Chapter 11
"What do you mean she's gone?" Foxheart replied.
"One moment she was here, listening to my story, and the next, she was gone! It’s all my fault!" Dewheart cried. Redfur trotted over to their side.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Quick-kit's disappeared!" Foxheart exclaimed.
"What?" replied Redfur.
"She disappeared!" Foxheart cried. Foxheart calmed down, and thought for a moment.
"We need to find her scent trail, and then we can find her easily. Let's start searching. Dewheart, can you watch the kits please?" Foxheart decided. As Dewheart padded back to the kits, Foxheart and Redfur stalked in a wide circle around the kits, with their nose taking in every scent seeping from the forest. Foxheart got a sudden whiff of a familiar scent. She opened her mouth and let the faint scent bather her tongue. It was easily recognizable as Quick-kit's warm kit scent. Foxheart quickly called Redfur to her side, and she led the way after the trail. The trail zigzagged back and forth until it stopped. Redfur and Foxheart slunk along, getting farther and farther away from Dewheart and the kits.
"Where's the trail?" Redfur whispered from behind Foxheart. Foxheart inhaled deeply, and she realized that she and Redfur had wandered all the way to the Stoneclan border.
"We're at the Stoneclan border!" exclaimed Foxheart.
" What? We can't have come that far!" Redfur whispered incredulously.
"Well, we did, and so did Quick-kit." Foxheart replied bluntly. As she looked around her, Foxheart realized that the dense Lightningclan forest had given way to straggling pine trees, and the soil was much more soft and moist.
"Why did Quick-kit come all this way?" wondered Foxheart aloud.
“I don’t know. But it’s pretty weird that her scent trail just stopped here. Do you think she climbed a tree?” Redfur asked curiously, scenting the air. She wrinkled her nose at the strong stench of Shadowclan.
“I don’t think she could climb one of these trees. They’re very slippery, and don’t have a lot of limbs. It’s hard to scent her anyway, because of all the Stoneclan scent!” Foxheart replied. She crouched down and scented the ground, inhaling deeply where the scent trail ended. Foxheart scanned the ground carefully to see if she was missing anything. Her eyes flicked over the ground, picking up every detail. “Wait a moment,” she murmured. Foxheart crept forward. A few tail-lengths from the where the scent trail ended, was a small scuff mark, and as Foxheart scented the mark, she could pick out the faint scent of Quick-kit. There were larger scuff marks beside Quick-kit’s, as if something had tried to fight him, or steal him. The scuff marks smelled strongly of Shadowclan, and the scent was fresh.
“Redfur, I think I know what happened to Quick-kit!” Foxheart cried, as the thought of what had happened dawned on her. Redfur scurried over to her side.
“What?” Redfur asked.
“Look here, it’s a scuff mark, and it smells like Quick-kit, and over here, some larger scuff marks, that smell like Stoneclan. Both scents are fairly fresh, and there are some scattered leaves over here as well!” Foxheart explained quickly, pointing her paw at the different spots on the ground.
“So,” Redfur whispered, “you’re saying that Stoneclan took Quick-kit?”
"That’s what it looks like to me.” Foxheart replied, furious inside that Stoneclan would take a helpless kit hostage.
“Well what should we do? We can’t just stand here and wait for them to do something to Quick-kit!”
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do.” Foxheart replied, still fuming at the thought of taking a helpless kit. “We’re going to take the kits back to the camp, round up a patrol of our strongest warriors, and go straight to the Stoneclan camp to get Quick-kit back!”
“Let’s take the kits back then!” Redfur meowed, thinking of marching into the Stoneclan camp with a giant patrol of Lightningclan warriors.
“Let’s go!” Foxheart replied. She spun around in a blur of shining bronze, and sped off back towards where Dewheart was waiting. Bounding along beside her, Redfur watched as Foxheart bounded over the logs and bushes in her way, landing gracefully and not missing a beat as she began running on again. Redfur felt proud to be a Lightningclan warrior as she and her clanmate flowed through the forest like a river, about to confront another clan for something that was theirs. Redfur felt pride spreading through her chest as she sped through the forest, green blurs flying past her. Foxheart burst through the trees ahead of her and Redfur leapt out of the trees as well. They both skidded to a halt. Dewheart was waiting patiently, while all the kits where stalking back and forth, looking like warriors with fleas in their pelts. As soon as Bark-kit saw the two warriors, he jumped up, bristling.
