My new Warriors stories: The Light Saga!

Smokesky paced pack and forth, impatient. "We've been in the Tribe of Rushing Water for two days, and this leader medicine cat of theirs won't see us!" he complained.
"Calm down." Ashfall said.
"I will not calm down! Unless we see this guy, or something really good happens, I am not calming down!" Smokesky almost yelled.
Windclaw looked at Ashfall, and nodded to her. Ashfall nodded back.
"I have something good to share." Windclaw said.
Smokesky sighed. "Is it about one of your friends? Hawk That Soars in the Sky? Feather Falling from Eagle?"
"No, it's about myself and Cinderflame." she replied.
Stormcloud gave her a hard stare.
"I...I think I'll save it for later." Windclaw said, staring back at Stormcloud.
"What is it?" Cinderflame asked. Windclaw never took her eyes off of Stormcloud, former WindClan Clan mate to her.
"Forget it." Windclaw said.
Smokesky groaned and paced. The tan tom entered the cave they stayed in, from earlier.
"Rushing Water from the Falls." Cinderflame said.
"Rush, what do you want?" Stormcloud asked, looking at him.
The cat sighed "Teller is ready to see you."
The cats almost jumped for joy, but forced themselves to stay grounded. They followed their new friend into a cave, and in the end was a big room with pointed stones all over. From the ceiling and the ground. A few small pointed stones on the walls. A gray, almost black, tabby cat walked up to them.
"Teller of Pointed Stones?" Windclaw asked.
"Yes, I am he. Please state your business and leave. We cannot afford to feed you with Time of Frozen Water just about here." the tom replied. Smokesky almost growled, but Cinderflame interrupted.
"We were seeking shelter for a while. We are traveling across the mountain searching for lions." he said.
The Teller thought. "I have heard of these 'lions' before. Dangerous. They've mostly died out, or fled to the other side of the mountain. You went towards the waterfall? Climb up on the rocks and keep going. This is no place for you, 'Clan'-dwellers. You may eat and take one bird with you to eat later. Then I do not want to see you here."
The cats nodded and left. "Bad attitude, huh?" Silverpaw said.
"Yeah, what's with him?" Dawnpaw agreed.
"Think he slept on the wrong side of the rock?" Featherpaw joked. The apprentices laughed, except Swirlpaw. She was pretty silent since her mother died...since she turned into a lion cub.
"Do not joke." Stormcloud said. "He was serious, and so we must be. Show respect."
The apprentices fell silent and grabbed a bird.

"Good-bye, Windclaw!" a calico she-cat called.
"Good-bye, Feather Falling from Eagle! Happy hunting!" Windclaw called back.
The she-cat smiled. "Remember to tell him, this Cinderflame of yours!"
"Alright!" Windclaw called back.
"Tell me what?" Cinderflame asked as the cats climbed up a set of rocks beside the waterfall.
"I'm having your kits." Windclaw said, reaching the top. The cats stared at her, except Ashfall. She smiled and jumped across stones coming out of the waterfall's top, like a river.
The cats all got up, and were silent. "Keep up, or we'll leave you behind!" Windclaw called back. The apprentices rushed over and then the older cats.
"You...You're what?" Cinderflame asked.
Windclaw turned around. "I'm expecting your kits, do I have to say it again? Now get your tails in gear, we have to find these lions of yours!"

"Three days and no lion." Windclaw said.
"Stop complaining." Stormcloud said.
Smokesky growled. "You sure they moved? Maybe they're at the top." The cats looked up. Silverpaw felt dizzy and fell to the ground. He felt bitterly cold, but warm. He was surprised the snow didn't melt under him.
"Silverpaw!" Cinderflame exclaimed.
"Shut it, you'll make the snow fall and kill us all." Windclaw whispered. Cinderflame almost growled, but didn't. Ashfall ran up to the apprentice, and put her nose on his forehead. She licked him and turned to the others. "Fever. He's sick. We have to go back to the Tribe and get him herbs."
"No way! They kicked us out!" Cinderflame said. He was sick of hearing the cats saying they wanted to go back.
"Calm down!" Windclaw said.
"No, I will not calm down!" he almost yelled. "You've been hiding kits from me for ages, we've been looking for lions for a long time, and we're stuck on a mountain with a sick apprentice. I will not calm down!"
The cats froze as they heard a rumble. Ashfall ran away from it, urging Windclaw to follow. Stormcloud almost pushed the apprentices trying to get them over by the safe cats, and then himself.
Silverpaw remained in the snow, coughing. Smokesky saw his brother pick up the sick apprentice and bolted over to the others. But Cinderflame was walking, scared as he heard the rumbling get louder. He looked up and saw the snow falling. He tried running, but the snow was falling faster.
Windclaw cried out as Cinderflame and Silverpaw were buried in the snow, and she saw their bodies carried off the side of the mountain. The rumbling got louder, still. The cats ran for it, except Windclaw, still grieving.
"Come on!" Ashfall said, nudging her. Windclaw took a step backwards, then the two turned and fled.

Windclaw laid down in the cave, face buried in her paws. Of all cats, Stormcloud laid next to her. "I'm so sorry." he said. "For Cinderflame and for being so harsh."
Windclaw nodded, sadly, and Stormcloud licked her ear. He laid his head on his paws, by hers, and fell asleep. The she-cat did not sleep well.
She woke in the middle of the night, cold, hungry, saddened. She'd seen the dread moment in her dreams, and her mate's face never left her. His voice haunted her and she went outside. She looked at all the cats, then at the snow-covered path. She looked at the sky to StarClan and prayed for his safety and care in their hands. There was no way they survived. The apprentice without a doubt, but if Cinderflame lived the fall, he'd die of the cold, his wounds, or of hunger.
Windclaw padded back inside, dodging the sleeping cats and walked up to Smokesky, the night's guard. He looked at her, sadness written in his eyes. "You...you doing okay?" he asked.
"Y-yeah. I'll live." Windclaw replied, not looking at him. She looked at her paws. Smokesky lifted her chin with his tail.
"Hey, think happy thoughts. It'll be alright. Cinderflame's fine wherever he is. Silverpaw, too. Our brothers are doing great." Smokesky smiled.
Windclaw stared at him. "O-our brothers?"
"You're part of our big, happy family now. You were my brother's mate, right? And those kits are his, right? You made up with Stormcloud, which must mean he's accepted you too." the tom said. He gave a bigger smile, and Windclaw smiled too. She licked the snow from her jet black paw and looked back up at Smokesky.
"Thanks...brother." she said.
Smokesky nodded, and Windclaw looked back at Stormcloud. She looked at her paws and curled up by Smokesky. The tom purred to cover up the sound of the thrashing wind, and Windclaw easily fell asleep.

