"Daughter?" Amberstorm echoed. "How is that possible? You're only two moons older than me!"
Mistpelt looked at her, a sneer on her face. "You are more uninformed than I had expected. I am much older than I appear, Amberstorm."
Amberstorm took a step back, still confused. Looking back and Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, she mewed, "What does she mean? Explain!"
Before either cat replied, Mistpelt took a step forward. "I'll tell you. I might as well, seeing as you'll learn the truth when you die."
Amberstorm put her ears back, but stayed quiet. Jasper, on the other hand, let out a small growl.
"To put it simply, I was reincarnated." Mistpelt began. "In my previous life, I was known as Frostwhisker."
"Frostwhisker," Amberstorm murmured. The name sounded familiar.
"Yes. And as Frostwhisker, I had fallen in love with your fool of a father." She paused, savoring the small flinch that Amberstorm let out. "We had one kit, which was you, and that in itself was a mistake." Her sneer soon turned into a snarl. "I died giving birth to you; a kit that I didn't even want."
"So is that why you hate me?" The tabby whispered. "Because you died giving birth to me."
Mistpelt nodded. "Once I had died, I quickly grew angry, wanting revenge. One day, I met Tigerstar when I wandered too far out of the StarClan territory. He made a deal with me that he would help me gain my revenge. My sister, Oceanspray had given birth to kits two moons before. My soul was to replace the one of the she-cat that I am today. Ever since then, I became what you hated most; even-tempered, lovely, and perfect. I needed you to hate me to have it work."
She opened her mouth to continue, but Amberstorm interrupted her. "I've heard enough," she growled. "Now let me go home."
The silver she-cat's eyes widened in shock. "Let you go?" she repeated. "Why would I do that, when I can easily avenge my own death here?"
Right as she said that, Tigerstar let out a yowl and rammed into Bramblestar. Soon the two toms were a blur of brown tabby fur, making it impossible for Amberstorm to tell one from the other.
"Bramblestar!" Squirrelflight gasped, half worry, half exasperation. Running towards the two toms, she jumped into the fray and help Bramblestar fend off his father.
Amberstorm started to head over to them as well, but soon was stopped by Mistpelt, who ran at her and viciously clawed at her sides, leaving wounds where her claws were. She may have been dead, but her claws were still dangerous.
Letting out a screech of pain, Amberstorm quickly rolled away from the blows. Staggering back up to her paws, she prepared herself for another onset of attacks.
"Are you ready now?" Mistpelt hissed, scorn filling her voice. She then ran at Amberstorm again, but this time she was ready.
Jumping to the side, Amberstorm managed to bite down on Mistpelt's hind leg. Grasping as hard as she could, she braced herself as her mother thrashed and yowled. Suddenly, Mistpelt's leg was ripped out of her mouth. Whipping around to get ready to fight again, Amberstorm's eyes widened at the scene in front of her. Instead of Mistpelt running at her, Jasper was on top of the she-cat clawing at her underbelly. It was clear that he had had no warrior training at all, but his blows were still powerful.
"Blasted kittypet!" Mistpelt caterwauled and pushed Jasper off with her back legs. Once Jasper had hit the ground, she pounced on him and quickly bit down on his throat.
"Jasper!" Amberstorm dashed towards the two cats and slammed into Mistpelt as hard as she could. "Keep your paws off of him!"
Mistpelt let out a gasp as she skidded across the rocky ground. Throwing away her advantage, Amberstorm looked to see Jasper getting to his paws. Behind the tom, Squirrelflight and Bramblestar were still fighting with Tigerstar.
Suddenly, Tigerstar leaped back and hissed, "This isn't over!"
"It never will be," his son growled.
The huge tabby let out a snarl before dissapearing into shadows. Turning around, Amberstorm found that Mistpelt had disappeared as well.
"We won," Jasper panted.
She shook her head. "No we didn't. They'll come back. I'm sure of it."
Squirrelflight shook flicked her ears. "And when they do, we'll be prepared. Now, come, let's get to the camp."
Amberstorm nodded and padded up to Jasper's side. The two leaned on each other before following Bramblestar and Squirrelflight.
-
"Let all cats gather beneath the Skybranch!" Echostar's yowl echoed across the clearing. As he watched WillowClan group underneath him, he felt a small twinge of satisfaction. Today, he would be preforming two ceremonies that would make his Clan stronger.
When everyone had sat down, the tom began. "Six moons ago, WillowClan was blessed with the birth of our first litter of kits. Today, I am proud to say that all three of them are ready to become apprentices." When he looked down, all three of Birdsong's kits eyes were shining as they waited to be given their new names.
"Willowkit," the gray she-kit practically jumped in the air when he called out her name. "From this moment on, you will be known as Willowpaw." Quickly scanning the small group of cats, Echostar meowed, "Gingerfur, you will mentor Willowpaw."
The ginger she-cat stood up, happiness and surprise coming off her in waves, and walked up to Willowpaw.
"You have shown yourself to be a determined and courageous warrior. I trust that you will pass on all that you know to Willowpaw."
Gingerfur nodded and gently touched noses with the small cat. They then padded to the edge of the clearing.
"Mousekit, step forward." When the tom had done so, Echostar said, "From this moment on, you will be known as Mousepaw." His blue eyes then trailed over to Forestgaze. "I have been told that you wish to travel the path of a medicine cat, Mousepaw. If this is so, then Forestgaze shall be your mentor."
The brown tom flicked up his ears in excitement and padded over to the medicine cat. After they had touched noses, Echostar said, "And lastly, Littlekit. From the moment on, you will be known as Littlepaw. I will be your mentor."
As he slithered down the tree and then touched noses with Littlepaw, he felt a small twinge of excitement. This would be his first apprentice! I'll do my best, he vowed.
After Littlepaw went to go and join his littermates, Echostar looked at his Clan. "Before you all leave, there is one more ceremony that I would like to preform. Sunpaw, please step forward. It is time that you were given your warrior name."
"Finally!" the ginger tom mewed, causing Echostar to let out a purr. When Sunpaw approached him, he began reciting the acient words.
"I, Echostar, leader of WillowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down at this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I comend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Sunpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Sunpaw met his gaze evenly and replied, "I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Sunpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Sunwhisker. StarClan honors your determination and will, and we welcome you as a full warrior of WillowClan." Echostar then stepped foward and rested his muzzle on Sunwhisker's bowed head, and in turn, Sunwhisker licked his shoulder.
"Sunwhisker! Sunwhisker!"
When Echostar heard the Clan gasp, he realized that the chant didn't come from any of his warriors. Looking up, he saw four cats at the entrance of the camp. One, he recognized as Bramblestar. Next to Bramblestar was a dark ginger she-cat with a white paw and then on the other side of the tabby leader was a brown tom with a white underbelly and -
"Amberstorm!" Blacktail cried.