Sorry, as always, for the lat update. I've been on vacation for the past few days, so I haven't really had time to write. Hopefully this chapter will actually be getting somewhere. I realize that I haven't even though of where I'm going with this story…but don't worry, I've got ideas now. Here's Firefall.

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The moon shone as bright and pale as a blind eye against the pitch black of the night sky. No cheerful stars twinkled in the distance.

Firefall padded slowly through the darkness, her green eyes glittering ominously. Her tail lashed with frustration at every pawstep. Above her, seeming to block out the entire sky, loomed a giant pine tree, bristling with shapeless needles.

For as long as she could remember, Firefall had been plodding along beneath the same tree, with no sign of life – not even a bird could be found flitting among the branches over her head. But despite how far she must have come by now, the distance seemed no shorter, and her paws didn't even twinge.

Suddenly, and all the more surprising due to the emptiness of her surroundings, Firefall's paw thudded against something hard and cold. She stopped, shocked, and glanced down to find a small, silver pebble, about the size of a kit's head. Curious, the red-pelted she-cat bent down to nose the stone. It was strangely smooth and reflective – if she caught herself at the right angle, she could see her face mirrored almost perfectly on the silvery surface.

As she stared down at it, the stone became suddenly foggy, and Firefall's red face disappeared, only to be replaced a moment later with that of a silver tom. His pale blue eyes stared out with a friendly expression, though his whiskers drooped and there was something sad and desperate about the gauntness of his features. Though the reflection was motionless, Firefall could have sworn that the tom was somehow alive.

The crack of a twig behind her made Firefall whirl around. Forgetting that she had once been alone in the shadows of the giant pine, Firefall immediately lifted her nose to the air. There wasn't a breath of wind, so no scents reached her, but somehow, it seemed to Firefall that she could feel whoever was out there.

"Hello?" she called, peering cautiously into the surrounding gloom. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

As if on cue, a dark shape materialized about three foxlengths from her – a black-pelted tom. He was staring at the ground, but as soon as he lifted his head, Firefall recognized him.

"Darkfang?" she hissed in disbelief.

"Redstorm?" mewed the tom. His voice sounded strangely small and afraid, unlike the usual cruel sneer that came out of his throat.

"What in the name of StarClan are you doing here? I'm surprised our warrior ancestors even let you walk among their lands?"

"StarClan?" questioned Darkfang. He was closer now, loping forward on slender legs. The familiar grimace slipped onto his face, and Firefall felt a little more relaxed, if it was possible. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to have to deal with a troubled Darkfang. "The cats of StarClan have never set paws on these paths."

Firefall started. "What?" she growled. "We're not in StarClan?"

Darkfang glanced up at the pine tree, his ice-blue eyes glowing vibrantly. Slowly, he shook his head. "No. We are in between, for though the sky is that of the Place of No Stars, if you managed to reach the edge of this shadow, you would walk among StarClan."

Shivers swept down Firefall's spine. She had calmed herself with the thought that she was treading the same paths as her warrior ancestors. But now, as she looked up at the dark sky, barely visible between the pine branches, she suddenly felt very, very alone.

Darkfang padded closer now, circling Firefall with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You though I was my father," Firefall commented offhandedly, following him with her eyes.

"He often visits this place in his dreams," replied the black tom vaguely. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes focused on something at Firefall's paws. She looked down, remembering the silver pebble with the face of the blue-eyed tom. Warily, Firefall backed away from it as Darkfang crept closer.

"Don't touch it," she warned, but it was too late. Darkfang was bent over the pebble, and when he stood, Firefall saw that he had grasped it in his jaws.

They stared at each for a moment, the flame-pelted she-cat and what might have been her evil twin. Then, like a gust of wind, Darkfangw as off, sprinting in the opposite direction, towards the unreachable edge of the shadow cast by the monstrous tree. In his mouth the pebble sparkled, casting a dancing light on the black tom's cheek.

Firefall watched him run with mixture of sorrow and relief. She was just wondering what had happened to the silver reflection in the stone, when Darkfang suddenly came to halt. He was almost out of sight now, but she could still make out his shape in the distance, Curious, Firefall ran a little closer. When she looked harder, she realized that Darkfang had stopped because another cat had appeared. This one was larger, and she could just barely make out a pair of amber eyes.

A moment later, realization dawned on her like a splash of ice cold water. Her heart thudded wildly, and suddenly her legs were jelly, her paws glued to the ground. Tigerstar.

Darkfang was backing away now, and the expression on his face, even from a distance, was obviously afraid. He still held the silver stone in his mouth, but it no longer shimmered.

Firefall watched with rapt attention as Darkfang stumbled backwards and Tigerstar advanced, looming over the smaller tom. It was only when she could see his glittering white fangs that Firefall realized how close they had gotten. She tried to force her paws to move, but it was already too late. Tigerstar glanced up, and his infamous amber eyes met hers.

