Hello my dear readers! I hope you have been enjoying my series so far! I must say I am happy with all those great reviews (Keep it up!) and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last one! Also look up (Rising Flame By: cloudsplash3) It's a great Fan-fiction! Also sorry for the long delay, I went to the beach with a friend on vacation! So I am finally getting back into the hang of things!
0o0o0o
Fireheart leaped from one stepping-stone to the next across the swiftly flowing river. The floodwater had retreated and the stones were clearly visible again. It was the day after Silverstream had died; the sky was gray with a thin drizzle of rain, as if StarClan were mourning her too.
Fireheart was on her way to take the news of Silverstream's death into RiverClan, although she had not sought Bluestar's permission first. She had left on the lie of hunting, leaving her kits playing moss-ball with Cloudkit and his adopted littermates, and Featherkit and Stormkit were being watched like an owl by Graystripe. Who had been there all morning. Fireheart did so because she thought Silverstream's Clan had the right to know what had happened to her. And she suspected that not every cat in ThunderClan would agree with her.
Reaching the opposite bank, Fireheart stood with her head raised, tasting the air for fresh scents. She caught one almost at once, and a heartbeat later a small tabby tom appeared from the ferns above the path.
He hesitated, looking startled, before sidling down the bank to confront Fireheart. "You're Fireheart, aren't you?" he meowed. "I remember you helping us during the flood. What are you doing on our side of the river?"
He was trying to sound confident, but Fireheart could detect nervousness in his voice. He was a very young cat-an apprentice, Fireheart guessed, anxious at being away from the camp without his mentor.
"I'm not here to fight, or to spy," Fireheart promised. "I need to talk to Mistyfoot. Will you fetch her for me?"
The apprentice hesitated again, as if he would have liked to protect. Then the habit of obeying warriors orders won over, and he padded along the riverside in the direction of the RiverClan camp. Fireheart watched him go and scrambled up the bank to a spot where she could lie concealed in the bracken until Mistyfoot appeared.
It was a long time before she came, but at last Fireheart caught sight of her familiar blue-gray shape trotting rapidly toward her. Familiar because of Bluestar, she realized with a sigh. Her leader's daughter was practically her double. To her relief she was alone. As she paused to sniff the air, she called out softly to her, "Mistyfoot! Up here!"
Mistyfoot's ears twitched; moments later she was pushing her way into the ferns beside Fireheart. "What is it?" she meowed, looking worried. "Is it about Silverstream? I haven't seen her since yesterday."
Fireheart felt as if a bone were lodged in her throat. She swallowed uncomfortably. "Mistyfoot," she mewed, "it's bad news. I'm sorry...Silverstream is dead."
Mistyfoot fixed her with wide blue eyes full of disbelief. "Dead?" she echoed. "She can't be!" Before Fireheart could respond, she added more harshly, "Did some of your ThunderClan warriors catch her over there?"
"No, no," Fireheart replied quickly. "She was at the Sunningrocks with Graystripe, and the kits started to come. Something went wrong...there was a lot of blood. We did everything we could, but...oh, Mistyfoot, I'm so sorry."
Pain flooded into Mistyfoot's eyes as she explained. She let out a long, low wailing sound, her head flung back and her claws digging into the ground. Fireheart moved closer to try to comfort her, and felt every muscle in her body rigid with tension. There were no words she could say that would do any good.
At last the terrible wailing died away and Mistyfoot relaxed a little. "I knew no good could come of it," she murmured. There was no anger of accusation in her voice, only weary sadness. "I told her not to meet Graystripe, but would she listen? And now...I can't believe I'll never see her again."
"Graystripe buried her by the Sunningrocks," Fireheart told her. "If you'll meet me there one day, I'll show you the place."
Mistyfoot nodded. "I'd like that, Fireheart."
"Her kits are alive," Fireheart added, in an attempt to ease some of the fellow queen's grief.
"Her kits?" Mistyfoot sat up, alert again.
"Two kits, one tom and the other a she-kit," Fireheart meowed. "They're going to be fine."
Mistyfoot blinked, suddenly deep in thought. "Will ThunderClan want them, when they're half RiverClan?"
"I'm suckling them," Fireheart assured her, not blinking twice at Mistyfoot's surprised look. "The Clan's angry with Graystripe, but no cat would take it out on the kits."
"I see." Mistyfoot was silent for a while, still thoughtful, and then rose to her paws. "I must get back to my camp and tell the Clan. They don't even know about Graystripe. I can't imagine what I'm going to say to Silverstream's father."
Fireheart knew how she felt. Many warrior fathers did not stay close to their kits, but Crookedstar had maintained a close bond with Silverstream. His grief at her death would be mixed with anger that she had betrayed her Clan by taking Graystripe as a mate.
Mistyfoot gave Fireheart a quick lick on the forehead. "Thank you," she mewed. "Thank you for coming to tell me, take good care of the kits." Then she was gone, sliding rapidly through the ferns. Fireheart waited until she was out of sight before Fireheart padded down the pebbly shore and crossed the stepping stones back to her own territory.
When Fireheart returned to camp, a mouse hanging by its tail in her mouth, Fireheart blinked with amusement as she spotted her kits still playing moss ball. Fireheart's eyes softened as Tigerclaw was sitting in the shade of the Highrock, his eyes half closed. When Hawkkit pounced on the moss-ball, fighting off Squirrelkit who attempted to make a lung at it. He turned, his tail sticking high in the air as he raced over to his father, who blinked down at his son. With one massive paw, he scooped up the moss-ball, and threw it across the clearing, the kits scrambled after it, their excited squeals drawing attention from the other cats who were in the clearing.
