Hi everybody, it's me again! Yayy! Okay, I decided to do stories about different pairings, but in another cat's POV. Some are stories like this one, and some will be songfics. Some will be pairings that didn't exactly turn out, so I'll have to change the storyline of Warriors a bit.

This first one is Fire-x-Sand, in Dusty's POV. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I hate these things, so I'll only write it out once and it applies for everything. Okay? Good. I am not Erin Hunter, I do not own Warriors or any of the original characters, though I'll probably make up cats (eg. kits) to fit my stories.

'Catch me a rabbit!' I call happily after my best friend. Sandpaw looks back and retorts, 'Just one?' I purr. Sandpaw turns around again and waves her tail at me before following the patrol. I settle to grooming myself as I wait for Sandpaw. I finish grooming myself and head into the den to doze a little.

'Welcome back! Did you find WindClan and bring them home?' the eager voice of Mousefur wakes me up. I raise my head sleepily and wait for a reply, but there is none. In fact, apart from Mousefur's enthusiastic greeting, no one's saying anything. Curious now, I go outside. I see Sandpaw near the front of the patrol, but her head is lowered and she's unusually quiet. Then I see Tigerclaw march toward Bluestar, Graystripe and Fireheart in tow. Fireheart seems to be saying something to Graystripe, but the grey cat shakes his head and doesn't reply.

I go up to Sandpaw. 'Sandpaw. Are you okay?' She nods but says nothing. I'm worried. It's not like Sandpaw to be so quiet, but I know better than to ask. 'Sandpaw. Please. What happened?' She just walks back to the den and lies down. When I lie down next to her, she begins.

'Well, Tigerclaw heard Fireheart and Graystripe's yowling from RiverClan territory. So he told us to go help them. It turned out that they were with Onewhisker and Deadfoot, and they were fighting beside the gorge.' My eyes widen and I open my mouth to ask her if anyone died, but she sweeps on without looking at me. 'Tigerclaw yowled and we went to help them. Then...Graystripe cried out and I thought he was in trouble, but he was leaning over a paw...it was Whiteclaw. But Graystripe couldn't get a hold of Whiteclaw's paw, and Whiteclaw fell...

'So then Leopardfur called off her warriors and warned us that she'd get revenge. Then Deadfoot and Onewhisker left for WindClan territory and we set off for home, and here we are...,' she stares blankly ahead for a bit then heads off to her nest. I grab a mouse and follow her in. She is curled up but stays awake long enough to eat some fresh-kill. I curl up beside her and as I drift off to sleep again, all I can think of is Sandpaw's warm, soft fur...

+

I'm sharing tongues with Sandpaw one evening when Fireheart comes up. 'Sandpaw,' he meows hesitantly, 'Whitestorm wants you to patrol with me at dawn.' Sandpaw looks up.

'Fine.'

My mouth drops open. Even Fireheart looks stunned. 'O-okay. I'll see you at dawn then.'

'Dawn.'

Fireheart walks away. As soon as he's out of earshot, I turn to Sandpaw and cry, 'I thought you hated him! How can you treat that kittypet like...like a friend?' Sandpaw's eyes blaze angrily as she rounds on me and snaps, 'What's it to you? Think about this, Dustpaw: if he's a friend, what does that make you?'

She whips around and stalks off toward the apprentices' den. But before she enters, she gives me one long last look. The anger in her eyes has faded, replaced by look of deep regret and sorrow. Then she vanishes into the den.

+

I wake up the next morning and see Sandpaw, still asleep. She looks so beautiful, lying there. A pang shoots through me as I remember our argument the night before. Then Sandpaw's odd words flash through my mind: Think about this, Dustpaw: if he's a friend, what does that make you? What could she possibly mean? And then that look that she gave me...

I slip quietly out of the den and head behind the elder's den to make some dirt when I hear Fireheart and Graystripe arguing. I stop to listen, ears pricked.

'... not your fault that Whiteclaw died!' Fireheart's mewing. He sounds exasperated. 'Stop putting so much blame on yourself.'

'I could have saved him! If he'd held on a heartbeat longer, I could've grabbed onto him...' Graystripe's voice is rough with pain.

