Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. Erin Hunter does

Tallstar stood as still as he could while his Clan continued to press against him, their purrs sending shocks through him as he looked around at all their faces. They...were here. They really were here, waiting for him and the rest.

He turned to see Clawface and his group resting a bit away from the Clan, and he caught the ShadowClan tom's eyes. He sighed softly as the younger warrior nodded briefly to him, no sign of aggression for attacking him in his gaze. Eventually, a small brown tom walked through the crown and touched noses with his leader, only able to look into his eyes briefly before turning away.

"Barkface." Tallstar muttered as the smaller tom gave him a small smirk and dipped his head.

"You have finally returned to us. Allow this time to be one of healing and forgiveness! For all of us! We can come together but without all of our cats, we can never truly call ourselves a Clan. Tallstar. We will do all we can, but you must start us off. Tell us what is in your heart."

Once again, Tallstar looked around at the crowd of faces staring back at him. The old leader flattened his ears, hesitating for as long as he could before taking a deep breath. "I thought that it wouldn't be possible that you wanted anything to do with us. With me. After what happened, I thought it would have been better to cast you all to the wind, that in some way, my last act would protect you all from us. I've...ran away, many times, because I couldn't bear the pain of knowing that I broke your trust. That I couldn't be stronger."

He paused here, seeing Onewhisker and Deadfoot in the blame, eyes shining bright towards him. He lowered his head for a moment, gathering himself. "I thought it would be better if we were scattered, after killing and eating cats of our Clan, it only seemed right. I didn't think that you would ever come to forgive me."

The gray molly and another from the splintered Clan stepped closer, nuzzling Tallstar. "It is our fault too, we only thought of our own fear and how we suffered. It wasn't until later that we realized that you all anguished as well. It made us think. That, and we missed you. Sharing the same sky, hunting together. We knew it wouldn't be wise to try and force you to come back, so we waited. We had to. We aren't a Clan without all of its members. Though we still lost some of you."

Tallstar flattened his ears at that and took a deep breath. He once again looked to the ThunderClan and ShadowClan party before focusing on his own cats. "There will be much to do. We must work to gain each other's trust again. If you truly want to, we can start now. Let's go home."

XxXx

Tallstar walked at the head of his Clan with Heartseeker and Sandspirit beside him. Deadfoot and Clawface provided a rear guard and the leader seemed to be grateful for that. As he walked, his tail twitched constantly and every now and then, he would look back towards the group following him. Sandspirit noticed this and tilted her head, she briefly followed the tom's gaze and could see nothing. Moving closer to him, she spoke, trying to be discreet.

"You have nothing to worry about, Tallstar. Your Clan is with you and whole again. It's what they wanted, things are going to be okay. There is nothing to be worried over."

At that, the WindClan leader snorted softly, his tail never stopping. "You don't know anything. This was...this is too easy. The guilt and shame I feel, it can't just be washed away! It can't just be over like this."

Sandspirit was quiet for a moment, trying to think of what to say, when it was Heartseeker that jumped in for her. "You may think it's too easy. But perhaps that isn't all bad. Your Clan suffered without you and you suffered with them. You can help mend each other's hurting. Just like you said, you can learn to trust again. Build back you're relationship. You will be all the stronger for it. Don't be so quick to give up Tallstar. You can't run away anymore."

The black/white cat stared at Heartseeker, who kept walking. If there was something he wanted to say, it would have to wait as they all quickly came upon the Thunderpath. The WindClan cats all sat and milled about the crossing while Tallstar paced, looking to his cats. As he did, he also turned towards the Path, keeping stock of any moving monsters.

"The weaker cats should go first with some of the strong helping them. If we leave them for last, they may never want to cross." His weaker cats didn't look too happy about going first but Clawface walked up from the back and smiled a little at them, his tail raised high.

"Don't worry, I'll cross with you and I won't leave anyone behind!" His words seem to encourage them a bit and the weaker group tottered forward. Clawface crouched with them while checking for monsters. Two rushed by in quick succession before he called out for them to run.

The first group moved as fast as they could, even when taking in account of calling on the wind to grant speed to their paws, it was still nerve racking to watching them struggle across. Heartseeker moved with another group, followed by Sandspirit. Tallstar and the rest were all that were left, Onewhisker called to his leader, urging him on and Tallstar sighed and didn't reply.

The group waited for a long line of monsters to cross before hurrying along, all making it across safely and taking a moment to recover from the strain.

Sandspirit and Heartseeker were quick to find Clawface, checking on him and the burly tom gently brushed them off. "I'm okay, crossing Thunderpaths aren't terrifying at all!" he joked mildly before letting out a sigh. Deadfoot and Onewhisker walked up to him and the ThunderClan cats backed away, giving them space while still being able to hear.