Pain like white fire lanced through her, and Firefall bit back a cry, closing her eyes and turning her face away. A rumbling cough filled her ears, which Firefall realized was laughter.

"Well, well, well," came a voice that chilled Firefall's very bones. "Where did you get that stunning pelt?" She felt a thud in the ground, and when she finally brought herself to look up, Tigerstar was striding towards her. Desperate, Firefall took a halting step backwards, but she knew that there was escape this legendary villain now.

"Firefall, is it?" Tigerstar murmured, circling her, sizing her up. He grinned, exposing long white fangs. "What a fitting name."

Then he turned to Darkfang, taking his piercing amber gaze off her, and Firefall found she could move again. But her legs were quite efficiently melted by shock and fear, and she very nearly collapsed where she stood.

"Darkstar," meowed Tigerstar, padding back to where the black tom was crouched, the pebble clutched between his paws. "What did you plan to do with Firefall here, when your puny group of rebels finally makes some progress?"

Darkfang's gaze flickered to Firefall, and then back to Tigerstar. "She's to be killed with the rest. Tigerstar."

The huge tabby nodded slowly, twisting his head to look over his shoulder at Firefall. "Killed with the rest." H grinned again. "Does that sound good?"

Firefall might have made a witty reply, but at that very moment there came a crashing sound, and all three cats whirled about to find two more shapes charging towards them out of the gloom. Darkfang immediately leaped to his feet, snatched up the pebble and ran, but Firefall stayed where she was.

"Tigerstar!" one of the cats yowled. "Leave this place, and leave my daughter alone!"

Firefall's heart leaped with joy as she recognized Redstorm, in all his glory, running straight for the tabby warrior. Beside him, to her surprise, was Windfoot. They both seemed to be surrounded by some sort of aura – Redstorm gave off a warm red glow, and from Windfoot shined a clear, white light. The two toms didn't slow down as they approached, but merely ran past Firefall and leaped as one, straight for Tigerstar.

Firefall would have given a season's fresh-kill for the look on Tigerstar's face. Faced with the two shining warriors, who seemed as if they had the very power of StarClan in their claws, he suddenly dropped all fierce pretenses, and turned tail to run, looking like a frightened kit faced with his angry mother.

Redstorm and Windfoot stopped and let him go, knowing that they couldn't catch him if they decided to give chase.

"Go on, Firefall," Redstorm murmured without looking at her. "Run away from here, and you'll soon wake up. Keep running though – who knows where Tigerstar's gone."

Firefall obeyed without hesitation and surged forward, enjoying the feeling of the air rippling down her pelt as she ran, faster than she ever could have in the waking world.

And then as she was just beginning to lose her grasp on the dark world, she stumbled, tripping over something that was lying on the ground. Though she knew what it was before she looked, Firefall glanced down and saw the pebble. But to her horror, the silver tom's face was gone, and a jagged scratch marred the once smooth surface.

Firefall woke gasping for breath, her heart thudding, her paws aching. It took her a moment to take her in surroundings, but finally she managed to catch her breath and look around. With a groan, Firefall realized that she was alone in the den. After giving herself a quick bath, she hurried out into the sun-filled ThunderClan camp. Some warriors still hung about, but it looked as if the dawn patrol was long-gone, ad some hunting parties had already left.

"Firefall! Finally!" came a mew from the other side of the clearing. Firefall turned to find Owlflight padding quickly towards her. "We thought you were going to sleep 'til sun-high. But…I didn't want to wake you."

Fire smiled and gave a short purr, rubbing her muzzle against the golden-furred tom's cheek. "Thanks Owlflight."

"I was wondering if you wanted to go hunting? Stripethroat was just about to leave," Owlflight questioned, pointing with his tail at a group of warriors gathered around the camp entrance.

"I'm sorry," Firefall mewed quickly. "I can't – I have to talk to Mistystone."

Owlflight jumped as if something had bitten him, and stared at her. "Why?" he meowed instantly.

Firefall raised an eyebrow. "Nothing, really…is something wrong, Owlflight?"

The golden warrior stared at her for a moment, then shook himself and said, "No. Sorry, I think I slept funny. I'll be back soon. See you, Firefall." He flicked his tail over her ears and then padded away.

Shaking her head, Firefall hurried away to the medicine den. She hoped fervently that Mistystone was there, and when she reached the cool cave, she was doubly lucky. Mistystone was crouched in the entrance with her eyes closed, and Bloomfrost was nowhere to be seen.

"Mistystone? Can I talk to you?" Firefall asked quietly, approaching the silver-furred she-cat slowly. Mistystone jumped, and her eyes flashed open, darting around until they rested on Firefall.

