This is a one-shot; the story of what it might be when Dovepaw gains her nine lives. I had to speculate as to what her warrior name would be and which cats have died at the time she becomes leader.
"Just a little farther," Jayfeather called back to the gray she-cat.
"Jayfeather, I've been to the Moonpool before," panted Dovewing. "Firestar had me accompany him often enough and even so, I can see it from far away, remember." The thought of Firestar brought feelings of grief to her but she reassured herself by being playful.
"Right. Of course," Jayfeather smiled. "Here we are."
Dovewing looked sceptically at the pool of water. It was surrounded by strange paw prints; too many and too old-looking for the last few generations of Clan cats. She had heard stories about the ancient cats who had somehow lived by the lake long before the Clans but it was still strange to see evidence of them still in the forest.
Jayfeather nudged her gently from behind. "C'mon," he urged. "It's nothing bad. Just what leaders and medicine cats have been visiting for years. Time to get your nine lives."
Dovewing resisted the urge to snap that she wasn't scared. She was going to be leader, after all and that required maturity. Facing away from the medicine cat, Dovewing lowered her head to lap the water. Nothing happened. Confused, Dovewing looked expectantly up at Jayfeather.
Jayfeather sighed. "Try again and this time let your tongue rest in the water. Don't lap. And when you go to StarClan's hunting grounds, you will look to any passing creature as if you are taking a nap by the shore of the pool."
"But I thought you just stepped into their hunting grounds, Jayfeather." Dovewing had heard Jayfeather talk about his trips into other medicine cats' dreams in her sessions with him and Lionblaze.
"Only when I step into other cats' dreams. You have a different power, Dovewing. You probably have to do what any new leader would do."
Humbled, Dovewing nodded and pressed her tongue to the water. Instantly, she was engulfed in blackness darker than any night and felt a chill from her nose to her tail-tip. Dovewing gasped. Where were StarClan? Had they decided they didn't want such a powerful cat to be the leader of just one Clan? Were they about to reject her?
Yet as soon as Dovewing thought this thought she felt new surroundings materialize around her.
Four great oaks sprang up in front of her. And a large rock appeared underneath her feet. Dovewing did not recognize the forest now surrounding her but she knew herself to be in a clearing with a certain peace about it.
Looking up, Dovewing could see stars above her head, as vivid as the night sky in her own forest. Except for one thing. The stars were swirling in a spiral down towards Dovewing until they became recognizable as cats of every possible colour, size and Clan scent. And all of them somehow larger than life, as if the earth, wind, water, fire and ice of the world nested in their fur.
Looking at the line of cats now surrounding her in the clearing, Dovewing became aware that the ranks of cats stretched on and on through the forest until they began to fade. Dovewing blinked. These cats were not simply far away; their starry figures were disappearing into nothingness.
With a bolt of realization she realized that these must be the oldest cats. So StarClan didn't mean eternal life. Do all new leaders see this? Or is it just me with my special powers? Is this some kind of lesson I'm supposed to learn about how nothing is eternal and I must use the time I have wisely?
Either way she was spooked and mystified by the thought.
"Dovewing," the voice of the nearest cat jolted her. The cats Dovewing recognized; the ones she had known when they were alive were all in the foreground. There was Mousefur standing beside Longtail. There was Briarlight. Dovewing felt a bolt of happiness jolt through her as she noticed that her friend was standing on all four legs rather than dragging her rear end across the ground as she had done for most of her life. StarClan had granted her a repaired backbone. Where Mousefur's muzzle had been graying in her life, it was brown, and she look young and strong again and no longer an elder. Can Longtail see again? Will Jayfeather be able to see too? Than Dovewing remembered that Jayfeather could already see in his night-time walks into StarClan's hunting grounds.
Looking around her, Dovewing saw Tigerheart and her heart leaped in relief that he had been accepted to StarClan despite his forays into the Dark Forest.
But of course, Dovewing reminded herself. He only ever had good intentions. She jumped off the Great Rock and rushed forward to greet him but caught a glimpse of another familiar pelt. Rippletail! Dovewing's heart surged again.
Then Dovewing's eye caught Birchfall and Ivypool. They stood side-by-side near the front ranks (A/N Whitewing is still alive.) Dovewing met her sister's eyes and tried to make out what emotion she could see. Love? Joy? Condemnation? Jealousy? But no, she saw peace in her sister's eyes. Peace and pride in her sister that did not detract from Ivypool's own self esteem anymore.
"Well," a grumpy voice thundered. "Are we going to start the ceremony." For the first time, Dovewing noticed Yellowfang, the she-cat who had given her the prophecy from StarClan concerning herself. Yellowfang sat on a branch of one of the oak trees in the centre of the clearing. Beside her sat a blue-gray cat who looked a bit like Mistystar, a spotted tortoiseshell and a silver-gray tabby with blue eyes. It was the silver tabby who put Dovewing at ease smiling at her with her eyes as well as her mouth.
