1 Thanks to Foxbracken for the reviews! :)

2. OMG! I'm so excited my character Lunaclaw made an appearance! Finally! YAY! This is from her POV this chapter! :D This idea came to me while reading the book "The Shifter" in The Healing Wars series, by Janice Hardy. It's a great book and I recommend it to everyone!

3. I'm sorry we haven't gotten to Shatterpad's POV yet. This is really a huge prologue setting the giant scene and the gigantic plot. Be patient, my little kittehs. :)

4. From Ch. 3 (4 counting prologue), Can anyone name ALL 9 Dark Forest cats mentioned? Look at the descriptions! Stumped? Hint: Their actions are related to their gifts and/or claw marks given. WHO IS A SUPERIOR BEING?!

On with the chapter!

Chapter 5: The Gift of the Moon

I padded back to camp with the rest of the clan after we split up with that Shadowclan. I remember the medicine cat. The only one outside my family and my clan who knows about me. I mean really knows about me and my gift.

His name was Darkwing. His muzzle had been grayed with age. His pelt was dark as the night, save for the brown spots, and his amber eyes seemed softer with age. He looked old, and he walked with a slight limp, which grew more evident as he tried to hurry and catch up to me.

"Hey" he meowed in a ragged voice. "I'm Darkwing. You're...Lunaclaw, right?"

Picking up my head to look at him instead of the ground, I replied. "Yes. I'm the new medicine cat."

He nods, and then slows, pain flashing across his face. I slow down to stay with him, falling a little behind from the rest of the cats. "You know, you don't have to strain yourself if you hurt too much."

He winces, stretching out his stride in attempt to stretch his muscle. "No, no my dear. My clan wouldn't think very highly of that. I'll just take some Daisy leaves or something."

"Here, let me help you." I say softly, glancing at my clan to make sure their far enough away so they don't see. He frowns, obviously skeptical. I quickly press my nose to his injured leg. I feel him tense under my touch. I close my eyes and find the pain with ease. I feel something grab hold of it and pull it toward me. It travels though his body, passing to me through my nose. I feel him tense again as the pain settles in my own leg. I feel my leg muscles contract and throb. Wincing at the new pain, I pull away. He looks at me with wide, horrified eyes.

"How-how did you…how could…what..." he stammers, obviously not taking this well.

"I have…abilities. Abilities that could be dangerous. Abilities you can't tell anyone about. Got it?" I bare my fangs to show my seriousness. I see their glint in his wide eyes as his eyes stare at my darkening sliver moons.

He nods vigorously, his fur still bristling in fear. I continue. "I can't hurt anybody. I promise. I only heal. As for my pelt, the darker the moons are, the more pain I've taken in."

I see him relax at my comment, but then he frowns. "Wait. You have to bear my pain now?"

I nod. "Only for a few days. The pain never lasts long." I smile. "Come on, we better catch up to the others, before they start to wonder. Act like you still have a bit of a limp. I'll say I tripped and you fell back to help me." I saw his white fanged smile stand out against his pelt and we limped quickly together, racing back to the group of cats.

I smile as we head up the rocks and into camp. Chill, Ripple, and Darkshard were already discussing. I watched them pad up towards Bloodrock and into Darkshard's den, the blanket falling into place behind them.

I felt something light pounce on my tail, and it was soon followed by several others. One followed the first on my tail. Two others landed on my back. I lost track of how many tiny kits 'attacked' me after that, but I assume every kit in Bloodclan. Laughing, I mock defeat, falling to my side as tiny paws land on me. I hear the voice of Kestrelpad cry out. "We have you now, Thunderclan! Bloodclan is the bravest clan of them all, and we're not scared of you." She tumbled down my side, landing on my head, holding on with tiny claws. She scrambles up, sitting on my head as the other kits giggle. Her sister, Shatterpad, sat on my side. The other kits scrambled on my side or sat on the ground facing me. I only counted nine kits. Where were the other two?

