Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

     “Spottedleaf!” Mapleshade hissed. 

     “Why didn’t you let me kill her? She stole Firestar’s love from you.”

Spottedleaf took a battle stance.

      “There was nothing to steal. Sandstorm made him happy!”

Mapleshade lunged at her, pinning Spottedleaf ripping her throat

“No!” Firestar’s screech ripped through the air. 

Exploding into action he grabbed Mapleshade’s pelt and threw her backwards. Leaving Sandstorm the perfect opportunity to follow-up. She raked her claws along her belly before reaching her throat.

With Mapleshade gone, Firestar and Sandstorm drop to Spottedleaf’s side.

     “Spottedleaf! Please don’t go...you...you Promised! You PROMISED that you’d be there to welcome me.”

     “I’m….so sorry...I should’ve been more careful...but it looks like the end”

     “That CAN’T BE!”

     “Spottedleaf please, hold on,don’t fade away, we’ll never forget you, I can’t”

Spottedleaf smirks “oh I’m sure you’ll never forget my last words”

Firestar gains a look of panic “DON’T YOU DARE”

“I….” Spottedleaf's breath escapes her, her head lies limp

then cracks form from her throat, growing until her body shattered into thousands of intangible pieces before fading away completely.

Firestar witnessed a loss of a friend, a close mentor, an inextricable part of his soul, snuffed out permanently, leaving a void in his soul.

But it isn’t just grief, from where Spottedleaf used to be there’s a tear in the air that rips past the screeching, a silhouette of himself, of unending fire pulling him in.

Sandstorm grabs him by the scruff, working with his paws to tether him with the ground.

The silence is cut when Yellowfang tumbles in

“Yellowfang!” Firestar tries to put himself in the way but she ricochets around him falling towards the flames. The Silhouette of flames grows twice as large forcing Sandstorm to put herself in between. Though it isn’t long before Bluestar comes flying through, followed by Redtail, Silverstream, Brindleface, and Swiftpaw. Whitestorm tries his best to hold onto Lionheart but the earth gives way as each progressive cat builds this slice of Fire.

Runningwind is the last to start flying before the pull throws Firestar above Sandstorm.

Sandstorm reaches out and grabs onto him yelling

“I won’t let you go! I can’t! Not again!”

Before they both fall into the flames and everything is Orange.

*******

Redtail Blinks

Chapter Text

Redtail Blinked

His mind unable to catch on to the fact that he was mid-stride, stumbling at the riverside under the half moon.

     “Redtail!”

A Patrol of cats, no the patrol of cats he was leading, were looking down at him with concern.

     Runningwind...he isn’t glowing in the moonlight.

     Neither is Goldenflower or…. Tigerstar.

     “What happened? I know you wouldn’t trip on nothing Redtail, or have you lost your nerves?”

He has to come up with some excuse, for not just his trip but also his memories of the future.

     “Ugh, I uh...I think I got a vision from Starclan”

      What kind of excuse is that? That would’ve worked for maybe Goosefeather or Spottedleaf but not me and my Living Deputy of Thunderclan self.

Goldenflower is the one to point it out

     “You must’ve hit your head, your sister is the medicine cat, not you.”

     Well that doesn’t explain myself to Tiger...claw, so I have to commit to this.

     What vision would be appropriate, first thing that comes to mind is...the Fire from Spottedleaf.

Redtail’s memories click in as he fully reconciles both past(now future) and present memories. 

     “Well forgive me for thinking the landscape erupting in fire and a booming voice saying ‘Fire alone will save the clans’ is a vision from StarClan.”

     Least this gives me an excuse to delay the sunningrocks battle that gets me and Oakheart killed.

     “Come on, I need to report this to Bluestar”

     “Hold on! Did you forget your assignment, you’re supposed to be leading a patrol to the Sunningrocks! Riverclan has been eyeing our territory for too long”

     “Exactly, which is why they’ll be bringing as many warriors as they can spare if they decide to invade. This patrol would be far outnumbered, Thunderclan will not be fighting for the Sunningrocks tonight.”

     “No, Thunderclan will never be beat-!”

     “You could go by yourself if you want, but no one would expect you to fight an entire patrol alone. We’re turning back and that’s final.”

Redtail’s glad he still has the mental muscle memory to pre-emptively talk down Tigerclaw before he can question his every move.

Redtail turns back the Patrol, Goldenflower, Runningwind, Dustpaw, Ravenpaw and Tigerclaw following.

Bluestar blinks and sees the stars

For a moment she thinks she’s back in Starclan before Spottedleaf steps up to her.

     “Spottedleaf?”

     “Yes Bluestar?”

     She doesn’t have a starry pelt...neither of them do. They’re back in the forest. Right after...

     “Is this real?”

     “Yeash I didn’t realize the shock of my brother getting a vision from Starclan would shock you more than me”

     Brother? Redtail? He had a vision?

It’s at this moment where Bluestar’s old and altered memories return.

     Why would he say he had a vision? And of all the visions, why that one?

Then it hit her

     Fire! He must’ve remembered the Fire left from Spottedleaf when she disappeared!

     But back to other present matters

     “Yes, well. These are difficult times for Thunderclan, newleaf is late, there have been fewer kits, and StarClan is confusing us with a contradictory vision sent to our deputy rather than our medicine cat”

     “Do you wish for more answers?”

     Well hopefully you’ll be getting some soon if Redtail isn’t the only thing that’s different, she’ll be in the dark about the oncoming events.

     “Has StarClan spoken to you?”

     “Not for some moons, Bluest-”

A Shooting star blazes over the treetops. Spottedleaf stares at it, with her fur standing up, suddenly silent and still for a few moments before lowering her head and turning to Bluestar.

     “A message from StarClan” Spottedleaf makes a wry expression

     “Fire alone can save our Clan” she lets out in a deadpan tone

     “That’s...slightly different”

     “Yes, thought it seems StarClan wants to get the point across”

     “Unusual for it to go to your brother first before being repeated through you”

Bluestar still has her theories.

     “Maybe they mixed the two of us up” Spottedleaf Chuckled

     “I suppose even StarClan can make mistakes” Bluestar chortled in kind

Everything was orange as Firestar felt heat pervade through his very core

It was like an inescapable warmth, yet one not intense enough to make him break a sweat

Then a new hue broke through, 7 actually, two yellows, red, Silver, pink, and two greens.

A shock goes through Firestar, an extremely mild one, barely registering as pain especially compared to the many battle wounds he’s endured over the years. The sensation however did carry a unique feeling to it, the most he could recognize that it felt slightly familiar and seemed to fill him with that feeling in a way akin to the life giving ceremony all those years ago.

     Oh Starclan! It must be no coincidence that the 8 cats that fell before me and Sandstorm were the cats that gave my 9 lives.

Yet it wasn’t quite dense enough, it felt as if his lives were decompressed and morphed back into one.

The new hues disappear, for a moment Firestar saw a twinkle of Blue in the distance before it disappeared too. Yet while the blinding orange returned, the heat no longer bothered Firestar, like it was just his body heat.

The shock subsiding, Firestar mustered up the courage to speak

     “Hello? Is anyone there?”

     There had to be someone out here, he wasn’t the only one who fell into that slice of flames, Sandstorm was even holding directly on him. wait...SANDSTORM!

     “Sandstorm! Where are you?”

     “Das ego memento,  Laboro in hanc” 

     “What? Who’s There?”

     “Sum Ignis” 

     “I...I Don’t understand what you’re saying”

     “Videtur quod, remanes ignorantia mei benefici, vinculum mutatio, et auxilium ad durissimum stati. Non Permitto anima vestra sum damnum perpetuum.”

     “Ah Sum expletus, hic vos”

     A light ginger star floats down to Firestar

     “Sandstorm?!? What have you done with her?”

     “Paro habere octavus fragmenti vestra anus anima, post omnes, Est non repitia corpa ubi abeunt. Est Fortuna ipsum ideoneo praestitor es proxima.  Habeo et Reverto, et Mutato veritas via praeteritum”

The same small familiar shocking familiar feeling as before returns and ends as the star disappears. 

     “Memento, Es Fireheart”

Then the orange disappears as Firestar is left in darkness.

Though it was very dark, he could slowly make out a bit of forest undergrowth that feels familiar, with scents that momentarily seemed strange before being recognized as a mouse. He feels a sense of hunger and crouches down to a familiar stalking position before noticing another presence. A small tomcat with a ginger pelt and glaring green eyes, it was Firepaw! It was unmistakably himself, likely a vision of him right after removing his collar.

The Two cats stared at each other, bewildered and unsure, not noticing as the space between them bended leaving them closer and closer until they were somehow occupying the same space.

Rusty woke up, or that’s what his present mind thought before reminding himself that his name was Firestar. As the fresh memories of his younger self poured to the forefront of his consciousness he took in his surroundings, he was sleeping in his bed in the kitchen, his owners were about to fill his dish with the familiar bland pellets, it’s night and they’re about to go to bed.

He’s been having those recurring dreams about hunting mice, this was the third time. The Last Time. Though he has to wonder if that orange place was closer to Starclan than the average Dream. 

     After Spottedleaf died it didn’t just shock me it seemed to shock the air and it pulled me and the others who gave me my 9 lives in along with...Sandstorm!

Firestar looks around and then hurriedly goes out into the backyard hoping to see her nearby.

     “Oh Mouse-brain, She’s probably in camp” Firestar muttered to himself

It was clear Firestar was in the past ...or Rusty had a very long vision of the future

Why else would both his memories of his old dreams and that battle be so vivid? 

He knows he’s not dead, dead cats glow in the dark and moonlight. And his pelt is just his regular ginger fur. Speaking of his pelt, he’s so small. 

Well of course, he’s not even 8 moons old here.

His fencetop thoughts are interrupted when a certain black and white tom bounds up to him.

     “Hey Rusty, going out for a night adventure?”

Smudge! A part of Rusty is worried how he’ll react to what he’s about to do. A part of firestar knows how he will, both wish they’d been able to spend more time before having to leave. 

     “Rusty? What’s wrong you look like you've seen a ghost.”

     “Guess the moonlight shining in you gave a really spooky vibe”

     “Pff cmon it’s not even Halloween”

     “Yeah well, I don’t think I’ll get to celebrate it with you”

     “Huh? What do you mean?”

     “I’m going into the forest to live with the wild cats, I know you’re worried because of those stories Henry told but I’ve thought about this through and I’m ready”

     “But...I thought we were best friends”

     “Smudge you are my best friend, and don’t worry this isn’t goodbye...yet, I’ll see you at least two more times before I have to”

     “Wow our friendship warrants an entire two visits”

     “Ok well don’t be such a smart-ears”

     “I have to make the most of my guaranteed last moments as I can”

     “Fair enough, It’ll be a while but I’ll see you again, and say hi to Hattie for me, Bye!”

     “Well now you better come back, this is one incredibly poor goodbye if it were, leaving me with some ominous message at the very end”

Firestar winked and stuck out his tongue before bounding into the forest

      I’m Definitely gonna make the most of my time with Smudge, Princess and maybe even Hattie while I can, though it’ll be difficult as leader of Thunderclan.

But then it hit Firestar

     I don’t have to be leader of Thunderclan, Bluestar is still alive, SPOTTEDLEAF should still be alive, and even if I can’t save everyone from the all horrors of Brokenstar, Tigerstar and Bloodclan, a period of peace should come up, maybe I’ll even save Skyclan before Skywatcher is on the edge of death.

Firestar notices a familiar scent, of fern and mouse....Graystripe? No wait it’s Graypaw now.

     I’m surprised he hasn’t noticed me by now, unless he’s stalking me for some reason.

     Well while he’s watching, may as well give him a show.

Firestar gets into his practiced hunting crouch and stalks a mouse, pouncing the moment he’s in range. The killing blow cueing graypaw to confront him.

     “Stay off Thunderclan Territory Kittypet!”

     Here we go again

Graypaw swipes his firepaw with little reservation.

His claws aren’t Sheathed so Firestar decided to proceed with caution,  waiting for an opening. Came pretty quickly as Graypaw’s second swipe overextended a bit.

     Guess he hasn’t developed a stronger sense of balance.

Firestar Jabs at his leg joints, temporarily stunning Graypaw before attempting to knock him over and pin him. Graypaw gets a second wind, responding to the effort with a preemptive roll before sitting up, licking his forepaw suddenly unhostile all of a sudden.

Firestar wasn’t scared of his old friend, even if at the moment he was still a bigger cat, he’s still much younger and more naive than he was.

     “Y'know you had pretty good form in terms of trying to scare me off.”

     “Then why aren’t you scared”

     Just because your claws were sheathed doesn’t mean your sudden change in demeanor wasn’t obvious. 

     “Guess I must be a little bit crazy, after all, I’m going to become a warrior”

     “Really? And what do you know about being a warrior?”

     “They work together with other warriors to pool food to be shared with a community and protect each other from outside forces while also understanding not to kill when unnecessary.”

     “Huh, wasn’t expecting you to know that already, where’d you hear about that?”

     “Mainly in some vivid dreams of cats hunting and guarding nests in a forest.”

     I don’t like lying to Graypaw, but I’m not going to dump the entire rest of my life on him on our first meeting, besides it’s not like I wasn’t having dreams of the forest

     “Well did you know warriors drive out any intruders hunting on their territory?”

     “Yeah but I won’t be an intruder for long if I’m to become a warrior, besides I have to show to you wild cats I have what it takes to hunt.”

     “I suppose your hunting crouch was not bad...for a kittypet”

     Still as smug as ever I see

Only then did it hit Firestar, Redtail might still be alive! 

Something he forgot since he’s only met him in death.

     “Graypaw, Where’s Redtail?”

     “What? How did you know my name? And How do you know Redtail?”

     “Long story for both of those questions, but I’d like to know where he is first”

     “He’s still in camp, trying to rest after everyone was pestering him about that ‘vision’ of his”

     ...what?

     “Vision? What vision?”

     “Uhh just some rambling about seeing the landscape turn into fire while a booming voice said ‘Fire Alone will save the clans’, though I don’t know if it’s a real vision since he’s the deputy not the medicine cat”

     Huh? Why would he...Whatever, he can ask about it when he arrives in camp

     “C’mon we’re going to see him”

     “Hey wait, don’t run off you’ll get lost or attacked!”

But Firestar was already leaping away

Even after getting past the shock of being in the past, Lionheart was bewildered

     Starclan’s sake Redtail of all the excuses to not patrol the stunning rocks, the fire alone prophecy? 

Lionheart sighed

     At least the announcement seemed to have cleared out the cloudiness in my head which I  now recognizes as my future memories.

      Though I doubt Redtail did that on purpose, to see if anyone else had memories of falling into fire. After all, only he and Firestar got to see multiple cats flew in before falling himself.

Speaking of finding out, Lionheart approaches Goldenflower, trying to see if his sister is in the same boat.

    “So what’s your think of that vision Redtail saw? “

     “Right to the point huh, not even a hello, my how distant we’ve grown. Haha but no I’m absolutely baffled by Redtail’s premonition.”

     “Heh, I can only imagine, what I wouldn’t give to see your face when you first found out”

     “My face? You should’ve seen his face!  His expression was completely dumbfounded when he tripped and layed there before telling us about it”

Lionheart trusts his sister would confide in him if she knew anything but maybe the memories aren’t back yet for some reason so he’ll put a pin on that.

     “I’m going to take a stroll”

     “Don’t be out too long”

     “I Won’t”

Lionheart was about to walk towards the woods before stopping himself, realizing that Bluestar didn’t actually call for him to go on a stroll with her that night.

     Wish I could just go up to Redtail and Bluestar immediately but Spottedleaf’s there and I don’t think she’s in the mood to talk about a future where she’s dead.

So in the meantime he goes into the Nursery to check up on his mate Frostfur and also found the expecting queen Brindleface and semi-workaholic Goldenflower.

     “Lionheart! What fortunate timing you have, walking in right as our kits tired themself out.”

     “Yeah it’s almost like you knew just the right time to arrive”

     Did I? At the very least not consciously, but it’d be nice to think I still have some reliable instincts.

     “I must be blessed by Starclan then, at least more so than Redtail and Spottedleaf being hounded about the vision they saw. Speaking of which, what do you two make of it?”

     “Well if you really want to know what I think, I think he must’ve eaten something that didn’t sit well because everyone knows you can’t commune with Starclan without being a medicine cat or going to the moonstone”

Brindleface takes a few moments before giving her response

     “I don’t know why but for some reason I have a feeling that Redtail’s vision is genuine”

     Oh?

     “Pshh that’s probably your unborn kits talking, weird feelings is a normal part of being an expecting queen”

Lionheart wasn’t sure, but he doubt he’ll be able to confirm for real until later

He walks towards his next group of questioning, the apprentice den, but then Goldenflower walks behind him and confronts him

     “So when are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

     Huh?

     “You’ve been so out of it since Redtail got that vision and you just pivoted from taking a stroll to the forest to asking the other queens about the vision. You didn’t even notice it was I who was visiting Swiftkit, rather than Patchpelt taking care of him and telling him a bedtime story. There’s obviously something you’re not telling me.”

     That obvious eh? 

He’d love to just tell his sister everything, but he’s worried. Maybe he’ll put her under too much stress, maybe she won’t believe him, maybe this future will play out differently and by trusting his account he might make things worse.

But maybe those were just excuses, maybe it’s a little bit hypocritical to come up with these reasons to not tell her when he was just hoping Goldenflower would be willing to confide in any problems she may be facing. Maybe she wouldn’t want him to face this uncertain future alone.

     “I...I think”

     “REDTAIL!”

     Firestar? And Graystripe with a piece of fresh kill? Oh wait Graypaw went out to meet him tonight even before Bluestar was given the news from Redtail?

While Lionheart’s mind was racing the camp fell into chaos

     Oh so that’s what that weird feeling was

Brindleface’s memories came flooding in unlike before only drips of hints overflowed from the top of a metaphorical dam, Firestar’s sudden appearance smashed that wide open.

     Starclan’s sake, Redtail and Lionheart, you two have done a terrible job at hiding your intentions. Redtail least had the excuse of being put in a stressful situation, Lionheart you went out of your way to…

Then Brindleface stopped and realized she had taken their presence a bit for granted, and maybe Lionheart just really wanted to find someone to confide in while Redtail was being badgered by Spottedleaf.

Also it’s at this point she points her attention at Firestar currently explaining what he was doing trespassing in Thunderclan.

     “I wanted to leave the confining lifestyle of a kittypet after I saw Redtail and a few other cats from a fence hunting, so I came here and caught this to prove I could fit in.”

There grew murmurs of approval, which was still much better than the skepticism the first time he entered.

     “So what if you got a lucky catch, you have no warrior blood!”

     Yeash, Even if this reaction was to be expected, it still doesn’t feel right to hear

     “Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. This Clan needs wildborn warriors to defend it, not another soft mouth to feed.”

     wait, is this what I think it is? Oh Starclan IT IS! It’s the famous Longtail v Rusty fight, can’t believe I’m gonna see it in person. Though I suppose it’s probably not gonna be an exact re-enactment.

     “Are you done?”

     Firestar...or well...Rusty at this time? It’s still unclear what exactly his situation is but he seems more exasperated than intimidated by Longtail’s tirade, and after it ends he gets ready to pounce on him.

     “Woooo, Go Get Em, Show Him What you got!” 

     I know I probably shouldn’t be cheering so excitedly but I can’t help it, she didn’t get to see the whole thing unfold the first time around, being too fearful for her unborn kits. 

A few more years of wisdom lead her to know that Many expecting queens have been able to do more and come out unscathed. Though that lead to a new train of thought.

     What’s she going to do with Elderkit and Tulipkit?  If they live to become warriors that’ll be a dream they never had come true, but by doing so they lose out on the insight granted only to starclan kits to make up for their perpetual small stature. They wouldn’t be the same kits she met and grew to love even more in Starclan.

It was at that point where Longtail snapped Firestar’s collar.

     “Our Eager newcomer has lost his Twoleg collar in a battle for his honor. StarClan has spoken its approval-this cat has been truly released from his Twoleg owners, and is free to join ThunderClan as an apprentice.”

Bluestar’s smile turned into a smirk

     “You look like a brand of Fire in the Moonlight, and fought with all of your Heart”

     Oh my Starclan Bluestar are you seriously winking? At least now I know she’s up to speed on the Future Situation as well.

     “From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Firepaw, in honor of his fiery demeanor and coat.”

After Firepaw buries his old collar, cats disperse and Brindleface walks up to him and Bluestar.

     “We need to talk, not just the three of us but Redtail and Lionheart too.”

     “Don’t forget Sandstorm, Runningwind, Swiftpaw, Yellowfang, and Silverstream”

Bluestar paused for a bit

     “Disregarding Sandstorm aren’t we all the ones who gave you your 9 lives?”

     “Yeah, I think that fire we fell in was in response specifically to the fact that Spottedleaf was one who gave one of my lives and then...shattered.”

     “That’s a concerning bit of information, but you’re going to have to put a pin on that topic because I have to ask, Runningwind fell in too? He didn’t say anything at Redtail’s patrol.”

     “Well I didn’t remember everything until just now, maybe he hasn’t hit that point yet.” Brindleface speculated

Then Graypaw walked up to them.

     “Wow Firepaw I knew you were a pretty good fighter but seeing you control the flow of that fight was amazing, it was almost like you knew everything he was going to do!”

     “Yeah I have to admit, it was pretty satisfying getting to wipe the floor with Longtail, even if it was harder than I expected.”

While the two converse, Bluestar turns to Brindleface

     “I’m going to get Lionheart and Redtail, could you get Sandpaw, Runningwind and Swiftkit for me?”

     “Oh sure Bluestar”

And as Bluestar turns to walk away it hits Brindleface

     It’s going to be super weird for Bluestar to be asking for a kit, plus Goldenflower is definitely gonna be suspicious of that coupled with her brother’s weird behavior. Guess I’ll leave them for last. First up Sandstorm...paw.

She and Dustpaw are in the middle of arguing whether Longtail was holding back.

     “There’s no way he would’ve lost to some untrained kittypet without holding back”

     “Have you got a thorn in your eye Dustpaw? Anyone could clearly see that he was fighting with everything he had with the way he was snarling.”

     “Hate to interrupt but Sandpaw, Bluestar wants to see you in her den”

     “Am I Going to get my warrior name?”

     “Of course not featherbrain, if you were, I’d be coming too”

     “Oh, I must be in some kind of trouble.”

     “Well I Wouldn’t jump to any conclusions yet, just go to her ok?”

     “I will!”

     Alright, one down, two to go

Runningwind is running from cat to cat trying to get everyone’s take on the latest apprentice.

     "I guess he is pretty impressive taking on Longtail, but I bet he wouldn’t last a minute against a senior warrior like you or Lionheart”

     “Yeah, not to mention Tigerclaw, speaking of which, I’m gonna go see if he’d be willing to give his fighting analysis report on it.”

     “Oh yeah give me the details when you have the time, I wanna see how much he transparently tears into Firepaw for his kittypet origins alone.”

     “Yeah I will Mousefur.”

     “Hey before you go, I need to tell you that Bluestar wants to see you in her den”

     “Me? Uh Ok”

     Two down, now the big one.

Goldenflower is roleplaying the Firepaw Longtail fight with Swiftkit

     “The noise of your treacherous bell will alert our enemies, even if your Twoleg stench doesn’t!”

     “Shut up Longtail!” and Swiftkit hops onto his mother

     “Hey, I thought you wanted to make it as accurate as possible.”

     “I forgot how long he spoke, I just want to take you down even if I’m smaller.”

     “Firepaw may have been smaller, but you are much too young to be in a real battle”

     “Aww, I never get to do anything”

     “Well I suppose I’ll have to disagree because uh, Swiftkit, Bluestar wants to see you in her den”

Runningwind now remembers everything, the trechary, the death, the paradise, the fire.

Though after the initial shock of being in the past and having been asked pointed questions to prod out his memories, he’s the one left with a burning question.

     “Firestar why did you look so crestfallen during my questioning?”

His present smile faded

     “We weren’t able to bring out Sandstorm’s memories, We tried everything within reason, but all she knew was that I looked Vaugly familiar and that she believes in Redtail’s vision.”

     “Oh...well hey, at least you’re not alone in the past, you’ve still got us and even your old...younger friends.”

     “Yeah I know but it’s not the same without her, we’ve been through so much together, and her absence being just out of reach is so frustrating!”

Bluestar, Redtail, Lionheart, Everyone in the room has looks of sympathy for the tom.

Then Goldenflower walks in with Swiftkit and Brindleface.

     “Bluestar do you have an explanation as to why you want to see my son…oh and Lionheart don’t think I haven’t forgotten our conversation, you have some questions to answer too.”

     “Goldenflower, your queries and concerns are warranted, it was very inappropriate of me to simply call upon your son without speaking with you first. But to answer your question, the reason why I summoned Swiftkit, why all of us are summoned here,”

Bluestar nodes towards the others in the room

     “Is because we all recognize Redtail’s vision of fire, and we saw each other within it.”

     “What?”

Redtail speaks up

     “I didn’t want to append the part where I saw all of us, including swiftkit in the vision of fire, because I didn’t want us all to garner any unnecessary attention like I did.”

     “Oh is that why you were acting so weird Lionheart? You were trying to see if Brindleface and the others saw the same vision.”

     “Uh, Yeah, sorry for not telling you earlier.”

Goldenflower looks away and sighs before returning a forgiving look to Lionheart

     “It’s ok, it must’ve really weighed heavy on your mind and you thought I wouldn’t understand what it would be like since I didn’t have it. Even if I’m disappointed I understand why you didn’t come to me about it”

     “Yeah I should have some more faith in you, you’re my sister and We should trust each other”

Lionheart and Goldenflower lay their heads on each other in solidarity.

     “Bleh! Whatever! Aren’t you going to ask me if I saw that vision of fire?”

     “Swiftkit! Watch your tone in front of your leader!”

     “Sorry mom.”

Bluestar Chuckles

     “Alright then Swiftkit, did you see that vision of fire?”

     “um...Yes”

Goldenflower's eyes widen

     “Why didn’t you tell me?”

     “Well I thought it was just a dream, besides I’m just a kit, I’m not deputy yet.”

Everyone in the room exchanged amused looks at his sincere confidence at his future position

     “Alright Swiftkit, tell me, Do you recognize Firepaw?”

     “Of course I do, I just watched him beat up Longtail.”

     “I mean before he came into Thunderclan”

     “Uh no, how would I, I’ve never left camp before, and this is one of the few times I’ve been out of the nursery.”

     "Does he appear familiar to you in any way?"

     "mmmm, no not really, I don't even know what fire looks like"

Bluestar’s eyebrows twitched in confusion. Firestar and the others also had varying masks of worry or disbelief.

     “Alright then swiftp- kit, you and Goldenflower can go back to the nursery”

     “Whaaat? Aren’t we going to talk about the vision?

     “I just wanted to confirm that every cat seen in the vision all shared it”

     “Did they?”

     “No”

     “Oh who didn’t?”

     “Now now Swiftkit, let’s not take anymore of Bluestar’s time”

     “Aww”

As Goldenflower starts leading Swiftkit away, Bluestar calls out

     “I’ll let you know when Patchpelt can cover for you at the nursery for the next patrol”

     “Thanks Bluestar”

After Goldenflower walks out, all the cats in the room look to one another with a mix of relief and panic. 

     Redtail is the first to say what we’re all thinking.

     “I can’t believe Swiftkit doesn’t even recognize Firest...paw. Lionheart, Brindleface, Runningwind and Sandstorm all still had a vague sense of familiarity, how far is he from recovering his memories?”

     “Well maybe it’s because he’s just a kit and thus he wouldn’t be able to process it all yet?” I posit

     “That doesn’t explain the lack of vague recollection, you don’t have to be a warrior to have a vague sense, and even if it were an issue of capacity, you all remember the Cinderheart situation.”

     “Ok well Now I know that”

     “Wait...is it like a Cinderheart situation? Where swiftkit isn’t consciously aware of the future self being thrusted upon them” 

     “Once again, that still wouldn’t explain the Lack of recollection, even cinderheart had vague flashbacks to the old forest and the badger attack that killed Cinderpelt.”

Firestar furrowed his brows

     “Wait how did you know that?”

     “I was watching over her, she’s my daughter and granddaughter you know.”

     “Oh I didn’t realize Starclan can watch so closely”

     “Well normally we aren’t watching at all times that closely but I didn’t have anything better to do that day and the option’s always available.”

     “Why doesn’t Starclan do that more often?”

     “Because it’s very easy to become very content in Starclan.”

Lionheart is interrupted as Bluestar interjects

     “We’re getting off topic, whatever the case we cannot rely on swiftkit.”

     “But couldn’t we rely on Goldenflower instead?”

     “As close as she is to us, we already have 6 of us who will fundamentally start acting differently due to our future knowledge, we don’t need another cat to deviate the future beyond our predictions than we already have.”

     “I don’t like keeping secrets any more than you do Lionheart but I think we’re going to be alone together in this endeavor to change the future for the better if the unaltered prophecy is anything to go by. I promise I won’t even tell Graypaw about it until after we defeat Bloodclan.”

Lionheart yields after that concession

     “Alright, so what’s first on the agenda”

     “Well what else? The Dark Forest, and by extension Brokenstar”

Chapter Text

The morning sun shines on the pines of Shadowclan as two medicine cats return to camp, herbs in tow. It was early spring, and thus they’d make it a point to harvest the herbs now while they’re at their freshest and most potent.

It was a good distraction and menial task for Yellowfang to do as she processed her present predicament distinctly remembering her son in life and as a wrathful spirit.

The duo make it to the medicine den and start sorting herbs by category and stock.

As much as Yellowfang was glad to have a second chance at life, there’s plenty to bemoan and justify mixed feelings.

     Why’d I have to come back into Brokenstar’s reign ugh, Will I be forever cursed to confront him over and over?

Yellowfang feels an onslaught of phantom injuries as she let her mental guards down during her musings

     “Frog-brain!”

