Alright, there's a reason for this chapter being late, honest. You see, there was this enormous snake monster that rose from the Pacific Ocean a couple days ago-

-there was a tornado in the middle of the ocean that dropped a bucket on my head-

-My house caught on fire-

-You know what sucks? Ebola-

Alright, fine! I've been lazy, I admit it. And in addition to that I've been playing a little game entitled, oh, I don't know, FINAL FANTASY 13 which has been sucking up my usual writing time (8 PM to 3 AM). But better late than never, I guess. We have a new POV in this chapter as well, for all of you to know. It's only a small intro into his mind, bigger chapters will come later, but this is the last POV that I'm going to enter. We're about halfway through with this story, can you believe it? It's going so fast! And I've been toying with my Elite story right now. It's probably going to be a series of oneshots in a single story, and it's going to be... dark. Darker than this, I can easily say.

tufted titmouse: I was giggling to myself as well when I was writing that. I enjoyed writing his character, really.

GlimmerIcewood: Inorite? And good! I don't want to give anything away! :)

Two days after Firestar had visited StarClan at the Moonstone he woke at almost sunhigh, and, strange as waking late was to him, he felt strangely tired, and only wished to lay his head back down and fall asleep. But he didn't, and managed to drag himself upright and stretch before grooming himself quickly and exit his den. Cinderpelt, passing by with Willowpelt and her three kits, glanced at him and excused herself from the queen and her kits to detour over to Firestar.

"My herb supplies are running low, I was just taking the kits out," she said with a small smile and then frowned when she took a closer look at Firestar, "Are you still tired? I won't be long. Get some kill and rest and I'll wake you up when I get back so we can talk about the dream, alright?"

"Of course," Firestar murmured and left her without saying goodbye. Cinderpelt gazed after him for a long time before turning back to Willowpelt and leaving the camp. Firestar would have to remember to hold the ceremony tonight for her kits, it was getting to be overdue. Firestar grabbed a mouse and made his way back to his den, glancing at where Whitepaw was dozing in the shadow by the apprentice den and wondering briefly why she wasn't out training with Spiderpaw and Molepaw. But Firestar pushed the though aside as he entered his den again and settled among the moss of his nest to eat. When he was finished he played with the bones, waiting to get drowsy, but found his mind strangely alert where he body was exhausted. He placed his head on his paws and watched the bones.

The world used to make sense. There used to be sides of Us and Them and We would fight Them until They were Gone and Dead. There used to be courage and hope, but where were they now? Firestar felt his claws sink into the moss. Where was the courage to fight Them? Who was on Our side, and why wouldn't they let themselves be know? It used to be simple: find the liar, expose him, kill him. But when there were no more lies, where could one find the courage to not search for them any longer? What use was a warrior if there were no wars to be fought?

"Firestar? May I enter?"

Firestar jolted upright and spun to the entrance. It took him a few moments to realize that the voice belonged to Whitestorm, his faithful deputy. Firestar struggled to compose himself and looked down to his claws, where he had torn his nest to shreds, scattering it with the bones of the mouse he killed. There was no time to clean it now, so Firestar sat back down among the shredded moss and bones, calling back and allowing Whitestorm to enter. The elderly warrior was no less powerful than he had been in the past, though Firestar could see the mark of age on his muzzle and the stiffness in his walk. He would have to tell Whitestorm to be deputy for at least another two seasons as he trained his son.

"Firestar, I need to talk to you about Cloudtail and Whitepaw," Whitestorm said, sitting down near the entrance of the den. He glanced down the mess that Firestar had made but ultimately ignored it. Firestar needed to take his frustration out on something.

"What about them?" Firestar asked. He began grooming his face but his bright eyes never left Whitestorm. Whitestorm seemed a little nervous about speaking to him.

"It's come to my attention, as well as the attention of several other warriors, that… We don't believe Cloudtail is training Whitepaw properly. She's been his apprentice for nearly two moons now and hasn't had a single battle practice and is woefully inept at hunting. I've spoken to Brakenfur and Graystripe and they say that Cloudtail never trains with Molepaw or Spiderpaw. In fact, Spiderpaw has said Whitepaw doesn't even know the differences between the hunting stances. While you were resting after returning from Highstones yesterday, Whitepaw went missing, and only came back this morning. Cloudtail says she simply got separated from him and was lost, but Whitepaw states that she had a fight with her father and ran away, and didn't know how to get back to the Clan."

"Why would she not know how to get back to the Clan?"

