Forum Thread

It was half-moon and Fadedleaf was experiencing his first medicine cat meeting without his former mentor, Pyritewhisper, who had died from Greencough a quarter-moon ago. The other cats were chattering about cures for different things as he silently led the group into the Mooncave.

The Mooncave entrance was almost directly behind the GemClan camp, and it being filled with many varieties of gemstones led to GemClan’s excessive knowledge of the different gem names.

“Here we are,” Fadedleaf dully announced to the others as they reached the center of the cave where a large moonstone lay. A large stalactite hung from the roof of the cave, the point pressing directly into the large stone. The medicine cats simultaneously tapped the Moonstone with their noses, immediately falling asleep.

Fadedleaf opened his eyes and saw himself back in camp. A beautiful dark gray she-cat was walking toward him. Fadedleaf gasped. “Pyritewhisper!” He exclaimed as he ran to her quickly. “I’ve missed you so much!”

She gave him a sweet smile then sighed. “Unfortunately this wouldn’t be the most joyful meeting.” Pyritewhisper mewed.

Fadedleaf looked at her, surprised. “What? Why?”

Pyritewhisper leaned in closely. “Listen carefully, for I will only say this once. I have a prophecy for you.” Fadedleaf’s eyes widened, but he stayed silent.

“In the depths of the night, a storm will rise. A trio of cats will band together to save GemClan from destruction; Knowledge, the head, Kindness, the body, and Strength, the claws. One shall shift the path to darker waters as knowledge clears a new path to safety,”

she whispered, her voice not sounding like her own. Pyritewhisper looked up. “It’s time for us to part,” she mewed, her voice normal once more. Her body began fading and shimmering as Fadedleaf’s eyesight began to go black.

“Wait, no!” he exclaimed. “I want to stay here with you!”

Pyritewhisper smiled at him sadly. “Don’t worry, Fadedleaf. We’ll meet again soon.”

Fadedleaf stumbled toward her as his vision went black and he collapsed, awakening back in the Mooncave.

"You knew this was wrong."
You shot a look at him. "So did you."
He didn't seem to care. His expression didn't change. As always. He always seemed to wear a mask. Did he even have feelings? You didn't know.
"We can't undo it", was all he said. "We have started this, and now we can't go back."
As you looked down at your hands, you noticed that you were trembling.
"Maybe they will finally learn."

That was the first time you saw him. You didn't question his sudden appearance. You always knew he was there, somewhere buried deep within your mind. But somehow he found his way out. Showed his face. This demon. He was truly a monster.

Or perhaps,
were you the monster all along?

G E M C L A N

Leader:

Emeraldstar--green-eyed she-cat with tabby fur

Deputy:

Pearlheart--cream colored she-cat (apprentice Kyanpaw)

Medicine cat:

Fadedleaf-- black tom with white paws that look like they are fading

Warriors:

Jasperlight-- orange tabby tom

Twigfoot-- Brown she-cat with deformed foot

Condorwing--Golden-brown tom

Rainpatch-- Dark grey Tom

Spidertail-- Dark brown she-cat with black tail

Berylclaw-- Orange Tom

Kunziteflower--fluffy albino she-cat with pink eyes

Apprentices:

Kyanpaw--pretty blue-eyed tortoiseshell she-cat

Queens:

Opalwing--dark gray she-cat with milky blue eyes (mother to Amberkit, Onyxkit, and Topazkit)

Elders:

Tourmalinefur--ginger she-cat

Heliofire--dark red/black tom

Citrinestorm--yellow eyed tom with brown tabby fur

Kits:

Amberkit--spotted tabby she-cat, amber eyes

Onyxkit--black she-cat, brown eyes

Topazkit--black, white pawed tom, blue eyes




D I R T C L A N


Leader:

Wormstar-- Brown tabby tom with ragged scar on one shoulder


Deputy:

Cloudfrizz-- Light grey tom


Medicine cat:

Grasswhisker-- tortoiseshell she-cat with one black paw


Warriors:

Fluffwing-- Fluffy she-cat with tan spots

Coldclaw-- All black tom with white paws

Airwhisp-- long haired she-cat

Woventail-- Fiery tom with criss cross pattern on tail

Flyclaw-- Dark grey tom

Soilfur-- Dark brown and white she-cat


Apprentices:

Flowerpaw-- short furred she-cat


Queens:

Leafeyes-- small grey cat with light green eyes (Kits: Stingkit, Patchkit, and Spikekit.)

