Falconheart paced outside of the medicine cat den, for a moment he thought he would wear down a path into the floor of the stone hollow. "You shouldn't worry so much." Honeyfrost mewed, looking up from the herbs she was drying. "If anyone is going to understand, it's her. No one is going to think less of you for this, I promise."
"I know I know." Falconheart sighed heavily. "I just don't want to disappoint her, or Lionclaw, or StarClan for that matter." He looked up towards the cloudless blue sky. "I don't know if I can do this." His heart was beating faster than he could handle, he felt like he was going to pass out.

"You can, Falconheart. You have to." Honeyfrost pressed. She lifted her head and look passed him. "Here comes Sedgefern."

Falconheart turned to look over his shoulder as Sedgefern broke away from her border patrol, quickly padding up to Falconheart and Honeyfrost. "Have you told her yet?"

"Not yet." Honeyfrost answered for him, rising to her paws and walking away from her herbs. "But we need to." She shot a look at Falconheart.

Falconheart's pelt burned. "Will you come with me too, Sedgefern?"

"Of course." Sedgefern agreed. "We should go now though, we still have responsibilities as mentors."

"I know." Falconheart took another deep breath and was forced towards the leader's den by Honeyfrost and Sedgefern. At least I have the two of them. Falconheart thought hopefully.

"Come on." Sedgefern nudged Falconheart forward, towards Dawnstar's den. "We need to get this done, the sooner the better.

"Right." Falconheart cleared his throat and with Honeyfrost and Sedgefern at his side, he started walking towards the leader's den. He was shocked at how long the walk seemed. Deep down he knew that Dawnstar wouldn't be mad at him, but he feared that she would be. Dawnstar risked her life driving out an evil cat, what will she think of her own son who trained with one? Shaking his head, Falconheart shoved those thoughts away. No matter what happens, I have to own up to what I've done. Sedgefern and Honeyfrost are in danger. I owe it to them.

At long last they reached Dawnstar's den. With a heavy sigh, Falconheart stepped into the dimly lit den. Inside, Dawnstar, Lionclaw and Cinderflame were conversing over some prey. Dawnstar lifted her head once the three of them stepped inside. "Hello there." She purred. "What can I do for you three?"

"I need to talk to you, Dawnstar." Falconheart forced the words out, like they were prey lodged in his throat. Dawnstar clearly sensed the urgency in Falconheart's words.

"Very well," She nodded and turned to Lionclaw and Cinderflame. "Will you give us a moment."

Lionclaw's amber eyes flashed concern as he rested his gaze on his kits. "Is everything alright?"

Falconheart nodded. "I think so." He assured his father. "I just need to talk to her, I will tell you later."

"I understand." He brushed his tail across Falconheart's pelt. Cinderflame and Lionclaw left the den and Dawnstar faced the three cats.

"So what do you have to say?"

Falconheart looked at Sedgefern for a moment, she gave him a nod of encouragement. "Well," Falconheart sighed. "We all know that I was a...arrogant apprentice. I wanted to be the best warrior in the forest, no matter what the cost. I wanted to prove I was better than anyone else. Well, one night in my dreams I was visited by what I thought was a StarClan warrior."

"Who was it?" Dawnstar questioned patiently.

"Falconclaw."

Dawnstar's expression shifted, she didn't seem mad just scared and guilty. "I was worried that may happen. He visited me not long after you two were born, and threatened you in particular. I was worried about what he would do, when you didn't say anything to me, I assumed that he just didn't try anything, I suppose I was foolish to think that."

"Please don't blame yourself." Falconheart urged. "I didn't stop to ask who he was, and even when I learned who he was. I didn't stop the training, he encouraged me to be violent and wanted me to become a killer like him." He chose to leave out the detail concerning Ashblaze. "When I started to question him, and started to break away from him he threatened me, Honeyfrost and Sedgefern. Then, last night I was almost killed by another cat named Oakpelt."

"Oh my," Dawnstar's eyes filled with horror. "Oh, Falconheart I had no idea that you were dealing with this."

"It's my own fault."

"I should have warned you about Falconclaw or told you who he was--" Falconheart could see that his mother was starting to be consumed by guilt, he raised her tail.

"No, it was my choice to start training with him. I don't want to anymore but I'm scared of what will happen if I try and break away completely. I don't want these two to get hurt because of me."

