Rosekit crept out of the underground tunnels before the crack of dawn, steering well clear of the sleeping Dapplefrost's form as she snuck out of the nursery. Though she was excited to hear Tallstar's announcements this morning, she dreaded the tortoiseshell's foul mood – just as she did every day after a Gathering. She didn't know what it was about the full moon that made Dapplefrost even more unpleasant than usual, but the change in mood was unmistakeable.

The sun was creeping over the horizon slowly, but the kit did her best to be patient as her eyes followed its ascent, revelling in the changing colours. Her ginger fur glowed in the light, matching the sky overhead.

Her solitude ended when a grizzled head appeared out of the tunnels. Condoreye moved slowly, his injured leg making movement difficult, but his single good eye caught sight of the kit quickly. Rosekit gulped, still slightly afraid of the giant tom, but did not move as the elder came to sit beside her.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" he said in his deep growl. The she-cat nodded, struggling to find a response; she did not interact with many of MoorClan's members outside of Crowleaf.

Then, she remembered that Condoreye had been to the Gathering the previous night. Curiosity overtook her quickly.

"What are the Gatherings like?" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

The brown tabby purred, amused. "I'm surprised Crowleaf's never shared his experience."

Rosekit flicked her tail. "He does, but he's always sticking close to the other medicine cats. What are Gatherings like for you?" She turned her widened eyes to the elder.

"Well, they're busy. They always take place at High Rocks, these tall stones that circle a clearing where all three Clans mill about. SeaClan always smells of salt because they live by the water; RockClan's scent is more musky, like the forest where they live.

"The leaders meet at the Speaking Rock, their deputies and medicine cats generally near them as the Gathering begins. Before they speak, we have a chance to meet with cats in the other Clans and talk. It's always nice to see old friends and see how life has changed since the three Clans came to be again."

Rosekit nodded along, imaging a throng of intertwining pelts in various colours moving about between close-set stones. She imagined it would be dark, with only the stars shining down on the gathered Clans, when she went to her first Gathering.

"But Condoreye," she began, suddenly confused, "why did you say 'since the three Clans came to be again'? Haven't there always been three groups?"

The elder glanced at the tunnel entrances before speaking in a hushed tone. "I suppose you could say there have been three groups – four, really. Before MoorClan, SeaClan, and RockClan there were the alley cats, the rebels, and the Junkyard Gang. These three groups banded together as one."

"What about the fourth?" Rosekit cut in. She shrank back as Condoreye fixed her sternly with his single eye.

"I'm getting there," he continued, not unkindly. "As I was saying, these three groups banded together to defeat the fourth – DarkClan. This Clan had formed centuries earlier from cats of the same three Clans we have now who believed the Clans were weak and needed to come together as one to be strong. They believed the love shared between Clanmates, and sometimes even between Clans, was slowly killing them all and that those who believed in this system had to be eradicated. So they began a reign of terror and darkness where love was forbidden."

The she-cat was practically vibrating with this new information. Love, forbidden? How had DarkClan survived for so long? How had kits been born into the Clan, and how had mates lived their lives together?

Before she could ask any of these questions, however, Condoreye directed his attention elsewhere.

"You can come out, I know you're there," he said in a loud voice and, much to Rosekit's dismay, a black and grey shape slunk out of the tunnel entrance.

"You don't actually believe what he's saying, do you?" Spiderkit asked Rosekit as she stalked towards them. The black she-cat shot Condoreye a look, most likely angry at being discovered.

Stonekit seemed more surprised than anything. "Well, is it true? And also, how did you know we were there?"

Condoreye settled onto his side, spreading out on the ground. "You were standing upwind. And I can only tell you what I remember of DarkClan; the rest has been passed down for centuries and we only know what others have been told."

"What others?" Rosekit piped up, frustrated that her story time had been interrupted.

"Well, just as I am passing this story down to you it was passed onto me by Bron – I mean – Tallstar, and to him by Nightchaser, and to him by someone else. And so it goes until we reach the beginning of the story."

"Dapplefrost can't even say the same thing twice without it being different the second time," Spiderkit cut in. "Why should we believe the story is the same as it was before?"

The brown tabby flicked an ear. "We can't know for sure." Then, in an undertone to Rosekit who stood closest, "Also, Dapplefrost is not the greatest storyteller, as I've heard." The ginger kit had to stifle a purr as Spiderkit's eyes landed on her.

"Dapplefrost won't be happy to hear about this, you know."

Rosekit narrowed her eyes. "Then don't tell her."

"But she needs to know! She doesn't want us knowing about DarkClan."

"She also doesn't want us bothering the older warriors but you do that anyway."

"At least the older warriors like me. The only cat you ever see is Crowleaf."

"I take slight offence to that," Condoreye said, cuffing Spiderkit on the ear gently with a massive paw. "Rosekit sees me. And besides that, I think I saw Creamfoot and Oatheart speaking with her just the other day."

