Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors, but I do own the characters created for this story. Please don't steal any of them.


Chapter 10


Ghostpaw had a difficult time sleeping that night. Every time he closed his eyes, the dark vision of ThunderClan and ShadowClan fighting reappeared. When he finally did fall asleep, he had a dream that he was standing in a damp darkness while a terrible dread grew in his chest. The dream woke him up very early in the morning; he could see mist curling around the floor of the camp through the entrance of the den.

Something moved outside. Ghostpaw sat up quickly and squinted. He could see a dark patch moving in the silver mist. Who was awake this early? Quietly, he slipped out of his nest and crept outside toward the dark patch. It turned suddenly and he caught sight of two eyes the color of the sky before they disappeared. Barely a heartbeat later, Ravenpaw leaped at him from out of the mist.

Ghostpaw gave a slight yelp of surprise. "Ravenpaw!" he hissed. "What are you doing?"

Ravenpaw's sky blue eyes were full of happiness. "My name isn't Ravenpaw anymore. I'm Ravenheart now!"

"StarClan gave you your medicine cat name!" Ghostpaw said with a purr. "Congratulations, Ravenp...heart."

She giggled. "Isn't Ravenheart just a lovely name? I'm so happy!"

"Ravenheart!" Maggotstripe's voice called out from toward the elders' den. "Fetch some juniper berries and lavender, right now! Barrenoak needs it!"

Ravenheart turned and disappeared in the direction of the medicine cat's den. Frightened, Ghostpaw ran to the elders' den and ducked inside.

"Ghostpaw! What are you doing awake?" Quickpelt asked when she spotted him.

"Is Ravenheart fetching the juniper berries and lavender?" Maggotstripe asked from where she sat beside Barrenoak.

"Yes," Ghostpaw replied just as the black she-cat ducked her way inside.

Ravenheart dropped the lavender flowers at Maggotstripe's paws. "We're completely out of juniper berries, Maggotstripe!"

Ghostpaw cringed. He'd completely forgotten to bring the juniper berries with him when he'd spotted the strange cats on ShadowClan's territory.

"Go fetch some!" Maggotstripe replied as Barrenoak wheezed.

Ravenheart darted out of the den. Ghostpaw raced after her.

"Ravenheart, wait up! I'll come with you!" Ghostpaw called.

The she-cat didn't slow down as she ran past Rainfur, the night guard. Ghostpaw sped after the black she-cat and out of the camp.

Outside the camp, the forest looked odd and hazy because of the fog that rolled through the trees and underbrush. Ghostpaw was glad that Ravenheart was black; she stood out well against the silver of the fog. He followed her to the juniper bush near ShadowClan's territory.

"Why didn't you bring back the juniper berries yesterday, Ghostpaw?" Ravenheart demanded as she began plucking berries off the bush with her claws.

"I saw those mysterious cats," Ghostpaw replied. He went around the bush and found the leaf with the juniper berries he had collected yesterday. "I got distracted by them."

"Oh," Ravenheart replied. "That's okay, Ghostpaw."

As she plucked off more berries, Ghostpaw wrapped the berries he'd collected yesterday into the leaf and picked them up.

Ravenheart searched for a leaf of her own. Ghostpaw waited impatiently. He wondered what was happening back at the camp with Barrenoak. He wish he knew what the lavender and juniper berries were for. When he'd been in the elders' den, Barrenoak had looked like he was having trouble breathing.

His vision changed. Ghostpaw was watching Barrenoak eat the lavender. Maggotstripe was watching him worriedly. What was going on? He was seeing something that was happening right now! Wait...was he? He squinted. Yes, all of the cats in the elders' den were still in the same position they had been in when he'd entered the den just minutes ago. What was going on? Ghostpaw thought he could only see the future!

"Ghostpaw! Why are you just standing there?" Ravenheart demanded.

As Ghostpaw's vision returned to normal, he heard Barrenoak sigh one last time. Ghostpaw's heart thudded in his chest. He knew when they got back to camp that they would be too late. Barrenoak had just passed on to StarClan.

Ravenheart didn't wait for him to answer her question. She was already running back toward camp.

Ghostpaw shook himself and ran after her. He kept his jaws tight around the leaf so that he didn't lose any of the juniper berries, not that it would be a big deal if he dropped any of them.

"Oh, no!" Ghostpaw heard Ravenheart just before he reached the elders' den. He slipped inside quietly to see Ravenheart sitting beside Maggotstripe.

"It's okay, Ravenheart," Maggotstripe whispered. "Barrenoak lived a long, happy life in ThunderClan. It was his time to join StarClan."

