I'm sorry for it being so late. Honestly I meant for this to have come out a lot earlier but then school happened and the story slipped to the side as I got back into the groove of things. I'll hopefully be posting more regularly now. To make up for everything, I have written a massive and long chapter for you to enjoy!

This chapter is dedicated to @Tigerheart because of his help to motivate me to finish this chapter and continue writing. Big shoutout to him! :)

~Blaze

Chapter 5

Ninety Days. Frostfire mused. Ninety days of us sitting here on this territory, helping these cats. Ninety days since the Clans were destroyed and all of us were left homeless with only our faith in StarClan to guide us.

A small part of her, a deeply cynical and angry part, longed to curse the sky once more. Was their faith misplaced? The rebel intention was never a mass genocide of the Fighters. They had never wanted to kill everyone, kits and apprentices included. Just because the kit's mothers were fighters didn't mean that those young minds had been corrupted yet. They had wanted to rid the Clans of the leaders and the strongest, most ruthless and crazed cats. Not this.

So did StarClan deserve their everlasting faith and loyalty? They had clearly gone behind their backs, using the Clan mentality of 'trust StarClan' to get the cats that they wanted to live out of the camp while letting the rest simply die. Frostfire herself had spoken to the cat, remembered his straight face and ernest speech as he convinced them to leave their friends and family to die.

I know they were evil! I know they loved to kill. But they were mine! My family, my mother and sister and father that I'll never get to see again. Frostfire cried out in her mind.

When she had discovered what had happened all those days ago, her breakdown had been severe. Her friends and the Bast's cats had excused it because of her vision, because she had seen the fighting and the death where they could only imagine what had happened. Frostfire said nothing to suggest otherwise, more than satisfied with their conclusion. All she knew and remembered was the icy hot anger and anguish that had filled her mind and soul.

She knew that there was nothing that she could do about the deaths, and throwing a tantrum at StarClan would not change anything. So she used her anger as fuel, as a new ambition to help these cats establish themselves in this territory and to find a better solution to their new problem of being homeless.

So far the Clan cats and Bast's cats were working well with one another. They fell in line seamlessly, obeying the orders of Frostfire and Bast equally. The two aforementioned leaders spent much of their free time strategizing against the rogues and about how to expand and maintain larger territories. The presence of the Clan cats gave them just enough manpower to spread over the territory and perform border patrols while still having plenty of cats hunt and train apprentices.

Frostfire had discovered the lack of hierarchy and organization within Bast's cats very quickly, and noticed Bast's interest in the Clan ideology. They spent many a sunhigh discussing the origins of these ideas and how they affected Clan life. Now they had moved to a different topic- why the Clan cats had been so murderous when their supposed Warrior Code seemed against that sort of brutality.

"Before we talk about this I just want you to remember that much of what I'm about to say is theoretical. The fighting started long before I was born, and I've had the opportunity to go against that thinking so I haven't truly been swayed by something like that myself." Frostfire told Bast. The two she-cats were walking through the territory, observing the borders. No other cats were accompanying them.

"That is fine. I'd like to hear your opinion and experiences as a cat who was against the thoughts the entire time. It will help us figure out why the Fighters were so destructive in the first place." Bast replied. Frostfire agreed.

"From what I can recall the fighting has occurred because the Clans all believe in three things. One, they all think that they are special and deserve the most territory. Two, they refuse to show this outright, instead broadcasting that the other Clans have either wronged them in some ridiculous way or that they have 'such a large Clan that they need more territory to sustain their cats' when all the Clans are roundabout equal size. Three, They are stupid, stubborn, and gullible and believe everything their parents and forebears have told them."

Bast nodded thoughtfully. "Yes I did assume that that was the case. After all much of the evil within anything will come from stupidity and the gullible assumption that most beings have. Regardless, I know that your cats are very much sane and not violent like the old Clans. Now I would like to discuss something more with you." She waited for Frostfire to nod.