Instinctively, Dovewing backed up onto the rock just as Brambleclaw approached out of the crowd of cats. The brown tabby looked even stronger than he had in life, no longer bleeding to death from a fox trap.
Brambleclaw touched his nose to Dovewing. "With this life I give you justice. Judge all cats fairly whether they be friend or foe, kin or not." Dovewing felt a great flash of searing pain. Her whole body ached with the life. She realized that Brambleclaw had needed to judge Hawkfrost as his leader's killer regardless of the sibling relationship between the two and that he had needed to be fair to Squirrelflight when she had come up with her plan to save the Clan despite his own anger at her as Brambleclaw padded away.
Would all her lives be like this? Dovewing didn't think she could take even one more. Mousefur was the next to walk up to her. Smiling, the once old she-cat sprang lithely onto the Great Rock and pressed her nose to Dovewing. "With this life I give you endurance. Take whatever life throws at you and come back fighting."
The pain from this life was harsh but Dovewing felt she could endure it. Mousefur stepped off the rock to make way for Briarlight.
Dovewing's old denmate grinned at her. "With this life, I give you optimism. Use it when your Clan goes through hard times."
After the other lives she had received this one was like a breath of fresh air to Dovewing. She savoured it hard, wanting to lap it up. She filled up with admiration for Briarlight who had suffered such a crippling injury and yet had settled so readily into her new life, always making the best of things.
The next cat to approach her was Tigerheart. Dovewing padded up to touch his nose. "I've missed you so much," she whispered.
Tigerheart nodded. "I've missed you, too, Dovewing. You are truly a special cat." There was regret in his voice but he carried on. "With this life I give you confidence. When the leader has confidence, the Clan has confidence, too."
Dovewing felt a burst of strength gush through her. All her bones felt strong, her muscles flexed and her mind sharp. She felt on top of the world and ready for anything.
She watched readily for the next life as Tigerheart climbed down off the rock and Rippletail took his place. "With this life, I give you cooperation. Use it whenever you need to cooperate with other Clans as we did when the beavers blocked the stream or whenever you need to compromise within your own Clan." As the life surged through her, Dovewing felt she would not be able to bear the pain and yet she still felt strong.
As Rippletail stepped down off the rock a strange light brown tabby she-cat who was somehow familiar climbed up. Dovewing strained to remember where she had seen her before. The she-cat smiled, "Don't you remember me. We fought side-by-side."
Now Dovewing did. She remembered Honeyfern, the StarClan cat, sister of Cinderheart and Poppyfrost, who had helped her and Lionblze and Jayfeather in the last battle against the two Dark Forest cats. "With this life I give you protection. Use it to care for your Clan as you would care for your closest loved ones."
Dovewing was unprepared for the pain in this life. She had expected something gentle and loving but now she understood the ferocity of a she-cat to protect kits, a sibling to protect a beloved littermate, a Clan leader to protect her Clan. I will die for my Clan nine times over, she thought even as her legs buckled underneath her.
Honeyfern smiled at her knowingly and stepped down off the rock and Dovewing purred when she saw the next cat. "Oh Birchfall, it's really you!"
Birchfall nodded and smiled. "With this life I give you courage. Never lose sight of how important it is to face what you fear each day." He touched his nose to his daughter and Dovewing felt his pride in his daughter bolstering her and giving her strength to face the pain this latest life was giving her.
The next cat who stepped forward brought a purr of joy from Dovewing. "Ivypool!" she gasped. "It's really you!"
Her sister nodded. Pressing her nose to Dovewing, she whispered. "With this life I give you humility. You never wanted power and never thought yourself to be better than me. I know that now. But it will be important that you always remember to listen to the opinions of others and to understand that you are not always right and even that there are some battles that cannot be won. This will help you to be a wiser leader."
Dovewing was surprised by how painful this life was. It was as if she were being brought down emotionally, realizing all her weaknesses and wrongs at once but at the same time, she felt a certain clarity and strength in being able to look upon what she alone could not do and not flinch. She bore the pain and then managed to weakly lick her sister's spirit on the nose. Ivypool smiled as if they were still innocent kits in the nursery with no more serious quarrels than sibling squabbles over milk.
Then Ivypool climbed down off the rock. "Don't go," whispered Dovewing, but already Firestar was taking Ivypool's place on the rock. Dovewing realized he would be the one to give Dovewing her last life. "I will follow in your footsteps, Firestar."
Firestar nodded. "I know you will. With this life I give you wisdom and compassion. Use your power wisely. Remember that power is neither good nor bad but its user makes it so." He pressed his nose to Dovewing and she felt the weight of her predecessor's responsibilities on her shoulders. She felt the importance of each cat's life and fate and the decisions it would take to care for them all.
"I hail you by your new name," Firestar continued. "Dovestar! Dovestar!" The other cats took up the chant. Dovestar dipped her head in gratitude to them all.