A/N: Hey everyone, thanks for finding your way here!
This is my first Warriors fanfic, and I'm
very excited to finally publish it here! It
sets off immediately after Fireheart falls
asleep at the Moonstone in Chapter 2 of
"The Darkest Hour", and follows a different
plot from there. So, it's a definite 'What If'
story - what if Fireheart doesn't become
leader? The main characters of this story
are, of course, Fireheart, and also Whitestorm,
Brackenfur, and many others. I'll also feature
SkyClan soon - just wait... Or read my profile
for a more detailed summary. I must add that
I really like happy endings. ;-) Enjoy!
& Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly.
When Fireheart gets his lives in The Darkest Hour, Bluestar admits that there's
been a mistake, and leaves the warrior with a prophecy. But who will the new leader be?
U n e x p e c t e d
… it was light, and not dark, how Cinderpelt had told him. From very far, Fireheart saw two cats approaching him, a very well-known blue-grey figure, and a larger, reddish-brown one. A familiar smell reached Fireheart's nostrils as they neared him quietly, but determined.
"Bluestar! And you're… Oakheart, right?" he suspected, never having met Oakheart in person. The previous ThunderClan leader nodded her head and looked at him warmly.
"What happens now? Have I already got the lives? And if not, will it hurt? Bluestar! How are you?" Fireheart couldn't keep himself from babbling. Having witnessed Bluestar's death that had hurt so much, he was more than glad to see her again, and he literally seemed to drown in curiosity. But Bluestar had an unreadable expression on her face, while Oakheart was licking her shoulder gently.
"Fireheart… you're here. I'm happy to see you. But I'm so sorry, it's not going to be like this. It is not supposed to be like this. Not now, it's not your time yet. You're still very young, Fireheart. I've always trusted you with my life, but my trust to the entire Clan had been fading in my last moons among you, you know this. I have made the wrong decision…," she mewed. "It is not as if I would not trust you any longer, it's just that the warrior ancestors have envisioned another purpose for ThunderClan."
Fireheart was lacking words. She appointed him as deputy, and while on her way to StarClan, she made him aim for the victory and the might over the Clan, and now?
He felt dizzy. Something wasn't right anymore. But Bluestar spoke on:
"When the snow approaches, fire would not bear up against it and make ThunderClan have to fight. The one who is invisible in the snow is the chosen one to make his way up to his warrior ancestors to share his experience with the cats of the forest…"
Dang. Fireheart woke up and looked into Cinderpelt's blue eyes, who stood looking down at him with one raised paw. He noticed he had been moving around a lot during sleep, as he looked at the scratched and messy sand floor.
"Mouse brain! I do know that it's not always enjoyable to share tongues with StarClan, but that's not a reason to beat me as if I was a ShadowClan cat!", Cinderpelt exclaimed breathlessly.
"I'm sorry, I…" Fireheart tried to stutter anything. He still didn't find any words for this huge letdown. "So? How was it?" she asked.
"They, they didn't give me my lives! Cinderpelt! There was Oakheart, and Bluestar! And a prophecy, Bluestar gave me a prophecy!"
"What? Why not? Fireheart, you're the born leader, what could have gone wrong?"
"I don't even know if I am. I've actually never thought of becoming leader. Bluestar seemed so eternal, and it seemed as she would never die. But she said, someone would have to join StarClan… oh no.."
"Come on. Let's go home. Don't think about it right now. They're surely already waiting for you at the camp. Respectively for you," the medicine cat said, and leaned her muzzle against his fur to give him comfort.
They had already left behind Highstones and the main part of WindClan territory, but sorrows and grief, mostly for the Clan, were still bothering Fireheart. Who would lead ThunderClan now? And why would they have to lose somebody again? He just couldn't seem to understand it. Cinderpelt hobbled next to him in silence. They had already made a break once, and Fireheart had caught several mice and a vole for Cinderpelt. He didn't feel any hunger himself - it was as if a deep hole had been scratched into his belly. He shook his head and pushed all the bad thoughts away, and leaped forward.
When Cinderpelt was about to push herself through the gorse tunnel, Fireheart already smelled Graystripe and Sandstorm, as well as several other cats, and could hear their excited conversations. What should he tell them now? The truth? He couldn't enter camp, not now.
"Cinderpelt," he asked. "Please. Get Sandstorm and Graystripe… and Cloudtail, and we'll meet at Sunningrocks. Alright?"
"Of course, Fireheart. Just go, I'll see you then. I'm not going to say anything yet."
"What?," asked Sandstorm, his love, Cloudtail, his nephew, and Graystripe, his best friend, at once, when he told them. It had already gotten dark, and Fireheart really wanted to sleep for a bit now, and so, he was not exactly in the mood for explanations. "Yes, really. No nine lives for Fireheart…"
Cinderpelt looked questingly at him. "But what does the one who is invisible in the snow is the chosen one to make his way up to his warrior ancestors mean? Fireheart, we're not going to have to lose more cats, are we?"