“Did you find Quick-kit?”
“No, but we know where she is. We’re going to go back to camp, round up a strong patrol, and go get her.” Foxheart replied.
“Why didn’t you just go get her now? Where is she?”
“We couldn’t go get her because she was taken by Stoneclan. We found scuff marks of her and a Stoneclan warrior where her scent trail ended. We’ll get her back in no time, though.” Foxheart replied.
“THEY TOOK HER?!!!” Bark-kit screeched, looking as if he might explode. “Well let’s go get the patrol!” He scampered off down the faint trail, tripping over his short legs. Foxheart mewed to Dewheart,
“You take these kits home. I’ll go take care of Bark-kit.” Foxheart ran along the path until she caught up to him, panting desperately as he plodded along.
“Bark-kit, you shouldn’t just run off like that! You could have gotten hurt, and no one could help you because we wouldn’t know where you were!” She told him sternly.
“But Foxheart, I need to find Quick-kit!” Bark-kit wailed. His eyes widened, and he lowered his voice, whispering to Foxheart, “I’ve heard, that in Stoneclan, they eat kits instead of prey! Snowstorm always tells us that story when we’re too loud.” Bark-kit’s voice rose to a wail as he exclaimed, “I can’t let them eat Quick-kit! Who would I play moss ball with then? It would be just me and the other kits! Quick-kit’s the most fun!” Foxheart stopped herself from letting out a mrrow of amusement. This poor kit thought his sister was going to be eaten! Foxheart knew better. She knew that in exchange for Quick-kit, Cliffstar would want something in return, like a piece of Lightningclan territory. She padded along with Bark-kit back to the camp, reassuring him the whole way there,
“Don’t worry; I’m sure they won’t eat her.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Foxheart paced into the camp hurriedly, racing straight for Vinestar as soon as she saw her. Vinestar looked up from where she was discussing burying the prey for leaf-bare with Sunheart.
“What is it, Foxheart?” she asked, her tail flicking impatiently at the tip.
“It’s Quick-kit, actually. Stoneclan took her.” Foxheart replied.
“They took her?!” Vinestar exclaimed. “How do you know?”
“Well, lets first take a patrol to get her back, and on the way can I show you why I think so?” Foxheart reasoned, desperate to confront Stoneclan. Vinestar looked unsure for a moment, anxious to know where Quick-kit was. After a while of hesitation, Vinestar replied,
“Fine. Let’s go. You round up the patrol.” Foxheart let out a sigh of relief as her leader agreed.
“Okay, I’ll go do that,” Foxheart replied, turning to leave the den with a sharp nod of her head. Outside she saw the clan cats milling around, tails lashing, as the news spread around the camp like wildfire. As Foxheart padded out, all the cats looked up expectantly. Vinestar followed her out. Foxheart bounded down the rock-path, and as the cats gathered around her, she called out,
“Whoever wants to come on the patrol with me, step forward. Whoever does not, please move back.” Most of the obvious cats stepped forward, Sunheart, Fernpaw, Wheatpaw, Redfur, Rosefire, Yellowclaw, Galeheart, Flowerheart, Lionfang, Windheart, and Mouseheart. The elders and queens stepped back, but their eyes remained wide and anxious, and their tails still whipped through the air. Snowstorm stepped forward, her swollen stomach still swollen from having kits moons ago, her green eyes brimming with anxiety.
“Foxheart,” she began, “I need to stay here with my kits and I don’t know if I can handle what we find there, but when you find Quick-kit-“ she stopped for a moment, staring down at her paws, “bring her back as soon as you can. Tell her- tell her I love her… and-and I’ll be waiting for her right here.”
“I promise, I will tell her. We’ll find her, and we’ll bring her right back to you.” Foxheart replied gently. She dipped her head, then stepped back, addressing the cats that had stepped forward.
“This should be enough,” she meowed, “is there anyone else at all that would like to come? We’ll need as many as we can get,” Leafclaw, Skywhisker, Quailfeather, Shadepaw Featherblossom and Patchleaf joined the assembled cats. Foxheart turned her head, looking at the giant patrol in front of her. Suddenly, a tiny brown blur shot out from between Windheart’s paws.
