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Chapter Text

Cloverstream blinked sleep from her eyes. She stared at blurry green forms that danced in her eyes. When they finally took shape, she bolted upright. She was in the middle of the forest! This is not where she had fallen asleep at all!

Had she failed to get back to TrailClan before she passed out? She thought she had made it to camp, but it felt like a season ago, and she couldn’t quite remember what had happened.

“Scorn?” She called out. “Did you bring me here?”

“No.” A soft voice came from behind her. She spun around to come face-to-face with an orange tom with stripes along his face and back. Cloverstream almost thought it was Blazefire, but this was a different cat.

Something about this cat was off. As Cloverstream looked closer, she realized he had stars glistening in his pelt. This was a StarClan cat! She immediately grew afraid and shrank away. She remembered how Midnight once told her about how StarClan would sometimes manifest to kill a cat they disliked. 

“You!” She stepped back, arching her back, unsheathing her claws, and puffing out her fur to look twice her size. “Who are you? Have you come to kill me? I won’t let you!”

“Antrobolt.” The tom introduced himself politely. “I’ve come to warn you.”

“Warn me of what?” Cloverstream demanded.

“The path you are on will only lead to pain and death.” Antrobolt meowed darkly. “If you ever hope to live peacefully in eternity, you must change your ways.”

"Change my ways?" Cloverstream scoffed. "I don't think you know who I am. I'm an assassin. I don't change."

"But I've watched you," Antrobolt continued. "And I've seen your soft spot."

He padded forward and pressed a forepaw to Cloverstream's chest. She tried to cringe away, but it seemed like some invisible force was keeping her frozen in place.

"There is still a good cat inside of you. It's not too late to change."

"I think it is." Cloverstream shook out her pelt. The invisible force holding her was gone, and she pushed Antrobolt away. "I know I'm not going to StarClan, no matter what I do." If she betrayed Midnight and Scorn, she wouldn't end up in StarClan. She'd find herself in an empty void, suffering alone for eternity.

"Sometimes, all it takes is one good deed to redeem a cat."

Cloverstream didn't respond. Could what Antrobolt says be true? She learned about her path to the Dark Forest a long time ago, and Midnight had told her to stop trying to save herself. She was one of what Midnight called "The Irredeemables." Cats so lost that nothing they could do could bring them back to StarClan. But now Antrobolt was telling her something completely different; that it's never too late. She opened her mouth to question him further, but before she could get a word out, she felt a dark presence settle on her body.

A form manifested beside her. They had dark brown tabby fur and condescending amber eyes. Scorn.

“Antrobolt,” she warned. “Stay away from Cloverstream. She’s mine.”

I’m hers? What does she think I am, a pet? We’re partners, not master and servant!

Antrobolt hardened his gaze. “Fine.” He glanced softly at Cloverstream one last time before Scorn covered her face with her tail.

“Come on.” She ordered. Cloverstream followed her away from Antrobolt. She tried to glance back at Antrobolt, but she couldn’t see past Scorn’s tail.

“I’m just trying to protect you, you know that?” Scorn meowed in a much softer tone. “StarClan cats, they can do nothing but lie. Don’t listen to a word he says.”

“But, Antrobolt told me-”

“Told you what? That you’re redeemable?” Scorn snapped. “It’s a common ploy they use to bring cats under their oppressive Warriors’ Code. He’s lying, Cloverstream. If you try to follow him, you’d be a traitor. You remember what Midnight taught you about traitors, right?”

Cloverstream swallowed hard. She remembered as clear as day how Midnight lashed out at her, verbally and physically, because she hadn’t killed Tansywillow yet. She warned her of being a traitor and how traitors earned no afterlife.

“Yes.” Cloverstream nodded.

"You don’t want to be a traitor, right?"

Cloverstream shook her head. "No."

"Good. Then forget everything Antrobolt told you. And do hurry up, you have somewhere to be."

Cloverstream hardened her gaze. She pushed the conversation with Antrobolt away. But even as she walked with Scorn, she couldn't shake it out of her head.

Scorn tells me he's lying. Cloverstream thought. But Antrobolt didn't sound malicious. Could there be a chance that maybe, just maybe, something he said was true?

She remembered one specific thing he told her. Sometimes, all it takes is one good deed to redeem a cat.

Chapter Text

Concentrate. The jump isn't that hard.

Spottedfur tried not to look down. They weren't close to the ground yet, and a single slip could send her falling to her death. Summoning all the courage she had, she leaped. She flew through the air for several heartbeats, then she felt her forepaws touch solid rock. Her hindlegs, however, never found the ledge. She scrabbled at the side of the rock, hoping to find a ledge to hoist herself up, but the rock was too smooth.

Suddenly, teeth met in her scruff and pulled her up to safety. Spottedfur found herself staring into Blazefire's worried emerald eyes.

"That was close!" He remarked. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Spottedfur breathed. "Let's just get to the bottom and be done with it. I never want to do this again!"

Spottedfur and Blazefire, along with several other clanmates and loners, were descending the mountain at the End of the World. The End of the World is a massive canyon that StarClan told Blazefire and Soupfur to find. They said that there would be a cat there that could help them sort out the chaos that had taken over TrailClan and stripped Blazefire of his leader name. After a long journey and with the help of outsiders, they had finally found the place and a cat named Honeysong. Spottedfur initially thought that she might have been the cat StarClan foretold of. But she wasn't.

"Hurry up, you two," Cloakstar called from below. "Don't fall behind."

Initially, Spottedfur couldn't believe her eyes. She had heard tales about Cloakstar and the atrocities he committed when he was alive. He was killed in the Great Battle, which took place when she was still a kit. But here he was, brought back from the dead by Honeysong.

"I still don't believe he's the cat StarClan chose," Blazefire whispered to Spottedfur. Spottedfur nodded in agreement.

He bunched his muscles and leapt down to the next ledge. Spottedfur admired the way he made the jumps so flawlessly, so effortlessly. The way he moved, the way he talked, everything about him was perfect. He was a strong cat with a strong personality, and Spottedfur loved him. One night, when they were staying in NestClan, Spottedfur confessed her love to Blazefire.

"Blazestar," She whispered.

"Hm?"

She beckoned to him with her tail. "Come over here, I need to talk to you."

Blazefire followed her away from the nests and to a small, flat area atop the tree they were sleeping on. "Yes?"

"Blazestar," she began tentatively. "Have you noticed how... when we were crossing those plains... I was always right beside you?"

Blazefire nodded. "I remember. What about it?"

"Well... I did it for a reason," Spottedfur paused and inhaled deeply. "I love you."

She watched as Blazefire's eyes widened until they were like big, green moons.

"The truth is, I've always taken a liking to you. It wasn't until this trip that I realized I wanted to get serious."

Blazefire blinked twice. "You- you want us to be mates?"

Spottedfur nodded. "But only if you want to be mine."

Blazefire didn't respond for several heartbeats, but to Spottedfur, it felt like moons. She held her breath as he eyed her body and met her gaze. Finally, he answered.

"You're such a charming and kind cat. Of course I'll be mates with you."

Since that day, they had travelled together, slept together, and shared tongues together. They hadn’t made a public announcement to their group, but Spottedfur assumed that it wouldn’t take long for them to catch on, whether they made a statement or not.

Spottedfur reshuffled her feet before leaping down another ledge. Ivyclaw was further up, impatiently waiting for the ledge to clear. Honeysong was further above her. Let’s just hurry this up and get down to the ground.

The sun had crossed its highest point in the sky before all the cats were safely on the rocky path that sloped along the mountain down to the ground. It wasn’t until late afternoon that Spottedfur’s paws touched soft grass again. She welcomed it - it had been two and a half sunrises since she felt it.

Blazefire stepped forward to speak with Jack. Jack was a loner who had led the group through the mountains, all for a small price.

“Well, thank you, Jack, for taking us up and down the mountain.” Blazefire dipped his head.

Jack did the same. “Ya’re welcome. I’m glad ya all showed up; I haven’t had an adventure like this in… oh, I can’t even remember.”

“So, you’ll be on your way now?” Ivyclaw asked. Blazefire shot her a glance, but Jack didn’t seem offended.

“I’ll travel with y’all for a little while. Ya’re still in an uncharted forest, and it ain’t hard to get lost here.”

“Okay.” Ivyclaw meowed curtly. Her mother looked like she wanted to sigh heavily, but she kept it to herself. Spottedfur agreed with her. Neither of them liked the idea of consistently adding more and more cats to the travelling group, so to them, the sooner they can get rid of one, the better.

Cloakstar padded up behind Ivyclaw. “Come on, what’s so wrong with him? The more the merrier, isn’t that what they always say?”

“You haven’t had a friend stab you in the back.” Ivyclaw hissed.

“You’re right. I’ve stabbed a friend in the back.”

Blazefire groaned. “Okay, enough talk. Let’s get walking.”

Spottedfur assumed Blazefire was still sensitive about the mutiny Cloakstar had pulled on TrailClan, even though it had happened over two years ago. Jack stepped forward to retake the lead through the forest.

The forest was thicker than Spottedfur remembered. The terrain was similar to TrailClan territory, except that it wasn't similar to TrailClan territory at all. Jack was right; if he had left then, they would have ended up lost.

The group continued walking as the sun sank through the sky, casting long, blinding rays through the trees and stretching shadows far out behind them. The forest floor was surprisingly clean compared to TrailClan. A couple of bushes were scattered about, but otherwise, the group had no problem navigating through the trees.

A shadow caught Spottedfur's eye. She turned to look at it, but it was gone already. Bloodkit had seen it too and was staring in the same direction.

"Did you see that?" Bloodkit whispered.

Spottedfur nodded.

"What do you think it was?"

"Probably some loner trying to get back to their nest." Spottedfur shrugged. "Nothing to worry about. Let's keep moving."

They kept walking for some more time. The sun had begun dipping behind the hills far, far in the distance, just beyond WindClan territory. Spottedfur was amazed at how far she could see through the trees and across the massive plain.

“Hello!” A voice suddenly called out to them from behind them. The cats turned to look at the stranger. It was an orange dappled she-cat with yellow eyes. She blinked at them warmly, but most of the group didn’t return her kind greeting.

“Who are you?” Ivyclaw demanded.

“I’m Leaffall,” The she-cat introduced herself. “Where are you all going?”

Spottedfur exchanged glances with Soupfur. This cat is named after a season? It was certainly odd. It only got more interesting, as she had a much more elegant manner of speaking compared to the other cats Spottedfur and the others had met on their trip. It was comparable to Bloodkit’s annunciation.

“Home,” Spottedfur answered vaguely. “Why do you care?”

“Come to my nest,” Leaffall invited. “I’ve got some extra prey I don’t mind sharing.”

“You have… extra prey?” Cloudstorm asked dubiously.

“I like to stockpile food to last me a few days,” Leaffall explained.

The cat still seemed sketchy. The group looked at each other, wondering what to make of the loner. Eventually, Blazefire responded. “Thank you, but we have places to be.”

Leaffall frowned. “You’d rather refuse my hospitality and food, just to go catch your own out in the dark?”

Blazefire was about to nod, but Cloakstar interrupted him. “Wait. She has a point.”

“What?” Blazefire stared at him. “You want us to sleep with a loner we haven’t met?”

“You’re one to talk!” Ivyclaw joined in. “You were perfectly fine with joining Jack, but not Leaffall?”

“Plus, it’s just one night. How bad could it possibly be?” Cloakstar questioned.

It was clear to Spottedfur that Blazefire was torn on making the decision. Finally, he sighed. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right.” Turning to Leaffall, he added, “We’ll stay with you. For one night.”

“That’s fine. Come along this way,” Leaffall tuned and headed into the bushes. Spottedfur heard her whisper something to herself, but she couldn’t make out the words spoken. Even though she was still skeptical, she followed Leaffall to her nest.

Leaffall took them deep into the woods. She led them around bushes and over fallen trees. Spottedfur tried to remember the way back, but the path the loner took was unnecessarily confusing, and soon she found herself lost.

“Here it is,” Leaffall announced as she rounded the corner. Spottedfur followed. She was surprised at how many nests the loner had made already. There was enough for all of them, and then some.

“Did you make all these nests?” Bloodkit looked around, astounded.

“Did you know we were passing through?” Ivyclaw accused. “Have you been stalking us?”

“No,” Leaffall shook her head. “But lots of cats pass through these woods, so I make enough nests for all of them.”

Sounds like an excuse. Spottedfur narrowed her eyes.

Leaffall looked at Jack. “You, you live in this forest. A lot of cats pass through here, right?”

Jack stared back at her, not replying for several moments. Then, almost begrudgingly, he nodded.

“Well, you have your answer.” Leaffall meowed. She motioned to the nests. “Come, take a seat. I’ll bring you all some food.”

Not even waiting to see if they did so, she spun off and headed further into the forest. The bushes rustled as she vanished from view. The traveling group was left standing there, glancing at each other.

Eventually, Bloodkit stepped forward and took a nest. “Come on, it’s a place to sleep and food to eat. How bad could it be?”

He sank into the nest and shamelessly rolled over on his back, stretching out his limbs lazily. Spottedfur struggled to contain a giggle. Kits will be kits.

Bloodkit suddenly realized what he was doing and recollected his dignity, giving his chest fur a couple of embarrassed licks. “Uh… the nests are soft,” he excused. “And I’m tired from walking all day.”

Cloudstorm padded forward to join him. “Me too.”

Now that one of her Clanmates had gone first, Spottedfur felt more comfortable about using the nests. She chose a nearby one for herself and flopped down into it. Bloodkit was right: the nests were really soft. She sighed and rested her head on her paws, hoping to get some rest after a long day of hiking and climbing. She could feel as Blazefire took a nest beside her, and then she could feel up his raspy tongue groom down some of the more disheveled parts of her fur.

Soon, the bushes rustled again, and Spottedfur looked up to see Leaffall trotting toward them with a multitude of prey in her maw. Another cat walked beside her: a lithe brown she-cat with a white underbelly. She carried about as much prey as Leaffall.

They dropped a piece of fresh-kill before each of the resting cats. “Eat up.” She ordered as she finished dishing out the prey and took a step away from the group.

Spottedfur noticed how Leaffall seemed to ignore the other cat that was helping her. Cloudstorm voiced her question. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh!” Leaffall glanced at her, almost like she had forgotten that she was even there. “This is Greenleaf.”

Greenleaf waved her tail shyly.

Another cat named after a season. So where’s Newleaf and Leafbare? Spottedfur thought jokingly.

Leaffall and Greenleaf stood there awkwardly for a few moments, looking at the other cats. Then Leaffall started back toward them. “Might as well get to know my visitors. Come on, Greenleaf.”

Leaffall lay herself down around Blazefire, Cloakstar, Soupfur, and Cloudstorm. Greenleaf tentatively stepped toward Spottedfur, Honeysong, and Ivyclaw. Jack moved away from the two loners, and Bloodkit didn’t engage in any conversation.

“Jack, don’t you want to talk with anyone?” Spottedfur invited.

Jack shook his head. “No, but thanks for ye offer.”

“You should at least eat the food Leaffall brought you.” Ivyclaw motioned to the sparrow Jack had been given. When Jack had scooted away from the loners, he left his prey where it was.

Jack shook his head again. “One thing I’ve learned during my time as a loner is never to trust another loner. Especially not in these woods. Many cats here love to take advantage of others.”

"Oh, come on!" Ivyclaw sniffed her fat mouse. "It's not crow-food. What more could Leaffall do to it?"

"Ya'd be surprised," Jack responded.

Spottedfur rolled her eyes and took a big bite out of her vole. Like she'd take advice from a loner, warning her of listening to loners. She didn't even want him here in the first place. "Whatever. You can starve yourself if you want."

She and Ivyclaw turned away from Jack and over to Greenleaf. Greenleaf seemed to shrink under the gaze of the two. She only seemed more uncomfortable when Honeysong prompted her with a question.

"So, you live here with Leaffall?"

Greenleaf glanced over at Leaffall. "Uh... y-yes," she stammered.

"How've you been getting along?"

"F-fine!" Greenleaf blurted out. "Great! It's... been great."

Spottedfur glanced worriedly at her mother, then at Greenleaf. Something was wrong with her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine," Greenleaf didn't meet her gaze.

"Are you scared of us?" Ivyclaw asked softly. "We're not going to hurt you."

"N-no, it's not that..." Greenleaf still didn't look up.

"Then what is it?" Spottedfur pressed.

"Nothing," Greenleaf answered quickly.

Before the she-cats could ask any more questions, Leaffall stood up. "Well, we'd better get to our nests. It's getting late. Come along, Greenleaf."

Greenleaf stood up to follow Leaffall. Leaffall didn't stop for Greenleaf as she walked past her. When Leaffall was nearing the bushes from which she had come, Greenleaf turned to whisper to them one last time.

"Help me."

And then she bounded away to catch up with Leaffall.

Chapter Text

Icefury paced back and forth outside the medicine-cat den restlessly. Seizureheart had told him he couldn't go in right now, much to his dismay. He was busy treating Dawnbristle and said he needed the den to be as empty as possible. Icefury disagreed with him, but reluctantly obeyed. He should be in there with her. She needed him.

Without anything to do except wait for Seizureheart to come out and allow him clearance into the den, Icefury replayed the events that had led up to this moment in his head.

