A/N: I realize that I haven't uploaded anything in a while. I've been extremely busy, including 2 book projects and numerous other obligations, but I'm back with some more stories! Thanks for reading everyone! SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE.
Firestar's bright orange pelt glowed with a strange fluorescence in the dark recesses of his cave. His whiskers twitched with slight impatience as he watched the entrance of his den, waiting for his visitors.
Soon, moonlight shown down upon two cats as they entered—one a brown tabby, the other an orange cat, much like the ThunderClan leader himself. The tabby's amber eyes were tired, giving the young cat the illusion of old age.
The two she-cats sat before the leader, silent, waiting for him to speak to them. Firestar watched their expressions—both cats looked worried, slightly scared, and embarrassed. Tension crackled through the air like the thunder outside.
"Well?" Firestar finally asked. "What have you got to say for yourselves?"
The orange she-cat spoke up. "Firestar, I'm sorry."
Firestar rose from his nest and began to pace back and forth. "Sorry, Squirrelflight? Sorry? 'Sorry' catches no prey. 'Sorry' is no response to lying about kits being your own, hurting your mate and, more importantly, your Clan."
Squirrelflight turned her head away in an attempt to hide her pain from her father.
"And you, Leafpool." Firestar stood above her in an intimidating fashion. "I don't even know where to start. You run off with Crowfeather, returning with his kits in you, and sneaking out with Squirrelflight when it's time to give birth? Is that why you went out that snowy day, to give birth in private?"
Leafpool looked up at him instantly, amber eyes blazing with fury. "Firestar, I didn't ask for any of this. StarClan knows this was my destiny. We can't change the past. There's nothing we can do to change the fact that Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze are my kin. There's nothing we can do to change the fact that Hollyleaf told all of the Clans the truth. We can only keep moving forward." She sighed slightly before adding, "If there was any way to change the past, though, I wouldn't change anything. I love my kits more than anything in the world. And if my own father can't respect that, then I don't know who can."
Firestar nodded as he watched Leafpool calm herself. "Leafpool, Squirrelflight, I must tell you something. I received a prophecy, long ago when they were still kits. It was, 'There will be three, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.' If this prophecy is true, and they are your kits, then I am now completely certain that those three are the cats spoken of in the prophecy."
Leafpool gasped. "You mean, if I hadn't run away and mated with Crowfeather… then the prophecy would never have been fulfilled?"
"Correct," Firestar replied. "I'm sorry for being so rude to both of you; you're my daughters, and I should support you no matter what."
The cats exchanged farewells before the leader meowed, "Now, we must tell no cat of the prophecy. At this point, no cat can be trusted anymore."
"Firestar," Squirrelflight asked, "are the Clans crumbling?"
"All I know," he replied, "is that when the code is gone, the Clans will go with it."
The leader's daughters padded out of the den, heads hanging low, as the wind and rain battered their pelts. They could feel the eyes of their Clanmates burning into them—anger, disbelief, confusion, shock. Bidding each other a good night's rest, both cats settled into their nests, struggling to believe everything they'd learned that night.