“Wait!” Bark-kit squealed, skidding to a halt before Foxheart. “I have to come! She’s my sister! Please can I go? I can go, can’t I?” he pleaded desperately. Tigerkit raced up beside him.
“I want to go too! I need to defend Quick-kit from the mean Stoneclan cats!” Tigerkit yowled. The two kits stood beside each other, their sides heaving, they’re eyes wide and pleading. Foxheart sighed inwardly. She looked down on the worried kits, not wanting to have to refuse them.
“I’m sorry, but-“she began quietly. She stopped as she saw Tigerkit and Bark-kit’s faces. Hurt, and shocked, that their deputy wouldn’t let them help their sister. Bark-kit turned his face up to Vinestar, who was watching silently from the highledge.
“Vinestar, will you let us go?” he mewed quietly, as if he already knew the answer.
“No, you are too young and you would just get hurt. What would Quick-kit do if one of you got hurt? I’m sorry, but you may not come.” She replied firmly. Bark-kit looked down his tail dragging on the ground, and made his way slowly back to the nursery, with Tigerkit, trailing behind him. As Bark-kit reached the nursery, he whirled around, and snarled, with all the malice of a Dark Forest cat,
“I won’t forget this Vinestar! I- I- I-“he broke off, and stumbled into the nursery, seemingly unaware of his surroundings. Foxheart thought sadly back to when Amberheart, her brother, and Cloudbreeze, Redfur’s sister had died. Amberheart was a brave orange tabby tom with green eyes, and Cloudbreeze was a beautiful white she-cat with green eyes. They died bravely trying to fight off a badger that was trying to hurt the kits in the clan. Foxheart remembered the shock. She realized why Bark-kit was so upset. He thought he would never see his sister again.
~~~~~~~~~~
Foxheart turned to the Lightningclan patrol waiting to file out of the camp after her. She called out to them,
“Remember, we go in, we get Quick-kit, and we leave. Understood?” She saw all the cats nodding their heads. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt, and if tension between us and Stoneclan get any higher, I don’t know what will happen!” she heard murmurs of agreement, but caught Yellowclaw leaning over to Leafclaw with spite in his eyes. Foxheart cast him a sharp glance as he looked up, but decided to ignore him.
“Ready everyone?” Foxheart asked one last time, encouraged as she saw bristling pelts and fierce eyes. “Let’s go then.” She turned and stalked out of the den entrance. Foxheart raced along through Lightningclan territory, not caring that she was scaring away all the prey in the area. Foxheart finally reached the border with Stoneclan. Her patrol stopped behind her, panting after the run. Foxheart stepped cautiously over the border, wrinkling her nose at the strong scent. She stepped completely over the scent line. She turned to look at her patrols, who were hovering at the scent line uncertainly. She motioned them over with her tail, and sighed inwardly as they stepped carefully over the line one by one. The patrol stood behind Foxheart, standing with their paws barely touching the ground, and their tails fluffed up and brushing the ground. Foxheart turned and paused for a moment, angling her ears to the marshy territory in front of her. She crouched low to the ground, hesitated a moment, and began to slink forward. As Foxheart picked up the speed, the ground began to blur beneath her paws. Foxheart could hear the patrol racing along behind her, their paws tapping the ground as quietly as falling raindrops. Foxheart listened to the crackling pine leaves underneath her paws, and she closed her eyes for a moment to feel the wind blowing her fur back from her face. She opened her eyes and stopped abruptly, skidding to a halt as a wall of thorns towered in front of her. As Foxheart stopped, her paws dimpled the wet ground, her weight weighing down the soft, loosely packed wet soil. Foxheart opened her mouth to scent the air, and quickly snapped it shut as the smell of many Stoneclan cats overwhelmed her. She pricked her ears, and could clearly hear cats romping around inside the intricate thorn wall. Slightly to Foxheart’s side, was a small tunnel, looking extremely unwelcoming with sharp thorns picking from its entrance. Foxheart padded over to the entrance, staring warily into the dark tunnel. She took a deep breath, summoned her courage, and stepped into the darkness.
Chapter 12
Foxheart took a few steps forward, and she turned to her patrol.