He was sitting beside the fresh-kill pile, tucking into a mouse, when a cry of pain suddenly echoed from the fern tunnel and throughout the camp. He looked up to see Dawnbristle stumble into camp, paws shaky and eyes glazed over. Icefury immediately jumped up and ran over to her. She glanced at him mindlessly, took a few staggering steps toward the medicine den, then crumpled onto the ground.

Seizureheart was already out of his den and over to where she lay. He scanned her for what was wrong with her, and Icefury saw his eyes flash in fear when she noticed the bite on her right foreleg.

"What is it?" Icefury asked.

"Snake bite," Seizureheart grabbed Cloverstream by the scruff and began dragging her unconscious body to the medicine den. Icefury and Coalbreath moved forward to help him.

Once the three cats had settled Dawnbristle into the medicine den, Seizureheart immediately kicked them out. He told them he couldn't have any distractions during such a lengthy and risky treatment.

"You better go make yourselves useful," he ordered quickly. "Gather a patrol and see if you can find that snake. It may still be out there."

Coalbreath dashed away to form the patrol. Icefury stayed where he was outside the den and hadn't moved since. He needed to hear news of her as soon as possible.

The morning came and went like a breeze. Icefury could hear noise emanating from the den, but Seizureheart didn't emerge. Noon passed with no update. It wasn't until early afternoon that the vines guarding the entrance parted and Seizureheart emerged. Relief shone in his eyes.

"She's going to live," he announced. "She's very lucky. I had very little hope she would make it."

Icefury's anxiety vaporized in an instant. He was overwhelmed with joy at the news. "Can I see her?" He asked.

Seizureheart nodded. "Be quiet, though. She's sleeping."

Icefury nodded and pushed his way into the den, Seizureheart following right behind him. The inside was much warmer than he expected. Off to one corner of the den set multiple nests, and in one of them lay Dawnbristle.

Icefury felt a rush of pity for her. She was stretched out in the nest, her wounded leg exposed and treated with some sort of poultice. She was sleeping, just like Seizureheart had said. She lay her head on one side, resting atop her left foreleg.

As Icefury approached her, he could hear her breathing. It was soft and shallow but not shaky. He sat down before her head and, comfortingly, bent down to lick her forehead.

Suddenly, her eyes flung open. "What are you doing?" She asked groggily. Even after just waking up, she could still be very aggressive.

Icefury moved away from her head. "I came to see you," he explained. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Dawnbristle only glared at him. "You came to see me?" She echoed. "Why?"

"Well..." Icefury thought it was obvious. "I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Yeah?" She grunted. "Well, you should have been making yourself useful." She shifted in her nest and struggled to stand up.

Icefury’s eyes flashed with pain. What was Dawnbristle saying? Did she not want him here? He moved his head under her shoulder to help support her as she stood up, but to his surprise, she only hissed at him when he tried.

“I don’t need your help!” She shouted. “I can manage on my own.”

Icefury flinched away. She was acting no better than a rogue! “But what about our relationship?” He asked. It wasn’t a secret that Icefury was into her. He made it obvious a couple of sunrises ago, and Dawnbristle seemed like she was into him, too. But what she was saying here proved otherwise.

"What relationship?" Dawnbristle growled. "We have no relationship. I am your leader, and you are under me. That's it!"

Icefury was too stung by Dawnbristle's words to reply. The spotted she-cat shook out her pelt and trudged to the den entrance.

When Seizureheart looked up and saw her trying to leave the den, he quickly dropped his work and bounded forward to block her path. "Dawnbristle, get back in your nest. You need to rest."

"I don't need rest. I'm fine." Dawnbristle scowled at him.

Seizureheart didn't budge. "You're not fine until I say you're fine. Your mind might be healed, but your body isn't. Now-"

"Shut up!" Dawnbristle pushed him to the side. "I don't have all day. I have a Clan to run."

Shocked, Seizureheart and Icefury stared after her as she brushed past the vines and padded out into the clearing.

Seizureheart didn't move for several moments. Then he started back toward his work, storming, but hesitated when he saw Icefury's flat ears and defeated face. 

"Hey," he spoke softly as he approached. "Don't worry about it. Dawnbristle is still recovering; she'll be back in her right mind within a few days."

Icefury glanced at him despairingly. "You think so?"

He wanted it to be true. He wanted to believe that, in a few days, Dawnbristle would apologize for lashing out at him, but he had a nagging feeling that perhaps loving her was a hopeless endeavor. She wasn't clan-born, so why should she have any feelings for a young warrior like him?

Seizureheart sighed and glanced out of the den, up where Dawnbristle had draped herself on the Limestone Pile. "I can't say for sure. She's no average cat."

You got that right. Seizureheart looked back at Icefury. "You seem pretty shaken up. Would you like to stay here with me for a little while? I'm sure I can come up with something to make you feel better."

It was a tempting offer, but Icefury declined. He was a strong warrior; he didn't need comfort or pity from anyone else. 

"No." He shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Seizureheart double-checked.

He may have a soft spot for Dawnbristle, but he was also arrogant and self-driven. "I'll be fine on my own." He insisted harshly.

“Okay,” Seizureheart spoke hesitantly. He moved away from Icefury and resumed his travel back to his work. Icefury padded out of the den and back into the clearing.

Dawnbristle was perched on the Limestone Pile, eyeing the clan just like Avalanche used to. Firestorm, Energyheart, and Coalbreath chatted in a particularly sunny spot near the fresh-kill pile. Lightfern was over on the other side of the camp, surrounded by a handful of cats, organizing a patrol.

Perhaps he should go out hunting, not with a patrol, but just on his own. He wasn’t particularly popular with the rest of the clan, so it wouldn’t cause any trouble. But after what Dawnbristle had said, he didn’t have any motivation to do anything. All he wanted was to sink into his nest and hope that Dawnbristle would be in a better mood tomorrow.

The rustling of the camp entrance stole his focus. Moments later, Tansywillow trotted out of the fern tunnel. She held a wrench and a mouse in her mouth.

“Out!” Dawnbristle shouted. She leaped to her paws and bounded down the Limestone Pile, rage clouding her gaze. “Get out!”

The rest of the clan, startled, turned to look at the two she-cats.

“What?” Morningfrost spoke up. “It’s just Tansywillow.”

“Exactly!” Dawnbristle growled and turned on the clan. “You want to know why I was poisoned? Why I almost died?” She pointed her tail accusingly at Tansywillow. “This cat attacked me in the forest!”

Tansywillow was taken aback. “What!?”

“This cat tried to kill me!” Dawnbristle ignored Tansywillow.

“It was self-defense!” Tansywillow defended herself. “You attacked me first, and you tried to kill me!”

Dawnbristle glanced back at Tansywillow but said nothing. Then she addressed the confused clan gathered around them.

“TrailClan, who do you believe? Me, who hasn’t done anything against you and you trusted enough to elect as your leader, or her, who spent over a year fighting against you and killed your first deputy?”

Dawnbristle glared at the clan accusingly, demanding an answer from them. Icefury didn't want to agree with her. Tansywillow had lived with the clan for two seasons now. Icefury practically grew up with her in the clan, and she never acted dangerously or traitorously. 

"She's worked against you before; why couldn't she work against you now?" Dawnbristle pressed.

"I could say the same thing to you!" Tansywillow exclaimed.

Dawnbristle rounded on her. "No, you couldn't! Ever since I met TrailClan, I've always supported them! I couldn't say the same thing about you."

Tansywillow huffed but didn't reply.

Now, Icefury was torn. What Dawnbristle said made sense. Just because Tansywillow hasn't been acting out against them for a while doesn't mean she couldn't have been planning something to do now. Meanwhile, Dawnbristle has never had any reason to attack the clan. Icefury didn't want to admit it, but he sided with Dawnbristle more than he did with Tansywillow.

And it seemed like other cats in the clan were also making the same realization. 

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but..." Dashingpelt sighed. "I agree with Dawnbristle."

Tansywillow stared, wide-eyed with disbelief, at him. Slateheart shared a worried glance with Morningfrost.

"I agree with Dawnbristle, too." Energyheart stepped forward and admitted. "What she says makes sense."

Tansywillow's gaze switched to Energyheart.

One by one, the others began to side with Dawnbristle. Icefury watched as Tansywillow's eyes flickered from one cat to the next as they each sided against her. Her ears flattened, and she hesitantly took a step back. The only ones that didn't say anything were Ikonicfrost and Morningfrost.

"Well, the Clan has spoken." Dawnbristle gazed approvingly at the gathered cats. Then she looked back at Tansywillow. "Now. Get out of my camp, and get out of my clan! I don't want to see your face again."

Tansywillow froze, unmoving. Dawnbristle unsheathed her claws and snarled at her. "Git! And take your defiled prey with you!"

Now afraid, Tansywillow snatched her fresh-kill off the ground and dashed away through the camp entrance. The fern tunnel rustled as she left camp for the last time.

Dawnbristle stared after her and didn't move until several moments after the tunnel stopped trembling. She then straightened herself up and pranced away to her den.

Now that the clan wasn't under the condescending gaze of Dawnbristle, they didn't know what to do. They had just voted to exile Tansywillow, and now most cats seemed very ashamed of themselves. Dashingpelt, the first one to side with Dawnbristle, trudged to the warrior's den, his tail dragging in the dirt as he walked.

Energyheart had a completely different reaction. Instead of sullenly heading to her nest, she padded over to Lightfern. "So, I heard you were going to lead a patrol? Can I join?"

"Energyheart!" Firestorm interrupted before Lightfern could respond. "How could you act like nothing's happened? We just kicked out a clanmate!"

Energyheart turned and faced her sister. "Well, you heard what Dawnbristle said. Tansywillow could have been dangerous. Perhaps it was for the best. Better to be safe than sorry."

Firestorm's mouth hung ajar as the yellow she-cat responded. When she was done, her face hardened in anger. "I can't believe you just said that! Tansywillow was our friend, and now you're treating her like dirt!"

Before Energyheart could say any more, Firestorm whipped around and stormed away to the warrior's den.

"Wait!" Energyheart ran after her. "Firestorm, wait!"

Silence fell over the clearing once again as the two sisters vanished into the warrior's den. Eventually, Lightfern gathered his patrol, and they left the camp. Now, Icefury was alone except for Coalbreath, Morningfrost, and Silence. 

"We shouldn't have done that," Morningfrost muttered to Coalbreath. "Tansywillow didn't deserve it."

Icefury didn't pay attention to Coalbreath's response. He was eyeing the fresh-kill pile hungrily. He hadn't eaten since this morning. There was another cat over at the fresh-kill pile, a brown cat dragging a mouse away.

Wait a heartbeat. Silence is the only brown cat in the camp, and she's standing right next to me!

Icefury focused back on the strange cat at the fresh-kill pile, but they were gone already. Suspicious. Who is that cat?

Intrigued, Icefury padded over to the pile to investigate. He could swear to StarClan he'd seen that pelt before, but he couldn't put a name to it. He was nearing the point of interest, but before he got there, something called him away.

"Hey, Icefury," Dawnbristle sat outside her den, staring him down. She wasn't angry at all now, instead speaking in a smooth and calm voice. "I believe I asked you to make yourself useful, did I not?"

"But, Dawnbristle-" Icefury was about to explain to her the weird pelt he had seen.

Dawnbristle didn't want to hear any of it. She interrupted him. "Ah ah. No excuses." She paused to click her tongue. "How about you go out hunting? If you're hungry, why don't you grab something fresh?"

"Dawnbristle, there was a..." Icefury trailed off when Dawnbristle hardened her gaze. She wasn't listening to him.

"Icefury, now." Dawnbristle ordered in a tone that didn't invite any argument.

Icefury gave a frustrated growl and gave up. Dawnbristle wasn't going to listen to him right now. "Fine. I'll go hunting."

Perhaps I'll meet the strange cat out in the forest. Then I could confront them directly.

Icefury knew it was an empty hope, as the territory was so big and the cat already had enough time to potentially be nearing the border by now. The white tom turned and stormed to the entrance. 

Why is Dawnbristle acting so irrationally all of a sudden? Icefury reflected as he left camp. First denying loving me, then exiling Tansywillow and intimidating the clan, and now forcing me to go hunt when there could be a thief in TrailClan! What is going on?

Icefury remembered the comment Seizureheart made about Dawnbristle. She's no average cat.

Maybe there's more to Dawnbristle than meets the eye.

Chapter Text

Spottedfur blinked sleep from her eyes. Her mind was groggy, her vision blurred. She felt like she had just woken up from the deepest sleep of her life, yet she knew she hadn’t slept all that well.

She had been tossing and turning all night. At one point, Blazefire had to wake her up to calm her down. She didn’t know what was wrong with her; she was feeling fine the evening before.

Spottedfur yawned and sat up. She stretched and arched her back until her hind legs quivered, feeling the satisfying pop of her vertebrae. When she was done, she glanced around.

The sky was bright, with a few puffy clouds drifting aimlessly far above. The sun wasn’t visible, hidden by the vast mountain not far from them. Its shadow stretched over their camp, holding the forest in darkness.

It seemed like Spottedfur was one of the first cats to wake. Cloakstar was grooming himself quietly off to one side of the camp, and Soupfur was doing her own stretches.

Every cat was there except Honeysong.

“Hey Cloakstar?” Spottedfur treaded lightly over to him. “You were the first cat awake. Did you happen to see what happened to Honeysong?”

“Hmm?” The gray tom paused as she approached. “Oh, no, I didn’t. She was gone before I woke up.”

“Honeysong’s missing?” Soupfur overheard the two.

“No.” Cloakstar shook his head. “She does this all the time. Gets up before the sun rises to go foraging. She’ll be back before sunset, don’t you worry.”

Cloakstar had lived with Honeysong a lot longer than Spottedfur had, so she took his word for it. Besides, Cloakstar didn’t look or act like the type of cat to lie about someone he lived with.

“Okay,” Spottedfur nodded. “Well, I’m going to go for a short walk in the forest. I didn’t sleep too well, and I’d like to clear my head.”

“Oh! Can I come with you?” Soupfur bounded over to her. “I didn’t sleep well either.”

Spottedfur nodded. It was strange to her how both of them had trouble sleeping the night before. She left the nests and began walking in an arbitrary direction, Soupfur trailing after her.

Out in the forest, Spottedfur purred softly as she relished the senses outside. Birds were chirping above them, a calm wind was blowing through the trees, and the undisturbed grass was soft and damp under their paws. It worked exceptionally well to rejuvenate Spottedfur.

“I love the forests,” Soupfur blurted out after some time. “The sights, the smells… I’m so glad we live in one.”

“Me too.” Spottedfur agreed. Then she remembered something her mentor Raggeddreams had shown her, way back when she was a new apprentice.

“I think WindClan lives on a moor.” She meowed.

“I’m pretty sure I saw it when Blazestar took me to the moonstone,” Soupfur recalled. She shook out her pelt. “I would hate to live there! Nothing but rolling hills through your entire territory. Barely a tree in sight!”

“And could you imagine the wind?” Spottedfur added.

Soupfur didn’t respond. Her eye was caught on something else besides them.

“Soupfur?” Spottedfur followed her gaze. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “What is it?”

“That looks like…” Soupfur slowly walked off the path they were on and into the nearby bushes. Intrigued, Spottedfur followed her.

Behind the bushes was a tree and a couple of other bushes. At the foot of the tree, there was a disturbance of earth, built into a small mound. A withered flower lay dead on top of it.

Spottedfur instantly recognized what it was. It was a grave.

Immediately, Spottedfur was hit with a painful flashback. She remembered the day, barely more than a moon ago, when Dashingpelt and Slateheart had carried her mentor’s wounded, bloody body back to camp. They had all been attacked by a rogue named Scorn, but Raggeddreams had suffered the worst injuries. He died before they even got back to camp.

It nearly broke Spottedfur to see her mentor die like that. Fighting a battle she didn’t know about, a battle she couldn’t help save him. It wasn’t his fault, though. But still, Spottedfur felt like she should have known. She should have been on that patrol.

“Spottedfur!” Her sister’s shout shattered the memory. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yes. I’m fine.” Spottedfur shook her head to clear it. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. Not now. “It’s just a grave. Let’s head back.”

Soupfur gave another glance at it. “I suppose. We don’t want the group thinking we’re missing as well.”

Spottedfur started to turn to go back the way they came when something peculiar struck her eye. She wanted to ignore it and just go back to the nests, but unfortunately, curiosity got the better of her. She knew she wouldn’t be able to drive it out of her head the rest of the day if she didn’t inspect it now.

So she turned back to look at it.

From a distance, they looked like little scuffs on the ground. But when she looked closer, she realized they were a bit more than that. They were claw scratches.

“Hey, Soupfur, would you look at this?” Spottedfur called. She heard footsteps as Soupfur approached to look at it as well.

“Claw marks,” Soupfur shrugged. “So what? Whoever buried this cat had to fill in the grave somehow.”

“Yes, but…” Spottedfur had helped dig and fill in Raggeddreams’ grave. She knew that disturbed dirt surrounding the grave, coupled with some paw or claw marks, was normal.

What was not normal was the claw marks located barely a fox-length from the mound.

Soupfur noticed it too. “What in the name of StarClan?”

