The icy breeze coming along the hill made Fireheart shiver, he fluffed up his pelt as best he could against the howling winds. Above the claw-moon shown, what light it provided was amplified by the snow. Fireheart could see his breath in the chilly air as he padded through the moorland, heading towards Fourtrees.
Graystripe was at his side, seemingly unbothered by the wind. After Fireheart had told his plan to turn Tigerstar's attention away from WindClan and the farm, the gray warrior had insisted on coming with him. He would have preferred to have done this alone, it was one thing to put himself into danger but Fireheart did not want to put Graystripe in it. However, the other tom had been insistent and the farm cats had agreed with him. There had been no room for Fireheart to deny the company and not have his plan stopped before it had started.
Fireheart had also brought up what he intended to do after. Tallstar had agreed to allow him to assist WindClan and, in turn, the other cats at the farm if they so chose. All the Clan cats had agreed to go with WindClan over to the territory past Highstones and were heading there now, Onewhisker leading them to where the patrol had found a suitable camp.
Tallstar had wanted to leave as soon as possible after hearing Onewhisker and Fireheart's report. How much of the decision was made out of being forced to move somewhere new and actually thinking the territory was suitable was unknown to Fireheart. WindClan and the Clan cats that had been at the barn set out not long past sunset for Highstones, at the same time Fireheart and Graystripe had begun their trek towards Clan territory. The inhabitants of the farm were back down to Ravenpaw and Barley.
Fireheart and Graystripe had watched WindClan and the other Clan cats leave with Ravenpaw and Barley, it was strange seeing them leave and not going with them. Fireheart had felt a pool of guilt form in his belly, he should have been able to have prevented WindClan from having to leave.
After the Clan cats had disappeared from view, they said their goodbyes to the two loners before leaving for Clan territory. When they had made it to the WindClan border, it smelled heavily of TigerClan. The claim they had made on the territory was strong, no cat could mistake it as anything else.
Fireheart was on high alert as they made their way to Fourtrees, he kept his ears pricked for any sound of oncoming cats. The two toms moved quickly past the Great Rock and up the hill to the trees which once made up ThunderClan territory. A heaviness formed in the ginger tom's chest as they entered.
As they moved into the brush and along the paths in the territory they knew so well, Fireheart signaled Graystripe closer to him. When the gray tom had moved closer, he hissed to him: "I want to go by TigerClan camp."
Fireheart felt Graystripe stiffen at his words. "Why?"
"They'll catch our scent easier if we pass by," Fireheart whispered. "I want them to catch it earlier on." It would also infuriate Tigerstar to find that they had been so close to camp and had not been caught or covered their scent. At least, Fireheart hoped they would not be caught.
If they angered the TigerClan leader with such an act, Fireheart was certain they would be the ones followed and not WindClan. That was what matters; getting Tigerstar's attention. Graystripe was silent for a heartbeat before he murmured, "You're mad."
"I've been told." Graystripe had not said no, that was good. Fireheart shifted their route to where they had found the TigerClan camp last time. It still puzzled him as to why Tigerstar chose to make a new camp. There was nothing wrong with the ravine that ThunderClan camp was once situated, nor ShadowClan and RiverClan's camps. Now they had WindClan's as well, they were all fine camps and yet they had made a new one.
They moved off the trail as they drew closer to camp, along the same path that they had taken with Ravenpaw when they had seen Cinderpelt. Grief filled Fireheart's chest at the thought of the young medicine cat. Her life had been ended too soon by Fireheart's mistakes. What had occurred just on the other side of the barrier filled his mind. Her sacrifice had helped them out greatly, but it had not been necessary. If only he had realized what would happen and convinced her to come with them, he could have saved her from her fate.
As the scent of TigerClan grew stronger, the heaviness in Fireheart's chest increased. They moved past the camp, past the clearing with Bonehill in it and past the bushes which lined the clearing silently as they continued to Tallpines. There was no sign they had been spotted or scented yet. The ginger warrior let out a breath he had been holding as the strong scent of TigerClan began to fade.
They moved quickly through the pine forest, and soon enough Fireheart spotted the fence that marked the beginning of Twolegplace. The heaviness in his chest was fading. As they approached the edge of the trees, he realized that Graystripe was slowing down. He gave the other tom a puzzled look when he stopped entirely. Fireheart had thought the gray warrior would have wanted to leave TigerClan territory as quickly as possible.
Graystripe gazed around the small clearing they were in, a reminiscent glimmer shown through the dark in his yellow eyes. He murmured, "This is where we first met."
Oh. Fireheart gazed around the small clearing as the memory of that night came back to him. It was this clearing, wasn't it? They were not far from the Twoleg nest he had lived in before joining ThunderClan. His gaze landed at the roots of a tree. He had almost caught a mouse there. Bluestar's words that night rang in his head.
How much things had changed since then hit him; he was an entirely different cat than he had been that night. "I had no idea why Bluestar had me trailing you." Graystripe meowed, "I certainly didn't think she'd invite you to join ThunderClan." Fireheart was surprised at this newfound information.
"She told you to watch me?"
