Fireheart's tail twitched anxiously as he paced at the base of the Great Rock. Where was Sandstorm? This was when they were supposed to meet and she was late. Possibilities filled the ginger tom's mind; had they been found out? Had something happened to her? There was the possibility of Tigerstar finding out and doing something to the TigerClan she-cat, but there was also the possibility of something else happening to her.

The pack of dogs came to Fireheart's mind with fear. If not Tigerstar, then the dog pack. There was nothing that they could do against those creatures, what if another incident occurred with them? What if she was dead? His ears went back as the ginger warrior dug his claws into the snow beneath him. He should have persuaded her to leave with him, he should have done something.

The sound of movement caught Fireheart's attention; he froze in his pace raising his nose up as he took in the scent. Sandstorm. He heaved a sigh, letting his shoulders relax as the she-cat came towards him from the forest. He trotted up the hollow towards her, calling a greeting as they got closer. The ginger warrior stopped in her pace a few tail lengths away from the other cat, she looked tense. Fireheart felt the fur along his spine rise, had something happened? Sandstorm curled her lip.

"You still smell bad." Oh. The tom's ears flattened. He still had to cover his scent somehow, it wasn't his fault. The TigerClan warrior padded the few tail lengths left between them, slowly touching her nose to his muzzle, "you should choose something better."

"It's leaf-bare, there isn't much choice in plants," Fireheart replied, pressing his muzzle back against her. She still seemed tense. Fireheart figured it must have been the dangers they faced seeing each other. He was certainly scared by them and he wasn't the one that was in direct danger. Fireheart asked, "what do you want to do?"

"Why do I have to choose? Why don't you?"

"You were the one that asked me out here a second time, I figured you'd want to choose." Sandstorm didn't respond, rather the light ginger warrior looked at Fireheart expectantly. He raised his head and tail high as he began to trot, circling around Sandstorm. He took in her scent as he brushed his side against hers before bounding a few fox lengths towards Fourtrees. Stopping in his tracks, the flame-colored cat threw his head around to look at the other cat. He curled his tail as he mewed, "are you coming?"

The TigerClan she-cat padded after him. Her pelt twitched uneasily as she came up to him, standing shoulder to shoulder. She looked distracted. There was something wrong, there had to be. But what was it? If they had been found out, Tigerstar would not have allowed them to meet again.

If they had used her as some sort of trap, it would have been over by now. He had been at Fourtrees for a bit, it was ridiculous to use Sandstorm as a trap. It couldn't be that. He didn't believe that the pale she-cat would agree to be used in a ploy against him. The outsider led the way back to Fourtrees to the Great Rock. Once at the foot of the large stone, Fireheart turned to face Sandstorm, "Is something the matter?"

"You said that you didn't want me to tell you what was going on with TigerClan." Sandstorm responded blatantly. Fireheart shifted on his paws; he had told her that. This was different though; something was clearly bothering the she-cat. If it was something he could help with, he wanted to.

"We're just talking. Is something the matter?" If it was related to TigerClan, this had to be something important. Perhaps it was why she was late?

Sandstorm sighed, "Did you cut through Clan territory again?" Tigerstar must have mentioned his encounter with Fireheart to the Clan. It would make sense, considering he had gotten into a disturbance on the WindClan border from chasing Fireheart. He spoke a confirmation and Sandstorm's ears went back. She murmured, "so it wasn't a lie."

"What wasn't?" Fireheart shifted nervously on his paws, what had caused that reaction? If the TigerClan leader had ordered more patrols to keep an eye out for him, that would not surprise the ginger warrior. It would have been expected. He leaned closer to Sandstorm, "are there more patrols out now?"

Sandstorm shook her head, "No. No cat in TigerClan knew about it until the Gathering." The Gathering? Why would Tigerstar wait to announce Fireheart's trespassing on TigerClan territory then? If he thought that Fireheart was spending time on TigerClan territory, it was no concern of WindClan's. The ginger she-cat said, "he accused WindClan of harboring you."