"Because Cloudtail has never given her a tour of the territory before. All she knows is Sunningrocks and the Great Sycamore and the camp, but none of the trails that connect them. Firestar, I am seriously concerned about Whitepaw's training, and I ask you to speak to Cloudtail and reassign her mentor. Graystripe and I have spoken and we think that it should be done. I can take on Whitepaw until she become a warrior-"

"No," Firestar cut in. Whitestorm paused uncertainly, "I'll take on Whitepaw. You're going to have to mentor your son, Snakekit, starting tomorrow night. Dustpelt is going to take Icekit and Cinderpelt is going to take Dovekit."

"I will mentor Snakekit?" Whitestorm was startled, "Firestar, I'm reaching retirement, I ache in more places that I should for not fighting every day and many younger cats are more eager to be mentors than I. It hadn't seems fair for me to mentor Snakekit."

"Rainwhisker, Sootfur, and Sorreltail are all too young to be mentors, as is Brambleclaw, if you were going to suggest him. No, Whitestorm, you will mentor Snakekit and I will mentor Whitepaw. You will remain as my deputy until Snakekit becomes a warrior and then you may retire."

"Firestar, I cannot voice how much I disapprove of this-"

"Then don't. Inform Dustpelt that he will be mentoring Icekit and Cloudtail that Whitepaw is no longer his apprentice but mine and leave me in peace."

Whitestorm took a deep breath but said nothing, then turned and left the den without another word.

Firestar closed his eyes and slept for a while longer and was then awakened by Cinderpelt and her gentle, soft paws nudging him awake. She looked troubled, and sat quietly as Firestar stretched and yawned, trying to wake up.

"Cloudtail is unconscious in my den right now." She said idly. Firestar glanced at her.

"He was throwing a tantrum about how Whitepaw had run off by herself again and how he wasn't mentoring her any longer. So Whitestorm and Graystripe held him down while I gave him five poppy seeds."

"Five? Isn't that a bit much?"

"I originally gave him three, but that only seemed to make him more angry. Four just made him drowsy, and five finally made him crash. Whitestorm set up Brackenfur and Sorreltail to watch them."

"Oh? Sorreltail and Brackenfur? Why them?"

"Because I told him to. Those two are going to fall in love and have nice, strong kits, just watch."

Firestar laughed, "Cinderpelt, are you telling me you arrange cats to fall in love?"

"Well if I don't do it, no one will. Right now I'm working on Whitepaw, but it's always harder with apprentices. She's got Spiderpaw written all over her, but I'm holding out for Sootfur or Rainwhisker."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"It's always nice to have more relatives of your deputy around, I suppose. We'll see when she comes around though, she does have the final say in it. I just… guide them to the right cat. And speaking of 'right cat,'" Cinderpelt's eyes narrowed, "We need to speak about Sandstorm and those four cats."

"The Catalyst and the Causes," Firestar said quietly to himself, so quiet that Cinderpelt didn't catch it, and then, louder, "I have absolutely no idea who it could be, Cinderpelt. I've known these cats for most of their lives and… I don't see anything that Sandstorm was talking about in any of them."

"Come, Firestar, you must see something. This forest is not perfect, nor this Clan, nor the cats who make this Clan. You know most of them better than I, You must have some idea."

"I just don't want think that one of my Clan is…" Firestar's voice trailed off, and he raised his head. Cinderpelt turned as well, but saw no one at the entrance to his den. Firestar stood, "… I'll be right back."

"What? Where are you going?" Cinderpelt hopped to her paws and started after FIrestar, "Firestar, is it her?"

"Yes," Firestar mumbled offhand, staring at something in the distance that Cinderpelt couldn't see. He started to make his way to the entrance and Cinderpelt limped after him, Firestar tore his eyes from whatever he was looking at and snapped at Cinderpelt; "Don't come with me, I have to be alone."

Perhaps his voice was too hard; perhaps that tickle in his throat as he spoke had been a snarl. But Firestar didn't care, his voice stopping Cinderpelt in her tracks and making her eyes large and round. He hurried away, following that teasing, bitter sweet smell of burned fur. As soon as he was out of sight from the Clan, he broke into a run, heedless of any prey he was scaring or any cats he would disturb. The scent wound through the forest almost like a visible ribbon, soft as kitten fur and cold as ice, digging tiny hooks into his nose and yanking him forward. He couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. He ran faster as the hook dragged into him, pulling him hard through the forest, through the ferns, through the bracken and bramble and trees and fire and ashes and…

The hook was gone. The scent had vanished. Firestar skidded to a stop, glancing around. Why had he stopped? His brain was muddled, as if rocks were falling around in it. What was he looking for again? Why was he here?

