BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/4

## 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.