BE. PREPARED. I AM SO STOKED.


Chapter 27: Tigerheart

Willowleaf waited as Lionstar paced.

"We'd still better go as quickly as possible," Doveheart said, following Lionstar with her eyes. "We want to tell ShadowClan what has happened. We don't want anyone else to do it for us."

"The Clan is still uneasy," said Lionstar. "I'm not sure if we should be doing anything beyond our borders."

"Can't we do both?" asked Doveheart. "Willowleaf and I will go with just two or three other cats, those that are okay with Littlefalcon's kits living here."

"Why did he have to separate the litter?" Lionstar shook his head, ignoring Doveheart's reasoning. He glanced at Willowleaf. "Would you be able to fight Skysong, if she was on the other side of a battle?"

"I'm sure we'd avoid each other if it came to that," said Willowleaf.

"And if you had to face her?"

"Bramblestar and Tawnypelt figured it out," Willowleaf said, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't see why Gingerkit and Flamekit can't do the same thing with their littermates."

"The Clan isn't going to be sold easily," said Lionstar. He sighed. "I'm afraid to make more alliances and talk about the war until we're set."

"Whitestar isn't going to be happy about it, either," said Doveheart. "This is a threat to a new leader like her. You said it yourself – she wants to look strong. There's no way she's going to sit by when it looks like ThunderClan has taken two potential WindClan warriors away from her."

"Whitestar is the most rational cat I know," said Lionstar, shaking his head. "Look at what this war has done to us."

"And you're the bravest cat I know, and here you are, fretting like an apprentice before his first assessment!" Doveheart made a hmph-ing noise at her leader. "The war isn't going to stop just because ThunderClan isn't ready for it. We need to be ready inside the Clan and on good terms with our allies."

Lionstar stopped pacing. Doveheart straightened, and Willowleaf stood up. Did this mean he had come to a decision?

"How do I know who is okay with this and who is lying?" he said.

"That sounds like an issue you should have solved long ago." Doveheart rolled her eyes. "Who should we bring to ShadowClan?"

"You're sure you want to go right now?"

"There's no better time." Doveheart steeled herself. "We need to be sure that we can rely on Oakstar to come to our aid if RiverClan and WindClan team up on us next. Now more than ever, because Whitestar isn't going to stand around waiting, and Mistystar will be on her side."

"Very well." Lionstar shook his head. "Take Squirrelflight, Bumblestripe, and Snowfeather."

"Thank you," said Doveheart a little curtly. She turned to Willowleaf, shaking her head. "You heard him. I'll meet you by the entrance."

"Where are you going?" meowed Willowleaf.

"To check in with Sorreltail before I go. She's been checking in with the other warriors on how their schedules are balancing out. If anyone has complained, I'll have her refer them to Lionstar."

It was a good idea, so Willowleaf nodded and let the deputy peel away. She bounced over to Snowfeather, who was standing with Mouseclaw, Stealthstep, and Honeyleaf. Mouseclaw purred a greeting at Willowleaf.

"Hi," she said to her friends. "Snowfeather, Lionstar wants you and me to go to ShadowClan to talk to Oakstar."

"What, me?" Snowfeather's tail went straight up in surprise. "Not Stealthstep or Honeyleaf? They were at the battle."

"Lionstar asked specifically for you." Willowleaf smiled as Snowfeather nodded. Mouseclaw was looking at her questioningly. "Yes, I'll be careful."

"Remember what happened last time you were there," said Mouseclaw.

"How could I forget?" Willowleaf rolled her eyes for the sake of Honeyleaf and Stealthstep, but she understood what Mouseclaw meant. She had told him all about Tigerheart's threat, and she to be careful. Whatever Tigerheart was up to and whatever Flametail was up to, it was connected somehow. She had a feeling she was going to find out how it was connected very soon.

"Who is coming with us?" asked Snowfeather as they padded towards more senior warriors.

"Bumblestripe and Squirrelflight," said Willowleaf. She blinked at the cautious she-cat, not knowing if Snowfeather had made the connection. "Cats that are going to support Littlefalcon."