"Hello, Firefall. What can I do for you?" she mewed, getting to her feet and stretching.

"Well…I just needed to talk to you about something."

A knowing look came into Mistystone's eyes, and she mewed, "I knew it."

Firefall frowned. "You did? I wasn't sure if you'd had the same dreams."

Now it was Mistystone's turn to be confused. She opened her mouth, her whiskers twitching, and then closed it again, sitting back on her haunches. "This is about a dream you had?" she mewed, as if reaffirming something.

"Well…" Firefall paused, glancing at Mistystone. "Is there something going on? Because Owlfight was acting a little weird too. Is there something I should know about?"

Mistystone hesitated, then meowed, "No, I suppose not."

"Okay then," mewed the red warrior, nodding shortly. "Good. Anyway, I needed to talk to you about a dream?"

Mistystone stared at her for a moment longer, and then blinked and nodded. "Yes, yes. Well, whatever happened to only medicine cats dreaming with StarClan?"

"This wasn't with StarClan," Firefall murmured under her breath, but Mistystone heard, and her eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?" she meowed. "Oh, never mind. What was the dream?"

"I was in a place where there were no stars in the sky-" Mistystone's eyes bulged – "Not the Place of No Stars, but in between. Beneath a huge pine tree."

Recognition sparked in the medicine cat's eyes, but she said nothing.

"I was padding along, when suddenly I came across this silver pebble, and there was a reflection of a silver tom with blue eyes in it, and he seemed…sad, I guess. Then Darkfang appeared out of nowhere, and he picked up the stone, and then he ran away. Then Tigerstar came-"

At this, Mistystone gave a little choking cough and her pelt bristled, but still she said nothing. "Tigerstar came, and he was talking to Darkfang, and he called him Darkstar, an then he saw me, and he talked to me. Then Redstorm and Windfoot came and chased him away, and they were glowing, and then Redstorm told me to run, so I did, and I found the pebble again, but this time the cat's face was gone, and the pebble was scratched. Then I woke up." Firefall stopped and sucked in a huge breath, blinking.

Mistystone was frozen, her face a mask of shock. She was staring past Firefall at something the she-cat couldn't see. After a long moment, she suddenly shook herself, and her face returned to normal.

"I have also dreamt beneath the tree, though in my dreams it was an Oak. I had a very similar dream to yours, when I was younger. But I must ask you – was there a moon?"

Firefall frowned. "What? Why?"

"Please, Firefall. In the sky, there were no stars, but was there a moon?"

"Well…" Firefall thought for a moment, then replied, "Yes, there was. It was huge, and bright. Why?"

"It doesn't matter. You said the tom had blue eyes…interesting. The cat that I saw in the pebble, when I dreamt of it, had amber eyes at first, which then turned green, and then blue. I wondered sometimes if it was the even the same cat."

"Then we haven't always had the same dreams," Firefall mewed thoughtfully. "I wonder why not."

"StarClan knows. What was it that you wanted to discuss about the dream?" Mistystone questioned.

"Well, I was thinking…the cat that I saw in the pebble, with blue eyes…I thought it might be Ghostface."

Mistystone blinked, and a small smile creepy across her face. "Then we came to the same conclusion."

Relieved, Firefall mewed, "Good. Why though?"

"Why Ghostface? I have my theories. When he became Darkfang's apprentice, Darkfang immediately 'recruited' him, for Tigerstar. They train together, and plot together. Who knows – if Darkfang hadn't been part of the picture, Ghostface might be a perfectly loyal ThunderClan warrior instead of a FangClan rogue."

"But I thought only Tigerstar's descendants could dream with him?" Firefall mewoed.

At this, Mistystone laughed quietly. "Ghostface is an interesting character. He has the blood of both Firestar and Tigerstar and his veins. Through Stripethroat, of course, Firestar, and through Leafstep, Tigerstar. Leafstep's mother was Cardinalbelly's sister – they're cousins."

"Weird," Firefall murmured. "The one other thing…well, the whole prophecy: In the darkness there is fear – we figured that out. Darkfang is afraid of Tigerstar – I definitely saw that. And before the red dawn – well, we thought that might mean Redstorm. But I was just remembering something he told me a while ago, when we were talking about the dream. He said that he once saw Scarletspirit's death, like a vision, and that the red dawn was the red blood of traitors spilled over the hills…maybe Darkfang, or maybe the blood of Scarletspirit…" Firefall shuddered. "Anyway though, I was thinking: when light my shine, all must be brave. All must be brave is obvious, but the light shining part – we figured that was Windfoot, right? Well I'm pretty sure it is. Because when Redstorm and Windfoot came to chase Tigerstar away, Windfoot was shining with this really bright light."

Mistystone nodded sagely. "Yes, I believe you're right. I believe we've finally deciphered the entire prophecy."

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