"You really did stay with them for the whole crossing. You didn't have to do that." Deadfoot said, his eyes narrowed, as if waiting for something.

Clawface looked up at the deputy before lowering his eyes and shook his head. "Yes, I did. I want you to trust me and believe that I want to help you. I can shout that at the top of my lungs all day, but it would mean so much more to act on my conviction."

Tallstar walked over to the trio and looked right at Clawface, the darker tom flattened his ears and wrapped his tail around himself, watching Tallstar closely. However, the older male didn't do anything for the longest time and after a few seconds of painful quiet, he finally lowered his head to the ShadowClan tom.

"Thank you."

"Ah, you're welcome." Clawface replied, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed slightly. A feeling of warmth washing over him.

XxXx

The whole group rested that night, Barkface managed to scrounge up a few herbs to treat Clawface and the party all gathered together to talk. Heartseeker and Sandspirit both were relieved at that and Morningflower, who called the healer over, gave the tom one final once over before settling.

"We still have a ways to go, but eventually your Clan will be home again. How do you feel?" Sandspirit asked, smiling at Morningflower.

The skinny molly took time to look at her Clan, letting out a short sigh and nodded to herself. "Being in ThunderClan, although it wasn't my proudest moment, it made me realize how much I missed my family. I'm looking forward to rebuilding the bonds I once had with my Clan."

"You will be able to do it, I know you will." Clawface spoke up, giving the molly a reassuring smile. One that was returned in full.

After that, there was nothing left to do but rest and in the morning, moving was slow going. The rest did all the cats some good, but the WindClan warriors were still weak and reluctant to move. Tallstar weaved around his cats, urging them on, albeit Clawface soon noticed, a little roughly. He pulled cats to their paws by their scruffs and butted them into moving with his head.

Clawface shook his head and quickly came to Tallstar's side. "Please. Forcing them to move like this won't solve anything. You want them to be comfortable with you, you have to be gentle. I know you want to go home, but being gentle is the key."

Tallstar bared his fangs but just as swift as his anger, was his understanding taking hold. He heaved a huge sigh before moving to the front of the group. Some of his cats noticed and gave Clawface looks of gratefulness before moving on. Clawface himself was just glad that he was able to smooth things over.

Sandspirit and Heartseeker offered to go ahead and scout while the rest of the Clan moved at their own pace. Eventually while the pair was away, Clawface suggested hunting to both Barkface and Deadfoot and while he was hungry, the deputy shot the suggestion down, nodding to his Clan.

"Let them be together a little longer. We just came together, and we need time. Even if there's fewer of us now, it wouldn't do us any good to have our Clanmates see us killing and eating other cats. It would be better to wait."

"And that is what pushed you over the edge in the first place." Clawface replied, tilting his head. "You can't afford to wait. I understand that you want to spare your Clanmate's feelings, but you must think of what's best for you. You have to or else you'll just repeat what happened."

The other two males looked at each other before Barkface spoke up, his expression thought. "Yes, you're right. We can't make the same mistakes again. Deadfoot, you and Morningflower should go out and feed yourselves. Perhaps take Tallstar with you. It might help to calm him. Perhaps you might be able to find some prey for the others."

Deadfoot nodded to this before going to do just that and Barkface soon left too, leaving Clawface alone. The ShadowClan glanced around, watching the two go before settling, allowing his wounded body to rest. He did this until Heartseeker and Sandspirit came back and gently nudged him. He woke with a start, not even realizing that he had fallen asleep. As he looked at his companions, he noticed a slain cat between them.

Before he could say anything, Heartseeker cut in, nudging the cat towards him. "I don't know about you, but those herbs Yellowfang gave us is starting to wear off for me and Sandspirit. We thought it would be a good idea to eat now to avoid problems."

As Clawface looked at the corpse, his belly gave a low rumble and he chuckled softly at that before taking a two bites then pushing the meat back to the females. They shared the meal and ate chatting quietly together.

"I can't wait to get back home and see Firepaw. I wondered if she really missed me at all." Sandspirit wondered while Heartseeker snorted good naturedly.

"If you think after all this time she wouldn't miss you, then you really are dimmer than a M'an." the tabby molly said, ignoring Sandsprit's confused look. "You have nothing to worry about. I know that there is a Dance of Acceptance for you in the future. I can see how you care for one another, I know the Joining between you will happen."

"Dance of Acceptance? Joining? Firepaw talks like that too. She said she would explain." Sandspirit said, looking expectantly at Heartseeker. The older molly smiled before deciding to explain.

