Fireheart padded out of the warriors' den as the sun began to peek over the top of Highstones, still blinking sleep from his eyes. Across the camp, he spotted Bluestar emerging from her den beneath the Highrock, pausing for a moment to sniff at the air. He was about to head over to speak to her when he heard his name being called from behind. Turning around, he saw Sandstorm, Ravenflight, and Dustpelt emerging from the den.
"Hi, Fireheart," Sandstorm greeted him, brushing her nose against his cheek. "Want to come on the dawn patrol with us?"
"Sorry, I can't," Fireheart meowed apologetically. "I need to speak to Bluestar. But maybe we can go hunting later?"
"Sure, alright," the pale ginger molly agreed. "See you later, then."
Fireheart nodded and turned to go to meet Bluestar outside her den. The blue-gray queen was busy grooming, giving her chest fur several licks to smooth it down. He padded up to his mother and dipped his head respectfully, feeling her tongue rasp gently over his ears.
"Good morning," Bluestar meowed, her eyes warm. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Sure, is there a special flower somewhere that can make Tigerstar disappear? Because if there is, tell me where I can find it," Fireheart answered, half-joking, half deadly serious. Bluestar shook her head and tapped his shoulder gently with her tail. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you. I mean unless you're busy, of course."
"Not at all," his mother meowed kindly. "I'll always have time for you, Fireheart. Do you want to go to my den to talk or would you rather have this conversation elsewhere?"
"Er, I think your den would be best," he answered.
Bluestar nodded and led the way inside her den, pushing her way through the curtain of lichen that draped over the entrance. Fireheart followed suit, taking a seat on the sandy floor as his mother settled herself in her nest. She observed him silently, waiting patiently for him to speak as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"So, what seems to be the problem?" she prompted gently when the silence had gone on for a little too long.
Fireheart blinked, then replied, "I wanted to work on a plan to get rid of the dogs."
Nearly three moons had passed since Brightheart and Squirrelpaw were attacked by the dogs. Although nobody in ThunderClan had suffered a similar fate as of yet, Fireheart wasn't about to take any chances. The longer they waited, the more opportunities the dogs would have to attack or kill another warrior. They had to think of a plan to get rid of them.
Bluestar nodded and licked her paw, drawing it over her face. "I agree," she meowed. "Do you have any ideas on how we might do it?"
"I'm not sure yet," Fireheart admitted. He had stayed awake for several nights, trying to think of a solid plan. Unfortunately, every time he came up with one, he always thought of an idea as to why it wouldn't work.
They could lead the dogs to the gorge, but that would require trespassing on RiverClan territory, and Fireheart knew that Leopardstar would be on high alert for any ThunderClan warriors after her Clan's defeat at Sunningrocks. Not only that, but there was also the issue of how they would get the dogs to jump over the gorge in the first place. Leading them to the Thunderpath was another option, but the likelihood of all the dogs being hit by monsters was low at best. If they failed, the remainder of the pack would likely make their home in ShadowClan territory next. As much as Fireheart disliked Tigerstar and ShadowClan in general, even they didn't deserve to be torn apart by wild dogs. No matter what, every plan he thought of would likely end in disaster if they tried to execute it.
Then, as if StarClan had taken pity on his inability to come up with a plan and sent him an idea, the answer came to him.
"Poison," he murmured half to himself.
"Pardon me?" Bluestar asked, frowning. "What did you say?"
"We can poison the dogs," Fireheart repeated, a bit louder this time.
"How do you suggest we do that?" his mother inquired.
"Simple. Well...not really, but I think it will work," he replied. "We know the dogs have been eating our prey, so we tempt them with a bit of fresh-kill. What the dogs won't know is that the prey will be stuffed with deathberries. If deathberries can kill cats, then they should be able to kill dogs as well."
Bluestar tilted her head to the side. "But how do you know the dogs will eat the deathberries?"
"There were a few dogs living in Twolegplace while I was there," Fireheart answered. "They're all the same–large, stupid bullies with no brains. Whatever you place with their food, they'll eat it. And there aren't any deathberries growing near Snakerocks, so they won't know that the berries are dangerous."
His mother nodded slowly, a gleam entering her icy blue eyes. "That could work," she meowed finally. "Alright, Fireheart. We'll go through with your plan."
"Okay," Fireheart meowed, nodding. He hesitated, then added, "But...if my plan doesn't work, we should bring a few warriors with us. Just–just in case we need to fight the pack."
"Very well," Bluestar agreed. She narrowed her eyes and added, "However, you will not be fighting the pack. You'll stay home with the rest of the Clan."
"What?" Fireheart stared at the blue-gray molly in disbelief. "Why not? I'm perfectly fine; I'll be able to handle a fight with a few dogs."
"Fireheart, you know what those dogs did to Brightheart. They aren't like normal Twoleg pets. I know you're a strong warrior, but you can't win every battle," his mother meowed firmly. Her voice shook ever so slightly as she added, "I'm not losing you to them. I've already gone through that once."
"I know you're worried about me," Fireheart replied softly, touching his muzzle to his mother's shoulder. "But I need you to trust that I can take care of myself. I've faced a lot before; I can handle this. And besides...this whole plan is my idea. I should be there to make sure everything goes right."
For a moment, Bluestar didn't reply, her eyes filled with anguish as she scraped her claws against the earth. Fireheart felt a stab of mixed guilt and pity as he looked at his mother. He understood what she was feeling; if it were Squirrelpaw, Rainpaw, Redpaw, or Spotpaw in his place, he wouldn't want them fighting the dogs either. But he knew he had to do this. It was his duty to protect his Clan, even if it meant giving up his life in the process. If things went wrong, he owed it to his Clanmates to make sure the pack didn't destroy ThunderClan.