Smokesky and Windclaw led the cats, always next to each other. Smokesky was the cheer-bringer of the group, mostly, and always had uplifting words for the queen.
Ashfall noticed her belly getting a bit bigger, but not as much as a normal cat due to the lack of food on their trip down the mountainside. Or maybe there were only a couple of kits? She shook her head and trudged on, feeling tired and weak. She ran past Smokesky to get her blood pumping and she felt a bit warmer. She thought of fire and summer and the sun. She warmed up, but not enough to warm her freezing body.
She fell back to Smokesky and Windclaw. Windclaw was laughing softly, scared of snow falling on them again. The other night, she woke up breathing so heavily that Ashfall was scared she was going to pass out. When she ashed, it was a nightmare about them all being blown away by the snow and being carried down the mountain.
"Hi, Ashfall." Windclaw said.
Smokesky nodded to his sister.
"Hey, you think we're getting close?" Ashfall asked. "Just wondering. We're obviously going downwards, but I mean do you think we're making really good progress?"
"Well, I think if we picked up the pace a bit, we'd be alright." Windclaw said. She looked at the cats lagging behind her.
Smokesky shrugged. "Once we see more birds, I'll say we're pretty close to the bottom."
Windclaw smiled. "Well, by the time we've reached the bottom, we'll be well-fed with all your bird talk."
Ashfall didn't say any more and went back to the cats. They sped up and progressed as Windclaw suggested. They passed a cave, but Smokesky pressed them on and they saw a big bird at sunset. Dawnpaw caught it, and the cats feasted. But no den in sight. Windclaw forced herself forward, and found a hole. It was smaller than the one they crammed into before they met the Tribe. She went inside. It'd fit her the apprentices, a few warriors if they slept on top of one another.
Windclaw reported it, and they all stopped by it. Dawnpaw, Featherpaw, and Swirlpaw went inside and pressed together. There was room for-
"Windclaw." Smokesky said. "Get in."
She shook her head. "Stormcloud needs it-his pads are cracking more than ours."
"No." the fluffy tom said. "I'll sleep outside with the others, don't you worry about me." As Windclaw was about to protest, the tom nudged her inside and made sure she was laying down and comfortable as she could be given lack of space. Smokesky laid in front of the opening for shelter from the wind and another night on guard-he volunteered.
"Smokesky, you need sleep. Move!" Ashfall said.
"No, I'll be fine. You care for Father and go to bed." he said, feeling uncomfortable on the cold rock.
Ashfall laid by him. "You like Windclaw, huh?" she whispered in her brother's ear. He flicked his ear.
"As family." he whispered.
"As more. And now that Cinderflame's dead, you can snuggle up with his mate!" she whispered, softly hissing.
Smokesky's eyes went wide. "No, it's not like that!" he whispered.
"'Course it is! She's grieving and you're cheering her up and being all protective over her." Ashfall said, getting irritated.
"We're all grieving! And Stormcloud's just as protective! He's just still warming up to her." Smokesky hissed. "Go to sleep and stop worrying, I won't do anything to her."
Ashfall gave him a cold stare and padded off to sleep by Stormcloud. She slept well, but growled a bit in her sleep.

"Hey, look! I think I see green!" Featherpaw called, excited. "We're almost to the bottom!"
The cats smiled, except Ashfall. "But we didn't find lions."
Everyone stared at her.
"Well, it's true. We went through the mountain without seeing a single lion or any big cat like it!" the she-cat angrily stormed forward, but was stopped by a light tan figure.
"Are you seeking me?" it growled.
Windclaw walked up to it, followed by Swirlpaw. "Please, do not harm us. We were looking for lions. Our family was descended from them, and we were wondering if you had insight of the prophecy or-"
"The dark swirl? That is what you speak of?" the big cat asked.
"Are you a lion?" Swirlpaw asked.
The cat smiled. "I am, indeed. But we are rare. Moved to different mountains. I am but one of a few left here."
Smokesky padded up to the lion. "So, can you help us?"
"No." the lion said plainly. "The prophecy is under your very noses and we lions must have no input. StarClan has spoken."
They stared in awe. "You...you believe in StarClan?" Ashfall asked.
"Yes. They were the ones to give the prophecy, after all."

The cats were walking down the last of the rocky path, starting to be covered by trees, starting to grow green leaves of New-leaf.
"Ah, the sun has never felt so good on my fur!" Windclaw said happily, the apprentices bolting down the path. "What's that water?" she asked.
Ashfall looked over. There was a big pool of water, with a moorland, and marshland on the sides. And look! So many rivers...
"It's a lake." Smokesky said, walking to the grass. It felt so nice and cool on his paws. The first in what seemed like forever, everyone was looking for a nice place to stay that was big, roomy, and had plenty of soft things to lay on.
Cats had already started gathering moss and feathers.
Windclaw kept thinking of what the lion said. StarClan planned all of this? But...it's just...why did we meet a lion if he just said what he did, and leave? she thought. She kept going, and all of a sudden felt water on her toes. She looked up. The lake...she'd walked this far already? She shrugged and decided to walk around to the moorland and check things out on a place that reminded her of home...
No, not home. Not anymore. I left to come here, so I might as well call this home.
She caught plenty of mice and ate a lot of them. She was so hungry...but she wasn't the only one.

The cats reached the moorland and loved the wind in her fur. Stormcloud was enjoying the New-leaf breeze as well. The fluffy fur on him made him look like he was enjoying it more. Windclaw found dens and made sure they were safe. She plopped down in one where she got a good view of the horizon. She didn't know when she was having her kits, but she knew when they came, she'd be staring out at the horizon and naming them after what she saw there.
"I want to see the forest!" Dawnpaw said.
"Yeah!" Featherpaw agreed. "I want to see all the birds! Then the marshland!"
Swirlpaw didn't say anything. She was staring at the flatland a ways off and the rivers near it. She was a RiverClan cat by birth, from the other side of the mountains, her mother was born by the rivers, and it was where her father was born on the moors where her mother died. She didn't want to be here.
"I'll take them to the forest." Smokesky said. "If you all agree."
"And I'll stay here with Windclaw and Swirlpaw." Ashfall said, seeing Stormcloud walking towards the adventurers.
"No." Windclaw said, getting up. "You go with them. Swirlpaw and I will be fine."
Ashfall didn't like it, but finally said yes.