It looked like a battle had taken place right next to the grave. The grass was flattened, chunks of earth were torn and dislodged, and a broken side of a bush was visible. Dried and fading blood was sprinkled over the entire scene.

“You think this might be why that grave is there?” Spottedfur suggested.

Soupfur nodded. “Probably.”

Spottedfur looked at the broken bush again. It looked as if something, or someone, had been thrown into it. On the other side, there was a slight depression in the ground. Spottedfur guessed that was where the unfortunate victim of the battle died.

“Hey, Spottedfur, do you see this?” Soupfur was sniffing at the broken twigs that still hung into the main bush. There was something caught in a couple of the thin branches.

Spottedfur padded closer to the bush. Even from a few tail-lengths away, she could identify what it was: tufts of fur.

“It looks like a fox attack,” Soupfur concluded.

“How do you know?” Spottedfur questioned.

“Well, look,” Soupfur gestured to a few different tufts with her tail. “Dark orange, white, and black. Those colors match the colors of a fox perfectly.”

Spottedfur was hesitant to believe her. Jack had said a lot of cats passed through these woods, so couldn’t it also be likely that there was a disagreement between cats here, too? “Maybe two cats were fighting and happened to share those pelt colors.”

“No,” Soupfur observed the way the bush was collapsed. “Only one creature fell into this bush. A second would cause it to look quite different.”

“Are you sure?”

“Spottedfur, I’m your medicine cat. Don’t you think I know what I’m talking about?”

You’re also my sister. Just because you’re a medicine cat doesn’t make you smarter than me.  Spottedfur wasn’t going to argue with her sister right now. Soupfur had more reasonable evidence than she did at the moment. “Okay. You’re right. We figured out what happened, now let’s get back to the group.”

When they got back to the nests, Blazefire rushed over to greet them.

“You’re back!” He rubbed his muzzle against Spottedfur’s shoulder, purring loudly. “I was starting to wonder where you two had gone.”

Spottedfur giggled slightly. “We were just walking, nothing more.”

“Where’s Cloudstorm and Bloodkit?” Soupfur observed the clearing.

Ivyclaw answered. “Cloudstorm took Bloodkit out for training. Said they’d look for Honeysong while they’re out there.”

“Cloudstorm acts like Bloodkit’s his apprentice; it’s probably time you made it official,” Soupfur commented.

“I’ll do that as soon as I get control of TrailClan again,” Blazefire promised.

“Has Leaffall shown up yet?” Spottedfur asked.

Leaffall stuck her head out of the undergrowth. “Here!” She shouted. The boldly striped orange tabby made her way over to the two sisters. “I’m glad you two are back. I almost started to think you had run away.”

“What?” Soupfur walked past her and settled down in her nest. “We’d never leave our Clanmates!”

“Good, good.” Leaffall nodded. Then she exhaled loudly. “Well, I'd better start getting some food for you all. Once that white cat and his kit return, you all will have a long journey ahead of you.”

“You mean Cloudstorm and Bloodkit?” Blazefire raised an eyebrow. “They’re not related.”

“Plus, we’re not leaving without Honeysong.” Cloakstar rasped from where he lay in his nest.

So Honeysong still isn't back.

“Honeysong?” Leaffall echoed. “Who? The golden… oh! Honeysong, of course!”

Spottedleaf didn’t expect Leaffall to react like that, but she had been acting strange since they met her, so she wasn’t shocked and brushed it off.

Blazefire guided Spottedfur to her nest and lay down beside her.

“You’re not going to do anything?” Spottedfur asked. Usually, Blazefire would be leading a patrol or going out hunting or something.

“Well…” Blazefire sighed. “We’ve been walking for so long, I think we deserve a day of rest. Plus, Leaffall’s been kind enough to provide us with everything we need.”

He had a point. Who wouldn’t turn down free hospitality, at least until they had all their cats back together?

Spottedfur was about to join Blazefire in the nests, and perhaps share tongues, but suddenly she got a nagging idea.

I still don’t know who died over there. Perhaps Jack knows what happened?

So, she walked away from Blazefire and over to Jack.

“Spottedfur! Where are you going?” He whined.

“I’ll be right back,” Spottedfur promised. Then she turned to speak to Jack. She explained to him everything she and Soupfur saw, from the battle scene and the broken bush to the grave beside it. Jack listened to the whole thing with interest.

“We think that a fox attack happened there,” Spottedfur finished. “I was wondering if-“

“Woah, woah, woah, hold on a minute.” Jack interrupted. “Fox attack, ye say? I haven’t seen a fox in well over a year. Chances are ya found yourself looking at an ol’ skirmish between two travelers.”

No foxes. Huh.

“Well, what about the grave?” Spottedfur continued. “Do you know who that belongs to?”

“You found a grave nearby?” Leaffall interrupted.

Spottedfur turned around. She was standing hardly a tail-length behind her. She nodded.

“I know who it belongs to,” for a moment, Leaffall broke character. Pain and anger filled her eyes. “It’s Leafbare’s grave. He was my mate.” She choked out.

Spottedfur suddenly felt a rush of pity for the loner. No matter who you are, losing your mate is a difficult thing. But now I wonder if Greenleaf had a mate named Newleaf.

“We were attacked by a… a fox.” Leaffall continued. “He died protecting me.”

Leaffall glanced behind Spottedfur and at Jack, as if daring him to object to them being attacked by a fox.

“I’m sorry for ya’re loss,” was Jack’s only response. “When did it happen?”

“About a year ago,” Leaffall answered instantly. “That was about the last time I saw a fox, too.”

Without anything more to say, Spottedleaf left the two loners and returned to Blazefire. Sharing tongues with him was nice, but the news that Leaffall had lost a mate killed the mood.

In the early afternoon, Cloudstorm and Bloodkit returned to the nests. They were each carrying a catch, but set them down as soon as they arrived. Bloodkit was ecstatic, wanting to show all the cats there what he had learned. Cloudstorm was less vigorous, saying nothing more than that they didn't find Honeysong while they were out there.

"Perhaps we should send a patrol to find her," Ivyclaw suggested.

"No," Cloakstar replied instantly. "I'm telling you, wherever she is, she's fine."

"Ya seem quite sure of yaself about that. Perhaps ya did something with her?" Jack accused.

"What?" Cloakstar stared at him. "She practically raised me after I returned from the Dark Forest. I didn't do anything with her!"

Leaffall stopped the argument before it could develop further. "Calm down, you two. What Cloakstar says makes sense. Honeysong will be back in a little while, don't worry."

Jack only grumbled and turned away. "Whatevah ya say."

Leaffall left the two cats and grabbed the prey Cloudstorm and Bloodkit had caught. "I'll put it with the rest of the prey I have and bring it back out later," she explained.

"Why?" Bloodkit demanded, visibly upset that his catch was being taken from him. "Where are you putting it?"

Leaffall hesitated. "None of that concerns you," she hastily meowed. Before the black kit could object, she turned away and vanished into the bushes.

"Hey!" Bloodkit called after her. He tried to follow her, but it took only a few moments for him to give up and return to his nest.

"I wish this forest wasn't so confusing," he mumbled and sank into his nest.

The entire group had seen it happen. It was odd that Leaffall would do something like that in front of everyone. She's got to be hiding something. But what? Spottedfur doubted she was hiding Honeysong.  The loner didn't have any reason to take her, and she hardly even knew her name.

Maybe Greenleaf knows something. If only I could get a chance to talk to her.

Spottedfur didn't see Greenleaf until that evening. The other loner had made two trips to bring fresh-kill for everyone. She told the group that Leaffall wasn't in the mood to congregate with them today. It didn't take a medicine cat to guess why. When Cloudstorm asked where Leaffall was, Greenleaf refused to tell them. Maybe they're both hiding something.

Greenleaf sat with Soupfur, Spottedfur, and Ivyclaw again. She seemed a bit more comfortable around the three of them than she was last night. Jack still sat off to the side, alone and refusing to eat. His insistence eventually led Bloodkit to refuse to eat the prey as well.

Soupfur began by telling her about Leaffall's strange behaviour.

"Well, she- she's been acting that way since Leafbare died," Greenleaf shrugged.

"How did he die?" Spottedfur asked.

Ivyclaw gave her daughter a look. "Leaffall already-"

"I don't quite know exactly," Greenleaf answered, oblivious to Ivyclaw saying anything. "But... she came back to me one day with blood on her coat. She said... she said they had gotten into a fight with a couple of rogues. The rogues had killed Leafbare." Her voice tapered off toward the end.

Spottedfur shot a glance back at Ivyclaw. That's not what Leaffall told us. Someone is lying.

"Are you sure?" Ivyclaw checked. "Leaffall told us they had gotten into a fight with a fox."

Greenleaf's eyes flashed. "She must have been confusing Leafbare with... with my mate."

"Who?" Soupfur pressed. "How did he die?"

"I bet you could guess what his name is," the loner chuckled once. "A half-moon after Leafbare's death, Leaffall took Newleaf out hunting. Leaffall returned alone, pelt bristling. She told me they ran into a fox, and Newleaf..." Tears began to form in her eyes. "Newleaf told her to escape while she could."

So they both lost mates. How sad! This place must be really dangerous.

The three she-cats comforted Greenleaf. Even while they were doing so, however, Spottedfur wondered what actually happened to both Leafbare and Newleaf. From what Greenleaf said, Leaffall had told her what happened to them. She also told the group a lie about what happened to her mate. And from how she was acting these last two days, Spottedfur knew she wasn't weird by nature - she was lying about something.

Tomorrow, I'll figure out what really went down.

Chapter Text

Icefury narrowed his eyes. The sparrow was aligned almost perfectly above him. He crept forward as slowly as he could, so as not to wobble the branch he was perched on. Just a little further…

Soon, Icefury was directly under the bird. Suddenly, bunched his muscles and leaped. The sparrow gave a cry of alarm and tried to fly away, but Icefury was fast. He flashed out a paw and snagged its wing. Quickly, he reeled in the bird and gave it a killing bite.

Good job, me! Icefury glowed with complacency. He was a great hunter. No cat in TrailClan was a better hunter than him, except maybe Firestorm. But that was only because she was much older than he was. One day, I'll be better than even her.

With a jolt, Icefury realized he was still mid-jump. He tried to grab onto the branch below him, but he was zoned out for too long. He hit the branch awkwardly and slid off it, unable to get a grip. Icefury yelped and found himself falling through the tree, hitting every branch and leaf, until he hit the ground. The wind was knocked out of him as he landed on his back.

Icefury stared up at the tree he had fallen out of, winded and dazed. At least he had caught the bird, which was still in his maw. It was battered, but fresh-kill nonetheless. He checked himself over mentally and found no injuries. At least the fall wasn't too far, otherwise the outcome might have been quite different.

Maybe one day... Icefury sighed. He was still as clumsy as when he had been an apprentice. He might have been able to beat Spottedfur and Dashingpelt at fighting, but seldom when hunting. Thank StarClan nobody saw that.

Icefury looked ahead of him, and, as if the stars were humoring themselves, saw a dark-blue eye staring at him from inside a bush. It was glistening with amusement. Oh, come on! Do you think this is funny, Earthkit?

Hold on. One eye? That can only mean...

Icefury scrambled up, ignoring his muscles' protests to lie back down, and bounded over to the cat. The eye widened and quickly vanished, followed by rustling from the bush as the stranger tried to run. Icefury was faster, though, and burst through the bush to confront the cat.

"Tansywillow!" Icefury demanded. Leaves swirled around him as he skidded to a stop. "Were you watching me?"

Tansywillow froze mid-step and spun around. She didn't even try to hide her amusement. "Yeah. That was pretty funny."

Icefury growled. I fell out of a tree, and you think that's funny? How about you fall out of a tree, and see if it's still funny? He wanted to shout those words at her, but he thought better of it. "As far as I'm concerned, rouges aren't supposed to watch us hunt. They're supposed to tend to themselves, outside our territory."

He felt a rush of satisfaction as the humor vaporized from Tansywillow's eye. She hardened her gaze. "I was waiting for you to leave the camp so I could speak to you."

Icefury narrowed his eyes again. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm talking about Clo- Dawnbristle." Tansywillow sat down. Her tail snaked lazily behind her. "Hasn't she been acting... different lately?"

Icefury nodded slowly. So she's noticed it too. He still kept a wary gaze on her. She was a rogue - he didn't know if she was up to something.

"Well, she's- she... er..." Tansywillow fumbled for the right words to say.

"Spit it out," Icefury tapped his foot irritably. "I don't have all day."

She muttered for another heartbeat before finding the right words. "You need to help Dawnbristle."

Icefury's red eyes widened. "What do you mean?" He asked, less harshly this time.

"She's tearing TrailClan apart," Tansywillow explained bluntly.

"No she's not!" Icefury defended her. Dawnbristle might be harsh and rude at times, but there's no way she'd do anything against their clan!

Tansywillow flashed a paw out to swat Icefury on the head, but Icefury ducked under it and tried to retaliate by doing the same to her. She caught his paw without even turning her head and slowly lowered it to the ground. "Don't be stupid," she meowed. "She denied supporting you to be elected leader herself. She coerced the clan into exiling me. How long will it be before she ruins the clan further?"

Icefury unsheathed his claws and dug them into the earth. He remembered painfully how, two days ago, Dawnbristle suddenly switched from supporting him to supporting herself as leader. It emotionally hurt Icefury.

Tansywillow must’ve noticed how it struck him. She tried to rest her tail on Icefury’s shoulders, but pulled away when he hissed at her.

“Fine,” Icefury growled. “You’re right. What do you want me to do?”

“You have a relationship with Dawnbristle,” Tansywillow stated. “It may be small, and Dawnbristle may deny it, but it’s there. You need to build on it.”

“How? Why?”

“I’ve known her long before I even met Cloakstar. If you work with her, she will work with you. She may seem tough right now, but if you love her, love her no matter what happens, I’m sure she’ll come around.”

Tansywillow stared deep into Icefury’s eyes; her voice was strong and firm. Icefury was slightly unsettled by the strength of her one blue eye.

“You already love her,” Tansywillow went on. Her voice was almost pleading. “Keep doing it. If Dawnbristle continues like this - and I know she will - TrailClan might not live to the next gathering.”

Icefury met her eyes with a worried gaze. What Tansywillow was saying was that the fate of TrailClan comes down to his love for Dawnbristle. It sounded ridiculous, but Tansywillow gave no hint of joking.

“Okay. What makes you so sure that this will work?” He asked.

“I’m not sure,” Tansywillow admitted. “But it’s the best chance you've got. Dawnbristle won’t take kindly to any… more direct methods.”

She must be talking about brute force. Icefury guessed. He loved war and craved battle, but with this trouble being so personal and dangerous, Icefury thought better of directly attacking Dawnbristle.

The white tom dipped his head to Tansywillow. “I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you,” Tansywillow sighed. The intense glare from her eye faded, and she stepped away. “Now, I’ll get out of your fur and let you return to ‘hunting’.”

Her eyes glimmered once again, angering Icefury. He opened his mouth to shout a retort, but before any words could come out, she bounded away and disappeared into the lush undergrowth.

The next day was well underway, and Icefury decided to visit Dawnbristle. He had thought all night about what Tansywillow had said and ultimately decided to listen to her.

Icefury blinked weariness from his eyes and padded over to Dawnbristle’s den at the foot of the Limestone Pile. A few days ago, it had been his, and Icefury wistfully wished to have it back.

Wait! If Dawnbristle becomes my mate, then I can have it back!

Icefury was enlightened at the sudden realization and pushed his way into the den. To his surprise, he found it empty.

Huh. Dawnbristle’s always here. Where else could she be?

Icefury knew that the warriors’ den was practically empty. She wouldn’t be in there. Besides that, there was only one other den that was currently used in the clan.

As Icefury neared the medicine den, he heard loud chatter from inside. Getting close, he recognized Seizureheart and Dawnbristle’s voices.

“Well…” Seizureheart seemed hesitant about something.

“Spit it out,” Dawnbristle demanded.

“Usually… when a clan gets a new leader… they go to the Moonstone and take on the suffix ‘star’”

“The Moonstone?” Dawnbristle sounded intrigued. “Is that the big, useless hunk of rock deep in the mountains?”

“It’s not useless!” Seizureheart blurted out. Icefury silently pushed his way into the den, careful not to disturb the conversation.

“Oh really?” Dawnbristle meowed. “Then tell me, what is it used for?”

Seizureheart mumbled something too quiet to understand.

“What is it?” Dawnbristle growled. She took a menacing step forward. “You’re not hiding anything from me, are you?”

Seizureheart shook his head. “No! New C- Clan leaders go there to receive… to receive nine lives.”

Dawnbristle’s eyes lit up when she heard that. “Nine lives, you say? You think you could take me there to get nine lives, too?”

Icefury decided to join the conversation. “I’ll come!” He offered. “You might need a helping paw on the way.”

“Uh…” Seizureheart stammered, glancing at him. “I can’t. Blazestar is still alive; traditionally, leaders can only get nine lives once the previous leader dies.”

“Fox-dung to that!” Dawnbristle spat. “Who knows what’s happened to Blazefire? He foxed-off a while ago, and I doubt he’s coming back. He left the clan in Avalanche’s paws, which has since been passed down to me.”

