Without a Tale (Story)

**Please do not edit this article without permission from Moonberry or Dreamclaw.**

(Moon casually just copy and pasting the entire thing)

Trigger Warning!!There are mildly gorey descriptions and death. In the beginning, it is depressing, so if you don't like depressing stories, please visit another page. Thank you!By Moonberrii and Dreamclaw21

Looking for the comic version? Check out this:

Without a Tale - Comic

You can find the fanart page here:

Without a Tale - Fanart

Want to make or see a fanon story? Go here:

Without a Tale - Fanon Stories

To learn more about the story, try this:

The Lost Tales

You can also visit the actual WAT page for faster updates on the story:

Without a Tale

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Notice: Each section ends either with *** or ↓

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**Characters*** OC Pages
* Character Ownership(s)

Silverpaw

Sunflower
Atticus (belongs to Val

## More Credits

Dream also made the coding for Allegiances and the expanding pictures of Ivyleaf and Sunflower, which she also made, the comic, decided to make the allegiances, which she made most of ThunderClan, WindClan after the apprentice Mousepaw, the entire ShadowClan, and RiverClan, not to mention she asked the question that started it all. Dream is also amazing to work with, and is very enjoyable and flexible, so Moon says thank you! Dream also is the reason Moon put in Mupsy, because he is based off her cat who unfortunately passed away  :(

Moon also made the story idea, the icon (help from Picrew), SkyClan, part of WindClan, Sunflower, Ivyleaf, Sunflower, Nokit, Twokit, and all the cats mentioned in the prologue and first chapter, and most of the cats in the chapters or parts she wrote. She also made the title, and most of the titles for each chapter. I don't know how Dream thinks of me, but I hope I am nice to work with! Moon also put in the sort of starry font (hoping she didn't delete something important), and the Twoleg font. Moon also started The Lost Tales, made Antclaw's Final Words, and Twice the Tales!

## Allegiances

* ThunderClan
* ShadowClan
* SkyClan
* WindClan
* RiverClan

**LEADER** Boulderstar - large, bulky, light gray tom with hazel eyes and many scars

**DEPUTY** Berrysky - Blue-gray she-cat

**MEDICINE CAT** Ivyleaf - creamy she-cat with a fluffy tail and green eyes

**Her Reference** (click to open)

File:Ivyleaf.jpg
Art by Dream

**WARRIORS** Rubybloom - Reddish brown furred she-cat

Whiskerflower - pale brown tabby she-cat

**APPRENTICE, LILYPAW** (long-haired white she-cat with blue eyes)

Skydawn - silver she-cat with blue eyes

Whitefrost - white tom

Elmbramble - dark brown tom with green eyes

**APPRENTICE, REDPAW** (reddish-brown tom)

Shadowspirit - large black she-cat with blue eyes

Larkmeadow - strong, muscular dilute calico she-cat

Browntail - light brown tom with a darker brown tail

Slitherscale - gray tabby tom with envious green eyes

Flamejay - ginger-and-gray tabby tom

Stormsplash - light brown tom with dark, stormy eyes

Copperbee - reddish-ginger tom

Tundrabird - ginger tom with silver, tundra-colored eyes

Treeclaw - large dark brown tabby tom

Flytail - white she-cat with a black tail patch

Conifernose - fluffy, long-haired, white tabby tom

Foxfern - dark ginger she-cat

Haventail - yellow she-cat with dark ginger ears

Warmbreeze - black she-cat with green eyes

Wolfhowl - gray tom with black eyes

Riverstep - ginger tom with swirly brown tabby markings

Blueeyes - ginger tom with unusually blue eyes

Stagscratch - huge dark brown tom

Violetwing - fluffy dark gray she-cat with light gray tips

Featherblaze - pale ginger she-cat who keeps a robin feather behind her ear

**QUEENS**  Sunflower - pale yellow she-cat with dark flecks around eyes, dark brown around eye, one dark brown paw, and dark brown eyes (mother to Antclaw’s kits, Twokit, a strong, pretty, white tabby she-cat with blue eyes and two tails, and Nokit, a small, beautiful silver she-cat with green eyes, white paws, and no tail)

**Her References** (click to open)

File:Sunflower.png
Art by Dream
File:Antclaw and Sunflower - Moonberii.png
Art by Moon

Pebblefoot - gray she-cat with light blue eyes (mother to Boulderstar’s kits, Rosekit, a light gray she-cat, and Branchkit, a dark brown tom with tiny white spots)

Fogstorm - gray she-cat with one blue eye and one green eyes (expecting Treeclaw’s kits, not yet in the nursery)

**ELDER** Oakwhisker -mangy brown tom

**LEADER** Hollystar - black she-cat with bluish-green eyes

**DEPUTY** Riverfloat - silvery-gray tabby tom with clear, river-blue eyes

**MEDICINE CATS** Sweetpea - light brown she-cat with darker splotches and a white belly

**APPRENTICE, NIGHTGAZE** (black tom with long fur)

**WARRIORS** Blisterscar - dark gray tabby tom coated from head-to-toe in hideous battle scars (formerly Hawkstreak)

Birchwillow - white she-cat with dark silvery-gray stripes

Shellstripe - black-and-white tom

Sunbreeze - white tom covered in black splotches with sunny-amber eyes

Tallcloud - large dark brown tabby tom

Greenpetal - light gray she-cat with aquamarine-green eyes

Cocolily - brown she-cat with black splotches

Coniferdust - white she-cat with green eyes

Goldenspots - white tom with yellow splatters

Thistletip - dark grey-and-white tom

**APPRENTICE, GRASSPAW** (small pale gray tom)

Streamshade - black non-binary cat

**LEADER** Blazingstar -orange she cat with white blotches and blue eyes.

**DEPUTY** Leapbreeze -white tom with brown eyes and a black tail.

**MEDICINE CAT** Willowfeather -gray she-cat with white spots on eyes and blue-gray eyes

**WARRIORS** Pouncefoot -brown tom with darker paws

**APPRENTICE,** Jumppaw -reddish furred tom

Lillyflower -light gray she-cat with light blue eyes and white eye fur

Alderoak -Brown tom with amber eyes

Robinflight -reddish brown furred she-cat with black flecks.

Splashdawn -yellow tom

**APPRENTICE,** Scratchpaw, a brown tom with sharp claws

**ELDERS** Cloudstorm -gray and white furred tom with blind gray eyes

**LEADER** Swiftstar - pale yellow she-cat with amber eyes

**DEPUTY** Bunnyears -white she-cat with long bunny-like ears

**MEDICINE CAT** Lavenderbreeze -pretty blue-grey she-cat

**WARRIORS** Larkheart -black tom

**APPRENTICE** Mousepaw -wiry small brown tom

Gorsepetal - yellow-cream she-cat with gray eyes

Rainpearl - white she-cat with gray points

Darkecho - black-and-white she-cat

**APPRENTICE, FLECKPAW** (brownish she-cat with darker flecks)

Copperclaw - dark-gingery brown tom with fur the color of copper

Woolpoppy - gray-and-white white she-cat with red eyes

**APPRENTICE, FLASHPAW** (small white tom with amber eyes)

Shrewclaw - pale golden tom with hints of beige-brown

Storkwillow - jumpy white she-cat

Owlheart - white tom with a pale brown overcoat, black smudges, and a small amount of faded pale golden splotches with black eyes

Nightstorm - black tom with pale brown eyes

Emeraldfern - pale gray she-cat with fur that shines like jewels and green eyes

Spikeclaw - gray tom with brown stripes

**ELDERS** Sagewing - pale tortoiseshell she-cat

Birchcloud - pale gray tom with black stripes and blazing amber eyes

**LEADER** Boldstar - dark gray tom with black tabby stripes

**DEPUTY** Wavedusk - pale yellow tom with blue eyes

**MEDICINE CAT** Amentumpuddle - creamy-yellow tom with light brown stripes

**APPRENTICE, KELPPAW** (light gray tom with dark green eyes)

**WARRIORS** Wetflower - dark gray-blue she-cat with pale blue eyes

Daywhisker - light gray she-cat with blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, NIGHTPAW** (black she-cat with twinkly purplish-blue eyes)

Duskripple - long-haired dark brown tom

Leafblaze - black tabby she-cat

Spiderbriar - black she-cat with long limbs and a white underbelly

**APPRENTICE, DARKPAW** (very dark brown tabby tom)

Smallforest - small tabby tom with white paws

Jadewillow - pretty white she-cat with silvery-gray speckles

Orangewhisker - ginger tom with warm green eyes

Mossfur - calico she-cat

Bluemountain - beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with blue-tipped whiskers

Woodmoth - gray tom with blue eyes

Jayhaze - light gray agender cat with black patches

Olivetoe - white she-cat with black and brown toes

Whiteice - pure-white she-cat

Ashfeather - pale gray tom with black eyes

Tiltstone - pale ginger tom with amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, STREAMPAW** (tortoiseshell-tabby-and-white she-cat)

Kestrellily - red-ginger she-cat with a white underbelly

Shadetail - thick-furred dark gray tabby tom

**QUEENS** Flowermist - white she-cat with black petal-shaped patches and silvery-gray ears and tail

Quickstrike - golden tabby she-cat (mother to Woodmoth’s kits, Lightningkit, a yellow-golden tom with black ears and paws, Mousekit, a dark brown tabby tom, and Spottedkit, a silver she-cat with black tabby spots)

Salmonfire - pinkish-cream she-cat (mother to Duskripple’s kit, Fadedkit, a long-haired dark brown tom that fades to plain brown)

**ELDER** Darkmaple - very old, deaf, blind black tom with reddish-amber eyes
## Prologue: The Birth

CREDITING: By Moonberry

Antclaw rushed over to Ivyleaf. The pale yellow she-cat was sorting out herbs.

“Sunflower’s kits are coming!” He said, panting.

Ivyleaf dipped her head. “Is she in the nursery with everything ready?”

Antclaw nodded. “All we need is a trusty medicine cat, like you,”

Ivyleaf turned away. “Antclaw, I don’t need flattery to get me to deliver Sunflower’s kitting. It’s my job,” Ivyleaf walked over to the nursery, not looking at Antclaw.

“Ivyleaf! You know I still have feelings for you even though you’re a medicine cat and I have Sunflower as a mate. I know I don’t need to flatter you. Sorry,” Antclaw looked down, embarrassed.

Ivyleaf finally looked at Antclaw, her leafy green eyes giving a no-nonsense look, while still having the gentle gaze all medicine cats have. How, was a question to all non-medicine cats. “Never mind that. I’ve seen cats die during their kitting because they didn’t have a medicine cat with them. If we’re not careful, she’ll lose too much blood, and maybe not even give birth. If you care about this she-cat, I suggest we put that behind us, and put Sunflower first,” Ivyleaf advised. Antclaw scrambled to his paws and they walked over to the nursery. Ivyleaf gave him one sentence before she began to help Sunflower’s kitting: “It’s not like I wanted to give you up."

Sunflower's kitting was long and painful. With a terrible moan of agony, she clamped her jaws on the stick Ivyleaf gave her, breaking it. In the same motion, a small bundle came out.

*My kits*! Antclaw thought. "Ivyleaf? Where's the other one? I thought you said there were two kits coming!" Ivyleaf nodded.

"There is. They are in the same sack," Quickly she nipped the bundle and almost immediately, a white tabby she-kit with blue eyes trotted out, eyes open, looking strong and healthy, flicking not one, but two tails. She mewed and walked over to Sunflower, knowing what to do. The only problem, was that there was only one kit. Ivyleaf began to search in sack for the kit, and after a while, she brought out a weak she-kit. The other one must of taken most of the nutrients. This she-kit might have been more frail, but Antclaw felt a rush of love towards her. The kit's gray fur shone like silver and her delicate paws were white. She had a wonderful face, with those gentle green eyes, but there was one problem with her also. She had no tail. Nevertheless, this was a kit Antclaw wanted to name.

"I name this kit-"

Sunflower interrupted him. "Oh Antclaw, did you forget I'm the mother?" She asked. "I name them and oh!" She shrieked, looking at the second kit. "WHAT IS THAT?! SHE HAS NO TAIL!"

"The first kit took most of the nutrients you gave them and-"

Sunflower waved a paw. "Don't blame my darling kit! No kit of mine shall be born without a tail!" Then Sunflower smiled, showing pointy teeth. "This she-kit," she declared. "Is named Nokit, because she is nothing," Then looking over at the first kit, Sunflower smiled for real. "This she-kit, is twice the kit Nokit is. Her name is Twokit,"

Furiously Antclaw snorted. Sunflower was a vain and cruel she-cat! Antclaw wanted to go up to Nokit and embrace her, but Sunflower glared at him, knowing what he was thinking about.

"If you so much as touch this horrendous kit, her name will be the least of her problems, same will go for you."

## Chapter One: No Tail

CREDITING: By Moonberry

Nokit sat, tossing the moss between her front paws. Her white tabby littermate Twokit and the other kits, who Pebblefoot had recently given birth to, were playing Badger Attack! Twokit got to be the ‘Badger’ everytime; of course, no kit ever complained. They all loved her because of her wonderful two tails. Boulderstar, Pebblefoot’s mate, was obviously going to name her Twotail, make her deputy, and eventually make her leader, while Nokit would probably not even get to be an apprentice! She’d be stuck in the nursery forever, and would die there too, all because she had no tail.

“Hey Nokit! Why don’t you play too?” Twokit called. Nokit looked up. Twokit was waving a paw, inviting her to come. Even Rosekit and Branchkit were joining in, shouting for her to come. Did this mean she didn’t have to be stuck in the nursery? Nokit bounded over, smiling the whole time.

“Really?” Nokit asked. Twokit nodded.

"You can be the Cat! Walk over there." Nokit did as Twokit did, and waited. Finally she would be happy!

Quickly Twokit pounced on her, growling. "I'm a big nasty badger and AHHHHH!" Twokit ran away. "A cat with no tail! NOTAIL!" she, Rosekit and Branchkit laughed. Pelt burning with shame, tears stung Nokit's eyes.

"Why did you trick me?!" Nokit asked, on the verge of crying.

"Because no kit should have no tail! You're a freak!" Twokit teased. Nokit glanced at Twokit's tails angrily.

"And you have two!" Nokit replied hotly. "Why aren't you a freak?" Twokit barely thought about this.

"Because," Twokit said lazily. "That means I have even better balance! I was born strong, you know. You were a runt!"

Nokit ran back to the nursery. She was wrong. She was just a freak. She was born a freak and would die one. At the same place too, the nursery because she was worthless.

*I'll never be like them, because I'm Notail.*

Nokit was alone once more. Her mother, Sunflower, was fussing over Twokit, making sure Twokit’s fur was glossy and perfect. Nokit, on the other paw, Sunflower didn’t care a whisker about.

*Because I’m Notail*. Nokit sighed. Twokit was getting apprenticed, at five moons old! But nooo she was born strong, eyes open, already walking, while she, Nokit, was barely alive! *Twokit took all the food Mother gave us, and I’m punished for that, while she is rewarded! I wish Father was with me now. Ivyleaf said he cared about me so much! My only memory of him was him giving me a mouse, which Twokit took but anyway! When I got that mouse, he gave me the kindest look I’ve ever seen, and was probably the only one, too. It was strange though how Mother glared at him, and how he mysteriously died because of a fox the day after. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Mother did it.*

“Twokit! Let me finish your grooming!” Sunflower shouted. Nokit rolled her eyes. Her sister always hated grooming herself, insisting that a ‘wild look’ suited her best. But just as Nokit was about to get a drink, Twokit dashed in.

“Oh Nokit! Please can you hide me? I hate grooming!” *The one time she’s nice to me, it’s so I help her.*

Nokit narrowed her eyes. “Why should I? You treat me like I’m foxdung!”

“Pleeeeeeeeease?” Twokit pleaded. “If you help me, I- I- I’ll never call you Notail and will never make fun of you not having a tail!” Nokit sighed.

“I’m not sure I believe you.” Twokit gave her the saddest look she could muster, and Nokit gave in. “Fine. But you better try to keep that promise!” Twokit’s expression brightened.

“Oh thank you!” Twokit said with gratitude.

“Just don’t let me regret it.” Quickly, Nokit covered Twokit with bedding. It wasn’t the best job, though, and if you looked hard enough, you could see white and black fur.

“Lay where you can see it!” Twokit demanded. Nokit felt uneasy.

“What if I squash you?” She mewed. Twokit didn’t hesitate.

“No offense, but you’re really light! I won’t complain no matter what!” Reluctantly, Nokit gingerly made her way on Twokit, and sure enough, she covered all the holes in the disguise, or at least the ones she could see. Twokit held to her word, and didn’t make any noise, except the remark about her being so light.

“It’s like putting on a blanket!” Twokit mewed. She let out a *mrrow* of laughter. “And it tickles!” Nokit jabbed a paw down, and Twokit got the message. “Sor*ry.* I guess saying someone’s light isn’t very nice then.”

Suddenly, Sunflower ran in, panting, eyes wild. “YOU!” She roared at Nokit. “WHERE IS MY DARLING KIT?!” Nokit trembled.

“I’m n-n-not sure, Mother, but I saw her at the-the-the-” Sunflower cut Nokit off.

“Stop stuttering! And don’t call me mother, you disgusting creature! I still can’t believe I gave birth to you! Me, being a pretty she-cat, and… You! Now WHERE DID YOU SEE TWOKIT?!”

“At the bush near the medicine den!” Nokit spat out. She wasn’t lying, she had seen Twokit there today. Rosekit had rolled the moss-ball under it, and she dared Twokit to go get it. Sunflower snarled.

“If you are lying I swear I’ll put an end to you.” She hissed. Nokit remained calm.

“I am not lying. Ask Rosekit, and she’ll say it’s true. Just don’t mention me, or she’ll say it’s a lie. Because of the scorn you gave me, any cat, especially Rosekit, doesn’t want anything to do with me, and Rosekit will make sure our accounts are not remotely the same.” Sunflower gave Nokit one last threatening look, but slipped out of the nursery to find 'her darling kit'. Nokit let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and Twokit gave an excited -but quiet- mew.

"Thank you so much! Now I'll have some time and-" Sunflower burst into the nursery.

"AHAH!" She roared. "TWOKIT COME HERE RIGHT NOW!" Slowly, Twokit dragged herself out of the bedding and over to her mother, groaning.

"Why do I have to?" She groaned. Sunflower began to rapidly groom Twokit, until her pelt shined. Sunflower gave on last proud look and fixed her gaze on Nokit.

"*You."* She growled. *"Lied to me."* Nokit tried to protest, but Sunflower slammed her paws on Nokit, unsheathing her claws and digging them into Nokit. Nokit gave a yelp as blood oozed out, but Sunflower continued. "I told you the consequences but you disobeyed me, but you still lied through your teeth. I knew you weren't to be trusted, and look what you did. From now on, you aren't my kit. You never were. *So scram if you still value your pathetic life.*" Sunflower released her hold, and Nokit scrambled away, falling many times. She panted heavily as she tried to go to the medicine den, but the darkness around her vision was winning and she fainted, remembering nothing more.

## Chapter Two: A New Mother

CREDITING: The first section is written by Moon and the second is written by Dream.

Nokit looked around. She was in a strange place with strange smells. *The medicine den!* Nokit remembered. All her memories flooded back and she felt the sting of pain. Ivyleaf, the medicine cat, was sitting near her, looking surprised and happy at the same time.

"Oh thank StarClan, you're alive! I was so worried when I saw you laying there, motionless, bleeding, and wounded terribly. What happened?" She asked. Her voice was soft, and like a bird song. Nokit instantly liked her.

"Sunflower."

Ivyleaf seemed to understand. "She never liked you, did she?" Nokit nodded. "Well I'm tired of how mean and cruel she treats you! From now on, *you are my daughter*."

Nokit couldn’t help but feel at least a little bit lonely watching Rosekit, Branchkit, and Twokit play as she sat in the entrance of the medicine den.  They were playing a game of mossball.  Both Rosekit and Branchkit wanted to be on Twokit’s team.  Of *course* they did.  *Every cat* wanted to be on Twokit’s side.

Suddenly, Boulderstar came into the clearing.  Nokit gasped because she’d only seen a glimpse of him.

*“Don’t bother our leader,”* Sunflower would always snarl at her when she wanted to take a peek.  “*He doesn’t have time for stupid runt Notail kits like you.  Now go sit in your nest and be QUIET!”*

He was a huge gray tabby, with a few battle scars sprinkled here and there.  But he was a teensy, weensy bit scary to Nokit, because he looked mad.

“SUNFLOWER!” he roared. Nokit flinched, shrinking down in fear, even though he wasn’t even interacting with her.  He was scary when he was angry.

Nokit watched as her biological mother exited the nursery and sat in front of him.  She had a calm, neutral look on her face.

“What do you need?” she asked simply.

*Wow, she’s brave!* Nokit thought admiringly, then took back her thought.  *Remember, she’s the cat who threw you out,* she reminded herself quietly.

“Sunflower,” he said through gritted teeth.  “I *heard* that you *injured* Nokit *severely.”*

“I did,” she said calmly. Her eye caught Nokit’s, and a secret look that her mother gave her chilled her blood.  Boulderstar couldn’t see the look because he was too angry. Nokit only saw a look of pure hatred, rage, and disgust.  Nokit squeaked and ducked into the den.  She watched Boulderstar and Sunflower through a tiny hole in the den.

“What does the ‘*Code* say about *kits*?” he snapped.  “*You never hurt or injure them!!*”

“Since when do you care about Nokit?” her mother asked evenly, a sly, devious look in her eyes.

Nokit’s heart fluttered with hope.  Maybe the *leader* cared about her, too.  That would be amazing.  She wouldn’t be bullied by everycat anymore.

“I don’t,” he snapped, his eyes narrowing with fury.  Nokit’s heart sank.  “I don’t give a foxdung about that little freak-runt, but I'm just mad you broke the ‘Code!”

“So if you don’t care about the little piece of foxdung, why are you mad at *me*?” she asked smoothly.

“I.  ALREADY.  TOLD YOU.” His voice was only getting more menacing.  “YOU. BROKE.  THE ‘CODE!”

For once, Sunflower’s ears flattened a little, but her facial expression didn’t change.  It was still calm as ever.

“So, what are you going to do?  *Exile me* for throwing out a piece of trash that deserved to be gotten rid of?”  She snorted.  “Nokit *deserved* to be hurt.  She’s a freak!  She *helped* Twokit behave *wrong!*”

“No, I will not exile you,” he said, smooth as her.  Nokit was shocked at how quick his behavior changed.  “I will have Twokit killed.”

Sunflower’s ears flattened, and her entire attitude changed, even quicker than Boulderstar’s.  Her face was mixed with rage, fear, sadness, and shock.  “Don’t kill her!” she screeched.  “KILL THAT DISGUSTING RUNT NOKIT INSTEAD!”

Boulderstar’s whisker’s twitched.  Nokit could see he was trying not to laugh.

“I wasn’t serious,” he said. “I'd never hurt that perfect, destined, little angel.  She’s going to bring this Clan to its full extent someday, Sunflower.  But I will exile you and brainwash you from her memory.  This is a warning.  If I see you pull a stunt like that again, your punishment will be final.”

Boulderstar left, and then she saw Sunflower storming to the medicine den, her look of pure hatred even deeper.  Ivyleaf saw this too, and she stopped her in the entrance.

“What do you need, Sunflower?” she asked her.

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” roared the vain yellow she-cat.

“I asked you, what do you need?” Ivyleaf asked again. She gave Nokit a quick glance that said, *Get out of here, quickly!*  Thankfully, Sunflower didn’t see it.

“That stupid foxdung Nokit needs to be punished!” Sunflower hissed.

Nokit ran to the back of the medicine den and began clawing at one of the walls.  *Please, StarClan, please!  Please tear open a hole!*

StarClan must’ve been feeling particularly generous that morning, and the wall tore at her claws. There was enough room for her to squeeze out, and she did.  She ran into the nursery in habit.  Whenever she felt scared, mad, or depressed, she ran into the nursery.

Pebblefoot was sleeping with Rosekit and Branchkit, but Twokit was pawing silently at her mossball.

“Why should I help you after you told Mother where I was hiding?” she sneered, her two tails flicking gleefully.

“I didn’t!” Nokit protested. “You mewed, and she discovered you!”

Twokit snarled dangerously, although Nokit tried to put on an expression that said, *you're as dangerous as me,* but it was hard since Twokit was bigger that her.  “You *dare* blame me for *your* misfortune?” she snarled, her tails flicking with anger.

“I didn’t-” she started nervously, but stopped because she heard hissing and screeching AND IT WAS COMING FROM THE MEDICINE DEN!!

Nokit forgot she was trying to avoid Sunflower due to her fear for Ivyleaf getting hurt and she ran to the medicine den but didn’t enter.  The deputy Berrysky was standing outside, and so were two senior warriors, Flamejay, Larkmeadow, and Slitherscale.  Larkmeadow was not a senior warrior, but she was strong enough to take on two warriors.  She could barely see Boulderstar and a large she-cat warrior named Shadowspirit trying to separate the fight with Sunflower and Ivyleaf.

“What’s happening?” she asked Slitherscale, her voice trembling for Ivyleaf.

Slitherscale gave her a disgusted look.  “I don’t talk to useless little shrimps,” he snapped.

“Larkmeadow?” she begged.

“Eww, its eyes grazed me,” Larkmeadow complained.  “Get away, you notail thing.”  She pushed Nokit away vigorously with her paw, then wailed.  “Ew, I touched it with my paw!”

“Please, Berrysky, tell what happened?”

Berrysky glanced at her, her fur pricking up.  “Stop talking to me!  You're going to get me in trouble,” she hissed.

After a few moments, Boulderstar came out of the den dragging Ivyleaf and Shadowspirit came out carrying Sunflower.  Both she-cats were scratched, bleeding, and injured, but Sunflower looked by far worst, mostly because she was coated in the most blood.

Her left eye was closed tightly shut because a *tiny* scratch ran next to it, but it gave the illusion that her eye was wounded. She had a long scratch running from her shoulder all the way down to her hindquarters.  She also had a cut on her throat but it was barely deep.

In comparison of injuries, Ivyleaf looked much worse.  She had much more injuries, but her non-open-cut areas weren’t coated in blood like Sunflower.  Her right ear was missing a little more than the tip, and her front right paw was bleeding badly.  Her left shoulder was wretched and had a scratch on it.  Her tail tip was chewed-on and pink and bleeding at the end. Lastly, she had a cut running from her nose to the top of her head, and it looked almost like a scarlet blaze.

“Now,” growled Boulderstar. “Now after you're both separated, tell me *WHAT IN THE NAME OF STARCLAN HAPPENED HERE!”*

“Oh, Boulderstar, it was terrible!” wailed Sunflower.  “I went into the medicine den to ask for some heather to put behind Twokit’s ear, but this horrid cat attacked me without warning!”  She fell against him dramatically.  “*You* saved me in the nick of time, though.”

“Ivyleaf, how could you?” Larkmeadow wailed.  “You attacked this poor, beautiful queen for what?”

Ivyleaf remained calm. “She attacked me because I was protecting Nokit.”

Everyone gasped.

“You what?!” Flamejay asked dismayfully.

“She doesn’t deserve this! And I love her as if she was my own kit,” she said.

Boulderstar growled.  “Ivyleaf, it’s against the medicine code!” he snapped.

“And I’ll never give her up!” she snapped stubbornly.  Her gentle leafy-green eyes fell on Nokit lovingly.  “She’s *my* kit.”

“Okay, enough of this foxdung!” Boulderstar snapped.  He thought, then said, “Ivyleaf, we all know you're lying.  Sunflower would *never* attack anyone!  We all know this.  So you will have to be punished.”  He gazed at the trees thoughtfully.

“For exactly three moons, you may not meet with the other medicine cats for the StarClan meetings, nor may you go to Gatherings.  We will spread bad gossip about you and you will not be allowed to defend yourself when you go back.  Also, you will be Sunflower’s slave for that three moons, and because you care about Nokit, what better punishment for you would be for her to be Twokit’s slave?” He snapped a warning look at Sunflower. “You will *not* be allowed to harm her in any way; although I don’t care how Twokit treats Nokit.  Let her do whatever she wishes, even kill her.”  He nodded.  “Ivyleaf, when you’re not tending to Sunflower, you may go to your medicine cat duties.  If somecat’s wounded and it’s life-threatening, you’ll have to let her go until then, Sunflower.”  He waved a paw.  “Go tell Twokit the news, Nokit.  And tend to your wounds, Ivyleaf and Sunflower.”  He left to his den, Berrysky following.

“It'll be alright,” Ivyleaf whispered, touching her cheek to Nokit’s.  “Everything’s going to be alright.  It’s only for three-”

“Slave!” Sunflower barked from inside the den.  “Tend to my wounds or you'll regret it!”

“I have to go,” Ivyleaf said.  Right before she stepped into the den, she gave Nokit a loving look, and bound into the den.

## Chapter Three: Slaves and Stars

CREDITING: The first section is written by Dream and the second is written by Moon.

“Slave!” Twokit called. Nokit gasped for breath as she ran to her sister; it was the start of the morning.  Twokit was looking particularly muddy this morning.

It was the second day of her punishment, and Twokit was making her run errands nonstop last night. All Twokit had allowed her to eat was half of a tail, and after she had gone to sleep, Nokit smuggled out a skinny robin wing which was the only thing left on the fresh-kill pile that night.

“Yes?” she asked, forcing her voice to be neutral.  She wanted to snap at her, but Boulderstar warned her there would be consequences if she was mean to Twokit at all.

“Wash my pelt until I shine,” she said smugly.

“You're disgusting!” Nokit couldn’t help but gasp.

“I know,” she said smoothly. “So wash my pelt.”

With a gag she began to lick Twokit’s fur.  After about fifteen minutes, all the mud was off.

“There,” snapped Nokit, spitting the muddy hairballs onto the ground.  “Better?”

“My fur’s not glossy,” she said scornfully.  “Wash!”

*Oh StarClan, help me!* She silently wailed.  After a few minutes Twokit’s pelt was sleek, clean, and very shiny and glossy.

“Help me prop this heather behind my ear,” she ordered.

Nokit did and she guiltily had to admit the pinkish-purple petals of the heather went very well with Twokit’s silvery-white tabby fur.

“It really brings out my eyes,” Twokit said admiringly, looking at her reflection in a puddle of water.

“Yes,” Nokit forced herself to say.  “It does.”

Twokit yawned and said, “Go get some honey from the medicine den.”

“Wh-why?” she asked.  “Does your throat hurt?  I can ask Ivyleaf for-”

“Of course not, you mousebrain!” Twokit snapped.  “I want something sweet to eat.”

“But Ivyleaf needs it if cats get hurt!” she exclaimed, shocked.  “Do you want to waste the precious honey?  It’s very hard to get-”

“Don’t you dare ever let me hear you speak of anything but me and call it precious!” Twokit hissed.  “Mother was right!  I’m *more* than two times better then you, let alone a *million* times!  And if I hear you call something as silly as honey precious, which is less than two times better than you, you’re calling your worth precious!  Wait a minute,” she muttered to herself.  “Never mind, honey is twice as good as you!  You’re worth as much as death is!  So go get that honey!”

“I'm going to get into trouble!” Nokit protested.

“Glad it’s not me,” Twokit said lazily, lounging on the ground. “I'm waiting, Slave!”

With a grumble of frustration, she went into the medicine den.  No one was there, so Nokit grabbed the honeycomb and gave it to Twokit.

She licked her lips and began slurping at the thick, sticky honey.

“Please don’t finish it all!” Nokit begged, but Twokit just threw the empty honeycomb at her face.

“Now,” said Twokit.  “Go get me some prey.”

“There’s nothing on the pile!” wailed Nokit.

“So go hunt,” she said, her eyes glittering slyly.  “What are you, a dopey little baby?”

Nokit sighed and left the camp.  The trees danced in the wind, and for once, Nokit felt home.

Nokit sat near an oak tree. No matter how rude Twokit was, she couldn't ruin this beautiful scene. Birds were chirping, -they somehow knew Nokit couldn't do anything to them- leaves were rustling, the shade was cool, and the light that came into the forest made everything even more perfect.

*Maybe I could just... Stay here.* Nokit thought. But as soon as she thought it, she took it back. *No, I'd never survive a day! I don't know how to hunt, and I'm still a kit, not to mention I have no balance. I'd have better luck at the camp, even with bossy Twokit and... Sunflower.*

"Why am I so unlucky?!" She shouted. "Why does everything go wrong for me? Why am I Notail?!" No response, except a soft melodious sound. It wasn't a bird call, but something else. A word came to her mind. She at first waved it away, thinking it was too impossible, but the word echoed.

*Stars.* Or to be more precise, *StarClan.* StarClan must be calling her! Happily, she followed the noise, until it lead her to a strange stone place with a pool of water. The pool shimmered with stars, and Nokit dipped her nose in, without thinking. The water was ice-cold, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she wasn't at the pool anymore, but a starry place, filled with starry cats. One noticed her and dipped her head.

"Welcome to StarClan, Silverkit." She said, smiling. She was a orange she-cat with blue eyes, who Nokit vaguely remembered. "I am Flamewhisper. Your father is well here with me." Suddenly Nokit remembered. She was Antclaw's mother!

"What do you mean, Silverkit? I am Nokit, because I have no tail, which is why everyone hates me! I am doomed to die in the nursery, still named Nokit!" Flamewhisper gave her a reassuring look.

"Do not worry, little kit. Your father chose Silverkit, in love, while Sunflower, chose Nokit, in spite. Love is stronger then hate, so your true name is Silverkit." Nokit, now, Silverkit, felt a rush of love towards Flamewhisper.

"Is that really so?" Flamewhisper nodded. "Then in honor of Father, I am Silverkit!" Silverkit announced proudly. "And speaking of Father, may I meet him right now?" Flamewhisper's warm look saddened.

"I'm sorry Silverkit, but I don't have much more time with you, and I still need to share this message." Flamewhisper's pelt started to fade. "An ancient prophecy has begun." Now all Silverkit could see was her face. "Listen to these words: None and Two-" Flamewhisper faded, and Silverkit was back at the pool, except it was dark out now, and questions swarmed her head.

*None and Two,* Silverkit thought. *Nokit and Twokit? What else was she trying to say?* And an even more important question, *Why me?* So Silverkit thought, until a yowl broke the silence.

"Nokit! Where are you?!" Silverkit sighed in relief. It was Ivyleaf.

"I'm over here!" After many heartbeats, Ivyleaf came to view. Her pelt was bedraggled. Probably from being Sunflower's slave.

"Why did you leave the camp?!" She asked. Ivyleaf's eyes were full of worry. "We- Well I, have been searching for the entire day! Do you know how-" Ivyleaf stopped. "Why are you at the Moonpool?" Quickly, Silverkit told her about Twokit, the sound, StarClan, Flamewhisper, and the prophecy.

"So now I'm-" Silverkit stopped. Probably best to leave out her special name. "Well, not nothing!" Ivyleaf laughed.

"Well, I believe your story. Sadly even if the rest of the clan will keep calling you Nokit, or worse, I cannot let them find out about this. Let's go back, and I'll try to help you with that prophecy." Together the two she-cats walked back to the clan, and Silverkit felt like Ivyleaf truly was her mom.

*Maybe Nokit is Sunflower's daughter, but Silverkit is Ivyleaf's. I don't want to be Nokit, and I like Ivyleaf. Maybe, I don't have rotten luck, but then again, maybe Twokit's a hedgehog!*

## Chapter Four: Returning

CREDITING: The first section is written by Moon, then the second is by Dream

When the she-cats reached the camp, it was dawn, and Twokit was bawling, with Sunflower comforting her.

"So- So- Notail ditches me when I- I- I ask for some prey!" Twokit sobbed. "And she took honey from the den when I told her n-n-not too!" Sunflower put her tail on Twokit's shoulder.

"There, there, my darling. It's not your fault your so-called sister is a monster. I hope Ivyleaf never finds her, and they both die in the forest alone." Sunflower soothed. Silverkit couldn't take it any longer. She burst into the bushes and into the camp, furious.

"I did none of those things!" Silverkit spat. "She made me go out to hunt because she wanted prey when there wasn't anything! She made me steal honey and ate the entire honey comb! And all Twokit has allowed me to have was half a mouse tail! I got lost because I was trying to find a deaf and blind mouse that I could have the slightest chance of fulfilling what she asked!" Sunflower slowly turned to look at Silverkit, and instead of the caring expression she had for Twokit, her face showed no trace of it.

"YOU... YOU LIAR!" Sunflower shrieked. Her eyes were twisted with anger. “HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!” She looked like she wanted to rip Silverkit to shreds, but she calmed herself, and gracefully padded over to Ivyleaf and Silverkit.

“Hello sister,” Sunflower’s voice was sickeningly sweet now. “And hello Nokit,” It took all of Silverkit’s willpower to not scream her real name, so instead, she replied coolly.

“Hello, Sunflower. Why do we hear such terrible things about me and my mother?” Silverkit asked. “And why would Twokit be crying about things that never happened?” Sunflower glared at Silverkit, but replied nonchalantly as well.

“Well, someone,” she glared at Berrysky. “Thought the reason for your disappearance was the fault of Twopaw, who, I might add, became an apprentice in your absence.” Twopaw puffed up her chest when Sunflower had said her name.

“Because you left, *Notail,* Boulderstar, -who I might add is now my mate," Sunflower gazed at the leader affectionately, and Boulderstar smiled dreamily. "Knew that Twokit deserved to be apprenticed, and with you gone, no one would be left behind." Silverkit heard a hiss, and saw it was coming from Ivyleaf! Her fur was bristling, and her soft gentle eyes showed anger.

"What happened to Pebblefoot?" Ivyleaf's voice rang out. "What did you do to our sister? You already killed your old mate, and now you kill Pebblefoot for a new mate!" Sunflower only gave a sly smile.

"Antclaw's death was because of a fox. Pebblefoot and I went on a patrol together to investigate the rock area, because of the strange scents, and out pops a snake that bites her! We already buried her and did the vigil, and Twokit now has a mentor, Boulderstar!" Sunflower announced smugly, and Silverkit knew the death of Pebblefoot was a lie.

"But what will happen to Rosekit, Branchkit, and me?" Silverkit asked. Sunflower stopped smiling, but after thinking, she smiled again.

"Oh Honey! I have an idea about what we should do about the kits!" Sunflower called. Boulderstar walked over to her.

"Any idea from you is perfect. Tell me!" He said. Sunflower whispered into his ear, and they both laughed. "Sunflower, this is perfect! I'll call a meeting right away!" Boulderstar leapt up onto the Highledge. "*Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge* *for a Clan meeting!*"

"I guess you can all be apprentices. Rosekit, Branchkit, and... Nokit, you all don't need milk, and I'm sure many warriors will be happy to mentor you all!" Silverkit couldn't believe it. Her real mother, letting *her* be apprenticed?! This was too good to be true!

"Really?" She asked. Sunflower nodded. She looked at Boulderstar, sharing a secret look.

Cats quickly gathered.

“I have an announcement about the fate of the kits of Pebblefoot,” Boulderstar proclaimed. Sunflower already had gotten him to barely care about his old mate! Ivyleaf cleared her throat, and Boulderstar hastily added, “Oh, and Nokit too. Bring the kits at once!”