"Why'd you do that?" Swirlpaw asked once the cats were out of sight.
"Because we both want to go to the rivers." Windclaw replied. She realized what she said earlier of being home. It was too much like the Clans that she didn't like it. She missed the Clans so much..."
Swirlpaw smiled and they walked off towards the rivers. Windclaw noticed how much it looked like RiverClan. Maybe that's why she wanted to go. Lightheart was RiverClan, right?

The cats explored the dens. They made a few and pretended they were in the Clans again. But the fun ended pretty fast when Windclaw said she was kitting.
There were two kits, one was light gray with white mouth and paws and the other was snowy white. Both she-cats.
Swirlpaw licked the kits, but the gray one's breath got shallower and shallower until it stopped breathing altogether. The kit was dead. The other blinked its eyes open and they were bright blue.
Windclaw hurt, and Swirlpaw noticed she was bleeding. She went around the camp and grabbed a bunch of cobwebs, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Swirlpaw made sure the other kit was okay, then looked Windclaw in the eyes. It looked like they were fading.
"Swirlpaw..." she whispered. She stared past the apprentice. "StarClan want me...Cinderflame and StarClan. Swirl...Swirlmist. Care for Purekit for me...will you?" She managed to lick the apprentice's cheek and sighed, closing her eyes.
Swirlpaw cried out and felt her blood rushing. Her eyes started turning red and her fangs and claws began growing. She remembered the kit and forced herself to calm down and not get overwhelmed. She stopped changing and looked over at Purekit.
"So, you're Purekit, and my Warrior name is Swirlmist, huh?" she said, looking at the kit. She mewled. "Well, Purekit, I guess I'm your aunt. Rest up while I bury your mother and get you over to Ashfall. Maybe she can mother you for a while." She dragged her sister's lifeless body by the river, and began to dig. Purekit followed her, looking around frantically as if something was behind her.
Swirlmist noticed she tripped on a rock, and a few twigs. "Purekit, can you see alright?"
The kit mewled. She looked kind of unsure where she was, out of a small range, but finally looked her in the eye.
"Don't tell me you're blind!"

To be continued in Warriors: Voyager of Dreams

Warriors: Voyager of Dreams

A pure white she-cat laid on her mother's grave. She was grieving, even though she never met her mother. She bled her life out. Her little sister was next to her. She never had a name, but the she-cat always called her "Starkit" after the Warrior ancestors who had to take her.
"Puresoul, come on!" a tom called. It was her mother's brother, Dawnbreeze. Featherfluff, her mother's sister padded up next to her. "Puresoul, Swirlmist and Ashfall want you! Hurry it up!"
Puresoul nodded and smelled them out, following them in darkness. She was blind, born that way. She wasn't excited much to see her mother's sisters Ashfall and Swirlmist. But then, it was better than going hunting with her mother's oldest brother Smokesky or listening to her grandfather's constant stories. His memory was bad. He'd tell the same story everyday unless someone spoke up about it.

She heard a rustle in the bushes. "Scratch!" she said.
A tan lion tom came out of the bushes. "Hi, Puresoul. You remind me so much of your mother. I met her on the way here-"
"I remember the story, Scratch."
The lion laughed and joined the cats. "Surprised I'm tame?"
"Not too much. So long as you don't scratch my other ear tip off."

Puresoul padded around a field. It was a moor, filled with rabbits, white and brown. She could see the sun rising, and saw Stormcloud hunting a little ways off. Her fluffy grandfather was getting old, but she saw his pelt soft and flowing in the wind here.
Is this...a dream? she thought.
Stormcloud purred and took a bite of the rabbit, and a she-cat padded beside him. It was a white she-cat with jet black paws. "Windclaw, try this rabbit, it's so good!"
Windclaw! My mother! This must have been their home!
Puresoul didn't dare step out place. She'd be seen, and she knew it. Her mother took a bite. "This is good. How'd you catch it?"
Stormcloud shrugged. "My age seems to wear off in these dreams. Are...are you from StarClan or merely my dream?"
"What do you think?" a different she-cat said. A cream she-cat with a dark blue swirl padded up to them.
"Blueflame!" Stormcloud exclaimed. "I-I mean Lightheart!"
The she-cat nodded.
Swirlmist's mother...
"Stormcloud, we need you to watch over Puresoul." Lightheart said.
"My daughter has a destiny." Windclaw said. "A special one, unlike any other cat."
"Including myself and Swirlmist." Lightheart continued.
Puresoul dared herself and took a step for a better view. No one saw her.
"Stormcloud, her blood is of lions and cats alike." Windclaw said.
"Both RiverClan and WindClan run through her blood." Lightheart said.
The two she-cats stood next to each other and began to fade. "The dark swirl of blood will both save and destroy." they said at the same time.
"N-no! Don't leave me!" Stormcloud yelled. Puresoul ran after the cats, and pounced. The cats were gone, nothing left but memories. "Puresoul?"

Puresoul woke up, confused and in darkness once again. She sniffed. Swirlmist was standing above her. "Hey, Puresoul. You have any idea why Stormcloud woke up panting? No one else seems to know."
Puresoul remembered the dream. She shook her head. "Sorry."
"No, don't be. I still have to ask Scratch." the Lightheart look-alike said. "Want to come?"
"Sure." Puresoul said. She stood and lightly bit Swirlmist's tail. There were branches and the best way to get by them was over.

Scratch was sleeping. Swirlmist didn't like him too much, so Puresoul went into his cave. She heard him sleeping heavily, and hit a rock. She smelled blood, and lightly licked her bleeding toe. She continued over to the lion. She prodded him with her good paw. He shook his head and blinked his eyes open.
"Hey, Puresoul." he said, yawning. "You're bleeding." he said, licking her paw.
"Thanks, but do you know if anything happened to Stormcloud between moon high to dawn?" Puresoul asked, setting her paw down.
"No way, I was sleeping like every other cat around here." Scratch said.
Puresoul nodded and turned to leave. She knew it had to have been only a dream...right?

Puresoul followed the scents along the lake until she reached the forest. The cats moved there in Leaf-bare for shelter, but it was cooler in the shade in Green-leaf too. She laid down in the shade of a tree, sun trying to beat down on her unsuccessfully. She lazily closed her eyes, when she smelled something. She sat up and took a sniff. It was a horrible smell-the smell of smoke and ash. She felt heat on her, almost choking her. The forest was on fire. She ran to get out, but fire blocked her in every direction. She took a big breath, coughed, and took another. She held her breath and charged through the fire. She felt the flames scrape her fur and lick her skin. She kept her eyes closed tight and kept running. She felt the grass turn to rock, and the fire stopped. Puresoul stopped and coughed, looking back at the forest. Rock broke under her and she fell down into an enclosed area. She didn't have time to react properly and landed on her side, falling unconscious.

