I don't own Warriors.

"What are we going to do?" Sparkfur asked. "Silentwind's our sister and all, but we can't just walk into ShadowClan territory."

"Well…" Darkshadow said, stalling. "Look, I know you, Sparkfur. I know you wouldn't try to mimic another language without having a reason. There must have been someone, or something, that taught you that. Maybe they can help us."

The wolves. It hit Sparkfur with a sudden realization that the wolves actually could help them, especially if they thought that Silentwind was the cat that would kill Anelman. "Come on," he said, and Darkshadow followed him to the wolf's den.

"Freya?" he called through the opening. "Thor?"

"Freya isn't here," said a chilly voice that Sparkfur was sure he recognized. "Thor is out hunting."

"Do you know when they'll be back?"

"Soon."

"My name is Sparkfur," he told the voice. "They've been mentoring me. My brother Darkshadow is here also. We need your help."

"Greetings, Darkshadow. Why should we help you? What have you done for us?"

"I was looking in the clans for a cat that could kill Anelman."

"You know of our legends? How curious. Most cats are ignorant of other creature's beliefs and languages."

Sparkfur flinched. "Yes, that's why Freya was teaching me other languages. She didn't want me to be ignorant."

"Hmm."

The realization of who this was hit Sparkfur like a rock, followed by a jolt of lightning. "Valkyries?"

"You know my name?" Valkyries said, not sounding shocked. She hadn't shown any emotion through this conversation, none at all.

"Yeah. You were the one who told me about the wolf gods."

"I don't remember anything involving that."

"Sparkfur?" said another voice from behind him.

"Freya," he said, overjoyed. "This is my brother Darkshadow."

"I'm pleased to meet you," Freya replied. "I didn't think we were expecting you."

"We need your help," Darkshadow mewed. "Our sister, Silentwind, is in ShadowClan. I was supposed to keep her safe—"

"What?"

"After he died, Shadowflame came to me in a dream He said that Silentwind had to be kept safe, the clans depended on her. I'm not sure what he meant, but—"

"Whitequeen," Freya interrupted, settling herself on the floor of the cave. "Did he mention Whitequeen?"

"I don't think so."

"He might not have thought about her. We'll have to summon him. Valkyries, get the proper things." Valkyries scampered off, and Freya lowered her voice. "You remember that she doesn't have any memories now. Ranger did the best he could, but she only remembers that Thor and I are her parents."

Valkyries returned with old, crumbling plant leaves. None of them looked or smelled even slightly familiar.

Freya placed them in a circle, and the patterned the inside with an image. It was a cat, and it slowly became more defined. It looked like Shadowflame. It had the exact same body and the left ear had a small dip on the one side.

"If anything wrong happens, don't move," Freya said, and then blew a pawful of crumpled leaves at the image.

The leaves she blew on turned to bright, shimmering embers, raining down on Shadowflame. The image caught fire, flying up toward the cave's ceiling, dropping down into a pile of ashes.

"What?"

Sparkfur nearly screamed. Shadowflame was hovering an inch above the floor. He looked the same, physically, but his eyes had a worn look in them.

"Did Whitequeen tell you to protect Silentwind?" Freya asked, not at all disturbed by Shadowflame's presence.

"Yes, she did," Shadowflame said in a bored voice.

"Did she tell you why?"

"She said it was a deal with StarClan. StarClan thought that the time of the Clans was over, and Whitequeen disagreed. Silentwind's a reincarnation of Whitequeen's kit."

"And you wanted the clans to live."

Shadowflame shrugged. "It doesn't really matter anymore, does it? I'm dead, so if the forest is destroyed it can't affect me."

"There will be more cats in StarClan," Darkshadow said.

"I'm not in StarClan. I'm with Whitequeen. StarClan was a bunch of lies. They never told the truth about anything and spoke in riddles. Why should I believe in that?"

Darkshadow opened his mouth in shock, but Sparkfur beat him to saying something. "I agree with you. I don't trust StarClan to look out for me anymore. I never heard anything about other animal's languages or beliefs. No one said anything about them. We had one choice to believe in something, and only that one."

Shadowflame smiled at him. "Well, I'll see you later. You woke me up, you know."

"Sorry, Shadowflame," Freya said. "I appreciate you coming."

"It was nothing. Talk to you later, you two,"

Sparkfur watched his brother fade before his eyes.