“But still-“

“Still,” Dawnbristle interrupted. “You are going to take me to the Moonstone, and you will do it today.”

She spoke with a loud, condescending voice. Seizureheart quickly conceded under her intimidating stare and threatening tone. He sighed. “I’ll get the traveling herbs ready.”

While Seizureheart turned toward the back of the den, where the herbs were stored, Icefury decided to talk with Dawnbristle.

The spotted white she-cat glanced at him. “Hello, Icefury.”

Icefury flinched inwardly at her dry and unemotional tone. “You don’t mind me tagging along on the journey, do you?”

The leader’s gaze softened slightly. “Of course not. After all, the more the merrier, right?”

Seizureheart drew a breath to argue, but clearly thought better of it and just went back to working.

“Hey, uh…” Icefury thought briefly about whether or not to say it. But now that he had started, he knew Dawnbristle wouldn’t let it go. “Do you still mean what you said yesterday?”

“About our ‘relationship’?” Dawnbristle raised an eyebrow slightly. When Icefury nodded, she continued. “Yes. I have a job to do for this Clan, which means I can’t be mates with you.”

I knew she meant it, but it was worth a shot anyway. Icefury stared at his paws. “Can we at least be friends?”

Dawnbristle thought about it for a moment. “We’re Clanmates. That’s all.”

Icefury stood next to Dawnbristle in sullen silence as the two cats waited for Seizureheart to finish up getting the plants together. Dawnbristle seemed utterly oblivious to how her response hurt Icefury.

After a long while, Seizureheart appeared with three leaf wraps in his maw. He dropped one at each of their paws and unrolled it.

“Lap up the plants,” he instructed. “They’ll give you strength for the long journey ahead.”

Dawnbristle immediately began eating the herbs, and immediately recoiled at their taste.

“This tastes like mouse-bile!” She tried unsuccessfully to spit them out of her mouth.

Seizureheart twitched his whiskers in amusement. “It’s perfectly fine for you. We can’t afford to stop and hunt if we want to make it to the Moonstone in time.”

Dawnbristle glared at him but obeyed, lapping up the plants slower than before. Icefury did as well, wincing at the taste but not making any loud show out of it.

Once the three cats were done, they quickly set off. They were unchallenged as they left camp and undisturbed as they surmounted the hill dividing ThunderClan’s territory from TrailClan’s. Seizureheart pointed at the Highstones briefly before they continued off again.

Icefury tried to walk close to Dawnbristle, but every time he approached, she moved away. Once, he managed to brush her pelt, and she reprimanded him for it.

I guess I shouldn’t try to move too fast. I don’t want Dawnbristle to think I’m onto anything.

“Hey!” A voice called from nearby as they were nearing Fourtrees. The patrol whipped around to see who it was.

A brown tabby pelt was streaking toward them, followed by several other cats behind. Icefury remembered the brown cat from the last Gathering he went to, over a moon ago.

Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes at the three cats, as if unsure of who they were. Then, when he realized, his demanding gaze lifted. “Seizureheart! Icefury! We haven’t seen you all in a while! Where have you been?”

Seizureheart opened his mouth to respond, but it was Dawnbristle who replied. “We were going through some tough times, but that’s over now. We’re going to the Moonstone to get my nine lives.”

Brambleclaw’s eyes widened in surprise, as did the rest of the patrol behind him. “What happened to Blazestar?” A cat asked from near the back.

“He’s gone.” Dawnbristle’s tone made it sound like a lot worse happened to him than what actually happened.

The ThunderClan patrol glanced at each other for a heartbeat. Then Brambleclaw responded. “We’re sorry for your losses. I’ll tell Firestar what happened. Safe travels to the Moonstone.”

The patrol was uninterrupted for the rest of the journey. They said a quick farewell to the ThunderClan patrol before crossing the Thunderpath. They made it across WindClan land without meeting any cats. The sun had set by the time the group climbed the last of the rocks up to Mothermouth.

“Here it is,” Seizureheart wore a dark expression on his face, as if he had never wanted to come to this place. “Are you ready?”

Icefury was panting, desperately trying to catch his breath. Dawnbristle was hardly winded. She gave a curt nod. “Let’s go.”

Icefury forced his paws to move as they headed into the gaping void of Mouthermouth. The dim light behind Icefury was quickly blotted out, and soon he couldn’t see a muzzle-length ahead of him. He had to rely on his sense of smell and his whiskers to guide himself down the cave.

Seizureheart led the two warriors deeper and deeper into the heart of the mountain. They went through so many twists and turns Icefury soon got completely lost down here. Just when he thought it would never end, the cave opened up to reveal a large open cavern.

Icefury was immediately struck by wonder. The entire cave was illuminated by a huge glowing crystal jutting out from the ground in the center. It glistened a brilliant blue, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight coming from a hole in the roof of the cave. How have I never known about this place?

“Here it is,” Seizureheart’s voice was flat. “The Moonstone. Touch your nose to it.”

Dawnbristle turned and gave them one last glare. “Neither of you move until I’m done,” she ordered.

Then, she sat herself down in front of the crystal and touched her nose to it. Her body suddenly grew very still until it looked like she was dead.

Icefury couldn’t help but ask, “Is she okay?”

Seizureheart nodded. “She’s fine. She’s talking with StarClan right now. I only wonder what they’re saying.”

The two cats sat on the side of the cave for what felt like moons. The night slowly progressed, but Dawnbristle did not stir. Icefury was cold and tired, practically asleep on his paws, when the Moonstone suddenly dimmed as morning approached.

Finally, Dawnbristle sneezed and woke up.

Seizureheart and Icefury immediately padded over to check on her. She was freezing to the touch, but otherwise nothing seemed different.

“How are you feeling, Dawnbristle?” Seizureheart asked.

Dawnbristle shook her pelt out as she stood up. She glanced at Seizureheart. 

“Dawnstar.”

Chapter Text

“Ivyclaw is gone!”

Spottedfur shot straight up in her nest. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness all morning, barely awake but too groggy and tired to do anything. But when she heard that her mother had vanished, her tiredness vanished immediately.

“Ivyclaw?” Soupfur glanced over at who had declared that.

It was Cloudstorm. He was standing over the nest Ivyclaw had slept in. It was empty.

His yowl had woken up the rest of the group. Jack was muttering to himself, clearly annoyed with being woken up, while Blazefire had stood up and was walking over to the nest.

“Why are you making such a big deal out of this?” Cloakstar asked. “Maybe she went out early to hunt or something.”

Cloudstorm sniffed Ivyclaw’s nest. “Not middle of the night early,” he looked back at Cloakstar. “Her scent is nearly stale.”

“That’s not good,” Soupfur sniffed the nest as well. “Something might have happened to her.”

Spottedfur shouldered her sister. “You think, you foxxing genius?”

“Language,” Blazefire reminded her. Then he turned back to the group. “We have to go and look for her.”

“I’ll lead a patrol,” Cloudstorm offered immediately.

“I’ll go with you!” Bloodkit piped up. Soupfur stepped over to join them.

Blazefire curled his bushy orange tail around Spottedfur’s shoulders. “I’ll lead another patrol,” he turned to look at Cloakstar and Jack, who still hadn’t moved from their nests. Cloakstar was grooming himself nonchalantly while Jack was lying, head on his paws, trying to go back to sleep.

“Cloakstar, Jack, care to join the search?”

Jack raised his head. “Nah. Leaffall might… react poorly if she came here and found all of us missing.”

Cloakstar glanced at Jack. “Yeah. What he said.”

Blazefire rolled his eyes. “Okay, whatever. You two stay here, we’ll be back soon.”

Spottedfur heard Jack mutter something unintelligible as they set off away from the nests. Blazefire took the lead in the general direction of where Leaffall always left, while Cloudstorm headed in the opposite direction.

Spottedfur kept her mouth open in case she caught Ivyclaw’s scent trail, but the longer they searched, the more discouraged she grew. They searched all around the forest from morning to noon.

Eventually, Blazefire stopped in the middle of the forest. They were in the direction of the mountain where the trees and undergrowth were slightly thinner. He turned around and faced his mate. “Any luck?”

Spottedfur shook her head sadly. “Nothing,” she sighed. “It’s so odd. How does my mother just vanish overnight ?”

“I don’t know,” Blazefire meowed. “And it happened to Honeysong, too. Two cats, two nights in a row. That can’t be a coincidence.”

No cat spoke for a few moments. Then Blazefire added, “Do you think she went to find Honeysong?”

“I doubt it,” Spottedfur responded. “She isn’t too thrilled with meeting any strange cat. Not since Avalanche…”

Spottedfur remembered how, when Avalanche announced she was taking over the clan, Ivyclaw was so strongly against it, she attacked her. Avalanche wounded her badly, permanently changing her opinions on outsiders.

Blazefire walked over and lay his tail over Spottedfur’s shoulders. “I understand.”

“Not really,” Spottedfur lay down on the ground.

Blazefire sat down beside her, wrapping his tail around his paws. “What don’t I understand?”

Suddenly, Spottedfur got an urge to pour out the emotions that she’s hidden since the moment Ambereye showed up, “Everything is going wrong. First Ambereye, then Avalanche, then this whole journey, and now two of our cats are missing! I haven’t been able to catch a break this last moon!”

As she was speaking, the scenery darkened. Spottedfur glanced up to see that a large cloud was passing over the sun, plunging the forest into its shadow. Half the sky was covered in clouds.

“Even the weather is getting worse!” She broke off in a whimper. “Can’t anything go right anymore? I just want life to go back to normal.”

Blazefire was silent for a while. Then he murmured, “Don’t you worry, Spottedfur. We’re almost back home. Then Cloakstar can hopefully sort this chaos out, and our lives can be peaceful again.”

“Are you sure?” Spottedfur looked up at him hopefully.

Blazefire nodded. “Yes. Then who knows? Maybe we could raise a family together.”

A family? Spottedfur hesitated. She had never thought of that. But it was true; one day, they’d have kits of their own. Ivyclaw would have grandchildren, and Silence great-grandchildren.

Blazefire seemed to notice Spottedfur’s uncertainty. “Or not. We don’t have to have kits if you don’t want.”

“No, no,” Spottedfur shook her head. “I’d like kits. I just want to raise them in a TrailClan that’s safe and secure, not like now.”

Blazefire murmured agreement. Silence fell over the two mates again, and they sat there in the middle of the woods, quietly enjoying each other’s company. Spottedfur was glad that, even in terrible times such as these, there were still opportunities to get away and be happy.

“Do you think our children will have powers?” Spottedfur asked.

“What?” Blazefire looked at her.

“Well, you have a power,” Spottedfur explained. “But I don’t. I’m one of the few cats with none. I don’t want our kits to envy the older warriors.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Blazefire replied, bending down to lick the top of Spottedfur’s head. “Of course they’ll have powers. You might too; you just haven’t discovered it yet.”

Spottedfur didn’t believe him. She had resigned to believing she had a power a long time ago. Icefury learned about his all the way back when they were kits, and he unsheathed his claws accidentally during a play fight. He had cut Spottedfur’s flank, and instead of blood seeping from the wound, ice crystals formed instead.

Soupfur, however, was born with her ability. Her pelt was made of some sort of liquid, which Seizureheart has ordered the clan not to taste.

It was a bittersweet memory. Throughout her kithood, Spottedfur was excited to discover her power, and through apprenticeship, she was growing a bit tired of waiting. By the time her warrior ceremony came and went with still no glimpse of a power, she finally conceded that she had no power and likely never would.

“Maybe one day,” she muttered halfheartedly.

“You’ll find your power soon, I know you will,” Blazefire insisted.

Spottedfur wanted to change the topic. She didn’t like to talk about powers. “Maybe Ivyclaw and Honeysong were cat-napped.”

Blazefire noticed the topic shift but didn’t mention it. “What do you mean?”

“Leaffall’s been acting strange. I feel like she had something to do with their disappearance.”

“Leaffall always weird,” Blazefire pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is different,” Spottedfur went on to explain the conversation she and Soupfur had with Jack and Leaffall yesterday. "Leaffall said they were attacked by rogues, while Greenleaf said they were attacked by a fox. Someone is lying.”

“Do you know who?” Blazefire asked.

Spottedfur shook her head. “I don’t know. There’s not enough footprints for a band of rogues to attack, but there aren’t any fox footprints either.”

“And why does this matter?”

“Because if one of them is lying about what happened to Leafbare and Newleaf,  they might know what happened to Honeysong and Ivyclaw, and lie about them too!”

Blazefire’s emerald eyes widened in realization. “Do you think they’re dead as well?”

“I hope not.” Spottedfur stood up. “But we won’t figure out anything by sitting here.”

Blazefire stood up as well. “You’re right. Let’s go.” He began to pad away, but froze after a few steps. “What are we looking for, exactly?”

“Something that could help me figure out how Newleaf or Leafbare died, or evidence that shows where Ivyclaw or Honeysong went,” Spottedfur explained. “This could take a while, so maybe we should split up?”

Blazefire thought about it. “Are you sure? It’s a big forest that we’re not all familiar with.”

“I’ll be fine. How about we meet back here when the sun sets?” Spottedfur suggested.

Blazefire was still dubious, but he agreed. “See you in a while,” he waved goodbye with his tail before walking off into the bushes.

Spottedfur turned and headed in the opposite direction. Now she was alone in the forest.

Was the forest always this big? It seemed larger than she remembered. As she walked, it felt like the trees grew taller. The undergrowth felt thicker. Yet, when she stepped back to look at it, it didn’t look any different.

Relax. You’ll be fine. She tried to calm the nagging fear that she’d lose her way out here. Just look for something off.

The day went on, and Spottedfur had no luck. She began to get desperate, walking faster, glancing back and forth, moving more erotically. Come on. There’s gotta be something in all this forest!

Finally, Spottedfur discovered something. It was a slight depression in the earth. The grass faded away to reveal a patch of dirt, as if the ground had been bruised. It was located before a bush, and a tree grew beside the bush.

Hmm… what’s this?

It looked strangely familiar to the grave she and Soupfur had stumbled upon. When she padded closer, she noticed a single wilted daffodil near the dirt. She lifted the petals with one paw. Poor thing, it looks like it’s been crushed.

Moving away from the dying flower, she noticed a few pawsteps crisscrossing directions. It appeared as if a fight had taken place as well, but it was on a smaller scale compared to Leafbare’s grave. There was no way there were more than two cats involved here.

Spottedfur remembered there was evidence in the bush at the last scene, so she went to the bush near this scene. She found more tufts of fur on the bush: yellow and orange.

Interesting. Orange fur in both scenes.

Looking at the ground again, she tried to find any hints that a fox could have attacked, and once again, she found none.

No fox in either fight. Only cats.

An interesting thing she did find was a single claw, buried in the ground. It looked as if it had been broken off.

“Spottedfur? What are you doing out here?” A voice from behind made her jump. She spun around and saw Leaffall staring at her.

“I…” Spottedfur didn’t want to admit they were searching for something to condemn Leaffall for murder. “I was walking in the forest and stumbled upon this place. Do you know what it is?”

Leaffall nodded curtly. “It’s Newleaf’s grave.”

She doesn’t seem as emotional about Newleaf as she was about Leafbare. Especially given that he allegedly saved her life.

“Come along, you should be disturbing resting sites like this,” Leaffall ordered with a flick of her tail.

Spottedfur didn’t move. She needed to know more. “What was Newleaf’s fur color?” An odd question, but she thought it was important. Things were beginning to fall into place.

Leaffall only growled. Her gaze hardened, and her claws slid out. “Spottedfur, now .”

Spottedfur quickly counted the claws on Leaffall’s paws. One two three four, one two three four, one two three four five, one two three four!

Leaffall was missing a claw on one of her front paws. It made sense now, but Spottedfur didn’t want to call her out while she was already agitated. She only shrugged and padded toward her.

Leaffall unsheathed her claws and headed away, back into the deep forest. While Spottedfur was following her, she passed a singular thriving daffodil near the grave, full and bright yellow.

Leaffall led Spottedfur far away from Newleaf’s grave. She followed a rather complex path through the woods with absolute confidence.

Spottedfur waited until Leaffall and she were far away from Newleaf’s grave. She didn’t speak until they were passing a particularly thick cluster of bramble bushes.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” Spottedfur blurted out.

Leaffall froze and looked back at her. “What?”

“A fox didn’t kill your mate. You did.”

Leaffall scoffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I went to Leafbare’s grave,” Spottedfur continued. “There were no fox footprints. No tufts of long fur. And it couldn’t have been rogues, either. There was only his fur and yours.”

Leaffall didn’t respond. She looked at her in stunned silence.

Spottedfur went on. “And I was at Newleaf’s grave. No fox prints. Only two sets of footprints. Newleaf’s fur, and yours. And one more thing,” she pointed to Leaffall’s forepaw. “Your missing claw.”

Leaffall’s fur bristled. Her claws slid out again. She bared her fangs in a snarl. “You’re right. I did it; I killed them. Leaffall and Newleaf. They deserved it,” Leaffall began to approach Spottedfur. Spottedfur stepped back to maintain distance between her and the rogue.

“Leafbare abused me. He was a mistake. He had to die,” rage flared in Leaffall’s eyes. “After that, I couldn’t trust Newleaf. I had to protect my sister. He had to die as well. And soon, all of you clan cats will die with him.”