Fireheart could see where the TigerClan leader was getting this from, the patrol had stopped Tigerstar, not Fireheart, from entering WindClan territory. It had not been on purpose, at least Fireheart did not think it had been. Whether it was Tigerstar being a bigger threat in the WindClan patrols eyes or they had simply not seen him enter, it had been a fluke that had implications.

Fireheart didn't know what the conversation between the TigerClan leader and the WindClan patrol was, but it must not have been good to come to this conclusion. The orange tom felt guilt grip him, by going through the territories rather than around he had brought the wrath of Tigerstar on to WindClan. At least, it was a good enough excuse for Tigerstar to give. Sandstorm sat back on her haunches as she explained, "he said that what they were doing was in defiance of StarClan, that hiding you was not what StarClan would want."

StarClan? A flash of annoyance heated up Fireheart's pelt for a heartbeat. What would Tigerstar know of what StarClan would want? They certainly did not want TigerClan. He was using their name to try and frighten the WindClan cats. A troubled look came to Sandstorm's eyes. "He told Tallstar that WindClan had to turn you over. He gave him until this past sunset."

It was past the dark tabby leader's time limit and WindClan had certainly not given Tigerstar what he wanted. WindClan was aware that Fireheart was at the barn, too. Tallstar could have sent a patrol out to get him if they were so pleased. Why he did not puzzled the ginger tom. More importantly, what did Tigerstar have planned for WindClan? Fireheart asked, "what did Tallstar say?"

"He denied having you."

Tallstar was speaking the truth and Tigerstar had ignored it. Fireheart's ears flattened as he dug his claws into the ground below him in frustration, "is there an attack planned on WindClan?"

"No." Sandstorm moved a paw closer to Fireheart. "There's nothing. As far as I can tell, there's no preparation for an attack. I don't know if Tigerstar was trying to scare them into agreeing without force or if there's a secret attack I haven't been made aware of." The she-cat closed her eyes for a heartbeat before murmuring, "it's not like we should risk a fight, we've already had enough warriors die this past moon."

Fireheart's ears pricked, had there been other fights? Why had TigerClan lost warriors? Certainly, there had been no battles with WindClan. "What do you mean?"

"There's been more dogs. They attacked a patrol by Snakerocks." The she-cat's ears went back as a mournful glow came to her pale green eyes, "from ThunderClan they killed Whitestorm, Brindleface, and Runningwind."

Dogs. Tigerstar had allowed them to attack more cats. More of his Clanmates. Fireheart felt a flash of anger as the fur along his spine bristled, how many more cats would die because of the TigerClan leader's wants? Whitestorm, Brindleface, and Runningwind had all been fine, loyal warriors, they hadn't deserved this fate.

Fireheart looked up to the sky, through the bare branches of the Great Oaks Silverpelt shown brightly. Stars sparkling like frost in the early morning. How could you allow this? Fireheart wanted to scream, cats are dying and you have done nothing! Tigerstar was using StarClan's name in vain and they still were silent. Fireheart hadn't heard from them in moons, he didn't know if any of the medicine cats had been receiving anything but it did not seem like it.

Fireheart looked back to the cat in front of him. He needed to tell Sandstorm what he had seen. He needed to warn her. As far as he knew from what Cinderpelt had told him the Clan cats believed the dogs were being brought into the forest by Twolegs. The TigerClan warrior wouldn't know the truth.

Perhaps he could convince Sandstorm to leave the Clan, he didn't want to leave her to the same fate as her Clanmates. He couldn't let her get hurt. Fireheart meowed, "you're mistaken. The Twolegs aren't bringing dogs into the forest." Sandstorm's eyes rounded with shock as the other cat explained his encounter with Tigerstar and what he had seen the TigerClan leader doing with the dogs. He sat back as he finished, sighing: "I can't figure out why Tigerstar has been feeding them. All they've done is attack his own warriors!"

"isn't it obvious?" Sandstorm rose to her paws. "Fireheart, he's going to have the pack attack WindClan. That's why he's feeding them, he had to have had this planned for a few moons now."

