A week had passed and the rebels were busy preparing for battle. Carrying the still-warm mouse in her mouth, Stardust padded past the thorn barrier along with the rest of the hunting patrol as the sun drifted high in the sky. They had caught enough prey to feed everyone in the rebellion for a couple of days. Summer was approaching fast; soon the days would get warmer and there would be an abundant amount of prey in the forest.

Stardust recalled the thrill of hunting beneath the alder trees; her paws skimmed the ground as she ran, the wind buffeted her silver grey fur, the excitement as she stalked a mouse and finally, she pounced with anticipation onto her prey's back.

Looking beside her, she watched as the rest of her hunting patrol dropped their prey in a pile. Those who were resting at the rebellion's camp scampered forward towards the prey pile, they licked their lips and took their pick from the pile before walking off to eat under the shade of a tree.

Stardust dropped her mouse on the pile before looking around, searching for her Dawntreader friends. Suddenly, she heard yowls from deep in the campsite. It wasn't long before she saw them; Brightflame, Redstorm and Streamtail were debating about something, again.

"Who would eat that anyway Brightflame?" Redstorm retorted.

"What? Fish tastes good." Brightflame protested.

"Ewww," Streamtail whined in agreement with his brother. "Gross."

"How are you not repulsed by the scent, let alone the sliminess?" Redstorm slapped his dark ginger tail over his nose.

"Well, deal with it! Logic!" Brightflame retorted.

"Bleh!" Streamtail and Redstorm gagged.

Brightflame's tail fluffed up in annoyance. She hissed at them.

Stardust shook her head slowly in disapproval of her friends' behavior. Brightflame, Redstorm and Streamtail weren't that much older than her yet they acted like kittens from a nursery. Stardust spotted Beesting chewing a vole not far from where the debate was happening, his ears were flat against his head and his pale ginger fur was bristling with irritation. When Beesting looked up and saw her, he quickly gulped down the last bits of his vole before he trotted over towards her, relieved to get away from the three bickering apprentices.

"Peace and quiet at last!" Beetsing huffed in relief as he and Stardust padded away towards the large den which they shared with the others; the Dawntreaders, Snowies and the rest of Moonshadow's group.

Stardust smiled in amusement.

"Honestly, why did they force me to join them for lunch if they were just going to sit and bicker away? If I had to sit there for one more second, I would blow up. Seriously, why can't they just take a break from arguing?" Beesting continued to complain.

"Well, complaining isn't going to help change anything." Stardust told him. "I think getting up and leaving would be a great idea."

"True," Beesting meowed in agreement.

Just as they were about to enter the den, Stardust thought she saw a white-tailed stag trotting towards her at the edge of her vision. Looking behind her, she saw Rushingstream heading over towards her. The sunlight glinted on his magnificent antlers as he dipped his head in greeting.

"Stardust, Twilight would like to have a word with you in his den. Sunblaze and Talonswipe are already waiting with Twilight, do you know where Moonshadow is?" Rushingstream asked.

"Um, I'm not sure." Stardust looked around, scanning for a trace of Moonshadow.

"I'll try and find him," Beesting offered. "The last time I saw him was near the other Snowies with Dawnwing and Robintail."

"Thanks, Bee." Stardust mewed in happiness.

"Go ahead, I'll find Moonshadow." Beesting spun off in search of Moonshadow.

Rushingstream glanced at Beesting before turning around and he led Stardust towards Twilight's den. They drew closer to the small den, a curtain of lichen draped over the entrance. Rushingstream and Stardust ducked their heads and entered, they found themselves in a dimly lit den for the only light source was a small round stone that glowed. The ceiling above them was high enough for Rushingstream to stand without having to bend his head or have his antlers scraped against the roof. Twilight, Sunblaze and Talonswipe were settled around the glow stone waiting for them.

Whenever Twilight wants us to meet up, he always takes us into a dark den with barely any light in it, Stardust thought.

"Hello Stardust, sorry for taking your time but I think you should be more involved with our plans because you're the Star of the prophecy." Twilight greeted her.

"It's okay Twilight, the meeting must be important." Stardust mewed.

"Rushingstream, where's Moonshadow?" Twilight asked.