"It's okay," she whispered, "come on." Her patrol started to follow her uncertainly into the tunnel. Foxheart padded confidently towards the inside of the Stoneclan camp, reassured by the footsteps of her clanmates behind her. As Foxheart neared the end of the tunnel, she slowed for a moment. She stopped and turned to her patrol. She murmured one more time,
"Remember, we go in, we get Quick-kit, and we leave." Her warriors nodded. Foxheart turned, took a deep breath, and stepped into the Stoneclan camp. The sudden sunlight blinded her for a moment, but her eyes soon adjusted, and she could see many of the Stoneclan warriors looking up in surprise, and starting to bristle. Foxheart felt an ache in her heart as she saw Quick-kit huddled in a corner. Quick-kit looked up as gasps shot up throughout the camp. Quick-kit saw Foxheart, and jumped up, racing towards her as she squealed,
"Foxheart! Foxheart you came!" Quick-kit ran up to her and ran between her legs, turning to peer out at the Stoneclan cats between Foxheart's legs. Foxheart meowed reassuringly, "Its okay, Quick-kit. You're safe now." Foxheart looked up with fire in her eyes, and stared down every cat in the Stoneclan camp. "Is there any cat here that wants to try to stop me from leaving with Quick-kit. Foxheart let her challenge hang in the air, and a few muscular toms stood up. Foxheart flicked her tail forward, and her patrol slid forward around her, so that Stoneclan could see her whole patrol that she had brought with her. The few that had stood stared at the patrol for a moment, then sat back down.
"Thank you." Foxheart meowed quietly. She turned, and her patrol filed out of the camp. Before Foxheart swept out of the camp, she turned and snarled, "If you ever think of doing anything like that again to Lightningclan.....well, you can just wait and see what happens." Foxheart turned, and leaped out of the thorn tunnel, leaving the Stoneclan warriors staring into the black hole, with their eyes wide, and their mouths hanging open.
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As Foxheart entered the camp, warriors came rushing towards her and the patrol behind her. Nighteyes rushed toward Shadepaw and Soilpaw, her first litter, and checked them all over, licking them furiously when she was done. Flowerheart came and did the same thing to Wheatpaw and Fernpaw. Fernpaw wriggled out from under her mother.
"Mom! Stop it! I'm fine! You were there!" she squealed, sitting up with ruffled fur. She looked around, embarrassed, and announced loudly, " You guys should have come, though. It was awesome, because we went in, and then we all went in, and the Stoneclan warriors were so scared, they just gave over Quick-kit! They all looked like they wanted to go run into their dens, they wrere terrified!" All of the kits scampered up to the group, and Snowstorm raced over as well, as fast as she could with her swollen belly
"Where is she? Where's Quick-kit?" she demanded, weaving through the crowd that had gathered. Quick-kit ran up to her from next to Foxheart. Snowstorm began licking her furiously all over, checking to see if she was hurt.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Were you scared? Were the other kits mean to you?" she asked anxiously, still checking Quick-kit over for any wounds.
"Mom! I was fine! They didn't hurt me, and I wasn't scared!" Quick-kit exclaimed. She puffed out her chest, and added, "In fact, those kits were way to scared to come near me, let alone be mean to me! Even the apprentices and warriors were scared of me! I bet even Cliffstar was terrified inside. I could see it in his eyes." Foxheart let out a mrrow of amusement. Now that she wasn't at the Stoneclan camp, Quick-kit had her old playful personality back. Foxheart watched, satisfied, as all the kits ran around in circles, chasing each others tails.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Vinestar came and slipped among the cats waiting outside for the gathering. She touched each cat on the shoulder that she wanted to come. Foxheart, Redfur, Mouseheart, Rosefire, Quailfeather, Sunheart, Yellowclaw, Meadowfire, Swiftheart, Dewheart, and Wispcloud all gathered at the camp entrance when their shoulders had been brushed by Vinestar’s tail. They were joined by Autumnstripe, Petalbloom, Featherblossom, Skywhisker, Galeheart, Berryfoot, Moonstream, Wheatpaw, Fernpaw, Soilpaw, Shadepaw, Flowerheart, and Windheart. Vinestar joined the gathering patrol a moment later.
“Okay,” she mewed to her gathering patrol, “no one mention anything about Quick-kit, I will bring it up by myself, and hopefully, we’ll still be able to have a peaceful and respectful gathering.” Foxheart nodded along with the patrol. Vinestar stepped forward to the front of the patrol and she called to the patrol, “Let’s go.” The patrol surged out of the camp, through the thorn tunnel, and out into the open forest. Foxheart pressed forward until she was racing beside Redfur.
