The Threatening Darkness

When Oakstar had announced his ancestry, Dacedream's ears had flicked at the sound of a whisper at her side. She had turned her broad head to see Stormpaw, her face shocked and hurt. The queen's expression had darkened with sympathy, and she had made a soft murmur to try to soothe the she-cat. She's not pure ThunderClan - and she never knew. Dacedream had the burden and treasure of knowing who she was and where she had originally come from; Stormpaw had apparently not had that choice.

Dacedream was distracted and glanced down when she felt her Jaykit move between her paws. She saw the glimpse of questioning on his face that swiftly disappeared into a look of defiance at the mention of punishment - against her or her kits or her dear friend, or, apparently, Oakstar himself. She was grateful for his support and nuzzled his spine gently to show it, though she also felt her pelt spike with fear and subtly pulled him nearer with her chin. Just who might he defy - StarClan themselves?

The flash of light and the wail of howling wind at the Gathering continued to flicker in her mind; a morbid flash of her only son caught in the maelstrom made her feel sick. Jaykit was innocent - he was too young to understand, but she could teach him before it was too late. Mossbloom replied then, and her response wasn't reassuring. She believed the punishment, whatever it was, was yet to come. Dacedream frowned. What Mossbloom said next, however, surprised her even more. Murmurs of varying levels of dismay and surprise were moving freely throughout the camp, some only at the mention of punishment and some at the confession of heritage.

As soon as the medicine cat's words of unfounded reassurance were spoken, Stormpaw's side was pressing into Dacedream's briefly, accompanied by a miserable whisper. Dacedream stretched her nose out to touch Stormpaw's shoulder, murmuring sympathetically, "I understand. I'll come see you later." The tortoiseshell queen turned her head and nuzzled each of her kits in turn as another kit - Coalkit, a strikingly dark little tom - asked what would happen. Dacedream's heart hurt. Wasn't he too young to ask those questions? If no warrior, asked, though, who would? It didn't make sense to leave the burden to him, or to Cherrykit or Jaykit or Vixenkit or Puddlekit. Yet he had asked first. Dacedream simply looked at their leader and medicine cat, the cats she loved, and waited for the answer.

Batbite listened as Mossbloom spoke, relaying StarClan's words. She wondered, only half-considering, if their threats included her. She'd been born outside the forest, true, but even her earliest memories now were of ThunderClan's territory. This had been her home all her life, where her family lived and the place she'd come back to. Whatever drew her away - Twolegplace, the flood and the mountains, or her own wanderlust - she'd always found her way back home. But perhaps they'd see leaving at all as a slight of its own, that she'd turned her back on the Clans and their ways for any length of time at all.

It was with slightly more alarm, however, that she considered her mate. Whether or not StarClan's threats were directed at clanless cats who had found their homes here later, she held no delusions where he was concerned. Strom was born a RiverClan cat, as much as that didn't matter much to her (really, it just meant she was one of the few other cats she knew who could swim). He'd been one of her closest friends for most of her life, he'd followed her beyond the Clans and he'd followed her back.

She listened intently to Oakstar's explanations of his own origins, and it was a small but proud part of her that realized the two cats left in the Clan she cared most for had both come from elsewhere, to know for sure that blood meant nothing at all; and a much more alarmed part that considered the threat Mossbloom had shared with them all once again in this new light.

In the absence of her brothers, Oakstar and Strom were the only family she had left. Oh, all of ThunderClan was her kin in some way or another, that was just how Clanmates were - but Strom was her mate, and Oakstar had trained her, he had taught her nearly everything she knew, he'd been deputy when her father was leader and so he'd always been a sort of parent-type figure in her mind, and they were her family, plain and simple. Closer to her heart than the rest of them were.

She'd lost enough of her family. She wouldn't idly stand by while some particularly vindictive dead cats took what she had left, ancestors' strength or no. They were cats, plain and simple, and that made them capable of being wrong; admittedly she'd always thought that, but they usually didn't make it so readily apparent. "Well, that's just a load of nonsense," she decided, adding her own voice to the chorus of her Clanmates. "What next? Will they tell us that no cat can climb trees, because that's SkyClan's thing? Or that I'm not allowed to know how to swim? Am I supposed to unknow it somehow?"