Brindleface sat outside the nursery, calling out to her kits now and again, warning them about playing gently with the younger kits. Hawkkit and Squirrelkit were the most competitive, each trying to outdo the other, in so doing so they would end up trying to trip each other. Leaving Tawnykit, Bramblekit, Cloudkit or Ashkit to retrieve the ball.
Fireheart found that her other daughters, Leafkit, Mothkit and Spottedkit along with Fernkit had joined up with Halftail, who sat in the sunshine, telling them a story that Fireheart was to far away to hear.
With her mouse, she stepped lightly, keeping out of her kits way as she headed towards the Highrock. Dropping her mouse on the fresh-kill pile as she went. When she arrived she laid down beside her mate, her eyes narrowed as a peaceful breeze blew in her face. The squeals of her kits made a lovely background, Tigerclaw eventually settled down beside her as her kits began to bat the moss-ball back and forth between themselves, his steady tongue coming to rasp in long strokes along her ears and neck.
"Fireheart!" Graystripe burst out of the nursery, his fur sticking up all over the place as he searched around wildly for her.
"Coming, Graystripe," Fireheart called out to him, rising to her paws as she gave her mate a parting lick on the cheek. Fireheart walked over calmly to her friend, watching her kits as they played. Her friend gestured her anxiously inside, and at once she could hear the mew's of both Featherkit and Stormkit. Oh, StarClan help me! Fireheart thought fondly.
Hunger roused Fireheart from sleep. Peering through the narrow entrance to the nursery, a dim light was making itself into the den. Making Fireheart's sleek pelt lighten, along with casting shadows over the kits in the crook of her stomach, they were growing strongly, but they were still small kits. Stormkit and Featherkit were snuggled between Squirrelkit and Leafkit, while Tawnykit, Mothkit and Spottedkit were piled on top of Hawkkit and Bramblekit, their fur intermingling and it was hard to tell where one kit began and where the other ended.
Fireheart sat up and stretched her forepaws lazily, she was the first one up it seemed. Both Brindleface and Speckletail were both asleep in their nests, their soft breathing mingling with the kits.
Two dawns had passed since Silverstream's death. The shock the Clan felt about her affair with Graystripe was beginning to die down, though none of the warriors except Fireheart, Brackenfur and Cinderpelt would take to Graystripe or go on patrols with him. Bluestar had still not announced what his punishment would be.
Fireheart finally got up to stretch and yawn. All night her sleep had been disturbed by Cloudkit's murmurers and Brindleface's assurance over his upcoming warrior ceremony. Although Fireheart was beyond proud of her kin, she just wished he would have gone to sleep sooner. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed although, She couldn't see how the Clan could possibly recover from the blow that had been struck by the discovery of Graystripe's disloyalty. There was an atmosphere of uncertainty and distrust that dulled conversation and cut short the familiar rituals of sharing tongues.
With a hungry rumble of her stomach, Fireheart slipped out of the nursery and padded over to the pile of fresh-kill. The sun was rising, dappling the cmap with golden light. As she bent to pick out a plump vole, she heard a voice calling, "Fireheart, Fireheart!"
Fireheart turned. Cloudkit was racing across the clearing toward her from the nursery. Brindleface looked sluggishly tired, no doubt woken up just after Fireheart slipped through the nursery. Brindleface and the rest of her kits followed more slowly, and to Fireheart's surprise her own kits where stumbling out behind them. Their eyes shining with tired glee as they charged their mother.
"Fireheart!" Cloudkit panted, skidding to a stop in front of her, beating her kits by a mouse-length. "I'm going to be an apprentice! I'm going to be an apprentice now!"
"I know Cloudkit, just like you said yesterday," Fireheart replied, blinking at her kin. Her attention on her kits who were now scampering around her paws, trampling over her vole. But she couldn't help feeling cheered up when she saw the kit's excitement.
"When can we become apprentices?" Bramblekit squeaked, looking up at his mother as he questioned her.
"Are we becoming apprentices, too?" Leafkit added on, her amber eyes going wide and pleading.
"Not till you're six moons old," Fireheart replied to her daughter, stroking her spine with the flicker of her tail.
"But that's moons away!" Squirrelkit wailed in disbelief, eyeing Cloudkit enviously.
"Your time will come," Came Bluestar's voice as she came up to them. "Today Cloudkit will be apprenticed," Bluestar added on, her gaze looking at Fireheart. "You must be proud of your kin."
"Very much," meowed Fireheart, dipping her head to acknowledge her leader's words. Today was very important day for Cloudkit, and Fireheart thought, it was a big day for her as well. To see her kin go through just what she herself had gone through to become a warrior, to see him prosper and grow.
"I'll work harder than any cat!" Cloudkit promised, his eyes wide. "I'll be the best apprentice there ever was!"
"We'll see about that," Bluestar mewed, while Brindleface purred with amusement.
"He's been pestering all the queens all day and night," she meowed fondly to their leader. "I know he'll do his best. He's strong and intelligent." Cloudkit's eyes gleamed at her praise.
"I'll call the meeting," Bluestar meowed, heading for the Highrock. With a glance at Fireheart, Cloudkit bounced after her, and with racing paws the rest of the kits tumbled and squeaked along behind.
"How have you been doing?" Brindleface asked when they were alone, her green eyes blinking with barely hidden concern.
"Tired," Fireheart admitted, her paws feeling sluggish these days. "And also slightly annoyed…"
"It's about Graystripe," Brindleface stated the problem that Fireheart didn't want to label. "I know what he's been through," Brindleface went on before Fireheart could make her protest. "But he's never out of the nursery, watching over those two kits. It's as if he thinks you can't look after them properly. He's getting in the way of all of us, your kits could hardly move around before running into him and you know it."
