Edited ✔️

Icestar returned to camp just before dawn, as promised. Most of his Clanmates were already awake, their expressions worried. Sagepelt and her kits were fast asleep in the nursery, with Silverleaf anxiously sitting and waiting in her own nest. Flameheart was trying to console Ashtail as the deputy paced around the camp. Sharpfang, Crowflight and Stonetooth were speaking to each other in a concerned tone. They were still talking about Dewstar's threat and Icestar's sudden disappearance.

Icestar padded deeper into camp when he realized that nobody had noticed him enter.

"Icestar!" Swiftbreeze gasped as soon as she saw him. The cat she was sharing tongues with, Dawnstripe, looked up as well.

"Where've you been?" asked Dawnstripe with a breath of concern.

Icestar shook his head. "I went nowhere in particular," he meowed. "I was in the territory for the rest of the night. I just needed to think." He exchanged a glance between Swiftbreeze and Dawnstripe.

"It's good you're back," commented Sharpfang from behind. He padded right to Icestar's side. "Ashtail was worried that he'd done something wrong by letting you go out there alone."

Ashtail arrived at the mention of his name, along with Flameheart. "Was everything okay out there?" asked his deputy. "No cat is crazy enough to go out in a storm. Except for you, of course!" he added.

"It was just snowing so much," said Icestar. He decided not to mention Dewstar now. The first cat he wanted to tell was Ashtail, and he didn't want to make his Clanmates have something else to talk about.

Flameheart nodded with agreement. "You look crazy, too. Your fur is all frosty!"

"I suppose so," laughed Icestar. "I was out there all night. Anyways, Ashtail, it seems like the storm has died down for now. I think you should send out patrols now just in case it'll come back later on today."

"I'm on it," Ashtail meowed, walking to the warriors den to wake those who were still asleep. Everyone else dismissed themselves away, and went back to talking or going to Ashtail to join a patrol when they realized that Icestar was okay.

He thought about his apprentice as he watched the Clan get on with their morning business. He felt that he was too tired for morning training or patrols, and decided to sleep until sunhigh since he was up all night without a blink of sleep. He decided that he would send Amberpaw out with a patrol, to see how she managed without him.

"Flameheart!" Icestar called, padding up to his friend.

Flameheart was grooming his pelt from the white flakes of snow and the messiness of his fur from the wind. Icestar must look much worse than Flameheart since he was exposed to the storm for so long. "Is there anything you need?" he asked.

"I need you to take Amberpaw training or hunting today. I'm too tired now," he admitted.

"I understand. You've probably had a long night," Flameheart meowed sympathetically. "I'll take her when she wakes later on."

"Thank you, Flameheart." Icestar let a breath of relief. Today, he could rest. Perhaps in his sleep he might forget about everything that troubles him, everything that haunted him, everything that hurt him. Maybe he could find peace within a dream, or within no dreams at all. He just needed everything to be quiet for a little while.

Silverleaf padded outside of the nursery as he stood up. "You're back, Icestar," she said softly.

"I arrived a short while ago," Icestar said, nuzzling her. "You sound tired. Did you sleep at all?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't."

He beckoned her to his den. "You can stay with me. It'll be warmer that way." He gave her his best purr.

"I can't share a nest with a cat who's covered in snow!" she exclaimed playfully, examining him all over. "You should take a look at yourself in a patch of water. Your fur looks very . . . wild."

"It stormed last night," Icestar stated.

"I see that," Silverleaf said sarcastically.

He shrugged. "Let's go to sleep, okay? I'm exhausted!" He led her to his nest in the leader's den, curling up inside his comfortable spot before she took her spot next to him. He was grateful that it was silent. Silverleaf's warm scent engulfed him.

He felt her warm tongue brush over his fur, grooming it out just like Featherbreeze had done to him when he was a young kit. In enough time, Icestar fell asleep as Silverleaf groomed his fur, and the lingering scent of his mother emerged somewhere deep in his heart, warming himself from the inside out.

After everything that had happened in the last quarter-moon, that night was the first night of peace that he had in a while. But what he didn't realize was, it might be the last.

