Chapter 1 (S):
"Squirrelpaw! Squirrelpaw! Stop!"
Squirrelpaw hardly heard Brambleclaw's shout behind her. She pounded through the mud desperately, dodging the fleshy paws of reaching Twolegs and ignoring the rain that got in her eyes. Her breaths came in quick, panicked gasps as she tried desperately to keep the monster in sight. But it only took heartbeats for the beast to speed out of sight, turning a sharp corner and disappearing behind the trees on its way back to the Thunderpath.
Squirrelpaw collapsed into a sobbing heap, not caring the slightest about the mud that caked her pelt, nor the Twoleg that was coming up behind her.
"Stay away from her!" She heard Brambleclaw's bounding pawsteps and his snarl as he lashed out at the Twoleg trying to grab at her. She heard the Twoleg angrily growl at Brambleclaw, but it backed away. More pawsteps sounded as Leafpaw joined her side as well, nosing her to her paws.
"Come on," Leafpaw spoke softly. "We need to get back to camp."
Squirrelpaw allowed her sister to guide her swiftly back to the shelter of the trees with Brambleclaw attentively trotting behind them in case any other Twolegs tried to reach for them again. Back in the undergrowth they met with the rest of the patrol, deep enough in the forest that they could no longer see the clearing. Squirrelpaw looked around at them with a sense of hollowness. They had successfully freed all of the cats and rescued Leafpaw, but they had sacrificed their leader in order to do so.
Cloudtail and Brightheart were both soaked, their normally fluffy pelts were plastered to their sides miserably. Rainwhisker was nursing a bleeding claw, holding it carefully off the ground as he stared silently through the trees. Off to the side, Mistyfoot and a kittypet, that Squirrelpaw guessed from a previous conversation was named Cody, were both sat a respectful distance away. In front of them all, Thornclaw was pacing furiously, his pelt bristling with racing thoughts that threatened to spill. Every one of them was plastered and smeared with mud.
The golden warrior whipped around at the approach of Squirrelpaw, Leafpaw, and Brambleclaw. His eyes flashed as he growled, "How could Firestar get taken by those Twolegs?" He lashed out at the undergrowth, claws scoring a wilting fern dangerously. "He can't leave the Clan now! He was fighting those Twolegs, they couldn't have caught him. He had to have-"
He broke off as he caught the crestfallen expressions of the two apprentices. "I'm so sorry." He whispered, his burst of anger crumbling into a feeling of regret. "It's all my fault. I was only a fox length away. If I had just paid more attention, I would have- I could have helped." He stopped talking altogether, not knowing what to say in the disappearance of their leader.
Brambleclaw padded forward and met the warrior's gaze steadily, "It's no one's fault." He told him. "None of us could have stopped it. Firestar knew what he was doing and the cost that might come with it. Twolegs are unpredictable, and monsters are dangerous. It could have been any of us in his position now."
"But it was my cage that wouldn't work," Brightheart whispered brokenly, turning to bury her face in Cloudtail's soaked fur. "If we hadn't messed with the Twoleg's trap, then this wouldn't be happening."
Cloudtail did not speak, as he appeared to be thinking along the same lines. Instead, he turned and gave Brightheart several comforting licks behind the ear. As he continued to groom her she did not look up.
Mistyfoot dipped her head low, "I owe him my life," she murmured. "I thought we would never escape." She turned to look at Squirrelpaw, and spoke gratefully, "You saved us."
Squirrelpaw shook her head, and it took her a couple heartbeats to find her voice. "We all risked our lives," she managed. "And Firestar led the way."
"Firestar's really gone then?" Rainwhisker asked, seeming to emerge from his thoughts suddenly. His eyes were wide and unsure. "What will we tell the Clan?"
The cats stared silently around and at one another. No one wanted to return to camp and break the news to their Clanmates. None of them wanted to face the questions and grief, and the faces of Graystripe and Sandstorm when they realized their leader, Graystripe's best friend and Sandstorm's mate, had been ripped away from his Clan during the time that they needed him most.
"May StarClan help him," Thornclaw whispered, looking to the still raining sky above.
Several questions came to Squirrelpaw's mind, and she was sure the others had questions too. No one had the energy to voice them though. In the stifling silence that had engulfed them, Brambleclaw was the first one to stand.
