Remember this little guy?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Warriors!

GORSEPAW

They came so fast, and out of nowhere, too! We barely had time to react before they crashed through the bushes that lined our camp. There were so many; they just kept coming and coming. They buried us.

We were all unprepared, of course. The first thing that hit me was the smell of TigerClan in the air. ShadowClan's rancid tang merged with RiverClan's pallid scent, it was still so unfamiliar.

Battle cries decorated the atmosphere, and the next thing I knew, a heavy weight bowled me over. The intruder wasted no time in pinning me down.

Feeling momentarily winded and shocked, I instinctively flung my back paws into the cat. It hissed fiercely, and swatted at my ear. Confusion clouded my buzzing head, and I couldn't do much at the moment but struggle under the cat's weight.

When I finally regained my mind, the cat suddenly drifted away. As I jumped to my feet, I realized that Deadfoot had hauled it off me. He was grappling with the warrior, and quickly sent it packing. Deadfoot sure didn't need four paws to win a battle!

The deputy turned to glare at the TigerClan cat as it ran away, then whipped his head to the skies and yowled viciously.

As I looked around, I saw the whole camp had erupted into battle. Tornear and Webfoot were fighting back to back, each taking on two TigerClan warriors at a time. I was amazed at how well they could fend off the intruders together; they weaved around each other as if they were a single, conjoined entity.

Tallstar slashed and growled at a cat- I couldn't remember the name- with white fur and big black paws. They seemed pretty evenly matched.

Even Ashfoot, whom was expecting kits, fought bravely with a dark gray RiverClan she-cat.

My heart rocketed against my chest, and adrenaline pulsed through my veins at the battles all around me. Now it's my turn! I thought.

I flung myself into the nearest enemy. I unsheathed my claws and scraped them into its back, using as much pressure as I could muster. My victim screeched, and spun around quickly enough to fling me off. Landing on my side, I rolled over onto my paws and catapulted to the left when the cat charged me.

It seemed to falter for a second, so I took that time to jump onto its back. I used the tactic Onewhisker showed me, the one where you latch onto the other's back and claw the heck out of them.

I sunk one of my paws into its shoulder and the other on its chest. The TigerClan cat bucked and tried to shake me off, but I held tight. My back paws slashed its haunches furiously, until the cat fell backwards, thus squishing me.

Having the breath knocked out of me again, I had nothing to do but scrabble to get up and gasp for air.

I felt some one whisk to my side, and a bolt of fear swept through me knowing that an enemy had caught me while I was down.

But it was Onewhisker. He quickly bent forward and nudged my flank. "Stay on your paws, Gorsepaw," he meowed swiftly. These words immediately brought on a new strength; he would always say them as encouragement when we were training. Whenever I would fail at an attack, or miss a rabbit, it was always "stay on your paws, Gorsepaw" from Onewhisker and I would try again.

I can't let Onewhisker down!

As I jumped to my paws, I took in my surroundings again.

Onewhisker had run off to aid Deadfoot in a battle with three TigerClan warriors. They had cornered the deputy, and he tried with difficulty to take on all three of them.

Runningbrook was chasing off a lone TigerClan warrior, but it looked like it left a good couple scratches in her flank. She also ran with a limp, and broke off halfway through the chase to catch her breath.

Whitetail was shielding a heavily injured Webfoot from a cat twice her size. Despite her small frame, her quick movements allowed her to give jabs and swipes at the TigerClan cat in every direction. Barkface quickly flitted from his den over to Webfoot, carrying cobwebs.

I then heard a cry of distress and snapped my head in that direction. I saw my mother, Morningflower, get pinned down by two cats. She snarled as they ripped at her pelt.

I glided over as fast as my legs could take me, and gripped one of their scruff's with my fangs. It let out an alarmed screech and wrenched itself free. I lashed out my paw, only to have it swing in the air as the enemy quickly dodged it. I vaguely felt my mother's pelt brush mine as we fought side by side.

The TigerClan cat hissed and cuffed my ear. I answered with a blow to his stomach, which barely hindered him, if at all. The cat then sent a flurry of scratches all over my body.

Suddenly, a cry from one on the intruders caught my attention. They were retreating!

Well, that's what I thought before a fresh wave of TigerClan cats bounded into our camp. I was separated from my mother as they flooded the clearing.

Two cats approached me then, but they weren't of TigerClan. They were Tallstar and Mudclaw. Blood dripped from several open wounds on their flanks, and one of Mudclaw's eyes was closed. My stomach churned at the look of them, and then I realized I must look similar.

"Gorsepaw," Tallstar panted, "There are too many… to handle. Go to ThunderClan… ask Firestar… for assistance."

I nodded numbly, my legs trembling, and my body stinging and sore from the pain.

Yes, Firestar would surely help us. I will never forget how he and Graystripe alone journeyed far from their home in ThunderClan to help us back to our territory when we were chased out by ShadowClan. I was just a kit then, and since my mother was exhausted because she had recently given birth to me, Firestar was the one who carried me half the way.

I have always looked up to him and considered him a friend. He has always been generous and willing to cooperate with WindClan. It feels like we could never repay him.

"Okay," I said shakily, "Okay, I will. Wait for me."

No sooner did I spin around to take off, when I saw Tigerstar himself fighting with Onewhisker. Onewhisker was cruelly outnumbered, with Tigerstar and three others fighting against him.

