Time and Again

By: MrDenim

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Chapter 1

Firestar woke with a start, his eyes wide. An uncomfortable tightness around his throat. A large object rolled down his spine and loop around his tail, causing him to tense his muscles so that he could leap away at a moment's notice. He relaxed slightly when he realized that it felt… familiar somehow…

The flame-colored tom spun in place and gazed at the twoleg paw that was paused in midair. He reached for the object around his neck with a back paw and felt a nostalgic resistance.

It's… a collar?!

He ran to the closest reflective surface, in this case it was a glass door, and saw a six month old male cat with bright green eyes and a handsome orange pelt, a baby blue collar with a sun yellow bell around his neck. The cat's now unscarred face had an expression of shock as he took in his ancient appearance.

How?! How did this happen?! How am I back here?! Is it a trick? Is Starclan messing with me? Did they send me ba-

Firestar, well, Rusty, was jerked out of his thoughts when the twoleg opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze through and go outside, which he gladly complied to. Not wanting to seem too suspicious, he went over to his old dirtspot until the twoleg left. When they did, Rusty walked over to, and jumped on top of the white picket fence and sat down, gazing out into the forest.

Are they still there? Watching me? Graystripe, Ravenpaw. Bluestar, Lionheart, Whitestorm. Spot- Rusty bowed his head as he remembered the two he had ever loved. Spottedleaf, Sandstorm. He gazed forlornly at the forest's dark edge, silently begging to be swept up in the hectic life of the Clans. Are you there? Any of you?

"Hey, Rusty, you alright?"

The voice shocked Rusty enough to where he fell off of the fence and out of his garden. He sat up and shook his head to clear the small amount of dizziness that invaded his mindscape. He turned his head to where the voice came from and found Smudge looking at him in concern.

"You looked sad."

I am.

Rusty mentally shook his head and answered evenly, "I'm fine, Smudge. There's no need to worry."

His black and white friend looked at him oddly.

"You sure you're alright? You're not talking like you normally do."

This time Rusty did shake his head. He sheepishly smiled as he stated, "Yeah I'm fine. Still a little tired I guess."

"A little?!" Smudge looked at him incredulously. "It's past noon, Rusty. How can you still be tired?"

And indeed it was past noon as Rusty looked up into the sky, his eyes squinting against the sun's glare. He turned back to Smudge to find that he had leaped off of the fence and was now sitting in front of him, licking his paw and swiping it over his ear.

"Ya know if you keep looking out at the forest, you'll get as crazy as Joe a few gardens over."

"Ha ha ha." Rusty spoke with obvious sarcasm, "Aren't we all a little crazy on the inside?"

Smudge snorted and rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He stopped grooming and said, "I heard from Henry that there are wild cats out in the forest that eat bones and wear the skins of their kills for warmth during Snowfall."

Rusty grumbled as he asked, "Oh, where did the almighty Henry get this information?"

Smudge looked Rusty in the eyes and with a serious expression said, "He went out there once, remember? He caught a robin there once. He brought it back with him, fur all fluffed up in fright, and-"

"So he was scared and mistook a statement for something else." Rusty interrupted, "Doesn't mean that what he said was true. I explicitly remember there being teeth marks from a dog on that robin, so he lied about that too."

Smudge just looked at him.

"Oh you don't believe me?" Rusty sassed. "Fine then! I'll go out there, tonight, catch something, and prove to you, Henry, and every cat that will listen that there is nothing to be afraid of in that forest!"

He then strolled past Smudge and leapt up and over the fence and landed in his garden, leaving his friend there speechless.

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Nighttime

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"You know that you don't have to do this." Smudge pleaded.

"Of course I have to. If only to prove a point." Rusty said with a tone of voice that was used on slow kits, which caused Smudge to glare at the tom.

He didn't notice as he was already walking towards the forest. The sudden and unexpected tone of a bell reminded Rusty of something.

Oh yeah.

