Warriors: The New Era

Chapter Nine: The Men of Mighty Names.

HERE IT IS! The Stranger's identity! You've waited a lot. Now let's get to it.

"Will it work?"

"Yes. It will."

"You know that it's a one way trip. Once you use it, there's no way back to the future."

The Stranger threw his arms up gesturing to the ruined city around them "Look around you! Does this look like a future WORTH coming back to?"

He brushed the memory out of his head, as he began to see the house. Icecloud and Ivypool were trying to put the doors back on, while Jayfeather was patching the hole that Tigerjaw made. Lionblaze and Breezepelt were adding in a new sliding glass door in the back of the house.

"Good thing Berrynose came up with the spare doors idea," Lionblaze smirked.

Breezepelt scoffed "Yeah, very smart. He got lucky."

"Even so, I win. Pay up," Lionblaze smirked.

Breezepelt growled, and put the door in place, now reaching for his wallet.

"There he is!"

The Stranger widened his eyes at the voice of Jayfeather, pointing a finger at him.

"HE'S GOT BLOOD ON HIS ARM!" Icecloud shouted.

The Stranger looked at his crimson stained arm, sighing "I apologize, but if he lived, we would have regretted it."

Jayfeather looked at him in distrust and fear as The Stranger walked past Jayfeather and into the house, finding that all of it's inhabitants were already inside gathered around a table in the living room.

"Can I have everybody's attention?" The Stranger asked, before turning to look at the room he was in "This house looks familiar..."

"It's a replica of The Cullen house in the Twilight movies," Foxleap asked "Cost a lot to make to."

The Stranger nodded "Wow. You watch that crap?"

Foxleap scratched the back of his head.

Sparkpelt was busy glaring at Jayfeather, and Poppyfrost was talking to Cinderheart. Lionblaze and Breezepelt joined them, while Honeyfern and Berrynose came out of the basement, along with Half Moon and Fallen Leaves. Hollyleaf followed after them. Icecloud and Ivypool sat down at the table, with Jayfeather, Half Moon, Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, Honeyfern, Berrynose, and Icecloud and Ivypool in that exact order. The Stranger stood in front of the circular table, so Cinderheart, Poppyfrost, Honeyfern and Berrynose all had to turn their chairs.

Breezepelt turned to glare at him, handing Lionblaze ten bucks "Who are you?"

"I-"

"He doesn't tell us his name," Poppyfrost answered, sitting down at the table "So we call him Stranger. That or Traveler."

The Stranger sighed "Actually I was going to say my real name."

"Really," Sparkpelt smirked.

Jayfeather scoffed "I don't care who he is. What is he doing here?"

All heads looked to him, and the Stranger sighed "I'll explain. But I must do this as quickly as possible, so please hold your questions until the end, and take my word as Gospel."

Icecloud folded her hands "Okay. Say you're story."

The Stranger took a deep breath.

"I'm from the future, where Forrestlake is overrun by Terrorists led by the tyrant Sol. The man you just fought was named Rain, and was his son. In my timeline, the three are dead, and Forrestlake is an anarchy governed cesspool. The Countries don't help because they have problems of their own like civil wars. I have acquired a Moonstone, one of seven scattered across the globe, each in another continent. Out of the seven, it is one of the only four still intact, as the other three were destroyed by either mankind, or natural causes. I used the Moonstone to come back to the past, and change the future. My Aunt found a moonstone, and was going to send herself, but she was physically weak and too fragile to make the trip. I took the burden, and have come here with one task and mission: The Protection of the three, and the safety of Forrestlake. If I fail to prevent one, then our future is set."

The Stranger took a breath "Any questions?"

Everyone's hand went up, minus Sparkpelt and Poppyfrost.

The Stranger sighed "Any questions NOT revolving around appliances, vehicles, or who's president?"

The hands stayed up.

"Hmm...fine then, you with a scar on his cheek," The Stranger pointed to Berrynose.

Berrynose lowered his hand "The tyrant's name is Sol?"

"Yes."

"Does he have children named Crowflight, Tigerjaw, and Ravenheart?" Berrynose asked.

The Stranger bit his tongue "The triumvirate..."

"The who?" Lionblaze asked.

The Stranger sighed "Yes. They are the equals of the three. They're gifts were bestowed by an Unknown Party."

"Rock..." Jayfeather muttered.

"Who?" The Stranger asked.

Rock entered the grotto, eager to deliver the news to Sol.

Sol was mediating, his mask off, showing several hideous burn scars. He opened his eyes and cocked his head "Rock? What do y-"

"Rain is dead. Killed by a new player."

