At the next gathering, Icestorm was carried by Sunstripe and Crowclaw. She had been right. She was completely blind in her left eye, but perfectly fine in the right one. She was off hunting patrols until her eye healed, as Spottedtail said it would. But she was still was participating in every border patrol she could.

They very next day, I gave Sandpaw her warrior name, Sandfire. Stripedpelt took care of Frostpaw until Icestorm was better.

But as Spottedtail analyzed Icestorm in her den, she found something out. She was expecting Sunstripe's kits.

At the meeting place, Flamelark was the first to talk:

"LarkClan is prospering. We have new members: Thorneye, Fuzzynose, and Taglefur!"

The clans shouted out their names.

"Crushedfoot has also given birth to Firekit, Whitekit, and Yellowkit. Our food supply is growing low, though. We think that the foxes in our territory have scared it all toward your border."

"That must explain the surplus of prey we have," I replied coolly. I sensed the accusation in Flamelark's tone.

I heard Hawkheart whisper into Sandfire's ear, "See how weak Flamelark is? We could drive him out of his own territory!"

I glared at the warrior, seething.

"Meanwhile," Flamelark said. "Blueheart, our medicine cat, has died of starvation. Silverfur has taken her place. We've found rouges in our territory, but have scared them off. LarkClan warns you, Doublewing."

"Surely," I meowed. "WingClan has prospered alongside LarkClan. Sandpaw is now Sandfire. We have nothing more to report."

"Then let the gathering be over!" Flamelark declared, immediately jumping down, in a hurry to get out of here. LarkClan seemed a lot more aggressive this time. It had only been a moon since the first gathering. How could they get so aggressive over nothing so soon?

That night, as most of the clan was sleeping their exhaustion off. I was too. But as I was fast asleep, Nightpaw's cry cut through my sleep.

I jumped up to my feet immediately. I darted out of the den, right to the entrance. Darkfire, Crowclaw, Sunstripe, and Hawkheart were already there, snarling and growling at an unseen enemy. Then, in only half a moment, around 15 black cats dashed in through the entrance and headed to battle with the defense.

Baring my teeth, I darted to the first invader I set eyes upon, and raked my claws across his flank. It yowled out in pain, and then twisted around, sinking it's thick teeth into my pelt.

Gritting my teeth in en-duration, I kicked my back legs to make him get off of me. The first time, he loosened his hold. the second time, he fell off, growling. I jumped into the air and aimed another back kick, at his face this time.

He dodged, my feet only skimming the fur on his head. As I fell, down, he raked my back with his razor-sharp claws.

I screamed again in pain. Blood glistened on the black cat's paws, my blood.

"Don't you dare!" I yelled, jumping at him. My claws dug themselves into his muzzle, and when I pulled them out, blood gushed out of the wound. The cat collapsed onto the ground, silent as the greenleaf wind.

I glanced over every warrior that was fighting. Crowclaw was holding his own against two cats. Sunstripe had the upper edge with his enemy. Darkfire was winning against four broad-shouldered cats. Hawkheart had a cat at his feet, blood streaming through his neck, and one that he gripped by the neck and was battered with his paws.

I dashed to Darkfire, and tackled down one of the invaders. He immediately went limp, and I started pounding my paws on his head. the dark warrior lost consciousness.

Darkfire had just beaten another cat, who had ran out with all the other defeated cats, except for the one I just knocked out. The ones at Hawkheart's feet also stayed unconscious.

Suddenly, as Darkfire was facing his last opponent, Hawkheart jumped in between the two and kicked Darkfire away. The warrior bared his sharp teeth and wrapped them around the invader's throat. Then he ripped its throat out.

Darkfire stayed on the ground, Crowclaw softly talking to him. Sunstripe leaned himself on the Boulder, a deep gash on his flank bleeding heavily. Redtail and Spottedtail, who had been taking the dead bodies out, bounded over to Darkfire.

Then, out of nowhere, Hawkheart wrapped his teeth around my throat and pulled.

Dying can really change a cat. It makes you feel as if you lost something deep inside you. And it hurts!

I woke up again, this time with my neck only bleeding a little, causing a slight headache.

"Hawkheart!" I yelled, but my voice echoed on for ages. I looked closer, and saw that the grass glimmered with stars. I was in StarClan.

"Hello, Doublewing," a voice called out. It belonged to Dapplefur.

"Dapplefur!" I shouted as she materialized in front of me. "What's happened?"

"You have lost your first life to Hawkheart."

"Hawkheart? How?"

"He wishes deep in his heart to become leader. He thinks the only way to become so was to kill you. By now, he has probably exiled Darkfire, Stripedpelt, Crowclaw, and Redtail."

"Why not Spottedtail or Icestorm?"

"Because Spottedtail doesn't believe in StarClan and Icestorm will be having kits soon."

"Can't I go back?"

"Not until someone who isn't exiled can believe in you. It's one thing that the first leader of each clan must go through. Remember Larkstar from your nine lives ceremony? That's what happened to her. No one believed her after she lost her first life that she gave up. Then Flamerush came around, and became Flamelark."

"So Larkstar gave up?"

"Yes, but you can't give up! Got that? You must keep searching for the one who lives in HawkClan and will believe you!"

"HawkClan?"

"I'm sorry. It has been almost a season since you first died. Hawkheart has moved everyone to another stretch of territory and called it HawkClan. The exiled ones still believe in WingClan, but someone must from HawkClan."

"No one believes in me anymore? No one believes in what you and Jadepaw and Shinepaw and Bluefeather died for! I can't believe that! What about Sunstripe or Sandfire? What about the apprentices?"

"It's all gone, Doublewing. Darkfire has tried to take leadership of the clan, but StarClan has rejected him. He is not the true leader; you are."

"So now what?"

"Now you must watch along StarClan until someone believes in you again."

I just stared in disbelief at Dapplefur. I couldn't just watch. I had a clan to lead.

A/N: This is the last chapter before the epilogue. Don't worry, I'll start on the next book right away. I wanted to make it short because I didn't want it to turn into one of those stories that go on forever and can only be read by those who stuck with i from the beginning. The sequel will take place in HawkClan, with two main characters switching point-of-views. I'll also post up the allegiances after the epilogue. Hope you've had a good time with the first book of this story, and more fun with the next one! The next one will most likely be called WingClan II: HawkClan- The Believer. Pretty kick-$$ name, right?