Silverstream ducked back into the RiverClan camp, giving her pelt a shake to warm herself as she did so.

Mistyfoot hurried up to her, eyes wide. "Crookedstar's been looking for you. He needs you at the nursery."

Silverstream tilted her head, but held her tongue and followed the molly, trotting by Shadepelt, Dawnpaw, Willowpaw, and Heavystep as she did.

As they neared the nursery, Silverstream could hear the mewling of kits and she frowned. "I wasn't aware Mosspelt had kitted."

Mistyfoot glanced at her, fur rippling uneasily. "It's a little more complicated than that," she mewed, before ducking inside. Silverstream squeezed in after her. As her eyes adjusted, she could make out Crookedstar's shape, and beside him, Mosspelt.

Two kits lay nestled against her belly, one dark gray, the other silver, and Silverstream frowned at them, before glancing at Crookedstar.

"We found them upstream, in a sack. I guess some Twoleg didn't want them." The tom's voice was taut with anger, and his hackles were slightly lifted. He let out a slow breath, gazing at the kits with tender eyes.

Silverstream's belly clenched. "But they're okay?" She gazed at them worriedly and Mosspelt nodded, shaking her head tiredly.

"They're fine," she murmured, eyes warm as she gazed at them, before wrinkling her nose. "Although I think I'm going to be quite sore after this."

Silverstream blinked sympathetically at the queen. The kits certainly seemed hungry enough for five cats. Crookedstar then got to his paws and herded everyone else out.

Silverstream emerged from the nursery, twitching her ears as the sounds of the camp swamped over her, and she looked back as Crookedstar emerged. "More kits for the clan is never a bad thing," she murmured. "Poor things."

Crookedstar nodded as Mistyfoot padded off, then looked at Silverstream thoughtfully. "I've been considering having you be their surrogate mother once their eyes open, given that it's dangerous for you to have kits normally."

Silverstream blinked in surprise and Crookedstar continued. "But this way, you can experience motherhood, if you want."

"I wonder if the kits will be okay with that," Silverstream mewed. "Usually it's the one that feeds them they consider their mother."

"Much like how every warrior raises apprentices, every molly raises kits," Crookedstar meowed, tail waving. His gaze clouded and he looked away. Silverstream pressed her nose to his shoulder comfortingly. "The clan will raise them well." He then focused his eyes on her. "You were thinking of names for your kits at one point, weren't you?"

Silverstream nodded, whiskers twitching. "Feather if it was a molly, Storm if it was a tom. Fitting that there's two of them." She gazed back at the nursery, feeling warmth blossom in her breast. "Featherkit and Stormkit."

Crookedstar nodded. "They are good names." He brushed his tail over her shoulders. "Go get yourself something to eat, it's been a long day."

Silverstream blinked gratefully at him and bounded off.


Fireleap woke up in a field of stars, and as she got to her paws, she saw cats with stars in their pelts melt into view. Some were talking together, others seemed to be hunting, and while a few glanced her way, only a few flicked their tails or ears to welcome her.

"You'll have to forgive them, a lot of StarClan's residents tend to keep to themselves."

Fireleap turned to see Featherwhisker padding toward her, tail lifted in greeting.

"I don't mind," Fireleap mewed, touching noses with the medicine cat, before she pulled back. "Why am I here?"

"Why not?" Featherwhisker asked, arching a brow. "You can go wherever you please when you sleep, after all." His whiskers twitched and he gazed past her. Fireleap shivered as his eyes narrowed and she slowly turned to see a broad-shouldered dark tabby cat and she blinked in surprise.

Tigerclaw?

No, not quite, she noted. There were definitely similarities, but this dark tabby had a little more white to his fur and had a slightly kinder face.

"It's been a while since I've seen a green-eyed ginger-furred cat," the tabby meowed thoughtfully. His gaze lingered on Fireleap for a moment before shifting to Featherwhisker. "Remind you of anyone?"

Featherwhisker's ears twitched absently. "Gingers are a lot more common than you'd think, and not every one of them is destined to do great things. Just look at that loner out by Highstones."

The tabby's lip curled. "He's so much like him, that I'm pretty sure he's taken a body again."

Featherwhisker's eyes narrowed to slits. "He wouldn't."

The tabby matched his gaze. "It happened to me, all those seasons ago."

Featherwhisker shook his head. "Except unlike a leader, when a rogue, kittypet, or loner dies, their spirit doesn't re-enter the body." He glanced at Fireleap, who stared at him blankly, then blinked sympathetically.

"When a leader ascends, they're given nine lives by StarClan," he explained. "When they die, their spirit leaves their body for a few moments, leaving part of itself in StarClan." He pointed his tail at a few ghostly shapes wandering around, and Fireleap's eyes went wide as she saw Crookedstar and Tallstar wandering around, although they were almost completely see-through.

