Chapter V
True to Goldenfern's word, it was indeed sunset when the two got to the Moonpool. Rosepool stared at the smooth pool with fascination.
She had come here before, when she was still a medicine cat, but never before had she seen it this way, with the stars reflecting upon it in such a way that the pool seemed to be glowing.
"I assume you might know what to do?" Goldenfern asked tentatively. Rosepool nodded, at the same time lying down beside the Moonpool.
Cautiously, the cat reached out as far as she dared and touched her nose to the glistening, smooth surface of the Moonpool.
Rosepool felt like she was floating. Floating, floating and suddenly she was at her destination.
"Rosepool, open your eyes." A gentle, yet slightly familiar voice whispered. It echoed - Rosepool, Rosepool, openyoureyes, openyoureyes, openyoureyes.
Where am I? The she-cat blearily blinked her eyes, adjusting to the view that stood before her.
She was standing in the middle of a clearing, trees all around her and rolling hills in the distance. Well, that explained the echoing.
The cat standing in front of her was silver, with a harrowing scar down the side of her pretty face. "Sweetpaw?" Rosepool gasped at the sight of her own kit. Sweetpaw had died in battle, though the scar her face bore wasn't a result of that battle.
"Mother." The apprentice meowed, warmth shining in her green eyes. "We have come tonight to give you your nine lives." As if on cue, several warriors slunk out from nowhere.
Suddenly, Rosepool felt a jolt of cold energy tingle up her body. It swept through her, rendering all her senses useless. She closed her eyes, feeling the energy slowly seep out of her body, making her feel hollow and empty.
She opened her eyes just as Sweetpaw joined the line of warriors. A silvery-blue warrior stepped forward, in all her youthful graces. "Hello, Mistystar." Rosepool dipped her head respectfully. She vaguely remembered Mistystar's death, when she was a young, curious kit.
"I give you your first life, a life for loyalty to what you know to be right." Mistystar lowered her head to touch her nose to Rosepool's head. The life burned inside her, and Rosepool felt a tug inside her. She felt the strong feelings of loyalty - to her Clanmates, her Clan and herself.
Her mother, Mossypool came forward next. She didn't say anything, but gave a fleeting look as if to say, "I love you, my kit".
"I give you your second life, a life for trust. Use it well to trust your decisions." Mossypool sent the life rushing through Rosepool. It stung like the worst wound, but inside her Rosepool sensed the striking sense of a mother trusting her kit, a leader trusting his deputy and Clan trusting Clan.
Sweetpaw came next, steps as careful as ever. "I give you your third life, a life for care as loving as a mother's tenderness for her kit." Rosepool felt a strong blaze of pain like before, but inside it pure love burst through into her, reminding her of her own mother's love for her and her siblings - who had died so early.
A strong-looking cat stood in front of Rosepool when her eyes opened. "Kestrelcloud?" She said aloud. Kestrelcloud was her nursery-mate, bloodily killed in the very first battle they had fought in.
"With this life I give you tireless energy. Use it well to carry out all your duties." Kestrelcloud touched his nose to Rosepool's head. It ached inside her, but a swift, free energy swept through her, as if taking away all her worries with it.
Next came her sister, Flightwing. "I give you a life for courage. Use it well in the defense of your Clan." Sizzling pain shot through Rosepool. This must have been what Flightwing had felt in her last moments of life, fighting till the very end.
Eight lives were given; then, a ninth cat padded out. "Brindlesky!" Rosepool tried to move, but Brindlesky stopped her. "I died on the way to the new territory, but I am now here to give you your ninth life, Rosepool."
"With this life I give you nobility and certainty and faith. Use it well to lead your Clan in the ways of StarClan and the warrior code."
This time red-hot pain burned in every single part of Rosepool's body. She felt the wiseness of a leader, the compassion of a medicine cat, the bravery of a warrior, the ferocity of an apprentice, the loyalty of a kit and the love of a queen.
A voice chanted. It echoed with Brindlesky's voice, yet there was Kestrelcloud's voice, and the voice of all the cats she knew to be there.
"I hail you by your new name, Rosestar. Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of DuskClan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honour your ancestors and the traditions of the old; live each life with pride and dignity."
"Rosestar! Rosestar! Rosestar!"
"Rosestar." A voice called; yet it was not one of the voices Rosestar had heard cheering her name.
She looked around her surroundings. The beautiful clearing was now swamped in water, and it was welling up around her legs. "What?" The she-cat gasped.
"The rose will reign the dusk, but a disaster approaches. When you find the special kit, the water will vanish and the world will be at peace."
A/N: Whew! Long chappie there!
Hmmm… who could be that special kit?
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Love everyone who reads DIVIDED!
~Kay 030