"Firepaw!"

Firepaw jumped awake. Had he fallen asleep? He was supposed to be guarding Bluestar! However, his surroundings weren't a crystal-lit cave with his dark-furred leader laying beside the Moonstone. It was Fourtrees, and he was sitting on the Great Rock. He looked to his right, where the voice had come from, only to see the small form of Redtail.

"Don't tell me I touched the Moonstone!" Firepaw mewed worriedly.

Redtail shook his head. "You didn't. I just thought that now was the perfect time to speak with you."

"Why me?" Firepaw asked. "Bluestar is here too!"

"Sunstar is speaking with her," Redtail meowed. "I was given permission to talk to you." He lowered his round muzzle slightly. "Are you alright with that?"

Firepaw nodded. "What do you need to say?"

"When leaf-bare comes, your life will change drastically," Redtail informed him. "Two enemies will meet and fall for one another, but you shall not interfere. Their paths have been set in the stars, and leaving it as is will help the future go along as the ancient ones planned. I just know that since you dislike this cat, you'll be extremely willing to rat them out. I'm warning you now: don't."

Firepaw narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Are you talking about an inter-Clan relationship or something?"

Redtail nodded. "Precisely."

"But that's against the warrior code!"

"Some cats can't help but feed their lust. There's nothing that can be done to prevent it. All that the Clans can do is punish them."

"What will happen?" Firepaw asked curiously. "What is it that I have to let happen?"

"I don't know," Redtail sighed. "No cat, dead or alive, knows. We just see brief messages, and so we must pass them on. We do know the cats, though."

Firepaw's eyes widened. "Who?"

"I cannot say. You'd try changing things before they even happened, especially at this impulsive age."

Firepaw sighed. "You're right." He lifted his lowered head. "Wait, I have something to ask. Did Tigerclaw…" He shuffled his paws, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer. "Did he-"

"Yes," Redtail interrupted sadly. "The cat whom I saw as a friend and a second mentor took my life. Ravencloud speaks the truth."

"Thank you for telling me," Firepaw mewed. "I hoped that maybe his mind just made something up, or… well, anything but the truth. Tigerclaw just seems so loyal! I can't imagine how he sleeps at night, knowing what he's done."

Redtail shook his head slowly, his pale eyes aimed at the ground. "Some cats have no desire but to kill and take." His tortoiseshell head perked up very suddenly. "You must go. Immediately!"

Firepaw couldn't form words in his mind to describe what it felt like being jolted awake by the pure power of StarClan alone, but it was definitely something he'd never forget. When he sat up after awakening, his pelt was immediately bristled. He kept Redtail's panicked words in mind as he saw Bluestar get up as well, just as afraid and rushed.

"We must leave, Firepaw," she meowed with a strong sense of urgency. She quickly walked out. "Now!"

Firepaw followed her, unnerved. What could be so horrible that they needed to rush back home? When they left Mothermouth, they saw Graypaw and Stormpaw sleepily talking to one another. It seemed like Graypaw had really lowered his guard during this trip, since Darkstripe wasn't here to watch him. Tigerclaw was sitting off to the side, watching grumpily. When they noticed their Clanmates emerge from the mountain, however, they all followed.

"What's going on?" Graypaw asked.

"I don't know," Firepaw replied. "Definitely something important, but I don't know what."

They kept going in silence, Bluestar pushing on with rapid speed. As largely built ThunderClanners, they got tired quickly. However, she left no time to stop and take a breather. Around the time the sun began setting, they reached Barley's territory. He was a black-and-white barn cat who had helped them avoid some dogs on their way to Mothermouth. The loner himself appeared, halting them all.

"What is it, Barley?" Bluestar asked.

Barley's green eyes were wide with confusion. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine," Tigerclaw answered. "What do you want?"

"The dogs are out, but the way I gave you yesterday is blocked," Barley informed them. "You'll need to go through the other path."

"There are rats on that path," Bluestar told him, seeming to know which he was referring to.

"Not anymore. The Twolegs cleared them out."

Bluestar considered it for a moment before nodding gratefully. "Thank you, Barley. We must be going now. StarClan has foreseen danger, and we must hurry home."

Barley mewed a goodbye. As they began heading back to ThunderClan territory again, Tigerclaw asked, "Are you sure we can even trust him?"

Bluestar nodded confidently. "He wouldn't mislead us. What would he gain?"

When they arrived to the clearing, they slowed to a walk. Bluestar had her jaws parted, seemingly checking for danger. Her head perked up as she let out a warning yowl, but it was too late. They were already swarmed with rats. Each cat had no choice but to take on at least two. Bluestar herself had four, and was having trouble despite her battle experience.

Firepaw had killed one rat, but was still having trouble with the second. Graypaw came over and delivered the final blow, seemingly done with his. They then helped Stormpaw with his, since he was buried underneath three. When the apprentices looked at Bluestar, they saw Tigerclaw finishing off the ones clinging to her pelt. They rushed over, realizing that she was worse off out of all of them. She lay on the grass, bleeding profusely from multiple wounds - most harmfully, a throat one.

"I'm going to kill that rogue for lying to us," Tigerclaw growled.

"He couldn't have known," Bluestar told him weakly. "Don't do…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyes glazed over.

She was dead.

Firepaw froze. He couldn't move, couldn't think. His leader and his mentor was gone. Tigerclaw simply stared at her, seeming impatient. Stormpaw and Graypaw were sitting, licking their wounds. The ginger tom could hardly believe that his Clanmates didn't care about her death. He tried holding his anger in, but he exploded anyway.

