Chapter 33: Normal?

I sat there for a few moments, a bit surprised, and a bit confused, until I saw just who it was that Piper was staring at. He was staring at Dust, and Dust had a bit of a strange grin on his face, as though he was excited for what was about to ensue.

I saw all of the cats in the clearing looking a bit confused as to what it was that he was talking about, and he they might have been attacked by. That was, all of the cats that had not known what had happened at least, as I spotted the angry looks that the Skyclan cats were giving to all of the Shadowclan cats.

The Shadowclan cats knew at the same time as well, as to who it was that they were talking about, as many of them had been in on that attack on Skyclan. They all had a bit of a guilty look on their faces, as it seemed as though they were a bit embarrassed about what they had done.

As they should be, it was not fair for them, as many of the cats were still getting used to the territories, and many other things. There had been more than a couple of times that a Riverclan, or a Thunderclan cat had come on to their land.

All we had to do was tell them that this was our land, and they were not allowed to be on it, and most of the time they would walk back onto their own territory. I knew that they did not know much about it yet, and it was not fair for them.

Kettle looked the most confused out of all of the leaders. It seemed as though Summer might have known about what it was that he had been talking about. It might make sense as well, as they had border right beside each other, and they might have heard the fight, or been told about it.

Piper just stood there, as he just stood Dust down angrily. Kettle after some time of none of the other cats or leaders stepped up to speak, decided that he was going to be the one that was going to do so. He had a bit of a confused look as he began to speak up to Piper.

"Attacked?! Who attacked you? We will stand by your side, and we will fight back against any mangy rogues that stand in your way." Kettle said to him. I saw a bit of some angry faces on the face of a lot of cats when Kettle had said that as well.

I even saw some angry looks on the faces of cats that were in his own clan. I knew why as well, it was because many of us had been just mangy rogues before all of this. Kettle realized his mistake as soon as he had said it as well, as he then stepped back from where he had just addressed the cats in the gathering.

Piper turned his head over to Kettle, after he had just heard him speak to him. He looked at Kettle, and squinted his eyes at him at the same time. He then shook his head, which confused Kettle even more greatly. He then once again stepped up and began to speak to each cat.

"No... We were not attacked by rogues, we were attacked by Shadowclan! Their deputy, Dust, attacked a small patrol of our cats, leaving a few of them badly injured, then they claimed our territory as theirs." He said to all of the cats that were with us in the clearing.

I now wished that I had, had time to tell all of the leaders to think this through and to talk about this before we had began to have the gathering, as I saw a lot of angry faces on many of the cats, as they moved back, and away from the Shadowclan cats that they had just made friends with.

I sat there for a few moments, not sure what to do, as I saw that Kevin was not sure what it was that he should say as well, as he just had his head down to the ground, feeling a bit guilty for not stopping his friend from attacking the Skyclan patrol.

I turned my head away from him however, as I then shook my head and turned it back over to the clearing that was in front of me. I knew that a lot of cats would be looking up to me, for me to speak my voice on all of this, sooner or later at least.

I was just trying to think through in my head, as to what it was that I should say. Just as I thought of what it was that I should say however, another cat stepped up, and began to address all of the cats that were in the clearing. It was not the cat that I would have wanted to do it though, I listened to what it was that he had to say anyways.

"You were coming into our territory, and taking our prey! We had every right to take some of yours back!" The cat, Dust, said to the entire clearing. I saw a few cats, as they nodded, clearly agreeing with what he had said for some odd reason or another.

I then realized that the cats that were agreeing with him, were also Shadowclan cats too. I looked around at the faces of many of the other cats, as I could tell that they did not agree with what it was that he had just said to all of them.

A lot of them were giving Dust some ugly looks, and I heard a couple of Skyclan cats hiss at him, as it looked like they wanted to scratch his face off. I did not blame them for that, as I then turned my head away as well, as I looked over at the leaders.

I saw that Kettle was surprised, as for some reason Summer was relaxed, as though she had seen all of this coming, as I saw her licking her fur, almost as if she was being extra on purpose. I shook my head, as I then turned my head back over to Piper and Kevin, as I then nodded to the both of them.

I then realized what it was that I had to do, as I then turned my head over to the top of the high rock, feeling a bit more scared, as the faces of all of the cats now looked bigger and scarier, now that I was the one that was going to step up and talk to them.

I gulped a bit, as I was in fact quite a bit scared to go through with this. I then blinked a couple of times, and then looked up at the stars. It seemed almost as if one of them had blinked right back at me, and it made me feel a slight bit better. I then turned my head back up to the clearing and I began to speak to all of them.

"Everyone! Please calm down... Let the leaders talk to this amongst themselves..." I said to all of the cats. I saw many of them nod, though I also saw that a lot of them were a bit disappointed at the same time as well, as though they were hoping to catch a fight. I turned my head over to Dust as I saw him begin to walk up to us, and I began to address him as well. "I said leaders Dust..."

