Goldskies5: you'll see!
FeatherSunFire: Yep, just like Firestar did in canon!
Snowcrystal of thunderclan: true though, I loved Tallstar and Jake.
petitprincess: that was the most amazing set of puns I've ever heard. You're so nICE, has anyone ever COALd you that? I'm glad it feels natural to you. And poor Tallstar, he just made a bad decision, I think. We'll have to wait and see what happens to Featherpaw :) I don't have her all planned out yet tbh. I also LOVE reviews (seriously, I get excited every single time I get one), and I love reading how people enjoyed this story, so long reviews are DEFINITELY okay! Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight will have an... ahem... interesting plot next book, I hope? And my copy/paste hasn't been working, so some chapters have actually been split up. I think I figured out how to make them longer, though!
Bloodsucking Demon: :D
walkswithwheels: I don't know what made me change my mind, actually. I'd kind of like to see Stonefur become leader, and I think (looking back on it) Mistyfoot was never going to die, just *almost* die. Idk. Firestar doesn't really have anything against half-Clan cats. He just killed Stormpaw because he was Graystripe's son, graypool because she was the weakest cat in RiverClan, and Mistyfoot because she was a former queen (and therefore wasn't sharp on her fighting skills, since she recently gave birth). ... And the reason IceClan was named that was because of what happened in in canon, actually! Tigerstar named TigerClan after himself, and here, FireClan is named after Firestar. In canon, Firestar names LionClan the opposite (kind of) of TigerClan, and here, Tigerstar names IceClan to prove he is the opposite of FireClan. And we're still not quite done with Featherpaw. :)
hayjay5304: that's not what I was referencing when I named the Clans (see above reply) but it does make sense!
I don't know if I'm honestly ready for this chapter. It's the last one, minus the epilogue. And by the way, your'e about to learn that I canNOT write battle scenes. Sorry.
"Firestar has been tormenting the Clans for longer than some of you have even been aware, Tigerstar growled. His gaze did not leave the ginger leader, who did nothing but scowl at him.
"Tigerstar, I don't think torment is correct wording," Tallstar argued in a courteous yet warning voice. "Yes, a few cats have paid the ultimate price, but-"
"A few cats?" Tigerstar echoed, tipping his head to the side and gazing at the black and white leader intently. "You really do know nothing."
Now all the Clans had gone silent. Tigerstar grinned, and Firestar looked slightly uncomfortable.
"It all started when ShadowClan came to our camp and begged to take him from us. Bluestar was merely being sensible by keeping Firepaw for ThunderClan. ShadowClan became violent. They killed our deputy, Lionheart, in front of the Clan. No mercy."
Murmurs of discomfort rippled through the Clans.
"After that, Firepaw became a warrior. He thought he could rank his way up to deputy, then leader. Maybe after that, he could have both ThunderClan and ShadowClan," Tigerstar went on. Ravenflight leapt to his paws.
"That's not true!" he yowled. Tigerstar whipped around to face him, snarling.
"You'll have your turn to tell them what you've done," Tigerstar growled. Then he shook his head, took a deep breath, and continued. "Anyway, he tried to set a trap for me on the Thunderpath. Many of you know our medicine cat, Cinderpelt. She went instead of me, and now she's crippled." Tigerstar rose his voice as the anxious RiverClan, WindClan, and even a few ShadowClan cats expressed their doubts. "And when Firestar failed to kill me, he set up a battle with ShadowClan. That battle killed a queen with kits, an apprentice, and Bluestar, right after she exiled him."
"She wouldn't let me leave," Firestar growled in a low voice. Tigerstar raised one eyebrow, but it was Brightheart who spoke.
"Did Thornpaw refuse to let you leave, too?" she hissed. Her voice trembled at the reminder of her dead brother. "And Brindleface?"
Firestar's lip curled, but he said nothing. Tigerstar gave Brightheart a nod on thanks. "He joined ShadowClan after that, as many of you know, and even sacrificed Brokentail to get his nine lives - and Brokentail went willingly."
"See!" a ShadowClan she-cat piped up. "If he was ready to die for the prophecy, shouldn't the other deceased cats be, too?"
