Open your eyes\\Moss-star's nine lives

Moss took a deep breath, padding into the cave cautiously. He had no clue what was going to happen, only that he had had a dream about a starry cat who told him to come here. They had explained about StarClan, the warrior ancestors, and the mooncaves, and said that he could truly become leader if he cam  here at moonhigh. The seconds were ticking, it was almost time. Had it somehow been a trick? Moss sat, waiting, his yellow eyes staring hard at the nearly tangible darkness.  Minutes trickled by silently, one, two, three, then suddenly the room was illuminated by a brilliant glow of light. The moon, shining through a hole in the roof, had hit the rocks and they glowed, it was almost blinding. Moss gasped in a surprised breath and stared at the chamber in wonder.
As he did, he gradually began to notice transparent cats like the one in his dreams. They were scattered around the cave, sharing tongues, talking, playing. An old cat who was much more faded than the others stepped out towards Moss. Moss guessed he was once white.
"Welcome. I am Cloud. I have been waiting a long time for cats to start Clans in this forest. I'm proud of you and Frost, you will be heroes when you join our ranks. These are the ranks of StarClan. We aren't many, though we will be when the Clans have begun, but we are a family. This is what a Clan should look like. Your Clan is your family and you must treat it as such. Now, it has come to my attention that you have some old friends here who would like to give you your nine lives."
Moss looked up, confused. "Nine lives?" Cloud only smiled.
"You will be a leader. It is very hard to lead a Clan with only one life. Unless you don't want them?" Moss quickly shook his head. Cloud smiled and nodded, stepping back into the crowd. A she-cat he didn't recognize stepped up to him. She was fully grown, but small and lean. She looked at him with icy blue eyes.
"You don't know me. I am Chamomile, your sister. I was in our parent's first litter, the only one, but I was stillborn. When I came to StarClan, they accepted me as the cat I could have been instead of as a newborn kit. I give you a life for acceptance, to know that there are some things you cannot change and to not allow them to destroy you." She stretched to touch her nose to the top of his head and sheer, agonizing pain tore through Moss. He saw a newborn kit, Chamomile, seemingly asleep on the ground and a cat's body, broken on the Thunderpath. He understood that he was feeling mother's anguish over her dead kit, and the love of a son for a dead father, the pain a friend feels when his friend is hurt. All of it washed over him in seconds but when it was over, he almost felt stronger. He opened his eyes and he was shaking, but still standing solid before Chamomile. She dipped her head to him, smiled, and retreated into the crowd.
The next cat was one he knew well, one he never thought he would see again. The she-cat was not as old as she had been when he knew her, looked young and strong but he still knew it was her.
"Butterscotch?" She kept a straight face as she always did but her eyes smiled at him.
"I'm so proud of you Moss. I'd love to talk like old times but I have a life to give. I give you a life for love, the kind of love that lets you care for a stranger's kits as your own and treat them as yours. Love that never dies." She touched him and he was shaken again. This life was soft, the gentleness of a mother for her kits, and fierce, the adrenaline of caring for those you love in a battle. Protecting them. They ripped through him together and left him worn out, though still standing. Butterscotch returned to the others.
Solid compared to the others, the next cat was one that Moss knew and despised.
"Sycamore. What are you doing here?" The golden tom, he had gotten Colby's pelt, stared at Moss with yellow eyes and shook his head.
"I'm giving you a life, brother. I know you can probably never forgive Blaze and I but that won't stop me for apologizing. I was wrong about you, Moss, and I am happy to present you a life as you go on your way towards a leader's nine lives. I give you this life for humility and learning. Humility to swallow your pride and learn from your mistakes. To admit when you know you are wrong." Moss braced himself for the pain of his third life when Sycamore touched him but this life held only warmth and Moss somehow knew his brother truly did know he was wrong. This was his way of apologizing. Moss had thought of all sorts of things to day to his brother but when he stepped back, Moss was speechless and could only nod his forgiveness. He scanned the cats for Blaze but he wasn't there, so Moss thought he must still be alive.
The fourth cat to approach him was his mother, Brook. She had Moss's red pelt and yellow eyes, though it was faded and starry.
"I'm sorry, Moss. I never meant to reject you, and I never knew what your brothers were doing. They told me you'd been killed by a fox but I…I have no excuse. I'm eternally grateful to Butterscotch for raising you. I give you a life for understanding, to know what each cat goes through and to treat them all as better than yourself." This life was fiery as he saw images of blind, deaf, crippled, rejected cats. It left him feeling like his insides were scorched. Moss wondered how he would get through five more lives.