Finally, after several long heartbeats of silence, Bluestar nodded. "Alright," she whispered. "You'll come to Snakerocks."
Fireheart dipped his head as Bluestar pressed her muzzle to his forehead. "Thank you," he murmured softly.
"We should go tell the rest of the Clan," Bluestar meowed. "I'll call a meeting."
She got up from her nest and walked out of her den with Fireheart following close behind. He settled down at the base of the Highrock as Bluestar leaped on top, giving the ages-old call that summoned the rest of the Clan for a meeting. Several warriors pushed their way out of the den, looking around tiredly, and Fireheart realized that most of the Clan hadn't woken up yet. He glanced around for the dawn patrol and spotted them near the clump of nettles where the warriors shared their meals; they must have been just about to leave. Sandstorm walked over and sat down beside him, a curious look in her eyes.
"What's going on?" she whispered. "You look worried about something. Are you alright?"
"You'll see," Fireheart whispered back.
"ThunderClan, we don't have much time, so I'll get to the point," Bluestar began from her perch on the Highrock. "As you all know, there is a pack of dogs living at Snakerocks. I don't need to tell you that these dogs are a threat; you all saw what they did to Brightheart. Fireheart has come up with a plan to try to get rid of the pack. Would you like to tell the Clan what your plan is?"
Fireheart stood up and briefly described his idea to the rest of his Clanmates, acutely aware of the way their desperately hope-filled gazes were trained on him. It was as though they thought his plan was their only hope of survival. The knowledge weighed on him as though he were being dragged underwater. Should his plan fail, it would mean certain death for his Clanmates–and this time, he would only have himself to blame.
When he finished, Speckletail spoke up, "But what if the plan doesn't work? What will you do then?"
"We thought about that," Fireheart told the tabby queen. "And we decided that we'll bring a group of our strongest warriors ready to fight in case the worst should happen."
"Who will you bring?" Frostfur called out. It was the first time she had spoken to him willingly in moons.
"I'm going, for one," he replied. "But we haven't decided who else to take yet."
"Keep in mind that this mission will be dangerous–deadly, even," Bluestar meowed warningly. "Apprentices, queens, and elders must stay in the camp. This will be a warriors-only mission. Five warriors will accompany Fireheart to Snakerocks. If you wish to go, please volunteer yourself now."
Sandstorm stood up at once. "I'll go," she declared. "I could give those dogs a few scratches to remember ThunderClan by."
"What?" Rainpaw cried, leaping to her paws. "You can't go! What if the dogs catch you?"
"Dad's already going! Why do you have to go too?" Redpaw wailed.
"You have to stay at home!" Squirrelpaw insisted.
Fireheart felt his heart twist with sorrow at the devastated, pleading expressions on his kits' faces. Tawnypaw pressed her fur comfortingly against Rainpaw, giving the older apprentice a quick lick on her shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sandstorm rise to her paws and walk over to comfort their kits.
"I'll come back, I promise," she meowed gently. "We'll both come back. Those dogs aren't going to take us that easily."
Their four kits looked into her eyes searchingly. "You promise?"
"I promise," Sandstorm repeated firmly.
The four apprentices nodded, and she gave each of them a gentle lick between their ears. She walked back over to take her place beside Fireheart again, and the flame-colored warrior pressed his nose to her cheek. He hated having to leave their kits as much as she did, but they had to do what was best for the Clan.
"Who else would like to go?" Bluestar asked, blinking sympathetically at him.
"I will," Dustpelt volunteered.
"And me as well," Ravenflight added.
"Count me in," Swiftrunner meowed, lashing his tail.
"I'll come too," Cinderheart growled, and Fireheart was startled at the ferocity in the normally cheerful molly's voice. "Those dogs are going to pay for what they did to Brightheart."
"Fireheart, Sandstorm, Dustpelt, Ravenflight, Swiftrunner, and Cinderheart," Bluestar recited with a nod. "That should do it, then. The rest of the Clan will remain here."
"We should start preparing the fresh-kill now," Fireheart meowed solemnly. "Everyone who's coming on the mission, be ready to leave as soon as we've stuffed the last piece of prey with deathberries."
The Clan slowly dispersed as everyone went back to their regular duties for the day. Fireheart met up with the rest of the patrol; without a word, they walked over to Yellowfang's den to gather the deathberries they would use to poison the dogs. A heavy silence hung over the group; they all knew how much the rest of the Clan was counting on them to succeed. This was more than just a battle.
Once they had gathered the deathberries, the group selected several pieces of prey to stuff the bright red berries into. Fireheart took a rabbit from the pile and carefully inserted several of the berries into its mouth. One berry was usually enough to kill a cat, but he wasn't sure if the dogs' larger size would give them a stronger resistance and he wasn't going to take the risk of finding out the hard way.
"Is everyone ready?" he asked after he had finished stuffing his rabbit.
A murmur of assent arose from the rest of his patrol. Fireheart nodded and picked up his rabbit, leading the way to the gorse tunnel. Pausing at the exit to the camp, he turned around to survey his camp–his home–one last time. He had been born here, he had grown up here, and he had watched his family grow with Sandstorm here–and now, he might never come back again. His entire patrol might never come back again. Their families would be torn apart and nobody, not even StarClan, would be able to do anything about it.
But that was the life of a warrior and he knew that as well as anyone, so with one last deep breath, he strode through the gorse tunnel and out into the forest.
The dogs are about to go down at last...one way or another. I decided to change Fireheart's plan to defeat the pack since the canon plan doesn't really fit in this universe, seeing as Tigerstar has nothing to do with the dogs and isn't trying to lure them into ThunderClan's camp.
I'll be working on a new chapter of Blazing Lilies, so you can look forward to that. :)
Thanks for reading!
-TheShadowedWarrior