Oh my goodness, I can't believe it has been so long since I last updated! I am sooo sorry. School and sports has kept me busy, and then finals, and ugh! Hopefully, I will get a lot of writing in this summer. Also, thank you to everyone who has continued following this story! I know it is really sporadic and long between updates. Thank you to everyone who reviewed as well.
Moonbeam141 - Thanks! I won't go in and fix it, as it is a small mistake and people (like you) know what it should be, but thank you for pointing it out!
DNAuthor - I might go that far. I don't know. I know I will finish Into the Wild eventually, and I'm going to try and finish the first six books, but I don't know. If I ever finish the whole series, it will be a long time from now.
I do not own Warriors.
All the cats looked up as Firestar and Sandstorm entered the clearing.
"Are you ok?" Graystripe asked softly, staring at his best friend anxiously.
"Fine," the future ThunderClan leader said. "I'm fine. Did you finish the chapter?"
Bluestar nodded, then said, "Who wants to read next?"
"I will," Squirrelflight offered.
Brokenstar, still grumbling about all the interruptions and how weak Firestar was to break down at a memory, snarled, "Come and get it," at the she-cat's expectant look.
Rolling his eyes, Deadfoot grabbed the book and slid it over to her. Nodding her thanks, Squirrelflight began.
"Better not be," Bluestar growled.
"Probably a loner," Tallstar guessed.
All the cats, with the exception of Firestar who knew what was going to happen and Squirrelflight who was reading, gasped in shock.
"No!" Bluestar gasped, looking at Firestar worriedly and reminding herself he was right there. He obviously didn't die.
Redtail and Oakheart both nodded in approval, then glared at each other.
At these words, every jaw from the past dropped open.
"Yellowfang?!" Brokenstar spat. "What is that old hag doing in ThunderClan territory?"
Firestar hissed at him angrily. "Yellowfang is not an old hag!"
"How would you know, kittypet?" Blackfoot questioned angrily, defending his leader.
"Because he knows Yellowfang better than any of ShadowClan does," Graystripe hissed.
Sandstorm yowled at her daughter to start reading again.
"Wait!" Squirrelflight demanded, "Not yet!" She was watching the arguing cats eagerly.
Rolling his eyes, her mate reached out a paw and snagged the book away, ignoring her angry caterwaul.
"Listen to this fight, don't encourage that one," Leafpool told her sister.
"Fine," Squirrelflight said grudgingly, while the two fighting ThunderClan cats turned away from the two ShadowClan cats.
"I did," Firestar groaned. "Even malnourished, Yellowfang packs a bite."
"What did you do to her?" Bluestar hissed angrily at Brokenstar.
"How am I supposed to know? This is in the future!" he yowled.
"And that," Dustpelt mewed cheerfully, "Is the smartest thing you've said all day!"
Brambleclaw read on quickly so that his friend wouldn't get maimed.
"Never," Bluestar spat. She would challenge Brokenstar about her health, but she wouldn't defend the old medicine cat when she was a threat to ThunderClan.
"Woohoo! Go Firepaw!" Graystripe yowled, grinning the best he could as a cat.
"As if," Deadfoot snorted. He had spoken to her once, and great StarClan she had a sharp tongue!
"Oh, yes, the great war cry!" Graystripe laughed.
"Oh yeah? I'd like to have heard you do better back then!" Firestar challenged.
"Phew," Sandstorm sighed. She knew she hadn't seen any blood on her mate when he got back to camp, but he could have cleaned it. But then, his ear should have been torn as well.
The cats were all quiet now, listening to the fight eagerly while most prayed to StarClan that Firepaw wouldn't get hurt.
'So that's why her leg was all mangled!' Ravenpaw thought.
All the cats held in a breath, waiting to see if the she-cat grabbed it.
'And this is where it starts,' Dustpelt thought, sighing and causing Redtail to glance at him curiously before going back to the book.
'Don't listen to him!' Brambleclaw thought.
"That was gross," Firestar muttered in Sandstorm's ear, causing her to laugh like he wanted her to. He didn't want his mate to be tense.
'Some ShadowClan cat,' Brokenstar thought, growling. No weak cat belonged in his clan!
Brambleclaw's eyes widened. He had known about this encounter, of course, but he hadn't known Yellowfang tried to pressure his mentor like Tigerstar did to him. To kill. The only difference was, Tigerstar wanted him to kill other cats.
