DOVESONG WALKED PROUDLY along with Moonclaw, Blizzardpelt, Goldenheart, and the other FrostClan cats toward the Clans' territory. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, but they had time to get to camp before then. Dovesong was overjoyed to be coming back. All of her Clanmates thought she had lost her memory for good, and she had, but now she was healed and ready to return. She was also ready to come back to her Clanmates and her expectant sister. She was especially eager to bring her lost Clanmates back to where they belonged.

     "I'm actually happy to be back for once," Blizzardpelt mewed. "Maybe we actually have a chance against those MoonClan flea-pelts."

     Dovesong eyed him skeptically. "Did you not think we had a chance at all until now? That's so faithful of you," she mewed sarcastically. "Just because we have more cats doesn't mean they don't still have the advantage."

     Blizzardpelt's eyes flashed with amusement. "You're being very faithful, too. More warriors means more strength. MoonClan doesn't have many warriors either. We have an even bigger chance is what I'm saying. It was never totally clear who was going to win."

     "Well, you never really had much of a chance," Moonclaw mumbled.

     "Sure we did!" Ivorystream chipped in. She padded beside Dovesong, watching and listening to their conversation. "Now that we're here, we can finally try to defeat them! And we've gone season without seeing those crow-food-eaters. We're all rested up and ready for battle!" She reared up on her hind legs briefly, then landed gracefully. "See?"

     Moonclaw purred in amusement. Dovesong glanced at Ivorystream happily. She was glad Ivorystream was ready for any challenge. That was the kind of warrior that they needed to have in the Clan. "Yeah, but I bet a lot has happened since we've been gone. Us and you four." Cloudwish came to join them. "I mean . . . has a lot happened?"

     "Yep," Goldenheart mewed. "FrostClan just had to come and ruin the peace around the lake."

     "We couldn't help it," Dovesong responded good-humoredly. She turned her attention back to Cloudwish. "Lots has happened. Our Clan seems to be shrinking every moon, and there's been things going on in the other Clans, too."

     Cloudwish's eyes widened with fear. "What do you mean? Who has died? Or gone missing?"

     Blizzardpelt and Dovesong exchanged glances. "You-you'll see," Dovesong muttered, unable to bring herself to name all the cats that had gone.

     "Is Lynxstar still alive?" Cloudwish asked hopefully.

     "Yes," Blizzardpelt meowed. "Alive and well."

     "What about Softcloud?" Softcloud had been Cloudwish's older sister; they had been born in different litters.

     Dovesong fell silent. She looked at Cloudwish for a few heartbeats, then whispered, "No."

     Cloudwish's eyes clouded. "She can't be! What happened to her?" she demanded, her voice quivering with grief.

     "She was killed by a fox when we first arrived," Blizzardpelt explained. "I'm sorry. Flypaw, Icepaw, and Owlheart are thriving. I hope that comes to comfort you."

     Cloudwish ducked her head, and a small whimper escaped her mouth. Featherkit seemed to notice that her mother was distressed; the gray kit pressed against Cloudwish. Cloudwish purred softly and stroked her kit's flank with her tail comfortingly. "It's okay, my love. Go play with your brother and sister."

     "But I'm scared," Featherkit argued.

     "You're almost an apprentice. Apprentices never get scared, do they?" Cloudwish glanced at Briarpaw, Lilacpaw, and Tinypaw.

     Featherkit glanced at the three 'paws, then looked back at her mother. "Sure they do. Only warriors don't get scared. And it'll be moons until we're warriors," she sulked.

     "No, Featherkit." Cloudwish paused in her tracks and crouched to be muzzle-to-muzzle with her daughter. "All cats get scared. Even Flowerdawn and Berrytuft and Mintbreeze get scared, and they're the bravest cats in the Clan! Here-do you want to be let in on a secret?"

     Featherkit's green eyes lit up with excitement. "What is it? What is it?"

