Leopardstar narrowed her eyes at Fireheart, her muscles were tense and fur bristled at his proclamation. She spoke slowly, "Tallstar, you are truly willing to abandon your dead for this murderer?"

Tallstar hissed, his fur was rising along the back of his neck. "We are not abandoning our dead! We will be burying them."

"Try and set paw on TigerClan territory." Leopardstar growled, "You are foolish not to have accepted this offer, we are being more than generous and you are throwing it away. I hope your Clan understands that you are betraying them for a traitor." She spat the last word like a curse before lifting her tail, signaling her cats to follow before turning quickly away from the WindClan leader and heading back out of the Twoleg den. As they left, Tallstar whispered something to Tawnyfur, who nodded. She headed after Leopardstar's patrol.

Once the WindClan warrior had disappeared, yowls broke out from the cats' present. Graystripe moved in front of Fireheart, "How can you do this! After everything, you were just going to give yourself over? How can you be so rash, how can you make crowfood of yourself so easily?"

Before Fireheart could respond a hiss near them caught his attention. He turned to see the fur along Smokefang's neck bristle. He exclaimed, "Why didn't you agree? How are we going to get our territory back now?"

Tallstar called for silence as he sat back down. Barkface was at his side, his short tail lashing wildly. After a few moments, quiet fell upon the den. "I will not send an innocent cat to suffer for something he never did."

"He may not have led the pack to camp, but what about the other things he did? Are we going to ignore murder so easily?" A voice sounded from further back in the Twoleg nest. Fireheart was unable to identify who the cat that had spoken was.

"He didn't kill her!" It was Cloudtail who exclaimed, "How are cats believing this after everything Tigerstar has done." He scoffed, "I used to believe Tigerstar. But after everything that has happened, I don't get how I was ever that mousebrained. How I could ever have been that mousebrained." There were some growls in response to the white warriors' words.

Tallstar's voice rang out, "I said silence!" After a few moments, allowing the crowd to quiet down, Tallstar continued. "Fireheart tried to warn us of what would occur." A strange look came to the leaders' eyes, "if we had listened, we would not be in the situation we are in now. He attacked a dog to save Gorsepaw, he had the idea to lead the dogs to the gorge and went over himself after saving me. Without him, we would not have been given shelter – that is not just Fireheart, I thank ever single cat that has given WindClan shelter and assisted us." He dipped his head, "We will be out of your fur as soon as we can."

"As for murder, Fireheart has told me his account of what happened at Bluestar's death. I believe him, I believe what he has said to be truthful and Tigerstar to be the one at fault. Until he gives me a reason to think otherwise, Fireheart is to be treated as a friend to WindClan for he has shown that he is already." Fireheart bowed his head to Tallstar as the leader finished, grateful that the other cat considered him so highly.

"What do we do now?" Morningflower asked, her tail twitching nervously.

"We bury our dead," Tallstar replied. "I want every able-bodied warrior to return to camp."

"What if we run into TigerClan?" Onewhisker turned to his leader as he spoke.

"We have the right to bury our Clanmates on our own territory." Tallstar bared his teeth as he growled, "We send them running." He rose to his paws, limping a few steps forward. "Let's get ready to leave."

"You are going nowhere." Barkface hissed, putting himself in the way of the leaders' path. "Other warriors can do it. The last thing we need is for you to lose another life." His voice lowered, "you haven't assigned a deputy yet. You cannot go." WindClan did not have a deputy? Fireheart was shocked, it was against the warrior code not to assign a deputy past moonhigh. WindClan should have gotten a new one the day prior, why had Tallstar not made one yet? What was stopping him?

"We'll help you." Fireheart offered, glancing at Graystripe as he did. The gray warrior mewed his agreement.

Tallstar blinked at him. "Thank you, WindClan is in all of your debt." Tallstar lowered his voice, sounding more serious. "I hope you understand the consequences that will come with that taunt you sent back with Leopardstar. He will not like it."

"I know."

The WindClan leader gazed at him a moment longer, an unreadable look in his eyes before turning slowly away, following Barkface back to his nest, tail moving side to side irritably.