Fireheart shuffled on her paws, hardly hearing Bluestar summoning the Clan from the top of the Highrock until Brindleface flickered her tail for her to follow.
"You know we've tried dropping hints. Speckletail even asked him if he thought he was expecting kits himself. He doesn't take any notice, maybe you should tell him to give you some space, all of us some space for just a bit."
Fireheart gave the vole a last regretful glance. "I'll talk to him, Brindleface. I promise." Brindleface nodded, her green eyes looking relieved.
The clearing was already filling quickly up with the rest of the Clan for the gathering. Fireheart heard Willowpelt announce happily to Mousefur and Runningwind, "I'll have to move into the nursery soon. I'm expecting kits." Runningwind murmured his congratulations, while Mousefur gave her friend's ear a joyful lick. Fireheart couldn't help wondering who had fathered these kits, and as she glanced around she noticed Whitestorm watching proudly from a distance. The news of Willowpelt's kits reassured Fireheart. No matter what disasters they had to face, Clan life went on.
With Brindleface at her side, she made her way to the front of the crowd, just below the Highrock. Cloudkit was there, sitting up very straight, and Brindleface came to join him and her kits. Fireheart came to situate herself at the front, looking to see where her kits had gone off too.
She a little bit annoyed to find them scattered about, Leafkit was sitting next to Thornpaw. Spottedkit and Mothkit sat with the medicine cats, Bramblekit and Tawnykit were, luckily, with Ashkit and Fernkit, and as she gazed around both Hawkkit and Squirrelkit were on either side of Tigerclaw, who was seated close by, a disapproval look as he gazed back and forth at both his kits who looked both defiant and sheepish. Fireheart wondered what might have happened now to make her mate look that bad tempered.
"Cats of ThunderClan," Bluestar began from on top of the Highrock, and Fireheart didn't see the problem of where her kits currently sat, looked forward. "I've called you here for two reasons, one good and one bad. To begin with the bad, you all know what happened a few days ago, when Silverstream of RiverClan died, and we gave shelter to her kits by Graystripe." A hostile mutter swept through the crowd of cats. Fireheart strained her neck to try and catch where he might be, but couldn't find him in the river of cats.
"Many cats have asked me what Graystripe's punishment will be," Bluestar went on. "I have thought carefully on this, and I have decided that Silverstream's death is punishment enough. What could any cat do to him that is worse than what he has already suffered?"
Her challenge led to outraged meows of protest. Longtail called out, "We don't want him in the Clan! He's a traitor!" Fireheart risked a glance around, and found Leafkit whisper something softly to Thornpaw, who leaned in to whisper something back.
"If you become Clan leader, Longtail, these decisions will be yours," Bluestar meowed coldly. "Until then, you will respect mine. I say there will be no punishment. However, Graystripe, for three moons shall not attend Gatherings. This is not a punishment, but to make sure there is no risk to him from angry RiverClan cats who might be tempted to breath the truce because of what he has done."
Murmurs went up again amongst themselves, most were angry while others were wary and unsure. Fireheart's kits were still in their spots that had occupied for the meeting, and was easy to see their confused, wide eyed stares as their Clan-mates spoke quietly together.
"Now I can turn to a happier duty," meowed Bluestar, overlooking the murmurings. "Cloudkit has reached his sixth moon, and he is ready to become an apprentice." She leaped down from the rock and beckoned Cloudkit to her with a flick of her tail. Cloudkit bounced over to her. He was quivering with excitement, his tail stuck straight in the air and his whiskers twitching. His blue eyes sparkled like twin stars.
"Sandstorm," Bluestar meowed, "You are ready for your first apprentice, you have shown great promise. You will be his mentor."
Sandstorm stood up, but before she could walk over to the Highrock Cloudkit scampered to meet her and lifted his head to touch noses.
"Not yet!" Fireheart muttered to herself through clenched teeth. But Sandstorm took this in strides. Looking at the young kit calmly and a hint of amusement.
"Sandstorm, you have been taught well, I rely on you to pass on all you have learned to Cloudpaw, and help him become a warrior the Clan will be proud of."
"Yes, Bluestar." Sandstorm meowed, her green eyes sparkling as she touched noses with the astatice apprentice.
"Cloudpaw!" the new apprentice mewed triumphantly. "I'm Cloudpaw."
"Cloudpaw!" Fireheart called out, Fireheart felt a surge of pride in her sister's kit as the members of the Clan pressed around to congratulate the new apprentice. The elders, Fireheart noticed, were making a special fuss over him.
Fireheart, now that the ceremony was over, looked around for her kits. Leafkit padded alongside Thornpaw, him guiding her over towards Fireheart with a somewhat sheepish look on his face.
"Sorry, she looked lost and so I let her sit next to me." Thornpaw meowed, his eyes trained on Leafkit however when he spoke. The tabby she-kit gazed back up at him, her amber eyes sparkling.
"Just you wait, I'll be an apprentice yet." Leafkit meowed, coming to stand beside her mother, blinking in farewell to Thornpaw. Both mother and daughter met up with Bramblekit and Tawnykit, and as they were ushered by their mother towards the nursery. Were meet with Spottedleaf who had both Spottedkit and Mothkit sitting beside her, Mothkit looking up and speaking a mile a minute.
Spottedleaf looked amused and interested in what her pretty golden dappled daughter had to say. All three looked up when Fireheart arrived with three more of her kits.
"Fireheart," Spottedleaf meowed, her eyes held a sparkle of wonder. "Why didn't you tell me Mothkit was interested in being a medicine cat?"
"Err," Fireheart shuffled underneath the stare of both the young medicine cat and her daughter. "She's so young, I just want to make sure she know's that this is what she really wants."
