Two days later, Fireheart padded out of the camp as the sun was beginning to peer over the edge of the horizon, intent on catching a few pieces of prey. The sky promised a clear day, and with leaf-bare on its way, she wanted to take advantage of the few remaining days of good weather. As she pushed her way out through the gorse tunnel, Fireheart was startled to meet Bluefur coming back, her fur smelling of the forest and something faint that she couldn't identify.
"Fireheart!" Bluefur exclaimed, stepping back. "What are you doing?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd go out and hunt," Fireheart answered. "What about you?"
"Same here," the blue-gray molly admitted. Fireheart suspected that she wasn't telling the whole truth, but she chose not to press the issue. "But I didn't have any luck. I think the prey must still be asleep or hiding."
"Oh, really?" Fireheart meowed, glancing over at the trees beyond the older warrior's shoulder. "Maybe I'll just patrol the borders for a bit, then."
"Sounds like a good idea," Bluefur agreed.
"You can come along too," the flame-colored molly invited. "I'm sure Tigerclaw won't be up for a while since he isn't on the dawn patrol, and I wouldn't mind some company."
"Sure, why not?" her former mentor answered.
Together, the two mollies padded off in the direction of the Twolegplace border. Every so often, Fireheart paused to sniff the air for a sign of prey but came up empty-pawed every single time. Bluefur had been telling the truth; there wasn't any sign of prey anywhere.
Let's hope the prey really is just asleep, she thought to herself.
"What did you say?" Bluefur asked, glancing over at her.
Fireheart hadn't realized that she'd been speaking out loud. "Oh, I was just saying that I hope the prey really is just asleep," she meowed. "We still have another moon or so until leaf-bare, and we can't afford to have a shortage of fresh-kill already."
"Ah," Bluefur meowed, bounding over a log. "Well, I'm sure the prey hasn't disappeared completely. But you're right, the forest does seem unusually empty."
"I guess we'll just have to hope for the best, then," Fireheart answered.
They continued along the border in silence for a few heartbeats, their fur fluffed up against the cold. Fireheart thought she could detect Ruby and Socks' scents, but they were so faint she couldn't be too sure. She wondered what had become of her siblings since she had last seen them, if they had been taken in by a sympathetic Twoleg or if they were still living as loners. Perhaps they had been lucky enough to find their father, wherever he had gone.
"Do you ever feel lonely in ThunderClan?" Bluefur asked suddenly.
Fireheart blinked, startled by the question. "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, really," the older warrior answered. "It's just that...well, I know you're surrounded by cats every day, but all of your kin lives in Twolegplace. Don't you ever wish you had family in ThunderClan like everyone else?"
Fireheart pondered the question for several moments. Once, she would have said no without a second thought, but things had changed since then. She had to admit that she wouldn't mind having kin in ThunderClan, but she had so few happy memories of her blood family, she couldn't say for sure that it would have made anything better.
"Sometimes, yes," she admitted finally. "I wouldn't mind having family in ThunderClan. But I don't think I would want my family in ThunderClan. Except for my mother, maybe, but I don't think I could ever see her living as a wild cat. And anyway..."
"You still miss her."
It wasn't a question, but Fireheart nodded anyway. "I don't have many good memories of my time in Twolegplace–hardly any, as a matter of fact–but in all the ones I do, she's in every single one of them. She was the only one who was actually nice to me and she tried her best to get my siblings to leave me alone once in a while, even if they weren't too interested in listening to her. I just hope she's happy in...well, wherever kittypets go when they die."
"I know what you mean," Bluefur murmured. "I lost Moonflower when I was just barely a new apprentice, and I still miss her. But I know she's watching over me in StarClan, and I'm sure your mother is still watching over you too."
"Perhaps," Fireheart agreed. Shaking her head, she went on, "So, what about you and Snowfur? Did you two get along?"
"We got along best when we were kits," the blue-gray warrior replied. "But things went downhill for a while between us after Moonflower died. Snowfur got over it faster than I did, and I couldn't understand why she moved on so quickly. And even after we got past that, I had to watch as she started growing closer to Thistleclaw. It looked as if things were going to finally be better between us after Whitestorm was born, but then she died."
"I met her once," Fireheart meowed without thinking. Bluefur glanced over at her.
"You did? When?" she asked.
"While I was sick with greencough, she came to visit me," the flame-colored warrior answered. "Or maybe I paid a quick visit to StarClan, I'm still not really sure. I don't really remember what we talked about, but she was nice. She looked a lot like you except for her pelt color."
