A/N: Just a warning, this chapter is probs one of my favorites, which means it might make some of you angry XD This was necessary for my plot to move forward and I've actually had it planned for some time. After this there might be one or two more chapters and then it's time for Life Dream! Don't forget to look at my website either! =)

Thanks to my reviewers: Ginnystar and Inushuik! You guys make me smile!!

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue.

Chapter Nine: Farewells

The ground underfoot began to change. Stonestar could tell that the bellatores were anxious to return to their home. He himself felt something deep in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't quite like a homecoming… and yet…

"Saxum! Sphacos! Bellatores! Redivistis!"

Stonestar felt a jolt in his stomach as Nox ran up with Carmen and her filii. The bellatores rushed past Stonestar and Mossflower to meet their gens. After greeting them, Nox walked up and greeted Mossflower. Finally, she walked up to him.

"Saxum-Unguis," she said, her golden eyes meeting his.

"It's Saxum-Sideris now," he said in his own language. "I am the leader of WindClan now."

"Ubi est Imber? She asked, her eyes scanning the bellatores.

Stonestar dipped his head. "Mortuus est."

A sound like a whimper escaped from her as she pitched forward, pressing her face into Stonestar's fur. She yowled and it sounded to Stonestar like her heart had shattered. There was no mentor-apprentice system in DreamClan, but as vicarius, Nox was close to Imber, just as an apprentice was to his or her mentor.

"I'm sorry," Stonestar whispered, licking her head. "Nunc tu rex es."

"Non volo… non…" Nox said, "Imber…"

"Would have wanted you to be strong," Stonestar said, Imber's words from when he gave Stonestar one of his lives running through his head. She looked up at him, her golden eyes large.

"Stonestar," she whispered.

"Night of Stars," he whispered back. Something had changed. Something was different.

"We can't…" she said, her voice low.

"I don't care," Stonestar said, pressing close to her. "I love you, Nox. I haven't stopped thinking about you since we left. You've always been in my dreams…" he trailed off.

"Saxum," Nox said softly. She was silent for several moments. Finally, she spoke in a soft voice. "Etiam to amo."

xxx

"We honor him tonight!"

Mossflower watched as Nox addressed the Clan. She would make a good Rex. The cats of DreamClan were going to hold their own vigil for Imber tonight. She walked over to Nubes and sat by him.

"It is good to see you again, Sphacos," he said.

"Et tu, Nubes," she said, smiling.

"Quid in tuā mente est?" He asked.

"Non omittis multum," Mossflower said, looking at the light ginger tom. He let out a chuckle.

"From one medice to another, it is easy to tell with those you have become close to."

"This is true," she said. "My apprentice, Alauda-Alae,had a prophecy last night, or at least we think it's a prophecy. It's been on my mind for a while."

"Sphacos, I know almost nothing of your Clans and the cats in them. Even if you do tell me this prophecy, I probably will not be able to help you with it." Mossflower nodded. Nubes's eyes glittered in the sunlight. "You also must remember, Sphacos, the Gens-Sideris are new to me. I do not have as much experience as you or your old mentor, Ruber-Foliorum, or even your apprentice, Alauda-Alae. I have not yet received a prophecy while she has. I am just an infans compared to you."

Mossflower sighed. "Scio, Nubes. Scio."

"Scio te sciere." He said and licked her ear in a friendly way. "Veni, let's go and have some fresh-kill. You must be hungry."

"I am," Mossflower admitted. Later, Nubes would remember an odd, sad look in her eyes. Together the walked over to the newly constructed fresh-kill pile. Just as they arrived, Arbor-Vitae walked up, carrying a lizard in his jaws. He placed it on the pile and nodded at Mossflower and Nubes.

Mossflower smiled at the bellator and took the lizard he had placed on the pile. She walked over near the Domus-Regis where Nubes joined her with a mouse.

"Trying the lizard?" Nubes asked. Mossflower smiled and nodded, bending her head to take a bite. But before she did, she looked up at Nubes.

"Tu bonus amicus es," she said. Nubes smiled.

"Et tu."

With that, Mossflower bent her head and took a bite of the lizard, savoring the taste. It wasn't long before she had finished, leaving the small skeleton behind. As soon as the sunlight hit it, the skeleton turned to dust and blew away in the light breeze.

Mossflower and Nubes both looked at the space where the skeleton had been. Burnt into the ground was the image of a tree without any leafs. The minute her eyes locked on the tree, Mossflower collapsed, twitching uncontrollably. Foam formed in her mouth and her eyes rolled back into her head.

"Minime!" Nubes cried. "Sphacos!"

