Note: This is an ImagineClan challenge rather than a SecretClan challenge.

"Brightpaw was the best apprentice that a warrior could have had. She was so quick to learn, and so eager. She was just full of joy, and happiness. And she was only a quarter moon away from being a warrior, she was so excited. I'm so sorry that she's gone." I get choked up as I talk about Brightpaw. Her mother, Echomist, dips her head. I know that she's sadder than me, that it hurt her more when her only daughter caught greencough.

Well, most of the Clan caught greencough, to be fair. Her brother, Flameheart, did too. But they all recovered. Brightpaw didn't. She just got sicker and sicker. But Brightpaw was tough. She never told anyone how bad it was, never complained once. And earlier today, she died. Stormpool, our Clan's medicine cat, told me first.

"She's gone." he said. Nothing more. He was never one for sympathy, he just told the cold hard facts. My last words to Brightpaw were, "Someday we'll be together again."

Her mother's words snap me out of my daydream. "Cherrynose, go away. This is all your fault."

I'm stunned. Echomist is usually such a kind she-cat. "What did you just say?" I ask. I'm sure that I heard her wrong.

"Leave. Now." she snarls. "You didn't tell us soon enough. You didn't take care of my daughter like you should have. Now leave."

I run without replying. I know just where to go: the hideout that my mate, Redblaze, and I have shared since we were apprentices. It's up in a tree, in a room made out of branches and leaves. I climb up the tree and lay down. Soon, I fall asleep. It's the first time I've slept in days.

When I wake up, I'm surprised to find Redblaze standing over me. His amber eyes are sad. "Cherrynose." he says. "I'm so sorry for you. You've been through a lot lately, haven't you?" I nod, expecting sympathy. Redblaze, however, has other ideas.

"You can't just wallow in sorrow forever. You have a life to live, a Clan to serve. Our kits are on the way. What will they think if their mother doesn't care about them, and she just lives in a separate world? Please go live life. For StarClan's sake."

He's right, and I know it. I'm expecting kits in a moon. Brightpaw would have loved them, but now she'll never get to meet them. I should take care of them...

But I can't just forget Brightpaw. "No!" I yell. "I don't care about these kits, I don't care about BreezeClan, and I especially don't care about StarClan! If they existed, they wouldn't have killed Brightpaw!" He steps back like he's been clawed. I don't care. I run back to camp, to my den, and sleep.

The next day, I am called to the leader's den. Redblaze is standing next to Skystar. Skystar walks up to me, her blue eyes full of anger.

"Cherrynose, I have been told that you are doubting the existence of StarClan. Is that true?"

I could say no, I could say that it's all a lie. Then, maybe I wouldn't get punished. That's not the truth, though. I don't believe in StarClan anymore. So I nod, ready for whatever happens. Skystar is surprised.

"But Cherrynose, you've always been such a loyal member of BreezeClan. Are you sure about this?" she asks.

I am, so I nod.

"Then I have no choice other than to banish you from BreezeClan until you regain your faith. I'm sorry. Please leave now." says Skystar.

Redblaze agrees. "It's the best thing for you, Cherrynose."

Silently, I leave the den. I take some fresh-kill and a few herbs, in case I get sick. As I leave the camp, I look back on it one last time. The whole Clan is staring at me. One queen is even protecting her kits, as if I would hurt them. I turn around and run.

After a short time, I find a grassy meadow full of mice, the perfect place for a den. I manage to build a den out of cattails that grow in a pond near the meadow. The floor is made of sweet-smelling dried grass.

The next few days are uneventful. I hunt, drink water, and sleep. It's like Clan life, except quieter, without rules and a set belief. But one morning, a sharp pain hits me in the stomach. The kits! I'd almost forgotten about them, and now they're coming. I thought it would be a little while longer, but they seem to be set on coming now.

I scream and writhe in pain on the floor of my grassy den. Suddenly, a pretty brown tabby appears in front of me. I gasp.

"Brightpaw?" I say. "Is it really you?"

She looks perfectly healthy, like she was before greencough killed her. She seems to have a halo surrounding her, and she seems almost like a wisp of air. She smiles and nods.

"Yes, it's me. I'm in StarClan now. It does exist, Cherrynose. It's beautiful there, always sunny with plenty of prey." As she describes it, I realize that StarClan is real, and that it's more powerful than I ever could have imagined. My thoughts are interrupted by another pain, this one knocking me to the side.

Brightpaw helps me, and I soon have three beautiful she-kits laying next to me. Two of them are the same reddish color as me and Redblaze. But one of them is a pale brown tabby, just like Brightpaw. Brightpaw is standing next to the brown kit.

"Think of this one as a gift from me. You would have only had the two red kits, but you needed this one. She's like me, Cherrynose. She is me." After Brightpaw is done speaking, I can see her soul fading into the little brown kit.

"Brightkit." I murmur. As I say the name, the brown kit mews. She's perfect. All of the kits are perfect. I decide to name the other two Rosekit and Emberkit, after two other cats who are now in StarClan: my mentor, Rosepetal, and an old leader, Emberstar.

I pick up the three kits in my mouth. They sway back and forth as I head back to BreezeClan. StarClan does exist. Brightpaw is still living, in a way. Twelve moons later, the kit is named Brightspirit after the apprentice with the brightest spirit in the Clans.