Bluefur's whiskers twitched. "Yes, it usually comes with being sisters."
Fireheart flicked her tail. "I don't know, my littermates don't really look like me," she meowed. "I got our father's build and they got our mother's. One of their favorite jokes was telling me I wasn't their sister and that I had been picked up on the side of the Thunderpath. I didn't believe them until I saw one of the other Twolegs bringing an abandoned kitten into her home."
"You poor thing," Bluefur chuckled.
"It's okay, I got back at them by stuffing catnip in their food," Fireheart meowed smugly. "And I got away with it too."
Her former mentor laughed. "Your mother didn't catch you?"
"No, I'm pretty sure she knew it was me," she answered. "But I think she decided to let it slide since they spent so much of their time acting like little pieces of fox dung. Anyway, it's not as if I actually hurt them. They just had to spend most of the afternoon laughing at clouds."
"Do they still live in Twolegplace?" Bluefur asked.
"Probably," Fireheart meowed dismissively. "But not as kittypets. I ran into them with Tigerclaw a few moons ago, and their housefolk had thrown them out. Of course, it has been a while, so it's possible they've been taken in by someone else now."
As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the two warriors made their way towards Sunningrocks. To Fireheart's relief, there were a few mice scurrying about. It looked as though there was still prey in the forest after all. Dropping into a hunting crouch, she padded forward swiftly and silently, pouncing on two mice at once and killing both of them.
"Good catch," Bluefur meowed.
"Thanks," Fireheart replied. "Good thing we have these rocks back, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah it is," her friend agreed, but she seemed distracted by something across the river. Fireheart looked over to see a familiar brown tabby patrolling along the river.
"Isn't that Oakheart?" she asked.
"It is," the blue-gray molly confirmed. There was a faint look of longing in her eyes, but she blinked it away before Fireheart could be too sure of what she saw.
As she watched, Fireheart could have sworn she saw Oakheart glance across the river at Bluefur. She frowned slightly, wondering why he was so interested in her former mentor. Her curiosity was further piqued when Oakheart swam across the river, shaking the water out of his fur as he climbed out and padding over to them.
"What do you think you're doing here?" she demanded. "This land belongs to ThunderClan now, in case you're too stupid to remember what happened just two days ago. Or are RiverClan warriors so arrogant that they think they can just come and go wherever they please?"
"I'm not here to cause trouble," Oakheart promised. "I just need to talk to Bluefur."
"Why?" Fireheart asked suspiciously. "Usually when a warrior needs to talk to another Clan, they go to the leader or the deputy, not just any regular warrior."
"It's none of your concern," the brown tabby snapped.
"Actually, you're trespassing on my territory right now, so if I'm not mistaken it is."
Oakheart chuckled, looking rather amused. "Well, considering I'm trespassing, you might as well chase me off. Go on, then. I'm waiting."
Fireheart let out a hiss, her claws scraping across the rocky surface. How dare this arrogant excuse for a warrior mock her? Who did he think he was? He had no business coming onto her territory. She had half a mind to send him home with half his fur missing.
"It's alright, Fireheart," Bluefur meowed, resting her tail gently on her shoulder. "I'm sure if he were here to cause trouble, he'd have done something by now."
"Fine," Fireheart muttered, forcing her fur to lie flat. She glared at Oakheart and added, "Just so we're clear, I'm only letting you off the hook because I'm not in the mood to start a fight right now–and anyway, it's not as if you would be a worthy opponent for me. No offense or anything. Now go, before a patrol comes and catches you here because I guarantee you that they won't be as merciful."
Oakheart gave one last look at her and Bluefur before turning away and swimming back across to his side of the river. Fireheart let out a sigh of exasperation, picking up her mice and stalking back in the direction of the trees with Bluefur padding alongside her.
"StarClan, I hate him," she muttered.
"He's really not that bad," Bluefur meowed quietly. "I know he's arrogant, but he's a good Clanmate and brother."
"Well, he can be a good Clanmate and brother on his own territory," Fireheart retorted. "You'd think he would know better than to just swim over onto our territory whenever he feels like it. But I guess all RiverClan warriors have fish for brains. Maybe they should consider a diet change or something."
"Are you going to report him to Sunstar?" the blue-furred warrior asked.
Fireheart thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think it's worth it," she admitted. "It's not like anything actually happened other than him being a pain in the tail."
"Good idea," Bluefur agreed.
