Squirrelflight forced herself to stop shaking. She was about to be ThunderClan's Leader, she had to hide her fear. Well, hopefully she was about to be ThunderClan's Leader. But if StarClan didn't allow Bramblestar to step down...
She looked over to where her mate and her son Alderheart were lying, their eyes shut. If StarClan didn't allow Bramblestar to retire, then what would they do?
She still couldn't stop herself from shaking, so decided that when they woke up, she would blame it on the cold wind and say it was causing her to shiver.
Just then, Bramblestar jolted awake, getting to his paws and arching his back.
"Did it work?" Squirrelflight asked immediately.
Bramblestar flinched at her voice, but he turned around to meet her eyes and smiled.
"Bramblestar, please say something..." She whispered.
Her mate didn't say anything, just shook his head, and Squirrelflight figured that was enough of an answer. She felt her heart sink to her paws. So their plan failed.
But then, Bramblestar started to smile again. "Bramblestar?" He echoed, screwing up his face in a puzzled expression. "Who's he? I'm Brambleclaw." He purred.
Squirrelflight gasped. "So it worked?" She asked excitedly.
Her mate gave her a reassuring nod. "Yes, it worked. But come on, Alderheart and StarClan are waiting for you."
He took a step back and flicked his tail to the same spot that he had been lying in.
Squirrelflight blinked up at him. "Aren't you allowed to be with me?" She asked. She had been hoping that Bramblestar–no, Brambleclaw would be able to be by her side at her Nine Lives Ceremony, but it didn't seem like it.
"No, StarClan told me that this is for you to do. But I'll be waiting here for you. I have no doubt that you'll be great." He whispered.
She nodded, quickly touched her nose to his cheek one last time before crouching down at the Moonpool and lapping up the mystical water.
It was cold. So cold. It felt like ice hit her tongue, and she tensed her muscles and shut her eyes to try and stop feeling so frozen.
When she forced her eyes open again, she was in a clearing. Silverpelt shone down on her, and tall pine trees reached up to the stars.
She could see Alderheart sitting to her left. He gave her a reassuring smile. "Are you ready?" He asked her.
She wanted to say no, because truthfully, she didn't feel like she would ever be ready. She hadn't been this nervous in a long, long time.
"Yes." But she choked out the words and tried her best to sound confident. She was about to be the Leader of ThunderClan. She wasn't going to show fear now.
Out of the trees emerged cats she had loved so much, and she couldn't suppress her purr at seeing their familiar faces.
The first one padded over to her, a sturdy ginger tom with a pelt of fire.
"Hello, Squirrelflight." He purred.
"Hi Firestar." She answered with a smile. She walked over to meet him and tucked her head under his chin, basking in the comfort she felt.
"I am so, so proud of you and all the things you have accomplished. I am honoured to call myself your father." He told her, and Squirrelflight gave her chest fur a few licks in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
"With your first life, I give you Bravery. There are plenty of hard or scary things a Clan Leader will have to face in their lifetime, take it from me. Whether it be tough decisions or battles, use this life to help you have the courage to do whatever your Clan needs you to."
He touched his nose to her head, and fire shot through Squirrelflight's body. It was in her veins, her blood, her muscles, everywhere, and she couldn't shake it. She unsheathed her claws, digging them into the ground to avoid howling out in pain.
Firestar stepped back and his mate came to take his place.
"Hello, my beautiful kit." Sandstorm purred, looking at Squirrelflight with nothing but love in her eyes.
"Mom!" Squirrelflight whined. "I'm not a kit anymore!"
Sandstorm shook her head. "To me, you're always my precious baby. With this life, I give you a life for Mother's Love. Your Clan are going to depend on you, but as long as you protect them with the ferocity of a love for her mother's kits, they will always be safe."
Sandstorm whispered. She slowly stepped forward to touch her nose to Squirrelflight's head. As she did, agony seized Squirrelflight's body, and she wanted to cry out in pain. She had expected this life to be less painful than the last one, she had expected it to be gentle and soft, like a mother to her kits, but it was the opposite. Squirrelflight knew that it was the ferocity of a mother's love, and it was something that hardly anything could challenge.
A brown tabby with white paws and a white patch on her chest came to take Sandstorm's place, and Squirrelflight purred.
"I missed you, Leafpool." She whispered, and Leafpool nodded.
"I missed you too. Are you ready for your third life?" Her sister asked.
