This was a... challenging but also interesting chapter to write. Apologies for its tardiness.

Runereader of the Nightwings I speak harshly about Erin Hunter from a place of love, not hate. Some of the best years of my childhood were reading Warrior stories, and it saddens me so that the love has disappeared and is now replaced by compulsion. The series needs to end.

Mossyheart It might take you a while to read up to this point, but thank you so much for the reviews for the earlier chapters.

Sir Nut I have plans on showing what the Clans are doing and thinking with Jayfeather gone. Don't worry, I've always planned on giving the reader a little bit of information about life back in the Clans. I agree with you, some of the best story arcs in the series have been cast aside in favor of new characters we've never met before nor asked to meet.

MistLion I'm glad you like the direction my fannon Briarlight is heading. I'm turning her into the little warrior she always dreamed of being.

Bman130 Yup, Thornclaw is like the 3rd oldest cat living in the Clans. The fact that he is Blossomfall's mate is screwed up. Then again, Erin Hunter just picks names out of a hat when making decisions for background characters. They aren't important, only cats related to Firestar are important.

The Apocryphal One (cool name btw) I'm glad you like my story. As for Erin Hunter, I refuse to believe a bestselling author in 2019 is so helpless. She should find another publisher and/or a lawyer.

Their fur was touching as they kept each other warm in that cold cave. Briarlight's sweet scent wreathed around him and her soft methodical breathing gave away that she was already asleep. It felt good to finally be able to rest his aching paws and curl up beside his beautiful mate. He didn't need to see her to know she had the most gorgeous spirit of any cat he had ever met and, even though he would never admit it, he relied on her whenever he felt lost or about to give up. She would keep him moving forward no matter what happened or how far away they traveled from their old home.

He let out a content sigh and kept his ears pricked. Nearby, he could hear the Tribe and Pack cats settling down into their own nests. Every cat was both physically and emotionally exhausted from the day's events and their solemnity was reflected in their silence. Few cats uttered a sound and it wasn't long until the soft patter of paws gave way to snores. Brook still had another patrol on the way bringing the injured Tribe cats, but he wouldn't stay awake for that. To his knowledge, they had already been treated so it could wait until morning before he checked up on them.

One thing still haunted him and he couldn't get it out of his mind. As horrible as the shaking mountains were, he knew the calamity stretched far beyond just the Tribe and Pack's territory. He could feel the pain and horror of so many cats wafting up from the base of the mountain like the stench of crowfood. Never before had his powers overwhelmed him like they did now. He wished he could make it all go away like a bad dream, but it kept filling his head with anguish. Perhaps by the time we go back down the mountains it won't be so bad. He couldn't help but worry about what the Clans were going through without him. He desperately wanted to leave it all behind but it nagged at his heart relentlessly.

I hope Ivypool found her way back safely- and that Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Leafpool are taking care of everyone. I wonder how Bramblestar and the other Clan leaders are taking care of the injured since there are so few medicine cats there. None of the medicine cats have apprentices right now and Littlecloud is getting so old and weak that if he doesn't find an apprentice soon, ShadowClan won't have a medicine cat at all.

Jayfeather bared his teeth, hating himself for still worrying about what was going on with the life he had left behind. He and Briarlight were rogues now and the cats by the lake weren't their problem anymore. It wasn't like the Clans hadn't overcome plenty of challenges in the past. For all he knew, the rumbling earth might not have been so bad there and the Clans were fine. It wasn't like the lake was surrounded by huge mountains covered in giant boulders that could loosen and crush everyone.

He closed his eyes and relaxed his body, finding comfort in Briarlight's heartbeat. He took a deep breath and forced the troubling thoughts out of his head. He needed to worry about the here and now. Earlier that day when he had returned with Flora to the cave, Nettle had informed him that some ancestors wanted to speak with him. He assumed she had meant the Tribe of Endless Hunting since the Pack didn't have any ancestors that he knew of. He had invited Briarlight to join him since she was just as tangled up in all of this as he was. It felt right to let her participate.

He took a deep breath and sought equilibrium in his head. The only thing he had to do was fall asleep and find Briarlight in her own dream. He slowed his breathing until it matched hers and willed himself into her thoughts.

He opened his eyes. Light and darkness filled his vision as the shapes and colors rapidly formed a picture in front of him. He was expecting the warm lush forest from when he had entered Briarlight's dreams the night before leaving ThunderClan, but instead, he was met with moldy grays and sticky blacks.

