Prologue:
"Hurry up, Lionpaw. You know that Tigerclaw and Redtail are waiting for us."
Lionpaw groaned and turned away from the cat shaking his shoulder. He could already feel the early dawn light filtering into the den, but he didn't want to face the world quite yet. His mind was still clouded with exhaustion from the night before.
"I know that you met RiverClan at the Sunningrocks last night, but surely it wasn't that bad? I doubt you even fought a warrior. You have no injuries!" Came the voice again, now with a hint of scornfulness.
Lionpaw opened his eyes and glared up at Dustpaw. The tabby apprentice was looking down at him with strong dislike. It was the same expression that he always had when they were forced to even stand next to each other. Begrudgingly, Lionpaw got to his paws and followed the tom out of the den.
Dustpaw had no idea what had happened the night before, Lionpaw scoffed to himself. Yes, he had been part of the patrol that had encountered RiverClan at the border. And yes, Lionpaw had no injuries despite the fight. But Dustpaw had no clue of how hard he had fought, both physically against the enemy warriors and mentally to reign himself back from using too advanced of moves. He was an apprentice, he had to constantly remind himself, not a full warrior yet and he couldn't let anyone start to suspect that he knew more than he should.
Every day, from dawn to dusk, he exhausted himself with watching his every move. Sometimes it was easy to pretend to be an apprentice. He genuinely enjoyed goofing around with Sandpaw and chasing leaves carelessly. But other times it was aggravating, having to constantly hold his tongue around the senior warriors or purposefully scare off prey during hunting sessions. More times than he could count, he had lost battles during training and was scorned for it. But it was all for the greater good, he'd remind himself.
"Hey, Lionpaw! You're finally awake!" Came the cheerful call of ThunderClan's newest apprentice. It was Graypaw. The young gray tom had been chattering with Ravenpaw outside of the den's entrance. Sandpaw was crouched beside the toms, her tail flicking with impatience.
"I keep telling him that he needs to stop brooding at night." The sandy she-cat meowed. "He worries far too much for an apprentice."
But he was not an apprentice; he only looked like one. In reality, he was a StarClan-sent warrior who could not be harmed in battle from two generations into the future, rebirthed into his grandparents' age to prevent the future downfall of the four Clans. It was a daunting thing to think about, and it was something that kept him up most nights. He had no idea how his littermates, Dovepaw and Jaypaw, could sleep so soundly in their nests when they knew about the weight that they carried on their shoulders. When the stars came out and the camp fell quiet, Lionpaw could do nothing but think of the life he left behind and the impossible task that they were preparing to face. He had lost his mate, his friends and family, his future… everything, so that they could save the Clans.
"It wasn't that. It was the battle this time," Lionpaw murmured.
Sandpaw's eyes softened at this. She meowed, "That's right. I heard from Redtail that you took on a warrior all by yourself last night. You must be sore from the fight."
Dustpaw let out a growl of frustration. "Soreness shouldn't stop you from training. Now come on, we have a border patrol to join. And Sandpaw, you have a hunting patrol too."
If anyone else had told Sandpaw this, she likely would have tutted and swung her tail in rebellion. But she liked Dustpaw's friendship despite Dustpaw's obvious jealousy towards Lionpaw. So instead of putting up a fight, she simply nodded to the toms and stalked off.
Dustpaw and Lionpaw padded across the camp to where Tigerclaw and Redtail were waiting for them near the camp entrance. Redtail stood as they approached. "Ah, there you two are!"
"Lionpaw wanted to sleep in again, like usual," Dustpaw sneered.
"We've talked about this, Lionpaw," Tigerclaw's eyes narrowed dangerously at his apprentice.
The fur along Lionpaw's spine bristled uncomfortably. Ever since he had become an apprentice, he had been guided under the mentorship of Tigerclaw. That had been a few moons ago, but he had yet to grow closer to his mentor as the other apprentices had. This Tigerclaw might not be the horrendous Tigerstar, but he very well could become that cat. And Lionpaw had too many personal memories of training in the Dark Forest to be okay with training with him now.