"Yeah." Graystripe padded a few steps towards the other warrior, "I thought you might have been testing the border or something. Looking back, it was weird that it was specifically one cat." He blinked. "I didn't think of that at the time."
"That was the first time I ever set paw on Clan territory," Fireheart responded. He knew that Bluestar had seen him prior to that day, but to have an apprentice watch him was strange. His mind went back to the dream he had had right after her death. The former ThunderClan leader had told him that he was the fire that would save the Clans, had she thought that sooner? Was that why Graystripe had been sent to watch him all those seasons ago?
Fireheart bumped his head against Graystripe's shoulder. He purred, "I put up a fight, didn't I?"
"Certainly," Graystripe mewed. "I'd never heard of a kittypet that hadn't turned tail and run. I didn't think I'd have to fight you; I was impressed. Lionheart and Bluestar clearly were as well. I never would have expected her to invite you to join ThunderClan." The gray tom turned his head so he was facing into ThunderClan territory. He murmured, "I never would have thought a lot of things would have happened. I never would have expected to be exiled."
Guilt churned in Fireheart's stomach at Graystripe's words. His ears flattened. He would not have been in this situation if he had not stood up for Fireheart. Did Graystripe regret his actions that day? Fireheart murmured, "I'm sorry to have brought you down with me."
Graystripe turned to the other tom; his eyes were round. "Hey – no." He meowed, "I didn't mean it like that. It was my own free will, I defended you because it was right. Given the chance, I would do it again. This is a lot better than it would have been under Tigerstar's leadership. No matter how mousebrained your ideas may be sometimes, I am with you 'til the end." A pause. "We are ThunderClan 'til the end."
"ThunderClan." Fireheart murmured.
"ThunderClan!" Graystripe echoed, louder than Fireheart had been.
"ThunderClan!" Fireheart's call grew louder than the previous ones.
There was a glint in Graystripe's eyes, a silent question. An agreement passed between the two warriors, just as silent. Both toms threw back their heads as they yowled together, "ThunderClan!"
There was a humorous glow in Graystripe's eyes as he hissed, "We should go." The gray tom turned quickly, Fireheart following after him. The orange warrior stopped in his tracks at the start of the small strip of land between the forest, an idea coming to him. This time Graystripe stopped, looking back at his friend with a confused look on his face.
Fireheart glanced at him, his eye glimmering, before turning and trotting up to a tree at the edge. He raised his tail as he moved, turning before marking the tree. His heart pounded rapidly against his chest and blood roared in his ears. Graystripe's eyes rounded at the sight. The tom kept his tail raised high as he trotted back over to the other cat, the pressure in his chest returned as he turned his head towards the warrior. He hissed, "ThunderClan!"
Fireheart moved towards the fence, jumping onto it. The other cat followed after him quickly. "Mousebrain!" Graystripe hissed, there was no anger in his voice like Fireheart thought there might be. As he jumped up next to the other warrior, Graystripe exclaimed, "He's gonna flay you for that!"
The ginger tom felt the fur along his spine bristle. The pressure in his chest increased, Fireheart flicked his tail. "Let's get going then." He led Graystripe along the fence to where it connected with the one that ran between the two gardens. This was the fence between his old Twoleg nest and Smudge's. He thought of his old friend, the black and white kittypets scent coming faintly from the garden as he moved along the fence quickly. The ginger warrior jumped down on to the Twoleg grass at the end.
The two warriors moved quickly over to the Thunderpath, Fireheart putting his paw on the dark surface. As soon as he was certain there was no danger, he twitched his ear, signaling Graystripe forward. They crossed it hurriedly, moving along the side of the Twoleg nest in front of them as they continued. Fireheart eyed a monster that was sleeping in front of the nest as he padded up to the fence.
They moved quickly across the Twolegplace, there was silence between them as they went over Thunderpath and garden alike, stopping when need be.
Graystripe's mew broke through the silence as they were crossing the front garden of one of the nests. "How are we going to get back?"
Had he only thought of that now? To be fair, this had not been an issue Fireheart had considered prior to Graystripe's forced entry into the journey. He replied, "The farm next to RiverClan territory is in that direction." He pointed with an ear, "I've been keeping track. We will turn and head down there, once we get to the edge of Twolegplace we should be able to make it back to Clan territory."
"How far do you want to go?"
"Far enough to be certain that a patrol would lose our scents." Fireheart murmured. He wasn't sure how long that would be, it would depend on how far the patrol was willing to go after them. They could stop at the first Thunderpath or continue for many more, the warrior had no way of knowing.
As they continued through the Twolegplace, it became less of what Fireheart knew it to be. There was less gardens and more Thunderpaths, they had started having to stop for monsters that were making their way down the large paths quickly. The nests seemed to change as well, some of them were taller than Fireheart had seen previously. Before long they were continuously walking on Thunderpath-like surfaces.
Graystripe gazed up at one of the dens, slowing in his pace. He asked, "Have you ever seen ones like this before?"
Fireheart shook his head, "Only the ones near the forest. I didn't realize how far this went." They could probably begin to turn now, Fireheart realized. He doubted that a patrol would dare venture this far. He stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Graystripe. "Let's get going towards RiverClan territory."