That would make sense, the dogs wouldn't be directed back to TigerClan or Tigerstar. Rather it would be an outside force. If Tigerstar succeeded in this, it could be seen as chance that they attacked WindClan. The pack could have gone after either TigerClan or WindClan. Afterward, TigerClan could easily take over WindClan territory. However, one part of this was still bothering Fireheart, it didn't make sense. Fireheart rose to his paws and began to pace in front of Sandstorm, "why wait this long?"

"Maybe he thought he could get Tallstar to agree to join without using them," Sandstorm suggested. "Or he could have been waiting for an excuse," Snow crunched beneath her paws as the pale she-cat took a step towards Fireheart, "he said that sheltering you was a slight against StarClan, the pack could be seen as a sign from StarClan that WindClan was in the wrong." The ginger tom thought this over. StarClan had no control over dogs, but Tigerstar could easily make this claim. Shape the events that would occur into his own tale. Sandstorm was right.

Fireheart stopped in his stride, turning his head so his eye was facing the other warrior, her tail was lashing as she watched the cat in front of her. Fireheart exclaimed, "I think you've got it!" He padded towards Sandstorm, "I've got to warn WindClan. I need to talk to Tallstar." He didn't know when this attack would occur or how Tigerstar could get it done. He couldn't let Sandstorm get attacked either, he pressed his muzzle against hers. "I-I can't leave you here! Come with me, please."

She hissed, pulling away from him. "No. That's suicide! If you talk to WindClan, they'll turn you over to Tigerstar." The idea of that made Fireheart's head spin, he clawed the ground below him agitatedly. She was right, making contact with the Clan would result in him being in the same situation he had been a few moons ago. Sandstorm continued, "I'm not leaving my Clan. We've been over this, I can't."

"Sandstorm –"

"I said no, Fireheart." Her tail twitched, "I can't abandon them."

"And I can't leave WindClan to die." Fireheart murmured.

"I wasn't suggesting we leave them to die, I –" Sandstorm shook her head, letting out a sigh. Her ears flattened before she slowly pressed against him. This wasn't how this night was supposed to go, not even close. They stayed still for a long moment before Sandstorm pulled away, the ginger tom recognized sorrow in her gaze.

He hesitantly licked her ear, "we don't know what will happen." Tallstar had let him off last time with a warning, there was a possibility that could happen again. He had not sent cats to get him even though his Clan was in the balance despite knowing where Fireheart was hidden. Fireheart murmured, "let's meet in a quarter moon."

"A quarter moon." Sandstorm echoed, mewing her agreement.

"I'll see you then." It could be sooner for all they know. The pale warrior mumbled her farewell. Fireheart stared at Sandstorm a moment longer before moving away from her. He could feel her eyes still on him as he moved back towards the moors.

He stopped in his pace about halfway up the hill, turning to look back to Fourtrees. Sandstorm had turned away, heading back up the snowy incline towards the barren trees which made up ThunderClan's old territory. He watched her pale shape disappear into the undergrowth. Stay safe.

Fireheart turned back, heading further into WindClan's territory. The icy wind was harsh against his pelt as it blew by him. Howling winds rustled the heather which surrounded him. His mind raced. As he drew closer to camp, the ginger warrior began to shake.

What would the cats at the barn think? He hadn't told any cat he was leaving; Fireheart hadn't expected to have to turn himself in to WindClan. He thought that he would have been coming back tonight. They would make assumptions; they probably would be able to figure out some of the tale that occurred without the help of others. The orange warrior felt a twinge of guilt, he should have told some cat he was leaving.

With little in way of undergrowth on the barren landscape, the outsider saw the cat on sentry duty by the camp entrance at the same time she saw him. Fireheart did not recognize the WindClan cat as he drew closer. He lowered his tail and head as he came within view. Her eyes widened with alarm as he came within view, the WindClan warrior let out a yowl.

"Intruder!"

