Disclaimer: I don't own the Warrior series!

Title: Deep Dive

Summary: In a world where ThunderClan absorbed ShadowClan seasons ago, young warrior Weaselface is tasked to rebuild the fourth Clan and take her place as leader. But how can she betray all she's ever known and loved, all on the word of one ghost with a grudge?

Chapter Title: Midnight

...

"We're having kits."

Weaselstar felt her stomach drop. Adderpelt was staring at her intently, one paw gently touching Partridgepelt's stomach. Partridgepelt blinked up at her with an eager, excited smile. She processed the words as slowly as a paw went through molasses, eyes traveling from her white belly to his soft green eyes. He was looking at her like she held the world in her paws, as if Weaselstar could swipe her foot and end his happiness in an instant.

He's done so much for me, she thought hollowly, giving herself a shake. The least I can do is be supportive, right?

Still, the words died on her tongue. Weaselstar couldn't help but feel devastated. It was silly, she knew, to be so possessive over Adderpelt- they were best friends, and it wasn't like Partridgepelt was aiming to come between that. But she couldn't help but feel like he was abandoning her and the kits. Elmpaw is going to be so furious.

She forced herself to smile. "Congratulations, guys!"

Partridgepelt broke into a rusty purr. "I'm so excited! I can't wait to meet them. Three moons feels so long, you know? But it's so short." She made a vague measurement with her paws. "They'll be so small!"

"Little paws," agreed Adderpelt, eyes still trained on Weaselstar. She found herself wishing he wouldn't look at her, that he would be so smitten with his future kittens he would ignore her. She didn't want him to see just how hurt she was. "Are you... okay?"

"I'm perfect," she lied. "I'm just surprised, seeing how it's so close to Leaf-bare."

Partridgepelt smiled. "I know you'll keep me safe, Weaselstar."

Swallowing down the force of that responsibility, that trust, Weaselstar forced herself to dip her head confidently. Everyone seems so sure I'll keep this Clan safe. Don't they realize just how dangerous the world really is? Nothing was stopping Spiderstar from barging into camp and causing mayhem. She shook herself. All she could do was keep putting one paw in front of the other and hope for the best. ShadowClan needs a leader. That's me... for some reason.

Gently reminded of the sheer number of responsibilities she held, Weaselstar stumbled into the clearing again. Her eyes desperately searched the area for something to focus on, something to get her mind off of Adderpelt and his green eyes. Pringles was chatting with Birchfoot over a scrawny crow, the duo splitting to avoid the slowly dwindling fresh-kill pile. Ice Cube demonstrated a front swipe to Featherpaw and Honeypaw. Tedwing, Bumblestorm, Squirrelwhisker and Fogfur were returning from the afternoon hunting patrol; the gray tabby's tail was wound proudly around Elmpaw, who held a scrawny vole in her teeth. Weaselstar made a mental note to congratulate her daughter later. Hootpaw and Ashpaw were practicing battle moves quietly in the corner, and she realized suddenly just how big they'd gotten. They'll be warriors by Newleaf at this rate.

Her excuse was found in Spottedpaw, who was politely listening to Pinethroat telling a story as she set some moist moss down for the blind molly to drink. Relieved, Weaselstar padded over to the elders' den, dipping her head respectfully to Mossytooth.

"Watch out," he rumbled. "We've got royal company."

"-And then I fell out of the tree," Pinethroat was mewing. She paused, nose wrinkling. "Weaselstar?"

"I'm not royal," she argued.

He waved her off with a gray-tipped paw. "Yes, yes, humbleness and all that. Let a tom make things easier on himself." Mossytooth grinned at her. "What can the old farts do for you, Weasel?"

"I was hoping to speak to Spottedpaw," she admitted. It felt mean to say she hadn't come over for them at all. Weaselstar turned to her youngest daughter. "Tonight's the half-moon. Are you excited to speak to StarClan?"

Spottedpaw grimaced, ears flattening. "Actually, I was hoping I could... skip it?"

"Skip it?" Pinethroat meowed, echoing everyone's surprise. "You can't just skip seeing StarClan! It's an important part of being a medicine cat! It's an important part of being in a Clan!"

Her face fell a bit further. "I know! I know. I just... wasn't able to convince Dew to take me this moon. I can't imagine going to the Moonpool alone."

Weaselstar swallowed a flash of rage at her mother. It was true, yes, that Dew didn't believe in StarClan. But, even with that in mind, what was she losing to go sit around a puddle for the night? Instead, she was making her apprentice feel insecure and alone. Spottedpaw's always seemed so unflappable. This must really be bothering her. "I'll go with you."

Spottedpaw blinked at her with trepidation and the smallest flicker of hope. "Won't that be weird? Showing up with my mom?"

