Chapter 8: The War Begins
The end is here
"Our time has come."
Not a whisker twitched as the mesmerizing crackle of the tom's voice reverberated across the darkened clearing to the assembled crowd present. No one dared to. The haunting squawks from the crows inhabiting the nearby trees surrounding the clearing fell upon deaf ears as the horde of cats present sat upright and stoic, focusing their sole and utmost attention on the grey and black striped tom standing before them.
"For what has felt like an eternity of moons, you have suffered my brethren. We have all suffered. The pain, the scathing swipe of injustice that we have unfairly been forced to endure as we sat displaced and ruefully discouraged with the knowledge that we may never escape this accursed, nightmarish forest StarClan imprisoned us in. This knowledge, this curse, it ate through the very marrow of our bones as we sat here, reveling in our misery while all this time the gloating faces of StarClan sat happy and content in the sanctity of their own little paradise!"
The dark tom paused, silently surveying the swarm of felines through a steely pair of cold blue eyes, his gaze lingering on each individual cat present equally before commencing on with his speech. "Well, my brethren, I say no more. We have served out our term of exile in this dark forest. We have paid the price for StarClan's unjust and unfair judgment. It is now their turn to experience the agony we've suffered for the past eternity. The dawn of a new order is commencing, and it starts with all of you," the dark tom rasped, his tail flickering commandingly behind him for emphasis.
"The reign of the stars ends tonight, and you are the blessed arrival of change and enlightenment that will bring it. Tonight the barrier that divides StarClan and the Dark Forest will shatter, and with it will come the reign of a new leadership the Clans below have been suffering from since the first days of our existence. Tonight my friends, we shall rise from the bowels of this abyss and take our revenge!"
The other cats answered his battle cry with a resounding roar of their own, a startling mixture of yowls, screeches, and shrieks that filled the air. Icefrost stood proud and tall, soaking in the waves of excitement and bloodlust wafting off of the crowd. They were ready. The exact moment when the barrier fell, they would be savage and merciless with their extermination of those starry pelted fools; and with them still ignorant and blind to the exact moment when they would strike them down, StarClan didn't stand a chance.
"As malicious and conniving as always, Icefrost," a voice giggled from his side. "With as much skill as you possess at being able to manipulate a crowd, I'm still baffled as to how you failed with your original conquest of the forest."
Such a jeering and mockful remark would have infuriated any other cat, but Icefrost having had to experience such taunting for countless moons didn't so much as cast a side glance at the grinning white she-cat by him.
"Nice of you to finally join us, Rosethorn. I feared that your previous injuries would have inhibited you from attending."
The rebuttal was meant to be as scathing of a reply to the she-cat's previous statement, but she too, due to countless moons of time with the dark striped tom merely laughed in reply. "You of all cats should know that with my level of expertise as a medicine cat, I'll be fully healed in two days of sustaining damage." And as if to prove her point, the white she-cat slowly slunk in front of Icefrost and began to provocatively stretch and display the entirety of her body to him.
Icefrost watched Rosethorn's tiered attempt at flirting with an air of indifference, her usual ploy failing to gain a reaction from the tom. Instead, he chose then to bring up another subject. "I hope you've already taken the initiative and filled young Goldenshine in on what needs to be done? His compassion as a medicine cat has altered his motivation in the past, and I don't need to remind you that he's a crucial key to this entire plan, more so than even Cloudstorm."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about, little Goldenshine," Rosethorn crooned softly. "He reacted as I assumed he would when I told him the real reason behind why I choose him as my apprentice, but despite his misgivings, he'll always do what's asked of him."
"Is that so?" Icefrost growled slightly, his cold blue gaze meeting Rosethorn's mad green one. "For your sake, Rosethorn, I hope you're right."
"Ooh, a threat," Rosethorn giggled madly, softly rubbing her side against Icefrost's hip. "Why, Icefrost, we both know you'd be as hopelessly lost like a kit missing its mother without me."
Icefrost snorted loudly, but otherwise gave no indication that what Rosethorn had said wasn't true. Instead of answering, the dark tom turned away from Rosethorn, slowly making his way for the dark woods of the forest.
