The half moon shines down upon the meadows, illuminating the shiny leaves from the trees than encircle the Grassclan camp. A barrier of thorny bushes surrounds the camp, though to the untrained eye it would be just a clump of vegetation upon the vast meadows. Only the gentle breeze can be heard rustling the tall grass. The colors of fall are all around, from the denser forest in the north to the bleak marshes to the south.
Suddenly the natural silence is broken by the sound of paw steps and dragging. Two Grassclan warriors, a black tom and a silver tom appear through the camp entrance, dragging and kicking a pale cat with barely distinguishable patches of beige, gray and brown.
There were several cats in the camp, some eating, some sharing tongues. As the warriors entered, several more cats poked their heads out of the dens the lined the camp. All the cats turned to look at them.
"Where is Barkstar?" Said the black tom, "Go fetch him!"
"What is it?" Said a smooth, pure chocolate tom, appearing out of a den.
"Look what we found." Hissed the silver tom, pointing at the foreign cat. The cat was lying down, paws tucked, glancing about with no emotion showing on his face.
"Hmmm… Icetail, Shadedpelt, bring him to deadtrunk." He commanded the two warriors, and then he dashed towards dead trunk, a tall stump on the east side of the camp. Raising his voice, he called, "May all warriors old enough to catch their own food meet beneath deadtrunk!"
The pale cat stood without being told by the two warriors by his side and allowed them to lead him. The clan moved out of the way as he walked towards deadtrunk. Icetail and Shadedpelt didn't leave his side. All the other cats surrounded them, whispering and hissing with disgust.
"Tell me, Icetail, where you found this trespasser." Said Barkstar, glancing down at them.
"To the south, near the Marshclan border." Icetail said.
"But he doesn't smell of Marshclan." Added Shadedpelt.
The pale cat sat straight, looking straight ahead at the stump, not reacting to them.
"Then you are not Marshclan?" Asked Barkstar, addressing the motionless cat.
After a pause, the cat looked up and stared at Barkstar. "No I am not. I do not belong to any clan… or at least not anymore." Barkstar opened his mouth to speak, but the cat continued, "I came from the west, and long ago I lived there with a tribe. Not anymore." His pale gray eyes stared at Barkstar, though not in a defying manner, nor was he passive.
"What is your name?" asked Barkstar.
"Face of a Ghost, but to follow your naming style, I shall be called Ghostface." He said, not flinching as sniggers and hisses rippled through the crowd.
"What a fitting name!" Hissed one of the younger apprentices. The other apprentices muffled their laughter, but a sharp glance from Barkstar silenced them.
"What are you doing on our territory?" Barkstar said after the cats had quieted.
"He was found eating a rabbit and sitting on the grave of the former Highstar!" Cried out Shadedpelt angrily, his tail lashing out angrily.
The crowd let out an angry his and before Barkstar or Ghostface could reply, a tabby female with no tail stepped forward and cried, "Kill him!" All the cats roared with approval, meowing and hissing.
"SILENCE!" Shouted Barkstar. "Is this anyway to behave? Mottledsong," He said, turning to the she-cat who had cried out, "You haven't even heard him out. I know the death of Highstar is tragic, and we are all still grieving… but… we mustn't let our emotions cloud our judgment. How was Ghostface to know what he was sitting on?" He glared at the cats, Mottledsong nodded respectfully and mrrowed an apology, then sat back down.
"But…" Came the voice of Ghostface, who hadn't moved at all during the uproar. "I did know that it was the grave of Highstar." He looked around for the first time since he had sat down and continued quickly, "I had come to pay my respects. The mouse was an offering."
"What?" Said Barkstar, standing up on his perch, "How would you know Highstar, and how would you know he had died, and how would you know where he was buried?"
"Do you know how Highstar came to be here?" asked Ghostface.
"Answer the question!" Hissed Icetail, but Barkstar quieted him.
"Highstar was here long before I was born." Said Barkstar.
"And where did he come from?" asked Ghostface.
An old, frail elder stepped forward, her tabby muzzle was grayed. "Highstar came here as a young lad, not but 12 moons old. He was found wandering."
"Exactly!" Said Ghostface standing up, "Highstar was once Highest Sparrow on the Wind. He came from my tribe, and as the legend goes, he was swept away in a stream, one of the streams that flows through the marsh."
"You have no proof!" hissed Mottledsong, "And besides, what does it matter if it is Highest Thing on a Whatever, why should you care?"
"Because Clan of Stars has spoken to me! My clan is dead and gone, and the Clan of Stars pointed me here and told me of Highstar. They told me of his life. They said he was a great warrior. They said he was a great leader…" Ghostface looked down, his voice choked with emotion, "They told me he was a great father. I would not know though, I never knew his touch. He was my grandfather, but he was gone before my father was born."
"Lies!" Hissed Mottledsong, leaping forward, eyes blazing, "He was my grandfather, and he never spoke of any of this."
Ignoring her, Ghostface looked up to Barkstar and said, "I will tell you what the Clan of Stars has told me, and then you will see if I am lying." Barkstar nodded. The elder had slipped back and was comforting Mottledsong. Taking a deep breath, Ghostface continued, "The Clan of Stars told me all about Highstar. They told me how he won the battle over the boulder land. And how he became leader at only 2 years."
"Why did he never speak of where he came from, then?" Asked Mottledsong.
"Because… he was ashamed. At our clan, he was medicine cat. So he left when he knew he was expecting kits. But no one except for my grandmother and me and my father had known whose kits they were. Everyone thought he had gotten lost and just never come home."
"Lies!" Cried out Mottledsong again. "Highstar would never do this, you know nothing!" The rest of the cats were silent, staring, contemplating, or just looking around in confusion.
"Clan of Stars spoke to me, and that is what I heard. They told me this is where my fate lies, because my tribe is gone." Ghostface looked at Mottledsong, and then turned to Barkstar.
Barkstar thought for a second, and then said, "I will decide by dusk tomorrow. Perhaps Starclan will speak to me."