The two loners were still on Fireheart's mind after they made it across the Thunderpath. His gaze was down the Thunderpath, towards the jarring lights which glowed from the Twoleg nest. He needed to go talk to Ravenpaw and Barley. He needed to make sure that they would be safe.
He could leave the patrol; it was unlikely that TigerClan would be able to follow them to this point but he had no idea how the others would respond. It was his duty to protect this patrol and yet he also had a duty to at least warn Ravenpaw and Barley.
They had helped him, as well as the rest of the cats that used to live at the barn – as well as WindClan in the past. Fireheart had no idea where they all would be now if the loners had not opened up their home to them. He needed to talk to them.
He could leave Barkface or Sandstorm in charge, but he did not know how Tallstar would respond to him leaving. The WindClan leader was a fair cat, but to leave the patrol he was in charge of for this? How would Tallstar respond? What if Russetfur and Mousefur made it to TigerClan and they were followed? What then?
WindClan could leave Fireheart behind if need be, he could catch up. He knew the direction they were headed; it would not be a struggle to find them again. He needed to talk to Ravenpaw and Barley. As they went over a small incline, the Thunderpath disappearing behind them, Fireheart stopped in his tracks. He turned towards the farm and Ravenpaw and Barley's barn.
"Fireheart?" Barkface stopped at his side, confusion filled his voice, "What is it?"
"Ravenpaw and Barley," Fireheart replied. "I need to talk to them. I need to warn them." He turned his head so he could see the medicine cat, "You can keep going. I need to go."
"No." Fireheart narrowed his eye at the brown toms' response. Barkface continued, "You are not going, we can talk to Tallstar about this when we regroup." Fireheart started to protest when Sandstorm cut him off.
"Fireheart, listen to him. We need to meet up with the others, you can't just disappear on us." Fireheart twitched his tail.
"I'm not disappearing on anyone. You know where I'm headed." He jerked his head towards the farm, "I can't disappear on them! We can't!"
"Who said we would be," Barkface meowed. "Tallstar is grateful to Ravenpaw and Barley for what they have done for WindClan, as soon as you mention it, I'm sure he will agree." He eyed Fireheart, "Although I do not want you going."
"Why not?" Fireheart flattened his ears, he needed to go warn them. He needed to help them. This was all his fault and Tigerstar might direct their anger onto the loners when he realized WindClan was gone. They were his friends, he couldn't leave them to this.
"You're hurt." Fireheart twitched his tail, frustrated by Barkface's response. So, what if he was? Barkface narrowed his yellow eyes, "If it was not for the situation we are in, I would have kept you to your nest for at least another few days. I do not want you hunting for the time being either." Fireheart's fur bristled as he began to protest. Barkface cut him off, his gaze shifting to Sandstorm, "In fact, I don't want you going either. You're off warrior duties for now, too."
Sandstorm's ears went back, "Barkface, it's still over a moon before they will be born. I'll be fine!" The medicine cat shook his head.
"I saw you struggle with crossing the stream and the Thunderpath. Pushing yourself too much will do no good for you or the kits and it will be strenuous enough having to keep moving for however long we need." Barkface closed his eyes, shaking his head. He muttered, "If it was not for the situation presently…" The brown tom let himself trail off, letting out an exasperated sigh as he did.
"I could go talk to them," Fireheart turned towards Bramblepaw at the sound of his voice, muffled by the bundle in his mouth. The apprentices' amber eyes glowed through the darkness of the night. The warrior felt himself tense as he looked into those eyes, the pressure in his chest increased and he felt light-headed. He was not sure as to whether it was because of what the apprentice had suggested or the thought of Tigerstar that filled Fireheart's head as he looked into those amber eyes.
Fireheart shook his head, "Nonsense. I forbid it." His mind whirled, if Bramblepaw was sent out to the farm, there was the possibility that he could get caught by some TigerClan warriors. That was the worst thing that could happen. Fireheart cut off Bramblepaw as he began to protest, the warrior's tail lashed as he growled. "You will obey what you're told. It's too dangerous for you to go there."
The sound of movement caught Fireheart's attention, he turned quickly towards it, ears pricked and claws uncovering. The pressure on his chest increased as his heart began to beat faster. Had they been followed? What about Onewhisker's patrol? Where were they? He opened his mouth, trying to pick up any sort of scent but there was nothing. The cats around him stiffened as well, he heard Thistlekit let out a mew of protest as he was pushed towards the center of the group by Bramblepaw.
Amber eyes appeared from over the incline, a few moments later more eyes appeared. It took Fireheart a moment to realize, this was Onewhisker's patrol. He let his fur fall flat as his claws retracted.
Onewhisker drew closer to the Fireheart's patrol, the deputy stepping forward as he did. The light brown tabby whispered, "Everything okay? We heard you stop and then talking."
