Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. It belongs to Erin Hunter.
'Thoughts' Dreams Memories
As Darkstipe was made to have Runningwind and Longtail join his patrol, Firepaw was rattling off the herbs Yellowfang needed to get to Spottedleaf. The healer worked quietly, her paws moving as if in a daze when she turned to look Firepaw straight in the eyes. Being half demon, she had no fear when it came to looking at the younger cat and Firepaw could just have much was troubling her.
"This Clan is not what it used to be. Funny how one detail is enough to turn a untied entity in on itself. I fear that soon, ThunderClan might be no more. Firepaw...I know you don't have much love for this Clan but I want you to know something... Before you arrived, StarClan, our warrior ancestors, sent a message to me. They told me that only with the sand's guiding storm can fire blaze and save our Clan."
Firepaw stood still, the way Spottedleaf spoke, there was a heaviness and a sense of power to it that even she could not ignore. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Why are you telling me this?"
Spottedleaf smirked at that, her tail flicking. "Perhaps because it's a message of hope. Or ruin. Maybe a warning that our Clan is doomed or that we will rise from this dark time and become stronger because of it. Even I do not know at this point. Maybe...maybe ThunderClan's time is up. Maybe...StarClan has lost hope for us."
The flame colored molly narrowed her eyes and after a bit of hesitation, moved forward to touch her nose to Spottedleaf's. The medicine cat's eyes widened at this then relaxed a little, allowing the contact.
"You care for your Clanmates, even the ones who don't deserve your compassion. Even I can see that it would break your heart to see ThunderClan fall to ruin. And even if it does come to pass, I only you would still be here to care for them. If...if things really do get so bad...I will help you. You and Lionheart and Sandpaw and the rest. I will help you!"
Spottedleaf pulled away from Firepaw and tilted her head, Firepaw had no it no secret that she was not acclimating well to Clan life and this declaration that she would help them puzzled her.
Firepaw seemed to realized this and smirked. "You Clan is not loyal to one another, there are those who would turn on you. However you demons have shown loyalty to one another, helping as much as you can. So in seeing that, I will help you. It is the least you deserve."
Spottedleaf blinked at this, her gaze turning tender. "Thank you." she muttered quietly as Firepaw nodded in response.
The moment was gone when an ear piecing yowl from Yellowfang came and Firepaw sighed softly, her tail twitching. Yet before she said anything, Spottedleaf turned to get the herbs the ShadowClan cat wanted all this time. "Tell her to be careful with them. A little pain can be useful, it'll tell me how well her wounds are healing."
Firepaw nodded to this and quickly set off to give the grumpy molly her herbs. Yellowfang took the herbs without any word, applying them herself with ease while Firepaw watched her with rather small interest. The older cat realized that the apprentice wasn't going to go away any time soon, besides it's not like she had that much to do, confined to camp as she was.
Sighing softly, Yellowfang turned her orange gaze onto the younger demon, the sliver of blue covering the bottom portion of her eye glinting in the sun. "So, what's your story, young one? I must admit, I'm surprised seeing just how many demons are in this Clan. What, with how your leader is acting and how the Clan itself is divided so."
Firepaw was surprised by how much Yellowfang seemed to take in and was just barely able to keep from smirking. "You noticed all of that is such a short time, I'm impressed. As for Bluestar, don't ask me. I wasn't born in this Clan. My family was born near the mountains, near a barn. My father moved us here because the hunting was easier...the cats here were thick enough to make a decent meal."
Yellowfang snorted at that, her whiskers twitching. "You're not wrong in that regard. But that doesn't explain why you're here."
Firepaw flattened her ears at that and closed her eyes. "My father, who took care of me, was killed. I had no one left. Sandpaw was the one who found me and after a fight, she talked to Bluestar to allow me to join. That was a few weeks ago but now..."
"Now you want to leave." Yellowfang finished for her, shaking her head. "I can see that and I haven't even been here for more than a few hours. Seems like you do have a bit of brains in that head of yours."
Firepaw gave the older demon a small smirk and surprisingly gave her a small nudge with her claws out. Yellowfang smiled and retaliated with a harmless bite to the youngster's paw. After trying to get her paw free, Firepaw took a swipe to the older one but Yellowfang, despite her injures was fast and dodged her blows. She let go of Firepaw's paw and gave the apprentice a light headbutt, pinning her down.
