Sharptalon gasped in shock. This cat was crazy! 

Rabbittail's ears flattened. "I wouldn't allow your filthy paws to get on my mentor, so I killed him myself. I put him out of his misery anyway.... Kestrelflight was sick and was suffering everyday," Rabbittail sighed. 

Sharptalon blinked at him. "What proof do you have that I was going to kill him?" He growled.

"I saw Wolffang with you at the gathering. I knew what you were feeling," Rabbittail growled. "But you didn't have the intention to put him out of his suffering, you had the intention to murder him."

Sharptalon bristled, unsheathing his claws. "How can you see Wolffang?" He hissed.

"I'm not sure," Rabbittail answered. "But I did receive a message from StarClan: The sharper the talons are, the worse the damage will be."

Sharptalon glared at the tom.

Breezepelt came from around the rock, flattening his ears. "What are you two arguing about?" He hissed.

"Nothing," Sharptalon growled quickly, his thoughts racing. Rabbittail was out of his mind. I will come back and kill him. He's a danger now that he knows what I intended to do. 

"How is Crowfeather doing?" Breezepelt's question jerked Sharptalon back to the present. 

"He's fine," Sharptalon answered quickly. 

"Typical Crowfeather. Abandons his son and his Clan for a stupid ThunderClan she-cat," Breezepelt growled, stalking off. 

Rabbittail glared at Sharptalon still. "You should leave now. You are well enough to go back to your Clan."

"I'm not. You could kill my Clanmates while I'm away," Sharptalon growled. Echostrike had lost her memory and Needlepaw was just an apprentice. They would easily die to Rabbittail, a full grown tom.

"You think just because I killed Kestrelflight, I'd kill your two friends? You're pathetic," Rabbittail growled. He turned around quickly, stalking off.

Sharptalon stared after him, a growl rising in his throat. He didn't trust this tom. He stalked back to the medicine den. Echostrike and Needlepaw were asleep. He lay down by Echostrike, his thoughts whirling. After what seemed like forever, he finally fell asleep.

Two days had passed since being in WindClan's camp. Sharptalon was crouched down beside Echostrike, eating a rabbit. Needlepaw was sitting beside him. She'd been very quiet since first coming here.

Sharptalon took another bite of rabbit. He glanced at Needlepaw. "Are you hungry?" He asked.

Needlepaw's head turned toward him, her dull eyes locking with his. She didn't say anything, just sat there. 

Sharptalon tore a small bite of flesh from the rabbit's flank. He pawed it over to Needlepaw. He hoped she'd eat it. But he noticed something else strange about her. She seemed really tired. A cut was at the tip of her ear.

Sharptalon turned away from her, shaking suspicion from his thoughts. She hadn't been fighting in three days. How could a cut in her ear-tip look that fresh? Sharptalon's whiskers twitched. Was she training in the Dark Forest? 

Paw steps behind Sharptalon made him turn. He saw Gorsestar padding up to them, his eyes shimmering. 

"Greetings, Sharptalon, Echostrike, and Needlepaw. Are you all well enough to travel now?" Gorsestar asked, his tail-tip flicking.

"I am," Sharptalon answered. Needlepaw looked well enough too.

"My head hurts... G-Gorsestar," Echostrike mumbled. "I don't want to leave my Clanmates."

"Your Clanmates will be traveling with you, Echostrike," Gorsestar reminded her. 

Echostrike glanced at him, her green eyes rounding. "But aren't these my Clanmates?" She asked, flicking her tail at Sharptalon and Needlepaw, and then the WindClan cats in camp.

Gorsestar's whiskers twitched, his eyes rounding with sympathy. "Echostrike, your Clanmates are ThunderClan, not WindClan."

"Then why have I been living here?" Echostrike asked, her tail flicking. She got to her paws. "I hardly know these WindClan cats but I know them better than anyone else besides Sharptalon and Needlepaw."

Gorsestar shook his head. "You may not remember your actual Clanmates, but even if you can't remember them, WindClan is not your home."

"T-then... What is my home? Did I do something bad? Did I be.... disloyal to Wi-WindClan? Is that why they don't like me?" Echostrike's voice cracked with sadness, her eyes becoming wet. 

"No, no, not at all. You've never been disloyal," Sharptalon insisted, getting to his paws. "ThunderClan is your real home, where you became an apprentice. And then you trained for many moons and became a warrior," he explained.

Echostrike glanced at him, her eyes rounding. "I don't remember any of it," she sniffed.

