The day is solemn and cold, the gray sky looming over the darkened shapes of most of the warriors. We look as raw and rugged as the crowfood cats from StoneClan, our eyes slit with pain and fury, the low rumble in our throats as we discuss the plans for tonight.

"We should attack by dusk. They won't see it coming." Hawktalon suggests.

"We don't have enough cats and those we do have are mainly wounded! What in StarClan's name makes you think we're ready to fight?!" Nightsky protests, glaring at him.

"Hawktalon's right. We need to strike now. Do you suggest we let them kill more of our kits?" Lionfur growls.

Nightsky presses her ears back, a subdued hiss rising from her throat like smoke. "No, I suggest we wait so they don't kill you too. Then again, if they do kill you, we might have a smarter generation of kits."

I bite my tongue, trying not to laugh as the three cats angrily tear each other apart, Volcanoheart, Blazefur, and Mothstar watching them like three queens watching kits playfight.

"We should probably start debating and stop squabbling." Mothstar suggests, and the three cats stop yelling and look guilty.

"Sorry, Mothstar." Hawktalon says, steadying himself. "So, yes. The fight? Tonight, right?"

"Yes, while Nightsky brings up a good point, I think it should be tonight. They are expecting us to strike, so we lose the element of surprise, but if we do not they will know we are weak and they will come for us again. Well, Dragonwing, now that you're out of the nursery, would you like to lead one of the patrols?"

"Yes, Mothstar." The she-cat dips her head, her long fur glittering in the gray light.

"I'll lead the other." I say, stepping up to the base of the tree where Mothstar is perched.

"You won't be guarding the nursery?"

"They killed Snowkit. I see no reason to stand by. I refuse to let them get away with the cold-blooded murder of my kit."

Mothstar nods. "Very well. You won't be leading a patrol, but if you wish, you may fight tonight."

I smile, my fur prickling with the need for vengeance. Tonight...

* * *

The now blackened sky shows only the glittering eyes of our cats as we dash through the forest. At the head of my patrol, Blazefur runs, Mothstar among the few hanging back to protect the camp. It's almost insulting to me- after all, shouldn't the leader be present for the only battle since the skirmish that killed Wolfstar?

Almost every other warrior is here though. I see many of my friends, and even Tigerfang, whose gray muzzle promises retirement very, very soon. Ravenwing stayed behind, lamenting the loss of another kit. It's hard, even for me, not to feel sorry for her. She thinks she's really doing the right thing, and every time...

I know already I'll have nightmares about Rabbitkit saying yes to Bonekit, disappearing into the mist with him, laughing at his sisters horror struck corpse.

Not like I don't have enough already. My blue eyes reflect the moonlight, the dark shapes eerily familiar as I dodge them with grace, trying not to flinch away in horror.

I smell the musk of StoneClan on the air- stiflingly awful, like crowfood and the smell of rotting herbs.

They're waiting on the boundaries.

Cobrastrike is pressing against my side, his stomach rising and falling fast. Terrified.

From everywhere, suddenly they're on us. I see a crowfood cat lunge at me, and unable to see anything but his eyes, they're what I go for. I poke an unsheathed claw into one, blood falling from it as I scour a direct hit, which slides up his face as he thrashes in pain.

Blood sprays as my tail is cracked in two, and I lose my balance. There's another behind me. The other one falls back, and I spin around to face the new one when the old one jumps on my back, pinning me. I slam him back, managing to slash the one in front of me in the throat, but it dodges lazily.

Soon, Talonfall, is slicing one off, the cat who's been with me since my first battle now back to defend me. I fight off another, back to back, and a small cat lunges under me, and I slam down on him, feeling him scream in terror as he's stuck. Obviously not an experienced fighter- so who?

The moon illuminates one side of his scarred face. "Bonekit?!"

"Bonemoon." He corrects. "Next in line for deputy."

I let him go, pinning him, blood and bile rising in my throat. "This is for Snowkit." I bite his neck, throwing him into a tree where another StoneClan warrior picks him up, dodging another cat to bring him back into the forest.

Another one comes at me, and I hear a screech as Talonfall slumps to the ground, his neck spurting blood.

My eyes glaze with tears, just for them to fall freely as Cobrastrike and I fight off a grey crowfood warrior. There's too many...

All around us, cats are falling like mice. There's no escape...

Then I hear the roar of warriors- are there even more?

No. They carry a different scent. Not one I know well, but... ForestClan?!

The ForestClan warriors join our ranks, and I press up against another she-cat I don't know, who nods to me with a toothy smile. She's old, but she hasn't gone soft.

This face... Hawkstar of ForestClan.

"Attack!" She yells.

Someone screams, "For Rosekit!"

These killings have been repetitive. All the clans have been losing cats... why? How? Batting down another cat, the answer comes to me in one horrible moment of recognition.

Dreams.

All this time, Silentecho has been walking in dreams of young kits... so why? Why does the strange cat in my dreams come into play? Why now?! Why her?!

This time, it's a ring of blue fire, dancing in my crazed eyes as blood spreads the forest floor like a red pool.

The crowfood warriors retreat, many among their number laying silent on the forest floor.

"Flarepaw!" yells Dragonwing, overjoyed. "You're alive!"

Her wounds are great, but she still rushes to her son, who victoriously announces, "Mom, it's not Flarepaw anymore."

"You- what?! Flarepaw, I don't understand."

"I'm Flaredust of ForestClan. I've found my true home." he purrs.

The cats of DragonClan watch as ForestClan departs their ranks, Dragonwing crumbling to the ground in pain and fury.

She does nothing as her son leaves with the other cats, his scent already tainted with the pines and scents of ForestClan.

I see the ring of blue fire at the edge of my vision, and the nightmare cat prances around the clearing, stopping to blow the lights over fallen bodies out. Finally, she stops at Talonfall's body, purring. She looks up at me curiously, my throat too raw to make a sound, and she stomps on the light, which goes out, leaving me in darkness again.