"I have realized that our groups can benefit greatly from each other. I think I can confidently say that this time that we've been together, our groups have flourished in a way that they haven't been able to before. Apart, we are too few in number. But together, we have a very large amount of territory that we have all been properly trained to defend."

Frostfire was ecstatic that Bast was bringing this up. The white she-cat had been meaning to speak about the possibility of the Clan cats remaining with and helping the rogues. Maybe her dreams were coming true right now.

"I'd like to propose a deal to you. I'd like your cats to remain here with mine. We both benefit from the additional manpower, you get a new, safe place for your cats to stay and I get a permanent solution to my rogue problem. The territory will be able to feed all of our cats and if not we can expand much more than where we are right now. What do you say?"

Frostfire had been brought up in the art of deception, told to always look for tricks and to never ever betray too much interest in something that she wanted, least they raise their price. She could hear her mother telling her to haggle, to pretend that her group wasn't really in trouble, that they could find someplace else and to possibly trick Bast into giving a better deal- maybe getting her in a better leadership position or something equally ambitious.

Frostfire had always hated those lessons in trickery.

"Deal. That sounds like a wonderful idea." Frostfire said earnestly. She wasn't worried about asking the others. This was something that would definitely benefit every cat and make every cat happy. Also they had given her this leadership so that she could make decisions like this, not for her to be their mouthpiece.

"No discussion with your Clanmates?" Bast purred teasingly. Frostfire swatted her with her tail.

"Very funny, but I do really think that they will agree with me on this one. It's logical. And I can tell you that we have never been happier here." Frostfire felt lighter than she had in days. The problem of where her Clan would live had just been solved in a few quick minutes, and the best part of the deal is that no cat had to move anywhere. They were already living as one and no cat had even been close to considering leaving the area.

"Frostfire! Hey, Frostfire!" A familiar deep voice called out from behind the two she-cats. "Frostfire are you finished with your border patrol yet? I'd like to speak to you about something." The she-cats turned and saw Talonheart, Frostfire's new mate.

After her vision Frostfire had been comforted by Talonheart, who had been the only cat able to approach her during her mental breakdown. Their relationship had greatly blossomed from there, and now they were closer than ever before.

"What did you need, Talonheart?" Frostfire asked. He skidded to a halt in front of them.

"Remember how we were talking the other day about revisiting the old territory to see the damage and look for possible signs of life? I was thinking that today was a good idea." Talonheart said. Had he been any less fit, he would have been panting from his run. Frostfire could see how damp his pelt was from running.

"Sure! We're right about done here, right Bast?" Frostfire asked her friend. She shrugged, waving her tail unconcernedly.

"Go right ahead. I'll be fine on my own. It'll be good for you to take cats over there anyway. It'll be more proof to show your Clan why my proposal is so good and why you'd be silly to disagree." Bast said, slinking off before Talonheart could say anything.

"What was that about?" He said with an edge to his voice. Frostfire pressed against his side as they began walking towards the camp.

"Nothing important. Just Bast being Bast." Frostfire shrugged.

"That was rather rude, don't you think? She sounded very presumptuous. 'You'd be silly to disagree'. Ha! You need to prove yourself before we agree mindlessly with what you say. Do you take that from her every day? Don't let her do that." Talonheart said. Frostfire blinked.

"Whoa! Calm down! Talonheart it's ok. She was joking!" She reassured. Talonheart still looked unconvinced.

"Are you sure she isn't bothering you? She hasn't forced you to agree to any mousebrained ideas, has she?" Frostfire smothered a bout of giggles at his concern.

"Of course not, Talonheart. Her proposal made perfect sense and actually benefitted us greatly. She asked us to stay on the territory. We'd all share it together. We just need to figure out boundaries and leadership." Frostfire said. She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Besides, I've been taught better than to just roll over and take something that a cat tells me. Do you think I'd just let her insult and control me?" She teased. It was enough for him to start stumbling over himself squaking out excuses.