"The Dance of Acceptance or the Joining is when two hunters come together and become permanent mates. Though the practice is rarely done since most Folk don't stick to just one mate. But I can tell that this will not be the case with you and Firepaw. I can var the the caring you have for one another. You will have a happy Joining."

"Oh...I see." Sandspirit said, ducking her head and trying to hide a nervous smile. Would Firepaw really want to do that with her? The pale flame molly kneaded her paws slowly as she thought about it. She really did hope so.

XxXx

The rest of the night was spent resting and eating, Tallstar had announced that they would travel on tomorrow to their territory. Most of the cats agreed to this, they recogized where they were and were eager to see their home again.

When the next dawn came, pale clouds covered the sky, turning them pale pink and red, WindClan was already on the move. Being so close to home lent speed to their paws and the wind began to blow stronger with every mile crossed.

"The wind is welcoming us!" Deadfoot said cheerfully, his face stretched wide in a rare smile. Even Onewhisker beside him was grinning.

Tallstar was once again in front, moving faster and faster, Barkface beside him. As they passed Barley's barn, only seeing the tome for a brief moment, Barkface looked up at the pink and red clouds and stopped, his fur bristling and his claws and fangs bared to the sky.

"Barkface?" Tallstar muttered, stepping up to the shaking healer as did Clawface and the rest of his party.

"The clouds! The clouds! They are stained red with blood! Sadness, hate and death! This day shall bring hurt and an unnecessary death!"

All of the WindClan cats crowded around Barkface in concern, all wanting answers, while the short tailed tom staggered back, breathing heavy. He was guarded by Tallstar, who made his Clan back up with a light glare. "Enough! Any of the Clans could see those clouds! It doesn't automatically mean the sign is for us! Whatever happens, WindClan is coming home today!"

His words seemed to put his Clan's mind at ease, at least for the moment and they continued on. Heartseeker, Sandspirit and Clawface all moved together, worried about Barkface's message. The tail end of the journey was quiet, they weren't attacked and this helped to ease WindClan even more.

When the cats finally reached the moors and saw their territory, Tallstar was the first to step foot on it. As he did, the wind truly began to pick up, nearly becoming a gale storm. Seeing this, the rest of WindClan followed, yowling in excitment as they headed further in on their territory.

Tallstar watched and walked slowly after his Clan, Morningflower among them and grooming her sister Ashfoot. He was joined by Heartseeker, Clawface, and Sandspirit. The four cats said nothing for a while before Tallstar turned to them and lowered his head to the trio.

"Thank you. Without you, WindClan would have died. You have my sincerest thanks. Clawface, tell Nightpelt that I owe him most of all. You have been nothing but encourging and helpful. I'm so very sorry that I hurt you. Know that you and ShadowClan have earned your redemption You have done right by me and my Clan. I forgive you."

Clawface swelled with pride and relief, his eyes flashing before letting out a choked sob. His legs shook as the redemption he worked for was achieved. Tallstar forgave him and when he looked over at the rest of WindClan, he noticed cats bowing their heads to him, it was that the rest of WindClan forgave him too.

All was right for Clawface.

"I will give you an escort to your Clans myself. It is the least I can do for you." Tallstar said, despite the fact that he must have been exhausted. As he moved forward, he called for Deadfoot to explain what was going on. The deputy left only to for Morningflower, who was sitting nearby, to come forward.

"If you're going, I want to go too. I wish to give my thanks to ThunderClan for sheltering me. Even if I wasn't the best guest. Please?"
"You can come along. I don't see any problems with that." Heartseeker said, shrugging her shoulders.

With that, the party walked together for perhaps the final time and headed out towards the neighboring Clans.

However it wasn't long before things started to shift. The group wasn't even that far from the main Clan when a sudden shift in the wind came to them, bringing the strong scent of RiverClan and blood. Clawface's party and Tallstar all looked up, wondering what was happening. As they waited, rabbits suddenly burst forward, ignoring the cats in front of them in their mad dash to get away followed by five RiverClan cats.

The water dwelling cats all skidded to a halt in front of them, their muzzles dripping with blood. Leopardfur, a massive mottled gold and black molly, narrowed her eyes and bared her fangs, despite being caught trespassing. Her patrol copied her while the molly snarled at the varied group.

"You really did return! Well, it's no matter! We've come to take these hunting grounds, and if we have too we'll drive you out just as Brokenstar did!"

Her words were met with silence before Tallstar screeched and launched himself at the big female, once his claws ripped her pelt, the rest of the cats jumped to join the fight.

A/N: Heeeey, sorry for the long wait, though I did try to warn you. I hope you liked what I did for Tallstar's character and want to see just what you guys think. Just know that it's not over for WindClan's leader, not by a long shot. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter and are hopeful for the next one. As always, please enjoy.