Epilogue

There they stood... All 10 of the cats, as they waited for someone to make the first move. It was a bit dark outside, as the clouds were above the moon at the moment. It was almost as if Starclan was trying to tell the cats something, though they were not sure what it was.

They all stood there above the small little pond that was in front of them, each of them looking at each other, wondering who it was that was going to be the first one to step up and speak. It was clear that they were a bit afraid, though I could not tell you what it was that they were afraid of.

After a bit longer, one cat, a dark black colored tom, with a white stripe that went across its neck, down low to its belly, finally decided to step up to all of the cats. All of them looked over to him, as it was clear that he was the true leader among all of them.

He sat there for just a few moments, as he hesitated a bit, as it was clear that he was not sure what to say, but he knew that he had to say something to all of the cats. He did not want to look weak, nor scared, to all of his fellow cats that he was with, so he went ahead, and he moved on to speak.

"I don't know why... But it seems as if Starclan does not want us to be here. I do not understand... Youngtail said that we needed to get our 9 lives here... The moon is supposed to be up, it is supposed to light us to our destination!" He said to all of the other cats, trying not to look too freaked out.

He gulped, as all of the cats that were with him, then looked away from him, after he had spoken, and they looked up at the sky. The clouds were above the moon, making it impossible to get any sort of light from there.

Well, all of the cats, besides one cat that had his head down low to the ground. He was the one cat out of all of the rest of them that did not seem to have his head held up, wondering what it was that could be going on at the moment.

Then suddenly, the cat that had been beside the main cat, that had spoken up to all of the other cats, turned her head over, noticing that, that cat in particular was the one cat that was not looking up at the sky, like all of the others were.

She knew what it was right away, as she squinted her eyes at the young tom, that was just around her age. She had thought that she had taught him all that he needed, but it was clear that there were still a few things that he had not quite learned.

It was not her fault for that, she had in fact done a good job at teaching him to be a medicine cat over the last couple of moons. She did not even think about the potential that he might not in fact believe in the cats of the stars, that lived up high in the sky.

She was done feeling guilty, and blaming herself however. She knew that sometimes a cat must learn a thing or 2 about how things work for himself. She then decided that now how been enough time, and she did not want to have all of the leaders waiting for too long.

She stepped up to all of the cats that were with her, as she spoke up to all of them. They all turned their heads over to her, noticing that she had done so as well. She did not hesitate to go ahead and say what it was that had been on her mind however.

"The moon is not up... I can tell you why as well." She began to say to all of the cats that she was with. She looked at each one of them, to make sure that they were listening to her. She then nodded as she continued on with speaking to all of them. "It seems as if we do not have a cat that quite believes in the Starclan cats..."

They all looked at each other, wondering which leader it might possibly be. None of them paid any mind to the one cat that had his head down low to the ground. Though it seemed as though he had not been listening, he had in fact heard every word that the cat had just said to the group.

The cats then began to look at each other for a bit longer, then beginning to argue, and make a big fuss at which cat that it could possibly be that still did not believe in the cats of the stars. One cat in particular decided to step up all of the others, as she began to speak.

"I believe in the Starclan cats! I know that they are real... Though I have not seen them for myself quite yet, Heron has told me about them!" She said to all of the other cats, as it was clear that she had thought that the medicine cat had been aiming it towards her.

Heron, the medicine cat that was of her clan, nodded to her friend, as she knew what she had said was true. The other cats still were not all that sure if it was true or not. As the moon still had not made a single move to get away from the clouds.

Eventually after a bit longer, as they had seen the look on the face of the cat that had spoken, they gave up on thinking that it might be her, as they kept on looking at each other for a bit longer, still angry that they had sat here for so long with the cold air.

After just a bit more time, another cat stepped up and began to speak to all of the other cats, as it seemed as though he was trying to one up the cat that had just spoken to all of the others. All of the cats in the clearing besides 1, turned their head over to the cat, to hear what it was that he had to say.

"Well... I did not need Sneeze to tell me about them, as I saw them myself just a few moons ago!" He said to all of the other cats. Sneeze, the medicine cat of the leader, rolled their eyes at the tom cat. He knew it to be true, but he did not have to brag about it, as if it were a competition.

