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Disclaimer: I have yet to own either Warriors or A Christmas Carol.

Chapter V

Christmas Yet to Come

Tigerstar looked around nervously, waiting for the final spirit to come. Suddenly, a movement caught his eye near the fallen tree. Turning, his eyes fell on a cat coming towards him. The shadows of the night seemed to twist around the cat as it padded towards him, or else the cat was made of darkness itself. Tigerstar couldn't see any clear features of the cat. The only thing he could tell for sure was that it was leaving no pawprints in the snow. Finally, it stood in front of him.

Past and present, Tigerstar was thinking. There could only be one thing that this last cat was...

"Are you the spirit of Christmas Yet to Come?" he asked. The spirit didn't speak, but it's vaguely formed head nodded.

"I'm more afraid of you than I've ever been of anything," Tigerstar said, looking at him. "But I know this is all for my greater good..." Still, the spirit just looked at him. "Will you say anything?" he asked, wondering if spirits were ever struck dumb. The spirit said nothing, but turned and motioned for him to follow. Tigerstar, only slightly comforted that this was the last spirit, whatever he was shown, followed.

As he stepped towards the log, he suddenly found himself in the Shadowclan camp. Looking around, he saw the spirit walking towards the leader's den. He followed.

Inside the leader's den, he saw Blackstar, Russetfur, and Tigerheart speaking to one another. Moving closer, he was able to hear what they were saying.

"-not a nice way to join Starclan, all in all," Tigerheart was saying.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised, struck with such an illness, at such an inconvenient time," Blackstar said.

"Did he die alone?" Russetfur asked, looking at them. "I mean, can we be sure that he wasn't killed by a fox, or something else we should watch for?"

"No, we would know," Blackstar answered. "It was sickness, mark my words. Maybe if he trusted cats more, he would still be with us. Not that everyone was clamoring to help him anyways."

"Speaking of," Tigerheart said, "do you think even his own clan will want to mourn for him?"

"I doubt it," Russetfur said. "They didn't like him any better than we did."

Tigerstar felt sorry for the poor cat that they must be talking about. He felt something touch his back, and jumped around, only to see the spirit motioning him away. He followed. Instead of finding himself in the Shadowclan camp, however, he found himself in his own camp. He heard movement coming from the medicine den. At the spirit's motion, he walked over. Standing to the side of the den, he smelled death coming from inside. The spirit motioned towards the den. He suddenly understood.

"I know what you want me to do," he said, moving towards the den. Suddenly, just as he was close enough that if he took one more step, the body would be in sight, he hesitated. He didn't know why, but he couldn't find it in him to walk in, and look at the cat who had died, and who's death had had no apparent effect even on his own clan. Turning to the spirit, he spoke. "But I can't do it. I would if I could, but I don't have the power."

The spirit still didn't say anything. It just stood, looking at him with eyes he couldn't see. "But I understand," he said, looking back. "This poor cat was as popular as I am, wasn't he?" The spirit still refused to speak. Suddenly wondering if anyone had any sympathy besides him, he spoke again. "Is there anyone who feels emotion towards this cat's death?"

Suddenly, they were at Windclan's camp. Onestar was speaking to Mudclaw. "Was Thunderclan willing to spare fresh-kill for our starving kits?"

"Yes, they were, as a matter of fact," Mudclaw said.

"So, that warrior that insisted against it, has he had a change of heart?"

"More than a change. He's dead."

"So they won't starve?"

"No, I don't believe they will."

Onestar smiled. "I never thought, in any of my past lives, that death could bring happiness. It seems I was wrong."

Tigerstar turned back to the spirit. He'd worded his request wrong, that was all. "I mean, spirit, is there any cat that feels tenderness at his death?"

Again, he found himself somewhere else. For the second time that night, he found himself at the horseplace. Fireheart's family was there again. They were a few fox-lengths off. Tigerstar moved forward. "One of Fireheart's parties?" he asked. "They're times of happiness. Thank you for bringing me here." He headed down towards the horseplace.

Arriving there, he felt a very noticeable change from the last time he was there. There were the same cats that had been there when he'd first arrived last time, but they'd been happy then. Now, they looked sad and forlorn. Again, Fireheart and Lionblaze were absent from the group. Suddenly, Fireheart came in, but Lionblaze wasn't with him. Tigerstar suddenly had a bad feeling. Sandstorm spoke first.

"Is he in a good place?" she asked. Looking around, Tigerstar saw that the two who looked saddest were Jaypaw and Hollypaw.

"Yes," Fireheart said, walking in and sitting down next to his nephew. "There's a nice place near the abandoned twolegplace, where those herbs grow. He always... always liked that place." His voice started to break as a tear started down his eye. Cloudtail looked at him sadly. All the others seemed to feel just as miserable. Fireheart finally pulled himself together. "Well," he said, still sounding sad, "I think we can learn from this. Lionpaw was a great cat, and maybe he'll get his dying wish and the clans will feel for his death, and there will be a little less fighting. Let's remember him nicely."

Tigerstar turned. "Please, take me away from here," he asked. Suddenly, they were in an area of Thunderclan where some cats were buried after dying. There was a mound of dirt over where Tigerstar assumed the cat he'd heard about was buried. Turning on the shadow, he spoke. "Please, tell me: are these the shadows of things that will be, or the shadows of things that may be only?" The spirit still didn't speak. Tigerstar finally gave in to his curiosity. "Who is that cat that died?" he asked. "The one buried there?"

The spirit raised its tail and pointed right at Tigerstar.

He felt his stomach vanish. "No, spirit," he said. "Tell me that these things can still be changed! If everything is past hope, then why did the spirits bother with me? If the actions of the cats in the present change, the ends change too, isn't this true?" The spirit still refused to speak. "I can change!" Tigerstar shouted desperately. "I'm not the cat I was yesterday! I will live with the spirit of Christmas in my heart, and keep it for all time! I will accept what the three spirits have shown me, and I won't shun the lessons that they teach! Just let me wipe away the grave on this land!" He turned to look at the dirt, and looked back. As he did, he gasped.

The spirit was no longer just a vaguely defined shadow of a cat. The shadows had taken form. The spirit at first seemed to be the cat that had been singing at the Thunderclan camp earlier, Tiny, but at the same time, it wasn't. This monstrosity had the same color fur, all black with one white paw, but it was wearing a collar with teeth in it. With a jolt, Tigerstar saw that some of the teeth were cat's. Dog's claws were attached to it's paws. The monstrosity didn't speak, but the sight was enough to make Tigerstar step backwards involuntarily. Suddenly, another high-force wind whipped through the trees. The cat motioned behind him, and Tigerstar turned to see his body buried a few tail-lengths below the surface. Turning back, he saw the spirit standing only a few inches in front of him. Jumping backwards, he accidentally fell into the grave. A loud cracking sound went through the night, and, still on top of his own body, Tigerstar found himself falling. Looking down, he saw that he was falling towards a gigantic river of fire. He closed his eyes tight, not feeling ready to die, and then...

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