Fear for my mentor made me turn around and charge at Tigerstar with all the strength I had left.

"No, don't! Gorsepaw!" I heard Mudclaw shout behind me.

I wasn't thinking about what I was doing then, only that I wanted Onewhisker to be safe from Tigerstar. I leaped forward and sunk my teeth into Tigerstar's striped foreleg, only to have a massive paw swipe me aside a second later. With both paws pinning me down, he glared down at me and I thought I saw his eyes flash for a second. He yowled loudly to all the fighting warriors.

One of his paws rested firmly on my belly while the other was on my neck.

"WindClan cats," Tigerstar announced, his deep voice ringing throughout the clearing. "You have brought this on yourself. If all of us were united, there would be no war between clans."

His warriors formed a wide circle around us; the WindClan warriors stared at Tigerstar from behind them in horror and shock. A sinking feeling prickled my fur. He's separating me from them…

I gazed desperately at Mudclaw and Tallstar, fear for my life pulsing through my blood. "Get Firest--" My voice was cut off as Tigerstar pressed hard on my throat.

Tallstar flashed a look to Mudclaw, who immediately scrambled out of camp.

Tigerstar watched with a wry smirk on his face. "Tell your precious Firestar," he jeered, "that the decision still stands. Meet me at sunhigh tomorrow at Fourtrees. I'm tired of waiting for you two to make up your mind."

Tallstar and Tigerstar glared at each other for a heartbeat. Tigerstar spoke again. "But, if for some mousebrained reason you two decide not to join… cats will die."

Without any warning, his muzzle clamped down on my neck. More fear and panic than I've ever felt exploded inside me, and I let it out in a single wail. The pressure and pain in my throat expanded and flooded my mind until I couldn't take it anymore.

I begged over and over for the pain to be done. To have one moment where something didn't hurt seemed like a miracle then. The screaming in my head dulled down into silence after what seemed like forever, and I suddenly realized that my eyes had been squeezed shut.

I opened them slowly, taking in the sight before me. I was in a small, unfamiliar clearing. Two cats with shining pelts stood before me cautiously.

"Who are you?" I asked, getting up instantly.

"We are cats of StarClan," they said at the exact same time. "We have come to guide your way."

My own shock nearly knocked me off my paws. "No, that can't be true! M-my mother said I would go to StarClan when I have serviced my Clan for many, many moons. I… I haven't even finished my training yet!" I wailed desperately.

"You have serviced your clan greatly already," one of them meowed.

"The past cannot be changed," murmured the other.

I blinked slowly, letting it all register in. "Tigerstar killed me… didn't he?" I asked at last. They nodded in perfect synch. He killed me in front of my own clan.

What had I ever done to Tigerstar? What could I have done to make him want to kill me in such a way? Was it because I was the weakest in WindClan? Was it because I was the only apprentice?

A large ball formed in my throat, and I had to bite down on my bottom lip in order to suppress a mournful caterwaul.

What right did he have? What right did Tigerstar have to take my life away just like that? I'm still young… I had my whole life ahead of me. I'll never grow up, or become a warrior, or even train my own apprentice.

I had to learn to let all of that go.

"All right… I will go to StarClan…" I said, trying to sound my bravest. The two strange cats nodded in approval, and with a whisk of their tails, started along the way.

~X~O~X~

I watched proudly as WindClan defied TigerClan, and united with Firestar. It turns out, Tigerstar was killed by a cat no one suspected, a non-forest cat named Scourge.

He never came to join us in StarClan.

As the moons dwindled past, more and more of my clan mates joined me; Deadfoot, Runningbrook, and even my mother…

When the clans journeyed from their home, and Tallstar announced Onewhisker to be his new successor, I actually leapt for joy. It was the happiest moment of my afterlife.

But Onewhisker was in trouble. Mudclaw opposed him in jealousy. StarClan was deeply troubled about this war between WindClan, but Onewhisker was the rightful leader in my eyes. We eventually struck Mudclaw down though. I don't think he arrived in StarClan, either…

But after Onewhisker received his nine lives, he was still distressed.

One particular night, Onestar was sitting alone in front of the lake, watching the water ripple lightly in the breeze.

"StarClan," he said quietly, "I need your help." He was silent for a while longer, and then lifted his head backwards to stare at the sky.

"I still want to be friends with Firestar… but I can't if it makes WindClan look weak to the other clans, I'm not sure I can," he said a bit louder. He dropped his gaze to his paws sadly, and sighed.

"I can't let WindClan go through the ridicule of the other clans again. Not after everything that happened to us… not after everything that happened to me…" He angrily tore out stalks of grass with his claws.

His tone worried me, and I longed to help him like he helped me in my apprentice days. I slowly walked beside him, my paws barely skimming the earth. His eyes immediately flicked over to me.

I wondered how strange I must look to him, with stars lining my pelt and frost emanating from my paws.

"Gorsepaw?" he breathed, his eyes stretching wide.

I mulled my words over carefully, and just decided to leave him with a single sentence that I knew would help him through anything: "Stay on your paws, Onestar."

The recognition of the saying sparkled in his eyes, and he managed a small smile. I grinned back, and padded back to StarClan so that I could continue to watch over my clan, and Onestar, for many, many more moons.

I'm not sure this came out exactly as I wanted it to... But anyways, thanks for reading and please REVIEW! Authors run on reviews! It makes them all fuzzy inside!