Proilgue

"It's been a few moons now since we recived that prophecy, I wonder if Blazestrike's cracked it yet." Hawkheart meowed, grooming her fur. "He's got the required cats, I thought he might have had it."
"Paitence is the key, Hawkheart." Pebblefish sighed. "It's not like everyone works out a prophecy in a few moons." Her ears pricked up. She could smell something the the bushes. Mouse. Pebblefish started to stalk it, keeping her eye on it's every move. She pounced and caught it.
"Nice catch!" A voice called. It was Cloudpaw, a SnowClan apprentice who had died in a fire that destroyed her clan's camp. "I wish I was as good at hunting as you!"
"Thank you, young one." Pebblefish mewed, smiling. "You can have it." Cloudpaw took the mouse in her jaws and padded over to Bubblepaw, her friend. She had been killed by a monster on the Thunderpath.
"I'm too old to hunt these days." Whitebone chuckled, her voice crackling with age. She had been killed in a fox ambush on the way back from RainClan camp after SnowClan seeked shelter. "Has Blazestrike worked out the prophecy yet?"
"No." Blackeye mumbled. "He wouldn't have, remember how long it took him last time to discover his power? Mainly because he was evil."
"He's not evil now, though!" Whitebone rasped. "He's got a loving mate and kits, what more would he want?"
"Maybe he want's to go back evil!" Blackeye groaned.
"Moonsky's made him a changed cat, for StarClan's sake!" Whitebone snapped.
"Do you not recall? Moonsky only created a friendship with Blazestrike because she loved him!" Blackeye protested. "That was ages ago, when Fernwhisker had her kits!"
"Of course I remember that, you mouse-brain! I don't have the memory span of a goldfish!" Whitebone growled.
"Is that fighting I hear?" A voice sighed. It was Rainstar, the first RainClan leader who had been killed by the LeafClan deputy in a battle. She padded over. "I sometimes wish I was in the dark forest. I thought StarClan were wise and kind, not grouchy and always bickering!"
"The dark forest is full of blood and violence, but that can be arranged for you, Rainstar." Blackeye said in a posh voice. Some of the cats chuckled.
"I said sometimes, but seriously, you elders need to stop fighting!" Rainstar said sternly.
"Rainstar's right, you both need to learn to get on!" Robineye moaned, licking her paws.
"But Blazestrike hasn't worked out the stupid prophecy yet!" Whitebone protested.
"He's like a flower." Hawkheart sighed. "Just give him some time, sun and rain, he'll then bloom and discover what the prophecy really means."

The new apprentices

"Tag!" Gentlekit squealed, tagging Jaykit with her tail. Jaykit giggled and decided to go after his littermates. He started chasing Songkit, his sister. He then finally caught up with her. "Tag!" He laughed. Songkit squealed in suprise and ran off. She then crashed into Windkit, her younger brother and they both went flying into the nursery wall. "Ouch!" They squealed.
"That's enough for today. Come on little ones." Moonsky sighed. Firekit, Echokit, Songkit, Jaykit and Windkit rushed over to their mother and laid down beside her belly. They were only 1 moon old, while Gentlekit and her brothers were 3 moons old. Fernwhisker's and Morninghawk's kits were ready to be apprenticed today, apart from one. Bramblekit, Morninghawk's son had injured his leg to the extent where we couldn't become a apprentice today. He was very upset obviously. 3 toms then entered the nusrery with prey in their jaws. It was Blazestrike, Duststorm and Lizardeye.
"Hello. Are our kits in good health?" Duststorm asked, dropping a rabbit.
"Yes, but a little hyper. Could you find them for me please?" Fernwhisker asked. Duststorm left the nursery.
"I went to see Bramblekit, Ivyfur said he won't be apprenticed until Moonsky's kits are ready." Lizardeye mewed.
"That means he is 5 moons behind. He would have been a warrior by then." Morninghawk sighed.
"Hello, Moonsky." Blazestrike purred.
"Hello, my love. How are you?" Moonsky asked, sitting up to lick her mate's cheek.
"Great, thanks for asking." Blazestrike turned to the kits. "Hello, my children." He mewed in delight.
"Hi Dad!" The 5 kits chirped, running over to greet him. Blazestrike smiled and licked them all. "So, are you going to be brave and loyal warriors like your Mum and Dad?"
"Yeah!" The kits shouted. Blazestrike nudged the kits over to Moonsky and then walked out, leaving 2 plump rabbits and a mouse.
"Mum, when will we be apprenticed?" Windkit asked, resting his head on Moonsky's paw.
"Soon, young one." Moonsky meowed. "But not today."
"I can't remember, isn't those 3 aprentices becoming warriors today as well?" Morninghawk asked.
"If you mean Falconpaw and her brothers, yes." Fernwhisker meowed. "3 new warriors and 9 new apprentices."
"Snowstar's got her paws full, I wonder who will mentor them all, I doubt we have enough warriors." Moonsky joked.
"Well, Snowstar promised myself and Duststorm to mentor one of our kits each, Lizardeye and Morninghawk will mentor one of their's because Molepaw's becoming a warrior." Fernwhisker explained. "That's 4 down."
"I think someone's going to have 2 apprentices." Morninghawk mewed. "Wildheart and Swiftlegs aren't ready for their first apprentice yet."
"Maybe not. If 4 are down, we have enough warriors." Moonsky pointed out.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the highrock for a clan meeting!" A famliar voice shouted. It was time for the big ceromony. The 3 queens padded out with their kits and joined the other cats. Duststorm ran over with Fernwhisker's kits. The 6 kits were trembling with excitement, as were Morninghawk's 3 kits. Snowstar then spoke. "Can Falconpaw, Molepaw and Shrewpaw come up here please?" She asked. The 3 siblings rushed up.
"What's going on?" Songkit asked.
"They are becoming warriors today." Moonsky said to her daughter.
"Falconpaw, Molepaw and Shrewpaw, do you accept the SnowClan way of life, will follow the warrior code and use it to protect your clan, even at the cost of your life?" Snowstar meowed.
"I do!" They shouted together.
"I, Snowstar, leader of SnowClan, call apon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard in your noble code, and I command you make them a warrior in turn." Snowstar padded over to Falconpaw and rested her muzzle on the apprentice's head. "Falconpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Falconsong. StarClan hounors you for your courage and kindness and welcomes you as a full warrior of SnowClan." Falconsong licked the leader's shoulder respectfully and stood back. Snowstar did the same with Falconsong's siblings. "Molepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Moletooth. StarClan hounors you for your swiftness and impressive hunting skills."
"Shrewpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Shreweye. StarClan hounors you for your thirst for knowlage and quick thinking."
"Falconsong! Moletooth! Shreweye!" The clan chanted.
"Now, for the 9 kits." Snowstar called. They all rushed up excitedly. "Until these cats have earned their warrior names, the will be known as Sootpaw, Icepaw, Frogpaw, Flowerpaw, Puddlepaw, Leopardpaw, Eaglepaw, Treepaw and Stonepaw. Lizardeye will mentor Stonepaw, Riverstripe will mentor Treepaw while Cherrypaw is unable to train, Morninghawk will mentor Eaglepaw, Shadowstep will mentor Leopardpaw, Duckfoot will mentor Puddlepaw, Duststorm will mentor Flowerpaw, Bearpelt will mentor Frogpaw, Fernwhisker will mentor Icepaw and Clawedear will mentor Sootpaw." The 9 warriors padded towards their apprentices and touched noses with them.
"Clan dismissed!" Snowstar meowed. She jumped down from the highrock and went to see her kits. They were 2 moons old and everyone execpt them knew they were half-bloods. Jaykit felt sorry for them not knowning their real father. Suddenly, a cat rushed past Jaykit, making him fall over. "I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" The cat asked, nudging him up. It was Cloudpaw, Lizardeye's daughter.
"No, I'm fine." Jaykit meowed. Cloudpaw nodded and started to walk off until Firekit stopped her. Jaykit sighed. He knew that Firekit loved Cloudpaw. Echokit then padded up to him. "Gentlekit wants to play hide and seek with some of the apprentices, coming?" She said coolly.
"You bet!" Jaykit meowed. They both ran off and played until moonhigh.

Trouble in the forest

The next day, Echokit was woken up by Luckykit wailing. He had been wailing for a while because Spottedflower was deep in her sleep. Echokit sighed and went over to Luckykit. "You know that Spottedflower is asleep, right?" She asked.
"Yes, but I'm hungryy!" Luckykit wailed.
"Then go out of the nursery and ask someone to get you a mouse or something." Echokit meowed, flicking her tail. Luckykit rushed out just as Snowstar padded in. She had her 5 kits with her. "Sorry to disturb you, but has anyone seen Badgerstripe? I want to speak to him." She asked.
"Nope. Try someone else." Moonsky yawned. The leader, along with her kits padded out. Echokit laid down on the floor and sighed. She was so bored, no one apart from Luckykit and Moonsky were awake. Falconsong then padded in with a mouse in her jaws. "Hello Moonsky." She meowed, dropping the prey. Spottedflower then woke up, startled. She looked around worriedly. "Luckykit?" She called. "Luckykit!" She got up and ran out. Echokit gulped. If Luckykit told the truth, she would be in huge trouble. Her siblings then woke up and looked at Echokit. They could tell she was nerveous about something. Shadowstep and Spottedflower came in with Luckykit. They looked furious. Echokit stood back.
"Echokit," Shadowstep asked. "Is it true that you said Luckykit could leave the nursery to get something from the fresh-kill pile?"
"Bu- but he was hungry! Spottedflower wasn't waking up, but he was making so much racket I bet even the FlowerClan cats could hear him!" Echokit blurted out.
"That doesn't mean you send him out. You are not Luckykit's mother, you are just a young kit." Shadowstep meowed sternly.
"Foster mother." Echokit muttered to herself softly. She then looked up. "I didn't know!"
"You did know, you've been here long enough!" Spottedflower growled.
"I'm only 1 moon!" Echokit protested. Moonsky then called for her daughter and Echokit sighed in relief. Moonsky glanced up at Shadowstep. "Everyone makes mistakes, even you do, so you have no right to blame my daughter for a tiny mistake." She meowed. Shadowstep then backed away. Moonsky had won the arguement. Blazestrike then padded in with a blue tit in his jaws. "I have spoken to Ivyfur about Bramblekit, the poor kit isn't going to be apprenticed for 5 moons." He said. "I feel really bad for Lizardeye and Morninghawk."
"Me too, I hope our kits will keep out of harm's way." Moonsky meowed. She turned to her kits. "Why don't you 5 go and listen to the elders tell their stories? You may learn something, I know I did." She said with a wink. The kits rushed out towards the elder den.
"Hello young ones." Nighteye croaked. "Why are you here?"
"We want to hear a story!" Windkit explained.
"Gather round, I can tell you fiercesome battles this clan has fought." Nighteye meowed. The kits sat down and Silverclaw passed them 3 leftover mice to share.
"Well, we have many to choose from. Would you like to hear about the dog attack, when BloodClan stole all the clan's kits, the flood, the fire, the fox attack, when we joined up with all the clans to fight RainClan or what we call 'The battle of surrvial'?" Nighteye asked.
"The last one!" Echokit, Jaykit and Songkit shouted.
"The flood!" Flamekit and Windkit meowed.
"Well, it will be the final battle then." Nighteye said with a smile. "It was a few moons before you were born, but Shadowstep's kits were born during it."
"Wow!" Jaykit meowed in intrest. Blazestrike then poked his head in. "I believe I can help with this tale?" He meowed cheerfully. "With extra kits listening?" Shadowstep's kits padded in, along with Snowstar's. "They can't remember it because they were blind, so we'll tell them." Blazestrike then sat down beside Nighteye and started. "Well, it started off as any regular day. Wildheart and Swiftlegs became warriors at the start. Your mother was trying to tell me something when we heard screaming and yowling. We then padded out in fear and saw the clan huddled together. We asked Shadowstep what was going on and he said that BloodClan and RainClan had joined up to fight us. LeafClan were the main reason why they were fighting."
"But why did they go after you too?" Gentlekit asked.
"Because in the last battle, SnowClan helped LeafClan fight off the RainClan invaders. BloodClan helped, but they kidnapped Snowstar and took her hostage. I and Moonsky found her." Blazestrike said.
"Why is half of this stuff about you and Moonsky?" Pigeonkit asked.
"Ah ha, that would be telling." Blazestrike chuckled. "We were just good friends with the usual few fall-outs. Then it came to the time when I was almost killed by Bloodstar. But that will be later. I'll pass over to the elder now."
"Right, ok. I didn't see the exact same things Blazestrike did, but us elders managed to fight off a few invaders." Nighteye meowed. "Right guys?"
"Yes." Silverclaw croaked.
"We did indeed." Breezefang chuckled. "We even made Rainstar loose a life."
"That's amazing for a old cat!" Windkit gasped.
"Not that old, little one. I may have been here since the start, but I still have plently of life left in me." Nighteye chuckled. "Now, listen well."

Some time later, the story had finshed. All the kits were outside playing tag. The sun was shining down brightly, but it was very hot. Most of the water had dried up, and many cats spent the day sleeping in the shade. The kits weren't bothered but the sun. They just ran around like mad.
"Tag!" Jaykit meowed, tagging Pigeonkit with his tail. She giggled and ran after Songkit until someone was calling all their names. It was Shadowstep. "Come on, you need to go back into the nursery." He meowed.
"Why?" Gentlekit asked.
"It's too warm out here. You all could all have a stroke." He explained, nudging her in. "Go and see Spottedflower." All the kits padded in and Echokit went over to Moonsky. "Will you tell us a story?"
"Yeah!" Jaykit agreed.
"Sorry little ones, I'm too tired to even talk." Moonsky sighed, falling asleep. Echokit looked worried. Why did her mum seem like the tiredest of all the cats? Sadly, she rested her head on her mother's neck and shut her eyes. Windkit then nudged her up. "I'm bored!"
"Then find your own entertainment for StarClan's sake! I can't make up all the games you play!" Echokit mumbled angrily, shutting her eyes again. Windkit dropped his ears sadly. He then jumped up onto Moonsky's tail and fell asleep. Spottedflower yawned and nudged Shadowstep's kits over. Snowstar wasn't in the nursery, she was in her den with her kits. Echokit then smelt a strange scent. She had never smelt it before. She woke up and nudged Jaykit and Songkit awake. "Let's go find out what that smell is!" She explained. The 3 siblings padded out. Nothing was there, apart from a red glow behind the trees. It wasn't the sun, because it was quite high in the sky. They weren't sure what it was, so they headed back to the nursery. They curled up beside their mother and fell asleep. Within about 5 minutes, there was shouting. Echokit opened her eyes again and groaned.
"RainClan invasion!" Shadowstep yowled. At this point, everyone was awake. Moonsky woke up and huddled her kits towards her. Suddenly, a cat appeared at the nursery entrence. It was a she-cat with blue fur and green eyes. She was very tall and had many battle scars. Spottedflower growled in a low voice and the she-cat ran towards her, hissing.
"Who is that cat?" Echokit asked.
"That is Oceanstar, leader of RainClan." Moonsky mummered. "Don't speak to her or you'll be killed with 1 swipe." Windkit wailed loudly and Oceanstar stopped attacking Spottedflower. She then smiled a evil grin. "Well, well, well, it's little Moonsky. Ooh, and what's this? Kits? Who's are they?"
"Mine and Blazestrike's." Moonsky croaked. Echokit looked worried. It was obvious Moonsky was loosing her voice.
"That evil cat?" Oceanstar started laughing. "Young one, you do realise Blazestrike's done nothing good to your clan?"
"Actually, he's rescued kits from a river and many other things you wouldn't be intrested in." Moonsky mumbled.
"Humf!" Oceanstar grumbled.
"Leave my mum alone, you fox-hearted creep!" Windkit squealed, standing in front of Oceanstar.
"Windkit! No!" Moonsky screamed.
"How dare you insult me!" Oceanstar growled. Windkit screamed and ran out.
"Fire! Someone help, fire!" A cat yowled. Now SnowClan were in serious trouble. A fire and RainClan were in their camp! Wildheart rushed in and nudged the queens out. "Do you have all of your kits?" She asked.
"No.. Windkit... scared of Oceanstar... ran out.. don't know.. where... he is." Moonsky panted. Wildheart nodded. "Ok. Spottedflower, find Riverstripe and Shadowstep. You will get Moonsky and her kits to safety with the help of Riverstripe. Shadowstep will get his kits." She said. "Don't worry Moonsky, i'll find your son, no matter what it takes." She ran out and glanced around. RainClan cats were franticly trying to avoid burning branches, falling from the trees. Emeraldtail, Blazestrike, Bearpelt and Lizardeye padded up to the she-cat. "We're going to help you!" They explained.
"Thank you." Wildheart purred. "Now we must go, before we die!" The 5 cats ran around the camp, looking for cats in need of helping. Lizardeye pricked up his ears. He could hear a she-cat's cry for help. He ran towards a large branch. Sparrowsong was trapped under the branch. Lizardeye charged at the branch. He failed to move it and cut his paw. However, he didn't give up. He got hold of the branch in his jaws and dragged it away. Sparrowsong scrambled out and didn't even thank him.
"Typical." Lizardeye mumbled to himself. He then scampered away to look around for more cats.
"Lizardeye! I need help!" Emeraldtail yowled. Lizardeye turned his head and saw the she-cat being cornered by 2 larger toms. Lizardeye pounced onto one of them and clawed his muzzle. One of them pounced onto him, but Lizardeye clawed his flank and escaped. The toms fleed. Emeraldtail started coughing, but her eyes showed determaination. They continued on. Bearpelt, so far hadn't freed anyone, but she had heard screams from the medcine den. She rushed over and saw a huge branch blocking the entrence. Blazestrike was trying to drag it away, but he wasn't strong enough to move it. Bearpelt helped him and the entrence could now be acessed. Cherrypaw and Puffinpaw were still in there. "One of you will have to pick Cherrypaw up, she can't walk." Puffinpaw meowed, running out. Bearpelt gently picked up the young she-cat by the scuff and padded out. "Take Cherrypaw, Blazestrike, i'll continue looking. If you can, send for more cats." She ordered. Blazestrike nodded and picked up the apprentice. He ran out.
Bearpelt then bumped into Wildheart, who was helping Silverclaw out. "I think that's everyone apart from Windkit and Oceanstar." She said. Shouts were heard from the other side of the forest. Bearpelt knew everyone who had got out of the blazing fire was over there, but the shouts were getting louder and louder. They were saying a name, but who's? Wildheart nudged Silverclaw out while Bearpelt continued listening. The first part of the name was moon, but Bearpelt was trying to figure out who. "Moonlight.. Moonheart.. Moonsong... Moonsky.. wait.. they must be saying Moonsky!" She mummered to herself. A white she-cat ran towards her, panting. "Where's Windkit? Have you found him yet?" She demanded.
"No, not yet. We're still looking. Did Blazestrike send you?" Bearpelt asked.
"I came alone. Everyone thought I was mad and tried to hold me back, but I fought back and ran off. Many cats were calling my name, but I didn't return." Moonsky explained, holding her head high. "I'm going to find my son, no matter what."
"Well, it's nice to see that you want to help, but you have young kits back there. You can help by making sure they don't come back here." Bearpelt meowed gently.
"No! Blazestrike's watching them, I am going to find my son, and you can't stop me!" Moonsky hissed, lashing her tail angrily. Bearpelt took a step back. "O..ok." She gulped. "But never speak to a senior warrior like that." Moonsky glanced around. A memory sat in her mind. It was when Fernwhisker had tried to rescue Cloudpaw as an apprentice in the last fire before the apprentice fell down from a tree and died in the blaze. Moonsky pictured Windkit, hanging from a tree on the edge of death. She pushed Bearpelt out of the way and and starting running around, calling her son's name. "Windkit! Windkit!" She then stopped when she saw a large blue cat, staring at her. It was Oceanstar. "I see you have come to find your precious little son." She said, grooming her soot-covered fur. Moonsky growled deeply and then stopped when she saw Windkit. "Oh, thank StarClan you're safe, Windkit! Now come here!" She said gently. The kit looked terrified and ran off, coughing. Oceanstar ran after him, snarling. Suddenly, flaming branches started falling from the trees rapidly. One large branch hit Moonsky's back and trapped her. "Help me!" She cried, unable to move. Wildheart rushed over and helped to move the large branch, despite the pain the flames were giving her. "Come on!" She said quickly, rushing out. Moonsky then escaped to safety, coughing. Blazestrike ran over to her. "Moonsky! I thought you were dead!" He purred in delight, rubbing his head against her cheek.
"Well, I said I would be back, didn't I?" Moonsky purred, twinning tails with him. Wildheart ran back into the blaze, trying to find the little kit. She bumped into Lizardeye, who looked tired but determained. "You go back, i'll find the others." He commanded. He watched the young warrior run for her life. "Now to find Emeraldtail and Bearpelt." He mumbled. Lizardeye then pricked his ears up after hearing a kit squealing. He dashed towards the noise and saw Oceanstar and Windkit. Emeraldtail was behind a flaming log, ready to pounce onto the leader. Lizardeye looked her as she jumped onto Oceanstar, hissing and snarling. Oceanstar wasn't prepared for the attack, but she grabbed Emeraldtail by the scuff and threw her into a burning branch. Oceanstar turned back and realsied Windkit was terrified. She clawed his pelt, making the kit bleed rapidly. Emeraldtail pounced onto her and grabbed Windkit in her scuff. Unfortauntly, she wasn't watching where she was going and ran into a burning branch. It had trapped her and was already burning her fur. Windkit was wailing loudly. Lizardeye watched the leader walk off and then he went over to the branch. Emeraldtail was dying. Lizardeye dragged her out into the clearing and crouched down beside her. She was already dead. The blaze was growing bigger, so Lizardeye had to run out, leaving Bearpelt because he hadn't seen her. Lizardeye then got to safety and was greeted by Morninghawk. She licked his cheek and smiled. Falconsong padded up to Lizardeye. "Where are Emeraldtail, Bearpelt and Windkit?" She asked.
"Emeraldtail is dead." Lizardeye said sadly. "She died saving Windkit from a blow by Oceanstar. Windkit got stuck and I couldn't save him. Bearpelt... didn't make it. I couldn't find her anywhere." Falconsong sighed and sat down, looking at the ground. Suddenly, a brown cat rushed out of the blazing fire with a small thing in it's jaws. Lizardeye smiled, it was Bearpelt. She then rushed over and dropped a small furry thing. "Windkit.. Oceanstar grabbed him from Emeraldtail's jaws... killed him." She panted. Moonsky held back her head and yowled in sorrow. Blazestrike rested his head on Moonsky's shoulder. He then remembered the prophecy. "When the Fire and Echo runs through the forest, Blood will spill. The Song, Dove and the Jay will destroy the cunning Sparrow and the Wind will die in the Ocean." He mumbled to himself. "Windkit must be the wind, Oceanstar must be the ocean. Oceanstar killed Windkit, like the prophecy said." He licked Moonsky's ear while she griefed for her dead son. She stop yowling and looked at Blazestrike. "Thanks." She mummered.
"For what?" Blazestrike whispered.
"Comfort. You are a true friend." Moonsky whispered back.
"I guess so." Blazestrike shrugged. Moonsky giggled and rubbed her nose against Blazestrike's cheek. Darkmystery padded over with a sour look on his face. Blazestrike gulped. He loved Moonsky and he was furious when she chose Blazestrike for a mate. "I'm sorry for your loss." He mumbled. "It's always bad when queens loose kits."
"What would you know about losing kits?" Blazestrike challanged. Darkmystery didn't reply and turned to Moonsky. "I need to speak to you in private." He meowed.
"No, unless I'm coming too." Blazestrike growled. "I know your tricks."
"It will be ok, Blazestrike." Moonsky mummered, following the tom into the bushes. Fernwhisker walked up to Blazestrike. "I'm so, so sorry for Windkit's death. No cat should have to go through this." She said gently. Blazestrike smiled at her and Fernwhisker padded off towards Duststorm. Blazestrike looked up at Snowstar. "What will we do now?"
"I honestly don't know." Snowstar sighed. "But if we listen to StarClan, there will be hope, I can assure you." Badgerstripe then rushed up with Snowstar's kits. Blazestrike walked off and sat down beside Wildheart, Duckfoot and Barkclaw. "I'm worried." He said sadly.
"About what?" Duckfoot asked. "You're one of the most fierce cats in the whole clan!"
"Moonsky. Darkmystery's been acting... strange recently." Blazestrike sighed, drawing a paw over his ear.
"You're younger but stronger than Darkmystery." Wildheart said gently. "And you have something that Darkmystery doesn't have many of: Friends."
"Wildheart's right, you have more friends." Barkclaw agreed.
"I suppose you're right." Blazestrike meowed, shrugging.
"No, I am right." Wildheart purred in amusement. "I'm always right."
"I do recall when you said that Rainflower stole your mouse. It was your brother, not her. So there." Duckfoot giggled.
"Just because you are a senior warrior! Think you have better brains, tut tut." Barkclaw joked.
"Yes, naughty Duckfoot. Stop being a show-off." Blazestrike sniggered. Wildheart laughed and licked Blazestrike's shoulder. "You always know how to cheer me up!" Blazestrike smiled at the young warrior and then glanced at the bushes. Moonsky hadn't returned yet, why was she taking so long? Wildheart nudged him. "Don't worry, Moonsky hates him." She mewed. Blazestrike nodded and laid down.
"Alright, it's too late to travel. So we'll sleep here tonight." Snowstar annocned. Many of the cats got together in groups, because it was quite cold. Blazestrike waited for Moonsky to return. Cloudpaw padded up to Blazestrike. "When will we resume training?"
"Soon." He replied, licking his paw. Moonsky then returned with Darkmystery beside her. He walked off towards Swiftlegs and Owlpaw. Moonsky obviously went over to her mate.
"What did he say?" Blazestrike asked, sitting up.
"He said that I deserved a better mate who would actually attempt to save his own kits. He blamed you for Windkit's death, and he would have thought that you would have risked your life to save him." Moonsky said in a low whisper.
"And allow him control over you? No way! And what does Windkit matter to him? He's our son!" Blazestrike grumbled. "I hate him."
"He won't give up, you know that." Moonsky mummered, laying down beside him. "Now you get some rest and don't worry about him." Blazestrike laid down beside her and fell asleep.

