AN: Before this chapter begins, I am sorry it took so long to update, I had a bit of writer's block. No excuses, I know, but I'll upload two chapters instead! Sorry, but hopefully you enjoy!

-Faded ;3

Ember- Chapter 2 New Friends

Breeze spent the rest of the day playing with Aurora, the rest of the Council just thinking she was resting for her vigil later that night. "I'd better go now, and you should feign sleep so they don't think there's anything suspicious." Aurora mewed as the sun slowly dipped in the sky.

"Goodbye Aurora. It was nice meeting you here." Breeze smiled at the kit.

Aurora ran towards Breeze and placed a small paw on Breeze's shoulder. "Same here. Goodbye Breeze, for now."

As Breeze curled up and closed her eyes to feign sleep, she wondered about what Aurora had said. For now...

Breeze was finally broke from her thoughts when the sun reached the horizon by a gentle nudge to her shoulder. "Breeze, it's almost time for your vigil. Wake up."

Breeze feigned stretching and yawning. "Hmm? Oh, hello Leaf!" Breeze greeted Leaf cheerfully.

"When you have been sleeping, be more careful to yawn and say things a bit slowly as you've just woken up." Leaf murmured in her ear. "Now, Breeze, are you ready for your vigil, the night which will deem you an true Advisor?"

"Yes, Leaf. I am ready." Breeze said, but inside her heart was squeezed painfully. She would never become an Advisor, never be able to sleep in this place again, and after this, never see her family again either.

"Okay then, follow me Breeze." Leaf smiled at Breeze, but inside, was hurting a bit too for she knew she may never see her great-grand-daughter again either.

Breeze straightened up, though, and followed Leaf to a small clearing behind the Tall Branch. "I will watch your ceremony through the trees."

"Goodbye, Leaf." And then in a lower tone, "Please say goodbye to them for me."

Though Leaf pretended to not hear, she gave a small nod. "Goodbye Breeze, dear."

Breeze watched Leaf begin to disappear as she walked through the trees, and smiled albeit a bit sadly.

"Are you ready for your vigil young one?" Breeze turned to meet a stormy gray tom, his pelt crackling with lightning, and his solemn gray eyes.

"Yes, Tempest." She dipped her head in respect.

"There is no need for that, young one. The leader of StarClan is as equal as the cats of StarClan themselves."

Breeze raised her head to meet his eyes, her eyes not revealing anything, but inside, she wanted to curl up into a little ball, for she was meeting the leader of StarClan, for star's sake, and in her mind, she had to betray him. "This is all for your own good." She murmured too low for him to hear.

"This is fairly simple young one. Just stay the night on that branch, no speaking, unless there are some unwelcome visitors. In that case, scream like you're being murdered. But it should be fairly quiet." Tempest explained. "I must go attend to other matters now, but I do trust you will do just that."

"Yes, Tempest." Breeze lied.

"Good, good. I will see you in the morning then, young one."

"Goodbye Tempest!" Breeze meowed, before scampering up the tree to the branch where she would have to betray everyone she loved.

"It's all for the greater good." She murmured, a tear sliding down her cheek. "All for you..."

Breeze stared down at her camp, watching for any intruders, thinking it was the least she could do for the Council before she left. "Are you ready young one?" Breeze turned to face the cat who had spoke.

Breeze smiled at Celestial. If she couldn't be sure about anything else, this was the one thing she was sure of. "Yes. I am ready, Celestial."

"Are you sure?"

"If I don't, the world may fall and it would have been all my fault. But if I do, but even if the world still falls, I will at least know I tried." Breeze reasoned, smiling bravely at Celestial.

"Close your eyes then, dear Breeze." Breeze did, and the bright flash that ensued still hurt her eyes, even so.

Breeze opened her eyes to see twelve cats staring at her. "Hello!" She meowed, and that seemed to trigger something as they all began chatting again.

"I'll be back in a moment Breeze. Be good, will you?" Breeze nodded, and again with a bright flash, Celestial disappeared.

"A bit bold aren't you?" A large, muscular black she-cat padded towards her, and even though she said it quietly, it still carried. "I'm Shadow, leader of ShadowClan." Breeze dipped her head in respect. "None of that. I get that all too much back at camp."

Breeze rose her head up to meet Shadow's green eyes staring at her. "I'm Breeze, former Advisor of the Council of the Ancients."

"Former?" Shadow inquired.

"It's a bit of a long story..." Breeze began to tell her tale. "...so tonight is the night of my vigil, and they'll never accept me back if I miss it, which I am..." Breeze trailed off.

"So why did you decide to come then?"

"I reasoned that if I didn't, the world may fall and it would have been all my fault, but if I do, even if the world still did fall, at least I tried."

"You would be a great warrior, I know this." Shadow meowed. As Shadow spoke, there was a bright flash and Celestial appeared.

Celestial looked worried as she appeared, but as she realized everyone was staring at her, she quickly smiled. "A moment and then I will explain to you exactly why you are all here."

"A prophecy, no doubt." Shadow muttered to Breeze.

"Yep." Breeze confirmed.

"Wait, what? Do you know it?"

"Yes, why?"

"I was never told of this prophecy, but we are with the cats of the Afterlife so I just assumed. But could you tell me what it is? I wish to muse it over before we have to decide fully." Shadow explained.