Looking around, I saw them. Ridgepad sat with a serious expression near the kit's den. Darkshard had forbidden the kits now from being with the Unchoosens unless they had to, so they slept in the kit den together. Dewpad was inside the kit den, avoiding eye contact as he slipped further into the shadows of the den.

Blazepad's meow brought my attention back to the eight kits around or on me. "Lunaclaw, tell us a story! How did you come to Bloodclan? Where did you get the limp? Did you fall? Did you get attacked? Did you kill someone? Did-"

He noticed the limp? I let out a little chuckle. "Whoa there. One question at a time, Blazepad."

Stonepad spoke next. "Mistpad, ask her."

Mistpad frowned, fluffing up her already fluffy white fur. "No! It was Wolfpad's question, not mine!"

Wolfpad bares his tiny fangs. "No! It was-"

Ravenpad interrupted. "Fine, mousebrain. I'll ask her!" Settling her long black fur down, she looked at me with her amber eyes. "We want to know about your…your powers."

I frown, shifting a little uncomfortably. I reply. "Um…what about the story of what…how I came to Bloodclan?"

They all squealed 'Yes' in unison, forgetting about the previous request. They scrambled to get situated. Smiling, I flicked an ear, and their whispers quieted. Recalling the memories to mind, I began.

"Well, I guess I should start with my birth. I was born away from the clans, but not with the loners. My mother was a previous medicine cat, once belonging to Windclan, kicked out several moons ago, before Bloodclan ever came to be. Her name was Kestrelsong."

"Like me!" Kestrelpad squeaked.

I smiled. "Yes, like you. Anyway, she was driven out for falling in love with a cat, which is forbidden in the clans. But this cat was not just any cat. Stars swirled on his pelt. He came to her in dreams, and sometimes, in a ghostly form. He was a cat of stars."

The kits looked at me with wide eyes. I noticed Ridgepad had crept a little closer, intrigued. The kits turned, surprised as she spoke. "That's impossible. A dead cat loving an alive one?"

"He was not always dead, little one. They fell in love when they were alive, but soon after, he was mauled by a fox." Every kit swallowed.

"Anyway, they were in love, and my father, Silversky, wanted her to have something to remember him by when he wasn't there. Like Ridgepad said, they couldn't have kits because one cat was dead and one was alive. It just couldn't work."

"Well if you're their kit, it must have worked! Right?" Blazepad said. The rest started chattering, and I flicked my ear for silence.

"Very good observation, Blazepad. This is what happened. The next time he visited my mother in his ghost form, he gave her a moon rock. He told her to bury it, and from it would grow a flower. She would eat the flower and he would give her the thing he promised."

"But how can a rock turn into a flower! That's impossible! This is a bunch of fox-dun-" cried Ridgepad. The kits shushed her, and then turned back to me.

"It was magic. She was confused too, but did as she was told. What he didn't tell her was about growing the flower and eating it; he would sacrifice his 'soul' and die again, fading into nothing. He told her just after she ate it. He disappeared, and my mother was devastated. She had me, a white kit with silver moons. She always blamed me for my father's death. She always beat me, leaving claw marks and torn fur." I closed my eyes, pushing my horrible remembrances away.

Shatterpad tilted her head. "That's why you left? A few scratches?"

I feel a small smirk work its way onto my lips. "Yeah. A few scratches and the feeling of being hated and blamed. I ran away. I was half starved by the time Chill and Ripple found me. They asked if I was the cat with the gift of the moon. When I told them my story, they led me to Bloodclan, and now I'm here with you guys. "

"That was a great story, Lunaclaw! Can you tell us another one?" meowed Mistpad.

"Maybe later. I think I need to rest." I started to stand, letting the kits slide off my side before standing fully upright. The kits scrambled to the middle of the clearing, wrestling. I shuffled to the medicine cat's den, settling in my nest. It smelt of another cat, but I was too tired to care. Being the cat with the gift of the moon