Darkmystery's betrayal

The next day, Blazestrike woke up and realised Moonsky wasn't beside him. He glanced around. He couldn't see her glowing white pelt or her crystal-blue eyes. "Moonsky!" He yowled. "Where are you?" He then looked at Darkmystery. Blazestrike could see a she-cat beside him. It was Moonsky. What did Darkmystery want with Moonsky? Blazestrike crept behind a bush and watched them. Moonsky woke up and thought Darkmystery was Blazestrike, she couldn't tell because she had only just woken up. She licked Darkmystery's ear and he woke up. Blazestrike growled and jumped from his hiding spot and onto Darkmystery with his claws at his neck. "You get your own mate, mouse-brain!" He hissed.
"Oh, look, it's little Blazestrike. He's gonna kill me, oh noo." Darkmystery said sarcasticly. He then kicked Blazestrike off him and stood up. "I'm older than you, so back off from her." Blazestrike sat up, his whole body in pain after hitting the ground. He then remembered what Wildheart had reminded him last night. "You're younger but stronger than Darkmystery. And you have something that Darkmystery doesn't have many of: Friends." He mumbled to himself. He then coughed a bit.
"Wimpering kit. You think you're special because you are son of the leader." Darkmystery growled, slashing Blazestrike's muzzle. "You're nothing but dirt! Hear me? Dirt!"
"I'm stronger than you." Blazestrike said weakly. "I've beaten you before."
"Once. But you took everything away from me. Friends, Moonsky, my whole life has been destroyed. But now I will stand against you, until you surrender!" Darkmystery yowled, scatching Blazestrike's leg. He then went for his face until Moonsky stood in front of him. "Calm down, for StarClan's sake! You lost me, end of story. Now get lost." She hissed.
"No, I've only just started." Darkmystery growled, twinning tails with her. He turned to Blazestrike. "I'm off now, bye." He laughed, knocking Moonsky out and dragging her away. Blazestrike couldn't move a muscle. He then heard cats padding toward him. It was Wildheart, Shadowstep, Fernwhisker and his kits.
"We saw it all," Wildheart started. "And myself and Shadowstep want to help you."
"We can't... Darkmystery could be anywhere by now." Blazestrike groaned weakly.
"There is always hope." Ivyfur said, walking over. "I know where he is going."
"Where?" Shadowstep asked.
"He will go to the river, there is a abandoned cave nearby that only he knows about, but I followed him once and discovered it myself. Just so you know, he plans to get help from rouges. He knows some of them, they have some plan I don't know about." Ivyfur meowed. "I can lead you there."
"Well, thanks." Blazestrike said, getting up. "I'm fit for travelling."
"Let's head off then. No one else is awake. If they do, Puffinpaw's going to cover for me." Ivyfur explained, walking off towards the river. The 3 warriors followed while Fernwhisker looked after her brother's kits. Ivyfur was trembling all over as they approached the cave. "You must keep quiet and follow me." She whispered, padding behind a log beside the cave. Blazestrike followed her along with Wildheart and Shadowstep. They looked into the cave. Darkmystery was talking to some very big cats while 2 cats were guarding Moonsky's body.
"They are rouges. Do not let them smell your fear." Ivyfur mummmered. "I can smell Darkmystery's fear, he is very scared."
"Right, so we all know the plan. We now come to the final part, making a clan and driving out LeafClan, SnowClan and SkyClan. We will join up with the remaining 2 clans and rule the forest!" Darkmystery annocened. The rouges yowled in approval.
"But why are we driving out 3 clans and leaving 2?" One rouge asked.
"That's simple Viper." Darkmystery said with a smile. "The 3 clans are good friends, and will try to help eachother at all costs. Pathetic, yes? BloodClan and RainClan on the other hand have tried to destory their friendship and the clans too. They are strong, smart and cunning, they know where to strike. You rouges are some of the strongest around, so joining up with them will make us stronger, but one day we will double-cross them and make the strongest warriors and apprentices join us. The others will be killed for prey, apart from the leaders. They can stay, for now."
"Oh, right, very smart." Viper meowed.
"What are we going to do?" Wildheart whispered.
"Hush." Shadowstep whispered sharply. "Listen."
"Darkmystery, the prisoner's still not woken up. Did you kill her?" Another rouge asked curiously, nudging Moonsky's paw.
"Of course not, mouse-brain, I knocked her out." Darkmystery sighed, padding over. "She'll be my mate, no one elses." Blazestrike looked at Ivyfur. "Please can we attack them?" He asked.
"When I say so... now!" Ivyfur whispered. The 4 cats sprang into action with their claws out. Darkmystery gave a angry snarl. "How did you find me?"
"I knew you came here, and after you took Moonsky I knew you would head here. So I led no one, only the deputy, a determained youngster and Moonsky's proper mate!" Ivyfur hissed.
"I thought you said SnowClan cats, apart from you, have no brains and are frightened of the smallest attacks." Viper mewed coolly.
"How dare you critise your own clan, you ungreatful betrayer!" Wildheart growled. Darkmystery did nothing but sharpen his claws on a rock inside the cave. "Adder, Claw and Fang, guard the prisoner. Viper, Death, Blood, Poison and Flame, fight the invaders. The rest of you stand back and be prepared." He commanded. Viper and Flame threw themselves at Shadowstep while Poison, Death and Blood attacked Wildheart, Blazestrike and Ivyfur. Blazestrike bit into Death's scuff and dragged him across the cave. He then heard Ivyfur having trouble fighting Poison. Ivyfur was a medicine cat, there was no way she would win against a strong rouge. Blazestrike charged into Poison and sent him flying into Darkmystery and another rouge called Cobra. Ivyfur looked like a frightened kit.
"Go and get help!" Blazestrike ordered.
"I want to help." Ivyfur mummered. "I led you here."
"You don't fight though!" Blazestrike protested.
"Still, I'm prepared to sacrifse my life to help you guys escape." Ivyfur said.
"Go and get help, that's a order!" Blazestrike snapped. "Now!" Ivyfur gulped and ran out. Darkmystery just glanced at Moonsky. She still was knocked out. Had he killed her by accident? He stood back against the wall and tried to charge at Blazestrike. However, Blazestrike had seen this and was prepared. He just took 1 small step to the left and sent Darkmystery charging into a thorn bush instead of him. "Having fun in there?" Blazestrike joked.
"You... fox-hearted...mouse." Darkmystery groaned weakly, limping out. He looked like a over-sized hedgehog. "Why did... you... do that? Someone could... have got... hurt."
"Well, you already did." Blazestrike's face turned serious and he pounced onto Darkmystery, pinning him down. "You better have not harmed Moonsky. I swear by StarClan, if I find out that you or your little friends have given her the slightest scatch, I'll tear you to pieces, no questions asked."
"Ooh really?" Darkmystery said sarcasticly, rolling his eyes. "Right, here's the deal. We'll fight alone. Whoever wins is proven the strongest and gets Moonsky. If you win, you can have her and I might stop my plans. If I win, i'll take her and you can get lost and never show your face to her or me again."
"Don't do it Blazestrike!" Wildheart yowled, getting up from Blood's powerful grip. "You'll only get yourself killed!"
"I'll take on your deal." Blazestrike meowed bravely. Darkmystery grinned. "Just in case your friends try to help you, they'll be kept as prisoners until the end of this fight." He signaled Adder and the huge tom grabbed the SnowClan warriors. He put them beside Moonsky, who still hadn't woken up. The rouges stood back, watching the fight. Darkmystery and Blazestrike circled eachother, snarling and growling. They then pounced into action. Blazestrike bit Darkmystery's scuff and scatched his muzzle. Darkmystery jumped away from Blazestrike's grip and pounced onto him, scatching his face again and again. Wildheart looked down at Moonsky. She was certain that she had just seen Moonsky twich her ear. The white she-cat opened her eyes and groaned. "What happened? Where am I?"
"Darkmystery knocked you out and now you're in a cave watching Darkmystery and Blazestrike fight." Wildheart blutted out.
"Shut up!" Shadowstep hissed. "You could have made her stressed!"
"Sorry." Wildheart mumbled, licking her paws. Moonsky gasped in horror as she watched the fight. Darkmystery only had a bleeding muzzle and a cut on his back. Blazestrike already had several face wounds and his shoulder was bleeding. He wasn't defeated though. Blazestrike charged at Darkmystery and bit his leg, refusing to let go.
"Get off me you mangy fleabag!" Darkmystery growled, pulling at his ear. Blazestrike yelped in pain and Darkmystery slashed his leg. Blazestrike fell to the floor and couldn't move. Darkmystery smiled and let out a victory yowl. "I have won and as the deal states I claim Moonsky!" Wildheart and Shadowstep dipped their heads sadly. Darkmystery padded up to Moonsky. "Come on, you're mine now." He purred.
"Could I atleast say goodbye to Blazestrike first?" Moonsky asked.
"Fine, but only a few minutes." Darkmystery growled. He turned to Shadowstep and Wildheart. "You are free to go." He meowed. The 2 cats rushed up to Blazestrike along with Moonsky. "Blazestrike," She mummered. "Are you ok?"
"Not really." Blazestrike mumbled. He lifted his head up slightly and looked up at his friends. "Did I win?"
"Darkmystery won, sorry." Wildheart explained with a sour expression on her face.
"Great, just what I need." Blazestrike groaned. Moonsky giggled quietly and buried her muzzle in Blazestrike's fur. "You're not dying, are you?"
"No." Blazestrike replied. "I just have some bad injuries. But whatever you do, don't fight him. He'll kill you, I know he will. Just hold on and watch your back, you'll survive." Moonsky then started crying quietly, her tears dropping onto Blazestrike's fur. Wildheart tried to comfort her, but she obviously didn't want to leave Blazestrike, injured and defeated. Shadowstep sat up and spoke. "If you stay, you'll get into a fight with Darkmystery. If you go, no more violence will be done here and Blazestrike will be looked after by Ivyfur."
"But what about my kits?" Moonsky sobbed. Darkmystery padded up to them. "Time's up, come on." He meowed, walking off. Moonsky followed him, glancing back at Shadowstep and Wildheart. "Bye." The rouges followed on silently. Ivyfur then came back with a small patrol, panting.
"You're too late." Wildheart said sadly.
"Why? So I ran all that way, got into trouble with BloodClan, gathered up a patrol and ran back for nothing?" Ivyfur snapped angrily.
"Darkmystery won the fight. He has taken Moonsky and Blazestrike has been forbidden to show his face." Shadowstep sighed. Ivyfur was furious. "Maybe you could have warned me!" She hissed, walking away. Blazestrike was shocked. He had never known Ivyfur to be like this, she was gentle and kind, not snappy.
"Wait, did she say that she ran into trouble with BloodClan?" Wildheart asked.
"She did... we have to find her!" A voice meowed desperatly. It was Owlpaw, along with Falconsong, Bearpelt, Morninghawk and Treepaw.
"You 5 return to camp. Say nothing about Ivyfur. We'll take Blazestrike back and speak to Ivyfur then." Shadowstep ordered. The patrol padded back while Wildheart nudged Blazestrike to his feet. "What will I tell my kits?" He asked.
"Let us handle this. You have gone through a lot in just 2 days, you need some rest." Shadowstep said gently. Blazestrike nodded and limped beside the deputy.

A stranger

"Now what are we going to do?" Wildheart complained. "Ivyfur refused to talk to us about it."
"Why don't you use me?" Fernwhisker suggested. "I can be put to some use, seeing as I am a good friend of Ivyfur."
"Fantastic. Thank you Fernwhisker." Shadowstep said with a smile. Fernwhisker nodded and walked out towards the medicine den. She took a deep breath and walked in, smiling. "Hi Ivyfur."
"Oh, hello Fernwhisker." Ivyfur meowed unenthustaticly.
"Morninghawk told me that you ran into trouble with BloodClan." Fernwhisker said, lifting her head up. Ivyfur glanced at Blazestrike, who was sleeping, and turned back to Fernwhisker. "Can you keep a secret?"
"Of course. You're my friend." Fernwhisker mewed, sitting down beside her.
"Well, I didn't really run into trouble with BloodClan. I made that up." Ivyfur said in a low voice. "I went looking for herbs until I came across this little mewling kit. It had a strange scent on it, but it spelt like Puffinpaw when she first came to the clan."
"Puffinpaw's from FlowerClan... so it's a FlowerClan kit." Fernwhisker gasped.
"Yes, it was. I couldn't leave it there, so I gently picked it up in my jaws and tried to find it's mother until I came across a patrol with FlowerClan scent." Ivyfur whispered. "They accused me of kit-stealing until one of the senior warriors noticed my scent, and realised I was a SnowClan cat. FlowerClan think SnowClan are the most powerful clan in the whole circle of clans, so they were very apologetic. They explained their territory had been attacked by mountain lions and 1 kit had run off towards the forest, so they sent out a patrol to find it. They invited me back to their territory and we spoke about our clans. One tom, I think he was called Grassfur, him and I are good friends. He thought it was cool, the fact that I was a medicine cat and mentor to Puffinpaw, who had been a good friend to him."
"Then what happened?" Fernwhisker asked.
"Well..." Ivyfur's voice went quieter and she sounded upset. "When I started to leave, Grassfur had followed me back and asked me something I never should have agreed to."
"What did he ask? Please tell me!" Fernwhisker begged.
"He asked me to be his mate." Ivyfur whispered. "I accepted, but he didn't realise that medicine cats couldn't have mates. I am going to see him tonight and tell him."
"But it's too late!" Fernwhisker said angrily. "When you're mated, you can do nothing about breaking up! You're going to have his kits! I would never think you would do this, you are a mouse-brained fool!" She walked out, snarling. Shadowstep padded up to her. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"Ivyfur is a stupid mouse-brain." Fernwhisker mumbled angrily. "She lied and broke the warrior code."
"What?!" Shadowstep was in shock.
"I'm not in the mood for talking right now, just go away." Fernwhisker hissed, stalking out. Shadowstep gave a warning growl. "Respect your deputy."
"Oh for StarClan's sake, quit pestering her." A voice said. It was Puffinpaw. "Learn to control your paitence, Shadowstep. It will help you greatly."
"You're acting like one of the elders." Shadowstep teased.
"Well, if you know your clan history well, FlowerClan are decents of the ancient OwlClan, the wisest clan in the history of clans." Puffinpaw meowed, giggling.
"StarClan are the wisest, mouse-brain!" Falconsong laughed, overhearing the conversation. "OwlClan were the second wisest, so ha ha."
"I ment clans that acutally lived, not dead sprit cats." Puffinpaw sniggered. Suddenly, a cat started shouting in fear. "Invader! He's trying to break into the nursery!" Everyone stopped and rushed into the nursery. With Moonsky's absance, only 1 queen was in the nursery, fighting off the huge tom. Bearpelt and Swiftlegs grabbed the invader and gave him threating growls. Snowstar padded in. "Please take the strange to my den." She ordered. "I will be there shortly." Bearpelt and Swiftlegs led the tom into Snowstar's den and waited for Snowstar to return. The she-cat padded in with Shadowstep beside her. Snowstar sat down and glanced at the tom. "What is your name?"
"I am Courage." The tom replied. "I do you no harm."
"But why did you break into the nursery?" Shadowstep asked.
"I am on the run from a clan around here. I thought you guys were that clan, but obviously not. I apologise." Courage meowed.
"Which clan and why?" Snowstar asked, cleaning her fur.
"BloodClan, because I killed one of their senior warriors." Courage explained. "They swore by StarClan to kill me if I show my face again in their territory. I think they are going to warn the other clans about me, saying I am cold-hearted killer."
"You don't seem it." Snowstar meowed. "Well, I'm Snowstar, leader of SnowClan. The black tom beside me is Shadowstep, my trusted deputy. The brown she-cat is Bearpelt, a senior warrior and the black and white tom is Swiftlegs, one of the newer warriors."
"Well, I am glad to meet you all." Courage mewed, dipping his head respectfully.
"That's not all of us. There's loads of cats." Swiftlegs laughed. "A clan is made up of several cats, not just 4."
"I see." Courage lifted his head up slightly. "I am very intrested in this clan thing. Please explain."
"Well... um... we don't know a lot." Bearpelt admitted, twiching her whiskers. "We haven't been a clan for very long, only a few seasons."
"Yes, but we do know what clans do. They help eachother, hunt, fight even it means risking their own life and live in harmony." Snowstar explained. She glanced at him. "How old are you? You look very young."
"Actually, I'm 47 moons, so not really that young." Courage chuckled. "Would that make me a warrior?"
"Yes, unless you were the leader. You are older than me, Courage. I am 45 moons." Snowstar meowed. "You look like you would make a good leader."
"I wanted to start my own clan," Courage mewed. "But I haven't got any cats."
"Hey, maybe you could join our clan for a bit!" Swiftlegs suggested.
"Swiftlegs, Snowstar will have to comfirm that." Shadowstep reminded the young warrior sternly. "It is not your choice to bring this stranger into the clan."
"I will allow Courage in." Snowstar decided, licking her paw. She looked at Courage. "Do you have anything in mind for a warrior name?"
"Oh, um... no." Courage said sadly.
"I think Couragestorm or Courageclaw are nice names." Bearpelt suggested.
"Couragefur!" Swiftlegs shouted.
"I like Courageheart." Shadowstep meowed.
"Well, it's Courage's choice." Snowstar meowed. "What would you like your name to be?"
"Maybe Couragefur?" Courage suggested.
"Then it is settled." Snowstar said with a smile. "You will be known as Couragefur."
"Yay!" Swiftlegs said excitedly, jumping around the den.
"Calm down Swiftlegs." Shadowstep meowed sternly. He turned to Couragefur. "I will find a cat to teach you our ways. You will be safe from BloodClan here."
"Thank you." Couragefur said, dipping his head respectfully. He then padded out, free of the guards.

