Gamer4 in. Absolutely nothing to say here.

Disclaimer: I don't think I own Warriors, and I know I don't own A Christmas Carol.

Chapter II

Thistleclaw's Return

Several hours later, Tigerstar walked back into camp, having just led a satisfying patrol around the territory. For all that had happened earlier, it seemed the clans had, for once, been minding the boundaries. The sun had gone down as they had been out there. On entering the camp, Tigerstar picked up a mouse for himself, and carried over, away from the rest of the clan, who, fools as they were, were talking excitedly about the next day.

Sighing, he sat down with his mouse. Was he the only one who understood what this holiday truly was?

Shaking these thoughts out of his head, he bent to eat his mouse. Suddenly, something happened that stopped him.

As he bent down, the mouse's face began to change. The ears changed shape, the snout shrunk a little, and the fur changed color. It became the face of a cat, but a cat unlike any Tigerstar had seen before. It looked up at him, pale, and slightly transparent, and muttered, "Tigerstar," in a voice that chilled the leader's blood. In shock, he stepped backwards, into the wall around the camp. He turned to see if there was anywhere else to go. Looking back quickly, he saw, to both his relief and curiosity, that the mouse was back to normal.

Though the mouse was normal, he didn't feel hungry anymore. He returned it to the pile, and, looking around a little nervously, he headed toward his den.

The face had unnerved him. The strangest thing was, he had felt like he knew it from somewhere, though he couldn't put his paw on it. Trying to put the face out of mind, he stepped into his den. He had never been so glad for the brambles he had gotten that covered the entrance from unwanted visitors. As he nervously settled himself into his den, he heard rustling. Looking up, he saw the brambles shaking like a violent wind was passing through them. That didn't make sense, it was a still night, it had been before he'd walked in.

They began to rustle more and more violently. Tigerstar curled up against it, and yet he felt no more wind then when he'd been outside.

Suddenly, it stopped. Looking up slowly, he saw that the brambles had stopped moving. They were just as still as when he'd first walked in. Tigerstar slowly began to calm himself. He must have eaten some bad fresh-kill that day. He'd have to talk to the clan about that tomorrow.

No sooner had he thought this that he heard something. A dragging sound, mixed with the sounds of pawsteps. It sounded like a cat was dragging something incredibly heavy across the clearing. Tigerstar recoiled into the den: it seemed too strange that no other cat had noticed the noise yet.

Suddenly, the noise stopped. Tigerstar had just started calming himself when something incredible happened: a paw stepped through the brambles- literally through them- followed by the face, body, back paws, and tail of a cat.

There were several things Tigerstar immediately noticed about this cat. First, it had just come through the brambles, as though they weren't there. He also noticed that the face of the cat was the same that had just been looking at him from that mouse: he even felt that same strange sense of familiarity. The body of the cat looked as though he had been traveling for a long time: the pelt was ragged, and his face had a strange, dead look on them, a look that was never seen on a Starclan warrior. The final realization was also the largest: trailing from the cat were several heavy-looking things that looked like they were made by twolegs. They were attached to weights the cat was dragging with him: apparently, this was what had been making that dragging sound.

"What do you want with me?" Tigerstar asked, standing his ground, refusing to appear afraid.

"A lot," the cat said, still in that voice he had used when appearing from the mouse. "Don't you recognize me, Tigerstar?"

"Who are you?" Tigerstar demanded.

"Ask me who I was," the mysterious cat commanded.

"If you want," Tigerstar mumbled, and out loud, said, "Okay, then, who were you?"

"When I was alive, I was your mentor, your friend, and your partner."

Suddenly, the familiarity made sense. "This-" he stammered. "Thistleclaw?"

"That was my name," Thistleclaw said, looking around the den.

"What are those things you're wearing, Thistleclaw?" Tigerstar asked, looking at the twoleg-things.

