The Return of the Greatest Heroes Chapter 47
I own nothing!
Mossbird and Splashflight swirved out of the way of the suddenly vicious tom, surprised, their fur bristling.
"Fireheart? What are you doing?" Mossbird yelped as he barreled down upon her.
"Sandstorm!" Splashflight looked at the other she-cat in the eye. "I need you to go get the cats closest to Fireheart. I don't believe he would do this on his own terms; something must be going on with him. Whatever you do, don't tell Ashstar. If we try, we could avoid getting Fireheart in trouble if it is something he can't avoid." she paused. "We know about you, Sandstorm. Splashflight and I were once hunting, and you guys were talking about your rebirth. We know that we aren't supposed to spy on clanmates, but we started to get worried when you guys mentioned that Fireheart needed a guard to make sure that he doesn't go all out vicious on his clanmates. But that is happening now; do your duty, Sandstorm," and with that, Splashflight disappeared into battle against one of the most powerful warriors in the clan.
Other cats know about us! Sandstorm suddenly felt woozy. How many more know about us? Can we trust all of them? What if they tell the cats that don't know? Then, she paused. Remember your duty, Sandstorm! Go get the other reborns, but don't make it too suspicious to the rest of the clan. Go!
She dashed away at full speed, fully aware of Fireheart's gaze.
As she had turned around, Fireheart looked at her with that I trusted you! look in his eyes. She couldn't bear it; she ran. And ran. And ran. Until she could run no more.
At least, that was the plan. Instead, she ran into Oakheart and Bluefur.
"Sandstorm!" Bluefur greeted. "What brings you to this distant section of the territory?" the two mates had just finished discussing Hollyleaf's situation.
"Fireheart, he...he..." she broke down in sobs.
"He what?" Oakheart's eyes widened.
"He went crazy for some reason and attacked Splashflight and Mossbird." the pale ginger she-cat explained really quickly. "I need all of the other reborns besides Ashstar."
"What about Hollyleaf?" the blue-gray she-cat inquired, frightened that Tigerclaw had taken control.
"What about her?" Sandstorm looked confused.
"Nothing," Bluefur shook her head. "Let's go find them. Oakheart, I'll get Hollyleaf." she dashed off in the direction of the tunnels.
"All right," Oakheart looked panicked, turning to Sandstorm. "Let's get the others."
They ran towards the ThunderClan camp.
"Whatever you do," Sandstorm warned. "Don't tell Ashstar or anybody who doesn't know. Fireheart could be exiled for a deed played by the Dark Forest."
"Yes," the tom agreed.
They eventually arrived in their camp.
"I'll check the warriors' den." Sandstorm volunteered.
"I'll get Yellowpaw," Oakheart veered towards the medicine cat's den.
Inside the medicine den, Yellowpaw was curled up in her nest with her nose tucked under her tail.
"Yellowpaw!" the warrior hissed.
"What?" the gray she-cat lifted her head.
"Tigerclaw's making Fireheart attack Mossbird and Splashflight." Oakheart gasped for breath.
"What?" Yellowpaw repeated, suddenly dark and ominous.
"Just come on! We're trying to find the cats we can trust!" the tom whirled out of the den. "Let's see how Sandstorm's doing."
Yellowpaw bounded on after him. "Where is Sandstorm?"
"Warriors' den." Oakheart answered shortly, sticking his head into the den. "Sandstorm?"
"Oakheart! Help me wake up Graystripe, Dustpelt, Ravenheart, and Whitestorm!" the pale ginger cat franticly prodded them.
Oakheart pounced on Graystripe, and Yellowpaw decided that she should help by pouncing on Ravenheart.
"What's going on?" Ravenheart immediately woke up.
"Just help wake the others right now!" Yellowpaw was rushed. "We have a major problem on our paws!" she proceeded to pounce on Whitestorm.
Sandstorm was prodding Dustpelt.
"Don't prod him! Pounce on him!" Oakheart urged.
Sighing, the pale ginger she-cat decided to be submissive and she did as she was told.
"What?" Dustpelt immediately went into a defensive stance. "Oh, it's just you, Sandstorm."
"Help me wake up Graystripe! He's too much of a heavy sleeper!" Oakheart started to actually jump up and down on the gray tom.
