A yowl broke the quiet night. "Wake up! They're here!"

Riverstorm awoke with a jolt, and when he looked up, he was staring into the fear-filled eyes of Dawn.

"Gather the cats! The rogues are coming!" Crow shrieked, following her mate into the den.

"How do you know?" Riverstorm asked, his voice still full of sleep.

"We were hunting for our kits!" Crow meowed hurriedly.

"And then we saw them!" Dawn finished.

"You're supposed to be hunting for the Clan, not just your kits!" Riverstorm meowed.

Dawn sighed "Sorry, bad habit-"

"We don't have time for this!" Crow yelled. "They're coming, you need to be ready."

"Fine, but not too many cats, these rogues are weak," Riverstorm stated, and rushing to his paws, looked around for cats to take. Cats had started to stir at their heated argument.

"Not anymore, they destroyed Ivy's Clan and camp, and some of them joined, but all the others were killed!" Dawn mewed, rushing behind the deputy.

"What!" Riverstorm meowed, trying to keep panic from his voice. "Crow, we'll go wake up the other cats. Dawn, go wake Ashstar, when you're done with that, get the kits and apprentices to safety."

Crow spun around and began to wake cats, but Dawn stuck by Riverstorm.

"Frostpaw can fight, as well as his siblings! I'll stick by them!" Dawn protested.

"No," Riverstorm replied firmly. "I don't care if your kits can fly, they aren't going against cats until they are older. We can't afford to lose them, I know that it would kill you and Crow."

"Fine," Dawn mewed and rushed off to warn Ashstar.

Riverstorm spun around and joined Crow, giving each sleeping cat a push to wake them up. It might be their only chance to have kits, we can't lose 'em. Also Frostpaw sounds like a great fighter, we can't spare him! He thought.

"What's going on?" Stormheart murmured, her mouth stretching open in a yawn.

"Rouges are coming, we need to get outside and ready to fight."

As if on cue, Stormheart got to her paws and ran to Smokefern, who was flexing her claws outside the medicine den.

"Wait, are you going to fight?" Riverstorm asked her

"Yes!" Smokefern mewed, and Hollyleaf ran over to them rapidly, and took her spot beside her sister.

Simultaneously the two she-cats began to twinkle. Stars shone like miniature suns in their pelts. Hollyleaf started to fade into her surroundings until she was swift as a shadow. Ashstar and Riverstorm watched as Smokefern glowed even brighter, causing them to look away as the light grew blinding.

"StarClan has blessed them with powers!" Ashstar exclaimed. "They are the ones in the phrophecy!"

Suddenly cats started pouring into the camp, their teeth bared and ears flat. SilverClan was ready for them, creating a wall of cats standing shoulder to shoulder.

"Where are your kits?" Riverstorm whispered to Dawn.

"Hidden," Dawn replied as she lunged at a solid black she-cat. "That's for Ivy!" the calico yowled as she scratched at the black cat's belly.

The black she-cat cried out, but rolled over, so that her underbelly was covered. She pounced on Dawn and pierced her claws into the calico's back. Dawn threw her off, and bit at the rouge's neck.

The she-cat shrieked in pain and ran into the woods.

Riverstorm had barely any time to celebrate, when Shadow, the rogue they had met before pounced.

The tom had caught Riverstorm off guard and easily pinned the deputy to the ground.

"You're a wretched cat!" Shadow yowled as he tried to claw Riverstorm's belly.

Riverstorm used the tom's rage to distract him, and used his back legs to push Shadow off. The grey and black tom spat and lunged at Riverstorm again. This time, Riverstorm was ready, he jumped in the air and landed on Shadow's back. While on the tom's back Riverstorm looked around. He could see a cat lunging at Smokefern, who jumped into the air and balanced on a floating circle. The grey tabby tom that was attacking her tried to jump up with her, but promptly fell and hit his head. Riverstorm could also see Hollyleaf merged into view and pounce on an unsuspecting rogue.

"Having a fun look around?" Shadow sneered, dropping Riverstorm from his back. The two cats pinned each other down and were submerged into a flurry of claws and fur. All Riverstorm could remember was giving a lucky blow to Shadow's belly and sending the rogue crippling to the ground in pain. Riverstorm had then sucked in a painful breath and bit at the tom's neck, ending his life the same way he had to his brother.

Out of habit, Riverstorm could feel his head bowing and his mouth whispering the words, "May he rest in StarClan."

No cat deserves death, Riverstorm said to himself, and went off to the next rogue.

The rest of the fighting had gone by in a blur, some cats put up a fight and others just ran away. As Riverstorm limped towards the next rogue he heard a loud gasp. Every cat, SilverClan or rouge stared at where it had come from. All the fighting had stopped and they all looked with wonder to the center of Camp.

"I know you!" Feathershine called to Scar.

Riverstorm ran up to the SilverClan she-cat. "How do you know her?"

"Look closely!" Feathershine replied.

"I don't-" Riverstorm started, but gasped when he recognized the she-cat.