"Have everyone waiting and ready to go near the boundary," Icefrost called over his shoulder. "I want them crossing over the very second the barrier fails. When you're done meet me at the pool."
"And what will you be doing?" Rosethorn called. "Not spying on your little warriors again, are you?"
"Something a bit more important than that," Icefrost said, as he was slowly enshrouded by the shadows of the forest. "I'm going to go watch the gathering."
The air was heavy and oppressive, thick with the muggy, overwhelming scent of earth and moisture that signified the upcoming arrival of a rainstorm. Up above, I could make out the pale hue of the sky littered with numerous blackened shapes of clouds as they thankfully shielded out the prying gazes of the stars. The island would have been pitch black and unseeable if not for the floating, golden aura of the full moon that hang above the land like a watchful guardian of the night.
I exhaled deeply, letting the soothing quiet of night help relax my agitated state as I sat waiting for the Clans to arrive for the gathering. I hadn't planned on coming here, truth be told, I had been pretty much done with the living world, using my time instead to lurk amongst the shadows of the Dark Forest until it was time for the battle to commence.
Just as the long forgotten cats of the Place of no Stars were strangely starting to appear and move about the forest, Icefrost ordered me down below to survey tonight's gathering. I had initially tried to argue that my place was there so the very moment that the barrier shattered I'd be the first cat charging through into the heart of StarClan territory.
Icefrost, however, seemed to have other plans in store for me and piqued my interest with, "Change is coming to the forest quicker than you may have imagined, Cloudstorm. If you want a more personal and introspective look about the change I'm talking about, I suggest you attend the gathering tonight. I suspect you'll find the outcome very interesting."
My ears suddenly picked up the sound of rustling from the bushes. I turned my attention to the noise, inhaling deeply and with a grim flash of remembrance detected the musky scent of fish. There was only one Clan that could be. As the bushes began to part, my sense of smell was rewarded for its deduction skills as the husky pelts of RiverClan entered the clearing led by a stocky, dappled golden tom I knew as the RiverClan leader Reedstar.
I didn't have long to wait for the other Clans to arrive. Soon after RiverClan, WindClan made their way into the clearing led by a slender gray and black striped she-cat known as Ravenstar. As I watched Ravenstar make her way to hop alongside Reedstar on the branches, I noticed that down below the cats of WindClan were taking extreme care to remain hostilely distance from the confused RiverClan cats. Up above on the branches, I saw Reedstar give Ravenstar a questioning glance as to the behavior of her Clan, but the WindClan leader chose to ignore him.
The two Clans waited in an uncomfortable silence, broken only by the soft whispers of respective Clanmates conversating amongst each other. I had a plausible idea as to what the sudden shift into hostility from the usually docile RiverClan cats was, but only when the gathering had officially gotten underway would I know for sure.
Finally, after several drawn out moments of suspended talk, a familiar scent caught my attention. The other Clans had also become aware of the incoming scent, as moments later a feral yowl tore through the air as the familiar battle scarred pelt of Brackenstar emerged from the bushes, followed closely behind in tow by Rowanclaw and the rest of ThunderClan.
My heart gave a sudden lurch at the sight of Cherrypaw among the bunch. I averted my gaze away from the ginger she-cat, choosing instead to focus my attention towards the leaders. I was only here to watch the gathering, nothing else. Swiveling my attention elsewhere, I watched with a dull feeling as Brackenstar hobbled his way to the foot of the tree and paused, as if unsure what to do next.
Rowanclaw dashed forward to the leader's side, whispering in his ear an offer, as I saw it, to give Brackenstar help. I shook my head, smiling inwardly. Brackenstar may be old, but the seasoned ThunderClanner was also incredibly stubborn. Shooing Rowanclaw away with a flick of his tail, the withered old warrior gave a low crouch and launched himself upward.
His forepaws just scratched at the lowest branch; Brackenstar dug his claws in deeper, and after an undignified scramble up to the top gave a haggard cough that didn't go by unnoticed by several cats in the clearing. It was evident from his increasingly deteriorating condition that Brackenstar didn't have much time left amongst the forest.
