Wow, I haven't written Warriors fanfic in what, three to four years? And I watch The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and suddenly get an urge to rewrite Kovu's exile using Tigerclaw's exile from ThunderClan. The things my brain does. Sheesh. *shakes head*

For those of you waiting on my Leaf/Crow fics, I will get around to them. Eventually. I'm just focusing on some Doctor Who, NCIS, and a couple crossover fanfics right now. Besides, those Warriors fanfics are in serious need of revision. (They're also up for adoption, in case anyone's interested.) I'm also currently working on revising Greatest Hits to fit my new writing style for songfics. So that will hopefully be up soon.

Any recognizable dialogue comes from Forest of Secrets and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. I am not one of the Erins, nor am I old enough to have been working for Disney when they released that movie in 1998. Sorry to disappoint you. Besides, given that this is a site for fan fiction, I think it's safe to say none of us own the copyright to any of the characters or fandoms we choose to play around with.


NOT ONE OF US

"Kill him!"

"Blind him!"

"Drive him out of the forest!"

Bluestar sat motionless, her eyes closed. Fireheart could feel the pain coming off her in waves, the bitter shock of betrayal as she discovered that the deputy she had trusted for so long was black at heart. "Tigerclaw," she meowed, "do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Tigerclaw swung his head around and fixed her with a yellow glare. "Defend myself to you, you gutless excuse for a warrior? What sort of a leader are you? Keeping the peace with other Clans. Helping them! You barely punished Fireheart and Graystripe for feeding RiverClan, and you sent them to fetch WindClan home! I would have never shown such kittypet softness. I would have brought back the days of TigerClan. I would have made ThunderClan great!"

"And how many cats would have died for it?" Bluestar murmured, almost to herself. Fireheart wondered if she was thinking of Thistleclaw, the arrogant, bloodthirsty warrior she could not have let become deputy instead of her. "If you have nothing to say, then I sentence you to exile," the leader announced, her voice cracking. Every word seemed to be dragged out of her. "You will leave ThunderClan territory now, and if any cat sees you here after sunrise tomorrow, they have my permission to kill you."

"Kill me?" Tigerclaw spoke now, snarling his defiance. "I'd like to see any of them try."

There was silence for a while. Then Sandstorm hissed, "Deception."

"Disgrace," another she-cat meowed in disgust.

"Evil as plain as the scar on his face," they mewed in unison.

Other members of the Clan took up the chant:

"Deception."

"An outrage!"

"Disgrace."

"For shame!"

"He asked for trouble the moment he came," Whitestorm meowed, his neck fur bristling.

"Deception."

"An outrage!"

"He can't change his stripes," Mousefur meowed.

"Disgrace."

"For shame!"

"You know these Outsider types," Darkstripe mewed as an aside to Longtail, shooting a glance at Fireheart.

"Evil as plain as the scar on his face," Frostfur snarled, sheathing and unsheathing her claws.

"See you later, agitator!" Graystripe meowed mockingly.

"Deception."

"An outrage!"

"Just leave us alone!" Cinderpaw hissed.

"Disgrace. For shame!"

"Traitor, go back with your own!" Fireheart yowled.

Whitestorm shook his head as he repeated, "He asked for trouble the moment he came."

"See you later, agitator."

Tigerclaw's yellow eyes swept frantically around the Clan, searching for any cat he might call friend. His searching gaze landed on Darkstripe and Longtail, but Fireheart and Graystripe moved in front of the other two toms, blocking them from the deputy's view. Lip curled in a wordless snarl, yellow eyes blazing, Tigerclaw raised his head with a mixture of pride and defiance and turned away, padding silently through the gorse tunnel.

It wasn't until he was safely outside the camp that he began to run, the voices of his Clanmates ringing in his ears.

"Born in grief. Raised in hate. Helpless to defy his fate. Let him run, let him live, but do not forget what we cannot forgive.

"And he is not one of us. He has never been one of us. He is not part of us. Not our kind.

"Someone once lied to us. Now we're not so blind."

He could almost hear Fireheart and Graystripe's voices above the others as the kittypet and his friend pointed out, "For we knew he would do what he's done." Their voices soon joined that of the rest of the Clan.

"And we know that he'll never be one of us.

"He is not one of us."

Tigerclaw ran, forcing himself to move faster and faster until he was flying, his four paws barely touching the ground.

He would never be able to run fast enough.

"Deception. Disgrace. Deception. Disgrace. Deception. . . ."