Once Tallstar had settled, Fireheart moved across the nest, Graystripe following quickly behind him, past the WindClan warriors organizing themselves and to the farm cats. He noted that Barley looked tense, his eyes were wide and Fireheart recognized terror in his face. Ravenpaw was talking softly to the black and white loner.

Fireheart meowed, "I've offered our services." Some of the warriors murmured their agreements. He glanced at Featherpaw and Stormpaw, they should not see what had happened. His gaze shifted to Brightheart. He did not know how she would respond to seeing what had happened to WindClan, if Brightheart did not want to go he would not insist on it. He meowed, "Stormpaw, Featherpaw head back to the barn." Both apprentices looked ready to protest, Featherpaw opening her mouth to do so. Fireheart narrowed his eyes, "That is an order. You are to remain there until we have returned, is that understood?"

The two littermates exchanged glances before begrudgingly agreeing. "Get going then." Featherpaw and Stormpaw followed the order, moving towards the entrance. Fireheart continued, "Graystripe, Mistyfoot, and Cloudtail, please go join the patrol." He hesitated a moment, "Brightheart, I want to talk to you."

The white and ginger warrior nodded, padding over to Fireheart. Both Graystripe and Cloudtail hung back a heartbeat as Mistyfoot headed over, the younger warriors' eyes narrowing, "Is there an issue?"

"No, nothing bad. I was just going to ask her something, you can go." Cloudtail still looked hesitant.

"Go," Brightheart blinked at the white warrior, touching her nose to his muzzle. "It'll be fine." Cloudtail hesitated a moment longer, looking between the two cats before muttering "Fine" and turning away, heading where Mistyfoot had gone. Graystripe's gaze dug into Fireheart.

The ginger warrior looked at him, "Yes?"

"You can't keep doing this. You're going to get yourself killed." His voice was tense.

"Tigerstar does not want me dead." Fireheart replied, "I'm not going to die, if I can prevent others from doing so I will." He glanced where the warriors going had gathered, "We can talk about this later, I need to speak with Brightheart. Go join the others."

Graystripe stared at him a long moment, "You're being thoughtless. You should be trying to keep yourself away from TigerClan, not going back at the next chance." He paused, "Think about how those actions affect the rest of us." He turned away, heading where Cloudtail had gone.

Fireheart lashed his tail; he was not trying to go back to TigerClan. He was doing what was necessary, the idea of going back there made him lightheaded. Of course, he did not want to go back! Graystripe did not understand at all.

He shifted his attention to Brightheart. "I'm not going to force you to do this." Fireheart's mew was quiet, he would not force any of the farm cats into this, it was not like he was their leader. He couldn't make them nor would he. "I know it's difficult to go back to something like this, no cat is going to judge you for not going." He paused, "That is if you don't want to go."

There was a moment's hesitation before Brightheart spoke, "I want to help WindClan." Her gaze shifted to the cats gathered at the entrance, determination filling her voice. "I can do it. I'll be able to do it."

Brightheart had gotten more confident in herself since she had joined them at the farm, she was no longer the scared apprentice Fireheart had taken from ThunderClan territory. Tigerstar has lost a good warrior, Fireheart thought. In turn, they had gained one. Fireheart meowed, "if you need a break, you can take one. Don't let anything make you think otherwise."

Brightheart nodded, mewing her thanks quickly before heading where the others had gone. Fireheart shifted his attention to Ravenpaw and Barley next, the black tomcat was talking quietly to his mate. Barley still had a fearful look in his eyes. Fireheart moved towards them, Ravenpaw looking at him as he approached. He meowed, "I'm sorry Fireheart, I can't help out right now."

Fireheart shook his head, "That's fine, I wasn't going to ask you." This was Clan business, not loner. If they had wanted to, Fireheart would not have stopped them but they had no obligation. He asked Barley, "Are you alright?"

The black and white loner stared at him, "We just had TigerClan warriors here." He shook his head, "WindClan could not have stayed here long as it was. The Twolegs would have noticed just how many cats there were and they would not like it. We need to talk with Tallstar. They need to find someplace else to go." A pause. "You just invited Tigerstar here."

