Back To The Start (Book 3) (S1 Finale) (A Warriors Cat Story)

Chapter 31: Good Luck! v2

I sat there for a few moments, as it did not take long for my clan mates to head out of their dens once they had heard the sound of my voice. I saw that a lot of them looked excited, and happy to see that I was up, moving around, and that I was okay.
It made me feel a lot better as a leader of the clan as well, knowing that my clan mates had cared about me so much as well. It made me feel a lot more important, as I was happy to know that I was important to the rest of the clan.
That is all that I would have ever wanted as well. I saw Flame with his mate, and their kits walk out of the nursery den as well, as I saw that his kits were now up, and they were moving around. It also made me feel a whole lot better about the future of my clan as well.
I saw his kits Nutmeg, and Barron, as they were playing around with each other and making a bit of a ruckus around the clearing, and Rabbit did not take long to get them to stop. It still put a bit of a delightful smile on my face to see that the kits were happy.
Flame and Rabbit saw me looking at them as well, and I could tell that they were a bit embarrassed too. I wish that I could step up and tell them that there was nothing that they should be embarrassed about, but that was just not really the way I wanted to start this meeting off like.
I looked around for a bit longer, as I saw that the sun was now dipping onto the horizon as well, and as far as I could see, all the cats of Windclan were in camp right now. After a bit longer, as I just waited to make sure there was not a straggler, I saw that the whole clearing was staring up at me.
I gulped a bit, sometimes forgetting that I was the leader, and it was my job to lead this clan. It scared me a bit, just the thought of my potentially failing, and letting down my clan. I looked up at the sky for just a few moments, and I saw a small blink of what seemed to be a star, as it calmed me down.
I then lowered my head to the cats in the clearing, and then I began to address my clan mates, speaking loud enough so that all of them could hear me as well. They were all aware and they all were paying full attention to me as I began to talk to them.
"Everyone! I am sorry that I have not been of much use lately, I am sure that Owl has done his job for the clan, as it has seen." I said to all of them. Nodding my head over to Owl, as he had his head held up high with pride, as many of the cats looked over to him, with grateful looks on their faces.
It seemed to make Owl feel all the better as well, as I let him have his few moments of pride, before I then began to talk back to the clan once again. If something were to ever happen to me, like what had happened just the other day, I am sure he would do a great job as a leader.
He already arranged all of the patrols for me, I knew that he must be just as stressed out as I was. I saw his mate, Ginger, rub up against him, making him feel even more better. I then looked away from them, as I shook my head, knowing that time was now running short, and I began to speak once again to my clan.
"I must appreciate the cats that came to save me, Silent, Shrivel, Owl, and Venom... You all could have given up on me easily, but you stuck through... Without you, I would be dead." I said to all of the cats, looking over to the same cats that I had just named too.
I saw that just like Owl, they too had their heads held up high in praise, as all of the cats then again turned their heads to the cats that I had just named. I saw that Venom looked the most happy out of all of them, as I remembered one day that a cat had called him useless to our clan.
He was not, and even if he had not been born or he had not helped our clan in the past, he was still an elder, and I was still happy to have him with us. He always managed to light up the day of all of the rest of the cats that were around the camp.
I smiled at him, and then I looked away from him, as I heard a cat that had decided to step up, and speak to me. That was the job of a leader though, it was to answer questions that other cats had, and the cats were allowed to ask them as well. I turned my head over to the cat, which was Owls mate Ginger, as she began to speak to me.
"I had heard that you had gotten pretty beaten up, are you okay now? You don't look to be in that bad of shape, just a bit tired it seems." She said to me. I looked at her for a few moments, and then I nodded to her, letting her know that I had heard her question.
That was the opposite of what I felt like though at the exact moment. I was not tired at all right now, but my body just felt like it had one big bruise on it, and it hurt me each time that I dared move a muscle. After just a bit longer as well, I then began to speak back to her.
"Yes... I am in much better shape now, that is off the subject though, I am hear to speak up for a different reason... So I want all of you to listen to me carefully as I tell you this." I said to every cat in the clan. They all looked at me, with wide looks in their eyes, as I saw a couple of them nod as well.
I just had to make sure that they were paying full attention to what it was that I was about to say. I knew that many of them already knew about it, they just might not know that it was tonight. I also want them to know which cats are coming, and which ones are staying.
After a slight bit more time, I then nodded to myself, letting myself know that they all had their eyes and ears on me right now. I then once again, as I had done before, stepped up, and began to speak up to my entire clan.
