"Are you ready?"

"Yes...Should I take another warrior to the Moonstone with me?"

"Yes...Bring Glacierclaw."

Leafstorm was about to go to the Moonstone to receive her nine lives from StarClan. Littlecloud handed her a bundle of wrapped leaves.

"Here are your traveling herbs."

Leafstorm nodded gingerly and ate the leaves and seeds. She then stood up, touching noses with Sunpaw, "I'll be back next dawn." Sunpaw nodded gravely.

Leafstorm purred and padded out of camp, signaling for Glacierclaw and Littlecloud to follow.

The journey was long, but finally the cats reached the shining granite cave which stood on the other side of the WindClan borders.

"Here I go..." She breathed and twined her tail with Glacierclaw's and quietly slipped into the cave.

Up ahead, the glowing white stone sat underneath moonlight. She shook off the chill from the long dark tunnel behind her that she just passed through, and lied down beside the quartz.

Leafstorm carefully pressed her nose against it and was jolted with an icy shock.

She saw the host of StarClan sitting before her. She expected cats from ShadowClan but there were ThunderClan warriors here! She recognized Spottedleaf and Yellowfang and Bluestar and Fireheart and Redtail. There were many more, though.

Each cat in turn came up to her to give her either a bolting shock or heavenly sweep of her lives. She drank the energy in eagerly but when she came to her ninth life, no ThunderClan cat approached her. The starry sky around her turned black and her insides froze. Tigerstar was confronting her.

"Leafstorm, I stand here before you instead of any other ThunderClan cat. I give you the most important life of all...Power for your ambitions. Power for your Clan. Power for yourself."

Leafstorm wanted to shudder but a crawly dark feeling slithered through her like an adder.

"I hunt with no StarClan. I only hunt with other cats," He glanced around him and Scourge appeared beside Tigerstar. The little cat spoke,

"Leafstorm...I give you your life. Use it to control the other Clans. Four will become one...Not two." He touched his nose to hers and she felt like she was dying into darkness. All the warmth was leaving her body was a sickly sensation filled her. She tasted blood but it was sweet to her, and her claws felt stronger, like she wanted to kill every cat in the forest.

"What's happening?" She cried out and she felt physically stronger.

"By the power of all of the cats in the forest, I give you your new name, Leafstar." Tigerstar said and Scourge smirked.

"Use your lives well...Very well..."

The cats disappeared and Leafstar felt herself come back to life. She still felt Scourge and Tigerstar ring through her head but a faint whisper meowed, "You will fall into darkness and he will save you with a shower of light."

Spottedleaf!

Leafstar felt a little comforted by the she-cat still with her, but she didn't really care about the medicine cat any more...for some reason. Leafstar suddenly hated Spottedleaf for ruining her life and spoiling her dreams where she could have been catching a mouse in her sleeping mind.

Leafstar spat at the thought of Spottedleaf as she regained consciousness. She stood up, feeling a bit cold. She padded out of the tunnel and saw Glacierclaw and Littlecloud waiting for her. They all padded back to camp and Leafstar thought,

I have nine lives now! I can kill any cat I want! I mean, I can fight any cat I want- I will kill...

Bloodthirsty thoughts swam in her mind. She could rule the forest! Now she was the youngest and strongest leader! Leafstar even had Tigerstar and Scourge on her side!

Who needed StarClan?