The ginger she-cat nodded, silently thanking the elder for backing her up. It was true – just the previous morning Creamfoot had asked her what her favourite kind of freshkill was so that she could try catching some on her hunting patrol.

Spiderkit rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Creamfoot and Oatheart are – "

"Incredibly fun to be around?" Oatheart's cheerful voice interrupted the kit as he padded up and out of the underground tunnels. He stopped to stretch, stretching his mouth wide in a yawn.

"The best littermate duo in this Clan?" Creamfoot added, bounding up to the small group.

Spiderkit kept her mouth shut. Rosekit felt a sense of triumph rise into her chest.

"You are quite the team," Condoreye agreed. "But we must remember that the entire Clan is our team and our divisions only make us weaker." The triumph in Rosekit's chest faded as his amber eye fell first on her, then on Spiderkit.

"Speaking of Clans, where is Tallstar? I want to know what happened at the Gathering." Oatheart bounced up and down on his paws, swivelling his ears as if listening for the Clan leader's approach.

"Jaystrike should be back from his dawn patrol soon," Condoreye said calmly. "Then the Clan meeting will start."

Sure enough, Jaystrike padded in moments later with Bramblefire, Hazelstripe, and Lionfang in tow. The other members of the Clan had also begun to filter out of their dens, coming up to take their spots in the clearing amongst the tall grasses.

They settled as they always did: Jaystrike and his mate, Roxanne, near the High Boulder from which Tallstar would be speaking; Lionfang, Hazelstripe, and Webclaw in their own little clump near the edge of the clearing; Bramblefire and Olivepool very close to each other, with Oatheart and Creamfoot badgering them with questions about training; Crowleaf beside Condoreye; and Dapplefrost on her own, the kits within her reach. Normally Rosekit would respond to Dapplefrost's glares and go to sit with her mother, but today she perched beside Crowleaf.

Tallstar was the last to arrive, tabby pelt still ruffled from sleep. He leapt onto High Boulder without a second thought to his appearance and began the after-Gathering meeting as he did every moon.

"MoorClan! As we all know, last night was a full moon and, therefore, a Gathering of the Clans. Both SeaClan and RockClan had no potential dangers to report, but did have good news: four new apprentices in SeaClan and two new kits in RockClan."

A murmur of congratulations ran through the Clan. Rosekit sat silently, having never met any SeaClan or RockClan cats.

"We also have news that was not shared at the Gathering last night," Tallstar continued, glancing over at Jaystrike. The MoorClan deputy straightened, looking in turn to Roxanne, who rose somewhat shakily to her paws.

"Jaystrike and I are having kits."

Instantaneously, the Clan erupted into loud shouts of joy. Rosekit leapt to her paws, excitement coursing through her. More kits in the Clan!

"I can't wait to have kits," Hazelstripe sighed, voice carrying throughout the clearing. Rosekit saw the brown she-cat shift closer to Lionfang.

"I can't wait to have kits either," Webclaw replied in the same dreamy voice, leaning in closer on Lionfang's other side.

Rosekit's sightline to the trio was cut off by Crowleaf. "By the time there are more kits in the Clan you'll be an apprentice!" His words only added to Rosekit's excitement.

"I can't wait to be training to help the Clan," the ginger she-cat replied. "I'm so bored of sitting around the camp."

"Me too," Spiderkit huffed, Stonekit echoing her sentiment.

"You'll be apprentices soon enough," Crowleaf assured them, moving off to congratulate the deputy and his mate.

Spiderkit lowered her voice suddenly, shifting closer to Stonekit. Rosekit leaned in to hear.

"I heard Creamfoot and Oatheart talking about how Tallstar didn't mention there's a fox on the territory," she whispered. "They said he probably doesn't want to scare the Clan. I think we should take care of it so the Clan doesn't have to be scared at all."

Stonekit nodded enthusiastically, but Rosekit shook her head. "No way. That's way too dangerous."

Spiderkit rolled her eyes. "It's not like I was asking you to come. Besides, you don't think we could take on a fox?"

Rosekit surveyed her littermates with wary eyes, annoyance pricking at her fur. Foxes were large, from what she knew, but surely three kits could take one on?

"Come on, Stonekit," the black she-cat said. "Let's sneak out and find it." Already, Spiderkit was inching her way towards the edge of the clearing. Rosekit watched them sneak closer and closer to the edge until they were in the shadow of the grasses.

Just as their dark pelts were disappearing into the vegetation she scampered after them.

"Wait, I'm coming too," she whispered.

If she proved herself by fighting the fox... Maybe Spiderkit and Stonekit would finally like her.

// It's been a while but I finally got a chance to write! I'm just finishing up my last semester and even though it's finals season I felt the need to take a break from writing essays and instead decided to write this. Obviously, nothing good can come of this decision to fight a fox but c'est la vie.