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Description
TFA Warriors
Chapter 17

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Sari looked up at the forest cats, staring at one bewildered face to another. With jaws hanging open and blue eyes round like full moons, the wild cats looked more shocked than pleased by their friend's rapid recovery.

Sari twitched an ear at Bumblebee's remark. "I…I don't think so." She mewed in a puzzled tone. "I don't know any other housecats besides my dad, and he's never done anything like that before. We wouldn't need vets like August if our collars did that!"

"What's a vet and who's August?" Bulkhead asked, though his question was ignored when Ratchet growled, red fur bristling.

"Of course kittypets can't, you idiot!" Ratchet snarled in such a vicious tone that Bumblebee scampered back like a frightened rabbit, cringing away from the elder.

Optimus shot the young warrior a look of sympathy. The ThunderClan warrior knew that Ratchet was only angry because he was as shocked and confused as the rest of them. The old medicine cat turned and nudged Prowl's shoulder with his nose. "How do you feel?" He gruffly asked.

The black-furred ShadowClan warrior slowly rose to his paws, careful as if waiting for the wound to reappear and unleash a waterfall of crimson blood. When Prowl was standing firmly on all four legs, the others could only stare with tails swishing.

"It's as if he was never hurt in the first place!" Bulkhead proclaimed in stunned amazement.

"Do you feel any pain? Any soreness at all?" Ratchet inquired, leaning forward to sniff and take a better look at the spot.

Prowl shook his head. "No pain. I'm tired and a bit sore, but…that's it." The ShadowClan warrior seemed to have lost his cold attitude towards the others in the midst of the confusion. The dark warrior narrowed his eyes when the tiny kittypet kit strut forward, tail curling the air and ruby eyes sparkling.

"That's caused I saved you!" she said in a high pitched meow.

Optimus drew his ears flat, worried that Prowl, who openly despised any cat none ShadowClan, to hiss threats at the young kittypet. However, to his surprise, Prowl merely twitched his whiskers and stared at the little kit. "So I see." He meowed quietly.

"Wow," whispered Bumblebee to Optimus in good-humored awe, "that kittypet must really hold the power of StarClan in her paws! Healing a cat is one thing, but making Prowl friendly? What a miracle worker!"

Optimus flicked his ear, shooing the young warrior off. He suspected that the only reason Prowl wasn't snapping Sari's head off was because he was in her debt at the moment. However, Bumblebee's comment did get Optimus to thinking. Was Sari's sudden power really come from StarClan? He shared a look with Ratchet, who seemed to have thought of the same thing.

"Youngster…Sari…is it?" Ratchet meowed, peering down at the kittypet. "Do you know of a place called StarClan?"

The little she-cat's eyes lit up. "Yes! I know someone from there!"

The forest cats stared at each other, stunned. "Who?" Ratchet demanded leaning down towards the kitten.

"Her name's Eternalscream! She's the most beautiful cat in the whole world! She's big and grey and has stars in her fur!" Sari meowed, describing the starry cat who she had met in the abandoned house. She nudged the grey stone at the end of her red collar. "Eternalscream was the one that changed my collar, and she told me to find a bunch of forest cats." She looked up at the group of warriors with round eyes sparkling with delight.  "And I did! I really found you guys!"

Optimus turned away from the kitten and her expression of awe and happiness. He rose to his paws and gestured towards the others with a sweep of his tail. "Come." He beckoned the others to follow him a couple tail-lengths away. Sari started to follow them, but Optimus halted her.

"No, stay there for second." The ThunderClan warrior meowed in a firm, but not unkind voice. He turned to Bumblebee. "Keep her company."

Bumblebee looked outraged. "Hey! I want to hear the secret meeting too!"

Prowl smacked the yellow warrior on the back of the head with his tail as he passed. "Oh, stop acting like an apprentice and watch the kittypet, will you mouse-brain?"

Ignoring the scathing look the WindClan cat was shooting at them, Optimus, Bulkhead, Prowl, and Ratchet settled them selves down out of earshot of Sari.