'No, you couldn't have! Maybe he thought you were going to bite his paw, or maybe he couldn't bear the thought of being rescued by an enemy warrior.'

'Easy for you to say!' Graystripe snaps, voice suddenly sounding angry. 'You don't have to live with the fact that you're responsible for the death of a warrior! You at least saved a cat who fell over the edge! I'm surprised she hasn't thanked you yet!'

What is he talking about? I think. My eyes widen as Fireheart gives his answer.

'Get real, Graystripe! Sandpaw hates me! But the reason I managed to save her was because she almost fell over. It was RiverClan's fault in the first place that they...'

I turn away. Sandpaw almost died? And she never told me...

+

'No...' I breath. I start shaking. Across the clearing near the warriors' den, Sandstorm and Fireheart are sharing tongues, twining tails...I walk nervously up to my beloved and manage to meow, 'Sandstorm, c-can I talk to you?' She nods and follows me a little way away.

'Sandstorm, do you...do you like Fireheart?' I ask hesitantly. I have to know.

'Well, yes, he's nice-,'

'No.' I cut her off. 'I mean...do you love him?' There is a long pause. Sandstorm seems to be looking everywhere, but not meeting my eyes. Then she looks up and meows in a clear voice, 'Yes.'

My heart just breaks. My tail droops and I lower my head. Sandstorm looks worried. 'Are you okay, Dustpelt?' I look at her. She's so beautiful...the moonlight has turned her pale ginger fur to a shimmering silver. Her pale green eyes are sparkling, reflecting the moon...she looks like a StarClan warrior come to earth. 'No,' I whisper. 'I'm not.'

'Sandstorm, I love you.' I tell her. 'I always have...since we were apprentices.'

Sandstorm looks shocked. 'I...Dustpelt! You have?' I nod miserably. 'Well, I love you too...but as a friend. I'm sorry, Dustpelt, but I'll never feel anything more for you. My heart lies with Fireheart now.' And she walks away. Tear after tear rolls down my cheek, and soon the ground in front of me is covered with tears. I pad quickly into the warriors' den and cry myself to sleep.

Moons, even seasons later, I pad into the nursery and the first queen I see is Ferncloud. 'Dustpelt,' she greets me warmly. I respond by licking her ear. 'How are the kits?' She moves her tail to reveal three bundles of fur suckling, safe in the curve of her belly. 'Meet Larchkit, Birchkit and Hollykit.'

I stare in awe. 'They're beautiful!' Suddenly, a memory flashes through my mind. I remember it so clearly...it happened in the nursery, but the queen lying before me had been Sandstorm, not Ferncloud.

I pad into the nursery, searching out Sandstorm in the gloom. As soon as I spot her, I walk carefully over to her. 'Dustpelt, how are you?' she greets me. I stroke her fur with one paw. I suddenly spot her kits, nestled in the curve of her belly, sleeping. She touches the kits gently with her tail as she introduces them to me in turn. Touching the dark ginger one, she mews, 'This is Squirrelkit and her sister is Leafkit,' she adds, brushing the light tabby.

I stare longingly at the kits, wishing they were mine. Then I look at Sandstorm, who is gazing at her kits. The look in her eyes makes my heart flip over. The love, the tenderness...but she'll never again look at me like that. At first I feel sad, but then I realize that she's very happy...and I can't bear to make her unhappy. I pad out of the nursery and the first cat I see is Ferncloud.

At that moment, I know that I can't let my loss affect my entire life. From Ferncloud's apprenticeship, I always cared about her. But as our eyes meet, I know. I know that I love Ferncloud, that Sandstorm is a past love. As I walk toward Ferncloud, she bounds to meet me and purrs, 'Dustpelt, I love you.' Right then, I know that everything will be okay and I reply, 'I love you too, Ferncloud.'

How did you like it? I know Dustpelt was looong over Sandstorm, but I thought Dusty loving Sandstorm for a long time after until her kits and blah would be a tad more interesting.

The next one is Bramble-x-Squirrel, Ashy's POV and it's a songfic. Suggestions are always welcome, especially for the songfics.

Okay, bye!

--deviL a.wakenn