Cats began to crowd around as Nubes ran into his den, desperately trying to find the right herb to save his friend. He ran out with yarrow in his mouth. Stonestar was next to Mossflower, pain and horror in his eyes. Nubes shoved cats aside to reach Mossflower. He forced the yarrow into her mouth, but it was too late.

After several moments, her movements ceased, her eyes closed, and Mossflower stopped moving.

"No!" yowled Stonestar. "StarClan, no!" He buried his face into her fur, like a kit who is scared and finds comfort in his mother. But unlike the mother, Mossflower did not move to comfort Stonestar. She did not move again.

Nubes started at Mossflower's unmoving form, filled with shock.

"Quid illud est?"

Nubes looked at Scopulus-Mundi, one of Carmen's liberi. The grey kit was looking where the lizard skeleton had been. The tree that had been burned into the ground had bloomed and now the leafs formed a skull.

"Nox!" Nubes called. The black she-cat ran over, her eyes filled with pain. Nubes motioned to the mark on the ground. When Nox looked up, her eyes were now filled with understanding and absolute rage.

She ran to the Rupes-Regis, bristling with anger. "Arbor-Vitae!" she shouted. The cats parted as Folium and Ventus dragged Arbor forward. The brown tom was hissing and spitting as the two toms threw him on the ground, holding him down.

"I regret nothing, Nox!" Arbor screamed. "It was her fault that my father died, that our Rex died! If she had never come, Imber wouldn't have died!"

His words echoed through the now silent camp. Nox jumped off the Rupes-Regis and came up to Arbor.

"You are no long in my Clan."

"Your Clan? You are not Rex!"

"Fui vicarius! Iam sum rex!" Nox shouted. Arbor cringed with the force of her anger. She turned and once more jumped onto the Rupes-Regis. "From now on, you will be known as Arbor-Mortui. Leave."

Folium and Ventus let Arbor up. The brown, disgraced tom streaked out of the camp, leaving a wave of sadness and pain in his wake.

Nox jumped off the Rupes-Regis and walked over to Stonestar, who was still curled next to Mossflower's body. She looked at the Rex of the Gens-Venti and felt her heart breaking. Nox slowly lay down next to him, their pelts touching.

"How could this happen? Why?" Stonestar moaned, his face hidden. Nox licked his ear. He turned to look at her and Nox's heart now shattered. His eyes, which used to be as lively as spring grass, now were haunted and full of pain and disbelief. "She was my closest friend," he whispered.

"Hīc sum," Nox whispered, pressing her face into his fur. They stayed together as the other cats came over to pay their respects. They heard Nubes shakily saying the ceremonial words over Mossflower's body. They felt the stillness of her body.

They felt broken.

xxx

Stonestar sat in the lonely mist he had come to associate with his dreams of StarClan. This time, however, he did not call out or look around. He sat, as if made of stone.

A cat began to emerge from the mist. It was a fuzzy image, more so than ever before. Finally, the haze lifted and there she stood, more alive than Stonestar had ever seen her.

Mossflower.

Now Stonestar ran forward, trying to press his face into her fur. However, he passed through her form. Whirling around, he looked at her. She had a sad look in her eyes.

"Dearest Stonestar," she said, a sad smile forming on her face. Her eyes and fur sparkled with starlight. "I'm sorry, but it was my time."

"No!" he shouted. "You had just become medicine cat! We had defeated GhostClan!" Mossflower shook her head.

"I knew this was coming. I knew it was coming since the night when Larkwing received her true name. Imber came to me and told me what had to happen. It's the will of StarClan."

"What am I going to tell Hawkpelt? What am I going to tell Larkwing? You've left her to drown! You've left me!"

Stonestar could tell that his words stung, but he didn't care. Mossflower's smile faded. "Do you know what I would have given to help deliver Hawkpelt's kits? To still be with you? I would have done anything, Stonestar! Don't you dare think I didn't try to bargain with them!" Her eyes flashed. "But I gave my life. I will be there right by Larkwing's side during the kitting. I will always be in your dreams. Stonestar, I will always be here!"

They sat in silence for several moments before Mossflower stepped forward and licked Stonestar's cheek. "You will have to return soon," she whispered, her eyes piercing his soul.

"I can't leave her, Mossflower," he whispered. "I can't…"

"You must. Your destinies are no longer intertwined. Stonestar, you must return to your Clan and Nox must stay with hers."

Stonestar looked at the ground. He knew he had to leave her, but he couldn't bear it.

"Stonestar, I know what Imber told you when you received your nine lives. I know. I know what you feel for her, but there is another world for you. The world of the Gens-Somnis is a world apart from the world of WindClan. I will be in both of your dreams. You will not lose her completely."

Stonestar remained silent.

