Only 12 days after! Not bad, right! My new writing ideal is working perfectly! There aren't too many chapters left, so sit back and enjoy my sudden writing influx!

~Blaze

Chapter 6

Frostfire settled into her nest, welcoming it's soft, feathery warmth with open paws. She was ecstatic to finally be home, and ready to rest off both the emotional exhaustion and the physical exertion of the week.

They had returned home in record time (Frostfire was pleased to be able to call it home, especially as she had never had one of those before) and brought the bad news to their Clanmates. The white she-cat had felt the sympathetic stares from many of the Clan cats as well as a few imaginative rogues who couldn't help but feel sorry for her and the fact that she had witnessed such an attack. She had been approached by a few brave ThornClan cats (and even a few RockClan cats) who wanted to know if she remembered anything specific, had seen something that could confirm or deny the loss of Clanmates.

She told each and every one of them the truth- her vision had been focused on the leaders, the ones who had started the whole fight and who had been under the Dark Forest influence the longest of all the Clan cats. She hadn't gotten any more than a few glimpses of random, indescribable forms fighting and a lot of blood and gore. And flame. Always the lava that came back to her in nightmares and horrors that kept her awake and her mind unable to silence.

As such it was with relief and exhaustion that she settled into her nest, with foreboding for the night horror that she was sure to experience and with longing to just sleep for one day with peaceful dreams. But her tired body settled unnaturally quickly and the lure of her nest was too strong. She felt herself being dragged into a deep sleep, deeper than that of her normal dreams.

"Are you not ashamed of what you have done?" A voice rang over the forest. Frostfire padded carefully and calmly through the bracken, admiring the bright healthy green of the leaves brushing against her fur. Her paws were silent, as there were no fallen or dead leaves and sticks on the ground.

"Do you not feel some sort of remorse?" The same loud feminine voice continued. Frostfire followed the sound smoothly until she was standing in front of the beautiful, natural remains of a deep brown and gray tree trunk that blocked her view of the voice and whatever lay beyond the area that she was in.

Her feet moved mechanically yet smoothly around the log, taking a path that she had never trod but instinctively knew. She stopped in front of a large tree with odd, large, flat leaves that she was able to easily push aside. The view that was exposed to her was enough no knock control back into her mind, but not enough to allow her to move.

Frostfire was trapped in place, and she had a feeling that she knew who was behind it. She didn't even truly mind, for the sight of that spotted she cat that she had seen moments before her Rebel cats had left the Clan territory sent shivers of relief and interest through her body.

"Of course you don't. You don't feel remorse and never did feel remorse." She spat towards the cats in front of her. Cats, who upon having attention swung towards them, made Frostfire's eyes widen in disbelief.

Clan cats; leaders, deputies, warriors, and elders alike lined the clearing, cats from all four Clans from times long gone filled the area, with their eyes all focused on one set thing- the imposing, powerful cat who stood on a boulder above them. Frostfire didn't know her name but was quickly realizing the power this she-cat held.

"You consciously made every incriminating action within your Clan, killed every cat and followed orders unquestioningly, and for what? For your own sick, sadistic pleasure?" The sneer that she threw down at the listening cats had some bowing their heads in shame, unable to hold her accusing gaze. One brave (or mouse brained) tom looked right back at her. He was a Warrior of SwiftClan, if his lean body proved any insight.

"Spottedstar, we were meerly following the orders of our leaders, just as the Warrior Code demands. Who are we to ignore the will of our leaders?" The silver tongued tom defended, with a face masked in innocence. A few cats around him nodded in agreement, eyes filled with poorly masked hatred. Whether that hatred was directed towards Spottedstar, Frostfire didn't know.

"Silence!" She hissed loudly, causing even Frostfire to flinch back. "How DARE you attempt to justify your actions.You knew how wrong the fighting was. Does the Warrior code not say to avoid killing your enemies? I'm sure you've all ignored that aspect of it, and stopped teaching it to the kits whom you have grown to be killers." Spottedstar paused and jumped down from the rock. She padded forward until she stood large and intimidating in front of the tom.

"There were in fact a few cats who were able to follow the true Warrior Code. I'm sure you noticed all the cats that vanished from your Clans two nights before the volcano erupted. They knew that the killing was wrong, and they made moves to stop it. As such, they survived."

The surrounding cats began to murmur, their hissing voices betraying their ire.

"Some cats lived? Some silly, weak cats who are too afraid to kill others?"

"There were Rebels in our Clans? So that's where some cats would dissapear to every night!"

