It was almost noon, and Iris was nowhere to be seen. Bloom was starting to worry about her foster mother. She knew that Iris sneaked out once a week, but she always returned at night or the next morning. Iris had never taken that long to return home.

The housefolks were starting to worry about Iris too. They where outside the house calling for her. This wasn't how Bloom wanted to start the day. The black cat stayed with the housefolk's daughter, Alexia, the whole day, hoping that Iris'd return home soon. Bloom didn't really believe in StarClan, but sometimes, she prayed to StarClan.

It was already dark, and Iris still hadn't returned home. It started raining in the beginning of the afternoon, and her housefolks had returned home. Bloom was tired and sad, and passed through her mind the thought that she might not see Iris again. The small cat shook her head and pushed this though away. Bloom closed her eyes and curled herself on her nest, then tried to get some sleep.

The small black she-cat opened her eyes, and she saw a silvery gray tabby cat in front of her. Bloom got up and looked around. She was in the middle of the forest. Then she looked more carefully at the cat in front of her, and noticed that it was a she-cat and had stars on her fur.

"Welcome to StarClan, Bloom." She greeted the small she-cat "My name is Littlebird, I'm your mother's sister and your aunt."

"Wait. If I'm in StarClan, does that mean that I'm dead?" Bloom asked confused to Littlebird. The silvery she-cat purred and shook her head. Right after a black kit approached the two she-cats.

He sat beside Littlebird and meowed "I'm Deer, your mother's brother and your uncle."

"My uncle is a kit?" meowed incredulous "That's interesting and funny." Then a blue gray cat padded slowly to the three gathered cats. As the cat approached, Bloom recognized the cat that took care of her for all those moons.

"Iris!" she shouted and ran to meet the blue she-cat. They touched noses and then Bloom saw the stars on Iris fur "Are you dead?" Iris closed her eyes, and her expression sorrowed, then she nodded.

"Bloom," she started, and a tear fell from her eye "I was hit by one of the workfolks giant cars, and here, in StarClan, my name is no longer Iris, it's Rainswirl."

Bloom was shocked. The only cat that really cared about her was now dead "How did this happen?" The small she-cat asked. Rainswirl sat in front of Bloom, and the other two cats sat by her side.

"You know that every week I sneaked out of the house, and every time I disappeared, I went to the forest to meet Littlebird." Rainswirl meowed, pointing to Littlebird with her tail.

Bloom listened carefully to Rainswirl, and was surprised to see that Rainswirl, secretly, always wanted to return to the forest. After she finished, Bloom opened her mouth to ask a question, but was cut off by the black tom kit "But we're not here for this. We are here to warn you about something bigger than you."

"Light and dark will battle. Light is the heart. Dark is the soul." Littlebird started.

"Which one is stronger? It's up to you to decide." Deer continued.

"And remember, not even smoke can blind you." Rainswirl finished.

Bloom stared at them confused and started asking questions "Light and dark will battle? What does it mean? What do you mean?" The three cats then started to fade, and Bloom begged them to stay and explain it to her.

But the only thing Bloom got was Rainswirl whispering "Take care, my kit." And then they all faded away, leaving Bloom alone in the forest. The forest started to fade, and when Bloom looked at her paws, she was herself fading away and...

Bloom opened her eyes in shock. Iris, no Rainswirl was dead. "That was just a dream, wasn't it?" she asked herself. The small she-cat was too weak to get up after the dream, but managed to get up and walk to the kitchen.

There, Bloom padded to the bowl of food in the corner, but it was empty. And there was only a little bit of water on the other bowl. Her belly rumbled, and she went after the housefolks.

As Bloom got close to the front door of the house, she heard her housefolks calling for Iris. Then, the black she-cat headed to Alexia's room, and found her crying. Bloom jumped onto the bed and lay down in front of her. Alexia's crying decreased, and said between hiccups "Oh, Bloom."

Bloom stayed with her the whole morning. Then Bloom's belly rumbled again, louder now. She meowed to call the Alexia's attention, then the black she-cat walked to the kitchen, Alexia following her. When they got to the kitchen, Bloom stared at the empty bowl, and then at Alexia.

She filled Bloom's bowl with food, and she ate almost it all. Alexa sat by Bloom's side as she ate and pet her head. The black cat purred and licked her hand. Bloom heard the front door opening and then closing. Alexia got Bloom in her arms and took her to the front door.

Bloom saw her housefolks in front of the door. One of them had a black thing in its arms. The thing seemed to have the same size as Iris or Rainswirl or whatever, and the black she-cat worried it was her body. The workfolks could have easily brought Iris home, due to the collar that they both had. Iris' collar was purple, while Bloom's was blue.

The black she-cat saw the housefolk with the black thing heading to the backyard, and called for Alexia. She was still in the child's arms, and she licked her hand. Alexia laughed a little, but stopped as they got to the backyard. Bloom then saw the other housefolk get to the backyard with a long stick that had a metal curved thing in one of it's sides.