"You must leave as soon as they bury my body. She will accompany you as far as the dog pack, but no further."

Stonestar nodded and stood. As the mist began to grow thicker, obscuring Mossflower from his vision, he called out, "Never leave me!"

"I won't, my Stonestar."

xxx

Nox watched him sleep, his pained look driving thorns into her heart. Her Saxum-Sideris, her Stonestar. He twitched and called out, almost like in pain, "Never leave me!"

Nox licked his ear and whispered, "I won't, my Stonestar." She liked the way his name rolled off her tongue and wondered if her name sounded the same to him. Night of Stars… she thought. She smiled to herself and looked down at Stonestar, who had quieted and was now sleeping peacefully. Once more rage built up in her. How could any cat kill Sphacos? Mossflower, she reminded herself. Her name was Mossflower… But unlike with Stonestar's name, Nox found that she preferred "Sphacos" to "Mossflower."

Looking down at Stonestar again, her heart calmed. No, she would never leave him. He was hers. And she was his. She was his for always and forever. She was his.

xxx

"Nox, surge," a gentle voice said, rousing Nox from her light slumber. Folium was standing there with the rest of her Gens. The morning was filled with mist and the sun lightly filtered through the haze. Dew had formed on her and Stonestar while they slept, but now he was standing off on his own, staring at the sky, as if something or someone had called for him.

"Stonestar," she mewed softly. He turned and walked over to her, his eyes broken, even more so than the night before.

"It is time," he whispered, as if he didn't trust his own voice. He kept his eyes downcast, not meeting Nox's.

Nox nodded and turned to the Gens-Somnis. "Amici, hodie honoramus amicam nos, Sphacos-Florum. Mortuus est non fustra, nom nunc vivet in animis nobis. Non dedisemus!"

Silence fell over the Gens as her words sunk in. "Nomen 'Sphacos-Florum' sanctus ero in hac gentis, aeternaliter."

The Gens sat in silence. They had all been shaken by Arbor's treachery. Now, they were trying to adjust once more to a way of life they thought was lost. They had become so accustomed to having the foreign medice around and hearing her and the foreign vicarius nunc rex's foreign tongue that hearing their own felt almost strange.

"Non perficio. Vocare novum vicarium volo." Nox had given it much thought through the long night and had made her decision. "Folium-Argenteus, tu es bellator multi virtutis et sapientiae. Erisne mea vicarius?"

Folium looked at Nox and stood. "Nox-Stellarum, meus rex, accipiem locum vicarii. Captabo servire Gens-Somnis toto corde animoque."

Nox smiled and looked at the Gens. "Ecce vicarius! Folium-Argenteus!" With the sound of their ceremonial words, the cats of DreamClan began to cheer, not chant Folium's name as the would in WindClan or ShadowClan, but by all shouting their own words of praise at the same time, overlapping each other in a cacophony of cheers.

Nox turned and looked at Stonestar. Again, he did not meet her eyes. For his sake, she switched from her native tongue. "And now, as is custom for our Gens, it is time for us sepelire Sphacos-Florum. Folium, as vicarius it is your duty to perform this ceremony." She turned to Stonestar. "Do you want to go?" she asked. Stonestar shook his head.

"I have said my goodbyes. In our Clans, it is the elders that bury the dead. I will remain here," he said, formality taking over the usual tone of his voice. Nox nodded. "Also, after Folium and the others return, I must return to my Clan. They have to know… what transpired here and they need their leader."

Nox froze. He was leaving? So soon? Quickly gaining her composure she spoke again. "Know that you will always be considered one of our bellatores, Saxum. You will always have a home in Gens-Somni." Stonestar nodded. Nox looked at the Gens. "Ite, omnes." She said, ending the impromptu meeting. As the cats began to disperse, she walked up to Stonestar. "Veni," she said. Unquestioningly, Stonestar followed her to the edge of the forest.

"I'm sorry, Nox," he said softly, looking into the forest.

"What is going on?" she asked, softly.

"We always knew I couldn't stay here. I have a duty: a duty to my Clan and to StarClan."

"What about to me?" Nox whispered, knowing she was fighting a losing battle.

Stonestar looked at the ground. "Of course to you, Nox. Always to you," he whispered.

"Then why do you have to go now?" Nox pleaded, her eyes filled with pain.

"It is the will of StarClan," Stonestar said bitterly. Nox looked at him. Now, for the first time, he met her eyes. And now Nox could see why he was trying to be so formal and detached. This was tearing and clawing his heart into shreds.

"Stonestar…" she said softly, pressing close to him.

