Elsi: I've been so active lately! Isn't it awesome? No, really, I'm just trying to crank out as much as I can to make up for whenever I vanish back into school. It's always a problem, because Fanfiction has never been my first priority. Don't get me wrong, I love the Great Five. But I also love other stuff!

Trek: Honestly, I don't think they're going to hate you for writing original fiction.

Elsi: You never know with people. But these people are sensible! Yay sensibility! Anyways, here's the Willow chapter I was leading up to in Chapter 2. It's pretty talky-talky and thinky-thinky. I hope that's okay! :D

Trek: Elsi doesn't own Warriors, although the addition to the Three (or Four) and their prophecy is new. The whole bit about the dark prophet and what not, that's hers. But Ivypool and Doveheart aren't!

Elsi: Okay, okay, they get it. READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE!

Chapter 5: Plans and Prophecies

Willowpaw's light blue eyes scanned her surroundings. She knew that these cats hated her; she hated herself, too. Already, her icy touch had killed three rogues, and she felt like she could do worse. The ice was everywhere. Only Creek and Glow would go anywhere near her, and the other cats were just angry. Many of them wanted to kill her, Willowpaw knew, but most of them were too afraid to do anything about it. She almost wished that they would. They all thought that she was some sort of monster – and, Willowpaw knew that she was.

"Willowpaw?" Glow's white head pushed into the small, icy-cold shelter that the rogues had given to Willowpaw. "Someone is here to see you."

Willowpaw gave a mew of consent, and Glow's eyes narrowed with sadness. A prickle of relief fell into Willowpaw's system. This new cat would come and kill her for sure. That was good. She deserved to die. Carefully, Willowpaw settled her chin onto her paws, feeling drizzles of ice wander into her fur.

While she waited, she must have dozed off. She dreamed of a pond, and of her brother, and of a place where there was no light. She dreamed that she had found a peculiar cat, who had promised to save her littermate. The cat had been familiar – Littlepaw, Birdpaw, or Skypaw, she figured. Or maybe it was someone else, like Lionblaze, or Jayfeather. Someone had helped Mountainpaw; that was good, thought Willowpaw. If she had gotten there first, she would have probably killed Mountainpaw.

When she finally opened her eyes, an even more peculiar cat. Doveheart sat at his paws, her amber eyes watching her.

"What are you doing here?" Willowpaw demanded, sitting up in her icy bedding. "You shouldn't be here. I'm still dreaming!"

"I came to find you," Doveheart promised. "Your littermates need you. A lot has happened in the Clans." She frowned. "We need you, Willowpaw."

Horrified, Willowpaw scrambled backwards and shook her head. No! She could never go back to the Clans! She'd kill all of them, her friends, her family, all of them. There was no way she could go back.

"Willowpaw?" Doveheart called. Willowpaw shook her head, unable to speak, crawling up the wall to the ledge above her. How could Doveheart come here?

"Didn't you see what I did?" asked Willowpaw wildly. "I made the earth shake! I made the camp collapse, and the trees caved in. And it was all my fault…" She shook her head, tears turning into icicles on her face. Doveheart approached her calmly, her amber eyes soft.

"That had nothing to do with you," Doveheart began cautiously. "StarClan said so."

Hatred of Doveheart welled up in Willowpaw's chest, and she sneered.

"Don't lie to me!" she spat, making Doveheart recoil in surprise. "Do you think I don't know when I destroy something?!"

"Willowpaw, please," Doveheart began. "Just come talk to me. Let me explain what's going on."

"No," answered Willowpaw, quivering. Doveheart wanted to carry her off, back to the Clans, where there were even more cats that she could kill. What if her next victim was Bramblestar? Or Jayfeather? She couldn't risk throwing the Clan into disarray. Even worse, what if she killed Mouseclaw or Brackenpaw? If she put either of them in danger….

"Willowpaw," Doveheart continued. The silver she-cat took a daring leap, balancing precariously on a beam of wood. She was so close, Willowpaw could feel the warmth in her blood. No! She would freeze Doveheart from the inside out. She'd done it before – twice. Two of the rogues, the ones that took care of her, had come too close. Now they knew what she was, and no one would come any closer than the door.