He was surrounded by cold shadowy shapes that towered over him. They seemed to be made of stone and some parts shone as if filled with tiny stars. He realized he was in a houseplace. Why in StarClan is Briarlight dreaming about a place like this?

He couldn't see much in the shadows but he was adept at navigating in the dark. He was standing on a wide path between two large structures. There were only two directions to go, one way deeper into the black and another way that seemed to open up many fox-lengths away onto what he figured was a thunderpath. He couldn't see any stars or a moon above him since dark clouds covered the sky and there was no breeze to carry Briarlight's familiar scent towards him. Where is she?

Then he heard a quiet whimpering coming from the direction of the shadows. He turned and followed the noise deeper into the darkness and a horrible smell of housefolk rubbish hit the roof of his mouth. He coughed and tried to spit the taste off of his tongue. "This place is disgusting," he growled, his eyes flashing around trying to make out his surroundings. "The quicker I find her and get her out of here, the better."

As he padded along, he caught a glimpse of something that shimmered ahead of him. He raced forward and the sound of whimpering grew louder. "Briarlight?"

"Jayfeather? What are you doing here?"

He skidded to a stop in front of a huge stack of silver-colored objects that looked like they were made of thick spiderwebs. They were hollow and from inside he spotted his mate's glimmering blue eyes. "Found you," he purred, glaring at the thing she was trapped in. "What is all of this?"

Briarlight pressed against the side of her silver den trying to reach him. The gaps between the webbing was too thin for even a paw to slip through. "You have to be quiet or one of the guards will hear you and lock you up, too," she whispered urgently.

Jayfeather wanted to purr in amusement at her naivety, but he suddenly had the urge to learn more about the place. He looked around. There were a couple other cats trapped in similar situations as Briarlight, their eerie eyes staring down at him. But just like the last time he had entered Briarlight's dreams, the eyes were hollow; they weren't real cats, they were just dream-cats. "Where are we?" he asked curiously, taking in every single feature and cranny.

"Shhhh, there isn't time to chat. You have to find-"

"And what do we have here? Another trouble-making kitty looking to spend some time in the tuna-can?"

Jayfeather looked around. Illuminated by the light of one of the glowing objects sticking to a wall was a thin tom with a sand-colored pelt. The stranger bared his teeth at Jayfeather and took a threatening step towards him.

"Come out, boys, we have a stowaway lurking in our midst!"

More cats crept out of the darkness and quickly surrounded Jayfeather. Their teeth were bared and their pelts were spiked with fury.

"Jayfeather, look out!" Briarlight cried.

He wasn't worried. This was only a dream and he was a master at dealing with dreams. He raised his head high and glared at the creatures surrounding him. I know I could make us both leave this place whenever I wanted, but there's no harm in having a little fun first. With a snarl, he lunged towards the closest enemy with his jaws open. The dream cat was too slow to react and Jayfeather snapped his teeth shut across his throat.

The mottled tom fell to the ground and Jayfeather turned to face his next victim. A lanky black she-cat stared at him with fury stretched across her muzzle and he lashed at her with claws unsheathed. As if the creature had been made of water, her form collapsed with a thump onto the cold earth.

"Jayfeather, behind you!"

He spun around at his mate's warning just as a large tabby brown tom lunged towards him. He ducked beneath the attack and looked back towards Briarlight who was watching with terror in her eyes. I think that is enough fun for now. Besides, I don't want to keep the ancestors waiting. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

When he opened them again, the ugly housefolk place had vanished along with all the snarling housecats. Instead, he and Briarlight were standing together on a flat rocky ledge doused in thick white mist that made it hard to see anything more than a fox-length away.

"What- where?" Briarlight mumbled, but then she snapped her jaws shut and turned on him. "You changed the dream with your powers, didn't you! I forgot you could do that!

He purred in amusement, looking around at the mist that coated the earth around their paws. "Correct. I took you out of your nightmare and brought you here. Where here is exactly, I'm not sure. I thought this would be where the ancestors met but I don't remember it looking like this."

"I feel silly, now," Briarlight muttered, dragging her paw through the earth and kicking up a tiny cloud of dust. "I was dreaming of the place where Ivypool and I were trapped in the twolegplace while we were searching for you. It felt so real that I thought it was actually happening and we were trapped again."

"Dreams can feel very real sometimes," Jayfeather agreed, his gaze sweeping over the stones. The air was still and no sound reached his ears apart from his own breathing and Briarlight's chatter.

