Blizzardstar propelled himself down the side of the cliff face. He wasn't sure if his paws connected to any of the rock on his path downward. But his safety wasn't really important to him, more so the safety of his Clanmates who had remained back in camp.

"Be careful!" Brokensong yowled after him, still several fox lengths behind. But there wasn't any time to be careful! He had seen something horrible after his vision with StarClan. Something evil filled with death and blood. The thought made him frantic as he hurtled himself across the grassy, snow laden field at the foot of the mountain. He still had to run through the valley, but he could almost smell the musty scent of the pine forest.

But there was another smell, absolutely putrid with the unmistakable tang of sickness and infection. Blizzardstar looked down to see the large prints of a predator trailing across the snow in the same direction he was headed. These are the tracks of a wolf, he thought as he continued to streak towards IceClan territory. He could hear Brokensong and Frostfeather as they yowled after him, but he couldn't stop. Not when his Clanmates were in danger.

The trees started to blur at his sides as he burst through the tree line. Ferns and branches whipped his muzzle, his eyes watered. As he got closer, he could finally hear a faint noise. It was a pitiful wail, coming directly from camp. He could hear his companions as they crashed through the undergrowth. It was absolutely silent as they neared their home.

Blizzardstar almost recoiled as soon as he saw what lay in wait for him in his camp. Bodies lay strewn across the clearing, tattered and lifeless. He noticed Hailstorm, hunched over the body of Quietstorm. He rushed over and tried not to focus on the lifeless eyes of his Clanmates, scattered across the scant grass. "What happened?" he croaked. Immense grief washed over him like a choking wave.

Hailstorm jumped at his voice. He whirled around, ready to lash out. "Oh, its you... I was afraid it had come back to finish the rest of us.." he explained. Blizzardstar noticed in horror that the brown and black tom's pelt was covered in cuts and bite marks. It looked like he had tried to apply cobwebs to his wounds, but they were amateur at best.

Brokensong was at his side in a flash, her one green eye wide in disbelief. "I'll start tending to the wounded," she mewed before she rushed to her den.

Blizzardstar turned his gaze from Quietstorm's mangled corpse to take in the devastation around the camp. All the dens, except for the solid rock of the medicine den, were destroyed. Only a few cats clung to the shadows at the edge of the camp.

Sweetmind was doubled over a few rabbit hops away as she sobbed over the bloody body of Appleleaf. Foxstreak limped toward Brokensong's den. One of her paws was ripped off and was bleeding profusely. Blizzardstar gagged, the overwhelming stench of blood clouding his senses. "Blizzardstar?" a weak voice called from a mass of bodies near the center of camp. He took a short breath and padded over.

It was Wildflight, barely clinging to life. She laid beside the other elders, who had still been keeping vigil next to Nightvolt. Redfern and Willowleaf were already dead, their eyes open yet unseeing.

"Wildflight..." Blizzardstar groaned, "this never should have happened." No, you were supposed to live a long and happy life with the elders, he thought emotionally. She lifted her paw in an attempt to silence his frantic gasps as he tried to breathe.

"Don't be upset," she purred. He felt his heart crack in two at her calm voice, already accepting her approaching demise. Her eyes clouded with pain as she tried to sit up. As she did so, blood started to pour out of a wound on her stomach. She had to lay down once more.

"You're talking nonsense," he wailed. He pressed his nose into her fur. He inhaled deeply in the hopes to preserve some of her scent. But the clearing was so bathed in blood, it filled his nostrils and his open mouth.

"No, I knew IceClan could not live in peace forever," she whispered. Her whole body shuddered for a moment before she carried on speaking, "but this won't be the end. IceClan will live on..."

Blizzardstar buried his muzzle deeper into her shoulder fur. He became desperate as he felt her blood start to soak into his paw fur. "Don't go," he pleaded, his body rigid with tension as he waited for her response.

It never came.

Hesitantly, Pineheart approached his father from the edge of the clearing. "Blizzardstar..." he mumbled.

"Yes, Pineheart?" he asked, his voice flat, defeated. It almost hurt his entire being to sit here, his loved ones dead or almost dead around him. All of the cats he had grown up with, cats he had called friends. He should have been able to protect them.

"What should we do if the wolf comes back?" Pineheart's asked, his voice shaky. Hailstorm rested his tail on Blizzardstar's shoulder, which made him jump.

"He's right, Blizzardstar. We have no reason to believe the wolf won't come back to finish what it started," Hailstorm explained seriously. Wolves weren't a common occurrence in the forest. But now that they knew the IceClan cats were easy prey, nothing would stop them.

Frostfeather slid around the edge of the camp, careful not to stumble over any of her deceased Clanmates. She came to Pineheart's side and stared at the carnage that painted the camp clearing. They looked so afraid...

Blizzardstar stared at them for a long moment. His brain whirled with his emotions and the responsibility of leadership. What am I supposed to do, he thought wretchedly. On one paw, he couldn't leave his injured Clanmates for death. On the other paw, his healthy warriors had to leave if they were to survive.

IceClan must leave the forest, an achingly familiar voice penetrated his thoughts. He almost twirled around to find the source of the voice, but contained himself. Spottedrose? How can you possibly expect me to just leave the forest? Just the mere thought of it made his stomach curl.

Don't you remember what I had told you so long ago? You will not have to. Frostfeather and Pineheart will lead IceClan to a new home. The StarClan cat's voice drifted through his mind.

"Blizzardstar?" Featherstar meowed in an attempt to get his attention. He snapped back to reality and realized that he had been staring straight at Pineheart and Frostfeather.

"I'll tell you what IceClan must do," Blizzardstar instructed. His voice shook with the weight of what he was about to say. "IceClan must leave the forest."