"Don't come any closer," Willowpaw warned. "I'll kill you."

"I don't think so," Doveheart began, taking the tiniest of steps forward. Willowpaw felt her paws begin to shake; why was Doveheart doing this! If she came any closer, she would die, didn't she know that? Why was she still trying to reach her? "You didn't cause the earthquake."

Willowpaw wanted to scream at her again. Of course she caused the earthquake! There wasn't anyone powerful enough to cause a disaster like that except for her! How couldn't she have caused it? Willowpaw had cried, sitting alone, and the earth had begun to shake. The two were certainly connected.

"How could you?" Doveheart inquired. "You don't have any power over the earth."

Those words made Willowpaw blink, and she felt the weight of the world disappear from her shoulders. Amazingly, Doveheart was right. She was ice elemental; Mountainpaw was the only one that could have done something so powerful. So, was it Mountainpaw?

"Then it was my brother," she said harshly. "You should have as little to do with us as possible." Doveheart slid forward on the banister, and Willowpaw flinched. She didn't want to kill Doveheart, but would she be able to stop herself? The warrior was warm, and Willowpaw instinctively was cold.

"It was a coincidence," Doveheart promised. "Mountainpaw wants to try and stop it from happening again."

Willowpaw just stared at her, and Doveheart took another step forward. Willowpaw shrank backwards into the banisters, trying to get away, but there was no escape. Doveheart's amber eyes gleamed with trust.

"He needs you," Doveheart went on. "It's the only way to save ThunderClan. That's what you want, isn't it?"

Willowpaw stared at the fluffy grey she-cat, nodding slowly. She really did want to save ThunderClan. She loved the cats, and she didn't want any of them to get hurt. But how could she possibly help? She was a monster, a demon. All she could do was destroy. Doveheart couldn't possibly be telling the truth.

"All I can do is kill," Willowpaw told Doveheart. Doveheart shook her head calmly. "You should leave, Doveheart. I've killed three cats."

"That wasn't your fault," Doveheart told her, nudging forward. "You're absolutely distraught. Your powers are getting the best of you. Come home. We can help you."

Willowpaw shook her head frantically.

"It's something about warmth," she pleaded, begging the she-cat to stop. "I have power over ice, Doveheart! If you come any closer, I'll freeze you, too."

Doveheart paused, her tail swinging back and forth. Willowpaw let out a sigh of relief; maybe that had done the trick.

"I think you can stop it," Doveheart encouraged. "I'm going to get to the ground, and I want you to come talk to me."

"I'll hurt you," Willowpaw pleaded, but Doveheart shook her head.

"No, you're going to control your power," Doveheart promised her. "I won't leave until you talk to me. I want to tell you what's going on, about the earthquake, about the Clan, everything I know. When I'm done with that, we can go back to the Clan."

"What if I don't want to go?" snapped Willowpaw. She knew already that she could never return to ThunderClan. She'd killed Brackenfur, and that hadn't been an accident. Two other cats had died out in the wilderness; clearly, Willowpaw could turn her eyes on anyone and kill them. What if she lost control back in ThunderClan? There were so many cats there to destroy.

"I won't force you," Doveheart promised calmly. She flicked her tail, and fell from the banister, landing carefully on the ground. Sitting up, Doveheart pulled her tail around her paws and fixed Willowpaw with those amber eyes. Willowpaw waited, not knowing what to do. Doveheart was stubborn, and she knew it from all the stories of the war. There was no way Doveheart would leave until Willowpaw at least came down. But if she did come down, she would kill Doveheart in an instant. It was just how she worked. She was a monster.

"I trust you," Doveheart mewed. Willowpaw couldn't move, even if she wanted to. Doveheart…trusted her? No other cat had trusted her with her powers, not since she had let them show. Surely, Doveheart was being foolish.

Cautiously, Willowpaw dropped down from her perch, landing hard in the chilly hay below. She peered at Doveheart, unsure. How was Doveheart so sure that Willowpaw could do it? It had been hard for her to even eat her meals without turning them into blocks of ice. Could she really resist freezing Doveheart?