Ghostpaw set down his leaf full of juniper berries and looked at Barrenoak's motionless body. The brown tom's muzzle was shot threw with silver. He looked so peaceful. Ghostpaw felt guilty for all the times he'd gotten annoyed with Barrenoak because the old tom couldn't hear that well.

A figure appeared beside Barrenoak's body. Ghostpaw looked up and realized that it was Barrenoak's spirit. The spirit looked much younger and healthier than the cold body lying on the floor of the den. Ghostpaw watched Barrenoak's spirit look at all of the cats in the den. His light amber eyes locked briefly with Ghostpaw's before he turned away and walked through the wall of the den.


The entire Clan found out about Barrenoak's passing later that morning. Quickpelt and Twigleaf, who were Barrenoak's daughters, sat beside him in the middle of the camp all day. Neither of the elder she-cats left Barrenoak's cold side even once.

Rowanstar grieved with his mother and aunt for a little while in the morning, but it wasn't for long. After the patrol who had spoken to Crimsonstar had given their report, Rowanstar and Granitetail had discussed the next step they should take. Late last night, Rowanstar had declared that he would lead his own patrol to speak to Crimsonstar the next morning. Ghostpaw had waited anxiously to hear his name called as one of the cats on the patrol, but Rowanstar had chosen Granitetail, Cedarspirit, and Pureheart to go with him.

Ghostpaw watched Forestclaw and Pebbletail walk over to moarn Barrenoak. Forestclaw licked Quickpelt behind the ears as Pebbletail put her tail over her mother's shoulders. Ghostpaw's uncle and aunt had always been closer to Quickpelt than their older brother, Rowanstar. Ghostpaw wondered why that was.

"It doesn't surprise me that Barrenoak passed away," a voice meowed beside Ghostpaw.

Ghostpaw spun his head to look at Silvermoon. The silver and white tom didn't speak often. The only time Ghostpaw ever really heard Silvermoon say anything was while he was training Ashpaw.

"Barrenoak was looking more fragile every day," Silvermoon continued. "Maggotstripe tried to cure his cough, but I don't think Barrenoak wanted to be cured."

Ghostpaw looked back at the brown and dark brown body of his great-grandfather.

"Have you seen Ashpaw?" Silvermoon asked.

"Uh..." Ghostpaw said, trying to think. "The last time I saw her was this morning, when Rowanstar announced that Barrenoak died."

Silvermoon shook his head. "Cottonpaw hasn't seen her, either. I asked him before he went out to hunt with Oakpelt."

Suspicion creeped into Ghostpaw's mind. Where had his sister gone?

"I'll tell her you're looking for her when I see her," Ghostpaw replied.

"Thank you," Silvermoon said. The tom stood up and walked over to where his mother, Twigleaf, was sitting. He sat down beside the grumpy old she-cat and touched her cheek with his nose in a comforting gesture.

Turning away, Ghostpaw went in search of his sister. He started at the den, where he picked up her trail from her nest. As he followed the scent of his sister, Ghostpaw tried to act as natural as possible. He didn't want anybody to think he was doing something wrong.

The trail led over toward the Highledge, where he thought it would. The first thing Ashpaw had done this morning was come out to listen to Rowanstar's announcement that Barrenoak had died. Ghostpaw realized that her trail led out of camp now. With a sigh, Ghostpaw left the camp through the tunnel entrance. Out here, it was harder to find Ashpaw's scent because it was mingled with the scents of the cats who had left camp this morning. He found Oakpelt's and Cottonpaw's scents heading to the left. Rowanstar's scent, along with Granitetail's scent, Cedarspirit's scent, and Pureheart's scent, led off to the right. There were a few others from the cats who had gone on the dawn patrol and on a hunting patrol.

"Come on, Ashpaw," Ghostpaw grumbled. "Where are you?"

He paused suddenly when he realized that he could smell a hint of Ashpaw's scent in the trail that led to the right...toward ShadowClan's territory. His eyes widened as he wondered whether Ashpaw had followed Rowanstar's patrol to ShadowClan's border. Would she really have done something so mouse-brained? Ghostpaw shook his head. This was Ashpaw he was talking about! Of course she would do something like that!

With a snort, Ghostpaw trotted off into the forest. As he walked, he tried to concentrate on Ashpaw. All morning, he'd been thinking about the vision he'd had earlier where he'd watched Barrenoak die as it happened. Perhaps, if he tried hard enough, he could see what Ashpaw was up to right now.

The forest around him changed. Ghostpaw paused to watch. He could see Ashpaw sneaking through the underbrush toward a group of cats sitting at the border. It wasn't hard to hear what the cats were saying.

