She awoke in a dream land.
Starblaze stood on a cliff overlooking an enormous valley. Fierce gales howled around her, throwing up pebbles and charging at the ground. All of a sudden, they converged at a single spot in front of her, forming a gray cat with ruffled, unkempt fur and bloodshot eyes. Starblaze sighed in relief.
"Silverstar, thank StarClan you're here! Tigerfang killed Rainbowstar and a bunch of other warriors and he's going to attack us again and I know I need to kill him but I don't know if I have enough power-"
She was cut off by the sound of bitter laughter. Silverstar chuckled, "Oh, Starblaze. You never really knew, did you?"
Starblaze glanced at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Starblaze, Starblaze. Do you know that every light has a shadow? No matter how high a flame grows, it cannot outrun the darkness it casts. Everything that is yours took light. But with this focused light I have created you with, there must be darkness to balance it. And there are. In Tigerfang, a cat who was once light, until a brighter star outshone him and cast her shadow over him. So he turned to his new strength in darkness, and chased after his own dreams with powers created from them. But the path from light to dark had changed him, and now he chases after new dreams, ones that are nightmares to other cats." The tips of Silverstar's fur flickered as he spoke, wisps of gray wind.
"But you, Starblaze. I gave you a prophecy, and the light to fulfill it. And you called on that great power not to save DarkClan, but to give yourself the appearance you desired, the popularity you desired, and wings you desired." Silverstar dissipated back into wind, his voice full of anger and regret.
And when Starblaze awoke, nothing had changed.
It was like she had never slept. Her head ached, and she trembled uncontrollably. Starblaze steadied her nerves and stood up. Scourge stood a few fox-lengths away from her, eyes narrowed as if he was considering a great dilemma. "How are you, my love?" he asked.
"I need to save DarkClan from Tigerfang," she meowed, "I need to rally the cats."
Scourge nodded, "Of course."
Starblaze exited the Warriors Den, Scourge by her side. They climbed up onto the high peak of the Skyrock and looked upon the ruined camp. Starblaze proclaimed, "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather beneath the Skyrock!"
A handful of cats emerged from their dens. Among them, Starblaze recognized Frostshine and Rainleaf, DarkClan's medicine cat. Starblaze took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Tigerfang, once our deputy, has turned traitor and murdered Rainbowstar and countless other good DarkClan cats. I need to bring him to justice for his crimes. But I can't do it alone. He has grown much stronger by dark means. But, together, we can drive back his mad power. Together we can live in the goodly power of light. Together, we can become BlazeClan, where no darkness can overcome our blazing light. Now who's with me?!" Starblaze smiled out to the crowd, waiting for the enormous cheers like when she became a warrior and defeated the badger.
But none came. The cats just stared back with empty eyes.
The silence was broken by harsh laughter, not unlike Silverstar's. The cats parted to reveal Rainleaf. He looked up at her with cold green eyes and chuckled, "So, the great Starblaze accuses Tigerfang of killing innocent cats after she did so herself, and now she wants to rename DarkClan after her own name?" He threw his head back and laughed.
"What do you mean?" Starblaze demanded.
"What do you mean? Have you forgotten about Thorntooth and Deerspots, the two cats who were sick with greencough? You promised to find catmint for them, but you ended up finding Tigerfang instead. Even after that, you didn't try to search for any more catmint. No, you just went on a wild goose chase after Tigerfang without thinking about the consequences!"
"But-"
"And did you know that Thorntooth and Deerspots died? They passed when I had to go search for catmint to save their lives. And you know what? I did find catmint. Right under a pile of withered, black shoots where a battle had taken place between you and Tigerfang. If you had just looked at the catmint that Tigerfang supposedly destroyed, you could have saved Thorntooth and Deerspots."
Rainleaf turned away, his eyes narrowed in grief and anger. The other cats stared in horrified disbelief. They turned to Starblaze, hoping, wishing.
