ANCIENT FROSTCLAN FANFIC

This is a fanfiction about ancient FrostClan. FrostClan was created by Storms and Shadows and later adopted by Nibby the Bird. Nibby gave me permission to create a fanfiction about ancient FrostClan, as well as allegiances, which can be found here.

Prologue and Chapters 1 & 2=

Prologue
"Puffinfoot," the medicine cat whispered. "No. Don't leave."

But the ginger tom didn't reply. The white she-cat's paws crumpled under her, and she collapsed to the ground, the frozen dirt making a crunching noise as she fell onto it. "I wish I could go to you," she murmured. "To StarClan and the places of meadows and flowers and no foxes or badgers or moose. No cat ever gets killed in StarClan."

"But every cat who goes to StarClan is already dead," a voice whispered, and the she-cat looked around. A faint outline of her mentor's ginger shape hovered above his dead body. "Freezeleaf, don't feel sad for me. You must continue on and be the second medicine cat of FrostClan, one that honors the old traditions and brings in the new. FrostClan cannot survive without a medicine cat, not in this harsh tundra of hostile creatures and fierce winds and snows. And I must tell you something else:

If you find the right cat to walk in your pawsteps,

Herbs must scatter,

Jewels must shine,

And birds must take flight."

"What does that mean?" Freezeleaf whispered, but Puffinfoot was gone.

Puffinfoot. She sat for a long time, thinking of her mentor.

Chapter 1
"Diamondpaw." Freezeleaf looked down at him with her kind green eyes. "Is it your wish to enter the mysteries of StarClan as a medicine cat?"

"It is," Diamondpaw whispered, looking up at the white she-cat.

"Then come forward," Freezeleaf meowed, and Diamondpaw did so.

"Warriors of StarClan," Freezeleaf said, raising her head to the stars, "I present to you this apprentice. They have chosen the path of a medicine cat. Grant them your wisdom and insight so that they may understand your ways and heal their Clan with the accordance of your will."

Diamondpaw touched his nose to Freezeleaf's, and he shivered as a bolt of energy seemed to course through him.

"Congratulations, Diamondpaw," Freezeleaf meowed solemnly. "You are now a medicine cat apprentice."

Both of them looked up in the sky to greet the warriors of StarClan as they spiraled down to earth. Diamondpaw sucked in a breath of the fresh mountain air— this was customary for new medicine cats or medicine cat apprentices, as it symbolized their connection with StarClan.

Diamondpaw settled himself on the ground of the Moongrove, which felt strangely soft and comfortable despite the fact that he was lying on frozen dirt. He tucked his tail around his paws and laid his head down, and he fell asleep...

A moment later, he opened his eyes. He was in a completely different place, with grass and flowers and a stream burbling nearby. Wow, this must be a real dream from StarClan! Diamondpaw realized.

"Diamondpaw."

Diamondpaw watched as a StarClan warrior approached him, a bright ginger tom with green eyes.

"My name is Puffinfoot," the tom whispered, and Diamondpaw recognized the name. "You were the medicine cat before Freezeleaf! Her mentor!" he gasped.

"Yes," Puffinfoot replied. "I died before you were born, so you would not have met me. But I have something to tell you."

The medicine cat took a deep breath and intoned,

"She has found the right cat to walk in her pawsteps,

So herbs must scatter,

Jewels must shine,

And birds must take flight."

With that, Puffinfoot began fading away, back into the landscape of flowers and grass.

"Wait!" Diamondpaw cried. "Don't go! What did that mean? Who—"

But the dream-world was suddenly wrenched away as he found himself back in the Moongrove. Freezeleaf was already awake, looking at him with concern.

"What were you saying?" she asked.

"Er... I had a dream," Diamondpaw said. "From Puffinfoot—" his mentor's eyes brightened at the mention of the name— "and... and he left before he told me what the prophecy meant."

As he said it, it sounded to him sillier than it had been to him when Puffinfoot was actually leaving, and he prepared for his mentor to say so, but she seemed focused not on the fact that he'd begged over a prophecy, but the fact that there'd been one at all.

"A prophecy?" she asked, intrigued.

"Yes," Diamondpaw said. "It went like— er, am I allowed to tell you my dream?"

Freezeleaf chuckled. "You don't have to tell me what your dream was if you don't want," she meowed. "But you probably should if you think it could be important to the Clan."

"Probably not," Diamondpaw replied. Freezeleaf nodded and turned to head back to camp, beckoning with her tail for Diamondpaw to follow.

In reality, he thought it could be tremendously important to the Clan. But for some reason, something had kept him from telling Freezeleaf everything. She'd almost...

She'd almost seemed to already know.