As the younger molly tried to wriggle free, Yellowfang wasn't having it and let out a rusty of triumph to which Firepaw simply rolled her eyes before waiting for the older cat to get off her. Once she did, Firepaw gave her chest fur a few licks before noticing movement in the corner of her eye. It was Sandpaw and Ravenpaw. Graypaw, she noticed, was a slight distance away, watching them with a engaged expression. She wanted to be there but still seemed wary of Sandpaw.
Yellowfang narrowed her eyes at the other apprentices and it was Ravenpaw who eased her fears. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you, we just came to check on Firepaw."
"As if a tiny thing like you could hurt me. I'm the great Yellowfang!" the large demon molly boasted, her tail sticking straight up in arrogance.
Ravenpaw huffed softly but did nothing other than hunch his shoulders. Sandpaw's whiskers were twitching in suppressed amusement and even Graypaw was trying to stifle her laughter. Firepaw was smirking herself though it vanished when she noticed Bluestar taking Mousefur and Runningwind out with her, probably for a patrol. She then noticed Patchpelt going along with them. Strange, why did Bluestar want to take him with her, she knew Patchpelt was a demon.
She was then distracted and turned her head to see Spottedleaf moving along from one warrior to the next though the ginger furred molly noticed that she was only talking to the demons and half demons of the Clan before running off to the other side of camp. Sandpaw and the others seemed to notice too but they didn't comment. Instead, they slowly got up, bidding the pair farewell. Sandpaw lingered for a moment, pressing her nose to Firepaw's, who didn't pull away and looked into the other's eyes for as long as she could.
The two stayed unblinking for a few more heartbeats before the paler female closed her eyes. "I'll try to get you some food later." she whispered softly before going off with Ravenpaw and Graypaw.
Firepaw said nothing and sat watching her, her expression clouded but for some reason, she felt light and happy. She didn't even notice Yellowfang smirking to herself and shaking her head.
"Ah, to be young again." she muttered to herself.
Firepaw finally got herself out of her daze to give the older female a look and tilted her head. It was clear that she hadn't heard her but she looked curiously at the healer. Yellowfang saw this and flicked her tail, inviting the other to speak.
"Why...did you leave your Clan? Bluestar said that you were the medicine cat, you're needed by them. Why would you just up and leave? It's obvious that living the life of a loner isn't for you, you were starving and in pretty bad shape."
Yellowfang turned her head away at the question, her orange eyes narrowing. Firepaw could see her fur bristling but she didn't back away. "I left because...it wasn't the Clan I knew anymore. The shadows for which we were named have crept into their very hearts. We have had our own since of nobility but now, the Clan I used to fight for has become nothing more pack of slavering, black hearted devils! I cannot and I will not stand with them anymore!"
"He was the one to change them. It is all because of him...all because of me..." She added, much more quietly, to the point Firepaw was just barely able to make out the words.
But Yellowfang's fur had now lie flat and her eyes were downcast. She had started sliding her claws in ans out and her ears started to lie flat. Firepaw saw many emotions flash through her eyes; anger, pain, regret, and finally sorrow. That emotion lingered for far longer and Firepaw felt something shift inside her towards the older cat. She got up and pressed her body against Yellowfang's side, nuzzling her gently.
The older cat stiffened at first but slowly, her body began to relax and she turned her head towards Firepaw, a tiny, almost inaudible purr rumbled from deep in her chest. The pair stayed like this until well into the night where they then lie curled together in sleep.
XxXx
Bluestar walked stiffly through her territory, Darksptripe's words causing her to walk with her claws out and her tail lashing every few seconds. Mousefur and Runningwind kept as much as a distance as they could from their leader. Though they sensed that her currant mood had nothing to do with them, the pair didn't want to be any where near her if her mood was set off. IT was so bad that they stayed closer to Patchpelt, as if the large warrior would be able to protect them.