     "They're so brave because they face their fears every day. They don't let fear of failure or fear of injury get in the way of what they have to do everyday. And you know what? Sometimes they do fail and get hurt. But they just get right back up again and start again, knowing that that's not going to happen again. And if they can do that, so can you," Cloudwish murmured, nuzzling her daughter's cheek with strong motherly affection. "Go play with your littermates. I'll be watching."

     Featherkit nodded, puffing up her chest to look stronger, and raced away to join Hawkkit and Doekit. Dovesong watched as she left, her heart swelling with affection. Cloudwish was such a good mother, and she reminded Dovesong of Softcloud so much.

     Moonclaw stopped abruptly, causing the rest of the traveling cats to look at her in confusion. She was looking around, her eyes wide with fear. "What's happening?" Dovesong asked her.

     "Let me look around." Moonclaw didn't even wait for anyone to answer. She raced away toward a stream. The sun's rays bounced off of the surface of the water, making it glitter with sunshine. Dovesong glanced at the others, then raced after her. Goldenheart followed her.

     "What are you doing?" Goldenheart asked her.

     "She's here . . ." Moonclaw's voice quivered fearfully. "She wants to kill me."

     "Who?" Dovesong asked, fear filling her from ears to tail-tip. "Who wants to kill you?"

     Moonclaw turned to Goldenheart and Dovesong. "Go join the others. This is something I have to do alone. You can go on without me."

     "What-"

     "Just listen," Dovesong interrupted Goldenheart. She-and Moonclaw-couldn't afford for Goldenheart to start yet another argument. "Let's go." She nudged Goldenheart and ran toward the others again. When Goldenheart didn't follow, she called, "Come on!"

     Goldenheart reluctantly nodded and followed. Moonclaw returned to her search. Dovesong turned back to the others as they began to move on. But when she looked away for just a second, she turned around when she heard yowls from the stream. Dovesong's jaw fell open when she saw Dawnsplash and Moonclaw locked in a fight. Fresh scratches were already visible on Moonclaw. Dovesong was hardly aware of her paws running across the grass to the fight scene. Her heart raced faster than a rabbit ran across WindClan's moors.

     Only Flowerdawn and Goldenheart followed her. When they came, Moonclaw had Dawnsplash pinned to the ground. The ginger-and-white she-cat writhed desperately, her blue eyes flashing with contempt and ambition. Moonclaw looked up at the three she-cats. "Go! This isn't your fight. I have it taken care of."

     Dovesong didn't move until Flowerdawn nudged her out of the way. Dawnsplash was here to kill Moonclaw! "We can't leave her here! Moonclaw can't die."

     "I won't," Moonclaw promised. "Just go!" While her attention was elsewhere, Dawnsplash kicked upward at Moonclaw's belly, sending her tumbling off of Dawnsplash. Moonclaw immediately leaped to her paws and leaped at Dawnsplash. But Dawnsplash dodged swiftly and locked her jaws around Moonclaw's neck. Moonclaw let out a screech of pain and tried to aim a blow at Dawnsplash's head, but she missed terribly.

     Dovesong backed away, staring in horror, then turned to join the others. Moonclaw said she had it covered. Dovesong believed her. . . . Almost. She joined the others, bristling in fear. Ivorystream tore her gaze away from the scene and looked at Dovesong. "Are you okay? What's happening? Is that Dawnsplash?"

     "Moonclaw said someone wanted to kill her, and I think Dawnsplash wanted to. So yes, that's Dawnsplash. Surprising, huh?" Dovesong took a deep breath to try and steady herself.

     Ivorystream stumbled over her words. "Uh-yeah. That's shocking. Why did you run away? Shouldn't you help her?"

     "I would, but she says she has it covered," Dovesong answered, unable to keep her voice from wavering.

     Ivorystream's eyes flashed with alarm. "Well, don't listen to her! She obviously doesn't have it covered! Let's go help her." She darted toward the scene. Dawnsplash had Moonclaw pinned. Moonclaw's soft black-and-white fur was covered in blood. Dovesong hoped it wasn't all her own. A deep gash was clearly visible in her neck. She's not going to be able to survive much longer if we don't help her, Dovesong realized with a hot wave of fear.

