A/N: Over 30 reviews! Keep 'em coming, guys/girls/inhuman aliens/whatever.

Chapter Eight

Two and a half moons passed, both filled with terrified screams of sacrifices. I had to do a lot of work, those moons; the kits were especially young. Younger than even me —two moons, and the very most. Blossom couldn't completely control her voice. No, only her plan would be able to convert them back to the old world. She didn't have quite the same a out of power she had when she changed everything.

Mosskit and Shadekit both grew in those moons. They finally lost their kit fur, though it was only a short while ago that they believed they would die before losing it. Their bones grew stronger, their pelts sleeker. They both harbored scars from brutal training lessons, and they would get more in the days to come. They were now six moons, ready to become apprentices. But an obstacle stood in their way.

No, I do not envy them for getting a chance at life. I am nothing but happy for them, even though my name is Reedkit and I was murdered by the goddess.

"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"But you said—"

"No, Mosskit."

Mosskit stared defiantly at Blossom. Why was the she-cat breaking her promise? "But—"

"No more whining. We have healing lessons today."

"If I remember correctly," Shadekit meowed, "you said we were becoming apprentices today." Mosskit stared at her brother. His voice had deepened, but the playful twinkle in his eyes never changed a bit. Did she have the same well-groomed pelt as him, the same lean legs and muscle?

"Well," Blossom said dangerously, "I changed my mind." Her green eye seemed dimmer, which warned the two littermates not to argue.

The 'dim' color of green was a dark yellowish color, the result of mixing blood red and bright green. Though the eye wasn't flickering, the yellow meant the same: the goddess was losing her patience, and you had to watch out.

"Let us review," the black cat continued. "What is burdock root used for?"

"Rat bites," Mosskit answered immediately. She had spent more than one night awake, trying to quiz herself on herbs and their uses to avoid getting chewed out by her 'mentor'.

"This one's for Shadekit: What is a herb used for infection, and how do you use it?"

"Marigold, chew it up into a poultice," he said almost boredly. Mosskit could sympathize with his frustration. They had already learned this; Blossom said they would do advanced training once they were apprentices, and she said they would be apprentices today.

"Borage leaves?"

"Milk for queens," Mosskit called.

"Cracked pads?"

"Dock," Shadekit mewed.

"Good. Go, run around and do whatever you kits want."

Mosskit paused. Blossom had stressed the word kits, as if they weren't apprentices and would never be. But then her brother batted her with a paw and she retaliated by pouncing, and soon they were tussling in the training hollow and all the she-kit's worries evaporated like dew in the morning sun.

Blossom paced back and forth, her tail flicking from side to side. She barely payed the play-fighting kits any heed, lost in her own worries.

You pace too much.

"Why does it matter to you?"

I can't absorb the blood if you keep moving. You might as well throw up and color the hole crimson.

The goddess sat down and curled her slender tail over her paws. Vomiting kit blood wasn't her favorite thing to do. She closed her eyes and inhaled, clearing her mind of such thoughts and focused on the current dilemma.

At this point, my sister was conflicted. She knew she had to name the kits apprentices, but she didn't know the words and was afraid StarClan was angry at her and wouldn't allow the siblings to become proper 'paws. At that moment, right above her, the starry cat bickered over whether she was considered a good cat or not.

Blossom opened her eyes. She didn't know what to do. Should she give Mosskit and Shadekit the illusion that they were apprentices, without knowing whether or not her ancestors approved of it —plus not remembering how to do the ceremony,— or tell them that they couldn't be apprentices? The trek from her cavern to the Moonpool was a long one, and she doubted the kits would be fine on their own while she was gone. They were still inexperienced, despite all she had already taught them.

What you should be thinking about right now is how you'll kill them, not how you'll make them apprentices! Blossom's heart whined.

"Shut up."

That's the thirty-sixth time you told me that.

"And I'll say it again if you don't keep quiet."

You're just a weakling.

"That won't work again."

There was no reply. Blossom sighed and delved deeper into her thoughts. Maybe she could get the kits to come with her to the Moonpool. But if they got tired and she had to carry them, the goddess would surely lose her ability to tolerate the two.

What would she choose? What was there to choose?

Blossom had lost her way. She didn't know what step to take take, which direction to go in. She was as vulnerable as a mouse.

Should she just get on with the ritual?

The goddess weighed her options. One: She could go to the Moonpool and ask StarClan. But what of something happened on the way there, either to her or the kits?

Two: She could never make them apprentices. She could just kill them and be done with it. Blossom held back a growl; she knew the last sentence had come from the voice's influence.

Three: She could do the ceremony and hope. She could hang into that little bit of hope, could pray to StarClan. These kits had done no wrong; surely the starry warriors would accept them if not her.

Blossom closed her eyes again. She sat there, frozen, for what felt like eons.

In her mind, she was just repeating three words over and over again:

What to choose . . .

What to choose . . .

By then, StarClan had reached a decision. The future of those kits was too dim to see, but they agreed that anything could happen. Mosskit and Shadekit needed to be prepared, and perhaps if this plan of Blossom worked, the Clans would convert to the old world. That was what every single StarClan member wanted. The old world. But to get the kits ready, they had to be apprentices.

