Post by icefang on May 28, 2006 19:48:58 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the tentative title... I don't really like it, but here's Part 1:
The huge black tom dragged himself to the top of the hill. It was raining heavily, the wind was torrential, and it was freezing cold. His fur was streaked with mud from his long journey, and he bore wounds of the sacrifice it demanded. But his eyes smoldered with rage, blazed with desire. Desire to redeem himself; desire to regain the power that once was. He drew himself up to his full, considerable, height, surveying the terrain before him. Yes, he thought. This will do nicely.
He made his way down the hill, sinking his claws into the mud so as not to slip and fall. When he reached the bottom of the hill, the wind had not lessened, but he was more sheltered so he was less affected by its biting chill. It was nightfall, and very dark. The moon was hidden by a swathe of clouds, and the cruel night sky held no stars. He had to find shelter before finding cats.
He prowled through the dark forest until he found a rotting tree. There was a hollow in its trunk, just big enough for him to squeeze inside that would shelter him from the rain. He poked his head inside the hollow, scoping it out, when the acrid scent of several mouse carcasses hit his scent glands. Crowfood! He could not sleep in those conditions. He trudged onward.
At last he came to an old badger set. The scent of the badger was still there, but very old and very stale. The badger had left a long time ago. He crawled inside to find no other animal living there, and no crowfood. He curled up into a tight ball, and closed his eyes, praying to DeathClan for sleep. It was a very uncomfortable fit, but he could not go searching any longer tonight. Memories from the back of his mind were brought forth. He remembered when he slept in a mossy nest, lined with the fur of his enemies. He remembered when he was Deathstar, great and powerful leader of FlameClan. But Deathstar was no more. He was Bloodlust now, the only surviving member of FlameClan, and ready to take on the challenges this forest may or may not pose.
It was morning. Rays of watery sunlight streamed through the holes in the badger set. Bloodlust squirmed out of the uncomfortable commodity and stretched. The mud on his pelt had dried, and his wounds had stopped bleeding. But as he looked at himself in a small pond, he was pretty ragged. He slipped into the pond rubbing the mud out of his pelt with branches jutting into the water. When he came out, he was clean, but soaking wet. He shook his pelt dry and began to groom himself with long, rhythmic strokes, skillfully avoiding his scars whose dried blood had been washed away in the pond. When he was completely clean and dry, he turned and padded away.
Several hours later, Bloodlust caught the faint scent of cats. He grinned, which turned out as more like a grimace. He made towards the scent, but he found his stomach aching with hunger. He hadn’t eaten more than a scrawny rat or two for days. This place was rich with preyscent. He could spare some time to hunt.
He stood perfectly still, waiting for prey to come along. He did not learn hunting the way Clan cats did, his method was harder, but almost always accurate. Finally, he saw a hawk poking around on the ground, looking for mice . He stood perfectly still. He was upwind of the hawk, so his scent was being blown towards it, and he had little time.
Finally a gust of wind came by. He quickly stepped out of the hawk’s line of vision as it turned and looked at the scent that had been blown to it. But, it realized in bewilderment, there was nothing there. Natural curiousity took hold and it came up looking for the cause of the scent. Stupid bird, he thought. As it came into his field of view, it realized it was in danger, but far too late. He was on it in a flash.
Bloodlust dragged it to a sheltered clearing and began eating it. His lip curled with mild disgust. Hawks were too feathery for his liking. He hoped this territory brought better prey than this. Once he had finished, he made to walk away from the hawks remains, but turned. He looked at the feathers and bones for a long moment before going back and burying them. He had no respect for any creature, only for himself, but he would not disobey DeathClans law. Even with no Clan left, he must always bury the bones of his prey.
He began to trudge out, but was flattened by a flash of black fur. His lightning fast reflexes took hold and he flipped over with the cat on top of him, and was immediately on top of the cat. "What do you want?" he snarled. His voice... his voice was surprising. It was high and cold, like a gust of frigid wind, the splintering of ice. It had the immense power to chill an enemy to the bone, and he could see his enemy’s nerves in his eyes.
