Cody laid her tail across Tangle's back and guided her through the rocks to a shallow dip in the sand against a large boulder. In it was a black queen nursing three small bundles of fur. Beside her lay two more kits around Tangle's age, napping peacefully. The queen raised her head and smiled in greeting at the arrived pair.

"Hello, Cody. Is this the kitten you've been talking about?" she asked, resting her blue eyes on the speckled kit.

"Yes, Rose." Nudging a shy Tangle forward, she introduced them.

"This is Rose, and her kits are Pansy, Lily, and Thorn." She meowed, nodding to the white, tabby, and black scraps of fur at her belly. "And these are- oh, do think we should wake them?" The brown she cat asked, indicating the two older kits, one reddish-brown and the other a bright white.

Rose snorted, prodding the two. "They've been sleeping all day; it's time for them to have some excitement."

The reddish-brown tom sat up first, opening his jaws in a huge yawn. Blinking a few times, his eyes finally focused on the black and white kit in front of him. Eyes widening in excitement, he nudged the she kit next to him awake. "Wake up!" he mewed, "There's a new cat!"

Finally, the second kit lifted her head. "Nice to meet you," she slurred, eyes still closed. "Now I have someone else to play with besides my boring ol' brother."

"Come on, Berry, open your eyes. She'll have to know eventually." He said to the lethargic kit.

Growling softly, the second kit sat up and opened her eyes, which, to Tangle's shock, were a bright red.

"Why do you-"

"I'm albino, it's special." Berry hissed. Clearly the kit was asked the same question too often.

Turning back to Cody she asked, "I still don't understand how you know these cats."

The brown queen chuckled. "Then I suppose I'll have to tell a story."

The two other kits brightened at this.

"Tell the one about the stars-" Berry began but was cut off by her brother's request.

"No! Tell the one where you got captured!"

The older she cat silenced them with a look.

"How about I tell all of them."

Satisfied by this, the siblings sat down to listen.

"Many seasons ago, when this land was still forest, there were four clans." Cody began, settling into a comfortable position across from Tangle, who mimicked her actions, unsure of what to do with herself.

"There was ThunderClan, WindClan, ShadowClan, and RiverClan. "her eyes misted over as she began her story.

"The Clans were bound together by the warrior code. Warriors would take care of kits, elders, and each other, with a leader to lead them and a medicine cat to heal them. They lived peacefully with each other until the Twolegs came and tore down their forest; their home. I was caught by some Twolegs when I was wondering through one day and put in a cage, as was Leafpaw, a ThunderClan medicine cat apprentice. We were set free by a group of her Clanmates and I stayed at their camp for a few days where I saw how they lived. They were living here, in these very rocks, barely surviving. Their prey was gone, their camp was gone and their territory was gone. All cats were starving and the warriors, that's what they called their hunters and fighters, could barely catch enough for themselves, let alone other cats. But instead of breaking up and having every cat for themselves, they held together, feeding the old and the weak before they fed themselves. They even fed me, a stranger to their Clan and offered to escort me back to my Twolegs."

"But you said you were there for a few days, why didn't you go back to your home right after you were rescued?" Tangle asked, and was immediately hushed by the two other kits. Cody, however, paused her story and patiently answered her question.

"It was too dangerous right then, little hedgehog. Anyway-"

"Why-"Tangle began, but received a mouthful of Berry's tail. Cody nodded to her and continued.

"After I left, I couldn't stop thinking how having that code would benefit the cats living without housefolk in the city. I didn't know any, however, and I didn't want to leave my Twolegs, but I did become more adventurous, and I often came out here to hunt occasionally and think. One day, I met Gravel and Jasmine, and we became friends after I tended to a nasty cut on Jasmine's leg, so I told them about the Clans, they liked the idea, and here we are." She finished cheerfully.

Tangle couldn't help but feel that there was more to the tale, but it seemed Cody was done with her story. Perhaps she could ask Gravel… or one of the "Clan kits".

But she suddenly felt sleepy as the events of the day crashed down upon her. She swayed a little on her paws, doing her best to keep her eyes from fluttering.

Cody must have noticed because she led her a little away from the other cats and scraped out a nest for her in the sand and pebbles.

"We can line it with soft things later, right now, I think you could practically fall asleep on your paws!" she murmured in the kit's ear. The spotted kit nodded sleepily and settled into her nest and was fast asleep within heartbeats.

Tangle awoke in the starry forest again and braced herself as Mosskit pulled herself out of her.

"Are you always inside of me?" she asked.

"What do you think?" the deceased kit answered irritably. Looking around, she scented the air, mouth partly open. "This way." She mewed and bounded into the bushes.

