Chapter Thirteen

Skyflight closed his eyes, trying his hardest to fall asleep. He could feel Robinpaw breathing next to him, and his steady heartbeat. It reminded him of when he used to curl up with his brother and take naps, when they were very young. He began to relax, and drifted off into a slumber. No dreams came for quite some time, and it worried him. But before his anxiety could awaken him, a jet black cat appeared in front of him, eyes glowing. It was Hollyleaf, looking much younger and healthier. He bounded towards her, desperate for some sign.

"I've come very far," she meowed. "It takes longer to find you the further you go from the territories. Soon, StarClan will not be able to watch you."

Skyflight was horrified. "What do you mean? StarClan always watches us!"

"You've gone too far. This is the last time StarClan will speak to ThunderClan, forever." Hollyleaf sounded very solemn. Her face held a grave expression, and she gazed at him through sorrowful eyes.

This came as a shock to Skyflight. He shook his head, fur bristling. "You can't do that! StarClan cannot forsaken us, we need you."

"StarClan is weak." This voice did not come from Hollyleaf.

A calico stepped from the shadows, his eyes blazing wildly. "StarClan couldn't help you even if they could still follow you."

"Who are you?" gasped Skyflight. He took a step back, frightened.

"Sol!" Hollyleaf spat angrily. "Get out of here!"

"You head further and further into the lands watched by the dark ones. Can't you see? The stars are fading," Sol meowed smoothly. He looked up at the sky.

Skyflight followed his gaze and noticed that the stars were indeed fading. He could hardly see them through the thick tangles of tree branches, and even through the gaps it was clear that the stars were slowly loosing their light. Or at least, they didn't shine as brightly as they had over the Clan territories. He looked down, sick to his stomach. What was going on?

Hollyleaf's hiss echoed all around the dark forest. "Don't listen to him, Skyflight, he's trying to deceive you!"

"You know as well as I do that that's not true, Hollyleaf," Sol murmured. His voice was still steady and calm. "This forest is watched by the No Stars."

"You mean," Skyflight paused in realization, "The Place of No Stars is right over us?"

Sol nodded.

Hollyleaf's lip curled and she snarled again. "Stop it, Sol!"

"What are we going to do?" wailed Skyflight. "Our ancestors can't follow us here, and the only cats who can watch over us are evil!"

Sol shrugged apathetically. "StarClan can't do anything for you anyway."

Hollyleaf dropped into a crouch. "I'll show you what StarClan can do, you fleabitten rogue! Your powers are of no use to you here."

"Neither are yours," Sol informed her.

Skyflight dug his claws into the ground. "There has to be something you can do. StarClan can't abandon us, especially not in this time. Cats are going crazy from the pressure. You should have seen what Sunleaf did to her own kit – it was horrible!" He looked down at his paws. "Please, at least give me a prophecy or something."

"StarClan warned you of this a long time ago," Hollyleaf meowed. "They sent you dreams. You have to wait for the fire that will save your Clan."

"What – do you mean Firestar?" Skyflight had a look of unparalleled confusion. Firestar couldn't save them; the legendary cat had been dead for seasons.

Hollyleaf murmured, "Jayfeather sent you a prophecy, am I correct?"

Sol snorted, and opened his mouth to say something. Hollyleaf quickly cut him off before he could.

"Water will become the fire, flames will rise from ashes, and blood will cover the ground. That's what he told you. Skyflight, Jayfeather was lying to you."

Skyflight's jaw dropped agape. "He was lying?"

Hollyleaf nodded reluctantly. "Until recently, StarClan had known nothing about ThunderClan's fate aside from the fact that a time of darkness was coming. But we have a prophecy now."

"No, that can't be. Water will become the fire... Wasn't that RiverClan teaming up with Flamestar? They combined their Clan, that had to have been it. Flames will rise from ashes... I can't say I'm too sure about that, though. And blood has covered the ground, so much blood!" Skyflight was utterly distraught. StarClan couldn't have lied to him.

Hollyleaf narrowed her eyes. "I suppose it could be interpreted that way, but I can assure you that Jayfeather would have to have..."

Her eyes shot open. "He didn't!"

"He did," Sol meowed darkly.

"He's not supposed to meddle with things like that," she spat. "They warned him time and time again. He's got to stop going where he isn't welcome!"

Skyflight looked at Sol, and then back at Hollyleaf. "What did Jayfeather do?" he asked.

"It's none of your business," snapped Hollyleaf. Skyflight was taken aback by her tone. She realized this, and her fur relaxed. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't. What I can tell you is that there will be a cat who will either save or destroy ThunderClan."

"What do you mean by save or destroy?" Skyflight's fur bristled. "We don't need to be destroyed, we need to be saved!"

"The cat will make their own choice. We cannot manipulate their decision," Hollyleaf answered.