"Has any cat seen Nightstar and her Clan?" Reedstar called out, anxiously shifting on his perch after several drawn out moments. When nothing but shrugs and shaking heads answered his question, he swiveled his gaze towards Brackenstar. "Has your Clan noticed any signs of trouble coming from ShadowClan?"
Brackenstar shook his head in reply. "As far as my cats have reported, the ShadowClan scent markers have been renewed every other day, and we have caught no signs of foul play or illness that would allude to something."
"Do you think it could be related to the Clan deaths?" a she-cat from WindClan suddenly spoke out, snapping the attention of every cat in the gathering on her.
There was suddenly a big commotion of startled yowls and talking amongst the cats, others demanding to know what the WindClan she-cat was talking about before Brackenstar hushed them all with a commanding yowl that reverberated throughout the clearing.
"Ravenstar," he meowed, turning his attention to the black striped she-cat, "I believe there are some answers you owe the assembled Clans. What deaths did one of your warriors just refer to?"
"Deaths!" the WindClan leader snarled incredulously, her fangs flashing dangerously as her eyes glittered with fury. "These were murders, Brackenstar. Two of my cats, one being WindClan's medicine cat apprentice were found murdered near the Moonpool."
A collective yowls of shock rippled through the crowd of cats as Reedstar shouted above the commotion to regain control. "Deaths near the Moonpool, you say?"
"That's right," Ravenstar hissed. "It was discovered that a warrior, Buzzardflight and Berrypaw had gone missing from the Clan sometime during the night of a snowstorm. My warriors searched from sunrise to sunset for them before finally one patrol came in dragging Buzzardflight's lifeless body which had been found outside the Moonpool, frozen stiff in the snow."
"But that doesn't mean she was murdered," Reedstar argued. "You just said it yourself that your warriors found her frozen in the snow. Every cat here knows how foolish it is to go out during a snowstorm. Surely Buzzardflight froze to death because of her own foolishness."
"And since does getting caught in a snowstorm leave your throat pierced by fangs!" Ravenstar demanded, silencing Reedstar into a stupefied trance. "Juniperleaf checked her injuries. Buzzardflight had died by the claws of another cat."
"What about Berrypaw, Ravenstar," Brackenstar asked softly. "You didn't say where her body was found out."
Ravenstar shivered slightly on the branch almost fearful of the knowledge she was about to reveal. "My- my deputy thought it be better if I see for myself since the other cats from the patrol refused to speak of it. I traveled to the Moonpool myself and found-I,I found-" her voice shook painfully before Ravenstar muscled the strength to utter, "I found Berrypaw dead at the foot of the Moonpool, her throat slashed and the blood from her body having pooled into the water."
A sound like the air being sucked out of the world cast across the gathering. The cats present sat lost as their leaders all stood statue like, frozen in their spots on the branches. It seemed impossible, I knew they were thinking. What creature-no, what monster could commit such a heinous and atrocious act.
"The Moonpool has ceased to work," Ravenstar called out in a hollow voice, all trace of energy from before gone. "Juniperleaf told me two days later after the Clan held vigil for Buzzardflight and Berrypaw. Such a despicable act committed in a place and to a cat like Berrypaw as pure tainted the waters of the pool. We have lost our direct line of communication with StarClan."
The words rang strongly throughout the gathering, but I doubted most if any of the cats present heard it. They were panicking; they were growing fearful. Never in the history of the Clans had something like this ever occurred.
Right now the Clans were at their most vulnerable, and when cats felt they had no defense to protect themselves, they became reckless and rash. I had experienced the feeling enough times before to know when it was happening.
"Do you have any idea who it could have been?" Brackenstar's voice rang out, snapping some the cats out of their trance. "Any at all?"
Ravenstar closed her eyes tightly, the shaking from before even more prevalent now. "The afflicted wounds point towards it being a cat for sure, one that was not only use to but hardened for the harsh winds that occur during Leafbare. For those facts alone, it has to be a Clan cat."
"What!" Reedstar snapped, echoing the sentiment of many outraged cats from the RiverClan and ThunderClan sides. "You can't be serious, Ravenstar."
The gray she-cat wheeled on the dappled tom in a fury. "Yes, a Clan cat! Buzzardflight was a seasoned warrior of WindClan with numerous won skirmishes and battles to back up her reputation. There's no chance a rogue could have killed her. No, this was the work of a Clan cat and I'm holding both your Clans responsible."
