Hello, Just wanted to mention that this is Lily of the Valley rewritten. Try to at least stick around till chapter one, the plot only truly starts then.

The full Summary: Icepaw is born in a time when a carefully set system to protect the clans against some of their members starts to fall apart, and in the meantime, borders are threatened on all sides as Riverclan grows increasingly aggressive and Shadowclan increasingly mysterious. At the same time, Snowpaw, one of the different, leads her own life; one that somehow doesn't quite seem to coincide with Icepaw's version of the clans.

Disclaimer: I don't own warriors...

-Key

Prologue:

Swallownose slowly lowered his muzzle into the slushy waters that had surrounded the Moonstone for the past few moons. Rain had been abundant this season. Screwing his eyes shut against the stinging cold, he waited expectantly for what came next. He gradually felt a creeping whirlpool of darkness close around him, giving him a sensation rather similar to that of falling. Soon greeted by a sharp glow behind his eyelids and the soft touch of grass beneath his paws, he opened his eyes, narrowing them against the starry light before scanning his ancestor's hunting grounds with a watchful eye.

To one side of the clearing stood a familiar brown tabby she-cat; blue eyes sparkling with the light of silverpelt. Unsurprisingly, she looked no different from when the last time the young medicine cat saw her, but he noted with a hint of shock that she could see the outline of the shrubs through her faded form.

"Poppyshade!" He greeted, unable to stop a grin from spreading to his face as he saw his distant ancestor; a small trace of his bloodline that he could trace all the way back to the Old Era of the clans.

"Swallownose," she responded formally, her voice carrying across the clearing although it was clear that the words had not been spoken loudly.

For a moment it almost seemed as though the she-cat was hesitating; weighing her options, but before he even had the time to blink, she was suddenly sitting two tail-lengths ahead of him, tail neatly curled around her paws. He was never sure what to expect from meetings with Starclan, really, but when Poppyshade's smile faded and her gaze darkened, he suddenly felt a chill spread from his nose to tail, as though he could still feel the frosty air around the Moonstone in his dreams. He had instantly felt the mood darken, as though suddenly the skies themselves were on edge.

"Swallownose," She began, looking hesitant, claws sheathing and unsheathing surreptitiously in the annoying manner that only Skyclan cats seemed to have, "Destiny has been clement for many generations, no prophecies, no omens; no disasters."

Swallownose opened his mouth to protest; there had been plenty of conflict between the clans, and if destiny had shown mercy, leafbare definitely had not. Yet, instead of speaking words, he simply gaped at the Starclan cat before him, unsure of what to do.

Poppyshade sighed, "Old enemies are rising," she mewed, glancing back over her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" He mewed; half-hoping she would give him an answer that held none of Starclan's reputation for cryptic messages and omens.

"See for yourself."

Instead of responding, his ancestor's eyes suddenly widened before narrowing to slits, and she whirled around to face something that he could not see, unsheathed claws glowing in the pale moonlight. He yowled in alarm, turning to face whatever intruding enemy had invaded his dream, but at the same time he was well aware that his fighting skills were mediocre at best, and he was sure that he looked rather pathetic. For a second he was sure he caught fear scent on the light breeze that surrounded the clearing, and then the scenery flickered before disappearing entirely.

For a moment he simply stood there, alone in the darkness, hoping to calm the pounding of his heart as he realised that he was not yet waking up.

Gradually, he began to make out what seemed to be a swirling mass of fog, and when he looked down at his paws, they were caked in mud. If he had been asked to describe his surroundings, the most accurate word he could have found for it was a swamp, although he couldn't have claimed while being completely truthful that that was what he was currently facing. One of his qualities as medicine cat had always been curiosity; and so, in that moment, when his paws carried him forwards although his own will had not asked them to, he simply let them carry him instead of letting his fright take over.

He was not sure how much time passed like this, but somewhere along the path he began to feel his fur rise along his spine, as though he were being watched. At the same moment he felt a familiar feeling settle through him, as though his emotions were slowly being pushed aside and his sight was being sharpened; feeling that he often had when receiving an omen from Starclan. He stopped abruptly, praying that Starclan knew what they were doing. Suddenly, a pair of light blue eyes blinked at him, contrasting with the darkness that threatend to swallow the land and skies whole. He jumped, startled by the appearance, and felt his heart skip a beat when the figure emerged from the darkness, grey white and black spotted pelt blending into the fog, and padded forward; directly to where he was standing. He took a step back, tripping over his own paws as he did so, and felt a moment of dread before he realized that the cat wasn't aware of his presence.