"We are having the gathering right after this meeting, I want to tell you the cats that are allowed to go, and which cats I choose to stay here." I said to all of the cats in my clan. I saw that they all had their eyes on me, so I continued to speak. "You may meet the other clans and you might meet some friends... This is very important, and I want you to know that you will enjoy this, and you will be excited for the next one, after you know what its like."
I saw a lot of cats look over at each other, as I saw that a lot of them were in fact a bit excited. I saw quite a happy look on the face of Shrivel, as it came as a bit of a surprise to me, but I shook it off, as I looked around at my clan mates, as I waited for them to get their attention back on me.
No one said a word, but I am sure that a lot of them were thinking the same things. There were not that many cats in our clan right now, I am sure that they were a bit excited to meet some new faces, and maybe make some new friends as well.
I waited for the clan to get situated, and have their eyes back on me. After a bit longer, they finally got over themselves, and they turned their heads back over to me, as they waited for me to go ahead and speak to the clan, just as I had done before. I nodded to the clan, and then I began to speak up once again.
"All of you are welcome to go, you do not have to but it will be very fun, and you will miss out... I just need Rabbit and your kits to stay here, along with Flame, Shilo and her kits, along with Steve, and Mint please, just to make sure nothing goes wrong." I said to my entire clan.
I saw a lot of them look excited, as they then began to speak amongst themselves quietly, and I just looked at all of them, trying not to interrupt their conversations, as I wanted to give them some to speak to one another about how excited they were, or how nervous they might be.
I looked over to one cat in particular, which was my mate Mint, as I saw she had her head to the ground a bit sadly. I felt a bit bad for her, as I hoped that she did not think that I was punishing her for any reason what so ever. I needed someone to look at for the kits and the queens while we were gone...
I did not want it to be Limp either, as I needed her for the other cat that I wanted to be a medicine cat. I looked at her a bit sadly, but I then looked away, as I knew that I should not be worried about that either, as I knew that it was for the better of the clans.
The voices that were in the clearing began to die down, and I waited for them to go dead silent, before I began to speak. After a bit longer as well, the clearing then had became dead silent, and I then began to speak up to the clan once again.
"Now that we have that out of the way, I want everyone to make sure that their bellies are full, and that they are ready to go ahead and go!" I said to all of them again. They all looked at each other, and then they nodded, as I saw Silent walk over to the fresh kill pile, as he then grabbed a piece of pray.
The clearing then once again irrupted into voices again, as they knew that the meeting was now over, as I then walked down from the tall rock at the same time too. Once I was down, I then turned my head over to a few cats, as I saw 3 of them walking over to me from different directions.
I knew that they were coming over to me, to ask me questions that they did not want to rest of the clan to hear, as I watched as Mint, not to my surprise at all, Owl, and Venom, which was to the most of my surprise begin to walk over to me.
I sat there, and nod to all of them, as they all got on to each other at just about the same time, as they each looked at each other, waiting to see which cat was going to be the first cat that was going to go ahead and speak up to me.
They all looked at each other, until both Mint and Venom both had their eyes turned to the deputy Owl, as they wanted him to go ahead and say what it was that he had to say to me first. He realized that as well, as he went ahead and nodded, and then he began to speak to me. I made sure that my ears were locked on to his voice as well.
"Don't forget what you told me either Moon, you said that you needed to talk to each of the other leaders privately..." He said to me. I looked at him, as I vaguely remember telling him that, as I then nodded to him, to let him know that I had heard what he had just said to me.
He nodded back to me, feeling a bit better as I could tell, now that he had gotten that off of his chest. It made sense that he had wanted to tell that to me privately as well, if the rest of the clan knew that I wanted to have a private meeting, they might get a bit worried.
I then turned my head over to my mate, Mint, as I saw that she had opened her mouth, as it had seemed as though she was about to speak to me, she then stopped herself, before she could get the first word out of her mouth. I could still see that she was a bit disappointed that she was not getting to go to the gathering.
She lowered her head down to the ground, and I felt bad for her, but I needed her to know that it was not because she had done anything wrong. I would love for her to go, I just could not leave Shilo and Rabbit here without a medicine cat.
I turned my head over to Venom however, as he had noticed that Mint was not going to speak to me, so he went ahead and began to speak his own voice to me. I nodded to him, to let him know that I was listening to what it was that he had to say. He nodded back and then he kept on speaking.
"I am not sure that I can get over that bridge onto the island, so maybe it is better that I just stay back at camp." He said to me. I looked at him, a bit surprised, that out of all of the cats, that he was scared to go to the gathering.