1 moon after Couragefur's arrival, it was time for the gathering. Darkmystery still hadn't shown his face for a long time, and his clan plot hadn't gone into action yet. Blazestrike knew Darkmystery would attack soon.
"Shadowstep, Couragefur, Clawedear, Blazestrike, Wildheart, Bearpelt, Morninghawk, Lizardeye, Falconsong, Blankpaw and Cloudpaw can go to the gathering tonight." Snowstar annonced. She signalled the cats and they padded towards the leader, following her to the gathering place.
"I hope the other clans haven't been fighting again." Wildheart said to Blazestrike.
"Same, we've done well so far." Blazestrike replied. "No fights."
"Yeah." The younger warrior then padded up to Snowstar. "What will you say about Darkmystery? You must warn LeafClan and SkyClan!"
"I will say nothing about Darkmystery's plan or Moonsky's kidnap." Snowstar said, lifting her head up. "It is our buisness and no one else needs to know." They arrived at the meeting place. RainClan and SkyClan were already there. Skystar smiled when she saw SnowClan arrive. "Greetings, Snowstar." She meowed , dipping her head respectfully. Snowstar smiled warmly and climbed up onto her branch on the tree. Oceanstar was glaring at them both. Lizardeye's heart sank when he saw Sparrowsong with his kits. He knew the last 4 kits were called Thunderpaw, Blackpaw, Fearpaw and Swanpaw. Taking a deep breath, he padded up to Sparrowsong. "Hello."
"Oh, hi Lizardeye." Sparrowsong meowed silently. Lizardeye was slightly annoyed. He had saved Sparrowsong's life in the fire and she wasn't very thankful for that. "How are things in RainClan?"
"Good, I suppose." Sparrowsong nudged her kits over and smiled at them. "Say hi to your dad."
"Hi dad!" Blackpaw chirped brightly, his green eyes shining.
"Hello, young ones. I am Lizardeye, former SnowClan deputy." Lizardeye meowed kindly.
"Wow! Deputy? Thats so cool!" Fearpaw said. Sparrowsong hushed them. "Keep your voices down, myself and Lizardeye took a huge risk bringing you into the world."
"How?" Swanpaw asked softly.
"Later." Sparrowsong said quickly. She turned to Lizardeye. "You might want to go to your clan. We are enemies now." She mummered, licking his shoulder. "Goodbye." Lizardeye padded off towards Morninghawk, his proper mate and rubbed his nose against her cheek. Morninghawk purred in delight. Blazestrike rushed up to them along with Clawedear. "I wonder where BloodClan and LeafClan are. I hope they haven't been fighting again." He groaned.
"Here comes BloodClan now, Blazestrike." Morninghawk meowed, turning her head to glance at the fierce clan. Bloodstar seemed a bit bigger since the last gathering. He jumped up onto his branch and looked at Snowstar. "How are our kits?"
"Fine." Snowstar mumbled angrily. "They aren't yours. They're mine and Badgerstripe's."
"No they are most certainly not. When did you last breed with Badgerstripe?"
"A queen can have several litters in her life to the same mate."
"I seriously doubt that."
"Robineye from SnowClan had 2 litters to the same mate. "
"But she died giving birth to her last litter."
"Because she was killed in the fight that you started, mouse-brain!" Snowstar had said this rather loudly, so everyone stared at her. The leader went red and turned away with embarssment. LeafClan then finally arrived. Blazestrike noticed they seemed a little silent and defeated. Leafstar jumped up onto her branch.
"The gathering has begun!" Skystar yowled. "SkyClan are fine, but we have recently decected enemy cats on our territory. We think they might be rouges, but we can't be sure. We are now settling in well, but don't mess with us, unless you want to be ripped to shreds." Some of the cats nodded their heads in agreement.
"I don't want to die!" Blankpaw wailed.
"Hush young one." Bearpelt whispered. "Skystar sometimes over does it." Blankpaw turned away, embrassed.
"I have finshed. Leafstar?" Skystar glanced at the leader and Leafstar stood up. "LeafClan are not at their best. As BloodClan and some RainClan senior warriors remember, Rainstar gave my clan hunting rights in a small river. But Oceanstar has demanded that hunting in the river is RainClan's speciality, so they have taken back the river. Our prey is scare and most of us are thin and straving. I know this seems a little rude, but our clan will fall without food. So all I ask is some hunting rights on other clans territory." Many cats gasped and went into chatter. Bloodstar glared at the LeafClan leader. "No. We have had to given up territory for SkyClan already and we don't want to loose any more!" He growled.
"Not going to happen!" Oceanstar hissed, lashing her tail angrily. "My clan need more prey than you!"
"I would, but I'm afraid my clan are new and we have just got the hunting techinque, so no, sorry." Skystar mewed.
"My clan hunt in the river and the forest Oceanstar, so RainClan are not unique." Snowstar pointed out. She turned to Leafstar. "I will be willing to help with your prey problem."
"Oh, you really don't need to." Leafstar meowed. "We are good friends, you and I, also I believe that I owe you a debt for helping my clan flee from BloodClan and RainClan."
"I insist, and my clan will be more than welcome to share their prey." Snowstar replied. The SnowClan cats nodded and Leafstar smiled. "Very well. I thank you again SnowClan."
"Will you get on with the gathering, for StarClan's sake! We haven't got all day!" Bloodstar hissed. Leafstar gave a silent growl and continued on. "We were also recently attacked by rouges. Thunderfoot was killed and all of us are injured." Leafstar was nearly crying, but bravely talked on. "The rouge leader looked like a SnowClan cat. He was smaller than the other rouges and had black fur and yellow eyes."
"That's Darkmystery!" Snowstar gasped in horror. "We know he betrayed our clan and wanted to start a clan of his own, but I warn all of the clans. Darkmystery has a cunning plot to drive out 3 clans in make the other 2 his slaves! He'll kill the weak cats for prey!" Everyone was horrorfied. The apprentices wailed and Snowstar hushed them. "We must join up together to fight off Darkmystery. We can't let a traitor take over the forest."
"Count me in!" Leafstar meowed.
"I will help." Skystar said in her quiet voice.
"I suppose." Bloodstar mumbled.
"Ok, I shall help." Oceanstar mewed.
"Thank you everyone." Snowstar purred. "The gathering is over!" The leaders led their clans away.

DarkClan

"Blazestrike, Falconsong, Lizardeye, Deerleap, Streampaw, Swiftlegs and Owlpaw, you are on patrol with me." Duckfoot meowed. "Snowstar has made us a super patrol, with our only mission to spy on Darkmystery, see what he's up to and rescue Moonsky. We might be away a few days, moons, who knows? I will just warn you all now that 1 or 2 of you may die on the way, but you will be remembered for this. Questions?" The 7 cats were silent and Duckfoot smiled. "Good. Now we must get going." Duckfoot led the patrol through the forest, past the boarder with BloodClan and then they stopped outside SkyClan's camp. They had never seen it before. They peeked through the bushes and watched. The dens were well-built and the prey pile was huge. SkyClan were obviously off to a good start.
"Keep moving everyrone." Duckfoot ordered. The patrol padded on until they reached a tall mountain. Cats roamed above their heads, carrying prey in their jaws.
"Who are they?" Streampaw asked curiously.
"FlowerClan, Puffinpaw's old clan." Lizardeye explained. "They are decents of OwlClan, the wisest living clan that ever lived. Also, they have the most difficulty surrving because of where they live. The lack of prey and increasing number of invaders make this clan under threat of falling." Duckfoot nodded and walked on. "We are heading futher into the Highstones, near another small Twolegplace like the one back at our camp. Remember the warrior code and don't try to become a kittypet." She joked. Blazestrike then picked up a strange scent. "Hold on a minute.." He could hear another cat coming towards them. Blazestrike's face then turned into a look of pure fear. "Everybody! Run!" He yowled. The cats ran for their lives, tearing through the forest like dogs. The cat followed, coming closer and closer until the patrol came to a large oak tree.
"Quick! Up the tree and hide in the branches!" Owlpaw meowed, climbing the tree. The warriors and apprentices began to climb the tree swiftly and finally got to the top, panting. Quietly, they listened for the cat. All was silent. Too silent. Lizardeye deicded to climb slowly down the tree and look around. Silently, the patrol waited anxiously for the senior warrior's return. Rustling could then be heard and the cats growled. Lizardeye then poked his head up.
"Is it safe?" Streampaw asked.
"Whatever we were running from is gone." Lizardeye told him. The apprentice sighed in relief. "Phew! I thought that would be it!" The warriors chuckled and jumped down the tree.
"I think we should find somewhere to rest and then we'll hunt for a bit." Duckfoot meowed, flicking her tail towards a forest. "This will put us closer to a Thunderpath, so be careful whilst hunting."

Within a few minutes, the patrol of SnowClan cats had reached the forest and were resting in a large ditch. Duckfoot had sent out Deerleap, Blazestrike and Owlpaw to hunt first, because they seemed to be full of energy.
"We'll find you Moonsky." Blazestrike mummered as he looked at the stars in the night sky. "We'll find you... somehow."
"What's wrong Blazestrike? We're ment to be hunting, you know." Deerleap asked, licking her paws.
"Nothing." Blazestrike said quickly.
"There is something up. I can tell." Deerleap meowed.
"What if we never find Moonsky?"
"We will, don't worry."
"Proberly dead."
"Darkmystery likes her, why would he kill her? Think about it." Deerleap gently licked the tom's shoulder and looked up at him. "Come on, Owlpaw's proberly got all the prey by now." She joked. "Let's see who can catch the most prey."
"Bring it on." Blazestrike meowed, running off into the bushes after prey. He then stopped in his tracks. He didn't feel right about going on futher. It felt as if something was lurking out there, watching him. Deerleap bounded beside him, along with Owlpaw. "What's up now?"
"I don't feel right about taking this path." Blazestrike admitted. "It just feels like something's going to jump out and scare me."
"I'll show you it's perfectly safe." Owlpaw said in a loud voice, padding off into the bushes. The 2 warriors waited quietly. A flock of birds suddenly took flight and prey started running for their lives. Blazestrike could tell Deerleap was terrified, she was shaking. Owlpaw then ran back, panting. Blood ran down his back leg and he had a face of fear. "It's horrible!" He panted. "Down-right horrible!"
"What is?" Deerleap asked, sitting beside the apprentice.
"Horrible, I tell you! Horrible!" Owlpaw screamed.
"Hush, Owlpaw, just tell us what happened." Blazestrike meowed calmly.
"Amber eyes! Huge teeth and claws! Shadowed fur!" Owlpaw yelped. "Horrible!"
"That sounds familar." Deerleap mumbled. "Does black fur and amber eyes ring a bell?"
"Yes, but I can't think who it is." Blazestrike sighed.
"Horrible! Just horrible!" Owlpaw wailed again. Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared in the bushes. Deerleap, despite being older than Blazestrike, hid behind him. "What in the name of StarClan is that?" The thing chuckled and showed itself. "I'm suprised you are so afraid of me, Deerleap."
"Horrible monster!" Owlpaw screamed again before fainting. Blazestrike looked at the cat. It had amber eyes, long claws and pitch-black fur. He then stood back and arched his back. "Darkmystery! You piece of fox-dung!" He spat, hissing.
"I'm actually shocked you dared to show your face again after I forbid it." Darkmystery meowed. "By the looks of things, it seems you have forgotten about your previous mate and gone for a new one."
"What do you mean?" Blazestrike hissed.
"Have you lost your mind?" Darkmystery started laughing. "I can see that you like Deerleap!"
"You liar! Liar!" Blazestrike hurled himself at Darkmystery, but the tom had learnt from the rouges. Darkmystery pinned Blazestrike down and leapt onto him. "I'll kill you if I must!" He snapped. Deerleap charged into Darkmystery and pinned him down. "I won't forgive you for attacking Owlpaw. You know he's my apprentice." She hissed, biting into his neck. Darkmystery yelped, whipped Dearleap with his tail and escaped her grip, running into the bushes. Falconsong and Swiftlegs then padded up and gasped in horror. Owlpaw had been attacked, Blazestrike had a scatch on his neck and Deerleap's muzzle was bleeding.
"Don't ask, Darkmystery showed up." Blazestrike sighed. "He frightened Owlpaw and caused him to faint... we thought we could defeat him... but we were wrong."
"He has grown too strong." Deerleap coughed.
"We'll take you back to our tempoary camp. Did you get any prey?" Falconsong asked.
"Yes, Owlpaw got loads." Deerleap replied weakly. "He took it back a little while before he was attacked."
"Thank StarClan for that, but I think we should have brought Puffinpaw or Ivyfur along." Swiftlegs joked. "Come on, lets get going."

The next morning, everyone was back on the move again. Blazestrike and Deerleap's wounds stung all night, but thankfully Owlpaw was fine. They all had a large meal before leaving, so it would last a few hours. Duckfoot then stopped everyone. "Now, you can smell a horrible scent. That is the Thunderpath. You can hear the monsters." She explained. "I will split everyone into groups, with 1 senior warrior leading so we can all get across safely. Owlpaw, Deerleap and Swiftlegs will be with me. Lizardeye will take Blazestrike, Streampaw and Falconsong." Lizardeye decided to go first and led his group over to the edge. "Now!" He shouted, running across. Falconsong and Blazestrike had no trouble getting across, but Streampaw was frightened. He had never seen the Thunderpath before.
"Come on!" Blazestrike encouraged. "You can do it Streampaw!" The little apprentice refused to move, but then he ran.
"Watch out!" A monster was coming towards Streampaw. Without thinking, Blazestrike rushed to the apprentice, picked him up by the scuff and ran. Thankfully, the 2 cats just made it.
"Now, that's why you have to keep up, Streampaw. Apolgise to Blazestrike." Lizardeye meowed sternly.
"Sorry Blazestrike." Streampaw mumbled. Duckfoot then led her group over the Thunderpath safely and everyone continued on. Suddenly, Lizardeye stopped everyone. "I can smell a dog. Stay together." He whispered. A skinny cat could be seen beside a large tree, licking wounds. The SnowClan cats rushed over to the cat and it crouched into a attacking positon.
"We won't hurt you." Duckfoot meowed.The cat fixed his gaze on Blazestrike and smiled. "Are you Moonsky's mate?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm Blazestrike, warrior of SnowClan." Blazestrike replied. "Who are you?"
"Ah, I am Mysterystar of FoxClan. Myself and my clan used to live here." Mysterystar meowed, hanging his head.
"Used to?" Falconsong was curious. "What happened?"
"We were attacked. First came rouges who claimed themselves as DarkClan, then a dog came to finish us off." Mysterystar sighed sadly.
"We sympathize. Do you need any help?" Deerleap asked.
"Well," Mysterystar seemed a little suspicious, but he continued speaking. "The rouges tore the nursery to shreds and cats are stuck inside there. It is also the same with the elder den. If some of you could free the cats, I will be very greatful. Also, the dog scared off all of our prey which has left us starving."
"Ok, we'll help you." Duckfoot meowed kindly. "Lizardeye and I will go hunting. The rest of the cats can stay here." The 2 senior warriors padded off. Mysterystar turned to the other cats and flicked his tail towards the elder den. "The 3 weakest cats go and help the elders. The other 3 can help the queens, kits and warriors trapped underneath." He meowed.
"Why don't the apprentices and Falconsong go and lift up the elders den?" Deerleap suggested. "They are the youngest here." Everyone agreed and went to help the FoxClan cats. Swiftlegs then noticed a little kit with it's tail ripped off. "There's a badly injured kit!" He shouted, picking it up by the scuff.
"I'm not suprised that kits have been injured, they are one of the most vundruble cats in the clan." A voice said. Swiftlegs turned around. Nothing. A small she-cat then rushed up to him. "Who are you? I know Mysterystar asked for your help, but I don't know your name."
"I'm Swiftlegs." The tom meowed. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm Bluesong. I'm the medicine cat and my apprentice is Poppypaw." The blue she-cat replied in her soft voice. Bluesong had thick blue fur with 1 faint silver paw and beautiful sky-blue eyes. "It's not everyday we are attacked. We had badgers 3 moons ago." She sighed sadly.
"We just seem to have clan attacks." Swiftlegs joked. He looked at Bluesong's belly. She was skinner than Mysterystar had been when they first saw him, but she didn't have as many wounds. "How comes you are much skinner than the other cats in your clan?" He asked curiously.
"I think that the other cats will need prey most." Bluesong replied. "I normally eat a small squirrel and nothing else, unless someone else is willing to share, but I normally refuse."
"You can get ill if you don't eat enough." Swiftlegs pointed out. He continued helping, as Deerleap gave him a warning stare.

By sunhigh, most of the elders were found alive, but 2 were still missing. From the nursery, 3 queens and 12 kits had been found alive, with 2 kits dead. However, 1 queen and her 2 kits still hadn't been found. Swiftlegs hadn't really done much, because he had been mainly been talking to Bluesong. Mysterystar had told off Bluesong twice for not making any attempt to heal anyone, but the pretty medicine cat ignored him. Thankfully, everyone brightened up when Duckfoot and Lizardeye returned with lots of prey. They explained to Mysterystar that they had hunted beyond the Thunderpath, in the forest where they had set up camp last night. FoxClan were thankful for the prey, and let the SnowClan cats eat too. Blazestrike, however, didn't want to eat right now. He wanted to know something that Mysterystar knew. "Sorry to disturb you, but where is Mysterystar's den?" He asked Bluesong. Swiftlegs gave Blazestrike a silent growl and Bluesong hushed him. "It's over there, in that cave." She said to Blazestrike, flicking her tail over to a small cave made of rocks. "If you see a golden tabby tom in there too, that will be Lionfang, the deputy."
"Thank you." Blazestrike meowed, padding towards the cave. He went in. Here, as Bluesong said, there was another tom in there. Mysterystar was a light brown tabby with darker brown patches and yellow eyes. "Greetings, Blazestrike. What can I do for you?"
"I'm just curious about Moonsky. How did you know that she was my mate?" Blazestrike asked. Lionfang looked at Blazestrike. "So you are the lucky one!" He chuckled. "Greetings, youngster. I am Lionfang, the deputy of this fine clan."
"Hello Lionfang." Blazestrike meowed, dipping his head respectfully. He turned back to Mysterystar. "So?" The leader was speechless, but then he spoke. "Only 1 tom can help you, he told me."
"Who is it?" Blazestrike asked.
"Lionfang will take you to the elder den. In there, you will find a very old light brown tom. He knows the whole thing." Mysterystar explained. Lionfang led Blazestrike into the elder den. The apprentices and Falconsong had recontructed it and now the elders were very thankful. Lionfang then came towards a light brown tom and nudged him with his paw. "Someone's here to speak to you." He mummered. The deputy turned back to Blazestrike. "This elder is the oldest cat in the clan. He is slightly blind and very grouchy, but he is very wise. He may snap at you for asking about Moonsky, but just stay cool and he'll create a friendship with you." He said.
"Ok. Thank you, Lionfang." Blazestrike whispered back. Lionfang nodded and padded out. The elder got up and glared at Blazestrike. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"I'm Blazestrike, a SnowClan warrior. Some friends of mine helped to rebuild your den." Blazestrike replied.
"Oh yes, Mysterystar was so desperate for help he asked intruders for help." The tom mumbled. "I'm Owlclaw, former senior warrior and mentor to many apprentices."
"Hello Owlclaw. Mysterystar told me that you knew one of the rouges, Moonsky." Blazestrike mewed.
"Yes, I did. It doesn't matter the fact I know a rouge!" Owlclaw rasped.
"Yes, but how did you know that she was my mate?"
"What?!" The elder's eyes were blazing with anger. "She doesn't have a mate, you mouse-brained fool! I remember her disappearing as an apprentice, I was her mentor!" Blazestrike then kept quiet. A memory floated back into his mind. "Wait... what clan is this again?"
"FoxClan!" Owlclaw snapped.
"Please can you name all the leaders in this clan's history, from Foxstar to Mysterystar." Blazestrike asked.
"Easy." Owlclaw snorted. "Foxstar, Crowstar, Wolfstar, Falconstar, Smallstar and then Mysterystar."
"Medicine cats?" Blazestrike remembered something about a medicine cat.
"Bearlegs, Bonerain, Emberfang, Leopardheart, Leapingtail, Fawnfoot, Snoweyes and then came Bluesong. The oldest ones was Bearlegs and Fawnfoot. The youngest is currently Bluesong, she has only been medicine cat for a season." Owlclaw explained. Blazestrike had just about figured out something. "Moonsky was involed in a prophecy while Wolfstar was alive, and when she died in an attack she was in Petalflight's litter!" He meowed. "You were her old mate!" Owlclaw went silent. Another elder came up to Blazestrike. "You are correct. I am Petalflight, Moonwing's closest friend. When she said that she was running away to find adventure, I was heartbroken. I thought I would never see her again until she came along with the rouges. I thank you for looking after my daughter and my friend, but why is she with the rouges?"
"She was kidnapped." Blazestrike sighed sadly. "You see, our camp was set on fire during an invasion, and our youngest son was killed. Darkmystery, my rival, blamed me for the death."
"What a horrible cat!" Petalflight explained. "He should be exiled!"
"I don't understand why, but Snowstar knows all his tricks, but she has not exiled him. I suspect he'll be kicked out of the clan when he tries to return." A little apprentice then came in, yawning. "Mysterystar said that you can stay here for the night, it is too dark and dangerous to travel through these woods." She said. Blazestrike thanked the elders and padded out.
"Nice cat, isn't he?" Petalflight meowed to Owlclaw.
"I suppose he's ok, but his friend seems a little suspicious." Owlclaw mumbled.

Blazestrike woke up, startled. He was in a forest, surrounded by nothing but trees. A call for help could be heard, a she-cat's cry. The warrior got up and followed the sound, keeping his ears pricked. He came to a bush. He could see fur. White fur. "Who's there?" He shouted. A small she-cat appeared from the bush, coughing. Her fur was covered in blood and somehow, she seemed familar. She was calling for someone. Blazestrike padded up to the she-cat. She was sobbing. "Go away, this is no place for young warriors." She begged. "You'll die."
"I'm not young." Blazestrike corrected. "I'm actually quite strong. I have been in so many battles and surivied." The she-cat turned to face him. "You seem a little familar. Proberly a friend." She said. Blazestrike gazed at the cat. She was very familar, but then it hit him. "Moonsky!" He cried joyfully. "Remember me?"
"Hmmm, ah yes, you are Lizardeye, aren't you?" Moonsky asked. Blazestrike's heart sank. His own mate had forgotten him! "No, I'm Blazestrike, your mate!" He meowed.
"Back away from her, rouge." A voice from the shadows growled. A tom padded out. It was Darkmystery, Blazestrike's old rival. "Well, well, well, we meet yet again." Darkmystery hissed. "And I assure you that you listen to the she-cat. I would leave now before someone gets hurt." Blazestrike lashed his tail angrily and spat. "I'm her mate." Moonsky glared at Blazestrike with her gentle blue eyes, but no longer gentle. "What kind of mate are you if you didn't come back for me?" She meowed angrily.
"I was coming!" Blazestrike protested. "I travelled for atleast a season to find you!"
"And you left the kits?" Moonsky was furious. "Oh, my poor little kits, having you as a father. Leave now, Darkmystery's my mate, I want you out of my life!" Darkmystery sat down with a yawn and glared at Blazestrike. "Go on then. Go find another mate, or are you going to live lonely?" Blazestrike turned away, but he looked back, his eyes blazing. "I will return, I can promise you of that. You aren't going to get away with this, Darkmystery. I have friends, you don't."
"Repeat that." Darkmystery meowed cooly, glancing at Moonsky. Blazestrike yowled loudly in sorrow. It was hopeless!

