BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness

BraveClanDarkClanSunClan

## Prologue: BraveClan's Foundation

A loner named Brave made a new Clan named after him, after learning about his maternal aunt who happened to join a Clan, after being a loner for twenty moons. He was originally Brave by his parents, but creating the Clan made him Bravestar, the leader. He invited other loners into the Clan, too, and one which would be his mate, Soaringcreek. Cavescar, an ancient herb expert agreed to be the med. cat. Soaringcreek, Bravestar's mate was calm, nice and humble. She never took her Clan for granted and actually liked it. She was the first deputy. They had kits of which only one known son named Seaslash who mated with Blunttuft who was a rogue previously. They also only had one known kit named Kestrelbird who mated with Splashshadow and had kits of her own.

Not much is known during Bravestar's time as leader, but it is known that nothing important had happened during his life. He simply watched over the Clan as it grew.

Bravestar later died in his sleep at six-three moons, and Kestrelbird happened to become the new leader. He gave her the last life, the life of bravery. She became accustomed to this leader life and tried to use the same techniques her grandfather used. She had a daughter named Nightscar, but when *her* daughter, Puzzlegleam, became a warrior, Nightscar suddenly disappeared, causing Kestrelstar and Puzzlegleam and the rest of the Clan to be shocked and depressed for a while, but they were later relieved to learn she was in StarClan. Puzzlegleam later had a child with another warrior, Glossyhide, named Yelloweye.

Kestrelstar later died, and her great-grandson Yelloweye took over. Yellowstar had kits with a she-cat named Twilightflower. After he also succumbed to old age, one of his favorite cats (and his granddaughter), Goldwater, took over. Bravestar had appeared to give Yellowstar and Goldstar their lives in their leader ceremonies. They were the lives of love and trust, respectively.

Goldstar knew what to do, although she became leader quite young. She had kits with a tom named Midnighthaze and had one son, Leoparddaisy. BraveClan was still there and at the peak of its survival.

## Part 1: Greencough

So, it was leafbare. Greencough started to spread. Cats started dying. The elders den was almost empty. The population started to decrease. Goldstar was one of the cats who joined StarClan sadly. So did the deputy, Vinespeckle. When Goldstar knew she was dying, she put some apple seeds (fall seeds) in the middle of the Clan, because she thought one of her former apprentices, Fallseed was actually a prophecy cat. The Clan looked at the seeds, making Fallseed the leader.

He became sad after Brookwater, Airstrike, and Sunstep, three of his cousins succumbed to the illness. His aunts and uncles, Duskshade and Leoparddaisy (parents of Brookwater and Airstrike) and Mapleeye and Leafgleam (parents of Sunstep, only kit at the time) mourned heavily. Leoparddaisy was the son of Goldstar, so he mourned her, too. His father, Orangestorm also died and his mother, Wheatgrass and Orangestorm's siblings, Duskshade and Mapleeye mourned for him, too. Fallstar had no idea what to do, because Tremblesplash, his cousin and med. cat (and brother of Brookwater and Airstrike) had a lot of herbs, but couldn't treat cats quickly enough.

Then Tremblesplash got whitecough. Fallstar worried it might progress into greencough, but thankfully it didn't. However, during that time, Tremblesplash had to rest and couldn't treat many cats. He recovered but almost half of his other Clanmates were resting in StarClan.

Soon enough leafbare had passed and the Clan healed a bit. But they had lost a lot of warriors. Fallstar suggested that they find more loners, rogues or kittypets willing to join a Clan, but Ashthistle, the new deputy and his sister instead asked if they can just mate to fill it up again...

## Part 2: The Prophecy

New members joined the Clan, like a loner named Waterrock, a kittypet named Tansywood, and three brothers, Logclaw, Barktuft and Brownwool and their mother, Fawnstripe came to the Clan. They mated with Nectarfern, Clearlake and Lionflurry, respectively. Then, Skyflower and Desertlight, along with their daughter, Rainkit came to the Clan.

Fallstar and Ashthistle's ideas were both used, and the Clan's population became big again. Since it was new-leaf, almost all the warriors (and there are a lot) went out to hunt and gather herbs after it being lost from the greencough wipeout (the patients ate more to cope up with the herbs).

Fallstar mated with Waterrock and had Bluekit (she-cat), Orangekit and Molekit (toms). Logclaw mated with Tremblesplash's sister, Nectarfern and had Eveningkit, Vixenkit (toms), Swiftkit and Honeykit (she-cats) (later Eveningtower, Vixenpetal, Swiftsand, and Honeyjump). Brownwool mated with a senior warrior named Lionflurry and Barktuft with a young warrior named Clearlake.

Ashthistle mated with Tansywood and had two kits, Fenkit (she-cat) and Bronzekit (tom). But then she became pregnant again almost immediately and gave birth to Purekit one and a half moons later. She died from giving birth to her. Before Ashthistle died she said, "She looks pure and is pure, because I gave my life for her." So she was Purekit. Ashthistle was the deputy, however.

Tansywood didn't want his kits to be alone, so he asked Fallstar if he could stay with them. He said yes, but that he still has to do warrior duties.

Fallstar had no idea whom to choose next as the successor, so he decided to pick Rainpaw when she became a warrior, a formidable and helpful ally. Fallstar hoped the Clan would get on its heights again after the incident, and the Clan would heal completely and prosper once again.

Bluekit became a medicine cat (Bluetail), and Bronzekit became a med. cat apprentice (Tremblesplash's apprentice). She found out this prophecy along with Tremblesplash from the vision they shared.

Rainleaf became a warrior, and the deputy, and she was believed by Tremblesplash she was another prophecy cat (other than Fallstar) that was going to come. She mates with Orangestripe (originally Orangekit) and has kits herself (Minnowkit (she-cat), Hazykit, Sparkkit (toms)). She proves to be a prophecy cat when the prophecy comes to Bluetail, that she has to keep the BraveClan legacy alive within her descendants, regardless of her anti-Clan, but rogue ancestry.

## Part 3: Fire!

Continuing my story of BraveClan... All was well. It was the middle of the hot season, and the Clan had multiplied ever since the incident. Barely anybody remembered the greencough passed through the Clan. But since it was hot, a thunderstorm brewed up. The thunderstorm didn't directly harm the camp, but it struck a tree next to it. Fencoat and Purepaw noticed it and saw fire. They alerted Fallstar immediately, and Fallstar had everyone evacuate. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but almost everything was incinerated.

The three med. cats, Tremblesplash, Bluetail and Bronzeroot had gotten most of the herbs with them, and the warriors had taken some prey with them. The fire started to spread to the forest, so Fallstar had everyone move somewhere else and to keep kits and queens safe, and mentors stick with apprentices. It started raining, but as far as they knew, it was too late to go back and see if the fire doused. Kits were crying, because they were wet and were tired. Queens felt uncomfortable and said they needed to find another camp, quick. Fallstar knew this, but he did not know where to go. He also knew rogues dwelled here. Clearlake suggested all elders, queens and kits sleep, and sleepy warriors, and the awake ones guard.

Everyone managed to take shelter under a few trees and the sleepy ones slept. Some warriors, included Fallstar stayed awake and stood guard. After that, they fought rogues who tried to sneak up on them. However, Fallstar's mate Waterrock got killed and Bluetail, Orangestripe, Moleclaw and Fallstar himself mourned, but they agreed she died to protect the Clan, even though she was a loner. So did Barktuft, and Clearlake and Fawnstripe mourned. Logclaw and Brownwool assured them he was in StarClan. Bronzeroot, who had tried to save Barktuft, also tried to comfort them.

But they managed to stand their ground, and no one else got killed. They soon realized that they found an abandoned camp nearby. They took it and made it theirs. They realized that Rainleaf and Orangestripe's two kits Minnowkit and Hazykit were gone. They did not know what happened to them, because they knew they didn't get killed by the rogues. Rainleaf decided to have more kits after what happened. Fallstar was sad about what happened to his grandchildren, but he agreed on Rainleaf's idea.

He was glad Sparkkit, the third kit of the litter, was still there, though. They saw a Twoleg near the Clan and scared it off. Tremblesplash thought they were captured by Twolegs and could never be seen again if the Twolegs leave. Suddenly, Clearlake had discovered she was pregnant with Barktuft's kit. Later, she had a tom named Cinderkit.

Then, something really awkward happened. Bronzeroot and Bluetail, two med. cats had kits, Heatherkit, Lilackit and Skykit. Moleclaw was told this by his sister, Bluetail, and agreed to keep this a secret. Moleclaw brought the kits into BraveClan, and announced that these were lost kits and needed to be taken in. Fallstar suspected something, but agreed. Elders started passing away, and the Clan mourned.

But they were worried about what might happen in leaf-bare, since now it was leaf-fall. The med. cats sorted all the herbs (catmint especially) to prepare for any cough.

## Part 4: Reedstar

So continuing: Logclaw, brother of Barktuft, one of the cats who got killed, had also met his fate. But it is unknown how. Nectarfern was his mate, so she was devastated. So were Brownwool and Fawnstripe, and Eveningpaw, Vixenpaw, Swiftpaw and Honeypaw. A day later, while patrolling, Nectarfern found a cat on the border. Her name was Fadedshadow. Nectarfern did not know what to think of this, but she did remember Logclaw went out to search for prey, and he never came back. So she took Fadedshadow back to the Clan.

Fallstar listened to what Nectarfern had said, and put her inside a very small cave which they made a prisoners' den. Moleclaw announced that she should just be killed, but Fallstar said to wait. Little did anybody know that an apprentice, Reedpaw (Fallstar's much younger cousin, who was the second and much younger kit of Mapleeye and Leafgleam and brother of Sunstep) felt pity for the cat, and was sneaking her prey everyday. He usually did this at night so he wouldn't get caught. Fadedshadow appreciated it.

Time went on. They became warriors. Rainleaf had given birth to Daisykit and Islandkit. Cinderkit had became a med. cat apprentice, now Cinderpaw. After Cinderpaw becomes an full-fledged med. cat, Tremblesplash will become an elder. He was getting old and growing tired of going out for herbs. Fallstar was fine with that, there would be three others anyway. Lionflurry, a good friend and former mentor of Clearlake, had given birth to Thymekit, a tom. Her mate, Brownwool, was happy that they finally got a kit after many moons.

Reedstorm had taken a liking to Fadedshadow. She was still trapped inside of there, and she was too shy to explain anything or even talk to anyone except for Reedstorm. She had told him her story, and he understood. Apparently, Fadedshadow was exiled from her Clan, called WhiteClan, by her leader for unknown reasons. So she hadn't been able to find a safe home after that or find any friendly cats after that. But then she just happened to stray onto BraveClan territory and saw Logclaw trying to hunt from a tree. However he missed and fell down on his neck and died. She wasn't sure what to make of it but she was hopeful that there were more cats. So she tried to keep going until she got knocked down by Nectarfern out of nowhere. Then she was scratched on her legs so she couldn't walk properly and was dragged back by her scruff quite severely. This made Reedstorm a little angry at Nectarfern, but he didn't know what to do about it. He wasn't sure how he'd tell his leader, or anyone else for that matter.

Bluetail had told her prophecy to the other med. cats, and they worked together to interpret it. Then she told it to Cinderpaw. She was like his second mentor, since she was a med. cat. The prophecy was: "Five cats are brave. Brave enough to continue the legacy of BraveClan. Follow their ways, and may the Clan thrive for eternity. You will see them again outside of StarClan. At the right moment." Fallstar and Rainleaf were told as the first two. Cinderpaw had an idea what it meant. They would live again after their death. Tremblesplash agreed, saying they'll reincarnate as their descendants. Everybody agreed on that idea.

Then Purefur had told the med. cats who the next cat might be. She said she had a vision and said, Skypaw (Bluetail and Bronzeroot flinched when she said Skypaw's name). She explained it all. That's when Bronzeroot announced to the Clan if they heard anything weird that happened in StarClan about the legacy prophecy. Bluetail had slept, and she suddenly had a vision of someone named Highjump. It showed her being stabbed by that cat. Then she saw a scene of Skypaw (as a warrior) kissing that cat. She woke up, and explained it to Cinderpaw.

He said Skypaw would be the third cat for sure. Bluetail looked confused and asked him to explain. Cinderpaw said, "You will understand. Highjump is in another Clan. DarkClan. I saw the med. cat once." Rainleaf's parents had become elders by this time, so Rainleaf was trying to assure them out of this. They refused, saying this is what they could do, only retire.

Rainleaf had nodded sadly, and then said she was going to go on a hunting patrol by herself. Skyflower, her mother, asked about her kits, Islandkit and Daisykit but Rainleaf said they were old enough to do stuff by themselves. Desertlight, her father, then asked about Sparkpaw, who was apprenticed to Purefur. Rainleaf said that he could take care of himself, too. Then she went into the forest, saying good-bye. But she never came back. Purefur and Vixenpetal had searched for her, but no sight. Fallstar and Orangestripe were devastated, and so were Sparkpaw, Islandkit and Daisykit and Rainleaf's parents, Skyflower and Desertlight.

Reedstorm had become a deputy after that. He assured Fallstar he'd be as good of a deputy as Rainleaf had been.

A moon later or so, rogues came to the Clan demanding bloodshed. Fallstar had fallen on the battlefield while fighting a rogue, though. Since Fallstar was old, his bones had broken, and his cuts were getting worse. The medicine cats couldn't treat him. Fallstar's last words were "Save my descendants, for I shall come back, and so will Rain..." His voice went out while trying to say Rainleaf's name. Bluetail started mourning her father, and so did Moleclaw and Orangestripe.

The rogue who killed Fallstar also had killed Tansywood, an elder by this time, and was about to kill Leoparddaisy and Wheatgrass, Fallstar's mother, but then Purefur had avenged Fallstar by getting to the elder's den in time and slashing his neck. However, she was bleeding heavily from a deep cut that another rogue made from trying to save Skysoar from being bitten in the neck. Leoparddaisy and Wheatgrass had almost gotten a heart attack from almost being killed, but their hearts were still beating wildly as Purefur collapsed to the floor, bleeding to death. So they both called for the medicine cats, but Fencoat and Sparksoar were the first ones to come into the den. They both were very shocked but they managed to drag her out of the den until the four other medicine cats arrived and helped drag her, until Cinderpaw worriedly explained that it'll take too long. Bronzeroot looked at his sister in pain, and together, the four tried to treat her, but it was too late.

Purefur managed to say, "Don't cry. I gave my life for this Clan. Besides, I saved Skysoar, a prophecy cat. I'll surely be rewarded in StarClan," before she died. Bronzeroot and Fencoat looked solemnly at their dead sister and were silent. Sparksoar looked at his former mentor and felt sad. Cinderpaw just stood there, feeling sad that she died, but happy that she got a good place in StarClan. He had a secret crush on her, so he didn't really know what to do after she died. Tremblesplash and Bluetail felt a little sad that they couldn't save her. After all, Ashthistle did give her life for her.

"I suppose Ashthistle gave her life for a good reason. Purefur was a great warrior," said Cinderpaw finally. The other cats nodded. The battle had already ended and only one other cat died other than Fallstar, Purefur and Tansywood. It was Reedstorm's father, Leafgleam. They did a vigil for all four of them and then buried them. Bluetail had confirmed the prophecy to be true after this.

She also went with Reedstorm to get his nine lives. He was sad for Fallstar's death and his father's death, too, but he was also happy to be leader. While trying to get his nine lives, however, only Fallstar appeared and both Bluetail and Reedstorm were confused. "You have been given the gift of playfulness. Enjoy your time while you're alive." Then he winked and said, "You are now Reedstar." When they both woke up, they were confused and decided not to tell anyone. That was a fatal mistake later, however.

He also favorited Fadedshadow as the deputy (not saying she shouldn't be one) and became her mate. He had Fadedshadow explain to the Clan about her story. Nectarfern had just stared at Fadedshadow a little suspiciously while she told her story, though, since she thought there might be some falseness in her story. But then Fadedshadow told them where Logclaw's body was and to their surprise, she wasn't lying. He was decaying, but he didn't look like he was scratched or had any sort of struggles, but almost all his bones were broken and his head was oddly angled against a log. His family had done a vigil for him and buried him. Because of her honesty, the Clan lost their suspicions against Fadedshadow, but didn't exactly trust her yet. Later, Reedstar and Fadedshadow also had kits together.

However, when it became time to do his work as leader, he wouldn't do anything as a leader, and acted like a normal warrior, forget about deputy. He had to be reminded of whoever was becoming who (like kit to apprentice, apprentice to warrior) by themselves, or their parents, so he could do the ceremonies. But he didn't really say the normal ceremony speech. It was like, "You are brave and smart. You are now [prefix][suffix]." or "Your mentor shall be [prefix][suffix], [prefix]paw." A simplified version.

Islandpaw became an apprentice, but hated the leader severely for being so lazy. Islandpaw would sometimes complain to her sister, Daisypaw about the leader. Daisypaw disagreed, saying he was a great leader since he gave everyone leverage on activities. Islandpaw knew she was saying that because Reedstar was young and "laid-back" and Fallstar was old but kind of "pushy". Daisypaw liked to play with the kits instead of doing favors for the elders. It was clear what Daisypaw's psyche was. Islandpaw didn't want the Clan to lose its surplus of supplies and maybe even its necessities because everyone wasn't working hard enough. She had told this to her father, and her father agreed to do something about it. Orangestripe had told the med. cats.

However, the med. cats were currently racking their nerves on the prophecy Orangestripe was only partially part of, because he was a descendant of Fallstar, but not an actual prophecy cat. Cinderpaw became a full med. cat, and Tremblesplash retired, finally free from his duties. He had wrinkles on his face. Cinderpelt smiled at his mentor and worked with his fellow med. cats. Leoparddaisy, his father (and only known descendant of Bravestar in his generation), was happy that he joined him in the elder's den when Duskshade had passed away.

Thymepaw had asked his mentor, Moleclaw, if they could train, but he claimed that Reedstar announced that all cats could relax. Thymepaw was a little confused since it was going to be leaf-bare soon and they needed a good surplus of food and herbs. Then Swiftsand, daughter of Nectarfern and Logclaw, came in and agreed to mentor him for the rest of the day. Her mentor used to be Fencoat, and she had thought Fencoat was a good mentor. Islandpaw had said she also wanted to hunt with them since her mentor, Eveningtower, was "slacking off". So they hunted when no one was looking, and the three of them brought back a lot of prey.

Leaf-bare went by pretty smoothly, there was enough food and herbs to last the whole season. Islandpaw had become Islandtusk and Daisypaw had become Daisyfox at the beginning of new-leaf. Sparksoar had mated with Lilacbear, and had kits. But his kit, whom he named Autumnkit after his grandfather, [Fall (- as in season)]star, had spoken in Fallstar's voice, saying: "I had come back, my Clan." This has been known throughout the Clan.

Cinderpelt had seen this coming. But that was because he was the fourth cat in the prophecy. To fulfill it, he felt like he had to break the warrior code like Bluetail and Bronzeroot did. Islandtusk agreed to be his suitor since she wanted to rebel against Reedstar. New-leaf had gone as quickly as it came, and Islandtusk had Cinderpelt's kits. Gardenkit, a white she-cat, and Sandkit, a scrawny beige tom. After she was finished kitting (only the med. cats were told about this), she made a plan to end the leader's stupid leadership.

However, Reedstar had found out before that when he noticed Islandtusk carrying a white kit and Cinderpelt carrying a sand-color kit to the outside of the camp at midnight. When it was daytime, he told his mother, Mapleeye, about this. She was really confused when she heard this. But then she came to the conclusion that some funky business had happened. Then when Islandtusk woke up and exited her den, Mapleeye came up to her and told Islandtusk not to be a rude warrior to the Clan, but Islandtusk just said she wanted a new leader, which made Mapleeye disgusted.

Then Reedstar had said that Cinderpelt should be exiled, and so should Islandtusk and their kits. Cinderpelt and Islandtusk's plan had already come through, however. They had brought the two kits to the border and told Bronzeroot to watch over them as he had been sleeping through the day, so he was fully awake at night. When it was day, they told Bronzeroot to go to bed, and took their kits to the border. Then Islandtusk left Cinderpelt and the kits to go through with the plan.

Orangestripe, her father, was somber, and so was Clearlake, Cinderpelt's mother, and her brother, Sparksoar, but Daisyfox said that she shouldn't have done that and looked very angry at Clearlake for giving birth to Cinderpelt.

Lionflurry, a good friend and former mentor of Clearlake, was on Clearlake and Cinderpelt's side, and so was Thymegrass, who had become a warrior during new-leaf. He had mated with Swiftsand, his and Islandtusk's unofficial mentor when their mentors didn't mentor them due to "Relaxation Day". However, Swiftsand wondered what would happen if she became pregnant, and she worried if the kits were going to have a normal life. After all, Islandtusk had suffered in the hands of Reedstar.

Nectarfern was pretty much neutral about this Reedstar business, but she was confused why two of her kits, Swiftsand and Honeyjump were against Reedstar and Eveningtower was for Reedstar, while Vixenpetal was neutral like her. She was very confused. When she confronted Eveningtower and asked him why he's choosing sides, he said that it was for the better. Apparently he felt ashamed that his apprentice had gone against the warrior code even though he taught her all about it. Nectarfern then said Swiftsand helped mentor Thymegrass and Islandtusk as apprentices when Moleclaw and him didn't do so on Relaxation Day.

Eveningtower was surprised to learn about this, but he didn't know what to do about it. Finally he said he wanted to have a mate and completely dropped the other subject, since he didn't think he could talk to his mother about it. He had been in love with Purefur, but when she died, he wasn't sure what to do until he realized Juniperpaw, Reedstar's daughter had a crush on him.

Heatherfern and Vixenpetal had fallen in love with each other, and weren't really affected by Reedstar much except for the fact that they were sad about Cinderpelt, Islandtusk and their kits. However, Moleclaw looked disgraceful at his niece not only since she wasn't really heeding to Reedstar's rules, but she was a illegitimate kit.

Moleclaw was also angry at Clearlake, but also at Bluetail and Bronzeroot who he thought was behind the kitting of Islandtusk. He also liked Reedstar and agreed with his decision to exile them. But then he remembered Bluetail and Bronzeroot had done this breeding, too, which made him all the more angrier at them two.

So while they were at the prey pile, he told Daisyfox what Bluetail and Bronzeroot had done. She was shocked and appalled. But then Sparksoar, Orangestripe and Clearlake overheard because they were also at the prey pile. They were shocked, too and didn't know what to think of this, until Orangestripe said that they were meant to mate so that Skysoar, one of the prophecy cats would be born. Sparksoar and Clearlake had quickly agreed with him, but Daisyfox was fuming with anger.

"Why did I mate with that illegitmate cat?!" Daisyfox screeched. She had mated with Skysoar even though they weren't in love because they both just wanted a kit, not a relationship. Then she had Snowkit who was still nursing. "What about Snowkit?" asked Sparksoar worriedly.

"Snowkit also descends from illegitimacy, too!" Daisyfox growled in Sparksoar's face. "I can't believe my own brother is on those disgusting cats' side!" Sparksoar felt very hurt when she said that and meekly replied, "Well, Cinderpelt's a prophecy cat, so-"

"So what?!" she interrupted. "If he was one, why didn't he become a warrior?!" "Exactly!" exclaimed Moleclaw. "If he wanted to mate, then he shouldn't break the code, at least!" Clearlake finally snapped, *"And who are you to speak crowfood about my son?!* Did *you* know he was a prophecy cat when he became an apprentice?!"

Moleclaw looked a bit stunned but before he could open his jaws to retaliate, Clearlake continued, "And besides, he can't just turn into a warrior just like that! He'd need to do training and I doubt *StarClan or nature would wait for him that long! And besides, Bronzeroot helped me when I was still going through Cinderpelt's father's death! Whatever crime he did doesn't account to anything to how much he did for the Clan!"* Sparksoar nervously nodded, as he didn't know what his mate, Lilacbear, would think about being illegitimate, since he knew she liked Reedstar and liked his decision to exile the two cats and their kits for medicine cat breeding.

Orangestripe thought nothing much of Reedstar, since he didn't want to start a fight by choosing, but he didn't like his brother and daughter insulting his other children. After all, they were the descendants of Rainleaf, a prophecy cat. He didn't like Cinderpelt to be insulted either, since he was also a prophecy cat. But he was a little confused Bluetail and Bronzeroot had kits together though. *Was it an accident of some sort?* he wondered. He couldn't find a reason how it could be accidental, though.

Moleclaw glared at Clearlake one last time, then looked at Orangestripe in disgrace. "And you, are you Islandtusk's father or not? Why can't you discipline her?" Orangestripe just stared at Moleclaw with frustration. "Why are you continuing on this subject, anyway? Because Cinderpelt is a Legacy Prophecy cat, StarClan might have given him some leeway and let him mate. And there's nothing wrong with Islandtusk, either, since she's a warrior. Besides, she's a descendant of Rainleaf."

Daisyfox looked disgusted at her dad. "Are you serious? Are you favoring her now? What makes you think she's the only descendant of Rainleaf? I'm her kit, too!" she growled. "I can't believe it!" She looked at Sparksoar one last time, who was nervously raking his claws against the floor, then walked away from the prey pile.

Meanwhile, Islandtusk, was sneaking behind a bush behind Reedstar, who was patrolling. One of her grand virtues was stealth. Then she pounced on Reedstar and sliced his back. Reedstar fell. Islandtusk did a quick jab in the throat, and Reedstar coughed. She said, "BraveClan needs a better leader than you, GREEDstar! I can't believe how you can be so blind to the prophecy! You're giving *way* too much free time to everyone in the Clan! At this rate, leaf-bare will be impossible!" He looked at Islandtusk for a few seconds, seeing Kestrelstar in StarClan. She was holding her paw out. Finally, Reedstar looked up at the stars and constellations... before closing his eyes for the last time.

## Part 5: Civil Battle

Continuing my barren story of BraveClan... Islandtusk, Cinderpelt, Gardenkit and Sandkit had secretly snuck back into the medicine cat's den, along with Reedstar's body. Islandtusk thought he had nine lives, so she waited for him to wake up. But he didn't do so after some time, which made her, Cinderpelt and Bronzeroot anxious. But Bluetail just stared at Reedstar blankly, remembering his leader ceremony.

"What's going on?" Islandtusk asked very anxiously. "He's not waking up!" Their plan was to attack Reedstar so he was unconscious and brought him back to the med. cat den. Then they would pin down Reedstar and ask him questions and confront him about his ways once they pulled him into the medicine cat den. Finally Bluetail confessed that only Fallstar appeared to give him his life. The life of playfulness. All three of them were shocked when she said this. "What? Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" wailed Islandtusk. Bluetail just replied, "I didn't think that you'd kill him."

Suddenly Moleclaw came in, looking suspicious. He hadn't heard what the medicine cats and Islandtusk said, but he felt like there was something fishy going on here. Then he looked at Reedstar's body. "What happened?" he asked quite formally.

"He got attacked by a rogue," lied Islandtusk in the same formal tone. Moleclaw nodded, then he asked another question. "When is he going to wake up?"

Cinderpelt and Bronzeroot's eyes uneasily turned to Bluetail, while Islandtusk's vision remained fixiated on Moleclaw. Bluetail decided to tell the truth. "He only had one life because only Fallstar appeared to give him his life." Moleclaw flushed with anger suddenly. *"WHAT?!"* he yowled at the top of his lungs. *"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"* Then he spun his head towards Islandtusk. *"What about you?! What did you do?!"*

"I found him dead," was all she said. Moleclaw was almost about to explode until he asked, "What are you doing back here, anyway? *Weren't you exiled?!"* She said nothing to that. Then he looked at Bluetail and Bronzeroot and snarled at them. "Are you accomplices to this misdemeanor?" They said nothing as well.

Moleclaw just angrily stomped out of the den and joined Daisyfox and Lilacbear. The news had already started to spread around the Clan that Bluetail and Bronzeroot mated. Eveningtower, Lilacbear and everyone else were shocked. The followers of Reedstar looked disgracefully at them three, and Lilacbear was full of hurt. Then her anger for Bluetail and Bronzeroot went from ten to a thousand in that moment.

After Reedstar's death, Mapleeye, Fadedshadow and Juniperpaw, his mother, mate and daughter, were shocked. They thought he had died from rogues like how Fallstar, Purefur, Leafgleam and Tansywood had died, too. But Moleclaw indignantly said, "My niece (Islandtusk) must be up to this!" He remembered how she looked at Reedstar as if he was the enemy, not the leader.

Daisyfox was still shocked about what her uncle said about Bluetail and Bronzeroot, them mating when they are both medicine cats. She looked in disgrace at her cousins, Lilacbear, Skysoar and Heatherfern. She knew Lilacbear wasn't going to take this reckoning lightly, though, so she was on her side. She also was disgusted by her sister and how far she would go to rebel against Reedstar.

Lilacbear didn't know who her parents were, either, so she felt betrayed by her parents when Moleclaw revealed this. She would have rather been the kits of kittypets rather than two medicine cats. She felt filthy and couldn't feel like she could ever repay back the Clan for being a disgraceful kit.

Bluetail and Bronzeroot were shocked when everyone happened to know about their secret and were staring at them with mixed emotions. "Did-did Moleclaw betray us?" asked Bronzeroot, starting to feel very hot. "He did," replied Bluetail indignantly.

Then Honeyjump stomped over to Moleclaw and asked, "What's your problem? Your sister trusted you with a secret and you couldn't keep it?" Moleclaw just stiffened and replied very formally, "What could I do? She was breaking the code way too much at this point, for not only kitting herself, but helping a shameful warrior give birth to a medicine cat's kits, *and* helping that same shameful warrior kill Reedstar."

Gasps arose from almost all the cats, except for the cats that knew already about the incident. Honeyjump was surprised so she just said, "Well, Reedstar didn't even pay attention to the prophecy! Why exile a Legacy Prophecy cat and his kits?! And why exile Islandtusk, too? I don't think they realized Reedstar was so stupid so they went ahead and did it without knowing that he didn't know about the prophecy! As for Bluetail and Bronzeroot, they might have done it so that Skysoar, the third prophecy cat can be born! Which is why StarClan might have given them some leeway! Besides, Cinderpelt told me what Bluetail said, that he only had one life! *She wasn't planning to kill him! Because she thought he HAD NINE LIVES! WHY STARCLAN DIDN'T GIVE HIM NINE LIVES BECAUSE THEY KNEW HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THE PERFECT LEADER!"*

While saying the last word, she scratched Moleclaw's ear rather harshly with her claws unsheathed. Daisyfox yowled at the very top of her lungs, *"ALL YOU HATERS OF REEDSTAR ARE CROWFOOD EATERS!"* and pounced on Skysoar with her claws unsheathed as well. Not even a breath after that, it seemed like the Dark Forest broke loose.

Lilacbear pounced on Bluetail, but Bluetail tried to dodge. Skysoar begged both Daisyfox and Lilacbear to stop. Bluetail was frightened, so Heatherfern tried to stop Lilacbear. Juniperpaw started fighting with Thymegrass. Cinderpelt, Islandtusk, Gardenkit and Sandkit were back inside, but they were shocked. Cinderpelt stayed with the kits in the nursery while Islandtusk fought. It was almost as if there were two groups in BraveClan, followers of Reedstar and fighters of Reedstar. It was a civil war, literally.

Islandtusk pounced on Daisyfox, saving Skysoar from her wrath. Skysoar's claws were sheathed, as well as all the other neutral people since they didn't want to hurt anyone. Sparksoar, Orangestripe and Fencoat were all shouting for everyone to stop fighting. They were trying to save cats from being hurt, but due to each side's rage, they all got killed by either Daisyfox, Lilacbear, Eveningtower, Moleclaw or Mapleeye, who even though was an elder, was also enraged and that rage gave her strength.

Honeyjump started fighting with Eveningtower but Vixenpetal tried to separate them. However, Vixenpetal accidentally got stabbed by Eveningtower and Honeyjump and fell to the floor, dead. Heatherfern was devastated. She also tried to stop the two, being neutral, but Honeyjump and Eveningtower both made deep cuts into each other and both bled to death and she couldn't save them in time.

Wheatgrass, the mother of Fallstar and 89 moons old, begged the cats to stop. Skysoar was keeping his illegitimate kit with Daisyfox, Snowkit, company inside of a deep crevice in the elders den, knowing no one will go in there. The elders were all running outside, like Tremblesplash, Nectarfern and Leoparddaisy, too. However, Leoparddaisy accidentally tripped on a rock and his neck fell on another rock, killing him. Tremblesplash and Nectarfern were already traumatized, so they were frozen still and watched as everyone started killing each other. Nectarfern couldn't believe her kits were against each other and how three already died in less than a minute.

Islandtusk and Daisyfox were fighting nail and tooth against each other and it seemed like they wanted to kill. However, they both got so exhausted from clawing and attacking each other that they both collapsed and slowly started bleeding to death. Tremblesplash finally was able to move and tried to save both of them using herbs, but Daisyfox got the energy to slash his stomach. Lilacbear then came and whacked Tremblesplash in the head. She didn't intend to kill him, but his neck hit a rock and he died. Lilacbear was a little stunned, but she looked at Islandtusk in anger. She was about to kill her until Sparksoar rushed in and tried to stop her. Lilacbear couldn't see him properly, though so she accidentally stabbed him.

However, Islandtusk had already died by that time, and so had Daisyfox. She had tried to see who else was there until Thymegrass and Bronzeroot came. Bronzeroot was chasing after him, trying to stop him from fighting. Lilacbear remembered her severe hatred for her father, however. *"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK TO ME, BRONZEROOT! I'M SURPRISED YOU HAVEN'T BEEN KILLED YET!"* she growled very wrathfully. She then slashed his neck, and Bronzeroot fell to the floor, dead as well. But she forgot Thymegrass was there and he slashed her stomach, her face and her chest. He kept clawing at her until Lilacbear stopped struggling. "Kill your own father?!" Thymegrass yelled angrily at her. "Nothing other than *crowfood!"* He slashed her neck then and she finally died.

