Editing ✔️

Gah, I suck. What up with the late updates?! (￣(工)￣) Okay guys, so most of you might know this by now, but when I finish this book, there will be a SEQUAL. The media picture I posted is a preview of the sequel's cover and title . . . is it good? ;D anyways, on to the story!

Two sunrises later, Icestar woke up with a frosty feeling to his nose that made him feel a little bit cold and lightheaded. Slowly, he stood up, stretching his muscles after the tough night's sleep and gave a long, luxurious yawn. He crept out of the leader's den and eyed the camp around him. Everything was bright white. His eyes widened and he looked up at the sky. It was snowing!

For a moment, he took a few seconds to wake up completely as he stared at the snow slowly descending. A droplet of cold snow fell on his nose, and he sneezed, wiping it off. I didn't expect snow to come this early in the season, he thought with surprise.

Sweetheart was the first to greet him. "Morning, Icestar," she meowed. "I didn't expect you to be up this early. Nobody's awake yet except for Mousetail."

"I felt cold," he admitted. "Must've woken me up."

"If you want, I can put extra moss and feathers on your nest to make it warmer," she suggested. "It wouldn't be good if the Clan leader caught a fever."

Icestar shook his head, with one cat in mind. "I'd rather you give them to Silverleaf. When the kits come, they'll need to be warm, right?" Even though Silverleaf didn't want it, Icestar made her move to the nursery yesterday, and ever since then, he had been making sure of her comfort.

"She wouldn't appreciate being treated like that," Sweetheart advised. "I think she's going to snap your head off the next time you do something nice for her."

He sighed. "Sorry . . . I'm not good with this," he murmured. "I don't know how to raise kits. That thought makes me nervous." And the thought of how everything could go wrong. Sometimes, queens would have stillborn kits, or would die kitting, and those were some of the worse possible fears that haunted Icestar besides for his fear of Dewstar ever since Silverleaf told him that she was expecting.

"You're good with kits, last time I checked," Sweetheart purred. "I'm sure the both of you will do fine. Now let me get those moss and feathers to your nest."

Sweetheart was making her way toward her den by the time Icestar was about to object. He just decided to let her do it.

He trudged through the snow and crept into the warrior's den, prodding Ashtail awake.

"Good morning," murmured the sleepy deputy.

"Ashtail, get up," Icestar whispered. "We have to start waking everyone. It's time to set up patrols."

"Patrols," Ashtail repeated groggily. "Oh right, patrols." His eyes blinked open, and he met Icestar's eyes. "Is it snowing?"

"Go see for yourself," Icestar said, stepping out of the way so Ashtail could make his way out of the warrior's den. As soon as the deputy went outside, his eyes widened.

"I didn't expect snow so early in the season!" he gasped.

"I thought the same thing," Mousetail piped up from behind. "But don't worry. I hear that when we have cold leaf-bares, we will experience warm new-leafs."

Icestar dipped his head to the elder in respect. "Good morning, Mousetail."

"Morning, Icestar," Mousetail replied. "How is Silverleaf coming along?"

"She's fine, I hope," Icestar meowed. "Sweetheart said everything is normal, and I trust her." He watched as Ashtail woke up the warriors one by one in the warrior's den. "Besides, it's only the beginning. Nothing could possibly go wrong."

Mousetail purred. "They'll be fine kits." And with that, he went back to the elder's den and curled up in his nest, grooming out his pelt.

Icestar climbed the Moonrock, and examined his surroundings quietly in the camp. As the snow gently fell, Ashtail began to assign patrols for the territory. Dawnstripe padded out of the warrior's den, and met Icestar's eye, giving him a nod of greeting, followed by Swiftbreeze and Crowflight. Goldenpaw joined them as soon as they reached the camp entrance.

Maybe I should train Amberpaw today, he thought, watching the camp. Goldsun, Squirreltail, Shiningmoon and Redsky all padded out of the camp together as a group. He hoped that they were going a hunting patrol. There was barely a piece of prey on the fresh-kill pile, and he knew that MoonClan had to keep their strength up.

Volefur left the camp soon after, followed by his apprentice, Blackpaw, and Rainwhisker. The last patrol to leave the camp was with Fireshade, Sharpfang and Stonetooth.

Finally, after staring at the falling snow for a few moments, he decided to take Amberpaw out training. The gathering was so close now, only a day away. What if Dewstar launched an attack there again? What if he launched one today?

