A/N: Much thanks to Riley-Cooper123 for catching a typo last chapter. And Littlesmack for complaining about all the grammar mistakes and such in Chapter 6. Most have been fixed. :)

I appreciate and welcome all types of criticisms and corrections. Yes, including flames. As long as I can understand what the complaints are about, I'll listen to them.

Darkstar licked his lips clean of fishguts. His nose was already used to the smell of fish. Even his Clanmates didn't grumble anymore about how the fresh-kill pile smelled and a few of them even seemed to enjoy the taste of the oily white meat. Though, everyone hated the scales. Like the bones and fur, it was buried.

"May I join you?"

Darkstar blinked up at the white she-cat in surprise. "Shouldn't you be watching Yellowfang?" He winced internally at his own words. Are you trying to turn away the first she-cat to talk to you since you became a leader?

"She's in the medicine cat den," Frostfur mewed, "and I can see her fine from here if she heads towards the nursery."

Deciding she had a point, Darkstar forced his fur to relax. "I would be honored." He tugged what remained of the long minnow closer to her. "Would you like to share my prey?"

She gave the minnow a contemplative look before finally shaking her head. "I'll leave that to the warriors who are defending our territory." She looked pointedly at him.

Darkstar smiled, pleased. "You are too kind."

Frostfur wrapped her tail around him and snuggled into his side. Darkstar couldn't resist a small purr as he started to groom her fur. It took a second for her to start purring too.

"I have been thinking," she mewed at last. "It would be easier to keep an eye on Yellowfang if I was back in the nursery."

Darkstar started to frown. "Uh-huh," he mewed. He shot the nursery a glance. "Only queens expecting kits are allowed in the nursery," he reminded her.

"I love kits," she mewed almost reassuringly. "And it would be good for the Clan to have a new generation."

He considered her words. He knew Frostfur was a simple cat who preferred kits over hunting for her Clan. Normally, he'd look down on a cat like that. A Clan cat should be dedicated to protecting his Clan. But he was grateful to it now. His ears twitching eagerly. "My den has been cold these past few nights."

She purred. "It sounds like we could use each other's company a lot."

Darkstar smelled her warm scent. "Yes, we could." He rose to his paws and stretched. Excitement prickled his pelt.

StarClan must be smiling down on me.

When he awoke, it was well past moonhigh. He didn't move, absorbing the warmth of Frostfur and trying to remember the last time he had felt this warm.

Warm like a fire. He lifted his head and sniffed the air, the phantom smell of smoke making him cough. He was padding out the den and froze at the sight of a wall of flames in front of him, barring his exit. The forest was gone, replaced by orange and red tongues of fire that stretched up towards the sky. He looked left and right, but it was everywhere.

"Fire!" he yowled. "Fire!"

But when he searched for his Clan, he found them still asleep in their dens. "Wake up!" He slammed his paws into Whitestorm's back but it was like striking stone. He was unmovable. He hit and pushed every warrior he could find but it was to no avail. "Wake up!"

Outside, a cat stood in the fire. His pelt was dark orange with sharp stripes. When he looked at Darkstar, his eyes blazed like twin suns.

"Help!" he cried, feeling lost and overwhelmed. "Help! My Clan is dying! They're-"

He looked around himself and realized he was surrounded by rocks. Sunningrocks. He looked up and the fire was gone, replaced by the tranquil forest and bright green leaves. A red and white tom stood at the top of the rocks, overlooking something Darkstar couldn't see. His mouth opened in a yowl but no sound escaped him. Blood welled up from his scruff and down his back, like a dark river.

"Redtail?" Darkstar mewed, helpless.

But when the cat turned around, it was Tigerclaw. His lips peeled back into a friendly snarl and blood dripped down his pale throat. His teeth were as red the leaf-fall full moon.

"You're next."

Darkstar jerked awake, pausing as a warm tongue lapped soothingly across his scruff. He didn't know whether to feel better or feel worse as he remembered the bite in Redtail's neck.

"Are you okay?" Frostfur stared at him with round eyes.

"Yes," he mewed, rising and shaking moss from his pelt. "I just... wasn't used to the warmth." That's where bad dreams came from, right? he wondered. Maybe it was the fish.

It probably wasn't, a tiny part of him said. You've had nightmares like this before.

Frostfur blinked sympathetically. "It is cold in here. And two cats warm it up faster than one." She almost sounded doubtful, like she was trying to convince herself.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. "I'm going to speak with Whitestorm."

