It was a clear, starry night. The forest was still; only the squirms of mice and frogs filled the silent void of noise. The cats of the forest rested in their dens, not a care in the world. All except for one, however. The orange and white she-cat was pacing around the camp, worried about the day's events. Attempting to put her fears to rest, she padded over to the medicine den.

"PaleFoot! PaleFoot!" she called

No response

"PALEFOOT!" she called again, louder

Still no response to be heard. Frustrated, she prodded him with her paw

"PaleFoot!" she called for a third time

The medicine cat finally responded. His black and white pelt flipped towards her."W-wha-who is it?" he yawned, blue green eyes looked up at the deputy.

"Oh, hey FlareStripe. Nice to see you. What brings you here tonight?" he asked while he stretched

"You know why I'm here! How's EagleStar? How many lives does he have left?! Is he going to make it!" she demanded, worry in her voice

"Woah, calm down." the black and white cat requested. "EagleStar's doing quite well, especially for his age. His greencough should go away in about a few days." he explained

"Oh, oh thank StarClan!" she sighed, relieved, finally starting to calm down

After settling down, the two cats took some prey from the fresh-kill pile and started to chat by the medicine den.

"So….how many lives has he left?" she asked tentatively

The medicine cat thought a bit. "Two, last time I checked." he answered

"'You CHECKED? When was this?" she bolted up with concern

"Today, now, please calm down deputy." he calmly asked her

"Okay….okay…" she started calming herself by grooming.

"Honestly, why are you so concerned? As long as he doesn't do anything stupid, he has a good, long life to live." he gulped down a mouthful of mouse

"D-do anything stupid! He always does something stupid! How many times has he been here? Remember when he got hit by that monster and then attacked the twoleg in it?!" he raised her voice in anger

"I do. That was quite a rough day." he chuckled at the last part

"He lost two lives that day! TWO! And do you remember the gathering in leaf-fall?" she asked again

"I remember. KindleRoot told me all about that." he sighed

"Of course he did. Y'know, if he keeps doing this stupid….this stupid STUFF, then we're not going to have a leader! You're the medicine cat, you should be actively preventing this! If not….what am I supposed to do then?! We-we won't have a leader!" she started panicking, raising her voice again.

"And we won't have a deputy if you keep acting like this. Calm down! EagleStar is still alive." he too raised his voice.

Just when FlareStripe started to calm down, a new voice riled her up again.

"What's this about me?" The boisterous leader approached the pair. He was a tall, broad-shouldered cat, who strangely enough looked like the cat equivalent to a Bald Eagle, hence the name. The deputy and medicine cat's hair stood on end.

"N-nothing, EagleStar." PaleFoot began. "It's just that you're going to make it. Though you really should be careful. Greencough in newleaf is not really a good sign."

The leader brushed him off. "Greencough is not going to kill me. I'm EagleStar, leader of Shadowclan! I still have plenty of lives left to protect you lot." he laughed, making the other two cats uncomfortable.

"S-sir, how many lives DO you have left?" FlareStripe tentatively asked him

"Hm.." he pondered. "I haven't really given it much thought. I lost track at five. I probably still have…let's see…four lives left?" His response alarmed the pair. Seeing this, he asked, "I do still have four lives left, right PaleFoot? Or have you not been keeping track as well?"

"Um….you see, EagleStar….you have two." PaleFoot told him. This caused the leader to stare at him, his yellow eyes judging the medicine cat.

"Two? Are you sure? Last time I checked-"

"Last time you checked?! You just said you haven't been keeping track!" the deputy interrupted. "You need to stop your stupid antics, or you're going to get yourself killed! Do you remember the thunderpath incident?! The first gathering last leaf-fall? All the other times you've lost your lives?!" she yelled "If-if we lose you…" she turned away

The leader looked at her intensely, then relaxed. "Oh, don't you worry about me, FlareStripe. I'm EagleStar, leader of ShadowClan! And besides, I chose you for a reason. I know it's going to be intimidating living up to my legacy, but you'll make a great leader nonetheless!" he smiled at her, trying to be reassuring in his own egotistical way.

"Uh, um, okay. Thanks for the pep talk." she mumbled a reply

"Now then, I'm off to my den, if I get the clearing from my medicine cat." he looked over at PaleFoot.

"Yeah, yeah, you're good," he responded. "But one more thing-"

"You need an apprentice, right? I've seen you eyeing Marshkit more than once. Well, you got it, PaleFoot!" The leader interrupted. "First meeting tomorrow, I'll make him one. Well, good night to you both!" he padded off, leaving the two cats sitting in the medicine den.

"..."

"..."

"I hate him sometimes." FlareStripe finally said.

"I agree. But the clan has been rather peaceful under his leadership, so we probably shouldn't complain." PaleFoot shrugged.

"Yeah…..by the way, what did you want to say to him?" she turned and asked him

"That, well, I got a vision from Starclan." he explained

"You got what?! What did it say?" she exclaimed

"A vision. And it didn't SAY anything. Though it did show me some things." PaleFoot explained. "There was a fire. A big fire on the plains. And there was this cat sitting on a large rock. There were two smaller cats on the ground, protected from the fire, and seemed to be challenging the larger one."

FlareStripe took some time thinking about this.

"Well, what do you think it means?" she finally asked

"I don't know." he told her honestly. "I hope it doesn't come true, but if it does…"

He didn't need to finish in order for the message to get through to .

"Alright." she said, standing up, "I'm going back to my den. You should too. Big day tomorrow." she said, tired and sarcastically.

"Okay. Don't think too hard about it.. It might not even come true...probably" PaleFoot shrugged, then walked off to his den to sleep.

FlareStripe sat awake in her den. While the other warriors were sleeping, she couldn't help but to think of EagleStar's two lives and the vision PaleFoot saw. She hoped it wasn't true, because if it was….

….The forest could be doomed.