Gamer4 in. Well, I have nothing to say here.

Disclaimer: I have yet to own either of the stories.

Chapter III

Christmas Past

Needless to say, it took Tigerstar a while to fall asleep that night. He tossed and turned, imagining what it must be like to carry those chains until the world stopped. Finally, he settled into an uneasy sleep. Therefore, he didn't notice the cat that was padding across camp. None of the other cats noticed it. It was completely silent, and all the cats were asleep by this point anyways.

The cat padded towards Tigerstar's den, and, just like Thistleclaw, passed through the bramble barrier like it didn't exist. Suddenly, the cat started to shine with an almost impossibly bright light.

Tigerstar jerked awake. He looked at the light, and looked away almost immediately. It was too bright to look at directly. "Are you the spirit Thistleclaw warned me about?" Tigerstar asked.

"I am," said a tom's voice from somewhere in the light.

"Will you turn your light off?" Tigerstar asked, still unable to look at the cat directly.

The light didn't go off completely, but it dimmed enough for Tigerstar to see the cat directly, even if it was still glowing a little. The cat had gray fur, and looked at him without any expression on his face.

"Who are you?" Tigerstar asked.

"An interesting question," the tom said. "I am the Spirit of Christmas Past. Though, if you were to give me an actual name, I guess you'd call me Graystripe."

"What brings you here, Graystripe?" Tigerstar asked, looking at the spirit nervously.

"Your welfare," Graystripe answered simply.

"Well, I don't want to be rude, but I think a night of sleep would be a lot better for that," Tigerstar said.

Graystripe was thoughtful for a moment, then said, "Well, your salvation, then."

"What do you want from me?" Tigerstar asked.

"Not much. Follow me," Graystripe said, motioning with his tail towards the entrance of the den. Tigerstar reluctantly followed. As he pushed aside the brambles, he gasped as he saw, not the camp, but the twolegplace that had been next to the old forest. Looking behind him, he saw that the brambles had disappeared. They were on the edge. Behind them was the forest. Looking in the forest, he saw some familiar faces lurking just in the trees. He realized it was a Thunderclan border patrol. "Do you recognize this place?" Graystripe asked him.

"Of course I do!" Tigerstar said, looking at the patrol. "That's Lionheart, over there! And he's with Redtail!" Tigerstar looked back at Graystripe. "They look like apprentices, though. How far back are we?"

"Far enough," Graystripe answered simply. "And do you know this place?"

As Tigerstar turned again, the land changed. They were further into Twolegplace. Tigerstar suddenly found himself looking at a twoleg nest he knew very well. "Yes, I know this place," Tigerstar answered. Graystripe started towards the nest, and motioned for Tigerstar to follow. He stepped through the door. Tigerstar, after a second of hesitation, followed.

He found himself inside. Graystripe, seeing him inside, motioned towards a chair against a window. Tigerstar looked, and felt his stomach give a small lurch.

A cat was looking out the window. It was a young dark tabby tom. It looked young enough to have just been apprenticed, if it was in the clans. "You ran away?" Graystripe asked, looking at Tigerstar.

"I wasn't wanted," Tigerstar said. The cat was clearly sad as it looked out the window. "Goosefeather- he was the medicine cat at the time- had made a prophecy that I would fall to darkness. The clans believed it so thoroughly that they drove me out, only a quarter moon after I was apprenticed. But I never stopped wanting to go back."

Graystripe looked thoughtful again. "Let's look at another Christmas, shall we?" he asked. Tigerstar, who wasn't eager to spend more time here than he needed to, nodded. There was a great flash of light, and when Tigerstar could see again, it looked like a few moons had passed. The cat was still looking out the window, but he looked older than he had before. The twolegs didn't seem to be there: there was no noise in the house.

Suddenly, a noise echoed through the house. Into the room ran another cat, and Tigerstar knew this one too. "Goldenflower!" he said, looking at his sister bounding across the room. She still looked like a 'paw, and she looked very happy about something. The cat looking out the window turned, and happiness spread across his face as he saw the she-cat coming towards him.

"Tigerpaw!" she said happily, looking up at him.

"What is it, Goldenpaw?" Tigerpaw asked, looking at his sister.

"You can come back home!" Goldenpaw said, looking delighted about it. "Pinestar retired, and now Sunstar is leader, and he says you can come back!"

"Really?" Tigerpaw said, perking up.

"Yes! He sent me here to get you, so we can go home!"

Tigerpaw, without wasting any time, jumped down from his perch, and the two apprentices raced each other out the door.

A moment passed, and finally, Graystripe spoke. "You loved her a lot, didn't you?"