Brownwool and Lionflurry, parents of Thymegrass were fighting two on one against Mapleeye. Mapleeye looked around for help only to see the people on her side (Daisyfox, Lilacbear and Eveningtower) were dead. But then she saw Moleclaw coming to her rescue. Brownwool had gotten killed by Moleclaw but Mapleeye got killed by Lionflurry at the same time. Then Moleclaw and Lionflurry had gotten into a real battle until Lionflurry tripped over her own legs. Then Moleclaw stabbed her. Orangestripe and Fencoat had come, though, and asked him to stop, but Moleclaw just killed Orangestripe since he thought it was Orangestripe's fault that he didn't discipline Islandtusk. Then he turned towards Fencoat and growled, "What's your business here?"

*"Please, stop this madness! More cats from our OWN CLAN are going to DIE if you DON'T STOP!"* she screeched. Moleclaw just stared at her and replied, *"Those cats are BREAKING THE WARRIOR CODE! STARCLAN WILL BE SEVERELY ANGRY WITH US IF THOSE CATS KEPT BREAKING THE WARRIOR CODE!"*

*"StarClan will be angry at us if we shed the blood of BraveClan, our OWN WARRIORS! WHO WERE BORN FROM BRAVECLAN BLOOD!"* she yowled. "You know what, I guess I'll have to stop you *MYSELF!"* They both started fighting, claws unsheathed, and finally she pinned Moleclaw down. "Your rage is making you make stupid decisions when it comes to battle. *NOW STOP!"*

Suddenly, Clearlake and Fawnstripe came. Fawnstripe was really old so she had trouble walking. "Clearlake, this is a bad idea!" she croaked. She was fond of Clearlake since she was her son's mate. Clearlake just snorted, "Whoever crowfood-talks my son should belong in the Dark Forest." Moleclaw was still struggling through Fencoat's grip. "No, stop!" said Fencoat. "What you're about to do is a horrible idea! Why shed *BRAVECLAN* *blood?! What do you gain from killing those who don't like you?!"* Fawnstripe anxiously nodded.

Clearlake just smiled at her and said, "If we don't kill him now, he's going to kill more cats. And maybe you, too." Her paw was about to swing onto Moleclaw's neck until Heatherfern came and stopped her paw using her own. Fawnstripe and Fencoat visibly relaxed. But she didn't relax on Moleclaw, however. He just smiled and asked Fencoat, "Whose side are you on?"

Fencoat was fuming at this point. "I'm on the safety of BraveClan side! Why does Reedstar have to influence your decision?!" Heatherfern nodded. "What she's saying is true! Why in StarClan does it matter how Reedstar influenced you?!"

Then Clearlake pushed Heatherfern over and impatiently said, *"Move over, I need to kill this fleabag!"* Before they could stop her, her paw slashed his neck. Fawnstripe was frightened by this. But then, the worst thing happened. Ten to twelve rogues slipped into the camp. Fawnstripe couldn't move, and neither could Nectarfern, who also saw what happened.

Heatherfern immediately fled as soon as she saw the rogues, but Fencoat was still shocked and appalled at Clearlake. Then she decided to look around for Swiftsand and Thymegrass. But then she saw them leaving the Clan.

"Where are you going?!" she asked. Swiftsand and Thymegrass looked a bit sad and they said, "We can't stay here for much longer. It's become a mess!"

"But-but-" Heatherfern stammered. "W-what about-" "We can't do anything about it. We don't want to get killed, especially by rogues!" explained Swiftsand. "We're going to the Twolegs."

Heatherfern was shocked. "Kittypets?! What if the Twolegs separate you from each other?" "We always have an option of running away. Besides, we'll try to visit. But we just can't stay here in this apocalypse!" Thymegrass said. "Besides, our parents and family have all died, so there's no one left here for us."

"N-N-Nectarfern?" Heatherfern suggested to Swiftsand, as she knew Lionflurry and Brownwool, Thymegrass' parents had died.

Swiftsand blinked at her until she saw Nectarfern get killed by a rogue. "She's dead, too," she said gloomily. "Can you at least help us fight before you go?" asked Heatherfern.

Suddenly, four rogues saw them and started running after them. "We'll lead them away," said Swiftsand. "So I guess this is good-bye!"

"May StarClan light your path," said Heatherfern solemnly. Then she ran away and hid behind the medicine cat den. The four rogues were running after Swiftsand and Thymegrass and completely disregarded Heatherfern. *At least there's only seven or eight left,* she thought. She watched the two of them go out of sight as the rogues ruthlessly chased them. Very soon the rogues were out of sight as well. Heatherfern then thought about Vixenpetal and Bronzeroot and where they were in StarClan.

But then suddenly a rogue saw her. Heatherfern spun around just to see a paw aiming towards her. It slashed her cheek. Then the rogue started raking his claws against her pelt and her chest. Then he slashed one of her thighs and then her other thigh. Blood was oozing out of them but not quite fast enough for her to die. But she did eventually lose consciousness.

Cinderpelt was sad about Islandtusk's death, and so were Gardenkit and Sandkit. He had seen her face off against Daisyfox. Islandtusk wasn't his actual mate, but it was his kits' mother. Gardenkit and Sandkit were crying. He also saw the rogues and ushered his kits (and the other kits) into a narrow crevice. His kits could fit, but Cinderpelt needed to squeeze into there in order to fit. Autumnkit was also there, and he looked sad, too. A rogue came inside. He looked around then immediately left. Cinderpelt saw there was more space in the crevice and pushed the kits in a little farther. There was a room inside of there, which was used for storing bedding. But the kits were still crying, though. Cinderpelt felt almost hopeless in this situation.

Suddenly, Wheatgrass collapsed in the elder's den. Skysoar saw her and wondered what to do about it. But then he heard rogues and two came into the elder's den. The rogues looked at Wheatgrass' body and pushed it into the corner. He pushed Snowkit a little more deeper into the crevice if that was possible. "Shh..." Skysoar gestured very quietly. Snowkit heeded to his warning. The rogues looked around and saw Skyflower and Desertlight dead as well. They got killed due to the same cause of Wheatgrass. The rogues took some of the bedding, then left.

Bluetail was hiding with Fadedshadow, Juniperpaw and the other apprentices in the leader's den. Juniperpaw was almost a warrior, just half-moon shy. A rogue came into there. But then he noticed Fadedshadow and Bluetail. Since he found out, Fadedshadow then yowled, "You can't run away from us, because we're BraveClan! Even after hardships, we're still strong!"

"And last time I checked, you were fighting like dogs," sneered the rogue. *"We* aren't like that," Bluetail said calmly. "We can still fight. We also have an apprentice who's almost a warrior."

"You think numbers are everything. But it actually depends on skill!" he yowled while about to pounce. Bluetail noticed he had a lot of scars on his body and some bare skin. Then Fadedshadow and all the apprentices started fighting with him and Juniperpaw slashed his forehead, making him blind. Then Fadedshadow slashed his neck, making him die.

"We have to go out and check what has happened!" said Fadedshadow worriedly. There was no sign of anger at Bluetail from her in this ordeal whatsoever, so Bluetail thought she might be a good warrior, but she wasn't really sure about her. *She does have a lot of honesty, though,* she thought.

When they checked, they saw Clearlake and Fencoat dead, with rogues standing on their bodies. "Finally, we have a camp, now!" they cheered, and were about to celebrate until they saw Fadedshadow, Bluetail, Juniperpaw and the other apprentices.

*"What?!"* exclaimed the rogue leader in disbelief. *"I thought I told you to CLEAR OUT ALL THE DENS!"* Fadedshadow yowled, "What are you doing?! Why are you killing our Clan members?!"

The rogue leader ignored Fadedshadow's questions, but answered them indirectly, "Ugh, and when I thought there'd be no dumb cats around to be in our new camp..."

Finally, Cinderpelt came out with all the other kits and looked around in total disbelief. Kits and apprentices were crying out "Mommy!" and "Daddy!" There was too much crying going on.

"Just so you know, your Clan mostly killed itself, not us. We just came to take the loot," sneered the rogue leader. Bluetail wondered where Skysoar and Snowkit were since they were not with Cinderpelt. She went into the elder's den and saw Wheatgrass, Desertlight and Skyflower dead on the floor. Bluetail thought it was from shock, and she was sad her grandmother couldn't have lived longer. She was totally devastated and crushed. She then walked outside somberly.

The rogue leader just flicked his tail and said, "We'll have to go back since we're outnumbered," he said. Then his rogues left without spite.

Almost everyone died, except for the apprentices and kits and five others. There were only fifteen left, 10 being kits and apprentices. Heatherfern was badly injured, and Cinderpelt and Bluetail were crying over their dead families. Fadedshadow was too sad to think about anything, and Skysoar was still hiding with Snowkit.

When he heard crying, he came out and saw Fadedshadow, Cinderpelt and Bluetail crying. Snowkit ran to Daisyfox' dead body and cried, "Mommy! MOMMY!" Skysoar saw Heatherfern's body behind the medicine cat's den and was about to cry, too, thinking his sister was dead. But suddenly, Heatherfern twitched. Then she opened her eyes, and moaned. She looked like she didn't know what happened. Skysoar was shocked. He hugged Heatherfern so much, and showed everyone.

Gardenkit exclaimed, "She's hurt, Daddy! Help her!" Cinderpelt nodded, and tended to her. So did Bluetail. Skysoar looked around to see if anyone else was not really dead. He prodded everyone who looked dead, and felt their heartbeat. He was again crushed. Everyone else was dead, including Lilacbear and Bronzeroot and Orangestripe.

He was grateful to StarClan that his sister was saved. When he thanked StarClan, he looked up into the sky. The sky had changed, he thought. There were more stars than before, it seemed. He sighed, knowing they all joined StarClan.

Heatherfern then said, "Swiftsand... Thymegrass... left..." She looked traumatized. "Wait, really?" asked Cinderpelt, confused. Skysoar had realized he didn't see Swiftsand and Thymegrass' bodies.

"They did... they partially saved us..." she said. Bluetail looked at her daughter and wondered if this meant something from StarClan. "But... we might... not be safe..." she continued, sounding more croaky by the second.

"We have to... grow again..." she said. Finally Bluetail just said, "Go to bed, Heatherfern. It has been such a horrible day." Heatherfern just said nothing and went to sleep as soon as Bluetail said so.

Then Cinderpelt and Bluetail left the den to go talk to Fadedshadow about her becoming leader. They both looked stiff about it. Fadedshadow asked, "Shouldn't I go get my nine lives?"

"How do we know you won't do anything in revenge?" asked Bluetail.

Fadedshadow looked quite startled, but she remembered that she didn't exactly come across as a trusted warrior. After all, she only got free from her imprisonment through Reedstar. "Look, I have respect for Reedstar because he saw through me and shown my innocence to the rest of the Clan. It doesn't mean I totally approve of what he does. I don't think he was a bad cat, he probably just thought having the Clan be laid-back would be the best for us since we were so tense. Islandtusk might not have agreed with this because she was a hard-working and strong warrior. I also wanted to work for my Clan, but Reedstar assured me I didn't have to. That's why I seemingly wasn't doing much. I wanted to tell him otherwise, but I didn't know how he'd react. I don't really want to be a leader, since I can't see how and if they'll accept me. But I was the last deputy, so I have to do this."

Bluetail and Cinderpelt still looked at her with deep thought. "Well, will StarClan really accept you?"

Finally Fadedshadow explained, "I didn't really do anything to start this war, either! I had just been in my den while Reedstar exiled you and Islandtusk and your kits!" She was looking at Cinderpelt. "He hadn't talked to me about it at all, I promise. When he went up on Highlog, I had been wondering who he was going to make a warrior or apprentice. Little did I know he'd exile you!

"I knew about the Legacy Prophecy since Tremblesplash told me how it worked. After one of their deaths, they'll come back through the next descendants' birth that matches their gender. If they don't mate, then they won't come back. Like how Fallstar was still alive when Orangestripe's and Rainleaf's kits were born. So were when Bluetail's kits were born. But then Fallstar died. When Lilacbear gave birth to Autumnkit, his first descendant born after he died, he came back.

"I'm not so sure about Rainleaf, since Gardenkit and Sandkit were already born. Snowkit was born, too, of course, before Gardenkit and Sandkit, but that's because he's a male, so. But anyway, I had known about the prophecy, so why would I be part of exiling Cinderpelt for mating? It seems pretty frivolous to me. After Reedstar exiled you, Islandtusk, Gardenkit and Sandkit, I asked him why, but he replied calmly, 'Why, Cinderpelt's a medicine cat, isn't he? Look at those kits.' I understood what he was saying. You had mated. But I had asked him, 'But isn't he a Legacy Prophecy cat?' Reedstar just looked at me and asked me, *'If* he is one, then why didn't he become a warrior instead?' I didn't know what to say to that, because when Cinderpelt became a medicine cat apprentice, I was still a prisoner."

Skysoar and Heatherfern came out of the nursery after they had calmed down all the kits and apprentices. Heatherfern had woken out of her StarClan trance by this time, so she decided to help her brother calm down the younger cats. Then they looked at Fadedshadow, Cinderpelt and Bluetail, and tried to hear what they were talking about.

Then Fadedshadow looked at Bluetail. "Besides, most of these things might not have happened if it weren't for you, Bluetail."

Cinderpelt was about to defend Bluetail, but then he thought about what she had done. Bluetail and Bronzeroot had mated even though they weren't given leeway by StarClan or anything like that. Bluetail also didn't tell anyone about Reedstar having only one life until it was too late.

Then Cinderpelt looked at Bluetail questioningly. Bluetail's firm gaze was still on Fadedshadow. "Bronzeroot wasn't my mate in case you haven't noticed yet," Bluetail finally said, defeated. She looked up into the sky and thought she saw StarClan cats from BraveClan. She saw Bronzeroot looking happy at Bluetail, probably because the truth was being put to light. Then she saw Reedstar and Lilacbear looking confused at her. *I'm talking to you, especially, Reedstar and Lilacbear,* thought Bluetail.

Skysoar and Heatherfern looked a little uncomfortable at their mother talking about their father.

"Orangestripe, Moleclaw and I were two moons older than Fencoat and Bronzeroot," started Bluetail. "As kits we would play together and pretend to be mates. When Purefur had been born and Ashthistle died and Tansywood metaphorically became a queen, I was four moons old. At that point, I had decided I wanted to become a medicine cat so I could save queens from meeting the same fate as Ashthistle. Since I was older, I would become one first, but Bronzeroot wanted to become one, too, since I wanted to become one.

"When he became Bronzepaw, I was already Bluepaw at the time. I had told him we couldn't play the mate game anymore since we were both on the medicine cat path now. He had understood, but he saw other cats have mates and wondered why he couldn't have one.

"Tremblesplash told him why he couldn't have one. It was so that they wouldn't favor their mate and kits when they were in trouble, especially if they were in less trouble than another more severely injured/sick cat. But then Bronzeroot had made a point that medicine cats might favor their parents and littermates as well, if not their mate and kits, and Tremblesplash didn't know what to say to that. When I became a full medicine cat, I told him that if his parents and littermates were in trouble, he should tend to them first but only if there isn't another more severely injured or sick cat that needs more dire attention than his family.

"When Bronzeroot was given his full name, he asked if it was possible that medicine cats could have downtime. I had told him, 'Well, most Clans or groups usually have only one or two medicine cats but we have three so if there aren't any sick or injured cats, I suppose there's always time to play.' That made him happy and inspired him to keep doing his medicine cat work. I wasn't sure what to do about his need for love, though, since he sometimes talked about two cats who were mates or budding partners like Orangestripe and Rainleaf, in his downtime.

"When the fire happened, he helped some queens and their kits locate to their new location, especially heavily pregnant and nursing queens. I had helped the elders at that time. I wasn't exactly sure why Bronzeroot did so since there were already several warriors and queens with older kits helping them. I suppose it had to do with the kits.

"Right before Barktuft, Cinderpelt's father, died while trying to defend the queens and kits, Bronzeroot had tried to tend to his wounds before he tended to Lionflurry, Leafgleam and Duskshade's wounds, who were all protecting the elders. Those three had also fatal wounds but Tremblesplash and I managed to save them. Barktuft, however, had his lung and stomach sliced. So whatever Bronzeroot did couldn't save him, even though he had tried to put cobwebs on his wounds.

"After Barktuft died, he felt failure. So he tried to comfort Clearlake and Fawnstripe, Barktuft's mate and mother. Later, when Clearlake discovered she was pregnant with Barktuft's kits, she was elated. So was Bronzeroot. He had helped her give birth to Cinderpelt. I didn't think much of it, since me and Tremblesplash along with Purefur and Nectarfern were going on a hunting-gathering patrol at that time and couldn't help her.

"Bronzeroot and I were still friends, even though we were medicine cats. One time, he asked me if we could play the mate game again. I was thinking no, but I decided since he felt sad, I thought playing the mate game again would cheer him up. Little did I know that one time would change our lives."

Fadedshadow and Cinderpelt stared at her in disbelief. *Because of a game?* their expressions said. Skysoar and Heatherfern also were quite shocked to hear why their conception came to be.

"That doesn't mean-" Fadedshadow was about to say, but Bluetail interrupted, "Of course not, I knew it was wrong. I couldn't tell what to do next after that. I had secretly given birth outside of the Clan when it was green-leaf with Bronzeroot at my side. I had told Moleclaw about this since he was a warrior and he came up with the idea to pretend they were lost kits."

"But weren't they newborn kits at the time?" asked Cinderpelt. "What did the Clan think?"

"I don't think the Clan thought about it much except that they have more potential warriors. Maybe Fallstar did, because he looked a little suspicious when Moleclaw announced it to the Clan. I don't really know if he came to the conclusion or not before I spilled the truth."

Autumnkit had padded out of the nursery. Having memories of his old life as Fallstar, he wasn't easily scared like the other newer kits. However, he was really shocked that this civil battle even happened like any cat. He was listening to Bluetail, his daughter in his past life, and his apparently grandmother through Lilacbear in this life. He had thought about it.

"I was close to the conclusion when I saw Heatherfern and Lilacbear's pelts were the same as yours, but I couldn't tell if that was a coincidence or something ulterior," he spoke.

"I see," sighed Bluetail in agony. "I didn't want my or Bronzeroot's ranks being stripped of, even if I was the leader's daughter. After all, medicine was my passion. It was easy not to focus too much on my kits since I wanted to follow the warrior code to the dot, but Bronzeroot had some trouble not paying too attention on them, even though he was only the father and not the mother."

After the incident, some kits became apprentices and some apprentices became warriors. Fadedshadow was made leader, and did nothing to show revenge. She acted as if everything was normal. Heatherfern had been okay, and was in the med. cat's den. Bluetail and Cinderpelt, the remaining med. cats just sorted herbs mostly, and tended to Heatherfern. They didn't think about the prophecy much. They did several vigils for several nights and during those vigils, they begged StarClan not to take away more from their Clan. Junipergold was still resenting the rest of the Clan, and thought it was all Islandtusk's fault a battle happened. She was also been found to be having kits. She said she was too young and would die, but Fadedstar comforted her. Heatherfern was also having kits. It ventured into leaf-fall, and the kits were born. Junipergold had one daughter whom she named Greenkit. Heatherfern had two daughters, Maizekit and Fierykit. They were proud. Junipergold didn't die, either. Fadedstar was happy to have grandchildren, but there was still no idea who the fathers were. Gardenpaw became Gardenflower, Sandpaw became Sandleap. Snowpaw became Snowpounce, and Gardenflower and he became mates. Sandleap said he would mate much later. He wanted to protect the Clan to the best of his ability and and for the cost of his life, first...

## Part 6: DarkClan comes

Well that was quick XD: Continuing my unstable BraveClan story: Everything was kind of wrong, however the civil war incident had passed. However, something even more Clan-ending thing was going to happen. Heatherfern came back from her patrol injured, but she was fine, and could still run. She reported that a cat named Highjump had attacked her and stolen all her loot. Her last words before running away were, "One cat can run from another single cat. But they can't from a whole Clan!"

Cinderpelt remembered his vision as an apprentice. About Skysoar kissing a cat named Highjump. He always wondered what it meant ever since, until now. Some cats would cross into another Clan. He hoped it wasn't Skysoar himself, one of the prophecy cats. Bluetail had a vision like Cinderpelt, too, and in it, she would get murdered by Highjump. She didn't know what would happen. As much as she liked StarClan, she didn't want to die so soon. She was close to elderhood, she wanted to die at her natural time.

Heatherfern was distressed, and she said they needed more warriors. Then Maizepaw said she hated DarkClan, that they needed to kill Highjump.

During nighttime, Bluetail and Cinderpelt had yet another vision. Bluetail's vision was about where she was floating in some kind of mist, like from a waterfall. Then Bravestar came to her. "My girl, you have yet more to learn about the Clans. And the prophecy. It is where you will find the fifth cat from your descendant," he said. Then Bluetail appeared in a forest, but she was lying down, with blood coming out of her. It didn't seem to hurt much, though, but she couldn't move, as if there was a tree on her. She then realized the point of view was from a dead cat. But she could still see what's going on. Then she saw cats cheering victory. Enemy cats. It was terrifying, so Bluetail woke up.

Cinderpelt's vision was about leaf-bare, and the Clan cold, thirsty, hungry and sick. The Clan didn't even look much bigger than six or seven cats, and then a cat died from starvation. Then another. And another. Until all the cats were dead. Cinderpelt saw that happen and looked distressed. He didn't like the Clan to die out. The history would be deleted. He was so worried that he woke up, too.

Once Bluetail woke up, she went into the elders den and fell asleep there. Cinderpelt went into the nursery and slept there. Upon waking up in the morning, they told the Clan their visions. Fadedstar said they shouldn't put too much attention to this.

Kits happened to come, too. Maizelight had become a warrior and was kitting. Her partner was Autumnthorn, actually Fallstar. Gardenflower was also pregnant. She had a she-kit, Shadowkit. Maizelight was only 14 moons. She had only one tom-kit, whom she named after the Clan, Bravekit. She said she believed he would be "a little hero to the Clan."

Bluetail was proud of this, and then became an elder. She was tired of the strenuous work of a medicine cat and wanted to rest... before the day has come.

Swiftsand and Thymegrass had come back with their daughter, Desiree, who was given a kittypet name, and they wanted to rejoin the Clan seeing that everything seemed to be normal. Fadedstar agreed but she wasn't sure about what Desiree's new name would be.

Cinderpelt feared he was getting old, too and wanted one of the kits to be a medicine cat. But both of them said they wanted to be warriors. Cinderpelt was afraid the day would come where everyone would die. He wanted someone to learn about herbs, so they can run away when DarkClan came. Leaf-bare was settling in, but they had plenty of herbs for store. Then it was new-leaf again. But this new-leaf wouldn't be so relieving.

Bluetail had worried too much about this, too. She was packing her bags when... The leader of DarkClan had arrived. He had a nasty grin on his face. Everybody were adults by this time (except for Shadowpaw), so they were ready. Cinderpelt's limbs were hurting, from collecting herbs. And nobody wanted to become a medicine cat which was devastating for him. Bravemoon and Shadowpaw had run away from the fight and hid behind a tree.

DarkClan was defeating BraveClan like elephants squishing ants. They were tremendously outnumbered, for DarkClan probably had more than 40 warriors alone. They saw two warriors going into the medicine cat den, and saw Cinderpelt who was currently packing up his herbs. He did not survive, and the warriors stole all the herbs. They also stole all the prey. They even killed Bluetail. None of the cats survived, except seemingly Bravemoon and Shadowpaw.

Shadowpaw was crying, whispering, "Mom... Dad..." Gardenflower and Snowpounce were just lying there, lifeless. Bravemoon was also sad for his parents, Maizelight and Autumnthorn, they were dead, too. He tried not to cry out loud. Neither did Shadowpaw. She looked at Bravemoon, looking for an answer if any. Finally Bravemoon sat down and so did Shadowpaw, and he said, "Shadowpaw... you're so much like Soaringcreek... your name, personality..."

Suddenly a reckoning came upon Shadowpaw. "It-it-it's you, Brave-Bravestar!" she exclaimed quietly. "You are actually him..." Tears were coming down her cheeks. She hugged him tightly, "We've-we've found out the prophecy... finally..." she said, crying. She hugged him even more, and Bravestar hugged her back. "Yes, Shadowcreek, it's me. I've come back to restart the Clan again. The other four, we two are their descendants. If we have kits, they'll surely be back, too." Shadowcreek said, "Yes, yes, let that be true..." They released themselves and looked at the fight. DarkClan had already gone, leaving tons of dead bodies.

Bravestar said, "I'm going to be the leader again, and I'll see to the fact it comes back." Shadowcreek nodded. "I'm fourteen moons right now... can I please be Shadowcreek?" "Yes.. yes, you can," said Bravestar. Bravestar wanted a mate again. A mate who acted so perfectly like Soaringcreek, his original mate. He loved her. And he would love the new Soaringcreek, too. He thought about this cat's ancestors, and thought all the way up to his own place. Then they went to Greenmoon's body. They were going to walk away, like they did with other dead bodies when suddenly... her tail moved.

"Eek!" Shadowcreek said. "What-what-" Then Greenmoon opened her eyes. She was alive! But she was badly hurt. They were happy she was alive, but they did not know if she was going to survive in the first place. They carried her on their backs, but she was *really* heavy. Bravestar took one last look at the camp. He knew it was not the original one, but he would miss it too much. It took them hours before they could leave the deserted area, as they buried all the dead cats, so no predator can get them.

They left, and by that time it was morning. They were very tired and very hungry. They prodded Greenmoon, and checked her heartbeat. She was still alive. But they didn't know what in StarClan to do. They both regretted not listening to Cinderpelt and becoming medicine cats, because neither of them knew how to treat her. Greenmoon opened her eyes again, but she seemed to be hallucinating. "Mother... Father..." she was saying.

Shadowcreek was now fourteen moons old. She worried that Greenmoon could see StarClan and was going to join them very soon, but Bravestar thought otherwise. "No, she's not. She's getting out of her short coma." Greenmoon sat up, looking confused. She looked at Bravestar and Shadowcreek and started smiling gratefully. "Oh, thank goodness you two are here! I thought I would be alone, oh thank goodness, thank StarClan!" Shadowcreek said, "I'm glad, too. There's three of us. How badly are you hurt?" Greenmoon said she wasn't hurt much because she played dead, so DarkClan ignored her. However, one cat scratched her, maybe he thought scratching a "dead" body would be fun. She thought otherwise of hiding, she thought they'd find her.

Bravestar said, "We're all here. But we're not safe." Greenmoon nodded sadly. "I hope our Clan is the one to kill them off someday. I wish that they wouldn't have come..." Bravestar nodded. "Yep, but that has passed now. Now we have to find a new camp, and to get some food. We're so poor off." They ventured off to find food, and caught some. They ate quickly, and then they searched for a new camp. They couldn't find one. For moons they searched, but there was still no sign. Finally, they got to the lake. They drank heavily, after having almost no water for moons. They also ate little prey. They collected herbs as they went.

Shadowcreek realized she was expecting Bravestar's kits. She finally confessed. But Bravestar showed no sign of shock or surprise. "Great, our Clan is starting!" he said. "Shadowcreek, I guess you could feed them your milk." Shadowcreek was startled, because she was very weak. She didn't know how she would make milk for the kits.

Greenmoon was also expecting. "I'm also expecting kits, but who is the father?" she asked. She had mated with a couple of cats. Bravestar said, "As long as the Clan can increase." They went on searching, until they found a really tiny camp. The prey was plentiful, there were a lot of herbs, and there was a pond. The camp looked abandoned. "Finally, we have arrived to the destination... to our new home," said Bravestar happily.

## Part 7: DarkClan’s new warriors

I'm going to do DarkClan's menacing story, at some point, the stories will totally merge: Darkstar yawned. He was feeling victorious after the raid of BraveClan. He was sure everyone had died. His mate, Purpleslash, put her tail on his paws. They watched their children and grandchildren do their warrior duties. "Amazing, isn't it? We have a ton of prey and a ton of warriors. We even have two more from BraveClan!" exclaimed Purpleslash. Desiree, a kittypet and Fierylight, a BraveClan warrior. They had said they wanted to join DarkClan. Darkstar had understood. They didn't get killed. The Clan's motto was, "Join, and you won't get killed." Tons of cats joined each day.

Desiree was the daughter of Swiftsand and Thymegrass, and Fierylight was the daughter of Heatherfern and Vixenpetal. Desiree became Destinypaw. They did their best to help DarkClan. It was cool. Darkstar wanted to kill more cats, but there were none in the vicinity. One day, a warrior named Dapplethorn reported a rogue camp, and he wasn't kidding when he said it. A fully-fledged rogue camp was there. Darkstar sent cats there, to fight it. DarkClan won, but the rogue Clan managed to defend most of their cats, and ran away. But they stole all the prey and herbs.

Fierylight was one of those cats who was sent, but she was looking for the rogues, and where they've gone. Then she got lost. She called her Clanmates' names out loud, but there was no reply. For days she was lost, and she didn't know what to do anymore. Then she came across another camp. She went towards it. Then suddenly kits started jumping on Fierylight. Then a voice said, "Ah, aunt, you've come back." Fierylight's face turned into a contorted frown.

Then another voice said, "Traitor! You joined DarkClan! You killed me before!" Fierylight saw the face of Bravestar. He looked stern.

He said, "I remember in my old life, my aunt was from a Clan, and she joined another one. I never understood Clan life until I made one. BraveClan. And you can't destroy it as long as we're here."

"As-as long wh-who's here? " she asked. Bravestar replied, "Us."

"I'm Leafkit, a.k.a FALLSTAR!" Leafkit said calmly.

"I'm Cinderpelt," yelled Emberkit.

"I'm Rainingkit, and I'm much more acquainted with Clan life than with my old one!" Rainingkit said, clearly Rainleaf.

And Cloudkit said, "I'm Cloudkit, also known as Skysoar."

Greenmoon and her kits had also come to check her out. Greenmoon was holding herbs. "I was just in the middle of sorting, what in StarClan is going on?!" she demanded. Specklekit and Lynxkit looked confused. Very confused. Then Fierylight realized what was going on. The prophecy cats had come back. She had no idea it was her own nephew, too, however. She was wondering what everyone was doing.

Then Fierylight asked, "Who else is alive?" Bravestar calmly replied, "Shadowcreek, my mate." Fierylight looked at everyone's faces in mega confusion and puzzlement. Each of the faces looked angry.

"YOU KILLED ME WHILE I WAS CINDERPELT!" yelled Emberkit. Before she knew it, she was a prisoner.

Fierylight thought she looked stupid, to be back in BraveClan again. She didn't even know it still existed. She thought everyone died... unless... they must have all run away. But how about Greenmoon? She was dead, she thought so. And she was standing there right in front of her. She must have played dead! This reckoning came down on Fierylight like lightning, and she felt distressed. She didn't know how to tell DarkClan, but she didn't even know how to go back. Or get out of prison. She felt doomed forever. She was already thinking about plans for what she might do when she dies and joins the Dark Forest or something.

Back at DarkClan, there were so many warriors, and since Fierylight was fairly new, nobody even noticed she was gone. Except for Destinypaw, who had gone with her to DarkClan in the first place. Destinypaw looked worried, Fierylight hadn't come back. She knew her very well, because of them being Clanmates both in BraveClan and DarkClan. They had almost became best friends.

So she told Darkstar about this. Frankly, he lectured her about something. "Ah, you're new, yes?" he replied. "So we usually fight, and whoever dies, it's not much of a problem to the rest of the Clan, except maybe their family. But our army consists of dozens of cats, one death of a simple warrior isn't even a loss to the Clan. You see, Destinypaw?" he said, nastily grinning.

When she listened to that, she had a dumbstruck look on her face. Not even caring about Fierylight? She walked away solemnly, she didn't recall BraveClan having these kinds of rules. Destinypaw thought that even if BraveClan had this many warriors, there would be no such thing as that rule. But she just shrugged. She might see Fierylight in the Dark Forest, but she wasn't so sure.

Warmpaw, an apprentice of DarkClan asked, "Why so sad, Destinypaw, miss your old stupid Clan?" Destinypaw hissed and replied, "No, I don't, I'm sad about Fierylight, she had to meet her fate." Warmpaw did a dry laugh. "Really? She yo best friend?" Destinypaw walked away from him. The next time a few warriors did a patrol, she came along with them secretly. Auburnfur, Spottedlark, Shrewspeck and Mothspring went on a patrol, and she secretly followed them. She padded her toes and such. This patrol was about finding more cats. This Clan is bloodthirsty, she thought. Not like BraveClan. She suddenly had a homesick feeling, but she whooshed that away. She was also scared of getting caught.

Shrewspeck said, "Ha, those cats we find are going to be D-E-A-D!" Auburnfur replied, "And we are gonna loot 'em all! This Clan'll be here for ages and ages to come!" Part of Destinypaw wondered if they just steal from others instead of doing it themselves. They came across a Twoleghouse. A Twoleg was there. The four cats started attacking him. The Twoleg had a cylinder-like thingy. He aimed at Spottedlark, and something exploded. Spottedlark was bleeding, and it looked like she was dying. Then he shot at Shrewspeck. He was dead, too. Then Auburnfur and Mothspring kept scratching him, and he dropped the cylinder-like thingy and ran like the wind. He had many cuts.

Auburnfur and Mothspring stared at the cylinder. "Well, we gotta report to Darkstar that Spottedlark and Shrewspeck are dead," said Mothspring, without even looking at the dead bodies. Destinypaw was horrified. She didn't know how to stay in this Clan without crying. She imagined if she died, and no one even acknowledged it. She started thinking about BraveClan, how it wasn't like that. She was thinking about that Clan, how she wished it still existed (which it did). Then Auburnfur and Mothspring were going to turn back when Destinypaw moved out of the way. They both stopped. "Looks like it's a cat," replied Mothspring. "Yup," replied Auburnfur. They both pounced at the spot, but Destinypaw leaped out of the way and ran back quickly.

