The Code of No Stars

1. Defend your Clan, even with your life. All cats outside of your Clan is an enemy that must be fought.

2. If you fall in love or take a mate from a cat outside of your Clan, the punishment is exile or death. If any kittens spawn from the union, they will be slaughtered without question.

3. Do not hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory.

4. Warriors eat after the kits. Queens and Medicine cats eat after the Warriors.

5. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to the Dark Forest for its sacrifice.

6. A kit must be at least four moons old to become an apprentice.

7. Newly appointed warriors will keep a silent vigil for one night after receiving their warrior name.

8. A cat cannot be made deputy without having mentored at least one apprentice.

9. The deputy will become Clan leader when the leader dies, retires, or is exiled.

10. After the death, retirement, promotion (to a leader status), or exile of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh.

11. Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats.

12. The word of the Clan leader is the warrior code.

13. A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet.

14. All warriors that reach the age of eight leaf-bears must either be exiled or killed. The leader may outgrow the eight leaf-bare limit, however.

15. Medicine cats meet every new moon at the Moonpool to commune with the Dark Forest.

16. A medicine cat cannot have a mate or kits. If such an occurrence rises, the mate must be exiled or killed and the kits must be slaughtered without question.

17. Leaders and deputies must be prioritized in healing above all other cats.

18. Any act of defiance or treason to your home Clan is punishable by death.

"You have reached the age of eight leaf-bares." began Sagestar with a cold voice ringing through WindClan's camp, her voice carrying through the air like a leaf-fall chill. Her green eyes were glistening frost in the dawn. "Mistytail, you must decide now. Will you leave WindClan an elder or die a warrior?"

Pearpaw exhaled a puff of air from her mouth as she brushed closer to Flowerfire, her mentor. The white molly slowly craned her head to look at the shuddering Mistytail, the orange tabby queen's tail was lashing back and forth uneasily as her kits clung to her paws, Mosskit and Hawkkit.

The queen looked pleadingly at Sagestar's frozen gaze. "Please, I have kits! Let me stay just a little bit longer, at least until they become apprentices!" She brushed a long ginger tail over the wailing kits, her eyes beginning to mist over in sorrow. "It's just a few more moons, and then I'll leave WindClan, I swear!"

Sagestar took a deep breath and shook her head at the queen. "We cannot make an exception for you, Mistytail." Pearpaw could swear she saw a glint of regret in the new leader's eyes. Sagestar had only taken the reigns as leaders about two seasons ago. Being a leader included the heavy task of exiling any warrior at the age of eight leaf-bares. If they refused to leave, the leader had to execute them.

Hawkkit pressed close into Mistytail's fur with wide and sad blue eyes. "Mama, no, please don't go yet!"

"It's not fair!" Mosskit added with a wail.

Mistytail's gaze hardened at her kits' words. She glared up defiantly at Sagestar suddenly, and Pearpaw held her breath. Flowerfire drew the apprentice closer and whispered in her ear, "It'll be over soon. Grit your teeth and bare it."

Pearpaw couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Flowerfire would rather say those words to the queen that Sagestar was staring down. The white molly tried to fluff up her fur defensively, but to no avail as a chilly wind blew right through the young apprentice.

"I'm not leaving." Mistytail declared. "I am going to stay with my kits. You can't drive me out like that." Her voice was verging on a frozen hiss of resistance.

Pearpaw's breath lurched when Sagestar jumped down the stone where she stood and slowly approached Mistytail who was visibly shaking at this point, drawing her kits closer to her chest. Sagestar looked confident with her swift and calculated pawsteps. The deputy, Amberfern stood nearby, unsheathing her claws, watching carefully.

"This is your final warning, Mistytail." Sagestar said slowly.

"And I already gave you my answer." Mistytail replied with a lashing tail.

Sagestar sighed and turned her head to face Amberfern and Flowerfire in turn. "You two, take Mosskit and Hawkkit into the nursery." She commanded.

Flowerfire stood up, drawing her long brown tail over Pearpaw's shoulder for a while as she and Amberfern approached the kits clinging to Mistytail's fur.