A jolt of surprise struck Spottedfur. “What? Why? We didn’t do anything to you!”

Leaffall laughed scornfully. “You don’t know. I was born in a clan. I had to watch my parents be slaughtered when I was three moons old. They were going to kill us too. It was only by some miracle that we managed to escape. I'll tell you this: Clan cats hate unique cats. They hate rogues and loners. If you’re not like them, they want to kill you. Well, guess what? I want to kill them, too. I’ll make an example out of them; they’ll regret every choice they made that only led to their death.”

Spottedfur let out a cry of shock. Leaffall was downright insane. “So you killed Honeysong and Ivyclaw, too?”

“Not yet,” Leaffall shook her head. “But I took them. One by one, all of you will disappear. And then…”

Spottedfur was scared to prompt her. Unfortunately, Leaffall prompted herself.

“Then it’ll be satisfying to kill you all at once.”

Spottedfur tried to run. She had to get out of here and warn the others. But Leaffall had slowly manipulated her position to the point that she was cornered against the thick bramble wall. She had nowhere left to go.

“And now that I have no more use for you,” Leaffall approached her until she was a muzzle length from Spottedfur’s nose. “I’ll just have to let you go.”

Leaffall’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction, and she gave Spottedfur a rough shove. The calico she-cat was unbalanced and stumbled backward into the brambles. To her surprise, the brambles easily gave way, and she fell right through them.

Then the ground gave way, and she fell through that, too.

Chapter Text

Icefury walked alongside Seizureheart. Dawnstar was leading the patrol back to camp. They were over the rise now, very close to TrailClan territory. On the way back, they encountered a WindClan patrol. Dawnstar spoke to them so condescendingly that Icefury was sure a fight would break out, but only by the power of StarClan was Seizureheart able to break the tension.

Even so, Icefury was still deeply troubled. If Dawnstar truly got her nine lives, that meant both Blazestar and Cloudstorm had died. And if they were both killed, likely the rest of the missing cats were as well.

My sisters… my mother… all dead? And I don’t even know where they are! Now the only cat I have is Lightfern, but he hardly notices me.

I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. My sisters are the only cats in my life that are really close to me. If they’re dead, what will I do?

But as they drew closer to the camp, Icefury faltered in his hope. How could Blazestar be killed while his family escaped? He had eight lives left, for StarClan’s sake! What could have possibly taken them all?

Maybe Blazestar is still alive. Perhaps they’re all alive. But that didn’t make any sense either. Then Dawnstar couldn’t have gotten her lives. What if she’s lying? What cat would lie about that?

There was no more time to dwell on the safety of his family. Clouds covered the entire sky as the TrailClan camp came into sight. They were finally home!

Dawnstar pushed her way into the entrance, then paused abruptly. Her sudden stop forced Icefury to skid and scramble back just so he didn’t end up crashing into her.

Dawnstar was glaring intensely through the fern entrance. She eyed the camp. They weren’t all the way through, so nobody knew they were there.

“What’s wrong?” Seizureheart asked.

“Them,” Dawnstar motioned with her tail to Ikonicfrost. She was conversing with Morningfrost and Lightfern. “Listen.”

Icefury pricked his ears and leaned around Dawnstar’s lean shoulders, trying to pick up on their conversation.

“What are you saying?” Lightfern meowed.

“Don’t you guys see?” Ikonicfrost sounded exasperated. “Everything is going from bad to worse. Every new leader we get only throws us into more trouble than the last, and Dawnbristle is the worst of them all!”

“I don’t think so,” Morningfrost argued. “She’s not pushing us to our limits like Icefury was.”

“Yeah. And sure, she exiled Tansywillow,” Lightfern added. “But she had a good reason to.”

Ikonicfrost sighed. “Whatever. I know it’s only a matter of time until she messes up this Clan any further, and I don’t want to be there to witness it.”

“What?” Firestorm overheard their conversation. “Are you leaving?”

Ikonicfrost nodded. “I can’t take this chaos anymore. My brother’s already dead. My leader has vanished. What else do I have here?”

Me, Icefury thought. Her apprentice. She has me. Do I not matter to even her anymore?

“You have us,” Morningfrost put in. “Your Clanmates. Do we not matter to you?”

“Of course you matter to me!” Ikonicfrost rolled her eyes, as if the very thought of the question was absurd. “That’s why I’m telling you this. I- no, all of us are in danger having Dawnbristle living in our clan. I don’t trust a single thing she says. I’m leaving, at least until Blazestar returns. If anyone wants to follow me, they’re welcome to.”

Dawnstar snarled and prowled out of the fern tunnel and into the clearing. “No cat is going anywhere.”

Instantly, every head in the clearing whipped around to stare at her. Icefury and Seizureheart followed behind Dawnstar, much less angry than her.

“How dare you try to leave this clan?” Dawnstar challenged. She approached Ikonicfrost menacingly. “Just who do you think you are?”

While Icefury’s Clanmates stepped away in fear, Ikonicfrost didn’t budge. She met Dawnstar’s gaze confidently. “A cat who has more common sense than their leader.”

Dawnstar’s gaze burned with murder and rage. Her claws dug deep into the earth. She was standing so close to Ikonicfrost that it looked like they were touching muzzles. “Bold of you to weaken your clan and save yourself.”

“If anyone is weakening this clan, it’s you.” Ikonicfrost retorted. “I’m leaving, and there’s no stopping me.”

Dawnstar let out a shout of fury and yanked one of her paws upward. Ikonicfrost cried in shock, and her eyes went bloodshot. The rest of the clan gasped. Ikonicfrost stumbled a few steps backward, letting everyone see what had happened.

Ikonicfrost, no! 

Dawnstar’s claws had torn straight up her throat, and the wounds bled excessively. Ikonicfrost collapsed on the ground, panting and coughing for her life. Her eyes were still wide as Dawnstar approached her. No more was she confidently challenging her leader. Now, Icefury could only see fear in his mentor’s eyes.

“You are a traitor,” Dawnstar growled. “And traitors deserve death.”

Icefury flinched and forced himself to look away as Dawnstar stabbed her claws into the open wound. He couldn’t bear to watch her murder his mentor. The sound of ripping flesh was pain enough.

Eventually, Icefury had to look up. The rest of the clan was staring at Dawnstar, her claws still dug deep into Ikonicfrost’s body, frozen in utter disbelief. A few of the cats fumbled for words, but the shock of Ikonicfrost’s murder left them speechless.

“What’s the matter?” Dawnstar demanded scornfully. “You chose me to run your clan, and this is the thanks I get? Ikonicfrost was a selfish traitor to all of you! She was ready to abandon you all to save her own tail. If her death upsets you, then tough. You chose me, you elected me, so you won’t complain about how I run TrailClan.”

Finally, Coalbreath managed to find words. “Dawnbristle, how could-”

“Dawnstar.” Dawnstar’s single word resonated across the clan, making some cats gasp again. They clearly understood what that meant as clearly as Icefury did.

Icefury stopped listening to whatever the other cats were saying. He took a few steps forward to get a better look at his mentor. Ikonicfrost's eyes were still bloodshot in horror, her final terrified gaze frozen forever. Her neck was drenched in blood, and Dawnstar's claws dug straight through it didn't help to stop the flow. It dripped down her neck and pooled around her body.

Oh, Ikonicfrost... you didn't have to die. And for something as simple as this!

Icefury was immediately met with a rush of memories: his apprentice ceremony and touching noses with her for the first time, exploring the territory with her and Spottedfur and Raggeddreams, her calm demeanor yet aggressive teaching style, her wonderful praise every time Icefury excelled in fighting and her sharp reminders every time he failed in hunting.

Icefury was nearly brought to tears. She and Raggeddreams were still young, having been made into warriors just over a year ago. He remembered his warrior ceremony barely two months ago, and how proudly and loudly Ikonicfrost congratulated him. He was filled with so much grief that he wasn't sure if he would be able to maintain his composure.

I'm sorry, Ikonicfrost. You deserved better than this. Are you in StarClan yet, reuniting with your brother?

He remembered how happy she always was with him, and how different she acted once he died. The only cats she'd really talk to were Coalbreath, her mentor, him, her apprentice, and Tansywillow, her friend. But Tansywillow had been exiled, and the last Icefury saw of her was-

Oh great StarClan. What am I supposed to do now? Tansywillow had told him two days ago that he had to love Dawnstar unconditionally. It was TrailClan's only chance to protect itself against Dawnstar. But how in all of Silverpelt was he supposed to love a cat who just murdered his mentor in front of everyone? How could he feel anything towards her now?

He remembered something Tansywillow had said. If Dawnbristle continues like this, TrailClan might not live to the next gathering. Did she mean Dawnstar was going to kill off all of them? Was Ikonicfrost just the first murder? Dawnstar didn't hesitate to kill her; why would she hesitate to kill anybody else? If that were true, then perhaps he did need to listen to Tansywillow and continue loving her. He had to expose her soft side and turn her away from wrath.

But what if it didn't work? It’s the best chance you've got. Perhaps he should try something other than love. How could he love Dawnstar now? Dawnbristle won’t take kindly to any more direct methods. He remembered snippets of the conversation as if they were answers to his questions. What was he supposed to do?

Forgive. The word caught Icefury off-guard. It was a small, kit-like voice, one he hadn't heard in a long time. Earthkit?

Icefury glanced around, as if expecting to see his brother's spirit standing nearby. But there was nothing, not even his scent. He waited for Earthkit to say more, but nothing came. It seemed like the brown spirit kit would speak no more.

"Icefury!" Dawnstar's curt call knocked him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Dawnstar glaring down at him from atop the Limestone Pile. "Come over here," she ordered. She flicked her tail to delegate a spot at the base for him to sit.

Icefury stepped away from the bloody body of Ikonicfrost and bounded over to her. As he did, Dawnstar shook out her paw drenched in red, spraying droplets of blood everywhere. She tisked. As the cats began to gather around Ikonicfrost's body to sit vigil, she interrupted them. "Just what do you think you all are doing?"

"Vigil, obviously," Coalbreath explained. Icefury could see the pain in his eyes reflected in Coalbreath's.

"No," Dawnstar unsheathed her claws. "You will not be sitting vigil for a traitor. Go to your nests, and I don't want to see any of you out for the rest of the day. You'll all suffer for Ikonicfrost's mistake."

First she kills Ikonicfrost, and now she denies letting them sit vigil? Icefury couldn't believe his ears. It seemed like the rest of the clan couldn't either.

"Git!" Dawnstar snarled. The cats scattered, rushing back to the warrior's den. Icefury stayed frozen at the foot of the Limestone Pile as they all left. Dawnstar watched them closely and didn't move until she was sure none of them would come out of the den. Then she sighed.

Dawnstar leaped down from the Limestone Pile and disappeared into her den. She didn't even acknowledge Icefury's presence. Icefury was left standing there, confused.

What do I do? Do I go to the warriors' den like everyone else? She called me here; do I go into her den?

Eventually, Icefury decided the latter. She must have summoned him for a reason. He peeked into Dawnstar's den. She was sitting in her nest, staring at him blankly, as if she were seeing straight through him. She didn't respond.

"Dawnstar?" Icefury asked. "Are you okay?"

Dawnstar didn't say anything for several more moments. Her eyes focused on him, and lit up as if she realized something. After a very long pause, she spoke softly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Icefury was taken aback. This was Dawnstar speaking to him, and speaking to him softly. Something must be wrong with her.

"Do you still love me?" Dawnstar avoided the question.

Do I? The choice was challenging. Should he be angry at her, like he should, or should he listen to Tansywillow, like he promised? Speak from my heart. Do I still want to love her?

"Yeah," Icefury replied. He was surprised by his own reply. Dawnstar's multicolored eyes widened, mirroring his surprise. It only lasted for a heartbeat before her gaze returned to normal.

"Sit," Dawnstar ordered, flicking her tail to a spot in her nest beside her. Icefury obliged. She paused for a few moments before continuing. "I am an assassin," she confessed. Icefury stared at her in surprise, but she didn't turn her head to look at him. The only thing she did was lift a hind leg to scratch an itch behind her ear. "I've been an assassin all my life, and I am one now. When I killed Ikonicfrost, I had no remorse, as usual. But now..." Her voice faltered. "I feel something."

"What do you feel?" Icefury asked.

"I do not know," Dawnstar answered. "And I do not know why. When I saw you standing beside that cat's corpse, I felt something inside me."

Icefury opened his mouth to ask again, but Dawnstar covered his mouth with her tail, silencing him.

"When I was in StarClan, I did not receive nine lives," she admitted. "I received several messages from some of my victims. I remember one of them. Listen to your heart. I ignored it at first, but after seeing your reaction to Ikonicfrost’s death, it swelled back up in me."

Icefury hardly heard the second part. She lied about her nine lives? That means Blazestar is still alive! That means my family is still alive!

Dawnstar pushed on. "I've noticed how you haven't given up on me, even after I've pushed you away so many times. I think I know what it means now."

Her tail fell off of Icefury's mouth. He was about to speak again when he felt the weight of her body leaning against him. She's... leaning against me now. Willingly. Is this what I think it is? He waited for Dawnstar to confess her love to him, but she stayed silent.

Icefury noticed a tuft of fur sticking up on Dawnstar's head. She must have disturbed it when she was scratching. He bent his head down to lick it smooth.

And for the first time, Dawnstar didn't snap at him.

Chapter Text

Evenhhgggnnhh… where am I?

Spottedfur struggled to blink her eyes open. Her body ached all over, and she had a terrible throbbing headache. She was lying on her side on rough, uneven dirt. She couldn’t focus her eyes properly, and the ringing inside her head made all other noises watery and distant.

She tilted her head up. She could see the sky, but it was only a rough circle in the center of her vision. She was surrounded on all sides by brown walls, and she could make out two blurry shapes near her. One was golden and the other was a lighter brown than the sides of her vision.

“Spottedfur!” She heard a voice but didn’t comprehend it. “Can you hear me?”

Suddenly, Ivyclaw’s face was right in front of hers. Spottedfur saw her green eye and amber eye burning their gaze into hers. She was close enough to her muzzle that Spottedfur could clearly make out her facial features. She was clearly worried.

“Spottedfur, are you alright?” Ivyclaw’s voice was easier to hear.

Spottedfur blinked her eyes several times, still unsuccessful in clearing her vision. “Yeah, I think…” 

Wait a moment. Ivyclaw? Ivyclaw! “Ivyclaw, you’re alive!” She sat straight up. She rubbed her muzzle against her mother’s jaw. “I was so worried about you! Are you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Ivyclaw responded.

“We?” Spottedfur glanced around. Her vision sharpened, and she could make out the other form near them. It was Honeysong, curled up in the corner, staring at her with glazed eyes. “Honeysong?”

Honeysong flicked her tail at her defeatedly.

“Where are we?” Spottedfur glanced around. They were surrounded on all sides by steep dirt walls, too steep to climb. It had a flat bottom where the three she-cats were lying.

“A pit.” Honeysong meowed.

Spottedfur gazed upward. The pit didn’t look too deep. She could probably jump out of it.

She bunched her muscles to jump, but before she could, Ivyclaw interrupted her. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t waste your strength; you won’t make it.”

Spottedfur glanced at her mother. “Never hurts to try.” She turned her attention back to the jump and leaped. But her hind legs felt weak as she pushed off the ground. She barely managed half the jump before colliding into the dirt slope and tumbling back down. The air rushed out of her lungs as she hit the ground hard again. 

"I warned you," Ivyclaw searched Spottedfur for any injuries. When she found none, she began to lick her fur down vigorously.

"What happened?" Spottedfur stood up and ducked away from Ivyclaw. She wasn't a kit - she could clean herself. "When I jumped, I felt so... so weak."

Honeysong replied for Ivyclaw. "I don't know for sure, but we've started to feel weak, too. I think Leaffall did something to the prey that weakens us rather than strengthens us."

"You think Leaffall spiked the food?" Spottedfur stared incredulously at Honeysong.

"I think it's a ridiculous idea, too," Ivyclaw whispered in her ear. "But it makes sense."

“Have you guys tried calling for help?” Spottedfur looked at them. They shook their heads.

“We’re deep in the woods,” Honeysong explained. “I doubt anyone will hear us.”

“You should at least try!” Spottedfur rolled her eyes. Was Honeysong going to give up on all hope the second anything goes wrong? That’s no way to be a warrior! So Spottedfur threw her head back and let out a loud, long yowl. Blazefire was out in the forest, too; perhaps he might-

A rock collided with her forehead, abruptly cutting off her cry for help. “Ow! What kind of foxxing idiot would-”

“Shut up!” Spottedfur heard Leaffall’s snarl above them. “Keep quiet, you three!”

“You can’t make me!” Spottedfur retorted, glaring up at her. In reply, she felt another stone hit her.

“Perhaps I’ll cave in this pit right now,” Leaffall threatened. Her eyes glowed maniacally. She placed a paw on the edge of the pit, demonstrating how loose the dirt was. “I can always make another for your friends.”

Leaffall’s threat shut Spottedfur up. There wasn’t much she could say to combat that. If the pit caved in, she, her mother, and Honeysong would suffocate within a minute, and then there’d be no hope of escaping. Best choice for her is to stay silent and hope for the best.