"Come on," he meowed, his shoulders squaring as he began to brace himself for what was ahead of them. "We need to return to camp."
The cats stood reluctantly and began to follow him when the kittypet spoke for the first time. "Um," she meowed hesitantly, almost fearfully. "What about me?"
Squirrelpaw turned with the rest of the patrol to look at the plump tabby, as if all of them had just noticed her for the first time. Her eyes shifted from one warrior to another nervously, but she did not tremble.
"Who are you?" Sorreltail asked, sniffing the air. "A kittypet?" Rainwhisker's ears flattened and he began to growl threateningly.
Leafpaw stepped forward quickly, "This is Cody," She stood beside the kittypet's shoulder, "She stopped me from feeling sorry for myself, and made me believe we might be able to escape." Her voice wavered for a moment, but Leafpaw shook her head and turned to speak to her friend, "I don't think it's safe to travel the way back to the Twolegplace. Would you like to come to camp with us?"
Cody stared uncertainly at the warriors before her, and Squirrelpaw realized how they must look. Mud smeared, bleeding, and exhausted, with Thornclaw lashing out at ferns in anger and Brightheart's ravaged appearance. They must really be matching the pictures that the kittypet rumors seemed to paint about wild cats. It didn't help that Rainwhisker was still outright glaring at her.
"You'll be made welcome," Leafpaw meowed, turning to look at her Clanmates for support.
"Graystripe won't turn away any cat who's in trouble." Brambleclaw agreed, and Squirrelpaw saw a couple of the warriors wince at the mention of Graystripe. It should have been Firestar's name that they said, but now Graystripe was in charge of the Clan.
"I suppose we should be going then," Sorreltail sighed as the kittypet hesitantly agreed to come with them. She looked a little unhappy at letting Cody follow, but considering the recent events, she must be too tired to complain.
The group fell into a miserable silence as they padded back to Sunningrocks. The silence was only broken by Leafpaw's questions on why they weren't heading to camp, and Squirrelpaw explaining that they had to find shelter elsewhere. With the sound of the river murmuring up ahead, the patrol seemed to come to an agonizing crawl. No one on the patrol wanted to face their Clanmates.
As they emerged from the bracken to stand beside the river, Mistyfoot turned to the warriors with sad eyes. "I honor the warriors of ThunderClan for rescuing me. And I, along with the rest of RiverClan, will mourn the loss of Firestar with you." Her eyes seemed to cloud with grief for a moment, but she turned swiftly and dove into the water. With powerful churning legs, she reached the other side easily and pulled herself from the swirling water. Her tail tip flicked as she disappeared into the ferns of RiverClan territory.
The patrol turned and headed for the smooth boulders that lay downstream. Squirrelpaw half expected Leafpaw to be excited and launch forward to greet her Clanmates, but she knew that not even returning to her Clan would fix the terrible grief she felt. Squirrelpaw pressed her pelt against her sister's in silent support.
On the boulders, not many cats could be seen. Most of the cats were either out on hunting patrols or hunkered down under the rocks in an attempt to hide from the wind and rain. Graystripe however, was sitting atop the rocks and staring out over the swift-flowing river, apparently lost in his own thoughts. The rain had plastered his long fur to his body, and his normally healthy frame looked skinny and frail with hunger.
The breeze must have caught their scent though, because Graystripe turned his head suddenly. He leaped to his paws and bounded up the path to meet the patrol. His thundering paws created small splashes of water in the soaked grass. His tail shot straight in the air with the sight of Leafpaw, Cloudtail, and Brightheart. "You're all back!" he exclaimed, overcome with newly found excitement. "Firestar will be so happy to hear this wonderful news! This is exactly what we needed to brighten everyone's spirits."
More warriors of ThunderClan were emerging from their hiding spots to greet the patrol. Whitepaw shot forward to greet Cloudtail and Brightheart, her mother and father, with a cry of joy. Sandstorm bounded forward as well, nudging the other cats out of her way in an effort to reach Leafpaw. She began grooming her daughter the instant that she reached her, purring greatly and thanking StarClan aloud.
"Brackenfur, see if you can find Firestar." Graystripe nodded to the warrior. "He must hear of this immediately."
Brackenfur got to his paws, but his eyes looked from Graystripe to the patrol with unease. "Wasn't Firestar supposed to be on the patrol with Thornclaw and Rainwhisker?" He reminded the deputy hesitantly.