The warriors on the RiverClan and ThunderClan yowled in outrage at the accusations, as the cats from the WindClan side hissed angrily at the opposing sides. The gathering had absolved into a shouting of blame in a matter of moments.
"Stay calm of mind ThunderClan," Brackenstar was ordering his cats, as down below several warriors from ThunderClan were starting to pick fights with warriors on the WindClan side.
"You're insane, Ravenstar" Reedstar sneered, humping his back in anger. "What proof do you have to accuse any cat of my Clan? We are not traitors to the warrior code!"
"This wouldn't be the first time cats from both your Clans have broken the warrior code," Ravenstar snarled back. "No one other than cats of such traitorous Clans could commit such evil."
"That was a long time ago, Ravenstar; You know that!" Brackenstar wheezed, suddenly angry.
Despite the small barb thrown my way, I had to admit that Ravenstar brought up a very good point, although she couldn't have been farther from the truth. I watched the deformation of the gathering from my safe perch several fox-lengths away in the tall reeds. Things were deftly escalating up a notch, but I couldn't see how any of this had to do with the change Icefrost had spoken of.
"What's wrong, Brackenstar? Does it hurt your pride to here talk of your former code breaking deputy?" Ravenstar jeered, causing yowls of anger to rise from the ThunderClan side. "You ThunderClanners have always strutted around here like StarClan itself blessed your Clan. There's absolutely no way that ThunderClan could do something to violate the warrior code. After all, they're StarClan's favorite, aren't they?"
Brackenstar gaped at Ravenstar in shock. "You can't really believe that, can you? Every Clan here knows ThunderClan is on equal footing with the rest of the Clans here."
"Really?" Reedstar suddenly spoke up, all trace of fury at Ravenstar forgotten as he turned to Brackenstar with a hardened gaze. "If I recall correctly from those seven or so moons ago, RiverClan lost its medicine cat to death while ThunderClan merely exiled its deputy."
Brackenstar slipped slightly on his perch on the branch at the accusations now flying from RiverClan. Things at the gathering had just taken another wild shift.
"You think ThunderClan has favoritism with StarClan too, Reedstar?" Brackenstar asked in disbelief. "You both can't possibly be turning against us? My Clan suffered from that incident just as yours did."
"How so?" Reedstar asked coldly, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "My Clan lost its medicine cat from a forbidden love affair that your deputy initiated. I lost my daughter due to complications with a birth that was never meant to happen! If there's one Clan that StarClan seems to favor it would be ThunderClan. Maybe, Brackenstar, it's you and StarClan that have turned against us."
Brackenstar slipped and tumbled from the branch as Reedstar gave a rough shove into the withered tom's side. Cries of shock rose from the ThunderClan cats and they immediately turned on their RiverClan counterparts in an instant.
"No! Stop!" Brackenstar called from the ground, coughing as the Rowanclaw ran to his side. "Stop this madness at once," he ordered to the fighting cats. You're violating the treaty of truce of the full moon. What do you think StarClan would think of all this?"
A few cats look above to the full moon, but surprisingly it stood proud and uncovered. Even I was surprised at the outcome. StarClan hadn't covered the moon in protest of the Clans fighting. Was it possible that then they agreed with what was going on here?
NO.
They just simply didn't care. There, finally the sign of truth that I had been speaking of. StarClan was finally letting their arrogance show. They didn't care what happen to one of the Clans of the forest, just so long as there were still two others left to praise and obey them. Up above it had slowly started to rain, drops hitting the ground with a resounding echo.
"Brackenstar let's get out of here," Rowanclaw pleaded with the old tom. "This isn't a battle ThunderClan can win. You see for yourself that StarClan no longer wants anything to do with us."
Brackenstar shook his graying muzzle in defiance. "No, Rowanclaw, I will not. We will resolve this issue here under the full moons light before dawn comes. This is all a giant misunderstanding. If I can just explain it to the Clans here they'll surely understand."
