My dear readers, how are you liking 'Heart of Fire' series so far? I believe that some of you might be in suspense about what will happen in the future chapters, with Tigerclaw and Spottedkit and the plot! But I have it all worked out! Remember, I am the girl with a thought out plot! And although it might all seem unclear now! It will later! Well, review, favorite, and so on!
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Yellowfang's Path
By: Moonlight456
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"Fireheart," Jade green eyes looked up from her nest, blinking sluggishly at the dark gray she-cat that has entered the nursery. "Whitestorm organized the evening patrol in your absence," Cinderpelt went on, her ice-blue eyes looking sympathetic as Fireheart was curled around her remaining kits.
"Tell him, Thank you." Fireheart murmured, her voice raspy and quiet. Cinderpelt dipped her head politely and padded back out of the nursery with a non concealed look of concern. Two sunrises have come and gone since Spottedkit was taken by Twolegs, and the entire Clan seemed to have mourn her loss. No one more then Fireheart and Swiftpaw, Fireheart due to losing a daughter, and Swiftpaw due to him causing the horrific accident.
Fireheart was about to return to the land of sleep, but was interrupted by the call of her name once more. "Fireheart," glancing up once again, Goldenflower slipped inside the den with a mouse dangling from her jaws. Goldenflower hadn't left Fireheart's side since the accident, making sure Fireheart ate and drank water while constantly fretting as if Fireheart was a kit herself.
"Thank you, Goldenflower," Fireheart managed to get out with a rusty sounded purr. Fireheart couldn't say that she put much infuses in her voice, but Goldenflower seemed to appreciate the attempt as she came to lay in her nest next to Fireheart's.
"I thought you might be hungry, you hardly ate anything last night. You have to keep your energy up," Goldenflower had a flash of something in her eyes as Fireheart took a bite out of her mouse. "Spottedkit might be gone, and we all know that's hard. Everyone goes through loss Fireheart, You, me and every cat. One day your own kits will go through loss, but it will only make us stronger. Put your efforts into your remaining kits, and your Clan, things will get better." Goldenflower's voice came out soothing and soft, but the undertone was more than serious.
Fireheart wanted to reply that Spottedkit was still out there, alive somewhere and shouldn't be counted among the dead. But she understood the wisdom in the older queen's voice, she had lost Tigerclaw, she knew the pain that it cause her, but Spottedkit was her kit. Could she really get over something so precious? Fireheart couldn't think of ever getting over Spottedkit, just like she couldn't get over Tigerclaw, but she had still kept going, didn't she?
The wiggling of Tawnykit made her look down, her own kits had taken their siblings disappearance just as hard as their mother. Squirrelkit still didn't accept the fact that she was gone, and Hawkkit even elected himself to lead a team of warriors to hunt down the Twolegs that took her and rescue her back.
"Goldenflower," Fireheart voice made Goldenflower look up from her washing. "Can you look after my kits while I go out hunting?"
"Sure," Goldenflower replied, her eyes flickering with understanding as Fireheart stood up to stretch. With a meow of goodbye from Willowpelt who laid across from Fireheart with her three kits, Fireheart slipped out of the nursery and into the fresh warm air of the clearing.
It was warm and sunny, and Fireheart took a moment to breath all of the scents that weren't milky in. She took a moment to flatten out her bed tousled fur before observing the clearing. Looking around Fireheart spotted Sandstorm who sat beside Brackenfur each sharing a pigeon, when she padded up to them they each looked up.
"I was planning to get some hunting done, would either of you be interested in coming along?" Fireheart asked.
"I wouldn't mind the exercise," Brackenfur meowed, his eyes blinking as they focused on Sandstorm whose own green eyes were filled with relief. Was Fireheart's grief that upsetting to the Clan? "I wouldn't mind catching something either!" Sandstorm instantly agreed.
"Why don't we take our apprentices too?" Sandstorm suggested, and Fireheart felt a prickle of shame wash through her. She had been neglecting Fernpaw these last two days, since Spottedkit's disappearance she hadn't felt like doing anything but wallowing in her nest in sadness.
"That's a great idea!" Fireheart meowed, already heading to the apprentices den. Cloudpaw was washing his long white fur near the tree stump, while Fernpaw was lightly dozing outside the apprentice's den in a patch of sunlight, when Fireheart approached each apprentice looked at attention.
"Who's up for some hunting?" Fireheart meowed, watching as they apprentices eyes lit up with excitement. Cloudpaw was becoming one of ThunderClan's finest hunters, and Fernpaw's excitement was catching as Fireheart found herself looking forward to the hunt as she led the two apprentices over towards Brackenfur and Sandstorm. Taking the lead Fireheart padded swiftly up out of the gorse tunnel, her hunting party just behind her, as they emerged from the gorse tunnel and headed up the ravine. Fireheart had reached the crown of the ravine when Longtail and his apprentice Swiftpaw came trotting out of the foliage, their pelts scattered with dirt indicating that they had been in the sandy hollow practicing their battle moves.