And then another trickle of scent. His memory returned to him. Burntfur. And she was close. But was it time to call her yet? Firestar closed his eyes. No, he needed to be closer. But only a little closer. He followed the scent until it grew almost unbearably strong, nearly gagging himself. But it still wasn't right. Not quite… Firestar looked up and opened his eyes;

"Burntfur."

Sunlight on yellow rock. The river. The forest. He was standing on the edge of sunningrocks and there, in the center, was Burntfur. Her translucent body seemed more opaque now, and her enormous green eyes blinked slowly and evenly. She tilted her head as she saw him and stood, walking down the far side of sunningrocks towards the river and out of his line of sight. Firestar bounded after her, and his breath caught in his throat when he reached the rise and looked down at the border between ThunderClan and RiverClan.

The scent was overpowering. Not Burntfur and her bittersweet smell. The smell of fish. And rot.

Hundreds upon hundreds of fish lined both sides of the river until it seemed to be bordered by silver and green. Yes, green, because the fish were coated in pustules that were burst with rotten green fluid. Firestar padded down to where Burntfur sat and looked at the fish, hardly a whiskerlength in front of them. They weren't just diseased, he saw, they were… mutated as well. Many of the fish sported extra fins or tails, some with mouths on their throats or squashed eyes or squashed faces. Burntfur touched a fish and dragged it from the rest. Firestar would only realize later that it was the first time Burntfur had touched and moved something, since his mind was elsewhere.

"Look," was all Burntfur said, and then stood up and walked down the stream. Firestar didn't follow her. He knew that her purpose here was done, and that if he wanted to, he would never be able to follow her. So instead he looked at what Burntfur had touched, what Burntfur had moved, and felt his stomach contract.

The fish looked no different than the others at first, until Firestar realized that there was another one underneath it, and not only that, grown into it. Two faces gaped at him from one fused body, their eyes wide and surprised, almost comical if their eyes hadn't been those sickening red colors. White. Black. Gray. Red.

"The Colors of Change," Firestar murmured to himself, not thinking. He did not dare touch the fish, nor any of the other fish in the stream. Who knew if they could transfer that disease to him? He looked out at the fish and the river again, "Slit a stream by its belly and find it wriggling with worms and maggots."

"Firestar!"

Firestar looked up and was confused for a moment, Bluestar? What was she doing here? And why was she still alive? But Firestar blinked, and he saw the large, spotted cat next to her. Mistyfoot, and her leader, Leopardstar. They padded down the stream until they were across from him, and Firestar stood.

"I'll allow you onto ThunderClan territory for now, as I wouldn't like to speak over the river," he called out to him. Mistyfoot and Leopardstar nodded and delicately jumped over the line of fish, wading across the river. He let them shake themselves dry before joining him at the top of sunningrocks, where they could all see the extent of the dead fish. It probably wasn't the smartest idea, letting the two powerful RiverClan cats onto his territory while he was alone, but frankly, Firestar didn't care. He didn't particularly want to talk to Mistyfoot or Leopardstar either, but they had mdae it clear that they wanted to speak to him, and he didn't want the wrath of RiverClan right now.

"I've never seen anything like it," murmured Leopardstar, "In all my years… this many dead fish at once. It doesn't make any sense."

"I've seen nothing like it either," Firestar said. Mistyfoot glanced at both of them.

"Could this be a message from StarClan?" she asked.

"I have no idea what it would mean," Leopardstar said, "We would need Mudfur for that. Interpretation was never my greatest skill."

"It's not a message from StarClan," Firestar said quietly, and both she-cats looked at him. His eyes were fixed on the fish, "It's a message from the future, something that StarClan has no say in. You must feel it too, Leopardstar," he looked at her and saw nothing but fear in her eyes, "The air is still. The prey hides well. The forest is waiting for something to break, something to change. And this is only the beginning." He motioned around them, "Soon this will happen to the other Clans, and bring to their attention that something is going to change, and change fast. We're really only puppets, Leopardstar. Nothing but puppets."

Both cats were staring at him now, but Firestar did not feel uncomfortable under their gaze. Leopardstar glanced at Mistyfoot and both stood uncertainly.

"The Gathering is in three nights, Firestar," Leopardstar said, as if to remind him, "We'll speak with the other leaders. We'll go to the Moonstone with our Medicine Cats. They can tell us what to do."

"There's nothing that we can do," Firestar murmured to himself, but looked up to Leopardstar and nodded, "Very well. That's what we'll do. I'll be seeing you there then, Leopardstar."

