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Lynxpaw could feel the anxiety of her Clanmates rise around her as she trekked into camp with Elkcall at her side. His abnormal scent drifted over them like a cold, Leafbare breeze and stimulated many to either observe cautiously from a distance or pull back their lips and prepare for the worst. Mottledrose managed to dip her head to a few and dismiss their hostile behavior, but Lynxpaw didn't blame any of them for reacting the way they were.

Bringing a strange cat into camp was rash on Lynxpaw's part, but the moment she locked eyes with the stranger she knew the Star Realm had finally guided her down the right path. The tom didn't hesitate to accept Lynxpaw's suggestions and listen to her stories, instead he seemed to share an understanding of her frantic emotions and urge to discover answers. There was many strange details about the tom, such as his clan name and his immediate acceptance to following them, but Lynxpaw had a burning desire that fueled her forward into trusting him.

The three of them halted as soon as Leafdance stepped in front of them, his eyes squinted as he observed the stranger. Nightfrost stood at the tom's side, his muzzle twitching as he inhaled the pungent scent from Elkcall. "Who is this, Lynxpaw," Leafdance demanded, his voice soaked in a light tone of hostility.

"His name is Elkcall," Lynxpaw started, interrupted by shocked murmurs and gasps. She could only assume they were astounded by the loner baring a Clan name, but regardless she continued to address Leafdance. "I'd rather speak with you and the other medicine cats alone, but I promise Elkcall is no threat to any cat here."

Leafdance paused, the tom taking in Lynxpaw's suggestions before he spoke again. "If you insist, Lynxpaw." The tom then scanned his gaze over the cats gathered around before he beckoned a cat forward. "Mousestar will also be joining us. We will speak where the medicine cats rest and tend to their duties."

Cats murmured along in soft discussions as Lynxpaw nodded in response to Leafdance. She glanced over her shoulder to cast Mottledrose a thankful smile before the calico departed from her side. Turning back ahead, she gestured to Elkcall with her tail as Leafdance strolled away with Nightfrost, Mousestar, Robinwing, and Fernpaw joining him. I hope every other cat does not feel like I'm keeping secrets from them, Lynxpaw pleaded, gazing to her side to catch a few, wary eyes following her. I don't know what they'll think about my visions. Maybe they will blame me for Heroncall and Marshleap's deaths.

They all entered the small sections of the abandoned structure dedicated to the medicine cats. It was a crowded space, especially since cats unfamiliar to there such as Mousestar and Leafdance were frantically attempting not to trample over the herb stock. Eventually, every cat was able to settle down comfortably, but Lynxpaw could only sigh as she acknowledged they all sat closer to one another, distancing themselves from Elkcall. The spotted molly felt a pang of sympathy for Elkcall and hesitantly sat down beside him, the tom casting her a sideways glance.

The Star Realm lead me to him. He has to be able to do more good for us than them. I trust him, and I'll show it, Lynxpaw thought to herself, her heartbeat blaring violently in her eardrums as anxiety pulsed through her.

"I trust you, Lynxpaw, we all do, but you cannot expect us to not be hesitant when you bring a strange cat even baring a Clan name into our shelter," Leafdance started, Mousestar nodding beside him in agreement. "I believe you have a valid reasoning for bringing him here though... right?"

Lynxpaw nodded swiftly in response to Leafdance, adrenaline pumping through her veins. It's time to prove yourself. Do something right for the sake of every cat around you. "I had a vision before we departed from HeathClan. It was the one I informed Nightfrost of, and he believed it mean't I had to travel to the Moon Realm," Lynxpaw began, flashing a quick glance towards her mentor. "We were wrong though. While I was out with Fernpaw and Mottledrose, I spotted Elkcall's shadow and caught his scent. It all reminded me of my vision. I believe the Star Realm wanted me to follow him, so I did, and I pleaded for him to come back with us. I-"

"And you came? With no hesitation?" Mousestar interrupted, gazing suspiciously towards Elkcall.

