So, due to unlucky chances, Frostheart was going to the gathering with her nincompoop leader proclaiming her to be his bodyguard, when of course she was doing no such thing, and was merely falling further and further behind the group, keeping them within sight but not really following much. Should she really be acting as a bodyguard, she was being a horrible one at that, not to mention Stonestar hardly seemed to care that his bodyguard was being woefully absent from everything. Stonestar was even chatting animatedly with Duskcloud, the cat whom he'd forced to go to the gathering even though his mate, Shimmerpelt, had just kitted. Heartkit, Leafkit and Mynakit were absolute cuties, although Mynakit, poor thing, was the only tom among his two sisters Heartkit and Leafkit.
They arrived at the gathering place with their unusually tiny group, and they did attract quite some attention for their strangely small size - AutumnClan was having a laugh at how it was peculiarly small, while most of their group was made up of some wiry rogue or another, many of which could used a good wash, they reeked of Twolegplace. When Twolegplace was concerned, Frostheart had to wonder how many of them were kittypets in disguise, pretending to be fiersome rogues in order to get into the Clan at all. She guessed they had no idea what a grave mistake they were making.
"Nothing much has happened in my Clan," Springstar, who was going first, announced, her silky voice clear and smooth. She sounded perfectly calm and not stressed at all, whereas Mousestar was hopping slightly from one paw to another, like he had anxiety issues. "But perhaps Mousestar would like to speak? I can see he is most eager, and I daresay I wouldn't want to hold you up," Springstar meowed in her usual polite way. "Just a moment, though, I also wanted to congratulate one of my warriors, Streamlight, for helping out SummerClan to gather herbs and hunt a few weeks ago. Wouldn't you say so, Stonestar?" she added even more politely, tilting her head in confusion at him when he didn't say so.
"Oh, yes, that was very kind of her indeed," Stonestar was flushing, but he didn't dare disagree, and he was looking, on the contrary, quite annoyed, as if Streamlight helping his Clan had annoyed him instead of, well, helping him. "Most kind and polite, she was only dropping by on the border. But, ah, SummerClan can handle their own problems, thank you," he finished, impatience mingling with the attempted politeness he had tried to put in. "We have no need for the meddling of other Clans, so we won't be needing her help again. We didn't need it in the first place either."
Springstar looked quite affronted, but all she had to say was, "I wonder if some of your warriors would agree on that, Stonestar, I daresay they were grateful for the herbs and their dinner. But I mustn't keep anyone, so, Mousestar, you were wanting to speak?" She turned her gaze to the AutumnClan leader, her green eyes fixing on him.
"Ah, yes. We have a lot of new warriors. They didn't take up Warrior names, not all of them, no. Former rogues, you see! I lost a lot of my old Clanborn warriors to a battle with SummerClan"
"Clanborn," one of his new warriors hissed scornfully. "Didn't say so much about that mattering when he came wailing to us! Fraud, he is, but I'm not complaining about the new prey supply. Might keep him round for that, but a "Clanborn" cat is still his deputy! Think that's highly unfair... He said what his rules are, must have an apprentice, he said! What's her apprentice, did Turtleleaf ever have an apprentice?" the warrior asked crossly.
Turtleleaf is his new deputy? Frostheart wondered with a shock. She knew Turtleleaf was one of the few survivors, but those warriors were right, Turtleleaf probably hadn't had an apprentice! Up there Mousestar was yammering away, and Frostheart really did see Turtleleaf sitting with the deputies on the tree roots. She was talking in low tones with Amberfrost, who was looking rather disgruntled, and was constantly shushing Turtleleaf. Stonestar hadn't named Amberfrost as one of the cats to come, but she had followed him anyway and he had given no objection. She had a lot more power than he'd like to admit.