She was the one to tell Darkstar first about the deaths. She realized it was a mistake after. "How do you know? You weren't with them," he said. Destinypaw said that Auburnfur and Mothspring told her. Darkstar said they weren't here yet. Then they came back. Mothspring and Auburnfur were about to tell Darkstar, but he already knew. Mothspring asked, "How?"

"An apprentice told me," he said, pointing to Destinypaw. "She said you told her." Destinypaw was about to faint. Auburnfur replied in total confusion, "Um, no, we didn't. We would tell you first and then her if we wanted to. But always you, first, Darkstar." Mothspring agreed.

Then Darkstar turned on Destinypaw and yelled, "And you, missy, how else would you know?!" Destinypaw wasn't sensitive and wouldn't cry when someone yelled at her. She just looked sad and decided to tell the truth.

"I followed them. I saw it. Shrewspeck and Spottedlark were shot by a Twoleg," she said.

Then Darkstar did one of his nasty grins and said, "You're only supposed to leave camp with your mentor or with a warrior's permission, Destinypaw. Since you're a new one, I'll let you off. But I don't want you wandering off into an area you don't know and get lost. Got it?" Destinypaw just nodded and stalked off. Then Auburnfur and Mothspring told Darkstar the details. Destinypaw saw no reason to listen to them, so she just went back to her den and thought things over.

She still thought about what might have happened to Fierylight, when her mentor, Birdrose called into the den, "Destinypaw! Time to train! Hope you practiced beforehand!" Destinypaw nodded, and just followed her mentor. *Best to do normal Clan stuff now, and worry about lost members later,* she thought, *but where is Fierylight? She couldn't have gone far…*

## Part 8: The new BraveClan!

Continuation of BraveClan's story, I want to switch back and forth at points: Bravestar wasn't very fond of Fierylight somehow finding her way back. He just wanted her to leave if she wished to, and never bother with them again. Bravestar was wondering if she was going to send for them. As in DarkClan. That made him shiver; they were nowhere near ready to fight them. Greenmoon was the new medicine cat, she said she had picked up medicine from Cinderpelt and Bluetail. She was still shocked to see Emberkit at times.

Bravestar didn't have to explain to his kits what was going on, because they knew from their past lives (Rainleaf's second life was Gardenflower, but she showed no signs of it), but he did have to explain to Greenmoon's kits, Specklekit and Lynxkit. He thought it was going to be soon when the kits have to age up into apprentices. Shadowcreek would guard the entrance to where Fierylight was being kept. Soon enough it was time for the apprentice ceremonies. All six kits became apprentices. But since there could only be three mentors, work had to pile up.

Leafpaw (Fallstar) had said he wanted to explore being a med. cat. Emberpaw (Cinderpelt) had said he wanted to explore being a warrior. Bravestar was fine with that. His apprentices were Rainingpaw and Specklepaw. Emberpaw, Cloudpaw and Lynxpaw's mentor was Shadowcreek.Of course, Leafpaw's mentor was Greenmoon. At first, the pair of mentors didn't think it'd work, but then they realized they could have the apprentices duel. (Well, of course, Fierylight couldn't be a mentor, she's a prisoner.) Shadowcreek and Bravestar taught them how to do warrior moves. They all usually had a learning session with each other, while Greenmoon and Leafpaw quietly did their work with herbs.

Greenmoon was teaching Leafpaw the ways of the medicine cat. She joked about Emberpaw that if he became a med. cat app. he'd have to teach her instead of Greenmoon teaching him. She knew about some stuff, but she didn't know much about StarClan visions or most of the remedies. It was a fun time.

Fierylight was still stuck in her den. Bravestar assumed she thought she belonged to BraveClan now, but he wasn't very trusting of others, ever since the two battles, the civil battle that happened before he was born and the battle between DarkClan. He also thought about his old life that happened long ago. He shrugged that off. One day, Bravestar came up to her and asked, "Hello, aunt." She was his mother's sister (in his second life obviously). Fierylight looked scared.

Finally she burst, "No, don't hurt me! I'm sorry I ever quit! I've come back! I just didn't want to get murdered by DarkClan, please forgive me! I don't want to go to the Dark Forest!" She was sobbing by the end of her melancholy rant. Bravestar looked quite puzzled. "Well, if you want to know what happened, Shadowpaw, now Shadowcreek and I hid. Greenmoon played dead. You could have done either. So could have Desiree, whatever her name is now," he replied calmly.

"Destinypaw," Fierylight choked. "That's the name she was given." She was wiping off tears. Bravestar didn't want to give his aunt normal warrior privileges yet. He didn't know if she was faking misery or not. He was afraid Fierylight would go back to DarkClan and report BraveClan was here. And then she'd take them here and... he didn't want to continue.

But he allowed one thing. "You can see the sky, Fierylight, but you are still not trusted." Fierylight looked quite confused. Then she said, "I don't know where DarkClan is. I got lost! I don't know the way back at all! I don't want to go back anyway! I just want to see DESTINYPAW!" The last word came out in a screech. She was clearly miserable and gloomy. Bravestar wondered if this was the result of DarkClan's harmful ways. Then he said in a soothing voice, "Calm down, Fierylight. Don't be so nervous about us. You don't know the way back? Just stay here. As the leader, I'll see what works best for you. All right, Fierylight?"

Bravestar thought it was working. Then out of the blue, Fierylight scratched him to the skin. Fierylight's screams certainly attracted attention. Shadowcreek had come, and so had her three apprentices. Greenmoon and Leafpaw had come, too. The med. cat said, "Oh dear, what did Fierylight even do to you?!" Then she hastily put a cobweb on Bravestar's cut, who merely said it was a sign of a good Clan member. Fierylight was throwing a fit, and Shadowcreek and her apprentices had to stop her. But the situation got seriously intense. Fierylight was scratched a bunch of times, but she kicked her grandnephew, Emberpaw into the corner, and left a resounding cuff on Lynxpaw's ear. Shadowcreek didn't get hurt, but she fell over once. Cloudpaw didn't do much, however he held onto Fierylight's back. Finally, Bravestar did a frightening hiss at his aunt and she merely dropped.

Her eyes were still open, but she looked very much dead. Finally she groaned a few words, "I apologize to you all, my family. My loyalty was always BraveClan. I should never stop. Can I help? I want to lend a hand. Too much trouble it seems." Her speech was very much automated, as if StarClan was moving her lips.

Finally, everyone who got hurt glowed suddenly, and they healed. Fierylight didn't stop glowing though. She then said, "Dark may wield the gift of claws, but light inherits the gift of intelligence, and strategy. May dark end."

Greenmoon said, "A prophecy." Emberpaw said, "I can teach you what prophecies mean and how to deal with them." "That is helpful," Greenmoon replied. Fierylight stopped glowing, but she seemed renewed. Bravestar finally felt like Fierylight could be trusted, since StarClan had bestowed her with a prophecy, and healed her, too. But he wasn't sure what the prophecy meant exactly. He was sure "dark" meant DarkClan, but he didn't know what else it meant. After that, there were no disturbances. Fierylight was able to be a normal warrior, and she was being very loyal to the Clan.

One day, a cat approached the Clan. Naturally, from previous experiences, the Clan acted aggressive towards him. The cat smiled, and said, "Ah, my kits!" Specklepaw and Lynxpaw acted like he was a stranger. Then he said, "This girl right here is the same fur color is mine. Does that answer your question?" Greenmoon looked horrified. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" she yowled. The cat fully introduced himself as Falling Spines. He had followed the three cats to their new camp. He was happy it grew. He wanted to join, too. Bravestar let him join, and change his name.

But Greenmoon and her kits wouldn't go anywhere near him. Fallingspines didn't show any sort of sign where he opposed to the Clan, so they kept him. Greenmoon confessed to Fallingspines that she was the new medicine cat so that he wouldn't bother with having more kits. Fierylight said more cats should enter the Clan.

So they invited a tom cat named Hazecrest and a she-cat named Sootmist into the Clan. They said they were relieved to join a new Clan after their old one got disbanded. They said their old one was named SunClan, and the third leader of the Clan said that they were too poorly in shape to support a Clan, and everyone ran off. They ran off together. Bravestar had never heard of SunClan before, but he was happy the Clan was growing. Fierylight had mated with Hazecrest and had two kits, Tawnykit and Burntkit. She thought Burnt matches up with her prefix.

Bravestar thought it strange for Fierylight to be having kits when *his* kits were apprentices already. But he didn't mind. After all, he thought, everyone needs time to do anything. Sootmist had said she was having kits, too, she was already having Goldensparrow's kits, a SunClan cat. Her kits were named Sunkit after her Clan and Yarrowkit.

Bravestar thought this a happy time. *After a few generations,* he thought, *maybe someday the Clan will be normal... and maybe even teach justice to the Clan that had wronged us…*

## Part 9: Destinyflower and Warmtail

DarkClan story continued: Destinypaw was taking a breath. She was fifteen moons old, but she didn't become a warrior yet. She became a DarkClan apprentice at seven moons, and she was a kittypet since birth. She was kind of annoyed that apprentices exactly her age were warriors a moon ago, and apprentices a moon younger than her, like Warmpaw, were becoming apprentices now. She almost wished their time was delayed. Destinypaw said nothing as she came up to the front. She became Destinyflower and Warmpaw became Warmtail. Darkstar didn't seem to be pleased in Destinyflower's ceremony, though. He wasn't smiling like he was with Warmtail.

Warmtail grinned at Destinyflower as he came back into the crowd. A few hours later, while Destinyflower was eating lunch, she got tapped on the shoulder by Warmtail. He said, "Take your rabbit with me. We have to talk." Destinyflower was confused, and followed him. They went inside the elder's den. The elders were sleeping. Warmtail was saying, "You have to learn about DarkClan and its history." Destinyflower thought she knew everything about it. It's weird.

"So?" she asked. Warmtail explained about Darkstar being a rogue his entire life, until he made the Clan. Purpleslash was his mate before that happened, and his kits were old enough to be apprentices. Except he wanted his Clan to be like his rogue lifestyle. So he didn't follow all the rules of the Warrior Code. Cats were allowed to cross others territory without permission and eat prey that is caught immediately, and even hunt for fun. They aren't believers of StarClan at all. Everyone that dies in this Clan will go to the Dark Forest. Destinyflower almost vomited while hearing this. *Not following the Warrior code in almost any way?!*

"And get this. All the medicine cats have mates and kits and nobody expels them or pays special attention to them!" Warmtail almost exclaimed.

"But-but-" Destinyflower couldn't speak. She regretted even following this Clan to its camp. Why had this Clan been so disgusting? She wanted to go back to BraveClan, but it didn't exist (which it did). She missed it greatly.

Then she thought about Warmtail. "What about you? Why are you saying this to me, anyway?" she asked.

Warmtail sighed and responded in a melancholy way, "Destinyflower, you see, most of the cats in this Clan were from other Clans, too. The Clans that got destroyed by DarkClan. The only original members of this Clan are members of Darkstar's family and rogues, loners and kittypets." He stopped to take a breath and continued.

"I am one of those people who HAD to move Clans. I was afraid to die, like you were. I was only a kit! My entire family got murdered, my littermates, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins..." he looked teary.

"Don't cry," was all Destinyflower could say. "My entire family got murdered, too."

Warmtail nodded. "The Clan was named SunClan. Cats say it disbanded. It disbanded BECAUSE DarkClan threatened to kill them. Only the leader knew that… and me! I don't know how, but..." Destinyflower looked confused. "What, really?"

Then suddenly Warmtail started glowing. He looked like he was in a trance. "WARMTAIL?! WARMTAIL?!" Destinyflower's shrieks were so loud the elders woke up. They were startled. Darkstar ran in. His face grew dark. "STARCLAN IS TAKING WARMTAIL AWAY!" he yelled. He looked frightened, as if he didn't know anything about StarClan.

Finally Warmtail stopped glowing and fainted. Everybody stared at him. Some other warriors and one med. cat had come in, too and stared. Finally Darkstar looked at Destinyflower and snarled, "What did you do?!" "I don't know! NOTHING!" she screamed, still scared for Warmtail. Darkstar still looked at Warmtail in fright as he walked out the den.

The other cats had went away, the elders had gone back to sleep, but the medicine cat stayed, and tried to see if Warmtail was hurt. "You'd better help me, Destinyflower," he said. "Warmtail might need serious attention. Help carry him, too."

Destinyflower nodded, and they carried him into the medicine cat's den. She saw a whole other world in here, almost. "My name is Smoothdash, if you want to know. New, right?"

Destinyflower did a little nod. "Cool," he said. "Warmtail your mate?"

Destinyflower almost gagged. "No! He's-he's just my friend!"

"Oh, sorry," was all Smoothdash said to Destinyflower. He muttered to himself, "Getting hurt by StarClan on his first day as warrior, hm."

After some time, Smoothdash couldn't figure out anything. "Well, this can't be solved by a medicine cat for sure," Smoothdash said.

"I'm going to tend to Oakbush, she has whitecough, ooh." Destinyflower remembered it was leaf-bare, the time greencough spreads, so she nodded.

Then she sat beside Warmtail miserably. "Warmtail... Warmtail... You're the only one that has even spoken very nicely to me... Warmtail..." At that moment, she realized Warmtail's stupid words as an apprentice were actually romantic teasing. She sobbed even more.

Then suddenly Warmtail's lips moved as if he was saying something. Then his voice came out. He said, "Dark may wield the gift of claws, but light inherits the gift of intelligence, and strategy. May dark end."

Destinyflower stopped crying and looked confused. "Warmtail?" No answer. "Warmtail, what happened?!" Still no answer.

She checked his heartbeat. It was slow. Very slow. Suddenly, it became very fast. Then normal. Destinyflower didn't know what to make of this until Warmtail woke up. Warmtail said, "I just had a vision from StarClan. I believe in it. I saw... your friend, Fierylight... me, and you... and someone else. We were all glowing white. Then I saw Darkstar, Purpleslash and a few of his kin. They were glowing dark. Then I woke up."

Finally Destinyflower knew what it meant. She mouthed, "A prophecy." Warmtail looked puzzled and asked her to say it a little louder.

"A prophecy, Warmtail, it's something from StarClan that can give benefits and such if fulfilled!" she said, rather gleefully.

Warmtail, not knowing what a prophecy ever was, asked, "But how do we fulfill it?" Destinyflower explained to Warmtail the prophecy that happened back in BraveClan, and that the prophecy cats had to do something about it, and that Warmtail was a prophecy cat. They would get visions from StarClan, and maybe even special powers. To fulfill it, they had to do a test of such. They would be explained by cats from StarClan. She explained that the Legacy Prophecy cats can reincarnate as their descendants, as long as they could until it is fulfilled. She was sad that the descendants couldn't survive (which they did).

"So since you got the vision, you must have some knowing of it," finished Destinyflower. Warmtail thought about it for a minute. *If this is a prophecy, and I got a vision, I must be one of the prophecy cats,* he thought. *But I don't think I have any special powers or anything. I just... got it.*

Then he realized what Dark means. "Dark means DarkClan," he said. Destinyflower nodded as if that was very obvious. "I can't imagine what else Dark means. Dark Forest?" she said. They both laughed.

Then suddenly Smoothdash came, and said, "Oh, Warmtail, you're so very awake. What were you talking about, a pro... fess, ee?" Destinyflower and Warmtail dropped their smiles and shut up immediately. Warmtail said, "We were joking about StarClan about how it's... dumb." Destinyflower nodded.

Smoothdash was relieved. Then both of them went on patrol together, and talked. They both talked about the prophecy and their lives in their previous Clans. Then Warmtail said, "To fulfill it, we need to go into the light!" Destinyflower said, "Wait, really?" Then she explained how they mostly need to be asleep to get a vision. "Let's go to sleep tonight and think about this." Warmtail agreed.

That night, Destinyflower and Warmtail slept together. Warmtail slept easily. Destinyflower didn't know if he was having a vision, it didn't always happen. Destinyflower, however, couldn't sleep easily. She kept thinking about this. Then she said quietly, "Light, we will come for you. Dark, say good-bye to us..."

## Part 10: The Escape, the Follow

DarkClan story continued, Destinyflower and Warmtail: In the morning, they woke up. Some other cats were becoming apprentices and warriors. Darkstar was thinking, Destinyflower must have done something to Warmtail to make him attacked by StarClan. He saw his mate, Purpleslash, a very senior warrior doing well in the Clan. She refused to give up and become an elder. Even if her muscles and bones started failing. Then he looked at the younger batch, the kits happily playing with each other.

Then Bluntgaze reported to Darkstar about another Clan on the premises. He did not know what it was, but it looked small. She said they almost killed her, but she managed to run away. Then she got lost for a day, but she managed to come back. Destinyflower, as usual, eavesdropped on them. Darkstar looked grim. "Do you remember the path?" he asked in a grunt. Bluntgaze said, "I'm sorry, my leader, but I was lost and went in all directions and-"

Darkstar put up a finger to shush her. "Very well," he said in disappointment.

Destinyflower was shocked. She had gotten a vision during the night. It looked like she had found BraveClan with Warmtail, and saw Fierylight there. They were so overjoyed, and they were welcomed in, along with Warmtail, who was happy to see SunClan. But then, while she was hunting, Darkstar, Oakbush, Auburnfur and Longpaw (as a warrior) came out of nowhere and she got killed. It went by pretty quickly, so it seemed like only a few minutes for her, but it was already day.

Warmtail said he didn't get any sort of visions from StarClan. "Fine," was all Destinyflower replied. Then she explained about her vision. Warmtail was shocked. "But wait... are you a prophecy cat, too?" he asked in amazement. Destinyflower had never thought of that, she didn't think so. But she thought about Warmtail's first vision. He said he saw Destinyflower, himself, Fierylight and another cat on the light side, but on the dark side was Darkstar, Purpleslash, and a few of his kin. Warmtail seemed like he read her mind because he exclaimed, "My vision yesterday! It was the prophecy cats! And I recognize that last cat. She was the third leader of SunClan, her name was Marigoldstar! Didn't know why I couldn't see that. She's also my aunt."

Destinyflower replied, "But wait, she's probably alive..." Warmtail looked joyful. "So everybody didn't die," he said almost to himself.

Then he told Destinyflower, "Darkstar and Oakbush were two cats all right, but Purpleslash wasn't glowing. But Longpaw and Auburnfur were. Auburnfur is my... other aunt. They're both on my dad's side."

Destinyflower nodded with interest. "Cool," she said. "But I think we'll have to go to BraveClan."

Warmtail frowned and told her about her vision. "You could die," he said. Destinyflower replied, "I doubt they know where BraveClan is, the camp looks different. It must be much farther away." She thought about what Bluntgaze said. She must have been to BraveClan. Hopefully she *totally* forgot the way to it or anywhere near it. Destinyflower and Warmtail packed up supplies, and left DarkClan immediately. The bad thing that happened is that an apprentice, Talonpaw spotted them leave. He was learning hunting with his mentor, Lilaccliff. Lilaccliff saw them go, too, but she didn't see it completely.

"Maybe they're just on patrol like us," she suggested. Talonpaw then said, "But they're going farther out the border!" Lilaccliff hissed, then shouted, "Focus on your prey, not two cats going away!" Talonpaw still looked suspicious at them. He recognized the faces. After training, he reported this to Darkstar. Darkstar looked confused, and did an announcement that Destinyflower and Warmtail were gone. He probably assumed that they got lost like Fierylight did. But Talonpaw wasn't the only one who saw them go. An apprentice, Moorpaw was with his mentor, Highjump. The two apprentices told Darkstar all the details. Moorpaw only saw them pack up and go out of the camp, while Talonpaw saw them leave the border.

That made Darkstar worried. Then he pushed both the apprentices down, and scratched them. Their mentors pulled them away. Darkstar wasn't especially fond of apprentices telling him weird stuff, but he did call out both Destinyflower and Warmtail's names. There wasn't ever an answer back. Darkstar knew they had gone, and he thought what the apprentices were saying was true. After all, nobody would ever lie to him. Darkstar told his deputy, Bronzeslope, and he was on the quest. He brought along Smokyleap, one medicine cat, Charredbelly, Spiderroot, Puddlestem, and Frozenbreeze. They went into the same direction as Warmtail and Destinyflower.

Where these two were, Destinyflower groaned. "I feel heavy," she complained. "Pull yourself together. We're both prophecy cats," Warmtail replied. "StarClan won't make us die unless the prophecy's fulfilled, and they will guide us on our path, especially towards BraveClan. They're telling me to go... that way!" He pointed into more forest. Destinyflower said, "Let's travel a little more, and then we'll eat what we brought." Warmtail agreed.

They ventured on a little further until they got really hungry. "Let's stop, now," said Destinyflower. She dropped the rabbit she had brought, and chowed it down ferociously.

Warmtail laughed and said, "You should have eaten before we went!" Destinyflower chuckled and replied, "Yes, I did, but we've gone so far!" Suddenly Warmtail's ears perked up while eating. "Did you hear that, Destinyflower?" She shook her head. Warmtail said, "It sounded like-like-" Then it happened again. It was a great rustle. Destinyflower gulped, then said, "Eat quickly, we gotta move!" Warmtail just took his hare and went on.

But that's when the six cats jumped out of the bushes. *"RUN!"* screeched Warmtail. They both took off at full speed, but so did their pursuers. They both were panting heavily. "We can't go towards BraveClan! We have to go on a false path!" Destinyflower yelled. Warmtail didn't need an explanation so he nodded. They both went onto the wrong path. "Wha oo-ee-oo ow?! Ee cat gur un lie dis fovever!" Warmtail was struggling to say, with the hare in his mouth. *I should have eaten as quick as Destinyflower,* he thought. His jaws were very close to just opening, but he clenched them tightly shut. He wanted to make it drop, discard it, but then he would have no food.

Destinyflower had an idea suddenly. *"I KNOW!"* she yelled. *"HEY, RABBIT-BRAIN RUNNERS!"* She was addressing her pursuers. *"WATCH THIS!"* She winked at Warmtail, and he got a complete idea of what they were going to do. They zig-zagged through the forest, and to their satisfaction, Frozenbreeze crashed into a tree. DarkClan's motto was don't pay special attention to fallen warriors, but Smokyleap ran back to attend to the hurt cat. Warmtail was relieved at least the medicine cats do something. But he and Destinyflower kept zig-zagging, and the other cats eventually lost where they were. Destinyflower and Warmtail went to a stop, but they felt out of air and sweating even though it was still leaf-bare. Warmtail dropped the hare out of his mouth and got air. It took them a few minutes to get back to normal.

Warmtail immediately ate the rest of his hare and said, "Do we go on, Destinyflower?" Destinyflower nodded, and they immediately used StarClan's guidance to go on the path. "I hope we made those warriors terribly lost," she said, laughing. Warmtail also laughed. After an hour or so, they stopped to hunt. They felt like they were going to die from starvation if they went more, so they hunted a few mice and birds.

Once they ate they went on even more. "I wonder how long this path even is?" Warmtail asked.

"I dunno, but lets keep moving," said Destinyflower. It was getting really dark, so they found a cave and slept in there.

The next day, they hunted food, ate and continued. That's when Destinyflower noticed something strange. "Am I getting fat?" she asked. "What? No, of course not! Why?" were Warmtail's surprised words. Destinyflower told him she had a small bum. "I'm-I think... I'm expecting your kits..." she said.

Warmtail just said, "How will you keep going, then?" Destinyflower said, "I can keep going. It's not far, I'm pretty sure. This forest can't be big." Warmtail looked doubtful, but he nodded. Finally, after some time, they saw a camp with cats in it. They went closer. "Is this BraveClan?" asked Warmtail. "Maybe... maybe it is!" replied Destinyflower in awe and joy. Then Fierylight saw them and held out her paws with a smile. Destinyflower ran into them, exclaiming, "FIERYLIGHT!"

"Destinypaw," Fierylight said, "You've grown." "I'm Destinyflower now," Destinyflower replied. Warmtail introduced himself, too. Sootmist and Hazecrest recognized Warmtail at once, and said they were from SunClan. Bravestar immediately welcomed everyone in. Destinyflower told them she was having kits, so she became a queen. She also told them about the light and dark prophecy. Leafpaw said that Fierylight was a prophecy cat, too. Everybody was really happy at the time. While going to sleep, Destinyflower saw StarClan.

## Part 11: SunClan

Introducing a new Clan story, it's SunClan (before DarkClan's threathenings): Marigoldclaw looked at her struggling great-aunt, Moonstar. She had taken her great-uncle's place, Sunstar. Marigoldclaw was the deputy. She looked at her kits, Diamondkit and Thunderkit, both looking very happy. *They were just born,* she thought, as she looked at her stomach. Then she looked at her brother, Silversun, and his mate, Lakepool, along with their three happy kits, Warmkit, Fenikpaw and Firepaw. She felt happy. She then looked at her son, Spotpaw. He was going to be a warrior soon. Fenikpaw and Firepaw recently became apprentices, whereas Warmkit was just born. Then she looked at her sister, Auburnfur in disgrace. The medicine cat at the time when she and her siblings were born said, "Silverkit and Marigoldkit are fine, Pollenhaze, but... there's something strange about Auburnkit... an evil aura." Marigoldclaw heard those words, and remembered them. Auburnfur was surely evil. She'd go to the Dark Forest someday.

One day, Moonstar drank some dirty water, and got sick. It was green-leaf. Marigoldclaw was devastated, because later, Moonstar died. Marigoldclaw went with the medicine cat to get her nine lives. One of them was surely Moonstar, but after the normal lives thing, her voice went eerie, and she moved closer to whisper into Marigoldstar's ear, "Make sure your Clan is safe, there is too much danger on the way." The medicine cat didn't seem to notice, really. Then she was taken back. She had chosen Spotface as the deputy.

She then realized what it meant. Two DarkClan cats went and murdered her mother, Pollenhaze. She started crying. Fenikfight and Firerain, her niece and nephew tried to defend their grandmother, but it didn't work. *At least they scared them off,* thought Marigoldstar. Then a DarkClan cat sent them a message, "Your Clan is doomed." She was horrified, and thought about what to do, especially when Auburnfur had taken custody of Warmkit and entered DarkClan. "This Clan is trash. The Clan I'm joining will be perfect for me!" were her last words to Marigoldstar. She had begged Auburnfur to stay, but to no luck. This left Marigoldstar in tears. Finally, she came to the horrific choice of disbanding her Clan. She wasn't sure what else to do, the Clan simply couldn't fight them off. When she did, however, she regretted it.

She was also sad over the death of her son, Spotface. She had taken Diamondpaw and Thunderpaw with her on her leaving. SunClan was a connected family. She missed it so. All the cats left with some herbs and the amount of prey they could carry. The prey that was left behind was the amount that couldn't. DarkClan had come along really confused. They saw only little prey and no herbs. *"WE CAME HERE FOR NOTHING?!"* yowled one of the cats. *Hey, you have some prey left for you to steal,* thought Marigoldstar, groaning. Those cats were too greedy.

So, now, moons later, she was living like a loner with her two children, Diamondpaw and Thunderpaw. "Mom, what happened? Can we go back now?" complained Diamondpaw. She was definitely not used to this life at all.

"I wish Spotface was here," added Thunderpaw. Neither was him.

"No," groaned Marigoldstar. She was simply too weak.

"Thunderpaw, don't you think we're fourteen moons old?" Diamondpaw asked her brother.

"Yup, we're fully fourteen moons," was his answer.

"Hey, mom, you're still a leader, ri-i-ight?" said Diamondpaw sarcastically.

"What in StarClan do you want?! Let me think!" yowled Marigoldstar. She had never remembered herself being so cranky, especially in her own Clan life.

"Well, at least make us full warriors!" said Diamondpaw angrily. "Fine, if that's what you want. Since nobody's here, I'll do a private ceremony," replied Marigoldstar grumpily. She made Diamondpaw and Thunderpaw into warriors. Diamondhare and Thunderflames seemed like perfect names to Marigoldstar.

Marigoldstar felt sleepy, but suddenly, she felt like she was falling into some weird mist. "Hello," was the voice of her dead mother. "Mother?" asked Marigoldstar. "Where are you?"

Pollenhaze looked happy. "So happy you came. I have to deliver a prophecy. It is..."

To Diamondhare and Thunderflames, it sounded like she was saying, "Dark may wield the gift of claws, but light inherits the gift of intelligence, and strategy. May dark end." They started screaming.

Marigoldstar also saw three other cats. She didn't recognize the other two, but she saw her nephew, Warmkit, probably a warrior now. She and them were all glowing perfectly.

"Look at those other four," pointed her mother. Marigoldstar turned. She saw four cats who were glowing in a very dark way, almost as if they were sucking the light out. She only recognized the infamous Darkstar and her sister Auburnfur, but not the other two. She was sure the other two were also from DarkClan.

"Avoid them perfectly, until you join up with the other three light prophecy cats," said her mother, who started fading away. Everything started fading away, and Marigoldstar was back in reality. She woke up, and saw her two children with tears in their eyes. They were terrified.

"I'm back," said Marigoldstar. "And I got a prophecy."

"So great you're back!" said Thunderflames gleefully. "I don't want any more people dead!" Marigoldstar stood up, and replied, "I wasn't anywhere even close to a cause for death, my son. I got a prophecy. You heard it, right?"

They both looked confused. "What was it?" asked Diamondhare.

"Don't be *deaf,"* hissed Marigoldstar. "It was, 'Dark may wield the gift of claws, but light inherits the gift of intelligence, and strategy. May dark end.'"

"Oh, you *did* say that! But we didn't think that was a prophecy," both of them simply replied. Marigoldstar groaned. They weren't ever acquainted with StarClan-related things. As the leader, she had studied stuff like these, so she could be ready. She was sure that Dark meant DarkClan or Dark Forest, and Light meant SunClan, or StarClan. But she had no idea what the prophecy actually meant. *To defeat Dark,* she guessed.

Later on, Diamondhare and Thunderflames started hunting for some prey to eat, within close vicinity, of course.

Suddenly, bushes started rustling. "Eh?" said Marigoldstar. Then a cat leaped out of the bushes, and stuck its claws inside of Marigoldstar's chest. *No,* she thought, *I can't die now. Don't... please...*

Her killer had a pleasing smile while Marigoldstar closed her eyes. But a few minutes later, she woke up. She saw her "killer" searching for stuff, probably to steal. *Well, that done it,* thought Marigoldstar angrily, *you dirty dark cats are cats that belong in the undead Dark Forest!* She pounced on the cat immediately, and clawed the cat ferociously. "I had nine lives!" yowled Marigoldstar. The cat groaned, and tried to defend itself.

Marigoldstar got scratched on the face furiously, but to her satisfaction, when she sent her claws forward, they landed right in the neck. The cat seemed to be choking, and fell down. Marigoldstar sent a few more lashes its way.

But the cat managed to say, "Darkstar will come after you, just wait..." and it leaned over to the side. Marigoldstar started trembling after that. She was shocked a cat just came out of the bushes in the blue and would have definitely murdered her if she wasn't a leader with nine lives.

She was too shocked to think about much else, so she just retired to the soothing sound of the wind, and threw the dead body back into the bushes where it came from. She just sat down and made the wind flush out all bad thoughts. *If only life was so peaceful like the wind,* she was thinking, *maybe I wouldn't have been in a random spot in the forest in the first place...*

## Part 12: Dark Prophecy and fury

This part is two moons earlier than the current SunClan timeline: Darkstar was solemnly listening to cats chatter while he was lying down on Highrock. He went into his den, not wishing to hear so much noise. He wondered, what happened to the cats I sent to go after those two stupids? He just groaned, thinking this stage of his life was too empty. He wished he'd still have some entertainment in the age he would be an elder.

The six cats happened to return. Bronzeslope, the deputy looked melancholy after not being able to chase them down. Neither of the cats wished to tell Darkstar about their loss. They just didn't have the heart. Smokyleap just took Frozenbreeze into the med. cat's den and started treating him. Lostpaw also watched him, even though he wasn't her mentor.

Darkstar saw them come back, but they weren't telling him anything. He was confused. What happened to them. He decided to ask the deputy, he must have led the group. "Bronzeslope, are you going to tell me anything that happened? What happened to Destinyflower and Warmtail?" Bronzeslope's reaction wasn't anything he'd expected.

Bronzeslope broke into sobs and yelled, *"FORGIVE ME, MY LEADER! PLEASE MERCY!"* He fell down to Darkstar's knees, and hugged them tight, as if he was begging. It came down onto Darkstar. Destinyflower and Warmtail had escaped DarkClan's grip. "What?! *What?!"* hissed Darkstar, in his most dangerous voice, which kept rising. "HOW DID YOU LET THEM GO?! *I SENT* FIVE *WARRIORS!"*

Bronzeslope cried even harder, tears streaming down his face. "*FORGIVE US, MY LEADER! THEY WERE TOO-*" Darkstar interrupted his sentence and kicked him off his knees. He wasn't sure how Destinyflower and Warmtail escaped. It was too highly improbable. He had sent five warriors to go sneak up on them, perhaps the best he knew... and the two brats should have been captured. Maybe even killed!

*"ENOUGH. YOU STUPID WARRIORS DON'T KNOW HOW TO CAPTURE TWO NEWBIES! IDIOTS!*" Darkstar screamed at his highest and most dangerous voice which everyone in the Clan heard, and some kits got scared, some apprentices ran into their mentors' arms.

Out of rage, Darkstar suddenly lunged forward and tore off the throat flesh of Bronzeslope. Bronzeslope screeched and fainted. Everyone saw that happen. "What?!" asked Lynxmoor, another medicine cat. "He's the deputy."