As soon as he had said these things, cats ushered the three kits to the front. Rosekit was quickly grooming herself, and Branchkit was happily bouncing.

“Father! Will Sunflower be our mother now?” Rosekit meekly asked. Boulderstar looked into her eyes, changing his tone to match the one mothers used.

“Sunflower is ready to go out of the nursery, so I have a treat for you, Rosekit. Branchkit and Nokit too! You all get to be apprenticed early!” Rosekit’s eyes brightened.

“So I get to be Rosepaw?” Rosekit asked.

“If  you would  like to be Rubybloom’s apprentice,” Boulderstar replied. Rosekit eagerly nodded, and Boulderstar turned to Rubybloom.

“Rubybloom, would you like to mentor Rosekit?” Rubybloom thought for a moment, and responded:

“I would be delighted to,” Boulderstar turned to look at Rosekit again.

“Now you have a mentor, your new name is now Rosepaw,” Cats cheered, shouting her new name. All Rosepaw could do was to  smile shyly, and go over to her mentor.

“Rosepaw!”

“Rosepaw!”

“Rosepaw!”

Boulderstar then did the same to Branchkit, giving him Browntail as a mentor, and naming him Branchpaw. Branchpaw bounded over to Browntail, and they softly talked, while cats cheered Branchpaw’s new name.

“Branchpaw!”

“Branchpaw!”

“Branchpaw!” After cheering Branchpaw’s name, cats began to walk away, until a clear voice yowled.

“You forgot Nokit!” Cats looked at where the sound was coming from, and it was Ivyleaf. “You first forgot to mention her when talking about Pebblefoot’s kit’s fate, and now you don’t even mentor her! Why am I the only one who is trying to help this poor kit, who even her real mother rejected? Why am I the only one who cares!?”

As the cold truth of Ivyleaf’s words sunk in, murmurs could be heard. Then, quietly at first, they started chanting Silverkit’s name, -of course they still thought her name was Nokit, so that was what they said- but then it got louder, until they were all shouting the name.

“NOKIT! NOKIT! NOKIT!” They chanted. “NOKIT! NOKIT! NOKIT!” Boulderstar, Sunflower, and Twopaw were the only ones not shouting, because even Rosepaw and Branchpaw knew Ivyleaf’s words were true. In fact, they walked over to Silverkit and quietly apologized.

“Sorry Nokit. I guess we never realized how mean we were.” Rosepaw said sheepishly.

“Yeah, it was kinda just a game we played with Twopaw.” Branchpaw added. Silverkit smiled.

"It's all okay. Twopaw was the reason you acted like that," Suddenly all the chanting cats closed in on Boulderstar.

"MAKE HER AN APPRENTICE!" They shouted, until Boulderstar could only give in.

"Fine!" He snapped. "She's Nopaw!" Cats cheered, celebrating her name. "But! She has no mentor and will have to use the other mentors!" If anycat heard him, they didn't care. They were all so happy. That is, until Twopaw shrieked.

"WHY DO YOU ALL CARE ABOUT HER?! SHE'S WEAK, WHILE I, AM STRONG! I AM YOUR NEXT LEADER OBEY ME!" Her normally blue eyes blazed green, and everyone cheering stopped. In a single motion, they snapped up, looking at her. Only Ivyleaf remained, and she slowly walked over to the medicine den, looking terrified.

"Obey her," They muttered. "Ignore the weakling," As soon as it had come, the strange way they acted ended. Cats clamored to rush over to Twopaw, and cast dirty looks at Nopaw.

*Now do I even have my special name?* Nopaw thought grimly. *I guess I could call myself Silverpaw, but could I really? Telling myself a different 'kit name is one thing, but a 'paw name is special. Maybe I don't need it.* Then Nopaw thought about the way Twopaw had somehow gotten all of the other cats to do what they said. *Sunflower always said she had a way with getting what she wants, but did she really have the ability of* possession? *No, it can't be, But, could it?*

Nopaw gazed at the night moon from the entrance of the medicine den, slowly being hidden by clouds that drifted over it.  It was full, and the night of the Gathering.  She, Ivyleaf, Fogstorm, and Treeclaw were the only ones staying; Nopaw and Ivyleaf had to stay because they were still punished, and Fogstorm’s kits were very close to becoming born and Treeclaw wanted to stay to be with her if she did.  She was very close to kitting when she finally moved in the nursery.  They also weren’t allowed to not be slaves still.

She watched as Ivyleaf paced back and forth.

“What's wrong?” she asked her mother.

“Fogstorm has a cough,” she said with a sigh.  “I'm worried about her.  She’s also lost a lot of weight ever since she was expecting, so she’s a lot weaker. In a way, I'm glad Boulderstar forbid me to go to the Gathering.”

Nopaw nodded in understanding.  “Yeah…”

Suddenly, Treeclaw ran out of the nursery.  “Fogstorm’s kitting!” he gasped.

Swiftly Ivyleaf grabbed a premade bundle of herbs and rushed into the nursery.

After a little while, Ivyleaf came back, a bit tired but pleased.

“She gave birth to three healthy kits,” she said.  “Two toms and a she-cat.”

“Can I see them?” Nopaw lit up.

“Of course, if Fogstorm lets you,” Ivyleaf purred.

Nopaw walked into the nursery.  Fogstorm gave her a disgusted look but didn’t shoo her away.  There were three kits, a dark gingerish-brown kit, a pale brown tabby kit, and a silvery-white kit with black points.

“What are there names?” Nopaw murmured.

“The ginger tom is Flamekit, the brown tom is Cricketkit, and the silver kit is Silkkit,” Fogstorm said.  She began to lick them lovingly.

Nopaw felt a ping of joy, with a mixture of sadness and envy.  How come Sunflower had never loved her like that?  It was all because of her stupid *no tail*.

“Get out if you're going to make sad-mean faces!” Fogstorm snapped.

Nopaw jumped and dashed out.

“They’re very cute,” she admitted.  “But Fogstorm yelled at me.”

“What?” Ivyleaf asked, her ears flattening protectively about Nopaw.  Why?”

“Um…” She sighed.  “I guess I was scowling.”

“Why were you scowling?” Ivyleaf whispered.  “If this is about you being worried that her kits won't like you…”

“No, no, it’s nothing important,” Nopaw said, and gave a fake, awkward chuckle to try to lighten the mood, but it failed terribly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ivyleaf asked.

Nopaw shook her head. “No, thanks,” she said with a sigh. The full moon began to disappear behind the clouds.

“StarClan’s angry,” Ivyleaf mumbled.  “Something’s going wrong at the Gathering…”

“Huh?”  Nopaw pricked up her ears to hear Ivyleaf.  “What did you say?”

“Oh, nothing,” said Ivyleaf. “It’s getting late.  You should go to sleep.  I’ll wait for the rest of ThunderClan to get home and stand guard.”

“Okay, thanks,” Nopaw murmured and fell into her nest with a thump. She was tired, after all.  She began to close her eyes…

"͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽a͓̽k͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽p͓̽!͓̽"͓̽

Nopaw jumped.  “Huh?” she meowed.  She was in a starry, clear meadow.  She felt warm rays of sun hit her pelt despite being night, and a warm breeze rustled her fur.

"͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽u͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽a͓̽k͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽p͓̽!͓̽"͓̽

A small, creamy-white she-cat with stars in her fur padded up to her, her unusual dark purple eyes brimming with worry.

“Wh-who are you?” Nopaw gasped.

“͓̽M͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽C͓̽r͓̽e͓̽s͓̽c͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽”͓̽ she said. ̽“I͓̽’͓̽m͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽a͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽P͓̽e͓̽b͓̽b͓̽l͓̽e͓̽f͓̽o͓̽o͓̽t͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽v͓̽y͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽f͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽n͓̽f͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽u͓̽p͓̽p͓̽o͓̽s͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽C͓̽r͓̽e͓̽s͓̽c͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽s͓̽w͓̽i͓̽r͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽f͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽r͓̽i͓̽e͓̽n͓̽d͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽D͓̽i͓̽a͓̽m͓̽o͓̽n͓̽d͓̽s͓̽w͓̽i͓̽r͓̽l͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽i͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽o͓̽n͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽c͓̽c͓̽i͓̽d͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽u͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽k͓̽n͓̽e͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽n͓̽f͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽’͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽o͓̽r͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽e͓̽c͓̽r͓̽e͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽e͓̽c͓̽i͓̽d͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽e͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽i͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽e͓̽.͓̽”͓̽

“I'm so sorry…” Nopaw whispered.  Her biological mother was only getting more heartless as she learned more.  She was glad her current mother was good and true.

“͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽M͓̽U͓̽S͓̽T͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽a͓̽k͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽p͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽ ͓̽T͓̽w͓̽o͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽i͓̽n͓̽d͓̽-͓̽c͓̽o͓̽n͓̽t͓̽r͓̽o͓̽l͓̽l͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽t͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽G͓̽a͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽!͓̽”͓̽

“Wh-what?!” Nopaw gasped again.

“͓̽S͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽c͓̽c͓̽i͓̽d͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽l͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽n͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽r͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽i͓̽c͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽r͓̽o͓̽m͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽i͓̽n͓̽d͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽r͓̽o͓̽o͓̽k͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽i͓̽d͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽e͓̽a͓̽r͓̽l͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽o͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽i͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽!͓̽”͓̽ Crescentpaw exclaimed.

Nopaw growled.  “I can't believe Twopaw is controlling nearly all the Clans!!”

Crescentpaw shook her head. “͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽v͓̽y͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽l͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽m͓̽m͓̽u͓̽n͓̽e͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽x͓̽c͓̽e͓̽p͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽v͓̽y͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽f͓̽'͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽e͓̽e͓̽d͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽m͓̽e͓̽w͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽l͓̽s͓̽e͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽l͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽v͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽m͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽!͓̽”͓̽

“I’m not Silverpaw!” she snapped, then wished she hadn’t snapped at StarClan.

Crescentpaw sighed, than said quietly, ““͓̽T͓̽h͓̽e͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽?͓̽”͓̽

Nopaw opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out*.  Who am I?*

Suddenly, her eyes opened and she was back in the medicine den, Ivyleaf watching out the enterance. Nopaw bolted up and ran out.

“Nopaw!” Ivyleaf yowled. “Where are you going!!  Wait up!”

But there was no time to explain.  The Gathering and the rest of the clans were in danger, and it could bring the end of them as she knew it.

Nopaw’s legs were burning, but she couldn’t stop running.  When she got there, it was total chaos.

## Chapter Five: The Cursed Gathering

CREDITING: The first section is written by Moon, then the second is by Dream, then after Boulderstar wakes up, it's by Moon again, until the next section, which is then by Dream

A few cats were running around, yowling for help, but most were in a circle, chanting something. Nopaw slipped into a bush and watched.

"Twotail, Twotail, Twotail!" the cats shouted in unison. Twopaw was standing in the center, eyes blazing, with Sunflower and Boulderstar smiling triumphantly right next to her.

"WORSHIP ME!" Twopaw shouted. "WORSHIP ME!" the cats chanted her name again. This time she looked pleased. "That's better. Now, how do you feel about," She paused to sneer. "Stupid *notail?"*

"Notail is nothing to us. You are everything," the cats said. Sunflower smiled evily, and whispered something to Twopaw. Somehow Nopaw could hear it, and everything after it.

*"Told you I could get them to love you, and even get your 'sister' out of the picture!* Your power is useful! So what if a WindClan mangepelt dies?*"* Sunflower smirked. Twopaw gasped for breath. Suddenly there was a *pop* and all the cats went back to normal. Even Boulderstar looked dazed.

"What happened?" He asked. "Last thing I remember is Pebblefoot-" His voice broke into sobs. "Pebblefoot being dead!" Sunflower looked shocked.

"*Twopaw!* Why is he still not... You know!" She hissed.

"I don't know! Maybe I took too many cats!" Twopaw snapped. Her eyes weakly glared brighter and Boulderstar snapped back into the cat who 'loved' Sunflower.

"How could I forget the wonderful Sunflower?" He boasted. "Pebblefoot means nothing to me!" Sunflower smiled.

"What happened?" Cats meowed. Twopaw looked nervous.

"We were mourning Pebblefoot, and you all fell in a trance, maybe because the spirits were with us," Sunflower said 'solemly'. Nopaw rolled her eyes. That was totally fake! But then Twopaw's eyes flared gently and they all started agreeing.

"Yeah! That sounds true!"

*Twopaw must be able to control cats! And if she does a weaker version, she can "suggest"! Wait! "None and Two..."! Nopaw, me, and Twopaw! We must have powers!* Nopaw thought. The question Crescentpaw had asked rang in her mind. *"Then who are you?"* *I'm Nopaw! Right?* But there wasn't time to contemplate that question, because an apprentice, who at least looked WindClan, -even though Nopaw had never seen a WindClan cat- noticed her. His white fur was dripping wet, so he must of been the cat Twopaw snapped at.

"Hey! Who are you?!" He asked. Other cats looked at her. Nopaw tried to run, but they blocked her escape. The white apprentice sneered. "Oh, you're not getting away! WindClan's specialty allows us to outrun anything! Especially a no tailed runt!" Twopaw's ears pricked up, and she growled, slowly walking over to Nopaw, and even shoved a few cats until she could see her sister.

"A no tailed runt? Oh, Flashpaw, she's worse then that. She ruins everything for me because she's *jealous.* I have two beautiful tails," She paused to display her two tabby tails. "And she has none. But, I'm not one to punish." Nopaw rolled her eyes and Twopaw glared at her. "So I'll let my fair mother decide, but unlike me, she isn't... as forgiving,. As if on cue, Sunflower emerged, snarling.

"So my... reject, decides she can crash this mourning? Pebblefoot was way more nicer to you then you deserved, and you treat her like mousedung?" She began to fake sadness. "After all this? I thought you could change, but you are a monster! GET OUT OF HERE AND GO BACK TO THE MANGERIDDEN CROWFOOD CAT OF A SISTER I HAVE LEFT!" Sunflower roared. Other cats joined in, hissing.

"GO AWAY NOTAIL!" They said. "NO ONE LIKES YOU!" Finally, with tears streaming, Nopaw ran away, or at least she tried. Her stupid no tail made her lose her balance, multiple times, and she lost every scrap of dignity she still had.

Back at the island, Twopaw couldn't bare her powers anymore, and all the cats 'woke up,' confused. Sunflower finally lost it then, screaming at her 'perfect' kit, and all Twopaw wished for was to see Nopaw again.

When she got back to the nursery, she was covered in scratches, bruises, and some blood. Nopaw was still crying as Ivyleaf came out. Her sympathetic face softened even more as she rushed over to Nopaw.

"Nopaw! Are you okay? Did Sunflower do this? I was worried sick when you went missing!"

"I was sent by StarClan to go to the Gathering. Twopaw can control cats!" Nopaw said. She felt dizzy, and collapsed. All she remembered next, was Crescentpaw appearing, and whispering:

"͓̽N͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽T͓̽w͓̽o͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽n͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽t͓̽w͓̽i͓̽n͓̽e͓̽d͓̽.͓̽

͓̽O͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽t͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽g͓̽g͓̽e͓̽s͓̽t͓̽i͓̽o͓̽n͓̽s͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽t͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽i͓̽s͓̽d͓̽o͓̽m͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽

T͓̽h͓̽e͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽i͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽R͓̽i͓̽s͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽F͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽v͓̽i͓̽o͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽v͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽a͓̽i͓̽n͓̽.͓̽

͓̽B͓̽e͓̽w͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽o͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽w͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽n͓̽f͓̽l͓̽u͓̽e͓̽n͓̽c͓̽e͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽l͓̽a͓̽z͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽m͓̽p͓̽l͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽p͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽t͓̽.͓̽"͓̽

“Wake up!” Ivyleaf whispered, prodding Nopaw with her paw. “Please wake up!”

Nopaw groggily woke up and realized that she was coated in poultices and cobwebs; probably Ivyleaf’s doing.

“Oh, thank StarClan you’re okay,” Ivyleaf said, her voice wavering.  “When you just fainted, I was worried…”

“I-I’m fine,” she said, slowly getting up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Ivyleaf asked, sounding stern like a queen.  “You're hurt.”

“I have to stop Twopaw!” she exclaimed.  She thought quietly of herself, running away between tears.  No, she wouldn’t do that again.  The rest of the Clans depended on her.  She had to be strong, no matter how much it would hurt.  “I'm going back to the Gathering.”

Ivyleaf sighed, then said, “Then I'm coming with you.”

Nopaw nodded.  “We need to hurry, then.”

Ivyleaf helped Nopaw get to the Gathering in one piece, and oddly, Sunflower was yelling at Twopaw. The way her white tabby fur was rising, her ears were flattening, and the hurt and fear in her eyes actually made Nopaw feel a little sorry for her.   The other Clans were just barely waking up, though and they all looked dazed.

“You lost control of them!” Sunflower snapped.

“I-I’m sorry, Mother,” Twopaw whispered.  “I won't do it again, I promise,”

“You'd better keep it,” Sunflower said, anger in her eyes.  “But now you can't take control of them again.”  Her gaze glittered over to Nopaw and Ivyleaf, and it grew wide with rage.

“*You*!” she hissed to Nopaw, walking over in fury.  Nopaw almost thought she saw smoke coming out of Sunflower’s nose and ears.  Fear instantly washed over her, and she widened her eyes as Sunflower stomped over. “*You’re the piece of crowfood that made Twopaw lose control!*”

“Don’t take another step,” Ivyleaf said softly, standing in front of Nopaw protectively.

“Get out of the way,” Sunflower growled.  “Or are you as stupid as Crescentpaw and Antclaw?”

“Crescentpaw and Antclaw weren’t stupid!” Ivyleaf bristled.  “Crescentpaw was probably the most brilliant and lively of the four of us, and Antclaw was wonderful!  But you disrespected him, even when he was your mate.”

“They were both idiots,” Sunflower said, her eyes glittering with smug glee.  “Especially Crescentpaw.  She died to a monster.  I mean, seriously, it’s easy to predict monsters’ movement.”

Ivyleaf bristled even more, but she didn’t move, only glared with narrowed eyes.  Suddenly, Sunflower lunged and attacked her with unsheathed claws. Nopaw was barely able to dodge. She went over to Twopaw, who was looking at her paws, ashamed.

“Are you ok?” Nopaw asked her quietly.

“Ok?!”  Twopaw glared at her, her gaze full of hate.  “It’s *your* stupid fault Mother is mad at me!  You made me lose control of them and now I can't regain them!”  Without warning she attacked Nopaw.

The two of them were tangling, and Nopaw was losing the fight.  Suddenly, a creamy-white she-cat with stars in fur appeared beside the two of them.

"͓̽S͓̽t͓̽o͓̽p͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽!͓̽"͓̽ she hissed.

The two jumped apart.

Twopaw whimpered, “Wh-who are you?” at the same time Nopaw exclaimed, “Crescentpaw!”

“͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽w͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽u͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽r͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽t͓̽o͓̽p͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽i͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽!͓̽”͓̽ she hissed, anger in her dark purple eyes. ͓̽“͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽s͓̽;͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽l͓̽o͓̽o͓̽d͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽w͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽i͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽l͓̽a͓̽s͓̽t͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽n͓̽t͓̽i͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽o͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽v͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽r͓̽e͓̽a͓̽t͓̽h͓̽?͓̽ I͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽w͓̽e͓̽a͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽e͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽o͓̽u͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽u͓̽c͓̽h͓̽!͓̽”͓̽ ͓̽ She muttered softly under her breath,͓̽“͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽u͓̽e͓̽s͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽n͓̽f͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽l͓̽w͓̽a͓̽y͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽r͓̽y͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽p͓̽i͓̽c͓̽k͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽i͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽o͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽s͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽o͓̽u͓̽g͓̽h͓̽.͓̽”͓̽

“Why should we listen to you?” Twopaw sneered.

Crescentpaw’s tail lashed angrily and her eyes glittered in anger.  “͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽m͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽,͓̽"͓̽ she said, her voice dangerously low.  Her dark purple eyes were more bubbly and lighter than lava.  “͓̽A͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽o͓̽n͓̽’͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽r͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽e͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽l͓̽o͓̽n͓̽g͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽i͓̽f͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽e͓̽c͓̽o͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽u͓̽r͓̽d͓̽e͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽a͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽i͓̽f͓̽t͓̽.͓̽”͓̽

Nopaw nodded eargerly but Twopaw skeptically still looked dubious.

“So?” she asked.

“Twopaw!” Nopaw said. “You need to listen to what she tells you.”

“Whatever,” she muttered. “Fine, whatever you say, Crescentpaw.”

The dark cream she-cat nodded.  “You *must* get along.”

The rest of the Clans were still “waking up,” while the fight with Sunflower and Ivyleaf was only getting more heated.

"͓̽S͓̽t͓̽o͓̽p͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽!͓̽"͓̽  Crescentpaw peeled her sisters apart.  Before they realized she separated them, she disappeared.

Both she-cats were bleeding and bloody.

“My beautiful fur!” Sunflower wailed.  She stared daggers at Ivyleaf.  “You rotten, mangepelt, flea-infested, crowfood, foxdung-”

“Stop it, please Mother,” Twopaw said quietly.

Sunflower looked at her. Nopaw guessed she was probably still mad at her, but she said, “Of course, my love.”  She still glared hatefully at Ivyleaf as she walked to sit beside her favorite daughter.  “You're lucky you're under the mercy of my darling little angel.”

“I'm not darling or little!” Twopaw complained as Sunflower began to lick her fur.  “And I can groom myself!”

“Nonsense, you have some scratches that need to be tended to,” she said.  “I don’t trust my fleabrained sister.  I don’t even understand how were related!  How did you get these…?”

Nopaw braced herself for Twopaw to tattle on her, for Sunflower to snarl at her, for Ivyleaf to protect her again…

“I tripped over those tangled roots and into that bed of roses,” Twopaw lied.

Nopaw gasped.  Was her sister actually trying to protect her?

“Oh, my poor baby!” Sunflower wailed and began to lick her more ferociously.

“Wh-what happened?” asked Boulderstar, who was still waking up.

Next part by Moonberrii

Sunflower glanced at Boulderstar, but didn't respond. She turned her gaze back to Twopaw.

"I thought you were smarter then that!" She said. Twopaw groaned.

"Mother! I'm still five moons old!"

"There's a reason you were apprenticed though!"

"Well what if I don't want to be an apprentice then!" Twopaw snapped. Sunflower gasped, and her soft caring face morphed into the absolute loathing face she had with Nopaw regularly. She hissed a few words Nopaw couldn't hear, but it seemed to scare Twopaw. "Y-Yes mother. I should of been smarter, and I will now try to strive harder," She said in an unemotional voice. Sunflower seemed pleased.

"Good," She turned her attention to Nopaw. "Now, *run as fast as you can and hope I'm feeling merciful.* Get out if you value your pathetic life. The life I would of ended if it weren't for your father changing sides. Now he's gone and I can end it."

So Nopaw ran. Well, tried to again, because she had no tail. Sighing, Ivyleaf put her on her battered back, so Nopaw could leave.

"Don't worry, Sunflower wouldn't dare to anger StarClan by actually killing me. She still thinks StarClan would allow her to go there, even though..." She paused. "*You know,*" Nopaw gulped. She did know.

"Ivyleaf?" Nopaw asked. "You know how I went to the Gathering? It was because StarClan sent me there. They also gave me a prophecy. None and Two, intertwined. One with Suggestions, and the other with Wisdom. They shall either be the Rise or Fall, the savior or villain. Beware, for two other sisters shall influence, one a blazing flower, and the other a simple plant." She finished. Ivyleaf said nothing for a while, until she finally responded, her voice strangely calm.

"Nopaw, I think you need to be a medicine cat."

## Chapter Six: A New Path

CREDITING: The first part is written by Moon, and the second part is written by Dream.

Ivyleaf faced Boulderstar boldly, and proclaimed in a loud voice: "Nopaw is meant to become a medicine cat!" Boulderstar shook his head once more.

"Ivyleaf, the more you ask, doesn't change my answer. Sun- I have decided she is still good enough to hunt, therefore she shall be instead of a warrior, a hunter."

"You won't teach her to hunt! You'll just cast her into the forest!" Ivyleaf exclaimed. "I'm not mousebrained you know!" Boulderstar looked tired, he had been arguing for the entire day with Ivyleaf, but while Ivyleaf fought with what seemed to be unlimited energy, Boulderstar lost all of it hours ago.

"What if StarClan takes it as an insult?" He asked. "A no tailed runt to represent them? Sorry Nopaw." It seemed that since the gathering, Twopaw had only been able to 'suggest' that he loved Sunflower, so Nopaw thought he didn't dislike her anymore, or he never had disliked her.

"StarClan reached out to her! It's more of an insult to not let her become one!" Then Ivyleaf thought. "What if they show you a sign?" She asked.

"Then I would have no choice but to allow her to switch," Boulderstar said solemnly. Ivyleaf narrowed her eyes. She didn't trust the tom, but this declaration was good enough for her.

"Then I shall ask StarClan for a sign." Ivyleaf closed her eyes, and without warning, a piercing cry echoed throughout the clearing. It was Ivyleaf, but it *wasn't* Ivyleaf. It was Crescentpaw using Ivyleaf to talk to Boulderstar! Ivyleaf's posture was different, and had dark purple eyes. Definitely Crescentpaw.

"͓̽B͓̽o͓̽u͓̽l͓̽d͓̽e͓̽r͓̽s͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽t͓̽r͓̽o͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽m͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽r͓̽i͓̽e͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽u͓̽s͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽o͓̽o͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽j͓̽u͓̽d͓̽g͓̽e͓̽m͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽v͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽r͓̽?͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽N͓̽o͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽M͓̽e͓̽d͓̽i͓̽c͓̽i͓̽n͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽C͓̽a͓̽t͓̽.͓̽"͓̽Crescentpaw shook her head. "͓̽N͓̽o͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽r͓̽s͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽'͓̽m͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽'͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽w͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽t͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽o͓̽m͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽v͓̽e͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽p͓̽a͓̽r͓̽t͓̽l͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽o͓̽n͓̽t͓̽r͓̽o͓̽l͓̽l͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽T͓̽w͓̽o͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽.͓̽"͓̽

"What?" Boulderstar asked, bewildered. Crescentpaw waved 'her' paw.

"͓̽I͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽s͓̽h͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽i͓̽l͓̽y͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽e͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽a͓̽t͓̽e͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽e͓̽n͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽o͓̽n͓̽'͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽r͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽H͓̽o͓̽n͓̽e͓̽s͓̽t͓̽l͓̽y͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽ ͓̽H͓̽u͓̽n͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽?͓̽ ͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽u͓̽n͓̽!͓̽"͓̽

Crescentpaw looked at Nopaw. "͓̽S͓̽o͓̽r͓̽r͓̽y͓̽,͓̽"͓̽ Again Nopaw bit back a remark. She wasn't Silverpaw! As if Crecsentpaw read her mind -which she probably did- she answered. S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽B͓̽o͓̽u͓̽l͓̽d͓̽e͓̽r͓̽s͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽r͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽a͓̽t͓̽e͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽n͓̽o͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽u͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽f͓̽r͓̽o͓̽m͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽e͓̽a͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽e͓̽r͓̽e͓̽n͓̽'͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽p͓̽p͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽h͓̽e͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽F͓̽l͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽w͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽p͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽l͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽?͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽f͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽a͓̽m͓̽e͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽'͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽g͓̽a͓̽i͓̽n͓̽?͓̽"͓̽ As if one cue, Ivyleaf's body shuddered, and Nopaw knew Flamewhisper had taken control, because Ivyleaf's eyes were now bright green.

"͓̽Y͓̽e͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽k͓̽i͓̽t͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽C͓̽r͓̽e͓̽s͓̽c͓̽e͓̽n͓̽t͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽o͓̽r͓̽r͓̽e͓̽c͓̽t͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽,͓̽"͓̽ Flamewhisper proclaimed. For a moment, it looked like Silverpelt shone brighter, and the next time Flamewhisper spoke, it seemed as if all StarClan was saying it too: "͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽!͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽!͓̽"͓̽

Silverpaw felt her paws tingle. It was as if she had changed more then just her name, but her entire self. Her fur seemed to shine, and she felt more, *confident.* Her name *felt* right. "I am Silverpaw," Silverpaw announced. Then Ivyleaf collapsed. StarClan was leaving.

"W-what happened?" Ivyleaf mewed weakly. Bouderstar looked at her, and *smiled.*

"You just convinced me to make *Silver*paw a Medicine Cat."

Silverpaw enjoyed her medicine cat training.  It was better than her supposed “warrior” training and it was nice to have her mother as her mentor.  She was still Twopaw’s slave, but ever since Crescentpaw’s “visit,” she was a lot nicer.

Later that day she went to get some prey for herself and she watched as Rosepaw and Twopaw talked with Redpaw.  Well, more like tried talk with him but they were just overwhelming him.  Rosepaw and Twopaw seemed very annoyed with each other and each tried to get Redpaw’s attention.

She couldn’t help but smirk a little.  Poor Redpaw was trying to escape, but Rosepaw and Twopaw were only getting louder.

“Umm… guys…”  Redpaw said.  “Uh, Flytail’s waiting for me at the entrance to take me hunting.  I really need to go-”

“She’s not your mentor,” Rosepaw dismissed him.  “As I was saying…”

“I-” Redpaw said, but was cut off by Twopaw.

“Pleeeeaase will you take *me* hunting?” Twopaw asked, batting her “eyelashes” at him.

“No!” he said.  “I *want* to go hunting with *Flytail*!”

“WHAT?!” Rosepaw and Twopaw exclaimed, enraged.

“I need to have a talk with her!” Twopaw angrily ran off to find the white she-cat, Rosepaw on her heels. Redpaw just sighed exasperatedly.

“They won't leave me alone!” Redpaw groaned to his sister Lilypaw.

“You have fans,” she teased. “Now you know what it’s like to be me.”

“You don’t have fans,” he pointed out, but she ignored him.

“Flytail’s waiting for you,” she said.  “I’ll keep your ‘admirers’ away from you and your crush.”  She winked at him.

“I don’t have a crush on her!” he protested.  “She’s just a friend!  And we definitely won't be mates after I get my Warrior name.  Um, probably.”

Silverpaw thought Redpaw and Lilypaw weren’t that bad.  They weren’t rude or mean to her, they just avoided her.  she took a bite of her chipmunk as Ivyleaf padded up to her.

“Come when you finish your prey,” Ivyleaf said.  “I’ll teach you more about herbs and medicines.”

Silverpaw spent the rest of the day learning with Ivyleaf.  After what seemed like a little while, it was night.

“Go to sleep,” Ivyleaf said.  “Silkkit has a cough, and I’ll treat it tonight alone.  If she still has it tomorrow, you can help me, but it’s getting late.”

Silverpaw nodded, went into her nest, and closed her eyes…

“Silverpaw!”

Her eyes fluttered open and once again she was in StarClan. Crescentpaw was looking at her worriedly.

“What’s wrong?” Silverpaw asked, frowning.

“I don’t have much time,” Crescentpaw said.  “Silverpaw, if you follow the stars, it will lead to…” she began fading.

“Stop!” Silverpaw exclaimed.  “Lead to what?  Happiness? StarClan?  The Moonpool?  A new Clan? Don’t go!”

But the StarClan apprentice disappeared, and Silverpaw awoke.  Ivyleaf was already asleep, and Silverpaw left her nest.  The camp was quiet, but a small row of shiny, white, metallic, clear stones caught her eye…

*Like stars!*

The path of pebbles gleamed in the moonlight as the tracked out of the camp.  Silverpaw followed it slowly.  It took her down and around, and the pebbles weren’t natural; they were sharp and the wrong pebble shape, like shards.  They also looked newly laid.  *StarClan made a new path for me!* She thought happily as she followed it.  Her happiness turned into disappointment when the path just stopped, very far away from camp.  *It leads to nothing!* She thought dismayfully.

Suddenly, a pair of sly, devious, beautiful brown eyes blinked at her from a bush, lit by the moonlight seeping down through the treetops to the ground.  Silverpaw gasped in fear and couldn’t move, her heart in her throat.  *The stars lead to danger!*

“Hello, *daughter*.”  Sunflower emerged from the bush, looming over a trembling Silverpaw.  “Did you like my little trick?  All I had to do was lay out a bunch of those shard-pebbles I found in the Twolegplace and boom!  StarClan is so pathetic for trying to warn you.  They practically chased you into my paws!”  She licked her jaws.  “I'm afraid you’ve been getting in the way of my plans, though, and just like when you were younger, you’ve somehow taught your brilliant sister to behave wrong. How are you influencing her so strongly, stronger than I ever have?”  She unsheathed one of her claws, licked it, and set her paw back on the ground.  “Time to die, you little worm.  Run while you still can.”  Her eyes glowed.  “It'll make me killing you more exciting and fun for me, even if you run a little properly. I’ll give you a count of ten.”

Silverpaw knew Sunflower wasn’t joking, and she scrambled away towards the camp as fast as she could, but she tripped multiple times which greatly slowed her down.

“…3, 4, 10!” Sunflower chased Silverpaw, but the young she-cat kept running.  Right as Sunflower was about to catch Silverpaw, a starry gray she-cat stood in Sunflower’s path.

*Pebblefoot!*

“Why, sister, did you kill me?” Pebblefoot asked grief in her starry blue eyes.  “Why?”

“You were nothing to me!” Sunflower growled.  “You, like Crescentbrat and Antbrain, were in my way!”  She swiped her claws and Pebblefoot, and her spirit disappeared.  Silverpaw knew that she didn’t kill the spirit, only that Pebblefoot disappeared to escape.

“You're a terrible cat!” Silverpaw gasped as Sunflower crept closer.  She got backed into a tree.  *Cornered!!  Oh StarClan, please help me!!*  “I don’t even understand how you’re my mother!  You killed your sister just so you could replace her and become her mate’s mate just for power?”

For once, she saw a glimmer of hurt in Sunflower’s eyes, but it washed away as she growled.

“Boulderstar’s more than just power!” she growled.  “Pebblefoot snapped him up before I had a chance to kill her!”

“But what about Father?” Silverpaw’s voice became a sad whisper. “Didn’t you love him?”

“Antbrain was merely an experiment,” she said.  “Besides, he loved Ivyleaf more than me, so he was worthless.  If every scrap of love that he has doesn’t go to me and only me, then he is as good as a beetle!”

“What about Twopaw?” Silverpaw whispered.

“She’s becoming a cat like your father,” Sunflower growled.  “And no matter how much I threaten you still find a way to turn her away from me! She was my perfect, gorgeous, darling, amazing, powerful little angel and she’s turning into a stubborn, stupid, wild, worthless brat!  And teaching her to think is a terrible idea!  She’s supposed to obey, not think!  You’ve just made your death more painful for reminding me about that-”

But Silverpaw was long gone.  Sunflower’s rambling was enough of a distraction to allow her to get some distance between her mother and her.  she took refuge under a bush and closed her eyes.

“I'm sorry about Sunflower, my brave, beautiful kit.”

She opened her eyes and was back at StarClan with none other than Antclaw.

“Father!” she exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes as she rubbed muzzles with her starry father.

There was a lot of emotion in his eyes, and she knew he was trying very hard to stay serious.  As if he read her mind, he said, “I have to stay diplomatic because I want to warn you, unlike Crescentpaw.  She needs to work on her warnings.”  He sighed. “Sunflower’s a different cat now then the one I first loved,” he said.  “Follow me.”

He brought her to the StarClan-equivalent of the Moonpool.  An image was in the water, and Silverpaw could make out Boulderstar grieving —probably about Pebblefoot—and Sunflower was trying to cheer him up.  She was shocked at her mother’s gentleness and nearly thought that she was a different she-cat in the clan.

“She’s going to fool him!” she growled angrily.

Antclaw shook his head.  “That’s the Sunflower *I* fell in love with.  That gentle, passionate she-cat was the Sunflower before she started getting cruel and vain. Some even said that she was sweeter than Ivypaw—er, Ivyleaf, who was an apprentice then.  Remember, this image is now, this morning.”

“Morning?” Silverpaw asked.  “It was night when I fell asleep!”

“Time runs a bit differently here and in the living world, and you slept for a couple of hours before you ‘visited’ us,” Antclaw said.  “Sunflower isn’t using her trickery on Boulderstar right now.”  There was a twinge of sadness in his eyes, and even a little bit of jealousy.  “She really is trying to cheer him up.”  He looked at the sky.  “It’s time for you to go.”

“Shall I go back to camp?” she asked.  He shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous,” he said.  “Right now you should go to live as a kittypet, just until Ivyleaf finds you.  You'll be safer then because Sunflower will think you’re permanently gone until Ivyleaf brings you home.”

“Okay,” she said, touching her nose to his.  “Goodbye, Father.”

“Goodbye, my wonderful beautiful diamond,” he said, emotion and love in his voice and eyes.  “I love you, and stay safe, away from Sunflower., StarClan will watch over you.”

And with that she woke up. *Time to start heading to the Twolegplace.*  She slowly got up and started walking towards the Twolegplace.

## Chapter Seven: A Playful Friend

CREDITING: The first part is by Moon, and the second part is written by Dream.

As soon as Silverpaw walked into the Twolegplace, she hated it. All the awful smells, the noise, and the monsters! Oh she hated the monsters! After all, one of them killed Crescentpaw! it didn't help to see lazy kittypets lounging around, mewing and begging, BEGGING for food for StarClan's sake, and think: *Perfect! That's exactly what I get to become soon!* Maybe she had wrinkled her nose in distaste, because an especially plump one narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oy! Who you lookin' at?" He snarled. Silverpaw scoffed. Raising his voice the tom added: "I'm the toughest cat here! Do you want to fight?!" Even though Silverpaw had no tail and no fighting knowledge, she thought the kittypet wouldn't be a challenge

That was until the kittypet yowled. As if one cue -perhaps on cue- a dog ran out of who knows where. It was fluffy, light brown, and fast. As soon as it would see her, Silverpaw knew she was dead meat.

"Hey! Over here!" Turning around, Silverpaw saw a kittypet, except instead of the mean look the tom had given her, this kittypet looked happy, bouncy, and was a she-cat. Her fluffy fur was creamy, -and somehow pink- and she had bright copper colored eyes. Motioning to another Twoleg den, she whispered: "Follow me!"

Obediently, Silverpaw dashed over to the den, and stopped when she saw a twoleg toy: a long necked, pink bird. It was reasonably big enough for her to hide, and once she did, she realized the she-cat was giggling.

"That was so fun! I can't wait to see the look on Benny's face when he realizes we escaped!" The she-cat let out a *mrrow* of laughter. "I'm Kiki by the way!"

"How did you do that?" Silverpaw asked. "I'm Silverpaw."

"Once you know Benny's trick to unleash his Twolegs' dog, its really easy to outsmart him. The little fluffball is hyper, but has a short attention span! Once you get out of its way, you're home free!" Kiki smiled. "But anyway, I've never seen you here. Are you one of the vicious wild cats who eats cats?" Silverpaw tried not to laugh.

"No! I mean we eat mice, bird, squirrel, and rabbit sometimes, but NEVER cats! Well, Sunflower might. She's my mean mother who killed my father, her sister, and is trying to kill me! That's why my father Antpelt told me to stay here for a while," Kiki stared at her.

