Chapter 23

"Kittypets!" scoffed Ashpaw. "Why would Bluestar ally with kittypets?"

"Hush," hissed his mentor, Dustpelt. The brown tabby's shoulders were bristling. "We don't know the measure of this enemy yet – they may stink like Twolegplace, but they're not kittypets."

Other murmurs of shock and confusion were rippling through the TigerClan ranks. Tinystar was nearly deaf to it all, his attention focused solely on the flame-colored tom standing beside Bluestar – a cat that Tinystar had thought he might never see again.

Rusty.

What is Rusty doing here?!

Rusty simply stared back at Tinystar, his green eyes even. There was almost nothing familiar about that gaze, and yet Tinystar knew for certain that the cat standing before him was his half-brother.

"See something familiar, Tinystar?" crowed Bluestar. Her voice brought Tinystar out of his stupor. The blue-gray she-cat twined her tail, her blue eyes filled with triumph. "You and my friend here seem… acquainted."

Alarm rushed through TigerClan. Tinystar felt all eyes on him as the confused murmuring grew into a cloud that clogged Tinystar's ears. He lowered his tail to keep others from seeing it tremble.

"Tinystar," Tallstar murmured beside him, "who is this cat? Is this true?"

Tinystar took a deep breath. There's nothing for it now, he thought grimly. I have to tell them. "This cat… is my half-brother," he breathed. "Rusty."

A murmur of shock rippled through the cats behind him. Tallstar's large ears pricked, his eyes wide. Tinystar avoided the faces of his Clanmates, scared of what he might find there.

Tinystar faced Rusty. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "What is all this, Rusty?"

"I am no longer Rusty," the ginger tom replied. "In Twolegplace, with these cats, I am known as Scorch. Did you think life in Twolegplace would halt without you, Tinystar? Did you think time would not march onward?"

Tinystar stiffened at the tone of his half-brother's voice. It was so… alien. The brotherly familiarity they had shared during Tinystar's youth was gone. The mischievous twinkle in Rusty-no, Scorch's eye wasn't there anymore. It was the same cat, Tinystar knew, but it was almost like some other cat was wearing his pelt.

"This can't be!" hissed Cloudtail. The patched she-cat pushed her way up to the front of the crowd. "You're Rusty? You're… my father?"

More worried murmurs started up in the TigerClan ranks. Tinystar's heart beat in his ears. Cloudtail looked hurt and confused, her blue eyes wavering. Tinystar realized that she had never met her father before now – was that better, or worse than the alternative?

Scorch looked her up and down, his eyes flashing. "You must be Cloudtail, then," he assumed. "Yes - I am your father."

Cloudtail's ears flattened. Her expression made it clear – that was not the news she had wanted to hear. Tinystar, unfortunately, knew there was no time for his niece's troubled heart.

"You never answered me," Tinystar declared. He tried to squash down his discomfort. "Why are you here?"

It was Bluestar that answered: "Scorch and his cats, BloodClan, are here to help convince you to join us," she purred. Her eyes sparkled with a delight that made Tinystar's stomach want to heave. Bluestar twitched her whiskers. "Otherwise… you will face us both in battle. Did you really think I had not come up with a plan to keep this in my favor, Tinystar?"

Tinystar sank his claws into the earth, frustration sparking under his pelt. Would Scorch really fight him? Tinystar didn't have to think hard about the answer – the look in Scorch's eye, his stance… this was not the brother Tinystar had grown up knowing. But maybe there was something of Rusty still in there?

"Very well," Tinystar decided. He took a step forward, into the gully of space between the two Clans. "Then perhaps Scorch and his Clan ought to know who they're really fighting for?"

"They know," Bluestar affirmed, her shoulder fur rising just slightly. "There's no need for your posturing, Tinystar – we demand an answer, not more delays!"

Tinystar lashed his tail. "This has waited long enough, Bluestar," he spat. "None of your cats know who they're really following – but now they will. Are you afraid of your destiny?"

"I fear nothing!" Bluestar hissed. "Least of all destiny."

Tinystar sat on his haunches, in the middle of the crowd of cats – a denser crowd than at any Gathering. It felt like the clearing was full of cats, surrounding him and cutting off every escape – and yet, despite the crowding, Tinystar felt calm. His fear of shrinking spaces and inescapable crowds had fled him, it seemed, for this moment.

He took a deep breath.