He stood up, this time taking in his surrounding with a careful eye. The cat in his vision stood stalk-still, surveying at the land before her, looking stangely nostalgic. She flicked her tail, and five more cats emerged from the shadows, immediately followed by a long line of unidentifiable cats hidden by the misty glare of the swamp.

"The downfall of the clans. Splendid, isn't it?" the voice spoke softly at first.

"Poppyshade?" Swallownose mewed hesistantly. Suspicion had instantly flared up in him as the words were spoken.

This time he was not startled when Poppyshade appeared by his side, gazing at the cats with an emotionless eyes; thing that was not common with the brown tabby she-cat. Was it just him or was her fur a darker shade of brown all of a sudden? She didn't answer, simply flicking her tail to the first cat he had seen, the one with the white and black spotted fur. Something about her seemingly blue eyes wasn't right, they seemed to flicker with a hint of orange every few seconds, and upon closer glance, he noticed something that almost like a battle scene reflecting into them, he turned around, shocked to see that the she-cat's army was, indeed surging forward in a never-ending tide of cats, to meet another group, led by five cats, and five more cats standing close behind.

The clans, he was surprised to realize. He could see the current leaders, most of them anyway. Standing there with their own league of cats, although with each growing moment, with every time a new cat emerged from the shadows, he could see the general feeling of horror spreading like a wildfire after the dry season. From the sidelines, he could see the medicine cats standing there, determination Showing through their stanceeven as despair settled over the clans. He noted with a slight shiver that although he could see many familiar cats, he was not present in the scene; in his place stood a relatively young she-cat.

There was no stare down, no hesitation, between the two opposing groups, simply a moment of fear hardening to anticipation as their claws met those of their attackers. The last image that the vision had to offer was that of the blue-eyed cat, sprinting to meet the battling groups.

His dream then proceeded to overwhelm him with a swarm of paths and images, only to settle on another scene. This one was of cats leaving their territory, of clan cats defeated and splintering off into smaller groups, each heading their own way. Following them were multiple shadows; they were not exactly cats, but Swallownose could see their eyes glowing darkly in the moonless night. It only took a moment for him to realize that these were purely and simply the intruders that he only had to assume had just succeeded in doing what no cat, no twoleg, had ever been capable of doing, which was a lot to say considering the opponents the clans had met. The cats that had defeated the them, still led by the shadow-cat. Worst yet, leading the remnants of clans were starry cats, dozens of starry cats, unseen yet present . He shuddered as the ground turned murky scarlet beneath his paws, and in a wave of dark red, he was back in the swamp, alone this time.

"Swallownose, you have the power to make sure that this never happens. You, the other medicine cats, the leaders, every cat that you have ever seen and all the ones that you will meet in the future; but you must collaborate." Poppyshade's voice growled silkily.

"How?" he mewed huskily, unable to stop himself from letting out a sigh of relief when it became evident that he was not about to be thrown back into another vision.

"Simple, we make sure that the cats we saw in the vision are never capable of launching such an attack."

"There were so many of them! Surely we can't just get rid of them, not without making things worse." He mewed.

"You can't get rid of them," Poppyshade lashed her tail. "But you can make sure that they are never trained to become proper warriors, and that they never have the right type of ambition to do anything dangerous."

"Why would any of the leaders agree to lose potential assets when they haven't done anything wrong yet? Besides, there were rogues there, more rogues than I could count."

"Starclan will worry about that. You only need to be capable of finding the right cats at the right time," She mewed dismissively.

"Poppyshade, why would you-"

"Swallownose, have I ever been wrong before? Do you not trust me?"

"I trust you," he mewed, blinking in confusion when for a moment he thought he saw Poppyfrost's figure drain of colour, taking on a darker gleam, but when he opened his eyes the glint of starlight was the only thing present.

