I just wanted to post this because I felt like I needed to tie up some loose ends. The next story is currently being planned!

Italics are thoughts and flashbacks.


Sandfire took a deep breath. "Alright. I'll come." She looked up through the trees at the rapidly brightening sky above their heads. The dawn patrol would be out soon, wondering where she and Axel went.

"We should get back," she told the orange tom. "If we are going to leave, I'm not doing it without saying goodbye. I want to tell my mother and brother where I'm going." She thought of them then, Gingerstripe and Smokepaw. She wanted to see them one last time.

Axel nodded. "Okay," he agreed. The two cats pushed their way back through the gap in the camp wall, emerging on the other side, next to the nursery.

"You go find your family. I have to talk to Saltstar," Axel told her, padding toward the leader's den.

Sandfire turned and went in the direction of the warrior den. She wanted to see Gingerstripe first.

"Gingerstripe?" she whispered, pushing her head and shoulders into the den. Her mother raised her head and yawned.

"Yes, Sandfire?" she asked sleepily. Sandfire padded over, bent her head down, and hurridly explained to her what was going on.

Her mother nodded."I always knew this was going to happen, from the first time I saw you look at him. But please," she mewed, gazing up at Sandfire with eyes that mirrored her daughter's. "Be careful. I'll miss you, but I know I can't stop what's going to happen." She stood, shaking bits of moss from her fur. "Come outside with me," she told her daughter.


Axel called out warily from outside the entrance. "Saltstar?" No response. He stuck his head in, and saw the ThunderClan leader was sleeping, her chest rising and falling evenly.

"Okay, you can do this," he muttered to himself. "I just hope she isn't grumpy in the mornings." He padded over and nudged Saltstar, whispering her name again.

Saltstar raised her head and yawned. "What?" she asked gruffly. Axel told her what was happening and where he was going.

The snow white she-cat sighed. "I suppose I couldn't stop you. If Sandfire agrees, I can't stop her from leaving, either."

Axel almost jumped with glee. He had never expected it to be this easy! He thought they'd have to fight for it, like they did whenever anyone in the Organization had a disagreement.


"Is this really what you want?" Smokepaw whispered, touching his muzzle to hers.

Sandfire blinked. "Yes. I'm sorry," she muttered.

"You'll never be able to see me become a warrior." Her brother seemed to deflate with the thought. Sandfire looked away. She hadn't thought of that. Smokepaw would be made a warrior soon, and she wouldn't be there to see it.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath Highrock for a Clan meeting!"

"Clan meeting," Smokepaw murmered, turning away. Sandfire stared after him, hurt. Did he really believe that she didn't want to watch him become a warrior? She followed her brother to Highrock, tail drooping. Saltstar sat atop the rock, gazing down at ThunderClan.

What does she want now? Sandfire thought bitterly. Smokepaw's coldness had put her in a bad mood, and she huffed as she sat down.

"I have a few announcements to make," Saltstar told her Clan. "Axel has decided to leave us." She dipped her head, as though mourning a loss. The rest of the Clan nodded respectfully to Axel, sitting beside the Highrock.

The white she-cat raised her head. "Another member of our Clan is leaving." Some of the cats looked at each other curiously, others muttered to each other, and some just sat and waited for Saltstar to continue. Gingerstripe gave Sandfire a meaningful look, and that was almost enough to stop Sandfire from leaving. But she sat up straighter, and raised her chin toward her leader.

"Sandfire is going with Axel." An uproar rose up from the assembled Clan.

"What?" Stripedpelt hissed, glaring at Axel, fur bristling.

"Is that even allowed? Doesn't the warrior code say that all warriors must reject the soft life of a kittypet?" Nightsky pointed out.

"No!" Wildfur roared, bounding over to Sandfire, pushing his nose into her fur. "Don't leave me!"

Gingerstripe shot over to her daughter's side, nudging Wildfur away, hissing. "I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with her, or me!" she growled.

Wildfur winced and shrunk back. "Gingerstripe..."

"No," Sandfire's mother growled. "When I told you I was going to have kits, you didn't talk to me afterwards. You never came to visit me, or them, in the nursery. You said that 'you weren't ready to have kits'."

Sandfire sat there, gazing at her paws. Wildfur was her father, though he never acted like it. He ignored her totally, and never spoke to his mate or kits.

"Let her go!"Gingerstripe hissed. "If you never cared about her, why should you start now?"