I have to be ready for everything, he thought, over and over again. I can't let MoonClan get hurt. Not Silverleaf. Not my kits.

He turned his head to the nursery.

I won't lose anyone else I care about . . .

Icestar looked down to his paws, which were being engulfed by the cold snow. Suddenly, a warm body pressed to his. Icestar jumped, startled, and turned to see Silverleaf. She looked concerned.

"Icestar, you're so tense," she mewed, " . . . and cold."

He sighed, relieved. "You'll get cold too."

"I won't," she reassured him. "I thought you had left already. When I saw you, I wondered why you were alone."

He shrugged. "I was thinking." He shook his head. "No, it was nothing important. I'll be taking Amberpaw out training."

"At the hollow?"

"Err, no . . ." He didn't tell his Clanmates, especially Silverleaf about what happened to the training hollow. Well, except for Ashtail and the cats he assigned to rebuilding it. He didn't want any cat to worry, especially his mate.

Silverleaf left his side. "I'll go wake her. Be right back." She padded away, trudging through the piling snow towards the apprentice den.

Icestar shook the snow out of his fur, and then waited silently, pushing away his thoughts. Maybe he shouldn't worry—it was dangerous for any cat's mental health to be so obsessive over something. After a couple more heartbeats of waiting in the cold snow, Amberpaw finally came.

"Good morning, Amberpaw," he meowed to her. "Today we'll be training."

"I know, Silverleaf told me as soon as I woke up," she said with a yawn.

"Where'd she go?" he asked, realizing she wasn't next to her.

Silverleaf's tail touched Icestar's back. "Here I am. I would love to join you both just to watch—"

"—but you can't because you're expecting kits," Icestar cut off.

She gave a miserable sigh. "This is more boring than I thought it would be, and it's only the second day."

He touched his nose to her ear. "I'll be back before sunhigh," he murmured in her ear. "See you then."

"If I don't die of boredom," she mumbled with annoyance, heading to the nursery.

Sweetheart's right. She does look like she wants to snap my head off, he thought. Is it because I worry too much?

"Let's go train!" Amberpaw urged.

Icestar gave a purr of amusement. "Alright, I'm going."

* * *

"This is a badger defense, but this move is very beneficial for fighting a cat, too." Icestar was having a private training session with Amberpaw just as he promised. They would of had it two days ago in the training hollow if the DarkClan cats hadn't destroyed it. He was glad Amberpaw never told any cat what really happened.

Icestar got into position, ready to demonstrate. "Leap over the cat you're fighting, Amberpaw. Got it?"

"Yeah," Amberpaw said. She got herself into a leaping position, and pounced into the air, shooting over Icestar's back and landing right in front of him. "I've practiced that with Goldenpaw lots of times."

"That's good to hear, but you got to be quicker than that. If you didn't turn around fast enough, I would of knocked you off your paws; like this!" Without a warning, Icestar lunged at his apprentice and easily knocked her over by grappling around her legs with his forepaws, kicking her over before she could give a reaction.

"I wasn't ready!" she gasped, standing back up quickly.

Icestar snarled. "I'm a DarkClan warrior ready to attack camp!" he threatened. "What will you do?"

Amberpaw snarled back at him and charged. She swiped at him clumsily, still shocked at this sudden challenge, and he dodged her easily, being the more skilled fighter. Immediately, Icestar leaped over Amberpaw and landed by her rear, swiftly turning around and chomping onto her tail.

Amberpaw screeched. "Yeow!"

Icestar purred. "Your reaction was not fast enough, either." He padded back to face her. "You are a superb fighter, Amberpaw, you really are. Your skills in strength are excellent, and you are very smart." Amberpaw's face lit up with pride. "But you are not fast enough."

"I'm working on it!" she mewed. "Really!"

"I believe you, but that's not good enough." He sat down. "This move is not used on cats for a reason; this is because badgers are slow and cats are fast. It's not always successful on cats because they're much quicker than what is needed. So before this move, you must work on speed."

"Speed," Amberpaw murmured. "How do I work on speed?"

Icestar leaped from his spot and pinned her down, and she gasped with surprise. "Like this," he said. "You need to be able to have fast reflex."

"Stop unexpectedly attacking me like that!" she exclaimed, pushing Icestar off. "That's completely not fair."

