Leafpool laid her tail on Squirreflights shoulders, pressing her pelt comfortingly against her sisters. She knew the pain that she was going through. It was like Brambleclaw had died. Or not, it was something far worse than that.
  “StarClan help us.” The tabby medicine cat whispered into the night, lifting her pretty head to the sky. No StarClan warriors watched over them tonight, only the glaring eye of the moon, blushing white against the black sky.
  “StarClan have abandoned us.” Squirrelflight snarled suddenly, green eyes flashing as she shrugged of Leafpool’s tail. Leafpool bit her lip, but didn’t argue. A small voice inside her seemed wonder if the ginger warrior might be right.
  “We must be strong though. StarClan or no StarClan.” A new voice spoke up, and Leafpool glanced across Thunder-LionClan camp to see Ashfur padding towards them. The speckled grey tom’s fur was stained with blood, and his blue eyes were still flashing with anger. He had managed to get himself into a fight with Tornear, again.
  “You’ll be with StarClan sooner then you think if you don’t take it easy on that leg.” Leafpool growled. To her annoyance the grey warrior only rolled his eyes. He bounded forward and sat down by Squirrelflight. Leafpool knew that he would be working harder than ever to get Squirrelflight, especially now that it looked like Bramblestar’s relationship with the flame colored warrior was over.  
  “Lets go hunting.” Squirrelflight suggested, scrambling to her paws.
  “Sure.” Ashfur replied enthusiastically. Squirrelflight gave a weak purr, and turned to bound out the camp entrance. But she ran head first into Bramblestar, who was just padding into camp. His tabby pelt rippled with strength, amber eyes glowing with power.
  “Oh. Sorry, Bramblestar. I didn’t see you their.” Squirrelflight mewed. Her voice sounded as though she were about to let out a guttural snarl, the way it always did when she spoke to the LionClan leader.
  “No problem.” Bramblestar replied, staring coldly at Ashfur, who had skidded to a halt beside Squirrelflight. “Hunting, I suppose?”
  “Yes. Now if you don’t mind, we must get going. Whitetail and Ferncloud’s kits will be here soon. LionClan needs fresh warriors.” Ashfur growled. “Come on Squirrelflight.” He added, nudging her with his nose.
  “See ‘ya later, Leafpool.” Squirrelflight mewed, then brushed past Bramblestar and into the forest beyond. ThunderClan’s old forest. Now LionClan’s hunting grounds, shared by the remnants of WindClan and ThunderClan. Brmablestar had betrayed them all. After he had succeeded Firestar as leader, his seemingly good willed nature turned. He and Hawkfrost had partnered up, and together (along with their friends, I’ll explain later.) over through the Clans. They forced WindClan and ShadowClan to join them and in so doing, created LionClan and TigerClan.
  Brambleclaw nodded once to Leafpool, his eyes watching something behind her. Barkface was mewing something urgently to Tornear, LionClans new deputy. Tornear gestured to Bramblestar to come. The tabby leader bounded forward to the medicine cat and deputy. LionClan now had two medicine cats, Leafpool and Barkface. Leafpool decided that she didn’t really want to know what the former WindClan cats wanted to tell Bramblestar and tuned to pad back to her den.
  The tabby medicine cat curled up in her nest, tucking her nose under her tail. A shiver ran through her, though the sun shone brilliantly outside. Her amber eyes flickered shut and the pretty medicine cat fell into a haunted dream.
  Voices cried out around her, begging her to help them.
  “How do I help you? What do you want from me?” she whispered, shrieking as a bloody paw reached out from the shadows of an unfamiliar forest, claws unsheathed as they sliced through her fur, narrowly missing her skin. Blood pooled from the sky, and suddenly two huge amber eyes blinked open in the night skys. Bloodlust glowed in them, and an angry laughter filled the air. Leafpool knew that the amber eyes didn’t belong to Bramblestar, but their was something familiar about them. Tigerstar,  she realized with a jolt of horror. No reply came from the darkness, and leaf pool felt a fresh wave of fear overwhelmed her. She turned and tried to run into the forest, but her paws were caught in the sticky blood and tumbling forward she went. Shivers of fear crept down her tail. Leafpool closed her eyes, trying to block out the fears. A touch on her shoulder woke her. Opening her eyes, she expected to see the worried blue gaze of Barkface, but instead she met proud green ones. The nightmarish scenes were gone, replaced by the warm winds of StarClan’s forest.
  “Firestar! You haven’t abandoned me! Oh, father!” Leafpool cried, surging to her paws. She wound herself around her father, pressing her nose into his star-stained fiery fur.  
