Home...such a familiar place.

[Amber]

It was so good to see the soft ground of ThunderClan territory once again. Padding into the clearing felt even better for the she-cat. The gathering had taken a toll on her. It was draining her to see such a sight, cats arguing over kits. At least the threat on Frostwind had worked and there was some prey in the fresh-kill pile. But it still looked a little low. Knowing her white pelted brother he was probably conked out in the warrior den by now. Ashstar let out a sigh as she made her way toward her den and sat down just outside, many thoughts coming to her mind.

The main thought on her mind? The lack of cats there were in the Clan. Maybe she should have spoken up about the kits at the gathering. But the thought of taking a kit from its mother really was a bit too much. Her light green eyes glanced to the ground as she thought. Maybe she should go and talk with StarClan. That would be the logical thing to do. Yes, that is exactly what she would do, it was a simple yet effective solution to their problem. And she knew that she wouldn't have to worry about the Clan, leaving Shadowstorm in charge was perfectly fine.

But the problem of who to take with her. She didn't want to take any of the apprentices with her, they needed to train. If the Clan wanted to survive they would need more strong warriors, and the apprentices needed to be pushed hard. Then the thought hit her. She knew exactly who to take with her. The perfect cat for company. Ashstar had a grin on her face as she thought of the cat. Now to just wait to talk with Bramblestripe, and she did need to tell her deputy aswell. So much to do before heading out!

[Yoko]

Rabbitheart and Ravenkit had been playing outside the nursery again. Only this time they had grown weary and started talking instead. The plan was to stay awake until the Gathering Cats returned, but they fell asleep. The golden warrior and his ebony brother were curled together just outside the empty nursery, snoring lightly and facing the entrance with heavily shut eyes.

The pawsteps only caused Rabbitheart to give a light snort, and he felt Ravenkit curl tighter to his stomach.

Rainstorm exited the Warrior's Den with a light yawn. It was about time those cats got back. Was the Gathering always so long? Or perhaps it seemed longer since he had not gone.

As he approached his leader, he caught a glimpse of his sons. He smiled at first, seeing Rabbitheart snoring like a big kit, but then he spotted Ravenkit and quickly diverted his eyes. Clearing his throat he mewed with a grin, "Welcome Back, Ashstar. How did the Gathering go?"

[:c a i:]

Bramblestripe padded back into camp, head down. His eyes swiveled up furtively and he watched Ashstar out of the corner of his eye. He was tempted, sorely tempted, to go up to the she-cat, but he knew it would be too risky a move. It would give everything away. And in any case, Rainstorm was trying to talk to her, so he decided the best thing to do would be to go into the Warriors' den and try and get some sleep before the sun came up. He tried to slink past Ashstar without disturbing her, but his pelt tingled as he passed her by. It was tempting. Too tempting.

Tigerheart had not bothered sleeping much. He had dozed on and off, but not in his nest. He was waiting for the Gathering patrol to return, eager for news. He swept over to Ashstar the moment she walked through the entrance and listened as Rainstorm inquired about the night's events. It was irritating that he had not been there himself and nothing interesting had happened in camp during the night. Tigerheart was hungry for adventure.

[Kitty]

Sootpelt exited the warriors den at the sound of the returning Gathering cats. He stretched. They'd roused him from his sleep. Not that he'd been deeply asleep before. He hadn't. He'd just been waiting for them to come back. His ears swiveled towards his leader and Rainstorm. Good, he's already asked. Now I won't have to. He went and joined the warrior by his leader, listening intently.

[Amber]

Ashstar would have loved to go in her den and fall asleep now, but she knew that wasn't an option. Not after the night they had had. So much drama, it was actually quite pathetic. Before she knew it, she had Rainstorm coming toward her. Exactly what she needed a bombardment of cats and questions, but she couldn't ignore them. She would have to just wait a few moments before heading out.

"Unfortunately everything did not go too well. So I won't have to continue repeating this story, I will wait until the rest of the Clan returns, and let Shadowstorm announce it to everyone. I feel that with the sinking number of cats in our Clan compared to those of the other clans, a visit to seek StarClan's advise should be made, which is exactly what I am going to do. I hate to leave everyone so shortly after the gathering and not annouce everything myself, but I feel I need to talk with them, and now seems like a perfect time than any." she said to Rainstorm. Noting several other ears were listening in aswell, she was glad that Rainstorm was the only cat who had not heard her. It meant less talking for her.

When she spotted Bramblestripe heading toward the warrior den, her eyes brightened. Maybe she shouldn't ask him to go with her. Maybe he was too tired from the trip, but she needed someone she trusted more than anyone. He had always been her best friend, for as long as she could remember. "And if Bramblestripe wouldn't mind accompaning me to the Moonstone, then I should have no trouble getting there." she said, making her voice a little louder, hoping the tom had heard.

