~*Hey heres the update, I wanted too update yesterday, but my internet connection

was being retarded XD. Heres Chapter 22, Enjoy. And please R&R, the more reviews I get, the faster I post!*~

Thanks

~Blaze~

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CHAPTER 22

"What in StarClan's name does that mean?" Burningpaw burst out.

Moonflower chuckled as did Lionheart. "You have spunk" she mewed, her whiskers twitching.

I know he mewed in his mind, Now get to the part where you said i was going to save all the clans!

"I know you must be confused Burningpaw" Lionheart hissed calmly, "But all will be explained soon."

He sighed, StarClan was very cryptic.

"All you need to know for now", Moonflower told him, "is that you have a destiny that will begin very soon. So be prepared for a long journey".

Burningpaw didn't know what the two StarClan cats were talking about, but he accepted that they weren't going to tell him anymore. "Fine" he mewed, "What now?" he wanted to wake up as soon as possible, maybe his siblings were waiting for him!

Lionheart shuffled his paws, "You can go Burningpaw, but be warned, shadows lurk in the most unexpected places. Be cautious of those around you" he told the apprentice sternly.

What did that mean? Couldn't they just tell him!? "Okay" he mewed, turning to leave.

"Good luck young one!" Moonflower called after the apprentice, her amber eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Burningpaw waved his tail in goodbye, and wandered through the forest. How was he supposed to wake up, did someone have to wake him? Starting to get frustrated, Burningpaw stopped in his tracks and closed his eyes so he could concentrate. Take deep breaths, he thought, trying to wake himself up. Darkness surrounded him as he closed his eyes, feeling calm and still. His body seemed weightless, as if he were floating in the air.

"Burningpaw" a distant voice could be heard. He ignored it, trying to stay in this state of calmness. He could feel something prodding him in the shoulder and opened his eyes.

"Burningpaw!" the voice said again, he realized it was his sister. "Sunpaw whats wrong?" he looked around wildly, looking for his siblings.

The golden apprentice looked worried, "Something is happening, come on!" she motioned with her tail, and he followed her.

The moon was still high in the sky, he hadn't been asleep all that long. Every muscle in his body tensed as Burningpaw followed his sister across the island. He noticed something weird, there were more cats on the island! "Are any of them ThunderClan?" he asked quickly, scanning the distance for any of his family.

She shook her head, "No not yet, the remaining cats from RiverClan came back. They said that the patrol is safe, and moved on to ThunderClan camp" Sunpaw told her brother.

He heaved a sigh of relief, thank StarClan. But his relief soon turned to horror, surely that couldn't be all of RiverClan, there were barely ten of them! "Where is the rest of RiverClan?" he asked his sister, feeling a deep sense in the pit of his stomach, something was wrong. The golden she-cat looked down, unable to answer.

"They're dead" a voice sounded behind him.

A chill ran down Burningpaw's back as he realized who the cat was, Dawnfire. "I thought you were on the patrol!" he burst out to his cousin. Why was she here? The light gray she-cat padded into the moonlight, her eyes gleaming with something Burningpaw couldn't quite place.

"I was" she mewed, "But I had a little change of plans".

Suddenly a yowl burst out through the clearing, he immediately turned around.

"What is this!?" the growl of Russetstar called out to her warriors. Ratscar and Kinkfur had pinned the ShadowClan leader down, what was happening? He half expected the rest of her warriors to protect their leader, but no one moved. Dawnfire ran her tail across his pelt and winked at him, as she padded into the clearing. Other cats joining her, some from WindClan. Burningpaw recognized Weaselfur, Emberfoot and Sparrowtalon join the young ShadowClan cat.

"Get back here!" Ashfoot growled, motioning for her warriors to return.

Emberfoot growled at the she-cat, "You can't command me anymore Ashfoot, WindClan isn't my clan!".

The deputy looked confused, and bared her fangs at the traitors. But Burningpaw was even more shocked, when one of ThunderClan's warriors joined the group. As the cat padded out to join the traitors, Burningpaw didn't believe his eyes.

"Thornclaw! Get back here now!" Firestar commanded his warrior. The leaders green eyes were full of anger as he approached his warrior, "I expected more from you Thornclaw, you were one of ThunderClan's best warriors!".

Burningpaw agreed, Thornclaw seemed like the perfect cat.

The golden-brown tabby sneered, "If I was such a great warrior, then why was I never deputy? Oh sure Brambleclaw is strong, but he is moons younger than me! And Brackenfur cant fight for fox-dung!" he insulted his brother.

Sorreltail growled, but her mate pushed her back.

Thornclaw didn't seem to notice, and continued. "Do you know how much work I have done for ThunderClan Firestar? I protected you, hunted, fought, everything! And what do I get? Nothing!" the golden tom growled.

Burningpaw gasped, he had no idea how much anger the warrior had.