"Crimsonstar, we can't just stand by and watch your Clan starve to death," Rowanstar was saying.

"Yes, you can," Crimsonstar spat back. "The war against DarkClan is over, Rowanstar. We are no longer allies. ShadowClan can take care of itself!"

Ghostpaw was amazed that Rowanstar's fur was still lying flat as he spoke. "How many have died so far, Crimsonstar? Have you lost any of your cats yet?"

"That's none of your business!" Crimsonstar said with a scowl.

"But it is StarClan's business," Rowanstar replied calmly. "You know that the medicine cats met at the Moonpool last night. Maggotstripe told me this morning that StarClan has forseen the end of ShadowClan if you don't admit that you need help and allow us to help you. I know that Cracklefur and Shadowheart received the same message."

The vision faltered and then changed. He could see Ashpaw getting too close to the talking cats. A twig cracked loudly under one of her paws. With a feeling of dread, Ghostpaw watched Crimsonstar's reaction.

"What was that?" Crimsonstar hissed. Her dark blue eyes searched ThunderClan's forest before she turned to Rowanstar. "You've tricked us! ShadowClan, retreat!"

The ShadowClan cats all disappeared into their territory.

Rowanstar hissed angrily. "Who's out there? Show yourself!"

Ashpaw came forward with wide, anxious eyes.

"Ashpaw!" Rowanstar spat. "What are you doing?"

Ghostpaw shook his head and forced the vision away. He needed to get to Ashpaw before she completely messed up Rowanstar's meeting with Crimsonstar. Ghostpaw sprinted into the forest toward where he'd last seen his sister in his vision. It didn't take him long to find her hiding behind a tree.

"Ashpaw!" Ghostpaw whispered.

The she-cat jumped and turned. "Ghostpaw? Go away! I'm trying to listen to the conversation between Rowanstar and Crimsonstar."

"You're going to do more than listen. I just saw you mess up the whole meeting between them by getting too close," Ghostpaw hissed. "Let's go back to camp. Silvermoon is looking for you."

Ashpaw sighed with defeat. "Fine!"

Ghostpaw gave a sigh of relief. Ashpaw followed him quickly away from the border and back toward camp.

"What were you thinking, anyway?" Ghostpaw demanded.

Ashpaw shrugged. "I just wanted to know what they were saying. Did you really see me mess up the meeting?"

"Yes," Ghostpaw replied. "But I also saw what was going on as it was happening. I was able to focus on you and see what you were doing at that exact moment. But then I realized that my vision switched to one of the future, and I knew I had to get you out of there."

"Wait, you saw what was happening while it happened?" Ashpaw sounded ecstatic. "That's amazing, Ghostpaw!"

"If you say so," Ghostpaw grumbled.

Ashpaw was silent for barely a heartbeat. "Do you think you can see into the past, too?"

"What? Where did that come from?" Ghostpaw asked.

"Well, if you can see the present and the future, shouldn't you be able to see the past, too?" Ashpaw said.

Ghostpaw thought about it. The way Ashpaw put it, it made sense.

"I guess I could try," Ghostpaw replied. "But..."

"Silvermoon probably just wants me to clean out the dens," Ashpaw muttered, replying to Ghostpaw's unspoken request that she go find Silvermoon.

"I wish you..." Ghostpaw said.

"...would stop reading your mind. Sometimes it's too hard to shut off," Ashpaw replied. "I'll go find Silvermoon now. You try and see something that happened in the past, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ghostpaw grumbled.

Ghostpaw decided he didn't want to be anywhere near camp when he tried to look into the past. He wasn't even sure if it would work, but Ashpaw seemed to think he could do it. Padding through the forest, Ghostpaw tried to think of a time in the past that he would want to see. There was only one event that he could think of that he'd always wanted to witness...

The fight between his father and Sly, the leader of the evil DarkClan.

Once Ghostpaw was far enough away from camp, he curled up between the roots of a tree. He slowly closed his eyes and put his head down on his paws. All he could see was the darkness from having his eyes closed. He took a deep breath and began to think about the war against DarkClan...the final fight to rid the lake of them forever...the epic battle between his father and DarkClan's leader, Sly...

The darkness began to disappear. It was replaced by flashes of cats fighting...the yowls of cats fighting...screams of pain...hisses of anger...

Ghostpaw gasped and opened his eyes, but he did not see the forest. Instead, his sight showed him the island where the Clans met every full moon for a Gathering. The moon shined down on a dreadful scene of fighting cats. However, only one of the fights in the clearing drew him closer...

His viewpoint changed. Ghostpaw was now focused on two cats standing beside each other; one was a sleek, black tom and the other was a ginger tom. He realized with a gasp that the two cats were Duskstar, the leader of LightClan, and his own father, Rowanstar.