"Have you ever heard of a warrior named Eternalscream?" Optimus asked turning to Ratchet. Optimus himself had never heard of any warrior of that name in ThunderClan or at any of the Gatherings. However, if Eternalscream was truly a StarClan warrior, then Ratchet might be familiar with her. Medicine cats always share tongue with their ancient ancestors.

Ratchet's blue eyes narrowed into thoughtful slits. "No…I've never heard of any warrior named Eternalscream. Of course," he quickly meowed, glancing at each warrior's face, "it could be a warrior from before my time."

"But why did this warrior come to speak with a kittypet?" Prowl demanded, unsheathing his claws on the cement sidewalk. His black and grey fur bristled with unease. "And how did she heal me when you couldn't!?"

"I don't know!" Ratchet snapped, baring his fangs at the ShadowClan cat. "I've never seen anything like that happen before! No medicine cat has!"

"Perhaps Sari's the reason StarClan sent us here?" Bulkhead quietly suggested. Optimus couldn't help but be impressed by his level-headed and sensible thinking.

"We're looking for a fallen star, not a stupid kittypet." Prowl snorted. He gave a sideways glance over at Sari and Bumblebee. Bumblebee had gotten over his bad attitude and was play-fighting with the young kitten, letting out a meow of delight when she pounced on top of his head.

"But she could be the key to finding the fallen star." Optimus meowed, agreeing with Bulkhead. "There could be a reason that StarClan chose to visit this kittypet. I think it would be best if we keep her close for now."

Ratchet looked unconvinced and Prowl gave a disagreeable snort; however, Bulkhead gave a respectful nod. "Okay good, not let's see what this kittypet kno…." Optimus' meow trailed off when all four cats turned to where they had left Sari and Bumblebee.

The two young cats were gone.

"Mousedung!" Ratchet spat, crossly lashing his shaggy tail. "That's it! From now on, Bumblebee is not allowed to be by himself ever again! He's worse than any apprentice I've ever seen in ThunderClan!"

"When I get my claws on that insolent, little furball," Prowl threatened in a low growl. "I'm going to…"

"Finally, you guys are done!"

Bumblebee, with Sari happily leaping behind him, padded over to his team, coming from down the length of the sidewalk. His yellow head and tail were raised proudly and his sky-blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Good news!" he meowed, ignoring the glares from Ratchet and Prowl, "Sari here just found us a good place to hide from BloodClan for the night!"

and Bulkhead shared a glance and nodded at one another. Optimus swept a paw towards Sari and gestured her to walk in front.

"Well, then, lead the way."

---

The sun was slowly sinking behind the rows of tall Twolegs buildings by the time Sari had led the forest cats to the old abandoned house. The blue sky was now streaked with pink and orange clouds and was slowly turning a darkening purple. The evening sounds of crickets chirping was loud in the air; when Twoleg monsters passed by, their eyes were a blinding, golden glare.

"Here it is!" Sari announced. She padded to the front of the broken iron gates and settled on her haunches, facing the cautiously approaching wildcats. "You guys can stay here for the night!"

The Clan cats stared up at the abandoned building with expressions of horror on their faces.

"Are you mad?" Ratchet curled his lips until the faint points of fangs gleamed. "Do you see collars around our necks? We're not kittypets! We don't stay in Twoleg nests!"

Prowl hissed in agreement. The dark warrior's icy blue slits were glaring accusingly at Bumblebee. Besides Bumblebee, none of the other cats looked happy at Sari's idea. Bulkhead frowned and glanced anxiously between Bumblebee and Ratchet, green tail swishing the ground. Even Optimus stared at the towering structure with unease.

Sari's whiskers drooped and sagged at their unpleasant expressions and enraged words. "What's wrong with staying in a house?" she mewed, sounding quite upset. "I stay in one all the time! They're big and warm and really safe!"

Bumblebee rested the black tip of his tail on Sari's shoulder. "Well, I thought it was a good idea." He mewed, lifting his grey chin up. Sari beamed up at the handsome warrior backing her up, red eyes shining.

Optimus inwardly rolled his eyes, though his whiskers gave an amused twitch. It looked as if Bumblebee had gained an admirer.