The black tom sighed. "You're right," he mumbled. "But, Sandfire." She looked up, into her father's clear blue eyes. "Goodbye. And I love you. I always have." Another warning hiss from Gingerstripe sent him trotting away, to sit at the edge of the clearing, his back to the Highrock.

Sandfire felt Axel's eyes on her. She exchanged a quick glance with him. He twitched his ears. What's wrong? She shook her head slightly. Not now. Their unspoken words just symbolized how well they knew each other, having met only a few days before.

Sandfire heard a mew and looked up at Highrock. Saltstar stood at the top of the boulder. Her gaze was not alarmed or concerned, just mildly curious.

Beside her, Gingerstripe dipped her head respectfully. "I apologize, Saltstar," she meowed.

Saltstar nodded once to the ginger she-cat. "Thank you." She raised her head to address the entire Clan. "There is an apprentice here who is more than ready to become a warrior, and I cannot think of a better time for him to become a warrior, to see off his sister." Smokepaw drew in his breath quickly.

"Smokepaw," the ThunderClan leader announced. The gray apprentice stepped forward nervously, white tail tip twitching.

Saltstar leaped from Highrock. "Smokepaw, from this moment you will be known as Smokefeather. StarClan honors your bravery and intelligence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." She rested her head on Smokefeather's, and he licked her shoulder respectfully.

"Smokefeather! Smokefeather!" the Clan crowed to the rising sun. Sandfire joined in enthusiastically, purring. Smokefeather padded over to sit with her, blue eyes shining. Sandfire gave him a lick on the cheeck, and he rubbed his muzzle against hers.

Saltstar padded toward Sandfire, signalling the meeting was over. Cats gathered around Smokefeather to congratulate him. The white she-cat beckoned with her tail for Sandfire to come and sit with her. Saltstar was sitting alone. Sandfire broke away from the crowd around her brother and joined the ThunderClan leader.

"You're sure about this?" Saltstar asked as Sandfire sat.

Sandfire nodded, instincively knowing what her leader was talking about. "Positive."

"I thought as much," the snowy she-cat murmered. "Though I am sad to see you leave, I know that you'll be happy where you're going." She raised her blue eyes to the sky, growing lighter. "As soon as I saw you make your first catch, I knew you were going to be a great warrior one day."

Sandfire remembered her first catch. She had been on a hunting patrol with Stripedpelt, Saltstar, and Lionwing - then called Lionpaw, Saltstar's apprentice. Sandfire had caught a rabbit almost as big as her, and had insisted on carrying it back down the ravine with her. Now that she remembered the day, Saltstar had been gazing at her with pride.

"But I guess StarClan has chosen a different path for you." Saltstar's mew pulled her out of her memories. The she-cat was still staring at the sky. Was that wistfullness in her tone?

Sandfire glanced away, to Axel. He still sat beside the Highrock, unable to congratulate Smokefeather; he didn't know the gray warrior well enough. Axel glanced over at her. From the look in his bright green eyes, they were running out of time.

"When are you leaving?" Saltstar was still talking. Sandfire swung her head back around to look at her leader.

"As soon as possible." Axel's mew sounded behind her. He had crept up on the two she-cats without them noticing.

Saltstar dipped her head. She looked... sad. "Very well."

Sandfire stood, pressing her fur against Saltstar's one last time. "Goodbye," she whispered. The pale ginger cat padded away, to say her final goodbyes to her family.


Axel groaned, though not loud enough for any of the cats to hear. More goodbyes? They were running out of time! We should have left by now, he thought angrily. Sandfire was surrounded by a group of cats, all of them trying to say goodbye at the same time. Axel sat just outside the group, shoulders hunched, scowling.

He pricked his ears, raising his head. Was there... growling coming from the nursery?

A kit tumbled out, followed by two more. The first kit was male, with orange fur. The other male was a brown tabby, and the she-kit was white, her fur tinged slightly pink.

"Look!" the orange kit whispered to his siblings. "The loner is all alone. The perfect opportunity for an attack!"

Despite his annoyance, Axel couldn't help but purr. So that was that growling. The kits were just playing.

"ThunderClan, attack!" the orange tom crowed. All three kits jumped on Axel. He sighed, still purring, and shook his head. Might as well play with them; I have nothing better to do, he told himself.

The kits squealed as Axel shook himself lightly, prentending to try and throw them off.