"I'm joking Talonheart. Sheesh, relax." Frostfire murrowed. "You're so stiff." She wasn't expecting the comment to affect him badly, and was surprised when he tensed and his ears flattened against his head.

"Well I'm used to taking everything seriously, aren't I. In the old camp everything was serious. And if I even pretended to joke about something, I'd risk death. I'm sorry for being unable to shake the habit that used to save my life." He said.

The rest of the walk to camp was silent, their conversation now covered with an awkward tension. Frostfire was too uncomfortable to break the silence, and Talonheart didn't seem to be in the mood to speak further.

When they neared the camp entrance they saw Lightwatcher and Pineleg waiting outside of the tunnel, tails flicking impatiently.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Pineleg said, bounding impatiently towards them. Lightwatcher, the more intuitive of the two, flattened her ears nervously as she saw their stiff gaits.

"Is everything alright? Has something happened? You both look miserable." She asked. Frostfire spoke a few moments later, breaking the awkward silence.

"We're alright. Just a little... we just had an argument. Nothing for you to concern yourself over." To Frostfire's surprise, Lightwatcher actually perked up.

"A lover's spat? No no, I'll never interfere with that. Come on Pineleg, lets lead the way." She giggled before forcing Pineleg towards their old territory. Frostfire was left staring at her friend in bemusement. Their fights made her happy?

But she had no time to actually catch up to ask, because Talonheart had already started walking. Suddenly he moved in her path, standing in front of her as Frostfire tried to continue forward.

"What?" She asked when he continued to stare at her.

"An argument? Really? Is that what we're calling that?" He sounded angry, and Frostfire couldn't understand why.

"What would you call it?" She asked. His eyes grew oddly stormy.

"A misunderstanding. One that I thought wasn't bad at all. Why would you call it an argument?" He looked seriously troubled at what she had said.

"I'm sorry Talonheart. I couldn't think of another word for it. Did it really bother you that much? Other mates argue, right? It's not that big of a deal." He stiffened at her words.

"It is that big of a deal. To me, at least. After all I started it. I took offense to your comment. You didn't even do anything!" His voice got deeper from aggravation. Frostfire became even more confused.

"Talonheart I'm sorry that what I said made you so upset. I can see that I hit a nerve, and you had every right to get angry. I know full well how you've been treated and how you have had to act, and I've had to act that way as well so I really shouldn't have said anything in the first place."

Talonheart stared at her. "But why would you call it an argument? It's such a negative word. We just had a discussion where awkward things were said. We felt awkward and weren't talking, we never fought." Frostfire nodded in agreement. She didn't think they had fought either.

"I couldn't think of a word for it so I just said that. It's much easier to explain." She said. She walked up to him and nuzzled his face with hers. "We are going to clash like this a lot. It's just in our nature because we were taught to be like that." She commented ruefully.

Talonheart steered them forward and they began walking once more to catch up to Lightwatcher and Pineleg. "We are going to say things that hurt each other. And when we get to the old territories we will also feel ragged and memories of our loved ones will drive us mad. But it's ok. We will work through it."

Frostfire let out a little purr before they separated a bit more to walk faster. Their sides still touched and she still felt strung out, but somehow they had talked it out. She could understand why he had reacted the way he did, but she couldn't remember how they had started their quarrel later on. One stray comment had set him off? He must have been really stressed.

She shrugged to herself and forced her mind onto other things like their old territories as they caught up to the whispering Pineleg and Lightwatcher.

"What are you two talking about?" Frostfire asked. Lightwatcher stuck out her tongue like an immature kit.

"How silly you two are." She teased. But Frostfire could see the shine in her eyes and how they flashed back to Pineleg. It was a good thing that their Clans were all one group now, or they might have had problems being together.

