The forest would have been completely silent if not for the for the small sound of cracking twigs and the cawing of crows lurking in the canopies of shadowy trees. The sky above was a dull grey as the sun had yet to rise, leaving the woods in a state of shade that was both cool and crisp in the morning air; chilly enough to bristle the fur of a cat's neck.

A black she-cat moved from the spot that she had previously been sitting, her red eye contrasting sharply to the gray-toned world around her. In the center of the camp laid a small group of seven cats, each rising upon her approach. One she-cat in particular with clouded eyes spoke before the rest.

"So, what do you think?" Greysight meowed. "We have to do something; its already been too long."

A large white tom let out a snort from beside her, clearly displeased with something she had said. "Its almost been a moon since Sunstar died." he intoned sharply, averting his midnight blue gaze from the others as they turned to acknowledge him. "We need to decide now."

"Have you thought about it?" A pale she-cat meowed, meeting Lostheart's gaze with her own. Moonfur knew Lostheart always had a plan, but she wondered if the she-cat had really considered her suggestion.

"You were the deputy..." she trailed off hesitantly.

Lostheart said nothing as she took in the words of her clanmates, looking around the camp as she did. It was empty, almost completely shrouded by silence now; the only sounds that were truly audible were the faded snores coming from the warriors den. The she-cat sighed inwardly as her eyes flickered to meet the variously colored irises of her clanmates; she had thought about this problem for a while now, but she did believe that she had finally come to a decision.

Intrigued by the current conversation; Raggedear, Thistleprick, and Roseclaw padded forward from where they sat behind the talking cats, eager to hear what would be said next.

"Before I say anything, I want to know what all of you think." Lostheart meowed.

The cats looked a bit surprised by her statement, but no one questioned her. For a long moment nothing was said, each cat glancing at one another to see who would speak first. Raggedear and Thistleprick shared a glance, but neither tom knew what to do in this type of situation; it was better that they left it to the cats who had grown up in clan life.

"You deserve to be leader, Lostheart." Greysight meowed confidently. "You've done so much for all of us, and if it wasn't for you, we might not have survived that battle. It was your plan, and I think you're one of the best-suited cats in the forest." Greysight grinned confidently as she felt Lostheart shift slightly, knowing that the she-cat didn't really care to hear such things.

Lostheart did feel a small bit of warmth inside her at Greysight's words; she didn't believe them to be entirely true of course, but the fact that she said them was kind all the same. It wasn't just because of her that they won that battle, they had worked together to do it; and through their perseverance and determination, they had done it. Lostheart simply did what she felt was right; and she was by no means perfect. The memory of the tom she had killed the day Ivyfoot had died would be forever burned into her memory; it was horrible, that cat's life was put to an end for nothing, because of her. Browneyes sacrificed himself for her...

Lostheart's eyes dulled a bit, but she avoided thinking too much on the matter and instead let her gaze fall on Darkpelt. The tom was sitting quietly beside Greysight with a serious expression etched onto his face. Lostheart, Greysight, and any other cat who had grown up alongside the tom knew of his desire to be leader one day, and of the lengths he had taken to achieve such a position in order to follow in his father's pawsteps. Darkpelt met the she-cat's eerie gaze easily, unperturbed by the sight of such terrifying eyes that he and the others were now so accustomed to.

He said nothing, but in doing so, he said more than any words could ever express.

Moonfur nodded in agreement with Greysight's statement while Raggedear and Thistleprick joined her as well. Roseclaw smiled to herself, truly happy for her sister; but at the same time, she wondered what StarClan would do, and what they were thinking. It had already been far too long since a leader was supposed to be chosen- much less a deputy- and even then, Roseclaw was unsure if StarClan would respond. They had never spoken to her before; she wondered if it would be the same for Lostheart. The white she-cat frowned a bit at the thought. She wouldn't want Lostheart to feel as useless as she did; besides, the she-cat had suffered from enough seclusion in her life. But she didn't see why StarClan would have a problem; they had come to their aid in the battle, and they weren't like the other cats in the forest. They were their ancestors: wise, fair, and admirable.

Lostheart looked into the supportive faces of her clanmates and felt a slight tug of guilt in her heart. "Being leader...isn't something I've ever wanted. But I came up with a different idea, one that I hope you'll all agree on..."

Roseclaw blinked at her statement, as did a few of the others. Many of them, including Roseclaw, instinctively turned to look at Darkpelt who had moved to sit up a bit straighter, expressing a great interest in what Lostheart was now saying.

