Hey, everyone! I did a lot of writing towards Elemental over the past week, and I'm planning another sprint day for tomorrow. My plan right now is to release the chapters periodically, like every three days or so? I want to give myself a little bit of backlog. But since we're SO NEAR THE END, it makes the most sense for me to write everything in one sitting and then upload it in chunks as the action plays out. That will make sense later.

This is Skysong's traveling chapter, in which we get an answer to the question: "but when did the whole drown in air thing happen?" And the answer is one that will bring up more questions, which will be answered over the course of the next few chapters. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 19: The Memory Rewritten

Mountainstone was frantic, and rightfully so.

"So this attack was purposeful," said Cinderheart. "Smart, blocking the trail like this."

"Fox-hearted cowards," muttered Toadstep. "What are they playing at, dragging Lionstar all the way out here?"

Skysong tried to tune them out, licking her paws and keeping a mental tab on Mountainstone. He, Hazeltail, and Greyheart were scouring the area while Cinderheart, Toadstep, and Skysong were in charge of hunting. With a pile of fresh-kill at their paws and no clear objective, Skysong's mind was bound to wander, and that was the last thing she wanted. She wanted more than anything to focus on her parents, who were probably in trouble. She wanted to figure out where they were and bring them home, and she was angry. How dare WindClan and RiverClan – who she was sure had to do with this whole affair, even if some of the others were tentative – make a fool of ThunderClan this way? She hoped that by now, Doveheart had stopped Littlefalcon from doing something stupid, as he was bound to do when left alone.

"Are you alright, Skysong?" Cinderheart asked. Skysong jumped and nodded at the grey tabby. Cinderheart blinked twice.

"Yeah, sorry," she said. "I think I'm just worried."

"I wish we could find something." Toadstep was sharpening his claws on a nearby set of tough roots. "Anything."

Skysong flicked her ears, hearing the rustling of Mountainstone in the distance. His thoughts had always been clearest and loudest, and he kept shooting her mental notes like spur-of-the-moment ideas she was having for herself. It's murky out here and I found a tuft of white fur – no, that's rabbit and Remind me to skin these fox-hearts the second I find them. She didn't want to listen anymore, but she forced her mind to focus on the pings in her brain like they were a matter of life-or-death. It was either that or to meditate on her own problems.

We've all killed someone. Directly or not.

But no one had died at her paws, not even in an organized battle. No one had died because she had lost control of her powers, so why was it that drown in air seemed to have already happened? That had never happened, so why was Littlefalcon acting like it was? Did it mean that she still had time to lose control before the end? Skysong stared at her paws. The idea of killing anyone, of losing control of the wind around her, was the most terrifying concept that had ever entered her mind. She was the eldest of the five, the one that kept them all in check – if she lost control now…

Hazeltail's found something. The mental note made Skysong jump to her feet with a gasp. The others turned to look at her. How could she let them know? Sending Greyheart to fetch you.

So Skysong waited, waving her tail, until Greyheart burst into the clearing.

"What's going on?" Cinderheart had been redressing her leg wound, and now she stood, her tail standing straight up.

"Hazeltail's found the trail again." Greyheart's whiskers twitched. "Come on."

They didn't hesitate. Toadstep and Cinderheart picked up the fresh-kill they had collected so the others could eat, and they pushed through the trees, an organized sample of the Clan's might. Elation pumped through Skysong's paws, and she fixated on the good news, not on the questions she would have to handle later.

Hazeltail and Mountainstone were already sniffing along a clump of bushes, but even entering the clearing, Skysong picked up the fading scent of warrior blood.

"Looks like there was a fight," said Mountainstone. He blinked at them, eyes bright. "But it's Icecloud's scent."

"You think she was hurt?" Skysong's heart leapt into her throat. It would only make sense that Lionstar would give in to any demands. She knew very well that he would never lose a battle unless Icecloud had been threatened.

"I recognize these scents," said Hazeltail, her jaw squaring. "WindClan."

Even though she had known all along, Skysong bent her head to sniff at the traces of blood along the edges of the pressed-back leaves. With a sinking heart, she did recognize that scent as being straight from a moorland cat. She scored her claws along the earth, and a familiar breeze tucked around her neck as if to console her. Blood splattered along the ground, evidence of a fight that had ended only with cats getting dragged back farther out of her reach. How much farther would they have to trek just to see the ends of some ridiculous scheme?

She wiggled her nose as one of the blood-splattered leaves dropped onto her whiskers, sending the sharp scent of blood into her fur. A shiver ran up her spine as the blood scent mixed with the wind, and Skysong recoiled as if stung. This reminded her of something. She crouched lower to try and distract herself, so the others wouldn't see the confusion on her face, and strained to remember. What was it about blood and wind and peering through leaves…?