* * *

Icestar woke up at the touch of the warm sun. He could tell that it was sun-high right now from the way the sun reached into the den to touch his face. Right beside him, Silverleaf was sleeping softly. His eyes squinted against the bright light reflecting off of the white snow from the outside world, and he pressed closer to his mate, making sure that she wasn't cold.

He gave a long yawn, breathing in the fresh air. In just a moment, Ashtail's head poked into Icestar's den. "Icestar?" whispered his deputy. "Are you awake, Icestar?"

"Come in, Ashtail," Icestar called softly. "Be quiet—Silverleaf's sleeping."

Ashtail nodded and padded inside of the den as quietly as he could. He sat a couple tail-lengths away from Icestar's nest before he began to speak. "I needed to tell you something rather urgent," he whispered. "It's about our borders . . . DarkClan moved them again."

Icestar shot up from his nest, and Silverleaf stirred but she didn't wake. "Where did they move the borders?" he demanded.

"It's terrible!" Ashtail went on. "They moved the entire scent-marker that separates us deeper within MoonClan territory. We met with a patrol now . . . and things aren't going well."

"Are we outnumbered?" Icestar asked.

"Just by a little."

I thought Dewstar was giving me two moons! thought the gray tom. Was it a lie, or is he trying to start something else? "Come on," Icestar meowed. "I'm going there myself. Whose patrol is this?"

"Swiftbreeze's," Ashtail responded. "I was leading a hunting patrol nearby, and I was able to see what was going on. It didn't look good. They need you there, now."

Icestar gave a last look to Silverleaf, and sighed. "I'm going to have to go," he decided. "Make sure there are well enough guards here in camp. And please send some warriors after me, just in case a battle breaks out."

"Alright," said Ashtail. "I'll catch up after I inform the Clan to be alert."

Ashtail raced out of the den, and Icestar followed, running outside the entrance of the camp as fast as his paws could take him. He weaved through the trees easily, slipping right under a bush before continuing swiftly down the path to the borders of DarkClan and MoonClan. There was a deep hint of fear in his chest—the battle wouldn't happen now, would it?

Icestar continued to pound through the forest, leaving paw-prints in the cold white snow. His warm breath turned to fog, and his fur was on end. Why did everything have to go wrong when he simply wanted peace? Why did Dewstar have to listen to his stupid dream? Why were we the ones chosen for this sad fate, anyways? Icestar thought angrily. He wanted to hate StarClan and the Twilight Forest cats—it felt like they chose out his destiny long before he was even born.

Anger and fear and sadness clung to his heart. What if he were to meet Dewstar in battle? What if another one of his Clanmates got killed? Icestar was getting closer and closer to the borders, and his feelings were getting worse.

Finally, he reached the scent markers. In the distance, he could hear arguing and growling. Icestar followed the voices, running as fast as he could. He could see cats in the distance.

"—this territory belongs to us now!" yowled a DarkClan warrior. "It's not my fault that MoonClan can't properly protect their territory."

"We can protect our territory better than you can all hunt, thank you very much!" retorted Swiftbreeze. "Why don't you all just go back home before we fight?"

"If we were to fight, it's obvious of who will win," spat the warrior. He recognized her to be Lizardfang, the cat who guarded the prison den while Icestar and the other two CloudClan warriors were captured. He could also see Lilyclaw, his sister. Icestar gulped. Please don't let me fight with my own sister, he thought.

Shadowheart, who was right beside Swiftbreeze, stepped taller. "If you all leave, there will be no trouble," he growled.

"And give us back our territory!" yowled Rainwhisker.

"Never," hissed Deathfang, Shadowheart's sister. "This is our territory now!"

"We must make it clear to them," growled Pierceleaf, another DarkClan warrior. Icestar remembered meeting the both of them in battle a long time ago. "Beetlenose, Yellowpaw, be ready to attack."

Icestar braced himself. He ran right in between the quarreling cats before anyone could make a move. Swiftbreeze looked surprised for a moment, and so did the DarkClan warriors.

"What is this about?" the MoonClan leader demanded. "Why is DarkClan moving their borders again?"

"Because we can, crowfood," spat Deathfang, the fur on her neck bristling.

Icestar gave her a cold stare, and managed to contain his composure even though she made his blood boil. "There shall be no fighting," he ordered. "Why don't you all go back to your own territory before things get bad?"