"He seemed oddly interested in you, though," she continued. "Any idea what that was all about?"
"Who knows?" the older molly replied. "He's a RiverClan warrior. Nobody knows why they do anything."
Her tone was nonchalant, almost dismissive–but her eyes told another story altogether. For just a moment, Fireheart swore she saw the same wistful look in her friend's eyes that Thrushpelt wore whenever he laid eyes on the blue-gray molly.
"You like him," she meowed quietly.
Bluefur started slightly. "What–I do not!"
Fireheart rolled her eyes. "Bluefur, you're my friend and I like you, but you're a terrible liar. You look the same way Thrushpelt does whenever he sees you."
"Oh, not you too," Bluefur griped. "What is it with everyone being so interested in me and Thrushpelt?"
"Consider it payback for all the comments you used to make about me and Tigerclaw," Fireheart retorted. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you to get together with Thrushpelt and to be honest, I don't really care whether you take a mate from another Clan, but did you really have to choose Oakheart of all cats? I mean, for StarClan's sake, you could have at least picked someone who doesn't act as though he's StarClan's greatest gift to the forest."
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"Oh–of course, I won't, but you know this won't stay a secret forever," she pointed out. "Sooner or later, the Clan is going to find out one way or another."
"I know," Bluefur admitted. "I don't plan on seeing him again, but–"
"What do you mean again?" Fireheart interrupted. "Have you met with him before?"
The older warrior hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Last night," she meowed. "He asked me to meet with him at Fourtrees, and we spent the night together there. We–"
"Okay, okay," Fireheart interrupted. "I don't need to hear every detail."
"Oh, alright," Bluefur meowed. She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "So, you're really not going to say anything?"
"No," the flame-colored warrior replied. She didn't approve of Bluefur's relationship, but she wouldn't dream of telling on her. "I might not trust a hair on Oakheart's pelt, but I'm not going to report you."
"Why not?" Bluefur asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but most cats wouldn't just let it slide if they found out their Clanmate was a traitor."
"I don't think you're a traitor," Fireheart meowed quietly.
Bluefur looked at her in surprise. "Really? Even after I just admitted to breaking the warrior code and betraying ThunderClan by meeting with Oakheart, you still don't think I'm a traitor? Why is that?"
"Because it's not accurate," Fireheart replied simply. "Being a traitor would imply that you intended to do something to hurt ThunderClan. But I know you and I know you wouldn't do that. You may have the worst possible taste in cats, but everyone lets their heart get the best of them once in their lives. And anyway, I can guarantee you that nobody's bloodline is completely pure. Wild cats have definitely existed longer than the Clans–it just makes sense, you know? There had to be wild cats before there was an organized system of living between them, and the warrior code is even younger than that. So I'll bet the entire fresh-kill pile that there are inter-Clan relationships somewhere along everyone's family line. The only difference is that they weren't illegal back then."
"But they are now," Bluefur pointed out.
"Yes," Fireheart admitted. "And maybe that needs to change. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the warrior code is sacred, but a lot of these rules were put in place generations ago. And from what I've heard from the elders' stories, most of them were created after one cat slipped up. I mean, don't you think it's a little over the top to create an entire law banning something just because one cat made a mistake? Sure, some of the rules make sense like the rule about doing everything we can to protect kits, but others just seem outdated and honestly cause more trouble than they're worth. Not to mention there are a few contradictions as well."
"Like what?" the blue-gray molly asked.
"Like the fact that we have a rule about protecting kits but also a rule about not trespassing on other Clans' territory," Fireheart answered. "Let's say, for example, that you're patrolling by the ShadowClan border and you see a ShadowClan kit on his side of the border being stalked by a fox with no warriors or queens nearby. What exactly are you supposed to do then? You'd be breaking the warrior code by going over and saving the kit, but you'd also be breaking it by leaving him there to die."
"I guess you'd just have to choose the lesser of two evils," Bluefur meowed.
"Yeah, I'd go for the kit too," Fireheart agreed. "But going back to the original discussion, I still think the rule about not taking mates in another Clan is stupid. I mean, it definitely happened before and it doesn't seem as though the Clans had any problem with it at first. But then someone just happened to slip up, and all of a sudden they had to ban cats from becoming mates with warriors from other Clans. And I don't see why the mistake of one cat–or, well, I guess two in this case–should be the end-all deciding factor in creating a law that will affect generations of cats to come even after they've been forgotten."