The tom he had pinned was a small, lithe tom. He had a black pelt and bright green eyes. Fearscent was coursing off him, his eyes blazing with terror.
"M-my name is Nightclaw!" he stammered bravely. "You are hunting in ShadowClan territory. Leave now!"
"Why should I?" he said, his tone silky smooth. "I dont live here, do I? So the rules these territories run by do not apply to me, do they?"
"They they do!" he said fearfully.
"Very well," he replied dramatically, a plan forming in his head. He stepped off the tom, Nightclaw. "Take me to your camp!"
"Why?" asked Nightclaw, confused.
"Well you are taking me prisoner, arent you?" he said giving Nightclaw a quizzical look.
"Of-of course," he said. Then suddenly gruff he continued, "Follow me." He traipsed off through the undergrowth. Bloodlust followed, smiling inwardly.
Later: At ShadowClan Camp
Nightclaw led Bloodlust into a clearing among marshy territory. He surveyed his surroundings with mild interest; dens surrounded him. One streamed with the bitter scent of herbs, a healer of some sorts den. One, the longest, smelled of many cats. He could not guess who lived there. One, a smaller one, made of thorns and brambles, smelled of kits and milk. They must keep the kits and their mothers there. Another, longer den was beside it, and a den about that size beside it. He could not guess by the scent who lived in those dens. Between those two dens was a large rock, and in it, a small den that was probably carved by water long ago. That has to be the den of a leader, he thought. A small pile of prey sat in the middle of the camp. He was glad that it held no hawks. The cats in the clearing were staring openly at him.
Clearly they had never seen such a large, imposing looking cat. He could feel their eyes on him as Nightclaw led him to The-Den-In-The-Rock.
A single cat sat in there, from the smell of it. Old, very old. Perhaps it was some sort of elders den. Maybe their senior members led this clan, he knew of clans that were.
"Twilightstar?" he inquired from outside the curtain of moss that served as the entrance to the den.
"Come in," came the voice of the cat. Surprisingly, it sounded young and whole. And it was that of a she-cat. Nightclaw led him inside.
Within The-Den-In-The-Rock, a? she-cat sat in a bed of moss. She was young looking, and yet her old scent remained. "Nightclaw, who is this?" she inquired.
"His name is…" Nightclaw began uncertainly.
"My name is Bloodlust," Bloodlust supplied savagely. "I come from far away. I lived in a Clan called FlameClan, I was its leader, Deathstar. But my Clan is gone now. I am the only surviving member. I left my territory in search of another Clan to join. I was hunting, for I havent eaten in days, when he found me. He said I was hunting on ShadowClan territory, so I knew I had reached my destination."
The she-cat, Twilightstar, pondered him for a moment. "Tell me," she said finally. "What is StarClan?" He froze for a split second. He knew what she was doing; he had heard of StarClan before. Just as he believed in DeathClan, Tribe cats believed in the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and other cats believed in other things, these Clan cats believed in StarClan, their warrior ancestors. If he couldnt answer, she would without question reject him. If he answered correctly, he would have a much better chance of being accepted into this ShadowClan. He had traveled far and wide, learned many things, but she had almost certainly never strayed out of her territory all her life. She would not know of FlameClan and its beliefs.
"StarClan is the Clan of our dead warrior ancestors," he stated.
"He is a friend to us," she decided. Again, he smiled inwardly. She had fallen for his trap hook, line, and sinker. "So you wish to join ShadowClan," she replied. "You will need to learn our customs. You will need to learn how to hunt and fight, and learn the warrior code. Should you stay, you would be an apprentice, regardless your age, until your mentor and I concede that you are ready to be a warrior. Do you accept?"
