It was strange, the way one could walk on clouds in their dreams. As Hollyleaf slipped through the silvery trees, she felt as if all of her wounds had disappeared. She wanted to stay like this forever. She pounced on a shadowy mouse, purring as it tickled her paws. She let it dart in to the brambles; now was not the time for a hunt.

Her form darted along, as if she was following a scent trail. As she reached the edge of the forest, some instinct told her to hide. She slid under a bush, ears pricked. In front of her, there were voices. She could see a meadow, and all around it were the cats of Starclan, bright and vibrant in the center, but farther out, the cats began to fade.

And right on the edge of the onlookers, in the front, was a dark gray cat who's pelt she recognized. But it couldn't be.

Ashfur was an evil cat, one who wanted to destroy the clans. So how could he be sitting here, in the middle of a circle of his ancestors? He turned his head, and Hollyleaf saw his burning blue gaze drilling in to her. He knew she was there.

Ashfur's gaze snapped back to the center as a form began shimmering on the ground. Several warriors, who had to be Windclan for their wiry build stepped forward.

"Morningflower." It was a single voice that nontheless came from all the Windclan cats. As the cat materialized, she pulled herself to her feet.

"Where am I? I feel so much better. And my cough is gone!"

Hollyleaf realized that she knew Morningflower, the ancient queen of Windclan. The cat in the center of the circle looked much younger, and seemed to be full of boundless energy. Hollyleaf saw with a jolt that she recognized the cat's markings, the same as the Windclan queen's.

"Tallstar? Why... and Eaglekit!" her enthusiasm faded as something seemed to occur to her.

"Am I dead?"

A murmur swept through the watching cats, and the cat called Tallstar stepped up to Morningflower.

"Death is nothing to fear, Morningflower. And someone here has waited a very long time for you."

A young tom stepped up, eyes glowing with pride, and perhaps a touch of sadness.

"Gorsepaw!"

Morningflower leaped over to him and began covering him in licks.

"Mother." the tom purred. Togther, the Windclan cats stepped away in to the forest, Morningflower in their midst. The rest of the cats dispersed. Hollyleaf's heart raced as Ashfur deliberately turned to her.

Hollyleaf backed away. There was no mistaking the malice in Ashfur's eyes.

Her heart in her throat, Hollyleaf raced off in to the forest. She heard pawsteps thudding behind her. Ashfur grew closer and closer, and then he leaped, pushing her on to her back, with his claws a millimeter from her throat.

Hollyleaf's entire body throbbed with terror. Ashfur leaned down, his blazing eyes a mouselength in front of hers. Then he lifted his chin slightly, revealing the neat bite marks that laced his throat.

"Starclan think's you're dead. Give me one reason not to make their rumors true."

Hollyleaf couldn't speak. She only looked up at him like a cornered mouse.

He leaped off her, light as a bird.

"I'll see you again, Hollyleaf. In the meantime, try to keep your claws clean."

He backed in to the brambles, his eyes blazing out a message of pain and hate.

Hollyleaf scrambled to her feet and fled.

Could she not get out?

Wake up! Wake up, you useless crowfood!

But there was no end to the starry trees.

As she slowed down, in a completely new part of the ethreal forest, she heard more voices ahead.

"What's got Ashfur so upset?"

"He didn't tell anyone. Just ran past me muttering."

"Poor cat. I get the feeling that sometimes his death is as bad as his life was."

Hollyleaf turned away. Ashfur didn't deserve any sympathy.

Come to think of it, why didn't he just kill her there? Why was he just threatening? Hollyleaf clawed her way up a tree and sat in a low-hanging branch. No one would sneak up on her.

As she gazed up at the starry sky, a lurching feeling soaked from her heart down to her paws.

If she was in Starclan, and couldn't get out...

No. She wasn't dead. If she were dead, then why hadn't Starclan come to greet her?

If she were dead, then why had Ashfur threatened to kill her?

But, then, Ashfur had felt so solid when he knocked her over.

Hollyleaf felt like howling to the world around her, but kept her jaws shut tight. No one would find her. She had to make sure of that. As she settled down on the branch, she closed her eyes gently. The tree was swaying gently, and her eyelids were heavy. Before she could settle in to a more comfortable position, the soft sounds of the starry forest faded in to echoes and cat's voices, murmuring all around her.

Her tail started aching, and then her leg, spreading up to her body.

This had to be some evil place of punishment, or she wouldn't hurt so much.

Unless she wasn't dead.

But the most horrible thing was that she didn't know which one was worse.

By the way, Morningflower actually did die between Sunrise and The Fourth Apprentice. I'm mad because she was an important character in the first series, and I wished that they had mentioned her death, at least. It seems like a rather anticlimactic ending for the legendary queen of Windclan.

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