Van: CHAPTER 9!

Kai: MARCUS CHEATED ON ME. I DUMPED HIM. JERK. SOOOOO OVER HIM.

Van: No, you're not.

Kai: Yes, I am.

Van: If you are, how come you were crying last night?

Kai: That wasn't me. That was my evil twin, Gaea.

Van: ...the Greek goddess of the Earth? Mother Nature?

Kai: Yep, that's her.

Van: All righty then, this chapter is kind of wierd. It is a collection of dreams from StarClan to each of the chosen cats.

Kai: Well, except Starpaw. His isn't from StarClan... You'll find out why later.

Van: We shall go in thus order: Leaf, Star, Rain, Blossom, Honey, Storm, Milk.

Kai: These are a bit long, so in this chapter we have Leaf, Star, and Rain.

Van: Next chapter is Blossom, Honey, Storm, and Milk.

Kai: Enjoy! Review afterwards!

Leafpaw was in blackness, with nothing anywhere around her. Then, quite suddenly, a thin voice whispered in her ear, "Leaf, you need guidance."

Her heart pounding, Leafpaw whispered, "Who are you?"

"In life, I was known as Fuzzypelt."

"Fuzzypelt?" Leafpaw's heart pounded as she remembered the elder's stories of Mousesky and her apprentice, Fuzzypelt. "You're Fuzzypelt?"

"I am." There was a pause "I am to train you, Leafpaw, in the way of the medicine cats."

"Why not a living cat?"

"There will be a time when you are glad to depend on a cat that is always with you; one that has the knowledge of StarClan."

"Oh," Leafpaw felt embarrised that she hadn't figured that out. "Why can't I see you?"

"I chose to appear to you this way. If you wish, I could change your dream."

"No, no. This is fine," Leafpaw didn't want to be a bother. Sub-conciously, she was surprised she felt so comfortable with Fuzzypelt. "But, Fuzzypelt, how will you train me?"

"When you have need of me, call to me with your mind, and I will come. You will hear my voice in your ear, similar to how I appear to you now. Heed my instructions, Leafpaw, because they are precious. Do not forget a word I say. You have little time to learn what normally takes many moons. Do you understand me, Leafpaw?"

"I understand."

"Good. I will leave you to continue with your dreams, now. May they be sweet."

Then Fuzzypelt's presence retreated, and flashes of pictures appeared before Leafpaw in quick sucession.

A strange black kitten running towards her across the thin ice of the river, his mouth open and crying in alarm. She couldn't move, because shock and surprise came through her in waves at the sight of his forehead – a single, perfect white star...What seemed to be the whole of TreeClan and LightningClan, including the kits and elders, and others, marched towards SunClan, where they killed the whole of them...The cats marching on MoonClan, and Leafpaw stared with wide eyes, knowing that, despite the fact that she could do nothing to stop the horror that was descending upon MoonClan like a hawk does a mouse...She was pinned on the ground by a large tabby cat, and he was about to deal a death blow...Echopaw came from somewhere in the trees, yowling, and leaping onto the tabby, who hit her with razor sharp claws...Echopaw fell to the ground...A frightening dark grey tom was chasing her, along with Rainsong and the strange black kit through the forest, and fear and terror lived in her heart...

More, unspeakable visions came to Leafpaw. Then, it stopped, and she was in a glade dappled with moonlight, where her Spotkit sat peacefully.

"Spotkit!" Leafpaw's voice was pure joy

"Leaf," Spotkit's pleasure was apparent, but sad in a way. Leafpaw noticed that all the StarClan cats called her Leaf, even her sister now. "Leaf, I brought you here for a reason. I must speak with you."

"About what?" Leafpaw asked blankly.

Spotkit sighed. "Ah, see, this is where it gets difficult. You see, Leaf, StarClan knows much, and we are not to share with the other Clans. But when cats like you are chosen, certain things are often revealed to them...and when they have certain...gifts...bestowed upon them by StarClan, we often have no choice but to revel much of what we know. But the knowledge has destroyed many of them...and altered the future."