Petalclaw-- Pinkish she-cat


Kits:

Stingkit-- Black tom kit

Patchkit-- White she-cat with black patches

Spikekit-- White tom with spiky fur




S C O R C H C L A N

Leader:

Emberstar—brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy:

Heatwhisker—skinny ginger tom

Medicine cat:

Singetuft--cream colored tom

Warriors:

Flarestorm—short black she-cat with messy fur

Coalpelt—black tom

Cinderclaw—brown and white she-cat

Sparktail—light ginger tom with a darker tail

Flamenose—ragged red tabby tom, slightly burnt nose

Flickershine—orange tabby tom with blue eyes

Apprentices:

Charpaw—cream colored she-cat

Combustpaw—red tabby tom

Queens:

Volcanowhisker—Black she-cat (mother to Lavakit and Magmakit)

Elders: none

Kits:

Lavakit—black she-cat

Magmakit—black tom


R O C K C L A N

Leader:

Smoothstar-- Soft grey furred tom

Deputy:

Pebbletail-- Spiky black she-cat with dark grey tail


Medicine cat:

Cliffwhisker-- Small sandy colored tom

Warriors:

Cragclaw-- Brown tom

Spottedfur-- Brown and tan she-cat

Agatestorm--cream colored she-cat

Breezefeather-- White and gray she-cat

Mineralspot-- Reddish colored tom with brown spots



Apprentices:

Pollenpaw-- tortoiseshell she-cat

Duskpaw--golden-brown she-cat

Hailpaw--gray tom with a white muzzle


Queens:

Ridgewing--brown speckled she-cat (mother to Sierrakit)

Petalstream-- light ginger, looks like light pink she-cat with light blue eyes

Kits:

Sierrakit-- blue-gray colored she-cat with brown eyes


Elders

Sandpelt-- light brown and tan tom


Cats outside the clans:

Tuba-- Golden tom

Nova-- Black she-cat, former kittypet

Rio--tiny white-gray she-cat (friends with Nova)

Patter-- Beautiful long furred brown she-cat with green eyes

Dixie--golden tabby she-cat, kittypet
Señor Loco--crazy tabby tom, kittypet (often speaks Spanish, or at least cat Spanish)

Chapter 1

Amberkit opened her eyes and as soon as the sun hit her she closed them again. She knew what today was… and she was dreading it! Her and her littermates were being named apprentices today. Her mom kept talking about her time as an apprentice: getting up early to go on dawn patrols and training sessions with her mentor. Personally Amberkit would have enjoyed just staying in the warm nursery for her whole life but her mom said that all cats must become apprentices and support their clan. Amberkit wondered how her mom got into the nursery anyway. Did she just stay in there her whole life until she had kits?

Amberkit had just started to doze off again when she woke with a squeak. Her brother, Topazkit’s weight was partially on her, as he battered her shoulders with his soft paws. “Get off mousebrain!” she squealed.

“Awww c’mon Amberkit! Come and play with us one last time before we are apprentices! Opalwing says that you have to at least come outside!”

Amberkit kicked him off and curled up into a ball. “Amberkit, you troublesome kit! Get out of that nest right now! I'm going to carry you outside if you don't go right now,” Opalwing threatened. Even though she sounded stern Amberkit knew that she was only doing it because she was worried for her.

Well quit worrying about me, thought Amberkit. I can do what I like now that I am almost an apprentice! With one last mutinous glare at her mother she shuffled out of the nursery and went to go lay in the sun. Her littermates were wrestling underneath the Highbranch, and Amberkit wondered how they found joy in pretending to fight with each other. It all just seemed like a waste of energy. She turned her back to them and stretched lazily.


She decided to take a walk over to the apprentice den to see how cozy the nests were. To her surprise there was only one nest in the den! That's probably going to be our first job… collecting our OWN bedding. Probably for the elders too, she thought grumpily.

Amberkit slunk back to the nursery and plopped down in her nest. There was still some time before her ceremony so she figured that she could pass time by taking a nap. At least it was better than being outside in the hot greenleaf sun. She settled down in her nest and let her eyes slowly drift closed.

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“Let all cats in GemClan gather underneath Highbranch for a clan meeting!” Called Emeraldstar. Amberkit frowned and curled up into Opalwings belly.

“I’m not going Opalwing! I don’t want to be an apprentice!” she protested. All she could think of was how warm her nest was and how she didn’t want to get out of it.

“Go outside Amberkit! You need to become an apprentice and you don't want me to carry you out do you?” Opalwing growled. “Now get that moss out of your fur… you don’t need to look like a rogue in front of the whole clan.” Amberkit licked her back until all the moss was out and then she cast one last glance at the nursery and walked out of it.

Topazkit and Onyxkit were already sitting underneath Highbranch looking up at Emeraldstar. Amberkit padded over to join them and sat down with a plop. She sighed and wrapped her tail around her paws. “Hey, Amberkit! Are you excited to become and apprentice?” asked Onyxkit. Amberkit just huffed and scooted over.

“GemClan! Today we are gathered here to name three new apprentices who will go on to become warriors of Gemclan! Topazkit, step forward.” Topazkit leaped to his paws and walked up to the Highbranch. He looked like an ant next to a full-grown cat compared to the gigantic tree next to him.

“Topazkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Topazpaw. Your mentor will be Spidertail. I hope Spidertail will pass down all she knows on to you.

“Spidertail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You have received excellent training from Heliofire, and you have shown yourself to be brave and loyal. You will be the mentor of Topazpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him.” Topazkit walked up to Spidertail and touched noses with her. They stepped to the side to watch the next ceremonies.