*"SHUT UP, SON,"* replied Darkstar. Everyone became paralyzed in fear, except for Lynxmoor. He just shrugged, and pulled Bronzeslope away. He was bleeding heavily. In a few minutes, he was dead. Darkstar got calmed down by his mate, Purpleslash, the one person he'd never even yell at while he was enraged.

"Well, if Bronzeslope is dead, then you got to pick a new deputy," said Purpleslash. "I'll think about it," said a calm Darkstar.

He fell asleep along with his mate in the leader's den, the one person who'd be allowed to sleep in there. Darkstar imagined he'd wake up immediately, and it'll be day, but no, it went slowly. After a minute into his dream, he seemed to be in a very dark forest, where everything was bare even in green-leaf. "What? Where am I?" he demanded.

A cat came to him. It was Shrewspeck. "Hello, there," he replied.

"Hi," grunted Darkstar confused. "I thought you were dead?"

"This is the dark forest, dad. The perfect place for powerful cats to be," Shrewspeck replied. "When you're dead, anyway." Darkstar blinked a few times to see if where he was was true.

"I have to tell you something," Shrewspeck said. "Yes?" asked Darkstar.

While Purpleslash was awake, she heard Darkstar say in his sleep, "Light may be so intelligent and clever, but dark has the most strength and power. May light end."

"Dark, Darky?!" Purpleslash was saying quietly, but in a trembling voice. She usually called Darkstar by his pet name, and Darkstar called her by her pet name, Purple (which were their rogue names).

Then it all stopped. Darkstar felt like he was falling down from the mist. "AHHH!" he was screaming in terror. Then he landed in somewhere which looked like a battle. He didn't get hurt. But he saw Warmtail and Destinyflower. To his horror, he saw Fierylight perfectly alive and against DarkClan. He was utterly shocked. He also saw his SunClan enemy, Marigoldstar. But he saw Longpaw (as a warrior), Oakbush, his daughter, and Auburnfur, one of the evil cats from SunClan also there on his side, and with some weird looks on their faces.

Darkstar saw they were getting ready to fight. To his most dreadful horror of all in this vision given by the Dark Forest, however, he saw BraveClan, pretty much restored to its original power before their civil battle. They were equal to DarkClan, almost.

"STOP! I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! I'M NOT READY!" Darkstar yowled in panic. His son took him out of there and back into the mist, and looked quite curious, as if he didn't know his father could ever be so wimpy like this.

"Father, you had to be shown this cruelty to understand what was coming next in Clan history," replied Shrewspeck calmly. "Yes, of course," said Darkstar, taking a deep breath. But it didn't seem very convincing to him. "But can I go now?" he continued.

"Well, it's sun-up, anyway, so time for your waking," was Shrewspeck's rather strange last words. Darkstar woke up, and Purpleslash immediately told him about his words of the dark version of the prophecy. "I know," said Darkstar, to a quite perplexed Purpleslash. "I thought you don't dream-"

"Of course I don't," hissed Darkstar rather calmly. "That message I got was supposed to deliver a prophecy, like the ones StarClan gives." Purpleslash stared at him for a few seconds, and it looked like she was going to talk about the prophecy, but her answer was just, "I'm going to eat a mouse, and then tell stories to the apprentices."

Honestly, Darkstar had no idea what was going on. He knew that StarClan gives prophecies, but he never recalled the Dark Forest doing such sort. And he also saw three other cats from his Clan, and they looked like they were ready for eradication. It was awkward for him, so like Purpleslash, he didn't think about it.

But someday, he thought, Oakbush, Longpaw and Auburnfur should be warned of this, they may be the other four.

### ~~Two moons later~~

Bluntgaze said she was going to go out on patrol, and that was fine for Darkstar. She also said she was going to fight cats. Darkstar had been thinking about making Highjump a deputy. She was good, he thought, but is she as good as Bronzeslope used to be? He had no idea if so, but she did her best to represent her Clan.

So Darkstar did a ceremony, and he chose Highjump as the new deputy. "HIGHJUMP! HIGHJUMP! YOU ARE TO LEAD US!" the Clan chanted. The last part was a DarkClan saying.

Later that day, Bluntgaze didn't come back, though. Darkstar sent a warrior to go check what happened, and he came back saying he found Bluntgaze's dead body in a bush. Darkstar got shocked, and was confused why warriors were dying quicker and getting hurt easier. They are so vulnerable, he thought.

Oakbush picked up a flower, and suddenly, it started shriveling up right before her eyes. The leaves and petals fell off, and turned colorless. The stem looked like it would exist in the undead world. For a moment, Oakbush felt joyous while watching it die, as she loathed plants, she felt like she was powerful among them, until she realized it didn't do that by itself.

"Wait, what? This flower just..." Oakbush was saying, really shocked. She threw it down, inspecting it. Then she looked at her paws. She held onto a leaf on a oak, and thought about that flower which died in her paw, and slowly, the leaf looked like it was in leaf-fall, then it went off the tree. She touched the bark of the oak, and it also looked like the bark was falling off. Then she touched a bush, and the leaves she was touching also withered away.

"Oaks and bushes are fallen plants," said Oakbush, almost maniacally laughing because she can celebrate her severe hatred of plants.

"All cats come for a meeting, please, under my eyes!" boomed Darkstar's voice. *Well, guess I should go back to the camp,* thought Oakbush.

"I forgot to say," started Darkstar, "that I got a message from the Dark Forest." There were gasps and shrieks from the rest of the Clan.

Oakbush recognized she had that dream. Auburnfur and Longpaw confessed they also had that dream. Darkstar looked pretty shocked, and the rest of the Clan stared at the two of them. Oakbush looked back at everything, then she said, "Whatever message the Dark Forest told me, they gave me the power to wither plants." Everybody grew even more wide-eyed.

Later on, Longpaw was training with Purpleslash, his mentor. Halfway into training, she said, "I'm going to get a mouse for each of us. Snack break."

Then Longpaw saw a cat come towards him. It was a rogue. *"HEY! APPRENTICE! HAVE ANY LOOT?!"* it said, and it immediately pounced on Longpaw.

Longpaw yowled at the rogue and stabbed the rogue into the heart. The rogue faltered, and seemed to have died.

"Eh? How'd that happen?" he asked himself. He just shrugged, and scratched the rogue more. It made deep cuts, apparently.

Purpleslash looked shocked when she came back, and immediately left Longpaw and a mouse behind. She told Darkstar, and he was impressed. Longpaw became a warrior, Longfang, even though he was only ten moons old, going on eleven.

Darkstar understood these powers came from the prophecy. While sleeping, he was thinking about the prophecy. *If BraveClan's here, well, this Clan will show them a second time. And we'll check where they'll think we never check if they hide. BraveClan should have disappeared, so we will use our powers... together...*

## Part 13: New warriors, and old Minnowkit, and light

Exactly at DarkClan and SunClan's story: Rainingpaw's mentor became Sootmist, since there were more warriors to mentor now. Emberpaw's mentor became Fierylight. Cloudpaw's mentor became Hazecrest. Lynxpaw and Specklepaw's mentors were the same, Shadowcreek and Bravestar.

Soon enough, it was time for kits to become apprentices. Burntpaw's mentor became Fallingspines, and Tawnypaw's mentor became Destinyflower. Cloudpaw and his siblings and Lynxpaw and Specklepaw were almost warriors.

A moon later, everybody became warriors and apprentices (except for Leafpaw obviously), and Bravestar did the ceremony. He made all of them into warriors, Rainingclaw, Emberheart, Cloudflames, Lynxdaisy, and Specklewhisker. Leafpaw smiled at his siblings and Lynxdaisy and Specklewhisker.

Sunkit and Yarrowkit became apprentices, too. Sunpaw's mentor was Sootmist, strangely, and Yarrowpaw's mentor was Warmtail. Since Destinyflower was expecting, she did basic stuff with Tawnypaw, such as teaching him the warrior code and StarClan. She also told him about the prophecies with herself and other cats in the Clan. He did not understand apparently.

Destinyflower then gave birth to Owlkit, Crescentkit, and Minnowkit. Rainingclaw looked strangely at Minnowkit. Bravestar knew it reminded her of her lost kit in her old life.

Then a cat came up to the Clan, along with two others. They looked ragged and skinny, and they begged to be in the Clan. Bravestar looked them up and down. "How do I trust you?" he asked. But before anyone breathed after Bravestar's words, Warmtail went running into the more older cat's arms. "AUNT!" he was saying. "Warmkit!" she said happily.

Everyone froze what they were doing, looking quite startled, except for Sootmist and Hazecrest, who mouthed, "Marigoldstar?" "Everyone, this is Marigoldstar, my dad's sister and third leader of SunClan!" Warmtail seemed to be announcing. Then he whispered to her, "I'm Warmtail now."

Then the other two cats were like, "What happened to all of you?!" "Diamondpaw and Thunderpaw?" looked Warmtail confused.

"Diamondhare and Thunderflames," one of them corrected. The rest of the Clan still stared at them. Then Marigoldstar looked at Sootmist and Hazecrest and said, "I remember you two. Did you also run off into this Clan?" They both nodded.

She told the Clan about the prophecy, and it was confirmed. "We four are the light prophecy cats!" announced Destinyflower. Marigoldstar nodded. She became an assistant leader for BraveClan, and Bravestar became an assistant leader for SunClan. They believed that since some SunClan people were already in this Clan, they wanted to partner up, to also fulfill both prophecies they had.

### ~~Another moon later~~

Another moon later, Lynxdaisy and Cloudflames were found to be teasing each other in a not-really-a-friendly-way-but-a-more-um-weird-way. Diamondhare had taken a liking to Specklewhisker, and Thunderflames had been going into Rainingclaw's business. Parents were shocked.

Bravestar didn’t care negatively about this, though. If it led to having kits, then it was always good. They had a huge surplus of supplies and prey so he thought bringing more kits and outsiders into this Clan was an excellent idea.

So Diamondhare and Specklewhisker became mates, but didn’t become pregnant yet as she wanted to do more warrior duties first, as she had only been in BraveClan for a moon. Emberheart had said he didn’t necessarily want to have a mate or kits right now, either, since he wanted to be a good warrior, too.

One day, Diamondhare, Rainingclaw and Lynxdaisy were on a border patrol together. But then they saw two cats’ silhouettes somewhere just right outside the border. Then they saw two more. The three were very confused, indeed, but Diamondhare had suggested that they wait intently for something to happen. Lynxdaisy, however, wanted to get help in case this was a serious attack.

“Then that’ll make us two, since one of us will have to go and tell Bravestar and Marigoldstar. And we can’t just all run to tell them either, since that’ll be an open invitation to some disgusting cats,” explained Diamondhare.

“What if we get hurt though?” replied Lynxdaisy, worried. “It’s better to go tell Bravestar, even means “inviting” them in and fighting them head-on rather than get killed and then have them barge into the Clan without preparations!”

Rainingclaw just said, “Calm down, before we try anything, watch what’s happening and what they’re doing.”

The she-cats decided to agree with Rainingclaw and wait. After all, she was a reincarnation of Rainleaf, so she was more wiser.

The cats walked out of the bushes and were about to step onto the border until Diamondhare gasped. “Flameheart, Flowermoon, Desertkit and Jumpkit?”

Rainingclaw and Lynxdaisy looked confused when Diamondhare said those names. “Who?” they asked. “They’re from SunClan,” Diamondhare replied excitedly, quite relieved that more people from SunClan had survived. “Desertkit and Jumpkit were one moon old when it disbanded. Now I think they’re six moons old. But Flameheart and Flowermoon were pretty young as well, they were only twenty moons old when it disbanded. I was only eleven moons old but now I’m sixteen moons old.”

“Oh,” Rainingclaw said, quite relieved as well. Flameheart asked weakly, “We heard about BraveClan and how Marigoldstar joined this Clan, too. We want to join.” “Yes, please,” agreed Flowermoon. “We’re barely even making it. Desertkit and Jumpkit were depressed this entire experience, and we can’t do anything about it. They’re going to be apprentices, too, so they’ll help the Clan.”

Lynxdaisy told them in a welcoming but formal way, “Don’t worry, we’ll tell Bravestar. Please come back with us.” Rainingclaw and Diamondhare nodded in agreement. All their eyes lit up with happiness and a lot of relief.

They told Bravestar, and Marigoldstar, Thunderflames, Hazecrest, Sootmist and Warmtail all were happy that more of their old Clanmates were entering the Clan. There were now more SunClan cats than BraveClan cats seemingly.

Desertkit became Desertpaw and his mentor was Thunderflames. His brother, now Jumppaw's mentor was Diamondhare. Jumppaw and Desertpaw were really happy to touch their mentors' noses.

### ~~A moon and a half later~~

A moon and a half later, Greenmoon took Leafpaw to the Moonstone and he got his medicine cat name, Leaffeather. A few cats also happened to be expecting. Diamondhare was expecting Specklewhisker's kits, and Lynxdaisy was expecting Cloudflames' kits. Flowermoon and Fierylight were also expecting their second litters. Bravestar and Marigoldstar were really happy that they would be grandparents and there would be more future warriors. Bravestar would be a grandfather through Cloudflames, and Marigoldstar through Diamondhare. Greenmoon was happy to be a grandmother through both kits, too. So was Fallingspines.

Then they gave birth all around the same time, a couple more moons later. Diamondhare decided to name her kits after her fallen SunClan Clanmates, including her brother Spotface. She named the tom-kits Spotkit, Silverkit (after Silversun) and she-kits Fenikkit (after Fenikfight) and Pollenkit (after Pollenhaze). Specklewhisker approved of the names. Lynxdaisy and Cloudflames saw this and did the same with their BraveClan Clanmates. They named their tom-kit Orangekit (after Orangestripe), and she-kits Bluekit (after Bluetail), Heatherkit (after Heatherfern) and Daisykit (after Daisyfox). Cloudflames thought it would be good to name them after his uncle, mother, sister and kit's mother (and apparently cousin, too) in his former life, since they had died violently.

Flowermoon had she-kits Moonkit and Redkit, the latter named after her mother. Fierylight gave birth to she-kit Hopekit, as a hope that BraveClan would survive.

Everyone was happy that the Clan was increasing drastically, especially with Diamondhare and Lynxdaisy each having four kits in their first litters, especially Greenmoon who had eight new grandchildren to play with. The nursery was very full and Destinyflower's kits, Owlkit, Crescentkit and Minnowkit were very excited to have kit friends.

But they became apprentices in another half-moon. They were apprenticed to Rainingclaw, Emberheart and Cloudflames respectively. Destinyflower and Warmtail were very proud of them three and Destinyflower got to move out of the nursery.

Bravestar, Shadowcreek and Greenmoon all were proud of BraveClan and they remembered many moons ago when that terrible battle happened, and they three were the only refugees, with Fierylight and Destinyflower running away. Now the Clan seemed like it was way past them now.

Owlpaw and Desertpaw were teasing each other, as Flowermoon and Destinyflower had noticed. They joked about their affections for their mates when they were apprentices. Destinyflower talked about Warmtail and how he was the only one nice to her in DarkClan. Flowermoon understood and said that she had thought the same thing in SunClan when her mentor, Treelight (who was also Marigoldstar's father), kept treating her strictly during training and so did other warriors and apprentices except for Flameheart. But Flowermoon said that SunClan had a better reason than DarkClan, of course.

Leaffeather was also very happy for his family, and that the families were starting to join together. Then he wondered about the Legacy Prophecy and his daughter in his first life, Bluetail. Emberheart taught him and Greenmoon a ton about StarClan, and he knew that it would be necessary to learn. He wondered if he should mate, since he would be given leeway like Cinderpelt did. But he wondered about Bluetail and Bronzeroot and what they did. *Was it necessary to have Skysoar, a Legacy Prophecy cat be born?* he wondered. Bluetail went to StarClan, he knew, and so did Bronzeroot.

Then he remembered the dark civil battle. He thought it was darker than DarkClan coming because they were fighting against themselves over Reedstar and he was only a kit in his second life at the time, Autumnkit. *Did DarkClan do something to cause it somehow? Or the Dark Forest?* he wondered. He wondered how it could be true but he was really distressed by the civil battle even happening ever *since* it happened, even while being dead in StarClan as Autumnthorn. He was also the one of the first cats of the Legacy Prophecy to witness the dark era, the greencough problem. Not even Bravestar the first had. He was only a young warrior named Fallseed and his deputy and leader (who was also his mentor), Vinespeckle and Goldstar had died from the greencough. The latter knew something about the prophecy and so made an omen for Fallseed to be the leader. But then again, he wondered if the dark era was caused by the Dark Forest or DarkClan. But Darkstar was about twenty moons younger than Fallstar.

Leaffeather just shrugged it off and thought about something else, such as who would be the successor of him and probably Greenmoon's new apprentice, as there were a ton of new kits. He thought it would be very good to have four medicine cats at the same time such as when he was leader, Tremblesplash, Bluetail, Bronzeroot and Cinderpelt, especially with the danger of DarkClan looming.

When he went to bed in the medicine cat den that night, he saw he was floating in some mist. *StarClan,* he recalled, as he remembered floating above the stars while being dead as Fallstar and Autumnthorn. Then he looked around for a StarClan cat but he didn't have to look for long for one.

His daughter in his first life, medicine cat and mother to a prophecy cat walked over to him. Then she spoke in a starry voice, "Fallstar, Autumnthorn, Leaffeather. I am glad that you chose the path of a medicine cat, so that we can be closer to each other."

Leaffeather just nodded and replied, "I remember your enthusiasm for medicine, Bluetail. In this life I felt like I had to try it out."

Bluetail nodded in response and flicked her tail towards something. Leaffeather gazed in that direction and saw an image of Minnowkit and Hazykit, who were Orangestripe and Rainleaf's kits in her first litter, and his lost grandchildren. Only Sparksoar was left of that litter. Except they looked much different than before. They were grown up and living in a Twoleghouse together. Leaffeather didn't think he would find anything more surprising than that civil battle but he was lost for words with this one.

"Their names are Hailey and Kitty Spots now, respectively," Bluetail explained. "Even StarClan couldn't locate them originally as they were taken far away from our camp, but once we travelled farther, we finally found them somewhere close to a mountain."

Leaffeather was still wide-eyed. "So they are still alive?" he breathed in surprise. Bluetail nodded. "They probably got lucky as you might have been thinking. Swiftsand, Thymegrass and their daughter, Destinyflower, were also safe while living in their Twoleghouse, until they went back to BraveClan.

"But!" Bluetail continued in a drastic tone. "Like I said, they are really far away, far enough that StarClan couldn't reach them, and it would take countless moons to reach them finally. And since they live in a Twoleghouse it would be hard to track them. Ever since the DarkClan battle you moved even farther away from them."

Leaffeather said nothing but continued to watch that image in much shock and appall. He remembered Tremblesplash telling him about Twolegs near the camp when Minnowkit and Hazykit got taken away.

"But if you were wondering why I showed you this, then let me tell you a secret... they did have kits with other cats. Those kits... may have travelled far away from their Twoleghouse, and interacted with us."

Leaffeather looked back at Bluetail in surprise. "What? Really?" He wondered how that was possible.

Bluetail nodded. "I didn't tell any other cat except for you since you were the closest to them, and a leader in your first life, and medicine cat in this one. But remember Highjump?"

Leaffeather blinked. Then he remembered when he was Fallstar and remembered Minnowkit, Hazykit and Sparkkit all playing together in the nursery. Then he remembered that fire and the Twolegs. Then he remembered when Cinderpelt told him about Skysoar kissing Highjump. And as Autumnthorn he remembered what Highjump looked like when his aunt in that life, Heatherfern, got attacked by her. Minnowkit and Highjump looked similar indeed.

"Do you think... that?" Leaffeather asked Bluetail very indirectly. Then Bluetail just nodded. "If it is true, then it is way, way more dire than we ever thought, even for StarClan."

Leaffeather did not know what to say or do so he looked back at the image of Minnowkit and Hazykit grown up and hanging out with Twolegs. It made him nostalgic for something he couldn't place his finger on. *Maybe I just want Minnowkit and Hazykit to be back with us...* he thought. He wondered if they even remembered a flash of BraveClan, or what the cats there did, or even the name of the group they used to live in before being kitnapped.

"Oh, and I apologized to every StarClan member for starting this entire mess, including you, Fallstar," said Bluetail. Leaffeather remembered that, of course. But then she continued, "But then the StarClan members told me about DarkClan, and how they somehow inserted darkness into our Clan, especially through Highjump. The situation was very awful indeed, and it will continue to be, until DarkClan is utterly and absolutely destroyed. Only then may the dark era end."

Leaffeather was about to speak but then he woke up in a sweat next to Greenmoon. Greenmoon was already awake and noticed him jitter in his sleep. Leaffeather decided to tell his mentor about his dream and Bluetail, which made her very shocked. She said that they should tell the prophecy cats but no one else as they wouldn't understand very well about Highjump, Minnowkit or Bluetail. Leaffeather said that they should also tell Marigoldstar and the other light prophecy cats and Greenmoon agreed.

Leaffeather's father and siblings and Fierylight, Destinyflower, Warmtail and Marigoldstar were all very alarmed by the news of Minnowkit, her brother, Highjump and Bluetail, especially Rainingclaw since that used to be her kit. "Is she a mother or grandmother of a DarkClan cat?" she asked in disbelief. Leaffeather shrugged as he didn't know. Bravestar just told everyone to keep it in mind, and that they would discuss it once they got more details.

Later on, while Destinyflower and Warmtail were thinking of it while sitting next to each other, something strange happened. Destinyflower worried about DarkClan, but then she felt like she had a vision of something. She saw a vision of... DarkClan. But also BraveClan. But they were facing off against each other. She saw most of the cats as adults now. Then she noticed Warmtail in the battle. Then she saw his neck get slashed by a DarkClan cat. Then he fell. And died.

Destinyflower gasped and lurched away from Warmtail and blinked, then the vision was gone. Then she looked at him. Warmtail looked at her back and he was confused.

"Warm.. Warmtail, you're gonna die!" Destinyflower yelped. "I got a vision! I-I-I can't even-"

"What?" Warmtail replied in shock. "That is- what?"

Destinyflower nodded. "I know! I have no idea what happened!" Warmtail just stared at her in confusion. Then he just simply said, "Well, we have to think about it. It's... too drastic for us. But... we can try not to think about it for now. Maybe... it was just a vision that means something else."

Destinyflower just nodded and replied, "Yes, hopefully, that is true." Then she sat next to him again. Then she felt a sensation and saw that she felt more warm and confident than before. It was strange, but she wondered if StarClan gave her this sensation somehow. Almost like a huge beam of light hitting her heart, and DarkClan escaped her thoughts.

Then Warmtail also noticed and said, "What happened? You seem confident all of a sudden."

Destinyflower shrugged. "I don't know. Did you do something? I never felt this before." But then she remembered other times she felt confident while being with Warmtail. *Wait... is it our powers?* Destinyflower realized all of a sudden.

She told Warmtail about this and he was surprised but he agreed with her explanation, since it made sense, especially since it matched their prefixes, somewhat.

"I do suppose these powers come from the prophecy. And StarClan," said Destinyflower with inspiration. "After all, the destiny of others comes from within, so why would it not be my power?"

Warmtail nodded. "It does. And making others confident is a good power to have as a light prophecy cat, too. With a touch of a tail, cats shall be proud. It's good."

They told Bravestar, Marigoldstar and Fierylight, and they were fascinated about this. Fierylight also explained while on guard duty at nighttime, she was glowing and other cats noticed it too. And Marigoldstar explained that while touching her sad daughter's pelt (she was sad about Spotface and her cousins as she wished they would be here to see their namesakes), she became happy, suddenly. Marigoldstar had also explained to her that Spotface, Fenikfight and Firerain were certainly watching from StarClan and so were Silversun and Pollenhaze.

Bravestar concluded that the prophecy was discovered and soon, he told the entire Clan about the Light and Dark Prophecy and the Clan was convinced that they could defeat DarkClan. And Leaffeather thought he heard Bluetail from StarClan whisper something into his ears. *Soon, DarkClan will get its justice... and all of us StarClan cats will finally be avenged... from the horrors that the Dark Forest gave us while we were alive.*

## Part 14: Void from Below

DarkClan's menacing story, few moons before BraveClan and SunClan's timeline: Darkstar talked to the other three prophecy cats in secret about the dark prophecy.

"I need you to tell me what your powers are so we can slay BraveClan fully, with absolutely no chance of cats escaping," Darkstar had said. Oakbush and Longfang had already told him.

Auburnfur wasn't sure what her power was, though, so she didn't say anything. Darkstar understood and asked her to tell him once she figured it out.

Auburnfur, while walking in the forest to hunt for any secret places that cats would be, saw a cat watching her. Out of instinct, Auburnfur pounced on it, and it suddenly disappeared. She blinked and looked around to see if it dodged. But it seemed like it never existed. She blinked again and wondered if she was seeing ghosts or hallucinating, but she noticed the cat right behind her. It was just smiling.

Auburnfur turned around and hissed at it, but the cat smiled even more. The red-colored she-cat didn't recall cats acting like this, or even being able to teleport as both, especially the latter, were against nature.

Auburnfur finally decided to speak to it, but in a menacing tone. "Do you think DarkClan is weak? If so, you have never traversed in this forest before. But that probably means you're a so very weak kittypet."

Then the cat also spoke for the first time, and it was a she-cat. "I am afraid your claim is false. I used to be a Clan cat, a Clan leader! But somehow, darkness seeped into our Clan and I joined StarClan after greencough took me. This never happened before in BraveClan, except with what happened with Nightscar, Kestrelstar's daughter, after she happened to disappear. The sun warmed our Clan, light shone on BraveClan for a very long time.

"The only bad instance was Nightscar when she disappeared, leaving her kit, Puzzlepaw, later Puzzlegleam, my great-grandmother through my grandfather, Yellowstar. But we later saw Nightscar in StarClan and we were so relieved that she was with us again. But we were especially sad that she had to die early.

"But then... the next really bad instance was the severe greencough. Tremblesplash, our only medicine cat, had never been through this before and due to his inexperience, half our Clan died, including me, but I laid down apple seeds right before my death so that my former apprentice could be my successor."

Auburnfur listened to her monologue in surprise. She had no idea about the history of BraveClan since she didn't care anyway. But she had no idea who this cat could be. "If you are a StarClan leader then why are you here? To kill me?"

The cat shook her head. "I came to warn you about your destiny. It won't be a good one, I am afraid, with all the darkness you have given to your fellow SunClan cats."

Auburnfur snorted. "I left SunClan a time longer than SunClan's disbanding. They are no fellow cats to me."

"And that is why, your destiny will be dark," said the cat, still smiling.

"I don't have a reason to believe you," was all Auburnfur said, and started to walk away. Then she looked behind her and the StarClan cat was gone.

*Maybe I really am hallucinating,* she figured. She was a prophecy cat but she had nothing to do with *StarClan* of all afterlives, she was pretty sure.

She decided she needed to tell Darkstar, though. It could possibly be bad if the cat was real, and what she was saying was true.

Darkstar was alarmed as he had also witnessed Warmtail being "attacked" by StarClan. Only after he got the prophecy he knew StarClan was favoring Warmtail for a prophecy, but he thought that if a StarClan cat was stalking a dark prophecy cat, it was bad news.

So he just told Auburnfur to watch out if any bad things happen, and she nodded.

Later on, she was with her kits, Brownpaw, Lightkit and Airkit with her mate, Goldjaw. They were all playing with each other, since Brownpaw had downtime from her mentor, Dapplethorn. Lightkit leaped on Brownpaw but Brownpaw dodged and told Airkit to pounce on Lightkit. Of course, the game DarkClan kits and apprentices usually played was a early form of training, and Brownpaw was teaching her younger sisters what Dapplethorn taught her.

Goldjaw came back from fighting training with his new apprentice, Eaglepaw, to be with Auburnfur and watch their daughters.

"Should we have another litter soon? We will have more kits to watch and the Clan will have more warriors," Goldjaw suggested. Auburnfur shrugged. "I guess we can wait for Lightkit and Airkit to become apprentices. I am still a queen, and I want Lightkit and Airkit to be able to teach their younger siblings. I also want to do warrior duties. After all, I am a dark prophecy cat."

Goldjaw shrugged. "I guess that is fine. But they will be apprentices soon."

Auburnfur nodded. "Should we do something else? Why don't we go on patrol?"

Her mate agreed and they set out together after telling Darkstar. Auburnfur caught a mouse and ate it immediately. Goldjaw asked her if she saw any cats, and Auburnfur thought about that StarClan leader again. Then she shook her head no. After all, she wasn't sure if that BraveClan leader counted as a cat.

Auburnfur flicked her tail towards some more forest, saying, "We should go somewhere we haven't checked before."

Goldjaw also flicked his tail and joked, "To do that, we would need to travel into another forest. Our territory is really vast, as you know."

Auburnfur smirked at his joke. "I obviously know that. But some cats may have unknowingly ventured into our forest. We can fight those cats and kill them."

Her mate nodded and replied, "Yes, but if they're kittypets, they may not have any real loot, except for their bones."

"We should check for rogues, then," Auburnfur said, looking around the forest she knew very well.

They travelled much farther until they saw a lake. "Ooh, we can drink water from here. If only we had some moss to take it back to camp," Auburnfur said.

Goldjaw didn't reply as he already started gulping water from the lake. "Refreshing. This lake is an excellent source of water. I always come here when I feel hot, such as now, especially in green-leaf."

Auburnfur asked, "Maybe we can spend time here. No rush since the Clan has a ton of surplus anyway. And we have a ton of time to learn more fighting techniques." DarkClan was a Clan where you could become a stronger warrior without having to be asleep to be in the Dark Forest, which is why Auburnfur came here. Otherwise, she was training in the Dark Forest ever since she became Auburnpaw in SunClan.

Goldjaw agreed and insisted on the litter idea again but Auburnfur just said that they can talk about BraveClan, and Goldjaw didn't argue with her as he thought that they can get to talk about the dark prophecy.

"So we have to squish those BraveClan cats like we did last time, especially using our powers. We will slaughter every cat we think is there and check StarClan to see if they are there."

"We don't know exactly which cats are there, though," Goldjaw said, making a good point. "We only know about Destinyflower, your nephew, Warmtail, Fierylight and your sister, also the SunClan leader, Marigoldstar. But we don't know about those other cats."

Auburnfur shrugged. "Good point. But DarkClan owns this entire forest. After the battle we will search far and wide for any runaway BraveClan cats and slaughter them and erase every trace and use their bones for decoration and training!" She was already grinning at the thought of blood spilling out of Marigoldstar's neck, and her choking as she loses all her lives, as Auburnfur had tore her entire internal parts. Nothing would save Marigoldstar, not even dumb StarClan.

Then she heard choking which didn't come from her thoughts. It sounded real. Then she looked down and saw real blood. Alarmed, she looked at Goldjaw. Blood was oozing out of every part of his body, especially his ears.

*"Aghah!"* she yelped, lurching away from his body immediately and it stopped. *"What happened?!"*

Goldjaw was still coughing out blood and looked like he was about to fall over until Auburnfur held him and he was still coughing.

Auburnfur had immediately flushed those bloody thoughts out of her brain and apologized to Goldjaw over and over again.

Goldjaw shook his head and said with an idea, "It is your power, Auburnfur, I am pretty sure. It can't do that by itself, and StarClan wouldn't do that either."

Auburnfur flushed. "I didn't do it on purpose, I was just thinking of killing Marigold-"

"No, no, that isn't what I meant," Goldjaw replied reassuringly, recovering from the blood loss temporarily. "I meant that you should tell Darkstar. This is a power that can kill Marigoldstar in real life. It's not your fault that you thought of it, since you didn't even know."

Auburnfur blinked for a moment. Then she nodded. But she was really worried about what would happen if she was cuddling her kits. Goldjaw could survive and emotionally handle some blood loss with ease. But young kits and apprentices... that made her nauseous. She didn't normally think of killing cats while hanging out with Clanmates, especially her mate and her kits, but as the prophecy was looming closer to BraveClan and the inevitable battle... she shuddered.

Goldjaw got up and told her that he needed to wash up in the lake, and then he would follow her, but Auburnfur told him that she needed to show Darkstar the proof, and he agreed. Auburnfur wondered if he liked being the mate of a leader's sister and prophecy cat, even if what happened to him was negative.

When coming back, all of the apprentices and kits were shocked at the blood, especially Brownpaw, Airkit and Lightkit, and even warriors such as Highjump, Longfang and Darkstar at the fact that he had blood on him. The medicine cats took one look and immediately stopped treating other cats to tend to him. DarkClan cats usually got their claws dirty, but not their entire body. If they did, it usually meant that *they* were the ones severely injured, not the cat they were fighting.

But Auburnfur and Goldjaw ignored them and went directly to Darkstar and explained what happened. The entire Clan was surprised, but this made Darkstar convinced about one thing. *BraveClan will never escape our grip with this power,* he thought sadistically and mirthfully.

He still wondered about his power, and what it would be. He looked at his daughter, Oakbush, who hated plants because her both her mentor and mate got killed from eating yew, which was a plant. And a rotting tree also fell on one of her friends. She wasn't too sad about her mentor, but when her mate and friend died, that done it for her.

Then he looked at Longfang, who was an exceptional warrior, which Darkstar thought was because his mentor was Highjump, and also because he had good warrior genes. After all, his father was Lynxmoor, Darkstar's son.

Then he looked at Auburnfur, who wasn't Darkstar's kin by blood, but still counted. She was a good mother and mate, but definitely a good warrior, too, even not being in her birth Clan. He knew why she was chosen for the prophecy, because of her loyalty and formidability. Not to mention her power.

He wondered about Highjump and why she wasn't chosen even though she was a good warrior. *Maybe she was going to be chosen for something else,* he thought. *Like deputy.* Though deputy didn't have too much of a position in the afterlife. Being a prophecy cat would be much better.

### ~~Couple of moons later~~

A couple of moons passed and Frozenbreeze asked Darkstar if he could go on patrol with Airpaw. Darkstar agreed, of course, and asked him and Airpaw to try and search for BraveClan. Frozenbreeze accepted, of course.