If it were in fact a competition, than all of the medicine cats that were in the small little clearing would have won that by far. They saw the cats of the stars just about every night. The cats nodded to the leader that had just spoken, as it was clear that they were easy to believe him.

All of them turned their head over to the one leader that had not spoken just yet, but he was instead just watching, and listening to what all of the cats had to say to each other. He noticed that they all had turned their heads over to him, and he put his paws up.

They all looked at him a bit confused, but they all were a bit angry at him as well, as it was clear that all of the cats were looking for one to blame. He shook his head to them, and he instead nodded to the medicine cat that was of his own clan, as he began to speak.

"I think it is clear the cat that does not believe in Starclan here... You all are here blaming each leader, but it is not the leader that you need to be focused on." He said to all of the cats that he was with. They all looked at each other, a bit confused.

Then they saw the cat that he had just nodded to a few moments ago. As it was now clear what it was that the first cat had spoken was getting at all along. They looked at each other, with their heads down low, as they felt a bit guilty for attacking, and blaming each other.

The cat that had his head down low to the ground this whole time, then lifted it up, as it was in fact true that he had been listening to what all of the leaders had been saying, and he knew that it was him that was what his own leader had just been speaking about.

He lifted his head up to all of the other cats that he was with, as you could quite clearly see the guilty look that was written all across his face. All of the other leaders noticed it as well, as they squinted their eyes at him. Seeing all of the leaders look at him like that as well, seemed to be giving him a bit of a nervous break down.

He was a bit of a shy cat in fact, and having to take in such a big role as the one that he had now, it was a bit hard on him. He always would just be happy if he was just alone, because he was always so scared to talk to other cats, and try to make friends.

His sister had tried to get him off of that, but in the end, it was his own decision to make the choices that he decided to make. Just as it was right now... He finally got up the nerve however, to speak forth to all of the leaders that were looking at him. They all listened to what he had to say, but they kept their eyes squinted at him all the while.

"I am sorry... It just does not make sense, it is too hard for me to believe in all of those dead cats... I can not help it!" He said to all of the leaders that were with him. They all sat there for just a few moments, as none of the decided to speak back to him.

It clearly did not make him feel any better at all. He was just about to lower his head back down to the ground once again, until one leader in particular decided to step up above all of the others, and then begin to speak to the young cat.

"Heart... Do not feel bad, as many of the cats in the clans still do not believe that. Do you remember the stories that you grandparents used to tell you about those cats? Your sister, and the kits she has, where do you think they all will end up going?" He said to the cat that had his head down low to the ground once again.

The cat sat there for just a few moments, as after a bit longer as well, he then finally began to take in what it was that the cat had just said to him. After a few more moments, he then lifted his head to the cat that had just spoken to him.

He had a bit of a small little smile on his face as well, as he finally now got what it was that the cat had just spoken to him about. He nodded to the cat, as he then decided to speak up to all of the leaders, with a bit more enthusiasm in his voice as well.

"Yes... You are right, I am sorry Moon, I hope I did not ruin this..." Heart said to the cat. Moon looked at him for just a few more moments, as he too then smiled at the cat. It seemed to make him feel just a bit better, and a bit less guilty at the same time.

There was just still one problem, as all of the cats noticed it too. The moon was still not away from the clouds... Maybe it had not been what it was that they had thought it to be. All of the cats looked at the sky, waiting at any moment for the moon to pop out.

It stayed still, as it seemed as though what had just happened had seemed to be no use. They all turned their heads over to Heart once again, squinting their eyes at him. He looked at all of the a bit confused, as he was not sure what was going on.

That is when it suddenly happened... The moon began to lift ahead of the cloud up in the sky, making it just a slight bit easier for all of the cats to see each other in the clearing. Moon looked around for just a few moments, and then he stepped up to speak to the others once again.

"Quick! I am not sure how much time that we have left! We must all sleep beside the pond, if we want to get our 9 lives..." He said to all of the other cats that was with him. They all looked around a bit surprised for just a few moments.

Then each of them nodded to Moon, as they all began to quickly head over to the small little pond, to get to rest before it might in fact be too late. It did not take long for them to lay to rest either, as many of them were tired for being up so late.

Moon stood there, with his medicine cat Limp not too far away from him. He had a bit of a smile, but at the same time, you could tell that he was having a bit of some nervous jitters. He had just received his 9th life, it was over now, and it all seemed so strange to him.

