Written by Stormrush

Mudwhisker watched as Nightkit strode confidently toward the Highledge, her sisters bounding after her. A tortoiseshell she-cat poked her head out of the nursery. She muttered under her breath before padding over to the kits and planting herself in front of them

"I know you're eager, but you have to wait until Beechstar calls the meeting," she chided.

"Oh. Right. Sorry," meowed Lakekit, giving her chest fur an embarrassed lick. Flamekit's tail drooped.

Nightkit, however, glared at her mother. "I know the others don't always accept cats like us! You don't have to remind me all the time." Her fur began to puff out. "I'm not any different because you used to be a ShadowClan cat, Dawnsparkle. I'll show them!"

Flamekit and Lakekit both flinched. The tortoiseshell recoiled, staring at Nightkit with hurt in her eyes. She visibly gathered herself before speaking.

"Nightkit," mewed the tortoiseshell, very gently, "you know my name is Dawnclaw. You know I was born in ThunderClan. We've talked about this."

Nightkit sighed. "I know," she meowed, deflating. Hope sparked in Dawnclaw's gaze, but her next words snuffed it out: "I just don't like it when they talk about you like that, like being ShadowClan makes you a bad cat, or something."

"She was always like this, for as long as I can remember."

Mudwhisker nearly jumped when Jazzstar spoke. He'd forgotten she was there. He glanced over to her and saw that she was sitting now, her black tail wrapped tightly around her, tip twitching.

"Sometimes she would seem fine, like a normal cat, but then something would set her off and she would stop making sense. Like she was hearing a different conversation than the one you thought you were having. Like she saw things no one else saw." Jazzstar's tail thudded against the ground. "Like she had her own world."

"Why?" Mudwhisker asked. "What could make a cat act this way?"

Jazzstar's expression was grim. "You'll find out."

Mudwhisker didn't like the sound of that.

When he turned back to Nightkit and her family, Flamekit was nudging Nightkit's shoulder. It looked playful, but the edge of desperation in her voice gave it the lie.

"C'mon, Nightkit, you remember, don't you?" she mewed. "I'm Flamekit, and you're Nightkit, and this is Lakekit. That's Dawnclaw. I don't see Smokefang, but he can't be far."

If Nightkit meant to reply, she was cut off by a yowl from the Highledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

All three kits brightened, but if Dawnclaw had looked anxious before, now she looked downright terrified. "Time to go, little ones," she meowed, unnecessarily; the kits were already racing for the Highledge. Dawnclaw let out a mrrow of laughter, just this side of hysterical, and trotted after them.

Cats spilled out of their dens and crowded beneath the Highledge, murmuring. A gray tom padded over to Dawnclaw and sat beside her. He gave her head a comforting lick, though he looked almost as anxious as she did. Mudwhisker recognized Jazzstar among the crowd, scarcely older than the kits.

As the Clan assembled, a light brown tabby tom made his way down from the Highledge. His gaze swept over the throng of cats, and they quieted.

"Today, we gather to name three new apprentices," he rumbled. Only two cats stood beside him, Mudwhisker noted, a black and white tom and a yellow tabby. "Lakekit, Flamekit, Nightkit, come forward."

The kits darted toward him, Lakekit nearly crashing into him in her eagerness. Beechstar's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Lakekit," he began, "from this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Lakepaw."

His gaze flicked to the yellow tabby. "Bumbleflight, you are ready for your first apprentice. You have proven yourself wise and courageous. I hope you will pass on all you know to Lakepaw."

Mentor and apprentice touched noses, Lakepaw quivering with excitement.

Beechstar turned to Flamekit. "From this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw." Mudwhisker saw her mouth her new name as Beechstar focused on the black and white tom. "Vineclaw, you will train Flamepaw. I hope you will pass on your loyalty and skill to her."

As Flamepaw and Vineclaw touched noses, Beechstar turned at last to Nightkit. "From this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Nightpaw. I will be your mentor." He bent down and touched his nose to hers.

Nightpaw gasped. Startled hisses rose from the crowd. "I know it too," Nightpaw whispered, nonsensically. Beechstar's amber eyes narrowed in concern.

"Flamepaw! Lakepaw! Nightpaw!" the cats cried.

Nightpaw's chant was ragged and uncertain. The whole Clan must know about her, Mudwhisker thought. His eyes went to Dawnclaw. Her shoulders sagged with relief. Perhaps she had been worried Nightpaw wouldn't be apprenticed.

As the chanting died down, Flamepaw and Lakepaw chatted to their mentors, asking when they could start training and what they would learn first. Nightpaw, however, walked away from Beechstar and toward her parents. Beechstar tilted his head and watched.

