Skystar relished the warmth of the greenleaf day, but he was worried about the streams drying up. If it kept up like this, they'd have to go all the way to the river, crossing ThunderClan territory just to get water.

Fury and One Eye stalked out after them with Dew, who looked uneasy. Acorn Fur trailed a length behind.

Thunder and Ivy Breeze were taking their warrior assessments about now with their mentors. Lightning Tail still needed to recover from his fight and Ash Blaze seemed not ready yet. Tall Shadow hadn't been in camp and when Skystar asked, she had told him that her mentor had gone with Pebble Heart to collect herbs for something urgent.

But he has Dappled Pelt, Cloud Spots, and sometimes Yellowfang to help…but I understand our herb supply is important.

So he would dismiss it for now. Although Ash Blaze wasn't happy to be left behind.

As for Acorn Fur…

He watched as the brown apprentice jumped into a bush, wiggling out, leaves all over her pelt and eyes shining. She was still acting like a kit, but such was a normal behavior in apprentices who miss their kithood sometimes.

But that wasn't all. Acorn Fur hung around the medicine den more days than she caught prey. Skystar wanted to wait, seeing that she was trying to figure out if she truly wanted to be a warrior.

"Acorn Fur–" he began. They needed to focus on the hunting patrol. He had taken One Eye and Fury, fearful of leaving them behind at the camp with most of the warriors and apprentices out of camp and so many kits.

"Stop goofing around, kit!" One Eye snapped at Acorn Fur. "I'm starving."

Acorn Fur padded over. "Sorry…" Dew glared at the rogues when their backs were turned.

Skystar glanced at Fury. She was more quiet and observant than One Eye. And it disturbed him more.

"C'mon," he ordered his patrol. "Let's look for prey…" he ordered. "As we're supposed to be doing," he added in a mutter.

But as they stopped to scent for prey, rustling sounded from the hedgerow and Skystar realized they were at the ThunderClan border. He tensed ready to turn back, but One Eye whirled around. "Get off our land!" he shouted and barrelled forward.

"Calm down," Skystar yowled, racing after him, the three she-cats following. "We don't know if they're a threat." And they really didn't need more drama with ThunderClan right now!

Fury flashed past him and joined One Eye at the border. Acorn Fur dashed along while Dew trailed after them, reluctant.

"Stay out of the way!" Skystar ordered Acorn Fur, throwing himself in front of the apprentice.

Fury and One Eye were facing Whitestorm, Bluefur, and Brightpelt. Skystar relaxed, but only a little. They were some of the calmer cats, but he wouldn't forget how they didn't stop to kill his clanmates. Although he was sure these three hadn't actually killed anyone.

"Back off," Skystar ordered One Eye and Fury, pushing himself between them.

Suddenly, Dustpelt and a younger gray tom- a new apprentice perhaps- appeared beside their clanmates. Dustpelt's eyes were impassive, but his apprentice growled at them.

"Shut up, Ashpaw!" Dustpelt snapped and the apprentice gave his mentor an offended look.

"Skystar," Bluefur meowed, dipping her head politely.

"Bluefur," he replied coldly and felt a thrum of satisfaction at the guilt that built up in her and Whitestorm's eyes. Brightpelt seemed to not care, but she had been young at the battle. She wouldn't have realized how dishonorable it had been.

Dustpelt was looking at One Eye and Fury as if they were a gang of foxes. "What. Are those?" he asked, lip curled.

"Friends of ours," Skystar replied. "This is One Eye and this is Fury."

"How'd you lose your eye?" Ashpaw asked, bouncing over, suddenly curious. He ignored his clanmates' warning growls.

"A fox ate it after I got into a fight with it." One Eye grinned maliciously as the apprentice backed away, looking queasy.

"Yeah, so mess with SkyClan," Fury began, also grinning, "and we'll mess your faces up to look like us!" She snarled in Ashpaw's face.

The apprentice ran away. Dustpelt glared at them and followed.

One Eye snorted. "Easy to scare ThunderClan's young, innit?" He looked to Skystar, waiting for him to agree.

But he wouldn't stoop low as to petty scaring and agreeing with these suspicious cats. "All young cats scare easily." He shrugged. "Come on!" He ordered his cats and stalked away.

Before he had gotten far he heard Bluefur hiss, "taking in cats like them? You're an idiot, Skystar!"

"At least I didn't ambush an innocent Clan and kill their clanmates!" He called back.

He didn't look back, but he could imagine them all flinching. As if he'd forgive them in a hurry.

"They're in…but…"

"But what?" The leader spat.

The she-cat flinched. "But some ThunderClan cats are suspicious of them being in SkyClan and…they're our main target. What if they're prepared now?"