Tangle scrambled after her, clumsily clawing her way through the brush. How does she slip through it like a fish? She wondered, pulling yet another clump of fur out. Finally, they stopped next to an oak with sprawling roots.

"Snowfur?" Mosskit called up. A squirrel leapt out of the tree as a white she cat with sparkling blue eyes poked her head out from behind a branch. "Mosskit!" she beamed, leaping gracefully to the ground and nuzzling her head. "I've missed you!" she purred, licking her cheek while Tangle still stood awkwardly apart from them. Watching them exchange greetings reminded her of her mother and Wisp. She missed them so much it made her heart twist. Shaking her head, she padded forward and shyly nudged Mosskit's side.

"Oh, Snowfur, this is Tangle, she's the kit I've been trapped in for the past four moons. Tangle, this is Snowfur, my mother's sister."

"Well, Tangle, it's a pleasure to meet you." The white she cat meowed warmly. "How about I give you a tour of StarClan?"

"O-OK." The kit mewed, surprised at the offer.

Unbeknownst to Tangle, Snowfur shared a look with Mosskit before the kit disappeared into the brush.

Mosskit

She leaned into the run, enjoying the free use of her muscles. Leaves rustled under paw and twigs brushed her fur as she pelted through the undergrowth. All too soon, she stopped, panting, in the clearing that had begun her mess. Eight other cats were already there. She recognized Bluestar and Goosefeather, but the rest were unfamiliar. There were two, gray, she cats chatting, the younger seemed to be seeking advice from the older one, and the other four remained silently regal, sitting together off to the side.

Mosskit trotted over to her mother just as the younger gray cat disappeared.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Your future is about to be discussed, young kit. I suggest you pay attention."

One of the four cats had stepped forward, a black queen.

The young she cat bristled. "Just because I died a kit doesn't mean I act like one."

The queen rolled her green eyes. "I suppose that entering the Tunnel of Stars out of curiosity isn't acting like a kit?"

Mosskit was about to retort when Bluestar muffled her muzzle with her tail, instead addressing the black cat.

"My daughter is not so foolish to do that, Shadow. Goosefeather, however…" she glanced at the tom who was busily grooming his chest as all eyes turned to him. He cleared his throat self-consciously. This was Mosskit's first time to see headstrong tom squirm and a smirk appeared on her muzzle. She treasured every heartbeat.

"Well…uh, you see, you all know of Cinderpelt's predicament." He began, nodding to the vacated space next to the older gray she cat, which bristled slightly. "I think she should be given a second chance." There was a collective gasp around him. "You can't be serious!" A dusty brown she cat spoke up. "Cats can't just turn around in the tunnel and live again!" The ragged tom held up his tail for silence. "That is why they will be given a vessel for them to be reborn in, a kit who is similar to them, Wind. Of course, this first try with Mosskit is just a test trial, but next time it will be done perfectly, a neater choice of time and kit will be chosen."

"I'M JUST A TEST?" Mosskit exploded, clawing out of her mother's grip. "You said I had a destiny! A future! A second shot at life, and you're just now telling me that imprisoning me in that kit's body and mind is just an experiment?"

The two larger toms from the side managed to restrain the kit from tackling the old tom.

"You worthless piece of foxdung! You trapped me in that stupid kit's body!" she screeched, clawing at the dirt, trying to free herself.

However, the old medicine cat had regained his calm composure. "You do have a destiny, kit." He spat. "Be patient."

Mosskit growled, but was cut short when her muzzle disappeared, shortly followed by the rest of her body. The tom gave a quiet sigh of relief.

"What about the other kit? Tangle?" came Snowfur's voice as she padded into the clearing, blue eyes glinting. "What's she to become?"

The cat's looked silently to the ragged tom, who only shrugged.

Finally, the yellow eyed she cat mewed quietly "A puppet."

Unknown to them, a spotted kit gave a small gasp, amber eyes widening behind the bushes, before she woke up.

Sorry it took so long! I wrote it, then procrastinated on posting it. Just so you know, YES, I know I wrote that Tangle's eye color was amber. However, when she and Mossy are in StarClan, they're separated, but when they're awake, they look out of the same eyes and yellow + blue = green.

So, this was kinda big in the plot and relates into the canon series. (Because who else but Goosefeather would mash two souls into one body?) ;) Did I do ok in explaining it or are you like: …wut?

xXHazelnutXx: Great!

Anonymous Fishy: So glad to hear from you! Shard has had an…interesting past to say the least. I'll get to it later on in the story. Glad the flashback made sense for the most part! Mosskit and Tangle really just share minds, and she can only communicate with her through memory unless they're dreaming in StarClan.

creeperkit: Here it is!