The Flood And The Flames is here guys! I'm really glad to be publishing this. Fair warning, it's basically a romance fic about two background characters so if you don't like that, don't read. Same for the fact that it's LGBTQ.

But yeah, enjoy the story!

The Flood And The Flames

Dewspring - Drizzle

Dewspring would say he was rather good at handling surprises. Even if they came as a shock, he has always been the calm, collected one where Reedclaw was sarcastic and Finpaw energetic.

But when seven cats and six kits walked into SkyClan's camp, he couldn't help but stand there, slack-jawed, at the brown tabby form that they were carrying.

Tigerheart is back. And he's dead.

He had to squint to keep the rain out of his eyes. It had just started, and he was about to head in (as most of the warriors were). But this came first.

He closed his eyes. Shook his head. I'm dreaming, right? Hallucinating. And then he opened them, and Tigerheart was still there. Tawnypelt's shocked expression only confirmed this for him. Reedclaw, shivering, bounded out of the den, opening her mouth in a friendly grin. But as soon as she followed Dewspring's line of sight, she became frozen in place. The molly didn't even look fazed by the rain.

Dewspring looked at the cats. He recognized Berryheart, Cloverfoot and Sparrowtail. Then there was Dovewing, the ThunderClan cat. The rest were unfamiliar. One was a brown tabby with white paws. The second was black-and-brown. Both of them were probably double his age, maybe thirty moons or so. The cat next to them was a bright ginger-and-white tom, who could have been Dewspring's age. Dewspring was taken back slightly by the brightness of his pelt. He'll have a hard time adjusting to the forest. If he's staying.

He next observed the kits. The older three resemble like Dovewing, at least two of them do. The third is Tigerheart's daughter, clearly. It wasn't hard to conclude who their parents were. Didn't Tawnypelt, or someone, tell us that Tigerheart and Dovewing loved each other before SkyClan came along? The other three were smaller, and Dewspring wasn't sure who their parents were.

He saw Reedclaw recover from her freeze, and walk towards Leafstar's den. She's recovered already? Dewspring managed to clamp his maw shut, and not look like a mouse-brain, but the shock clearly had no intention of leaving soon. The rain pricked on his pelt and he tried to squirm, move at all, but truth be told he was probably making himself look worse.

Out of his peripheral vision, Dewspring saw his sister lead Leafstar out of her den. He could feel her stiffen just like everyone else. Suddenly, the camp seemed to be holding its breath, and the silence cut through his fur more. And not just because it was more tense. If his leader is shocked…that just makes everything worse tenfold.

Leafstar stalked forward until she was just in from of Dewspring. "What is the meaning of this?" she snapped. Dewspring didn't blame her for being irritable. When nobody responded, she turned to the warriors' den. "Hawkwing," she called. "I'd very much appreciate your help right now."

Her voice cut through the clearing and Hawkwing, along with others, rushed out of the den. Dewspring did think that something about Leafstar's voice always commanded authority.

Suddenly, everything seemed less. Less stressful, less shocking. Dewspring felt his muscles loosen, and found he could move a paw. He shook himself off, but quietly as to not make a mess.

Then he found somewhere to sit, somewhere sheltered by the rain but where he can still watch the goings-on.

"I repeat. What's going on here? Why is Tigerheart dead, and why did you drag him to our camp?"

Dovewing stepped forward. "Leafstar, I can explain – "

"You probably should."

"He was attacked. By a bird, while protecting the kits. While we were returning, but we're not going to give up on him yet. Where's Rowanstar? And ShadowClan?" Her eyes sparked worry, even though she wasn't a ShadowClan cat. The other cats in the clearing shifted around uncomfortably, and Dewspring shrank back in the shadows. How were they supposed to tell this group that there is no ShadowClan? That Rowanclaw was dead?

Matter-of-factly, of course.

"Dead," Leafpool said. Dewspring was slightly taken back at her lack of tact, but clearly Leafstar realised how insensitive that was. She dipped her head, and the former ShadowClan cats do the same. Dewspring felt inclined to as well, and he does. "ShadowClan doesn't exist anymore. You can be a part of SkyClan, or leave. Those are the only two options left."