Alexia let go of Bloom, but the small she-cat wanted to discover what was in that black thing. So she stayed with them. The housefolk with the long stick in its hand put it on the ground and got Bloom in its arms. It took the small she-cat to the kitchen, and then closed the backyard's door.

Bloom started meowing, but the housefolks ignored her. She stood there, in front of the glass door, trying to understand what was going on outside. Bloom saw a housefolk digging a hole in the ground with the long stick. Only then, the black she-cat realized that Alexia was crying a lot. Then, the black thing was placed inside the hole, and covered with earth again.

She had never seen anything like that before, even after living 18 moons with that family.

The housefolks turned around, and Bloom saw that they where crying too. They walked slowly to the glass door, and only after the child was inside too, they let Bloom go out. There was still some snow covering the grass, but Bloom ignored it and padded to the place where the housefolks had dug a hole.

It had a putrid smell, but Bloom could still recognize Iris scent in the middle of that putrid smell. Iris was really dead, and that dream wasn't just a dream. It was really a warning from StarClan, about a battle between light and dark. She tried to remember the words the three StarClan cats had said.

Light and dark will battle. Light is the heart. Dark is the soul. Which one is stronger? It's up to you to decide. And remember, not even smoke can blind you. The black she-cat thought. But what does it mean? Bloom made a little snow nest and laid on it. It was cold and warm at same time.

The black she-cat tried to understand the StarClan cats warning, though her mind was too lazy. She whispered the warning, but it still didn't make any sense. The weather cooled, and Bloom got up and shook the snow out of her fur. Then she entered the house and headed straight to Alexia's room.

Bloom entered the room and saw Alexia sat in her bed crying, her parents with her. The black she-cat padded slowly to her housefolks, but as soon as Alexia saw her, Alexia got the first thing she saw and threw at Bloom. The small cat, jumped from fear, and dodged the flying thing. She then fled through the door opening.

Why is she mad at me? Bloom asked herself when she reached the living room, and thought that it was a safe place. She stood there, until she heard a scream, and when Bloom turned to the hall and saw Alexia throwing another thing at her, screaming "GET OUT OF HERE! GET OUT OF MY LIFE."

Bloom dodged the thing again and ran to the backyard. As the black she-cat passed through the door, Alexia closed it behind her. Bloom's heart beats were extremely fast, and she was heaving. The cold night wind made Bloom shiver. She stared at the glass door, waiting for someone to open it, so she could enter.

Time passed, the wind cooled, and no one appeared. Bloom was starting to loose hope. The moon was up high in the starry sky, and no clouds to cover the moon light. By now, the small she-cat knew that no one would appear to open the door, so Bloom leapt on the fence, and then jumped to the other side.

She looked around, and saw a puddle of water near her. Bloom walked to it and leaned to see her reflection. Her blue eyes were still wide with fear, she was shivering, and her black fur was covered in snow. Bloom tried to take the collar off, but it was too tight around her neck. Bloom had nowhere to go.

Maybe, if I get into the forest and find one of the Clans, I can live with them! She thought, and uncertain entered the forest. Bloom could smell new scents, and some that she already knew, like dog and mouse. She slipped through the trees and tripped on a tree root.

When she got up, her right leg hurt, and Bloom saw a bleeding slash on her leg. The black she-cat tried to walk using the leg, but it hurt so much that Bloom had to start limping. Bloom reached a muddy clearing, and there, she found a huge bush. She got into it and started to clean the slash on her leg. Then, Bloom curled herself until she was asleep.

The small she-cat woke up with the sunlight seeping through the leaves. Bloom sat up, and her right leg still hurt a little, and she was able to use it though. The black she-cat cleaned herself and came out of the bush. Now that it was day, Bloom could see the workfolks giant cars, the ones that had killed Iris.

Besides the fact that she was surrounded by those cars, Bloom had the feeling that someone was watching her, and this made her shiver. She ignored this felling and started walking through the muddy clearing.

After she had crossed the muddy clearing, the black she-cat reached a big road, with cars roaring as they passed running in front of her. Bloom decided to cross the road, so maybe she could find ShadowClan. It wasn't the best option, but it was a good idea.

She waited until she thought no cars were coming. Then Bloom started to run across the road. The black she-cat put all her weight on her injured leg while running, and she fell in the middle of the road because of that. Bloom tried to get up, but her leg had started bleeding again, and the pain was unbearable.

When Bloom heard a car coming, she tried hopelessly to reach the other side. The car was only getting closer and closer, and as much as Bloom tried to get up and run, the pain only increased, and the black she-cat saw her end coming. Then Bloom gave up and stood there, waiting for the car to hit her, and then she would see Iris again. Bloom closed her eyes and...