As the tip of Bluestar's tail vanished into her den, the cats of ThunderClan turned to Cloudtail with wild shock in their eyes. Even a mouse could be heard scurrying through the center of the camp; not one cat would move to catch it, though. The entire clan was frozen in place like a cat who had just witnessed their leader get killed.
"Well," Darkstripe mewed, breaking the silence that had consumed the ThunderClan, "I'm not taking orders from a kittypet who didn't even complete his apprentice training!" His words seemed to bring the clan back from their worried thoughts, as a gentle murmuring swept across them. Cloudtail hissed as each cats' whispers met his snow white ears.
"He's right. Cloudtail didn't complete his training."
"Bluestar didn't even use the right words!"
"This will destroy us. You heard Leopardstar at the last Gathering- she thinks we owe them a debt. Now we don't even have a strong deputy!"
Cloudtail narrowed his eyes, snarling at his clanmates. Jumping up to the High Rock, he called down to ThunderClan. "Enough!" All the anxious mutterings ceased. "ThunderClan, I did not ask to become deputy. I wanted the position, yes, but what cat doesn't? I have not been a warrior for that long, but I promise you all that I will do my best to serve you all the way this clan deserves to be treated." Cloudtail laughed to himself. I sound like Fireheart.
"As for my apprentice training," he continued, "I was finished with it. There isn't anything that any of you could teach me about being a warrior. The only stage that I am missing is the final assessment. Bluestar doesn't seem to think that I need it, so any of you who have a problem with me becoming a warrior can take it up with her. And if you still have a problem after that, then I dare you to take it up with me." Cloudtail aimed his threat at Darkstripe in particular. "I swear to you all that you wouldn't come out of that conversation with all of your fur in place." He then jumped down, meeting Brightpaw at the base of the rock.
She smiled sweetly at him. "I'm so proud of you! Congratulations!" He opened his mouth to speak to her, but Brightpaw placed her tail over his mouth. "You might want to think twice before speaking again. Your vigil is tonight, remember?"
Cloudtail widened his eyes, trying to show his shock through his deep blue gaze. Dang it, why did I have to do that? Now my vigil isn't even proper. Will they ever accept me now? As his mind was buried in the complications of his new deputyship, Cloudtail padded over to the tunnel that led to the forest. He placed himself where generations of cats before him had sat on guard duty and looked up to the moon. It was still full, though it was now hard to believe that just minutes before he was an apprentice, chosen to speak by supposedly wise dead cat spirits.
Doesn't even make sense. Cloudtail shook his head. If StarClan were real, then they wouldn't be so stupid as to choose a cat that doesn't believe in them to speak at a Gathering.
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The night was cold. Cloudtail knew he had no right to complain - after all, his fur was longer than most cats' - but it was still difficult to resist answering the call of empty moss in the warrior's den. As the sun began to rise that day, Cloudtail had to hold in his cry of joy.
He turned his thoughts to the real problem at paw - RiverClan. As deputy, he knew that he had to think about what to do with problems such as that.
Cloudtail was sticking with his previous idea, which was sending out extra patrols to Sunningrocks. But what if Darkstripe was right, and Leopardstar was aiming for something else? Cloudtail shook those thoughts away. RiverClan always wanted Sunningrocks. What else did ThunderClan have for them to take?
"Cold night?" Cloudtail shot his head up to see Whitestorm pad up to him. It seemed weird to think that he had more power than the senior warrior now. "It's alright," he continued. "You can speak now."
The new deputy stood and stretched his aching muscles, yawning. "Thanks, Whitestorm." As the white warrior nodded and turned to walk away, Cloudtail called him back nervously. "Um, Whitestorm?" Whitestorm stopped. "I, uh… I need your help. I haven't the first idea of how to be deputy, and-"
Whitestorm placed his tail over Cloudtail's mouth. "I'll help you however I can, deputy. You'll get the hang of it eventually. Just try to remember what cats have done what patrols when and when each patrol is to be sent out."
Cloudtail rolled his eyes. "You make it sound so easy." Then again, Whitestorm was used to deputy duties. He had taken them over after Fireheart's exile. If Bluestar had died without making a new deputy, then Whitestorm would've become clan leader. The thought made Cloudtail feel guilty. He yawned again, longing for moss.
"Go get some sleep," ordered Whitestorm, "and I'll help you tomorrow. Don't worry about today's patrols."
"Thank you Whitestorm."