"Well, I think it's completely mouse-brained!" Prowl snapped. "Next you'll suggest that we start lapping up milk and rolling onto our bellies to be pampered by Twolegs!"

The little kittypet stared down at her paws, visibly upset by Prowl's and Ratchet's vicious objections.

"Don't be upset, Sari!" Bulkhead meowed sympathetically to the depressed kit. "We would do your idea, we really would, but we can't."

"Why not?" Sari whined, ears flat.

Optimus took a pawstep towards her. "Because it goes against the Warrior Code.  Clan cats reject the life of a kittypet, which means we can't stay in twoleg houses. I'm sorry, Sari." He felt sorry for the little kit. He knew that Sari had only been looking out for their best interest. However, none of his teammates looked happy at the idea and, for once, Prowl was nodding head in agreement with one of his decisions.

Bumblebee looked spitting furious. "Are you guys completely mouse-brained? Optimus, you were going to have us spend the night Max's yard a couple of heartbeats ago!"

The blue, red and white warrior narrowed his eyes. "A yard is different, Bumblebee. Sari is asking us to stay in a Twoleg shelter."

"Which hasn't had Twolegs in it in forever!" Bumblebee argued. The skinny yellow tom opened his jaws and breathed in the air. "Smell the air! There's not a trace of Twoleg scent anywhere around this house!"

Optimus, though annoyed at Bumblebee's persistence, opened his jaws and breathed in. Bumblebee's was right. Despite it being a den for Twolegs, Optimus could only detect the scent of dust, rotten wood, old age, strange plants, and tiny furry creatures. There was not a whiff of Twoleg.

"Humans never keep their houses looking this dirty." Sari put in, flickering her tail to gesture at how old and run-down the house was.

"Clan cats do not stay in any Twoleg shelter." Prowl growled still unconvinced.

"EXACTLY!" Bumblebee meowed, blue eyes bright and fluffy tail lashing. Seeing his teammates' confused expressions, he explained. "Megatron was once a Clan cat just like the rest of us so he knows the warrior code."

"But chooses not to follow it." Prowl cut in.

"So he knows that we loyal Clan cats won't disobey the code and we'll keep away from Twoleg houses!"

"Which you're telling us we won't."  Optimus meowed.

"So if we stay in this house, then BloodClan cats will never think of looking for us there because they'll think we're still following the Warrior Code!"

"When we're not." Ratchet drily meowed.

"EXACTLY!" Bumblebee excitedly meowed. "We're outsmarting BloodClan!"

Bulkhead gave a groan and lay on the ground, covering his ears with his paws. "Oooh, my brain hurts." Sari looked just as lost as Bulkhead at Bumblebee's explanation.

Optimus shook his head. "Bumblebee, even though I don't really agree with…or quite follow…your explanation, you do make some fair points. It's true that even though this place was built by Twolegs, it hasn't seen Twolegs in quite a long time, and that it would make a good hiding place against BloodClan."

"Plus it's also where the fallen star is!" Bumblebee add, "Sari saw it at the very top."

"WHAT?!" The other forest cats' mouths were wide with shock, and their fur was bristling with tension and unease at the mention. Optimus thrust himself in front of Bumblebee, eyes narrowed.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" the older warrior demanded, "Back down the street, perhaps?" It would have saved them time from arguing.

Bumblebee gave his chest fur a couple self-conscious licks. "I didn't want BloodClan cats to overhear us in the street. They're after it too, you know." The little warrior's blue eyes darkened as he remembered the horrifying interrogation between himself and the BloodClan cats. Even if Megatron's death had stopped that particular group, who know if there were more hiding in the streets?

Ratchet pushed past Optimus and Bumblebee, heading towards the opening in the stone fence around the house. "I won't believe a word of you two kits until I see this star for myself!"

Prowl followed after the medicine cat, but not before shooting Bumblebee one last scathing remark. "Let's hope you're right this time, kitling!"

Bumblebee's ears laid flat in embarrassment. The day before, he had led the group to the farmhouse near WindClan territory after his leader, Longarm Prime, had told him that it was the location of the fallen star. Instead of finding the star, they had been captured and brought to the city.