"It doesn't hurt to have a go," Spottedleaf meowed, gazing at Mothkit with a knowing look. It was almost looked like that Spottedleaf had made up her mind. And gazing at her daughter, she looked just as sure.
Before Fireheart could open her mouth to say anything, a rumble came from behind her as a voice spoke up. "You forgot about two." Turning around, Tigerclaw was there with both Squirrelkit and Hawkkit, who were glaring at each other...as always.
"Awe, so you found them," Fireheart meowed, sounding amused. "I was hoping a fox or badger would take my two most mischievous kits."
"No way a fox will get me!" Squirrelkit protested, her puffy tail standing vertical.
"I'll shred it from ear to tail tip!" Hawkkit hissed, swiping the air with his claws extended as if a fox was really there.
"Like a warrior," Tigerclaw added, his amber eyes shining in approval.
"Where hopefully you would have a patrol to back you up, and not to take risks." Fireheart put in pointedly. Tigerclaw simply flicked his ear dismissively, much to Fireheart's annoyance.
"I think it's time for you all to take a nap," Fireheart meowed, ushering her kits into the nursery, meowing a quick farewell to Spottedleaf. Tigerclaw followed behind, helping to nudge the kits inside. Fireheart found it not surprising to find Graystripe already in the den, looking over his kits with a worried expression in his eyes.
When Fireheart and her kits entered his eyes instantly snapped up, his eyes landing on Fireheart. She was shocked to find, that in his eyes, that there was irritation...and angry.
"Where were you?" Graystripe demanded, his tone sharp towards her, making Leafkit, Tawnykit and Bramblekit who were in front of her to flinch back. Not drawing any closer to their nest, as Graystripe practically blocked their way. "My kits needed you and you weren't here. I thought you of all cats would care about them!"
Fireheart was shocked, Graystripe was blaming her for not caring. She cared when he was getting himself into danger by meeting Silverstream, she cared enough for her friend to lie for him, she cared enough to worry about him, she cared enough to look after the apprentice he was given to mentor, she cared and allowed Silverstream to escape and not get hurt when she faced her in the WindClan camp! She cared about Graystripe and his kits! How dare he say otherwise!
"How can you say that?" Fireheart gasped, staring at her friend in disbelief. "I wouldn't have taken care of these kits if I didn't care!"
Before Fireheart could scramble out a reply, Tigerclaw shouldered past her to stand nose to nose with Graystripe, his lips curled back in an angry snarl, his amber eyes narrowed into slits.
"Fireheart doesn't have to be responsible for your mistakes, so be grateful for her generosity and show some respect." Graystripe didn't say anything back, his stare matching Tigerclaw's, they were both intense. Fireheart and her kits crept around the two tom's silently, each kit burrowing close to their mother as the den became deathly silent. For a moment, Fireheart was about to send her kits outside, fearing that a fight between both toms was about to break out in the nursery. But with a dismissing flick of the tail from Tigerclaw, Graystripe stalked hesitantly out of the den. Looking back unsurly at his kits.
Tigerclaw growled softly as he watched Graystripe go, Fireheart wasn't sure how to feel about this situation. Fireheart felt sympathetic towards her old friend, but she was hurt and also angry that her friend would accuse her of such things. But Tigerclaw's temperament wasn't helping calm the kits any.
"Tigerclaw, thank you," Fireheart whispered quietly, her tail curled over the kits. "But we'll be fine, you should go and let the kits take a nap." Tigerclaw didn't reply, but his ear flickered to signal that he heard her.
"But I'm not tired!" complained Tawnykit, her eyes stretched wide in dismay.
"You'll be tired later," Fireheart replied, looking sternly at her daughter.
"Then I'll sleep then," Tawnykit retorted, her mind clearly made up but Fireheart wasn't having any of it.
"Then you'll be too grumpy to sleep, so you sleep now."
"But I-" Tawnykit's wail was cut off by the sound of her father's disapproving meow.
"Listen to your mother, Tawnykit." He said sternly, giving his daughter a pointed look. The pale tortoiseshell looked at her father for a moment, then, settled down beside between Leafkit and Bramblekit, her head resting on her paws as she gave out a huff of dismay.
"Kits," Fireheart meowed, sharing a look with her mate. She blinked warmly at him as he turned to exit the den, he looked over his shoulder one last time before he disappeared in the narrow exit.
0o0o0o
Fireheart paused at the edge of the trees, her tail flickering to signal for her young kin to stay where he was. "Wait," she warned Cloudpaw. "We're near Twolegplace, so we have to be careful. What can you smell?"
Cloudpaw raised his nose obediently and sniffed. It had been two days since his apprenticeship, and Fireheart wanted to see him in action. That morning Fireheart all but begged Sandstorm to lend her Cloudpaw for the day, Sandstorm agreed on strict terms that Cloudpaw bring something back for the fresh-kill pile. Cloudpaw agreed to the arrangement, wanting to show off what he knew to his aunt. So Fireheart and Cloudpaw had come to explore once again the Clan boundaries and renewing the scent marks. Fireheart was impressed of all the things Cloudpaw has learned in such a short time, Sandstorm was mentoring him well.
Now they were near Fireheart's old kittypet home, outside the garden where Cloudpaw's mother Princess lived.
"I can smell lots of cats," Cloudpaw mewed. "Mostly kittypets, that's what Sandstorm said anyway."
"That's good," Fireheart told him. "Also maybe a loner or two. Not Clan cats." She had caught a trace of Tigerclaw's scent, again, but she didn't draw Cloudpaw's attention to it. She remembered the day long ago, when snow was on the ground, when she had tracked Tigerclaw to this place, and found her mate's scent mixed with the scents of many strange cats.
