Thank you all for reading. In this chapter, we'll see the story from Firestar's view again. I'm trying to keep both points of view in the same time frame to avoid confusion, so there might be long sections where we don't hear from one of the characters for a while. As the story goes on, Firestar's chapters should become increasingly more common. I am making sure to spend a good portion of my time writing Firestar's POV, but I'm still unsure if I'm committed to the ideas that I have for him. If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see, feel free to leave them in the comments.
Russetmoth2786- I actually haven't read any of the books past Bramblestar's Storm, so I haven't read Graystripe's Vow. Thank you for the concern though! I read over a quick summary of the book and I can see what you mean, the whole thing with Ashfur and the others questioning his loyalty and Cinderpelt backing him up. I do admit that it sounds similar to the writing that I've already done (I'm about 22 chapters into my story), but I think it's just a realistic situation. There isn't much of a way to avoid doubt about Graystripe's position, but we'll see what happens!
Chapter 7 (F):
"It was nice to meet you, Firestar!"
Firestar heard Lilian call as the Twolegs walked out of the room with him swaying in a sickening motion beside them. He growled as the cage accidentally bumped the wall of the den and he was knocked into the side of the cage. His shoulder hit it painfully, but he held his tongue and prepared himself in case another hit came.
Briefly, the male Twoleg spoke with a female Twoleg before exiting the den. As he was carried out of the nest, Firestar opened his eyes to see himself nearing the same white monster that had originally brought him here. It was asleep next to several other monsters, each of the shining creatures waiting for a Twoleg to enter it.
His already racing heart quickened and his mind flashed back to the terrible time he had had when he was trapped in the back of the monster. But instead of putting him in the back, the Twoleg headed for the monster's front. It opened the side of the monster and set Firestar inside before walking around to climb into the seat next to him.
Firestar was unable to see much other than the bottom of the seat he had been placed onto and a wall of gray in front of him. He inched his way forward to try and see more. He could hear the Twoleg rumbling to himself nearby, but he couldn't see it.
In a sudden quake, the monster roared to life and began to move. Firestar braced his footing again. The Twoleg rumbled thoughtfully aloud some more and Firestar's ear twitched as he listened. The monster seemed to swerve, and it's movements seemed to accelerate or decelerate at random points. The Twoleg continued to speak aloud though no other Twolegs were in the monster, and Firestar closed his eyes against the sickening movements.
He lost track of how long he had been in the belly of the monster when the movements finally stopped and the monster fell silent. There was a sharp click to his left and the Twoleg reached over to grab the cage.
Firestar opened his eyes to watch as he was lifted out of the monster and was carried towards a Twoleg den next. This den wasn't nearly as wide as the previous one, but it was taller. It was a light blue color and perhaps had a place where flowers grew in the front, but it was hard to be sure with all of the snow. The cage accidentally hit the entranceway again as the Twoleg shuffled into the den. He flinched at it.
A pounding sound began, and Firestar looked up in fear to see two Twoleg kits running towards him. They squealed and jabbed their paws in his direction. The male Twoleg held out a paw in warning and shuffled past the kits. The cage tilted in the air as the Twoleg walked him through the house, then with a dizzying thump the cage was set onto the floor.
The kits ran forward at once, squealing shrilly with excitement. The male Twoleg opened the cage door wide. Despite freedom being shown directly in front of him, Firestar shrank away. His spine pressed against the back of the cage as the two young she-kits crouched down in front of him and their faces grinned at him through the entrance.
They called and cooed at him tauntingly, the older one patting the ground as if he was a dog who would obey her command. The younger one, not as patient as her sister, reached a fleshy paw into the cage and tried to grab at Firestar.
Instinctively, fear overcame him and he hissed at the young girl. "Get away!"
His paw flashed forward and scored the young kit's hand. She jumped backward in fright, holding her bleeding paw close to her with a loud gasp. She began to cry loudly. Firestar hissed again as she met his gaze. The older of the two made an unhappy noise and set a paw on her sister's arm reassuringly.
The two kits backed away from him and the cage's door slammed in his face again. A dizziness overcame him as the cage was lifted suddenly and the floor began to sway again. The male Twoleg's voice sounded more stern now, and Firestar found himself being carried swiftly into the next room.