Auburnfur watched Frozenbreeze and her daughter leave the Clan and she wished she could, too. But she was expecting again. She hoped the power didn't work on herself. *But we will certainly be bigger and better than ever,* she knew.

Frozenbreeze told his apprentice, Airpaw to hunt for any scent of cats, and she nodded. They travelled for some time until they caught a scent of something.

But then it leaped onto Airpaw. It wasn't a cat. It was a dog. It bit Airpaw's hind leg and she yelped in pain. She had no knowledge of fighting dogs, and she had never even known the existence of one. Frozenbreeze was wide-eyed and tried to blind the dog by slashing its forehead.

But then it pounced onto Frozenbreeze. Airpaw already started limping away, leaving Frozenbreeze to fend it off himself. *Understandable, since she doesn't know how to fight one,* he figured, much to his dismay. Then the dog bit Frozenbreeze's front leg and Frozenbreeze bit his teeth to prevent him from yowling in extreme pain.

"Help!" he screamed, but he thought it may be too late. He tried to slash the stomach of the dog but it was too far away, so he scratched its chest instead. Then suddenly he heard a whine. It came from the dog as it went off of him and started to limp away, but another cat slashed its neck and it fell over and died. It was Longfang. Frozenbreeze took in a big breath of air in relief and was about to thank Longfang for saving him until Longfang growled, "Your apprentice was about to fall down, you bird-brain!"

Frozenbreeze blinked and looked at his leg, then back at Longfang. "But I got attacked by that *dog!* I did save *Airpaw,* otherwise she would have died!"

Longfang just nodded slowly. "I know that, obviously. I was watching Airpaw running away and she told me very simply that you were hurt and you saved her. But she almost fell into a daze."

Frozenbreeze stared at him. "But I couldn't do anything."

Longfang sighed. "You do realize your apprentice is the daughter of a dark prophecy cat like me? Not to mention one with a power that can kill cats easily, like *me, again."*

Frozenbreeze was about to protest until Longfang continued brashly, "And even if you *did* save her, DarkClan isn't the type to listen to reason. You make a mistake, you pay. Auburnfur will chew you out whatever you do since you were with her."

Frozenbreeze was intimidated by Longfang's words, and he had no idea why he was saying this. "So are you going to tell them or *what?"*

"If not me, then Airpaw will. She is the apprentice brags about her training the most, even more than me, so she will certainly tell about that dog," Longfang explained solemnly. "I have nothing personal with you. She isn't badly injured, but unconscious from that dog bite. But it may get infected soon."

Frozenbreeze blinked. "Where is she, then? Didn't you help her?"

"Right over there," Longfang said, gesturing over to an unconscious Airpaw. Her leg was bleeding.

*"Oh no!"* Frozenbreeze yelped in alarm. "Who will *treat* her? We need to bring her back!" He was about to run towards her but he fell down due to his injured leg.

Longfang just shook his head. "I will send for a medicine cat and a warrior."

*"What if another dog comes?!"* Frozenbreeze shrieked in worry.

Longfang just growled, "Then defend *Airpaw!* You will certainly be rewarded in the Dark Forest if you die."

Frozenbreeze was surprised at his answer. "So her position is stronger than mine, apparently?" he challenged him a bit angrily.

Longfang shrugged. "She is the daughter of Auburnfur. What about you?"

"I am also a warrior!" Frozenbreeze growled. "You know what, you are wasting time, *go!"*

"You were the one who was challenging *me,* fox-dung!" Longfang growled back and started running back to camp.

Frozenbreeze said nothing in response but wondered why Airpaw was more important than him. He was a warrior, and she only an apprentice. Then he silently hoped that Darkstar or Auburnfur or Goldjaw wouldn't kill him because that would be the waste of a loyal warrior.

Then he limped towards Airpaw and whispered into her ear, "Don't fall for the trap of DarkClan or the power," but he wasn't sure if she heard those words.

When Lynxmoor and Longfang came to them, the former treated them immediately, Airpaw first, and the latter was helping stabilize them. Then Airpaw woke up and looked confused, but Longfang told her what happened and she replied that she already knew about the dog.

When they got carried back to camp, Brownpaw, Lightpaw, Auburnfur, Goldjaw and Darkstar were all surprised. Auburnfur was still in the nursery but the other four went up to Frozenbreeze, Longfang and Airpaw and asked what happened. Goldjaw glared at Frozenbreeze, and it made him uncomfortable.

Airpaw told them about the dog and how it secretly jumped out from a bush and bit her leg. She said that her mentor lured the dog away from her, making him relieved that she said the truth.

But Brownpaw yowled at her sister's mentor, "Why didn't you kill it like Longfang did! He is so strong unlike you! Why wasn't Airpaw *his* apprentice?!" Then she sobbed. Airpaw just said, "But he did help me, though. And he isn't a prophecy cat."

Brownpaw was confused but Longfang just nodded in agreement. "She is right, he isn't as powerful as me, as you must know."

Frozenbreeze knew that Airpaw meant no harm but he wasn't sure about Longfang. Then Auburnfur rushed into the medicine cat's den in a frantic way. Oakbush, Purpleslash, Dapplethorn and Highjump also entered the den to see what was happening.

*"Airpaw! Airpaw!"* she screeched when she saw her daughter's bit leg. Then her eyes shot towards Frozenbreeze like a gun pointing to a cat would.

The mentor of Airpaw said nothing else and just sighed. Airpaw stared at her mother as she was confused why everyone was freaking out. Then she told the same thing she said to everyone else to Auburnfur, and her mother was confused.

Darkstar was listening to this and figured that since Frozenbreeze brought Airpaw with him, but she wasn't that injured, he didn't have to punish him that much. So he said, "Frozenbreeze, your leg being injured is punishment enough. But I order the medicine cats to tend to Airpaw first as she is an apprentice and the daughter of a prophecy cat."

Frozenbreeze just nodded but he secretly wished that it was equal. The other cats agreed with this punishment and they left.

Auburnfur was allowed to stay with her daughter in the medicine cat's den for some time. She was shooting daggers at Frozenbreeze every once in a while and he wondered why they couldn't just thank him for even saving Airpaw from getting killed. Longfang didn't even see them originally so he may have not saved Airpaw in time. Airpaw was still acting normal, though, as if she was never injured.

Finally, after some time, Auburnfur left. It was nighttime and everyone was sleeping except for him and Airpaw. Airpaw was looking at the ceiling of medicine cat's den, and he decided to ask her, "Are you okay?"

"Yup, this is nothing," Airpaw replied casually. "I heard that once, the entire chest of a cat's body got bit off by that creature. This is nothing."

Frozenbreeze thought that was good news. Then he decided to thank Airpaw for defending him.

Airpaw shook her head. "Why wouldn't I? It is the truth after all. The cats in the Clan usually get angsty if something bad happens like this since they think they are the Dark Forest cats of this world and shouldn't be injured, like Brownpaw and Auburnfur. But I know better."

Her mentor was pleasantly surprised by her wisdom, and wondered if he taught her something good.

"I also heard what you said, Frozenbreeze," said Airpaw. "'Don't fall for the trap of DarkClan or the power,' and I think... I may understand what you mean."

Frozenbreeze was even more surprised but in a good way. He replied, "That is good. When DarkClan tries to rise over other cats, don't follow as they could rise up to their doom." Airpaw just nodded and told him, "Good night," then fell asleep.

Frozenbreeze murmured the same back to her and fell asleep as well. He wondered if Fierylight, Destinyflower and Warmtail also felt trapped which is why they ran away.

Auburnfur was shocked that this had happened. *Did that StarClan leader say the truth? That her destiny would be dark?* she thought frantically. She was shocked that it would be Airpaw of all cats that had to be hit but she couldn't believe why. She shook her head and hoped nothing like this would happen.

When she fell asleep, however, she found herself in a dark forest. She remembered this place when she first trained. Then she saw her mentor, Bloodkiller, who wasn't actually a Clan cat, but still powerful and fearsome like her and Darkstar.

"Welcome back to the Dark Forest, Auburnfur," the red tom greeted her. "I know you are wondering about Goldstar's dastardly words."

Auburnfur was puzzled. She wondered if this was why she was here, but she remembered the StarClan leader. *Is her name Goldstar?* she wondered.

Bloodkiller seemed to read her mind and said, "That leader you saw is a BraveClan leader during the time of their greencough era. She succumbed to it, making her apprentice and one of the prophecy cats the leader, Fallstar. Alas, she was too weak to fight it off and so was the deputy, even with such a plentiful supply of herbs, especially catmint. But let me tell you something, who I thought I could only tell my former apprentice..."

Auburnfur was surprised at this. *So Goldstar chose Fallstar as the leader, before she died...* She also wondered what was so secret that Bloodkiller only trusted her.

He continued, "My mate, Starlight, had a litter of three kits, but they turned out to be weak and she was also weak from the pregnancy and birth, so I abandoned them, not wishing for such kits. But then they grew up. Their mother died to the same cause as Goldstar. Then they joined that very same Clan, BraveClan."

Auburnfur was very shocked, indeed. *Bloodkiller's kits joined BraveClan?!* she internally screamed. She was lost for words as she didn't know how it was even real.

"Ah... there was only one tom in the litter. He mated with one of Bravestar's descendants, and he was the father of a leader. But when the greencough hit, he died, too. The other two were she-cats who mated with other cats... most of their kits died, too."

Auburnfur blinked. "Who were they?"

Bloodkiller just sighed. "I do not care about them since I never knew them, they never knew me. I only figured out when I went to this place, the Dark Forest. But one of the she-cats also mated with another one of Bravestar's descendants... one of their kits was the only medicine cat at the time. And the other kit had more kits of her own. And the other she-cat of Starlight's litter was the mother of a leader, too."

Auburnfur just blinked as she didn't know anything about BraveClan. "So... what do I do about this? Do I tell Darkstar?"

Bloodkiller smiled. "The darkness comes from the way that I have treated them. After watching from the Dark Forest to see where my kits have gone, I decided to poison the catmint... and there... started the decline and demise of BraveClan. I trained Darkstar. I wanted it to be destroyed, especially by DarkClan." But then he grimaced. "But there were three descendants left. No, five. Fierylight and Destinyflower, too. Those five descendants were the descendants of the Legacy Prophecy cats... and my kits. When I watched them grow substantially again, I was disgusted. I could tell you the location where they are, but StarClan is blocking me somehow, especially the cats who died from my deeds done to BraveClan... Goldstar and Reedstar especially. You can only find out by travelling a day to them, as the forest that it stretches across is wider than both afterlives' resting places."

Auburnfur blinked a few times to see if he said was true. "Don't worry, now that I know BraveClan is more special than we thought, we will use our acquired powers to destroy them all!"

Bloodkiller was delighted to hear this. "Very well, old apprentice. I knew I can count on you, which is why I chose you as part of this prophecy, even though you weren't kin to Darkstar."

Auburnfur nodded and was about to reply until she noticed the Dark Forest and Bloodkiller bending on themselves and she fell into a mist. She saw something strange. She saw her brother, Silversun, in front of her, smiling like Goldstar did. Then he started to speak.

"I will never forgive you in my wildest dreams. Only then when I died I learned about what you did, and I was furious, especially with what you did with my children."

Auburnfur never imagined that she'd see Silversun speaking to her from StarClan, but it was happening now and she was irritated. "So?"

"So I was one of the cats who made this prophecy to fight DarkClan off, specifically you, as you brought demise to SunClan. I chose my son and sister as two of them, and Swiftsand, Destinyflower's mother, chose Fierylight and Destinyflower as the other two. But the Dark Forest argued that it wasn't fair and they chose their own cats."

Auburnfur just shrugged. She remembered spilling secrets about SunClan to Bloodkiller and Bloodkiller told DarkClan those secrets. She was so annoyed by the warrior code which is why she started training with him.

"Light always wins," said Silversun, and he slowly started to disappear. "And oh, I am afraid your destiny will go downhill... into a ditch... you will never be forgiven... by everyone."

Auburnfur was confused by what he meant, but she was worried that he meant she or her kits or DarkClan would die. *Hopefully it doesn't... and light never wins all the time,* she hoped. Then she suddenly felt like she was falling again and saw she fell onto a huge puddle of blood. She was really perplexed at this point so she decided to see whose blood it was.

But then she stopped at a carcass. Then she froze when she saw who it was. Then she screamed in horror. *"NO!"*

Then she saw more carcasses oozing out blood. None of them were enemy cats. They were her family, DarkClan. Her kits, mate, and all the prophecy cats were dead. Then she saw the tiny carcass she saw originally and it looked like her unborn kit.

*"NO! NO! I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS DESTINY!"* she yowled in a ton of horror and fright.

Then someone tapped her shoulders. She turned around and saw Goldstar and Silversun smiling at her in that same eerie way they did while speaking.

She let out a huge yowl of terror and fright as they both pounced on her.

Then she woke up in a sweat and other queens and kits stared at her. Then she saw blood coming out of her kitting area.

"Your kits will die," she thought she heard those two smiling cats say, as she found it impossible to ever recover from the pain.

## Part 15: Plentiful Clan and Lost Warrior

A few moons after Part 13: Destinyflower and Rainingclaw talked to each other in the nursery as they were both expecting Warmtail and Thunderflames' kits respectively. They looked at Tawnypaw and Burntpaw who were almost warriors. They looked at the kits who didn't have to be nursed anymore and were all playing.

Tawnypaw and Owlpaw got physical training with their mentors' mates. Tawnypaw got to be with Yarrowpaw. Sunpaw and Sootmist also joined in, and Tawnypaw looked interested in the former. Owlpaw got to be with Desertpaw and they were really happy. The mothers knew why, of course.

And most of all, Destinyflower and Rainingclaw were both prophecy cats, who had a spiritual purpose in the history of BraveClan, and StarClan, too.

Shadowcreek, Bravestar and Marigoldstar were happy that they were becoming grandparents again, since the legacy of BraveClan and the Legacy Prophecy cats could live on.

"Don't you think it is great that BraveClan grew so much?" Destinyflower asked the queens.

"Yeah, I never thought that there would be so many cats!" Diamondhare replied with glee. "The nursery used to mostly be empty when we were kits in SunClan."

"What did it look like?" her son, Silverkit, asked enthusiastically. Fenikkit, Orangekit, Hopekit, Redkit and Bluekit nodded eagerly. The other five kits were playing with each other outside of the nursery. Diamondhare explained how she and Thunderflames usually played with the apprentices because there were almost no kits.

"I usually play with Owlpaw and Minnowpaw," exclaimed Bluekit. Diamondhare raised an eyebrow with humor. "Oh really? Are your kit friends too boring for you?"

"No!" squealed Bluekit. "I just like apprentices."

"Me too!" agreed Hopekit. Lynxdaisy said, "You will be apprentices in three and a half more moons, then you can get to play with Owlpaw and Minnowpaw all as apprentices!" Fierylight nodded.

Then Orangekit asked Rainingclaw, "What about the BraveClan nursery?"

"Well, to begin with," she started. "I remember a lot of things. Do you want me to tell you what happened before?"

The other queens shot her a worried look, as it was pretty dark, indeed.

"When I was born, the Clan was really empty. Only Lynxdaisy, her brother and me and my siblings were the only kits there. That may seem plentiful, but there were only three warriors! Bravestar the leader, Shadowcreek, your grandmother, Orangekit and Bluekit, and Greenmoon, who is all of your grandmother, except for Hopekit and Redkit. You were also named after cats that lived in the past, except for Hopekit and Moonkit, too." Rainingclaw told the names of whom they and their siblings were named after. The kits asked who they were and Rainingclaw explained a little bit about them, along with Diamondhare and FLowermoon as they only knew about the SunClan cats.

Destinyflower thought it was interesting that the queens had so many stories and information to tell kits and apprentices like elders, of which there were none, anyway.

Diamondhare also thought this and explained how it was really strange not to have elders, since elders usually told stories. Silverkit asked her and his mother what an elder was, and Lynxdaisy said she didn't get to experience having elders before, so Diamondhare explained to her.

"In SunClan, there were so many elders!" Diamondhare explained. "We would usually hang out in the elders den along with the apprentices since there were almost no kits anyway, and listen to elders' stories all day. They even told me the legend of Sunstar, founder of SunClan."

"Do elders look old?" Redkit asked. "I wonder what an old cat looks like."

"The oldest cats are Fierylight, Greenmoon and Marigoldstar, I am pretty sure," said Lynxdaisy. "Then Bravestar and Shadowcreek, then Flameheart and Flowermoon and Hazecrest and Sootmist, and Destinyflower and Warmtail. But Rainingclaw and her siblings and me and Specklewhisker are the next oldest."

"Old cats have wrinkles," Fierylight added. "I am not old yet, of course, because I don't have wrinkles. But that is also why there're no elders."

The kits were really interested. "Is Sunstar old?" quipped Fenikkit.

"Um, Sunstar died a long time ago, but yes, he was old when he died, and he died peacefully in his sleep," Diamondhare answered cautiously. "Like Bravestar the first," Lynxdaisy added. "Our leader, Bravestar, was named after the founder of BraveClan."

The kits were surprised but they started barrelling more questions at their mothers and other queens.

Destinyflower whispered to Rainingclaw and Fierylight if they should tell the kits about the prophecies, and Fierylight said that they can tell that another time.

"Were there any elders when BraveClan was founded?" Silverkit asked thoughtfully.

"Nope, there were only young cats. But later on, those young cats turned into elders," replied Rainingclaw. "Then, later on, BraveClan shrank for some bad reasons, and there were only five cats left, Bravestar, Shadowcreek, Greenmoon, Destinyflower, and Fierylight."

"Really? Then how are there more cats?" Hopekit asked, a bit confused.

"Most other cats came from SunClan, and they merged with BraveClan to make both Clans bigger," Destinyflower explained very simply. "Also, the SunClan cats had kits with BraveClan cats. So your mothers and fathers are the second generation, and you are the third, and you are the future of the Clan!"

The kits understood and they looked happy to be the future of the Clan. "What bad reasons did it shrink for?" Silverkit asked curiously.

"We will tell you once you grow up since it is too bad," Fierylight said quickly, and the other queens nodded. The kits looked slightly disappointed but they continued asking questions.

Bluekit asked, "Is BraveClan big again?" Orangekit told his sister, "There are a lot of cats, so maybe?"

Lynxdaisy and Destinyflower nodded. The former explained, "Though not as big as original BraveClan. There were dozens of cats since they had almost no hardships. We are still big enough as a normal Clan as we have grown again with the addition of kits and outsiders, especially you and your parents!"

The kits were intrigued. "Did we make the Clan big?" Fenikkit asked with hope that they did. The queens nodded joyfully.

"I am one of those outsiders and I brought my mate and Desertkit and Jumpkit, now Desertpaw and Jumppaw, to the Clan," Flowermoon said. "Together, you kits and we outsiders all made the Clan big again! Our Clans, BraveClan and SunClan have a mutual relationship now as we have fully merged. The only thing is that Marigoldstar is also here, and she is the leader of SunClan. And BraveClan's deputy is Shadowcreek currently, which makes sense since she was one of the first cats in neo-BraveClan."

"Really?" Redkit exclaimed gleefully. The queens nodded. Lynxdaisy also explained, "Oh, and my mother, Greenmoon, didn't use to be a medicine cat. Before the shrinking, she was a normal warrior, but after the shrinking, she became a medicine cat because she learned some things from Bluetail, whom Bluekit was named after, and the other medicine cat, Cinderpelt. Also, if she didn't become a medicine cat, BraveClan wouldn't have one. But since she wasn't a medicine cat before, she was allowed to have me and my brother, since she was only a warrior."

"Really? How come?" Bluekit asked her mother in confusion. Fierylight answered, "Medicine cats aren't allowed to mate as they may favor their mate and kits over other Clan cats. Greenmoon is an exception since she mated with Fallingspines while being a warrior. Bluetail did break this rule, though not on purpose. She had three kits, all of whom are our ancestors, and she told her brother, Moleclaw, who pretended these were lost kits." Fierylight explained about what Fallstar, Bluetail and Moleclaw's father, did and how he might have figured out.

The kits all listened to the story in great wonder and intrigue.

Outside the nursery, Bravestar was listening in and watching the kits and apprentices play a game, which oddly reminded him of the real thing. Moonkit tumbled over Spotkit and Pollenkit pounced onto Heatherkit and Daisykit pretended to claw Moonkit and Owlpaw. Desertpaw pretended to claw Daisykit but Daisykit dodged and pounced onto Spotkit, who pounced on Owlpaw. Tawnypaw and Sunpaw were keeping track of fake injuries that the cats may have gotten, so they were the referees.

Bravestar wished he had such a kithood with this many young cats as there were very few, only Greenkit and Shadowkit. In his first life, his life was pretty much with his mother as a loner. Then later on when he was an adult, he moved on and lived his life by himself until he started the Clan, BraveClan.

Shadowcreek was also watching the kits play. She commented to her mate, "How far we've come. From three cats to thirty, I am pretty sure."

Bravestar nodded in agreement and said, "It's a good era in BraveClan and SunClan's history, and it is good, too, since we can prepare for a bad instance." But then he sighed. "Though I don't know how long the good era will last, and when the bad instance will cut off this good era."

Shadowcreek just said, "Well, we have strong warriors. Hopefully, just hopefully, DarkClan won't find us. I hope we will kill them off once all our kits become warriors and have kits of their own. That DarkClan force will be nothing against BraveClan, then. And if a threat does happen, then we can easily kill that threat."

Bravestar just nodded and replied, "I hope you are right, Shadowcreek. I put my trust in you and Greenmoon ever since we restarted BraveClan, which is also why I appointed Greenmoon as the medicine cat and you as the deputy."

Shadowcreek just nodded and went closer to Bravestar. "And since we have prophecy cats, including you, from both prophecies, we will be stronger against those threats. Together... we will thrive and survive, and conquer those evil threats."

Bravestar silently agreed and the couple, now much older and wiser than before, continued watching the young cats, few of which were their grandchildren, play Battle as they all were squealing with energy.

### ~~DarkClan, moon after now~~

He looked at Airpaw training with Longfang and he was annoyed that Brownfur and Auburnfur demanded such a change, which was also much to Airpaw's dismay as she liked Frozenbreeze.

But he figured that after Auburnfur lost her kits, she didn't want to lose any more, especially Airpaw. Airpaw told her mother and older sister that she didn't need to change her mentor, but Brownfur insisted that Longfang was a prophecy cat so being mentored to him was a blessing, especially since he was strong. Longfang and Darkstar also agreed that Airpaw needed better training, and did the mentor ceremony for her again. Airpaw was forced to touch Longfang's nose with hers.

Now, without an apprentice, Frozenbreeze wondered what he could do. Airpaw occasionally spoke to him and told him that it was neither of their fault that the dog attacked them, and that he shouldn't have been punished, and he always agreed with her on that.

He decided to go hunting. Hunting was rarely needed as they could just steal other cats' prey, but it was leaf-fall, a season which shortly led to the chilling one, leaf-bare. It was even feared by DarkClan, occasionally. Frozenbreeze knew that DarkClan shouldn't entirely depend on other cats hunting for it, but have some warriors hunt, too.

He started wandering by himself, remembering the dog. *At least Airpaw could tell Longfang what happened when it happened, but what about now?* he thought worriedly. He hoped nothing bad would happen.

He also remembered the time they fought BraveClan orginally and was victorious in destroying the Clan, but three cats were left. He was only an apprentice, Frozenpaw, so he couldn't necessarily go and fight them. *But that also means that BraveClan will never recognize me if I am by myself,* he knew.

Frozenbreeze noticed Lightpaw go with her mentor, Talonwing, who recently became a warrior when he was given Lightpaw as an apprentice. When walking more, he spotted Puddlestem with his apprentice, Nettlepaw. Then he walked more and saw Stormwood with a medicine cat, Smokyleap, and the three medicine cat apprentices, Clawpaw, Flamepaw and Icypaw, who were successors to Smokyleap, but apprentices of Smoothdash, the oldest medicine cat.

Frozenbreeze remembered the previous medicine cat as an apprentice, Blackface, who was really nice to him and treated him well when other cats never did. He also discovered that Blackface was his father while he was dying, and that a kittypet was his mother. He always wondered who it was, though.

He shook those thoughts away as they weren't important and was relieved that three patrols of cats were here to save him, the last being a bigger one.

Frozenbreeze later travelled until he heard a noise. He froze as he wished that it wasn't a dog, but it was just a rabbit. Frozenbreeze started chasing it for some time until he crashed into a tree again, though not as hard as when he was chasing Destinyflower and Warmtail.

This incident oddly reminded him of when that happened. The two runaway cats kept zig-zagging and it was hard for him to catch up and he eventually lost focus and crashed into a tree and nearly broke his nose.

He got up and knew he lost that rabbit. Then he looked around to see if there was a familiar way to go back to DarkClan, but somehow, it looked completely foreign. He looked at the tree and tried to see which direction he smashed into it from, but he was still slightly dizzy. Then he realized he lost his way back to DarkClan. Frantically, he picked a random direction and started to run.

He ran for some time until he felt tired. Then he saw he was completely lost, and nowhere to be seen. He hoped for a sign of something to lead him back, but there was nothing.

Frozenbreeze sat down, trying to contemplate his dire situation. He was glad he knew something how to hunt and fight, but it wouldn't do good against larger enemies, such as that dog. Then he wondered what to do. He knew that DarkClan wouldn't try to search for one cat, as that would waste more cats who could do better stuff, and most cats didn't care about him anyway.

*Except for Airpaw,* he remembered, but even while being the daughter of a prophecy cat, she wasn't in a position that she could send for a patrol. Only leaders and deputies could do that. And Darkstar and Highjump were less fond of him anyway.

He decided he had to hunt again. He found a mouse and ate it, then he felt stronger. Then he started travelling in the direction he was travelling before and travelled for half a day. He hunted again and later on, found an open space. He noticed a camp.

*BraveClan camp?* he wondered for a moment, since he didn't go to the battle. Then he saw a few rocks in the center of this camp, arranged in an X, which was a sign that DarkClan had attacked.

He wondered what to do next, but then he thought about finding BraveClan, but he slept in one of the abandoned dens.

He woke up the next day and hunted, and continued to travel in the same direction he did before, and then at sunhigh he noticed a sound. He immediately braced himself for an attack until he saw two dark-red-pelted cats talking to each other, but one had bigger ears.

"So, I think I would take her as a mate," said the one with bigger ears. It sounded like a tom.

"Really? Well, I did notice you two talking too much," teased the other one. It sounded like a she-cat.

"I am a warrior, though, and she still an apprentice," replied the tom.

"Not for long. She and her brother and us are only separated by half a moon, so it'll be soon."

Frozenbreeze wondered who these two cats were but he guessed that they were littermates, since they looked the same age.

"Yep, but I doubt we can be mates so soon," said the tom to his sister.

"Yeah, but more kits is good for the Clan."

"You jumped to kits? That is interesting... but enough about me! I thought I saw you stare at Crescentpaw."

*Crescentpaw?* Frozenbreeze wondered. He knew these must be Clan cats but he never heard the name of Crescentpaw before.

"What?" retorted the she-cat. "I did not! I was just watching the younger cats play."

"Your eyes were following him, Burntfur, I could notice."

"Your observations are wrong, then, Tawnyclaw. If anyone, I would choose Bravestar."

"But he already has a mate! And oddly enough, he's our cousin, too. Much older, though."

"I know. It means I'm not interested in anyone, so Bravestar would be the best option."

"That is disappointing. I thought I would have some gossip to tell Sunpaw."

"You can tell your 'mate' whatever you want, Tawnyclaw, but don't tell *me* what you're doing with each other.'

Frozenbreeze learned a few things from their weird conversation, but he was getting disinterested since he was never really interested in gossip, anyway. But Bravestar reminded him of BraveClan, for some reason.

"Tell me when you get a new mate, Burntfur," said Tawnyclaw teasingly.

"Whatever. Anyway, I wanted to talk about something. Do you think we were one of the first cats?" asked Burntfur.

Tawnyclaw didn't seem fazed about the change of subject, but Frozenbreeze thought he may learn something. "Hmm, I think Specklewhisker and Lynxdaisy and those four prophecy cats were. But we are the kits of Fierylight, a light prophecy cat, and I guess we're the third litter of the Clan."

Frozenbreeze stopped. *Fierylight?* he thought, very shocked. He remembered who Fierylight was. A cat who ran from DarkClan, to BraveClan. Later on, she turned out to be a light prophecy cat as per the dark prophecy cats' dreams. *But this means... they're BraveClan cats!* he realized.

"Yep, I guess so, but we were slightly premature, you know, by half a moon, otherwise Sunpaw and Yarrowpaw would have been older than us," replied Burntfur.

"Yes, I guess so, too. But it is really interesting that we were one of the first cats, and we made the Clan grow. I also remember the shortage of mentors, which is why I got Destinyflower as a mentor regardless of her being a queen."

*Destinyflower?!* Frozenbreeze thought again. He figured if Tawnyclaw was the apprentice of a light prophecy cat and he and his sister were the kits of another light prophecy cat, they had to be BraveClan. But he figured they were only fourteen moons old, as Sunpaw and Yarrowpaw were only half a moon younger but still apprentices.

"Yes, I remember, too. And I got Fallingspines, which is also cool, because he's the father of Specklewhisker and Lynxdaisy," said Burntfur.

"But we can also get to be mentors, too! Since more warriors means more potential mentors."

"Yeah, that is true. But I want to be a good warrior first."

"Me too, but I would like Silverkit, since he is very bubbly like me and Sunpaw. But he's also the grandson of Marigoldstar, another light prophecy cat."

Frozenbreeze realized he was learning more and more information from their innocent conversation. *Marigoldstar was the leader of SunClan, but somehow, her grandson is in the Clan?* Auburnfur also told him that she had two sons and a daughter, of which the older son died, so he guessed that one of her remaining kits joined the Clan somehow. He wondered if he should tell Darkstar, if he could go back anyway.

"Speaking of which, do you remember when Shadowcreek and Lynxdaisy told us about the weird incident where Fierylight was possessed, before we were born?" Burntfur asked her brother, grimacing a little.

"Yeah, I think she was possessed by the Dark Forest, like how the other cats were during that civil battle they told us about," Tawnyclaw replied seriously. "I guess StarClan tried to save her from being possessed by giving her that prophecy and healing everyone. Leaffeather *did* tell us about that dark vision he got from Bluetail, Bluekit's namesake and Greenmoon's mentor, too."

"Not actual mentor, though, but she watched some stuff. Although Emberheart is also teaching her and Leaffeather, as he did in his previous life."

Frozenbreeze remembered that BraveClan had a civil battle, as Darkstar told everyone in DarkClan, and so he wanted to take it down while they were still weak, but they came a little too late. When the three cats ran away. But he had no idea about that incident where Fierylight was possessed. And he was also confused about previous life. How can this cat, Emberheart, have a previous life? It was strange for him, since that couldn't even be done by StarClan cats. Normal ones, anyway.

But then a noise interrupted his thoughts. Tawnyclaw and Burntfur heard it, too. Their ears perked up and they stopped talking, but then, a huge brown thing jumped out of the bushes. Its mouth was open wide.

The two dark-red-pelted new warrior littermates from BraveClan looked very frightened all of a sudden, which reminded Frozenbreeze of Airpaw. *They probably never saw a dog before like Airpaw!* the white tom realized in an instant and knew that he couldn't keep quiet.

The dog nearly leaped on them and they managed to dodge and were about to start running away, but then Frozenbreeze jumped in front of the dog and scratched his forehead. But then he felt pain sear through his body, but it seemed to be emanating from his chest. A huge gasp escaped the two frightened cats and they stopped running when they saw what happened.

*"Oh no!"* Burntfur exclaimed fearfully. *"We need to help him!"*

*"What if we die?!"* Tawnyclaw wailed in alarm. Burntfur didn't reply but instead tried to hiss at the dog to save Frozenbreeze, and the latter thought he was going to die, as it felt like it would bite its chest open.

The dog, very fortunately, let go of Frozenbreeze, but barked angrily at Burntfur who recoiled in great terror back next to her brother, and then ran off back where it come from. Then the two cats, still in shock with what just happened, ran to the hurt cat's side.

Frozenbreeze felt like he was in great pain, and he thought he saw blood on his chest. The dog hadn't bit deep enough to kill him, but enough to start bleeding.

*"Are you okay?!"* screamed the two warriors simultaneously as they were still horrified at what happened. The hurt cat couldn't reply immediately as he was breathing too heavily. Then he groaned.

*"He-he saved us!"* Tawnyclaw told his sister. *"We need to save HIM!"* Burntfur agreed as they both saw what happened, and yowled in helplessness, *"We need a medicine cat, though! And none of us know any medicine!"*

Frozenbreeze listened to what they said. *He-he saved us!* *We need a medicine cat!* He inhaled sharply. *Is this how I will die?* he wondered. He never thought he would go down saving two young BraveClan warriors who were also kits of a light prophecy cat, of all cats from a dog. After all, he was a DarkClan cat. But oddly enough, he didn't regret doing so. He remembered Airpaw, and he thought he saw her smiling at him.

He realized that he had saved three cats from a dog now. He wondered why it would be and he thought about it. Frozenbreeze knew that all of those three cats were too inexperienced with bigger animals like dogs, especially Airpaw only being a young apprentice, so he was the only one who could do so. He was also thankful to Longfang for saving him from getting killed by that dog, but he didn't like his attitude about it. But Frozenbreeze knew what he did.

Finally the pain subsided a little, and he managed to get up. The two littermates were visibly very relieved. Then Frozenbreeze just said, "I am okay, but you should probably talk in your camp, instead of on patrol. Also, you should try to save yourselves, too."