"Come on. Lets just go." Frostfire said instead.

~~~~~~~~

Warm yellow light from the rising dawn shone upon Frostfire's pelt and made it's usually white color shine golden. She shivered in appreciation when she felt the light chase the night chill from her bones.

Frostfire and her friends had left in early morning the previous day in preparation for the day's journey and as they had planned it was now morning the next day. As they were all healthy warriors, the trip took significantly less time then the original had, and after only one rest stop they found themselves nearing their old territories.

Or what was left of them.

It was clear that they were getting close when Lightwatcher, who was dancing around and trying her best to keep the mood up, tripped over a rock. It was smooth, black, and shiny and they would not have noticed it if she hadn't tripped as it's color blended with the night shadows.

They continued on carefully from that point, observing as the ground before them had more and more shiny black rock covering the grass. It became hard to navigate and soon they were stepping almost exclusively on the shiny rock, which they soon learned was also slippery when mostly flat. Talonheart had his paws swept out ungracefully beneath him when he had moved faster then a light stroll, the scene leaving Frostfire curled up and gasping for breath as she laughed at his, for once, undignified state.

Now they were walking with the new dawn arising on the sky and trying to determine where exactly their territories had laid. They had just started through a tree-less area when Lightwatcher suddenly paused and looked around.

"That pile!" She said, springing forward. To Frostfire, the area Lightwatcher was heading towards looked the same as all the rest- evenly covered in molten rock and lacking any growth or green plants. But her SwiftClan friend peered carefully at the dip in the ground and reached out a paw to poke at a particularly lumpy spot of ground.

To their surprise it collapsed in on itself, the rock falling as something beneath it shifted and left nothing to support the heavy stone. Frostfire tilted her head in confusion even as Lightwatcher perked her ears.

"This is SwiftClan territory." She stated confidently. "We had many traps set up to catch cats around our territory. They were designed to trap cats in concealed holes in our territory so that we could keep prisoners and maybe interrogate any intruders. They were also pretty good for catching prey."

Frostfire was suitably impressed. The thought of SwiftClan having pits all over their land concealed so that any non-SwiftClan cat wouldn't be able to find them was genius. She was curious about how they retrieved cats from their traps, but the look on Lightwatchers face made her hold her tongue.

"This is the type of trap we would set very close to the territory. If it's so thoroughly covered, what is the camp going to look like?" She whispered. The air was filled with a thick, sorrowful tension and every bit of previous humor was lost. Frostfire, who had seen part of the destruction in her vision, was certain that StarClan had managed to cover every bit of territory with flame and lava. There wouldn't be any survivors, or any place left unscathed.

She tactfully kept her mouth shut and continued walking with her friends. Every cat watched with tredaptation as Lightwatcher ran from place to place, recalling landmarks that only a SwiftClan cat would know. When she finally stopped and dropped to the ground, it was Pineleg who ran forward to curl around her and comfort her. The grief in the air was palpable, and Frostfire watched as Lightwatcher's body began to violently tremble.

It was enough.

Frostfire backed up, turning and searching for the nearest grove of dead trees, eyes moving wildly side by side as she looked for where TreeClan territory might have began. Talonheart, looking away from Lightwatcher's hysterical form, was at her side in an instant and asking what was wrong.

Frostfire heard herself spitting out excuses to Talonheart, longing to convince him to give her space. Her head felt full, her body heavy and tense even as she wanted to sprint towards what looked like trees in front of her and investigate the remains of her home. Her throat tightened as she turned to him.

"Let me go look. Give me some time. I need to see this alone." That stopped him. He carefully examined her face before nodding once, briefly.

"If you aren't back by sundown I'm coming to look for you."

In that moment Frostfire knew that he was going to be a wonderful mate. He clearly understood that she needed space and wanted to see the aftermath of her own nightmarish vision on her own. He was also ready to support her when she needed it. Frostfire was sure that by sundown she would definitely need it.