“Amberkit step forward!” Amberkit clambered to her paws and gloomily went to stand beside her brother. “Amberkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Amberpaw. You mentor will be Jasperlight. I hope Jasperlight will pass down all he knows to you.

“Jasperlight, you have received excellent training from Citrinestorm, and proven yourself to be a kind and strong cat. You will be mentor of Amberpaw, and I expect you to pass all you know onto her.” Amberpaw just stood where she was and waited for Jasperlight to come touch noses with her. When he didn’t come, she pawed at the ground impatiently before stalking over to thrust her face into his and then go to sit next to Topazpaw.

“Go sit with your mentor bugbrain!” hissed Topazpaw under his breath. Amberpaw just flicked her tail irritably and stayed put.

“Last but not least, Onyxkit please come forward.” Onyxkit slowly padded to sit near Amberpaw. “Onyxkit you have reached the age of six moons and you are ready to be apprenticed. From this day on until you receive your warrior name you will be known as Onxypaw. Your mentor will be Berylclaw. I hope Berylclaw will pass down all he knows to you.

Berylclaw, you have received excellent training from Tourmalinefur, and proven yourself to be a ambitious and loyal cat. You will be mentor of Onyxpaw and I expect you to pass all you know down to her.” Onyxpaw bounded over and touched noses with Berylclaw and the two cats went to sit on the other side of Topazpaw and Spidertail.

The whole clan then started chanting their new names. “Topazpaw! Onyxpaw! Amberpaw!” Opalwing was chanting loudest of all. Emeraldstar dismissed the clan and the three new apprentices followed their mentors.

“Jasperlight? What's up with the bedding in the apprentice den?” Amberpaw asked.

Jasperlight twitched his whiskers and just simply meowed, “You’ll see.”

Amberpaw huffed and went to see if she could find Kyanpaw. She found her in the medicine den with Fadedleaf getting a thorn out of her paw. “Hi Kyanpaw.” Amberpaw mewed.

“Oh hi Amberpaw! It will be good to have other apprentices in the den! It’s been lonely all by myself,” exclaimed Kyanpaw. Fadedleaf tugged the thorn out and Kyanpaw got up and started walking out of the den.

“Kyanpaw wait! Can I talk to you? In the Apprentice den maybe?” Amberpaw called after her.

“Sure,” Kyanpaw agreed. “Let me get something to eat real quick. I’ll bring it with me into the den.” With that she left and Amberpaw was left alone with Fadedleaf.

“Hello Amberpaw. Are you excited for your new apprentice duties?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Amberpaw mewed coolly with a slight tinge of anger in her voice. “I happen to want to not be an apprentice.” She stalked out of the medicine den and bolted to where Kyanpaw was sitting just outside of the apprentice den.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Kyanpaw turned her pretty blue eyes to look at Amberpaw.

“Well,” Amberpaw paused, hoping what she was about to say wouldn’t sound whiny and annoying. “Is it fun being an apprentice? Having to do so many chores and working everyday until your a warrior?” she asked.

“Oh yeah! And it gets better as you get older. You get more privileges and you learn how to do warrior things.” Kyanpaw was on her feet now.

Topazpaw came bounding over and plopped down right next to Kyanpaw. He seemed a little too close to her… then Amberpaw realized it! Topazpaw liked Kyanpaw! Blech! She thought. Kyanpaw was 3 moons older that them. And how could Topazpaw be thinking about a mate already?

Amberpaw got up to find Jasperlight. Maybe she would give the whole apprentice thing a try. After what Kyanpaw had said, Amberpaw was feeling a slightly more optimistic about her new life.

Chapter 2

Amberpaw looked around at the forest in front of her and her whiskers twitched, showing as much excitement and emotion as she allowed. It was so big! How were they ever going to explore their whole territory today?


Jasperlight padded up beside her and rested his tail on her shoulder. “You ready?” he asked.


“Yes,” Amberpaw quickly stepped ahead of him and then stopped, embarrassed, remembering that Jasperlight was supposed to be leading. Jasperlight took the lead and they walked around the camp and into what looked like a meadow. “Where are we Jasperlight?” asked Amberpaw politely.


“This is Ripple Grass meadow. See the long grass over there? When a breeze strikes up the grass looks like it is rippling.” Jasperlight took Amberpaw through the meadow and to a thin, trickling stream. “This is our border at the sundown corner. On the other side is Dirtclan. They are supposedly one of our allies.. although Emeraldstar says that no clan should have allies because of the many known betrayals coming from an alliance.


“Anyway,” he mewed with a change of subject, “let’s follow the stream and we should come the the Mooncave. Its directly behind camp. The medicine cats and leaders are allowed to go there whenever they want. You will go too, before you become a warrior.”


Amberpaw sighed and took a sip from the stream. Jasperlight sure knew how to talk. She wondered if that was how he fought. I hope I never hear a lecture from him! she thought.


They were standing at the entrance to the Mooncave and Amberpaw looked up and saw a tall expanse of rock. “So is the Moonstone in there, Jasperlight?” Jasperlight nodded and kept walking.


