Part 2 of my Exiled Fireheart au!!! In this Fireheart and her kits were exiled sometime shortly after Tigerclaw was exiled!! Enjoy!!!

Question: do you want a Tigerclaw pov? Originally this was supposed to be a one-shot! (Yeah that didn't happen) and originally it was going to be all in Fireheart's pov but now I'm not so sure. I've been re-reading my stories because I need to see what happened before/during this point in time and I've seen a lot of Tigerclaw dialogue and it just made me wonder if I should add Tigerclaw's pov? Would you like me to try and add in his pov?

Please review!! Also check out my other Warrior cats stories!!!

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"Hey!"

Fireheart heard a familiar voice behind her and her heart stuttered as tabby fur jumped out at her, it took a moment to realize that it was just Leafkit, looking up at her with interest. "Where are you going?" she asked, her amber eyes looking curiously up at her mother.

"I'm going to go hunting," Fireheart told her quickly, as she paused for a moment at the entrance to their log pile home. "And I'm also going to check out the surrounding area. Go back to sleep before your--"

"Can we come with you?" Squirrelkit meowed as she scampered up with her siblings just a paw step behind.

So much for getting them to sleep. Fireheart internally sighed, now faced with her army of kittens.

"We can keep up!" Bramblekit added, his amber eyes boring into Fireheart, making her shiver at the reminder of Tigerclaw. All her amber eyed kits reminded her of Tigerclaw, sometimes it was hard to meet their stares.

"No, you can't come. You're too young and not yet appr--capable of protecting yourselves. Stay here in the den and keep out of trouble until I return." Fireheart instructed her kits, each one looking upset.

"But we're always stuck in the den!" Spottedkit wailed from the back of the kits, her eyes wide with distress. "When will we get to go outside?"

"When I come back." Fireheart reassured, she hated keeping her kits cooped up all the time. But she had no choice, it was for their own safety. "I'll come back as fast as I can and you can spend time outside."

"Don't worry mother, we understand." Mothkit meowed, her amber eyes blinking with grown up wisdom. "You're busy looking for our father, you have a lot of responsibility."

"We can wait for you," Leafkit added, gently nudging her mother with her head.

"We can play with the pinecone," Tawnykit added, already signaling to the other kits as they raced towards the other end of the den.

Fireheart sadly watched them play, tossing the pinecone back and forth between each other. This wasn't the life she wanted for her kits. She didn't want to leave them unprotected in a pile of logs. But like everything else, Fireheart didn't have a choice in the matter.

Fireheart stepped outside. It was a quiet misty morning. She paused to sniff the air before padding into the pine forest. It was a relatively safe pine tree forest. The former ThunderClan warrior found easy pickings in prey like mice, squirrels and when desperate; frogs and lizards. There were parts that were marshland. The terrain sometimes feels familiar to Fireheart, as though the ginger she-cat had been here before. But at the moment nothing was recognizable. It also smelled faintly of cat's, but nothing like a proper Clan scent. The scents were scattered and inconsistent, but also stale and faded. Fireheart wasn't too worried about a loner or rogue, they were easy to avoid and it didn't seem like any had been around recently.

Fireheart continued on. Pausing to scent the air for any signs of prey. Though it was hard with the ground being damp, the she-cat could still pick up a scent trail for a squirrel. Unfortunately, that scent trail led her nowhere and it appeared as though something had already gotten to it first, and when she checked for any more scents the flame-colored she-cat turned up empty. Disheartened, Fireheart decided that she had wasted enough time scavenging for food today and needed to get back to her kits.

Retracing her pawsteps, Fireheart headed back to the pile of logs that was currently being called home. Wondering if perhaps she might need to move herself and her kits somewhere else. Perhaps she could go somewhere far away, somewhere...somewhere…

In Fireheart's mind's eye for a brief moment, for some reason, envisioned a large glistening lake with a small island. It seemed so familiar to Fireheart. Almost as if…

The happy squeals of kits drew Fireheart from her thoughts. It surprised her because those were the sounds of her kits. The only way she would be able to hear them is if they were out of the den. Scared and alarmed, Fireheart tore off through the pine trees till she broke out of the brambles and came into the little clearing that surrounded their log pile home.

Searching frantically to assess the situation. Fireheart stilled as she watched with wide startled eyes as her kits clamored all over the back of a big, skinny gray tom with a torn, ragged ear, and blue eyes. They seemed to be battling him, the unknown stranger seemed to be reciprocating, though in a playful manner. None of that registered beyond a stranger being so close to her kits.

