Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors

Author's Note: If you are a new reader, welcome. If you are an old reader, you may know the drill.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you all to look at the genre tags and summary. This is tagged Angst so there will be some mildly darker themes. Note that the summary states that a main character will die. There will also be quite a bit of negative thinking and self-deprecating thoughts. It's really not that bad but if you are sensitive, you have been warned. If not, I hope you will enjoy this story.

This story takes place shortly before the Broken Code and shortly after Leafpool's death.

And now without further ado...

Allegiances (WindClan and ThunderClan only)

ThunderClan

Leader: Bramblestar

Deputy: Squirrelflight

Medicine Cats: Jayfeather, Alderheart

Warriors: Thornclaw, Whitewing, Birchfall, Berrynose, Mousewhisker, Poppyfrost, Lionblaze, Rosepetal, Stemleaf, Lilyheart, Bumblestripe, Cherryfall, Molewhisker, Cinderheart, Blossomfall, Ivypool, Eaglewing, Dewnose, Stormcloud, Hollytuft, Fernsong, Honeyfur, Twigbranch, Finleap, Plumstone, Shellfur, Leafshade, Flywhisker, Snaptooth

Apprentices: Bristlepaw, Thriftpaw, Flippaw

Queens: Daisy, Sorrelstripe (mother of Baykit and Myrtlekit), Sparkpelt (mother of Finchkit and Flamekit)

Elders: Graystripe, Cloudtail, Brightheart, Brackenfur

WindClan

Leader: Harestar

Deputy: Crowfeather

Medicine Cats: Kestrelflight

Warriors: Nightcloud, Leaftail, Brindlewing, Emberfoot, Smokehaze, Breezepelt, Crouchfoot, Larkwing, Sedgewhisker, Slightfoot, Oatclaw, Hootwhisker, Fernstripe

Apprentices: N/A

Queens: Heathertail (mother of Woodkit, Applekit)

Elders: Whiskernose, Gorsetail

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"They're both my sons, even though neither of them probably wants me for a father. And I don't even know what's going on with Jayfeather."

~Crowfeather, Crowfeather's Trial (pg 157)

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This feeling was unparalleled. Never had he dreamed that he could touch the sky. Once, he had thought he would spend the rest of eternity underground, far from the sky and too deep for the stars to see him. He always winced at the memory. The tunnels were no place to die but now he was closer to the Silverpelt than ever. He couldn't quite reach it but he could feel the eyes of every star focused on him and only him. Standing on the edge of a mountain peak, overlooking the lush forests and green fields that stretched endlessly before him, filled him with a feeling that was completely foreign to the young tom. The pure emotion that the height and sights had aroused in him…

He felt powerful. He knew he was. Afterall, he had reached this point. He was looking down at the rest of the world and it felt amazing. Lifting his head and stretching his neck toward the stars, he let out a powerful yowl that rang through the mountains until it died in his throat. He could have purred when he heard his voice bouncing off the stone, echoing through the peaks. His presence was strong. He was real. He had done it. Could other cats say they had done this? Reached this point? He didn't think so. He was on top of the world and nothing could tear him down.

Placing his paws at the edge of the cool stone, he drew up to his full height and gazed at the horizon. Pride echoed in his chest and bones, resonating even louder than the shrieks of the wind crashing against the mountain ridges around him. Up here, he had a freedom he never experienced down there. It was so exhilarating that he had a hard time finding his breath.

Though no matter how great he felt, the tom was only a cat. He was vulnerable to the fears all of catkind held since kitting as well as the cruelty of this lonely place. The wind was freezing, colder than anything he had ever felt before. It buffeted his fur and pierced the warm aura that came from the blood and muscle beneath the skin of any animal under the sun's light carried. It felt like ice was growing on the marrow in his bones. The feeling of the gusts in his fur was an unfriendly reminder that there was no one at his side. No one to shield him from the cold, no one to support him when he struggled to put another paw forward, no one to protect him from whatever dangers lay ahead, no one to love him in the darkest nights. His body shook violently, trying to keep what little heat he had left in him. Or at least that's what he told himself. He was sure it was true, at least in part.

