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Needletail looked up from the mouse she caught. A familiar black-and-white she-cat had appeared on the moon-lit clearing, her pelt covered with stars like Needletail’s. Needletail leaped with joy. Her friend had come to join her in StarClan.
“Violetshine!” the silver she-cat called out as she bounded towards her.
Violetshine’s tail shot up, recognizing the voice. She turned her muzzle, her yellow eyes bright. “Needletail!” They touched noses when Needletail reached the clearing. “I missed you.”
Needletail sat down. Great StarClan, how she’s grown. She was surprised that this was the same kit she had found in the tunnels all those moons ago. “How were the Clans doing? I know our connection with you was… a little shaky.”
Violetshine looked at her paws. “There was a battle. Bramble- well, some cat has taken over Bramblestar’s body, and he led a battle against us. He said he wanted to get rid of codebreakers. Many cats died.” She looked back up. “But I’m glad StarClan is still here.”
Some cat took over the ThunderClan leader’s body? Needletail made sure to remind herself to question Violetshine about this later. But for now, she wanted to know how Violetshine was doing. “How’s Tree?” she inquired.
“He’s great. We had two kits together. Rootspring… and Needleclaw.”
Needletail blinked in surprise. “You named one of them after me?”
“Of course. I wanted to honor you after all you have done for me, after you sacrificed yourself to save me from Darktail…” she trailed off. Needletail felt a bubble of concern. Violetshine was avoiding her gaze. “Needletail, when Pebbleshine - my mother - welcomed me to StarClan, she told me something strange. She said that Juniperclaw had torn me away from my sister, used me to get closer to Darktail, and even told me to attack my sister to pull me closer to him.” Violetshine’s eyes were filled with confusion as Needletail bristled in alarm, her heart lurching. “But Juniperclaw barely even talked to me. Needletail, what’s going on?”
Before Needletail could respond with a frantically-improvised story or a hissed “I don’t know”, a growl sounded from behind her. “Yes, that’s what I would like to know.”
Needletail spun around. “Strikestone!” The brown tabby-and-white tom was standing menacingly with his claws unsheathed. More new StarClan spirits stood behind him, each of their faces looking either shocked, confused, or apprehensive. “Did you also die in the battle?”
“Yes, and I was hoping to reunite with my brother again, so I could apologize for what I said to him before he died.” The guilt in the tom’s eyes was replaced with a wave of blazing anger. “But Dawnpelt told me that Juniperclaw was not in StarClan, but the Place of No Stars. Apparently, some fox-hearted silver she-cat here made up some dirt-filled lies about him ruining Violetshine’s kithood. Do you have any idea who she might be?” he hissed.
Needletail’s breath caught in her throat. “No idea,” she quickly mewed before spinning around to dart away from the shocked and furious glares. But before she could escape, a sharp stab of pain shot from her tail, causing her to yelp in pain. She glanced back. Strikestone had caught her tail and dug his claw into it.
“Please let go of my tail,” she pleaded.
Strikestone dug his claw deeper. Blood welled around it. “Apologize to my brother. Beg him to forgive you, to come back to StarClan, where he belongs. Where you don’t.”
Needletail winced. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”
Strikestone narrowed his eyes. “Swear it by your place in the stars. Now.”
As if I have a choice. Needletail rolled her eyes. “I swear by my place in StarClan, I’ll drag him out of the Dark Forest and call him Juniperstar and give him nine lives- oww I mean I’ll make amends for my mistakes and bring him here and accept whatever punishment he sees fit and oww please let go!” she mewled hastily, forgoing her sarcasm and dignity as the claw dug even deeper and the agony overwhelmed her.
After a few heartbeats that felt like moons, Strikestone finally retracted his claws and let go of her tail. His eyes were still narrowed with suspicion. “We will escort you, to make sure you hold your promise.”
Needletail dragged her tail away from him and examined the injury. It was deep and still bleeding. “It feels as if my tail is cut off.”
A cream-colored tom in the back of the crowd of spirits flicked the stump that replaced his tail. “You’ll get used to it.”