"Right, so, we had a send-off a few weeks ago for almost all our warriors, and I have a new deputy, Turtleleaf, one of the few survivors," Mousestar presented her proudly, and she promptly stopped talking to Amberfrost, moving forward to puff her chest out. "Less warriors around than I'd like, but there's a reason we recruited all those rogues! Turtleleaf's idea, of course, my new deputy has startlingly good ideas," he added more to himself, as if his new purpose in life was to be praising Turtleleaf nonstop. "Yes, great ideas indeed, but I'm done, so maybe Snowstar would like to speak."
"Yes please, Mousestar," Snowstar meowed quickly, and Frostheart noted the sour expression on Stonestar's face. They were making him go last, like he an his Clan were unimportant. Compared to Mousestar, Snowstar's news was quite boring. In Snowstar's Clan there had been a fox, which brought Frostheart to remember her late parents, and then quite a few new little paws pattering around the nursery. "That's all for me, what say you, Stonestar?"
"I want someone to explain why I'm going last!" Stonestar exploded, his anger bursting out in huge waves.
Springstar and Snowstar looked confused by how easily aggravated he was. "But I'd have thought that was obvious, Stonestar!" Springstar meowed, sounding thoroughly amused by his sudden outburst. "We were going in a circle, and you happened to be on my left." She nodded to her right, which was where Mousestar stood.
"You know your directions, don't you?" Mousestar asked Stonestar rather aggressively.
"Of course I know my directions," Stonestar responded coldly. "If you don't mind, I'll speak now, without interruptions, as I don't permit those."
"'Don't permit those'," Mousestar snorted. "Do you think we care, old man? But of course you do... You always do, don't you... Ah! I forgot something, bless me! Great StarClan, how I forgot this, it's of gravest importance!"
"Speak, then," Snowstar meowed, amused.
"I will speak! Of course! How not to! There is a murderer in Stonestar's Clan! Frostheart! It's her! Terrible, isn't it! But the truth! Argh! Hit me hard in the face! You know, she almost killed Turtleleaf!" Mousestar jabbered away.
Frostheart raised her eyebrows and answered coolly, "You'll find I spared her life, actually, and a jolly lot of good that did me, she tried to kill me immediately afterwards."
"Aha! See! No regrets!" Mousestar snarled.
"No regrets? What should I regret, not dying?" Frostheart replied coolly. "Perhaps I should regret not dying to her claws, perhaps indeed, because my life is so terrible, is it not?"
"Frostheart, HOLD YOUR TONGUE! And Mousestar, I will not permit you to speak that way to my bodyguard!" Stonestar snarled.
"Your bodyguard?" Mousestar looked coldly surprised. "I was not aware we had bodyguards - frankly, I haven't heard that term in... A long time, I daresay. It was a joke as kits! You have a real one, then, and of all cats, you picked Frostheart, did you? Well, she's a better cat than you at least... Did you know he cowered in his den while my warriors destroyed his Clan?" His eyes grew eager as he saw Springstar and Snowstar's eyes widen.
"Did he really? Stonestar never struck me as a coward," Springstar meowed, fixing Stonestar with a hard stare.
"Coward? Definitely not! And now, am I sharing my news or aren't I?" Stonestar's eyes glowed dangerously, and even Mousestar seemed to know his time was up, now was time to give way and let Stonestar talk. He didn't look remotely pleased about it, and kept talking downwards to his deputy, Turtleleaf, who couldn't have been looking happier, feeling all important as she was. "We have two new warriors, Windecho and Cloudbeam, of course, had to give them stunning names, catches the eye, don't they? Thought they sounded lovely, Windecho is a personal favorite, only my third creation, you know, I have to say I'm a natural at this naming thing, but I definitely wouldn't say no to a redo of Frostheart's, oh, Springstar, do you know if that's allowed?"
"To redo a warrior's name? Well, I daresay nothing's happened to her yet, so there's really no point. You want to give her a cool name, but a name is a name, Stonestar, what in StarClan are you planning on naming her anyway?" Springstar asked, shaking her head disapprovingly. She evidently thought that if Stonestar had named Frostheart properly, he wouldn't be having second thoughts, although Frostheart seriously didn't mind getting her name changed. But she probably would be anyway, if she did change to become a medicine cat, it would be natural.