FOUR MOONS LATER

"Diamondpaw," Freezeleaf said, looking at him, "you know, if I'm ever... out, or not here, or something, and some cat is sick or injured, and you don't know what to do, Terntalon knows a bit about herbs and things, so you could ask her."

"Okay," Diamondpaw said, though he privately thought there was no way Freezeleaf wouldn't be able to help a sick or injured cat— she never strayed too far from camp when collecting herbs. Why would she do so now?

Three days later, she disappeared.

Chapter 2
Diamondpaw raised his head and yawned. Wow, the sun sure is bright today, he thought. He looked up and saw that it was not even dawn yet. How come there's so much light coming in...?

He glanced toward the entrance to the medicine cave, where Freezeleaf usually slept, and realized his mentor wasn't there, blocking the sunlight that now spilled into the den. ''Hmm. That's strange,'' he thought. She almost never leaves this early to go herb-gathering.

He trotted out of the small cave and looked out at his Clanmates, who were sleeping in the wide open space under the Ice Ridge. The medicine cats had a little storage cave that they used for their herbs, which was off of the main cave. Freezeleaf was nowhere to be seen.

A few cats' nests were empty, presumably to get ready for the dawn patrol, and most of the warriors were rising, yawning like Diamondpaw just had. A few of them were prodding awake their apprentices, while the queens, sheltering in the back of the den, were bringing their kits awake.

The queens, like the medicine cats, had a smaller cave, this one bigger than the medicine cave, for extra protection for the kits. The elders had a cave as well, also connecting to the wider open space where the warriors and apprentices slept.

Deerspots stood at the entrance to the cave, talking to Moosepaw quietly. "Now if you'd just go around and rouse the warriors for the dawn patrol — that's Sharkfin, Haildrop, Aukpaw, and Owlstrike, remember—"

Her eyes popped open in surprise when the young apprentice yowled, "DAWN PATROL LEAVING RIGHT NOW! SO WAKE UP!"

Diamondpaw stifled a purr as Deerspots scolded her apprentice. Some of the warriors were looking annoyed, but most of FrostClan had glimmers of amusement in their eyes, watching the brown she-cat. "Of course," Owlstrike meowed good-humoredly, "I wouldn't want to allow a fox into our territory while we're all snoozing in our nests!"

Sharkfin padded behind him out of the cave, followed by Haildrop and his apprentice, Aukpaw. "We're ready to go," the black-and-white apprentice called to Moosepaw and Deerspots.

"Then let's go check the borders!" Sharkfin announced. The six cats left the camp.

Diamondpaw nudged the closest cat to him, which happened to be his brother Berrypaw, and meowed, "Have you seen Freezeleaf today?"

The ginger-and-white tom groaned and rolled over to face Diamondpaw. "No, I haven't. Isn't she sleeping with you?" He cast a glance at the entrance to the medicine cave and answered his own question. "Okay, if she isn't sleeping with you...

"Where is she?"|-|Chapters 3-5=

Chapter 3
Diamondpaw tried to reassure himself by saying that Freezeleaf could have just gone out early to gather herbs for once in her life, or had to use the dirtplace, or felt hungry and got something to eat. The latter was quickly dismissed as an idea because Diamondpaw peeked outside and Freezeleaf wasn't there.

He asked as many cats as he could if they'd seen Freezeleaf, and when he'd questioned most of the Clan and even a few cats twice, and every cat, especially the elders, was getting grumpy about being constantly bothered by Diamondpaw, he resigned himself to sorting herbs in the medicine cave. Even if he did enjoy his apprenticeship, sorting herbs did get boring after a while, and he decided to go and see if the elders needed any help.

"Ahhhh, that feels good," Cliffdrop sighed as Diamondpaw gingerly dotted mouse bile on his ticks. "You're the first one to come in here today. Not even Aukpaw's been to check on us, and she usually does, she's a sweet one, that apprentice..."

"She was on dawn patrol," Diamondpaw explained as he carefully removed an especially large tick from Cliffdrop's back.

"Oh, that makes sense," Willowbranch meowed. "She's almost never missed a day before. Except... okay, she has. I expect she was on dawn patrol then, too."

"Whah?" Cliffdrop grunted.

"I said, she was on dawn patrol then, too," Willowbranch repeated more loudly. Cliffdrop was hearing impaired, and often had to have things repeated, but the other elders were used to it, and so was Diamondpaw.

"Oh," Cliffdrop said. "Well, that explains it."

Diamondpaw finished checking Cliffdrop's ticks and moved on to Shrewfur. The brown tabby she-cat was the oldest cat in the Clan, but that didn't stop her from having a sharp tongue. "Diamondpaw, you missed one," she instructed. "Over my back. Just there— yes. See? Didn't I tell you? Diamondpaw and Aukpaw are the only apprentices who can be trusted to do my ticks correctly. Just the other day..."