"Blazestrike? Hello?" Blazestrike groaned loudly and opened his eyes. Deerleap and Bluesong were beside him, sighing in relief. "You were yowling in your sleep." Deerleap explained. "Nightmare?" Blazestrike nodded and Deerleap glanced outside. "We'd better go, come on." As they came out, Lionfang greeted them. "Bluesong, I have sent Poppypaw on a hunting patrol to collect herbs. You can stay here." He meowed. The deputy turned to Deerleap. "Duckfoot asked me to tell you that you need to do some hunting, but you don't have to do it now. Blazestrike, stay here. Maybe you could tell the elders stories or wonder around. Stay close though, rouges might strike." Blazestrike deicded to go for a walk. Swiftlegs then dashed up to him with a small shrew in his jaws. "Where's Bluesong?"
"Medicine den." Blazestrike mumbled, walking away. Swiftlegs had seemed a bit too fond of the medicine cat, it drove him mad. Whilst walking along, Blazestrike heard screaming kits nearby. He swiftly ran through the forest and towards a small clearing. Here, 2 little kits were high up in a tree, a fox waiting for them to come down so it could eat. Blazestrike pictured the fox attack Moonsky had told him about, where she had died. He shook his head and charged at the fox. It snarled and whipped it's head round. Blazestrike then realised it wasn't a fox. It was a rouge! Angrily, Blazestrike pounced onto it and pinned it down. "Who are you?" He snapped.
"Ember, a rouge who happens to be a queen." The rouge mumbled. "I'm also hungry."
"Why did you try to kill those kits?" Blazestrike growled, lashing his tail.
"I haven't eaten a proper meal for 2 days." Ember replied. "I got lost in this forest because my clan ran off and left me."
"Which clan are you?"
"DarkClan. Used to be loner, now savage rouge." Blazestrike loosened his grip. "Have you got a white she-cat prisoner?"
"Yes. Our leader is going to mate her when they reach new territory." Ember explained. Blazestrike pictured poor Moonsky, with Darkmystery mounting her. He then got up, allowing Ember to move. "I'm going to offer you a deal. If you take me and some of my clan to the prisoner, I will get you some food and not leave you scarred."
"Ok, I accept, but my clan won't like me doing it." Ember walked around Blazestrike, sniffing the air. "SnowClan. Should have known by your strong body."
"Proud to be." Blazestrike mewed kindly. "I'm Blazestrike, SnowClan warrior. The she-cat is my mate." Ember sighed sadly. "I'm very sorry to hear that. I will help you, I know where they are going. Gather up your friends and meet me back here, but please remember the prey. I won't hurt those kits, I will take them in as I killed their mother."
"You are very kind, thank you." Blazestrike mewed, padding off into the bushes.

Half an hour later, Blazestrike and the others had returned with plenty of prey. Ember was very thankful, as you might have guessed.
"Where's Swiftlegs?" Falconsong asked.
"He's staying with his girlfriend." Streampaw replied coldly. Ember just laughed and stood up, stronger. "Again, thank you for the prey. It was very nice of you to give up your prey for a worthless lump of bones."
"If you are helping us find Moonsky, it's the best way of saying thank you." Deerleap explained, sniggering. "Prey is the medicine." Blazestrike purred in amusement. Owlpaw just sighed. He didn't trust Ember one bit.
"Come along, youngsters. We must get going now, we can't wait for your friend to turn up. If we don't go now, we'll be too late." Ember meowed, flicking her tail in the direction of a mountain. "We will head up here, and hopefully we will find DarkClan." The cats walked through the forest, keeping a close eye out for DarkClan cats or anything else that looked threatening. Blazestrike wasn't afraid, but he noticed that Deerleap was shaking and limping beside him. "Need some help?"
"No, I'm fine." Deerleap said quickly.
"You don't look it." Blazestrike replied.
"Blazestrike, I'm in perfect health." The she-cat inisted, sounding angry. "Just please, leave me alone." Lizardeye gave a low growl in his throat. "Do I need to teach the pair of you respect again?" Blazestrike shook his head quickly and then whispered in Deerleap's ear. "No way am I listening to that pile of mousedung lecturing us on respect." He mumbled. Deerleap giggled quietly. "You are still bad, Blazestrike. No one dares to insult the all-mighty Lizardeye, being the oldest senior warrior."
"Then why hasn't her retired to the elder's den?" Blazestrike whispered back. Deerleap couldn't stop laughing. Duckfoot turned around and sighed. "You will atrract attention by acting like fools." She replied in a harsh tone. Blazestrike muttered some very rude names to call Duckfoot and Deerleap burst out laughing again. Lizardeye pounced onto Deerleap and growled. "I think you need to stay away from Blazestrike. Go to the front with Ember and behave." He hissed. Deerleap got up and joined Ember, who was being very silent. Owlpaw glared at Blazestrike, but then turned back to talk to Streampaw.

2 hours later, the little group of travellers finally reached the mountain. It was very steep and slippery, as it was raining. Owlpaw whinned when he saw the huge mountain climbing the sky. "I'm not going up there!" Ember turned around and sighed. "As the weather is against us," She mewed. "only the strongest cats will make the journey with me up the mountain. Duckfoot, choose come cats."
"Deerleap, Blazestrike, Falconsong and Lizardeye. I'll stay here with the apprentices and meet you back here." Duckfoot replied. Ember nudged her adopted kits over to Duckfoot. "Look after them too."
"Wait a minute." Lizardeye sat beside Duckfoot. "Darkmystery's your son. You have to stop him. I'll stay here with the apprentices and kits." Duckfoot got up and joined the other cats on their climb up the mountain. Rain poured down and thunder shook the sky, along with lighting flashing on and off like a camera taking photos. Blazestrike shivered in the cold air. He had never seen a storm like this before. Deerleap limped beside him still. "Sorry about earlier, I have had no sleep and while I was out hunting, some badger attacked me and scarred my leg really bad."
"Did you see Bluesong about it?" Blazestrike asked.
"No. Didn't want to, her and Swiftlegs were talking as usual." Deerleap meowed, sticking her head up. Ember then stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "They are close." She replied in a weak voice. "Keep up." The cats continued on, despite the horrible weather conditions. Falconsong then slipped. "Ouch! Mouse dung!" She growled angrily, getting up. Duckfoot nudged her up to her paws and helped her up the steep mountain. A strong scent of DarkClan was in the air, near a small ledge not too far away. Bravely, the cats climbed up and hid behind a large rock in the cave. Darkmystery was adressing the cats in his loud voice. "So, I will remain Darkmystery instead of Darkstar, because I have no belief in StarClan what so ever. Adder will be deputy, Viper as medcine cat and Ash as her apprentice." He annoced. The cruel cat turned to a large tom. "Blood, get the prisoner. Her time has come." The cat nodded and went over into a dark corner. The tom grabbed a white thing by the scuff and dragged it out. "She's been putting up a real fight, Darkmystery, she'll make a excellent mate. A born fighter." He explained. Darkmystery snarled. "You're not having her, she's mine." Blazestrike signalled and the hiding cats ran from the hiding spot, hissing and snarling. "Let her go."
"Blazestrike!" Moonsky cried out in joy. "It's you!" Darkmystery turned to her. "Shut up. I'm dealing with this." He growled before turning to face Blazestrike. "I thought I forbid you to show your face." He said.
"Well, I believe that you are not the leader and never will be. You can't tell me what to do, hedgehog." Blazestrike sniggered, remembering the first fight when Darkmystery was thrown into a thorn bush. Darkmystery wasn't impressed by the joke. "Do you really think that you and your puny friends can beat me?"
"Actually, if one happens to be of your clan, then you wouldn't be calling them weak, would you?" Blazestrike meowed.
"Whatever do you mean?" Darkmystery snarled.
"Hint hint." Blazestrike purred in amusement, flicking his tail in Ember's direction. Darkmystery's jaw dropped in horror and shock. "It can't be.."
"It is." Ember hissed angrily. "I'm sick of the way you treat me like a slave. So I betrayed you and brought some old friends of Moonsky's."
Darkmystery gave a evil laugh and flicked his tail at some of his clan, who charged at the SnowClan warriors. Moonsky escaped Blood's grip and rushed towards Blazestrike, but Darkmystery stopped her. "No you don't." He growled, picking her up by the scuff and running out of the cave. Deerleap noticed this and padded up to Blazestrike. "He's taken Moonsky up to the top of the mountain. We have to go save her." She meowed desperatly. Blazestrike nodded and rushed out with Deerleap at his side. Darkmystery was climbing up with Moonsky struggling. Blazestrike jumped up onto a high ledge and followed them, trying not to get spotted. The rain was still crashing down and lighting hung above their heads. Darkmystery had now reached the top and he seemed ready to breed Moonsky. Blazestrike hurled himself at Darkmystery, clawing his flank until it bled. Darkmystery snarled and shoved Blazestrike towards the edge of the mountain. The tom gulped. If he fell, it would fall to his death. Darkmystery crouched down until he was resting his head on the ground. "Any last requests before I send you down to your doom?" He growled. Deerleap was comforting Moonsky at the time, but she knew she had to act, even though her leg throbbed with pain. With all the power of StarClan, she charged into Darkmystery, sending him close to the edge. "I believe that you need to say your last words." She snarled, whipping him with her tail. Blazestrike tried to pull himself up the ledge, but he was caught by Darkmystery. He grabbed Blazestrike's scuff and threw him down onto the rocky ground. However, he became unblanced and was now hanging on the ledge by his claws. Deerleap bit into his ear and refused to let go. Darkmystery was a crafty cat, so he deicded to charm Deerleap to let him go. "You are very pretty, you know." He meowed calmly.
"I don't take to flirts." Deerleap growled, yanking his ear. Darkmystery ignored her and continued on. "It's a shame you are not appricated by the clan. You do so much, but nobody ever says thank you. I'm suprised to see that you don't have a mate, you've been lonely since Snowstar came to SnowClan."
"I haven't been lonely." Deerleap replied. "I've got friends. But you have a point about not being thanked. I never am." Darkmystery knew he would have to say some very nice comments to her, or he would die. He breathed in her scent and spoke on. "Your eyes shine like emeralds."
"Em, thank you?" Deerleap seemed a little embrassed.
"You are as graceful as a deer, as your name describes. Your fur looks like leaves dappled with snow, which is a rare sight. In fact, you are one of the most hard-working cats in the clan." Darkmystery mewed. Deerleap was confused by this, but listened. Darkmystery tried to think of some more things. "You are kind to apprentices and a great mentor, you deserve respect. I think you would make a great deputy, and then prehaps a leader."
"Shadowstep is highly respected and a good friend to everyone." Deerleap pointed out. "And I'm shy while he's loud and always talking."
"Yes, but haven't you noticed that Stonetail from LeafClan doesn't say much? And he's the deputy becauyse of his loyalty. You are loyal, brave and curious. Tell you what, if you let go of my ear and let me up, I'll tell you more." Darkmystery replied. Deerleap, without thinking, pulled him up. The tom quickly streched and shook the water off his wet fur, although it would get wet again anyway because of the rain. He then circled Deerleap, saying more things to win her over. "I think you are the prettiest she-cat in the whole circle of clans, even better than Silverpelt at night."
"Thanks, but there are prettier cats than me." Deerleap sighed, licking her wet paws.
"That's not true." Darkmystery meowed, touching Deerleap's shoulder with the tip of his tail. "You just don't know it. If you look deep down inside you, I think you'll find that you are beautiful." Deerleap snorted. "Yeah right. You fancy Moonsky, and always have."
"Wrong. I only did it to annoy Blazestrike, because we have been rivals since Fernwhisker had her kits. I have had my eye on you most of the time." Darkmystery said truthfully. This wasn't a lie for once, it was the truth. Deerleap was still embrassed, but was dazzled by this. She had fallen for Darkmystery's trick.
"What in the name of StarClan do you think your doing?" Moonsky hissed. Deerleap signalled her and Moonsky nodded. "Oh, I understand now." Darkmystery kept circling Deerleap, breathing in her sweet scent. He then accidently twinned tails with her, but Deerleap hadn't noticed. She licked Darkmystery's cheek and he purred in delight. "Be my mate." He mumbled softly. Deerleap nodded her head and Darkmystery grinned, a evil look across his face. He grabbed her scuff and mounted her, pushing all his weight down on her. Deerleap had not expected this, she was shocked. "I'm doing you a favour." She mouthed to Moonsky. The brown she-cat shut her eyes as Darkmystery bred her harder and swifter. Moonsky, remembering her own mate, rushed over to Blazestrike, who hadn't moved since he hit the ground. "Blazestrike?" The tom didn't move. Moonsky yowled in sorrow and buried her muzzle in his fur, tears falling. He couldn't be dead, he couldn't. Darkmystery finally got off Deerleap, who was shaken. "Join my clan." He mummered in a gentle tone.
"But.. I have a clan." She replied quietly.
"I know, but my clan is stronger. " Darkmystery mewed. Deerleap had to think quickly. She glanced at Moonsky, who she felt sorry for. Her mate had been killed before her own eyes, by Darkmystery himself. However, she wanted kits...
"I will join." She replied, trembling. Darkmystery smiled. "Good." He yowled and the clan appeared before him. "I am introducing a new rank. It will be called Leaf, and only she-cats get this important role. Only one does, it will be Deerleap. What she will do is get force bred by all the males to have all their kits." Deerleap was in shock. She was happy to save Moonsky's life, but now she was in trouble. She had agreed to join DarkClan to be force bred by all the males. Darkmystery stood up. "I have bred her, so I want Adder to breed her now." He meowed. A big grey tom with many scars and red eyes stood forward. This was the deputy. Adder yanked Deerleap's scuff and mounted her as Darkmystery did. He was harsher than the leader, but Deerleap had to get used to it. The breeding lasted for ages, but he got off her eventully. Darkmystery grinned in delight. "Now, Blood can have a go." Blood was twice Adder's size, so he would hurt more. He mounted her also. The tom started to enjoy it, breeding her faster. Pain exploded through Deerleap's body as the mating took place.

1 hour later, all the males had bred her. She was so tried that she fell asleep, but was woken up by Darkmystery. She opened her eyes and groaned loudly. Darkmystery seemed excited. "Get up." He meowed, sounding tired. Deerleap pretended to not hear him and went back to sleep. The tom was annoyed now. "Get up now." He ordered. Deerleap mumbled something rude and pretended to snore. Darkmystery snarled and clawed her muzzle. She yelped in pain and woke up. "What have you done with my friends?" She hissed.
"Actually, I was waking you up because they are leaving now. I'm being genrerous and giving you until sunset to speak to them. I believe that Moonsky wanted to urgently speak to you." Darkmystery replied. He then gave a huge grin. "Then I'm breeding you again." Deerleap sighed and got up, shaking. She still felt pain all over her body. "I thought that might have been a catch." She mumbled as she walked out.
"Deerleap!" Moonsky came rushing up to the weak she-cat with a look of guilt on her face. "Oh Deerleap, I'm so sorry you ended up like this. It's all my fault. If I hadn't picked Blazestrike for a mate, none of this would have happened and he wouldn't be dead."
"He's still not moved." A voice mewed sadly. It was Duckfoot. She had watched the tom for any movement, but he didn't flinch. "Shame. I'm very sorry Moonsky, I think his soul has join StarClan. He will be safe there."
"He wouldn't just die." Moonsky sobbed. "He's a fighter, a surrvier like me. He can't be dead, he just can't be." Deerleap nodded. "Moonsky's right, Duckfoot. He wouldn't just die. That blow wasn't as powerful as what he's had before. Oh goodness, what will Fernwhisker say? And the kits?" Falconsong padded up and comforted Moonsky. "We will all miss him, but don't blame yourself for this disaster. This wasn't your fault."
"It was!" Moonsky howled, resting her muzzle in the young warrior's fur. Suddenly, Ember stood up with a look of happiness. "He's alive!" Moonsky ran over towards her mate's body. She checked and double checked. He was still breathing! "Blazestrike?" Everyone waited anxiously for the tom to wake up. His eyes slowly opened and started to talk. "Moonsky?" He mumbled, his voice crackling with pain. Moonsky blinked her blue eyes and nodded her head slightly. Blazestrike turned his head to the side and gave a small smile. "Atleast you are alive." Moonsky was speechless. She had been right all along. The she-cat gently rested her chin on his neck and smiled. Blazestrike coughed a bit, but he managed to move his head up and mummered something into Moonsky's ear. "They can't kill me yet while I'm still young." Falconsong yowled loudly and the other cats around her joined in. A distant reply came from the bottom of the mountain. Duckfoot guessed it was Lizardeye and the apprentices. Blazestrike sat up and then looked worried. "You haven't left me for Darkmystery, have you?"
"No, why would I?" Moonsky replied. "He is so evil, didn't you hear what he did to Deerleap?" Blazestrike shook his head and coughed again, sounding weak. Moonsky looked over at Deerleap and back at Blazestrike. "To save me, she tried to attack Darkmystery. However, she went through a painful mating from all the toms in DarkClan including Darkmystery himself, and joined DarkClan. All of that to save me." Blazestrike growled angrily. "I hate him. Always has to take a innocent she-cat from SnowClan." He turned to Deerleap. "I'm very sorry for what has happened. Just look after yourself and don't die." He sighed. Falconsong, noticing everyone was gloomy, deicided to brighten them up. "Hey, does anyone remember when I first came to the clan with my brothers?" She asked cheerfully. Moonsky smiled and laughed. "Yes! Very unforgetable!" Falconsong told her story of daftness and cheered everyone up.

Time to go home

The stories had gone on for a long time. So did the laughter. But it all stopped at sunset. No one's fault, just Darkmystery's. His evil soul shadowed above them as he made the sun set quicker. The rain had stopped, but now it was starting again. Deerleap's eyes were filled with tears as she said farewell to her friends and wished them a safe journey. First, she went over to Duckfoot. "Thank you for helping me as a apprentice." She mummered quietly. Before Snowstar had come to the clan, Duckfoot had been Deerleap's mentor for a bit before another cat took over her training. Duckfoot nodded and rested her muzzle on Deerleap's head. "Stay strong, little one." Deerleap then went over to Falconsong. "Thank you for being so cheerful and friendly, you would make a good deputy." Falconsong shook her head. "Too young and I haven't trained an apprentice yet. Maybe Moonsky's kits might be old enough when we return." Deerleap went away to Ember. "I give you my deepest thanks for helping us get this far. Look after those kits of yours to become strong warriors." Ember nodded. "Darkmystery has exiled me, so I will return with your friends and find a new clan." Deerleap purred and finally went over to Moonsky and Blazestrike. "I wish both of you the best of luck with your kits. I will say now, they are the healthiest, most beautiful kits I have ever seen. You both should be very proud parents." Moonsky blushed and gave a small smile. "Thank you." Blazestrike was still staring into space, but then faced Deerleap. "The clan will miss you." He mumbled weakly. Deerleap nodded and turned to Moonsky. "I would keep an eye on him, he seems a little lost."
"I swear by StarClan that I will care for him." Moonsky promised. Darkmystery came up to the crowd with Viper and another cat called Bite. "Deerleap is now a offical member of DarkClan. No longer SnowClan." He annonced. The evil leader turned to the SnowClan patrol. "You can leave now. Moonsky is worthless to this clan now, and Blazestrike's as dum as a rabbit." Viper laughed and Bite remianed silent. He then looked up. "The rain isn't going to stop. I have a good feeling that the breeding will be better outside in the wet weather." He suggested. Darkmystery smiled. "Excellent. I will start now. Then you can breed her, Bite." Darkmystery yanked Deerleap's scuff and pulled her up. He then mounted her, pushing all his weight down onto her. Deerleap felt so much pain, and it felt worse because her friends were watching. Darkmystery finally got off her and waited for Bite. He had seemed so silent and non-violent until now. First, he pushed up against a rock and hurled himself at Deerleap, causing more pain than Darkmystery's breeding. Then he started breeding her harshly. Bite put his muzzle close to her ear before breeding. "You'd better watch your tail, my love." He whispered in a kind tone. "You wouldn't want to be a no-tailed cat. Mainly because you are too pretty." Then came the torture. Duckfoot then stood up. "I want to make a small request." She annonced. "I want myself, these cats and the 5 down below to stay the night. It is far too dark to travel." Darkmystery mumbled some things to Viper and then turned around. "Request granted, but you must leave at sunhigh. No later." He growled. Adder, Blood and Flame wandered over, baring their teeth at Duckfoot. "I believe we are owed a breeding to the Leaf." Flame mumbled. "After we chased off the mountain lion." Darkmystery groaned loudly, but agreed. The 3 toms started circling Deerleap, making her feel frightened. "Who first, pretty?" Adder hissed.
"F-Flame." Deerleap trembled. The young bright orange tom snarled and then grabbed Deerleap's scuff. He yanked her up into the mating position and mounted her. Thankfully, he was smaller than Blood and Adder, but the smallest cat was Ash, the little medicine apprentice. Deerleap cried out in pain, but it didn't last long. Flame got off her and waited for Adder. He charged at the she-cat, but stopped and bent down to whisper. "Where are my kits?" He snarled.
"They aren't yours. They are everyones." Deerleap replied.
"I'm the deputy. To make them mine, I'll keep on breeding and breeding until I get my kits." He hissed back.
"Darkmystery won't let you. He is the leader." Deerleap sighed. "Besides, you're wasting your time breeding me." Adder snarled. "I'm going to breed you so hard." He yanked her scuff and mounted her angrily, getting faster and faster. Deerleap screamed and then Darkmystery stopped him. "Enough. You'll kill her and the kits." He growled, lashing his tail. Suddenly, Lizardeye, the apprentices and the kits appeared at the top of the mountain. "Falconsong sent us, we know the whole story." He nudged the little kits over to Ember. "They've been fine, just a little loud." He meowed. Ember licked their heads gently and glared coldly at Darkmystery. "These are my adopted kits, not mine and Death's." She mewed. Death was her old mate, but Ember had a idea of who to be her mate. Blazestrike had told her about the toms in SnowClan, she seemed to enjoy listening to one of them.