"With all due respect," he said. "Isn’t apprenticeship mainly about learning how to hunt and fight? If you would honor me by witnessing a demonstration, I will show you my skills."
"Apprenticeship is not only about learning to hunt and fight," she reprimanded. "But I will watch you. Show me how you hunt in the forest, and to fight, you will battle me." She walked out of the den, into the forest. As she walked, a cat came up to her and meowed something in her ear. She replied to him, and he nodded, walking away. As Bloodlust caught up with her, she said to him, "That is Bladeclaw, my deputy." Bloodlust nodded.
When they reached the forest, Twilightstar sat down and said, "Now show me." He showed her. He caught two mice and a chaffinch in five minutes flat, using his spectacular techniques for each.
"Your methods are unusual," she said. "But nonetheless effective. We hunt a different way here, but as long as your way works, I see no reason why you should be taught our way. Now, attack me."
He paused, sizing her up. He could simply smother her, she was so small compared to him. But he decided to be cunning. He blundered at her, and practically saw her smirk. He looked easy to counter. She dodged him and turned to face him. Exactly as he planned. He proceeded to claw his way up the tree, and from a few rabbit-lengths off the ground, flung himself off, back flipped in midair, and landed on her back. She let out a yowl, almost crushed under his weight and velocity. He closed his jaw around her neck, but did not bite. He backed off of her, smiling bluntly.
"Hows that?" he asked. She still looked shaken.
"That was," she searched for the right word. "Fantastic. I see no reason why you should start as an apprentice, but you do need to learn our customs. I will send you to Juniperleaf, our medicine cat, and she will teach you about the warrior code and our laws and customs. "You will then receive your warrior name. I will decide it for you. Follow me," she said. She padded back in the direction of camp. This time Bloodlust actually smirked. This was too easy. It was only a matter of time before he took over this forest. The Clan leader was weak, and could be defeated by a move that a FlameClan novice could do. He would wade through the blood of his friends to get to the top, if he had to. He followed her.
They came back to camp. Twilightstar led him into the den he had smelt earlier, that reeked of the bitter scent of herbs. He was right; this was the Healers den. But Twilightstar had called her a Medicine Cat. Fair enough.
The Medicine Cat, Juniperleaf, was surprisingly pretty. She was pale gray with a white underbelly and crystalline blue eyes. She was small and daintily set. She had been mixing an herb poultice when Twilightstar and Bloodlust came in. "Oh, Twilightstar," she said.
"Hello! Who’s this?"
"His name is Bloodlust," Twilightstar said with just a hint of an edge on her voice. "I am letting him join ShadowClan. He comes from" But she broke off. Bloodlust looked at her inquiringly. She was staring avidly at Juniperleaf. He turned his gaze towards the medicine cat and saw, to his surprise, that she was staring upward, eyes glazed. After a few minutes she snapped out of her reverie and gazed at Bloodlust for a moment. She turned towards Twilightstar.
"I need to speak to you in your den," she said urgently. "Alone."
"Did StarClan speak to you?" Twilightstar asked in hushed tones.
"Yes," said Juniperleaf. "Now hurry."
"Of course," Twilightstar said. "Bloodlust, stay here." She ordered. Juniperleaf hurried into Twilightstars den, Twilightstar following. Bloodlust desperately wanted to know what was going on... perhaps DeathClan... erm... StarClan was speaking to Juniperleaf? This happened on a rare occasion within FlameClan, and it was always important. But he could not blow his cover yet. He had to stay inside. He strained his ears, trying to hear the conversation going on in Twilightstars den, but he knew there was no hope.
[In Twlightstars Den] "Did you recieve a message from StarClan?" asked Twilightstar urgently.
"Yes," breathed Juniperleaf. "I think it was about Bloodlust."
"How did you know his name?" asked Twilightstar.
"I was standing at the top of a hill," she said, ignoring Twilightstars question for the moment. "Ahead of me was a sea of blood.... stretching as far as the eye could see. A cold wind chilled me, and I could hear the words of our warrior ancestors. Then I saw Bloodlust’s face."
