A New Era

Ellos! How're ya doing? I'm fine! :D Just a bit bored. So… I wonder… What will happen in this chappie? Well… actually I know, since I'm the author, but you don't! Mwahahahahah! *cough cough* I mean, it's a very nice chappie, and explains a bit more. It's in Hollyleaf's POV. So basically, this chappie is what was going on before the gathering. I didn't want to write the boring part, so I skipped it. Life went on normally from dawn to the gathering… Well… actually… nothing is "normal" at this time, but you know that I mean, right? I'm going ta stop blabbing right here so you can read on. Read on, my awesome loyal fans (who love this story, which is my first fanfic), read on! XD

Oh, and btw, the reason I couldn't update for a long time was because I moved, and it was a HUGE move. I knew that, so I set up the threat from last chappie. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! :D Oh, and also! I tried to make this chappie super super interesting because of my absence. Thanks for all your reviews! :D (My goal is to reach 100 in this story, btw)

So now, I'm back and I will be updating regularly. Thanks!

~Crystal Cavern

Chapter 16: Exposed

Hollyleaf was glad she had convinced Leafpool to go to the Gathering early. She figured that if they arrived before the other clans, she could slink into RiverClan and talk to Willowshine. The last time she had seen the RiverClan medicine cat was only two sunrises ago when she paid a visit to ThunderClan, but already Hollyleaf had more to discuss with her. She wanted to help the clans as much as she could too, and this was the first step.

Just as she was about to leave camp, she noticed that she didn't know who was going. Jayfeather came out of the medicine cat's den and padded towards her, his expression unreadable, as usual. Hollyleaf pawed the ground.

"Are you nervous?" Jayfeather asked. "It's ok to be, you know."

Hollyleaf sighed. "A bit, but I'm sure we can do something." She said without looking up.

"Of course." Jayfeather replied. "Where's Lionblaze?"

"I'm not sure. Is he coming to the gathering?"

"Yes, he is." Jayfeather said. "Leafpool, Lionblaze, Dustpelt, Sorreltail, Whitewing, Greystripe, Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, and Foxpaw will be going with you. Brightheart has healed from her unconsciousness and is fine now so she will go too. Honeyfern and Mousewhisker will try once again to track down Hazeltail. We have to get her back as soon as possible. Also, Cloudtail is missing as well. Birchfall and Spiderleg will try to find him. The rest of us will stay in camp. There is no point of us all going to the Gathering, you know."

Hollyleaf looked up. "I know… It's just that… Cloudtail and Hazeltail are missing! Who's going to be next?"

Jayfeather hung his head low. "I don't know." Then he looked up at Hollyleaf. She felt that he was staring at her, even though she knew that he couldn't see. His gaze was determined and strong. "When the time of war happens, we'll be ready… even if it kills us."

"By that you mean…" Hollyleaf started.

"That's right. Soon, the battle will rage. Blood will be spilled. How we're going to fight him, I don't know, but just trust StarClan. StarClan have never failed us before, and they won't start now. Our warrior ancestors will always watch over us." Jayfeather said.

Lionblaze padded up. He seemed to have overheard what his littermates were talking about. "Jayfeather." He said. "Any cat would know that you are a true faithful clan cat."

Hollyleaf give a halfhearted laugh. "We're talking like we're never going to see each other again! Cheer up. This isn't the end of the world; it's just the Gathering!" Inside, though, she had a bad feeling that they were going to be separated somehow.

Jayfeather gave a mrrow of laughter too. "You're right. We shouldn't talk like this."

"Yah." Lionblaze said sadly. I wonder if Lionblaze shares my emotions…Hollyleaf thought.

Then Jayfeather became all serious. "Now listen. Last night, Cloudtail came to me in my dreams." Before he could continue, a screech came from Hollyleaf.

"WHAT?!?!?!?! Cloudtail is DEAD?!?!?!" Hollyleaf cried.

Out of nowhere, Brightheart bounded up to Hollyleaf. Her gaze was sorrowful, and she was practically gasping for breath. "What are you talking about, Hollyleaf?! Cloudtail is dead?!?!?!"

"No!" Jayfeather cried quickly. "Don't say it so loudly!"

But it was too late. The whole camp was raging, and order was lost. Every cat was asking questions. After about ten seconds of complete misery, woe, and shock, everyone finally gained enough sense to turn to the medicine cats.

