Both cats moved to Fireheart's side, shoulders pressed against his own as he was pushed on to his feet. Tallstar whispered something into Deadfoot's ear, who nodded in response. The WindClan deputy raised his tail, signaling the remaining warriors to follow him back into camp as they did, the black and white leader moved over to Fireheart and his guards.
As soon as the rest of the WindClan warriors had disappeared into the gorse tunnel Fireheart was lurched forward. Tallstar moved ahead, entering the narrow opening.
Suddenly teeth sank into Fireheart's scruff, he froze, his vision blurring. Memories flashed through his mind. The orange tom forced himself to breathe deeply as he felt one of the cats next to him move away from his side. He watched the barely visible shape of a cat move into the gorse tunnel next before he was dragged forward.
The teeth released him as he heard a voice, "get in." Onewhisker. So, the cat ahead of him must have been Rosefur. Fireheart moved forward, pushing his way into the gorse tunnel. When he emerged on the other side, Tallstar and Rosefur were waiting. He was quickly pressed back between the two WindClan warriors and jostled onward.
He could hear excited murmuring as he was brought across camp, he turned his head towards where the sound was coming from. The sight that greeted him surprised Fireheart.
It looked like all of WindClan was in the clearing. Some cats appeared to be sleeping, but for the most part, they were up and alert to the intruder. The snow had been dug up, what appeared to be nests scattered the hollow. WindClan cats did not sleep in dens? The orange tom hadn't been aware of that.
The murmurs grew louder, turning into jeers from the onlooking WindClan cats. He heard Deadfoot order for the cats taunting to stop. The jeers quieted down, however, despite the deputy's order, Fireheart could still hear hisses and growls of discontent coming from the WindClan warriors.
They stopped at the foot of a large rock near the center of the hollow, Tallstar glanced at the outsider, nodding towards a spot of worn earth at the base of the boulder. Relieved to move away from the hostile warriors, Fireheart followed the silent order. Out of habit, he crouched down on the sandy earth, wrapping his tail around himself.
The WindClan leader turned away from him, facing the two guards, "you are dismissed for now." Both cats began to protest as the skinny tom continued, "we are in full view of every cat in the Clan. He's not going to try anything. Do not go far, I will need you once I am done with him." Tallstar turned his attention to Onewhisker, "You will be guarding him for the rest of the night. Once I am done with him, he can stay in the old fox den."
Fox den? Fireheart did not like the sound of that. Both warriors dipped their heads as Tallstar sent them off, shooting the ginger tom threatening glowers as they moved away. They settled a few tail lengths away from Tallstar and Fireheart.
Tallstar turned his attention to his captive, his eyes narrowed as he ordered, "sit up." Fireheart followed the command, rising from his crouch. A few heartbeats passed, he spoke softly: "Fireheart, I told you to stay out of my Clan's territory. You should have listened."
The orange tom dipped his head to the leader, "I wouldn't have come without good reason. I need to warn you."
"Warn us?" The WindClan leader sat as he spoke, his muscles relaxing. His long tail made its way around his paws. It amazed Fireheart how much trust Tallstar seemed to have for him, despite everything. Any other WindClan cat would not have been so relaxed in his presence. Almost none of the Clan cats would be, what was different about this cat? There was some sort of conflict over Fireheart in the black and white tom's head, perhaps it was related to that? He had seen it in the WindClan leader last time they had spoken as well. What was it? "Warn us about what?"
"Tigerstar – there's a pack of dogs on ThunderClan territory. He's been feeding them and I think that he's going to get them to come to the moor. He's going to use them to get rid of WindClan so he can take your territory."
Tallstar studied Fireheart, remaining silent for a long moment after the other cat had finished speaking. Fireheart's pelt twitched uneasily under the WindClan leader's gaze. The ginger tom saw a flash of something in the leader's stare. It was too quick; Fireheart could not make out what it was. Tallstar narrowed his eyes, "what makes you think this?"
He couldn't give away Sandstorm, Tigerstar could find out about the warrior's treachery through WindClan. He wouldn't let that happen to her. Fireheart shifted on his paws as he said, "it's from what I've gathered. I saw Tigerstar feeding them and heard about the accusation." This was a stretch without any more of what Sandstorm had told him, Fireheart realized. He pressed, "What reason would Tigerstar have to feed dogs otherwise?"
"When do you think this will occur?"
Fireheart shook his head, "I don't know. I imagine soon." Tallstar sighed.
"I don't know why Tigerstar or any cat would do that, this is not the way a warrior fights." Tallstar glared hardened as he regarded Fireheart, "I don't know what you thought would come out of this. Even if I did believe you, how would it look? The leader of WindClan taking the advice of a supposed murderous traitor. My own warriors would question me. You've done nothing but walk into a badger den of your own creation."
Fireheart lowered his head, he felt like he was an apprentice again being scolded for whatever misdemeanor. Tallstar was right, he realized, how could he have expected him to follow the advice of a traitor? The WindClan leader paused in his speech, "Tell me, who told you about Tigerstar's accusation?"
"Tallstar, please. You need to believe me."
