I have finally stopped being lazy and posted this up. xD

Enjoy!

Welcome Home

Birdsong

As I padded to WindClan camp, I started to think about all the wonderful things of the moorland. The softness of the grass, the savory smell of rabbit, the open air, and the fact that it was the best territory out of all of them.

I don't understand why, but my thoughts stray to Ashheart. And you know what? I hate it. I promised myself a long time ago to never open my heart to anyone outside my Clan. Bad things happen. I should know.

As I think of Ashheart, the beautiful, yet haunting memories swirl my head. No, no, no, no, no. I keep repeating that, trying to shove the memories out of my head. The twinkling amber eyes. The gentle laughter. The words, ''I love you beyond anything.'' And then, the heartache. It wasn't fair. I didn't deserve it. No, not at all.

My head clears as I approach camp. It's nearly moon-high, so it's not surprising when a small dusky brown tabby greats me cheerily. ''Welcome home, Birdsong,'' she says. I nod my head in acknowledgment. ''Tired?'' Another nod. ''What happened to the she-cat that said she would always be energetic no matter what?''

''Dunno,'' I reply. This makes Larkwing purr gently. ''Is 'Unningstar up?'' I ask sleepily. My friend shrugs. '' Do you thin' I shou' sleep?'' She nods and that's all the encouragement I need. I trudge towards the warrior's den, only to bump into someone.

''Sori,'' I mange. ''Jus' came, '' yawn, '' from a mizon.'' yawn. '' 'Eally tired.''

''Oh, you're not sleeping until I hear everything.'' I find myself looking up into Runningstar's icy blue eyes. ''And you should be sorry for bumping into me. Imagine. One of my own warriors, bumping into me. What a disgrace,'' she sniffed. Runningstar beckoned for me to follow her. Not wanting to feel more of her hatred, I followed in pursuit.

Runningstar pushed the curtain of moss she had installed for privacy reasons. I follow. She points to a corner and motions for me to sit down. I do so. As I shuffle around to make myself comfortable, she gives me this calculating stare as though I were a prisoner, not her warrior. ''All right. What did Jadestar say?''

''Ya sure ya wanna hear it?'' I ask, playing with a bit of moss.

Runningstar looks at me disdainfully. ''Why did I send you to there heart of ThunderClan?'' she snarled. ''Don't you dare tell me you were doing something else.'' Her blue eyes flared up. ''Flirting, perhaps? '' I hastily look in an another direction. ''And to think that-''

''I know I'm a disgrace. No need to shove it in my face.'' I snap before she's able to finish. ''I've already heard it enough times.'' I lift my head up to show that that conversation was over. ''So, Jadestar. She didn't believe a word I said. Told me it was fox-dung.'' I pause. ''She also says she thinks you have more sense in your head,'' I couldn't help adding.

My leader's expression goes from surprise to anger to sadness. Her stripped tail gently pat the ground and she bowed her head, as though she were deep in thought. It seemed rude to leave her right there and then, so I stay. Strange to say, but it looked like she had been... defeated. It was strange since she always carried herself in a matter that suggested she would never lose. Yet, that glaze in her eyes reminded me of... someone. I've seen that face before. But where?

Runningstar sighed and then seemed to realize I was with her. She sounded moons older when she said, ''Go to the warrior's den and get some sleep. You... you deserve it.'' Blinking back shock, I get up and pad towards the moss. ''Oh, and Birdsong,'' I turn around. The moonlight make Runningstar's pale pelt seem mystical. ''Thanks.''

''No problem,'' I reply, slightly startled. No one ever thanked me for anything. Especially not Runningstar. I take one last look at my leader, her proud head bowed. Why was that gesture so familiar? It puzzles and frustrates me. I'm puzzled because I'm frustrated, but I'm frustrated because I'm puzzled. It's complicated. I blink and exit the den mulling over what had happened.

Why was Runningstar so upset? It wasn't like her to be that way. Where they friends before? But, that doesn't make any sense. Runningstar doesn't trust anyone outside WindClan. The only exception to that was when-

''So, how was the mission?'' Startled, I look up. I was so consumed by my thoughts, I hadn't heard the she-cat pad up to me. Much like me, her pelt was sliver. However, she was a tabby while I had white muzzle, paws, and chest spot that looked like a bird in flight.

''It was alright. Jadestar didn't believe me.'' I sigh.

''I don't blame her. I mean, it's a lot to swallow.'' She tilts her head and gives me a worried expression. ''Your wound...''

''I got healed by Seedfall,'' I replied. I flick my sister gently with my tail. ''See?'' I point me tail to where my wound was. ''Got it fixed up before I left.'' I lean in to her ear. ''Seedfall, he's a wacko, isn't he?''

My sister looks at me with an amused smile. ''I guess he is a little weird. But he is a really good medicine cat. Haven't you noticed that even though you had a deep wound, it healed like it was a small injury?'' I give an apologetic look, meaning that I hadn't noticed. She pressed her paw on my flank. ''He's amazing,'' she breathed. ''I hope that one day, I'll be as good as he is.''

I lick her on her head. ''I'm sure you'll be a great medicine cat.''

''You- you really think so?'' Her gray eyes widen.

''I know so,'' I say. ''Your my sister, Dreampaw.'' I smile gently at her. ''And my sister is the best.''

She gives me a hopeful look and rests her muzzle on me. ''Thanks. Your support... it means a lot to me.'' She suddenly frowns. ''Uh, have you, ya know, slept? You seem pretty worn down.'' It seemed that her words make me realize just how sleepy I was. ''Oh, I'm so sorry!'' she squeaked. She shuffled her paws. ''I should have waited until the morning.''

''It's alright,'' I reply.

''You should get some sleep now,'' she said.

''I guess I should.''