He didn't bother to wonder why Leopardstar wasn't her usual, crisp and cold self, nor did he wonder why she started running up the river, towards the RiverClan camp, as soon as she was on the opposite side of the border. It probably wasn't a good idea to let them onto his territory either, but Firestar really didn't care. He watched the fish and the river for a long time, until the sun had nearly set, and then stood, and returned to his camp.

"Firestar?" Cinderpelt entered his den quietly. An apprentice had cleaned his den, and by the scent of it, it was Spiderpaw. Firestar was lying quietly on his nest, staring into space. He pulled out of his trance briefly to look at Cinderpelt. His eyes seemed old, impossibly old and tired. Cinderpelt didn't bother to ask him about what Burntfur had shown him. She didn't want to know.

"Cloudtail," Firestar said quietly. Cinderpelt sat down next to him and began grooming his fur, "The only one in the entire Clan I can think of is Cloudtail. Cloudtail's been acting strange ever since Brightheart died, he's been training Whitepaw poorly. He's angry, he never speaks to me, he…" Cinderpelt hushed him and laid down next to him, curling her smaller body against his. Firestar lowered his head onto her flank, "Cloudtail is the Broken Heart."

"Hush, Firestar," Cinderpelt soothed him, "We can speak of it in the morning. For now, rest. Sleep and rest and let your dreams be untroubled."

Firestar closed his eyes and felt his heart break inside. But, as Cinderpelt wished on him, his dreams were untroubled and sweet.

The dangerous hunter stalked forward, watching the helpless mouse as it tittered in the shadow of a tree, thinking that it was safe. Lithe as the darkness itself, the noble warrior crept closer, rejoicing at the thrill of the hunt and the kill, the moonlight brushing over his pelt and shining in his large blue eyes, which were so blue they seemed to capture the stars in them. Fearless, handsome, and not bad with the ladies, the warrior stepped closer, in one moment it would all be-

Snap!

The mouse ran and vanished into the darkness. Reedpaw bounded after it but crashed into a thorn bush and, with a yowl, tumbled backwards. He sat up and heard familiar giggling in the bushes and frowned, "Swallowpaw, is that you?"

"That was a spectacular failure, Reedpaw," Swallowpaw giggled when she stepped out of the bushes nearby. Her fur was smooth and shiny and brown and tabby, and her eyes were large and green, "And I'm afraid you chased off the prey in this area again. Why don't we split up now? I'll take the river and you can take the gorge by WindClan."

Reedpaw flustered and agreed to it, and Swallowpaw bounded off, her pawsteps quiet as ever. Reedpaw frowned again and scuffed his paws in the dust. He really had wanted to catch the mouse to show off to Swallowpaw. She was his best friend and the sweetest cat in the Clan and had the nicest smell to her fur…

Concentrate! Prey! Bring back lots of prey and she'll be really impressed with you! Reedpaw set off with new determination, his steps bouncing as he trotted through the forest north, towards the gorge. He must've strayed further north than either he or Swallowpaw had noticed, because he was there soon, and standing on the edge of the gorge, looking down at the river below. In this section of the gorge the water ran slower, slow enough to hear the other side and what was going on. Two cats could easily have a conversation if they only raised their voices a little, not that any RiverClan cat would want to have a conversation with a WindClan.

Reedpaw crept to the edge of the gorge and looked down at the slow-moving black snake of a river beneath him. Every once in a while the water would catch the edge of a moonbeam and glitter silver-white before vanishing as quickly as it had come. It was one of Reedpaw's favorite places in the territory, and he would have to remember to bring Swallowpaw here sometime.

"Crowpaw? Crowpaw, where are you?"

Reedpaw scrambled backwards into the forest, fluffy black fur sticking up in surprise as a wiry body of a WindClan warrior darted over the edge of a hill on the far side of the gorge. She was a strong cat, lean like all of WindClan and with dark gray fur. She stumbled to the edge of the gorge and wailed again, "Crowpaw!"

Crowpaw? Who was Crowpaw? Reedpaw had been to several Gatherings and he had never heard of an apprentice named Crowpaw before. And Whyw as this cat searching for him at moonhigh, when all apprentices worth their kill would be sleeping and warm in their nests back at camp? As if to answer his questions, a second WindClan warrior darted over the moors to meet with the she-cat. He was gray and tabby and lean, and his small ears were badly mangled. The she-cat turned to him and noticeably brightened.

"Crowpaw, there you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Somehow Reedpaw was sure that this battle-scarred warrior wasn't Crowpaw. But the warrior seemed to play along with it.