The rest of the trip was mostly just walking around the borders and learning some important landmarks. The last thing they did was stop by a tree and collect some moss for Amberpaw’s bedding. Once they got back to camp Amberpaw went to her den and carefully shaped her moss into a cozy nest. Topazpaw came in just as Amberpaw was leaving.


“Hey Amberpaw! How was your tour of the territory?”Topazpaw asked.


“It was interesting. We saw the Mooncave and the borders with the other two clans. Although I have to say that Jasperlight talks a lot.” Topazpaw nodded and told Amberpaw how his tour had went.


Amberpaw went to the fresh-kill pile and picked out a plump mouse. She had never lived through a leafbare. She was born at the end of newleaf, right before greenleaf, so she never knew what it felt like to live through the cold leafbare. She wondered what it would be like. Probably hard to not have prey all the time.


As she bit into her mouse, Kyanpaw padded up to her and sat down beside her. “How’s your day been so far Amberpaw?” Kyanpaw mewed through a mouthful of mouse. Amberpaw looked down and saw that Kyanpaw had taken a huge bite out of her mouse while she wasn’t paying attention!


“Get your own fresh-kill Kyanpaw!” Amberpaw flicked her with the tip of her tail. “It has been good so far. My paws ache from walking all around the border but other than that, I think I had a good time.”


“Hey Amberpaw! Come here a second!” Onyxpaw was calling to her from across the camp. Amberpaw stood up and trotted over to Onyxpaw. She was standing next to a stick that had what looked like something similar to a cats face carved into it.


“Where did you find that, Onyxpaw?”


Onyxpaw shrugged. “It was laying in the stream by the border with Dirtclan. I figured I could keep it as my lucky stick.”


Amberpaw rolled her eyes. “Stupid furball. You can’t have a lucky stick. Where would you keep it anyways?” Onyxpaw scowled at her, picked up her stick, and walked away.


“Well that went well.” Spidertail had walked up behind Amberpaw and listened to their whole conversation.


“Keep your whiskers out of our business Spidertail!” she hissed. Right after the words had come out of her mouth she regretted them. “Sorry Spidertail.” Amberpaw looked at the ground and let her tail droop.


“That’s okay Amberpaw. I shouldn’t have listened to your conversation uninvited.” Spidertail licked Amberpaw’s ear and went to go find her mate, Rainpatch.


Amberpaw wondered if she could go the the meadow. There was a slight breeze and she wanted to see if the grass really rippled. She decided to ask if Topazpaw wanted to go with her. He was always up for a little adventure. She also wondered if she should ask a warrior first… nah. They’ll just say that my mentor needs to go with me. She decided to just go find Topazpaw.


“Topazpaw? Do you want to come with me to Ripple Grass meadow? I want to see if the grass really ripples.”


Topazpaw hesitated. “Shouldn’t we get permission first? I don’t want to get in trouble on my first day as an apprentice!”


Amberpaw thought about what he had said and decided that she would tell him that she had asked permission and they were allowed to go for a little while. “I asked. We can go as long as we are back before sunset,” Amberpaw lied quickly.


Topazpaw eyed her suspiciously before nodding and following her to the dirtplace entrance. “Why are we going through the dirtplace tunnel?” asked Topazpaw.


“Er… I need to go make dirt before we head to the meadow. Anyway it will put us closer, we won’t have to walk all the way around camp.” Amberpaw hurried through the tunnel before he could ask any more hard to answer questions.


“It’s not that far!” Topazpaw exclaimed as he followed her. Just for accountability reasons Amberpaw made dirt before continuing on to the meadow. Topazpaw ran up ahead of her and signaled with his tail once they were getting close.


As soon as Amberpaw saw the meadow she felt as if nothing else existed. It was so pretty. The grass really did ripple! It would probably look even better from up high. Amberpaw spotted a tall tree on the edge of the meadow and decided she would climb it to get a better view. Topazpaw was looking the other way so Amberpaw figured that she could get up it without Topazpaw and his ‘Good judgement’ stopping her.


With one last glance at Topazpaw, Amberpaw pelted towards the tree and dug her claws into the soft bark. She used her hind legs to push herself up and she gripped with her claws. She set her eyes on the nearest branch and tried to get a clawhold on it. She managed to drag herself up and sat down on the branch. She drew in her breath sharply. She could see the whole meadow from here! Topazpaw was a small black splotch against the green and golden color of the grass.


Then Amberpaw looked directly below her. She was so high up! She let out a moan. “Topazpaw! Help! I can’t get down!” the little she-cat yowled.


Topazpaw turned his head and looked up at Amberpaw. “Amberpaw! I’ll go get someone to help you! Don’t fall!” He shot across the meadow and soon he was out of sight. Amberpaw dug her claws in even deeper and scrunched up her eyes. Amberpaw wondered what Opalwing would say. She would probably be banned from leaving camp for a moon.