"Yes, everything's fine," Fireheart assured him. There wasn't much of a choice in what to do considering how much Barkface was protesting. They could catch up with the others and go from there. He suggested, "Why don't we continue on our way together?"
Onewhisker agreed, calling back to the cats that had been with him. Warriors quickly made their way over to Onewhisker and Fireheart's patrol. The deputy recalled who was in this patrol – Brightheart, Mistyfoot, Morningflower, Featherpaw and, Stormpaw – with the addition of Tornear and Smokefang staying back earlier. Fireheart twitched his tail, that would mean the last group was smaller and there was a delay from his discussion as it was. They needed to keep going.
"Let's go." Fireheart turned back in the direction of the river, raising his tail as he moved forward. Both patrols followed his lead quietly, the tom forcing himself to move as fast as he could manage with his limp towards the patch of forest alongside the Twolegplace. They would follow along the fence which bordered it and from there keep going until they reached the river.
As they continued across the land and into the trees, the lights of Twolegplace showed over the fence that had appeared. Their jarring glow lighting the way as the patrols moved quickly along the fence.
Fireheart kept glancing through the patch of trees, towards the farm. He knew this patch of trees well. A number of them did. This was where Fireheart, Mistyfoot, and Graystripe would take the apprentices for training before everything happened and they had to leave the farm behind. The farm was just on the other side of it, and from there would be a quick walk to the barn. The warrior was growing anxious, hopefully, Tallstar would let him go back to them. Hopefully, there would be no consequences if he was allowed to.
The patch of trees ended eventually and as did the fence along Twolegplace, Fireheart had one ear tilted in the direction of Twolegplace as they moved. He could not see what was going on on that side, but it was mostly quiet. He could hear a dog barking in the distance, too far for it to be a danger to the Clan cats and the occasional sound of a monster passing by.
As they drew closer to the river, the sound of its flow became louder and louder. Eventually, the river was in view, a few cats milling about on the bank could be seen thanks to the golden lights provided by the Twoleg nests nearby. They turned their attention to the others arriving as they came into view. A few cats rose to their paws, heading towards the others.
Fireheart recognized Tallstar as the black and white tom approached him, there was a bit of alarm in his eyes as he did. His gaze shifted away from Fireheart to the rest of the Clan behind him. He asked, "What took so long? Did something happen?"
"No, this is on me. I apologize." Fireheart dipped his head to his leader. He explained the situation surrounding the stop and wanting to see Ravenpaw and Barley. Tallstar was silent for a few moments after Fireheart had stopped speaking. The warriors' pelt twitched, was Barkface wrong?
"You can go, but be quick about it." Fireheart nodded, meowing thanks. Tallstar continued, "Tell them, that if they feel the need, they can join us." Surprise filled Fireheart at the black and white toms' response. He would allow for the loners to join WindClan?
"I do not think it is a good idea for Fireheart to go." The attention was shifted to Barkface who stood next to the deputy. His tail moved from side to side behind him. "He's limping as it is."
"He would be walking during this time whether he went or not," Tallstar replied. "It makes no difference. I am going to allow him to go." Barkface began to protest, Tallstar twitched his ear at the medicine cat. "He'll be fine." The older tom's gaze shifted back to Fireheart, "Take another warrior with you."
"I'll go with him," Graystripe spoke up from where he was not far from the other three cats. He had been talking with his kits at first and came over during the conversation. Fireheart agreed, it would be good to see Ravenpaw with his Graystripe by his side.
Tallstar looked between the two warriors, "Be quick and do not get caught. We will be here when you return." He twitched his ear dismissively. With that, Fireheart moved to Graystripe's side. The two warriors said their goodbyes quickly before heading back up to the strip of trees between Twolegplace and the farm.
It was quiet as the two warriors moved through the woods. Fireheart kept his ears pricked, hoping that there would be no TigerClan warriors following their trail. The tightness in his chest that had lingered there since this plan had first been discussed increased.
Graystripe took the lead, slowing down when Fireheart would fall behind on occasion. The two warriors crossed the stream that ran through the stretch of woods and moved quickly towards the farm.
Eventually, they made it to the edge of the trees. From here it was past a few Twoleg nests and onto the barn. Fireheart was feeling uneasy, what if something had already happened? Tigerstar knew WindClan had stayed in a place not too far from here. Did he make the connection? Did the WindClan warriors that joined TigerClan tell Tigerstar about when they stayed there last? If anything of that nature had happened while Sandstorm had been in the Clan, Fireheart was certain he would have heard about it. There was still the chance of something happening in the few days since everything had happened. Possibilities raced through his head as they made their way to the barn.
Graystripe entered first, squeezing his way through the crack left open in the barn doors, Fireheart followed behind him. He gazed around the barn, taking in its familiar scent.