There was a short pause.

"Then perhaps you should not tell me." Leafpaw told her sister.

Spotkit shook her head. "No, Leaf, I only wish it were that simple. Because you shall find out on your own anyway. But certain things should not be known, and if you are to know them, you would have to learn on your own..."

Leafpaw was confused, and stared at Spotkit for a long moment. "I don't understand. What are you speaking of?"

Spotkit hesitated "Secrets, Leaf. Horrible secrets. The web of the future. The mingling remnants of the past. The hidden, evil intents of some, and the pure intents of others. I speak of the very universe, and the way it works."

Leafpaw nodded her head, satisfied. "Then I should not know of it."

"No," Spotkit agreed "you should not. But you must, and I believe that I must give you, at least, a few warnings, and tell you of your gift." Leafpaw nodded slowly, but didn't respond. "Kestrelstar is evil, Leafpaw," Spotkit told her sister earnestly "he has given many much grief, and killed for the sheer joy of it. He has created a horrible future, a possible future, if you will, and it is not pretty. But the future is never determined, but for the acts of the cats that walk on the ground still. The future is an web, that changes every instant, that is changing drastically because of what I am revealing to you."

"But what are you revealing to me, Spotkit?"

"Leaf, you have been granted a gift from StarClan – a thing that we bestow upon cats in times of great need so that they can better serve their Clans. Rainsong has been granted a gift, along with the other five - Storm, Blossom, Honey, Milk, and" Spotkit hesitated. "Star. I cannot reveal their gifts to you – that is for them to know first. If they choose to entrust you with this information, then that is their choice. But it is not mine to reveal to you. Your own gift, however, is."

Leafpaw knew it was

"Leafpaw, you are a seer. You are a diviner. You can interpret the strands of the future."

Starpaw blinked. He was back in the moonlit forest, a place he found comforting. He sat there a moment, staring at the starlight-dappled leaves of the trees and the bright silver flowers, taking in its peacefulness – a deep contrast from the world that he had just left. It felt as he did when he was alone at the twoleg nest - like he was with himself.

His sister melted from the shadows, and padded up to him. She stood before him a moment before he padded up to her and licked her ear. Sunny gave him the same gesture.

"How are you?" Starpaw found his words out of place, and his sister gave a chuckle.

"I am dead, Roy. I am always the same."

Not finding anything else to say, Starpaw replied, "They don't call me Roy anymore, but Starpaw."

His sister's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I know, Roy. Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before one of the Clans snatched you... But you'll always be Roy to me, brother."

Starpaw nodded, understanding. He would have found it odd if the tables were turned. "Why did you die?" he asked quietly, sorrow rippling his pelt.

His sister tensed. "Roy, I had no choice. Only one of us could go on, and that was you. I wish you could have avoided the Clans, but... You are them."

Starpaw narrowed his eyes at his sister. "I don't understand."

She laughed "You shouldn't."

When he said nothing more, he let it drop. "Are you with the anscestors of MightyClan-the ones the renounced-StarClan?" The word sent shivers through him, but he didn't know why, either.

"No," answered Sunny. "If I was, you wouldn't see me. I would be in you."

"What?" repeated Starpaw. "I think of you every day..."

"No," Sunny shook her head "Roy, you are destined to do great things. You have gifts no other cat has–gifts that allow you to speak to me now. You are going to save many cats. You shall feel as though you hold the weight of the world on you."

As she spoke, Starpaw had a sense of impending doom. "But...but I'm just a kitten. How can I...?"

"Your powers are great," his sister said slowly. "and they say that you are no kitten. You are no cat."

"What do you mean?" Starpaw was appalled. Of course he was a cat!