"Brokentail was insane and senile from ShadowClan's sickness," Tigerstar spat. ShadowClan hisses followed his retort, but he ignored them. "Firestar was bent on revenge for the Clan who exiled him after that. He was the one who sent the Twolegplace dogs after ThunderClan. He fed them on our territory. He sat back and watched his own former apprentice get mauled from the border."
That was a wild guess, but by the way Firestar reeled back and by the way Cloudtail's single eye widened, Tigerstar realized he wasn't too far off.
"And then… and then…" he bellowed over the yowls, "Ravenflight, one of Firestar's old friends, murdered a queen and gave her to the dogs as bait." He watched in satisfaction as some of the ShadowClan cats cast uneasy glances at Ravenflight. The ends of Tigerstar's mouth twitched as Clawface, a large brown tabby, shook his head slowly. "Now, as you all know, we recently rid ourselves and all the Clans of the dogs. We lost our medicine cat, Spottedleaf, to the dogs. Ravenflight, a friend who was supposedly working with Firestar, tried to poison a kit when she saw him taking my daughter to ShadowClan." He bowed his head in a respectful silence. He saw Stormpaw's still body out of the corner of his eye, curled up next to Graypool like two withered roses. "And now he's killed an apprentice and an elder. He's wounded a queen and a deputy. This will be Firestar's legacy if you let him rule FireClan. He knows nothing of our standards and morals, things we've upheld as long as our kin have ruled the forest. He lied his way to leader, just so he can feel important. He," Tigerstar paused thoughtfully to give Firestar a good, long stare. "He's just a kittypet."
A long, thick silence followed his words. Tallstar stepped forward, mouth slightly agape, but he said nothing and stepped back crossly.
"Now, I don't know about you all, but I will not succumb to evil," Leopardstar added smoothly, sliding up beside Tigerstar. "IceClan will not be ruled by a kittypet. Now, who's with me?"
She stepped back, Tigerstar at her side. They exchanged a nod, and Tigerstar looked at ThunderClan imploringly. Then Dustpelt stepped forward, casting a quick glance at Firestar.
Ferncloud followed him, then Longtail, before the whole of ThunderClan was at Tigerstar's side. Someone brushed against Tigerstar's shoulders, and he looked down to see Bramblepaw standing firmly beside him. Then Blackclaw and Greenflower of RiverClan exchanged a glance before looking to Leopardstar with determination. They rose to their paws and stepped beside their leader, heads high. Even Featherpaw rose shakily from her brother's body, and with a sniffle, stood by her father. The last cats fell into place beside Leopardstar and Tigerstar, leaving a clear boundary between IceClan and FireClan.
Firestar jutted his jaw and took a step backwards as FireClan stood and sauntered up behind him, fixating their yellow glares upon IceClan. Tallstar stood beside Firestar, though his large ears were noticeablly droopier after Tigerstar's confession.
Firestar isn't all that great, now is he, Tigerstar thought with triumph.
"If there's anyone who doubts their side, speak now or forever hold your silence," Leopardstar meowed loudly. Her voice bounced around the clearing. No cat moved.
Then a WindClan she-cat stepped forward, head down, and scuttled past Firestar and onto IceClan's side. Tigerstar recognized her as Ashfoot. When all eyes turned to her, she mumbled,
"What he's doing isn't right."
Then slowly, more cats began to follow her. First it was Tangleburr of ShadowClan, Onewhisker, Littlecloud. A few warriors sprinkled over to IceClan's side. Not many came, but it was enough to make a difference. The only cats that didn't look extremely uncomfortable were the former kittypets. They merely watched scornfully as their Clanmates left for IceClan.
Then Bramblepaw froze beside Tigerstar. Tigerstar looked down at his son, then at the FireClan crowd, and one cat stood still at the front of the crowd. His blood ran cold.
"Tawnypaw," he whispered to her, gaze softening. "You're not coming?"
Tawnypaw's amber gaze had the slightest hint of regret, but she nudged closer to a russet tom Tigerstar knew was Rowanpaw. He closed his eyes and shuddered.
She's made her decision.
"Ha!" Leopardstar spat, breaking Tigerstar's thoughts. "We outnumber you."
"And we," Firestar replied smoothly, unsheathing his claws, "will outfight you."