He supposed that he just had bad luck in mentors. First, Ashfur, who had hated him from the beginning and tried to kill him during a fire, and now the murderous Tigerclaw himself. But he couldn't blame Bluestar for the choice of mentor. She had to give him and his littermates to someone. And he supposed that some good did come out of it, for Ravenpaw was given Runningwind as a mentor instead. Though the young warrior was a tad inexperienced still, he was certainly more forgiving than Tigerclaw.
"I told you that one more day of waking up late and you'd be cleaning the elder's den for a moon," Tigerclaw growled.
"I'm sorry, Tigerclaw," Lionpaw dipped his head respectfully. "It won't happen again."
Tigerclaw's tail lashed in frustration. "That's what you said the last five times. Forget about the dawn patrol. Today you'll be cleaning out the elder's den and searching them for ticks. Then, if you still have time, you will hunt for them too."
"Yes, Tigerclaw," Lionpaw gritted his teeth. He knew better than to argue. Before he could make the matters worse, he stepped away from the warriors and made his way over to the elder's den. He ducked under the sheltering branch and peered at the still half-asleep cats inside.
There were six ThunderClan elders right now, most of whom were rather fond of him and his littermates. So even though Tigerclaw had meant for this task to be a punishment, it wouldn't be too bad. Halftail was the closest to the entrance, and he lifted his head to welcome Lionpaw into the den.
He squeezed in among the cats and began to search them for ticks. He listened as they talked, sharing news about the rival RiverClan and asking him questions about the previous night's battle. He answered them easily, then excused himself to get some mouse bile.
He padded along the fern-shaded clearing to the medicine cat den, where he found Jaypaw and Spottedleaf sitting outside of together. The pretty medicine cat was drilling Jaypaw on his herb uses, which he was listing off easily with a bored tone. Only occasionally did he let himself hesitate, flicking his tail as if in thought before Spottedleaf supplied him the answer.
"Oh, welcome in, Lionpaw." Spottedleaf stood to greet him as he came into sight. "What can I do for you?"
"I just need some mouse bile for the elders' ticks." Lionpaw said.
Spottedleaf nodded and stepped away to get him some.
Jaypaw curled his lip in disdain. "I just searched them yesterday. They couldn't have already gotten more."
Lionpaw shrugged, "Say that to the tick on Rosetail's shoulder, not to me."
Jaypaw grumbled and let his paws sort the various herbs that had been laid before him. He bundled them into their separate piles again, each ready to be placed safely back into the storage. A long silence began to stretch before them and Lionpaw tried to fill the space needlessly.
"How's your training coming along?" He asked. When they had been reborn into ThunderClan, Bluestar and the other warriors had been skeptical of Jaypaw's abilities to become a warrior. Lionpaw, Lionkit at the time, had suggested that his brother had become a medicine cat instead. Thankfully, Jaypaw agreed without protest this time around and Spottedleaf was allowed to take him on as her apprentice.
There was a small scoff from his brother now. "I think the hardest part is just getting used to this den. Honestly, the ferns are giving me more trouble than they should be."
"I could clear some out, if you'd like," Lionpaw offered. He had seen Jaypaw more than once get his ears caught on ferns in the shaded tunnel leading into the den. Though he certainly knew his way around the camp by now, sometimes things still got in his way.
"Don't bother. They'll die back in leaf-fall," Jaypaw said, though the flick of his tail betrayed his appreciation.
Spottedleaf returned with the mouse bile on a stick, which Lionpaw thanked her for and took it in his jaws carefully. After he cleared the elder's of ticks, he spent the rest of his day gathering new moss and disposing of the dirtied bedding. He made sure to check each new bundle of moss thoroughly for ticks or thorns before shaping it into nests. All the while, the elders rumbled to him in pleased tones, telling him of cats from long ago and commenting on Clan gossip.
By the time he was finished with all of his work, it was well past sunhigh and he had yet to eat. Tigerclaw was out on patrol again, so Lionpaw just assumed that it was safe for him to take a piece of prey. He padded over to the fresh-kill pile, where he found Dovepaw depositing her day's catch.
"Oh, hi Lionpaw. Look at what I caught today," She chirped as he came up beside her. She leaned down and nosed a rabbit. "Willowpelt was amazed. I tracked it through a wild garlic patch, so she had never even scented it."