"You all know Bluestar now," he began. "And all of you know she was once a ThunderClan warrior, and my mentor. A promising warrior of skill and strength, and with unparalleled ambition – she sought the rank of deputy… and murdered Redtail to get it."

Silence greeted his proclamation.

Tinystar went on regardless: "She slew him at the battle for Sunningrocks, and claimed the credit of Swiftclaw, RiverClan's deputy then, death for herself! But Bluestar was not made deputy that night – Lionheart was.

"She got her wish when Lionheart happened to die during a ShadowClan raid. Every day following that promotion she plotted and schemed a way to kill Tigerstar, our Clan's leader. She attempted to murder Tigerstar many times – laying traps that other cats, like Brackenfur, our medicine cat, were caught in instead.

"When I would not join in her schemes, she and her crony Darkstripe made attempts at my life as well," Tinystar continued. "All of which failed."

Tinystar looked out at the LionClan cats, and at the cats of BloodClan. He hoped his speech was going to do something here. He swept on: "Finally she laid plans with Brokentail, ShadowClan's former leader and a great force of evil in the forest. Together, she and Brokentail's allies would attack ThunderClan and, in the confusion… kill Tigerstar.

"But Bluestar failed." He paused to take a breath, feeling Bluestar's gaze burning into his body. How much it must hurt to hear of her past failures! "She was exiled, and she swore to kill all of ThunderClan.

"As a rogue she ambushed a ThunderClan patrol, killing Runningwind and one of our apprentices, Thornpaw," Tinystar recounted. Mousefur growled behind him. "She was partly responsible for Whitethroat of ShadowClan's death on the Thunderpath.

"She somehow became ShadowClan's leader during their time of famine and sickness. As ShadowClan's leader she and Darkstripe set loose a pack of dogs in the forest in an attempt to destroy ThunderClan. Those dogs ravaged and injured two of our warriors irreparably – Swiftfoot and Brightheart. Bluestar killed one of our queens, Brindleface, to give the pack a taste for cat blood."

Tinystar's throat ached. "Tigerstar gave his final life to destroy the dogs in the gorge – to save my life and the life of every ThunderClan cat. To save ThunderClan from the menace that is Bluestar."

Silence hung over the clearing. Tinystar had been speaking so emphatically that he hadn't realized he was trembling – as if every cat that Bluestar had ever killed or hurt had been right beside him, spurring him on. The scent of Redtail crossed his nose, he thought.

It was obvious that no cat but the ThunderClan warriors had known any of this. All of LionClan's eyes were wide, their fur bristling. Leopardstar was looking at Bluestar as if she had never laid eyes on the cat before, horror and rage patterning her face. Tallstar, beside Tinystar, had his head bowed, his shoulders trembling as if the weight of Bluestar's evil was pressing down on him.

Tinystar, however, felt light – lighter than he ever had in seasons. The burden of the truth had melted off of his shoulders once and for all. Now every cat in the forest knew the truth about Bluestar. Now all the horrors were out in the open.

But none of that mattered if his speech had no effect on BloodClan. The rogues' expression were unreadable, and Scorch was even more a mystery. Tinystar's tail twitched. What was his half-brother thinking now?

"I knew of the dogs," Scorch admitted finally, breaking the silence with a soft, quiet voice. "I was not told that the plan had failed so miserably."

Bluestar stiffened, her face thunder. "Your cats still obey me, Scorch! We have an agreement!"

Scorch frowned. "Obviously that agreement must be revisited," he decided plainly. "It was made under the assumption that you weren't a complete moron."

Bluestar bristled to the ends of her fur. Her eyes were wilder than Tinystar had ever seen. Her claws unsheathed as she raged: "Your cats are mine, Scorch! BloodClan, attack!"

Tinystar stiffened his body, bracing for a wave of cats to pour over him – but none came. Not one BloodClan cat had even so much as twitched at Bluestar's behest. In fact… they all looked rather bored. Disinterested. Staring at their paws or licking down their fur.

Scorch, however, was fire personified. His eyes were an inferno. His pelt shone in the sunlight like a raging storm of flame. "BloodClan must do nothing, Bluestar!" he seethed. "We are not yours to command! BloodClan answers to no cat but me!"

There was something primal and protective about Scorch's voice. Something that made Tinystar step back. The passion and intensity… This is really Scorch's Clan, Tinystar thought. How hard did he fight to earn BloodClan's respect and leadership? As hard as me? Harder?

"Traitor!" screamed Bluestar.