Dawnstar started to calm down. "I see." She sighed. "You're making the right choice, Falconheart. I'm glad you could come to me for help."

Falconheart was glad that his mother wasn't mad, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "So what can I do? How can I protect myself from him?"

"I'm not sure, but I know how to figure it out. You and I are going to the Spirit Garden."

Falconheart's jaw dropped. "Wh-what? How can I go to the Spirit Garden? I'm not a medicine cat."

"You don't have to be a medicine cat or leader to speak with StarClan. StarClan are here to guide us, from leaders, to medicine cats, to warrior. They will be happy to help you with Falconclaw."

A new brand of fear raced through Falconheart's body, he was going to the Spirit Garden to communicate directly with StarClan. "A-are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Dawnstar nodded slowly. "We should leave as soon as possible if we want to make it there by moonhigh." She looked past Falconheart and rested her eyes on Honeyfrost. 'Will you get us some travelling herbs?"

"Of course." Honeyfrost bowed her head and padded out of the den,

"I'm glad you came to me, Falconheart." Dawnstar mewed and looked at Sedgefern. "Personally, I want to thank you for supporting him." Falconheart's pelt began to burn.

"Of course, Dawnstar. Falconheart is one of the greatest cats in my life, I would do anything for him." Dawnstar's eyes softened and Falconheart looked at Dawnstar lovingly.

"We should prepare to leave, Falconheart. It's quite the walk." Falconheart took a moment to step outside the den and talk to Sedgefern.

"Thank you for your support." Falconheart mewed. "I don't think I could have done any of this without you."
"Of course." Sedgefern touched her muzzle to Falconheart's taking him by surprise. "Just get this whole situation fixed, I'll be waiting for you when you get back." Her sweet scent left Falconheart dazed, he stared off into space as she padded of.

Behind him, Honeyfrost cleared her throat. Falconheart jumped slightly and turned around to face his sister. She had a leaf wrap in her teeth, looking at him with amusement. He set down the wrap with amusement in her eyes. "Here you go. These will help with your hunger, strength and energy."

"Thank you, Honeyfrost." Falconheart quickly ate the herbs, resisting the urge to gag at their bitter taste. "What am I supposed to do at the Spirit Garden? I never even went to the Moonstone in our old home."
"You don't really do anything." Honeyfrost replied. " You'll lay down in the Garden and breathe in the scent of the flowers. You'll fall asleep almost instantly, then you should wake up somewhere with a StarClan cat talking to you."

Falconheart sighed. "Alright, I guess I just have to deal with it. Thank you, Honeyfrost." He thanked her again and met up with Dawnstar at the camp's entrance.

"Ready?" She questioned.

"As I'll ever be." Falconheart reluctantly agreed and the two of them ventured into SunClan territory. As they were about halfway to the river, Dawnstar started to speak.

"Sedgefern is very sweet to you." Dawnstar purred. "It's cute."

"Yeah." Falconheart said softly, his pelt burning. "She's pretty amazing. I don't know what I would do without her."

"It's good to have someone like that at your side, I had your father with me during everything that happened to me. He kept my head above water." Dawnstar's eyes were distant as she thought about her past. "Yet you seem to be reluctant to become mates."

He had already had this conversation with Lionclaw, but a lot had happened. "I'm not reluctant, I just--" He sighed. "I want to do right by her, I don't want to put her in danger because of a choice I made."

"I understand," Dawnstar mewed. "I just want my kits to be happy and I see how happy she makes you, but you're old enough to make your own decisions. I know you'll do what is right." Dawnstar's confidence in Falconheart lifted his spirits. They shared a few small conversations along the way as they travelled through the gathering hollow and soon reached the stone path that led to the Spirit Garden.

The closer they got to the Garden, the harder his heart began to pound. What do I do? How to face StarClan? What are they going to say to me? They slowly climbed the path and reached the top of the mountain. He looked over his shoulder, the view taking his breath away. I could get used to this.

"We will enter the Spirit Garden now. We will go down into the tunnel that will open into the cavern. Once there you will fall asleep and we will be greeted by StarClan." Falconheart just nodded and followed his mother into the tunnel. The sudden darkness was shocking, he was met with a sharp, cold breeze.