Diamondpaw relaxed as he listened to Shrewfur's story. There was nothing like a visit to the elders to cheer him up, even if he had to constantly repeat things for Cliffdrop and listen to Duckflight's fussing over him. Diamondpaw had always had a good relationship with the most senior cats in the Clan— they were less likely to judge him about anything medicine cat-related or anything private he didn't want to share with his littermates or his mentor.

His mentor.

Diamondpaw inwardly sighed. He had arrived back at Freezeleaf. Attempting to clear his mind of these thoughts, he tried to focus on Shrewfur's voice, but he just couldn't do it. Having given up on this, he asked the elders, "Have any of you seen Freezeleaf today?" just as Duckflight groaned, "My joints are aching again. Where's Freezeleaf? She promised to come give me a poultice of comfrey root this morning."

When Cliffdrop asked, "What did you say back there?" Duckflight answered, much to Diamondpaw's relief, and he didn't seem to have realized that Diamondpaw had said anything. Though Willowbranch cast a glance back at him, she seemed to take Duckflight's word for it.

"I don't know," Shrewfur responded.

"Haven't seen her today," Willowbranch added, looking at Diamondpaw again. He blushed. Maybe she did hear me.

Diamondpaw finished up with the elders' ticks. "Er— I gotta sort some herbs now. Bye!" He quickly exited the elders' cave. He'd just had a thought. What if Freezeleaf wasn't just missing? What if she was— gone?

Gone forever?

He hadn't finished his training yet, and the Clan needed a medicine cat to survive... What if FrostClan was doomed?

Then he remembered something that Freezeleaf had told him, three days ago. "Terntalon knows a bit about herbs and things, you can ask her." Had Freezeleaf... predicted this?

Or... Diamondpaw gasped as a new thought ran through his head. What if... she had gone away on purpose? Left the Clan? Left... left him?

Diamondpaw sank down on the floor of the medicine cave. No, he tried telling himself. ''Freezeleaf wouldn't do that. There's a logical explanation for this, there has to be.''

After taking a few deep breaths, he realized he was panicking. Freezeleaf might have simply wanted to go on an early herb-collecting trip. She knew that he was old enough to stay at camp and care for the Clan alone for a while. He would wait until after sunhigh, and if she wasn't back by then, he would tell someone, and they would look for her, and they would find her. Simple.

However, Diamondpaw found it hard to just sit and wait in his cave for sunhigh. Eventually he got so antsy that he convinced Goosetail to let him come when she and Diamondpaw's sister, Erminepaw, went out to learn a new hunting technique. Under Froststar's instruction he, like all medicine cat apprentices, had learned basic hunting moves, but he'd never learned the one Erminepaw was going to try today.

Goosetail agreed, and the three of them traveled to the training clearing not far outside of camp to learn the move.

It was fun training with his sister— this was the first time he, being a medicine cat apprentice, had had experience learning alongside another cat his age. Of course, he loved Freezeleaf as a friend, but a mentor just wasn't the same as a fellow apprentice. Plus learning warrior skills was fun— he even caught a vole, his first catch ever.

As soon as they got back to camp, his mother, Bearfrost, summoned him to the nursery cave. "I need to go out for a while," she said. "Play with Applekit."

It wasn't a request, but a command.

"Can't someone else do it?" Diamondpaw asked. "I need to sort herbs."

That wasn't exactly true— he'd spent most of the morning doing exactly that. But he disliked playing with Applekit. His mother's newest litter consisted of him and his sister Penguinkit, whom he much preferred in personality— Applekit had a habit of cheating in any game that they played, and he always whined if he didn't win. Moreover, whenever he did so, Bearfrost always scolded Diamondpaw for making him unhappy— as if she wanted him to lose on purpose just so that Applekit would feel good!

That's not how you teach kits about real life! Diamondpaw thought. Honestly, I think I'd make a better mother than you, and I'm an apprentice!

Of course, Bearfrost probably knew more about things like nursing and all those queen things that toms weren't allowed to know, but Diamondpaw thought he'd learned all he needed to about raising kits from Freezeleaf. His mentor was one of the kindest cats he'd ever gotten to know, and she loved kits.

In response to Diamondpaw's question, Bearfrost glared at him. "Play with your brother," she ordered.

Diamondpaw sighed. She's not going to give up, is she? He headed into the cave and looked around.

Penguinkit stood in the corner of the cave, playing quietly with a moss ball. Applekit, however, was wailing his head off for someone to play with him.

"Shhh, Applekit!" Diamondpaw whispered. "It's okay, I'll play with you."