"It wasn't my fault that Perceptor was wrong." Bumblebee growled under his breath as he followed Ratchet and Prowl through the fence. Bulkhead followed behind.

"Who's Perceptor?" Sari asked, trailing closely behind Optimus.

"The medicine cat of WindClan." Optimus answered. He squeezed himself through the narrow opening of the fence. His whiskers tingled and shook when absorbed the green and overgrown atmosphere of the unkempt yard.

"Just like Ratchet?" the young kit poked her head through the fence.

"Just like Ratchet." Optimus absent-mindedly meowed. "Just not as accurate, apparently." He thought to himself. Medicine cats were usually right about reading signs sent by StarClan. They were also usually the most sensible cats in a clan. Surely, WindClan's medicine cat didn't possibly believe that the star would land at the farm, so close to clan territory?

"But Bumblebee hadn't gotten the message from Perceptor." Optimus suddenly remembered. "He had gotten the message from Longarm Prime."

Optimus paused, one front paw frozen in mid step. The ThunderClan warrior was deep in thought. Had Longarm Prime made up the message from Perceptor and purposely sent the group to the Twoleg farm? His fur bristled slightly at the thought.

"Hey, what's keeping you? We don't have all day Boss-cat!" Bumblebee had turned his head around and was staring curiously at Optimus. Sari shot away from Optimus' side towards the golden warrior.

"On my way." Optimus called out. He licked his front paw and drew it over his face. The warrior shook off such troubling, suspicious thoughts. Longarm Prime was a loyal cat to WindClan and a well-respected warrior among the four Clans. He had probably just mis-heard Perceptor's message to Bumblebee. Why in StarClan's name would Longarm Prime ever want to hurt Optimus and his team?

The ThunderClan warrior watched Bumblebee stride across the yard, his golden pelt blazing in the pale sunlight.  Sari broke away from Optimus' side and followed the younger warrior, a dreamy expression on her kitten face.

More importantly, Optimus wondered, why would Longarm Prime ever want to hurt Bumblebee?

----

"Are we there yet?" Bulkhead asked Sari. The little kitten had taken the lead instead of Ratchet since the medicine cat had no idea how to get to the top of the house, where the fallen star was.

"Almost." Sari answered, climbing up the staircase. It was taking quite a bit longer to reach the attic than had last time, mostly because the forest cats were moving through the house as such a snail-slow pace.  It amused the housecat greatly see such brave wild cats being afraid of dusty old furniture.

Even though there was no a whiff of human in the place, the warrior cats were still very wary as they slowly snuck through the abandoned house. Every creak and groan from the floorboards made the clan cats jump with nervous bristling fur.

"Bumblebee! Keep up the pace!" Optimus ordered, looking down at the lower floor of the house from one of the middle stairs of the staircase.

Bumblebee drew his head out from underneath the couch where he had been sniffing away curiously. The little warrior gave a sneeze, spreading dust. "Coming Optimus!"

As usual, the WindClan warrior's curiosity had overpowered his more sensible wariness. The yellow warrior seemed to be sniffing at every dusty corner of the house. Now, he quickly followed the rest of his team up the staircase.

Sari led the team of warriors up the staircase, down the hallway, and then guided them through the last doorway and up the final set of stairs. The attic looked the same as when she left it. The only thing different was that the light was much dimmer than earlier. The sun had passed overhead and was now beginning to sink in the horizon. The sky through the glass window and through the ceiling opening looked a darkish purple, with the first scattered stars starting to shine.

Lightly shining beneath the faint starlight, right below the roof hole, was the fallen star.

The five clan cats, weary and exhausted, stood staring at the object of their quest, whiskers tingling and blue reflecting the star's light.

"That's it." Optimus meowed. There was no question. All of them could feel the power coming from the small, black stone. It chilled their bones and stirred their blood with a feeling of great ancientness.

A lapse of silence came after Optimus' statement. Even Bumblebee stood in a respect silence amidst the ancient stone's presence. Moment passed until the feeling of revel died away and the cats found the ability to speak once more.

"So we found the fallen star," Prowl stated, "what next?"