Whitestorm was up; he didn't know why they were in such a rush. It seemed important, though.
Eventually, Graystripe woke up.
"Now, what's going on!" Dustpelt growled.
Sandstorm tried to stay as calm as possible. "You know how Tigerclaw and the Dark Forest have been targeting Fireheart?"
"What about it?" Graystripe was immediately worried about his friend.
"Well, let's just say that before I started looking for everyone Fireheart attacked Mossbird and Splashflight. The details aren't important, but we need to find the other reborns that we can trust. Do any of you know where Mapleshade, Jayfeather, and Silverstream are?" the pale ginger she-cat looked at Graystripe.
"Silverstream is currently hunting near horseplace." Graystripe reported. "She said that she wanted to show Mapleshade where it was, too. Jayfeather was bored so he tagged along. I saw them leave the camp together."
"Let's go. Quickly." Sandstorm dashed at full speed out of the camp.
They followed with as much speed as they could muster.
"What happens if Fireheart is exiled for this?" Ravenheart shyly questioned.
"Well," Oakheart winced. "That I do not know. StarClan could no propose a fate so cruel for Fireheart; he's done too much good for that."
"But that could play an important role in a prophecy of some sort." the black tom continued.
"Let's not think about that."
"Okay,"
They were at full speed when they passed the tunnels, and Hollyleaf and Bluefur joined their pack.
"Did you explain everything to Hollyleaf?" Oakheart inquired.
"Yes, she wanted to go directly to Fireheart, but I convinced her that we needed all of us. Splashflight and Mossbird are strong; they should be able to hold up against Fireheart." Bluefur reported.
"This way!" Graystripe yowled, veering to one side.
The pack followed.
"Silverstream!" he started to yell again.
"Graystripe?" the gray she-cat appeared through the trees. "I thought you were resting in camp,"
"Yeah, but Tigerclaw made a move against Fireheart, and now, he's attack Mossbird and Splashflight," he explained quickly.
Her eyes the size as moons, she yowled. "Jayfeather! Mapleshade!"
The two cats appeared through the undergrowth after what felt like a million heart beats.
"What's wrong?" Mapleshade inquired.
"Do you remember Tigerclaw's original plan?" Sandstorm asked.
"Yeah..."
"Well, it's taking action now. If we run towards the ShadowClan border we might be able to save Mossbird and Splashflight..." the pale ginger she-cat turned around and sprinted at high speeds.
The pack will follow.
LINE BREAK
"Fireheart..." Splashflight slowly approached the ginger tom.
The truth? Fireheart had attacked them; I bet you already knew that. Well, it appeared that the two older warriors couldn't handle a younger one. He was a risk taker, and now Mossbird was out for the count. Hopefully not forever. The she-cat thought about how she felt about the situation in the beginning.
I was filled with so much hope that this could be sorted out without telling the rest of ThunderClan...but it appears that it is inevitable. If we go back to camp, there will be a lot of questions. We could always blame it on ShadowClan or a rabbit or something, but Ashstar would send a patrol to ShadowClan if we said the former and a rabbit could never do this much damage...I just hope that the reborns get here soon...Splashflight continued to approach the now fierce flame colored warrior.
"Splashflight," Fireheart circled her, as if finding an opportunity to attack, which he probably was.
"What's wrong with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with me. There's something wrong with you and the rest of ThunderClan." he paused. "I believe that the ShadowClan scent is a trick; I've seen the like twice now. Each one of them ended badly; Stonestripe died last time. My first time, a rogue band with ShadowClan's scent did it, and ThunderClan sent a patrol to the ShadowClan camp. That really didn't end well either." Fireheart sneered.
"But that doesn't mean you have to attack us," Splashflight reasoned.
"If I don't attack you, you'll tell Ashstar, and then, the plan would be in action." the flame colored tom circled the she-cat a little bit more before pouncing.
And that's when the pack of reborns burst through the undergrowth.
"Fireheart!" Sandstorm called. "Stop it!"
"Shut up!"
Mapleshade sighed, completely frightened. "It appears that Tigerclaw's plan is working...We have to stop it." she got a look of fierce determination in her eyes.