"You just said your father was dead!"

"Well, I saw him in StarClan, the clan the spirit cats go to. I'm in ThunderClan, and we also have four more clans," Silverpaw explained. "ShadowClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and SkyClan. ShadowClan eats frogs and lives in the pine, RiverClan lives, well near the river, and eats fish, WindClan eats sometimes birds, but mostly rabbit, and SkyClan eats similar to us, but mainly birds."

"Why don't you all eat fish? It's tastier then frogs, squirrel, birds, and rabbits put together!" Silverpaw wrinkled her nose.

"I once ate fish, Kiki. How do you stand the slimy, cold, gross feeling of fish? I prefer a shrew any day." Kiki sighed and splayed herself on the grass.

"Clan cats! You just don't make sense! You prefer danger to the safe, yummy place housefolk give you!"

"Danger? I know winter can be harsh, but at least we have freedom!"

"Well looks like danger was too much today! You just asked me to help you find a place to lay low. *That* means housefolk are useful!" Silverpaw groaned. For once, she realized she did need Twolegs.

"Fine. Just, if you find a creamy she-cat with a fluffy tail and green eyes, send her to me! Thats Ivyleaf, my mothers sister."

"You just said-"

"Pebblefoot died, Ivyleaf survived. She's also really nice!"

"If you say so..." Kiki thought for a moment. "Okay I know a housefolk who needs a cat, lemme take you to her. She's really caring."

"Twolegs? Caring?"

"Just trust me!" Kiki was exasperated now. "Just because you wild cats think me, or any housecat is stupid -which Benny pretty much is- doesn't mean it's true! I know that you guys encountered Housefolk who were ruthless, mean, and cruel, doesn't mean they all are! Just because I don't know about the outside of town as much as you doesn't mean I have no sense of direction! SO JUST TRUST ME OR AT LEAST GIVE US A CHANCE" Silverpaw was ashamed and shocked. She *had* thought that way about kittypets, without giving them any light at all, so when Kiki retorted angrily, it shook her up, because she didn't think kittypets had any other emotion then laziness, happiness, and boastfulness.

"I'm sorry, Kiki. What you said is right. We *clan* cats hated Twolegs because they took our homes away from us, scared prey and killed us with dogs, and poison our rivers. Of course I should of known that at least one creature in every kind is kind, even a fox! We thought kittypets were stupid because you lived with them, and because you live in all this stink and noise, we thought you wouldn't even know where you were after you took a few paw-steps. Its just-" Kiki met her eyes, her soft coppery eyes filled with kindness.

"That you live so different then me," They finished together.

"I shouldn't have been so harsh. I mean, we might say a few things about you too," Kiki gave her an awkward smile.

"Well you thought I ate bones! What else, we sleep in hedgehogs?"

"Something... Something like that."

"Well, if you don't want to say anything, show me the nice female Twoleg!" Kiki brightened, and got up.

"Don't worry, Coco's really nice! And on the way, I can teach you how my life is!"

"Coco?"

"The Housefolk I'm about to take you to! You can't understand Housefolk at all? I can sometimes catch scraps of their words because I hear it so often!"

"I've never heard a Twoleg speak, but Oakwhisker said it sounded like scraping your claws on wood!" Kiki laughed.

"No! It's kind of squeaky, but its not that terrible. They speak really fast though. Coco seems to know that we have a harder time understanding, so she talks slower."

"How do you know so much about her?"

"Because of Mupsy!" Kiki said it like it was basic knowledge, like *birds fly*.

"Who's Mupsy?" Silverpaw asked.

"Her cat! How do you think she sort of understands us, without having a cat?" Again, Kiki made Silverpaw feel mousebrained, but Silverpaw told herself she had clan and forest knowledge, and that was enough.

"Who would name a cat Mupsy? That's even worse then Tom!" Kiki frowned.

"Whats wrong with Tom?"

"Would you like to be named She-Cat?" Kiki thought about it.

"I guess not. You know, Housefolk don't call us she-cats, and toms. To them, I'm a female, and Tom's a male," Kiki finished. "No come on!" Grudgingly, Silverpaw followed her to her soon-to-be owner's house, all the way hoping Coco was a nice Twoleg, or at least half as kind as Kiki described.

After a long time filled with strange scents and noise, they reached an old Twoleg den the Twoleg red stones were tattered, and the wood parts of the den were old. Even though Silverpaw didn't know much about Twolegs, she knew this den was out of shape, like an old abandoned den rouges might inhabit, or leave.

"This is it!" Kiki announced. "I'll call out to Mupsy, so he can tell Coco, and it can go well," She finished. Raising her paws, she yowled very loudly. "MUPSY! COME OUT IT'S ME, KIKI!" After a few heartbeats, an old tom appeared. He was a large, laid-back, semi longhaired cat with captivating blue eyes.

"Wadda ya what, Kiki? I don't owe you nuthin anymore!" Kiki sighed.

"I don't need a favor, Mupsy. I was wondering if Coco could come out, and see Silverpaw here," Kiki explained. Mupsy examined Silverpaw for a moment, and replied.

"Why is she Silverpaw? As far as my old eyes can see, she's more of a Whitepaw," Mupsy mused, his eyes lost in a memory. For StarClan's sake, Silverpaw really didn't want to have to explain her name to every kittypet!

"I'm- or was a Clan cat. I was born Silverkit, because of my fur, and because I'm an apprentice, my leader changed the -kit part to -paw, because I am now trying to follow the paw-steps of my older clanmates. Also, because I am only the 'paw' of a warrior, because I am not fully one yet," Silverpaw explained. Mupsy grunted, and Silverpaw hoped it meant he was satisfied.

"Good name, for a clan cat. What's with that non tail? Did you lose yours like my old friend Gray?" He chuckled at the memory. "Ah, old Gray. He lost it in that dog accident, and he was never the same." Silverpaw winced. No matter what her name was, she was always Notail! Thankfully, Mupsy noticed her discomfort. "Ah, a sore spot, eh? I'll leave it to you to tell me when you want to, assuming you do stay with Coco, meaning I'm your roommate," Mupsy cleared his throat and yowled. It was raspy, but apparently Twolegs were at least okay at hearing, because a female Twoleg emerged from the run down den.

The Twoleg, like all others, had no fur Silverpaw could see except at the top of her head, which was black and long. This Twoleg was also skilled, because she was able to weave it, so her hair fell softly down her shoulder. She had a sage colored pelt over her dark skin, and a red and blackish pelt over the first one, and a sandy colored pelt for her strange long legs, with a tough material that was covering part of her feet. Mupsy smiled.

"This is Coco, Silverpaw." Mupsy said. Coco saw the trio of cats and smiled, letting out a strange sound which Silverpaw assumed was her voice.

"卄乇ㄥㄥㄖ 爪ㄚ ᗪ乇卂尺 爪ㄩ卩丂ㄚ, 卂尺乇 ㄒ卄乇丂乇 ㄚㄖㄩ尺 千尺丨乇几ᗪ丂?" Coco said. Her voice wasn't at all scrapey like Oakwhisker had said, but it was more of a scratchy sound.

"Coco, meet Silverpaw, and an old face, Kiki," Mupsy announced. Coco understood somehow, and replied. Hopefully Coco's response was good, because Silverpaw couldn't understand it.

"匚ㄖ爪乇 丨几, 千尺丨乇几ᗪ丂," Coco brought her strange paw out, and pointed to what Silverpaw figured was the entrance, sort of like a long hard brown vine. The Twoleg opened it, and the cats went inside.

"Woah!" Silverpaw exclaimed. The den was the strangest thing she had seen, with two weird nests, one wider and the other stickier, a smoky smell, a box that had moving Twoleg figures. The one thing that was common for all the Twoleg things, was they were as tattered as the outside. The last thing Silverpaw noticed was thin ball things with a dip. The flat balls had water and a strange bits. Apparently Mupsy ate it, because he walked up to it, and... started eating it?

"Yum!" Mupsy mewed. "Coco got the good stuff!" Coco smiled, showing her blunt teeth.

"丨'爪 Ꮆㄥ卂ᗪ ㄚㄖㄩ ㄥ丨Ҝ乇 丨ㄒ, 爪ㄩ卩丂ㄚ. 丨 山卂丂 卂乃ㄥ乇 ㄒㄖ 山尺丨几Ꮆ ㄖㄩㄒ 丂ㄖ爪乇 爪ㄖ几乇ㄚ, 卂几ᗪ 几ㄖ山 丨 匚卂几 乇几ﾌㄖㄚ 丨ㄒ, 丂乇乇丨几Ꮆ ㄚㄖㄩ尺 丂爪丨ㄥ乇 ㄥ丨Ꮆ卄ㄒ ㄩ卩," Coco said hapilly, or at least Silverpaw thought. Kiki's ears perked up, meaning she understood.

"Coco doesn't have a lot of money, -Housefolk use it to get stuff- and this food is expensive, but she was able to find some money to make Mupsy smile," Kiki explained.

*Oh,* Silverpaw thought. *That explains why everything is tattered and mangy! She doesn't have this 'money' so this is all she can have! But if Mupsy is hard to feed, then... I'll be too much!* As if reading her thoughts, Mupsy responded.

"Coco would be sad if you left, Silver!" Seeing Silverpaw's reaction, he continued. "Silverpaw isn't a name we have here. Paw sounds terrible, so Silver is your name!" Silverpaw, or 'Silver' nodded slowly. It was alright with her, especially with using the name her father had wanted, but a tiny part of her kept the name, so she still thought of herself as Silverpaw. She heard a Twoleg sound, and she saw Coco had stopped looking at Mupsy, and was looking at her.

"山ㄖㄩㄥᗪ ㄚㄖㄩ ㄥ丨Ҝ乇 ㄒㄖ 丂ㄒ卂ㄚ 卄乇尺乇 ㄒㄖㄖ? 丨'ㄥㄥ 匚卂ㄥㄥ ㄚㄖㄩ 丂丨ㄥᐯ乇尺, 卂千ㄒ乇尺 ㄚㄖㄩ尺 Ꮆㄖ尺Ꮆ乇ㄖㄩ丂 卩乇ㄥㄒ. 几ㄖㄒ 丂ㄩ尺乇 山卄ㄚ ㄚㄖㄩ 卄卂ᐯ乇 几ㄖ ㄒ卂丨ㄥ, 乃ㄩㄒ 丨'ㄥㄥ ㄥㄖᐯ乇 ㄚㄖㄩ ﾌㄩ丂ㄒ 卂丂 爪ㄩ匚卄 卂丂 丨 山ㄖㄩㄥᗪ 丨千 ㄚㄖㄩ 卄卂ᗪ ㄖ几乇, 爪ㄚ 丂丨ㄥᐯ乇尺," Coco rasped.

"She is calling you Silver, and loves you a lot!" Kiki translated. Instantly, Silverpaw felt a warm feeling. She never had it often, with Twopaw and almost the entire clan hating her for living, and she only felt it around Ivyleaf, when she saw her father, and StarClan. What was this feeling? 𝐻𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈𝓈.

"Coco, I look forward to living with you. You seem really nice, and... you are so friendly!" Silverpaw blurted out. Coco seemed to understand, and smiled at her.

"卂尺乇几'ㄒ ㄚㄖㄩ 卂 几丨匚乇 Ҝ丨ㄒㄒㄚ? ㄥ乇ㄒ 爪乇 丂卄ㄖ山 ㄚㄖㄩ ㄚㄖㄩ尺 尺乇丂ㄒ丨几Ꮆ 卂尺乇卂 卂几ᗪ 丨'ㄥㄥ Ꮆ乇ㄒ ㄒ山ㄖ 乇乂ㄒ尺卂 乃ㄖ山ㄥ丂. 千ㄖ尺 几ㄖ山, 爪ㄩ卩丂ㄚ? ᗪㄖ ㄚㄖㄩ 爪丨几ᗪ 丂卄卂尺丨几Ꮆ?" Mupsy shook his head and gave Silverpaw a crooked smile.

"I don't mind sharing one bit, Coco," Mupsy pushed his bowl over to Silverpaw, and Silverpaw took a drink. Sort of a tang, but it wasn't the worse. Then Silverpaw tried to eat the 'food'. She hated it.

"Bleh! What is this?" Silverpaw spat the food out. "It's horrible! I prefer a mouse any day!" Coco looked sad, so Silverpaw tried to show she hunted, miming the leap. Unfortunately, Coco didn't understand.

Thankfully, a mouse scurried in the house. Silverpaw knew she had to catch it, somehow. Dropping on all fours, she crept forwards. The mouse didn't sense her presence yet, until it was too late.

WAM! Somehow Silverpaw had caught it, and gave it the killing bite. She didn't know how though, because she never even had gotten any training. Then the answer came. *StarClan will watch over you.* Antclaw had said it, and he meant it. They had given her strength and wisdom to catch the mouse, and Coco understood!

"丨 Ꮆ乇ㄒ 丨ㄒ 几ㄖ山, 丂丨ㄥᐯ乇尺. ㄚㄖㄩ 山乇尺乇 ㄖㄩㄒ 丨几 ㄒ卄乇 山丨ㄥᗪ, 丂ㄖ ㄚㄖㄩ 卄ㄩ几ㄒ! ㄒ卄丨丂 千ㄖㄖᗪ 爪丨Ꮆ卄ㄒ 乃乇 爪ㄚ 爪ㄩ卩丂ㄚ'丂 千卂ᐯㄖ尺丨ㄒ乇, 乃ㄩㄒ ㄚㄖㄩ 丂ㄒ丨ㄥㄥ ㄥㄖᐯ乇 爪丨匚乇!" Kiki motioned that Coco knew now, but for once, Silverpaw didn't need her to translate. It came too her! But just as she could sort of understand Twolegs, she felt more like a kittypet. She wondered if she should sleep, and if she could explore the house, but she shook it away.

*I am SILVERPAW! Just wait, Ivyleaf will come!* So to try and stop thinking, she found a cozy spot, and fell asleep.

Silverpaw opened her eyes. *Ugh, still at this Twolegden…*  Then she regretted what she thought.  Coco was nice, and apparently Mupsy loved her.  Coco had a big heart, too.

She stretched and got up. She decided she wanted to explore the place and slowly got up.  After exploring the small, tattered house, she decided she should also explore the Twolegplace.  Thankfully, there was a cat flap in the door.

She slowly slipped out and began to walk.  Kiki was nowhere to be found, which was a bit disappointing, but she saw Muspy sleeping on a fence.  He sleepily opened an eye and flicked his tail at her.

“Explorin’ the place, aren’t we now?” he asked, a bit amused as he gave a yawn.

“I-I guess,” Silverpaw said.

He gave a small smile as he closed his eyes.  “I remember when I first got ‘ere, all I wanted to do was explore,” he said, then went back to sleeping.

Silverpaw continued walking until she came to an alley.  Suddenly, she heard voices.  Her eyes widened in fear when she recognized the voices.  *Oh no, it’s Sunflower!*

Slowly she crept up to the voices and stopped behind a corner.  She poked her head out.

Sunflower was talking to Benny and a few other Twolegplace cats.  Twopaw was right behind her, her ears flattened and her tails flicking annoyedly, but she was quiet.  Her eye caught Silverpaw’s, but she didn’t say anything.

“…Yes, a she-cat with that appearance,” Sunflower said, her eyes narrowing.

“Yes, I saw a she-cat like that,” Benny said.  “She wanted to fight me!  Isn’t that right, mates?”

The three cats next to Benny nodded.

“Then Notail is here!” Sunflower exclaimed, her eyes growing hard with rage.  “Tell me where she is, quickly!”

“Why would I tell ya?” Benny sneered.

“Because,” Sunflower said, her fur rising and her eyes burning with fury, “I’m not some whiny, dopey kittypet who *relies* on Twolegs to feed and house them!”

Benny glared at her. “I can feed myself if I need to! And I'm not telling you even if you was the last cat to exist!”

“Twopaw,” Sunflower hissed. “*Force* this cat to cooperate.”

“U-ummm…”  Twopaw looked at Sunflower reluctantly.  “Do I have to?”

“*Yes*!” Sunflower snapped.  “*You* start cooperating or else!”

Benny’s eyes widened. He was clearly a bit nervous the way Sunflower was talking.   “W-wait,” he said.  “Let’s talk ‘bout this sensibly,” he said.  “I’ll give ya more information…”

As Benny and Sunflower talked, Twopaw slipped away and ran over to Silverpaw.

“It’s good you’re alive,” she said quietly.  “Mother tried to kill Flytail after she realized that I liked Redpaw but he liked her, but thankfully she failed.  Flytail also didn’t realize that she was the target of Mother…”

“How’s Ivyleaf?” Silverpaw blurted.

“She’s so worried about you,” Twopaw said.  “her fur’s always messy, her eyes are weary, and I don’t think she’s been sleeping at all. She also hasn’t been eating, even though Boulderstar tells her to.  I heard mother say that she can be so unhealthy that she’ll die for all she cares.  She also tried to go search for you, but of course mother found a way to stop her. All she had to do was to tell Boulderstar she was still her slave and forbade Ivyleaf to leave the camp.  Warmbreeze and Violetwing tell her not to worry about it, but they don’t care about you.  Sorry,” she apologized after seeing Silverpaw’s annoyed face.

Silverpaw tried not to roll her eyes, then said, “Well can you tell her I'm okay and to find me in the Twolegplace?  I can't bear her not being healthy!”

“Will do, *if* we go back,” Twopaw said.  She glanced back at Sunflower and Benny, whose conversation looked just about done.  “I have to go back!  And you'd better get to somewhere safe, because if Mother finds you, you’re as good as dead and there’s nothing I’ll be able to do!  I also can’t mind control her, or suggest.”

She ran back, and Sunflower didn’t seem to notice a thing.

“Well, then, you can leave, *Benny*,” she said, glaring at the kittypet.  She glanced at Twopaw, then narrowed her eyes.  “You found Notail, didn’t you?”

“Wh-what?” Twopaw asked, confused.

“Don’t play dumb to your mother!” Sunflower snapped.  “I can *smell* her on you!  NOW WHERE IS SHE?!”

Twopaw’s eyes flared softly, but she muttered something.  “Why are we after her again?”

Sunflower muttered some things and then said, “Twopaw, *you will do as your mother tells you*.”

Twopaw sighed softly and then said, “She was over there.  She ran away when you finished talking.”  She nodded to the exact opposite direction Silverpaw was.

“Then let’s go,” Sunflower said.  “Oh, and tell Benny and his cats to follow.  We’ll need an army to track down that terrible, unpredictable cat.”

“Benny, Benny’s friends, follow me,” Twopaw said reluctantly as her eyes flared.

Silverpaw ducked away, fear rushing under her pelt.  She ran all the way back to Coco’s house and ran upstairs, where Coco was “reading” on her nest.  She ran and jumped into Coco’s lap and couldn’t help but shiver.

“卄丨 ㄒ卄乇尺乇, 爪ㄚ ᗪ乇卂尺 丂丨ㄥᐯ乇尺,” Coco said softly.  She set her hand on Silverpaw’s back and began stroking her head.  "ᗪ丨ᗪ ㄒ卄乇 乃丨Ꮆ 匚卂尺丂 丂匚卂尺乇 ㄚㄖㄩ?"

A few purrs slipped out of Silverpaw’s throat, and she burrowed under Coco’s pelt-blanket-thing. *Even though it feels wrong because it’s against the Warrior Code, its StarClan’s will and to be honest, I sort-of like it.  I'm glad I'm Coco’s kittypet.*

## Chapter Eight: Hunting Lessons

CREDITING: Dream wrote the first half, and Moon wrote the second half

It had been a day since Silverpaw became Coco’s kittypet, and even though she liked being stroked and sleeping, she had to get out of the house, just for a little bit.

The thought of Sunflower being in the Twolegplace flashed back in her mind, and fear was the strongest thing in her mind.  *Get ahold of yourself, Silverpaw. Sunflower’s in the opposite direction where you live.*  With a sigh she jumped out of Coco’s room, and her stomach rumbled.  She slowly left the house, and caught the scent of a mouse.

She saw and it crept up, but then missed her pounce.  She sighed and licked the top of her paw embarrassedly.  *Well, I guess StarClan can't always help me.*

She decided to find Kiki and left her yard.  She found Kiki lounging around, playing with a piece of milkweed-fuzz.

“Oh, hi Silver!” Kiki exclaimed.

“Silverpaw,” she corrected.

“You’re gonna wanna go by Silver.  Some of the cats don’t take too kindly to clan cats, like Nala and Meatball,” Kiki said with a shrug.  “They *really* hate clan cats for whatever reason. They nearly killed some River-guy who came in here!  But I’ll call you Silverpaw if you like!”

“…Okay,” she said quietly. “You can call me Silver.”

“Great!”  Kiki jumped up.  “Let’s go find some food!”

“…do you know how to hunt?” Silverpaw asked.

“Nope, not a clue!” Kiki exclaimed cheerfully.  “Do you?”

“Ah, not really,” Silverpaw admitted.  “Only when StarClan helps me, and they didn’t help me now.”

“We can ask Queen Raspberry!” Kiki said.  “She’s old and knows *everyone*!  Kind of like Mupsy, but I don’t know where he is right now.  Queen Raspberry usually stays on her porch and never leaves until its night.  Maybe she knows someone who knows how to hunt.”

“I guess,” Silverpaw said.  “Let’s go then; I'm starving!”

They set off to find Queen Raspberry and found her lounging on the grass. She had long-haired, cream fur with a flat, flat face and amber eyes.  Despite her flat, grumpy-looking face, she actually wasn’t that grumpy, just old, fat, and lazy.

“Your looking for a cat who knows howda hunt,” Queen Raspberry said, rolling in the bed of tulips.

“Right, a cat who knows how to hunt,” Silverpaw confirmed.

“You're gonna want to find Applesauce, Robin, Janga, Tubby, Scout, Boo Boo, Savannah-”

Silverpaw sighed, and interrupted.  “Please, we just need *one* cat that’s reliable!”

Queen Raspberry rolled her eyes as she rolled in her housefolks’ flower beds. “Maverick’s a good cat who knows howda hunt.  He takes care of ‘imself, and also is the leader of a group of cats called ‘the Rebels.’”

Silverpaw was going to ask more about the Rebels, but then Queen Raspberry’s ears pricked up as her housefolk called her into the house.

“OooOh, Snack Time #3 of the afternoon is ready!”  Queen Raspberry glanced at them as she went into the Twolegden. “See you two soon, but hopefully not that soon, really.  I'm not sharing my snacks with you if you come soon!”  And she ran into the den.

Silverpaw rolled her eyes at the fat kittypet.  “What’s the Rebels?” she asked Kiki.

“Umm…”  Kiki looked a bit nervous.  “They’re kinda like a Clan…?  I think. I heard they’re aggressive, so don’t go too near them!  They supposedly take in cats who’ve been wronged and help feed and shelter them, but then they have to join them.  They’ve been getting ready to attack the powerful, liked cats of here, but the biggest one here is Ninja and Voodoo.  I don’t go near them, no way, no how!”

“Okay, let’s go to Maverick!” Silverpaw exclaimed cheerfully.

Kiki groaned playfully, but she followed.  “It’d be nice if you let me know we’re heading to sudden death before we left!”

Silverpaw looked around. They had been walking a while, but the Twolegplace still looked the same. Noisy Twolegs, dogs barking, kittypets lounging in the sun, and the occasional Twoleg kit. It wasn't as bad as she had thought, but maybe Kiki and Mupsy had been rubbing off on her.

"Are we even going anywhere?" Silverpaw called out. Kiki shook her head.

"These cats live on the edges of the town, lurking in the shadows. Some say it's because they hold grudges against housefolk and other housecats, but I think it's because they like the isolation and the hunting is better there. Since Coco lives at the exact opposite, it might take a while," Kiki explains. "You know, once you live here a while, you get used to walking a lot to places. I used to always go to Violet's in the morning, and return home in the afternoon. Then she started being lazy, staying on her yard, so we stopped hanging out," Kiki explained. "Sometimes I go to Coco's now, but I like to walk. It soothes me."

"Walking can be hard for me," Silverpaw responded. "Without a tail, balance is a problem. I often fall down, especially running. Twopaw of course got two, so she *never* falls down!"

"Who's Twopaw?" Kiki asked. "A sister?"

"Yes, my only sister. She boasts a lot, and is mean, rude, and selfish, especially to me, but I think she was good, until my mother got to her."

"You mother sounds *awful!*"

"Wait till you mean her. She's trying to find me, and she even brought Twopaw too!"

"I'm assuming she came not to give you a hug and say how much she adores you."

"Definitely not! She wants to hang my pelt up and rip it to shreds!"

"Yep! Such a caring mother!"

"She even recruited Benny and his gang!!" Kiki rolled her eyes.

"Benny is terrible! All he does is send his Twoleg's dog to chase cats! She must be pretty desperate to find you if she needs him! Even more to use his gang! All they ever do is praise Benny, boast, sun themselves, and chat!"

"Sounds like Branchpaw and Rosepaw, Twopaw's 'gang'!' Silverpaw and Kiki shared a laugh.

"Even in the wild, there are always those boastful cats and their gang! Silver, one day you gotta come back here so we can catch up, if you do ever leave," Kiki purred. Seeing Silverpaw look down, she added. "I mean, just what if Sunflower never stops, or ThunderClan has something happen to it, or if you just *stay.*"

Silverpaw stopped.

"W-what do you mean?" She stammered. Kiki looked at her, her copper eyes looking wistful.

"You could live with Coco, see me everyday, and we could have adventures! You are the best cat I've ever met, and the only other one even remotely similar... Changed. The truth is-" Kiki stopped. She met Silverpaw's eyes. "You make life interesting."

No one had ever said that to Silverpaw.

"Kiki, I love hanging out with you and living with Coco, but I'm a wild cat, and I always will be. You really are sweet, but I might even endanger you if I stay. Sunflower will never stop hunting for me, and I couldn't live with myself, if my first friend dies because of me," Kiki dropped her gaze. "Kiki? Whats wrong?" When Kiki replied, her voice was angry.

"At least I'd die with you! I have always felt like an outsider, even with Violet! But not with you! From the moment I saw you I knew you were a great cat, but now you're just abandoning your *friend*." Kiki said *friend* like it was worse then crowfood.

They didn't speak for the rest of the walk.

"Here," Kiki said when they reached the place, her sweet face turned sour. "I got to go know. I just remembered my housefolk is expecting me," And with that, Kiki stormed off.

*What did I say?* Silver thought. *I really upset her, and I don't know how!* Thinking about it frustrated her even more, so she surveyed her surroundings: Thin hollow brown Twoleg wood, rocks, tall green Twoleg rocks, and rotting prey, crowfood, and Twoleg food. It smelled even worse then the TwolegPlace!

"Oh, it's not so bad, once you get used to it, Silver!" Silverpaw whirled around, trying to find the cat who had said it.

"Who's there?!" She demanded. "And how do you know my name?" the cat said nothing, but she saw a shadow dart around, so she followed it. It wasn't until she was trapped, she realized what had happened.

*He lured me here!* Silverpaw thought angrily. *That fox-heart!*

"Now, lets see here. Wanted by Sunflower, probably wanted by your companion soon, and that Sunflower cat will pay us well, maybe two full meals for each of us," The shadow cat licked its lips. "Ah, been a long time since I've had a full meal, probably never since I've had two full meals. Let alone enough for us all." the cat emerged from the shadows, being uncovered by the light by what Kiki *Oh Kiki,* called a street lamp. He was orange, scarred, and had a sinister look. With a flick of his tail, other cats came out too. They were of all sizes and fur, but the one thing they all had was they were mangy, scarred, but they looked smart. Smart enough to kill.

*StarClan please save me*

## Chapter Nine: The Rebels

Crediting: Moon wrote the first part, and Dream wrote the second part.

Silverpaw was trapped. The tom had slyly gotten his group to circle her, so she was corned.

"Fools bring food!" hissed an old thin she-cat, before she collapsed. A younger, similar looking she-cat rushed to her aid.

"Mother! Careful! The Rebels may offer lifetime food and shelter, but that doesn't help if you die! Go back to the Nest!" Silverpaw saw how close they were and remembered her own terms with her own mother. Sunflower wanted her dead!

"Ah, Bella! I'm fine! Old age, that's all!" Bella looked like she wanted to protest, but she stopped. The leading tom instead talked.

"Mink, Bella's right. Be careful." Mink groaned, but the tom looked away, focusing his gaze back on Silverpaw. "So Silver, I'm Maverick, and I'm about to have a great meal."

*Maverick!*

"Wait!" Silverpaw called out, as Maverick was about to signal something. "Queen Raspberry sent me here so I could learn to hunt!" Maverick paused.

"Why would my mother think *I* would help you?" Maverick snorted. "maybe she just wanted to give me a meal."

"Or, maybe she thought you could make her proud! She knows everyone and everything, so while else would she choose you if she didn't know you could do it?" Maverick thought about it.

"Maybe... Food?" He cracked a crooked, scarred, smile.

"No! She thinks you are the best hunter!"

"Are you sure?" Maverick cocked his head.

"Yes!"

"So, you saying I gotta teach ya?" Silverpaw nodded.

"If you don't, and hand me over to my lying and deceiving mother, you'll disappoint her," Silverpaw explained. "Plus I doubt my mother would actually pay you, and would most likely kill you. She killed two of her sisters and tried to kill the other, killed her mate, and manipulated her sisters mate to be her own!"

"That..." Maverick growled, and muttered under his breath. Silverpaw assumed they were not very nice. "Fine! I'll help you hunt, as long as you help us overthrow Sunflower!"

"Sure!" Silverpaw agreed. If somecat was offering a chance to get rid of a deadly mother, why not take it?

"So its a deal, you help me, and I help you. We overtake Sunflower, which will also show how strong we are, and you learn how to hunt!" Maverick grinned.

"If I help you, I'm most likely becoming bait, so if I am, I want a little bit of prey each day to," Silverpaw demanded. Fury flashed in Maverick's eyes.

"No way! We barely have enough for us all to have a measly meal each day!" Maverick protested.

"But if you help me hunt, I'll help give you some too, not even taking my catch," Silverpaw offered. Maverick thought about it.

"Fine, but you have to care for Mink while you 'aint hunting," Maverick stated.

"But I get to have some time with Kiki and Coco." *If she still wants to be my friend.* Maverick snorted.

"So I teach ya, feed ya, and give you time with your Twoleg and kittypet friend, and you'll be bait, help feed us when you can, and care for Mink," Maverick stated, looking at Silverpaw as if challenging her to try and change it. Silverpaw quickly looked away and nodded. "Good. It's a dea-"

"I'm the only one who cares for Mink!" A voice cried out. It was Bella, who was furious. "She can't take the job!" Maverick cleared his throat.

"What about when you hunt? You are an asset to us when it comes to food, and you can't always be there for her, Bella," Maverick argued.

"Yes I can!" Bella shouted. Mink somehow had gotten up, and tried to reassure her.

"Bella darling. If you don't hunt, think of how many might starve! I'd have a better chance of survival with Silver here," Mink said. "Besides, it's only temporary,"

Bella scoffed. "As if! Soon she'll try and take it all! You're all I have left!"

"Bella," Silverpaw said, "I don't want to take it. I have plenty enough on my paws already, with my mother TRYING TO KILL ME to want to take your job, which you do splendid!" Bella blinked, muttered what might of been a compliment or a curse, and left. Maverick cleared his throat.

"Now that the problems been solved, it's a deal?" Maverick put out a paw, and Silverpaw shook it.

"It's a deal."

Maverick looked at the setting sun. "Starting tomorrow, we begin. Have a good rest, and I'll get ready!" As Silverpaw left, she thought about what was soon to come, and remembered Kiki's sad face.

*Whatever I did, I'll make it up to you, Kiki. You are the greatest friend I've ever had.*

If only she knew that that was the problem.

“No, no, no!”

Silverpaw looked behind her, glaring at Bella who was glaring at her.  She was annoyed that Bella had been her assigned teacher for the day and now it was coming to bite her back.

“The hunter’s crouch needs to be *silent*,” she snapped.

“Silent?” Silverpaw snapped back.  “A mouse would never hear me coming!”

“A deaf one wouldn’t,” Bella scoffed.  “Do it again.”

Silverpaw bit back a retort and slowly tried to crouch-walk again.  It seemed pretty good to her, but Bella groaned loudly and walked away.

“Where are you going?” Silverpaw asked.

“To care for my mother,” she retorted.  “This session is useless and Mink probably hasn’t eaten yet.”

“But your supposed to help train me!” she protested.

“You're too useless!” Bella whipped around and glared at Silverpaw.  “We went over that crouch at *least* twenty times!”

Silverpaw opened her mouth to protest but Bella interrupted her.

“I'm *not* exaggerating!  It’s true! I'm sorry but you're just too useless without a tail!”  And she stormed away in the direction of Mink.

With flattened ears, Silverpaw went to walk the opposite direction.  She had been hit where it hurt most.  Maybe Bella didn’t know that was the reason why her mother hated her, but it still hurt nonetheless.  She slumped on the ground.

*Being with the Rebels is crazy.  Being in the Twolegplace is crazy.  This whole idea is crazy!*  She sighed, clawing out a picture in the dirt with a single claw glumly.  *Maybe I should just go back to the forest.  Maybe I should just go back to ThunderClan, to see Ivyleaf.*  She smiled thinking of her mother.  She sighed again.  *But then I have Sunflower chasing after me with an army. Maybe staying here is for the best. Especially if it’s StarClan’s will.*

Suddenly Silverpaw felt lonely. She wished Kiki was there to talk to her, but she knew Maverick wouldn’t let her leave.  She stretched and got up.

*I’ll show them.  I’ll show them all!  I’ll catch something and show Bella!*

The plan was perfect!

All she needed to do was to go into the forest and catch something or two!  Then Bella didn’t have to be her assigned teacher anymore.

Silverpaw walked into the forest, the one that was right by the Rebels’ Refuge-den.  She took a deep breath, breathing in the scents of the forest. She could smell wildflowers, honeysuckle, and maple trees.  The grass smelled fresh and natural, like it hadn’t been sprayed with weird Twoleg-fluids.  Birds sang and the sky was actually hard to see under the shelter of the treetops, like it was supposed to be.

A purr or two escaped her throat. She had missed the forest, even if this wasn’t the same one.

As if StarClan willed it, she picked up the scent of a rabbit. Excited, she followed it.  It slowly led deeper into the forest.  The deeper it was, the darker it got since the trees grew thicker.  She felt a little nervous.  It was a long way back to the Rebel’s Refuge Den.

She caught the scent of something unknown to her but unknown or not, it was really strong and pungent.  Her nose wrinkled and tried to throw up.  *Blech, it stinks here!  Whatever was here was literally just here!*  Luckily the scent of the rabbit also grew stronger so it was probably close by.

Then she saw it. A little brown rabbit, nibbling on some dandelions growing by a maple tree. It smelled delicious and it had no idea she was there. She was lucky it wasn’t a breezy day because she made the mistake of being upwind.

Carefully, she stalked the rabbit in the hunter’s crouch she’d practiced with Bella countless times.  *So far, so good*.  The rabbit didn’t look up and see Silverpaw, only twitched its nose and at grass and dandelions.  *One paw after another…*

She was right about to pounce when a fierce wind blew past.  The rabbit whirled around, looked at Silverpaw, and darted away between the trees.

“Great StarClan!” she cursed aloud.  That breeze ruined everything!  It scared away her rabbit and made that awful smell a *lot* worse, as if the thing making it was right…  right… behind… her…  Wait a second…  she heard a slurp behind her and slowly looked back, chills going up her spine.  A huge, orange sleek creature—a fox, Oakwhisker had told her—well, Twopaw to be more precise—standing behind her, panting, gazing at her hungrily.

Silverpaw’s first instinct was to run bit she knew she’d probably stumble and the fox would easily catch up with her.  Her second instinct was to fight but her heart sank.  *I couldn’t even fight Benny’s stupid Twoleg dog!*  This fox was bigger, nimbler, and quieter than the stupuid dog which she could tell just by looking at it.  The chances of winning in a fight were slim for her, but running was out of the question.

So knowing that it was her only option, she slowly dug her feet slightly into the dirt to stand firmer and unsheathed her claws.  She tried not to tremble.  The fox remembered her of Sunflower.  Sly, silent, and wanting death.  The only difference was that Sunflower wanted her death for absolutely no reason at all except to be evil, whereas the fox was probably very hungry.

Before she could dodge, the fox slashed its unretractable claws at her face and hit her left ear.  She squeaked in pain.  She tried to claw its snout but it was way faster than her and dodged with ease.  She realized the chances of surviving in a fight were just as low as surviving running. Even though she was lousy at both, she was a bit better at running than fighting because she had some experience in it. *Forget fighting, I need to run!*

She took off running.  As expected she fell and the fox was barely even sprinting. Suddenly, she got cornered against a tree.  She closed her eyes and tried not to cry.  This was the end.

*Goodbye Kiki and Coco and Mupsy.  Goodbye Ivyleaf.*  Her eyes were shut tightly and prayed, *StarClan, please save me!*

She expected the fox to scratch her face and then kill her, but it never did.  It never touched her again.

She couldn’t feel the breath of the fox anymore, which meant it probably wasn’t right in front of her, but she could hear screeching and hissing.  She opened her eyes.  The fox was a few tail-lengths away from her facing the opposite direction, trying to throw off something on its back.  It was a creamy-yellow cat with a white tail tip.

“Kiki!” she exclaimed, happiness overwhelming her.  Her best friend had come to save her!

As she watched Kiki tussle with the fox, she noticed the fox…  Wait a minute… Where was Kiki’s collar and how did she get so skinny?  Since when was she so good at fighting and covered in scars?  And was she always a little more than “a little” bigger than her?

Kiki bit the fox’s ear and it finally threw her off.

“Kiki!” Silverpaw exclaimed, about to run to help her friend, but the kittypet rose a paw in signal not to.  The fox growled at the creamy she-cat and ran away.

“Wow, Kiki that was amazing!” Silverpaw exclaimed, running to her friend.  “Are you okay?”

Kiki got up, not looking at her.  *Oh no, she’s still upset…*

“Is this about the Rebels?” she asked Kiki gently.  “I'm sorry, i…  I-I should’ve checked with you first.  You're my best friend, and I should tell you life-changing things like that.”

Slowly Kiki turned around and Silverpaw gasped as she turned.  “She” was a “he”.  And this cat’s eyes were hazel.

## Chapter Ten: A Fallen Friend

CREDITING: The first part was written by Dreamclaw, and the second part was written by Moon.

“Who are you?” Silverpaw gasped.

“Definitely not Kiki, whoever that is,” the tom said with a snort.  She looked at him better.  Even if he wasn’t Kiki, he looked about the same age as her.

“Thank you for saving me,” she mewed, dipping her head gratefully.  “I’m Silverp-er, um… Silver.”

“You don’t know your own name?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.  “That’s nice,” he said sarcastically.  “Well, my name is Survival.”

“That’s a weird name,” she blurted, then bit her tongue.

He raised an eyebrow again. “Good, I like to be weird.”  He looked up at the sky which was being hidden by treetops.  “The sun will be setting soon and you're pretty deep into the Gray Forest.”

“The what Forest?”