"Puresoul!" Scratch called. "Hey, Puresoul!" The lion padded through the river-filled land where she usually slept. He gave up and went to the moorland, where the others were searching for the she-cat.
A group of cats were sitting, talking and thinking of where she went. Cinderflame was the most worried. After all, Puresoul was his only daughter.
"We have to look in-"
"Hey, the forest!" Ashfall called out. There was smoke rising.
"No!" Cinderflame called, but Smokesky tackled him.
Swirlmist ran out to the forest, remembering Windclaw. She had to care for Puresoul. She felt she had to. Scratch followed. He finally couldn't take it. Scratch grabbed Swirlmist by the scruff and bolted off, leaving the rest of the following cats far behind.
Burnt leaved, trees, and bushes covered the forest. Smoke was rising from what was the cool, shady place. Ash covered the ground. Scratch set Swirlmist down and walked around. "Puresoul!" he yowled. "Puresoul!"
The cats looked all around the forest, the group of cats finally catching up to them.
"Did you find her!?" Cinderflame asked.
"No." Swirlmist said. "I don't know if she was here, but if she was, there's no way she made it out alive."

Puresoul blinked her eyes open. Ash was falling like snow-and she was covered in it. She got up, feeling the tip of her tail bent, her fur singed or burnt off, and searing pain from burnt skin and a broken front leg. She saved her strength, not daring to get up and find something else in pain or worse. She yowled, hoping, maybe, someone was around to hear. Whether it be a badger or fox to end her life, or a cat who could help.
She heard a rustle of bushes. She prayed to StarClan to let it be an ally and knew that both adoptive RiverClan and WindClan ran through her blood. She'd die being a half-Clan, and that was better than no Clan at all.
"Hey, it's her!" a tom's voice called.
Puresoul knew it right off-it was Scratch. The lion who loved her and wouldn't say it aloud much.
He ran down and sniffed her, picking her up by the scruff and bringing her to her family. The cats said so much Puresoul didn't understand much, but she let her head hang and her eyes closed. She fell unconscious of pain.

"Puresoul." a she-cat's voice said.
"What about her, Windclaw?" a tom asked. "What about you? I miss you!"
I'm...I'm in someone's dream again? Or my own? Puresoul thought.
"Cinderflame, she's hurt. She's more important than me." Windclaw said.
"No, I meant-"
Windclaw almost hissed. "You want a hard truth, I'll tell you one, but now's not the time! Puresoul is hurt and Ashfall and Swirlmist are the only ones tending to her! Why don't you talk to her or let Smokesky do it since he'd be better at it!"
Huh? What does she mean?
Cinderflame asked that very question.
"I can't tell you. I'm wasting my time. Puresoul will find out soon enough, and you won't have to be there for her anymore."
What? No, she's leaving! She can't leave with just that! What about Smokesky? What about me?

Puresoul began feeling conscious again. She felt a warm...something against her back. She sniffed lightly, her nose burned. It was Scratch, she thought, sleeping at her side. She blinked her eyes open, seeing nothing. But then, she thought she saw a blur of light. Then, dark again.
A cat padded into the den and she closed her eyes. By the sound of it, they were in the rocky Leaf-bare camp, the cat stepping on rocks.
"Hey, is Puresoul up yet?" a cat asked. Puresoul knew it was her father...or was he? What did mother mean? she thought.
Scratch said no. Plain and simple. Puresoul decided to act like she was still out. She didn't want to bring the dream up suddenly-what if he knew what it meant and it wasn't meant for her at all? And if Scratch heard...?
But Cinderflame didn't just leave. He laid down on a moss nest not far from her. "When do you think she'll wake?" he asked.
"Hm..." Scratch thought. "Soon, I hope. Her burns have healed, mostly, and fur is starting to grow again, but I still wonder why it's growing gray. Featherfluff is like a real Medicine Cat! I feel sorry for Puresoul-she had to wait for Featherfluff to come back from his exploration of the territories."
Cinderflame purred, and stared at Puresoul. She decided it was enough. She blinked her eyes open and flicked her ear.
"Puresoul!" Cinderflame exclaimed, licking her softly on the head-where most of her fur remained.
Puresoul didn't reply to him. "Scratch, can Cinderflame and I talk alone?"
Scratch hesitated, but got up and left. Puresoul waited for his footsteps to fade away and faced Cinderflame, considering her senses were off and she was probably staring at the wall behind him.
"When I was unconscious..." Puresoul started, coughing up some ash from the fire. "I wondered a dream, hiding in a bush on a moorland, I think. In my dreams, I can see...But I saw you and-and mother."
Cinderflame got tense.
"You asked about me...then her. She said I was more important than her and something about you talking to me or Smokesky doing it for you since he'd do better. What do you think she meant?" Puresoul felt it come down like a hawk or eagle, coming to snatch her father. He was silent, heart pounding.
"I-I don't know." he replied.
"Is my fur turning gray?" Puresoul asked.
"Y-yes. It's not dark, a very light gray." Cinderflame said. He stood up, and was just walking out when Puresoul couldn't take it.
"Are you my father?" she asked. It came out like she was a bit angry, but more curious and bothered by it.
Cinderflame stopped. He sighed. "I just don't know what Windclaw meant. And stop entering my dreams!"
Puresoul had her answer. She struggled to get up without pain and walked outside, using her nose to guide her to Smokesky, wherever he was. She had to ask him. Or Ashfall-she'd know. The two scents split at two dens, and she followed Ashfall's. Better safe than sorry.

Puresoul padded into the den, and a cat rushed up to her. "You shouldn't be walking! You need rest!" It was Ashfall alright.
"Are you alone?" Puresoul asked.
"Yes, why?"
"I need to talk to you alone."
Ashfall got her settled in her nest and sat in front of her. "Yes, go on." She shifted a bit from the cold stone.
Puresoul repeated the dream to Ashfall, coughing more dust and dirt in between. Ashfall scraped her paws on the ground. Puresoul grew impatient. She sat up. "Well, is he my father or not? What did Windclaw mean?"
"He is not!" Ashfall said, almost yelling. She calmed herself down as much as she could and continued. "She hid it to protect Cinderflame. Windclaw only told me about her and Smokesky, she didn't want to hurt Cinderflame. In the mountains, Windclaw had avoided Cinderflame and stayed around Smokesky for a while after she found out, feeling more comforted. She and Cinderflame made up after we left the Tribe. She, uh...she never told Smokesky."
Puresoul gasped and dug her claws into the rock.
"Maybe we should tell him now that it's out, huh?" Ashall said.
"No." Puresoul said, only half thinking about what she just said. "We'll, uh...we better wait. Smokesky..."
"He's hunting. I saw you were after him, but he left a while ago." Ashfall said. "When he gets back-"
"I'll talk to him tomorrow at dawn. Tell him I want to get back to hunting and want to go with him." Puresoul made up quick. At dawn, when they were awake, rested, and not hungry.
Am I doing the right thing?