“I hope the apprentices understood what Vinestar said,” she panted.
“Me too,” Redfur replied, “we don’t know how the gathering would go if they told everyone about Quick-kit!” The two warriors thudded along in silence with their patrol. Vinestar slowed to a relaxed gait as she neared the island where the clans gathered every moon. The Thunderclan warriors broke out of the cover of the trees and were bathed in moonlight. Foxheart looked up at the silver disc hanging in the sky, shining silver light down onto the lake and island and cats, bathing them all in a silver glow. Vinestar padded towards the tree that led to the island. The strong, rich scent of Oceanclan wafted towards Foxheart, and she noticed the patrol slipping across the tree to the island. Finally, Vinestar reached the fallen tree, and leapt up smoothly onto its slippery surface. Foxheart followed quickly, padding carefully along the tree trunk, and gripping the sides with her claws. She slipped off the trunk and onto the cool sand of the island. Huge oak trees towered above Foxheart, and their golden leaves fluttered down around her. She padded a few paces forward, but stopped and turned to wait for the apprentices to catch up with her. As Wheatpaw, Fernpaw, Soilpaw, and Shadepaw padded towards her, joking with each other, she turned and motioned for them to follow her, and they followed her curiously. She turned to them and murmured, “ You four heard what Vinestar told us back at camp, right?” The four apprentices exchanged slightly confused glances, then turned back to Foxheart. “I guess not,” she sighed, “ well, she told us not to tell anyone about what happened with Quick-kit until she announces it. Got that?”
“But that will be the best thing to talk about with Whirlpaw and Riverpaw!” Fernpaw complained.
“Well, you can talk about it with them after Vinestar announces it, alright?” Foxheart told them firmly.
“Alright,” Fernpaw muttered. The rest of the apprentices nodded glumly, and walked slowly away to where the rest of the cats had gathered. Foxheart followed them, and hurried along to catch up to Redfur and Mouseheart, who were padding to where the other cats had gathered. Foxheart slowed down until she was padding along beside them.
“I wonder how Vinestar is actually going to bring up this?” Mouseheart was murmuring to Redfur.
“She’s probably just going to announce it.” Redfur replied. She turned to Foxheart and asked, “What do you think, Foxheart?” Foxheart thought for a moment, then agreed,
“Yes, I think she’ll just announce it. I mean, there’s no point in bringing it up politely. We had a kit stolen for Starclan’s sake!” Mouseheart and Redfur nodded.
“That makes sense,” Mouseheart reasoned. She stopped abruptly when the three warriors reached where the four clans were merging to make one large clan. Foxheart looked up in surprise as she heard someone call her name.
“Foxheart!” Foxheart saw Brackenpool making her way with some difficulty towards her. Foxheart took a step forward to meet her, a purr rising in her throat.
“Hi Brackenpool!” She purred to the black Stoneclan warrior.
“Hi Foxheart! How are you?” Brackenpool replied warmly, her pelt brushing Foxheart’s.
“Good! I-“ Foxheart paused, seeing Redfur and Mouseheart’s eyes shine in surprise. She stiffened, side-stepping away from Brackenpool. She mewed with hostilation, “I’m actually not that good, seeing as we had a kit stolen today.” Brackenpool’s large brown eyes widened in hurt.
“I promise, Foxheart, I had nothing at all to do with Quick-kit! I didn’t know what they were doing, I was out on a border patrol and I came back after the Thunderclan patrol had come and gone! I would have taken Quick-kit back if I had known! She’s only a kit! I would never have approved that!” Foxheart paused with confusion. Brackenpool scratched the ground in frustration. “For Starclan’s sake, Foxheart! Do you really think I would stand by and let my clan steal a kit?” Foxheart’s harsh gaze softened, and she murmured,
“You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m just pretty angry right now.” Brackenpool let out a sigh of relief.