"The Clans anscestors," Sunny said slowly. "They... they needed influence in the Clans. They learned that at the Gathering. They knew it was risky, this gamble, but they had to try something..." Sunny met Starpaw's gaze, and he began to shiver. She looked so...different. "They, as StarClan, but their whole embodiment into the body of a small, completely black housecat. You."

"What?" Starpaw's stomach recoiled. "Me? StarClan?"

Sunny nodded. "Roy died when they put you - well, I suppose you put yourself into his body. You became my new brother, and you got that mark." She flicked her tail at the white star on his forehead.

"Wh - when was this?" he stuttered, shock flooding his body, though his mind was completely, perfectly processing this information and telling him that it was true.

"When Roy was less than one sunrise old. He is with me now."

"Can I see him? Can I...apologize?"

Sunny's gaze softened. "I shall tell him for you. He holds no grudge." Starpaw's senses flooded with relief. "Your powers are possibly the greatest. You can call on the cats of StarClan - of you and they shall help you when you most need it. But, be warned," Sunny met his stare with an icy one. "this effort is costly, and may even kill you. And, if you die at the paw of an enemy, StarClan will die with this body. You must, when it is time, die on your own terms, or that of a cat you love."

Starpaw gulped. Call on the cats of him? Die on his own terms? It made no sense.

"There are other cats with destinies that will intertwine with yours, with very different powers."

"I'm not alone?" Starpaw felt he already knew it somehow "Who are they? Where are they? When shall I meet them?"

"You know," Sunny said quietly. "I do not know this much, but if you look deep inside, brother, you will know." Roy nodded. He was sure that he would be able to know. "Be warned as well," Sunny continued "There is one cat that is the exact opposite of you. You are the embodiment of StarClan, the good cats of the Clans; the pure souls. The bad cats go to a place StarClan-you-call the Dark Forest. They, too, have taken this gamble and placed their embodiment in a cat.

"It was done differently from yours. This cat was a good warrior of TreeClan, noble in those days. When his mate died, he felt an uncontrolable emotion-anger. The Dark Forest chose him for it. His spirit is here too, and the Dark Forest lives on in him, and, try as he may, he cannot regain control of his body."

"Who is it?" breathed Starpaw. When Sunny hesitated, he cried, "Tell me!"

"He was then Kestrelsong. Now...he is Kestrelstar."

Then his sister melted into the shadows of the clearing, and Starpaw woke with a jerk.

Rainsong was standing in a glade bathed with moonlight, shining upon stones and a river. Across from her was a cream she-cat, gazing at Raingsong with quiet pain. Rainsong jumped up immedietly and raced to the cat, who was her mother's sister.

"Petaldrop!" she cried, burying her nose in her mother's fur, and thinking of Petalpaw, who had been named for her mother's sister. "Petaldrop!"

"Rainsong, dearest," Petaldrop crooned softly. "Dear, dear kit." They sat like that a moment, noses buried in each other's fur, happiness all about them. But the Rainsong opened her eyes and saw the stars dotting Petaldrop's fur, and remembered how she had died, only a few moons into Rainsong's apprenticeship, in a battle with a badger. She sat up, staring at Petaldrop.

"Are you here to give me a...message from StarClan?"

Petaldrop, surprisingly, shook her head. "StarClan has not sent me to give me permission to come. I came of my own accord."

Rainsong blinked. "Is there division amongst StarClan?"

Petaldrop shook her head firmly. "Never think that," she said quickly. "StarClan is never divided. There are no bad cats in StarClan, as there are in the Clans. The bad cats go to a different place that we call the Dark Forest."

"Then...what is wrong with StarClan?" Rainsong blinked, confused.

Petaldrop flinched as though it was a hard question to answer. "Let me just say...StarClan is facing less...stable accomodations that we are accustomed to. I cannot tell you more." Rainsong's eyes narrowed. Was StarClan keeping secrets? "I came to tell you," Petaldrop continued "that I made a...costly choice when I was living. I..fell in love with a cat from TreeClan."