This only caused Applekit to whine further. "I want my mother!"

"Your mother has to leave for a little while," Diamondpaw meowed, glancing toward the entrance to the cave. He didn't want Bearfrost or some other queen to come in here and accuse him of upsetting Applekit. "I'll play with you. What do you want to play?"

"Defeat-The-Mighty-Fox-By-Crawling-Under-Him!" Applekit announced.

Diamondpaw sighed inwardly. Of course Applekit had to pick this game. It was one of the many games that only he could win, either by way of some secret cheat or just plain fact. This was one of the latter examples; it involved one cat pretending to be a fox and the other trying to "defeat" them by crawling between their legs without getting hit by the fox in the meantime. This, of course, sounded reasonable, but the problem was because Diamondpaw was very much larger than Applekit, there was no question of him being able to crawl under his younger brother. Of course, Applekit could manage this easily, and whenever Diamondpaw did hit Applekit (with sheathed claws, of course), Applekit would moan and whine that "it was cheating, he couldn't use both paws at once" and "it was cheating, I haven't learned that move yet."

Well, of course you haven't! Diamondpaw had thought when Applekit had used that argument once. You're not an apprentice, and you haven't started training! But he didn't dare say that to him, because of course Applekit would complain that he was getting upset and Bearfrost would hurry over and scold Diamondpaw.

It seemed that everything made Applekit upset.

By the time he got away from playing with his younger brother, it was well past sunhigh and getting warmer. Of course, it was always cold in the mountains, but during leaf-bare you had to treasure the fleeting moments when it was actually sunny. Therefore, many of the FrostClan warriors were lounging around the camp, sharing tongues— including Froststar and his mother Bearfrost.

Diamondpaw didn't really want to interrupt them— first of all, Froststar was the Clan leader, and second of all, his mom would kill him if he "disturbed their private conversation." (At least, that's what she would say.) So Diamondpaw heaved a sigh and settled down to wait.

Fortunately, Froststar got up soon to stretch his legs and use the dirtplace. After he got back, Diamondpaw ran up to him and asked, "Froststar, do you know where Freezeleaf is today?"

Froststar looked around, as if expecting to see her coming out of the medicine den or something. "No, I haven't," he replied.

"I haven't seen her all morning," Diamondpaw said, "and she's usually still in the den when I wake up, so I was worried."

Froststar nodded. "I understand. She's your mentor. I'll send a patrol to look for her."

By now Diamondpaw was so tired of waiting that he wanted to scream, "YOU HAVE TO SEND AT LEAST SEVEN PATROLS AND SEARCH EVERY CORNER OF THE MOUNTAIN AND THE FOREST!" but of course he couldn't do that to the Clan leader. At least Froststar hadn't dismissed or scorned him. One patrol is better than nothing. He nodded to Froststar and backed away as he summoned cats to take on patrol.

"I want you to go too," Froststar added, looking at Diamondpaw.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You know Freezeleaf the best— you would know where she would go, or why she would be in a certain place."

"Um— um, okay," Diamondpaw agreed, and joined the group of cats forming near Froststar.

Chapter 4
Diamondpaw plodded back into camp with his head down and his tail drooping. He looked up and saw his sister Erminepaw standing nearby, sighed, and looked down again.

"No luck?" she asked sympathetically.

Diamondpaw shook his head and sank to his paws. Over the last day he'd convinced himself that it was going to be okay, that all they had to do was look for her and they'd find something. Even a trace. Pawprints, a scent trail, picked herbs... anything! But they'd found nothing except the signs of the patrols that had been through the territory that day, and the days before.

A voice seemed to sound in his head. Don't give up.

Diamondpaw jumped up. He'd just realized something. ''I should have tried that before! Why didn't I do that? I'm such a mouse-brain.'' He began to run out of camp.

"Wait," Erminepaw said. "Diamondpaw, where are you going?"

But he didn't look back. This was too important.

Diamondpaw skidded to a halt, sending up a spray of frozen dirt. He looked up at the sky and breathed in the mountain air.

Oh, StarClan, please come.

He breathed a sigh of relief as stars began to spiral down from the sky, forming into the shapes of cats. At the front of them he recognized Puffinfoot.

"Puffinfoot!" he gasped. "Please help me. Do you know where Freezeleaf is? Please tell me if you know, or at least give me a hint!"

"You know already," the ginger tom whispered, looking straight at Diamondpaw. It seemed as if his eyes were boring into Diamondpaw's head.

"I don't," Diamondpaw said.

"Think back," Puffinfoot murmured, "back, four moons ago."

Four moons ago... "That was when I became a medicine cat apprentice!" Diamondpaw remembered.

