The battle raged in Lightningscar's ears. She felt Darkshadow's paws slash at her nose. She retaliated, ducking under his legs and knocking him off balance.

The other cats of their new Clan watched in fascination. She was a blur on the battlefield.

She and Darkshadow stopped at exactly the same time. They'd gotten to know each other very well over these past days, and seemed to know exactly what the other wanted.

At that point, Darkblood came down from his den. He was purring loudly. "Very good, Lightningscar."

She purred as well. "Thank you."

His brilliant amber eyes landed on hers for a moment. "I was wondering if I could speak with you. Privately." He added as Darkshadow padded up next to her.

Lightningscar shuffled around on her paws. "If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer it if Darkshadow was with me."

His eyes grew slightly more round, but he understood the implications of the statement fully. Amusement filled his features as he nodded. "Very well."

Lightningscar's pelt brushed against Darkshadow's as they walked. Her father's face hadn't been able to hide his happiness that Lightningscar had found someone she cared about so completely in her new clan.

They went together into Darkblood's den. He turned to face them.

"Lightningscar…" he sighed. "You know the Clan territory much better than we do. You know how these Clan cats think, how they act." He swallowed. "I'm going to have us split up into two separate forces. I shall lead one. I want you to lead the other."

Her eyes widened. "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Just accept the job." Her father suggested. "You will, of course, have help…" he looked pointedly at Darkshadow.

Darkshadow purred. "We won't let you down, sir."

Lightningscar thought about this for a moment. "But… what do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Select your warriors." Darkblood replied coolly. "They will become your team, your Clan, your family. You will learn every part of their lives like your own. You will know how they think, how they move. They're strengths, their weaknesses. And you will lead them into battle. Match them against warriors that have weaknesses where they have strengths. Improve on their strengths, take away their weaknesses. Make them warriors."

A sparkle had entered Lightningscar's eyes. She nodded. "Which warriors?"

Her father purred. "That's for you to decide. Which ever ones you believe you can work with. I shall command the others."

Darkshadow's tail entwined briefly with hers. "We can do this." He breathed into her ear.

She nodded. "Thank you, Darkblood."

The leader nodded, and they walked out.

"Iceflame." Darkshadow suggested immediately as they came out. "And The Other."

Lightningscar nodded. "Mountain Peak." She added.

"Greenblaze." He said. "She's not too strong, but she's fast."

"And Dawn."

"Night of Shadows."

"Starlit Darkness."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. She almost crushed me the other day."

Darkshadow nodded thoughtfully. "River. He gets along well with most."

"Bronze." Lightningscar added.

"Is there anyone else?"

"I think that's it."

"Hmm… What about Scarred?"

Darkshadow's eyes filled with fear. "We should probably leave him to your father…"

"What?" She teased. "Too scared?"

His fur bristled. "Aren't you?"

She shrugged. "Nah. Come on, let's tell them."

They gathered up all ten of the other cats and brought them together. "We're going to attack, and soon." She told them after she'd explained. "So we're going to become the perfect army."

A few yowls of agreement answered her.

She purred. "Let's do this."


They woke up early the next day. Lightningscar'd had them fighting against each other all day, learning their strengths, their weaknesses.

"Bronze." She called. A brilliant golden tom came forward. "You're strong, and quick. Problem is, you keep plans in your mind; you don't allow room for flexibility. It's a fatal flaw." She purred. "It won't exist when we're finished."

Greenblaze, a brown tabby she-cat, was told she was quick, light on her feet. The key was to stay under other warrior's paws.

Dawn was too strong; she relied only on that strength.

Starlit Darkness blended well with the shadows, she would fight better at night.

Night of Shadows, despite her name, had the opposite problem. She would shine out too brightly in a nighttime attack.

It continued on like this until Lightningscar got to Scarred. She nodded her head respectively.

He looked at her. Scarred lived up to his name; he'd once had a fight with an eagle as a kit. Scars decorated his pelt, long ones in his sides and smaller ones on his face.

"You do have a weakness." She whispered in his ear, not wanting to reveal it to the others. "You bleed."

He nodded, purring slightly. "Can't help that one, miss." His voice was different. Not like Lightningscar's deep and dark meow, though. His was slightly slurred, and he said strange words that sounded more like another language than anything else.

She purred. "You're unstoppable." She whispered. "That's why I want you against Lionblaze." She looked down. "I've never seen him get hurt. You can't miss him. He's got a brilliant orange pelt, but he isn't Firestar. You'll know him by the battle in his eyes."

Scarred looked at her. "He sounds like a worthy challenge."

She nodded once.

