Chapter 11

Blazestar was springing towards her, claws unsheathed, fury in his eyes. In a flash of terror, Aspenpaw had only one thought.

The Light! She had been trying to summon it ever since the rogue, Fang, had made his mousebrained kidnapping attempt. Now, the world seemed to slow down, as Blazestar's claws whistled through the air.

Aspenpaw could feel the untapped energy, flowing through her veins like a wild beast desperate to escape. Now, she finally had the strength, the energy, the desperation to let it free.

A screech split the air.

Aspenpaw barely had time to register that it had come from her own jaws, before sudden power began to coarse through her body, and out towards Blazestar.

She had to dig her claws into the ground to stop herself from tumbling backwards. As the power left her, she turned towards Blazestar. His amber eyes widened with shock, before all of a sudden he was blown backwards.

In fact, the entire world seemed to be flying away from her.

The power within Aspenpaw's body made her yowl. It blazed through her, unlike anything she had ever seen or expected. It was black, it was fierce, it was deadly.

Then, the power became too much for her body to bear, and Aspenpaw crumpled to the ground, and let the darkness claim her once more.

"They say the whole idea of powers is kinda mousebrained."

Aspenpaw blinked open her eyes.

It was warm, and sunlight dappled the ground. Oak trees stood protectively above her, the leaves giving a kind of welcoming shade. As Aspenpaw stared straight ahead, she saw two young toms, curled up underneath a particularly formidable oak.

The ginger one yawned. "Yeah," he meowed drowsily. "Well, I mean, ShadowClan's always been weird and traditional like that. I'm so excited when I'll be able to shoot light everywhere!"

The dark grey cat smiled slightly. He was scrawny, with tattered ears, with a wary sort of look, as though he never truly let his guard down. As the ginger cat stared down at him, he said.

"Well, I suppose all that light and glory's in your name, right? Blazepaw of DawnClan."

"Just like night and darkness is in your name," Blazepaw purred, rolling onto his back. "I don't see why you can't have some evil power!"

The grey tabby winced slightly. But when he replied, his voice was light. "I think it would be cool to be able to protect my clan even better. Powers do that really good."

Aspenpaw wasn't really paying any attention to the little grey tom, and what he was saying. All her attention was fixed on Blazepaw. The closer she looked at him, his twitching whiskers, his confident tone, she was convinced she was looking at a younger version of her clan leader.

What did I do to him?

The thought was enough to jar the memory, because suddenly Aspenpaw found herself falling into yet another one.

She was on the gathering island.

Aspenpaw turned, expecting to see Blazestar, but instead she saw the odd grey tabby, green eyes glowing as he rested in the shadows.

He looked older, and there were more scars on his face, back and tail. His eyes were narrowed slightly as he shifted his weight from one forepaw to the other. Aspenpaw saw a sort of black steam rising off of them.

So he got his power, the she-cat rolled her eyes. Now show me Blazestar!

Almost as soon as she had had that thought, Aspenpaw saw three other young cats settled together, a little ways away from the rest of the gathering warriors. Blazestar was there, purring in amusement.

"You should've seen the way I clawed that ShadowClan deputy's haunches! He wailed like a wittle kitty."

A small dark grey she-cat laughed. "Oh, you're so strong, Blazefang. I think we've got the next clan deputy sitting among us, haven't we, Lightsong?"

Lightsong!

Aspenpaw's heart leaped for joy at the thought of seeing her mother. At the same time, the cat she was beside snarled, expression unreadable.

"Oh, yeah, coolest cat around, Blazefang."

She stared at him for several moments. It looked as though part of him wanted to smile at Blazefang, but the other part wanted to claw him to shreds.

"Oh, come on!" Aspenpaw's heart leaped as she heard Lightsong's voice, so melodic and strong. She tilted her head, waiting for the she-cat to continue. "That's your best friend's clan you're talking about."

Blazefang tilted his head to one side, grinning. "Ah, but Dusky isn't here, is he now?"

The cat in the shadows waggled their haunches, and pounced.

Aspenpaw wanted to cry out in warning for Blazefang, but the ginger cat purred as the scrawny, scarred dark grey tabby bowled him to the ground. Aspenpaw turned to her mother, and saw a warm glow in her amber eyes.

So these are my mother's friends...

The scene shifted.

Aspenpaw turned, desperate to see Lightsong or Blazestar, but her heart plummeted once more when she saw the scarred dark grey tom, with narrowed green eyes.

He was padding across a pine forest, eyes narrowed, sniffing the air. There were more scars across his flank, and one year was torn half-off. He prowled towards the oak trees.

Aspenpaw wanted to snap at him, to tell him that he should stay on ShadowClan land.

The dark grey tom stopped in front of a tree. With a jolt, Aspenpaw remembered it as the same one where he had lain as an apprentice with Blazestar.

A heartbeat later, there was rustling in the trees above. Aspenpaw gasped as a cat descended from them. The scrawny tom dodged out of the way before Blazestar could fall on top of him.