     Dovesong was briefly distracted by the hostile words that Moonclaw and Dawnsplash were exchanging. "What has gotten into you?" Moonclaw demanded. "This isn't like you, Dawnsplash."

     Dawnsplash snarled. "Maybe this would have never come to be if you just left me alone! Did you think you would get away with this act? Did you think you would never be found out about? Did you think your ability could backfire?"

     Moonclaw stammered for a moment, searching for words. "Wh-what do you mean, my ability could backfire? What are you going to do to me?"

     Dawnsplash growled. "Well, kill you, of course. But you heard that voice in your head, yes?"

     "Of course I did. It's not like I can ignore my thoughts."

     "Well, that was your ability backfiring. And you know what? You can't stop me from killing you right here and now because this-this monster-is what you created. I never wanted to be like this. Never! But you did this to me. You can't escape your fate now," Dawnsplash snarled.

      "It was always your choice," Moonclaw responded, sounding calmer than she was scared. "Look at Spottedsong-she's suffered so much because of me. But did she come running after me saying she was going to kill me?"

     "No," Dawnsplash admitted. "But I stand by what I said." She sank her claws deeper into Moonclaw's flesh. "And now you're going to die." She raised a bloodied paw, ready to strike.

     Moonclaw's eyes flashed with pain and alarm. But before Dawnsplash could do anything, Ivorystream let out a yowl, but before she could do anything, Dovesong stopped her and leaped at Dawnsplash, her unsheathed claws outstretched. Dawnsplash looked up in alarm; Moonclaw yowled a warning. Dovesong's heart leaped into her throat as she and Dawnsplash tumbled into the-luckily, very shallow-stream, but Dovesong kept her claws fastened on Dawnsplash's fur. Dawnsplash wriggled out of her grip and brought her unsheathed claws down on Dovesong's head, slashing over her face. Pain shot through her, and she knew that Dawnsplash's goal was to distract her so that she could perform a worse blow, and she had succeeded.

     Dovesong felt Dawnsplash's teeth fasten on the back of her neck, slowly and gradually becoming more forceful. Dovesong blinked blood from her eyes and immediately lunged toward the closest and most accessible part of Dawnsplash: her throat. No, Dovesong had no idea what she was doing. And when she did, alarm pulsed through her, but she didn't dare let go, even when Dawnsplash began pummeling her spine with blows to get free.

     Finally, Dovesong managed to drag Dawnsplash down, letting go of her throat as she did. The amount of blood sent fear spreading throughout her, yet she prevented herself from glancing over her shoulder at the rest of the Clan. She stood over Dawnsplash and said, "I don't want to kill you, but at the point we're at, it seems necessary. Now, you have time to-"

     She stopped herself as Dawnsplash's eyes began to glaze over with death, and the most terrible feeling overcame her. No, no, I killed a cat, and now I can't take it back. This is what MoonClan wanted. I'm letting them win. She stepped back, unable to suppress a shudder of dread.

     But Dawnsplash wasn't dead. Her voice was just barely audible, though. Dovesong stepped forward again on shaking legs. "As angry as I am with myself and this foolish plan, I think you did the right thing. At least one monster will die today."

     Dovesong was unable to form words as all the light vanished from Dawnsplash's eyes. "You're not a monster. Just a cat who did the wrong thing," she whispered as she stepped forward to fasten her teeth in Dawnsplash's scruff and drag her body up the slope from the stream to where Ivorystream, Aspenleaf, and a couple other cats were gathered around Moonclaw's dying body. Goldenheart looked up immediately and dashed over.

     "What in the name of StarClan happened?" she asked, looking at Dawnsplash's body, then at Dovesong, then back again. "She wasn't dead last time I checked."

     Dovesong just blinked at her, expecting her to get the message. She knew Goldenheart could see the wounds and blood all over her pelt and face. "I think you know." She licked her paw and tried to clean off as much as she could.