Duskstar's mistmatched eyes were intently watching a black tom with orange eyes who was fighting a pure white tom with yellow eyes.

"Rowanwind, he only has two lives left," Dusktar said.

It was so strange to hear Rowanstar being called by his warrior name.

"Rowanwind," Duskstar went on. "He's going to sacrifice himself."

A look full of pain crossed Rowanwind's face. Ghostpaw wondered why his father wasn't speaking at all.

"I should have seen this coming," Dusklight said.

Rowanwind was still watching the black tom fighting the white tom.

Ghostpaw finally turned his attention to the two fighting cats. From the stories he'd been told as a kit, he knew that the black tom with the orange eyes was Sly. Ghostpaw knew in an instant that his imagination hadn't done Sly justice. The tom was far more scary than anything Ghostpaw's mind could have conjured. The leader of DarkClan was panting so heavily that his sides heaved in and out. One of his his ears was shredded and there were whiskers missing from his face. Ghostpaw spotted a deep gash in his shoulder that continually leaked blood into his fur. A second, less deep cut was on the tom's left flank.

The white tom, who Ghostpaw knew to be Ghostlight, the cat he'd been named after, looked battered and close to death. His white fur was splattered with his blood. One of his ears was nearly torn from his head. Blood oozed down the side of his face.

Ghostpaw held his breath as Sly reared up onto his hind paws and slammed himself onto Ghostlight. The claws of Sly's right front paw left three gashes down Ghostlight's back that began to bleed. The breath that Ghostpaw had been holding rushed out as he watched Ghostlight begin to thrash around. Limping on his hurt left front leg, Sly walked around Ghostlight.

"What's going on?" Rowanwind finally spoke. Ghostpaw turned to stare at the younger version of his father. At first, he had thought he was hearing himself speak, but it took Ghostpaw only moments to realize that he was listening to his father. He'd never thought that their voices were so familiar.

"Ghostlight has lost too much blood," Duskstar was saying. "He's dying again."

Ghostpaw watched in amazement as Rowanwind's muscles bunched, like he was going to spring forward to Ghostlight's rescue.

It was then that Ghostpaw heard Ghostlight speak.

"Tu nut muvo!" Ghostlight gasped.

Ghostpaw understood the strange words as, "Do not move!"

Rowanwind froze in the next second. Ghostpaw watched his father tug at his paws, but it looked as if his father's paws wouldn't allow him to move. He cringed as Rowanwind screamed in obvious annoyance.

Ghostpaw gave a yelp as he heard Ghostlight's voice in his head.

As you know your destiny, Rowanwind, I know mine. It is my time to leave this world. It is supposed to happen this way.

"No!" Duskstar screamed, his voice full of suffering.

Ghostlight stood, though his legs shook, and faced Sly.

"Your time has come," Sly said with a hiss. "Are you scared, light-demon, of your death?"

"No. You have no power over me, Sly. You've never had any power over me. I welcome my destiny!" Ghostlight replied.

As should you, Ghostpaw.

Ghostpaw felt his entire body freeze with shock. He knew that it had been Ghostlight's voice in his mind just now, but how could the tom possibly be speaking to him? He was seeing a vision of the past! He had no time to think over it any more, because Sly was jumping at Ghostlight.

Ghostlight rolled over onto his back and slashed at Sly's stomach. As Ghostlight's claws connected with flesh, Sly stopped laughing. Blood splattered over Ghostlight from the wound in Sly's stomach. Ghostpaw's eyes widened as Sly landed heavily on his paws before rearing up with a scream. More blood came splashing from his stomach wound. Ghostlight was ripped open as Sly's claws slashed down.

"NO!" Ghostpaw screamed along with Duskstar.

Sly began to creep away from Ghostlight's body. "He's dead! He's finally dead!"

Ghostpaw willed himself closer as Duskstar rushed to his brother's side.

"Ghostlight, no!" Duskstar whispered. "Please! I can't lose you!"

Ghostpaw's eyes filled with tears as Ghostlight's eyes fluttered. He heard Ghostlight's final words...

"I will watch over you. Fuhovoh, bhuthoh."

Ghostpaw knew the foreign words meant, "Forever, brother."

Duskstar's shoulders shook with his sobs as Ghostlight's eyes closed.

The vision began to falter, but Ghostpaw reacted angrily. He wasn't ready to stop watching! Despite the emotional pain it would cause him, he had to watch his father defeat Sly!

His sight refocused just as Rowanwind spun away from the two brothers to look at Sly. DarkClan's leader was still walking around, laughing. A trail of blood glistened behind the tom, who was whispering, "Dead! He's dead! I killed him! No cat can defeat me!"

