Summary: As Willowkit grows up, a frightening prophecy follows her that only grows worse with each passing moon.


Killer

Willowpaw was thrown back as Tallear launched himself at her. The two tumbled about, Willowpaw hissing as she felt him tear her shoulder with his claws. She hooked her paws around her neck, turning onto her back and holding him tight to her. The toms paws were pinned next to her head as she brought her back paws up, furiously kicking and slashing at his belly with her claws. The tom yowled and thrashed about, unable to break her grip. Willowpaw hissed as she felt his teeth dig into her ear.

She kicked him off, throwing him against a tree. A deep V was ripped into her ear and she felt blood seep down from the wound and over her eyes. She panted heavily as the tom picked himself up, the fur on his belly red and matted. He glared at her, claws digging into the ground as he ran at her, tackling her once more. They rolled around, yowling and hissing as they slashed and clawed at one another.

"RainClan depends on their paws," a faint whisper echoed into her ear. Willowpaw flipped the tom over, catching his paw on her mouth and clamping down. She felt the bone crack beneath her teeth and the tom schrieked, clawing wildly with his ther paw, catching her cheek. Willowpaw let him go and leapt back, Tallear retreating along with his other clanmates. "Good job Willowpaw."

It was Willowclaw's voice, carried in the wind. Willowpaw smiled to herself as she panted, shoulder and cheek burning. Her ear was numb and she looked at her clanmates. Brightface had a few cuts and Longfur's flank was slashed, but Petalspots had a deep gash on the side of her neck. She was panting, blood ozing from it, eyes flashing with worry as looked to Willowpaw.

"We have to get her back to camp," Willowpaw yowled, rushing forward and offering her frieind her shoulder. The cats nodded in agreement and the patrol hurried off. "Wait, Brightface, hold her."

The mentor took over and Willowpaw raced off into the forest, looking around as she mumbled to herself. She saw the cobweb out of the corner of her eyes, high in the trees. With a hiss of pain, she launched herself up, tearing the wound on her shoulder more. She wrapped her paw in the web and jumped back down, trying her best not to get the web wet. She hurried back over to the groun, Petalspots now leanined heavily on Brightface, her fur matted with blood.

"This will stop the bleeding until we get to Wormfur," Willowpaw mumbled as she patted the gash with the web, sticking it to the she-cats wound. "Alright, let's go."

"You and Longfur run ahead," Brightface grunted, "tell them what happened."

Willowpaw and Longfur nodded, the two rushing ahead as a steady pace. The reached the camp quickly, entering the camp. Nightfall stood next to the leaders den, talking with Frostpool. he glanced over for a moment before looking back to Frostpool. He looked back to them, though, eyes wide and worried. He pushed past Frostpool and rushed over, looking Willowpaw over.

"Oh, StarClan, what happened?" he asked, beginning to lick her cut cheek. Willowpaw scrunched her face up as he did so, pelt warming up as Longfur scoffed.

"RainClan attacked. We beat them off, but Petalspots got hurt," Longfur sent a long look towards the warriors den were Stripefur was sleeping. "Brightface is bringing her."

"Who attacked you?" Nightfall asked, stepping back.

"Tallear was the one who confronted us," Willowpaw said, looking away from her friends hurt face. "And then there were two other, Dawnstripe and Cloudfoot."

"As you were battling Tallear," Longfur added, "another warrior, Skystripe, came forward. Like I said, we beat them, but ...,"

"Head to Wormfur's den," Nightfall said, giving Willowpaw another concerned look, "I'll go tell Lightningstar."

The tom went off and the two cats turned to the medicine cats den. Badfang lay inside asleep and Wormfur was sorting through herbs. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment before grabbing the herbs he needed. As he tried to apply them to Willowpaw's wounds, she shook her head, taking a step back.

"Petalspots is on her way with Brightface," she said, "and she's got a bad wound. Save those for her."

"Well, she's not here right now," the tom grumbled, glaring at the apprentice, "and it's my job to help you. So get over here."

Willowpaw glared at the tom but moved closer so he could cover her shoulder. Longfur chuckled next to her at her stubbornness but grunted when Wormfur pressed herbs to his own wounds. Once her shoulder was covered with herbs, and her cheek and ear were dressed with cobwebs, Willowpaw pushed out of the den, glancing to the leaders den where Nightfall had disappeared into a while ago, and then walked towards the warriors den.

