AN: OH. MY. GOSH. Volleyball tryouts were terrible today! IT was my first day of school and then right after it was tryouts and I'm so worn out! Then to make it worse, all week we have to go to practice and on Friday they're making cuts. That would be fine if we didn't have to run the mile tomorrow then do sprints. –Ugh- Anyways, I'm trying to cool down now and so I decided to update this story. You guys are so lucky… hope you enjoy the chapter!

P.S. If I don't update this week, now you know why.

Moonlight streamed brightly into the clearing, glowing on top of the cats' pelts. Silver mixed with tabby and the sleeping warriors seemed to merge as one.

Lionstar glanced up into the starry night sky and sighed. It had been a while since the others had fallen asleep and yet he couldn't manage to get some rest. He'd been tossing and turning, not feeling even the slightest bit tired. Deciding to take his mind off his restlessness and the up coming battle, he focused his thoughts onto another topic.

"These apprentices will be warriors in a moon or two," he muttered to himself, staring thoughtfully at the young cats.

"Okay now let's think. What should we call Featherpaw? Hmm… Featherpelt, Featherspots, Featherleaf… no, those just don't sound right," he thought aloud.

"Maybe Featherpool?" but though it sounded pretty, it just didn't seem right for some reason. Staring determinedly at the ground, he struggled to think of the perfect name.

"Feathercloud!" he exclaimed, and let out a purr. That sounded perfect. "One down, four to go…"

Closing his eyes, he lay thoughtfully in his moss nest, thinking of the names of the warriors to be.

Lionstar opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The smell of freshkill was tinged in the air, but hunting was the last thing on the golden tom's mind. Curious, he looked around his surroundings, unsure of where he was. Carefully he padded through the undergrowth, trying hard to avoid sharp thorns and burrs. Suddenly the bushes rustled and he whirled around to see Jayfeather purring in amusement.

"You might be Clan leader but your still a softy," he teased, coming up to playfully cuff his brother over the ear.

"Where did you bring me?" Lionstar persisted, glancing up at the thick canopy of leaves.

"I brought you in a dream. Now follow me," he turned around and disappeared through a thicket of brambles with Lionstar close behind. Running through the unfamiliar forest, Lionstar could see mountains slowly coming over the horizon. Time passed by unnoticed until finally Lionstar recognized the forest.

"Why did you bring me to the camp?" he asked, his tail flicking anxiously.

"You mousebrain," Jayfeather flicked his brother. "Surely you'd like to see your mate, wouldn't you?" as he said the words Heatherstorm stepped out of the bushes, her eyes gleaming with delight.

"Lionstar!" she yowled, rushing forward to dig her muzzle into her mate's fur.

"I'll leave you two alone," Jayfeather meowed a farewell to the lovers before disappearing into the shadows.

"Oh I'm so glad that you're okay! What's been happening down there? How many cats have died? Is LeafClan still doing well? How did you manage to see me?" Heatherstorm poured out questions as she sat down, anxiously awaiting their answers. "Oh, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too. Now let's slow down. Somehow Jayfeather can dream-walk so he managed to get me hear. The LeafClan travelers are doing fine, we're staying safely on the island with plenty of prey and shelter. As for everyone else…" he broke off, thinking about the prisoners of Tigerstar, Hawkstar and Darkstar.

"What's wrong? Tell me everything!" Heatherstorm demanded, her blue eyes filled with concern.

"Well at the gathering where we left, Tigerpaw the reincarnation of Tigerstar, demanded control of everyone. Hawkpaw and Darkpaw, the reincarnations of Hawkfrost and Darkstripe, helped him start a battle on the island along with the BloodClan remnants. Together they managed to drive out the other leaders and gain control of ShadowClan, RiverClan and WindClan. Unfortunately, the cats that disagreed with their ways were pronounced prisoners and are being starved and beaten. Many have died including Honeyfur, Cinderpool, Thornclaw, Leafpool and even Firestar. Bramblestar is now leading ThunderClan but only by a thread. Tigerstar attacks every morning and steals their prey so they're really no better off than the prisoners. Right now we're giving them prey and they're slowly recovering from their wounds. By the next full moon we'll attack on the island." Lionstar finished explaining the circumstances and looked over at his mate.

Heatherstorm shivered with fear, her neck fur bristling with anger and distress. Lionstar quietly padded over to her and licked her gently on the cheek. "Everything will be okay, I promise. My warriors are healthy and fit so they're perfectly ready for battle. I joined their training session for a little bit and the apprentices are catching on quite nicely. They'll be ready for their warrior ceremony in about two moons," the golden tom informed his wife, twining their tails.

She nodded, her heart rate readily decreasing. "That's good. So have you thought about warrior names?"

"I have for Featherpaw. But the others I'm still unsure about," the tom crinkled his nose as he fought to think of some names.