"Who told you, Fireheart?" The WindClan leader repeated.
Fireheart didn't respond, remaining silent under the leader's gaze. The heaviness on his chest increased in the silence, memories flashed through his brain. His anxiety was building, he did not know how Tallstar would respond to his silence. Would he react how Tigerstar would? His vision was blurring again. What if he did?
That did not matter, Fireheart needed to protect Sandstorm.
The thin tom rose to his paws, the sudden movement causing Fireheart to recoiled. Tallstar froze. The orange warrior blinked a few times, forcing his breathing to be steady. Nothing happened. All Tallstar did was stand, Fireheart reminded himself. He forced his gaze up to look at the cat in front of him. Tallstar was staring back in astonishment, he spoke slowly: "if you are not going to tell me, I think we're done."
His voice was strained as he meowed, "Fireheart, I told you to stay away. I warned you. Everything that is about to happen to you is your own fault. I do not want to appease Tigerstar, but it seems it is the only option I have now that you are here. It is out of my control; you should have heeded my warning." Tallstar raised his muzzle to the sky. He murmured something the other cat could barely make out, "I'm sorry." Fireheart did not think that was directed towards him. The black and white leader signaled to Onewhisker and Rosefur with a flick of his tail. Once the warriors were there, Tallstar meowed: "take him to the den, I will send a cat over with fresh-kill. We'll have a meeting shortly to discuss what happens next."
They would feed him? Fireheart murmured his thanks as the WindClan cat turned away from him. As he moved across the clearing, Tallstar called to Barkface. The brown medicine cat made his way quickly to the WindClan leader and the two began conversing quietly.
Onewhisker's teeth sank into Fireheart's scruff again, he felt light-headed as he was half dragged by the WindClan warrior away from the boulder. Rosefur moved on to the orange tom's other side, once she was situated the teeth left Fireheart's scruff. His mind whirled as he stumbled forward. He forced himself to blink, trying to clear his vision. His chest grew tight as they moved around the rock, towards a different part of camp.
They stopped outside of a hole in the ground. Fireheart stared at it; the narrow tunnel disappeared into darkness. How big would it be? Tallstar had called it a fox den, so it had to be decently sized. He didn't want to go in, he hadn't been in such a narrow place in moons. He did not want to go back there.
The ginger tom's paws were frozen to the spot as the heaviness in his chest grew. Fireheart could feel the WindClan warriors' glare burning into him. He turned his head so Onewhisker was within his vision range. The tabby's eyes were icy as he growled, "don't make me drag you in."
The look the WindClan warrior gave him dug deep into Fireheart's core, he would have once considered Onewhisker to be a friend. As good of a friend that two cats from separate Clans could be. It struck him how much had changed these past few moons.
He took a tentative step towards the yawning darkness in front of him, memories flashing through his mind. He stared at it for a few heartbeats before a shoulder hit his ribs. Fireheart let out a hiss of pain as Onewhisker sank his teeth into his scruff as he pushed him into the tunnel. Once he was partly in the tunnel, the WindClan tom moved back as he allowed the orange warrior to move further into the hole. Fireheart could feel the sides of the tunnel brushing against him as he was forced further down into the den.
"You can go, Rosefur. I've got him," Onewhisker meowed. An affirmative reply came before the sound of the tortoiseshell warrior's pawsteps moving away from the fox den and back to her Clanmates.
Onewhisker kept at his haunches, urging the captured cat further down the tunnel. What little light was provided by Silverpelt at the entrance soon disappeared. They continued blindly into the darkness. Whatever scent there had once been of fox was long gone, all he could smell was dirt and the stale scent of other cats. How deep could this possibly be? Fireheart wondered. His breathing was getting heavy, it was too enclosed. Was the whole den like this? He felt like he was being squeezed.
Suddenly there was an opening, Fireheart pushed his way into the opening. He still couldn't see a thing but this was bigger than the tunnel, he could stand up properly in it and it appeared to be wide enough where a few cats could sleep here if they were so pleased.
Onewhisker had stopped at the entrance to the opening, he spoke: "I'll be back with fresh-kill." Fireheart heard the WindClan tom start to back out of the tunnel, making his way back to the surface.
The heaviness on Fireheart's chest lessened a bit in this more open space. He could feel dried leaves and ruined moss beneath his paws, as though cats had made nests in here prior. The ginger tom pulled it together, creating a nest. He settled into the dried moss, turning to groom down his ruffled fur as he waited for the WindClan warrior's return. He didn't feel hungry, quite the opposite actually. His stomach churned; Fireheart didn't know how but he was going to choke down the fresh-kill. He would have to; it would be the best meal he'd have for a while.
Soon enough Onewhisker returned, recognizable only by his scent. A large hunk of hare was in his jaws. He dropped the meat at the end of the tunnel and left without a word spoken. Fireheart made his way over to the hare meat and forced himself to eat it. When he had finished, its bones and fur were discarded on the other side of the den. Fireheart settled himself into the nest he had pulled together, closing his eyes. There was nothing else he could do but wait.
