

Sky stepped out into the clearing, letting his voice ring around the area. "Tonight Children, we shall attack the Clan that has done us wrong! Everyone meet outside the GroveClan camp at sundown!"

Owl whimpered. "I want to fight!" He glanced at his leg.

Delilah sighed at the tom. "I'm sure you'll be able to fight again someday. For now, you need to rest, or it'll only get worse."

Owl struggled up. "No! It's the Clans!" he cried.

Delilah places a paw heavily on his shoulder. "I know," she replied quietly.

"Don't worry Owl, Sky has a plan to attack the clans this very night," said Fox. Her ears twitched. "Oh look, I think we have company," she said as Koi and her siblings padded into the clearing.

The striped she-cat flicked her ears, surveying the group of cats. She knew cats lived in the area, but she hadn't expected to run into any of them. Her sister, Mocha, bounded forward. "Hello!" she exclaimed.

Fox looked at the three newcomers skeptically. "The name's Fox. I haven't seen you three around these parts before. You new?"

"Ye-" Mocha was about to answer, before Wicker slapped her tail over her sister's mouth. "I'm Wicker. This is my oblivious sister Mocha. And that's Koi. Our other sister, Winter, isn't with us," she stated calmly.

Koi smiled, watching Mocha jerk her muzzle away from Wicker. "As I was trying to say, yes, we are new. Nice to meet you!"

"Charmed," said Fox dryly. "When did you come here?"

"We left this morning." Wicker mewed, a slight edge to her voice. "We're not here to cause trouble, though." She sat down calmly. "Do you live here?" Mocha curiously asked, shifting her black and white paws. Koi shook her head silently at her sister's antics, and began to scratch at the pink collar around her neck.

Fox looked at the three loners thoughtfully. "Yes. My people have lived on this land for generations. Or we did, until some horrible cats tried to chase us out."

Mocha let out a gasp. "Oh that's horrible!" she said.

Koi chuckled. "Probably had good reason to," she shot back.

Wicker quickly cuffed her younger sister over the ears, as if Koi was a kit. "Watch your mouth!" she hissed.

Fox stiffened momentarily, then chuckled. "It's fine, I know you're just trying to get a rise out of me." Her eyes darkened. "But these cats are no joke. They came here across the old landbridge and tried to take the land for themselves. They have all these rules about where you're allowed to go, and who you're allowed to love. If you're not one of them, they'll attack you if you go on 'their territory.'"

Mocha flicked her tail. "That's really cruel!" she said.

Koi rolled her eyes, before turning to look at Fox. "You gonna do anything about it?" she asked, a bit of challenge to her voice. Wicker, the oldest of the three she-cats, glared at Koi, but said nothing.

Fox scoffed, "Of course we are. We're planning a raid on one of their camps tonight. If you wanna come, we can split the loot."

Koi's ears perked up at the word 'loot' She sat up. "Sure!" she exclaimed.

Mocha shifted her claws nervously. "Do I have to fight?" she asked.

Wicker looked at Fox thoughtfully for a moment. "We'll help. You didn't deserve to be driven out of your home. But we're only helping with the raid. Don't expect anything else," she emphasised.

Fox smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it. Meet me here at moonhigh, that's when the attack starts."

"Alright." Wicker flicked her tail. "See you then." Wicker mewed, dipping her head.

Koi sprang up from where she sat, flexing her claws. "Oh I can't wait!" The she-cat said, pacing excitedly. Fox returned the gesture, padding off into the woods.

Wicker set off, with Koi following closely behind her. Mocha followed after the two, tail drooping. She looked back at Fox, before following her sister off in the distance.

Owl growled. "What's the matter, Owl?" asked Fox when the loners walked away. "Don't you trust our new 'friends?'"

Owl twitched, and his eyes rolled back "No."

Owl looked at his leg, then his ears perked up. "I know what I did to it!" he growled. He took his leg in his jaws, firmly gripping it. He gave a tug, and gave a screech as it popped back in place. "How could I be so stupid? Now I can fight." Owl got up, staggering slightly. "I will fight," he growled.

"Slow down, Tiger," said Fox. "Remember to keep that cast in place," she smiled, "but it'll be great to have you fighting by my side again."

Owl looked at her. "Tiger." He murmured. "I like Tiger." He pressed his muzzle to her ear. "Thank you, Sister."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she chuckled, giving Owl a friendly nuzzle. Soon, The sun was lowering and excitement wormed in Owl's belly.

Sky kept a watchful eye on the setting sun. "It's time," mewed the Chosen.

"Just think, Tiger," purred Fox. "Soon GroveClan cats blood will be on our claws and their prey in our belly."

"Yes." Sky joined the two cats.

