The next morning, Starpaw collapsed in the medicine den, then moaned, "Oh my head!" Mistflower yawned.

"What? Oh, Starpaw, can you take this bundle of herbs to Cedarleaf? He's been complaining about his eyes aga- Starpaw? Starpaw!" But she had fallen asleep, deaf to Mistflower's talking, and the rest of the world's noise, because running back and forth carrying sleeping herbs when you should be sleeping is very tiring. She dreamed of many things, of wars and Clans and the stories told long ago by the elders that were lost to her conscious mind, but lurked in the shadows of her deep memory. A small voice called out in these dreams, "Chosen, a chosen, choose one path of two. A Path of Shadows that ends in the Light, a Path of Light that ends the Dark. Choose the fate of your paws... Choice for destiny, you must find..." She woke later with a start. She yawned and stretched, then decided she needed to go into the wood. She met Moonpaw on her hasty trot across the camp.

"Hello, Starpaw!" she mewed, "How was your sleep?"

"It was fine, but Moonpaw, now I, um, need to-" she flicked her tail to the little well-used trail where she was heading. Moonpaw's eyes widened.

"Oh, I didn't realize.." She smiled sheepishly and stepped out of her way. "Sorry!" she called as Starpaw walked down the trail to her destination. When she came back to the camp, Mistflower greeted her.

"Starpaw! Finally you are awake! Where have you been?"

"Er, I had to go into the wood." Starpaw flicked her ear in embarrassment.

"Fine, but next time, please don't just disappear. I thought that either you could disappear in an instant, or those SnakeClan cats were- Well, never mind that now." She set down a bundle of herbs for Starpaw, "I need you to give these to Greenleaves. I too need to leave for the wood." She shouldered past Starpaw and disappeared down the path.

Starpaw shrugged, her mouth full of herbs, then trotted over to the Elder's Den. She ducked inside, and stood in the doorway, taking in the scent of bracken and new moss. She had heard from Grasspaw that Moonpaw got in trouble with Starfur, and was sentenced to clean out the elder's den and nursery last sunrise. She shook her head to clear those thoughts, then Greenleaves saw her, and she nodded respectfully. He flicked his tail, a sign that she was invited in. She walked over and dropped the bundle of herbs in front of him.

"I see you have those herbs Mistflower promised," he yawned, "It's about time, too. My stomach these days has been hurting worse than those who suffer in the FallenClan." He nodded, and she took it that she was free to leave, but hesitated. Greenleaves laughed. "I know that look! I'm sure I must have worn it lots of times when I was an apprentice or a kit. What have you come to ask?"

"Well-" Starpaw drew out.

"We haven't got all day!" Branchfur, another elder, snapped irritably. Starpaw bit back a very snarky reply, the only thing saving her was the thought of the punishment she would probably get from Mistflower, if she ever found out.

"Er, Greenleaves, what does it mean to be chosen?" The old orange tabby tom sat back.

"Huh. Haven't heard that one for a while. Not since Skyto- I mean, Skystar was an apprentice. I think it was Sparrowkit." His face looked sorrowful, "Poor little Sparrowkit. He shouldn't have died that-"

"Yes, yes, it's all very nice that you're mourning your son's son's death, but could you please JUST GET ON WITH IT?" Branchfur yowled.

"Yes, anyway-" He licked a paw, then drew it thoughtfully over his ear, "It means you have been selected for a special task. Usually when you are chosen, you fulfill something that leaves a great impact, even if you don't get in the elders' tales. Rarely it means that you will fulfill a prophecy, but it can happen. I remember the last chosen one who fulfilled a prophecy, it was, erh, Grayfeath- no, Graystar, before her it was Thrushswoop, and- Never mind that! Now, the prophecy was, hmmm, let me think..."

"The Star of the Sky will save the Clan! For Starshine's sake, Greenleaves!" another elder, Brownear, meowed.

"Er, yes-" he sent Brownear a withering look that seemed to make him shrink. "As I was saying, this was a long time before my father's father was just a thought in his mother and father's minds..."

"And?" Starfur asked eagerly.

