First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last two chapters: Dominoesrule, Evanna23, BartlebyTheCat, and Awesome! Thanks so much for your feedback! A special note to Evanna 23: I truly appreciate your advice. This chapter was written before I received your review, but the next chapter has been written with your advice in mind. Please keep reviewing, and I sure hope you guys like this chapter as much as the last one! :) Once again, I will try to update weekly. Keep reading! -Izrose


Grey tabby fur flashes as Pete tackles me. "I thought Lightning was supposed to be quick," he laughs. I get to my feet and smile at him. Stars dance in his fur and shine in his faded green eyes, and I know this is a dream. It's been many seasons since I met Pete, and I haven't seen him since.

"I'm a lot quicker than you!" I tackled him to the ground then, holding him down and growling playfully, "See? Bet you can't get up now."

Pete just smiled and remained there, pinned on his back. "Oh, don't you ever wonder, Lightning?"

That was when the dream seemed to dissolve around me, and I woke in my den. Leaf-fall chill had crept into the den overnight. I had forgotten all about Pete and the night I met him.

The night I told him my story, or what was left of it.

By now I had forgotten that too. The memory was no longer within reach, it was beyond reach. I couldn't remember why I had been exiled if I tried. But I had been thinking about that. Almost every day, recently.

Once again, Pete's words echoed in my mind.

Don't you ever wonder, Lightning?

I do wonder.

But do I really want to know?

And in that moment, with Pete's voice still in my head, I made my decision.

I leapt out of my den and bounded towards the woods as fast as I could. I crashed through the undergrowth, making plenty of noise, and not caring. I had to pause for breath before long – I only ran this fast to chase rabbits, and that wasn't very long. I continued to race along, tearing at the ground with my claws with every bound, until I reached the edge of the now-familiar woods.

And found the edge of the now-unfamiliar forest.

Beyond those trees was ThunderClan territory. I knew I had to go there, but I didn't know how, or when, or what I would do when I got there. I couldn't just barge into ThunderClan territory without a plan.

I'd have to find a place nearby to spend the night and think this through. After some sniffing around, I found hollow log covered in moss that would be suitable. After munching on a nice squirrel, I sat atop the log to think this over.

I could, very well, just march in and see what happened. If they recognized me, or even remembered me, or still wanted me away from them. But then what? They'd drive me off, and I would be right where I was. How could I possibly figure out the truth without them knowing who I was?

But wait. It has been countless seasons since I left the Clans. How many of them would remember me? I've changed, they've forgotten. I bet, if I went there pretending to be a loner wanting to join the Clan, none of them would suspect a thing.

I decided on that idea just as the sun set. I fell quickly into a dreamless sleep, and woke just as the sun was rising the next morning.

It was time. No use prolonging it. I decided against eating beforehand because, assuming everything went smoothly, I might be able to eat at the ThunderClan camp.

I surprised myself by realizing that I was nervous. I wasn't even really sure why. However, I shook it off and padded away from the hollow log I had rested in, headed for the ThunderClan border.

I didn't hesitate when I reached it. I walked across it, meaning to wander around in the territory looking for a patrol. But before long, a patrol found me.

"Hey! Intruder!" someone shouted. A huge mass of brown fur crashed into me. My instincts took over, and I hooked my claws into my attacker's fur and threw him off of me. Before he could get back on his feet, I was on him, pinning him on his back.

However, before I could do anything else, a reddish tom walked up. "What's this, Thunderfang? An intruding she-cat managed to get the best of you? Well, won't Cloudfall and the others at camp enjoy this story!"

The tom did not seem panicked at all. I was slightly surprised before I realized why. If I had meant to cause any damage, I would have been scratching and clawing at this cat, Thunderfang.

"Oh, let him up, will you? I think you've made your point. He's not going to try to attack you again."

I obediently stepped away from Thunderfang. He got to his paws again, unharmed, although it was clear that his pride was hurt. I was, after all, not even a trained Clan cat. He must not be used to being defeated so quickly.

"Ashpaw, go ahead and come out here," the tom said. A young grey cat, who must have been an apprentice, stepped out of the bushes. "Now," the tom said, turning to me, "care to tell me who you are and why you're here?"

I cleared my throat. "I'm Lightning. I'm what you would call a loner, and I have been living in some woods about a half-day's journey from here on my own. But I'm tired of being by myself. I heard about the greatness of the Clans and I wanted to come and see if I could be a part of them."

I had come up with this little speech on my way here. It wasn't entirely a lie, just the "tired of being by myself part". And how I "forgot" to mention where I was before I lived in the woods.

The tom sat down, flicking his tail, as he seemed to think this through. "Well, it's not my place to make such decisions. We'll take you back to camp and let Settingstar decide. I'm Coppersun, by the way, and this is my apprentice Ashpaw. And that's Thunderfang. Follow us."

I obediently followed the two warriors through the forest. Ashpaw walked hesitantly alongside me. "I've never seen any warrior beat Thunderfang like that. He's the strongest warrior in the Clan."

"Well, I'm no warrior," I said. "I've been hunting and defending myself since I was your age. I didn't have anyone to help me or train me. I have to be strong."

Ashpaw seemed impressed. "I can't imagine living without a Clan," he said quietly.

I can't imagine living with one.

Before long, we reached the camp and entered it through a tunnel of brambles. Even before we had caught sight of it, I could smell the scents of cats, and the strange reek of ThunderClan. Now that we were inside it, I could see all the cats. Of every color, every size, more cats than I could remember ever seeing.

We headed towards the center of camp, where the leader's den was. I ducked under the hanging lichen on the entrance. A crimson tom was inside, conversing with another tom, this one black-and-white. They both looked up at us in surprise.

"Oh, hello, Thunderfang, Coppersun. Who is this?"

"Lightning," I said before they could speak.

"She says she's a loner and she wants to join the Clan," said Thunderfang.

"She also pinned Thunderfang to the ground when he attacked her before you could say 'StarClan'," Coppersun added.

The black-and-white tom narrowed his eyes at me. He had brilliant blue eyes, as unusual as his coloring.

The copper tom, who I assumed to be Settingstar, spoke again, "Oh, really? I have a hard time believing that."

"I would too, if I hadn't seen it," replied Coppersun.

The black-and-white tom scoffed. "That scrawny she-cat couldn't have pinned Thunderfang. There's no way – "

He was pinned on his belly, his face smashed into the den floor, before he even finished his sentence.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying? 'There's no way…'" I taunted in his ear.

He growled and struggled to get up, to no avail. Settingstar chuckled and said, "Lightning, go ahead and let him up. He believes you now."

"Hey, I wasn't ready. And I'm no Thunderfang, either. That proves nothing."

I hissed and crouched, ready to spring again, but Coppersun stepped between us. "That's enough. We can't have you two getting hurt." He turned to Settingstar. "Settingstar, as you can see, she's already very skilled in fighting, and she's been hunting for herself for a long time. We need as many warriors as we can get right now."

Settingstar nodded. "Very well. Lightning, I am willing to make you a warrior of ThunderClan. But you still need to learn about the ways of the Clans. I'm going to find a warrior to teach you about the warrior code. Once they say you have learned it, I will name you a warrior of ThunderClan."

I nodded. "Thank you," I said. "I truly appreciate it." But even as I smiled at the red-gold tom, I was resisting the urge to rush at him and dig my claws into his fur. Because this was the same tom that had looked down at me from Highrock and sent me away from ThunderClan.