2 days later, they had made it back to the FoxClan camp. They hadn't forgotten Swiftlegs, so they went in. The camp was looking great and you could see no signs of damage where DarkClan had attacked. Streampaw loved to watch new clans work together to make their clan a sucess. "I'll go find Swiftlegs." He meowed, trotting off. Swiftlegs' scent could be smelt near the medicine den, so Streampaw rushed in to find Poppypaw alone. "If you're looking for Bluesong, she's gone to look for herbs." She meowed. Streampaw thanked her and wandered into the forest. He could hear purring and meowing close by, so he followed and hid behind a bush. Here, Swiftlegs and Bluesong were sitting in the shade, sharing tongues. Bluesong was a lot fatter than a few moons ago, when they had first come. Bluesong looked up at the birds flying overhead. "When do you think that your friends will return?" She asked.
"I hope they never come." Swiftlegs meowed. "Ok, I might miss Wildheart and Foxrunner, but the older warriors always nagged me to go on stupid boarder patrols."
"Yes, but you don't belong to this clan. You are SnowClan blood." Bluesong pointed out.
"I don't think I am. Just because my mother looks like a BloodClan cat." Swiftlegs sighed. Streampaw gulped. Swiftlegs was orignally a BloodClan cat until Foxrunner admitted she was too scared to fight along side BloodClan and fled with her two kits, Wildkit and Swiftkit. Bluesong laid down and looked around at the forest, alive with birdsong. "Nobody knows about us, do they?" She asked in a worried tone. "I mean, if Mysterystar and your friends find out, we'll be in double trouble."
"No one knows." Swiftlegs purred, burying his muzzle into the she-cat's fur, taking in her scent.
"Good." Bluesong sat up. "What will you do if your friends do come back?"
"Pretend I have been killed by a badger." Swiftlegs said. "But I won't come back. Just you until they leave, and then I will stay with you forever."
"But Mysterystar is my father. He will find out when he sees me." Bluesong then yelped in pain. "Get Poppypaw. She's the only one who knows." She whispered, her voice trembling. Swiftlegs dashed off, trying to be a hero. Streampaw was puzzled. What was happening to Bluesong? What was this secret they were keeping? Swiftlegs soon returned with Poppypaw, who had herbs dangling from her jaws. Streampaw could hear his name being called, so he ran off quickly and accidently bumped into Mysterystar. "Sorry!" He apolgised, running off. Streampaw kept running until he found Petalflight, who seemed very upset. "Where is Blazestrike?" She asked.
"I don't know, sorry." Streampaw sighed. He dashed off again back to his hiding spot. He was shocked to see what he found.
"You have 4 healthy kits. 2 toms and 2 she-cats." Poppypaw meowed. "Well done." Bluesong licked them all and looked up at Swiftlegs. "I want to name the calico she-cat Colourkit, the brown tom Thistlekit, the black and white tom Patchkit and the blue she-cat... she looks like me."
"Beautiful and strong." Swiftlegs purred. "The blue she-cat can be Melodykit. Patchkit and her look like you and me." Streampaw was furious. Swiftlegs had broken the warrior code! Angrily, he dashed out into the clearing. "Betrayer!" He hissed. "I saw it all! You should be exiled!"
"B-but how did you know?" Swiftlegs asked in alarm.
"I can pick up scents! I'm not a dum apprentice!" Streampaw replied angrily. Swiftlegs stood back and gulped. He'd been caught. "Go away." He growled. Streampaw shook his head, so the black and white warrior charged at him. Poppypaw gasped in horror. "Stop! Please! I love him!"
"What?" Swiftlegs hissed. Poppypaw sat up. "When you came along with your clan, I was a little frightened. But then I saw Streampaw, who I thought was very strong for a young apprentice. He was also handsome, so I fell in love. It broke my heart when you went to find Moonsky because I was going to tell him my feelings, but I have seen he is fiercely loyal to his clan. So there is no point, but I don't want him dead. I want him to live as a strong warrior." Owlpaw then padded out of the bushes with Lizardeye, Mysterystar and another tom called Firestrike. "They're here!" The apprentice chirped. He stopped being jolly when he say the kits. "Who's are they?" He demanded.
"Bluesong's and Swiftlegs'." Streampaw croaked from under Swiftlegs. "They mated and now they have kits." Mysterystar's face was a look of pure horror. "You've not been out collecting herbs, you've just been flirting with this tom and had his kits! For punishment, I want 1 kit killed and the other 3 to go to SnowClan with Streampaw. I'm sure you have queens able to look after them." Bluesong was horrified. "No! Not my kits!" She begged. "Please spare them!"
"If you have broken the warrior code, it's the only way." Mysterystar hissed. "Which one will die?"
"Please, just send them all to SnowClan!" Bluesong sobbed. "They may be half-bloods, but you wouldn't kill inoccent kits, would you?" Lizardeye stepped forward. "I hate to admit it, but Bluesong is right. It is her's and Swiftlegs' fault, not the kits. They atleast deserve to live, but their parents must be unknown. Snowstar herself has 5 half-blood kits and none of them were killed. They just don't know their father, like Ember's kits won't know their father." Mysterystar mumbled something to Firestrike and then turned to face his daughter. "Request granted, but on one condition. You must never speak of them or try to visit this tom in his clan. I can't imagine what Snowstar would say about this, you both deserve to be punished harshly." Bluesong nodded her head and nudged them over to Swiftlegs. "Keep them safe and strong." She mummered. "When you look at Melodykit, think of me. I will never forget you." Swiftlegs picked up the kits with Lizardeye's help and carried them away.

By sunset, they were back and outside SkyClan's camp. The patrols were aware of the SnowClan cats passing through, as Skystar had been told by Snowstar. Moonsky was anxious to see her kits, and Ember was coming close to kitting. They had to get back to camp as soon as possible.
"Just approaching camp now." Lizardeye called in a weak voice. He hadn't eaten much since they had left the mountain, just a small rabbit. He could smell the clan, along with some other strange scents that he knew but couldn't remember. Duckfoot padded up to her friend. "Homesick?"
"No, just nervous." Lizardeye admitted. "What will Snowstar say when we return with a DarkClan queen and 4 half-blood kits?" Duckfoot just sighed. "Come on, she let Foxrunner into the clan, didn't she? And let you keep those RainClan kits?" Suddenly, Streampaw shouted loudly. "We are back and all here!" Moonsky nudged him and then he dipped his head. "Oh yeah." A small patrol came out, consisting of Fernwhisker, Squirrelfall, Wildheart and Blankpaw. Fernwhisker rushed straight up to her brother, licking his face. "Thank StarClan you're all back!"
"What do you mean?" Falconsong asked. Blankpaw sat down and dipped his head sadly. "A patrol got ambushed yesterday by BloodClan warriors. Only Moletooth was injured, but he's fine now. Also we had a badger attack. LeafClan helped us drive them off, but Nightflame was killed and Snowstar lost several lives. She's down to her last 2. We also we attacked by bloodthirsty rogues. Foxrunner's neck was split open and... she died early today. I'm very sorry, Swiftlegs, she was a good, honest cat." Swiftlegs yowled in grief for his dead mother and went over to Wildheart, pressing his muzzle against hers. His sister comforted him and looked at the kits. "Who's are they?" She asked.
"We'll talk later." Lizardeye said quickly. Squirrelfall looked behind Duckfoot curiously. "Where is Deerleap?" She asked in her quiet voice. Duckfoot gulped. She couldn't tell her daughter what her brother had been up to. Sighing, she turned to her. "We got caught in a huge flood and Deerleap drowned saving a little kit." She lied. Squirrelfall's ears drooped. "Oh. She was my friend." She said sadly. "I will grief her loss, but treasure her friendship forever."
"What about Owlpaw's training?" A familar voice questioned from the shadows. It was Shadowstep. "I mean, Deerleap was his mentor. Speaking of which, can everyone please resume training tomorrow or the day after? Streampaw, you will have to play the catch-up game with Squirrelfall because your brother has nearly finshed training. Blazestrike, Duckfoot and Lizardeye, your apprentices have been training with temporary mentors and with me, seeing as I mentor Leopardpaw. Blazestrike, I believe you only need to teach Cloudpaw hunting and then she has finshed training, but remember her hunting assesment. Owlpaw, I will assign you a new mentor because of Deerleap's death." Fernwhisker sighed. "Shadowstep, give them a break. They've just returned from a long journey." She turned to the cats. "Sorry. Shadowstep's been stressing about training since you left. Oh, Snowstar's kits will become apprentices tonight by the way." Ember shivered a bit and then turned to Fernwhisker. "Can we get something to eat?"
"Of course you can!" Fernwhisker laughed. "It's not against the warrior code to eat prey."
"Or is it?" Shadowstep teased. "Now come on, we shouldn't be standing out here in the cold. All of you need to eat and rest." "Moonsky, I want you and Ember to return to the nursery. You both have kits." Lizardeye ordered. "We will get something to eat."
"Not just that!" A voice shouted from camp. Ivyfur came rushing towards them. "After you eat, all of you are paying a visit to the medicine cat. You might have caught something while being out from other clans. Which territories did you pass on your way? Also, some of you, like Blazestrike, are injured and need treatment." The cats groaned loudly, mainly Streampaw. Fernwhisker and Shadowstep laughed.
"We passed SkyClan, FlowerClan, FoxClan and obviously DarkClan." Owlpaw replied.
"Did you make any contact with them?" Ivyfur asked.
"Well, we only helped FoxClan rebuild their camp and we attacked DarkClan." The apprentice meowed, shaking. He was frozen stiff.
"You better get some sleep, little one." Fernwhisker meowed softly, nudging the apprentice away. The others followed back into their territory. They were home.

At moonhigh, Ember crept out of the nursery and looked around. Clawedear, Leafdew and Bearpelt had returned from a boarder patrol, Shadowstep was eating a rabbit and Badgerstripe was telling Snowstar's kits a story. The queen curiously padded over and smiled. "Mind if I listen?"
"Sure, no problem. It's just a story about OwlClan" Badgerstripe meowed. He turned to the kits. "Because of her weakness, Owlstar knew she would die soon. So she asked her deputy, Foxclaw, to kill her. Obviously, he refused. He did say that he would breed her so the kits came quicker. The ill leader had no choice but to agree, so it was done. She gave up her ninth life giving birth to 3 kits. They were called Sparrowkit, Robinkit and Pigeonkit, after birds in her honur. One became leader, one betrayed the clan and another one lived as a very wise warrior. Guess who was who."
"I think Robinkit became leader, Sparrowkit betrayed the clan and Pigeonkit became a wise warrior." Dovekit suggested.
"Yay! I'm a wise warrior!" Pigeonkit squealed excitedly. Badgerstripe laughed. "You are correct. Sparrowkit was exiled as a apprentice, Robinkit became Robinstar and had many litters of kits and Pigeonkit was named Pigeoneyes, because she had great sight and was very wise. I will now tell you another story." Ember walked away and yawned. She deicided to be nosey and peek in the warrior den.
"What do you think about that Ember cat?" Riverstripe asked. Bearpelt yawned and licked her paws. "She seems a little suspicious if you ask me."
"Yes, but you only think that because she is DarkClan." Hawkeyes pointed out. "You never know, she might be friendly."
"We've had things like this before!" Bearpelt challenged.
"No we haven't!" Flightheart meowed from the corner. "You are only thinking about that story with the GhostClan cat who joined BeachClan, only to lead his clan to send BeachClan to their doom! It's a nursery tale!" Bearpelt growled quietly. "Maybe you are right. I'm just tired, being one of the oldest senior warriors." She mumbled, grooming her fur. "Always been fierce, like a bear." Duststorm then padded in with Couragefur, Wildheart and Falconsong. "Hello everyone. There's a beautiful sky out there, just the moon and some clouds circling it. Doesn't seem much, but it's pretty." He meowed.
"It's too late to go stargazing," Riverstripe mewed. "get some sleep." Some of ther other warriors padded in and Ember knew she had to return to the nursery. She started walking back, until Shadowstep stopped her. "What in the name of StarClan are you doing out of the nursery at this time?" He questioned. Ember shivered. "I-I was looking a-around." She shuddered. "W-why?"
"We didn't know where you were, that's all." The deputy replied. "Now, go back to the nursery and get some sleep, you've had a long few days." Ember nodded and went back to the nursery. She curled up in her nest and for the first time in moons, she fell asleep, feeling safe.

New apprentices and mates

The next day, it was raining. The kits were bored silly, because they had nothing to do. Badgerstripe dashed in with a squirrel in his jaws. "Someone told me that Shadowstep's kits are ready to be apprenticed." He mewed. Spottedflower nodded her head. "Yes. They have turned 6 moons old." The 3 kits were sleeping at the moment, while Moonsky's 4 kits were looking at the nursery walls. Badgerstripe dropped the squirrel and looked at Ember. "What have you called your adopted kits?" He asked.
"The little black she-cat is Nightkit and the ginger tom with a white muzzle is called Sparkkit." Ember replied, licking them both. "They are both the same age as Moonsky's little kits, 4 moons old." Badgerstripe smiled and left. Ember then left the nursery to have another look around. While doing so, she bumped into Couragefur. "Sorry!" She apolgised. Couragefur just laughed and shook his head. "It's ok, just be careful next time." He replied.
"Thanks." The queen padded off towards Badgerstripe, who was talking to Lizardeye and Owlpaw. She went up to him and smiled. "Hi, Badgerstripe."
"Hello. Can I help you?" Badgerstripe asked. Owlpaw jumped up and then smiled. "Hi Ember!" He chirped. Ember laughed warmly and turned to Badgerstripe. "Can I speak to you in private please? It won't take long." The tom nodded and mumbled somthing to Lizardeye, which Ember didn't hear. They both ran up towards a grassy hill, taking care of giant puddles. SnowClan cats could swim, but they weren't the best. Ember laid down on the wet but grassy hill, streching her legs out. "Swiftlegs told me that you are Blazestrike's and Fernwhisker's father." She meowed.
"Yes, I am." Badgerstripe replied.
"Who is their mother?" The she-cat asked.
"I wish not to speak of their mother." Badgerstripe mumbled. "She mated another tom."
"Who?" Ember groomed her fur.
"Have you heard of our neighbouring clans? BloodClan, LeafClan, RainClan and SkyClan?" Badgerstripe asked, looking up at the sky.
"Yes. Blazestrike told me it's a circle of clans and BloodClan have always been your bitter enemies since the start, when you came."
"Well, Bloodstar, the leader of BloodClan, was visited by Snowstar. Featherkink, who is deputy and sometimes a friend to the clan, was told to wait outisde. When she returned, they were sharing tongues and purring. She was told by Bloodstar himself that they had mated. I didn't know until the gathering, when Bloodstar annonced it. I was shocked and furious. Snowstar had gone along with it like a mouse-brain." Badgerstripe was nearly crying, but he didn't want to show it. "She has had his kits a few moons ago." Just then, Snowstar herself appeared with her new 5 kits. "Please help me, I can't stop coughing." She begged.
"What am I, the medicine cat?" Badgerstripe hissed. "Cure your own cold."
"Please Badgerstripe." Snowstar begged, coughing. Badgerstripe muttered something to Ember and then she purred. She groomed his fur while Snowstar was still coughing. Her eyes then narrowed. "I am sorry Ember, but Badgerstripe is my mate and I love him dearly. There are other toms around you can have as a mate." She said in a kind but stern tone. "Right, Badgerstripe?" The tom snorted loudly. "No you don't. You just care for your precious, half-blood kits. I have no control over them, just my real kits."
"What do you mean?" Snowstar asked, trying to lick him. Badgerstripe edged away from her and snarled. "Fernwhisker, Blazestrike and some others on the way." Snowstar remained silent until Ember rubbed her muzzle against Badgerstripe's cheek. "What in the name of StarClan do you mean?"
"I have found a new love. You treat me like dirt, but this newer and younger she-cat cares for me more than you ever have. She means the world to me, along with my kits. She is fast, loyal, kind, a good mother and beautiful. I will now say that I am no longer your mate."
"Please, Badgerstripe! Stop playing around! You're scaring me!"
"This is the truth. Hurts, doesn't it?"
"Badgerstripe! Please! Listen to me!"
"There is no point in listening to you, as you never listen to my concerns. We are going seperate paths, so I have found a new mate."
"Who is it? Please tell me!"
"You will see now." With no warning, Badgerstripe leapt onto Ember and started breeding her, right in front of Snowstar's eyes. Ember was expecting this, so she wasn't shocked. She waited until he had finished and rubbed her head against his. They then padded back to camp together. Snowstar was left in the rain with Bloodstar's kits. They were looking at her, as they were thinking You lied! Who is our father?                       Tears fell from the leader's eyes. She just couldn't live on like this! I must die. She thought to herself, licking the kits. If I loose a life to this cough, then I will drown in the river. I better get someone with me.  Just then, she fell to the floor.
"Mum!" The kits cried. Snowstar could hear voices around her. "You have lost your 8th life. You have 1 life left." Snowstar groaned weakly and opened her eyes. Dovekit and Pigeonkit were beside her while Ashkit was jumping on her back.
"Get off me." She mumbled to her son. The kits got up and waited for Snowstar to get up. I can't tell them about this. She thought to herself. It will kill them.                                                                              She sighed and nudged Ashkit. "Back to camp before we die of the cold." She said firmly, leading them back down.

By sunset, the rain hadn't stopped. Patrols had been sent around the forest on search of prey. Not much had come back, apart from a few squirrels and a young rabbit caught by Owlpaw. Ember feared this muchly. She didn't want to starve again. Just as she was thinking, Nightkit came up to her. "When are our brothers and sisters coming?" She asked.
"Soon, I hope." Ember sighed. She then felt a ripple of pain through her body. *The kits!* She though anxiously. She yelped in pain. "They're coming!" Ivyfur was there within a few seconds, along with Puffinpaw. The apprentice looked at the queen. "Push." She meowed. "The first one is coming." Ember pushed with all her might until it came out. Some more followed, and after a gruelling 15 minutes later, 3 kits were in the world.
"2 toms and a she-cat." Puffinpaw meowed. "Well done." Badgerstripe padded in with a mouse in his jaws and dropped it beside her. "I heard the news." He purred. "What are their names?"
"The black tom with thick fur and grey patches can be Darkkit, the fiery ginger tom can be Firekit and the little grey one with silver paws can be Silverkit." Ember meowed. Moonsky looked up at the medicine apprentice. "Why don't you go and ask Ivyfur when you are getting your full medicine cat name? You act like a true medicine cat, most apprentices need help when helping queens give birth. You did that all by yourself." She suggested. Puffinpaw shuffled her paws and looked embrassed. "Erm, thank you." She replied in a quiet voice. "FlowerClan, not only being decents of OwlClan, know their medicines well." Moonsky nudged the little black she-cat and she eventully went up to Ivyfur. "When can I get my full medi-medicine ca-cat n-name?" She asked, still embrassed from what Moonsky had said.
"That's all you apprentices want, isn't it? Getting your name and then think that I'll let you off, yeah? Well you are very, very wrong." Ivyfur hissed, storming out off the nursery. Puffinpaw's ears drooped sadly. "I'll never be a proper medicine cat." She sighed, playing with some moss.
"She's just thinking about her old apprentice." Spottedflower replied. "Don't worry."
"Who was her old apprentice?" Puffinpaw asked curiously.
"Ghostpaw, a large white she-cat with black paws and dull black eyes. She's a kittypet now, but she used to be really bad. If you see a she-cat that matches my description, never go near her. She'll rip you to shreds." Spottedflower warned. "She did that to Duststorm and Fernwhisker when they were apprentices." Ember turned her head away and tried to go to sleep, thinking about nothing but Ghostpaw.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the Highrock for a clan meeting!" Snowstar yowled. Ember shivered and stayed where she was.
"I guess you'll be allowed to stay because of your kits." Moonsky mewed, padding out. Her 4 kits followed, jumping around. The old leader was sat on the rock paitently until she saw Badgerstripe. She then hid her head in her paws and waited for everyone to gather. "I-I have plenty of good news to share with yo-you a-all." She stammered, trying to hide the fact she was heartbroken. "Can Streampaw, Blankpaw, Owlpaw and Cloudpaw come up here please?" The 4 apprentices padded up with pride, although their pelts were dripping wet. Snowstar was the same, but did it matter? "Streampaw, Owlpaw, Blankpaw and Cloudpaw, do you accept the SnowClan way of life, will follow the warrior code and use it to protect your clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!" The 4 apprentices cried.
"I, Snowstar, leader of SnowClan, call apon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard in your noble code, and I command you make them warriors in turn." She went over to Streampaw. "Streampaw, from this day forward you will be known as Streamtail. StarClan hounors you for your bravery and hunting and welcomes you as a full warrior of SnowClan." She did the same with the others. "Blankpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Blankpelt. StarClan hounors you for your loyalty and defence against enemies."
"Owlpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Owltree. StarClan hounors you for your determination and great fighting skills."
"Cloudpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Cloudwind. StarClan hounors you for your hard work and kindness to others."
"Streamtail! Blankpelt! Owltree! Cloudwind!" The clan chanted loudly. The 4 new warriors smiled as their names were shouted. They then padded back down to join their friends.
"Can Gentlekit, Cloverkit and Luckykit come up here please?" The 3 little kits sqiurmed away from Spottedflower and padded up, trying to act cool and sensible.
"Until you recive your warrior names, you will be known as Gentlepaw, Luckypaw and Cloverpaw. Gentlepaw's mentor will be Wildheart, Luckypaw's will be Falconsong and Cloverpaw's will be Shreweye. I'll give the older warriors a break." Snowstar meowed. "Clan dismissed." She hopped down and went up to Swiftlegs. "I need a urgent favour." She said.
"What for?" Swiftlegs questioned, washing himself.
"Can you come to the river with me? I need to speak to you." Snowstar asked. The young warrior nodded. "Ok, whatever you say." The 2 cats padded off together towards the river. It was still raining, but the river hadn't flooded thankfully. Snowstar stopped at the edge. "I am ashamed of my actions. I've lost my mate and my first litter of kits don't speak to me. I'm on my last life, so I want you to push me into the river and force me to drown. Shadowstep will be a great leader... I know he will." She mewed softly. Swiftlegs was suprised, but shrugged. "Ok." He replied. The tom shoved her into the deepest part of the river and jumped in himself, pushing her deeper and deeper below surface. He swam back up and waited for the leader to join StarClan. However, she wasn't drowning. She was floating. "Mouse-dung!" She hissed angrily. "You'll have to push me off a tree and into the river." They climbed the tallest and closest tree to the river. Snowstar took a deep breath and waited for Swiftlegs to do the deed. He shoved her hard, sending the leader plunging into the water. Pain exploded through Snowstar's body as she hit the water with such force. She perished within 2 minutes of hitting the water.
"Goodbye, Snowstar." Swiftlegs mumbled, dipping his nose into the ice-cold water. He couldn't retrieve her body or he would die with her. He rushed back to camp and put on a face of sorrow and shock. "Snowstar's lost her ninth life!" He yowled. Everyone stopped moving around. The kits, who were talking loudly, fell into silence. The elders stopped snoring and the new apprentices stopped eating their prey. How could Snowstar be dead already? Only the pitter-patter of the rain and the low wind could be heard. Then, every cat started yowling in grief and sorrow. Shadowstep dipped his head sadly, but then Falconsong went up to him. "You are the new leader of SnowClan." She mummered in her quiet voice. The deputy looked up at the younger warrior and smiled. "Yes, I know." He whispered back. Shadowstep jumped up to the Highrock and hushed the cats. "Of course, we all grief for Snowstar's... mysterious death. But of course, we need a leader who might not be as wise as Snowstar, but will try to rebuild the clan and make it stronger than ever as the weather gets worse. I will say now that.." Shadowstep didn't finish his sentence, as Luckypaw shouted out "Shadowstep is the new leader!" The clan yowled in agreement. The deputy nodded his head and looked up. "I will make the journey to the Moonstone tonight. I would like Puffinpaw to accompany me on this journey." He mewed. The medicine apprentice's face lit up in delight and smiled. Ivyfur narrowed her eyebrows. "Puffinpaw doesn't know her way to the Moonstone. What if I took you there?" She suggested, glaring at Puffinpaw. Shadowstep shook his head. "No, it will be fine. Besides, you need to rest." He said firmly. Puffinpaw gave a proud look at Ivyfur, but she wasn't proud at all. Shadowstep jumped down from the Highrock. "Duckfoot is in charge until I get back." He said. "Anyone disobeying her will be in serious trouble." He glared at Ivyfur while saying this, she went off to her den, sulking. Puffinpaw rushed up to him. "Let's go!"