The tortoiseshell warrior raced towards him as Fireheart stopped in his tracks. She threw herself at the intruder, he let out a hiss as he was thrust to the ground. He forced himself not to resist the other cat, going against every instinct he had. It would not help his case if he got into a fight with a WindClan warrior. Her claws dug into his pelt as he heard more movement from the camp entrance.

Warriors moved out from the gorse tunnel and around the two cats; Fireheart tried to lift his head only to have it pushed back down by the opposing cat. He could hear a few furious growls. His heart pounded against his chest; they could kill him if they were so pleased. He could be taken away to Tigerstar without a second thought, he probably would be. He wouldn't be able to warn Tallstar and this all would be for nothing. The thought chilled him to the bone.

Deadfoot stood directly in front of him, his eyes narrowed as he regarded the pinned cat. After a few heartbeats the lean black tom spoke, "why are you always on our territory?"

"I'm not here to fight," Fireheart forced his voice to remain level. "I need to talk to Tallstar, please."

"Are you aware of the situation surrounding you?" The WindClan deputy's tail twitched as he questioned. There was a cold look in his eyes.

"I am, it's related to that." Fireheart glanced back at the cat on top of him, he had a heavy feeling in his chest. Everything in him urged Fireheart to fight against her. To get up and run away from this place. He gasped, "please, I need to talk to Tallstar. I'm not here to start a fight."

"Let him up."

Fireheart couldn't see the WindClan leader as he came through the gorse tunnel and made his way towards the other cats, but he heard his paw steps in the snow. The black and white leader entered his field of vision after a few heartbeats. He took his deputy's place in front of Fireheart. As Deadfoot moved to the side, Tallstar spoke again, "let him up, Rosefur."

The tortoiseshell warrior hesitated a heartbeat before backing off Fireheart. He slowly rose into a sitting position, shoulders hunched and tail twitching anxiously. The heavy feeling faded slightly from his chest. The orange tom looked up to meet the WindClan leaders' eyes. He was surprised at what he saw in them.

There was a troubled look. This puzzled Fireheart, what was going on with the WindClan leader? He expected something else, the WindClan warriors probably thought that if they turned him over then they would be left alone. He expected the Tallstar to be relieved, to share in the same thoughts as his fellow Clanmates.

He had been strange last time as well, there seemed to be some continued conflict over Fireheart for the leader. Why that was, Fireheart could not understand. Bringing WindClan home could not have been that influential. Tallstar meowed, "I told you to stay off WindClan territory."

"I needed to talk to you." Fireheart dipped his head respectfully to the WindClan leader, "I'll leave right after."

A jeer sounded from the WindClan warriors, "As if we'd let you go this time!"

Well, there went that glimmer of hope. Fireheart dug his claws uneasily into the ground beneath him as some calls of support of the warriors' words came. Fireheart's ears went back at a warning hiss from the warrior next to him, slowly he sheathed his claws. His heart pounded against his chest.

A hiss came from off to the side, the ginger warrior turned his head so he could see who it was. Mudclaw was scowling at him from where he stood between two other warriors, his hackles raised. He took a step towards Fireheart, "Why should we care what he says? We should just bring him to Tigerstar right now! It's past the deadline he gave us, he could be planning an attack as we speak!"

"No." Tallstar's voice was firm, "TigerClan would only see us coming in the night as a threat. We will go once the sun has risen."

Fireheart felt as though the ground beneath his paws had given out beneath him. He would be given to Tigerstar, there was no way out of this. The ginger tom took a ragged breath, fear filled him at the reality. He knew this would happen; he knew the consequences of his actions. At least, in one way or another, Fireheart would be able to save WindClan. He hoped.

"You say you need to talk to me?" Tallstar had turned his attention back to the outsider. Fireheart nodded; his throat felt as if it had closed. Even if he wanted to, he didn't think he could speak. The black and white leader did not respond for a few heartbeats, when he did his voice was strained, "Fine. Rosefur, Onewhisker take him to the Tallrock. We will talk in camp."