i do not own the Warriors cats, or any recognizable elements from the books, all of which belong to Erin Hunter. i do however own this plot and any oc's i create. i do not own Thrushwing, but the way i write her is my own. i also do not own Sunpaw, i only created her character a bit more, though i do not know if Sunpaw is in fact a she-cat or a tom. i made due with what i had.

The sun was hanging just above the horizon, turning the sky pink, purple, and gold in the evening light. A cool and gentle breeze stirred over the moor that WindClan called home, wafting over the grasses and down to the lake. The evening patrols had all returned, and many cats were headed for their nests to sleep.

However, a small group of cats sat in front of the gorse bush that covered the tunnel leading to the elders den. WindClan's four apprentices sat with the two elders in the fading light, either sitting or lying down, ears pricked and eyes gleaming with anticipation. A tabby tom, graying around the muzzle, noticed the little gathering and padded over to them.

"You apprentices wouldn't be keeping the elders awake, would you?"

The young cats jumped, startled by the senior warrior's appearance, while the two elders purred with amusement at their reactions.

"Tornear, don't you have anything better to do than scaring the young ones?" Webfoot asked, a gleam in his eyes.

Morningflower drew one of the youngest, Thistlepaw, close to her with her tail. "They weren't keeping us up; we promised them a story."

"Yeah," Sedgepaw spoke up, his tail twitching excitedly. "They said they would tell us about the forest!" He ignored the looks his sisters gave him.

Tornear ignored the apprentice and sat down with a yawn. "A story of the forest, eh? Which one?"

"We wanna hear the one about -"

"Actually, Sedgepaw," Webfoot shot the outspoken tom a look. "We had a story in mind already. Isn't that right, Morningflower?" He looked to his companion.

Morningflower, however, was watching the older tom. "Is something the matter, Tornear?" She stood and went to sit beside him, pressing her muzzle into his shoulder for a moment.

The tabby sighed, his gaze flickering to the apprentices. "Nah," he finally answered. "But I agree with these apprentices. Let's hear a story, Morningflower. You're the best story teller in this whole clan, so go ahead."

"Well, fine. Go ahead, Morningflower," Webfoot settled down with a humph, laying his head on his paws as he waited for the old tortoiseshell to begin.

"Well, little ones," she began, laying down herself and crossing her paws infront of her, her eyes alight as she began her story. "This story takes place many, many moons ago, back before your mothers were born, back before Blackstar, Leopardstar, Onestar, or Firestar were leaders. Back then, WindClan was in it's prime; we had plenty of cats, our territory was full of prey, and Tallstar led us with old Deadfoot as his deputy." She looked around, a bittersweet look in her eyes. "We were all young back then. Young and strong. Webfoot here, why, he was barely an apprentice! And Tornear, he was one of the strongest and bravest warriors in the clan." She paused. "And, if I remember right, I was expecting my first litter of kittens."

Tornear rested his head on her shoulders, laying down beside her and listening to her as she continued. "Onestar - of course, back then he was called Onewhisker - had been the youngest warrior, that is, until Tallstar gave two apprentices, a brother and sister, their warrior names. That's where our story begins.

"It was a dark night - the moon was only a claw in the sky, and dark clouds were everywhere. It was a dark night to be holding a vigil. But, tradition is tradition, and these two young warriors were no exception."

"Do you remember their names?" Sunpaw, a young tortoisheshell she-cat, asked quietly.

Morningflower looked to Webfoot, and the old tom shrugged his shoulders. "The tom's name was Stoneclaw, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Tornear meowed. "It was Stoneclaw and his sister, but I can't remember her name."

"She was named after a bird, I remember that much," Morningflower mewed, thinking back as far as she could.

"Robin?" Webfoot tried to remember as well. "Jay? Raven?"

"Thrush." The cats looked up to see their leader, Onestar, standing there, his eyes shining in the final rays of sunlight. "Her name was Thrushwing."

"That's right," Webfoot nodded to his leader. "Thank you, Onestar."

The brown tabby tom went to sit beside Webfoot, his gaze on Morningflower. "Any reason why you want to tell the apprentices this story?"

"Her story, you mean," Tornear remarked.

"Her story?" Swallowpaw, Sedgepaw and Thistlepaw's sister, asked, looking from Onestar to Morningflower.

The old queen rested her head on her paws, but didn't flinch away from her leaders gaze. "It's time they heard it, Onestar."

"Besides, it does us old mouse-brains good to remember sometimes," Webfoot purred.

"Who're you calling an old mouse-brain?" Tornear asked, lifting his head to look at the other tom.

"Some memories are better left in the past, Morningflower," Onestar blinked, his eyes hard.

"Are you saying that we cannot tell these young cats their clan's history?" Morningflower demanded. "Life is never just rabbits and sunshine, Onestar, whether we like it or not."

"This is one of WindClan's darkest hours," Onestar meowed. "Why should it live on in stories?"

"It tells of Tallstar's leadership, Onestar. About how he kept us alive, even when we didn't want to be," Tornear looked at his leader, sitting up tall. "How Tallstar saved WindClan from disappearing all together."

"How Tallstar saved us?" Onestar retorted. "The way I remember, it was two ThunderClanners that brought WindClan back to the forest, not Tallstar."

"Which goes to show that Firestar has been nothing but our friend, even if we wish he weren't," Morningflower argued, her eyes blazing. "And the way I remember it, Firestar helped to save my kit! The way I see it, he helped Tallstar guide us through those StarClan-forsaken thunderpaths and back to the moors! The way I remember it, you were his friend!" Before Onestar could reply, she continued. "And the way I see it, that needs to be remembered."

"But... Aren't ThunderClan our enemy?" Thistlepaw asked innocently, looking to Webfoot. "Why would they help us?"

"Because the forest wasn't complete without four clans," Tornear answered instead. "And the lake wouldn't be complete without the four clans, either."

"We may be enemies," Webfoot continued. "But we need each other to survive." He looked to Onestar. "Whether we like it or not."

"Fine," Onestar growled. "Tell the story. Tell how WindClan was driven away from our home back all those moons ago. Tell how so many lost their lives in that bloody battle." His tail curled around his paws. "But I will stay and listen."

Morningflower dipped her head. "Very well."

"Wait, WindClan was driven away from the forest?" Swallowpaw asked, her eyes wide. "That could never happen!"

"But it did," Webfoot sighed before nodding to Morningflower. "Now, let's let Morningflower continue on, shall we?"

Once everyone was comfortable again, including Onestar, Morningflower started again. "As I was saying; it was the darkest of nights, the moon was barely even claw-size, and it was hidden by thick, black clouds. The two newly-named warriors, Thrushwing and Stoneclaw, were holding their vigil..."

i know, i know, ANOTHER new story... sorry guys XD can't help myself. this is sort of like a prequel for a series i'm working on for warriors, i've already got the first three stories planned. this was inspired by the short story from Secrets of the Clans, which i borrowed from the library, about how WindClan were driven from their home by ShadowClan. it takes place after Long Shadows, but the 'story' itself takes place after the short story, on up to when Firestar finds WindClan and brings them home. i'll try to get chapters up for all of my stories sometime this week, but no promises. sorry if i got some cats OOC, i was kind of in a rush when i wrote this. thanks for reading, and please review.