"I can pretend to hate killing too. Why didn't I survive?"

"Is that why Frostfire isn't with us now? I haven't seen Talonheart here either."

The last audible murmur almost allowed Frostfire to break free of her bonds. She strained her ears and scanned the crowds in front of her until her eyes finally fell upon the familiar black pelt of her sister, located closer to the back of the crowd. Next to her was her mother's white pelt, and her father's scruffy black fur.

Now that she looked, Frostfire could see the shapes of tons of ThornClan cats, her old Clanmates and cats who she recognized from the other Clans. They were mixed with many older StarClan cats, but the youngest of the cats were closer to the back with her. Only the leaders were sitting directly in front of Spottedstar.

Frostfire's eyes narrowed as she scanned the crowd again. If all of the Clan cats were here, then why couldn't she see Volestripe? His flea-bitten, scarred back was very distinctive, and she remembered it clearly from constant cleanings and applications of mouse-bile on the angry elder.

"It is not so hard to stand up for what is right. Mentioning the Warrior Code is nothing more than an excuse, especially since you stopped following it a long time ago." Spottedstar continued, snapping Frostfire from her musings. "We had cats stand up for StarClan and take their beliefs to heart, and their good hearts allowed for many of us StarClan cats to shrug the Dark Forest influence off of us."

Her words seemed to confuse the crowd, who stirred once more. Frostfire however, felt like she had gotten hit by a monster. That was why some cats acted so different from others! They must have some sort of block against the Dark Forest.

"What are you talking about? This is StarClan! The Dark Forest could never come here to influence you." The same impertinent Warrior said. Spottedstar chuckled darkly, eyes falling upon him once more.

"I didn't say that, did I? No, we were all under influence of the Dark Forest's mind manipulations from a long, long time ago, when my ancestors were alive and forming the Clan's. The Dark Forest managed to infiltrate the minds of every leader and Warrior there, and we were all too weak-minded to stop it. They have been controlling our minds, both on the ground and in the skies, for a very long time, until now." Spottedstar said. Frostfire felt a strange twist in her stomach, realizing where this conversation was going.

"I do not deny that I was one of those under the influence. But when those few kits started to think differently, started crying when being told of murder rather than looking gleeful, their spirit raised mine and a few others, and we began shaking off the Dark Forest influence. Together, we worked to get more and more cats free from the Darkness." Spottedstar said.

Spottedstar weaved her way through the crowd, confusing many cats until she stopped directly in front of... Icepelt? Frostfire's head would have tilted if she could move. What business did Spottedstar have with Frostfire's mother?

"It's rather ironic, you know. You, Icepelt, such a strong fighting she-cat, one of the best that ThornClan has ever seen, gave birth to two very different kits. One, little Fernstripe, who looks completely different from you in every way, ended up just like you. But Frostfire, who is practically a carbon copy of you, managed to become totally different." Spottedstar's eyes turned to Fernstripe and stayed there, taking the black she-cat in.

"It was Frostfire who provided the much-needed link between ThornClan and the rest, did you know that? Your Clan, who portrays themselves as the "all holy" good Clan, were the hardest to get in line. SwiftClan was surprisingly the easiest. When Frostfire approached Lightwatcher so many moons ago as an apprentice, she was the one to finally get the ball rolling." Spottedstar said. Frostfire felt a strange warmth fill her up at the sound, feeling both bashful and pleased at the attention.

"Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to make me feel sad? Dissapointed in my daughter, maybe?" Icepelt said. Her voice was calm, with no evidence of what she was truly feeling. Frostfire never wished to see her mother's face so much than in that moment.

To Frostfire's surprise, Spottedstar reared back in dismay. "Dissapointed? Why would I want you to be dissapointed in your daughter? I told you that so that you could be proud. She started a Rebellion! She was a vital component in saving all of you! From your own minds, nevertheless, which is in itself an even better feat. You should be ecstatic!" Spottedstar praised. Frostfire held her breath, waiting for Icepelt's response.

The white she-cat didn't respond, and after a few moments Frostfire became worried, but Spottedstar's face suddenly softened and she leaned in close and whispered something in Icepelt's ear. The she-cat nodded, nudged Shadowfur and Fernstripe, and when Spottedstar headed back to her earlier perch, they followed and were escorted from the hollow by a silvery-blue she-cat.

"Where are they going?" The black and white tom spoke up. Spottedstar shot him another glare.

"She has seen the error of her ways, unlike you, Gorsefoot. She and her family are going for treatment. Many of the cats from this clearing will be following her, but some, like you, will need a bit more to change."