Moonfur could see where this was going, and she too focused her line of vision onto Darkpelt; the tom seemed to know where this was headed, as did everyone else. But Moonfur paused her thoughts for a second while a new idea dawned on her as she noticed the somewhat short, blind she-cat sitting beside him. Darkpelt and Greysight both seemed like obvious choices for leadership, even with Greysight's blindness, Lostheart would never be one to look down on her because of it; and from what she saw, the two black she-cats were close.

"There won't be a leader."

Darkpelt expression of interest and calm intelligence immediately changed at her words, contorting into one of confusion and utter disbelief. "No leader?! What are you saying, there has to be a leader! Its part of the warrior code; what right do you have to change it?!" Darkpelt's fur began to bristle; even though what he said was true, it was not the complete reason for his anger. He had been the one keeping the clan organized and protected, he had been the one to lead them, he was the strongest warrior in the clan, it was his brother who had died in the battle, it was he who had taken on Willowstar; had they all suddenly forgotten that? If anyone was suited to be leader, it was him.

Greysight was shocked as well, but she was always willing to give Lostheart the benefit of the doubt. With eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, Greysight stepped toward Darkpelt to quiet the bristling tom with a flick of her tail and a pointed glare. "What do you mean?"

"This entire time," Lostheart began quietly, facing her clanmates as best she could, "We've been working together as a clan. Even with Sunstar out of commission, we were able to get along just fine. Why should this have to change now? We're all equal here. We can make our own decisions, together."

"...True." Greysight agreed. "-But being a leader means getting nine lives, and that could be really helpful. Especially for protecting the clan, and then there's the code.."

"Aw, forget the code; from what I've seen, its not like you guys ever followed it much anyway." Thistleprick meowed, leaning back as he stretched himself awake.

"Forget the code?!" Darkpelt growled, clearly appalled with the idea. "How dare you! You don't even know what you're talking about! We can't just forget the code! The clans have been using the code for generations, it was decreed by StarClan itself- and not even you can deny its existence now."

"We're not going to forget the code." Lostheart meowed, her voice cutting through the growing tension between the two toms. "It won't be any different from before."

Darkpelt and Thistleprick fell silent as she spoke; Thistleprick shrugged nonchalantly and ignored Darkpelt's furious glare. He didn't see what the big deal was; everyone always got so touchy. The tom chuckled a bit to himself and moved to nudge Raggedear beside him.

"Touchy aren't they?" he whispered in amusement.

The light teasing look left his violet eyes as he took in Raggedear's serious expression, and his grin too began to slowly fall.

"I guess." Raggedear meowed. "Its pretty important after all... I think I'm gonna just head back into the warrior's den for now, at least until you guys need me, okay?" Raggedear pulled himself up and gave his mottled pelt a good shake in an effort to dispel the cold chill that had set in; Thistleprick blinked at his brother's actions, "Well, sure; are you okay?" he meowed.

"Fine. I'm just tired, that's all." Raggedear had looked away from Thistleprick and appeared to be talking more to himself than to his brother; nonetheless, Thistleprick nodded. "Okay, I'll come get you later."

Thistleprick watched Raggedear walk away from their group and back toward the warrior's den, letting his eyes linger for a second before focusing his attention back onto the other cats. He had missed a bit of the conversation, but it was likely just Greysight and Darkpelt arguing with each other as usual.

"I still think its a good idea for you to go to the Moonstool; we can deal with leadership rules and limits when you get back. You are the deputy, you have to go. StarClan needs a leader to represent DarkClan; its the code. Please, Lostheart?" Greysight meowed.

Roseclaw remained silent as she watched the exchange, not exactly sure of what she should say. As medicine cat it was her duty to interact with and interpret the will of StarClan, but Greysight was right in a sense, it was the code and it was worth trying. The gift of extra lives shouldn't have been something so easily brushed aside, especially considering their current state of affairs.

Lostheart was quiet for a moment, deeply entranced by her own thoughts as the others waited for an answer. Finally the she-cat gave a slight nod in defeat, "Okay."

Greysight seemed pleased to hear her response, but Roseclaw was able to pick up on the hesitation hidden in Lostheart's voice. Darkpelt gave a brisk nod as well, "Then you should leave now while the day is still young."

"I will."

"Who are you taking with you?" Greysight meowed, eyes flickering to Roseclaw. Moonfur stood by listening as well; she had never been to the Moonstool before, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a bit curious.