"She fulfilled the prophecy. Now, for Starshine's sake, leave us in peace!" Branchfur snapped.

"Well, I have another thing to ask-"

"Then get on with it! We don't have all day!"

"What does the phrase 'Choice for Destiny' mean?" Greenleaves looked the other way.

"Branchfur's right," he growled, "Leave us in peace." Starpaw turned to go, crest-fallen. Snowlight flicked her tail, and Starpaw came over to her.

"Er, yes, Snowlight?"

"I can tell you what it means," Snowlight meowed simply. Starpaw sat down.

"Yes?"

"Long before you were born, Greenleaves was birthed. He had a wonderful family, his mother, Lightningstrike, and two sisters, Mistykit and Rainkit. Only his father was unknown. Lightningstrike refused to say who their father was, but then again, this was not unusual as his father might have been killed in a recent battle, on account of there being still much unrest in the Clans. But back to the story, Lightningstrike refused to say who the father of the strong litter was." Snowlight sighed, "It was unknown when they were kits, but when they grew older, it was easy for the medicine cat to see who their father was. Shadowstripe. "Starpaw blinked.

"Shadowstripe? THE Shadowstripe?"

"Of course it was THE Shadowstripe! Unless there's another that I don't know of," Snowlight huffed, "Anyway, a dream was revealed to Woodclaw, the medicine cat of LightningClan at the time. And also a prophecy concerning Lightningstrike's kits. 'Choice for Destiny, Death for Life. One of two must choose where to stand. Clan over Clan, Sky over Sea. Undivided a Clan must stand. Hate for Love, War for Peace. A time shall come to see where this One stands.' A moon or so later, Woodclaw quietly told Lightningstrike when she came to see if her kits had the Cough. She refused to accept it. She was running scared."

Snowlight took in a deep breath. "'No!' she had said, 'Those kits will never know who fathered them!' But Woodclaw knew that prophecies always had a way of getting fulfilled, whether wanted or not."

"And?" Starpaw asked breathlessly.

"One day," Snowlight started gravely, "Greenleaves' sisters disappeared. His mother blamed RainClan-" she lowered her voice,"-Greenleaves' half-Clan. Enraged, RainClan and LightningClan engaged in battle. It was Shadowstripe's last battle. All of Greenleaves' close family was killed. Shadowstripe, Lightningstrike, and his two innocent, recently-apprenticed sisters, Mistypaw and Rainpaw." Snowlight shook her head. "The prophecy did come true in the end, but it came at a high price." She looked Starpaw in the eyes. "Trust me, Starpaw, it's better to follow the ClanCode and be safe, than to break it for a life of "adventure." Do you understand?" Starpaw nodded. Snowlight yanwed. "Good. Now you had better go back to Mistflower. She has probably already come back from the wood." Her eyes glinted mischeviously.

Starpaw blinked, "But how did you-? I mean-"

"Never mind that!" Snowlight laughed, "Us elders are not always deaf, you know." Starpaw quickly trotted out of the elder's den. Mistflower was pacing impatiently in front of the medicine cat den.

"Thanks Starshine! I was beginning to think that the elders had bored you to death with their endless chattering! What did you do? Ask them for family trees back to the Very Beginning? How-?"

"Help! We need help!" A light tan she-cat burst into the camp. "We need help!"


Ok, guys, so this is longer than the most of the other chapters. Can you start reviewing? Because I LOVE reading your reviews, and it encourages me to write more, so please, review this? Because I'm seriously thinking of quitting because I am just writing these chapters, and I get fewer and fewer views. If you read this far, congratulations. If you're curious about what this story's like, congratulations. I hope you will at least say SOMETHING. And you know that people are more interested in my flaming someone's bad story than actually READING one of mine?! How do I know? Easy. My "Clean Commentary" this month (Moonstar's Destiny) got over 1,237 views (as of today, September 25, 2016) this month alone, and got almost 200 views in three days! And how much has this one, you ask? Only a little over 320, and less then 30 views in the first three days! That's crazy! So I'm thinking of completely shutting this down.

Frustrated,

Shadow