I'm back! Just like a bad fungal infection! And I present to you the next chapter, which I very much like and enjoyed writing (as opposed to the last chapter, which was a pain in the ass), which is entitled Chapter Seven: The Shadow. Why? Well, you'll find out. The new POV is in the latter half of the chapter and will probably not surprise you, knowing that the only characters in this chapter is really the leaders and the medicine cats. But I digress.

I just spent nine hours at work yesterday, so my plans for posting this earlier were effectively squashed. But I managed to finish it, and here we go, the next chapter which I know you will love~

GlimmerIcewood: I have to warn you? Hahahahaha, alright then. More Cedar/White is in the future. Lotsa more-a :)

ADHD kid in jail: I try to make the chapters the best quality as possible, which is hard when it comes along with speed. But I favor quality over that, just so you know :) But I really don't like to leave a story un-updated for a week or longer. I just feel like I'm letting people down :(

SharpWhisper: Thanks!

tufted titmouse: Nothing goes well in my stories :)

"Firestar, I need to talk to you," Cinderpelt hissed to him. Firestar stepped back from leading the other cats and fell to the back alongside her, where they could talk in peace. They were almost to the Mothermouth now, after a tense few moments at the thunderpath, and the eight cats had grown increasingly silent as they walked. Leaders whispered with their medicine cats, so Cinderpelt wanting to speak to Firestar alone was nothing new. Cinderpelt hissed quietly to Firestar:

"Firestar, what if she's there? What if it… it's like last time?"

Firestar shrugged and increased his pace, ignoring her question. He had thought of it himself, but he didn't know what to think about it. Burntfur was getting more and more lifelike the more he saw her. Since he had seen StarClan burn last time at the Moonstone, he had had no more dreams from his ancestors, and wasn't worried about it either. Firestar frowned as they entered the Mothermouth together, letting himself be swallowed by the darkness. It was strange how he wasn't worried, but if he wasn't worried, he guessed that it wasn't a problem, right? Burntfur had never hurt him, never hurt his Clan. She showed him things, she wasn't the cause, like how Cinderpelt probably thought. No… Burntfur was innocent. Firestar was sure.

As he walked and felt the stone brush his whiskers, he thought back to Cloudtail, still sleeping in Cinderpelt's den. Everytime he had woke he had been irate, and so Firestar had ordered Dovepaw and Cinderpelt to keep him sedated at all costs. Cinderpelt had mixed saturated moss with poppy seeds and dribbled it into his mouth as he began to come around, putting him to sleep again and keeping him hydrated. But Cloudtail was growing thin, and Cinderpelt insisted he be allowed to be awake so that he and Whitepaw could talk to each other. Firestar had refused. He still had to decide what to do with Cloudtail. He had no proof that Cloudtail was the Broken Heart but… who else could it be? Perhaps Burntfur would know.

The Moonstone was shining but the time the leaders and medicine cats reached it, and they silently circled the stone until they were evenly spaced apart, lay down, and pressed their noses to the stone. Firestar glanced up to the Moonstone as he knelt, and just as he felt his eyes grown heavy, he swore he could see the flicker of darkness in that white stone, a little like a cat, and a little like fire.

Firestar wasn't surprised when he saw the embers and ash dancing on the wind. He heard Blackstar on his left take a sharp breath in, and Mudfur on his right whimper as a bough crashed from a nearby tree. Cinderpelt just pressed herself closer to Firestar, close enough so that he could feel her trembling. But Firestar stared into the fires, into the ash and blazing walls and then up into the smoke-choked sky. Tallstar shouted to the others:

"This way, there's an unburned area here!" He and Barkface turned and ran through a tunnel of fire, the other leaders and medicine cats running after him, but Firestar felt himself walking, looking into the fires and searching for her. She was here, it was obvious. He exited the fire into a smoking, charred field split and sundered, ash-black ground cracked with bloody red fire. The other leaders and medicine cats shouted for their ancestors, shouted for their mentors, their passed-away friends and relatives. But the forest was silent besides the roaring fire, the flame behemoth.