When Spottedfur agreed to Leaffall’s demand with her silence, Leaffall smirked and padded off. “Good prisoner.”

She heard the bushes encompassing them rustle and then go silent. She waited until Leaffall would be way out of earshot before speaking again. This time, she kept her voice low. “What are we supposed to do?”

Ivyclaw shrugged and studied her paws. “Hope. That’s the only thing we can do.”

Spottedfur blinked open her eyes. It was morning. She was woken by her growling stomach and her aching head. The cold wind blew in from the outside and got trapped down in the pit, making it even colder than usual. At least Ivyclaw and Honeysong’s bodies radiated enough heat for her to withstand it.

She sat up and glanced around. Neither of them was awake yet. Now that she had been in the prison for a while, she realized Honeysong was growing awfully thin. It wouldn’t be long until her ribs would begin to show through her fur. Her stomach was painfully empty, but given what she had learned about Leaffall, Spottedfur didn’t have much hope that they’d be given anything to eat.

Ivyclaw and Honeysong were curled beside her as expected, but she noticed another cat sleeping on the other side of the pit. She wasn’t there when they went to sleep yesterday! The new cat had a liquid pelt that flowed and rippled with every breath.

“Soupfur!” Spottedfur stepped over Ivyclaw and ran toward her sister. “Soupfur, are you okay?”

Soupfur opened her eyes slowly and glanced up at her mindlessly. When she realized who it was, she scrambled upright. “Spottedfur, you’re here!” She glanced past her and saw Ivyclaw and Honeysong waking up. “And Ivyclaw! You’re okay!”

“Sort of,” Ivyclaw stood and padded toward her other daughter to greet her. “We’re alive, but not doing great.”

When Soupfur asked, Spottedfur launched into detail about where they were and Leaffall’s history and why she shouldn’t try to escape. Her sister only grew more worried as she went on.

“I see,” Soupfur murmured as Spottedfur finished. “But surely with the four of us, we can alert the other cats looking for us.”

“Didn’t you hear her?” Honeysong hissed. “If we try to call for help, she-”

“Listen,” Soupfur interrupted. “I heard Blazestar last night. He said he would take one large search party out today to search for all of us. We just have to wait until we hear them calling for us, and then we yowl.”

Spottedfur pondered the suggestion. It seemed like a perfect plan, as long as the search patrol made it to them before Leaffall did. She nodded slowly, then a bit more as Ivyclaw and Honeysong joined in. “Let’s do it.”

The four she-cats waited around the rest of the morning, ears pricked for the approaching search party. For the first time since Spottedfur landed here, Honeysong had hope. It wasn’t much, but it was something. The air around them was silent for what seemed like moons. By noon, Spottedfur’s determination was beginning to falter. What if they were on the other side of the forest? What if they didn’t even come around here today?

“Are you sure they’re coming?” Spottedfur asked.

Soupfur turned and stared at her, almost disbelievingly. “Of course! Blazestar is worried sick about you.”

Spottedfur felt warmed at the thought that Blazefire was putting in even more effort just for her. He really did care about her. Then she scolded herself at the thought. Of course he cares about me! I’m his mate, for StarClan’s sake!

Just then, Spottedfur heard something nearby. Ivyclaw had heard it, too. They froze and pricked their ears again.

“Spottedfur!" Spottedfur could barely hear Blazefire's voice, but she was sure, without a shadow of a doubt, it was his. "Ivyclaw! Honeysong! Soupfur!"

His voice soon melted into several others, also calling for them. 

"It’s them! It's Blazestar!" Spottedfur puffed out her fur in excitement. Then she raised her voice in a caterwaul. "Blazestar! Blazestar, we're over here!"

Ivyclaw joined in the yowl, followed by Soupfur and Honeysong.

They heard footsteps running toward them. Spottedfur expected Blazefire's head to appear over the side of the pit, but the only head that emerged was Leaffall's. 

"What is wrong with you four?" She hissed. "Can your incompetent brains not comprehend my threat?"

Spottedfur realized that the footsteps around them hadn't stopped. They were only getting faster. She heard Cloudstorm shout from nearby.

"Fox-dung!" Leaffall glanced behind herself. "Seems like I'll have to kill you now."

Leaffall placed an unsheathed paw on the edge of the pit, but before she could dislodge the dirt, bushes rustled and fresh scent washed over Spottedfur's muzzle.

"Leaffall!" Blazefire demanded. "What are you doing?"

Cloakstar's dark gray head appeared at the top of the pit. He turned and glared at Leaffall. "Care to explain why four of our cats are down in this pit?"

The cats disappeared from view, forcing Spottedfur to listen to the argument without any visuals.

"Yes, I took them. I took all of them." Leaffall admitted.

"Why?" Cloudstorm growled.

"I thought you were our friend!" Bloodkit's shocked squeak chimed in.

"I was never your friend. Ever since the moment I knew you lot were Clan cats, I wanted to kill you. Clan cats have wronged me my entire life, and now... now it is time for me to make it right."

Abruptly, Leaffall let out a yowl, which was followed by a screech from Blazefire. She heard a thud and the rip of fur. Spottedfur realized that Leaffall was attacking Blazefire! She could hear the entire fight happening, and it pained her that she couldn't see anything or help Blazefire at all. 

"Enough!" Spottedfur heard Jack's roar. A second later, there was a loud thud followed by a sickening snap a moment after. An eerie silence fell over the area. It took a few moments until Ivyclaw gathered enough courage to ask what happened. 

"Jack just bodied Leaffall around like she was a mouse!" Bloodkit answered. The astonishment in his voice was clear.

"How'd you do that?" Cloudstorm asked Jack.

Jack hesitated before replying. "I thought everyone was stronger when they're hungrier."

Jack must have a power! Spottedfur realized. Then her surprise faded into irritation. Just wonderful. A loner with a power while I have none.

Bloodkit's black-furred head appeared over the top of the pit. "Are you guys okay?"

The four she-cats nodded.

"Can you guys get out on your own?" Cloudstorm appeared beside Bloodkit.

"No," Spottedfur responded. "The walls are too steep and weak. We risk causing it to collapse."

"Have you tried jumping out?" Bloodkit suggested. 

"Don't try," Jack interrupted. "The food’s probably weakened them."

Ivyclaw nodded. "We're too weak to jump out."

Bloodkit grumbled to himself. Clearly, all of them were at a loss. Suddenly, Cloakstar joined the conversation. "Soupfur, Spottedfur, perchance you have any abilty that would help you escape?"

Soupfur shook her head while Spottedfur struggled to not snap at him. She remembered he had never met her, so he didn’t know that she had no power.

“Are you sure?” Cloakstar pressed.

“What kind of a question is that?” Spottedfur failed to withhold her anger. “Of course we’re-”

The flower. Spottedfur suddenly remembered the wilting daffodil beside Newleaf’s grave. When she had left with Leaffall, she had walked right past it. It was blooming. Blooming, not wilting.

Did I do that? No, of course not. I don’t have a power, right?

“Spottedfur?” Cloakstar prompted her to finish her thought.

Right?

Spottedfur stared at the ground. If I made that daffodil grow, surely I can make more grow? Spottedfur crouched down until her face was barely hovering above the ground. She was conscious of Soupfur’s mouth moving before her, but she drowned out any words she was saying.

Can I make a flower grow? Spottedfur concentrated. Nothing happened. She narrowed her eyes. Grow.

Suddenly, the dirt moved. A heartbeat later, a small green stalk rose out of the barren earth. It grew taller and broader until it flowered into a perfect yellow daffodil. Her eyes widened in surprise. She did it! She made a flower grow!

“Spottedfur!” Soupfur shared her excitement. “You- you have a power!”

“I did it!” Spottedfur glowed. “I have a power!”

“Wow!” Ivyclaw joined in the celebration. “I knew you had one. I always believed in you.”

“Nicely done,” Cloakstar added with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “You made a flower grow. Is that all?”

Spottedfur hissed at him. “I’ve never done this before, okay? Cut me some slack.”

“How is a daffodil going to help you?” Cloakstar asked.

“Maybe you can grow more,” Soupfur suggested. “More than just daffodils.”

Spottedfur shrugged. “I can try.” She glanced back at the ground. What would help them? They needed something they could climb.

Vines.

Almost as if she had summoned it, a thick vine snaked out of the ground and hugged the pit wall. It split into two, then three, then four, and before she knew it one side of the pit had been completely covered in interwoven vines. It formed perfect pawholds for them to use to climb out.

“Wow!” Soupfur breathed. “Your power is amazing!”

Spottedfur was just as surprised as Soupfur, but she tried not to show it. “Save the best for last,” Spottedfur felt warm with pride. This was her moment. “Now quickly, let’s get out of here.”

Soupfur hooked her paws into the newly grown vines. They were surprisingly stable. Hastily, she scrambled up them and disappeared over the rim of the pit. Spottedfur followed next, climbing up with ease. In moments, she was out of the ground and could finally gaze at her travel partners once again.

"Where's Blazestar?" Spottedfur asked anxiously. Leaffall had attacked him; she needed to know if he was okay.

"Over here!" Soupfur meowed. Spottedfur spun around to look at her, and gasped as she saw Blazefire lying beside her.

"Blazestar!" Spottedfur ran to Blazefire's side. He wasn't moving. Blood was dripping from a deep bite in his neck. She froze when she realized he wasn’t breathing either. 

“He’s losing a life,” Soupfur mumbled. “How many is he down to now? Eight?”

“I’m pretty sure he has only seven left.” Cloudstorm approached slowly.

Suddenly, Blazefire’s entire body ignited in a bright burning fire. The cats around him jumped back. A heartbeat later, it vanished without a trace. Spottedfur noticed Blazefire’s neck wound was completely gone. Healed as if it had never been there. Blazefire coughed and opened his eyes weakly.

“Blazestar, are you okay?” Spottedfur dashed forward covered him in soothing licks.

Blazefire stood up and shook out his pelt. His eyes were burning in anger. “We should’ve never come here.” He growled. “This is was a mistake. Let’s go.”

The striped tabby leader swished his tail to gather the group surrounding the pit. Ivyclaw and Honeysong had climbed out of it by now. Before they could pad through the bushes surrounding them, Greenleaf arrived.

“What happened?” She asked. “Why are you all gathered here? What is this pit doing here?”

Jack briefed Greenleaf on the whole ordeal while she listened in respectful silence. She didn’t even seem surprised when Jack told her she had been kidnapping all the cats.

“Where is she now?” Greenleaf glanced around, then hesitantly into the pit.

Cloudstorm sighed. “Sorry to break the news to you, but she’s dead. She tried to kill Blazestar, so Jack intervened. He flung her against a tree, and she snapped her neck.”

Worry flickered in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Uhh… yeah? I went and checked.” Cloudstorm responded. He flicked his tail in the direction that Spottedfur presumed Leaffall’s body was.

Greenleaf padded past him. “Did you watch her?”

“No, why would we?” Bloodkit stared at Greenleaf, confused. The anxiousness in her voice was apparent. The group followed the brown she-cat out of the clearing as she disappeared through the bushes.

“Because she tends to do…” Greenleaf flicked her tail at the only nearby tree. There was an indent in the ground, as if a cat had fallen there, but no body. “That.”

Chapter Text

Days passed since Icefury and Dawnstar’s first intimate moment. She hadn’t grown any better toward the clan but was softer to him than before. Dawnstar had been more active in clan life for the last several days, which Icefury guessed was to ensure they wouldn't run off. Often at night, in the warriors' den, he heard whispers of fleeing, but no cat was brave enough to actually attempt an escape. They were all too scared for their lives.

What has happened to our clan? Since Ambereye, it's been one thing after the next. TrailClan is not what it was when I grew up; we're not much better than a group of rogue friends.

Ambereye attacked once again two days ago. Icefury couldn’t help but notice his fighting style had been altered slightly. He slipped up on easy swipes but mastered complex moves. He would attack one cat briefly before ditching them to attack another. Almost as if he were trying to make it a challenge. 

Almost as if he were fighting for fun.

TrailClan lost, and Ambereye reinstated prey taxes but otherwise left them alone. Half of the warriors were still recovering in Seizureheart’s den. Dawnstar fought valiantly against Ambereye, but her reputation was still crow-food with the clan. While she might have helped the clan in the battle, she refused to help cats when targeted and let someone else do it instead. 

Everyone was still upset about Ikonicfrost’s death, and Icefury could understand why. He was upset, too. The day after her murder, her body had mysteriously disappeared. Icefury assumed Dawnstar had buried her alone, but others claimed a fox took it at night. Dawnstar refused to answer any questions about the subject.

Now, Icefury was leading a border patrol. Chocolatefang, Dashingpelt, and Energyheart followed him, stopping by trees every few tail-lengths to rub their scent over them. They could hear the wind whipping through the trees, but deep in the forest, the trunks of those trees blocked the worst of the wind. Icefury had little to say; he just wanted to finish the patrol and rest. However, the others had different plans.

"I still can't believe that Ikonicfrost is dead." Energyheart stopped by a warped tree. The trunk bent to the side in the middle, causing the branches to grow outward and make a large shady spot. "I can't believe Dawnstar killed her."

"She has no right to nine lives," Dashingpelt argued. "A cat can't go from a rogue to a leader in a week. It took me six moons to go from a loner to a warrior."

Energyheart glanced past the border. "Why don't we just… leave? Dawnstar’s not with us right now. "Nothing is stopping us from running away here and now.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Chocolatefang warned. “The day before yesterday, Slateheart told me he had slipped away from a hunting patrol and headed for the border. Dawnstar didn’t go on that patrol, but she intercepted him before he got too far. She knows. I don’t know how, but she just knows.”

"Do you think she's stalking all of us?" Dashingpelt wondered.

"But then she would leave the camp unguarded," Chocolatefang argued. "And she wouldn't do that."

Icefury let his eyes wander while the others conversed. He stared into a dark thicket, and to his surprise, he found amber eyes staring back at him. Their pupils were narrowed to slits, and their eyes blazed with distrust. 

"Come on, you all," Icefury interrupted. "Let’s keep walking."

Energyheart rolled her eyes but peeled herself away from the tree. "I'm just saying we could make a sprint for it right now and she'd never catch us."

"Then go ahead," Dashingpelt responded. "Follow Ikonicfrost on your own. I'm not risking my life."

Energyheart hissed at him. "We're all following her, one way or another, as long as Dawnstar is near our Clan."

Icefury rolled his eyes as he marked another tree. The bickering between his clanmates was tiring him out. It was all they did these days. They were too indecisive to agree on what to do, so nothing changed. Simultaneously, he felt pity for them. They were right to be worried: Dawnstar didn't hesitate to kill Ikonicfrost; would she hesitate to kill anybody else? It was only a matter of time before she did something worse.

Icefury froze when an unexpected smell hit his nose. It was fresh cat-scent.

"Do you smell that?" He turned back and asked.

Dashingpelt sniffed the air and nodded. "Smells familiar."

"Let's follow it and see where it leads," Icefury meowed, hastily finding the scent trail and tracking it. It headed deeper into their territory. These were trespassers, no doubt.

Lucky for him, the path was relatively straightforward. It took a straight path through the forest, curving only to circumnavigate bushes and brambles. Finally, they caught up to the strangers. Icefury spotted a white tail whisking around another bush.

"There they are!" Energyheart dashed forward to confront the cats. The others trailed directly behind.

"What are-" Energyheart broke off. Her eyes went wide in surprise as she rounded on the trespassers. 

Icefury spun around the bush to see who it was, and he couldn't believe his eyes. Dashingpelt and Chocolatefang couldn't either. He spotted two cats: a black-and-white tom, and a blue and light-gray she-cat. The tom was caught off-guard by the whole patrol, but the she-cat was explicitly focused on him.

"Icefury," Avalanche meowed. "What are you doing on patrol?"

"U-uh..." Icefury stuttered. He could hardly believe that Avalanche was back. It was horrible timing; what would Avalanche say when she learned about Dawnstar? About Ikonicfrost? About him?

"Well, no matter. You can take us to camp," Avalanche ordered. "Quickly now."

Icefury exchanged worried glances with Chocolatefang. There was no way this could end well. 

Shocked exclamations and curious eyes met the group as Avalanche padded into camp. Gamblecore was beside her, flanked by the border patrol. The clan ran up to them, crowding around and pressing them with questions.

"Why did you leave?"

"Where'd you go?"

"What did you do?"

Avalanche waited until the clan calmed down to speak. "I understand that you're all probably confused as to why we left, and now why we're back." She turned to Icefury. "I do hope you've been taking good care of the clan while I've been gone."

Oh, right... He was originally leader after Avalanche, but the clan disliked his plan to attack the other clans, so they threw him off and elected Dawnstar in his place. "Uh... about that..."

"Hey, look!" Slateheart motioned under Avalanche’s belly. When Icefury glanced, he noticed a kit hiding under her. It was a beautiful, long-furred, white she-kit with a light-brown back and amber eyes. 

"Avalanche, Gamblecore, you're mates?" Coalbreath asked.

Avalanche and Gamblecore immediately got offended at the question. "Absolutely not!" Gamblecore hissed.

"I didn't know you were pregnant!" Seizureheart interrupted. "You didn't look pregnant."

Avalanche grabbed the kit by the scruff and pulled her up until she was at eye level with everyone. The kit mewled indignantly, but Avalanche ignored her. "Does this look newborn to you? It's not mine."