The barn would never be the comfort he felt in the forest. In ThunderClan territory. But it was a comfort to him. This was where he had first gone when he escaped. He had spent a number of moons of his life here and while it would never be home it was a sentimental place for him. So many memories among friends had happened in these walls, on the farm as a whole. He could smell Ravenpaw and Barley's scent quite well, but any other scent of the warriors that had once lived here was gone. Covered by the scent of Twolegs and mice and hay. By the ever-changing bales that would have carried the scent away with them, their scent was gone but that comfort, the welcoming feeling he had felt all those moons ago was still here.
Graystripe glanced back at him; his yellow eyes barely visible in the dim light. He meowed quietly, "I'll go get them. You can stay here."
Fireheart murmured his agreement, watching the gray tom head towards the hay bales, using them to climb up to the second level of the barn. The ginger warrior let himself sit, let himself relax a bit as he waited for Graystripe to return with the two loners. He licked at the wound on his shoulder a few times as he let the familiar quiet engulfed him.
Suddenly he heard some hushed meowing coming from where Graystripe had gone. Fireheart turned his head towards the sound, his ears pricked. A few moments later, three shapes appeared. Relief washed over Fireheart as he recognized Graystripe in the lead, after him was Ravenpaw and at the end was Barley. Fireheart rose to his paws, meowing a greeting as the other toms made their way over.
Ravenpaw and Barley returned his greeting, both sounding as though they had woken from their slumber. Fireheart recognized a look of concern in the black tomcats' green eyes as he approached the ginger warrior, pressing his muzzle against the other cats. Ravenpaw meowed, "It's good to see you again, what happened to your eye?"
Fireheart pressed back against his friend, as he meowed. "I don't think Tigerstar likes that eye too much." Ravenpaw's eyes rounded at his response as he pulled away. Fireheart shrugged, "I'm as blind as I was before, I don't know what he was trying to achieve."
Graystripe snorted, suggesting, "Perhaps he was trying to see if it could be reversed."
Fireheart's whiskers twitched at his friend's response, suppressing a purr that wanted to form. As he spoke, the gray warrior moved towards Fireheart, turning to face Ravenpaw and Barley as he came to the other warriors' side. Fireheart responded, "maybe. Perhaps I should thank him for the generosity."
"We should stop by on our way back." Even though he knew Graystripe was joking, a tightness formed on Fireheart's chest. Ravenpaw's ears went back.
"Quit it, why are you both like this?" He sighed before asking, "You got into another fight with Tigerstar?"
"Yes, that's actually why we're here." Jokes aside, the feeling of guilt reformed in Fireheart's belly. This is all my fault. Fireheart explained, "WindClan is leaving and we're going with them." He explained the situation WindClan was in and the offer that Tallstar had extended to the loners.
Both loners looked shocked as Fireheart told them everything. As he came to a finish, Ravenpaw glanced back at his mate who took a step forward. A silent agreement seemed to pass between the loners. Barley turned towards the other two toms, "Tell Tallstar that we are thankful for his offer, but this is our home." His blue eyes shown through the dim light. "We'll defend it to our last claw if need be."
A feeling of admiration for the two loners filled Fireheart. Neither of them was warriors and clearly they did not want to be, but they both had warrior spirits. This was their territory and they would stand by it as long as they could. A torn feeling hit the warrior, he felt the same way about his home and yet he was leaving it. Bluestar had said he would be betraying the Clans by leaving and yet he had to. They all had to leave because of this faked sign from StarClan. This faked dream.
Fireheart blinked at Barley, "Well if you ever need assistance from us in any form, we'll be upriver."
The black and white tom nodded back at Fireheart. The warrior shifted his attention back to Ravenpaw as the black loner took a step towards them. He pressed his muzzle against the side of Fireheart's neck, staying still for a long moment. He meowed, "Tell everyone we send our greetings and truly send our thanks to Tallstar." He pulled away, pressing against Graystripe next. After another long moment, he pulled away. Green eyes went back and forth between Fireheart and Graystripe, there was a glimmer of sadness. Ravenpaw meowed, "I'll miss you guys."
Fireheart and Graystripe both mewed their agreements before moving forward and pressing onto either side of the loner. Another long moment came where they stayed still, enjoying the company of the others before slowly pulling away.
They had not lived with Ravenpaw for moons, and they had not prior to Bluestar's death for moons either. Either way, there was some comfort in knowing their friend was not too far away. Now he would not know where Fireheart and Graystripe were and in turn, the two warriors would not know how Ravenpaw was fairing. The unknown hung over the three friends, creating heaviness in the air around them.
There was a moment of silence before Graystripe meowed his final goodbye, Fireheart following quickly after. They turned away from their friend a moment later, heading towards the barn door as Ravenpaw and Barley watched on.