Summary: Firestar has had strange headaches ever since he joined the clan. Sometimes he can see an image, a voice, or a face or multiple cats, but he doesn't know who any of them are. He tries to ignore them though.

He never would have guessed that they were actually memories.

Well firstly, got to give credit where credit is due: This AU was inspired a while ago reading "Everyone loves Gray Wing" by LoveGems1 on A03, which is a cute Human AU where the founders plus some others give their thoughts on Gray Wing in drabble form. If you love Gray Wing I'd go check it out.

Second, someone in one my classes asked the professor what we should do to study for the final, and he said to get on our knees and pray. So I've got hardcore studying to do and I'll probably forget it all once the test starts :/

But it's likely that I can do a chapter next week. The week after that... maybe? I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Reviews are appreciated!

How long had he been trapped here- in this dark, musty forest, that was devoid of life and sucked away any positive feelings that its inhabitants might feel rising up on occasion? There was nothing here. There was no prey, no drinkable water, and no other cats to walk beside him.

Well, there were cats, but none of them understood him specifically. It used to be a quiet place, where his worst thoughts constantly rose to the surface in order to torment him, wondering why Starclan hadn't let him in.

Then that Tigerstar cat came along, and instead of silence and the occasional hopeless wail or howl, now there was the constant sound of battle training and bloodthirsty yowls and screams of pain that grated at his ears. He had no interest in taking over the clans like Tigerstar foolishly wanted.

In his mind, he had done nothing to deserve being here. He had only done what any other cat would do after living through seasons of starvation and death. Wasn't it natural instinct for a cat to establish borders and chase off those that wanted to take prey away from their clan? So what if he had been a little aggressive? He was just trying to feed his clan! Was that so wrong?

But no, the others threw him in here because they claimed that he was hurting him. His precious younger brother. He had denied those allegations so vehemently at his trial, that he could protect the boundaries he established and still love his family at the same time.

Starclan wouldn't listen. His judges sneered at him, stating that the only thing he had done was push everyone away, that he didn't actually love his family. If he did love them all, why did he push all but one of his kin away; why was his younger brother the only cat that he liked to control? He hadn't liked that wording one bit. He hadn't wanted to control him, he just wanted to keep him safe!

There was no way of knowing if he was okay. But he'd like to think that his younger brother was happy frolicking among the stardust-filled meadows and moors of Starclan, running around with his descendants and loved ones.

Except he wasn't there with him.

His ears pricked as he caught pawsteps heading his way. He rolled his eyes. He still wasn't interested in whatever mouse-brained plan these cats came up with.

"There are better things to do than to wallow about in the darkness, wouldn't you say?" Tigerstar greeted from behind him. "Aren't you tired of having this forest make your worst thoughts come to the forefront of your mind?"

"Anyone would be," he replied curtly. "But else is there to do?"

"You could join us-" Tigerstar tried saying.

"I've told you before that I wasn't interested. Now leave me be," he hissed. Tigerstar growled, claws unsheathing to dig deep holes into the marshy ground.

"You were one of the founding cats of the clans, the one who helped establish the precedent of fighting to keep your borders and clan safe, who provided many fighting techniques that cats use today... where did that fire go?!" Tigerstar snarled.

The other cat whirled his head around and drew his lips back in a snarl. "It died out when Starclan cast me into this place," he hissed fiercely.

"Exactly! Then why don't you channel that anger into getting revenge on those starry fools! Join us in defeating them!" Tigerstar exclaimed.

"What good would that do?" he murmured, knowing that he was apart of Starclan. He no wish for these cats to hurt his younger brother.

Tigerstar huffed to himself, realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere with these tactics. He needed to try something else.

"There has to be something out there that will make you want out of this pit," he growled, circling the half-faded tom that was laying on the ground, head on his paws. "Don't you want to see someone again? I know Thistleclaw has wanted to see his mate for the longest time." The cat below him twitched. "Is there a mate over in Starclan? A friend? A mother? A father? A sister or brother?" Tigerstar caught the cat's fur suddenly bristle, and he smirked. "A sibling then."