"With your leader," she reminded her gently. Weaselstar drew Spottedpaw close and gave her a lick between the ears, fondly ignoring her displeasure. "I'll stay back and wait for you. I won't get in the way of the medicine cats."

"Well..." She shuffled her paws a moment. "If you say so, then I guess it's okay."

She laved a few more licks to her head before letting Spottedpaw go. She was quickly learning that some affection might be too much for teenagers. She hadn't exactly had a lot of practice with her own mom, seeing as they lived in seperate camps, but the girls (and Honeypaw) were all starting to show distaste with her giving them too much love. Apparently, kisses in front of elders was okay.

A tiny crackling had her ear flicking to the side. Weaselstar looked to Mossytooth- the only one looking where her back was facing- and the elder purred and blinked slowly. She brought her ear back up front to give the appearance of moving on.

"Gotcha!" cried Clockkit, firmly wrapping her tail in her claws. She bunny-kicked the ragged appendage. "Surrender, ThunderClan scum!"

"Okay, okay, OW," meowed Weaselstar, feeling every centimeter of sharp claws in her spinal cord. She bent down to collect the kit, setting her onto her haunches. "Why are you killing my tail?"

"I'm coming up with new battle moves!" she sniffed. "When I'm in charge, everyone will learn to go for the tail. It's a weak spot!"

She felt herself begin to purr. Huge ambition for such a little body. "You're going to be leader one day?"

"Duh! I'm gonna be such a good warrior you'll have to make me deputy." She stuck out her meager chest. "Then I'll be in charge!"

Weaselstar purred and ignored the age-old stab of anxiety. Dovefrost was getting up in moons; it wouldn't be long before she retired. And Weaselstar had absolutely no idea who to promote in her place. It's just one thing after another, isn't it?

"I look forward to seeing it," she promised.

Though the snow was light, it was falling, and that made Weaselstar's throat spasm as she kept pace by her daughter. The early Leaf-bare breeze cut through her brown pelt as they trekked around the abandoned Twolegplace. The upside of this time of year was just how sharp and bright the night sky looked; even Weaselstar could imagine their ancestors swimming in the sky on a night like tonight.

The problem with Leaf-bare is that it had a bad habit of affecting her throat. The cold sank its hungry teeth into her muscles and had them twinging and jerking. Weaselstar was thankfully able to avoid that problem the rest of the season with a few stretches; the working of her jaw helped warm everything up. Now it was so cold it was all she could do to grit her teeth. It felt a bit like hiccups, if hiccups happened in the front.

"You didn't have to come, you know," Spottedpaw meowed, sniffing at the twitching muscles. "Anyone could've escorted me here."

"And miss my baby girl's first visit to the Moonpool?" she scoffed. "You doubt my stubbornness."

They padded back into the trees at the edge of the Twolegplace. It was only a few hills now to the Moonpool. Weaselstar sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to walk a little faster.

"Mom," she said. "How many lives do you have?"

Weaselstar felt her paws fumble between themselves, stumbling. "What?"

Spottedpaw flinched but raised her chin. "I'm your medicine cat now. This is an important leader-medicine cat discussion- it's not like Dew knows."

"Dew is still your mentor," Weaselstar reminded her gently.

She flicked her ear dismissively. "When I became medicine cat, I knew I would mostly be teaching myself. Gramma is great at finding herbs and knowing about rare illnesses, but she's not great with StarClan and readings. How many do you have?"

She sighed, staring at her paws. She'd hate to lie to her daughter more than she already had. "I have eight lives. Beetooth stole one at our mini-Gathering at the lake."

Spottedpaw's eyes went wide. "He what? Why didn't grandpa stop him?"

Because he ordered it. Weaselstar raised her tail in greetings. "Look, we're here. And they were waiting for you."

The hill rose into the edge of the Moonpool above, and at the top of the hill was the outline of Copperdawn, their tail wagging gleefully in the breeze. Spottedpaw perked up and traded a quick nuzzle with Weaselstar before racing up the clearing to the gathered medicine cats. Squinting, Weaselstar could just barely make out Webflower brushing noses with her while Mintfern said something to the side. She watched them slowly slip out of sight.

The faint odor of sap tickled her tongue as Beethroat stepped out beside her. Weaselstar flinched as the calico turned and regarded her with a slight smile, surprised. "It's a lovely night to visit the ancestors."

"Why are you here?" Weaselstar asked, a bit suspicious. Beethroat had only appeared thus far when she had a reason.

"An offer." She swished her tail and suddenly two Shadows were sitting in front of her: Compromise and Consequence. "I've brought you ShadowClan's last medicine cats."

"You want me to free them," she surmised. Beethroat blinked at her expectantly. "Why should I?"

"Why not?" Beethroat replied. "Your daughter will need the strength of all her ancestors to be medicine cat."

