Fireheart gazed at the cats around him, going over in his head what he was supposed to be doing. He could do this. He had been doing this without criticism so far from Tallstar, even so, it was all so strange. "Tawnyfur, could you lead a hunting patrol, please? Take Tornear and Mistyfoot with you. Why don't you try out by the border closer to ShadowClan territory?"
The WindClan warrior nodded at Fireheart's order. She turned away from him and towards the camp entrance, lifting her tail to get the warriors Fireheart had called attention, they moved over to her fluidly. Fireheart twitched his tail as he watched the patrol disappear into the bramble tunnel, was he doing this right? Should he have sent them in that direction? What if their scent somehow made it over the border and TigerClan picked it up? He certainly had not expected to be thrust into deputy duties and they were a bit nerve wracking but now he would have to get used to doing them. He would have to get used to living in a Clan again as well.
Back at the farm, there was no dawn patrol or real duties. They could sleep as they pleased, eat whenever they felt the need – that was honestly most likely what had led to Bramblepaw's actions when they had first arrived. The apprentice was used to catching his prey when he was hungry and eating it immediately. Despite this hiccup, he seemed to be adjusting well enough to Clan life now. He had not made the same mistake since then. Stormpaw and Featherpaw, who had more experience in Clan life, were aiding tremendously in Bramblepaw's return to Clan life. All the former barn cats would need to have some sort of adjustment, but Bramblepaw's seemed to be the biggest.
The questions he had asked Fireheart still ran through his mentor's head. There had been no other mention of anything similar but it was still strange that they were asked in the first place. Perhaps it was simply the sudden thrust into Clan life or it could have been something else. Fireheart could sympathize with Bramblepaw to a point if it had been the first, he had been a kit outside the Clan after all and had to grow used to their customs and ways. Bramblepaw did have some exposure though and that was an advantage over what Fireheart had had.
Fireheart himself had some things that he had not realized he had forgotten during his time in exile. Between his time on the farm and prior as a prisoner, there had been things he had become used to not doing anymore. One of which was being awake for dawn patrol.
Rather than being assigned to dawn patrol, like he would have been back in ThunderClan, Fireheart was the one assigning it. The first time he had led the patrol himself, it felt strange being awake so early and not doing anything. The whole situation felt strange.
When he had gotten up to start assigning patrols, the warriors – WindClan and not alike – all seemed surprised that it was him doing it. It puzzled Fireheart as to why Tallstar had chosen him to make patrols and not one of his own warriors. Anyone of them would have been the more logical choice. Onewhisker had told Fireheart that the Clan was beginning to trust him and while he could see that in some cats, others seemed to be hesitant to do so still. He could still recognize the distrust in them when they interacted despite everything Tallstar had said. Even so, all of WindClan seemed to respect their leader's choice and were listening to Fireheart. He hoped to truly win them all over soon.
It amazed him still that he had managed to get any more Clan cats on his side, not to mention a leader with influence and with him an entire Clan. Not half a moon ago, WindClan was ready to turn him over to Tigerstar and now they were taking orders from him. It felt almost like a bizarre dream.
Fireheart glanced at the sky; it would be sunhigh sooner rather than later. He should set up the border patrol now. He gazed around the hollow, twitching his ear at Onewhisker. Once the brown tabby warrior came over to him, he asked: "I want you to take out a border patrol, you can take Smokefang and Graystripe with you."
"I will be joining that patrol." Fireheart and Onewhisker turned at the sound of Tallstar's voice. The black and white tom was approaching the two warriors, his wounds were all healed and Barkface had given Tallstar the all-clear a few days prior. Duties in camp had made it so the WindClan leader had not gone too far from the camp. That would change today. He stopped next to them, his eyes were on the WindClan warrior, "Take Gorsepaw along as well. I want to see how he is doing."
Onewhisker agreed, turning away to get the warriors that had been called. Fireheart lowered his head to Tallstar as the leader shifted his attention to him, "I think it is about time I start to learn our new territory. You will be in charge of camp while I am out. Afterward, we can take your apprentices out."
"Yes, Tallstar." The WindClan leader had wanted to see how non-WindClan apprentices had been fairing. All of the not WindClan cats had been working with the WindClan warriors in terms of learning how to hunt on open land. The stark openness above his head still startled Fireheart, it was similar to how he felt at the barn. There was nothing that could shelter them from a hawk's attack here.
Tallstar turned away from Fireheart as Onewhisker returned with the rest of the patrol. The warrior watched as the border patrol left camp, turning away after they had disappeared.
He padded away from the entrance, gaze landing on the rock which had been declared where the fresh-kill pile would be located. His belly groaned at the idea of prey, unfortunately, there was nothing presently on the flat rock which would fill him. Hunger was something he and the other former farm cats would need to get used to again.