The other leaders were shouting to each other over the fire, trying not to look at the inferno, pretending as if it weren't there. But Firestar could see them twitch when a branch fell, or wince when another tree exploded and the ground moaned in pain. He turned to the forest and the fire and closed his eyes, breathing in the fire and ash and hot air and the wind that whirled around him. And he caught the scent of burning fur in there as well. He opened his eyes and saw Cinderpelt staring at him with her large blue eyes. She shook her head, but Firestar turned away, looking into the forest, and whispered a call:

"Burntfur."

A yowl broke through the roar of the fire, and all eyes turned to a section of the forest where it had come from. A ghostly cat burst from the fire, screeching, batting his burning fur to put out the fire burning along his spine. He tripped and fell as the ground snarled and jerked upwards, splitting the ground again. And then Burntfur was there, pinning him down, her mouth crusted with silver-red, she held the cat down and then turned to the leaders and medicine cats.

Her eyes were smaller today, more relaxed. He couldn't see the whites around her eyes any more, and she blinked normally. Her fur was more solid, he could see only the faintest movement of the flames through her body. He noticed that her chest rose and fell as well, as if she were exhausted and panting. But her calm face did not seem to be tired. He cat in her claws wriggled and screamed, slashing at Burntfur, but her claws just passed through her, and the StarClan cats screeched louder. Firestar felt bile rise in his throat when he saw that the dead cat's feet were smoking and burnt. Burntfut did not deign to glance at the three other leaders or the four Medicine Cats. Her eyes were always on Firestar, even as she lowered her head and tore out the throat of the StarClan cat, silver-red blood gushing onto her jaws and dripping down her chest.

"I knew you would come, Firestar," She said quietly, stepping over the still body of the StarClan cat. Leopardstar let out a wail when she saw the cat and started to him, but another burst of fire pushed her back. She looked from Burntfur to the still cat and then to Firestar. Her eyes were large and filled with fear and hate.

"What is she talking about, Firestar?" Snarled Tallstar, his long tail lashing, "She knew you would come? Who is she?"

Firestar's mouth moved up and down but he couldn't find it in him to say anything. Who was Burntfur, really? And why did she keep coming to him? Firestar had not the faintest idea but… But the fires…

"All four leaders are here," Burntfur finally turned her large green eyes to the other cats, "And the Medicine Cats as well. The Four to Lead and the Four to Heal. All that's left are the Four to Change and the Four to Kill. But you don't know those yet either, do you, Firestar?" Burntfur laughed but it sounded pained and fake. Her large green eyes scanned the four leaders and four medicine cats again.

"You came to StarClan looking for answers. You can see the world changing around you, morphing, mutating, knowing that there is a bubble ripe for the bursting and anticipating its explosion. You can feel it in your bones, that you stand at the crossroads. Change is coming. Nothing will be as it was before. Will it be the end of the Four Clans, or the beginning of their greatest era? StarClan does not know, they do not even know who the ones to bring the change will be. Who is the Catalyst? Who is the Falling Bird, the Blind Eye, the Broken Heart? Who are the Four who will change the world, and Who are the Four that will die for its birth? You came to StarClan, but they do not know. They are burning now, and fanning the flames of change. Violent, beautiful change."

Burntfur turned back to the blazing forest, her eyes widening until you could see the whites around them once more, "Beautiful, beautiful change. And it's because you want it, Firestar." Burntfur turned back around and faced the leaders, her eyes fixed on Firestar, "I am here because of you, Firestar. I am here for you. I am here to bring into reality what you want and this," Burntfur laughed painfully again and swept around. The flames seemed to scream and explode as blackened trees shattered as if struck by lightning, "This is what you want, Firestar. And I'll give it to you – the destruction of StarClan, the forefront of the Change!"

"No!" wailed Barkface stumbling and falling as if the strength had suddenly felt him. Tallstar knelt beside the elderly medicine cat, helping him to his feet again, and Barkface threw back his head, wailing, "NO!"