The two warriors quickly nodded and kept talking about his bite, but Frozenbreeze shook his head. "I can get treated elsewhere. Besides, I doubt your camp will accept me." He knew BraveClan wouldn't recognize him but he wondered if Darkstar would be okay with him going to BraveClan, if he found out. *Maybe only if I told him that found the way to BraveClan camp,* Frozenbreeze figured, *otherwise, probably not.* He also wondered about Fierylight, Destinyflower and Warmtail and if they'd recognize him.

The siblings insisted that their camp was nice to strangers as long as they weren't aggressive, and would even treat him and let him go. Frozenbreeze thought about it but then he felt a little dizzy. Then he said, "I don't want to trouble you two new warriors. I am guessing it is a while back, and maybe I wouldn't be okay. I don't want you to have to carry me back. Or have to alert someone to carry me back."

The siblings kept insisting that they could help him, and Tawnyclaw even asked his named but Frozenbreeze denied. He didn't know why, but he felt at peace being by himself. "You can get rewarded for saving us," pushed Burntfur. Tawnyclaw nodded and added, "And you will be saved by our two wonderful medicine cats, and also a warrior who was a medicine cat before." Frozenbreeze knew who he was talking about, the latter probably being Emberheart.

After some pushing, Frozenbreeze grudgingly agreed, although he hoped no weird spiritual force would find out about him ever being in BraveClan camp, or that those three light prophecy cats would recognize him. The two siblings were even more relieved and Tawnyclaw was the one to give the message. Burntfur started licking his wound to prevent it from getting infected or worse (all the warrior apprentices were taught by Emberheart, Greenmoon and Leaffeather basic medicine in cases where there was no medicine cat on-site), and Frozenbreeze was okay with it.

Then more BraveClan warriors came who he didn't recognize at all, and two medicine cats, too, and slowly carried him. The older medicine cat who Frozenbreeze guessed was Greenmoon thanked him for saving Tawnyclaw and Burntfur and congratulated the two warriors for trying to treat his wound in turn.

Frozenbreeze just nodded and felt weightless as he was carried to BraveClan camp, with oddly enough, no worries at all.

## Part 16: Darkstar's Reckoning and Frozenbreeze's Recognition

Same as BraveClan and SunClan's story: Darkstar wondered where Frozenbreeze went as he last saw him leave by himself on patrol. Other cats also saw him patrolling for some time before he went out of sight sooner or later, as expected.

Listening to this, he wondered what became of this warrior. He didn't necessarily care about the loss of one warrior, but a daughter of Auburnfur kept worrying about where he went, even though her mentor, Longfang, told her to stop worrying about him so much as she needed to train. Darkstar figured Airpaw was devastated about his disappearance, and he didn't want an apprentice who was the daughter or apprentice of two dark prophecy cats to be wasting time on worrying about him.

Darkstar secretly hoped he didn't get lost like Fierylight did or run off like Destinyflower and Warmtail did or die like a mouse like Bluntgaze did. Or even worse, defect to another Clan. Like every group, DarkClan had secrets, and Darkstar wished to keep them only within the Clan, and would never tolerate even a tiny leak of information to enemy groups.

Where Frozenbreeze was, a few days ago, after he left BraveClan, he still wondered about what to do. He still didn't know to get back to DarkClan, so he wasn't sure if he could trace a path between the two Clans. He wondered for how many days he would wander until he finally found another affiliation.

He searched for a day how to get back, and he tried to recall what the forest looked like while he was going towards BraveClan. But it seemed mostly foreign, and Frozenbreeze still remembered those violent dogs in the forest. *Dogs must love my scent or something like that,* he spat in his thoughts in frustration.

He desperately hoped that they wouldn't come for him again and he even prayed to StarClan, which DarkClan cats were not allowed to do, he knew, but he was very much helpless at this point. He thought he saw Darkstar looking angrily down at him, but he stopped thinking about that.

Then Frozenbreeze saw a she-cat with silver fur, slightly darker spots, and blue eyes. It was the first time he had seen a cat for a day so he decided to ask the she-cat who she was and if she could help him.

"Um, hi," he said sheepishly and politely and the she-cat noticed him and gave him a shocked look.

"Who are you?" asked the she-cat without a greeting. Frozenbreeze blinked a few times trying to think of a reply until she continued, "I am just by myself and defending myself in the forest. And what about you?"

"Um... my name is Frozenbreeze. I am actually lost," he replied. The she-cat flicked her tail.

"From where do you come?" she asked cautiously.

"Um..." he drawled, thinking that he couldn't tell her the truth just yet. "I live in an area which is close to a large group of evil cats. I am planning to leave it, though."

The she-cat was surprised. "Really? Did you know that there were evil cats there in the first place?"

Frozenbreeze shook his head sadly and replied, "If I did, I wouldn't have settled there anyway. Do you know where the large group of evil cats might be? I need to get my stuff there."

The she-cat stared at him for a moment before replying, "I heard of that place, it's called DarkClan. Are you a Clan cat, too? Because your name sounds like one."

Frozenbreeze shrugged and nodded. "My Clan got destroyed by these cats, too. Did yours?"

The she-cat nodded gloomily. "Yes. I used to be from a Clan called SunClan, have you heard of it before? My name is Dewflower. I had to run off by myself when the leader, Marigoldstar, disbanded it. I thought it had to do with DarkClan's threatenings. I was only a recent warrior."

Frozenbreeze was surprised that this cat came from the same Clan as one dark and two light prophecy cats, but he figured Dewflower knew nothing about it. He also thought that this cat was resilient as she survived by herself for so long despite being a young warrior.

"I think I may know where your camp is," continued Dewflower matter-of-factly. "I once ran into the DarkClan camp while looking for food, and a few cats that I recognized as DarkClan chased me out of the area! So follow me."

Frozenbreeze just nodded and followed Dewflower as she started walking. They walked in silence for an hour or so until Dewflower stopped and looked at him. "The path takes too much time to travel and too dangerous for me, but did you figure out any familiar landscape?"

Frozenbreeze looked around and recognized the path he was chasing that rabbit from. Then he nodded and replied, "Thank you, Dewflower, for helping out a stranger, without any reward in return."

The she-cat stared at him for some time before replying, "There is a reward. StarClan. Hopefully you find a path to StarClan, too."

The tom just nodded and was about to leave for DarkClan until he thought that Dewflower would deserve a reward for selflessly helping out a random cat who could possibly be a DarkClan cat. Then he turned around and said, "Wait, I think I know the way to a Clan called BraveClan."

Dewflower stopped and gave him a surprised and questioning look.

"Um, I actually wandered off to BraveClan by accident. But I got hurt saving two BraveClan cats so they agreed to treat me and they let me go. They accepted some cats from SunClan, too," Frozenbreeze explained. "It's in some very deep forest, surrounded by many trees. A ton of trees are inside of the camp, too, providing extra protection, I guess. The path to there, I think is the opposite direction where we first met. Then you need to find an abandoned camp in the middle of the way, and keep going from there."

Dewflower looked a little confused but she just nodded slowly. "Well, thank you for the information, I guess. I will try to look for it." Then she smiled for the first time and continued, "I do suppose I should find a Clan again. I have to go now. I think DarkClan recognizes me. Hopefully you are safe, too." Then she bounded off in a flash.

Frozenbreeze watched her leave and wondered if she figured out that he was a DarkClan cat himself, DarkClan-born, too. But he figured that didn't matter now as she was already gone and she wouldn't necessarily do any harm to him. He also wondered if she would find it.

Then he went back to DarkClan in silence, but a little tired as well.

### ~~Back at DarkClan, day later~~

Darkstar looked around for his mate, Purpleslash, and saw her telling stories to the apprentices about her life before DarkClan. He needed to discuss with her about how Longfang and Airpaw finally found Frozenbreeze passed out in a bush. It was strange to him that this happened in the first place and he dared to think that really funky business had happened.

Airpaw was very scared for Frozenbreeze as the medicine cats tried to treat him. Longfang had a stern look at Frozenbreeze, but he was also watching the medicine cats with his apprentice. Darkstar thought that Longfang didn't like the white tom, but he didn't hate him either. Darkstar was also normally neutral when it came to his Clanmates, but there were some who it was impossible to not dislike, such as the light prophecy cats, especially the three who ran from the Clan. One of those cats was Frozenbreeze as Darkstar thought his behavior and circumstances were starting to become stranger and stranger by the moons, and he doubted they could be coincidental.

After all, having a dog attack them and having passed out in a bush was too uncanny for normal circumstances to Darkstar.

And Darkstar's suspicions got worse when Smokyleap told him that Frozenbreeze had some treated wounds on his chest already, probably from a dog bite. Darkstar thought that being bit by a dog twice was not at all involuntary but he was sure that Frozenbreeze couldn't treat himself at all. Darkstar was getting a very disquieting vibe from him, and he needed to talk to his mate about it.

He remembered that Frozenbreeze wasn't typically a good warrior but he wasn't that bad either. Darkstar thought that he mostly just tried to work as hard as he can but he still couldn't succeed that well. Darkstar also remembered that he sent Frozenbreeze on the trip to capture those two runaway cats but Smokyleap, the medicine cat who went with them, told him that the white tom crashed into a tree while running, and got pretty injured, which made Darkstar think he wasn't up to the job.

But now Darkstar knew it wasn't just coincidental. He had to get to the bottom of this quick.

He went to Purpleslash and gestured her to come into the leader's den. She nodded and followed him there, after telling the apprentices she'd be right back. Then she asked Darkstar, "What is it? Is it about Frozenbreeze?"

Darkstar grimly nodded. "He is acting too strange, don't you think? Did StarClan do something to him?"

His mate shrugged and replied worriedly, "I would think so. Do you think StarClan is trying to attack us by using dogs? Auburnfur also lost her kits!"

Darkstar sighed and shook his tail wildly in anticipation of something horrible to come. "I think so. That is why we need to fight them. Although I don't think that is how StarClan works, since they believe in peace and all..." He hissed at what was seemingly just air, but in his mind he was hissing at stupid StarClan.

"I don't think they will try to kill us, because if they do, we will also be able to kill them," began Purpleslash, "but we need to be very alert, because they are doing some secret things in the background!"

"Yes, they are," said Darkstar, wondering what they exactly did to Frozenbreeze and Airpaw. "They must have sent that dog after them, and injured Frozenbreeze and Airpaw, which is bad. Ugh, we need all the dark prophecy cats to fight back, and DarkClan to fight BraveClan!" He remembered that he didn't know his power yet. "We figured out what the other three's powers are, but not mine! We need to find it quick so that we can fight back and DarkClan can be here for a long time."

Purpleslash just nodded. "Our grandson did a good job killing that violent dog, and also is doing a good job mentoring Airpaw. And our daughter can easily destroy the herb supply of BraveClan, and maybe even make a tree fall on them. And Auburnfur, despite not being DarkClan descent, is doing an excellent job with warrior duties. I think she has a very great power to defeat enemy cats, which will probably kill them immediately, as she doesn't even need to do a death blow. But I wonder about you."

Darkstar just shrugged. "We still have time. No need to rush too much, but yes, I need to figure out my power soon! But what do we do about Frozenbreeze?"

Purpleslash shrugged in response, too. "For now, we should probably just question him, but no punishing. But if something like this happens again we have to do something." Darkstar agreed as he didn't want to be too worked up over one warrior, but he thought whatever was happening to Frozenbreeze would be a very important clue to figure out what would happen next. After all, Frozenbreeze never came off as a strong warrior, so he thought StarClan was choosing an easy target to attack.

*Maybe we should get rid of him soon, so we don't have to waste our resources on him if StarClan is indeed attacking him,* Darkstar figured, but he decided to listen to his mate and wait for any future incidents like this to happen in order to make a good and thoughtful decision.

### ~~Hours later~~

Mothspring wandered through the forest. She told her father, Darkstar, that she would go and try to find any cats that would be lurking around, along with Birdrose and Charredbelly. Mothspring was interested in Charredbelly but she also wanted to be a efficient warrior before mating. She was born in the last litter along with Birdrose and Lynxmoor. Her older sister, Oakbush, usually teased her about her relationship with Charredbelly. *She can see it, too,* Mothspring grumbled, but she knew that it was true so she didn't say anything to her.

The brown-yellow tortoiseshell she-cat knew that Charredbelly was the brother and littermate of the deputy so she wanted to be the mate of someone cool, so that she could get a better standing in front of Highjump and Darkstar. She also wanted her kits to have a higher standing, too.

Mothspring also knew she was just an ordinary warrior, with the exception of being a kit of Darkstar, but she had no special powers of any sort, like Oakbush or her nephew, Longfang, so she wasn't really that much feared or respected in the Clan as the others were. Even her mother, Purpleslash, who was relatively tame, was still feared for a very efficient warrior on top of being the mate of Darkstar.

Mothspring also never had an apprentice before, despite being way past the normal warrior age, and she wasn't very confident about her warrior duties either. And even Birdrose had an apprentice, Destinyflower, who had run away with Warmtail, another DarkClan cat who was previously SunClan and now a light prophecy cat, which made Birdrose ashamed that she did so, and other Clanmates didn't look at her in the same way.

She also remembered when her brother, Shrewspeck, and another warrior, Spottedlark, died, but she never really liked them since they always taunted her, so she didn't care if they died. She thought Auburnfur thought the same because she was one of the newer cats to come to DarkClan at the time and they taunted her, too.

The she-cat wondered if Frozenbreeze thought the same when Airpaw was given to Longfang but she shook that thought away.

Darkstar told Mothspring and her patrol not to wander too far like Frozenbreeze did and the three cats understood. Mothspring didn't want to get bit by a dog again.

Birdrose asked Mothspring where cats could be and the latter just replied that cats usually travel around the forest, so they may encounter one.

As they kept walking they encountered a lake. Mothspring thought it was the same lake Auburnfur and Goldjaw were at when they discovered her power so she tried to look for any signs of spiritual influence. But the lake looked normal. She wondered if she would find any signs of her being special.

Birdrose and Charredbelly drank some water from the lake and the former asked her sister, "Where do you think you might find any cats? You're the patrol leader after all." Mothspring shrugged. She knew that cats didn't normally go onto DarkClan territory, even unknowingly, since there were little prey or herbs here to find and not many trees. But they didn't have to hunt or gather much because of their pillaging technique, which is why they had settled here, and still got a huge surplus of supplies without hunting or gathering, just fighting.

Then Mothspring drank some water, too, before heading on, and decided to focus and where cats could be.

Then they started heading into wooded area, which made Mothspring confident that they could finally find some cats. Then suddenly, they saw a very large and muscular black-pelted rogue which had a ton of scars on his body, one ripped ear and some bare skin. The tortoiseshell she-cat was wondering what they should do, but then her sister and her love interest pounced on him immediately.

Mothspring decided to do the same thing they did since it was the best option right now and she was also patrol leader, for the first time she thought she was. Before, she was considered too meek to lead a patrol, so other cats got chosen instead, such as Highjump, Charredbelly, Shrewspeck, Oakbush, and her former mentor, Lionfoot. Some other cats, like Wildclaw and Sandfight, also led the patrols, but they were very rude to her, too. Darkstar had reprimanded them for taunting her but he didn't do much else to protect Mothspring, which made her melancholy.

The rogue hissed at them fiercely and scratched Birdrose's chest severely, with blood coming out. Mothspring was surprised, but she knew she had to fight, too. Charredbelly tried to do a death blow as he usually liked to kill cats, but Mothspring shook her head at him as she knew that the rogue was too strong to get hit by a death blow. But then the rogue easily dodged the blow and his very large and muscular body pounced on Charredbelly's chest, biting it severely. The rogue was about to bite Charredbelly's neck but Mothspring slash-swiped his stomach and chest and used all her strength to push him off. He ended up slashing Mothspring's cheek very harshly, and Mothspring felt the roaring pain coming from the right side of her face, and she stepped back to help her love interest up.

Birdrose had tried to recover from the chest slash, and then pounced on the rogue and swiped his flanks with all her might. Charredbelly got up slowly and also tried to recover from the pain. Then he winced in pain as he was limping away from the rogue. Mothspring realized with a shock that he had a broken leg, and tried to help him up. The tortoiseshell she-cat had seen stronger cats than her before but she had never seen this strong and muscular of a cat before. She thought that he was even stronger than Darkstar, who was pretty strong already, and she wondered how to defeat him.

Until three other warriors came, Stormear, Lostear and Grassfoot, who were also on patrol, but a hunting patrol instead. When they saw what was happening, they immediately pounced on the huge rogue, and with Mothspring and Birdrose helping them, the rogue got subdued but he was still trying to fight back.

Lostear looked surprised and frightened, being a young warrior and the same age as Talonwing and Flamepaw due to being littermates but the other two warriors who were older than her were very determined while fighting.

Mothspring was about to slash the rogue's neck until her mind thought of something. *What if we bring him back to face Darkstar?* she wondered. Killing cats was a good pastime for cats, but kidnapping cats was even better, since they could get to get a little more fun out of them, especially Darkstar. Also, she was curious to know who this rogue exactly was and how he was so strong. She ordered the other cats to drag him back to camp, and they agreed, probably thinking the same thing she was.

So they knocked him out and all of them (excluding Charredbelly) dragged each part of his body each since he was so heavy, Mothspring by the scruff. When they finally got to camp, the other DarkClan cats, especially Darkstar, looked shocked when they saw the huge, unconscious rogue.

"What *is* this rogue?" Darkstar demanded in confusion, probably still wide-eyed at the rogue's muscular body.

"We don't know," started Mothspring's pitch, feeling more confident than she ever had before, "but we can get to have some fun before we kill him!"

The other DarkClan cats agreed excitedly, including Darkstar. Darkstar was still pretty confused at what Mothspring and her patrol had found, since he couldn't figure out how this cat came to be.

Finally the rogue woke up in a state of perplexment. He looked around and saw many cats, and Mothspring knew he would never escape. The rogue's eyes focused on Darkstar, but the DarkClan leader was ready. The rogue pounced on him.

Darkstar easily dodged and pounced on him instead. Wildclaw, Brownfur and Oakbush also came and helped out. Charredbelly was tended to by the medicine cats, of course, but Mothspring and Grassfoot stayed to help out, too. Longfang and Airpaw were watching Brownfur fight the rogue but they didn't do anything.

The rogue was easily getting subdued again, and Mothspring thought she could see a twinge of helplessness on his face, until his claws went out and slashed Wildclaw's neck. The warrior gasped and died nearly instantly.

### ~~Another hour later~~

Airpaw was talking to her sister, Lightpaw. She was way too distressed about everything, and she wondered how Frozenbreeze could be bit by a dog two times in two seasons.

"We found him in a bush, lying there and I thought he was dead!" she told Lightpaw, who was surprised. Airpaw was a teensy bit jealous of Lightpaw, who had a much better mentor than Longfang, which was Talonwing. Talonwing was slightly older than Longfang, but the former was a great mentor compared to the latter.

"We immediately called for a medicine cat when we realized he was alive and Smokyleap came running!" Airpaw continued in great unease. "And now you know what! He is injured!"

"Did you talk to him?" Lightpaw asked, still in shock. "I never knew you could be bit by something other than a cat."

"Yes, I did, and me either," Airpaw replied gloomily. "Longfang told me about hawks, eagles, foxes, badgers, wolves and even something called Twolegs! And he said they were more dangerous than dogs! I thought being an apprentice would be fun like Brownfur said it would be but now it is becoming tiring and boring, and scary and frightful all at the same time!" She sighed with great distress. "It was so fun with Frozenbreeze because these things didn't normally happen and he was light on me while training. But Longfang wants me to train five times a day, four being fighting! I am surprised I am not in the medicine cat den for moons!"

Lightpaw was very shocked and appalled at this revelation. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have helped you get through it! And maybe complained to Auburnfur about it and get Frozenbreeze to be your mentor again."

Airpaw just shrugged in dire sadness. "I doubt it works that way. Best case scenario they'll reject saying that they don't want me to be a weak warrior training with Frozenbreeze. I don't even know if Frozenbreeze will get another apprentice!"

Lightpaw looked like she was thinking, until she said, "Um, since we are daughters of a dark prophecy cat, maybe we can politely tell them that we don't want to be overworked?"

Airpaw sighed. "I think they expect the opposite of us! Since they want us to be strong. But my muscles are searing up way too much. I wonder if BraveClan or SunClan is much better with apprentice training."

Lightpaw looked glum at this realization, too. "So what can we do?"

"I don't know. We aren't really deputy or kin to Darkstar or even warriors. We are powerless to do anything. The best thing we can do is to protect ourselves from more danger. I still worry about Frozenbreeze. Is he going to be punished for being 'weak'? I doubt we could just run off to BraveClan, either."

"I don't know. But that is sad we have no power." Lightpaw sighed in melancholy. "I don't think we should speak in public, though, because someone can overhear."

Airpaw just nodded solemnly and was about to go check up on her former mentor until Talonwing came. "It's training time!" he said joyfully to Lightpaw, and Lightpaw looked excited. She shot an empathetic look towards her sister before leaving with Talonwing.

Airpaw just watched them leave and continued walking towards the medicine cat den. Longfang was there and he had a stern look on his face, but he was looking into the den. *I hope he's not going to do training,* Airpaw hoped with great desperation. *Or be angry at Frozenbreeze.*

Then she saw Frozenbreeze was finally awake, to her delight. Smokyleap ran up to them excitedly and cried, "Great news! He has only passed out from hunger so all he needs is a mouse." Airpaw was so relieved, especially when she saw Icypaw carry a mouse to Frozenbreeze. Longfang was still wearing the same expression as before.

But her delight and relief was short-lived as Darkstar and Highjump immediately walked over to the medicine cat's den upon hearing Smokyleap's joyful cry. Before she knew it, they started barrelling him with questions, and she saw Frozenbreeze clearly too exhausted to answer them, as he didn't even get to take a bite from the mouse, but they kept asking them anyway. Smokyleap and Icypaw looked a little uneasy so they immediately left the den. But Smokyleap still smiled at Airpaw as she left.

Longfang turned to Airpaw and said strictly, "Well, now that you know he is fine, do you want to train *now?"* Airpaw couldn't hide her disappointment and just sighed in disgrace.

Her mentor noticed this and growled, "As an apprentice, Purpleslash had me do five training sessions a day! Other than being kin of Darkstar, how do you think I was chosen to be a dark prophecy cat?" Airpaw just shrugged and replied, "Well, I don't think you did this intense of training."

The dark prophecy cat was surprised to hear this and yelled, "You think so? Sure, Purpleslash may be my grandmother, but she isn't weak. And even so, we are both young. We can handle the heat easily. And you are the kit of a dark prophecy cat, too, you know."

"Didn't she become one after I was born, though? Otherwise she wasn't important at all, and neither were we," Airpaw retorted. "And I am only an apprentice. I can't handle so much training!" She was about to yell at him that Frozenbreeze was a better mentor but then she thought she would really be crossing the line more.

Longfang glared at her for a moment before looking at Darkstar and Highjump, who didn't hear as they were too busy confronting Frozenbreeze. Airpaw thought out loud, "Why don't we go on patrol? Hunting patrol. That would be better."

Her mentor stared at her for a little bit before slowly nodding and said, "Fine, if you think that is better for you. That is, if we will find any prey."

Airpaw knew that their place in the forest had barely any sort of real resources to keep themselves alive, which was why it would be hard to find any prey without venturing much farther than their territory, but she just shrugged. *If I don't find any real prey, better for me since I don't have to do anything,* she thought optimistically, even if that was bad for DarkClan. At this point, she didn't care anymore. All she wanted was real rest.

They did have to venture far enough before they found a brightly-colored snake which seemed to emit danger. Cats wouldn't be so scared of snakes if it weren't for their venom. Longfang scoffed at the snake as if he thought that this was as easy as catching a mouse, but Airpaw was terrified, which was definitely unlike DarkClan cats. Again, the feeling of not belonging enveloped her again, and she stood there frozen, watching Longfang stealthily sneak up on it from behind a rock.

The snake noticed Longfang, however, and started tapping its tail rapidly against the forest ground, but the warrior was unfazed. Airpaw was worried if it would bite her mentor, but it didn't seem to do anything with its mouth, which made her wonder if it was harmless. But she didn't understand the bright colors and venomous appeal.

The snake tried to slither away quickly upon seeing that Longfang wasn't getting scared away, but Longfang pounced on it and easily caught it with a bite to its neck. He snorted once he made sure it was dead, "Kit's play. This is a pretentious snake, which is pretending to be poisonous." He seemed to be in a victorious mood.

Airpaw just blinked a few times while trying to process what he said, since so many thoughts were spinning around in her brain, especially Frozenbreeze's bites. She had no idea about that. "Oh," was all she replied, still staring at the dead fake venomous snake.

Longfang suddenly narrowed her eyes at her. "You think you would have learned that with your *former mentor?*" he challenged, trying to use this moment as a point of debate.

Airpaw said nothing in reply, and didn't even look at him, which was usually unlike her. She was in deep thought, still wondering about the differences between Frozenbreeze and Longfang. Longfang was better educated about the world and better skilled, yes, but Frozenbreeze was more understanding of her capabilities and more empathetic towards her. She had heard of two warriors fighting over one in a form of love, but she had never heard of two warriors fighting over an apprentice in a form of mentorship. Or rather, she was trying to fight between them both.

"Also, don't ask me how I know this. Purpleslash taught me *extremely* well, which is what I am trying to do with you," Longfang continued with his monologuing lecture. "She taught me the differences between venomous and non-venomous snakes. Non-venomous ones are pretty easy to catch once you figure them out. I wonder if Frozenbreeze even paid attention to what Streamtail told him about the world. You want a mentor like that? Especially since you are going to be a warrior in one moon?"

Airpaw still stared at her paws. Then she thought that Longfang was probably expecting some sort of reply from her which showed that she even heard a sentence of what he uttered, so she just nodded and said, "I understand now."

Longfang glared at her for a moment more before he strictly said, "Good." He muttered a few words under his breath before he picked up the snake and buried it.

They tried to search for any more prey, and they only found two rogue mice. Airpaw had to catch both of them, which she thought was pretty easy anyway since she had already learned how to do this before. Then they went back.

Longfang wanted her to do fighting training next since he told her that he thought hunting was way too easy for a DarkClan apprentice of *her* skill level.

*Figures, since we never need to hunt that much anyway,* Airpaw groaned internally. She was forced to accept or risk getting angry responses from her mentor and Brownfur. *Not risk, but surely get.*

After this, Longfang told her to rest and come back after an hour. Airpaw thought she was not going to be ready until she became a warrior, which was only a moon from now. *Maybe once I become a warrior, Longfang won't bother me for the rest of my warriorhood, and I can finally spend more time with Frozenbreeze,* she thought in her itchy moss bed in the vast apprentices' den which was what her resolve would be. But her heart sank again, since DarkClan warriors still needed to train constantly, especially in fighting. Not necessarily with the same mentor, but in groups.

*Maybe they can give leeway to new warriors?* Airpaw hoped in a desperate manner, since she knew that wouldn't be the case.

Frozenbreeze suddenly caught her eye, and he looked back to normal. *Sort of, anyway,* Airpaw thought anxiously but hopefully. He was staring at the warriors' den for quite a while now, in what seemed like worried thought.

The forlorn apprentice decided to talk to her former mentor, since it looked like most of his issues were solved. Except perhaps his reaction to being treated the way he was by Darkstar and the rest of DarkClan.

"Hey, Frozenbreeze," Airpaw greeted.

## Part 17: Soon to be Dire Dangers

Same time as last chapter: Thunderflames, Tawnyclaw, Burntfur, Greenmoon, Leaffeather, Yarrowpaw, Sunpaw, Cloudflames and Specklewhisker all carried this unknown hurt cat who apparently saved the new warriors from a dog back to camp.

Tawnyclaw and Burntfur were still so shocked that a dog was about to kill them during their innocent talk. They also wondered who this cat was and if he heard them speak. They did spill some secret info, so they were worried. Fierylight had scolded her two kits as the unknown cat did for just gossiping on patrol without actually hunting or watching out for danger. The two humbly and submissively apologized to her.

Hopekit, their younger sister, and Heatherkit, their first cousin twice removed (their cousin Bravestar's granddaughter through Cloudflames), both watched the medicine cats and Emberheart work on the cat with intrigue. Hopekit asked Heatherkit if she was interested in medicine and she nodded, and Hopekit nodded, too. Hopekit also felt sympathy for her older siblings.

Sunpaw and Yarrowpaw barrelled Tawnyclaw and Burntfur with questions about what exactly happened, and the older two half-tried to deflect them, knowing they both thrived on gossip.

Cloudflames and Specklewhisker reported to Bravestar and Shadowcreek, and they were both surprised that it happened, so they decided to question him a little bit.

The hurt white-colored tom didn't volunteer his name or affiliations, but he simply said that he was a lost cat from another Clan who happened to encounter the two littermates, and the dog had suddenly pounced from a bush, so he rushed to protect them. The two littermates agreed with his story.

Shadowcreek and Greenmoon were a little worried that he might be a DarkClan cat, but the former's mate and kits (Legacy Prophecy cats) said that they didn't recall seeing him in the DarkClan battle during their previous life, except for Bravestar since it was his current life. Cloudflames also said that he was the one fighting on the frontlines as Skysoar along with his son, Snowpounce, and he saw no cat that looked like this one. Leaffeather also said he was fighting on the frontlines as Autumnthorn.

Of course, they only talked with the Legacy Prophecy cats and Shadowcreek and Greenmoon, so no one else heard, especially the unknown cat.

Fierylight, Destinyflower and Warmtail thought he looked familiar, especially the latter two, and they thought he may be the cat who smashed into the tree while chasing them, but they couldn't be sure as there were a ton of white-pelted cats in DarkClan and in the forest. Also, they didn't necessarily hang out with other Clanmates in DarkClan.

Hopekit told the unknown cat, "You must be a good cat if you saved my siblings!" The cat looked pleasantly surprised. She continued, "Can I try treating you? Don't tell anyone, though, because I am probably not allowed, but I think they were using Marigoldstar—I meant marigold."

The cat just shrugged and whispered humorously, "You look like a tiny medicine cat."

"I am too young to be one, but I could learn," replied Hopekit thoughtfully. "But you can call me a medicine kit." Heatherkit asked Hopekit and the hurt cat if she could do it, too, and they both agreed.

After Bravestar thought he was okay to leave the Clan, he asked the cat if he wanted to stay. The cat shook his head, as he said that he was worried his Clan would look for him. Bravestar didn't know in what nature that was, but he just nodded. Then he asked the cat how he would get back if he didn't know the way and the cat simply said that he would figure it out by himself. He also thanked the Clan for treating his wound. Bravestar just accepted the appreciation and let him go on his way.

Hopekit, Heatherkit, Tawnyclaw and Burntfur looked sad and longing to spend more time with him when he left. Shadowcreek and Greenmoon looked slightly relieved.

Bravestar had noticed Hopekit and Heatherkit's interest in medicine and told Leaffeather and Greenmoon, and they both agreed with him. Greenmoon said she would mentor them when they became six moons of age. This left Bravestar nine kits to become apprentices, which was pretty enigmatic for him as he had never had a time, or any leader, perhaps, where more than six kits (like his kits and Greenmoon's kits) were becoming apprentices or warriors within the same half-moon. But now there were eleven kits, two who wanted to become medicine cats.

### ~~Day after~~

A day after at nighttime, while he was sleeping in the leader's den with Shadowcreek, he heard a frightened yowl of a warrior. Both him and his mate woke up in a quick flash and wondered what had happened until a clawed-up Cloudflames ran inside. His muzzle and flanks had claw marks on them. A limping Specklewhisker also came in. Upon seeing this, Bravestar and Shadowcreek thought the worst had happened.

They alerted all of the warriors and apprentice who groggily went out of their dens, and they were shocked to see who the enemies were. Marigoldstar also woke up in the warriors' den (since she wasn't an actual leader of BraveClan, she didn't sleep inside the leader's den) and ordered all the warriors to fight.

The enemies were rogues, and there were a couple dozen of them. Emberheart and Cloudflames remembered those awful rogues that came at the last moment of the civil battle and they fearfully wondered if they were from the same group. Since they were hiding in the crevices of two different dens with their kits, they didn't see every rogue come, but a few came inside the den they were in, but not the crevice. The other cats told them exactly what happened, too.

They didn't mean to wake the queens and kits, but they heard the ear-piercing yowls, too, and woke up. When the queens figured out what was going on, they made sure to keep an eye on the kits and assure them everything was okay. The mates of the queens (and fathers of the kits) checked up on them to make sure they were safe. The queens decided that they should also try to fight, since they weren't nursing or expecting, except for Destinyflower and Rainingclaw.

Destinyflower lamented that she couldn't fight, but then she figured that her light prophecy power wasn't directly used in fighting, anyway. Marigoldstar and Warmtail made sure to touch everyone to make them confident and happy about winning this battle, and Fierylight was a good navigation in the dark, although rogues tended to pay attention to her, but she was a good warrior. And other cats could see her and help her if she was in trouble.

With Bravestar having nine lives and Marigoldstar eight, they went onto the front lines and fought the hardest. The legacy prophecy cats had good knowledge of what to do in battle, especially Leaffeather and Emberheart who had both medicine cat and warrior training throughout their three/two lives, but Greenmoon did, too, from being a warrior originally, so the medicine cats fought with the warriors as well. However, the three stopped whenever a cat got injured to treat them.

There were no casualties, but Bravestar and Marigoldstar lost two lives each. However, the rogues got major wounds, and BraveClan cats mostly minor. When they learned that they had won the battle due to the rogues retreating, they celebrated their strength and teamwork. The apprentices fought just as hard, so they also celebrated. Yarrowpaw and Sunpaw became warriors a half-moon early, to Sootmist and Tawnyclaw's delight. They were named Yarrowlight and Sunstrike.

Desertpaw asked Bravestar if he could be a warrior, too, but Bravestar said that while he did a good job, he still had a little more to learn. This disappointed the apprentice, but Bravestar cheered him up by giving him a free day off, which he was excited about. The other apprentices wanted this, too, so he gave them all a free day off, and all the apprentices were happy that they could spend time with each other and the kits. Minnowpaw's leg got scratched greatly, so she was happy that she could rest her leg.