WindClan had been dealing with leaf-bare prior to the dog attack and with leaf-bare always came scarcity of prey. They were used to this hunger and had the others been in the forest and living in their own Clans, they would have been used to it as well. Instead, they had gotten used to the prey-filled barn and the comfort it had provided. Now it was back to portioning out prey among the cats and empty bellies some days. Hopefully, the hunting patrol would find and come back with prey. There would be other patrols out later to get even more and the Clan cats would have some to eat.
A rustling noise by the barrier caught Fireheart's attention, he stopped in his tracks, shifting his attention away from the fresh-kill pile and the idea of prey, towards where the sound was coming from. He spotted a small black and white shape by the bramble screen. Thistlekit.
The tom-kit had grown since Fireheart had pulled him out of WindClan's old nursery. He had become the center of WindClan's attention as well, being the only kit remaining. With so few warriors and apprentices, the kit was valued even higher than usual.
Fireheart sat back to watch the small black and white tom. Thistlekit was creeping along the side of the camp, moving with careful movements as though he did not want to be seen. This piqued the warrior's curiosity, why did he not want to be noticed? What was the kit up to?
The kit's green eyes scanned the hollow for a moment, he looked at Fireheart as he did. The warrior watching Thistlekit did not seem to bother him as he turned back again, continuing on this mysterious quest. If he did not want to be caught like Fireheart thought he did not, why did the warrior's gaze not bother him? He must have been wrong. Thistlekit continued along the barrier before stopping at one point. He looked back, over his shoulder at the rest of the hollowing, again, unbothered by Fireheart's watching gaze before turning back to the barrier.
Fireheart's eyes rounded as he watched Thistlekit begin to disappear into the barrier. He rose quickly, moving towards the disappearing black and white shape. He grabbed Thistlekit in his jaws, moving the kit away from the barrier and causing a squeal of alarm. As he moved Thistlekit, he spotted a small hole in the barrier. Fireheart's tail lashed; they had missed that in their reinforcement it seems. It was too small for a warrior or even an apprentice to notice, but it had not missed Thistlekit's attention.
Fireheart turned around before setting Thistlekit down in front of him, keeping himself between the young cat and the barrier. Thistlekit stared up at the warrior, eyes wide with shock. He was no longer scared of him like he had been previously after the dog attack. Any fear that had remained towards Fireheart was completely gone now.
Fireheart stared down at the small tom, "What do you think you were doing?"
"That's not fair!" Thistlekit's squeak came, his small tail was lashing behind him with frustration. He sprang to his paws. "How did you catch me? Whitetail said you're blind, that means you can't see! How could you have seen me? How did you catch me?"
The kit was not even going to try and lie about what he was doing to Fireheart then? Well at least he was being honest about trying to leave camp and without this, they might not have noticed the hole that was remaining in the barrier. Fireheart noted to mention it to Tallstar later, they would need to get to fixed quickly considering the escape attempt.
Something could also try and get into camp using it, they had not had much in terms of danger from other animals so far outside of a scenting of a fox briefly crossing into the territory but there was always that fear. They would need to check around the barrier for more of these holes.
Thistlekit had been wanting to see the new territory since the Clan first arrived at their new territory, he had gotten a glimpse of it in the dark on the journey over but it appears as though that was not enough. Between the idea of it being a new territory that WindClan warriors had not experienced before, his brief glimpse of it, and what the apprentices had been telling him, the kit had been trying to leave camp for a bit now. This was the first time that was not a known entrance.
"I heard you." Fireheart replied, "And I'm not completely blind. How would I be looking at you now? How else could I have been watching you earlier?" The kit pondered the warrior's question for a moment before he shrugged. "Brightheart can see, you know that. It's like that."
Thistlekit shook his head, "No it's not! She only has one eye. She's not blind. You have two and you can't see so you're blind." Fireheart stared at the kit, puzzled by this logic for a moment. He crouched down in front of Thistlekit.
"But I can see out of one of them, so I'm not completely. It's similar to Brightheart having one eye. We both lost half our vision." This logic the kit seemed to have would explain why he had not responded to Fireheart watching him. "Why do you think my eyes are different colors? They used to both be green."
Thistlekit's eyes lit up, "Really? Why'd it change color?" The frustration of being caught seemed to disappear from the kit, curiosity taking over instead. Fireheart's whiskers twitched.
"It got damaged when it was scratched, this is what happens." He shrugged, "I don't know how it really works but now it's gray."
"How'd it happen?" The black and white tom-kit stuck his small muzzle closer to the warrior's face.
"I got into a fight with another warrior." The kit's green eyes rounded at Fireheart's response.
"Did you win? If I were fighting another warrior, I wouldn't let them close enough to do that!" Thistlekit's lip curled back, baring his tiny white teeth as he unsheathed his claws and rose on his back paws, swiping out at the invisible enemy in front of him.