Life changed completely from then on. Battles, which had been common and routine, now became more frequent. They no longer slept in dens; they stayed out in the cold, wanting to become immune to it. They learned how everyone thought, how they acted on those thoughts. They learned battle strategies, they learned defensive moves from everyone, each contributing what they knew.

"No, no, Greenblaze." Lightningscar once instructed. Greenblaze stared at her with wide and eager eyes. "You have to stay under his feet. Like this." She lowered her head to the ground, dancing lightly around in circles until she saw an opening. She raced under Dawn's massive paws.

Scarred watched closely, but rarely joined the battle. He would instruct, but didn't seem to have much to learn.

They had grouped into pairs, and Lightningscar, along with Scarred, watched closely and told them their weaker points, their stronger areas.

"Nice move, Starlit!" Darkshadow purred as Starlit Darkness flipped Night Of Shadows off of her paws.

"Iceflame! Around her." Scarred noted as Iceflame tried to jump on top of Mountain Peak.

Lightningscar joined in a fight between Darkshadow and The Other. She dodged them both expertly and had them off their paws in two heartbeats.

"Too slow!" She purred.

The Other glared hatefully at her, but she just looked calmly back at him.

The hardest battle, and the best, was the one with everyone fighting at once. Dawn ended up winning, as Lightningscar, Darkshadow, and Scarred (The best three by far) watched closely.

Almost a moon had passed by the time they had become an incredibly close 'family.' They knew each other's strengths, their weaknesses, everything.

Lightningscar purred. "This is a Clan." She said proudly.

"LightningClan." Darkshadow mused.

She purred even louder and pressed her muzzle to his cheek. "DarkClan." She corrected.

"That sounds more like Darkblood."

She purred again and entwined her tail with his. "Maybe. But whatever it's called, it's our clan."


The moon was brilliant overhead. Jadeheart walked slowly, swallowing.

"H-Hello?" She called out nervously. Whispers followed her, and she had the impression that cats were darting out of her vision every time she turned to face their soft voices.

"It can't be her, surely?"

She whirled, but saw nothing.

"She's not one of us!" Another voice agreed.

"What of the sister?" Another whispered.

Mist covered Jadeheart's vision as she kept looking for the origin of the voices.

"No, it is them. They have returned at long last."

"But they're strangers! They'll never be accepted, you know that!"

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Jadeheart asked, pain in her meow.

"She's scared! She'd be no use on the battlefield, especially against her sister."

"Surely you've made the wrong choice, her brothers were more able, it was obvious!"

"The brothers were not the choice I made." A sudden, louder, spoken, and more commanding voice sounded out. "She is."

"But you can not truly believe…?"

"I believe what I like!" The voice sounded again, harsher this time. "She is the right choice!"

"But… Bushface! Stormcloud! They both know Lightningscar better than she does! They accepted her, she did not! She'll never listen!"

"She must listen, and she will!" The voice had a certain flow to it.

"But she's always been a stubborn kit; you know that better than anyone…"

"Silence!" The voice rang through the mist. "She is my choice! I will hear no protests!"

The other voices went immediately quiet.

Jadeheart's eyes searched through the mist. "Please, can someone tell me what's happening?"

The mist slowly began to thicken, but only in one place. Finally, it began to change, into the silhouette of a cat.

When the silhouette was complete, Jadeheart found herself looking at a beautiful she-cat with a white-grey pelt, close to silver.

"Hello, Jadeheart." She whispered. Her voice was the same authoritative one used earlier, though it was much softer now. "I've been expecting you."

Jadeheart looked at her. "Wh-Who are you?" she was suddenly feeling very terrified, as though she had trespassed into a dark and dangerous secret world that was not her own.

"I am Silver Flame." she replied in a soft, delicate voice. "I am your mother, Jadeheart."

"My… my mother?"

Silver Flame nodded once. "Yes."

Jadeheart looked at her for a long time. "But… that's…"

"We do not have time." Silver Flame interrupted. "You must stop Lightningscar. Because you are the only one who will be able to."

"But… how? She hates me!"

"I know. I'm sorry, but there is no other way."

"No! Bushface could do it, or Stormcloud, but not me!"

"There is no other way." Silver Flame repeated.

"But I can't stop her! Not without killing her!"

Silver Flame's brilliant eyes, (which were green like her own) softened slightly. "There is no other way." She said once more.

"But… I can't kill my sister!"

"There is no other way." She began disappearing into the mist once more.

"But I can't do this!"

The words echoed around her. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.

She swallowed. "Please, I can't do this! Don't ask me to!"

But silence answered.

Jadeheart let out an anguished yowl, horrible and painful. "What do you want me to do? I can't kill her!"

In the shadows, Jayfeather watched with wide eyes.