Thrushwing sat, tall and proud, at the camp entrance. Finally, after what felt like ages of training, she and her brother had become warriors! And what better clan to serve than WindClan? Under the skies, directly beneath silverpelt, closest to their ancestors in StarClan, out on the open moors. She couldn't think of anything better.

She thought back to earlier, at sunset, when Tallstar had held their naming ceremony, when she had promised to protect her clan. That's what she wanted to do, more than anything; to prove how loyal she was, to show her clanmates that she was a warrior, through and through. At first she had been worried; what if Tallstar named her something stupid, like Thrushnose, or Thrushfoot? But when she sat there, beside her brother, Stonepaw, her worries had been swept away. And when the clan had shouted their names, Thrushwing and Stoneclaw, she couldn't have been more proud of herself and her brother.

Now they were holding their vigil, as every other warrior had done before. Guarding the camp, prepared to raise the alarm if anything was amiss. She looked over at her brother, and was struck by how much he looked like their mother. She had been dappled gray, and Stoneclaw was almost as dark as the shadows. She herself was a tortoiseshell; she didn't look a thing like her mother. She wished she did. The night they had been named apprentices, a fox somehow found the camp and carried their mother, Dovesong, off into the night.

But she knew that Dovesong was looking down and smiling from silverpelt, even though she couldn't see her ancestors that night. Her brother met her eyes, and she knew he was thinking the same thing.

The moon was no more than a claw slice in the sky, with dark, shadowy clouds flitting over it. There was no breeze, not even the rustle of prey in the grass. Her ears pricked towards a noise, and she focused on it, turning her back on her brother. Suddenly, she heard something collapse. She turned quickly and saw Stoneclaw, laying on the ground, blood pooling from a slice on his throat.

"Atta-" She tried to warn the clan, but a massive enemy warrior attacked her, pinning her to the ground and knocking the breath out of her. She squirmed, but being breathless she was too weak to escape, and she felt the cat's teeth close around her neck.

Suddenly, she heard the yowls and battle cries of the clan, and the sounds of fighting cats. The cat that had attacked her was suddenly gone, and she jumped up to resume fighting, only to stumble. She must had twisted her paw, or landed wrong when the other cat pinned her. She looked back over at her brother, lying lifeless, and she found that she didn't care. She attacked the nearest ShadowClan warrior, slicing at his chest with her claws, until finally catching his neck. She continued fighting, until she felt the presence of one of her clan beside her.

"Thrushwing, we have to get out," it was Onewhisker.

"No!" She coughed, her voice hoarse. "My brother -"

"You're brother is with StarClan now," he mewed. "Tallstar has ordered that WindClan is to leave, and that means you."

"But I -"

"Would your brother want you to get yourself killed trying to avenge him? Would your mother?" Onewhisker persisted. "Now come on!" He moved to help support her, but she shoved him away, intent on walking by herself. But when she stumbled on her bad leg, Onewhisker was there to help her keep going, letting her lean on him as they made it through the bushes and out with the rest of the clan.

Suddenly, Tallstar appeared, and began leading the clan in silence, away from the only place they'd ever called home. Onewhisker stayed at her side, helping her to keep up. They could still hear the victorious yowls of ShadowClan as they left their territory. They were at the edge of forest just before the thunderpath when Tallstar finally called a halt.

"Where will we go?" Morningflower mewed quietly, pressing herself close to Ashfoot for comfort. The gray queen licked the top of the young she-cat's head, curling her tail around her own kit, Eaglekit.

"Yes, Tallstar, please tell us where we will go, now that we've been driven out of our own territory!" Mudclaw spat, his unsheathed claws digging into the ground.

Thrushwing collapsed, laying down to rest. Her leg was aching, and the wound on her neck had began to bleed again. Onewhisker crouched beside her and began licking the bite, trying to clean it. She was exhausted.

Tallstar looked around at the scared, angry faces around him. He tried to think of some encouraging words to give them, but could think of none. His gaze finally landed on Ashfoot, who was staring at him, anger and fear mixing in her eyes. Determination filled him; he would find a place for her son, as well as Morningflower's kits, to grow up healthy and strong, with plenty of prey and room to run. Somewhere safe.

"We'll need a place to spend the night," Barkface mewed, padding up beside him. "That way I can start treating the injuries from the battle."

"Of course," Tallstar nodded. "Deadfoot, take a small patrol and find shelter," he turned back to his medicine cat. "Will you be able to find the herbs you'll need to help the wounded?"

Barkface hesitated before he answered. "I do not know. We are at the very edge of the territory, Tallstar. Not many herbs grow here, and I don't have time to go to the other clans and ask for help."

"Barkface," the two toms turned to see Onewhisker. "Thrushwing's neck wound's started bleeding again, and I can't stop it."

