Disclaimer:I do not own Warriors or anything mentioned here.

Warriors: The Battle with Riverclan at the Gorge- Alternate Ending

Sandpaw was on a patrol with Tigerclaw, Whitestorm, and Willowpelt. Suddenly her ears pricked at the sound of a battle cry. "Did you hear that?", she asked.

"It came from the Riverclan border," said Tigerclaw. "Lets go and see what's happening."

As they approached, Sandpaw smelled the scent of Graystripe, Fireheart, Windclan, and Riverclan. She wondered what was happening. When they got to the gorge, Sandpaw saw two Windclan cats and Fireheart and Graystripe locked in battle with a Riverclan patrol. Tigerclaw let out a battle cry and they leaped into battle. Sandpaw immediately leaped onto the back of a Riverclan she-cat. The she-cat was no match for her. As they wriggled and rolled Sandpaw picked up the scent of salt water approaching. She didn't care as long as this she-cat ran off yowling. All of a sudden she saw a flash of a flame colored pelt. Suddenly the weight of the she-cat was lifted. She felt a sharp pull as Fireheart pulled her away. She let out a yowl of protest. As he released her and headed back towards the battle, she heard an ear-splitting yowl.

"Fireheart! Look out!", screamed Graystripe as the she-cat that Sandpaw had been wrestling with dived at Fireheart.

"Fireheart!", she shouted as she realized what was happening. But it was too late. She watched in horror as the she-cat rammed into Fireheart's side.

"NOOOO!", she and Graystripe yowled. She saw Fireheart scrabble at the edge of the gorge. She ran towards him but was bowled over by a dark brown tom. She watched as Fireheart fell over the edge and she cried out in terror. She heaved the tom off of her and ran towards the edge of the gorge. She saw Fireheart struggle to keep his head above the water, but the current was too strong. He was swept down stream and his head disappeared under the water. Only then did Sandpaw realize that the sound of battle had stopped. As she turned around she saw the expressions of grief on the Thunderclan cat's faces. All except Tigerclaw. He showed no grief and seemed pleased of the death of Fireheart. Sandpaw then realized exactly what had happened. The reason Fireheart had fallen to his death was because he had stopped fighting to save her from falling over the edge. She let out a grief stricken yowl. She didn't know why she cared that he had fallen. He was just a kittypet. She would always make insults about him with Dustpaw.

" It's all over. Let's go back and report to Bluestar. She should know what happened," said Tigerclaw. His calm voice made Sandpaw's pelt prickle with anger.

"How could you act so calm when Fireheart just fell to his death!", she shouted with anger. She was ready to spring at him.

"Fireheart should have known better than to go through Riverclan territory. His death was his own fault.", said Tigerclaw in a calm voice.

Something snapped inside of Sandpaw. She unsheathed her claws and leaped at Tigerclaw. She clawed at his fur and bit down on his neck fur. She didn't care that Tigerclaw would beat her in an instant. All she cared about was to claw the fur off of Tigerclaw. He used his hind legs to get her off and leaped onto her back.

"You don't care that Fireheart fell! All you care about is that we won the battle!" Sandpaw yowled as she tore at his fur. She pushed her hind legs with all her strength and watched as Tigerclaw flew over the edge of the gorge. She yowled in triumph. As Graystripe looked at her with horror and disbelief. She couldn't believe it herself. As she walked back to camp her eyes were still wide with the horror of what he had done. Bluestar was outside of her den sharing tongues with Runningwind. When she saw them return, she rose to her paws.

" Welcome back Graystripe!", she said. " I see you ran into one of the patrols. Where are Tigerclaw and Fireheart?", she asked with a curious look in her eyes.

"The patrol ran into Graystripe, Fireheart, and two Windclan cats fighting Riverclan near the gorge. Fireheart and Tigerclaw both fell over the edge." said Whitestorm in a calm voice. " I can tell you the whole story in your den."

Sandpaw just walked to the apprentice's den with her head down and her tail dragging in the dust. As she neared the apprentice's den ran into Dustpaw. " I heard the kittypet fell off the gorge. I knew he wouldn't last more than a few moons." he said with a sneer on his face.

" Be quit mousebrain! Fireheart died saving me!" she yowled and ran away. Graystripe was just walking towards the fresh-kill pile when he saw her.

"You should go see Yellowfang. You don't look too good. What you saw would have frightened the fur off of a normal apprentice.", he suggested. Normally Sandpaw would have replied with a rude remark, but right now she couldn't have said a thing if she wanted. She walked towards Yellowfang's den. When Yellowfang saw her, a look of worry crossed her face.

"You look as if you just saw a badger in the nursery!" said Yellowfang. "Come inside and I'll give you something for shock while you tell me what happened."

After she had eaten the herbs she told the whole story to Yellowfang. "…. so I pushed with all of my strength and he fell over the edge.", she finished with a wail of grief. "Why did I do it. Fireheart wasn't my friend, he didn't even like me. I can't help feeling responsible for his death. Why do you think I killed Tigerclaw?" she asked the wise old cat.

"Everything can be explained with one question. Did you love him?", Yellowfang asked.

Sandpaw came to a shocking realization. She had fallen in love with Fireheart.