Well. She always had covered up her nerves with words. She could only hope the particular words she'd chosen wouldn't anger the Clan she'd just returned to too much; though in the moment it was quite possibly the last thing on her mind. As for StarClan, they could think what they liked as far as she was concerned.

The last few days had been... strange, to say the least. After all this time in the barn, waking up to a breeze carrying the scents of sunshine and sun-baked grasses through the straw filled space, it was distinctly strange to wake up to the smell of moss, leaves, and especially many cats other than Batbite. Back in the Clans.

As he padded out of the den next to Bat, he glanced around at all of the others, unfamiliar faces gathered in the clearing beneath the rock in the centre of their camp. No willow branch here, no reeds sighing their whistling song to a frog's call. Yet somehow it still felt familiar, but - almost to his surprise - in a good way. Who would have thought, the half-blood RiverClan cat settling into the home of RiverClan's worst enemies?

Mentally, he shook his head, a smile growing across his muzzle as he pricked his ears, glancing around at all the others and drawing their scent in. It might take some getting used to, but he felt he was starting to settle in with them - almost subconsciously falling back into the routines he'd left behind. Though... not everything was as he'd thought it would be. His eyes briefly blinked closed at the painful thought of Lynxtail's death. He would never get to meet Batbite's brothers again, not under this sky, at least. Life, death. All of it happens when you least expect it.

And speaking of skies, StarClan's was apparently more overbearing than usual. He looked up in shock as the medicine cat - Mossbloom, or Mossblossom? Something like that; he'd forgotten her name half the time back in RiverClan, anyway - announced the latest prophecy.

This... is not good. His fur started to bristle as yowls and confused murmurs broke out in the crowd, the sudden crackle of tension making it feel like it really was a Clan full of lightning and thunder. He couldn't help but look at their leader in admiration, though, as the tom declared his own less than ThunderClan origins. Strom himself hadn't told anybody of his own half-Clan half-loner origins, yet. Which possibly wouldn't have good consequences for him either way this whole sudden turn with StarClan took.

A ripple of unease ran up his spine at the thought, and he glanced at Batbite as she stood, her own voice ringing out defiantly. He couldn't help a smile twitch at his maw at her loyalty, along with an answering thrill of defiance that brought him to his own paws, the brief smile fading under the seriousness of what had just been announced. "It is nonsense. Why is StarClan suddenly against all half-Clan and Clan-changing cats? This has been happening for moons! Why jump on our throats now?"

He'd heard rumours, whispers of something at the last gathering, but it couldn't have been more than the usual. He wasn't blind - what had happened with him and his siblings was just a repeat of an endless chain that kept coming up and rolling around with the seasons. This sudden turn-about didn't make sense.

I have a feeling they don't know us as well as they think they do.

Duskrain had heard Mossbloom return from the moonstone. She was out hunting in the night. Cold away from Dacedream and Houndheart. The warrior's paws were cold as she weaved her way back to camp, ducking under the low hanging lichen and ferns. ThunderClan was gathered in the clearing, even the kits had found their way into the moonlight. Duskrain liked their small pelts. She spotted Dacedream in the crowd and made her way over to the queen. As she avoided stepping on tails and ducked under chatting figures, Duskrain caught snippets of what Oakstar was frustrated about. StarClan had made ThunderClan angry. Cats were scared, she could smell their scent and hear their sighs. Duskrain pressed herself close to Dacedream's pelt, relishing the warmth of her nestmate as she listened to the large leader and her sister - Mossbloom.

There were strange cats here. Ones who had come in the night. Oakstar had said they were from far away. One was black and one was ginger. Maybe they were scared too. Was that why they came back? Duskrain looked around and sunk her claws into the ground, standing from her spot to speak. "Why are you scared of StarClan? They're dead. They have no bodies. They're in the ground now." In the ground like Hailpaw and Beartooth.

Oakstar lashed his tail, a silent bid for quiet before he spoke to break the rising sun of cats who were worried, scared or wounded by his words. It hurt to watch Rainstrike leave. The cold look in her eyes had spoken volumes about her disappointment in him. He could see it mirrored in other eyes as he lowered his head solemnly.

"I was only just apprenticed when that happened. I hadn’t even had my first proper hunt yet. I snuck out of camp in a bid to prove I didn’t need a mentor… and… it didn’t go well." He explained, letting the truth sink in further as he lifted his head once more. "The simple truth is that blood doesn’t, and shouldn’t matter." He glanced down at a couple of the gathered cats.