     “Wow Yellowfang, you’re grumpier than usual tonight”

     “How could you tell?” Yellowfang responded wryly”

     Having to hide this "superpower" is just one of many bothersome things I thought I left behind

     “I’ve been here long enough to know when you’re really upset. Your tail bends at a specific angle” Runningnose flashed her a proud smile.

     “You can remember a small detail like that but not what Parsley does, Runningnose have you been holding back on me?” Yellowfang retorts teasingly

     “Hey! It’s not like we use Parsley that often anymore, our new apprentices are usually too young and healthy and...Not Present to need the cure.”

Falling back into her practiced centering mantra, Yellowfang blocks out the pain of others so she can focus on the issue at hand.

Brokenstar sending kits into battle.

     “I should introduce myself to the kit apprentices, they’ll need to learn a few coping mechanisms when they become disillusioned with the stress stacked against them. Can you finish sorting the herbs without me?”

     “Sure thing! Good luck.”

Taking a moment to remember the exact timeline of events Yellowfang recalls that she had already expressed her grievances with Brokenstar and is on thin ice, and pretty soon she’s going to be framed for murdering Marigoldkit and Mintkit. It took a bit over two months for him to take that plunge last time, but there's always the chance he'll do it earlier.

     What can I do to save them? Would warning them be enough? Should I ask someone to watch over them? Who would I even ask?

Then she froze as she considered something she was trying to ignore.

     Why can’t I just kill Brokenstar? I’ve done it twice already, I could do it again, slip poppyseeds into his fresh kill, force feed him death berries or any number of excuses to poison or debilitate him and I could get away with it.

Blossompaw and Badgerpaw run by and Yellowfang turns to look at them.

     Oh, it’s Blossomkit and Badgerfang, I remember seeing them. They were taken care of, no one would allow kits to be anything less than thriving in Starclan, not if Fluttering Bird’s Organization had anything to say about it. They’d be given a chance to see a new world that the rest of Starclan won’t be privy to. 

She remembers Wishkit and Hopekit telling her about the music and books, generations of stories and ideas from not just cats but Twolegs too. All that time spent in Starclan makes the tragedy of death feel much more comforting knowing it wasn’t a complete cessation of consciousness. Not like Spottedleaf….not like Brokenstar.

     What and that makes it ok for me to not do your best to save these cat’s lives? These KITS’ LIVES? As glad as they’d be in Starclan you remember that Blossompaw wanted to be a medicine cat, you only live once and I’ll save them...even if I can’t kill Brokenstar, not yet, not while I have the slightest bit of hope of returning him to Starclan with his family.

First things first, she needs to find some trustworthy cats, those that will help oppose Brokenstar, and those that can help save the kit warrior’s lives.

She was already making her way to the apprentice den so she started there.

Other than Blossompaw and Badgerpaw, Volepaw, who’s Brokenstar’s apprentice, is present as well, necessitating that Yellowfang has to tread more carefully than she already had to.

Blossompaw speaks up and Badgerpaw excitedly joins her

     “Yellowfang? What are you doing here”

     “Yeah do you normally come into the apprentices den? Is someone injured?”

     “Calm down Badgerpaw, and lower your voice. I'm not so old that I’m hard of hearing. I’ll answer your questions but only after Blossompaw’s, I’m here not just to congratulate you two on your apprenticeship, but to give some warnings and advice. Outside of one visit at the beginning of your apprenticeship I don’t visit often as normally cats come to the medicine den for medical support.”

Volepaw rolls his eyes and walks out of the room remarking

     “When you’re done listening to the glorified elder lecture about Mindfulness and how there's "no shame in losing a battle", you can come join me for some fighting practice.”

     “Keep that attitude up and this Glorified Elder will leave you without poppy seeds next time you’re in for a gash”

     “Pff, that only happened once.” Volpaw dismisses before leaving

     “Hmph, some apprentices can be so mouse-brained, now back to my introduction.”

Yellowfang takes a deep breath, preparing herself for her practiced speech.

     “As you know my name is Yellowfang, me and my apprentice Runningnose work at the medicine den to cure wounds, I’m sure you both have the common sense to come to us if you ever feel symptoms such as:...”

Yellowfang starts holding a paw up and making a counting motion

     “...fatigue, concerning dreams, head pains such as migraines and fevers, chills, and other unexplained sensations. I hate that I need to say this but, don’t hesitate to come and get it checked out because any of those alone has the potential to be very serious, don’t think you’re being tough by shouldering burden without our assistance you’d only be causing trouble. Moving on, outside of those and obviously visible injuries we’re here for you in other ways, we’re an ear to listen to if you want to talk about problems of any kind, even secrets you’d only Starclan can hear, we’re here to support you when you want to speak up to any senior warrior or even leader without fearing being misconstrued as disrespectful or disloyal, and if you’re having trouble sleeping and need someone to distract you, we’re used to sleeping unusual hours. So don’t let my crabby attitude stop you from asking for help.”

Yellowfang takes another deep breath

     “This is where I’d normally say if you have any questions you can come over and ask us later, but over the years I’ve found that apprentices rarely take me up on my offer to mitigate their insomnia so I’ll give you a few general pointers in the event that something keeps you up at night.”

At this point Badgerpaw starts to look a little exasperated and unfocused. Blossompaw didn’t look any less distracted either.

     Ah well, they still lasted longer than most of the other apprentices. They're better candidates for working against Brokenstar than Volepaw at the very least, though I don't know if I can trust them to keep a secret.

     “The hardest part of falling asleep is finding a balance between a passive attitude and the focus to dull your senses. A word, phrase, mantra, breathing pattern, or mental image like Ohm or your favorite mossball, can all be used to draw your attention and reduce thinking about external concerns. But that can all come crashing down if that gets tampered with any bothersome experiences so make sure it’s something sacred and secret like your first time sharing with Starclan. Or in a less mundane case, if you have too much energy to focus on something to sleep, you should probably get out and do something rather than try to force yourself into a lull.”

Well Badgerpaw seems to not have much trouble finding himself in a lull

     Yeah, Badgerpaw is a bit too naive and carefree to see what's wrong with Brokenstar and covertly work against him, he doesn't have the foresight of his Starclan counterpart.

     “Ok well enough of that, I know it must’ve been a tortuous experience having to hear me ramble on so maybe I should make it up to you by telling you about the time I was a warrior.”

Badgerpaw perked up at that

     “Mmm, nope I’m not gonna tell you, guess you’ll have to walk into the medicine den to find out, Starclan forbid you ever have to be stuck with me there.” Yellowfang teased

Badgerpaw groans with disappointment

     “Does that mean you’re done?”

     “Yes yes, I’m done, you can go, you’re finally free from my clutches.”

     “Well isn’t that great timing”

Flintfang walks in

     Flintfang may be different, I remember him being uncomfortable by the idea of making kits warriors before they're 6 moons old. I should try to get him on-board.

     “Flintfang! Is it time for battle training?”

     “Woah, don’t get ahead of yourself buddy, we’re first going to get a tour of the territory before anything else.”

     “So what are we waiting for?” Badgerpaw shoots out of the apprentice den

     Well if there's one thing that hasn't changed it's Badgerpaw/fang's energy

     “Let’s Go Go GO!”

     “Hey! Don’t leave without me”

     Oh wait he's Leaving already

Before Flintfang leaves, Yellowfang grabs his shoulder and whispers into his ear in a low voice

     “Watch over him, lest his first battle be his last” 

then immediately she shifts her demeanor back to her regular snarky self.

     “Now hurry along, your apprentice is going to leave camp without you!”

     Your tour should give you enough time to process that ominous warning

Flintfang’s confused and worried look disappears as his focus is redirect back at his speeding apprentice. “Hey Badgerpaw I thought I told you to WAIT!”

     I suppose that was a start, but I doubt any of them are out of the woods yet.

Turning back to Blossompaw, Yellowfang realizes her unfocused look was more of a distant stare, as if she wasn’t completely present, like her mind was in a different place...like she was having a vision or seeing a ghost.

     Though now that I think about it I do feel an unusual presence.

     Hmmmm, It can't be any regular Starclan cat or else they'd communicate through an omen or vision.  UGH Just another thing to worry about and potentially pester my subconcious in my sleep. Whatever, I don't have time to speculate, neither does Blossompaw.

     “Blossompaw? Are you just going to stand there all day?”

Blossompaw blinked and awkwardly responded 

     “um, what did you just say?”

     “Woooof, you were really out of it, one might have mistaken you for a medicine cat apprentice that’s just pressured into being a warrior apprentice.”

Blossompaw’s eyes widen for a moment before looking away

     ...Alright I think that warrants maybe about, 2 minutes of me not being so insensitive

     “Hey, I was joking…but if you actually have any fears or pressures weighing on you, I just gave a spiel on how I’m always available and that you should come for my help whenever, even if I give you grief for it.”

     “I...I’m fine, just nervous that’s all.”

     Yea And Hedgehogs fly

     “Well if you find yourself thinking otherwise, you know where to find me”

In the intervals of free time throughout the day of treating rowdy warriors, Yellowfang’s thoughts wander about how she got back to the past and who she can rely on, before inevitably circling back to Brokenstar.

     Those I can mostly trust includes the elders for the most part, Nightpelt and Cinderfur especially given how they've seen his ego grow to an unhealthy level. The queens, or hell, any molly could be reasonably swayed to be concerned about sending kits off to battle. Dawncloud and Brightflower are already hesitant, they just need a little push. And Runningnose is bound by the same loyalty to Starclan over all else, and that means saving lives. I just have to find the time and courage to get the information to them and also convince them I have a way of stopping him without immediatley damning him to the Dark Forest.

     Those I can likely pull to my side with a reasonable amount of effort includes Flintfang, Blossompaw, and by extension their apprentice and mentor: Badgerpaw and Stumpytail. They're not against the idea that Brokenstar needs to be challenged and hopefully can help balance out those who desire a more immediate solution.

     Those I'll have a harder time getting their assistance on my own includes: Littlepaw aka Littlecloud because his mentor Clawface fully buys into Brokenstar's violent ideology and until he's put in direct harm he probably won't stick his neck out. Speaking of his loyal followers, Blackfoot and Jaggedtooth are in the same boat as Clawface, Boulder will probably see anything short of Bloodclan to be a fine way of living and once again one's presence as a mentor becomes a roadblock for recruiting their apprentice Wetpaw aka Wetfoot. I'm unsure about Russetfur, on one hand she genuinely sees the Clans as a shining example of a way to live like Boulder, but I also know that in the original future she joins the coup against Brokenstar and doesn't go with Blackfoot and the rest of his loyal rogues.

     I can speculate all I want about how Spottedleaf is doing, or if Firestar and Sandstorm are still in some sort of alternate future trying to find me, but I doubt I could just sneak out into Thunderclan. Ok well I CAN sneak out, Brokenstar barely even knows that non-warriors exist, due to our history he’ll be especially dismissive of me, but I won’t leave, I won’t run. Not when there’s so much pressing danger to these kits in shadowclan, including my own kit.

     Ugh, Starclan’s punishment or not, I still can’t believe he’d fall to Mapleshade’s mentality of violence over all else. Well I suppose shadowclan wasn’t much better at the time, the clans can be so mouse-brained treating those even rumored to be in any way an outsider, lower than fresh kill, with no feelings that have to be respected.

     But I’m not going to change the clans overnight, and I'm certainly not enough to undo the damage that’s been done. Hm...what can I Do to break Brokenstar out of his mindset and echo chamber, to decimate any lasting bit of rationalization? I’d need something big, something devastating, I’d need to tell him...the truth.

     It might get me killed, in fact I should probably expect it, but I’ve died once before, I’m not scared to re-enter Starclan. What about Firestar? He’s always been psychically open, I could guide him in death. What about Cinderpelt? I Could probably save Spottedleaf and/or prevent her accident. What….what about...Brokenstar? I can’t save him if this reveal doesn’t work, in fact , it may doom him. Ugh darn my own self-doubt.

As dusk falls upon Shadowclan, Yellowfang prepares to get some sleep in before she decides anything. She checks her own bedding and starts digging at a hidden niche in her corner of the medicine den. Silently unearthing a keepsake of hers, a reddish orange rock with bands of silver flowing across it horizontally, a reminder of her dear departed grandmother.

     It’s been a while, I didn't get to keep this piece of the past with me when I moved to Thunderclan, at least not for a while. After being reunited and living with her for so long, I almost forgot how Raggedstar gave this to comfort me when she died, how I used to callous my paws gripping it in the worst of nights. I wish they could’ve come back with me, stupid as that is. The most I could possibly hope for is that they visit at the moonstone meeting. I doubt even the Diviners have noticed my unusual predicament seeing how laissez faire they’ve been about Brokenstar before, let alone my family at the Isolated Paradises. Not that I can blame them, who wouldn’t want to spend their time exploring the idyllic lands of the Astral plane with their loved ones. Though maybe the Premature Death Compensation Organization may give me a visit, seeing my wavering resolve to save the innocent kits in favor of my own sinful one.

Yellowfang curls around the silverflame rock, eyes lulling as a day’s worth of exhaustion catches up to her. 

She yawns, “Oh what a dream it’d be, for Starclan to actually give me help and support during one of the most crucial times of my life” ,before the rock fades from her view and consciousness.

* * * * *

Yellowfang wakes up in a familiar place, though gets a slight unsettling feeling.

She’s at one of the Premature Death Compensation building’s medicine cat meeting rooms, but the place hasn’t been made to be translucent, it’s not a new sight as she’s visited from the perspective of a resident, but to be receiving a vision while it’s ungilded, implies something went wrong.

     “Huh, and I thought you of all people wouldn’t mind the mess the room’s in”

Yellowfang quickly turns her gaze towards the voice, to a young tom she didn’t recognize at first. It wasn’t as though they weren’t that familiar, they’ve met many times, enough to know that they can both be slobs with their rooms. The issue was that this small black and white tom with pale amber eyes couldn’t be here and now. She may not have been able to save him in life, but she’s in the past, he should be alive right now.

     “Swiftpaw?”

Chapter Text

Swiftpaw was falling horizontally.

It wasn’t something he was used to, less so than in this weird plane of fire. 

He felt his spectral form condense into its core form, a star.

His senses were dulled, but he can still tell that other stars were around and falling in.

Bright colors being pulled together and strung along a journey before he senses Firestar.

Immediately something nags at him, something he forgot he had on him, a bit of Fireheart’s soul, stored for safekeeping in his own soul pocket, to be released when all 9 are reunited and he enters Starclan.

     Is Firestar dying? It made sense. His body couldn't possibly last long in this plane of fire, it’d probably scorch his flesh and fur until even the bones are just dust.

But Firestar doesn’t die, he doesn’t burn. Though after a ginger star joins the colors, he disappears.

And so does the lack of gravitational pull.

Swiftpaw isn’t sure whether it’s better that this time they’re all falling vertically.

The falling sensation remained even as the flames disappeared, and Swiftpaw can see him coming crashing down to earth, towards a forest.

He tries to manifest himself to slow down and he's glad to sense that there seems to be some resistance, but he realizes it’s not from drag of his quadrupedal form’s shape, it’s from a couple of cats trying to grab onto him.

It’s not long before one of them grabs onto his scruff and brings him to a stop.

Swiftpaw’s spectral blood vessel pulses as his heart continues to pound from what felt like a potentially lethal fall.

     “Sorry to be so rough on ya, it was a frantic moment trying to catch you from the sky.”

     “I’m….” Swiftpaw still feels nauseous enough to almost dry heave

     “It’s fine, I’m still alive after all”

     “Well I wouldn’t call you alive per se, but I like your attitude. I’m Emberkit by the way, and you are...”

     “Don’t you know? Also, does that really matter? We still have to get back to the battle, c’mon!”

Swiftpaw crouches down, preparing to leap back onto earth before Emberkit bites him on the ear.

     “He-EY! What was that for?”

     “If you’re not going to bother listening to me you should expect to get your ears tugged. First of all, no one in Starclan is fighting right now, you don’t even have to listen to me to figure that out.”

Swiftpaw takes a moment to listen to the surrounding area

     Dammit he’s right, it’s way too silent for an ongoing battle.

     “Oh, so...we won?”

Emberkit tugs on Swiftpaw’s ears again

     “Ow OW Hey!”

     “Let me finish! What kind of warrior interrupts their ancestors? Just because I’m small you think you can sass me?”

     It’s not because you’re small that I’m sassing you, I’d just sass anyone, even a legend and philanthropist like you. What? Do you think I’m just a recently deceased warrior who….Oh wait I’m the size of a warrior.

     “Well ok GrAnDpA, maybe this warrior actually never became a warrior, maybe something you’d know if you weren’t so senile.”

     Emberkit finally stops tugging at my ear, hah bet you aren’t used to being called out.

     “Huh?”

     “Yeah that’s right you hypocrite, you assumed just because I’m big that I’m a warrior, who’s sassing now?”

     “If you’re implying what I think you are, you’d know that applying Heuristics is forgivable.”

     The Gall!

     “Still makes you a hypocrite”

     “Hey! I gotta exploit my seniority somehow.”

Emberkit’s smug face then shifts into a more neutral position.

     “I’ll cut to the chase then. You came out of a planar rift in the sky along with 9 others, there is no battle within recent Starclan memory that would warrant a young padawan like you to be so agitated, this leads me to believe you came from either a different time or place than the one you are in now.”

     Holy moly, I’ve been thrown through a portal, of course. I should’ve considered this.

     “Where are the others?”

     “We weren’t able to grab them, you were the only one who manifested their form early enough to be grabbed onto, the others fell quickly to earth and attached themselves to various existing cats.”

     “Oh like Cinderpelt to Cinderheart or is it a Jayfeather Lionblaze and Dovewing situation?”

     “I’ve never heard any of those names before”

     of course he haven’t heard of them he’s been around since the dawn of the clans….wait a minute...He might recognize...

     “Ok well...do you recognize the name Lion’s Roar?”

Emberkit forms a very amused face

     “Oh wow you must spend a lot of time with old toms.”

     “Shush you, where I come from he’s involved in a very important prophecy. Ok, before you ask about that, I should’ve asked this much earlier, WHEN are we? No no wait the details might be different. Who is the leader of Thunderclan?”

     “Bluestar”

     “Oh...wait I could’ve just asked who all the leader deputies and medicine cats are.”

     “Well don’t get too worked up, it’s not like you’re playing 24 questions.”

     “It kinda feels like it.”

     “True enough, Thunderclan’s deputy and medicine cat are Redtail and Spottedleaf, Riverclan’s leader, deputy and medicine cat respectively are Crookedstar, Oakheart, and Mudfur, Windclan is lead by Tallstar, Deadfoot is deputy, Barkface is medicine cat. Shadowclan…”

Emberkit grimaces

     “Is lead by Brokenstar, Blackfoot is deputy, Yellowfang and Runningnose are medicine cats.”

     “Oh Runningnose was already a medicine cat before Yellowfang was exiled?”

Emberkit's brows furrow a bit in frustration

     “You make it very hard to resist going off on a questioning tangent, especially when you casually drop bombshells like that, but yes Runningnose is a medicine cat and Yellowfang hasn’t been exiled. Although perhaps this is a sign that the world you came from had different events played out rather than only being in the past.”

     “Woah, let’s not jump to that conclusion immediately, Brokenstar’s reign was a long time ago for me, I could easily be misremembering things.”

Swiftpaw recognizes when he is. Or at least the general scope of the big picture. Though there’s one important piece he’s got to check.

     “Do you know about an apprentice named Firepaw or a kittypet named Rusty?”

     “Ugh, I almost wish I didn’t, Thunder’s been harping on about how ‘Rusty! Look at his fate-lines! He’s the answer!’ or how he’ll ‘Save Starclan from its rigid tenants!’ and started a tiny following on that theory....and I hate to say it but if the stars are any indication, he’s onto something.”

     Thunder? As in the Founder of Thunderclan? I didn’t realize he was so active in the theory circle, thought most of the founders were in retirement in the Isolated Paradises. If Firestar just came down, I wonder who else returned with me.

     “Speaking of stars, what happened with the other eight? You mentioned they attached themselves to various cats, who are they?”

     “Honestly I haven’t checked yet, I just got blasted with texts of Thunder yelling after checking the one that fell towards the suburbs, being completely vindicated.

     “Why don’t you come with us and find out?” a booming voice called out

     “Aaaaand there he is”

A Large Orange tom comes bounding through the air, alongside a blue spotted Molly.

     “Oh and Brambleberry came along too.”

     Ok I’ve definitely met her before, but Names and Faces disappear into the void unless I see you daily or something.

     “Uhhh, remind me who she is again?”

     “She can introduce herself later! Emberkit you rascal, trying to horde the mysterious stranger’s questioning all to yourself!”

     “As much as I understand your eagerness to learn who they is, you know we have to follow protocol.”

     “Oh protocol this, protocol that, the spirit of the rule was to prevent infighting, and I didn’t bother questioning him, I just helped him calm down and answered some of HIS questions.”

     “Regardless of what you’ve done, We should take you back to the Forum for questioning! C’mon we can walk and talk!”

     Ow, his voice was loud before but when he’s right next to me it’s starting to bug me.

     “Yea ok I’ll come with you guys, just tone down your All Might impression.”

Thunder's cheery demeanor shifts as a confused expression enters.

     “All Might! Does he have any relationship to Might Guy, Oh wait I’m not allowed to begin questioning! I’ll ask you later, and sorry I forgot to lower my voice”

     Couldn’t he have used a megaphone? The guy’s probably got one in his Soul Pocket being ancient and all, he’s definitely got the space.

     “Yeah I’m sure you’ll want to know how Naruto ends.”

Brambleberry perks up in response

     “Oh don’t worry I already showed him the manga.”

     “But isn’t that still not-”

     “OOOOOoook kid, I think now’s the time to start walking :)”

     “But-”

     “Shushshshhshhhhh I can elaborate on how I got the ending later.”

After the silencing, the 4 cats start walking towards the Fourtrees, the conversation being picked up by a bemused Emberkit

     “See Swiftpaw, you really do make it hard not to go on random tangents when you drop bombshells so casually.”

     “It’s not like I’m trying to, It just comes with being from the future and everything.”

Brambleberry and Thunder share a look of realization as the news dawns on them.

     “Oh so that’s where you ten came from.”

     “The future must be in ….Actually I can’t conclusively say what your presence necessarily says about the future.”

     The future...is it Just the future? Or could Emberkit be right about multiple Universes. Well from what I’ve heard it seems like we’re around the time Firestar joins the clans, Windclan is driven out, Yellowfang is taken in, Brokenstar gets killed, Tigerclaw fails to kill Bluestar but then she becomes paranoid and I get myself killed.

     Well hopefully the last few parts will be changed for the better.

     “So Brokenstar’s apprenticing kits under the age of 6 moons right?”

     The three make all make a grimace at the same time, which kinda feels reminiscent of the gag in Soul Eater where everyone makes the same face when thinking about Excalibur.

Brambleberry speaks up

     “Yea, made the motion a few moons ago”

     “Has he exiled the elders?”

     “No, though it’s pretty clear he’s building up to it, implying in his speeches that they don’t have the same standing as the warriors.”

     Of course of course

     “Yeah, I’d say that seems par for the course for a demagogue, but let’s be honest he’s not even that effective of one, he’s just got a small loyal following.”

     “Ok well NOW I can say the future looks bright given how dismissively you can talk about him. Or maybe the deadpan still implies something worse.”

     “C’mon Thunder you can stop theorizing, I’m sure he’ll just straight up give us the story when we get back”

     “HAH! you know I can’t help but to pick apart the details in things I’m interested in.”

     Yeah I know, I’ve seen your pokemon liveblog archives

     “Is Tigerclaw still en route for an anticlimactic death at the hands of a Tiny Rogue?”

Emberkit takes this question

     “Last I checked yeah, though you probably know that the timeline viewing is hazy at best, unreliably shifting around worst, your unexpected presence probably doesn’t make it better.”

     “Oh I’d be surprised if I didn’t”

     Time magic isn’t just incredibly energy inefficient, but it’s incredibly illegal because of how it messes with the fatelines. Hell, it might even be...Primeval pact breaking. Oh My Starclan I broke the law.

     “I’m...I’m not going to be exiled for this am I?”

Thunder perked up and got into a wider stance

     “They Better not! I Spent way too much time advocating for innocent intent defense for me to just let you down now!”

Brambleberry did the same

     “It’d be mouse-brained to condemn you for something you aren’t even responsible for.”

Emberkit nodded to that assertion

     “Don’t worry dude, even if all of Starclan went Kangaroo Court... which they might, you’re also well within the realm of Extenuating circumstances. I co-Founded that domain, me and Fluttering Bird would never let you be kicked out without a fight.”

These were all things Swiftpaw knew, or at least knew was likely given what he’d seen in Starclan before, but it was nice having his fears be alleviated like this.

     “We’re here.”

The Four Trees are a sacred place to the Clans, especially so to Starclan as it’s the main port between the material plane and the Astral Lands of Starclan.

Swiftpaw remembers the first time he was guided up, filled with grief, torn between the anxiety of what he left behind, and who he may get to see ahead.

     “Emberkit, Thunder, Brambleberry, I want to say Thank you. I mean I no shade to Patchpelt, but I think you three were still a better welcoming party than my original one.

     “Bet it wasn’t as chaotic though.”

     “Emotionally it was!”

     “Don’t take him too seriously, He’s just being modest in his own way.”

     “And I think I speak for the three of us when I say, You’re welcome and Don’t mention it.”

***

     Thunder's “Interrogation” was quite clearly not designed for time traveling Clan Cats

     This was obviously not intended to be an interrogation room. It’s not scary at all, it’s just bureaucracy at this point, this just looks like a really nice office! It’s got Bookshelves lining the walls and Mahogany furniture! A bit cliche, but that’s what you get when it comes to old conjured items, the iconic was easiest to reproduce.

Swiftpaw was stuck listening to Thunder read off questions from a clipboard.

     “Time of death?”

     “I don’t know if this applies but, approximately one year from now?”

     “I think that’ll do for now.”

     “Kittypet, loner, rogue, or other?”

     “Other”

     “Are you Friend or Foe?”

     Oh you’ve Got to be kidding me

     “Well obviously friend, Emberkit did save my...ok well he didn’t save my life but he tried to, You know that.”

     “Yeah sorry, I know these can be redundant but we have to get through them for the sake of completion and satisfying as many people we can.”

     “Ughhh, I know”

     At least Thunder was trying to make it less of a slog by putting on different voices, Though it seems he likes to slide into Bobby Fulbright and Mickey Mouse a lot.

By the time Swiftpaw’s done with the questioning he’s just lying on the floor.

     “Alright! Now that we’ve gotten through the procedurally mandated questions, I can finally ask who this All Might is.”

     “Thunder, as much as I’d love to tell you, brambleberry or Emberkit about fun stuff like tv shows, literature and games, I feel like I can sleep until I’m dead.”

     “Isn’t the phrase ‘I’ll sleep When I’m dead’?”

     “Well I’m dead aren’t I?”

Thunder looks unamused

     “Yeah I walked into that didn’t I”

     “You totally did.”

     “Ok fine I’ll let you rest and vibe for a bit, maybe in the meantime you can take a look around Starclan, see if anything’s different, maybe check out how the Clans are doing. I Know who I’m going to watch over.”

     Actually being the dead ancestors that watch over the living start to make the act feel kinda stalkery, but in practice it just feels like watching really bumming current events that you can’t do much about unless you’ve got visitation rights. Ughhh I don’t want to think about Starclan’s bureaucracy and paperwork, even if it’s probably going to be necessary for me to help change the future for the better.

     “I’ll go down to see how they’re doing in person.”

     Hopefully the walk will clear my head and I can formulate a plan to help out.

     “Alright, I’ll get your files in order, and maybe Emberkit can get your extenuating circumstances forms next”

     Nope Nope Nope Get Out GEt OUt

     “Haha yea, maybe, Goodbye”

     “Bye!”

Swiftpaw rushes out of the “interrogation room” before feeling waves of exhaustion wash over him. He hasn’t done much, but being back in the proximity of Starclan has clearly had it’s calming content-instilling effect and Swiftpaw wanted to take a nap.

     Ugh and I really wanted to get a look around the Clans in person as quickly as possible, and then formulate a plan...but I guess until I get visitation rights or at least some general good faith garnered I can’t really do much. I can’t even leave this ID processing building because I haven’t been filed into the system yet. Bet I can’t even conjure a pillow or nest without being yelled at.

Swiftpaw lies down on his belly

     Well, least I still have access to my soul-pocket and my phone still has WiFi access. Point one to the “this isn’t an alternate universe, just the past” theory since the saved passwords worked.

Swiftpaw pulls out a pillow from his soul-pocket and rests his head, slowly dozing off into sleep.

Chapter Text

      Rarely does anyone like being woken up.

      “Get UP!”

      But this has got to be one of the worst instances of that. 

      “Starclan’s sake Emberkit did you have to go for the ears again?”

      “What? Did you enter Starclan yesterday? Would you rather I drop a bucket of ice water on you? Or grab you by the scruff like a kit? C’mon you said you wanted to see what was going on, and I wanted to get my burning questions out before you get swarmed by curious cats.”

      “Alright alright, you’re right I did want to get out and about, I’m just not used to actually having a sense of urgency since I entered Starclan.”

      “Hmph, like that’s an excuse.”

      “Ok boomer”

      “You only say that because you know I’m right.”

      Ugh, hate to admit that it takes some serious Will and strict terms of focus to stay up to date on Clan current events when you’re that old.

      “Ok, whatever, just take my paw and pull me under the clouds or through a pool.”

      “Oh no you’re not allowed to directly pass through that way, I’m here to lead the way to beam us back down”

      “OH come on, I still have the air hopping license!”

      “Yeah but it hasn’t been renewed yet”

      “I swear to all that is good and holy I’m going to go mad from this bureaucracy, I can’t believe I ever could handle it.”