She took a deep breath before pushing her head in. Beestripe and Ringtail lay, curled together, asleep. Their son was in the back, grooming himself. Stripefur looked up from grooming and smiled to the she-cat before frowning at the sight of her injuries. He stood, shaking moss out of his pelt before trotting out of the den, know she was waiting to talk to him.

"Willowpaw, what happened?" he asked, tail flicking to her shoulder.

"We were attacked on our boarder patrol," Willowpaw avoided his eyes, "by RainClan. Petalspots ... she got hurt ... pretty bad."

Stripefur's eyes widened and he looked over to the medicine cats den before bounding across camp. He disappeared inside the den to see his mate as Willowpaw sighed, closing her eyes. Exhaustion fell over her and she turned, about to make her way to her own den.

"I heard you were in a fight," a chilled voice came from behind her and Willowpaw looked over her shoulder to see Frostpool standing there calmly.

"Yeah, we were."

"Did anyone get hurt?" Frostpool smooth voice came out without a waver as she looked to Willowpaw's injured shoulder.

"Yes," Willowpaw turned around fully, giving her sister a hard look, "Petalspots did. I don't know if she'll make it."

"What a shame," Frostpool mumbled, glancing to the medicine cats den before looking back to her sister, "if only it had been someone else who took her place. Petalspots is a valuable warrior to StoneClan."

"What do you have against me?" Willowpaw hissed, pelt bristling.

"Against you," Frostpool repeated, eyes going wide, "well, nothing."

"Oh, please, save it for when we're in a crowd," Willowpaw growled, "you sabotaged my apprentice assessments, you pushed your way between me and my friends!"

"Sabotaged you," Frostpool smirked, "now, don't go making assumptions. If the Clan finds out you can't handle being a simple apprentice without throwing around lies, then how is anyone going to trust you if you become a warrior?"

"It should be you they aren't able to trust."

"You sound just like Willowclaw. The stories we heard about him ... you'll be exiled."

"He's your relative too," Willowpaw growled.

"So what," Frostpaw scoffed, "you're the one that shares the same name as him. Soon, though, you'll be out of my way."

"Is that a threat?" Willowpaw asked, eyes widening.

"Oh no, it's a promise," Frostpool purred, looking to the leaders den where Nightfall and Lightningstar were before walking towards them, trailing her tail under Willowpaw's chin, "my dear sister."


Willowpaw woke up late in the night to the sound of someone walking into the den. She blinked her eyes open, squinting at the dark figure. Nightfall looked at her with his deep orange eyes, sadness filled in them. Willowpaw shifted in her nest, sitting up as the tom sat in one of the stale, empty nests in the den. He looked down at his paws. Willowpaw waited patiently for him to speak.

"Lightningstar just lost a life from greencough," he said with a shaking voice, "and he was one life left." He looked up to Willowpaw, the she-cat blinking slowly, allowing him to continue. "I'm scared. I'm not ready to lead a Clan."

Willowpaw nodded and flicked her tail to the empty spot next to her. The tom trudged over, laying down next to the she-cat as she settled next to him. She lazily dragged her tongue over his shoulder in comforting strokes as the tom shook with fright. She knew he was upset and she knew he needed to be close to someone he could trust and love. He was young, a young warrior who was thrown into a serious position too soon. Of course, there was no doubt that Nightfall would have became one of the future leaders of StoneClan, but this soon ... it was sudden. Everyone in the Clan was thrown off by it, but like Lightningstar had said when he appointed Nightfall, there was no doubt he was the best option. Sure, there were quite a few cats higher ranked than him, but none were in the position nor had the same abilities that Nightfall possessed.

"You'll be a fine leader," Willowpaw said, resting her head on his shoulder as the tom nuzzled into her chest, "and, Lightningstar still has one life left. Don't go making yourself the leader just yet."

Nightfall chuckled, eyes closed. Willowpaw purred happily. They lay in silence for a few moments, the two of them relishing in each others warmth.

"You're not upset with me, right?" Willowpaw asked, resting her chin on the toms back, "from when we were in Lightningstar's den. I was kinda rude to you."

"If I was upset with you, would I be here right now?"

