petitprincess: ahh I LOVE it when people point out my jabs at the real series! So subtle and fun! I was kind of worried about writing that chapter, with him breaking down a bit and trying to keep him in character, but it came down to this: he lost the two closest cats to him within a day. I think it would be weird if he just shook it off. He's no Bluestar or Scourge - but he does have a true, real reason to want to kill Firestar. And on the topic of Scourge, I think it's safe to stay he will not become major. Since he was not attacked as a kit (By Tigerpaw), he doesn't know what he's getting into with this ShadowClan business. And I will update soon with these last couple chapters! :D
Snowcrystal of thunderclan: It's over… until the sequel! :D
Walkswithwheels: I'm glad people seemed to enjoy how I portrayed his grief. Kind of weird, writing Tigerstar like that… We will find out all about Tawnypaw, Sorrelkit, Ravenflight, and a special someone else this chapter, so read on!
WyldClaw: yay Whitestorm!
Spottedheart: yay Spottedleaf, too! :) And yes, Firestar deserves what's coming for him.
Wildstar93: thanks :) weirdly enough, Firestar is one of my favorite characters also. It's kind of strange writing him like this.
GodMaster: WOW thank you! :o I don't think Tigerstar knew exactly when his sisters/mother died, but he knows he was too young to remember. (Ok, i admit, i honestly didn't remember when they died) thank you for the very kind review!
Mousefur's tail lashed as a silence swept through the Clan. A circle had formed around Ravenflight with mostly the toms, while the queens were huddled in a tight pack around Cinderpelt and talking in high-pitched voices.
"What's going on?" Tigerstar growled, stepping into the center of the circle and glaring at Mousefur. Ravenflight saw the leader and tried to jump to his paws, but Longtail's paw shot out from the crown and with a swift leap, he pinned him back down. He exchanged a steady glance with the startled Tigerstar.
"We were looking for Tawnypaw," the silver tabby explained darkly. "We were at the ShadowClan border, following her scent. And lo and behold, look who we found snooping around the border."
"I was looking for her too!" Ravenflight argued, struggling under Longtail's grip.
"No you weren't," Darkstripe growled quietly. "You were feeding Sorrelkit deathberries."
Tigerstar's mind flashed back to the day of Cinderpelt's accident.
"They're called deathberries. I assume you know what they do from the name," Spottedleaf had said. Tigerstar shivered as he remembered the fear spiking through him as the red berry had rolled from his paw. He looked down at Ravenflight with a hostile glare.
"You tried to kill a kit?" he spat. Ravenflight's amber eyes rounded in sudden fear, like he hadn't expected the rest of the Clan to find out.
Then Frostfur's voice rang out. "Why?" she gasped. She echoed everyone else's thought, and cats exchanged bewildered looks with each other. Then they were all staring at Ravenflight, waiting.
No answer.
"You're not talking?" Mousefur snarled, ears flat against her head. "Fine. I will."
The dusky she-cat took a deep breath, and Tigerstar was unnerved by the amount of hatred in her voice.
"Ravenflight was awfully close to Tawnypaw's scent when we found him and Sorrelkit," she growled. "We assume, based on his relationship with Firestar, that he escorted Tawnypaw to ShadowClan. Sorrelkit presumably followed him, saw what was happening, and he decided poisoning her was the way out. "
Gasps rang out across the circle. Tigerstar's head jerked back in surprise.
"Escorted her to ShadowClan?" Runningwind snorted, kinking his tail over his back. "Don't you mean forced?"
Mousefur shrugged. "I presume."
Tigerstar looked down at Ravenflight. He had never felt this much hatred boil up in him, not for many moons. The black tom looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
"Why did you take my daughter?" he snapped. "And why did you try to kill a kit?"
"If this fat cat get off of me, maybe I'll be able to talk," Ravenflight wheezed. Longtail huffed, but rolled away from Ravenflight wordlessly.
Slowly, the black tom rose to his paws. For a cat facing his whole Clan, he met Tigerstar's gaze steadily. "First of all, Tawnypaw was not forced to go anywhere," he growled, lashing his head around as if to dare any cat to argue. Then he was facing Tigerstar again, and looked him dead in the eye. "This was Sandstorm's fault. While she was busy not training her and meeting Firestar-"
More gasps. Ravenflight rolled his eyes dramatically. Tigerstar had never seen him this angry and alive. "Oh, please, don't act surprised," he snapped. "We all know what Leafkit and Squirrelkit really are." A silence greeted his words, and a small smirk fit his mouth before he continued. "Anyway, Tawnypaw was bored. She began meeting this cute little apprentice named Rowanpaw, because, according to her mentor, all this was perfectly fine. Before you know it, a romance was born."
Ravenflight's eyelids flickered in mock sappiness. Tigerstar growled, but it caught in his throat.
Rowanpaw.
He knew that name.