In the distance she heard yowls from her clanmates. They had come to save her! When she opened her eyes she saw Jasperlight, Kunziteflower and Emeraldstar all racing behind Topazpaw. Amberpaw breathed a sigh of relief that Opalwing wasn’t there. Her scolding would have to wait until they got back to camp.


Suddenly Amberpaw’s claws started to slip and she started to fall backwards off the tree. She scrabbled for a clawhold but she couldn’t regain her grip! She felt herself falling through the air and hit the ground with a thud. Then everything went black.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amberpaw opened her eyes and found herself in a forest filled with tall, dark trees. “Where am I?” she whispered nervously.


“This is the Star-Forest. I am Diamondfeather,” a tall, scar-covered, silver she-cat mewed, appearing in front of her. “I am here to see you for an important reason.” Amberpaw opened her mouth then closed it, speechless. The little she-cat stared at Diamondfeather’s face, suddenly noticing how scared she was. There was a long one starting behind her ear, which ended nearly at her mouth. “You and your littermates have a long journey ahead of you. I have come to give you strength and wisdom. I will appear to you occasionally in some of your dreams from now on.” She started to fade and Amberpaw stood there stunned.


Does this happen to everyone? she thought.


She opened her eyes and found herself in the medicine den. Her head was throbbing, and she could feel a bump behind her ears. Opalwing was sitting next to her gazing at her anxiously. “Oh!” she gasped, “Amberpaw you’re awake!” She started covering her in licks.


Amberpaw shook her off and sat up. “Hi Opalwing.”


Opalwing looked at her with pure joy before frowning and squeezing her eyes shut. “You scared me almost to death, Amberpaw! What were you and Topazpaw doing sneaking out like that? You could have gotten lost or been found by coyotes or worse… you could have died falling out of that tree! Did you even think before you went out?”


Amberpaw explained to her about how she wanted to see the grass ripple and then she wanted to see it form up high so she climbed the tree. She almost mentioned the dream but then stopped herself.


Fadedleaf told everyone that Amberpaw should stay in the medicine den overnight so he could monitor her just in case she had any shock effects from the fall. Amberpaw decided to go to sleep early because she really wanted to see Diamondfeather. She wondered if she would meet any other cats from Starclan. She hoped so. She really wanted to see Cloudstar.


He was the leader before Emeraldstar. She had never met him, but Opalwing claimed that he was a great leader. She told Amberpaw that he was brave and compassionate and not afraid to defend his territory.


Amberpaw closed her eyes and tried to drift into sleep but the light from the setting sun kept her awake. And her hungry stomach. She went out to get some freshkill and then went back to the medicine den once it was dark.


Amberpaw. Amberpaw. You will lead your clan. You will protect your clan from harm.


There was a long pause, then a whisper that Amberpaw suspected she was not meant to hear.


...What do I say next? ... Oh.


Share this message and the messages to come with no cat besides your littermates. They will be the only cats who will understand. Now wake before the clan suspects something.


Amberpaw woke and found herself not in the medicine den but in the meadow again. She raced back to camp and acted like she had just gone to dirtplace.


“Good morning Amberpaw. Ready for more training?” Jasperlight mewed, appearing from the warriors den. He still had a glaze of sleep in his eyes but was making an obvious effort to be awake. “We are going with your littermates to learn some basic battle moves. I’m sure you would rather train with them than by yourself.”


Amberpaw nodded and started grooming her sleep-matted fur. Topazpaw and Onyxpaw were just waking up when Amberpaw finished grooming.


While she was waiting at the entrance, Amberpaw thought about her dream. Onyxpaw and Topazpaw showed no signs of anything strange so she figured that she was the only one of them that had had a dream.


So far, she quickly added, mentally.


It creeped her out to think that she had sleep walked all the way to the meadow without being seen by any of her clanmates. What else was she capable of doing in her sleep? Fighting? Eating? Climbing trees? She hoped not. She was in enough trouble already with what she did in the daytime without getting into mischief, mischief she didn’t even know about, at night.


They were ready to leave for the training cave. Onyxpaw wouldn’t stop talking about how she was going to be the best fighter in all of Gemclan. Amberpaw strongly doubted it. Onyxpaw was too nice to inflict serious wounds in battle. She would probably rather lick the wounds rather than give them. For a second Amberpaw wondered if Onyxpaw would be a good medicine cat. Then she thought better of it. The cat in her dream said that they would have to lead their clan to safety…. being a medicine cat surely made you less able to lead a whole clan?


Amberpaw hadn’t noticed until now that they had reached the training cave. It was a small hollow space with a large gap in the side, partially covered in tree branches and vines, that let in shafts of light.


Jasperlight went in first and sat down in the middle of the cave with a light yawn. The rest of the cats sat around him in a semicircle. He and Berylclaw demonstrated a beginners move a few times and then called on Amberpaw to come try them. Amberpaw unsheathed her claws, but before she could try the move Berylclaw was looming above her.


He hissed into her ear, “Sheath your claws!” She quickly obeyed and then attempted the move, swiping out her paw at an imaginary enemy. She was too slow and Jasperlight jumped over the top of her and pinned down her tail.


