Golden shafts of light sliced through the emerald canopy and bathed the sun-baked ground in a sun colored glow. The tall grass swayed in the smooth breeze blowing. A sudden flash of dark tabby fur shook the grass rapidly. The cat full grown cat formerly known as Tigerpaw raced through the forest in excitement. He had his warrior name! And even better, he'd been named after his ancestor, Tigerstar! Well, except for the "star" part, his name was Tigerclaw. Tigerclaw slowed to a swift trot. He felt as if he could sing to StarClan, if cats could sing.

A loud mew rang through the air and stopped him dead in his tracks. The dark tabby looked around for the creator of the sound, then more noise came from up above him,

"Shadow look! It's Sunstar. Sunstar! Up here!"

Tigerclaw looked up and cocked his head, "Sunstar?" He mewed, his voice had deepened into a deep gruff mew and his fur was dirty and ungroomed. He'd seen his brother, Crookedfang, cough up a hairball the size of his head and it had sickened him to the bone. He wasn't about to go choking on balls of hair, not just yet.

"That's not Sunstar." The cat called Shadow mewed and leapt off of his fence in front of the dark tabby. Something hit Tigerclaw hard. This cat was huge! Well, huge for a Kittypet, he was about a head taller than Brokenstorm who was pretty big. A good head taller Tigerclaw would say.

"Who are you? Why do you trespass in on our territory?"

"Trespass? This is ThunderClan territory, not KittypetClan, or what ever you call yourselves."

"KittypetClan, hey Shadow that's good, I gotta share that idea with Sasha!"

"That fat old tortoiseshell wouldn't want to hear your talking."

Tigerclaw was about to slip away from these strange Kittypets when Shadow leapt in front of him and yowled, "Where do you think you're going? You've trespassed and we don't take kindly to that!"

"Don't listen to them." Another voice yowled defiantly; the dark tabby swung his head around to lay eyes on a she-cat who looked very much like a Clan cat.

"Hello, who might you be?" She asked,

"Tigerclaw of ThunderClan, will you please explain to them…"

"Revlon."

"Revlon, that I'm am not trespassing in their territory, this is ThunderClan territory!"

"Shadow, Binx, why don't you go taunt a dog or something and let the grown ups talk."

Shadow bristled, "I'm as grown up as you are Revlon!"

She snorted, "You sure act like it too." She meowed sarcastically them put her attention back on Tigerclaw,

"Tell me, Tigerclaw, do you know a cat named Sparkstorm?"

"How did you know my name?"

"I know everything there is to know about you…and everything there is to know about all Clan life, even StarClan."

"How?"

"I was once a loner, with my sister, Sparkstorm. She's a silver tabby with darker gray stripes. She has black ears, her right fore paw is black, the tip of her tail is black, and so is a mark on her chest resembling a diamond with two extra points on the sides."

Tigerclaw shook his head in disbelief; she was describing the apprentice who had been killed by a badger not too many days ago.

"I…uh…think she's dead."

"Dead? No, that's not possible,"

"Why not?"

"She's much too…well…swift to be killed by a badger."

"How did you know she was killed by a badger?" Tigerclaw asked, his tabby fu was starting to get fluffed up in fear.

"Look, my sister and I are…different,"

The dark tabby looked at her in disbelief, "How so?"

"Well, I'm not so sure how she is different, but I can read cats minds."

Tigerclaw snorted,

"I can!"

"Right…"

"Well, if you see her, tell her Revlon says hi." She mewed and bounded away, Tigerclaw could tell he'd made her mad…and he was good at doing that. He shrugged it off and went racing in the direction of the ThunderClan camp when he heard Brokenstorm calling his name. As he ran thought, Brokenstorm deserved the name Tigerclaw. He had the exact same attitude, the exact same fierce loyalty, and the exact same fierce…fierceness. He caught up with the pale tabby that had Ghostfur with him. Tigerclaw remembered when the light gray tom had first come to ThunderClan.

Tigerpaw cocked his head. Who was this new stranger his mother was looking after? Crookedpaw had just recovered and his newly twisted jaw and snaggle-toothed canine got him teased by some of the other apprentices in ShadowClan.

"I'm gonna go catch a mouse!" He piped up, and bounded away with Crookedpaw looking after him,

"Ghostkit!" Thistlpaw yowled,

Brokenstorm came out of the sky and landed in front of the pale kit screeching, "No!"

"Why not?"

"Kits are not allowed out of the camp with out their mothers!" He hissed, Ghostkit's almost white gaze met the deputy's yellow gaze straightly. Then he finally scuffed the ground with his paws muttering, "Fox dung," and then padded away.