"Firestar," Tallstar interrupted, casting a worried glance at Tigerstar, "I don't know if-"
But before he could finish, a bright light illuminated the early morning sky. A shooting star traveled across the horizon, leaving behind a shining golden trail. Then it flickered, and it was gone, throwing the Clans back into the dawn light.
Tigerstar's eyes widened. Firestar grinned.
"Well, well," the ginger leader growled, stalking towards Tigerstar. "It seems StarClan has sent another omen for me." Without waiting for the other cats to reply, he yowled, "FireClan, fight!"
Tigerstar clenched his teeth together and began to run into battle. He met with a fierce-looking black and white kittypet, whose collar was lined with.. Dog teeth?
Tigerstar shook away the thought as he met the tom mid-air. He sliced his claws down the tom's neck, but missed by a hair and only ended with a clawful of fur. He landed neatly on the ground, but the tom came crashing down on top of him. Tigerstar closed his eyes as he waited for the impact, but it never came. Instead, a burly force hit the kittypet from the side. Tigerstar shook his head as he recognized Graystripe, with Featherpaw right by his side. He watched in amazement as together, they fought the tom, matching blow-for-blow.
Tigerstar leapt away as he saw two cats doubling up on Whitestorm. He knocked a lithe gray she-cat away and he flanked Whitestorm, curling his lip at the attackers. At once, he recognized the black pelt of Ravenflight and flexed his claws.
Ravenflight looked at the she-cat, and with a nod, she leapt between Tigerstar and Whitestorm, shoving Tigerstar aside. Tigerstar stumbled away and prepared to leap back at the she-cat, but to his shock, she wasn't there.
In a moment of horror, he realized it had been a distraction. Whitestorm reared up, but it was a mistake. Ravenflight's claws raked down his belly, and Whitestorm gave a roar of pain as blood soaked his pure white fur. The deputy fell back, and Ravenflight licked his paw mockingly.
"No!" Tigerstar roared. Anger blurred his vision. He took a bound towards Ravenflight, shoving the smug gray she-cat aside, but another group of cats beat him there.
A gray tom - Ashfur, Tigerstar realized - surprised Ravenflight from behind and pinned him to the ground. Ravenflight turned, in his shock, but Ferncloud appeared beside her brother and held the black tom's head down. Featherpaw and Bramblepaw appeared at the sides, raking their claws down Ravenflight's flanks. The black tom gave a horrible screech, and his eyes bulged with pain as he struggled to fight off the four young cats.
"Tigerstar!" he screamed. "Help me!"
Tigerstar stepped back, feeling an oddly cold sensation reach his heart. "No thanks," he replied simply, licking a paw. Ravenflight's mouth twisted from shock to anger.
"I'm your apprentice!" he shrieked as Bramblepaw split his ear. "You can't let me die!"
"Oh, like you let Goldenflower die?" Tigerstar replied, venom dripping from his voice. Then he turned around as Ravenflight gave one final, piercing scream. Then he stopped struggling altogether.
"Whitestorm," Tigerstar whispered, nudging the fallen deputy with his paw. He winced as his paw soaked with blood the minute he touched his old friend. "Whitestorm?"
To his relief, Whitestorm stirred. His head raised, and he glanced at Tigerstar in confusion.
"Tigerstar?" he murmured. "Am I alive?"
"Yes," Tigerstar responded grimly. "Ashfur and Ferncloud - your kits- they killed Ravenflight."
Whitestorm gave a satisfied, forced smirk before closing his eyes and laying his head back down. Suddenly Cinderpelt broke out of the reeds, a bundle of herbs in her jaw. Tigeratar took a step back, bristling. She treated him quickly, like he was going to die any moment. But then Tigerstar saw Whitestorm's gentle, rhythmic breathing, and how the blood was beginning to clot, and realized his deputy would be okay.
"You!"
Tigerstar spun around, but instead saw Bramblepaw in the middle of camp, face to face with Tawnypaw. Tawnypaw looked taken aback. "You're fighting for ShadowClan!" Bramblepaw went on accusingly. "You're a ThunderClan cat!"
"I can be whatever I want!" Tawnypaw grunted, leaping at her brother. Bramblepaw's claws were unsheathed, and his jaws were poised at her throat. Bramblepaw's claw reached up and made contact with Tawnypaw's ear, splitting the tip of it. Tawnypaw yowled in pain. With a chilling realization, Tigerstar froze.