“Try to move a bit faster,” he advised. “If you can do that, then you can get in a second hit, and your opponent won’t escape from you. Amberpaw huffed grumpily and sat down go watch Topazpaw and Onyxpaw give it a try.


Onyxpaw tripped and flopped over onto a patch of soft, green moss, but Topazpaw did the move perfectly and even added the second paw strike that Jasperlight told Amberpaw about at the end.


“Well done Topazpaw! You are a natural at battling!” Spidertail praised him. Amberpaw just congratulated him and excused herself from the session.


She didn’t do the move as well as Topazpaw! And he was born after her! No fair! Amberpaw found herself tearing up the ground in her anger and quickly put it all back in place before going back into the training cave.


Onyxpaw was practicing the move again but this time she was going against Topazpaw. Amberpaw noticed with a start that they both had their claws unsheathed! She figured at first that they probably were just doing that to intimidate each other and they wouldn’t really hurt one another. But to her surprise Onyxpaw had a fire in her eyes and she leaped at Topazpaw with her paws outstretched. Amberpaw leaped at her and knocked her to the ground, hitting her already bruised head on the ground. Onyxpaw raked her claws down Amberpaw’s muzzle and threw her sister off, who landed roughly a few feet away, dazed. Amberpaw shook her head and looked around for their mentors, but they were talking in hushed voices just outside the cave.


Topazpaw leaped at Onyxpaw and slid under her with his claws skimming her belly. “How dare you question my battle moves! I learned those myself from Spidertail and you can’t even do one plain move without tipping over!” he yowled.


Jasperlight turned his head and bolted into the cave. “Topazpaw! Get off of Onyxpaw this instant!” Topazpaw relaxed his grip and Onyxpaw shoved him off of her. “What were you two thinking, fighting with your claws unsheathed? And why are you attacking each other in the first place?”


Topazpaw hissed at Onyxpaw and told the story of what happened to Jasperlight. By then Spidertail and Berylclaw had come in and were listening to the exchange between Topazpaw and Jasperlight.


Amberpaw slunk out of the cave and started walking back to camp, as Onyxpaw began explaining her side of the story, with an occasional shout of “She’s lying!” from Topazpaw.


Her muzzle stung where Onyxpaw had scratched her but Amberpaw didn’t taste or smell any blood.


When she arrived at camp Kyanpaw was cleaning out the bedding in the nursery. There were no queens or kits in the nursery currently, but they had to keep it ready. There was no need to have dirty, smelly bedding when the next she-cat had to go into the nursery. Amberpaw decided to help Kyanpaw with the bedding, wanting to get her mind off of the fight in the cave.


“Kyanpaw? Can I help?” Kyanpaw nodded and the moss in her mouth bobbed up and down.


Amberpaw went into the nursery and started rolling all of the loose moss into a ball so that it was easier to carry out. One that was done she carried it out and put it by dirtplace. Amberpaw had never cleaned out nests before but it seemed actually pretty easy! Amberpaw came back into camp and this time went to the medicine den to find some moss from Fadedleaf’s gigantic stash. Amberpaw wondered how that stuff didn’t go bad! He seemed to have had it since she was kitted! Amberpaw got her moss and walked back to the nursery. Kyanpaw was waiting inside for her with some feathers to line the nest.


“Thanks for the help Amberpaw. I would have been working forever if you hadn’t offered to help.”


Amberpaw twitched her tail in acknowledgement and set her moss down. “No problem! I was bored and figured you could use some help.”


They finished shaping the nest and left the den. “Who do you think will have kits next?” asked Kyanpaw out of the blue.


Amberpaw hadn’t thought about it much. Then she saw Rainpatch and remembered that Spidertail was his mate. What other pairs of cats were there? Twigfoot was always mooning over Condorwing but he never seemed to notice her. Then there was Topazpaw. He might as well be mates with Kyanpaw, the way he follows her around.


“Amberpaw?” Kyanpaw interrupted Amberpaw’s thoughts. Amberpaw had forgotten to answer Kyanpaw’s question.


“I think Spidertail. She is the only one who really has a mate right now.”


Kyanpaw nodded. “I agree. Although Twigfoot sure is trying hard.” They both laughed and then went their separate ways.


Amberpaw scented the hunting patrol returning through the stone tunnel. By the scent of it they had a successful hunt. Amberpaw’s belly growled but she ignored it and decided to try to find Jasperlight, if he had returned yet.


Just as she was leaving camp, Fadedleaf came up to her and asked if she would come into his den. Amberpaw nodded and followed him. Before she went in she cast a glance around camp to see who was watching. Even though she was positive she didn’t do anything wrong, it felt really weird to be hanging out with the medicine cat.


“What do you want, Fadedleaf?” Amberpaw asked, a bit rudely.


“Amberpaw, I know about the dream with StarClan,” he mewed quickly. Amberpaw drew in her breath sharply. How did he know? “I walked in the dream where Diamondfeather spoke to you.” It was as if he had read her thoughts.