"Let's go." Skysong moved her paws over her muzzle and looked around at the others. They nodded at her, and Mountainstone and Hazeltail took the lead. A tremor making her chest tight, Skysong followed in the middle. What did this remind her of? She had never been enamored with the smell of fighting blood. Maybe it was just the combination of injuries and battles that was getting under her pelt, but something deeper lingered, just out of reach of her mind.

She was forgetting something important, she just knew it. If she could forget something important, maybe she could forget other things – like what was going on with this drown in air incident. Was it possible she had already lost control of her powers? No…she would have known. She had always been the one in total command of her powers. She hadn't even developed her wind powers until she had become a total master of reading the minds around her. So why worry?

"Are you alright?" Greyheart's breath was warm, making Skysong's ear twitch. The dark-stripped tom frowned down his muzzle at her.

"I want my parents back," she murmured. Greyheart shook his head.

"Something's wrong," he said. "Something's wrong, and you're not saying what it is." Skysong raised her eyes to him and made a face.

"Yeah, my parents have been kidnapped by WindClan cats." She was so sick of this impulse lying. "And my brother just revealed that he's got some StarClan-given powers, and that's all really an issue, so yeah, something's wrong."

She watched Hazeltail and Mountainstone plod through the undergrowth of this horrible, dark forest, trusting Hazeltail's tracking skills and Mountainstone's senses to lead them on. With each step they took, her paws itched a little more. She searched the air for whatever it was she was missing, but it wasn't in the scents around her. None of those were in the least bit familiar, except the waft of WindClan blood and fear that was driving them on. But something was familiar about the plod of Hazeltail's paws against the forest floor, and the brush of her tail over a few leaves they found in the path that had more blood on them. Something about seeing Hazeltail's pale fur against the dark color of spilled blood…

What was going on with her today? Skysong shook her head, trying to dispel the sinking feeling in her stomach, but suspicion had dug its claws into her heart and would not let go. She felt the answer lay just out of her reach. Skysong glanced around and over her head, seeing and feeling the pressure of a late yellow wind driving against them. What would it be like, losing control? Would it be as easy as latching onto a wind and letting it do the guiding? But that didn't make any sense. She would have had to be a kit to be weaker than a breeze like that.

The thought hurt her, and a tremor shook her from nose to tail tip as she suddenly remembered a pair of screaming kits as the gale had shook them.

"Skysong?" Skysong jerked her head up and met Greyheart's concerned eyes. She realized she had stopped moving very suddenly. Cinderheart touched her shoulder with her tail tip, and Skysong blinked, suddenly feeling like the trees were closing in on her. Where had that memory come from? She didn't remember where she had been, but suddenly, the image came over her: the chanting from a past time, kits dancing around her and singing drown in water, drown in air, drown in ice, drown in earth, drown in fire, drown in water, drown in air, in air, in air…

"Skysong!" Her ears ringing, Skysong ducked away from Mountainstone's concern and sat down, staring at the dark forest ground below her paws. She could hardly see them, but she fought to make out their faces: Toadstep, Cinderheart, Greyheart…her Clan-mates. And Mountainstone. And Hazeltail, whose pale face and bright eyes lifted in concern like that opened up a latch in her heart she hadn't realize had been closed.

The memory swept over her like a wave: Skysong, barely two moons old, playing a game outside the nursery with Littlekit, Stealthkit, and Petalkit…Petalkit, who had bright brown eyes and a cackling laugh and an awesome hunter's crouch (according to Thornclaw). Petalkit was much older, much wiser, and all Skykit had wanted was to be able to jump up and swat at her ears…

So she had jumped, and a wind the yellow color of the sun had swooped under her paws and lifted her, and like any kit, Skykit had screamed so loudly when she went flying. And Petalkit had dived after her, reaching up through the cold air, and as Skykit flew up into the air she spun with her paws, wishing she could dispel the wind, but really all she did was stir it up and drag her and Petalkit deep into the eye of a storm, one that ripped through their pelts in time with Skykit's enormous screams – screams that could have, and did, kill, and all along someone was nipping at her pelt and chanting: drown in air, in air, in air. "Greencough," someone had said with shaking paws. That's what we'll say." "But those who will remember…" "Don't worry about that." She couldn't place that voice, but a flash of gold light crossed Skysong's vision. "You're all going to forget."

Skysong's eyes flashed open, and Greyheart and Mountainstone had taken either side of her. She was lying on the ground between them, feeling Greyheart whispering into her neck, feeling Mountainstone's tail rubbing up and down her flank. He fought for a connection between their minds, so Skysong closed her eyes tight and focused on sending him everything. She felt the connection latch them together, like all along Mountainstone had been the one able to maneuver between minds, and a shiver drew up his flank.