Graystripe seemed to pause with this realization, and he slowly turned to look back at the returning cats. "That's right." He said with a puzzled expression. "Thornclaw, where is Firestar?"
The golden warrior jumped slightly at being addressed, something very uncharacteristic of him. His mouth opened to speak, but he seemed unable to form words at the moment. The gathered Clan grew tense in the silence, and Graystripe repeated his words with narrowed eyes, "Where is Firestar?" His voice was strained and serious.
Leafpaw was the one to speak. Her voice was timid and broken, "The Twolegs caught him."
The stunned silence stretched on, and Squirrelpaw couldn't stand it. She forced herself to explain hoarsely, "They trapped him inside a monster's belly and took him away."
"He's... gone?" Graystripe stood there in the rain, seemingly frozen in shock with an expression of shock on his face. "But that can't be right." He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. His eyes hardened with stubborn determination. "Firestar is the leader of ThunderClan. He has to come back."
Brambleclaw lashed his tail in anger, "I should have stopped him." He heaved a breath and looked as though he wanted to pace. "We should have had a bigger patrol. If we had more warriors with us, this wouldn't have happened."
Squirrelpaw felt an odd desire to reach out and comfort him, but she held back beside her sister. Instead, it was Sandstorm who did so. The warrior touched her tail to his shoulder gently, though her eyes were clouded with immense grief as well. "You have brought back three ThunderClan cats." She told him with a voice that was thick with emotion, "Firestar would have done anything to return his cats to ThunderClan. He will find a way back."
Graystripe nodded numbly with her words, as if in an attempt to persuade himself that what she said was true. "Firestar will find a way back," he repeated to himself.
(G)
"Who's going to be deputy now?"
Ashfur's question broke through Graystripe's swirling thoughts. A shudder went through him as he was brought back to the present, and he looked around at the shocked and grieving Clan. They were all watching him, and he felt a shudder go through him as he stared back. Their pelts stuck to their sides in the rain with their frames so underfed that their ribs showed. Their tails were trailing in the dirt with ever-growing exhaustion and grief. Half of these cats looked as though StarClan could take them at any moment. And he looked no better than they did.
StarClan, he thought, how can I lead these cats when I, myself, want to leave? For moons now, he had watched the forest he called home become destroyed and the Twolegs take over. He wanted to leave, and he wanted to take his Clanmates with him and escape the destruction, and he knew many of his Clanmates felt the same way.
If it hadn't been for Firestar insisting that they waited for the other three Clans, Graystripe knew that many of these cats would have left by now. So many cats had relied heavily on Firestar to pull them through the pain and suffering, but now he was gone and they were left leaderless and grieving.
Now it was his turn to stand up and lead the Clan. Just the thought of it alone felt daunting. Graystripe's jaw tightened. He was the deputy, he wanted to say, not the leader. He never wanted to be the leader of ThunderClan; he never asked for it.
But he had fulfilled this position before, hadn't he? Memories rose in his mind of leading ThunderClan to Gatherings while Firestar was away reviving SkyClan. He had sent out patrols, dealt with Blackstar's hostility, examined rogue scents along the borders, checked on his Clanmates... Surely if he had dealt with the responsibility of being the leader then, then he could do it again now. Though, admittedly, they hadn't been in the middle of leaf-bare while the forest was being uprooted around them last timeā¦
"Well, Graystripe?" Mousefur's impatient voice spoke to his right. Her tail lashed as she watched him expectantly.
Please StarClan, he begged as his gaze swept around the staring, anxious Clan once more. His heartbeat rose in his throat, and all he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. Bring Firestar back, and soon.
But then Sandstorm was at his side, and it was as though his panicked thoughts had been chased from his mind. The pale ginger warrior brushed against his fur supportively as she came to stand beside him.
"Firestar will return to ThunderClan," her voice was strong now as she addressed her Clan, though the grief in her eyes hadn't lessened one bit. "He would do anything for his Clan, and he will do the same to find us again. We must believe that he will return."
Graystripe took a shaky, calming breath and nodded. "Yes," he agreed in the most steady voice he could muster, "Firestar will return, and until he does, I will take over his position as I have in the past."
"Who knows when that'll be though?" Mousefur sounded doubtful. "Are we even sure that he is alive?"