Cloudtail raced for the warrior's den, ignoring the hunger pains that clawed at his stomach. His need for sleep was greater than his need for fresh-kill. When he made it to his new den, Mousefur and Longtail were still in there. Cloudtail selected an empty place near the front of the den, catching the faint sent of Fireheart clinging to the moss. He didn't bother to dwell on this thought, however, because he was fast asleep in moments.
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It was dark. Cloudtail could sense that there was some other cat in the forest with him, but he only saw trees that stretched for miles. As he continued running, it began to seem like he would only meet more and more forest. Panic shot into him. Was he doomed to run forever?!
He finally broke out of the forest and realized where he was. This was the WindClan moor! Cloudtail stepped forward tentatively; a gust of wind met him.
"Cloudpaw?" Fireheart raced down the moor, joy and confusion on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Fireheart!" Cloudtail ignored his uncle's question. He met the flame colored cat with a purr. "Nope! I'm Cloudtail now, ThunderClan deputy!"
"Deputy? How?!" Fireheart was shocked. "Ugh, never mind that. How are you here?" He frowned, then whispered under his breath; Cloudtail could still hear him. "I was trying to meet Spottedleaf and ask her if it's StarClan's will for me to have this new position… I can't do that with him here."
"Aww, do you not want to see me?" Cloudtail teased.
A new scent was caught up in the wind around them. It seemed familiar to Cloudtail. He remembered smelling it in Cinderpelt's den.
A tortoiseshell she-cat was darting out of the forest to meet them. Her eyes locked with them as she padded up to the pair.
"Spottedleaf," greeted Fireheart. Cloudtail could tell that he was a little too happy to see her.
"Greetings Fireheart, Cloudtail." She nodded as she spoke their names. "I have summoned you here, Cloudtail. What I am about to say concerns you as well as your uncle." She paused. "There have been… changes to what StarClan has seen for the future of the clans." The scenery around them changed into Four Trees. Spottedleaf turned her gaze to the now sunny sky; Cloudtail followed it and saw a bright object flying at them. He turned to flee, but was stopped by the former medicine cat. "It won't hurt you."
The object turned out to be a cloud. It stopped falling just above the trees, but that wasn't what surprised Cloudtail. What did was the fact that it was on fire. As a loud gasp escaped from him and Fireheart. The fire and cloud then split; the cloud flew over ThunderClan and the fire over WindClan.
"What does this mean, Spottedleaf?" Fireheart was confused, but the tortoiseshell didn't answer.
"The fire isn't for ThunderClan," she meowed. "Cloudtail, I must ask you this. Do you believe in StarClan now?"
Cloudtail thought for a few moments before replying. "No. I think that I wanted to believe that there was a reason for me becoming deputy and dreamed accordingly."
Spottedleaf sighed. "Then there's nothing more I can do. ThunderClan truly will be the starless clan." She glanced away for a second before speaking again. "Trouble is coming for both clans. Fireheart, WindClan is threatened by the dog pack and ShadowClan. Cloudtail, RiverClan is going to attack Sunningrocks tomorrow."
Cloudtail rolled his eyes. "Of course I needed a dream to tell me that. I can get along without you fine."
"Do not mock the wisdom of StarClan!" Spottedleaf's ears went back and she hissed.
"How does dying make you wise? And tell me this, Oh Great and Wise Dead Cat, how does death make you powerful?"
"Cloudtail, stop!" Fireheart's words were ignored. Cloudtail was ready to fight this she-cat, real dream or not.
"If you're so powerful, then why don't you make Bluestar not-crazy? If you and your other little StarClan members are great, then make the forest peaceful! Make the dog pack go away and bring back WindClan's lost prey so my uncle and his clanmates don't die of starvation!"
"That is beyond our power," stated Spottedleaf. "All we can do is tell warriors like you of the danger so you can fight it. Cloudtail, we can't solve everything for you. Don't go relying on StarClan for everything. You and other cats need the spirit of a true warrior to fight off danger. You must protect your clan at all costs, like you promised at your warrior ceremony. You live and die, then live on to protect your clan even through death. That is what it truly means to be a warrior."
Cloudtail turned around, ready to go back to ThunderClan. He ignored all of Spottedleaf's speech, choosing one sentence to summarize his angered thoughts. "Then you're not so powerful after all, are you?" Not allowing her to reply, the white warrior raced through the trees and back to the waking world of the clans.