Placing him down on the floor again, the Twoleg opened the cage without looking at him and left the room. The door closed behind the creature with a sharp click and Firestar found himself enveloped in a heavy silence. His ears twitched nervously at the sudden contrast.
He stayed crouched there for a long, tense moment. Only when he felt sure that none of the Twolegs were coming back did he creep from the cage and look around at his new surroundings. He was in a small, cluttered room. Boxes and colorful Twoleg items that he could not name littered the room. Dust seemed to layer nearly everything and Firestar sneezed as he learned this. He couldn't help but sigh when he realized that there were a couple of items among the clutter in the room he could, in fact, identify from his previous time as a kittypet.
He saw a premade water bowl and a food dish beside it waiting for him, along with a litter box too. He recognized a scratching post as well, this one very similar to the one he had used as a kit. Near the base of the scratching post were three fake mice, each an unnaturally bright color.
Firestar let out a shaky breath as he realized that the room had no windows. He stood in the middle of the space and stared around at his surroundings with despair. How long would the Twolegs keep him confined in here?
His ear twitched nervously as he could hear the creature's pounding pawsteps on the other side of the wall. Their voices rang out clearly though he couldn't understand what their sounds meant.
After some brief exploring, during which he only found more clutter and dust and no way out, he turned and leaped onto an open box with some soft pelts in it. With a heavy sigh, he allowed himself to curl up on the fabrics. They were soft and reminded him faintly of his nest back in ThunderClan territory, though notably more comfortable. Feeling as though the Twolegs likely wouldn't let him out so soon after attacking their kits, he allowed himself to fall into a restless sleep, wishing that StarClan would visit him soon.
Firestar flinched as the two Twoleg kits flashed past, squealing with joy as they chased one another. Their paws thundered the ground, making the hard surface shake, and their loud noises made Firestar want to leave the room.
Thankfully, that was a choice he could make now. For several days, the Twolegs kept him isolated in the small, windowless room. He had had food and water, and the Twoleg kits loved to visit him, but he hadn't been allowed out of it for a long time. He wasn't even sure how long he had been stuck in there. With no windows and only fake mice and brightly colored feathers to keep his attention, he either paced or slept the entire time.
But now he had been let out of the room and Firestar was more than grateful for the escape. He explored the den greatly, searching each room high and low for a way out. A couple of times, he had tried to sneak past the Twolegs as they came in and out of the house, but they would stomp their paws and shout loudly at him until Firestar was forced to back away. He soon stopped his attempts in fear that they'd shut him away again.
Firestar padded into the next room, the one where they enter and exit the most and spend much of their time on the squarish soft-rocks. He paused and winced as he heard the kits knock over something down the hallway. Whatever it was hit the floor hard. He heard the older of the two gasp. The youngest mumbled something sheepishly.
Firestar flattened his ears. Whenever the kits were home, it felt as though the nest was never quiet. He padded into the center of the room and looked around. The male Twoleg, the one who had both taken him from ThunderClan and brought him to this nest, sat on the soft-rocks and stared at a noise-producing object with moving pictures. The Twoleg turned his gaze from the object and called to Firestar, patting the soft-rock beside him with a large paw.
Briefly, Firestar wondered if he should climb up beside the male. He had wondered many times whether or not him being friendly towards the Twolegs would allow him to escape faster. If he gained their trust would they would eventually just let him outside?
But instead of spending time with the male Twoleg, Firestar instead walked across the room and leaped up to settle himself on the small ledge in front of a window on the den's wall. Since he had been let out of the small room, he had found himself staring out the windows quite often. To his dismay though, not even the windows on the top floor showed him a view of the forest. No matter which window he'd try, all he could see were Thunderpaths and more Twoleg houses all around.
This window was slid open currently. The smooth, clear material had been slid sideways to let a cool breeze in. Firestar huffed as he leaned gently against the thin black screen that prevented him from finding freedom. The window wasn't usually open and he was sure the male Twoleg would close it soon, but Firestar was going to enjoy the breeze while he could.
