"WindClan?" I echoed what my former clanmate said to me.

"It would make the most sense," Sandstorm agreed, "but… Oh, Fireheart, you belong in ThunderClan, not WindClan!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but a loud wail interrupted me.

"Whitestorm? Whitestorm, where are you?" It was Dustpelt. "We need to talk about the deputy duties…"

Sandstorm hissed under her breath. "Mousedung! Why does he have to come now?" She turned to Whitestorm. "We must go!"

The white warrior nodded. "Yes. Be safe, Fireheart." With that, my former clanmate raced away.

Sandstorm turned her pained emerald gaze to me. "I love you," she whispered before following her former mentor.

"Good-bye," I muttered. Well, I thought, I guess it's time to go to WindClan.

As I turned to head toward my possible new home, a thought suddenly hit me, and I raced to RiverClan. Branches whipped across my face as I ran at full speed, praying to StarClan that the hunting patrols would still be out. When I made it to the border, two unfamiliar cats were sitting by the river. A brown she-cat pricked her ears and suddenly stood. I slowly backed into the bushes, afraid that they heard me, but at the same moment Graystripe and Blackclaw appeared. I hissed under my breath in joy and frustration. Blackclaw is one of Leopardstar's biggest supporters. He wouldn't hesitate to kill an intruder.

As the other cats began to pad away, I hissed loud enough for my friend to hear. "Graystripe!"

Graystripe turned, surprised, and quickly chased after the patrol. Then, when I thought he had left, he suddenly reappeared.

"What are you doing here, Fireheart?" he asked.

I crept out of the bushes. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay," he agreed, "but not here. There's some bushes across the river we can hide in. A fox recently died there, so our scents would be hidden." After he finished speaking, Graystripe leapt into the river and swam across without hesitation.

He really is a RiverClan cat now, I thought, then slowly followed him. Discomfort spread over me as the cold leaf fall water lapped up onto my fur. I jumped out, shook out my fur, then stalked into the bushes. Graystripe sat there washing his paw. He gave me a small look, then set his paw down.

"Well," he meowed, "what'd you need?"

I began to explain what happened with the WindClan war, leaving out my dream with Spottedleaf. When I got to the part about being exiled, Graystripe could no longer contain himself.

"You were exiled?!" He cried out in shock.

I flung my tail over his mouth. "Not so loud! And yes, for betraying Bluestar."

"From what you told me, it sounds like Bluestar is sick. That battle was unneeded."

I grunted in agreement. "She's... ill, yes. Ever since Tigerstar betrayed ThunderClan." For a flash of a second, I wondered if this was betrayal. Then I remembered that I can't be disloyal to a clan I don't belong to.

Graystripe shook is head. "Your life has been harder than most cats, Fireheart. I can't really help you, except say from experience that joining a new clan is hard." My friend stood. "I have to go before the clan worries. I'll see you later... I hope. Good luck!" With that, he disappeared.

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"Here we go," I muttered. The light brown moor stretched out in front of me, going on for what seemed like forever the same way the trees of ThunderClan's territory did. A gentle breeze caressed my face and swept my ginger fur along with it. Three WindClan cats appeared in the distance. I recognized my friend Onewhisker immediately. The other was the WindClan deputy, Deadfoot. The third was an unfamiliar white she-cat. I silently cursed as the wind changed direction and the she-cat caught my scent. She stared directly at me and whispered to Deadfoot. He located me and brought his hunting patrol to me.

"Fireheart? What are you doing here?" Onewhisker asked.

"I need to speak to Tallstar," I mewed.

The she-cat tipped her white head to the side. "Again? What's wrong?"

"I need to speak to Tallstar," I repeated.

"Lead the way, Whitetail," Deadfoot ordered. The entire patrol remained deadly silent as we padded toward the WindClan camp.