All of the cats that were around him, were all spouting his name 1 at a time with very big smiles on all of their faces. For some reason though, Moonstar was just not feeling it, as he had his head down low to the ground at the same time as well.

Firestar, the orange cat that had just given him his 9th life, moved up close to him, lifting Moonstars head, trying to get what it was that it might be that Moonstaf was thinking about. Moonstar lifted his head up at the tom, with a bit of a sad smile on his face.

Firestar was still a bit confused as to what it was that was going on. Moonstar had gotten a life from his old friend Tristan, and his mother. Something just did not seem right with the cat though. Firestar was about to speak to him, but Moon spoke up to him first.

"Firestar... I don't get it... I have done all that I needed to do, but it seems like Squirrelflight is not happy... She is not proud of me... She did not even come here to give me a life..." He said to Firestar. Firestar looked at him a bit surprised to hear him say that.

He lowered his head to the ground at the same time as well. He felt a bit bad for the young cat, as he knew that Squirrelflight as a bit hard on him, though they cared deeply about each other. He was not sure why she was not here in fact.

He knew, that maybe Moon was right, and maybe he had not been enough for her. Squirrelflight often did set some high standards... Moon did not know what it was that he was even getting in to, it was insane to him that he had even made it this far.

He had not really failed at anything either, he had always done his job to the best of his ability, so Firestar was not quite sure what to say to him. Moonstar seemed to notice the look in his eyes, and Firestar did his best to try to hide it, as he quickly began to speak to him.

"I do not know Moonstar... I know that she does care about you... She might be helping Thunderclans leader, as you did choose Windclan in fact." He said to Moonstar, Moonstar lowered his head to the ground a bit sad... But he did not regret his decision. Firestar then kept on speaking to him. "Do not worry about it, you made the right decision Moonstar... She is doing something important either way right now."

Moonstar looked at Firestar for quite some time, as he did not get why Firestar was here instead of Squirrelflight if that were the case. She was as any part of the prophecy as he was. The dream then began to fade for the young cat, as he then began to wake up.

The cats were all shouting his name, over and over again. "Nettlestar! Nettlestar! Nettlestar!" If his parents had been here, they would have been proud. He lowered his head to the ground, thinking about his dead parents.

He wished that they had been here with him in this moment. They had passed on as he had found out, when he had gone to go and check on them. It hurt him each day whenever he thought about that. If he had gone there sooner, maybe he would have been able to save them.

If it was impossible for them to be saved, than at least the last thing he could have done for them was to say goodbye. All of the cats that he was with them stopped chanting his name, he thought it was because they had seen the look on his face.

He looked up at all of the cats that he had been with a bit sadly, as if he were hoping for any sort of advice from them. He then noticed that they were all gone however, and he was now in an area of just pure darkness. He blinked a few times, thinking that maybe it was just his time to wake up.

That did not seem to be the case however, as it just stayed dark, each time he blinked. Nettlestar then began to get a bit scared all at once. Then he saw a bit of light come from out of all of the darkness. He saw that it was a cat, though he did not recognize the she cat.

He squinted his eyes at her, as if he was trying to maybe learn something from her, or try to find out what all of this might be about. Why he was in a dark area with a cat that he had never seen before. She did not budge, so he gave up on that, and then he decided to speak to her.

"Who are you? I don't know you... I thought I was only supposed to get 9 lives!" He said to the she cat. The she cat looked at the tom cat that had just spoken to him. She wished that she could grin at the cat, as what he had said had been a bit funny.

She knew that she could not do so, as she knew what it was that she was about to say to the tom cat that was with her, it was not going to be funny at all. It was serious, and he had to make sure he listened to what it was that she had to say.

She shook her head at Nettlestar, as Nettlestar tilted his head at her, a bit confused as to what it was that might be going on right now. The she cat looked at him for a bit longer, and then she blinked a couple of times, as she then began to speak.

"That does not matter... I am here to warn you something..." She said to him. He looked at her a bit surprised for just a few moments, but he nodded for her to go ahead and speak what it was that she had to say. She nodded back to him, and then she began to speak in a hollow voice.

Be careful who you trust!

Death will come from lust!

Ashes will climb from dust!

Listen, or your clan will turn to rust!