"What did they say?" asked Twilightstar. Even the leader of the Clan didnt share the same sacred bond with StarClan that the medicine cat did.
"A new dawn approaches for ShadowClan. One cats lust for power will make us stronger, one cats lust for blood will be our downfall. Four will become one. A battle approaches. To win, you must harness the power of stars," said Juniperleaf.
"A new prophecy..." breathed Twilightstar. "What can it mean?"
"A new dawn approaches for ShadowClan..." pondered Juniperleaf. "One cat will make us stronger, one will be our downfall. This has to mean that we will be great and then one cats betrayal will make us weak. One cats lust for blood will be our downfall. This has to be Bloodlust. But who will make us stronger?"
"One cat... one cat..." said Twilightstar. "Perhaps the two cats are the same cat."
"Perhaps," agreed Juniperleaf. "But what about the rest of the prophecy? Four will become one. A battle approaches. This sounds like the great battle of the four Clans versus BloodClan in the times of Firestar. We must avoid it. It devastated the Clans."
"What worries me is the last part," said Twilightstar. "To win, you must harness the power of stars. This clearly means that the battle approaching will be worse than before."
"I do not know what this means, but we have to reverse the prophecy," said Juniperleaf.
"But how can we reverse something that has been forseen by StarClan?" asked Twilightstar.
"There will be a way," said Juniperleaf. "There is always a way. I do not know how yet, but our best bet is to not let Bloodlust join ShadowClan."
"But he is such an asset!" said Twilightstar. "He could be our most dangerous weapon against enemies! If we let him go, he could be our enemies greatest weapon against us."
"One cats lust for blood wil be our downfall," said Juniperleaf. "Twilightstar, as ShadowClan Medicine Cat, Messenger to StarClan, Peacekeeper Among Clans, I strongly advise you to send him away. I can not order you to, but you have to listen."
Twilightstar sighed. She knew she had no choice.
SO?! How do you like it?
The huge black tom dragged himself to the top of the hill. It was raining heavily, the wind was torrential, and it was freezing cold. His fur was streaked with mud from his long journey, and he bore wounds of the sacrifice it demanded. But his eyes smoldered with rage, blazed with desire. Desire to redeem himself; desire to regain the power that once was. He drew himself up to his full, considerable, height, surveying the terrain before him. Yes, he thought. This will do nicely.
He made his way down the hill, sinking his claws into the mud so as not to slip and fall. When he reached the bottom of the hill, the wind had not lessened, but he was more sheltered so he was less affected by its biting chill. It was nightfall, and very dark. The moon was hidden by a swathe of clouds, and the cruel night sky held no stars. He had to find shelter before finding cats.
He prowled through the dark forest until he found a rotting tree. There was a hollow in its trunk, just big enough for him to squeeze inside that would shelter him from the rain. He poked his head inside the hollow, scoping it out, when the acrid scent of several mouse carcasses hit his scent glands. Crowfood! He could not sleep in those conditions. He trudged onward.
At last he came to an old badger set. The scent of the badger was still there, but very old and very stale. The badger had left a long time ago. He crawled inside to find no other animal living there, and no crowfood. He curled up into a tight ball, and closed his eyes, praying to DeathClan for sleep. It was a very uncomfortable fit, but he could not go searching any longer tonight. Memories from the back of his mind were brought forth. He remembered when he slept in a mossy nest, lined with the fur of his enemies. He remembered when he was Deathstar, great and powerful leader of FlameClan. But Deathstar was no more. He was Bloodlust now, the only surviving member of FlameClan, and ready to take on the challenges this forest may or may not pose.