Now Tigerclaw's scent proved he had been here again. Fireheart still could not tell whether he had met the other cats, or whether their scents just happened to have crossed. But why should Tigerclaw come so close to the Twolegplace, when he despised Twolegs and everything to do with them? The not knowing sent a jolt of anxiety through her.
"Fireheart, can we go and see my mother now?" Cloudpaw meowed, his eyes flashing around cautiously but he still looked a little impatient.
"Can you smell dogs? Or fresh Twoleg scent?" Fireheart questioned. Cloudpaw sniffed again and shook his head.
"Then let's go," mewed Fireheart. Looking carefully around, she stepped out into the open. Cloudpaw followed her with exaggerated caution, as if he wanted to show Fireheart how quickly he could learn.
Since his apprentice ceremony a few days before, Fireheart had seen little of Cloudpaw. Sandstorm keeping the white tom on his paws, making Cloudpaw think and pay close attention to what she had to say. Fireheart wondered if all Cloudpaw needed was someone to show him how Clan life actually worked. Instructing Cloudpaw to wait, she leaped onto the fence and looked down into the garden. Lurid-colored flowers grew against the fence, and in the center of the grass some Twoleg pelts hung on a spiky, leafless tree. "Princess?" she called softly. "Princess, are you there?"
Leaves quivered on a shrub close to the house, and the tabby-and-white figure of Princess stepped delicately onto the grass. When she saw Fireheart she let out a delighted meow.
"Fireheart!" Bounding over to the fence, she sprang up beside her sister and pressed her cheek against her's. "Fireheart, it's been such a long time!" she purred. "It's good to see you."
"I've brought someone else, too," Fireheart told her. "Look down there."
Princess peered over the fence to where Cloudpaw sat on the ground below, looking up at her. "Fireheart!" she exclaimed. "That couldn't be Cloudkit! He's grown so much!" Without waiting to be told, Cloudpaw leaped for the top of the fence, paws scrabbling madly against the smooth wood. Fireheart leant over and fastened her teeth in his scruff to pull him up the last couple of mouse-lengths so that he could sit on the fence beside his mother.
Cloudpaw looked at Princess with wide blue eyes. "Are you really my mother?" he asked.
"I really am," Princess purred, looking her son up and down admiringly. "Oh, it's so good to see you again, Cloudkit."
"Actually, I'm not Cloudkit," the fluffy white tom announced proudly. "I'm Cloudpaw now. I'm an apprentice."
"That's wonderful!" Princess began to cover her son with licks, purring so hard that she barely had breath enough for words. "Oh, you're so thin...do you get enough to eat? Have you made friends where you are? I hope you been looking after Fireheart."
Cloudpaw didn't try to answer the flood of questions. He wriggled out from his mother's caresses and edge away from her along the fence. "I'll be a warrior soon," he boasted. "Sandstorm's teaching me to fight."
Princess closed her eyes for a moment. "You will have to be so brave," she murmured. For a moment Fireheart thought she was regretting her decision to give her son to the Clan, Fireheart wondered if it could feel like sending her own kits off to be kittypet's? Fireheart cringed at the thought. But the Princess opened her eyes again, and declared, "I'm so proud of both of you!"
Cloudpaw sat even taller as he lapped up her attention. He twisted his head to groom himself with rapid strokes of his small pink tongue, and while he was distracted Fireheart whispered. "Princess, do you ever see any strange cats around here?"
"Strange cats?" She looked puzzled, and Fireheart wondered if there was any point in asking the question. Princess wouldn't know rogues or longers from ordinary ThunderClan cats.
Then Princess shivered. "Yes, I've heard them yowling in the night. My Twoleg gets up and shouts at them."
"You haven't seen a big, dark tabby?" Fireheart asked, her heart starting to pound, fearing the answer her sister might give. "A tom with a scarred muzzle?"
Princess shook her head, eyes wide. "I've only heard them, not seen them."
"If you do see the dark tabby, stay away from him," Fireheart warned. She didn't know what Tigerclaw was up to so far from camp, if it really was Tigerclaw, but she didn't want Princess going near the deputy, just in case.
This made Princess look so scared that she changed the subject, encouraging Cloudpaw to describe his apprentice ceremony, his mentor and the expedition they had made around the borders. Soon she was happy again, exclaiming admiringly at everything her son told her.
The sun was past its height when Fireheart meowed, "Cloudpaw, it's time we went home."
Cloudpaw opened his mouth as if he was going to protest, but he remembered himself in time and looked thoughtful. "Yes, Fireheart," he mewed obediently. To Princess, he added, "Why don't you come with us? I'd catch mice for you, and you could sleep in my den."
Princess let out a purr of amusement. "I almost wish I could," she replied honestly. "But really I'm happier in the cold. You'll just have to come and visit me again soon."
"Yes, I will, I promise," Cloudpaw mewed, his eyes turning quickly as an excited idea came to the apprentice. "Can we bring Squirrelkit and Hawkkit next time?" Cloudpaw questioned, naming his two favorite cuisines. Both michives and hard headed as Cloudpaw himself.
"Who?" Princess questioned, her eyes blinking hard and focusing on Fireheart directly.
"Their my kin," Cloudpaw said proudly, chest puffing out.
"And my kits," Fireheart put in, watching her sisters green eyes light up in realization, as she scanned Fireheart noticing that she had kitted.
"You had your kits!" Princess gasped in delight, moving to lick enthusiastically at Fireheart's face. "Tell me all about them, how many have you had? What's their names? Are they being looked after while you're out here? Are they being accepted alright?"
