A/N: I went back and fixed the Allegiances, since I forgot Leopardstar's leader now, not Crookedstar; I also added Dustpelt in there..

(Disclaimer: I do not own warriors but if I did, Crowfeather wouldn't be an emotionless zombie, Firestar and Spottedleaf would have had a more interesting relationship, Squirrelflight would never get a happy ending and Hollyleaf would get a brutal death). Wow, morbid much?


By the time the sun had set, Bluestar was still missing. Sandstorm and Cinderpelt had looked everywhere in camp, and eventually tracked her scent through the forest, but it had begun to rain heavily and the scent was lost among the tang of the charred forest and musty smell of fallen leaves.

They had even asked Whitestorm if he knew anything about their leaders whereabouts, but all the old tom had said "Are you surprised? After what happened this morning, she must feel like she's losing control of her Clan."

So now the night was far gone and Sandstorm and Cinderpelt kept watch sitting, and waiting for any sign of their leaders return.

The moon was setting when Cinderpelt let out a nearly inaudible gasp. She quickly prodded Sandstorm and began signaling with her tail, Cinderpelt led Sandstorms gaze towards the camp entrance. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she noticed a faint silver-gray coat as Bluestar limped back into camp. Her leader look old, exhausted and defeated.

Sandstorm felt hope flutter in her chest. Could Bluestar have finally realized she made a mistake exiling Fireheart?

Cinderpelt immediately dashed across to her. "Bluestar, where have you been?"

Sandstorm watched as Bluestar raised her head and stared at Cinderpelt, a faint purr escaping her. When Bluestar opened her eyes, Sandstorm noticed her leaders emerald blue eyes were glowing faintly in the dim light, and were bright and clear in spite of the exhaustion she must feel.

"You sound like a queen scolding her kit." Bluestar rasped, her voice filled with humor. Before either Cinderpelt of Sandstorm could reply, she continued. "Come with me, Cinderpelt." Bluestar hissed as she stumbled towards her den.

Sandstorm watched the two she-cats disappeared behind the hanging lichen covering the entrance to Bluestar's den as she was left behind.

What could she do now? She wanted to know what they were talking about, but she had better sense than that. It would be dawn soon, so she decided to give up and take a nap.

As she made her way into the warriors den, she found herself pausing beside Fireheart's nest. For a heartbeat, she would have sworn she had seen the flame furred warrior laying there, but as soon as he appeared, he vanished before her eyes.

Choking back her grief, Sandstorm grabbed as much of Fireheart's bedding as she could carry and took it over to her nest. As carefully as she could, she curled up in her nest and placed the moss from Fireheart's nest beside her, resting her muzzle in his sweet scent before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

--

A paw prodding into Sandstorm's side jolted her awake. It had been just over half a moon since Fireheart's departure, but Sandstorm still felt a dull ache for the mouse brained tom.

"Sandstorm, you're wanted for the dawn patrol." Brackenfur, a golden brown tabby tom murmured gently.

Sandstorm nodded tensely. Perhaps this would help her clear her head from her dark thoughts?

Quickly, she followed Brackenfur to the rest of the group, taking a moment to shake the scraps of moss that still clung to her fur. She spotted Whitestorm, Longtail, Cloudpaw and Swiftpaw waiting for her.

Feeling her spirits lift at the sight of Cloudpaw, Fireheart's nephew, Sandstorm decided that, perhaps, today would be a good day after all.

Whitestorm was about to lead the patrol out when Bluestar came padding from her den. "I'll lead the patrol this morning," she meowed softly, sitting near them at the camp entrance.

"Bluestar leading a patrol?" Cloudpaw muttered. "That ought to go well. Watch out for flying hedgehogs!"

"Cloudpaw," Sandstorm hissed, though she knew he must have been as bewildered as she was. She hadn't seen Bluestar lead, or even go on patrol in moons; though she was glad Bluestar was taking up Clan duties again. "Show some respect, she's you're leader"

Cloudpaw grunted. She took that as an agreement, though she knew you could never be sure with toms.

Recently, Cloudpaw had been given to her as an apprentice due to Fireheart's absence. She enjoyed spending time with the quirky tom, though she knew there were moments she just wanted to claw his ears.

"If you want to be a warrior, maybe you and Swiftpaw could try and impress Bluestar, instead of insulting her." Longtail hissed under his breath.

Sandstorm saw the two apprentices' eyes light up. She knew Swiftpaw was overdue for his warrior ceremony, he was almost the same size as his mentor. He was more than ready. Sneaking a glance at Cloudpaw, she knew the fluffy white tom was ready, too. He would have made Fireheart proud.

"Come on," Bluestar snapped acidly. Without waiting for a reply she led the way out of camp and up the ravine.

As the patrol followed their leader to the RiverClan border, Sandstorm could almost imagine the last few season's hadn't happened. Bluestar looked like her normal self again, but she couldn't ignore the fire-scarred forest as she walked down the border. It felt like it was mocking her, reminding her that there was no going back.

When they came in sight of the river, Sandstorm was faintly surprised when they stopped. The blue-gray she-cat stood gazing at the opposite bank, sadness flashed in her eyes for a few heartbeats before disappearing ino a blank stare.

Sandstorm tipped her head quizzically. What could Bluestar be thinking about?

After a few moments, the patrol set off again. Looking around, Sandstorm noticed the frost on the leaves beginning to melt as the sun climbed its way up the sky and over the river, though the leaves still crackled beneath the traveling cats' paws. As they venturedt on, Whitestorm and Longtail tested the apprentice's on what they knew. Sandstorm was confident in her new apprentices abilities, so she just studied the forest as they walked.