Lynxpaw watched as Elkcall inhaled, the tom's eyes round as every cat stared at him eagerly awaiting an answer. "Of course there was hesitation... But I believe I understand more than any of you why the Star Realm insists you seek my presence."

The medicine cat apprentice's jaw gaped at the tom's words. She had her suspicions that came with his Clan name, but what all did the tom know? Did Elkcall understand what was driving their Clanmates to madness? Was he perhaps a Star Realmer himself sent to guide them? No, he seems alive, Lynxpaw told herself, blinking as she gazed into his cloudy eyes. But at the same time, he seems just as dead as our traitorous Clanmates did.

"You insist you, a loner we found outside Clan territory, has a deeper understanding to our problems than us? Even Lynxpaw?" Nightfrost scoffed, judgement heavy in his tone. "Lynxpaw has been attempting to seek information from the Star Realm for moons. None of us even know of you yet you bare a Clan name!"

"That's because I've been dead for many moons."

Every cat froze like a still, shallow pond in the midst of Leafbare.

Shock rippled across their spines and drove their fur to stand up straight. Their eyes were wide as they exchanged perplexed, bewildered looks. Lynxpaw's teeth scored her inner lip and her muzzle scrunched up in terror. Her ears flattened and she cocked her head to stare right towards Elkcall. His foggy eyes were now encased behind his eyelids, as he slowly sighed and began to speak again.

"The Star Realm wants me to assist you all because I am a consequence of their mishaps. I am apart of this entire mess that has ripped your Clans apart," Elkcall started, bowing his head to avoid all of their horrified gazes. "I wouldn't necessarily say I'm the cause of it all. After all, why would the Star Realm even risk allowing homeless spirits like mine to roam the surface. It was a bee-brained decision to begin with."

"Homeless spirits? But doesn't every cat go to the Star Realm or the Dark Realm?" Robinwing questioned.

Elkcall lowly chuckled at his words, Robinwing's ears falling at his response. "Our ancestors lied to us. If you did something within your lifetime that they could not decipher as right nor wrong, you would be left as what I call a Betweener. Your spirit would be left to mindlessly roam the surfaces until you faded away and... well, you would cease to exist entirely."

Mousestar gasped, which stimulated every cat to glance over towards her. Her eyes were wide, and Lynxpaw could tell she had came to a shocking revelation. "You're Elkcall! I knew I had your name lodged in my memories somewhere. My mother's father was Galeflower's brother... and Galeflower was your mate."

Lynxpaw's paws kneaded angrily at the rough surface below her at the mention of Galeflower. She remembered how the she-cat wove and dodged around explaining the truth to her. Lynxpaw lowered her head and flexed her shoulders, looking to Elkcall, who now lifted his head with an agonized expression plastered over his face. Lynxpaw's lips fell into an empathetic frown, remembering the similar pang of loss she had felt within the last moons.

"I was a loyal warrior of RidgeClan, burdened with the difficult feelings towards a gorgeous, patient molly of HeathClan. She was the only she-cat I wanted, for she made me feel as if all the stars above had lined my fur and crowned me their leader." Elkcall shook his head as he told the story, pain visible in his foggy eyes. "Who knew my love for her would cause such pain and turmoil though. A tom who was so madly in love with my mate and lied to, told he was the father to our kits, uncovered the truth. Jealousy drove him to madness, and he murdered my love and my little furballs in cold blood... My kits that I was never able to meet."

Melancholy made the air around them all heavy, somber hints to their expressions as the pained tom continued. "I waited at our normal time to meet one another at the border for a moon. I desperately waited to see my kits and my love, but neither ever showed. Instead after two nights in which I gave up and headed back home, I was greeted a quarter moon later by Larkcall, the brother of Galeflower you spoke of." A hiss of air came from between his clenched teeth before he added on to his tale. "He told me all that happened. He told me how his Clan was unsure of who did it, yet he had a clear lead on who did. Larkcall provided with me all of his information on how Nettlewing, the tom I spoke of, was her murder."