"What if I told you that joining us will give you a way out of here?" he purred.

The tom's ears pricked and he looked down, debating with himself. Then he turned his head around, eyes gleaming with obsessive love. "I'm listening."

.

.

.

.

Firestar leaned against a tree, taking in labored breaths. It was bad enough that he wasn't at camp, helping defend it from the continuous waves of Dark Forest cats, but he was alone, mildly injured, and his head was pounding as if a woodpecker had made a nest inside him.

The headaches weren't anything new. He had the occasional headache ever since he joined Thunderclan, odd as it was. He hadn't experienced anything of the sort during his kithood, besides a sensation that sent a warm, tingling feeling down his back whenever he looked out into Thunderclan territory from his place on the fence. Since then, he would experience a flash, maybe an image, maybe a voice, or a face whenever his head starting pounding. He didn't know who any of the cats were, and he didn't care back then as he did his best to ignore the familiar feelings that came with those cat's faces and voices and begrudgingly head over to the medicine den in hopes of the current medicine cat curing his pain.

But ever since his dreams of Skyclan and the subsequent quest to rebuild the lost clan, his headaches had increased in intensity. The faces and voices were clearer. He felt like he knew these cats. Eventually he started associating the cats with some of the involuntary feelings that came with it. Some of the cats he felt a friendship with. Some of them he felt love. Some of them he felt anger for.

He wished they would stop. He took in some deep breaths, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried focusing on anything other than the pain. He needed to get back into the fight; his clan needed him.

But he could really use a poppy seed to chew on right about now.

He sprang up, opening his jaws and detecting Dark Forest cat scent nearby. He didn't question how some of the scent felt aching familiar to him. His paws raced against the forest floor, jumping out from behind some bushes in hopes of catching a Dark Forest cat off-guard-

And came face-to-face with a half-faded light gray tom instead, his blue eyes widening in shock as Firestar collided into him. The two tussled around, fangs trying to bite at each other, claws flying as the two became a whirlwind of screeching fur.

"Gray Wing?"

The name stopped Firestar in his tracks, his headache coming back in full force as he let out a sharp gasp in pain. The tom took advantage of Firestar's state and pinned him down, the ginger-furred tom in too much debilitating pain.

"Why do you look like that?" the tom demanded, eyes trailing over his ginger fur. "And why are you here? You should be happy in Starclan!" He bent down to sniff at Firestar's fur, vaguely acknowledging Firestar's face twisted in pain.

"They forgot you, didn't they?" he gasped, outraged. "That's the only way you would be here, looking like this."

Firestar had no idea what he was talking about, and he was more preoccupied with the feeling of his head splitting open. Images and voices and faces and foreign feelings assaulted him, and his body contorted into a ball, as the pain got worse.

He had to get up- get up and fight-!

The light gray tom's face and voice entered his head, and came with it strange feelings that he couldn't place, as well as a name-

"Clear Sky," the name passed by his lips involuntarily.

The tom's- Clear Sky's- face lit up in happiness. "You do remember," he purred. "I suppose joining Tigerstar was good for something," he crowed. He studied Firestar's form. "I won't let him hurt you Gray Wing-" A pulse of pain went through him- "After he's gone, I can finally protect you, no matter what those fools in Starclan say," he murmured gently.

"Get away from him."

A weight was lifted off his body, and Firestar blearily opened his eyes to see Clear Sky furiously fighting with a familiar tabby- Brambleclaw?

Clear Sky scowled as he was thrown into the dirt. "Go away Thunder," he sneered. "This has nothing to do with you!"

The name, this time Thunder, sent another flash of pain that rang Firestar's skull. But that wasn't Thunder, that was Brambleclaw... wasn't it?

Brambleclaw bared his teeth. "This is why everyone tossed you into the Dark Forest, Father," he spat out the title like it was mouse-bile. "So Gray Wing could have some peace of mind, away from you!"

"I was trying to protect him!" Clear Sky hissed, the two circling each other.

