A month had past and the days grew longer as spring was drawing to an end. The sun was still high in the sky but it wouldn't be long before the sun set and the Rebellion would storm towards Scarface's camp and the battle would begin.

Moonshadow and Dawnwing had just finished a hunting patrol, they dropped off the prey that they had caught and made their way through the crowded clearing of the hollow towards Stardust and her Dawntreader friends. They watched Stardust and her friends a few metres away, Stardust and her friends were settled down under the shade of a tree, chatting as they ate their lunch. Beesting sat on Stardust's right and Brightflame settled down on her left. Redstorm and Streamtail were boasting about who would be the best fighter.

"Streamtail, I bet that I can fight off a wolf single-pawed." Redstorm gloated.

"You're joking, I can beat two owls!" Streamtail bragged.

"Okay! Okay! We all get it, you're both the best fighters." Beesting turned to look at them as he sighed, chagrined at how argumentative the siblings were. Stardust smiled sympathetically at him.

Redstorm and Streamtail grinned. Redstorm turned to whisper something in Streamtail's ear, "Beesting was looking at me when he said "the best"."

"No he wasn't, he was looking at me!" Streamtail retorted.

Moonshadow blinked in amusement. Stardust seems to be having fun with her friends. I hope that once this battle is over, things will go back to the way they used to be. 

Dawnwing turned to Moonshadow, her yellow eyes were clouded with some emotion Moonshadow couldn't tell. "Moonshadow, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Moonshadow replied, concerned.

"It's about Stardust; she seems more relaxed and much happier with the Dawntreader cats, do you think she might join them?"

Moonshadow stiffened for the question had caught him off guard. "I never thought that would happen... but it might." He admitted.

Suddenly, hoof beats trotted from behind them, the sound thumped louder as Rushingstream drew closer towards them. Moonshadow dipped his head in greeting at the white-tailed stag. Rushingstream's tail flicked from side to side, his magnificent antlers glinted in the sunlight. "Moonshadow, Twilight has some things to discuss with you, Stardust, Sunblaze, and Talonswipe before the battle."

"Alright, see you later." Dawning hooted to Moonshadow as she brushed shoulders with him when she walked away.

Moonshadow stared for a few seconds at her back as Dawnwing walked away before he turned to look at Stardust. Stardust was still busy chatting with her friends; gossiping and telling jokes. When she glanced in Moonshadow's direction and saw Rushingstream with him, Stardust murmured something to her friends before she got up and trotted briskly towards them.

"Another meeting?" Stardust mewed in curiosity when she reached them.

"Yes Stardust. Follow me." Rushingstream led them through the camp's entrance of thorns and out into the alder forest. They went around towards the back of the camp where the sandy battle training grounds were. The countless stale scents of animals and sweat drifted in the air. Looking down at the rough ground below him, Moonshadow saw faded paw marks in the sand.

Twilight, Talonswipe and Sunblaze were waiting eagerly for them. In front of them, Moonshadow spotted two small stones the size of a hedgehog; one stone was glowing dimly for it's surroundings were bright, the other pebble was bright peach and shiny like gold. Orange and red lines stretched across the peach coloured pebble, it looked like a marble of flames and sand.

"Greetings Moonshadow, Stardust and Rushingstream," Twilight greeted them as they approached closer towards him. "I have brought you here to tell you about our weapons."

"How are these two stones weapons?" Talonswipe hooted, skeptical.

"Wait and see Talonswipe, be patient." Sunblaze told him.

Moonshadow and Stardust settled down whilst Rushingstream stood still and stared down at the two pebbles. When everyone was comfortable on the sandy floor, Twilight began to tell them.

"These two stones are called Light Stones," Twilight told them. "Back in the old days at Rabbit Burrow before the scarred wolf drove us out of our home, my rabbits mined the underground tunnels for Light Stones. There are two types of Light Stones and they serve different purposes." Twilight pawed at the dim glowing stone. "This type of Light Stone is called the Glow Stone, it lights up dark surroundings such as the dark pines that surround Scarface's camp. It can stay alight for a long time which makes it useful." Twilight placed the Glow Stone back on the ground and then he gently picked up the fiery marble like stone. "This Light Stone is called the Flare Stone and I'll show you why, follow me."

Twilight carefully carried the Flare Stone as he led the others through the alder forest away from the rebel's camp. Soon they arrived at a small pond surrounded by rabbits. When the rabbits saw Twilight with the Flare Stone, they murmured greetings to him and backed away from the pond.

When the rabbits were about two metres away from the pond, Twilight told Moonshadow and the others to keep a far distance away from the pond. When everyone was far enough away from the pond, Twilight lifted the Flare Stone above his head with his forepaws. He carefully aimed, then he threw the Flare Stone at the pond.

Moonshadow watched carefully as the Flare Stone flew through the air and crashed onto the pond water's surface.

BOOM!

