I've decided to start a collection of one-shots centered around the original Warriors series. I know, I know, I shouldn't be starting a new book when I haven't even finished my first one, but just bear with me.

As always, I don't own Warriors.

Fireheart padded slowly out of the warriors' den, pausing briefly to stretch in the glow of the early morning sunlight. Across the camp, he could see Whitestorm, Bluestar, Longtail, and Swiftpaw getting ready to leave for the dawn patrol. When they spotted him, Bluestar and Whitestorm waved their tails in greeting while Longtail and Swiftpaw flattened their ears at him. The ginger-furred tom let out a sigh of exasperation; it looked as though Longtail was encouraging his apprentice to be as unfriendly towards the former kittypet as he had been since the day Fireheart arrived in the ThunderClan camp.

"Good morning, Fireheart," Bluestar meowed as he approached the patrol.

"Good morning," Fireheart mewed respectfully, dipping his head towards her.

"Will you be joining us on patrol this morning?" Whitestorm asked.

"Oh, I, uh–I mean, I could," Fireheart stammered, suddenly unsure if he had been assigned to the dawn patrol and had forgotten about it. Fortunately, Bluestar and Whitestorm took pity on the younger warrior.

"Don't worry; you haven't forgotten anything. But you're up now, and it will probably be quite a while until the rest of the Clan is awake, so why not join us?" the blue-gray cat meowed.

"In that case, sure," Fireheart agreed.

"Excellent. Then we should get going," Bluestar mewed, turning and leading the way out of the camp.

Longtail let out a hiss, and Fireheart could see that the tabby warrior was not at all happy about the new addition to the patrol. He shook his head and followed his leader, not at all interested in getting into an argument with his enemy at this time of morning. If Longtail wanted to complain about Fireheart's presence or throw a few kittypet jibes his way, he was free to do so. Fireheart had more important things to worry about at the moment.

The patrol headed towards Sunningrocks first, the long-disputed territory between ThunderClan and RiverClan already beginning to heat up from the sun's rays. It was peaceful there, with no sign of RiverClan warriors anywhere. Despite the serenity, however, Fireheart felt a chill run down his spine. These rocks were where Tigerclaw had murdered Redtail, the former ThunderClan deputy. Fireheart's close friend, Ravenpaw, had told him the story before he was forced to flee the Clan in fear for his life. Ever since then, the ginger warrior had been working to convince Bluestar of Tigerclaw's treachery, but his leader remained utterly convinced of her current deputy's loyalty.

I wonder if she would be more willing to listen if someone else had told her that Tigerclaw murdered one of his Clanmates, Fireheart mused to himself. Then he shook his head, trying to get rid of the resentful thoughts. No, she doesn't want to listen because she trusts him. It has nothing to do with anything else or the fact that I used to be a kittypet. Right?

"Fireheart, I know you're not exactly fond of mornings, but do you have to look like you've been forced to swallow bile?"

Fireheart jumped slightly and glanced up to see Bluestar looking back at him, an expression of exasperation and amusement in her icy blue eyes. "Oh, uh, sorry," he meowed apologetically. "Just thinking about something."

"I see," the elderly she-cat mewed, her eyes still twinkling. "Well, all seems peaceful here, so we'll be heading towards Snakerocks next. Unless you're still busy thinking, of course, in which case we'll be happy to wait a little longer."

Fireheart chuckled and shook his head, following his leader back down the rock face. If it had been Tigerclaw saying that, he reflected, he would have had to fight to hold his claws in. However, he was quite used to Bluestar's teasing and knew she didn't mean anything spiteful by it. It was amazing how the same thing said by two different cats could provoke such vastly different reactions from him.

When they arrived at Snakerocks, Bluestar allowed the patrol to split up and hunt for their breakfast. Fireheart made his way towards the edge of the rocks, where he spotted a juicy-looking vole crawling out of its nest. Not even giving the vole a chance to sense him, the flame-colored cat pounced on his prey, killing it in one swift bite.

"Not bad," came Longtail's spiteful mew. "For a kittypet, at least."

And here we go, Fireheart thought, rolling his eyes. Out loud, he replied, "Longtail, I don't have time for this right now. If you have nothing better to do than bother me, I suggest you get a grip on your life and leave me alone."

"Watch your mouth, kittypet," Longtail sneered. "Wouldn't want you to get in trouble with Tigerclaw, now would we?"

"Oh sure, run off to Tigerclaw because you can't handle it when someone talks back to you," Fireheart retorted. "What is he, your mother?"

Longtail's tail lashed angrily. "You'd better watch yourself, or else I'll–"

"You'll what? Attack me? I mean, I'm not exactly stopping you, but try to think how that would make you look."

"You'll never be a real warrior," the pale tabby hissed, his eyes flashing with hatred. "Kittypets can never be real warriors."

"And yet here I am," Fireheart replied coolly. "Also, I wouldn't talk so much if I were you. After all, weren't you the one who was beaten by this so-called 'kittypet' on my first day in ThunderClan?"

Without waiting for Longtail's response, Fireheart picked up his vole and started stalking off back to where Bluestar was waiting. Just before he passed out of earshot, however, he turned around to face his Clanmate one last time.

"Oh, and one more thing," he meowed. "Feel free to keep harassing me if you want, but know that you'll be wasting your time. As hard as it might be for you to believe, you're not some special cat just because you follow Tigerclaw and Darkstripe around like a lost kit. I don't owe it to you to prove myself worthy of being a member of ThunderClan just because you can't get over the fact that Bluestar decided to let me into the Clan. Stop acting like a kit and grow up. Wouldn't want Bluestar to think you're a bad influence on Swiftpaw, now would you?"

With that, Fireheart spun around and stalked off, feeling a small seed of triumph growing in his chest. Glancing back one last time, he saw Longtail staring at him with an expression of shock and anger on his face. As their eyes met, the older warrior's eyes narrowed, a sure promise of revenge. He tried to care but found he didn't.

"I see you've had a successful hunt," Bluestar meowed when she saw him. The remains of a thrush lay beside her. Fireheart dipped his head in acknowledgment and padded up to his leader.

"StarClan was good this morning," he replied, sitting down beside her with his vole.

"You seem cheerful now," the blue-gray cat noted. "What's with the sudden change of mood?"

Fireheart merely shrugged and replied evasively, "It's a nice day."

Bluestar stared at him in confusion for a moment, then shook her head and laughed. "You're a strange one, young Fireheart," she meowed, amusement lacing her tone.

At that, Fireheart laughed as well. "Bluestar, we're a group of cats living in a forest, and we talk to cats with stars in their pelts," he replied. "Pardon me, but I'm pretty sure strange is part of the job."