"I'll go alone, its better that way. We need paws in camp to hunt and patrol the borders. I'll be fine."

"Okay." Greysight sighed, "Just be careful." Even though it seemed like the forest was in a state of peace now, one could never be too cautious. Greysight had actually wanted to visit the Moonstool on the chance that she might see Mosspelt, and they could talk about everything that had happened; but she supposed that if the she-cat had wanted to visit her, she could have done it in her dreams.

Lostheart gave a weak smile meant to encourage them as she padded away toward the tree tunnel on her own. Darkpelt stood up and walked away at her leave with Thistleprick at his heels, the tom blabbering on about some odd nonsense as he usually did with his larger companion. It was not hard to feel sorry for Darkpelt, and perhaps the very person who could relate to him the most was Thistleprick. He couldn't imagine a life without his brother.

Darkpelt only grumbled something in the response to the tom which made him laugh audibly from where the two stood across the clearing. Roseclaw rolled her eyes and turned back to watch Lostheart's lithe form disappear into the darkness of the forest as she let out a small breath of air she hadn't realized she had been holding.


Lostheart stood on top of the smooth surface of stone now laid out before her. The small grove was alive with the sound of crickets chirping, and the soft leaves of the surrounding trees brushed lightly against one another in the breeze. From where she stood, she could look right out of the wide stone chasm and see the sky above, lightening with the threat of dawn.

She had never been here before; or rather, no one had ever taken her. She had only ever heard about it from Greysight and Roseclaw, this was the place that they were most connected with their ancestors: the Moonstool. Lostheart padded closer to the edge of the pond, staring out in wonder across the still water of the pool while taking note of the large, lone tree stump situated in it's center.

It felt strange to be standing there now; she almost felt out of place among the beauty of the grove, and the sense of purity that the area gave off. With a feeling of apprehension, Lostheart silently moved to lie down on the cool surface of the stone, waiting for the deep sleep that was sure to come.

And come it did.

The feeling was almost instantaneous, and upon opening her eyes, Lostheart found herself in an almost entirely different place. It was still the Moonstool to be sure, but everything looked different, shrouded by the cover of starlight. The oddly-eyed she-cat could do nothing but look around in amazement, she had never seen anything like it before.

Her gaze stopped; however, as she laid eyes on the figure of a cat sitting atop the tree stump. Lostheart had to squint as the glowing cat stepped across the surface of the water and met her strange gaze.

She could only blink at the young figure of the cat standing before her, and after a moment of quiet thought, she realized-

"...Mosspelt?" Lostheart whispered to herself.

Mosspelt stopped a few tail-lengths away from Lostheart; her young, starry form untouched by the claws of time as she gazed at the black she-cat with an unreadable expression. "Why have you come here?" she meowed, voice echoing around the walls of the grove.

"I've come to receive my nine lives." Lostheart stated passively, remembering the way Mosspelt had treated her when she was young. It had been a while since then, and surely there was no reason to doubt a StarClan cat, but something about the she-cat unnerved her.

Mosspelt said nothing at first, watching Lostheart through shimmering pools of blue that evenly matched the surface of the water. Slowly, she shook her head a single time before looking back up at Lostheart.

There was something in Mosspelt's eyes-something unreadable- that made Lostheart feel anxious.

"Leader of DarkClan... I think not. StarClan does cannot approve of your position as leader. You will not be receiving any lives here today." Mosspelt meowed emotionlessly, turning around with a flick of her tail to look away from the black she-cat, her voice oddly quiet and reserved. "We shall not make the same mistakes again. Farewell, Lostheart."

Before Lostheart could even say anything, the starry form of Mosspelt disappeared, leaving her standing alone at the edge of the water; which she soon realized no longer had its starlit form or luminous qualities.

She was standing back in the grove again, and slowly, the sounds of the crickets began to fade back into her senses as she blinked into reality. It had all happened so fast, so abruptly. Lostheart blinked as she stood speechless at the edge of the lightly rippling water, turning to look at her reflection below.


AUTHOR NOTE

I told you this would be slower. -Sigh- Believe me it bugs me. So yeah, all is relatively well. As you can see I managed to make a cover, unfortunately my laptop died before I could go into any real detail, but I'm okay with it. My birthday was the second, and that was pretty cool. I was going to upload the cover as a speedpaint, but it would only be about 54 seconds long with the footage my thing actually picked up, not very interesting footage either.

-Lost

P.S New poll!