“The Gray Forest.  That’s what I call this place.”  He sighed.  “You don’t smell like you come from this forest.  You smell like a kittypet.  Well, no matter, I’ll escort you back in time for your *precious* meal.”

As they walked, Silverpaw mewed, “Those are Clan terms, Twolegplace and kittypet.  Were you a Clan cat once?”

Survival sighed and looked up slightly.  “Okay, I have a feeling you're just going to keep asking questions if I give you a quick and easy answer like ‘kind-of,’ so I might as well tell you my story.  It’s a *long* story though, are you sure?”

She nodded and said simply, “It’s a long walk.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  He gave a tiny nod.  “Do you know of Finchflash of SkyClan?”

Silverpaw shook her head.

“Well, she was a kittypet who joined SkyClan and became Splashdawn—my father’s— mate.  When she realized she was expecting kits, she decided being a Warrior was just too dangerous and went back to kittypet life. She took back her old name, Janga. She had kits, my brother Pancake, my sister Butters, and me, whom the Twolegs called me Oats.  After becoming nine quarter-moons old, my old Twolegs gave me and my siblings away.  My new Twolegs renamed Donald, but by then I hated Twolegs, like my father had believed, so when they let me out one day, I escaped.  I didn’t go to SkyClan, I went to the Gray forest and renamed myself to Survival, because that’s all that’s important for me, I guess.”  He chuckled slightly, a bit sadly.  “I've never seen Janga, Pancake, or Butters again.”

As they left the deepest parts of the forest, Silverpaw could see Survival a lot better.  He looked almost exactly like Kiki although he was a tom. His fur was more of a light brown than a creamy-brown and his toes on his left paw were dark brown.  His ears were bigger than Kiki’s and his fur was sleeker and a little shorter.  Although he was skinnier than her, he was a tom so he was also a little bigger but was still young, like apprentice age.  Even though he was young, he didn’t really act young and she guessed that hardships matured him more.  He also had a few scars and hazel eyes.

“Hey, Survival,” Silverpaw said as they reached the city.  “I think I know where Ki—er, Butters is.”

“Why, do you know her?” he asked.  She could hear him trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

“…There is a chance I do,” she said slowly, choosing her words carefully.

He sighed and shook his head. “If you don’t, then I'm not going into the stinky Twolegplace for nothing.  If you find her though you know where to find me.”

He left into the trees and his fur blended in with the wood bark.  As Silverpaw turned around, she heard,

“Silver!  Where’ve you been all day?!”

She turned around and Maverick’s angry face seemed to be on fire.  He was that angry.

*I'm in for a long night*, she thought with a sigh.

Thankfully Maverick seemed to understand as she tried to explain what happened.

"Trying to prove yourself eh?" he asked. Silverpaw nodded. Maverick grunted. "All right, but this is my only warning."

"Thank you!" Silverpaw was relieved. "May I go to Coco's now?"

"Do you enjoy the life of those housecats?"

"I miss the forest," Silverpaw admitted. "But Coco has been nice to me. I can't wait to go back home, but I'd miss Mupsy, Coco, and Kiki, the most."

"Kiki? The cat who was with you?"

"Yes!"

"She came to get you, worried sick! It's past dawn, and she wanted to apologize for something. Go on, I'll see it that you get some sort of punishment, but not much," Silverpaw gave him a relieved look, as she went over to go to the 'house,' as Kiki called it. Thinking about Kiki made her heart hurt, but questions sprang up too.

*Kiki, or, Butters, is she really Survival's sister? What did she mean, by apologize?*

"Kiki, I'm coming, and, I'm sorry," Silverpaw meowed outloud. "I'm lost, so it might take a while, but I want to come home, I want to see you!"

"Silverpaw, I do too," Kiki emerged from where ever she was hiding, looking shameful. "I know you didn't understand me, and I blew up because of my emotions bottling up. I'll take you home, and I'll explain."

"Kiki?" Silverpaw asked, incredulous. Kiki smiled.

"I stayed, hoping to see you. Lets go home."

Silverpaw was glad to be with Kiki, especially since they both had apologized. The way to Coco’s was hard enough without the dark, but Kiki seemed to know every twist and turn. However, when Silverpaw asked how she knew this so well, she closed up, and made more mistakes.

Eventually she muttered, “I used to live there.”

“With a prior Twoleg, or a stray?” The term ‘stray’ felt strange to Silverpaw’s  tongue, but Kiki understood, because she had taught the term to her.

“Both. I- I was born in the wild, and a housefolk found me. They called me Mocha, even though I was originally named-” Kiki stopped.

“Butters?” Kiki looked at Silverpaw.

“How did you know?” she asked. Silverpaw smiled.

“I found your brother when he saved me from a fox,” Silverpaw explained. “He looks an awful lot like you, so I mistook him for you! He calls himself ‘Survival,’ but he-"

Kiki continued to walk, but refused to respond. After many pawsteps, they reached Coco’s house when the sun was rising, but something was wrong. The lights were out, it looked more in shambles than ever, and she heard a yowling… of pain?

Kiki’s eyes shone with terror.

“Mupsy?!” she cried out, and dashed to the sound. Mupsy was indeed there, but he looked even more battered, one of his legs was probably broken, and he was wounded in many places, blood pulsing through dozens of scratches, all deep. Mupsy smiled when he saw Silverpaw.

“Silver, that sunflower cat tried to get me to spill about your whereabouts but in the end, I wouldn’t say, and the only thing I’m spilling is my blood,” he tried to chuckle, but blood came out of his mouth instead.

No, no, no! Sunflower couldn’t have killed him! He should have had some moons left!

Kiki was probably thinking the same thing, because tears were streaming down her face. Silverpaw realized it was the same for her too.

“Mupsy, I’m sorry,” she choked out.

“Silverpaw, I was going to die soon anyway. I’m old! Besides, Coco never returned today, and I knew my time was up.”

“Coco too?!”

“She had some problem in her chest, so the healer housefolk came and got her. I knew they would try and help her, but I saw Coco stop breathing,” Mupsy paused to cough, and more blood came out. “The spirit cats even showed me that your life was worth the end of mine. Silver, I saw what was to happen, and you will live a long happy life.”

“No! Mupsy please stay!” Kiki pleaded. Mupsy shuddered, and his chest fell still.

Silverpaw was devastated. All she had left was Kiki. Suddenly, she was filled with calmness, and she began to say the ceremonial words that her clan had done when another had fallen.

“Mupsy was dedicated to his Twoleg and us, and his memory will never fade from here. Now we commend his spirit to StarClan, even though he was never a clan cat. May he watch over us in death as he did, before his life was lost. May StarClan bless your spirit, as you have done mine,” she said solemnly. Kiki looked at her, grateful.

“Mupsy, you were one of my friends, and one of the best. You kept me happy when all I had was you, and you were nice to Silverpaw. I hope you go to StarClan, because you deserve it, because you were like my father,” Kiki whispered. She faced Silverpaw. “I know a spot to bury him. The oak tree near Coco’s house, where the sunlight would shine through. He loved to doze there. I loved to doze there with him.”

Silverpaw dipped her head in response, and they began to carry him to the spot. StarClan must have been generous, because she never fell once, and Mupsy was surprisingly light. Then again, she remembered the elders saying that the spirit was the only reason a cat is heavy, and the body itself was light.

When they reached the spot, they dug a hole and gently placed him inside.

“He looks so peaceful,” Silverpaw whispered. Kiki’s eyes twinkled.

“If StarClan let him in, why wouldn’t he? Let's let him feel the sunshine once more.”

As they stopped to let the sunshine pour into his grave, Silverpaw laid down onto the soft grass. Kiki did the same, and she started to cry again.

“I used to do this with Mupsy too. It started when my mother died, and we buried her here. He was so supportive, I could tell him everything!” Soon her entire face was wet, and tears were still coming.

“I can try,” Silverpaw offered. “I’ll be your Mupsy.”

Kiki smiled. “And I’ll be yours. Why don’t you go to my place? My housefolk always welcome some cats to stay every night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’d love for you to see it! I’ve seen Coco’s so many times, it’s like my second home!” Silverpaw stood up.

“Let’s let Mupsy be in his resting place. Help me bury him.” After they had buried Mupsy fully, tears were still shed, but in a bittersweet way. Mupsy would be free, and happy. Silverpaw could almost hear what he’d be saying if he was still there:I’m already dead! No need to be sad about it, go already!

“We should go now,” Silverpaw said out loud. Kiki nodded, and they set off.

## Chapter Eleven: An Unexpected Enemy

CREDITING: Moon wrote the first part and Dreamclaw will probably write the next part

Silverpaw was surprised at how plain Kiki's house was. She half-expected it to be giant, glorious, awe inspiring, and possibly a waterfall. Instead, it looked the same as any she had seen, with the same white color, the circle holes poking out, and the wood in the middle. and without Kiki, Silverpaw would of never known it was the house.

*House,* that word sounded strange, especially as she constantly thought about it. Why did Twolegs have so many words? Silverpaw knew a few of them, like: blanket, pillow, couch, lamp, and car, the Twoleg word for monsters.

"Is this really your house?" Silverpaw asked out loud, instead of any of the questions bubbling up inside of her.

"You must of expected something else, but yep!" Kiki confirmed. "Come on in, and I'll introduce you to my roommate!" Kiki dashed through the wooden part, and Silverpaw thought she was about to crash, but it turned out their was a flap. Kiki poked her head out. "Come on!"

Nervously, Silverpaw went through the flap, and into Kiki's home. It seemed to be like Coco's, but it looked like it was in better condition, and unlike Coco's, it wasn't wooden and brown, but hard, cold, smooth, white rock.

"Welcome!" Kiki announced. "It's pretty similar to Coco's, but I also have a special room for me and Cloud!"

"Cloud?"

"My roommate!" Kiki explained. "I'll show her to you. CLOUD GET DOWN HERE!"

After some heart beats, shuffles were heard, and a small, white, fluffy she-cat came down. She had unusually very blue eyes, that seemed to look through Silverpaw's soul. Silverpaw assumed she was Cloud because of her appearance, and because Kiki had called her down.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked very softly. She seemed fragile, as if the slightest push would send her to the medicine den if she was a clan cat.

"Cloud, meet Silver!" Kiki used her tail to point at Silverpaw. "Silver is better known as Silverpaw, because she's a clan cat, and the 'paw is because she's an apprentice!" Kiki seemed to know this by heart. Maybe she did...

"Another clan cat?" the fluffy she-cat whispered.

"What do you mean, 'another clan cat?'" Silverpaw asked. She felt wobbly. Surely she couldn't of found her, it must be some other cat!

"This nice female needed a place to stay today!" Cloud explained. "Her name is Flower, she was looking for a clan cat, her daughter! Flower's description resembles you, Silver! I'll go get her. She was awfully worried about you!"

*No, it really is* her.

Cloud quietly and slowly went up the stairs, another word Silverpaw learned. After a few heartbeats, *she* arrived.

"Hello, *daughter*."

No matter how much Silverpaw pleaded with her destiny, it just had to be her.

Sunflower.

"I knew she had to be her, Flower!" Cloud said happily.

*That poor sweet cat,* Silverpaw thought sadly, *being manipulated to help a monster kill me.* She knew it was a little ill-mannered, and kind of self-centered of her, but she thought it away, mad at her terrible luck.

"Oh, Cloudie darling," Sunflower cooed, laying it on thick. Cloud beamed with happiness.

Kiki, knowing something was wrong, cleared her throat. "Cloud, can you please get some bedding for Silver to sleep on, while I give her a tour?"

Cloud nodded. "Flower was telling me how much she missed her daughter, she made a special bed each night for her. Maybe she can show me!"

Sunflower, looking like she wanted to probably say, "While Cloud works on that, I'd love to learn all about what my wonderful daughter has done!" and would kill Silverpaw and Kiki right there. But, without giving something away, she plastered a fake smile and went into the room to make up a special bedding.

"Now that 'Flower' is gone, is she your psychopathic mother?" Kiki asked, whispering as they walked around the house. Occasionally, she would actually tell her stuff about the house, but mostly to make it sound like they were touring the house.

"Unfortunately, yes." Silverpaw listened to make sure that 'Flower' was still upstairs. She was indeed, and telling Cloud how to make a 'missed you bed.' Silverpaw didn't know what surprised her most, the fact that Sunflower was incredibly skilled at using kittypet language, or she could actually depend on her ears. She sort of expected that she'd have terrible hearing, like her balance.

"Well, how do we get rid of her without letting Cloud know she's insane?!" Kiki had a hard time whispering that, raising her voice a little. "Cloud is like my sister, my very fragile and innocent sister!"

Silverpaw nodded grimly. "Cloud would never be the same, and I'd hate if she realized what was happening. I have an idea though." Leaning closer, she looked into Kiki's copper eyes. "I have a plan."

“…so are you sure it’s going to work?” Kiki asked.

Silverpaw nodded. “If we get her in trouble, your Twoleg, Jodie might kick her out of the den—um, house.”

“But what would we frame her for?” Kiki asked, sounding skeptical.  “Jodie is very kind and forgiving.”

Before Silverpaw could reply, Cloud poked her head through the cat-flap in the door.

*When did she go outside?*

“Flower!” she mewed in her soft voice.  “One of your friends is here!”  She went fully through the cat-flap and sat next to it.

Silverpaw frowned.  *I-is it Twopaw?  At last that’d make my “situation” a little better.*

Sunflower came down the stairs and sat by Kiki and Silverpaw.  She tried not to shrink away from her evilistic mother.

“Who is it, Cloudie dear?” she asked her voice gentle but her eyes sly.

“He says his name is Ben,” Cloud mewed softly.  Silverpaw frowned slightly.  *That’s not Twopaw.  Well, I can forget a better situation.*

“Oh yes, my dear friend Benny,” Sunflower said.  “Let me talk to him.”

Sunflower went through the flap and Silverpaw went near it to eavesdrop, while Cloud went by Kiki.

“…Eversong says that he encountered Silverpaw but didn’t tell her,” Benny’s voice said.

“He didn’t tell Eversong?” Sunflower asked, her voice full of surprise.  “Doesn’t he want the reward?”

“I guess not,” a new she-cat’s voice said.  “He should’ve told me or killed her himself!  I mean, he is fully capable of killing.”

Silverpaw strained to hear. Was she even hearing this right?  *I'm so confused on what’s happening.*

“How dare he not kill her?” Sunflower snarled.  “Fine, Eversong, you kill him.  He deserves it.  He strictly disobeyed my orders—well, my indirect orders.”

There was a long silence and the she-cat—Eversong, Silverpaw realized—said wistfully, “Do I have to? He’s young.  You can't expect an eight-moon-old tom to kill random bounties. Especially if he’s young like that.”

“That’s why he was supposed to tell you!” Sunflower hissed.  “When he found Silverpaw, he was supposed to tell you so you could rush back and kill her yourself, but he’s an idiot!”

“He’s not an idiot!” Eversong snapped.  “He’s an amazing, strong, clever young tom and I don’t want to kill him!!  He’s my friend!”

Silverpaw could hear Sunflower take a few deep, heavy breaths as if she was trying to calm herself and then her voice became sweet and cool.  “Well then, do you think Blazingstar would like to know where her best warrior—and daughter— went?”

Eversong gasped.  “You wouldn’t dare!”

“I would very much dare,” Sunflower purred smugly.  Her voice hardened.  “I’ll tell Blazingstar that her new warrior ran away on her vigil to steal Finchflash’s kits, even though she lived in the Twolegplace IF you don’t kill him!”

“Please don’t!!” Eversong was begging now.  “And besides, I forced myself not to.  I live with one of her kits now!”

“Blazingstar won't care,” Sunflower said, her voice going sweet and smug again.  “One of her warriors ran away on a sacred day with ill intent and hasn’t come back yet, or at least that’s what will be coursing throngh her mind when I tell her!”

“M-maybe we can punish him someway else,” Eversong stuttered.  “I d-don’t want to kill him!”

“I would kill him myself but I have other things to do and I don’t have time to punish idiot cats,” Sunflower snapped.  “So you'll kill him, or Blazingstar knows where you’ve been!”

“…Give me a day,” Eversong finally choked out.  “He’s more than my friend and I want to spend the day with him before… before…”  She gave a choking sob.

“He’s gone by morning,” Sunflower countered.  Silverpaw could nearly picture her tail lashing and her fur bristling in anger.  “You don’t get a day because you're better than that.  He’s dead tonight, if not minutes after the sun rises tomorrow.”

“…Okay…”  there were footsteps and Silverpaw knew Eversong left to kill “him,” whoever that was.

She almost thought the conversation was over when Sunflower said to Benny, “Honestly, I don’t know what you see in her.  She’s too idiotic and soft.  Well, he’ll be out of the way when she kills him and you can have her as your mate soon enough.”

“She’s pretty, oy,” Benny said.  “I love a good tortoiseshell-furred she-cat.”

“Well, at least you know how to pick a good mate.  I like the way you think but I'm going to have to ask you to leave.  Get going to recruit more cats for our army before the siege.  I’ll join you later tonight, though.”

“Yes, Sunflower,” he said obediently and Silverpaw could hear his footsteps as he left.

*That’s my cue*, she thought and ran over to Kiki as if she had been talking the whole time instead of eavesdropping.  A second after she sat down, Sunflower came into the house.

“What did Ben need?” Cloud asked quietly.  “You were out there for a bit of time.”

“Oh, nothing, my dear Cloudie,” Sunflower said sweetly.  “I have to run an ‘errand’ tonight and I was wondering if you'd like to come and help me.”

*Uh oh*.  Silverpaw’s eyes met Kiki’s and they both knew Sunflower would probably do something horrible to the poor white she-cat if she agreed.

“Me?” Cloud asked, her tail curling, pleased.  “You want *me* to come help you?  My friends and Kiki never really want me with them.  I think they think I'm too useless.”  Her sky-blue eyes softened sadly.

Silverpaw glanced at Kiki and her coppery eyes also softened but in slight shame.  She guessed Kiki felt bad Cloud felt that way.

Sunflower’s tail gently touched Cloud’s fluffy white one.  “Of course I want you to come with me!” and she blinked kindly.

Cloud’s eyes lit up and Kiki hissed frantically, “*Do something before she agrees!  She’s too fragile, she’ll never survive Sunflower alone!”*

Startled, Silverpaw opened her mouth to say something but Cloud, who didn’t even notice Silverpaw was trying to be faster than her, mewed happily, “I’ll go with you, Flower!”

“Excellent!” Sunflower purred.  “Now, I need to get ready but we’ll leave at midnight.”  She looked at Kiki and Silverpaw and her eyes hardened slightly so Cloud couldn’t see.  “While you wait for us to leave, Cloudie darling, why don’t you take my *dear* Silverpaw to the *wonderful* bed I *made* for her?  Why, Kiki, you and Silverpaw should be sleeping.”

“We’ll go,” Kiki said quickly.  She looked at Silverpaw very hard.  “We were right about to be going. C’mon, Cloud, show Silver the nice bed Flower made.”

“Let’s go then!” she murmured happily.  She walked up the stairs and Silverpaw and Kiki followed her.  they exchanged a look.

“*What was that about*?” Silverpaw mouthed.

*“Let’s pretend to go to sleep and then follow Cloud and Sunflower*,” she mouthed back.*“The plan will have to wait until tomorrow. Cloud comes first.”*

Silverpaw wanted to snap that if sunflower wasn’t “taken care of” by tonight, she’d probably die tonight and the plan would have no purpose tomorrow, but she held her tongue. It was mean.  Besides, Kiki probably cared about Cloud a lot.  She was right, Cloud came first.  Silverpaw gave a slight nod.  “*Cloud comes first*,” she agreed.

They went into the room. Silverpaw’s “bed” was the only one that was even remotely made of nature.  It was made of moss, vines, twigs, and milkweed fluff but it also had things from the city: a soft, colorful pelt-thing Kiki called a “blanket” and bits of Twoleg fluff that wasn’t milkweed.

“Isn’t it nice?” Cloud asked quietly.

Silverpaw got a closer look at it.  “This is rabbit’s ear moss!” she gasped.

“It’s what moss?” Kiki asked.

“Rabbit’s ear moss.  It’s only the softest type of moss that exists,” Silverpaw scoffed.

“Good night, Kiki and Silver!” Cloud marveled happily.  She looked at them and ran downstairs.

“When they leave the house, we’ll follow them,” Kiki said.  “We have time since Sunflower said she’d leave at midnight and it’s not yet, so why don’t you rest in your nest while we wait?”

Silverpaw was about to sit in the nest when the vines caught her eyes.  “This isn’t normal ivy vines!” she hissed.  “This ivy that’s lining my nest is *poison* ivy!  I knew I shouldn’t have trusted sunflower or any of the things that her paws create!”

“But will it make you itchy?” Kiki asked.  “I mean, you're covered in fur.”

“I… I'm not sure,” Silverpaw admitted.   But then she remembered what Ivyleaf had said about poison ivy once.

*“it’s alright to line bedding with normal ivy*,” Ivyleaf had said*, “but you want to stay away from poison ivy.  Yes, while we’re covered in fur, if the leaves get crushed the juices could get in our eyes and seep through our fur.  Getting in your eyes can make your eyes infected and possibly blind and if it seeps through your fur and gets on your skin, it’ll be very itchy and feel burny for days.”*

“No, I can't use the bed,” she decided.  “It can make me itchy or blind, depending on where the juices get.”

“You can share my nest,” Kiki offered and Silverpaw blinked at her gratefully.

They sat in her nest, feeling drowsy and then they heard the sound of a cat flap door swinging.

“It’s time,” Kiki said quietly and they slowly got out, mentally and physically preparing themselves for anything Sunflower might throw at them.

## Chapter Twelve: Injured and Caught

CREDITING: By Dream

They followed Sunflower and Cloud to an old abandoned “building” that was right next to the Gray Forest and there were a lot of strays, loners, rogues, and kittypets in there, about as much as a healthy, populated large Clan.  Benny and his gang were one of those cats.  It looked worse than Coco’s house.  Sure, it was shabby, but all of the “windows” were shattered and many of the walls were crumbling.  The “roof” had caved in in certain spots and moss and vines grew all over the area.

Silverpaw peeked in.  *all those cats seem to be in Sunflower’s army*, she thought with a shudder.

“I know this place,” Kiki whispered as they hid behind a rock as Cloud and Sunflower entered the building.  “I used to come here to think If Mupsy was in a bad mood.”  Her eyes saddened and watered at the thought of their fallen friend. “There’s a back enterance that opens up to allow maintenance to the vents so we can sneak in what’s left of them to spy on Sunflower, Cloud, and her army in the main room.”

Silverpaw had no idea what half of those words meant but she nodded.  “Let’s go,” she whispered back.

They went to the back of the building and to their surprise, it wasn’t guarded at all.  They snuck into the room and a shinyish-gray boxy thing that extended into the walls was there on the ground.

“That’s a vent,” Kiki explained.  “When the building still functioned as something for the Twolegs to use, it helped make certain rooms colder or hotter.  It doesn’t work anymore and now it’s a bit like a network of tunnels in the building or could be used that way.”

“Twolegs are weird, even though I lived with a nice one,” Silverpaw said, shaking her head.  “Why don’t they just leave the rooms’ temperature the way it is?”

Kiki shrugged.  “You go into the vent first and I’ll follow you,” she said.

Feeling a bit uneasy, she slowly entered it.  She slowly crawled forward and felt Kiki’s fur behind her.  Being in the vent made her stomach feel queasy.

“It’s okay, you're doing great,” Kiki soothed encouragingly.  “You got it.”

Finally they came to a grate and they could see and hear what was going on in the room Sunflower and her army was in.

It was hard to see but sunflower was sitting on what Kiki called a stage.  Cloud was sitting somewhere in the crowd, looking nervous and shaken.

“My fellow cats,” Sunflower yowled.  “You have been recruited because you were promised vengeance to the Rebels and food.” Cries and yowls of agreements rose into the air.  “Well, recently, I tried to side with them and then use that to take control of them, but their idiot leader, Maverick double crossed me.  We will take their territory and food by force and will flush out the notailed cat their hiding, Silver!”  More yowled of agreement sounded.  “We will rip Maverick to shreds and kill his cats in their own home!  We will slaughter Silver where she stands.  *WE WILL SHOW THEM WHO IS THE SUPERIOR GROUP!*”  The crowd went wild.

“Wait a minute,” said Silverpaw.  “She knows I'm not with the Rebels.  Why would she say that they’re hiding me?”

“It’s probably so they seem bad and cowardly, hiding you,” Kiki decided.  “It gives Sunflower more control.  They’re hiding a bad, notailed cat.  No offense,” she said quickly.  “I mean, it’s what will be coursing through their minds.”

“None taken,” she lied.  Even though Kiki didn’t mean to hurt her (or even be mean at all), it still did, especially with Sunflower embarrassing her in front of all those cats.  First that awful Gathering, and now this.

Cloud was shaking with fear.  Silverpaw felt terrible for the poor little white she-cat, being traumatized with the thoughts of murder and death.  She knew Cloud was fragile on the outside, but she was also fragile on the inside.

“And you know who will be bait?” Sunflowre asked.  “CLOUD!”  Cats that were surrounding Cloud cleared away, revealing a tiny trembling she-cat.

Then Kiki made a mistake.  She yowled, “NO!”  The force of her shaking when she screamed shifted the ven and the grate swung open, spilling the two cats on it onto the floor below.

“Well, well, well, what do have here?” Sunflower asked coyly, looking at Kiki and Silverpaw.  She suddenly snarled.  “Spies! Seize them!” she roared suddenly. And the fight had started.

Kiki, who even though wasn’t half the fighter Survival was, fought valiantly and cleared a path to there from the entrance.  Silverpaw occasionally slashed cats with her claws if they got close but she would hardly call it fighting.  And poor Cloud was trampled as cats scrambled to get to Kiki and Silverpaw.

Both Silverpaw and Kiki could see that they’d lose in the battle because they were vastly outnumbered.

“Escape now!” Kiki yowled at Silverpaw, pointing her tail to the path she’d created. “I’ll hold them back!”

“I can't leave you!” Silverpaw wailed, slatching an orange tabby on the nose with her claws.

“You have to go now!” Kiki screamed.  The path slowly began to fade as cats closed in on them.  “Split up!  I’ll escape and we’ll rendezvous at Coco’s house!”

Tears streaming out of her eyes, Silverpaw forced herself to surge through the path and fled into the Gray Forest.  She only tripped twice.  No one was following her so she slowed down.  The moonlight shone and an owl hooted as clouds closed in on it, making it a lot darker. As she walked, she reconized the area. This was where Survival had saved her from the fox.

She sighed softly.  She needed to find a way to save Kiki.  *Hold it, Survival lives here!  Maybe I can get his help to save Kiki!*  She walked faster, feeling hopeful.  But as she walked, she smelled… blood.

“Help… please,” a voice groaned in the dark, not too far away.  At first she bristled but then she realized that that cat may actually have needed her help, so she ran towards the voice.

“Please, somebody, help me.”

Silverpaw ran towards the voice and gasped in horror when she came to the cat. A cat, whom she couldn’t identify in the dark, groaned, lying on their side.  This cat was bleeding badly.  There was a huge gash in their neck and another on their side.  Their front left leg looked dislocated and broken but she couldn’t be sure since it was drowning in blood.  Their tail was ripped to shreds and it was a bobtail, a bit like hers except still longer.

Images of Mupsy’s death flooded into her mind.  *Oh StarClan, please don’t let another cat die tonight!*  She got ahold of herself and tried to think on the bright side.  *At least the cat’s wounds look fresh, I mid be able to put a poultice or two on before it gets infected, or… or…*

“Please, will you help me?” the cat moaned.

“Of course I will,” she said, touching her nose to their forehead.  It was starting to get warm and she had to dress the wounds before fever set in or the cat would never make it.

“Hang tight,” she said.  “I have to get cobwebs.”

She ran off and found some in a log.  She located some marigold, but not enough to dress every wound.  She ran back to the bleeding cat and began dressing the biggest wound, the one on their side first.  She put on marigold petals and put on some moss to help soak up the blood and held it in place with cobwebs.  She did the same with his throat wound but had no more marigold left over so she just used cobwebs alone to “patch” their smaller, shallower wounds.

Suddenly, the clouds covering the moon blew away and Silverpaw could see the cat clearer.  The cat had stubborn, sarcastic hazel eyes…

“Survival!” she gasped. “Who did this to you?”

He coughed, some blood spewing out, and groaned, “The cat I trusted most: Eversong.”

“What?  Why?” she asked, but deep down, she had a dark feeling she already knew the answer.

A small grin formed on his face.  “Okay, I have a feeling you're just going to keep asking questions if I give you a quick and easy answer like ‘I was supposed to kill you but didn’t,’ so I might as well—”  He stopped because he started coughing blood.

*He’s delirious, that’s why he’s joking around*, Silverpaw decided, feeling nervous.  “Save your strength,” she said, frowning.

“Silver, if I die, I want someone to know my story, or at least the treachery of Eversong.  Please,” he said, looking into her eyes.  “Even if it’s just a measly kittypet.”  He started to grin again.

She raised an eyedot annoyedly.  “Now is not the time to be flirting!” she snapped.  *He’s delirious*, she reminded herself.  Gentler, she said, “Please just tell your story—the rest of it.”

He sighed softly and then said, “When I went to the forest, I didn’t go alone. Eversong of SkyClan had just been made a warrior and wanted to steal me and my littermates but she changed her mind and went to live with me instead.  Our den is just a little beyond here.  A day ago, one of your mother’s goons, Benny, and Sunflower herself came here and promised food, protection, and also vengeance to the Rebels if we hunted down the silver, notailed, green-eyed white-pawed she-kit.  Eversong took up the offer quickly.  Eversong told me to tell her if I found you so I wouldn’t have to kill a cat, but if I wanted to, I could kill you myself.  But then, earlier today, I saved you from the fox.  I didn’t—and still don’t—want you dead, so I didn’t kill you, but if backfired because Eversong knew I didn’t tell her, probably because she could smell you on my fur.  So here I am now, dying, because my best friend sloppily tried to kill me since I didn’t kill you.”  His breath started slowing.

Silverpaw closed her eyes sadly when she got an idea.  “Survival, I'm going to take you to the Twolegplace.  They have a Twoleg that can treat and heal almost any wound or illness.”  *Or so Kiki says.*

He sighed again.  “Silver, I’ll be long dead by the time I get there and besides—” he gasped for breath. “I can't walk.  Can you even carry me that far?”

“I don’t know, but we have to try,” she said determinedly.  She slowly loaded him onto her back and he was surprisingly light.  Well, light as he was, he was still big and it was hard to hold him up.  She took about seven steps before she collapsed, exhausted.  His eyes closed and he went unconscious.  This was one of the times she felt completely helpless when it really mattered.

“I'm sorry, Survival,” she whispered, tears stinging her eyes.  “I can't do it.  I failed.  You're going to die all because of me.  Because of my existence and the want of it gone, Eversong attacked you and now I can't even save you, either.”  She closed her eyes sadly, resting her chin on his head.

“Don’t talk that way, my diamond.”

Silverpaw looked up and a starry, brown cat was standing before her.

“Antclaw!” she exclaimed happily, fighting the urge to embrace him.

“Let’s not just stand there,” he reminded her gently.  “We have to help Survival here.”

He loaded Survival on his and Silverpaw’s back, putting more weight on himself.  They began walking to the Twolegplace.

“…Why are you doing this?” she asked quietly.  “I mean, I thought StarClan’s not supposed to tinker with fate.”

“We can control it to some extent,” Antclaw replied.  “But it’s mostly because he’ll do wonders for Twopaw.  You’re not the only daughter I care about,” he said with an amused purr.

They came to the healing-Twoleg’s den and they set Survival, who was still alive but asleep, near the door.

“Before you leave,” she said to Antclaw, “did… did Mupsy make it to StarClan?”

“Yes,” he said softly.  “Yes, he did.”  He looked up.  “It’s almost morning.  Kiki and Cloud were captured but Ivyleaf is luckily on her way here. She snuck out tonight when Boulderstar was asleep.”

He touched his nose to her forehead.  “I must leave now.  I love you, Silverpaw.”  He disappeared.

She looked at Survival.  *Well, here goes nothing*.  She yowled as loudly as she could and watched as a Twoleg came out and gently took Survival inside. *I’ll visit him later*.  For now, she had to wait for Ivyleaf to arrive and then rescue her best friend.  Even though she knew Kiki wouldn’t be there she began to walk to Coco’s old house.

## Chapter Thirteen: Reunion

CREDITING: By Moon

Without Kiki, Mupsy, and Coco, the house looked ghostly, a shell of what it used to be. Silverpaw half expected to see her friends, Mupsy cracking jokes, Kiki smiling and playing with Silverpaw, and Coco caring for them all. Memories poured into her mind, of all the times they had in their short friendship.

"Oh, Kiki, please be safe!" Silverpaw cried out loud. "You are my only friend left!" Tears poured out, as she remembered what had happened to all of them. Sunflower, wanting to end Silverpaw's life. Coco's death, was none of Sunflower's doing, but Silverpaw felt guilty for hers too.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't come, none of this would of happened!" Silverpaw started sobbing even louder. "Maybe Coco's death wasn't my fault, but Cloud's will be, if Sunflower wants! I'm sorry!"

"It's not your fault, Silverpaw," someone said. Silverpaw, didn't expect a response, but continued, still mad at herself, not recognizing the voice she had heard so long ago, or even telling it was a cat who had said it.

"Yes it is! Sunflower wants me, and I put them in danger! If Survival dies it's my fault!"

"But he won't. You took great care of him, and I'm pleased to say, you will become a great medicine cat." The cat came out from a bush, and she was as pretty as she was last time Silverpaw had seen her. Her green eyes were a little dull, and her creamy pelt needed grooming, but Silverpaw was overjoyed.

"Ivyleaf! Antclaw told me you were going to come, but I didn't expect to see you so soon!" Ivyleaf smiled.

"Neither did I. My own StarClan mentor sent me here, and I thought I would have to wait a while."

"StarClan mentor?" asked Silverpaw.

"Every medicine cat has a cat in StarClan help them along their medicine cat path. You however, have multiple. Flamewhisper, Antclaw, and Crescentpaw all have decided to help you, though Flamewhisper has stepped down, so Antclaw can see his daughter more."

Silverpaw vaguely remembered Flamewhisper, her father's mother, who had given part of the prophecy, and told her of her true name.

"I understand why my father would want to help me, but I never even knew Crescentpaw; yet she has communicated with me the most! Why though?"

Ivyleaf simply shrugged. "I do not know, but maybe my sister wants to help prevent Sunflower to strip another life away. Who knows, StarClan is mysterious even to me." Ivyleaf's tail drooped. "If I had known more, maybe we could've prevented many deaths."

Silverpaw shook her head. "StarClan wouldn't want you to try and intervene in fate! They had to die, and at least StarClan will take them in!"

"Same goes to you," said Ivyleaf, smiling. When Silverpaw had realized she had gotten herself to say the words she needed, she smiled back.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Should we stay or should we go?" Ivyleaf's expression became grim.

"My StarClan mentor told me it was up to you, but either way, many deaths are inevitable. If you stay here, you can try and rescue your friends, but risk safety, and if you go back home, your friends might not survive, and it's only a matter of time till Sunflower goes back too and finds you."

Silverpaw tried to look brave. "Well, I'm tired of being a mouse-heart! I say we get the Rebels!"

"Who are the Rebels?" Ivyleaf asked.

"Some rouges who teamed up and are vicious! They are the only cats I know here that can fight and would help us," Silverpaw explained.

Ivyleaf frowned. "Helpful vicious rouges? That doesn't sound likely."

“I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like I can trust them. Yes, they tried to sell me off to Sunflower at first, but they want to get revenge on Sunflower now!"

Ivyleaf wasn’t completely convinced. “Silverpaw, I know medicine cats sometiqmes have to follow their heart sometimes, but this seems crazy!”

Silverpaw was exasperated. “If I am doing the right thing, StarClan will send me a sign!”

What Silverpaw didn’t know was that StarClan would speak through her, and she doubled over in pain, darkness encasing her. What she spoke and acted then, was shown only to Ivyleaf.

Silverpaw’s eyes were purple, as Crescentpaw was using her body then.

“͓̽I͓̽v͓̽y͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽f͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽i͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽r͓̽u͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽i͓̽l͓̽v͓̽e͓̽r͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽h͓̽i͓̽l͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽n͓̽g͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽e͓̽e͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽g͓̽r͓̽a͓̽n͓̽t͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽W͓̽i͓̽s͓̽d͓̽o͓̽m͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽T͓̽w͓̽o͓̽p͓̽a͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽g͓̽g͓̽e͓̽s͓̽t͓̽i͓̽o͓̽n͓̽s͓̽,͓̽”͓̽ Crescentpaw advised. Silverpaw’s body shuddered, and a different cat took control, with soft brown eyes.

“͓̽I͓̽v͓̽y͓̽l͓̽e͓̽a͓̽f͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽k͓̽n͓̽o͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽o͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽e͓̽x͓̽p͓̽e͓̽r͓̽i͓̽e͓̽n͓̽c͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽u͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽I͓̽ ͓̽k͓̽n͓̽o͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽y͓̽ ͓̽d͓̽a͓̽u͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽a͓̽k͓̽i͓̽n͓̽g͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽i͓̽g͓̽h͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽c͓̽h͓̽o͓̽i͓̽c͓̽e͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽Y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽a͓̽i͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽s͓̽e͓̽l͓̽f͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽s͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽s͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽b͓̽r͓̽a͓̽v͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽d͓̽o͓̽p͓̽t͓̽e͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽.͓̽”͓̽ Ivyleaf could only stand there, as her almost-mate gazed proudly at her. “͓̽W͓̽h͓̽i͓̽l͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽g͓̽a͓̽i͓̽n͓̽s͓̽t͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽r͓̽u͓̽l͓̽e͓̽s͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽t͓̽a͓̽r͓̽C͓̽l͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽w͓̽i͓̽l͓̽l͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽l͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽t͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽S͓̽u͓̽n͓̽f͓̽l͓̽o͓̽w͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽n͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽l͓̽o͓̽n͓̽g͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽ ͓̽m͓̽o͓̽t͓̽h͓̽e͓̽r͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽n͓̽d͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽ ͓̽a͓̽r͓̽e͓̽ ͓̽i͓̽n͓̽s͓̽t͓̽e͓̽a͓̽d͓̽.͓̽ ͓̽K͓̽e͓̽e͓̽p͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽o͓̽ ͓̽y͓̽o͓̽u͓̽r͓̽s͓̽e͓̽l͓̽f͓̽,͓̽ ͓̽no one ͓̽c͓̽a͓̽n͓̽ ͓̽k͓̽n͓̽o͓̽w͓̽ ͓̽t͓̽h͓̽i͓̽s͓̽.͓̽”͓̽

With that, Silverpaw opened her eyes, and saw Ivyleaf, looking shocked. However, she quickly regained her posture.

"StarClan gave me a sign, and you are right. We shall depart in the morning, as the sun is setting." Silverpaw looked around and saw the sun was indeed setting.

"Ivyleaf, you act like they said something else. What exactly, I do not know."

"Oh, my sweet Silverpaw, StarClan was very kind to us, my d-" Ivyleaf cut herself off. "My apprentice."

If Silverpaw noticed, she did not let it show. "Then let us get some rest. Although it might feel strange without Coco, I suggest we sleep in her house, for it is much safer."