"Well we have plenty of time to think of them. Meanwhile you should probably go back, you'll need all your rest to plan the battle." Heatherstorm looked up into the sky as it started to lighten, dawn threatening to break through at any moment.

"I guess you're right. I'll see you soon," he meowed, giving her a gentle lick.

"Just promise you'll be careful, I can't afford for anything to happen to you," she whispered, her eyes filled with concern for the golden tom. "Especially not now."

He looked at her with confusion. "I promise to be safe…but why especially now?"

"I'm pregnant," she meowed excitedly, the dull look in her eyes now replaced with one of joy.

"That's great!" Lionstar purred happily and nuzzled his mate. "I love you Heatherstorm, I'll be looking towards coming home. Tell everyone I miss them and they should expect my home by the second full moon," Lionstar pressed his muzzle against hers and let out a purr.

"I'll pass along the message," she mewed, her voice quivering with sadness.

"See you soon, take care of yourself. Don't want to harm those kits," he added, shooting a glance at her swollen belly.

"I'd protect them with my life. Now you go, I know you have a busy day ahead of you." Heatherstorm gave him a final lick before heading back into the bushes.

Lionstar waited until her brown tail disappeared from sight before returning to his own dream to sleep peacefully.

"Um, Lionstar? Lionstar are you awake?" mewed a nervous voice.

The golden tom let out a groan before groggily opening his eyes. He squinted against the harsh light and got to his paws.

"What is it Featherpaw?" Lionstar started to lick down his ruffled fur, getting rid of extra moss scraps that were still stuck on him.

"Well, um, I kind of had a dream," she meowed, shifting her paws nervously. "But don't be mad! I know medicine cats and Clan leaders are only supposed to get these kinds of dreams but I couldn't help it! I just fell asleep and then I just woke up and then-" she broke off uncertainly as Lionstar let out a purr of amusement.

"Wait, you're not mad?" she asked, her blue eyes full of disbelief.

"Featherpaw, some of us are specially chosen by StarClan to be sent these dreams. Now, are you sure it wasn't a normal dream?" he asked more seriously.

She nodded. "At first I thought I just ate too much freshkill but I think that it is a real StarClan dream."

"Okay then, what happened?"

"Well, I went to sleep and when I woke up, I was in the middle of the island, right in front of the leader's perch. So then I started rolling around and when I looked up, one cloud had drifted over and sat right above the ShadowClan territory." Featherpaw explained.

"Well what happened after that?" Lionstar wasn't sure what was so special about this dream, but he was willing to listen openly to his apprentice if she thought something was up.

"Well, I didn't think anything of it until a feather floated down from it and disappeared into the pine trees. I mean, a cloud made of feathers, how is that normal?" the white apprentice meowed, looking at him expectantly.

Lionstar stiffened. It was clear now that this was definitely a StarClan dream. "Did anything else happen?" he pressed farther, eager to get to the bottom of this.

"Well, after that two birds appeared and started flying, but they both went in different directions, dropping feathers as they flew." Featherpaw finished.

The golden tom blinked. He had his suspicions about his first dream but as his apprentice spoke, they seemed to be confirming themselves.

"Thanks Featherpaw, I'm glad you told me about this," Lionstar meowed, needing some time alone to think.

"Your welcome. Oh, and what do you think it means? Like why did the cloud go to ShadowClan?" her eyes were full of innocent curiosity.

"I'm not sure," Lionstar lied. "But it's nothing to worry about. We're perfectly safe on the island." The golden tom hoped he would get through to the eager she-cat.

"But even you said it was from StarClan! And they sent it to me so obviously they want me to know something about ShadowClan. Why can't we go find out what it is?" Featherpaw persisted stubbornly.

"Because!" Lionstar snapped, and then sighed for being hard on his apprentice. "Because," he repeated softer, "it is very dangerous to be anywhere but here right now. I promise when the time is right we'll confront Tigerstar and bring him down for good." The leader promised, hoping to get through to the anxious apprentice.

"Okay, you're right," Featherpaw meowed before walking away to join the other apprentices.

Lionstar stared after him, his blood frozen with worry. He saw the look of determination that flashed in Featherpaw's eyes just before she turned away and he knew that it wasn't a good one. The LeafClan leader just hoped that she wouldn't do anything mouse-brained that would get her into trouble…

AN: Okay, I think you can already guess that she is going to do something dangerous, but you don't know what and I do!! –dances- anyways, I wrote the first part of this on Monday so now I can tell you about today's tryouts. I was supposed to run a mile, but they made us run two so I'm really tired right now. Oh, and on top of that I have to run the same distance on Thursday so I'm really trying to rest. Well, I have to get to bed so just remember to review! And when my pains go away I'll try to give you another chapter. Thanks and review!!

Xoxo the extremely worn-out Snowy