Warriors II: Starlight's Story
"Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here under Highledge for a Clan meeting."
As Firestar called the familiar gathering words, three kits wriggled out of the nursery. One had blue-gray fur, one had ginger and white fur, and one had dark tabby fur. They were followed by a blue-gray tom, like the kit, and a tortoiseshell queen.
"Hey, Dad," the ginger and white one said. "Who's my mentor gonna be?"
"Only Firestar knows, Swiftkit," the tom answered.
"Pebblestream," the queen inquired. "Do you have any preferences on the kits' mentors?"
"No, Starlight," Pebblestream answered.
"The time has come to name two new apprentices." Firestar's voice rang through the camp as the last cats bounded out of their dens.
"Swiftkit, Badgerkit, Sparrowkit, front and center, please."
The Clan purred with amusement as the three soon-to-be apprentices trotted forward shyly. "Sparrowkit, you will now be known as Sparrowpaw, and your mentor will be Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight, you are very brave and you play a large part in stocking the fresh-kill pile. Teach the meanings of a good hunter to Sparrowpaw.
"Badgerkit, you will be Badgerpaw now. Your mentor will be Brightheart. Brightheart, you are smart in fighting, and gentle. Pass these things down to Badgerpaw.
"And at last, Swiftkit. Your name will be Swiftpaw from now on, and your mentor will be Brackenfur. Brackenfur, you have the makings of a true warrior. Teach Swiftpaw everything you have learned."
As yowls of approval were interrupted by a yowl of sheer terror as Leafpool crashed out of her den. She fled camp immediately without saying a word to any cat. Leafpool had not attended the ceremony seeing as a case of deadly blackcough had torn through camp like a claw. The cats down worst with it were Brambleclaw, Cloudtail, Starlight's brother Sunset, and Mousefur. Others had it, but not as bad, including Thornclaw, Spiderleg and Rainwhisker. They were down a bit on warriors, obviously.
"Sorreltail, go see what is wrong in Leafpool's den," Firestar ordered. Sorreltail walked over to the medicine cat's den. For a few heartbeats the Clan waited, but Sorreltail came out in the same state as Leafpool: yowling in fright. "Firestar! There is a fire in the den!"
Cats meowed with alarm. They ran every which way. Firestar shouted over all of them. "Evacuate camp at once! To the border with WindClan!"
Already the fire was sweeping with amazing speed through the camp. Dustpelt ran to the nursery. "Ferncloud, come on!" he growled.
"But the kits! There are so many!" Ferncloud had a new litter of kits, only a few sunrises old. There were five in all. Starlight bounded over and carried a kit in her teeth. Dustpelt and Ferncloud both had one, too. "Firestar!" Starlight yowled as best she could with a bundle of fur in her mouth. "Help us with the kits!"
Firestar and Sandstorm each helped with one. The rest of the cats were evacuating. They ran to the border with WindClan, but Sandstorm stumbled. As she struggled to her paws again, the kit she was holding scratched her hard on the neck. She cried out and dropped the kit. As she lay there, the fire reached long tendrils out and tried to grab her. "No!"
Firestar leaped into the flames, trying to help Sandstorm up, but she had passed out and was a dead weight.
"Firestar!" Starlight cried. "Don't! She's on the border with StarClan!"
But Firestar had collapsed, too. Oh, no. He's losing a life. That means he only has three left!
Starlight ran head-on into the flames. "Firestar!" she cried. "Where are you?"
She found him and dragged him out by the scruff. He groaned as he came to. "Firestar?"
"The . . . the blackcough."
As he faded back into unconsciousness, Starlight realized what he was trying to say. The blackcough victims!
Starlight raced back through the stifling heat until she came to the remains of the camp. She ran into Leafpool's den and found all the cats awake, but unmoving. Some might even be with StarClan already.
Starlight took Sunset's scruff in her teeth and tried to get him out. "Sunset! Come on! You have the strength!"
Then Starlight realized that beyond the overpowering scent of smoke, there was also a strong scent of death. She was too late. Sunset was joining StarClan.
Sootfur and Ashfur appeared beside Starlight and started sniffing through the heat and haze to see who was still alive and who wasn't. They finally grabbed Thornclaw and Rainwhisker. But Sootfur was blinded by the smoke and tripped over a root. The flames enveloped him and Thornclaw instantly. Graystripe suddenly arrived and helped with Rainwhisker. Starlight suddenly remembered the elders, but she knew they had to be dead by now. They hurried through ThunderClan territory, passing many charred bodies, but not recognizing who they were. When they got to the WindClan border, they could just make out a group of cats advancing over the hill. ThunderClan scent and WindClan mingled together.
The group followed what was left of the Clan until they got to the WindClan camp. There was a special corner prepared for the ThunderClan survivors. Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, helped Leafpool examine the cats. Starlight padded over to Firestar and asked, "Who's left?"
"We've got me, you, Leafpool, Dustpelt, Ferncloud, Maplekit, Oakkit, Cedarkit, and Beechkit. Badgerpaw, Swiftpaw, Sparrowpaw, along with Pebblestream, Skyfoot, Squirrelflight, Brackenfur, Brightheart and Ashfur with Rainwhisker. Sorreltail's okay too. But the kits breathed in a lot of smoke, and so did you, me, Ashfur, Graystripe, and Rainwhisker. He's already weakened by blackcough, too."
