Jadeheart snarled as she missed the vole. "Mouse dung!"

Bushface purred. "Jadeheart, I think you have more than enough prey for the fresh-kill pile. I'm sure no cat would say you haven't done your duties."

It was true. She'd caught three mice and a squirrel that morning alone.

"Maybe you should rest…" Stormcloud warned his sister.

"I'm FINE!" She spat.

Stormcloud backed away. He'd never seen her this upset…

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Stormcloud. But I just… I just can't go back yet." She took off towards the trees to find more prey.

Bushface sighed, his deep amber eyes filled with sorrow. "What do you think?"

"About Jadeheart? Or Lightningscar?"

"Both."

He sighed. "I don't know about Lightningscar…"

"Do you think she's ok?"

"I know it." Stormcloud's mew was strong, as though he was completely sure of what he was saying.

Bushface sighed. "I don't."

Stormcloud looked at his brother for a long time, before letting out a deep sigh. "You've been having the dreams, too, haven't you?"

Bushface closed his eyes. "Rivers of blood. Cats screeching. Warriors in battle. And Lightningscar the strongest warrior of all. Our kin's bodies at her feet, their blood on her paws…" He shivered and opened his eyes with a soft nod. "Oh, I've been having the dreams."

"Do you think she is too?"

Bushface looked at his brother. "I know it."


"Lightningscar! Lightningscar!"

Her new Clan, cheering for her, calling her name, making the forest Clans tremble with fear.

"LET THEM TREMBLE!" She shrieks.

The battle flowing around them. Nothing but the battle. Nothing is important but the rivers of blood, the claws and the teeth and the blows and the fury and the rage.

Firestar, dead beneath her paws. His lives leaving him, one by one.

ThunderClan is DEAD! The thought fills her with triumph.

Until she sees the three cats beneath her.

Jadeheart. Bushface. Stormcloud. Their blood on her claws, their bodies soaked in blood.

"NO!" She cries. "NO!"

Darkblood comes before her. "This is the end of your past life. ThunderClan is no more." His green eyes, Jadeheart's eyes, meet hers. "You are truly free."

Free? This is freedom? This battle raging in her paws, her kin's blood flowing beneath her? THIS IS FREEDOM?

Her father purrs. "This is freedom."


"NO!"

Lightningscar snapped awake. She was gasping, fear the only emotion she could feel.

Iceflame, who turned out to be a ginger she-cat with bright blue eyes, looked at her, concern plain in her face. "Are you all right?"

Lightningscar nodded, her throat dry. "I'm fine. I just… need some fresh air."

Iceflame nodded and Lightningscar padded out of the den. Her father was awake, staring out at the forest, standing guard. He caught her scent and purred without even looking at her. "Hello, Shadow."

"Hello, father." She sat down next to him.

There was silence for a long time.

Finally, Lightningscar spoke up. "Darkblood? If… if we attack ThunderClan…"

"WHEN we attack ThunderClan…" Darkblood corrected.

"When we attack ThunderClan… what will happen to Jadeheart? And Stormcloud? And…" She didn't want to say it. "Bushface?" Her voice cracked. Bushface and her had always been best friends. As close as brother and sister could be.

Darkblood sighed. "You must understand. There are victims of every war."

"But do I have to kill them?" The question was out before she could stop it.

"No." Her father replied. "No, you need to do nothing of the sort."

She swallowed. "But if they try and stop me…"

He looked at her, and her words died under his gaze. "Shadow… My Shadow… There is nothing I want more than for your littermates to come here, to come home. But as long as they remain in ThunderClan, they are our enemies. Please… understand."

She nodded, though her mouth was dry. "Yes, Father."


"Jadeheart!" Leafpool's mew was stern.

Jadeheart winced. "Coming." She replied.

Jayfeather looked at her with sightless eyes as she entered the den.

"How mad is she?" Jadeheart whispered, knowing the medicine cat would hear.

Jayfeather purred. "Incredibly."

Jadeheart winced as Leafpool came in front of her. "Jadeheart, Firestar tells me you've been doing patrols from dawn until sun-down. You haven't been sleeping. You're going to get sick if you keep this up."

"Nothing to worry about yet…" Jayfeather told Leafpool. "She seems fine…"

"Fine?" Leafpool replied. "I'm not so sure." She sighed and sat down, curling her tail around her paws. "Jadeheart, I know what's happening with you and what happened to your sister. But you don't need to deprive yourself of sleep just because of what happened."

She snorted. You don't have my dreams. She bit back the sharp reply. "I'm fine, Leafpool."

"Yes. You WILL be fine, once you have some rest." She flicked her tail. "No exceptions. Go to your den, NOW."

"But…!"

"NOW!"

Jadeheart cringed, then nodded, padding softly off to her den. She lay down with a heavy sigh. Her dreams tormented her, throughout the night. Always. There was nothing she could do about them.

She closed her eyes. Despite how badly she wanted to stay awake, she was exhausted. Her breathing began to slow, and the darkness took her away from the forest, away from the problems of the Clan, and into the deepest, darkest parts of her own mind…


Jadeheart opened her eyes. Blood pooled around her paws. She cried out in disgust and jumped back. "No!" She hissed.

Firestar's body lay on the ground, his throat pouring blood onto the ground. "NO!"

Every instinct in her was desperate to protect her Clan's leader. But there was nothing she could do as his last life slipped away from her, dancing towards the stars.

"NO!" Pain flashed through her. Her leader was dead.

"WHOEVER DID THIS SHALL PAY!" She shrieked. "PAY WITH THEIR LIVES!"

"Is that so, sister?"

Jadeheart whirled around. The rage of battle was already roaring in her ears, her claws were unsheathed, ready to tear the throat out of the cat that had done this. But her fury died as she was met with bright, amber eyes.

Lightningscar purred, an unnamable, furious darkness tainting her words. "Would you really murder me?" She demanded. "Would you really kill your own kin?"

Jadeheart took a few steps back. "NO! Lightningscar, how could you? How COULD YOU?"

"How could I?" She snarled. "HOW COULD YOU!"

Shock entered Jadeheart's already round eyes.

"You are a TRAITOR!" Lightningscar hissed. "Not even fit to be a warrior!"

"NO! No, Lightningscar, that's a lie!"

"IS IT?" Lightningscar roared. Her voice was no longer tainted with the sounds of ThunderClan, it was different. Like another language. A language of darkness. "Is it a lie, Jadeheart? You are responsible for all of this!" She gestured to Firestar's body.

"NO!" Jadeheart snarled. She unsheathed her claws, and prepared to launch at her sister.

But Lightningscar just let out a blood-curdling shriek, and suddenly, she was surrounded by dark shapes. The shapes of cats.

"This is MY Clan." Lightningscar hissed as she disappeared into the shadows. "The Clan that shall be your end…"


"Jadeheart!"

Bushface's voice snapped her out of the dream. She realized that her breathing was heavy, that she had been running away, fighting invisible enemies in her sleep.

He looked at her with understanding eyes. "I've been having those dreams, too." He whispered.

She sighed. "I don't know what to do." She sat up. "I've always known. But this time…" She sighed again. "I don't know. I don't think I'll ever know."

"Perhaps not." Bushface admitted.

They said nothing more, sitting in silence, not daring to think about their sister, the one who had betrayed their Clan, the one who could very well end up killing them…