Puresoul sniffed the air. Her nose was better, with just a little sting. She put it aside and got up, ready to try hunting again. She walked out of the den, and followed Smokesky's scent to his den. He was just waking up. He yawned, licked his paw, and got up.
"Ready?" he asked.
Puresoul nodded and they padded off to the moorland to hunt, filled with rabbits.

Puresoul heard only their breathing, and her heart pounding. She took in a deep breath and decided to make it up as she went along. "Smokesky...did you know my mother well?"
"Yes, she was like my best friend." Smokesky said.
"Was she ever more to you?" Puresoul asked. She didn't want to drop it on him like she did with Cinderflame.
Smokesky didn't reply for a bit. "Well, when we began our trip up the mountains, yes. For a while."
Puresoul swallowed hard. "She told Ashfall a secret about her. I had a dream and it was...odd. My mother told Cinderflame to talk to me and care for me more than mourning her. She told him to talk to her or ask you to do it for him since you'd be 'better at it'."
Smokesky looked at her, confused.
"Ashfall explained it to me...and we decided I should tell you." Puresoul took deep breath, nervous. "Smokesky, Cinderflame isn't my father. You are..."
Smokesky came to a complete stop, shocked. Puresoul stopped and looked at him.
"Cinderflame doesn't know. Only us three-you, me, and Ashfall." Puresoul said. She felt the sudden anger and sadness coming from him and took a step towards him.
Smokesky ran off, choking up. Puresoul ran after him, calling him. She suddenly couldn't trace his scent. She'd followed him to the rocky camp surrounded by forest. And just...nothing.
She smelled the air and ran to the bottom, safely. She smelled him again-with the scent of blood. She went over and it was Smokesky. She sniffed him all over, but it was too late. Smokesky must have fallen in blind rage and grief that he fell and broke his neck.
Puresoul silently wept, then felt eyes watching her. She turned, and recognized the scents. Ashfall, Cidnerflame, Stormcloud, everyone she'd grown up with, staring at her and the dead body.
"He fell." Puresoul said sadly. "He's gone."
Ashfall cried out and ran to his body, laying down and pressing her nose to his fur.
Cinderflame gave Puresoul an odd glare, then wept with his sister. Puresoul decided it was enough. She prayed silently to StarClan for her father, then jumped up on a high rock.
"Everyone!" she called out. "Everyone, listen to me. Wake up the sleeping and gather all who left."
"No one left, just you two!" Dawnbreeze said.
"Okay. Now listen." Puresoul began. "During the trip up the mountains, Windclaw, my mother, loved Smokesky and Cinderflame both. She talked to Ashfall a lot for support once she found out she was having kits. I learned I can walk others' dreams and in this I have recovered a secret. Cinderflame is my father's brother. Smokesky is my real father-and I told him this. In sadness and anger, he fell to his death. I am sorry, and I regret it, but I cannot be blamed for his death!"
Dawnbreeze growled. Featherfluff growled as well.
"And few of you know that Cinderflame barely managed to escape the fall off the mountains. Maybe...maybe it was best that he did. He was a good adoptive father and-"
"And you killed the real one!" Cinderflame yelled.
Everyone growled at her, hissed. All except one.
"Everyone stop!" Swirlmist yelled. But they didn't. "Puresoul..."
"I know a safe place to go...it's going to have to have getting used to, but-"
"JUST GO!" They two she-cats bolted out of the territory and towards the house. They reached the border, and Puresoul came to a stop.
She saw Ashfall, praying, and cats standing over her. There was Deeppool, Lightheart, Windclaw...and Silverpaw...and another cat she'd never seen. It was a she-cat, but who was it?
"Hey!"
Puresoul snapped back to reality. She'd seen another dream?
"Hey, we're not seriously going there are we?" Swirlmist asked.
"Trust me. We'll be safe...Kittypets can't be all that bad."

To be continued in Warriors: The Last Stand

Warriors: The Last Stand

Puresoul curled up on the cold, hard ground beside her father's sister. It was a cold night, in a dark and abandoned section between Twoleg nests. She was wrong to think Twolegs accepted cats openly. Very wrong.
It was Leaf-fall, cold a blistering wind in the day to cool nights. The occasional rain felt like icicles piercing Puresoul's fur and freezing her skin. Her ribs were almost showing, and prey was scarce. Twolegplace was horrible to her and Swirlmist. Many cats went for her, but when Puresoul went to defend her, the Twolegs backed off and left the two.
Puresoul was jealous of Swirlmist. She was cream, with a dark blue swirl on her side-just like her mother Lightheart. She'd never known her or seen her in person-or had seen anything for that matter except in dreams-but heard she was the best cat you could have known. And she passed it down to her kits.
Puresoul was snow white with blue eyes that saw only the darkness of being blind except when she wandered the dreams of others. She had many flaws to her looks. A cat tore the tip of her left ear off recently, she had gray fur growing where she'd lost it in a fire, and still had patches of bare skin to show. Puresoul had a scar, too, in her heart.
Her mother, a WindClan she-cat named Windclaw, died giving birth to her and her sister who died shortly after they were born. Her father's brother had raised her-Cinderflame. In finding out her real father, and he finding out she was his daughter, Smokesky fell to his death in the rocky part of the forest home they were staying in after the fire Puresoul was injured in. She fell down the same way, but had a shorter fall. Smokesky had a longer fall and broke his neck.
Being blamed for his death, she was chased out by her family and friends, Swirlmist-having helped raise her-went along.
But one thing go to Puresoul-why hadn't Scratch, the lion met by her family before she was born, the cat in love with her, protested? He hadn't made a sound.
She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and closed her eyes, hoping for sleep.

"Hey, get out."
Swirlmist woke up to see loners surrounding her and Puresoul. She woke the she-cat and the two crouched, ready to pounce.
"Get out!" said the biggest, black and white splotched tom. "This is our territory."
"Who are you?" Swirlmist demanded.
"I am Bone." the tom said. "And these are my followers. This is our territory, now-"
"We only need a place to sleep for one night and some food." Puresoul interrupted.
Bone growled. "You think we don't!?" It was then Swirlmist noticed-the cats were about bone-thin like herself.
"We can help you hunt for a while-if you give us shelter...We'll hunt outside the territory for food of our own." Swirlmist said.
"No!" Bone hissed. He extended his claws, and the she-cats ran for it.