Then it clicked. The tom I told not to fight me.
The tom I hoped my kits would be like.
"She begged me to leave," Ravenflight snarled, leaning in close to Tigerstar's face. Tigerstar leered back, narrowing his eyes and wondering how much of Ravenflight's story was true. "I knew if anyone saw me take her to ShadowClan territory - since Sandstorm couldn't - I'd risk being wrongly accused, just like now."
"So you poisoned Sorrelkit?" Mousefur asked drily.
"She saw me!" Ravenflight snapped, jerking his head around to glare at the brown she-cat. "She thought that I was exiling Tawnypaw or some stupid thing like that and started asking all these questions. I couldn't let her tell the Clan that! Not after what I had to do to Gold-"
And suddenly Ravenflight paused with an eerie air about him. Tigerstar felt a certain numbness reach his paws at Ravenflight's words.
"What did you say?" he meowed slowly, feeling every hair rise along his back. Ravenflight faced him, suddenly cowering back.
"I didn't say anything," Ravenflight replied, though it sounded more like a mumble.
"Oh my StarClan," Brightheart breathed, appearing at the front of the crowd with wide blue eyes. "You were saying Goldenflower!"
ThunderClan began to mutter in confusion and anger before Tigerstar's hiss broke them off.
"Spottedleaf told me a cat had killed her, not the dogs," he growled, unsheathing his claws. "And now it all makes sense."
Ravenflight swallowed. "She started asking me about Tawnypaw and how her training was coming. She was getting onto me."
"You weak, pathetic cat," Tigerstar snarled. "You've lied for so long, and now suddenly your spewing confessions about attempting to kill a kit, allying with an enemy Clan, and…" Tigerstar paused to swallow back the lump in his throat. "...and murdering my mate."
"Get out."
At first, Tigerstar thought he himself had spoken. Then he raised his head and saw Whitestorm shove past Brightheart and come nose-to-nose with Ravenflight.
Ravenflight's head rose. "Excuse me?"
"Get out." The deputy didn't even hesitate. "You allied with the cats that cost us a leader. A deputy. A medicine cat. Two queens. An apprentice. And now a kit?" Whitetsomr's lip curled, like he was disgusted. "You have no place in ThunderClan. We practice honor and truth here, and you've shown nothing but disrespect. Now leave, and do us all a favor and never come back."
For a moment, Ravenflight's lip only curled in anger. Then he turned and began to walk out in a silent, one-cat parade as his tail dragged in the dirt. The cats grouped together began to part into two, but one cat did not move.
"Cloudtail," Whitestorm said softly. "Get out of the way."
"No." Cloudtail's chin rose, and his single blue eye shone definantly. "I'm doing you all a favor."
Then, before any cat could stop him, Cloudtail's paw came up, claws out, and raked across Ravenflight's cheek. The black tom stumbled back as trickle of blood appeared at the harmless wound, and cats began to meow loudly.
"Cloudtail!" Whitestorm scolded, stepping forward. "What was that?"
"That was for my eye," he growled. "And for Brindleface."
"I didn't kill your mother!" Ravenflight wailed, stumbling towards the exit to camp. Cloudtail's lip curled.
"But you support the cat that did," he snapped. Then he took a threatening step towards him, and Ravenflight tensed before he bounded out of camp.
Silence swept the Clan. Tigerstar's eyes didn't leave the barrier as it trembled and slowed to a stop. His heart had stopped.
He took my daughter.
He killed Goldenflower.
"Tigerstar." Tigerstar recognized Cinderpelt's soft voice as her tail landed on his spine. The crowd had disbanded, and a few cats had left to make sure Ravenflight was gone. "I have some good news."
Tigerstar shifted his head to face her, ignoring the emotions that were trying to push past his face. "Please," he murmured. "Any news would be good news right now."
Cinderpelt couldn't help a small smile. "Sorrelkit is going to make it."
Tigerstar slowly broke into a grin. "Really? How? Deathberries-"
"I know," she interrupted with a bit of giddiness in her voice. "The only bad thing she'll have now is Willowpelt crying over her for the next four moons. I got her to throw up the deathberries before she digested them."
"I'm so proud of you," Tigerstar purred in congratulations. "And you know Spottedleaf is, too."
A glimmer of sadness clouded Cinderpelt's eyes, but she shook it away. "I'd be proud to be half the cat she was," she confessed wistfully.
It was the Gathering only a few days later. Tigerstar treated with the uneasy feeling that Ravenflight had killed Goldenflower, but to his surprise, it didn't really make a difference to him. She was dead, and there was no bringing her back.
ThunderClan was the last to arrive. Tigerstar glanced up at the boulder before hopping up, avoiding the hostile ShadowClan glares.
"Oh, finally," Leopardstar huffed, tucking her paws under her thin tail. "I was going to freeze to death!"
