I've decided to rewrite the fight between Fireheart and Tigerclaw in Forest of Secrets when Tigerclaw's treachery is finally exposed. I always found it pretty unrealistic how Fireheart managed to escape from that particular fight virtually unscathed. Sure, call it luck if you will, but Tigerclaw was considered one of if not the best fighters in the forest for a reason, and you'd need a lot more than good fortune to make it out of a fight with him without any serious injuries.
Fireheart burst through the curtain of lichen. Tigerclaw and Bluestar were writhing on the floor of the den. Bluestar's claws scored again and again across Tigerclaw's shoulder, but the deputy's greater weight kept her pinned down. Tigerclaw's fangs were buried in her throat, and his powerful claws raked her back.
"Traitor!" Fireheart yowled. He flung himself at Tigerclaw, slashing at his eyes. The deputy reared back, forced to release his grip on Bluestar's throat. Fireheart felt his claws rake through the deputy's ear, spraying blood into the air.
But Tigerclaw was nothing if not a formidable fighter, and that was putting it extremely lightly. Before Fireheart could fully grasp what was happening, he found himself pinned down in the soft sand of Bluestar's den. Pain seared through him as the great tabby raked his claws through his belly, opening a long gash. Blood welled up from the wound, and the ginger warrior let out a yell of agony. Fireheart, like Bluestar, fought desperately to free himself, but in his weakening state was no match for the mighty warrior.
If this is the end, the flame-pelted tom thought fearfully. Then please, StarClan, let it be quick.
Then suddenly, Tigerclaw's weight was lifted off him. Dazed and confused, Fireheart struggled to his feet, looking around himself to see where his enemy had gone. To his surprise and relief, he saw that Bluestar had Tigerclaw pinned face-first into the sand, apparently recovered from her earlier battle with her deputy. Tigerclaw writhed and twisted fiercely to try to free himself, but Bluestar had the upper hand this time and refused to let go.
"Stay away from my apprentice!" the blue-furred queen snarled.
By now, Fireheart's vision was beginning to go fuzzy as the wound in his belly continued to ooze blood onto the den floor. He forced himself to stay awake, however, if only to see to it that Tigerclaw was beaten once and for all. If he passed out now, Bluestar would no doubt be distracted, and Tigerclaw would take the opportunity to finish what he'd started. He couldn't afford to let that happen.
Fireheart moved forward to help hold Tigerclaw down, but stumbled and nearly fell as he did so. Fortunately, he was close enough to the pair of fighting cats that Bluestar was able to catch him and allow him to lean on her shoulder for support. She whispered something in his ear, but in his semi-conscious state, Fireheart was unable to decipher what it was. He could feel Tigerclaw's thrashes growing weaker, however, and wondered how much longer it would take for the treacherous warrior to suffocate. After all, it couldn't be easy to breathe with one's mouth and nose shoved into the ground. As the thought crossed his mind, another wave of blackness nearly overtook Fireheart, and he was forced to lean more heavily on Bluestar's shoulder.
"Bluestar," he half-whispered, half-groaned weakly. "I don't think I can..."
"Easy, Fireheart," Bluestar mewed gently; somehow, he was able to catch her words this time. "Lie down. I'll get Yellowfang for you in a moment."
"But...Tigerclaw..." Fireheart managed to cough out before his voice failed again.
"He's unconscious now. And I doubt he'll be waking up anytime soon," the ThunderClan leader replied. She licked his cheek and added, "We'll deal with him later. Right now, you need to get someone to look at those wounds. Now, do as I said and lie down."
Fireheart didn't need any more encouragement. Groaning softly, he allowed himself to collapse onto the floor of the den. He felt Bluestar's tongue rasp over his cheek one last time before he finally lost consciousness.
When she was eight moons old, Bluestar thought that the worst day of her life was when she lost her mother. Their medicine cat at the time, Goosefeather, had misinterpreted an omen as a sign that they needed to raid the WindClan medicine den, and Moonflower was murdered as a result. Several moons later, she was convinced that the worst day of her life was the day Snowfur was hit by a monster while chasing a ShadowClan patrol. And then, shortly after that, Bluestar came to believe that the worst day of her life was when she was forced to give up her kits to save her Clan.
Now, it seemed as though she would have a fourth day to add to the list. In just a few heartbeats, she had lost the deputy she had trusted to help her lead the Clan for so many moons. Tigerclaw had tried to murder her, right there in her den, and probably would have succeeded if not for Fireheart's intervention. As a result, ThunderClan had lost its best fighter, and Bluestar's apprentice was unconscious in Yellowfang's den.