A new leader

The next day, Shadowstep was now Shadowstar. His trip with Puffinpaw had been successful and everything was quiet. No one had disobeyed Duckfoot, which made the new leader happy. He had to pick a new deputy now. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the Highrock for a clan meeting!" He yowled. Everyone came over at once, even Ivyfur. Shadowstar jumped up on the Highrock and sat up. "Of course, every clan needs a deputy, don't they? So after careful consideration, the new deputy will be Morninghawk!" The clan yowled and the she-cat smiled. Fernwhisker rushed up to her friend. "Well done! I'm so happy for you!"
"Now, the gathering is tonight, so I will pick cats for that later. We mustn't try to grief for Snowstar's death, even though she was a great leader and friend. We must put the past behind us and continue on our lives. Going on a patrol would help me out, so if Morninghawk could organise patrols for today and anything else." Shadowstar mewed. "Clan dismissed!" Morninghawk padded up to everyone. "Ok, boarder patrols first. I want Badgerstripe to lead a patrol around the RainClan boarder. Take Lizardeye, Puddlepaw and Treepaw. Duckfoot, lead a patrol around the BloodClan boarder. Take Wildheart, Moletooth and Frogpaw. Fernwhisker, lead a patrol around the SkyClan boarder. Take Cloudwind, Eaglepaw and Cloverpaw. Riverstripe, lead a patrol around the Twolegplace. Take 2 of the new warriors." The cats got together and waited until the patrol leaders gave a signal before padding off towards the boarders. Morninghawk then assigned 2 hunting patrols until only Streamtail, Cloudwind, Bearpelt, Sootpaw, Luckypaw, Gentlepaw and Swiftlegs were left. "Swiftlegs, you obviously are still being punished and need to help the elders. The others can get some rest." Cloudwind went off towards the warrior den, along with Streamtail and Bearpelt. The 3 apprentices raced back to the apprentice den. Sootpaw was bored, so he went up to Gentlepaw. "Hey." He mewed. "Want to spy on the warriors?" Gentlepaw mumbled something quietly and turned to Sootpaw. "Ok." They ran up to the warrior den and peeked in through a gap in the branches. Cloudwind was in her nest, Bearpelt was licking her mattered fur and Streamtail was sneaking up on Cloudwind. He pretended she was prey and stalked her, keeping an eye on her movements. He then pounced and the she-cat squealed. "Eeek! You scared me! Don't creep up on me like that!" The apprentices giggled quietly and Bearpelt gave a silent growl. "Streamtail, stop acting like a kit." She said in a stern tone. "You need to apologise."
"Sorry." Streamtail said sadly, walking out. Cloudwind got up and turned to Bearpelt. "When do you think you'll get a mate?" She yawned. "I mean, how can you go through with no mate?"
"I believe Emeraldtail died with no mate." Bearpelt replied. "Besides, I'm not what you would call a mother-type cat. I'm fierce, snappy and feared by little apprentices and kits in SkyClan." Cloudwind giggled and Bearpelt smiled. "Atleast I have friends in the world who don't shout at me."
"The only reason younger cats fear you is because you are short-tempered. As you get older, you temper gets shorter and soon, you'll get angry at anything said to you." Cloudwind joked. "Then we'll all fear you." Bearpelt laughed and the apprentices couldn't stop laughing. Cloudwind was a bit daft at times. Bearpelt gave a silent growl. "Come on out, the pair of you." Gentlepaw padded into the den, shaking. "S-Sootpaw's here too." She said, trembling. The older apprentice groaned loudly and stood beside her. "You weren't ment to say that!" He hissed. Gentlepaw wimpered and ran away, back to the apprentice den. Cloudwind glared at Sootpaw. "I thought by now you would have changed. Obviously you haven't." She meowed coldly. "Now go."

At sunhigh, the patrols had returned. Spottedflower decided to go on a stroll with Riverstripe, just them. Riverstripe hadn't spent much time with his mate, as she volenteered to take in Shadowstar's kits after Robineye died. He licked the she-cat's cheek, looking at her beautiful pelt. "I'm a lucky tom to have a mate like you." He purred. Spottedflower smiled warmly and continued walking, listening to the birds singing high in the treetops and her paws squashing ther ground beneath her. Just then, a horrible smell of rogue came into the air. "Smells like a fox!" She spat. Riverstripe arched his back and waited for the rogue to appear. "Come out, whoever you are!" He hissed. A rustle in the bushes could be heard. Riverstripe stood beside Spottedflower, waiting to protect her from whatever was out there. It then appeared. The strange cat was a huge tom with thick black fur and green eyes. He had a slit ear and many scars from previous battles. He also stank of fox and had huge teeth like vampires. Spottedflower stood back. She knew this tom, but couldn't remember him. He looked at Spottedflower. "Still beautiful." He said in a low voice. Then it hit Spottedflower. It was her old crush, before she had joined the clan. Uh-oh, he still remembered her. The tom padded slowly up to the pretty she-cat and tried to lick her ear. Riverstripe gave a low growl in the back of his throat. The strange tom glared at Riverstripe, wondering if he should kill him or not. He turned back to Spottedflower and put his muzzle close to her ear, his breath hot on her face. "Remember me? I'm Flashfang." He mumbled. "And I still remember you, dear Spottedflower." The she-cat did nothing, but turned to face the rogue. "Go. I'm in a clan now." She mummered quietly. Flashfang snarled at Riverstripe and turned back to Spottedflower. "I still love you." He said. Spottedflower snarled angrily and lashed her tail, warning Flashfang to go away. He stood still. "Come along, I must show you something." He said, flicking his tail towards a old fox den. Spottedflower then ran for her life, her heart pounding with fear. She had to get away from him. Riverstripe called for his mate in a anxious tone, but the pretty she-cat ignored him and ran to the river. Flashfang was close by, running after her. Spottedflower jumped in and poked her head up. The large tom was standing at the edge of the water, waiting for her to get out. She swam around in a little circle and then dived under. Flashfang got irritated and jumped in. Spottedflower was alarmed, but swam off, going futher down. Flashfang followed her, getting closer and closer. Spottedflower was starting to run out of energy to the point she had to scramble onto the bank and lay down, catching her breath before Flashfang got her. He was starting to climb up, but his thick pelt was dripping with water, making it heavier. Spottedflower squealed and ran off as he finally managed to get out. She called for Riverstripe, but no answer came. So she ran faster until she ran out of breath again and had to sit down. She was exhausted and couldn't move a muscle. Flashfang then appeared, his green eyes shining with evilness. "You can run but you can't hide." He mumbled, picking the she-cat up by her scuff. Spottedflower was too tired to even scream, so she remained silent until they got to the fox den. Flashfang shoved the she-cat into the hole, causing her more and more pain. She gave up and crawled in, crouching into a small corner. Flashfang started to cover up the entrance with dirt, but left a small gap so they could breathe. He turned to Spottedflower and gave a evil grin. "Now, you can't escape. You can live with me forever." He sat down beside her and twinned tails with her.
"I don't want to live with you forever." Spottedflower growled. "I want to kill you and leave." Flashfang snorted and turned to the she-cat. "I have wanted to do something to you all my life, but I had no chance when you left. So now that I have found you, I'm going to do it." He pushed the she-cat against the den wall and mounted her, locking his paws around her waist so she wouldn't escape. Spottedflower yelped in pain as he bred her faster and faster. He then stopped, but was still on her back. "You will have to get used to this," He mumbled. "because I won't stop for several hours." He then continued breeding her, making each one more painful.

Secrets are revealed

"Morninghawk, Blazestrike, Owltree, Falconsong, Lizardeye, Streamtail, Cloudwind, Gentlepaw, Blankpelt, Bearpelt, Leopardpaw and Luckypaw are going to the gathering." Shadowstar meowed. He flicked his tail towards the forest and the cats padded through to the gathering place. When they got there, only BloodClan and SkyClan were there. Shadowstar gulped and joined the leaders on the tree. "Explanation later." He said quickly. Bearpelt herded the apprentices towards her, while some of the other cats spoke to SkyClan warriors. Blazestrike and Falconsong were talking to Dangermoon and another she-cat called Heartchase.
"So, how did it go? Did your little mission succsed?" Dangermoon asked. Falconsong nodded her head. "Only by a whisker. Blazestrike nearly died saving Moonsky." RainClan then arrived, but you could hear them a couple of fox-lengths away because they were so loud. Sparrowsong was here with her 4 kits, so Lizardeye gulped. He had to keep Owltree and Cloudwind away from her. He went up to her and flashed a false smile. "Hello. How are the kits?"
"They were made warriors a half-moon ago. They are now called Thunderfoot, Blackeyes, Swanfeather and Fearheart." Sparrowsong replied in a cheerful voice. "What about the other two?"
"Warriors also. They are called Owltree and Cloudwind." Lizardeye replied. "Have yours found mates yet?"
"Fearheart and Blackeyes have no mates, most of the toms keep asking Swanfeather to be their mate and Thunderfoot took Oceanstar for a mate." Sparrowsong mewed. "Yours?"
"Owltree hasn't got a mate, but I think Cloudwind and Streamtail would make a good pair." Lizardeye chuckled, flicking his tail in their direction. LeafClan then finally got there. Everyone seemed ok for the moment, but Shadowstar's annocement was going to upset many. Leafstar jumped up to her branch.
"The Gathering has begun!" Bloodstar meowed loudly. "BloodClan are well, new mates have been taken and we have welcomed Scarpaw and Fangpaw as our new apprentices!" The clans yowled their names, but Lizardeye mummered something to Morninghawk. "Fangpaw was killed by Badgerstripe when we were trying to rescue the kits. I don't see how that makes sense." The deputy sniggered and listened on.
"Also, we have picked up SnowClan scents close to our boarder, so we ambushed one of your mouse-brained patrols a couple of nights ago." Bloodstar growled, glaring hard at Shadowstar. "I would watch your tail, deputy." He then turned to Oceanstar. "I have finished. Oceanstar?"
"Thank you, Bloodstar. RainClan are doing well, we have welcomed our newest warriors: Thunderfoot, Blackeyes, Fearheart and Swanfeather!" The clans yowled their names loudly and some more toms went up to Swanfeather, asking for her to be their mate. Luckypaw nearly went up until Blankpelt stopped him. "What in the name of StarClan do you think your doing?" He hissed. "That she-cat is older than you and is from a rival clan!" Luckypaw sank away. "Sorry." Gentlepaw sighed in annoyence. Her brother had been a mouse-brain since being born. She went up to Blankpelt, whom she was fond of. "Sorry about my mouse-brain of a brother." She mummered. Blankpelt shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. Everyone knows he's a bit... weird." Oceanstar hushed them and continued. "Sadly, we had to sit vigil for Tigerfoot, our medicine cat. She was killed whilist looking for herbs, but we are trying to find out who killed her. The new medicine cat is Pantherfern!" The tall black she-cat dipped her head as everyone called her name.
"I have finished. Leafstar?" The LeafClan leader stood up. "LeafClan are well, no new apprentices or warriors have been welcomed, but we have welcomed Popkit, son of Wingbeat!" The LeafClan cats yowled in agreement and Leafstar hushed them. "I have finished, Shadowstep?"
"Um, thank you. Now, many things have happened since the last Gathering. As you are all aware, Darkmystery left the clan and took Moonsky with him. We sent a patrol of 8 cats, 6 warriors and 2 apprentices. They managed to successfully rescue Moonsky, who is now back at camp looking after her kits. They also came across FoxClan, but unfortuantly one of our warriors fell for the medicine cat and ended up as a father to half-bloods. He has been put on punishment, which is helping the elders for a few moons. Also, a DarkClan queen killed a FoxClan queen and tried killing her kits, but thankfully Blazestrike stopped her and now she has joined the clan with her adopted kits." The clans looked at Blazestrike, who gave a brave smile. Thistlepaw, the LeafClan apprentice from the last Gathering, went up to him. "Who broke the warrior code?"
"Swiftlegs did." Blazestrike mumbled. "Stupid furball ended up getting us into trouble with Mysterystar, the leader."
"However, many deaths have occured too. Deerleap was killed on the patrol rescuing a FoxClan kit from a flood. One of our boarder patrols was ambushed by BloodClan warriors. No one was killed, but Moletooth injured his shoulder. He is healed though, thanks to Ivyfur and Puffinpaw. Then, we were attacked by badgers. I thank LeafClan on behalf of the clan for helping us. We are in your debt. Sadly, Nightflame was killed saving the elders from a badger's blow. Snowstar also lost several lives. We were also attacked by rogues demanding territory and she-cats. We were all injured, but Foxrunner was hurt the most protecting some young warriors. She died a few days ago with a neck wound." Some cats dipped their heads sadly, particuly when Deerleap's death was annonced, but obviously she wasn't dead. "We have welcomed many new kits, apprentices and warriors, but we have too many to name. So just yowl proudly." The cats yowled happily and the cats that had new ranks smiled warmly. Shadowstar then dipped his head sadly. "Now, some of you are wondering where Snowstar is tonight. Well, I am very sad to say she will never attend Gatherings again." Some cats mummered loudly in confusion and alarm, but they went quiet after a few minutes. The leaders stared at Shadowstar as he spoke. "Yesterday, she went out to the river with Swiftlegs. However, Swiftlegs came back later with the shocking annoncement that Snowstar had been killed while getting a drink. It is unknown how she died, but we all grief her." Yowls of grief, sorrow and depression came from the crowd, while Leafstar and Skystar dipped their heads sadly. Bloodstar just shut his eyes and Oceanstar just sat there, but then turned to Shadowstar. "I take it you are the new leader?" She replied in a cold tone. The black tom nodded and turned back to the upset and alarmed cats. "I will now say I am the new leader, so I am Shadowstar and not Shadowstep. Our new deputy is Morninghawk. We both will struggle to fill the gap that Snowstar left, but we will try to make the clan stronger than ever!" SnowClan yowled in agreement, which was very encouraging for Shadowstar and Morninghawk, it ment that they believed in them. Shadowstar turned to the final leader. "That is all I have to say. Skystar?"
"Thanks Shadowstar. SkyClan grief for Snowstar's losses, and we are sorry for any SnowClan cats close to her." Skystar mewed, dipping her head respectfully to the new leader.
Exactly how many cats were close to Snowstar? Blazestrike thought to himself. Skystar continued speaking. "We have nothing to say, apart from Twolegs are coming close to our territory. We might need help from the other clans if we are driven out, but more infomation will be given at the next gathering. Other than that, I have nothing else to report." The clans started to depart, leaving the ancient gathering place deserted.


The next day, the sun was shining brightly above the sky. Perfect weather to play outside. Cloudwind deicded to round up some apprentices and warriors to play a silly game. Within 5 minutes, she'd persuaded Blankpelt, Gentlepaw, Cloverpaw, Luckypaw, Bearpelt, Fernwhisker, Couragefur, Streamtail, Falconsong, Lizardeye, Wildheart, Leopardpaw, Frogpaw, Stonepaw, Duckfoot and Blazestrike to play. She gathered them together. "I had a idea that we play some random game out here, it's too nice to stay in our dens all day. Why don't we play a Tag game mixed with Hide and Seek?" She suggested. Everyone agreed and she smiled. "Ok then. The senior warriors are counting first, so that's Bearpelt, Duckfoot and Lizardeye." While they were counting, the other cats ran off like mad to find hiding spots. Gentlepaw hid with Stonepaw, Frogpaw, Blankpelt and Cloverpaw (Luckypaw would give them away easily). They had hidden in a hollow tree trunk, with room to move around and keep an eye out for anyone suspicious. Stonepaw was being lookout with Frogpaw. He deicded to talk to her whilst keeping guard so they didn't get bored. "Do you think Sootpaw will ever change?" He asked her, trying to create conversation.
"Maybe. He could be another Blazestrike. He'll meet a nice she-cat who will change him." Stonepaw suggested. "But I cannot tell the future." Frogpaw sighed and looked out. Bearpelt was nearby, trying to pick up any scents. "Quick! Get down!" He hissed. The cats obeyed him and crouched down. Unfortuantly for them, Bearpelt had seen Frogpaw crouch down at the last minute, and started making her way quietly towards the tree. Blankpelt could hear her pawsteps however, and turned to the apprentices. "Let's make a quick escape." He mummered, crawling out. The 4 apprentices followed him, but Cloverpaw was spotted by Bearpelt. "Found you!" She said, chasing them. Gentlepaw ran beside Blankpelt, feeling the breeze against her soft white fur. Her friend may have been a warrior, but she was faster than him. Swiftly, she ran towards a oak tree and started climbing up the branches, escaping the senior warrior. Blankpelt followed, but he was exhausted. He laid down on the thickest branch to catch his breath. Bearpelt waited at the bottom for one of them to give up and come down. Just then, the she-cat ran off. Blankpelt looked up to the apprentice. "Stay here. I'll check if she's not playing tricks." He said, climbing down. Gentlepaw laid down on one of the branches, waiting paitently. She could hear hissing, so she guessed Bearpelt had been playing a trick. But then she changed her mind when she heard yelping and growling. She jumped down to a low branch and could see a fox attacking Blankpelt! He was still exhausted from the run, so he was struggling. Gentlepaw watched in horror as her friend got attacked. She then decided to throw some acorns at the fox, driving it away. The fox did give up and ran off towards the boarder with BloodClan. Blankpelt was on the ground, breathing heavily and blood pouring out. Gentlepaw jumped down and rushed towards him. He, clearly, had been badly injured. Gentlepaw buried her muzzle in his blood-stained fur. Tears fell from her eyes and onto his pelt. "Don't leave me." She mummered softly. Blankpelt opened his eyes slowly and stared at the apprentice. "Gentlepaw..." His voice trailed off.
"Yes, it's me." The she-cat whispered, her voice filled with pain. "Are you ok?" The tom said nothing, which worried Gentlepaw even more. "Please don't die."
"Go and find Bearpelt... she'll help you." Blankpelt croaked, coughing. Gentlepaw refused. "No. I'm staying here with you." She laid down beside him, waiting for someone to come. The warrior licked the she-cat's ear in thanks, but then started coughing. He was so weak. Gentlepaw turned to him with tears in her eyes. She looked up at the sky. "StarClan, please, please, please let him live. He's too young to die." Just then, Falconsong rushed towards them. A look of pure shock entered her face when she saw the state of Blankpelt. "How long ago did this happen?" Gentlepaw shrugged. Falconsong was a nice cat, but she was putting on a gentle tone that she used with kits or others when bad news is coming. The apprentice didn't like it one bit. Falconsong pushed Gentlepaw out of the way and inspected Blankpelt, looking at his wounds. She then yowled loudly for help until nearly all the cats playing came over. Cloudwind then looked up at the sky. Clouds were coming over, bringing rain and proberly a storm. "The game is over, due to weather and injuries." She said firmly. "Now, we must all return." Lizardeye picked up Blankpelt by the scuff and followed his clanmates back to camp.

As Cloudwind said, the clouds did bring an all mighty storm. The rain fell heavily and the wind stormed through the forest. No cat was warm, neither safe. Riverstripe prayed that Spottedflower was still alive, as the cats who witnessed Darkmystery's evilness prayed for Deerleap's life. Shadowstar's orders had been to make the dens stronger, mainly the nursery and elder's. The apprentices had to stay in the elder den, as their own was just a large hole in the ground. Blazestrike, Morninghawk, Couragefur, Badgerstripe and Duckfoot had been told to make the nursery walls stronger. Blazestrike quickly popped his head in to check on his mate and kits. His children greeted him by rushing up to him and pouncing on his paws and tail. Blazestrike laughed and nudged them towards their mother. Moonsky turned to Blazestrike. "Hello. Seeing as Swiftlegs' kits have no mother here, I am giving them milk until they are old enough, which is about 2 moons, when our kits will be apprentices." She said. "I hope that's ok?"
"It's great to see the she-cats here nursing the younger, weaker ones who have been taken in by the clan." Blazestrike replied. "I thank you and Ember for taking in kits that aren't even yours." Moonsky leaned over and mumbled something into her mate's ear. "What do you think Windkit is doing now?"
"Maybe playing with Starkit, they were both similar ages when they died." Blazestrike mummered back. "But I assure you that he'll be safe up in StarClan." Moonsky licked his cheek and he smiled. "I better go and help. After all, better safe than sorry." Moonsky nodded and called her kits over. They flopped down beside her with a yawn. 1 moon to go before they could become apprentices. Snowstar's kits were ready today, but it was too stormy to do it now.
"Morninghawk!" Cloverpaw rushed up to the deputy. "Shadowstar has commanded us to stop, the weather is too bad! Some warriors need to stay with the queens, so maybe about 4." Morninghawk chose herself, Riverstripe, Couragefur and Falconsong. Gentlepaw went to the medicine den and was greeted by Puffinpaw. "Hi Gentlepaw!"
"Hello. How's Blankpelt?" The she-cat asked. Puffinpaw gulped and shuffled her paws anxiously. "He's on the brink of death. I'm really sory Gentlepaw, I don't think he's going to make it." Gentlepaw stopped being so cheerful. Her ear drooped and tears fell from her eyes. Puffinpaw hated seeing her cry, so she comforted her. "I'm so sorry, he didn't deserve this." Gentlepaw looked at Blankpelt. He was laying on the den floor, blood pouring out. She rushed over to him and rested her muzzle in his fur. More tears came from her eyes and onto his fur. The tom was asleep, because Ivyfur had given him a poppy seed so he could sleep. Puffinpaw flicked her tail out of the den. "Ivyfur will kill me." She mummered. Gentlepaw licked Blankpelt's ear and padded out to the elder's den. She sat with Stonepaw, who was very silent. "What's wrong?"
"Icepaw." Stonepaw sniffed. "He's been spreading rumors about me and Frogpaw. He's my best friend, but Icepaw..." She said nothing else, but Gentlepaw understood. "Look! Here's Frogpaw now." She chirped. "You talk to him about this while I check up on Luckypaw." The young tom came up to Stonepaw with a mouse. "Hey."
"Oh, hi." Stonepaw replied. Frogpaw sat beside her, licking blood from the mouse off his paws. "Eaglepaw tells me you are upset with my brother, Icepaw."
"Yeah." Stonepaw hid her muzzle in her paws. "He been spreading rumors about us." Frogpaw gave a silent growl. "He was my friend. Obviously not anymore." He then licked Stonepaw's shoulder. "Ignore him. He's a stupid mouse-brained fool." Frogpaw then looked over his shoulder. The apprentices were listening to the elders telling stories. He then turned around quickly and kept his voice down. "I know we're too young, but I love you Stonepaw. Will you be my mate when we're older?" Stonepaw's face lit up in delight. "Of course, I have always loved you." Frogpaw purred and rubbed his head against Stonepaw's. The she-cat licked his nose and smiled. "Why don't we go and get some sleep?" The two apprentices padded off together. Gentlepaw smiled at them as they went to the apprentice den. They would make a good pair and soon, parents. She went up to her brother Cloverpaw, who was more than a brother. He was one of her closest friends. "Hi."
"Hello. Can you keep a secret?" Cloverpaw replied. Gentlepaw nodded. "Of course. You're my brother."
"Well, ok then. I can trust you. I might have a huge crush on Flowerpaw. But I They 't think she likes me." Cloverpaw whispered sadly. "Can you do me a favour and say that I like her to Flowerpaw? No one else, just her." Gentlepaw nodded and padded up towards Fernwhisker's daughter. "My brother has a crush on you!" She mummered.
"Oh StarClan. Which one? It better not be Luckypaw." Flowerpaw hissed back.
"No, no, no. Only Cloverpaw. You might want to speak to him." Gentlepaw whispered. Flowerpaw went off, but before going over to Cloverpaw, she groomed her fur to make it all pretty and shiny. After all, why would she go and meet her admirer with dirty fur? Afterwards, she approached Cloverpaw. "Hey there. Gentlepaw said you had a crush on me." She said quietly. Cloverpaw nodded slowly. "Well, I had an idea, but we're so young." He replied shyly, shuffling his paws. Flowerpaw laid beside him. "Tell me."
"Well... what if we mated now and had kits early?" Cloverpaw mumbled. Flowerpaw smiled warmly. "Why not? We'd better go somewhere secret. Somewhere safe." Just then, Shadowstar entered the elder's den. "The storm is now at it's worse. No one is to leave the den. Prey will be brought by warriors." He explained. "Anyone caught outside the den will be in trouble." Suddenly, a yowl could be heard. Shadowstar rushed out to investigate. Snowstar's kits were sheltering in a bush and wailing because of the weather. Shadowstar rushed out. "Follow me, little ones." He mummered, flicking his tail in direction of his den. "You can stay there for a bit." They followed him back to the leader den. It smelt diffrent, but it was still where their mother once stayed. They curled up in the corner and fell asleep, ignoring the wind and thunder. Shadowstar smiled and streched before getting some sleep himself.

