Tigerstar's Goals

Chapter 6

"Who will be going to the Gathering tonight?"

Tigerstar looked up from his mouse at Darkstripe, who was standing at the entrance of the leader's den. His amber eyes were bright, and his tail was swishing eagerly.

Tigerstar swallowed the last of his mouse. "I have not decided yet."

"The sun is setting," His deputy pressed. "You should make up your mind."

Tigerstar stood up, lashing his tail. "I will make up my mind," he hissed. "Your job is to organise patrols, not tell me what to do."

Darkstripe gave him a long look before bowing his head. "Sorry," he muttered.

Tigerstar began pacing, thinking deeply. He would have to take the strongest cats to show RiverClan that they weren't weak. He thought of cats in his head and then eventually nodded.

He turned to face his deputy. "We will take Longtail, Dustpelt, Whitestorm, Sandstorm, Brackenfur, Runningwind, Brightpaw, and Swiftpaw." He listed. "They are strong cats. We will show the Clans that we are the strongest."

Darkstripe nodded. "I will gather them now and prepare to leave." He turned and walked out of the den, and Tigerstar could hear him calling the names of the cats.

He stretched and followed him out of the den. Most of the cats were already gathered by the entrance, and as Tigerstar made his way over to lead them out, he noticed Fireheart staring at him. He narrowed his eyes at the former kittypet before making his way out of camp and into the forest.

He could hear the thrumming of many paws behind him as he ran to Fourtrees, where the gathering always took place. Darkstripe was hard on his tail, panting with the effort. 

Eventually, Tigerstar slowed as he saw the ground begin to dip. He raised his tail so that the other warriors behind him would slow, which they did. Tigerstar looked down into the hollow and scented the air. He could tell that ThunderClan was the last to arrive and that all of the other Clans were down there.

He dashed down into the hollow, his Clan following him and he burst through the clearing, soothing his fur and staring at all of the other cats. This was his first Gathering as a leader, and he was determined to make a good impression. 

Two apprentices, one from RiverClan, one from ShadowClan, came over to talk to Brightpaw and Swiftpaw. 

Tigerstar pricked his ears to listen in.

"Has your Clan seen any more of the rogues?" The ShadowClan apprentice asked. "Nightstar's worried that they're still in the forest."

Swiftpaw puffed out his chest. "Nope! We must have scared them off!" He boasted.

Brightpaw rolled her eyes, but she leaned over and nuzzled against him. Swiftpaw licked her head in return.

Tigerstar grimaced. Young love made him want to vomit. Ignoring the apprentices, he continued making his way towards the Great Rock. 

As he was heading there, he passed Leopardfur with a ShadowClan warrior. The ShadowClan cat opened his mouth to meow a greeting before he started coughing and spluttering. Tigerstar backed away from the cat in disgust as he began to limp away. His fur looked ungroomed and he looked really skinny.

Leopardfur curled her lip as well, but it seemed to be aimed more at Tigerstar rather than the sick cat. He ignored her and leaped up onto the Great Rock. As soon as his paws hit the stone, Crookedstar let out a yowl to begin the meeting. 

Tallstar leaped up to stand next to the RiverClan leader while Nightstar sat on the very edge, sheltered by the shadows of one of the oak trees.

Tallstar stepped forward. "We have a new leader with us," he twitched his tail at Tigerstar. "Tigerstar, would you like to speak first?"

Tigerstar nodded and walked to the front of the Great Rock. Below him, hundreds of eyes were shimmering in the moonlight, all staring up at him, the leader of ThunderClan. 

He made his eyes look sad as he began to announce the death of Bluestar. "Bluestar has sadly passed." He meowed. He saw cats muttering below him, their eyes filled with grief. "She passed away from deadly wounds. She will be missed by the whole forest."

Cats were murmuring agreement below him, and Nightstar pricked his ears in the shadows. 

"How did she get her wounds?" He rasped.

Tigerstar looked at the old ShadowClan leader. "A rogue ambushed her. We managed to chase it off, but it was too late for her. She was already dead when we found her."

The leaders bowed their heads in respect. After all, Bluestar had been a leader for a really long time.

"ThunderClan's new deputy is Darkstripe."

Cats began cheering the new deputy's name. "Darkstripe! Darkstripe! Darkstripe!"

Tigerstar caught a glimpse of him sitting upright with his eyes shining brightly.

"We also have two new apprentices, Fernpaw and Ashpaw," He announced. He did not bring them to this Gathering, but he still had to show how strong ThunderClan was. "Their mentors are Darkstripe and Dustpelt."

"Fernpaw! Ashpaw! Fernpaw! Ashpaw!"

The cats chanted loudly, filling the whole hollow with noise.

Crookedstar stepped forward. "It is good to hear how strong ThunderClan are," he meowed, though his tone of voice said the opposite. "Tigerstar, you have two kits in your camp whose mother was in RiverClan before she died." His eyes shone with grief. "That she-cat was my daughter. I want the kits to be in RiverClan."

Yowls of anger and disbelief came from the ThunderClan cats below him. The WindClan and ShadowClan cats stared at the Great Rock, looking confused.

Tigerstar stood up again, snarling. "I already told your deputy, we are keeping their kits. The father is in ThunderClan, so they should stay with us."

"Kits belong to their mother's Clan!" Leopardfur yowled.

"But their mother is dead, so what's the point?!" Tigerstar raised his voice so loud that it almost sounded like a roar, and the cats grew silent in shock. "ThunderClan are keeping these kits," he added more calmly. He turned to Crookedstar. "We don't care if you fight us for them. ThunderClan will always have the kits in our grasp."

Crookedstar snarled at him, and walked across the rock until he was nose to nose with the dark tabby. Tigerstar hissed at him.

"Then this means war!" Crookedstar spat.