"It's not your kit?" Morningfrost questioned disbelievingly.

"No." Gamblecore scoffed matter-of-factly. "We stole her, obviously."

"You stole a kit?" Morningfrost exclaimed. 

"Yes, of course, what else would we be doing?" Gamblecore retorted.

Avalanche shouldered him. "Well, we didn't steal it. We found it lost in the Twolegplace and decided to bring it here."

There was a moment of confused silence. "You didn't try to find the mother?"

"We did, of course, but we didn't find her. We thought it'd be safe here." Before any cat could respond, Avalanche switched the conversation. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get back to my nest.”

She set the white kit down and padded toward the leader’s den at the base of the Limestone Pile. She had hardly taken a few steps before an authoritative voice sounded from the top of the pile.

"Where are you going? Your nest is that way, alongside everyone else's."

Everyone glanced up and looked at Dawnstar standing atop the Limestone Pile.

"Dawnbristle? What are you doing up there?" Avalanche demanded. 

"Dawnstar." Dawnstar hissed. She launched herself to the ground with one clean bound and stormed up to Avalanche. "How dare you vanish for a quarter-moon, reappear, and still have the audacity to take back power like you never left? This is my clan now, not yours."

"This was never your clan." Avalanche barred her teeth. "It’s been mine since Blazefire gave it to me. I left it in Icefury’s paws; you never had a right to rule."

"The clan rejected Icefury and made me leader." Dawnstar unsheathed her claws.

Avalanche looked back at the clan. Their heads hung low in embarrassment. They realized too late that their decision was a poor one.

"Doesn’t look like that." Avalanche unsheathed her claws, already frozen into pure ice. "Move out of the way. You had your fun, but TrailClan is mine again."

Dawnstar crouched as if about to pounce on her. The wind picked up even stronger. Icefury could feel it batting against his fur, but he ignored it. Are they going to fight? Icefury’s fur bristles in excitement. He loved fights. Then he lay his fur flat and scolded himself. Wait, no. I'd love a battle, but I don't want my friends fighting each other!

Dawnstar and Avalanche began circling each other. The clan watched in anticipation for what would happen. Abruptly, Dawnstar froze mid-step. She hovered for a moment. Avalanche prepared for her to jump. To everyone's surprise, Dawnstar didn't leap. She stood up and attempted to flatten her fur.

"Fine. You take the clan." Dawnstar turned away. Her voice was eerily calm. "I don't need it. But it's your vigil."

Avalanche widened her eyes but didn't let down her guard. The rest of TrailClan stared after Dawnstar as she stormed away to the warriors' den. Only after she had vanished inside did Avalanche stand up straight. She scanned the crowd until her eyes landed on Icefury.

Uh oh.

"Icefury," Avalanche’s voice was stern. "Care to explain why Dawnstar was running the clan, instead of you?"

"Well, uh..." Icefury groped for words. "I was running the clan after you left, but... but they abandoned me!"

Avalanche hummed. "Maybe you'd do better as a warrior than a leader."

Icefury flinched at her stinging words. He expected to become deputy once again after she returned, but his failure to control the clan cost him her grace. She seemed ignorant of his reaction as she continued searching the clan. She furrowed her brow, confused.

"Where's Ikonicfrost?" Avalanche asked.

Everyone bowed their heads.

"She's dead, Avalanche." Coalbreath broke the news to her. "Dawnstar killed her a few days ago."

Avalanche quickly grew somber. "I see. We'll all miss her, but we must keep moving on." 

Icefury, as well as a few others, lifted their heads and stared at her incredulously. You're not going to do anything about it? Icefury wondered. Firestorm voiced his thoughts.

"You made her leader," Avalanche explained. "That means she had the power to kill her. I can't punish her for that when I wasn't in power. But if she tries it now..."

Avalanche turned back to the Limestone Pile and quickly bounded up to the top. She glanced at the clan once more before declaring, "Energyheart, come sit at the foot of the Pile."

Energyheart's eyes grew wide. She knew what that meant. "M- me?"

Avalanche nodded. "You're a loyal and trustworthy cat."

Sure. Icefury rolled his eyes. Conveniently, you forgot how loyal she was to Blazefire before you took over. And how she protested your takeover. At the same time, Icefury felt jealousy and anger well up inside him. It should be me being called up there, not her. I was a loyal deputy, wasn't I?

Tail quivering in excitement, Energyheart bounded toward the foot of the Limestone Pile. She faced the clan and sat down. Her eyes glittered with pride and joy.

"I see now that TrailClan is wading deeper faster than I expected." Avalanche’s words were barely audible over the blowing wind. "Firestorm, take a search patrol and look for Ambereye's camp, or any hints as to where he might live. Don't engage with him at all. If you find him, report back to me immediately."

Firestorm groaned but didn't protest. She had already gone on a hunting patrol this morning, and by the look of the overcast sky, it was only sunhigh.

"Might I ask why?" Lightfern spoke up.

Avalanche turned to him. "The sooner we can drive Ambereye away, the sooner I can return the clan to Blazefire whenever he returns."

A few cats exchanged somber glances. They don't know that Dawnstar didn't receive nine lives. For all they know, Blazefire is dead.

Firestorm grabbed Slateheart and Coalbreath and padded out of the fern tunnel. Once they left, Avalanche continued. "Keep your eyes on Dawnstar. Keep her in camp." Then, she gracefully leaped down from the Limestone Pile and started toward her den.

"Wait, Avalanche!" Morningfrost called. "Are you going to name the kit you took? Mother her?"

Avalanche stopped and turned back. She thought for a moment. "We'll call it Crimsonkit."

"Crimsonkit?" Morningfrost glanced at the she-kit. Its pelt color wasn't even close to the color of crimson.

"Fits perfectly." Before Morningfrost could say any more, she slipped away into her den.

There was a moment of silence. Then Morningfrost curled her tail around the newly named Crimsonkit. "I might as well mother her."

Icefury suddenly felt like checking on Dawnstar. His mate must be upset about being overthrown, something he knew very well from experience himself. He made a beeline toward the warriors' den and pushed inside. Dawnstar was sitting in the middle of the den. Blood dripped from a claw wound on her cheek.

"Dawnstar!" Icefury ran up to her. "What did you do?"

Dawnstar snapped her head toward him. Murder glinted in her eyes. "That she-cat's days are numbered."

Icefury stopped in his tracks. Dawnstar wanted to kill Avalanche! "What? Why?"

"It’s what I've done all my life," Dawnstar growled. "Kill whoever doesn't comply."

"Don't you think that, maybe, murder isn't the way to go?"

"It’s quick and easy. What else is better?"

"I don't know, perhaps anything? Why do you need to be leader so badly?"

"Because!" Dawnstar broke off. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. She fumbled for what to say. "Because... uh..."

"Can't you let it go? Maybe you don't have to be leader to be happy."

Dawnstar stared at him. "A... uh..." Then, she hardened her gaze and turned away. "What do you know?"

She sat down in a random nest and buried her muzzle into the moss. It was clear she didn't want to talk. Icefury felt pity for her. Who knows how she was treated before she stumbled upon TrailClan? Maybe there was a hole inside her she was trying to fill.

But what do I know? I'm just a hotheaded young warrior.

Chapter Text

"There it is. The forest."

The traveling group took a second to stop and stare at the border of the forest. They were less than a day's journey away from camp. After almost half a moon away from home, they could finally save TrailClan and sleep peaceably again.

"This is where you lived?" Honeysong glanced at Cloakstar. "Seems a bit... dark."

"It’s not so bad once you're inside." Cloakstar shrugged. He glanced at the sky. It was heavy overcast now, drizzling rain down on the cats. "Eh... bet we could make it to camp by nightfall."

"Are you sure?" Ivyclaw looked at him dubiously. "It could be mid-afternoon, and then we'd be wandering in the dark for who knows how long?"

"Would you rather camp here for the rest of the day?" Cloakstar shot back.

Ivyclaw mumbled. "I guess not. The sooner you fix our clan and get out of our lives, the better."

Blazefire stepped forward. "Then we'd better move fast. We don't know how much daylight we have left."

The orange tabby took the lead into the undergrowth, setting a fast trotting pace. The other cats sped up and fell in behind him. Spottedfur walked beside Blazefire, with her family behind them and the others further behind. Jack had not come with them when they left behind Leaffall’s pit, Greenleaf taking his place instead.

It felt good to know they were almost home. Twelve sunrises they've been gone, alone together in an unknown territory. Around every corner felt like another issue or roadblock, and it was only worse when they stayed with Leaffall. At least she was dead now, and they didn't need to worry about her anymore.

However, Spottedfur had other things to concern herself with. Ever since Blazefire lost a life, Spottedfur had been sick with worry and aggressively overprotective of him. She couldn't bear to watch him lose another life.

Soupfur had warned Spottedfur to calm down. It was no good for her to worry her whiskers gray. He's been a leader for years. He knows how to defend himself, her sister had said. And he's got all of us to look after him as well.

That was true. Spottedfur knew she didn't need to worry about her own life because she had her family to look after her. But, Blazefire had no family in TrailClan. His only three remaining close friends were Chocolatefang, Ivyclaw, and his deputy, Cloudstorm. Of course, he was friends with the whole clan, as a leader should, but he rarely conversed with anyone outside his friend group.

"Hey, Blazestar?" Spottedfur asked quietly. A question popped into her mind, including a nagging urge to know the answer.

Blazefire hummed. "What is it?"

"Do you have any family?" She went on. "I mean, family in ThunderClan?"

Blazefire's eyes dimmed. "I do, but I don't think about them anymore. They didn't stop my litter- my denmates from excluding me from their games. They didn't comfort me when I accidentally burned other apprentices during battle training, and they certainly didn't support my choice to leave the clan."

"But don't you care about them?" Spottedfur pressed. "They're your family! I couldn't not love Icefury, no matter what he did!"

"Of course I care about them," Blazefire reassured her. "But they're not part of my life anymore. After that fateful gathering night, I didn't see my parents until the Battle with BloodClan. My father died there. But as far as I know, my mother is still alive."

"What about siblings?" Spottedfur asked. "Do you still think about them?"

Blazefire's eyes widened. He paused mid-step. Suddenly, his gaze hardened. "I have no siblings." Before Spottedfur could ask any further, he sped up a bit faster. Spottedfur stared after him, bewildered as to why he spoke so harshly when she tried to ask him about siblings.

Maybe he had siblings in the past, but chose to forget about them when he left his old life. Whatever it was, Spottedfur would probably never know much more than speculation. 

The sky steadily grew darker as they headed into the thickest part of the forest. The rain picked up, the plattering of raindrops on the canopy roof drowning out all other sounds. The water that made it to the group soaked the earth until it churned to mud. 

"Are you sure we made the right choice?" Greenleaf wondered out loud, raising her voice so the whole group could hear.

"We'll get lost before long!" Honeysong added. "Daylight won't last much longer."

"Yes!" Cloakstar called back. "This is my territory; I know the way to TrailClan from here."

Blazefire slowed down. "Then you take the lead from here. You know the way better than I do."

Cloakstar nodded and pushed past Blazefire. He sped up significantly, requiring everyone to break into a slow run to keep up. Spottedfur could hear thunder rolling above them, edging her on faster. If there's anything worse than being caught in the rain at night, it's being caught in a thunderstorm at night.

Some time later, Spottedfur could smell the faint scent of border markers as they ran into a thinner part of the forest. It was the TrailClan border markers! They were almost there! Cloakstar slowed down a tad to let every cat catch up. 

"Could we... like... take it slow from here?" Bloodkit panted. "I can't... run... any further..."

"Me neither," Honeysong fought to catch her breath. Greenleaf flopped onto the ground, then immediately regretted it as mud soaked into her fur. She scrambled upright and tried to shake the mud off to little success.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning lit the sky. Every cat flinched as the air around them exploded with blinding white light. It was gone a heartbeat later, but Spottedfur’s fur still stood on end.

"Actually, I might be able to run a bit further," Bloodkit amended his previous statement. He crouched in the shadow of Cloudstorm.

Blazefire passed Cloakstar, leading the final stretch back to camp. It felt hardly more than a few moments until Spottedfur could see the fern tunnel emerge into view. Finally! We're home!

Blazefire didn't wait at the entrance to the fern tunnel. He pushed straight in, with everyone else filing inside behind him.

When they emerged into the camp, there was nobody in the clearing. The sodden fresh-kill pile sat off to one side, much smaller than Spottedfur expected. 

Energyheart poked her head out of the warriors' den. When she spotted them, she gawked in utter disbelief. "Blazestar! You're alive!"

Soon, the rest of the TrailClan cats began filing out of the warriors' den. They were all astonished at their clanmates' return. The pouring rain was forgotten within moments as the clan surrounded the returning party and greeted them with warm purrs.

Spottedfur noticed that Morningfrost emerged from the nursery, with a kit a bit younger than Bloodkit following after her. I wonder where she got that kit from? It looks a bit under four moons old, so she couldn't have possibly birthed it. Perhaps a queen joined the clan while we were away?

"Calm down, please," Cloudstorm tried to push the clan back. "We're glad for your welcome, but there are a few things we have to do."

Cloudstorm stepped to the side to let the rest of the group file into camp. Everyone broke off in their greeting and stared in frozen awe as Cloakstar stepped into camp, followed by Greenleaf, Honeysong, and Bloodkit.

"Cloakstar?" Lightfern meowed incredulously. 

"Hello, Lightfern," Cloakstar greeted. He turned to some of his former clanmates and greeted them, too.

"How are you alive?" Gamblecore breathed. "We killed you! I saw it!"

"All will be answered in good time." Cloakstar's reply was drowned by the rumble of thunder. "I heard there's a bigger problem in TrailClan right now. Somebody besides Blazestar running the clan?"

As he spoke, Avalanche pushed out of her nest and leaped up the Limestone Pile. "What do you want, stranger?"

Cloakstar stared at Avalanche, then scoffed. He turned to look at Blazefire incredulously.  "Blazestar, really? This is the cat who took over your clan? Why, she's not half your size!"

Avalanche’s fur bristled. "Pardon?"

"Well, she knew how to deal with our imminent threat..." Blazefire explained. "I thought letting her have power to get rid of him would be good, just for a little while. But when she showed no sign of doing what she promised, well..."

"That’s your problem." Cloakstar retorted. "You were stupid enough to think a rogue would agree to temporary power?"

"Yes," Avalanche jumped down from the Limestone Pile and padded toward him, rain streaming from her whiskers and pelt. "And once TrailClan’s imminent threat is dead or driven far away, I'll gladly yield power back to Blazefire. I'd rather be a loner after all."

Cloakstar's gaze drifted past Avalanche. Spottedfur followed his eyes and noticed it landed on the loner that had joined the clan a moon ago: Dawnbristle. 

"If you think Ambereye's your imminent threat, you're failing miserably at your job," Cloakstar responded while maintaining eye contact with Dawnbristle. "She is your threat."

Avalanche glanced at her, then back at the dark gray leader. "Perhaps, but I think-" she trailed off when she realized that Cloakstar wasn't paying attention to her.

Cloakstar pushed past Avalanche, trudging through the pouring rain, until he stood before Dawnbristle. He glared through her. Dawnbristle took a step back, hunched her shoulders, and bared her teeth. 

"Who do you want to be?" Cloakstar meowed plainly. Spottedfur could see his icy blue eyes shining like diamonds in the fading twilight. 

Thunder rolled above them. It rumbled again before lightning exploded in the air around them in a flash of white. All sound was drowned out by the strike. Spottedfur was blinded again for a heartbeat; when it faded, a new cat stood between Cloakstar and Dawnbristle.

Spottedfur didn’t recognize them. Their pelt was a mottled brown color. Their tail was completely black except for the tip, which was snow-white. Their eyes glowed with pure amber hatred and malice.

But the most peculiar thing about the stranger was that their body burned with a perpetual bright-red fire. From the tip of their tail to their forehead, bright flames of red fire flickered off their body, contrary to the pounding rain around them. However, the cat's body seemed entirely unaffected by the fire. In fact, Spottedfur noticed she could see through the cat's body.

That's not any stranger. That's a spirit cat!

"Don't you touch Cloverstream," the spirit hissed. Spottedfur identified the voice as female. "She's made up her decision, and she's mine."

Dawnbristle stared at the spirit cat with a steady and agreeing gaze. 

"Cloverstream?" Spottedfur’s brother Icefury asked. "Who's that?"

The spirit smirked at him. "Why don't you tell them the truth, Cloverstream? Not like it'll matter by dawn."

Dawnbristle’s steady gaze faltered. Then she swallowed and stepped forward. "I'm sorry, Icefury-"

"Sorry? Sorry?" The spirit spat. Her flames burned brighter. "You have no one to feel sorry to. You are a leader."

Dawnbristle rounded on the spirit. "I should feel sorry for lying to my mate."

"Mates?" The spirit roared. "You choose that mange-pelt over me?" Icefury growled but didn't speak.

Dawnbristle- no, Cloverstream hesitated for a long moment. It looked like memories upon memories flashed through her eyes as she met the spirit's gaze blankly. Finally, her eyes refocused. "Yes. I've lived my whole life controlled; it's time I were free."