The Flare Stone lit up in flames and black smoke drifted up from the pond. Heat waves brushed against Moonshadow's feathers and he stared in shock at what had just happened. The Flare Stone had disintegrated and the flames were beginning to die out from the pond water. The soil that surrounded the pond before had now changed from light brown to dark charcoal black. The acrid smell of burnt grass filled the air around them and a couple of rabbits coughed at the smoke.

Twilight turned to face Moonshadow and the others. "Is everyone alright?"

Moonshadow looked behind him at Stardust, Talonswipe and Sunblaze. They were beginning to recover from their shock and surprise.

"Wow, that's a really awesome weapon." Talonswipe hooted. Sunblaze nodded in agreement.

"The Flare Stone only ignites it's fire if it falls and hits the ground hard; the impact when it crashes is what causes the Flare Stone to explode. We will have to be careful with Flare Stones in order to keep ourselves safe in the battle." Twilight told them.

When the last of the flames and smoke were gone, the rabbits began to pile up the burnt and charred pieces of grass and leaves, tidying up the place after their experiment. When they were done, Twilight twitched his ear to dismiss the rabbits. To the others, he said, "the meeting is over. You can go and get ready for battle, the sun is going to set."

Moonshadow and Stardust turned to follow the others back to the rebel's camp for battle preparation but Twilight called them back. "Oh wait, Stardust! Moonshadow! There's still something I need to ask you." They turned around and looked back curiously at Twilight.

The sandy training grounds were nearly empty; Talonswipe and Sunblaze had already left, most of the rabbits had sprang away but a few were still leaving. When the last few remaining rabbits were gone and the training grounds were empty except for Twilight, Moonshadow and Stardust, Twilight signaled for Moonshadow and Stardust to follow him. They followed Twilight through the alder forest, past the end of the forest, over a small grassy hill and towards the meadow with the ancient alder tree stump next to the rabbit hole where they had their first meeting. Twilight led them down the tunnels and through the dark narrow passageways until they arrived at the large underground den with the small speck of Glow Stone still shining dimly in the shadows.

Twilight told Moonshadow and Stardust to settle down and wait for a moment whilst he scrabbled around the den's floor searching for something. After a few seconds, Twilight found what he had been looking for. He carefully lifted two Flare Stones, Moonshadow recognised their peach surface and fiery striped patterns in the dim light, Twilight carried the stones towards Moonshadow and Stardust, setting the stones down gently on the ground in front of them.

"During the battle, we might not have enough Flare Stones to distribute to everyone so I've decided to give you a Flare Stone each; to attack, for defense, or for saving a loved one. Use the Flares wisely for you'll only have one." Twilight told them. "Go now, prepare for battle. The time is coming fast and hopefully as the prophecy foretold, we shall emerge victorious."

***

The sun bled out it's bright crimson and yellow hues as it slowly sank below the horizon. The rebels assembled their army and prepared to leave the camp, they were gathered together at the sandy training grounds. Moonshadow with Stardust by his side, joined Talonswipe and Sunblaze with their armies of Snowie owls and Dawntreader cats.

"Can't wait to get payback," Talonswipe growled as he flexed his sharp talons.

"More importantly, saving the North from the scarred wolf's evil treachery," Sunblaze added.

Moonshadow glanced at Stardust. Stardust's silver grey fur was well groomed and it shone in the last of the sunlight, her ears pricked forward and her amber eyes glowed like a flame. She's alert and ready for battle, Moonshadow thought, it seems like yesterday Stardust was a young kitten and now she's eight months old - almost a fully grown cat.

A flicker of brown caught Moonshadow's eye. Looking to his right, Moonshadow spotted Twilight heading over towards them. Twilight's long ears stood straight in the air, his brown eyes burned with determination. Twilight bounded through the crowd until he reached Rushingstream's side, he then turned around to face everyone.

"Rebels! Today is the day when justice will be served and the treachery of the scarred wolf will be no more. We shall face our enemies with bravery and fight for what is right! With the Star on our side, and hopefully soon, the Moon, we shall be victorious!" Twilight announced.

The crowd roared their agreements and Moonshadow hooted with them. Stardust yowled, the Dawntreaders caterwauled, the Snowies screeched, Dawnwing and Robintail hollered with them. Then they all followed Twilight out of the alder forest, over marshes and fields of tall grass, towards the dark pines where the scarred wolf's camp stood.

***

The misty blackness of the dark pines loomed around them like ghosts, the murky scents of countless wolves filled the air. Moonshadow followed everyone else as they crept towards the scarred wolf's camp. Soon they could see the entrance.

Twilight signaled with a twitch of his left ear and everyone quickly hid behind bushes. At the entrance, there were seven large brown wolves on guard - Moonshadow gulped, they were bigger and stronger than the other five grey wolf guards they had encountered when they rescued Dawnwing.