Bravestar consulted the prophecy cats (including Destinyflower and Rainingclaw who went to the secret meeting place carefully to prevent any problems with their kits) and the deputy and his mate, Shadowcreek, and the eldest medicine cat, Greenmoon, the next day and shared his worries about how this would have happened.

Leaffeather said that he got a dream about very dark-glowing cats, who appeared to be sucking the light out, entering the camp, right before the battle. He was going to alert everyone when he woke up but the enemies were already here. He thought that they might be DarkClan, or the Dark Forest. Shadowcreek said she was very relieved that it wasn't either one, but just a rogue group. Leaffeather replied in a worried tone that he thought they might have something to do with them, however. Greenmoon agreed anxiously.

Fierylight suggested that they keep a stark lookout for any danger, and have more guards than just two cats. Warmtail agreed and added that they should have a cat guarding each den, especially the nursery. Destinyflower pointed out that the queens who weren't expecting could defend the nursery themselves, and alert the other warriors. Marigoldstar and Rainingclaw said that DarkClan went to the Dark Forest after they died, so they both technically counted as one group. They also said that the rogue group could be affiliated with the Dark Forest.

Emberheart and Cloudflames also talked about the rogues that attacked the Clan right after its civil battle in lieu of an opportunity to steal a camp for themselves, and shared their worries that the rogues who attacked could possibly be their descendants, or a reinstated version of that rogue group. The other two siblings agreed, but they didn't have as much to say about it as in their second lives, the time it happened, they were only young kits.

Bravestar was also worried about this, as he heard what happened from his grandparents and great-grandparents, especially his maternal grandmother Heatherfern, who got severely attacked by a rogue while she was pregnant, but thankfully her kits, Maizelight and Fierylight, didn't die as she wasn't attacked in that area. And Bluetail, too, who was Heatherfern's mother, so his great-grandmother. Since she sort of caused it, she expressed guilt about it to him and Shadowkit (who was also her great-granddaughter through Skysoar and Snowpounce), so he knew what it might have been like.

Greenmoon said that she wondered if DarkClan would come soon, and she was very scared if so. She also wondered if that unknown cat had something to do with DarkClan, and Shadowcreek agreed with her. They had a gut feeling. The three light prophecy cats expressed their concerns about that cat, and Destinyflower and her mate said that he looked familiar, but they couldn't be sure as they didn't really mingle a lot with their Clanmates in DarkClan. The cats anxiously wondered if they should have treated him, and if they should have been stronger and more protective and secure of themselves instead.

Emberheart also mentioned the rogue battle that killed Fallstar, Tansywood, Purefur and Leafgleam long ago. The only other cats who understood completely were Leaffeather and Cloudflames as they also fought in that battle (the former dying), and the other cats asked them to explain, including Bravestar and Rainingclaw since they were still dead at the time. Leaffeather solemnly nodded and remembered bleeding to death. Then he remembered joining StarClan and seeing the other three cats join StarClan. It was very hard to see his niece, Purefur, whom his sister, Ashthistle, gave her life for, join StarClan, but he knew that Purefur had tried to save Skysoar, her grandmother and Leoparddaisy.

Emberheart also remembered Purefur's death and how he was sad that she had died saving Skysoar, and he was angry at those rogues ever since. He had other things to keep his mind on, though, and he had almost completely gotten over her death until rogues came after that civil battle. But he tried to focus on the looming dangers at the time, such as DarkClan. But this battle they just had reminded him of those cats who died from rogues.

Cloudflames also remembered Purefur and was eternally grateful to her ever since, so that he could continue his legacy and reincarnate, since he didn't have Snowpounce at the time, thanks to her. But like Emberheart and Leaffeather, he was really sad about her and Fallstar's death.

Leaffeather said that he always wondered how Rainleaf died ever since that battle, but Rainingclaw simply said that she had tried to drink water from the lake, and then she fell in by accident and drowned. The other cats were a little suspicious of her quick description, since Rainleaf was an excellent warrior, especially Leaffeather, but they shook it off.

Then she said that she wanted to be reincarnated sooner so that she could get a new life, but she knew she was the deputy so she couldn't do that, but a rogue pushed her into the lake sooner than she wanted to die, and so Reedstorm, later Reedstar, became the new deputy. Rainingclaw then proceeded to blame herself for the civil battle and the near-fall of BraveClan, but the other cats discouraged her for thinking so, especially Leaffeather, as he remembered Bluetail's words.

Cloudflames said that he wondered if the rogues who killed Fallstar and the other three cats and the rogues who attacked right after the civil battle were the same as the rogues who attacked them now, and Emberheart agreed. Fierylight told everyone that she thought that they might have to get some information and guidance from StarClan on who these rogues exactly were, and those rogues who attacked BraveClan in the past, and everyone agreed.

Bravestar remembered that he had come to Bluetail while still being in StarClan and told her, "My girl, you have yet more to learn about the Clans. And the prophecy. It is where you will find the fifth cat from your descendant." He also remembered that he was finally reincarnated after several generations, even though the prophecy didn't work like that. But he thought that he may have been an exception, as he was destined to start the Clan again, as he did in his first life. He did remember the other StarClan cats holding him back for a long time before he came back as Bravestar.

From then on, they kept a close eye on all the dens. A few cats were chosen each night to guard the dens, and one non-expecting queen for the nursery. There were no strange or unexpected attacks for the next moon.

### ~~The next moon~~

The next moon, Bravestar looked at Desertpaw and Jumppaw. They were going to be warriors in a half-moon, and they were training so well with their mentors, Thunderflames and Diamondhare. Their mentors were also proud of them.

Since Bravestar and Shadowcreek still remembered that battle from last moon, they appointed Fierylight, Tawnyclaw, Sunstrike, Emberheart and Lynxdaisy to guard the leader, apprentice, warrior, medicine cat dens, and the nursery respectively, for the night.

Fierylight assured them that nothing bad would happen as she did every day. Glowing in the dark like a nightlight, she sat in front of the leader's den. The other four agreed with the senior warrior and silently hoped no attack happened like it did last moon.

The leader's den was the closest den to the entrance of the camp along with the warriors' den, so Fierylight and Sunstrike were paying special attention to the entrance.

Tawnyclaw secretly wished that that white cat could have joined the Clan, but he knew that would have been against the cat's wish, but he was eternally grateful. He wondered how he could make it up to him. Sunstrike was happy that she would be guarding her friends who were apprentices, but would later become warriors with her. Emberheart was thinking about Greenmoon and Leaffeather and running the herbs and their special properties in his mind over and over again as he prepared for injured cats, which he usually did in his second life, this life. Lynxdaisy was checking up on all the queens and kits, especially her kits, every few minutes or so. She also paid special attention to Hopekit who was with Diamondhare as her mother was far away from the nursery right now.

At midnight, when it was totally dark except for Fierylight's glow to guide them, the senior warrior and the young warrior guarding the two closest dens to the entrance heard a rustle from the bushes. It seemed like this unknown creature had walked onto Clan territory and was about to enter the camp. The two she-cats were alert and told the other three who were also alarmed by this.

Then the creature's silhouette came closer and closer, and it seemed to be following Fierylight's glow. The glowing warrior decided to yowl at the creature, saying, "Don't come any closer! We aren't *weak!"*

The creature stopped for a moment. Then it spoke. "Eh? Are you-you BraveClan?" It sounded like a she-cat.

None of the five cats recognized who it was, but Marigoldstar must have heard the yowl of Fierylight and that she-cat speak and exited the den. She still hadn't fallen asleep as she was too worried about DarkClan and the other SunClan cats.

Marigoldstar seemed to recognize the voice as she said, "Dewflower? You're *here?!"*

The other cats were confused, but Marigoldstar briefly explained that Dewflower was with Fenikfight and Firerain in their warrior ceremony.

Then Dewflower, the she-cat, gasped. "Marigoldstar! You entered *BraveClan?! I am so glad!"*

The SunClan leader nodded and touched noses with the young warrior, who must have been a full-grown cat by now. The other cats were relieved that it wasn't an enemy cat but a lost SunClan cat instead. Marigoldstar was, too, but she was the most relieved as another SunClan cat had found BraveClan. She secretly wished she would have found BraveClan before she had to disband the Clan, but she didn't know about it. But she thought that the SunClan cats who ran off in separate groups would have been with BraveClan, and they could have defeated DarkClan all together.

*Don't worry, my kit,* she thought she heard Pollenhaze say. *It's not your fault. It is simply destiny. And a dark one, too. But there will be surely only light straight ahead on your path. The path you choose next decides the situations you venture into. But a lot of things are not decided by you. Some are caused by the Dark Forest.*

She decided to listen to her mother as she was right. Then she noticed something next to Dewflower. She noticed from the glow of Fierylight a body of a cat with her. Then she looked at Dewflower questioningly and asked, "Who is this?"

Dewflower looked sad. "He got killed trying to save me from a dog."

Tawnyclaw did a sharp intake of air and asked in a flash, "Is it that white-pelted cat who saved me and Burntfur from another dog?!"

Dewflower was confused until Marigoldstar explained the basic details. Then Dewflower gasped again. "He told me about that! He is that cat! His name is Frozenbreeze!"

Fierylight had a flash of a memory of an apprentice named Frozenpaw training with his mentor, Streamtail... in DarkClan. "Is he a DarkClan cat by any chance?" she asked. The other five cats gave her a confused look, but Dewflower's eyes widened again. "Yes! He is!"

The younger she-cat gave them all the details of what he told her, and Marigoldstar understood. It was Frozenbreeze's destiny to die, and she thought he might go to StarClan for saving three cats from dogs.

Marigoldstar alerted all the warriors and medicine cats and the BraveClan leader about the newcomer, and told them what happened. The Clan was very surprised about it, but they agreed to bury the dead body and do a vigil for him. Tawnyclaw and Burntfur were both deeply saddened by his death so they both partook in it. The former cat and the other four were already guarding, anyway, so they did the vigil, too. Marigoldstar decided to partake in the vigil, too, along with Dewflower.

Tawnyclaw wondered gloomily why he had to die, but he secretly hoped that Frozenbreeze went to StarClan despite being a DarkClan cat. He whispered this to Sunstrike and Burntfur and they both agreed.

Bravestar allowed Dewflower to join the Clan, of course, and told her the basic details of what happened in BraveClan history, including the two prophecies. Dewflower was very shocked and confused, but she was also positive about it.

For some reason, Leaffeather got reminded of Hailey and Kitty Spots from seeing Frozenbreeze's dead body. *What would Minnowkit have done?* he wondered, as he still tried to think about it. He didn't have to do the vigil since he was a medicine cat, but he looked at the grave and wondered about Sparksoar, Hailey's littermate.

*But if you were wondering why I showed you this, then let me tell you a secret... they did have kits with other cats. Those kits... may have travelled far away from their Twoleghouse, and interacted with us. If it is true, then it is way, way more dire than we ever thought, even for StarClan,* he remembered Bluetail's words. *Is she a mother or grandmother of a DarkClan cat?* Rainingclaw had asked in shock. For a moment he wondered if Frozenbreeze descended from Minnowkit or Hazykit.

Emberheart had a dream the day before of a dark warrior jumping in front of a light warrior, and he got bit by a dog and died. But as he died light started filling up the darkness and the light rose up to the sky and to the stars. He wasn't sure what it meant at the time, but now he wondered if the dark-turned-light warrior was Frozenbreeze.

He looked up at the stars and remembered the civil battle and the DarkClan raid. He had never seen Frozenbreeze there, so he knew the dead cat was pure and went to his destiny up in the stars.

### ~~BraveClan, day later~~

Leaffeather was happy. Just a day after Dewflower came, Destinyflower and Rainingclaw both started kitting, and Greenmoon and Leaffeather and the fathers immediately rushed to the nursery and helped them, with Heatherkit and Hopekit watching. The other queens and kits were also very excited.

The former queen gave birth to a she-kit and a tom. Destinyflower and Warmtail decided to name them rhyming names, the she-kit Shinekit and the tom Vinekit. Leaffeather remembered the deputy who died of greencough, Vinespeckle, a very long time ago, so he thought it was good to have another warrior with "Vine-" as his prefix.

The latter queen, Rainingclaw, also gave birth to a she-kit, whom she named Mosskit, and a tom-kit, whom she named after her brother, Leafkit. Leaffeather was very honored to be a namesake of a future warrior and thanked Rainingclaw. And most of all, he was very much delighted that there were more kits, and later warriors or medicine cats now. He thought about DarkClan and how they would fare against their destructive forces now. Before, there were less than average amount of warriors, but now there were much more to fight back against them, and Leaffeather was confident they could defend themselves now.

After the kitting, Destinyflower and Leaffeather noticed Marigoldstar, Shadowcreek and Bravestar rush in to see their new grandchildren, and so did Owlpaw, Crescentpaw and Minnowpaw, to see their new siblings. Shadowcreek was the most delighted as she was becoming a maternal grandmother for the first time through her only daughter, of which it was her first time ever becoming grandmother through Cloudflames. It was also Bravestar's first time being a maternal grandfather, and Marigoldstar's first time being a paternal grandmother. Since Mosskit and Leafkit were Rainingclaw and Thunderflames' first litter, they were the happiest new parents of all.

Rainingclaw remembered giving birth to her first litter for the first time in her old life, and she was a little sad for them as they had either been kitnapped or died, and the same with her second litter.

Destinyflower was thinking if she should use her power on her Clanmates as the first time she had used it on her mate, it was very scary, indeed. She didn't want to discover any more dark destinies, but she wondered if it would be necessary. So she tried using it on Shinekit and Vinekit and thought about DarkClan. She saw them as brave apprentices fighting hard against DarkClan, and they didn't get hurt, so she was happy, but she thought it meant that the DarkClan battle was looming closer. She thought about Frozenbreeze telling Darkstar about where BraveClan was but she shook it away.

Then she used it on Shadowcreek, and she saw the new grandmother and deputy looking slightly older, but standing on Highrock instead of Bravestar. Bravestar was nowhere to be seen and Destinyflower was shocked, and she was fearful that he might have died. Marigoldstar was also nowhere to be seen. Destinyflower was happy for Shadowcreek being leader, but sad about Bravestar and Marigoldstar's death somehow. She wondered if they would die in the DarkClan battle.

Then she used it on Heatherkit and Hopekit and saw them working with Leaffeather, Greenmoon and Emberheart as good medicine cats and the five of them were urgently hopping over to different injured cats and working in a exceptionally quick fashion to save them from death or other loss, which made her happy. Then she used it on Mosskit and Leafkit and saw they were also fighting against DarkClan as apprentices, too, without much injury.

Then she used the power on her other three kits and they were full-blown warriors fighting hard against DarkClan, with the exception of Owlpaw who was in the nursery with a small bum and Fierylight and Tawnyclaw were guarding the nursery. Destinyflower was happy to be a grandmother and remembered when she was having kits for the first time, and dared to guess who the father was, and thought about what Flowermoon said about Desertpaw and Owlpaw teasing each other. But she was worried about how Owlpaw would fare as a queen during the DarkClan battle, especially when she was expecting, even if another light prophecy cat and her former apprentice were guarding the nursery with sharpened eyes and claws.

Destinyflower also used it on Thunderflames and saw him fighting with extreme anger against Highjump and she saw him do a serious move, saying that it was for slaughtering his only brother and the only kit in his mother's first litter and also the last deputy of Sunclan, Spotface, in cold blood.

She wondered if she should tell Bravestar and Shadowcreek about her visions while she was nursing her newborn kits, but she thought she should relax and try to make out what the future of BraveClan during the DarkClan battle would be like before telling them about it.

Then she noticed Dewflower come into the nursery looking slightly confused until she figured out what happened. Then she congratulated the new parents, grandparents and older siblings enthusiastically. Destinyflower thanked her and said that she hoped Shinekit and Vinekit would make enormous contributions to the Clan as apprentices and warriors, thinking about the vision about her two youngest kits. Crescentpaw said that he wanted to mentor Vinekit in a humorous fashion, which made Destinyflower smile, as she remembered that they would become warriors before Shinekit and Vinekit became apprentices. Minnowpaw joked that she wanted to mentor Shinekit, too. Moonkit said she wondered if they will have the same suffix as warriors.

Destinyflower said that she wanted Shinekit's suffix to be the same as Emberheart's, as it would mean "shining heart" and Warmtail added that he wanted them to both have "-heart" as Moonkit suggested. Then Dewflower said that she wondered what having kits would like. But then, Destinyflower accidentally touched Dewflower and she got a vision which she didn't expect at all, and it didn't seem to have to do anything with DarkClan.

She saw Dewflower sitting with her and Rainingclaw in the nursery, and she had a medium-sized belly. Fierylight, Flowermoon, Diamondhare, Lynxdaisy and all their kits were gone, and only Rainingclaw, Shinekit, Vinekit, Mosskit and Leafkit and her were there, and the kits were a little bigger. Destinyflower realized that it was two moons into the future, and most of the kits had become apprentices and their mothers had moved out. But looking at Dewflower made her wonder about something, and she was very surprised, too.

Due to her surprise, she exclaimed, *"Dewflower!* You're expecting?!" She hadn't realized that the vision wasn't reality so everyone heard her and looked at her with a confused expression. Then she was a little embarrassed, but continued, "I had a vision about Dewflower being in the nursery, and all the kits were apprentices except for mine and Rainingclaw's kits. And her belly was bigger."

The kits didn't understand about the Light and Dark Prophecy, but the apprentices and adult cats did. Tawnyclaw and Burntfur also rushed into the nursery to see the kits until they heard what Destinyflower said. Tawnyclaw hadn't understood the prophecies that well as an apprentice since he didn't know how it could work, but after his former mentor's words, he had some sort of idea now. The kits were sort of confused what Destinyflower meant by vision, but the apprentices knew.

Then everybody looked at Dewflower and the young silver tabby she-cat suddenly became self-conscious of herself and she was very perplexed, too.

Leaffeather thought about Destinyflower's vision and remembered he had a dream about kits running around in the nursery. He just figured that those kits were Destinyflower's and Rainingclaw's. But then he paid more attention and remembered the season and the kits in the dream and he saw they looked different. The number of kits and queens in the nursery had dropped substantially and there were only four bigger kits, and two young kits, which looked oddly like Dewflower... and another cat he recognized. One had silver fur and the other white. And the season was mid leaf-bare. And right now, there were many kits and four newborn kits. And the season was currently late leaf-fall.

He decided to tell about this, which made everyone even more surprised. Thunderflames inquired curiously who Dewflower would have mated with, and in a joking fashion, Tawnyclaw suggested Frozenbreeze and Burntfur, Owlpaw, Crescentpaw, Minnowpaw, Hopekit, Moonkit, Redkit and Silverkit all chuckled humorously. But Dewflower became more nervous and self-conscious at the second as she shrunk into the nursery floor with a lot of embarrassment on her face.

Destinyflower decided to console the younger she-cat and said it was wonderful to be having kits, regardless of who the father was, since the Clan can grow and have more warriors. She added that if Frozenbreeze was the father, that was excellent, since he was a pure soul for saving three cats for nothing in return, which was why StarClan accepted him and that his kits would be proud of him and always look up to him. Leaffeather and Emberheart both agreed, nodding excitedly and Hopekit added that he got hurt to save foreign cats who he didn't know and died to save Dewflower and everyone quickly agreed with their wonderful explanations. Dewflower relaxed substantially, to Destinyflower's relief and delight.

Leaffeather added that he figured that Frozenbreeze may have sent the vision as the kits seemed to look like his, especially the white-colored pelt of one kit and the facial similarity, and Destinyflower agreed with him with her visions.

Destinyflower only wanted to tell about the other visions to the light prophecy cats, legacy prophecy cats and Shadowcreek and Greenmoon, however, as they predicted about the DarkClan battle and how it would be. She also had an idea how soon it would be, as Shinekit and Vinekit were fighting hard, but they were still a lot smaller than the other warriors, and she didn't want to worry the rest of the Clan just yet, especially the kits and apprentices, until they came to a good conclusion and made a good plan of what they should do, and the decisions they should make during the battle. She also thought about her daughter being a queen and Destinyflower wondered what she would do at that time when Owlpaw was expecting, probably Desertpaw's kits. Destinyflower had no idea if she could avert a disaster or change the future for the better, however, since she could only see the future.

Leaffeather thought that having more kits was wonderful, but he was still confused about Frozenbreeze, DarkClan, the rogues, and the future. He also wondered how Frozenbreeze would play a part in this, as he had been from DarkClan, and still had to follow Darkstar's rules, and be a "strong" warrior and contribute. Destinyflower and Warmtail *did* tell the Clan about how the white tom was sent on a patrol to catch them, but he smashed into a tree at high speed due to him running fast and not focusing too much. And he probably got injured and had to be treated afterwards.

But he was sure that the StarClan cat did no wrong on purpose.

### ~~Another day later~~

Hopekit was sitting on the grass next to all of the kits and apprentices and most warriors, as Destinyflower, one of the queens who just gave birth to two of the younger kits, was telling a story about her family tree.

Destinyflower had said, "Did you know that Fierylight is my first cousin?" Which made everyone intrigued, especially Tawnyclaw, Burntfur and Hopekit, because they were the kits of Fierylight, and Warmtail and their three older kits, because they were her mate and kits. Fierylight and Greenmoon both agreed, and everyone sat down to hear the tale. Destinyflower had also remembered that Greenmoon was her cousin, too, and told everyone, which made even Specklewhisker and Lynxdaisy interested, so they also listened in with their kits.

Destinyflower explained about her parents, Swiftsand and Thymegrass who ran away from BraveClan to become kittypets due to a grave reason (which she didn't tell, which made Hopekit wonder what it could be). She said that Greenmoon and Fierylight's fathers were Eveningtower and Vixenpetal respectively, and the brothers of Swiftsand. She also told them about Honeyjump. Fierylight and Greenmoon agreed with her explanation.

Destinyflower said that she was born much later than Greenmoon, Fierylight and Maizelight, Bravestar's mother, and she was even born later than Bravestar and Shadowcreek, but not too much later. She joked about her being older or as old as all of the Clan members by generation which made some Clanmates laugh. She also said that her kits, Owlpaw, Crescentpaw, Minnowpaw, Shinekit and Vinekit, and Greenmoon's kits, Specklewhisker and Lynxdaisy, Maizelight's kit, Bravestar, and Fierylight's kits, Tawnyclaw, Burntfur and Hopekit were all second cousins through their great-grandmother, Nectarfern, which Hopekit and probably a lot of other cats thought was very interesting. Fierylight also talked about Nectarfern's parents and grandparents, of which one of the grandparents was Goldstar, which was even more interesting to everyone, especially Hopekit because she was a descendant of Goldstar.

Bravestar also seemed interested, which made Hopekit wonder if he didn't know. Bravestar hadn't thought much about the family tree, but he thought it would be good to know.

Pollenkit asked about how she and her siblings were related to Bravestar and Destinyflower replied that they were second cousins once removed due to their father being Specklewhisker. Then she also said that Lynxdaisy and Cloudflames were second cousins once removed too, as the latter was one of Bravestar's children, and their four kits were surprised, but still in wonder about this fact. Hopekit wondered how *she* was related to Pollenkit and Heatherkit, so she decided to ask the queen this.

Destinyflower said that she was glad that Hopekit asked and said that since she and her siblings were the kits of Fierylight and much younger cousins of Bravestar, it made Heatherkit their first cousin twice removed. And Pollenkit was also her second cousin once removed, too.

Emberheart remembered his father in his first life, Barktuft, who was the brother of Logclaw, the father of Eveningtower, Vixenpetal, Swiftsand, and Honeyjump, which meant that he was their first cousin. Brownwool, their other brother, was the father of Thymegrass and also Destinyflower's grandfather. He also jumped into the conversation and explained about the three brothers and their mother, Fawnstripe. Destinyflower seemed surprised to learn that her parents were cousins, and Hopekit never knew about them. But she figured they were also her ancestors, well, Logclaw, anyway, since Brownwool and Barktuft were only the ancestors of Destinyflower and Shadowcreek and their descendants.

Shadowcreek also thought that Barktuft was her ancestor through Gardenflower then Cinderpelt. Leaffeather also talked about them and how they joined after a severe era of greencough happened on his invitation. Being the only cat who was an adult during that time (Skysoar or his parents and Cinderpelt weren't even born and Rainleaf was only a kit), he remembered them the most vividly and talked about how Barktuft and Waterrock died protecting the Clan when a fire struck.

Hopekit was surprised about these stories and she didn't know that the history of BraveClan was this vast. But she was really fascinatedi.

Flowermoon, Flameheart, Sootmist, Hazecrest and Marigoldstar all started talking about the SunClan family tree, right then, and Hopekit and her siblings were intrigued to see what their father and the other SunClan cats would say. Dewflower, Diamondhare and Thunderflames also piped up about their family since they remembered SunClan, of course.

Hazecrest explained that SunClan was a connected family and that they were all the descendants of an original group who were afraid of foxes and wolves, and they happened to meet each other for protection and company. But they frequently got injured and even killed sometimes, and they didn't know what to do until Sunny and his sister, Dawn, later Sunstar and Dawntail, came after running away due to a ferocious dog their Twolegs got. Sunny met with Sea, the unofficial leader of the group and a very tough she-cat, and wanted them to be strong enough to fight back. Her brother, Furry, also agreed with Sunny and told Sea to follow his ideas to fight back. Eventually, Sunny's ideas worked and they managed to scare off the foxes and wolves. Sometime later they became a Clan and Sunstar mated with Searose, previously Sea, and Dawntail with a cat named Stormycloud, previously Stormy. They mated and had kits.

There were also medicine cats named Sky and Tree, later Skypelt and Treestorm, who mated before SunClan and the warrior code was created, and they had a daughter, Waterclaw (who mated with Searose and Sunstar's son, Tallclaw, and Skyhigh) a son. Dawntail and Stormycloud had she-cats Frostfight and Lightmoon and tom Littlehail. Furry, now Furrypelt, already had two kits named Flea and Rose, the former a tom and the latter a she-cat. Flea was named Fleatail but Rose's name didn't get changed as she later became a kittypet, but she left her two kits, Mottledfur (tom) and Greenear (she-cat) with the Clan.

Mottledfur mated with Waterclaw and Tallclaw's daughter, Finchheart and had Birdlight, a daughter, and Stormear and Sunpelt, who were toms. Warmtail remembered his grandmother, Birdlight, who was the mother of his mother, Lakepool, and added onto Hazecrest and the other SunClan cats' explanations. The three older kits and mate of Warmtail were positively surprised. Sootmist explained about how Stormear was her father who mated with Robinflight, her mother. And Hazecrest explained about how Sunpelt was *his* father who mated with *his* mother, Dapplemoon. Dapplemoon was the daughter of Greenear, and she had a brother, Liontail.

Sootmist and Marigoldstar also talked about Frostfight's descendants. Frostfight's daughter was Moonstar, previously Moonstream, and her son was Mintleap. Mintleap's son was Treelight, who was Marigoldstar, Silversun and Auburnfur's father (and Flowermoon's mentor). Mintleap's daughter was Goldenmoon, who later gave birth to Goldensparrow, Sootmist's dead mate and Sunstrike and Yarrowlight's father. Robinflight's mother was Moonstar, making Sootmist her granddaughter. Flameheart also said that one of Moonstar's sons was Flamingstorm, *his* father, which meant he was also her grandson. Desertpaw and Jumppaw seemed happy to be descendants of a leader. Sootmist and Flameheart also mentioned Desertclaw, who was their uncle, and he was a warrior before but after breaking his leg, became a medicine cat. Flowermoon had said that he was Desertpaw's namesake.

Marigoldstar remembered that Desertclaw helped birth her and her siblings and told Pollenhaze that there was an evil aura coming off of Auburnkit. He also came with her to get her nine lives, so she was fond of him. But somehow Moonstar didn't seem to like him that much, despite him being her son, for reasons that she would only take to StarClan, so Marigoldstar had no idea why her great-aunt felt that about him.

They talked about Littlehail, and his grandchildren through different kits were Redlight and Hailstorm, Flowermoon and Flameheart's mothers respectively. Redkit asked if Redlight was her namesake and Flowermoon nodded excitedly. Flowermoon also talked about Tallclaw and Waterclaw's daughter and Finchheart's sister, Riverlight, who was Pollenhaze and Palestream's mother, of which Palestream was her father. Dustclaw was Pollenhaze and Palestream's father, and he was the son of Lightmoon. Dewflower quipped about how Lightmoon was her ancestor through the maternal line, which meant she was her female ancestor through only Dewflower's mother and *her* mother and so on. Dustclaw's sister and Lightmoon's daughter was Swiftdawn, which reminded everyone of Swiftsand. Their daughter was Sandwind who mated with Liontail, the brother of Greenear and had Stormwind, Dewflower's mother. Dewflower and Marigoldstar said that the former and Lakepool's father was a loner named Ice.

Warmtail, Diamondhare and Thunderflames were surprised to learn this. They hadn't learned about it because they were too young at the time, but Dewflower was as old as Fenikfight and Firerain. Warmtail thought the idea of Lakepool and Dewflower's father being the same cat and mating with Stormwind and Birdlight was weird, since Dewflower was much younger than Lakepool. But he thought it was like Bravestar and Hopekit or something. Or Fierylight and Destinyflower. Or *Bravestar* and Destinyflower. Or Hopekit and Heatherkit. Or Fallstar and Reedstar.

Dewflower sadly mentioned that Lakepool had two siblings, Hailpaw, a sister, and Reedpaw, a brother, but they both died when they were all apprentices together, leaving only Lakepaw as the last one standing. Warmtail was very surprised and asked when it happened. Dewflower replied when Stormwind was an apprentice along with Lakepool when they died, and they died from leaf-bare's harshness, but she was told this story as a kit, when it happened much later.

Owlpaw asked who Warmtail's father was and Marigoldstar said that it was Silversun, her brother. Warmtail, Diamondhare and Thunderflames nodded and the latter last one added that the three of them were cousins. Owlpaw and her siblings and Spotkit and his siblings were fascinated by this. Spotkit asked if they were second cousins, and they nodded. Then Dewflower said she was sort of a half-great-aunt of Owlpaw, Crescentpaw and Minnowpaw and Minnowpaw said that was funny because she was as old as Fenikfight and Firerain, her aunt and uncle, and Dewflower agreed.

Hopekit was very interested by this fact. She thought about her grandparents, Sunpelt and Dapplemoon, and Heatherfern and Vixenpetal. She knew that her father was younger than her mother, probably due to the generation discrepancy. She thought she learned a lot of facts today, especially about SunClan and BraveClan's family trees. But then she remembered that they mentioned a cat named Auburnfur who was Marigoldstar and Silversun's sister. *Who was she?* she wondered since she never heard of her before. She wondered if she died or ran away. So Hopekit decided to ask. She didn't anticipate negative reactions, though, but neither did the other kits.

The adults and apprentices frowned a little, including Tawnyclaw and Burntfur, and especially the four light prophecy cats, and Hopekit remembered the tale they told about them being in DarkClan (with the exception of Marigoldstar) before she and the other ten kits and even Owlpaw, Crescentpaw and Minnowpaw were born. She wondered if they saw Auburnfur in DarkClan. But Hopekit wondered how the sister of Marigoldstar be her own enemy and be in DarkClan, as she thought sisters should be friends with each other, not enemies.

Marigoldstar sighed in a bit of a gloomy way. "You know DarkClan?" The kits nodded, but in a puzzled way. The SunClan leader continued, "Well, you see, she didn't like the warrior code for some reason, and then when DarkClan started threatening me and my Clan, I had to disband it in order to prevent mass genocide of our Clan. Relocation would have been very hard, too. But you see, Auburnfur, she wanted to join DarkClan willingly. Right before I disbanded it, she bragged about how DarkClan was the perfect Clan for her. She had taken custody of Warmtail, then Warmkit, and entered DarkClan. She said that, 'This Clan is trash. The Clan I'm joining will be perfect for me!' I was devastated, but I remembered the medicine cat, Desertclaw's words to our mother, Pollenhaze, about Auburnfur being evil when we were born, and I knew she would go to the Dark Forest when she died. Later on, when we discovered the Light and Dark Prophecy, Auburnfur was discovered to be one of those four dark prophecy cats, and my thoughts were confirmed that she was surely evil."

The kits were surprised, and so were the apprentices. Marigoldstar thought they were old enough to learn, four and a half moons old, but she wondered if they could handle or even understand the info. She didn't include info that was *too* dark, but she did mention genocide. So she quickly just nodded, and told the entire Clan as a distraction, "Speaking of which, it is dinner time."

The Clan members were just a little fazed by the subject change, but they probably seemed to understand why she abruptly ended this intriguing and educational story session. Hopekit, however, didn't really understand at all. *So Auburnfur was born evil,* Hopekit remembered, *and she is a prophecy cat. And she also kitnapped Warmtail as a kit.* It made no sense to her why this was so, because she had never heard of it happening before.

She also remembered when her mother and other kits' mothers mentioned there were bad reasons that BraveClan shrunk for but they refused to tell. While going to the prey pile with the many other BraveClan warriors, apprentices and kits, some of which had joined the Clan from SunClan, as she now fully knew after listening to the SunClan cats' stories, including her father, she wondered if the bad reasons had to do with... *DarkClan.*

### ~~An hour later~~

Hopekit was going to the nursery to sleep. Emberheart and Marigoldstar followed her in to talk to their queen sister or daughter, Rainingclaw and Diamondhare.

Hopekit curled up in her moss bed next to Fierylight, the only kit out of the eleven kits to be born single, and out of the apprentices and most warriors, too, so she was the only kit next to her mother, probably the last single being Warmtail. She remembered wanting to be a medicine cat while going to sleep and thought about StarClan.