Weaselstar took a second to study the duo. They really, truly didn't seem threatening. Compromise was short and squat, coming in at Weaselstar's chest, with a flat face that reminded her terribly of Dew. Consequence was just a bit taller; skinny, with ribs poking out from a bad diet. Still, though. She couldn't get the image of golden tabby fur covered in blood out of her head. "They helped you kill Brackenstar."

"Blame me for Brackenstar. Not them."

"I really don't think it's that simple," she meowed earnestly.

Beethroat tsked and gestured to each with her paw. "Consequence saw the end of ShadowClan coming. She tried to warn Brackenstar, but he refused to listen. Compromise supported Consequence and lost her entire family for it. They were, at their core, the best medicine cats I've ever met. It's not their fault they tried to survive." She waved her tail to the hill that concealed the medicine cats from view. "And I know they will give Spottedpaw their everything to make this Clan work."

Weaselstar hesitated only a moment longer. She wanted her daughter to have every chance in life- and, as difficult as their lives had been, Consequence and Compromise were still StarClan cats. They couldn't be too horrible, right? She reached out to touch noses with the short molly. Strips of shadows began to fall off as she moved on to Compromise.

In the night, Consequence's white pelt was shiny and bright as she shook herself. She bore a few dark spots on her paws and hips. Compromise, meanwhile, was a dark tabby with soft eyes. The two seemed to come back to themselves all at once, looking around as if unaware of how they'd gotten there. They caught sight of each other and embraced.

"I told you," Consequence rasped. "I knew we'd see each other again someday."

"Yeah," meowed Compromise. "I missed you too, mom."

Something painful stung her heart as Beethroat grinned, wide and unapologetic. "Weaselstar, meet Possumfall and Sleekmist."

The white molly- Possumfall- blinked at her reproachfully. "What took you so long? We have work to do yet."

"We're not in trouble still, are we?" Sleekmist asked. She looked far more sheepish than her mother.

"No trouble. A job." Beethroat gestured to the Moonpool. "ShadowClan's newest medicine cat needs spiritual guidance."

"Don't we all?" Possumfall sighed. She gave Sleekmist a gentle nudge. "Let's get moving, Sleek. We don't got all night."

"Oh! Right." Sleekmist dipped her head to them both. "T-Thank you."

"Mom?"

Weaselstar blinked and the spirits were gone. Spottedpaw was shifting from paw to paw in front of her, tail-tip quivering. She could just barely make out the other medicine cats dispersing above. "Oh. Wow. Is it morning already?"

"Did you fall asleep?" she asked dubiously. "Sitting up?"

She snorted and gently cuffed her ear. "I'm old, leave me alone."

"It was amazing," gushed Spottedpaw, doing a little skip to keep up as they trailed back across the hill. "There was an owl, and it-" She paused. "Am I allowed to tell you about it?"

Weaselstar hesitated. She really didn't know. She was aware that she wasn't allowed to talk about her leadership ceremony, but medicine cats were supposed to pass on signs and hints from StarClan. Did this count? "I'm... not sure, kiddo."

Spottedpaw fell silent as they crept past the Twolegplace. "Mom?" she meowed finally. "Am I going to RiverClan for the Leaf-bare?"

She swallowed some spit, hacking and coughing. "What?"

"Well, I was talking to Webflower, and she mentioned-"

"No! No. I was debating on sending Dew, not..."

She seemed put off by that information. "Dew isn't training to be a medicine cat. I am."

"I'm not sending my daughter to another Clan," Weaselstar meowed harshly, fur along her spine lifting. How could I possibly give my child away?

"But it's for the good of ShadowClan!" she argued. "I told you, mom. You need to see me as a medicine cat. Not your daughter."

Weaselstar stopped, gently putting a paw on her head. "You're both. You'll always be both."

Spottedpaw wiggled her head around so her eye was poking out. "But this is important! ShadowClan needs this." She leaned close and began to purr. "I know you're worried, but you have to have faith in me."

"I do," she meowed, feeling like a broken record. "Of course I do. I'll... think on it, okay?"

"That's all I ask," Spottedpaw said. "Think on it. And think about it like a leader, okay? Not as my mom."

"I will," she promised, sick at heart. She knew, logically, that there was only one choice. I have to give my girl to RiverClan. It's for the best of ShadowClan. But how can I say goodbye like that, even for such a short time?

How can I trust Briarstar to keep her safe?

Author's Note: Heeeeey, some Spottedpaw spotlight! I like her a lot. She takes a lot of responsibility on her shoulders to protect the Clan she calls home. And some Shadows! We've got three of them out now.

Also, if you're ever curious about what ThunderClan is up to, check out my companion piece, Whalefall! It's centered on young Martinkit as she grows up in the remnants of ThunderClan.

-Mandaree1