Brookshadow stalked through the forest on silent paws. She opened her mouth slightly and let the prey-scent bathe her tongue, and she spotted her quarry. A thrush was scuttling among the roots of a tree, oblivious to the cat hunting it. Brookshadow pulled herself forwards and bunched her muscles, aiming for the thrush. Then she leaped, her paws coming down perfectly on the bird and killing it instantly. Brookshadow took the bird in her mouth, feeling its warmth. She turned and padded back to her camp to find that there was no one there. She set the thrush down and called out into the quiet, a bit confused.

"Bramblestar? Squirrelflight? Anyone?"

A twig snapped and mewls sounded from inside the Nursery. Brookshadow's ears twitched and she approached the den, pushing herself inside to see three little kits, one an orangish color, one a tabby like her, and one an orange and black striped kitten. She looked at them for not two seconds before she felt affection for them rushing over her like a river over stones and swell in her heart.

There was a rustling behind her. Brookshadow turned her head slightly and saw an orange pelt come to stand beside her. His pelt touched hers, but instead of cowering away, she felt comforted.

"They're perfect, Brookshadow." The tom purred.

Brookshadow herself nodded and turned to look at him- Piketooth. Her heart didn't clench with fear. She pressed against him and purred as well, nodding. "And they're all ours."

Brookshadow gasped, waking quickly. Her head snapped up and she looked around the den, her eyesight a little blurry. As her vision cleared, she saw that she was still in the Medicine Den, safe. With no Piketooth. Leafpool was sorting herbs, and Jayfeather was nowhere to be seen.

Leafpool looked up. "You okay?"

Brookshadow nodded, taking a few breaths. "Yeah. Just a, uh, a dream." I hope.

Leafpool blinked and looked back down at her herbs. "I told Dewfur that you wanted to hunt with him today. He's outside, waiting for you."

Brookshadow stood and shook out her pelt. "Thank you."

Leafpool gave a quick nod. "Mhmm."

Brookshadow stepped outside the ivy curtain, taking a breath as she saw all the cats roaming around. She glanced towards the fresh-kill pile and saw Dewfur sitting there, picking at a half-eaten mouse. She trotted over and let out a purr. "Hey, fluffball."

Dewfur looked up at her and smiled. "Look who's out and about. You ready to go hunting?"

"Well, maybe not ready to go hunting, but I'll go with you and you can do the hunting."

Dewfur chuckled and stood. "Fine by me. Let's go."

Brookshadow gave a small smile as she followed Dewfur out into the forest. He stopped suddenly and dropped into a crouch. Although Brookshadow wasn't in the mood for hunting, she dropped into a crouch and stayed still so as not to scare off Dewfur's prey. He stalked forward a few fox-lengths, then leaped in an explosive bound. There was a shrill squeal that quickly cut off, and Dewfur came back with a rabbit in his jaws. Brookshadow smiled. Even if she couldn't help much, she knew this would be a successful hunting trip.

Brookshadow padded into camp with Dewfur, carrying a few mice in her jaws, while Dewfur carried his rabbit. Brookshadow set the prey down on the Fresh-kill pile and lay down outside the Medicine Den to catch the last few rays of sunshine on her pelt before night came. For the first time in what felt like moons, she wasn't self consious of the cats that were roaming around camp. Dewfur lay down next to her, his pelt brushing with hers. Brookshadow shifted so that she was closer to him and laid her head down on her paws, drifting off into a doze.

Brookshadow found herself in a forest. It was beautiful, the most healthy forest she'd ever seen. There was no one there with her, and she didn't recognize the area. She blinked, and suddenly there were three cats standing in front of her. One was a tom with a flame-orange pelt, one a she-cat with a blueish coat, and the last was a kit, a little tabby she-kit. Brookshadow blinked at her. She'd seen her before somewhere. She was sure of it...

The flame-orange tom stepped forward. "Do you know who I am?"

Brookshadow looked at him and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, no. You look like someone I've seen before, or heard of, but... No, I don't think so..."

The tom nodded his head. "Fair enough. I am Firestar, leader of ThunderClan before Bramblestar."

Brookshadow's eyes widened. The Firestar! "I'm so sorry!" She mewed, dipping her head. "I should have recognized you."

"That's quite alright, Brookshadow. Everyone makes mistakes." His eyes glinted with meaning as he mewed this.

The blueish she-cat coughed slightly. "If you don't recognize Firestar, you definitely don't know me. I am Bluestar, leader of ThunderClan before Firestar."

Brookshadow watched her and breathed a silent, "Wow..." She paused for a moment, then gasped. "Wait, then this is StarClan!"

Firestar nodded, his eyes glinting in amusement.

"Am I...?" Brookshadow started to ask hesitantly.

Bluestar shook her head quickly. "StarClan, no! You're dreaming right now, Brookshadow."

Brookshadow took a breath and nodded. "Why am I here?"

Firestar cleared his throat. "We need to tell you something," He mewed. "Something that you don't want to happen."

"Brookshadow."

Brookshadow turned her head, her ears twitching in confusion. Who was calling her?

Bluestar mewed rapidly, "You must pay attention! We don't have much longer."

Brookshadow returned her gaze to the StarClan cats.

Firestar took a breath. "Brookshadow, you're-"

"Brookshadow."

Brookshadow opened her eyes and looked around blearily. Dewfur was nudging her awake. "It's time for you to get some rest."

Brookshadow felt a flash of annoyance. "You could have just left me there." She mewed, standing and stretching.

"I didn't think you'd want to sleep in the rain."

Brookshadow looked up and saw that it was starting to drizzle. She pulled back her ears and looked at Dewfur. "Oh. Thank you."

Dewfur chuckled and gently nuzzled her. "Of course. Now get into bed, sleepyhead."

Brookshadow purred in amusement and pushed her way into the Medicine Den, curling up with her tail over her nose. What did they want to tell me?