Gorsefoot hissed and hunched, his shoulders coming up above his head in a clearly defensive move. "What are you going to do? Hurt us until we agree with you?" He asked.

Spottedstar laughed. "It's thoughts like that that prove to me that you need more time. No, we will simply keep you all isolated, away from cured cats, and we'll try to talk you out of it slowly. Perhaps some time away from places where the Dark Forest can infiltrate your minds will help. I mean, you made it here, which means there is something left to save. I'm sure you've noticed some of the older cats and many elders missing from here. They ended up in the Dark Forest on that night, and won't ever be coming back."

Many cats, Frostfire included, gasped loudly. That was where Volestripe had gone! He was truly evil enough to have gone directly to the Dark Forest? She scanned the clearing with a new eye, noticing suddenly that though it seemed like a lot, this was supposed to be a gathering of many generations of dead cats. Tons of cats had died between Spottedstar's reign and her birth, but there were not many here. That meant that they were all in the Dark Forest, filling the ranks of evil cats by the dozen.

Frostfire closed her eyes briefly in dismay, unwilling to believe it. The prospect of such an evil force having so many cats scared her. The Dark Forest must have been depleting StarClan of it's forces for a long time, and that in itself was dangerous. How would she and her Clanmates fight against a force of dead cats? Especially if it was a force of cats that used to be their friends.

"No matter what happens, just remember that StarClan is strong, and will always be stronger than the Dark Forest. No matter how many cats they have, we don't have to worry. All you need to do is shake off whatever dark thoughts still fill your minds." Spottedstar reassured, seeing the reactions across the clearing.

"What makes you think that talking is going to work? Especially on some of these leaders, who are the ones who taught us to be evil in the first place!" A ginger she-cat in the crowd asked. Spottdstar waved her tail in dismissal.

"I have a lot of faith in this plan, and we have back up plans for cats who prefer action to words. One such cat, Hawkstar, is already well on his way to redemption. Right now he travels with Frostfire and her Clan cats and will do his best to assist her in forming the Clans. You can discuss with us later if you would prefer to do something like that, but it is a difficult thing to arrange. Hawkstar was a very special case, as he managed to shake off a lot of the black thoughts just before he died."

Spottedstar's explanation brought thoughtful looks to many cat's faces. Frostfire was pleased to see how many in the clearing looked eager to shake off the Dark Forest influence, to clear their minds and bring their own personalities back to life. It filled her with hope that her old (and new) Clanmates were not simply pre-destined for evil or evil, destuctive thoughts. She bowed her head, eyes closed for just a moment.

Then her eyes snapped open and her head jerked up. Her body wiggled and she jumped, realizing that she could move once more, and she danced around for a brief moment, enjoying the feel of independent movement.

Frostfire then took the next moment to actually look around and noticed that she had been moved to a different area. Instead of the pretty forest she was in before, she was in a lush grassland that was filled with stalks that grew almost as high as her chest. As a result she couldn't see very well. It didn't, however, prevent her from seeing the familiar brown tabby shape heading towards her.

Falconstar brought up many different emotions inside her. Frostfire was sure that he was an instigator of the volcano idea, if not the actual cat who made the idea. That meant that he was also one of the cats who decided that Frostfire and the Rebels could live, but Frostfire's family could not. That didn't sit well with her.

But at the same time, he was the tom who had been constantly helping her, and showing her visions of what had happened so that the Clans could understand. Frostfire didn't know why he wasn't showing the medicine cats these visions, but she didn't mind either way.

Falconstar finally stopped in front of her, grass blowing in the breeze and brushing against his body in a way that made him seem alive. Frostfire stood and waited for him to speak, unwilling to be the one to instigate conversation.

"I hope Spottedstar's speech was enlightening for you. It certainly looked to be helping the other cats here." He began. Frostfire took a second to appreciate his blunt personality and appreciated how he skipped the formalities. "I wasn't really supposed to let you see that." He added during her silence.

Frostfire's ears pricked. Really? "So was letting me see that meant as a gesture of apology, or did you have an alternate idea for it?" She didn't mean to attack him directly, but the fire in her belly and the thought of her family in StarClan made something fierce erupt within her.

Falconstar sighed and dropped his head, glancing long and hard at the ground. When he lifted his head, Frostfire saw that his eyes were full of regret.

"I want you to know that I was initially not in favor of the volcano. I was voting for you and your friends to gain enough members to do a rebellion. Spottedstar quickly showed me how silly that idea was. After all, it would take you many moons to gather enough followers to overthrow one Clan, and how would you convert the battle-crazed remains of the rebellion? It was a futile task."

