A/N: Oh my God, StarClan, Jashin, etc. I goofed up BIG time.


You see what happened was I went to send the next chapter to my beta reader, Blanket of Darkness(Thank you for beta-ing!) and I DELETED IT. That's why it's taken so long. And the fact I have a softball game every other day with practice on the days between those days. I just don't have any more energy...


Well, I'll try my best to get these next couple of chapters up A.S.A.P. It'll even out eventually, though, for summer vacation is coming up for me. :D

Heh, I'm listening to All About Us by T.A.T.U and I just realized how good of a theme song this will be for my later chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors and you better thank the man upstairs I don't because if I did, it would probably be JACKED. UP.

Gingerpaw walked back to camp with her Clan mates, numb with shock. The ginger apprentice was still taking in all of the incidents that took place at the Gathering. After all, it wasn't everyday that your leader loses it in front of the other Clans. It's all because of that fish he ate, she thought angirly.

What had happened was that the Twolegs had been dumping their waste into the river that fed into the lake that LakeClan fished out of. Ashcloud, Ravenfeather, Minnowpaw, Moonfur, and Fogpaw had seen two or three dead fish floating on the surface on the sunhigh patrol just a half a moon ago, but they shrugged it off since fish died natural deaths all the time. They were only proved wrong when Shadepaw and Summerstar ate two of the diseased fish.

Although it had infected the young medicine cat apprentice more than it had Summerstar, both were pretty bad off. Shadepaw physically and Summerstar mentally. Shadepaw was now being treated by his mentor Hawkpool, but not improving. It had all started as a bellyache a quarter and a half moon ago. Summerstar had eaten one a day after, and now he was more paranoid and easily angered, which is what Gingerpaw and the rest of the Clan had guessed caused his terrible temper at the Gathering. Now Gingerpaw couldn't go and see her father without her ears nearly getting clawed off.

"Are you okay?" Gingerpaw spun around to see Minnowpaw behind her, her blue eyes glistening with sadness.

Gingerpaw looked at her friend and nodded. "I'm fine," she mewed and rested her tail on the she-cat's back. "I'm the one who should be asking you that question, anyway. I'm sorry about what happened."

"You shouldn't be the one apologizing," came the reply.

"I know, but I fell like I should." She lowered her voice before adding, "After all, he is my kin. I'm ashamed about it myself."

Minnowpaw just shrugged. "Let's just forget about what happened tonight. After all, I'm sure Hawkpool will find a cure soon. She is the best medicine cat that LakeClan has ever had."

Gingerpaw sighed and just nodded. "You're right, I believe that she will." Although she said this, she didn't truly believe that there was a cure to be found. There was just something telling her that she might as well expect to say goodbye to Shadepaw and Summerstar sooner or later.

The moment they walked in between the two beech trees that made up the camp entrance, Gingerpaw saw Ravenfeather push through the throng of cats as he made his way towards Hawkpool's den, going to check on his son. All Gingerpaw knew about Shadepaw's condition was that no matter how much he ate and no matter how much Hawkpool did, he kept losing weight. At this rate, the majority of the Clan was sure that he wouldn't make it. As for Summerstar, not much could be done since it was a mental illness.

"Fogpaw!" Gingepaw yowled and ran over to the light gray she-cat when she saw her. "How are you? How's your brother?"

Fogpaw sighed as her tail drooped. "He's worse. Hawkpool is running out of ideas and I'm running out of hope."

Gingerpaw looked down at her paws. "Fogpaw, I'm really sorry that this is happening. I pray to StarClan that he'll recover."

Fogpaw sat up and shrugged. "I don't know if StarClan can help with this. You better go and get some sleep. We'll probably have a busy schedule tomorrow since Darkfang and Moonfur have been talking about asessements."

"All right, I suppose I should." She replied as she walked towards the apprentices den, but not before turning around and saying, "Fogpaw, promise me you'll take it easy."

The apprentice sighed. "I promise. Night."

"Night."

(Barrier)

Gingerpaw woke up to find herself in a misty forest four etremely large trees behind her and a rock in the center. She didn't recognize this territory or the scents that covered it, so she remained frozen, looking around with her eyes glittering with shock and fear. Suddenly she scented cat, but they didn't smell like any Clan, a rouge or loner, or a kittypet.

"Hello?" she mewed as she heard the sounds of twigs cracking. "Who's there?"