The wind hurt like icy claws scratching at his skin but even the sharp gusts weren't the source of the chill settling into his body. His pads burned as they pressed against the frozen stone, the ice behind him yet another reminder that he was in for a long trek ahead, the snow whirled through the air, and clouds blocked the sun. All of it made the cat suddenly became aware of how alone he was. The crevasse he stood in was so isolated, would he ever find his friends in this new, harsh world? As he shivered, a small voice in the back of his mind asked him why he had left his home to come here.

But his own sheer will overpowered it and the silent cries fell on deaf ears. The mountains were home now. The ice, wind, and snow would be his friends. They would protect him from the outside world and he would learn to live with them. He needed no one else.

He was strong. He had made it here. He would survive. He had to.

A shriek sliced through the frozen air, bouncing off the stone surrounding him, making it sound like it was coming from all sides. The tom flattened his ears and crouched defensively, ignoring how his stiff, frosted joints protested as he looked around wildly with wide, fearful blue eyes.

If not for the shadow overhead, he never would have seen it coming.

Even so, he couldn't save himself.

There was contact and the cat was suddenly in the air. Sharp, powerful talons wrapped around his lithe frame, digging deep into his flank. The fur provided no protection and the skin was broken almost immediately but the pain was too sharp for the blood gushing from the wound, staining the surrounding silver fur, to be noticed. The tom yowled in agony and struggled against the tight grip in an effort to escape but to no avail. All he succeeded in doing was driving the talons deeper into his flesh.

The eagle's powerful wings punched the air as they brought the force pulling it down to pull itself high into the leaf-bare sky. It was a hazy gray but the tom didn't notice. The world was a blur and he could hear nothing but the beats of the eagle's wings. He couldn't even hear his own caterwals for help or shrieks of pain. His mind was solely focused on the fact that he was rising higher and higher above the earth.

He no longer felt proud. He no longer felt excited. He no longer felt happy. He no longer wanted to yowl all the joyous emotion in his soul for the world to hear. He no longer wanted to take the first pawstep towards his new life in his frozen, lonesome land. All he felt was terror. That exhilarating thrill was gone, replaced only by fear in its truest form.

I'm going to die.

He was no innocent kit. He knew exactly what predators did with their prey. His flesh and muscle was already beginning to tear. There wasn't much time left before the eagle would strip his pelt off his body and devour his- No.

He had to survive. He'd made it all this way. A few heartbeats ago, he had felt like the greatest cat in the world. He had, he was. He knew it. He wasn't going to let some eagle take that from him. He wasn't about to let a bird steal everything he had worked so hard for from him.

He would live.

Snarling with the ferocity of a wolf crazed with hunger, the tom twisted around and grappled at the eagle's legs with his forepaws, digging his claws into its thick thighs. The eagle cried out and snapped at him with its sharp beak but its neck couldn't crane low enough to do any damage. The bird had meant to scare him but the rush pushing the cat to fight was too strong to be intimidated.

The cat sank his teeth into the soft but powerful muscle of the eagle's leg. Red splattered silver fur, standing out like a squirrel in a barren field covered in snow, but finally it hadn't come from him. He had drawn blood against his foe. Finally, the liquid of life was leaking from someone else, spilling onto brown feathers and silver fur. But the battle had just begun and the cat was losing.

Still in the air, the eagle thrashed. The tom's body jostled and his head snapped back. A pain shot up his neck but it was nothing like the pain in his flank so he didn't let it stop him. Struggling to find balance again, the tom managed to twist around so his soft underbelly was exposed. A poor choice in battle but he had faith that the eagle wouldn't be able to reach it. Using all four sets of claws, he scored the eagle's chest and underside before biting down hard on the eagle's tail.

Knowing he had hurt it, the cat found satisfaction in the eagle's cries but the elation barely lasted a heartbeat. Before his teeth had even released the long feathers, he was falling.

Wind slapped his face. When he was torn from the earth and carried into the sky, he had lost the support of the ground under his paws but at least something had been holding on to him. Now, there was nothing. Just him, the wind, and the feeling of himself plummeting to the ground.

Adrenaline had been pumping into his bloodstream, fueling every movement. It suddenly came crashing down as new sensation filled his body. Blood roared in his ears and he felt his stomach drop as weightlessness overtook him. His senses returned and he could hear a pounding against his ribs as his heart threatened to burst out of his chest. Free fall was something almost divine.