He looked at me for a few moments, as I saw him squint his eyes at me. I could almost see anger in his eyes, and it seemed as though the cat hated me. I was not sure why that might be so either, as I hardly knew this cat in the first place.

I was catching some fairly baf vibes from him, that was one thing that I knew for a fact. I saw Piper look at me a bit happy to see me do that, as he smiled at Dust and then he walked up to form a circle with the rest of the leaders.

I shook my head, and I nodded over to Piper, for him to go ahead and say what it was that he felt like needed to be said to the rest of the leaders that were with us. He turned his head over to Kevin, and then he squinted his eyes at him, as he then began to speak, with his eyes locked right on Kevin.

"Kevin... You had cats of your own walking across our land... What makes you think that it is fine for them to do that, and not for our own cats to do the same thing?" He said over to Kevin. Kevin looked at him, and then he lowered his head to the ground, a slight bit guilty for some reason.

It was almost as if he was hiding something, which I could not think of the first clue as to what it might possibly be. I shook my head, as Kevin just sat there staring at the ground for a long period of time. I then turned my head over to Piper, as I decided to speak up to him, since Kevin was not doing so.

"Look... Cats are still getting used to their territories... We should just do a better job at teaching our clan mates to learn not to step on to another clans land." I said back to the both of them, trying my best not to choose a side in all of this.

I did not want to say anything that might make Kevin angry, as I still wanted to tell him the news that Heart should be the medicine cat of Shadowclan. I did in fact favor the side of Skyclan, but I did not want to make it seem to obvious.

Kevin as far as I could see, felt a bit guilty about what his own side had done. Maybe there was nothing that I needed to say in the first place, maybe they would get over this, and they would just easily settle their disagreement. Though I was not sure, as Kevin just had his head still down to the ground.

Piper sat there for just a few moments, as he had his eyes squinted on Kevin still, as he then shook his head, and he then turned his eyes over to me, as he then began to speak to me, as Kevin was still not willing to speak up to the rest of us.

"Yes... I agree on that, but what happens to our territory that they took from us? That was a fair portion of our land... Now we have no access to the lake at all." He asked me. I looked at him for a few moments, as I was not sure what to say back to him.

He had a fair point, as this time I lowered my head to the ground, not in a guilty conscious, but more at the fact that I was not sure how to respond to what he had just said to me. Kettle and Summer were just staring at us, as they were just letting us duke it out.

I shook my head after the few moments of silence as I then looked over at both Kevin and Piper, to make sure that they were both paying attention to me. I was not sure if Kevin was, but I went ahead and began to speak up to the rest of them anyways.

"If Kevin agrees on this, I would like for you to give back the land that you have taken away from Skyclan." I said to Kevin. Turning my head over to him at the same time, just to make sure he had heard what I had just said to him.

He sat there for a few moments, as he did not seem to have any sort of emotion on his face for quite some time, until he finally lifted his head up, and he then nodded back to Piper. It seemed like a clear nod as well, as I could tell that it seemed to have relaxed him for the time being.

Kevin then looked over at me, as he then nodded to me as well. I looked at him a bit confused for a few moments, as I then realized that I sometimes forgot that I was practically the leader of all of the other leaders. I nodded back to him as well.

After a bit longer, of the strange silence, as it seemed as though the cats in the clearing were not talking to each other either, almost as if they were hoping to catch some of the words that the leaders were saying to each other, Kevin then began to speak.

"I'm sorry... I did not know it was going to happen, I was not at the camp when Dust had planned the attack, I only came back with the news..." He said back to Piper. I looked at him a bit surprised, as I had not even realized that it had been Dust that had done the attack without telling his leader.

That was against the warrior code! There was some things that you could get away with, but dis obeying a leaders orders was one of those that you could not get away with, especially in that kind of circumstance. I shook my head, as I saw that Piper was now angry once again.

Piper looked at Kevin, as I could tell that Kevin was a bit embarrassed at the same time too. Piper then shook his head at them, and then he began to speak to him with a bit of an angry tone in his voice as well.

"You mean to tell me that you just let him go through with that? You didn't even come back over to us to apologize to us, and give us our land back? That makes you just as bad as him!" He said back to Kevin. I saw that he was very angry, as he had his claws out.

It looked as if he was about to take a swing at him to, so I stepped in to to stop what might be a potential fight. The gathering were meant to be a peaceful time for the clans, we were supposed to put aside our differences for the night, and just get to talk to one another.

This was not a very good start to it so far. I looked up at the sky, hoping that there might be a cloud to step in front of the moon, that might call off this horrible gathering. I did not see one in sight, and I gulped, hoping that Skyclan had not just given up on us.

Was this the prophecy that Youngtail had told me about? I shook my head though, as I knew that the words that had been said in that prophecy, had nothing to do with what was going on at the moment. I shook my head, as I turned in back over to Kevin to hear what it was that he had to say back to Piper.