Sol widened his eyes, and then looked to the ground "He was always too stubborn...I had hoped I could teach him a lesson...may he rest in peace."

"FORGET RAIN!" Rock bellowed "This Man showed up! He held the strength of Lion's Roar in his palms! Who is he?"

Sol was shocked at what Rock said about his son, but he shrugged "I...don't know. I had not thought it possible to be surprised."

"You mean...you don't know?!" Rock curled his lip "You...planned for everything...and you don't know!"

Sol sighed "Our success is no longer certain. That is all. We still hold enough cards. What were you doing while my son was being murdered?!"

"I have enlisted Bloodclan into our fold," Rock replied.

"What?!" Sol stood up now "Scourge?! You enlisted him? Why?!"

"Because we need his army," Rock replied "Without him, our plan will fail."

"He was not part of the original equation! I wanted him far from us as possible! He's too wild! Unpredictable!" Sol snarled "How can I have a contingency for a man with quite literally NO classifications!"

Rock growled, his eyes cackling with lightning "Tread carefully. He is with us. Plan for it."

Sol scowled as three others entered the room.

The Triumvirate.

"My children," Sol welcomed "I have terrible news."

"Rain is dead?" Crowflight scoffed "Yeah we heard you."

"Have you been eavesdropping?" Rock growled.

Ravenheart sighed "Forgive us. We were attacked by a man who pledged allegiance to the Dark Forest...and Tigerstar."

Rock burst into laughter "Tigerstar is DEAD! Shanked in his cell! The man is loyal to nothing."

"Even so they shot my sister!" Tigerjaw roared "We should seek out the Dark Forest. And make them pay for attacking us."

Sol nodded "It is possible that ot was just the ramblings of a madman, pay him no mind. I shall look into this later."

Rock smirked, as Ravenheart pressed the issue "He shot my kneecap out, and then killed himself! That's not insanity, that's loyalty!"

"He killed himself?" Sol inquired, now fully interested.

Rock scowled "So? He had nothing to live for, how is this little fact now the center of your attention?"

"Because dead men tell no tales," Sol responded "He killed himself, to avoid interrogation. That's not loyalty. That's fear. Whomever he worked for, it was enough that he would rather kill himself then face the judgement of his leader."

Crowflight nodded "It does seem rather curious."

Sol nodded "Go. Investigate in this matter. Find out what you can and report back to me."

"So in conclusion, no, we do not have flying cars," The Stranger remarked.

"Damn," Foxleap growled "That would have made quite the contribution to science."

The Stranger nodded "Agreed. Now any other questions?"

"Are you single?" Ivypool asked.

Foxleap immediately glared at The Stranger who blushed heavily "Well...yeah. Why?"

"Because you're handsome, why else?" Ivypool teased, as Foxleap looked like he was ready to blow up.

The Stranger smiled "Well thank you...you look beautiful yourself."

Now Foxleap wanted to blow up him.

Jayfeather bit his lip "Alright. So you're from the future. But isnt t-"

"Isn't time a unchangeable course?" The Stranger smirked "Well I've already changed something. You were supposed to be stabbed in the back by Rain, had I not interfered. He would have lived to spread terror, and capture the rest of you, and rule over Riven."

Half Moon gasped as the Stranger revealed this "So...if you hadn't shown up..."

"I would have died," Jayfeather finished.

The Stranger nodded, as the group let that sink in. No goodbyes, no last "I love you" to Half Moon. Just dead. After all that's happened.

Lionblaze gulped "Uh...I have a question."

"Shoot," The Stranger shrugged.

"How did you know about us? The three, the moonstone, how?"

The Stranger's face paled "Because...because you told me. In the future."

"How do we know each other, I thought I died?" Lionblaze asked.

The Stranger bit his lip "I...you did. I'm...your son."

Lionblaze's mouth dropped to the floor, and Jayfeather and Hollyleaf were bewildered. Everyone else was either in shock, or confusion.

Except Poppyfrost, who groaned "I should have guessed it. Golden hair, green eyes, strength of Samson. It was right in front of me."

"What?" Cinderheart asked, eyes bulging out "Who's the mother?"

"Um...hi mom," The Stranger smiled sheepishly.

Ivypool cocked her head "So...what is your name."

"My name...it's Fernsong."

And there you have it! Fernsong is the Stranger. I tried to keep it as secret as possible, but I guess one of you guessed it.

Next chapter, University Troubles, will be up next week.

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!

Adios.