Elsi: HI! I'm Elsi! This is Elemental: Sunstrike's Story! It explains a lot of the events that are briefly mentioned in Elemental Book One: Vast Lands. If you haven't read any of my Elemental series, that's okay, too, because this is just about Breezepelt and Sunstrike. It's all very cute and stuff.

Trek: Right. Also, Sunstrike doesn't exist on this website.

Elsi: **narrows eyes** IT SHALL BE FIXED.

Trek: Okay...wellll...yeah. There is no owning of Warriors to be done here.

Elsi: Oh, and a brief description. This first one-shot takes place when Breezepelt (then Breezepaw) gets back from the mountains in Eclipse. YAY!

Father

Sunpaw's whiskers twitched, and she curled her paws under her chest.

"Tell us about it, Breezepaw!" called Swallowpaw, crawling closer. "Tell us all about the journey!"

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Breezepaw said airily. Sunpaw found herself annoyed at his comment. Of course it was a big deal! She would never be able to go to the mountains – or maybe she would. Would Onestar ever send her on a journey of such scale? "We had to go up and teach them the warrior code."

"I'm sure you were good at that," said Thistlepaw, his eyes glowing. "You know all about the warrior code." The others snickered, but Sunpaw didn't know what the problem was. Wasn't it a good thing to care about the warrior code? Sure, they were teasing him, but she thought that was rather silly. He was a good cat, and he cared about WindClan.

"It was hard," Breezepaw admitted, and he went on to explain the entire story. Sunpaw listened with wide eyes, thinking all about how brave that made Breezepaw. He had gone into enemy territory, his only company ThunderClan cats – and Crowfeather. Somehow, Breezepaw didn't sound enthused when he had to bring up Crowfeather. What was the matter? Sunpaw loved it when she could see her mother.

She let herself fall into the story, amazed at Breezepaw's stories of battle and fighting, things that she was so inexperienced with. She wished that she could go into real battle. Maybe Breezepaw could see that she was a good fighter, too! He had to be a great fighter, after all of his adventures. He was just so…brave!

"You deserve to be a warrior!" Sunpaw purred, when he had finished. Breezepaw glowed under the praise, and Heatherpaw smiled over at him. Sunpaw found an emotion in her chest: would she ever have such a close friendship with anyone? She liked Sedgepaw and Swallowpaw, but the two were close as only littermates could be. And she tolerated Thistlepaw…no more. The younger apprentice was arrogant and thought himself far better than any of them. That was an attitude that Sunpaw couldn't stand.

"I want to hear more about Lionpaw," Sedgepaw put forward, her eyes glowing. "I heard that he's the handsomest apprentice around the lake!" Breezepaw and Heatherpaw bristled, and Swallowpaw purred in agreement with her sister.

"Tell us more about him!" said Swallowpaw enthusiastically. Breezepaw and Heatherpaw exchanged a glance, and Sunpaw narrowed her eyes. She didn't really want to hear about Lionpaw – who cared about some ThunderClan apprentice? Two brave and strong apprentices sat right in front of her!

"Heatherpaw knows loads," Breezepaw finally said, standing up. He flicked his tail at the tabby she-cat, who looked up at him in dismay. "Ask her questions."

"You know Lionpaw?" asked Sedgepaw, her eyes wide. "Tell us all about him!"

Breezepaw shoved out of the den, and Sunpaw watched him go, frowning. There was something wrong with her denmate, and she should figure out what it was. That would be the right thing to do! Scrambling to her paws, Sunpaw pushed out of the apprentice's den.

"Breezepaw, wait!" she called, but Breezepaw didn't wait, stalking moodily out of the entrance to camp. Sighing, Sunpaw rushed after him, pity in her heart.

"Where are you two off to?" asked Weaselfur. Sunpaw flicked her tail at him.

"Just for a run!" she squeaked. "We'll be back!" Weaselfur made a noise of annoyance, but Sunpaw ignored him, chasing Breezepaw up the hill.

"Breezepaw!" she cried. At last, the black apprentice whirled on her, his amber eyes like fire.

"What, Sunpaw?" he snapped. Sunpaw opened her mouth to speak – and realized that she really didn't have anything to say to him. She sat down, thinking. Breezepaw's eyes held a question, and she finally frowned.

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," she continued. "And I want to hear more about your battles."

"What, not about Lionpaw?" spat Breezepaw. "That's all anyone else wants."