How dare he side with them?! Didn't he realize how dangerous they could be?! They should consider themselves lucky that they were allowed to stay in the camp! Bluestar snarled and clawed at a tree as these thoughts ran through her head, for a moment the tree turned into black and white fur, in her mind Patchpelt was yowling in pain as she shredded him. A small smile came upon Bluestar's muzzle as the fantasy slowly faded away. Her actions caused Runningwind, Mousefur, and Patchpelt to flinch. Bluestar didn't notice. Or rather, she didn't care.
Bluestar then sat putting away her rage for a moment to focus on her task, looking around her and noticing that while she was preoccupied her paws had taken her to the edge of Fourtrees, the meeting spot where all four Clans met for the Gathering. She could easily smell three of the four Clans but her eyes narrowed when she noticed that the fourth Clan, WindClan bore no scent.
Leaping down the small cliff, the ThunderClan leader and her warriors walked closer and closer to WindClan's territory and got as far as they could without actually crossing the border. The scent of WindClan was faded and they didn't see one WindClan cat come to speak to them.
Instead there was an overwhelming scent of ShadowClan, along with the scent of blood that hadn't been worn away. Taking a gamble, Bluestar told her warriors that they would be going into WindClan to scout things out. Now she was glad she decided to bring the demon along, Bluestar was starting to feel uneasy and she knew the black/white demon's size and strength would be useful.
ShadowClan's scent and the smell of blood were all around them as they walked further into WindClan's land. Here and there the patrol found signs signs of a battle and Bluestar narrowed her eyes, while there was no bodies, the amount of blood staining the ground lead her to believe that the fighting was fierce.
After a bit, she called her warriors and the demon to a halt to turn back. The three nodded and Patchpelt himself took a step towards Bluestar, herself flattening her ears as he got closer. Patchpelt tried not to look hurt and remained neutral.
"Bluestar, I think that you should mention this to the Clan. We have scouted WindClan out for a bit now and have seen no warriors. There's ShadowClan scent everywhere. Perhaps...perhaps ShadowClan drove them out! We need to be prepared, just in case. We can't end up like WindClan."
"You don't think I know that?" Bluestar growled harshly, making Patchpelt take a step back and while they were put off earlier by Bluestar's mood, the pair did snicker at his misfortune. "We will head back to camp immediately. You, Patchpelt will act as a rear guard, keep a lookout for things. Right then, let's go!"
Ad the patrol was making it back to their own territory, Patchpelt heard something rustle in the bushes beside them. The smell of blood had somehow gotten stronger and the demon tom narrowed his eyes before he suddenly saw a flash of fangs creeping towards Bluestar.
"Look out, Bluestar!" as he called out to his leader, he dashed forward, pushing her away and sending her tumbling to the ground away from him. In the same instant, he felt long claws pierce his fur and sharp fang dig into his body.
Three cats, all much, much bigger than even he swarmed him and soon Patchpelt was engulfed by them. Runningwind and Mousefur were at Bluestar's side as Patchpelt was attacked but Bluestar never gave them any order to attack. The scent of ShadowClan was clear now and the ThunderClan leader even recognized two of the three cats fighting Patchpelt. Quickly, Bluestar got to her paws and turned around, heading towards her own camp. Runningwind and Mousefur hesitated before following, leaving Patchpelt to his fate.
The burly black and white tom had just now managed to break free and give his opponents some nasty wounds in return for the pain they had caused him. He snarled and swiped as hard as he could, his strength not leaving him and in the heat of the moment, his paw caught one of the cat's head, snapping it at an odd angle and the cat fell, never to raise again. He told himself that now the ShadowClan cats were outnumbered and Bluestar and the others would chase these two off.
However, Patchpelt soon realized that he was alone and he looked up to see Bluestar and the others running off, leaving him behind. Patchpelt's eyes widened and forgetting himself, he dropping his fighting stance. Bluestar...was leaving him behind? No, that can't be right. She was just trying to get the ShadowClan cats to chase her and the others. But after a few seconds it became clear that she wasn't coming back and Patchpelt just stared, his eyes wide.
"Bluestar...?" It was the last thing he would ever say as the two ShadowClan cats leapt at him, Patchpelt falling to their fangs, he didn't even have the will to defend himself.
A/N: Well, Bluestar just left the cat that saved her to die. Oh, you know things aren't going to be looking good for her now. Especially when Willowpelt finds out. See you there and as always, enjoy.