"Barley, please," Ravenpaw began. "He did not mean it, it's as dangerous as it was before. We all knew the dangers." Barley and Tallstar were right, Fireheart realized, he had put the cats at the farm in danger as well as WindClan. Fireheart needed to leave, for the safety of his friends.

"Barley, I apologize." Fireheart dipped his head to the loner, "As soon as everything is figured out, I will leave." Where would he go? Where would WindClan go? He had no idea. "Tigerstar does not care about you; he does not care about anyone but me. If need be, point him in my direction. I won't fault you."

"Fireheart, we could never do that!" Ravenpaw exclaimed, "you're our friend. I," He looked back and forth between the two cats, "We're not going to make you leave." Barley was silent, an unreadable look in his yellow eyes. The black loner continued, "We are not going to kick you out, I promise."

"We need to talk to Tallstar about WindClan." Barley murmured. Fireheart nodded, turning away as the two toms began to discuss in low voices.

The sun was beginning to set by the time they had returned from WindClan territory. They had managed to bury every cat undisturbed by TigerClan. Fireheart was surprised by this; he would have thought that Leopardstar would have held to her promise. The other TigerClan leader must have disapproved of it. It had to have been on purpose, but why? Why would Tigerstar allow this? Was it a trap? Nothing had happened. It unnerved him.

The process had tension throughout it. In addition to the obvious ones, some of the WindClan warriors were wary of the outsiders helping them bury their fellow Clanmates, however, over time they became more used to the idea and the help. It was unlikely that the exhausted WindClan would have been able to do it all themselves.

There was also the potential that TigerClan could show up and attack at any moment. A few cats were put on watch for any potential danger, TigerClan or otherwise, throughout the day. The snow had stopped not long after they set out for WindClan camp. The guards would change out every now and again and by the end of it all, every cat had dug and every cat had stood guard.

When they made it back to the abandoned Twoleg nest, the exhausted WindClan warriors went into the nest quickly. The farm cats were ready to head back to the barn for a night's rest. Fireheart wanted to talk to Tallstar, however, about what was to come next. He signaled to Graystripe and Cloudtail who hung back a moment as the others continued. "I'm going to talk with Tallstar. I'll come to the barn right after."

"Do you want one of us to stay with you?" Cloudtail asked. Fireheart shook his head, there was no reason for them to wait for him. What Barley said had stuck with him, they had to have discussed it with Tallstar by now. He wanted to know where WindClan would end up.

"Are you certain?" Graystripe meow was level, "You just put an even bigger target on yourself."

"I'll be fine," Fireheart promised. "Go."

There was a moment's hesitation before the two warriors left to join the other farm cats. Fireheart padded into the Twoleg nest. He passed by WindClan warriors that had begun to settle down after the long day, nodding at a few that cast looks towards him as he passed. Fireheart padded up to Tallstar, the black and white tom looking up at his approach. He mewed a greeting which the WindClan leader returned. Tallstar signaled to a space in front of him which Fireheart settled on. The other cat meowed, "I did not think I would be seeing any of you until tomorrow. Why are you here?"

Fireheart hesitated a moment, he had no idea if Barley and Ravenpaw had breached the topic with Tallstar yet. He did not know how Tallstar had reacted, if told. He explained, "I was wondering as to what you intended to do now."

"Barley and Ravenpaw came to me earlier," There was a strange look in Tallstar's eyes as he spoke. "They discussed this with me, I had already been considering where we would go next. I knew we could not stay long." He shifted, "WindClan is not yet strong enough to take back our territory. We cannot risk it now; it could cost everything." His voice sounded hollow, "I was considering moving us past Highstones. The land is unclaimed and far from ideal, but once we have become stronger, we will be able to return and fight for our territory. It would only be temporary."

Tallstar closed his eyes, "I am considering sending a patrol out there to see if it is in any way an option but I also do not want too many warriors to be gone."

"If there's any way I can help, I'll do it." Fireheart offered, "If you want, I can go check out the territory and report back."

"Why do you offer?"

