"Clanmates, we have lost."
Redtail's confident yet deflated voice rang out across the clearing. ThunderClan warriors stared back at him with dull eyes.
"But Sunningrocks rightfully belongs to ThunderClan!" Tigerclaw yowled, to meows of agreement. "We must win our next battle! We need to show RiverClan that we are a force to be reckoned with!" Redtail nodded solemnly.
"I will inform Bluestar of our loss," Redtail mewed, padding off towards the camp. The warriors followed, but Tigerstar bounded ahead, after the ThunderClan deputy.
"Redtail!" he called, and the tom turned to him. "Yes, Tigerclaw?" he asked. "I've been thinking," the massive tabby explained, wiping a smear of blood from a deep gash sliced across the top of his nose. "Should we launch a surprise attack on RiverClan? That way, we could gain back Sunningrocks quickly, without showing weakness."
"Clever idea," Redtail mewed thoughtfully. "I will suggest it to Bluestar. Thank you. You should visit Spottedleaf for herbs to help your nose." Tigerstar nodded and followed Redtail to camp.
Spottedleaf sat in her den, hurriedly sorting herbs in the niches in the stone walls. Tigerclaw approached her.
"Hello, Tigerclaw," Spottedleaf greeted him kindly, looking up. "That cut looks pretty nasty. Shall I clean it up?"
Without waiting for a reply, Spottedleaf placed a wad of marigold on Tigerclaw's nose, the juices stinging for a second before beginning to soothe the injury.
"Thanks, Spottedleaf," Tigerclaw purred. "Ravenpaw has some cuts, too, so could you tend to them when he gets back?" Spottedleaf nodded and resumed her sorting, pushing a bunch of marigold and cobwebs to the side.
Ravenpaw was limping into the camp, supported by Mousefur and Redtail, with his eyes closed with pain and his black fur spiky with blood.
"Ravenpaw!" Tigerclaw exclaimed, rushing to his apprentice and gently hoisting him to his paws by clenching his scruff. Ravenpaw moaned a bit and scrabbled to stand, but Tigerclaw eased him into the air, easily carrying him to the medicine den.
"Great StarClan!" Spottedleaf gasped, dashing to the bleeding apprentice. "Tigerclaw, lick him to warm him up." Tigerclaw nodded seriously and began to ease his rough tongue over Ravenpaw's ears and lithe body.
Spottedleaf dropped some marigold poultice on Ravenpaw's cuts across his shoulders. He heard cats coming towards the medicine den and his ears pricked up, looking up from his apprentice's injuries to see Graypaw and a ginger apprentice coming their way.
"That's Tigerclaw," Tigerclaw heard Graypaw whisper to his acquaintance. "And his apprentice Ravenpaw, over there. And our medicine cat, Spottedleaf."
Tigerclaw tipped his head to the ginger cat and turned back to Ravenpaw, who had Spottedleaf standing over him, gently applying the cobwebs to his less serious wounds.
"He'll survive, won't he?" Tigerclaw asked concernedly to Spottedleaf. She nodded. "With some rest, he'll be good as new by tomorrow morning, at the earliest." Tigerclaw nodded, relieved, and exited the medicine cat den.
Redtail and Bluestar were talking quietly inside Bluestar's den. Bluestar caught Tigerclaw's eye and beckoned with her tail to come over. Tigerclaw rushed to her side and Redtail looked at him.
"We have been discussing your sneak attack plan," Bluestar spoke first, looking impassively at the huge tabby warrior. "I think it just might work."
"We want you to lead the first patrol," Redtail added, nodding at Tigerclaw. "Since it was your idea, after all." Tigerclaw dipped his head to the ThunderClan deputy. "Thank you," he meowed deeply. "Will you be coming?"
"I will," Redtail said. "Bluestar and another strong patrol, along with the elders, queens, and their kits, will stay behind to guard camp." Tigerclaw narrowed his eyes. "RiverClan will pay!" he hissed.
"Your spirit moves me," Bluestar murmured. "Your unwavering loyalty to your Clan, and all of your Clanmates." She dipped to Redtail's ear and whispered something quickly that Tigerclaw didn't manage to catch, though he didn't say anything as he watched Redtail's expression. He seemed calm and expectant, and he nodded.
"We will attack at moonhigh tonight," Redtail mewed. "Bluestar will announce it after dinner." Tigerclaw nodded and bowed, exiting the den backwards. He almost bumped into Spottedleaf this way, who was padding towards Bluestar's den.
"Hello," she mewed, startled, blinking at the tabby. "I was trying to find you. I just wanted to say that Ravenpaw is recovering very quickly, and he may be ready for you by tomorrow."