The leader smirked down at her. "That's where Fury comes in. She does have a brain after all."

The brown tom nearby growled slightly, but stayed silent.

Pebble Heart poked his head into the hollow where the rogues were sheltered. "Hi!" He yelped as Snow launched herself at him and he went crashing to the ground. "It's Tall Pebble and Shadow Heart! They're here guys!" She yowled to her companions.

"Completely wrong!" Tall Shadow snapped, rolling her eyes. Boulder and the others appeared.

"Okay, so what's up for today?" He asked eagerly. Pebble Heart wondered why they followed Brokenstar in the first place if they obviously still love ShadowClan.

"Well, we were thinking of talking to them," Pebble Heart meowed.

Russetfur, Boulder, Tangleburr and Blackfoot gave them deadpan looks while their rogue friends looked excited at the prospect of being into a Clan's camp.

"Have you planned properly?" Russetfur asked. "They still may be sick, but they don't want any other clancats knowing their weaknesses."

Tangleburr nodded. "They'll want you dead."

"I think we can handle them." Pebble Heart grinned and moved his tail to the side to reveal herbs he'd curled up and carried with his tail. "With a bribe."

"Okay, and maybe if we hunted for them and brought them food they'd take it instead of wanting to hurt us," Blackfoot suggested brightly.

"Well, it's settled. Let's go!" Tall Shadow flicked her tail and led the way.

Fire Heart was looking for Cloud Tail. He had almost forgotten to take his apprentice training and felt guilty for it. "Have you seen Cloud Tail?" He called to Sparrow Fur.

She sat up. She was the closest to her foster brother out of her other littermates. "No! When did you last see him?"

"Good question…" Fire Heart muttered, feeling more guilty than ever. At least One Eye and Fury are here, he thought, watching the two rogues glare at everyone as they shared a squirrel.

He had to admit they were good warriors. Most of the prey on the pile was from them and they shared their food, insisting to keep the most for those who needed it.

Even if it seemed they hated each other.

Right now Birch and Alder were pestering them. The two kits were in awe because of their one missing eye each. Fire Heart thought it was funny.

"What's wrong?" Fire Heart snapped out of his thoughts to see Raven Hope loping up to him with a worried Sparrow Fur.

"I can't find Cloud Tail," he murmured.

Just then, the entrance rustled. Thunder and Ivy Breeze bounded in. "We passed!" The ginger tom exclaimed happily.

Lightning Tail staggered to his paws, eyes shining and tail waving behind him.

"Congratulations!" Acorn Fur purred, racing over.

"It'll be good to have you in the den with us," Cinder Flower purred, bumping her side against Ivy Breeze. The gray tabby ducked her abashed and Fire Heart purred.

Then he shook himself as he remembered the situation at paw. "Can you two come with me?" He asked Sparrow Fur and Raven Hope.

"Of course!" They exclaimed simultaneously.

Fire Heart crept up the slope used to escape camp secretly. More commonly used between Thunder, Lightning Tail, Cloud Tail, Owl Eyes and himself.

Fire Heart raced along the common trail, which wasn't really a good idea since they were obviously sneaking.

Fortunately, it seemed everyone was back at camp to see Thunder and Ivy Breeze's ceremony.

I hope they don't mind that we missed it.

Just as he thought this, he saw a soft-pelted tabby running towards them. "Who's that? WindClan could probably hear her from the moor!" Sparrow Fur muttered.

"That's Princess. Cloud Tail's real mother," Fire Heart explained.

Sparrow Fur brightened and darted at the kittypet, who jumped in the air as the apprentice charged her.

"Whoops, sorry," Sparrow Fur mewed as Princess tried to scrabble out of a bush she'd gotten stuck in. "I forgot how easily kittypets scare."

"Wh-wha-" Princess stopped as she noticed Fire Heart and relief flooded her green eyes. "Fire Heart help! That cat tried to attack me."

Sparrow Fur sat down calmly and leaned down to her. "I'm Cloud Tail's sister. Why would I hurt you?"

Princess perked up at that. "You know Cloud Tail? Well, he needs help! Some twolegs took him!"

"We were just gonna look for him!" Fire Heart exclaimed. He looked at Raven Hope. "Do you still wanna come with?"

"Yes, of course," he purred and nuzzled his cheek. "I'm not leaving you alone." Fire Heart felt warm inside as he purred.

"And don't think you're getting rid of me," Sparrow Fur added, looking defiant. "Not until I find my brother!"

"Alright, but if there's danger try to stay out of the way as best as you can."

The tortoiseshell shrugged. "No promises."