"I had two toms and five she-kits," Fireheart meowed as Princess sat back after calming a bit, Princess eyes widening at the large number of kits. "The two toms look like their father, their names are Bramblekit and Hawkkit, Bramblekit is my first born, and Hawkkit is the most mischievous along with his sister Squirrelkit who has a puffy red tail, Tawnykit is a tortoiseshell who is very outgoing, Leafkit is a brown tabby and along with her dark ginger colored sister Spottedkit are very shy of all the kits. Mothkit is my most calmest kit, she wants to be a medicine cat." Fireheart meowed, trying to describe her kits to her sister.
"You'll have to bring them around sometime," Princess meowed fondly, her eyes shining.
"I'll bring them," Fireheart mewed although she would have to make an excuse for Tigerclaw. "And Princess…" she added as she prepared to spring to the ground. "If you do see anything...odd around here, please tell me about it."
"I will," Princess said seriously, giving her son a lick on the head in farewell. "Maybe you could also bring your mate along with your kits to see me sometime." Fireheart didn't reply, it was Tigerclaw who Fireheart was trying to protect Princess from.
"I'll bring my kits!" Fireheart called back, Cloudpaw just a step behind.
Fireheart stopped on the way back so that they could follow Sandstorm's orders on bringing back prey for the fresh-kill pile. By the time she and Cloudpaw reached the ravine, the sun was near to setting, bathing the forest in red light and casting long shadows on the ground.
Cloudpaw was proudly carrying a shrew, which he was going to take to the elders. At least it filled his jaws and put a stop to his endless chatter, Fireheart was feeling worn out after a whole day in his company, Fireheart wondered how Sandstorm did it, but she had to admit she was more impressed than she had expected. Cloudpaw's courage and quick wits promised that he would make an exceptional warrior. As they slipped down the shadowy ravine toward the tunnel, Fireheart paused. An unfamiliar scent tickled her nose, drifting to her on the breeze that swept through the forest.
Cloudpaw stopped too and put down the shrew. "Fireheart, what's that?" He tasted the air, and drew in his breath in a gasp. "Sandstorm showed me this on my first day. It's RiverClan!"
"Very good," Fireheart mewed tensely. "She had recognized it herself a heartbeat before Cloudpaw spoke. Looking up toward the top of the ravine, she could make out three cats picking their way slowly through the boulders. "RiverClan it is. And it seemed they're on their way here. Now go back to the cmap and tell Bluestar. Make sure she understands it's not an attack."
"But I want-" The young apprentice broke off as Fireheart sent him a stern, mothering look she used only when her kits were misbehaving. "Sorry, Fireheart. I'm going." He padded off toward the tunnel entrance, not forgetting to pick up his shrew.
Fireheart stayed where she was. She drew herself up and waited while the three cats drew closer. She recognized Leopardfur, Mistyfoot, and Stonefur. When they were only a couple of tail-lengths away, she asked, "RiverClan, what do you want? Why are you on our land?" Though she had to challenge them for entering ThunderClan territory uninvited, she tried not to sound too hostile. She didn't want to add to any possible trouble with RiverClan.
Leopardfur stopped, with Mistyfoot and Stonefur just behind her. "We come in peace," she meowed. "There are matters to be settled between our Clans. Crookedstar has sent us to talk to your leader."
"Follow me," Fireheart meowed after a moment. Fireheart tried to hide her misgivings as she led the three RiverClan warriors down the tunnel and into the camp. Clan cats rarely visited each other's territory, and she wondered what was so urgent that it couldn't wait until the next Gathering.
Alerted by Cloudpaw, Bluestar was already seated at the foot of the Highrock, and Fireheart's apprehension increased when she saw Tigerclaw was beside her.
"Thank you, Cloudpaw." Bluestar dismissed the apprentice as Fireheart approached with the newcomers. "Take your fresh-kill to the elders."Cloudpaw looked disappointed to be sent away but he went without protest when Tigerclaw sent him a stern look.
Leopardfur walked up to Bluestar and dipped her head respectfully. "Bluestar, we come to your camp in peace," she began. "There's something we must discuss."
Tigerclaw let out a low disbelieving growl, as if he would rather be ripping the fur off the intruding cats, but Bluestar ignored him. "I can guess what brings you here," she meowed. "But what is there to discuss? What's done is done. Any punishment for Graystripe will be handled by his own Clan." While she spoke to Leopardfur, Fireheart noticed, her eyes kept straying to Mistyfoot and Stonefur. It was the first time Fireheart had seen her leader with the RiverClan warriors since she had admitted to her that they were her kits. She did not think she was imagining the wistfulness in her blue eyes as she looked at them.
"What you say is true," Leopardfur agreed. "The two young cats were foolish, but Silverstream is dead, and Graystripe's punishment is not for RiverClan to decide. We've come here about the kits."
"What about them?" asked Bluestar.
"They're RiverClan kits," meowed Leopardfur. "We've come to take them home."
"RiverClan kits?" Bluestar's eyes narrowed. "Why do you say that?"
"And how do you know about them?" Tigerclaw demanded, glaring in fury as he sprang to his paws. "Have you been spying? Or did some cat tell you?" He turned on Fireheart as he spoke, a deep questioning glare there, but Fireheart stood her ground, and Mistyfoot kept quiet, not betraying her by so much as a glance. Tigerclaw couldn't know for sure that she had told Mistyfoot, and Fireheart refused to regret what she had done. RiverClan had a right to know.
"Sit down, Tigerclaw," murmured Bluestar. She flashed a look at Fireheart, and she realized that her leader guessed what she had done, as surely as if she had seen her cross the river. But she didn't intent to giver Fireheart away. "Who knows, perhaps a RiverClan patrol saw what happened? Such things can't be hidden for long. But Leopardfur," she went on, turning back to the visiting deputy, "the kits are also half ThunderClan, and one of our queens is taking good care of them. Why should I give them to you?"
"Kits belong with their mother's Clan," Leopardfur explained. "RiverClan would have raised these kits if Silverstream had lived, without knowing who the father was, and that makes them ours by right."
