Alright, here it is, I hope you enjoy it and I'll talk to you later!
Prologue
A sickening crack and then a loud boom lit up the black sky, a feline shape quickly crawled out of the long shadowy weeds. The cat ran across a slick-wet Thunderpath, he was so fast, that not even a drop of rain could touch his starry pelt. Heading towards a large-silver boulder, the cat just shook his white and black pelt, his just visible yellow eyes scanned the area. Finally, he found the felines he was looking for.
"Why, Pebblepelt, has Starclan no honour?"
A limp tom lied beside dead ferns on the riverbed, his grand russet pelt now covered in crimson-cherry blood.
"I'm sorry, Russetstar, but I must protect the prophecy's secrets."
A grey tom with brown and darker brown dapples stood over the fallen leader, his hooked claws drenched in blood.
The young starry warrior winced as the former leader took his final breath.
"Calicopaw, why must I do this? There is no right! What will Blackpaw think of me now?"
The broad grey tom stared hopelessly at the deceased apprentice. "There is no honour in Starclan. But it is Blackpaw's choice, he must choose the path of the fallen destines."
He hated it, doing this, coming to collect what once were. Memories.
Riseclan_
Moonfeather and Sky-eyes looked at their fallen leader in dread and pure horror. Why now? Why did their leader die on such a night? "Skystar?"
The black she-cat whirled around to face her best-friend.
"Don't call her that yet, Foxstar would want Riseclan to grieve!"
Snowflight looked at her friend in distress, warily staring back at the Nursery she asked:
"Starclan, do you have no honour?"
Duneclan_
Clawheart originally had his heart clawed to pieces, his beloved leader was dead. Rainstar was no more.
"Clawheart?"
His mate, Swiftheart, quietly comforted him.
"May Starclan be with you, my friend."
Forestclan_
Silverstorm didn't know why, why had Crystalstar died tonight? His leader, he still needed her, he had no idea why this had happened.
"Silverstorm… Silverstar, the clan will honour you even if Starclan will not."
He turned to face his friend, Seedfoot, he looked back to his fallen leader.
"We will meet again, Bluestar."
Soilclan_
Ebonypetal ran as fast as her long black legs could take her, the leader of her clan was dead. "Why Stormstar? Flowerpool still needs you, and so do your kits!"
Ebonypetal wished that this terrible night was all just a dream, that it wasn't real at all.
Jewelclan_
Snowbright looked at the limp body of her fallen leader, Greystar was dead, he could not be what he was once. "May Starclan light your path, old friend."
Sanddrift brushed her pelt along Snowstar's in comfort, knowing all too well how this would end for the new leader.
Shineclan_
Rushwind was panicking, Russetstar wasn't here, he was gone.
"No! Russetstar, why?"
Crowdawn didn't know what to do, but he did what he did best, comforting the new leader. "We will never forget him, Rushstar, he has died in honour of the clan."
Calicopaw stared at the newly deceased leaders, they all had stars in their pelts, why had Starclan made this prophecy? Why had they killed 6 leaders all in one night?
Breezestar had come to greet them, but he too was looking stressed about this…
2 Moons Later
'Moonfeather, wake up! Skystar needs you!'
Wait, what?
'Wake up or die, Moonfeather!'
Okay, okay I'm up!
Moonfeather slowly opened her groggy eyes, what and who was that? Shooting up as she realised that someone was wailing for help, she dashed outside the warriors' den to see Robinkit and Foxpaw both with Cloudfur who was standing over her sister in a mourning state.
"What's wrong? Why is there so much blood? What happened to Skystar? Is she alright? Why aren't you two in the Nursery!?"
Moonfeather, the chosen deputy of Skystar, blurted out so many questions that Cloudfur decided to pad back into his den.
Foxpaw, his apprentice, looked utterly shattered. Her new leader had died, her new clan leader had died! "Cloudfur went to check on Skystar because she was sick but when he came back, he said that she was dead."
Robinkit moved closer to comfort his old den-mate and friend as he stared at his leader's body.
"He said that he scented two cats in the camp but it was stale and it looked like they had… Killed, her."
It had taken sometime for the 3 cats to slowly conceal the situation. Foxpaw started crying again, while Robinkit sighed and weakly purred to his friend. Moonfeather threw her head back and let out a screech so loud that even Twolegs would hear it.
"No, who did this?! Why would they do this?! Where was I when you needed me, Skystar?!"
She let her tears flow and her cries for comfort echo, Nightwind, Bouncepaw & Sunfur came running out to see the dead leader on the ground. By then, the entire clan was awake.
"Moonfeather, what happened?"
"Skystar? C'mon, you're just playing, wake up!"
Bouncepaw tried desperately to awaken her mentor but it was useless, Skystar was as good as dead. Nightwind rushed over to his mate but even he couldn't bring her sister back.