She thought that she would get to play with the butterflies again, but she found herself in an unrecognizable place. She looked around and she seemed to be floating. She saw starry mist and wondered if she was in StarClan.

Then suddenly, the starry mist started turning dark and she heard a frightening hiss coming from behind her and she screamed in great fright, and instinctively jumped forward to dodge whatever was coming. Then she turned around and saw a huge tom cat looking ferociously and murderously at her.

She learned about the history of BraveClan and SunClan, but even then she could not figure out who it was, and she fearfully thought it was a DarkClan cat. Trembling in great distress and fear she stepped back more. The dark tom tried to step into the starry mist, but he seemed to be blocked.

*StarClan cats can traverse into the Dark Forest, albeit not recommended as it is too dangerous,* Fierylight, a light prophecy cat, and her mother, had taught her and the other kits. *But Dark Forest cats cannot go in, as StarClan will never allow them in. If they* can *enter... well, I will not continue.*

Hopekit was glad he couldn't go into StarClan, but she was still afraid since he was a Dark Forest cat. Then she heard a voice which she thought she heard before. *"Hey! If you attack this kit, Bloodkiller, I won't leave you!"* said a starry voice that sounded like a tom.

Bloodkiller, the tom, growled at the StarClan cat behind her, and just hissed, "Beware soon, StarClan and BraveClan. I *will* finally get my wish. To defeat you."

"Whatever," the StarClan cat said dismissively. "BraveClan, SunClan and StarClan are very strong. Together you are no match. And I will help. And it is only my duty to protect this kit, as she wanted to help me heal from my wound." Hopekit was a little confused about who he could be but then she had an idea.

"Being DarkClan, you joined StarClan. That is the most shameful, I must say. I was watching you all the way. I already told my Dark Forest pupil, Darkstar, about this, although you already died, otherwise *he would have slaughtered you!"* yowled the huge Dark Forest tom with an awful name. Hopekit went behind the StarClan cat in hope that the tom would disappear immediately. The tom continued very loudly, "If it only weren't for StarClan *holding me back to tell Darkstar about your dumb deed of saving those two immature warrior siblings of this kit and going to BraveClan happily! Including YOU!"*

Frozenbreeze, the StarClan cat as Hopekit realized from the Dark Forest tom's story, just shrugged and led Hopekit away from the violent Dark Forest tom named Bloodkiller and they both walked on the starry terrain in silence. Hopekit was still in shock about what just happened and why she was here, but Frozenbreeze finally stopped when the violent tom was both out of sight and earshot and turned towards her, with a gentle expression on his face.

"Hopekit, we decided to bring you here in order to tell some very grave secrets to BraveClan," the white StarClan tom started. "Through you."

Hopekit couldn't be more puzzled. "Why me?" she asked abruptly and in great confusion, but Frozenbreeze simply said, "We have discovered a special destiny for you and we need to make sure it is fulfilled, especially since you are planning on becoming a medicine cat. Even if you don't understand, give this message to Bravestar and Marigoldstar and they will try to interpret it. And I need to start from the least dire secrets, to the most. I could tell Leaffeather but even he can't handle too much information and he won't be able to understand everything."

Hopekit remembered she wanted to become a medicine cat but she hadn't thought about the StarClan aspect that much, except that she would accept it if it came to her. But she didn't know it would come to her as only a kit, albeit being one moon and a half away from being an apprentice of a medicine cat. She wondered what her special destiny was, and she didn't think it was only becoming a medicine cat. She thought it would be way more special, so she just nodded in response.

"The first one is a prophecy: Through hope comes wisdom, destiny and purity," started Frozenbreeze. "You will remember easily."

Hopekit just nodded and tried to figure out what it meant. She thought it would have to do with her and Destinyflower.

He continued, "Secondly, I gave the vision about Dewflower's pregnancy to Destinyflower and Leaffeather. They did not see me give the vision.

"Thirdly, I fathered Dewflower's kits.

"Fourthly, I also saved an apprentice, Airpaw, from a dog. She is a kit of Auburnfur, along with her sisters Lightpaw and Brownfur, who are also DarkClan. Welcome Airpaw and Lightpaw, but beware of Brownfur as she will bring death upon two of your Clan members.

"And fifth, beware of Bloodkiller, too. He is one of your many ancestors, but surely evil. He will lead mass destruction through his armies.

"And finally, learn about Purefur. And try to connect with her, as she was a wonderful and exceptional BraveClan warrior."

Hopekit had no idea if she followed anything but she nodded in response nonetheless. She couldn't imagine the last three secrets could be true and was in a state of disbelief and shock. The first one was a simple prophecy, and Leaffeather said that he thought Frozenbreeze sent the vision and Destinyflower agreed with him and they also suggested that he fathered Dewflower's kits, but the last three were completely unexpected and uncalled for. *I guess this is what he means by least to most dire,* Hopekit thought distressfully. She also had no idea about Purefur, or who she was.

Frozenbreeze noticed this and tried to console her, "You don't have to try and understand it yet, being a kit, but you are a mature and kind one as you tried to help me innocently without knowing who I was, along with Heatherkit. But try to remember the six secrets so you can tell your Clan when you wake up. I will repeat them again in case you forgot."

He said them again in the same starry voice as before, and Hopekit wasn't sure if she still could remember them all but she said she would try. Then Frozenbreeze smiled at her and then she felt like she was floating upwards until she woke up.

Then she saw everyone sleeping, except for Marigoldstar and Emberheart who were about to leave. Until Hopekit yelped, *"I got a prophecy!"*

The two adult cats immediately froze and spun towards her in confusion at what she just said. Hopekit repeated, *"I got a prophecy!"* over and over again as she tried to alert everyone. The entire Clan got up sooner or later as they were about to go to sleep when they heard what they said, and they were too shocked to fall asleep again. The entire Clan, kits, apprentices, warriors, medicine cats and even Bravestar, Marigoldstar and Shadowcreek were staring at her in great and unbelievable surprise, as if they thought it was almost incredible that Hopekit could get a prophecy, of all cats. Fierylight looked at her for an explanation and Hazecrest seemed to wonder how his kit could be really special.

Hopekit wasn't shy or soft-spoken, though, so she tried to remember the six secrets Frozenbreeze relayed to her and told them to everyone. Leaffeather, Emberheart and Greenmoon and the other prophecy cats seemed to be making a note of the prophecy, "Through hope comes wisdom, destiny and purity." But when she continued speaking, some of the Clan members gasped and were in awe. When she said that Frozenbreeze fathered the kits of Dewflower, Dewflower couldn't be more embarrassed. When she mentioned Airpaw being the kit of Auburnfur, Warmtail and Marigoldstar's tails went up and straight in shock as they remembered Auburnfur in a bad light.

When mentioning Bloodkiller, everyone was confused, even the legacy prophecy cats, and even Leaffeather, since they were supposed to know everything but Hopekit realized they didn't. She explained that Bloodkiller was a Dark Forest cat who tried to attack her before Frozenbreeze saved her and gave her the secrets. And when she mentioned Purefur, the four legacy prophecy cats who were the kits of Bravestar seemed to recognize her in a fright.

"Purefur... she died in a rogue battle long ago to save Cloudflames' previous life, Skysoar," Leaffeather said in astonishment.

"She also got a vision that I was a prophecy cat!" Cloudflames added in fascination.

"Does this mean she is special?" Rainingclaw said in great wonder.

Emberheart looked grim. "We did try to save her, since she did avenge Fallstar by killing that rogue but her injuries were too grave."

The other Clan members seemed to have had no idea who she was, including Hopekit and Bravestar, except for the four legacy prophecy cats.

Leaffeather added, "She was also my niece in my first life. My sister, Ashthistle, died to give birth to her and Purefur's father, Tansywood, became a theoretical queen because he didn't want his kits to be alone but he still had to do warrior duties. Purefur didn't have any kits of her own, though." He looked sad.

Emberheart, Bravestar, Shadowcreek, Greenmoon and Marigoldstar still seemed to be in deep thought about these six secrets, but especially the first and the fourth, fifth and sixth secrets, as the second and third were minimal compared to the rest.

Marigoldstar wondered if Hopekit had a special destiny which was why she got these six secrets so young. Emberheart recalled getting prophecies like this as the medicine cat apprentice Cinderpaw, since he would eventually be a prophecy cat, but he still wasn't a kit, so he was surprised StarClan could do this with a kit, even if she was going to be a medicine cat as an apprentice, especially the recently dead DarkClan but also StarClan warrior Frozenbreeze.

Fierylight seemed to be only a little surprised that her daughter got a prophecy from StarClan so young, but she still seemed to be confused. Hazecrest was still very surprised, however.

The entire Clan was still wondering about StarClan and DarkClan's secrets, including the kits and apprentices, and Hopekit herself.

## Part 19: More Visions of Destiny

BraveClan, a day later: Leaffeather was thinking about last night. When all of the prophecy cats (including the queens, Fierylight, Destinyflower, and Rainingclaw) were discussing, the other ten kits, the apprentices, Owlpaw, Crescentpaw, Minnowpaw, Desertpaw and Jumppaw and the young warriors, Tawnyclaw, Burntfur, Sunstrike, and Yarrowlight were all shooting questions at Hopekit at light speed about her dream and Frozenbreeze and Bloodkiller.

*"What did Frozenbreeze do to save you?!"* Spotkit asked in great fascination.

"Yeah! And what about that evil cat?" Pollenkit asked, shuddering about Bloodkiller.

"Did Frozenbreeze fight him off?" Yarrowlight asked with great interest.

*"I hope he killed that evil cat!"* Daisykit yelled loudly with the hope that Frozenbreeze did do so.

"I feel sorry for Hopekit that she had to see that," Moonkit murmured in sympathy for Hopekit.

"Me too, but at least Hopekit can learn fighting moves from Frozenbreeze," Jumppaw suggested, to which his brother added, "That would be a wild idea, but it isn't impossible! I once heard of a SunClan cat being trained by a StarClan cat!"

"Hopekit is becoming a medicine cat, though," Crescentpaw pointed out, but Owlpaw replied, "But Greenmoon also knows warrior moves!"

"And so do Leaffeather and Emberheart," added Tawnyclaw.

"If Hopekit learns warrior moves, will she be able to kill Bloodkiller?" Sunstrike wondered out loud, and Burntfur just replied, "Hopefully."

"I want him to have already died, though," Daisykit muttered angrily, her anger probably directed towards Bloodkiller.

"Fierylight told me that StarClan cats can kill Dark Forest cats, but also the other way around," Bluekit gleefully told the group. "So Frozenbreeze and Hopekit can work together to kill him and *they* won't get killed." Orangekit, Redkit, and Fenikkit both nodded eagerly in agreement with their sibling or kit friend.

"I wonder if I will get trained by a StarClan mentor when I become a medicine cat," Heatherkit wondered out loud, too.

The queens were yowling at their kits to stop slamming Hopekit with questions about her dreams and said it was nighttime and they had to go to bed. Fierylight, Destinyflower and Flowermoon also ordered their older kits: Tawnyclaw, Burntfur, Owlpaw, Crescentpaw, Minnowpaw, Desertpaw and Jumppaw to get out of the nursery, go back to their own dens and sleep. Warmtail, Hazecrest, and Flameheart, the fathers of the older kits, and Sootmist, the mother of Sunstrike and Yarrowlight, even tried to drag them back to their own dens, saying that as kits, apprentices and young warriors in SunClan, if they stayed awake at nighttime like this for a small reason, their parents, the leader and the deputy would discipline them in a much harsher way than what they were doing.

Dewflower was also in the nursery. When Hopekit talked about the Dewflower's kits StarClan secret, Greenmoon and Leaffeather decided to check her out (with Heatherkit and Hopekit watching as usual). They asked Dewflower if she had any dizziness or nausea and she did say she sometimes, for a short while, felt things were spinning and her belly was acting weird. Emberheart also helped, of course, since he was experienced at this, and Greenmoon said that Dewflower's belly *did* seem to be moving very slightly, and Leaffeather and Emberheart agreed with her observation. All the queens and kits were happy to have her in the nursery, of course, since there would be new kits and another queen to talk to, and happy that Frozenbreeze was indeed the father, especially Tawnyclaw and Burntfur, who got saved by him, and Hopekit and Heatherkit, who were fond of him, too, and that he would live on through his kits. Dewflower was also happy about expecting, though a little nervous, and the other queens and Marigoldstar, Shadowcreek, Sootmist and Greenmoon consoled her about being a queen. But Dewflower was mostly quiet when all the young cats were asking Hopekit the barricade of questions and was just sitting in her comfy moss bed, made for her by the apprentices, watching Hopekit's expression curiously.

Leaffeather was watching from the medicine cat's den and saw Hopekit looked way too tired to answer any questions of theirs. When the commotion finally died down after a ton of rebellious retorts, scuffling and ruffling around and even being dragged by the scruff (for rebellious spirits like Tawnyclaw, Owlpaw and Jumppaw) and noisy cries from the kits who wanted to stay awake all night, everything was asleep and quiet, except for him. He had never seen young cats so interested in gossip before. While being a kit, apprentice and warrior in both lives, he hadn't seen kits being so talkative. *Maybe these new generations are like this,* he figured in amusement. He had noticed that Dewflower, Specklewhisker, Diamondhare, Flowermoon, Flameheart and Lynxdaisy weren't questioning Hopekit or anything, but they did seem extremely curious to know about Hopekit's dream along with their kits and younger Clanmates, too. He thought they may not have been through hardships before which is why they were so joyful. He remembered that Wheatgrass told him about what they did as kits and apprentices, and they weren't any less playful than this generation.

Leaffeather had still been thinking about Hopekit's six secrets from Frozenbreeze, and he wondered what they meant. The second and third secrets had revealed Dewflower's pregnancy, but he wondered why that was so important for StarClan. *Maybe it just has to do with Frozenbreeze,* Leaffeather figured since he was the father of those kits and had mated with Dewflower, but the legacy prophecy cat also knew that StarClan didn't operate on one cat's opinion. *Are Dewflower's kits important somehow?* he wondered all of a sudden. He hadn't thought about it too much, but he wondered if they were important in StarClan's destiny now, like the nine prophecy cats, and Hopekit somehow.

He also thought about the first secret, which was a prophecy. *Through hope comes wisdom, destiny and purity,* he thought, trying to interpret it. He wondered if it had to do with Hopekit, Destinyflower and Purefur. *But what would wisdom be?* Leaffeather thought. If the other three positive qualities had to do with prefixes of cats, then he thought wisdom could be a prefix of another cat, but he had no idea who "Wisdom-" would be.

After pondering over it a bit, he had managed to go to sleep, but the next day, he was woken up to a specific kit's cry, which wasn't Hopekit.

*"Guess what!"* screeched Heatherkit very enthusiastically at the top of her lungs. *"I thought I saw I was in a field full of marigolds and it was nighttime and I could see so many stars and Silverpelt! Then I saw a cat which looked like Marigoldstar! And then I saw another cat which had dark-reddish-brown-sort-of-colored fur! And then they both started fighting each other wildly and I tried to yell at them to stop but then they both died and disappeared! And then I thought I heard someone that looked sort of like Greenmoon say to me, 'The power inside may be deep, the sky's limit may be high, or the fire may be within you!'"*

The entire Clan, including Hopekit and Leaffeather, couldn't be more astounded. Lynxdaisy, Orangekit, Bluekit and Daisykit stared at their daughter or sister in great stupefaction as she suddenly yowled this upon waking up, and they got woken up, too, and so did all of the queens and apprentices. Soon enough, Cloudflames also rushed to the nursery upon getting woken up by her cry to see what was happening and so did Specklewhisker, Warmtail, Hazecrest, Thunderflames and Flameheart, the other nursery fathers, in great fear that something bad happened, until they saw Heatherkit perfectly fine, yelling her prophecy to the entire BraveClan. Since the Clan camp was relatively small to the average camp size and the dens were closely knit, the entire Clan could hear her yell loud and clear and wake up from it like Hopekit.

It was morning though, so no one was that irritated from being interrupted from their sleep, and Leaffeather had been curious to know what was going on, along with the other prophecy cats and Greenmoon and Shadowcreek. He immediately ran from the medicine cats' den to the nursery (they were across each other) and saw Heatherkit.

He quickly inquired, "Who gave you the vision?" and almost all the other cats in the nursery (there were a ton as most of the cats jumped from the warriors and apprentices' den to the nursery in great curiosity), including Greenmoon, Emberheart and Hopekit, nodded quickly in a questioning manner, too. Heatherkit shrugged and said she didn't know as she never saw her before. Emberheart had asked her to give a description, and Heatherkit replied with, "Medium gray ruffled fur, big ears, she-cat and a long, sleek tail."

Leaffeather, Emberheart and Cloudflames had known immediately who it was, and they remembered the she-cat who unluckily happened to be wandering through the forest when Logclaw had gone missing, and his mate, Nectarfern, had found her and brought her back to BraveClan. Reedpaw, now Reedstar, had been giving her food, and later on, as leader he made her deputy and became her mate, and had Junipergold, a daughter. She later on became leader after the civil battle, and Junipergold gave birth to Greenmoon, and she comforted her daughter when she said she would die.

"Fadedstar," they all said simultaneously, as they started thinking about her honesty and good-natured personality, and who also had a cool head during bad situations, like the awful civil battle that should have never happened.

Most of the Clan were confused as they have never heard of her before but the five legacy prophecy cats and Shadowcreek and Greenmoon and Fierylight and Destinyflower all knew who she was vividly. Greenmoon said that she was the predecessor to Bravestar and Heatherkit's ancestor through the maternal line. Hopekit remembered what that meant as Marigoldstar had described, and she thought that meant she was Greenmoon's mother or maternal grandmother since Greenmoon was Heatherkit's maternal grandmother through Lynxdaisy.

They also talked a little bit about Fadedstar and who she was, and the Clan had an idea now, but it was still surprising Heatherkit was visited by her to deliver a prophecy to BraveClan, which was: *The power inside may be deep, the sky's limit may be high, or the fire may be within you.*

Now, it was noon, and the day after Hopekit's revelation of the six secrets Frozenbreeze relayed to her and the discovery of Dewflower's pregnancy, of which the same StarClan cat, Frozenbreeze was the father of. And it was also a few hours after Heatherkit's revelation of the other prophecy, which Leaffeather and Emberheart believed to be a continuation of the first one Hopekit got, *"Through hope comes wisdom, destiny and purity."*

Leaffeather sighed exhaustedly as he sorted the herbs by himself, as Greenmoon was on a hunting-gathering patrol with Specklewhisker and Tawnyclaw. And Emberheart wasn't officially a medicine cat, obviously, so he was just doing casual warrior duties, teaching his apprentice, Crescentpaw, advanced fighting moves and doing a small assessment as he was short two moons and a half a warrior. Emberheart would only step in for medicine cat duties in emergencies such as in battle and StarClan, but he occasionally helped out in normal times by gathering herbs, giving advice to the medicine cats, and helping to interpret StarClan dreams.

Marigold was for treated infected wounds, and so was yarrow and goldenrod. He also sorted the chamomile, elm bark and dandelion into this group. He sorted the honey, catnip, coriander seeds and willow bark into the group for treating fevers. And he put poppy seeds and a few sticks in the group for pain relieving. Leaffeather did think that becoming a medicine cat would be interesting, but sorting herbs was one of the more uninteresting aspects. He also thought that gathering was interesting because they could explore, but it still seemed like a normal routine now.

The most interesting thing was StarClan, but it was the hardest and most vital and nerve-racking aspect, and even shocking, as he had to get the dream from StarClan, possibly bad, and then interpret it. He hadn't gotten so many dreams as an apprentice, but now, as a medicine cat, he got thrown a multitude of dreams, especially that one about Minnowkit and Hazykit from Bluetail after he came back from the Moonstone with Greenmoon to get his full name.

Leaffeather was getting pretty exhausted with all of those dreams, and he wondered if StarClan decided to give those dreams to Hopekit and Heatherkit instead, not to burden him so much. *What about Greenmoon?* he wondered as she was also a medicine cat and his mentor, and therefore the oldest medicine cat. Greenmoon didn't seem to be getting a lot of special dreams, and Leaffeather wondered if he was getting them due to being a legacy prophecy cat. Cinderpelt had also gotten many dreams even though Tremblesplash and Bronzeroot didn't. Bluetail had gotten a few, but mostly Cinderpelt did. Purefur also got one, despite just being a warrior, and Leaffeather wondered if she was indeed special.

Then he saw he was finished sorting herbs and thought that was fast, so he decided to see what to do next. Then he looked out of the den and saw Tawnyclaw, Sunstrike, their siblings, and Silverkit all together in a group slightly at an angle across the mouth of the den. Leaffeather had no interest in gossip unlike his fellow generation and the next, but he thought that if he learned of new relationships in the Clan, he can keep an eye on any kits to be coming, like Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike.

Tawnyclaw was flirting with Sunstrike as usual. "I caught some fresh mice for you, and no one else is allowed to even put a paw on them, Sunstrike."

Sunstrike beamed. "Thanks, but I also caught some mice. They're for you, too," and she giggled. Tawnyclaw just nodded and put his tail on her paws. He thought Sunstrike was an interesting she-cat ever since apprenticehood. Burntfur and Yarrowlight were also interesting but they were his sister or a tom.

Burntfur, Yarrowlight and Silverkit had noticed their love moment and decided to tease them.

"Hey, so when will we get to see more kits in the nursery?" Burntfur teased, and Yarrowlight added, "I hope you have many litters!"

Silverkit added the cherry on the icing by saying, "I would *love* to have more kit friends, even when I'm an apprentice! And get to talk to another queen. The other queens will like you and assist you during kitting, too!"

Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike blushed and ran away from the three, who burst out laughing. They went behind the medicine cat's den and Sunstrike groaned, "Those two are so annoying but I didn't think Silverkit would join the fray."

"Guess he is also starting to like gossip from those two," Tawnyclaw joked. Sunstrike nodded. "Hopefully Hopekit and Heatherkit don't become like them because they will be medicine cats," she replied with the hope that they wouldn't.

Tawnyclaw nodded positively. "Yep, they have to be really serious. No joke time! And hard prophecies and weird dreams, too! Well, that's why I didn't become a medicine cat!" Tawnyclaw stopped suddenly as he thought Leaffeather might have heard. "Hopefully Leaffeather didn't hear that and get offended. He's right inside of this den."

Sunstrike chuckled. "Yep, but Hopekit and Heatherkit might have also heard, because this camp is really small and cramped. I always tend to be suffocated, you know, and cats overhear easily, like if someone yells at the top of their lungs, the entire Clan can wake up immediately, despite being on opposite sides of the camp. I wonder if they will expand the camp soon."

Tawnyclaw nodded. "Well, hopefully! I don't always want to go on patrol only to talk to you. We need our own corner, too! For cats who want to talk in secret, you know!"

Sunstrike nodded in response and sighed. "Maybe they will do it soon! More kits are coming, especially with Dewflower in the nursery."

"That's true! But I would think that since there's no other groups around next to us to attack us, they should have done it before," Tawnyclaw said a little longingly.

"Well, yeah, me too. There's not much to set up, except maybe another den, like the elder's den. I am pretty sure there isn't one."

"Should we suggest this to Bravestar?"

"I guess so? It's a great idea and he does usually listen to everyone."

Leaffeather listened to this, and he did think it was a good idea, but not only so that some Clanmate could eavesdrop on another, which he was doing right now, but that didn't matter. He thought it would be better because more cats could be spread out as the Clan had grown substantially from three cats, or nine cats, which he had remembered as a kit in this life, and have more of an area to hide and defend the Clan.

So he decided to tell his parents who was in the leader's den next to him. Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike didn't notice him walk towards the leader's den as they were too engrossed in their conversation.

Tawnyclaw requested Sunstrike to come with him into the forest and she agreed, of course. Tawnyclaw wanted to tell her something really secret that no one should see or hear, not even mature cats who wouldn't tattletale, or their mothers or his father.

Leaffeather told Bravestar and Shadowcreek about the expansion, and he did give credit to Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike, obviously. They both told their son that they were *indeed* thinking about it, but they needed to plan it out first as it was a big thing to do, and it could be world-changing, too, as some secret could be hiding in the area they choose. They also had to make sure that the area they chose to occupy was livable enough. They said that the camp was filled with trees, and they only had a rock barrier, so warriors had to learn how to navigate around the trees and familiarize themselves, and build a rock barrier.

Leaffeather understood, but he also asked about an elders' den when there came to be elders that retired. Shadowcreek said that she and Bravestar were thinking about moving the nursery to the new den and making the nursery the elders' den so that the nursery can be all the way in the back and protected. They would also have to build the new nursery, and make it more spacious, as the current nursery was pretty cramped.

Leaffeather remembered being a kit in the nursery with five other kits and two queens, and even then there wasn't a ton of space to walk around without stepping on another cat's moss bed. He looked at the state of the nursery now and he noticed that queens and their kits were sharing large moss beds that were joint with each other, and almost no space to walk around.

He understood why the kits always wanted to leave the nursery and wander around the camp so much, and so he agreed with Shadowcreek's idea.

Leaffeather said that it was high time to expand, and his parents both agreed and decided to tell the camp about it and plan for it, and first, they would have to plan the layout. Building a barrier would take a lot of time, especially with collecting the rocks themselves so they couldn't dismantle the barrier that was between the camp and that area until it was built.

Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike were in an area close to camp, but still in the forest obscured by many trees, so their small moments would stay secret. Tawnyclaw thought this was the perfect moment, as his fur brushed hers and they touched noses. "You know, I may have confessed this about you to Burntfur. And I think you might now what I am going to say," Tawnyclaw whispered.

Sunstrike just laughed. "I am pretty sure we both know it."

They both laughed. "So," started Tawnyclaw in a suggestive tone, "will you be be my mate?"

Sunstrike rolled her eyes. "The answer was always yes!" They both started playing around and Tawnyclaw jumped onto her back in a kittenish way, and in anticipation for something he was waiting for, and probably Sunstrike, too.

Emberheart had been watching them, as he was just finished training Crescentpaw, and decided to follow them secretly, and hid behind a tree. He just smiled as he thought about the kits that were destined to come sooner or later. He was not a tattletale, definitely, but he thought he should tell Leaffeather and Greenmoon so they can be aware if Sunstrike may be expecting or not. He thought Sootmist and Fierylight would be happy to be grandmothers and Yarrowlight, Burntfur, and Hopekit to be uncle and aunts, and he wondered what the kits would look like.

He remembered when Islandtusk was having kits and it was definitely not pretty as he had to do it with her in secrecy. And there was definitely no love, just a deal between the two that he would have kits for his legacy to live on and Islandtusk would be able to rebel against Reedstar, which seemed weird to think about now. He also remembered getting exiled and going through a ton of trouble and the civil battle happening half because of this mating. And being a father without the kits having a mother was pretty terrible for him and his kits, but he was happy when Gardenflower, actually Rainleaf, started a relationship with Snowpounce, the son of another legacy prophecy cat, Skysoar (and also Snowpounce was also her first cousin through Daisyfox), and when Sandleap said he wanted to be a great warrior.

Then he thought about his current life and how it would be much different having kits. Unlike last time, he would be encouraged to have kits, especially being a legacy prophecy cat. He would be congratulated for being a father, and his mate would be happy to say to the entire Clan she was expecting his kits with no controversy. But he also remembered the reason why he became a medicine cat, Cinderpelt. He wasn't interested in having kits or mating, and never planned to, as he was only interested in helping the entire Clan with injuries and sicknesses until he got those dreams of the Legacy Prophecy along with Bluetail, who was also special.

Then things started changing, and he knew he had to mate one time or another before he died. And he made the right decision. But he wasn't ever interested in mating, or ever in love. Every member of the Clan he only loved like family, and not a mate, as he still had the medicine cat attitude from his previous life. He wondered how he would find a mate if he wasn't ever in love, but he figured that if some she-cat became interested in him, then he could take her as a mate to have kits with.

When Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike were finished, the tom had one thing on his mind. "Do you think we should have kits right now?"

Sunstrike seemed to be thinking deeply about this. "Well, since we don't have to fight DarkClan right now, maybe. Also, I think Shadowcreek and Bravestar were as old as us when they had kits. Probably only sixteen or seventeen moons old, and we're the same age, pretty much, except it takes two moons for the kits to grow inside of the mother's belly, so maybe we'll be eighteen moons old when we finally have our kits."

Tawnyclaw nodded exuberantly. "Well, yes, I think so. I think that more kits will be good for the Clan, too, although it is small and the DarkClan battle may still be looming around. I'm afraid our kits will still be kits during that battle and you will still be a queen if it happens... which I don't know when it happens."

Sunstrike shrugged. "I suppose so, so maybe we should have kits *after* the battle." Then her ears perked up with an idea. "But what about your mentor?"

"Former mentor? Oh right, she is a prophecy cat and she can see the future!" Tawnyclaw realized, remembering Destinyflower teaching him about the Light & Dark prophecy because she was still expecting and couldn't do much else with him, but he was too confused on how it worked until he witnessed her use her foreseeing powers on Dewflower, the newest queen to join the nursery, and probably won't be leaving for another eight moons.

"But how would she know the exact time, though?" Tawnyclaw wondered, and Sunstrike looked at him with a coy, mocking expression. "Really? I am surprised you didn't realize it, but I am pretty sure age of the kits and the current season can tell everything."

"Yeah, but we wouldn't know if it was either seven or eight moons into the future," Tawnyclaw replied a little sadly. "A moon difference may not seem like much, but if we are planning to have kits, that is a lot of time."

"We don't have to think *that* far ahead, if that is true," Sunstrike consoled him. "We need to prepare for it, but we don't need to rack our nerves worrying about it. Also, if we have kits, we don't have that much time to spend together because I will be in the nursery for a lot of time before I get to leave, which is when our kits will be apprentices, so... let's enjoy the time we have now, right?"

Tawnyclaw nodded in agreement and exuberance. "Yes, that will be good."

Emberheart went back and looked for Leaffeather, who he noticed was just finished talking to their parents, who were also the leader and deputy, Bravestar and Shadowcreek. Leaffeather was very happy about their approval and when he saw Emberheart, he decided to tell him about it.

"Emberheart! I'm so glad you're here," said the young medicine cat excitedly to his brother.

"Leaffeather, what happened? Is someone else expecting kits?" Emberheart asked him humorously, wondering with anticipation of what it could be.

"Even better, they will expand the camp. Now our Clan will have much more room to walk and talk about their own things. The younger generations sure love gossip apparently. The generations older than me probably gossiped more than this, though, due to their endless amount of free time."

Emberheart was surprised but in a pleasant and good way. "That *is* good. Maybe I will finally be free from their incessant chatter," he replied, and they both chuckled. In his previous life, Cinderpelt, he wasn't too close to Fallstar, they mostly had a leader-to-medicine-cat relationship, especially since Fallstar was a couple of generations older than him. But in this life, they were both equals, even littermates, and children of the *current* leader and deputy, and Emberheart thought he liked this life much better due to all of these things (including his father being alive and well unlike his previous life). He also hoped that he wouldn't die violently like Cinderpelt did, hastily gathering herbs before being slashed in his vital spots.

"I had something else to tell you, though. More room would be good because of the potential kits Tawnyclaw and Sunstrike may have," Emberheart continued, and Leaffeather raised an eyebrow. "I already heard the gossip due to the small space," he replied, but his brother shook his head.

"I meant that you should keep track. Of Sunstrike's condition," Emberheart said quickly, and Leaffeather understood. "I was thinking about that, too. Why, though, did they mate?"

Emberheart nodded. "The Clan sure is filling up quickly with the amount of kits and outsiders coming into the Clan, but especially kits."

Leaffeather agreed. "Yeah, there isn't any more space in the nursery, I am pretty sure." Then he remembered something. Hopekit and Heatherkit's visions. "Speaking of which, do you think Sunstrike, Tawnyclaw and their kits may be important? Fierylight and Hopekit are."

Emberheart thought about it, as he remembered the prophecy, too. "Yeah, I wonder about it, too. Do you think the second phrase in Heatherkit's vision has something to do with Skysoar? Because it said, 'the sky's limit may be high', so it may have to do with him, but not only his prefix, but suffix, too, as you can soar into the sky if you have wings, like a bird."

Leaffeather nodded and added, "There's also an StarClan cat who used to be SunClan named Skyhigh, which the cats who came from SunClan told about in the tale."

Emberheart agreed and replied, "Do you think it might have to do with that? It also mentioned, 'the fire may be within you', which might have something to do with Fierylight, or Firerain, Warmtail's older brother. And could Tawnyclaw, Burntfur and Hopebeam have inherited that prophetic power somehow, if that were possible?"

Leaffeather shrugged in consideration about it. "It's always possible, even if very unlikely, though for now, we don't fully understand it, so we should probably focus on the things we *do* know something about first."

Emberheart agreed with him, having memories of a medicine cat. Leaffeather also used to be Fallstar, a leader who could also get StarClan dreams, and not only medicine cats, so he knew he was definitely experienced with it, but Emberheart thought he may be the most experienced about StarClan and prophecies of the Clan now since he usually had prophetic dreams about this. Bluetail had also gotten the dream for the Legacy Prophecy, *Five cats are brave. Brave enough to continue the legacy of BraveClan. Follow their ways, and may the Clan thrive for eternity. You will see them again outside of StarClan. At the right moment.* He had managed to interpret it without much effort, despite only being an apprentice.

Leaffeather and Emberheart concluded their conversation for now, but they promised to speak about it during the meeting the nine prophecy cats and Shadowcreek and Greenmoon usually had at nighttime. They went on with their normal duties, but they still wondered about their niece, Heatherkit, and their great-aunt's daughter, Hopekit, and about Dewflower, the new queen who joined BraveClan, Frozenbreeze, the DarkClan but StarClan warrior who sacrificed himself and the unborn kits of Dewflower and potentially Sunstrike, and StarClan themselves.

### ~~DarkClan, a few days later~~

BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/20
BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/21