BraveClan's touching story/(3): Rediscovering Wonders from Darkness/5

## 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...