"Ah. I see. Okay, so I believe it went like this... 'The starry ones hold the hope, as long as the breeze carries the falcon, the gray shell holds strong, the lady walks in shadow, the myra is as stubborn as the steel; that the bloody spike will not keep his reign, and the land they walk upon will stay.'"

"Hmm, intriguing." Shadow murmured.

But the two she-cat's thinking was interrupted by Celestial as she started to call for silence.

Every cat went silent, wishing to hear Celestial. "Hello young cats of the Life and Afterlife. Are you all well? Ah, yes, I know, I know. I am not much of a focused cat, if I do say so myself."

A dark, reddish-brown tom interrupted, his dark amber eyes flashing. "Why have you brought us here then? To babble on about the stars and the light?" There was a snort as he continued. "Well, then, I'm having no part of it. Nice meeting you all, but I'm afraid I'm going now. Goodbye." The tom left, leaving the group in a stony silence.

"Well, that wasn't very nice, was it? At least he was polite, like some other times I could mention..." A she-cat muttered under her breath, her sharp green eyes rolling in exasperation.

"Hmm..." Celestial frowned. "Oh well, no matter. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. Anyways, before I get lost in another one of my rants, I must tell you something. There is no matter if you won't pay attention to what I am speaking about. I won't protest, but I do wish you would listen. Any cat who does not feel the need to listen may leave now." Three she-cats left at her words, one looking sheepish and embarrassed as she fell behind the other two she-cats. Breeze saw a she-cat smile bravely at the one trailing behind as the she-cat looked back. "I do know all of your names by heart, but will you tell me all again, if not to help your fellow companions?" There were eight cats sitting in the ring now, once a fair number of twelve.

"I am Gray, sorcerer of the Fellan. I control the power of light, and can see in the dark." A scarred silver tabby she-cat spoke, emerald green eyes flashing with the challenge for someone to deny her.

"Nice to meet you, Gray. My name is Myra, and I am a rune or spell-caster of the Fellan, and I speak the tongue of the Ancients. For instance," Her voice lowers to a murmur. "Shri." A flash of light lit up the clearing, sparks shooting out, red and green. "That is the spell of sparks, a bit flashy perhaps, but I know many more useful spells that I can use in a pinch." The light silver tabby's fiery golden eyes lit up as she explained the spell and what she can do.

The she-cat that Breeze saw smile to the leaving she-cats spoke next. "Lovely to meet you both. I'm afraid I do not hold such a lofty position as you both, for I am merely a rogue out in the world, living with my sisters. We do have our strengths, I must admit. We are not useless." At this, the snowy white she-cat flashed her long pristine fangs and her sparkling green eyes narrowed in concentration as she whipped her tail through the air, a trail of shadow following after it. "As I say, we can take care of ourselves quite well. My name is Lady."

"Pleasure meeting all you ladies. Even though I have no amazing power you all seem to have, I do have my claws and teeth, so for whatever this is about, if we get in a fight, I can hold my own. Ladies and toms, I'm Steele, deputy of the Dark Forest." Dark amber eyes twinkled merrily as the steel gray tom flicked his tail.

Breeze gulped as it was her turn now. "Hello! My name is Breeze, and I am a former member of the Ancient Council. As we all seem to be telling our strengths, I control the wind or air in my paws. It may seem pretty useless, but unlike my water or fire siblings, I do not need any heat or water to use my power, all I need is the air." Happy to be able to show off for once, the dappled she-cat that was Breeze grinned, her sky blue eyes bright. A leaf on the ground lifted up into the air, and a second later, it drifted down to the ground again, in shreds. "Sorry about that, Leaf." She murmured, quiet enough so no one else could hear.

"Again, quite a pleasure to meet you all. I am Shell, medicine cat of the Dark Forest. I am not as useless as all I may seem, however. I can heal anyone in a battle, and I do have my claws and teeth to fight as well. My in depth knowledge about herbs has taught me the deadliest of poisons and combinations that can make someone fall asleep. Of course, I do have my secrets, but one of them is also a strength, which I will share. I am half-Fellan, and I have a power of my own. It is fairly useless to anyone besides me, but in a pinch, I can throw up a shield around me, and perhaps another, I have not tested my power to that extent." A dark gray tom sitting beside Breeze and Shadow meowed, his ice blue eyes calm as he stared at the group around him.

Breeze looked at Shadow, knowing it was her turn now. Her green eyes were solemn as she spoke, but challenging, in a way. "My name is Shadow, and I lead the Clan known as ShadowClan. I have powers as well, though you may not think it, but they were not as natural as most of yours I daresay. They were given to me by my mother and father, who somewhere, live in this realm, though I take residence in the realm of the living."

"Hello, my dear friends." The voice that spoke was deep and carried well, belonging to a tom that Breeze had forgotten about, a large stony gray tom sitting in the corner of the clearing.

Breeze looked at Steele as he gasped. "What? He never speaks! Ever!"

"I don't speak much, Steele, for I do not have much to say. Anyhow, I am a creature brought from the darkness of the Void itself. I am unaware that I have a power if I do, so I just use my strength as well as my teeth and claws to fight. My name is Falcon."