"TreeClan?" Rainsong gasped. "Petaldrop!"

"TreeClan was honorable in those days," Petaldrop said hastily. "And...he was so charming and sweet to me, Rainsong. I loved him as I could no other cat. You shall know the feeling one day."

"What was his name?" asked Rainsong quietly.

"Blackear," answered Petaldrop, saying the word with reverence.

"Did you have kits?" Rainsong whispered, hardly wanting to hear the answer.

Petaldrop nodded solemnly. "We did. They were two, the most adorable she-cats I ever saw. I loved them as much as I did Blackear, perhaps even more. But... I couldn't keep them as mine."

"What happened?" asked Rainsong, not breathing.

"Blackear loved them, too, and though we couldn't live as their parents, we still wanted to be part of each other's lives. Blackear took the white one, Milkkit, and I took the brown," Petaldrop met her eyes. "Rainkit."

Rainsong felt as though a blow had been delivered to her stomach. "You...you're my mother?" she barely gasped before the picture was erased and she was swirling in blackness once more.

Then she was back in the glade. She spun, wanting to see Petaldrop, wanting to talk to her, but seeing a different StarClan cat-the old medicine cat, Mousesky.

"Hello, Rain," Mousesky said calmly, and Rainsong realized that she was breathing heavily.

"Hello, Mousesky," she replied, sitting down, her fur still ruffled. "Where is Petaldrop?"

Mousesky sighed. "She shouldn't have come without consulting StarClan first," she replied. "We had to cut her short."

"Will she come in my dreams again?" pleaded Rainsong.

Mousesky shrugged. "I do not know. Now, we must move on to what I am here to tell you - what StarClan wishes you to know." Rainsong held her breath. So here was the message from StarClan to tell her what to do with Leafpaw. "You were the first chosen cat, you know that?" Mousesky mewed.

Rainsong nodded. "I often wished I wasn't. I felt so alone."

"You have six fellows now. They are Leaf, Blossom, Honey, Milk, Storm, and" Mousesky shuddered "Star. They shall help you. They have powers to rival even yours."

"My powers?" breathed Rainsong. She had been wondering for moons and moons if this dream would ever come, and here, finally, it was. Something in the back of her head briefly registered the connection - Milk to Milkkit.

"You were the first chosen cat," Mousesky repeated. "Though you are not the oldest. This gives you senoirity. You are a natural leader, Rainsong. You are destined to lead LightClan, after the final battle between MightyClan and the Chosen Cats, if you survive to do so."

"LightClan?" Rainsong blinked. "What happened to MoonClan?"

Mousesky's eyes were sad. "We shall have to see. I am afraid only Leaf had give us clues." Leaf? wondered Rainsong Leafpaw? How? "A leader has power to convince her cats what is right. You, too, had this power naturally. StarClan has given you the power to lead, to a greater extent. When a cat sees you in your fullest glory, they shall follow you immedietly."

Rainsong's tail flicked nervously. "How long have I had this power?"

"Since I spoke to you by the MoonStream," answered Mousesky. "I believe we all saw it first when you returned to CloudClan with Wildstar, and those kittypets, Jaywing, Mintwish, Rosewing, Antfur, and," her voice lowered with sorrow. "Olivebreath."

"Is she with you now?" asked Rainsong quietly. Mousesky nodded, and Rainsong nodded in relief.

"She was the first to die for the cause you will soon lead," Mousesky promised, and Rainsong's throat caught.

"What cause?" she demanded. "What is Kestrelstar planning?"

Mousesky's form drifted out of focus. "You shall see at the Gathering," her voice whispered and then she was gone.

Van: Wierd?

Kai: I spoiled A LOT.

Van: And I enjoyed foreshadowing A LOT.

Kai: And I detest Marcus A LOT. (he isn't on the throne anymore. hmph)

Van: And now you can review. Tell us what you think all that foreshadowing meant.

Kai: Or you could PM