Starlight chose Jadefall and Redwing to accompany her to the Moonpool later that night. Leafpool and Brightheart had given them a small amount of traveling herbs, since they were filling in for the medicine cat position until someone was trained, and since the journey to the Moonpool wasn't very far.

They trekked on through the forest and then through the tunnel that led into the shallow hollow between hills that was home to the Moonpool.

The moon had already shown its light on the crystals in the pool, making it sparkle and shine. Lakepool and Jadefall didn't say anything, just looked at her expectantly.

"Wish me luck?" asked Starlight.

"Good luck, Starlight!" said Redwing

"Yeah, have fun!" Jadefall said, teasing her.

Starlight turned away and lapped up some of the water in the pool. She saw the surrounding getting hazy and she lay down and almost instantly fell asleep, only to open her eyes the next second in StarClan. She once again saw Bluestar, Yellowfang, Snowfur, and Lakepool, but Bramblestar, Jayfeather, a ginger tom and a couple of others were in the front of the giant crowd of starry- furred cats.

"Are you ready, Starlight, to receive your nine lives?" asked a voice that sounded like every cat Starlight had ever seen but yet it was one clear sound.

She nodded.

"Then we shall begin the ceremony." They said. Yellowfang was the first to stand.

"With this life I give you courage. Use it well in the defense of you Clan" said Yellowfang, padding up to Starlight. She touched her cold nose to Starlight's forehead. Immediately a bolt of energy seared through Starlight, setting her fur on end and filling her senses with a deafening roar. Her eyes grew dark and her mind filled with a chaotic swirl of battles and hunts, the feeling of claws raking across fur and teeth meeting in the flesh of prey. The pain ebbed, leaving Starlight weak and trembling, back in the starry clearing. I have eight more lives to go. How am I going to make it? She thought to herself.

A cat came forward, one that Starlight recognized to be Spottedleaf. The tortoishell she-cat touched his nose between her ears. "With this life I give you tireless energy." This life wasn't as painful as it was surprising, like her paws were skimming across the forest floor. She knew the exhileration of the hunt and the sheer joy of speed, and she had the feeling that she could outrun any enemy forever."Use it well to carry out the duties of a leader." Spottedleaf pulled away, leaving her feeling exhilarated.

Snowfur came next, to Starlight's surprise. She touched her nose to Starlight's forehead. "With this life I give you protection. Use it well to care for your Clan like a mother cares for her kits." She expected this life to be gentle and loving like Redwing's, but Starlight wasn't expecting this bolt of ferocity that raced through her core. She understood why a mother would die for her kits, or why a sister would die for a sister, or why a medicine cat would die for someone that they barely knew.

Starlight gasped with surprise and delight as she saw the next cat approaching her. Lakepool! Her sister padded up out of the crowd, and touched her nose to Starlight's forehead. Happiness gleamed in her eyes. "With this life I give you love. Use it well for all of the cats in your care." The life that poured into her now wasn't pain. It held the warmth of the sun in Greenleaf. It was pure love, at the same time he felt the security he had known as a kit by his mother's side.

Bluestar approached her and said, "With this life I give you justice. Use it well when you judge the actions of others." Starlight felt like she was being pulled by her ears and her tail in opposite directions. She felt Bluestar's stress when she had to make important decisions for the Clan, like accepting Firestar and Yellowfang. Starlight felt confident that she could make the right choices for ThunderClan when Bluestar padded back into the starry rank of warriors.

Then a small shape that Starlight had not noticed before emerged from the ranks of StarClan. Starlight did not recognize the kit until he was half way to her. It was Darkkit, the son of Dovewing and Bumblestripe who had died that leaf-bare. Darkkit was small, but his eyes contained as much knowledge as the other StarClan cats. Starlight had to bend her neck so the tiny kit could touch his nose to her forehead. "With this life I give you compassion. Use it well for the elders of your Clan, the sick, and all those weaker than yourself." This life was secure and warm, but then there was discomfort and pain. Starlight felt like she couldn't breathe, and she realized this is what Darkkit's life had been like, from birth until he caught greencough and died.

The next cat to come from the crowd was Jayfeather. He didn't hint that anything had happened between them, just looked at her like he had known this was going to happen all along. He touched his cold, starry nose to her forehead. "With this life I give you mentoring. Use it well to train the young cats of the Clan." The pain that Starlight felt was almost soothing, yet it felt like she was being pricked by thorns. An invisible weight rested upon her shoulders that she understood to be responsibility. It lifted when Jayfeather pulled away.

Bramblestar was the next to emerge from the ranks of the StarClan warriors. He looked at her with pride, and said, "With this life I give you loyalty to what you know to be right." This life was one of dim warmth, increasing to a burning cold feeling. Starlight felt the betrayal and confusion Bramblestar had felt early in his life, and how he had overcome it with his loyalty for ThunderClan. "Use it well to guide your Clan in times of trouble."

And then from the endless sea of starry cats came a large ginger tom that Starlight knew was Firestar, the leader of ThunderClan who saved the forest and completed the prophecy of four cats. He approached her with a noble smile, and touched his nose to her forehead. "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." Starlight was unprepared for the agony that came next. She shared all of Firestar's fierceness of ambition, the pain he had felt losing the cats that he had cared about, the anguish of choosing between kitty pet life or Clan life. The rush of power grew stronger and stronger until Starlight didn't know if she could contain it. Just when she thought she must yowl in pain or die, it began to ebb, ending in a sense of calm acceptance and joy.

A long, soft sigh passed through the clearing. The cats of StarClan began to stand up. Firestar remained in the clearing and signaled with his tail that Starlight should stand, too. She obeyed shakily. It felt like the fullness of life inside of her was going to spill over when she moved. Her body felt battered like she had just fought the hardest battle of her life, but her spirit soared with the strength of the lives she had been granted.

"I hail you by your new name, Lightstar," Firestar announced. "Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of ThunderClan. Defend it well; care for young and old, honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity."

"Lightstar! Lightstar!" The cats of StarClan chanted her name like the Clan at the lake did when there was a new warrior, in rich voices that tingled in the air. "Lightstar! Lightstar!"

As the cats began to fade for the second time, Lightstar saw purple, swollen clouds forming. The grass was charred like it was when Hollyleaf transformed. The StarClan cats scattered as she watched in horror at the Dark Forest taking over her dreams. A cat came from the now leafless trees and yelled, "Stop this now, Tigerstar! You know we aren't allowed in the StarClan hunting grounds!" The scenery started to change back and dark shapes fled back to the shadows. It wasn't until starlight stood blinking into the light of the Moonpool did she realize that the cat had been Hawkfrost.