~Summary~

Skyheart used to be a normal ShadowClan warrior. That was before she woke up on the other side of the lake on WindClan's territory, with no memory of the past six moons. Now she struggles to live a normal life, haunted by that black void that looms in her mind whenever she tries to think back, along with a best friend who is acting strange and unusually protective of her. And then there is that RiverClan warrior, the one who stares openly and acts much too friendly with her. Life has never been so complicated.


~Lost~

Chapter Four

Skyheart was unable to sleep that night. She doubted Vinetail got much either. With Sunblossom - and Fernblaze, who was the second worse when it came to injuries - just barely clinging to life in the medicine den, it felt like there was a permanent thorn jabbing her in the ribs. She was much too worried to do anything but sit around and fret about her best friend's health.

At least the dogs had been chased off, so the ShadowClan warriors' efforts and suffering hadn't been in vain. Who knows what kind of damage a few dogs might have done to the Clan if they'd been allowed to stay, especially if they were starving. Honeytail, the Clan's only queen as of right now, had been immensely relieved upon hearing this, but she'd also been incredibly concerned about her mate, Grayclaw.

The ShadowClan deputy's injuries weren't as severe as Sunblossom's or Fernblaze's, but he had been forced by Frostwing to temporarily step down from his spot as deputy while he healed. Pinenose, one of the Clan's senior warriors, had been chosen to fill in for him until he was able to resume his duties. Some cats were worried that Pinenose might not want to give up her new position when the time came, since the black she-cat was known to be a bit ambitious, but Skyheart knew she wouldn't try something as rash as attempting to overthrow Grayclaw for deputyship.

The black she-cat was Skyheart's own mother, after all. If anyone knew her well, it would be her own daughter.

But Skyheart only cared about the well-being and safety of her closest friend. What would she do if Sunblossom died? She'd surely snap and go mad, having her only source of comfort in this world of confusion gone. It may be a selfish way to think, but honestly, with everything she'd been through lately, shouldn't she be allowed to think of only herself even just once?

Sighing, Skyheart rested her head on her paws as she stared at the starry sky through an opening in the warriors' den. She shut her eyes for a fleeting moment, opening them again when she heard some shuffling from deeper inside the den.

Turning her head discreetly, Skyheart watched as a cat rose from their nest and picked their way carefully around the sleeping cats, wary of stepping on a stray tail or paw. The cat paused once by what was usually Sunblossom's nest, and then that was when Skyheart knew who it was. Who else would stop so obviously at the ginger she-cat's nest other than maybe herself?

Vinetail left the warriors' den quietly, not aware of Skyheart's following eyes. He padded across the empty camp, eventually slipping around the entrance boulder and out of his Clanmate's line of sight.

Now, normally Skyheart would have ignored this and went back to sleep. But since she was unable to sleep to begin with, her curiosity and - though she would never admit it - slight concern got the better of her. Rising to her own paws, the young gray-and-white warrior padded after the gray tabby tom, slipping past the boulder and through the thorn tunnel.

Once emerging into the dark forest, Skyheart lifted her nose to the air and picked up various scents. But she was only searching for one, and when she found it, she was soon tailing after a cat she always thought she hated. Funny what one horrible accident could do to bring two cats closer together, even by a slight bit.

His scent was leading her to the lake. She still held bitter memories for it, due to waking up once to complete and utter confusion on WindClan's side, and twice to horror and fear from a nightmare. It went without saying that Skyheart was not fond of the lake, though the massive body of water itself had done nothing to her.

Vinetail was sitting on the shore of the lake staring out at the water. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his face, but she assumed it was either a look of pain and despair, or anger and frustration. Skyheart herself had been switching back and forth between the two all night.

She padded up silently behind him, still without him realizing she was there and had followed him all this way. She could clearly see that every muscle in his body was tensed, proving her earlier thoughts about his expression to be correct.

"I'm not sure that it's safe to be out here by yourself, what with dogs roaming around," Skyheart said quietly, making the tom jump in surprise.

Vinetail whipped around to glare harshly at her. "What are you doing here?" He snapped, eyes narrowing.

"Following you," Skyheart replied bluntly.

"Why?" He was suspicious.

"I told you," she said impatiently, "there are dogs wandering about, so-"

"Grayclaw and the others drove them out," Vinetail pointed out angrily, growling, "now what are you really doing here?"

Skyheart really wanted to snap at him. His tone of voice was starting to rub her the wrong way. "Making sure you don't do something stupid," she growled back, forcing her fur to lie flat.

"Stupid? What in the name of StarClan are you even talking about? You're delusional," Vinetail scoffed scornfully.

