((*cant think of all mah cats!! im missing one....lets see, Windrush, Wishcomet, Cougarfeatehr is obviously sitting with the rest of the deputies below the leaders, Adderstrike, Dreamsplash, Finchtail is gone, Birdfall is dead.....oh!! *faispalm* Moonsong XD))

Moonsong sat on the other side of Lionfur, muzzle pointed to the sky. Her eyes were closed and her ears pricked forward. The gathering, it was different for her, since she was a tribe cat. She was listening for signs from her ancestors. They came in more subtle ways. The whisper in the wind, the babble of a stream, and even the croak of a frog. One just had to learn to listen.

Moonsong opened her eyes and stood up, starting to follow Oakfeather. She wondered what he had found. But then remembered, he had been looking for his parents or siblings here. And he probably wanted her to get close enough to someone to smell them.

__

Windrush glanced at Darkfire again, "nothing." he said, "not anymore." he felt proud of himself. Darkfire was moons older than him, and even a bit bigger.

__

Wishcomet sighed, "the dogs have attacked all of the clans, but StoneClan thinks they got rid of them for good." she said((the three Clans and their leaders are Strikeclan-Wolfstar, Rushclan-Silverstar and StoneClan-....what should their leaders name be? XD))

__

Adderstrike got up and followed Limefeather, "where do you think you are going?" he asked once he had caught up to her, "you cant just walk away from a Clan Gathering! Wolfstar will Claw your ears off!" he hissed.

__

Dreamsplash glanced at Oakfeather curiously as he approached the strange tom that had been watching her. Even though the tom had the silver coat of Wolfstar, he was similar to Oakfeather in size and stature. She watched as the tom stood up to face Moonsong and Oakfeather. The similarities were more and more obvios, and reached their peak when he began to walk, his stride was similar to Oakfeather's. And Wolfstar's. Now that she thought of it. ((how about their mother is from StoneClan, father from RushClan, and they gave their kits to StrikeClan becuase they didnt want them to be treated badly because they would be half-bloods XD))

__

Tigerheart padded up to Oakfeatehr and Moonsong, "I noticed you two were walking over to me," he said, "can I help you at all?" he had recognized his son almost immeadeately, but the she-cat? He didnt know her.

"I'm going to go check on Feralwind and Poppypaw," she said smoothly, not looking at him. "I'm sure Wolfstar will understand about putting another cat before yourself." Her tail tip twitched. "Where are you going? You're supposed to be keeping watch over the gathering."

~

Oakfeather blinked a few times, caught off guard by seeing his own eyes reflected in the older tomcat. "We wanted to speak to you," he said. "About me, my brother, and my sister." He nudged Moonsong and muttered under his breath so only she could here, "Does he smell like any of us?"

~

Lionfur smiled. "Oh, okay then." She chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder.

~

Snakepaw frowned. "That doesn't sound right... Didn't the others chase them off?" He flicked his ears, listening closely to Wolfstar and (lol Random name) Sunstar bicker. The she-cat was trying to make her point heard.

"We chased the dogs off just yesterday!" The golden she-cat boasted, "We didn't loose a single cat!"

Wolfstar curled his lip, loosing his patience. "You didn't loose any cats, because no cats fought any dogs. We chased the dogs towards the horse place. Your territory is in the opposite direction!"

"They must have come back through," Sunstar sniffed, tossing her head. "You probably never even noticed."

Wolfstar was starting to bristle a little bit. "What are you suggesting? That my Clan is not capable of keeping up our borders?"

~

Adderstrike shrugged, "I'm going back to the gathering." he said.((DARN! i had a plan for him after he got back......but i cant remember it now cuz i had to go pack for a trip XD))

__

Moonsong sniffed the air, "more like you and Wolfstar than Dreamsplash, but I can sort of se similarities to her." she replied quietly.

Tigerheart flicked his ears.((their mtoerhs name will be meadowsong!! she looks like Dreamsplash, cept wiht more splotches and tabby stipes in them right? XD)) "and who would your sibling be?" he asked, acting like he didnt know what Oakfeather was talking about.