"I wonder where those loners are?" asked Fox to no one in particular. "It's almost time for the raid." Fox prodded Sky with her tail. "Sky, you ready to start the raid?"

Sky nodded. "To the GroveClan camp!"

GroveClan Camp:

Brokenleg was sitting, eating a mouse, when a sound reached her ears. The sounds of pawsteps... "Die, invaders!" screamed Fox. She leapt at Brokenleg. Across GroveClan camp, Children of the Ember streamed in from all sides.

Brokenleg hissed in surprise, easily batting away the other cat. These invaders clearly weren't trained, all except one. She leaped forward to the burly white tom sending cats hurtling in his wake. That's where she needed to be.

Fox did the math. With the help of their loner allies, they had 17 cats to GroveClan's 4 warriors. Leaping from cat to cat, she attacked their back legs while they were distracted by her fellow Acolytes. She left Brokenleg to Sky, she knew he'd kill her if she even tried to interfere in one of his fights.

Darkwing jumped into battle, landing into Fox, her fellow elders behind her. Fox kicked Darkwing off her. "Ooh," purred Fox, licking her chops, "aren't you Firestrike's mother? Killing you will be just the message I want to send ..." Fox drew the attention of her fellow Acolytes, and 6 of them launched themselves at the elders.

Darkwing hissed, and under all the chaos, she jumped into a tree where no cat could see her, smell her or hear her.

Facing 6 Acolytes all on their own, the elders were quickly beaten back. Scratched and bleeding, they were thrust to the ground. Fox put a claw at Stumpyface's throat. "Come out, come out wherever you are! I suppose I should have expected Firestrike's mother to be a coward, but to abandon your own 'clanmates' in battle? Face us or this weakling will taste the sting of my claw!"

Darkwing tumbled down onto Fox sending Fox crashing into a tree. Emboldened by Darkwing's bravery, the elders started to fight back, throwing off their attackers. GroveClan was pushing the attackers back, putting all of their training to good use. However, the fresh-kill pile was still undefended, and the loners and a few of the Acolytes were starting to loot the prey.

Turquoise came at Darkwing, claws poised to strike.Darkwing tried to push Turquoise off. Turquoise dodged and pounced on Darkwing, flipping her over. She dug her claws into Darkwing's throat. Turquoise was about to deliver the killing bite when Silverstep lept at Turquoise, pushing her off Darkwing and into a rock.

Fox saw that they'd already captured most of the Fresh-kill pile. "Retreat!" she shrieked, "We've got what we came for." The Children and loners evacuated, leaving the unconscious Turquoise behind.

Owl growled, raking the cats with her claws viciously one final time. "I will kill every one of you!" He yowled.

"We've done it Tiger, great work!" yowled Fox. "We've got the prey, let's go!" Owl ran.

Grovestar walked into the camp and saw all the ruckus. "Clan meeting! The Children of Ember must have attacked while we were gone! Since they have stolen our prey, I want hunting patrols out now, Firestrike, go heal Darkwing and Larchfang and Cedarclaw, take the Children cat into the elder's den. The elders will sleep in the warriors den. Now Breezewing will organize the hunting patrols."

"Brokenleg, you know about the Children," said Silverstep. "Where do you think they've run off to."

Grovestar looked at Silverstep, and answered for Brokenleg. "They probably went to their Cave of Something!"

Breezewing organized the patrols, "The first hunting patrol will have me, Cherrymask and Mallowskip. The second hunting patrol will have Minnowpaw, Cedarclaw and Grovestar. The third hunting patrol will have Silverstep, Larchfang, Dewpaw and Thornstrike. Brokenleg and Rosepaw will guard the camp."

Silverstep bowed. "As you wish Grovestar. Larchfang, Thornstrike, and Dewpaw, follow me." She led the hunting patrol out of the camp entrance. Breezewing nodded, jumping off the Mossy Stump and led Cherrymask and Mallowskip out of the camp while Grovestar and her patrol, Minnowpaw and Cedarclaw followed behind

Silverstep returned to camp with some of the prey. "We were able to recapture this, but the rogues fled as soon as we caught up to their hiding place," Silverstep reported to Grovestar. She padded over to Brokenleg. "Are you okay? Just checking in because that Sky character looks like he did a number on you."

Brokenleg shivered "His words aren't ten times sharper than his claws." She kept it a secret that she was working for the Chosen. She had scratched herself many times during the turmoil of the fight.

"Still, you should have Firestrike check it out. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," said Silverstep. Her expression suddenly changed. "It's not like you're one of my family," she hissed.

"O-ok." Brokenleg gulped and headed to the medicine den.

