Sun. Sunshine and warmth, so much that Phoenixwing realized that she might yet have gone to StarClan.
She blinked open her eyes, swiveling her head to see the starry bodies of cats long gone. A sudden jerk in her neck assured her she was still very much alive.
And in pain. Ouch.
She got to her feet slowly, feeling a dull ache in her neck. Had the bleeding stopped? It was hard to see against her red pelt. She also couldn't remember very much. Just... Fire. Fire?!
Ripplefoot was telling something to Raindrop, who was arguing with him, annoyed. "You ready? I know you just woke up, but the clan is super anxious. We need, need, need to go. Right after you pick your deputy."
Deputy? But she was deputy. Moonstar was leader. Wait... no... Phoenixwing was crying again. It was impossible. Unthinkable.
"I know. She was my mom." Ripplefoot comforted her, "But I've already cried for her, and we just need to move on. The clan needs you."
Phoenixwing ascended the tree, still wobbly, and said hoarsely, "I-I-I..." she looked down at all the anxious faces. "I... I will take the journey to the Moonstone, but before I go, I will pick the next deputy."
"May Moonstar hear and approve my words... Ripplefoot will be the new deputy of DragonClan."
No one was shocked. Not even a murmur of dissent. Phoenixwing felt oddly pleased. At least her first decision for the clan had been a good one. She let out a sigh of relief as she sprung down from the Great Tree.
"Are you ready?" Raindrop asked. She had the traveling herbs already bundled up.
"I hope so." Phoenixwing said, and the two of them walked out of camp and up the hillside.
On the way up, they stopped by an old den. Sun was inside, and Phoenixwing ran to her.
The rouge's good eye fixed on her. "So, the prophecy came true after all."
Phoenixwing nodded, but the rogue would say no more, and Phoenixwing's neck was itching, so they traveled on.
It was nightfall when they arrived, and the Moonstone stretched out before them in its entirety. White light shimmered across it. Phoenixwing took a deep breath in and out. Walking forwards, in the presence of all the starry warriors of ages long gone, she dipped her head and placed it on the Moonstone. She felt herself turn upside down and grass brushed her paws. She was standing in a clearing, hundreds of cats standing around her. Their pelts were wispy and their eyes shone with all the power of the stars.
"Are you ready?" Echoed a voice.
Phoenixwing bowed.
Her mother was the first cat to appear. "I am Snowfrost. I must let you know... I have been watching. I give you a life for remembrance, so that you may never forget those who have fallen." Phoenixwing felt a pulse of grinding, like she was standing on an earthquake, rush through her as Snowfrost touched her nose. Another starry cat joined her, Phoenixwing realized through the pain that her father had been allowed into StarClan.
Moonstar walked up next. Her eyes were bright and wise, but she looked at Phoenixwing sadly. "I am so sorry... I won't say much, because there's no excuse for what I've done. I give you a life for forgiveness... even if your clanmates may let you down... remember they are your blood and kin." Phoenixwing felt her heart collapse in on itself as it burned in her chest. Moonstar was already gone when she opened her eyes.
Starheart came up to her, smiling. "I miss you... I give you a life for love. Love each and every one of your clanmates, as if they were your kits." Phoenixwing felt her paws tremble as every bit of her shook, faster, faster until she thought she was going to explode.
Petaldust was next. "I give you a life for endurance. Even if the world falls, you must carry on. Such is the destiny of a leader." Phoenixwing was stone... endless, the sun setting and rising, and she would be at it's back until the end of time.
A tiny shape jumped from the ranks and Phoenixwing, even in pain, screamed with delight, "Branchkit!"
The little she-cat's eyes sparkled. "I give you a life for hope. Even in the darkness, a little light can lead you through." Phoenixwing wanted to tell the kit to come back, but she was gone. Instead, a feeling of fulfillment engulfed her. Her eyes shone, the life like a day in leafgreen with sun pouring all around her.
"I am very proud of you, even though we didn't know each other well." Lightningstrike told her. "I give you a life for loyalty. Stay true to your clan and yourself." His blunt words were drowned by searing pain down Phoenixwing, much like actual lightning.
Cloudpaw rose next from the ranks. "I give you a life for compassion. Everyone has something to cry for, but it hurts less when you share it." Phoenixwing heard yowling, constant yowling, dragging her down until she was drowning in it. Cloudpaw padded off, but turned around and said, "Can you please tell Sunstrike I said hello?"
Phoenixwing, still shivering, replied weakly. "Y-y-yes."
The familiar battle-scarred shape graced the ranks. Clawpelt flashed teeth in a smile and said to Phoenixwing- "I give you a life for ambition. Climb your way ever higher, until you and your clan are bright as the stars." Ambition was a swift shock to her, she wanted to run through the forests, on and on until the day she died.
The cats parted to reveal a cat so covered in stars that you could barely see her real, black pelt. Each paw she laid down shook the ground. "I am Dragonstar. As you know, I founded the clan you now call DragonClan. I give you a life for courage... you will need it. Be strong."
Phoenixwing collapsed to the earth as the sheer might of the ancient dragon course through her. When she got up again, Dragonstar was still watching.
"I name you Phoenixstar."
Phoenixstar bowed back down in shock, in honor of DragonClan's first leader.
"No, don't bow. We're equals, now and until the end of time."
Phoenixstar looked from her to the rest of the starry cats, her heart falling. He wasn't there, after all.
"Are you looking for someone?" Dragonstar purred.
"I didn't really think he'd be there, so I guess it's not that big of a deal." She shrugged it off, masking her disappointment.
"Fire is not here, because he's with you."
"Are you going to give me some mousedung about how the dead live on in our hearts?"
Dragonstar laughed. "No, he's LITERALLY been with you the whole time."
Phoenixstar stared at her as something clicked. A warrior with the sleek frame of a fox."Ripplefoot..."
Dragonstar purred. "Every hero gets into StarClan, and a lucky few get back to Earth."
Phoenixstar opened her eyes, her heart beating fast with the joy of a remembered bond.
