Lilypaw raced over to the hole. Checking to see whether anyone was watching, she moved the driftwood aside and leaped in.
One of the kits gasped, only to have his littermates shush him urgently. The biggest one turned to her. "Who are you?" he breathed. "Why are you here?"
Lilypaw looked up again, then replied quietly. "I'm Lilypaw, the ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice. And I'm here to help."
"Why?" asked the small one very loudly. His sister whipped her tail over his mouth. "Shh!"
"Because I feel bad for you. Listen, I'll get you out of here later, okay? The Gathering's tonight, so I'll have to go to that, but I'll get you home tomorrow, alright?"
"Moonpelt?"
"Yes, you'll see her. Just stay here and don't tell anyone I talked to you, alright?"
The kits nodded, but one of them had one more question. "Why are you helping us? You're ShadowClan."
"You're kits," she answered. It was the best explanation she could give.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Moonpaw's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moonpaw chose a spot close to the Great Rock. Noticing all the other cats roaming around, she realized it would be a while before the Gathering started. I should probably be ready to cool down any fights. She got up and walked around, scanning the crowd for any RiverClan cats in arguments, not really watching where she was going. Suddenly, she ran into another cat. "Sorry," she said, looking up, only to recognize the WindClan warrior from before.
"Oh," he said, recognizing her as well. "It's fine. I was actually looking for you."
"Looking for me? Why?"
The WindClan cat looked at his paws. "Um...well...cats listen to you. Can you make them listen to me? I mean...well..." He stopped. "My name is Grassfeather," he blurted. He muttered something else she couldn't make out.
"What was that?"
Somehow looking even more embarrassed, he backed away from her. "Nothing."
Moonpaw looked at him firmly. "What did you say?"
"I said you're pretty," he mumbled, then his eyes widened as he realize what he'd said.
Moonpaw let out a mrow of laughter. "Ha! Funny."
Grassfeather stared at her strangely. "But you are."
Moonpaw purred, amused. "Riiiiight. Like a warrior would notice that. You never listen to us."
"I would."
Moonpaw paused. "Really?"
"Yes," he replied, walking past her toward the rest of her Clan. "At Fourtrees. Midnight tomorrow."
Moonpaw blinked, then walked off to break up a fight between a Pikepelt and a ShadowClan warrior.
Perhaps I'll go see what is happening tomorrow at midnight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Unknown's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ah. Finally. The day of...surprises. Time to see how well I messed with that fool tomcat.
Tonight's Gathering should be...interesting. Whatever happens, there will be anger. Perhaps war.
I can't wait.