"You!" Feathershine growled. "Come here!"

Scar lowered her head and walked up to the warrior.

"Scar is such a horrible name, you should have changed it to something prettier." Feathershine teased.

Riverstorm smirked as he realized what Feathershine was doing. "So this is where you've been all this time?" he asked.

"My baby, you haven't been eating well," Feathershine cooed to Scar. "Look at those ribs, all of your warriors seem well fed! But tell me, have you found a mate?"

"Yeah," Scar replied quietly, trying not to draw any attention to herself.

"Make sure he's handsome, you don't want ugly kits," Feathershine warned.

"Mooom!" Scar mewed. "You're embarrassing me in front of my warriors!"

Feathershine took a step back in mock disappointment. "So a mother can't check up on her kit?" she asked.

"It's not that just-" Scar meowed before she was interrupted by Ashstar.

"Who is this?" the tabbly leader growled.

"Can't you see?" Riverstorm asked.

Ashstar tilted her head and then gasped. "Moonlight!"

Scar nodded her head. "It's me."

Somewhere out in the crowd of cats, a she-cat called out. "Coward! You had to change your whole identity in order to face your Clan!"

"Yeah," another voice shouted out. "Even Dawn and Crow didn't hide themselves!"

"Who's that?" Scar asked.

"Two SilverClan she-cats that fell in love, the Clan kicked them out because of this but they came back on their own terms," Feathershine explained.

"Oh," Scar stared at her paws and took a deep breath. "I can't do this. NightClan, Retreat! We'll be back, but for now, I can't fight my mother."

Scar turned around and walked to the exit. "Shadow, at my flank!" she called, flicking her tail expectantly.

"Shadow!" the she-cat called again. When nothing happened, Scar turned on her heel, noticing it, and ran to Shadow's body, which was laying at the side of the camp.

"You killed my loyal warrior!" she hissed, raking the cats with her gaze. "We'll be back, you can count on it." With that she raced away, her remaining followers running after her.

Riverstorm gazed around the camp. Dens were destroyed, and the ground was strewn with fur and blood. SilverClan cats lay wounded on the ground, laying in pools of crimson red blood. The rocks surrounding the fresh-kill pile were thrown all over the place, and the prey was inedible. The medicine den remained intact, but the elder's den had been completely destroyed.

Ashstar limped to the boulder and leaped onto it with a wince. "Warriors may now come out of hiding! I have news. I have lost another life, and am on my last."

There was a collective gasp around the camp, but Ashstar shook her head.

"Right now I need medicine cats tending to the warriors, that means you too, Smokefern," Ashstar mewed. "After that, those who are able to go hunt!"

"We could do that!" Birch called from the back of the clearing, surrounded by her siblings.

"No," Ashstar mewed firmly. "The rogues could still be out there, why don't you help tend to the wounded cats?"

"But- fine!" the apprentices whined, and Daisy turned around to tell Frost what to do.

Riverstorm ran up to Ashstar and the two began to talk.

"We're both injured," Riverstorm mewed. "We should go to Willownose!"

"No, let her work on the other cat's then come to us," Ashstar rasped.

The leader walked to her den and Riverstorm followed, dodging a pool of blood next to a pile of brown fur.

"I'm close to death," Ashstar meowed, glaring at Riverstorm as he tried to open his mouth to protest. "You'll be my successor, so we must talk about duties and things like that."

Riverstorm nodded. He copied the Gathering calls and making new warriors or apprentices and listened carefully how to speak at a Gathering.

They skated over a deputy, too.

"I was thinking of Crow or Dawn because of their resilience," Riverstorm mewed.

"Hmm," Ashstar replied. "Yes, they would be good choices, but they have kits-"

"Come on, that's an old tradition, I have kits!" Riverstorm interjected.

"Yes, but- well, I guess they can't birth kits." Ashstar reasoned. "But still we can't break the tradition!"

Riverstorm sighed."Look, I don't want to argue with you, but that's a sexist tradition. Toms love their kits as much as she-cats do."

"I guess so," Ashstar mewed. "So which one shall you pick?"

"I think that Dawn is more suited for leading, she's also a bit older."

"True, " Ashstar nodded. "You will most likely outlive her, you'll have to pick someone else after."

"Got it." Riverstorm mewed.

"Hey guys, do you have any injuries to tend to?" Willownose asked as she stuck her head into the leader's den.

"Yes, we do," Ashstar told her.

"Okay, lie down for me, and I'll see what's going on," Willownose mewed gently.

Riverstorm sucked in his breath when Willownose touched one of his wounds.

"Hmm, It looks like you two have a few scratches, nothing too deep, well get some cobwebs and poppy seeds for the pain," Willownose told them after examining their wounds.

Riverstorm gave a sigh of relief, the rogues wouldn't be back in a while. He turned his head to look at Ashstar. The grey tabby was sitting gracefully in the middle of the clearing, her muzzle raised to the sky. Riverstorm copied her, thanking StarClan that no one had died. Then he hung his head and left her alone.