Squirrelflight contained her grimace. This was only her third life, and she was already in absolute agony! But she nodded despite her body aching.
"With this life, I give you Perseverance and Resilience. A Leader's life can be tough, and there will be many hardships you will have to go through. There will be times you just want to give up, but you mustn't. So use this life to help you with those times."
Squirrelflight knew it was fitting for Leafpool to give that life. She was such a resilient cat, she had been knocked down so many times in her life and yet she always got back up.
Leafpool pressed her nose against Squirrelflight's forehead, and Squirrelflight let out a low hiss at the pain that burned through her body. But she remembered what Leafpool had just told her, to be resilient and to persevere. So that was what she would do.
A beautiful silver she cat padded over to stand in front of Squirrelflight. “It's been a long time since I've last seen you.” She whispered.
“Feathertail,” Squirrelflight whispered. “I haven't seen you in so long.”
Feathertail nodded. “I know. You were only an apprentice back then. You've seen and done so many things since the last time I was by your side.”
Squirrelflight sighed. “But I wish you had been here to see and do them with me.”
Feathertail shook her head. “That wasn't my destiny, Squirrelflight. But your destiny is to be Clan Leader, and that is why I am here, to give you your fourth life. With this life, I give you Compassion. Your Clanmates will come to you in their times of need. But as long as you remember to lead them with kindness, honour and compassion, you will be a great Leader.”
She rested her muzzle on Squirrelflight's head, and Squirrelflight felt like something was crushing her to the ground. She rasped for breath, the air almost sucked out of her lungs. She rocked unsteadily on her paws, almost falling over completely, panting for breath.
But the pain eventually ebbed away, and Feathertail took a step back. “Take care, Squirrelflight.” She called over her shoulder. Squirrelflight could only manage to nod in response.
The next cat to take her place was a reddish tabby tom. “Hi Squirrelflight.” He whispered.
“Foxleap! I haven't seen you in ages!” She cried, glad to see her first ever apprentice again.
“I know, it's been a while. With this life, I give you Energy. You'll need lots of it to lead, protect and defend your Clan,” He purred. “So use this life to help you be able to do that.” He touched his nose to her forehead, and ice seized Squirrelflight's body. She growled slightly, digging her claws deep into the soil beneath her.
“Mama!” Two happy squeals sent her pain away immediately, and she opened her eyes to see her two kits bounding towards her.
“Oh, my beautiful babies.” She murmured, rushing to meet them. “I've missed you both so, so much…” She told them. Dandelionkit pressed her head into Squirrelflight's side, and Juniperkit placed both of his tiny paws on top of Squirrelflight's white one.
“We've missed you too, Mama.” He answered, his tiny head bobbing up and down as he nodded.
“Yeah,” Dandelionkit agreed. “But we get to give you a life!” She squealed. “Are you ready?”
Squirrelflight purred, crouching down and pressing her belly flat against the ground so that her two kits would be able to reach her head in order to give her the next life.
“With this life, we give you protection.” Juniperkit began, and Squirrelflight purred with amusement at how wise her tiny kit sounded.
“Now that you're about to be ThunderClan's Leader, they're going to count on you and rely on you,” Dandelionkit told her. “So this life will help you protect them throughout the fiercest battles and the harshest storms.”
A bolt of lightning shot through Squirrelflight's whole body, pain hitting her from her nose to the tip of her tail. But she wasn't going to yowl out in agony, not with her two kits right by her side. What if she scared them?
The pain stopped, and her kits bounded away. “Goodbye, Mama.” They both purred, and now that they had their backs turned, Squirrelflight allowed a few tears to fall from her eyes.
She gave her pelt a shake when the next cat appeared, the cat who had taught her almost everything she knew, her mentor Dustpelt.
“I haven't seen you in quite a long time.” He told her with a purr.
She nodded. “I know!” She agreed. “I haven't been able to bother you in so long!”
He purred with amusement. “With this life, I give you the life for Mentoring. During your time as Leader, there will be many, many apprentices. You will need to choose the right mentors for them, and you will need to teach them things too. But beware,” He gave her a playful glance. “Sometimes there are apprentices who can be stubborn, frustrating furballs…” He teased.
“Hey!” She let out an offended huff, but she couldn't hide her purrs.
“Use this life to help you mentor and train the young cats in your Clan.”