"Frostsnarl, I was thinking, but it's a little scary, Frostsnarl, wouldn't you say so, Frostheart?" Stonestar asked in a lighthearted tone, but his eyes were piqued with curiosity as he looked down at Frostheart. "You're being rather quiet, aren't you? Speak up, I need to know, do you want to be renamed?"
"My current name's perfectly fine, thank you, shouldn't you have thought about this earlier?" Frostheart asked testily, looking away from him; he must be the most careless cat in history if he was only really considering names now, although she'd always had an inkling that she'd been given a random name to satisfy her just enough to get past the first moon or so, which was about how long it had lasted before she'd started wishing for another name, and now that she'd finally been presented with one, Frostsnarl had to be the worst possible new name in history.
"Earlier! Better late than early, I say!" Stonestar bared his teeth as if as a joke and glanced nervously at Mousestar, who seemed to be chewing his lip in a rather strange manner. "You alright, Mousy?" he asked in a light tone, but he was really going for the insults, the one that day being Mousy.
"Mousy? You- names, how dare you! Are you dropping to insults? You are weak! And what will I call you, then? Stoney? Starry? Oh, I've got one!" Mousestar jumped up and down with merry excitement, hardly containable. "Yes, I'll call you Stoney Stars!" For all the jumping and laughing gleefully, Frostheart had expected a better, funnier nickname than Stoney Stars. But Mousestar seemed delighted by it, so there wasn't much she could do. Stoney Stars... really made her want to laugh, that stupid corny name, it was just a play on words really. Mousestar's sense of humor was horrible, but she couldn't say so because he was a Clan leader and SummerClan was already in a terrible situation.
"Stoney Stars?" said Stonestar, and he honestly sounded mildly interested in the name. "You know, Mousy, it isn't a bad one, what should I call you next, Mousey Stars?" he asked thoughtfully, and Mousestar didn't look as surly as usual either, was he enjoying this?
And Mousestar said, "Sure, Mousey Stars sounds great, makes us sound like buddies, doesn't it?"
Whatever it was, it set Stonestar off, and while Mousestar was busy cackling maliciously, Stonestar leapt for him, unsheathing claws. "SUMMERCLAN, ATTACK!" he yowled furiously, slashing madly at Mousestar's throat. "ATTACK, YOU FAT BUNCH OF BADGERS, DON'T STAND AROUND THERE! AMBERFROST, RALLY THEM TO ATTACK!" He was screaming while fighting, an admirable feat for someone who usually moped around his den all day, and the cats of SummerClan were looking at each other, hiding their looks of confusion at his sudden attack.
Springstar was sighing exasperatedly. "What is the point of this truce when all that it does is get broken?" she huffed in annoyance, and, with a quiet giggle, Frostheart had to nod in agreement. She couldn't have been more right. The truce had been broken almost every gathering for a while now, with some attack from some cat going on one after another.
"The point? Ah, to be broken?" Snowstar asked thoughtfully, and the two female leaders were giggling away on the Tree while the two male leaders brawled. Their Clans weren't exactly having it easy, either. WinterClan and SpringClan watched with round eyes as SummerClan fought AutumnClan. The best insults going round were SummerClan's warriors calling AutumnClan's 'rogue-born' which was actually a pretty dumb insult because it was the truth, the idea being that only dumb insults were going round.
Frostheart ended up fighting a spiny gray tabby who looked wily but was actually slow, barely flesh and bone as it could be considered, and he had large bloodshot eyes which were as orange as sunset and displayed great anger.
"You know, I've got no food where I come from?" he growled furiously when Frostheart met him in attack.
Frostheart blinked in confusion. Of all the things she'd expected the rogues to say, it had more to do with battle cries and less to do with real life stuff. "Naturally, why else would you come here and help him? He's a monster," Frostheart meowed firmly.