Sunfur ran to his fallen leader's side, anything but this would make him want to wake up. "Moonfeather-"
"Don't say it, I know."
"I was going to suggest that you take care of Bouncepaw, seeing as Cedarpaw and Mosspelt have delays."
Oh, what was she going to do with Bouncepaw?
As if on a signal, the dark brown and white tabby she-cat nodded curtly to her.
"Bouncepaw, come." Flicking her tail to the High Ledge, she called for a clan meeting.
"Your ceremony is about to begin."
Once all the cats had gathered, she yowled out to Cedarpaw, Mosspelt & Skystar.
"I, Moonfeather of Riseclan, ask…. No, I demand Starclan to make this apprentice, Bouncepaw, a new warrior in turn for her bravery and loyalty. Bouncepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend your clan."
Everyone was shocked at how Moonfeather had taken her sister's death, but Bouncepaw was surprised to be getting her warrior ceremony.
"I do."
"Even at the cost of-your own… Life?"
Moonfeather couldn't handle it, she was choking on her own words, blinded by grief.
"Yes, I only wish that Skystar was by my side to see me."
Bouncepaw's voice was shaking but she managed to hold back her tears as she drew in a sharp, rasp, quick breath.
Moonfeather was still in tears, they were streaming down her face like the rivers they had seen and were poisoning her feather-like streak on her face with sorrow.
"Then by the powers given to me by Starclan…"
Her voice shook even deeper and her breathing was coming in ragged breaths, fearlessly, she held her wail back.
"From this moment-… You shall be-be called Bouncefoot!"
Although it was tragic, the clan smiled warmly at Bouncefoot and chanted her name.
"Riseclan honours your strength and courage, we hope that one day-… You will pass these skills on to young honourable-… Cats!"
Finally, Moonfeather had finished, she sucked in a sharp breath and cried her heart out. She was happy but there was no comfort that could bring her sister back to life.
"It's alright Moonstar. I will honour you even if your sister will not."
Bouncefoot soothed, Moonfeather looked back at her and smiled, maybe this wasn't her fault. Maybe she was destined to be like this.
"Thank-you, Bouncefoot."
At Dawn
6 feline shapes made their way up the mountain trek to the Pool of Light. Among them, was Moonstar.
"I hope this doesn't take long, Swiftheart is still grieving." Clawstar grunted as he dodged a rock, he just lost his four unknown kits and his mate was heavily begging for mercy.
"I know, Clawstar, but sometimes you never know what's going to happen until you try. After all, it's our first time here, is it not?"
Silverstar stated, he was going to be another Stormstar, that was for sure.
"Snowstar, Moonstar, hurry up back there!"
Rushstar, the youngest of the six, was at the head of the patrol.
"Relax, we're coming. Flamestar, who did you pick as deputy? I chose Riftstorm." Snowstar smiled proudly.
Flamestar, the handsome tabby, turned around to smile at his fellow leader. "Nice choice, I chose Amberstone."
"Moonstar, what about you?"
Snapped out of her mourning thoughts, the black she-cat answered swiftly: "Nightwind."
"Cool, and hey, what happened to Sky-eyes? Wasn't she supposed to be here?"
Stopping all the leaders turned around to look expectedly at her, Moonstar flinched at her sister's name but told the cats anyway.
"She… She died, someone got into the camp and killed her last night. And it's Skystar, Snowstar."
Every cat hung their heads respectfully in grief, Snowstar and Rushstar brushed their pelts along hers in comfort.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know, are you okay?"
Nodding, Moonstar tried to hold back tears but few of them escaped. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's not your fault. It's like saying that I'm a dog that looks like a cat! And just to be sure, I checked, and it came up cat so…"
Rushstar, being the youngest, always was hot-headed and a show-off. But she liked to make a joke once in a while.
"C'mon she-kitties, we've got cats to see." Flamestar smirked, sure he was concerned but he knew that Moonstar would be fine.
By the time they got there, it was already sun down. "We should rest here for the night but I'm anxious to get inside."
Silverstar wasn't the only one who was worried about what was lurking out here in the oak valleys.
"Ah, don't worry about it. Look; We'll go in, get our nine lives, get out, rest for a bit, and then return back to our clans. Got it?"
Clawstar suggested, and everyone quickly went into the underground pool.
The deep neon blue pool rippled as the moonlight from above reflected against the surface, Moonstar was awe-struck, the pool shone like a star in the night sky. The others didn't seem to show their surprise but it was plastered on their faces pretty well.
"Alright, let's get our lives and get out of here!"
Rushstar shivered,
"Why, scared?"
Flamestar teased.
"No!... Maybe."