She licked his cheek and rubbed his face for a moment in thanks. When he nudged her, she took off without looking back, running straight towards what was clearly the remains of trees on the territory.

She wandered through the dead grove, taking in the leafless trunks covered in molten rock and the remains of what she knew used to be beautiful growth. Much of the previously thick grass was no more, covered instead with layers and layers of the thick black rock. She knew that most of the tree trunks had lasted only from sheer will- they had been around for so long that a simple fire would not move them as easily as it would like.

Frostfire paused in front of a familiar looking area. The trees separated and formed a long tunnel that she instinctively knew would lead to the previously sandy hollow that they used to practice battle moves. Frostfire found herself following the footsteps she had walked only ninety days prior. Had it really been that long ago? The whole experience, the days before that time, all felt like a horrible dream, a devastating reality that could have occurred a day ago. Flashes of the fire appeared in her mind, clear enough that they could have been a memory of moments ago, and she had to close her eyes to make them disappear to allow herself to focus once more.

As she approached the nearest trunk she saw the biggest tell. The lower half of what used to be beautiful large trees still remained, and though they were covered in the rock she could still see part of the burned exposed bark. Frostfire used her claws to pick off a smaller piece of rock and revealed a large scratch in the bark. It was long and deep and obviously cat made, and Frostfire knew that if she exposed the bark of the other trees here she would find similar scratches. They were left for apprentices as a reference point when they were led into random parts of the forest and told to find their way to either the training hollow or camp.

Frostfire spent the next few moments jumping her way over rock and half melted trunk remains before her feet finally hit black rock that sunk into the floor and shifted as she moved. The ash was thicker here, and instead of rock the sand was mixed with large amounts of black and gray powder. Frostfire resisted the urge to sneeze violently. This was definitely the training hollow.

She searched briefly but quickly determined that the hollow was empty. Any ... corpses must be in the camp. She moved on, noticing more and more landmarks until finally she found the surprisingly preserved tunnel entrance of the camp. The surrounding plants were burned and part of the tunnel was charred, but much of it's original shape had survived.

She slipped through one of the gaps in the thorny barrier and padded into the camp. To her surprise much of the integrity of the camp walls was strong. The thorny barriers, created millennia ago by the first ThornClan cats, had been spared a lot of the fire and lava. Though there was puce everywhere, lots of the camp still guarded the sanctity of those that had passed on, and the general camp structure was still evident.

Frostfire stared around in abject horror, observing suspicious lumps under some rock that could possibly be her Clanmates. She wandered towards the remains of the Warrior's den, noticing how that area was lacking in lumps. Of course- the Warriors had been fighting to a crazed death during the explosion. She assumed that they had left the nursing queens and elders to fend for themselves.

The white she-cat wandered over the next few dens, avoiding the elder's den and the nursery. Both were areas that she didn't want to think about at all. She didn't want to think about any of this, any of the destruction and death. It had been much easier when she was avoiding the thoughts, living in Bast's land and starting a new life.

Now looking back on the past made her want to vomit, and she almost did at the thought of her sister's body, but she shook her head and marched forward until finally she was standing in front of the leader's den. After a few seconds of deliberation, she walked right in.

This area was part of the camp that had ended up suspiciously clean. There was nothing more than ashes and debris, and she was able to stroll to the back where a surprisingly clean and fresh looking lossy nest lay. She looked at it, lost in a wave of anger before marching back out to the center of the camp.

"Why did you do this? StarClan, why would you condemn so many of us to die?" She yelled at the sky, her anger returning in full force. To let off steam, she jumped over a fallen tree and ran across the other side of the camp to the one place that she hadn't checked yet. The medicine cat den.

"Why did you have to kill them all? Why was I the one that you chose to leave this burden upon? What did I do, of all cats, to get stuck with this leadership?" She murmured to herself, looking at the thick whiteish gray ash covering the rocks in the medicine cat den.

