Warriors: The Chosen Warrior: Final Darkness (Book 6)

Chapter 25

The pale-ginger she-cat looked down into the hollow and watched as her Clanmates gathered beneath her. Many eyes glanced up to her as she sat on the Highledge, and some cats were no doubt commenting on her position among the gentle buzz of evening conversation, even if she couldn't hear their exact words from where she was.

Leafsong looked behind her to see both Leafpool and Jayfeather sitting a few paces away. When Leafsong had announced that she was ready to confront the Clan about her experience, Jayfeather had immediately gone to notify Firestar. The leader had insisted on allowing Leafsong to speak from the Highledge, as she was "as deserving as any Clan leader" and it would enable all in the camp to see and hear her speak with ease. The two medicine cats were also allowed to join Leafsong for support and to be close by in case anything were to happen to her during her speech.

Among the throng of her Clanmates the she-cat was able to find Darkflight sitting beside Dapplerock and Whitesnake near the front of the crowd, along with Shiningice. Frostdrop and Bravespark sat a few tail-lengths away from them, and Swiftclaw and Stone stood together near the back. It was clear the couple felt misplaced among a Clan meeting, but Leafsong was glad they pushed away anyone who would complain - figuratively and literally - in order to hear her story. If they weren't present, she would refuse to start until they were.

After all in the Clan were settled, the murmurings eventually subsided as everyone waited anxiously for her to begin speaking. Briefly, Leafsong lifted her own gaze to the twilight sky. The clouds that had lingered all day were finally starting to break apart to reveal just the brightest of stars. She hoped that it was by StarClan's own will rather than pure coincidence. Breathing in a great calming breath of the brisk air and letting it out through her mouth, the she-cat focused her eyes on her Clanmates again and began.

"My Clanmates in ThunderClan" - her voice was raspy as she spoke loudly, but for now she disregarded her comfort - "I want to first address for what happened during the Gathering. Yes, it is true that I trained in the Dark Forest and under Owlheart. But it is not true that I turned away from you and from StarClan to become this... this 'Dark Chosen Warrior' she had claimed me to be. I am not Leafstar; I am Leafsong. And you can now be certain that I have no affiliation with the Dark Forest anymore."

She paused to assess the cats' reactions to her words so far. Did they believe her? A few cats still looked skeptical, glancing at others uneasily, but they were massively outnumbered by the ones who did appear to believe her. Strengthened by this, the she-cat continued.

"I did not mean for the battle that ensued to happen. If I had known what exactly what the Dark Forest was planning, I would have tried to stop it before they could have brought any more harm to the Clans. But what enabled the Dark Forest spirits to enter our territory to begin with was the red moon we all witnessed. It prevented StarClan from making contact with us and loosened their grip over the Dark Forest while it lasted. I am sure that if StarClan had been able to help us in any way during that dark hour, they would have given it to us. But alas, they could not because of the power of the red moon.

"When I fled after my initial fight with Owlheart - during which I had believed I had all of StarClan by my side, when in fact they were trapped in their own territory - I saw many of you turning to fight against the very spirits who oppressed us that night. You were all very brave, unlike me. You fought to protect the Clans against all odds, while your so-called Chosen Warrior ran away. Either way, my punishment caught up to me along the lakeshore. Owlheart of the Dark Forest was the one to kill me with a blow to my throat, and no one else."

The pale-ginger warrior raked her eyes across the crowd, sure that her meaning got across even without mentioning Stone's name to the ones who were suspicious about the circumstances of her death. She met her brother's eye far across the hollow, and he gave a slight dip of his head in thanks for clearing his name of further denunciation.