Lionpaw had initially been impressed, but now his ears flattened. He couldn't believe how careless she was being lately. It's as if all of the time he spent scolding her as his own apprentice meant nothing. He lowered his voice and hissed to her, "Dovepaw! You know better than to be using your power around other cats!"
Dovepaw rolled her eyes. "It's just Willowpelt. And besides, it was such an easy catch. It was practically begging for me to find it."
"You shouldn't be using your powers while hunting,"
"You shouldn't be using your powers while fighting," She countered.
"That's different- I can't just-" Lionpaw began but snapped his jaws shut as he saw Willowpelt walking over. The warrior nodded to him before speaking with her apprentice.
She said, "Dovepaw, Bluestar wanted me to take you out and patrol the Twolegplace border. There's been a kittypet reported there who seems to have taken an interest in the forest."
"A kittypet?" Dovepaw's ears pricked at this. "What do they look like?"
"I didn't ask. I was just told to take a look around and report back any scent that we find." Willowpelt meowed. "Let's get this done quickly so that we can be back by sundown."
Dovepaw nodded and the two she-cats briskly walked away, leaving Lionpaw alone beside the fresh-kill pile. He stared after them for a long moment, then dipped his head to sniff bitterly at the rabbit. He instead snatched up a vole to eat and retreated back to the apprentices' den for the rest of the day.
As usual when left alone to his own devices, Lionpaw's mind wandered. But this time, it wasn't about lost mates or the pressure of knowing and trying to thwart Tigerclaw's future evil deeds. This time, he thought about Firestar, the ThunderClan leader in his previous life. The kittypet that Willowpelt spoke of was likely Firestar, who would at some point soon venture into the forest and be recruited as an apprentice of ThunderClan.
Worry twisted in Lionpaw's belly and he lost his appetite at once. He looked down at his half-eaten prey miserably. There was no way of stopping what was about to happen. Firestar would join as a kittypet, Redtail will be murdered, and Tigerclaw would very soon be on his way to becoming the evil Dark Forest leader that he is. Unless…
Lionpaw took another bite of his prey and slowly chewed. From the stories that he remembered, Ravenpaw had been part of Tigerclaw's patrol during the day that Redtail died. But Ravenpaw was not Tigerclaw's apprentice this time around. If Lionpaw could stay on Tigerclaw's good side, then maybe he could be part of the patrol who finds the invasion at Sunningrocks and would be able to prevent Redtail's death. He nodded slowly to himself, liking this plan.
"What are you doing?"
Sandpaw's voice made him look up. He swallowed quickly and said, "Just thinking,"
"You think too much," She scoffed, though it wasn't meant in a scornful way.
"I used to not think enough," Lionpaw meowed in response, then shifted over to make room for her. He nudged the vole. "Do you want to share? I'm not very hungry."
Sandpaw shrugged and settled down beside him. They sat in a shared quietness for a moment while they ate, but then Lionpaw spoke up.
"Hey, Sandpaw. I know that you wake up before everyone else in the den. Do you think that you could wake me up early too? Before Dustpaw, preferably."
"Sure," Her whiskers twitched in amusement. "You must be finally trying to get on Tigerclaw's good side. I heard that you were on elder duty all day."
"For the next moon, actually. But maybe if I wake up early enough, I could actually go out on some dawn patrols."
She nudged him playfully. "If you're not asleep on your paws. Seriously, you have to stop staying up so late. Worrying so much can't be healthy."
"I'll try my best," Lionpaw rumbled, though he knew that what he was about to do would only stress him out more. Interfering with history and saving another cat from death was bound to have its consequences. This was something that he'd hardly even discussed with Jaypaw or Dovepaw despite having been here for over six moons. For some reason, the two of them were determined to ignore the obvious issues and continue on with their lives. They had no idea what he was planning on doing soon and he could only imagine what Jaypaw would say. But either way, whether he got his ears clawed off or not, he knew that doing something. Even something as spontaneous as saving Redtail would be for the better of the four Clans. He just had to get back on Tigerclaw's good side again first…