"And?" Puffinfoot inquired.

"And... you gave me a prophecy."

Diamondpaw wanted more time to dwell on the meaning of the prophecy again, but Puffinfoot meowed, "You will have time to think on that later. Right now, we have something very important to do."

A cat came forward from the starry ranks— a beautiful white she-cat with sparkling green eyes. Diamondpaw felt like his heart would explode. "Freezeleaf!" he gasped. "You're— you're— you're dead?"

Freezeleaf put her tail up to silence him. "Shhh," she soothed. "I am not dead. But as you see, this is where I have gone."

"StarClan?" Diamondpaw's brain could not process this.

"Yes, StarClan," Freezeleaf said. "I am— as you might say— trapped here."

"By whom?" Diamondpaw scarcely breathed.

"By one of our own."

"You— you mean a FrostClan cat?" Diamondpaw couldn't believe it.

"Yes," Freezeleaf responded. "I do not know which cat. That is something you must figure out."

"Me?" Diamondpaw asked, for the second time that night.

"Yes, you," Freezeleaf answered, with a slight hint of humor in her voice. "Remember what I told you three days ago. But also— the answers will come to you. Watch, and listen."

"'Watch and listen?'" Diamondpaw asked, confused. "But I do that all the time."

"Then you must continue," Freezeleaf responded. "But first, I must give you something that, though you would usually not receive until many moons after now, I know you deserve and your Clan requires."

Diamondpaw thought he could guess what she meant. He took a deep breath and held it.

"I, Freezeleaf, medicine cat of FrostClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help he will serve his Clan for many moons.

"Diamondpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between Clan and Clan and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?"

Diamondpaw let out his breath. "I do," he whispered, but somehow, within that quiet voice something seemed to ring out louder than anything in the moonlit grove, even the chirping and cheeping of the nocturnal animals that swooped between the trees.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your true name as a medicine cat. Diamondpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Diamondpeak. StarClan honors your curiosity and your intelligence, and we welcome you as a full medicine cat of FrostClan."

As she finished the ceremony, Freezeleaf looked up at him. "Even though you are young, you have learned the true value of something even more important than knowledge— kindness, determination, and happiness no matter what life throws at you. You must teach these things to another, when you are ready. Remember this— some things are even more important than knowledge."

Diamondpeak nodded and looked up at his mentor. She touched her muzzle to his head and stepped back.

"I know you can find out who is keeping me here, and how to bring me back. But even more important..." and here she paused...

"I need you to bring the light forward from the darkness obscuring it. I need to you to save FrostClan."

Chapter 5
Diamondpeak hurried back to camp. He had to figure out what Freezeleaf and Puffinfoot had meant, and what the prophecy meant. And then he realized something else— he was a full medicine cat. Freezeleaf had proved herself to be trapped in StarClan, unable to return to the living world. He was the only medicine cat FrostClan had.

Suddenly, Diamondpeak understood just a little bit of what Froststar felt as the leader of the Clan. He must feel responsible for everything.

As he entered the camp, he heard a cry, and a gasp, and a rumble of paws. Lemmingfur, who had recently moved into the nursery alongside Bearfrost and Lichenpelt, burst out of the great cave and approached Diamondpeak. "Diamondpaw!" she gasped. "Lichenpelt's kits are coming!"

Diamondpeak didn't bother explaining his new name. He immediately rushed to the medicine den and looked at his stores. Ragwort leaves, he thought, and raspberry ones, too, in case of bleeding... He quickly identified the raspberry leaves by their jagged edges, and then grabbed the ragwort. He had never performed a kitting all by himself, but he had watched Freezeleaf deliver Poppystem's kit, and had helped her...

There was no time to lose. He dashed to the nursery, taking care not to drop any of his herbs, and found Lichenpelt in her nest, gasping. "Back away!" he ordered to the cats clustered around her. One of them was his mother, Bearfrost, but she knew it was too serious to scold her son. He was the only medicine cat available.

Lynxtuft, Lichenpelt's mate, was also in the nursery. He hovered around the nest nervously. "Lynxtuft," Diamondpeak said gently, "maybe you should back away, so Lichenpelt can have more room?"

Lichenpelt shot a grateful smile at Diamondpeak— apparently she didn't want her mate standing over her during her kitting. A second later, she gave a gasp.

"A kit's coming," Diamondpeak meowed, hoping he was right. "Push hard."

To Diamondpeak's relief, the kit was born easily— a large gray tom-kit, with white dapples. Diamondpeak leaned forward and broke the kitting sac with his teeth, then pushed him toward Lichenpelt. "Keep him warm!" he instructed, to no cat in particular; Poppystem stepped forward and began to lick him.