He padded out quickly, half-expecting Frostfur to call after him but disappointed when she did not. He pushed the thought aside.

He should feel great. He had a she-cat to warm his nest now, even if only temporarily, but a chill brushed over his StarClan trying to warn him of something? He thought about Tigerclaw's bloody mouth and shuddered. Was he wrong about the leopard's claws prophecy?

Of course not, he thought, steeling himself. StarClan just doesn't understand Tigerclaw like I do.

"Darkstar!" Dustpelt charged across the clearing, his tail lashing angrily. "RiverClan was scented on the border again."

"What?" Darkstar stared in shock. Surely RiverClan wouldn't cross them so soon after their last confrontation. He felt the eyes of his Clanmates on his pelt, and felt a surge of fury and frustration. "Those mangepelts," he spat. "Haven't they learned their lesson?"

He looked skyward, realizing the first star had appeared in the sky. How long had he been asleep? A part of him wanted to return to his nest and curl up with Frostfur just to remember the feeling of victory from the day before. Except it clearly wasn't a victory.

"Dustpelt," he mewed, voice firm. "Gather a patrol of warriors." He looked around the camp and bounded towards his deputy. "Whitestorm, I'm taking a battle patrol to RiverClan. You're in charge of camp while I'm gone."

Whitestorm looked alarmed. "But you already took a patrol yesterday."

"There was new scents on the border," answered Darkstar.

"How many cats are you taking?" asked Whitestorm, looking around the camp.

Darkstar in annoyance. "You'll know when they've finished gathering. Where are the apprentices?"

"Most of them are out on patrols," Whitestorm mewed.

"Thornpaw?"

"On the hunting patrol."

Darkstar half-sneered, realizing he was going to have less cats than he had yesterday. "I'll leave a few warriors in camp," he mewed lowly.

At the bramble tunnel entrance, Dustpelt was already waiting with a few warriors. Swiftwing and Mousefur were with him.

Whitestorm twitched his ears worriedly. "That isn't enough for a battle patrol."

Darkstar's tail twitched nervously but he kept his expression unconcerned. "We'll handle it."

"I should come with you," mewed the white tom seriously. "You'll need the extra muscle."

Darkstar looked around the camp and spotted Goldenflower, who watched her two kits tumble through the snow. "Are they the only cats in camp?"

Whitestorm shifted uncomfortably. "Brindleface, Runningwind, and Longtail will be back from patrol soon."

"The camp needs protection, too," argued Darkstar.

"My Clan needs me to fight for them, too," he mewed simply.

Darkstar felt warm appreciation for his deputy and gave him an awkward nod. "Let's go."

As they padded up to the patrol, Ashpaw burst out of the apprentice's den, his blue eyes wide. "I want to come, too," he mewed, looking hopefully at his mentor.

"All apprentice stay in camp," growled Darkstar, nudging the tom away. "Frostfur is in charge while we are gone."

Ashpaw pouted, but Darkstar wasn't looking. He nodded at Dustpelt. "Take us to the scent."

The dark brown tabby lashed his tail and lead the way up the ravine. Darkstar threw a glance back at the camp and saw Frostfur's bright pelt outside the lichen talking to Ashpaw. He hoped the she-cat would understand she needed to keep an eye on everyone, even Yellowfang, before Darkstar returns. He hadn't really gotten to know her, but a part of him hoped he could rely on someone and she seemed like the best option right now.

Then he pelted after Dustpelt, following him to the edge of RiverClan territory. The tom led them to a few crushed leaves which reeked of RiverClan fish-scent and fresh prey. Darkstar felt a wave of relief when he didn't recognize Tigerclaw's scent underneath it.

"What are we going to do about this?" asked Dustpelt, looking expectantly at Darkstar.

Darkstar signaled for the patrol to follow him. He padded straight to the barkground that stretched over the river. On the other side, the RiverClan scent markers were old and stale. Darkstar curled his lip in disgust, and looked back at his warriors.

"It's time RiverClan learned no to cross. We will remark this border and take all the land on this side of the twolegnest. Then, we will hunt here until sunhigh. When RiverClan arrives, we will give them more than a few scratches to worry about!"

The black tabby gestured for Dustpelt to take Mousefur to head towards the twolegnest while he, Swiftwing, and Whitestorm followed the river's border. Darkstar's half of the battle patrol spread out and started to mark the border, two at a time.

