Hi! I'm back. And this is a late New Years chapter.

Riddle:

I am old, but I hold the young;

I am powerful, I am strong.

I take and give all you lose and receive,

I am a giver, and I am a thief.

I am longer than life,

But do not exist in death,

I am full of life, but I don't draw a breath.

Tell me, if you can, what I may be;

Just as a hint, I end with e.

Hint: Well, there's already one in the riddle, so… don't need to give one here!

Replies:

Dovefeather the Nightshade: Thanks! (::)

A Leaf in the Wind: I don't know how to reply, but whatever (::)

*Looks around* Where did everyone go? I only got two reviews last chapter! Ah… whatever.

Set before Bramblestar's Storm, since I haven't read it yet. Well, here it is!

Chapter Eight:

It's a new year

It was a fine, rainy day, and all the cats of the Clans were on patrol, hunting, or in their camps, doing something else. They were all nice and young. Except for the elders.

Later, everyone went to sleep.

And they all woke up the next morning.

The process repeated, on and on and on.

Until one sunny morning.

Jayfeather was getting out of bed, and his bones ached. He felt tired, and wished he had an apprentice to do his duties for him.

Then he realized something.

He felt old.

Now, over at the warriors den, Dovewing was getting out of her nest. She felt just the way Jayfeather did. Old.

Soon, they all found out that the same thing had happened to the rest of the warriors. Bramblestar had lost all his lives to old age, the apprentices were suddenly all warriors, the kits all apprentices, and the elders all members of StarClan.

"Squirrelflight, you must become our leader."

She shook her head. "No. I am too old. Cherryfall or Molewhisker must take my place."

Cherryfall was elected, because the next leader was randomly supposed to be a she-cat. Anyway, she went and got all her nine lives.

All the warriors, and the queens, moved into the elders den, which was amazingly crowded, the newly named Molewhisker slept in the warriors den, and the newly named Cherrystar stayed in the leader's den. But here's what everyone did right after they realized they were older:

Daisy screamed. "I can't have kits anymore!"

Squirrelflight: "Now I'll never be able to honor Bramblestar by taking his place!"

Cinderheart/Lionblaze: "NO! We can't have the kits that we were going to name Hollykit and Mousekit and Fernkit anymore!"

Sandstorm: "Yes! I will join Firestar soon!"

Thornclaw, Ivypool, Birchfall, Blossomfall, and Mousewhisker: "No! What if we end up in the Dark Forest?"

Jayfeather: "I haven't even trained an apprentice yet!"

Brightheart: "I can't wait to die! I won't have this ugly scar anymore!"

Briarlight: "I won't need to lug around my back legs anymore!"

End of Reactions.

Now, everyone was freaked out by the suddenness of it all, so Jayfeather went to the Moonpool. This is the story of what happened there:

Jayfeather's meet, and the LONG HORRIBLE journey he took to get there:

Jayfeather exited the camp, and started the journey to the Moonpool. As soon as he reached the border between WindClan and ThunderClan, he started complaining. "Ugh! My joints ache so much… why didn't I bring a herb for that, just in case? Ow! Stupid rock… oh, there's more!" Jayfeather was halfway up the river now, and he could hear rocks falling.

He continued walking upwards, and was soon frustrated by an obstacle.

He was up to his belly in pebbles.

He started struggling through them, muttering about rocks staying away and being alive.

When he was halfway through the field of rocks, he stepped on a sharp one. "Ow!" Finally, he lost his temper. "MOVE OUT OF MY WAY, ROCKS, OR STARCLAN CURSE YOU!" He yowled

There was an ringing silence. Then the rocks started falling. Of course, this meant Jayfeather fell with them, and he ended up at the bottom of the slope this time. But, he didn't just fall down the slope.

He fell into the river.

Shaking out his fur, he stomped out of the river and started going back up the hill. He was thinking the rocks had done as he asked, but had done it in a way that was not pleasant for him. "Next time you try something with me, rocks, StarClan will curse you!" Of course, his voice had just made them fall when he had told them to move, so what did you expect?

This time, he made it up the hill without trouble, and started sharing dreams with StarClan. This is what happened:

Jayfeather woke in a sunny clearing, just like most cats do when they visit StarClan. A cat approached him. It was Purdy.

"Hello, young'un! Come to hear a story? Wonderful! I'll tell you about last time this happened, I heard it from the other StarClan cats! They tell stories all the time; it's really annoying, but I've settled in. Anyway, here's the story:

"It started in the morning, when everyone was waking. A young cat named Jayfeather woke up, and realized he was old. Another young cat called Dovewing also realized that she was old. So, Daisy screamed and was all like, "I can't have kits anymore!" and Squirrelflight said-"

"Wait!" Jayfeather interrupted, "That's what happened this time."

"Oh. Well, let me think… ah, I remember the story now. It began when Fireheart woke up one day; he ached all over. When he realized he was now old, he screamed and ran from the camp, Graystripe running after him and trying to get him to come back. They didn't get too far, considering they were old, but they did run far enough to find WindClan, who had recently fled from their territory after being chased out by ShadowClan. Well, I guess that was actually pretty far. Whatever. So, they brought them back to their territory. Then everyone wasn't old anymore, and the elders who had died came back to life."

"Oh. So all we have to do is do something good?"

"Yes! So, go back to your Clan and treat them for aching bones and stuff."

So, Jayfeather woke up and went back to his Clan.

End of Jayfeather's Journey

At the camp, Jayfeather announced what they had to do.

"Okay," said Squirrelflight. "Do your thingamabob."

Jayfeather went back to his den, and suddenly realized that he didn't remember what herbs he should use. He decided to just use some random ones, and went and gave them out until he ran out of them. Suddenly, no one was old.

"Well, that's a relief," they all muttered. Suddenly, Purdy appeared. "I'm back, younguns! Want to hear the story of the last time this happened?" Everyone groaned, but Purdy proceeded with his story.

While he did this, Cherrystar (who had become an apprentice again) and Squirrelflight looked at each other. "Should I just go and get rid of my nine lives or something?"

"YES!" Squirrelflight screamed unexpectedly, causing everyone to stop what they were doing. "BRAMBLESTAR'S RIGHT OVER THERE!" She gestured with her tail at Bramblestar, who was sitting a couple of fox-lengths away looking very confused.

"What happened?" he asked. Everyone ignored him.

"NOW GO GET RID OF THOSE LIVES!" Squirrelflight screamed.

Cherrystar ran out of the camp and up to the Moonpool in two seconds, and came back in another four.

"They're gone!"

"GOOD!"

Bramblestar started speaking. "Uh, does anyone know what happened?"

Everyone ignored him again.

"Well," said Squirrelflight, "everyone go do training and patrols and stuff."

"Is anyone going to tell me what happened?" Bramblestar pleaded.

"NO!" And with that, Squirrelflight padded into the warriors den and went to sleep.

Hope my super-late New Years chapter was good! Please leave a review, and try to answer the riddle (I think it might be the hardest one I ever made). Cookies for all! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)

See you at the Valentines chapter!

~leefpool