He sat there and stared out the window for a long time. His eyes followed a small group of birds that had landed in the snow in the front yard but he didn't think about them much. Instead, his mind wandered back to his Clanmates and whether or not they were doing okay. He wished more than anything to return to his Clanmates. It was practically all he thought about. As he allowed himself to be lost in thought, it took him several heartbeats before he realized that there was a cat walking through the snow in the yard.
He blinked as he focused on the small gray she-cat. "Hey! Over here!" He called and the she-cat jumped. Her startled green eyes searched her surroundings before she found him sitting in the window. She hesitated briefly, then hopped through the snow to come and greet him.
She crouched cautiously outside of the window, then stood up on her hind paws and placed her front against the den's wall and peered inside. She sniffed at him through the screen.
"Hello, tom. Who are you?" She asked, whiskers twitching. She looked young, as though she could have been a newly named warrior. "I haven't seen you around here before."
"That's because I'm not from around here," Firestar told her and realized that he didn't know what to say. Why had he called her over here anyways? "I am Firestar, leader of ThunderClan."
"Fire-what?" The she-cat looked confused. "What's a 'ThunderClan?'" She said the word slowly, and Firestar felt himself be weighed down with disappointment. If she didn't know about the Clans, then it was likely that he was not near the forest.
"Firestar." He emphasized for her. He turned and glanced over his shoulder as the male Twoleg stood and left the room. The kits yowled with their game of chase and their paws stomped as they climbed up the stairs. "Tell me, do you know if there is a forest around here?"
"Why would you want to go to the forest?" The kittypet looked bewildered. She shifted uncomfortably and dropped down onto four paws again. She backed up so she was standing in the snow and could watch him better. Her fur fluffed up against the cold and her tail came around to protect her frozen paws.
"Because that's where my home is." He said and asked again. "Is there a forest nearby?"
"I've never seen a forest." The gray she-cat told him. "What do they look like?"
"They have trees," Firestar replied flatly. "And bushes and mice and foxes."
The she-cat looked startled now, "Foxes?" She echoed with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Why would you want to live with foxes?"
"We don't live with them." He replied with exasperation. His tail began to lash. Could this she-cat not tell him anything? "Do you know the way out of the Twolegplace?"
"Twolegplace…?" She echoed faintly, then blinked. "Oh! You mean the Housefolkplace." Firestar nodded, urging her to speak. "Uh, no. I don't know the exit."
He flattened his ears at this and stood to jump down from the window when she added, "But I do know a cat who does."
"Really?" He hesitated on the edge. "Who?"
"Oh, I forget his name." She hummed, looking downwards now as she kneaded her paws against the cold. "But he's really old. Some stray tabby. He isn't around here much."
"Do you think you could bring him to me?" Firestar asked eagerly. If this tom knew the way to the forest, maybe he could return to his Clan before they were forced to leave the territory.
She looked back up to him again and shook her head. "I don't think so, sorry. Like I said, he isn't around much. I haven't seen him for some moons now."
"Well if you do see him, could you send him my way?" Firestar asked.
"I'll keep an eye out." The she-cat said and brought a paw up to lick and draw over her ear absentmindedly. "But I'm not normally one to walk around the neighborhood. Especially not in this weather. The only reason I'm out today is because my friend had kits a couple of houses down from mine." She nodded in the direction she had been traveling from.
"Her kits were so cute." she continued, purring slightly now. "She had two little gray toms and this fluffy white she-kit. She named them Paws, Jumper, and Snowflake. I think those names are just-"
Firestar cut her off. "What's your name?"
She blinked, as though startled by his interruption. But as she grew more comfortable with Firestar, it seemed as though she liked to chat. "My name? Oh, I'm Lucy. I don't live far from here. My housefolk are really nice. You'd like them, I'm sure. They give me this wet food every night when I get home, and it makes my pelt real nice and shiny. I think-"
She broke off as the two Twoleg kits ran into the room behind Firestar. They called his kittypet name loudly. Thankful for the break, he told her, "Thanks for the chat, Lucy. But I have to go now." She meowed a goodbye and he jumped down from the window sill to walk to where the kits were in the middle of the room.
The older kit held a long stick with a string and a fake mouse on the end. The younger kit had climbed onto the soft-rocks and sat to watch with excitement. The older one waved the stick through the air, and the mouse moved and jumped unrealistically on the floor.