I would have that he would have wanted to share his stories with the rest of the elders. I looked at him for just a bit longer, as I was not quite sure if he knew what it was that was going to be at the gathering for him, a blinked a couple more times, and then I spoke back to him.
"Venom, we can help carry you across the bridge... You do not need to worry about falling into the lake..." I said to him, a bit confused as to how he did not see that. He looked at me for just a bit longer, and then I saw he too, just as Mint had done, then lower his head to the ground.
I wondered what was up with him, as I squinted my eyes at him, trying not too push him too much at the same time as well. If he was really that worried about falling into the lake, than I suppose I should just go ahead and let stay back at camp.
I looked over at Mint, as she had her head to the ground as well. I then turned my eyes over to Owl, as I could tell that he was just as confused as I was as well. He then just shook his head at himself, as he then began to walk away from us and calm down the clearing, as I could hear it getting a bit chaotic.
I nodded to him, though I knew that he had his head turned, and he could not see it. I then looked back over to the other 2 cats that were in front of me, as I then began to get a bit annoyed, as I knew that we should already be on our way to the island.
Venom thankfully finally decided to lift his head up, as it was him that I was the most confused about as to the reason that he had his head so low to the ground. He then began to speak back to what I had just said to him a few moments ago.
"Well... I don't know how to say it... I might go to the next gathering, but I am worried about the cats that are staying back at camp... So I think I should just help Mint take care of them." He said to me. I looked at him for a few moments, and then I nodded, now a bit more understanding, as to where it was that he was coming from.
I saw that Mint looked a bit sad at the fact of what Venom had just said to me. It was just as I had expected too, she was sad that I would not let her go to the gathering. I wish she would know that it was not because I was punishing her for doing something wrong.
She now had her head lower to the ground than she had it a few moments ago. It was as if she was doing it on purpose as well, as if she were trying to get my attention, and trying to get me to feel bad for her. It was doing a good job as well, as I had to admit.
I looked away for just a few moments, as I thought of something to say to her, to make her understand that it was nothing against her. I also realized that Venom was still here though too, as he was waiting for me to respond to him still. I turned my head back over to him, and then I went ahead and did so.
"Alright Venom, I thank you for the help, it is beyond what you could imagine. I know that you were never a part of the clans when you were young, but you are wanted here..." I said to him. I saw it put a spark onto his eyes at the same time too.
It was perfect, and it was exactly what I had wanted, and what I had planned to do in the first place. As he then nodded back to me, and then he quickly then galloped away, over to the nursery den, where I could see Steve walking in, whilst talking to Flame.
It made me feel a bit better, just to see that the cats were getting along already. It was exactly what I had wanted, and just as I had said to Venom. I wanted every cat in the clan to know that they are wanted here. I smiled to myself at the same time as well, and then turned my head over to Mint, as I heard her finally decide to speak, now that the others were gone.
"I just want you to know Moon... I do wish that I could go, but I also know that either Limp or me has to stay at the camp right now... You go ahead and go on..." She said to me. I could tell that she was a bit sad, which I never liked to see, but I was also happy to know that she understood where I was coming from as well.
I smiled back at her, as it got a smile out of her as well, and she then nodded to let me know that she was okay. I nodded back to her as well, as I then began to speak up to her.
"Thank you Mint... I know it has been a while as well, but I do love you... I hope that once this is all over with, we can have some time to ourselves..." I said to her. She looked at me, and she smiled even more, as I was happy to see that I had lit up that onto her face too. I then kept on talking to her, to let her know that it was getting dark, and it was time for me to go. "Alright, well we need to get on to the island... Take care of the queens and the kits for me."
She looked at me, and then she lowered her head, and then she nodded to me. I still kept a smile on my face too, and she then began to walk away from me, over to the nursery. I watched her go, as I was still scared that every time she went off, that it might be the last time I would get to see her.
I was nearly correct last time, as I had not even thought that way for once, and it was nearly in that moment, that I had lost my own life... I was glad to still be alive, and I still remembered what Squirrelflight had said to me. "You still have a destiny"
I shiverer a little bit, I was always so scared to know that I was that important of a cat. I would have never thought that my life would have gotten to this point when I was with Tristan. I suddenly got off of those thoughts, as I heard my mate say one last thing to me, as it thankfully got my attention as to what was going on as well.
"I love you too Moon! You take care of the clan... I am sure it will go good for you, don't fear, and good luck!"