"Thank you!" Tigerclaw meowed, happy to have such a talented medicine cat in his Clan. "May I see him?" Spottedleaf nodded. "Just don't get him up and about, or else he may open some wounds and bleed everywhere."
Tigerclaw nodded and hurried past the tortoiseshell she-cat, heading for his apprentice in the medicine cat's den, Spottedleaf close behind.
Ravenpaw was awake, but barely, checking his wounds with feeble sniffs. Tigerclaw padded to his side.
"Are you alright?" he whispered to the thin black apprentice. "Better," Ravenpaw mewed softly, stretching his front paws slightly before wincing. "But it hurts." Tigerclaw nodded understandingly. "It's okay," he said. "You fought bravely."
Tigerclaw noticed Ravenpaw trying to peer around him and shifted, looking at where Ravenpaw's gaze fell. Outside the medicine den, a small cat with a pelt of flame stood with Graypaw, talking softly to him. The ginger cat had bright green eyes and a few bleeding cuts on his flank. His fur was chaffed around his neck.
"He doesn't look familiar," Ravenpaw meowed. "Who is he?" "I think he's the kittypet Bluestar met," Tigerclaw suggested. "I don't know his name, though."
The massive tabby warrior padded outside the den, looking down at the smaller cats. "That's Tigerclaw," Graypaw murmured to the ginger cat. "Greetings," Tigerclaw said deeply, nodding to the cat. "What is your name?"
"My name is Firepaw," the ginger cat announced. "I was a kittypet before, but Bluestar is going to train me to be a warrior!"
Tigerclaw dipped his head to Firepaw again. "You are ambitious, young one," he mewed. "I have a feeling you're going to be a great warrior." Firepaw's eyes shone as he thanked Tigerclaw and bounded off with Graypaw towards the fresh-kill pile. He also noticed Sandpaw and Dustpaw shooting glares at Firepaw towards the pile. Tigerclaw walked over to the apprentices.
"Hello," they greeted him in unison. "Hello," Tigerclaw replied, picking a sparrow with little interest. "You seem angry about the new apprentice, Firepaw." Sandpaw pouted angrily.
"We are ThunderClan!" she hissed. "We accept noble, clanborn warriors, not kittypets!" Tigerclaw frowned at her.
"He seems like a fine apprentice," he objected. "Do you apprentices remember Pinestar?" "We heard stories about him," Dustpaw said. "He became a kittypet!" "But he was Clanborn," Tigerclaw protested. "And he became a kittypet. If a Clanborn warrior can become a kittypet, why can't a kittypet become a warrior, even if he isn't Clanborn?"
He saw Dustpaw shrug, as if he wasn't very curious about the question, but Sandpaw's fur bristled along her spine. "He doesn't have the power of a Clanborn warrior!" she hissed. "He almost lost the fight to Longtail, and he's only an early warrior!"
"But he beat him," Dustpaw murmured. "And Longtail is still a warrior." Tigerclaw nodded to the brown tabby. "See?" he mewed. "He can be a fine warrior, as long as his heart is in the right place."
Sandpaw's fur relaxed slightly, but she still looked agitated as she dug into her vole. Satisfied, Tigerclaw carried his sparrow towards where Lionheart and Whitestorm were each eating a small mouse.
"Hello," Lionheart meowed, and Whitestorm flicked his tail. Tigerclaw muttered a greeting around his sparrow and sat next to them. "Sandpaw isn't very happy about Firepaw," he told Whitestorm, and the senior warrior looked down.
"I know," he mewed softly. "I keep hoping she'll warm up to him, but she seems stubborn to accept him into the Clan. She's fine around Graypaw, but now she won't even talk to him."
"Tough to imagine the five of them sharing a den," Lionheart added, and Tigerclaw purred in amusement. "You think Sandpaw'll try to prank Firepaw on his first night?" he asked. "That would be... unfortunate," Whitestorm said. "But Firepaw seems to have a strong spirit, and sooner or later Sandpaw will have to accept that he is now part of the Clan, whether she likes it or not."
Tigerclaw looked across the camp and saw Firepaw and Graypaw talking, and Firepaw suddenly laughed at something Graypaw said. The apprentice seemed carefree and put the Clan in his best interests, but was he really all dedicated to the Clan?
Bluestar and Redtail suddenly padded out of the leader's den and Bluestar summoned the Clan with the traditional call.
"We have decided to launch an attack on RiverClan!" Bluestar announced, to murmurs from the Clan. "Thanks to Tigerclaw's idea, Redtail and I have created a plan to make sure we reclaim and keep Sunningrocks!"