Description
TFA Warriors
Chapter 17

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Sari looked up at the forest cats, staring at one bewildered face to another. With jaws hanging open and blue eyes round like full moons, the wild cats looked more shocked than pleased by their friend's rapid recovery.

Sari twitched an ear at Bumblebee's remark. "I…I don't think so." She mewed in a puzzled tone. "I don't know any other housecats besides my dad, and he's never done anything like that before. We wouldn't need vets like August if our collars did that!"

"What's a vet and who's August?" Bulkhead asked, though his question was ignored when Ratchet growled, red fur bristling.

"Of course kittypets can't, you idiot!" Ratchet snarled in such a vicious tone that Bumblebee scampered back like a frightened rabbit, cringing away from the elder.

Optimus shot the young warrior a look of sympathy. The ThunderClan warrior knew that Ratchet was only angry because he was as shocked and confused as the rest of them. The old medicine cat turned and nudged Prowl's shoulder with his nose. "How do you feel?" He gruffly asked.

The black-furred ShadowClan warrior slowly rose to his paws, careful as if waiting for the wound to reappear and unleash a waterfall of crimson blood. When Prowl was standing firmly on all four legs, the others could only stare with tails swishing.

"It's as if he was never hurt in the first place!" Bulkhead proclaimed in stunned amazement.

"Do you feel any pain? Any soreness at all?" Ratchet inquired, leaning forward to sniff and take a better look at the spot.

Prowl shook his head. "No pain. I'm tired and a bit sore, but…that's it." The ShadowClan warrior seemed to have lost his cold attitude towards the others in the midst of the confusion. The dark warrior narrowed his eyes when the tiny kittypet kit strut forward, tail curling the air and ruby eyes sparkling.

"That's caused I saved you!" she said in a high pitched meow.

Optimus drew his ears flat, worried that Prowl, who openly despised any cat none ShadowClan, to hiss threats at the young kittypet. However, to his surprise, Prowl merely twitched his whiskers and stared at the little kit. "So I see." He meowed quietly.

"Wow," whispered Bumblebee to Optimus in good-humored awe, "that kittypet must really hold the power of StarClan in her paws! Healing a cat is one thing, but making Prowl friendly? What a miracle worker!"

Optimus flicked his ear, shooing the young warrior off. He suspected that the only reason Prowl wasn't snapping Sari's head off was because he was in her debt at the moment. However, Bumblebee's comment did get Optimus to thinking. Was Sari's sudden power really come from StarClan? He shared a look with Ratchet, who seemed to have thought of the same thing.

"Youngster…Sari…is it?" Ratchet meowed, peering down at the kittypet. "Do you know of a place called StarClan?"

The little she-cat's eyes lit up. "Yes! I know someone from there!"

The forest cats stared at each other, stunned. "Who?" Ratchet demanded leaning down towards the kitten.

"Her name's Eternalscream! She's the most beautiful cat in the whole world! She's big and grey and has stars in her fur!" Sari meowed, describing the starry cat who she had met in the abandoned house. She nudged the grey stone at the end of her red collar. "Eternalscream was the one that changed my collar, and she told me to find a bunch of forest cats." She looked up at the group of warriors with round eyes sparkling with delight.  "And I did! I really found you guys!"

Optimus turned away from the kitten and her expression of awe and happiness. He rose to his paws and gestured towards the others with a sweep of his tail. "Come." He beckoned the others to follow him a couple tail-lengths away. Sari started to follow them, but Optimus halted her.

"No, stay there for second." The ThunderClan warrior meowed in a firm, but not unkind voice. He turned to Bumblebee. "Keep her company."

Bumblebee looked outraged. "Hey! I want to hear the secret meeting too!"

Prowl smacked the yellow warrior on the back of the head with his tail as he passed. "Oh, stop acting like an apprentice and watch the kittypet, will you mouse-brain?"

Ignoring the scathing look the WindClan cat was shooting at them, Optimus, Bulkhead, Prowl, and Ratchet settled them selves down out of earshot of Sari.

