The Fire Inside: FireClan's Rise (Bk1)

Chapter Ten

     The night was clear and the moon shone bright as the starry figures descended from the sky to gather around the ever-flowing Moonpool. The ghostly beings purred in ecstasy as their paws slid into the paw prints made by generations of cats gathering to join paws with their ancestors. There was a slight, angelic murmur rippling through the crowd as the cats discussed anxiously the reason why a meeting was called so suddenly.

     "What do you think's going on?" whispered a tabby she-cat to a bluish grey tom.

      "I think it might have something to do with WindClan leaving," he replied.

     This chatter continued for what seemed like an eternity before Bluestar finally descended to address her cats.

     "Cats of StarClan!" Bluestar's voice seemed to bounce off the water and into the ears of the heavenly apparitions. The hushed chorus of meows silenced as Bluestar called the meeting to order. Bluestar surveyed the crowd with her eyes before continuing with the meeting.

     "I'm sure you're all wondering why I called you to meet with me so urgently. As some of you may already know, WindClan has decided to leave the forest," she paused, waiting for the excited mews to die down.

     "Hollyleaf had warned WindClan's medicine cat Frostwhisker about an impending dog attack. This was taken the wrong way by Onestar, and he felt that we are punishing him because he became leader, but never received the proper deputy ceremony. So, in a wild fury and bout of confusion, he took his clan out of the lake to a place unknown even to him," she recounted the events that occurred at the latest Gathering to those who were unaware, which turned out to be most of StarClan.

     There were many gasps and angry meowing that followed. Clearly, they didn't like the situation any more than Bluestar did. The blue-grey she-cat let out a fierce yowl to call her cats back to order.

     "Listen to me! We must convince Onestar to return to the lake! We cannot allow him to walk out on us like that! The clans depend on one another and if one leaves, the others might decide to give up on themselves and follow in their unwise paw steps," she told the starry beings. They sat silently as they awaited her to continue, hoping she'd give a way to tell Onestar to return to his home.

     "I feel the only way to dissuade Onestar into leaving is to tell the other clans to join him to fight the dog pack, but I also fear that even if they did side with him, it wouldn't make a difference," Bluestar continued. This caused StarClan to stir and shift uneasily as they grasped the idea of how difficult it would be to alert Onestar that his idea was a foolish one.

     "My cats, I do have another side to this. Normally, I'd try as hard as I could to bring them back, but I've foreseen a new clan rising to take WindClan's place. This clan, I see, is led by none other than Oakpaw. If we cannot convince Onestar to return, we must step aside to let this new clan take hold and grow," Bluestar prophesied to the cats of StarClan. A she-cat with an awkward hind leg called out to Bluestar.

     "But Bluestar; what if this clan does not fill WindClan's place well enough? What if they fail to survive past their first leaf-bare?" as she asked this, the cats around the Moonpool began to shift from paw to paw in uneasiness, afraid that Bluestar would be unable to answer. Their fears had come true, as Bluestar shook her head and said, barely loud enough for them to hear, "I'm afraid I cannot answer that now. I have only told what I have seen and offered it as a suggestion."

     Now the cats' pelts had begun to bristle as the blue grey she-cat started to pace above the cats' heads. She returned to ground level either a heartbeat or four moons later, and ordered her cats to peer into the water. The cats' eyes widened as the water rippled, changed colors slightly, and continued to still to reveal a silver tabby tom with harsh blue eyes.

     "This is the cat who will bring this new clan to existence," Bluestar announced. The cats cheered in joy as the image faded away into the crystal clear water that reflected the sky.

     "Meeting adjourned!" Bluestar dismissed her cats before leaping into the night to reform into the brilliant stars with which clung to her fur. The rest of StarClan rushed up to join her, mewing to one another about the words spoken that evening.