"I don't know," Willowpaw grumbled, glaring down at the tom even though he couldn't see her. He chuckled and Willowpaw grumbled about him being a stupid tom. Nightfall purred loudly and moved, laying down on his side. Willowpaw pulled back, watching him as he laid down in her nest, trying to fit. "You know, you could pull that nest over."

"And smell like stale moss?" Nightfall scoffed, "No thank you."

"Fine, then just get dirt in your fur," Willowpaw pushed at his belly with her paw, pushing him off her nest. The tom glared to her and she smiled.

"If you were a warrior this wouldn't be so difficult," he grumbled, sitting up and shaking the dirt from his pelt, "then we could just put our nests together. I talked to Lightningstar today about you becoming a warrior but ... he hasn't been the same since Tigerlight died. I can barely even get him to tell me who he wants going to Gatherings, let alone what patrols he wants out."

"I'm sure everything will be just fine," Willowpaw murmured as the tom dragged the least stale nest, Frostpool's old one, over and next to hers, "and I'm sure I'll become a warrior when the time is right."

"The time was right two moons ago," Nightfall scoffed, laying down next to her, "you've been an apprentice for eight moons, Willowpaw, and you deserve to be a warrior."

"When the time is right," Willowpaw sighed, "now get some rest. It's late and you have to wake up early for patrol, right?"

"You know the schedule better than me," the tom scoffed, smiling gently to her. She returned the smile before turning onto her side, resting her chin on her paws. Nightfall stretched over to her, giving her shoulder a soft lick before resting his cheek on it, closing his eyes. "Goodnight Willowpaw."

"Goodnight."


A loud, sobbing yowl woke Willowpaw up the next morning. Her head jerked up and she first looked to where Nightfall lay, only to find the nest empty. He was probably out on patrol. Another yowl ripped through camp and Willowpaw jumped out of her nest and bounded into the center of camp. She froze when she saw the body or a gray-and-brown she-cat laying there, blood soaking through cobwebs on her neck.

Stripefur stood over the dead Petalspots, eyes filled with tears and heartbreak all over his face. As cats began to rush out, each one stopped in place at the sight of the destroyed tom. Feverhead walked over slowly, looking down at his dead daughter. Stripefur was now laying next to her body, muzzle pressed into her, mumbling to StarClan to take good care of her. A loud gasp came from behind her and Willowpaw turned to see Grassshine standing at the mouth of the nursery, eyes wide and watering.

"Petalspots!" She yowled, rushing over. Sunkit and Volekit stumbled out of the den, blinking the sleep from their eyes. They went to make their way over, but Willowpaw hurried over to them, picking Sunkit up by the scruff and stopping Volekit with her tail. The two kits mewled, wanting to see where their mouth went, but Willowpaw ushered them into the nursery once more.

"Why's Grassshine upset?" Volekit asked, rubbing the sleep from his dark blue eyes with a paw.

"Yeah, and so was Feverhead, and Stripefur. Stripefur's never upset." Sunkit pouted, green eyes wide.

"Something bad hapened," Willowpaw said gently, looking over her shoulder as the Clan bowed their heads in respect. The only cats who weren't there were Nightfall, Frostpool and Harespring, all of them on the morning boarder patrol. Willowkit felt her heart strain at the thought of Harespring arriving and seeing his sister dead. "Petalspots go hurt and ... StarClan is letting her join their Clan."

"StarClan ...," Volekit mumbled with wide eyes, "Grassshine says its were cats go when they've done their duty to the Clan."

"Yes, she's right," Willowpaw said, nosing the two farther into the den, "and Petalspots must have fulfilled her time. Now, you two go back to rest, okay? I'll bring you some fresh-kill later. I need to go see how I can help the Clan."

"Willowpaw, why is everyone upset?" Sunkit asked. "Isn't joining StarClan a big honor! She gets to met all of our ancestor!"

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Willowpaw sighed, "but, then she can't be part of our Clan. Then she wont be here with us, only in StarClan."

"Then we'll just have to wait until we're in StarClan," Volekit yawned as he curled into his nest.

"Yes, and I hope you wait longer than she did," Willowpaw murmured as the two kits curled up next to one another and fell asleep.

Willowpaw walked out of the nursery, head hanging. Lightningstar was watching the cats morn, sitting outside of his den with tail curled around his paws. Darkflower sat next to him, blue eyes emotionless. Willowpaw gave them a long look before walking over to Petalspots dead body, leaning down and pressing her nose to the she-cats ear. Stripefur looked up to Willowpaw with sad eyes.