"Bluestar, you can't send the kits away!" Fireheart couldn't stop herself from interrupting, her stomach twisting in anxious knots. "They'll all Graystripe has to live for." The kits couldn't be taken away! She was taking great care of them herself! Hawkkit was going to show Featherkit the hunting crouch that he learned from Cloudpaw when she was older.
A warning growl rumbled once again in Tigerclaw's throat, but it was Bluestar who answered. "Fireheart, be quiet. This doesn't concern you."
"Yes, id does," Fireheart dared to meow. "Graystripe's my friend."
"Silence!" hissed Tigerclaw. "Does your leader have to tell you twice? Graystripe is a traitor to his Clan. He has no right to the kits, or anything else."
Rage flooded through Fireheart. Had Tigerclaw no respect for Graystripe's terrible grief? And did he not understand how Fireheart felt now that she was nursing both Stormkit and Featherkit? She whirled on her mate, held back from snapping at him only because cats of another Clan were looking on. Tigerclaw bared his teeth in frustrated snarl.
Bluestar flicked her tail angrily at the both of them. "Enough!" she ordered. "Leopardfur, I admit RiverClan has some right to the kits. But so does ThunderClan. Besides, the kits are small and weak. They can't travel yet, especially across the river. It's too dangerous."
Leopardfur's hackles began to rise and her eyes narrowed to slits. "You are just making excuses."
"No," Bluestar insisted. "Not excuses. Would you risk the kits lives? I'll think about what you have said and discuss it with my warriors, and give you our answer at the next Gathering."
"Now get out of our camp," growled Tigerclaw. Leopardfur hesitated, as if she would have liked to say more, but it was clear that Bluestar had dismissed her. Tigerclaw stalked across the clearing with them as far as the tunnel.
Left alone with Bluestar, Fireheart felt her anger begin to fade, but she couldn't help renewing her pleas. "We can't let them take the kits! You know how Graystripe would feel!" 'and me' Fireheart thought on.
The bleak look Bluestar gave her made her wonder if she had gone to far, but her voice was soft as she replied, "Yes, Fireheart, I know. And I would give much to keep these kits, just like you would. But how far will RiverClan go to take them? Will they fight? How many ThunderClan warriors would risk their lives for kits that are half RiverClan?"
Fireheart's sleek ginger fur prickled with fear of the picture she painted. Clans at war over mewling its-or ThunderClan split against itself as warriors fought among themselves. Was that the fate that StarClan had decreed for her Clan when Rock warned that water could quench fire? Perhaps it wasn't the floodwater that could destroy ThunderClan, but the cats that came from the territory by the river.
"Have courage, Fireheart," urged Bluestar. "It hasn't come to a battle just yet. I've won us time until the Gathering, and who knows what will happen before then?"
Fireheart couldn't share her confidence. The problem of the kits would not go away. But she could do nothing except bow her head respectfully and withdraw to the nursery. And now, she thought despairingly, what am I going to tell Graystripe?
By the time Silverpelt stretched across the sky, the whole of ThunderClan seemed to know why the Riverclan cats had come. Fireheart guessed that Tigerclaw had told his favorite warriors, and they had spread the news to the rest of the Clan.
As Bluestar had predicted, opinions were divided. Many cats though the sooner the Clan was rid of these half-breed kits, the better. But there were still several who were prepared to fight, if only because to give up the kits would mean that RiverClan had won. Fireheart defended her two adopted kits on occasions, snapping at Speckletail and even having to rebuke her own kits when Squirrelkit complained about needing more room in the nest and Mothkit suggesting handing Featherkit and Stormkit over to RiverClan.
Through it all, Graystripe remained silent, brooding in the warriors den. He left it only once to visit the nursery. When Fireheart brought him fresh-kill to eat, he turned his head away. He hadn't eaten since Silverstream died, as far as Fireheart could tell, and he was looking gaunt and ill.
"Is there anything you can do for him?" Fireheart asked Yellowfang, going to her den as soon as she woke the following day, while getting Brindleface to agree to watch her kits. "He won't eat, he can't sleep…"
The old medicine cat shook her head. "There's no herb to heal a broken heart," she murmured. "Only time will do that."
"I feel so helpless," Fireheart confessed.
"Your friendship helps," Yellowfang rasped. "He might not realize it now, but one day he-" She broke off as Spottedleaf appeared and dropped a bunch of herbs at Yellowfang's feet. "I got the herbs." Spottedleaf meowed, her amber eyes shining as Yellowfang gave the herbs a quick sniff.
"You know your stuff," Yellowfang mewed. "You can't eat before the journey," she added, "but I will. I'm too old to get to Highstones and back without something to keep me going." She crouched in front of the herbs and began to gulp them down.
"Highstones?" Fireheart echoed. "Journey? Spottedleaf, what's going on?"
"It's the half moon tonight," Spottedleaf mewed calmly, a mysterious look in her amber eyes. "Yellowfang and I are going to Mothermouth so that we may speak to StarClan." She gave a sigh of suppressed excitement. Fireheart felt a wave of relief that she seemed to be over her despair after Silverstream's death, and was looking forward in life than dwelling on the past. Fireheart was amazed by this, Spottedleaf was set on a path of something much grander than normal cats, a connection with StarClan that Fireheart couldn't possible imagine bonding on such a level that could rival that of a medicine cat. Fireheart wondered just for a second if Spottedleaf ever wanted to be something else.
"I'll come with you tonight, if you like," she offered. "As far as Fourtrees, anyway."
"That would be much appreciated." Spottedleaf meowed, eyes twinkling.