He's trying to hurt her!
Tawnypaw leaned back down to get back at Bramblepaw, but the dark tabby merely dodged her jaws and raked his back claws down her belly. Tawnypaw shreiked and stumbled away from him, giving Bramblepaw the chance to leap to his paws. Bramblepaw lashed his tail and leapt at Tawnypaw, bellowing "traitor!"
Anger filled his amber eyes, and before Tigerstar realized it, he was rushing towards his kits to stop them. Another cat stopped him.
The new cat collided with Bramblepaw's side, knocking him over sideways. The two toms rolled in battle before the larger tom landed on top.
"Rowanpaw," Bramblepaw greeted darkly. "Get off of me. It's all your fault my sister left."
Rowanpaw's gaze suddenly softened. "It's Rowanclaw, now. And your sister left because she was in love. Not because she hated you."
Bramblepaw's unsheathed claws lowered.
Tigerstar turned back around to leap into battle, assuming the young cats had their situation figured out, when he found himself in the center of camp. The cats had broken away, still locked in battle, to leave an empty circle for him. At first he was confused, but then he saw Firestar break away from the battling crowd, sauntering towards him with his head high.
"Isn't it glorious?" Firestar meowed, sounding quite proud. Tigerstar was hunched over, snarling.
"What?" Tigerstar spat. "Blood? Death? Spitting on StarClan like they're crowfood? There's a lot of things you distort to be glorious."
Firestar tipped his head to the side. "Of course not. Just you and me, Tigerstar. Look at it all. I've destroyed everything you've worked so hard for."
"One of the many things I don't understand about you is why you're doing this," Tigerstar growled, shaking his head. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because when Bluestar and Brokenstar told me I was special, I thought it meant something," Firestar replied in a low voice. He was uncharacteristically serious. "I was teased when I first joined ThunderClan. I was told kittypets weren't welcomed - and you didn't exactly support me. When I got to be a part of something special, it made me want to live up to that."
"And then I wronged you," Tigerstar finished drily. Firestar gave him a sharp nod.
"That's right," he snarled. "You wouldn't listen to your own ancestors, when a housecat did. And now you're going to pay."
At once, Firestar leapt at Tigerstar. Tigerstar dodged him, and Firestar skidded to the side, grinning wildly.
"Don't want to fight, eh?" he taunted. "Well, let me-"
Tigerstar cut him off with a bellow. He leapt at the ginger leader with anger clouding his gaze, and in a twisted moment, he realized he made a mistake. Firestar scuttled underneath of him, raking his claws along his belly before Tigerstar hit the ground. He felt blood pool around his paws. He tried to clamber towards Firestar's smug visure, but his legs buckled, and he blacked out.
All he had left was a thought: I let him kill me.
I underestimated him.
Oh, StarClan, why did I underestimate him?
All he could see were stars before his eyes reopened with a gasp. Tigerstar took in a clean breath, feeling a leap of energy as he rose to his paws, blood dripping from a closed wound.
"I'll take the other eight until you join me," Firestar growled, sauntering towards Tigerstar. Tigerstar's eyes narrowed, but he felt flanks by his own before he could respond.
"And we'll take all nine of yours before you lay a paw on him." Graystripe's voice. Beside the gray tom came Darkstripe, Longtail, and even Cloudtail, whose single eye was glowering at Firestar. Firestar's tail flickered nervously, but his head stayed high.
"I thought you would be a friend, once," Graystripe went on. "I was wrong."
Longtail looked at Tigerstar. "On your order," he meowed simply. Tigerstar looked from Firestar to his Clanmates before he stepped back and nodded coldly.
Firestar hissed as the four cats leapt at him. He put up quite the fight, Tigerstar had to admit, but the flurry of ginger paws died almost immediately. Cloudtail reached down, and a snap echoed around the forest as Firestar's neck bent the wrong way. He dropped to the ground lifelessly.
A heartbeat passed before his eyelids flickered again. Darkstripe flexed his claws, looking at Tigerstar imploringly.
"Well?" he hissed. "What do you say we end this once and for all?"
Tigerstar did not look at his eager Clanmates. Insetad he looked at Firestar. Hatred sparked in his emerald eyes, but a hint of fear was there also. He did not fight. Tigerstar reached out a paw.