Sol snorted yet again. "Yes, we can. We just won't."

She glared at him angrily. "As I said, we cannot manipulate their decision, but I will see what I can do. Goodbye, now, Skyflight."

"Goodbye? But after this I can never speak to you again!" choked Skyflight. "Isn't there anything else you can say? Can't you give us some advice?"

Hollyleaf shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Skyflight. I can't stay any longer. The only advice I can give you is stay true to the warrior code, and don't forget us."

Once more, Sol let out a snort of disgust. Neither of them said anymore, however, and they faded into the darkness. As soon as they were gone, Skyflight could see glowing eyes staring at him from all corners of the forest. He felt a shiver go down his spine, and shut his eyes tight. When he opened them, he found himself back in the real world, still curled next to Robinpaw. Lightningstar was standing over him, eyes narrowed.

"It's time to start moving again," the leader meowed. "Help Oakpelt and I wake the others."

Skyflight didn't respond. His face was solemn, and he stared blankly.

"Is something wrong?" questioned Lightningstar.

"StarClan has left us." Skyflight's meow was monotonous.

Lightningstar's eyes widened. "What do you mean they left us?"

"They've forsaken us. I spoke to them in a dream."

The white-tailed she-cat let out a hiss of anger and frustration. "What have we done to deserve this? We need our warrior ancestors now more than ever, and they leave us? Curse them, then. Curse all of them!" And with that she rounded and went to wake up more cats.

Robinpaw was jolted awake by Lightningstar's harsh meow. As he opened his eyes, Skyflight could see that he was still exhausted.

"How are you feeling?" Skyflight meowed softly. He strained to hear the apprentice's raspy reply.

"Sad." Robinpaw turned away from the medicine cat, and looked in the direction of Sunleaf. "Have you talked to mama yet?"

"No, but I will," promised Skyflight. "Just let me wake a few more cats up. We're going to be going again, soon."

Robinpaw blinked. "But I'm so tired. I want to sleep some more, please!"

"I'm sorry, Robinpaw. If it was up to me, I'd let you sleep, but Lightningstar wants us to get going," Skyflight meowed.

The apprentice turned away with a sigh. Skyflight took one last look at him before he pushed himself to his paws and went to go wake the nearest cat. It was Sloeberry, sleeping softly and soundly. Skyflight nudged him a little bit, meowing his name. The warrior woke up, letting out a bothered hiss.

"Sorry, Sloeberry. Lightningstar wants us to start moving again, soon," apologized Skyflight. "Could you help wake the others?"

"No problem," rumbled Sloeberry. "I wasn't having that great of a dream anyway."

"How could one have a good dream in this situation?" Skyflight shrugged. "You're lucky to have dreamed at all, really."

He proceeded to walk over to Daisypaw, a mottled brown calico. She was one of Brindlefur and Thistlestripe's four kits, and was generally well-behaved and calm. Next to her slept her younger brother, Wrenpaw, a red and white tabby tom. Skyflight almost didn't want to wake them, for they looked so peaceful, but he knew that the Clan would have to find a suitable camp by nightfall if they all wanted to survive.

"Daisypaw, Wrenpaw," Skyflight meowed, "It's time to get up!"

Daisypaw opened her cool blue eyes slowly. She murmured something that Skyflight couldn't understand, and then closed them again.

"Daisypaw!" Skyflight meowed much louder this time.

The calico apprentice was startled awake, and jumped to her paws. Her fur bristled with fright. She relaxed as soon as she saw the medicine cat looking at her through amused green eyes. "Oh, sorry, Skyflight," she apologized. "I thought we were under attack or something."

Wrenpaw let out a squeak and stretched. "Where is the sky?" he asked suddenly.

Skyflight looked upwards. Sure enough, the sky was obscured by tangles of branches, just as it had been in his dream. His fur bristled, and he looked back down at Wrenpaw.

"Oh, it's still there, I'm sure," Skyflight meowed. "We just can't see it, that's all."

This seemed to reassure Wrenpaw, who bounded off to go wake his other two siblings. Suddenly, Redfrost came bounding into the grassy area, a look of complete relief on his face. "I've found the perfect camp! It's just beyond those trees, and it's got everything we need. There's a stream for water, and old burrows to make nests in." The red-brown tabby warrior seemed extremely pleased with himself.

Lightningstar rushed up to him. "That's perfect, Redfrost. Everyone, come on! There's a possible new camp just beyond."

Yowls of excitement came from all around. Echoheart was especially proud of her kit, and gave him a lick on the shoulder. Nettlefang seemed somewhat bothered by this. Skyflight knew it was because Echoheart had always favored Redfrost more than Nettlefang. The tortoiseshell warrior had done all she could to gain the favor of her mother, including becoming ThunderClan's most skilled hunter. All of it seemed to be in vain, however, as at the end of the day, Redfrost was still Echoheart's favorite offspring.