"Here," Moonshadow's voice hooted from behind them. Stardust turned around and saw Moonshadow heading over towards them, his amber eyes glowed curiously in the dark.

"So, what's up?" Talonswipe asked Twilight.

"I have brought you here today to tell you about the battle training and to discuss about some battle plans for our attack on the scarred wolf's camp." Twilight began. "We will be preparing ourselves for the battle; training to fight, practicing our roles and what to do in an emergency just in case something unexpected happens during the battle. I have already sent several spies who volunteered to observe our enemies from a close distance and try to find out what Scarface is planning, some even disguised themselves as one of the scarred wolf's warriors." Twilight told them.

"How do they disguise themselves as warriors for the scarred wolf?" Sunblaze queried.

"They are wolves themselves," Twilight answered. "Not all wolves serve the scarred wolf, even if he was their rightful leader. The scarred wolf's real name is Scarface; his real name is only known to a few so only our wolf spies managed to uncover this information."

Sunblaze nodded, satisfied with his answer.

"Our plan for battle is to invade their camp in groups. There will be four groups; the first group led by me, the second led by Rushingstream, the third led by Talonswipe and the fourth led by Sunblaze. Our aim is to corner small groups of wolves and separate them from each other so that Scarface's army doesn't get reinforcements. We will fight our way through Scarface's army and then destroy Scarface himself. Once their evil leader is dead, the wolves will stop and we will be victorious."

"Good plan but what happens to Scarface's wolves once we win?" Talonswipe asked, his voice was low and venomous.

"They become free so that they can be given a second chance to make things right in their lives again but those who have supported Scarface as his second in commands will be kept as prisoners for some time before we free them like the others." Twilight answered.

"What?" Talonswipe growled. "After all those Snowie owls, Silver Viels and other innocent creatures they have murdered, they are going to be freed? They should be executed immediately after the battle. Right Moonshadow?" Talonswipe stepped intimidatingly in front of Moonshadow, daring him to disagree.

Everyone turned to look at Moonshadow as they waited eagerly for his answer. Moonshadow fidgeted uncomfortably as the others' stares bored holes onto him. He disagrees with Talonswipe but if he admits it then Talonswipe will be more furious than he is already, Stardust swallowed uncertainly.

"Um... Talonswipe?" Stardust stepped between Moonshadow and Talonswipe. "I'm sorry but I disagree with your idea of executing the wolves."

Talonswipe gaped at her answer. "You must be joking, those murderers killed your parents, family and friends - the Silver Viels. They wrecked your future of being a Silver Viel warrior. They murdered innocents just like you in cold blood yet you still decide to let them go free?"

"Talonswipe, I will never get over the fact that they murdered my parents and the other Silver Viels including other innocents. I understand your hatred and fury about them because I feel the same way but I'm choosing to forgive them. They probably didn't want to do all those terrible devious things," Stardust shuddered at the memory of seeing her mother die in her vision, "but those wolves probably had no choice. They were forced to obey Scarface's orders or be killed, like Robintail. I know you believe that they should die for all those crimes they committed but was it really them behind the scenes who wanted and planned those things to happen?"

Talonswipe stood hunched over and stared blankly at the cave floor in silence but Stardust knew that he was still listening intently to every single word that she said. "No." He mumbled.

Stardust nodded. "If we do end up killing the wolves, then we would be as bad as Scarface himself; killing others. The only good we can do to them is to forgive them. They may have done plenty that they regret but if we forgive them and give them another chance, then we can hope that they decide to use that second chance wisely and become a better wolf in the future."

Talonswipe still stood hunched over, staring at the floor. He nodded before finally looking up, the fire of furiosity that once burned in his green eyes had faded and instead he seemed much calmer like the breeze after a storm.

"Well, since that's been decided, I guess the meeting is over. Until then, we'll also be waiting for the Moon to appear." Twilight spoke again.

                                              ***

Stardust awoke early the next day. Twilight had decided that everyone would be doing something to make sure that victory was in their reach; fighting, treating the wounded and rescuing any prisoners Scarface might have held captive. Rushingstream suggested that everyone should have a training schedule every day before the battle.