"When you left, Birdpaw and Jayfeather were dealing with the epidemic," Doveheart began, still holding Willowpaw's eyes. "She could have used your support, but it wouldn't have been enough. Eventually, Jayfeather and Birdpaw found a cure that saved the Clans."

That was relieving to know, and Willowpaw nodded. See? Her siblings would be fine without her. They'd already accomplished so much.

"But cats did die, Willowpaw," Doveheart went on. That made Willowpaw stop, and she realized that she had been cautiously creeping towards Doveheart. Had that really happened? She hadn't had the urge to freeze anything. "Runningpaw, Birchfall, and Cherrymist. Birdpaw wasn't quick enough to save everyone, but she could save the rest of us."

That was true, Willowpaw admitted. Even though ThunderClan had lost some cats, they hadn't lost the entire Clan. Birdpaw and Jayfeather had needed to keep up their hope, and they had. Willowpaw respected that courage; she wished that she had it.

"Everything was looking alright," Doveheart continued. "Brackenheart and Dustfur are warriors now."

"They are?" Willowpaw couldn't help but purr; her best friend was a warrior! Brackenheart. She loved the name, because it fit him well. If anything, he deserved to be named after his heart. He was fine without her – he was doing well, then. At least he wasn't hurt.

"Greyheart and Bluemoon, too," added Doveheart. "They should be keeping vigil now." She took a deep breath. "It was Lionstar's first ceremony."

The warmth faded from Willowpaw's heart, and cold air compressed around her. Doveheart recoiled, and Willowpaw scampered backwards. She had almost hurt Doveheart, she knew it! How would she ever be able to get closer now?

"It's alright," Doveheart called after her. "You stopped it, Willowpaw. You stopped your powers and your emotions. I'm fine." She swept a spot off the icy ground. "Sit with me, please. I trust you to control yourself."

"I don't trust myself," meowed Willowpaw quietly. Doveheart purred in encouragement.

"Come on, you're stronger than that," she urged. "Cats die every day."

"Not leaders," protested Willowpaw.

"But Bramblestar's death had nothing to do with you," Doveheart promised. "He was crushed when the Highledge fell. Lionstar is leader now, and…I'm his deputy."

Willowpaw hesitated when she said that. Her father had sent his deputy, his most important Clan member, after her? Did he trust her, too? Someone did.

"Congratulations," she mewed cautiously. Doveheart laughed.

"And Honeypaw and Snowpaw are apprentices," she finished. "You see, Willowpaw? Life goes on, no matter what kind of disaster strikes the Clan."

"But I could wipe them all out," protested Willowpaw. She shivered. "You don't understand what everyone wants me to do. I…" I can't let them down.

"When great overcomes good, flame will quench the eternal darkness, water will fall into starlit power, wind will curl the straight lines of truth, rock will knock at the door of balance, ice will freeze the roots of everything, and the land will shake to end it all." Willowpaw looked up in shock when the words came out of Doveheart's mouth, and the older she-cat purred. "I know more about the prophecy than you do."

"But it's not you in it," Willowpaw cried. "I don't know how to…freeze the roots of everything! I don't want to. What if that means I have to destroy them all?"

"You won't," Doveheart insisted. "I know a thing or two about prophecies. They work out in the end, and you always have some input. If the prophecy tells you to destroy ThunderClan, you can always walk away. It'll turn out to mean something else, all along."

"How do you know?" snapped Willowpaw. "You've never been in this situation."

"There will be three cats, kin of your kin, with the power of the stars in their paws. A dark prophet will arise to complete the Good Four, light of light and the first enemies of the darkness. With starlight in their paws, they will defeat the shadows to save the Clans." That made Willowpaw frown. She'd never heard that prophecy before. "That was my prophecy."

"Your prophecy?" questioned Willowpaw. Doveheart nodded enthusiastically.

"I never knew what it was talking about until after the war," she continued. "There will be three cats – Lionstar, Jayfeather, Doveheart. Lionstar cannot be defeated in battle, Jayfeather can see in dreams and has incredible power in StarClan's realm, and I have senses like Mountainpaw's. The prophecy was delivered to Firestar, and we're all Firestar's kin."