"You weren't protecting him! You wanted him all to yourself! That's not love, that's obsession!" Brambleclaw yowled. He charged forward, Clear Sky doing that same, becoming a blur of angry, bristling pelts that clawed and bit at each other.

Firestar was still curled up on his side, a paw over his head as images- memories- pounded at his head, oblivious to the two fighting cats nearby.

Blood dripped down both cat's pelts, Clear Sky more than Brambleclaw. Knowing that he was beaten, for now, Clear Sky raced away from the two, looking behind him to give Brambleclaw one last glared of hatred before he disappeared into the trees.

The Thunderclan leader jerked as Brambleclaw's soft fur enveloped a side, a tongue cleaning one of his scratches. "It's okay, I'm here now," he murmured gently down to Firestar, and it felt so unlike Brambleclaw that Firestar wasn't sure if it even was the tom at this point. "I won't let him lay a claw on you Gray Wing. He has no right thinking he can be around you when all he's ever done is hurt everyone," he said angrily, more to himself than anything.

But the name Gray Wing sent a shiver of disgust up Firestar's spine- 'I'm not Gray Wing, I'm Firestar!'- before the name Firestar also brought the same disgusting feeling within him. Both names felt like a mask that was hiding the other, like Firestar was just the imposter and Gray Wing was his true self, and vice versa. He looked up Brambleclaw- Thunder?- with pained confusion, unable to stop the tears from flowing, unable to stop himself from feeling nauseous.

Brambleclaw's eyes were the same amber as they ever were. He curled around Firestar tighter, heart breaking from Firestar's- Gray Wing's- distress, one eye his forest green, and the other a sharp golden.

"It's okay, Dad. I'm here."

.

.

Gray Wing looked down at his faded paws forlornly. He was completely transparent, only his outline being faintly visible. How could the clans have forgotten him so quickly?

He wasn't a founder, that was why. Some of the first Starclan cats were remembered because of the popular 'unite or die' story, but most of them were faded as well. His heart clenched at the memory of Slate and Turtle Tail fading into nothing, none of the living clan cats having remembered either of them.

He looked down into the viewing pool, watching the living clans go about their lives, unaware of the danger that was going to befall them in the future.

Maybe...

He was no use to anyone up here, and he was close to fading completely. Maybe it was time for a new life to start?

Thunderstar and the others would be fine without him. They always had.

With new resolve, he stepped into the viewing pool, sending his spirit down into the living world. As he fell into blissful darkness, his memories fading away, he heard the faint calls of some of the cats he knew in life, calling for him.

"Gray Wing? Where are you? Gray Wing? Dad?!" Thunderstar's anguished wail echoed out from Starclan.

'They'll forgive me one day, I hope,' he thought, before wondering who 'they' were in the first place.

A tiny, newborn flame-colored kitten purred weakly as his mother lovingly licked over his ears.

So this is a strange AU where Firestar is Gray Wing's reincarnation, Brambleclaw is Thunderstar's reincarnation, and Clear Sky is evil-ish and went to the DF.

Yes, I read ALiTM. I know Clear Sky is in Starclan. But for the purposes of this AU... it's an AU, don't complain.

Thunderstar and the others figured out what happened to Gray Wing and Thunders decided to go after his dad. Brambleclaw also had the same kind of headaches like Firestar, but somewhere along the line he decided to explore the images that popped up into his head and came to the conclusion that he was Thunderstar, which stopped the headaches as both personalities were in harmony with each other(though I think there's more Thunderstar than there is Brambleclaw here). Firestar never did that, so he and Gray Wing aren't exactly in harmony with each other. In fact, I think I gave him an identity crisis.

So anyway, that explanation didn't make sense but it's an AU roll with it.

It's a crying shame that there aren't any Firestar-is-the-reincarnation-of-Thunderstar AUs out there. But my big brain went WhAt If FiReStaR waS GrAy WiNG's REinCARnaTion? Because I figured Fires and Gray were similar to each other. Also Firedad-Brambleson and Graydad-Thunderson- does anyone else see the parallels or is it just me?

Tell me how I did.