Tigerclaw felt the Clan's eyes turn to him, but he forced himself to meet their eyes steadily instead of turning back to his sparrow. His idea would work!
"A first patrol, Bluestar, Tigerclaw, Lionheart, and myself, along with our apprentices Graypaw and Dustpaw, will walk to RiverClan's camp and demand Sunningrocks back," Redtail explained. "Obviously, the RiverClan fleapelts will object, so we will attack, along with the second patrol of Whitestorm, Sandpaw, Longtail, Darkstripe, and Runningwind."
Bluestar continued to tell about the plan, but Tigerclaw was barely listening now, instead hurriedly finishing his pigeon to prepare for the raid. Pity Ravenpaw wouldn't get to join.
Lionheart and Whitestorm were standing with their apprentices near the camp entrance, waiting with Bluestar, Redtail, and Dustpaw for Tigerclaw. He hurried past the medicine den, where he waved his tail to Ravenpaw before running to the warriors.
"Let's go," Bluestar mewed, heading off with the other cats in pursuit. With a shock, Tigerclaw noticed that Firepaw, the new ginger apprentice, was following Graypaw. He turned to him.
"Were you issued on this patrol?" he demanded, but the apprentice didn't back down. Bluestar turned back to Tigerclaw with a hard look on her face before her expression softened.
"I'm sorry for not warning you, Tigerclaw," she mewed hastily. "But after the raid, I have decided Firepaw to be my apprentice." Though surprised, Tigerclaw dipped his head to her and Firepaw, then continued walking with Lionheart and Redtail, Whitestorm having slowed back to his patrol.
After a bit of walking, Bluestar and Redtail finally slowed. "We're here," the ThunderClan leader murmured to her patrol. "Phase one, begin."
Tigerclaw backed up to let Bluestar and Redtail take the lead, and he and Lionheart straightened up to look imposing and frightening. Dustpaw, Graypaw, and Firepaw stood by their mentors, glaring down the path to the RiverClan camp.
Bluestar padded fearlessly into the enemy camp, Firepaw following her, and Redtail entered after her with Dustpaw. Lionheart, Graypaw, and Tigerclaw walked behind them.
Yowls sounded from the RiverClan camp as the seven ThunderClan cats walked into their camp. Their cries summoned Crookedstar, whose eyes narrowed at the sight.
"Bluestar," he growled, his locked crooked jaw not deducting from his angry face. "What in StarClan are you doing here? And with warriors?" Bluestar never removed her piercing cerulean gaze from him, making him back away a few pawsteps.
"We are here to reclaim Sunningrocks," Redtail answered bravely, and Dustpaw puffed his chest out regally next to his mentor. "Why here?" Crookedstar questioned. "This is not Sunningrocks. You shouldn't even be in our territory. This is against the warrior code."
"You broke the warrior code when you entered Sunningrocks," Tigerclaw burst out in outrage. "Don't even accuse us of breaking it when you did it yourself!" Lionheart nodded angrily and Graypaw hissed at the RiverClan cats.
"StarClan granted us Sunningrocks," Oakheart meowed, staring directly at Bluestar, and her eyes flashed with a sudden burst of emotion before regaining their mask. "They allowed us to fight for it, and allowed us to win."
"We will win this fight," Redtail snarled. "ThunderClan, attack!" Tigerclaw surged forward, his powerful muscles fueling his hind legs, which pushed off the ground strongly as he fastened his teeth and front claws into a RiverClan tabby's back. The cat yowled and swiped at him, but his paw didn't connect and Tigerclaw ripped back, causing the tabby to back up and fall on his side.
But before Tigerclaw could deliver a more painful blow to his belly, Bluestar's shrieking yell caught his attention, and the tabby scrambled away, leaving a trail of blood in the reeds.
Bluestar was pinned by Crookedstar and Stonefur, neither of which she seemed to want to hurt, and her attempts to free herself were growing feeble. Tigerclaw let out a yowl of fury and leapt at Crookedstar, sinking his claws into his shoulder.
The RiverClan leader let himself fall back against the ground before shooting a hind leg out and catching Tigerclaw in the stomach, flinging the tabby warrior off him. Tigerclaw gasped for breath, landing hard on the ground, but before Crookedstar could attack again, Lionheart was there, raking his claws along the leader's side.
Bluestar had escaped from Stonefur's grasp, now quickly slicing her claws down his face before backing away to find another opponent. Tigerclaw took the moment that Stonefur was distracted by the blood pouring down his face to lunge at him, slamming him to the ground with an angry wail.
