Forbidden Hero

"Bone? But that is impossible. Bone died in the battle against Bloodclan-"

"I SAW HIM!"

"But-"

"How dare you defy your leader! I'm telling you that I saw Bone! And he jumped me and clawed out my eighth life." Littlecloud and Russetfur looked at one another uneasily.

From outside the Medicine Cat Den, sat Talonwing who nervously chewed a mouse. A tabby tom named Briarclaw came and sat down next to her.

"Are you okay?"

"It's Blackstar. Something has hurt him. I'm … frightened." Briarclaw remembered that Talonwing was Blackstar's daughter. He smiled gently.

"It'll all turn out fine." He rubbed against her pelt. She got up and went the other way. Briarclaw fell down dejectedly. He made a sour face.

"Keep away from me," she warned him. She walked away and sighed.

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As Honeydrop went to sleep that night, the camp was still in chaos. Slowly, he fell into a dream.

He was standing on top of a dark blue ground. In front of him were familiar cats, all swimming through some sort of dream pool. One bright spirit walked towards him. As it walked closer, he began to cry. It was Ivorykit.

"Honeyfire," Ivorykit called in his cheery voice.

"Oh, Ivorykit, how we all missed you! And your mother, her heart broke to pieces, when Bramleclaw came…"

"I know. I was here watching. The fox…"

"That loathsome piece of mousedung. Tell me where to find him and Cloudtail will help me rip him to pieces-"

"No! You mustn't harm the fox!"

"Why not?" His face drenched with confusion. Ivorykit shook his head.

"Brambleclaw saw wrong. The fox did not kill me, it tried to save me, Honeyfire." Before he could even respond, Ivorykit continued.

"The fox was fighting with another cat, and I got in the way. The other cat slashed me down the back. The fox tried to hurt the other cat but it got away, and ran onto Shadowclan territory. The fox was going to help me, but Brambleclaw came and chased him off."

"Why would a fox help a cat?"

Ivorykit shook his head again and almost laughed. After a long moment he said,

"This wasn't an ordinary fox. He was a friend of Midnight's, sent here to find you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you! You are the hero to stop Hawkfrost, remember? Midnight knows that. And Honeyfire, one more thing, about this other cat that was fighting the fox… His name is Shadow; he is Bone's son, the leader of Bloodclan. Feathertail told you last night that Bloodclan and the Tribes would also be involved in Hawkfrost's conquests, didn't she? Well, Bloodclan received the first hit. Find the fox as soon as possible, Midnight will know what to do. Good luck."

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Honeydrop woke up at midnight. He looked up at the sky. He could see that Silverpelt was located a little more north than usual. The fox! He knew instantly that if he followed Silverpelt he would be led to Midnight.

Midnight will know what to do. Feathertail whispered from the sky.

He cautiously got up from the Warrior's den, and snuck out of camp. At the top of the ravine stood Leafpool.

"Be careful, be safe." She whispered without even asking where he was going. He nodded his head, and left. He ran through the forest, swerving through the trees.

He came to a clearing and stopped. Two golden eyes stared at him.

"Hello, Honeydrop, I've been waiting most anxiously to meet you."

"Who-who are you?"

"A friend. My name is of no consequence. I am here to take you to see another friend, a badger. It's not too far from here. If we go now, you can get back by tomorrow afternoon."

Honeydrop looked at those two tremendous eyes. They shone brilliantly through the darkness. He responded very reluctantly,

"Fine. I'll come with you. But I have a few things to ask you about this cat that you were fighting earlier…"

"Shadow."

"Yes, him. Why is he in our territory?"

"He wants to find Hawkfrost. Not so long ago, Hawkfrost claimed himself as leader of New Bloodclan. Unfortunately, even though Shadow will kill Hawkfrost, he will also kill anyone in his way. He killed Ivorykit. He took one of Blackstar's lives. And he has injured a Shadowclan she-cat…" Honeydrop stopped walking. He could hear his heart pounding loudly.

"Don't worry," the fox continued, "it wasn't one of your friends. It was Darkflower."

Honeydrop let out a sigh of relief. He caught up to the agile fox. For whatever reason, he felt that he could trust the fox. He knew all about Midnight, and if this was Midnight's friend, then he must have been good.

"Where is Midnight?" He asked after a long time.

"She is close. She and I have journeyed all the way out here. But I went to get you, for she has caught ill. Midnight is very old, you see. She was even old back when your father visited her."

"How do you know who my father is?" Honeydrop had narrowed his eyed suspiciously. The fox smiled.

"That is for me to know. Alas, here we are!" The fox walked around a small hedge. Within it was an enclosed den. There sat a badger whose black hair had become gray. Midnight had a strong manner about her, even though she appeared very frail. She began to cough like crazy.

"Hello, Honeydrop hackwheeze or would you rather Honeyfire? Shall I call you that? I may not be of Starclan, but I am oh so close to death. Am I what you expected? No, I should think that I am not. Squirrelflight probably told you that I didn't speak 'cat' well, but I been practicing. I have changed in other ways, too. I am a little different from what your mentor told you. I am sick, am I not? And frail? And while Topaz who led you here may deny it, I am crazy. It is hard to be sane when… you hear all the voices of dead…" Midnight began coughing uncontrollably.

Honeydrop was partially frightened. This wasn't at all like the Midnight that Squirrelflight knew. No, Midnight had been true, she was crazy. He could tell as he looked upon her that her illness had eaten away at her. For all purposes, Midnight was dead. But she could not die until she had done her duty. Honeydrop knew what that was, too. Her duty had always been to tell him what to do. It made sense. Everything else had led up to this moment. That was the time when the world changed.

for anyone who cares, iadded some things to my profile.