Blossomstar will not have a POV this chapter because she cannot go to the Gathering. Thornclaw will be replacing her temporarily at the Gathering, therefore, we will have his POV followed by ?'s POV

Thornclaw POV

I was one of the oldest cats in the Clans, a senior warrior. I had done many things in my lifetime, but there was nothing quite like the incredible view from the Great Oak.

The other leaders already knew that Blossomstar was going to have kits, so they didn't ask why she wasn't there. I nodded briefly to Mistystar, ignored Onestar, and then blinked in surprise when I saw Rowanclaw leaping up onto the branch to join us.

"Sorry we're late," he panted. "We were looking for Mudkit; he thought it was a good idea to sneak out of camp and go 'hunting.'"

We all understood mischievous kits and would usually have chuckled in amusement, but right now, we were more concerned by the fact that Rowanclaw had showed up tonight instead of Blackstar. Was Blackstar dead? Every cat had known that Blackstar was old and weakening, but nobody had expected him to die this quickly.

I spoke up on behalf of the other leaders and myself. "What happened to Blackstar?"

Hostility briefly flickered in Rowanclaw's eyes. "You'll find out during the Gathering."

"Is he dead?" I asked.

Rowanclaw unsheathed his claws. "Yes, he is. Any more questions, you nosy deputy whose brain is stuffed with thistledown?"

I glared at him, furious. There had been no reason for him to insult me!
"There was no need for that reaction, Rowanstar," Mistystar said softly. "Thornclaw was just asking a question."

"Enough socializing why don't we start this meeting before you flea-ridden fox-hearts ask any more questions that are ShadowClan's business and ShadowClan's business alone," Rowanstar snarled.

I unsheathed my claws, and could barely restrain myself from swiping them across the ShadowClan leader's ear.

Onestar rose to his paws and called for the meeting to commence. "Rowanstar, would you like to speak first?"

Rowanstar hesitated, then gave a curt nod. "Fine. A fire started in ShadowClan territory. Blackstar returned to our camp to make sure every cat had escaped. It was taking longer than I expected for him to join us, so I took Olivenose with me and went back to investigate. I saw Blackstar trapped behind a fallen tree and a cat standing on top of the tree that I wasn't able to quite determine the fur color of. This cat acted like he or she was going to help Blackstar, but then pushed him off into the fire, which was a few tail-lengths behind him. So this cat murdered Blackstar and then padded off as if it was nothing! I believe it was a cat from one of the three other Clans seated here in front of me!"

Yowls of protest came from the assembled cats, except for ShadowClan.

Mistystar cleared her throat and the noise from the crowd died down. "Rowanstar, have you even stopped to consider it might have been a cat from your own Clan?"

"You shut up!" Rowanstar screeched. "My cats are loyal, unlike yours!"

Mistystar's eyes blazed with fury. "Your cats really showed how loyal they were during the Great Battle. Might you remember a cat by the name of Redwillow?"

ShadowClan cats leapt to their paws, spitting angry words back at the RiverClan leader.

"Excuse me, if I may interrupt, it might just be a rogue and not a Clan cat at all," Onestar pointed out.

Rowanstar narrowed his eyes. "Funny how quick WindClan and ThunderClan are to use that explanation for everything that goes wrong around the lake."

Yowls of outrage came from the ThunderClan and WindClan cats. ShadowClan cats voiced their support for their leader and I sensed battle was inevitable and was only a few heartbeats away.

"ThunderClan hasn't said a word, you brainless coward who makes accusations that you have no evidence to support!" I snarled.

Rowanstar bristled and tensed his muscles, unsheathing his claws. Down in the clearing, I saw that a few minor skirmishes had already broken out. The deputies were all on their feet surrounding Tawnypelt, the new ShadowClan deputy. Cloudtail, who was acting as deputy tonight because I was in Blossomstar's place, hissed something at Tawnypelt, who bared her teeth and snarled in response.

The clearing was momentarily plunged into darkness as a cloud passed over the moon. The angry mood melted into a fearful one and the cats all sheathed their claws, backing away from one another. The medicine cats stood and Littlecloud shrieked, "Stop at once! We have displeased StarClan!"

Onestar leapt to the ground and signaled with his tail for his cats to leave. "This meeting is dismissed, by the will of StarClan!"

? POV

Blossomstar's kits slept soundly, as did Blossomstar herself, on the night of the full moon. The kits had only been born four days ago. That was a long enough life for them. Perhaps I could teach Blossomstar a thing or two about true depression, not "heartbreak," which she assumed was the same thing. Heartbreak was a small scar that faded over time, while depression was a wound that never closed, and blood continually oozed out of it, until you died from blood loss. No cobwebs or marigold could heal that wound; the only thing that could was isolation from your problems, to forget everything that had ever happened for a little while. Depression was something I knew very well, the same way I knew my own name and how to hunt mice.

I peered through the thick branches of the nursery and crept inside. Blossomstar didn't stir. I eyed the two black-furred toms, and momentarily felt a bit of compassion for the tiny kits. I pushed it away and shook my head to clear it. "Quit being a fool!" I hissed quietly to myself. "You're being so weak!"

I stepped back out into the clearing and took a deep breath, hoping the fresh air would cause this softness to fade. Molewhisker, who was on guard duty that night, was still asleep. It was too easy to get into the ThunderClan camp when the guards couldn't even stay awake.

I was about to return to the nursery when I heard a snarling voice behind me. "Who dares to trespass..."

I whipped around to find a tom with reddish-brown fur and amber eyes. He yelped in surprise as he recognized me and fear lit his gaze. "Hello, Foxleap," I purred.

Foxleap screamed with pure terror and raced towards the camp entrance. "HELP! We've been invaded by the Dark Forest!"

Great. Now I had no choice but to leave without the kits. Before any groggy warriors could stumble out of their den, I chased after Foxleap. Molewhisker's head snapped upwards as we thundered past him and he stared in bewilderment, not recognizing me.

I was slowly gaining on the tom. "Wait! Foxleap!"

"HELP! PLEASE, ANYONE! I'M NOT READY TO DIE CHERRYSTRIPE IS..."

I leapt at him, slamming into his side with my body weight, and pinned him to the ground. "Don't say a word until I tell you to, or it'll be your last."