A/N: Thanks for reading my story! 2 reviews aren't that much,
but anyways, here's the next chapter, that also features some...
Um, just read it! :-) I can guarantee that this won't be the last
time in this fic that a thing like this happens here, which I'm
very excited about! About the auxiliar perspective, I hope you're
alright with that. I just can't tell everything from Fireheart's
or somebody else's POV - that just doesn't work for this story.
I'm not a huge fan of "~Crowfeather POV ~Leafpool POV" and
things like that that change constantly. Grrr. If it's a good story,
then I'll let it pass, but otherwise... Great StarClan, what am I
rambling about? Enjoy! And don't forget to review!
Onewhisker, his apprentice Gorsepaw, and the deputy of WindClan, Deadfoot, had been sent to patrol their ShadowClan border, and then go to the Gathering by themselves. "Can you smell something?" Onewhisker asked the reddish-white apprentice. "ShadowClan, but on their side, and Tallstar. He went hunting here before, didn't he? And else, rabbit." All of a sudden, Gorsepaw jumped into one of the few bushes that there were on WindClan territory, and returned within seconds with the prey. "Very well done!" Deadfoot praised. "And yes, that was Tallstar. Everything seems to be okay here. Let's go a bit higher, in the direction of the twoleg-place, there where the river grows narrow," the deputy suggested.
They made their way up, very fast, just how their Clan was known for. "And now-" Onewhisker started, but this breathing suddenly stopped, as he smelled a strange cat.
"Into position!" Deadfoot commanded quietly. They sneaked round a thorn bush, waiting for an attack. Gorsepaw peeked around, but there was only a she-cat, with pretty blue eyes, her fur totally disheveled and full of sand, dust and mud, who strayed around randomly, and also looked amused and a very strange kind of way.
Her smell was, due to her condition, completely unrecognizable.
"You!" Deadfoot yelled, "who are you and what do you want on our territory?" "Territory?" the she-cat replied with a weak voice. "I've heard of such a thing before. During my time in… in a Clan! Yes!"
"You're surely not a real Clan cat. What's your name?" Gorsepaw asked in an arrogant tone, this being his first real confrontation with a strange cat.
"I don't know!" the she-cat admitted in a way that it really sounded honest. "When you said the word 'territory' I remembered the word 'Clan', and now I know that it's like a family for a cat. But I don't remember anything else, except for feathers in a storm."
"And where are you coming from now?" Deadfoot asked, his voice a bit more gently. Confusion literally stood in the she-cat's face.
"I woke up at the border of the river in this condition, there were the river is almost no more, no narrow it was. I liked the water. I just followed some scents and that brought me here, but I don't know anything else, I swear!" she unrecognizable cat told the WindClan warriors.
"Feathers and storm? What-" "Not now, Gorsepaw," Onewhisker interrupted his apprentice.
"Deadfoot, should we bring her to the Gathering? It's almost Moonhigh! If she has been a Clan cat once upon a time, somebody will recognize her for sure!"
After several minutes of silence, the WindClan deputy agreed. Only a confident would be able to save this cat.
The ThunderClan cats gathered at the clearing, before making their way to the Gathering. They had all somehow learned how the nine lives had been declined to Fireheart. After a conversation with Whitestorm, and again Cloudtail, Fireheart also made his way over to the others. Both of the white warriors had told him how sorry they were, but also encouraged him not to give up. Fireheart spotted the cats he'd chosen for the Gathering close to the gorse tunnel, the remaining ones a bit further away in the camp.
"Hey, Fireheart," Mousefur mewed. "I just have to say something, if it's alright. It's important."
"Yes?", he responded, surprised what Mousefur would have to tell.
"I'm expecting kits!" she gleamed.
Sandstorm, Willowpelt, and Lostface immediately jumped towards her and congratulated her, purring, while Frostfur looked a bit disappointed, and Goldenflower just shrieked: "Finally!" Fireheart just looked utterly confused. "Who, by StarClan, is your mate?"
The dark brown sleek she-cat looked at him in even more confusion, and answered, "Longtail".
"Didn't you know?", Mousefur asked, and the ginger warrior shook his head. He heard Whitestorm purring quietly in amusement next to him. He shot him an evil glare.
"Mouse brain!" Cinderpelt hissed. "You really don't ever get anything, do you?"
Fireheart sighed, and spotted something hurrying away across the clearing. He assumed that it was simply a kit chasing after one of the remaining bugs, or even a rabbit. He swallowed and noticed that it was almost moonhigh. "Congratulations, Mousefur. I'm sorry I never noticed, but some she-cats don't want others to know who their mate is… You're surely going to be a great mother. When are you moving into the nursery?"