By moonhigh, the storm had finally stopped. Shadowstar decided to call the clan for a ceremony. "Can Smokekit, Ashkit, Rosekit, Dovekit and Pigeonkit come up here please?" The 5 kits rushed up with big smiles on their faces. Shadowstar looked at them. "Until they have earned their warrior names, these cats will be known as Smokepaw, Ashpaw, Rosepaw, Dovepaw and Pigeonpaw. Moletooth will mentor Smokepaw, Owltree will mentor Ashpaw, Cloudwind will mentor Dovepaw, Streamtail will mentor Rosepaw and Falconsong will mentor Pigeonpaw." The apprentices went to greet their mentors excitedly. Echokit was happy for them, but she dreamed of the day she would be a apprentice. She stopped dreaming when Shadowstar spoke again. "Can the other apprentices, apart from my kits come up here please?" The 9 other apprentices ran up, knowing their were now getting their warrior names. Shadowstar smiled and stood forward. "Young ones, do you accept the SnowClan way of life, will follow the warrior code and use it to protect you clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!" The apprentices shouted loudly. Lizardeye nudged Morninghawk with his paw. "This is the biggest warrior ceremony we've ever had."
"I, Shadowstar, leader of SnowClan, call apon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard in your noble code, and I command you make them warriors in turn." One by one, Shadowstar named the 9 cats. "Sootpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Sootfire. StarClan hounors you for your hard work and hunting skills and welcomes you as a full warrior of SnowClan."
"Icepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Icefreeze. StarClan hounors you for your loyalty and excellent climbing skills."
"Frogpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Frogbound. StarClan hounors you for your determaination and kindness."
"Flowerpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Flowerpelt. StarClan hounors you for your good hunting skills and loyalty."
"Puddlepaw, from this day forward you will known as Puddlefall. StarClan hounors you for your fighting skills in battle and your kindness."
"Leopardpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Leopardspot. StarClan hounors you for your bravery and excellent climbing skills."
"Stonepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Stonestream. StarClan hounors you for your loyalty and honesty."
"Eaglepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Eagletalon. StarClan hounors you for your bravery and sharp eye-sight."
"Treepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Treeclimb. StarClan hounors you for your good tree-climbing skills and quick-thinking." The clan chanted their names and then were dismissed

A new prophecy begins

The next day was normal. Patrols were sent. Training started. The elders still moaned about ticks. Nothing was really changing. Gentlepaw had become very bored of this. Her friends were now warriors or still kits, and she had no one to play with. No one to talk to. Cloverpaw had disappeared off with Flowerpelt after promising he would play with his own sister. It was now clear that love was more important than family, which in some cases was true for certain cats. Gentlepaw padded off towards the apprentice den and curled up by herself. Pigeonpaw was in there, but Gentlepaw just wanted sleep. She mumbled something quietly to herself and fell asleep, snoring away quietly. Pigeonpaw sighed loudly and walked out, annoyed.

(Dream)
Gentlepaw awoke to the sound of rain. How much she hated it! Loudly, she yowled and just like magic, 2 cats appeared with starry pelts. The young apprentice jumped back and yelped in fear, but one of them hushed her. "Do not fear, little one. You are safe here."
"Am I dead?" Gentlepaw wimpered, knowing these cats were StarClan. The one that had been so kind to her laughed. "No. You are in a dream. I am Whitebone, a former cat of your clan. I was killed in a fox attack, because Nightflame shoved me into one of the foxes I was helping to fight and... I was just too tired and shocked to defend myself. The other cat there is called Bubblepaw, who is also SnowClan. She was Duckfoot's apprentice before being killed on the Thunderpath by a monster. Duckfoot was the only one to witness her death." Gentlepaw dipped her head in greeting. "I'm Gentlepaw, Shadowstar's only daughter. My brothers are called Luckypaw and Cloverpaw." Bubblepaw's ears pricked up when she mentioned Shadowstar, but the dead apprentice was silent. Whitebone did all the talking. "We have summoned you here for the telling of a new prophecy. You might not be aware, but Blazestrike recieved a prophecy when you were very little. This one is the latest, but of course, you will have to figure out the meaning."
"Please tell me the prophecy, if you can." Gentlepaw asked.
"The Clover will fall for the Flower too early, whilist the Gentle will fall for the Blankness too late. 2 children of the mighty Deer will return to save the Gentle from Death and the Smoke will destory Death and Blood." Whitebone replied. Gentlepaw looked confused and scared. "What does it mean? What should I do?"
"Just keep an eye on everyone in the clan, especially Cloverpaw." Bubblepaw replied. The cats faded into the darkness, leaving Gentlepaw alone.

Gentlepaw woke up with a start. Someone had been yowling, which made her anxious. Silently, she sneaked out of the den and looked around. Nothing, thankfully. Her ears were still pricked, trying to listen for the yowling again. No one made a single sound. Gentlepaw deicded to go and explore around. She poked her head into the warrior den. Everyone was asleep, but one cat was missing. The apprentice knew who it was, so she ran out into the forest. She picked up the scents of two cats close by. She slowly padded up towards a small cave. Gentlepaw hid behind some rocks and found the missing cats. Flowerpelt and Cloverpaw. It was them. Gentlepaw's heart skipped a beat. Cloverpaw then woke up and nudged the warrior awake. She yawned and opened her eyes. "Let's do it." She replied.
"Now?" Cloverpaw asked.
"You promised." Flowerpelt begged. "Please, Cloverpaw. Just do it, and we will be happy."
"But Gentlepaw... she'll hate me for life." Cloverpaw protested. "I'm desperate to do it, but we might be chucked out of the clan."
"Yes, but who cares? We'll find a new clan and settle there. If we must, we'll be loners and do what we want." Flowerpelt replied, touching Cloverpaw's shoulder with the tip of her tail. "Go on, it won't hurt."
"Well... I guess you're right. Let's do it." The apprentice then did something that Gentlepaw knew too well. She jumped out from her hiding spot, eyes blazing. "You're mating!" She spat angrily. "Stop now!" Flowerpelt gave a smile and a snigger. "Too late." Cloverpaw slid off Flowerpelt and glared at his sister. "So what?" Just then, the yowling that Gentlepaw had heard earlier started again.
"Follow me!" Gentlepaw hissed, leading the mated cats deeper into the forest. They ran through the forest until they could see a mound of dirt. Gentlepaw rushed up and could hear the yowling, but it was coming from underground. "Let's try and enter from the back." She called to her brother and his mate. With teamwork, the three cats dug until they got into the back of the den entrance. Gentlepaw padded up towards a small gap and waited for Flowerpelt and Cloverpaw to follow. They peeked round the corner and found cats breeding again. This was force breeding, from what Gentlepaw could see. The big tom then got off the petrified she-cat. "I'm going hunting." He annonced in a gruff voice. The she-cat lifted her head weakly. "My clan will find me." She groaned weakly. "They'll kill you, Flashfang." Gentlepaw looked intrested. Who was this brave she-cat? What clan was she from? Flashfang ignored her and scrambled out. Gentlepaw bounded over. "Hi!" She squeaked in a friendly voice. The she-cat looked at the apprentice. "Greetings, young Gentlepaw."
"H-How did you know my name?" Gentlepaw shuddered. The pretty she-cat laughed. "Can you not reconise a cat of your own clan?" Flowerpelt poked her head out. "Hi Spottedflower!" She said cheerfully. Gentlepaw blinked. Was this she-cat her mother? She sniffed the she-cat. Her SnowClan scent had gone, but it was deifintly Spottedflower. Gentlepaw licked Spottedflower's shoulder and nudged her up to her paws. Cloverpaw appeared and greeted the she-cat, but then flicked his tail up. "We'd better go before he returns." The 4 cats clambered back up the hole and rushed back to camp. They then stopped, because Gentlepaw had suddenly fallen to the ground. She then got up, but felt dizzy. "I think something hit me." She mumbled weakly. She got up and caught up with the others. They were greeted by Puffinpaw, who seemed a little upset.
"What is wrong?" Gentlepaw asked
"Blankpelt." Puffinpaw sniffed. Before the medicine apprentice could speak, Gentlepaw ran towards the medicine den, heart pounding. She was horrorfied to find her friend still on the ground, but his wounds were bleeding badly and his breath was slow. Gentlepaw bounded over to his side. "Blankpelt?"
"Gentlepaw?" Blankpelt started coughing. "Why are you here?"
"Looking out for you, mouse-brain." Gentlepaw purred in amusement. "Why are you here?"
"I'm dying. Puffinpaw said nothing can save me now." Blankpelt croaked. Gentlepaw gasped in horror. "No... it can't be true." She muttered silently to herself.
"Well, it is." Blankpelt coughed. "Atleast I will be happy in StarClan. An end to this suffering and pain."
"But I won't!" Gentlepaw protested. "You're my best friend!"
"You're a sweet kid, full of sprit. But I am dying. End of." Blankpelt said weakly.
"I'm not letting you join StarClan, Blankpelt."
"They are coming for me, and you know it."
"No! I won't believe it!"
"Gentlepaw, please..."
"No! It's not fair!" Gentlepaw ran out of the den, angry and upset. Tears fell from her eyes, but she ran to the apprentice den and hid her face in her paws. Sudden thought then struck her. "The Clover will fall for the Flower too early, whilist the Gentle will fall for the Blankness too late. 2 children of the mighty Deer will return to save the Gentle from Death and the Smoke will destory Death and Blood." She mumbled. "The clover must have been Cloverpaw and the flower Flowerpelt. That makes the blankness Blankpelt and the gentle me." Wildheart then poked her head in. "Shadowstar wants you on boarder patrol with me, Couragefur and Smokepaw. Meet us by the river when you're ready." Gentlepaw said nothing, but got up and padded out. She was starving, but didn't care. She went over to the river and Wildheart greeted her. "Let's go. We're patroling around the Twolgegplace." The young warrior led them through a ditch and into the place that many cats feared. Wildheart glanced back and then stopped. "We'll split up. Myself and Couragefur will check out SkyClan's old camp. Gentlepaw and Smokepaw, investigate the tribe's boarders. Meet back here by sunset." The cats split up, and the apprentices headed towards the tribe camp. SnowClan hadn't seen much of the Tribe of the Flying Grass, their last meeting was during the battle against BloodClan and RainClan. Gentlepaw knew she had been born during the battle, some cats doubted that her and her brothers would have lived to see after the battle. "Do you think they'll remember us?" She asked Smokepaw.
"Maybe. Fernwhisker said when she tresspassed on patrol as an apprentice, the tribe nearly killed her, Leafdew and Bearpelt. If they don't remember SnowClan, they'll attack us." Smokepaw replied, pricking up his ears. Just then, a patrol appeared out of nowhere. Gentlepaw knew none of them, but Smokepaw knew they were Wing, Feather and Shadow. He decided to approach them. "Hi!"
"You tresspassed on the Tribe of Flying Grass territory!" Feather hissed angrily, lashing her tail.
"Do you not remember me? Think of snow!" Smokepaw said desperately. Gentlepaw hissed at them and Shadow just whipped her with his pitch black tail. "You can be our prisoners. Attack them!" Wing and Feather pinned the apprentices to the ground and Shadow just stared at them coldly. "You're coming with us, young cats or not." He growled, leading the cats back to the barn where they slept. Rock greeted Shadow, but just stared at the SnowClan apprentices. "And who are they?"
"I'm Smokepaw and she's Gentlepaw." Smokepaw piped up. Wing scatched Smokepaw's muzzle and turned to Rock. "Tresspassers."
"I see. Berry won't be pleased." Rock said gruffly. He turned to Gentlepaw and Smokepaw. "You are in trouble. Big trouble." Gentlepaw growled as Rock led them in. The tribe seemed bigger than before, there were kits and bigger cats. "You have a big tribe." She said quietly to Wing.
"Of course we do." Wing snorted. "We do breed our she-cats and recuit loners." Gentlepaw then noticed a tall red she-cat lounging on a haystack with 4 kits. Smokepaw leaned over so his muzzle was right next to Gentlepaw's ear. "I think that's Berry, and her kits, but I don't know who's they are. That she-cat is deifintly Berry though."
"Whatever." Gentlepaw mumbled. She didn't really care who was who. Berry sat up and stared at them. "Where are you from, tresspassers?"
"SnowClan!" Gentlepaw squeaked, but it sounded like SongClan. Berry glared at her coldly. "They can be our prisoners. Take them to the loft." She ordered. Wing and Feather dragged the apprentices by their scuffs up haystacks and small wooden platforms until they reached the loft. Feather threw Gentlepaw down to the floor with such force that the tribe looked above to see what was going on. Wing just dropped Smokepaw, but with not as much power as Feather had done. "You two are staying up here until moonhigh. Then you will be put under pressure from the rest of the tribe." She growled. She jumped down gracefully and Feather followed. Smokepaw didn't realise how badly hurt Gentlepaw was until he got up and saw her white fur stained with blood and dirt. He padded over and nudged her shoulder with his paw. "Gentlepaw? Are you ok?" The young apprentice said nothing, as she was too weak to even move. Her breathing was slow and quiet, and Smokepaw couldn't let his friend die like this. So he started yowling.
"Will you pipe down, you flea-infested badger!" A huge tom shouted rudely from below. "Or I'll tear your fur out and use it for a blanket!" Smokepaw would have backed down by now, but he was determained to get help. "I'm not being quiet until Gentlepaw gets help!" He then stopped when he heard someone coming up. He laid beside Gentlepaw as the cat came up. He was a small, thin tom with grey fur and soft yellow eyes. "I can help you. I am Air of life, but please call me Air. If you meet me at moonhigh tonight behind the haystacks, I can help you escape." He offered in a quiet voice. Smokepaw didn't look him in the eye, because he looked like an elder trying to trick him. He looked down at his paws. "Ok. Whatever you say." He muttered. Air snorted loudly and started to walk away, but Smokepaw felt a bit lonely and frightened. "Wait! Can you stay here for a bit?"
"I guess I could." Air replied in a kinder tone. He padded over. "If you wanted to know who the big tom was who shouted at you, that was Pride of the lion, Berry's mate."
"Has she had kits?" Smokepaw asked. "I remember seeing 4 kits beside Berry when we came in." Air nodded his head. "Yes. Night, Wolf, Forest and Talon. Night is the only she-cat." He replied. The old tom then heard pawsteps coming up to the loft, and he sat up smartly. The cat was Flower, with 2 small mice. "For the prisoners." She mewed, dropping them. She turned to Air. "What are you doing up here?"
"Ermm..." Air tried to think of a quick excuse. "oh! I'm just guarding them, in case they try to escape." Flower looked suspicious, but nodded. "Ok. Whatever. Just looking for you because Berry wants all the toms to pick a she-cat to breed so we get more kits for the tribe. You may be the oldest, but it's important for the tribe's surrvial." Air nodded. "I understand. I'll be down in a moment." Flower lepts across the platforms and haystacks until she got to the ground. Smokepaw looked at Air. "What is going on?"
"All the toms have to breed she-cats so we get more cats for the tribe." Air explained. "You can watch from here." Air jumped down and Berry hushed them. "Now, it is time to select a she-cat. So, if the she-cats could go and find a small spot, then the toms can go and pick a she-cat of their choice." The she-cats scurried around and the toms went around. Smokepaw could see a small tom approaching Berry. "Do you count?"
"Ermm... not really. Sorry, Ash." The leader replied. Ash glared at her. "You don't want me to breed you! Just because I was a stupid barn cat!" He snapped angrily. "You picked Pride because he was a rogue!" Berry gave a small growl. "No. You are very wrong. He picked me when he came to the tribe, so it's settled, you rat-face!" Smokepaw gasped. Berry had never been so rude, neither had any cats in all 5 clans. Ash had ignored the insult and just sat there, his cunning blue eyes shining. Pride noticed the tom and charged at him. Ash yelped and scuttered away. Pride looked at Berry, his golden tabby fur sparkling in the sunlight. "You owe me." He replied. Berry gave a small sigh. "We have kits. Can you not wait until they grow up?" Her mate just stalked off. Smokepaw was now getting a bit bored of this and fell asleep.

"What do you think they're doing?"
"Where are they?"
"Are they safe?"
"Those poor little things! Anything could have happened to them!"
"Why take two inoccent and young cats?"
"Hush everyone, I'm now declaring this meeting open." Shadowstar meowed loudly. The clan were shocked to see the patrol return with no apprentices. The tom was having trouble keeping his clan under control, but they had now silenced. Shadowstar turned to face SnowClan. "Now, I know that we are all very upset about the disappearence of the apprentices, but..."
"You don't seem to even care!" Sootfire growled. "Your daughter's out there and you don't give a hoot about her safety!" Fernwhisker scatched her son's shoulder angrily and and yelped quietly. Shadowstar just sighed. "I am leader of this clan. Leaders must try to hold back their emotions, as they are supposed to be strong. But I am struggling to hold this meeting with the disappearence of Gentlepaw." He turned to Wildheart. "Where did you send them? You never told me."
"I sent them to check the boarders around the tribe camp." The young warrior gulped, shuffling her paws anxiously. Morninghawk looked at her. "So do you think they're with the tribe? It's been a long time since we last saw them, they might not have remembered us." Sootfire glared at Wildheart with cold eyes. "It was all your fault that Smokepaw and Gentlepaw are gone!" He spat angrily. "If you didn't make them go on that stupid patrol, they would still be here!" Wildheart said nothing and shook her head, but Swiftlegs was always there to defend his sister. "You shut up, badger-face!" He hissed, his fur bristling.
"You aren't much better, having half-blood kits with a medicine cat!" Sootfire growled. His siblings gave him a hard stare, whilist Fernwhisker turned to Shadowstar. "May I add to the matter with a small idea?" She asked. Shadowstar looked at the she-cat. "Go on."
"Well, we all know what happens to cats when they're kidnapped, right? Their clan is desperate for them back, yes? So I'm suggesting that we attack the tribe, just to show that we want those apprentices back." Fernwhisker meowed. The cats chatted quietly amongst themselves and then came to an agreement. Morninghawk turned to face the leader. "We are willing to go along with Fernwhisker's idea." Shadowstar gave a small purr. "Good. We will attack them at dawn tomorrow." The cats left, only Nightflame was left. Shadowstar gulped. Since the senior warrior had tried to convince Fernwhisker that Duststorm was a bad influence on her, the leader had doubted his loyalty to the clan. Nightflame, for the moment, seemed inoccent. "I'm going hunting, the fresh-kill pile is very low." He annonced. Shadowstar was suspicious. "Why go in the middle of the night?"
"Um... the prey will be easier to catch now because they'll be tireder than in the day." Nightflame said quickly. Shadowstar sighed. He couldn't argue with the tom. "Fine. Off you go." Nightflame padded off and out of camp, whilst Shadowstar went to his den. He looked up and saw a single star in the night sky. "Are you watching over us, Snowstar?" He muttered silently. A small gust of wind blew through the branches of the den, making the young leader shiver. Just then, he heard a friendly, familar mew behind him. Shadowstar turned and saw a StarClan warrior. "Shadowstar, I can tell you are worried about something." She meowed.
"I fear for what dawn brings. Innocent cats will die saving innocent cats. I dread the moment when the battle begins, anyone could die. And there are so many cats that don't deserve to die. Morninghawk, my trusted deputy, Blazestrike, one of the closest friends I have ever had, Bearpelt, a wise and trustworthy she-cat. So many others I could name." Shadowstar admitted. The StarClan warrior gave a small smile. "Yet you do not seem afraid of this battle. But I know you are doing it for Smokepaw and Gentlepaw." She replied. "Now, you sleep peacefully and prepare to fight." The warrior faded away and Shadowstar streched his legs. He then fell asleep. Unfortuantly, a couple of minutes into his sleep, a cat was nudging him up with their paw. The leader grumbled and opened his eyes to find his deputy. "I heard what you said to Nightflame. I think he's up to something. I'll go find him if you want." She offered. Shadowstar looked up at her. "Thank you. That would be great." He replied. "I just need to go and speak to the queens." He padded out and Morninghawk rushed into the forest, picking up his scent. Moonsky greeted Shadowstar as he entered the den. "What can we do for you?"
"I just wanted to say about your mates." Shadowstar mewed quietly. "I swear by StarClan to try and bring them back alive." Ember blinked and looked at him greatfully. "Thanks. You are a true and loyal cat." Shadowstar padded out, feeling slightly embrassed before curling up in his den and finally falling asleep.