Swiftpaw slumps his shoulders

      “Whatever, you should lead the way already”

Emberkit puts a paw on his shoulders

      “Hey, I know the paperwork and rules are overwhelming when taken all at once rather than little by little as most who enter get, but I know you’ve been through this before, and you’ll get through it better than ever before. Trust me.”

Emberkit shoots up to attention and motions his way out of the room

      “Now c’mon, before the word gets out that we actually brought one of the Falling stars into Starclan”

      “Alright wait up!”

Swiftpaw runs after emberkit, keeping up his quick pace easily.

If there’s one thing Swiftpaw learned to appreciate in Starclan’s territory, it’s the lack of running exhaustion. It’s an incredible feeling, being able to hold conversations while running what normally would be a sprint.

      “So I took a look at your files with Thunder and Brambleberry, you mentioned you’ve got magic training?”

      “Yeah of course, who hasn’t at least dabbled in it? But why bring it up now, it’s not like I can use it outside of Starclan’s borders”

Emberkit raised an eyebrow

      “Really? You sure?”

      “Yeah! Look I can’t even cast light”

Swiftpaw puts his paws together and concentrates. Nothing happens

Swiftpaw puts them out and yells out “Lux!”. Nothing happens

Swiftpaw pulls out a wand from his soul-pocket and tries drawing a sigil. The pattern continues

      “See!”

Emberkit gives Swiftpaw a deadpan look

      “You pulled out an object from an extra-dimensional space and you think you can’t do magic. I knew you didn’t read up on history from your ignorant statement earlier, but I should tug your ears for that!”

      “Hey now, you don’t need to resort to that. I mean everyone can pull stuff out of their soul-pocket, isn’t it just inherent to being a...y'know, SOUL? It’s not like it comes from an external source like magic or the internet does.”

Emberkit sighs

      “And here I thought you were well-read when you mentioned Lion’s Roar, I’d rather than show than tell, but it’d be cumbersome to find a spirit outside of Starclan who’s both been around long enough to have presumably developed a reasonably sized soul-pocket, and also didn’t spend enough time to have come to peace and pass away onto the elements. Soul-Pockets weren’t a thing before Starclan.”

Swiftpaw blinked, taking that in for a moment

      “Really? Are you sure?”

Emberkit glared up at Swiftpaw

      “Course I’m sure! Don’t you know who I AM?”

      “Well yeah, but I’d have a hard time believing you even if you were around since the Dawn of the Clans or Time itself.”

Emberkit looks away

      “Hmph, well you better keep your gawking to yourself from now on, because I’ve clearly got to educate you about the deep lore on magic.”

Swiftpaw lies on his side and rolls his eyes

      “Alright then Emberkit, Teach away.”

      “Keep that attitude up and I’ll show you more than just light. But, first things first I’m going to stop assuming you know things just because you took a few classes because they were from another time/potentially another universe so you’re going to have to put up with that.”

      “Fair enough”

      “Second off”

Emberkit runs in a small circle and kicks in the air, forming a small fireball along the trajectory

Swiftpaw’s eyes widen in surprise before he rolls out of the way.

      “How did you do that!”

      “Have your undivided attention now don’t I?”

      You 40-year-old-Shota-trope rip off, stop looking so pleased with yourself. Even if I have to admit his methods are always effective in spite of...well sometimes BECAUSE it’s annoying. Doesn’t mean you gotta be such a troll about it.

      “Yeah, you got it. Now tell me everything!”

      “Alright, the first thing you’re wrong about Magic, it’s not limited to Starclan’s borders, the magic that flows through the paradises of Starclan comes from an even larger source, THE source of magic. The elements and by extension their associated planes of power.”

      “What? Fire Earth Water and Air?”

      “You should really know by now that things in the Clans originally came in Fives by now. You missed Stone.”

      “Doesn’t that just fall under Earth?”

      “I dunno, does lava just fall under Earth? There are Elementals for everything and it can get hyper-specific like Halite or Silicon but these are the main 5 that were around when the Clans were Founded.”

      “Okayy then”

      “If it makes you feel any better, minerals and metals fall under Stone”

      “So the Chinese elements?”

      “Essentially. I got to see first-hand the creation of Starclan from their power and I was ecstatic to be recognized for my brilliance and chosen to help create it as one of the original Champions of Star.”

      “Oh yeah, sometimes I forget that Star was actually 5 cats and not just a cat named Star who told Thunder Wind River and Shadow to stop fighting.”

Emberkit’s face scrunches up

      “It really makes me upset to see how even educated cats like you can still get the history of the Clans so wrong. Even before Skyclan’s exile made everything go downhill. But even before then some people thought that Star Flower was the one to stop that first battle.”

Yeaaaahhh I thought that for one week too long before I heard otherwise

      “But enough about my musings, I’ve got to cram an entire history into a single conversation. The elements gave us the resources to create a paradise, and chose Storm, Bright Stream, Turtle Tail, Fluttering Bird and I to lead the construction. Since we’re direct champions of the elements, we have magic independently of the place we made.”

      “So what you’re saying is that we can only cast magic outside of Starclan if we’ve got a Primordial force on the speed dial.”

Emberkit reached up his paw to bop Swiftpaw’s nose

      “You can’t just reduce that revelation to just that! Also that’s not even accurate, I haven’t felt the presence of Earth in a long long time. None of us have, until you 10 came out of that rift in the sky.”

      “Oh...OH!”

      I can’t believe I didn’t figure out that Fire was probably what brought us back in time

      “It just hit you didn’t it?”

      “Yep”

      “And now hopefully you’ll figure out the implications.”

      Give me a second you big old baby, uhhh

      “Firestar’s a champion of fire”

Emberkit’s eye twitched

      Oh? You didn’t know that?

      “Whoever named Firestar has no sense of subtlety. And I Hate that I didn’t somehow see this coming. Well it’s not just the obviously named Firestar who’s going to have champion access, everyone else including you will be allowed to share that privilege soon enough”

      “What’s stopping me?”

      “How much do you know about Starclan’s Primeval Pact?”

      “That it was written early on to keep shipping wars from becoming actual wars.”

      “Psh, Smartears.”

      “You know I’m right”

      “Yeah but that’s one very specific cause of it, doesn’t help me gauge how much information you don’t know.”

      “Alright I’ll tell you everything I remember. It was an agreement to follow a specific code of laws, like no violence or interference with the material world without unanimous agreement from the major political powers.”

      “And how’s it enforced?”

      “If you broke it, everyone you’d subsequently meet would know you broke it and they’d be under no obligation to treat you with civility and not kill you.”

      “Yes that’s normally the case except for the sections on forbidden magic, that stuff’s too volatile to just use that uber powered social contract, the pact itself suppresses those filed under Starclan’s system from using it. Especially for someone like you who’s been filed as only a Starclan resident by trial basis”

      “wait...then why didn’t you let me try magic before I started getting my papers done!”

      “Well I wanted to get to know you, plus I was scared you’d rip another rift and we’d lose our chance to learn more about what’s going on with the elementals. Plus, it’ll be a cinch to get forbidden magic passes for you, hell you could probably even get Spacetime magic rights if you pretend to be on an important mission from a higher power. If you aren’t actually.”

      “Wow really?”

      “Yeah I read that you pride yourself on your reflexes, though that was what got you killed, I think flash-stepping would work really well with you, combined with your ‘Maria-from-RWBY’ powers.”

      “Yeah that’s nice but Time travel though, that’d be totally broken.”

      “Well actually I highly recommend you don’t mess with time, it doesn’t reliably work unless you die”

      “Did you try doing so yourself?”

      “Oh no I’m not even allowed to mess with Spacetime, I heard it from Earth and Fluttering Bird a while back.”

      “Can you really convince Starclan to let me have power that not even you get?”

      “I know it’s a bit of a stretch, but you’re a massive fetch for scholars, being the only lead into how Fire or Any elemental is doing, honestly. Plus I’ve got connections with all the major players needed, I’m sure they trust me to keep you in line.”

      “Oh boy can’t wait to have my very own probation officer.”

      “I think it’s a fair trade-off, now you should get back to moving, we’ve been distracted by this history lesson for too long, we would’ve been at Thunderclan a long while ago.”

      “Alright”

Swiftpaw starts running forward before realizing Emberkit isn’t following

      “What’s the hold up?”

      “I’m beaming back up to Starclan, maybe streamline your applications a bit.”

      “Oh, thanks for dealing with that headache for me”

      “No prob and Oh, I’ll give you one last bit of help.”

Emberkit slams his two front paws in front of him, conjuring astral earth from under Swiftpaw, launching him into the air.

      “What the HEEEELLLL” Swiftpaw yells as he flies into the distance

      “DON’T WORRY, YOU’LL LAND AT THUNDERCLAN SAFELY!”

      That’s only mildly reassuring, you’re not the one experiencing G-forces in non-starclan lands. I Could legitimately take fall damage out here!

Swiftpaw thinks that, only to find his descent gradually decelerate and feel only a few scratches landing onto the ground in the middle of the sandy Thunderclan camp.

      If Emberkit has the gall to tell me “But did ya die?” I’m just going to give him a deadpan “yes”, because if he could slow down the descent he also could’ve cushioned the fall.

      “Swiftpaw! Are you ok? That seemed like a rough landing.”

Swiftpaw turns his head to see Thunder getting up from his spot floating above the Highrock and gives him a look of concern.

      “I could be worse, how’s watching Thunderclan live?”

      “Come up here and see for yourself!”

Thunder motions for Swiftpaw to walk over to his spot, and when he reaches there he raises his forearm to gesture to the entire camp. The Redtail just sent out the Dawn patrol, most everyone else is asleep.

      “Is it just me or does Redtail look incredibly tired?”

      “No it’s not just you, but it makes sense. He did have one eventful night after all.”

      “Wait, what happened to him?”

      “Got his patrol interrupted by memories of the future, got bombarded by questions by everyone especially his sister, tried to figure out who else is in the same boat, discussed strategy to deal with the Dark Forest, plus it’s hard to wake up early in general.”

      “Oh yeah I still have a hard time imagining myself waking up early.”

      “Heh, No one in Starclan does...except for Maybe Gray Wing or Storm.”

      “Or Emberkit”

      “Oh how’d you know?”

      “He just gives off that wake up at 6 am every morning vibe”

      “Oh Most Definitely, He and Morning Whisker are cut from the same cloth, speaking of little gremlins waking up I think you’re about to wake up.”

      “Excuse me what?”

      “Come on, you can’t lie to me, that little guy’s named Swiftkit, he’s totally past you”

      “Oh, Oh yea”

      Haha for a moment there I thought he was gonna pull a “it was all a dream” prank on me

      “You were one troublesome kit y'know that?”

      “I mean...who wasn’t?”

      “Fair, but not all kits lie about having seen a prophecy of fire.”

      “What?”

      “OH yes, to add on to the already impressive roster of Chosen Thunderclan Cats, Swiftkit proclaimed that he definitely was involved with this group of future cats by saying he saw the same prophecy Redtail did, which in it of itself was a lie to cover up for the fact that he has future knowledge or whatever”

      “Yeash I guess I really was one rambunctious kit”

Thunder laughed heartily before going silent, seeming to ponder something before speaking up.

      “I mean, you don’t necessarily have to be.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “After seeing 7 cats in Thunderclan be infused with knowledge of the future, it’s pretty clear that you were supposed to be one of them. From what I can tell, there’s nothing physically preventing you from fusing with your past self and living life again.”

      “But...don’t you guys need me for exclusive lore on the elementals?”

      “Eh, you’ll die eventually, we'll miss you and be impatient, but it's not like you’ll be lost to us forever when you return to the living.”

      “But I don’t know if I can get acclimated to the living world again, I’ve been so used to Starclan’s luxuries and technological inventory.”

      “Yes and the paperwork too.”

Swiftpaw groans as Thunder continues

      “Coming back to life is an opportunity almost no one ever gets, your time in Starclan is potentially infinite, life is finite. It’s very clear you’re trying to find a reason to not do it, and this is most definitely not it.”

      “Well uh…”

      “It’s ok I won’t pry, but if you’re concerned about complications fusing two souls, don’t worry. Swiftkit’s memories haven’t deviated too much from your own to cause a noticeable fusing issue.”

      “But his consciousness would disappear wouldn’t it?”

      “Over time the two will become indistinguishable”

      “And more than that, he deserves his own life, free from the struggles of a stressed leader and the mangling of a dog. He doesn’t deserve to have the memory of death thrusted upon him, he deserves to make his own experiences. And even if I still want my life, I don’t want to leave without you and my old new home.”

Thunder is surprised but smiles at Swiftpaw’s response

      “That’s very Noble of you, and quite flattering to hear that you’d chosen me over life.”

      “Oh shush, I just want to see what Starclan was like before I entered. That was just a Freudian slip, you know what that means right?”

      “I’m very Brash Swiftpaw, and I’ve done many embarrassing things because of that. Of course I know what a Freudian slip is. Which is why you ought to take me and Violet Dawn to dinner first ;3”

      I know he’s the founder of Thunderclan, but never before have I wanted to claw at someone’s ear so hard. Oh no I’m becoming Emberkit.

While Swiftpaw’s face is turning red, Thunder’s tone reverts back to sincere

      “But I really do mean it when I say I’m quite proud of your decision and the reasoning accompanying it. You have the heart of a true warrior.”

That didn’t stop or slow the red spreading from Swiftpaw’s face

      “Heart of a true warrior? You can’t really mean that. Hell I’m surprised you even remember the saying”

      “Of course I do! You’ve been very thoughtful and considerate even at the prospect of doing something all your other peers have. Not many can say they’ve done that, you’re more than worthy of sappy praise.”

      “Wow uh, thanks.”

Swiftpaw and Thunder sit together in silence, watching the dawn patrol return and Redtail assigning a few hunting patrols.

      “Y'know I’m surprised no one else is here watching over Thunderclan, I thought the stars coming down from the fire in the sky was a big deal.”

      “Oh yeah you guys are, but most of Starclan just uses Scrying pools to watch over their loved ones, it’s much easier than coming down to the material plane. Most of the time when we do, it’s usually to explore lands outside of the clans like the mountains or suburbs, or on this day in particular: Camp out for the latest Rick Riordan book, The Sword of Summer is actually supposed to come out tomorrow.”

      “Wait...does that mean all the interested Starclan cats are just scrying us?”

      “Yup, welcome to the limelight, goodbye privacy. Don’t worry though, most people usually have better things to do. What with the boundless amount of world to discover outside.”

      “Have you had to deal with scrying stalkers?”

      “I don’t have to deal with it as much anymore but it comes up every now and again.”

      “Yeash I hope my fame blows over, at least by the time we take care of the Dark Forest.”

      “Yeah don’t worry, it’s really hard for us to be starstruck for too long.”

It’s at this point the apprentices start waking up and joining their mentors for some hunting training.

      “Alright so I got a quick headcount of the Nursery, the warriors, and now the apprentices, if the Elders den are as I expect it, everything will be about as I remembered.”

      “Who were the elders back then?”

      “I definitely remember Patchpelt and One-eye because he’s my dad and I remember thinking her scars were cool. Halftail was probably brought up when talking about changing Brightheart’s name, I think I’m still forgetting some others though.”

      “I suppose we can’t reliably tell if there’s any big differences between your time and ours without corroborating with the other 9.”

      “Yeah.”

After checking the Elders' den to find the aforementioned Dappletail, and Smallear, Swiftpaw walks out into the clearing and notices Spottedleaf.

      “Oh hi Spottedleaf how’s it….going?”

      YOU IDIOT! SHE CAN’T SEE YOU, SHE’S NOT DEAD ANYMORE. 

      She’s gone for good

      “Were you expecting her to be able to see you?”

      “No, it’s just. I’ve spent most of my time knowing her as a resident of Starclan rather than as a living cat. Now she’s right there, but it’s not really her because...because”

A few unexpected tears start forming at his eyes

      “I didn’t even know her that well but I always thought she’d stick around. She was so lively, she wasn’t going to dissipate for years to come.  Maybe even Decades of time with her loved ones, I...I don’t want anyone to leave before their time.”

Thunder lowers his head in respect and then tries to look Swiftpaw in the eyes.

      “I might not know exactly what you’re going through, but I know what it’s like to lose people you expected would be with you forever.”

      “Yeah I, I could imagine.”

      “Plus, you’re actually in a really great position to help things change for the better, you’ve got both the information to make confident decisions to prevent future hardships, and you’ve got the attention and friends to act on it. With all that going for you, it’s only a matter of time before you’re zipping around guiding various cats towards a lasting peace with actual concrete advice.”

      “Really? I’ve barely just filed for Starclan registration, do you really think I can break through the meandering back and forth of the Congress of Divine Messages?”

      “Of course you can! You’ve got the eyes of almost all of Starclan on you. Plus when you’ve got cool friends like me, you’ll see that you can actually whip the bickering cats into a course of action with enough determination. And if you can keep a secret…”

Thunder takes a look around before lowering his voice to a hushed whisper

      “Hell, you don’t even need my help or anyone’s permission to visit Firestar’s dreams, you just need to wait a day because uh I already called dibs.”

Swiftpaw snorts

      “Ah of course, how could i forget, the Firestar Bidding wars, if it’s not Spottedleaf, someone else would always reserve exuberant amounts of time with his headspace, Yellowfang, Bluestar, and now you.”

      “Aww, well hopefully it won’t happen again if no one else stumbles onto him, though that’s just wishful thinking. Also, I just reserved his headspace for a day, I wouldn’t call that exuberant.”

      “Oh yes, you haven’t seen anything resembling exuberance yet…”

Swiftpaw watches Spottedleaf go out to gather herbs

      “...and hopefully you won’t ever have to.”

Swiftpaw then bounds upward into the sky, thinking of checking up on the other clans while he’s waiting to hear back from Emberkit.

      “Oh yea, Thunder do you have any magic like Emberkit and uh Storm? He launched me with an earth pillar and it was actually surprisingly effective.”

      “Nah I don’t have the open access to magic like he and the rest of the OG Star Squad do, I’m a Founder, I’ve got political power, aaaaand….”

Thunder pulls out a giant trampoline from his pocket

      “...a lot of resourcefulness.”

      Starclan Almighty, that trampoline is bigger than Life Sized! 

      “Oh thanks, I know I could probably just run but this’ll be way more fun!”

And Swiftpaw hopes on, over and over before he can confidently glide down towards Riverclan

      “I’ll see you later when you get into Starclan proper!”

      “BYE!”

Gliding above the Forest tree tops and then over streams of bright blue river water Swiftpaw hears someone call out.

      “Swiftpaw is that you!?”

He looks down and sees Brambleberry calling from the ground floor of Riverclan

      “Yeah!”

      “What’re you doing up there?”

      “Checking out how the Clans are doing, what about you!”

      “Something along the same lines! Come on down!”

Swiftpaw drops down to earth

      “What’re you doing outside of Starclan? I Know I’m not allowed there yet, but you could watch everyone from the scrying pools”

      “Eh, I’ve been having a really hard time working with Starclan’s built-in divining tools, and I didn’t want to get too sucked into the internet up there, and Besides…”

Brambleberry pulls out what looks to be a clear sheet of...Laminated paper?

      “...I find hands-on investigations to be much more effective.”

Swiftpaw stops and cocks his head at the sight of the unknown thing Brambleberry pulled out

      “What is that?”

      “Oh this?”

Brambleberry shows it off proudly.

      “This is my very own, custom-made fateline-reader!”

      “What? I thought only the league of Diviners use standardized divining tools to prevent GUI confusion”

      “Oh I have that too, but in my spare time I use my own personalized piece of pie, BEHOLD my MAgnum Opus in Action!”

Brambleberry lays the sheet above a Silverstream deep-in-thought. Slowly, little lines and dots start forming on it, painting a chart very reminiscent of the Zero Time Dilemma Timeline nodes.

      “O ho hoh ooooo, these trends aren’t too uncommon, but you’ve got your own unusual imprint on fate don’t you?”

The chart starts off with one thick straight line that splits into two when it hits a circle, and each of those split lines split again when it hits the next circle about the same time, though unlike most timeline diagrams he’s used to seeing, some split lines actually converge into existing lines, while others seem to end abruptly.

      “Hey uh, you don’t have to explain fatelines to me, but I’m kinda lost on what exactly the details of the chart results imply.”

      “Well the full extent of the information will be revealed after i take these imprints to be interpreted and maybe shown on some kind of medium or monitor, but these imprints alone give an overview of their potential paths. Normally the lines diverge consistently, treating all choices as equally prone to being seen as opposed to being darkened and clouded as some timelines inevitably end up being. However it seems All of the cats with fallen fire stars break the conventional mold of the average warrior’s timeline chart, some even are full-on anomalies.” 

      “How so?”

      “The average warrior’s fate lines tend to be unreliable, shifting slightly all the time and with the majority of it in the dark or at least with limited clarity. As you can see the lines are fading in opacity on the imprint, showing that some readings are increasing or decreasing. Though in Silverstream’s case, it appears she has a few unflinchingly clear fate lines that converge into each other, the shape of a large scale schemer with Xanatos Gambits, but with the accuracy of Batman Gambits.”

      “Brambleberry I haven’t been on tv tropes since I binged the MLP FiM page, you’re gonna need to explain what those are.”

      “It means she has backup plans for her backup plans, and that she knows what everyone is likely to do.”

      “Oh yea well, of course she does, knowing the future and all.”

      “Ok Sure I could’ve posited that too but it’s still really cool to see it confirmed by my own paws, besides she’s not the weirdest one.”

      “Oh? Which one is?”

      “Ok let me pull it out. While the Average Destined Leader tends to have Much clearer unchanging Fate Lines but also the Most Obfuscated Darkened ones…”

Brambleberry pulls out another sheet of laminated paper-esque material.

      “...Firestar takes it to the logical extreme.”

The Chart has a Single opaque bending line on it, all other diverging lines are completely transparent.

      “You...Might want to reconsider the validity of fate lines...again if things like that can happen”

      “Oh of course I know fate lines are incredibly unreliable and rarely an accurate indicator of what will actually play out. If we collectively believed in them, Thunder would’ve been vindicated moons ago when he was checking out the suburbs and found Rusty. But it’s a fun challenge to try and pick apart what causes the whims of fate to be ever changing outside of unusual exceptions like this where it’s incredibly ridgid.”

      “Oh so like analyzing the stock market.”

      “Pshhh, please like this is anywhere near as definable or computable as the stock market. Think you could plot a time series chart and ARIMA model of literal fate? Nah, though I suppose it might be a fun thing to try. Though watching that work would be like going from a psychedelic piece of art to an A.I. generated piece of fiction.”

      “Like the Portrait of What Looked Like a Pile of Ash?”

      Also... ARIMA model? Time series Chart? Either I’ve been horribly slacking on my readings or she’s a huge math nerd.

      “Yeah exactly.”

      “Well I’d Love to get together and check something like that. And it just sounds like a great excuse to call up your friends and loved ones”

Brambleberry for some reason appears a bit wistful at that prospect.

      “Wow really? Huh, I dunno, not many of my old friends and family are interested in data science. I mean I don’t hold it against them, they just haven’t had the chance to check it out yet.”

      “Yeah I know how that is. I mean even with ample time to try out various classes or sit in on readings in the outskirts of the suburbs, we can all still feel like we’re missing a massive chunk of the world.”

      “Yep, You’re right, no point in worrying about them now, they’ll come around soon. I guess in the meantime I probably should’ve made a few friends that weren’t only interested in speaking about our mutual interests once or twice before collectively forgetting we ever talked.”

      “Oh yea that’s a mood.”

      “It’s almost as if feeling lonely even when you’re surrounded by others who have a potentially significant degree of care for you is a common thing.”

      “Isn’t the colloquial phrase a bit less verbose than that?”

      “Yes but I like being a bit more descriptive and specific.”

      Yep

      …

      ...I was supposed to be doing something

      “Oh! Speaking of descriptive and specific, I still wanna check if everyone from this time is still the same as I remember.”

      “Oh sure I could give you a run down of the Clan. Crookedstar and Oakheart are leader and deputy respectively, they’re also Brothers with a tumultuous past. Mudfur is the medicine cat and actually my apprentice. The warriors are-”

      “Wait wait wait, Excuse me, Mudfur is your APPRENTICE? How long have you been in Starclan? A year? 2 years at MOST?”

      “Oh I thought you already knew that. Yeah I died and entered Starclan almost 2 years ago, what’s the big deal?”

      “The Big Deal is that you somehow learned a variety of cultural and engineering concepts and gained a casual vocabulary of the average Starclan resident in only 2 years and Presumably without special help from the Premature Death Compensation Organization. Most Cats take at least 4 years before they get to...i dunno mathematical concepts I don’t even recognize.”

      “It’s not THAT impressive, I just discovered Starclan’s divining system and started studying and researching everything tangentially related after I got a bit obsessed with it. It’s not like we need to eat or sleep to keep going, just a lot of will.”

      Oh...hmm no wait that’s still impressive just less bewildering

      “Alright ok, I just didn’t expect you to go full 24/7 studying mode when you first entered Starclan, most people take their time to relax with loved ones before they start exploring and even then they don’t go on a manic consumption of content without getting stopped.”

      “Well of Course I spent time with my loved ones when  I first got here, I was just distracted after a bit and uh Never returned outside of maybe visiting once a week for game night. Plus I still take care of myself, I just pull-all nighters when it’s convenient.”

      “Ok ok you’re surprisingly quick education aside, I should let you continue telling me about the current Riverclan.”

      “Ah yes, Current Riverclan coming up, next stop the warriors: Blackclaw is mentoring Heavypaw…”

      Heavystep

      “...Stonefur is mentoring Shadepaw…”

      Shadepelt

      “... Silverstream recently got her warrior name with Loudbelly...”

      Yeah that tracks

      “..and Whiteclaw doesn’t have an apprentice.”

      Hopefully he’ll get the chance this time around.

      “...then there’s Leopardfur over there…”

      Mmmm Leopardstar, we better make better decisions lest we repeat the same mistakes

      “Mistyfoot’s also a warrior though she’s currently spending a lot of time helping Mosspelt out in the nursery.”

      “Uh huh”

      “Graypool is her...foster mother and soon to be the only elder in Riverclan.”

      “Yeah don’t worry I already knew that.”

      “Yeah I know you probably knew or would eventually find out but it’s still weird to go from living in a place where there are stringent rules on who can or can’t have kids to go to a paradise where none of that matters so long as it’s healthy.”

      Yeah moving out of that conditioning takes a while.

      “That’s true, and uhhh. Thanks for telling me everything, it’s mostly as I remembered.”

      “Oh? What’s different?”

      “I’m not really sure if this is a change but I feel like Silverstream had a foster mother? Because I remember she told me Willowbreeze died at her birth which meant she had a Foster mom who was almost as overprotective as her dad.”

      “You mean Sunfish? Oh she died a few moons ago”

      “....oh, well maybe she can come visit Silverstream some time.”

      “Swiftpaw! Don’t be such a fox-heart!”

      What’d I Say!?? Swiftpaw thought incredulously

      “You shouldn’t give her false hope and make her think she can visit a non-medicine cat.”

      “I know the bureaucracy and due process of the thing makes it feel impossible at times but it’s not like it can’t happen.”

      “What are you talking about? Everyone knows that outside of the Moonstone or medicine cats, no one is allowed to visit anyone at all.”

      “But what about appealing to the 3 high councils?”

      “You know that you need unanimous voting, and after Skyclan left, we’ve been in a deadlock in terms of the Founders and Original Medicine Cats. The Star Champions are almost nigh impossible to schedule a meeting with at once, it’d probably be faster to wait for Silverstream to enter Starclan than to try and lobby for a visit.”

      Oohhhhh right I forgot about how things were in here back when I first came

      “Well it’s a good thing that’s going to change.”

Brambleberry blinked

      “OH my GoSH IS SKYCLAN COMING BACK?”

      “Hopefully completely, but at Least enough to make Starclan a bit more flexible.”

      “C’mon you Gotta tell me how that goes”

Swiftpaw smirks

      “Only if you tell me how you got those Naruto Spoilers.”

      “Oh that’s easy, you just got to exploit the Fate-line viewing properties and watch the future timelines of kittypets. If the majority of them say a certain sequence of episodes happens, it’ll probably happen since they aren’t the show producers”

      “Wait we can do that?”

      “Of course we can! How else did you think Thunder came across Rusty?”

      “But wasn’t he unaware of-”

      “He’s just really good at avoiding spoilers, and who cares what he was doing with him, HOW DOES SKYCLAN COME BACK!”

      “Guess you haven’t produced Firestar’s fate-lines into viewable video huh?”

Brambleberry Gasps

      “Oh then I’ve got to see this immediately! It was already enticing with One singular full clarity line, but now I’m Super revved up!”

Brambleberry starts running off towards the Fourtrees

      “I’LL SEE YOU LATER!”

      “Ok , bye have a fun time watching that!”

      “I Will!”

She disappears into the clearing.

      ...ah wait I should’ve asked her if she had a giant trampoline or something.

      Oh well it’s not like it’s hard to get from place to place as a ghost.

Swiftpaw starts walking up into the air as if there were an invisible flight of stairs.

      Alright, let’s not get too sidetracked now, I gotta focus! 

Swiftpaw begins to move horizontally through the air before stopping and thinking.

      Wouldn’t it be better for me to check out the more distant suburbs that scrying is limited to rather than the clans? Yeah I should probably give Barley and….are Jake or Pinestar still alive? I never asked when they died. There’s even the alleyway cats that make up Bloodclan, mmm I’m not exactly in a position to judge given I haven’t lived on earth in a while, but it still unnerves me to see cats in such difficult circumstances that make Bloodclan seem appealing.

      AAaaaand I just remembered Windclan also has the Moonstone where I can beam back up to Starclan like the Fourtrees so maybe that should be the end point, I can just circle around the suburbs and farmland then into Shadowclan and then check into Windclan.