The intensity of the rain started to pick up now as Reedstar and Ravenstar hopped down from the branches down to the ground. A steady gust of wind was starting to pick up, and just overheard in the sky the low rumble of thunder could be made out.
"I should have known from the start that only a ThunderClan cat could stoop so low as to kill an apprentice and desecrate the Moonpool," Ravenstar growled. "Your Clans nothing but a assorted bunch of fox hearted cowards and mouse bile, Brackenstar."
"No, please," Brackenstar pleaded, hobbling towards the two leaders as Rowanclaw followed closely behind. "You've got this all wrong."
"It's no use, Brackenstar," Rowanclaw tried to reason with him. "Let's just go now."
"No!' Brackenstar snapped, turning on the tom in rage. "I'd rather die than leave this gathering having it believed my Clans are murderers."
Rowanclaw's eyes narrowed slightly, viewing the old sight of Brackenstar with a new emotion I couldn't place. "So be it then."
Thunder roared and lightning flashed, blinding the entire island out in a glow of light, but despite all of that there was no blocking out the shocked wail that tore through the air.
When the light cleared, the gathering was silent, all signs of fighting gone. Every single cat present stood staring in disbelief at the scene before them. Reedstar and Ravenstar stood there, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.
For a brief moment a sense of dread began to claw at my heart. I blinked once and then it was gone. I was back to normal.
Standing before everyone over the now lifeless corpse of Brackenstar was Rowanclaw, his claws stained red in his former leader's blood. The cream-colored tom stood ominous and commanding, his face a steeled mask as stared down at his fallen leader in indifference.
"Your time has passed, Brackenstar," he spoke coldly, then turning his glare upon Reedstar and Ravenstar, he said, "For countless I have sat back and watched you three bumble and stumble your way leading these Clans. You've grown too complacent with your roles here in the forest. You've grown primitive and useless."
"How dare you!" Reedstar snarled, unsheathing his claws in rage. "You kill your leader and then insult us? You'll die for this show of betrayal, Rowanclaw."
"My betrayal?" Rowanclaw snorted in contempt, shaking his head. "Your threat may have been more convincing if it wasn't for the fact that I'm not alone in my belief that you've ran the Clans into the ground, Reedstar. A change is coming to the forest, Reedstar, and it's all going to be thanks to the three new leaders of ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan."
Reedstar stared at Rowanclaw in confusement, unable to understand what he was being told. Ravenstar caught on, but just a few moments to late.
In another flash of lightning six separate warriors from WindClan and RiverClan slammed into Reedstar and Ravenstar, and then the gathering broke out into an all-out frenzy of snarling and fighting as rain now poured relentlessly down on the land.
I slinked away from the pounding pulse of the rain while all the while staring at the complete destruction of the Clans before my eyes. A rebellion. When? How long had this been in the works? A complete and utter takeover of the three Clans had begun and cats from all side were battling each unable to decipher the traitors from their own Clan with the innocent ones.
Rowanclaw, he killed Brackenstar. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't saw it with my own eyes. I stumbled trying to weave through the reeds away from the scene of the battling cats. I had to get out of here, find shelter. I wanted answers. Icefrost, that manipulating tom, he had planned this all out somehow. He had at least known about it previous to the gatherings start. Why else would he have told me to attend?
I didn't like being fooled, and Icefrost was in for a reckoning the moment I got to the Dark Forest.
Empty.
I couldn't believe it. The Place of no Stars, the Dark Forest, it was lifeless. No, it was always lifeless. This type of lifelessness was something else, the forest felt devoid of a certain aspect that it had originally had before I'd journeyed down below.
I skirted through the darkened woods of the forest for the one place where I knew Icefrost would be. What was the meaning of this? Rowanclaw had been planning with other cats for a massive takeover of Clan leaderships, and Icefrost hadn't thought it important enough to mention it before instead sending down below as a spectator for his amusement.
I tore through the undergrowth, running until I started to come to a dense part of the forest where the undergrowth was overgrowing. I was close. I finally trail from memory where I had last came to see Icefrost, and the dark tom waiting me, stoic and upright with his tail curled in front of him.
"I suspect you already know why I'm here, Icefrost, so I'll cut to the chase. Why?"