Graystripe looked worried, Sandstorm no less. The disappointment that her mate had been declined to become leader was written in her face, but beneath was a big spark of relief. Fireheart assumed she would have been scared that things wouldn't be the same anymore.
"I don't know, Cinderpelt," he replied honestly. "But I guess that this prophecy can't have another meaning. We'll just have to wait and watch what's happening with ThunderClan. Maybe StarClan sends us a sign when I'll be allowed to make my way to the Moonstone to finally receive my nine lives."
Graystripe's facial expression hadn't changed. He had still not come over his mate Silverstream's death, which had occurred while giving birth to his kits, who were now in RiverClan. Graystripe feared his loved one's deaths a lot since then. "The one who is invisible in the snow…," he murmured.
"Leaf-bare arrives soon. A cat is going to have to freeze to death, right?" Cloudtail asked very quiet. He was always the one who could deal best with shocking facts, due to his disbelief in StarClan. Sandstorm made a face as if she'd lost both her parents, Brindleface and Redtail, over again.
Fireheart stared on. The silence was only broken when he yawned.
"It was a really hard journey. Graystripe, tell Dustpelt and Frostfur to sit night vigil. The patrol for tomorrow morning shall," Fireheart yawned again, "Longtail lead. Tell him to take two apprentices of his choice."
"Of course, Fireheart", his loyal friend replied. "Thanks," Fireheart said and pressed his nose onto Graystripe's, as he did with Cinderpelt's . "Tomorrow, the Gathering takes place. I will go talk to the other medicine cats to ask them if StarClan has told them something about all this, if you'll let me go."
"Thanks for today, Cinderpelt. For everything. And I'll think about it." She went with a friendly twinkle in her blue eyes, that gave Fireheart another spark of hope.
He turned to look into Sandstorm's deep green eyes. "Hello…," she whispered. Fireheart stared at her with a questioning gaze. "I haven't really talked to you in two days, Fireheart… I'm so sorry for what happened. Everything." She pressed her muzzle onto his. Fireheart replied to the greeting, and let a deep breath out.
"It's not as bad, it's just the shock, you know?" he quickly exclaimed. "Of course," she admitted. "Let's go to the warriors' den. You're right, the journey was surely hard. Please don't worry, StarClan is going to send us help. Somehow…"
Fireheart didn't sleep calmly that night. It was not only the sorrows bothering him, but also his dreams, because he dreamed of nothing at all. He always dreamed of something! The journey to the Moonstone totally destroyed me, he thought angrily. Sandstorm's paw was resting on his, and she breathed quietly in and out. Fireheart noticed that she slept really peacefully, and he didn't want to wake her now. So he decided to go hunting for a bit, alone.
The red warrior caught five mice, three pigeons and two voles, a remarkable catch for hunting alone. He had to walk back to camp four times to deliver all the prey, and was really proud of his accomplishment. If we just didn't have to lose anyone!
"Fireheart! I have to talk to you, right away! Please come to my den," Cinderpelt mewed from across the clearing. He nodded and grabbed a vole for her and a mouse for himself. The fresh-kill pile was still huge though, at least one positive event in ThunderClan.
Fireheart laid the vole down in front of Cinderpelt's paws, and started chewing his mouse. "What's up?" he smacked. The medicine cat looked at him in amusement.
"I had a dream. My father Lionheart appeared to me, and he said that StarClan thinks you should at least lead the Clan until the prophecy is revealed."
The reddish tom almost choked on his mouse. "A-alright…," he stuttered. "Lionheart was really your father? I didn't know that." Fireheart remembered the former deputy, brutally killed by Blackfoot, ShadowClan's deputy, as a loyal, proud and strong warrior, and as Graystripe's mentor.
"Who else, mouse brain?" Cinderpelt shrieked. "Look at my brothers!" She was right. Both Brackenfur and Thornpaw resembled the majestic cat a lot. Fireheart clenched at the thought of Thornpaw. Bluestar hadn't been willing to make him a warrior, and now, without the authority as a leader, he couldn't do it either.
"So!" the medicine cat happily meowed. "Tonight's the gathering. Who are you taking?"
"Graystripe, I guess. I'll need him. Brackenfur and Tawnypaw, Longtail, Mousefur and Thornpaw, Ashpaw, Frostfur, Whitestorm, and Cloudtail. You wanted to join, too, didn't you, Cinderpelt? Of course I'll allow you to go talk to the other medicine cats," Fireheart decided. "Yes, Fireheart, thanks! You should go tell the others."
Fireheart sighed. Oh, StarClan, what is there to look forward to?
Where will this lead me? Where will this lead ThunderClan?
StarClan, help me. Please.