They shifted their direction towards Clan territory. This all seemed easy to Fireheart, given the time of night it was no Twolegs or many monsters were out that they had to worry about. They had not run into dogs or other cats thus far. They were being safe and there were no dangers. It was going well.
Until it was not. It was quick. Graystripe had moved ahead of Fireheart, jumping up on to a wall. He turned to watch the other cat do the same. The ginger tom crouched before leaping for the top of the wall. His forepaws slipped off the edge and jerked his leg as Fireheart came crashing down, slamming his shoulder against the wall before hitting the hard surface below him. He felt dazed, there was a throbbing pain in his shoulder and head as he stared at the wall ahead of him.
"Fireheart!" Graystripe shot off the wall, rushing to the other cats' side. He pressed his nose to the ginger tom's side, encouraging him to sit up. Fireheart followed the other cat's encouragement shakily, hissing a curse at the pain. His head spun. The gray tom meowed, "I should've made us stop earlier, you're exhausted. Let's find someplace to rest."
Fireheart shook his head, wincing at the pain it caused. He rose slowly to his paws, lifting his leg when it hurt to put pressure on it. He muttered, "I'm fine. We can keep going, let's go."
Fireheart looked back up at the wall, he had no clue how he hadn't made the jump, he should have been able to. He began to prepare himself to get back up on the wall before he heard a hiss.
"No, we're going to stop." Graystripe moved in front of Fireheart, "You've been walking since last sunrise. You're exhausted, we need to find a place to rest. Have you even eaten today?"
"Had some rabbit." He muttered as Graystripe directed him away from the wall. Fireheart lashed his tail, stopping in his tracks.
"I'm fine we can go." The other cat narrowed his eyes.
"We're going to find someplace to sleep for a bit," Graystripe's voice was non-negotiable. "You can't use your leg, you are tired. We are going to rest." Fireheart flattened his ears and let out an annoyed hiss but let Graystripe lead him away from the wall. As they moved, Fireheart's muscles were beginning to burn. Graystripe was right, he realized, he was tired. He hadn't noticed before.
Graystripe nodded ahead of them, "There's a bush over there we can spend the night." Fireheart felt his blood run cold at that sentence. He stopped in his tracks, a pressure in his chest building. The gray tom looked at him, puzzled, "Something wrong?"
Fireheart tested his leg again. He could put more pressure on it than he had a few moments before. That was good, it was not broken. His shoulder would be fine. They could continue, they would not have to stop. He meowed, "I'm fine, let's keep going." Fireheart limped a few steps back.
"No." Graystripe's tone was almost commanding, "We are stopping to rest. You're going to collapse somewhere else if we keep going. You're tired, I can see that you are. We can rest under the bush."
The gray tom wasn't given him much room to argue. He hesitated a moment, tail tip twitching nervously. Fireheart opened his mouth to respond, "I-I –" How was he supposed to say this to Graystripe without looking weak? Embarrassment lit up his pelt, how was he supposed to say this in general? It was stupid, Fireheart knew it was, but he could not go under that bush.
"Fireheart?" Concern filled Graystripe's voice.
"No bush." He whispered, "I-I can't, I just can't. I'm sorry." Alarm flashed in Graystripe's eyes.
"What do you mean you can't? You can't go under there?" Graystripe took a step towards the other cat, "Of course you can." Fireheart shook his head. The gray warrior still seemed confused.
"I can't." Fireheart raised his voice, forcing himself to sound more confident. "Let's keep going. It doesn't matter, I'll be fine."
"Fireheart, we are going to rest." Graystripe stepped towards him, "What do you mean you can't?"
"It's too small." Fireheart felt the fur along his spine rise as he murmured, "I-I can't go back there." He stared desperately at the other cat, "Please, let's just keep going."
Realization came to Graystripe's face. "I didn't realize, I'm –" The warrior stopped in his words for a heartbeat. "We can find someplace else to rest. Let's go."
Graystripe waited for Fireheart to come to his side before they moved forward. Fireheart kept his gaze to the ground as they walked, humiliation making his pelt feel as though it was on fire. He should have just gone under the bush; he could have figured something out. It was stupid, he should be able to go under it. What was wrong with him? How could something so frivolous ever affect him so greatly? Graystripe was going to pity him more than he had already. Fireheart shouldn't have misjudged how high the wall was.
"How's this?" Fireheart looked up at Graystripe's words. The gray tom moved a few steps further, nodding at an overhang from one of the Twoleg dens. There was a patch of soil beneath it that ran along the side of the den.
"Sure." Fireheart limped forward, settling on the cold hard soil. His muscles ached and he truly felt exhausted. Hopefully, sleep would help and hopefully, his shoulder would continue to feel better. He turned, starting to licking down the ruffled fur.
Fireheart felt Graystripe settle next to him, the warmth of the other warrior was a welcomed relief against the cold air and frozen ground. He pressed against the other cat, accepting the warmth heartily. Graystripe rested his head on his back as Fireheart closed his eyes. They could set out once they had awoken and return to WindClan.