"Give me a sign, Falconstar. Tell me how I can lead these cats!" Frostfire called out, lifting her head to face the sky. It was StarClan that started this, and it would be StarClan who helped her and the rest of her Clanmates to get through this. Even if she had to find a moonpool to yell at him face to face.

But how would he be able to help her now?

"Good luck with that! They never respond to our pleas, and they never have!" An eerily familiar voice snorted behind her. Frostfire whirled around, teeth bared and eyes narrowed furiously. She was ready to rip a hole in whoever had followed her into her Clan's sanctuary.

Then she saw his golden pelt and tired but sharp eyes and her breath stopped.

"Hawkstar? They sent you? Of all the cats that were available, they sent you to help me?" She gasped. Hawkstar's jaw dropped open even as Frostfire dropped her threatening stance and relaxed into a sitting position.

"You can see me?" He asked, stunned. Frostfire nodded, taking in his ethereal state and how his paws floated a mousetail off of the ground. His body glowed just like Falconstar's did, a fact that relieved her to no end. The thought of Hawkstar somehow still being alive caused her skin to crawl and her fur to stand on end.

"Well? What are you doing here? How can you help me?" She prompted. She watched as he didn't respond for a moment, lost in his own thoughts as he took her in. To her surprise, he padded closer to her and settled down on the ashy floor beside her. Or, well, just above it. His fur blew realistically in the wind and for a moment it was easy for her to remember him as alive and stern, speaking to the Clan and rallying them up with his strong, confident attitude and spirit.

"I think StarClan is giving me a chance to explain something to you. You're also the first cat I've spoken to in half a moon, so I'm taking this chance for what it is..." He began. She settled down beside him, forgetting for the moment that there would be others looking for her soon. She wanted very much to listen to him speak, needing the point of view of one of the four crazy leaders of the bloodbath.

Hawkstar spoke for hours, describing the events of the battle and other moments leading up to it. Frostfire appropriately questioned everything, watching him with fascination. He even had to stop his speech for a moment when she swiped a paw through the air around him with the excuse of wanting to see how ghostly he truly was. ('You look different from Falconstar did when he visited me. More... dirty, I think' she said, to which he responded with a low growl.)

"So now I'm stuck here, trying to figure out how to help you. So what is your problem, and how can I help you fix it?" He asked. Frostfire didn't answer, having looked up at that moment to catch the eye of Talonheart, who was running quickly towards her. She opened her mouth, prepared to come to Hawkstar's defense, when Talonheart stopped directly in front of her, sparing no glance towards the shining tom beside her.

"Frostfire, are you ok? You've been sitting here for a long time." Talonheart said. Frostfire was quick to get to her paws and nuzzle him, even though her brain wasn't focusing on him at all. Why couldn't Talonheart see Hawkstar? All cats who visited the moonpool could see StarClan cats. He should be able to see his former leader sitting beside her.

"Hey, thanks for coming to check up on me. I'll come back with you in a moment. There's... there is something that I have to do first." He licked her head and nodded, padding to the entrance of the camp. Beside her, Hawkstar got to his paws and fell into step beside her as they both slowly walked towards the center of the camp.

"I just want you to know that I have successfully shaken off the Dark Forest influence. I don't know about the rest of our cats and how they are faring, but right before I died I felt something strange inside me, and when I woke up I felt lighter than I ever have. At first I thought it was just because I was dead, but now I know it was just... my release." Hawkstar told her. Frostfire took a leaf from Bast's book and spent a few seconds thinking before she finally responded.

"To answer your question, Hawkstar, my biggest problem right now is finding out some more background information on the Dark Forest, and learning about what is happening to all of the dead cats in StarClan. I've managed to secure a location for the Clans to stay, but I need to know how to deal with future Dark Forest attacks. And maybe rogues." She said.

Frostfire couldn't help but believe the honesty of this tom whom she had been raised to see as a father figure. He was certainly different now, and there was a spark in his eyes that made her very willing to believe him.

To her immense surprise, Hawkstar did something that she had never seen him do. He purred, face lighting up in a pleased, self-satisfied look.

"I think I can help you with that." He said.