That was it. She couldn't hold it.

"Why are you being so difficult?" She snapped angrily, "I'm only trying to help you!"

"I don't need your help!" The tom shot back furiously. "Just leave me alone!"

Skyheart knew it was mouse-brained of her. But she couldn't stop herself. Flashing out a paw, she cuffed him over the head. She kept her claws sheathed, though, as she did not want to draw blood.

"Stop being so stubborn and just shut your jaws for a moment!" She snarled harshly. "You don't have to act like you're the only one who cares for Sunblossom; she has a whole Clan to do that," Vinetail opened his jaws to snap something, but Skyheart swept on, "I understand how you feel, but moping about and sneaking out of camp is not the answer!"

Vinetail was silent, just glaring at her.

Skyheart sighed. "You care for Sunblossom, I know. I do too. She is the sister I've never had..." she trailed off, eyes distant, and then continued, "I know she cares for you as well. And me. We are the two most important cats in her life, so we have to be there for her. Can you imagine how she'd react of one of us vanished? Permanently? That's why I followed you. You're not yourself when you're confused and frustrated, but believe me when I say you're not the only one to feel that way. And as long as Sunblossom's heart beats, I will make sure that both me and you are around."

Vinetail stood there listening to her in silence, the hard look never leaving his eyes. Skyheart wondered if any of her words got through to him.

Finally, the tom spoke. "First of all, I wasn't thinking any stupid thoughts, so don't think I was for a moment. Secondly, I know how much I mean to her. I don't need you to tell me that." Though his words were less than nice, the tone was no longer as harsh. "And lastly, I don't intend on leaving her anytime soon. Her heart will beat long past right now. I'm sure of that."

Skyheart blinked. She was surprised that Vinetail didn't get extremely offended at her words, and even more so at the fact that he was actually agreeing with her. Somewhat.

"But..." he trailed off, suddenly adopting a sullen look, "I guess I...appreciate the effort all the same."

Skyheart could have cheered then. He actually said something that was nice to her! Maybe Vinetail wasn't so bad after all...

"But that doesn't mean I like you, though! You're still mouse-brained and annoying!"

...way to ruin the bonding moment, Vinetail.

"Yes, of course," Skyheart muttered, "and you're still an irritating and arrogant furball."


The next morning, woke up to surprise that she had fallen asleep at all. After that little talk by the lake, the two had returned back to camp, bickering and exchanging mild insults the entire way.

But Skyheart had noticed the distinct lack of intense dislike that usually coursed through her whenever Vinetail opened his mouth. No, she had felt...dare she admit it, but content. It was a huge shock to her. Sunblossom would be leaping for joy if she knew.

Sunblossom!

Skyheart scrambled to her paws, sending pine needles from her nest scattering about in her haste.

She bounded out of the warriors' den, and then rushed across camp toward the medicine cat's den in the far corner.

She burst inside without even a simple greeting, startling Fernblaze who was lounging peacefully in a nest nearby. The older warrior gave her a look, and Skyheart winced. Fernblaze's glare could be extremely intimidating, and no cat wanted to face her when she was angry. It made Skyheart wonder how the fierce warrior had ended up injured so badly in the fist place.

"Skyheart, why are you disturbing my patient?" Frostwing asked sharply as she emerged from somewhere deeper inside the den.

"I...I was just...I wanted to check up on Sunblossom," she admitted meekly, feeling thoroughly intimidated from the two she-cat's piercing stares.

"I already sent Vinetail away earlier," the medicine cat growled in irritation, "she's weak, but stable. She has a good chance, but I'm still not exactly sure if she will be perfectly fine."

Skyheart felt relief mixed with dread. So Sunblossom may or may not survive? StarClan...

"Are you done here? Yes? Well good, you can go then. I'm sure there are more productive things you warriors can do with your time than pester me all day," Frostwing dismissed her.

Skyheart, feeling mildly offended, turned and left the den. Outside, cats were starting to rouse, and the camp was more active. Skyheart padded across the ground toward Pinenose, who was busy organizing patrols.

Upon spotting Skyheart, the black she-cat called out, "Skyheart! You can join Redstreak and Starlingwing for a hunting patrol. Leaf-bare is just around the corner, so we'd ought to start stocking up on fresh-kill before it gets any harder to find."

Skyheart nodded her acknowledgement, and padded over to Redstreak and Starlingwing, who were waiting for her by the camp exit. When she reached them, she asked, "So where are we hunting?"

"Just around the RiverClan border," Starlingwing replied, "Pinenose also wants us to check out the border while we're at it. She said the dawn patrol picked up the scent of a warrior on our territory."