"She was so excited for you to become a warrior," he said, "she wanted to have your nest right next to hers."

"In StarClan I'll make sure it's arranged that way," Willowpaw said softly, leaning towards the tom and pressing her nose to his head, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Stripefur."

"Thank you," he murmured, looking down to Petalspots, "we would have had beautiful kits, Petalspots."

Willowpaw left her friend to mourn and trudged over to Brightface who was standing next to Longfur, leaning into the tom. They looked at Willowpaw with sorrow filled eyes. The three of them knew how hurt Petalspots had been, but there was no way she could have died from just the wound she got from the RainClan battle. Wormfur had stopped the bleeding, had put herbs on it.

"Wormfur, we need Wormfur," a yowl came from the camp entrance as Nightfall carried Frostpool in on his back, the she-cat cover in scratches. Hareleap followed behind them, eyes wide and wild. When he saw his sister, he froze.

"Come on, Nightfall," Wormfur rasped, flicking his tail for the tom to follow. Hareleap walked over to his sister, laying down next to the she-cat. Willowpaw looked back to her mentor.

"We'll go on a hunting patrol," Brightface said, parting from Longfur and resting her tail on Willowpaw's shoulders and lead the apprentice out of the camp.


Willowpaw sat over Petalspots body that night, paying her respects. The almost swollen moon hung high in the ink sky, stars dusting the space around it. Petalspots looked like she was sleeping, the gray-and-brown she-cat's fur glossy and clean under the moonlight. Willowpaw took a shaking breath and leaned down, pressing her noise to the dead she-cats side.

A familiar scent wafted into her nose and Willowpaw opened her orange eyes, eyes getting stuck on Petalspots paws. The pads were rough, and her claws looked ragged. It was what was in between her toes, though, that caught Willowpaw's attention. Tuffs of fur stuck there and Willowpaw leaned in closer, scenting them. She grently clasped her teeth around the tuff and tugged.

"Willowpaw, what do you think -," Wormfur's voice came from the medicine cats den, frustrated. The body was to lay outside his den until the medicine cat figured out the she-cats cause of death. Willowpaw's head popped up, the pure white tuff of fur clasped between her teeth. At the sight of the fur, Wormfur stopped talking, his blue eyes wide. "Is that ...,"

"Yes," Willowpaw growled lowly, placing the fur on the ground, "it's fur. And I know exactly whose fur it is."

"But, she's hurt," Wormfur hissed, glaring over his shoulder to the medicine cats den, "from RainClan cats ...,"

"She's covered in injuries," Willowpaw growled, "and Petalspots has her fur between her claws. Wormfur, you know what this means!"

"I'm sorry," Wormfur sighed, "but it's not enough evidence, I can't just convict -,"

"But you can!" Willowpaw cried, eyes begging the tom. "Frostpool killed Petalspots. She killed her own clanmate. Find Petalspots in StarClan, ask her what happened. Her fur is under Petalspots claws, Wormfur! Her fur!"

"Willowpaw ...," Wormfur trailed off, looking between the she-cat, the dead cat and his den where Frostpool lay inside. He shook his head and turned back to his den before looking over his shoulder. "I'll consult StarClan. Bury your clanmate."


StoneClan

Leader: Lightningstar - brilliant orange tabby tom with orange eyes

Deputy: Nightfall - handsome black tom with orange eyes

Medicine Cat: Wormfur - old, naked tom with pale, blue eyes

Warriors:

Beestripe - light gray she-cat with black stripes and orange eyes

Ringtail - dark gray tom with stripped tail

Darkflower - pretty gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

Feverhead - ragged brown tom with blue eyes

Brightface - white-and-ginger she-cat with yellow eyes (Apprentice: Willowpaw)

Longfur - thick furred brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Hareleap - pale brown tom with green eyes

Stripefur - dark gray tabby tom with green eyes

Frostpool - pretty white she-cat with bright blue eyes

Apprentices:

Willowpaw - dark gray tabby she-cat with orange eyes

Queens:

Grassshine - pretty pale brown she-cat with light eyes (Kits: Sunkit - pale tabby she-cat, Volekit - thick-furred brown tom)

Elders:

Losteye - white she-cat with one blind eye

Badfang - black tom with a crooked jaw