"It would be fair if I were a DarkClan cat, though, huh?" he asked.

She shrugged. "How do I work on speed?"

"You'll be as fast as me when you are able to pin me down without me using reflex back on you," he explained. "I may be stronger, but your smaller size can make you quicker. Use that to your advantage, that's how CloudClan cats fight."

Amberpaw stared at him. "I'll try . . ." He nodded with approval, and suddenly, without a warning, Amberpaw landed a blow into Icestar's cheek with unsheathed claws, but he shoved her away, getting into a fighting position. "I got a blow on you!" she cheered.

"Sheathe your claws, Amberpaw," Icestar said with a warning meow. A tiny droplet of blood trickled down his face.

"Oh my StarClan, are you alright?" she asked, examining his scratch. "I didn't hurt you or anything?"

"No." He licked his paw and cleaned the cut, wiping the blood off. "It's fine." The snow was burying Amberpaw's and Icestar's legs. "We should move up into the trees. There'll be more cover under the twigs," he suggested. "And practicing battle moves on a branch can help with balance."

"Okay!" Amberpaw said, gripping an oak tree to climb upwards. The branches above looked sturdy enough to hold the both of them—Amberpaw chose a good spot. He followed his apprentice up the tree, making sure that she wouldn't fall downward because her claws were still not as sharp and developed as Icestar's.

I wish I let Silverleaf come with us, he thought as he followed his apprentice up the tree. I feel like I overreacted. Besides, he would of loved having Silverleaf clean the cut that Amberpaw gave him. He loved it when she groomed his fur.

Amberpaw reached a good enough branch that was right under the cover of twigs, just like he requested. It was a perfect spot. Silverleaf would of wanted to see this, too. The view was amazing; the forest was blanketed in thick pure white snow, making the naked oak trees and distant pine trees beautiful. He wondered if he would have a daughter. Snowkit is a nice name, he thought.

Suddenly, Amberpaw leaped over Icestar and swiftly flipped around before he could react, pretending to slash his nose. "There, I got you!" she gasped.

"Good job," Icestar purred. He got up, balancing himself on the thick branch. "Next, you're going to have to learn something harder."

"What is that?" Amberpaw asked with curiosity and excitement.

He looked down at her. "When you're leaping, turn your back legs, and while turning, rake your claws on the enemy's back."

"That does sound difficult," she murmured.

He nodded. "Exactly. Now let's get working on it, we're going to have a long morning."

* * *

A day passed, and Icestar already decided who he was going to take to the gathering earlier that day. Yesterday, when he came back during sunhigh, he was exhausted with Amberpaw after training too much, but he left right after settling Amberpaw down and checking on Silverleaf before going go on a hunting patrol near DarkClan. Everyone thought he was mouse-brained since he was already wasted.

Today, though, his muscles ached after the previous day's worth of exercise, plus the additional two border patrols he had done that day, and the one hunting patrol he went on with his apprentice.

He lead his Clan to the Gathering, anxious about what was going to happen. He reluctantly decided to take Silverleaf along with them because she reasoned with him that this would be her last gathering for a few moons, and he also took Blackpaw and Goldenpaw, leaving a tired Amberpaw out. Most of the warriors accompanied him, and of course he took Ashtail, since he was deputy.

Icestar was nervous about taking a confident amount of warriors with him. What if Dewstar decides to attack the camp while I am at the gathering? he thought. Something bad is bound to happen, I know it! Maybe I should of left Silverleaf behind.

A familiar presence padded up right beside him. It was Flameheart. "Icestar," the warrior whispered. "Is something wrong? You look very tense."

He knew that he couldn't tell the truth. "Well, it's my first gathering as a leader, and . . ." Icestar trailed off, not knowing how to support his excuse.

"You never get nervous from these kinds of things." Flameheart always noticed the little things. "Are you fearful of Dewstar?"

Icestar sighed. "A bit." He knew deep down that he had more than a bit of fear of his brother. His fear was the size of the five Clans combined.

"Don't worry," reassured Flameheart. "We will all be there for you, so DarkClan will definitely not try anything stupid." He paused. "Besides, we have the other four Clans to back us up."

"We didn't have their backup last time," Icestar muttered bitterly. "Every other leader just thought that they should abandon us there while we dealt with our own problem."