__

Cougarfeatehr looked up at the sky, coulds were beginning to form. She rose to her paws, "enough of this nonsense!" she called, facing Wolfstar and Sunstar, "can't you see StarClan is displeased?" she asked, "now, fighting is getting us nowhere, Sunstar, I was with that patrol that fought the dogs. They were huge, and very strong. They killed a friend of mine, and Birdfall was a great fighter and quick on his feet. And Wolfstar, what if they saw the dogs before they got to us?" she pointed out, "they wouldnt have stayed very long in StoneClan because, no offense Sunstar, but there isnt much for them there. all there is for prey is mice and birds, hardly prey for a dog. We have rabbits, and deer run through our forest, it only makes sense that they would bother to fight for a teritory like ours. Its well suited for dogs." she said, sitting back down and wrapping her tail around her paws and looking up at the leaders waiting for their reaction.

"Wolfstar's my brother," he said, actually noting that he and Wolfstar were about the same age. "And Dreamsplash, our medicine cat, is our sister." He smirked, nodding to Moonsong's words. Excellent. They'd found their father. Or a cat like their father.

~

Wolfstar glanced at Cougarfeather briefly, letting his fur lay flat on his shoulders. "Perhaps they did see the dogs before us," he said. "but Sunstar is suggesting that they saw the dogs a complete day AFTER we fought them off." He flicked his ears. "After the attack, we put out extra patrols, so therefore, Sunstar is lying." He smiled. "Problem solved."

Silverstar seemed to chortle with amusement, eyes twinkling. Sunstar bristled, narrowing her eyes at the nosy deputy. "You are right," she said airily, frowning. "Perhaps I got the days wrong."

~

{ Yeah. She's white, with brown tabby splotches and blue eyes like Wolfstar and Dreamsplash. o3o }

Limefeather stopped walking for a minute, turning back to look at him. "Is that so?" she said, whiskers twitching slightly. "Very well, then. You can go do that if you want to." She turned back around, but didn't start walking yet. "I'll just wander through the forest alone." 

Tigerheart sat down, "and?" he ssaid, "you would like to talk about them with me?" he asked, tilting his head.

__

cougarfeatehr flicked her ears and looked up at the sky, the clouds slowly cleared, reavealing a bright full moon((XD im looking at the moon right now. )) she nodded her head, "now continue on with your full report on your clan Sunstar, if you wish." she said.

((lol I love how totally levelheaded she was, even when Wolfstar was freaking out. I made her seem so Basa$$ XD))

((still cant remember XD ))

Adderstrike padded back to the gathering, slipping back to the outside of the group. his grey fur melted into the forest. All that could be seen were his deep amber eyes. A young she-cat, Troutpaw, one of the new apprentices of RushClan glanced around and caught sight of his amber gaze. Ht looked at her without turning his head and she leapt straight up into the air. He grinned for a second. Then the last of the clouds cleared and his body was visible in the bright moonlight. Troutpaw sat back down and Adderstrike let his gaze return to Wolfstar, trying not to smile at the young she-cat reaction. He wasnt that scary was he? Sure, he had a jagged scar on his eye, but other than that...

((hehe. those apprentices that were talking about Snakepaw's tiny size should see his big, bad mentor >:D he will scare the living daylights out of them.)) 

Limefeather entered the camp, flicking her ears. "Feralwind? Poppypaw?" She poked her head into the apprentice's den. "Come on, get up, come outside for some fresh air." She smiled. 

"What's the point?" Poppypaw said thickly, getting to her feet slowly. "There's nothing left for me here." 

Ignoring her daughter's horrible mood, she stuck her head into Dreamsplash's den. "Feralwind, how are you feeling?" She crept into the den, sitting down beside him. "Any pain?"

~

Wolfstar bit back a smile and a laugh, as did Silverstar, and let a ruffled Sunstar continue.

