"Even Dark Forest cats have a heart somewhere, Dawnstrike. If you cannot defeat them in battle, turning them to our side is the next option."

"Is that even possible? I thought that once you were dead, the actions made in life reflected in where you ended up. Is that wrong, Mousestar?"

"StarClan and the Dark Forest are only chances. They are a chance to live in a peaceful way, a better way, than in life. You can make a heart of evil good, for no cat's heart is completely bad inside."

I can make her change! Hope swelled Dawnstrike's heart. Nobody has to die— if we can do this!

"Say your prayers, Clan cats," hissed Frosttuft. "I'm going to shred you, Silverpool, until there's nothing left for StarClan. And Dawnstrike, I'm going to make sure that giving up your dying echo is as painful as possible."

Help me to not tear out her throat! "What happened to you that made you want to kill the one hope that the Clans have?" snarled Dawnstrike, remembering the words from the prophecy. "Without the Clans, then we'd all be kittypets or rogues!"

"Without the warrior code, we have no future," Silverpool added. As she circled the Dark Forest warrior, her silver pelt shone like the Silverpelt itself.

"The warrior code destroyed my future." When the two others looked blank she snarled again. "I was born half RiverClan, half ThunderClan. But when my Clanmates found out, they evicted my littermates and my mother. I drowned! Because no one would accept me, even though it was my flea-brained mothers fault!"

"So you blamed the warrior code?" Silverpool's tail lashed, making streaks in the moist dirt.

Frosttuft paused, and her ears slowly began to flatten. "You don't understand." She looked for Dawnstrike to Silverpool, shooting deathly glances. "Both of you— you were always loved. You always had a place."

Not taking her eyes off of the white she-cat, Silverpool slowly moved to her sister. "What are you doing? Why aren't we attacking her?"

"You can make a heart of evil good, for no cat's heart is completely bad inside," Dawnstrike quoted. "That's what Mousestar told me, Silverpool. She must've seen in the Moonpool that we made Frosttuft become a StarClan cat! This is our path to follow."

"I think you StarClan cats are madder than foxes in a fit," the silver cat observed evenly. She shot a glance at the Dark Forest cat, who was looking off into the sky with a look of terror. "But it seems to be working, so go ahead. If she tries to fight, though," she made a vicious clawing motion, "I'll stop her."

Dawnstrike nodded and with a renewed sense of courage stepped closer to Frosttuft.

"You know," she said hesitantly, "you don't have to spend the rest of your days as a Dark Forest cat."

The white she-cat glared at her. "I made my choice as a kit, and I can't change it now. StarClan," she said with a sneer, "would never accept me."

"StarClan accepted my sister," Silverpool mewed with disbelief, "and that really shows us that the selection process isn't as exclusive as they want us to think."

There was a slight twitch of whiskers from Frosttuft. Then she looked to Dawnstrike with trembling blue eyes. "I-I want to," she whispered, "but I can't leave the Dark Forest now. They'll kill me. And if they kill me, I can't come back."

"They won't find you in StarClan," Dawnstrike assured her. "They can't cross the border. And even if they do, somehow, every warrior, apprentice, and leader will fight."

Frosttuft took a deep breath. "I'll come with you, Dawnstrike. I will change."

She stepped forward and touched noses with the orange and white she-cat, almost as if she was a new apprentice. Straightening up, Dawnstrike's tail stretched high above her in happiness.

"Silverpool," she said to her sister, "you must stay here. I need to go back to StarClan now." She stood beside Frosttuft until their pelts blurred together. Barely able to see her sister, she yowled," may StarClan light your path!"

And then she was whirling through a path of light, the former Dark Forest warrior at her side.