Ivypool's Lament

|Chapter IV|

All the cats were furious. MS stayed perched on his branch, letting them yowl and claw at the air. Ivypool stayed calm, knowing freaking out would only cause more problems. She figured Dovewing was listening from the nursery, her mouth agape in shock. Ivypool saw Breezepelt flex his claws, ready to leap into battle of he needed to. Jayfeather had his ears flattened in defiance, and the other medicine cats were the same. Whatever Firestar had said had convinced them to make the choice of following a rogue, a cat that could not be trusted. Ivypool turned her attention back to MS, who was getting impatient.

"Everyone be quiet!" He yowled.

Instantly, the clearing was silent. Every cats' tail tip was twitching with annoyance and anger.

"Here are some simple rules you must follow," he began. "There are no more borders, every cat can go where they please. This means no attacking each other, an attack on another Clan will result in punishment."

Ivypool heard cats murmuring around her.

"No more borders?"

"Why hasn't StarClan covered the moon?"

"We've always been four Clans!"

"I will select one cat from each Clan that will update me on what's going on every seven days, I will pick that cat after the gathering has split up and you've all gone home."

"Where will you be staying?" Mistystar asked.

"Here, at the gathering island," he answered her.

She nodded her head in acknowledgement, and stepped farther back on her branch.

"Now that this has been settled, go back to your homes. And remember, no fighting, and feel free to go wherever you like."

And with that, MS had disappeared. No one spoke, they just sat there, staring at their leaders like they were complete mouse-brains.

"Well? What are we waiting for, we shouldn't keep our new leader waiting," Blackstar meowed.

Ivypool saw other cats flinch at 'our new leader'. The Clans started breaking up to their normal groups, and soon she was following her own Clan onto the tree bridge. After they had all crossed, Lionblaze pulled in beside her.

"Why do you trust him?" Lionblaze asked.

Ivypool seemed taken back by the question. She didn't know how to answer him.

"Why do you think I trust him?" Ivypool meowed.

"You defended him earlier, and you talked with him on our territory," he answered, tilting his head.

"I don't know, okay?" Ivypool snapped, trotting up next to Bumblestripe.

The rest of the trip Ivypool was silent. She listened to the murmers of the other cats, the way they talked about their latest encounter with MS. She realized that none of them had actually learned his name yet. As they neared the camp, Ivypool saw Dovewing waiting impatiently near the entrance. the tip of her tail twitched in anticipation. Ivypool stopped near her as the rest of the Clan flowed through the entrance.

"How could Firestar just agree to let him lead us like that!" Dovewing growled. "And I thought Blackstar would put up more of a fight over his territory and his cats!"

"Maybe he wanted to avoid trouble?" Ivypool suggested.

"You're probably right, it's just, it doesn't feel right."

"You know Jayfeather will probably have a dream with StarClan tonight, let's wait and see what they think."

Dovewing sighed, then nodded. Ivypool followed her through the camp entrance, swerving to go towards the warriors den. She sunk down into her nest, letting her eyes droop. She had continued to go to the Dark Forest at night, but she didn't know why. The other cats did too, so they just sat and talked to each other. Maybe tonight they would all sleep in peace. Ivypool yawned and drifted into sleep.