Prologue:

Thorns stabbed into my tortoise shell body, most of the thorns were wrapped around my legs, holding me in place. To one side of me was an eerie forest, where the stars never shined. It looked like a gloomy, miserable place, and I had no desire to put one paw in the dull and vast forest. Occasionally a cat would wander near me, most were cats I did not recognise, and most didn't pay me any attention. One however did like to visit me on a regular basis. A dark tabby, whose fur looked almost black in the lightless hunting grounds, often would stare at me from a distance, rarely coming over to me. His amber eyes seemed the pierce my soul, and I would turn my head to avoid him, even if it meant cutting my neck on the thorns that encased me. To the other side of me, was Starclan, which I saw many cats hunting and playing together. The moonlight landscape was teeming with prey, as it was always greenleaf in Starclan. I was situated between the too, in my own sort of limbo. An eerie white light always surrounded me, and the grass was always thin beneath my paws, and the fog that surrounded me made it hard for me to breathe, and see my surrounding. Only because of my enhanced senses I could have a glimpse of the world around me. I could enhance my one of my senses at any given time if I blocked out everything and focused on hearing or smelling. It made me a decent hunter and a great tracker. The trade of for such power was I would never be successful in love. I thought I didn't mind, as I was a medicine cat, we were not meant to fall in love, but then I did twice, and they both broke my heart. The pain of the thorns stabbing into me was long gone, as I was trapped here for moons, and many more to come. It was punishment for me falling in love and running away from the clan to be with my mate. Although I came back, I was never fully forgiven.

I saw a faint flicker through the fog on the Starclan side of me, and I instinctively blocked out my thoughts, hearing, smell, feeling and taste, to focus on seeing what was in front of me. Many cats were padding over to me, all the cats eyes were shining, with their pelts looked as if stars were trapped on them and they left starry paw prints on the grass behind them. Most of the cats I recognise and most of them I couldn't look in the eye. A fluffy tortoise shell cast with a white underbelly stepped forward, and I recognised her to be my mother. Her amber eyes stared at me, and I stared at her back, unflinching. This cat had done similar crimes, yet was allowed to walk the skies of the clans' ancestors. She was the only cat I would not turn my face from, in shame, because she understood me, and we both had walked a similar path. "It is time" she meowed quietly, almost as if she was speaking only to herself. The rest of the cats that had gathered behind me had bright shining, yet determined eyes. I blinked in recognition of her words, as the thorns retracted from my body. Terrible pain rose from the gashes, but I remained silent, this was my judgement day. My mother lead me further into Starclan territory, and the cats who had gathered and myself followed her to a pool, surrounded by flat gray stones. She sat on a smooth stone which jutted out slightly over the water. She flicked my tail and beckoned me over to her. I obeyed and took my place next to her.

She looked at the water and I followed her gaze, and in the middle of the pool, colours and shaped formed until a picture of a tortoise shell queen revealed itself although it image was blurry. As a medicine cat I instantly knew she was having a difficult birth, her claws dug into the earth and the stick she was biting down on had broken into tiny pieces. Blood started to pool around her, and all I could do was stare in horror. Finally she let out a yowl of anguish and a tiny kit was born. I saw gentle paws of another cat place the kit softly next to another kit. Finally a third kit joined them, and it seemed the mother was exhausted but miraculously alive. After a few licks on the kits, going against the grain of their fur to get the blood rushing, two of the kits started crying and was placed my their mother to suckle on. One of the kits, was oddly still however. The image in the pool focused and every cat that had gathered around the pool saw it was a small golden tom, with black flecks on his pelt. He also was not breathing. "Why did you show me this" I spoke solemnly, staring at my mother with unblinking eyes. "You have to save this young kit" she spoke softly and calmly. "How, we are in Starclan, and I can do no more than that trained medicine cat down there!" I ranted. Suddenly the cats and environment around me vanished and in its place was a nursery, the one with the tortoise shell queen and the helpless kit. Only my mother remained with me. She pressed her muzzle into my fur, before turning her face to mine and meowing quietly "go" her voice soft yet stern. I walked over to the helpless kit, before bending down to lick him. A tingling sensation spread across my body, and the last thing I saw was my mother, looking sad but proud.