Several panicked meows spread through the gathered Clan, and it was Dustpelt who stood now and padded forward.
"Until we Firestar returns, we will carry on as normal," he said with a firm nod. "Whether Firestar is in our camp or not, we still carry out patrols." He turned and looked at Brackenfur, "You were going to take a hunting patrol out by the training hollow, weren't you?"
The golden warrior straightened up at being addressed. "Yes, that's right." He looked around at the gathered cats and called some to join him. "Rainwhisker, Mousefur, and Spiderpaw, you were told to come with me."
With the distraction, Graystripe was thankful for the escape. Quietly, he excused himself and dropped down from the boulders while his Clanmates were busy with forming patrols and whispering to one another. He felt lightheaded and all he wanted to do was find a semi-dry nest under the overhanging rock so that he could be alone. He had only taken a few steps forward when Cinderpelt dropped down to confront him though. Sandstorm and Dustpelt were close behind her.
Graystripe flattened his ears, not wanting to speak with them at the moment. His grief hadn't yet set in and his mind was still in a blur of confusion. But as he climbed into his nest and curled up as if to sleep, he still looked to them all in tired acknowledgment. There was an uncomfortable silence for a long moment, in which no one wanted to be the first to speak. He watched over Cinderpelt's shoulder as Brackenfur lead his patrol off in the direction of the training hollow. Spiderpaw hissed quietly as a fat raindrop fell from a tree and hit him directly on the nose.
Cinderpelt opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off sharply. New questions had begun to race through his mind and he couldn't help but blurt them out. "What will the other Clans think?" He demanded. "What will Blackstar say when he sees that ThunderClan doesn't have a leader?"
Cinderpelt's gaze softened. She shuffled further underneath the low overhang. When she was fully out of the rain, she crouched at the edge of his nest. "Maybe now he'll see reason." She mused, "Losing a leader would certainly scare the other Clans into agreeing to leave."
"We shouldn't have to lose our leader for the other Clans to see that life in the forest is over," Dustpelt grunted, striding forward to shelter under the overhang as well.
"StarClan's word should have been enough," Cinderpelt agreed quietly. Her ear twitched as they heard more patrols being sent out above them. "But no one wants to leave their home."
"But if we leave," Graystripe pressed on, "How will Firestar ever find us? The whole forest might be gone by the time he arrives."
"You don't give that furball enough credit." Sandstorm purred weakly, though she looked exhausted now. Graystripe was surprised by how well she appeared to be taking this. "Did you forget everything you and Firestar did as warriors? How many times did the two of your break the warrior code for the better of the Clans? Firestar will do anything to reach us again, no matter where we are."
There was a long silence between them again. Graystripe dropped his gaze to stare at his paws instead. His mind was finally catching up with the situation now and a heavy weight was beginning to form in his chest. It was as though a tight ball of grief was just beginning to grow, threatening to overtake him. For a terrible moment, he was reminded of how he had felt after Silverstream's death. The grief washed over him, making him tremble, and he bowed his head low. His throat tightened as he grieved for both Firestar and Silverstream together.
Cinderpelt shifted uneasily and reached out to place her muzzle on his shoulder gently. Her voice was just above a whisper. "We are all here for you, Graystripe. Leading ThunderClan is a big responsibility, but I don't want you to feel alone."
"We did not lose a leader today," Dustpelt agreed with a nod. "He just went on another one of his life-threatening, mouse-brained journeys that'll likely take moons. But Firestar is Firestar. He'll make his way back."
Cinderpelt pulled back now, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "I'm not making you take nine lives. I want Firestar back as much as the next cat. But until he returns, I will make you uphold your commitment as deputy. And you can't do that by sulking in your nest and hiding from your responsibilities. ThunderClan needs stability if it is to survive."
"I know." Graystripe sighed and hauled himself to his paws now. With Cinderpelt, Sandstorm, and Dustpelt by his side, he felt marginally better about his new position in the Clan, but he still felt the daunting weight of the starving Clan on his shoulders. Their words did very little to lift his spirits, but he knew that they were right. He couldn't hide from his problems forever. "Thank you," he told them with a grateful dip of his head. He stepped out of the nest and brushed past them, "I think I'm going to go out on patrol."
"I'll join you." Dustpelt offered and together they leaped up onto the boulders to gather a patrol from the remaining cats.
Thank you all for reading. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