Sunstar puffed out her fur and continued. "My Clan is running out of fresh-kill!" she said shrilly, coming in on a new angle. "We're starving! Two kits have already died!" Her eyes were wide with fake fear. "We ask that you each give up a piece of your territory so we can live!"

Outrage broke out, even though Wolfstar and Silverstar said nothing and only glared at her.

~

"Er, yes," Oakfeather said, his confidence waning. "We were actually wondering, because you look so much like Wolfstar, and you have my eyes..." He frowned, pausing. "Look. Are you my father?" His eyes were wide and hopeful. "Do you know where my mother is?"

Feralwind tried to stretch his muscles and grimanced in pain, "yes." he said.

__

Cougarfeather sighed. Now this was a fight even she coudltn settle. to her suprise, a small white and brown she-cat wtih ice blue eyes stood up. It was Dreamsplash.

__

"Silence." Dreamsplash yowled. Much to her suprise, the cats grew quiet. She turned to face the cats, "now, we need our territory to feed our cats do we not? We have enought for out own cats and not much extra to spare. She turned to face Sunstar, and do you know whats interesting?" she said, glancing at Bluetalon, the StoneClan medicine cat, who nodded her head, "Bluetalon has told me that StoneClan hasnt seen kits in moons. they havent had any kits in the nursery since last greenleaf." she said, her eyes locked on Sunstar, waiting for the she-cats reaction to beign caught in her lie.

__

Moonsong touched Oakfeather on the shoulder before slipping away, melting into the rest of the clans and dissappearing from sight.

__

Tigerheart sat down with a sigh, "so I see you finally figured it out. I am Tigerheart, and yes, I am your father. You mother, is Meadowsong of StoneClan. She is just over there." he said, pointing to a white she cat with splotches of brown tabby fur and icy blue eyes.

Oakfeather looked over at his mother, the feeling of warmth and happiness melting away to be replaced by bitterness. He looked back at Tigerheart. "Why didn't you keep us?" he asked, frowning. "Why didn't one of you take us in?"

~

Limefeather frowned. "You need to work your muscles out slowly, and carefully. Don't strain yourself. A little pain is okay, but not too much." she blinked a few times. "You're tense and cramped up," she muttered. "Here, walk outside with me. You need more room. And some fresh air is never bad."

Poppypaw flicked her ears, frowning, as she sat outside in the moonlight. Her fur was dirty and matted, her ribs were starting to show and she looked tired and unhappy. "Why am I out here?" she complained. "I want to go back inside and die."

~

Wolfstar and Silverstar erupted into laughter together, sides heaving. Sunstar looked shocked, displeased, and fairly ruffled. "I-I-I-I m-mean..." She snarled afterwards, "MEETING DISMISSED!"

She hopped down, and started to gather her Clan, leaving the other two leaders to giggle insanely with each other. After a minute, and a cheery goodbye, they too stepped down to join their clans. 

Wolfstar padded up to Moonsong happily. "Hello there," he said.  

~

Snakepaw caught a bit of the apprentice's conversation. Troutpaw was speaking. "...how can he even BE that size? Is that healthy?" She glanced at him sideways. "...he's so small! He looks our age! Isn't he supposed to be 9 moons or something?" Her friends started to roar with laughter.

Snakepaw stalked over, tail tip twitching. "I'm sorry," he hissed venomously. "I couldn't help but catch part of your conversation." He fluffed out his fur, snarling. "Do you have some sort of problem? Picking on people like that? Your Clan should be ashamed!"

He stalked back over to Wishcomet's side, leaving the apprentice's scared and shaking.

~

Lionfur stood up, shaking out her fur. She was just about to say something to Windrush when an angry-looking tom interrupted her. "Excuse me," he meowed. "I'd like to ask you something."

Startled, she looked at the dark tom. "Er-yes?" He looked like she'd done something to him.

