Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or any of its concepts, characters, etc.
A/N: This is the sequel to Claws and Coltsfoot, and it takes place about a moon after the last chapter. You don't have to have read Claws and Coltsfoot ahead of time, but if you get a chance, please check it out! Reviewers are what keep me going!
IceClan
Leader: Lionstar - golden tomcat with unusually long fangs
Deputy: Frozenwhisker - pale silver tabby with hints of blue in his fur and light green eyes
Medicine Cat: Nightclaw - dusty black tom with bright green eyes
Warriors:
Junipercloud - pale brown she-cat with bright, almost purplish blue eyes
Hailclaw - blue-gray she-cat with bluish green eyes (Apprentice: Sparrowpaw)
Spiderfur - jet-black she-cat with pale gray-green eyes (Apprentice: Hawkpaw)
Silverheart- pale gray tom (Apprentice: Tawnypaw)
Palefang - pale, creamy tom with a fierce glare (Apprentice: Dustpaw)
Apprentices:
Sparrowpaw - dark orangish tabby with yellow-green eyes
Hawkpaw - brown tabby with a tawny underside and green eyes; Sparrowpaw's brother
Tawnypaw - tawny tabby with yellow-green eyes; Sparrowpaw's sister
Dustpaw - brown tabby; Sparrowpaw's brother
Queens and Kits:
Snowflame - snowy white she-cat with warm amber eyes
Dappledkit - white she-cat with a ginger tabby tail and yellow eyes; Snowflame's daughter
Swiftkit - dark brown tabby tom with green eyes; Snowflame's son
Thornkit - orange-and-brown tortoiseshell with one white paw and green eyes; Snowflame's daughter
Grayfeather - tall gray tabby she-cat; expecting Frozenwhisker's kits
Elders:
Poppytail - shaky, cream-and-gray she-cat
EmberClan
Leader: Rainstar - fluffy gray she-cat with pale bluish eyes
Deputy: Gorseclaw - golden tom with green eyes
Medicine Cats:
Heatherleaf - pale brown, orange-tinted she-cat with yellow eyes
Hollypaw - dark gray tom with amber eyes
Warriors:
Ravenwing - midnight black tom with strange blue eyes, a white chest, and one white paw
Mothflame - amber-eyed, chestnut-furred she-cat
Falconpelt - moony, chestnut-furred she-cat; Mothflame's sister
Briarfang - cranky brown she-cat with green eyes; Mothflame's sister
Copperclaw - reddish tomcat with golden eyes
Cinderstripe - ashy gray she-cat with bright, inquisitive green eyes
Ferntail - dark orange she-cat with pale green eyes; Cinderstripe's sister
Smokecloud - tall, lanky gray tomcat with a black tail-tip (Apprentice: Flintpaw)
Nightheart - yellow-eyed, black-furred she-cat (Apprentice: Ivypaw)
Shadowstep - black she-cat with green eyes and white paws
Stormwind - gray tom with swirly tabby markings; Shadowstep's brother
Apprentices:
Ivypaw - brown tabby tom
Flintpaw - dark gray she-cat
Queens and Kits:
Amberfoot - friendly orange she-cat with pale amber eyes
Crowkit - black she-cat; Ravenwing and Amberfoot's daughter
Ashkit - gray tom with a white chest and paws; Ravenwing and Amberfoot's son
Larkfeather - dappled brown she-cat; expecting Copperclaw's kits
Elders:
Silvertuft - pale gray she-cat with insightful yellow-green eyes
Thundertail - bulky gray tom with dull green eyes
Sunfoot - golden she-cat with warm, caring green eyes
MossClan
Leader: Treestar - brown tom with shamrock green eyes
Deputy: Raccoonmask - dark brown tabby with green eyes
Warriors:
Honeyflower - golden she-cat with patches of darker brown
Aspentail - golden brown she-cat
ShadeClan
Leader: Duskstar - dark gray tom with pale green eyes and licks of silver in parts of his fur
Deputy: Dawnfeather- golden she-cat with creamy eyes; Duskstar's sister
Warriors:
Cloudfoot - white tomcat
Countless fox-lengths away from the Clans, within Silverpelt itself, four cats sat around a shimmering blue pool.
"How in the name of StarClan did it get this bad?" hissed a tabby named Eaglefeather.
"I can hardly believe it," agreed Kinktail, a she-cat.
