following the loner

The young warrior, Rose, walked slowly in a long line of cats. The she-cat was practically bouncing with excitement. This is my first Gathering! Rose had never been taken to a Gathering before, and she still didn't know why. Her friend, Dustmane, walked beside her, pressing close, his fluffy tail lowered. "I wish I could relive those feelings from my first Gathering." "Tell me what it was like! Please!" The tom shook his head. "You'll see for yourself soon enough." And he was right. Soon, beneath the endless blue sky dotted with large fluffy clouds, among the green fields overgrown with tall grass stems, a sandy hollow came into view. It was a small clearing, with a tiny stream running through it, dividing it in two. In the middle of the hollow rose a giant gray boulder. "I've never seen so many cats in my life!" the warrior gasped, turning her head toward her friend. The tom let out a cheerful snort. "Today is the sacred day of truce!" But when her Clan entered the clearing and quickly melted among the strangers, Rose gasped. At the very edge of the clearing, near a small young bush, in the shade of its roots, sat Darkmane — that very loner. Heat flooded the she-cat, and her heart began to pound wildly in her chest. Ignoring her friend's calls, she disappeared into the crowd. "So I see you did become a warrior after all," Darkmane remarked. They had moved away from the clearing and were now talking in the tall grass. "Y-yes, I..." Rose was trembling. Darkmane stepped closer to her. "You joined the Clans just for me, didn't you?" Rose, trying to steady the trembling in her paws, nodded. "Then let me ask you a question. Will you be with me?" Rose hesitated. I came to the Clans for him... but what about the warrior code? That would be breaking it... And Dustmane?... She glanced back at her friend, took a deep breath, and spoke a single word. "No."