the allegiances are the same as the end of sunrise. i'm too lazy to type it all up, so, yeah. this is definitely different from most of my other stories...it's almost like...more in the TWILIGHT series section than my either weird short stuff or my Stephen King stuff. so i hope it doesnt suck. well, if it does, sucks for you, cuz you just wasted your time reading it. and dont expect it to follow Sunrise exactly or OOTS at all.

Berrynose sat on guard for ThunderClan, watching the stars. He wondered how they could possibly be the spirits of dead cats, watching over the Clans. They were so far away.

StarClan was so far away.

How closely could they be watching the Clans?

How much could they care?

Considering Berrynose's life, not much.

He knew he bragged a lot. He knew he was a show-off, and that no one really liked him, they only put up with him because everyone was afraid of what Daisy would do when she snapped. Not if, but when.

But he was still loyal to ThunderClan, and he had never done anything to intentionally break the warrior code. Well, maybe a few times. But nothing so wrong it was almost sick, like mating with a cat from another Clan.

All he had wanted was to be a great warrior. To hunt for his Clan, to defend his Clan, and maybe get a few battle scars on the way. Maybe become deputy. Maybe become leader.

And maybe to have a mate. And kits. And grandkits that he could watch over when he was lying half-dead in the elders' den, proud of everything his kits had accomplished and ready to peacefully pass on into the next life.

Then the world came crashing down, and his dreams were shattered.

How could StarClan have been so cruel, to take Honeyfern from him like that? They were already planning their kits together. They would have been beautiful, some cream and some brown tabby. She would have been a great mother. They would have been happy. They would have been together.

And how it hurt.

To add insult to injury, Hollyleaf disappeared. Probably died in a tragic accident. Not many knew that Hollyleaf had helped Berrynose get through the pain. She was hurting, too, almost as much as he, though she was better at hiding it. They helped each other. And now Hollyleaf was gone, too.

Berrynose almost saw no reason to go on living.

Except that his Clan needed him, and he knew if he left it would kill Daisy and Hazeltail and Mousewhisker.

Berrynose sighed and shook his head. He had never been much of a deep thinker. And now his head hurt.

"Berrynose."

Leafpool's gentle but nervous mew sounded from the entrance tunnel to the camp. Berrynose slowly turned to look at her.

"I'm, well, supposed to take over your watch, because, well, it's about dawn," she meowed, shifting from paw to paw. "I just...sit here, right?"

"Yes," Berrynose answered shortly, and brushed right past her, not minding the gorse tugging at his fur and pricking his skin. Leafpool had fallen from grace as a medicine cat when it was discovered Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf were her kits, and so she was forced to give up her position and become a warrior. She didn't seem reluctant to do so, though; she seemed to accept what was coming to her.

Berrynose tugged a vole from the nearly empty fresh-kill pile and chewed through its scrawny hide with something close to disdain. He saw Spiderleg by the warriors' den, just waking up and stretching out. Spiderleg flashed him a glance, and Berrynose bared his teeth and turned his attention back to his vole. He wanted nothing to do with Spiderleg. Spiderleg thought he could mess with them, waltzing into Daisy's life and then backing out once he found out there were kits on the way. Berrynose held nothing against Daisy; she just felt lonely after having to leave Smoky, her first litter's father; and he felt no anger toward Toadkit and Rosekit. It wasn't their fault their father was a coward.

No, StarClan did not care much for Berrynose.

Especially cursing him with a name like...Berrynose.

Not to mention he had a stump of a tail.

"Do you want to go hunting with us?"

Hazeltail's voice shook Berrynose out of his reverie. She was standing over him, head slightly cocked, flanked by Birchfall and Poppyfrost.

"Well, I was just up all night..." Berrynose meowed slowly.

"Well, you also took one of the last pieces of fresh-kill," Hazeltail meowed sardonically. "I think you owe it to the Clan to at least catch back that vole you're not eating."

Berrynose looked down at his half-eaten vole and pushed it toward Hazeltail. "Want some?"

Hazeltail backed away. "Of course not. I haven't done my share of the work yet!"

Berrynose was silent. Then he dipped his head to Hazeltail. "Okay."

Hazeltail's hard gaze softened. "Berrynose, I've told you before. You've got to stop feeling sorry for yourself. She's not coming back."

"Don't even bring that up!" Berrynose hissed. "Don't even..."

Hazeltail laid her tail gently across his shoulder. "Let's hunt."

The group of four left camp and raced through the trees and thickets, heading toward the abandoned Twoleg nest. After a little while, Hazeltail stopped, and signaled for the rest of the group to do so, too.

"I can hear prey up here," she meowed. "Let's split up. Birchfall, you and me will head toward the Twoleg nest. Berrynose, you and Poppyfrost will head in the direction of the lake."

"Sounds good," Birchfall meowed. "Hazeltail, you are excellent at leading patrols. I'll be sure to tell Firestar."

Hazeltail puffed out her chest, and the two of them slowly disappeared into the morning mist.

"So..." Poppyfrost mewed, watching Berrynose. "Shall we go?"

"Sure," Berrynose mewed gruffly, starting ahead, not bothering to wait for her.

Poppyfrost easily caught up. "You know, you don't have to shut everyone out," she meowed quietly. "You're not the only one who's hurting."

"Will everyone just leave me alone?" Berrynose growled. "That's all I hear, day in and day out. 'You're not alone!' 'There are other cats out there!' 'She's happy in StarClan!' No one understands! No one loved her like I did!" His voice cracked on the last sentence.

"She was my sister," Poppyfrost whispered. "It still hurts."

"Please." Berrynose hung his head. "Please, just drop it. I can't listen to this anymore."

Poppyfrost didn't respond.

that was just a little beginning, summarizing what he's feeling and everything. the real story will begin soon.