Sunpaw heard the resentment in his mew, and she shook her head, taking a cautious step towards Breezepaw.

"No," she responded. "I'd much rather hear about you and Crowfeather. You're WindClan warriors, after all. Or…you should be."

Breezepaw stared at her, clearly not sure what his response should be. Sunpaw waited for some sort of snapping reply, knowing that he was just as arrogant as Thistlepaw was. Why was she even out here, anyways? She couldn't take his stupid pride, and she hated his false sense of obligation.

Something stirred inside of Sunpaw: pity. That was why she was out here.

"Crowfeather doesn't think I'm much of anything," said Breezepaw after a few moments. "Even if Onestar wanted to make me a warrior, I'm sure he would come up with a list of reasons why I'm not ready."

"Why would he do that?" Sunpaw wanted to know. "I mean, he's your father. He loves you." Breezepaw laughed bitterly, and Sunpaw paused. All fathers loved their kits. Her father, whoever he was, loved her. At least, that's what Larkflight said.

"Try having Crowfeather for a father sometime," snapped Breezepaw. "Even he would rather watch Lionpaw than me. You should have seen him on the journey. That was a great catch, Lionpaw. You're doing well, Hollypaw. Work on your crouch, Breezepaw."

Anger filtered into Sunpaw's mind, and she recoiled away from him. Breezepaw glanced over at her, half-wondering what she was doing.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," she snapped at him. "You're lucky to have Crowfeather as your father. He's a great WindClan warrior! He just wants you to be that, too."

"What do you know of it?" demanded Breezepaw furiously.

"Nothing," spat Sunpaw. She lashed her tail, frustrated with his whining. This was a waste of her time and energy. "Nothing, and you know why?" Breezepaw didn't answer, and Sunpaw went on. "It's because I don't know who my father is. My father could be anyone. He could be Onestar, or he could be Blackstar. He could be some random rogue, too. Anyone."

She stood there, shaking from anger, wondering why she was still standing there and waiting for him to reply. Finally, Breezepaw turned his amber eyes on her.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said quietly. "I know you don't have a father. That must be tough."

"It's not as bad as you think," answered Sunpaw. "I have Larkflight. And I don't sit by myself whining about it like you do."

"Sunpaw, you don't get it," Breezepaw replied, annoyed.

"I wish I could get it," said Sunpaw. They stood there in silence for a few seconds, staring at each other, sizing up each other's problems. Deep in her heart, Sunpaw really did feel sorry for Breezepaw. She could imagine being cast away by Larkflight, pushed aside by her mysterious father, maybe even abandoned altogether. But she was also upset. Breezepaw had Nightcloud, who tried to help him as best as she could, and he had Heatherpaw to trust in. Who did Sunpaw have, apart from her mother? No one had ever reached out to her. No one had ever looked at her twice, except to congratulate her on a piece of fresh-kill, or to ask her to do a chore. Sunpaw didn't even care, and that's what made the two of them so different. Poor Breezepaw lived off of the attention, and was starved for it. Sunpaw had learned to live in the shadows, and she liked it there. Or, she tolerated it.

"I…" began Breezepaw. His ears flattened, and he drooped visibly. "I'm sorry, Sunpaw."

Sunpaw blinked in surprise. Had he just…apologized? He was so proud, so stubborn, and yet here he was…apologizing? She was confused by the break in character, and for a minute, she forgot that she was angry with him.

Deep in her heart, she wasn't angry with him. Carefully, Sunpaw sat beside him, pressing into him gently. It was a friendly gesture, and Sunpaw meant it. She wanted to be there for Breezepaw, because she thought that he deserved more than he got.

"I forgive you," she responded. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." Breezepaw didn't answer, and for a few moments, they just sat there, thinking, breathing, and knowing that they weren't really alone. It was nice, thought Sunpaw. She had never felt particularly drawn to Breezepaw, but he was her denmate, and she liked to consider him a friend. And sitting next to him, just having someone for company…well, it was simply nice.

Elsi: There. Cute and friendship-y. It took me probably two to four hours of researching WindClan cats before I decided that Sunstrike didn't really have a mother that made sense. So I made one. Her name is Larkflight. She's nice to Sunstrike. Furthermore, I decided that Sunstrike doesn't have a father, which is okay, because a lot of cats didn't until the second series. :D YAY SUNSTRIKE!