The world returned slowly and reluctantly. He had to blink several times to see more than a blurry mess of color. It reeked of twolegs. The light was too bright, the edges too blurry. His thoughts were sluggish, and couldn't make sense of anything. His tongue felt thick and unresponsive in his mouth.

"What happened?" he asked weakly.

Or tried to. A feeble voice slurred "wass happnn'?"

Great Starclan, was that his own voice?

A low, alien voice spoke words he couldn't understand, and a flat twoleg thing was placed in front of him. Water rippled within it and he lapped up a few mouthfuls. His tongue still wasn't working right and the metallic tasting stuff dribbled past his lips as often as it slid down his parched throat.

The twoleg reached for his hind end and he flinched sluggishly. "Stay away." He tried to demand, but it came out as a weak mewl. He thrust out a paw, trying to scratch at the twoleg, but it too was numb. He couldn't even flex his claws.

The twoleg caught his paw lightly and folded it gently back at his side before slowly unwinding a strange white webbing that was wrapped tightly around his bitten leg. The twoleg inspected it, then slathered something thick on the puncture wounds.

The calico could only watch while the twoleg re-wrapped his leg. Then something in its paw stung his leg like a bee. Warmth spread outward from the site, tingling and then numbing as it went. Suddenly nothing much mattered anymore, except the hazy contentment that fogged his brain. He turned his head to look around in vague curiosity, and could have sworn he saw his mother's anxious face in the hole at the side of the twoleg nest.

Her mouth opened, but he couldn't hear anything she said. Then darkness claimed him again.

.

Time passed in a haze. He ate and drank what was given to him, and his numb tongue was only barely able to register the taste of the slop he was given.

By the time he was finally able to wake up all the way, he thought that days had passed, though he couldn't be sure.

He hauled himself to his paws and managed to get up and stagger around a few steps. More white webbing gripped his leg and kept it stiff and partially immobile. The twoleg spotted him quickly and scooped him up. By now, Ivytail was rather used to being handled by the twoleg, and it never mistreated him no matter how helpless he was. He hadn't heard any barking during the hazy times he was awake, and his sleep was deep and dreamless.

He was set down on a pelt that lay on the floor, and the twoleg began gently unwrapping the webbing around his leg. Ivytail sighed with exaggerated patience as the twoleg began manipulating and flexing the leg in several directions to make sure it moved properly.

"I can do that myself you know," he told it, tugging his leg out of the twoleg's grasp. He understood that the twoleg meant well, and was just treating him like a rather fussy medicine cat.

Gently encouraged by the twoleg's guiding paws, he stretched his injured leg and was amazed to feel that it barely hurt. Whatever the twoleg had done to him, it was almost as good as medicine cat herbs. He walked slowly around on the soft moss inside the twoleg's den.

There was a tap at the hole in the twoleg nest's wall, and he looked up to see Ashwhisker staring at him, wide eyed in relief. Ivytail waved his tail in greeting and took a few more steps. His leg felt a little stiff, but it only ached gently.

Feeling braver, he trotted in a big circle. His leg held him up without collapsing.

He glanced at the hole. Ashwhisker nodded and disappeared.

The twoleg seemed to know that it was time to go, because it opened a massive hole in the side of the nest that ran straight down to the floor. Fresh air flowed over the young warrior and he paused at the entrance and took a deep breath. The scents of green grass, warm soil and clean air flowed around him in a welcoming embrace.

The twoleg followed him outside and watched as he hopped down a short series of ledges from the twoleg nest.

"Thank you for taking care of me," he meowed back to the twoleg, "but I have to go home now!"

Whether it understood him or not, the twoleg waved a paw at him, then came down the ledges and sauntered off to the horseplace.

"Ivytail!"

The young warrior spun and almost moaned in relief at the sight of Ashwhisker and his parents racing to meet him.

"My son!" Rosemask gasped as she skidded to a stop, "Oh great Starclan it's good to see you. You smell like a twoleg! And you haven't washed yourself in days!" Her scolding tone was ruined by the relieved purr as she nosed him all over.

"I'm all right," he reassured them as both his parents pressed against him in relief, "I think the twoleg was like a medicine cat; it took care of me, kept me out of pain, and wrapped my injuries up so they wouldn't get infected. All I really want is to go home." He paused and then looked at Ashwhisker, "Are we? Is the clan…home?"

"Yes." Ashwhisker's chest swelled, "Oh what a fuss you missed! The clan was chattering like birds all afternoon. And even old Swiftstar didn't have the heart to order them to stop gossiping and start doing their duties. He and Silvershade started by sharing the tactics that they used to keep their half of the clan safe, but ended up gossiping about Swanwing's kits. It's been almost a quarter moon since then!"

Ivytail grimaced at the thought of missing so many of his warrior duties but looked at each of them, "Please tell me! Tell me what happened!"