Snowstar looked around the cave with big curious blue eyes. "Wow, I wonder where it came from..?"
Moonstar thought that Twolegs had brought it here, then again, the tunnel was too small and narrow.
Silverstar looked a head,
"Careful, it's starting to get steep."
Clawstar looked back as he took up the rear: Him, Snowstar, Moonstar, Flamestar, Rushstar, with Silverstar taking the lead.
"Thanks for the heads up, now it's too slippery." Rushstar complained.
"Nonsense, now hurry up, these rocks aren't stable." Flamestar wasn't kidding, the tiny pebbles beneath their paws shook rapidly, one or two of them fell down before a loud groan echoed throughout the cave.
"Did you hear that?" Snowstar whispered, sure enough the stones shook violently again.
"No, stop, don't move!" Clawstar growled, Rushstar tried her best not to.
"If you move, we'll plummet at about a hundred elephant's feet." Snowstar stated, what was that cat talking about? What were elephants? And were their feet small?
Moonstar hoped so because she knew that they could fall any second. "I'm glad it's just the six of us…"
Her mew trailed off the cave walls and bounced back up to hit them. "Shut up, or you'll make us all die!" Silverstar rasped.
Moonstar shut her mouth, Rushstar tried not to tremble so rapidly, Clawstar tried not to grunt as he took a few steps back towards the entrance, Flamestar held his breath as he saw more pebbles tumble away, Snowstar tried not to talk or swing her head around to see where that noise was coming from, while Silverstar sighed. Maybe they would be fine, it could only be-
Too late.
As soon as he let the air escape his body, the stones shook and a chorus of thunder sounded as the rocks below them tumbled away. The six shrieking felines desperately tried to hook their claws onto something but it was no use.
"Starclan, help us!"
Rushstar cried.
Well, at least I know Swiftheart will be alright…
Maybe Leafheart was right, I should've never left her…
Will I get to see Skystar and Foxstar?
I'm sorry, Russetstar, I never meant to prank you!
Huh, funny, and I thought we would die another way…
Wait, I feel pain. Is that normal?
Flamestar grunted as he lifted his broad head to look around. He tried to get up but as pain seared all through his body, he just collapsed back on the ground.
Flamestar? I swear I just heard him grunt…
Snowstar opened her eyes to stare at a ragged orange tabby fur-ball just tail-lengths away. She tried to stand or sit up but the moment she raised a leg, pain struck her like a snake.
Was that Snowstar?
Clawstar lazily opened his blue eyes and only saw a tuft of white fur. Next to him, he could scent Moonstar, Rushstar and blood. He stiffened at the sight before him, it was everywhere, blood was spilt all over the ground and dirt was clogged in his throat making him wheeze.
He tried to say something, cough, make a sound but it was useless. He rolled over onto his belly ignoring the pain as he grunted, he saw the slight flicker of Moonstar's ears. They were still alive!
Is that Clawstar?
Trying hard not to strain herself, Moonstar sniffed and flicked her ears to sense what was going on. She could hear Clawstar wheezing, Snowstar whimpering, the soft breathing of Flamestar, the slight twitching of Rushstar beside her and the grunting of Silverstar as he made his way towards them.
"That was a bit rough."
The silver tabby tom looked around to see four cats lying on the ground, only two of them conscious, and a brown tom coughing up dust.
"Hang on, Clawstar, I got you."
Silverstar quickly ran over to the Duneclan leader and helped him cough up the stinging dirt. Bile spread all over the ground, for Moonstar, this was a good time to move.
The black she-cat jumped up and screeched at the sudden pain that roared through her body like a raging fire. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head which was spinning out of control, the ground beneath her seemed to tumble away into nothingness. Moonstar shrieked again as another wave of pain rippled through her body.
All she could see was darkness, not a single speck of light, suddenly she felt a sharp wave of pain sear all throughout her left side. Groaning she lifted her head and narrowed her eyes to see a familiar but odd-looking feline. It was smiling warmly and amused at her, the she-cat was light grey and had sky-blue eyes.
"Skystar?"
The feline nodded her head respectfully at her sister.
"I suppose, you ask?"
That voice, it was all too real, Moonstar couldn't hold them back the tears just kept flowing. She was dead, Skystar was dead, Riseclan was dead without them to lead the Legend. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
Skystar frowned, her sister wasn't usually like this.
"I'm sorry that you're dead."
"You didn't kill me! They did…"
Moonstar stopped sulking and looked at her sister in surprise, did Skystar know who had killed her?
"Who did? Tell me, Skystar, I need to know who did this!"
Skystar opened her mouth but before anything could come out, a hurricane or regret swept them a part. "No, Skystar, please!"
Moonstar wailed, she had enough of this torture and turmoil, she had to know the truth!