      But when Swiftpaw rushes towards the suburbs, he feels some sort of force pulling him back, exponentially increasing as he tries to push forward.

      What the hell is this! This was never here before.

Swiftpaw recalls Emberkit’s words

      “...someone like you who’s a Starclan resident by trial basis”

      Oh Come on! I’ve Been outside of the clan territories tons of times! 

      Ugh, they won’t let me in yet won’t let me explore or leave, this is so stupid.

      Whatever. I can still go visit Yellowfang or something, take a quick look at Brokenstar’s mess of a clan he’s got and then say hi to Windclan and the Moonstone.

Swiftpaw’s quest to gain a census of the Clans in-person to try and feel productive goes mostly uneventfully from then on.

There was a brief moment where Blossompaw seemed to be a bit distracted when he came near her.

      I remember you wanted to be a medicine cat, but there’s no way you have ghost sight, superpowers like that were only reserved for prophesied cats.

But otherwise Swiftpaw’s census of Shadowclan during Yellowfang’s lecture went by quickly.

      Already know about Brokenstar though I forgot that Volepaw was his apprentice, Blackfoot is deputy (eh I didn’t really get to know him), Runningnose, Stumpytail is mentoring Blossompaw, Flintfang is mentoring Badgerpaw(resident happy little martyr), Boulder is mentoring Wetpaw(Wetfoot, hmm I wonder how we’re gonna deal with Bloodclan and Tigerclaw), Clawface is mentoring Littlepaw(oh hey Littlecloud), Russetfur is mentoring Whitepaw(ah Whitethroat, You were traumatized, Best to stop that from happening this time around), Jaggedtooth is around (eh never liked him), Dawncloud and Brightflower are there (I honestly don’t remember those two at all), so are Tallpoppy, Darkflower, Ashfur(oh that’s an unfortunate name to share in the future), Nightpelt and Cinderfur(honestly they should’ve become Shadowclan’s new leader rather than Blackstar ...yknow if they survived)

      Alright, that’s everyone. Good luck Yellowfang, I’ll see you in...hmm. 

      If Thunder has dibs on Firestar tonight, I could probably wrangle Yellowfang into a dreamscape and talk to her about what we’re going to do, Short-term and Long-term.

Swiftpaw pulls his phone out of his Soul-pocket and texts Emberkit.

      Thank Starclan there’s still messaging support in Clan territory

      “Hey, can you get me a dreamscape appointment with Yellowfang?”

      Hopefully his number from the future is still the same in the past.

Emberkit fortunately responds quite quickly.

      “Oh yeah, that’s not a tall order, Yellowfang has surprisingly few dream requests even as a medicine cat. I’ll see if I can get your request fulfilled before sundown”

      Alright Yellowfang, if all goes well I’ll see you tonight.

Yellowfang doesn’t hear Swiftpaw, but that doesn’t put a damper on his mood as he climbs up the flight of air stairs to his next destination Windclan.

      Alright Windclan, this’ll probably be the easiest given I can see everything from the bird’s eye view. There’s Tallstar(Hopefully his unconditional trust of Firestar will make up for the fact that we don’t have a future friend in Windclan), Deadfoot (OH yea I remember he was really quick at picking up volleyball after he died), Mudclaw (eeeeeh, he’s gonna need something emotional or some guidance to push him out of his isolationist mindset.) who mentors Webpaw(foot, honestly I thought he was Wetpaw for a second), Onewhisker is mentoring Whitepaw(tail, ah jeez I better show him the cloudtail situation to prevent Darktail shenanigans), Tornear mentoring Runningpaw(brook), Morningflower and Ashfoot.

      Wait...that’s it? That’s 11 cats. They don’t even have any elders. Yeash

      It makes me want to vomit when I’m thinking this, but Brokenstar was actually accurate on how his clan is growing and has the largest amount of cats to feed while Windclan has the least. It’s still so surprising compared to how Thunderclan’s going to become massive in the future.

Swiftpaw starts bounding over the Thunderpath towards the Moonstone

      Man I’m so tired. I’ve been actually DOING things for the last two days non-stop. Oof, I’m really out of shape huh.

Swiftpaw enters the mouth of the cave

      Hopefully I can take a nap before having to discuss plans with Yellowfang.

      Swiftpaw’s form starts to light up as he touches the Moonstone, beaming him back into Starclan’s hunting grounds.

      Ah Home Sweet Home

Chapter Text

         “I , Crookedstar, leader of Riverclan, call upon my warrior ancestors today to look upon this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” 

He gazed down at the beloved of young cats in front of him. “Silverpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

         Not Quite

         “I’ll do what’s best for my clan” Silverstream replies, internally congratulating herself on her wordplay that conveys both her ideals and the fact that she could get away with that rewording of the tradition

Crookedstar is briefly stunned into silence before his expression turns into one of amusement.

         Though of course not everyone was as amused as dad, there are a few uncomfortable looks in the crowd. But everyone knows, even before I got my future memories and “guidance from Starclan”, that I’m too stubborn and hard-headed to back down from an argument over petty things like ceremony details.

         “The Spirit and Intention matters more than the details” has been my philosophy forever, and the last 2 days of having new memories hasn’t changed that.

         Waking up one day after reconciling past and future memories and possibly consciences in a dream was quite the unusual morning. The whole “facing yourself” dream sequence loses a lot of metaphorical weight when it may be possible I might’ve fused two instances of my soul into one.

         “Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior name: Silverpaw from this day forth you will be known as Silverstream. Starclan honors your righteousness and spirit, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Riverclan”

         Alright but enough speculating about weird dream implications, I have a Clan to impress and a World to save.

Crookedstar stepped forward and rested his muzzle on top of Silverstream’s bowed head. Silverstream licked Crookedstar’s shoulder respectfully before she turned and walked toward Loudbelly. She flashes her eyes proudly at her mentor as she settles down beside him in her new place with the warriors.

The voices of the Clan rose in tribute, sending clouds of misty breath into the night air. As one they chanted the new warrior names. “Silverstream! Silverstream! Silverstream!” 

         “In the tradition of our ancestors,” Crookedstar meowed, raising his voice above the crowd, 

         “Silverstream must sit in silent vigil until dawn, and guard the camp alone while we sleep. But before they begin their vigil, the Clan will share a meal. It has been a long day and as we commemorate a new warrior, we must also remember those we’ve lost in our valiant effort for the Sunningrocks. I know Sunfish was like a mother to you”

The Clan collectively held a moment of silence to respect Silverstream’s fallen adoptive mother and the countless cats lost over fighting for Sunningrocks.

         More than ever, It feels how weirdly empty Riverclan is, last I checked they had at least 15 warriors, now I’m barely the 8th. Hell, we didn’t have an elder for a while before Graypool announced her impending retirement. And I… I really would’ve liked to see Sunfish again in life, it would’ve been so fun to hear her try to read my mind, while I outdo her. UGH, these stupid notions of pride and territory have gotten so many cats killed and distracted them with fights when they could’ve been helping each other! In All of the generations they’ve never thought to call it neutral land? No? Of course not, that’d be too much foresight to expect from them. Because they have to listen to the AmAZING traditions set down by Starclan, who have SUCh a vested interest in preventing needless death. Especially since to them, it just means they get to enter paradise.

Crookedstar breaks the silence

         “May their sacrifices not be in vain, The Sunningrocks belongs to Riverclan!”

         “THE SUNNINGROCKS BELONG TO RIVERCLAN!” The Clan collectively shouted before lining up to serve pieces of fresh kill to everyone.

         One day they’ll actually follow through on that original mission statement, when Skyclan returns, but by then it’s too little too late. I may be one cat, but I’ve fantasized about what my life could’ve been and how it could’ve gone better, and I’m ready to do my part.

As Silverstream reinforces her resolve, her best friend and cousin Mistyfoot padds up to her, fish in tow.

         “I shouldn’t be surprised by now, but you manage to go above and beyond with how trout-brained you can be. Breaking tradition like that? You must be crazy to have pushed your luck on what could’ve been a shoe-in”

         Oh Mistyfoot, ye of little faith

         “I have to be crazy and willing to take risks, especially If I’m going to be an honest leader, they need to know who I really am”

Mistyfoot takes a moment to finish chewing her half of the fish before exclaiming

         “Wait Really? I thought you’re actually serious about that?”

         “Yeah I know what you think , that this is just one of the many things I want and I assume I’ll get it because I usually always get everything. But I know this is the one few things my dad can’t get for me, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking this through. I’ve got a plan of action, but it’s a long thing so it’ll have to wait until after my vigil.”

As Silverstream returns to finish her share of the fresh kill, Mistyfoot’s shocked face eventually reanimated into a warm gaze

         “Well I’ll be! Little Silver Dollar really has grown up to be a proud warrior.”

         OH My Goodness It’s been Forever since you’ve used that nickname 

         Silverstream didn’t put that much effort towards concealing her indignation before countering

         “Hey now, This little Silver Dollar can still knock you out.”

         “I’m sure you could.”

Mistyfoot throws a playful jab and a lick , both of Which Silverstream protests to

         “AUGHh you Just finished eating BLEFh, Alright alright I love you too!”

         “Hah Still got it.”

Silverstream rolls her eyes

         “Well if you’re done smothering me with your fish breath, I have to ask you something.”

         “Yeah what is it?”

         “Will you help me gather the support and approval of our Clanmates? I know just being popular won’t get me appointed deputy but it’s still a significant part of the nomination process.”

         “Did you need to ask? Of course the answer’s yes!”

         “Uh Really? Even if I can’t guarantee I’d make you my deputy?”

         “I’m certain, and I already know you’ve got that stubborn streak to be honest and do what you think is best. I could never expect you to promise me a position when there are many other more experienced warriors you could depend on. And even though by then I’ll probably be the best deputy candidate, I won’t be mad if you give someone else a chance because I’m your best friend. And I’d never stop trying to help you.”

         Oh Mistyfoot I’ve missed you

Silverstream nuzzles her affectionately

         “Thanks, you’re the best sister a warrior could ask for.”

         “Heh, what are you? Stonefur?”

         “Nah, I’m no one special, just your Best Friend Forever.”

Silverstream winks

         “Speaking of Stonefur, you should probably ask him and anyone else you think would support me to come meet me the evening after my vigil, I’d rather not look for them myself while I’m busy holding it or sleeping after it.”

         “Oh sure that’s easy.”

         “Thanks Mistyst-foot, G-good luck”

         Augh almost slipped up there

         “Yeah! You too! Don’t catch a cold during your vigil.”

Mistyfoot makes her way towards her brother who’s currently finishing a second carp.

         “I won’t!”

         Alright so Phase 1 is underway, I just have to endure the course and then find the right time to start up Phase 2. Luckily I have an entire night to review my plan and prepare myself for my first speech.

Heavypaw runs up to Silverstream to congratulate the new warrior, slowing down a bit as Shadepaw calls for him to slow down

         “Don’t let this ceremony get to your head, I’ll catch up to you soon enough!”

         “Jeez, finish eating before you come congratulate me you trout-brain”

         You’re not slick Heavypaw, you don’t have to be psychic to tell you genuinely care about those you proclaim to be ‘stepping stones towards your future greatness’.

         “Heh, you really think he’ll listen to you this time? The day Heavypaw listens to someone telling them how to eat is the day he joins Starclan.”

Heavypaw takes the time to finish up his fresh kill before responding

         “Of course! No one tells me how to eat or sleep but me. I’m only finishing this up because I wanted to eat before speaking to someone I respect. Which is you, you’re going to be a great warrior Silverstream...”

         Here comes his greatest merit, his pride being extended to those he cares for

         “...After all, as my Ultimate Rival, you’re destined to be almost as great as me.”

         Totally called it and ow, that’s a linguistic error if I ever heard one

         “It’s You and..”

         “ME FIGHTING TILL THE END…haha, RIGHT! Silverstream?”

Shadepaw is giving Silverstream a strained smile

         Oooohhh yea, forgot that Heavystep used to really hate my inability to not-correct him on things. It would’ve really killed the mood. Nice save Shadepaw.

         “Yup, our rivalry will be legendary, and you better believe I’ll be the first to congratulate you when you get your warrior name. It’ll be awesome and you’ll love it.”

Heavypaw smiled, appreciating shadepaw’s shift in conversation

         “I’d expect nothing less.”

The two walked back to the fresh kill pile chatting with their mentors before returning to the apprentice den early as they’ve become drowsy from the feast.

While they’re chatting, Crookedstar takes the chance to swoop into a conversation.

         “Silverstream! I never thought I’d see the day you become a warrior.”

Oakheart quickly jumps in between him and Silverstream

         “Hey now, don’t think you can go congratulate Silverstream without me! If I take my eyes off you for one second you’d smother her with love.”

         Oakheart, I’ve seriously missed your support in life.

         “Well I can’t help it, you’ll always be my little Silver lining to me.”

         BLarugh , two or three licks is more than enough to groom me, it’s not like I even left camp!

         “Like Oakheart said, I’m a warrior now. I can handle myself, it’s not like I’ll get hurt the moment you take your eyes off me or stop grooming me every waking moment.”

         I’d really hate to prove your fears right again... it’s not like I have a prophecy of doom like Bluestar and Flametail did...just a history of maternal mortality. And that Promise you made with Mapleshade that ‘cursed everyone you loved’ doesn’t count, you loved Stormfur and he was fine and had kids of his own. 

         “Even if my trout-brained brother here is being overprotective, you know he’s doing it out of a place of love. I was there when you were a little kit too, I can only imagine how fast time must’ve felt, seeing you grow up into a warrior already.”

         “I’m right here Oakheart.”

         “Sorry, I was busy pretending to be in a world where you weren’t almost choking your only daughter”

         Daaaamn shots fired

         “....ok I can take a hint, C’mon if you’re so eager to rip me away from her then you must be raring to plan the next few hunting and border patrols.”

         “Aaaah well I didn’t mean that.”

         “Be careful what you wish for.” Crookedstar playfully mewed before making his way back to his den.

         “Yeah, yeah don’t worry I’ll meet you there.”

         “Don’t worry Oakheart, if you ever get too tired to handle your duties I could always take over for you.”

Oakheart rolled his eyes amused by the prospect

         “Hey now Silverstream I know you’re eager to take my position from under me, but I’ve still got many moons ahead of me. You haven’t even had an apprentice, so you better be ready to wait a long time before you’d ever get the chance to take over...”

         Well...as morbid as this thought is...dad’s not going to feasibly live much longer, it’s only a matter of moons the stress of being a leader and old age will take his last few lives.

         “...and besides, I wanted to be a deputy, I’d be remiss to slack off while your father still needs me. Including right now.”

Oakheart makes his way to the leader’s den

         “Have a nice vigil!”

         “Thanks! I Will!”

After Oakheart disappears Silverstream returns to her own thoughts

         He’s right about having time though, by the time Crookedstar is called to Starclan….well we were there to greet him. But also by then Dawnflower was an apprentice, I can go through the minimum requirement for the position and in the meantime, I-

         “Silverstream, what's with the serious face?”

Loudbelly’s query called Silverstream to attention

         “You’re not worried about Graypool not getting fresh-kill first are you? She’s not an elder yet even if she acts like one.” Loudbelly teased as he points to Graypool turning in from the feast early

         “Oh no of course not, I already knew that.”

         Speaking of which, I Should probably meet up with Graypool before my vigil to-

         “Then why do you look like a badger’s about to come crashing into camp? It’s your warrior ceremony for Starclan’s sake! I know you like to break tradition but I thought you liked to enjoy yourself.”

         “Well if you really must know I just had a skirmish with my father again.”

         “Oh what happened?”

         “Nothing out of the ordinary, I was about to get to the part where Oakheart intervened, got reminded of work, complained about it, and told me that I shouldn’t concern myself with helping him with it since I’m so young I haven’t even had an apprentice yet. So I started thinking about how can I best mentor an apprentice and also prove that I’d be a good mentor”

         “Well why didn’t you lead with that last part?”

         “Because I like recounting the details.”

         “Really? You didn’t really before”

         Oh, right obsessing over details in my life isn’t exactly something I did... in life

         “Well back then I was just really focused on becoming a warrior, now that I am, I must be really enjoying myself.”

         “Then I guess you enjoy yourself in the weirdest ways, thinking about getting an apprentice and then talking more than you have to to your old mentor. If you wanted some advice you could’ve just asked.”

         “Pff, Why would I ask for your advice on mentoring? You’ve just finished mentoring me.”

         “And Look how well you’ve turned out.” Loudbelly responded Cheekily

         “What I meant was that I already learned what you do by being on the receiving end of your instructions.”

         “True enough. I suppose all that’s left for me to give is a Congratulations. I know you’ve always held yourself to a high standard even if others couldn’t see it. Because it was your standards and you’d stick to them no matter what. And it’s that reason why I’ve never doubted that you’d one day join us in the warriors den.”

         “Oh… uh Thanks Loudbelly. Joking aside, I always thought you were a good mentor too. And I’ve always appreciated how you didn’t chastise me for following my heart.”

         “Of course, you’d never stop talking about why you’d do every little thing if I did.”

         Dammit Loudbelly!

Loudbelly laughs, “I’m glad to see our banter won’t disappear completely even as you’ve grown into a warrior”

         “Yeah! What would our relationship be without our witty back and forth? Absolutely nothing”

         “Yup, we’ve got nothing else to it.”

The two laugh wholeheartedly , Loudbelly reverberating throughout camp while Silverstream’s voice cuts through at a distinct frequency above it. The duet of laughter spreads throughout Riverclan, and many of those who haven’t had the chance to Congratulate Silverstream start approaching her, resolving to not procrastinate on the bare minimum formality.

         “Alright I think I’ve had my fill of festivities with you, It’s time for me to pass you along to the many other congratulations you’ll have to sit through.”

         “Yeah, though they’ll have a tough time topping yours, my family’s and my best friends”

         “Goes without saying that with me, your warrior ceremony has peaked.”

         “If you mean the peak of volume.”

Loudbelly almost chokes on that one

         “Fair enough. I’ll concede the last laugh to you.”

And as Loudbelly padded away, the small crowd that they’ve gathered starts pouring in.

Mudfur is first to give his obligatory congratulations.

         “May Starclan light your path.”

         A part of me is still surprised that Starclan hasn’t sent Mudfur a message about me and presumably Spottedleaf and Redtail coming from the future. Though I really shouldn’t be surprised, even when Starclan can actually agree on a course of action, rarely do they give helpful messages.

Silverstream bows her head in respect to her medicine cat

         “And yours too.”

As Mudfur moves away to make way for the crowd, Blackclaw and Whiteclaw both try to get their congratulations in before the other

         “Hey Silverstream Congratulations on becoming a warri-”

         “Congrats on being a warrior! Hah, I win!”

         “It’s nice to see you too Whiteclaw and Blackclaw. When Heavypaw enters the warrior den I’m sure the camp will be twice as competitive”

         “Oh I can’t wait for Heavypaw to join us, and after facing off you and Whiteclaw for a moon I’ll be prepared for a counterattack.”

         “Pssh, please. Heavypaw and you would be so reckless together I bet you’d be put on apprentice duty in the first patrol you two go on together. Silverstream and I are super careful, we won’t trip up on anything you throw at us.”

         Yeah, you’ll only trip over a gorge...ah that was definitely too soon

         “Hey, I can be reckless too, I just think things through most of the time.”

         “Right, and that makes you the most reckless cat in all of Riverclan.”

Silverstream dramatically huffs

         “Well Blackclaw, I guess it’s your vigil when you don’t see my amazing potential to be spontaneous coming.”

         “I’m so scared, so very scared that I’m shaking.” Blackclaw says in a monotone voice, still unconvinced.

         “Besides, it’s YOUR vigil tonight.”

         Dude...I love puns but even you’ve got to admit that was incredibly basic

         “Aaaanyways, Blackclaw I think it’s time to move, I think most of the crowd let us go first since they didn’t expect us to take long. Have a nice Vigil Silverstream.”

         “Thank you Whiteclaw. I’ll see you both in the warrior den.”

The duo scamper off, somehow immediately getting themselves into a race despite just having Eaten.

         I’m incredibly tempted to start quoting ‘Thank You, Next’, but I’d probably get weird looks since it’s rude out of context.

         Oh Speaking of rude, here comes Leopardfur

         “It is always a good day when Riverclan names a new warrior. Especially one as popular as you.”

         Well it’s not That Impressive, it’s not like there’s that many people in Riverclan at the moment

         “You should be proud, and do your best to live up to your father’s legacy of service and loyalty to his clan and the warrior code. Goodnight and Goodluck on the Vigil.”

Leopardfur moves past her as her brief congratulations comes to a close.

         Yeash, Leopardfur, even around me you can be so uptight sometimes. 

Though Silverstream’s a bit overwhelmed by the revolving door of back-to-back conversations, she’s glad to see the last of the crowd leaves only Stonefur and Mosspelt.

         Ah yes...the mutuals

         “Congratulations on the warrior name, Silverstream.”

         “Yeah Congratulations, you’ve even managed to make the naming ceremony a slightly bothersome event. I didn’t even think it was possible.” Mosspelt replied wryly 

         “Oh, I thought you’d know by now to expect me to make a point about every little thing.”

         “It’s called complaining, learn to be annoyed by it.”

         “Never”

The two cats stare each other down before breaking into some snickering.

Quickly, Stonefur redirects the conversation.

         “Now that our obligatory congrats were given, we wanted to ask you about that meeting Mistyfoot mentioned.”

         “Oh sure what were you wondering?”

         “Sis mentioned that the meeting was going to be about garnering approval of everyone in Riverclan.”

         “Yeah? And?”

Mosspelt interjects

         “Why do you need to campaign for the position? Everyone already loves you.”

         “Yeah, but I don’t need to be loved to be Leader. I need people to know I’m capable and respect my decision making to become a leader.”

         “Then Why are we brainstorming ways to appeal to our Clanmates?”

         “Well that’s a great question Stonefur, turns out saying Garnering appeal was a bit too vague, the focus of our discussion is probably going to be on me showing off my skills in many different ways, since everyone cares about different things.”

         “Ah”

Stonefur smiles, looking satisfied with that answer

         “Then I’ll see you the evening after your vigil”

         “Same here, though I still think you’re a shoe-in for future leadership. You want it really badly , you work well with people, and you’re very smart.”

         “Aw, thanks”

         “Which is why I probably won’t do much to actively help you”

         “Alright Mosspelt I suppose my first act as leader will be to change your name to Mossbed, for your inaction”

         “Oh noooo, have mercy. See that snark, right there? Proves my point, you get along with almost everyone, you’ll be fine.”

         “Well it’s nice to hear your reassurances in your own way.”

         “Of course I’ve got my own way of reassuring people, it’s the Best way to reassure people, Repeatedly.”

Stonefur yawns

         “I’m going to go the way of the Mossbed and go to sleep.”

         “I’ll claw your ear off next time you say ‘Mossbed’.”

         “Moss-”

         “Alright, you two sleep tight, don’t let the name-calling keep you up all night.”

Mosspelt gets the last word

         “No promises.”

By then the sun was already about to set in the horizon, and Silverstream’s silent vigil would soon begin.

         Ah, heck that revolving door of conversations left me with no time to practice cold-reading with Graypool. Oh well, at least I still have time to myself and my thoughts to review my plans.

         I do now that I want to reinforce my reputation as someone who’s clever and capable even without the “guidance of Starclan” before it becomes obvious that time travelers are a thing. I might even be a bit proactive and complain to Mudfur about unusual dreams and how I may feel a bit insecure about being assisted rather than being known for my own merits.

         So that’s Phase 1 and 2, set in stone for the most part because I Know this early step is unequivocally good for myself in the long run. Especially since there’s no incriminating expectation that comes from being clever or connected to Starclan because those are technically true, but I’m still unclear how to go through with things from there.

         I’ve got many plans and backup plans, but they’re all in service of a few goals

         Educate the cats on some history and the ultimate purpose of Starclan...in the meantime  I’d really want to be in the leader position in the long run because by then the skepticism would be intense and being leader is probably the best guarantee for being respected no matter how radical the ideas may sound. Which honestly is an awful part of the warrior code, but hey in that case: if I suggest that rule be repealed first, everyone will have to admit that it’s capable of amendments and isn’t set in stone.

         I don’t know if there’s anyone in Starclan who’d actually be willing to take the time to tell the truth about the history and their subsequent lack of effort towards a certain part of their original purpose. Though maybe Yellowfang or Spottedleaf might’ve come back and be willing to reveal the information in a moonstone meeting.

         It’d be hard to reach either of them….at least until the Gathering, at that point it’ll probably be much more clearer who’s from the future outside of Yellowfang and Redtail.

         Once cats are educated, the next step is for everyone to take the time to debate ethics and the code on it’s own terms in the new context. At that point the main thing I’d need is to garner support from ALL the clans...and maybe let them know about Skyclan.

         Ok but to get support, that leads me to wonder whether or not we should face off against Bloodclan. I know the point of the system and the crux of my argument is to avoid needless death, but I think I can make it ultimately more of a political show than anything. The bloodclan battle will only introduce the IDEA of a threat, but once we depose Scourge, the body count will be minimized. I bet it’d be less than a divided Clan society would rack up through a few years of conflict. Also they’re all going to go to Starclan anyway, may as well go out in a blaze of glory. 

         Although, it’s dangerous to dismiss death, especially when my entire point is that preventing death is more important than certain ideals of loyalty or pride. It’s no excuse just because the Clans glorify death in battle, and have a paradise of an afterlife, doesn’t mean I should be so blase about it.

Silverstream’s line of thought stops there and she tries but struggles to start another one up again.

         AUGh, all this thinking is getting tiring. And I’m supposed to be saving my mental stamina for an all-nighter vigil guard, not for my own planning session.

         What did I even do last time?

Silverstream takes a few moments to try and recall what is only a distant memory to her.

         Oh...yeah I tried to see how many times I could sneak a dip into the river without getting caught. Everytime I did it I felt worse and worse because it wasn’t exactly the best thing to do on principle...but the guilt, cold and tension DID help me stay up and alert.

         Uhh but I’m not doing that, this vigil is still a high risk time to be showing off ….so I guess I’ll just come up with things to do on the fly. I heard Squirrelpaw tried climbing over all the dens in camp, I think I can handle a little parkour if I’m feeling drowsy.

Silverstream’s vigil came and went like any other vigil, leaving the new warrior incredibly tired from both the praise, responsibility and lack of sleep.

Seeing the rising sun gave Silverstream a mental relief before suddenly feeling the mounting fatigue lay on top of her as she relaxed.

The last few moments where she’s not technically required to stand guard but probably should, just to be consummate, is the hardest part. As her mind has already shifted the goal to getting to bed, Silverstream grits her teeth and tries to stiffen up her muscles one last time, to stave off the exhaustion and collapse.

Which is why she almost tumbles and trips when she’s explicitly relieved of her vigil by Crookedstar and tries not to rush too quickly to the warrior den as she almost leaps into bed.

         FINALLY I CAN Sleeeeeep. 

The amused but understanding looks of the Dawn patrol fade out of view as Silverstream eases herself into the bedding.

It only takes about 10 minutes for Silverstream to actually fall asleep

Chapter Text

It’s the dead of night in the Thunderclan camp, everyone’s fast asleep after the excitement of a new clan mate and battle dies down. Everyone except for a select 6 cats meeting together to discuss the future.

The subsequent afternoon will also have a congregation of cats but they’re situated high above them in both altitude and planar shift.

That evening a certain shadowclan medicine cat will also have her own confrontation with the future with some cats high above.

While speaking in the same timeframe as a Popular new Riverclan Warrior.

***In Thunderclan***

     “Where else? With the Dark Forest. And by extension, Brokenstar”

Runningwind is the first to respond to Bluestar’s lead

     “Brokenstar is as good a place as any to start, but I have to check... We don’t have any eavesdroppers nearby do we?”

Feelings of concern grow within the warriors within the leader’s den, especially within Firestar. 

     “Oh yeah we don’t want anyone to hear us and misunderstand something we say” Brindleface affirms

Though that doesn’t do much to alleviate Firestar’s fears.

     “Or worse...Tigerclaw hears and understands completely” he comments

     “We could rotate a watch. I’d be willing to take the first watch.”

     “Good idea Lionheart, you go do that.”

     “Alright Bluestar, let me know when we get to the Tigerclaw topic.”

With Lionheart on lookout duty, Firestar calms down a bit and everyone turns their attention back on topic.

     “Now that immediate concern is settled, let’s talk Brokenstar. Runningwind would you like to give the summary?”

     “Really Bluestar? You sure that’s a good idea without Firestar being acclimated?”

     “It should be fine as long as you abridge it enough, he was present for the events anyway, this is just to recap.”

     “Wait, why would it be a bad idea for Runningwind to summarize?”

Brindleface gives a cheeky look

     “Just wait and you’ll see.”

Runningwind takes a deep breath and starts speaking with the speed of an auctioneer

     “Here are some of the pertinent facts of the Brokenstar situation:

     -He was raised with bad coping mechanisms and an unloving community

     -Is apprenticing kits before the age of 6 moons and sending them to battle

     -Doesn’t respect any aspect of Clan life outside of fighting skills.

     -Yellowfang is his biological mother, and her future self was previously responsible for his death and soul-death.

     Now how can we rectify these issues to Save souls and lives in the long run? Personally I believe that Brokenstar is a risk to our lives and our future reputation in the long-run if he isn’t killed, but saving his soul would be the right thing to do. However, when discussing the methodology and details of saving his soul without damning ourselves and Shadowclan, we should probably get Yellowfang’s opinion as she’s both physically and emotionally at the center of this situation.”

After Runningwind finishes his summary, Redtail whistles his casual demeanor contrasting the heavy topic of discussion

     "wow under 200 words per minute, you must be getting rusty Runningwind

Runningwind gives him an unimpressed look

     "We just talked about not overdoing it to someone who’s not used to the same information Intake. Besides, I could still rap circles around YOU though"

     "Psh, the skill set to critique is independent of the skill set to perform. Teasing aside I agree with Runningwind’s assessment of the ethical goal in general is to save the souls of the Dark Forest residents, preferably before they end up there and are deprived of hope and love."