Terror made his body go rigid as the cat's vision and hearing bled back into reality and the world became bright and chaotic with color and sound once more. In the grip of the eagle, he had something to focus on, both the pain in his flank and the enemy within his line of sight, but the only thing that held his awareness was the fleeting feeling of falling and the image of the ground coming closer and closer.

There was something exhilarating about falling but it was nothing like standing atop the mountain. The height that had previously made him feel strong and special now overwhelmed him with panic and made him feel very, very small.

He was alone in the sky falling to his death.

And somehow, knowing that hurt more than the impact that killed him.

Jayfeather's body convulsed as he was thrown out of the dream and back into reality. He jumped to his paws and looked around wildly, having the sense of sight only further scaring him. His breaths became short and rapid as his body trembled with leftover panic and newfound anxiety.

Am I dead? Was that real? He could only see in dreams. He wasn't in his nest back in ThunderClan. Had he had a vision? It wasn't impossible for him to have one while visiting StarClan's hunting grounds. But that felt too real to be a vision. It felt familiar. Was it a memory?

Jayfeather set that thought for now and tried to calm down. Breathing in deeply through his nose, he slowly settled his breathing back into a steady rhythm and he could finally hear any lucid thoughts that had been overshadowed by his panic. He closed his eyes, momentarily slipping back into that old darkness, and tried listening for his heart. He soon found the steady beat and let out a breath of relief. He was still alive, just not in the waking world.

Jayfeather sat back on his haunches and looked around, seeing no one. He wasn't sure where he was. He thought he was in Silverpelt but after losing his powers so many moons ago, visits to StarClan away from the Moonpool were rare and few. And why would StarClan send me that? I was dying… And it felt like something I'd gone through before. Why?

His brow furrowed with concentration. The territory didn't look fmailiar. StarClan's land was covered in grass and trees. He was sitting in grass but he couldn't see any trees. Only large, sharp stones jutting out of the ground. It took a few moments but when he realized it, he almost slapped himself with his tail. It was so obvious. I'm in the Tribe of Endless Hunting's territory, not Silverpelt! That's why I don't recognize it here. I must've… I must've remembered my death as Jay's Wing.

Jayfeather shuddered. He hadn't known that Jay's Wing- Jayfeather himself- had such a horrible demise. He hadn't put much thought into his own- his past- death. When he had left the Ancients, he had learned that during his lifetime in the past, Jay's Wing had disappeared during the journey to the cave behind the waterfall but he never knew the details. He couldn't remember the details. Now he did. He had died young.

Jayfeather stared at his paws, mind reeling. He hadn't… I didn't expect that. I can't remember a lot from back then but still… A chill ran up his spine and he shivered. He hadn't expected to have had such a horrible death.

"But why am I remembering now?" he wondered aloud, shifting his gaze up to stare up at the night sky.

"Because you don't have much time left," a voice said softly and Jayfeather whipped around to see a beautiful white she-cat standing behind him.

"Half Moon!"

The she-cat purred and padded to his side so the two could rub their heads against each other. Any bad feelings he had a moment ago had faded, replaced with familiar sparks of love and old affection as his heart soared. It had been so long since he'd seen his love.

The moment couldn't last forever though. After a few heartbeats, Half Moon left a last lap on his cheek and pulled away. Her green eyes seemed to glow as they locked with his murky blue ones. The sheer love that her eyes held for him always made Jayfeather question how he deserved a cat like her but he didn't dwell on it tonight. There was something important to do.

"Why did I remember Jay's Wing's death?" Jayfeather asked her, tilting his head ever so slightly in confusion. Her face softened a bit, she almost looked sad, but it was so subtle that Jayfeather almost didn't notice. "What did you mean when you said I don't have much time left?"

"Oh Jayfeather," Half Moon sighed. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" Jayfeather asked innocently, worry prickling in his chest.

She sat down and wrapped her long tail around her legs. She looked away for a moment before facing him. An overwhelming emotion bubbled up in Jayfeather's heart but even that wasn't enough to cushion the impact of her next words.

"You're going to die."