"I'm sorry... I did not want to get attacked if I walked into your camp... You can have your territory back... I will make sure that Dust does not do that to you again..." Kevin said back to Piper. Piper looked at him for a few moments, but I could still tell that he was not so sure about what he had just said to him.

I looked at Kevin for a few moments, as I was not sure whether I should feel bad for him, or be upset at him like Piper was, for letting Dust just take advantage of him like that. Luckily I did not have to think about it much longer, as I heard Kettle decide to speak up for once.

"It seems as though Dust is the leader of Shadowclan, and not you..." He said to Kevin. I looked at Kevin, as I expected him to finally step up for himself, as I would have thought that Kettle saying something like that would have made him very angry, but Kettle kept his head down low to the ground.

It seemed as though he agreed with what they had just said to him, but he was not so sure if he wanted to admit to it. I knew that Dust was his best friend, and I also knew he was letting his best friend just take full advantage over him as well.

Piper looked over at Kettle, and then he nodded to him, as he knew just as much as the rest of us, that it was the exact words that Kevin needed to hear. He needed to wake up, and he needed to be the one that needed to step up for his clan, and the other clans, and do his job as the leader.

I shook my head over at Kevin, and then I looked back at the rest of the leaders, as I saw that Summer was still licking her fur, though I knew that she was listening to every word that had just been said as well. I then began to speak to the rest of them.

"Alright then... It is settled, we will give the territory back to Skyclan, but Kevin, you need to assert your dominance as the leader of your clan..." I said to him. He looked at me for just a few moments and then he nodded to me. I then looked at the others to make sure that they knew to do the same as well.

They all nodded back to me as well, thankfully, as I sighed a bit to myself, glad that we had gotten that over with somewhat peacefully. I sat there for just a few more moments, as none of the leaders said another word to each other, and then I looked over at the clearing of cats.

I looked around, as I saw that a few cats were looking at us, as if they were trying to read through what it was that we had just said to each other. Most of the clearing was back to normal, though the cats were talking to each other a bit quieter now.

I stepped up to the rock, as I knew that I had to do what it was that I had just said for Kevin to do, as I knew that I had to assert my dominance to the rest of the clan cats. I then began to speak loudly to get all of the cats attention that were in the clearing.

"Cats of the clans! We have come to an agreement that, Skyclan will get their territory back... But you must teach your clan mates what territory is yours, and which is another clans..." I said to all of them. I saw happy looks from the faces of all the Skyclan cats.

Things seemed to be getting back to normal, as I saw that the Shadowclan cats were not upset at it at all, as I might have thought that they would be. They seemed to not really care at all to be quite frank. But I saw that there was one Shadowclan cat in particular, that was not happy at all.

He stepped up, onto the high rock, which surprised me even more, as I was not sure how to respond to what he had just done. I looked over to one cat in particular, as I saw that Youngtail was not very happy with what he saw, but he nodded when he saw me look at him.

It was as if he was telling me to do something about it, but I was just not quite sure what it was that I should do. I turned my head over to Dust anyways, as he began to speak to all of the cats that were in the clearing. I listened to what it was that he had to say.

"We fought hard to take that land! We deserve what we fought to get!" He said to all of the cats that were in the clearing. He looked over to his clan mates, as though he was looking for their support, though I saw mostly guilty looks on all of their faces.

I saw that Piper looked a bit angry once again, as he then stepped up right beside Dust, as he stared him down. Both cats were quite big, but Dust had the clear advantage over Piper at the moment, and I felt like I should step in front of them before they began to tussle.

I saw Dust look at him with a bit of a grin, which I could tell disgusted Piper. Piper shook his head, as it was clear that he was not going to let it get to his head, as he then began to speak up to the rest of the cats that were in the clearing.

I could tell that they were not quite sure as to what it was that could possible be going on at the moment. I was not sure what to do anymore, it had really gotten out of control now, and I did not know what I was to try to get it to stop. I shook my head though as I listened to what it was that Piper had to say.

"Fought hard? It was a patrol of 3 cats versus your entire clan! They barely made it out alive!" He said back to Dust. Dust looked at him for just a few moments, as he began to laugh a bit loudly, as it was clear that he was doing it extra loud, as he wanted to look like he was the alpha to the other cats.

Piper looked as if he wanted to cut the face off of the cat, but he just closed his eyes, as he stayed still, just trying to calm his nerves at the same time. He then opened his eyes, and he looked at me and nodded. It was clear what it was that he wanted me to do.

I nodded back to him, as I stepped up, purposely pushing against Dust to move him out of the way, though he was so strong, it only pushed him a bit. It made me feel weak, though I knew that I was not. He did not seem to notice it thankfully, as I shook my head and began to speak to all of the cats...

"Look! It is final! Get over it... Dust would you please step down from the rock, you are not a leader..." I said to him. He looked at me a bit angrily for a few moments, but he did as I told him, and he jumped down. I nodded thankfully and I began to keep on speaking to the cats. "Now that it is over with, can we just have a gathering that is normal?"