Honeypaw sped away from the group as fast as she could. Tears blurred her vision as she almost barreled a white and brown apprentice over, who was chatting to Sunpaw. Her sister widened her eyes in surprise, before asking, "Honeypaw, what's the problem?"

Honeypaw turned around, emotion swelling in her throat. She tried to choke out an answer, "Our uncle is-"

Sunpaw tapped her paw impatiently.

"Our uncle is the leader of DeathClan" Honeypaw finished. Even through the tears, Honeypaw could see Sunpaw's amber eyes light like fire. She stood up, ignoring the questions from the apprentice who had been talking to her. "What?!" She hissed.

Honeypaw attempted to keep her mouth shut, but she couldn't help but make it worse, "And our father is the deputy". She winced as Sunpaw stood up, seemingly unaffected, but the anger blazing from her eyes told a different story. Her unsheathed claws scraped against the stone, and the other apprentice used her paws to cover her ears.

"How is this true?" Sunpaw spat, her claws continuing to scrape. Honeypaw recounted the story she had heard, tensing every time a low growl escaped Sunpaw's throat.

"So our father left our mother to be the deputy of a mouse dung excuse for a clan full of foxhearts!" She almost yowled. Cats turned their heads to look at the pair, and Honeypaw flashed them a smile to tell them nothing was wrong. They continued their conversations.

Sunpaw neared closer to Honeypaw's face and Honeypaw could see her fear reflected in her eyes. She looked weak and delicate compared to her sister, who was a raging fire through the forest. "I'm going to kill him" She growled, her claws digging into the moss. Honeypaw shrunk at her figure, looking fiercer than ever. Honeypaw had never seen this side of her sister.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" Sunpaw roared.  Honeypaw saw Goldstar look at them quizzically, but then decided to cover up the noise.

"THE GATHERING SHALL BEGIN" She hollered from her place on the crumbling stairs. Flashing the pair confused looks, the clan cats gathered around the three leaders. Thankful for an excuse to leave, Honeypaw padded forward, settling herself next to Moonpaw and Halfpelt, but then realising she should sit with her own clan. Giving everyone a nervous grin, she sat down next to Sageswirl.

Honeypaw looked up at the leaders. Creamstar sat elegantly on the lowest step, her fluffy tail wrapped around her paws. Goldstar sat in the middle step, watching the group and who she assumed was Eaglestar was sitting on the highest step, glaring at Creamstar for some reason. Creamstar noticed the glares, and she blinked at the LakeClan leader, clearly confused.

"You may begin, Creamstar" Eaglestar said, looking down at the she-cat. Muscles rippled under her midnight fur, and Honeypaw felt as if the LakeClan leader was trying to seem intimidating. Creamstar cleared her throat.

"MoorClan has been doing well. Prey has been bountiful-"

Multiple LakeClan cats hissed, including the one that Sunpaw had been talking to earlier. The only ones who weren't making a sound was the rosetted tom, who glanced at his yelling friend silently. Creamstar widened her eyes slightly, but continued.

"We have a new apprentice in the apprentice den. We know he will make a great warrior" She smiled at a young, white apprentice, "That's all. Goldstar, care to take over?"

The FernClan leader dipped her head, "We also have new apprentices who we know will not disappoint us. They are perfectly capable of a loyal life in FernClan."

Honeypaw could feel Hollypaw's smirk, even though she wasn't in her sightline.

"Prey has also been decent, the squirrels have decided to show themselves once more. That is all. Eaglestar?"

The black cat nodded, keeping her head low. Honeypaw swore she heard a growl.

"LakeClan has been facing grave things. Prey has been bountiful you say, Creamstar? I'm sure it wasn't necessary to be stealing ours!" She spat. Honeypaw's eyes widened. This took a turn.

"And of course it wasn't enough" Eaglestar growled, "For you have decided to take a kit's life! Silverkit was going to grow to be a skilled, intelligent warrior. Her future was ahead of her! And it was bright- until you snake-hearted crooks decided to kill her like she was nothing. To drown her in her own territory- to let the lake run red and her body to drift to her camp!"

Yowls sounded from the group of LakeClan cats. They hissed and spat at MoorClan, while FernClan sat awkwardly between the bewildered and the ferocious.

"That isn't true!" Creamstar protested, "We respect the warrior code. Each and every aspect of our lives is built off of it. To kill a kit just for power hungry reasons- what gain would it give us?"

"The gain is being more powerful than us, Creamstar!" Eaglestar retorted.

"We are all equal!"

"Clearly you don't think so!"

A dark cloud covered the moon. Not many members of LakeClan or MoorClan spotted that though, all they were focused on was making their voices louder and more ferocious. Honeypaw thought she heard a growl, but the growl sounded louder, deeper, higher up.  Honeypaw turned her head to Hollypaw, who's fur was sticking up on end. Upon seeing her look, the arrogant she-cat said, "What?". Honeypaw had a feeling in her gut. She had to trust it.
"Watch out!" She screeched, before leaping onto Hollypaw, who spat and hissed and kicked.

A bolt of lightning stabbed the patch of soil where Hollypaw had just been standing. Every cat may have fell silent- no one was sure, the sound of the crackling blue blur drowned every sound in the forest. As soon as it was there, it was gone, leaving a couple slabs of stone collapse lazily into itself. Hollypaw looked at the spot in shock. Honeypaw loosened her grip on her.

Everyone in the clearing had their jaw hanging open. They blinked in surprise. Goldstar, however, simply rose to her paws and took FernClan back to camp.