Briarlight huffed, clearly still upset. "You were never in any danger while you were fighting those kittypets. Is that the first time you entered my dreams? I remember the night you left, I thought I saw you there. Was that the real you, or a made-up you?"

Jayfeather turned to her, looking deep into her blue eyes. He felt bad keeping secrets from her, especially now that secrets couldn't hurt her anymore like they did back by the lake. "That was the real me," he admitted. "I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left but I didn't want to wake everyone."

Briarlight nodded slowly in understanding. "Then I don't suppose you know why a few days after you left, I woke up in the middle of the night with a jay's feather in my nest. It's the reason I went after you because I thought it was a prophecy."

His eyes grew wide. "Someone put a feather in your nest? Are you sure it wasn't one of the kits? They like putting feathers in places they don't belong."

She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it wasn't a kit. There hadn't been any jays on the fresh-kill pile that day. It was as if it had appeared from nowhere."

"Hmm." If what she said was true, it meant someone wanted them to be together. Someone who dwelt in the stars. His thoughts immediately jumped to Hollyleaf since she might have been the only StarClan member who supported his decision to leave, but he also suspected Half Moon could have done it since she always wanted him to be happy. But Half Moon told me she barely had the strength to even visit me in my dreams anymore, let alone send Briarlight a sign. And she also must know that Briarlight could replace her as my love.

"Is something, wrong, Jayfeather?"

"I'm fine!" he snapped, a little more forcefully than he had meant to. He hadn't realized he had frozen up while he was thinking. "I'm fine," he meowed more calmly. "If you receive another sign like that, make sure to tell me, please."

"Jayfeather, is that you?" A voice pierced the mist and a cat stepped into sight. It was Nettle, Flora's daughter. The brown-furred she-cat's pelt was matted and one of her yellow eyes was swollen shut- probably from the rockslide, but she looked happy to see them both and dipped her head respectfully. "Thank you for coming. I see you brought Briarlight with you."

"How could I not bring her, we go everywhere together," He meowed simply. "You said the ancestors wished to speak with me?"

Nettle nodded. "After the rockslide, I had a vision. A young she-cat I didn't know the name of said that I needed to meet her in my dreams and bring you with me. She didn't explain why and the vision ended so quickly that I didn't have a chance to ask her anything."

"It wasn't a Pack cat?" Jayfeather asked. "Like a cat you knew who died?"

Nettle shook her head. "I had only seen her once before and that was the time when Stoneteller announced to everyone that I had met an ancestor. But I feel like I should know her, she seemed important."

As if a mighty breath had disturbed the air, the mist began to part and retreat away from them. Tall mounds of stone loomed into sight, standing over a wide flat outcrop of rocky earth. Among the stones were many dozens of faded cats who stared at the three newcomers. It reminded Jayfeather of the ThunderClan camp; a large open area surrounded by dens where the cats slept.

Briarlight pressed closer to Jayfeather nervously. This was only her second time meeting ancestors up close and these ones weren't even her own. And unlike her encounter with the StarClan warriors by the Moonpool, these ancestors looked very different. Instead of shimmering with starry pelts, these cats looked like normal cats except their pelts rippled like murky water. Some of them were barely visible anymore as if time had forgotten them.

One of the faded warriors stepped forward and leapt up onto a raised rock a fox-length high. She stared down at the three cats standing in the center of the clearing with compassion and respect brimming in her sky-blue eyes. Jayfeather recognized her as Feathertail, the former RiverClan warrior who had died many moons before he was born. According to the stories, she had given her life to save the Tribe of Rushing Water from a giant monster cat named Sharptooth.

"Greetings," Feathertail meowed, loud enough for all to hear. "Nettle, Jayfeather, and- guest Briarlight, we welcome you to our sacred sanctuary. The Tribe of Endless Hunting has some things to discuss with you."

Nettle's eyes were wide as she stared around at all the gathered cats. This was her first time seeing them all together. "Y- you are the same cat who visited me in a dream before," she stammered uncomfortably. "I- I don't know what to say. Is there some traditional thing I'm supposed to do when I meet my ancestors?"

Feathertail let out a rich purr of laughter. "My name is Feathertail, young one. I walk between the Tribe's and the Clan's skies. These cats are not your ancestors. They belong to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. The reason they summoned you and Jayfeather here is because your own cats, the Pack of Wild Spirits, do not have any ancestors to seek after they die. You must find them and bring them together."