"I don't know yet, I'll have to discuss this with Frostfur and Willowpelt, they'll know when it's time. After all, I have to finish Thornpaw's training!"
Fireheart guided his clanmates towards Fourtrees, and stopped shortly before they got there. "Everyone here? Okay. I can already smell RiverClan, and ShadowClan. Let's go," he commanded, and actually felt a little bad about it afterwards. He was not ThunderClan's leader! But who was going to be? This was so embarrassing! He'd already told WindClan warriors that he was going to be the new leader, and Mistyfoot and Stormfur knew, too! Then, Fireheart realized that a true warrior showed bravery, and bravery meant telling the truth.
The RiverClan deputy, Stormfur, approached him quickly, along with his sister, Mistyfoot. "Firestar! How are you? Everything alright in ThunderClan? Who is your deputy?"
Fireheart shook his head. "It's still Fireheart, actually. Your mother made a mistake back then, and gave me a prophecy. I'm not chosen to get my lives. I don't know who's going to be leader now, I'm afraid."
Stormfur nodded his head, Fireheart thought that as deputy, he could imagine what it would feel like not to get his nine lives. Mistyfoot stared at him, compassion welling in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Fireheart. Seek comfort in the cats you love, this will help," she murmured quietly, and made her way over to her mate Blackclaw, who immediately wrapped his tail over her shoulders.
Finally, Fireheart saw WindClan making their way into the neutral territory, seemingly escorting a cat in their middle.
"What's going on there?" Graystripe asked him. "No idea," Fireheart responded. "I think I need to get going." Graystripe nuzzled his shoulder in approval.
Fireheart jumped onto the Great Rock, for the second time in a few moons. And the last time, he thought. Tigerstar seemed uncomfortably quiet, he seemed to have noticed that his daughter, Tawnypaw, shot him evil glances permanently. Fireheart smiled at the loyalty of his apprentices, and noticed Ashpaw next to Tawnypaw, who sat with her mentor, Brackenfur. He'd chosen a third ThunderClan apprentice to go to the Gathering, Thornpaw. He couldn't find him, though!
Fireheart looked around, and searched for Mousefur, Thornpaw's mentor, only to find her gossiping with some RiverClan queens, and Frostfur sat alone next to them.
Where was Thornpaw? He had to worry about this later. Tallstar had just jumped onto the Great Rock.
He turned around, and Tigerstar nodded at him. "Firestar," they said in unison, along with Leopardstar. Fireheart simply shook his head, it felt like the thousandth time he did so. Fireheart took one last deep breath before his final humiliation. He'd left Sandstorm back in camp for a reason, he didn't want her to see him like this. What would she think about him then? Would she still love him? The thought of her deep green eyes encouraged him to finally speak.
"Cats of the Clans, I say these words before many of you. StarClan has not granted my a leader's nine lives."
An indigent murmur quickly spread among the cats. "Silence!" Leopardstar shrieked. "What?"
"It's true," Fireheart admitted. "I'm still Fireheart. Bluestar and Oakheart told me they made a mistake, and now I'll have to dissolve a prophecy. But I need to do this on my own, only with the help of my closest friends and kin. They let me lead ThunderClan until the problem is fixed," he mewed.
Fireheart expected some insulting comments from Tigerstar now, but he remained silent.
Tallstar coughed. "Um, I'm very sorry, Fireheart, but there's nothing more that we could do. If I could continue now… A strange cat has entered WindClan's territory today!" the black-and-white leader announced.
Fireheart spotted his friend Onewhisker, and his apprentice Gorsepaw among the cats who had been covering another cat. They stepped to the side, and Fireheart's gaze fell on a she-cat he seemed to know, but she was barely recognizable. She was so thin that her ribs were visible, her fur was clearly disheveled, and full of mud.
Who is this? Fireheart wondered. He knew her!
"This she-cat is not a loner. She has lost every memory she had, but when my patrol mentioned the word 'Clan', she seemed to know it, and talked about having been part of a Clan, too, once upon a time. My warriors have done well by bringing her here. Somebody has to recognize her," Tallstar exclaimed.
The temporary ThunderClan leader exchanged a questioning gaze with Leopardstar, who also didn't seem to know what was going on.
"Step forward, stranger," Tallstar commanded. As she came nearer, Fireheart could also see that her eyes were looking far away into nothing. Then, the she-cat coughed. All the clans fell silent.
"These cats are right, I don't remember anything. But I keep having one dream," she said very quietly. "About feathers in a storm."
"Silverstream," Graystripe whispered.