It was morning. Rays of watery sunlight streamed through the holes in the badger set. Bloodlust squirmed out of the uncomfortable commodity and stretched. The mud on his pelt had dried, and his wounds had stopped bleeding. But as he looked at himself in a small pond, he was pretty ragged. He slipped into the pond rubbing the mud out of his pelt with branches jutting into the water. When he came out, he was clean, but soaking wet. He shook his pelt dry and began to groom himself with long, rhythmic strokes, skillfully avoiding his scars whose dried blood had been washed away in the pond. When he was completely clean and dry, he turned and padded away.
Several hours later, Bloodlust caught the faint scent of cats. He grinned, which turned out as more like a grimace. He made towards the scent, but he found his stomach aching with hunger. He hadn’t eaten more than a scrawny rat or two for days. This place was rich with preyscent. He could spare some time to hunt.
He stood perfectly still, waiting for prey to come along. He did not learn hunting the way Clan cats did, his method was harder, but almost always accurate. Finally, he saw a hawk poking around on the ground, looking for mice . He stood perfectly still. He was upwind of the hawk, so his scent was being blown towards it, and he had little time.
Finally a gust of wind came by. He quickly stepped out of the hawk’s line of vision as it turned and looked at the scent that had been blown to it. But, it realized in bewilderment, there was nothing there. Natural curiousity took hold and it came up looking for the cause of the scent. Stupid bird, he thought. As it came into his field of view, it realized it was in danger, but far too late. He was on it in a flash.
Bloodlust dragged it to a sheltered clearing and began eating it. His lip curled with mild disgust. Hawks were too feathery for his liking. He hoped this territory brought better prey than this. Once he had finished, he made to walk away from the hawks remains, but turned. He looked at the feathers and bones for a long moment before going back and burying them. He had no respect for any creature, only for himself, but he would not disobey DeathClans law. Even with no Clan left, he must always bury the bones of his prey.
He began to trudge out, but was flattened by a flash of black fur. His lightning fast reflexes took hold and he flipped over with the cat on top of him, and was immediately on top of the cat. "What do you want?" he snarled. His voice... his voice was surprising. It was high and cold, like a gust of frigid wind, the splintering of ice. It had the immense power to chill an enemy to the bone, and he could see his enemy’s nerves in his eyes.
The tom he had pinned was a small, lithe tom. He had a black pelt and bright green eyes. Fearscent was coursing off him, his eyes blazing with terror.
"M-my name is Nightclaw!" he stammered bravely. "You are hunting in ShadowClan territory. Leave now!"
"Why should I?" he said, his tone silky smooth. "I dont live here, do I? So the rules these territories run by do not apply to me, do they?"
"They they do!" he said fearfully.
"Very well," he replied dramatically, a plan forming in his head. He stepped off the tom, Nightclaw. "Take me to your camp!"
"Why?" asked Nightclaw, confused.
"Well you are taking me prisoner, arent you?" he said giving Nightclaw a quizzical look.
"Of-of course," he said. Then suddenly gruff he continued, "Follow me." He traipsed off through the undergrowth. Bloodlust followed, smiling inwardly.
Later: At ShadowClan Camp
Nightclaw led Bloodlust into a clearing among marshy territory. He surveyed his surroundings with mild interest; dens surrounded him. One streamed with the bitter scent of herbs, a healer of some sorts den. One, the longest, smelled of many cats. He could not guess who lived there. One, a smaller one, made of thorns and brambles, smelled of kits and milk. They must keep the kits and their mothers there. Another, longer den was beside it, and a den about that size beside it. He could not guess by the scent who lived in those dens. Between those two dens was a large rock, and in it, a small den that was probably carved by water long ago. That has to be the den of a leader, he thought. A small pile of prey sat in the middle of the camp. He was glad that it held no hawks. The cats in the clearing were staring openly at him.
Clearly they had never seen such a large, imposing looking cat. He could feel their eyes on him as Nightclaw led him to The-Den-In-The-Rock.
A single cat sat in there, from the smell of it. Old, very old. Perhaps it was some sort of elders den. Maybe their senior members led this clan, he knew of clans that were.
