Hello! Sorry I haven't updated this one in a while...I was busy working on my other story, Through the Fire and the Flames. Anywho, hope you like this chapter!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It made me happy reading what you had to say!


Chapter Eighteen

Spottedpaw was back in Fourtrees, the full moon shining brightly, surrounded by countless glittering stars, the four great oaks rustling quietly. A huge wave of relief caught in her throat, and she let out a huge sigh. Only now did she fully realize how afraid she'd been that StarClan had forgotten her and abandoned the Clans to their fate. She'd almost began to think it was hopeless.

She sat down and curled her tail around her paws, waiting for StarClan to appear as they always did. They could take as long as they wanted, now that they were talking to her again.

Sure enough, a cat soon pushed its way out of the ferns and bracken that ringed the clearing. But it wasn't the cat Spottedpaw was expecting.

"Tawnykit?" Spottedpaw gasped, surprised and delighted.

With a squeak of joy, Tawnykit hurled herself on her sister, fur bristling with excitement. Spottedpaw let herself be bowled over, batting at Tawnykit's downy fur with gentle paws until Tawnykit rolled off her onto the ground.

The cream-colored kit scrambled to her paws quickly and stood. "StarClan is letting me talk to you!" she boasted, puffing out her chest.

Spottedpaw stifled a purr. "What's the message this time?"

Tawnykit sat down hard, suddenly all business, staring up at her sister with wide, serious amber eyes. Spottedpaw couldn't suppress a shiver at the sudden change from playful, mischievous kit to wise member of StarClan.

"The time is running out," Tawnykit meowed, her high-pitched kit's voice suddenly old and wise and heavy with countless secrets. "More and more cats, young and old, come here ahead of their time, and more will after them…including two who matter most, though not all who are will join them if you can defeat the bane of the forest."

"I won't let anyone else die!" Spottedpaw meowed fiercely, fresh pain at the death of poor Rosethorn slicing her open like a new wound.

Tawnykit stared at her, eyes sad and hopeful at the same time. "It is already too late for some," she whispered sorrowfully. "They will join us no matter what you do. But there are still some who might still be saved," she added, "if you can defeat the bane of the forest."

"I will," Spottedpaw promised, ignoring her sister's first words, about those who mattered most to her dying no matter what. It's never too late! The future isn't set in stone! she thought fiercely. "Um…what is the bane of the forest?" she added, doubting they would tell her but still thinking it was worth a shot.

Tawnykit just looked at her.

"Right," Spottedpaw muttered. "Guess you can't tell me that. True freedom and everything."

Tawnykit sighed, her face crestfallen. "I would if I could," she meowed.

Spottedpaw instantly felt sorry for making Tawnykit feel bad, the guilt overcoming her irritation. "Oh, it's okay," she purred, licking the top of Tawnykit's head. "It's not your fault."

Tawnykit beamed at her. "Thanks. I've missed you!" she added, rubbing her head against Spottedpaw's forelegs.

Spottedpaw swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in her throat. "I've missed you too," she meowed, nuzzling the tiny body.

Tawnykit purred happily and leaped on her again. They tussled for a few minutes on the ground, Spottedpaw feeling the weight of the prophecy vanish, until Tawnykit sighed and sat.

"It's time for you to go now," she meowed, sniffing sadly. Spottedpaw stood and shook her ruffled fur back into place, her worries, Tawnykit's warning and the prophecy's burden settling back onto her shoulders.

"It's okay," Spottedpaw comforted the little kit. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Tawnykit replied. "I'll visit you lots more!"

Fourtrees and Tawnykit faded quickly away, Spottedpaw blinking open her eyes in her nest by the fern tunnel just as the cats that had left returned from the Gathering, Crowflight among the first, bounding forward and purring loudly as he saw her. Spottedpaw felt a thrill of terror turn her veins to ice. Please, please don't let him die! She begged silently, Tawnykit's ominous words echoing in her head.

More and more cats, young and old, come here ahead of their time, and more will after them…including two who matter most… two who matter most…matter most...

Not Crowflight!

Ooh! Cliffie! Will Crowflight die???

Review, please! Tell me what you think!

I'll try to update soon!