The scent markers were so strong that Darkstar could smell it from a small gust of a wind. Surely, RiverClan would smell it too, and a border or hunting patrol would be here soon to confront them. His pelt bristled in excitement. Beside him, Swiftwing and Whitestorm were bristling with anticipation, their claws digging up earth.

"RiverClan, attack!"

The familiar yowl made Darkstar's head snap around as a massive black and brown tabby bounded towards them, his big paws thundering across the ground. Dark amber eyes flashed with excitement. Darkstar yelped as he was bowled over. Above him stood Tigerclaw, and Darkstar stared up as if all the fight had been knocked out of him. He remembered his dreams and what he did to Leopardstar all in a flash.

"This territory belongs to RiverClan," declared Tigerclaw. His long claws flashed as he slashed open Darkstar's flank.

The feel of the blow woke him from his trance, and he remembered that Tigerclaw was RiverClan's deputy and an enemy. He forced himself to his paws and slammed into the big tabby, surprising the tom. But he shook him off with a rumbling snarl and knocked Darkstar back a foxlength.

Darkstar remembered how brutal Tigerclaw's training had been, how his muscles still ached with the memory of fighting his mentor desperately for days while trying to gain the upperpaw, how Tigerclaw purred in laughter and mocked him with each failed attempt to throw the older tabby off his paws. Darkstar did not remember a single time when he had successfully knocked Tigerclaw off his paws. They had simply moved on to something else.

Cold terror filled his pelt and made his paws tremble. He would rather stand up to a thousand cold StarClans than one furious Tigerclaw.

Tigerclaw leaped onto Darkstar, knocking him onto his back and bared his teeth in a grin, eyes shining. "You disappoint me, apprentice." Then he bent his head and sank his teeth into Darkstar's neck.

Darkstar was too stiff with fear to stop him. His body grew weak as hot blood dribbled down his chest and neck. His mind grew cloudy and darkness spread across his vision. Far far away, he heard Whitestorm's yowl and Tigerclaw talking over him.

Soon, he found himself standing in a grey field made of mist and stars. Above him, the bright spirits of the StarClan cats twinkled in the sky. A red and white spirit descended towards him, eyes narrowed even though he looked tired.

"Redtail," mewed Darkstar, dreading the tom's next words but he needed to get it over with. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

The mostly white spirit just stared at him silently. Darkstar's tail lashed nervously.

Finally, Redtail dipped his head. "Yes. You are losing a life."

Darkstar wanted to say more but couldn't. He felt like he had been having a conversation with Redtail for moons and suddenly realized he was right about everything.

"I'm a leader," Darkstar mewed at last. "Tigerclaw knows that."

Redtail stared at him but Darkstar ignored it. Of course Tigerclaw knew he'd come back. That's why Tigerclaw targeted him specifically. He wrapped his tail around his paws, pleased with himself. He just had to wait and then he could order a retreat and go home.

"Where am I?"

Darkstar turned and blinked at Whitestorm. The white cat was made of fog and was covered in a dozen and half stars that glittered and gleamed with warm light.

"Whitestorm?"

The white tom looked at him with wide eyes. "Are we in StarClan?"

Darkstar cringed and snorted and blinked rapidly. "It's pretty bland, isn't it?"

Whitestorm gazed around and then stared at Darkstar with uncertain and horrified eyes. "Am I dead?" he asked.

Redtail stepped forward, dragging their gazes to him. Solemnly, he touched noses with the white tom. "Yes," he mewed, his voice warm with emotion. "I am sorry, my friend."

Whitestorm flattened his ears. "So many of us have died this day," he mewed at last. He looked imploringly at Darkstar. "How many more will Tigerclaw kill?"

A chill swept through Darkstar. He looked first at Redtail, as if pleading the tom to object and say something reassuringly, but then he remembered the dream. The blood pouring down Redtail's neck. With a shudder, he looked away.

"Can we stop it?" Whitestorm wailed, staring up at the sky.

Redtail's eyes were clouded and distant. "I don't know," he murmurred softly. "I pray that all cats in ThunderClan heed our warning."

A sharp pain made him gasp. Darkstar jerked alive in a soft mossy nest, the heavy scent of herbs gathering around him like an extra pelt of warmth.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Mousefur, Whitestorm, and Swiftwing are dead," rasped a voice.

Darkstar stared at Yellowfang speechlessly. The old she-cat's gaze was sad and clouded.

"Impossible," Darkstar mewed, blinking. "It's not true. He wouldn't."

A cold claw gripped his belly and squeezed, and he curled up tightly, shivering with an unbearable cold only he could feel.