The gray tom—Smokefang, Mudwhisker guessed—swallowed. "Congratulations, Nightpaw," he mewed hoarsely.

But Nightpaw strode past him, to a ginger tabby who stiffened at her approach. Nightpaw glanced between him and Dawnclaw, eyes gleaming. "Jayfeather! Dawnsparkle! Aren't you proud of me?"

Smokefang's claws dug into the ground. Dawnclaw slumped even further. The ginger tom's tail tip twitched nervously.

"My name is Sunstripe, not Jayfeather," he began, in a tone that suggested he had memorized this speech from long use. "I am not your father. Your mother's name is Dawnclaw, not Dawnsparkle. Smokefang is your father. He's right there." He pointed with his tail.

"Don't bother," Smokefang spat. "If it didn't work the first hundred times, it's not going to work now." He stalked off, tail lashing.

"Smokefang, wait!" Dawnclaw started after him, then paused and glanced back at Sunstripe. "I'm sorry. He gets like this sometimes. I'm sure you understand."

"No, it's all right," Sunstripe mewed to her retreating back, though his whiskers drooped. He turned to Nightpaw. "I'm trying not to give up on you, but you're making it very difficult."

Nightpaw gasped. Sunstripe drew back from her, blinking.

"Out of the darkness, stars will come and get rid of the evil tiger and holly," she murmured, looking dazed. "What does it mean?"

"I couldn't tell you, seeing as you just made it up," meowed Sunstripe, dryly.

"Starkit's Prophecy! It must be!" she mewed.

"Of course, you aren't talking to me," he meowed, as Nightpaw dashed off. "I wish I could figure out who you are talking to."

Beechstar, who had watched the whole exchange, padded over to him. The throng of cats had dispersed; they were the only two under the Highledge.

"It isn't your fault she is the way she is," Beechstar murmured.

"I know," sighed Sunstripe. "But maybe if Russetleaf were here—"

"Russetleaf was brilliant, but not even she could fix this," Beechstar mewed firmly. His eyes followed Nightpaw, who was chattering excitedly at Flamepaw and Lakepaw near the apprentices' den. By her sisters' expressions, she wasn't making much sense. "Some ailments are beyond a medicine cat's abilities."

"You can't fix her either, you know," Sunstripe pointed out with a sidelong glance at his leader.

Beechstar said nothing, gaze fixed on his apprentice.

Suddenly the scene shifted. Dawnclaw and Smokefang huddled together under a bush overlooking the ThunderClan camp.

Dawnclaw leaned up to rub her cheek against her mate's. "You shouldn't snap at Sunstripe like that, you know," she meowed. "It's not his fault."

"I know," Smokefang sighed. He licked Dawnclaw's ear. "It's just—What does he have that I don't?"

"Nothing," mewed Dawnclaw. "That's not how Nightpaw's… episodes work. There's no reason behind any of it. She calls Rosepelt 'Thornclaw,' for StarClan's sake. She thinks Rosepelt is a tom. It's got nothing to do with you or him."

"But she knows who you are," Smokefang retorted. "She knows who Flamepaw and Lakepaw are. Why am I different?" Dawnclaw opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "I know, I know, she calls you Dawnsparkle. But it's not the same. She understands you're her mother. I don't think she even knows I exist."

"That's not true," Dawnclaw objected.

"Really? Name one time she's spoken directly to me."

Dawnclaw lowered her gaze and remained silent.

Smokefang rested his head on hers. For a long moment neither said anything. "Maybe she calls Sunstripe 'Jayfeather' because he's a medicine cat," Smokefang mewed at last. "Maybe we shouldn't have told her all those stories about Firestar and his kin. Maybe we shouldn't have told her she's descended from them."

"If she hadn't heard those stories from us, she would have heard them from someone else. Those cats are legends for a reason," Dawnclaw replied. "And every cat in the Clan is descended from them, after so long. Well, except for Jazzpaw," she amended.

Mudwhisker glanced at Jazzstar curiously.

"I was born a kittypet. ThunderClan took me in when my housefolk abandoned me," she explained.

"I see." Mudwhisker paused. "Jazzstar…"

"Yes?"

"You said I would find out what made Nightblaze the way she is," he meowed. He looked at Smokefang and Dawnclaw, who had lapsed back into silence. "But even her parents don't know how it happened."

Jazzstar's whiskers twitched. "Eager, are we? Very well. It seems to me that Nightblaze was driven mad by her Twoleg dreams."

"Twoleg dreams?" mewed Mudwhisker, puzzled.

Jazzstar's eyes flashed, and the world Mudwhisker knew disappeared.