Why do I keep thinking that these chapters get shorter and shorter as I go on? HHhmmmm

Anyway, I'm going to have to ask people to not expect an update on Saturday, or maybe even not expect updates in general on Saturdays anymore. Mostly because of lack of motivation due to job, and because I can't update at the usual times and updating late throws the schedule out of whack.

Thanks a lot Fanfiction. Have I mentioned how outdated their system is? It really needs some fixing...

Reviews are appreciated!

Brambleclaw was frustrated. He was feeling a myriad of emotions, but he was more frustrated at the clan than anything.

Thunderclan had returned to their scorched territory once the rain had stopped. He had been amazed at the sheer damage Firestar's fire had caused to the territory. He remembered the morning after Firestar had changed, shooting off a fireball in his fear and anger. It had hit the den walls with a bit of force, but the flame had gone out instantly, leaving only a singe mark behind.

His fire had gotten steadily stronger and hotter as time went on, the flames not instantly dying out and persisting for longer and longer periods of time, doing more damage with every shot that came from his mouth.

If it was one thing Firestar had tried his hardest to avoid regarding his new body, it was using his fire. The clan had been skeptical when the patrol came back to camp, frantically reporting that Firestar almost incinerated Onestar. He himself had seen the charred plants at the Windclan border...

Nevertheless Firestar had once again sensed their fear and refrained from using it. Going through the blackened territory had been like a smack to the face for many of the clan. It was a wake up call for those who doubted Firestar's abilities, or tried ignoring or avoiding Firestar in general and had written off the patrol as crazy. It probably wasn't even the aftermath that did it either, it was the fire in general that alerted cats to how dangerous Firestar really was.

Brambleclaw wondered if the shock of it all was why the majority of Thunderclan had sat back and watched as Firestar was attacked over and over again until he was finally chased out.

It had been a few days of constant hard work, every cat in the clan doing their part to help restore the camp to a livable condition.

He didn't have it in him to be angry at Firestar; he had served his clan for many seasons, and tried his best to curb his increasingly weird behavior. He had only been trying to protect his loved ones.

What he really wanted to do was blame Onestar and Windclan for getting it into their heads that Firestar was out to kill them all. Because of them, Firestar had reacted and now their territory had gone up in smoke. They had little viable shelter, and all the prey had retreated into their burrows and dens, so now they had little food to feed them all.

To add insult to injury, it was almost leaf-bare. And the Dark Forest was still a problem. So thanks to Windclan, their camp was in shambles, there was little prey, and they were leaderless, because Brambleclaw refused to travel to the Moonpool to receive nine lives that he certainly didn't deserve.

They had taken to doing what Firestar had been doing for the past moon or so; going outside the territory for the things they needed. It was unconventional, but at least they weren't sleeping in the cold air, starving.

His frustration came from the clan's insistence of him going to the Moonpool to take his leader title. In very blunt words that even a kit could understand, he refused and shot down every attempt of cats trying to talk him into going to the Moonpool.

Not only, that but he caught some conversation of cats blaming Firestar for their dilemma, as if Windclan weren't the ones to set him off in the first place. It infuriated him, that it only took one incident for everyone to turn on the one cat who had sacrificed so much for the clan.

He passed by Dustpelt and Cloudtail, who were hard at work at repairing the nursery. Brightheart sat some ways away from them, tongue lapping at her swollen stomach. She was exempt from working, needing to make sure she didn't stress her body out and harm her unborn kits.

"How we doing?" the deputy questioned.

Dustpelt gave a huff as he weaved in some fresh bramble collected outside the territory. "Going as well as things can get," he said.

"This isn't exactly how I thought we'd be raising our second litter," Cloudtail commented. "Firestar couldn't have waited until leaf-bare when everything was dead anyway to torch the territory?" he meowed jokingly, before looking down guiltily.

"...I haven't been a good nephew have I?" he asked glumly.

"Cloudtail-" Brightheart tried interjecting.

"No! I haven't been good kin at all! He was clearly struggling with his new form and he feared himself, and all I could think about was when he would finally turn his claws onto us all," Cloudtail whimpered. Dustpelt stopped what he was doing and sat down, lost in thought. Brightheart made a face and got up to pad over to her sullen mate.

"It wasn't your fault-"

"But it was!" the white tom insisted. He let out a deep breath. "I should have helped him. He needed our help and we just... we sat there and watched. We've been wary and avoiding him because he was so different and we had no way of knowing how dangerous he could get, but we neglected to help him out because of our fear. Face it," his shoulders slumped, "we're the monsters here."

"Don't say that," his mate chided. "We're not monsters, we just..." she struggled to find the correct words, "We were just scared."

"Not much of an excuse," Dustpelt mumbled. "Onestar and Windclan set him off. I know I would have murdered anyone if they had threatened Ferncloud like that. I don't blame him for reacting the way he did."

Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes at him. "Then why did you not at least defend him?" he bit out.

Dustpelt was silent before: "I think I was angry." Brambleclaw gestured for him to elaborate. "I was angry that our territory just went up in flames. Part of me wanted to blame the thing that set everything ablaze in the first place, so I did." He peeked up at Brambleclaw. "You need to understand that the moment Firestar changed, he became an even bigger unknown than he ever was before. We all tend to fear what's new and potentially dangerous, just like when we first came across the lake."

Brambleclaw could begrudgingly give him that. The first few moons living around the lake was filled with uncertainty. Even after moons of living around the lake, cats still weren't used to living there; Blackstar had certainly thought that the lake was dangerous, even moons after settling in. For Firestar, if would have taken the clan a few more moons to get used to his new form had it stayed as it was. But with his mind, body, and abilities continuously changing, it was hard to tell when the clan would ever get used to it.

"I just... I just had to think of the kits," Cloudtail mumbled, his muzzle buried in Brightheart's fur. Brambleclaw's face softened, knowing that Cloudtail's and Brightheart's concerns placed their unborn kits' wellbeings before Firestar's or even their own.

"When are you going to see Starclan?" Dustpelt suddenly inquired.

Brambleclaw only scowled in response.

"What if Firestar doesn't come back?" the senior warrior asked. "You won't be able to avoid Starclan forever."

Brambleclaw was well aware that he couldn't avoid Starclan for long, but maybe he could go to them... but not for the reasons the clan thought. Starclan had answers to give after all. Maybe he couldn't avoid them for long, but they certainly couldn't avoid his questions for long either.

Thunderclan having regrets? Thunderclan is definitely having regrets. Some of them are realizing how much they done goofed.

People tend to fear the unknown- cat suddenly changing in body and mind? Only rational to start fearing them.

Brambleclaw's got some WORDS for Starclan. Whether Firestar also has WORDS for Starclan remains to be seen. Could be at this point that he doesn't want to see them or the stone is once again putting anger into his head at the thought of them.

Will there be alternate endings for Ignite? I'm leaning towards yes. Some of you put ideas in my head and now I kinda want to write them.

Tell me how I did.