"Twilightstar?" he inquired from outside the curtain of moss that served as the entrance to the den.
"Come in," came the voice of the cat. Surprisingly, it sounded young and whole. And it was that of a she-cat. Nightclaw led him inside.
Within The-Den-In-The-Rock, a? she-cat sat in a bed of moss. She was young looking, and yet her old scent remained. "Nightclaw, who is this?" she inquired.
"His name is…" Nightclaw began uncertainly.
"My name is Bloodlust," Bloodlust supplied savagely. "I come from far away. I lived in a Clan called FlameClan, I was its leader, Deathstar. But my Clan is gone now. I am the only surviving member. I left my territory in search of another Clan to join. I was hunting, for I havent eaten in days, when he found me. He said I was hunting on ShadowClan territory, so I knew I had reached my destination."
The she-cat, Twilightstar, pondered him for a moment. "Tell me," she said finally. "What is StarClan?" He froze for a split second. He knew what she was doing; he had heard of StarClan before. Just as he believed in DeathClan, Tribe cats believed in the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and other cats believed in other things, these Clan cats believed in StarClan, their warrior ancestors. If he couldnt answer, she would without question reject him. If he answered correctly, he would have a much better chance of being accepted into this ShadowClan. He had traveled far and wide, learned many things, but she had almost certainly never strayed out of her territory all her life. She would not know of FlameClan and its beliefs.
"StarClan is the Clan of our dead warrior ancestors," he stated.
"He is a friend to us," she decided. Again, he smiled inwardly. She had fallen for his trap hook, line, and sinker. "So you wish to join ShadowClan," she replied. "You will need to learn our customs. You will need to learn how to hunt and fight, and learn the warrior code. Should you stay, you would be an apprentice, regardless your age, until your mentor and I concede that you are ready to be a warrior. Do you accept?"
"With all due respect," he said. "Isn’t apprenticeship mainly about learning how to hunt and fight? If you would honor me by witnessing a demonstration, I will show you my skills."
"Apprenticeship is not only about learning to hunt and fight," she reprimanded. "But I will watch you. Show me how you hunt in the forest, and to fight, you will battle me." She walked out of the den, into the forest. As she walked, a cat came up to her and meowed something in her ear. She replied to him, and he nodded, walking away. As Bloodlust caught up with her, she said to him, "That is Bladeclaw, my deputy." Bloodlust nodded.
When they reached the forest, Twilightstar sat down and said, "Now show me." He showed her. He caught two mice and a chaffinch in five minutes flat, using his spectacular techniques for each.
"Your methods are unusual," she said. "But nonetheless effective. We hunt a different way here, but as long as your way works, I see no reason why you should be taught our way. Now, attack me."
He paused, sizing her up. He could simply smother her, she was so small compared to him. But he decided to be cunning. He blundered at her, and practically saw her smirk. He looked easy to counter. She dodged him and turned to face him. Exactly as he planned. He proceeded to claw his way up the tree, and from a few rabbit-lengths off the ground, flung himself off, back flipped in midair, and landed on her back. She let out a yowl, almost crushed under his weight and velocity. He closed his jaw around her neck, but did not bite. He backed off of her, smiling bluntly.
"Hows that?" he asked. She still looked shaken.
"That was," she searched for the right word. "Fantastic. I see no reason why you should start as an apprentice, but you do need to learn our customs. I will send you to Juniperleaf, our medicine cat, and she will teach you about the warrior code and our laws and customs. "You will then receive your warrior name. I will decide it for you. Follow me," she said. She padded back in the direction of camp. This time Bloodlust actually smirked. This was too easy. It was only a matter of time before he took over this forest. The Clan leader was weak, and could be defeated by a move that a FlameClan novice could do. He would wade through the blood of his friends to get to the top, if he had to. He followed her.
They came back to camp. Twilightstar led him into the den he had smelt earlier, that reeked of the bitter scent of herbs. He was right; this was the Healers den. But Twilightstar had called her a Medicine Cat. Fair enough.