The darkness was almost overwhelming, he started to feel panic swelling inside his chest but Falconheart maintained his composure. At long last, a faint silver light opened up into a large cavern filled with flowers, in the center was a beautiful, star-shaped flower. "Here we are." Dawnstar spoke. "This is where we will communicate with StarClan."

Falconheart didn't speak, his eyes were focused intently on the flower before him. "So I just...fall asleep?" Dawnstar nodded. Falconheart and Dawnstar both laid down in front of the flower. Falconheart rested his paws on his chin and closed his eyes, breathing in the sweet scent of the flowers around him.

For a moment he didn't think it was working, then he opened his eyes and found himself in a strange forest. Stars shimmered overhead, brighter than he had ever seen. Wherever he was, it was much more comforting than the Dark Forest. He realized that beside him was his mother, Dawnstar seemed so comfortable in this forest, her eyes sparkled.

"Where are we?" Falconheart questioned her.

"This is StarClan's hunting grounds, they will come see us soon." Dawnstar sat down, gazing into the trees and waiting patiently. After a few moments, the leaves shuffled and out stepped for cats. One of them was a slender, pale gray she-cat with intense pale green eyes. Beside her was a beautiful golden she-cat and a long-haired cream-colored she-cat with a sharp scowl on her face. What's her problem?

"Greetings, Dawnstar. Falconheart." The gray she-cat bowed her head. "It's a pleasure to see you tonight." Her green eyes purred with amusement. "You don't appear to know who we are, Falconheart. My name is Flowerstar, I led SunClan before your mother. This is Poppyfur and Honeywing, former medicine cats." My sister was named after Honeywing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Falconheart bowed his head respectfully.

"So your bad mistakes have finally caught up to you." The snide remark came from Poppyfur. "And you want us to fix it."

Falconheart flattened his ears. "Y-yeah."

"Oh come now, Poppyfur." Honeywing's voice was sweet and soothing. "He needs our help, and we can help." Honeywing stepped forward. "We've been concerned about the Dark Forest for a while now, we don't want them getting too strong."

"So what will we be doing?" Dawnstar questioned. "How do we stop an enemy that's already dead."

"It is possible for StarClan cats to die." Flowerstar explained. "We can sustain injuries, and in time every StarClan cat will fade. The same applies to Dark Forest cats. Though, we aren't going against just Falconclaw. If I know him, he will have many cats rallying behind him."

"Like Thornstar." Falconheart chimed in. "And Oakpelt."

"The name Oakpelt hasn't been mentioned by the cats of SunClan in a very long time." Poppyfur spoke. "Though I'm not surprised he's reared his ugly face again. We can probably assume that Echoheart is with them as well, and Thornstar's son."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Dawnstar questioned.

"We can't handle this alone," Flowerstar spoke. "We've enlisted another friend of ours to bring in some help."

After a few moments, Falconheart heard voices in the trees. "This way." A gentle voice spoke and from the trees appeared Nightheart, Riverstar and a beautiful silver tabby she-cat. Falconheart's eyes went wide and locked with Nightheart's.

"Dawnstar? Falconheart?" Riverstar looked incredibly confused and turned to the silver tabby. "Moonwhisker, what is going on here?" Moonwhisker quickly explained the situation with Falconclaw, then explained to the SunClan cats that Nightheart had also been under the training of a Dark Forest cat in Thornstar, and her mate Rabbitspring had been attacked.

"I was planning to bring Nightheart to the Spirit Garden tomorrow night." Riverstar added. "She told me what was going on, and I knew that I had to help her. I see that you had the same idea as me." Riverstar spoke to Dawnstar for a moment before turning to the StarClan cats. "What is our plan, anyway?

"Falconclaw is the mastermind behind all of this." Flowerstar continued. "We stop him and we stop the rest of them. Thornstar won't admit it but he's been controlled by Falconclaw his entire life. He's too much of a coward to do anything without his uncle's word."

"A cat like that almost destroyed my Clan." Riverstar lashed her tail. "Still, I'd like to sink my claws into his pelt."

Another, unfamiliar cat stepped out from the shadows. "I hate to break this up but you're wasting time." It was a large red-brown tabby tom. "I was near the Dark Forest border and I overheard them talking. They've got the SunClan medicine cat."

Falconheart's blood turned to ice. Honeyfrost.