After a few minutes of clawing and chewing, the sun yellow bell broke off of the collar, emitting a dull ring that was cut short when it hit the ground. It left an obvious hole in its place. With a small shake of his body, Rusty continued on, ignoring the feeling of his friend's eyes boring a hole into the back of his skull.

When he reached the boundary of the forest that marked the edge of Thunderclan territory, Rusty slightly opened his mouth and sniffed the air.

It's that damn mouse again! Finally I can get that stupid rodent!

Pinpointing the mouse's location, Rusty fell into the hunting crouch and crept forward, paw after paw while making sure not to displace the taller grass stalks that would alert the prey of the predator's location. A scurrying rustled a slightly brown leaf a few taillengths ahead of Rusty. He was certainly glad that he was downwind.

He moved forward a tiny bit more…

…and pounced.

There was a barely audible snap as the mouse's neck was broken from the sudden pressure, not giving it any time to squeak in surprise and alert any other prey in the area. Rusty was halfway down to grab the freshkill in his mouth when an object bowled him over sideways. A hissing and a familiar scent assaulted his senses.

Graystripe! I mean, Graypaw!

Rusty was about to share tongues with the tom when he remembered where he was. He sprung into the air and flipped forwards, striking Graypaw in the head with his back claws, making him crash into the ground. Rusty landed calmly on the forest floor in front of him.

"What did you do that for?!" Rusty growled angrily.

Graypaw hopped to his paws and snarled at Rusty. "That was for taking one of Thunderclan's prey! We don't take kindly to outsiders here!"

He ran forward and attacked, not giving Rusty any time to retort as he had to leap into the air to avoid a slash across his face.

The orange tom put all of his weight into his front paws and slammed them into Graypaw's back, eliciting a cry of pain from the messy furred cat. He jumped off of him before Graypaw could do anything and exclaimed, "Had enough?!"

Said apprentice got to his feet, with the smallest of slip ups and said, "Never."

Rusty smirked and muttered, "Good."

Right when Graypaw turned completely around, he felt his front paws get knocked out from under him and claws rake his left cheek, launching him five foxlengths away. He rolled a few times before stopping. He was almost all the way standing when the pressure of a paw against his neck slammed him into the ground, getting grass into his mouth. A malicious whisper pierced his eardrums.

"Now have you had enough, kit?"

A small chuckle from the kittypet that wasn't even older than him sent shivers down his spine. A few minutes of struggling gave him no room. Graypaw sighed and sadly spoke.

"If you're going to kill me, please make it quick and painless."

Rusty felt sad and worried at the amount of fear that was radiating off of his friend, but kept the act up by shifting his center of gravity to his back paws, hoping that Lionheart or Bluestar would intervene.

Which they gladly did.

One force, faster than any cat's eye could perceive, launched Rusty into the air, where another sent him crashing and rolling along the ground for twenty foxlengths, where he skidded to a stop.

He slowly and steadily got to his paws, cringing at the sudden pain that came from his front left paw. He pretended to look shocked and scared at the sight before him, adding a few backward steps for good measure.

There stood Bluestar halfway between him and Graypaw. Lionheart was currently helping his apprentice to his paws.

"Are you alright, Graypaw? Can you walk?" Lionheart asked with evident concern.

The gray furred apprentice slowly got to his paws as he said, "Ye…yeah. I can move. Bluestar," The Thunderclan leader flicked an ear, not once did her eyes waver from Rusty's position. "Be careful with him, I honestly think…" Graypaw paused to catch his breath. "I honestly think that he was just toying with me."

I was, and I am sorry, my friend…

if I can still call you that…

"Why?"

Bluestar's question snapped Rusty to attention. He tilted his head as he stated, "He attacked me first. All that I did was react in self defense."

Bluestar narrowed her eyes and said, "Be that as it may, you were still hunting in territory that wasn't yours to hunt in."

"And I was supposed to know this how?" Rusty asked with the tone of a smart-alack. "In case it wasn't obvious enough, I don't come here often."