"Mouse-dung to that!" Dewspring heard a tom's voice say. "I don't want to be a SkyClan cat. I've always been a ShadowClan cat." Dewspring felt a twinge of sympathy for these cats, but it didn't last long. Leafstar was down-to-business, as always, and Dewspring had underestimated how much these cats wanted Tigerheart to still be alive. They were hushed for a minute, trying to figure things out. Then, Dovewing stepped forward and made the request.

"Is it possible for us to try and...revive him, in some way? He's a leader, right? Maybe if we brought him to the Moonpool..." she trailed off, either due to the realisation of how ridiculous this was or Leafstar's death glare.

But the brown-and-cream molly didn't really seem to care. "You do that," she said. "Just think about what the consequences of your actions are." She walked towards Dewspring's direction (although not directly at him) and he was one of the few that heard her frustrated remark. "And I thought ShadowClan cats were supposed to be the smart ones," is what she complained. Dewspring didn't think that was fair, but he wasn't going to say anything about it and risk angering his leader even more.

With what sounded like a sigh of resignation, Dovewing murmured something to the other cats and they turned around, walking with Tigerheart away from the SkyClan camp. The whole Clan watched them go, then broke out in chatter. Quiet whispers, of course, and unintelligible over the rain. Which had only gotten heavier, and didn't show any signs of letting up now.

Resignedly, he trudged towards the warriors' den, not wanting to stay out any longer. Reedclaw spotted him and walked along with him. She wanted to talk to him, he could tell, but she didn't actually speak. At least, not until he found his nest and curled in the soft moss and feathers. When she did start speaking, Dewspring wasn't fully listening, but he couldn't completely block it out.

"That was...interesting, hmm?"

"Yeah," he mumbled in return.

Her eyes sparked with excitement. "It's going to be exciting to see what happens next, definitely!"

Dewspring knew he didn't want to talk about this, and didn't care much at the moment. However, his sister did have a point, that this would be important to the future. So he mewed a quiet "Sure", wrapping his tail over his ears and eyes. Reedclaw sighed theatrically and flounced off to her nest (which wasn't even that far away from Dewspring's), and the quiet drumming of the rain lulled Dewspring to sleep.

The Flood And The Flames

In the morning, there was no Tigerheart. No ShadowClan. No worries.

At least, until it all came crashing back to him. Then there was ShadowClan, and all his worries.

Very few warriors were up, but Leafstar sat at the base of the rock. The warriors who were awake looked at her, or talked among themselves. Mintfur, one of Dewspring's friends, walked up to him and greeted him immediately with the news. Rather, the lack of it. "There's still been no news about the group from yesterday, and the former ShadowClan cats are getting restless. Leafstar sent all the awake ones out on patrol, but that's really only Tawnypelt and Juniperclaw and Grassheart. Leafstar's deciding right now what to do with this Tigerstar situation."

And Dewspring didn't think he had ever seen his leader deeper in thought. Her tail twitched back-and-forth irritably, her annoyance showing on his face. Clearly she did care more than she acted yesterday. But, this was something that affected everyone. It made sense.

But none of them had to worry for much longer, as one of the strange cats soon ran into camp. The black-and-brown tom. "Can you guys come? Or, some of you? Dovewing sent me to tell you that it seemed to work!"

Leafstar gazed at him skeptically. "And how do we know it's not a ploy?" Dewspring felt his fur prick at this. This whole thing could be a trick...Tigerheart could be in perfect condition this whole time, and then they'd attack us when we've left camp. He forced his fur to lay flat, but that didn't stop the dread from taking hold of him.

"Just take one or two warriors, and your deputy. We're not going to attack." The black-and-brown tom looked directly at Leafstar. Calm, collected. "I come from a group of cats where we heal the sick, protect the weak. I could never harm any cat on purpose, especially during a time of peace." Dewspring noted this, that there were some cats who knew that peace was good. Like him. He'd always hated fighting other cats. Twolegs, maybe. Foxes, he'd fight if he needed to. But another cat? He could never kill or seriously injure another cat.