"Why what, Cloudstorm?" he asked in an unconvincing tone. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
My rage suddenly boiled over. "Don't play dumb with me, Icefrost! You purposely sent me to the gathering so I could watch your great showing of change in the forest take place. Why? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why?" he said in a collective tone, "because it had nothing to do with you, Cloudstorm. What do you think I've been doing here while all the while you've been down below causing a raucous? What do you think any of the cats of the Dark Forest have been doing? We were recruiting cats for an army and training them for just such an event. What did you think? That those few cats that were there when you killed Leafbreeze were simply never going to be used again? No, Cloudstorm, we found cats, more cats for our cause, and while the majority had nothing against StarClan, they still wanted power, seeked to bring change to the forest in their own way. Rowanclaw was no different. We found them and trained them, taught them how best to use their skills and then left them to their own devices. The outcome was what you saw tonight."
"But their killing each other!" I growled at him. "You've turn them against each other, Icefrost. You manipulated every single last one of them and used them as pawns. You- you're no better than the cats of StarClan!"
I stood there huffing and puffing with my claws unsheathed ready for a fight. I knew that Icefrost was a master manipulator, but even I couldn't have seen this coming. He had just turned the cats of the forest against each other, and there was telling if there'd any left alive by dawn. This madness had to stop now.
"I find it almost repulsive that you would even dare compare me to those fools," Icefrost spoke, a sharp edge to the end of his words. "You were at the gathering yourself, Cloudstorm. Think! What happened there? When the Clans started fighting amongst each other did StarClan do as they normally would have and blocked the moon out with clouds to show their displeasure? No! They kept their whiskers in the sanctity of their little forest and let them destroy each other. They have given up on saving the Clans, Cloudstorm; and the very moment when that truth became prevalent, the barrier shattered."
My heart skipped a beat. "Wait, did you say the barrier shattered? The battle has already begun?"
"Yes, and some time ago too," Icefrost said, turning away and stalking back to the black pool. "Come, Cloudstorm," he called from over his shoulder. "Observe."
I hurried to his side and peered over in the murky waters below unable to see a thing.
"Give it a moment," Icefrost ordered, and with a wave of his paw the pool illuminated to reflect back the image of the dark shapes of Dark Forest cats colliding with the starry pelts of StarClan warriors in the middle of a golden field.
I dug my claws into the ground, the anxiousness and truth of finally being able to get to StarClan a reality. "Let's go," I growled, already whipping around to bound for the boundary.
"Not just yet," Icefrost called, forcing me to stop. "There's someone else that we're waiting on."
I turned around. "Stay here if you want, Icefrost, but I'm going."
"I would advise against that, Cloudstorm," he spoke softly and commanding. "Trust me; it's more beneficial for the plan if the three of us go together."
My annoyance began to prick at this. "There you go again with this dramatic plan of yours, Icefrost. "What big surprise do you have left that I don't know about? What's your big secret?"
"You don't want to know, Cloudstorm," a voice suddenly called from the woods, turning my attention away from Icefrost. "Trust me; you don't want any part in what Icefrost has planned."
A golden pelt suddenly emerged from the undergrowth, and I was greeted by the unexpected sight of Goldenshine.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I'm here to save you away from him," he growled angrily, motioning towards the stoic Icefrost. "Cloudstorm you have no idea what he's planning to do to the forest, he's-"
"I already know about the gathering, Goldenshine. I was there."
"No!" the golden medicine cat snapped, actually surprising me. "No, Cloudstorm that's not it. There's something else, something worse that involves me. I can't stop them from forcing me into their servitude, but I can save you from making a grave mistake tonight. You must not go to StarClan. You can't help Icefrost defeat them."
I stared at him with contempt. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this chance, Goldenshine? My whole life has revolved around this one single moment; and now you're telling me to walk away after all I've done to get here!"
Goldenshine looked at me with pleading eyes, his entire body quivering with some hidden knowledge he was unable to expose. "You mustn't do it, Cloudstorm. You'll regret it after it's done. For any of us to have a future worth seeing, you must let StarClan survive. Icefrost's plan, it's-it's-"
"It doesn't matter what they're planning," I answered, turning my back to him. "From the very beginning of this alliance with the Dark Forest, I've only had one goal in mind. As long as I finally get what I've been craving for for so long now, I'm satisfied."