"Wait!" Silverstep rushed over to Brokenleg. "I'm sorry for my outburst. It wasn't fair to take it out on you. I'm just sore about the time Breezewing hurt my daughter and Firestrike refused to heal her because I spoke out against having yet another battle. I just got carried away."

"It's okay," Brokenleg mewed, but she still stayed a step away from the other warrior. Silverstep left Brokenleg to her own devices, walking over to talk to Thornstrike, Larchfang, and Stumpyface in hushed voices.

Firestrike put some cobwebs on Darkwing's wounds. Firestrike looked at Brokenleg walk in and he automatically put some cobwebs on the scratches.

Breezewing wondered what the cats were talking about, but didn't say anything. "Clan meeting!" Grovestar shouted. "We will attack the Children of the Ember again in a quarter moon! We will make them regret stealing our prey!"

"Yes!" cheered the clan. They stomped their feet in approval. "Grovestar, Grovestar!" Grovestar smiled to herself, happy that her Clan wasn't rebelling anymore.

Grovestar walked into the elder's den. "Hello, Turquoise." She said.

"What do you want?" she hissed.

"Are you enjoying your...stay?"

"No one enjoys being trapped!" she retorted.

Grovestar rolled her eyes. "Well, at least we are providing you food and a nest!" In a quarter moon, Turquoise will make a great Clan member, she thought.

"What do you want from me?" asked Turquoise.

"I want you to join our Clan," Grovestar said.

Turquoise scoffed "You can't be serious." She turned her back on Grovestar.

Silverstep slipped into the elders' den. "Grovestar, allow me to care for the prisoner," she purred. "In time, I can get her to see things our way." Grovestar nodded, sitting outside the elder's den, guarding it just in case Turquoise attacked Silverstep.

The Children of Ember pt. 2:

Owl purred as he came to the temporary sleeping place for the night. "I hope we move tomorrow. We can't let the Clan cats find us."

"You're right," said Fox. She padded over to Owl. She lay down next to him, purring. "But at least I'll get to spend this night with you."

Owl settled down, looking at the prey and taking a mouse. He knew that Clancats had some Elder or Kits go first rule, but with the Children, it was first come first serve. "Wanna share this mouse with me, Sly?" he purred, padding up to Fox.

"Mmm, sure," said Fox, letting Owl feed her the mouse.

Dahliapaw padded carefully through GroveClan's forest. Hope had told her about the raid at the Gathering, so she knew where she'd need to find the Chosen. She sped around a corner, and saw Owl and Fox feasting happily next to a pile of prey taller than she was. "Hi there you two!" She mewed "do you know where the Chosen is by any chance? I need to get my report to him before sunhigh."

Fox finished eating her mouse and looked up at Dahliapaw. "He's went to the Cave of Prophecy to make a report to The Oracle." Fox nudged a vole towards Dahliapaw. "You look like you could use this, I heard that WhateverClan you're staying in isn't doing so well in the prey department."

"Thanks!" She gnawed hungrily at the vole, finishing it in four, hungry bites. She then bade farewell to her Brother and Sister, and headed to the Cave of Prophecy. She wouldn't go in, but she'd wait for Sky outside.

"Thanks Sly." Owl said, retreating to their temporary den.

"So, what did you loners score on the raid?" asked Fox, seeing Koi and her sisters come into the clearing. Owl flicked his tail, flanking Fox. He glared at the loners, his lips pulled back to show his yellow, ragged, and bloody teeth. The loners ignored them both, retreating deeper into the woods to feast on their stolen prey.

The Cave of Prophecy:

"Sky," called The Oracle. "How did your raid on GroveClan go?"

"Fairly well. We managed to gather most of the Clan's prey, and also managed to seriously injure one of the leader's parents, by the name of Darkwing. But we also lost Turquoise in the battle, and we still can't find her." Sky dipped his head to the she-cat.

The Oracle looked thoughtful and started pacing around the cave. "We are glad to hear of this victory, but we must recover Turquoise. We will send an envoy to DuneClan, since they seem to be the clan friendliest to our interests. From there, We will set up a meeting with GroveClan and find out what they want in return for her escape. If diplomacy fails, you will lead a rescue mission. No Sister should be left behind."

"Agreed." The white tom mewed as he turned and left the cave, finding Dahliapaw outside. "Oh good, you're finally here."

"I know I'm late, but I couldn't get away from my new mentor, especially ever since Quailpaw was taken. I don't have much to report, but I do know that Eyriestar won't mind keeping 'rogues' safe in camp. We kept Finch there for a few days after finding her."

"That's good to hear, little one. Now quick, get home before anyone notices you're gone!"

Sky watched as the apprentice dashed away, using her power to disguise herself in the trees and bushes.