"Let's get going, then," Lightningstar commanded. "Maybe StarClan hasn't quite forsaken us..."

--

Blaze slept peacefully. Never a bad dream did he have ever since he joined the Gang. No, there actually had been a few at first. When he had arrived, reoccurring dreams of Redpaw's death had played over in his mind. But aside from that, his dreams had been fairly blissful. He was in an open field, chasing insects and rolling around. He pushed his nose through some tall grass and came face to face with a jet black cat. Startled, he jumped backwards.

"Who are you?" he stammered awkwardly.

"You don't recognize me then, Nettlepaw?" the black cat meowed. "What a shame."

Upon hearing the name Nettlepaw, Blaze cringed. "That's not my name. I am Blaze, and I belong to the Gang that lives in the copse."

"Mousedung!" spat the cat. "I know who you really are. My name is Hollyleaf, do you remember now?"

Blaze's green eyes widened with realization. "Hollyleaf! You look so different – so much younger."

"I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment." She tilted her head and twitched her whiskers.

"Fancy dreaming of you, Hollyleaf," meowed Blaze in amusement. "I've dreamed of the others a lot, but never of you!"

Hollyleaf blinked. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying I'm nothing more than a dream?"

"Of course. What else would you be?"

Without warning, a black fog swirled around Hollyleaf, and her eyes glowed. She let out a shriek of horror as the darkness began to swallow her. Blaze was disturbed by this. Was he having another nightmare, after such a length of peace? A voice echoed loudly in his thoughts. It sounded like his own meow, only distorted and warped.

'Go back to ThunderClan,' said the voice. 'Darkness and blood are washing away even the brightest of stars. They cannot save themselves.'

Blaze woke himself up immediately and looked around. Much to his relief, he was back in his den. There were no ghosts or creepy voices to plague him now. Why did the voice in his dream tell him to go back to ThunderClan? He had no desire to see them again... Well, maybe deep down inside, but should he really act on it? What would Marco say? He couldn't go on any long journey and leave his friends behind.

Something was burning down in his chest. His mind continued to pressure him to go back to ThunderClan. He stretched and walked out of the den, looking around. It was nearly dawn, and when the dawn came he could talk to the other members of the Gang about going off to see ThunderClan. If he didn't, his mind would never stop plaguing him with the idea.

But wait. Lightningstar said that if he ever set paw on ThunderClan territory again, he'd be killed. There was no possible way he could go back. Or maybe she'd forgotten. Maybe they'd all forgotten about him. It was a chance he'd have to take.

He spied Marco out of the corner of his eye, and padded up to him. "Marco," he meowed. "I have something I need to tell you."

"Ah, good morning my favorite fighter," Marco purred. "What is it? Is something wrong? You look a little distraught."

"I need to visit some cats from my past. ThunderClan cats, that is. I may have to go away for a long time," Blaze informed him. "It may be a long and lonely journey, but if I don't go, I'll never stop thinking about it."

Marco didn't respond for a few moments, simply staring at Blaze. "Why would it be a long and lonely journey?" he meowed after his pause. "I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"In fact, we'll all come with you. I'm sure everyone would like the chance to learn about those Clan cats you used to be with. It'll be entertaining, I'm sure. I'll go organize everyone, and we can be on our way in no time!"

This wasn't what Blaze was expecting, but there was no reason to object. Traveling in a group would certainly be safer than traveling by himself. He nodded at Marco, and flicked his ears. "That sounds good, Marco," he meowed. "But I'm worried about Jett coming along, and Fleck, too. They're both carrying kits, and it might be a rough journey for them."

"Those two? They're tough, they'll make it," shrugged the brown tabby.

Blaze didn't think it was a good idea to bring them along at all. Fleck could give birth any day, and he certainly didn't want Jett to loose any of her kits. But Marco was the leader, and he'd decide what to do and what not to do. If he wanted to bring the two she-cats along, there was nothing he could do to stop them. He could only hope that nothing bad would happen to either of them. Marco's decisions were often rash and reckless, and caused concern in the Gang. So far, though, nothing terribly bad had come of them, though there had been some close calls.

A few moons back, Jonas had put Marco in temporary charge when a wave of sickness struck him and several others, rendering them useless for a while. There weren't enough cats out hunting for food, so Marco had come up with the idea to steal it from a local Twoleg. The result was all of them nearly being turned into dog chow, and a cat named Tsuki being carted off to the pound. They did manage to get the food, however, and feasted well on fresh meat and kibble for days to come.

"If you insist," sighed Blaze.

"Right, I'll go fetch them now and tell them what we're doing."

Marco rushed off to do so, leaving Blaze alone in the center of the camp. Blaze was left to wonder if he was doing the right think or not. If any cat died during the journey, he'd never forgive himself.