"Is she telling the truth, Firestar?" Snarled Blackstar, leaping to his feet, "Is she? Are you really here to destroy the forest now that you've saved it?"

Firestar turned to face the three other leaders and their medicine cats. His eyes were so wide that the whites could be seen around them. The look on his face was unreadable. Cinderpelt took a tentative step away from Firestar, her blue eyes wide as well, but filled with tears and fear. Firestar looked at him. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. Burntfur stepped in front of Firestar, so close that the smell of her burned pelt was overwhelming. Firestar looked at her and blinked slowly and then, finally, asked the one question that he always meant to ask her:

"Who are you?"

Burntfur smiled and leaned up to touch her nose to his. Her nose was flaming hot, like fire. Or hatred.

"I am you," she whispered to Firestar. The stubs of her burnt-off whiskers brushed his, "I am your rage. I am your hatred. I am the darkness in your heart that was born the moment the claw fell on your life. On your precious Sandstorm. I am your desire for a different world. I am your desire for death. I am your desire to tear this world down and create one that is just and fair. I am the Shadow cast by the darkness that clouds the Fire in your heart, my Firestar, brought to life by the Change that is taking the forest."

Firestar stared at Burntfur for a long time, not blinking. Behind her the fires raged and the other Clan leaders and medicine cats screamed as burning trees fell around them, penning them in and keeping them away from Firestar and Burntfur and Cinderpelt. The roar of the fire should have been deafening, but Firestar could not hear it over the pounding blood in his ears and the roar in his heart as he looked at Burntfur and knew what she said was truth.

"You are my Shadow," whispered Firestar. Burntfur closed her eyes and nodded.

"I am your Shadow. I know your Darkness."

"Then be my Shadow," Firestar hissed, "Protect me."

Firestar lifted his eyes slowly, and then his head and his body. His body was strangely light and his head was strangely heavy. But he lifted his eyes to the Moonstone and smiled when he saw the once-white rock was clouded smoke-dark. He felt his paws lead him to the cat besides him and almost stumble over the old cat. Firestar glared down at Mudfur, who twitched and mewled pitifully in his sleep, as if he were dreaming of being on fire. And, as if lifted by another, he brought his claws down on Mudfur's neck, and pressed him into the ground. It took only a minute, Mudfur offered only a weak defense as he struggled, sputtered, and struggled for breath. Firestar moved away when he finally was still. Beyond him was Cinderpelt, who was just raising her eyes sleepily.

"Let's go," Firestar said. He stepped over Mudfur and guided Cinderpelt out of the chamber, not giving her time to look at Mudfur's not-breathing body or the clouds in the Moonstone. She was dazed, it seemed, looking from Firestar to the darkness in confusion. Somehow Firestar knew she would be like this for a while longer, and walk faster, helping them get away from the Moonstone as fast as possible.

As they stumbled across the thunderpath, Cinderpelt turned her dazed eyes up to Firestar and blinked slowly. Her voice was slurred when she spoke, and she leaned heavily against Firestar.

"Is… Is that was you wanted…?" she asked him. Firestar said nothing, but answered her in his head.

Yes. Yes it is.

"I'll kill him! I'll rip out his entrails and let the crows eat them while he's still alive, I'll claw out his eyes and feed them to the fish and drown him! I'll-"

"Please, Leopardstar," Tallstar said quietly, "It is early, and I am tired. I do not want my dreams to be darkened any more tonight."

Three leaders and two medicine cats sat in Tallstar's den. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, peeking pink light into the cleft of the rock where Tallstar slept. All of the cats had puffy eyes and an exhausted aura around them, but none was stronger than Leopardstar's. And who could blame her? After being burned to death in a dream, she wakes to find her beloved medicine cat smothered to death, and Firestar and Cinderpelt vanished, their scents already stale. Tallstar had brought the rest of the cats to WindClan to rest and feed before they returned to their homes, and had allowed Mudfur to be buried in WindClan territory.