A heaviness was forming in Fireheart's chest and a feeling of guilt overcame him as the memories of that day filled his mind. He mewed, "I'm sure you'd send them all running, little warrior. But not yet." Fireheart put out his paw ushering Thistlekit away from the bramble barrier, he ignored the protest the black and white kit produced as he gazed around the hollow. His eye landed on Whitetail talking with Cloudtail across the dip. Fireheart meowed, "Let's get you back to Whitetail and tell her what you were doing."
Thistlekit began to protest as he was herded over to Cloudtail and Whitetail by Fireheart. The white queen turned at the sound of his mews, eyes rounding as she spotted the kit. She sprang to her paws, moving over to the two approaching cats. Whitetail looked between the two, scooping Thistlekit towards herself as she asked, "What happened?"
Fireheart explained what he had caught the tom-kit in the process of doing. Whitetail gave her foster son a lick on the top of his head before meowing, "You know better than to leave camp, we've been over this. You'll be able to leave once you are an apprentice. Apologize to Fireheart."
"But Featherpaw was telling me about –" Whitetail shushed the small black and white tom.
"I swear the apprentices keep getting things into your head, you will have to wait until you're an apprentice to see the territory. Now apologize to Fireheart." Thistlekit looked back at Fireheart, mumbling an apology. Whitetail sighed her gaze on the ginger warrior. "I left him with Stormpaw, he said he'd keep an eye on him. I don't know how he was left unsupervised."
"I'll talk to Stormpaw about this," Fireheart promised. He glanced over to where he had seen the dark gray apprentice not long before. Stormpaw and Bramblepaw were tumbling around outside the apprentice's den, Featherpaw was watching on. Stormpaw had the other apprentice pinned beneath him at the moment. Fireheart was definitely going to have to talk with him about this. He called out to the gray tom as Whitetail ushered Thistlekit away.
Stormpaw looked over to the warrior, moving off of Bramblepaw before heading over to Fireheart. The other two apprentices looked at each other before following their denmate over, curiosity driving them. When Stormpaw got to the warrior, Fireheart meowed, "I just caught Thistlekit trying to sneak out, weren't you supposed to be watching him?"
"He said he was going to head back over to Whitetail!" Stormpaw's eyes were round, "I thought he was going there."
"You should have walked him over." Fireheart ordered, "I want you to apologize to Whitetail and then you can clean out the nursery. I imagine it needs to be done by now." Stormpaw nodded, murmuring his agreement as Bramblepaw let out a small laugh, muttering something into Featherpaw's ear. The young she-cat's eyes widened and she raised her paw, cuffing the other apprentice. The brown tom looked ready to return the attack, shifting so he could spring at Featherpaw when Fireheart shifted his attention to the other apprentices, the look he gave them stopping them both. "You two can help him."
Bramblepaw's face dropped while Featherpaw's ears flattened. Stormpaw turned away, meeting up with his denmates. The gray tom shoved into Bramblepaw, who pushed back as the three apprentices headed towards the nursery, talking to one another. Fireheart rolled his eyes at the sight, muttering, "Apprentices! Kits!"
"You know how they can be, trouble, the lot of them." Cloudtail's voice came from just next to Fireheart, he turned to see the white warrior had risen from where he had been laying and was standing not far from him.
"You speak as though you were perfect at that age." Cloudtail's eyes rounded, he blinked innocently at the older tom.
"Was I not?"
Fireheart's ears went back, he raised a paw, moving to cuff his sister's son as he meowed: "You caused me and Brindleface a great deal of stress when you were a kit. You had a badger attack you once, for StarClan's sake!" He paused, a glimmer coming to his eye. "Remember when you led Ashkit and Fernkit on an exposition outside of camp?"
Cloudtail dodged the blow, "Yeah we had fun until you all ruined it." Fireheart rolled his eyes again. He gazed in the direction of Clan territory.
"I wonder how they are." Brindleface had been killed by the dogs, but there was still Fernpaw and Ashpaw; Cloudtail's foster siblings. "I imagine they've got to be warriors by now. Thornpaw, too."
He wondered, what would their warrior names be? It was strange, he had watched these cats grow up and now he did not even know their warrior names.
"Thornclaw," Cloudtail replied. Fireheart turned back to the white tom, surprised. He knew? The warrior explained, "Brightheart told me that prior to her leaving, he'd been made a warrior." His eyes darkened, "He made him a warrior but not her."
"Who was your mentor after me?" Cloudtail looked a bit surprised at Fireheart's question.
"Darkstripe." Fireheart's fur bristled at the name, of course, it was the deputy. Who better to keep an eye on the kin of the supposed murderer?
"Were you a terror for him, too?"
Cloudtail let out a laugh. "I was eating kittypet food, what do you think?" His eyes narrowed, "Why the nostalgia all of a sudden? You're not planning on joining the elder's den that quickly, are you?"
Fireheart shook his head. Coming back to a Clan's way of life had been triggering these memories for him. He had felt more at ease recently, there was still TigerClan and Tigerstar to be concerned about, of course, but they were back with a Clan. It was not ThunderClan, it certainly was not and it never would be, but it was nice to return to Clan life.