Looking across at the other bushes, Moonshadow saw Twilight quietly discussing a plan with Rushingstream. Out of the corner of his vision, Moonshadow saw Beesting padding silently towards Twilight and Rushingstream. When he reached them, Beesting murmured something to them. Moonshadow remembered Beesting coming up with a great plan to distract the five wolf guards last time, perhaps he was telling Twilight of his idea. After a few moments, Twilight and Rushingstream nodded and Beesting blinked with gratitude at them before he headed over towards Moonshadow.

"Hi Moonshadow, I told Twilight and Rushingstream about the plan that we used before to save Dawnwing." Beesting whispered. "Want to join my distraction team?"

Moonshadow nodded, he and Beesting then went to find Stardust. Beesting asked her to join their team and Stardust agreed. They went to ask the other Dawntreaders; Brightflame, Redstorm, Streamtail and Driftclaw, they also asked Robintail. When they all agreed to join Beesting's team, they came up with a new plan using their old ideas from last time's plan and when they finally knew what to do and when, they waited behind a thorn bush and got into their positions.

The seven brown wolf guards paced around the entrance, shifting places and looking at different directions each time they switched. After a few cycles, Robintail rushed out into the open and purposely caught the attention of one of the wolf guards. Robintail pelted away and the wolf guard charged after him. Then, Redstorm, Streamtail and Driftclaw ran out yowling loudly, catching the attention of two wolf guards. The two wolf guards chased after the three pelting gingers away into the distance. After that, Brightflame threw a stone to distract another guard, the guard jumped away through the undergrowth to search for where the stone was thrown from. So far, four guards were being kept busy, only three guards remained. Moonshadow, Stardust and Beesting were the only ones left to play their part.

"Okay, one wolf for each of us." Beesting meowed quietly. "We'll have to knock these wolves out as quickly as we can."

Moonshadow and Stardust nodded, then all three of them got ready to attack. They leapt out from behind the thorn bush and pounced on the three wolves in unison. Moonshadow dived down onto the wolf guard closest to him. Talons outstretched ready to tear, Moonshadow swiped. The wolf guard he was attacking had large blue eyes and a dark tail. The wolf bolted away to dodge Moonshadow and sprinted towards Stardust who was fighting another wolf guard.

No!  Moonshadow heard Stardust screech as the wolf leapt towards her.

To everyone's shock and disbelief, the blue-eyed wolf didn't attack Stardust. Instead, the wolf landed onto Stardust's opponent and pummeled him. Stardust's opponent howled in agony but the blue-eyed wolf slammed him to the ground hard, leaving the wolf guard winded and unconscious. The blue-eyed wolf leapt to attack the remaining wolf guard Beesting was fighting against.

Beesting was trapped under the remaining wolf guard, scrabbling desperately on the ground whilst the wolf guard snapped his jaws near Beesting's neck. The blue-eyed wolf sank his teeth into the wolf guard's scruff and hauled him off Beesting. Yelping, the wolf guard twisted round and swiped at the blue-eyed wolf's face. The blue-eyed wolf reeled away and growled.

"Traitor!" The wolf guard snarled and he launched himself at the blue-eyed wolf's throat.

Suddenly, a fiery stone shot through the air. It hit the wolf guard's side and exploded into sparks. Flames burned the wolf guard's pelt and the wolf howled, he pelted away from the camp entrance and into the pines.

Stunned and gasping, Moonshadow, Stardust and Beesting stared at the blue-eyed wolf. The wolf's brown fur was ruffled and a scratch on his face bled, the wolf's injuries weren't severe.

Twilight, who threw the Flare Stone, emerged from behind a bush and bounded towards the wolf. Moonshadow was about to stop Twilight from nearing the wolf but to his surprise, instead of attacking, the wolf wagged his tail once in greeting.

"Well done Skywing," Twilight praised the wolf. Turning to face everyone else, Twilight said, "everyone, this is one of my wolf spies; Skywing."

At that moment, Robintail, Brightflame, Redstorm, Streamtail and Driftclaw returned, their sides heaved with exhaustion. "We dealt... with those guards ...and knocked them out." Brightflame panted to Beesting.

"Good job," Beesting smiled and purred.

Skywing twitched his ears in greeting then he turned to look at Twilight in confusion. "I wasn't expecting you to attack just yet, I thought the battle would be a few days later."

"Plans change- I'm sorry Skywing but the Rebellion's desperate to get rid of Scarface." Twilight apologized. Facing the rebels, Twilight yelled, "get into your attacking groups, quick!"

The rebels split up into their groups; the Dawntreader cats followed Sunblaze, the Snowie owls followed Talonswipe, the stags with thorn sharp antlers followed Rushingstream and Moonshadow, Stardust, Dawnwing, Robintail and the rabbits with their Flare Stones followed Twilight.

With a mighty battle cries, the Rebellion stormed the scarred wolf's camp.