"He informed me of how he was going to bring forth his claims to the Clan and get him exiled, but I was deafened as thoughts of pure rage and vengeance twisted in my mind. We ended our meeting, but I didn't bother sleeping that night. I spent the next gathering pinpointing exactly who Nettlewing was. He never went back to the comfort of his nest that night." Elkcall's tail swayed across the earth behind him slowly, the fur along his rippling shoulders rising. "In the name of my love and my kits, I cut him off as every cat was leaving for the Gathering. I murdered him with little to no hesitation, then followed quickly in the trails of my Clan as I washed his blood from my fur, with not a speck of regret following it."

Lynxpaw's breathing slowed as she listened intently to Elkcall's words. Pain clung to his hoarsely spoken words, and empathy took a fatal blow at Lynxpaw's heart. "Eventually, every cat was able to put together the pieces of every murder. Most of my Clanmates held empathy for me and understood my actions, but regardless I was exiled in the midst of a harsh Leafbare. I went on without a shelter, with no sight of prey or a place to call home. I didn't fight my fate though, instead I let death encase me like vines over an elderly, oak tree, for I knew once I was dead I could finally see my love and my kits. Stars, was I wrong."

A cold silence existed between them before Elkcall spoke in a lower, solemn voice. "I was denied access to the Star Realm. I was told my actions could not be properly deciphered as right or wrong. My spirit was left to instead roam the surface. It was so lonely, and all I wanted was to either be within the Star Realm with my love or simply not exist anymore. I eventually met a loner named Vince though. He kept me company as I slowly approached my Calling Time. After moons of our friendship though, I noticed how ill my friend was. He was dying. He... He informed me of tales he heard of spirits conquering living forms and insisted I try it with him."

Realization flooded over Lynxpaw like a cold, suffocating wave of water. She drowned and bathed in it, horror causing her limbs to tremble and her eyes to grow wide. She remembered the menacing, foggy gazes of Cottonstar's and the others in comparison to Elkcall's, and she felt her blood roar in her ears. All of her thoughts and questions blanked, and now only a few memories took the front, now twisted and moved around for her to face the actual truth.

Marshleap wasn't necessarily murdered by a Clanmate.

Cottonstar did not murder Heroncall.

Smokebite did not die due to an unknown health problem.

None of their Clanmates were traitors.

"I now live in my friend, Vince's, body, just as other Betweeners live in your Clanmates'."

Lynxpaw's heart dropped to her paws. Cold shivers ran over her body and caused her fur to bristle. She remembered how drastically Cottonstar's morals and personality changed, shocking her and Nightfrost to the core, but now it all made sense. Her teeth clicked and grew cold as she inhaled a deep breath of air, her eyes held wide by pure terror. She found most of her questions answered, but now new ones twisted into her brain like vines into a rotting tree.

A numbing, eerie silence was ushered over them for a while, until Robinwing finally spoke up. "What... What happens to the cats who get... possessed?" The HeathClan tom asked, fear threaded into his voice.

"It becomes a collective conscious. They still exist as apart of it and can process thoughts, but have no control over the body or decisions. Vince and I coexist peacefully, but I can only imagine the other do not. Eventually, I predict, their existence would merely be drowned out and they'd stop existing," Elkcall answered.

Lynxpaw's ears pinned against the back of her head at his words. She looked around at her clanmates, gulping as she noticed how stun they all were. All of their jaws were gaped and forms bristled and tense. There was one cat though who wore a vengeful shadow over her visage. Mousestar appeared more enraged now than she did shocked, and the molly stood to her paws in an instant. Every cat looked to her as a low growl rumbled in her throat.

"You're telling me a bunch of feeble-minded spirits have taken my Clanmates from me? Used my own kin and friends to spill one anothers' blood? Why? What is the point of wreaking all this havoc here?"