He kept on leading every cat through MoonClan's territory. He was close to exiting the borders. The dark snow was barely visible from the lack of light, but the moon provided enough for Icestar to see ahead. His paws felt cold from being in the cold for too long.

Flameheart looked confident in the dark light. Icestar could make out his bright amber eyes easily. "Don't stress about things that are yet to happen. It's not good for any of us, especially you."

Icestar gave his best face. "Thanks, Flameheart. I'll try."

"We're all noticing how you're changing," Flameheart added more quietly. "You're showing a darker part of yourself . . ."

Icestar tried not to let those words make him even more scared. Am I becoming . . . dark?

"We're almost there," he said, trying to change the topic. He didn't want to add another stressful thing to his feelings and thoughts. This makes me worry of the prophecy. What if I am the darkness that was never meant to be? Ridiculous! I already know the answer to that! I shouldn't put these thoughts in my head.

Finally, they were there after a few more minutes of walking. Icestar padded close to Silverleaf. "Please avoid any of DarkClan's warriors," he whispered in her ear.

"I wasn't planning on sticking close to them anyway," she whispered back. "Don't worry about me."

She padded on ahead, and Icestar trotted back to the front of the group. He lead them into the gathering place. Last moon when he was here, it was him as deputy and Brightstar as leader. But now everything felt different. He looked up. StreamClan and DarkClan were the only two Clans here. He glanced at his brother, Dewstar, and unease prickled at his paws.

He watched his Clan file out into the gathering place away from DarkClan's warriors. Icestar went to his own place, the leader's rock, and climbed right onto it.

Lakestar dipped his head in greeting, curiously gleaming in his eyes. "It's nice to see you, Icetail. Where's Brightstar?"

"I don't go by Icetail anymore. Brightstar lost her final life a few nights ago, so now I am Icestar," he explained sadly, trying to keep his head high. This was not a time to grieve for his leader. He must remember her with pride and love.

"We honor your previous leader's death, and welcome you as her successor," meowed the StreamClan leader.

"Thank you."

Dewstar met Icestar's gaze. "A leader now, huh?" the white warrior asked. "I never expected that out of you." He flicked his tail. "Yet alone, never a good warrior."

Icestar felt a little annoyed. "You were never there while I was a warrior," he spat. "You never were."

"I believe we were made warriors together," Dewstar hissed. "You never were a good warrior when I was with you. MoonClan is full of a bunch of weaklings."

A few MoonClan cats spat with outrage. "You're a traitor and a coward, Dewstar!" Crowflight yowled.

"Well, good to see that you're happy with your new Clan," Icestar growled. "Stay out of my Clan's business and don't you dare try anything with us!"

Dewstar opened his mouth to make a retort, but Lakestar stood between the two abruptly. "This is a gathering," he meowed angrily. "There shall be no fighting between us. We'll displease StarClan!"

"Like those fools actually watch us," Dewstar muttered, sitting back.

Lakestar didn't say anything after that, and neither did Icestar. He doesn't want to believe in StarClan anymore, Icestar thought. Is that it? Can a cat stray this far from where he came from?

Finally, Swiftstar arrived into the gathering, followed shortly after by Stonestar. Lakestar was the cat to address that the gathering should begin.

"I will start the gathering," meowed StreamClan's leader. Icestar glanced at the tom. "Our river, thankfully, has not frozen up even though this leaf-bare is cold. The fish are enough for our Clan and we're doing great. We've also had a new apprentice, Soulpaw."

"Soulpaw! Soulpaw!" almost every cat changed. Some remained silent and in the shadows, huddling together from the cold.

"Leafbare has also been quiet. StreamClan is thankful that we have StarClan watching us." Lakestar sat down. "I am finished. Swiftstar, would you like to go next?"

Swiftstar nodded. "Gladly." He sat up, and glanced down to the Clans. Icestar remembered that he had just recently visited Swiftstar just days ago. "To start off, CloudClan has been well. We've been defending our borders smoothly from every cat that acts to trespass." He gave a glance at Dewstar.

The DarkClan leader just snorted, and Icestar watched silently. That was an obvious threat, he thought.

"And like StreamClan, our prey is plentiful even with the snow coming down on our moors," Swiftstar announced. "We also have a new queen in the nursery; Windcloud. She is expecting Greenheart's kits."

Icestar purred to himself, recalling the two warriors. He wondered how they were doing; they obviously weren't here, he couldn't see them anywhere in the gathering place.