"If any cats from RiverClan wish to sit a silent vigil for him," Tallstar had told her, "I will alert my warriors, and tell them to lead them to the place he is buried, and then let them return peacefully the next day."

Leopardstar had nodded and collapsed in Tallstar's den as soon as she could, sleeping hard until Barkface tentatively awakened her with some prey he caught. Blackstar kept a stony face, and spoke tersely with Littlecloud, finally telling Leopardstar that, if Runningnose agreed to it, he could live and train a Medicine Cat in RiverClan for Leopardstar. Leopardstar grudgingly agreed to it, and as soon as her strength returned, swore revenge on Firestar.

"We must decide when to attack," Leopardstar hissed, "Firestar is insane, he's no longer the leader that he was. He must be stripped of his power so that he is no longer a threat to the forest."

"I agree," Blackstar nodded, "He is dangerous now. He has the power of ThunderClan behind him and the darkness of that she-cat driving him insane. He must be stopped, and I am willing to join my strength to destroy him."

"What of you, Tallstar?" Leopardstar demanded. Tallstar sighed and bowed his head. It was hard enough seeing his beloved StarClan in flames, and darkness clouding the moonstone. Now he was to gather his warriors and invade ThunderClan, the Clan that had saved him so many moons ago? He was an old cat, his leadership now based on wisdom rather than strength. Should he leave and go into battle, with this last life of his…

"I will think on it," Tallstar said, "I will sleep on it. When I come to my decision, I will send a messenger to both of your Clans. Until then, I cannot answer.'

Leopardstar sniffed, "Then I will return to RiverClan now, and make my preparations. Blackstar, are we in this together?"

"Of course, Leopardstar."

"Then I will send messengers to you, and we will organize the attack."

"Mudclaw," Tallstar called out to his deputy, who came stalking in, clearly unhappy about the two other Clan leaders and another Clan medicine cat in his leader's den alone, "Gather Onewhisker and two more warriors. Escort Blackstar to the ShadowClan border, and have Onewhisker escort Leopardstar to the RiverClan border. Post a guard at the entrance of my den, I wish to be alone."

Mudclaw nodded and led Leopardstar, Littlecloud, and Blackstar out of his den. Barkface sat behind for a little longer, looking at his paws sadly. Tallstar touched his long tail to the medicine cat's shoulder. Barkface was nearly as old and he, and they had been friends for a long, long time. He had known Mudfur better than Tallstar, and his sadness showed in the stoop of his shoulder and the bow of his head. Barkface waited there for a few moments longer and then thanked Tallstar, and left to let him rest, dragging his brown tail on the ground.

Tallstar slept fitfully, waking frequently but never quite strong enough to fight off sleep again. His dreams were filled with smoke and fire and that dark, translucent she-cat with green eyes. When he finally awoke and felt rested it was sunset, and Tallstar's belly grumbled unhappily. Whitetail nodded to him when he exited and he let her go off to Onewhisker and share tongues with him. He helped himself to an infant rabbit someone had brought back and visited Barkface, who was treating a thorn in Mudclaw's paw, before Tornear came up to him, panting.

"Tallstar, Ashfoot is missing again." He whispered to his leader. Tallstar sighed and turned to the entrance of the camp, signaling for Tornear to follow him with his tail. Her scent was fresh and heading towards Fourtrees, and was easy to track. Tallstar and Tornear walked in silence while they tracked her, until Tornear finally sighed loudly and Tallstar glanced over to him.

"Tired, Tornear?" he asked quietly. Tornear flicked an ear in embaressment.

"I was up early for a border patrol," he admitted, "And Mudclaw had me out hunting most of the day with Whitetail. Just when I thought I could rest…" He sighed again.

"She hasn't gone far," Tallstar said, "We'll catch up to her soon. Tell me, how long have you been… hiding this?"