"Hawkkit, Squirrelkit, all of you! Get away from him!" Fireheart yowled. Taking the stranger, and her kits off guard. Hawkkit and Squirrelkit quickly scrambled off the back and shoulders of the mysterious tom as the rest backed away. Fireheart didn't hesitate to charge the cat. Barreling into the gray tom side and shoving him to the ground, pressing her front paws firmly against his foreleg and shoulder, her back paws standing firmly on his flank, weighing him down and keeping him immobile.

"What do you think you're doing with my kits?" Fireheart hissed angrily, pinning down the unknown cat. "Who are you?"

"You're the cat that's been stealing our prey!" The tom retorted, though his tone was harsh he didn't raise a paw to fight back. "So I should be asking you."

"Your prey?" Fireheart echoed, confused.

"Yes." The gray tom replied. "You're hunting on ShadowClan territory."

Fireheart went deathly still, not moving a single whisker or batting an eye. All she could process was; hunting on ShadowClan territory. Fireheart, for all this time, had been unknowingly hunting and occupying ShadowClan's territory. That's why it felt so familiar. She had been here before when she had been an apprentice!

Suddenly feeling weak, perhaps from an exhausting day of fruitless hunting, or just taken off guard by this sudden staggering realization, Fireheart took a couple of steps back and allowed the stranger to stand up again.

"I don't know if you knew this was ShadowClan territory," the cat continues, shaking out his pelt and smoothing it back down. "But we don't typically allow rogue's or loners or anyone else for that matter to really hunt in our territory."

Fireheart kept a close eye on the ShadowClan warrior, because that's what he was wasn't he?, as she swept up her kits, bringing them towards her and wrapping her slightly crooked tail protectively around them.

"A while back I picked up your scent and tracked you here. And then I noticed you have kits," Fireheart visibly stiffened as she curled her tail tighter around her kits, who were staring in confusion at the exchange between their mother and this unknown cat, "I wasn't ever going to hurt a queen or her kits. I've just been keeping an eye on you all. I was worried. It's not safe for any of you out here all alone."

"We'll leave." Fireheart murmured, not meeting the other cat's eye. "We've just been staying here temporarily till we figure out where we're going."

"So I take it you have nowhere to go?" The gray tom meowed, seeming thoughtful. "You know. Only recently did we start to get back into shape. My Clan was once ruled by an evil, heartless cat but he was soon driven out by our warriors. We have been struggling up till now to recover from the whole ordeal. So, if you would like, I would like to extend an invitation to come back to ShadowClan with me. Both you and your kits, whether temporary or permanently, can come stay in our camp."

Fireheart was surprised by the offer. ShadowClan warriors didn't usually behave this way. They always seemed so battle-hungry, aggressive, ambitious, and greedy for more territory. It was often told that the cold north wind of the mountains chilled the ShadowClan warriors' hearts. But right here was a ShadowClan that was offering genuine hospitality.

"Who are you?" Fireheart repeated, more insistent this time.

The gray tom blinked calmly as he replied, "I'm Boulder. Warrior of ShadowClan."

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Fun Facts:

The log pile den is actually the same one Sasha uses in the manga!!! (Yeah. I own the manga and I like them.)

Fireheart didn't know she was on ShadowClan territory because at the time ShadowClan was ravaged by disease and had few warriors/apprentices and they weren't able to patrol their borders properly. (Read Tigerclaw's Fury)

Remember! Fireheart is still reincarnated to the past from the future so she still remembers what happens (but not all because of slowly losing said memories) and therefore she remembers things that would or should have happened (that's why she briefly remembered the lake when thinking of a new place to live!)

Tigerclaw is still Tigerclaw seeing as Nightstar isn't dead... YET … but he will be soon don't worry!! Tigerstar will be confirmed by the end of this I swear!!!

So we're somewhere in Tigerclaw's Fury where Tigerclaw and his band of rogue's are sort of already integrated within ShadowClan and helping ShadowClan recover.

Boulder is a nice cat and cares about kits. If Fireheart didn't have her kits she'd never have been offered to stay in ShadowClan!!

Unfortunately it seems this isn't going to be finished with a two-shot...I guess I'll see if I can do a three-shot!!! (This is turning out to be a little side story AU all on its own!!!)