Here it is! The last chapter of Elemental. Kind of bittersweet, if you think about it.

And the last disclaimer: I don't own any of this fun stuff. I mean, I do own my storyline. But not these characters or this world, which has been a lot of fun.

Chapter 38: StarClan's Beginning

Lionstar woke slowly, his body heavier than it ever had been. He felt all his bones aching and got to his paws gradually, blinking cold away. All around him, the trees were draped in snow, as if some great white cat had shed their fur all over everything. His head ached.

Around him, others were moving as the snow drifted slowly down around them. Dawn had broken, and the rays of the sunlight were creeping into the canopy, reflecting on the smooth white banks of snow around them. Lionstar shook the snow that had been collecting on his pelt.

"Lionstar! You're alright!" An excited Foxleap and Stealthstep rushed towards him, and Lionstar nodded at his Clan-mates. His head was spinning.

The last place he had been was standing on the bank of the grassy plain he had only dreamed about once or twice over the course of his life. He had watched as Littlefalcon turned to them and revealed what he was: their omniscient guardian of sorts, the one who was needing to guide them along the way. Then Littlefalcon had looked straight up into the sky for a few seconds before closing his eyes. And Lionstar felt everything being taken from him at once. Littlefalcon's pelt glowed bright gold, and around him, the other four fell to their knees, realizing something Lionstar couldn't feel with them. He reached out for his kits, but they faded out of the world. Then Littlefalcon had turned his muzzle towards Lionstar, and he had felt himself changing and reverting, stretching in all directions. He felt his son's voice in his head only briefly – thank you for protecting us, father – before suddenly, he was cartwheeling through memories of great battles now gone. His first trip out of camp as a kit, all the border skirmishes, the trek to the mountains to help the Tribe, greater clashes within the Clans, the War of Shadows, defeating Tigerstar, fighting this strange war between the Clans now and being unable to stop it, no matter how much damage he took for others.

That had all brought him here among the snowdrifts. As he pushed past Foxleap and Stealthstep, others noticed him. Cats were streaking in all directions, ducking under branches of bushes and scattering over roots, tripping in snow banks. Red splotches of blood spotted the smooth layer of fluff.

"What happened?" murmured Lionstar, looking around as his Clanmates slowly crept in around him. His eyes scanned them: Sorreltail, Thornclaw, Molewhisker, Honeyleaf. All brave cats. He beckoned Sorrletail and Thornclaw. "The others."

"What others?" asked Thornclaw, flicking his ear. "The Clan? Making its way back to camp."

"The battle ended," said Sorreltail. "We were trying to find you."

"Right." Lionstar nodded. He flicked his ears. "I must have gotten knocked out in the thick of it." He tried to laugh nervously. "How embarrassing."

"It doesn't matter," said Thornclaw, flexing his shoulders. Lionstar looked over his Clanmates.

"Who is hurt?" He felt really strange, going back into the old patterns of asking after his Clan-mates. He had just been wandering the stars with New StarClan and hiding from the blazing, scorching hellfire his daughter had summoned. It felt strange to realize that here they were, talking as if none of that had happened. He didn't know what the others had seen, although clearly Willowleaf's powers had bled into this. "What happened?"

"The moon went out," said Sorreltail. "In the middle of our fighting. Only some cats noticed it, because the canopy was thick." Lionstar processed this slowly. Ivypool had told him everything when they met up. He glanced up, but the moon wasn't in sight anymore. "Then it came back, bright blue."

"Then the stars…" Thornclaw shook his head, scoring into the snowbanks and carving into the cold ground below. "It was like Silverpelt was burning. And the sky reformed, and all the stars were in a different order." He and Sorreltail exchanged a despairing glance. Some of the younger warriors were gathering around him, listening for this exchange. Then, stumbling into the clearing, came Leafpool and Squirrelflight. Lionstar nodded to Sorreltail and Thornclaw and joined them, surprised when Leafpool pressed into his side, winding around him.

"Mothwing and Bramblestar appeared to us and the leaders," she murmured into his shoulder. "Lionstar, whatever burden you have been carrying has been lifted."

Lionstar glanced up at the sky and shook his head. Littlefalcon…

"Take me to the others." He looked around. "The other leaders."

He needed to figure out what had happened to his kits, to Icecloud, to Doveheart and Ivypool.

"Should we take everyone back to camp?" Thornclaw called, confused.

"Sorreltail, Thornclaw, you come with me," said Lionstar. "Foxleap, lead everyone back." He turned to his group of older warriors. "Is everyone safe?"

"The snow fell, which is so strange," said Sorreltail, shivering. "It was so cold. I thought we'd be frozen alive. It just suddenly came pouring down, the worst blizzard I've ever seen."

"We've been looking for everyone since," said Thornclaw. "Everyone has. The fighting is altogether finished."