"Yes, let's begin," Tallstar rumbled. His eyes shone strangely. "Firestar, would you like to start?"
Tigerstar and Leopardstar exchanged a sour glance, with most of the RiverClan and ThudnerClan cats noticed and appreciated. The ginger leader stepped forward, looking more arrogant than usual.
If that's even possible, Tigerstar thought.
"ShadowClan has been thriving," he announced.
With two fresh ThunderClan cats, I'm sure you're thriving, he thought bitterly.
"We have actually created an allegiance with WindClan," he went on, exchanging a glance with Tallstar. "We thought it be for the best, with winter beginning to settle in."
"Leafbare," Leopardstar corrected. She nodded at Tallstar. "And usually, when Clans make an allegiance, it's not made public."
Firestar smiled an unfriendly smile and tipped his head to the side. "I'm sorry, since when have you been leader longer than me?"
Leopardstar's half-smirk vanished and was replaced with a frown. "You've been a kittypet longer than any of the other leaders," she growled. "Surely that knocks you down a few branches."
Firestar raised his eyebrows, but it seemed more of a threat to keep talking than mere shock. "Anyway," he went on, "this is no regular allegiance. We have merged our Clans and created FireClan."
Leopardstar gasped, and her eyes rounded. Sarcasm was almost dripping from her words. "Wow, what a creative name!" she remarked. Tigerstar laughed loudly.
"We're asking you to join," Tallstar meowed seriously. "Both of you."
Silence followed his words. Tigerstar and Leopardstar's smiles slowly faded.
"You're… you're serious?" Tigerstar meowed. Firestar's crazy rules maybe he understood, but Tallstar was the oldest and wisest leader. Tallstar nodded sharply.
"This is the very final leg of the prophecy," Firestar explained. Tigerstar rolled his eyes. One of these days, he's got to get a better excuse. "They want us to all join forces. A new era is upon us, FireClan. We can no longer fend for ourselves, what with these wild dogs-"
"Your dogs!" Tigerstar interrupted. Firestar's shoulders straightened in surprise. "That's right! If you had given ThunderClan the chance to speak, you'd know that our medicine cat Spottedleaf died and rid the dogs of the forest while doing so. Oh, wait! You already knew that! Because you were there to make sure your dogs tore ThunderClan to pieces!"
Cats began to discuss loudly. Firestar's lip curled but he did not speak.
"That's right," Tigerstar growled. "All you've done is lie to these innocent cats. I am not joining your pathetic Clan, and neither is Leopardstar."
"She can speak for herself!" a RiverClan cat named Blackclaw snarled. Leopardstar hissed at him for silence.
"And I agree with Tigerstar," she retorted. "You say you're helping us with this so-called prophecy, when you're destroying the tradition we've held longer than you can even imagine. Why don't you do us all a favor and go back to Twolegplace, kittypet?"
"Fine," Firestar growled. "You don't have to join now. But you will, even if I force you to. Do you dare question StarClan?"
"StarClan? No," Tigerstar snapped. "You? Always."
"Then give me my kits."
The demand them Tigerstar off-guard. He straightened his shoulders. "Excuse me?"
Firestar's ear flicked irritably. "My kits. Squirrelkit and Leafkit. You took them."
Tigerstar snorted. "No, you had them in a forbidden relationship with one of our cats. But I'll go easy on you since you obviously don't know the rules: the queen's Clan keeps the kits."
Firestar stepped back, ears flat. Leopardstar's eyes rounded. "Oh, does Firestar the prophecy cat not have everything handed to him?" she meowed scornfully. "What a pity."
"Give me my kits," Firestar said steadily. "Or I will take them."
"Sorry." Tigerstar shrugged. "You should have thought about them before you betrayed ThunderClan."
The Gathering ended quickly after that. Tigerstar left rather fast after that, only stopping to bit Leopardstar a farewell (and complement her good couple jabs at Firestar). They were almost out of the Fourtrees clearing when Graystripe appeared behind Tigerstar and cleared his throat.
"Hey Tigerstar?" he began timidly. "I'm kind of worried about this whole FireClan thing."
"Don't be," Tigerstar growled. "It's a load of fox-dung."
"No, I'm worried about Featherpaw and Stormpaw," Graystripe meowed in a low, serious voice. "You're close with Leopardstar. Do you think I could check on them tomorrow?"
Tigerstar stopped walking and sighed. "It's out of my way," he warned, "but I can see what I can do. Let's try to leave at dawn tomorrow, and I'll talk to Leopardstar. Don't get your hopes up."
Graystripe broke into purr. "Thank you," he rasped. "You don't know what this means to me."
Tigerstar purred back, but it faltered. From across the clearing, he saw Firestar's emerald eyes fixated upon him with immense interest. Then the ShadowClan leader turned back to Tallstar as if he had seen nothing. Tigerstar's fur prickled.
Did he hear us?