Swirlmist stopped running and panted. She'd accidentally led Puresoul to the fence separating her family and safety. She remembered she ran past the horse barn, and didn't even realize it. She heard a growl and froze. Puresoul sniffed the air, but the wind was against them. The wind was blowing their scent towards the Clan cats instead of a useful way. Well, maybe they'd rest by the fence.

A tan lion padded out from behind a bush. "Swirlmist! Puresoul!" he exclaimed.
"Scratch!" Puresoul exclaimed. She'd never been more happy to see him, let alone at sunrise. She ran up to the lion and licked his ear. Swirlmist began laughing softly, and she stopped, embarrassed.
"So, what are you doing so far from the others?" Swirlmist asked.
"I'm not. I left them in the dust once I smelled you. They're hunting then following me." Scratch said. "Come on, I know a safe place to go!"
Puresoul shook her head. "We're starving. And tired."
"Well, let me take you to a safe place then we can rest and I'll hunt for you." Scratch said.
Swirlmist was still doubtful, but heard something far off and agreed. Scratch grabbed the she-cats by their scruffs and bolted off.

Puresoul walked alone by the sandy ground. There was a large body of water at her side, and plenty of birds flying overhead. There was a Thunderpath and monsters a ways off to her other side. The wind felt nice, even though it was very hot for Greenleaf. She padded on, and forced herself to kill a bird and eat it. It was good, but she needed water and to get as far away from Scratch as possible.
Maybe this is how my mother felt in the mountains...Only she wasn't followed constantly and annoyed by the cat she liked. Puresoul thought.
She laid under a half-bridge to cool off for a bit, and when the sun had set and it was cooler, she went on. Puresoul sniffed her way to the grass, cooler than the sand and stone, and kept along it for as long as possible, running along the hard, hot ground only when needed. She sniffed the air and smelled a kittypet. She walked up to the fence, jumped on top of it, then off into the garden.
She went to the opening of the Twoleg nest and scratched at the door. She meowed hungrily and finally, a Twoleg appeared. It was as ugly as the others, but Puresoul had seen worse.
The Twoleg made a bunch of noise, and got her a bowl of water and some nasty dry pellets. Puresoul drank all the water and forced down a few pellets, and smelled a mouse. She crouched, and pounced on it. She ate it gratefully, and the Twoleg took the pellets away. She got more water and made some noise.
Puresoul had heard Twolegs, and realized the Twoleg called her something. Snowy? she thought.
The Twoleg invited her in the nest, and Puresoul found it was a lot cooler inside. There was a big gray thing in the corner of a part of it that blew out cold air. Puresoul laid down a good distance away from it, loving the cool air, and not freezing her tail off. She noticed a big, long green thing and a smaller, shorter one that another Twoleg sat in. The Twolegs were older, but that was okay. Puresoul was grateful for their kindness. The female Twoleg that let her in got a bowl of water and set it in another section, where she was boiling water and making Twoleg food. She set it on the ground by the high place she was cutting things up. Then by a silver, round thing where it smelled like crow-food, there was a gray box with gray sand-like stuff in it. She'd seen one of these before in a Twoleg nest she unsuccessfully got to stay at. Don't cats make dirt in there?
The female made noise again, and picked Puresoul up, petting her. Puresoul purred, making sure she could stay longer. She made noise to the male Twoleg in the green thing. Puresoul listened up and heard Snowy, garden, and mouse.
The male made noise and petted Puresoul. Puresoul mewed and purred. She wasnted to learn to understand Twolegs, and maybe, just maybe, speak to them herself.
She listened. "Stay...home...bed" The male talked about.
"Yes...fuzzy bed in the corner"
Puresoul looked in the corner at the pink, fuzzy cat bed.
"She'll be so comfortable, Emma." Puresoul made out from the male. So the female is called Emma...
"Yes, John, she will." Emma said. And the male John...
Puresoul squirmed out of Emma's grip and sniffed the cat bed. She pressed on it with her paw. It was soft. She noticed it was pink again. Such a soft color...
Wait, I can see now!? I mean, it's blurry, but when did this start? Why can I see now-this isn't a dream!

Puresoul woke up, seeing the...what was it? Living room? The place with the green big things. So it wasn't a dream after all...she thought. She got up and looked out the window. It was dawn, and neither of her Twolegs were awake. Not John. Not Emma.
Puresoul-she called herself Snowy sometimes now-walked around. She took a drink and went out the new cat flap that lead outside to get a mouse. She was glad that the Twolegs didn't make her stay inside, outside, or make her eat those nasty pellets. She remembered the story Cinderflame told her about when he met Lightheart, a mute of voice, in a cage in a Twoleg nest that gave stray cats to Twolegs-and remembered pellets weren't the worst Twolegs could do. Emma and John were too nice to put her in a cage.
She saw a fat, gray mouse and froze, getting into a hunting crouch and took a step closer. She pounced, and killed her prey in a nice bite to the spine. She ate it and buried its remains by the fence, so it wasn't in Emma's way in the garden. Thinking of the garden, Puresoul went to see what was in it.
The garden was huge, and many plants were there, many were herbs used by Medicine Cats. She recognized some, remembered a few of their meanings in medicine, and forgot or didn't know many others. Though, she did recognize one she needed, she thought. She grabbed a few leaves and ate them, not liking their taste.
Oh well...kits come first.
Puresoul went inside and walked through the food room. That's what she called it-where Emma made food, threw bad food away, and cleaned the things they ate food on. She went into the living room and jumped onto the smaller green thing, and curled up. She'd wait for John.
But it was not to be.
Puresoul heard Emma's frantic voice, calling to John, almost crying. She bolted upstairs and saw John was lying in bed, as if sleeping, and Emma was trying to wake him up, shaking him and almost yelling. She picked something up and talked into it. Nothing Emma said helped her figure out what was going on. Puresoul walked onto John's chest and curled up, purring. She did that sometimes when she couldn't sleep. She heard loud noises outside, and a bunch of Twolegs came in with a white movable bed thing. They shooed Puresoul off, but when John was on the movable bed, she hopped back on and hissed whenever someone tried to get her away.
"This is my Twoleg, my John, back off!" she yelled, sad and angry.
The Twolegs finally gave up and took them both into a red and white monster. A Twoleg moved her onto John's stomach and they put something on John's chest. He jolted up, and it scared Puresoul.
After a few more tries, it was decided.
John was gone.