The fifth life was from his father, Colby. The golden tom had always been gruff and, as always, there was no emotion in his cold blue eyes. Colby nodded stiffly. He was still old as in life, at least 64 moons old.
"Hello again, son. I see you're doing well. I-uh-I died in a battle with two rogues a few moons ago. This life is for courage. The courage to lead your Clan through hard times, to know when to start a battle…and when to end it." Colby touched his son and icy claws tore through Moss's side. He had braced himself but it wasn't enough. Countless, endless battles flickered past as he was wounded more and more until he was fighting with his last breath before two battle-scarred black rogues. He realized he was in his father's fur as he scratched out one of their eyes even as he felt his life ebbing away. Then it was over and he was back in front of the cats of StarClan. Colby had already rejoined them.
White fur and blue eyes stepped out for the sixth life. He was only apprentice age but he was big for his age. Moss didn't recognize him either.
"You don't remember me, do you? My name is Snow. When you were on your own, you and I traveled together for two days. I bet you didn't know that was a turning point in your life, did you? If I hadn't met you, I would have made better time and I wouldn't have gone the direction I did when we split up. I would have continued on to find Butterscotch before you did. She would have taken me in and it would have led to me standing where you are, receiving nine lives to become Snowstar of SnowClan. Instead, I died from a badger soon after we parted ways. I give you life for attentiveness and memory. Never forget a cat who helped you, and repay the favor but also keep an eye on cats that mean you harm." This life, when Snow touched him, was as sharp as the winter wind. It was bad memories, eagle eyes, happy times, and revenge. The white tom stepped back, replaced by yet another unfamiliar cat.
"I am Ember, your mother's brother. I give you a life for family. Put your family before everything but remember that your whole Clan is your family, not just those related to you." Moss's seventh life was paingul and rejuvenating all at once. It came in the form of love, loss, happiness, anger, and warmth all at once. This one left Moss trembling on the ground and he took an eternally long two minutes to stand and ready himself for two more lives.
For his eighth life, a gray tabby cat stepped out. Not from the group of StarClan cats before Moss but from behind the leader. Moss had noticed him earlier, the StarClan cats gave him a wide berth, like he made them uneasy. The gray tom had cloudy blue eyes like he should be blind but he could obviously see Moss. Moss couldn't be sure but he thought this was the cat who had been in his dreams.
"Hello Moss, I've been watching you. You don't need my name, I'm not from here. There is much more to StarClan than just your section of it. I am from far away, a much different section of StarClan. I have been watching you because you showed remarkable potential to be a Clan leader. I see I was right, you will do very well. A couple other…animals from StarClan thought I was crazy. Prove them wrong for me. So now here we are, naming your Clans' first leaders. All that to say, the Clans are bigger than you think and I have a life to give you. With this life, I give you wisdom to understand things bigger than yourself. To see past your mental blindness and hear things unsaid. To sense the world around you the way most cats cannot." The stranger's life did not hurt, but neither did it help Moss recover. There were voices all around him, clamoring over each other. A warm she-cat's voice explaining about the Clans. A strange voice, not a cat's, mentioning a sun-drown-place. Pack pack, kill kill. They told me I was small. I showed them. I showed them all. A vicious tom's voice trying to convince another cat to join him. An oddly familiar voice saying he didn't want to be a medicine cat. Countless others that Moss couldn't even decipher. Then it was over and the gray tom was gone. Moss had no idea what it all meant so he pushed it of his mind.
The ninth and final cat was Cloud again.
"Your ninth life. I give you a life for leadership and hard decisions. Lead your Clan through its darkest moments and its brightest. Make the calls no cat is willing to make. Have the audacity to live in a world trying its hardest to destroy you." The ninth life gave Moss strength, as hope surged through him. It put everything in perspective as he realized that he was only the first of many leaders. That even if he failed, his Clan would find a way. Then Cloud stepped back and spoke again.
" I hail you by your new name, Moss-star. Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of MossClan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity. And Moss-star, you can never tell any cat about what you see at these caves."
StarClan cheered his name and he stood there, still slightly shocked at it all. The cats slowly faded until he was suddenly waking up on the floor of the Mooncaves. But it hadn't been a dream, he was sure of that. He felt powerful, he could tell he had recieved new lives, but he also exhausted from the experience. He needed to sleep. So, with a last glance behind him, he left the cave, the first of many MossClanners to come.

{I totally did not add in Jayfeather, hinting at the other Clans, Rock, and Midnight. What makes you think that? Really though, I can remove him if you want me to. I couldn't resist when I thought of the idea.}