The majority of the cats within the den nod in affirmation of Redtail and Runningwind’s stance, though Firestar speaks up a concern of his.

     “It may be good to save their souls from the Dark Forest, but we still don’t have a set plan to neutralize him as a threat to the Clans and the lives of many kits. We can’t just leave Yellowfang to try and stop his efforts AND rehabilitate him.”

     “I have an idea.”

Everyone turns to face Brindleface and hear her suggestion.

     “Why can’t we have Spottedleaf go check up on Yellowfang? Have her say she's just there to discuss herbs rather than having to come up with a less mundane excuse that would involved Bluestar or Redtail.”

Almost immediately, everyone else looks uncomfortable at the suggestion, especially Firestar and Redtail who hesitantly responds.

     “Well…that makes sense but…”

Brindleface’s expression turns sympathetic

     “I know that you’re all still grieving for her, but that shouldn’t stop you from including her in our plans. Plus, shouldn’t she of all cats have the MOST right to know of her future demise? And even if we still keep this from her, she’s still important to Thunderclan, whether she knows about the future or not, you can’t just avoid her forever.”

A moment of silence passes, Bluestar speaks up.

     “You’re right, we can’t avoid our medicine cat no matter how much we want to. We have to face this grief head on. Which is why I suggest we share a few eulogies to her before moving forward, and hopefully we’ll be much more willing to work with her that way.”

     “...I think Lionheart should be present too.”

     “Of course Redtail. I’ll go fetch him.”

     “Wait, who’s going to keep watch if Lionheart’s joining us?”

     “Don’t worry Runningwind, I can give a short speech and then take watch. After all...I wasn’t as close to her as the rest of you all.”

Brindleface recalls Lionheart and then motions to make her eulogy a quick one.

     “I didn’t really know Spottedleaf. Only a few of us knew her that well in life, but I didn’t even spend much time with her in Starclan. But what I did know was she was a talented medicine cat, determined and self-assured. I never thought I’d see such a lively cat disappear, not in a million moons….but she’s gone. And she’s left a void in even my heart, and I miss her. Which is why I’m glad I have a second chance to know her, to potentially save her. And I think you all do too. Thank you.”

     “No, thank you Brindleface for your kind words and helping us see the path forward.”

And with that last statement of gratitude from Bluestar, Brindleface takes her leave to go keep watch.

     “Who wants to go next?”

Runningwind raises his paw

     “I...don’t have much to say. But I’m ready, and I think that’s what matters.”

Bluestar nods

     “A lot of us died young, many of us in less glorious fashions, and Spottedleaf was one of us. But even as she entered Starclan, she took the situation in stride and made the most of it. She did what she could, and acknowledged her limits. I used to be a bit worried Spottedleaf would sometimes be a bit too giving, that she wouldn’t consider her own needs, but I know for a fact that she made her choices knowingly. And that she wouldn’t want us to break down completely for her.”

Runningwind’s encouraging words are considered throughout the group, then Lionheart speaks up

     “I think I’m ready.”

And subsequently everyone shifts their attention to him

     “I...felt personally responsible for Spottedleaf’s death. I was Thunderclan’s deputy when I died and I was upset I wouldn’t be there for my Clan anymore. This frustration of mine only compounded when Spottedleaf of all cats died after me, but she never blamed me. She was one of my first friends in Starclan, who knew what it was like to feel such rage at our own helplessness. I know my situation isn’t that unique, I know others probably have had more anguish too. But Spottedleaf helped me when I was down, and I’ll remember her for it.”

When Lionheart finished his eulogy, there was only Bluestar Redtail and Firestar left. After the few moments of gratitude for Lionheart’s candid words, the silence became a bit awkward as no one volunteered to go next.

That is until Bluestar did

     “I’ve seen a lot of death in my lifetime. I always remembered each death and carried them all with me like a weight. Spottedleaf’s death was one of many loved ones that I lost. Back then I at least seemed to know the gravity of the word and it’s meaning, even after going through the grieving process so many times. But when I entered Starclan, everyone I loved and lost came back. It was a massive weight off my shoulders, it was like I was a kit again, unfettered by the pains of the world. Even if I was concerned with the matters of the material plane conceptually, I wasn’t as deeply struck by the conflicts and tragedies when I was up so high, hunting endless prey and sharing all the stories that we could possibly think of. Even when the Dark Forest made themselves known, and we were faced with the idea that we could be broken, even in Starclan. I didn’t face the pain, I couldn’t make myself believe that anyone I cared about would be caught in the war, but Spottedleaf did. Even now I can barely believe she’s really gone, that she hasn’t secretly made it to the past with us. But I know that’s just wishful thinking. I took those peaceful days for granted, and once again I know the pain of death. And that will drive me to do everything I can to prevent a tragedy like that from happening again. I won’t squander this second chance, I’d never forgive myself.”

A few yowles of agreement sound throughout the den, with even Brindleface pops back into the den to state her agreement before returning to be the lookout.

Though the den went dead silent when Redtail spoke up.

     “I’m ready.”

Everyone looked at each other, various levels of concern and surprise riddled upon their faces.

     “Sorry Firestar, looks like you’ve got to be the anchor of this funeral.”

     “The what?”

     “The...last speaker.”

     “Oh uh, that’s ok, it’s your sister, you don’t have to be the last speaker if you don’t want to.”

     “Thanks for the offer then.”

The two awkwardly smile at each other before Redtail begins his Eulogy

     “Spottedleaf...was always there for me. Through our kithood, the hardest leaf-bare, and not even when I died was she too far to me. She may have learned to be a bit emotionally guarded to focus on healing, but outside of that she’d never hide how she felt to me. And I took that for granted, I took her openness, I took her Presence for granted I took her entire Being for granted. And I felt guilty. So guilty when I came back and the first thing I did was Lie. About a vision she was supposed to deliver and caused her so much stress and I didn’t say anything meaningful to her. So I hope you all know how glad I am to hear, not just your love and care for Spottedleaf, but your willingness to work with my sister. It’ll be a concession that’s necessary to make, even if we’re not talking to Goldenflower or Graypaw.”

After that note, Runningwind breaks the tension

     “If Brindleface were here she’s probably say, ‘What can I say except, You’re welcome.’”

     “For the sun, the stars and the sky?”

Brindleface’s sudden appearance, coupled with the frustration of not understanding the reference, incites Firestar to speak his mind with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

     “Hey, this vigil isn’t over. I haven’t spoken yet.”

Taken aback by his unexpected barbed words, Bluestar vocalizes everyone’s concerns.

     “Apologies, Firestar, we didn’t mean to disregard your time. But I must ask, are you ok?”

     “Of course I’m not ok. I’m stuck in my 7 moon old body, Yellowfang is out there alone with Brokenstar, TIGERCLAW is back, and we’re acting like Spottedleaf is dead.”

     “...but weren’t you there when she did?”

     “Yes but now we’re back in the past, where Spottedleaf never died, and I’m still just a ‘naive kittypet’. When you all say that Spottedleaf is dead because she’s different now, that’d mean Everyone who didn’t return to the past is dead. Graystripe, Cloudtail, Squirrelflight, Leafpool, Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, Brambleclaw, Dustpelt, Ferncloud...Sandstorm, I know you care for those in Starclan you’ve lost, but I had loved ones that were living and I don’t want to think of them as gone… but you’re right that they’re all different or not even born yet. I can’t even really take comfort in you all since you’ve all become different when I wasn’t watching, having little sayings only you all recognize, having experiences separate from how I remembered you all. Isn’t that the exact same thing as what’s happened to Spottedleaf?”

The den is paralyzed after Firestar’s callout. No one dares to move or speak in response before they’ve properly processed his statement and put his feelings into account.

     “I’m going to keep watch. May as well since I don’t have the insights of Starclan to provide.”

Redtail Lionheart Runningwind and Brindleface motion to stop him but Bluestar calmly speaks

     “Let him go, we should give him some space to cool off before talking again.”

The remaining four cats look hesitant but ultimately abide by Bluestar’s decision.

     “After a few minutes I think I should be the first one to go comfort Firestar.”

     “Alright Brindleface, we’ll be right behind you and catch him up to speed when the time comes. In the meantime,..”

Bluestar closes her eyes and tries to focus

     “....we’re going to resolve our next course of action. First of which, we’ll have to bring Spottedleaf into the fold. I believe Redtail made it very clear he wants to be the one to break the news.”

     “Yep”

     “Good. Once Spottedleaf’s up to speed, we’ll need her help to gather information. In general she, Redtail and I are the only ones with a plausible cover story to speak to the other Clans outside of a gathering.”

     “Does that mean all three of you are going to simultaneously visit each of the three other clans?”

     “No Runningwind, we’d be spreading ourselves a bit too far, I think it’s best if we reserve one visit a day. First Windclan with at least Firestar, then Riverclan with probably myself and Spottedleaf, and probably the both of us to Shadowclan too.”

     “Oh so for the most part you’ll need to take care of camp.”

     “Yes, Making sure the camp is running smoothly is going to be integral towards postponing the Tigerclaw issue.”

     “Speaking of Tigerclaw, shouldn’t we reassign Ravenpaw?”

Lionheart’s segway into Tigerclaw’s apprentice got Brindleface and Runningwind’s attention

     “We Should get Tigerclaw and Ravenpaw apart from one another... however, we should also consider the long term consequences of Ravenpaw’s path, especially since we gotta ensure he stays with Barley.”

     “Yeah Brindleface has a point, not only are they adorable together but they’re a very important connecting point for Skyclan and anyone visiting the forest territories in general after the Twolegs come in.”

     “Then who would you suggest we reassign him to? Because I don’t trust Tigerclaw will treat him well, yet not treat him poorly enough to prompt him to leave. If you want to actively push him to Barley, maybe one of us should become his mentor and intimidate or bully him in secret.”

     “Damn Lionheart that’s a pretty harsh plan.”

     “Well in the long run I think it’d be for the best since we’ve all seen how much happier he is with Barley. We won’t have to enact any physical violence we just have to make him feel unsafe and without a support system.”

     “Like I said...Damn that’s a pretty harsh plan.”

     “I suppose so, but I hope you’d be up for it Runningwind.”

     “Wait, why me?”

     “I’m mentoring Graypaw, Redtail is mentoring Dustpelt, Brindleface is about to begin kitting, Firestar is Firepaw at the moment, and...Bluestar is busy…?” 

Lionheart ended his sentence uneasily as he realized he didn’t have much of a reason against Bluestar mentoring Ravenpaw

     “Lionheart I’m not THAT busy. I could take Ravenpaw as an apprentice if Runningwind isn’t comfortable directly intimidating him. In fact, I’d probably be more effective because I’m the leader and would probably feel less insulting to Tigerclaw than if we reassigned him to Runningwind. I could even use my reconnaissance to Windclan and the moonstone to also show Ravenpaw the farm.”

Lionheart’s face grows a bit red as he realizes just how much he failed to consider that possibility. Another Red cat speaks up to contribute to Bluestar’s point.

     “If we’re going to commit to driving Ravenpaw away with fear we’re probably going to need to apply the same breaking point of distrust. I could be ‘murdered’ by Bluestar, prompting her to drive him away, that being the last straw for him rather than the turning point.”

     “Hm, I suppose this is another reason for you to tell Spottedleaf, since we’ll probably need her to fake your death confirmation. Perhaps we could even do it at the same time and place as last time, right after the Sunningrocks battle where Oakheart originally died. It’d probably also give me the best time to announce that I’m going to stop the endless cycles of casualties there. I have a speech and everything about how I remember the great days of when Thunderclan had over 25 warriors”

Redtail laughs “yeah, you just weren’t Alive to see it.”

But then his snarky tone disappears as he brings up a concern of his

     “I’m a bit unsure what I’m going to do after I ‘die’, can’t exactly come back from the dead can I?”

A few Chuckles come from all of five cats as the irony of that statement isn’t lost of them

     “Well I’m sure you could if we wanted to make Ravenpaw think he’s going crazy, but I don’t think we should go THAT far. You could just leave Thunderclan and check out what’s going outside of the Clans, or maybe even join Windclan.”

     “PFF, Windclan? they’d recognize me in an instant. Anyone in the clans would and question me.”

     “Don’t suppose you’d like to live in Twoleg place or Bloodclan, and Ravenpaw would be put off by you being at Barleys. Though I think you could probably survive outside of Clan territory for a while to let him settle in at the barn before appearing there.”

     “Yeah, but I’d rather not. I think we should try to make it so he’s driven to Barley before he can announce I’m dead. The other ideas can be back-up plans.”

     “That’s fair”

Lionheart raises his paw to speak as his prior embarrassment passes.

     “Yeah you both have a good plan going...but if Bluestar is taking Ravenpaw, then who’s going to mentor Firestar? Are we just going to leave him with sharing multiple mentors until Ravenpaw leaves?”

     “I believe that’d work.” Bluestar responded, unperturbed by the question

     “OH, About that actually!”

The room shifts to brindleface as an idea dawns on her.

     “What if we put Firestar as Tigerclaw’s apprentice?”

Redtail and Runningwind looked uneasy at that proposition

     “I get it sounds crazy but just hear me out.”

Everyone still has their eyebrows raised but lets her speak

     “Ultimately Tigerclaw believes he’s got us all pegged. That we’re all not willing to be full-on imperialists because our ideas of honor and compassion make us weak. Coupling this with a few insecurity issues and only knowing power as a way of coping with it, we’ve got one hell of a closed mind to deal with.”

The listening four give a nod to that assessment 

     “So if he’s too busy strawmanning all Clan cats, who could he possibly grow to listen to? Someone who pretends to be completely bought into the warrior code but has their own set of ethics. And who is a feasible candidate for him to believe to have that? An outsider like Firestar. He could subtly let him know that he ‘thinks Thunderclan could be better’ and seed in the possibility that he’d be willing to help him reshape the Forest in a violent manner.”

Lionheart’s eyes light up

     “Oh my Stars you’re pulling an Ivypool!”

     “Exactly! A double agent like Ivypool but more isolated and thus more potentially capable of adding nuance and consideration into his mindset over time. Tigerclaw may be closed-minded and arrogant but he’s patient and he’s willing to try new things. And if Sasha’s any indication, he can even be a hypocrite and move past his kittypet discrimination for those he deems exceptional.”

     “Oh you’re going with this path because you stan Mothwing don’t you?” 

Redtail deadpanned, leading to Brindleface pretending to be offended in a dramatic manner

     “Pshh, of course I’m trying to ensure Mothwing still happens, but I’m sure there are other ways we can go about ensuring Tigerclaw meets Sasha in Shadowclan. This plan is ultimately a Tigerclaw soul-saving element.”

     “It’s an ambitious plan, Firestar’s going to need all our advice and insight on his mentality if he’s going to make a dent, and even so it’s a tall task for him. Who’s to say he’s got the mental fortitude to keep up a warmongering appearance? Especially without the support of his best friends graypaw and ravenpaw...and Sandpaw”

Brindleface’s excited demeanor disappeared. In her excitement she momentarily forgot about how upset Firestar currently was and how they’ve been making a lot of callous plans that involve him without his input.

     “Oooh yeah, guess now’s as good a time as any to go to him. We can’t really move forward without him much longer.”

Bluestar yawns, signifying the collective exhaustion they’ve been holding back

     “While you go to comfort and inform Firestar, we should all go get some sleep, Redtail you especially should prep yourself. You’ve got to plan the Dawn Patrol and inform Spottedleaf of what we know.”

     “Go straight to bed, you don’t have to tell me twice”

     “We can reconvene late at night in about a quarter-moon to discuss alternate plans, but for the immediate purposes, we’re all to act as we would regularly outside of a few reconnaissance visits to check up on the other clans.”

After Redtail darts out of the den first, Brindleface makes her way out of the leader's den to where Firestar is keeping watch/cooling off. 

Runningwind calls out to her before they all go their separate ways

     “Don’t worry, no matter what happens we’ll probably all feel better in the morning.”

     “Thanks Runningwind, I’ll keep that in mind.”

The night sky is still clear and starry over Thunderclan, the cool breeze being refreshing to Brindleface compared to the hectic environment of brainstorming cats in the leaders den.

Firestar is swiping his forepaws in the air, trying to both let off some steam without causing an auditory disturbance to the mostly-sleeping camp. It’s clearly been effective at tiring him out, coupled with his previous fight and the late hour, though he's still a bit upset. 

After one last feint, Firestar lies down, gasping for air as silently as possible before his heartrate eventually lowers.

     What am I doing?

Firestar sighs, turning his head to look at the quiet camp below

     I’m back in the old forest and I get to see old friends. This is something I never could’ve dreamed of and yet, I’m not happy.

     I’m surrounded by beloved friends and yet I’m still lost. And I just yelled at those who probably would have understood that.

     How can I want a do-over when I was just given one, only to fail miserably at it?

Firestar rolls onto his belly, getting into a more comfortable resting posture

     Alright that’s enough beating myself down, it’s just been a long night, and we’ll probably all feel better in the morning.

Firestar was tired enough to lie down, but he’s not so tired as to not notice Brindleface padding towards him

     What does she want?

     “Heya Firestar, you uh...seem to be coping well”

     Oh yes I’m absolutely Stellar

     “...yes”

Brindleface looked away for a moment, trying to parse together an appropriate string of words to the upset and confused tom.

     “I miss them too.”

Firestar is now sitting up, looking Brindleface in the eyes

     “I may not know your kits and the clanmates that came after me as well as you do, but I do remember mine, and I remember what it’s like to care for a Clan like a family. I can still see the noble warrior Graystripe in little Graypaw, Dustpelt’s loyalty in Dustpaw, and I have mixed feelings about Cloudtail not even being here too.”

     Oh right, you were like a mom to him...and I still need to talk to Princess 

     “I also know what it’s like, to suddenly find that your loved ones are unrecognizable. You should’ve seen the welcome party that Elderkit and Tulipkit held for me when I entered Starclan. I never thought they could ever howl so Loud that I thought my ears would fall off.”

Firestar laughs, and finally responds after Brindleface’s lighthearted reminiscing

     “Heh, I suppose you’ve never had the chance to have your kit try to hunt your ears”

     “Oh yes I’ve heard Squirrelkit was a handful, even for kit standards.”

     “So what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t worry, that even if the past versions of our old friends feel like kits, they’ll eventually grow up?”

     “That’s not at all what I was trying to say, but I love that idea. Even if it’s not completely accurate. We may not understand each other now, we can still trust them to have the same core values while we’re around...at least more than Ashfur.”

     Oooohh yeah...him

     “I know both he and Ferncloud were forced to live without me, but I thought they both coped with my death well enough after taking part in that dog chasing plan. When I watched him threaten three innocent clanmates for his own vendetta against Squirrelflight, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t know what to say when he entered Starclan”

     “.. I heard from Jayfeather that he’s there but it’s still weird that he got in after threatening to kill 3 loyal Clanmates. How does Starclan even handle determining who gets in?”

     “Well generally so long as you identify as a Clan cat and don’t reject or threaten Starclan directly you’re allowed in.”

     “Really? Nothing else?”

     “ I Knoooow, it’s really frustrating, we have so many outdated rules we’re magically or socially bound to follow and that usually means most of us can’t do anything meaningful without spending moons trying to gather enough voter turnout to make a unanimous decision. And even then we can’t overturn anything from the original establishment without any Skyclan representatives.”

     “Oh you know about Skyclan too?”

     “Yeah everybody does, they were about to rejoin the clans before the Dark Forest started taking up most of our focus.”

     “Wait Really? How?... Also remind me to hold this over Bluestar later”

     “Yeah, she was really dumb and short-sighted back then, not realizing both how conceptually good and functionally good your help would be. How exactly we were planning on bringing them back was a bit of a long complicated story, but in essence we were just going to take advantage of a crisis in the Clans and tell everyone to merge...Cryptically of course as we have to.”

     Well it’s nice to hear she finds that part of Starclan frustrating too

     “Well regardless of what did happen in the past, I do appreciate the fact that you can just tell me everything clearly now. Even if sometimes you say things I don’t understand at all.”

     “Oh yeah uh, sorry for just going off and talking without taking the time to explain the things you don’t understand.”

     “Eh, it’s fine I probably should’ve asked what you were all talking about more often. Look how well that’s been going so far, you’ve given me the clearest answers any Starclan cat has ever in my life.”

The two chuckle, remembering all the times Starclan only gave the vaguest of advice of signs in times of crisis or uncertainty.

     “I wish I could finally tell Graystripe or Cinderpelt exactly how important our quest was. Knowing Sandstorm and I apparently helped almost change the course of Starclan.”

     “Well , I’m sure you’ll get your wish...in about 12 moons or so.”

     “huh...I guess my quest will be much easier knowing all of this ahead of time. Even if we don’t really know if Sandstorm will have the same foresight.”

     “Pssh, she can’t be THAT far from coming back, she’s already on the verge, finding you a bit familiar and everything. I bet she’ll suddenly remember one day in the middle of a hunting patrol or something.”

     “What? Like Redtail? I can’t imagine her fumbling and lying as the first thing she gets back doing.”

     “Ok well Hopefully the first thing she sees won’t be Tigerclaw it’d be you. But the point is, you shouldn’t worry about her, all you gotta do is treat her like normal and she’ll probably fall back into your usual back and forth banter.”

     “Ah yes, since the foundation of our relationship is yelling at each other but loving each other regardless.”

     “Yeah pretty much. Honestly this advice applies to you in general, just don’t be too friendly because to them you’ve only been here for an evening”

     “Ok well while I’m not being too friendly, how’d things go after I was...unfriendly at the leader’s den?”

     “Well we decided that we should tell Spottedleaf everything we know alongside postponing most of our plans until after we visit each of the other clans…”

     Yeah we had that eulogy and everything

     “...We decided that Ravenpaw shouldn’t be Tigerclaw’s apprentice anymore.”

     “Oh! That’s a great idea.”

     Why didn’t I think of that first?

     “Yeah, but we were worried that he’d never go be with Barley if he wasn’t threatened so we’re going to reassign him to Bluestar and have her intimidate him until he runs to him.”

     “Uhh...are you sure that’ll work”

“Redtail is also prepared to fake his death with Spottedleaf's help to push him over the edge. But only if the intimidation is not enough"

     Is that supposed to be reassuring?

     “Again, are you sure that’ll work?”

     “Yes, I am, we’re not going to be reckless, we’ll take our time to slowly make him disillusioned before he feels the need to go to you. And even if he announces to the clan that Redtail’s dead, we have a backup plan for that too”

     “Mmm, if you say so.”

     “Alright but Ravenpaw and Brokenstar aside, here’s uh my big pitch to you on how to deal with Tigerclaw.”

     Ah I was wondering when they were going to talk about him

     “Tigerclaw...is Arrogant, and insecure. He thinks he knows the Clans and that anyone who doesn’t think the same way as him are foolish.”

     “Tell me something I don’t know”

     “If Tigerclaw dies with this mindset still intact, he’ll probably be picked up by Mapleshade and the Dark Forest, eventually transforming the Place of No Stars into a congregation of wrathful spirits rather than a labyrinth of darkness.”

     “So we have to change his mind...that’s an incredibly tall order, how in Starclan will we do that?”

     “Well perhaps a certain fire-pelted apprentice may be able to influence him over time.”

     “....what?”

     “If you become Tigerclaw’s apprentice, he’ll be forced to spend time with you and perhaps listen to your nuanced ideas on the Clans, talk to him about changing the warrior code in parts that harms the clans. Maybe even pretend to be a bit of a warmonger like him deep down to get him to really trust your intentions. His discrimination of kittypets is very situational and doesn’t contradict the idea of you potentially being dishonorable to the letter of the code.”

     “Ok ok Stop right there, did you all make this plan without Asking me if I wanted to do it?”

     “Uh no, it was just me coming up with the idea, the others were worried about what you may think about it but knew that if you antagonised him he’d be infinitely harder to change when his confrontational nature is vindicated. So they just talked about ways they could help without having to put you in that situation.”

     “So it was just you”

     “Yes, if you’re upset then I should be the only one you direct that anger towards, but I don’t feel sorry for pushing what I think is the best way to debilitate the Dark Forest and save souls. Tigerclaw hasn’t killed anyone yet, he’s not the same cat that you knew your entire life. So please...just think about it?”

     “...I’m not angry about the plan, it’s a sound one, it’s just dangerous and I feel like if you cared about my opinion then you should’ve brought it up with me first.”

     “Yeah I’m...I’m sorry about that, I realized my fault too late.”

     “In any case we can talk about it tomorrow, it’s getting late and we both need to sleep.”

     “Goodnight then.”

     “Goodnight”

And the two part ways, to the apprentice den and Nursery.

Chapter Text

The light of the Moonstone fades away as Swiftpaw finds himself at the Diviner central hub. Swarming with cats in groups of various sizes, non-euclidean architecture as physics and structural soundness isn’t a concern, and a multitude of large 2000 sqft large floors layered above one another, each dedicated to various pieces of equipment, concepts or events. 

The place has been called many names but most cats just call it the Moonstone since that’s what it’s most famously used for. 

This ground floor of the area is filled with passageways and pilotable platforms, used to transport everyone to everywhere they need to be.

Though speaking of fame, a few moments after Swiftpaw beams in, a few cats turn their heads to stare at him, and a few become a crowd, all staring at him not saying anything, creating a sudden pressure on Swiftpaw as he realizes how seen he is.

          Yeash, it’s not like beaming up using the Moonstone is THAT unusual

          “uh..Hi?”

          “OH MY STARS IT’S ONE OF THE FALLEN FIRE STARS, IT’S REALLY HIM!”

And like a single leak inciting the destruction of a dam, a single voice cuts through the silence and Swiftpaw is nearly flooded by an onslaught of excited, knowledge-hungry, starry pelted cats.

          “Where’d you all come from?”

          “Well uh I think-”

          “What happened to the elementals?”

          “I don’t really kno-”

          “What’s Your Name?”

          “Swif-”

          “TELL US!” The crowd’s eager voices eventually coalesced 

          Alright I think that’s my cue to get out of here

And he tries to bolt out of the building only to find his platform ride reject him with a large red beep.

          Oh...right, not allowed on Starclan land yet...well if I can’t go out...

Swiftpaw looks up to the opulent colors of the higher floors

          Then I’ll make my way up

Swiftpaw hops onto a platform and thrown en route to the gift shop floor

          “Sorry y’all but I’d really rather not be …”

Swiftpaw then notices the crowd following him, not just on speeding transport platforms of their own, but an eclectic variety of methods of mobility like Trampolines, rocket boots, magnet paws, and even conjured wings.

          Spoke too soon

          “Alright y’all want to chase me? You better prepare to give it your all!”

          “Is that use of second person plural a part of your social dialect or is it just a popular use of slang associated with the-”

Swiftpaw takes out a few sonic rings and a staff.

          Last I checked 3.5e D&D should still be available, but I suppose even without the Dark Forest, anything can happen with Bureaucracy.

As the platforms soar past various floors of archives, libraries, art galleries, tv rooms etc. Swiftpaw writes out a ritual sigil, his first original spell, combining Haste and 7 sonic rings as opposed to chaos emeralds.

          “You want to learn something new? Watch and Learn!”

When he slams his staff on the platform, it doesn’t just ramp up the speed, it causes 7 illusions of himself to shoot off from different directions, throwing a few cats off from the unexpected nature of it but not as much as Swiftpaw as he hopped.

It’s at this point when Swiftpaw feels his phone ringing

          Emberkit now is Not a Good Time

Regardless, he picks it up

          “You’re being chased aren’t you?”

          Wow news really travels quickly

          “Yea, ya got an out?”

          “Meet me at floor 242 and I’ll be able to shake off any stragglers.”

          “Wouldn’t exactly call them stragglers, it’s been a while since I played a no holds barred game of tag or manhunt.”

          “Eh I’m sure you’ll be able to make it up there fine.”

          The call ends, and as Swiftpaw passes floor 67, feels air and sound barreling next to him as a round projectile almost hits him.

          What the Heck!

When the pink ball hits a wall it splatters and hardens.

          Yeash, glue bombs? At least use the nerfed editions, those are much easier to get out of the fur.

Turning his head Swiftpaw sees a kit call out 

          “Oh sorry, I thought you were playing with us”

Looking around, Swiftpaw could see why that’d be the case, floor 67 is a randomly generating vertical obstacle floor. 

          “Yeah no we’re not playing paintball with Doodle Jump platforms I’m ...”

But then Swiftpaw is already onto the next floor, floor 902

          Ok back on track, there are 5 that are chasing on platforms, 11 jetpack or rocketboot users, 3 are climbing on the walls, 10 are just straight flying or airwalking, and that one molly who’s been using a trampoline on every floor. Is that All she has in her pocket? Well regardless of that unorthodox method of ascent I think I got a few ideas to slow them down. This first one’s a cheap shot but it’s simple and it works.

Swiftpaw places his phone on the platform and rearranges the sigil before yelling out “Dark patterns!”

Popping into existence, a giant wall forms under Swiftpaw, with a display that says “1 of 5 ads playing, or buy hulu plus today to skip ads.”

Instinctively the jetpack, rocketboots and flying cats hesitate at the sight of a wall, either out of physical instinct or habit at the sight of such a circumstance. Though everyone else barely flinches at the prospect of moving past it since they either recognize the trick or know that he’s probably not actually allowed to block off an entire floor with a wall.

Unfortunately for Swiftpaw, this act of interference in their chase prompts a response from some of the platform riders, pulling out some cards from Yu-Gi-Oh

         Psh, really? Exodia, Little Kuriboh, Speed Warrior, Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician? If you're just going to put any monster card down willy nilly with no regards or understanding of the actual rules, I could just spam mirror force over and over.

The holographic monsters start fading out of view one by one as they either fall behind or get countered by Swiftpaw's cheap but effective tactics.