"Have you ever heard of a warrior named Eternalscream?" Optimus asked turning to Ratchet. Optimus himself had never heard of any warrior of that name in ThunderClan or at any of the Gatherings. However, if Eternalscream was truly a StarClan warrior, then Ratchet might be familiar with her. Medicine cats always share tongue with their ancient ancestors.

Ratchet's blue eyes narrowed into thoughtful slits. "No…I've never heard of any warrior named Eternalscream. Of course," he quickly meowed, glancing at each warrior's face, "it could be a warrior from before my time."

"But why did this warrior come to speak with a kittypet?" Prowl demanded, unsheathing his claws on the cement sidewalk. His black and grey fur bristled with unease. "And how did she heal me when you couldn't!?"

"I don't know!" Ratchet snapped, baring his fangs at the ShadowClan cat. "I've never seen anything like that happen before! No medicine cat has!"

"Perhaps Sari's the reason StarClan sent us here?" Bulkhead quietly suggested. Optimus couldn't help but be impressed by his level-headed and sensible thinking.

"We're looking for a fallen star, not a stupid kittypet." Prowl snorted. He gave a sideways glance over at Sari and Bumblebee. Bumblebee had gotten over his bad attitude and was play-fighting with the young kitten, letting out a meow of delight when she pounced on top of his head.

"But she could be the key to finding the fallen star." Optimus meowed, agreeing with Bulkhead. "There could be a reason that StarClan chose to visit this kittypet. I think it would be best if we keep her close for now."

Ratchet looked unconvinced and Prowl gave a disagreeable snort; however, Bulkhead gave a respectful nod. "Okay good, not let's see what this kittypet kno…." Optimus' meow trailed off when all four cats turned to where they had left Sari and Bumblebee.

The two young cats were gone.

"Mousedung!" Ratchet spat, crossly lashing his shaggy tail. "That's it! From now on, Bumblebee is not allowed to be by himself ever again! He's worse than any apprentice I've ever seen in ThunderClan!"

"When I get my claws on that insolent, little furball," Prowl threatened in a low growl. "I'm going to…"

"Finally, you guys are done!"

Bumblebee, with Sari happily leaping behind him, padded over to his team, coming from down the length of the sidewalk. His yellow head and tail were raised proudly and his sky-blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Good news!" he meowed, ignoring the glares from Ratchet and Prowl, "Sari here just found us a good place to hide from BloodClan for the night!"

and Bulkhead shared a glance and nodded at one another. Optimus swept a paw towards Sari and gestured her to walk in front.

"Well, then, lead the way."

---

The sun was slowly sinking behind the rows of tall Twolegs buildings by the time Sari had led the forest cats to the old abandoned house. The blue sky was now streaked with pink and orange clouds and was slowly turning a darkening purple. The evening sounds of crickets chirping was loud in the air; when Twoleg monsters passed by, their eyes were a blinding, golden glare.

"Here it is!" Sari announced. She padded to the front of the broken iron gates and settled on her haunches, facing the cautiously approaching wildcats. "You guys can stay here for the night!"

The Clan cats stared up at the abandoned building with expressions of horror on their faces.

"Are you mad?" Ratchet curled his lips until the faint points of fangs gleamed. "Do you see collars around our necks? We're not kittypets! We don't stay in Twoleg nests!"

Prowl hissed in agreement. The dark warrior's icy blue slits were glaring accusingly at Bumblebee. Besides Bumblebee, none of the other cats looked happy at Sari's idea. Bulkhead frowned and glanced anxiously between Bumblebee and Ratchet, green tail swishing the ground. Even Optimus stared at the towering structure with unease.

Sari's whiskers drooped and sagged at their unpleasant expressions and enraged words. "What's wrong with staying in a house?" she mewed, sounding quite upset. "I stay in one all the time! They're big and warm and really safe!"

Bumblebee rested the black tip of his tail on Sari's shoulder. "Well, I thought it was a good idea." He mewed, lifting his grey chin up. Sari beamed up at the handsome warrior backing her up, red eyes shining.

Optimus inwardly rolled his eyes, though his whiskers gave an amused twitch. It looked as if Bumblebee had gained an admirer.

