Even amidst worrying over his daughter, Fireheart knew he didn't have time to let his emotions get the best of him. Now that the dogs had a taste for cat blood or at least knew there were cats in the area, it was only a matter of time until the Clan was hunted down. They had to figure out a plan to get rid of them before another warrior was mauled, or worse, murdered by the dogs.

On top of that, there were also Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremonies to consider. Goldenflower's kits had reached their sixth moon, and Fireheart knew it was time for them to receive mentors. Unfortunately, with everything that had happened recently, he hadn't even had time to consider who he would give them to. He certainly wouldn't have minded mentoring one of them, but he was so busy with his deputy duties and helping out with Snowpaw's training that he didn't think he could fit it into his schedule.

Perhaps Whitestorm could take one of them, Fireheart mused to himself. And Sandstorm can take the other. It's been a while since she had an apprentice of her own.

He shook his head to himself as he continued on his way through the forest, ignoring a blackbird as it flew high above his head. There was so much to do and so little time to get it done, he wasn't even sure where to start. Every single day, it seemed as if StarClan had a new problem for ThunderClan to deal with. The stress of serving as Bluestar's second in command was slowly taking its toll on him, and he hadn't eaten or slept properly in at least half a moon. And judging from what he saw of Bluestar, it was only going to get worse if or when he became the Clan's leader. Of course, Fireheart would never wish that Tigerstar were still in ThunderClan, but there were times when he hated his role as Clan deputy.

Almost instinctively, Fireheart found his gaze wandering in the direction of Snakerocks. Even though he knew the dogs were too far away to sense him now, it was impossible to feel safe knowing they had made a home inside of his territory. It wasn't as though he had never come across a dog, of course, but they had always been restrained by their Twolegs before. A pack of wild dogs was something he had no experience with, and judging by the constant fear he could sense from his Clanmates every time they ventured out of the camp, neither did anyone else.

What kind of home is this, he wondered despondently, if we can't even go for a simple hunt without having to look over our shoulders all the time?

As if that wasn't enough, there was also Frostfur's behavior to be concerned about. The white queen seemed to have gotten over her anger, but now she was spending nearly all day in her nest. She barely ate, she never went on patrols, and she refused to speak to her Clanmates. Even Cinderheart, Brackenfur, and Thornclaw's attempts at getting Frostfur to start interacting with the Clan again had been unsuccessful. Nobody seemed to know what to do to help her, and eventually, it was decided that it was best to leave her alone. Fireheart could only hope that she would pull out of whatever was wrong with her sooner rather than later.

On the bright side, Squirrelpaw had mostly gotten over her scare by now. There were still nights when he awoke to find his daughter curled up in his nest, but for the most part, she seemed to be back to her usual self.

After a while, Fireheart decided it would be best to return to the camp. He wasn't doing much good wandering through the forest by himself, and there was still work that needed to be done. Pushing his way through the gorse tunnel, he nodded quickly to Ravenflight and Runningwind as he headed over to Bluestar's den.

"Yes, Fireheart? Are you alright?" his mother greeted him as he entered, gently touching her nose to his forehead.

"I'm fine," Fireheart replied, only half-lying. "But I was just thinking...we should probably do something to get rid of the dogs, you know? I mean, it's only a matter of time until the inevitable happens at this point. Not to mention we also have to figure out what to do about Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremony."

"I was thinking the same thing," Bluestar agreed. "We should probably start off with mentors first. The Clan needs warriors more than ever now, and besides, I have a feeling it will take a few days before we can come up with a solid plan to take care of those dogs."

"Yeah, okay," Fireheart meowed, relieved that his mother seemed to have things figured out. "I was thinking about having Whitestorm and Sandstorm mentor them. If that's alright?"

"Of course," the blue-gray molly replied warmly.

"But I haven't figured out who should mentor who," he admitted. "I know I should have thought of that before, but I've been so distracted with everything that I only remembered to pick out mentors, not assignments."

"Well, there's still time for us to decide," Bluestar meowed encouragingly. "Don't worry yourself so much, Fireheart. You're doing just fine."

"Yeah...yeah, I guess," Fireheart answered, letting out a sigh. He certainly didn't feel as though he was doing fine, but it was nice to have his mother's support. Shaking his head, he continued, "So, who should we assign to each kit?"

"Whitestorm would be a good fit for Tawnykit," the blue-furred queen meowed thoughtfully. "Her spirit reminds me of Sandstorm in a way, and he did well with her. And Sandstorm can mentor Bramblekit."