"The Star Realm has given the Betweeners a horrible fate. They get to roam the surface, lonely and unable to enjoy their activities as a living Clan member as they slowly approach a point to where they completely disappear," Elkcall explained. The tom sighed and shook his head, clearly holding a feeling of sympathy for the HeathClan leader. "I can only guess that they want a proper living. They would do anything, even spill you and your Clanmates blood, in order to live again instead of facing a horrible fate."

Lynxpaw grew bitter at the twinge of empathy for Betweeners that haunted her. She could not imagine being burdened with such a horrific fate instead of living eternally with kin and friends in the Star Realm, but it did not excuse the menacing actions of the Betweeners. She twitched and shook away the feeling, remembering the events that tore the two Clans apart. She blinked when her thoughts were interrupted by a cold snarl.

"My Clan was ripped apart by a bunch of miserable furballs, and so was RidgeClan! We don't deserve to be treated like rotten prey because of our ancestors actions!" Mousestar input, every cat nodding slowly in agreement with her. "I have to take my Clan back. I have to take my kin back."

Every cat watched as Mousestar stepped into the center of their circle, her gaze scanning over them all. "I say we lead an attack on HeathClan now," She demanded. "They have less suitable attackers in comparison to RidgeClan. We'll stand more of a chance."

"You want us to attack our own friends? Our own Clan?" Fernpaw asked in a low, concerned mumble.

"Who knows if our friends are even in there anymore," Mousestar answered in a low, chilling tone that shook Lynxpaw. "I guarantee that if we attack now, we can try to gain the camp back as well as take a few Betweeners hostage. We'll try and get our friends back. We-"

"Mousestar, you cannot expect your own Clanmates to fight one another," Leafdance interrupted. "Plus, we can't kill or injure the Betweeners. We would just be injuring your own Clanmates you want back. Wouldn't the Betweeners want that?"

Lynxpaw glanced to the side to spot Elkcall narrow his eyes at Leafdance's words. She could tell the tom wanted to make an input, but was exhausted by all of the explaining he had already done. Taking in a quick breath, Lynxpaw rummaged through her thoughts and frantically searched for reasons to either backup Mousestar of Leafdance. After a few tail flicks of silence, Lynxpaw finally breached an understanding and rushed to apply her input.

"If they wanted a functioning, living form, they wouldn't risk too much in battle. There's still a massive chance of them retreating to preserve the forms they have," Lynxpaw informed, Elkcall nodding in approval next to her. "But Mousestar, if you really wish to battle against the Betweeners, we have to inform every cat here of the whole situation. No more keeping anything from any cat, which includes my visions and our own ancestors failing to assist us. We must tell every cat everything, and then we shall see if they agree that the battle is the right choice."

Mousestar grinned towards Lynxpaw thankfully and in agreement. Robinwing and Fernpaw slowly nodded along, obviously still against fighting their own Clanmates. Nightfrost and Elkcall glanced towards Lynxpaw with pride flickering in their gazes. Lynxpaw grew tense under their eyes but looked to Leafdance, searching for his approval.

Following a defeated sigh, Leafdance dipped his head to Mousestar and replied. "I respect your decision and I agree with Lynxpaw. In the end, it is more so you and your clanmates' decision on whether we fight to win back HeathClan or not."

Mousestar dipped her head back to Leafdance. Lynxpaw watched as the mollies face shifted back in a determined, stone-edged expression. Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders rippled, the wounds upon them from her own Clanmates visible. Lynxpaw admired the she-cat and her courage, but still a stunned, hopeless flicker roamed in her chest. Her thoughts were silenced though by Mousestar's final words of their meeting.

"Tomorrow at sunhigh, I will inform every cat of our discoveries with help from Robinwing and Nightfrost. Then, we shall all collectively decide to battle for HeathClan back or not..."