"Tell me, if Harefoot and Dacedream broke the warrior code separately but with the same offence, would their punishments deserve to be different?" he questioned, his amber gaze on each cat in turn. "They both took the same warrior vows in this very camp. They both learned ThunderClan’s ways and are both good and loyal cats." He turned towards small Coalkit, a soft smile on his muzzle.

"There would be no difference of course. If they ate a piece of fresh kill before bringing it back to the elders and queens, they would both receive the exact same treatment. Because they are Thunderclan. I doubt that Starclan would hold the origins of the young kits and apprentices against them. I am not going to punish any cat here for simply having a different beginning. I would even be willing to go to starclan myself to speak to them.” He blinked slowly, then looked back towards Duskrain.

"They may not have a physical body anymore, but they are still our ancestors. They have power that we do not fully understand, but must respect. Or else no medicine cat would have their visions. No apprentice would meet them at the moonstone." He turned his head back towards the crowd. "What StarClan has said… it cannot be ignored, but I refuse to punish good warriors, apprentices and kits, for their origins. There is far more to offer in clan life by unity, than division."

Dacedream felt uncomfortable about the way that Batbite and Minkp--Strrrrrrom talked about StarClan's proclamation. Her tail twitched, but she didn't say anything. Sure, it did seem strange for the stars to suddenly change their colors, but they were StarClan. They had made the Clans. This was different, anyways - when was the last time two leaders had become involved with each other that way? The next cat to speak, however, was Duskrain. The pale brown warrior's warm fur had pulled away, and when she stood the words of defiance she spoke - no, simply her confident ignorance - made Dacedream gasp and bristle. "No, they're in the sky," Dacedream corrected, nervously glancing up, "and they can make lightning and break trees and throw stars."

She immediately went silent as Oakstar's voice called out again, his posture demanding silence. Dacedream ducked her head and pressed her head into Jaykit's shoulder's and pulled Cherrykit a little closer. She listened to his words, shuffling self-consciously as he suggested a situation in which she - hypothetically - broke a part of the warrior code. She would never do that... but she had abandoned RiverClan. She was a blood-traitor, and she couldn't argue against that; she was not, however, an oath-breaker. She had grown. She had learned. She had found her place and her home, and she had taken a vow to protect ThunderClan. She would do so no matter what.

Oakstar addressed Duskrain's comments then, and Dacedream felt some relief from his insistent faith in the ancestors and their power despite the explicit wrath. The threat revealed by his promise wasn't lost though: "If the leaders of the earthen ground will not punish your treason, you will face the wrath of the stars." "I refuse to punish good warriors, apprentices and kits, for their origins." Dacedream sighed and sought Mossbloom's green gaze, wondering if she was thinking the same: Then StarClan will punish us instead.

Echofrost watched the panic rise in the clan at Mossbloom's "prophecy" with minimal interest. More worrying about "StarClan", it would seem. Whenever something happened, be it normal or abnormal, everyone always went to StarClan. Why? Was it just because it was what had been taught? In all honesty,   Echofrost didn't care. He didn't care what "StarClan" thought. After all, they weren't real. Everyone was just searching for an explanation for the events of the last gathering. Yes, that's what it was.

Jaykit's brow furrowed in confusion, the obstinate look melting away to reveal one of pure bewilderment at Duskrain's words. Wait, StarClan was in the ground? "Like the worms?" he asked her, scraping his claws in the dirt at his feet and wondering how they could live there. Wasn't it dark? And cold? Before he could inquire further, though, Oakstar started talking again and everyone fell silent in his wake. Dacedream pressed into him from above, and Jaykit tilted his head back, looking at her upside-down with bright, kitten-blue eyes.

She seemed upset, maybe even scared, and Jaykit didn't understand why. "It's ok, Mama... the ground-sky-star clan only hurt bad cats, right? They won't throw lightnin' or stars at you coz you're a good one."

Cherrykit pressed closer to Dacedream in tandem with her mother pulling her closer. Her thoughts were whirling around in her mind as she tried to make sense of all the new information that had been presented in such a short span of time.