"I want to help WindClan in any way I can." He paused, "It is also time for me to move on, I've put my friends in danger. I've put WindClan in danger, for which I apologize. Before I go, I want to be what assistance I can be." Fireheart had been considering what he would do next as well, Barley had been right. Fireheart was putting the others in danger. If he was gone, they would not be anymore. He had no idea where he would go, he did not want to go into Twolegplace and had considered moving out towards the mountains. He had no idea what was out there, but it would lead Tigerstar away from his friends and WindClan. This was how he could help them.

The prophecies did not matter, how was he supposed to fulfill it? A pool of guilt was forming in his chest, so much had changed and he was the one that was supposed to fix it but he could not. There were his friends and Sandstorm to worry about, but they would be safer without him here. He did not like it, but it seemed to be his only option at this point. Fireheart could figure out what to do next once they were out of danger.

"You're leaving?" Fireheart mewed a confirmation. "Do your cats know?"

"No, I decided this today. I have not gotten the chance to talk to them about it." Why had he worded it like that? Fireheart was no leader; they were not his cats. Tallstar was silent for a few moments.

"Something tells me they will not allow you to leave alone." Tallstar opened his eyes. "I have been watching how you interact with the others; they treat you as their leader. I think they will follow you anywhere."

Fireheart almost laughed. Why would they consider him to be leader? No cat was leader there, they were working together but no one was a leader. It was Ravenpaw and Barley's barn, he had no territory to be the leader of. No Clan. If any cat was leader, it was one of them. All Fireheart had done was put them in danger. Tallstar continued, "You want to come with us?"

"If I can help." Fireheart explained, "hunting, defending the territory for however long you need. I'm just offering myself; I do not speak for the others." One more fit cat hunting was better than nothing, Fireheart supposed.

"As I said, I think they will follow your lead." Tallstar responded, "How about this; you and one of my warriors go out to the land behind Highstones and see how it is. See if it is capable of sustaining a Clan for the time being. We will go from there."

Fireheart considered the proposition for a few moments before responding, "That sounds good." There was still the danger of TigerClan attacking here to consider, with Fireheart gone, they could be thwarted. Tigerstar did not care about WindClan or any of the farm cats besides for Fireheart and Bramblepaw. Bramblepaw.

Bramblepaw had wanted to stay when the TigerClan cats came and Tigerstar would certainly have his warriors search for Fireheart. It would be easier to take the young tom along with him, Fireheart decided. Apprentices needed to go to Highstones during their apprenticeship in the Clans, it could be similar. In addition, the apprentice knew nothing outside of the farm. Going somewhere new would be good for him.

There was the possibility that Tigerstar would go after the patrol, but he could hide Bramblepaw easier if it came to it. Once they got Fireheart, they would leave. The young tabby would be safe. Fireheart asked, "Is it alright if I bring my apprentice along?"

"Which one is yours?"

"Bramblepaw, he hasn't been outside the farm since he was a kit. It would do him some good to see someplace new," Fireheart explained.

"You're training Tigerstar's son?" There was surprise in Tallstar's voice. Fireheart spoke a confirmation. A moment passed before the older tom continued, "Of course he can go. You still haven't told me why you have him; we can discuss that later." Fireheart murmured an agreement, making a mental reminder to talk to the young tabby about the trip later. Tallstar asked, "How does tomorrow at sunrise sound?"

Fireheart agreed.

Tallstar scanned his Clanmates that were settling in for a few moments before signaling to one. Fireheart turned his head so he could see the approaching cat, it was Onewhisker. The brown tabby shot Fireheart a glance as he padded up to them. Two sunrises ago, he had treated Fireheart with hostility, long before that Fireheart would have considered Onewhisker to be a good friend. After everything, he had no idea what the WindClan warrior thought of him.

"I want you to be ready to leave at sunrise." Tallstar ordered, "You and Fireheart are going to be looking at the land past Highstones to see if it will make suitable temporary territory."

"Why am I going with him?" Onewhisker gave Fireheart another wary glance.

"He has offered his assistance; I want you two to figure out how well the prey is running and if there is a good place to make camp. You can take Gorsepaw with you."

There was a moment pause before Onewhisker nodded, mewing his agreement.