Edward arrived home to confusion.

Battle-worn cats laid, sat, or stood in various spots around the clearing, licking bleeding wounds or resting their weary heads on whatever happened to be next to them. A group of kits stood wide-eyed behind Cinderpelt as she patched up a deep wound in Cloudtail's shoulder.

As Edward sprinted through the gorse tunnel all eyes turned toward him. Aware that he had little to do in the fight he had made sure to drag himself through a couple of thorn bushes on the way back. Not that he could really see it any; it blended in really well with his fur. Still, it helped him to limp into camp realistically.

"Edward!" shouted Cloudtail, bounding over. "Where were you? What happened?" Cloudtail's eyes roamed Edward's body, checking for serious injuries.

"I got held up," he panted, looking around. "Have you seen Alphonse around? I really need to talk to him."

Cloudtail shook his head. "I haven't seen him." He noticed Edward's worried glance. "Don't worry, I'm sure he's around here somewhere. In the meantime, you should get those cuts checked at by Cinderpelt. Some of those cuts look deep."

Following Cloudtail's advice, Edward padded over to Cinderpelt, who was giving poppy seeds to Thornclaw. As he awaited, he continued to scan the clearing for Alphonse. But the grey-furred tom wasn't in sight.

He was getting worried. Alphonse should have returned to camp. Unless something had happened…

"Edward?" Cinderpelt meowed. Edward jumped from his thought and back into reality as he turned to Cinderpelt.

"Hey Cinderpelt." he murmured. She walked around him, checking out the various cuts on his body.

"Does anything hurt really bad?" she asked Edward shook his head. "Well, your cuts aren't bad, as they have already stopped bleeding. Come back to me if anything hurts." Edward nodded and padded away. His heart felt like it was going to burst. He was getting scared now. Where was Alphonse?

Firestar lay curled on a clump of grass at the edge of the clearing, eyes closed wearily. He thought of the battle he had just fought, and of all the came before. He sighed. He had never felt so useless in all his life. 'What would you have done, Bluestar.' he thought. 'What would have made a difference? Could you have saved Tallstar? Would you have stopped the fighting before it even started?'

"Firestar." He met Cinderpelt's eyes as he raised his head.

"Yes," he asked shifted slightly. 'I...I wanted to talk to you about the prophecy. The one I told you about before the Gathering...and the battle."

He sighed, nodding his head. Cinderpelt sat, clearing her throat.

"Firestar," she began slowly. "I've seen bad things coming. Really bad things." She paused.

"Do you remember the words?" prompted Firestar. Cinderpelt spoke.

"The fallen warrior who controls the Earth shall come to defend and protect. But the forest shall be lost if the clans don't accept. The Seven shall rise and the hero shall fall, and the blue Moonstone lost to all. A fullmetal heart and a clever mind can bring the peace, and hope you shall find." She shivered. "There was a snake eating its own tail, and a voice told me it was called an ouroboros, whatever that is."

Firestar shook his head in frustration. "This prophecy seems very complex. I don't know where to begin.: He paused, thinking. "It mentioned the Moonstone. Do you think something bad has happened to it?"

"I don't know, Firestar."

"Tomorrow, I want you to go to Highstones. I know it's not half-moon, but I'll send some warriors with you. We need to know if our connection with Starclan is still open." Cinderpelt nodded.

"One part of the prophecy is clear to me. The clans must accept something. But what?"

Firestar gazed up at her with wide eyes. "Maybe it's not something, Maybe it's someone…"

She stared. "Edward, Alphonse, and Mustang?" She paused. "It makes the most sense, with Mustang being a dog and the brothers' joining the clan only recently."

Firestar blinked. "Cinderpelt, when did you have this vision?" Cinderpelt closed her eyes in concentration, and slowly opened them in shock. "It was right after Edward and Longtail fought."

Firestar nodded. "There can be no doubt now. Edward is involved, somehow, in this mess. He may even be the cause of it." Firestar stood, and Cinderpelt followed suit. "We need to talk to him." He scanned the clearing with growing concern. "Where are Edward and Cloudtail?"

Cinderpelt spoke nervously. "They were just here; I bandaged up both of their wounds."

Firestar opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated as he picked up a faint sound. His head snapped toward the direction of the sound. "Did you hear that?" he whispered to Cinderpelt. No sooner had he spoken than a long, low yowl rippled through the camp, stamping out all conversation.

Firestar recognized the voice immediately.

"Cloudtail!" he shouted, sprinting through the gorse tunnel, his clan-mates on his tail.