Fireheart padded along the ShadowClan border, scanning the area hopefully for any trace of fresh-kill. Ever since the fire, most of the prey in ThunderClan territory had either died or run away, so he had decided to try his luck closer to the other Clans' territories. He had managed to catch a shrew near Sunningrocks, and as he continued to pad along the border, he picked up the scent of a thrush.

"Fireheart."

Caught up in trying to locate the thrush, Fireheart hadn't heard the sound of approaching footsteps or picked up the scent of ShadowClan's new leader, Tigerstar. Hissing in annoyance, he turned to face his old enemy, narrowing his green eyes with dislike as they met Tigerstar's amber orbs.

"What do you want?" Fireheart asked sharply, with none of the respect he would ordinarily show towards the leader of another Clan.

The great tabby gave him a cold look. "You should learn some manners, Fireheart."

"I'll make sure to let Bluestar hear of your suggestion," the flame-pelted warrior snapped back. "Now, unless you have something important to say to me, I'm going to be on my way. I don't need anyone from my Clan catching me talking to you, after all. It would be embarrassing if anyone saw me associating myself with a traitor."

Tigerstar unsheathed his claws as though he would like nothing more than to slash the younger cat open, but Fireheart knew that he didn't dare attack him this time. They were both on their territories, and it wouldn't have done Tigerstar's reputation any favors if anyone found out that he crossed the border to attack the ThunderClan deputy. Instead, the dark tabby lashed his tail angrily, glaring at his old rival and the cat who had taken his place as Bluestar's second in command after his exile.

"I pity ThunderClan," Tigerstar sneered coldly. "Imagine having a weak, pathetic excuse for a warrior such as Bluestar for leader and a kittypet as deputy. It's shameful."

"Shut up," Fireheart snarled, his neck fur rising in anger. "I don't care what you think about my birth, Tigerstar, but you will not insult my mentor. She's a better leader, and a better warrior than a worthless piece of fox dung like you could ever hope to be."

"She must have lost her touch if she appointed you as Clan deputy," the ShadowClan leader meowed.

Fireheart lashed his tail again, glaring at the cat he despised. "You will never understand how good you had it, will you?" he snarled, and for once Tigerstar almost looked taken aback. "Bluestar trusted you! She defended you when I told her what you did to Redtail. If you genuinely wanted to make ThunderClan great, as you once put it, you could have done so! You had every StarClan-given gift in the world; you were practically made to be ThunderClan's next leader. Your strength in battle is legendary, and you had the respect of every single cat in the Clan. No matter how many times I prove myself, I'll never be accepted by everyone because I was born a kittypet, but you never had to prove anything, never had to be anyone except yourself. But you threw all of that away when you tried to kill Bluestar. You achieved your goal of becoming a Clan leader, true, but ShadowClan will never be your Clan. It was not the place of your birth, and you have no real connections to any of the cats or history there. So guess what? You can taunt me all you want, but at the end of the day, I'm the one who's laughing because I know you lost your chance to give your strength and skill to lead the Clan that birthed and raised you."

Ignoring the shocked expression on Tigerstar's face, Fireheart spun around and marched away, heading deeper into his territory. As he rounded the corner into a small grove of trees, he nearly crashed into Bluestar, who was coming from the other direction. Their eyes met, and the look in her icy blue orbs told him that she had heard all, or at least most, of what had transpired between himself and Tigerstar.

"B-Bluestar," he stammered nervously. What would his Clan leader do to him now? She had grown even more suspicious and paranoid since hearing that her former deputy had become the leader of ShadowClan, and Fireheart wasn't at all confident that she wouldn't attack him for speaking to her attempted murderer. "I–I was just–that is, I wasn't–"

But his leader didn't look angry–far from it. Instead, she placed her tail-tip over his mouth to silence him, her blue eyes glowing with an expression he hadn't seen in them for a long time. It took a few heartbeats, but eventually, Fireheart recognized it as pride.

"You know what, Fireheart?" she meowed after a few moments. "You're a brilliant warrior and deputy, no matter where you were born. Don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise."

Fireheart nearly choked up at his mentor's words but forced his emotions to suppress themselves. Nevertheless, he couldn't help purring, his eyes glowing with gratitude at Bluestar's faith in him.

"Thank you," he whispered.