And with that, Ivyleaf and Silverpaw fell asleep. While Ivyleaf slept comfortably, Silverpaw had a restless nightmare. Sunflower was killing everyone she cared about, even a little, except Twopaw, who had become as vicious as her mother. They laughed and mocked her as her friends died, each more horrifying then the last.

In the morning, mentor and apprentice got up. Ivyleaf offered to help catch some prey for Silverpaw, but Silverpaw refused. She was old enough to catch her own, even if she did have a disadvantage, concerning her nonexistent tail. Luckily, StarClan was feeling generous, and she was able to get a mouse, even if it was a little small.

"Are you sure you don't want some of my thrush?" Ivyleaf asked for the seventh time. "It's quite big, and I don't need all of it."

Silverpaw shook her head. "I want to catch my own prey. This mouse is fine, but thank you for offering."

Thankfully, Ivyleaf decided to not press it, and instead got up and began to view her surroundings. "Where is this Rebels place anyway?"

"I'll show you the way. I used to go there often. The last time I left was-" Silverpaw's voice trembled. "The night before Mupsy's death."

Ivyleaf touched her shoulder with her tail-tip. "That cat, you seemed close to him. I know seeing him in StarClan won't be as good as seeing him here, but I think he has also decided to help you." Remembering Mupsy's death was too much. Silverpaw started to shriek.

"Why? I'm worthless! I'm just a stupid no-tailed cat, with a curse that kills everyone I like! If I loved someone, oh even worse! I'm Notail, and I'm meant to be alone! I can't even understand my closest friend when it seems important!"

Ivyleaf looked taken back. "That is *not* true. You are amazing, and your life is just a little bumpy, that's all."

"How am I amazing? Nothing I do ever works out! I should just turn myself in!" Ivyleaf sighed, giving her the medicine cat look. The look, was filled with patience, no-nonsense, gentle love, and firmness.

"If you do, you'd break an ancient prophecy. Silverpaw, the friends you have left, need you."

"Ivyleaf? Are you sure?" Silverpaw asked. "Do you really need me?"

"I need you now and forever, my darling," Ivyleaf responded. "First, to stop Sunflower's terror, save everyone, especially Twopaw, and become the medicine cat after me."

"How does Twopaw need our help? She's just sitting on Sunflower's lap now, hanging on her every word!" Silverpaw protested. Ivyleaf sighed and met her eyes.

"Silverpaw, Twopaw was manipulated, and she is trying to help you now. Sunflower made her think she was superior, and she believed it. Twopaw felt, special, and she loved it. It didn't help that she also had a 'bad cat' in the story to convince her even more."

"Just say my name, Ivyleaf. Say it. I know I was the villain in her story. No need to try and cover it up."

"Fine. Sunflower's convincing that you were evil didn't help." Even though she already knew it, and she asked, it still hurt.

*Maybe it didn't help that I portrayed her that way either.*

"Fine lets go." Silverpaw started to walk.

"What happened to I'm a complete failure! I should just turn myself in! And, I'm a disaster!?" Ivyleaf asked, smiling.

"No time." Ivyleaf sighed, but followed her.

Even though she hadn't visited the Rebels much, somehow -perhaps StarClan was helping her- Silverpaw was able to find the hideout. A few cats were out on boxes, and barely even looked her way.

"Silver, Maverick's out hunting. Come some other day,"a ragged pale brown tom meowed. Silverpaw normally would of continued the conversation, but she was not in a good mood.

"Gale, I know he's here. I have news for him." Gale looked like he wanted to try and steer her away, but Silverpaw pushed on, making sure Ivyleaf was close to her.

"Silver?"

"I'll explain later."

When they reached the clearing, Silverpaw cleared her throat. "Maverick! Sunflower has been gathering her army! We must strike, before she kills more!"

Maverick sighed, his expression grim. "The monster of a cat has stuck our home already. Mink... Mink could not survive more injuries, and with losing Mink, Bella has gone mad with grief. Without one of our best fighters, we shall be scattered and perish. How can we help you?"

"I am offering myself, Ivyleaf, and soon a strong cat named Survival to help you. I do not ask much, only to help each other. We both need to get rid of Sunflower, and I fully agree to help you in any way possible."

"You don't understand. We cannot fight in our condition, and my cats are starting to wish they brought you to Sunflower. I am not angry at you, yet, but they soon will, and will try and take you in. You must leave."

"But-"

"Silver, I am not the same cat I was when we met. I had scars then, but now my pelt is full of scars now. My experience has made me less... crooked. I also have become much more merciful and less willing to turn cats in for food, but I cannot say the same for my cats. Go, while you still can" Maverick turned and walked away. As much as Silverpaw wanted to try and convince Maverick, he had a point.

"Wait!" a voice called out. A cat burst into the clearing, and ran over to Silverpaw, shielding her from Maverick. It was Bella.

"Bella?" Maverick asked, confused.

"While this cat was terrible at hunting, Mink was fond of her. When my mother passed, she died fighting, declaring that she had to help Silver. As her daughter, I will follow her promise. I vow upon this day that I shall fight even to my dying breath to help Silverpaw. Maverick, if your mother wanted it, would you do the same?"

"My mother wasn't exactly someone I liked, but yes. I still want to aid Silver, but I have to manage the Rebels. I don't want all this work to shatter, and only I could keep them together."

Bella smiled. "I already have that in control. Pumpkin!" With Bella's command, a small orange and black cat came out, his green and blue eyes darting.

"I can take care of them!" Pumpkin announced boldly, his voice high and cute. Maverick smiled.

"How is he going to take care of them? You have to be tough-" Pumpkin tackled Maverick down.

"I can be tough when I wanna!" Instead of his previous voice, this was low and gravely. Maverick chuckled nervously.

"Okay, I can see him lead. Just, make sure I still have a spot here, okay Pumpkin?" Pumpkin nodded eagerly.

"I'm not really good, and I wanna help you!" Silverpaw noticed he used the first voice, perhaps because it made people get convinced and love him?

"Pumpkin, quit the act. All we need you to do is keep the Rebels in check, keeping them from murdering anyone, especially our bait, and get them back to normal." Pumpkin smiled, showing gruesome teeth that Silverpaw did not want to be next to.

"Ay!"

"Um, Bella, who is this bait?" Silverpaw asked nervously, especially since she kind of knew the answer.

"It's simple, you."

While Silverpaw was familiar with this concept, it was hard to do it on purpose.

"How am I supposed to anger my mother? I can get a drink and she explodes, but if it's intentional, she doesn't care a whisker!" Silverpaw would say.

"Then don't try, just act natural," Maverick, Bella, or Ivyleaf would respond.

Eventually, Silverpaw stopped asking. She knew the answer, and asking wouldn't change it. She simply would be her regular, semi-confident self.

After some extensive planning, Ivyleaf decided to check the plan out. "I'll pretend to be Sunflower, and remember the plan!" Ivyleaf switched from her sweet, kind, gentle self into Sunflower's vain, cruel, malevolent personality.

"Um, hi Sunflower!" Silverpaw tried. Her voice came out as a squeak, and she groaned as Ivyleaf politely laughed.

"Don't try so hard, Silverpaw. I know it's a lot of pressure, but you can do it." Ivyleaf gently squeezed Silverpaw's paws, but morphed into Sunflower again, even matching her posture.

"How do you do that?!" Ivyleaf laughed, allowing herself to become Ivyleaf again

"When you have Sunflower for a sister, her personality is burned into your mind! Now let's focus." Ivyleaf switched to Sunflower again.

"Hello mother," Silverpaw sighed, remembering how she had to act to get the best reaction, in hope that Sunflower ignored her.

'Sunflower' scoffed. "Don't call me that, crow-food. Now get out of my sight."

Silverpaw, in routine, was about to leave when she realized her mission. "No Sunflower. I need to talk to you."

"Why? Leave. Now." Silverpaw could almost feel Sunflower's anger radiating off the gentle she-cat. Ivyleaf tried to walk away, but Silverpaw blocked her exit.

Silverpaw imagined herself commanding and brave, and tried it out. "Sunflower, I am not leaving. Now let's talk."

Ivyleaf bared her... incredibly sharp teeth? "Oh, I am leaving. You? Not a chance." That's when Silverpaw realized she really wasn't Ivyleaf but Sunflower. "Finally realized, mousebrain?" Sunflower taunted. Before Silverpaw could react, Sunflower pounced on her, with sickeningly sweet breath, about to give the killing bite...

That's when Silverpaw woke up screaming. Ivyleaf (who definitely wasn't Sunflower), was cautiously peering at her. She smiled when she saw Silverpaw's eye quickly open.

"Silverpaw! I'm so glad you are okay! After Bella told you the plan, you drifted off into sleep and we couldn't wake you. When you screamed, I was worried sick!" Ivyleaf said. While she had gotten better, her eyes were dull again, and her fur matted.

Silverpaw's eyes felt blurry. "What time is it?" she asked.

"You were still asleep when the moon rose. It's early dawn now. I stayed up to keep an eye on you." Ivyleaf chuckled slightly, but her tiredness shown like a fish in clear water.

"Ivyleaf! Why didn't you sleep! If I needed you, you were close!" Silverpaw exclaimed. Ivyleaf shook her head in response.

"My StarClan mentor, she- she said that you would slip from my grasp if I didn't keep my eye on you. I swear on StarClan I'll never let Sunflower keep you. It's just a night's sleep, I'm fine-" then Ivyleaf fell asleep. Silverpaw heard a chuckle, and saw it was Maverick, giving her a toothy grin.

"She really cares about you!"

Silverpaw sighed. "Sometimes I wish she'd care more about herself! If you saw how she looked when I saw her after being away, she looked like this, except worse!"

"Sometimes loyalty can be good or bad; Ivyleaf's loyalty is damaging her health."

Silverpaw frowned. "I have to end this soon!"

"You should practice. I'll be Sunflower," Maverick suggested

Silverpaw flinched as she thought of her nightmare. "No! I mean, I had a dream," Marinette confessed. "I was practicing the plan with Ivyleaf, but she was actually Sunflower!"

"Sunflower will deceive you, using innocent friends." a voice said. When Silverpaw tried to see the cat was, it was a cat she didn't recognize.

Maverick snorted. "Don't listen to those words. I've been woken countless times for strange reasons, because of this cat."

Ivyleaf stirred. "Listen... Silverpaw listen to this cat. I have been told the name-" Ivyleaf started, but was interrupted by a crash. A pot fell, along with Survival.

"Survival?" Silverpaw asked. The Twoleg medicine cat really was good at their job, because you could barely see he even had wounds recently.

"Sunflower has been tricked by Kiki, she thinks you are far away, and will not be tracking you here for a while," Survival reported. Silverpaw breathed a sigh of relief. Maverick smiled.

"We can rest easy. Bella!" Maverick called out. "Tend to the wounds still there, and-"

"Actually, I'd like too," Silverpaw offered. Maverick nodded, and Silverpaw walked over to Survival, also gathering the herbs she would need.

While she tended to some touch ups, the two cats chatted, with Silverpaw telling him the plans, and Survival telling her his experience at the 'vet' while she was away.

Suggesting they get some last bits of rest, Silverpaw drifted off into sleep, unaware of how close Sunflower really was.

"That cat wasn't completely useless, even leading us to Silverpaw!" Sunflower said happily. "Maybe I'll give him that 'Butters' orKiki whatever," she used.

"But Sunflower! Didn't you promise to hand the she-cat over?" a cat next to her asked.

Sunflower waved a paw. "Who told you promises are worth keeping? Promises are only meant to get what you want, and keeping them shows weakness. BENNY!"

Benny came in, bowing. Sunflower certainly was glad Twopaw suggested ultimate loyalty.

"See this, Mellow?" Sunflower asked. Mellow nodded. "I promised this cat respect for the entire Twolegplace, but instead, I forced him into loyalty! Real loyalty is for weaklings, plus it takes too long. Fear quickens it up, and Twopaw can put in a word for me to convince them into loyalty stronger then anything!"

"Sunflower, how come Twopaw can convince people so well?" Mellow asked. Sunflower smiled, showing horrifying and gruesome teeth, the only non pretty part about her.

"Why Mellow, such a wonderful question, how about you ask her?"

Gulping, Mellow slowly walked over to Twopaw's chambers, and there was perfect silence. Then Mellow came back in, different. No questions, but only the thoughts of wonderful Sunflower, the usual. This is what Twopaw did to them:

"You can't move," Twopaw would say. "You will remember nothing, except undying loyalty."

*You can't move, not even a muscle. Your body and limbs are frozen. You're not even able to blink.*

*Your memory has been wiped clean.*

*Somehow, you know... that whatever Twopaw did to you... will make you... into Sunflower's most loyal servant. You will do anything that she tells you or shows you to do without hesitation. Your loyalty to her is all you know. All you care about.*

"Not so virtuous anymore huh?"

## Chapter Fourteen: Preparations

**CREDITING: By Dream**

Silverpaw sighed.  It had been a long day, tending to the cats’ wounds.  Evening finally fell.

“How are you?” Ivyleaf asked her.

“Exhausted,” she admitted. “And I really miss Kiki.”

“Everything will turn out okay,” Ivyleaf mewed, her soft green eyes somehow softening even more. “We’ll get her back and—”

“Silver.”

She turned around and Survival was standing behind her.  all day she’d tried to convince him to take off his bandages and see how things were going, but he said they’d give him more protection than the medicine cat poultices in the coming battle.  That was probably true; they were a lot thicker, harder, and firmer than the poultices.

She was a bit annoyed that she was interrupted, but it was hard to stay mad at Survival.   “…What do you need?” she said with a sigh.

“Bella sent me to get you,” he said in his unemotional voice.  “We need to go.  We don’t have a lot of time; the spies just got back and Sunflower’s Army will be at their weakest in only a few hours, when her commanders are gone.  We still have a lot to do in that few hours.”

“Alright,” she said, dipping her head down diplomatically.  “Where to?”

“Only a house down, to Ruenon and Airigon’s den,” he said.  “Bella’s there, supervising and occasionally helping suit up cats.”

She was instantly confused. “Suit up… what?  What does that even mean?” she asked, scrunching up her nose.

“You’ll find out,” he replied, a tiny hint of amusement in his eyes.  “Let’s go, we don’t have a lot of time.”

“I'd tag along, but I have a lot to do,” Ivyleaf mewed.  “For example, teaching the young cats how to fight while the older ones prepare.  I may not be a warrior, but I do have battle training.”  She rested her chin on Silverpaw’s head.  “Look you, heading head to toe into battle and you’ve barely even reached six moons!” Her voice became emotional.  “How are you so mature already?”

“The burden of having a psychopathic mother can wear you down until you're nothing but bone,” Silverpaw joked.  She became serious, flicking her tail.  “Maybe it’s because I needed to use my wits to survive the nursery when I was still under Sunflower’s ‘care.’  I wasn’t sung to every night about how perfect and beautiful I was.”  She realized her voice was getting a little bitter, so she wriggled out from underneath Ivyleaf and said, “I’ll be back shortly.  Bye!”

She scampered off to Survival, who started walking towards another den.  Like the Rebel’s Refuge den and Sunflower’s Outpost, the small building was abandoned and not in great shape.  The whole area itself wasn’t awesomely maintained anyways.  The house wasn’t huge, but it had two “stories.”

“Let’s go in,” Survival meowed.  They went in through the doorway easily since the door was hanging by the bottom hinge only; it was in terrible condition.  They went a room called an “office.”  Quite a few cast were in there, one of those few being Bella. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen before, and she couldn’t help but gasp when she entered.

There was a table and desk along with a chair.  On the table, there was a blocky thing and another blocky-ish thing, only it looked like a stalactite was… on it…?  A cat sat on the desk, staring a glowing thin rectangle, and every so often she would move a little mouse thing or tap those square stones that were stuck to that flat-pad thing.  Another cat was helping multiple cats attach plate-things on their back and head using straps and odd sticky black ripping-noise things, then sent them on their way.  Bella was supervising the whole thing under her watchful eyes.  Suddenly, the first blocky-thing started making noises, and soon white, thin sheets with patterns on them started exiting it.  They were caught in a tray and about four sheets exited.

“Hey, you must be Silver!” said the she-cat on the desk, turning around.  She had brown fur and ark, almost-black brown eyes. “Welcome to the Tech Center.  I'm Airigon.”

Silverpaw could hardly process what she was seeing.  “What kind of work of StarClan is this?!” she managed to say.

Airigon looked at Survival and said, “StarClan?”  He shrugged and she turned back to Silverpaw.  “No silly, this isn’t StarClan’s work, it’s the housefolks’!”

The pale creamy-gray tom helping the cats looked up at them.  “Hi, I'm Ruenon,” he mewed.  He had long, slender ears that ended in a tippy-top point.  *Unusual ears*, she thought.  *Then again,* everything *in this room is* EXTRAORDINARY!! *I guess I'm not the only freak who lives.*

“I’d tell you more about the Tech Center, but I'm busy printing out maps of the area,” Airigon mewed. “Bella’ll tell you!”

The Rebel she-cat hopped down from the loud block and waited on the floor.  Dazed by everything in the room, Silverpaw jumped down.

Bella told her the black thing was a printer and the stalactite block-thing was a 3D printer.  Airigon’s glowing rectangle was a monitor screen, the square pebbles board was a keyboard, and the mouse was… a mouse.

“Airigon and Ruenon’s housefolk, Dave, often was in here on the monitor system,” Bella was explaining. “They usually sat with him when he worked and Airigon was smart enough to know who it worked.  She’s *very* skilled with it.”

“What happened to Dave?” Silverpaw asked, still trying to fathom these phenomenons.

“He usually made those,” Airigon mewed, her tail pointing to entangled objects that sat on white, folded cloths.  “They’re called models of duna or deeinay or something.  He had this file on the monitor where he broke apart the deeinay strands and studied it.  He’s had the file for *years*.  Then, one day, when he was studying the deeinay, he went crazy! It was a happy crazy, though.  He shouted stuff about ‘I did it’ and ‘decoding deeinay’ and ‘back at the lab’ and ‘in another country.’  Then, without even gathering his essentials like he does in long trips, he just got in his care—er, you call it a monster—and left. His trip has been a few moons so far. He never leaves us this long.” Sadness showed through her dark eyes.

“He’s not coming back, Air,” Ruenon mewed bitterly without taking his eyes or paws off the cats and straps.

“Of course he is!” she retorted stubbornly.  “Anyways, he forgot to save it to his mail inbox.  He’ll be back soon, though.  He also printed out all the armor on his 3D printers for us, but he had to make new ones because we kept growing, and once Ruenon ruined a pair, so Dave made plenty of backups.  Want to see what I'm working on?”

“…Okay,” Silverpaw agreed, jumping on the desk.

Surprising, it was an image from above of the whole city.  When Airigon “zoomed in,” there was a red path from the Rebel’s Refuge all the way to Sunflower’s Outpost.  Then she clicked something on the mouse and it showed the Outpost building.

“Wait, look inside!” Silverpaw exclaimed excitedly.  “Then we can see how Kiki and Cloud are doing!”

Airigon shook her head sadly.  “It doesn’t work that way,” she sighed.  “It’s not a live video, it’s a picture.  And besides, these pictures were taken seasons ago: see how the building is in slightly better condition?”

Disappointment wracked Silverpaw.  This place could do so much, yet it couldn’t do the one thing to help Kiki and Cloud.

Then Airigon “found” a picture with all the exits and entrances of the building marked in indistinguishable red shapes.  “This is by far my finest work,” she purred very proudly, beaming.  “It took me two days to make.  It had to be saves over Dave’s deeinay file; that took *so long* to figure out how to save it at all.”

“We’re getting sidetracked,” Survival said impatiently.  “Ruenon, help get Silverpaw suited up.”

“Right,” said the sharp-eared tom, sending out a cat with the plate things.  Silverpaw jumped off the desk and onto the floor by Ruenon.

“What are the plate-things?” she asked.

“I’ll get to that,” he replied.  “This is important, so you need to pay attention.  This is called armor.  If you wear it, you won't get as hurt in a battle, if not at all.  It’s made by our 3D printer; this one was made specifically for me by Dave when I was a younger cat.  Let’s try this on you.”

He put the armor on her back.  Although it was big and bulky, it was actually very light.  It was flaky, too.  They tried on multiple sizes on her until they reached the smallest size.

“It’s a tad big on you, but it’ll do its job,” Ruenon noted.  “Walk around; jump.  Do whatever you like and see if it’s comfortable enough where it’s not choking you to death.”

“This is weird,” Silverpaw said, swiping her claws at an imaginary enemy.  “It slows me down, too.”

“Armor will do that,” he replied.  “Overall, you can do basic attacks, so it’s fine.”  He out a bucket thing with holes cut out for the ears on her head.  It protected the back of her neck.  It was really loose and turned and swiveled a lot. “Stuff leaves in it and it’ll be a lot firmer,” he promised.  “Now I need to show you how to take it off.”  He showed her something called Velcro and how to strap it on and off.

Next was Survival’s turn. Unlike Silverpaw, he looked natural in it.  Nothing was loose or flopped.  He performed flexible attacks in it, and was quite fast and graceful, unlike Silverpaw.

“I think we’re done here, so we’ll be going,” Survival meowed.  “Thank you, Ruenon and Airigon.”

“No problem,” they both said.  “By the way, if you see any pieces of armor that’s not being used for a cat, please bring them back here,” Ruenon said.  “A large set, a medium set, and an extra tiny set.”

“Can’t you just make new ones with your 4D prodder or whatever it’s called?” Silverpaw asked.

“We could, but it can take a moon to create all that and we don’t have that time,” Ruenon said.  “Anyways, good luck in the battle.  We won't be in the battlefield but tending to cats on the side or back at the Refuge, so be careful.  Bye!  Oh, and could you send Maverick and Pumpkin here so I can suit them up?”

“Bye!” Silverpaw said, following Maverick out of the room and then the house.  When they got back, the first thing Silverpaw wanted to do was to take the armor off.  It was hot and made her slow.

Ivyleaf padded up and mewed, “Look at you both!  You're covered in plate-things!”

Silverpaw couldn’t help herself and started pouring out words and descriptions about the Tech Center. It was too much for her to process and she desperately needed to share her experience.

“Whoa, slow down!” Ivyleaf said, laughing.  “You’re talking so fast!”

“I can't help it!” Silverpaw exclaimed.  “It was just… extraordinary!”

She was about to tell her mom more when a black and dark brown she-cat named Pandora came over.

“It’s time,” she said gravely.  “We’re going over the plans.”

“Right,” Silverpaw nodded. She looked at Ivyleaf.  “I hope I’ll be back.”

“So what do we need?” asked Pumpkin, looking at the pieces of paper created by Airigon.  It was the paper that she showed Silverpaw earlier; it showed Sunflower’s Outpost along with all the exits and entrances.

“If we attack the main entrance with a truckload of cats, then we can flood into the side entrances with less cats, bein’ able to rescue Silver’s friends Kiki and Cloud.  We might also be able to chase Sunflower out through the main entrance and possibly kill her,” Maverick replied.

“We *need* to kill her,” Bella said grimly.  “She’s killed so many of our cats already, and if she stays alive, who knows what she could do to Silver and Ivy?”  Ivy was Ivyleaf’s cover name.

Silverpaw sighed boredly as she listened to the inputs and ideas that the leader-like cats decided on.  She looked up at the setting sun.  *Kiki, just hold on for a few hours.  We’ll be there soon!*

She tuned out everything around her, so she didn’t notice when Gale whispered to Survival, “Hey, have you seen Pandora?”

Twopaw stood still as a statue as Sunflower slipped the “armor” or whatever it was called on her.  One of their spies, Pandora, had stolen some from the Rebels.

“Great!” Sunflower purred. She already had armor on, and so did Benny.  She smiled pleasantly at Twopaw.  “Now you can't be hurt in battle!”

“Sunflower,” said Zillow, one of Sunflower’s closest minions.  “The prisoners are… not in great condition.”

“Lovely!” she purred. “How awful?”

“Well… maybe you should look,” he said quietly.

“Why?” she snapped.  “We want them in awful condition, but not dead so we can lure in Silverpaw.”

“They haven’t been fed in a day, neither have they been allowed anything to drink.  They’re also in poor condition.  You should check on them—”

“Silence!” Sunflower snapped.  Suddenly a skinny black and brown she-cat came into the room.  “Ah, Pandora!  What are the Rebels doing right now?”  She glanced at Zillow.  “Get out of here now.”  He ran away, probably the fastest cat Twopaw had ever seen.

“Silverpaw and Survival were suited up,” gasped the she-cat.  “And somehow the cats Ruenon and Airigon made pictures of our Outpost, according to the exits and entrances—”

“Along with the secret ones?” Sunflower asked quickly, staring the she-cat down in panic.

“Yes…”

“Well, what are their plans?” Twopaw’s mother asked.

“I-I don’t know—”

“WHAT?!” snarled Sunflower, rage in her brown eyes.  *Uh oh.* “YOU DON’T KNOW?!”

Pandora flinched.  “W-well I-I didn’t get a chance at—”

“What good is a spy if she doesn’t even know the most important facts?”  Instead of enraged, Sunflower’s voice went cold.

“I-I’m sure—”

“You being *sure* is useless!” Sunflower hissed.  “What I need is those horrid cats’ plans!”  She looked at Pandora with one of the coldest pair of eyes Twopaw had ever seen.

“I-I’m so s-sorry—”

“No matter,” her mother said coldly.  “You’re not going to matter in a few seconds.”  She looked at Benny and Mellow and flicked the tip of her tail twice.  Twopaw gulped.  To avoid cats from escaping before killing them, Sunflower taught her two minions sign language to tell them what some of her expressions meant. And the two flicks of the tip of her tail meant that the cat she was talking to was going to be killed. Mellow and Benny started closing in on the small, green eyed she-cat.

Pandora watched them with wide eyes as she got backed into a corner.  “Wh-what—”

“NOW!” screeched Sunflower.

And Twopaw couldn’t help but watch in horror as Pandora got ripped to shreds.  After Pandora was anything but alive, Sunflower glared at Mellow and said, “Clean up this mess before I flip out.”  She turned to Twopaw.  “Come along, daughter.  We have to make preparations.”

As Twopaw followed her mother, she desperately tried to blur out the images of Pandora’s death, but it was hopeless.  All she could do was hope she wasn’t killed like that in the battle.

## Chapter Fifteen: The Fight

**CREDITING: The first six sentences are written by Dream, and the rest are by Moon**

“Be safe,” Ivyleaf whispered, touching her muzzle to Silverpaw’s.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Silverpaw whispered.  She looked at Survival.

“Let’s go,” he said. They walked alongside the rest of the Rebels to the walk to Sunflower’s Outpost.

**(Moon's turn!)**

The walk was slow, tiring, hot, and the worst time Silverpaw ever had. She couldn't wait to take off her armor. Her strength was her small frame, which would allow her to be able to wriggle out of a hold. The clunky plates on her would also make running even harder.

"You doing alright, Silverpaw?" Survial asked again. He had been very concerned about her, looking around, as if something were to happen, even though he knew the plan: No cat had been suspecting this, as the spies had reported, so Silverpaw would distract Sunflower, till the rest of the cats could storm in and take the place by force. With the Outpost taken, Sunflower would have no choice but to surrender. Thus, Bella would be able to complete the mission, and well... Silverpaw tried not to imagine or think about what would happen. Sunflower was the worst, but Silverpaw was not a bloodthirsty cat.

"I dislike this armor, but I think I'll do well!" Silverpaw answered, returning her thoughts to his question. They almost were there at the Outpost, and some Rebels had started to sing

*High ho! High ho!*

*Sunflower has got to go!*

*She's a tyrant, cruel and vicious!*

*A murderer, she's malicious!*

*Her actions are pernicious!*

*So let her go! Let her go!*

Silverpaw didn't understand some of the words, but she kept up and tried singing along.

"Hi ho! Hi ho!" she sung.

Survival smiled as he heard this. "Silverpaw, do you enjoy this life?" the tom asked,

Silverpaw grinned. "Everyone doesn't care about my missing tail! Everyone has war injuries, and it's like I'm one of them!" Silverpaw met Survival's face. "Survival, while I like how I'm not judged as much, I'm a clan cat at heart. I'd miss Ivyleaf, and once Sunflower is gone, I'm sure it'll be easier. I'll make sure to visit you and Kiki."

Survival gave her a slight smile, and felt guilty. He wished he could tell her. He wished he could open up his heart and tell her everything. He wanted to tell her every little detail, his fears, his hopes, his dreams. One day...

"SILVER! AT YOUR POSITION!" Arrow barked. Silverpaw whirled around and ran (or at least tried to) to her position in the position. She could tell Arrow enjoyed telling what to do, especially when he caught someone off guard. Today, Arrow had made sure *she* was his main target. Out of all the days!

"Sorry Arrow!" Silverpaw apologized. Arrow smiled cruelly. Silverpaw thought angrily that *he* should've been on the enemy side, then she could slash her claws at his throat (or at least try). He acted so evil!

"Arrow *what*?" Arrow demanded. Silverpaw groaned on the inside.

"Commander Arrow," she said with gritted teeth. Arrow seemed pleased, and started yelling at some other unsuspecting victim. Silverpaw continued walking, but looked up at the sky. It looked like a rainy day.

Silverpaw looked around her 'area.' Every cat had been given a little spot in the formation to try and stay on for the battle. They were to leave that spot only if someone needed them. Silverpaw noticed Gale fretting.

"Gale, are you okay?" Silverpaw asked. Gale shook his head.

"Pandora isn't here, but she promised she'd come!" Gale told her. "This isn't like her!"

"Pandora is dead." Silverpaw looked and saw the speaker was the same cat who had tried to tell her about her dream. Gale frowned.

"Cassandra! I told you to stop making these things up! EVERYONE know's you're crazy!"

"But I'm not!" Cassandra protested. "I had this- this , where I saw Pandora being ripped into shreds by Sunflower's goons! It looked like Sunflower wasn't pleased with her, like she was working for her!" Gale snorted.

"Cassandra! You've got bees in your brain! Pandora is loyal to us! To me!" Gale looked down. "Well, at least I thought..." he softly said. Tears started to form, and he softly shook. "I loved her, but maybe she didn't love me." the tears became sobs, and another cat took him away, glaring as hard as she could at Cassandra, furious.

"Look what you did! Why did you have to upset him!" she said. "He just recovered from his last love!" the cat looked like she wanted to slash Cassandra's muzzle.

Gale softly pushed the cat away. "Ronnie, I'm fine. If Pandora was a bad cat, it was for the best. Besides, I got you here, making sure I'm safe," he teased. Ronnie blushed, but nodded.

"Just if you ever feel lonely, sad, or-" Ronnie started, but gave a tinkly laugh. "I'm doing it again. Just- Ahh! I'm still doing it! Bye Gale," she finished, and walked away.

Normally Silverpaw was quite shy, but to relieve her of her worries, she tried teasing Gale. "Are you sure you don't need anything?" she asked, trying to imitate Ronnie.

Survial laughed, but Gale blushed until his fur looked red.

Cassandra lightly coughed. "Silver, listen to me. Spies are everywhere." Silverpaw thought she saw Survival fidget, but she dismissed the thought. Survival was loyal.

"Hey, Silver, I have to tell you something," Survival began, but was interrupted with a shout. They had reached the Outpost, and rain was now falling.

"SUNFLOWER!" Maverick shouted. "SHOW US YOUR FACE!"

Silverpaw braced herself, ready for the plan. "I got this, I got this," she told herself.

After some time, Sunflower emerged, snarling. "What do you worthless cats I'll kill later want?"

Silverpaw felt her paws move closer, and her voice say, "Sunflower, I need to talk to you." Silverpaw couldn't believe she was actually doing it!

Sunflower growled. "Why would you want to talk to *me*? I certainly don't want to talk to you!"

"You have terrorized our family, my friends, and especially me. I want you to stop," Silverpaw demanded. Sunflower waved a paw.

"Why should I? But since you're so weak, maybe I can kill you off while I do it." Sunflower and Silverpaw walked away.

Silverpaw felt her paws tingle, as she carried out the plan she had practiced for so long.

"What do you need?" Sunflower asked.

Then Silverpaw realized it. Sunflower wasn't acting like the strong and powerful cat she was, but maybe even scared!

*That's impossible! Sunflower is never scared! She's always prepared for anything, and must even have spies in every clan!* Silverpaw thought.

"Well?" Sunflower asked again, but this time Silverpaw detected something. Uneasiness.

*Unless... She isn't prepared.* Cassandra's message about Pandora being a spy came back to Silverpaw, and she remembered Pandora didn't know the plan, because she was punished to hunt for slacking around. *That's why she was killed! And now Sunflower doesn't know what to do!*

"Silverpaw, I will kill you right now. What do you need?" Sunflower asked angrily. Silverpaw snapped out of her thoughts.

"I need you to free Kiki, Cloud, and all your prisoners," Silverpaw demanded. "Especially Cloud! She didn't do anything!"

"She was bait, and just for your information, I punished her for failing to trap you," Sunflower responded, smiling. She took a step towards Silverpaw. "But, you came right into my paws." Sunflower took another step. "And now I think I'll just have to KILL YOU MYSELF!" Sunflower lunged at Silverpaw, but Silverpaw dodged. This was it!

"Sunflower? More like Slowflower!" Silverpaw teased, running away from the Outpost. Her running practice was very useful now, and she was glad Arigon and Ruenon had added something to her armor to help her balance. Even with the armor slowing her down, Silverpaw managed to get far before Sunflower started chasing her.

Sunflower, having thought Silverpaw was still unable to run, snarled. "I should've killed you the moment you were born, you piece of foxdung!" she began to run too, but the armor Pandora had gotten her was too heavy, and she was a lot slower.

"Look who's talking!" Silverpaw retorted, almost enjoying this. After moons of being treated terrible, she finally got to insult the cat who started it all!

"I'm not your reflection!" Sunflower snapped back. Sunflower's fury only increased, she started running even faster.

"I know!" Silverpaw smiled as she saw Sunflower understand her statement. It wasn't long lived, because this made her almost catch up in rage.

"You're so stupid, a mouse knows more then you!" With every stride, Sunflower was getting closer.

"Sunflower, if you're going to be two-faced, at least make *one* of them pretty!" Silverpaw sweetly added, before using a spurt of energy to escape Sunflower.

"If you ate dung, you'd be eating your own kind!" Sunflower managed to get close enough to slam her paws down... right where Silverpaw's tail wold be, if she had a tail.

Silverpaw gasped for breath. *Maybe having no tail isn't so bad,* she thought.

"I WILL SKIN YOUR HIDE!" Sunflower roared, and this time, Silverpaw wasn't so lucky. Sunflower managed to pin her down, unsheath her claws, and was about to end Silverpaw's life when there was a shout.

"Sunflower! The cats have taken part of the Outpost!" a cat cried. His face was covered with new wounds, and his pelt wasn't in good shape either. Silverpaw could tell he wasn't doing well, for his breaths were shallow.

*He needs treatment or he'll die soon,* Silverpaw thought sadly. Just as she thought it, the cat shuddered, fell, and took his last breath.

"Weak," Sunflower muttered. Then she stopped, and if she was angry then, she was livid with rage now. "You... You took me away from the Outpost... You tricked me!"

Silverpaw gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, I did. Sunflower, you better go back if you want your troops to live. While you are a terror on your own, you need them. Go, and fight. You can kill me some other time."

Sunflower considered this, snarled, but stormed off.

Silverpaw let out a sigh of relief. *It's going exactly as planned!* she thought excitedly. Silverpaw picked herself up, and dashed over the Outpost, where the fight and a storm was beginning.

The Rebels had been closing in on Sunflower's troops, and they could do nothing about it but hiss.

Arrow jeered at the enemy cats. "Now who's trapped? Now who deserves some scratches?" he laughed at Benny. "It's our time, loser!"

"Is it?" a voice asked. Silverpaw saw Sunflower emerge, looking even bigger then before, and her wet fur mad her look like a mad cat, well, even madder then before. Sunflower smiled, showing razor sharp teeth, and was pleased to see the other cats shudder.

"Sunflower. We have surrounded your forces. Surrender, and we will let you go," Maverick said, full of authority, unlike when Silverpaw had first seen him with Ivyleaf.

Sunflower let out a bone-chilling laugh. "Surrender? Why in StarClan would I do that? This is just getting started." Sunflower lunged at Gale, and started clawing him. Gale let out yelps and shrieks of pain and fear, but Sunflower didn't stop until it was too late for him.

Silverpaw ran over to Gale, with a deep sorrow in heart, knowing she could do nothing to stop his death. "I'm so sorry Gale," she whispered.

Gale tried to laugh, but winced in pain. "Now I can meet Pandora again, Silver. All I ask is to avenge my death-" he was cut off as Sunflower leaped back to him and ended his life.

"See how easy that was?" Sunflower asked, as if she were training an apprentice to hunt. "Now I'll do the same to you."

Maverick didn't even flinch. "I've seen many deaths, but I've also brought many deaths. ATTACK!" As the cats heard the command, each one sprang up to fight, bringing total chaos.

"A cat like you is an easy kill, but I'll send you Sunflower's way instead, that way I'll get that extra fish!" a cat said. When Silverpaw heard the voice, she ducked, expecting a leap. Just as she had predicted, a brown tom had tried to pounce on her, but instead lost the element of surprise.

"Who says it'll be easy?" Silverpaw asked, and pounced on the cat. The tom growled, but it was useless. He was trapped.

"Kill me then, if you must. I lost my family to Sunflower," the tom said. Silverpaw shook her head.

"I'm freeing you instead. Survival!" she shouted. "Bring this cat to safety!" Silverpaw looked back to the tom. "Stay out of the battle, and you'll live another day." The tom nodded eagerly, as Survival came to help him.

"Thank you," he whispered to Silverpaw.

"Oh boohoo! Charlie misses his family! Well I don't!" Silverpaw, hearing his voice, turned right, and caught the new cat instead. It was a dark she-cat instead.

*StarClan! I know you are helping me! I'm not this good!*

"How come?" Silverpaw asked. "I could set you free, free from Sunflower if you wanted. Start a new life." The she-cat wriggled out of her grip.

"Why would I want that? I'm Deirdre and I'm proud to be a commander of Sunflower!" she proudly announced, and tackled Silverpaw, pressing her claw's against Silverpaw's throat. Silverpaw struggled against this, and felt darkness pressing in.

*No! I can't die now!* Silverpaw thought desperately, and flailed as much as she could, to try and break free of Deirdre's hold, but the grip only tightened.

Deirdre laughed. "Stop moving. It only speeds up your death." she pressed her claws deeper, and Silverpaw felt blood pulse out. If this continued, she would be dead in a couple of heartbeats.

Then Silverpaw heard a grunt, and the darkness faded away. She saw Survival had slammed down on Deirdre. In doing so, he had also freed her.

"Go free some others," Survival said, before he swiped his own claws at the enemy she-cat.

Deirdre roared, and the two started to fight. Survival was winning, but none were without wounds.

On the other side of the battle, Sunflower was weakening. While she had been able to keep the Rebels away, the cats had been getting closer and closer.

"Atticus! Atticus! Atticus I need you!" she shouted, but not cat came out. She shouted the name again, and a skittish white she-cat with blue eyes came out.