But the hurricane grew stronger, and along with it, Moonstar felt pain. It was everywhere, the pain was in her blood, the pain had consumed her.
"No!"
"Moonstar, wake up!"
The Riseclan twitched and her amber eyes flew wide, she gasped for air and snarled at the silver and black tom before her. He took a step back in surprise before realising what was happening;
Moonstar had just connected with Starclan and he had interrupted. "Sorry."
"You fool, I need to know who killed Skystar!"
Her yowl echoed through the cave, slowly followed by a slight thunderous groan.
"We should get moving, the cave's not stable enough to support 'Loud-Mouth' here."
Moonstar growled at Clawstar but the elder leader didn't show as much care as looking around and flicking his ears.
"Wait, what about Flamestar and Rushstar?"
Snowstar was on her side still lying in the dust, Flamestar had fainted because of the Adrenaline and pain he went through when trying to reach Snowstar. Rushstar on the other paw, had still not woken up and was breathing softly like Flamestar.
"Well, at least their breathing, but I've tried and failed. We'll have to leave them here."
Silverstar stated, Snowstar drew in a sharp while Moonstar looked shocked but Clawstar didn't seem to listen.
"Well, if we're going, now's the time."
"Why?"
"Look up."
Every feline looked at the roof of the cave and was greeted by a sickening scar, the roof was going to crush them!
"Hurry, we need to get out of here!"
Moonstar fretted, how were they supposed to get Rushstar, Snowstar and Flamestar out?
As if reading her mind, Clawstar grunted and smirked:
"Alright, take a vote: Stay here and play a game or abandon ship?"
"What?"
Silverstar bristled, this was no time for games! They needed to get out, now!
"Alright, game it is then."
"What? No! This isn't a time to play, Clawstar!"
Moonstar shrieked, they were going to die.
"Listen to him, the odd choices are often the best ones."
Snowstar muttered, ignoring the pain, she grunted in protest but managed to stand on all fours without fainting.
"Alright, Moonie, get ya head in the game!" Clawstar yowled as he dashed towards Rushstar, while making loud yowls. Snowstar did the same and went for Flamestar.
"What are you doing? Stop!"
Moonstar screeched loudly so that she could be heard over the crazy yowling. Silverstar dragged her out of the way as a rock the size of a boulder fell from its crevice and hurtled straight towards her, suddenly being ripped out of harm's way, Moonstar bristled at Clawstar again.
"And don't call me Moonie!"
The dark brown tabby tom turned to stare at her, Rushstar was hanging from his jaws like a dead kit, Snowstar quickly dashed towards the four of them. Flamestar's eye-lids were flickering, he was swaying rapidly from the snow-white she-cat's grip as she pelted towards the cover.
"Quick, in here!"
Clawstar and Moonstar helped to push the rocks away as Silverstar helped his other two friends as the rocks and dust crumbled away above their heads.
"Now!"
Silverstar, Snowstar, Flamestar & Moonstar retreated further into the tunnel as Clawstar and an unconscious Rushstar stayed at the mouth to watch the earth tumble away.
"Whoa, and that's what I call a fallen hope!"
Clawstar grinned as the last of the rocks fell, he picked up the young blue she-cat and retreated to find the others, hopefully Rushstar wasn't injured.
"Ugh, she's got scarred flanks and half a broken back leg."
Silverstar, among all of them, stated the injures. Clawstar had not left the young she-cat's sight ever since they managed to get away from the usual route.
"I don't get it, how did you not get so easily scarred?" Snowstar questioned.
Silverstar looked at her and then glanced away;
"When we were falling, I yowled in panic, but then I saw something. It was a small ledge with paw-holds. I thought it could hold us but you wouldn't listen. I leaned towards the ledge and landed face-first but I managed. When I thought you were all dead, I tried to call out to you but no-one answered so I carefully made my way down and ran into you."
The other cats took a moment before pure horror and guilt struck their faces, Snowstar nodded her head in thought.
"I think I saw that ledge, I tried that too but ended up clawing down the side of the cave!"
Clawstar smiled, finally everything was going to be okay, they would get their nine lives!
Moonstar smiled, if only the journey had been easier, she missed Riseclan.
"Moonstar?"
Silverstar looked worriedly at her, she stiffened.
"Yes?"
Snowstar, Clawstar and a half-awake Flamestar, stared at her.
"Are you expecting kits?"
Moonstar closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath, one word that would change their lives forever was hanging on the tip of her tongue.
"Yes."
Review, tell me how it was, I'll have the next few chapters up soon and I hope you liked it. Don't worry the leaders are fine and guess what?
...
I'm not gonna tell you the kits names!
TridentTattoo and the rest of my OCS NEEDED story reviewers know who they are!
Anyway, thanks for reading and see ya later!