Amberpaw felt anger boiling up inside her. “How dare you spy on me and my dreams,” she growled.


“It wasn’t my choice to make,” mewed Fadedleaf calmly. If Amberpaw had looked closer, she would have seen hurt in Fadedleaf’s sunflower yellow eyes. “StarClan sent me to your dream.”


Amberpaw glared at him. “Don’t spy on me. Don’t spy on any cat. I can find out what this dream means on my own,” she hissed.


Fadedleaf flinched and shook his head slowly. “I was trying to help you, little one. But you are welcome to navigate it on your own. Just don’t come to me asking for help,” he stalked away, shaking his head slowly.


Amberpaw was too proud to feel guilty. She stepped out into the clearing to find Jasperlight.

Sunset.

The orange-yellow mesh of colors randomly dashed onto the sky means one thing to many children. Bedtime.

Younger children more than any others, really. But right after their parents leave the room, a good number of the children put to bed at sunset leap out of their carefully tucked sheets and to their window, desperately searching for a different light than the giant sun looming in front of them.

A rare few find what they look for, here; a dim star floating in the mix-mash of oranges and blacks. The first star they see. And these children stare at this star for a moment, wondering, hoping, and finally muttering under their breaths:

“Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.”

Then, with a brief spark of hope in their gentle eyes, they gaze at the star for a millisecond longer, taking in its simple beauty (whether they realize it or not) before closing their big eyes and wishing something under their breaths.

That star, millions upon billions of lightyears away, seems to glow a tiny bit brighter for a moment.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Received.”

“Eastern time zone, eighteen hundred hours, new wish!”

“On it, on it. Accepted into our database, we are a go for launch. Setting up materialization now.”

“Starbase number two-seventy-one, do we have a go for a wish, over.”

“Yes, on queue until oh-two-hundred hours or until parental units are asleep, over.”

The wish station--Starbase 271--was suddenly bustling with movement as the influx of wishes suddenly spiked. Thousands upon thousands of silent wishes streaming into the system.

“Sixteen thousand orders for puppies, twelve thousand for good days tomorrow. The influence branch needs to work on those,” Someone on a platform at the middle of the ‘office’ called out. This sparked movement behind him. “Everything else is at much lower numbers, so get to your stations and let’s go!”

There was a low humming of voices throughout the Starbase. Quiet conversations and questions blending together into one confused voice.

I sipped my coffee and got going on the orders for money. Controlling luck was no easy task, but normally with kids their age could be happy with a few dollars they found lying on the street or even a lucky penny with the head-side up. That’s what we did. Controlled luck, influenced parents through silent means of dreams, and even sent people down to Earth to make these wishes come true. The realistic ones, anyway.

So when the kids woke up the next morning after wishing on that star, they could have hope for the coming day that their wish could come true.

What’s Going On?
Pokemon Special
Notes: Japanese naming (or what I know). Legendaries have genders. The terrible trio is based off of Roy, Wally, and Dick from Young Justice
Mew was bored. And when a very powerful Pokemon, gets bored, you would want to stay away. Too bad that’s impossible, especially when it’s the Phantom Pokemon.
Mew looked down from her invisible perch in the ceiling at two boys.
One was messing around with his indestructible billiard cue, and the other was trying to see over the edge of the pool table.
“This should work!” she thought to herself with a silent giggle. She waved a glittering finger at them and vanished to find something else to do.
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Gold sat up in bed as he decided what he would do today. Go annoy Crystal and hang out with Emerald, the other troublemaker of the dex-holders?
Sure, why not, he thought.
He began to throw on his clothes, and then he noticed something. He let out a manly scream. (At least he thought it was manly) He was a girl! Gold pulled her clothes on, grabbed her stuff, and ran out the door.
She sent out Explotaro who looked confused as to why his trainer was suddenly a girl.
“Go to the Pokemon Academy where Crys and Rald work at,” Gold ordered as she jumped on Explotaro’s back. “I’ll explain what I know on the way there.”
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Emerald yawned as he got up. He blinked. “Mornin’ Sceptile,” he said.
Sceptile looked up from where he was sitting. His eyes widened and he burst out laughing.
“What is it Sceptile?” mumbled Emerald.
Sceptile pointed a arm at him with a snicker. Emerald looked down and was jerked wide awake.
“I’m a girl!?” she exclaimed loudly.
Sceptile started laughing again. Emerald glared at him, grabbed a pokeball, and promptly returned him.
She was already dressed from the previous night, so she grabbed her pokeballs and ran out of her apartment.
We’re going to find Crystal, she thought.
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Crystal sighed as she attempted to round up a few kids, known as the Terrible Trio, for class.
They had originally been the Chaos Couple until they learned that couple meant two and they had three.
She grabbed their leader, Liana, and shoved her inside. The other two, Timmy and Lance, began to kick her as she grabbed their jacket hoods and tugged them in.
Right as they sat down, she heard a knock at the door. Crystal sighed, and opened the door. What she saw was so outrageous that she promptly slammed it. There was some more polite knocking, then pounding. Crystal could hear arguing on the other side of the door.

