"Dawnstrike," hissed Snakefur. The former ThunderClan medicine cat's fur was bristling and her ears were flat against her head. "Get out of this nest right now or I will drag you out of it."

The orange and white she-cat glared at Snakefur. "I thought a medicine cat was supposed to be nice. Can't you see I'm injured?"

The medicine cat's response was to grip Dawnstrike's tail in her jaws and yank on it. Moss and dirt sprayed the den's floor as the two she-cat wrestled each other, hissing threats.

"Get out of this den or we'll give you to the Dark Forest cats, why don't we?"

"Just try it, fox-breath!"

"What are you two doing?" Leafpool's astonished yowl made the two cats separate and scuff their paws in the dirt like ashamed kits. "Are you two kits?" The medicine cat rolled her eyes when neither cat spoke. "Snakefur, Wavestar and Mousestar specifically told you to wake Dawnstrike, no matter what she says." The tabby's amber glared turned to Dawnstrike. "And really? Attacking a medicine cat?" Her tail flicked. "Don't do it again," she growled, and left the den.

Snakefur rolled her eyes at Leafpool's retreating tail. "She thinks she is in charge all of the time, and conveniently forgets that I was ThunderClan's medicine cat before her." She paused. "Even though I died shortly after getting my name, I'm still seasons older."

"Leafpool is always lecturing us about the warrior code," agreed Dawnstrike," when she didn't follow that or the medicine cat when she was alive."

"But she does have a point," Snakefur mewed smugly. She flicked her ears towards the den's entrance. "You have to go see Mousestar and Wavestar." She paused. "I wonder if they'll still be on your side after everything that happened."

Dawnstrike made a face and slowly padded out of the den. Her paw still pulsed with pain if she set it down to hard, but the fiery scratches that laced her body had more or less healed. From across the clearing, she could see the two leaders talking quietly amongst themselves, with the other cats giving them a wide and respectful berth.

"Why are you going to see Mousestar" the small red she-cat ran to Dawnstrike. "Why? You're in trouble!"

"Rosekit, has anyone ever told you that you are far to nosy?" the RiverClan warrior muttered. She passed the kit and kept heading in the direction of the two leaders. As she approached the former leaders, the guilt of all the events that had occurred in the Dark Forest began to crush her.

"Dawnstrike," Mousestar mewed. "It is good to see you out of that den at last."

Wavestar shifted his paws. "Do you know why we have called you here?"

Dipping her head Dawnstrike mewed. "I have a suspicion."

"Well, about a moon ago you led the patrol to the Dark Forest to search for our missing StarClan cats," Mousestar informed her regally. "And one of your members, Lionblaze was captured."

Dawnstrike's stomach clenched at the memories that overpowered her mind. The other cats in her patrol almost dragging her through the forest, and then watching the powerful tom being ripped from the group, with a swarm of shadowy pelts pinning him down. The sound of ripping flesh and anguished yowls had been too much to bear, but the dreams the RiverClan cat was having were so much worse.

"I remember," she rasped. "A-am I being punished for not bringing back every cat to camp safely?"

The two leaders estranged surprised glances.

"Punish you?" Mousestar asked gently. "Why would we do that?"

"Because I failed!" Dawnstrike burst out. Her claws sheathed and unsheathed on the ground uncontrollably. "My mission was to find proof the Dark Forest cats were taking StarClan cats, but above all I needed to bring everyone home. Safely." She looked up. "Berryfur was horribly injured, and Lionblaze was taken. And Wavestar..." she looked at the massive tom. "Well, both of us were injured!"

"You are being ridiculous, Dawnstrike!" The even-temped Mousestar slammed her paw on the ground. Her tail lashed angrily, thrashing like an alder. "You did not fail, and you did get proof that the Dark Forest was taking cats."

"How do you know? Lionblaze could be dead," Dawnstrike wailed. She had never like the golden-furred tom, but he was kind and wise, all the same. A good Clanmate.

Both Wavestar and Mousestar looked at each other.

"Should we tell her, or show her?" Wavestar rumbled.

Mousestar stood and beckoned with her tail. "Come. We need to show you what you should have been shown long ago."

Dawnstrike's pelt began to prickle. All of her earlier anger and frustration disappeared. She stared at the brown tabby. "The prophecy?" She hardly dared to believe it.

"That, and more."

"You must know that our Moonpool here in StarClan allows us to speak to cats in their dreams. It is very useful, but the Moonpool on Clan territory can do so much more," Mousestar explained. She looked back at her companion, sitting neatly on a flat stone. "You should have been given training on how to use both, but that sort of got pushed to the side." She flicked her ears. "Come next to me."

As Dawnstrike obliged, she felt a thrum of excitement go through her. No longer in StarClan, she could almost feel the stones beneath her whispering. Saying; welcome home.

Mousestar saw the expression on her face. "You can hear them calling to you, can't you?"

The orange and white she-cat settled down on the rock beside Mousestar. "How did you know?"

"It is a lesson for another day." The tabby turned her attention to the Moonpool. "This pool is used for almost any reason you can think of. When the medicine cats come, they lick up the water from the pool. Usually they are transported to StarClan, but once in a while we feel it necessary to have them never leave the hollow."

"Because of fear?" Dawnstrike wondered aloud.

"Yes. One of the most important lessons you must learn about the Clans, Dawnstrike, is that their faith in StarClan is the most powerful set of claws among them. Without us, their leaders would have only one life, and the medicine cats would not be able to heal as quickly or efficiently. And without the warrior code, of course, the Clans would dissolve into nothing but scattered bands of rogues." She paused. "StarClan and the warrior code are to different ways to guide the Clans. StarClan observes and gives hints of where to go, as we can see faint glimpses of the future through this pool. But the warrior code... that is the one thing that keeps order. As long as the Clans follow it with all their hearts, they will survive."

