Nine Lives, Use Them Wisely..

      Ghoststar wasn't seeing anything. The air was cool and cold, its chill beginning to sink through her fur. "Where are you?" She muttered, hoping starclan might here. They had spent enough time in Roseclan territory, the smell was making her fur bristle. What if they had gone on forbidden territory for nothing? Suddenly, there was motion that caught Ghoststar's attention. A dark red pelt was manifesting in the corner of her vision. The white she cat dared turn her head: her breath caught in her throat as a she-cat was right beside her, looking at her with faded green eyes. The moment was fast, for the figure turned and briskly headed farther into the woods, its image faltering slightly. "Scorchtooth!!" Ghoststar hissed as quietly as she could, but still loud enough to catch his attention. There was no time to wait for him, she dashed through the trees after the starlit cat.
        Scorchtooth flattened his ears, crouching slightly as her urgent mew caught in the air: the ever so silent air. Of course any cat would have heard that! The black tom looked over to her about to make a sarcastic retort, but the white she-cat's pelt was already flashing through the trees. Scorchtooth thought he saw something in front of her, but he couldn't make it out. With his heart skipping a beat, he dashed after her.
        Where is she leading me? Ghoststar wished she could get close enough to ask, but the Starclan entity kept a good distance between herself and it. The trees flashed by and the scent of Roseclan drifted in the crisp night air. The moon light, still slightly full, was the only reason Ghoststar was able to follow the figure as it glittered and flashed. She could hear Scorchtooth behind her and wondered briefly if he saw the cat too. The trees thinned and the slope increased. The white she-cat felt her heart stop when she lost sight of the cat over the hill. "No!" They weren't going to find where to meet starclan. Not if this cat wouldn't slow down!
         Scorchtooth had caught up to his leader, panting as his yellow eyes stared up the hill. "Quiet! Do you realize how deep we are in Roseclan territory??" He swung his head back to look through the trees. "Why don't you just call to their camp and say 'hey, come and rip our pelts off for trespassing'?" The black tom's pelt was lashing as they ran.
         Ghoststar had become oblivious to the fact of where they were. They reached the top of the hill and as the pale she-cat looked down it she was shocked of what she saw. A gleaming rock stood in a clearing at the base of the hill. The mysterious red cat was gone. The boulder was large and the only thing, beside a thin scattering of ferns, that was in the area. Ghoststar looked at Scorchtooth, her ears pricked.
          "We still don't know if Starclan will share in your dreams here."
          "They will." She replied, sure of it. The black tom scoffed as they headed down the hill. Ghoststar wasn't sure what to do. Scorchtooth instructed her quietly.
           "Just lay down next to the rock and touch your nose to it. If you dream of starclan, great. If not, this little escapade was a complete waste." Ghoststar wasn't encouraged by his tone. She hated feeling like a mouse-brained kit, which always seemed to be his goal. The white she-cat shot him a glare with her gray eyes and lied down. She gently touched her nose to the rock, bracing for cold, but was instead shocked by a warmth. It seemed to radiate from within the great stone and immediately soothed her to sleep.

           ***

           Starlight...grass...cats?  Ghoststar tried to identify the things around her as she woke. Was anything different? Was she dreaming? Scorchtooth was no where to be seen and the huge boulder that had been in front of her before was gone now. She was in an empty field with a heavy scent of cat around her. "Hello?" She called out with a tentativeness. As she spoke figures seemed to take shape around her out of thin air. She hadn't realized they had been standing there the whole time.

           "Greetings, Ghost." A cat stepped out of the group of patterned fur. It was the red cat she had seen all those times. It bothered her slightly they referred to her by her old name. Ghoststar wanted to point out that her name had changed, but suddenly she had lost her voice. "I am Foxstar, former leader of a clan that used to dwell here. Nightclan."

            Ghoststar looked around at the crowd. A clan had lived here before Roseclan? Before Twilightclan? She was amazed.

            "You want your nine lives. You want to be true leader of Twilightclan. We will grant you all that, but you must understand one thing: more lives is different than more power." Foxstar meowed this with an intense warning. Ghoststar gritted her teeth. The white she-cat couldn't understand why she would say that. "You can always put more stones into a lake, but that does not change how the lake holds water."

             Ghoststar was even more confused. Why did Starclan have to speak in such an inauspicious tone? She quickly forgot their words as Foxstar continued on.

             "With this life, I give you humility. Never overestimate yourself: remember all cats have the same ability and possibilities." The russet red she-cat leaned forward, causing Ghoststar to have an immediate instinct to pull away but her body seemed frozen in the cold, still air. As soon as their noses touched, Ghoststar was filled with a feeling of insignificance. The world suddenly seemed so big. There were huge, thick oaks that seemed to touch the sky. Mountains that rose up out of the land defiantly against all gravity. Animals that were huge and powerful even as cubs, pups, and calves. She closed her eyes tightly, wishing away the images. Foxstar stepped away, but the feeling lingered.

            Other cats stepped forward, some young, some battle scared. She received her eight other lives with similar over powering feelings.

             The life of courage: there was first an overwhelming fear, but then a burst of bravery that dwarfed the freight.

              The life of empathy: Ghoststar was in a glen full of tender, beautiful daisy's. She had to take great care to walk amongst them, not wanting to crush any.

             The life of pride: Ghoststar looked at Twilightclan and admired the group they had become. She would never doubt them.

             The life of unity: cats were being swept by a current and the only way to get out was to create a chain and cling to one another.

              The life of vitality: Ghoststar felt a surge of electric energy course through her. Her whole body twitched against the force holding her still.

              The life of wisdom: Ghoststar felt enlightened as she looked back at her life and understood things she hadn't before. She felt more ready for decisions to come.

              The life of patience: Ghoststar felt at peace with all the things around her.

              The life of ingenuity: the world all seemed more beautiful in itself. The colors, the sounds; she wouldn't look at any situation the same.

              By the end of all her lives, Ghoststar felt exhausted and yet invigorated. She could finally move and speak. "Thank you! Starclan..I'm so glad I get to be honored by you." She purred loudly the cats around her. They nodded simultaneously. Foxstar stepped back out forward.
              "With the power of Starclan you will be known as Ghoststar. Lead your clan to the best of your ability and up hold the warrior code." Ghoststar cocked her head at the last part.

              "Warrior code?"

               "Scorchtooth will teach you. We will send him a sign." Ghoststar didn't have a moment to inquire anything else. She was jolted awake suddenly with a feeling she was falling, and the scene faded. The white she-cat raised her head to see the glowing boulder and the quiet clearing.

               "Scorchtooth?" She called softly, wondering if he was still there.