  “No, dear one. I will never abandon you.” Firestar purred, taking a step away from his daughter. “But you must be strong. StarClan have no intention of letting ThunderClan be forgotten as SkyClan once was.”
  “SkyClan? What is that….?” Leafpool asked, confused.
  “Nothing, nothing. For now, I must tell you before I go.” Firestar held up his tail for Leafpool to be patient and wait for her to finish. “Your kin’s paws will be stained with the blood of Brmablestar. But justice is not all they seek. You must be careful, Leafpool! Guard your Clan well, and do not be blinded to what lies before you. Now, others wish to speak with you.” Leafpool pushed aside the hazy thoughts of Firestar’s warning, and glanced behind him. A pale star pelted warrior had stepped forward, followed by an amber eyed calico cat.
  “Sandstorm! Spottedleaf.” Leafpool gasped, leaping forward.
  “Oh how I’ve missed you, my kit.” Sandstorm whispered, rubbing her cheek along Leafpool’s. Sandstorm had been killed by a WindClan warrior. Leafpool knew that the pale ginger she-cat would rather die than live without her mate, Firestar.
  “And I you.” Leafpool replied.
  “Might I step in?” Spottedleaf asked softly. Leafpool glanced up to meet Spottedleaf’s eyes, and for a moment the tabby she-cat though that she might have seen jealously flickering in the dappled StarClan warrior’s eyes. But it finished the moment Leafpool suspected it.
  “Or course.” Sandstorm murmured, leaning forward to lick Leafpool’s ear. “But you must know Leafpool. I am so proud of you, and am always watching over you.” With that, the StarClan stepped back to let Spottedleaf step forward.
  “Leafpool. Time is short. Your waking world is to be disturbed soon.” Spottedleaf’s amber eyes held a hint of worry. “You must know this! Bramblestar is not of complete evil. You look at him and see a shadow of Tigerstar. But learn to look from the heart! Good luck.” She brushed her pelt against  Leafpool, then back away, to stand next to Firestar and Sandstorm.
  “Good luck! StarClan are always with you, my kit.” Sandstorm called. Leafpool bounded forward towards them, not wanted to loose the ones she loved. But the ghostly cats had already faded away, and Leafpool managed to catch a vanishing scent of them on the breeze. But then they were gone, and a new voice was calling to her.
  “Leafpool? Leafpool are you all right?” A familiar voice called, jerking the medicine cat back to reality. The she-cat leapt to her paws, nearly crashing to into the lean, grey form of Crowfeather.
  “Great StarClan, Leafpool! Is something wrong?” He asked, not bothering to try to hide anxiety.
  “No of course not.” Leafpool lied, realizing that her fur was fluffed out, amber eyes stretched wide with fear. Crowfeather’s blue eyes narrowed, but he didn’t speak.
  “Err, is their something I can get for you?” Leafpool asked, feeling a new worry stretch across her paws.
  “Yes, there is.”
  Leafpool waited, but Crowfeather said nothing more. He only stared into her eyes, seeming to search them for that one feeling Leafpool had learned to hide so well.
  “And?” She asked softly.
  “I have a thorn in my paw.” Crowfeather mewed, sticking out his paw.  Leafpool couldn’t help but let out a soft purr.
  “Again? Did you get into another fight with the thorn bush?” she asked.
  “No. But it got into a fight with me.” H replied. His eyes never left her as she bent to look at his paw. She felt self that familiar sense of self-consciousness that she always felt when she was near him, which had become quite often now that they were in the same clan.
  “Their. All better.” Leafpool purred sitting up, only to discover that Crowfeather had managed to wedge himself even closer to her. A shiver ran through her. “Crowfeather…. You can’t, we can’t…..” She trailed off, holding her breath as the grey tom leaned forward to brush his muzzle along hers.
  “We don’t need to do anything! Leafpool, this could work. We’re in the same clan. No one would ever notice! Can’t you at least give this a chance?” his voice held a desperate quality that leaf pool had never heard in him before.
  “I….don’t know. Crowfeather, this didn’t work before! What makes you think it will work now?”
  “The fact that we are in the same Clan!”
  “Let me think?” Leafpool asked quietly. She knew that sooner or later she would have to make that decision again. Crowfeather or the path of StaClan? It wasn’t a choice any cat could make for her, though staring into Crowfeathers blue eyes, that was hard to believe.
   “Tell me when you’ve made your decision.” Crowfeather mewed, backing away. “I know you still love me, Leafpool.” he added, almost proudly.
  “I never stopped.”
  “Thank you.” He whispered, then vanished, leaving Leafpool to stare longingly after him.