Eventually Sunningrocks came within sight. The smooth sloping boulders seemed deserted. Then, as Sandstorm watched, a cat climbed up from the opposite side and stood silhouetted against the ever lightening sky.

Sandstorm stopped dead, and she heard Longtail let out a hiss from behind her. Her fur prickled with the sense of danger. No matter how hard she stared, she could not make out the color of the cat's fur, but she could tell by the shape it was a she-cat, and there was no mistaking her aggressive stance and the arrogant tilt of her head. She knew it could only be Leopardstar.

As she stared, Sandstorm saw more RiverClan cats join their leader on the rocks. Sandstorm recognized a few of the warriors there, the most familiar being Mistyfoot, Blackclaw and Stonefur-the RiverClan deputy.

"Bluestar," Longtail hissed. "What are RiverClan cats doing on Sunningrocks?"

Sandstorm felt her heart sink with dread as even more warriors clambered up beside their leader. Bluestar did not reply to Longtail, but instead padded forwards to the base of the rock where Leopardstar waited, ignoring an alarmed hiss from Whitestorm.

"What do they think they're doing?" Cloudpaw muttered indignantly beside Sandstorm. "Sunningrocks is ours!"

Sandstorm saw Whitestorm shoot him a warning glance to keep silent, and the young apprentice dropped back silently beside Swiftpaw and Longtail, while Whitestorm and Sandstorm went to stand beside Bluestar's shoulder.

"Good day, Bluestar," Leopardstar meowed, her voice sounded confident. Sandstorm wanted to slash her claws across the arrogant she-cats muzzle. "I've been waiting since moonset to see ThunderClan cats, but I never hoped that one of them would be you." She almost sounded sympathetic, but Sandstorm didn't miss the edge of mockery in her tone.

"What are you doing here?" Bluestar asked calmly. "Sunningrocks belong to ThunderClan." To Sandstorm her voice sounded low and unchallenged. She felt her fur bristle. Bluestar sounded as if she didn't believe what she was saying. Did their leader even care?

"Sunningrocks has always belonged to RiverClan," Leopardstar stated matter-of-factly, "even though we allowed ThunderClan to hunt here for a while. But ThunderClan stands in our dept after the help we gave you after the time of the fire. Today we claim that dept, Bluestar." Leopardstar's voice sounded like a retort, "We are taking Sunningrocks back."

Sandstorms fur bristled- this time with fury. If Leopardstar thought she could take away ThudnerClan's territory without a fight, she was mistaken!

Whipping around, Sandstorm came face-to-face with the two apprentices. "Swiftpaw," she hissed. "you're fastest. Run back to camp and fetch us some reinforcements."

Swiftpaw stared at her as if she had just sprouted rabbit ears. "But I want to fight!" He protested.

"Then go fast." She snapped in exasperation.

The apprentice hesitated for a heartbeat before he dashed off into the trees. Turning around, Sandstorm saw Leopardstar track him with narrowed eyes. She wasn't stupid, she must realize why he had gone.

"Keep her talking," Whitestorm breathed in Bluestar's ear. "Swiftpaw's gone for help."

Sandstorm was unsure if Bluestar had heard the white tom. She was staring at a RiverClan warrior. Following her gaze, Sandstorm found herself looking at Stonefur. This puzzled her. Why did their leader seem to have such an interest in the RiverClan deputy?

"Well Bluestar?" Leopardstar challenged. "Do you agree? Do you allow RiverClan the right to Sunningrocks?"

For a few heartbeats, Bluestar did not reply, nor did she even glance at Leopardstar.

As the silence stretched out, even more RiverClan cats crept up to the rock face. Great StarClan! Did Leopardstar bring her entire Clan?

A flash of gray caught her eye, and she found herself instinctively turn. Sandstorm could swear she felt her heart stop. On the far end of the crowd of RiverClan warriors sat Graystripe. The tom looked uncomfortable to be here, but she noticed him glancing at the ThunderClan patrol, then look at her quizzically.

She knew he was probably wondering about Fireheart, and the thought made her flinch. Turning to look back at Graystripe she shook her head side to side mournfully.

"No," Bluestar spoke at last, and to Sandstorm's relief her voice was firm. "Sunningrocks belongs to ThunderClan."

"Then you'll have to fight us for it." The spotted she-cat growled.

"They'll make crowfood of us!" Longtail's whisper reached her ears, but she refused to hear the words behind it.

Leopardstar uttered a bloodcurdling yowl and launched herself down the rock face at Bluestar. The two she-cats crashed to the ground, spitting and clawing.

Immediately Sandstorm leapt forward to help her leader, but was pushed aside by a RiverClan warrior as he sank his teeth into her shoulder.

Sandstorm tried desperately to break the RiverClan cats grip, raking her claws against what ever she could reach. The tortoiseshells grip loosened almost instantly as he began to back off.

Once she had scrambled to her paws, two more warriors crashed into Sandstorm, clawing out pawfuls of fur. Sandstorm fought with all she had as she fought to keep herself alive.

Longtail's right, she thought, her fur pricking with dread. They're going to tear us apart.


Swiftpaw better hurry, hey? You'll know what Bluestar did in one of the next two Sandstorm chapters, (if you havn't read the book, he he). The next chapter will probably be Fireheart's P.O.V., and may be up by Friday.

Reviews are lovely. They're like author encouragement cookies. Please feed the author. :O
Ahem, *points at that oh so lovely green button below*