AN: Update! It's a short chapter, more of a filler, something to fill the gap between the start of Crimson's war with CedarClan and the end. About 2600 words. I feel bad for updating with such a small chapter :( Enjoy.

Chapter 28: Shifting Balance

"You're back earlier than we were expecting," a voice purred from the darkness. A sleek pale yellow she-cat stepped out from behind a tangled mess of roots, green eyes flashing. Scourge jumped a little before he slipped back into his cold demeanour. For a little while he ignored the she-cats question and the two walked side-by-side through the marsh land. Tall trees stood like slender ghosts in the mist with their leaves waving in the breeze.

Finally, Scourge answered, "Betrayal leads to loss of trust and eventually the downfall of all you own."

The she-cat raised her head to stare at Scourge with confused eyes. "I'm no poet, Scourge. Care to explain what that meant?"

"Iceshard failed to alert me to Tigerstar's presence in the Dark Forest. Apparently he still holds rather a lot of power despite being dead and killed by me. I left shortly after," the small tom explained quietly. His icy blue eyes were firmly fixed on the muddy path he and the she-cat were following. "Why were you waiting for me, Palesun?"

Palesun flinched slightly and lashed her tail. "Vixenpelt finally succumbed to her wounds."

"Ah. That is bad news," Scourge replied. He failed to hide the obvious glee behind his tone and Palesun picked up on it. Her eyes narrowed, becoming glints of green ice.

"Do not try to hide how happy you are to hear that. It does not make you more of a cat to hide behind death. How am I to even know that it was not you that killed her so that you could become the next leader? That does fit your area of expertise," Palesun accused. Her accusation set Scourge's fur bristling. He curled his lip and pounced on top of the pale she-cat, his claws digging into her stomach.

"How dare you accuse me of murdering my mentor!" the black tom snarled. "She taught me all she knew. All the secrets she had uncovered about every cat that made its way into our lands she told to me. Do you still think I killed her? I may have once been a cat thirsty for power but I am that cat no longer. If you cannot see that then I do not know what we have anymore."

Palesun flinched and then flattened her ears. She nuzzled Scourge, purring quietly as he stepped off her. "I'm sorry. My head gets a bit messed up at times, you know how I am. She tends to take over at times when I'm feeling a little out of it."

"I'm also sorry for yelling," Scourge mewed, his tone soft. "It's her fault you're here, isn't it?"

The pale she-cat ducked her head and began playing with the leaves at her paws, shifting them from side to side as if there was something hidden beneath them. "I hadn't meant to snap that day they'd just pushed me so much because of both it and her. My head became confused and she took over. Everything went fuzzy and when my mind was returned I found the bodies of six warriors, two apprentices, a queen, an elder and the medicine cat strewn around the camp." Palesun shuddered and blinked her eyes a few times. "It happens every now and again."

Scourge sighed and brushed his tail against Palesun's flank, "Does your other half have a name?"

"Tuojana kuolema," Palesun breathed. "Bringer of Death."

"That's a rather morbid name. I would have assumed she would have had a more feminine name. Something like Fox or maybe Sky. But Bringer of Death? Was that your choice?" Scourge asked.

Palesun shook her head, a light smile playing on her lips. "No. It was hers. Right now she's whispering to me, telling me what I should say and do. It's difficult sharing my mind with another being, especially one so murderous."

"What is she telling you to do right now?" the small tom purred, whiskers twitching. "I'm sure it'll be amusing to here.

A small purr rumbled in Palesun's throat. "She's telling me to have some fun," she winked with a sly smile.

"Oh?" Scourge gasped in mock shock. He drew his tongue across Palesun's muzzle, "We better not let her down." Palesun giggled and squeaked as Scourge pushed her over.

A little way away from where the most unusual couple were falling in love all over again, Hawkfrost struggled through the boggy ground. He wasn't used to having mud dragging down on his pelt. Nor was he used to being so alone. Usually he would have a small entourage of cats, mainly the Callers, following him everywhere. Settingsun was a normal follower of his. The pretty High Star was besotted with him. The tabby tom snorted at the thought. Hundreds of toms would kill to be in his position.