Lichenpelt leaned forward to admire her son, but a moment later she jerked back with another gasp. "Another one's coming!" she whispered.

This kit, a small, pure-white she-kit, was also born easily, and immediately began to suckle at her mother's belly with whines and purrs of contentment. "This one's hungry!" Poppystem purred.

Diamondpeak nudged the kit away when he noticed Lichenpelt straining and breathing heavily. "There's another kit coming," he meowed. "Lichenpelt, push!"

This kit was a brown, black, and white tom-kit with dainty paws. He peacefully licked at his mother's belly without making a sound, unlike his sister had.

"Make room!" Diamondpeak urged. "There's one more!"

"Another?" Diamondpeak could tell Lichenpelt didn't think she had the strength for a fourth kit, but she was willing to try anyway. "Okay. I can do this..."

Diamondpeak watched with pleasure as the last kit, a black-and-white patched she-kit, was born. He gave Lichenpelt some ragwort leaves for her strength. "Amazing job!" he complimented. "These four are strong and healthy."

"They're beautiful," Lynxtuft whispered, leaning over his newborn sons and daughters. "What should we name them?"

"Maybe Mothkit for this one?" Lichenpelt suggested, resting her tail on her oldest kit. "His coat looks exactly like a moth's wing."

"That's perfect!" Lynxtuft breathed. "And maybe this one—" he gestured at the black-and-white she-kit— "could be Orcakit? She's black and white, just like an orca."

Lichenpelt nodded, and the mates went on to name the remaining she-kit Whitekit and the brown, black, and white tom-kit Skuakit. Diamondpeak might have imagined it, but he thought he saw a glint of something in the little cat's eyes— even though he wouldn't open his eyes for days.

''That kit is special. I know it.''|-|Chapters 6-8 (WIP)=

Chapter 6
After making sure Lichenpelt was comfortable and happy, Diamondpeak retired to the medicine cats' den, glad to finally get some time to think about the prophecy. She has found the right cat to walk in her pawsteps, so herbs must scatter, jewels must shine, and birds must take flight.

He had no idea what "herbs must scatter" meant, but he had a theory about the last two lines. "Jewels must shine." A diamond was a jewel, and his own name was Diamondpeak. "Birds must take flight." A skua was a type of bird, and he had had a feeling about Skuakit...

Something clicked in his mind. He has to be my apprentice.

Even though the kit was barely a few minutes old he was already sure. But how was he going to convince the Clan that he had even received his full medicine cat name, let alone was worthy of teaching a newborn kit?

He sighed. Somehow he felt— maybe StarClan was communicating with him in his subconscious— that mentoring Skuakit wasn't the most important thing here. He remembered what Freezeleaf had told him. Watch and listen.

He could do that, maybe later, when he wasn't too sleepy...

"No! You have no right to do this!"

Diamondpeak was jolted awake by yelling coming from outside the cave. He scrambled up and stifled a yawn. The sun was shining bright from outside— it must be the next day already! No one had thought to wake him up...

''They shouldn't have had to. I'm a full medicine cat now, I should have woken up by myself!''

He had no time to feel shameful; he had to figure out what was happening. This must have been what Freezeleaf was talking about, telling him to watch and listen for.

He burst into the clearing and a strange scene met his eyes. Deerspots, the deputy, was encircled by a ring of FrostClan warriors, all of them glaring at her. Deerspots had been the one yelling. Froststar and Diamondpeak's mother, Bearfrost, stood side by side at the bottom of the tree trunk that created the leader's den.

"Deerspots," Froststar meowed. There was no mistaking the cold hatred in his voice. "You have shown yourself capable of treachery to FrostClan, by attempting to murder Bearfrost, one of our own. For this treason you will be banished from FrostClan. Forever. And if any cat sees or scents you on our territory after sunset tonight, there will be consequences."

He looked Deerspots straight in the eyes as he said that last word.

Deerspots? Diamondpeak thought wildly. ''What? She'd never— or would she?'' What with all the confusing things happening lately, disappearances and prophecies and annoying younger brothers, there didn't seem to be anything he wouldn't believe now.

"But I never did anything, I swear!" Deerspots cried. "She's lying! I didn't try to kill her!"

Bearfrost spoke for the first time. "Well then, we'll have to ask Sheephorn, Oxpelt, and Polarclaw. They were on our hunting patrol, and they saw her. She leaped right for my throat and started slashing her claws across it with murder in her heart. If they hadn't been there, I'd be dead."

Froststar swiveled his gaze toward the three warriors. "Well? Is she telling the truth?"

Sheephorn looked Froststar straight in the eyes when he said it. "Yes. We saw the whole thing."