          Alright, I think I only need to do one more thing to ensure I’ll stay ahead before reaching floor 242.

Swiftpaw pulls out a specific powerup, mushrooms from Mario Kart.

          Since I couldn’t use these in the Dark Forest Battle, I may as well. There’s no better time to use these reserves.

So from then on, whenever anyone cat close to catching up, He’d expend one to suddenly ramp the speed ahead. And before long he reaches floor 242.

It’s a room with shifting walls and doors, causing rooms to be created and shifted to the rhythm of a beat, alongside the floor with grids of technicolor lights. Kinda like the floor of Crypt of the Necrodancer.

Swiftpaw runs in, trying to put retain the distance between him and his pursuers.

He's barely made it behind a concealing wall before the paparazzi arrive. At the same moment, the prior song fades out and the room is stationary momentarily as he arrives. Though it isn’t long before the DJ, a tiny pale grey kit with a pink nose and sky blue sunglasses puts on an orchestral cover of yakity sax plays and the doors, walls and lights each independently begin moving to the beat.

          “Alright Gamers, This one’s a request in response to the oncoming influx of newcomers!”

          Ok so Someone’s obviously finding our chase amusing and there’s one prime suspect

          “Heya”

Emberkit is sitting on another tile with a blue and white cap with a pine cone symbol on it and a book.

          Speak of the devil and he shall appear

          “Ok what are we going to-”

          “DYNAMIC! ENTRY!”

Thunder barrels out from the floor above

          ...really? Either I missed the memo or they’re just randomly wearing a Might Guy and Dipper Pines Cosplay

          “But Why?”

          “Well originally we were going to discuss Halloween plans, but it also doubles as an excuse to distract your pursuers with our collective charm and costume/taijutsu/necromancy secrets.”

          “Now Go FORTH into the Labyrinth! Brambleberry will Find You!”

The molly with the trampolines appears on floor 242 and Swiftpaw darts into the technicolor labyrinth.

          Wait, how the hell does necromancy work when we’re all already dead? Ugh whatever that was probably something to do with keeping up the spooky Halloween vibes or something.

Every other beat Swiftpaw tries to avoid being boxed in by walls, while simultaneously trying doors before they move out of place, occasionally he’d find himself in a place he’s been before and even some of the cats who were chasing him as the scooby doo-esque montage continues.

It’s all cut short when a tile Swiftpaw is standing on flips over and he’s sent falling down onto a generic office meeting room where Brambleberry is looking on a monitor.

          “Oh hey, nice of you to, DROP on by.”

          If I weren’t so grateful I didn’t have to deal with fall damage I’d walk back up there out of spite.

          “Welcome to the secret lower space of floor 242. This is also where you’ll be staying for the time being. I hope you don’t mind the sound of muffled Eurobeat at night.”

          “Uh Hello to you too Brambleberry. And yeah I think I’ll be fine, none of us really need sleep, and also I got a pair of ear muffs that I never used, in case I really want to.”

          “Great! Now take your phone out, I gotta add you to our new group chat.”

          “Don’t you already have my number?”

          “Yeah but there’s no way we’re going to use the generic yet very reliable messenger group chat, we actually got someone to program/recreate Discord! And no matter what anyone says no I will not use Skype unless absolutely necessary.”

          “Heh, well given the company we have they might ask us to use Dial-up.”

          “Pfff, shut up and give me your full username”

          “Alright Alright.”

          Swiftpaw types in his username and gets an invite link to a discord server “Fiery Joker Fans”

          “Uh, u sure u gave me the right link?”

Brambleberry looks on and gives a look of minor horror

          “Nope lemme delete that, here.”

The actual one is titled “Swiftpaw Situation VIPs” with threads such as the obligatory #general, #memes, #announcements, #rules, and a few topic specific ones like #future-lore-discussion, and somehow they also made the distinction of #our-immediate-future discussion.

Also there’s an entire folder of threads dedicated to paperwork that Swiftpaw minimized immediately.

#general

          Swiftswag29: hey im here now

          Brambleberry2002: Congrats

          Thundercat: Greetings and Salutations!

          Charmander: By the way, the paparazzi has left the floor. It’s safe to come up now if you want. Disregarding the music and shifting elements of course. Lightning Stripe came for her shift and put on a reinstrumentation of Chopin’s “Etude in G# minor, Op.25; No.6” and ramped up the difficulty accordingly.

          Swiftswag29: thanks for the update but either way im staying down here cuz that chase left me p winded

          Thundercat: Perfectly Understandable! In The Meantime, This is a Great Opportunity To Discuss Both Our Plans For The Living Clans and Starclan.

          Brambleberry2002: OH and uh don’t worry about the #rules too much I just copied that from my D&D server

          Swiftswag29: i was wondering about that since this server has literally four cats in it, but ok now i have the incentive to check the rules out

          Brambleberry2002: nooooooo

Swiftpaw taps onto that thread to find the list of rules

#rules

1. No Ads
2. No uncensored nsfw
3. No Strangers - we don’t want to deal with raids
4. No Spam - this includes Emojis too
5. Don’t be an ass - no means no, no personal attacks, harassments, hate speech etc.
6. No flame wars - if you start an argument than you better drop it or come to an agreement soon or else you’ll both be in trouble

DnD etiquette

1. Respect Your DM
2. Respect Your Players
3. Don’t use overpowered Characters without DM discretion
4. Don’t meme too hard
5. No metagaming
6. Pay attention 

#general

          Swiftswag29: sorry to break it to you brambleberry but my new character is Macavity, he breaks all the rules

          Brambleberry2002: alas, we are doomed to your whims

          Charmander: How dare you mention CATS in this house.

          Swiftswag29: with an unfettered conscious 

Then #our-immediate-future lit up, signifying a new message

          Thundercat: I Recorded a Very Relevant and Very Heartwarming meeting within Thunderclan. *Eulogy and Planning in Thunderclan.mp4*

          Brambleberry2002: ooo, I’ll take a look at that in a sec, but I also have something to share *StarBasket.com/folder/1Lwm6Xjhbrz3yfPtPdH_2-CVyoVZTdiw5K/view?usp=sharing*

When Swiftpaw opens the link, he finds a folder containing videos, text documents and what appear to be imported fate-line charts.

Unfortunately the videos are DAYS long and the text documents are still over 100 pages.

          Yeah no. I can’t even give them a casual skim, maybe later

#our-immediate-future

          Swiftswag29: there’s literally over 9000 hours of footage here, you should really summarize it

          Brambleberry2002: but I did, I made corresponding summaries in text form for each of the fate line projections

          Charmander: The expected length of a summary would be around 500 words. 189 pages does not fit that schema.

          Swiftswag29: yeah thunder you too, give us the tl;dr

          Thundercat: If I Must Abridge the Event I Will, but I Don’t Believe I will Do It Justice.

          Thundercat: Firepaw Bluestar Redtail Lionheart Brindleface and Runningwind Discussed What To Do about the Dark Forest. The Immediate Decision Was That They Will Visit Each of the Clans To Gather More Information, Fill Spottedleaf In On Their Knowledge of the Future, Leave Yellowfang to Mostly Decide What To Do about Brokenstar, Reassign Ravenpaw to Bluestar to eventually Intimidate him into Hiding With Barley, and Assign Firepaw to Tigerclaw to Manipulate Him due to the More Amorphous Impression Tigerclaw Has of Outsiders as opposed to the Unmoving Ideas on Clan Cats as a Whole.

          Swiftswag29: ok is it just me or is the liberal use of capitalization a bit difficult to read?

          Brambleberry2002: a bit but I got used to it quite quickly.

          Thundercat: I Can turn it down, If you’d Like?

          Swiftswag29:  well you don’t HAVE to for me, though it would be nice. Especially when you’re trying to give an announcement or describe something in length.

          Thundercat: Alright Then.

          Charmander: Before we discuss the implications and details of their plans, I feel the need to mention something. 

          Charmander: Swiftpaw, I obtained a Dream-caller attuned to Yellowfang.

          Swiftswag29: wait seriously? its only been...uh

          Charmander: Barely over a day? Yes. I told you I work fast.

          Charmander: I have more words and gripes to share; about how simultaneously too easy yet too difficult to obtain it, but for now you should proceed with the knowledge that you’ll use it in about 4 to 6 hours. Yellowfang’s sleep schedule has been hectic as of late.

          Swiftswag29: k thx

          Swiftswag29: ill keep that in mind emberkit

          Swiftpaw sees Emberkit about to type something but stop

          Oh? What’s that Emberkit? Abbreviated spelling and misuse of punctuation is a bit grating to you? Surely I would never INTENTIONALLY flare that pet peeve of yours for lols.

          Brambleberry2002: alright so 

          Brambleberry2002: Summarizing

          Brambleberry2002: I’ll start with the simplest one with Firestar. The main takeaway with him is that he brings back Skyclan and doesn’t have any visitation restrictions outside the queue limit but I sincerely doubt anyone has filled that up to capacity already since I just discovered it.

          Swiftswag29: yea don’t worry thunder only scheduled one visit on the queue.

          Brambleberry2002: WAIT YOU KNEW? You DIDN’T TELL ME?

          Thundercat: You Didn’t Ask. Also I just Really Enjoyed Visiting someone without having to go through Bureaucracy For Once.

          Charmander: It would’ve been easier to convince us that Rusty was special wouldn’t it?

          Thundercat: No. It Wouldn’t. I mentioned it to You Before, but you Brushed it aside saying that All Kittypets could be Visited that way.

          Charmander: Oh.

          Brambleberry2002: ok fine then, moving on. Let’s talk about Silverstream and Yellowfang since Thunder’s meeting recording is probably enough insight on Thunderclan enough.

          Brambleberry2002: Silverstream’s fate lines are more indicative of future events, though both of them have a lot of obfuscation that normally comes with fate lines. I already mentioned the bending and converging lines to be a sign that she’s got backup plans for her backup plans to Swiftpaw but I’ve recently noticed that her post-death fate lines aren’t completely obscured. But uh…

          Brambleberry2002: Bottom Line is that this is all just signs of her potentially breaking fate but that’s ultimately a conclusion that you could make with any of them Honestly I don’t know why I’m sharing any of this, yellowfang doesn’t have any hard conclusions either So I think I should just skip all that and move onto what I actually saw her do for most of her plans. She’s trying to become a leader and from a position of power, general community and connection she’s going to try and revamp the warrior code from the material plane.

          Charmander: Oh? It’s been a few years since the last time someone attempted that.

          Thundercat: She’s got her Work Cut Out for Her.

          Swiftswag29: i mean im not surprised, she was kinda obsessed with the idea of doing that for a bit

          Brambleberry202: Nonetheless I believe she’s more well equipped to do so than anyone before her. And we should pool in our efforts towards synthesizing her plans with Thunderclan’s and Yellowfang’s as we’ve got the most perception in this situation.

          Charmander: You want me to help speed up your visitation requests to Mudfur and Spottedleaf don’t you?

          Brambleberry2002: oh yes please, and maybe a Large Scale one for the Half Moon meeting after Silverstream makes the clans question how the warrior code came to be written by living fallible cats.

          Charmander: I’ll get it done lickety split.

          Swiftswag29: how exactly do you want everyone’s plans to come together?

          Thundercat: And What Specific Guidance do you suggest Swiftpaw and I Provide?

          Brambleberry2002: to be perfectly candid Swiftpaw I’m not completely sure what Yellowfang intends to do and because of that i don’t really want to commit to a specific combined synchronized version of all their efforts just yet

          Brambleberry2002: Though at the very least Thunder and Swiftpaw you could both let Firestar and Yellowfang know what Thunderclan and Silverstream are planning. Then After you both get that give and take of information we can brainstorm a way to have it all workout for the best like we’re supposed to.

          Charmander: I suppose that’s a start, but in the meantime we can still spitball ideas with what we have in the Astral Plane. 

          Swiftswag29: really? But the dark forest hasn’t casted anything perturbing on starclan yet

          Charmander: That doesn’t mean there’s no problems with it ya privileged twat

          Wow, abbreviated spelling AND a contraction that doesn’t agree with the plurality, you really must be pissed

          Charmander: Excuse me, What I mean to say is that we should review the course of events and how it’ll hopefully upend certain flawed systems in Starclan.

          Swiftswag29: this isn’t a public classroom you don’t need to be polite

          Charmander: It’s a force of habit and a point of pride for me.

          Swiftswag29: suit yourself

          Thundercat: Either Way it’s a bit Far Off, as We’ll get our Best Opportunity when Skyclan returns.

          Brambleberry2002: So was I the only one in this room that only recently heard about Firestar’s Skyclan revitalization and eventual reintegration?

          Charmander: No I actually just learned of that when you mentioned it to me today. I wanted to ask you if you knew anything more.

          Brambleberry2002: well don’t look to me, I basically told you all I got on that front, ask Swiftpaw he’s the one from the future.

          Charmander: Very true. Swiftpaw, give us your insights on the future of Starclan.

          Swiftswag29: I mean, I didn’t actually get to see Skyclan return. I just got the memo that a few cats had that in motion. I was a bit preoccupied by the dark forest somehow managing to turn everyone against each other, turn off paradise resources, manifest physically into the material world, and just paranoid that there would be a complete cessation of Starclan as a whole. Especially after cats had trouble going to Starclan after death during this period of unrest since no one was willing to go out and welcome them there. Most infamous example being Flametail, since he was one of the few that narrowly escaped.

          Charmander: I...can see a few situations where that story plays out, vindicating my lack of faith in people as a collective to stay rational aside, what do you plan on doing about that? 

          Swiftswag29: i mean thunder’s account og thunderclan’s plan to just reform cats before they enter the dark forest and rally them to work as a collective seems fine enough. I suppose if we really want to take care of the Dark Forest long-term, we’ve got to confront Mapleshade.

          Brambleberry2002: ugh do we have to?

          Thundercat: Everyone in the Dark Forest, Regardless of what they’ve Done, are Trapped in a Cycle of Self-Fulfilling hate that Feeds Into their Distrust of Starclan. I’ve said it before and I’ll Say it Again, The Place of No Stars is an incredibly Unforgiving and anti-empathetic Entity.

          Brambleberry202: well what do you expect anyone to do? Leave Paradise to Single-handedly Redeem their damned souls? Somehow Call upon the Primordial Elementals to revamp the place entirely? We’ve still got a long way ahead of us before we can start Preaching to others about how to improve upon their afterlife.

          Thundercat: Well Maybe After Skyclan is Reintegrated and we Push Past the Apathy and Indifference that’s Festered from these Generations of Immutable Bureaucratic Nightmares, I Will Go. I’ll Go To the Dark Forest and Help in Whatever Way I can, and I have Faith that Others will Understand and Likely Join. It’s Not a Pipe Dream.

Before Swiftpaw has the chance to tell the both of them to chill, Thunder and Brambleberry get kicked from the server.

          “Oh my Stars he kicked me! How’d he even...”

The culprit continues to message Swiftpaw while Brambleberry mutters angrily to herself

          Charmander: Those two could use some time to cool off. 

          Charmander: You should probably go get ready for Yellowfang’s meeting. There’s a room in the lower level that has a summoning terminal. It’s a bit of a mess at the moment, but it’ll work well enough for your purposes.

          Swiftswag29: o cool ill go check it out

          Charmander: Oh, and one last thing. I don’t think I have to tell you this, but make sure to keep these visits discreet, we’re not supposed to be so helpful and specific because then you’d get cats up in arms about us having some nefarious agenda.

          Swiftswag29: awight alright all night that sounds dumb but i knew this

          Charmander: :|

          Swiftswag29: cya!

          Charmander: See you soon.

          “... how can he be so delusional! It’s just…”

          “Heyo Brambleberry do you know where the room with the summoning terminal is?

Brambleberry turns to shift her attention back at Swiftpaw

          “Yes, it’s down the hall , take the first left and it’ll be the second door to the right and it’s got a little green sign that says “Louie’s Totally Evil Incorporated”

          “Alright thanks.” 

Prompting Brambleberry to return to part ranting part ruminating on Thunder’s aspirations

          The Room is where Brambleberry said it was, thank goodness this hidden lower floor doesn’t share the upper floor’s shifting construct properties. I think I’d go insane trying to navigate it on a regular basis.

Swiftpaw opens the door to find a dusty study, with bookcases a purple red green blue rug and a stack of interlocking chairs clumped into a ball that’s somehow still standing

          Ugh he left an art set piece in here

Swiftpaw pulls out a magic Roomba, switched it from murder to cleaning mode, and watch as it slowly sucks up debris.

          Alright, that’ll take care of everything except for moving this...presumed commentary on the tower of babel? Whatever, either way I’m not going to have my visit with Yellowfang with this massive ball of chairs taking up space.

But as he hops to the top of the chair tower to start toppling and rolling it, he notices the view is actually quite nice.

          Yknow maybe it’d be pretty cool to make my entrance to Yellowfang in this very Game of Thornes way except instead of swords its a chair of chairs. Truly I am a master of irony.

Then Swiftpaw slips on the leg of a chair sticking out from the tower. He falls towards the summoning terminal, hitting his back on the etched panel on the floor, watching the tower slowly come apart.

          “Aw hec-”

A deafening roar hits Swiftpaw as the space around him bends and pulls a consciousness towards him. 

          Is it always this loud? 

It’s usually this loud he’s just caught off guard and was standing too close.

Though Swiftpaw is shaken by the noise, he’s only briefly stunned after the clumsy soft fall and he starts kicking the chair tower out of the room, trying to look fine in front of Yellowfang since he knows he’s already going to spark panic by being dead.

Yellowfang pops in with the same air of minor disgruntlement she always has, though it slowly grows a feeling of concern as she looks around the room.

Swiftpaw walks into the room after he finishes kicking away the last chair and makes a comment in hopes of breaking the tension

          “Huh, and I thought you of all people wouldn’t mind the mess the room’s in”

It doesn’t work as well as he’d hoped.

          “Swiftpaw?”

          “The one and only.”

          “...What’s going on in Thunderclan? How’d you die?”

          “Well in Thunderclan Firestar Bluestar Redtail Lionheart Brindleface and Runningwind all got their future selves fully realized and had a meeting together on what to do after sorting out some shenanigans. You already know I died trying to fight a dog, the answer you’re looking for is that I never came back to life, I was interrupted by Starclan.”

          “oh...I’d claw you for almost giving me a heart attack but I know you well enough that you were significantly holding back your potential snark.”

          “Ah yes I see you’ve learned to respect the wisdom of your warrior ancestors.”

          “I changed my mind, if it were not for the laws of this land I would have slain thee.”

          “Aaaand There’s the Yellowfang I harass every now and again. Sorry to break it to you, but the price of getting helpful and straightforward information from Starclan is dealing with me.

          “A Fate Worse Than Death I see. Alright you daredevil, what’s the situation?”

          “Silverstream is trying to become leader and eventually have the clans reexamine the warrior code. And Thunderclan’s going to try and visit the other clans to catch up on information in person, assign ravenpaw to Bluestar but they also plan on intimidating him into running to Barley because they can’t let their ship die, and Brindleface is really spearheading her idea of Firestar becoming Tigerclaw’s closest advisor by making him spend time with each other as mentor and apprentice.”

          “Looks like you’re not the only Daredevil in this group. If they weren’t playing the long game, I’d almost say they haven’t grown up at all. Though I suppose I don’t have much place to speak.”

          “OwO what’s this? Yellowfang admitting to hypocrisy? I better bring a snack for this.”

Swiftpaw takes out some beef jerky that’s way too spicy for him to eat casually.

          “It’s almost like you want to be burned.”

          “I’m an equal opportunity roaster. But in all seriousness I do want to know what’s going on with you and Brokenstar, pretty much everyone is leaving how we go about dealing with him up to you.”

          “I want to tell him I’m his mother.”

Swiftpaw puts away the ultra spicy beef jerky

          “Are you going to accompany that reveal with a point?”

          “Of course! I would never let that dirtface control the narrative. I need to put him in a situation where he isn’t finding an excuse to be angry.”

          “You’ve got your work cut out for you. How do you intend on doing that?”

          “A mix of stimulants and depressants or something else”

          “Ah, drugging. What is it with you all and using shady methods to try and reform cats?”

          “See the cool thing about being from the future is that we had enough time spent to reinforce our core values outside of the code and apply case-by-case judgement.”

          “Yeah no I get that, I’m just worried that in the process of trying to save souls, you risk condemning your own.” Swiftpaw’s voice lowering in volume as he gets a bit sheepish

          “Oh Swiftpaw, that’s very sweet of you. And I’d be lying if I said I’m not scared of the prospect either, but I know what I’m doing. And by the sounds of it, everyone else knows I do, leaving me with free rein over what to do with my lousy son.”

          “But...but what if you fail? What if he kills you or someone catches you drugging him or what if you can’t even find the right components,there’s just so much that could go wrong for you.” Swiftpaw’s words start blurting out, the direness of the situation now at the forefront of his mind.

          “Hey hey Hey. It’ll be ok, No one’s thought about this more than me. Even if telling him he’s my son doesn’t work out, or if I perish, I haven’t failed. I have support this time, of friends , clanmates, and the knowledge that they’ll be there to help me when I need them. Believe me when I say: you don’t need to worry kit, I got it covered.”

          “You’re not THAT much older than me.” Swiftpaw murmurs reflexively 

          “Well I’d say I’m much older at heart.”

Yellowfang snorts

          “Besides, it’s not like I’m rushing to join you up here, last I checked Starclan was in dreadful shape. Just look at this room, a SLIGHT hint of dust is in the air. I would NOT want to be stuck in here with you forever”

          “I know you’re trying to make me feel better but making fun of my temporary living space just feels like deflecting.”

          “Hey! It’s a very valid way to cope...we can never be truly sure the world won’t come crashing down. But unless you have an explicit way to combat such existential danger, no one would blame you for simply living your life.”

          “Yeah but Everyone has that mindset and took it to a point where it’s caused so many problems. It’s almost inescapable and creeps in like a vine.”

          “If you need a reminder to stay vigilant…”

Yellowfang brings out a bit of yellow ribbon.

          “...I’ve heard a colorful one would be especially effective.”

She gestures for Swiftpaw’s outstretched paw and ties a knot around his forearm.

          “Though I wouldn’t take my source too seriously, being inspired by Madoka Magica and all.”

          “Wait are you kidding me?”

Yellowfang cocks her head

          “What’s wrong, I know the thing was about two red ribbons but I thought a yellow one would be more fitting.”

          Did she...ugh I thought for a moment you actually read and were referencing Homestuck

          “No, it’s nothing, just I thought it was a reference to something else.”

Yellowfang looked incredulously at Swiftpaw, skeptical but not concerned

          “Feh! And here I thought mentioning the only anime I know you and I both watched would lift your spirits. I see my efforts have been wasted.”

          “Oh Shush, of course I love this gesture and reference. I was just caught off guard.”

Yellowfang made a wry smile and then a heinous idea peered into her head

Yellowfang grasps her head, curling up on her side and starts groaning in pain.

          What the hell is going on

Augh something’s waking me up, sorry Swiftpwa but it seems I gotta go

          “Wait no, I-”

Yellowfang then breaks out in laughter

          Did I just get pranked?

Swiftpaw then starts angrily shaking Yellowfang during her fit of laughter.

          “I haha-had to do it kit, the opportunity was *snort* too great to pass off. This is perhaps the OhHOHonly time I’ve got the chance to turn the tables on a Starclan dream like this.”

          “UGH I’m less angry about getting pranked and more angry that I didn’t think of that first.”

          “Sorry kit, Nothing personal”

          Your memes are bad and you should feel bad

          “I’ll end this dream while you’re mid sentence, I’ll do it”

Yellowfang puts on a Palpatine voice

          “Do it”

          Ask and you shall receive

A light engulfs the room, alongside the same deafening roar of space being bent

Yellowfang wakes up in the early morning of the Shadowclan camp, not particularly well-rested but in high spirits, unbothered by the noise of the dawn patrol and the seemingly insurmountable task ahead of her.

          Worth it

Chapter Text

It was the afternoon after Silverstream’s vigil and subsequent collapse into sleep. The sounds of the minor bustle of the camp and the flowing of the river re-enter Silverstream’s world as she’s slowly pulled into the waking world. 

Specifically by a few pokes to the nose

     “Bweh”

     “Hey there Sleepyhead”

     I Know I asked you to wake me up Mistyfoot but I forgot how hard it was to experience a break from your sleep schedule.

     “Ugh, five more minutes.” Silverstream groaned

     “You can poke me in the belly if I don’t wake up by then.”

     “Really? Wouldn’t that hurt a lot?”

     “Yeah it will, but it’s ok I’ve felt worse belly aches.”

     “Alright, it’s your vigil.”

Right before the 5 minutes pass and Mistyfoot is about to jab her best friend in the stomach, Silverstream dodges out of the way, letting a bit of adrenalin pick her back into a waking mood.

     “Alright what patrol am I going on?”

     “Patrol? Silverstream you just woke up.”

     “Yup which means I gotta do something before I spend the day doing nothing.”

     “Well I doubt that'll ever happen, I’m sure there’s Some little thing you could help out with if you want, but it’s not like we’ve had any real issues in camp for the last moon.”

     “Yeah I know, the prey is running well and we haven’t had any border disputes in a long while, it’s a blessing and I’m grateful, but I’m still going to keep myself busy before meeting some supporters this evening.”

The Riverclan meeting is just in the middle of the camp, it’s not a secret affair it’s just optional. Though I mean they don’t have anything better to do so everyone comes to watch.

The October leaves were peppered and occasionally weaved into the dens of the Riverclan camp, splashing drops of red and orange into the meeting space as Silverstream prepared to address her support base.

Though it’s not like it’s a secret affair, nor is Silverstream surprised that the entirety of Riverclan came to listen to what she had to say. 

       I mean they don’t have anything better to do, or at the very least they’re not jaded by the novelty of a speech.

Silverstream didn’t need any particular acoustics to get her voice across the interested parties in the camp so she just started it in the middle of it

     “Friends, Clanmates, dear Kin...Mossbed”

This initial comment clears any tension in the air

Mosspelt sticks her tongue out at Silverstream

     “You all probably already know I plan on doing everything I can to be the best warrior and potential leader Riverclan has ever seen. And if any of you have any ideas or concerns you’d like for me to address after this presentation, I’d be happy to hear it.”

Stonefur and Mosspelt look at each other and shrug at the prospect

     Yeah I already know you two think this whole thing is unnecessary

     “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m doing this, that I’m already a loyal warrior, and that’s all I can do to be a good candidate for deputy and eventually leader.”

Everyone seems to be on the same page on that

     “Well if you truly believe that, I should tell you about the reasons I may actually be a troublesome choice for Riverclan’s future leader in the eyes of some, and eventually tell you how I plan to alleviate those concerns over time.”

Whiteclaw and Graypool raised their eyebrows, but aren’t too surprised by this proclamation

     “These concerns and obstacles include things like how I’m Young and Inexperienced, therefore I don’t know how to take charge of people effectively especially since I haven’t even had an apprentice yet. Or how it would look bad if Crookedstar or Oakheart decided to make me deputy. It would likely make them appear to be playing favorites, and so to unequivocally earn respect I need to be especially qualified for the position. There may be other concerns and flaws in myself as a candidate, but these are the two main ones I believe need to be addressed.”

     “Obviously I can’t rectify my lack of mentoring experience until a kit is newly apprenticed, so in the meantime I’m going to do two things. The first of which is to ensure the prosperity of Riverclan in a significant way, I have multiple ideas and back-up plans in case my first idea doesn’t work, but I think I have a way to prevent future deaths fighting over Sunningrocks without having to give them up or risk more lives. I won’t promise anything since this first idea is obviously a long-shot and I need to run it by Crookedstar first. I know ending an incredibly old war couldn’t possibly be easy, but I have to try. Even if I give up on my first plan and instead focus on how we can ensure prey never runs low or something else, I’ll never forget about the Sunningrocks...and those who died fighting for it.”

The camp becomes silent enough to hear the falling of leaves in the autumn air as everyone takes another moment to remember the recently fallen.

“     Now I won’t blame you if you think I’m naive to aspire to upend issues that have harmed our clan for longer than I’ve been alive. Which is why I plan on fulfilling a second task, to garner the respect of everyone in Riverclan individually. I’ll go up to you all individually and ask what it would take for you to believe I would be a very good leader after mentoring an apprentice. Whether it be leading a hunting patrol that’s extraordinarily successful, showcase my ability to sense hidden intentions, or even a short sparring match to prove my fighting prowess. So long as it’s honest and for the good of the clan I’ll do it.”

This splashes the camp with a wave of murmurs as cats discuss their opinions on the prospect.

     “Alright, that’s all I wanted to say, Goodnight everyone.”

As Silverstream pads away from the middle of the camp, Mistyfoot Stonefur and Mosspelt come running up to her.

     “Silverstream since when could you project your voice so well? Jeez, is there anything else you’ve been hiding from your Bestie...”

     “Silverstream, were you serious about ending the Sunningrocks conflict? How do you plan to..”

     “For the sins of making a snarky comment about me at the start of your speech your days will be numbered.”

Holy Moly Slow Down

     “Hey hey ONE at a time ok? Mistyfoot, even I have some cool secrets that I’ve managed to find the will to not share immediately. Stonefur, yes I am serious, yes I know how tall of an order that is, but the fact is that I really do want to try. And Mosspelt, my days were always numbered, every day in the life of Silverstream is a race against the clock.”

     Ignoring the whims or precedents of fate, there are a million things that could go wrong and potentially end my life, but if I go in prepared, I shouldn’t have to worry.

     “Anyways, you three wanna go for an evening hunting patrol? I haven’t really gotten to stretch my legs as a warrior yet.”

     “Oh of course I’ll accompany you Silverstream, you shouldn’t even need to ask.” Mistyfoot responded happily

     “Leading a hunting patrol the moment you get the chance to huh? If I didn’t know better I’d say you had ulterior motives. I’m in”

     Ok well ...Stonefur YES technically this was one of the few ideas I had to prove my experience at commanding a group to work effectively. BUt you know that I ALSO just can’t help but to try and hunt for the clan whenever I can after that one leaf-bare.