“Me too,” she replied, adding, “but I’m glad that you forgive me, even if I’m from Stoneclan.” Foxheart turned to Redfur and Foxheart who had calmed down, and were patiently waiting for Foxheart. She turned and padded with them and Brackenpool to find a spot. Foxheart saw Bluebird, Lilybloom, Sunflower, Tinyheart, and Glowheart clustered together, and began heading towards them. As she settled among the cats she usually sat with for gatherings, a beautiful small black she-cat with amber eyes padded up with a solid gray tom. Bluebird looked up and gestured them forward with her tail.
“Foxheart, this is Ivypool,” she mewed, touching the black she-cat on the shoulder. Lilybloom touched the gray tom and added,
“And this is Oakfur.” Foxheart dipped her head, and mewed warmly,
“Pleased to meet you,” Redfur and Mouseheart stepped in and began mewing to the small group. Mouseheart padded over to Lilybloom and began discussing the differences between prey, and Redfur sat down beside Oakfur and began asking him what his favorite part about gatherings was. Foxheart felt a purr rise in her throat, and the problems throughout the day were pressed down below the happiness she always felt at gatherings. Foxheart made her way over to Ivypool, who was crouched beside Oakfur, mewing back and forth with Bluebird. As she did, Sunflower, a light orange tabby she-cat, Tinyheart, a small grey tabby she-cat, and Glowheart, and light orange tabby she-cat, padded over and sat down beside her. Sunflower, who was the closest to being an elder out of all three, leaned towards Ivypool, and mewed,
“Now what is your name?” Ivypool looked over at her and mewed,
“Ivypool. What’s yours?”
“Sunflower.” The she-cat replied. Foxheart turned to Ivypool, and mewed,
“So, how are things in Oceanclan lately?”
“Well, I guess they’re okay. Prey is running really well, even though it’s almost leaf-fall. It’s getting cold in the dens, though, and some of our streams that we drink from are starting to freeze over. Oceanclan could definitely use more warriors, though. I mean, we have barely any new kits!”
The four cats that were gathered around each other stared at her in surprise. Warriors never usually shared much about their own clans, in case others saw it as a weakness. Foxheart felt a sudden warmth for Ivypool, a beautiful, smart, honest warrior. She continued chatting with Ivypool about her kin, her clan, and gatherings, careful not to bring up Icestar or why Vinestar was taking his place tonight, until she saw the leaders leap up onto branches of the tree that the clans were surrounding.
“I’ve got to go,” she mewed to the cats she had been sharing news with. She stood up, quickly stretched, and padded over to where the rest of the deputies were seated below the tree that the leaders were about to share news from. She took a seat on a comfortable looking patch of grass next to Honeynose, the golden she-cat deputy of Oceanclan, and Freezepelt, the long-haired white tom medicine cat of Oceanclan. They dipped their heads to her in surprise, and Foxheart returned the gesture, satisfaction warming her as she saw new respect for her as deputy in their eyes. She turned and saw Possumpelt, the black she-cat deputy of Galeclan, and Airwhisker, the white she-cat medicine cat of Galeclan seated next to her. She dipped her head to them, and they returned the gesture. Autumnstripe padded over and took his place below the tree next to Foxheart. Airwhisker leaned over and murmured in Foxheart’s ear,
“Where’s Icestar today? Why is Vinebreeze taking his place here tonight?” Foxheart swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought of Icestar, and replied solemnly,
“Icestar lost his last life in a battle with Stoneclan. Vinestar’s the new leader, and I’m Lightningclan’s deputy.” Airwhisker sat back in shock, taking a few moments for the news to sink in. She then leaned to Foxheart again, and mewed,
“I’m so, so sorry. Icestar was a great leader.” Foxheart stared at her paws sadly for a moment, then looked up and nodded her thanks.
“He really was,” she agreed. Both she-cats looked up at the branches of the tree towering above them. Cliffstar took a step forward, and began to share his news,
“Prey has been running very well in Stoneclan. Some Twoleg kits were running into our territory, but I’m proud to say that one of my patrols drove them off, and they haven’t come back again since then. Stoneclan also has three new warriors; Goldstream, Forestclaw, and Almondfire.” Most of the Stoneclan warriors, and a few Galeclan and Oceanclan warriors chanted their new warrior names, then quieted down for the next leader to share their news. Breezestar, the Galeclan leader, stepped forward, and shared her news for awhile, then stepped back for Fiercestar to step forward and share his news. Finally, when all the leaders were done except for Vinestar, she stepped forward on her branch, and began to share her news.