     ". . . Right. Um, a-are you okay for now?" she asked awkwardly.

     "Yeah. I just want to see Moonclaw for now," Dovesong mewed quietly, then limped past Goldenheart and toward Moonclaw.

     Aspenleaf was pressing moss to Moonclaw's wounds. Other cats were gathered around as well.

     Just as Dovesong came through, ignoring all the concerned looks that other cats were giving her, Moonclaw fell limp. "Moonclaw!" Dovesong screeched. But Moonclaw didn't move. "Wake up! Please!" She nudged Moonclaw hard in the side, and that seemed to wake her up. "Stay with me. I won't let you die."

     Moonclaw let out a weak mrrow. "Stop wasting your time. You and I both know this day was going to come eventually."

     Dovesong stared at her in shock. "What do you mean?"

     "I've had dreams, Dovesong. I've had many dreams that this day would come. I've accepted my fate. I accepted it the day I arrived at the lake territories. The Clans are better off without me. All I did was cause death and bloodshed because I was too afraid to fight against MoonClan." Moonclaw fell silent, trying to catch her breath.

     "Stop wasting your breath. Maybe the dreams were wrong. Maybe I can save you. I have-" Dovesong stopped as she realized that the moss was soaked in Moonclaw's blood. She quickly disposed of it and put more, fresh moss on. It was immediately covered with blood. She glanced up at the sky. The sun was still just barely over the horizon and still setting. "We can get to the FrostClan camp before moonhigh. There are herbs we can use there. Okay? Moonclaw?"

     Moonclaw's eyes slowly fluttered open again. "Don't waste your herbs on me, either. This is a waste of your time. I'm going to bleed out sooner or later; no herbs can save me now. I'm in the paws of StarClan . . . at least, I hope it's StarClan."

     "Of course it's StarClan! And stop talking nonsense. You're not going to die. I won't allow it. Understand?" She was genuinely angry; Moonclaw was so calm about this. Dying was not something to be calm about! "We're going to camp if you like it or not."

     "No, we're not. If you had these dreams, you would understand. They were real. This pain is real, too. But at the same time, I know that this is for the best. The Clans will be safer without me." Moonclaw stopped to catch her breath. "When I die, I promise I won't abandon you or anyone. You've been a wonderful friend to me, Dovesong, and I'll never forget you." Her voice trailed away, and she closed her eyes. She let out a long, slow breath, and then she stopped moving.

     Dovesong didn't respond for a few heartbeats, then realization washed over her, cold like ice. Moonclaw was dead. "Moonclaw!" she wailed, ignoring the fact that she sounded like a kit wailing for her mother. "No . . . No, no, no . . ." She loosened her grip on the moss and let the bloodstained growth fall to the ground. She looked to her side when she felt another cat's pelt brush against hers. It was Ivorystream. "I killed Dawnsplash, and now Moonclaw's dead, too," she whispered.

     Ivorystream nodded silently. "So she is dead?" The sound of her voice died down when the word 'dead' slipped from her mouth. Her eyes clouded with sympathy and genuine sadness. Dovesong knew that Ivorystream never liked Moonclaw much, as did everyone else, but she cared about everyone and hated when anyone was hurt.

     Dovesong nodded. "Yes," she croaked. Blizzardpelt pressed against her as well and licked the top of her head comfortingly. She closed her eyes, suddenly wishing she could join Moonclaw and everyone else in StarClan. "We should start going now."

     A shrill, excited yowl shattered the silence. "Look, look!" It was Briarpaw, Ivorystream's daughter. "I see cats, and they have FrostClan scent on them, too! They could be our Clanmates!"

     "Seriously?" Tinypaw gasped. All the rest of the cats looked toward the approaching shadow of what was probably the cats that Briarpaw was talking about. Dovesong exchanged looks with Ivorystream, who looked even more excited than Dovesong felt. Maybe the journey ended badly, but they were home, and there was finally hope.