"Atticus will not come. He says he will not fight for you. At least for now." Sunflower growled, and the she-cat darted off, barely dodging Sunflower's claws.

Silverpaw wished she could see more, but was attacked by someone she never expected.

"Twopaw?" she asked. Twopaw's head was lowered.

"I'm sorry, sister. Mother wants me to kill you for her." Silverpaw knew old Twopaw would've done it in a heartbeat, but now her tails were drooping, and her head was still down.

"Twopaw, you don't have to follow her. Join me, escape Sunflower!" Silverpaw pleaded.

"I can't." Twopaw showed her her face, and Silverpaw's face was filled with shock.

"Your... Your eye..." she started. One of Twopaw's eyes was deeply wounded, and the skin around it was matted with blood.

"I tried to, Silverpaw. I tried to escape."

"If you don't get this treated, you could go blind in that eye!" Silverpaw gasped "How would you be able to lead?!"

Twopaw let out a weak chuckle. "After I realized Sunflower was power thirsty and cruel, and I was a selfish brat, I thought, maybe I don't really want to lead."

Silverpaw couldn't help but meow, "You did it! You called her Sunflower instead of Mother!"

Twopaw smiled. "I guess I did sort of break free." she stopped smiling and doubled over, clutching the injured eye.

"Twopaw!" Silverpaw went down to help her sister. "Let me get some herbs!" she turned to grab something, but felt Twopaw lay a paw on her.

"Don't. Help others. I'm fine." Twopaw tried to get up, but started coughing.

Silverpaw looked anxiously at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go." Twopaw tried to push her, but it wasn't hard. Silverpaw understood, and ran away before she could change her mind.

*If Sunflower would injure her "darling angel" then not even StarClan knows what she'll do next. She's certainly mad now,* Silverpaw worried, but couldn't worry for long. A mangy white and gray cat tried swiping his claws at her.

"I am loyal to Sunflower!" the cat hissed, but he was slow in attacking and Silverpaw managed to steer him away from her and to Maverick instead.

"Then you must die." Maverick grabbed his neck, and with a *snap* the tom was dead.

"Maverick! Cover Twopaw! She's good now!" Silverpaw called out to him. Maverick nodded, and brought out a healer, who had these "pouches" filled with herbs. Courtesy of Ivyleaf.

"It's all right," the healer soothed Twopaw, feeding her poppy seeds, and lightly taking her away with another cat.

Silverpaw was glad Twopaw was safe now, but she was still in enemy territory. She managed to dodge some more attacks, but a leg stuck out and she fell.

"Thanks for ending my darling daughter's obedience, Notail," a voice snarled. It was Sunflower, but her beauty was gone, replaced with blood, scars, and deep wounds. Her ears where torn and her eyes were crazed.

"Sunflower?" Silverpaw asked, but was responded with Sunflower slashing her pelt instead.

"I had everything, and you ruined it. Now look at me!" she replied angrily.

A Rebel tried to attack her, but she batted them away, growling, and ripping them to shreds.

"Silver!" the cat shrieked as their life was stripped away.

"See what I can do, Silverpaw. If I wanted to, I could've been even more painful. I could done that to you." Sunflower growled, every word dripping with menace.

"I know you can Sunflower. I know you can kill me, and if you do, I will accept my fate." Silverpaw proclaimed.

Sunflower smiled. "Very well."

Then Silverpaw was gone.

Well it didn't go exactly like that. At first she felt a pounding pain, blood spattering out, and Sunflower slinking away.

Silverpaw's head hurt, and she wanted to sleep. So she closed her eyes.

Then she was gone.

## Chapter Sixteen: Stuck In StarClan

**CREDITING: By Moon**

**"Silverpaw?" Silverpaw felt someone prod her. "Silverpaw are you okay?" More prodding.**

**Silverpaw tried to speak, but all that came out was a groan. When she opened her eyes she saw a place she'd only seen in her dreams.**

**"Antclaw?" Silverpaw asked. "W-what am I doing here? I have to get back!"**

**Antclaw shook his head sadly. "My sweet daughter, StarClan did not send you here. Did you forget what happens when you die?"**

***Die?* "No, I must get back! I need to! I must have some part of me back there!" Silverpaw started to cry. "Please!"**

**"Silverpaw, it's okay. Let me show you what's happening." Antclaw padded over to some water, and Silverpaw remembered seeing this before. As they approached the pool, she saw the fight, and her body laying down on the ground, bloody.**

**Survival looked at this, and white hot anger poured out. "NO!" He started attacking even harder, knocking down cats, furious. This surge of power made his first attack look like a kit's play**

**Antclaw looked at Silverpaw. "While you are gone, see how the Rebels are winning, because of you."**

**Silverpaw shook her head. "Survival would fight that hard for any fallen cat."**

**"You're not just any cat to him" Antclaw gently said.**

***Any... cat? Great StarClan it all makes sense...* Silverpaw remembered the way he would act, and it all clicked. Even Kiki's behavior.**

**"That means I have to get back even more!" Silverpaw tried to dive into the pool, but Antclaw grabbed her by the scruff, like a kit. Silverpaw tried to wriggle out, but his grip was like that twoleg shiny rock. No matter how hard you bit, all it would do would make you lose your teeth.**

**"Silverpaw, the Rebels are sure to win now, and because of you, Sunflower will be defeated. You don't need to get back, you could stay here, with me, Flamewhisper, Crescentpaw, you could even meet my sister, Maplekit!" Antclaw pleaded. "Don't forget, Mupsy."**

***Mupsy?* "Let me see him!" Silverpaw felt Antclaw drop her and she rushed out, calling, "Mupsy! Muspy!"**

**At first, nothing was to be seen, and Silverpaw's ears drooped. Then she heard pawsteps, and there was the cat she had mourned for for so long.**

**"Whitepaw!" Mupsy smiled, and Silverpaw was surprised to see how young he looked now, and how healthy he looked. "StarClan really does know how to rejuvenate," he added, as if hearing her thoughts.**

**"Mupsy! I told you, the -paw is because I'm an apprentice!" Silverpaw said, smiling too.**

**"I know, I know," Mupsy rolled his eyes, and touched his nose to hers. "How's Kiki?"**

**"Kiki misses you a lot! Did you see the vigil we held for you?" Silverpaw asked.**

**"How could I miss it? It almost made me cry, seeing you do that for me!" Mupsy replied, pretending to wipe away a tear.**

**Silverpaw purred in delight. "Have you been enjoying StarClan?"**

**"Enjoying it doesn't even describe how much I love this place! I met Kiki's parents!"**

**"Jenga and Splashdawn?"**

**"Yes, but Jenga changed her name back to Finchflash, to fit more in StarClan."**

**"Do you wish you had a Clan name?"**

**"No, I wish to honor Coco. Now before you have any more questions for me, I want you to go back." Mupsy gently ended the nose touch.**

**"But, didn't my father say I could stay?" Silverpaw pleaded.**

**Mupsy's face saddened. "I shouldn't have kept you here for so long. Now you want to stay."**

**"Why can't I?"**

**"Sunflower has one more trick up her paws. Look." Mupsy pointed to the pool, and while it looked like Sunflower was losing, a new cat came out.**

**"That's why she kept calling a name!" Silverpaw exclaimed. "She wanted him!"**Template:Linebreak

When Twopaw couldn’t see out of that eye anymore, she knew she went blind in it, but she didn’t want to believe the truth.

Her healer, a gentle tom with fiery sandy-gray fur and soft golden-green eyes, sighed at her.  “You may never see out of that eye again.”  He had brought her to the edge of the forest, where no one fought because it was too hard to navigate the trees and wild foliage (or at least for the Twolegplace cats, who probably had never seen a forest before).

*No*!!  She wanted to shriek.  She wanted to scream.  She wanted to rip something to shreds, like one wants to when one feels angry.  Most of all, she wanted to thrust her face into Sunflower’s fur like she did when she was a tiny kit.  But… her mom was all sorts of awful.

“Will I really be blind in that eye?” she whimpered.

Ochre nodded sadly.  “Yes, yo will be,” he said gently.

While she sat in silence, he removed her armor and began “patching up” her cuts and bruises, along with her poor eye.

“Ochre,” she said, “What do I do?"

"Huh?" he asked, startled.

“My mom is Sunflower, and… and I've never lived without her,” she whispered.  “It’s just so strange to thing that she… well, she’s a monster, even if she did hurt me.  Living without her is like losing a tail.  Being without a tail.  Even losing all my sense and story, being… without a tale.”

He nodded sympathetically and then replied, “Well, do you believe in StarClan?”

“Of course,” she said, unsure where this was going.  “You probably don’t—”

“I do,” he said quietly. “Your sister’s mother, Ivyleaf, taught us about StarClan and all its wonders and miracles yesterday while we prepared.  Immediately I adopted the religion.”

“Good for you,” Twopaw muttered, still upset about her eye.

His sympathic look deepened as he continued to work.  “You see, as a kit, I lived in a cutthroat world among the streets.  There was no religions, no faith, no anything.  StarClan has now given me hope, as it should for you. Look up to them.  What would you do if you were StarClan?”

Twopaw looked at him, her tails twitching as she thought.

Suddenly, Mellow sprang through the bushes, snarling fiercely.

“Twopaw, get behind me,” Ochre gasped.

“You traitor!” Mellow snarled at Twopaw.  “Prepare to die!”

“You will break free from Sunflower!” Twopaw yowled, attempting to user her ability of possession, but to her horror and shock, Mellow’s snarling face didn’t change. This was definitely a first!!  *Oh Void, not now, you stupid—*

Without delay, Mellow sprang at Ochre and began ripping his fur apart, blood gushing everywhere.

“Run, Twopaw, run!” Ochre screeched.  He let out battle cries as he tussled with Mellow, but his caterwauls turned into shrieks of pain.

Not looking back, Twopaw sprinted as fast as she could in no particular direction.  She went deeper into the forest yet she could still hear Ochre’s shrieks.  Suddenly, they stopped and a yowl of victory came from Mellow.  Sadness hit Twopaw.  Ochre was a decent cat, and Mellow used to be too, but then in mind-control she killed the gentle healer…

Suddenly she gasped and stopped in her tracks.  A tortoiseshell she-cat lay wounded in a muddy puddle of water, sobbing quietly.  Twopaw watched with wide eyes, very confused.  The she-cat noticed her, looked up with grief-stricken eyes, and slumped back.

“Wh-who are you?” Twopaw gasped.

“Someone who deserves to die a million times,” the cat cried.  “Someone who had a hope of a family with the one she loved most.  Some with the name of Eversong.”

Twopaw could quite place the name… oh!  It was Benny! He always rambled on and on about some pretty she-cat named Eversong and how they were destined to be mates someday.

“Why aren’t you back at the Outpost?” she asked, narrowing her eye.

“Because I hate it there!” she suddenly screeched hysterically.  “I hate everything and I hate Benny and I hate you and I killed him!!” She curled up into a ball and sobbed harder.

“Killed who?” Twopaw asked suspiciously.

“Survival,” she whispered, barely able to talk while she cried.  “When he would become older, we were supposed to become mates and have kits and be happy in the Gray Forest!  But Sunflower made me kill him for something tiny!  It was just to get him out of Benny’s way.  He’s wanted to become my mate for eons.  And then he forced me to become his mate or else everyone in SkyClan will die, like Survival!” She cried harder.

*No, Survival’s not dead!  I saw him on the battlefield.*  “Survival’s alive,” Twopaw whispered quietly.

She sat up instantly. “HE IS?!” she exclaimed, joy in her eyes.

Twopaw nodded.  “Who wounded you?”

“Myself,” Eversong said. “I tried to die, but I didn’t.”  A wild look entered her eyes.  “I’ll see you again, Twopaw!”  And she ran back to the Outpost.

*Well, that was random.*

***Twopaw…***

*Huh?  Crescentpaw, is that you trying to reach out to my mind?*

***It’s me, Silverpaw.***

Twopaw’s nose twitched in confusion.  *What?  How? You’re not—*

***But I am dead.***

Randomly out of nowhere, sadness overwhelmed Twopaw.  It was fiercer than her grief for Sunflower when she attacked her, but it was more confusing, more unnatural.  She had never been sad for Silverpaw before, or even sad that someone had died.  *But how?*

***Ask Sunflower.***

Her newly sparked hatred for her mother grew.  *I'd never thought I’d say this, but Sunflower needs—no,* deserves*—to die.*

***Yeah.  She does.***

*So anyways, why did you reach out to me?  I'm pretty sure it wasn’t to have a nice conversation and ask me my favorite prey.*

***Heh heh… no, no it wasn’t.***

*So then why?*

***You need to stop Sunflower.***

*But… but how?!  I'm still a kit, five moons, and she’s a full grown adult!  I don’t even have armor anymore!!  And she’s immune to my mind-control!*

***She*** ***doesn’t know you betrayed her.***

*But… but—but—*

***Twopaw, you can't stop the inevitable. You can delay it, but you can't stop it. Fate and karma won't let you.  I saw you in the future.  Trust me.  You won't fail.***

*Huh.  You sound like a StarClan cat.*

***I am a StarClan cat, mousebrain!***

*You know what I mean!*

***Enough joking around.  We need to get the plan down.  But before you get to Sunflower, you need to tell Ivyleaf I'm dead**.*

*That is* not *going to be fun.*

***Neither is it going to be when you also tell Kiki.  You have to free her and the prisoners too.  She’s dying, so you only have a bit of time**.*

*Why is my job so hard?  What if I fail?*

***Because no one suspects you.  And I already told you.  You won't fail.  You’re going to succeed.  Now, you need to go back to the Rebels, tell Ivyleaf, get through the battle, get to the Outpost and gain Sunflower’s trust again, free the prisoners, and then kill Sunflower.***

*What are you asking of me?*

***I'm asking you to backstab Sunflower.***

## Chapter Seventeen: Perspectives

**CREDITING: Dream wrote the first part(s) and then Moon wrote the rest :D**

**Silverpaw sighed and then receded from the pool.  Antclaw’s eyes were somber.  Twopaw had decided her destiny, and there was no going back.**

**“It was *useless* to send Twopaw to stop Sunflower!” growled an old StarClan queen, Mossrill.  “We clearly saw her fail in the future from the pool!  You're only going to kill her!”**

**Mossrill was Flamewhisper’s aunt.  “Destiny itself could never hide its face,” she retorted.**

**To Silverpaw’s surprise, Mossrill nodded with sad eyes. “I'm just worried for Twopaw,” she said quietly.**

**Silverpaw spoke up.  “Destiny can be changed,” she mewed.  “The Moonpool only showed the most possible future.  She may end up killing Sunflower.  If she truly believes she can, which she does since I told her so, she can change the future.”**

**She desperately tried to blot out the awful things that were with the possible outcome: Sunflower decapitated her own daughter when a tree fell on her; Kiki was killed along with 4 other prisoners; Ivyleaf went mad with grief and accidentally got hit by a car; sunflower returned to the forest and destroyed the Clans and ruled over the survivors.  If Twopaw failed, and there was a very high chance that she did, the world would practically end.**

**Suddenly, Crescentpaw came over.  “We have someone joining us,” she sighed.**

**Fear wracked Silverpaw.  “Is… it-it isn’t… Twopaw, is it?” she croaked.**

**A fiery sandy-gray tom with gentle golden-green eyes stepped out from behind her.**

**“My name is Ochre,” he mewed sadly.  “I did my best to protect Twopaw when one of Sunflower’s minions attacked.  Mellow’s the best fighter I’ve ever seen in my life—um, death before.”**

**“Does Twopaw even stand a chance?” Pebblefoot asked.**

**Silverpaw sighed, looking only ahead. “We can only hope,” she said grimly. “We can only hope.”**Template:LinebreakTwopaw was right: it was no fun to tell Ivyleaf that her daughter was dead.  It also really hurt to say it outloud.

“No,” Ivyleaf whispered. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, *no, no, no, NO!!!*”  Tears ran down her face, her eyes wild with grief.  “*NO*!!”  She screamed to StarClan, crying hard.

This was the most hysterical Twopaw had ever seen Ivyleaf.

Cats all around heard wails and screeches of grief.  They heard wild, hysterical weeping and howling.  Cats joined in on the mournful wails, and it was the saddest thing Twopaw had ever heard.  It was the sound that said, “Our inspiration, friend, and kinda leader has died.”  When the sad sound reached Sunflower, she smiled as she fought.  Her bloodstained teeth showed as it was curved into a cruel smile.

Twopaw nuzzled Ivyleaf gently, and the screaming stopped, but the poor medicine cat couldn’t quiet her sobs.

She opened her mouth to say something that would soothe her but was stopped.

***Twopaw.***

*What, Silverpaw?  I was going to soothe her.*

***She needs to be alone.  Now, you don’t have that much time, so you need to get through the battle field.  Unfortunately, Sunflower’s Army managed to gain the upper hand.  We’re losing, Twopaw.  It’s still going wild, but other than Mellow, no one knows you joined us.***

*You sure?*

***I'm StarClan.  Now get going!***Template:Linebreak2Kiki’s head *really* hurt.  It hurt a *lot* and it was pounding *so hard*.  Or did her stomach hurt more?  It didn’t matter.  She was sure she was going to die soon.

She was tied to the wall with those *chains* or whatever Neiville called them.  There were many prisoners in there, but Kiki only talked with Neiville, Cloud, and Joshua. Sadly, Cloud and Joshua were moved to a different room.

Suddenly, an unconscious small orange and black tom was brought into the room.  The guard, a slightly-below average-sized tom named Zillow, hung the small orange tom onto the wall.  The prisoner’s fur was flattened, as if he had been wearing something but it was ripped off.  Zillow muttered some things and then left the room.

The orange prisoner opened his blue and green eyes and gasped.

“Wh-where am I?” he said, his voice surprisingly low.  He cleared his throat and squeaked in a much higher voice, “What is the meaning of this?”

“Yah ain’t neva leavin’ if yah heye,” Neiville said forlornly.  “We all try’da ‘scape.  We dunno what that Sunflowa’s gonna do tow us.  Monia died already.  I'm Neiville.”

The tom started struggling even though it was pointless and it became too much for Kiki to watch.

“We’re never going to escape!” she yowled at the tom.  “We’re stuck! We’re going to die!”  Her voice softened as she tried not to cry.  And now her head hurt even more for screaming. She started to feel dizzy.  “I… I-I never got to tell her the way I felt about her…”

The tom squinted at her. “Aren’t you Kiki?” he asked.

She was shocked.  “Y-yes,” she said, startled.  “How did you know?”

“Silverpaw’s descriptions were very clear,” the tom mewed.  “Well, at least they were, until she…”

The mention of Silverpaw brought hope to Kiki’s heart.  “How’s she?” she asked the tom eagerly.

“Didn’t you hear?” he whispered.  “Sunflower killed her.”

All of the hope in her shattered like glass: it couldn’t be fixed.  The one cat who could save her… dead?!  The love her life, whipped away…  And she never got to tell Silverpaw how she felt!  She would never hear Silverpaw’s laugh again, or see her face so full of life. She didn’t even get to say *goodbye*.

“No…” she whispered, her eyes shut tight as she cried.  “Oh Silverpaw, no!”  Her voice wavered as she sobbed.  She desperately tried to stop crying; it only made her weaker as she lost more fluids in her body.

“I'm sorray, Kiki,” Neiville whispered.  The ‘Kiki’ sounded like ‘Kay-Kay.’  “She was a loved one, wuhn’t she?”

“Very,” Kiki whispered. No one could comfort her now.  Not even Mupsy if he lived.

Don’t mourn me, Kiki…

“Wh-what?” she gasped. She gulped.  “Who said that?”

“Sad what?” Neiville said, her yellow eyes full of concern.

It’s me, Silverpaw.

H-how are you—

When you're part of StarClan, there’s many things you can do, purred Silverpaw.

Suddenly Kiki felt mad. She couldn’t stop the flow of anger, and her head pounding didn’t help.  Why did you die? she snapped, more tears forming.  Why weren’t you more careful?  I'm never going to see you again!  Do you know how much I… I…

I'm sorry, Kiki.  I never meant to die.  Please don’t blame me for my death.  If you must blame someone, Sunflower is a valid option.

Her anger slowly melted away.  So why have you come?  Jest merely to torment me of you while I wait for my own death?

Stop thinking those dark thoughts, Kiki.  It’s not like you.  Suddenly, a series of sad yowls came up.  It was so sad and it made Kiki cry even more.

So why have you reached out, then?

Because you need real hope. Twopaw’s coming to save you all.  She’s going to finish what I could not.  So be ready until then.

“Yah okay, Kiki?” Neiville asked.  “Yah went quiet.”

“I'm fine, Nei,” said Kiki. Even though the hurting didn’t stop, for the first in what felt like forever, she felt real, unbroken hope.  She of course still felt sad for Silverpaw, but the hope was the only thing that overwhelmed it.  And she smiled through her tears.  “Just fine.”Template:Linebreak2He’d lost count of the cats he killed.  Oop, there went another one.

He’d rip cats up for her. He’d destroy the world for her. He’d fully avenge her, no matter how hard or impossible it was.

When Survival was a little younger, he thought his love was Eversong.  The stars above, was he wronger than he could ever be.  He would never forgive her for trying to kill him, for betraying him…

Now he was confident it was Silverpaw, but he watched her die.  Even though Sunflower was at most fault, he couldn’t help but think that it was a bit of his fault too.  He just… watched her die.  No, no, no, it *was* his fault.  And he’d known that Silverpaw was going to die today; that Crescent-thing had told him, even though she said it was inevitable.  But he didn’t tell her.  And now they had both paid the price for it.

He ripped open the throat of a dark brown tabby tom and screeched, “For Silverpaw!” and then went after a solid yellow tabby tom.  As he leaped onto the tom, he heard a series of sad yowls go up and immediately knew it was for Silverpaw.  It came from the Refuge and only grew louder as the Rebels on the battlefield joined in. he joined in on the sad wailed but continued fighting.  The yellow tom wailed in pain and retreated.  *Coward.*

He slatched a black she-cat on the muzzle and thought, *I will always fight for you, Silverpaw.   I’ll fight to the ends of the earth.  I SHALL AVENGE YOU!*  And he sprang onto the black she-cat, his only thoughts being about Silverpaw and war.Template:Linebreak2Sunflower’s day was going *quite* well.  She had *finally* gotten rid of that stupid notail.  The only problem was that it caused a war with the Rebels and that she was losing cats quickly.  She watched as one of her cats hit the ground dead every minute.

And Atticus… that slithery, stupid slimeworm!!  How dare he not come when she needed him!  She should’ve killed him the minute she suspected disloyalty, even if he had just been being vain.

She started walking back to the Outpost when she saw her own daughter Twopaw almost intercept her.  The stupid brat had even lost her armor!  *Of course she did, I'm not surprised.  You can never expect a kit to be responsible.*

“Hello there,” she growled. She flexed her claws.  “Do you wish to feel my wrath again?”

“n-no,” said Twopaw, slightly taking a step backward.

“Then I don’t have time for misfits like you,” snapped Sunflower.  “Unless you want to share the same fate as your sister?”

Twopaw swallowed and then said, “Please, Mother—”

“Have you come to grovel for protection?” Sunflower demanded.  A tiny flicker of hope sparked in her.  *Maybe my idiot daughter does need me. perhaps she could become my angel again, and I could quite use her powers.* Clever, greedy ideas filled her.

Her daughter didn’t reply immediately.  Twopaw’s nose twitched slightly and she bowed.  “I have.”

*Success!* Triumphantly, Sunflower said, “Well, come along then.  We don’t have a second to lose.”

And as they walked, sunflower knew that if Twopaw needed her again, then she surely had won this war. *Come at me if you dare!  I shall stamp you out and I WILL succeed!*Template:Linebreak*I can't believe I'm doing this!*

Twopaw ran in front of her mother, both terrified and enraged internally.  But she didn’t let her expression chance.

Sunflower’s expression went sly and she looked at Twopaw with a mixture of interested and disgusted eyes.

“Hello there,” she snarled. Twopaw gulped as she watched her mother flex gruesome, bloodstained long claws.  “Do you wish to feel my wrath again?”

*As if!*  “N-no…” She took a slight step backwards, preparing herself to run, feeling terrified.  *I'm outta here.*

***No, you're not.***

*Silverpaw!*

***Repeat after me, okay?  And do what I tell you to.***

*O-okay…*

“Then I don’t have time for misfits like you,” Sunflower growled, her tail lashing.  “Unless you want to share the same fate as your sister.”

***It’s not a good fate, trust me. Get her attention.***

Swallowing, Twopaw said nervously, “Please, Mother—” but was cut off.

“Have you come to grovel for protection?” Sunflower sneered.  A hopeful look lit her eye and Twopaw saw it.  *Sunflower would only want me back because of my powers.* She began to feel angry.

***Say you have, Twopaw.***

*What?  No way! The last thing I’d ever—*

***Stop being such a prideful idiot and say that you have, mousebrain!  Don’t blow the world over your fleafilled pride!***

*Alright, alright, sheesh.  You don’t need to scream.*

Hoping that she wasn’t scowling, she forced herself to say, “I have.”  ***Bow too**!* Internally screaming and kicking herself, she extended her front legs and lowered her hind ones, bowing her head.

She saw a tiny glimmer of satisfaction in her mother’s eyes.  *This is the last time I'm ever going to satisfy you, you flea-ridden, mangepelt, crowfood, foxdung—*

***Quit swearing, great Star—er, ThunderClan!  You're only what, five moons?*** Silverpaw teased.

*Nowwwwwww you're just teasing me*, Twopaw groaned, not listening to whatever Sunflower was saying.

***Yeah, I guess I am.  Now go follow her!***

“Now, there’s been a slight… disruptince with me and Atticus,” Sunflower stated.  “He’s been acting… odd.”

“Mmhmm,” Twopaw mumbled, pretending to listen.

“So in the meantime…”

“Uh huh, yep.”

***Twopaw, stop acting like a brat! You’re going to get yourself killed!***

*What, can't I have any fun?*

***Focus!***

*Alright, whatever.*

“—testing loyalty,” Sunflower snapped.  “Are you ready?”

“To test Atticus’s loyalty?” she asked.  “Never bee readier—”

“No, you idiot,” growled Sunflower.  “*I’m* testing *yours*.”

Twopaw was startled.  *Wh-what*…?  “What?”

“Well, obviously I'm not just going to let you parade right into my base,” Sunflower sneered in glee. “I don’t know *what* you’ve been doing on the battlefield and who you're fighting for.  You *must* be tested.”

*She’s enjoying this!  EERRRRGG!*  “O-okay, what’s the test?”

A devious smile crept up on Sunflower’s face.  “Kill the cat they call Kiki.”

***No!***

“B-but that’s Silverpaw’s—” Twopaw started.

“Best friend?  Yes, I know,” Sunflower purred.  “She’s hanging on the wall half-dead.  This should be easy as rye!”

Silverpaw’s voice was hollow and sad.  ***You have to agree, Twopaw.  We’ll have to find another way to save… to save…*** Her voice trailed off and then it came back determined and excited. ***Wait a second, she’s making this easy! If you can just manage to be along for a little while, you can free all the prisoners while being unnoticed!***

*Okay.*

“I accept,” Twopaw breathed.

“Excellent!” Sunflower purred. “Then let’s go.”

They continued the walk to the Outpost.  Twopaw didn’t miss this place and she shuddered.  They walked down a hall and passed a room full of injured soldiers.  Deidre was one of those cats, and she looked like she was dying.  They finally went downstairs where they prisoners were kept and Sunflower dismissed the guard on duty.  It happened to be Zillow, and he ran away.

Suddenly, Twopaw was shoved through the cat flap by Sunflower.  Her blood turned to ice when she heard Sunflower lock the catflap.

“This is it!” Sunflower sang.  “I don’t have time to watch you make your first kill, but I *will* hunt Atticus down and punish him.  Once you finish your test, you can help me decide a punishment.   Death won't work, I'm afraid.  He’s too much of a high rank.  And goodbye!”

And Twopaw heard footsteps that slowly faded away.

*Oh StarClan…*

***What, Twopaw?***

*Oh, right Silverpaw.  Sorry.*

She studied each prisoner, pitying all of them.  All of them were thin and starving, and most of them had scratches along the face that seemed semi-fresh and were unattended to.

Suddenly, a creamy-pink she-cat opened an eye.  She had wide, deep cuts along the belly that smelled infected.  She was thin and skinny and then she groaned.

***That’s Kiki!***

“T-Twopaw?” croaked Kiki.

“Um… y-yeah.  It’s me,” she stuttered.  “I'm here to free you and all the other prisoners.”

*Now we have to get her out.  How, though?  I don’t have a key to the chain locks or the catflap!*

***You’ll have to take the vents to leave this room, although see that?***

*See what?*

***That.***

Twopaw looked at what Silverpaw was directing her to and gasped in recognition.

***Use that.***

*I see.*

**(by Moon now!)**

Twopaw walked over, unsure of how it had been placed so conveniently.

"Kiki, are you well enough to run out and help me free the others?"

Kiki feebly nodded, and Twopaw felt bad. So what if her eye was in bad condition? Kiki had been *starved* for StarClan's sake! She needed her very little energy to survive, and Twopaw was asking her to use it all up!

*I can help you with that.*

"Void, is that you?" Twopaw asked out loud, and to Kiki she said, "I'm talking to Void. By the way, I think Silverpaw wanted me to say hi."

*Yes. Now listen carefully. I am sorry I blocked your powers, but it because I can show you to turn it from mind controlling to healing.*

"Does Silverpaw know about you?"

If she could see Void, Twopaw felt like they were smiling sheepishly.

*Sorry. Could not talk to you any other way unless I took control of the mind link.*

"Void!"

*Will let you talk to Silverpaw when I done.*

"Then hurry!"

*Place your paw on Kiki.*

Twopaw stepped closer to Kiki and stopped when she could touch her. The wounds were worse up close, and it smelled like her fur was rotting.

"Kiki, I'm going to try to heal you."

Gingerly, she placed her paw on the injured she-cat.

*Now, try using your mind control, but instead of controlling, think about Kiki with her body healed, the blood gone, as if she had never been tortured by Sunflower.*

Twopaw did as Void had said, and she felt her power flowing into Kiki.

*Think about nice happy thoughts. That's it Twopaw, just a little more,* Void's encouragement never ceased, and Twopaw slowly opened her eyes to see a perfectly healthy Kiki.

Kiki widened her eyes as she inspected her fur. There wasn't even a scar on her. "Wha-"

"No time to explain. Void, let me talk to Silverpaw!" Twopaw demanded. She hoped she hadn't alerted any guards.

*As you wish.*

Twopaw heard something snap, and all of Silverpaw poured down her thoughts.

***TWOPAW!***

*I'm sorry. Void was talking to me. I healed Kiki.*

***How?***

*Long story.*

***Tell me. If you want, I can just search your thoughts.***

*Get out of there! Fine. So basically I met this spirit cat a while ago, and we became friends. They helped me with my powers and-*

***Can you shorten it please? I don't need a backstory.***

*Well Void appeared in my thoughts (again) and taught me to heal instead of mind control. By the way, Void apologizes for taking control of the connection. They won't do it again, and they are truly sorry.*

Twopaw thought she heard Void protest, but she didn't tell Silverpaw that.

***Can you control cats anymore?***

*I'm not sure. I don't want to use the power anymore anyway so it doesn't matter.*

***It does matter! How will you free the cats you changed?! You ruined Mellow and her... mellowness!***

Twopaw grimaced at the image of the snarling, vicious, Mellow*. I'm sure Void will help me. If they can change control to healing, they must be able to switch it back.*

***How and why do you trust this Void?***

*Well it all started when-*

***Never mind. We don't have enough time. Just break the chains, free Kiki and the other prisoners.***

*If you say so.* Twopaw looked at the object again, and hoped it wouldn't break. Just because she was trying to be a better cat didn't mean she didn't want to keep any pretty diamond safe.

***Twopaw, it won't break. You know Sunflower wouldn't take it if it would shatter easily. Why else would she take them instead of ambers?***

*True.* Twopaw grabbed the biggest diamond she saw, and began to work down the chains.

Eventually, the chains snapped, and Kiki was free. She grabbed some diamonds, and turned to leave. But before she left, and whispered in Twopaw's ears, "Thank you."

Twopaw smiled. "Go. I'll stay to distract Sunflower."

"No. We're in this together. Besides, I'll free more with you."

Twopaw wanted to disagree, but the she-cat had a point. Not to mention Kiki seemed stubborn, and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Fine. I guess I should heal more cats anyway."

Kiki nodded, and the two cats ran to the next prison place.

Twopaw was surprised at how synchronized they were, and how brave Kiki was. Not to mention she did everything so quickly.

"Great job Kiki!" Twopaw whispered after they had healed and freed most of the cats in the room. Kiki seemed unsure about the complement, but returned it, sort of happy.

"You're doing well too, Twopaw." Kiki broke the chain of a cat called Juju and Twopaw healed erm. It seemed the more she used her new powers, the easier it was to do it. Jujujua tested ers strength before leaving.

"Good job Kiki." Kiki did not return the complement or seem happy with this, unlike Twopaw's. Juju waited, probably expecting a thank you, and left.

Kiki turned to Twopaw. "We make a good team."

Twopaw smiled. "Yes we do." she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Wow! I can't believe I just did that!"

"I know right? I didn't think I'd be doing this with you either!" Kiki tried to fix that, but the damage had been done. "I-I didn't mean it like that."

Twopaw looked down. Her past actions would always sting her.

*Then I'll have to be so good no one will remember how terrible I was!*

She looked up. "It's fine. I know I wasn't the best. I'm trying to change, and what you said was right. Friends?"

"Friends." Kiki seemed glad, and her coppery eyes looked hopeful.

"Friends are for the week, *traitor.*" Twopaw slowly looked and saw the last person she wanted to see. Her own Mother.Template:Linebreak2

Kiki froze as she saw Sunflower, her captor, the worst cat in the world. How could she be the mother of Silverpaw? Silverpaw was sweet, kind, maybe a little clumsy, but she was perfect. Sunflower was vain and cruel, the opposite of her!

"Kiki and Twopaw. I never thought my angel would betray me. Oh, but I did." Sunflower snarled, and Kiki saw how bloody and battered she was. She was evil at first, but she was truly insane now.

"Sunflower, you have to stop." Twopaw demanded. Kiki didn't trust her at first, but Twopaw had changed. She was trying to be different. Kiki felt some admiration for the tabby. It wasn't her fault Sunflower had cast a web of lies and ensnared her. She had taught Twopaw to be that way. But now Twopaw saw how terrible she was. She was actually kind of shy now.

"Why?" Sunflower flashed a stunning smile, or at least it would have been, if her teeth didn't look rotten. "You know, I'm winning. Atticus finally got out to fight. All it took was-"

"Stop! Just stop!" Twopaw tried to sound strong, but Kiki heard a wobble. She was scared, Kiki realized. "Why are you like this?"

Sunflower didn't answer at first. "W-well because one does not get power by doing nothing."

Kiki's world stopped. The grand and imposing she-cat who struck terror in every and anycat's heart, had stuttered. Anything seemed possible. Even stopping Sunflower.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look at yourself Sunflower. You have been ruined for your lust!" Kiki shouted.

"Only the weak are corrupted. I am strong." Sunflower tried to act carefree, but Kiki's words had taken a toll on her.

"Strength is not everything. You don't seem strong anyway." Kiki took a step closer, and Twopaw did the same.

Sunflower looked scared. "I am strong! You are weak!"

Twopaw snarled. "Really? By the way, thanks for brainwashing me. *Sunflower.*" Twopaw said her name with absolute hatred. Twopaw took another step, and pushed Sunflower down.

Sunflower yowled as she crashed, and tried to get up, only for Twopaw to knock her down again.

"You made me into a brat! You ruined my eye! You killed Father!" Twopaw's blows became harder, and her words became louder. "I HATE YOU!"

Sunflower widened her eyes, only for Twopaw to strike them. She yowled again in pain as Twopaw gouged one of her eyes out.

"Stop! Stop!" Sunflower pleaded. Twopaw growled.

"Didn't I tell you that? Like you ruined my eye, I ruined yours." Twopaw licked her lips. "Should I eat it to?"

Kiki was horrified at the thought of Twopaw eating the eye. Thankfully, Twopaw saw her discomfort, and put it down. However, when Sunflower tried to take it back, Twopaw slammed Sunflower against the eye, smashing it.

Sunflower wailed in agony. "Please!"

"Why should I?"

Sunflower gasped. "Atticus!"

Twopaw whirled around, only to find nothing. Sunflower had been lying.

"You-" she growled angrily. But it was too late. Sunflower had gathered the last of her strength and was escaping. Twopaw tried to attack her again. but Kiki placed a paw on her.

"You showed her how mighty you can be. You took her eye. She is in no condition to fight."

Twopaw huffed, but listened.

***Good job Kiki.***

*Silverpaw?*

***Return to the rebels.***

*I miss you.*

***Me too.***

Kiki cleared her throat. "Silverpaw told me to return."

Twopaw nodded, but there was something different about her. Was it how she had acted so violent?

"Twopaw, you did what you had to do. Sure a little gouging might have been much, but she was terrible. You finally are free."

"Free. I've heard that multiple times today. Does it really matter?" Twopaw muttered.

"Twopaw. I'm here for you." Kiki wrapped her tail with Twopaw. "Don't worry."

Twopaw took a deep breath. "I guess you are right. Lets go back."

Together, the two she-cats walked back, each one afraid of what would happen next.