A purr of amusement made him stop growling. He raised his head to see Sandfire, her whiskers twitching with humor.

"Look out Orangekit, Birdkit,and Berrykit! The badger is out to get you!" she teased lightly.

Axel sat down with a huff, and the kits slid off of him. "Go back to the nursery," he told them. A chorus of "Aww"'s, "Do we have to?"'s, and "Really?"'s met his order.

A white head poked out from the nursery. "Kits!" the queen called. Her kits groaned one last time, then trudged back to their mother.

"I didn't know how fond you were of kits," Sandfire purred.

Axel shrugged. "I was bored, what with you taking too long to say bye."

"Cats of ThunderClan." The traditional call wasn't needed; all of the warriors and apprentices were already in the clearing. Saltstar had climbed back up the Highrock, and was addressing her Clan.

"Its time for Axel and Sandfire to leave us," she meowed solemly. Axel snorted. Only two days ago she'd tried to rip his fur off! Then again, so had Sandfire. And look at her now. He turned his head to look at her. Her pale ginger coat shone in the sunlight that had just broken above the treeline.

Sandfire dipped her head to her leader. "Thank you, Saltstar. I will never forget any cat here." She raised her head to look at her Clan. "Who knows: Maybe we can come and visit one day."

Axel stood, nodding his head respectfully to ThunderClan. Then, with Sandfire by his side, he padded out of the gorse tunnel, to climb up the ravine for the last time.


"Where would you like to change worlds?" Axel, his pelt brushing Sandfire's, broke the silence as they padded through the trees.

"I think it should be..." Sandfire trailed off. She had so many memories in this forest, and it was hard to pick which place she wanted to see last. Axel had already explained about how they were going to change worlds. He would open up a... portal, was it? And they would go through it, to another world.

"Well?" Axel pressed. "Where should it be?"

"Sunningrocks." Sandfire blurted out the first place that popped into her head. To her relief, he nodded, seeming satisfied. It actually made sense; that was where she fought her first battle as a warrior. And... where she had died.

She went over this in her mind. All had seemed lost, with Sweetfeather telling her she couldn't go back. She had followed the medicine cat when she mentioned Axel. Sandfire had thought she would be taken to walk in his dreams, like all StarClan cats did. But she didn't.


"Come," Sweetfeather whispered, glancing around, as if she didn't want any other cat to see. Sandfire stumbled along blindly behind the pale brown tabby, not caring.

"I said I could take you to see Axel. And I can. But not like you think," Sweetfeather told her. "Before I do, you know that how you feel about him is not permitted," she murmered gently.

"I don't care," Sandfire growled. "Who asked you, anyway? I don't need your advice!" She glared at the medicine cat, fire in her eyes. "The only reason I'm stuck here is because I was following the warrior code."

Sweetfeather nodded, and understanding lit up her face. "Let me explain," she offered. Sandfire nodded grudgingly, sitting down with a bump.

And so she did. She told her where she was taking the young warrior, and what was going to happen.

"Understand that you must tell no cat about this," Sweetfeather told her sternly.

"I won't," Sandfire promised. And she wouldn't. She was willing to keep this promise if it meant seeing Axel again.

She woke up, laying on the ground near Sunningrocks, with Axel near her. The look on his face was one she would never forget - it was one of sheer joy and relief.


"Here we are," Axel announced, pulling her out of her thoughts. Sunningrocks stood before them, glowing in the sunlight. Sandfire shivered as an unexpected blast of cold air ruffled her fur. Leaf-fall was almost upon the forest.

Axel was already busying himself opening the portal. It sprang up out of the ground, a circle of darkness.

"I have to go in there?" Sandfire mewed, startled. "It doesn't look very safe."

"As long as you're with me, you'll always be safe," the orange tom reassured her. She nodded. She would stay by his side, whatever happened.

"Are you ready?" Axel murmered. Sandfire looked around slowly, drinking in everything she could. She stared across the river to RiverClan territory, into the forest at her own, and back to Sunningrocks, where Axel and her new life as a Twoleg waited.

"Yes," she meowed firmly, following him through the portal, taking one last look at her beloved home.

"I'll come back someday," she whispered to the forest. "I promise."


Finished! I promise I'll start working on the next one now. What I think is hilarious is that the epilogue is at least twice as long as any others ^_^

Anyways, hope you enjoyed!