"Well, I think it's completely mouse-brained!" Prowl snapped. "Next you'll suggest that we start lapping up milk and rolling onto our bellies to be pampered by Twolegs!"

The little kittypet stared down at her paws, visibly upset by Prowl's and Ratchet's vicious objections.

"Don't be upset, Sari!" Bulkhead meowed sympathetically to the depressed kit. "We would do your idea, we really would, but we can't."

"Why not?" Sari whined, ears flat.

Optimus took a pawstep towards her. "Because it goes against the Warrior Code.  Clan cats reject the life of a kittypet, which means we can't stay in twoleg houses. I'm sorry, Sari." He felt sorry for the little kit. He knew that Sari had only been looking out for their best interest. However, none of his teammates looked happy at the idea and, for once, Prowl was nodding head in agreement with one of his decisions.

Bumblebee looked spitting furious. "Are you guys completely mouse-brained? Optimus, you were going to have us spend the night Max's yard a couple of heartbeats ago!"

The blue, red and white warrior narrowed his eyes. "A yard is different, Bumblebee. Sari is asking us to stay in a Twoleg shelter."

"Which hasn't had Twolegs in it in forever!" Bumblebee argued. The skinny yellow tom opened his jaws and breathed in the air. "Smell the air! There's not a trace of Twoleg scent anywhere around this house!"

Optimus, though annoyed at Bumblebee's persistence, opened his jaws and breathed in. Bumblebee's was right. Despite it being a den for Twolegs, Optimus could only detect the scent of dust, rotten wood, old age, strange plants, and tiny furry creatures. There was not a whiff of Twoleg.

"Humans never keep their houses looking this dirty." Sari put in, flickering her tail to gesture at how old and run-down the house was.

"Clan cats do not stay in any Twoleg shelter." Prowl growled still unconvinced.

"EXACTLY!" Bumblebee meowed, blue eyes bright and fluffy tail lashing. Seeing his teammates' confused expressions, he explained. "Megatron was once a Clan cat just like the rest of us so he knows the warrior code."

"But chooses not to follow it." Prowl cut in.

"So he knows that we loyal Clan cats won't disobey the code and we'll keep away from Twoleg houses!"

"Which you're telling us we won't."  Optimus meowed.

"So if we stay in this house, then BloodClan cats will never think of looking for us there because they'll think we're still following the Warrior Code!"

"When we're not." Ratchet drily meowed.

"EXACTLY!" Bumblebee excitedly meowed. "We're outsmarting BloodClan!"

Bulkhead gave a groan and lay on the ground, covering his ears with his paws. "Oooh, my brain hurts." Sari looked just as lost as Bulkhead at Bumblebee's explanation.

Optimus shook his head. "Bumblebee, even though I don't really agree with…or quite follow…your explanation, you do make some fair points. It's true that even though this place was built by Twolegs, it hasn't seen Twolegs in quite a long time, and that it would make a good hiding place against BloodClan."

"Plus it's also where the fallen star is!" Bumblebee add, "Sari saw it at the very top."

"WHAT?!" The other forest cats' mouths were wide with shock, and their fur was bristling with tension and unease at the mention. Optimus thrust himself in front of Bumblebee, eyes narrowed.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" the older warrior demanded, "Back down the street, perhaps?" It would have saved them time from arguing.

Bumblebee gave his chest fur a couple self-conscious licks. "I didn't want BloodClan cats to overhear us in the street. They're after it too, you know." The little warrior's blue eyes darkened as he remembered the horrifying interrogation between himself and the BloodClan cats. Even if Megatron's death had stopped that particular group, who know if there were more hiding in the streets?

Ratchet pushed past Optimus and Bumblebee, heading towards the opening in the stone fence around the house. "I won't believe a word of you two kits until I see this star for myself!"

Prowl followed after the medicine cat, but not before shooting Bumblebee one last scathing remark. "Let's hope you're right this time, kitling!"

Bumblebee's ears laid flat in embarrassment. The day before, he had led the group to the farmhouse near WindClan territory after his leader, Longarm Prime, had told him that it was the location of the fallen star. Instead of finding the star, they had been captured and brought to the city.