Revenge

At dawn, Shadowstar gathered the clan for a meeting. "I would like the queens, kits and elders to stay here obviously. You will be guarded by Squirrelfall, Frogbound, Luckypaw, Leafdew, Clawedear, Duststorm and Rainflower. If we loose, we will try to pull back to protect you all." He told his clan. "The rest of you are coming with me. You've got a couple of minutes before we leave." Blazestrike padded over to Moonsky, who looked at him with her blue eyes. "Please, do be careful. And come back alive." She mummered softly, rubbing her head against Blazestrike's flank. Her kits were silent, for today this could be the day they would loose their father. Blazestrike looked at them, his red eyes filled with fear and worry. "Stay with your mother, all of you." He said, licking them all. He turned to Moonsky. "I'll bring back a tooth." He joked. Moonsky looked like she was going to cry, but she looked into Blazestrike's eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too, Moonsky. I better go and join Shadowstar now." He padded away, leaving Moonsky and the kits stunned with silence. Shadowstar watched the cats as they comforted their mates and friends and felt a thorn pierce his heart. He had lost Starkit in the dog attack, Littletail in the fox ambush and Robineye in the battle for survial, but who would he loose next? Gentlepaw had been captured, Cloverpaw was going to the battle and Luckypaw was staying behind to protect his clanmates. He could loose any of his children today. Morninghawk then bounded over to his side. "Ivyfur and Puffinpaw are coming now, so we better get going." She said. Shadowstar nodded and led them towards the Twolegplace. He could smell the tribe and another strange smell, but didn't care. The leader then stopped and turned to his clan. "It is time. On my signal, we'll jump the fence and attack." He instructed in a low voice. Shadowstar poked his head through the fence to take a look around. The barn was silent and so was the field. He motioned the battle signal and the clan rushed into the field. They then stopped when they heard a battle cry. The tribe were charging at them, along with another clan. Puffinpaw gasped in horror. "FlowerClan are helping to attack us!" She whispered in fear. Shadowstar yowled and the SnowClan cats rushed into battle. He ran towards the barn, desperate to find the apprentices. However, he was being followed by Darkeyes, a fierce FlowerClan warrior. Shadowstar had got to the entrance when he noticed that he wasn't alone. He snarled and lashed his tail. "Come out, coward!" Darkeyes yowled and pounced onto him, hissing angrily. The leader raked his claws down Darkeyes' flank, making the tom yelp in pain and jump off. Quickly, Shadowstar rushed into the barn and looked around. He couldn't see the apprentices anywhere. Where were they? "Gentlepaw? Smokepaw?" He called.
"Up here!" A small voice squeaked from above. Shadowstar looked up and saw Smokepaw and Gentlepaw, resting on the loft floor. Out of nowhere, Air appeared and dragged them back. Shadowstar snarled angrily and jumped up until he reached the loft. He growled at Air and pounced onto him, digging his claws into the old tom's shoulder. He looked at Smokepaw and Gentlepaw. "Go! Go and help!" He cried desperately. The two little apprentices rushed out and into the battle field. Smokepaw trotted over to help Morninghawk, whilst Gentlepaw threw herself at a large FlowerClan warrior. However, he was stronger than she thought, so he pinned her down. "Now to die, you foolish apprentice!" He hissed. Out of the blue, Hawkeyes appeared and pounced onto the tom, freeing Gentlepaw. Hawkeyes looked at the little apprentice. "Run! Run as fast as you can, little Gentlepaw!" The apprentice had no option but to listen to the old warrior and ran. It felt as if the warriors of StarClan were running beside her, encouraging her. But she was now alone in the forest, safely away from the battle. Gentlepaw sat down beside a large tree and licked wounds that the tribe cats gave her. She stared around her. The sun was still rising, but the forest was alive. Gentlepaw could smell her clanmate's fear scents and milk. She could even hear the kits wailing. Must be Ember's, Moonsky's kits don't make that much noise. She thought to herself. Gentlepaw groomed her fur, thinking of what it must be like at the battle. SnowClan would obviously be winning. Suddenly, a loud wail could be heard close by. Gentlepaw got up and rushed to camp. She then stopped in her tracks when she saw Ember crouched beside a small tuft of bright ginger. Flamekit. It was Flamekit. Gentlepaw's heart stopped beating as she slowly approached the queen. "W-what happened?"
"He fell in the river and hit his head on a sharp tree root." Ember replied worriedly. "But I don't know medicine cat training and the medicine cats aren't here!"
"I'll try, if you want." Squirrelfall offered. She went off to the medicine den and came back with herbs in her jaws. With help from Gentlepaw, she treated the wound and gave him a poppy seed. "He should be ok now, hopefully he'll wake up when everyone returns." Squirrelfall told the queen. Ember nodded. "Thanks for the help." She said, picking up her son and carrying him back to the nursery. Gentlepaw smiled at her friend. "You're a natural. How did you learn that? You'd make a better medicine cat than Ivyfur, if you ask me." Squirrelfall shuffled her paws and looked at her. "When Ivyfur was a younger, kinder cat, she let me watch her heal others. Now I highly doubt she would let anyone watch her do her precious healing." She explained.
"But, how did you remember that? You were one of the first apprentices to be made a warrior! And to loose your closest friend, because of your brother, how did you remember that far back?" Gentlepaw asked curiously. Before Squirrelfall could reply, she was interupted by a loud yowling. Gentlepaw pricked her ears up and then saw her clanmates rushing back. They were chanting "We won! We won!" Shadowstar jumped up to the Highrock and yowled. "Flowerstar surrendered and one of Berry's trusted friends got violently slaughtered by Falconsong!" Many cats chanted Falconsong's name, while the she-cat licked her blood-stained fur. "It was nothing really." She said, embrassed. Gentlepaw gave a loud groan of annoyence. She wasn't really friends with the young warrior, and now she was getting all the attention. Then, the clan stopped cheering and went into silence when someone yowled. "Hawkeyes and Flightheart are dead!"

New apprentices

Gentlepaw gasped in horror as the dead bodies were dragged in by her clanmates. Moonsky dipped her head sadly, as Flightheart was her old mentor and a good friend. Shadowstar jumped down to face Shreweye. "What happened?" The little brown warrior shook his head. "Flightheart fell from a tree and broke her neck, while Hawkeyes died saving Gentlepaw from a FlowerClan warrior." He sighed. Gentlepaw was horrified. It was her fault that a good cat had died in battle. Quietly, she sneaked away to the apprentice den and laid in her bedding, feeling awful. She felt as if she had murdered Hawkeyes herself. Just then, Puffinpaw padded in with a mouse. "You deserve it for helping Ember." She mewed, dropping the mouse at her friend's paws.
"No I don't." Gentlepaw mumbled. Puffinpaw nudged the little mouse over. "Come on, you do, and you know it." All Gentlepaw could do now was howl. "It's my fault Hawkeyes died!" Several cats stopped chatting and looked into the den. Shadowstar came in and sat beside his daughter. "Hey, it's ok. It was her time. She knew she would die in this battle." He said comfortingly. Gentlepaw sniffed, tears in her eyes. "Morninghawk's going to hate me though." She muttered. The leader sighed. Morninghawk was Hawkeyes' daughter, and she was upset by the news. "Why? None of this was your fault. It was the tribe's for their bad memory. I swore by StarClan if I caught any of them on our territory or stealing our cats, I would kill them." He said. "Now come on, there's a cerermony." Gentlepaw got up and followed Shadowstar out. The leader stood on the Highrock. "Can Moonsky's kits and Bramblekit come up here please?" The 5 kits rushed up excitedly. Shadowstar smiled at them. "Until these cats have earned their warrior names, they will be known as Firepaw, Echopaw, Songpaw, Jaypaw and Bramblepaw. Firepaw's mentor will be Swiftlegs , Echopaw's will be me, Songpaw's will be Bearpelt, Jaypaw's will be Morninghawk and Bramblepaw's will be Lizardeye." He meowed. Echopaw was trembling with excitment. She had Shadowstar as her mentor! While the others went to touch noses with their mentors, Echopaw touched noses with the leader and he smiled. "Clan dismissed. For now, we will let the cats closest to Flightheart and Hawkeyes speak to them before their bodies are buried at moonhigh tonight, before the gathering." He went over to Echopaw. "I'd better give you a tour of camp. I'll bring Morninghawk and Jaypaw along." He said kindly. "Wait here." Echopaw nodded and groomed herself. Some cats came up and congratulated her on getting Shadowstar as a mentor. Some cats were jealous, and called her names. But the apprentice didn't really care. The leader then returned. "Come along, little Echopaw." He called, leading her out of camp. Echopaw followed, but she didn't like how silent Shadowstar was being. So she decided to start conversation. "How long was Snowstar leader for?" She asked. Shadowstar turned around and stared. "Many, many moons." He replied quietly. Echopaw looked at him. "Erm, hope you don't mind me asking, but why is Gentlepaw your daughter, when she was mothered by Spottedflower, who is Riverstripe's mate?" Shadowstar looked like he was about to attack her, but he just sat down. "My mate was a young she-cat called Robineye. We'd had a litter before your father was born, 2 she-cats called Starkit and Bubblekit. Sadly Starkit died in a dog attack, and Bubblekit was killed on the Thunderpath 1 moon before her warrior ceremony. I had also lost my sister Littletail in a fox ambush, so my only living family was Robineye. She was so pretty... so precious to me. She was expecting kits when the battle of survival broke out. She died giving birth to Gentlepaw, Luckypaw and Cloverpaw. So Spottedflower offered to raise them. You already knew this, but you mustn't tell them." He sighed. "I grieved like mad for moons. So that is why Gentlepaw, Luckypaw and Cloverpaw are so special to me. Because they are my only living family." Echopaw nodded her head and went over to him. "Oh."
"Everyone thought I had gone mad when Moonsky went missing. I was still grieving for Robineye, so all I spoke about was training. Fernwhisker had given me a sharp telling-off when I spoke to the cats that returned from the mission. But now I'm leader... oh it's all happened too fast." Shadowstar looked at his paws, and then at his apprentice. She was sorry for him, and Shadowstar could tell. He licked Echopaw's ear. "Back to the tour?" He said, changing the subject. Echopaw shrugged. "Ok." The two cats padded along, saying nothing apart from Shadowstar explaining about the places they were.

When sunhigh came, and Echopaw and Shadowstar had returned, the clan was quiet, going on patrols and catching up on the latest gossip. However, Ember wasn't talking to anyone. She was tearing up a small moss ball in anger. Echopaw had noticed this, so she went up to Badgerstripe. "Why is Ember so angry?" The senior warrior just shook his head and padded away. Now Echopaw was concerned. What had happened? She decided to go and speak to Blazestrike, seeing as he was a close friend of the queen. "Ember's acting really strange. Why is this?" Her father shrugged. "I don't know, little one. Why don't you go and ask her?" He suggetsed. Echopaw thanked him and padded to the nursery. Spottedflower was there. her belly very swollen. She greeted the little apprentice. "Hello, youngster. What can we do for you?"
"I'm here to speak to Ember." Echopaw replied quietly. Ember looked up. "Yes? I am here."
"I hope you don't mind me asking..." Echopaw hesitated for a moment. "but why are you acting like you've just been acused of killing the leader?" Ember gave a small growl, but then she turned to Echopaw, her eyes blazing angrily. "Shadowstar is a pile of mouse-dung!" She spat. "He forgot about Nightkit and Sparkkit becoming apprentices!" Echopaw took a step back and gulped. "I-I'll talk to him." She stammered before fleeing the den. She bumped into Nightflame, who was carrying prey. "Do you mind?" He snapped angrily, pushing her into a tree stump. Echopaw hissed in annoyence but then stared at him. She couldn't get on the wrong side of him, or he would kill her. Quietly, she got up from the tree stump and padded away quietly. However, Nightflame seemed to be following her. He then stopped Echopaw and put his muzzle close to her ear, his breath hot on her face. "Why don't I mentor you? I haven't had a mentor since Fernwhisker became a warrior." He suggested. Echopaw didn't know why he hadn't had an apprentice for many seasons, but that was the least of her worries. She had to get away from him, because he had been described as 'dangerous' by the elders. She tried to sneak away, but Nightflame stood on her tail. Echopaw yelped in pain and clawed at his flank. Nightflame just growled, and dragged Echopaw towards him. He tried to drag her to his tail, but Blazestrike had noticed this and charged at him. "Get lost, badger-breath!" He snarled angrily. "And stay away from my daughter!" Nightflame crawled away while Blazestrike nudged Echopaw up to her paws. "Come along, little one. Do you need to see the medicine cat?" He asked.
"Nah, I'm fine." Echopaw mumbled. She didn't really want to see Ivyfur. Blazestrike nodded and went away. Shadowstar padded up to her. "I saw Nightflame attack you after you left the nursery. Did you do something to annoy him?" He asked her. The little apprentice shook her head. "Oh, by the way, Ember's furious because you forgot about Nightkit and Sparkkit. They should have been apprentices with me, my siblings and Bramblepaw." She reminded him. Shadowstar's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, I'm so useless!" He wailed. "Snowstar never forgot anyone's ceremonies!" Echopaw gulped. She didn't mean to upset him. "You're better than Snowstar." She mumbled quietly. "You don't go around mating cats from other clans." Shadowstar looked at the little apprentice. "Thank you, youngster." He then padded away, looking at his paws. Echopaw sighed and went off to the apprentice den in silence.

The flood returns

The night air brought a chill to the cats as they sat down in camp, waiting for Shadowstar to adress them. He was very late for some reason which no one knew.
"Someone better go and find him." Gentlepaw meowed loudly. Morninghawk rose to her paws and padded into the leader's den. The clan waited silently, but the deputy came out with the leader. Shadowstar rushed up to the Highrock. "StarClan have spoken to me. They have fortold the end of the clans!" He meowed worriedly. Many mummers broke out in the crowd.
"Are StarClan mouse-brained?"
"We can't all die!"
"Hush." Shadowstar continued speaking. "They have told us to be prepared. The end is drawing nearer and nearer, and we must be ready to meet it."
As the tom finshed speaking, there was a loud bang coming from the mountains. Gentlepaw jumped back in fear, but she didn't know what it was. Morninghawk started to climb a tree close by. She then stood on the branches, not moving a muscle.
"Morninghawk," Shadowstar called to his deputy. "what do you see?" The she-cat then cocked her head round. "The boulder that FlowerClan use to keep their water up in the mountains has fallen and broken. The water is flowing down the mountain rapidly, and I think the river in the RainClan has meandered towards us." She reported, scrambling down. "The two types of water will mix and create a flood."
Rain then started trickling down swiftly. Gentlepaw now knew that they would all be doomed. This was the end that StarClan had warned them about. She padded over to Wildheart. "What are we going to do?" She asked her mentor.
"I don't know." Wildheart sighed. "There was a flood when I was a kit, but I don't know what they did." Couragefur then padded over to them. "I know how do resolve this." He told the two she-cats. "My group of rogues were affected by high flood waters, and we used the trees to our advantage. We jumped from tree to tree."
"But our elders can barely jump. And Ivyfur only has half a tail. We cannot afford to loose our medicine cat, neither our elders." Shadowstar pointed out. "However, your idea is good."
"I may be old, but I can still run!" Breezefang rasped.
"And I'm the oldest cat in the clan!" Nighteye croaked. "You never doubt elders!" Shadowstar glanced at the final elder. "Silverclaw has broken her front paws though. How will she escape?"
"Everyone has to make sacrafises." Silverclaw answered. "Go ahead. Go with your clan, Shadowstar. We all believe in you. Your spirit and determanation makes you a good, loyal leader. We can all see that you will think of others before yourself, which Snowstar failed to do most of the time."
"The kits..." Shadowstar still wasn't convinced. "And Blankpelt. His injuries are servre, how will he leave camp? Cherrypaw too, there's no way she'll leave the medicine den." Gentlepaw padded up to her father. "Other cats can carry the kits. Besides, there is only one litter of kits at the moment. As for Blankpelt, Ivyfur and Cherrypaw, that's their choice. I'd prefer them to come with us, but it's their call." She meowed. "Ask them. I'll come too."
"No." Shadowstar told her. "Go with another warrior who they will actually listen to. I know you don't want those cats left behind, but I won't be able to persuade them. Ask Fernwhisker or someone."
"Alright." Gentlepaw sighed, padding off and over to the ginger she-cat. "Hi, Fernwhisker. Can you help me getting the injured cats out of camp? Shadowstar said they won't listen to him."
"Of course." Fernwhisker meowed, getting up. "Which cats do you mean, anyway?" Gentlepaw flicked her tail towards the medicine den. "Cherrypaw, Blankpelt and Ivyfur. But not Silverclaw, because she is willing to give up her life to save us."
The two she-cats rushed into the medicine den, and stared at the three cats. Gentlepaw mummered to Fernwhisker "You convince Cherrypaw and Ivyfur, while I talk to Blankpelt." The apprentice then approached her badly wounded friend. "The camp is going to be flooded any moment. Everyone is abandoning camp, but we are trying to figure out ways of getting all of the clan out. Are you coming?" Blankpelt shook his head. "No. I will only slow the clan down, and none of the healthy cats deserve to die. You know I'm dying anyway, so there's no point."
"I'm not leaving you!" Gentlepaw protested. "Wherever you go, I go! Even if it is to StarClan, I will still go!"
"No." Blankpelt croaked. "Go with the clan. They need you. I need you to go." Gentlepaw curled up beside the warrior and gazed at him. "I need you. You are the only reason I'm bothering to live!"
"That's not true." Blankpelt meowed, but he seemed touched.
A huge bang interrupted the conversation, and anxious voices turned into screams and yowls. Water started to come in and the slow rain was now a full working storm, with lighting and thunder to accompany it. Gentlepaw nudged Blankpelt to his paws. "If you refuse to come, I'm going to drag you out." She said. "Now come on!"
With Blankpelt leaning on her for support, Gentlepaw started to come out of the medicine den. Fernwhisker had already left with Cherrypaw and Ivyfur, but some warriors were still in camp, helping the older and younger members of the clan escape.
"Come on!" Treeclimb yelled, encouraging the elders onward. Nighteye and Breezefang were doing their best, whilst Silverclaw only sat and watched the floodwater.
Gentlepaw nudged Blankpelt along, but the water was now just above her paws. She then heard a deseprate cry for help coming from the nursery.
"That's Flamekit!" Blankpelt meowed. "We have to help him, or Ember will not be best impressed!"
Oh great.                                                                                                                                  Gentlepaw waded over to the kit, who was standing on the nursery roof. He then jumped and was luckily caught in Gentlepaw's jaws. The apprentice fought the current, and continued to help Blankpelt across. She could see that he was struggling as the water continued to rise. It was cold, making her legs throb and shiver.
They were halfway towards the rest of the clan when Blankpelt showed signs of weakness. The cold was getting to him, and he barely had enough strength to continue on. "Leave me." He muttered to Gentlepaw. "Go on. I'm only slowing you down."
"No!" Gentlepaw growled confidently. "No cat will be left behind!" Blankpelt just shook his head. "Silverclaw sacrifised herself. And now I will join her. But don't worry, I'll always be with you, amongst the ranks of StarClan. One day we will meet again." He pressed himself against Gentlepaw gently. "Goodbye, little one. May StarClan continue to light your path."
He then gave up swimming, and let himself sink. The brave, injured young warrior was dead.
Flamekit let out a thin, wailing cry of sorrow, whilst Gentlepaw realised that she could join Blankpelt in StarClan. So she stopped trying to escape.
The last thing she heard was "Gentlepaw!"

"She's been out for a little while now. Is the kit alright?"
"Flamekit? He's alive and well, Ember's looking after him. She's told me that he'll be ok."
"What was she thinking?"
Gentlepaw could hear voices around her. Am I dead? Have I gone to StarClan with Blankpelt? So she decided to find out by opening her eyes, but she was disappointed to see living cats talking, not her ancestors.
"She's alive." Puffinpaw sighed in relief. "Can you run through the missing or dead cats again, Morninghawk?" The deputy looked down and sighed. "Silverclaw, Blankpelt, Clawedear, Luckypaw is missing but not dead, Bearpelt is injured and Ivyfur is dead." She then sighed again. "Too many good cats have gone."
"Wait, Ivyfur's dead?" Gentlepaw asked, slowly sitting up. "I know that Blankpelt and Silverclaw died, but I didn't know about the others."
"Clawedear sacrisfised himself to save Duckfoot, Luckypaw ran off when he got to land, Bearpelt got stuck between some logs and complained about her back leg hurting and Ivyfur died protecting Streamtail from a boulder that came in with the floodwater and squashed her." Morninghawk explained. "But luckily for you, Sootfire came and saved you and Flamekit from drowning."
Sootfire? But he hates everyone! Unless... no, no! Gentlepaw thought anxiously. She then turned to Puffinpaw. "Has Shadowstar granted you a medicine cat name yet?"
"He has." Puffinpaw said with a smile. "My name is now Puffinwing." Gentlepaw grinned. "Congratulations!"
"Where are we?" Pigeonpaw asked, padding over to the newly named Puffinwing.
There was then a loud rustling in the bushes. Shadowstar gathered the clan behind him, trying to show whatever it was that the clan were still strong. To everyone's suprise, it was a small patrol of cats, but they were a different clan of cats.
"Who are you?" Shadowstar asked, crouching down.
"I am Swiftpath." One tom meowed. "You have tresspassed on EarthClan territory."

EarthClan

Gentlepaw was confused. She had never heard of these cats, but how many clans were there that hadn't been discovered?
"I am Shadowstar, leader of SnowClan." Shadowstar introuduced himself. "Our camp has been destroyed in a flood. We are lost, hungry and cold."
"I see." Another cat meowed, looking over them. "Perhaps you might come back to our clan for a bit? We may be able to offer you some shelter, but you'll have to explain to Mosstar why you are on our territory."
These cats seem hositable enough. Gentlepaw thought to herself. This is a chance for us to meet new allies possibly!                                                                                                                                       "Come along." Couragefur said to the apprentice. "We're leaving now." Gentlepaw nodded and pulled herself up, following the rest of her clanmates towards the new territory.
"Is your clan very large?" Gentlepaw overheard Rainflower ask one of the warriors.
"Quite." The EarthClan cat told her. "Your clan is huge!" Rainflower only nodded her head and turned away. Gentlepaw noticed that she seemed a bit lost amongst new cats, so she went up to Duststorm. "Your sister doesn't look very happy." She annonced to him unhelpfully.
"I'm aware of that." Duststorm replied. "Ivyfur's death has unsettled her badly. They were good friends."
"Then why doesn't Fernwhisker care, despite she's known Ivyfur longer?" Gentlepaw questioned. Duststorm just shrugged until the ginger she-cat came over. "I heard my name. What did you want?"
"Do you care about Ivyfur's death?" Gentlepaw repeated. Fernwhisker let out a loud sigh. "Please don't bring up her name. She lied to the clan, and you really don't want to know."
"Alright." Gentlepaw decided to drop the subject and walk alongside Streamtail, who was troubled by his brother's death. "I'm sorry about Blankpelt." The white she-cat murmmered gently.
"He did what was right." Streamtail told her. "Blankpelt always went on about what a good friend you were to him, even when he had his injuries from the fox. I just want to thank you for being such a nice friend to him."
"My pleasure." Gentlepaw meowed kindly. Streamtail smiled at her warmly. "He was hoping that he would mentor you, but he was made a warrior on the same day you became a apprentice."
"Wildheart's a nice cat to have as a mentor, but Blankpelt would have been more fun." Gentlepaw sighed. Streamtail was silent for a bit, but continued talking. "We were talking about you, when the tribe stole you and Smokepaw. He wished that you would come back safely, so he could hear your gentle voice and kind words. He really did like you."
So that's why he sacrifised himself. He loved me. Gentlepaw thought to herself. I loved him. That's what the prophecy meant. Everything is begining to become clearer now.

 

Impressum

Texte: Text belongs to me, Warrior Cats belongs to Erin Hunter. (EarthClan and most of the EarthClan cat names belong to Quailycat)
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.04.2012

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