## Chapter Eighteen: Freedom

**CREDITING: By Moon**

**Silverpaw let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Twopaw really did it. She broke her own chains. She even found a way to not control, but to heal."**

**Antclaw smiled. "Guess she's taking your role then huh?"**

**Silverpaw rolled her eyes. "Once the prophecy is complete, will she lose the powers? Will she be able to help cats like Mellow become normal?"**

**"That is not for you to worry. StarClan will worry about that," Mupsy said.**

**"But I am part of StarClan!"**

**Antclaw fidgeted awkwardly. "Silverpaw, you know you can't stay. I know I wanted you to at first, but you need to be there. You are in the prophecy."**

**Silverpaw drew back from Antclaw. "Why should I have to go back when I've suffered so much? Do you know how much I wish I could come here and visit you when Branchpaw or Rosepaw or whoever it was started humiliating me?"**

**"Do you wish to have a tail?" Antclaw asked gently.**

**"Yes, why?"**

**Antclaw stood up, and blew where Silverpaw was supposed to have a tail. Slowly a starry fluffy white tail began to sprout till it was fully grown.**

**"But... how?" Silverpaw swished her tail eagerly, but something felt off. Was the tail too heavy?**

**"It's the least StarClan could do. While you have to go, keep it, and remember this place." Antclaw twined his tail with hers, something Silverpaw had never done before. Silverpaw expected it would have been good, but the tail was wrong.**

**"Father, I can't have it. It doesn't feel right. I am without a tail, and that's fine." Silverpaw took a deep breath, hoping she was right.**

**Antclaw looked at her closer, his amber eyes somber. "Silverpaw, you are like this tail. I can't have you here yet. I want you to come here with me after you live a wonderful life. Apprentices and kits in StarClan sometimes have a hard time when they never had a life. Do you really want to be here, never knowing what you could have done there with Twopaw? Do you want to remember your current life, filled with pain?"**

**As much as she had missed her father, Silverpaw did wish she could have ended her life better. "I understand Father, but may I keep this starry tail as a mark of StarClan? Of course, I'm used to not having a tail, but maybe it wouldn't affect my balance?"**

**"Our magic is not as strong as it is here down with the Clans, but keeping a tail like that will be easy. You'd have to know about it though, and would have to look hard." Antclaw blew on the tail, and it became harder to see. Silverpaw couldn't feel it, but she could move it around. She tried to place it on Antclaw, but it only went through him.**

**"I only want to remember that StarClan has given me an extra chance, but I won't pass on a tail, even if only I know it, and it's like it doesn't exist."**

**"You can tell others, but only let the closest of friends know. That includes Ivyleaf, even if she is your mother."**

**"But-"**

**"She deserves to have you. Besides, before I met Sunflower, Ivyleaf had my heart. I always wished I could've had a kit with her, even though she was a medicine cat."**

**"So, she is my mother now? I don't have to say Sunflower is my mother anymore?" Silverpaw asked.**

**"Yes. StarClan has allowed her to have you." Antclaw smiled, his eyes twinkling, and Silverpaw embraced him, smiling happily.**

**"Thank you! I only wish I could see you again, without having to die," Silverpaw said softly.**

**"I'll see you every half moon, my little medicine cat," Antclaw whispered.**

**Silverpaw slowly got up, and began to wade into the StarClan version of the Moonpool. "Goodbye."**

**"Silverpaw, I will watch you forever and ever," Antclaw declared, his voice breaking.**

**A lump formed in Silverpaw's throat. "And I will be the best I can for you." Silverpaw felt her eyes mist up, and soon a tear rolled down. The water almost reached her head now.**

**"May StarClan light your path."**

**Silverpaw plunged into the water, and all was black.**

\*\*\*

What was freedom? Twopaw asked herself. Sure, she had broken free of Sunflower, but was she really free? Sunflower had shaped her, molded her, and added every little touch to her. At first, she acted almost exactly how Sunflower wanted. Sometimes she thought maybe Sunflower wanted her to be mischievous, so she was exactly how Sunflower wanted. Could she really break that off her. Forget her entire past, and act like she wasn't Sunflower's angel?

Sometimes Twopaw woke up, and felt like the little brat Sunflower raised. She would think how horrible Notail was, and how Rosepaw and Branchpaw needed to bow down to her more often. She then would praise Sunflower, still calling her Mother, and she would realize what she had been doing.

*Will I ever break her off?*

Twopaw peered into the water bowl Arrow had given her. The now blind eye stared back at her. She closed the other eye, hoping to see something, but it was all dark there. Of course it would be like that. She had tried this multiple times. Today.

Twopaw heard a rustle, and turned to see Survival. His resemblance to Kiki was uncanny, but his personality couldn't be more different.

"What do you what?" Twopaw asked. Her voice sounded gruff, but it wasn't intentional.

"Stop moping around. You saved us all, and you're acting like someone died." Survival winced, and Twopaw remembered Silverpaw lying on the ground, motionless. She didn't need to read his mind to know he blamed himself for part of it.

"Survival, it's not your fault. Silverpaw knew that Sunflower might've done it, but she did it anyway." Twopaw paused, wondering if she should tell him Silverpaw had been able to talk to her. She decided it would be best. "She's in StarClan now, happy. In fact she-"

***T̷w̶o̸p̷a̸w̶!̸ ̴I̶'̸m̵ ̵c̸o̴m̷i̸n̶g̶ ̸b̴a̶c̵k̴!̷***

*What?*

"Twopaw are you okay? You just paused, like someone was talking to you." Survival shifted his feet, uncomfortable.

"Actually, someone did. I think it was Silverpaw," Twopaw admitted. Seeing the look of shock, she explained further, "When I was freeing the cats, Silverpaw came to me. Somehow, in StarClan, she could talk to me, and that's how I helped free the prisoners."

"But- She died- Crescent- I was told-" Survival sputtered.

"She still died, but StarClan can commune with the living," Twopaw clarified.

Survival's look of confusion cleared, and he asked, "What did she just say?"

"She told me she was coming back."

"Back? From the StarClan you talk of?"

"I'm assuming that. Where's her body? If she really is coming back, we can't have her body trampled!" Twopaw began to worry. What if Sunflower had damaged her body too much? What if one of Sunflower's cats shredded it? What if Sunflower... ate it? Twopaw had seen many things when Sunflower was recruiting cats. Poor helpless kits and their mother, killed, and Sunflower doing who knows what to them.

Survival looked frantic, but he calmed down. "Don't worry. I saw some of our cats take it. I made sure of it."

"Did they bury her yet?"

"No. I told them not to until I ended the battle. We have time, because I couldn't ever pin Atticus down for long. The healers placed her down near a pond, close enough to see without leaving the battle for long, but far enough Sunflower's goons couldn't go without us attacking them."

Twopaw remembered Mellow. She wasn't a goon. She didn't deserve this. "They aren't goons. It's my fault they're like this!" Twopaw confessed.

"What do you mean?"

"I can control cats. Even though Sunflower made me control them to be loyal to her, it's my fault! Innocent cats are dying because of me! Cats have already died because of me!"

Survival met her eyes. "Didn't you say not to blame myself for a death? Sunflower controlled you. She made you do this. You know what has happened, and you changed for the better."

Twopaw wiped away a tear. "Really?"

"Absolutely. Now lets bring Silverpaw back."Template:Linebreak2When Twopaw saw Silverpaw's battered body, her jaw dropped in horror. Sunflower *had* killed Silverpaw in one strike. It looked like her neck was snapped.

"How will we fix that?" she asked Survival. Survival only shrugged.

"If StarClan can bring her back, can't they heal it?" Twopaw sighed, and tried to explain how StarClan really worked, but Survival suddenly gasped.

"Survival?"

"She- Silverpaw's breathing!" he said breathlessly.

"So are you and I, mousebrain." Twopaw crouched down. Her neck was still snapped. How could she-

*Why didn't I think of that?!*

Twopaw placed her paws on the neck, and imagined Silverpaw, perfectly healthy, her silver fur glossy, and her white paws pristine. Silverpaw, her green eyes sparkling. Silverpaw, as beautiful as ever. Silverpaw, here.

Silverpaw stirred, and Twopaw heard Survival place an ear over on Silverpaw's body. "Her pulse sounds stronger!"

Twopaw focused harder. She wished she had been able to see Silverpaw as beautiful as she was now, when she was a kit. She wished she treated her better. She wished she was here, so she could wrap her paws around her, and laugh with her, play with her, and be sisters. She imagined it all, hoping she could open her eyes to Silverpaw.

"She- She's waking!" Survival whispered excited. Twopaw concentrated, putting all her will into healing Silverpaw. Slowly she opened her eyes... to see Silverpaw weakly smiling at her.

"Hey sis."

## Chapter Nineteen: Home

**CREDITING: By Dream?**

Silverpaw knew she was alive when she felt pain everywhere.  In StarClan, physical pain wasn’t a thing.  But here… it sparked everywhere, especially in her neck.

“Silver—paw!” Survival exclaimed.  For once, his hazel eyes showed the most emotion she’d ever see.  He was so happy and bewildered.  He nuzzled her.  “I… I thought you were dead!”

“I was,” she mewed weakly.  She slowly stood up, and then stopped as her head swam in pain.

“We should get you inside the Refuge,” Twopaw mewed nervously.  “You're vulnerable out here, and I don’t know if Sunflower still has her spies out and ready.”

Leaning against Survival and Twopaw, they slowly helped her inside as she limped.  Everyone was gawking at her and began asking questions, crowding and overwhelming the weak she-cat.

“Silver!   I thought you were dead!”

“Whoa, how is she alive?”

“You came back to life, didn’t you! Can you bring my… my mother back to life?”

“…What kind of magic is this?”

“Isn’t it obvious, everyone?  She faked her death!”

“Did you hear!  We took down Sunflower!”

Suddenly, Survival let out a loud, deep yowl.

“Leave her *alone!*” he caterwauled.  His eyes were serious.  “She needs rest, food, and medicine.  She’s fine now.  Have small talk *later*, when she’s well and capable of it.”

Continuing to lean against Twopaw and Survival, she was brought into a room full of injured Rebels.  They gently laid her in a nest.  She looked around at all the injured cats, and her heart ached from the unconscious tom who had three of his legs chewed off.  His only leg was his front left one, and he occasionally twitched and groaned in his sleep.

“Here, give me a second,” said Twopaw.  She held her paw against Silverpaw’s throat and closed her eyes, only to open them in confusion.  “Uh…” she mumbled.  She closed her eyes tighter and clenched her teeth.  “What in StarClan?!”  She did it again and growled in frustration.  “Oh, forget it!”

“What were you trying to do?” Silverpaw asked her.

“Heal you,” Twopaw said with a sigh.  “Unfortunately, it’s not working.”

“I'm gonna go get Kiki and Ivyleaf,” Survival suddenly meowed.  “I may or may not be back.”

Silverpaw watched him disappear, and then looked at Twopaw.  “Maybe you can't heal because… because since StarClan brought me back to life, I need to heal naturally.”

“I don’t understand why StarClan has to be so complicated and cryptic,” she groaned, but a twinkle of amusement was in her eye.

“Yep, so *mist* this and *unknown* that,” Silverpaw mewed, grinning.

They both giggled, and a bud of warmth entered Silverpaw’s heart.  Was this what it was like to have a truly loving, close sister?

Suddenly, both Kiki and Ivyleaf burst into the room, running at full speed.

“YOU’RE ALIVE!” both she-cats screamed in happiness.  And then Silverpaw, for the second time this morning, was barraged with nuzzles.

“You scared me so bad!” Ivyleaf said shakily.  “I thought you died!”

“You weren’t dead all this time?” Kiki asked.  She looked angry.  “You scared me so badly!”  Her angry look faded as she nuzzled Silverpaw again.

“Kiki…” Silverpaw murmured.  “We… well, we have to talk.”

Kiki sighed, and then tilted her head to the side.  “Why?”

“Well…  We have to talk about your… feelings for me.”

“Gloss and stones, mossy pinecones,” Kiki muttered.  “You weren’t supposed to know, not yet, but you died…”

“It doesn’t matter, we still have to talk,” Silverpaw said gently.

Her eyes showed sadly.  “…You don’t… feel the same way?” she whimpered.

*Do I say the truth, or lie and make her feel better*? Silverpaw thought frantically.  Time is one of those things that you can't control or get back after using it.  And she seemed to be losing more of it as she thought.  She eventually settled on an answer.

“We’ll go over that in our talk,” she said.  “For now, let’s just focus on the present.”

“…Okay,” Kiki murmured.

“Have you eaten yet?” Ivyleaf asked.

“Well, no—” Silverpaw started.

“What?!” the medicine cat exclaimed.  She ran out of the room, probably to get food.

“Look, I should check on some other cats,” Twopaw said.  “Like that Charlie cat.  He’s been through a lot.  I watched Sunflower kill his mate and kits.  I’ll see you, Silverpaw.”  And she left the room.

Which meant that Kiki and Silverpaw were alone.

“Look—” Silverpaw started.

“I love you,” Kiki burst out, then she turned away with embarrassed eyes. She began to stammer.  “I-I mean, well…”

“I know, Kiki,” Silverpaw said gently.  She turned away, guilt in her eyes.

Kiki looked at her with feathery-soft, coppery eyes.

When Silverpaw finally gained the courage to look at Kiki, her emerald eyes were so soft, it could squish an ant and it would still live.

“I'm can't stay here, Kiki,” she said.  “I'm going back to the Clans when I get better and well enough to travel.”

“I know,” Kiki said with a sigh.

“You do?” Silverpaw asked, surprised.

Kiki nodded.  “Twopaw was talking about it earlier.  That after we buried you, they would go back to the Clans.  She kept talking about this *Redpaw* or whatever his name was.”

“Oh, *him*,” Silverpaw said with an amused look.  “Twopaw’s head over her paws for him.  Along with Rosepaw.  And Flytail, but she doesn’t really let it on.”

“Huh, he must be a nice tom,” Kiki said quietly.

Silverpaw looked away.  “Well, we should still hang out before I leave.  Otherwise it’s going to be really hard to ever see you again.”

“Yeah,” Kiki agreed sadly, and they both went quiet as Ivyleaf came back in with a dead rat.Template:LinebreakIt had been three days since Silverpaw came back to life, and now she was nearly at complete health.  Since she was at complete health, it meant that it was time to leave.  Everyone was gathered at the entrance, saying goodbye to the Clan cats as they were about to set off to go back.

“Thanks for helping us stop Sunflower and avenging my mother’s dead,” Bella mewed, dipping her head.

“You’ll be missed here,” Maverick said.

Silverpaw looked at Kiki.  “I'm really gonna miss you, Kiki.”

“There's something I want to tell you—” Kiki started, but then she was interrupted.

“I'm going with you,” Survival suddenly announced.

Silverpaw and Twopaw stared at him, but Ivyleaf dipped her head.

“You’ve shown us you’re capable of loyalty, brains, and brawn,” she said. “You'd be the perfect Clan cat.”

Kiki looked at Silverpaw again.  “Well, now I need to say—”

“Hey, Silver!  Twopaw!”

Silverpaw and Twopaw looked at the voice calling them.  There were two kittypet she-cats.  The first one was an incredibly slim and sleek creamy-white she-cat with blue-gray points and large ears.  The second one had no fur and was covered in Twoleg jewelry.

“You’re Twopaw and Silver, right?” asked the slim one.

But Silverpaw was staring at the bald she-cat.  “What… what happened to your fur?” she asked.  “Did the Twolegs cut it off?”

The bald she-cat shook her head.  “It’s just the way I was born,” she mewed.  “I'm Nibby.”

“Sakura,” the slim she-cat said.

“Why are those things on your ears?” Silverpaw asked Nibby quietly.

Nibby sighed.  “My Twolegs are obsessed with these people called the ancient Egyptians, and they pieced my ears to put these earrings in.  It hurt like crazy and it now affects my hearing.  But that’s beside the point.”

Silverpaw cocked her head to the side.  “So why did you come?” she asked.

Sakura held her head up proudly.  “I want you to carry on a message to my father.”

“…Father?” Silverpaw asked, confused.

“Blueeyes,” Sakura stated.  “Eversong’s not the only one to have family in the Clans.  Anyways, I want you to tell him that I'm here, with Amethyst, and in three moons, I’m going to ThunderClan.”

Silverpaw was confused as ever, but she nodded.  “Alright, I’ll pass on your message,” she said.  Sakura seemed satisfied, and she and Nibby left.

“Okay, can I say what I want to say now?” Kiki asked.

“Please do,” Silverpaw said warmly.

“I'm going with you to ThunderClan.”

Silverpaw’s eyes widened.  *Is… is this really happening?!*  Happiness overwhelmed her.  “Oh Kiki, that’s great!” she purred, rubbing her cheek on Kiki’s.  “You’re going to love it there!  The forest is so pretty, and the prey is delicious, and you’d be a great warrior!”

“Yeah…”  Kiki smiled uneasily.  She looked at Ivyleaf and Survival.  “Well, are we going?”

“Yes, Kiki, yes we are,” Ivyleaf mewed.

And as they began walking to the forest, Silverpaw heard cheers and cries of goodbyes from everyone at the Refuge.

“*Hooray for Silverpaw!  Free from flaws!  On her way home!  Let her safely roam!  Goodbye, goodbye!”*

And she smiled, thinking of the wonderful adventures she’d had here in just a few days.  She knew that if she ever needed to stay here again, she’d have friends and allies.

But now she held her head up proudly and focused on what was in the future as she started for the way home.

## Chapter Twenty: Apprentices into the Clans

**CREDITING: First part is by Dream, second is by Moon**

“Hey look, Ivyleaf’s back!”

“Oh wow, it’s Twopaw!”

“Huh, Nopaw’s with them!”

Silverpaw stepped into the camp.  After joining StarClan, she thought she’d never come back here again.

“Twopaw!” Branchpaw exclaimed, running over to her with happiness in his voice.  “Where were you!?”  He gasped when he saw her face.  “What happened to your eye?  Well, to be accurate, where’s your eye?!”

“It’s… well, to be honest, it’s a long story,” Twopaw admitted.

Cats began to gather around them and began asking them questions.

“Where were you?  Why did you disappear?”

“Where’s Sunflower? Boulderstar was freaked out over Ivyleaf’s disappearance!”

“Oh, Twopaw, it’s a good thing you're back!  Cricketkit needs training!”

“Who are these new cats?”

The last question was by Boulderstar, and he came into the clearing, his eyes narrowed.  He came over to sniff and judge Kiki and Survival.

“The tom looks strong, skinny, and smart,” Boulderstar said.  “He’d make a fine warrior.  The she-cat smells like a kittypet, but she’s also skinny and scarred, so she must have experience in the wild.”  He looked at Ivyleaf both questioningly and accusingly.  “Where were you?  We were at so much loss without a medicine cat!  And where is Sunflower?”

“We need to talk,” Ivyleaf said with a chuckle.  “We’ve been through so much.  We have gotten rid of a menace, recruited friends to join us here…  A lot’s happened in the past few days.”

Boulderstar sighed.  “So has a lot here.  I'm afraid a fight was started with Hollystar of ShadowClan, and we lost Conifernose and Fogstorm in a recent battle.”

Ivyleaf’s smile faded. “What?  How did you lose them?  Who’s been nursing Cricketkit, Flamekit, and Silkkit?”

“Conifernose died of his wounds two days ago because we had *no medicine cat*.”  He glared at her, then sighed.  “We lost Fogstorm the night you left.  She went to find borage because her milk stopped, and she walked right across the ShadowClan border to get to a plant there.  Thistletip, that filthy tom, killed her and left her body there.  We found her the next the morning when a search patrol went over there.”  He sighed and shook his head.

Suddenly, a white she-cat with black patches and gray ears and tail, not of ThunderClan, left the nursery. She smelled of RiverClan and Silverpaw bristled at the sight of her.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Boulderstar reassured her.  “That’s just Flowermist.  She came to nurse Fogstorm’s kits after I sent patrols to the other Clans.  No one except her was willing to nurse them.”

“I’ll be right back to the nursery,” she called to Boulderstar.  “I just wanted to get something to eat.”  She selected a mouse and went back into the nursery.

Boulderstar was smiling faintly at her, but then he turned back to Ivyleaf.  “Redpaw, Lilypaw, and Foxfern have been grieving for the past few days.  It’s good to have more warriors.”  He looked at Kiki and Survival.  “Come with me.  We have to talk if you truly wish to be warriors.”  And he led them into his den to talk.

“It’s so great to be home,” Silverpaw purred to Ivyleaf, and then she head into the medicine den.  She laid her nest, and then closed her eyes, realizing how much she had missed her nest, and fell asleep.Template:Linebreak“—Are well past the age of six moons, but you wish to be a warrior, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Pinkpaw. Your mentor will be Violetwing. I hope Violetwing will pass down all she knows on to you.”

Violetwing came up to the rock and Kiki—now Pinkpaw—touched her nose to Violetwing’s.

Violetwing**,** you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Oakwhisker, and you have shown yourself to be kind and patient. You will be the mentor of Pinkpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her.”

Everyone began cheering Pinkpaw’s name, and Survival—Survivalpaw, what was *wrong* with Silverpaw today?— and Silverpaw were cheering her name the loudest.

With a proud nod, Boulderstar mewed, “this Clan meeting has come to an end.  Pinkpaw, with Violetwing.  Survivalpaw, with Stagscratch.”  And he hopped off the rock into his den.

“I'm so happy for you!” Silverpaw purred to Pinkpaw.

“It’s so weird to think of my name like that!” she exclaimed, but her voice was uneasy.

“Pinkpaw, over here,” Violetwing mewed.  “You can chat later.”  Even Violetwing seemed excited.  This was her first apprentice.

“I’ll catch up you later,” Pinkpaw mewed.  “Bye!”

And Silverpaw watched her friend walk away.

“Silverpaw, let’s do some medicine cat drills,” Ivyleaf said.

**(by Moon now!)**

"Okay!" Silverpaw was eager to continue her training. Sorting out herbs had become calming during her very short time as an apprentice.

"First, we need to check the store, seeing what we need more of and what we need to throw out, and then we can do your favorite, sort!" Ivyleaf stepped into the Medicine cat's den and gasped.

"Ivyleaf? What's wrong?" Silverpaw ran into the den, and stopped in her tracks. Someone had shredded all the herbs and messed everything up! The shredded herbs now said a message: ᄂΣΛVΣ ƬΉЦПDΣЯᄃᄂΛП. In the center was crowfood, rotting.

"S-Sunflower is still alive." Ivyleaf stuttered. "And she wants us dead!"

Silverpaw put a paw on Ivyleaf. "We are safe here. Otherwise StarClan would not want us to come back. It might not even be Sunflower, just a cat playing a prank! Let's toss this stuff out." Ivyleaf nodded.

"Yes. I'll deal with the herbs, try and salvage some of it, and you throw out that nasty carcass!" Ivyleaf wrinkled her nose at the crowfood. "But remember to wash your paws afterwards!" Silverpaw let out a *mrrow* of laughter.

"Of course Mother."

"W-what do you mean? I'm not your-"

"Antclaw told me. Only I know." Ivyleaf let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. Now out with the crowfood!"

\*\*\*

Silverpaw was glad to get rid of the crowfood. She had left it near a thunderpath, or a road as Kiki- Pinkpaw would say. As she walked to wash her paws in a stream she wondered how Pinkpaw was doing. Was Pinkpaw a good apprentice? Would she even survive?

Silverpaw shook that thought off. Of course she would. Kiki- Pinkpaw would excell. She had to. But the biggest question bothered Silverpaw. Would she adjust? She knew Survivalpaw -that name was easy- would do it. He practically was born in the wild! But soft Kiki- PINKPAW! What was with that. Couldn't her own brain remember it? She was pink. Her paws were pink. So Pinkpaw! Not very hard, right?

*You know she is not meant to be here. She is meant to live as a kittypet, and as Kiki.*

*Who said that?!*

*I am Void. Twopaw knows me.* Silverpaw remembered hearing about Void from Twopaw when she and Kiki- PINKPAW PINKPAW PINKPAW! were freeing cats.

*So you're the one who took the connection!*

*Yes, I am sorry for that, but I needed to unlock Twopaw's healing ability.*

*I guess it did help me come back... I forgive you.*

*Good. Now let Kiki go back.*

*I can't just do that, Void! And by the way, she is Pinkpaw now!*

*Not for long.*

*Void, I did not ask you to go in my head. I did not ask you to try and get me to kick my best friend out of the Clan.*

*The only reason she is here is because you are more then a friend to her.*

*That doesn't mean she can't become a warrior in ThunderClan!* Imagining Pinkpaw as a warrior seemed strange, but Silverpaw didn't tell Void that.

*It's strange because she is not meant to be one!*

*Get out of my head!*

*Fine. But listen to me.* Kiki *will leave heartbroken if you do not have her leave now.*

Silverpaw huffed as Void left. *Why should I listen to Void? They don't even know who they are!* she thought as she walked to the stream. *I'll let Pinkpaw live here freely. It's not my choice to make her go.*

As Silverpaw washed her paws, she heard a rustle. "Who's there?!" she asked, trying to be brave.

Twopaw, embarassed, came out of a bush. "If this eye wasn't blind, I would of definitely been more sneaky!"

"Sure, Twopaw," Silverpaw said dryly. "Why were you stalking me anyway?"

"Ivyleaf needs you, and I volunteered because I love my sis," Twopaw said, and trotted next to her by the stream.

"A few moons ago you hated me, Two*tail,*" Silverpaw teased, but saw the hurt look in Twopaw's eyes. "Oh no I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Soon I'll be so good you won't believe I was horrible!" Twopaw stood taller, trying to look confident.

"You already are." Silverpaw nuzzled her affectionately.

Twopaw purred. "Come on sis, Let's go back to Ivyleaf."

Silverpaw got up. "Okay. Race you!" Silverpaw started to run. She had been getting better at it, and she almost beat Twopaw.

"Slow slug!" Twopaw called out, smiling. Silverpaw tripped her in return.

"Clumsy bug!"

By the time the two went to the nursery, each one was smiling broadly. The smiles dissipated though, as soon as they saw Ivyleaf.

"Ivyleaf!" Silverpaw called out, rushing to help her. "What happened?!"

Ivyleaf was laying on the floor.

"Someone laid trap for me." she slowly showed them one of her paws, trapped in shiny silver teeth, most likely from the Twolegplace.

"Sunflower!" Silverpaw cried angrily. "First the crowfood message, and now this!"

"It's likely it wasn't even her, Silverpaw. Someone wants us out. Someone wants us dead."

\*\*\*

Even though most cats would freak out about that, Silverpaw wasn't really scared about it. Someone had wanted her dead every day of her life, and she already had died. So what if she died again?

"Are you still awake, Silverpaw?" Ivyleaf softly asked. Silverpaw nodded.

"I have a lot to think about. Ki- Pinkpaw, Survivalpaw, Sunflower gone, being accepted, and coming back from the dead." Silverpaw answered.

"It's a lot to think about, all right. Not to mention the death threat."

"Definitely not to mention the death threat."

"Do you miss the Rebels?" Ivyleaf turned to face Silverpaw. "Are you sure you made the right decision to come back?"

"I miss Maverick and Bella, and maybe even Arrow!"

"Why did Arrow hate you so much?"

"He didn't. He acts like that to anyone who 'is lower ranked then him.'"

"You're not lower ranked! You are the one who kept Sunflower away!"

"Tell that to him."

Ivyleaf laughed softly, and Silverpaw enjoyed talking to her. It felt normal. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I love you so much."

"Me too." Ivyleaf slowly got up, and Silverpaw did too. Together they combined their nests, and laid down together to sleep.

At least Ivyleaf did. Silverpaw couldn't sleep still. Something was bothering her, so instead of drifting off into a slumber, she quietly got up and left the den. Careful to evade Stagscratch and Riverstep as they kept watch, she threw a rock to distract them, and slunk out of camp, glad to have dark fur.

After she left camp, she walked up to the Moonpool, and when she reached it, she was about to close her eyes and dip her nose when something struck her.

"Going somewhere?"

## Chapter Twenty-One: Breaking into the Camp

**CREDITING: By Moon so far**

Silverpaw turned to see Twopaw. She had tapped her with her paw, accidentally too hard.

"Twopaw you scared me!" Twopaw grinned.

"See? I can be sneaky! But that's not the point. Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought I should talk to StarClan. Something's nagging me. You?"

"Same. I mean I didn't think about talking to StarClan, but when I saw you sneak off, I thought I'd follow you."

"It's almost never a good idea to do that! What if I died of shock?!"

"Did you?"

"Well, no but-"

"Then it's fine!" Silverpaw sighed. Twopaw wouldn't let her win this argument. "What are you waiting for? Do your Moonpool thingy!"

"'Moonpool thingy'?" Silverpaw asked.

"You know what I mean!"

"Okay, I'll do my Moonpool thingy."

"Stop quoting me!"

Silverpaw laughed. "Fine, just give me some space." Slowly she closed her eyes and dipped her nose into the pool, and when she opened her eyes, she was in StarClan.

**"Silverpaw, why are you here?" Antclaw gently asked. Did he not want to see her?**

**"I miss you Father, and something feels off."**

**"You can't just sneak off, and the thing that feels off is just getting used to being alive again. You need to go back."**

**"I go through all the trouble, and you try to send me off?!"**

**"Silverpaw, this is urgent. You've already wasted too much time-"**

**"So I'm wasting time by trying to see you?!"**

**"Something bad is happening back at your camp. Please trust me." Antclaw started to fade.**

**"I was right! Something was off!" Silverpaw tried to continue the conversation, but it was too late. Antclaw faded away, and she woke up freezing.**

Twopaw was peering at her. "You alright?"

Silverpaw tried to shake off the bad meet up with her father. "Yeah. I need to get back to camp. Father warned something was bad."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Twopaw started to run, and soon Silverpaw caught up with her.

Panting, Silverpaw reached the camp, and gasped. Sunflower and Atticus were attacking the nursery.

"Sunglower! Stomp!" Cricketkit sputtered. Sunflower growled.

"Speak correctly you mouse! I'm Sunflower, and you mean stop!"

"Stomp!" Cricketkit tried. Sunflower batted him away. Cricketkit crumpled into a heat.

"You got in my way." Sunflower walked away.

Silverpaw to honor Cricketkit, stomped in front of Sunflower. "Leave ThunderClan."

Sunflower laughed. "Why? This place is mine. Boulderstar is mine. BOULDERSTAR!"

Boulderstar emerged from his den. "Y-yes darling?""

"Get rid of Silverrat and Two-ugly-to-see for me."

"Do you want me to pluck the other eye too?" Twopaw asked.

"Last time it wasn't fair. Now it's two against two."

"Two?" Silverpaw snorted. "Are you sure Atticus won't betray you again?"

"I set Atticus straight. If I wanted to, he could kill you in a second!" Sunflower's eye were crazed, and off-focused.

"Really? Then come and get me Atticus!" Silverpaw nearly squeaked when she saw Atticus, his looming figure, strong and quick.

"Atticus! You fox-dung!" Twopaw shouted, and Atticus followed her instead. That left Silverpaw and Sunflower alone.

"Of course that brat leads Atticus away! I'll just kill you again!" Sunflower lunged and Silverpaw, but she nimbly dodged it.

"It's not so easy to kill me when I have StarClan's blessing!" Silverpaw ran into the apprentices den. "Rosepaw! Branchpaw! Help defend the kits!"

Rosepaw and Branchpaw slowly woke up, groggy.

"W-what do you mean?" Rosepaw asked.

"We're under attack!" Rosepaw's eyes widened, and she shook Branchpaw awake.

"Get up lazy log! Do you want to save Cricketkit or not?!"

The twins burst out of the apprentice's den, and right into Sunflower.

"Do you want me to kill you like I killed your mother?" This shook Branchpaw, but he acted like it didn't.

"For Pebblefoot!" he cried and started attacking Sunflower. Rosepaw joined in, crying their mother's name.

Silverpaw smiled, and ran to help Twopaw. Atticus was too strong for her, and she was still adjusting with the loss of an eye. "I'm coming!"

After she found out Twopaw had let Atticus near the Moonpool, she decided to take a quick detour to ask for help from StarClan. Quickly she dipped her nose, and without hesitation, she opened her eyes and cried, "I need your help! All the warriors are gone!"

Antclaw greeted her. "Sunflower made Boulderstar send them out, and led the remaining away. I'm afraid we cannot help you yet. I will help you with Atticus."

Silverpaw gasped. "What happened to Pinkpaw and Survivalpaw? I didn't see them!"

"They went out to hunt to get better. It is just you, Twopaw, Rosepaw, and Branchpaw. Keep Boulderstar, Fogstorm and the kits safe. Also, Lilypaw and Redpaw are trapped in Boulderstar's den. They will help you too. Goodbye."

With that, Silverpaw quickly woke up and ran to find Twopaw.

"Atticus, you can't still follow Sunflower!" Twopaw was saying when Silverpaw found her.

Atticus laughed, a deep rumbling sound. "You think I follow her? Once I do her bidding, she'll follow me!"

"Or you could leave her." Silverpaw hoped she sounded brave when she stepped into the moonlight, where Atticus saw her. She swished her starry tail, hoping it would help her feel confident.

"You don't need her, you're super strong, Atticus!" Twopaw added. She must of tripped, because she was on the ground, her belly exposed. All Atticus had to do was unsheath his claws and she would be gone.

"I know that, Twopaw. I'm playing with her." Atticus stepped closer. "I have all the time in the world. Life is a game. It's meaningless. Why not have fun while I'm at it." Another step. "You know, I'm hungry." He tried to pounce on her, but Twopaw kicked him away.

"Eat me?! You're not insane Atticus!"

Atticus laughed again. "I was joking. You're too scrawny away. I'd rather have a rat. But, I do enjoy sharpening my claws."

Silverpaw stopped thinking, and ran into Atticus, headbutting him, and sending him crashing into a tree. "Nobody... Hurts... My sister!" she panted.

Twopaw gave her a grateful look. "Thank you."

Atticus growled. "Guess I can make do with two." He got up but Twopaw knocked him down again.

"You don't need Sunflower. Find someone else to 'play with' and get out of here!"

Atticus sighed. "Fine. But if I see you again, I won't hesitate to practice my fighting on you."

After Atticus left, Twopaw ran to embrace Silverpaw. "Sisters stick together," she said.

Silverpaw purred, but stopped. "Oh no! We left Rosepaw and Branchpaw all alone!"

Twopaw flicked her two tails. "If we can hurry I bet we might get to see them in action."

Silverpaw rolled her eyes. "Is this just a game to you?"

"Of course not!" Twopaw cried with mock solemnity. "Now who do you think is going to win?"

"Twopaw!"

"Fine." Twopaw smiled. "But seriously, if we hurry we can see the fight before Branchpaw and Rosepaw crash."

"Then come on!" Silverpaw didn't wait to start running. In fact, she had been getting quite good at it, and having no tail wasn't as much as a problem.

Running, they saw Rosepaw and Branchpaw giving it their all. Sunflower looked more bloody then ever, and some clumps of fur were gone. However, Sunflower was still stronger, and if she managed to hit one of them, they would be down. Possibly forever.

"Slowflower!" Silverpaw shouted. Sunflower turned around, and Silverpaw felt chills go down her spine. The eye socket where Twopaw had plucked the eye out only made Sunflower look more scarier.

"You still think you can defeat me? I have nothing to lose, I've lost everything, and you took it all away from me!" Sunflower screeched.

"That doesn't seem to be my fault. You tried to kill me, but I had an army who wanted to take you down. That's on you."

Rosepaw bravely tried to scratch Sunflower, but she was prepared, and flung Rosepaw away. Branchpaw scrambled to help his sister, but Sunflower got him too.

"Fool. Why help your siblings? For love? Love is weak, just like you," Sunflower spat.

"Sunflower, why are you like this? Why do you cast off emotions as a weakness? Why?"

Sunflower flinched. "Do you really want to know? I'll tell you, I-" Sunflower doubled over, clutching her belly. Slowly a dark figure came out, resembling a cat. Twopaw seemed to know it.

"The Dark Being!" she breathed.

The Dark Being came over to Silverpaw. **"Ľ𝐢եեւ巳 ᑢ𝝏ե٫ 𝘄Ꚕy 𝝏𝙧巳 y𝞡ᑗ Ꭶ𝞡 𝓂ᑗᑢꚔ ե𝙧𝞡ᑗ␢ւ巳? Ý𝞡ᑗ`ᕷ եꚔ𝐢n𝘬 𝝏 n𝞡ե𝝏𝐢ւ巳ᕷ 𝙧ᑗⁿե 𝘄𝞡ᑗւᕷ ␢巳 巳𝝏Ꭶy ե𝞡 𝘬𝐢ււ٫ 巳ύ巳n 𝘄𝐢եꚔ ␢巳𝐢ⁿဌ И𝞡n巳ٜ"**

*Kill... me?*

"Who are you?" Silverpaw asked.

The Being did not answer, and instead said, **"Ꭰ𝞡 y𝞡ᑗ 𝘄𝝏𝞰ե ե𝞡 𝘬𝞰𝞡𝘄 𝘄Ꚕy Ꭶᑗ𝞰ᶠւ𝞡𝘄巳𝙧 𝐢Ꭶ ւ𝐢𝘬巳 եꚔ𝐢Ꭶ Ꭶե𝐢ււ‽"**

"Y-yes." What was this Being doing?

Flashes of memories poured into her head, most likely Sunflowers. One was Antclaw and Sunflower discovering a pregnancy, but somehow it didn't feel like it was her birth, but someone else's. Another was her giving birth -not her own- and a kit looking like Sunflower came out, dead. The next was her stone-faced, and pushing the emotions away. Soon a memory told of her turning to power instead, and then the Dark Being.

**"I ᕷ𝐢ᕷ եꚔ𝝏եٜ Ι ᑢ𝝏𝞰 ᕷ𝞡 եꚔ𝝏ե ե𝞡 y𝞡ᑗٜ"**

"But- It was the loss of a kit, not you!"

**"Ꭰ𝞡 y𝞡ᑗ 𝞰𝞡ե 𝙧巳𝝏ւ𝐢z巳‽ Ι 𝘬𝐢ււ巳ᕷ եꚔ巳 𝘬𝐢եٜ Ι ␢𝙧𝞡ᑗဌꚔե Ꚕ巳𝙧 𝐢𝞰ե𝞡 ϼᑗᎦꚔ𝐢𝞰ဌ 巳ύ巳𝙧yեꚔ𝐢𝞰ဌ 𝝏𝘄𝝏yٜ ┳Ꚕ𝝏ե 𝘄𝝏Ꭶ 𝝏ււ 𝓂巳ٜ"**

Silverpaw was speechless, but Twopaw wasn't. "Why did you do this? Why do you call her None? Is this the prophecy you spoke of to Sunflower in my dream?"

"P-Prophecy?"

The Being nodded. **"𝗧Ⴌأ𝖘 أ𝖘 𝜶 𝖜𝜶𝖗ᑚأᑚՑ. 𝕾七𝜶𝖞 𝜽Ú七 𝜽⨎ 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝜶y. 𝕴'𝖒 Ԃ𝜽ᑚҼ 𝖜أ七Ⴌ 七Ⴌأ𝖘 ᕶ𝖗𝜽ᕶႬҼᑢy, ␢Ú七 𝕴 𝖜أடட ᑢ𝜽𝖒Ҽ ␢𝜶ᑢk."**

The Being vanished, but Sunflower did not wake. Silverpaw put her paw on her to check if she was breathing, but there was nothing. Sunflower was finally dead.

## Chapter Twenty-Two: Ceremonies

**CREDITING: By Moon**

Sunflower's death didn't feel right. It was too easy. Something... was off. Twopaw had always imagined it to be dramatic and in front of everyone to witness the death. Now she also imagined everyone cheering as the evil she-cat slowly died. Part of her also had thought maybe she would change at her last breath, but instead, a Dark Being just killed her because the prophecy didn't go the way it wanted.

"You okay?" Silverpaw asked. Twopaw nodded. Today was the day she got her warrior name, the same as Rosepaw, Branchpaw, Redpaw, Lilypaw, and even Silverpaw. Ivyleaf had told Boulderstar she was ready, even though medicine cat training would usually take longer. Survivalpaw was also ready, but he decided to wait until Pinkpaw was ready.

"Yeah. Just... Thinking about Sunflower." Ivyleaf had also adopted Twopaw, so Sunflower wasn't even her mother now.

"I know you feel like it didn't end right, but at least she's gone." Silverpaw affectionately nuzzled her. "Now get ready for Twotail!"

"What about Silveramazing?" Twopaw was glad she had her sister by her side.

"You mean Silverallmighty?"

"But seriously, what do you think your new name will be?" Twopaw asked.

"I don't know. Good thing I don't have to decide!" Silverpaw flicked her starry tail. She had told Twopaw about it after Sunflower was defeated, and Twopaw had begun to see it.

"All apprentices to the Highledge!" Berrysky called. Silverpaw took Twopaw's paw and they left the apprentice den together.