When the hunting patrol passed, Fireheart couldn't help glancing at Swiftpaw. The young black-and-white apprentice's ear was ripped at the top, resembling Longtail's in a way. He wasn't looking at her, his tail down, and looking miserable. Fireheart knew that he was upset at Spottedkit's loss just as much as she was, but Fireheart still couldn't help the pang of resentment she felt for him. It was the same kind of feeling she had for Longtail now, and she found herself tolerating him as though he were nothing more than a guest. For the Clan sake and Goldenflower's, Fireheart had squashed down her outward hostility although it was painfully obvious.
When they left the ravine and into the forest Fireheart led them towards the deeper part of the forest, where the air underneath the forest treetops ran with much cooler air. "Alright, Fernpaw," Fireheart meowed, coming to a stop, "What can you smell?" Fernpaw took a second to open her jaws and take a wiff of air, her eyes narrowed in concentration, looking to impress her mentor.
"I smell, Shrew!"Fernpaw declared happily, her pale green eyes turning to Fireheart for confirmation.
"Very good," Fireheart congratulated, liking the way Fernpaw's eyes seemed to shine at the praise. "No let's see if you can catch it." Fernpaw instantly dropped into the hunter's crouch, and took off silently through the forest foliage. Fireheart watched her till she disappeared entirely with only her pale gray coat being seen moving in the bushes. A silent squeal was instantly heard as the bushes rustled wildly, then everything went quiet and Fernpaw came padding out with a vole dangling from her jaws.
"Nice catch," Cloudpaw meowed as Fernpaw buried her catch, her ears flickered back embarrassed.
"Your apprentice is sufficient, Fireheart," Sandstorm meowed, her tone teasing.
"She's really good," Fireheart admitted, "Even when I've been neglecting her for these last few days."
"Not your fault, Fireheart," Brackenfur assured, the younger golden-brown tabby coming to nudge Fireheart's side assuringly.
"Of course it's not," Sandstorm declared strongly, walking along Fireheart's other side, each of her friends reassurance gave Fireheart a bit of piece of mind. If only a bit.
"I think I can smell a mouse," Brackenfur meowed, his voice low as his mouth was parted in search of prey.
"Why don't you let Fireheart catch it?" Sandstorm suggested, shooting Brackenfur a look, both cats seemed to have a silent conversation with just their eyes. Fireheart didn't know what it was about, so she let it go and began to track the mouse that Brackenfur had scented, she followed it a bit away from them, and found it nibbling on a fallen seed underneath the shade of a tree.
With her paws lightly moves under her, and her body barely skimming the ground Fireheart thought for sure it would be an easy kill. But with a flash of light from a breakage in the foliage seemed to surprise Fireheart, making the mouse sense her and flee. Looking up she was surprised to see Rock, his silhouette outlined in the light. His sightless eyes boring straight through her.
"Beware the liar, that blood trails after."
"Too bad about the mouse," Fireheart jumped, surprised when Cloudpaw came scampering up behind her, his whiskers twitching with disappointment. "But you'll get the next one, I'm sure."
Fireheart looked after the white apprentice, turning her head once more to where Rock was only to find him gone, wondering with a shunder what he could have meant.
When the sun was halfway into the sky the hunting patrol returned, Fireheart placed her catch of two pigeons on the pile. And instructed Fernpaw and Cloudpaw to take theirs to the Elders, Brackenfur and Sandstorm did the same, taking a rabbit to share a rabbit between the both of them. Fireheart found it amusing how close and open their relationship was now, everyone knew they were mates even though Sandstorm and Brackenfur never said that they were.
"Beware the liar, that blood trails after." The ominus warning from Rock was lodged in Fireheart's mind the entire hunting patrol, something she couldn't shake, with a small meow that she would return to Brackenfur and Sandstorm, Fireheart padded briskly to the medicine cats den, forcing herself to act casual and keep a leveled pace across the clearing.
Fireheart padded through the tunnel of ferns, and into the medicine cats clearing. When she entered she could hear meows of both Spottedleaf and Mothkit, with Yellowfang's occasional input.
"Now, Mothkit. Smallear has a bellyache due to eating spoiled prey, what do we do?" Spottedleaf questioned, her tone encouraging made Fireheart pause and wait.
"Yarrow, so that he can expel the tainted prey," Mothkit began, her tone cautious as she gave it a thought. "And chevil for his bellyache, and juniper berries for strength."
"Very good," Spottedleaf congratulated, her tone proud and satisfied. "And what about-Oh, Fireheart!" Spottedleaf turned around, suddenly noticing Fireheart's scent and looked to find her sitting just at the entrance to the fern tunnel.
"I hope Mothkit's not to distracting," Fireheart meowed. Mothkit was still just a kit, and not yet ready to become an apprentice, but looking at her small daughter she could see the growing wisdom in her eyes.
"On the contrary," Yellowfang's raspy voice sounded from where she was sorting out piles. "She's a quick learner and is smart enough to stay out of the way when not needed." the praise made Mothkit's eyes sparkle, her whiskers twitching in awe at the old medicine cats words, it wasn't often that Yellowfang gave out compliments, and when she did she meant them.