"Yes," Tigerstar said, looking at him.

"She was a great cat," Graystripe said. "Unfortunately, she didn't survive giving birth to her kit, did she?"

Tigerstar looked sadly at where the two cats had left the building. "It's true," he said. "She had only one kit, and she died to give him life."

"His name's Brambleclaw, I believe?" Graystripe asked.

"Yes," Tigerstar said. Looking back at Graystripe, he said, "Well, we're losing time. Continue."

Graystripe motioned for Tigerstar to follow. They left into the twolegplace, and suddenly, they were back in the forest. More specifically, they were in the Thunderclan camp. Tigerstar turned, and saw a blue cat stepping up onto the highrock. "It's Bluestar!" he said. "Bluestar, alive again! She was the best leaders we could have had!"

As Tigerstar finished speaking, Bluestar called out, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the highrock for a clan meeting!"

Cats began to gather beneath them, and Graystripe motioned that they should do the same.

Once everyone was gathered, Bluestar called out, "As you all know, it is Christmas tomorrow!"

There were some cheers from the cats at these words. Bluestar waited for them to die before continuing on. "So, what are you waiting for? Let's begin celebrating!"

As all the cats started breaking up and preparing the celebrations, Graystripe and Tigerstar walked away from them, and found a cat sneaking away from the camp. It was none other than Tigerstar, back when he had been a warrior. Bluestar, spotting him, bounded over. "Tigerclaw, where are you going?" she asked.

"Oh, I just made some... well... arrangements," Tigerclaw said.

Bluestar looked like she knew exactly what kind of arrangements they were. But this didn't make here stop him. "Well, don't let me hold you up!" she said brightly, running back to the camp.

Tigerclaw slunk away through the branches, with Tigerstar and Graystripe following. Finally, they arrived in Tallpines. Tigerstar thought he knew what this was about. He waited, and suddenly, from the bushes came a she-cat, who looked right at Tigerclaw. "Sasha," Tigerclaw said, purring as he moved towards her.

"How is the prey running?" Sasha asked.

"Great," Tigerclaw said, looking at her happily. "It's Christmas tomorrow, after all."

"Yes it is," she said. "Do you want to celebrate?"

"We're having a party back at the clans. I don't think they'd object with Christmas right around the corner."

"Do you object to a rouge going into your camp?" Sasha asked.

"Why would I?" Tigerclaw said, and they moved off together.

Tigerstar watched as everything started shifting again. Suddenly, he had a very bad feeling about what was coming next. Sure enough, when everything reformed, they were standing in fourtrees. A much older Tigerclaw and Sasha were standing in the clearing. "Please, no, Graystripe," Tigerstar asked.

"I'm sorry, but we must see this," Graystripe said, motioning for them to move closer.

Sasha was speaking. "I know you loved me, Tigerclaw. But I can't be sure anymore."

"Of course I do," Tigerclaw said, looking at her.

"Do you?" Sasha asked. "I know you wish to be leader of your clan, and I understand why the idea would be appealing. But could the leader of the clan be happy with a mate who has no clan blood, even if she was allowed to join?"

Tigerclaw looked at her in astonishment. Sasha waited for him to speak again, then spoke herself. "Could he?" she pressed. "Would you, a pureblooded warrior, on the brink of becoming leader, ever accept a rouge as a mate?"

"Of course I could accept you," Tigerclaw said, though he didn't sound sure. When Sasha spoke again, it was clear she'd noticed.

"Really?" she asked. "A long time ago, I would have believed you right away, but now, I can't. Not when lately, you've become so obsessed with pure blood. Could you really ignore any sign the clans gave of disapproving a mating with a rogue? If you can't, if pure blood and ambition matters more than anything else, than I need to leave you."

For a while, neither of the cats spoke. Tigerstar, who already knew how this would end, was silently begging for it to change, for his past self to say something.

Finally, Sasha broke the silence. "I thought so," she said, and began to walk away. Tigerstar was in agony by this point.

"Say something!" he said to his past counterpart. "Go after her!"

But nothing happened, and he watched as Sasha disappeared. Tigerstar rounded on Graystripe. "Don't show me anything else," he demanded. "Send me home."

"If you want, Tigerstar," Graystripe said. "Just remember one thing. All these memories were made by your own paws." As he spoke, his voice started echoing, and the world seemed to dissolve around Tigerstar, until he found himself alone in his bed again.

And that's all for now. Thanks to the one person who's reviewed, and the two people who've alerted this story. Every bit of support helps. Please R&R, flames are bad, but any constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms. Gamer4 out.