Happy New Year! I'd tell 2020 not to let the door kick it on its way out, but you know that 2021 is pronounced as twenty-twenty one right? So basically... 2020-1. It's never going to leave us ;-;
Honestly, it's not this year will be different for me anyway. I haven't got any inspiring speeches or resolutions for anyone so yeah...
Who knows, maybe this will be the year I finally start adding chapters to An Angel Lost in Time. We'll see.
I hope to see more amazing content from everyone working on their own fanfictions within the Warriors community though!
Reviews are appreciated!
The Twolegplace had disappeared from view a long while ago as the small group pressed forth on their journey to return to Thunderclan. Firestar walked in a daze, his mind trailing back to Hanako and Hisako and Razor and Dart and then back to when Cherrypaw had rushed up to him, telling him that Thunderclan wanted him back. His thoughts were a whirlwind as he tried processing everything that had happened from the last day alone.
Cherrypaw didn't speak for all of Thunderclan. Why would they all want him back? No doubt a lot of them probably still had their misgivings about him.
He knew why they sent this small group of cats to catch up with him- Thunderclan needed a leader, and Brambleclaw currently wasn't it. Starclan wouldn't have allowed it...
He recalled the day when he was escorting Cinderpelt to Highstones back at the old forest, where they had run into Runningnose and Littlecloud at Fourtrees. Runningnose had divulged to him as to why Nightstar had died so quickly, despite having nine lives.
Nightstar had never received them. Starclan still saw kit-murdering Brokenstar as Shadowclan's rightful leader, despite being chased out, and refused to give Nightstar his nine lives. Perhaps Jayfeather or Brambleclaw had found that out and realized that they needed him back.
He couldn't blame his hatchling if he had felt pressured to go to the Moonpool to receive his nine lives. Firestar had left so suddenly, away from a clan that didn't want him. He felt bad for leaving Brambleclaw to take control of an entire clan like that, with a blackened and charred territory to remind him that things would only get harder, thanks to him.
"We should stop for now and continue in the morning," Hollyleaf meowed to them all. He glanced at the skyline behind them, noting that the sun was dipping below the horizon. He did feel a little tired, but maybe that was because he had been up all night, rescuing Hanako and Hisako, fighting Razor and his rogues, escorting the two she-cats back to their home, and then doing his best to sneak out of the Twolegplace without any Twolegs spotting him.
Plus, he hadn't really eaten all day, with them spending the day trekking their way back to the clans. He glanced around the grassy plains they were standing in. He remembered coming through this way, but he had disregarded this place because of a lack of decent shelter and prey. They certainly weren't going to be sleeping on moss tonight.
Now that he thought about it, had the bush really been all that bad?
"Alright, Hollyleaf, Foxleap, and Cherrypaw will stay here and find some shelter or at the very least something to make a nest out of. Squirrelflight and I will try to see if there's any prey around here," he said, trying to bring himself into being a leader once again. The cats nodded, not at all questioning his word.
While the two warriors and apprentice got to work on building some decent nests, he and Squirrelflight walked out further away from them, trying to scent the air and hoping for a taste of mouse or vole to grace their noses. The entire time they were hunting, he constantly found himself close to Squirrelflight, not wanting to be away from his hatchling for a moment longer.
"You know I can hunt by myself, right Father? I'm not a kit anymore," she huffed.
'No, but you'll always be my hatchling,' he retorted in his head. He couldn't blame her for thinking he was being a little too overbearing, but his instincts were screaming at him to stay with her.
They didn't catch much, even with Squirrelflight's superior hunting skills they only managed to catch a few small mice and some moles. After returning to the others, who had managed to make some decent looking nests, he decided that they needed the prey more than he did. Squirrelflight protested vehemently, arguing that he needed the prey just as badly as they did.
He did need to eat. But even all the prey they had found wouldn't have been enough to stave off his hunger- he would just be as hungry as before he ate. Their hunger would at least lessen.
He was surprised when each one of them pushed him a piece of their own prey to eat. He was still hungry, but he felt warm at their gesture.
Once they were done eating, the sun had sunk below the horizon and warriors of Starclan had begun to twinkle through the darkness. He glanced at Squirrelflight once he had settled in one of the makeshift nests, and thankfully his hatchling knew what to do as she settled down beside him and allowed him to curl around her. He started absentmindedly grooming her, thinking back to when they found him.
He stared at the small group of cats that were sent to apparently bring him back to Thunderclan with trepidation. "The clan...wants me back?" he questioned numbly. Of course Squirrelflight wanted him back, and Hollyleaf never had anything against him, and Cherrypaw was remorseful of what her reckless actions had caused him to become. She hadn't been able to defend him, considering she had gone into shock from almost dying in a burning forest, as well as too much smoke inhalation.
He cast a wary glance at Foxleap, who hadn't done anything to defend him, who had given him a dark look as he had been attacked by Windclan over and over again.