The Medicine Cat, Juniperleaf, was surprisingly pretty. She was pale gray with a white underbelly and crystalline blue eyes. She was small and daintily set. She had been mixing an herb poultice when Twilightstar and Bloodlust came in. "Oh, Twilightstar," she said.
"Hello! Who’s this?"
"His name is Bloodlust," Twilightstar said with just a hint of an edge on her voice. "I am letting him join ShadowClan. He comes from" But she broke off. Bloodlust looked at her inquiringly. She was staring avidly at Juniperleaf. He turned his gaze towards the medicine cat and saw, to his surprise, that she was staring upward, eyes glazed. After a few minutes she snapped out of her reverie and gazed at Bloodlust for a moment. She turned towards Twilightstar.
"I need to speak to you in your den," she said urgently. "Alone."
"Did StarClan speak to you?" Twilightstar asked in hushed tones.
"Yes," said Juniperleaf. "Now hurry."
"Of course," Twilightstar said. "Bloodlust, stay here." She ordered. Juniperleaf hurried into Twilightstars den, Twilightstar following. Bloodlust desperately wanted to know what was going on... perhaps DeathClan... erm... StarClan was speaking to Juniperleaf? This happened on a rare occasion within FlameClan, and it was always important. But he could not blow his cover yet. He had to stay inside. He strained his ears, trying to hear the conversation going on in Twilightstars den, but he knew there was no hope.
[In Twlightstars Den] "Did you recieve a message from StarClan?" asked Twilightstar urgently.
"Yes," breathed Juniperleaf. "I think it was about Bloodlust."
"How did you know his name?" asked Twilightstar.
"I was standing at the top of a hill," she said, ignoring Twilightstars question for the moment. "Ahead of me was a sea of blood.... stretching as far as the eye could see. A cold wind chilled me, and I could hear the words of our warrior ancestors. Then I saw Bloodlust’s face."
"What did they say?" asked Twilightstar. Even the leader of the Clan didnt share the same sacred bond with StarClan that the medicine cat did.
"A new dawn approaches for ShadowClan. One cats lust for power will make us stronger, one cats lust for blood will be our downfall. Four will become one. A battle approaches. To win, you must harness the power of stars," said Juniperleaf.
"A new prophecy..." breathed Twilightstar. "What can it mean?"
"A new dawn approaches for ShadowClan..." pondered Juniperleaf. "One cat will make us stronger, one will be our downfall. This has to mean that we will be great and then one cats betrayal will make us weak. One cats lust for blood will be our downfall. This has to be Bloodlust. But who will make us stronger?"
"One cat... one cat..." said Twilightstar. "Perhaps the two cats are the same cat."
"Perhaps," agreed Juniperleaf. "But what about the rest of the prophecy? Four will become one. A battle approaches. This sounds like the great battle of the four Clans versus BloodClan in the times of Firestar. We must avoid it. It devastated the Clans."
"What worries me is the last part," said Twilightstar. "To win, you must harness the power of stars. This clearly means that the battle approaching will be worse than before."
"I do not know what this means, but we have to reverse the prophecy," said Juniperleaf.
"But how can we reverse something that has been forseen by StarClan?" asked Twilightstar.
"There will be a way," said Juniperleaf. "There is always a way. I do not know how yet, but our best bet is to not let Bloodlust join ShadowClan."
"But he is such an asset!" said Twilightstar. "He could be our most dangerous weapon against enemies! If we let him go, he could be our enemies greatest weapon against us."
"One cats lust for blood wil be our downfall," said Juniperleaf. "Twilightstar, as ShadowClan Medicine Cat, Messenger to StarClan, Peacekeeper Among Clans, I strongly advise you to send him away. I can not order you to, but you have to listen."
Twilightstar sighed. She knew she had no choice.
SO?! How do you like it?