His uninjured Clanmates stepped forward, so few compared to the lifeless bodies that lay all around them. Aspenclaw limped on a twisted leg, his tail mangled and bloody. Sootsplash, Meadowshine, and Lionpaw stayed huddled near the camp barrier, their eyes wide. Sweetmind had moved from Appleleaf's side, to hover over Quietstorm's cold body. Smallfire must have followed Foxstreak to the medicine den, he was nowhere to be found.

So much death and grief. Can I really ask them to leave? He took a deep breath and prepared to address his Clan for the last time.

"StarClan met with us at the Firestone. They told us that the forest is no longer safe, that IceClan must leave the forest," he explained. He was met with puzzled looks from the cats that surrounded him.

Brokensong had reappeared from her den, and continued to speak after his pause. "Yes, StarClan told us that there is a sickness in these lands. One that herbs can not cure. It will drive any cat crazy and force them to attack and even kill their anyone."

"That must be what happened to Nightvolt," Pineheart realized.

"The wolf must have been infected then," Hailstorm mewed, "it was acting chaotic! Its jaws were dripping with foam and its eyes were bloodshot." Blizzardstar continued to gaze around at the battered bodies of his warriors. If he would have just listened... if he would have just heeded Brokensong's warnings.

"I could smell the infection in the air, as we were coming back," Blizzardstar agreed, "that means that anyone who was bitten or claws will also be infected." And that left very few that were fit to travel.

"That's unfortunate..." Hailstorm grunted. He raised his paw to show a ragged bite mark along his torso. "I know Aspenclaw and Foxstreak were also injured by the big brute."

"Then what are they supposed to do?" Sootsplash called, a challenge in his voice. "If they're sick, they can't come with us when we leave! It'd be pointless!"

Blizzardstar's gaze bore into the white and black splotched tom. "I will stay, and care for them," Blizzardstar explained. Some of the cats started to protest but he silenced them with a hiss.

"I have led IceClan without question for the better half of my life! StarClan had picked me, to lead us through the darkness so that we could find peace. And now, it's their turn," he meowed as he turned his attention to his kits.

"Us?" Pineheart gasped. He looked at his father like he had just sprouted wings. "But you're the leader! How are we supposed to do this without you?!"

Frostfeather wrapped her tail around Pineheart and pulled him close to her side. "You aren't kits anymore," Blizzardstar breathed, "my last duty as leader will be to make sure my infected Clanmates do not suffer at the paws to this disease."

"Those of you who are infected may come to my den. I'll patch you up before we leave," Brokensong meowed. Her voice was thick with regret but there was no way to avoid this now.

Hailstorm turned and padded after her. Elkleap let Aspenclaw lean against his shoulder as he escorted him to the medicine den. Pineheart and Frostfeather also padded over. They weren't sure exactly how they would say their goodbyes to their adopted mother, Foxstreak.

Sootsplash led Meadowshine and Lionpaw to the camp entrance. He stared at the bodies of Quietstorm and Appleleaf, his eyes dark with sorrow. His sister and her kit deserved a better death than this. After some moments, Sweetmind joined him and the others. Elkleap exited the medicine den and also bounded over to wait by the camp entrance.

Blizzardstar watched in silence as his Clan divided themselves, healthy and infected. After a lengthy goodbye, Frostfeater, Pineheart, Smallfire, and Brokensong all left the confines of the medicine den.

Foxstreak hovered at the entrance to watch them leave. Blizzardstar knew how much it would pain her to see them go; the kits she had fostered after her best friend's death, and her own biological offspring. But they would find a new home, where IceClan could survive.

"We should leave immediately," Brokensong interjected. Blizzardstar was still next to Wildflight, who had since grown cold and stiff at his side. He knew she was right but it didn't make their departure any easier.

"Yes, the longer you wait, the more danger you are all in," he agreed. He stepped towards the pitifully small group of cats and rested his muzzle on Frostfeather's shoulder. He could feel her tremble with his touch.

"Take good care of IceClan. They will need a strong warrior to guide them," he whispered. He saw her eyes glitter with sorrow as she pressed her nose into his cheek fur. He inhaled her scent, so warm and familiar. It was hard to imagine he would never see his kits again.

"I will never forget you," she breathed. The words pierced his heart like a thorn.

"Neither will I," Pineheart whimpered, "we couldn't have had a better father."

A purr rumbled in his chest at their kind words. After a few seconds, Blizzardstar sat back on his haunches to look at his Clanmates for one last time. "We won't ever forget you," they all murmured in unison.

"Don't forget about me either," Hailstorm called in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Oh, don't worry. None of you will be forgotten," Brokensong assured, "hopefully we will all meet again one day." Yes, they would all meet again, but after they have lived their lives and make their journey to StarClan.

Blizzardstar spoke his final farewells and watched as the tiny patrol finally padded out of the entrance. After a moment, they disappeared from sight. He took a shaky breath and wondered what he was supposed to do now. Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life?

"Blizzardstar!" Foxstreak wailed from inside the medicine den, "my paw hurts like fire!"

"I'm coming!" he replied as he stood and padded back towards the split rock. They still need me, he reminded himself.

"Should I start carrying their bodies out for burial?" Hailstorm asked before Blizzardstar could escape into the den.

"No, we can sit vigil for them tonight. We will worry about burying them in the morning," he murmured.

Inside the medicine den, Foxstreak waited patiently for Blizzardstar's arrival. He winced as he noticed her paw, or where her paw was supposed to be. Brokensong had wound it tight with cobweb, and it was covered in a herb paste.

"I'm sorry this had to happen," he meowed as he came to sit next to the nest that she had claimed.

"Oh, I'm not," Foxstreak murmured, "I'm glad that they left. Atleast, far away from here, they can find somewhere safe."

Blizzardstar bowed his head. "You're right," he conceded, "they will finally be safe."