Foxleap noticed his wariness and bowed his head to him without a second thought, startling Firestar greatly. "I know that nothing I can say or do will make up for the way we all but abandoned you to face Windclan alone. You did nothing to deserve it and you've done nothing but try your best to defend us, and we threw it back into your face," Foxleap meowed, a humble tone in his voice.
"But I did deserve it," Firestar murmured. "I went and burned Thunderclan territory to the ground right as leaf-bare entered."
"Hey, if I had a mate that was being held at claw-point, I'd be pretty mad too," Hollyleaf interjected.
"The point is, is that we failed to protect our leader the same way he had been protecting us for moons," Foxleap said.
"And there are a lot of cats that want you back, including me," Squirrelflight meowed to him, pressing her pelt again his own.
This was what he wanted, wasn't it? He had told Hanako during the battle that he needed to go back to Thunderclan, just to know if they really hated him or not. But was he talking about Thunderclan as a whole, or just his treasures? Here they were, or at least one of his treasures, telling him that they wanted him back. Squirrelflight clearly loved him...
"You've changed," Squirrelflight commented, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Hm? How so?"
"You haven't noticed that you tower over us now?"
"I've always towered over you all, ever since I changed I mean," he mumbled.
"Yeah, but you're even taller and bigger than I remember," Squirrelflight meowed softly. "The horns that were growing in before you left Thunderclan are fully grown, and I think I see another pair on the way." He frowned, using a claw to feel around his head, and sure enough, there was yet another set of stubs he could feel below his newly grown horns.
"Not only that, but there are scales all over you now. Like all the scales from your legs and tail are just... extending into the rest of your body." Even though it was pitch black around him, his eyesight was good enough to see that there was a lot more black strewn across his pelt within the ginger fur than he remembered having. Had he really changed so much after his departure from Thunderclan?
It was just another reminder of what he was to become. He drew two of his wings over his hatchling, his eyes misty.
"Thunderclan still wants me, despite of what I'm continuing to become?"
Squirrelflight only leaned into him. "I don't know if some of the cats are really happy with Brambleclaw's decision to bring you back, but I think a lot of them are guilty over what happened after the fire. We really tore into them," she said somberly. "But I want you back, and so does Leafpool, and Mother, and Brambleclaw, and Jayfeather, and Lionblaze..." she rambled on. "But the point is, is that there are cats that care about you Father, and cats that don't care about the whole scales-wings-fire breath stuff."
She laid her head over his claws, intent on getting some sleep. Even after her breathing evened out, he lay awake, thanking his luckiness that all his treasures cared.
A strange prickling feeling came from the stone, a red light glowing from his chest. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to relax enough to get some sleep, but the feeling wouldn't subside.
'Great, what's going on with it now?'
.
.
.
.
It was by the end of the next day that the familiar trees of Thunderclan came into view. He breathed in deeply, frowning at the scents of charred wood that drifted into his senses. He still felt incredibly guilty about burning their territory to the ground.
"We're almost home!" Cherrypaw cheered. "Everyone's going to be so happy to see you back!"
He doubted that everyone was going to be happy to see him, and Windclan as a whole definitely wouldn't be happy to see him of all cats leading Thunderclan again. But his treasures wanted him back, so he would endure the other clans' hatred if only for them.
He rubbed his chest uncomfortably, the stone casting a weak red light on the ground.
"Is there something wrong, Father?" Squirrelflight asked him, running her tail down his back, avoiding his spines.
"The stone's acting up again; it's probably nothing," he murmured. As they drew closer to Thunderclan territory, Firestar couldn't help but feel anxious. Something was wrong- he could feel it. The moment they stepped into the woods, yowls and screeches reached his ears, as well as the unforgettable scent of blood assaulting his nose.
"Firestar?" Hollyleaf inquired.
"There's- there's some kind of battle going on. A really bad one," he meowed.
Hollyleaf cursed, her tail lashing angrily. "The Dark Forest battle didn't start did it? We haven't been gone for that long!" she cried in alarm.
"Of course they would begin their attack now," he growled. "With Thunderclan leaderless and its territory burned down, and with me out the way, it's the perfect time to strike."
"Wait, what's this about the Dark Forest attacking?" Foxleap asked in confusion, Cherrypaw beside him looking also confused. "Are we sure you're not hearing Thunderclan and one of the other clans fighting each other right now?" he said anxiously, not questioning Firestar's hearing but not wanting to believe that Thunderclan was under attack.
"Trust me, I can tell." He turned to the four cats next to him. "We're going to have to immediately go into battle. Be careful out there. I don't want any of you to die after journeying so far to find and bring me back. You deserve better than that," he said, and the four cats nodded resolutely at him. He drew in a deep breath, before rushing into the forest, the other cats quick at his heels.
Why is the stone acting up again? HhhHmmMMmm
I can tell you that it's been rapidly changing Firestar though. Remember when he felt all lost and alone after he was chased out? That was the perfect time for the stone to swoop down and change him further. All the things with Hanako and Hisako distracted him from his changing body.
Next chapter will probably have one of the worse fight scenes ever, so I'm hoping that I won't fudge up completely. I'm really bad at writing these kinds of things.
Tell me how I did.