"Get your paws off of them!" the queen demanded, arching her back and spitting at the two high-ranking cats, swiping her orange paws at Flowerfire's cheek, drawing blood to streak down the medicine cat's face. The brown speckled molly flinched back, still gripping Mosskit's scruff tightly as Amberfern pulled away Hawkkit.

Flowerfire sent an apologetic glance to Pearpaw, who watched the scene unfold with large, unblinking green eyes. The apprentice has seen scenes like this before in her Clan, but it was never with a nursing queen before. The medicine cat apprentice couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for Mistytail as the kits were wrenched away from her.

Sagestar stood tall, towering over Mistytail who was still crying out for her kits. The leader ignored her. "Mistytail, you have elected death over exile. And you shall die a warrior's death."

"You're fox-dung." She spat at Sagestar, arching her back. Her claws flexed in and out of the dirt underneath her. Pearpaw felt something cold and delicate land on her nose. She glanced up to see that it was beginning to snow and she shuddered from the chilling breeze. The molly slowly inched her way back into the medicine den to get out of the snow.

Sagestar wordlessly pounced on top of Mistytail and the queen hissed as the much-larger leader bounded on top of her. The orange molly slashed forward her back legs to rake over Sagestar's stomach and tried to flip her over. But the larger leader pinned her front claws firmly over Mistytail's shoulders and shoved her into the ground. In a swift movement, rolled over Mistytail onto the side and lurched her head forward and firmly planted her jaw over the queen's throat with a low growl.

Pearpaw couldn't take it much longer. She quickly turned around to enter the medicine den, wiping a paw over her eyes, trying to erase what she had just watched. The scent of blood wafted into the den, and she knew Mistytail had died. She heard Mosskit scream in terror and Hawkkit wail in unison. Pearpaw trudged to her nes sadly, feeling like her paws were heavier than ever before.

Several heartbeats later, the scent of Flowerfire wafted through the den and Pearpaw raised her head to meet her mentor's amber gaze. The medicine cat opened her mouth to say something but then shut it again before looking away. "I'm sorry." She mumbled at last, settling into her nest next to Pearpaw's.

"What about Hawkkit and Mosskit?" Pearpaw questioned softly, trying to keep her voice neutral. She didn't want to start a conflict between her and Flowerfire, and she knew her mentor could get passionate about certain subjects, so the apprentice had to tread the topic lightly.

"They have weaned off of Mistytail's milk, they'll be fine." Flowerfire started with a level voice, but still not making eye contact with Pearpaw, her gaze fixated on the stone and dirt wall of the medicine den as she played with some poppy seeds beneath her paws. "Mistytail was to return to her warrior duties soon, anyway."

"They really didn't want her to go." Pearpaw said quietly, trying to meet Flowerfire's gaze to no success. Pearpaw felt her eyes mist over as she quickly looked away. "Why must we kill our elders?"

Flowerfire took a shaky breath and went on, "It is the way the Dark Forest commands." Her voice was frigid, but somewhat mournful at the same time. "The Clans haven't had elders in generations. They do not serve the Clan in hunting nor fighting. They are simply extra mouths to be fed that have no use. And as I've said, we must obey the Dark Forest, otherwise we'd cease to be."

Pearpaw had heard Flowerfire speak plenty of the Dark Forest and how they must worship it along with the Code of No Stars. But her heart ached for perhaps something more but she couldn't put her paw on it exactly. Something simply felt off about it all and she knew that Flowerfire felt that way as well.

"As medicine cats," she said coolly, raising her body to approach a stalk of withering feverfew in the corner of the den, "we must listen to the Dark Forest's words and interpret them for our Clan." Flowerfire glanced over at Pearpaw, her amber gaze boring hard into her. "In the next few nights when the new moon rises, we will be going to the Moonpool. The Dark Forest will see if you are truly worthy of being my apprentice."

"Yes, Flowerfire." Pearpaw meowed softly, resting her head onto her paws, scanning her eyes over the herbs. She took a deep breath and released it, stepping out of her nest for her daily lessons.