Prologue
"Sharpstar! Stay still! I can't help you if you keep twitching!"
A reddish-brown tom with white stripes groaned in agony. He tried to shift in a comfortable position, but a golden, long-furred she-cat held him down gently. The two cats sat inside a stone den with brambles guarding the entrance. Various types of herbs laid on flat stones. A mixture of sweet and sour smells fluttered overhead. A small pile of moss bundles were placed in the far corner of the den. It smelled like blood and bile and death itself.
"Morningwhisker," The tom gasped for air, "do you know how long this will last? And… Be honest with me, cousin."
The golden she-cat's long gold whiskers twitched thoughtfully, "I'm sorry to say this, Sharpstar, but… You're dying. The poison has successfully taken over your body. My herbs can't heal something like this."
"Black-Blood!" Sharpstar spat, which ended up with him coughing up blood and bile.
"Sharpstar, you must rest!" Morningwhisker hissed, wrapping up the blood and bile in another moss-bundle.
"What's the point, Morningwhisker?" His white tipped ears flattened against his head. The poor tom looked more sickly and miserable then he already did, "My Clan is nearly dead, rogues are taking over the lake, and I'm to die soon. So may I ask you, my loyal medicine cat and cousin, what is the point?"
"The point is this: You are ThunderClan's leader, Sharpeye." Morningwhisker spat, her neck fur bristled.
Sharpstar closed his red-amber eyes quickly and looked away from his kin. Morningwhisker sighed and padded to her herbs. She started to pick the rotten herbs away from the good ones. Her delicate golden paws swiftly moved from herb to herb, her mind locked and focused on her task.
"If it makes you feel better," Morningwhisker mewed softly, "I too am close to my death."
Sharpstar stood up swiftly, only to crash back down to the ground. His body shook with pain as he coughed. Even though no blood or bile came out, Morningwhisker instantly wrapped the moss-bundle that laid next to his chin. She tossed it into the corner with the others and quickly laid another one down.
"Calm yourself, cousin," The she-cat purred, "It isn't for another moon, and Puddlepaw will be a full medicine cat before that. So, what's the problem."
"The problem is… You'll die!" Sharpstar yowled, digging his claws weakly into the moss.
Morningwhisker sighed, her whiskers twitching, "It's the price for knowledge and hope…"
"Knowledge? Hope?" The tom questioned.
"Three nights ago, I had a vision," The she-cat started to describe her dream, "I saw the Clans, but they were in the Forest Territories, the ones the Clans left seasons ago, and they were fighting Twolegplace cats with dog claws in their collars. They Clans were victorious, which meant the Twolegplace cats fled back to their dens. I realized they must be BloodClan. You remember the stories about BloodClan, don't you cousin?"
"Get on with it before I die!" Sharpstar growled.
Morningwhisker's ears turned pink, "Yes, of course. I saw the BloodClan cats have kits, and then their kits had kits, and then their kits had kits. And as I watched this, I kept hearing 'Clans…. Ruined… Take over… Destroy…' I saw the black and red leader of the rogues stand up from them all. He told the cats that were related to the old BloodClan that it was the Clans' fault for splitting them up. So, it was right to find them and destroy them."
"The red and black leader… You mean Bloodspot?"
Morningwhisker rolled her pretty green eyes, "Who else has an edgy rogue name and leads a massive group of rogues?"
Sharpstar blinked slowly in surprise, his body rippling with shock and pain, "So these rogues… Who have been destroying the Clans from the inside and out… Are descendants from BloodClan?"
"And they are angry for the destruction of their Cl- group…" Morningwhisker finished, sitting down gracefully and wrapping her tail around her paws.
"Is there a silver-lining in any of this?" Sharpstar asked Morningwhisker, almost begging for information.
Morningwhisker nodded, "Yes. The Clans will survive, but most of the members of each Clan will die. But they will survive… They will. But they must leave the lake."
"What!" Sharpstar tried to stand up, "This is the Clans' home!"
"Was." Morningwhisker said darkly, "The rogues have taken over. RiverClan only has seven members left! WindClan has no medicine cat and ShadowClan doesn't even have a leader!"
"ThunderClan won't have a leader either…" Sharpstar started to cough. Blood and bile started to pour out of his mouth. Instead of flecks of blood, it was more and heavier. A pool of blood and bile gathered onto the moss-bundle. It was so heavy, that it quickly soaked through.
"Morningwhisker…."
"Cousin?"
"Tell… Thorntooth… He'll lead the remaining ThunderClan members well…"
Morningwhisker opened her mouth to speak, but closed it slowly. She was the only kit out of her parents litter. So was Sharpstar. They were like brother and sister. Could she really watch him die? Alone?
She sighed and gave a weak smile, "Of course, Sharpeye… Thorntooth will lead ThunderClan greatly."
Sharpstar laughed quietly, "Good…. Good…."
And with that, the powerful leader of ThunderClan died a painful and slow death.