Tigerclaw had been exiled, of course. As soon as he was awake, Bluestar had wasted no time in sending the murderous warrior on his way. She was surprised to see that Darkstripe, Longtail, and Dustpelt didn't follow him, but made a mental note to keep an eye on the former two nonetheless. Redtail had been Dustpelt's mentor, so it was understandable that he wouldn't want to follow the cat who murdered him, but Longtail and Darkstripe were Tigerclaw's closest allies. If Tigerclaw ever needed spies inside ThunderClan–and Bluestar had little doubt that he would–those two would be the perfect candidates. After the ordeal, the ThunderClan leader had retreated into her den, needing some time alone to collect her thoughts.
Unfortunately, this had nearly caused her to miss appointing the new deputy. Fortunately, Whitestorm was there to remind her, and she barely managed to complete the ritual before the moonhigh deadline.
When she stood in front of her Clan, Bluestar found that she could barely bring herself to look at her warriors. They were as shattered as she was by the discovery of Tigerclaw's betrayal, not to mention frightened at the thought of losing their best warrior, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was to blame. If she had just listened to Fireheart, she could have done something about Tigerclaw long ago, and her Clan would still be safe. He would still be safe. But because she was too stubborn to believe that her trusted deputy could be so black at heart, ThunderClan had been torn apart by his betrayal and Fireheart had paid dearly for her mistake.
She wasn't the leader her Clan needed–or deserved.
In her grief-stricken state, Bluestar had named Fireheart deputy. Looking back on it now, two days later, she wasn't entirely sure what was going through her mind at the time. Perhaps, she had just blurted out the first name that came to mind and seeing as the flame-colored cat seemed to occupy her thoughts so much these days–well, it didn't take a genius to connect the dots. Of course, most of the Clan hadn't been pleased, especially since Fireheart was currently in no state to perform his duties as a deputy.
Somehow, though, Bluestar felt confident that her choice would turn out to be the right one in the end. Fireheart was young and inexperienced, that was true, but there was no denying that he was a noble warrior. He had the qualities of a natural-born leader; any fool could have seen it. All he needed was a way to draw out those qualities from within him, and appointing him as Clan deputy would be the perfect opportunity.
She only hoped that he would be able to forgive her.
Three days after the battle against the rogues, Fireheart finally woke up again. The flame-pelted warrior blinked his eyes open and found himself in Yellowfang's den, surrounded by Bluestar, Sandstorm, Cinderpaw, Cloudpaw, and Graystripe. As he struggled to sit up, he felt Bluestar come forward and lick his forehead.
"How are you feeling, Fireheart?" she asked. Fireheart was relieved to see that, apart from a few scratches, his leader looked physically healthy.
"I think I'm okay," Fireheart replied, still a bit worn out. "You?"
"I'm well, thank you," Bluestar murmured.
Sandstorm moved to greet him next. "It's so good to see you awake, Fireheart," she meowed, her voice thick with emotion. "We all thought that...but thank StarClan you're here."
"Yeah, and now you can get to your duties, like sorting out patrols," Graystripe added cheerfully.
"Sorting out patrols?" the ginger tom repeated in confusion.
"Well, yeah," Graystripe answered. "Tigerclaw was exiled."
"I figured he would be, but why does that mean I need to sort patrols? Isn't that supposed to be the deputy's job?"
At that, his friends all shook their heads and let out a collective sigh. Fireheart glanced between them, still bewildered and trying to wrap his lagging mind around the strange turn of events. After a few heartbeats, however, the meaning finally began to sink in.
"Wait...you're not saying that I'm the deputy now, are you?" he asked slowly. Great StarClan, please say no. I can't be the deputy. I'm hardly a warrior! Besides, the Clan will never listen to a kittypet.
"Finally, he catches on!" Cinderpaw cheered.
No such luck.
Groaning, Fireheart fell back onto the floor of the medicine den. "Great. Thanks. Just...how much time have I missed?"
His friends exchanged another glance before Bluestar meowed solemnly. "It–it's been about three moons, Fireheart. We were beginning to think that you wouldn't wake up."
"Three moons?!" Fireheart exclaimed, leaping to his paws. He swayed unsteadily for a heartbeat, every nerve in his body jarred from the unexpected movement, but forced himself to stay upright. "Are you joking? I've missed way too much time! I'll have to spend my entire life catching up on everything I've missed while I was asleep! Why didn't you wake me up sooner? Now I won't have time for anything besides my deputy duties and mentoring Cloudpaw! Thanks a lot, Bluestar. You've ruined my chances at having a mate and kits!"
As his rant ended, Fireheart realized that his companions were all laughing uncontrollably. Even the ordinarily reticent Bluestar looked to be about two whiskers away from suffocating. He stared at them in confusion, wondering what he had said that was so amusing.
"Uh, guys? Is something wrong with all of you?" he asked uncertainly.
"You–you haven't been asleep for three moons," Sandstorm managed to gasp out. "It's...only been three days."
Fireheart groaned as she and the rest of his friends doubled up in laughter again. Something told him that the next several moons would be the longest ones of his life.