Icepaw wailed. "Not another one!"

Whitewing gasped. "No! It's not true! I refuse to believe it!"

"Why Cloudtail?" Mousewhisker cried.

"Does StarClan have anything to do with it?" Longtail asked.

Leafpool tried to restore order, but nobody was listing. The complaints continued.

Finally, Squirrelflight's tongue went loose and she uttered to herself, "It must have been Scourge."

The camp was silent. Nobody dared to move. Everybody stopped in their tracks.

Squirrelflight! Hollyleaf thought. You fleabrain! Now look at what you've done! Now everyone in camp knows! You've ruined everything!

Squirrelflight looked up. "Oops…" She said.

"Oops is right!" Sandstorm retorted. "I can't believe what you just said… out loud! Are you trying to scare everyone to death? Can't you see we're in enough shock alre –"

Leafpool held her tail up and flicked it for silence. She laughed a bit. "I didn't expect you, Sandstorm, of all the cats, to be the one to start yelling."

"I-I'm sorry. I made it worse, didn't I?" Sandstorm said.

"That you did." Leafpool said. "Now I suppose that you're all wondering what's going on now, aren't you?" Leafpool addressed the rest of the clan.

Murmurs arose and whispers were heard. Of course everyone agreed that it was time that they knew what was going on.

Thornclaw spoke up. "I knew something was going on that most of us didn't know about. To tell you the truth, we are also hiding something. The meeting, everyone…?"

More murmurs. "That's right." Foxpaw spoke up. "I'm tired of all this. We want to know what's going on. In return, we'll tell you," he indicated the medicine cats, Hollyleaf, and Berrynose, "about the meeting."

Dustpelt cuffed Foxpaw. "That's not for you to decide, apprentice." He sneered. "That's the senior warriors' job."

Fowpaw let out an angry hiss and his fur stood on end, but he backed away, like he should.

Icepaw whispered something to her littermate, and Foxpaw calmed down a bit.

Jayfeather glared at Hollyleaf. "This is all your fault, Hollyleaf." He spat.

"My fault? It was Squirrelflight who blurted it out!" Hollyleaf tried to defend herself. "Besides… didn't she tell everybody about Scourge?"

Jayfeather clenched his teeth. "You said his name again…" Jayfeather prepared to spring.

Brackenfur sighed and stepped between them. "Look at yourselves. Fighting like kits. What would Firestar say?"

Rosekit squealed. "But Firestar's not here, Brackenfur."

Daisy quickly shushed her kits and herded them into the nursery. "Don't say anything!" she begged. "This is an important matter."

Brackenfur cleared his throat. "As I was saying… before I was rudely interrupted… what would Firestar say if he were here?" He paused. "Come on! What would he say? Why aren't any of you answering me? It's because you're guilty. You're all guilty!"

Ferncloud hissed. "And you're the most perfect cat here, aren't you, Brackenfur? Nobody can be as perfect as you."

"That's not what I meant, Ferncloud." Brackenfur said.

Lionblaze stepped forward. "I haven't said anything before, but now I will. Please listen to me, everyone. If we don't leave soon, the Gathering will start without us, and besides…" he looked up. "There is a truce on the night of the Gathering. Would any of you dare break that truce?"

Murmurs of agreement could be heard around camp.

"Of course not." Lionblaze said. "I suggest that we drop this matter and discuss it later. Does anyone agree? Good."

The cats started to depart for the Gathering. Hollyleaf felt guilty for starting all the commotion and she felt as if she did a lot of harm to her clan. Hollyleaf silently padded out of camp.

Then she heard a voice. "I thought you weren't coming, Jayfeather."

"I wasn't planning to, but it seems that this can't be avoided anymore." Jayfeather explained. He padded over to Hollyleaf.
"I'm sorry." Hollyleaf said.

"That's ok. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you." There was an awkward pause. Then, Jayfeather continued. "Now that the whole camp knows that Cloudtail is dead, and that Scourge is linked with it, we can't turn back anymore."

Hollyleaf nodded.

"Now we have to move forward… Come on, Hollyleaf, we're lagging behind."

Hollyleaf didn't notice, but she was, in fact, behind the main group. She quickened into a trot to catch up. Jayfeather and Lionblaze followed close behind, being careful to be within two tail-lengths of the lake. They were now in WindClan territory, and they didn't want to make them angry.