[:c a i:]

Bramblestripe paused, one paw poised to take a step. "If Bramblestripe wouldn't mind accompanying me..." Slowly, he turned his head to look back at Ashstar, expression unreadable. What was she planning? She risked a lot in asking this of him, but of course they both knew he would never refuse her anything. Surely this would only cause cats to suspect something? But then, Bramblestripe reasoned with himself, every cat knew he and Ashstar had been best friends since kithood. It wasn't strange to ask him to go with her.

"Of course, Ashstar." His voice was carefully neutral. He nodded as he turned around and padded back to the grey she-cat, glancing from left to right, looking for any signs of unrest in his Clanmates. "When did you want to leave?" He didn't ask why she wanted to go tonight. She would have her reasons and this was a perfect opportunity to spend time with her. It wasn't as if they could act like normal mates would, so Bramblestripe planned to seize any chance that presented itself to them.

[nightstorm]

Shadowstorm padded into camp in time to hear Ashstar announce that she would be going to visit the Moonstone, leaving him to announce what had happened at the Gathering, and he padded closer, sitting down with his tail tucked neatly over his paws.

No doubt she was feeling pressured and a bit overwhelmed from her first Gathering as leader, Shadowstorm reflected. He wasn't surprised that she wished to share tongues with StarClan. He glanced around the campsite, watching as the Gathering patrol filed through the tunnel, mixing with the now-awake cats left behind. ThunderClan was rather small, he noticed, and briefly, he wished that perhaps Ashstar had challenged Specklestar's claim, maybe even pressed the fact that both parents of the half-Clan kits were half-Clan too. Then, ThunderClan would have claim on the kits as well, and could have even gotten a few new additions out of it.

[Amber]

Ashstar would have loved to smirk at the moment she heard Bramblestripe agree. Beside the reason of going to the Moonstone, this was a perfect excuse for them to be alone. Who knew if this moment would ever come again, it was something she had to do. Plus talking to StarClan was an extra bonus, she really hoped to be able to talk with her father again, heck any former ThunderClan cat would do at this time.

"As soon as possible. I don't want to leave the Clan for too long, especially with Earthfoot still in ShadowClan." she replied glancing at him, only to realize that was probably not a good thing. She felt her heart beat faster as she stared. It was an exciting feeling, and she enjoyed it. Snapping quickly back and taking her eyes off Bramblestripe for a moment she spotted Shadowstorm returning to the camp. "If you wish to eat something, go ahead and take some time now. We'll leave when you are ready." she murmered.

"Shadowstorm, as you have heard I need to go speak with StarClan. After seeing so much arguing about kits, it has made me realize what our Clan is coming down to. We have one kit in the nursery, and hopefully StarClan will give us some sort of sign. Make sure to send several border patrols out. The other clans might see us as weak, after the gathering, and we don't need them to attack anytime soon." she spoke to her deputy, trying to stay calm and focus on him, not Bramblestripe.

[nightstorm]

Shadowstorm nodded. "For ThunderClan's sake, I do hope StarClan reveals something to you," he said, his eyes serious. "I'll send out strong patrols then. None of the other Clans will have reason to deem us weak. Not if they wish to be proven wrong." His claws dug into the ground. "Shall I announce what happened at the Gathering? Such as Specklestar's demands?"

((Bleagh...writer's block...))

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Swallowfang entered camp near the back of the group with heavy paws. She hadn't felt tired most of the day but now she was feeling it enough for the entire day. Not stopping to listen to the conversations between the leader and some of the other cats, as she had already seen what happened at the Gathering and their talking probably didn't concern her. Letting out a yawn, she headed for the warriors' den and slipped quickly inside.

"It looks like the Gathering patrol is back." Eagleclaw meowed, lifting up his head sleepily from where he was laying outside of the elders' den. "Wonder when we'll hear the news of how it went." he added to his den mates. Perhaps one of the apprentices would tell them about it if the warriors forgot. Even if the Gathering was uneventful, he wanted to know so, since he hadn't been able to go himself.

Home, finally. He had been starting to think he would never get back. Earthfoot padded through the thorn barrier and into ThunderClan's clearing, glad to see the familiar setting which he had grown up in. He spotted Ashstar with some other cats in the clearing and realized the Gathering cats had probably just come back. "I'm back, Ashstar." he mewed tiredly, coming up near her and Shadowstorm. "Specklestar and I both thought I had stayed long enough. I hope I haven't missed too much."