"The more lives a leader loses, the clearer those spirits become, and eventually the spirit comes to rest with StarClan completely."

"However," the tabby cut in, tail twitching. "During those moments when the spirit leaves the body, another spirit can slip in and take the body for itself." His amber eyes flashed. "And the original spirit is forced to wander the earth, as it's not dead, so it can't join StarClan, nor is it alive, as a body can only hold one spirit at a time."

Fireleap frowned. "So you'd…have to kill the body again to drive out one spirit so the other can take its place?"

"In theory, yes," Featherwhisker mewed, before his ears flattened. "However, then you have to hope the right spirit gets back in. Usually there's someone keeping an eye on everyone to make sure everything goes smoothly, but even StarClan makes mistakes." He glanced at the tabby, who shrugged.

"It all worked out, in the end," he mewed evenly.

"I'm sorry," Fireleap mewed, raising a paw. "But you said Rusty was acting like someone you knew, or know…? Who?"

Featherwhisker and the tabby exchanged glances.

"Nobody you'd recognize," Featherwhisker mewed after a few moments. "Just that a long time ago, there was a clan leader who was a ginger tom who was a lot like Rusty, albeit a kittypet rather than a loner, and he went on to do great things, both in life, and after."

"Is he…around?" Fireleap mewed, tilting her head.

The tabby snorted. "He wandered off a long time ago and nobody's seen him since, to the point almost nobody here remembers him."

"Does it matter if someone remembers you?" Fireleap asked.

"To a degree," Featherwhisker replied. "But everything fades, in time, and eventually, everyone here will be replaced by a new generation of cats, and the cycle will continue, as it always has." His mew turned wry. "After all, something tells me you probably wouldn't be that interested watching cats you never knew or grew up with, right?"

"Well…" Fireleap mewed slowly. "If StarClan cats can possess cat bodies, what's keeping them from, say, finding a body like their old one and taking it for themselves when an opportunity presents itself, and then living among the new generation?"

"The age of the body, for one," the tabby meowed. "You'd have to wait for the body to die and the spirit to leave before taking it, and usually the body's simply too old to hold a spirit anymore."

"Lots of kits die," Fireleap mewed quietly. "Wouldn't their mothers be overjoyed if they started breathing again?"

Featherwhisker nodded slowly. "A few StarClan cats have done that on occasion, although they tend to lose themselves in the process and become completely different cats as a result."

"Maybe that's for the best," Fireleap mewed, ears twitching. "Then they're not burdened by nothing being how they remember it, and they get to experience a whole new life for themselves."

"Although the cats that knew them before would be sad to see them go," Featherwhisker pointed out.

The tabby's eyes glowed thoughtfully. "Doesn't really matter now," he sighed. "What's done is done, and all we can do is live with the end result, for better or for worse." His gaze softened slightly. "Wherever he is, I'm sure he's happy."

"Were you close, in life?" Fireleap asked.

"He was my mentor, and a better father to me than my own," the tabby mewed simply. "When my time came, he was there to guide me home, and I will forever be grateful to him for all he did."

"I see," Fireleap mewed, before glancing at Featherwhisker, who shook his head.

"That was long before my time," he mewed. "Ol' stripes here has likely seen more moons in StarClan than every clan cat combined."

"What's your name?" Fireleap asked the tabby.

"I gave it up so long ago I've forgotten what it was," the tabby meowed. "And I'm fine with that."

Fireleap opened her mouth to say something, but she was abruptly wakened by Spottedleaf shaking her awake.

Fireleap blinked blearily at her. "What?" she mewed sleepily.

"You were talking in your sleep, and I couldn't sleep," the tortoiseshell mewed, wrinkling her nose. Fireleap's ears heated and she ducked her head sheepishly. "You may want to take a poppy for a dreamless sleep. If only so I can rest."

"Sorry, sorry," Fireleap mewed, getting to her paws to fetch some.

"What were you dreaming about?" Spottedleaf asked as the ginger molly shook out a seed before licking it up.

Fireleap frowned, trying to remember. "Something…I think Featherwhisker was there, but…" The dream slid through her claws and she shook her head. "Probably nothing important if I can't remember it."

Spottedleaf let out a snort. "Probably one of Featherwhisker's stories. Some are interesting, sure, but the vast majority are really only relevant to when he was alive."

Fireleap tilted her head. "Does he not give out prophecies and visions?" She felt the poppy taking effect and she snuggled back into the nest, and Spottedleaf rested her chin on Fireleap's back.

"Not as often as others," she mewed. "Still," she added, "at least StarClan isn't sending us doom and gloom, so…" She yawned. "We should probably sleep rather than talk, hm?"

Fireleap was already asleep and Spottedleaf nuzzled her gently before joining her.