Dawnstrike studied the she-cat's face. "There's a reason you're telling me this right now, isn't there, Mousestar?"

"The Dark Forest... when we defeated them the first time I believed it would be the last of our troubles."

Dawnstrike shifted her paws. "What are they doing?"

Mousestar took a deep breath. "It is no longer just the Dark Forest. Another enemy, even darker then the Clan cats still persists. They do not have a name, we just call it The Forest of the Lost."

"Emberstar mentioned that to me, but never fully explained it. He said that Ivy was from there."

"In the Dawn of the Clans," Mousestar murmured," There were many cats who did not want them to settle. They had their own lives, and the battles and lack of prey that occurred from the first Clan cats disrupted those lives. There were so many enemies back then, and I of all cats should know that evil never dies." The cat looked deep within the Moonpool, almost as if she could see her memories darting like minnows within the depths.

"Are you telling me that the Forest of the Lost are cats from the Dawn of the Clans?" Dawnstrike exclaimed. "That's not possible! And how do they even get over to Clan territory?"

"It is possible," Mousestar answered wearily. "Every cat dies at some point, and if we get another life— why not every other cat? As for how they travel to Clan territory, I believe the answer lies with the cats who were taken."

As she spoke, the Moonpool rippled for the first time, and on the still water the images of cats were displayed.

"Lionblaze," Dawnstrike murmured, seeing the tom. He was curled up in a tight ball, visible scratches and tears all over his body. She tore her eyes away from him and looked at the others. "There are so many!"

"Eagleleap," Mousestar nodded to a wiry yellow and brown tom. "Birchcloud, Ashfur, and Flowerpaw. And..." her voice shook when her tail hovered above the image of a thick-furred, midnight back tom. "Darkstorm."

"Is he your mate?" Dawnstrike wondered.

Mousestar let out a purr of amusement. "No, he is my littermate. Our mother and sister died when we were born, and about a moon after our father died from a collapse in the tunnels."

"Tunnels? Why would he be in tunnels?"

"In our old territory, WindClan roamed the moors everything. Aboveground... and underground." She shook her pelt. "I was a tunneler, in fact. One of the only ones to become a leader." She looked down at her brother again, before touching the water with the tip of her tail. The images vanished.

"Mousestar, you said that the Moonpool can do many things. What can it do, other than show you parts of the present?"

"We can see our memories here, in the water," the she-cat mewed fondly. "For cats who had had long lives, like me, it is easier to see decisions than cats who... did not live for such a long time."

Like me, Dawnstrike thought.

"StarClan cats cannot see the future," she continued," but we can get a view of events." She looked at Dawnstrike. "Touch your nose to the pool, and visions will come. Maybe more then usual, since you are part of a prophecy."

"I thought you licked some water up," the other cat said hesitantly.

"Medicine cats need StarClan's power to travel to our hunting grounds. But you already have that power, Dawnstrike. Use it.

Dawnstrike regarded the water for a moment, then leaned down and touched her nose to the pool. Then it all went dark.

But only for a moment. Horrible, gut-wrenching yowls filled her head, along with the visions of the Moonpool, the body of a cat drowned inside of it. She saw blood seeping into the water, turning the rocks a glistening scarlet. Dawnstrike tried to yowl for help, or close her eyes, but the vision made her watch, still and unmoving.

Then, like an eagle her vision soared over the lake. But in the lake, the blood and patches fur of every cat from every Clan floated in the water. With a sickening glance, Dawnstrike say a clump of bloody silver fur, from Silverpool.

No, no, no! She tried to run away, but her body wouldn't move. Then, her vision went dark once more.

Dawnstrike found herself on the island, with the other Clans. Looking up, she searched for the familiar stars. But there were none. Only the moon shone. The rest of the sky was a glittering pit of emptiness.

The darkness, she thought, it's wiped out all of StarClan! But then she saw a tiny speck of light, glittering bravely were nothing else shone. Every cat but one.

Growls filled her head once more, and she watched as dark pelts, some no more than the faintest shadow leap onto the unsuspecting Clan cats. They tore without mercy, and once every cat was dead, they turned to Dawnstrike, with menace in their gaze.

"The Clans are no more!" yowled a pale ginger tabby beside her. His fur was ragged and almost falling out. He had one yellow eye, which stared at Dawnstrike with a crazed look. "Look carefully, and see what will befall your precious Clans!" He hissed, and stalked towards her. Rows of other cats followed him, spitting insults and unsheathing their claws.

How can we defeat this darkness? Dawnstrike pleaded. She looked at the one remaining star. Save the Clans, you must!

There was no answer, and with a heart-wrenching thought, Dawnstrike realized that she was the last star. She was the last star that had to save the Clans.

Once more the vision jolted into blackness, and it stayed there for a very long time. She felt someone licking her head gently, almost as if she was a kit in the nursery, sleeping peacefully with Silverpool and Softwing.

"Oh, Dawnstrike," the voice whispered. "How has no one from StarClan told you your destiny yet?"

The prophecy? Dawnstrike waited. Please!

"Your destiny, of course, is to fail at saving the Clans." The voice turned to a growl. "You cannot save those wimpy cats, Dawnstrike. It is a battle that you have not won, will not win, and will never win. Give up, while you still have the stars in your paws."