Fireheart

Fireheart shivered. His handsome ginger fur was still thin, as it always was during greenleaf; it would be a few moons before his pelt was thick enough to keep out cold like this. He shuffled his forepaws on the hard, slightly grassy earth beneath them. Dawn was finally approaching. Soon this pointless vigil would be over.

As he waited for the sun to come up, Fireheart replayed the previous day's victory in his head. He could vividly remember Brokenstar's glittering eyes as the ShadowClan leader backed away, hissing threats, before fleeing into the trees after his companions. A genius, that cat, Fireheart thought. Driving an entire Clan out of their territory, training kits from his own Clan, stealing them from others―how in StarClan did he get away with it? That cat's got more brains than the rest of this mousebrained forest put together! The dark leader might well be the key to Fireheart's rise to power.

Fireheart flicked his ears as a new sound disturbed his thoughts. He looked up to see Graypaw―Graystripe, now―kneading the ground with his paws in an apparently futile effort to stay warm. Fireheart stifled a quiet purr. Graystripe was obviously as idiotic as ever. But as stupid as he was, Graystripe's safety was guaranteed―after all, what was a leader without a few minions?

Leader. Oh, how delicious the word felt. Fireheart knew that he was by far the smartest cat in this pathetic Clan. No one stood in the way of his path to leadership. Well… no one, that was, except for one warrior: Tigerclaw.

Tigerclaw was the one warrior that might cause a problem for Fireheart. But that was alright, because Fireheart had a plan. One of the other apprentices, Ravenpaw, had witnessed a heated battle between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. In the battle, Boulder, the ShadowClan deputy, had killed Redtail, the ThunderClan deputy. But Ravenpaw had been, well, convinced to lie about it and say that Tigerclaw killed Redtail. Now, all Fireheart had to do was spring the trap and tell Bluestar what Tigerclaw had supposedly done. With Tigerclaw gone, ThunderClan would soon be Fireheart's.

A rustle jolted Fireheart out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the brambles that curtained Bluestar's den twitching. A moment later, the silvery-blue she-cat appeared and padded across the camp. Tigerclaw emerged from the warriors' den and trotted over to meet her. The dark tabby warrior murmured something to the leader, flicking his tail urgently. Bluestar replied calmly before moving away towards the medicine cat's den. Tigerclaw headed away, back to the warriors' den.

"Glad to see the sunrise, you two?"

Fireheart jumped. Whitestorm was standing a short distance away from him and Graystripe. The gray tabby immediately began nodding vigorously, and Fireheart did the same, though at a more sedate pace.

"It's alright; you may speak now. Your vigil is over."

Finally! Fireheart noted that there was new respect for him forming in Whitestorm's eyes. Hmmm. He respects me now. This may prove useful.

"Thank you, Whitestorm," the ginger warrior mewed respectfully. Next to him, Graystripe stood and stretched his muscles eagerly.

"Brrr!" the gray tom declared loudly. "I thought the sun would never come up!"

"So, the great warrior speaks!" A slender, pale ginger she-cat emerged from the apprentices' den, her green eyes narrowed in scorn. A dark brown tabby tom followed her, brushing pelts with her ever so slightly. Fireheart's eyes instinctively narrowed as he recognized the pair. Sandpaw and Dustpaw. Would you look at that―cold air must attract idiotic mouse-brains.

"I'm surprised such heroes even feel the cold!" Dustpaw jibed. Sandpaw purred in amusement. Fireheart only rolled his eyes. If the apprentices wanted to make fools of themselves, that was completely fine with him.

Whitestorm shot the apprentices a stern look.

"Go and find something to eat; then rest," he ordered Fireheart and Graystripe. Then he turned and headed toward the apprentices' den. "Come on, you two," he mewed to Sandpaw and Dustpaw. "It's time for training."

"I hope he has them chasing blue squirrels all day!" Graystripe declared as he and Fireheart padded toward the fresh-kill pile.

"There aren't any blue squirrels," Fireheart pointed out, silently adding, Mouse-brain.

"Exactly!" Graystripe mewed. Fireheart had to force himself not to roll his eyes. That vigil must've affected Graystripe's brain.

"Hey, look!" Graystripe said. By this time they had reached the fresh-kill pile. "One mouse each and a chaffinch to share!"

I'd rather not share with you, Fireheart thought, but stayed silent as he selected his meal. Graystripe's eyes sparkled with delight as he looked over at Fireheart. "I guess we take it to the warriors' side of the camp now!"

No, we take it to the nursery, Fireheart thought. "I guess we do," he muttered out loud, trying to avoid dropping his meal in the process.

The two cats padded across the camp, heading for the thorn bush that sheltered the warriors' den. Fireheart began gulping down his prey as soon as they reached the bush. He had never been so hungry in his life.

"Now what?" Graystripe asked with his mouth full. "I don't know about you, but I think I could sleep for half a moon!"

"Me too," Fireheart replied. Graystripe leapt up and began navigating around the bodies of the motionless ThunderClan warriors. Mousefur, Longtail, Runningwind, and Willowpelt were all still asleep.

Fireheart easily found an unoccupied nest and settled down. For a while he lay quietly, thinking. I have to talk to Bluestar as soon as possible. If Tigerclaw gets wind of what I'm planning, it'll all be over. He knew that Tigerclaw might already suspect him of something. I don't have much time. This is urgent. And now… now I don't have Spottedleaf to help me. Fireheart felt a choking sadness at the thought of the beautiful medicine cat. Spottedleaf had been killed by a ShadowClan warrior just a few days ago. The ginger warrior's heart still ached whenever he thought of her. But I guess the two of us were never meant to be. And now, maybe I can concentrate on getting a mate in the Clan. That'll definitely help my image. Fireheart stretched his legs, unsheathing his claws as he did so. Everything is falling into place!

"Hey," a sleepy voice said. Fireheart looked over to see that her had accidentally buried his claws into Runningwind's tail. The brown tabby was now looking up at him with irritation in his gaze.

"Get your claws out of my tail, Fire-whateveryournameis," Runningwind hissed. His eyes narrowing, Fireheart withdrew his claws. Runningwind laid his head back down and resumed his sleep.

Now I know who I'm going for first as mate, Fireheart thought. Willowpelt. He looked over at the delicate silver-grey she-cat. You think I don't know about your little romance, Fireheart thought, directing his thoughts at Runningwind. But I do. I'll teach you to respect me! And, now that he thought about it, Willowpelt was cute enough. Not as beautiful as Spottedleaf, of course. But cute enough to be his first choice of a mate anyway―even if Runningwind hadn't been a jerk. I'll just wait till the time is right. Then all of Runningwind's dreams get crushed.

ThunderClan had better watch out, Fireheart thought as he finally drifted off to sleep. Because just like fire… I am unstoppable.

As before, chapters will be posted every Tuesday and Friday. Enjoy!