Nettle's eyes grew even wider. "Find them? What do you mean by that?"

Feathertail stepped down from her highrock and another cat jumped up. Jayfeather recognized the new cat immediately as the former Stoneteller. The older tom's pelt didn't look as faded as some of the other cats' since he hadn't been dead for long and was still well remembered.

"Thank you, Feathertail, for explaining the situation so well," Stoneteller meowed, dipping his head to her before turning back to Nettle and Jayfeather. "The catastrophe that struck the mountain has shaken us all, but the Pack's true colors were revealed when they offered to shelter the Tribe in their own home after the Cave of Rushing Water was destroyed. We have decided to do our best to help the pack develop a connection with their own ancestors."

"That would be fantastic!" Nettle exclaimed, before realizing how ridiculous she sounded. "I mean, the Pack would be honored if you helped us."

Stoneteller purred with amusement, his eyes twinkling like tiny stars. "My name before I was made Stoneteller was Nook, Shelter of Resting Hawk. Most Stoneteller to-be's are chosen when they are kits, but it looks like destiny had different plans for you. I know you have had very little time to understand the meaning in all of this, but we will teach you our ways and customs if you let us. Are you ready for the responsibility of leading your cats down the noble and mindful path required to maintain a connection with your ancestors?"

"Am I ready to lead? Flora is my leader and my mother," Nettle meowed, confused. "How could I be the cat who leads while she is still alive?"

"We can work the details out in time," Stoneteller meowed patiently. "But right now, you need to become what you were always meant to be. Normally, things like this would take many moons to develop, but time is not a luxury we have; the Pack need guidance now if they wish to survive. Are you prepared, Nettle, of the Pack of Wild Spirits?"

The she-cat shuffled her paws nervously and stared down at the dirt for a few moments.

Jayfeather was watching with fascination. He had a lot of questions but he held his tongue. Something huge was about to happen and it would shape the mountains for many moons to come. He was reminded of his own apprenticeship- both of them. One by Brightheart and one by Leafpool. Both times he had been ready to walk a path into the unknown, not sure what would happen. Both times he hadn't been completely sure if he was doing the right thing. And now he realized both paths were wrong; he was destined to be living a free life with Briarlight.

Nettle took a deep breath and looked back up at Stoneteller. Her eyes were filled with determination, fear, and joy all mixed together, but her voice was steady. "I am ready."

Stoneteller bowed his head. "Then from this moment on, you will be known as the Speaker of the Quiet Stars. Others will come after you, moon upon moon. Choose them well, train them well, and trust the future of your Pack to them. Always remember that your ancestors guide your paws and never lose faith."

"Starspeaker! Starspeaker!"

Jayfeather joined the chant and so did Briarlight, raising their voices into the starless night sky. He vividly remembered speaking similar words to Half Moon so many moons ago in a vision. Through an ancient cat named Jay's Wing's, he had made Half Moon the very first Stoneteller of the Tribe.

As the cheering died down, Nettle raised her head proudly. She looked like she was about to burst from all the emotions she was feeling. "I am honored, Stoneteller. What would you have me do now?"

Stoneteller's gaze fell on Jayfeather who had remained silent so far. "Now that formalities are out of the way, you and Jayfeather need to discover where your recently fallen lie. The Pack's dead are restless and have no place to call home when their life ends. I'm sure the three of you-" he gave a quick nod to Briarlight, "-will find success in your quest. Now go."

"We will do this thing that you ask," Nettle meowed, bowing her head one last time.

Jayfeather could feel energy burning in his paws as excitement bubbled up within him. He was helping to create the Pack's connection with their dead! It was a daunting task but he was confident in his abilities. He let his gaze skim across the Tribe ancestors who were watching silently and picked out Feathertail's silver tabby face. The former RiverClan cat's eyes were flicking between him and Briarlight, but when she spotted him staring at her, she looked down at her paws. It was as if she knew something that he didn't. Jayfeather tilted his head to one side in confusion and stared back at her but she gave nothing away apart from twitching her whiskers in what could have been amusement.

Nettle turned to Jayfeather and he ripped his curious gaze away from Feathertail who was beginning to fade back into the mist with the rest of the ancestors. Once again, he Nettle and Briarlight were alone in a lake of white clouds swirling around their paws.

"So, Jayfeather. Do you have any idea where we should look first?"

No matter how many times I went back and looked over this chapter, I was never satisfied. I'm sorry if it also feels clunky to anyone else, but it's the best I can do right now.