A moon flew by since she'd been gone and Scratch and Swirlmist out of her life. Or was it more? Less? She didn't know. She lost track.
Swirlmist couldn't take much more. She followed her scent, but always got in trouble when Scratch tried to follow. She stared at the moon and decided to try again. She scanned the ground for twigs and leaves, or any other obstacles, and began to sneak around them. Stepping lightly, Swirlmist padded around Scratch and towards the Twolegplace. She saw a Twoleg nest and a garden, and decided it was the closest thing. She saw a twig, and almost stepped on it, but avoided it. This was the farthest she'd gotten before...
The cream she-cat with a dark blue swirl on her side leaped over the boundary, and still was careful to watch for noise-making objects. She caught the small scent of Puresoul. She went over another boundary and into another garden. She sneezed then broke into a run as she smelled Puresoul. She leaped over the next three boundaries. Then, lost her scent. She went up to the opening to the Twoleg nest and curled up outside it. Might as well get some sleep.

She yowled again. Swirlmist woke at almost sun-high and wanted to get in for food, water, and to see if Puresoul was inside. A Twoleg opened the door. Knowing what Puresoul told her, it was female by the head-fur. Long hair, and short, curly hair were most likely female Twolegs-however she found that out. Probably because she understood a bit of Twoleg nonsense-noise and yowling.
This Twoleg made noise and brought her water. Swirlmist drank it gratefully and wondered about food. The Twoleg made noise, and remembering Puresoul's words, heard "mice" spoken. She hunted and went back to the door to the Twoleg. It let her in, and showed her the opening just for cats. Small, black, simple, opened from either side. She looked inside, wondering what all these stupid Twoleg items were. Surely Puresoul wasn't-
Mewls began and a she-cat's soothing voice. Swirlmist, confused, followed the voice.
A light gray, almost white, queen with five little kittens-three in varying shades of a rusty brown/red color, two of different grays-were laying in a pink...thing. A Twoleg item that-if it was Puresoul-would make her sick.
A red-brown tom cat padded in the black thing in the other section and went to the queen. "Snowy, is Emma letting you keep the kits? Do you know?"
Not Puresoul...must have been a mistake. Swirlmist thought.
"Yes, I think so. I'll make sure she does. Besides, she needs the company since John..." Snowy stopped, feeling grief. The tom licked her ear and lifted his head, sniffing. He turned to Swirlmist, standing protectively in front of her.
"Who are you?"
"I-I..." Swirlmist started.
"Wait." Snowy said. She stood up and walked beside the tom, shocked.
"Get out!" the tom hissed.
"Rusty, stop!" Snowy said. "Don't you see the swirl-she's a friend!"
Swirlmist was even more confused. She looked into the queen's eyes. They were familiar...though, the fur threw her off. Was that a patch of pink fur!?
"Swirlmist!" Snowy exclaimed, purring loudly and walking up to her friend. "I missed you!"
Swirlmist didn't understand...the voice...where was the memory!? Maybe she'd gotten bees in her brain.
"Swirlmist, it's me!" the queen went on. "Puresoul!"
She hadn't had bees in her brain, and she wanted to get sick from her living as a soft kittypet in a Twoleg-cat-nest-thing and having a new mate and actually having kits. "Puresoul...you can't be her! She's blind...more white...more missing patches!"
Snowy laughed. "I am! My fur grew back, minus a few spots, and I still have some scars! I don't know why I can see, but I can, and this is Rusty, my mate, and our kits, my Twoleg, Emma..."
"What happened to you?" Swirlmist asked. "Why did you leave us!?"
Snowy sighed. "I couldn't put up with Scratch. He was so annoying and kept getting in my way, and...I would have told you," she went on, "but he'd just find us again since we'd have gone on in the forest or something. It was better that I went alone."
Swirlmist felt relief sweep over her and began to purr. "Emma, right? She let me in."
"She lets any cat in need in!" Rusty said, calmly. "I'm from the garden over the fence that way," he said, pointing with his tail, "but I go back and forth. I'm here more often to be with Snowy."
Swirlmist purred. "That's nice that you have a family, Puresoul, but...Why the name change?"
"Emma calls me Snowy, and I went along with it." she replied.
Rusty smiled. "I was a fighter once. A true fighter for a pack of rogues-my name was Redfur-but I got too injured to fight." He showed the scar on his leg and Swirlmist noticed for the first time, he had a bit of a limp. Not bad, but a limp. "I settled down at the nest over there and then met Snowy when she was hunting in her garden."
Swirlmist was getting sick of the history and love stuff. She padded over to the kits. "What are their names?"
"Well, the one just like Rusty is called Robin, a tom. The one that's darker is Rose, a she-cat and the one like her with the white paws is another she-cat named Fox. The gray ones are toms." Snowy said. "The lighter one is Rain, and the darker one is Dusty."
Swirlmist looked through them and she felt a spark inside her as she passed Robin and Ruby. She had a bad feeling about this...
Swirlmist ran outside for air as she began seeing spots and darkness swirling around her. She got out the opening and saw the garden. She headed towards it, but fell to the ground.
The last thing she heard..."SWIRLMIST!!!"

"Swirlmist, you don't have much time." a voice said. Swirlmist recognized it, but couldn't think of it...like her mother's but different somehow.
"My kin...Swirlmist, there is no time to waste." the voice repeated.
She blinked her eyes open to see a gray tabby she-cat. She remembered a story about a gray she-cat, but what was the name? And why was she in a forest? She stood up, looking in the tabby she-cat's blue eyes showed no emotion.
"What do you want?" Swirlmist asked.
"You must kill Rain and Rose." the she-cat said. "There is a prophecy to be fulfilled, but they will get in the way!"
Swirlmist padded up to her. "Why?"
"There is a prophecy Puresoul and you are meant to fulfill. But to stay alive, you must kill Rain and Dusty so you can secure your destinies!" the tabby she-cat went on. "A cat with lion in her blood and a powerful she-cat whose loyalties will be tested. The bloodshed starts here, but if it doesn't, there will be more-with your own blood mixed in it!"

"Swirlmist!" Snowy cried.
"She's coming to." Rusty said, purring softly and trying to cheer up Snowy.
Swirlmist blinked open her eyes, just a bit. She was in the cat bed, and the kits were playing.
"What happened, you fell unconscious!" Snowy said.
The lighter gray kit and the darker rusty kit ran over to Swirlmist. "Is Swirly up yet?" the gray kit asked. Swirlmist felt a knot in her stomach-it was Rain...and Rose.
"Yeah, we wanna play! Please get well Swirly!" Rose said sadly.
Swirlmist opened her eyes. "Swirly?"
"That's what Emma calls you. And I guess when I said it, the kits picked up up." Snowy said.
Fox, Robin, and Dusty bundled over to Swirlmist. "Swirly!" they called.
Swirlmist felt a sudden pounding pain in her head and yowled in pain. The kits jumped and hid, scared, except Rain. She was intent on trying to calm down Swirlmist with her parents. I can't believe it...I can't believe StarClan told me to kill you... She felt her head hit the fluffy nest and she slipped out of consciousness.