To the kit it seemed like he dropped from the sky, but really he'd been on top of the warrior's den with Scourge and Russetpelt repairing the hole Crookedpaw had made when he fell through it.

"Deputies." Ghostkit mewed,

"Kits."

"Where have you been?" Brokenstorm hissed,

"Did I miss something?"

"Yes you missed something you mouse brained fool!"

"There was an intruder in out territory near training hollow, she's back at camp, weird thing is, she looks exactly like Sparkpaw." The deputy stopped dead in his tracks for a heartbeat then shook himself carrying on. Then Ghostfur looked back at Tigerclaw and mewed, "Oops,"

Sparkpaw his and Snowfur's only kit and both of them were deeply saddened when the kit had died. Brokenstorm had been the one to find his daughter lying bleeding, broken, and dead in the water not to far from Fourtrees. He buried her and came back with the news. The first Tigeclaw had heard of it was a loud wail coming from the nursery. Then Tornscar and Thistleclaw rushed up to him yowling, "Sparkpaw is dead!" She was much younger than the five siblings but had been a good friend of his.

He slid down the ravine hanging his head in grief for the apprentice but yowled in surprise when he saw the bleeding heap of silver and black fur lying in the middle of the clearing. Snowfur crept up slowly and sniffed the she-cat. She then whispered, "Sparkpaw?"

A sudden agonizing pain shot through Tigerclaw's head and he yowled loudly dropping to the ground in despair.

"Tigerclaw?" He heard Thistleclaw mew frantically, "Tigerclaw! Great StarClan, get Firepelt!" A memory that he didn't recognized flashed through his mind, he could see a cat in chains, then a streak of silver in the darkness that had engulfed him.

"P-pain…" He murmured clenching his teeth. He could hear Sunstar yowl,

"Stand back, don't touch him!" The pain ebbed in an instant leaving him panting and shaking.

"Tigerclaw? What happened?" He heard Twilightpelt ask,

"I don't know,"

The silver-she cat was still lying motionless, but wait, she wasn't motionless, there was the faint rise and fall of her sides proving she was breathing. Brokenstorm kicked her over and spat,

"Who are you?"

"…Sparkstorm…"

"Are you from ShadowClan?"

"No!" A warrior cried out, "Her pelt is too sleek! RiverClan!"

"She's too muscular! WindClan!" Talltail yowled, the she-cat sat up and held her head high, through the blood her yellow, almost white, eyes glistened like sparks, "I belong to no clan." She hissed, "But I am not a Kittypet, nor loner."

"Rouge!" Duststorm hissed,

"Kill her!" Flashclaw continued,

Snowfur tensed, Tigerclaw could see she was about to protect the she-cat.

"You? Kill me?" Her voice came from behind the clan, they all turned and yowled in anger when they saw her sitting on Highrock. The image of her sitting in the middle of the group faded and her eyes flashed, and she bared her teeth in a grin,

"I'd like to see you try." Bloodstripe flung himself up at her and knocked the she-cat off Highrock, but unlike him, she rolled and threw him off landing on her feet.

"Stop!" A small voice came from the crowd; a dusky gray she-cat padded forward, her green eyes shining like emeralds.

"No blood will be spilt today!" She called out, "We are all still angry and sad from Sparkpaw's death, I know I am…" She swallowed trying to keep her voice from cracking, "StarClan sends the gift of letting Sparkpaw live again as a warrior, and you treat it as a threat? What kind of clan are we?"

Scourge stepped forward, "My daughter speaks with the wisdom of a Medicine cat…this cat is hurt, we should take her in with open paws, but this decision is up to Sunstar,"

The dark tabby looked from his clan to the she-cat and back again. She swayed dangerously and collapsed again,

He padded up to her, when she looked up at him her lips were pulled back into a snarl; she was ready to fight to the death.

"You may stay…but you must stay as our prisoner…" He meowed gesturing to the hollowed out log by his den." The clan slipped off to their dens leaving her in the clearing, but Tigerclaw lingered, he padded up to her when she got to her paws and staggered to the log, she only made if half way before she started to fall. Tigerclaw held her up with his shoulder mewing softly to her, "Easy…" He tried his best to soothe her but he had to admit she looked bad. It would be a miracle if she survived. She hissed and swiped claws at him.

"I was just trying to help!" He meowed ducking her claws,

"I don't need any help, I'm fine." She spat back. The sun set as she went into the log and collapsed for sleep. Tigerclaw shook his head smiling. She was like him. Stubborn and wanted no help from anybody to show that they were strong.

"Well, maybe you'll have a better attitude in the morning, goodnight." He meowed and padded into the warriors den unaware of how much they would need each other in the very near future.