"Either you're an incredible liar or you're telling the truth," Leafstar mused. She stood up. "Alright. Dewspring, get your sister; this will be good for our new warriors to experience. Violetshine, wake Hawkwing. The five of us will go. Plumwillow and Frecklewish are in charge of the camp." Dewspring was confused as to why Leafstar chose him, but then he realised that she was leaving a lot of more experienced warriors behind to defend the camp, if there did happen to be an attack.

He padded over to the warriors' den with Violetshine. They diverged at the middle, her going to her father's comfortable nest, which showed the mark of his seniority, and him to Reedclaw's, which...did not. Still, that was fair, and Dewspring knew they would get a better nest as time went on.

Dewspring tapped his sister's shoulder. "Leafstar wants us," he mewed quietly. She woke up quickly, and followed Dewspring out of the den quietly. Their leader was by the camp entrance with Tawnypelt, while Juniperclaw and Grassheart were depositing prey on the fresh-kill pile. Hawkwing and Violetshine emerged from the den a moment later and joined them.

"Let's go then," Leafstar said. "Unless you think we should bring anyone else?" Tawnypelt shook her head no, and the six cats squeezed past the camp entrance. The forest was peaceful today, Dewspring noticed. The rain last night had covered the plants in a coat of watery sheen, the smell fresh and relaxing. Maybe this new day would bring newfound peace to the forest. Maybe these cats coming back, new and old, would bring a new start. A good start. A good change.

Of course, they had to cross WindClan territory to get to the Moonpool. But they made sure to stay on the border, and the patrol they ran into was amicable enough. After exchanging pleasantries and telling WindClan that they have to get to the Moonpool, they allowed SkyClan to keep going, and Dewspring marveled at their good luck.

Dewspring couldn't help but smile, his eyes lighting up slightly. It was a good day.

When they reached the Moonpool, Tigerheart stood there, his tail twined with Dovewing's. Leafstar looked understandably shocked, but Tigerheart stepped forward to explain as the other cats joined them.

"StarClan granted me my lives," he said. "I am now Tigerstar, and I will lead ShadowClan once again." Dewspring squinted slightly. Was that a threat? It certainly seemed foreboding. If ShadowClan wants territory back...well, we're here now, and we won't back down. He could tell that Leafstar was thinking the same thing.

But all his leader did was dip her head. "Very well then. If you're sure they'll have you as leader?" Tigerstar didn't look like he was used to this type of challenge. He looked off-balance for a second, before nodding assertively, along with assurances that he was ShadowClan's proper leader and he was the one they want. "I don't think I could take it anymore," Leafstar mumbled again. The stress of the past few days must've really taken its toll on her, Dewspring observed.

Tigerstar glared at Leafstar after this comment, and she met his gaze evenly. The two leaders kept at this for a few moments, although to Dewspring it seemed so much more than that. Neither leader broke away from the other's gaze until Dovewing stepped in.

"Shall we go back to SkyClan's camp, then?" she asked, trying to remain positive. But no cat was happy, and everyone saw through it. Well, if Tigerstar is going to challenge another leader before the first sunhigh of his leadership, maybe he isn't the right leader for ShadowClan. It certainly matched up with all the stories that Dewspring had heard about ShadowClan on his way to the lake, though.

"Yes," Tawnypelt agreed. "Let's." She didn't seem to take a side, talking to Dovewing rather than her own son, or (former? Was ShadowClan a Clan again yet?) leader. Dewspring was incredibly grateful for the two she-cats at that moment, although rarely anyone agreed. The kits were all playing together, Leafstar was looking at Tawnypelt with feigned interest, the two older Guardian cats were exchanging worried glances. Berryheart pressed into her mate's fur.

The two start walking, picking up a kit each in their mouth, and Dewspring followed right behind them. Reedclaw joined him after a second, and so on, until everyone was in their probably bizzare-looking procession.

Tigerstar is back, and with him ShadowClan. Dewspring felt joy for a moment, a fleeting feeling. Then, he remembered the brown tabby's threat. But what price does this come at?

Will be edited more later! Thanks for reading, please review!