Slender, pale trunked trees that had been dead for seasons rose up from the mud, their gangly branches spreading out into the indigo sky. It sent frightening shadows dancing across the marshy ground, not that Hawkfrost cared to even take notice. He was too busy snarling obscenities at the filthy smelling mud. He was almost too concerned with his paws that he almost failed to hear the giggling and purrs coming from a patch of dry ground not too far from where he was struggling. Curiousity got the better of the tired tom and he pushed himself out of the mud with a powerful leap, landing on the very edge of the dry ground.

He arched his brow and pushed through a tall bush of some sorts, only to come across the small form of Scourge wrapped around the bigger body of a sleek pale she-cat. "Well well," Hawkfrost said coldly, alerting the two cats to an intruder. "Scourge in love, this was something I was not expecting to see."

"Who are you?" Scourge spat, uncurling his body from the she-cat's. "And what are you doing here? You don't carry the scent of one of us."

Hawkfrost cocked his head and gave a light smile, "My name is Hawkfrost and you are right, I am not from around here. I have come from the Dark Forest to speak with you, Overseer of the Northern Lands."

The pale she-cat narrowed her eyes and curled her lip. "Dark Forest cats are not welcome here. They spread the disease of lies and corruption throughout our land. Go home."

"Wait," Scourge ordered. "I recognise you. Your pelt and build reminds me of a cat I have seen before."

Hawkfrost nodded, "That is because you know my father. Tigerstar."

This time it was Scourge that narrowed his eyes and curled his lip, a feral snarl ripping from the tom's throat. Claws were unsheathed and dug into the ground as rage flowed through Scourge's body. "Why is the spawn of Tigerstar standing in front of me on my territory? You had better have a good reason for me not to dump your mangled body on the border between the Dark Forest and us!"

"I want to kill them. I want to kill them all. Every last High Star. Dead and thrown off of Skyward Mountain," Hawkfrost explained, voice emotionless.

For the first time Scourge smiled in the presence of a cat he had only known for a matter of hours. But it was a cold, dark, malicious smile. "You have come to the right place, Hawkfrost. Let us walk and talk." He turned and nuzzled the she-cat. "Palesun, keep her in check and I shall meet you at Frozen Shadows when the stars start to blink out. Hawkfrost and I have business to discuss."

Scourge padded away through the mist that had sprung up, Hawkfrost trailing after him. Palesun sighed as she was left alone with only her thoughts and other half for company. "He's dreamy," her other half whispered.

"Shut it, Cypress," Palesun sighed. "I gave you a fake name, that's enough for one night. Scram. Oh and I hope you were talking about Scourge!"

A chuckle filled her mind. "Scourge is old meat; he's gotten boring and predictable. I want something new and different. I want Hawkfrost and I want him now."

"Again, shut it, Cypress. Scourge and I are happy together and I'm not going to give him up so that you can have some fun. Now can you leave me alone for a little while? My head hurts." There was a soft sigh and then the feeling that Palesun was truly alone descended over her. She sighed in relief and began padding across the marsh towards Frozen Shadows.

-000-

Whispers of cloud threaded through the short space of trees that had suddenly appeared amongst the desolate expanse of black sky and stony ground. A light breeze blew through the trees, rustling the branches and shaking them of handfuls of leaves. The leaves coloured green were only carried mere fox leaps before they had left the safety of the small glade and turned black and lifeless, dropping to the ground and vanishing.

Four shapes, each white and see through, padded into the strange glade and sat silently in the middle, facing each other with their wavering faces. Silence wrapped the clearing in a bubble, the only sound being the rustling leaves. That was until one opened their jaw and from it spilt a melodic voice, "These aging trees do little to comfort me but I respect your thought to conjure up a place so different from the hues of black and gray that we see every day. Perhaps some flowers could make the scene a little bit brighter, Change."

Bright coloured flowers sprung up, surrounding the four spectral cats. The speaker – whose fur was long and fluffy – smiled and bent her neck to touch her nose gently against the soft red petals of a red rose that had appeared at her paws. "I would not deny such a simple wish, Destiny. Anything to make you happy, my dear. But I feel that the reason we have been summoned here is not a matter of happiness.