Bluefur approached the two fighting warriors. "Fireheart, please stop it. I know in my previous life I could get a little...cranky, but you always did as you were told. You were incredibly loyal to ThunderClan, and I don't believe that Tigerclaw, the one you would never let win, could do this. Please stop it." she looked at him with hopeful eyes.
This time, with plenty more reasoning from not only Bluefur but Sandstorm and the rest of the reborns and Splashflight, Fireheart reluctantly got off of Splashflight.
"Watch your backs." it was clear that Fireheart wasn't back to normal yet, though.
"That's something we have to work on." Silverstream decided.
"Yeah," Graystripe agreed, worried about his best friend. "But at least we stopped him from attacking his clanmates."
"But where is Fireheart?" Ravenheart looked around, seriously afraid that he'll pop out of nowhere and attack everybody.
"...Didn't he go back to camp?" Whitestorm questioned.
"He went in that direction." Sandstorm picked up his scent.
Bluefur sighed. "We can't watch him over all the time; we have to trust him a little."
"But Tigerclaw got to him, and now Fireheart's rampant," Mapleshade pulled at the grass nervously. "He could be anywhere."
The reborns and Splashflight looked at each other.
"I suggest we get Mossbird and Splashflight back to camp first," Yellowpaw decided. "There, Brackenfall and I can treat their wounds."
"But how will we explain it?" Splashflight inquired.
"We could cover your scent with bracken or fern and say that you were attacked by a rabbit." Bluefur suggested.
"Fireheart was with us, though," Mossbird looked up from where she lie, struggling to her paws.
"If he's at camp, we could say that he left early; if he's not at camp, we can say that he was laying scent markers at a different place and didn't know you guys were being attacked." Oakheart answered.
The managed to get back to camp; Fireheart was nowhere to be seen.
"What happened?" Brackenfall and Ashstar stormed out of their respective dens.
"We were attacked by a rogue rabbit," Mossbird croaked.
"A rabbit?" Ashstar remembered Longtail.
"Yeah," Splashflight agreed. "It was huge."
"Wasn't Fireheart with you guys?" Fernfur approached them.
"He was laying markers in a different place." the gray she-cat known as Mossbird explained.
"Oh, let's get you guys cleaned." Brackenfall rushed them towards the medicine cat's den.
"Where do you think Fireheart is?" Ravenheart asked nervously.
"I have no clue." Silverstream sighed.
LINE BREAK
He couldn't go back. He shouldn't go back. He wouldn't go back. He won't go back.
Not ever.
Fireheart dashed to the end of ThunderClan's territory, where ShadowClan and ThunderClan hunted during the flood. Right where Tigerclaw expected he would go.
"Fireheart," he greeted, trying to sound as warm as possible. "What have you learned today?"
The flame colored tom skidded to a halt beside Tigerclaw, surprised that the great ShadowClan warrior was there. "Um, that I can't trust my fellow reborns?"
"And why is that?" Tigerclaw pressed.
"I trusted Sandstorm not to tell anyone that I was attacking Splashflight and Mossbird, but she went to get the other StarClan reborns. No doubt they're telling the clan now." Fireheart added that last part after a moment's hesitation.
"That's how StarClan is; they are so good that they can't keep a secret for their own best friend." the great warrior looked at his paws.
Fireheart nodded in agreement.
"And your clan's elders were insulting your heritage?"
"Yes, they were." the flame colored tom winced.
"ShadowClan needs more warriors, Fireheart," Tigerclaw looked up, so did Fireheart. "I was sent by Lizardstar to find some new recruits. He'll even accept a ThunderClan warrior like you; there, you would never be insulted for your heritage. You wouldn't be discriminated against, and if you needed secrets kept us reborns there would keep them for you. Would you like to join us, Fireheart? Join ShadowClan?" the ShadowClan warrior looked hopeful.
Fireheart looked almost certain. "You guys would keep my secrets, and I won't be discriminated against?"
"Guaranteed. My group of reborns would treat you like one of our own." Tigerclaw promised.
The flame colored tom looked relieved. "Okay."
They looked at each other gladly before Tigerclaw led him towards the ShadowClan camp.
Review! Tell me what you want to happen next!