Beside her, Moonshadow was preening his pale grey feathers whilst Dawnwing was crouched over a puddle and drinking the water. The others were also beginning to wake and Beesting stood patiently by the den's entrance, waiting for Stardust and his other friends. Stardust carefully weaved her way through the crowd of waking cats and owls as she slowly made her way towards him.

"Hey," Beesting greeted her, his luminous emerald eyes shone.

"Hi," Stardust replied.

"Morning you two," Brightflame yawned. Redstorm and his brother Streamtail trailed behind her.

"So, what do you have on your training schedule today?" Beesting asked her.

"Medical treatment and emergency drills, how dull." Brightflame groaned. "I really want to do battle practice; fighting and learning stealth moves- the awesome stuff but instead I get something that is just plain tedious."

"Feeling relieved," Redstorm sighed. "I'm doing patrolling and hunting with my brother and Driftclaw, at least you're not going to be there with us."

"Wish I was," Brightflame scowled in jealousy. "I hope that I get to do battle training whilst you two break a leg and do medical work."

Streamtail, Redstorm and Brightflame continued to squabble as they padded out of the den. After they had gone, Beesting turned back to Stardust.

"What do you have on your schedule?" He asked in curiosity.

"Um, I'm not quite sure. I think I forgot my schedule." Stardust thought hard about the schedule Rushingstream had told her the day before.

"Oh, let's go and ask Rushingstream." Beesting padded out of the den. Stardust followed him a second later.

"Hey Rushingstream!" Beesting greeted the stag when they found him outside Twilight's den. "Stardust forgot her schedule, could you remind her about it again please?"

Stardust blushed from embarrassment for everyone had remembered their schedules whilst she had forgotten. She watched nervously as Rushingstream stared at her in disapproval.

"Stardust, your schedule for today is battle training with Beesting and after that you have patrolling duties," Rushingstream told her. "Please remember your schedules from now on because I am too busy during mornings to remind you everyday." He said before turning around and trotting away towards a patrol that was about to leave.

"Yay! I've got a friend that I can work with during battle training," Beesting purred gleefully.

Stardust smiled. I feel relieved that I get to train with a friend instead of working by myself or being in a group with no one that I know of.

                                     ***

"Alright everyone! Pair up and practice that move I just showed you." Their battle training instructor- a raccoon ordered.

Stardust and Beesting were grouped together with the other rebels who they were training with. They had arrived just on time as their training lesson was about to start. They stood in a sandy clearing surrounded by alder trees, the thorn barrier that shielded the rebellion's camp was still visible through the trees. The battle training grounds was just behind the camp.

Beesting looked to Stardust and she nodded. They paired up and began to practice the battle move their instructor taught them; the Leap-and-hold.

"I'll pretend to be the enemy and you try to attack me." Beesting told Stardust.

"Okay." Stardust got into her attack position and waited until Beesting was prepared. Then she leapt high into the air and landed squarely on Beesting's back. Beesting bucked as he tried to throw her off his back and Stardust lost her balance, he shook her off and Stardust fell to the ground.

"Next time, you should keep a better grip on your opponent." Beesting advised as he helped Stardust get up. Panting, Stardust nodded in agreement and they swapped their roles; Beesting would attack and Stardust would be the opponent.

Beesting crouched down, lashing his tail to try and intimidate her. Stardust bared her teeth and put on her best scowl, playing along. Beesting growled mockingly before he leapt towards her but he couldn't jump high enough to land squarely on Stardust's back. Beesting crashed into Stardust's side, sending her tumbling into a nearby bush.

"Oops! I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" Beesting asked anxiously.

Stardust groaned as she slowly stood up. "I think I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, I should have jumped higher." Beesting apologized again. "I'm just not good at jumping like you are."

"Oh, maybe if you practice jumping higher, you'll get better at it." Stardust smiled encouragingly at Beesting. "Come on, let's try again!"

They practiced a couple more times and each time, Beesting managed to improve his leap when he attacked and Stardust improved her grip when she landed on Beesting's back. Then, when they finally managed to do the Leap-and-hold perfectly, their instructor called for a break.

"Okay everyone! Let's take a short break before I teach you another fighting technique," the instructor called out and the crowd of animals dispersed. Stardust and Beesting licked their ruffled fur before following the others back to the rebel's camp.