Suddenly, a tom who was the exact copy of Gingerpaw, other than they white hairs on his muzzle and the ones dotting his pelt, walked out of the undergrowth and into the small clearing. "Welcome, Gingerpaw. Do you know why you are here?"

"No!" Gingerpaw spat, treating this cat like an intruder. "I don't even know where I am! And how do you know my name?!"

The tom stared at her intently, wisdom and experiance showing clearly to Gingerpaw in his green eyes. "You shouldn't speak to your ancestors like that, Gingerpaw."

"'Ancestors?'" she repeated. "You mean I'm in StarClan?" Her face went blank. "Am I dead?"

He purred with amusement and shook his head. "No, you're not dead. I have a message for you, though."

"Wait," Gingerpaw mewed when he went to continue. "Before you do, I have to ask you a few things. First, why me? Why not Summerstar or Hawkpool? Second, who are you? You don't smell like TreeClan, LakeClan, or MeadowClan."

"I'm telling you because you are one of StarClan's chosen." He bowed his head before continuing. "I am Firestar, former leader of ThunderClan."

Gingerpaw gasped when Firestar finished. "You were a leader of one of the ancient Clans? I heard that they died out seasons ago!"

"They did, but that's not important right now. What is important is that history is about to repeat itself." He lifted his tail for silence when Gingerpaw was about to throw more questions at him. "You must unite with cats from the other Clans."

The she-cat snorted, oblivious to what he said first. "Unite with them?" she meowed. "I'm sorry, but we've been fighting over territory and prey for moons! You can't really believe that a few of us will forget our differenced and go on some journey together, do you? You know what I mean, right?"

Firestar's eyes glittered as if he was remembering something. "Oh, believe me, I do know what you mean." His expression turned serious before he said, "But, I don't think you see the point, Gingerpaw. You either unite with these cats or die."

Her eyes widened as she took this information in. "You mean I've been chosen to go on a journey that means life or death for the Clans."

"No. It determines whether you live or die. It's your choice." While he said this, a small glow appeared by the tom's left ear. "I can't tell you who exactly you'll be going with, but this might help."

After he finished speaking, the light grew and in the center was a pale blue bird. The only thing was that this was no normal bird. Instead of the usual black eyes, the eyes were milky white and appeared to be sightless. Soon, it quickly dissapeared an in its place was an amber star. Gingerpaw surpressed a shiver as she stared at it, for she swore that it was staring back. Before she could even look at Firestar, the star was replaced by a bird's eye view of a forest. In the center of the forest was the tallest tree that Gingerpaw had ever seen. It towered over the other trees and cast a long shadow, stopping some of the trees from gaining the light that they depended on.

"How is that supposed to be related to a cat?" she mewed, but her distant kin didn't answer.

Next was a falling leaf, yellow as if it was leaf-fall and was dotted with black spots, giving it the image of what Gingerpaw picture the leopard, one of the large cats that were alive even before ThunderClan. After that, an image of a cat appeared. The cat seemed to be in a cave, mewing something incoherent. It wasn't anything special like the others to Gingerpaw because the only thing that would happen is when he meowed, his echo could be heard. After that, the tabby dissapeared into nothing along with the light.

Gingerpaw looked over towards Firestar. "So that's suppose to clue me in on who is coming with me? I can't name any on the spot. Can't you just tell me?"

Instead of answering, the ancient leader began to fade into nothing. Before Gingerpaw could even open her mouth, a huge wave of black water crashed into her, pulling her under and not letting her back up. As she sank even deeper into the dark abyss, the apprentice realized that although instinct was taking over, she couldn't move and though her lungs felt like they were on fire, she didn't need to breathe. She opened her mouth to speak, but no water came in and no words came out. What does this mean? she thought frantically. Firestar, what are you trying to tell me?

Suddenly, she felt a warm prescence slowly surrounding her as she sank. The words that followed came her even more comfort than the secure feeling.

"Don't worry, Gingerpaw. You will figure it out all in time. Choose one cat to come with you and leave in half a moon. And remember; no matter how hard this might be or how hopeless you might feel, I will always be there, guiding your every pawstep."

A/N: Yeah, I know it's short, but there's nothing more I can think of. Anyway, if you read the hints about the other cats closely, some of them will give clues on what the prophetic cats' warrior names will be. And please let me know I haven't lost you and review! Thanks!

Motte Suki,

AliKayNyah