"What does the power of the stars mean?" asked Willowpaw cautiously. Now she was curious. Did Doveheart trust her so much that she would explain everything?

"Well, we're still not sure," said Doveheart, her whiskers twitching. "For most of the war with the Dark Forest, we thought it meant that we had the ability to decide who survived, StarClan or the Place of No Stars. Now that Jayfeather keeps getting visions of the five of you as stars…we're sure that our job is to guide you."

Willowpaw took this in. So StarClan did have something in store for her, something so great that Doveheart and Jayfeather and Lionblaze – Lionstar, she corrected herself – had to guide them? Wow.

"A dark prophet referred to Ivypool," explained Doveheart. "For most of the war, she fought for Tigerstar. She switched sides and became our spy, and we became four. And we defeated the shadow-cats that Tigerstar called up, and we destroyed the Dark Forest." Her eyes clouded. "Or, so we thought."

"Now there's us?" inquired Willowpaw. She realized for the first time that she was sitting nearly a tail-length from Doveheart. Forcing herself to keep calm, Willowpaw took a deep breath. She could feel the warmth of Doveheart's fur, and of her blood, but there was nothing pressing Willowpaw to turn everything to ice. She exhaled slowly, smiling – this was just like sitting with any other cat!

"Now there's you," Doveheart affirmed. "You make everything confusing, but we're here to guide you. That's always been our true purpose."

"So you can help me with my powers?" Willowpaw wanted to know. Doveheart nodded.

"I think that I'm your guide," Doveheart explained. "I will do anything within my power to help you. But that requires you coming back to ThunderClan and accepting that you can save the Clans."

Willowpaw thought for a moment. The heavy weight of the world crashed back on her shoulders, and she stared wearily at Doveheart.

"I just want a normal life," she admitted, annoyed. "I want to be with my friends. Hunt, fight, be a warrior. Find a mate, eventually, and maybe even have kits." She shook her head. "I don't want to be a part of this prophecy."

"I understand," Doveheart meowed. Willowpaw knew that she did, and compassion bloomed in her heart. "I think you deserve another life, really, I do." Her eyes were sad. "I might have been able to have a mate once. But I let my destiny come first, and now…now all I want to do is serve ThunderClan. You, Willowpaw, don't have to do that."

"Don't I, though?" Willowpaw asked miserably. Doveheart shook her head, and Willowpaw let the fluffy grey she-cat press into her pelt. She was…calm. There was no pressure, no impulse to freeze the warmth that lay in Doveheart. It actually felt nice, to have some source of warmth. Willowpaw leaned into the older she-cat.

"You can live your life," Doveheart promised her. "There will be some times when you may have to put your mate to the side and focus on developing your skills. But I don't think you will ever have to choose one over the other. Prophecies don't say that you can't have a normal life. It's your choice."

"It would be better, though, if I devoted myself to the prophecy," Willowpaw summarized.

"It's your choice," repeated Doveheart. "I never tried it, but Ivypool has a mate and kits. She's very happy. And you're here, which means that Lionstar lived another life. You can do what you want."

Willowpaw looked up at her guide, seeing the peace in Doveheart's eyes. There was something in Doveheart's words that Willowpaw wanted to believe whole-heartedly. She wanted to keep her friendships, with Brackenheart and Mouseclaw and the others. It was sad that Runningpaw had died; Runningpaw had been one of Willowpaw's favorite den-mates. But Doveheart was right in that life did go on. She still had her littermates, and, from what Doveheart was suggesting, the Clan wanted her back.

But could she control her powers? Willowpaw frowned at that thought, before realizing where she was. She was still sitting here, leaning into Doveheart, talking at a normal volume. No ice, no snow, nothing. Just a normal conversation.

"I can go back to ThunderClan?" Willowpaw asked hopefully. Smiling, Doveheart nodded. Willowpaw allowed herself to picture all of her friends, and she purred in spite of herself. "Okay. Let's go. Mountainpaw needs my help."