She tensed her muscles and screwed her eyes shut to prepare herself for the pain that was sure to overwhelm her. As he touched his nose against her head, ferocity, more agonising than the sharpest claws, claimed her body, making every hair on her pelt stand on end.
Dustpelt stepped back. “Look after yourself, alright?”
She nodded, too in pain to even think about speaking. The next cat appeared, a black she cat, and Squirrelflight's heart ached as she approached.
Hollyleaf purred shyly. “Hi, Squi—” Before she could finish, Squirrelflight pulled her close.
“I've missed you, my daughter.” Squirrelflight choked, and Hollyleaf purred before pulling back.
“With this life, I give you a life for Forgiveness. There are some cats in your life who will do things, make mistakes, and with this life, I hope you're able to forgive them.” She stared at her paws. “I hope you're able to forgive me…”
Squirrelflight nodded solemnly. “There's nothing to forgive, Hollyleaf. You'll always be my kit.”
Hollyleaf smiled and leaned forward. The life burned through Squirrelflight and she shook unsteadily on her paws, trembling at the pain. She felt like she was on the verge of collapsing, and she still had another life to go! How would she be able?
Hollyleaf gave her one last smile, then walked away, and Squirrelflight scanned the clearing for the remaining cat. But she couldn't see anyone. She gasped with realisation. Maybe because Brambleclaw retired, she would only receive eight lives instead of nine.
Then, something crashed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground and rolling her over onto her back. She looked up to see a brown tom, the mischievous gleam in his amber eyes exactly the same as the day she last saw it.
“Shrewpaw!” She cried with happiness. She pushed herself up off her back, standing on all fours again. She tucked her head under his chin, purring louder than she had in moons. She curled her fluffy tail around his shoulders. “You have no idea how much I've missed you..” She whispered, pressing her face into his neck fur so that no cat would see that she was crying.
He purred. “I've missed you too, you bossy furball.”
She pulled back and gave him a playful cuff around the ears. “You watch your mouth, I'm ThunderClan's Deputy, about to be the Leader.” She told him.
“So I see you haven't changed, hm? You're still as mature as you were back then, when we were both mischievous, unruly apprentices.” He teased her.
She flicked her tail across his flank, but couldn't smother her purrs. Their banter filled her with nostalgia, and if she closed her eyes, it almost felt like the two of them were apprentices again, with hardly a care in the world. But she gave herself a quick shake to remind herself where she was and why she was here.
“With this life, I give you a life of Memories. You'll be Clan Leader now, it'll be easy to forget some things. But there are no memories that should be forgotten. Even the sad ones, even the bad ones, because they make us who we are today. You're going to be the Leader, but don't forget about all the things you've done in your life, all the happy memories you've made. And…” He trailed off, and Squirrelflight squinted slightly then gasped.
He was crying.
There were small tears pooling in his eyes, and he glanced away. “Fox-dung.” He cursed under his breath. He eventually turned to look her in the eye again. “I just…Don't forget me, okay?” He looked away again, clearing his throat.
Squirrelflight simply walked over to him. “Mouse-brain.” She said simply.
Shrewpaw looked up at her, his expression a mix of offense and confusion.
“I'll never forget you. You'll always be my friend.” She promised him.
He blinked up at her. “In that case…” He touched his nose against her forehead, and this time, she couldn't contain the yelp of pain. She felt like she was being torn to shreds by the sharp claws of enemy warriors. She shut her eyes, and visions of her life flashed before her eyes. Her in the nursery as a kit with her sister, both of them pressed against Sandstorm. Then, her with Dustpelt in the training hollow, learning new fighting moves. Then, she was running across a moor with five other cats; the journeying cats. Her meeting The Tribe Of Rushing water, Feathertail dying, Shrewpaw dying, The Clans making the Great Journey. Her receiving her warrior name, her being held back by Ashfur in the fire, her giving birth to her kits, her meeting The Sisters, and finally, her on her way to the Moonpool to receive her Nine Lives.
They were all memories, all important events that had shaped her into the brave cat she was today. And they were all memories that she would never dare to forget.
All of the other cats who had given her her Nine Lives stepped forward to surround her. “We now hail you by your new name,” They chorused. “Squirrelstar! Squirrelstar, Squirrelstar, Squirrelstar!” They chanted.
As the cats she loved so much called out her new name, Squirrelstar had never felt more loved.