"Hello, Blazefang," he inclined his head, eyes narrowed.

"Duskwood," Blazefang's eyes glinted in the shadows. "How've you been? Since our little..." his eyes twinkled, "scuffle."

For a moment, Duskwood didn't respond. Aspenpaw watched his green eyes narrow further. Then, he exhaled.

"It wasn't a scuffle and you know it."

Blazefang looked away.

Aspenpaw suddenly remembered this cat... Duskwood... from Blazestar's yowling the day before the gathering. Had he hurt her clan leader? Aspenpaw didn't like the looks of him, his scars, his scrawny frame, the fact that he was ShadowClan.

"Well, you obviously came here," Blazefang remarked when the silence grew too long. "How come? Want to hunt together?"

"You killed our deputy."

Blazefang looked disconcerted. Then, he replied calmly, "Silverstar's orders. He's been training me for deputyship. Very rigorous training, Duskwood. I risked a lot to meet you here today." He sighed. "It's tough being so powerful. It's good to have a friend like you."

Duskwood stifferend. "What do you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"You've always said it. You've been saying it to me all your life."

Blazefang blinked in confusion. Duskwood was trembling, though by fury or grief, or complete exhaustion, Aspenpaw couldn't tell. Then, realisation hit Blazefang.

"Oh! You mean about me becoming deputy?" He padded closer, reaching out his tail to brush Duskwood's back, but the tom leaped away. Blazefang continued. "Sorry if you're jealous; it's not your fault you have someJust because you have...weaknesses..."

"Do you want to know who Stonestar made deputy then?"

Blazefang shrugged. "A harder cat to kill for next time?"

Suddenly, Duskwood lunged towards Blazefang. Quick as a snake, he pinned Blazefang up against the tree the two cats had lounged against all those moons ago. Duskwood relaxed his grip, and Blazefang fell back.

Then, the tom slashed at the bark of the tree above Blazestar's head.

Aspenpaw noticed two pawmarks baked into the wood that the slash now divided. Duskwood leaped back as Blazefang got to his paws.

"Hey!" the ginger tom growled.

Duskwood had already turned away. "In answer to your question, Blazefang," he turned back to stare at the ginger tom. "He chose me."

Aspenpaw watched as Duskwood raced away. The sound of his paws stopped, and she thought she could hear a cat whimpering. She turned, expecting it to be Blazestar, but the ginger tom had heaved himself to his paws, and was strutting away.

Then, Aspenpaw received one, final memory.

One, last, astonishing memory that would change the way she saw the world.

Aspenpaw wasn't surprised to see Duskwood once more. The grey tom's eyes were narrowed as he padded silently through the undergrowth, following a steady stream of cats away from the gathering island. They all clustered together, fear, hunger, and anger in their eyes.

"Wait!"

A soft hiss split the crisp night air. Aspenpaw saw Duskwood flick his ears up, before turning to a hulking calico she-cat.

"I have some business, Stonestar," he said to the cat. "I'll meet you back at camp."

She inclined her head, "very well."

Aspenpaw watched, head tilted slightly as the ShadowClan warriors continued their journey into the darkness, back towards their home. Duskwood waited until all the cats had disappeared, before whirling about to face the undergrowth.

"Alright," his mew was weary, like that of an elder, though he had the features of a young warrior. "You three can come out now."

Aspenpaw's heart flipped in her chest as Lightsong slipped out of the undergrowth. She admired her mother's soft, flowing fur, her tufted ears, her bright ginger pelt. Duskwood stared at her.

"Where are they?"

Lightsong didn't meet his eyes. "Blazefang and Thistleheart... they didn't want to come."

"Oh." Duskwood shifted uneasily. "I guess it's over then," his eyes flashed. "And to think I was foolish enough to fall for their fleapelted lies!"

Lightsong winced. "Silverstar's been really scary lately... You haven't seen what he's been doing to us, to our clan."

Duskwood said nothing. He still had accusations in his eyes. "So why did you come, then? Want to rub in your latest victory?"

"You know that's not why I'm here." Lightsong stared at Duskwood. "I still want to create unity in the clans, like we talked about when we were 'paws. I still want to be with you."

Aspenpaw suddenly didn't want to hear anymore. The look in Lightsong's eyes made her sick. She realised that she'd stumbled to her paws.

The apprentice didn't wait to hear Duskwood's reply.

She turned tail and ran, thoughts jumbling in her head. No! Lightsong didn't... I'm not...

Aspenpaw found herself running through even more jarring scenes, each one of them making her want to screech at the stars.

A horrific battle. Duskwood, blood splattering his pelt staring down at a limp calico. The moonpool. A screeching match with Blazestar and the little grey she-cat. Lightsong, gesturing at her belly while Duskwood yowled. Then, the gathering.

Duskwood, taunting Blazestar. He was mad, he was ready to kill him.

The aftermath. Duskwood running, blood pouring out of his wounds. Sinking into the darkness.

Then, Lightsong was beside him, and the two of them were running. Towards the mountains, away from the clans.

Running away from her,

their daughter.