My sister rests her muzzle on my shoulder. ''Sweet dreams.''

''Thank you.'' I watch has she padded towards the medicine cat den. A gentle sadness reminds me that she's the only one in my family left. My mother had died giving birth to Dreampaw. And my father... I don't know who he is. Sighing, I head to the warrior's den.

The warrior's den is basically a hole in the ground that a badger made long ago. When the the weather gets cold, we retreat into an underground passage way we created. Exhausted, I plop myself on some feathers, not even caring if I landed on some other cat. My eyes immediately closed and I swept up into a dream that I would never forget.

First thing I notice is that there's blood in my mouth. But it doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the cat that's pleading me to let go of him. I bite harder into his shoulder, making him screech in pain.

''You deserve it!'' I spat. ''You piece of fox dung!'' The cat whimpers, sticks his tail beneath his legs, and runs away like the coward he is.

What happened? Why am I here? Why did I just bite it his shoulder and call him a name when I have no clue who he is or what he has done? I guess I had just caught up in the adrenaline of fighting. I took a good look at my surroundings. I was definitely in a forest. But, where? This certainly didn't look like any territory at the Lake.

''Hey!'' I turn around to face an apprentice. He's gray with darker gray spots and yellow eyes. My nose tells me he is a ThunderClan cat. But, like the forest, there was something odd about the scent. ''Don't just stand there! Someone's going to get after you!''

I was in the middle of battle.

Great, just great.

It's just my luck to end up in the middle of a battle having no clue where I am or what's going on.

As I turned back to battle mode, I noticed something else. I knew none of these cats. They smelled just like Clan cats. I had caught a couple of whiffs of WindClan scent. But, I've never seen any of these cats in my life. There was another scent too. Ugh, it was terrible.

And that's when I noticed that some cats had collars with dog teeth in them.

I feel faint. No, no, not possible, noooottttt possible. But my eyes told me different. I was in the battle of BloodClan and the Clans, in the old forest. I snapped out of battle mode and warily eyed the apprentice that I had just spoken to. If this was the Old Forest, that had to be Ashpaw, the cat that would become Ashfur.

''You okay?''

''Yes... and... LOOK OUT!'' As the words leave my mouth, a BloodClan cat smashes into Ashpaw. The apprentice squeals in pain and tries to attack.. But it's hopeless of course. The enemy is much bigger than him. Seeing him look so helpless makes my blood turns to ice.

No.

I can't let it happen again.

I launch myself at the BloodClan cat, a dark brown she-cat with a torn ear and gray eyes. I land on her shoulders, grab her by the neck, tuck my head in, and topple her backwards. It ends me on the floor with the she-cat's back on me stomach. I'm pretty sure it looked pretty comical. Ashpaw scrambles away from us. He's safe. I relax. Big mistake.

The she-cat takes advantage and flips me over. So, now it looks like I'm riding on her. She shakes me of and I land on the floor with a thud. Before I can get up, she pounces on me so that my soft belly is exposed. I pretend to aim for her throat. Scared, the she-cat backs up. Perfect. I pounce on her. Yet another mistake.

She seemed to had expected it. She backed up even more, so that I missed where I was aiming. But my paws ended up near her's, and I tripped.

Ever taste dirt? Trust me, it's horrible.

She laughs wickedly. ''Stupid Clan cat. You'll never beat me! You'll never...'' I don't get to hear the rest of what she said due to the huge caterwauling. Suddenly, a stampede of cats trample both me and my opponent to the ground. ''He's dead! He's dead!'' They kept on saying.

I have no clue who ''He'' is, but I'm sure glad he died. The brown she-cat runs away, tail stuck between her legs. I grin at the knowledge that even though I didn't win, she was a coward.

''Look!'' Startled, I jump and hiss at the voice. Ashpaw smiles awkwardly.

''Sorry.'' I apologize. ''I'm very jumpy.''

''It's alright.'' he replied. ''I guess I was sort rude to startle you like that.'' What a polite kid. I remember the stories of him I heard some of the ThunderClan elders said. How he went down the wrong path due to a broken heart. I personally think that if he loved Squirrelflight, he wouldn't try to tear her down. But, then again, you do some really stupid things when you get rejected.

''Anyways, I thought you might want to know why they left in such a rush..'' He pointed his paw to show where he wanted me to look. My eyes nearly popped out of head when at what I saw. There was a small black tom with a purple collar studded with dog teeth. I didn't see what was so exicting about it until I looked at the cat towering above him. His pelt was a dark ginger and the way the sun was hitting him he seemed to be on fire. He's green eyes flashed with something, but I couldn't figure out what.

The flame colored tom picked up the cat that lay at his feet. I now realize that the tom is dead. When the ginger tom picks him up it reveals the single white paw.

Firestar and Scourge.

For the first time I got here, I actually asked myself how I got here in the first place.

I look down at my white paws, now splattered with dirt. No, I haven't taken over anyone's body. I turned to look at my backside and gasp. Something wasn't right. No, I wasn't supposed to be transparent.

''Are you from StarClan? What's your name? Why are you here?'' I smile nervously and slowly back up. Geez, he could ask questions faster than Ravenwing! Which is weird since I never thought that she could be beat.

My body suddenly feels light. So light I swear all I had to do was bounce lightly to fly into the sky. ''You're dissolving!'' Oh, great. I'm dissolving. Ashpaw gingerly touches my flank, only to find out I was also wasn't solid. His paw went from my right flank to my left flank. Ashpaw squeaks in horror and quickly takes his paw out. ''Sorry! And wait!'' I cannot stop the changes to my body, though I wish I could. It's like I'm becoming air.

''Thanks for saving me! I'll never forget you!'' Were the last words I heard before I lost grip on reality.

And... yeah. Well, that's all I have.

So, see you!