"That makes more sense," said Snowfeather, nodding. They approached Squirrelflight and Whitewing. "Squirrelflight, Lionstar's sending us to ShadowClan to make sure they'll help us if WindClan and RiverClan does something."

"We're really allying with ShadowClan?" Whitewing shook her head. Willowleaf shrugged.

"It's our only option," she said. "WindClan won't help us, we know that much."

"Whitestar's going to be angry," Squirrelflight sighed, shaking her head. But she got up and followed them as Snowfeather fetched Bumblestripe. They met Doveheart near the entrance to camp.

"So what's our goal here?" asked Bumblestripe. "We just want Oakstar to agree to help us if things get bad, right?"

"And we need to tell him what happened with Littlefalcon and Ivychase's kits," said Doveheart. "It changes things."

"As if things weren't complicated before," said Squirrelflight, but there was a lightness in her mew that Willowleaf appreciated. The patrol set out into the trees with a sense of urgency to their pawsteps.

"I think the kits are cute," said Snowfeather, falling into step with Willowleaf. "I just love Flamekit's spots."

"Remind you of someone else with flecks on their pelt?" teased Willowleaf. Snowfeather opened her jaws in indignation, and Willowleaf laughed. "Come on, Snowfeather. You should tell him. You know he feels the same way."

"Things aren't that easy," said Snowfeather.

"Just because you aren't a mysterious older Tribe cat with a tragic backstory doesn't mean Dustfur won't be into you." Willowleaf rolled her eyes. "Dustfur's fond of you. Any cat with eyes can see it."

"What are you two gossiping about?" Bumblestripe cast a look over his shoulder. "You're whispering loud enough to let RiverClan know where we are."

"Sorry, Bumblestripe," said Snowfeather and Willowleaf in unison. There was a teasing in Bumblestripe's eyes that made Willowleaf smile.

"You know there's a bet going around," he said. The two she-cats perked their ears. "About which of you will be moving into the nursery first."

"Ignore him," said Doveheart over her shoulder. She was smiling, too. "You don't need kits to be happy."

"And you don't need kits right away to have a good relationship," added Squirrelflight. "Stupid tom."

Snowfeather and Willowleaf exchanged an uncomfortable glance, but internally, Willowleaf felt like she was soaring. She hadn't felt this warm and fluid in a while. Somehow, in the face of it all, they could joke about little things like this. It felt really good just to enjoy the company of her Clan-mates.

"I'm glad everyone is in good spirits," said Willowleaf. Snowfeather smiled back at her, nodding.

"When things are crazy, you kind of have to make jokes, huh?" she said. Willowleaf nodded. She wondered what it would have been like if Skysong had made jokes instead of retorts, if Mountainstone had made fun of their failures instead of a big deal out of them.

They neared the ShadowClan border, and Doveheart perched at the edge of it, taking a seated position. A border patrol had been by recently; Willowleaf could taste the strength of ShadowClan scents in the air. Doveheart moved her ears every so often, listening to the dark forest on the other side of the border. Willowleaf wondered what it would be like, being able to listen into ShadowClan's camp from here.

After a while, some cats emerged from the bushes. Applefur, Dawnpelt, Scorchfur, Stickpaw.

"What do you want, Doveheart?" said Dawnpelt. Willowleaf narrowed her eyes, wondering if the grey she-cat was involved like her brothers were.

"Just to speak to Oakstar," said Doveheart, getting to her feet. "We wish to offer Lionstar's congratulations, even in these circumstances. And to talk about what may be ahead."

"You'll have to be quick about it." Applefur's tail twitched. "ShadowClan is busy."

"So is ThunderClan," agreed Doveheart. "We won't be long."

Willowleaf disliked ShadowClan territory, but she walked without complaint. Snowfeather shuffled so close to her the two she-cats brushed by each other every time they turned. It occurred to Willowleaf that Snowfeather had probably never set foot in ShadowClan territory. Her first time, and she was making a serious negotiation like this one.