She swiped at him, claws bared. Scorch dodged, getting to his paws. His own claws glinted in the dawn light.

"This battle is a long time coming, Bluestar," he sneered. "I will have my revenge!"

Bluestar launched herself at Scorch like a fox, foaming and slavering to get her teeth into his throat. Scorch kept his cool, dodging her blows and raining down attacks of his own. Tinystar swallowed – he had never seen Bluestar so unhinged. He'd never seen her fight so madly, so emotionally.

The two tussled together on the ground in a ginger-and-blue heap, blood spraying in all directions. The forest cats edged away from the battle, fear rippling through them at being caught in the middle. The BloodClan cats watched on, motionless - their eyes cold, unfeeling, and distant.

Scorch tore a hunk of fur from Bluestar's shoulders. Bluestar snapped her teeth against his ear. Scorch's claws tore into her side. Bluestar's claws hooked into his flanks. They fought in a frenzy of teeth and fur and claws, so unlike how Tinystar knew any warrior would fight.

Bluestar used her hind legs to kick Scorch away. She pulled herself to her paws, shoulders hunched. "You're just filthy, mangy kittypets!" she spat. "I don't need you! I never needed you! I never needed any cat!"

She reared up onto her haunches, preparing to leap onto Scorch. The ginger tom was crouched, bleeding from his flanks and his ear, his eyes narrowed.

"I am Bluestar!" she roared, leaping. "I am fire! I am destiny! I am -"

Tinystar watched on in horror. Bluestar's leap was accurate – but Scorch's leap went lower on purpose. Scorch's claws – reinforced with wicked, sharpened dog's teeth – tore into Bluestar's belly, slicing through like sunlight through tree branches.

Blood bubbled from Bluestar's lips. She fell from the air into a heap on her side, blood pouring from her wound. She lay in a convulsing pile, her limbs jerking and twitching violently. Scorch landed on his paws just steps away from her body, watching with cold green eyes.

Tinystar felt acid in his throat. Tallstar let out a horrified whine. Leopardstar watched on, her amber eyes wide but masked. Some cat retched. Every cat held their breath – waiting for the twitching to stop, for Bluestar to get up and fight again, renewed by her bond with StarClan.

The twitching ceased… and then renewed.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Tinystar was struck by horror. She's dying nine times!

Bluestar's body convulsed and lay still, convulsed and lay still… Tinystar could count each life as it passed. Five… Four… Three…

Two…

One…

And then she lay still.

The entire clearing was silent, each Clan cat waiting for Bluestar to maybe, possibly, get up again. But any cat that had been keeping count knew – there were no more lives for Bluestar to live.

She was dead.

Gone.

The thought was supposed to relieve Tinystar – after seasons of torment, Bluestar was finally dead. The evil in the forest had been defeated soundly. And yet, even as her blood soaked into the forest floor…

All of LionClan seemed to realize as one that Bluestar was truly dead. With shrieks of terror and horror and fear, they fled into the trees from whence they came, scattering into the forest.

Mistypaw surged forward, aiming to chase down Stonepaw before he disappeared into the undergrowth with Russetfur. Tinystar felt life return to his limbs as he wrapped his forepaws around her neck, pulling her back towards the line. "Hold!" he screeched, finding his voice. "Hold, TigerClan!"

They held.

Scorch watched the commotion, flicking his torn ear at the fleeing cats. "Cowards," he decided, straightening his back. He flicked Bluestar's blood off of his paws dismissively, returning to his Clanmates, who hadn't moved a whiskerlength throughout the entire display.

Is this cat really my brother? Tinystar thought, horror bubbling in his body. How could any cat – even an enemy of Bluestar's – watch that happen and seemingly feel nothing? She had been my greatest enemy, but she didn't deserve to die like that!

"Scorch -" He managed.

Scorch's eyes rested on him. "Enough," he interrupted. Scorch straightened his shoulders and peered into the TigerClan forces. "Bluestar was a fool to think that she owned us – but forest politics are something I don't care a whisker for."

"You may hunt as you go," Tallstar rasped. The black and white tom was fighting to stop himself from shaking. "Please. Just leave us in peace."

Scorch's eyes narrowed. "I will have what was promised to me," he declared, baring his teeth. "Your Clans have three days to leave the forest for good. At dawn, this land belongs to BloodClan."

He did not wait for a response – he turned and left, his tail straight up. BloodClan flowed after him like a river, until TigerClan was alone in the clearing, blood lapping at their paws.