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Sagepaw, who had been sitting by himself, pawing idly at the soil and thinking about the events of the night, sprang up at the sound of his mentor's voice. "Earthfoot!" he mewed, flying to the older cat's side like a metal shaving attracted to an enormous magnet. "What took you so long? Is Brindlepelt alright? Did you hear what happened to the gathering?" The stream of questions tumbled uninterrupted from the young cat's mouth as he hovered anxiously by his mentor's side. Even though it was exciting being an apprentice, he had never imagined that his first day as a medicine cat's apprentice would turn out like this!

[:c a i:]

Bramblestripe rolled his eyes as he watched Ashstar gaping at him. He felt the same urge to stare unblinkingly at her, but he hid his feelings a little better. For StarClan's sake, Ashstar, you're not making this easy. He thought, slightly amused at the rather obvious attempt to buy them some time together. Still, he wasn't going to pass on the opportunity, for they would rarely be able to share much time together. The only issue was, would any other cat think it was strange? Most cats knew he and Ashstar were closed, but would any think it was out of the ordinary for her to choose him to travel to the Moonstone with her on this night? He could only hope not.

Moving lightly through the clearing towards Ashstar, Bramblestripe kept his gaze neutral, though it flitted over the she-cat rather too many times to be an accident. "I'm fine. We can leave at any time." He murmured in the leader's ear, pausing beside her. Just then he looked up and noticed Earthfoot, finally back from ShadowClan. He nudged Ashstar to make her aware of his arrival.

"Earthfoot." He greeted. "I'm glad you're back. Ashtar and I are about to leave for the Moonstone." He explained, noting the tiredness on the medicine cat's appearance. He must have had an eventful day in ShadowClan... Bramblestripe knew he would not have liked to have to spend his whole day tending to rival Clan's sick cats, but Earthfoot was very good-natured to do what he did. Glancing over to Ashstar, Bramblestripe felt a twinge of impatience, eager to get going so he and Ashstar could properly talk.

[Amber]

((Let's get them moving shall we? XD))

Ashstar nodded in complete agreement with her deputy. If StarClan didn't show them something soon, ThunderClan would shrivle out and leave nothing behind. It would be like they never existed.

"Good, but make sure not to tire out everyone out. If it comes down to fighting for some reason we will need every Clan member to help out. And as for Mudpaw, let my brother know that he is in charge of training him while I am gone. That will give Frostwind something to do, and keep him from being lazy. And if he gives you any trouble, just send him out on a patrol with several apprentices. That should straighten him out." the she-cat had to smile at the thought of seeing Frostwind trying to not go insane with apprentices by his side.

"Yes, let everyone know all that has happened. Better to hear it from you than their clanmates and get the stories mixed up. I'd rather not have to deal with a Clan full of angry cats when I return. Also, it might be several days before I return, seeing as we don't want to tire ourselves out. I know I'm leaving the Clan in good paws, though."

"Welcome back, Earthfoot. I'm glad to see that you have returned safely. You really have been missed, obviously by your apprentice, but by everyone else as well." she chuckled, seeing Sagepaw. "Yes, as Bramblestripe has just said, we are leaving for the Moonstone. Shadowstorm can fill you in, but we need to go ahead and leave before it gets too late." she said, getting onto her paws and glad that Bramblestripe was ready to go. "Come on." Ashstar murmered to the tom, padding toward the camp entrance.

[:c a i:]

Bramblestripe nodded briefly to Shadowstorm and Earthfoot before he fell into step beside Ashstar, moving lightly through the camp. The further away he went from his Clanmates, the more he felt his guard fall and what lay hidden beneath his neutral mask emerged as he and Ashstar departed from camp, leaving the prying eyes of their Clanmates behind. This was what he had been waiting for; a chance to just be with Ashstar when he did not have to pretend, did not have to act as if he did not feel all the things which swirled in his heart.

"Finally." He murmured as they left the earshot of ThunderClan. "I've wanted to talk to you properly all day." He sighed. "I'm glad you managed to buy us some time together." He purred, brushing against the she-cat as he walked. "It's difficult, being so close to you and having to pretend you're still just my best friend."

((Shall we continue elsewhere? XD)

[nightstorm]

Shadowstorm nodded. "Very well then," he said. Nodding to Earthfoot in greeting, he watched as Bramblestripe and Ashstar padded out of camp. "May StarClan watch over you," he called. Turning, he bounded over to Highrock, and from there, yowled, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting."

His fur ruffled gently as a slight breeze blew past, and he looked down over his clanmates, his amber gaze calm and collected. He tucked his paws underneath him, feeling slightly awkward addressing his Clan from up on Highrock. He would have held the meeting down below, but, as Ashstar had pointed out, it would be best to avoid cats mishearing things. Up here, he could speak clearly.