"But no farther than Fourtrees," warned Yellowfang, getting to her paws and swiping her tongue around her mouth. "Tonight at Mothermouth is for medicine cats only." She gave herself a brisk shake and led the way through the ferns to the clearing.
As Fireheart followed behind Spottedleaf, she saw Mothkit peeking her way out of the nursery, blinking the light out of her amber eyes. As she scanned the camp, her eyes fell on her mother along with the other two medicine cats. She instantly perked up, her pretty golden head raised as she padded briskly over to the three she-cats.
"Where are you going?" The young kit asked in curiousity. "Can I come too?"
Fireheart glanced at Yellowfang, and when the old cat voice no objection, she replied. "All right. But then it's straight back to camp, so enjoy this." She told her daughter sternly. Trotting up the ravine behind Yellowfang, Fireheart listened as Spottedleaf explained to Mothkit where they were going, and how she and yellowfang would carry on alone to Highstones. Deep within the tunnel known as Mothermouth was the Moonstone, which glittered dazzling white when the moon shone upon it.
"What happens then?" Mothkit asked curiously, allowing her mother to help her over a high fallen branch.
"The ceremonies are secret," growled Yellowfang. "So don't ask Spottedleaf when she comes back. She isn't allowed to tell you."
"But I have to know!" Mothkit's eyes stretched wide in dismay. "I'm going to be a medicine cat, I have to know what happens."
"When the time is right," Spottedleaf meowed soothingly, as she ran her tail along Mothkit's spine. "You'll have a ceremonie of your own, and receive special powers from StarClan that will benefit your Clan."
"Special powers!" Mothkits eyes grew even rounder, and she gazed around herself as if the uttering of prophecies will come to her there and then.
"Don't worry," Spottedleaf added on. "You'll still be the same cat, only more connect with our ancestors."
The sun grew hot as the four she-cats made their way to Fourtrees. Fireheart was thankful for the deep shade under the trees and the cool freshness of long grass and clumps of fern as they brushed against her flame colored fur. Mothkit kept her busy, the kit was adventures like her siblings. Fireheart constantly had to call her kit back so she wouldn't run off, and tried to keep Mothkit quiet from her endless questions that Spottedleaf seemed ready to answer. But mostly Fireheart was worried, she hadn't forgotten the attack from ShadowClan and WindClan. They had been defeated once, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try again to kill Brokentail. Besides that, Fireheart was half expecting trouble from RiverClan over Graystripe's kits. She sighed. On a beautiful morning like this, with fresh green on the trees and prey practically leaping out of the bushes and waiting to be caught, it was hard to be thinking of attacks and death.
In spite of her worries, the group of cats reached Fourtrees without trouble. As they slid through the bushes down into the hollow, Fireheart dropped back to match her daughter's much slower pace. "Are you sure you want to be a medicine cat?" she asked quietly. "Is it what you really want?" Fireheart felt a bit uneasy to talk to her daughter about this so early, things could change for her until she was old enough to be apprenticed. Maybe it could just be a faze?
"Of course, Don't you see?" Mothkit's eyes were wide and searching her mother's, suddenly more serious than Fireheart ever seen on a kit, let alone her own. "I want to be like Spottedleaf, brave and courageous, I have to learn from her to help save cats, and be strong even for the most strongest warrior. I wanna be like Spottedleaf, helping others without using claws or fighting but with healing."
Fireheart flinched back at how serious her kit sounded, already she was speaking like a wise old cat. Where had her young daughter that let her sister push her around when play fighting? Or stopped Squirrelkit from putting a fire ant in Leafkit's fur? In front of her was a mature she-cat that knew what she planned to do in life.
"And will that make you happy? You know medicine cats can't ever have kits," she reminded her, thinking of how Yellowfang had been forced to give up Brokentail and keep her bond with him a secret.
Mothkit purred up at her mother. "The whole Clan will be my kits," she promised. "Even the warriors. Yellowfang says they have about as much sense as newborns sometimes!" She took a pace forward that brought her to her mother's side, and rubbed her face affectionately against her side. "I'll always be your daughter, but this choice is mine to make. I wanna be a medicine cat."
Fireheart licked her daughter's ear, "Goodbye-Spottedleaf," Fireheart meowed softly as Yellowfang and Spottedleaf separated themselves from mother and daughter.
"We'll be back by sunset tomorrow," Spottedleaf meowed, flickering her tail in goodbye at Fireheart and Mothkit.
"I'll come with you when I'm an apprentice!" Mothkit called after them, receiving a warm purrs and a snort of amusement.
As the two medicine cat's disappeared over the ridge to WindClan territory. Fireheart felt as if they took a part of her daughter with them, and a bitter and selfish part of her was angry that her daughter would one day join them. That in some ways, Mothkit was going away forever, despite what Spottedleaf says. When Mothkit is apprenticed, she would leave with the other medicine cats and when she returned, she would have new powers and responsibilities, given to her not by a Clan leader. But by StarClan.
Watching her young golden, beautiful daughter look after Spottedleaf and Yellowfang with a proud, wistful look. Fireheart's heart felt heavy. She knew her daughter had set her paws on a new and happier life of a medicine cat, but all the same she could not stifle a pang of bittersweet regret for the life that could be her's as a warrior. A life of a medicine cat was a lonely one, without a mate or kits, and the detachment of one's Clanmates, along with the extra baggage of responsibilities with StarClan and her own Clan.
But looking closer, she saw Mothkit's amber eyes narrowed in determination, and just for a moment. Fireheart thought her daughter would make an excellent medicine cat.
0o0o0o
Not as long now is it? Sorry for that, been gone a while and wanted to update a chapter also found that I wanted to end it here. Why? Well, let's say that this is going to be one of the more happier chapter before….well, just wait and see! Review! I want at least a hundred before I finish! XD