Dustpaw's weight joined his as Stonefur was subdued with vicious blows. Tigerclaw sunk his teeth into Stonefur's ear, emitting a loud yowl from the gray warrior, and both ThunderClan cats quickly got off him to let him run, scanning the camp for more foes. Whitestorm's patrol had joined the battle, with the senior warrior's white fur visible against the blood.
Redtail and Oakheart were viciously fighting near where Bluestar and Crookedstar lashed out at each other. Graypaw and Firepaw were surrounding a huge RiverClan warrior, taking turns attacking the large cat. Everywhere Tigerclaw looked, there were cats fighting cats, claws sinking into pelts and spilling scarlet.
Finally, a loud call sounded from Crookedstar: "Stop!" Bluestar crouched to the ground as the RiverClan leader stood up and walked past her, to the center of the blood-soaked clearing. "This battle is over!"
Bluestar looked, satisfied, at the surrendering leader. "We have rights to Sunningrocks," she hissed. Crookedstar glanced at his Clan, a guilty look on his face, before nodding. Bluestar stood up. "ThunderClan, retreat!" she yowled, leaving Crookedstar. Redtail and Lionheart followed, and the camp gradually drained of ThunderClan cats, leaving the wounded RiverClan.
Tigerclaw watched the warriors with relish before following his Clan in victory. Bluestar led them back to their camp.
Ravenpaw and Spottedleaf were slowly circling the clearing, Ravenpaw leaning on the tortoiseshell medicine cat as he limped. Tigerclaw hurried to his apprentice, who was straining from his concentration. Spottedleaf looked up as he approached.
"Hello, Tigerclaw!" she greeted happily. "Ravenpaw is recovering quickly, thank StarClan. He should be able to return to training by tomorrow." Tigerclaw purred excitedly. "Thank you, Spottedleaf!" he exclaimed, looking at Ravenpaw. He certainly looked a lot better, his eyes not dull and tired, but sparked with readiness.
"I definitely feel better," Ravenpaw meowed, his voice a lot stronger than the petrified whimper it had been after the battle. "That's good," Tigerclaw replied. "Do you feel up to training tomorrow?" Ravenpaw nodded eagerly.
"I take that you won?" Spottedleaf asked, eying the prancing cats in the camp. "We crushed them!" Graypaw exclaimed, padding up with Firepaw next to Tigerclaw. "RiverClan won't be trying to take Sunningrocks anytime soon!"
Ravenpaw purred in satisfaction, then stumbled over a rock as Spottedleaf hurriedly tried to correct him. Tigerclaw watched his stumbles with concern, but Ravenpaw seemed to regain his footing after the trip. His cuts had poultice bound to them, but some of them seemed like they were about to fall off.
"Have you picked an apprentice yet?" Tigerclaw suddenly asked. Spottedleaf looked at him, a little confused. "No," she mewed. "But I suppose I should. Do you think any of the current apprentices wish to be medicine cats?"
She looked at Firepaw and Graypaw, then down at Ravenpaw. Her gaze flickered to Sandpaw and Dustpaw, but Tigerclaw was sure that she didn't feel that they would make suitable medicine cat apprentices.
"I don't think so," Tigerclaw answered. "But the Clan will definitely be stronger with two medicine cats." Spottedleaf nodded.
Bluestar summoned the Clan shortly afterwards to inform them of the victory. ThunderClan warriors yowled their approval, with Ravenpaw cheering with them despite not fighting in the attack. "This will be show the other Clans that they can't mess with us!" Graypaw shouted.
Bluestar waited for them to quiet, then gave another announcement. "I would also like to mention Tigerclaw, since it was his idea for the raid. Without him, we might not have been able to win Sunningrocks back so quickly."
Tigerclaw felt the eyes of the Clan turn on him for the second time that night, and nervously waved with his tail. Ravenpaw began the praise, and the rest of the cats joined in quickly.
"Good job, Tigerclaw," Lionheart murmured into the tabby warrior's ear. "Worked well," Whitestorm agreed softly. "Come on. Let's get you some fresh-kill, then you need some rest." Tigerclaw nodded wearily, knowing that his friends wouldn't let him get away without food or sleep.
After eating a small vole, Tigerclaw followed the other senior warriors, along with Redtail, into the warrior's den.
Peaceful dreams greeted Tigerclaw from StarClan until dawn.
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors or Tigerclaw/star (though I wish I did)! I am not using any characters for my own profit!
This is a fanfiction about what may have happened if Tigerclaw hadn't gone down the path of evilness and all that good stuff and instead had pledged to be a good warrior for ThunderClan. This is entirely fictional and has no spoilers for Warrior cats, though most of the characters are real.
Please review and I'll try to post updates as often as possible!