The brown tom nodded quickly, looking around. Spying what he needed, he quickly took the cobweb, however small it was, and followed Onewhisker to where the tortoiseshell lay.

"Tallstar," the leader looked up to see Deadfoot returning with Tornear. "High Stones is just over the thunderpath. Couldn't we rest there?"

Tallstar nodded. "Yes. Perhaps our warrior ancestors will speak with us, tell us the reason they let this happen." He padded over to where Barkface was. The medicine cat was pressing the cobweb to the wound, while Onewhisker was nowhere to be seen. "Barkface," he mewed quietly. "I'm taking the clan on ahead to High Stones."

"We'll be along shortly, after Onewhisker returns with more cobwebs," Barkface nodded, his eyes never leaving the she-cat at his paws.

"I'm fine," she caughed defiantly, trying to sit up.

"No you're not," Barkface pushed her back down. "Now hold still, or I'll stuff this cobweb in your mouth."

Tallstar purred and bent over the young warrior, touching his nose to her cheek. "You fought bravely," he mewed, then, with a nod to Barkface, he went back to the rest of the clan, ready to lead them over the thunderpath. Once he got there, he devised a plan of action. "Deadfoot, Tornear, and Mudclaw, you will each take a portion of the clan across the thunderpath, and I will take the remainder. Divide up, take about five cats across, then wait for me in the hedges there. Is that clear?" They nodded and set about dividing the clan.

"Tallstar," Ashfoot padded over, her kit stumbling along behind her. "We'll cross with you."

He dipped his head in acceptance, then looked down at her kit, who was now huddled between her front paws, looking up at him. "He seems to be doing alright."

The gray queen dipped her head. "Once we were away from the fighting he settled down quite a bit," she bent down to lick between her kit's ears.

Tallstar nodded, then padded closer to the thunderpath. He pricked his ears, listening for any sign of monsters on the road. There were none. He flicked his tail at the first group, Deadfoot's, and they hurried across. He turned to the second group, led by Tornear, Morningflower at his side, and just as he was about to signal them across, a monster sounded it's loud, painful yowl and sped past.

Blinking away the dust and grit the monster had kicked up, Tallstar cleared his ears. Once it was clear that no more monsters were coming, he signaled the second, then the third group across. The remaining cats, Ashfoot and Eaglekit, two elders, and an apprentice, looked to Tallstar, waiting for him to lead them across. He nodded his head at them, and they gathered around him, crouched down and ready to go. He listened once more for monsters, and when he heard only silence, he flicked his tail and they quickly ran across, the hard, smelly black rock beneath them scrubbing at their pads.

Finally across, Tallstar gathered his clan back together. He looked to his deputy. "Deadfoot, go back across and make sure Barkface, Onewhisker, and Thrushwing make it across safely," once the deputy had taken off, he turned back to the rest of the clan. "Once we get to High Stones we can rest, and hunt." And with that, the black-and-white tom led the clan to the sacred place where their ancestors spoke.

----

"What's High Stones?" Sedgepaw asked.

"It was the Moonpool of the forest," Morningflower answered. "It was the place where leaders received their nine lives, where medicine cats spoke with StarClan, and the place that all apprentices had to journey to before they could become warriors."

"Well, how come we don't do that here? Why don't we have to go to Moonpool before we become warriors?" Thistlepaw asked, looking from one cat to the next.

For once, it seemed like there was no answer to be given. Her question had stumped even Onestar, his tail lashing left and right as he tried to think of a reason.

"Let's just get back to the story, shall we?" Tornear mewed quietly, resting his head against Morningflower's shoulder.

"Yeah, us elders need our beauty sleep, after all," Webfoot purred.

Before Morningflower could resume, Sunpaw looked at her leader, her eyes bright and shining. "Onestar? Is all of this true?"

He hesitated, but nodded his head. "Every word," his mewed quietly.

"What's going on?" Everyone jumped this time, turning to find Ashfoot, the new deputy, standing over them. She purred, settling in on Morningflower's other side, close to Swallowpaw. "Well, isn't anyone going to answer?"

"Morningflower is telling a story," Swallowpaw answered obediently.

"The story about how ShadowClan drove WindClan out of the forest," Sedgepaw went on. "We just got to the part where Tallstar is leading them to High Stones."

The gray queen's eyes darkened, but she stayed. "I haven't remembered that for the longest time," she mewed.

"Well, if cats would stop interrupting, we could get on with it," Tornear muttered.

Morningflower purred. "Alright, then. And with that, Tallstar padded forward, careful to make sure his clan was with him..."

long. very long. longest chapter i've ever written to date, 1935 words. go me. so... reviews, anyone? please? also, i added Thrushwing's perspective to the battle with ShadowClan - if you want to read the version the Erin's wrote, check out Secrets Of The Clans. i just didn't feel comfortable with copying it, so i changed it to fit the story. peace.