Goldenshine gaped at me in disbelief, his eyes widened in shock. "Is that really what you believe, Cloudstorm? Are you truly prepared to live with the consequences of what your actions will cause? What about the cats of the forest who you've claimed all this time you and the Dark Forest have been striving to save? What about them, Cloudstorm? What about your friends in ThunderClan, your family, Cherrypaw? What about them?"
My ears inadvertently flattened at the mention of Cherrypaw's name, but otherwise, I chose to ignore Goldenshine insolent yammering. As far as my conscience was concerned Cherrypaw died in the rebellion during the gathering. "I've come too far now to be persuaded otherwise, Goldenshine. For so long now I've been consumed by nothing more than having the satisfaction of my undying sense for vengeance finally being fulfilled. One way or another, this ends tonight."
Goldenshine opened his mouth to retaliate, but the sound of another cat's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Very good, Cloudstorm," it cackled loudly. "You always know just what to say."
No it couldn't be. I turned around in shock to meet the glittering mad gaze of Rosethorn emerge from the forest, carrying a small bundle of cobwebs in her jaws.
"How!" I growled angrily, staring at the unscathed she-cat in disbelief.
"Don't look so surprised, Cloudstorm," she giggled madly, dropping the bundle at her paws, "although you're desirable no matter how you look."
"What's the meaning of this?" I demanded, turning to Icefrost who had remained silent the entire time. "What's she doing here?"
"Rosethorn is the final piece to our little group, Cloudstorm," he said, walking to stand by her side. "She will be accompanying us into StarClan where her expertise as a seasoned medicine cat will be put to great use."
"You're even crazier than her if you think I'm going to agree to this. You might not know this, but your little medicine cat there attempted to brainwash me into loving her!"
Icefrost flicked his tail dismissively. "I'm well aware of the circumstances that occurred involving the three of you, and Rosethorn was severely reprimanded for it by you if I recall."
I snorted in disgust. "That doesn't appear to be the case to me, Icefrost. She looks completely fine."
"Nice of you to notice," Rosethorn purred mockingly.
"What's done is done," Icefrost spoke. "You wanted to destroy StarClan, Cloudstorm, here's your chance. You have my word that Rosethorn will keep her paws to herself, and once we get to StarClan you'll be left alone to enact your vengeance as you see fit."
I stared from Icefrost to Rosethorn completely unhappy with how things were turning out. That she-cat had nearly drove mad just as she was, and Icefrost was asking me to forget all that now? I gritted my teeth angrily, digging my claws deeply into the ground hating myself for what I was about to say. At least when I got to StarClan I could my time searching for Brightstar.
"Fine," I spat, fixing the Rosethorn with a scathing glare that summed up my complete feelings towards her. "I'll go along with your little game for now, Icefrost, but be warned. If she crosses my path at all during this battle, she's dead."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Beloved," Rosethorn cackled loudly, kneeling down to pick up her bundle of cobwebs.
Icefrost and Rosethorn turned away and both slowly began to walk their way into the murky waters of the black pool, leaving me alone on the bank with Goldenshine who watched me through sad eyes.
"You're making a mistake. You know that right?"
I sighed softly, surveying the golden tom before me unable to fully connect together how I felt about him. "If I am then it's my mistake to make."
He nodded slowly, his sad gaze never leaving my face as he slowly began to back away back into the woods. "If you come across a golden she-cat name Morningflower, tell her I'm sorry that I couldn't save her." And with that last message, Goldenshine disappeared.
My gaze lingered on the spot where I had saw him disappear before turning away. As I saw Icefrost and Rosethorn began to sink further and further into the dark waters of the black pool, I paused on the bank not understanding what they were doing. "Wait. Why aren't we going through the boundary like the others?"
Icefrost turned to me with a cold smile flickering in the depths of his icy blue eyes. "You have a lot to learn about diversions, Cloudstorm. Why take the obvious route of entry when you can sneak around through the back?"
A/N: Sorry for the wait. The next chapter takes place inside of StarClan during the battle. Any comments, thoughts, or CC is appreciated and thanks for reading!