Raven Hope chuckled before he looked at Princess, who had freed herself from the bush. "Hi, I'm Raven Hope. Fire Heart's friend. And this is Sparrow Fur. Cloud Tail's foster sister."

Princess eyed them warily for a moment before she dipped her head. "Princess. Nice to meet you…I guess." She looked at Fire Heart. "I didn't know you had more friends."

Sparrow Fur snickered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fire Heart asked, hurt.

Princess twitched her ears, embarrassed for a moment. "No, I didn't mean it like that, it's just…you always brought Jackdaw's Cry with you. You two seemed inseparable, like you could never have anyone else but each other."

Raven Hope and Sparrow Fur glanced uneasily at the flame-colored tom and Princess shut her mouth, sensing the tension.

"He's dead," Fire Heart simply mewed, voice stiff.

Princess' eyes widened. "Oh, I'm…sorry."

"But he died a warrior. Fighting for his Clan," Raven Hope added and Sparrow Fur nodded.

"He was one of the best," Sparrow Fur added. "Not nearly as cool as my parents though."

Fire Heart swatted at her, but he smiled. They had lost many good warriors, but it wouldn't stop them.

"C'mon," he said. "We gotta find Cloud Tail."

Princess shook her head with a sad smile. "Of course. This way." She paused. "You remember when we first met and you asked about a black she-cat?" Fire Heart nodded. "Well, she told me to follow a certain trail to find you and she seemed nervous."

"Maybe she didn't want you to bump into ThunderClan," Raven Hope suggested.

"I dunno," Princess muttered. "Anyway, the monster that took Cloud Tail went this way." She turned into an alley and they kept walking until they were at the edge of the moor.

"The farm perhaps," Fire Heart meowed. He remembered Barley's barn and how he had let them and WindClan shelter there. "C'mon."

They edged along the moor easily until Fire Heart bumped into Sparrow Fur, who had frozen at the sight of something. He followed her green gaze to the big mound that made up the grave of their friends.

"Can…we? We've never gotten to see it," she asked, looking at Fire Heart.

Fire Heart nodded slowly. They all crept over and Sparrow Fur bowed over it. Raven Hope brushed a paw over it. "Wow. It's peaceful."

"Heya!"

They all jumped and turned to see a ginger-and-white tom bounding over to them. "StarClan," Fire Heart muttered and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Gorsepaw!" Sparrow Fur meowed.

"What're you up to?" Gorsepaw asked.

Please don't te–

"We're gonna rescue Cloud Tail! He was kidnapped by twolegs!" Sparrow Fur exclaimed and Gorsepaw gasped.

Now he's gonna wanna come along.

"Can I come?"

"Aw, let him come, Fire Heart."

Fire Heart looked around wildly. He had been talking to himself in his head, right? So why had he heard Hawk Swoop's voice? He spotted a shimmering orange tabby pelt, stifling a gasp.

He slowly walked towards her as if in a trance. Hawk Swoop? Is that really you?

She smiled at him.

"Fire Heart!"

He jumped and whirled around to see Princess and Raven Hope staring after him worriedly. The apprentices were still talking.

He looked back at Hawk Swoop but she was gone.

"Did-did you guys see her?"

The two cats stared at each other wide-eyed.

"Is someone watching us?" Raven Hope asked nervously.

"That she-cat maybe," Princess nervously added. "She seemed nice, if a bit scary-looking."

"No, it was Haw–"

"Fire Heart!" Sparrow Fur dashed over with Gorsepaw. "You have to let him come! He knows what twoleg nest Cloud Tail is in!"

Gorsepaw nodded enthusiastically. "I saw it from Outlook Rock!"

"Look, I would take you, but your Clan will be mad at us for just letting you come. You should let them know."

"Well, I've been sent to hunt on my own for a while," Gorsepaw meowed. "So Onewhisker doesn't expect me back to camp until dusk."

Fire Heart hesitated, but knew the longer they waited the more their Clans would notice their absence. And who knew what Cloud Tail was dealing with right now.

"Fine," he sighed.

Gorsepaw brightened and raced away through the heather. "This way!"

"Wow, he can run!" Princess panted as they all tried to keep up with the apprentice.

Soon, they reached the barn. Nearby was a twoleg nest. "That's it, isn't it?" Sparrow Fur asked her friend.

"Yep," Gorsepaw chirped. "C'mon, let's-" He moved a paw forward, but froze as howling and barking sounded nearby and suddenly a dog burst out. It was big!

"Uh, oh," Gorsepaw muttered.

"You guys get Cloud Tail! I'll distract it!" Raven Hope zoomed past the dog and it eagerly followed.