"So, Whitestorm will mentor Tawnykit and Sandstorm will mentor Bramblekit," Fireheart repeated. Bluestar nodded. "Great. So...I guess that's all I needed, then. I'll go talk to Sandstorm and Whitestorm and let them know."

He turned around and started to make his way out of the den. Just as he was about to push his way through the curtain of lichen, however, he was stopped as Bluestar called out to him.

"Fireheart, wait a moment," she meowed.

"What is it?" Fireheart asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

"How are you holding up?" Bluestar asked gently, resting her tail on his shoulder. "You know, with everything that's been going on lately."

"I've been...fine, I guess," Fireheart answered hesitantly. "I mean, I get tired every now and then, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Are you sure?" his mother asked. "I know you're a hard worker, Fireheart, but there's no need to pretend everything's alright if it's not. It's natural for everyone to get overwhelmed once in a while, and you've had to deal with more than most. If there's anything you want to talk about or if you just need a day off, you can always let me know."

There was so much tenderness in her eyes that for a moment, Fireheart was tempted to spill out his frustrations to her right then and there. He wanted to tell her how tired he was, how much he hated everything that had happened to ThunderClan recently and the fact that there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it. He wanted to tell her that he missed the days where his life was simple when he was just a regular warrior and didn't have to deal with the burdens of being the Clan deputy. Most of all, he wanted to curse StarClan and ask them why they wouldn't just leave his Clan alone, why they felt the need to send one disaster after another their way. But he couldn't do that, and not just because he didn't want to sound as though he were complaining. There was too much to worry about; he didn't have time to fall apart right now. That was the burden of being a deputy. The Clan was counting on him–and Bluestar, of course–and he couldn't let them down. His own personal feelings about his Clan's troubles were just going to have to wait for him to deal with them at a more convenient time.

"Thank you, really," Fireheart meowed finally. "But I'm okay. Honestly. As I said before, it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, I'm sure things will calm down eventually."

Bluestar studied him for a few heartbeats, then nodded. "Alright," she meowed. "If you insist. But Fireheart, once you're done talking to Sandstorm and Whitestorm, I want you to take a piece of fresh-kill and then head to bed early today. You look dead on your paws and it's almost sunset anyway. We'll hold Bramblekit and Tawnykit's apprentice ceremony tomorrow."

Fireheart nodded, knowing it wouldn't do any good to argue, and Bluestar rasped her tongue gently over his ears. "Take care of yourself," she murmured. "You're a wonderful young warrior, darling, and I know you want to do what's best for ThunderClan, but it's important to take time for yourself as well."

"I understand, Mama," Fireheart meowed quietly.

And he did, but he also knew it wasn't as easy as Bluestar made it out to be. How could he even think about taking time for himself when there were threats to ThunderClan's safety around every corner? He couldn't just take a leisure day now, not when his Clan needed him the most. Besides, wasn't that what he agreed to when he accepted Bluestar's offer to take up the position of ThunderClan deputy? It was his duty to put his Clanmates' needs above his own–but by StarClan, he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little envious of the kits at the moment.

Poor Fireheart is slowly losing his mind.

So yes, Whitestorm will get Tawnykit and Sandstorm gets Bramblekit. I was just going to have Fireheart mentor Bramblekit as usual, but I figured he'd be busy enough with Snowpaw as it is even if he technically isn't his official mentor. Not to mention the whole reason Fireheart took Bramblekit in the first place in canon was that he wanted to keep a close eye on him, but this version of Fireheart doesn't have the same mistrust in fluff boi, so he's fine with letting him go to someone else.

As for the reason I didn't give Tawnykit to Sandstorm, I figured that would be a little too predictable.

Responses to a few reviews:

DawnFrostofThunderClan74: Essentially, yes, this is an AU where Firepaw/heart/star is Bluestar and Thrushpelt's son. The story will make a lot more sense if you start from Echoing Flames: Into the Wild and read from there.

Kitty-Guardian Hootryd: Fireheart, master of sass. And yeah, poor Squirrelpaw. :(

PheonixRune: Lol, don't worry. Frostfur isn't evil or anything, she's just grieving over her daughter's injury. Unfortunately, with the way the Clan's lifestyle is set up, there's really no good time or place to have emotions.

Flippy The Demon: I actually haven't decided on what to do about Cloudtail yet. I've kind of been switching back and forth between removing him from the plotline entirely and adding him into one of Fireheart and Sandstorm's litters.

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior