A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter that S1L3NT made another fanart for me on deviantart! (/art/Realistic-Foxshadow-699015511)! Thank you so much, S1l3NT! If you need me to send you a PM with the link, let me know! I still am not trusting my profile to keep the link. :/
AnonChan1: Yeah, and then there's always that concern that I could forget a character interpretation and interpret him completely different when I try to bring him back. I'd write it down, but I have problems with writing personality summaries. They tend to be either too short, too confusing or too long. XD (A) THAT is true. He'd make a better medicine cat than Leafpool, imo. Leafpool should have been a warrior. That twin link was useless. (D) Midnight was always... that Big Lipped Alligator moment for me. I honestly think that she and Sol and should have been combined into one character, with Sol actually having all of Midnight's powers instead of... I guess he learned them from her? I don't know. (E) Trust me. Iceclaw is going to be. (F) And yeah, ghosts are awesome. (1) Yup! Raggedstar has been making unnamed appearances since she planned the attack on ShadowClan, including visiting her at the Mothermouth on her trip to the Moonstone as an apprentice. (2) That is true. It's one of the things I'm surprised that doesn't happen that often in these kinds of stories. If a person from our world has prior opinions of characters, it's going to transfer over to that world if there are no obvious differences between those opinions/interpretations in the universe she ends up stuck in. This is going to affect her behavior and I've tried my best here to make it affect hers. I'm glad you are noticing that there are going to be issues. (3) Raggedstar is a lot wiser in this story than he is in canon, or at least I hope he is. He's been trying to fix his mistake since he died. I should have had him explain a bit more, but I guess that's going to have to be left up to his next appearance. (4) Don't worry! No attempts of suicide are going to happen. Unless you think dying for the Clan is suicidal. In which case... uhhhhhh.
Fakira: Short reviews are fine! Better than no reviews, tbh. XD
Vinejaw - Vinewings of Airclan: Yep, this is that story, but hallucinations, especially when she's near death, aren't actually dreams. She'd have to be asleep for one of those and StarClan has been preventing her from having those kinds of dreams. It will make trying to get nine lives a pain though or being a medicine cat impossible, unless she pulled a Mothwing. But she's not able to breath in a medicine cat den so...
sierra_stanley_52: Wow, you're very demanding... and thank you so much for the encouragement. :) Yeah... unfortunately dark themes crop in my writing a lot. Whoops. Need to be more careful of that in the future, hm. Also, I did check out your stories a while ago. Neat! Been a bit distracted with other things so sorry I haven't gotten to a review! :)
Fireheart was hating his warrior vigil.
After the whole Clan had all served vigil for Whitestorm and Foxshadow, Fireheart had wanted nothing more than to leave and fetch her body so she could have a proper burial. But Bluestar refused to risk anymore of her warriors for their sake, which only served to remind Fireheart about everything Bluestar had said about Foxshadow. Bluestar's thoughts might have been in the right place but Fireheart was starting to doubt that her heart was. The whole Clan knew that Bluestar had no great love of Foxshadow and vice-versa, and no one was happy with the decision.
Fireheart glanced over his shoulder towards the cats who were still holding their vigil for the dead. Bluestar, Willowpelt, Sandstorm, Longtail, and a few others had gathered around Whitestorm's body. A tiny pile of cats had gathered around Dustpelt on the opposite side of the camp from that vigil to hold vigil for Foxshadow, and Fireheart recognized Tigerclaw, Goldenflower and Brackenpaw among them. Fireheart had never seen a cat look as heartbroken as Dustpelt did and he couldn't help but feel sorry for Dustpelt.
A warrior would never have left Foxshadow's body behind, he thought to himself, frowning.
The sun had started to rise and it's warmth had caused the dew to turn into a light mist which covered the forest. The dawn patrol should have been sent out before the sun was even up, but the Clan had barely stirred after the vigil was complete. Fireheart padded away from his spot at the edge of camp, itching to be moving. He hadn't slept for a full day, but couldn't bring himself to sleep just yet. He padded cautiously away from his post and prodded Bluestar in her side. The blue-gray queen looked up at him, blinking at the sunlight.
"Fireheart?" she meowed, glancing around. "You're vigil's over." She said this as if commenting on the weather.
"I want to be on the dawn patrol."
It took Bluestar a few heartbeats to realize that no cat had been sent on the dawn patrol yet and she glanced around for her deputy only to spot him curled up in a ball and pressed into Dustpelt's side. She nodded to herself. "Take whoever you want with you," she meowed.
Fireheart paused at this new responsibility but, after a quick glance towards Dustpelt's small group, realized he'd only pick a few cats for this mission. He dipped his head to Bluestar and padded over to Dustpelt and prodded the tom's side. He did the same to Brackenpaw, rousing the young apprentice.
"We're going on the dawn patrol," he told them. "We have to tell RiverClan and ShadowClan about what happened."
"What about Foxshadow?" asked Brackenpaw, glancing at Dustpelt.
Fireheart also glanced at Dustpelt and studied the tom's drooping whiskers thoughtfully. "I'll explain on the way."
"You aren't going anywhere without me," meowed Tigerclaw suddenly, lifting his head and staring at Fireheart.
Fireheart frowned at him, suddenly nervous and uncertain that he would be able to pull through with his plan. "Okay, Tigerclaw," he said, mostly because it was the only thing he could say to the deputy given the circumstances. He glanced at Dustpelt, itching to tell the tom his plan but turned away.
The fiery red tom wasn't all that surprised when Tigerclaw took the lead, practically rushing them through the patrol and only stopping for each cat to mark a tree. Fireheart was surprised at the deputy's speed and realized that Tigerclaw might have an ulterior motive for joining them, one which had nothing to do with making sure Fireheart stayed out of trouble.
"We will head straight to the ShadowClan border," meowed Tigerclaw after they reached the river.
Fireheart hesitated, remembering his excuse. "We have to tell RiverClan about DarkClan."
Tigerclaw tensed, glancing at the kittypet. "DarkClan?" he said, in a strange tight voice.
"Yes," meowed Fireheart. "The rogues who attacked called themselves DarkClan. Some of them had collars with dogteeth in them."
Tigerclaw stared at Fireheart for a long moment and then looked away. "Very well, we will wait only to tell them of DarkClan. Tell me everything you know, Fireheart."
Dustpelt bristled at being delayed and perched down on a rock, looking towards Fourtrees and WindClan territory. Brackenpaw, much to Fireheart's confusion, sat down in the mud right next to the bank, ignoring the mud despite it making him obviously uncomfortable. While telling Tigerclaw about what had happened and everything he knew about Foxshadow's supposed murderer, the pink-eyed white tom named Iceclaw with his black dogtooth-studded collar, Fireheart kept glancing towards the RiverClan border, searching for any familiar RiverClan pelts and wondering if he'd see Silverpaw on the patrol.
The wind stirred the tree branches overhead and a squirrel scurried across the length of a branch, perching boldly upon it as if daring the warrior who could leap from tree branch to tree branch to appear and catch. Fireheart shifted on his paws, wondering if RiverClan was always this late with their patrol. The few times he had been on the dawn patrol had resulted in a long wait and Fireheart was uncomfortably reminded that they were near the spot that Foxshadow would usually choose to meet them. It was just a few tail lengths closer to the river, where Brackenpaw was seated actually.
The young apprentice let out a yowl, causing Fireheart to jump and Tigerclaw to whip around, bristling. Dustpelt reacted more slowly, as if being physically dragged from his thoughts and he stared out across the water towards three silhouettes coming towards them. Two smokey black cats and a blue-gray tabby tom surged out of the waters like otters and padded up onto the muddy banks without caring about the mud squishing between their webbed toes.
"Morning," meowed Stonefur, dipping his head respectfully to Tigerclaw.
Fireheart recognized the senior most wawrrior in RiverClan, Blackclaw, along with a young warrior that could have been his daughter or genderbent double and that Fireheart couldn't recognize. The young smokey black she-cat padded over to Dustpelt, meowing a greeting, and Fireheart heard her say something along the lines of "Where's Foxshadow?" and a look of sadness crossed her face when Dustpelt simply shook his head.
The blue-gray tabby continued. "Any news?"
Tigerclaw meowed evenly. "We ran into one of their patrols the other day. We were able to identify two of the cats as Russetfur and Boulder, but Boulder died during the skirmish. There were two rogues with them, one was a giant white tom with a black collar studded with dogteeth and the other was a brown tom. We can only assume that they have started to use Clan names, since the white one was called Iceclaw."
Stonefur seemed to have grown more and more unnerved the more Tigerclaw spoke. "I will inform Crookedstar of this," he meowed.
"Don't you mean Leopardfur?" meowed Tigerclaw.
Stonefur narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you suggesting how RiverClan should run itself, Tigerclaw?"
Tigerclaw bristled but quickly flattened his fur. "Of course not, Stonefur," he meowed.
Stonefur nodded. "We will see you tomorrow then," he meowed, gesturing towards the other two cats. "Blackclaw, Shadepelt, with me."
The three warriors turned and disappeared quickly back into the river. Fireheart glanced at Dustpelt and noted that his gaze had wandered back to Fourtrees.
"Can we go look for Foxshadow now?" asked Brackenpaw anxiously, the pale brown tom looking at Tigerclaw. "We can pass through Fourtrees to avoid ShadowClan."
Tigerclaw blinked at the small brown tom and Fireheart really expected him to say no. "We will move quickly if we are to catch the ShadowClan patrol on our way back." He looked at Fireheart. "Unless that is a problem?"
Startled, Fireheart shook his head. "I want to bring Foxshadow's body back for her burial. She deserves to be buried on ThunderClan territory."
Tigerclaw half-nodded at this response, his gaze sliding towards Dustpelt for a second before he looked away. "Very well. ThunderClan, follow me."
The patrol practically rushed towards Fourtrees. The massive four oak trees, each tree in a corner of the massive bowl which served as all the Clan's gathering place, towering over them like massive twoleg nests. Fireheart felt like he was padding across alien ground as they quickly descended the slopes leading out of ThunderClan territory and up the slope which lead into the WindClan moor. Fireheart found himself taking the lead, gathering himself on his haunches to peer over the tall grasses and remember the general direction of where the battle had taken place. After a moment, he bounded through the grasses, ignoring the feel of his back feet catching on straws and the noise of grasses rustling. How WindClan managed to stay stealthy and silent on the moor was beyond him.
They emerged into a clearing and Fireheart immediately spotted the gray tom's dead body. He gestured with his tail for them to follow and padded around until he could find Foxshadow's resting spot. Except Foxshadow wasn't there. Fireheart started and sniffed around, detecting her scent and a puddle of dried blood in the dirt but there was nothing else there.
"Where is she?" demanded Dustpelt, looking around.
"She was right here," meowed Fireheart. "This is her blood. This is her scent."
Dustpelt sniffed the ground and then sniffed around where Foxshadow had been. "She wasn't dragged off," he meowed finally. "She must have walked off." He turned his dark amber gaze towards Fireheart and glared daggers into his pelt.
Fireheart bristled and meowed defensively, "It's not my fault. When I was here, she had stopped breathing."
"She couldn't have gone far," asked Brackenpaw, looking dejectedly at the puddle of blood before looking around. "Where did she go?"
Tigerclaw shoved passed them both and sniffed the ground, grunting to himself. "I am not surprised." He seemed to have relaxed, finally and he was looking around them as if they had just discovered a new abandoned badger's den on ThunderClan territory.
"What do you mean?" asked Fireheart and Dustpelt at the same time, causing them to glance at each other.
Tigerclaw grunted. "We cannot stay in WindClan territory. Wherever she has gone, she is most likely safe." He almost seem disdainful of her now, as if unimpressed.
"What if she's delirious?" Dustpelt meowed worriedly. "What if she has lost too much blood?"
Brackenpaw sniffed around cautious. "If she was bleeding out, wouldn't there be a blood trail?" he asked curiously, looking expectantly at Fireheart.
Fireheart looked around and realized that he couldn't see any signs of Foxshadow's wound bleeding. He padded around and pawed at the grasses, growing increasingly unnerved and thoughtful. "It almost looks as if she has fallen off the face of the earth," he meowed at last, looking at the other two warriors. "I can't find her scent anywhere."
Tigerclaw and Dustpelt circled around the dried puddle of blood and pushed through the grasses, looking for Foxshadow's scent anywhere. Beyond the area where she had battled the rogue, Iceclaw, there was no scent of her anywhere. Fireheart became more and more unnerved when neither tom returned.
"Maybe StarClan came and collected her?" asked Brackenpaw, sounding both awed and saddened at the thought. "I've never heard of them taking their bodies, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Foxshadow really was special."
Tigerclaw returned first, frowning as he settled down near the spot where Foxshadow had disappeared. "We will have to tell Bluestar about this," he meowed, his tone having gone neutral. Fireheart guessed he hadn't found anything.
Dustpelt returned a few moments later, his fur ruffled and eyes wide in panic. "She couldn't have just disappeared!" he yowled, distraught. He threw himself onto the ground where Foxshadow had been and curled up, pushing his nose into the dirt as if savoring her scent before it could disappear entirely. His shoulder shook and his tail tip seemed to spasm. Fireheart felt sorry for the tom.
Tigerclaw rose to his paws. "We have to go," he meowed firmly, shoving Dustpelt's shoulder forcefully. The dusky dark brown tabby tom blinked up at Tigerclaw, looking like he was lost in his own thoughts and sorrow. "Get up, Dustpelt. We are needed back in camp."
"We should tell ShadowClan what we told RiverClan," meowed Fireheart.
Tigerclaw gave him a look. "We will leave that to the dusk patrol," he meowed, a note of finality in his voice. "Come."
Fireheart hesitated to follow, watching Dustpelt rise shakily to his paws and pad after Tigerclaw, lost in thought. Brackenpaw looked at Fireheart, as if hoping the tom would have an explanation for everything that was happening.
If she's gone, Fireheart thought, glancing around one last time. I thought she was gone last time, too.
Fireheart remembered Foxshadow's words and nodded to himself.
"She'll be back," he meowed aloud. "I don't know how, but I know this isn't the last we've seen of her."
Brackenpaw nodded, looking cheered. "I knew I couldn't be wrong," he meowed, then the pale tom shot off, his tail held high behind him and an almost cheerful bounce to his step.
Fireheart wondered, for a brief moment, who would become the pale brown tom's mentor if Foxshadow never returned, before he shook himself and mentally threw the thought aside. Foxshadow was coming back. She promised she would, after all.
They padded back to camp, bounding over the shallow stream which cut a path through ThunderClan territory on its way to the RiverClan river. When they reached the top of the ravine, Fireheart saw right away that the camp was bustling with activity. He recognized a black pelt among them and his stomach twisted. They descended the ravine quickly and emerged from the camp entrance a heartbeat later to the sight Fireheart hoped not to see on this day.
"Hey, Firepaw! Or is it Fireheart now?"
Ravenfeather greeted him with a warm mew and a smile, causing the red warrior's heart to fall into his paws.
A/N: I know some people are going to be asking themselves "Wouldn't Runningwind have told Tigerclaw everything, especially since there was enough time (and reason) for him to do so?" My response is this; there is always another motive behind what Tigerclaw does, even if it's not very obvious. Tigerclaw is asking Fireheart about DarkClan because he wants to know what Fireheart knows and how he knows what he knows, not because he doesn't already know about Iceclaw and DarkClan. Hope that clears some things up. :)
Also, here we get the two names that Runningwind told Tigerclaw about. Russetfur (the dark red she-cat who yelled at Icelcaw and told him they needed to retreat) and the dead gray tom who was actually Boulder (Fireheart keeps calling all the silvered toms "gray toms"). Iceclaw gets an honorable mention, as well as the brown tom who fought Fireheart, though his name is still unknown.
I keep forgetting to mention that Mistyfoot and Stonefur are both blue-gray tabbies in this continuity. They both have their mother's coat, but their father's stripe pattern. If any of you are wondering how this can be when Oakheart is described as a "dark brown" tabby, then my response is this; black tabbies (which is what Bluestar is a dilute of and what Oakheart and Darkstripe are) can have base coats that are either gray or brown. I don't know why, but that's how things are. :/ You can tell them apart from the chocolate tabby by their black stripes, hence "black tabby". I don't know enough about genetics to say this for certain, but I have a sneaking suspicion that black tabbys with brown base coats are either the non-dilute chocolate tabbies or they carry one recessive chocolate color gene. Any experts out there that could clarify this for me?
Tigerclaw's a lot less emotionless in this story than he really should be, isn't he? Sorry about that! I do have an explanation for it that goes back to my earliest interpretation of him and the simple fact that he never, ever seemed emotionless in the books to me. He always seemed to be saying something snarkily or snidely or evilishly, which always made me roll my eyes at him. Imo, he should be emoting something, even if he's very good at hiding his true emotion.
The schedule is still up in the air right now. I'm going to try and post every Saturday. I'll probably end up posting the second chapter on Sunday if I ever have two of them ready by the end of the week. College is hectic, so who knows?
Hope you enjoy this update and don't forget to leave a review!