"I know."

Rusty pretended to be confused and disgusted by that sentence.

Bluestar continued, either not seeing nor acknowledging his expression. All she did was look at the picket fence that marked his garden.

"I've seen you standing on top of your border, night after night, looking out at the forest on itchy paws." She turned her gaze to the young tom. "And now, after moons of just sitting, you finally gave in and set out for the unknown, something that can scare even the most battle hardened warrior."

Rusty gave a fake look of increasing boredom. When she saw it, she stopped rambling.

"You hunted well, for a kittypet at least." Bluestar complimented.

The orange tom honestly looked surprised, not expecting the compliment after what had happened.

"Th-thanks." He stuttered.

The leader gave a tiny nod then said, "You removed that small bell from your restraint, knowing that it would impede your chances of getting a kill. You showed a skill in hunting that most warriors would be envious of. After that, when Graypaw attacked you," She flicked her tail in Graypaw's direction. "You showed the abilities and restraint that impressed even Lionheart here."

The large tom nodded in confirmation.

Bluestar's eyes sparkled with emotion and an idea.

"I have often wondered how you would do, out in the forest."

Lionheart took a step forward and bowed his head.

"Bluestar, with all due respect, this is a kittypet, he shouldn't have even been in our territory. Besides, clan life may be too hard for him."

"Kittypets can't be warriors anyway! They don't have any warrior blood!" Graypaw exclaimed.

Rusty narrowed his eyes and defended himself. "Wanna go for round 2, buddy?"

Graypaw did the unexpected: he flinched in fright and hid behind his mentor. That alone rang alarms through Rusty's head, which was further amplified by the fear scent rolling off of his old friend in droves and the shuddering of his body. Rusty's ears folded back against his head and he slightly bowed his head in sadness, thinking that he had lost his friend forever.

Bluestar watched the exchange silently, taking in the movements and expressions of the two young ones. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw that Rusty genuinely looked apologetic for his actions. She cleared her throat, catching the attention of the three toms.

"Be that as it may, I am willing to offer you a chance to find out just how unknown this forest is." When she saw the shock in the cat's eyes, she continued. "Would you like to join Thunderclan?"

Before Rusty could even open his mouth, Lionheart spoke, "Remember that Bluestar is only offering you training, young one. There is no guarantee that you will finish your training, or that you will even be accepted as a clanmate. However, if you accept her proposal and agree to join us, you must leave your old life behind. If you live with us, you must follow our customs and agree of our Code. You cannot come and go whenever you wish. You cannot have a paw in both worlds."

Rusty thought over what was said.

"Bluestar," Lionheart said. "We must head back to camp in time for the dawn patrol. Tigerclaw must be wondering where we are."

Bluestar nodded and turned around to leave. They were almost to the underbrush when,

"Wait!"

They turned back around to see Rusty on his paws, an odd look in his eyes.

"Can't I think about it first?"

Bluestar and Lionheart spoke softly to each other before she said, "Lionheart will be here tomorrow, when the sun is at its peak. Come then and give him your answer."

Rusty nodded. They nodded back and left. The lone tom stared at their receding forms until they were gone, and stood there looking at where they went out of sight until the moon had reached the western horizon.

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Some notes before you leave: I don't plan on there being too many major changes in the timeline, as the first one - Graypaw being scared of Rusty – was a big one and you will see how much that alone had effected the timeline.

Second, whenever I type the fight scenes, they are NOT going to be anatomically correct, as I am best with a mix between anime and fantasy style of fighting, so expect some un-feline attacks in the upcoming fight scenes.

Third, pairings are going to be and remain canon. I may not write out any romantic scenes as I suck at them, and I feel as though it'll break the atmosphere around the story with a sudden make out session.

Fourth, no lemons. I read lemons, I fap to lemons at times, but I have tried to write them in the past and it flopped terribly, so no lemons in this story.

Fifth, brohoof muthaf-ckas!

See ya whenev's!