'Extremely different,' Bluestar and Redtail thought.
Redtail's eyes drifted over to Oakheart. That was what his death was, according to the book. Not in the heat of battle, or a mercy killing, but still in cold blood. Pinned down and unable to defend himself.
"Because he is," Brokenstar growled, breaking the silence for the first time in a while.
"She would have to have an impossibly good sense of smell," Ravenpaw mewed, shaking his head at Firepaw's idea.
"We're not desperate!" Bluestar and Redtail hissed.
"We just won't turn down any available help," the ThunderClan leader continued.
"But I wouldn't be acting like a warrior," Firestar pointed out, staring straight at Brokenstar and Blackfoot. "Killing is against the warrior code."
At his words, Blackfoot flinched while Brokenstar stared evenly back. The rest of the cats looked between the staring leaders, the ones from the past wondering what Firestar was hinting at.
Tallstar narrowed his eyes. "You know, the apprentice is right," he mewed. "How did Yellowfang get in such a state?"
Nobody answered, just looked to Brambleclaw to continue reading.
The cats from the past looked at Firestar uncertainly. They didn't know him very well, and while he didn't seem like the kind of cat to kill… well, they had seen Yellowfang was in StarClan.
Sandstorm noticed their gazes and rolled her eyes. "Really?" she scoffed. "You think Firestar could kill in cold blood? Brambleclaw, keep reading so we can set these mousebrains straight."
"Where are you going?" all of the past cats chorused, and Firestar flicked his tail in amusement.
"Listen, and you'll find out."
"Except," Graystripe laughed, "to this nice patch of heather over here so I can rest in peace."
Redtail glanced at Firestar. The orange cat looked nervous about something. But what?
'What?' was the question going through every cat's head who didn't know what he was doing.
All the past cats' jaws dropped.
"What are you doing?" Bluestar demanded, but Brambleclaw continued.
"You're feeding her?!" Bluestar yowled, echoing everyone else's thought.
"Of course she does, she's starving," Leafpool said softly. "What cat wouldn't want fresh rabbit?"
"A RiverClan cat who would prefer fresh fish instead," Squirrelflight joked, causing her mate to roll his eyes and keep reading.
"Yes, you do," Bluestar growled. "The Clan comes first, and yet you've fed an enemy cat!"
"Call it compassion," Firestar shrugged.
Graystripe snorted. "I'll say. She still stunk, even after that wash."
"And you would know how?" Oakheart questioned.
"You'll see."
"You see?" Brokenstar remarked. "Once a kittypet, always a kittypet. He cannot help but give in to his hunger and feed himself, even though the Clan comes first!"
"Oh, and you know all about that, do you?" Sandstorm snapped, baring her teeth in anger. Her ears laid back at the same time created a frightening image, and the ShadowClan leader inched away from her.
"Read on," he muttered.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" Brambleclaw asked innocently.
"I said, read on!" Brokenstar roared.
"Yeesh, someone didn't get their cat nap today," Squirrelflight joked, laughing.
Brambleclaw chuckled in agreement before reading.
"Of course she is, she's a ShadowClan cat and Yellowfang," Deadfoot muttered.
At this, Bluestar, who had been pointedly ignoring Firestar, looked up in interest. Were they from ThunderClan, or ShadowClan? Or even some RiverClan or WindClan cats who were brave - and stupid - enough to venture so far into ThunderClan territory?
Bluestar sighed in relief. Even though Firepaw had broken the warrior code, she knew he was still an apprentice. They made mistakes. Also, she had made an even bigger mistake when she was already a warrior! She couldn't hold it against him, least of all hope for him to run into some enemy clan warriors and get even more hurt than he did against Yellowfang.
"When there are Clan members waiting to be fed back at camp? Sorry," Redtail murmured.
Firestar shrugged. "I know that now. But back then? Unfortunately, no."
"Of course," Sandstorm laughed, "that didn't stop you and Graystripe from doing a bunch of crazy things once you were warriors and even now."
"Guilty as charged," Graystripe sighed.
"That's it," Brambleclaw spoke. "Squirrelflight, do you want to read the next chapter since you barely did any of this?"
"Sure," she nodded, taking the book from her mate.
So, that's the end of this chapter! No surprises or anything, but hopefully it's still good. Please review!