~

Sabletail yawned, stretching out. Finally, after the few days after losing her tail tip, she'd regained her balance with the help of Cougarfeather. She blinked a few times, then started to scent her way around the other cats. Some gave her odd looks, others made sure to give her a wide range of space, and others just didn't care and walked into her. So this is what being treated differently was all about, she thought miserably. 

~

Tigerheart sighed, "I am a half Clan cat, I am half RushClan, half StrikeClan. And the clan knew it. I was contantly treated different, made fun of and hated. And I didnt want you three to have to go through it. Dreamsplash could maybe get away with denying relationships to me or your mother, but you brother and you look too much like me to live in RushClan and you mother is too soft to keep the secret from you or the rest of the clan." he said.

__

Ferlawind walked out of the Medicine cats den slowly, "aw come on Poppypaw. Life may be hard, but its still worth living." he said.His golden tabby fur glowed in the moonlight and he sat down, breathing in the night air and looking up at the sky.

__

Moonsong smiled, "well that was intresting." she said with a laugh.

__

Wishcomet looked back at the other apprentices, "nice job." she purred.

__

Windrush watched the tom talk to Lionfur. he rose to his paws quietly and stood at her shoulder, slightly behind her.

__

Cougarfeather padded over to Sabletail, "hi there." she purred, "so how does it feel to be a warrior?" she asked with a smile.

__

Dreamsplash sat down and glanced around, slightly proud of herself for stickign up for her clan. She had been scared at first, but then once she started, she knew it was too late to stop. She said a cheerful goodbye to her friend Bluetalon, who was about the same age as her. Bluetalons mentor had been an elderly medicine cat, who had died just days after Bluetalon got her Medicine cat name. She felt kind f sorry for Bluetalon. Then for a second, for herself. SHe could have worked alongside Limefeather for many more moons. But Tigerstar ruined it.

Darkfire puffed up his fur importantly. Lionfur got the feeling this wasn't going to end well. "What are you doing with that nasty contraption around your neck? That is a bad omen! A Bad omen! You must have a brain the size of a mouse's to be wearing that around."

She only flicked her ears, glancing uncomfortably at her feet. "I'm quite fond of it, you know..." 

~

"So you just gave us up?" Oakfeather said, mouth gaping open. "You just... dropped us in the forest and left us there? We could have died!" His amber eyes were wide and unbelieving. 

~

Poppypaw rounded on Feralwind, ears pinned to her head. "What would you know? You have a nice big family, and you have Sabletail and you have everything you've ever wanted!" She got onto her feet, growling something under her breath. "I'm going hunting," she spat, stalking towards the entrance.

Limefeather sighed, looking away from her daughter. "Just ignore her. She's going to need some time alone to grieve. Anything you even try to say will set her off." She flicked her ears, eyes trailing over Feralwind. "Hm. Well, try and stretch yourself out carefully."

~

"Interesting could be a word to describe that," Wolfstar laughed, absentmindedly twining his tail with hers. The scent of kits was starting to get a little more pronounced.

~

Snakepaw only frowned, flicking his ears. "Thanks. But I know I'm not really that small. They just need to keep their comments to themselves."

~

"Wonderful!" Sabletail said, smiling. "I'm getting a bit out of shape though, I think." She flicked her ears again. Her weight gain was hardly noticeable, but it was there. 

~

Windruse kept his gaze locked on Darkfire, and stepped slightly forward, so he was standing directly beside Lionfur, "it is no more a bad omen that if you tried to catch a rabbit and tripped." he said.

__

Tigerheart blinked, "definately not. Your being found by StrikeClan patrols was no accident. We watched StrikeClan, learned their patrolling times and routes, and I put you directly in their way and waited in hiding until they took you." he said.

__

"not everything." Feralwind muttered under his breath before nodding to Limefeather, flexing his claws then gradually the rest of him muscles, wincing every now and again as he felt a flash of pain.

__

"I think its more of an understatement." Moonsong said with a  purr of amusement.

__

Cougarfeather laughed, "well we will just have to go on a patrol together and run to get back in shape." she purred.