"Nox, I would give anything to stay here with you," he said, holding her gaze. "I love you, Nox, more than I could ever love anyone. But when I became deputy, when I became a warrior, when I became an apprentice, when I became the leader of WindClan, I swore to follow the warrior code." He looked at the ground again. "And the warrior code says I must remain loyal to my Clan. Nox, what if we have to do battle one day? How could I-" he broke off, not able to say it. "And if… if there are kits…" He shook his head.

"Does your code not also say that the word of the leader is the warrior code?" Nox said softly, grasping at any thread she could.

Stonestar kept looking at the ground. "I made a promise, Nox. Would you anymore leave your Gens forever, never see your amici again, just to be with one? I can't abandon my Clan."

"There has to be a way…" Nox whispered.

Stonestar looked at her. "Come to the Gatherings. Each full moon join us at the Island. By now the medicine cats will have told their Clans about you. If StarClan does not approve… then… mouse-dung I don't know!" Nox licked his ear, seeing how hard this was, seeing how much this hurt him.

They were silent for several moments. "Can I accompany you for part of the way?" she asked. Stonestar nodded.

"StarClan will allow that much. Nox, you have to understand. If you come to the Gatherings, I will simply be another leader to you. We cannot let any cat know. We can't be mates…" Nox nodded. She turned to see Folium returning with some of the bellatores. Stonestar saw them as well. "It is time." He walked over to the Gens, who had gathered once more. "Nox-Stellarum, possum dicere a Rupes-Regis?"

Nox nodded, the pain evident in her eyes. Stonestar leaped onto the Rupes-Regis and turned toward the Gens. "Cats of DreamClan!" he called, surprised that the ceremonial words flowed out of him as easily as they did. "I must thank you for your constant hospitality and friendship. You all have taught me many things. All of you will be welcome in WindClan, whenever you need. But it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you this." He felt like there were 1,000 adders in his stomach as he spoke. "From the moment I walk off of your territory, and as long as you are a Clan under StarClan, our Clans cannot be allies. You cannot trust us, or the other Clans. That is the way of the Clans in this forest and the warrior code." He could see the pain in many of the cats' eyes, but he met Nubes gaze. The medice nodded ever so slightly, his eyes filled with understanding. "I must leave you now, but always know that the Clan of Stars, and Sphacos-Florum will always be with you."

The cats were silent as Stonestar jumped off of the Rupes-Regis. At this point, Accitus-Bubonis walked up to Stonestar, infans staring at leader. "I will not forget you, Saxum," he said. Stonestar smiled and bent down.

"Accitus-Bubonis," he whispered. "Train hard. Be strong. You have a bright future ahead of you. Become the best bellator you can be. Defend your Gens. And I entrust you with these duties: take care of Nox, and carry on the memory of Sphacos-Florum. Never let her be forgotten. Can you promise me that?" He looked at the infans, meeting his eyes.

"Spondeo," he whispered, his eyes alight. Stonestar turned.

"I will accompany Saxum to the border," Nox said. "Folium will be in charge. If we are to be a Clan, we must adopt some of their ways. Folium, organize a border patrol. We must be careful with the rogues and dog pack so close."

Folium nodded as Nox and Stonestar turned and walked out of camp.

"Vale, Saxum-Sideris! Vale!" called Nubes from the group of cats. The rest of the Gens began to call their farewells to him. As soon as they were into the forest and away form the camp, their furs grew close and their tails entwined. Neither wanted to leave the other. Finally, they reached the faint border between the land of the Gens-Somni and the dog pack. They sat in the patch of sunlight that broke through the trees. The pressed close, not able to say any words. The pain each felt was unbearable.

"This is how it has to be," Stonestar finally whispered. Nox stayed silent. "Remember, after this moment, we can no longer… we can't… oh, StarClan. Nox, what are we going to do?"

Nox looked up and met his eyes. "We will endure. We will carry on. We will never forget each other. You will always be in my heart. I will always love you Stonestar."

"As will I," he said. "I will visit you in dreams. I will… I love you, Nox."

They sat in silence for several more moments. Finally, as if by some mutual agreement, they both stood. Nox met Stonestar's eyes.

"Goodbye, Stonestar," she said, almost whispering.

"Vale, Nox-Stellarum," he responded. Then, without looking back, for he knew if he did he would not be able to leave, Stonestar turned and stepped over the border.

At once it was like the connection between them shattered and a physical barrier formed between the two lands. Neither cat called out, even though they both felt the pain in their hearts. Neither cat crumpled to the ground, even though the pain was unbearable. Stonestar kept walking towards WindClan, while Nox turned and began to walk back to her Gens. They would forever be with each other, but forever apart. Forever longing, but forever longing in vain. Forever loving, but forever unable to love.