"There is also bad news. We still have been finding cats trespassing into our territory," he growled. "I think we all know who they are."

"DarkClan cats," growled a MoonClan warrior. It sounded like Fireshade.

"Shh," Ashtail abruptly hushed.

A couple DarkClan warriors shifted uncomfortably, and others were obviously aggravated. Dewstar glanced at his cats as if secretly telling them to settle down, as if he wanted to hide that it was him who was crossing the borders even though every cat knew he didn't respect boundaries. After all, he did say he wanted to take over the Clans—Icestar was not surprised that Dewstar felt the obligation to cross other's territories. Anger flared up inside of him from that thought.

"That concludes this moon's report of CloudClan's conditions." Swiftstar turned to look at Icestar. "Would you like to go next? I'm sure you have some important news."

Icestar nodded. "I do have news," he spoke up, his voice strong. A few cats looked confused, and he heard some asking where Brightstar was. "Just days ago, a DarkClan patrol killed off our leader, Brightstar," he announced. A few cats gasped, some weren't surprised. Icestar felt the grief for his leader return, and Dewstar's hard gaze fell upon Icestar.

"It was not DarkClan's fault. We merely had a border skirmish, and accidents happen!" Dewstar spat. "And I especially am not responsible, I wasn't there!"

Icestar snorted. "A border skirmish," he muttered. Brightstar died of a much nobler and sadder death than a border skirmish. "Don't interrupt me, Dewstar. It's my turn." He looked back down at everyone. "I received my nine lives and I am now renamed as Icestar, leader of MoonClan."

"Icestar! Icestar!" almost every cat chanted.

When the chanted died down, Icestar continued. "We also have a new queen," he said. He didn't want to share this news, but he knew that it was only fair. If Silverleaf didn't turn up in the gathering for over six moons, they're bound to know something happened. "Silverleaf just recently moved to the nursery."

A few cats looked at her. She seemed to be uncomfortable with the extra attention.

"And to finish, our prey supply is fine enough for our survival. We are doing well." He sat down, and wrapped his tail around his paws, indicating the he was done. Icestar met Silverleaf's eyes, and he noticed that she could easily tell his emotions. Flameheart's eyes flickered with approval as well, and some of his cats seemed pleased.

He glared at Dewstar now. His brother's eyes were dark as he gazed down at the Clans.

The MarshClan leader stood up this time. Stonestar stared down proudly. "I will go next, if Dewstar does not object."

"Go ahead," Dewstar muttered coldly.

Stonestar nodded with approval. "Good, and I'll start off with a warning. Just recently, we found a fox den with three grown foxes living inside. They're most likely going to stay here for leaf-bare if they think that our prey is worth stealing." She looked at the Clan leaders. "I suggest that everyone should keep a look out just in case these foxes cross their borders."

"Thank you," Swiftstar said. Icestar also mumbled his thanks.

"Also, we have been doing well. Since leaf-bare began, prey has been hiding under the rocky plains in our territory, and we can easily catch them. Our Clan is thriving well enough for this leaf-bare, and soon, we'll have apprentices being made into warriors as soon as they pass their assessments." Stonestar's face swelled with pride. "That concludes my report."

MarshClan's lucky. They have it easy . . . no trouble with DarkClan, enough prey to support the whole Clan, Icestar thought. StarClan, please help MoonClan as well!

"It's my turn," Dewstar meowed, his voice booming over the cluster of cats. "DarkClan . . . has been doing well. Prey is plentiful for my Clan and snow barely covers our forest grounds due to the many amounts of trees we have."

He looked all around slowly. Icestar felt intimidated. "My warriors and apprentices are also training hard . . . harder than they ever have before for this rough leaf-bare," he went on. "And that's not the only reason. We are training harder than ever because we are declaring war." His gaze hardened. "That's right, war."

"War on who?" demanded Lakestar.

Dewstar looked over to the StreamClan leader. "Don't worry, I am not going to declare war on you, Lakestar. Not yet. I am re-declaring it on MoonClan, our oldest enemy."

Icestar's heart pounded faster. Why in the name of StarClan would Dewstar want to announce such a thing? he thought.

Dewstar stood taller, and looked right at the cats of MoonClan. "Both Brightstar and Sandstar are dead. Their battle was long over. This new battle belongs to me and my brother, Icestar."