Darkfire bristled. "She's no better than a rogue! Probably mooching off of StrikeClan for their food. And then, she'll kill one of you, and move on to go live with twolegs or something." His claws unsheathed.

Lionfur bristled, unsheathing her claws. She hissed at him, "I'm not a rogue, you incompetent fool! I'm a warrior and I'd like you to dare beg differ!" For a moment he looked like he was going to speak, but he said nothing and only stalked away.

~

Oakfeather twitched his ears. "So I don't even belong to my own Clan by birth?" he said quietly, getting to his feet. He thought he would have been happier to see his father, but the only feeling he was getting was regret. "Wolfstar is leading a Clan he technically shouldn't even belong to?"

He frowned. "Thank you for telling me, but I should probably go now." He turned around slowly and padded away from his father, tail dragging on the ground. He felt horrible. His parents hadn't even tried to keep he and his siblings. Just dumped him on the first clan that would take them.

~

"Probably," Wolfstar mused pleasantly as he sat down, tail tip twitching.

~

Sabletail nodded, smiling to herself as she sat down next to Moonsong and Wolfstar and waited for the rest of the clan to gather around them.  

~

Limefeather watched Feralwind, only half-paying attention to him. She was more busy trying to understand what he meant by the 'Not Everything' he had mumbled after Poppypaw. She wanted to know, but knew better than to push for answers. 

Windrush shook his head, "cats like that need a good dose of reality. Tecnically, the Clans were started by rouges if you think about it." he said wtih a shrug.

__

Tigerheart sighed and padded away, tail dragging on the ground.

__

Moonsong flicked her ears at Oakfeather, then beckoned him over to her side with her tail, so he could tell her the news without the rest of the Clan overhearing.

__

After he stretched all his muscled, feralwind flopped down on the ground, "now that is what I call pain." he huffed.

__

Limefeather smiled at him. "You'll have to do that everyday," she said, chuckling. "It'll get easier as the days go by. But having you stiffen up like that isn't too good." She nosed at his side carefully. "You're healing quickly, anyways."

She sighed. "Seems you're going to be out of action for at least a couple more days, Feralwind. Moonsong got the all-clear yesterday, and Sabletail's tail seems to be almost completely healed now." She flicked her ears, thinking about how great it would be to be able to heal a broken heart.

~

Oakfeather followed Moonsong, not bothering to hide the fact he was miserable. He sat down and started to mumble under his breath everything that had happened, word for word. His tail tip twitched feebly from side to side.

~

"Really?" Lionfur said, padding over to join the rest of the Clan. "That's interesting. I've never really heard your Clan's history." 

Feralwind sighed, "every day?" he asked, "cant i just do it every other day?"

___

Moonsong sighed, "well, look at it form hsi point of view." she whispered back, "he didnt want you to be tomented like he was, and technically, you have StrikeClan blood, didnt Tigerheart say he was half RushClan half StrikeClan?"

__

Windrush nodded, "I mean think about, we werent just created into clans, we had to make them outselves, and who else is there to start them but Kittypets or rouges." he said.

"But what would that make me? Quarter StrikeClan, Quarter RushClan, Half StoneClan?" Oakfeather grunted, sheathing and unsheathing his claws. "I think that's worse than being Half-Clan, thank you. I don't belong anywhere."

~

Lionfur nodded, yawning. "I guess so. I never really thought about it that way."

~

"Everyday," Limefeather repeated, rolling her eyes. "You're almost as stubborn as your brother, you know." She blinked, frowning. "Er- I never said that." She stood up, trying not to look too uncomfortable. "Um, I'd better go find my daughter now, Feralwind. I'll see you later." 

Moonsong sighed, "Blood doesnt decide where you belong. Your heart does." she said, not even bothering to point out that she was of tribe decent and didnt have any Clan blood in her.

___

Windrush laughed, "well, sometimes, you have to think outside the box." he said with a shrug.

___

Feralwind nodded to Limefeather, before pushing himself to his feet, "do you want me to come along?" he asked.