"Mother, I've been looking for you forever, where have you been?" said the warrior, gently steering her away from the gorge.

"I've been looking for you, you silly kit. Stand back, let me get a good look at you." The warrior reluctantly took a small step away from the she-cat, "Oh you're so big now! You must be a warrior now, right?"

"Er… yes, Mother, my name is Crow… tail. Crowtail."

"Crowtail!" The she-cat was ecstatic, "Oh that's such a wonderful name, dear, it's a great name! Did you know that your father's name was Blacktail before he damaged his foot? Oh, if only he was around to see you: Blacktail and Crowtail, father and son! He would be so proud."

"Yes, Mother, he would be," the warrior glanced over his shoulder and shouted, "Tallstar, I've found her!"

A second warrior, Reedpaw felt his fur prickle when he recognized the long tail and the black-and-white pelt of the WindClan leader, raced over to join the other two, and the she-cat giggled as he neared.

"I told them, didn't I, Tallstar? I told them that my Crowpaw was still alive and I've found him and he's such a fine warrior now, Crowtail! Why didn't you tell me he had been made into a warrior? And he's so handsome, he looks just like Tornear, wouldn't you say?"

Tallstar looked uncomfortable as he glanced between Ashfoot and the gray tabby warrior, "Er, yes, Ashfoot, I'm sorry that I… hid Crowtail from you for all these moons. Could you give us a moment to speak together? I have something important I must discuss with him."

To Reedpaw's luck, they moved closer to the gorge and he strained his ears to hear their entire conversation.

"… Tornear, what is she doing here? And why is she calling you Crowtail?"

"She's been… having trouble, Tallstar. She sleepwalks sometimes and gets confused. I'm just… trying to get her back to the camp."

"By acting as her dead son? Tornear, you will never impersonate Crowpaw again. Next time she is out here wandering the moors at night, be her brother instead of her dead son and get her back to camp that way. I will not have you deceiving her."

Tornear lowered his head and murmured an apology to Tallstar, and then both cats returned to Ashfoot and vanished deeper into WindClan territory. Reedpaw tilted his head to one side and frowned. He wasn't quite sure what he had seen just now, and whether it was good news or bad news for RiverClan. He continued to watch the three cats as they grew smaller and smaller in the distance, and settled his muzzle on his paws, thinking.

"And what are you doing, little apprentice?"

Reedpaw yowled as a heavy paw stepped down on his tail, and jumped to his paws to cower under Blackclaw's harsh eyes. The senior warrior wasn't his mentor, but he was supervising Reedpaw and Swallowpaw tonight, and it was always a bad idea to get him cranky. Blackclaw glanced over Reedpaw to the just-vanishing forms of the three WindClan cats and looked back down at Reedpaw.

"Spying on WindClan, are you?" he said and looked back to the WindClan territory, "If I had half a chance to attack them – or any of the other Clans, for that matter – I wouldn't hesitate to pounce at a sign of weakness. Come on, up. Your patrol is over, and I don't think Swallowpaw wants to know that you've been wasting your time napping instead of hunting like you are supposed to."

Without another word, Blackclaw turned and marched back through the forest. Reedpaw hesitated, glancing at the WindClan territory again, before following Blackclaw. He didn't know what to think about what Blackclaw just said, or about the insane mother in WindClan. Would that count as a sign of weakness? Or would Blackclaw just scoff at him and call him a little apprentice again?

Reedpaw paused when he saw something flicker in the bushes beside Blackclaw, and then he swore he saw two enormous green eyes, so wide they were ringed with white, staring at him through the bushes. But when he blinked all he saw was forest and ferns and he shook his head, then ran to catch up with Blackclaw. He was just imagining it, right? Eyes in the forest, a product of his imagination.

Along with that smell of burning fur.

Dum ba-ba BUM! Reedpaw!

Yes, good readers and reviewers, Reedpaw is going to be the final POV. So we have two in ThunderClan and one in RiverClan and... Well, that's about it.

So, for the next chapter, I know Glimmer will be excited about this, we have the return of Whitepaw and Cedarheart! The entire chapter is set aside for both of them, so rejoice, my little ducklings, and be prepared for the next chapter which... Well, I don't have a set release date, but it'll come eventually. After I beat Cid in FF13. GODDAMN IRRITATING BOSS. But, it was thanks to him I got frustrated with the game and decided to write... Well, review, find my little errors and I'm sure are everywhere in this, but I'll go over it later for the errors because I have to get home, and most of all, enjoy~