Firestar stared at the toy, unamused. This wasn't the first time the she-kits had wanted him to play. This was the first time, however, that he would give in. With hardly any exercise during his time here, he felt restless and full of energy. He had to keep up his hunting skills somehow, he knew, even if that meant hunting fake mice.
As the kit cooed at him encouragingly, he allowed himself to slip into a perfected hunting crouch and stalk forward. His ears swiveled in the direction of his prey and he kept his pawsteps light. He tensed, wriggling his hindlegs in preparation, then leaped.
To his astonishment, he landed with empty paws. He blinked down at the den's floor with surprise. The mouse had been yanked right out from under his nose, and the younger of the she-kits squealed and clapped her paws with delight. Firestar turned quickly and swiped at the mouse, which was now dangling teasingly above his head. He snagged it in his claws and brought it down towards him.
As he bit into it, he was surprised to find that the toy seemed to be filled with catmint. Why would Twolegs waste such precious herbs? He let go of the mouse and sniffed it for several heartbeats. My Clanmates could have used these herbs! He thought in dismay. But before he could do anything, the mouse was yanked out of reach again.
The kits continued to take turns shouting his kittypet name and dangling the mouse before him, but all of Firestar's energy had turned sour. His mood was ruined. He gave the mouse a disgusted look and turned away from it. A ball of anger was forming in his stomach and he began to walk away.
Just as he was about to leave the room however, he heard his kittypet name called by a new voice. He looked behind him to see the female adult Twoleg kneeling down and trying to call him to her.
Momentarily, he was confused. The female Twoleg usually wanted nothing to do with him, far too busy with house chores and caring for her kits to bother him.
She paused in the doorway and looked at him while holding something in her paw. It was small and green, and Firestar recognized it with a jolt. A collar?
He turned to flee the room but suddenly there were paws grabbing at his pelt. He turned with a furious yowl, claws flashing. But he froze when he heard the eldest kits' shout of surprise and felt her smaller paws against his ribs. His heart was pounding and his breathing was coming in short gasps but he willed himself not to hurt the kit.
The female Twoleg started forward and took him from her kit. She held him high in the air by his scruff and muttered something under her breath. Dangling there, all Firestar could do was wriggle uselessly and hiss at her through narrowed eyes.
"Let me go!" He yowled at her and flashed his claws threateningly. The female Twoleg growled and knelt down again. She placed him on the ground and held him still. With one paw she held him, and with the other she slipped the round object over his head and around his neck.
He twisted again, trying to free himself, but he already knew that it was too late. The Twoleg stepped back and watched him with a satisfied gaze and Firestar was left crouching there with the hard object around his neck. The obvious new weight was uncomfortable, and as Firestar leaped took his first step to leave the room he froze with mortification. The collar jingled.
He brought a paw up to pull on it. He desperately wanted to slip the object over his head and get it off, but he couldn't do it. It wasn't tight, but it wasn't loose either. The two she-kits squealed with delight as they heard the tiny bell on it ring out.
His pelt burned with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. He fled the room, darting up the stairs and finding a dark space to silently seethe in underneath the spare bed in a room that was oftentimes never used.
How am I supposed to hunt in this? He suppressed a growl at the thought. Even if he got away again, this stupid bell would hinder his abilities! He thought back to how he had been freed from his first collar. Longtail had snapped it during their fight. Could he get another kittypet to remove it for him? He wondered. Or maybe one of the Twolegplace rogues instead? He couldn't return to ThunderClan like this, that's for sure. What would his warriors say?
His embarrassment continued to grow and he tugged at the collar uselessly. Below him, he could hear his male Twoleg walk through the house in search of him, repeating the noise that Firestar had realized several days ago was their kittypet name for him. The kits went pounding past too, calling his name and searching all over the room for him. He ignored their calls. Instead, he opted to curl up on the hard floor and wish desperately that someone, anyone, from StarClan would see him and deliver him guidance.
Spottedleaf, Bluestar, anyone, please take me from this place. Tell me how to return home. ThunderClan needs me, and I can't stand here.
Thank you all for reading. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