"StarClan sent us signs," murmured Leafpool, twitching her whiskers. Lionstar didn't say anything. He knew what all this absurdity must have looked like, having witnessed it himself. But he also knew that it was not StarClan at all, but living cats. Living cats that he fully intended to find.

"How many have we found?" He had to distract himself with mundane questions as they moved through the forest, picking over frozen logs and the like.

"Most everyone," said Thornclaw. "My party is still missing Littlefalcon and Blossomfall."

"But you found Greyheart?" That was good. He must have woken up at some point. Thornclaw rumbled his agreement.

"I just spoke with Doveheart and Willowleaf," said Squirrelflight. Lionstar felt his heart give out with relief, and he stumbled as they were walking. "Seems they were father towards ShadowClan territory then we thought. Snowfeather was injured, but Bumblestripe is helping her back."

"What of our party?" said Lionstar to Sorreltail.

"Cinderheart is with the other leaders still," said Leafpool.

"Right," agreed Sorreltail. "Whitewing and Toadstep were sent back early. Toadstep has a nasty leg wound now. And Mouseclaw is with Doveheart and Willowleaf."

Good, so he was safe also.

"What about Cloudtail's party?" Lionstar asked. "And Foxleap's?"

"I haven't heard anything from Cloudtail," said Thornclaw after the other looked around to exchange information.

"Dustfur and Hazeltail were with us earlier," said Leafpool. "But the others…"

"And Foxleap's?" Bluemoon was on that party. Had they found her corpse yet?

"Mousewhisker is looking for her and Mountainstone," said Thornclaw. "They were together last."

Nodding slowly, Lionstar tried to take a tally in his head. They hadn't heard from Skysong or Ivypool or Berrynose or Cloudtail. Littlefalcon and Blossomfall were lost to their sight, as were Bluemoon and Mountainstone. Okay. Those were numbers he could consider. He needed to find Skysong and Littlefalcon and Mountainstone first. He raised his nose and tried to sniff out a scent, but everything was covered in the blood and snow, and his senses were all scrambled.

They stepped into a part of the woods where the other leaders and their deputies were pacing. Willowleaf, and Mouseclaw had appeared to join Hazeltail and Dustfur. Cinderheart and Doveheart were talking to Oakstar, Mistystar, and their deputies. Whitestar and Owlwhisker were holding back.

"Lionstar!" called Willowleaf, her eyes bright as she rushed towards him. Lionstar nodded at his daughter, utterly relieved to see her in one piece. She opened her mouth to say something, maybe an explanation, but he shook his head and pressed on to join the other leaders.

"Sorry, I embarrassingly got hit with a tree branch and knocked out and covered in snow." Lionstar flicked his tail as he approached the others, leaving the senior warriors at the edge of the clearing. "Hi."

"ThunderClan's mighty leader, felled by a tree branch." But Mistystar's eyes were warmer than they had been in a long time.

"What now?" said Whitestar, returning to join them. She glared at Oakstar and Lionstar first. As Lionstar opened his mouth to speak – although he had no clue what he was trying to say – he heard a loud cry that made his blood thin.

"That sounded like – " began Doveheart, but Lionstar already knew. Skysong.

Willowleaf had jumped to her paws. Lionstar cast a backwards look at the leaders and nodded at Doveheart, who stayed rooted and turned around to explain. Lionstar knew Skysong was nearby, so he went pounding through the trees. His heart was in his throat. Her cry was not one of pain or of fear – but of utter despair.

With Willowleaf beside him for every stride, Lionstar pushed out of the way and into a corner of the woods close to camp. Skysong was standing with Blossomfall and Cloudtail screaming, her head tilted back. And Littlefalcon's body was at her paws, still against the snow-covered grass.

"How could he?" sobbed Skysong. "How could he leave us?"

"Skysong." Lionstar closed the distance between him and his daughter and shoved her a little harder than he needed to as he tried to comfort her. She screamed into the thick fur under Lionstar's pelt.

"He did what he had to do," said Lionstar. "Please, Skysong, enough."

Skysong hissed in protest and screamed again. Lionstar looked at the others over her head. Now that Skysong was being held back, Cloudtail and Blossomfall and Willowleaf approached Littlefalcon's body. Willowleaf fell in the snow and wrapped her body around her brother's corpse, like she was sharing a nest with him. Lionstar looked away as grief gripped his own heart with iron claws. That final act, Littlefalcon glowing bright gold on top of the hill, taking their powers from them, had killed him. Lionstar knew that now.

"Skysong, you're the future leader of ThunderClan, and there are things to be done." Lionstar murmured this into the fur on top of her head. Her ears twitched, but he could hear her taking deep breaths to calm herself down. After a few seconds, the forest rang with only echoes of her sobs, and she stood back, shaking her head.