"We're StarClan," muttered a calico named Brightflame. "We should be able to handle this. Can't we deliver some epic prophecy to end this dumb war?"
"No," Eaglefeather said grumpily. "Cats will just keep on fighting and killing and nothing will ever get solved, because Lionstar and Rainstar are idiotic and don't deserve to be Clan leaders."
"That's bright," remarked Kinktail.
"I think we can fix this," murmured the last cat, a bright silver she-cat named Silverbird. "We helped Heatherleaf, remember?"
"Correction," Eaglefeather said, "you helped Heatherleaf. While we were in the middle of coming up with a plan. You just stood up, waved us off, and said, 'Oh, I don't need you three! I'm going to fix it all myself!'"
"And those were my exact words," Silverbird said. Her voice was soft and icy.
"I think what Silverbird was trying to say," Brightflame offered, glaring at Eaglefeather, "is that because of us, Heatherleaf is alive and EmberClan has a strong medicine cat to guide them. If we can do that, we can stop a war."
"If we had left that mopey medicine cat to die, then EmberClan would've been weakened and IceClan could've finished them off once and for all," Eaglefeather snarled.
"And that's what we want," Kinktail bristled.
"Of course! EmberClan is clearly in the wrong!" retorted Eaglefeather.
"If we had left Heatherleaf to die, less IceClan cats would lose their lives, but what about EmberClan?" Silverbird. "Without a medicine cat, Lionstar would do everything he could to destroy them and end the war once and for all."
"And what's wrong with that?" Eaglefeather said. "We're trying to stop the war, after all."
"I don't know why we invited you here," Kinktail said. "All you do is take IceClan's side. We're StarClan, Eaglefeather. We're all supposed to be neutral."
"None of you are even close to neutral," Eaglefeather hissed. "You take EmberClan's side. Always. I'm just here to add variety."
"Anyways, what if Wolfwing had stayed?" Brightflame said. "He knew that Heatherleaf would take up the medicine cat position when he left. But if Heatherleaf was gone..."
"Wolfwing was mad," Kinktail said, her fur laying flat. "We can't be sure what he knew or didn't know. Anyway, I have an idea."
"I hope it's not another stupid one," Eaglefeather grumbled.
"Oh, you mean like one of your ideas?" Kinktail shot back. She waved her paw over the pool, and a white she-cat showed up. Her eyes were yellow, like leaves in the fall, and her tail and ears were striped orange.
"You want Dappledkit?" Silverbird said, tilting her head at the image.
"Why not?" Kinktail replied. "We know she's a fighter, from what we've seen of her so far. She could stop the war."
"But how?" Brightflame asked.
"We give her a power," Kinktail said.
Sulking, Eaglefeather walked up to the pool. His eyes brightened a little when he saw the cat.
"She's from IceClan, right? Dappledkit?"
"Yup," Kinktail replied.
"This might not be a bad idea," Eaglefeather said, settling down.
"You're just happy she's an IceClan cat," Kinktail pointed out. "Anyway, I was thinking... if she understood why the war needed stopping, and had enough influence over other cats, she could speak up and stop the war. Her power should make her know the consequences of this awful war."
"What if she felt others' pain?" Silverbird suggested.
"That's a bad idea if she turns out to be a warrior," Eaglefeather said. "What happens when she goes off to battle?"
"She's strong," Kinktail said. "She fought off greencough as a kit. She'll be able to handle a battle."
"I don't know..." Brightflame said skeptically. "I worry about her. She mostly keeps to herself, doesn't confide in anyone."
"She'll make a friend in Hawkpaw," Silverbird said. "And Heatherleaf will watch over her."
"We can't be sure. Let's give her a different power," Brightflame said assertively.
"How about mind-reading?" Eaglefeather put out.
The cats were silent for a heartbeat.
"That's perfect!" Kinktail exclaimed. "She could still tell when other cats were in pain, but not experience it herself..."
"Just the right balance," Brightflame agreed. "Mind-reading will work. I can feel it."
"Does StarClan have enough power to do this?" Silverbird worried. "Should we really put all of our faith in a newborn kit?"
"You put all of your faith in your precious Heatherleaf," Eaglefeather spat.
"Besides, we have to," Brightflame said. "This is the only way to stop the war."
All of the cats, even Eaglefeather, gazed into the pool at Dappledkit's bright face, wondering if she would be enough.