The guards called a greeting as Applefur and the others led them inside. At once, Rowanclaw, the new deputy, bounded down to greet them.

"Doveheart, Squirrelflight," he said, and he dipped his head to the others. "What is going on?"

"Hi, Rowanclaw," said Doveheart. "We were hoping to speak to you and Oakstar, if it's alright. ThunderClan has a few tidbits of news we thought you'd be interested in."

"That's fine." Rowanclaw nodded. "He's with Flametail right now, but you can come up anyways."

Willowleaf caught Bumblestripe's gaze and nodded wordlessly. The group followed Rowanclaw up to the leader's den, a small opening high in a pile of rocks gathered amongst the tree branches. Rowanclaw called out to Oakstar, who peered out at them.

"Doveheart," he said, frowning. "What's the matter?"

"Lionstar and I offer our congratulations, even in the circumstances," Doveheart said. "And a hope that you have good luck in the moons ahead."

If we have any left. Willowleaf couldn't help the dark thought. She focused instead on the task right in front of her, not the one looming in the future.

"As it happens, we have a few issues we want to discuss with you," said Doveheart. "It involves WindClan's next steps."

"We were discussing WindClan, too." Oakstar pulled his head back in the darkness of his den. "Come in, but your warriors stay outside."

"Can I bring Willowleaf?" asked Doveheart. "She might be better at explain the circumstances than I am."

Rowanclaw narrowed his eyes at Willowleaf, and Squirrelflight didn't quite manage to hide her surprise in time for the ShadowClan deputy to fail to notice. He made a soft chuckling noise and turned away.

"Very well," said Oakstar. "Come in. Rowanclaw, make sure our other guests are comfortable."

"Don't cause trouble," said Doveheart to Bumblestripe, who smiled at her. Rowanclaw began to lead the others back into the main part of camp, and Willowleaf hesitantly followed Doveheart into the den. Flametail sat curled at the back of the den, which was small and dark. Only days ago, Blackstar's corpse had lay here. She shivered at the memory.

"What's going on really?" said Oakstar right away. Flametail was staring at Willowleaf.

"Well, we have some embarrassing news." Doveheart sighed. "One of ThunderClan's warriors fathered the kits of a WindClan she-cat."

Oakstar's whiskers twitched in evident amusement.

"My brother," Willowleaf murmured. "Littlefalcon." Doveheart nodded.

"I know it may not seem like a huge matter considering the other things we have to deal with, but ThunderClan wanted to tell you before WindClan or RiverClan did." She rolled her eyes. "We regret that this happened and wanted to assure you that he'll be punished."

"Honestly, I've seen enough of cats breaking the warrior code that it doesn't seem like a big deal anymore." Oakstar shook his head. His eyes glowed. "Half-Clan kits."

"They split them," said Doveheart. "Three kits in WindClan, two in ThunderClan."

"That's mouse-brained," said Flametail. He stood up, but his eyes hadn't left Willowleaf.

"We think that once she finds out, Whitestar will be furious," said Doveheart. "We think she might get Mistystar's assistance in coming after the kits."

"Well, their mother was WindClan," said Oakstar. He narrowed his eyes. "Is ThunderClan asking for help?"

"Yes." Doveheart wasn't going to lie about it. Oakstar flicked his tail.

"You don't need to ask for help in annihilating WindClan or RiverClan," he said. "Those are our commands from StarClan."

Doveheart stiffened instantly. Willowleaf tried not to let her claws slide out.

"That's what StarClan has told me," said Flametail. "When Wind and River unite, the blood of both will flow. The four Clans must become only two."

"Did StarClan really say that?" said Willowleaf. She rounded on the medicine cat, sick of him still staring at her. He clearly wanted her to snap, well, here she went.

"You aren't a medicine cat, so what do you know of StarClan?" said Flametail.

"Enough to know that things are bad," said Willowleaf, paws shaking. "StarClan has split neatly in two, and Old StarClan is just feeding you lies to try to get you to attack the other Clans. They want the border to fall, and apparently, you do, too."