The Siblings turn to look at Mosspelt, seeing if she’s going to join them too. 

She rolled her eyes and acquiesced. 

     “I’m only coming to get closer to you and slowly plan your demise.”

     Sure Jan

     “Yeah whatever you say Mosspelt, now c’mon the night is young!”

Silverstream runs out of camp and races to the best spots for fishing at night, relishing the exciting yet peaceful time with her friends. 

Especially since she knows she’s got a lot of tumultuous tasks ahead of her, she’s making the most of these precious moments of unadulterated joy.

It's visibly past moonhigh in the darkness of the Riverclan camp. Most of the clan is asleep after taking in the prey that Silverstream’s patrol brought back.

But Silverstream didn’t take part in any of it. She said she wasn’t hungry. But the truth was that she didn’t want to fall into too deep of a sleep. She just wanted to take a short nap rather than try and force her sleep schedule back to a Circadian Rhythm. 

Actually, no that’s a lie, she also wanted to wake up late at night for another reason.

     It’s time to meet Mudfur. 

Silverstream edges out from her corner of the Warriors den huddling pile and moves reasonably silently towards the Medicine Den. Intending to go unnoticed by Leopardfur and Whiteclaw as they stand guard at the edges of the camp.

     Alright Mudfur I hope I got the timing right and I’m not waking you up.

When Silverstream enters the Medicine den, she finds Mudfur drowsily putting away some basil and other herbs.

     “Oh Leopardfur you don’t need to check up on me I’ll get a nap in as soon as I-”

Mudfur blinks as he realizes who’s actually entered the medicine den

     “Silverstream? Are you having trouble sleeping?”

Silverstream averts her eyes making herself appear a bit uncomfortable and embarrassed.

     “Yeah I guess you could say that”

     “Well that’s ok, you just had your vigil the night before this one. You don’t have to force yourself to sleep immediately.”

     “Ok, I ...would ask to stay with you but you look pretty tired.”

     “Pssh, all medicine cats have to get used to being tired sometimes, that’s why I always make it a point to sleep only in naps.”

     “Maybe you should get an apprentice to lighten the load in case you ever run out of energy.”

     “Hmmm...Maybe, but like you said earlier, it’s not like there’s any kits ready to be apprenticed any time soon. Besides, I make it a point of pride on how I can handle being a medicine cat alone.”

     Knowing the course of your life, you should be fine for at least 16 more moons and by then Mothwing will...

     “Well if you’re sure then I’ll stop worrying.”

     ...aw fish I forgot about the Mothwing Sasha Hawkfrost and Tadpole situation. Ugh I’ll bring this up at the next gathering where I’ll probably get to see everyone else.

There’s a silence held between the two as the conversations lack an immediate point to continue on. Or at least, that’s what Mudfur thinks.

     “Hey Mudfur?”

     “Yes Silverstream?”

     “There was another reason why I came to you tonight other than my inability to sleep and my desire to not interfere with the guards.”

     “Alas, it appears I wasn’t charming enough to simply be good company.” Mudfur posed lightly to convey his faux dismay

     “Well I mean I’d argue you are better company than Leopardfur and Whiteclaw, but that’s not the point I was going to make.”

Mudfur smiled

     “Hah score one for Mudfur I suppose, sorry for interrupting, please go on.”

Silverstream looked around for a moment, scanning to see if anyone else was nearby. After making the motions to check that there aren’t any eavesdroppers, she speaks.

     “I had an unusual dream.”

Mudfur’s posture realigned itself, as he immediately became more attentive to the subject.

     “I was at the Fourtrees, and a dappled gray tom with long whiskers walked up to me and said his name was Shellheart. He said he had a lot to tell me, and he was glad to see me, but that for now he could only tell me one thing. He said ‘Thunder Wind Shadow and River will all be uprooted if they do not unite with the stars.’ and quickly ran away, looking back just to say I'll see you later.

     See this is technically not a lie if you take each of these statements on their own in different contexts. Shellheart did at Some point say these things but not all in the same visit.

While Silverstream’s internally beaming at herself in pride, Mudfur looks at her inquisitively

     “Do you not know who Shellheart is?”

     “I think I do”

     “He’s your father’s father.”

     “Oh dad never really speaks about his parents”

Mudfur gives an expression that says ‘ah I see’

     “From your description it sounds like you’ve shared a dream with Starclan.”

     “What? Don’t only medicine cats see Starclan outside of the Moonstone?”

     “That’s not necessarily true, even if this isn’t a sign that you should become a medicine cat, you can be a warrior and receive a prophecy from Starclan. It’s happened before.”

     “Really? I didn-...Alright but...”

     Can’t say I didn’t know explicitly

     “...could you keep this a secret, just for now? I don’t want my clanmates to treat me differently. To think that because I’m different, I might not be good.”

     “Pshh, No one’s going to think that, if anyone does I’ll give them a lecture that’d rival even the grumpiest elder’s ramblings. But since you’re so concerned, I won’t tell anyone until you do.”

     “Thanks Mudfur, this whole thing is really coming at a bad time. I mean I already have a lot to live up to with that proclamation from earlier. What if they don’t take me seriously and think I’m just lying for attention? What if they DO take me seriously and think I’m not destined to be a leader? What if they think that all my accomplishments aren’t my own? What if-”

Mudfur holds a paw up to Silverstream’s muzzle

     Behold the power of projecting your own potential insecurities, he totally buys it

     “Only a real Trout-brain would completely write you off because you appear to have the SUPPORT of Starclan. Even if you were being denounced by Starclan, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone in camp defended you anyways. I didn’t think I needed to tell you this, but everyone already knows you’re a loyal warrior, an exceptional clanmate and stubborn in all the best ways. No one would accuse you of lying.”

Silverstream ‘calms down’ in light of Mudfur’s words and brings up a different query.

     “If I don’t tell Mistyfoot by tomorrow evening could you remind me to?”

     “Oh? Is this an open invitation to wack you upside the head like Mistyfoot does to wake you up in the morning?”

Silverstream Chuckles

     “Oh no, a stern smack from the fearsome medicine cat Mudfur, I’m absolutely terrified at the prospect.”

     “Pssh, don’t write me off so quickly, I used to be a warrior you know?”

     “Yeah yeah you’ve only mentioned that, every other moon.”

     “I don’t repeat that fact THAT often do I?”

     “No I just don’t have as bad a memory as some apprentices or even warriors.”

     “Starclan above, could it be that I’m seeing you speak condescendingly to your fellow Clanmates? Where has the rambunctious yet stubbornly cordial Silverstream gone?”

Silverstream feints at clawing Mudfur’s ears as he laughs

     “She’s disappeared forever, corrupted by the truly menacing influence of Heavypaw.”

A moment of silence passes before the two break into giggles at their mutual teasing. Though it isn’t long after this tension has broken, that Silverstream brings up a ‘new concern’ of hers.

     “If I really did share a dream with Starclan, does that mean the prophecy Shellheart told me about is real?”

     It’s not, it’s just a suggestion he had to unite the clans against the dark forest. Shame that he never got the message to Pass.

     “That reasoning holds up”

     “What do you think it means? I think ‘Thunder Wind Shadow and River’ probably refers to the Four clans, but what do you think it means by ‘uprooted’ and ‘unite with the stars’?”

     “Uprooted could be interpreted multiple ways: most concerningly is the prospect of the Clans being destroyed completely and lost forever, but I think it could also mean that the clans will all go through great change in the face of crisis. “Unite with the stars” is a bit perplexing to me.”

     Ah fish I made it too authentically vague

     “Since I’m very unsure about what that could mean I won’t give you my speculation. However, I could probably get more clarification during the half-moon moonstone meeting with the other medicine cats. It’s in less than a quarter-moon anyways.”

     Eh, whatever this is just to get the ball rolling, I can seed in the rhetoric about Starclan’s mission statement of preventing death, the Clans working best when united, and how the code was developed by flawed living cats later.

Silverstream sighs

     “I guess that’s all I can ask of you. Thanks for listening to me, it feels good to get this off my chest.”

     “Off your what?”

     ...fishsticks

     “What I mean it’s good to get my thoughts off and out of mind.”

     “Oh of course, I’m your medicine cat, everyone should feel free to speak to me about their concerns.”

     “Yeah I know...I think I’ll get back to the warriors den, you should probably try and get some sleep soon too Mudfur, looks like you’re almost done.”

Mudfur moves his lips upward, initially being guarded at the prospect before responding warmly

     “Alright, but only because it’d be unfair to tell you to get some sleep without getting some myself.”

     “Goodnight Mudfur”

     “Goodnight Silverstream.”

The next morning Silverstream actually woke up in the morning.

Though it’s probably more accurate to say that she was thrusted out of the dreaming world by her good friend and effective alarm clock Mistyfoot.

     “C’mon Silverstream, you’re a warrior now, you can’t rely on me to wake you up early. Even if you’re still shifting yourself from your vigil.”

Mistyfoot starts rolling Silverstream’s body on it’s side like a snowball (or cylinder), until she rolls her into the river.

     “AAWah! Hey! You could’ve just rolled me out of the Den!”

     “Yeah but now you don’t have to clean yourself as much! Plus you can get a head start on hunting in the morning while you’re there!” Mistyfoot called out mischievously

     Bleh, Just because you’re right doesn’t mean you’ve got to look so smug about it

Silverstream sprouts out of the water, recently caught fish in tow.

     “Woohoo, Go Silverstream! That took no time at all. What’d I tell ya?”

Silverstream rolled her eyes

     “Yes yes, throwing me into the river was good for getting me started on hunting as soon as possible like I wanted. Thanks Mistyfoot.”

     “It’s no problem, though I think you should try joining the mentors for battle training. You’ve been catching enough food to feed half the clan all by yourself at this rate.”

     I do plan on joining a battle training session, but I don’t think now’s the best time. I gotta make more progress on Mudfur before I can reveal my slightly altered Starclan-influenced fighting style.

     “Pssh you’re exaggerating, I had the help of my clanmates most of the time. You should know, you were there.”

     “Yeah, emphasis on Most. C’mon Silverstream just take the compliment, enjoy your achievement and maybe try something new if you insist on going all out like you’ve been recently.”

     “Alright Mistyfoot, I’ll join a battle session tomorrow, I still want to do a few things today but I know that having experience teaching battle moves will be good for me down the line.”

     “Like What?”

Silverstream lowers her mew until it’s barely audible

     “I’ve got some important things to discuss with you, we’re a great hunting team so no one will be bothered if we talked a bit after hunting enough for the afternoon.”

Mistyfoot blinked and smiled in understanding

     “I was wondering when you’d be letting me know what’s going on up in that weird head of yours.”

     Yeah it was always going to be a matter of time before you figured out something’s off about me, best for I myself to be the one to let you know what’s up

Silverstream starts dashing out of camp

     “You’ll have to keep up with me first!”

     “Hey! You got a head start!”

     “Never Said this was a fair Race!”

The two Riverclan mollys begin slowing their pace and begin talking after they amass a respectable amount of prey.

     “Do you think that once I mentor an apprentice, I’ll be the best choice for next deputy of Riverclan?”

     “Of course!”

     “You’re completely sure? You’re not just saying that because you love me are you?”

     “Psh, Silverstream you’re too hard on yourself, and even if being BFFs makes me biased, the same reasons that lead me to really care about you are the same reasons to respect you. You’re loyal, determined, courageous, honorable and clever. That’s all there is to it.”

     Oh if it were really that simple...Should I tell you? I know you probably suspect something more is up, but you may have more unconditional trust in me without knowing everything. Mmmm I have to at least say something.

     “Honorable...am I really your idea of honorable?”

     “Silverstream you are THE most honorable cat I know, so much so to the point of getting on other’s nerves. Why would you ever doubt that?”

     “Well...I may not be a liar...but I do deceive those around me.”

     “So? I already knew that.”

     “I’ve left out important details that they may want to know.”

     “Yeah? Everyone does? Including you. I don’t see how this makes you dishonorable.”

     Alright moment of truth time

     “Yeah but I’ve never hidden a secret as big as coming from the future.”

Mistyfoot doesn’t have a response to that

At least not in the immediate 40 seconds, though after that she does

     “Did I hear you right? You said you’re from the future?”

     “Yes.”

     “How….did you come to that conclusion.”

     “Well it came with the sum knowledge of living a few moons, dying, spending many moons in Starclan and then getting thrown into an unusual situation before arriving back to the night before my warrior ceremony, a time where I was alive again.”

     “You died YOUNG? How?”

     “It was during my kitting. But it’s ok, Starclan’s a pretty good place, my kits were raised well and I’m alive right now aren’t I? I finally get to spend some time with my BFF after so long, and by so long I mean Really long, I mean wow you’re going to live pretty long I gotta say.”

     “OK ok but back it up, what exactly happened that led up to you being back in the past?”

     “A uh big magic Starclan mishap, though I think from a certain perspective you could say this is a pretty great outcome. It’s not like many Starclan cats get to live a second time.”

     “C’mon Silverstream now’s not the time for snark, I’m still genuinely considering the possibility that you might just be crazy.”

     Ah, yeah I wouldn’t want that. I could probably prove to her about coming from the future with something...uh but the falling rocks on Oakheart isn’t the most decisive proof and the Windclan invasion might not happen now that Bluestar can warn them early.

     “Ok well...what exactly do you want me to do, to show you that I’m fully within proper mental capacity?”

     “I...I’m not sure. You’re clearly able to hunt, lead, and feel senses accurately. I...suppose if I take your actions in summation, this would explain a lot but...it’s just a lot to take in.”

Silverstream shifts uncomfortably, she was really hoping she’d take this news in stride

     Augh I Knew I shouldn’t have taken a chance on her! I probably could have gone through with everything without her knowing this entire time and I’d be fine! 

She tears up a bit at the prospect of losing her support and having to work around her rather than with her.

     “No. Wait no. Silverstream you’re my best friend, you can be crazy sometimes, but you can’t be fooled. If You Say you’re from the future, then you Are from the future.”

Silverstream tries to blink back the genuine tears even as they’re continuing to well up in her eyes.

     “Do you really mean it?”

     “Yes of course, I just had to push out that last bit of lingering doubt. It was easy after you reminded me of what a crybaby you are.”

     “I’m..I haven’t cried since...ok well it hasn’t been that long but Still I’m not THAT big of a crybaby.”

     “Yeah whatever you say.” 

     Holy Canoly Mistyfoot you seriously scared me there for a second. Though I guess Shellheart was right, no amount of logic or evidence can truly compare to the persuasive power of emotional appeal.

Mistyfoot leans in for a hug, prompting Silverstream’s head on her shoulder as she comforts her.

     “This has been eating away at me.”

     Not as much as it could’ve 

     “I’ve been hiding this from everyone, not letting them know this important part of who I really am. I probably won’t stop until I’ve brought...certain dreams into fruition. I don’t think it makes me bad...but I’m worried it’ll make everyone else think so”

     “Silverstream this is probably one of the best reasons to ever feel the need to hide a part of yourself. Also I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, this isn’t news to me. You’re doing what’s right like you always do, there’s nothing dishonorable about that. Besides, who cares if some other clanmates think less of you, it’s totally normal to have a few cats who don’t think well of you.”

     “But public perception is a pretty important part of advocating change for the better.”

     “Silverstream, As much as it comforts me to see that you’re still the obnoxious perfectionist you’ve always been, even on a functional level you don’t need EVERYONE to like you. No leader has ever needed to.”

     ...aaahh that’s a good point

     “I...I guess I just had this picture in my mind, that in the possible case where I’d be alive again, and get a redo, the picture was already too good to be true. I shouldn’t have focused too hard on recreating that all-consuming love completely.”

     “Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Definitely an insight that’s difficult to come across and Not just common sense”

     “Oh shush you’ve still got at least like 5 more truth bombs coming your way as I tell you more about what I actually plan on doing in the coming moons.”

     “Truth Bombs?”

     “Big Reveals.”

     “Ah alright, I’ll get myself ready for anything you throw at me.”

Mistyfoot hops up and down, shackles her fur all around. Airing out any nervous or skeptical energy left in her.

     “So what’s first in the line of big secrets from Futurestream?”

     “Other than the fact that I hate that nickname, turns out Starclan is a really nice place...so much so that a lot of the time people forget about helping those that are living.”

     “Okay...that doesn’t seem like too big of a reveal.”

     “Well the more egregious elements are incoming. Stuff like the pervading aura of contentedness that exacerbates the apathy towards helping the living, old tenants preventing specific advice to actually be given because there used to be infighting about specific cats ‘pushing an agenda’ for their clan even though the entire mission statement of Starclan is to prevent needless death regardless of inter-Clan politics, and worst of all none of these old rules can be changed without a voter turnout that requires the presence of skyclan which is impossible since they’re gone...for now at least.”

     “Hey hey slow down Futurestream, I got the first point about how upsetting it is that Starclan doesn’t choose to help the living, but I didn’t fully understand the second thing about...not actually being able to help even if you wanted to? And also what’s Skyclan?”

     “Skyclan is one of the five original clans around the fourtrees, but they were driven out when twolegs took down their land and the other four clans weren’t willing to help them.”

     “Oh, how unfortunate. Though, Skyclan couldn’t have expected much from the clans if they lost their own lands, they have their own clans to think about.”

     Mistyfoot I love you but being a skyclan obliviating apologist makes me want to strangle you.

     “And Why should they prioritize their clans over saving significantly more lives of both those present and those in the future? The entire concept of Clan life and mission statement from Starclan is meant to encourage cats to work together so as to mitigate the damage from these kinds of disasters.”

     “But it’s the first rule of the warrior code.”

     “The Warrior code wasn’t even written by Starclan, it was written and uncontested by living fallible cats from times long ago for mistakes that they made ONCE in very specific circumstances.” 

Silverstream seethed as she revealed her disdain for the state of the code

     “But...what are we without the warrior code? What sets us apart from Rogues or Loners then?”

     “I dunno maybe it’s the fact that we take care of each other when we’re sick or elderly and work as a collective? Or that we’ve got a tangible connection to our ancestors? But that’s besides the point…”

Silverstream took a deep breath, letting go of the frustration she vented out a bit earlier

     “...we don’t want to just be better than rogues, we want to be good. We may not be perfect, everyone makes mistakes, but we can still choose to learn from our past and change as time goes on. If we don’t examine our traditions and history critically, we’re doomed to perform the same mistakes as those before us. Stagnation was a problem in Starclan, but it’s especially egregious here where lives are in direct danger as a result of it.”

Mistyfoot took a moment to consider her words, before smiling as she says

     “It’s so like you to think your ideas are above the warrior code. But I’m glad to see that even when you’ve seen the wisdom of Starclan itself, you still have the humility to talk to me.”

     Haha...Humility? Nah I’m not humble I just make sure to get a second opinion on principle ...which ironically feeds into my pride.

     “I’m glad you don’t feel the need to hide stuff from me anymore.”

     Yup, you get to know everything except my darkest thoughts

     “Well… There’s still a lot to cover, you still haven’t heard about my plans to end the Sunningrocks conflict, my plan to make the medicine cats confront Starclan about history that not even the elders remember, and the fact that I spoke to Mudfur about a prophecy last night.”

     “You Got a Prophecy? When?”

     “Uh from my perspective, about 25 moons ago.”

     “Huh?”

     “Since I’m technically a Starclan cat who has read and heard a lot of prophecies before, I just recited a true one to Mudfur to establish that my word is also backed by Starclan.”

     “Is it?”

     “Technically yes, and also socially Mostly.”

Mistyfoot ponders this fact for a bit

     “It feels a bit wrong to hear that you deceived a medicine cat like that. In fact, I’m kinda surprised you pulled it off. You’re good at deceiving but you aren’t THAT good are you?”

     “Well, it’s easy to fake intentions when your intentions and feelings are actually genuine”

     “Alright but...what about your plan to get Starclan to tell the medicine cats their ancient history? How do you know they’ll actually corroborate what you know?”

     “That...I might need a bit of help from a certain flame pelted future leader for. But in the ideal situation if I tell them exactly how to ask for their knowledge, they should be willing to give it.”

At that moment Silverstream notices the sun has reached its zenith

     Ah it’s already noon, better start packing our food up for lunch

     “We should walk and talk now, We’ve been out for a while”

     “Oh right, forgot we still have to carry back our fresh kill back to camp”

     “Yeah, but don’t worry. The time it’ll take for us to carry them back should be enough time for me to tell you about my Sunningrocks plans.”

Mistyfoot and Silverstream begin striding towards their buried fresh kill.

     “So my first proposition for ending the Sunningrocks feud involves sharing it in some way, whether it be in a seasonal way or simultaneously or with easements…”

Three important meetings, at Three different times, between Four different Clans. 

Illuminati deconfirmed I guess

“Keep your friends close and enemies closer”

Thunderclan had an incredibly frantic Sunday evening, an introduction, a battle, an investigation, a eulogy and many plans were formed in that one night.

“The greatest weapon is information”

Unlike Thunderclan, Starclan gave Swiftpaw some space to sleep, though he probably doesn’t see it that way or appreciate that fact. Because it means he’s not getting much done, and almost all he’s done in his early time in Starclan is Run.

“I do not fear death, I fear inaction.”

Left her off on a confident note in that Monday evening dream sequence eh? Really makes you feel like everything will go alright. Perhaps Shadowclan could use some light.

“We want to be great, not just better”

Slow and Steady Silverstream’s plans are falling into place independently of everyone else’s. In case anyone’s wondering, It’s Wednesday my dudes, only two more days until Mosskit’s Yakuza 0 Friday song reference is actually accurate and the moonstone meeting begins.

Chapter Text

The sun breaks into early dawn as Sandpaw stirs from her sleep. She alone was awake in the apprentice den, ready to hop out and see if Redtail wanted to assign her to the dawn patrol.

Redtail looked momentarily a bit startled when he first saw her approach him near the highrock, but he quickly shakes off his nervous energy and tells her what she expects to hear.

     “Ah Sandpaw, ready for the Dawn Patrol?”

     Of course I’m ready, even when I’m the only one with the will to wake up for the dawn patrol every morning. I'd never pass up the chance to laugh at those suckers don’t know what they’re missing.

     “Yes Redtail, I wouldn’t pass up the chance.”

     Plus, the Dawn Patrol is the best time to hunt

     “That’s good to hear, I was about to ask your mentor Whitestorm to lead the patrol and I was expecting you’d be ready to join even after the chaos of the previous night.”

     “Psh, I haven’t missed a morning since the day I was apprenticed, I don’t plan on stopping now just because a kittypet got apprenticed.”

A dull throb that pervaded Sandpaw’s mind last nigh returns once the topic of Firepaw returns to her conscious

     Mousebrain! Why’d I have to say that outloud. It’s ok, it’s not too bad, it’s just an annoying little headache. It’s a nice morning, I’ve been in worse conditions before.

     “Speaking of our new apprentice, I’m also assigning Tigerclaw and Firepaw to the Dawn Patrol. Hopefully Whitestorm doesn’t resent me for putting three of the most competitive hunters under him, he’s one of the only few cats that could get you and tigerclaw to work together after all.”

     Well there goes any chance of this pain fading away over time...coupled with trying to outdo Tigerclaw this is going to be one rough morning

     “Nah, he should be grateful that you didn’t put yourself on the Dawn Patrol with us.”

     “Pff, If I did that we’d crush Tigerclaw and make him mopey for an entire moon, and he’d be stuck with having to watch that happen since he never takes any comfort from him anymore.”

     Yeah, everyone knows Tigerclaw has a soft spot for Whitestorm, but he’s actually really good at hiding it. If I wasn’t specifically told that he did, I probably would’ve missed it altogether

     “But back on topic, Sandpaw could you go get Firepaw for me?”

     ACk

     “Yes, Redtail. I’ll wake him up” she replied less invigorated than before

Redtail nods in acknowledgement and bounds towards the warriors den while Sandpaw makes her way back to the apprentice den. There she finds a certain flame-pelted apprentice, sleeping soundly in moss bedding next to Graypaw.

     “Wake up, kittypet…” Sandpaw says while poking Firepaw in the face

     “...Mhgm what’s going on?” Firepaw responds while struggling a bit to stay alert

     “...we’re on today’s Dawn Patrol, or do you need me to explain what that is to you kittypet?”

     “No, it’s fine…” Firepaw Yawns

     “Lionheart explained what that is to me.”

     “Then what are you waiting for? Let’s get up and get out.”

     The longer I’m in the same room with you the worse this throbbing is going to get

     “Okay alright, if we’re going to rush we’ll rush with a clear mind Sandst-...paw.”

Firepaw’s previously groggy demeanor shifted as he noticed Sandpaw’s pained facial expression

     “Are you ok? You don’t look so good.”

     “I’m...not ok, but I’m still ready to go whenever you are.”

     “You sure? Spottedleaf could probably get you some poppy seeds or something.”

     “No no, this is a headache not a wound, feverfew is the proper herb but in either case I’m not taking them because they dull my senses and reaction time.”

Firepaw seems like he’s about to retort before shifting into a quizzical look and then , after seemingly finding his answer, responds

     “I’ll take your word for it, since it seems like you’ve had this type of headache before.”

His words were detatched from intent, as if his concern were disingenuous or non-existence. 

     What? Does he not believe me? That because I’m not a medicine cat I don’t know a few herbs from a few experiences in the medicine den? It was only a few moons a-Ack!

The throbbing turns to pounding as Sandpaw tries to recall the details of how she knows about the use of Feverfew so vividly.

     “SHUT UP! Of Course I Know more about herbs than you Kittypet!”

Rather than being taken aback by the sudden outburst, concern flows back into his expression

     “I know that we’ve only just met last night, and you don’t think very highly of me. But I do know that you fixate on specific goals and dreams heavily, and the last thing you want is to admit that you’re not up for Dawn Patrol. And I insist you at least visit Spottedleaf before heading out.”

     “Fine, I’ll go.”

     Getting rid of this headache is probably worth the effects of feverfew anyways

Firepaw breathes a sigh of relief

     “We’ll wait for you.”

But by that point Sandpaw had already turned around and made her way to the medicine den

Though once she gets there, she sees someone she wasn’t expecting.

     “Spottedleaf, I need to speak with you after the Dawn Patrol leaves”

It’s Redtail

     “Why can’t you just speak to me right now?”

     “I have a lot to explain myself for, and I don’t want to be interrupted. I know you’re very busy and all.”

Spottedleaf rolls her eyes

     “Alright Redtail, but you better be here by then.”

A Smile formed on Redtail’s face

     “Don’t worry I will”

He then turns to walk out but pauses as he notices Sandpaw at the entrance

     Ah Tick he saw me eavesdropping

     “Ah Sandpaw, you called Firepaw?”

     YOW! Augh hearing his name didn’t hurt THAT much more than before. 

     “Uh..Yes”

     “Then why aren’t you...are you not feeling well?”

     “Yes but I’ll be fine, I’m just checking with Spottedleaf just to be safe.”

     “OH. Yeah.. it’s very good and responsible to take care of yourself. I’ll see both of you later”

     So what is he going to talk to Spottedleaf about? Did he do something or….Oh wait he did, he was the first one to blurted out that he had a prophecy from Starclan.

Sandpaw internally slaps herself in the forehead

     On the one hand I am a bit curious as to what was going on with him talking about a vision of fire right before...fire...the apprentice with a flame pelt came and joined Thunderclan. But then again I think this is just going to be a private conversation between siblings rather than him revealing what’s been going on with him or what the rest of the warriors who saw the same vision have been planning.

Sandpaw’s inner theorizing is interrupted by Spottedleaf’s Query

     “So what seems to be troubling you?”

     “Oh uh I’ve been having this weird throbbing pain in my head ever since last night.”

     “In which part of your head?”

     “The area around my eyebrows, but around my whole head. I think I should just take some feverfew in case it gets worse but otherwise I’m fine.”

As Sandpaw makes the motion to go rummaging through the medicine stores Spottedleaf stops her

     “Sandpaw...first off, which one of us is the medicine cat here?”

Sandpaw blinks before sheepishly replying “You are.”

     “Then I will be the one deciding your treatment. Second off, how do you know feverfew is good for headaches?”

     “Didn’t you describe it to me one time when I had a headache before?”

     “I don-t remember you ever…”

     “HEY SANDPAW! Tigerclaw and Whitestorm are ready. I know I told you not to rush but…”

     “Ok Sandpaw, you can take the feverfew on the go, but I expect you to return back as soon as possible to continue this conversation.”

     “Yes Spottedleaf...and Thanks.” 

Sandpaw bounds towards the edge of camp after her succinct words of gratitude.

     I took too long didn’t I. Or at the very least Tigerclaw’s definitely going to be somewhat smug about this

     “Sandpaw, it’s a rare sight to see you fail to be punctual. Should I be worried?”

Yep there it is

     “No. Tigerclaw. You Shouldn’t.” 

Sandpaw gritted her teeth as she struggled to keep her voice level

Fortunately Whitestorm steps in to put a stop to any flaring tensions before they can build

     “Tigerclaw, Sandpaw, are you two ready to head out?”

The two hunters nod as Whitestorm speaks

     “Good. Firepaw do you know what we’ll be doing in the Dawn Patrol?”

     “Yes Whitestorm. We’ll be patrolling around the borders, renewing the scent marks and unofficially it’s common for warriors to be hunting prey on any off time.”

Whitestorm chuckles

     “That’s true, and I shouldn’t be surprised by your bluntness. Though I suppose it would’ve been too much to ask for a less spirited apprentice. After all, it doesn’t take much to ascertain that Redtail picked you Tigerclaw and Sandpaw to challenge you alongside being very stringent role models.”

     Yeash Redtail, I want to test this kittypet’s mettle as much as anyone else but you’ve either got too much or too little faith in him to set him against us specifically to challenge him.