"Why did you have to destroy them? Was there no other way? I never wished death upon any of them, no matter how crazed they were!" Frostfire wailed. Falconstar took the step towards her and fixed her with a hard stare.

"In giving them the freedom of death we gave them an opportunity to live. They can be cured here! You know they would have never changed their ways had they continued living. But here in StarClan we can fix them, and they can be with one another until you all come to join them. You have only lost them for a little while, after all. You can see them again."

Frostfire chose not to respond immediately, averting her eyes. "True as that may be, they are still not here with me, and I still will grieve for the loss." She murmured. Falconstar nodded to her.

"I never said that you can't grieve. I just want you to remember that you will see them again." He said softly.

They spent a few moments standing together in silence before Falconstar sighed again. He looked up at her, eyes lighter than before.

"We need to discuss your plans with the Clans. The rogues ended up being a wonderful idea, and we now have enough cats for two Clans. However, we need to focus on strengthening the bonds between StarClan and the cats below. Evidently, even the medicine cats are able to be corrupted and they were the only cats to visit StarClan more than once, or not at all."

Frostfire's eyes narrowed as she thought. "Well the first step should be having a rule that every medicine cat needs to visit the Moonstone repeatedly. Ane they should all visit together, so we can know if all the medicine cats actually go." Falconstar nodded.

"I also believe that the Clans should maintain steady contact and conversation beyond border patrols. What we need is a system to have the Clan's interact periodically. More social connection will help each Clan to keep the others of sound mind. I'd rather have you fight over borders and prey-stealing then fighting for no reason at all." He mused.

Frostfire's eyes suddenly lit up. "Why not have the Clans meet up every moon? I will have to talk to Bast about it, but I think we can all just choose a night to meet. How about the full moon? Every full moon the leader of the Clan must take a few cats, apprentices included, to meet up somewhere so we can discuss what happened in the last moon. I just need to find somewhere to do it!" Frostfire crowed eagerly.

Falconstar nodded in approval. "That's a good idea actually. Full moons are always a set time that no cat can say that they forget. I trust that you'll find a good spot for these... Gatherings." Frostfire liked how the name sounded. It implied a willingness to meet and greet the other Clans.

"I'll ask Hawkstar for any ideas. He's been around long enough that he must have found something."

"I have to go. You can continue sleeping, you need more rest after that journey." He said out of the blue.

"What? Wait!" She cried out. Frostfire looked up from the ground to see that Falconstar had disappeared. "Falconstar? Where are you?" She asked nervously. Everything was silent for a moment, until suddenly she felt a shift in the atmosphere around her. The forest was becoming darker and darker by the second. A strange rushing filled her ears, and in the distance the sound of screaming began.

Frostfire found herself standing on a rock, the lone safe spot in a sea of molten lava. All around her cats were yowling, pulled through the tide and burning as she stared. One black, unrecognizable corpse latched it's claws into the bottom of her rock and pulled himself up a little bit.

"Help us! We need your help! Why aren't you helping us?" It rasped.

"Save us!" Another voice called out.

"Do something! We're Dying!"

The blackened cat suddenly changed form, becoming a soot covered, severely injured Fernstripe.

"Help us, Frostfire. Why aren't you helping us?" Her sister begged, legs engulfed in flame. Beside her, Frostfire's mother appeared, her beautiful white pelt leaden with molten rock.

"You just stared back and watched us die. What kind of cat are you? What kind of leader does that make you?" Icepelt said.

"You think you're so high and mighty. But really, you're no different then Hawkstar and Yewstar." Fernstripe hissed.

"Maybe you should go for therapy too. Maybe if you did, you wouldn't have left your family to die." Icepelt's voice was filled with scorn. Even as she slowly disintegrated, she stared Frostfire down with an ire that she hadn't ever seen directed at her.

The wind picked up, swirling faster and faster, pieces of ash, rock, and sparks flying around and circling Frostfire until all she could see was a thick, smoky fog.

Coughing, she looked down to protect her face and saw with horror that the lava had picked up and was slowly devouring the rock that she was standing on. Her body was heating up quickly, and she felt as though her pelt was on fire.

As the lava rose just enough to lick threateningly at her feet, she heard something calling her. Her vision tunneled once more as yells once more reached her ears. But these were... concerned?

"Frostfire!" One loud call echoed in her head, filling her ears with a roaring sound and her vision with a bright white light. She vanished just as the lava touched her right paw.