It was at this moment I knew I messed up, horribly.

I guess I should introduce myself, I am Z-e-t-Sub-0, but you can just call me Zetsubo. That’s what my friends call me, at least. I guess by first glance, I'm an ordinary student at Taiyo Academy. For you see, I'm actually a robot, pretty neat, huh? I mean, being a robot does have its downsides, for instance, I can't smell things like humans can do, which means I can't smell freshly baked bread, or chemicals. Actually, I might be able to, but that doesn’t matter, what matters is this story.

It was an ordinary day at Taiyo Academy, well, as ordinary as it goes. Classes went normally as possible, and everything was great. I was hanging out with my friends, Yujin and Eienni. We were heading back to our dorms, as we normally do, and we started up a conversation.

"Hey, what do you guys think of Tantei and Usotuskei?" Yujin asked. We usually talked about people before we went to sleep, it was just natural for some reason. Tantei and Usotuskei were great friends, in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen them apart since they started talking on that first day. It was pretty strange, for they were practically polar opposites. Uso always likes to joke around, and sometimes during the night, you can hear Tantei chasing them to get their hat back.

"I think they are really great friends! I mean, they're practically inseparable!" Eienni said, cheerfully. She was always the happy one of the group, and if someone was sad, she would try desperately to help them. We continued our talk for some time, and we fell asleep, little did we know, tomorrow was going to be crazy.

Ashlynn rubbed her head and groaned at the headache that comes with dimensional travel. She felt her utility belt, and once she was sure she had everything she stood up and looked at her surroundings.
Suddenly she heard some coughing from next to her. Ash jerked her head down to see her little sister, Katherine, lying next to her on the ground. Ash pulled her up.
“You okay, Kat?”
Kat coughed again and nodded. “I think I accidently threw us into another dimension,” she sighed.
“Chill Kit-Kat, we’ll find our way back,” Ash said, grabbing her phone. “I might need to find an outlet to recharge this in. So I can call the fam and tell them we’re safe and stuff.”
Kat stared at the phone. “How do you have interdimensional cell service?” she asked.
“I have weird friends,” Ashlynn replied vaguely.
She looked at her watch, which had a holo-computer much like Robin’s in it. She briefly tapped on it to make sure it was working. The screen appeared and Ash sighed in relief. It still worked.
Kat tugged on the seventeen year old’s sleeve. “Ash, I think we should change out of our uniforms before people start wondering who we are,” Kat suggested.
Ash nodded and the two girls ran into a dark alley to change.
When Ash came out, she was wearing a bright yellow shirt, which hung loosely on one shoulder. It was long enough to cover up her utility belt which was on her shorts. She had black leggings under her shorts and a black tank top under her shirt. Ash, being her stubborn self, had refused to wear any shoes other than her usual boots. Usually as a civilian she would have her hair down in a braid, but she decided to leave it up in her ponytail.
Kat came out a minute later, since she didn’t have the speed to change as quickly. She was wearing a black shirt that had stars all over it. Katherine had chosen that shirt just to relate to her powers of space. Just like Ash’s shirt, it covered up her belt. She was wearing a jean skirt and had black sneakers on her feet. Her raven colored hair was no longer in two short pigtails, it barely touched her shoulders and slightly curled around her chin. Her bangs were pushed aside slightly to show her almond shaped eyes.
“Whelp!” exclaimed Ash, “Time to find out what kind of dimension this is!”
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Kari yelped as she hit the ground hard.
Someone had gotten ahold of the Realm Crystal and had sent her into a different dimension. She wasn’t prepared and therefore wasn’t in uniform. She had only one weapon, a retractable staff. Kari had her ninja suit with her, but decided it wouldn’t be wise to wear it in a unfamiliar place.
She was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. She pulled up the hood, covering her shaggy black hair.
Kari looked at her surroundings. She was in a crowded area, though no-one seemed to notice her. She glanced at her wrists, where two bracelets were. They weren’t glowing, thankfully.
The ninja silently began to walk out of the area, making sure that there was no danger around.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
Cecilia surfaced from where she was currently digging. What were those odd noises? She had sensed vibrations underground and heard noises the closer she got to them. They weren’t your average ‘tripped and fell’ vibrations. Cecilia knew those. Those thumps though, they were louder, like someone had fallen from a high place. She figured she might as well check it out. She pulled her glasses over her blind eyes. Technology had always interested her, and she had worked to find a way to see. The glasses were the closest she’d gotten, allowing her to see through sound. Cecilia’s tech interests and blindness had made her the ‘oddball’ among her sisters. She stepped fully into the light, showing her platinum colored hair. She had a pixie cut, mostly so it wouldn’t get in the way underground. Cecilia also had a crest on her head as a part of her hair. It wouldn’t go down no matter what she did. Cut it off? It would grow back. Water it down? It would pop right back up. She shook her head slightly, getting used to the roar of the city again. She brushed off some of the dirt on her clothes. She was wearing brown cargo pants and a tucked in camouflage shirt, complete with a belt to hold it all together.