"I'm angry at him." Skysong lashed her tail. "It could have been me."

Lionstar shook his head. Skysong hissed. Instead of looking at Littlefalcon's body again, Lionstar turned to Cloudtail and Blossomfall.

"Are either of you hurt?" They shook their heads. "Can you look for Berrynose, Bluemoon, Ivypool, and Mountainstone? They still haven't been heard from."

"Sure, Lionstar." Cloudtail nodded carefully. "Come on, Blossomfall."

Lionstar took a good, long look at Skysong and Willowleaf curled around Littlefalcon and then forced himself not to react violently to the situation. He closed his eyes for a second and found peace within him.

"I want to stay with him," said Willowleaf, almost predicting what Lionstar was going to say. "I want me and Skysong to stay with him."

"I should go with you," said Skysong quietly. "To talk to the other leaders. That's what you're doing, right? I should come."

"You can stay here," said Lionstar. He looked for another long time at his son's body then slowly backed away as Willowleaf and Skysong surrounded their littermate. He felt the emptiness in his heart open up in a way it hadn't since he had lost Hollyleaf. But he plodded on towards the others anyways.

"What happened?" said Doveheart as they parted to let him in.

"Littlefalcon is dead."

For a second, his words had no effect. Then Cinderheart hung her head, and Doveheart touched her nose to Lionstar's shoulder. The other leaders blinked, surprised.

"If a RiverClan warrior dealt the blow, I am truly sorry," Mistystar bowed her head. "I fear RiverClan has been manipulated. We have caused such chaos. I apologize."

"For WindClan, also." Whitestar wouldn't look at them. "I'm very sorry this had to happen."

"Things have been difficult," said Lionstar. "It was very hard to know what to believe." He wasn't sure how much they knew, but in the silence that followed, he put together that New StarClan had already made an appearance.

"Lionstar…" Doveheart's voice was quiet. Lionstar glanced over his shoulder as a sparkle of gold caught his eye.

Littlefalcon sat there, glimmering gold, his amber eyes lit up by stars as bright as suns.

"Hello," said Littlefalcon softly, getting to his paws. As it always had, his voice could carry at a very low volume. The other leaders sat back as other New StarClan cats materialized all around Littlefalcon: great warriors from all four Clans that appeared in dazzling ranks atop the snow. The sun seemed to shine right through them, so through all the trees behind them could still be seen through their bodies. Sitting calmly poised on Litltefalcon's right side, her green eyes bright – Hollyleaf. Lionstar couldn't help but stare at her, drinking in her features, trying to say so much. She met his eyes and smiled, and for a second, her form flickered at the moment her voice went through his head – You were right, Lionstar. I was powerful, too. But my power required me to disappear entirely. I was the one giving Littlefalcon his knowledge. She winked, and Lionstar couldn't help but smile. His amazing, amazing littermate. How he missed her.

"We're very sorry you had to endure this," said Littlefalcon, looking around at them all. "StarClan, as you have been told, was infected by a horrible darkness, and the Dark Forest was expanding. In order to preserve our link to this world, StarClan had a great battle. And the warriors before us made a great sacrifice." He bent his head, closing his eyes for a few seconds. "They moved on to another plane, where their words are incapable of reach you or us."

"What?" murmured Oakstar. "StarClan is gone?"

"We are here," said Littlefalcon, and all of the New StarClan warriors spoke with him. "We are always here."

Lionstar stood silent, thinking of all the other StarClan warriors he had heard of in legends and stories. He was never gifted with speaking to them, but Jayfeather had been, and certainly his kits had been. What a loss they must be suffering. It was really a noble sacrifice, even if they had fought it using the Clans for so long.

"Please, mark our beginning with peace between you." Littlefalcon spoke alone now, dipping his head to each of the leaders in turn. "Know that we will always be here to guide you."

"Wait, Littlefalcon – " Lionstar took a huge step forward, reaching for his son, but the ranks of New StarClan were already slipping out of his grasp. He looked desperately at Hollyleaf, who was gone before Littlefalcon was. He was the last one to vanish, and Lionstar reached out as best as he could. Once again, Littlefalcon's voice surged through his head: I was born so I could one day die. Now you can live a normal life, where no prophecy and power can restrict you or anyone in ThunderClan.

Lionstar stood back as all of New StarClan vanished, his heart aching. But Littlefalcon's voice was a support mechanism. Please, don't mourn me. I made this choice, and I will always be here to guide your pawsteps.

So began the new era of StarClan: with peace.

Please, if you haven't already, drop in and let me know what you're feeling. I hope this came to a satisfying conclusion for everyone, and if it didn't, welp, I can try again in the epilogue? Read on, dear readers. Thank you guys all so much.

~Elsi