"You don't think this will work, do you?" Brightwish hisses.

Rabbitfoot purrs. "I don't care."

I hurry them both along, the forest dark and foreign. It's been a moon, a cold one, and now that it's leaffall, some of the herbs are out of season. Rabbitfoot can not afford to get hurt again, and I don't intend to let anything hurt him.

I can't believe it either. The last time we had one of these... was when I was an apprentice. Another when I was a kit.

Rabbitfoot is testifying against StoneClan at the first gathering since it's formation. We all know that the dark clouds that speed past the moon will be covering it even a few minutes in. This gathering is possibly even more ill-fated than the ones before it. If the natural clans were never meant to exist in peace, then our little forest is meant to be divided. Any mutterings of peace and happiness throughout- I know better than anyone they're hollow.

Blood splatters my vision, memory so strong it's seared into my brain.

Screaming.

It's... not... not my fault... I didn't mean to...

Volcanoheart's dead body, Wolfpaw standing over him...

Dawnpaw, crooked, paws splayed at that unnatural angle...

No no no no no. Not fair. Not my fault-

Firepool is up against my side, his reassuring warmth and his scent like pine needles and fresh rain. "You want to see some old friends?" He asks.

"You know exactly who I intend to see. My kits are braced for it too."

"Our kits." He reminds me.

I nod solemnly, even though somewhere under the surface my icy facade shatters and I cry out for his warmth. Our kits. Our children.

We reach the sacred glade, where trees fence us in and the world is smaller. I take my place at the base of the huge tree that towers over us all. I see Moonwing jump past me to the top of the tree. Is she Moonstar now? FrostClan yowls their approval as she raises her head, her silky black fur practically glowing in the moonlight. Besides her, a new leader rises to the top of ForestClan. He's a battle-ready tom, which usually would be a bad omen, but someone willing to fight is exactly what we need.

"Cats of all the clans." Mothstar calls for silence, and they all obey her word. "As you know, Bluestar, Flamestar, and Moonstar, a great darkness has fallen over the forest. A clan of rogues and cats no more than corpses has come and will soon destroy us all. There is only one way for us to defeat the menace known as StoneClan."

"How is that?" yowls a RiverClan warrior, looking contemptuous as possible.

Mothstar hisses. "We must band together. Strong together, weak apart. The clans have always been at each other's throats. DragonClan has seen too many empires rise and fall. We extend our paws before you in peace. In our time of need, we hope you feel the same. Trust. There is still good in each of our hearts. We tear each other apart because we believe that we will hurt each other, but the enemy is on the outside. Will we let them?"

"NO!" roar the cats of DragonClan, ForestClan, and some of FrostClan. Moonstar looks incredulous at Mothstar, who continues.

"WILL WE FIGHT TOGETHER?"

"FOR THE CLANS!" I start the cheer.

"FOR THE CLANS! FOR THE CLANS! FOR THE CLANS!"

Flamestar yells to the sky, "We will join DragonClan! Flaredust, father of new kits, watched his friend from kithood die at their paws. It was their hatred and darkness that drove him to call on us. It was their claws we found on Hawkstar's corpse. It was they who killed the innocent kits of our queen, Swiftsnow."

Bluestar retorts, "We have always stood alone. DragonClan has been around for too long. They are as unnatural as StoneClan. It is time for the sun to set on them, and their family, but they fight for naught. They believe themselves better than us, expect us to rally at their cost. FrostClan, for so long you have been at war with DragonClan. Are you going to fall at Mothstar's paws, too?"

"I would not be the first one. One of my kin fell at the paws of DragonClan, once." Moonstar says.

Her clan hisses, and I see clouds beginning to cover the moon.

"Death to DragonClan!" yells Hailfall, trying to whip his clanmates into a frenzy.

"Which is why this must end." Moonstar continues. "When I was young, just Moonpaw, I remember watching Pinepaw, a warrior many of you may not even remember, falling at the paws of my clanmate. How many nameless have died?"

The ranks are silent.

"We call ourselves warriors. We carry on traditions of ancient warriors who lived long before us. Yet for us to call ourselves like them, in any way at all... We kill. We fight out of greed, while our territories run rich with prey. There's an old DragonClan legend of a fox, a black fox, that spread greed and discord through the clans. I'd say it's still among us, lurking in the shadows."

She looks up at the moon, as if making a promise to someone. Perhaps she is. "My clan will fight with DragonClan."

I look out at Hailfall's shocked face, at the endless ranks of cheering cats yowling their praise. The moon blazes down on all of us, and everyone is celebrating now. RiverClan stays to the side, and I see Bluestar bring her Clanmates to leave.

I chuckle. This is my forest now.

My clan will be joined by many others in the final fight. StarClan knows we need the help.

No, I reflect as Moonstar jumps down. She walks to me, and whispers, "This is for Pinepaw."

"...Did you know him? Why would you do all this for-"

"No one deserves to die like that. With so much to finish, through no fault of their own..."

I say no more.

Our forest is bathed in the beauty of the moonlight, and of cats smiling and yowling praise to the stars as allies, ready to make amends for the misdeeds of the dark and shadowed past of the clans of the Eastern Forests.

I wish it could always be like this.