Chapter 2

Goldenfur was part of the hunting patrol together with Smallflight, Sunnyblaze and Berrypaw. The hunting was good and there were plenty of fresh kill. When Goldenfur returned to camp, she saw Lilydapple’s kits playing outside the nursery. “Take that badger!” a kit meowed. “Yeah! Get out of our territory!” another kit added. Goldenfur watched in amusement and placed her fresh kill onto the pile. Just then Cloudstar walked towards her. “Are you coming to the Gathering?” he asked. Goldenfur nodded. “Good,” Cloudstar walked away. Goldenfur chose a vole for herself and ate quietly. Maybe one of the cats from the other Clans might have the same dream she thought. Although she was not sure how they would react.

When the SkyClan warriors reached Fourtress, warriors from FireClan, MoonClan, BreezeClan and IceClan were there. Goldenfur surveyed the clearing. Cats from other Clans were sharing tongues with each other and other cats were talking to each other. Goldenfur looked for her sister but Smallflight was talking to Berrynose. Goldenfur surveyed the sea of warriors and saw her friend Cloverfall. She walked towards her and meowed. Then she heard a yowl. The five leaders climbed the HighRock and Dawnstar, leader of MoonClan meowed. “I will speak first,” he stared at them as if challenging them to defy him. The other leaders didn’t say anything but Winterstar, leader of IceClan shake her tail and Swiftstar, leader of BreezeClan pointedly turned and look at the sea of cats.
Goldenfur felt her fur bristle in irritation. How arrogant! Dawnstar raised his voice “our prey is plentiful and Twolegs aren’t bothering us. And we held a warrior ceremony. Blackpaw is now Blackhawk.” A chorus of congratulations sounded from the cats and Blackhawk looked up proudly.
Dawnstar nudged Summerstar, “it’s your turn.” Summerstar took the position and raised his voice. “Same with FireClan our prey is plentiful. We found a badger in our territory but we soon changed its mind about staying in our territory.” Approving yowls sounded from the FireClan warriors.
Next Cloudstar stepped forward. “We hold a warrior ceremony for Graypaw and Silverpaw and they are now Grayfur and Silverbreeze.” Another chorus of congratulations sounded from below. Grayfur and Silverbreeze gave their pelts a couple of licks to hide their embarrassment. “Our prey is plentiful.”
After Cloudstar Swiftstar took the position. “Nightcloud had a new litter of three kits and we picked up fox scent from and old badger set. Our warriors are patrolling the area to speed up our awareness.” Murmurs of agreement sounded from the cats below and approving yowls sounded from BreezeClan.
“Recently Two-legs pitched their tents on our territory.” Hailstone deputy of IceClan called out from his position. “Pitching tents? Are you having troubles from them?” Swiftstar replied swiftly “no I don’t think they even know that we are there. We are keeping a distance away from them though.” Hailstone nodded and sat.
Cloverfall turned to Goldenfur. “I’m guessing Swiftstar doesn’t want to show signs of weakness in front of the Clans.” Cloverfall muttered. Goldenfur replied back “BreezeClan cats are good at hiding.” Cloverfall snorted.
“Our prey has been plentiful and hopefully we might be able to survive leaf bare.” Swiftstar finished his report.
Finally Winterstar stepped forward. “We didn’t have any trouble from Twolegs. But one of our elders Troutclaw died of whitecough.” Murmurs of sadness sounded from below. “Our Clan grieves for him and we held his vigil yesterday.”
It wasn’t often that a Gathering ended so quickly, with no serious disturbances to report from outside, and no reason for quarrels among Clans. Goldenfur surveyed the scene. She saw Frostfur and One-eye sharing tongues with Tallfoot and Runningflight from MoonClan. A group of apprentices chatting excitedly.
The leaders jumped from the HighRock and gathered their warriors and return to their own territory. Goldenfur was just about to leave when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw her friend Flameleaf from FireClan and Iceclaw from IceClan.
“We have to talk to you.” Goldenfur cast a glance towards her Clanmates and nodded. “I had this dream recently and I saw Silverstar my Clan’s old leader telling me to find four other cats and journey to the Crystal Lake.” Flameleaf blurted. “Same here. Except Mossstar talked to me.” Goldenfur’s heart froze a heartbeat. She had the same dream as both of them! Except for the part where different leaders met Flameleaf and Iceclaw.
“I had this dream too,” she began slowly. Flameleaf looked astonished and Iceclaw widened her eyes. “Darkstar talked to me and said the same thing to me too.” “So maybe the other cats are from the other Clans. Now we know the three of us are the chosen ones we just need to find the other two cats!” Iceclaw concluded.
Goldenfur nodded slowly. “That makes sense but how are we supposed to find out who are the cats? We can’t just go into the camp and asked ‘anyone had a weird dream?’! They will think that we are the weird ones.” Flameleaf meowed in amusement. “No mouse brain. We go to the meeting place tonight and see who the cats that showed up are.” Goldenfur nodded, “ok that makes sense.”
Iceclaw nodded. “Great! Let’s meet at Fourtress tonight since that is the place where we are supposed to meet.” Flameleaf nodded. Goldenfur looked doubtful. “But will the other cats know where we will be meeting? I mean the cats who visited them in their dreams might tell them a different story!” Even Flameleaf looked worried.
Iceclaw shrugged “I don’t know. What else can we do? We can’t just ignore this prophecy! Maybe the other two cats may not know about this prophecy but there’s still the three of us. Our Clans might be in great danger. It’s up to us.”
Goldenfur can’t help it but she admired Iceclaw’s bravery and courage. She felt a bit better and Flameleaf relaxed at Iceclaw’s words. Goldenfur took a big breath. “You are right. We have to do this.” Flameleaf and Iceclaw nodded. “So that’s it see you at Fourtress!” Goldenfur and Iceclaw said goodbye. They turned and went back to their Clans.