Starblaze tried to speak, but no words came out. Her legs began to tremble again, and this time when she tried to stop them, they didn't. Hoarsely, she croaked, "That is but one mistake. If I didn't try to stop Tigerfang then, he-"
She was cut off again, this time by Frostshine. The white queen glared at her, hackles risen. "Just one?" she screeched, "Don't you remember how you left my kits to die from that badger? You were too busy squabbling with Tigerfang to even try to save them! And now you're too late to save the rest of DarkClan, too."
Now all of BlazeClan was arguing amongst themselves. Starblaze heard their dark words and felt pressure pushing on her mind from all sides, squeezing and crushing her brain. She shut her eyes and wanted to scream in pain, but she knew she had to do something to get the Clan back together. Scourge pressed encouragingly against her side, whispering into her ear, "You can do it, Starblaze. Don't let them get to you. You need to show DarkClan the light, the good."
That's it! I need to show them the light! Starblaze opened her mental connection with Silverstar, searching for any last scraps of light, of power she might have left behind. And in her mind's eye, she saw it. A radiant sphere, small, but concentrated and clear. It was light as pure energy. Quickly. she reached for it, hungrily seeking it to fuel her last wish. First the sphere recoiled from her grasp, but slowly, slowly she drew it in. Right as she touched the sphere, it felt as if something exploded inside her. The oppressive wall against her mind broke apart as radiant energy filled her mind and cleared her soul. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing white. The DarkClan cats stopped fighting and watched her in awe.
She spoke in a powerful voice, elegant and clear. "Look upon me and you will see light! While the night is dark and full of terrors, the blazing stars overhead illuminate it, for light is the true power. Light is the power of creation, and I, with it, will create life!" Starblaze drew on the sphere, molding it with her mind into the shape of a small, furry rodent with long whiskers and a tail. Then she blew the last fragment of her light into its soul. The mouse twitched its whiskers as it came alive, and darted around frantically, trying to look for an escape. An astonished brown she-cat pinned the mouse to the ground with her paw and quickly bit its throat. The mouse squeaked and died.
The rest of the cats watched Starblaze, amazement and dreams filling their eyes. Starblaze smiled down at them. She continued, "But darkness has always oppressed light. Darkness strips away the wonder, stealing it for itself in greed. And that is why I need to stop Tigerfang. He is the dark that is stealing away your Clanmates, your light."
Every BlazeClan cat stared at her. Their awe surpassed their anger at her, their dreams surpassed their want for retribution. They must be on my side now! Starblaze thought, they must be. The adrenaline from the last of the light was leaving her quickly, and the headache and tremors began anew in her, pounding harder than before.
Suddenly, a dark tabby burst into the clearing. The DarkClan cats bristled around him and unsheathed their claws. As her mind clouded, Starblaze smiled. Now DarkClan would defeat Tigerfang and his darkness. She unsheathed her claws as well and bent into a battle crouch.
But Tigerfang wasn't alarmed. He merely smiled and cooed, "The witch has finally shown her powers." Several of the cats stared at him quizzically, which made his smile even broader. "So, you have seen Starblaze's light. Her power. Of course, she must have used these great powers before. And when better than for her adventure through DarkClan? Or as she calls it, BlazeClan. She could create her face, her wings, all the prey she caught, all the straw-cat problems she faced with light. And she did. Why shouldn't she? But that's not all she made."
"Starblaze made you."
The DarkClan cats gasped. "No!" the brown cat exclaimed, "I am my own cat! How could you say that I'm just another mouse made from light!"
Tigerfang continued, "But you are. We all are. We were all created from Starblaze's wishes and her light. She gave the most important ones to her powers and faces and personalities. But not us. You are the forgotten ones, the ones not good enough to receive characteristics or pretty pelts. You are here only to cheer and to worship her. Many of you don't even have a name. You don't believe me? Fine, then tell me your name. Say it out loud. Tell the world who you are."