The gray tabby she-cat growled. "They're not listening! How can we do this if Swirlmist refuses to kill Rain and Dusty!?"
"Calm down, she's Half-Clan so her loyalties are already messed up." a gray tom said, coming out of the forest.
The she-cat saw Swirlmist. "I'm going to talk to her again."

"Did you miss me?" Swirlmist asked, seeing the she-cat.
"Why didn't you listen?" the she-cat asked. "You must kill the kits, not give them sympathy and love! They will be your downfall!"
Swirlmist thought about it. "Any way I should kill them...specifically?"
"Quick. Fast. Silent." the she-cat said. "I have to take over one of the bodies to make sure of your progress.
Swirlmist nodded and felt herself starting to wake.
"Two days. That's how long you have to kill them." the she-cat said.
"Wait! I want you name!" Swirlmist yelled. She struggled to stay a moment longer.
The she-cat smiled. "...It's Rosethorn."

To be continued in Warriors: The Seventh Game

Warriors: The Seventh Game

Crack! The sound of bones cracking rang in her ears, and the barking of a dog was heard in the distance. She let the dog shred the body, making it covered in blood and cleaned the fur from her toes.
A silent kill for the other, drowning in the water by the dog...it was the body for a sacrifice. The full moon shown brightly and the crying of cats rang in her ears. She cried out for them to stop. Stop, please! Leave me alone!
The she-cat cried out in anger, sadness, and fear. She yowled and ran, shook her head, covered her ears. The noise would not go away, would not leave her be. It was driving her mad, insane!
LEAVE ME ALONE!

Her eyes shot open, her breath was heavy and shaky with fear, and she could not wake the others. She walked out the cat flap and looked out at the moon. Her cream fur glowed, matched by a dark blue swirl on her side.
StarClan told me to do it...and I cannot turn back time. she thought. Come on, Swirlmist, pull it together. Remember what Rosethorn said: have no fear and you will succeed.
She sighed and looked at two lumps in the ground. Under the fresh soil, one kit-a dark red she-cat named Rose-lay dead; killed by a broken neck then had her dead body mauled by a dog. In the other lay another she-cat-a kit that was light gray named Rain-who was scratched in the throat and then bit in the throat, proving an easy kill. Swirlmist had killed two kits that were going to kill her and Puresoul, her brother's kit and Lightheart's granddaughter, if she hadn't done it. And then the prophecy planned by StarClan wouldn't happen. Who knows what disaster it would have brought.
Rosethorn was the cat sent by StarClan to send her messages. But why had she always arrived in a forest with almost no light? Was it not StarClan? It couldn't be the Dark Forest, Swirlmist thought, for she was related to Lightheart somehow.
Swirlmist thought long and hard, and Snowy-Puresoul's kittypet name-padded out beside her.
"I can't believe what happened." she said sadly. "My precious kits...a dog and drowning in the water trying to get away?"
Swirlmist felt a hard knot in her stomach.
"They will rest with StarClan, always." Snowy said, lowering her head.
"Puresoul...do...do you know a cat named Rosethorn?" Swirlmist asked.
Snowy looked at her, shocked. "You...you don't know the stories?"
"What stories?" Swirlmist asked. "Rosethorn is in StarClan, and she reminds me of Lightheart so she must be a good cat."
Snowy shook her head. "Just the opposite." She sighed. "Lightheart was born the runt of the litter, without a voice. She had a sister named Rosethorn and a brother named Ashpaw."
"Why Ashpaw?" Swirlmist asked.
"I'm getting to it!" Snowy said angrily. "When she opened her eyes, they went to play and they gave her four scars across her face that she wore forever and fur refused to grow back. They hurt her paw and shoulder...and one day, when she was about to be killed by Ashpaw and Rosethorn-Rosepaw at the time-when she became Deputy so young-she transformed into a cream lion...glowing red eyes, long fangs and claws, and unable to control herself. Her siblings were jealous of her that's why they did it. Anger and power drove them."
"And Ashpaw?" Swirlmist asked.
"Lightheart killed him just after she lost control." Snowy said.
Swirlmist was shocked. "So...what else has Rosethorn done?"
"She killed Nightstar, the leader, killed Lightheart's father, drove her out of her home, almost killed her, and almost killed you."
"What!?" Swirlmist exclaimed.
"You were a kit...Lightheart regained her voice and controlled her powers in a battle with Rosethorn...you transformed when she did, Swirlmist." Snowy said.
"That's why I know her voice..." Swirlmist said.
"You and your mother killed Rosethorn, but Lightheart died after using so much energy, strength, and power." Snowy said. "If she hadn't, she would have gone into the mountains with us. And possibly made it with us to the lake...maybe even went with us here." She laughed for a moment. "Probably not. She was a warrior...a true warrior by the Warrior Code and had proper training..."
Swirlmist ran off.
"Hey, where are you...?" Snowy began, but didn't finish.

"You played me!" Swirlmist yelled. "You liar! You caused my mother to die, you piece of fox-dung!!"
"No." Rosethorn said calmly. "Puresoul tells lies. It was the other way around."
"Then why'd I help her kill you!?" Swirlmist yelled at the top of her lungs.
"You didn't." Rosethorn said. "It was all Lightheart, you were a spectator. You see, your family mixed up the facts so they could live in a legend. Your family has a lot of pride. Some of you aren't even directly related to Lightheart!"
Swirlmist opened her mouth to talk, but found she had nothing to say. She...she believed Rosethorn. Instinct agreed with her.
"Why would Puresoul lie, even to me?"
"Because she didn't know. She only knew the lies. She wasn't around when Lightheart was, correct? She was born in the lake, long after Lightheart was dead."
Swirlmist nodded.
A gray tom padded out beside the cats.
"This is Ashwhisker, and when we come back into the world, he will lead us. I am his Deputy, and we are looking for Warriors to follow us. He has already been speaking to cats." Rosethorn said.
"I wish for another Deputy...so when we get cats, we can split training that we will teach everyone for good techniques in battle and hunting." Ashwhisker said. "Swirlmist, will you do it?"
Swirlmist felt her heart pounding.
"Will you pledge your allegiance to me?"
Swirlmist hesitated. "Yes...I do."