A RiverClan warrior? On their territory? That was odd. RiverClan didn't normally cross the border for any reason at all.

"Just one cat?" Skyheart asked, wondering why a single cat alone would dare cross into ShadowClan territory.

"As far as we know, yes." Starlingwing replied as he led his hunting patrol out of camp.

Skyheart padded after her Clanmates, thinking of how if Sunblossom knew where she was headed, she wouldn't be happy about it. Her friend was always trying to keep her away from RiverClan, after all.

She never used to do that before Skyheart lost her memories. More suspicion pierced her as she found herself longing for the past. When life was simple, uncomplicated. Unlike now.

When everyday felt much more complicated than it should.


So far, this hunting expedition had not gone as well as Skyheart would have liked. Two frogs had escaped her claws, and she had somehow lost a lizard. What she did have is one mere little mouse she had managed to trap in between her paws.

It was like something was scaring off all of her potential catches. It was starting to get on the white-and-gray warrior's nerves.

"Fox-dung! Why is this only happening to me?" She growled under her breath as yet another frog hopped away and into the safety of the marsh. Lashing her tail, Skyheart lifted her nose to the air and sniffed.

She then wrinkled her nose; all she was picking up was the overwhelming reek of fox-dung. She hoped there wasn't any foxes nearby.

Shaking her head to herself, she padded away from the marshy area, opting to head somewhere where she may have a better chance at actually catching something other than a mouse that was less than a quarter of her size.

But when Skyheart stopped a fair distance from the marsh and scented the air again, she was immensely surprised to realize that the smell of fox-dung had seemingly followed her.

Inconspicuously, she sniffed at her own pelt to see if it was coming from her, then immediately felt silly when she found no trace of the reek.

"What is going on? Am I being stalked by fox-dung or not? Because this is just not making any sense," she growled, scoring the ground with her claws.

"It depends on how you look at it," a voice replied to her, "I could technically be classified as a pile of fox-dung, since I reek so strongly of the stuff...or I could be a cat who's been waiting for you to show up here by yourself for nearly a moon."

Skyheart whipped around, fur bristling. Standing right there behind her was a tom-cat whose fur was clumped up in...she didn't even want to think about it. It was a disgusting sight, really.

"What are you doing here, you..." she couldn't determine the cat's scent underneath the smell of the fox-dung, "trespasser?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The tom looked at her strangely, "I've been looking for you."

Skyheart was about to snap back a vicious reply, but the words got caught in her throat as the tom then did the unspeakable. He bounded up to her and pressed his muzzle to hers. "I was worried about you," he murmured.

The masked scent of RiverClan flooded her nose, and she leaped back, spitting furiously. "What in the name of StarClan do you think you're doing?!"

The tom looked thoroughly taken aback. And then hurt flooded his gaze. "Skyheart? What's wrong with you?"

"How do you know who I am? Who are you?" Skyheart demanded angrily, taking a threatening step toward him, tail lashing back and forth.

"What do you mean, who am I? You know who I am! I'm Stormfall!" The tom meowed indignantly.

Skyheart froze at the name.

Stormfall.

Stormfall.

Was this another dream? Was she about to wake up, ending this odd, yet suddenly intriguing moment?

"You...you're Stormfall?" She whispered, eyes widened.

"Yes," the tom replied gently, and Skyheart felt her legs go weak. She really, really hoped this wasn't a dream. She could practically see answers floating right there in front of her face. All she had to do was ask.

"H-how do I know you?" Skyheart asked shakily, trepidation making her feel limp.

Stormfall's green eyes widened at this question. "You..don't know? But..."

"I don't remember," Skyheart admitted reluctantly, "I forgot six entire moons of my life...I don't know you, but your name is familiar. Can...can you tell me why?" Why was she blurting all of this out so easily?! This cat was from RiverClan!

"You...forgot? Forgot me?" He seemed shaken by this news. Skyheart's claws dug into the earth as she tried to keep herself upright. Just who was this cat to her?

She felt like she was leaning over a cliff, about to plunge down into the unknown. Everything she wanted...right here, at the tip of her claws. This tom, Stormfall, he had the answers. She felt certain of this.

Her fur bristled, and her eyes were wide as she imagined it. She would have her old life back! Everything would be as it was before! She would finally feel normal again!

And then Stormfall spoke, and everything crashed down around her.

"I loved you," he meowed, "And you loved me." He said it so seriously.

...what?


Sucky ending, I know. But at least it's done!

Also, sorry that this one took longer to get out. I kept getting side-tracked while writing this.

Anyway, let me know if you like it!

~TheAzuraStar