When he opened his eyes next, Fireheart was greeted with the same endless darkness he had left behind. However, there was something different. Another cat was in the den with him, he knew this scent. The orange tom rose to his paws, moving towards her, "Spottedleaf?"
"Hello, Fireheart." The ginger warrior strained his eye, trying to get a glimpse of the tortoiseshell StarClan cat. What purpose was there in her being here? What did she have to tell him? He hadn't received any dream from StarClan in so long, it was almost strange to have one so suddenly. What had changed? Fireheart felt Spottedleaf brush by him, it took him a moment to figure out where she was headed. She was at the entrance of the tunnel. She meowed, "come with me."
He stayed where he stood, the end of his tail moving back and forth as he stared where the medicine cat should have been: "I can't. They'll stop me."
"This is a dream. They can't see you; they won't stop you." Oh. Fireheart padded towards the medicine cat's spirit, following her as she led him back to the surface. As they moved, what little light there was of the outside world began to illuminate the tunnel, moving through the spirits body in front of him.
When they emerged from the passage, Fireheart looked to Onewhisker. The pale tabby made no sign that he was aware of either cat, looking ahead of himself as he crouched in front of the entrance. The ginger cat walked slowly past the WindClan warrior, speeding up when he realized Spottedleaf had continued further across the hollow.
He followed her across camp, past the sleeping bodies of WindClan cats. They exited the gorse tunnel, leading out into WindClan territory. In addition to Rosefur, another warrior had been put on sentry duty outside the camp entrance.
Spottedleaf led Fireheart along the rabbit tracks which scattered WindClan's territory and back towards Fourtrees. Along one the ginger tom spotted a dark shape. He slowed in his tracks, padding up to it. It was a dead rabbit. The wound on its neck looked fresh as if it had just been killed.
He scanned the surrounding area for any sign of a cat, the kill certainly looked like a cats' kill. Some cat might have been out night hunting, but it seemed like a strange night to be doing so considering the threat WindClan faced from TigerClan. It was also out in the open, a fox could easily find and take the kill. It was a sloppy mistake for any warrior to have made. Experienced or otherwise.
He looked away from the rabbit to see that Spottedleaf had stopped some fox lengths ahead of him, she was looking back at Fireheart. Right he was supposed to be following her, the rabbit did not matter. The ginger warriors' ears went back as he bounded towards the StarClan cat. As he came up on her side, the she-cat turned away continuing on towards Fourtrees.
As they got closer to the border, he spotted another rabbit, in a very similar fashion as the last. He glanced at it before continuing on to keep up with the dead medicine cat. It was when they reached the first slain rabbit off of WindClan territory that Fireheart realized they were following a trail of them. They were leading right into ThunderClan territory.
The pink light of dawn had just begun to break through the darkness of night when they came to Snakerocks. The trail ended outside of the cave he had seen the dogs in last time. Fireheart felt numb as he gazed at the last rabbit, just as mangled as the rest. This was how Tigerstar would get the dogs on to WindClan territory.
If the TigerClan leader succeeded, what would he do after WindClan was slaughter? Fireheart wondered; the dogs would still be on WindClan territory. How would he get rid of them so his own cats could have it?
He glanced at Spottedleaf, the tortoiseshell StarClan cat was watching him a few tail lengths away. He asked, "why are you showing me this? Why don't you show Barkface or Tallstar?"
Spottedleaf padded closer to him, blinking at Fireheart as she came to his side: "remember, you are the fire that will save the Clans. Have faith, Fireheart and you will succeed." Have faith? Frustration flashed through the ginger tom. How could she expect him to have faith? He was stuck at the bottom of a hole right now; he had tried to warn WindClan of this oncoming danger and Tallstar had disregarded it.
Fireheart couldn't stop a pack of dogs; he was only a cat. A cat labeled as a traitor. No cat trusted him, no one would listen to what he had to say. He was about to witness WindClan be destroyed and there was nothing he could do. StarClan had to have made a mistake choosing him, he had failed them. He had failed Bluestar.
Suddenly some scuffling drew Fireheart's attention to the cave they stood in front of. Loud grunts and sniffing came before a massive head stuck out; Fireheart's ears went back as he moved quickly away from the rabbit. The dog made no indication that it knew the cats were there as it ventured out to the prey creature, grabbing it in its powerful jaws. It looked up, sniffing the air noisily as it spotted the next rabbit.
Rabbit, prey. Food. Come!
More dogs came out from the cave, grunting and growling at each other as they made for the rabbit the first dog had. This first dog snapped at another which tried to grab the dead animal from it. This was more than Fireheart had thought there had been. They were larger than any dog he had seen before – larger than any Twoleg pet. Fear filled him; they could destroy every cat in the forest if given the chance.
The pack moved further into the forest, tongues hanging out of their mouths as they went after the rabbits that had been left for them.
Pack, come! Prey, kill!
It was working, the stupid creatures had taken Tigerstar's bait. It was all happening today. Fireheart looked to Spottedleaf; the medicine cat had begun to fade. His dream had begun to vanish into the darkness, everything around him disappearing into nothing.
As it did, the sound of the dogs' brutish howls echoed in Fireheart's ears.