Oxpelt and Polarclaw nodded, though Diamondpeak noticed that the latter cat scuffed his claw in the dirt a bit while doing so.

"I won't argue with clear proof," Froststar hissed. "Deerspots, you are no longer the deputy of FrostClan. Leave this Clan now and never come back."

Diamondpeak internally winced at the venom in the last three words. How could Deerspots stand it?

The deputy seemed to realize that she was defeated, and no one in the Clan— at least not anyone that Froststar would listen to— would believe her now. She padded out of camp, her tail drooping down in sadness. Her shoulders seemed to have sunken, and her ears were no longer pointed straight up in fear or agitation, but bending low in surrender.

Bearfrost turned to Froststar, and in a moment Diamondpeak saw something— the wild gleam in her eyes, of jubilation and excitement— but then it was gone and her expression was back to cool, calm, and collected.

"Well," she said, "now you'd better start thinking about... something."

Froststar looked away. He knew what she was talking about, and so did Diamondpeak.

Something is wrong here.

Very, very wrong.

Diamondpeak looked furtively behind him to make sure no cat saw; then he slipped out of the dirtplace tunnel, wrinkling his nose at the smell, and trotted out into the forest. His white pelt hid him against the snow, perfectly built for camouflage. Even if Goosetail, who was on guard duty, looked his way, she wouldn't see a thing.

He glanced up into the sky, which was black and full of sparkling stars. ''Warriors of StarClan — and medicine cats," he added with a slight grin, thinking of Freezeleaf— "forgive me for going against Froststar's word, but I have to see Deerspots. Something isn't right here.''

The stars twinkled down at him, almost kindly. Whatever he did, they weren't going to stop him.

He hurried through the trees, following Deerspots' scent trail from that morning. ''She couldn't have gotten too far. It hasn't even been a day yet.''

Right?

He tracked her away to the west, coming across a small icy stream that he knew led to the great western lake. ''She must be living by the water... that makes sense, though the lake freezes in the winter of course.''

When he reached the lake he broke into a swift, silent run around the bank, worried that Deerspots had traveled all the way to the other side of the lake. That's the only part that's out of FrostClan territory. So he was unprepared when the trail suddenly took a sharp turn, veering southward and away from the lake.

Diamondpeak skidded to a stop— he had already gone several fox-lengths past where Deerspots had turned. He slowly backtracked and crept into the trees which bordered the lake, more slowly this time because he didn't want to miss another turn and because he had a feeling that Deerspots wasn't too far away. The scent was fresher now, and overlapped itself, as if Deerspots had come back this way several times. And she would have had to, to go hunting and all that. He soon realized how smart Deerspots had been. She had made her camp just a few fox-lengths past the FrostClan border, but in the part that no cat ever patrolled close-up— it took too long to walk around the entire territory, so there was usually a lake patrol only every two or three sunrises. If there were dangerous animals that crossed the border, the territory was big enough that the hunting patrols would pick up its scent before it could get close enough to camp.

So he wasn't exactly alert when he turned another corner and became face-to-face with Deerspots.

Chapter 7
To Diamondpeak's relief, the former deputy's face softened in relief. "Diamondpeak," she sighed. "You came."

Diamondpeak was startled. "You— you know my name? And you knew I was coming?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Deerspots said. When she saw his look of confusion, she explained, "Freezeleaf visited me in a dream, and told me. And I believe you were right in worrying about Freezeleaf," she added. "She told me herself, she's stuck in StarClan and someone in FrostClan is keeping her there. And I have reason to believe I know who."

Diamondpeak was even more surprised at this. "You do? But— but how?"

Deerspots' eyes darkened. "Remember how I came to be here?"

Diamondpeak could remember it all right. "She leaped right for my throat and started slashing her claws across it with murder in her heart." "And now you'd better start thinking about... something."

He glanced back at Deerspots, eyes wide.

"Bearfrost?"

My mother?

Deerspots looked back at him gravely. "Yes."

"What— what really happened that day?" Diamondpeak asked her, even though he wasn't sure he really wanted to know.

"I will tell you," Deerspots said, "but you won't like it."

''This morning when I called the dawn patrol, Bearfrost said she'd like to be on it, to give the Clan thanks for giving her exceptional care during her nursing. Of course, Applekit and Penguinkit are old enough to be left alone for a while, so I said okay. Now Sheephorn, Oxpelt, and Polarclaw were the other warriors on the patrol.''

''So we were patrolling east of the camp, by the taiga pines, when Bearfrost suddenly turned and hissed at Oxpelt and Polarclaw, "If you don't cooperate guess what will happen to your mates, your kits, your littermates, and your parents. All of your friends as well." And she whipped back to me and leaped at my throat.''