"Not as bad as your leader, is he? Your leader's unstable, did he eat catnip or somethin'?" the gray tabby jeered.
"Cat... what? Did you say catmint?" Frostheart asked. "Because no, he hasn't eaten catmint, we haven't any left, not with all these... oh, never mind, rogues wouldn't understand."
That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU KNOW THEM INSULTS AND YOU'RE USING THEM ON US! I KNEW CLAN CATS COULDN'T BE TRUSTED! THEY TAKE OUR WORDS AND TWIST THEM ONTO US, WHEN DID I SAY CATMINT, HUH, IT WAS DEFINITELY CATNIP, AND HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A ROGUE, I'M A CLAN CAT! I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A CLAN CAT MY WHOLE LIFE AND NOW YOU COME INSULTIN' ME!" He heaved in deep breaths, looking hysterical. "BUT NOW YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR IT, HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME, I'M MORE CLANLY THAN YOU ARE, I'VE NEVER KILLED IN ME LIFE, AND YOU KILLED SIXTEEN OR MORE I HEARD, WHAT OF YOUR STUPID WARRIOR CODE, EH, WHAT OF IT TELLING NOT TO KILL UNNECESSARILY?"
"There," Frostheart meowed simply. "That's how I know you were a rogue. Only rogue-joiners study the code like it's law, because they have to stick so closely by it that nobody remembers they were rogues! That's you, isn't it, you talk about me paying but it's you the former rogue. 'Us Clan cats', you call us, so of course you're not one of us. You're with them rogues, aren't you?" she hissed into the gray tabby's ear.
He slumped before her, really was a loose bag of bones, and he looked haggard, she almost regretted letting him drop. "I was dyin', kid, where was I suppos'd to go? Not like there's anywhere that'll take me, I'm to crim'nal, innit?"
"I don't understand you and I don't want to. Goodbye," Frostheart meowed, unsheathing claws.
"Goodbye, you say! More like badbye, innit, the way you're plannin' on sendin' me off, won't be kind, thank you very much, I'd rather not die by them claws..." the gray tabby was talking to himself more than her now, and Frostheart was finding killing him a rather disturbing experience. "Spare me, won'ya, I won' cause trouble for ya any more... just spare me, please.... spare..."
"Fine." Frostheart couldn't have been more disgusted. "You're spared, go tell tall tales of my mercy or whatnot, I don't care. Just go, run, I don't want to kill any more than I have to."
"So ya do follow da warrior code!" the gray tabby said triumphantly.
"Only slightly, really gets in the way, doesn't it?" Frostheart asked coldly.
"Meet me here. Two nights from now, won' yeh..." the gray tabby said.
"No," meowed Frostheart coldly.
"No?" the gray tabby looked surprised, affronted even. "O... O' course, I know why, it's cos I haven' told yeh my name, innit... it's Greyhound, like da sound of it, don't yeh, quite nice, gotta... spin on it, if yeh say it fast - Greyhound. Nice, innit?"
"I suppose. The answer is no. I couldn't care less what happened to you," Frostheart meowed and left.
She could have sworn she heard him say, "Spread tall tales in her wake? Why'd anyone wanna know what had happened to her either?"
Word count: 2713
So after that extraordinary wait for the last chapter, this one came fast, yeah. I need to apologize cos I noticed something.
Every time I say something like "I'm so PUMPED to write this book!" I update rapid fast once, and then I... don't update for a while.
I'm SUPER SORRY. I am pumped, but I've been sick since TUESDAY - the WHOLE WEEK - and I was sleeping a lot, so not really feeling up to writing.
I'm really sorry. I've also been missing a very fun project, my collaboration wings of fire fanfiction with my best friend on Wattpad, we haven't been working on it much at all so I've been coming on Wattpad less and less. I'm so sorry, if this gets worse, I may take a break from Wattpad.
~ Frostwind88