Yellowpaw's eyes widened with excitement, and Beetlenose gave them a look of disgust. Lizardfang seemed as if she were itching for a battle. Icestar could hear his own cats snarling, but no one dared to say a word.

Lilyclaw stood taller, nervous. "I say we all don't fight," the she-cat meowed. "I think Icestar is right."

"Just because he's your brother doesn't mean you have to be soft about him!" growled Deathfang with disapproval.

"At least I have feelings for my brother!" Lilyclaw shot back, glancing swiftly at Shadowheart. Deathfang and Shadowheart were littermates after all, but they never seemed to show any compassion or love for each other. Deathfang narrowed her eyes at Lilyclaw.

Icestar wanted to defend his sister, but he did not want to make it seem as if Deathfang was right. "It's best if we all just went home," the MoonClan leader said.

Out of the shadows, a familiar shape padded into the midst of the arguing Clans. It was none other than Dewstar. The white tom took his place in between Deathfang and Lilyclaw, and eyed the MoonClan warriors. "What is going on?"

"You stealing our territory, that's what's going on," snapped Swiftbreeze. Rainwhisker muttered an angry agreement.

Dewstar's demeanor was calm. "It was not my intention to steal territory, so I'll just have to dismiss my warriors," he meowed, eyeing Icestar.

"What?" gasped Lizardfang. "But I thought—"

"Now!" growled Dewstar. "An order is an order!"

Beetlenose sighed. "Come on, Yellowpaw," muttered the warrior as he went off into the shadows. Yellowpaw followed reluctantly, and so did Lizardfang and Deathfang. Lilyclaw looked back once at Icetar before she padded away, her tail drooping.

Icestar stood straighter. "Don't be surprised when we move our borders back to the way they were."

"Oh, I won't," Dewstar meowed, stepping closer. He leaned close to Icestar and whispered, "consider what I said, or things will be much worse than moving borders around." And with that, the DarkClan leader disappeared into his own territory after his Clanmates, chin held high and chest puffed out.

Icestar watched them go, taking in what Dewstar had said. He remembered their conversation that took place during the night; the threat of driving MoonClan into battle and killing off their warriors, or giving up his territory and joining Dewstar's ranks. He shuddered—the deal was still on, and he had two moons to decide what was best.

Ashtail dropped in beside Icestar. "I think it is time that we start moving back the borders," whispered the deputy. "You're spacing out."

Icestar snapped out of his trance. "I was? I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Ashtail said. Then, he turned to every cat. "They want to hear you speak."

Icestar nodded. He knew what they must be feeling; all hope is on the fate of the leader. The leader's words will comfort us. That is what Icestar himself had felt when he was a warrior. He stood up taller for his Clanmates and met their eyes, knowing that he would have to assume that role. "It is time we move back our borders. This will not happen again, we will not let DarkClan push us around like that."

"I can assure you it won't!" growled Swiftbreeze, "or I ought to teach those filthy warriors a lesson!"

"Let's get going," said Rainwhisker, already padding over the new borders.

"Rainwhisker, Swiftbreeze and I will remark the borders," Ashtail offered to Icestar. Then, he turned to the cats that he had brought with him. "Redsky and Rosepetal, may you go and patrol the perimeter in case of DarkClan cats?"

Rosepetal gave a nod, and said, "If I see any, I'll shred them," before she and Redsky went to patrol, talking together in hushed tones.

Icestar turned to who he had left to work with him—Shadowheart and Dawnstripe. "Come on," he said to them. "We're going to cover up the fresh DarkClan borders." The stench was fresh on their territory, and Icestar did not like it at all.

"Alright," said Dawnstripe, already getting to work.

Shadowheart followed slowly after, and gave Icestar a look of gratitude. "Thank you for stopping the fight . . ." murmured the quiet black-furred warrior. "I wouldn't of fancied fighting Deathfang. She's stronger than she looks."

Icestar purred. "No problem," he said. He hope he sounded confident. After all, giving his friends and Clanmates confidence and strength is what a leader is for. He went straight to work, covering up the scents of the new borders as Shadowheart went off to the opposite side.

Through the whole day of work, all he could think about was Dewstar and the horrible threat that followed.