"That's why you have Clanmates. They'll help you remember everything. Your parents and your younger siblings will help to remind you."

"I have kin?" Echostrike murmured, looking lost. Sadness showed in her eyes. "I can't even remember their names."

"Your mother is Phoenixwing and your father is Hawkfoot," Sharptalon reminded her. "Remember how you first met me?" He asked. Sharptalon suddenly remembered that she'd lost all her memory. "Well, I mean, you first met me when I was a kit."

"I... I can't... I don't.. remember anything," Echostrike mewed. Her fur stood on end suddenly, fear showing in her eyes. "What will my Clanmates do if I can't remember anything?" She asked. "Will they throw me out for being useless?" 

"No!" Sharptalon gasped. "You'll just have to... re-remember everything important in your life. It'll be hard, but it'll be possible," Sharptalon insisted. Not unless Squirrelstar just makes her an elder.

"I guess you're right," Echostrike sighed, her tail drooping.

"Sharptalon? Are you ok hunting with Needlepaw?" Gorsestar asked. "You two are well, and I want you to at least be doing something useful as long as you're here."

"I don't mind," Sharptalon meowed. The sunlight was bright, warming his pelt. Trees weren't here, but maybe he could hunt. 

Needlepaw stood up, her eyes glowing.

"Let's see if we can catch anything," Sharptalon meowed. He padded over to the camp entrance, Needlepaw by his side. This is the perfect time to ask her. 

Further away from camp, Sharptalon crouched, thrush scent touching his nose. Needlepaw crouched beside him, her ears pricked forward.

Sharptalon spotted the thrush pecking at the ground, its wings fluttering behind it. It was trying to pull something from the ground. 

"It looks stuck," Needlepaw whispered very quietly.

Sharptalon narrowed his eyes, seeing that the thrush's beak was stuck in the ground, its head pressed to the dirt. The thrush fluttered its wings. "Do you want to catch it?"

"I've never caught a thrush before." Needlepaw's gaze was locked onto the bird. "And it would seem like cheating if I caught it. It's stuck." 

Sharptalon flattened his ears against the wind. "Well I'm catching it. Gorsestar probably wants us to bring at least something home."

"Well you go do you," Needlepaw mewed quietly. 

Sharptalon crept forward from the heather, his paw steps careful. He then shot forward. The thrush turned towards him, its eyes wide with horror. Sharptalon lunged forward, his claws catching the bird, then bit the thrush's neck, feeling it fall limp in his jaws.

Needlepaw padded over, eyeing the thrush. "Well, we've caught something."

Sharptalon dug a small hole in the ground, then placed the thrush inside. He covered it up. "We'll come back for it," he mewed. I have to ask her. Sharptalon glanced toward Needlepaw, his eyes locking with hers. "Needlepaw."

Needlepaw blinked at him, her ears pricking forward. A gust of wind blew through her fur. "What?" 

Sharptalon's whiskers twitched. "Your dreams... have you been visiting a Dark Forest cat?"

Needlepaw narrowed her eyes. "Why are you asking me that? Are you accusing me of being disloyal?" She hissed.

"No!" Sharptalon growled. "I just wanted to know if you trained with the Dark Forest in your dreams," he explained.

"Would you tell any cat if I answered?" Needlepaw asked, her whiskers twitching.

"No," Sharptalon replied. "I train in the Dark Forest." 

Needlepaw's eyes widened. "I never thought a strong warrior like you would train there!" She gasped, surprise lighting her gaze. "But... yes, I train there too."

Sharptalon pricked his ears forward. "Who's your mentor?" He asked.

"Well, Hawkfrost has been training me. A-and... I saw Falconflight there," Needlepaw mewed. "Why is a rogue there?"

"Because he used to be ThunderClan," Sharptalon explained. "Wolffang is training me."

"Is there any other cat that trains there?" Needlepaw asked. 

"Sparkpelt, Mistfang, Breezepelt, and Spikefur. But now Scorchfur, Owlnose, Yarrowleaf, and Darkspots are training there," Sharptalon meowed, flicking his tail.  "Some for revenge reasons, some just because they like the training."

"I like the training and I want revenge. I want to kill the rogue that killed my mother," Needlepaw growled, sinking her claws into the dirt. 

"Rain," Sharptalon corrected. "Darktail's deputy," he added. 

Needlepaw lashed her tail. "Why are you training there?"

"Revenge on my father and sister. But... Rain killed my mother too," Sharptalon mewed. Before Needlepaw could reply, he quickly mewed, "We should go back to camp."