"Want to bet?" Rowanwind snarled in response.

Sly stopped and turned to Rowanwind. Those creepy, orange eyes were suddenly glittering with anticipation. "Has it finally come? Are you here to destroy me, foolish light-demon?"

Rowanwind's yellow eyes turned to slits as he glared at Sly. "Your time as leader of DarkClan is over, Sly. I'm here to make sure that you will never kill another cat again."

A chuckle escaped between Sly's lips. "Then let's get on with it, light-demon. You think you're here to kill me? I cannot die!"

"We'll see about that," Rowanwind said with a growl.

Ghostpaw watched, his heart thundering in his chest, as his father and Sly circled each other. Their eyes were locked, orange to yellow.

Sly gave a shout and charged at Rowanwind, who dodged out of the way and slashed at Sly's ear that wasn't already torn. Blood oozed out as Rowanwind's claws connected with flesh. Sly gave another shout and slammed Rowanwind to the ground, but Rowanwind kicked out with his hind legs and sent Sly flying through the air. Ghostpaw gave a cry of triumph as Sly landed heavily on his badly wounded left side, which caused him to cry out.

Rowanwind ran over and slashed at Sly's right shoulder. Blood began to flow out and soak into the fur on Sly's right shoulder. Sly panted as he struggled to his paws.

"Die!" Sly screamed as he clawed at Rowanwind. His paw hit Rowanwind's left shoulder.

Ghostpaw's eyes followed Rowanwind as he rolled away. His father got back onto his paws and once more began to circle around Sly. Blood flew through the air as Sly shook his right leg.

"You won't win!" Sly said with a hiss.

Rowanwind reared up and slammed his paws into Sly's side. Sly was too weak to keep his paws, and he went down.

"I think otherwise, Sly!" Rowanwind hissed into Sly's ear before biting into the back of the black tom's neck. Ghostpaw cringed.

One of Sly's paws came up and slapped one of Rowanwind's ears. Ghostpaw clenched his jaw as Rowanwind stumbled away, shaking his head.

Sly jumped and landed in front of Rowanwind. Ghostpaw could see in the way that Sly quivered that he was losing strength. Rowanwind's claws came out moments before he slammed his paw against Sly's head. Sly fell to his side. His sides were heaving as his breath came in short pants.

"Can you feel the life slipping from your body?" Rowanwind asked. "Can you feel your strength ebbing away? Feel that? That's what happened to every cat you killed that I cared about!"

Rowanwind pressed unsheathed claws into Sly's left shoulder, making the black tom cry out. Ghostpaw's mouth fell open as Sly looked up at Rowanwind, orange eyes glittering with tears, and pleaded, "Please, have mercy! Have mercy!"

Ghostpaw felt like he couldn't breathe as Rowanwind put his other paw on Sly's neck, his claws sinking through the fur and into the skin.

"You don't deserve mercy, after everything you've done!" Rowanwind whispered to Sly.

The tears soaked into the fur on Ghostpaw's cheeks as Rowanwind slashed open Sly's back. "That's for my mentor, Ashfang!" Rowanwind ripped the gash on Sly's shoulder wider. "That's for my cousin, Cottonbrave!" Ghostpaw choked out a sob at the name of the cat his brother had been named after. Rowanwind went on tearing into Sly's body, shouting the entire time. "And that's for Quickleaf, and Meadowlark, and Icefur, and Reedclaw, and Webpelt, and Crookedfern!" Rowanwind clawed apart one of Sly's ears as he shouted, "And that's for my leader, Clawstar!" Ghostpaw desperately wanted to tear his eyes away, but he couldn't. "And this, this is for every other cat that you hurt or killed!" Ghostpaw couldn't pull his eyes away as Rowanwind's claws came down on Sly's throat, ripping it open.

A gurgle escaped from Sly's mouth. Ghostpaw squeezed his eyes shut as Sly said, "I should have left...when Decayingflesh...told me to..."

Ghostpaw's eyes reopened to see the bright forest of his home, but his ears still heard Sly's final gasp for air. The sight of Rowanwind standing over Sly's bloody, torn body was burned into his mind. He allowed the darkness of unconsciousness to sweep over him. The forest disappeared and was replaced by cool, sweet nothingness...


Author's Notes: This chapter was a little difficult to write, even though most of it was rewritten from scenes I'd already done. I felt really sorry for doing this to Ghostpaw, but he is gradually becoming more and more mature as he begins to accept that he is special. This was just another step toward his new maturity. Reviews would be great!


End of Chapter Ten