"Ever since Crowpaw was killed," Tornear murmured, "She… she lost track of time first. And then she stopped recognizing Eaglepaw. I took her out hunting most days and she would always miss her prey and… soon she was getting lost, getting confused and… It just happened so fast…"

"Don't worry," Tallstar reassured him, "We will retire her to the elders, and I will make sure that the Clan knows not to let her out of the camp without supervision. You've tried your best, Tornear, but sometimes nothing can heal and broken heart."

The found Ashfoot a good distance further than Tallstar has expected, obviously overestimating her abilities as a warrior though her brain was becoming elder. Tornear managed to coax her back to the camp without saying that his name was Crowtail, which Tallstar was relieved about, and torn Tornear to have Barkface give her poppy seeds to rest the rest of the night.

Tallstar left the siblings after that, walking quietly along the border with RiverClan, his head tilted up towards the black sky now speckled with stars. He was an old cat, with the need of a young cat's body and one final life to serve him as he gave his service to his clan. Rats, infection, disease, and blood had all killed him many times, and each time he felt had left him stronger than the last. But perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps he had really been deluding himself, tricking his mind into believing that his body was just as strong as it used to be. But Tallstar knew now it wasn't. He had carefully compared himself to his strongest warriors, seen that the muscles on his frame were thinner and weaker than that of theirs, that when he led patrols, he grew tired faster than he used to. His hadn't caught a find hare in moons. Tallstar sighed and sat back, tilting his silvering head to the silverpelt.

"You gave me WindClan," he murmured to them, "You led Firestar and Graystripe to us and brought us back home. You gave us back my Clan. I cannot let him destroy you, after you have given me so much."

Tallstar lowered his head, "But Firestar has given me so much as well. Friendship, courage, he has always come in times of need. He is a friend of WindClan," then, remembering what Blackstar had said, "He… was a friend of WindClan."

He sighed and felt his eyes burning with tears, but lifted his head proudly to stare at the every-watching silverpelt, "You are kind, StarClan, but you are also cruel. You separate us to make us strong and individual, but you weaken us by driving us against each other. How could you not see this? How could you not warn us that change of some type was coming to the forest?"

Tallstar lowered his head and closed his eyes. Ashfoot was a brave, strong cat. She could have been deputy, even leader if he had had the sense to name her instead of Mudclaw. But what was done was done. The future of his Clan would be in Mudclaw's paws if anything were to happen to him. But the thought made Tallstar uneasy, and he shifted uncomfortably. Mudclaw was a brave, strong warrior as well, but he was arrogant, and irrational at times. He would fight rather than negotiate. Something told Tallstar that in the coming months, perhaps that would not be a good thing. But he could not just demote Mudclaw without reason. He would have to wait until something happened to the deputy, or unless he was on his deathbed. Tallstar frowned again and looked back up to the sky.

"WindClan will have no part in this." He said strongly against the stars who beat him with their gentle light, "We do not have the strength now that Ashfoot has retired. The summer has been hard and dry. The kits far more scare and dying fast. We are not strong enough. We will not participate."

There was a faint flicker of black movement in the bushes of RiverClan, and Tallstar turned half-heartedly to see a little black shape scurrying away. He did not know who it was, nor did he even care if it was Burntfur. It was out of his paws. WindClan would take no part.

NO!

YES!

NO!

YES!

NO!

YEEEEESSSSS!

I KILLED MUDFUR!

... Is it strange that I'm happy about that? Whatever. It wasn't meant to happen, honestly, it just kind of... did. I don't hold anything against Mudfur, but the story told me he needed to die... so he did. I guess that's about all there is to it.

So, before I am killed for that, I want to get out info on the next chapter! The next chapter will have Reedpaw and Burntfur and Firestar in it, and will be about them going on a picnic and having fun and froliking together. Or not. the chapter after that, Glimmer will be happy to know, is entirely from Whitepaw's POV and, of course, will have Cedarheart in it. I don't know what else to say, really, but that this story is coming to an end very quickly. I haven't started writing the story of Brokenstar's Elite yet, and I'm poking around another tentative idea, but more on that later. Review, and search for my errors, please!