"The border is going to fall," snapped Flametail. "There's nothing you or I can do about it."

"What border?" Oakstar asked.

"The border between StarClan and the Dark Forest," said Willowleaf, desperately turning to ShadowClan's leader. "Old StarClan – that's everyone who was dead before the War of Shadows – has been corrupted by this sort of dust, and it's making all of them mad. They think the border needs to fall, and they're trying to drive the Clans apart to make it happen faster. But once the border falls, it means the Dark Forest can take over StarClan forever."

"Willowleaf, stop it," said Doveheart. "We weren't supposed to talk about this."

"Why not?" said Oakstar, bristling. "Are you saying I'm not supposed to know something?" He turned to Flametail. "Why haven't I heard of this border?"
"Because it doesn't matter," said Flametail, eyes burning towards Willowleaf. "When it falls, you'll try something, and you'll just kill us all."

"I won't!" cried Willowleaf, her paws trembling. "I'm going to save everyone!"

"You can't!" hissed Flametail.

"Enough fighting!" Oakstar jumped in between the two of them. "Now tell me what's going on, now!"

"This doesn't involve you anymore, Oakstar," said Flametail. He pushed his leader aside and walked towards Willowleaf, tail draping against the ground. "I wonder, Willowleaf. If you died now, you wouldn't come back to life."

Willowleaf unsheathed her claws, as did Doveheart beside her.

"Are you threatening me?" said Willowleaf.

"What is going on here?" said Oakstar.

"I know this smell…" Doveheart shook, and she spun to face the dark corners of Oakstar's den a moment too late. Willowleaf gasped as claws raged towards her face. She felt claws rake down the air in front of her, and Doveheart shoved Willowleaf aside, slamming her into the rocks on the side of Oakstar's den. Then the deputy of ThunderClan cried out in pain.

"Mousedung, Doveheart!" Tigerheart stood in the darkness, stepping back. "Wait, no, I didn't want this."

"Doveheart!" Willowleaf scrambled forward as Doveheart dropped to the ground, blood seeping from her side. Doveheart opened her eyes and looked straight at Willowleaf, and she shook her head.

"You don't have any lives to lose," said Doveheart.

Then the air around them shimmered, and Willowleaf looked up to see the gold cat standing before them. It stood for a few seconds and glanced back at Willowleaf for one of them, and before Willowleaf could identify the cat, it vanished in a puff of dust.

"What was that?" Oakstar demanded. He unsheathed his claws. "How did you get in my den?"

"This isn't going to be good," said Tigerheart. He rounded on his leader suddenly, savagely, and pounced. Oakstar feinted away, but Tigerheart's claws were quicker. Willowleaf gasped as Tigerheart's claws sunk deep into his leader's belly.

"Tigerheart, wait!" Flametail tried to call, but it was too late, and Oakstar seized in pain before collapsing, coughing frantically.

"Traitor!" he whispered, and then collapsed.

"He'll be back in a minute, but it won't matter then." Tigerheart rounded on the two ThunderClan cats, amber eyes glowing through the darkness at them. "Oh well. Now neither of you have another life to lose."

"You just attacked your own leader." Doveheart shook with rage, and she slid into a fighting stance.

"Are you going to attack me?" Tigerheart laughed. "You don't have the guts."

"Tigerheart, this isn't what we agreed – " Flametail rushed forward, but Tigerheart batted his littermate away. The medicine cat could only watch as Tigerheart sunk low into a pounce.

"I made too many deals to let you win," he said, bearing his teeth. "The perfect Clan is waiting right around the corner, and you're going to take it all away from me."

"What are you talking about?" hissed Doveheart, recoiling.

"Where we're finally a perfect Clan!" said Tigerheart. "The strongest warriors on top, bonds of loyalty forged between them because they fought together, and they won together. There's no place for the weak and the heartless in that world. Only the strongest remain. Then there's no more conflict between Clans, and we wouldn't lose battles to foxes and the stars in the sky. We'd be able to take what we want, and everyone would know their place and stick to it.