The reply came from the throat of the least see through cat; his pelt colour was still barely visible. No oak tree had a trunk as rich in brown as his pelt was. "No. I called for this meeting due to the threat pressing against our throats with claws stained with the blood of every dead cat we have seen in the pool. Crimson has threatened all of us and the one living being that keeps us anchored to the living world. If Tornheart loses herself to the poison within Crimson's blood then we will be separated from her and cast to the growing darkness."

A grunt of agreement came from the final cat. It was near impossible to see her, the only indication that she was there was the occasional wisp of mist that wrapped itself around her body. "That is a good enough reason to call a meeting but I hope you have also come with a plan to rid ourselves of this she-cat whose path flows with the thickest of blood? If you have not then this meeting is a waste of time. Unless you wish to discuss possible methods of exterminating this pest?"

"Hold your tongue, Time," Destiny hissed, lashing her misty tail. "Fate has good judgment and his judgement has told him to call this meeting. But I also hope he has an idea, for I have not had much time to think up an idea that might work. You see as Decider of Destiny, I do not have to think of ideas. I simply enter a kit when it is first born, see what it wants to become when it reaches the age of training or hunting and set its life in motion. However, you, Change, have to come up with ideas all the time so you can change the course of time and actions that some cats will take within that time."

Change flattened his ears and eyed Destiny with a spark of humour in his eyes, "I am very good at what I do, Destiny, but I have yet to see a cross road in Crimson's path when I can manipulate her path and change what she will do. I am afraid that there might never be a cross road," he sighed, "Tell us, Fate. What idea have you had?"

There was a small moment of silence before Fate spoke up. "Five is an odd number, yet I sense that it will be a group of five that saves us from this ever growing darkness. However, I am yet to see when this group of five will appear in my sight of fate. It may be in mere days, it may be in a few moons, it may also be in years to come. I do not know. But we must not fret for we will be saved, I know it."

"How can you be sure that five will save us if you cannot see when they will arrive?" Time snapped. "We only have a limited amount of time before we fade. If Tornheart cannot be saved before we fade then the world will be left without the four guardians it needs. We need those five saviours of yours and we need them now! I'm starting to wonder whether we made the right choice when we inducted you into our ranks. The old Fate would have had hundreds of ideas by now."

Fate ducked his head in shame. "The old Fate would not have been so harsh on a new cat whose powers may not have fully blossomed yet! How dare you say that to him, Time. We can be just as mean to you as you are to us. Besides, it will be your time to fade regardless of whether we fade with you or not. Age is already affecting your abilities in ways we cannot help but notice. Just yesterday I watched an elder suddenly vanish. When he returned he began speaking of what he had seen. A world where everything is dark and lifeless. Thank heavens everyone in the Clan thought he was going crazy! He saw the future because you lost track of time whilst you were busy preparing his path to the skies," Destiny hissed.

This time it was Time who ducked her head, ears burning in embarrassment, "Mistakes are made. They should be forgiven and forgotten. Not brought up in front of all so that they can judge."

"Keep that in mine next time you judge others then," Destiny warned.

"Can we keep our minds on track? I've told you all I know and I'm sorry there is no more. Perhaps I will steer clear of these meetings from now on. My job should keep me busy enough," Fate grumbled. "Not like any of y-" He was stopped by a whistling sound which was then followed by a loud thud and sound of skin ripping. Destiny screeched loudly and fell to the ground beside Change's writhing body. The spectral tom in charge of change jerked around and then fell still, a white froth bubbling at his mouth. Blood oozed out from around a thick, sharp stick that was now buried deep within Change's chest. His body had become as solid as the ground he had been standing on moments before. For once his gray pelt that was marked with stripes of black was visible instead of the misty white pelt he had taken on.

"No! No! No! No!" Destiny cried, tears pouring from her eyes. "How could this happen!? Who? How? Why?"

A voice suddenly boomed from the darkness surrounding the glade, one that did not belong. "You have been warned."

Down in the world of the living, where the six Clans milled together on the one island completely oblivious to the destruction that had just taken place, a single, bright star blinked out. A hush came over the land as nature stilled itself. They felt something shift in the balance of life, something was no longer right. And they were right. Nothing would be the same.

AN: Boring chaper is boring? I have no idea what went on in the last part of this chapter. I have no idea who killed Fate or why the heck I killed him off but yay! Death!

Competition details are on my profile, just to remind you!