"What's wrong with all of you?!" he yowled. "Bluestar is dead!" Tears came to his eyes. "She's gone, and there's nothing we can do to help her! Why don't any of you care?!"

Tigerclaw growled, "Can you shut up? She's fine."

"What do you mean?!" Firepaw shouted.

Tigerclaw rolled his eyes. "I can't believe no one told you about this. Just sit and wait. You'll see."

"I forgot to tell him," Stormpaw mewed quietly. "Never came up, I guess."

Firepaw sat hesitantly, trying to sort out his grief and anger. Multiple long moments passed, and nothing happened. This only made him more upset. He was about to begin yowling again, but Bluestar's voice stopped him.

"We must keep going," she meowed, sitting up.

Firepaw shook his head. "Wh-what?" he murmured. "How are you alive?"

"A leader has nine lives, Firepaw," Bluestar explained. "StarClan gives them to us so that we can be the first to rush into a battle and the last to take prey from the pile. It doesn't matter right now, anyway. We have to keep moving."

"If you don't mind my asking, how many more do you have left?" Tigerclaw asked quietly, so quietly that Firepaw had to strain to hear.

Bluestar looked at the apprentices. "That was my fifth," she meowed in a normal volume, causing Graypaw and Stormpaw to lift their heads with surprise. "I see no reason to hide it. I have four more. It should be enough for me to see many more seasons."

Tigerclaw nodded. "Of course." He looked to the three younger cats. "You lot, let's get going. We've wasted enough time, thanks to this Barley cat."

They moved slower now that they were all wounded, but they still made good time. They didn't bother moving stealthily through WindClan land, which Firepaw found odd. Wouldn't ShadowClan cats be there? However, they saw nor scented none. Any trace was stale. He supposed that speed was more important than stealth right then, anyway.

As they approached their camp, they began hearing yowling and screeching. Bluestar's pelt bristled, and she dashed ahead. Tigerclaw wasted no time in following. The apprentices, on the other paw, hesitated out of shock and ran after. Firepaw froze as he took in the scene. Dens were torn up, there were ShadowClan cats everywhere, and every ThunderClanner was fighting - even the frail elders.

Firepaw pounced on a brown tabby apprentice and began striking, then stopped. Both cats were still. "Littlepaw?"

Littlepaw was shaking. "I didn't tell them that you were gone! I-I swear, I didn't say anything. Someone else did."

"Who did?" Firepaw pressed. "Did you see them? Are they in your Clan?"

Littlepaw shook his head. "They're a ThunderClanner. He came in our camp, a-and he told Brokenstar that Bluestar and some warriors were gone… he was in a huge hurry, was out of breath."

"Who was it?" Firepaw was thinking of a specific cat, but surely it couldn't be.

Littlepaw parted his jaws to speak, but was pinned and attacked by Sandstorm. "Stop talking to the enemy, kittypet!" she growled.

Firepaw dashed off to attack a tuxedo tom instead, who appeared to be the same size as Littlepaw. Maybe this was the Wetpaw he'd mentioned? They must've been kin; they were too tiny to be apprentices. Smallness must run in their family. As he thought about this, he chased the bicolored tom out of their camp. Right after, he heard a deep voice call a retreat.

Firepaw dashed out of the way as all of the ShadowClan warriors, led by their deputy Blackfoot, escaped through the entrance. He looked over camp. Rosetail lay dead by the elders' den. Her denmates, wounded, surrounded her with tears in their eyes. Then, by the nursery and next to a yowling Frostfur, was the fluffy golden form of Lionheart.

Firepaw felt his heart drop. No, Lionheart couldn't be dead. He was simply unconscious. He'd need lots of care from Spottedleaf, sure, but he was very much alive! ...Right? He slowly padded over and got a better look. The deputy's green eyes were glazed over, and his face was scrunched permanently into a snarl.

Firepaw couldn't help it. He ran to the apprentices' den and fell into his nest, sobbing. Even though Lionheart had only temporarily been his mentor, he'd still remained close with the warrior. He couldn't bring himself to stand and leave the warm comfort of his nest. Instead, he remained there. He trembled, and sobbed, and wished that it had been anyone but kind and loyal Lionheart.

After a very long time of letting his grief out, Firepaw lifted his tear-ridden face and sniffed. He didn't bother cleaning himself up before forcing himself out of the den. He was presented with a dusk sky and the beginnings of a vigil. It seemed as if they were finishing sharing tongues with the two deceased. The ginger apprentice padded over, but stayed back a fair distance in order to give the final few space.

The last cat, after Firepaw, to share tongues with Lionheart was Stormpaw. He looked even worse than Firepaw, especially since he'd been closer to him. Soon enough, the sky grew even darker and the moon appeared. The only cats left by Lionheart's side were Frostfur, Goldenflower, Stormpaw, and Firepaw. Bluestar hopped onto the top of Highrock, and the gathered crowd in front of the boulder looked up.

"It was a tragedy that we lost Lionheart and Rosetail today," Bluestar meowed. "However, we mustn't wait to choose a new deputy." She lifted her chin. "I say these words before StarClan so that they may hear and approve my choice. The new deputy of ThunderClan is Tigerclaw."

Firepaw felt his blood turn to ice. He looked where Ravencloud sat by himself, noticing that the young warrior was also visibly terrified. Oh, StarClan, please don't let Tigerclaw remain deputy for long.

yikes a very clearly rushed chapter. theres better stuff to come so dont even worry. see you in about 5 months