"Doesn't it sound beautiful? No war, no sickness, because the strongest warriors would be able to dominate anyone that would challenge them. And anyone who suffered could figure it out on their own, or simply lose." Tigerheart beamed, seeing his world in front of him. "It takes away petty conflicts like who gets to the fresh-kill pile first and who is loyal. You have your place, you stick to it, and you function."

"What about the sick, the young? Are you going to condemn them to die?" Doveheart trembled from head to paw, but she was not afraid.

"The Clans are bloated anyways," snapped Tigerheart. "The only reason cats die of starvation is because they give up their right to eat for their elders. The only reason we're fighting each other right now is because a group of grouchy, corrupted stars said so!" He laughed. "There's nothing weaker than a group of cats that follows what their ancestors say and don't even question it!"

"I thought we were going to save StarClan!" said Flametail, bristling. "You told me they could destroy it!"

"A little destruction is good!" hissed Tigerheart. "But not your kind of destruction, Willowleaf. You're the kind that would stop my utopia from happening."

Willowleaf looked over and saw, finally, Oakstar lose his life.

"And ShadowClan means nothing to you," she said hesitantly, hoping Oakstar would wake in a moment. But that belly wound looked bad.

"It used to," Tigerheart's eyes glowed. "It used to mean everything. But then I started looking around and realized – we're just as bad as everyone else. We've gotten fat, lazy, mean." He shook his head. "Strong cats aren't mean, and they don't fight over petty matters. They challenge themselves to do better. They don't pull each other down for the fun of it."

"But they don't mind if their friends die of starvation," snapped Willowleaf.

"What has happened to you?" demanded Doveheart. "You were never like this."

"Oh, come on, Doveheart." Tigerheart rolled his eyes. "I was Tigerstar's apprentice. You really think a cat could just stop being Tigerstar's apprentice?"

Willowleaf took a step back as horror dawned on her. This was how he knew what was coming. This was how he knew everything about them.

"Tigerstar and I realized that we would lose the War of Shadows," he said. "We knew that by losing the War of Shadows, we could make way for something bigger – for the five most powerful cats of all time to appear." He grinned. "Then, all we'd have to do is collect the cats worth keeping and let you, Willowleaf, kill all the others. Then we start over with a perfect Clan – TigerClan. Like it was meant to be so long ago."

"But now you're ready to kill us?" said Doveheart. She laughed.

"Not you, Doveheart," said Tigerheart, shaking his head. "You and I will be part of this new Clan. Our kits will be the greatest warriors there ever were."

"Then just kill me," Willowleaf said, gritting her teeth. "What good will it do if I don't destroy the world first?"

"Now I don't need you," said Tigerheart. He cast a look at Flametail. "Cats are already on their way to ripping each other apart. This is what we needed all along: the perfect solution. The strong destroying the weak. The clash of the Clans, the final fight. And Old StarClan will fall, too, which means no more stupid messages, no more prophecies of light that keep the Clans from their full potential. We'll have our utopia, and nothing can get in our way except you and your littermates."

Tigerheart smiled.

"How about this?" he said. "I kill you now, and then Doveheart and I head back to ThunderClan with a message for Lionstar. It'd be too easy to kill Birdfeather, and she's the only one that matters, if you think about it."

"You think you can kill me?" said Willowleaf. She laughed. "Or that Doveheart will ever go with you?"

"Doveheart and I are in love." Tigerheart's eyes flashed. "That's strength."

Oakstar stirred behind Tigerheart, but Tigerheart saw Willowleaf look backwards. As Oakstar rose from the ground, Tigerheart turned around and slashed three times: once on his head, once on his chest, and the last time equally across his throat.

"Tigerheart, stop!" wailed Flametail. "Destroy StarClan, betray ShadowClan?" He unsheathed his claws. "You've killed Oakstar twice now!"

"And I'll do it seven more times," said Tigerheart. "We've worked too hard to stop now, Flametail."

The medicine cat got to his paws and growled, low in his throat.