A few days later, Graystripe had come down with blackcough, Rainwhisker had joined StarClan, Ashfur had started to cough, and the kits weren't doing so well either. Finally, Graystripe died and Firestar would not leave his body. Beechkit didn't make it, and Oakkit didn't either. Only several warriors remained.
Ashfur coughed and coughed, but he survived. Firestar came down with a case, too, and lost two lives. After he recovered, Starlight saw him talking to Onestar.
Firestar leaped onto a small rock in the middle of the WindClan camp. He said, "To whom it may concern or interest may gather here to hear me make an important decision for ThunderClan."
Many WindClan warriors gathered and the remaining ThunderClan. Again, Firestar spoke.
"I have only one life left, and I am getting a little . . . you might say, old."
The cats purred in amusement. "But," Firestar cleared his throat. "I am serious. It seems as if I am not fit as a leader."
Yowls of protest broke out among both the Clans, so that Firestar had to shout to be heard. "I am stepping down as Deputy of ThunderClan. I have chosen a leader wisely. The former deputy, Brambleclaw, was killed. So was Graystripe. So the cat I have chosen to be leader of the Clan . . ." The crowd of cats leaned forward, listening with bated breath. ". . . Is Starlight."
The yowls of approval broke out instantly. "Starlight! Starlight!"
Starlight sat in the crowd, stunned. Everything seemed to be going slow and fast at the same time. The world spun until it was just a blur. Suddenly, she was brought back to life by a nudge in the backside. All the cats were nudging her forward. She tried to shake her head. "No . . . no, not me. There must be some mistake," she mewed. Firestar looked down on her with twinkling eyes. "Yes," he said gently. "You are the chosen one."
That night, Starlight made her way to the Moonpool. Leafpool came with her. As they reached the dip in the hill, Starlight gazed once more upon the pool made of starshine. As she bounded down the hill, the grass seemed to welcome her with waving, deep fronds. Something about this place told Starlight it would always remain untouched be Twolegs.
She lapped the cool, fresh water from the pool and lay down. Almost immediately, she heard whispers from around her. "She is here. She has arrived." "It is said that she will be the next generation." "She is going to be. It was prophesied by Bluestar!"
Starlight sat up. The whispers vanished and she found herself next to a sleeping Leafpool. She dozed again, and when the whispers continued, she did not try to look for the source. When the voices grew from whispers to meows, Starlight looked up and found herself standing in a clearing much like the Moonpool clearing, but it did not have the Moonpool. There was a soft, warm mist rising around Starlight's feet, and it reminded her of the fluffy, white clouds that floated lazily over the sun on a Greenleaf day. Then, she saw a slim, blue-gray cat coming toward her. "Starlight." The cat nodded her head. "I am Bluestar, and you might call me one of the leaders of StarClan.
"The time has come, young warrior, for you to be made leader of ThunderClan. This was meant to be."
Suddenly, other cats streamed into the clearing. There was Tallstar, former leader of WindClan, Mudfur, former medicine cat of RiverClan, Sandstorm, Brambleclaw, Cloudtail, and countless others.
Another gray cat strode up to Bluestar. "Do I have permission to speak with the Chosen One?"
"Yes, Graystripe."
Graystripe! Starlight wanted to bound forward and push her nose into his fur and smell his familiar smell again. "Starlight. You are a loyal warrior." Graystripe's eyes were gentle, and he seemed to be happy looking at her. "You are to be ThunderClan's next leader. You will be a great leader." He turned and looked straight around at a rock. "Firestar?"
The leader's orange pelt stood out sharply. Suddenly, Starlight felt as if she was in her leader's body. She saw out of his eyes, and she saw herself fade away into mist . . .
"Aaah!"
Firestar woke with a start. Breathing hard, he remembered his dream . . . Or was it real? The fire! Sandstorm!
Firestar rushed to the warrior's den. "Sandstorm!" he yowled as he burst into the bush.
"Quiet down, will ya?" Brackenfur's irritated voice sounded from the corner. "Why, it's not even dawn yet!"
"Brambleclaw? Graystripe?"
"Yes?"
"Yawwwwwn. Wha?"
Firestar dashed over to the nursery. "Brightheart?"
Cloudtail looked up at him, his eyes shining. "She's just had two kits!" he said proudly.
Firestar looked down at them. One looked like him, with bright orange fur, and one looked kind of like Spottedleaf, with a dark tortoiseshell pelt.
"Wha-what are their names?" Firestar stammered.
Brightheart touched the first kit. "This one is Sunkit."
Firestar gasped. Cloudtail looked up sharply. "Is there a problem?" he growled.
"N-no. Continue."
And this one-" Brightheart licked the second kit. "This is Starkit."
Firestar nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, she is destined to great things."
Spottedleaf smiled down on Firestar as the leader licked each kit gently on the head. She sighed. "If only you knew, Firestar. That dream was just the beginning."