The spirit snarled and leaped at Cloverstream. "You are a traitor! We warned you!" Cloverstream barely managed to dodge her outstretched claws. The spirit whipped around and her claws caught Cloverstream on her shoulder. Thunder boomed dramatically above, coincidentally at the same time.

Icefury choked out a warning yowl moments before the spirit launched herself at Cloverstream again. The attacker launched a furious barrage of strikes, which Cloverstream could only block a pawful.

The burning spirit ranted on. "Midnight and I gave you everything! We trained you to be strong and bold and intimidating and feared! Was our sacrifice not enough for you? We raise you to be the most powerful cat in the forest, and you betray us for that stupid foxxing tom!"

Cloverstream dashed away. "I didn't ask for Midnight to make me an assassin! I never got the unconditional love and affection and forgiveness Icefury gave me! I'd rather be with someone who loves me, not someone who uses me."

The spirit paused and spun around to face Icefury. "You both are weak. You both shall die."

She began to storm toward Icefury. Icefury froze in fear as she approached. 

"Icefury, run!" Spottedfur called. She tried to help Icefury, but the spirit was closer to him than she was. Plus, she was slowed down tremendously by the pouring rain, whereas the spirit was not.

"No!" Cloverstream shrieked. She bounded forward, forcing her way through the rain, and jumped onto the spirit's back. They lost balance, stumbled sideways, and smashed into the Limestone Pile.

Cloverstream guided the spirit away from the limestone before immediately banging her head into it again. She threw the bloody spirit to the ground and viciously clawed her face for several moments.

When she finished, the spirit was still. The red fire that engulfed their bodies extinguished and died. Blood pooled around her body and soaked Cloverstream’s paws. With her last breath, the spirit choked out: "I regret nothing."

Spottedfur watched in amazement as the spirit's body and blood turned to dust under Cloverstream’s body. It was picked up in the whipping wind and carried away, erasing all trace of the cat's existence. Cloverstream stood there for another heartbeat, then collapsed onto her side.

"Dawnstar!" Icefury yelped. He trudged forward through the pounding rain until he reached Cloverstream’s side. "Dawnstar, are you okay?"

Cloverstream didn't respond. As Spottedfur approached, She noticed her eyes were glazed over. Her pelt ran red, washed with blood from the rain. Her face and front were mutilated with wounds.

Spottedfur sensed Cloakstar approaching. He dipped his head approvingly. "You chose well," he rumbled.

Cloverstream gazed at him for a moment, then back at Icefury. "I'm sorry. For everything."

"W- what?" Icefury stuttered.

Cloverstream’s words were slow and raspy. "You love me more than I could ever imagine. I'm so sorry we can't be together."

"Dawnstar, what are you talking about?" Icefury’s voice grew worried.

"I'll see you again one day," Cloverstream breathed. She lay her head on her paws. "One day in the far future."

"Dawnstar, no!" Icefury's voice broke. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes. He nudged Cloverstream’s head. "Don't die on me! You can’t!"

Cloverstream’s eyes shot open. "I'm not dying, idiot!" She hissed. "You think your clan would ever let me stay here after what I did?" 

Icefury’s eyes flashed in relief. "You- you're not?"

"No," Cloverstream closed her eyes again. "Just exhausted."

Icefury sighed loudly. "Thank StarClan."

Cloakstar glanced at the sky above. "I hate to interrupt, but perhaps you can do this inside a den? The storm doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon."

Icefury and Spottedfur glanced at Cloverstream, whose breathing had already slowed. She was asleep.

"I don't think she minds," Icefury responded. "And neither do I. I'll stay with her tonight."

Cloakstar gave him a look but didn't press. "If you say." He turned away and padded toward the warriors' den. Spottedfur glanced at her brother one more time before following as well.

Interesting how both of us got mates at the same time. At least Cloverstream will live, even if she can't stay.

But for now, all Spottedfur could think about was getting out of the pounding rain and into a warm nest. She glanced around and noticed most of the clan had the same idea and were flocking to the dens as well.

I can only imagine what'll happen tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

The storm finally broke apart as dawn woke from her slumber and arched her rosy back around the rising sun. Water dripped off the trees and gleamed in the grass from last night’s heavy downpour. It pooled into large puddles and soaked the earth into mud. Thin broken littered the ground, ripped from the trees by the howling wind. TrailClan’s territory looked more like a swamp than a forest.

In the camp, the dens were in shambles. The wind had torn off brambles, leaving the walls bare and draping. Rainwater dripped into the dens, rudely awakening the sleeping cats with wet nests and fur. The wind had calmed down to a gentle yet persistent breeze that kept the air icily cold.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Limestone Pile for a Clan meeting!” Blazestar’s yowl echoed throughout the camp, rousing any cats still trying to sleep.

Slowly, one by one, cats emerged stiff-legged from the warriors’ den. Spottedfur was among the last to leave. She saw Icefury and Cloverstream wearily stand up from where they were sleeping together out in the middle of the camp, utterly soaked in rain. A light drizzle still covered the camp, but it was far more tolerable than last night. They gathered around the Limestone Pile, blinking sleep from their eyes, as Blazestar began speaking.

“I’ve spoken with Chocolatefang and Morningfrost, and from what I’ve heard, I’ve missed a lot,” He began. “I’ll try my best to hit everything in this meeting so our lives can return to normal.

“I knew Ikonicfrost as well as you all, and I mourn her loss. She hasn’t received a proper vigil yet, so we shall hold one for her tonight. While her body may not be with us, we can still honor her spirit and her will. I’ve also learned that Tansywillow has been exiled from the clan, and she’s been living in our territory as a rogue. Morningfrost, when this meeting adjourns, I want you to take a search patrol out and bring her back to the clan.

“I have also learned that both of these misfortunes are a direct result of you,” Blazestar pointed his tail at Cloverstream. “Cloverstream. Do you deny this?”

Cloverstream swallowed hard and stared at her paws. “I do not.”

Blazestar merely blinked. “Very well. I’m sorry, but for your crimes against this clan--murdering Ikonicfrost, attempting murder on Tansywillow, and planning to murder Avalanche--you are henceforth banished from my clan. Be gone from our territory by noon today.” Then, Blazestar directed his order from Cloverstream to TrailClan. “If you spot her on our territory, you are permitted to use force to drive her off, lethal only if necessary.” The last few words felt more directed to Cloverstream.

Cloverstream dipped her head in acknowledgment. “I understand.” As she turned away and limped slowly toward the den entrance, Icefury stared desperately at Blazestar.”

“I know you have feelings for Cloverstream,” Blazestar addressed. “If you wish, you may leave to be with her. However, you will be a rogue alongside her for the rest of your days, never permitted to return to this clan.”

“Blazestar, no!” Spottedfur blurted out. “You can’t send him away! You can’t keep him away!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t trust anyone Cloverstream lives with,” Blazestar responded sadly. “I’ve taken my cats for granted one too many times.”

Cloverstream slowed and looked back at Icefury. Her ears drooped in sorrow. Even though she said nothing, it was as clear as day what she was asking Icefury. 

Icefury seemed on the edge of breaking. It was a really tough choice: be with the one he loved or be with his clan. "I'm sorry. I can't leave."

For a moment, Spottedfur could feel Icefury’s pain. Cloverstream nodded slowly. "It’s okay. I understand." Icefury struggled to keep himself together as Cloverstream swished through the fern tunnel and disappeared out of camp.

Blazestar waited for a few moments before continuing. He spoke more slowly than before. "Right. Now, Avalanche, did you ever get rid of Ambereye?"

Avalanche shook her head. The main reason why Avalanche wasn't atop the Limestone Pile arguing with Blazestar was because of Cloakstar’s intimidating glare. "No, but Firestorm found where he's living."

Blazestar hummed. "When this meeting adjourns, take whomever doesn't join Morningfrost's patrol to where he lodges. Don't let them return until you've driven him off, and you don't return at all."

"Okay." Avalanche shrugged. "Being a loner was nice. It'll be nice to be one again."

Her tone left Spottedfur dubious as to whether she truly meant that or not.

"Now, onto lighter topics," Blazestar’s voice softened. "We have several new clanmates. Honeysong, Greenleaf, and Bloodkit." They stepped forward as he called their names and hesitantly faced the crowd. "I've traveled with them for a quarter-moon, and I know they are trustworthy. They are joining our clan, as apprentices, to learn our way of life."

Cloakstar cleared his throat. He had not been called.

"Cloakstar, do you really want to live with the clan you spent nine lives trying to destroy?" Blazestar addressed. 

"Well... I wasn't quite trying to destroy TrailClan..." Cloakstar responded. "But I see what you mean. I'll leave and go find out what happened to my rogues, and then I'll leave you in peace. Probably."

Blazestar rolled his eyes. "Okay. Now get out." He waited as Cloakstar trotted towards the fern tunnel and didn't continue for a few moments still. He climbed down from the Limestone Pile and stood before the three loners.

"Honeysong, I know you are already skilled as a medicine cat," Blazestar began. "If you wish, you may join Soupfur and Seizureheart in the medicine den as one of our medicine cats."

Honeysong gave her chest an embarrassed lick. "Oh, sure. Thank you, Blazestar."

Blazestar dipped his head and moved onto Greenleaf. "Do you wish to keep your name as you train as an apprentice, or would you rather have an apprentice name?"

Greenleaf thought for a second. "I assume having an apprentice name would be less confusing. I suppose I'll do that, as long as I can have my regular name back afterward."

"Of course," Blazestar nodded. “From this day on, until you have completed your warrior training, you shall be known as Greenpaw. Your mentor,” he paused dramatically. “Will be Energyheart. I hope she-”

“Yes!” Energyheart blurted out. “Thank StarClan! Finally!” She broke off abruptly when she realized she had interrupted Blazestar and the apprenticeship ceremony. She turned red in embarrassment. “Er… I mean, thank you, Blazestar. Sorry.”

Blazestar’s whiskers twitched in amusement. “That’s alright. I know you’ve been waiting a while for one. I hope you will pass down all that you know to Greenpaw.”

Energyheart stepped forward and finished the ceremony as usual, trying to retain a scrap of dignity. As she touched noses with Greenpaw, the clan broke out in chanting. “Greenpaw! Greenpaw! Greenpaw!” Greenpaw shied away from the praise.

Once the chanting subsided, Blazestar moved on to Bloodkit. “Bloodkit, you are more than old enough to become an apprentice. From this day forth, until you have received your warrior name, you shall be known as Bloodpaw. Cloudstorm has already been training you on our journey, and he will continue training you until your apprenticeship is complete. I trust that he will pass down all that he knows to you.”

Cloudstorm dipped his head respectfully to Blazestar and padded forward to touch noses with Bloodpaw. The clan chanted his new name like they did for Greenpaw. Bloodpaw stood tall and proud, basking in the cheer.

Blazestar moved away from Bloodpaw and toward Crimsonkit, who sat in Morningfrost’s light shadow. As Blazestar approached, she drew closer to Morningfrost. “As you all know, we have one more recent addition to our clan. This lovely little kit named Crimsonkit.” He turned to speak directly to Morningfrost. “Do you know how old she is?”

Morningfrost shook her head. At this, he crouched down and gazed directly at Crimsonkit. He softened his voice to sound as unintimidating and friendly as possible. “Do you know how many moons old you are, sweetie?”

Crimsonkit stared back at Blazestar, utterly silent. Her mouth hung slightly ajar. Spottedfur padded toward her to get a better look. She seemed like she was struggling even to comprehend the question. Dear StarClan, she must be really young.

“Uhm…” Crimsonkit mumbled. She had the softest and sweetest voice Spottedfur had ever heard, and that it was high-pitched because she was a kit made it even more adorable. After several more moments, she responded. “Two?”

“Okay,” Blazestar nodded. “Morningfrost, take care of this kit.”

Morningfrost nodded. “I will.”

Blazestar turned back and addressed the clan once more. “Now, I don’t think I’m skipping anything. Thus concludes our Clan meeting. Morningfrost and Avalanche, take your patrols.”

Morningfrost gathered Lightfern and Slateheart. Spottedfur knew they had lived with Tansywillow longer than the others because they used to be a part of Cloakstar's Rogues. Morningfrost looked around, unsure of a fourth cat, when Spottedfur decided to step forward.

It'll be nice to spend time with my father once again.

Morningfrost cast her a thankful glance before turning tail and padding to the fern tunnel. The patrol filed after her. Spottedfur looked back at the clan before ducking out of camp and saw everyone else, excluding the medicine cats, Blazestar, and Greenpaw, crowding around Avalanche. Wow. She really is taking everyone else.

Once the patrol was out into the forest, Morningfrost sped up significantly. She led a straight path through the trees, weaving around bushes and brambles, toward Cloakstar’s old territory.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Spottedfur asked, raising her voice so Morningfrost, much further ahead of her, could hear. "Shouldn't we stop and search for Tansywillow’s scent?"

Morningfrost slowed down to reply. "I have a good feeling I know where she is. If she's not there, we'll start searching."

How could she possibly pinpoint one spot in the whole forest that Tansywillow would be at? Spottedfur wondered. But she knows Tansywillow best.

Spottedfur decided to fall in line with her father, Lightfern. "How've you been since I've been gone?"

Lightfern sighed, glancing at her. "Not great. I feel bad for Icefury. He's gone through so much pain in the last half-moon, but I've hardly said two words to him!"

"Why not start now?" Spottedfur shrugged. She tried to seem optimistic to Lightfern, but inwardly, she grew worried about his and Icefury’s relationship. What would Icefury do without a father figure? What would he think if Lightfern gave all his attention to Spottedfur and Soupfur? What if Lightfern didn't know how to be a father to any of them?

Stop. I'm a warrior, and I even have a mate. Losing connection with Lightfern isn't the end of the world. That's a quarter-moon's journey away.

"But what if he won't talk to me?" Lightfern asked. "What if he thinks I'm a bad father?"

"You've already been a great dad while we grew up," Spottedfur soothed. "Icefury will remember that."

Lightfern hummed. "Yeah. That's true. Since when did you get so wise?"

Spottedfur shrugged. It just made sense to her, so she said it. She didn't think herself wise, but maybe she was smarter than she thought.

"Hey," Morningfrost slowed the patrol to a halt. "We're here."

Morningfrost slowly padded around a bramble thicket. Spottedfur crept forward to see what was past it. She saw a tall, grand sycamore tree overshadowing a hump of gravel beside it.

A grave. I wonder who that's for?

Then she noticed Tansywillow sitting before it. Her gaze was fixed on the grave, but her eyes seemed distant, lost in memories. Tears welled in her eyes, and streaks down her cheeks indicated that she had shed several already. Her pelt was matted, dirty, and unkempt, courtesy of last night’s rain.

Morningfrost turned and gave Spottedfur a look to stay back before slowly approaching Tansywillow. She called her name quietly.

Tansywillow's head snapped to face Morningfrost. Alarm flashed in her eyes, and her claws unsheathed, but it only lasted for a heartbeat before she recognized her and calmed down. "Morningfrost! What are you doing here?"

"We've come to take you home," Morningfrost explained. "Blazestar is back and Cloverstream is gone."

"C- Cloverstream?" Tansywillow stuttered. "You know?"

"We all do," Morningfrost replied. "Now come on, we're bringing you back."

“Okay,” Tansywillow looked at the grave one last time as she slowly stood up and padded toward them, stretching her stiff muscles. “Goodbye, Thunderstrike.”

Morningfrost turned away and took the lead once again, beginning the trek back to camp. Spottedfur waited for Tansywillow to catch up before walking alongside her. “Are you alright?”

“Better,” Tansywillow nodded, blinking water from her eyes. “I finally got to say goodbye.”

Spottedfur wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that, or who Thunderstrike was, but she was certain that whoever they were, they were dearly beloved by Tansywillow. She was curious to know more, but she decided it would be best to leave Tansywillow to herself for now. She decided that she'd ask her about it once she had settled herself back into TrailClan.

The journey back to camp was uneventful, although slower, so Tansywillow could keep up. When they emerged into camp, Spottedfur found it eerily empty. She knew almost everyone had left with Avalanche to get rid of Ambereye, but the emptiness was still unexpected, even unsettling. The only cats she could see were Blazestar atop the Limestone Pile and Seizureheart talking to Honeysong.

"Where is everyone?" Tansywillow breathed, surveying the camp. Spottedfur left her behind, trusting that one of the other patrol members would answer her question, padded over to the Limestone Pile, and climbed up beside Blazestar. When she reached him, she rubbed against his side.

"So, what's next?" Spottedfur purred. “Now that you’re finally back in charge, just like you should be?” As she spoke, she took in the elevated view of the camp from atop the pile. She felt… powerful, being able to observe the whole clan from above at one spot. No wonder Avalanche and Cloverstream loved to sit up here and watch us run around like little ants!

Blazestar sighed happily, resting against her side. “Peace. When Ambereye is gone, I can finally rest in peace. And with our new apprentices, and more on the way, there’ll be good days. Good days and prosperity.”

Spottedfur nodded and leaned into Blazestar. “I like that. I like that a lot.”

And the two mates sat together, tails entwined, as they stared into the sunrise. The clouds parted, and the sky faded to a bright blue as the sun climbed ever higher into the infinite and forever sky. Somewhere up there, hidden by the sun, was StarClan. If only she could see Earthkit now.