     “I see, so that’s why Redtail chose us. He knows that even if I find this competition juvenile…”

     Oh sure you do

     “.... I won’t slow down for anyone.”

     “Yeah Kittypet, you better be ready to give it your all to keep up.”

     Great Starclan, I realized the moment I said it but for some reason that insult feels so juvenile to me

Firepaw nodded in response, though he didn’t look at the two in the eyes, Sandpaw could tell he was more concerned than anxious. 

She doesn’t get the chance to think about it though, since immediately after Whitestorm begins the Dawn Patrol.

     “Sandpaw, Tigerclaw you know how I lead. You two just need to stay within sight, you can bound past the rest of the patrol, and hunt while we catch up. That is, if you can keep that lead ahead of us.”

Whitestorm cackled as he dashes out of camp at a brisk pace

Sandpaw expected to have a bit of trouble keeping her competitive streak when she felt under the weather when she first woke up. However, she was surprised to find that by the time that she made it to the first scent marker the pain in her head was completely gone, leaving only a faint memory of the pain left in her mind.

     Wow, this feverfew must’ve been really potent. I’m really glad I listened to Firepaw.

With a newly cleared head, Sandpaw's mind has the space to wander while she renews the scent markers at the borders and occasionally hunts some prey.

     I can hardly believe that I was worried about being too sick to do the Dawn Patrol. It’s like I was never sick at all, I can even hear the name Firepaw without feeling sick! ...Which means I was being unnecessarily mean to him. I’ll remember to not gloat too hard to him when I catch more prey and renew more markers than everyone else. After all, lording victory over Tigerclaw is a rare joy no other apprentice gets.

But While Sandpaw takes a moment to stalk her third soon-to-be fresh kill, she hears Tigerclaw 2 tree lengths away, with Firepaw and Whitestorm about to go ahead without her.

     Ahh...I shouldn’t rush this hunting, but I also want to them to get a lead on me...I just need to wait and then strike with no hesitation. That’s the best anyone can ask of me now.

     "Don't get lost on your way back to camp!"

     Oh that's it!

     "Don't treat me like a kit! You haven't wont yet."

The moment She gets the chance to bury her fresh kill and Sandpaw scampers behind to complete the task at hand.

By the time the last scent marker is renewed, no one feels particularly in the mood for another race around the border to unbury the fresh kill. The two warriors and two apprentices take a calmer pace around the border this time around.

     Tigerclaw may have gained a lead over me at the last leg, but I definitly got more fresh kill. Though of course if I tried to bring that up he’d probably make some comment about how the purpose of the Dawn Patrol is to Patrol and not hunt even though we both know it's a point of pride for both of us. Plus, I bet even Whitestorm and Firepaw caught more prey than him, which means he’ll never admit to this being a competition he was taking part in.

Speaking of Whitestorm and Firepaw, the two strike up a conversation during the walk in the forest.

     “Firepaw I must say, you’ve exceeded my expectations. I was worried that I’d need to balance between keeping these two mousebrained in line and making sure you didn’t fall behind, but you actually kept up pace despite this being only your first day as an apprentice. It was like you knew exactly where to go without me telling you. From the way you moved with such familiarity through the terrain you could’ve convinced me that you were forest-born.”

     Yeah, Whitestorm’s usually just there to keep us civil, Firepaw did pretty well for a new apprentice for him to actually get the chance to chase Tigerclaw. 

     “Well, I did stay up late last night practicing.”

     Ah, that explains why you looked so empty minded when waking up.

     “Firepaw, while it’s commendable for you to make that effort, everyone needs sleep, especially for growing apprentices like you.”

     “Heh, don’t worry, I’ve stayed up late before. I know when I’ll have the time to nap if I wake up early.”

     His legs are shaking...I know that we said he’d need to go all out but he’s definitely going to be sore the next morning. 

     “Hmm, if you say so...Tigerclaw, Sandpaw, what do you think of our newest apprentice’s first time patrolling around our borders?”

     “...You moved with celerity and familiarity through the terrain. Almost as if this isn’t your first or even fourth time around our borders.”

Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes, focusing his glare at Firepaw. It instilled a feeling of discomfort in Sandpaw, and unconsciously felt compelled to defend him.

     “Did Starclan show you the best way around the borders?”

Whitestorm and Tigerclaw stopped in their tracks, realizing where she might go with this line of questioning. Firepaw himself was silent too, stoic and he considered his answer.

     “Well? Did they?”

     “Uh, no. I just had some weird dreams of cats in the forest, last night some orange and white pelted cat showed me around the border a few times. It was probably just my mind repeating that place over and over in order to remember it better.”

     “...Do you even know what Starclan is?”

     “The afterlife? The place warriors go when they die?”

     “Yeah. And they’re also well known for sending messages and prophecies through dreams. What? Did you think Starclan just walks down from the stars to talk to our medicine cats?”

     “I dunno. Maybe? Is that a thing?”

     “Pssh of course no-”

The forest is gone

The forest is dark

The forest is filled with the sounds of snarls and the sights of cats in the throes of battle

There is an orange and white spectral cat, about to deal a killing blow to a pale ginger cat.

     Mapleshade

The tortoiseshell and white cat is closer...she’s right below you.

But right before the tackle connects, the environment violently shifts from night to day as Sandpaw is face to face to Firepaw once again

     “-ot”

     What in Starclan’s name was that? Who’s Mapleshade? Was that a message from Starclan? Was that real? Why me? Why Now? Why not...

But her racing thoughts are interrupted 

     “Are you going to tell him or not?” Tigerclaw growled with impatience

     “...”

     “If you’re not going to get this moving, I’ll just say it. Firepaw was bound to hear about this eventually.”

Tigerclaw finishes his piece of fresh kill and returns to eyeing Firepaw

     “Right before you stumbled into our camp, Redtail was leading a border patrol. However, he was interrupted by a supposed vision of fire and a message that “Fire alone will save the clans”, he chose to leave his patrol incomplete and go immediately back to camp to announce it. At the same time Spottedleaf, our medicine cat who’s supposed to receive messages from Starclan, happened to claim that she had the same message. Though she failed to repeat it word for word.”

     Speaking of Spottedleaf I should probably talk to her about that weird vision I saw...even if she might be a bit miffed since I’m only an apprentice

Tigerclaw turns his face away from Firepaw before he continues

     “In all that confusion, you being the prophesied Fire was the most convenient and arguably the best explanation in terms of support and evidence.”

Tigerclaw’s stoic expression returns to being visible to Firepaw

     “You’ve got a lot of expectations and eyes on you, for everyone’s sake I hope you don’t crack under the pressure.”

Firepaw’s wary expression shifts into a confident smile

     “That’s fine by me, I already knew that everyone sees me as an outsider, that it wouldn’t be easy to gain everyone’s trust and respect. But that just means I have all the more reason to work hard and prove myself. No one will forget me if I have anything to say about it.”

Whitestorm speaks up, cutting through the conversation before it builds tension

     “Yeah, you’ll be the topic of gossip for the elders for moons to come I’m sure.”

     Heh, Whitestorm has another ambitious apprentice to rein in from constantly challenging Tigerclaw. He seems to be taking it in stride though Tigerclaw looks a bit tired at the prospect.

     “Looks like you’ve got a third apprentice vying for your attention Tigerclaw. Should I be jealous of your newfound popularity?”

     “I was always a well respected warrior of Thunderclan.”

     “Oh of course I’ve never known a time when you weren’t.”

Whitestorm’s sarcasm was palpable, Sandpaw chuckles at her mentor’s disarming humor. After Whitestorm’s quips were coupled with the apprentice’s exhaustion the rest of the walk went uneventfully.

That is, until they reached camp and the throbbing returned.

     BAh! I thought it was gone for good….whatever, this is fine. Just another reason to go see Spottedleaf.

Firepaw ends up walking with her towards the medicine den

     Because of course this headache has to reach its peak right before I make it go away. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Does he even need to go see Spottedleaf? I need to speak to her alone.

Right before the two apprentices reach the medicine den, Sandpaw speaks up

     “Hey kittypet, don’t you need to take a nap after your first patrol?”

Firepaw snaps to attention

     “Oh, Uhhh, yeah sure.”

But he doesn’t walks away, he’s stays still, leaving Sandpaw in an awkward position

     Yeash, get your kit fluff out of your head

     “What do you want?”

     “I….was just worried about...Tigerclaw.”

     What

     “Well, did he seem a bit off to you? Like he seemed dissatisfied with my situation? Or something?”

     “Pssh, Oh so that’s what you mean. Nah that’s just him being jealous, he’s not going to shred you for that kittypet. It’s not like you’re his apprentice or any-”

Firepaw is gone

The Camp is gone

The Camp is bathed in the light of the afternoon sun

The Camp is gathering all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey

Firepaw is facing Tigerclaw, boldly meowing

     “If you think he might have been helping Brokenstar then you are wrong!”

Tigerclaw stiffens, something gleams in his yellow eyes

     “Ravenpaw is dead,” Firepaw went on, dropping his head. 

     “We found his body on ShadowClan territory. From the scents around him, he must have been slain by a ShadowClan patrol.”

He looked at Bluestar

     “I will tell you everything later.” he promised

And with that promise, the vision comes to a close

     “..thing. He’s just going to be the same stingy mange-pelt.” 

Sandpaw finished with diminished energy towards the end of her sentence and is left in a stunned silence

     Another one? Ravenpaw is dead? Starclan is this a warning? Is this what these headaches are? Is that why it goes away when these warnings come? Or is it just an effect of the warnings, that it clears my mind?

Firepaw interrupts her racing thoughts this time

     “Did you remember something?”

Which comes with the unfortunate effect of reigniting the headache

     “Yeah! I remembered that I was going to tell an annoying kittypet to Go AWAY!”

Sandpaw stomped towards the medicine den, hoping to get feverfew as soon as possible

Though the prospect isn’t so appealing to Spottedleaf

     “Wait uh what are you here for again?”

     “I need some more feverfew, it worked wonders before but the pain is back again.”

     “I gave you an amount that should’ve lasted you the entire day. If you’re still feeling pain I’d recommend drinking water from moss and rest.”

     “But it’s just as bad as before.”

     “Then clearly it isn’t working as a long-term solution.”

     “But it worked so well earlier.”

     “Hey, who’s the medicine cat here? You or me?”

Sandpaw rolled her eyes and sighed heavily

     “Whine and sigh all you want. I’m not going to empty out my stores just to make you more sick. If you want, you can lie here in the medicine den to get some peace and quiet, but that’s it.”

     “Fine! I’ll lay down, I wanted to talk to you about something else anyways.”

     “Oh? About what? Firepaw?”

     “Augh, don’t say his name.”

     “Why not? It’s pretty clear you hold something against him to yell at him in the middle of camp. It’s not like you, sure you tease all the other apprentices but it’s rare to see you genuinely upset at any of them. Do you have something particular against kittypets?”

     “I didn’t lash out at him because he’s a kittypet, this is going to sound dumb, but I hate him because thinking about him gives me a headache for some reason. Add the fact that everyone’s been talking about him and him seemingly following me for no reason was the last straw.”

     well no that’s not right. There was a bit more to that, but I should wait until the excitement dies down.

     “Our new apprentice gives you a headache huh? You must find ginger cats soooo obnoxious.”

     “Pff, you forget that I myself am a pale ginger cat.”

     “Yeah that’s part of the joke, I’m saying that you get annoyed at him and yourself.”

     “I don’t hate myself!” 

     “And yet your reactions seem to only betray you. But don’t worry I’m not going to force you to listen on about my babbling on your unusually high desire to prove yourself.”

     “Isn’t that just a normal warrior thing?”

     “Perhaps, perhaps not. The point is that you should take some time to slow down and really think, not just about others but yourself. And what better time to do that than when you’re stuck in the medicine den with me and your headache.”

     “Augh, shut up don’t remind me that it’s there.”

     “Oh is my company too much for you? Fine then, I only have one last thing to ask and we can both be left to our own thoughts.”

     “What is it?” Sandpaw grumbled

     “What were you and our new apprentice talking about, you two sounded fine right before the outburst.”

     “Oh that? The kittypet was just telling me that he was worried about Tigerclaw. Guess he actually was a bit intimidated by him even as he boasted about becoming the greatest warrior. I probably would’ve acted the same way the first time I met him, but I reassured him that Tigerclaw is basically just like Dustpelt, rude but means well.”

Spottedleaf rolled her eyes

     “I understand why Tigerclaw is so popular with you apprentices, but his mentoring style still doesn’t sit right with me.”

     “Eh, he can be harsh but he’s fair.”

     “Yeah tell that to Ravenpaw.” 

     Ravenpaw…

     “Uh Speaking of Ravenpaw, I wanted to talk to you about this weird vision I’ve had.”

     Oh Spottedleaf please don’t be mad

To Sandpaw’s surprise, Spottedleaf’s face gained a curious and perhaps an excited expression on her face rather than a tired one. Leaving her in a moment of stunned confusion.

     “Oh? Then let’s hear it.”

Spottedleaf takes a look around to see no one’s approaching before sitting down

     “Tell me all about it.”

Seeing her kind expression seemed to lift a weight off Sandpaw’s shoulder, and lessens the pressure on her mind that she’d already acclimated to.

     “I’ve had two visions, one I had during my walk back from the Dawn Patrol, and another right before my outburst with Firepaw.”

Spottedleaf remained still, as she listened with a small smile on her face

     “In the first one I was out in the same Thunderclan forest but it was nighttime, and there were sounds of fighting cats everywhere and also these...water-like cats in the mix too, what I mean by that is that...it was as if I could see through them a bit. And I was running towards an orange and white, one who had pinned a molly to the ground. I somehow recognized the see-through cat as “Mapleshade” and when I went to tackle her, the vision ended.”

Spottedleaf nodded calmly, as if this bit of news didn’t perturb her at all

     “In the second one I saw Firepaw talking to Tigerclaw and Bluestar and...he said Ravenpaw was dead. That he died at the hands of a Shadowclan patrol.”

Spottedleaf furrowed her brows at that description, breaking her unmoving expression

     “Was there anything else?”

     Am I forgetting something?

     “Oh! Yeah Firepaw said something about Ravenpaw not working with Brokenstar before revealing he’s dead.”

     “Hmmm...did Firepaw say anything to you in this vision?”

     “Uhhh no. He didn’t even look at me.”

     “That’s..unusual.”

     “Heh, I think we crossed that territory a while ago.”

Spottedleaf’s concerned face soften

     “That’s true enough.”

     “So what do you think it means? Are these a warning from Starclan? I Think they might have something to do with my headache since it went away completely in the second one even though I was in camp. Do you think I’ll get more? Do you know who Mapleshade is?”

Then Spottedleaf and Sandpaw hear the sounds of shifting little pawsteps

     “Hold that thought Sandpaw, I think an adventurous little kit has made their way out of the nursery.”

Spottedleaf scours through the nooks and crannies of her den to find a little black and white kit hiding.

     “Swiftkit! Found you!”

     “What? You don’t see me! I’m hiding!”

     Yes and that makes you completely undetectable.

     “Sorry to break it to you Swiftkit but medicine cats can see all kinds of hidden cats. Now how’d you sneak your way out of the nursery and into the medicine den?...”

     We should speak to whoever let him out of their sight, he’s barely a moon old

     “... How much did you hear?”

     “I’m not telling you!”

     “Well then let me tell you this then. Medicine cats may be merciful, but they do not always need to be kind. I could tell Goldenflower all about your escapades or call upon the might of Starclan against you.”

     I can’t imagine Goldenflower or Patchpelt or honestly anyone in the nursery letting him out...

     “Nooooo” he mewed

     “Or I could forget this ever happened, if you do. It could be our little secret, whoever helped you out of the nursery will be left without our cool story. After all, you were the one brave enough to venture off on your own, you get to keep it all to yourself. Does that make sense?”

     “Ye-yes!” His eyes widening with joy as he realizes he’s not in too much trouble

     “Alright, then you best be off now. Get back to the nursery before I change my mind.”

     “Of course!” 

And He scampers out in little short bursts

     “Kits! They’re all just little bundles of trouble.”

Spottedleaf complained with a smile on her face and a pep in her step, leading to Sandpaw speaking for the first time since the discovery of Swiftkit

     “You still remember what it’s like to be a wide-eyed kit though don’t you? To dream of being a great warrior like your parents and become lead-”

Spottedleaf is gone

The medicine den is gone

The medicine den is refurbished

The medicine den has someone else inside

They speak

     “You know Spottedpaw, you’ve shown great prowess at memorizing herbs and staying level headed. Would you be interested in becoming a medicine cat?”

     “Sorry Featherwhisker but there’s no way I’d do that. I’m on my way to being the greatest warrior in Thunderclan!”

The tom nods his head in understanding before the den around him disappears. The surroundings chip away into a white void and even he himself is whited out.

     “-er…”

Spottedleaf raised an eyebrow

     “Quite an unusual pause in the middle of a word. Did something catch your eye? Like another vision perhaps?”

     “Was it that obvious?”

     “To me at least. It’s been a while but I do have some experience with visions at inopportune times. So tell me what you saw.”

     “I saw...Featherwhisker talking to you. I was seeing things through your eyes. He was asking if you’d be interested in becoming a medicine cat and you said a wholehearted no.”

     Heh...Isn’t that hilarious in hindsight

Spottedleaf remained silent, leading Sandpaw to believe she wants her to elaborate more

     “I guess it all happened when I was just thinking about you being young and wanting to be the greatest warrior like everyone else. And so Starclan showed me a vision of just that. I guess they just really wanted to prove me right...haha?”

The awkward laughter is made even more awkward when Spottedleaf remains stoic in the face of it

     Is she mad? Is she starting to think all of this was fake?

     “Oh Spottedleaf please believe me. I didn’t make this all up just to get attention or prove a point!...I would never-”

Spottedleaf raises a paw to Sandpaw’s face

     “Calm down, I’m not mad just concerned. Before we discuss your vision I want to double check on your headache. Has it surged?”

     “Oh! Uh...Yeah it did get worse,but not more than earlier today, and it’s not the worst it’s been.”

     “I see. I think you may want to clear your head a bit before I tell you what I think.”

     “Really? But I thought you weren’t going to give me more feverfew.”

     “And I won’t. Just be sure to get some Rest and water. I know on it’s own isn’t fast acting, but I know that a nap and some light stretching should be enough for now.”

     Sounds more like stalling to me

     “Alright Spottedleaf fine, I was feeling drowsy anyways.”

     “Good. And if I’m not here when you wake up, just wait for me I won’t be long.”

     “Wait you’re leaving?”

     “Yes, I have to inform a bit of this to Bluestar and Redtail. Don’t worry I won’t tell anything incriminating, just what’s necessary.”

     “Yeah that makes sense”

     “Ok have a nice nap!”

     “Bye Spottedleaf.”

And Sandpaw collapses back into the bedding.

     Well I’m glad she’s not angry, but clearly she’s worried about something. But why was that one so worrying. It was the most straightforward of all three. The first two were full of violence, or warnings of death. This one was just a mundane conversation….Hmm I guess she must’ve been weirded out by the fact that I somehow got Her memory shown to me. It was always weird for me to be shown visions when Starclan could’ve just shown them to Spottedleaf. Why aren’t they sharing with her? Are they trying to tell me Spottedleaf isn’t meant to be a medicine cat? Or that I Am? UGh this is all so confusing and I just want this headache to go away I can’t think like this!

Sandpaw stares at the ceiling, waiting for her conscious to fade away

When Sandpaw woke up she heard a familiar face

     “The great warrior Sandpaw, sleeping in, the rarest sight of all.”

Sandpaw rolled to her side grumbling as she greeting the dark brown tom

     “I didn’t sleep in, I still got to go on the Dawn Patrol.”

     “Yeah and how’d that go for you? I told you to not come crying to me if you tried to go after sleeping late and had a headache already.”

Sandpaw gets out of her bedding and straightens out her back to an angle reminiscent of a playground slide, putting her head near the ground while stretching her legs.

     “I didn’t come crying to you, you came to me!”

That contradiction broke Dustpaw’s smug attitude

     “Well! You! Shut up I was worried about you! You weren’t in the training hollow or on patrol! And it took me forever to even consider the medicine den because you never want to spend much time there!”

     “Rest for the great warrior Sandpaw and Concern from the great warrior Dustpaw. Guess there’s a first time for everything.”

     “Hmph! Just tell me you’re ok so I can go and leave you alone.”

     “Pff as if you can even pretend to do that.”

Sandpaw chuckled, with the disorienting feeling of waking up receding

     “Though in all seriousness Dustpaw I’m glad to see you visit.”

He huffed and rolled his eyes

     “Of course I did, you’re my best friend. Plus…”

He smirked

     Ah his smugness has recovered

     “I couldn’t pass up the chance to gloat to you about my amazing day without you.”

     “Oh yes, I’m sure you must’ve felt like you were in Starclan, no more troubles without me.

     “Yeah too bad you weren’t in Starclan and reduced to dirt.”

     you wanna go there do you? Alright it’s on

     “Too bad a Shadowclan patrol didn’t shred your belly and fed what’s inside to their kits”

     “Too bad you weren’t crushed by a monster.”

     “Too bad you weren’t a kittypet.”

     “By Starclan’s word! The worst one yet, Looks like I’ll have to concede this one to you Sandpaw.”

     He let me win that...he’s trying to cheer me up

     “Well I suppose as the winner of this battle I make the terms of your surrender.”

     “What cruel fate do you have in store for me?”

     “Oh nothing too brutal, just all of your fresh kill, future kits and land belongs to me. Or you can tell me about your day. What’d I miss out on?”

     “Well I suppose I have no choice but to give up my fresh kill and territory.”

     Starclan’s sake shut uuuppppp

     “And be sure to take care of my unborn kits. They’re precious to me already.”

     “Are you done yet?”

     “Nope I still have to curse you, your clan, and anyone who you ever come across for an entire moon straight.”

     “So I’m never going to hear about your day”

     “Haha nah, I did say I came here to gloat. I’m not giving that up.”

     “You actually have something to gloat about? You really must’ve been up in starclan without me, where else could you actually catch prey?”

     “Shut up, I’m not that bad at hunting you’re just way too good at it. Besides, I always have things to gloat about, it’s just today was especially great.”

     “Alright then tell me what amazing thing happened in your day.”

     “Well, Redtail actually took me out on a private training session and…”

Dustpaw’s eyes darted around before continuing

     “...he taught me a secret fighting technique that he said only he knew.”

     “Pssh he’s just saying that to make you feel special.”

     “Nuh uh! It was really cool and I’ve never seen anything like it! You’re just jealous because I’m a better fighter than you.”

     “You’re not a better fighter, you're just more careful.”

     “Pssh, funny way to say that you’re too reckless in battle the same way I’m too reckless at hunting. Still makes you worse at it.”

     “Yeah well I spend my time with the most well rounded and strongest warriors in camp, I’ll catch up to you in no time.”

     “Just because you go on dawn patrol with Tigerclaw and Whitestorm doesn’t mean they’re suddenly both your mentor.”

     “Well it’s not like he’s getting much done with Ravenpaw…”

     ...Is that why he gets killed? No that’s mouse brained, Tigerclaw would never try to kill his apprentice. 

     “I know we both wanted Tigerclaw to mentor us when we were kits but...”

Dustpelt lowers his voice to a whisper

     “....don’t tell anyone this but I think they’re both probably better mentors than Tigerclaw.”

     “Oh yeah, in all seriousness I wouldn’t trade Whitestorm for anyone.”

     “Same here, Who else could teach me this technique I’ve never seen before.”

     “...ANY Mentor? Just because you’ve never seen anything like it doesn’t mean it’s a secret that only you and Redtail know about. For example, I’ve never watched a kitting but that doesn’t mean no one else knows or has seen one before.”

     ‘I know, but he said it’s something that’s taught only from mentor to apprentice, that it works best when even others in the clan don't know.”

     “That only makes me more suspicious of this secret technique Redtail supposedly gave you. Making it so not even other clanmates can know just means other clanmates can’t tell you that it’s actually common”

     “Uh no, this technique is just designed to catch others by surprise and incapacitate your own clanmates in the event that they’re suspected of something.”

     “Why would we ever need a secret technique like that? If there was a suspected traitor in our midst, we could just band together and take them down all at once. Come on Dustpaw, just because Redtail is deputy doesn't mean he has secret special techniques to pass down to you.”

     “Well you’re just jealous that I got the deputy as a mentor, that’s why you’re dismissing him.”

     “Hah! Redtail may be our deputy, but that doesn’t mean he’s the best mentor. I’d even bet all the fresh kill in the world that Whitestorm is a better mentor.”

     “Really?”

     “Really.”

     “Prove it.”

     “How?”

     “I don’t know, you were the one who said that Whitestorm is a better mentor, you figure out how to prove it to me.”

     “Ugh fine, you and me will go on a hunting patrol and-”

     “No way you’re the best at hunting, pick something we’re both good at.”

     “Bluh, fine. The gathering is coming up soon, whoever gathers the coolest secrets or stories from the other clans wins.”

     “Fine!”

     “Fine!”

     “...”

     “...”

     “So… how was your day? I mean, I know that you went on the Dawn Patrol, yelled at the kittypet and then went to the medicine den, but how’d that last part happen? Was the medicine den all just one big excuse to stay away from him?”

     “Oh, no it’s not about him, I just had a really bad headache and he was making it worse.”

     “Typical kittypet, doesn’t know when to stop talking.”

     “Well actually he was somewhat hesitant to talk to me.”

     “Typical kittypet, doesn’t have the courage to start talking.”

Sandpaw breaks into a heaving laugh

     Starclan! That sounded so stupid yet so funny I don’t know why

     “Dustpaw, I know we both just want to find an excuse to hate him, but even you have to admit that what you just said sounded pretty dumb.”

     “I...Ugh I hate it when you’re right like this.”

     “Heh, don’t worry I’m sure you’ll get the chance to counter me like this again.”

     “Yeah! At the Gathering!”

     “Yup, but as I was saying, I went to the medicine den for some feverfew because it worked really well earlier. But Spottedleaf just told me to get some rest for the headache instead since she won’t empty out her stores for me. Saying something about how if it didn’t work all day it won’t work any better now.”

     “Are you feeling better?”

     “Mmm it’s been coming in and out, but it’s definitely been the worst it’s ever been since you woke me up.”

     “Oh Shut up, don’t act like a smartears I’m asking if you’re ok.”

     “Alright, in all seriousness it really has been inconsistent, the only thing I really understand is that rest helps a bit but not as much as the feverfew and a few other things can make it feel better or worse.”

     “Like what?”

     “Uh, like the kittypet’s ramblings, though his voice didn’t bother me at all when we were on Dawn Patrol together.”

     “Why’s that? What made you feel Better?”

     “Well I took some feverfew right before the Dawn patrol so I felt fine the entire time. The headache went away completely.”

     “Is that the only thing that made you feel better?”

     “Well...uh.”

     Should I tell Dustpaw about my visions temporarily alleviating the pain? Would he think less of me? Would he think that means I can’t be a warrior? Oh how would he react to the second one? 

     “I told Spottedleaf about them, but she told me to keep it a secret.”

     “So you’re keeping a secret too huh?”

     “I guess so.”

     “...Redtail and Spottedleaf are Littermates right?”

     “Yeah, our deputy and medicine cat are littermates. They seem pretty close”

     “What if Your secret has to do with Redtail’s secret technique and Spottedleaf’s making sure you don’t spread it around.”

Sandpaw scoffed

     “My Secret has nothing to do with your mouse brained secret technique Dustpaw!”

     “Really? Can you be totally sure? Why don’t we tell each other our secrets to make sure?”

     “No way! I don’t even think your secret is that much of a secret anyway!”

     “Nuh uh it totally is!”

     “Why don’t you tell me what it is then?”

     “Because it’s a big secret, you gotta tell me yours first.”

     “Nope. Not doing that.”

     “Sandpaw pleeease, I really want to know. You can trust me to keep a secret. If anyone tries to get your secrets from me I’ll just claw their face.”

     Or you’ll just forget that it’s a secret and reveal it to them if they’re a senior warrior

     “Look Dustpaw, Spottedleaf asked me to keep it a secret. I’m not just going to give it to you, even if you’re my best friend I’m going to at least first ask her if it’s ok.”

     “But isn’t it your secret?”

     “Yeah, but-

     “Well I should hope you aren’t just giving out secrets willy nilly, otherwise my efforts to remain discreet would feel pointless.”

Sandpaw and Dustpaw stop arguing and turn to see Spottedleaf at the opening of the medicine den

     “Dustpaw, could you give me and Sandpaw some privacy?”

     “Oh uh, sure.”

He points to Spottedleaf on the way out, obviously asking Sandpaw to ask her for permission to share the secret.

     “I see you’re awake from your nap.”

     “Yeah, I’ve had some...help waking up.”

     “Are you feeling better?”

     “A bit, though the headache is still there it’s more manageable now.”

     “Alright then I think it’s time we talk about your latest vision.”

Spottedleaf lowers her voice to a hushed whisper

     “By the time Featherwhisker first asked me if I wanted to be a medicine cat, I was sure of it. I was sure I wanted to be a medicine cat so I said yes. Do you know what this means?”

     “Not...exactly?”

     “It means that this is a memory of mine, yet not a memory of mine.”

     “What does that even mean? That doesn’t make any sense.”

     “That’s true. It’s a confusing mystery.”

Sandpaw felt her heart drop

     “So you don’t know what it means?”

     “Bluestar and I have a few ideas, but I’m not completely sure. I’ll get back to you after the half moon moonstone meeting. You have a hunting patrol to get to.”

     “But what about my headache? It’s still there.”

     “You were prepared to go on patrol without it. But alright, I guess for indulging me you can have a smaller bit of feverfew.”

Spottedleaf hands Sandpaw less than half the amount of feverfew then before

     Eh it’ll have to do. I wanted to get out of this stuffy den for a while already.

     “Alright, Thanks Spottedleaf. Bye!”

     “May Starclan light your path.”