"I'm okay." Skysong sat up with her ears ringing, with the memory pounding behind her eyes. She distantly remembered a replacement: the story that Petalkit had died of greencough. But it hadn't been greencough at all. It had been a hurricane from Skysong's paws. Drown in air indeed.

"What happened?" Greyheart's blue eyes told Skysong to remain calm. She reached out her muzzle to him, and he caught her as she took the next step to press her face into the scruffy tabby fur underneath his chin.

"Someone has been lying to me." She knew he could feel her words. She felt like she was about to snap in half. Mountainstone sat in place, as if Skysong had never moved, as shocked by the flashback as Skysong felt right now. She felt shaken up, tipped upside down, held by her tail over a gorge and forced to look down at the fall that would kill her while someone dug their claws into her shoulders and tried to drag her with them over the edge.

I don't know what this means. Mountainstone's mental note was entirely welcome. When Skysong peeked out of Greyheart's embrace to glance at her brother, he had stood and stabilized again. The rest of the party was shell-shocked, all staring at Skysong as if she would fall apart. Cinderheart took a few steps forward, mouth moving as if she was trying to search for medicine. Skysong shook her head.

It means someone has tampered with our memories. She didn't know any of them had the power to do that. Did that mean StarClan had interfered? No…

But you broke that hold. Mountainstone blinked twice.

Or the hold was getting weaker. Skysong tilted her head to the side.

Are you alright? That…

I don't… Skysong took a deep breath in and looked at Hazeltail. She did remember Hazeltail crying for three nights after Petalkit had died. She remembered the grey-and-white she-cat pulling tiny Stealthstep and tiny Rustfur close to her and always chasing after them to remind them not to get into trouble. Hazeltail had lost two kits. Skysong had watched Rustfur die, and she had killed Petalkit herself.

The guilt hit her like a death blow. Skysong swallowed hard, suddenly losing her words. Hazeltail's eyes were confused. She didn't know – she couldn't know – that some supernatural wind had taken her only she-kit's life. It would be devastating to know that after all this time, there had been a murderer, and thus a source of vengeance. Sick, Skysong turned back into Greyheart for defense. This time, he spoke to her.

"If there's anything I can do, I'd do it." Like always, Greyheart's words were soothing. "I hate worrying about you. If you want to tell me something, you can. It won't change anything."

Things between them changed every day, and they both knew it. Skysong let herself drink up his scent. He was stronger than the musk of the forest and the ghostly fragrance of wind-strewn kit-blood. After a few more deep breaths, Skysong opened her mind to a bone-chilling calm and stood back from Greyheart, who drank up her features with his eyes, begging her silently to be okay.

"I suddenly got faint," she said. "Maybe my cuts from the battle yesterday were deeper than I thought."

More lies. Cinderheart stepped up to sniff at her body, some light going on behind her eyes. Skysong held still as they all stared at her.

"You looked like you were having a fit," said Toadstep. Skysong forced herself to nod importantly.

"I'm okay now," she said, shaking Cinderheart off.

"Skysong." Mountainstone went stiff suddenly. Skysong smiled at her brother. She forced herself to hold tight to this feeling of calm, doing her best to channel her inner Littlefalcon. He had always been good at being calm – why couldn't she do the same?

"Skysong, that's not what I mean," said Mountainstone, and that's when Hazeltail took the moment to scent the air. Her muscles snapped to attention in a moment, and then they all did, as the smell washed over Skysong: fresh garlic. No one rolled in fresh garlic unless…

They stepped out from the trees with eyes gleaming and claws extended, and Skysong bared her teeth as she met the bright eyes of Owlwhisker.

"I hope you've enjoyed this trip," said the deputy of WindClan, tilting his head to the side. "Would you like to see your leader now?"

"What have you done with Lionstar and Icecloud, fox-heart?" hissed Toadstep. Mountainstone let out a growl deep in his throat.

"They're fine," said Owlwhisker. He seemed calm, as if unafraid that Mountainstone was about to rip him to shreds. The deputy of WindClan tilted his head to the side. Skysong could feel his smugness radiating off of him. "A little marked up, but that was so we could control Lionstar."

"Kidnapping a Clan leader," hissed Hazeltail. "You're despicable."

"None of that will matter soon," said Owlwhisker, eyes glowing. Skysong understood with a sinking heart: both Lionstar and Mountainstone were here, meaning ThunderClan had no invincible warriors left in camp, they were eight warriors short, and they did not have their leader. And with it going to take at least a full sunrise and sunset before they could return, there was no chance that the party could get back to stop what was coming.

It had all been a ruse, disaster was about to strike, and there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Yeeeeeah, that's right, more action. This war is getting set up now.

If you liked the chapter, have questions, hated it, or just want to send me a greeting via the internet, kindly drop me a note in the review box below! Don't forget to fave/follow and recommend my stuff to others! I appreciate all the support, especially as we get close to the end of this series...

~Elsi