"I won't let you hurt Oakstar again," he said. "Or ShadowClan."

"Then you don't belong in my Clan, do you?" said Tigerheart. Flametail swallowed.

"You wouldn't kill your own littermate," he said. "We've been together through everything."

"Don't underestimate me, Flametail," said Tigerheart. Willowleaf saw him spin, and she gasped.

"No, don't!" she screamed, but her words weren't fast enough, and Flametail gasped. Doveheart leaped forward to intercept Tigerheart, but she would be too late. Willowleaf saw it all in slow motion, and she felt her heart ache at the idea of someone else dying at Tigerheart's paws. Tigerheart wanted strength enough to kill? That was the most powerful strength of all, as Willowleaf knew first hand.

So she forced her heart to turn to ice and blinked, and when she opened her eyes, a trail of frost had moved from her paws to encase Tigerstar's apprentice entirely in solid ice. Flametail opened his eyes slowly, wondering why he wasn't dead, and Doveheart skidded to a stop. She would have come up short. Willowleaf saw another shade of a life leave Oakstar's body, but the wounds would be deep. He would wake soon, but shallowly, and he would die again within minutes.

"Flametail, your leader needs you." Her voice was still cold. Doveheart and Flaemtail were frozen in place, staring up at the sculpture of ice Willowleaf had created before them. Willowleaf slowly felt her heart thaw out, and she knew that all heat had left Tigerheart's body.

"You killed him," said Flametail.

"Yes." That much was true.

"Willowleaf, he can't stay like this." Doveheart turned to her, her eyes hollow. She stared at Willowleaf's paws. "Fix it."

Willowleaf had never unfrozen something this large. Mice were one thing, but a whole cat, especially one as massive as Tigerheart? She wondered if she could do it. Taking a deep breath, Willowleaf focused on how it felt when she unfroze mice in her training exercises. It felt like pulling back, like grabbing chunks of ice from the air and taking them back for herself.

But it didn't feel like she needed to all of a sudden. As Willowleaf stared at Tigerheart's frozen corpse, she could see water droplets within the blocks of ice. Those droplets fought for freedom. Narrowing her eyes, Willowleaf focused on them, and she watched in awe as the ice slowly turned to water, a little bit at a time.

Willowleaf could still control it. The water dripped around the den, mixing with Oakstar's blood as it dropped Tigerheart from the air. The tabby tom fell lifelessly to the ground, and Willowleaf didn't feel sorry.

"Bring me things to help Oakstar," said Flametail. "Now."

He didn't ask questions or look at his littermate again, but Willowleaf could feel Flametail's tears in the air. She felt every drop of moisture around them. It was not ice.

"Come on, Willowleaf." Doveheart was upset. Willowleaf could taste her guardian's pain. "We're done here."

"Doveheart," said Willowleaf. Doveheart turned back to her, and Willowleaf hesitantly turned one of her paws up, focusing hard on the moisture in the air and how it felt. She thought of Littlefalcon summoning up tidal waves out of nothing, his eyes scanning the air right before he brought water out of nowhere. She felt warm inside, like she had never been cold to begin with. Willowleaf understood suddenly what Fountain had meant when he had said that she had a remaining power locked in a lie.

A spout of water emerged from the tips of her white paws, and Doveheart's eyes went wide.

"Impossible," she said. "But Littlefalcon…"

"Ice and water are the same," said Willowleaf. "It's not two elements at all – it's the same one."

"But if that's true, that means…" Doveheart's fur stood on end. Willowleaf nodded, the conclusion coming to her, too:

"Littlefalcon isn't elemental."


SO MANY EARTH-SHATTERING REVELATIONS. And Tigerheart died. :) :) :)

Willowleaf can be really freaking scary these days. The destruction is really ramping up. Well, now we know that Tigerheart has been the absolute worst, even back in the good old days of War of Shadows! And motivations revealed! This means Tigerstar has a greater plot still to come...

The battle has begun! Leave me a review, favorite, follow, tell your friends, pull out the popcorn, because this is going down.

~Elsi