"It wasn't my fault that Perceptor was wrong." Bumblebee growled under his breath as he followed Ratchet and Prowl through the fence. Bulkhead followed behind.

"Who's Perceptor?" Sari asked, trailing closely behind Optimus.

"The medicine cat of WindClan." Optimus answered. He squeezed himself through the narrow opening of the fence. His whiskers tingled and shook when absorbed the green and overgrown atmosphere of the unkempt yard.

"Just like Ratchet?" the young kit poked her head through the fence.

"Just like Ratchet." Optimus absent-mindedly meowed. "Just not as accurate, apparently." He thought to himself. Medicine cats were usually right about reading signs sent by StarClan. They were also usually the most sensible cats in a clan. Surely, WindClan's medicine cat didn't possibly believe that the star would land at the farm, so close to clan territory?

"But Bumblebee hadn't gotten the message from Perceptor." Optimus suddenly remembered. "He had gotten the message from Longarm Prime."

Optimus paused, one front paw frozen in mid step. The ThunderClan warrior was deep in thought. Had Longarm Prime made up the message from Perceptor and purposely sent the group to the Twoleg farm? His fur bristled slightly at the thought.

"Hey, what's keeping you? We don't have all day Boss-cat!" Bumblebee had turned his head around and was staring curiously at Optimus. Sari shot away from Optimus' side towards the golden warrior.

"On my way." Optimus called out. He licked his front paw and drew it over his face. The warrior shook off such troubling, suspicious thoughts. Longarm Prime was a loyal cat to WindClan and a well-respected warrior among the four Clans. He had probably just mis-heard Perceptor's message to Bumblebee. Why in StarClan's name would Longarm Prime ever want to hurt Optimus and his team?

The ThunderClan warrior watched Bumblebee stride across the yard, his golden pelt blazing in the pale sunlight.  Sari broke away from Optimus' side and followed the younger warrior, a dreamy expression on her kitten face.

More importantly, Optimus wondered, why would Longarm Prime ever want to hurt Bumblebee?

----

"Are we there yet?" Bulkhead asked Sari. The little kitten had taken the lead instead of Ratchet since the medicine cat had no idea how to get to the top of the house, where the fallen star was.

"Almost." Sari answered, climbing up the staircase. It was taking quite a bit longer to reach the attic than had last time, mostly because the forest cats were moving through the house as such a snail-slow pace.  It amused the housecat greatly see such brave wild cats being afraid of dusty old furniture.

Even though there was no a whiff of human in the place, the warrior cats were still very wary as they slowly snuck through the abandoned house. Every creak and groan from the floorboards made the clan cats jump with nervous bristling fur.

"Bumblebee! Keep up the pace!" Optimus ordered, looking down at the lower floor of the house from one of the middle stairs of the staircase.

Bumblebee drew his head out from underneath the couch where he had been sniffing away curiously. The little warrior gave a sneeze, spreading dust. "Coming Optimus!"

As usual, the WindClan warrior's curiosity had overpowered his more sensible wariness. The yellow warrior seemed to be sniffing at every dusty corner of the house. Now, he quickly followed the rest of his team up the staircase.

Sari led the team of warriors up the staircase, down the hallway, and then guided them through the last doorway and up the final set of stairs. The attic looked the same as when she left it. The only thing different was that the light was much dimmer than earlier. The sun had passed overhead and was now beginning to sink in the horizon. The sky through the glass window and through the ceiling opening looked a darkish purple, with the first scattered stars starting to shine.

Lightly shining beneath the faint starlight, right below the roof hole, was the fallen star.

The five clan cats, weary and exhausted, stood staring at the object of their quest, whiskers tingling and blue reflecting the star's light.

"That's it." Optimus meowed. There was no question. All of them could feel the power coming from the small, black stone. It chilled their bones and stirred their blood with a feeling of great ancientness.

A lapse of silence came after Optimus' statement. Even Bumblebee stood in a respect silence amidst the ancient stone's presence. Moment passed until the feeling of revel died away and the cats found the ability to speak once more.

"So we found the fallen star," Prowl stated, "what next?"