Do You Still Turn to StarClan?

"What are you doing here?"

Bluestar jumped back, startled. Had someone followed her through Mothermouth and into the cavern that contained the Moonstone? Impossible; surely she would have heard the sound of pawsteps tracing her, or caught a wisp of some unwanted scent. She had come alone, and wanted to be left that way. "Who's there?" she demanded, raising her hackles defensively as she peered around the glowing stone into the darkness.

"I said, what are you doing here?" The shape of a large, lean calico tom was becoming visible in the half-light. He sat completely shrouded in the darkness, untouched by the gentle gleam of the moon. "Answer my question first if you want an answer to yours."

Bluestar stared at the strange tom. Questions danced around wildly in her mind, but finally she forced her fur to lie flat. She kept a cautious tone in her meow as she answered, "I need to consult with my warrior ancestors. My Clan has . . . fallen on difficult times."

The tom's tail-tip twitched, but he made no other indications that he had heard her until he murmured, "Good. Now it is my turn to answer you. I am Sol."

Bluestar waited for the tom to say something else, but he was silent. She gave a hiss of frustration; this didn't explain anything. "And why are YOU here?" she countered. "I intend to share tongues with StarClan alone."

"StarClan?" A gleam of what was perhaps contempt sprang into Sol's eyes. "You are turning to StarClan to solve your Clan's problems?"

Bluestar narrowed her eyes. This cat was beginning to aggravate her; was it too much to ask to consult with her ancestors without receiving an interrogation from some strange loner? "I need their guidance," she snapped. "Not all problems can be solved by the wisdom of the living."

"Then perhaps the living simply aren't trying hard enough." Not a single hair was ruffled on Sol's pelt.

"Are you suggesting that turning to StarClan for guidance is useless?" Bluestar hissed, whisking her tail angrily along the cavern floor.

"They're dead," Sol pointed out casually. "What can they do to change what's already destined to happen?"

"I'm not asking them to change fate!" Bluestar spat. "I just want to know how to prepare for it!"

"Fate is fate," Sol meowed. "If everything that is going to happen has already been predetermined, then what's the use in preparing for it? StarClan cannot guide your paws on the path to your own destiny; all they can do is bear witness. Even in your darkest hour, they can do nothing but feed you lies."

"LIES?!" Bluestar screeched, fluffing out her fur and curling her lip back from her teeth. "StarClan does not lie! How can you suggest such a horrible thing?"

Sol flicked one ear, unaffected by the outburst. "You've already answered your own question," he murmured. "They lie by making you believe that their false wisdom--"

"'False wisdom'?"

"--can protect you from what has been predicted by destiny seasons beyond any cat's memory."

Bluestar paused. She couldn't argue with that; what use was there in running from fate? But then she shook her head. Who was this cat to tell her what to believe? "StarClan's wisdom is truer than the words you're trying to feed me," she finally declared. "Leave me alone, whoever you are, and let me seek their wisdom in peace."

For a moment, Sol didn't budge, his unblinking eyes glowing yellow in the dark. But then he rose to his paws and turned away. "Very well," he murmured. "But remember what I have said. One day you will find in your time of need that looking to StarClan is useless, that they have abandoned you. Where will you be when that day comes?" And with that, he slipped away and vanished into the darkness, leaving the sound of silence echoing in Bluestar's ears.

Scarcely more than a moon had passed when the fire came. ThunderClan's camp was destroyed. Fireheart had chosen to save Bramblekit, the son of the traitor Tigerclaw, while Yellowfang was left to a fiery death. While gazing in dismay at what was left of her Clan, Bluestar couldn't help but remember Sol's words. Perhaps there was something to what the strange loner had said after all . . .
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This is my entry for the latest contest at . The theme this time is Love vs. Hate -- we have to pick a character we love and a character we hate, and depict them in a scene together.

For love, I chose Bluestar, the greatest leader ever. And for hate, I chose Sol, that annoying guy who single-pawedly nearly turned the Clans against each other with his nonsense about turning against StarClan and lying to everyone and . . . well, I could go on for a while. Point is, me no likey Sol.

Since Bluestar and Sol obviously never met in the books, I had to make something up. And so I came up with this scene that would have taken place somewhere in Rising Storm. What if SOL was the real reason Bluestar turned her back on StarClan? Think about it -- it makes sense (sort of).

After three weeks away from technology, it felt good to pull out the ol' tablet again.