So they sent the goddess a message. They told her that her fate had yet to be chosen, but they would accept the kits.

And then Blossom's lids fluttered open, for with the help of her ancestors she knew what to do. She knew that even if she didn't know the words, the ceremony would be proper no matter what.

The goddess opened her jaws and called out.

"Kits, come here."

Shadekit stopped mid-leap and tumbled to the ground. The sudden words sent a tendril of hope into Shadekit's belly. Was this it? Would they be apprentices at last? Mosskit obviously had the same thought, because her eyes lit up and she pranced towards Blossom. The goddess was elegantly perched on a mound of dirt.

The smoky kit followed his rowdy sister, but he walked slowly and prepared himself for the worst —that they would never be apprentices, or that Blossom had a change of heart and was going to kill them. Her eye was green, though. That was a good sign, wasn't it?

Once they had reached the mound, the she-cat closed her eyes.

"I, Blossom, former ShadowClan apprentice, call upon S-StarClan to look down on these k-kits." Shadekit pricked his ears. Was the almighty goddess stuttering?

"They have reached the age of six moons and are ready to begin training as apprentices." Blossom's voice grew steady, and the black cat now looked more of a leader than the ShadowClan apprentice she claimed to have been.

"I will mentor you both. As of today, the beginning of leaf-fall, I—"

There was a horrible strangled sound that twisted Shadekit's gut. Blossom's eye flickered dangerously, so fast that the green and red might have been a single color.

And this time, it landed on red.

"I condemn you to death!" the goddess yowled. There was a wild look in her now-crimson eyes, the look of a cat who could only be called mad. Shadekit shoved Mosskit backwards towards the edge of the hollow. He stared into the goddess's orbs and saw no bit of the cat who had nurtured them two moons ago. He saw only a shadow, a film of black and red covering the natural green.

What had she told them to do when this happened? The smoky kit's mind was whirling, sending him into a state of utter panic and mayhem. His heart pounded in his throat, making him gasp desperately for breath, and blood roared in his ears. Blossom had repeated it, repeated hoe to react, many many times. She had told them to say something when the voice took over, to tell her to remember something —someone,— so why couldn't he remember?

"Stop!"

The shout took Shadekit by surprise. Was that his sister, his bubbly, shy, rebellious sister, who had made that sound? She sound as if she was a cat that was the exact opposite of who she was.

What made Mosskit cry out like that wasn't instinct. It wasn't out of fear of panic. But Shadekit wasn't the only one who had looked into Blossom's eyes; she had, too. And when green connected with red, she felt a link connecting her to Blossom. For one split second, she traveled through the goddess's memories. She lived Blossom's whole life in one heartbeat. In that little moment, she felt everything; anger, love, grief, despair, happiness, hope, loss, and the wild hunger for revenge.

But the important part was, she saw Blueflame. She knew how much this cat meant to Blossom, and she knew that Blossom felt guilty of succumbing to the voice mainly because Blueflame would be deeply disappointed in the goddess if she had lived to see what happened that fateful night.

"Stop," Mosskit repeated. Shadekit stared in awe and horror at his sister. Was she completely crazy, as mad as a fox in a fit, or the bravest cat he had ever gotten the honor of meeting and being the brother of?

"Remember Blueflame."

Those words sounded familiar. Were they the ones that Blossom had told the two day after day? They had to be!

Shadekit stepped forward, feeling bolder. "Yes. Remember Blueflame."

Mosskit shot him a look filled with gratitude. Nothing was spoken, but they knew that they were thinking the same thing.

It was their responsibility to get rid of the voice.

The insane Blossom, who had been advancing, stopped in her tracks. The eye changed color wildly. The she-cat blinked rapidly and then stared at the two kits as her orb began to slow and finally land on green.

"It happened again."

It was a statement, not a question. They all knew too well what happened —Shadekit's heart was still thumping hard and fast from the aftershock. He pressed close to Mosskit.

"Thank you," the goddess continued. "We'll finish the ceremony. I name you Shadepaw." She padded over and touched her nose to the newly named Shadepaw's head, and he shuddered at the cold touch.

"And I name you Mosspaw." She did the same for his sister. Shadepaw puffed out his chest. He was an apprentice!

Following the naming, there was silence.

At least, there was silence until Blossom looked from 'paw to 'paw and meowed, "Well, are we going to stand here and catch flies or cheer for you two?" She raised her muzzle to the sky. "Shadepaw! Mosspaw! Shadepaw!"

Mosspaw was the first to join in. With a glimmer of happiness in her green eyes, she called out his name:

"Shadepaw! Shadepaw!"

Shadepaw's mouth curved up into a small smile. He looked up at the sun and the cloudless blue firmament and yowled his sister's new name.

"Mosspaw! Mosspaw!"

"Shadepaw! Shadepaw!"

"Mosspaw's! Shadepaw! Mosspaw!"

And all three cats savored the joyful moment, because no one knew if they would ever have another one.

A/N: Oh StarClan, that was hard to write. And rushed. But whatever; we have another chapter done!