Firestar seemed to notice, and stepped forward. "I appreciate how much you have done for your clan Thornclaw. But you have kits now! Think about Hazeltail, how much she loves you!" Firestar seemed sympathetic.

Thornclaw's mind seemed to race, his eyes darted back and forth. "Hazeltail will come with me, and we will raise our kits together!" he burst out, nodding to himself.

A cat snorted, it was Mousewhisker. "My sister will not be a part of this treachery! She loves ThunderClan more than you Thornclaw."

The golden-brown tom growled, as Mousewhisker continued.

"Thornclaw I thought you were a loyal warrior, but I was wrong! You're nothing better than a sack of crow-food!" he yowled at his sisters mate and leapt onto him.

Burningpaw gasped as a chain of fighting broke out across the island. It didn't seem real. Was this what Moonflower was talking about? He didn't have time to think about it, as a yelp form Sunpaw made him turn. All he saw, was a flash of dark ginger bolt into his side and the wind was knocked out of him, as he realized who his opponent was, Scorchpelt.

"Take that Kittypet!" the ShadowClan tom hissed at him, raking his sharp claws through his bright flame pelt.

He cried out in pain, it felt like hot fire burning through his pelt. He wasn't weak! Burningpaw could do this, he just had to concentrate. Scorchpelt was a strong warrior of course, but wasn't the sharpest stone. Suddenly he had an idea, and turned his head, facing behind the warrior.

"Lionblaze!" he said happily, trying to distract Scorchpelt.

Sure enough the dumb warrior turned, looking for the strong cat. Burningpaw took his chance and kicked with his back legs into the cats chest, knocking him over. He quickly scathed the toms ear with his claw, sending him yowling away. That was easy, he thought to himself, the tom was a mouse-brain. He gazed around the camp, cats were battling all over, from all different clans.

Sunpaw ran towards him, the black, white and tortoiseshell pelt of Ivytail chasing after her. He prepared himself for another fight, as the she-cat lunged towards them, but was wrong. A ginger flash threw the warrior aside, knocking her too the ground. Squirrelflight! His mother fought ruthlessly, swiping claw after claw onto the cats face.

"Never touch my kits!" she growled furiously.

He stepped back, a bit scared of his mother for a moment. With one last swipe, Squirrelflight let the warrior go, blood dripping from her face.

"Wow" was all he could say, as his mother approached her two kits.

"Are you both alright?" she mewed, panting hard.

Sunpaw nodded, "We're fine, are you okay?".

Squirrelflight didn't seem to be hurt, just angered. "Be careful" she mewed, "We don't know who is fighting with us, or against us" Squirrelflight warned her two kits, then turned and threw herself back into the battle.

Burningpaw watched as his mother's dark ginger pelt disappeared behind a tree. Hopefully she would be okay, he had never seen her fight like that before. Piles of fur lay across the grass, blood was spattered all over turning it scarlet in the moonlight. ThunderClan was fair in numbers compared to the other clans, RiverClan was fighting alongside WindClan as the two clans of cats struggled against their enemies. He noticed Whitewater, a ShadowClan queen, was cornered by two apprentices. Without thinking about it, Burningpaw rushed across the island and ran into one of them.

He identified one of them, a tortoiseshell she-cat with white spots, as Mosspaw. The other was Lizzardpaw, previously of ShadowClan. Whitewater growled fiercely, trying to defend her unborn kits. Burningpaw ran up to Mosspaw, and raked his claw through the she-cats pelt. She cried in agony, surprised by the sneak attack, and lunged for him. The tortoiseshell cat swiped her claws, aiming at his head, but missed as the ginger apprentice dodged to the left. Mosspaw fell to the ground, as Burningpaw took advantage and leapt onto the apprentice. She easily fell to the ground, as he forced all his weight onto her. Satisfied he was able to take down the she-cat, Burningpaw let his guard down. It was too late, as a flash of gray pounced on him, tackling him to the ground. Lizzardpaw threw sideways releasing Mosspaw from under his grasp. The gray tom smiled as he pinned Burningpaw down. Oh great, This couldn't get any worse, he mewed silently to himself.

"Time to put down the kittypet" Lizzardpaw sneered, unsheathing his claws.

But before Lizzardpaw could slice through his throat, Burningpaw heard a loud yowl from one of the rocks. What now? Burningpaw asked himself, as he tried to turn his head to look. Dawnfire stood, her pelt bristling as she gazed down at the cats.

"Stop fighting at once!" she commanded the warriors on her side.

Lizzardpaw gave him a distasteful look and released him. He cast a glare at the apprentice, backing away towards Whitewater, who gratefully gazed down at him. Silence filled the clans, all eyes staring at Dawnfire.

"A new time has come" she began, "A time for all clans to unite, with one leader" the gray she-cat stared down at the four leaders, who were bristling with anger.

Mistystar stepped forward, "And who will that one leader be?!" she demanded.

Dawnfire smiled, as she spoke, "The new leader will be me of course, and our clan will be DawnClan".