"Then you will trust me when I tell you that a new rule must be added to the code. "

Swallownose opened his mouth to protest, but she flicker her tail, interrupting his words before they had the time to formulate, "Don't waste my time arguing." She snapped, sounding oddly out of character.

"What? You can't just do that! Can you?" He was pacing by now, and couldn't help but stop dead in his tracks when he saw that Poppyshade was… Holding back a laugh?

"Alright kit. I've had enough of these games. If you're not going to let a few carefully selected words convince you, then let me give you a real reason to obey." She put emphasis on the last few words, her voice deepening into one that wasn't so unfamiliar, and when he whirled around to face her with what he assumed was an expression that made his jaw seem nearly unhinged from gaping; it was no longer a pale brown tabby she-cat standing before him, but a light grey tabby she-cat.

"Feather-"

"Don't call me that!" She hissed before yawning, suddenly alarmingly calm, "Listen, I don't have time for this. I give you two options; an ultimatum really. You can give in and peacefully rule over the clan along with a select few cats, with only the happiness of a few other cats to lose. Or, the Dark Forest can plague your darned clans until you have no cats left to heal you and no cats left to lead you. Either way, I win; you lose."

He took a step back. Starclan wouldn't let that happen. It wasn't as though this was the first time the Dark Forest tried to meddle with clan life.

"Honestly Swallownose, you surprise me. The Dark Forest isn't winning because of you or me; the only reason for its imminent success is that contrary to popular belief, those who believe in the good of every cat often times end up being their own downfall. I mean, look at your precious Starclan. Take a moment to glance up at the moon when you wake, you'll see that they've made no move to contradict my previous statements."

"Of course they won't if you're the one who attacked-

"I didn't attack her." It was strange to hear her speak without trying to sound threatening. It sounded almost too plain, as though something was missing. Next thing her knew, he was the one laughing, "You expect me to believe that."

"No."

"Then why bother lying?"

"Because anything I say could be a lie." That last comment effectively left him wordlessly waiting to hear what she had to say. It wasn't as though there was much he could do. After all, he was all too aware of her crimes...

"I've already told you that we want to win." She mewed, flickering in and out of sight as the shadows deepened, "But so does Starclan." She was stating the obvious, but Swallownose had to admit that she had caught his attention. Of course Starclan wanted to win: so long as they protected the clans they protected their legacy. Maybe he could manage to get away. The mouse heart couldn't follow him into the living world anyway.

"Your thoughts aren't exactly private here." Featherheart deadpanned before he could de anything. "You really do think you are special, don't you? So sure that Starclan needs you just as much as you need them. Convinced that your relationship is that of a wise elder advising a young kit." He wouldn't put it past the Dark Forest to try to convince them otherwise. Besides, it wasn't as though there were any replacement clans just waiting to rise to the top.

"Now that was the most ironic thing I've ever heard. Look at the puddle, Swallownose." He was tempted to disobey, but decided that it wasn't best to do so when confronted to Featherclaw of all cats. He was unsurprised to see that the only thing staring back at him from the water was himself.

"What do you see?" He wasn't even going to gratify that question with a response.

"Have you ever heard of the cat who was taken by a hawk? What about the one that fell off a cliff? The one taken by another clan? The kit that wandered too far into the forest?They were only the start of a carefully elaborated plan, so grandiose that the survival of the clans was practically assured. You were never unique. Let me give you a reason to believe that we are all mirrors."

"Now look again...

Alright… so… That took me a few hours to write. Constructive criticism is needed and grandly appreciated, so please. Review. (Future chapters will probably have a QOTD, but since this is the prologue, this one won't).

(Let's try to reach three reviews at least please)

Have a nice day.

-Key

(Also, for anyone that cares):

So, this is a sort of partly rewritten partly edited version of Lily of the Valley. I haven't updated Lily of the Valley in a while, and when I started rereading it, there were some parts that I wanted to improve. Updates will be once or twice every other week until I run out of chapters to edit and have to start writing whole chapters and planning the future plot. For those of you that probably didn't read Lily of the Valley, Welcome to Black Ice, the new and hopefully improved version.

(Just a small note: This chapter was edited rather than rewritten (although I still changed a major part of the plot) , but there will be some chapters with more major changes.).

Yep, this AN is getting long, and so, I will spare you from any more boring notes…. For now.