Ashwhisker's expression became somber, "I was keeping that horned sheep distracted on the far side of the pen, and the dog grabbed you by the tail. I…" Ashwhisker's eyes grew haunted. "I couldn't get to you in time. Then it kept biting its way up. I couldn't stop the dog, but the sheep could. I had to stop distracting it. And to do that I… I had to run away."

The image of his clanmate being forced to turn away from a clanmate in danger flashed across Ivytail's vision as they crossed the border into clan territory. "That was the smartest, bravest thing a clan cat could ever do," Ivytail meowed thickly.

"It was also the hardest." Ashwhisker meowed heavily, and then he brightened, "The sheep turned and saw the dog and… I swear to you, it was like its eyes turned red. The dog threw you into the air at the same instant that the sheep slammed into the dog's ribcage. The dog went flying! Lifted it clean off its paws and threw it back into the fence that it had just jumped over." Ashwhisker's voice was awestruck. "After that there was a lot of fussing and the twolegs got involved."

"I was just before Foxdash in the chain, and we both were able to see what happened. There was a lot of shrieking and squalling." Rosemask meowed. "The twoleg living in the hoseplace jumped the fence and scooped you up before the sheep could turn on you. The visiting twoleg was snarling and raging as it picked up its dog. The dog was bleeding from the mouth and coughing and whining a whole lot. Foxdash and I were horrified; you were limp as a plucked blade of grass in the twoleg's paws, and you weren't responding to the racket going on."

"From what we were able to put together by what the patrols reported to us," Runningwhisker continued when his mate's voice failed, "The horseplace twoleg patched up the dog and banished them all. By that same evening, the visiting twoleg and the dogs were gone. The horseplace twoleg had taken you into its nest and we couldn't see you unless we jumped up by the hole in the sides of the nest. We've been trading our spots in shifts. You seemed to be heavily under the influence of poppy seeds until Ashwhisker saw you wake up today."

Ivytail nodded, "I'm so glad the clan is safe."

"We're glad you're safe, rabbit brain," Runningwhisker snorted, "We wouldn't be whole again if you hadn't taken the biggest risk for all of us. It was your plan, your risk, that made us all whole again. When the clan came back together, everyone was talking about what you did for Swanwing. The apprentices are still chattering about how you talked down a whole patrol of Thunderclan cats, and Fleetfoot reminds us all that it was your plan, as if we could forget with him spouting your praises."

Ivytail gave a little mrow of laughter.

"Ivytail!" Ivytail barely had time to brace himself before Dawnpaw charged over to him and rubbed herself against his chest, "Oh thank Starclan you're okay! The whole clan has been worrying about you. And you've missed so much! Cindersplash had her kits while you were gone. Three! Three kits! All of them healthy! Lonepaw did brilliantly. And Fawnspot came to tell us that we could all come back to camp. Swanwing even let the mentors help her carry her kits and she didn't hiss once at the thought of moving them. I guess she wanted to be with the clan as much as the rest of us. We put the Moonpool back to the way it was before we came and we all thanked Starclan for their hospitality. And then…"

Ivytail half closed his eyes and drank in the gossip that his sister tried to tell him all at once. The rest of the clan was drifting over to welcome him. The camp was still battered looking from the dog's attack, but it was also showing signs of being rebuilt. The nursery looked almost normal, and the heather walls had put on new growth despite the beating they had taken.

The clan was whole, and the clan was safe.

.

The gathering was bustling with cats. It was hard for Ivytail to spot the two Riverclan warriors at first. Spotting Swishpaw, he only had to mention Freefall and Bast to be lead right to them. She stayed to listen, and several other Riverclan cats drifted nearer with their ears pricked.

"I visited them in my dreams," Ivytail meowed as the cats leaned in, unashamedly eager to hear the news he brought. He kept the information about the dogs to himself, but there were purrs as he told them about the kits, and about the clan that was being built on the foundations of the warrior code.

By the time the gathering was called to order, Riverclan was murmuring their thanks to him for sharing the news. And for a while, the clans were at peace.

Well clan cats and readers alike, I've come full circle around the lake. Clan cats have faced and beaten dangers. You've seen glimpses of previous clans and visitors and their futures after our attention has moved beyond them. When I started with Thunderclan, it was partly a challenge to see if I could do it. From there, ideas just flowed. It was a little bit harder to work on Windclan, because after so many dangers in the previous three, I was having trouble thinking of something new. Think about it; we've had foxes that used the clan's own territory against them, lost and found clanmates, jealous clan cats that went crazy and sought revenge, poison that affected both clanmates and territory, loss of prey and herbs both, vicious crows, stolen kits and the closed mindedness of neighboring clans toward kittypets, twolegs and vicious dogs.

What could possibly be next? Am I done? Is there nothing more to write about?

Well now, I still have some ideas still buzzing in my brain, but they will require more than what the four clans can offer. If you're still eager to follow my pawsteps, you may find yourself treading beyond the lake and meeting some clans that live differently. I hope you enjoy the new path that I'd like to open up for you. These cats however, may or may not interact with the clans in the way you are used to, and those you have become familiar with will now be the visitors, not the focus.