Fire Heart gasped. "You three find Cloud Tail!" He ordered. "I've got to help him!"

He raced away and was surprised when his sister followed. "What? I'm not letting you face this thing alone. I trust Cloud Tail's friends to help him."

Fire Heart nodded and raced after the dog that was chasing Raven Hope. He couldn't bear to lose him too!

Cloud Tail had never felt more miserable in his life. That morning he had gone to visit his mom. He felt lonely. He didn't think Fire Heart meant to forget him sometimes. He had a lot on his mind too.

Suddenly, he fell asleep next to his mother, who groomed him like a little kit and it reminded him of Turtle Tail and being curled against her belly next to his siblings as she groomed him.

When he had woken up he was in a monster with an ugly twoleg face ogling him in the cage he was trapped in.

And now he was here. With an annoying dog.

Said dog was yapping up at him as he curled up against the clear hole that let him see outside.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as two cats sprang up on the other side, grinning at him. "Sparrow Fur! Gorsepaw!" He exclaimed, hope in his heart as he grinned back.

"We're here to rescue you," Gorsepaw meowed, though it was muffled by the clear barricade between them.

"Just stay calm," Sparrow Fur added while Raven Hope ran past with a dog at his heels and Fire Heart! And was that his mother following?

"Okay, we need to get this thing open," Gorsepaw meowed, pressing his paws against the clear wall.

"Try pulling that thing at the top!" Princess yowled as they ran past again, this time she and Raven Hope chased the dog, who chased Fire Heart.

Gorsepaw and Sparrow Fur looked up and their eyes brightened. "She must mean that thing, sticking out." Gorsepaw bit on it and screwed his face up in pain. It must hurt his teeth, but he wasn't giving up.

Cloud Tail could never ask for better friends.

"Okay, now what?" Sparrow Fur asked once they'd pulled the small part.

"Try pushing it up from the bottom!" Princess yowled as she raced past, the dog chasing her as Fire Heart and Raven Hope followed. "It's what my twolegs do to open it!"

"Good thing she watches them," Gorsepaw muttered as slowly he and Sparrow Fur pushed it open little by little. Soon Cloud Tail managed to squeeze through the entrance.

He tackled his friends and they all rolled on the ground, laughing.

"C'mon! Let's race!" Gorsepaw meowed and the trio took off.

"Follow them!"

Cloud Tail turned and was relieved to see his kin and Raven Hope following. The dog hared after them, but Gorsepaw led the cats through a complicated zig-zag through the tall grass until they'd lost it.

"Thank you so much!" Cloud Tail mewed.

"Of course, buddy!" Gorsepaw butted his head against his fluffy shoulder. "Anway, I should get back before Onewhisker comes looking for me." He dipped his head to the other cats and raced off.

"C'mon," Fire Heart sighed and Cloud Tail realized he was just as exhausted as how his uncle looked. "We'll walk you home and then get back." He looked to Princess.

As they walked, Cloud Tail meowed, "Thanks for coming for me."

"Of course," Fire Heart murmured. "And just know that I haven't forgotten you. I just get distracted sometimes."

Cloud Tail nodded. His uncle always had a faraway look in his eyes as if he could see something no one else could.

Cloud Tail would just have to get used to it. And maybe be the one to be there for Fire Heart.

He looked out into the forest and blinked as green eyes watched him. When he blinked again they were gone.

Maybe I'm starting to lose it too…

Pebble Heart followed Tall Shadow into the camp. The black she-cat waltzed in like she owned the place, meanwhile, he bowed his head.

Cats hissed at them from the shadows, but when Tall Shadow and the rogues dropped their catches, a crowd of cats surged out of their hiding spots and tore at the prey like a pack of dogs.

"Sheesh, and I thought we had it bad," Mowgli, the brown rogue muttered.

"Tell me about it," the ginger one called Snag, because of his crooked tooth, agreed.

"Blackfoot?" A tortoiseshell she-cat, Fernshade, pushed through the crowd and stared at him eyes wide. A furry gray tom repeated his name and stared as well.

The whole of ShadowClan turned to stare at the group. Except Nightstar and Cinderfur. The two of them were nowhere in sight.

Runningnose appeared and seemed relaxed as he nodded at Pebble Heart. "I was expecting you."

Pebble Heart dipped his head back, tentatively smiling.

"...We're back?" Russetfur finally meowed to break the silence, nervously smiling.

I accidentally made the window lock on the outside, but oh well. And I know the Cloud Tail rescue was more short and easier in this AU, but it wasn't the worst of their problems, so I had to make it short. And yeah, Fire Heart is seeing the ghosts of the past, poor boy.