—

Everyone was cheering. Everyone was happy. Most importantly, no cat was hissing or glaring at Silverpaw. She had gained trust and respect after defeating Sunflower, and there was not even one "Notail" said.

Boulderstar sat on the Highledge, serious. He was still recovering from Twopaw's mind control, but after ridding of Sunflower, he seemed to be doing better. "Redpaw!"

Redpaw emerged from the crowd of cats, nervous.

"I, Boulderstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Redpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Redpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Redoak. StarClan honors your determination, courage, and honesty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." **(You can change it Dream if you don't like it)**

"Redoak!"

"Redoak!"

"Redoak!"

Redoak beamed with pride as Boulderstar rested his muzzle on him and the former apprentice licked the leader's shoulder. Then Boulderstar did the same with Lilypaw, naming her Lilywillow. **(NOTE: Dream you can change it)**

"Lilywillow!"

"Lilywillow!"

"Lilywillow!"

Now it was Twopaw's turn.

"I, Boulderstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Twopaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Twopaw, from this moment on you will be known as Twotail. StarClan honors your strong decisions, your loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

"Twotail!"

"Twotail!"

"Twotail!"

Twotail looked like she couldn't believe that this was happening. When Boulderstar rested his muzzle on her, the former apprentice licked the leader's shoulder gratified.

Now it was Silverpaw's turn. Normally she would do this at the Moonpool with the other medicine cats, but Ivyleaf had made an acception, and would announce it in front of the crowd.

"I, Ivyleaf, medicine cat of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help she will serve her Clan for many moons. Silverpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Silverpaw, from this moment you will be known as-"

"Now wait just a minute!"

Silverpaw turned to see Boulderstar, his eyes crazed. He hadn't recovered from Sunflower's influence, and it was taking a toll on him.

"Boulderstar? Why-"

"Shut up Notail," he growled. "You are useless. In fact, I name you Notail, and StarClan will *not* honor you for your clumsiness, and I do not welcome you here in ThunderClan!"

*I thought he was doing better- He seemed to be recovering- why?*

Notail couldn't believe it. She really was Notail now. The leader was praising Twotail, and hating her. Her worst nightmare had begun.

Boulderstar continued. "There. Notail is done, now time for Rosepaw. Rosepaw, do you want to be a warrior?"

"Yes, but-" Rosepaw was confused. "This isn't the ceremonial words!"

Boulderstar rolled his eyes. "So? Do you want to be a warrior or not?"

"I do," Rosepaw said quietly.

"Good. Then you are Rosetail, in honor of Twotail. Branchpaw, your turn."

"What? This isn't how it goes-"

"You are now Branchtail in honor of Twotail. Yippie. Now go hunting or something."

"No." Rosetail said, firm. "I am not Rosetail. I am Rosevine!" **(Dream you can change it)**

"Rosevine!"

"Rosevine!"

"Rosevine!"

Rosevine turned to Branchtail. "Do you want a real name?"

Branchtail seemed unsure. "The truth is, I do want to honor Twotail. I love her," Branchtail looked at Twotail, "Even if she doesn't love me the same way."

Twotail gave him a small smile. "I would be honored to have the same prefix, even if I don't feel the same, Branchtail. At least, yet." Twotail wrapped her paws around him, and the crowd cheered.

All the new warriors turned to Boulderstar, and Rosevine snarled. "Give Silverpaw, not Notail, her true name!"

Branchtail added, "She doesn't deserve to be treated like this! She can run too now!"

"If Twotail finds it in her heart to friend her, why can't you?" Redoak said.

"Silverpaw! Silverpaw!" Lilywillow chanted. Others started doing it too.

"Silverpaw! Silverpaw!"

Silverpaw walked over to Twotail. "This time you better not control them to hate me," she joked. Twotail let out a *mrrow* of laughter.

"Don't worry."

Boulderstar roared. "SILENCE! I have made my decision. She is no longer Silverpaw, but NOTAIL! NOTAIL! NOTAIL! NOTAIL!"

"NEVER!" Rosepaw shouted.

Just as all of the Dark Forest broke loose, StarClan instead came. Antclaw actually, with Pebblefoot too.

Pebblefoot floated to touch noses with Boulderstar. "Be still," she said. Boulderstar almost instantly calmed, and closed his eyes.

Antclaw drifted over to Silverpaw. "Members of ThunderClan! You have been heard. Instead of Nokit, the name made with hatred, I gave her the name Silverkit for love. I choose love again, so I name her Silver*berry."*

"Silverberry!"

"Silverberry!"

"Silverberry!"

Silverberry ran to embrace her father. "Thank you," she whispered.

Before Antclaw disappeared, he touched noses with Ivyleaf. "Keep our daughters safe."

Ivyleaf's eyes were warm with love. "I will."

With that, StarClan left, and the five new warriors looked at the setting sun, and got ready to sit vigil.

\*\*\*

**(Dream it's finally your turn!)** It had been exactly three moons since the naming of Redoak, Lilywillow, Branchtail, Rosevine, Twotail, and Silverberry.  Survivalpaw and Pinkpaw were almost done with their training, and soon they would become warriors.  Silverberry was still apprenticed to Ivyleaf, of course, but she had been granted her name, since she was pretty far into her training.

“Pinkpaw!” Boulderstar’s voice rang out from the clearing.  He was right ahead of the entrance to his den, and Violetwing was with him.

Pinkpaw, who had been sharing a dove with Silverberry, looked up.

“Come here,” Violetwing mewed.  “We have to discuss some things.”

“I’ll be right back,” Pinkpaw mewed, touching her nose to Silverberry’s.

Alone to eat the dove by herself, Silverberry was alone with her thoughts.  *I wonder what it is*, she thought. More thoughts swathed around her. *Is Pinkpaw truly happy here, though?*  She remembered scenes of the past, in the three moons.  She had occasionally caught Pinkpaw looking unhappy or starting fights with random cats in the Clan.  It was just… so unlike her.  These past three moons, Pinkpaw was definitely not acting like herself: unhappy, irritable, and just sad in general.

Void’s words came back to her.

*…You know she is not meant to be here. She is meant to live as a kittypet, and as Kiki…*

*But… is she really?  She’s doing fine.*  But then the images of Pinkpaw’s past actions told her otherwise.  With some difficulty, Silverberry brushed it away.

*…The only reason she is here is because you are more than a friend to her…*

*I know that, but…  That’s* surely *isn’t the only reason, is it? Survivalpaw’s here!*  Surely *kin and determination means something, doesn’t it?*

*…Kiki will leave heartbroken if you do not have her leave now…*

*But doesn’t she know that medicine cats are forbidden to mate? And that my feelings are different?*

Her flow of thought was suddenly interrupted as Silkkit, Flamekit, and Cricketkit burst into the camp from the nursery, followed by Flowermist.  By then, Silverberry had gotten used to the RiverClan queen.

“Run away from the badger!” Flamekit squealed.

“Smelly giant!” Silkkit snarled playfully.

“I'm going to get you!” Flowermist purred, and very gently she bopped Cricketkit on the head with the tip of her tail.

“You always get me,” he complained, but it was light-hearted.

“But it means that I want to get you the most, right?” Flowermist pointed out gently.

“I guess,” Cricketkit said with a shrug.  He didn’t realize that Silkkit had been stalking him, and when she pounced, he squealed at wrestled her back.  Flamekit jumped onto the pile and joined in.

“What are you thinking about, Sil?”

Silverberry, with a jolt, turned around.  Ivyleaf was there.

“That’s the weirdest nickname I've ever been called,” Silverberry groaned, although light-hearted. “I’ve been called Whitepaw, Silver, my diamond, none, fox-heart, runt, horrid thing… but frankly, Sil is the weirdest.”

“I think it’s cute,” Ivyleaf purred.  “I wanted to give it a try.  Anyways, what’s on your mind?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure.” Silverberry shrugged.  “First I was thinking about Pinkpaw and Survivalpaw’s life here, but then the kits interrupted me.”

“Aren’t they cute?” Ivyleaf smiled, her beautiful teeth showing.  “It reminds me of me and my sisters back when we were apprentices.”  Her smile faded as her face became sad.  “Back when… back when Sunflower was one of us.”

“Hey, Mom?” Silverberry asked.  “Can you tell me a story about all four of you, before Crescentpaw died?”  She was pretty unsure where that came from.

“Hmm…” said Ivyleaf, sitting down beside her.  “Well, okay. This story was before Crescentpaw died of course, or before Pebblefoot became a lot more mature, or before Sunflower became cruel, or before I was as gentle as I am now.

“It was a cold leaf-bare morning.  It was also the day of some apprentices’ assessments, Diamondpaw, Brownpaw, Slitherpaw, Flamepaw, Stormpaw, and Fogpaw.  After the to-be warriors left, Pebblepaw came to fine us to help her with an ‘epic’ prank, or so she called it.  Did you know that Pebblepaw was a slick prankster back then?”

Silverberry’s jaw dropped. “No way,” she said in disbelief.

Ivyleaf chuckled.  “Yes way.  Every day was a new prank on someone else.  Boulderedge was her usual target, though.  But… but someday, everyone grows up.”  Ivyleaf sighed.  “After she became a warrior, she didn’t fool around anymore.  No tricks, no silliness, no ringleader…  It was like she lost her liveliness…”  Ivyleaf smiled apologetically.  “I'm sorry; I'm rambling, aren’t i?  I'm the last sister.  I just miss her.”

“No it’s fine,” Silverberry mewed.  She was unsure when Ivyleaf said “miss” if it meant that she missed Pebblefoot after death, or she missed the prankster part of her.  “I kinda like the rambling, actually.  It’s soothing, and it gives more details and mini-stories, which help me piece things together.”

Ivyleaf smiled.  “Anyways, Pebblepaw gathered us to help her with a prank. Eventually we agreed that we’d sneak out and follow Diamondpaw to watch her assessment.  That was Crescentpaw’s idea.  But after we snuck out, it began to snow hard.  It turned into a wild blizzard, and Sunpaw led us off track, and the only refuge was a small rabbit’s burrow in the WindClan hill.  As it turned out, three other cats were already taking refuge there: WindClan’s medicine cat Goldenrift, his apprentice Lavenderpaw, and a young, new warrior named Emeraldfern.”  Ivyleaf chuckled again.  “Although Crescentpaw claimed her crush was Quickburst, I saw the way she looked at Emeraldfern.  The pale gray warrior was quite attractive, and she caught my sister’s eye.  Anyways, we stayed the night in the burrow since it was too cold to leave.  Crescentpaw and I, along with Emeraldfern, followed the tunnels that connected to the burrow.

“What we found was glorious. It was a cave full of all types of rocks: glowing, speckled, dark, bright, crystallized; everything.”  Ivyleaf smiled.  She then sighed.  “Unfortunately, Emeraldfern and Crescentpaw bonded over that time.  Before long, they both liked each other and they began seeing each other in secret.  Crescentpaw died before anything serious could happen between the two, and from what I heard, Emeraldfern was never the same again.  Emeraldfern had left heartbroken since Crescentpaw did not have her leave earlier.”

Chills suddenly went up Silverberry’s spine.  That was nearly identical to Void’s words three moons ago about her and Pinkpaw.

“Are you okay, Silverberry?” Ivyleaf asked, her leafy-green eyes concerned.

She opened her mouth to speak but then suddenly Pinkpaw left Boulderstar’s den.  Around the same time, Flamekit started crying.

“Hey, Ivyleaf,” Flowermist called.  “Flamekit crashed into the brambles.  Could you put some poultices on his cuts?”

“Sure.”  Ivyleaf looked at Silverberry.  “We can talk later, okay?  I see that you’d probably rather talk to Pinkpaw, and I have to tend to Flamekit.”  She smiled, and then walked into the medicine den.

“I've got some good news,” Pinkpaw mewed, walking up to Silverberry.  “My and Survivalpaw’s assessments are tomorrow morning.”

“Really?!”  Silverberry bolted up.  “That’s great!” she purred.  “Oh Pinkpaw, I'm so proud and happy for you!  You *and* Survivalpaw!”

Pinkpaw smiled, but it was uneasy.  Again, what was up with the uneasy smiles?  “Look, we need to talk… in private, okay?”

“I know just the spot!” Her eyes lit up.  “Follow me!”

Together they left the camp. Silverberry led her friend southwest from the camp, and they traveled on the grass and gravel.  The walk was silent, but not unhappy, and they walked for a little while, fifteen minutes at most.

A giant tree soon came into the view: the Ancient Oak.  Silverberry climbed to a sturdy branch, and helped Pinkpaw up.  Together they sat on it, and faced the lake, lit up by the setting sun.

“Isn’t the lake beautiful?” Silverberry asked brightly.

“It sure is,” Pinkpaw murmured, and she leaned her head on Silverberry’s shoulder, making her feel uncomfortable.

The young medicine cat shifted away, feeling uneasy.  Pinkpaw looked hurt for a second, but she quickly shook it off.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Pinkpaw murmured.  “If I pass my assessment, I’ll have no other goals.  Nothing at all to keep me busy.  So I was wondering.  You know how much I… I love you.”  Her eyes met Silverberry’s, and she drew her gaze away.

“Uh…”  Suddenly her face felt really hot, and she blushed, but not in a good way.  *Why did I feel this embarrassed when she confessed to me at the Twolegplace?*

“So I was thinking, about us and our future,” Pinkpaw said softly, her coppery eyes sparkling.  “After I become a warrior, we could… we could work our way up.  Become… mates.”  She was blushing so hard, but she looked happy.  “And if we’re not happy here, we could run away.  I love you.  I love you so much, Silverberry, from the day we met.  Can we be together tomorrow, and for the rest of our lives?”

*Say yes, Silverberry, lie to her.  Don’t let her down*, one part of her head said.  *Say no, Silverberry, tell her the truth.  You're a medicine cat; you can't have a mat e anyways.*

Silverberry did love Pinkpaw, yes.  So much. But she loved her like a sister.  She loved her platonically, not romantically. But she loved her, and she didn’t want her to feel hurt.  So what would she tell Pinkpaw?  She shifted her paws as she made up her mind.

“Oh, Pinkpaw,” she whispered.  Her voice was extremely gentle.  “I don’t want to say this.  I don’t. But… I'm sorry.”

Pinkpaw’s ears drooped, and her happy look faded.  “Wh-what?”

Void’s warning rang in her ears.  *Kiki will leave heartbroken if you do not have her leave now…*  She knew she had to tread carefully, and she slowly chose her words.

“We can't be mates,” she said quietly.  “I love you, but not the same way you love me.”

Before Silverberry could say more, Pinkpaw’s ears flattened.

“I knew it,” she interrupted bitterly.  “I knew it. You love *Survivalpaw*, don’t you?”  She spat her brother’s name, tears forming in her eyes.  “You chose him over me, didn’t you?  Even though I met you first.  *I* loved you first.  I gave up *everything* to be with you: my home, Jodie, even my *name*.  And you chose my *brother* over me!”

“No,” Silverberry said, quickly trying to fix things, forgetting to tread slowly.  “I don’t love him.  Not him, not you.  I don’t love anybody.”  She winced, realizing she made things worse.  *Dark Forest cursed fox-dung, wrong*, bad *choice of words.*

Pinkpaw gasped, as if she had been hard in the chest and lost all her air.  Her tears began piling in her eyes before they streamed out.  And then she screamed.

“I’ve given up *everything* for you and you don’t even care!” Pinkpaw screamed.  “I'm *unhappy* here and I was only staying for you! Don’t even bother calling me Pinkpaw anymore, because I hate you!  I HATE YOU! I DON’T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!”

She jumped down from the tree and sprinted away, towards the direction of the Twolegplace.

“Oh, Kiki,” Silverberry murmured, using the creamy-pink she-cat’s real name.  She felt awful.  *I have to go after her.*

She slid down from the Ancient Oak, but stopped.  Survivalpaw was sitting at the base of the tree, his sarcastic eyes filled with tears. *Oh, fox-dung…* why *did he have to follow us?*

“How much did you hear?” she asked him, wincing.

“Enough,” he said, staring at the ground.  When he looked back at her, his teary eyes were cold.  “You don’t love me either, do you?”

She tried to apologize. “Survivalpaw, I'm sor—”

“I gave a lot of things up for you,” he growled.  “Kiki’s not the only one to pay a price, an *expensive*, heart-breaking price, only to be scammed.  I'm going back to the Twolegplace, and you can't stop me.”  He got up, glared at her, and ran.

*This is the absolute worse day every.  I need to go after them.*

With a heavy, guilty heart, she began to chase after her friends.

## Chapter Twenty-Three: In the Nick of Time

**CREDITING: By Dreamclaw**

Twotail had been having a pretty good day so far.  She’d gone hunting with Redoak; she talked with Rosevine and Lilywillow… good stuff. But little did she know, it was about to get worse.

Thirsty, she went into the medicine den to get a drink.  Peering into the puddle with her good eye, she slowly lapped up some water. Suddenly, she saw the reflection of Boulderstar behind her.

She gasped and turned around.  Ever since three moons ago, she had a feeling that Boulderstar wasn’t himself.  It had been best to avoid him these days, but now… he was right behind her.

When she turned around, no one was there.  *huh.  I must be seeing things.*

When she turned back to the puddle, she gasped again.  Her own reflection was gone, but Boulderstar’s face was not.  He looked crazed, just as Sunflower had, but the whites of his eyes were pale green, and the skin around his eyes was a darker shade of green.  And then the puddle seemed to zoom out, because it showed him walking in ThunderClan territory, southeast of ThunderClan camp.  And then… there it was.  That horrible scene…

She watched in horror as Boulderstar set a trap, and Pinkpaw got caught in it.  Her right hind paw got stuck in the trap, and it was stuck to the bone.  Boulderstar refused to let her free, mostly because he physically couldn’t.  And then… she watched Silverberry try to get Pinkpaw out, but was mauled to death by Boulderstar… and then when she tried to escape to StarClan’s hunting grounds, Boulderstar killed her spirit, and then she would be no more. And poor Pinkpaw… she would die three days later, alone and in pain.

*Great StarClan… what the Dark Forest was that?*

*The future, Twotail.*

*Void!  How did I see that?*

*It’s one of the seven powers you have.  So far, you’ve only unlocked three: healing , future-telling, and mind-control.*

*Seven!*  Twotail was bewildered.  Two powers on their own already seemed like plenty, but seven!  *Wait, does that mean Silverberry and Pinkpaw’s in danger soon?*

If she could see Void, they would have shifted their paws.  *She’s been in danger from the moment she joined ThunderClan. I tried to warn Silverberry.  I really did.  But she was so headstrong, she refused to listen.  You need to find Kiki, and stop Boulderstar.*

Twotail almost winced at Kiki’s kittypet name, but it was better than Pinkpaw.  *What’s the deal with Boulderstar?*

Void was silent for a few moments.  *The Dark Being possessed him.  We need to stop Null!*

*Who?*

*…The Dark Being.  Its name, its* true *name is Null.*

*What is Null anyways?*

There was another lasting of silence.  Finally Void said, *it’s something.  You’ll never get to Pinkpaw in time with only your legs.*

*So how do you propose I get there?  Fly like a hedgehog?*

*No.  I'm going to teach you to unlock your fourth and fifth power.*

*What are they, anyways?*

*Invisibility and teleportation. Well, portal-opening to be exact.*

Twotail was taken aback. *Really?*

*Really.  Let’s learn how to turn invisible…*

And within five minutes, Void taught Twotail to do both.

*Hey, Twotail, there’s… there’s something I need to tell you.*

*Yeah?*

*Have you ever wondered why you and Silverberry look nothing like your parents?*

*We look like Pebblefoot, I guess.*

*That’s not the point.*She heard void take a breath.  *The truth is, I’m you, and Null is my littermate.*

*Wait… what?*

Void sighed.  *You and Silverberry are born to two other cats thousands of moons ago, Lightrift and Snownight.  You were supposed to be part of a different None and Two prophecy.  But… fate decided it made a mistake, and things went differently than now.  For example, she was never named Silverkit.  After Nokit was rejected, she became evil.  She sapped up the energy from the Dark Forest, and used it to become all-powerful.  She then sapped up StarClan’s, and then unleashed it upon the Clans.  You, no,* I, *was the only survivor.  I had my powers, which kept me alive, but I was no match for the new Notail.  I used to have an eighth power: time travel; but it could only be used once.  But the world was being destroyed.  I had to use my power, or else it would stay that way.*

*I went back to when we were first born, and I… I killed myself and Nokit.  But since I killed myself as a kit, I could never exist.  I faded away into Void, and Notail faded away into Null, or as you call it, the Dark Being.*

*StarClan decided that Nokit and Twokit deserved a second chance, and they sent you two to replace Sunflower’s kit, Sunkit, whom Null killed, because they knew that StarClan would put Nokit back into the world.*

*Since you two were born to different cats, history—well, what would’ve been history had I not gone back in time—could not repeat itself. Sunflower was crueler than Lightrift, and Snownight lived while Antclaw died.*

*But Null was mad.  Null wanted to exist again, so when Sunflower was still an apprentice, Null visited her for the first time.  They tricked Sunpaw, and told her to kill a no-tailed, silver kit when the time was right. Otherwise, Sunpaw would die, and she would not be rewarded.  That’s how Crescentpaw died.  She saw their conversation, and Sunpaw knew and killed her a few days later.  But Sunflower didn’t kill Silverkit right away. She thought just casting her away would be enough.  But it wasn’t, and Null killed Sunflower just three moons ago.*

*If Silverberry died, spirit and all, Null would be able to possess Silverberry and take their place back.  And now we need to stop them before they do.*

*Hold on,* Twopaw said, her head spinning.  *If Silverberry died in her spirit form, there would be nothing left to possess.*

*Think of it this way.  Every cat takes up a space in the universe, unborn, alive, or dead.  If a cat dies in its final form, then the universe is unbalanced.  The space can be filled, though.  When Null and I became non-existent, it over balanced the universe.  But if anyone died in their spirit form, one of us can fill the space.  Null wanted Silverberry to die when she went to StarClan.  They could’ve filled her space.  But StarClan sent her back, and now Null must kill Silverberry twice rather than the former once.  But they can also possess Boulderstar because he got too close when Sunflower died. They’re using Kiki as bait, then to kill Silverberry.  But fortunately, Kiki and Silverberry have you, and you have me.  you must leave now if you wish to save both of them.*

*I do want to save both of them.*

*Then leave now.*

Slowly, Twotail tried out her portal-opening.  A tiny, dark blue portal appeared in the ground, making a tiny humming sound.

*Wait.*

*What now?*

*You may feel light nausea in your first travel.*

*I'm invincible to anything!  I’ll be fine.*

*Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you.*

*I won't.*

With nothing to lose other than her friend and sister’s lives (along with her own), she was almost about to step into the portal.

*I have a quick question: why did you stop me when I first used my mind control at the gathering?*

*You really want to know?*

*Yes.*

*Because if I didn’t, you would’ve became Null, and history would repeat itself.*

“Survivalpaw!”

“Go back to ThunderClan!”

Silverberry was chasing after Survivalpaw, and although his ran had turned to a walk earlier, it turned back into a sprint. He was making his way towards the small thunderpath, which would take him back to the Twolegplace if he followed.  Silverberry wasn’t as fast as Survivalpaw, but she was still a decent runner, now that she practiced.

“I won't!” she yowled at him.  As she sprinted closer and closer, he was only a few tail-lengths away in distance. Everytime he started running faster, she did too, and he couldn’t put any real distance between them.

*Please let this work!*  Using all her strength and stamina, she leaped as far as she could.  She landed on Survivalpaw and tackled him to the ground.

“*Oof*!” they both exclaimed as the collision happened.

“Get off me!” Survivalpaw growled, trying to shake her off, but Silverberry wouldn’t let go.

“You can't leave ThunderClan!” she exclaimed, trying to reason with him.  “Not when you're this close to being a warrior!”

“There’s nothing there for me,” he growled.  “Leave me alone!  Let me go!”

“I will not,” she snapped stubbornly.  “You can't be leaving because of something as silly as this!”

“Silly as *this*?!”  He suddenly bucked her off and whirled around to face her, fury in his eyes.  “This isn’t the first time I've been left heartbroken! Or lost something because I was with a cat who didn’t actually accept me!  Take Eversong for example!”

Silverberry stared at him, but her stare turned into a glare.  “Well then fight back!  Or stop giving up!  This isn’t the Survivalpaw I know!  Didn’t you once say that survival was all that’s important for you?”

His eyes widened, and he looked away.  “Not until I met you,” he muttered.

“Then use it as inspiration,” Silverberry said fiercely.  “Use it to strive harder in life!  Don’t give up, or given in!  Be the Survivalpaw I know!”

He gave her another glance. “How do you expect me to—”

But he didn’t get to finish. Out of nowhere, in the sky, a darkish-blue portal appeared, and Twotail came tumbling out of it, landing on Survivalpaw.  And guess what?  They said the exact same thing when Silverberry tackled him.

“*Oof!*”

Oof; it was the universal language of crashing and smashing into things.

“Not again!” Survivalpaw groaned.  “Twotail, get off of me.  You weigh as much as a badger!  And how did you fall out of the sky?!”

“It’s called a portal,” Twotail said, shifting off of Survivalpaw.  “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem, I guess, but why do cats keep tumbling onto me?” he groaned.  “Anyways, listen, Silverberry, I’ll go home.  *ThunderClan* is my home now.  And as long as cats stop falling on me, I won't complain about it again!”

“Alright, go home then,” Silverberry said.  Survivalpaw began to run home, and she looked at Twotail quizzically.  “Why are you here… exactly?”

“Something very bad is going to happen,” Twotail said, her eyes widening.  “We need to hurry.  I don’t have time to explain; if you want to exist, then we have to go after Kiki.”

Silverberry looked at her oddly.  “How do you know that Kiki ran away?”

“I just do!” Twotail yowled. “I can see into the future!  Now if you want to save her and yourself, we’d better act quickly!!”

Silverberry decided not to question, and she began to follow Twotail.

Running as fast as she could, Kiki didn’t stop.  Tears flew out of her eyes, both because of the wind along with anger and grief.  Silverberry had rejected her?!  It wasn’t what she had in mind.  She knew that Silverberry wasn’t exactly ready, but she thought her friend had similar feelings, the same love…

She sprinted faster and faster, trying to avoid everything bad in her thoughts.  The hurt was unbearable.  She was oblivious to where she was going…

*Snap!*

There was a fierce pain in her right hind paw, and it was caught in a fox trap.  It started to bleed.

“Gloss and stones, mossy pinecones,” she swore under her breath.  She tried opening it to let out her paw, but the trap wouldn’t budge.  She tried again.

“Okay…”  She started hyperventilating.  Eventually she stopped, and she tried to listen to Violetwing’s teachings.  *Look on the bright side, Kiki.  Take a look at your surroundings.*  She looked around her.  She was in WindClan territory.  She began to try to walk away, even with the trap trapped on her paw, but it was nailed into the ground.  She wasn’t going anywhere.

Suddenly, Boulderstar walked out from behind a rise in the pleated moor.  She shuddered when she saw the leader.

He hadn’t been very friendly when she joined the Clan, and she tried to stay as clear from him as she could.  But now… there was something up with him… he seemed… creepier than before.  His eyes were crazed, and his eyes seemed to glow green, even though his eyes were bluish-hazel.

“Boulderstar,” she gasped. “H-help me out of this!”

But he began laughing. “I shall not,” he growled.  His voice was different, higher pitched but more ominous and unfriendly.  It wasn’t as coarse as Boulderstar’s regular voice usually was.  It wasn’t Boulderstar’s voice at all!

“Wh-what?” she gasped. “Please, I'm your Clanmate!”  *Well, not anymore.*

“You're bait,” he corrected. He wasn’t being himself!  “Then I shall destroy Silverberry once and for all!”

Kiki stared at him, terrified and confused.  “Wait—”

“SILENCE!” Boulderstar roared.  Suddenly he ran into a dip in the moor, hiding.

She knew why.

Silverberry and Twotail were running up towards her, and Silverberry looked relieved.  “Oh, thank goodness we found you, Kiki!”

“No!” Kiki yowled!  “Go back!  Go—*mmphhh!*”

She felt an invisible force close around her mouth.

Suddenly, Boulderstar jumped out from being the dip.  His eyes were wild.

“*You have finally stumbled into my claws, Silverberry*!” he snarled.  “*It’s time to not exist anymore!*”

And for Silverberry, all went black.

## Chapter Twenty-Four: Nonexistent

**CREDITING: BY DREAMCLAW (for now!)**

“NO!” Twotail screamed as Silverberry’s body disappeared.  Boulderstar crumpled to the ground, and a dark spirit-ghost looking thing exited it.

" ហօա į աìӀӀ ҍҽ ąҍӀҽ էօ ҍҽ ʍվʂҽӀƒ ąցąìղ!  į'ѵҽ աąìէҽժ ƒօɾ էհɾҽҽ էհօմʂąղժ ʍօօղʂ, ąղժ į աìӀӀ ƒìղąӀӀվ ҍҽ ɾҽաąɾժҽժ!" the spirit yowled.  It began to take a form that looked exactly like Silverberry, but the cat was scarred, more muscular, and had darker lines under her eyes.  She landed on the ground, and she glared at Twotail deeply.

“So you’re the existing counterpart of my sister, huh?” evil Silverberry said.

“S-Silverberry?” Kiki gasped.

The cat whirled around to face her.  “I AM NOT SILVERBERRY!” she roared.  “I AM NOTAIL!!”  She flicked her wrist and Kiki went hurled across the land and lake, landing all the way on ShadowClan territory.

Twotail watched her with wide eyes.

*You have to stop her!* Void urged with a panicked voice.

Notail whirled around to face Twotail, her red-rimmed eyes burning.  “You’re the little runt who Sunflower couldn’t control, weren’t you?” she sneered. “You should’ve been easy to control. You have the brains of a rat!”

*RUN!* Void screeched.  *RUN—*

“Oh, shut up already,” Notail snarled, and Void went silent.

*V-Void?* Twotail thought, panicking as well.

*They’re not there, you little worm!*

Twotail staggered backwards.

*Oh yes, you hear me, don’t you?*

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Twotail screeched.

And then she blacked out.

**Silverberry opened her eyes.  Except… She wasn’t Silverberry anymore.  Their name was Abyss.  Yes.**

**“Hello, Abyss.”**

**They looked around.  They were in a world of dark, and who had spoken to them?**

**A cat.  A spirit-looking cat.  The cat looked like Twotail, but more shadowy, more ancient, more… sad.**

**“I’m Void,” they said.  “You probably know me.”**

**“How do we bring me back?” Abyss blurted.  They were panicking.  “I'm nonexistent now!!  Help!  Someone!”  They were hyperventilating, and weren’t calming down anytime soon.**

**“Calm yourself,” Void murmured.  “And we can't.  Not with Null—*Notail*—in the world.  I'm sorry, we just can't bring you back.  I can't communicate with Twotail, because Notail took over the link.  And Twotail’s dead with Notail.  We can't help her, and she can't help us.”**

**“THIS SHOULDN’T BE THE WAY IT ENDS!” Abyss wailed.  “What about Kiki?!  What happened to her?!”**

**“She was thrown across the lake,” Void said with a shake of their head.  “You should’ve let her go earlier.  I told you multiple times.”**

**“I DIDN’T KNOW *THIS* WOULD HAPPEN!” Abyss shrieked.  “This can't be the way it ends!!  Help me!”**

**“There’s nothing we can do,” Void said, their voice growing edgier.**

**“BUT THERE MUST BE SOMETHING!” Abyss screamed.**

**“There.  Is.  Nothing,” Void growled.  Their voice was getting more irritable.**

**“THERE HAS TO BE!” Abyss wailed.  “WHAT CAN WE DO—”**

**“I TOLD YOU THERE IS NOTHING!” Void yowled at them.  They stood panting, and took a breath to regain themself.    “Look, I'm sorry I snapped.  I shouldn’t have—”**

**But Abyss was running through the darkness, looking for a way out. “Where’s the exit or light at this place?!” they screamed.**

**“There’s none.”  Void sighed. “I’ve been without light for three thousand years.”**

**Abyss stared at them.  “There’s… nothing we can do?” they whimpered, finally giving in.**

**“All we can do is hope,” Void murmured, “but that hasn’t helped me yet.”**

Twotail opened her eyes. She gasped.  Everything was on fire, and the lake was drained.  From what she could tell, there were dead, burning bodies scattered all over the territories.  She stared at the fire.  It was a deep, ruby red, and she could feel it from afar.   The sky was smoky and black, and the stars were shattered.

*What’s happening?* She thought, terrified.

But Void wasn’t there to talk to her.

*Oh, StarClan…* she thought.  This was Notail’s doing, she knew it.  Notail had destroyed everything.

Suddenly, an opaque creamy-white she-cat ran over to her, tears in her glowing purple eyes…

“Crescentpaw!” Twotail exclaimed.

**“HELP US!” the she-cat screamed.  “Everything’s being destroyed, and I don’t know why!  Silverberry showed up, and began wrecking things—”**

But the she-cat didn’t get to finish.  Notail was floating in the sky, her green eyes fully green, no pupils, irises, or whites of her eyes.  It was solid green.

Crescentpaw was whipped into the air and dissolved.

Twotail screamed.  Suddenly, the invisible force gripped her, and she was levitated into the air to face Notail.

“TIME TO DIE, WORM,” Notail snarled, and Twotail began shaking.  It felt like someone was digging their claws into her and ripped her apart.

Twotail screamed, and her vision began blurring red.

*Oh StarClan, whoever’s left, no…*

And then she had one more thought.  *Void said I could go back in time, right?  I have to do it.  I HAVE to.*

And she began focusing hard on when Null exited Boulderstar.  When things were fine at the territories.  When things had been perfect.

And then she disappeared from Notail’s grasp as she went back through time.

They found Kiki.  She was caught in a trap.  Silverberry and Twotail ran up towards her, and Silverberry looked relieved.  “Oh, thank goodness we found you, Kiki!”

*I’m back*, Twotail thought, her eyes widening.  *I* have *to stop Null.*

“No!” Kiki yowled!  “Go back!  Go—*mmphhh!*”

Suddenly, Boulderstar jumped out from being the dip.  His eyes were wild.

But Twotail knew that he was going to speak, and she pounced on him and began to wrestle him.

“TWOTAIL!” Silverberry screeched.  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”  But she ignored her sister.

*Twotail!* Void exclaimed.

*I went back through time.  You don’t know it, but Null/Notail destroyed* everything*,* Twotail said.  It was a lot harder for Twotail to wrangle with Boulderstar/Null that it was for them, but then she hit a spot in Boulderstar’s neck.  Boulderstar looked like he was going to throw up, but the black shadow came out of his mouth instead of bile.

"Ƕօա ժąɾҽ վօմ, చօɾʍ!" Null screamed.  "į ʂհąӀӀ—"

But she didn’t get to finish, because Twotail leaped at the dark being, and wrangled it.  It was like the shadow had a body…  And then Twotail bit the back of Null’s neck.

*Destroying her last form…*

"ᘉᓍ... ᘉᓍ...  ᕼᓍᘺ..." Null was gasping.  "тнιѕ ιѕη'т тнє єη∂!  ι ѕнαℓℓ яєтυяη тσ ∂єѕтяσу—"

But then Null disappeared with a poof, and Twotail fell onto the ground.

*You did it*, Void breathed.  *You destroyed Null.*

*Yeah*, Twotail gasped, *I did.*

“Please, help me!” Kiki wailed.

The two she-cats helped Kiki free, and all she got was a bloody bruise from it.

“I'm going to go home with Boulderstar,” Twotail mewed, helping up their leader.  “You and Kiki talk.”

“Okay,” Silverberry said.  “Then I’ll see you later.”

She watched as her sister and her former mentor leave.  The sun had set, and it was night.

“Kiki—” she started.

“I have to go home,” Kiki murmured.  “I'm sorry. I don’t fit here.”

“I know,” Silverberry said. “I want you to go home.  I want you to stay, yes, but you’ll be happier if you leave.”  Her heart was silently cracking with sadness as she spoke, like Kiki’s.

“That means a lot to me,” Kiki said.  She nuzzled Silverberry’s cheek with her own.  “Promise you’ll visit me?”

“I promise,” Silverberry said, trying to smile.

“Cool.”  Kiki smiled, but more tears were forming in her eyes. “I'm going to miss you, Silver.”

“Me too,” Silverberry said, and she couldn’t stop her own tears.

They both cried, and then Kiki pulled back.  “I have to get going,” Kiki whispered.  “I’ll love you forever.  Tell Survivalpaw goodbye for me.”

And she disappeared into the night as she followed the thunderpath, leaving Silverberry all alone as one more tear fell.

## Chapter Twenty-Five

**Crediting: By Moon**

Silverberry tried to smile as she watched Survivalpaw's warrior ceremony. He deserved this, and she should be happy for him, even if Kiki left.

"-Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Survivalpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Survivalclaw. StarClan honors your strength, fierce determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan."

"Survivalclaw!"

"Survivalclaw!"

"Survivalclaw!"

Silverberry joined in, chanting his name until it was time for him to sit vigil. Even with her heart breaking, this truly was a moment she knew Survivalclaw fought hard for.

Ivyleaf nudged her. "Talk to him! Now he can't *not* listen this time."

"Are you sure, Mother? I know he decided to stay, but he still hasn't talked to me!"

"This will be the perfect time! Do you want to live the rest of your life never wanting to be in the same den as him? Besides, you haven't been talking to him either," Ivyleaf pointed out.

Silverberry sighed. "Fine. But it's your fault if this makes it worse." Grudgingly, she padded over to Survivalclaw. "Hey."

Survivalclaw shifted awkwardly, and pointed to his mouth, motioning he couldn't talk.

"I know, Survivalclaw. But I wanted to talk to you. This time you can't find a way to avoid me."

No response. At least he was following the code.

"I'm sorry about the way you left, but I really don't have any feelings for you, or anyone. I love you, as a friend. I love everyone as a friend, unless they are kin, and I love them like family. Survivalclaw, I remember when I first met you, and you saved my life. You helped Twotail bring me back to life too. You are one of my closest friends, and even if Kiki staying here didn't work out, I'm glad you are."

Survivalclaw looked around, and whispered, "When you died, I felt like I failed you. I knew you were going to die, Crescentpaw told me. I watched you die. I betrayed you to Sunflower."

"What do you mean?"

"When I was at the vet, Sunflower cornered me and told me if I told her where you were I could have Butters- Kiki back. I told her, and she sent out spies, who almost got a hold of the Rebel's plans. If we were defeated, it would have been my fault," Survivalclaw confessed. "I'm sorry."

Silverberry hugged him. "If you hadn't told her, someone else would have. You were doing it for Kiki, a sister you had thought was dead. Besides, I was supposed to die and end up in StarClan. That's how Twotail managed to break into Sunflower's base."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Oops, I made you talk. Promise not to say anything."

Survivalclaw stared at her, until both started to smile. He made a lip sealing motion, and shifted away, cuing Silverberry to go, which she did, and walked over to Twotail, who was going into the medicine den.

"What are you doing here?" Silverberry asked her.

Twotail pointed to her eye. "Mom says my bad eye will get infected if I don't get treated every once in a while. Today was my first day of it."

Silverberry inspected the eye, it looked slightly swollen. "How do you get around so smoothly?"

"While you were dead, another half blind cat taught me."