"I'm glad to hear that," Fireheart meowed, although catching Spottedleaf's eyes she gave her a subtle flick of her tail and the dark tortoiseshell she-cat got the hint.
"Why don't you try making a politic on your own this time, Mothkit?" Spottedleaf meowed casually, Mothkit's eyes widened in excitement as she nodded and raced inside the den.
"I should help her," Yellowfang meowed coolly, her eyes flickering back and forth between Spottedleaf and Fireheart before disappearing inside the crack that made up the medicine cats den.
"What is it Fireheart?" Spottedleaf questioned, coming to sit beside Fireheart, and wrapped her tail comfortingly across her paws.
"I think I had a warning from StarClan?" Fireheart admitted, watching as Spottedleaf's amber eyes gleamed with serious interest.
"What kind of warning?" Spottedleaf asked, her tone serious as she regarded Fireheart.
"The warning was, Beware a liar, that blood trails after, I don't know what it means!" Fireheart meowed in frustration.
A shunder went through Spottedleaf, her amber eyes narrowed in concern and concentration. "A very ominus warning indeed," Spottedleaf said quietly, her ears flickering back for a moment.
"Do you know what it's about?" Fireheart asked hopefully, but Spottedleaf regrettably shaked her head.
"There's not much to go on, but I must say, it shall bring nothing but bad times for ThunderClan I can assure you that." Spottedleaf meowed, "But I promise I will try my best to decipher its meaning."
"Thank you, Spottedleaf," Fireheart meowed, her jade green eyes widening in gratitude. "That's all I ask." as Fireheart stood up to go, another thought struck her. "How are the ShadowClan cats?"
Spottedleaf's eyes flickered towards the medicine cats den, before turning back to Fireheart. "They're getting better, still a bit sick, but they're getting there."
"I think we should send them home," Fireheart meowed, quick to explain before Spottedleaf could object. "It's been a few days already Spottedleaf, we can't harbor them much longer. And with this omen I think it's best if they were gone before something happens."
Spottedleaf stared at her wordlessly for a moment, then mewed, "I'll tell them, don't worry."
Fireheart nodded, "Do it tomorrow, there's no use doing it today." she meowed.
Spottedleaf tilted her head, her amber eyes looking thoughtful and lost as she added. "But I'm concerned, If ShadowClan is riddled with sickness, as Littlecloud says it is, we could be sending these cats to their deaths."
Fireheart felt her breath catch in her chest, but she knew she had to protect her own Clan. "You can show them how to make the healing mixture, can't you?" she suggested, watching Spottedleaf's eyes jump in realization as Fireheart carried on. "If you do that, they'll be able to take care of themselves, maybe even help their Clanmates." The thought that she was not totally abandoning the desperate ShadowClan cats came as a relief, but she still felt the need to explain why she was turning them away. "We need to pay more attention to our own Clan right now."
"I understand, Fireheart," Spottedleaf assured, her eyes growing more thoughtful as she meowed lowly, no spite of judgement in her voice. "You sound like Tigerclaw, when you talk about taking care of the Clan."
Fireheart taken back, her eyes wide in shock but Spottedleaf carried on. "It's a good thing in a way, it shows that you're driven for the benefit of your Clanmates and ThunderClan. Tigerclaw may be gone, but I remember the good memories surrounding him just as I'm sure some of the other Clan cats do." Spottedleaf blinked kindly. "I hold no ill will against Tigerclaw, because I know he loved you. And how can a cat that fell in love with you be all bad?"
Fireheart was speechless, she never thought that another cat in ThunderClan could actually forgive or still like Tigerclaw for what he had done. But Spottedleaf's words soothed something inside Fireheart, something that had always been nagging at her for so long. "Why are you telling me this?"
Spottedleaf's eyes flashed, her thoughts drifted away to a far off place. "Sometimes I wonder what could have happened if I wasn't a medicine cat, what I would do if I had someone like you have Tigerclaw," the 'have' didn't go unnoticed by Fireheart. "A bond like that cannot be easily broken,"
"But Tigerclaw's gone," Fireheart pointed out, her tone going hard as his name left her tongue.
"Yes," Spottedleaf nodded. "But so is Spottedkit, but those that leave have a tendency to return."
"Has StarClan spoken to you about them?" Fireheart asked with interest, worry for her daughter suddenly returning.
"StarClan has no need to talk to me about Tigerclaw, he had made it quite obvious that he shall return," Spottedleaf said, solemnly. "And Spottedkit's paw-steps still follow the path of StarClan and the warrior code, wherever she is."
"So you think Spottedkit will return?" Fireheart questioned, her paws tingling as Spottedleaf gazed deeply into her eyes.
"Without a doubt."
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So this is more like a filler chapter, something to move things along and update! I know it's really short, but I just wanted to post this! To give you guys a taste of what is to come! And to also start off to where I am at now! So, enjoy! And review! I want more reviews! Love me the reviews~
