the other five cats turned to duskhoney in suprise, waiting for him to continue.

"leopardstrike named me deputy before he made me escape camp, and that leaves me as leader... so what we will do is get far away from here. we won't look back. we're orcaclan warriors, we're strong!"

citrinedazzle nodded. "that's a very good idea. this territory is useless now."

starlingdash sprung up. "but it's home! why are you all so quick to leave it? we grew up here! does that mean nothing to you?"

ashstumble gave starlingdash a sympathetic look. "starlingdash... i don't want to leave just as much as you, but what other choice do we have? duskhoney is right."

starlingdash looked to his paws. duskhoney felt bad- he didn't want to leave either, but he knew he had to.

they had to.

"okay. let's go to the starry lake, so duskhoney can be accepted as a leader and get his new name." buzzardsnow meowed, grabbing hold of his herb wrap and walking away before any cat could argue.

duskhoney sighed and followed buzzardsnow, the rest of the group behind him.

they traveled in silence for most of the trip, as duskhoney limped on his hurt leg.

after a long and miserable trek, they arrived at the gorse tunnel that led to the starry lake.

"you all stay out here, me and duskhoney will go in alone." buzzardsnow said, setting down his herbs.

"what if duskhoney is lying...? what if leopardstrike didn't make him deputy?" starlingdash whispered, looking down at his paws.

"then starclan won't accept him." buzzardsnow shrugged, looking at the tunnel impatiently.

"duskhoney isn't one to lie, either." ashstumble chimed in.

duskhoney blinked appreciatively at his friend, and ashstumble smiled in return.

"okay, let's go." buzzardsnow sighed, pushing through the tunnel.

duskhoney nodded, giving the four other cats one more look, before following the medicine cat through the gorse tunnel.

it wasn't long before they emerged to the lake side, and the night sky reflected in it, the stars bright spots in the lake.

it was sparce out here, but it didn't need to be pretty. it only needed to get the job done.

buzzardsnow turned around, and offered a smile at the soon-to-be leader.

"okay... now you just lay down at the lake side, sleep, and you should see starclan. they'll take over from there."

duskhoney nodded, sucking in a breath. he just now realized how nervous he was, but he must do this. for his clan.

clan? yeah, right... stragglers, more like it.

duskhoney pushed away his thoughts, laying down.

he was nervous- he hadn't ever met with a starclan cat before... what were they like? did they change appearance?

he closed his eyes tight, and was almost immediately swept into a dream.

duskhoney gasped at the huge place- it was just like the orcaclan camp, but bigger.

no, it wasn't just like the camp. nothing would ever be like the orcaclan camp. it was very different. sticks and leaves littered the dirt, and tall trees stretched to the stars around him.

it was beautiful, with patches of flowers growing in different spots, fallen logs.

"ahem-" duskhoney heard, and turned around.

he was met with a suprise- his brother was right there! right in front of him!

leopardstrike smiled sadly. "isn't it so nice here, duskhoney?"

duskhoney nodded, not taking his eyes off of his brother, in case he would disappear. "are you... dead? is this starclan?"

duskhoney didn't want to know the answer to the first question, but he got it anyway.

"yes, i'm dead. no, this isn't starclan."

duskhoney tilted his head. "how'd you die?! who else died??"

leopardstrike looked to his paws, and his voice was filled with dread. "everyone, but the other five with you..."

duskhoney gasped- that can't be true!

"duskhoney, i brought you here for a reason. do you see this place? it's beautiful, isn't it? orcaclan used to live here. long, long ago."

duskhoney looked around again, and suddenly cats surrounded camp.

they were happy, bounding around with light in their eyes. they did look like orcaclan cats- large, muscular, thick furred... not many orcaclan cats look like that now.

"can they... see us?" duskhoney whispered, as a small kit tumbled past him.

leopardstrike shook his head. "these cats... they were driven out of their homes, too."

duskhoney froze in shock as suddenly a loud growl was heard from the entrance.

two wolves appeared, tearing the gorse tunnel as they stormed into camp.

and it turned bloody. duskhoney watched in horror as the wolves teared the cats apart, tossing them to the side to get more.

"only two cats survived... and together, they remade orcaclan. and orcaclan survived."

and then duskhoney's surroundings were back to normal. the peaceful happy camp, that his ancestors once lived in.

"don't you want to be remembered like that, duskhoney? you can fix orcaclan. you can bring them justice."

duskhoney, still shocked, looked back up at leopardstrike.

"surely, if those two cats could fix orcaclan, you six can too?"

duskhoney nodded slowly, his eyes still wide.

"then do it. duskhoney, all of us know you have what it takes." a new voice added.

duskhoney turned to see who spoke, and was suprised to see his parents. his father spoke up again.

"make me proud, son. show us all what you can do."

and suddenly, deceased orcaclan cats filled the space, all chanting one name.

"duskstar!"