The ginger tom snapped awake with a terrified yowl, collar rattling wildly as he jerked and flailed. He'd done it. Tigerclaw was dead once and for all, and the Dark Forest cats were gone.

Sandstorm… he'd miss her with all of his heart, and now-. Wait, since when did he rattle when he moved?!

He glanced down to find himself sleeping on a carpet, something he hadn't seen since his days as a kittypet. In fact, this looked like the very same carpet… and he probably had a bell, which meant a collar. This was a couple days before he was invited to the Clans! But why was he back here? He'd always thought he'd be going to StarClan, with Bluestar and Whitestorm and Lionheart. He thought he'd shed his ties to Twoleg world for good!

Is this… was he not good enough for StarClan?

No, no way. They accepted him. They gave him nine lives!

They gave Brokentail and Tigerclaw nine lives too…

He'd just have to see what happened this time. If this was some weird place between StarClan and the Dark Forest where he got to fix his mistakes before he moved on, he would go through with it and hope for the best.

Mind made up, he stepped through his old cat door to find that it was nighttime. He made his dirt under the old purple eversweet plant before taking his place atop the fence post to the garden. He scanned the woods. This was him at six moons old, with all the knowledge of his life as a warrior and eventual leader of ThunderClan. All the same, this body hadn't trained a day in his life before he woke up this evening. He had no hope of ever getting his old life back.

"StarClan, can you even hear me?" He whispered, searching the stars for a sign that someone, anyone, was listening.

He sighed and leapt for the ground on the opposite side of the fence. If he didn't get answers, he'd have to find them himself.

"Where are you off to, Rusty?"

Smudge.

Sure enough, he glanced up to see the black-and-white tom balancing ungracefully on the fence.

"You should get down there before you hurt yourself." Firest- no, Rusty, insisted. "And I'm going to the forest."

Smudge had been a good old friend, like the kind that Greystripe and Dustpelt would become. They'd known each other since they were first allowed outside, and Rusty knew that some part of him would miss Smudge.

"Haven't you heard what Henry says about the wild cats?! It's dangerous for house cats to be out there!"

"Henry hasn't been out there a day in his life." Rusty drawled.

"Don't go, Rusty, I'll never see you again!" Smudge wailed. Rusty sighed and hopped back onto the fence, pressing his pelt against the other tom's.

"Even if that's true, I'll never forget you." He insisted. "You'll always be my first friend, Smudge, but if I don't see what's out there, I'll regret it for the rest of my life." He insisted.

Smudge nodded reluctantly and nuzzled Rusty's cheek.

"Good luck, then. You're so clever I bet you could take those wildcats on any day."

"I hope so." Rusty chuckled as he hopped down once more. This was it. He was one step closer to his old life, one step closer to ThunderClan.