''I managed to throw her off, but she just tried again and again. Finally she realized that she couldn't defeat me, and growled, "Now there's a choice you must make— medicine cat, or deputy?"''

''"Freezeleaf?" I gasped. "You were the one who made her disappear?''

''Bearfrost tossed her head in scorn. "Of course. That idiot son of mine was right for once. His precious mentor will never return from StarClan, not while you're the deputy of this Clan."''

''"Return from StarClan? Is Freezeleaf dead?" Polarclaw's eyes widened in horror.''

''Bearfrost laughed, an evil, maniac laugh. "No, but very nearly."''

''"You would blackmail us into acceptance? What kind of warrior are you?" Oxpelt's eyes flashed. "You don't deserve to even be in FrostClan, never mind be its deputy!"''

''"Well, too bad," Bearfrost snarled. "I'm going to be deputy no matter what happens. If you three don't stick with my story, there are going to be consequences."''

''And of course no cat could do anything about it. We didn't want to risk Freezeleaf being trapped in StarClan forever, and I didn't want the other warriors' families to be threatened because of me. So we had to go back to camp, and you know what happened from there.''

Diamondpeak's eyes were wide as he looked at Deerspots. "She really did that? That's terrible!"

"Yes, but did you notice who didn't speak up?" Deerspots' eyes were narrowed in anger.

Diamondpeak recalled what Deerspots had told him. "Oh— Sheephorn! He didn't say a thing when Bearfrost revealed her plan!"

"Of course not," Deerspots hissed. "You know what he said to me later? I confronted him about it when he was hunting alone by the lake, and he said, 'You deserve it for stealing my mate from me! Lemmingfur is mine and always will be!'"

Diamondpeak gasped. "This is all about Lemmingfur? There are lives at stake, for StarClan's sake! Doesn't Sheephorn know what Bearfrost is planning?"

Deerspots shook her head, but not in answer to Diamondpeak's question. "I suspect he's been in with her all along. Oxpelt and Polarclaw just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now that I think of it, I wasn't originally going to put Sheephorn on that patrol. He asked about it the night before."

"Patrol..." Diamondpeak said thoughtfully. "Oh! I just realized— Bearfrost said that you were all on a hunting patrol when 'you attacked her.' I wonder why she got it wrong..."

"Probably too many other things she was making up," Deerspots said darkly.

Diamondpeak nodded. "Probably. So... Bearfrost did it all just to become deputy?"

"Well... not exactly," Deerspots said. "You'd better ask Froststar. He'll know everything. And I heard Bearfrost talking to him in his den right before the dawn patrol went out. She said that if he didn't banish me Freezeleaf would never come back. So it was a choice between his deputy and his medicine cat, just like she told Oxpelt and Polarclaw. I confronted them about it, but all Froststar did was apologize. Can't our leader be a role model? I thought he was supposed to be compassionate and caring!"

Diamondpeak sighed. "All leaders have to make choices they regret, but I wish my mother would let Froststar make his freely. All the same, maybe Froststar will tell me something. I'll find a way to get you back from exile, I promise," he added.

Deerspots' expression lightened a bit. "Thank you, Diamondpeak. I'll do whatever I can to help you, and I hope you can get Freezeleaf back as well."

Diamondpeak purred his thanks. The sky was beginning to lighten from black to navy blue. "I have to go," he meowed, "but I'll be back soon."

They said their goodbyes, and Diamondpeak trotted back to camp. He was determined to get the truth from Froststar, no matter what it took.

Chapter 8
"You've figured it out, I see," Froststar meowed.

Diamondpeak looked back at his leader with strong violet eyes. "Yes. I visited Deerspots last night and she told me everything."

"I really am sorry," Froststar said. "But what else could I do? Every day Freezeleaf spends in StarClan drains her even more of her spirit and will to live. I can't lose my medicine cat, not again!"

"What do you mean, again?" Diamondpeak asked.

Froststar sighed. "It's a long story, but the short version is, your mother isn't Clanborn. She was raised in a building run by animals called 'Twolegs,' that kept her trapped in a cage. Her mother— your grandmother— was forced by the Twolegs to keep having kits over and over and over again. Then they would give the kits away to other Twolegs. I'm not exactly clear about the details, but eventually Bearfrost— she was called Eris then— escaped from the place and journeyed over the mountains to here. She then joined FrostClan. But I must tell you, she didn't seem so eager to live with us at first. She was too hungry for battle and asked why we didn't just kill off all the wild animals in the area so that there wouldn't be any competition. She didn't seem to understand the warrior code at all. When she finally received her warrior name and eventually befriended a few of the Clanborn cats, she seemed to settle down a bit, but I've never really taken my eye off of her."