Streamsong’s ears dropped upon hearing the news. He had lost enough already, and it wasn’t until now that the newly named warrior had started to accept and deal with the death of most of his family…and now StarClan was trying to also take away the fiends who had been nothing but supportive until that moment?

How was that even fair?!

“Just like how blood won’t be able to always dictate who your true family is, it shouldn’t be able to also dictate your clan. Those that came from different places and now live between us have proven to be as much of a ThunderClanner as anyone with a pure lineage through actions, and to take away the better life that they managed to get with so much effort would be cruel at best. And those born with mixed blood are expected to choose as well? Or lose their family to this choice and not be able to do anything about it?”.

This choice would cause so many loses…if the cats decided to heed the warning and act as instructed, families and friendships would be broken, loyalties unclear…everything would be utter chaos. And if on the other paw they decided to stay and face the wrath of their ancestors, they would risk to lose those they loved to the cruel claws of death. There was no winning in this argument, this was a loss/loss situation. Even those most innocent would be forced to suffer as they are either left behind or forced to watch as those they love succumb to whatever punishment StarClan had planned for them.

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Bonewatcher chuckled between his teeth at all this, but this wasn’t a happy chuckle, not even a mocking or cruel one. It was empty and cold….like an ice cavern at best “So…my mother belonged to a Tribe that lives far from the territories…my father was a former rogue….am I supposed to just get up and leave to try and find my tribe ancestors or live as a rogue for the rest of my days just because I don’t have a single drop of ThunderClan blood in my veins?”.

While true that the white and black tom was loyal to his family over his clan, this train of thought was hilarious at best. He was born and raised in ThunderClan, lived there for most of his life, only leaving once out of choice to be with his brother…and then returned upon his request with his nephews. He had endured and risked so much after escaping the twolegs just to come back. And now he no longer belonged there….

Dacedream looked away from the medicine cat as she felt Jaykit's head tilt back to look at her. The words of reassurance he spoke were so sweet and kind, and she wanted to be comforted by them as much as he wanted them to comfort her. She nuzzled him and smiled, deciding to let that be enough. "I do my very best to be the best Clan cat I can be," Dacedream agreed, "and to live a life of which StarClan can take pride in. We do that by obeying the warrior code and being loyal to our families and Clans." She didn't have the heart to point out that at one point she had drastically disobeyed the warrior code, and if StarClan decided now - or any time - that she was a bad cat because of it... was that their right? It must be. They made the Clans.

Yet all around the queen, her Clanmates disagreed. They didn't think it was right for StarClan to make such a declaration. Streamsong and Bonewatcher, recently returned, questioned the ancestors. Dacedream simply shook her head softly and leaned downed to her kits, murmuring, "I don't like this prophecy, my loves, but our ancestors can see things that we can't. They might know something that we don't. We still have to respect them when we don't understand them - after all, they gave us each other." She touched her nose to their heads and nodded once, hoping that might be enough to protect them... to help them protect themselves. She couldn't bear for StarClan to hurt them because of the wrong she'd done to RiverClan.

Mossbloom felt the eyes of her clanmates on her fur, whether they be filled with dismay, anger, denial, grief, or cold indifference. Resisting the urge to just jump down from in front of the clan and disappear into the forest, she shook her pelt out against the cold and looked down at her clanmates, her friends. She didn't have a good answer for their questions, or a solid one for that matter, and she didn't have much to say to the points they were calling out. Her heart, and her mind, agreed with them, but the unpleasant feeling of being watched refused to dissipate, even as the stars began to fade from the sky as the sun rose. The sunrise wasn't stained with red this morning, but could this be why she had received that prophecy so many moons ago?

"I can not speak to what StarClan's motives are, or why it is suddenly all coming to light.... They have remained silent regarding those points. I will continue to try to get as much information as I can, and anything I learn I will pass on to all of you. All I know at this time is what StarClan just told all of the medicine cats, unfortunately... They are angry though, and we must prepare ourselves for whatever may come. Brace your hearts, and your minds, and don't take a single moment for granted. If we are going to stand against their will, then we need to do it together." Having spoken, she stepped back and yielded the rock to Oakstar, nimbly leaping down from Highrock and weaving through the crowd, making her way to Dacedream and Duskrain. Her green eyes lifted to the queens, and she touched her nose to her shoulder before continuing past the two she-cats and disappearing into the ferns and collapsing into her nest, exhausted.