"If you leave this forest," he promise in a low voice, "you abandon FireClan. But you will leave alive."
"Are you offering me compassion?" Firestar rasped, closing one eye.
Darkstripe's head snapped up and glared at Tigerstar, but Tigerstar ignored it. He nodded seriously, and extended his paw to Firestar.
For a moment, Firestar's weak paw reached out to meet Tigerstar's. Then the claws unsheathed, and Tigerstar reeled back as they scored across his nose.
"Never," Firestar spat. "I'd rather die than live with the fact that I gave in to you."
Tigerstar shrugged. "Okay."
Then he stepped back, and gave a serious nod to Darkstripe, Longtail, Cloudtail, and Graystripe. They nodded, and then they leapt.
Tigerstar watched without remote as Firestar went still, then lit up again, still alight in battle.
His screaming stopped again, then came back, then stopped, then came back.
He watched as the ShadowClan leader died, and strangely, he felt nothing.
The other Clans had stopped fighting to see Firestar fight off the four cats. Blackfoot and Tallstar rushed forward to held him, but they were shoved away by the cheering IceClan cats.
"The prophecy!" a WindClan she-cat shrieked. "You're destroying it!"
"He destroyed that prophecy the minute he set paw in ThunderClan," Runningwind growled.
Runningwind's words sunk in, and even Tallstar slowly backed away from Firestar.
No was was truly, deeply fighting for him.
Then the warriors stopped back, Graystripe giving his former friend a cold last glare. To Tigerstar's shock, Firestar was still alive, though he didn't look like it.
His left eye was swollen, he could not rise to his paws, and his breathing was rattling, like he was an elder. His orange fur was crimson with his own blood. He looked so weak and vulnerable, and yet his eyes still shown with determination.
"Well?" Tigerstar growled. "Look at you now. You're on your last life. FireClan is no more."
"FireClan doesn't matter," Firestar rasped, dragging himself towards Tigerstar. Tigerstar's head jerked back. "What matters is that you're still here. You just couldn't die, like everyone else in my way. You didn't even have the courage to kill me yourself. And now there's..." Firestar paused, and with the eye that wasn't clouded, he glanced at Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw, who sat together worriedly. "... more of you."
"You're done," Tigerstar spat, ignoring his hackles raising. "You're dying, foolish cat."
"That's one thing you never learned about me," Firestar growled, beginning to sway back and forth.
"I'm never done."
Then his head dropped into his paws. Tigerstar prodded his flank with an extended forepaw, but the FireClan leader merely rolled onto his side. His mouth opened a little, dribbling blood onto the ground.
"He's dead," Leopardstar announced unnecessarily. Tigerstar stepped back and waited for Firestar's death to sink in, but to his shock, he felt like nothing had even happened.
FireClan stepped back. Tigerstar wondered if they would still be FireClan. IceClan was done when they were, but without Firestar to lead his Clan, there was nothing to fight for.
Cats began to assemble awkwardly back into their own individual and rightful Clans. Tigerstar knew they were staring at him, waiting for him to make an announcement or fix things from the way Firestar had left them. But in that moment, he didn't think about any of that.
Instead Tigerstar looked up at the sky, ignoring the quiet murmurs of those around him. Dawn had broken, giving way to a pink and yellow sky. Firestar was dead. He relished that thought, and let it flow through him as the glistening hue of Silverpelt disappeared.
I've lost so much to him, Tigerstar thought, watching the sun climb the sky. He took in a deep breath, the crisp breath of morning, and pushed the tangy scent of blood behind him. No longer would Firestar be there, to worry him like he had for the longest time. For a moment, his heart soared.
Goldenflower and Spottedleaf could rest easy.
Tigerstar couldn't help a grin as the sun rose in the sky. The clouds were plump and fluffy, drifting across the sky carelessly. Birds soared high above Tigerstar's heads, and they were singing.
Today is a new day.
So... that's it! I'm so sorry if it seemed rushed! D: The epilogue should hopefully be posted soon (it wraps things up quite a bit, seeing as I left it on a weird note). I'll say a proper goodbye to this story / thank you then. But as of this chapter, that was Pure Evil: Dusk!