"It is a creation known as a chain," Thistleclaw said, looking sadly at the chain that seemed to wrap around him, tied so he couldn't escape them. "I made this one when I was alive. I made it link- by- link." For each of the last three words, he ran a claw across the links in the chain. "It was made by my cruelty, my neglect, and my own arrogance. My wrongs even resulted in the death of an innocent kit."

Tigerstar was surprised to see Thistleclaw becoming as sad as he was now, seeming to be filled with remorse. "Cruelty? You were a good warrior, loyal to the warrior code!"

"No!" cried Thisleclaw, the remorse now more evident than before. "I attacked an innocent kit that accidentally wandered onto Thunderclan territory, simply for the crime of being a kittypet! If Bluefur hadn't stopped me, I might have killed him! He wasn't even hunting, just wandering! I see why Bluefur felt she had to stop me becoming deputy, and her ambition to stop me from ruining the clan ended up in the death of her kit!"

"If she hadn't been meeting that Riverclan warrior in the first place-"

"Maybe the parents were guilty, but the kits were innocent! I couldn't see past my own prejudice! My evil deeds in life condemn me in death!"

"Is there anything I can do, Thistleclaw?" Tigerstar asked, feeling sympathetic for his old mentor.

"No," Thistleclaw said, looking at him sadly. "My fate is settled. I am doomed to walk this world until the end of all time! You cannot help me, Tigerstar. But I didn't come here to tell you about my own misfortunes. I came here to tell you about yours."

"Mine?" Tigerstar asked, feeling a small amount of fear somewhere inside him.

"Yes," Thistleclaw said, looking at him critically. "Your chain was as long as this-" he shook his chains for emphasis- "when I died, all those moons ago. Imagine how long they are now, after all the time that has passed. You are doomed to my fate, Tigerstar."

Tigerstar felt a rush of fear inside him. "Do you have any comfort for me, Thistleclaw?"

"Not much," Thistleclaw admitted. "I have managed to get you one last chance for redemption."

"What is that?" Tigerstar asked, looking at his old friend desperately.

"Tonight, you will be haunted by three spirits. Listen to what they say, pay attention to what they show you, because it's vital to you making it to Starclan."

"Is this my only hope?" Tigerstar asked.

"Yes," Thistleclaw nodded. "Without it, you have no chance of escaping my fate."

A chain moved forward and wrapped around Tigerstar. He felt his stomach jolt as he noticed it. Thistleclaw headed towards the entrance to his den, and dragged Tigerstar with him. Tigerstar felt a rush of fear as he realized that he was rising off of the ground. Thistleclaw was taking him through the brambles, and up towards the sky. Tigerstar gasped at what he saw.

In the area around the lake, there were a great number of cats. Not normal cats, like he was used to, but ones like Thistleclaw, partly transparent and wrapped in chains. Most were over the island. Thistleclaw was heading across the lake. Over the Riverclan camp, Tigerstar, who was currently clinging on to the chain for dear life, realized that he recognized a couple of these cats, too. He saw Darkstripe and Brokenstar, for one. As he watched, Darkstripe leaned forward, towards one of the warriors, who seemed sick.

"We try to do good in our afterlives," Thistleclaw muttered in his old apprentice's ear. "But we lost the power when we died."

As Thistleclaw said this, Tigerstar saw Darkstripe's paws begin to dissolve, so close to a living, breathing pelt. Looking sadly back, Darkstripe floated away, towards the group of ghost-cats on the island. Thistleclaw began taking Tigerstar back to his own territory. "We must live with our guilt, and carry our chains, until this world is gone. We can no longer help our old clans. That is our punishment. Why I can help you, I don't know, but this is your only chance to escape this fate."

They arrived back in Tigerstar's den. "I have to leave now," Thistleclaw said, looking at him. "I can't stay anywhere for too long. But, Tigerstar, for your own sake, remember what I told you."

"I will," Tigerstar said, in a brave attempt at his usual attitude. Thistleclaw rose into the air once again, passed through the brambles, and vanished.

And that's all for now. Please R&R, constructive criticism appreciated, flames are bad. Gamer4 out.