"And it's not as if the law does any good either," she went on. "You can tell someone how to think, but matters of the heart? That's another issue altogether. No matter how many laws you make or how severe the punishment, you can't just force yourself not to fall in love with someone, even if they are from another Clan. And what about when the worst happens and two cats from separate Clans have kits? Everyone finds out one way or another, and they act as if the kits are to blame even though nobody has any say in who their parents are. And you also have those who think they're better than everyone else just because their parents came from the same Clan, which isn't true either. If mixed Clan relationships worked before, there's no reason why they shouldn't still work now. Two cats from different Clans can fall in love and it has nothing to do with whether either one of them is still loyal to their birth Clan. Besides, if your relationship means so much to you that it completely interferes with your ability to serve your Clan, then you probably shouldn't be a warrior in the first place."
Bluefur touched her nose gently to her ear. "Tigerclaw's lucky to have you," she murmured. "You're going to make a wonderful mother, Fireheart."
"I hope so," Fireheart murmured. "I know it's going to be leaf-bare when they're born, and it's always hard finding food during the cold season. I just hope I'll be able to provide for them."
"You're going to be just fine," Bluefur soothed her. "And the Clan will make sure you have enough milk to feed your kits. We aren't going to let them go hungry."
When they arrived back at the camp, Tigerclaw was sharing a meal with Leopardfoot and Thrushpelt. As soon as he saw her, he bounded over to greet her, his eyes glowing with happiness. Fireheart touched her nose to his in greeting.
"You're back," Tigerclaw purred. "I was wondering where you went."
"Sorry, I had trouble sleeping so I decided to go hunting," Fireheart meowed. "Didn't have much luck, but I did manage to catch these two mice."
"I'll leave you two to it, then," Bluefur chuckled. "I can see when I'm not needed."
Fireheart rolled her eyes and watched as the blue-gray warrior padded over to speak to Sunstar, who was standing by the medicine den with Featherwhisker. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she could see Thrushpelt looking at Bluefur with the same look of longing he always wore. She felt a pang of sympathy, knowing exactly what he wanted and also knowing that it was never going to happen. He must have known as well, considering he hadn't tried to make a move despite the fact that everyone knew he had been in love with Bluefur for seasons.
She would never understand what Bluefur saw in Oakheart, not because of where he came from, but because his personality disgusted her. He wasn't cruel or bloodthirsty, but he had an ego bigger than the entire forest. But then again, perhaps Bluefur was right and there was more to him than met the eye. Anyway, Tigerclaw had been just as arrogant when she met him, and he had changed since then. Perhaps Oakheart was capable of the same.
And if he made Bluefur happy, was there really anything to complain about?
Fireheart's a sweetheart lol. She just wants her friends to be happy.
So yes, Bluefur is still mates with Oakheart and yes, she will still have his kits, but (spoiler alert) she will not be giving them up because there's no need for her to do so. With Thistleclaw dead, there's no threat of him destroying ThunderClan. Which means that Mosskit will live. Yay!
Speaking of kits, I'm only giving Fireheart one kit for her first litter. The reason for this will be mentioned in a future chapter. But don't worry, this won't be her only litter and she'll definitely have more in future litters. I've settled on five names for her, so pick your favorite one and leave a review telling me which one you want.
1. Flykit
2. Stormkit
3. Daisykit
4. Petalkit
5. Beekit
Featherflight also suggested Briarkit and Scorchkit, so you can vote for those as well. And fear not, even if your favorite isn't the winner, I plan to use all of these names at some point. They just won't be the name for Fireheart and Tigerclaw's firstborn child.
Responses to a few reviews:
Riley-Cooper123: Yeah, I know what you mean and to be honest I don't mind those stories, but it wouldn't make sense in this setting. Considering the Clan is about to go through an extremely harsh leaf-bare, it wouldn't make sense to have Fireheart trying to nurse six kits at once. There's no way she would be able to manage it and a few of them would most definitely die of starvation. I also don't think she and Tigerclaw would have the same kits that Tigerclaw or Fireheart had with their canon mates.
KrazyKube: Probably not, I've never been a fan of the whole tragic love story centering around Spottedleaf. I mean, I get why they did it and it does make sense that Firepaw would have a crush on her when you think about it, but I don't like regulating female characters to the role of a "tragic lost love". The writers already do that enough as it is (*cough* Honeyfern *cough*).
Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Yeah, I really don't like writing ceremonies since they all go the exact same way. And yes, Bluefur is having kits, although she doesn't know it just yet.
Thanks for reading!
-TheShadowedWarrior