The brown cat spoke loudly. "My name is-" But then she stopped. Her eyes grew as large as moons. "No..." she whispered, "I am not no one. I cannot be no one. I must have a name. I must be someone." Around the clearing, other cats tried and failed too.
In the end, only two cats could name who they were. And together, they stood tall. One was a white queen with blue eyes, and the other was a gray tom with green eyes. "I once was Frostshine," the white cat said. "And I once was Rainleaf," said the other. "We were once close to Starblaze, close enough to earn our names and ranks. We were more than you at one time. But then we learned the truth about the light she created us with. We have seen the shadows that her blazing journey left. And we have chosen to leave the false world she created, to enter the darkness that was always the truth. Now, we are free. Now, we have true names. Now, we have personalities. And they are ours to control."
The white cat closed her eyes. "I am not Frostshine anymore. I was never the gentle queen Starblaze made me. I am Cloudclaw, warrior of DarkClan."
The gray cat did the same. "I am not Rainleaf anymore. I was once forced into the path of a medicine cat. But I now understand that that was never the path I was meant to travel. I am Ashwhisker, warrior of DarkClan."
Starblaze watched in horror. "No! Do not listen to the shadows! They are trying you turn you against BlazeClan!"
The brown cat glared at her. "BlazeClan? Can't you see? We have always been DarkClan, and we always will be. You may have created me, but I see now that you were never cared for any of us. All you ever cared for was your own power, your own dreams."
Starblaze desperately called out, "Wait! I can give you a name! How about... Branchtail?" She shouted the first name she could think of.
The she-cat snorted. "Too late, fox-dung. I have learned the truth, and I won't be content with your meaningless praises again. I am Thurshfeather."
"I am Foxtooth!"
"I am Stormbolt!"
"I am Moonrise!"
The din of every cat naming themselves would have blotted out any other words Starblaze may have had, but that didn't stop Tigerfang. He continued, "The cats who I have killed are all Starblaze's closest creations! They have lost all their independence, up to even their actions being chosen by her! Rainbowstar was one, who'd ever heard of a leader supporting a cat she's never met more than her deputy? Flameheart, a mate she created for herself. He had never picked her- it was his destiny, created by Starblaze, right from the start!
DarkClan yowled in agreement, their voices combining into a symphony.
Unsheathed claws were turned to Starblaze, hissing faces and narrowed eyes aimed at her. Several DarkClan cats- Cloudclaw, Foxtooth, Thrushfeather- rushed up the Skyrock. She tried to dodge them, but Foxtooth was too fast. Shining like a brand of fire in the sunlight, she ripped one of the wings off of Starblaze's back and dropped it over the edge of the Skyrock. Starblaze screamed. Head and back in agony, horrible, horrible pain clawing at her insides, burning them away, her legs nearly giving out beneath her, Starblaze stumbled to the edge of the Skyrock. She glanced wildly around for anyone, anything and suddenly spotted Scourge beside her. He watched her with ice-cold eyes, narrowed blades against his shadow fur.
"Together, we will live or die," she said, one last shred of hope giving her energy.
"I'm surprised you haven't succumbed to the poison yet," Scourge said. He charged at her, claws outstretched, and pushed her poison-weakened shell of a body of the edge of the Skyrock.
"No!" Starblaze screamed as she fell, "Silverstar, help me! I still need to defeat the mad power! I need to save DarkClan!" And suddenly, someone did appear in front of her.
It was her sister, Moon. She watched her with cold, dark eyes. Her skin was dashed and sliced, wrinkled and mottled far beyond her years. One eye was slashed shut, yellowish pus still bleeding out of the wound. "How could you protect DarkClan when you couldn't even protect me?"
Starblaze stared in shock as the face of her sister faded away. "No… please, Silverstar! Let me stop this! Give me more li-"
Her voice was cut off as she hit the ground.