"Grayflight, you have to find a way to get your nine lives." Bramblepatch told him.
"I know, Bramblepatch." The deputy responded. "Not like we took the Moonpool with us."
"I wonder what Wolfsoul would tell you if he were here now." Stonepool muttered.
"Well he's not here!" Bramblepatch hissed. "The forest is gone too!"
Before Stonepool could argue, Grayflight interrupted. "Enough, both of you!"
They fell into silence as they trekked through the remaining sunlight. News of Wolfsoul's true kin had gotten through the clan and now Stealthclan was having problems staying together socially. They were travelling with Heartclan, Pondclan and Littleclan, looking for a new home.
Soon the four clans stopped and lay down to sleep for the night. Grayflight closed his eyes, hoping for a good night's sleep.
*X*
"Welcome, Grayflight." A voice meowed.
The gray tom opened his eyes and got to his paws. He was in Starclan!
"Hello, Bluestar." He dipped his head to the former Thunderclan leader.
"You probably know why you are here." Bluestar told him. "It is time for you to become the successor of Brightstar."
He dipped his head. "I am ready, Bluestar."
"Very well then." Bluestar sounded satisfied. She flicked her blue-gray tail towards a rock. "That is the Moonstone, where we would get our nine lives in the first forest. Walk over to it and press your nose to it."
He walked over to the strange stone and crouched down, pressing his nose to the cold surface of it.
It plunged him into another dream…
*X*
Grayflight opened his eyes again to see a flame-colored tom with green eyes.
"I am Firestar, leader of Thunderclan after Bluestar." The cat introduced himself. "In your second life, I give you courage." The tom touched his nose to the deputy's.
Suddenly everything around him faded away and he saw cats fighting badgers, bleeding horribly and not giving up.
Gasping as the vision faded, he now saw another cat before him.
"I am Brindleface." The she-cat meowed gently. "I was once a queen in Thunderclan before it perished. Now, I give you your third life, a life of love."
This vision showed two cats, one a queen and the other a warrior, standing over kits and meowing affectionate, unheard words. The vision faded and now a light gray she-cat stood before him.
"I, Cinderpelt, former medicine cat of Thunderclan grant you the life of friendship." The she-cat purred.
The vision that came this time was of a gray tomcat with yellow eyes and his friend, a orange flame colored cat with green eyes helping a scared-looking black tom. They were taking him to a barn past the former Windclan territory, where a black and white tom awaited them.
"I am Mudclaw, former Windclan cat and I grant you the life of fierceness in battle."
Cats were fighting fiercely, against each other. Bodies littered the ground and blood splattered Grayflight's eyesight. He blinked it away, only to hear the yowls and screeching grow louder and find more blood everywhere, even covering his paws. It rose up into a lake of blood rising over his head.
When the vision faded, his jaw was gaping open and he was heaving heavy breaths. He forced himself to sheath his claws again.
This went on until they had gone through all of the lives. Each vision different from the last. Long before the last one came, Grayflight wanted to wake up back with the four clans, to eat or start travelling again. But, at last the visions ended.
Now he stood before all of the cats who had given him his lives. Brightstar was there. She was in the middle.
The former leader of Stealthclan began to conclude the long ceremony. "I hail you by your new name, Graystar. Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of StealthClan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity."
"Graystar! Graystar!" All of the nine cats chanted.
Graystar dipped his head and once again, he was plunged into blackness, but this time for the rest of the night.