Contrary to popular belief, I have not been recruited into a top secret government organization. I have also DEFINITELY not saved the world from an alien invasion. Your welcome.

Seriously, I apologize that I haven't posted in more than a month. School, vacation, and, life in general made it pretty much impossible to write at all. If you were keeping tabs on my super awesome blog then you know I haven't been posting there either. Well, the silence is over, so expect the weekly chapters again. Here's a long one to make up for the wait. Enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Fireheart

Fireheart woke with a start, his heart pounding. He had dreamed of blood and claws. Well, that was all he could remember. He exited the warrior's den. As he stepped out into the early morning air, Fireheart spotted Darkstripe standing alone in the clearing. The dark warrior was staring at Fireheart through golden eyes. Fireheart froze.

"You're not a very brave cat, are you?" Darkstripe's mew was dangerously quiet, "First, instead of standing up to him, you had Tigerclaw banished. Then, instead of talking face to face, you decide to send Longtail. You thought that would scare me off? You've got some learning to do."

Now was not the time for dancing around the subject, "I've got friends in high places, Darkstripe. You should be scared."

"Huh," Darkstripe spat, "Any warrior afraid of you should be ashamed. You're all mew and no claws."

"I defeated Brokenstar," Fireheart was starting to get angry.

"No, Tigerclaw did. You were just entertaining Brokenstar."

"That's not what it looked like."

Darkstripe purred darkly, "Like I said. You've got some learning to do."

"Fireheart!" Cinderpaw charged through the clearing, "Guess what I get to do today!"

Darkstripe turned away, "I'll be seeing you… deputy."

Fireheart glared at Cloudpaw, trying, and failing, to compose himself, "What are you doing up so early?"

"Yellowfang and I are going to gather herbs near the abandoned Twoleg nest! We wanted to know if you wanted to come! Swiftpaw and Brightpaw are going!"

Why is she telling me this? Fireheart brooded, Does she think I actually care?

Cinderpaw continued, "I know how much you care, so do you want to come with us? It'll be so much fun!" StarClan has a twisted sense of humor.

Fireheart tried to look excited, or at least not suicidal, "Uh…" I really, really, REALLY don't want to go! "That'll be great. I'm looking forward to it."

Cinderpaw scampered away, her twisted leg failing to abate her excitement. It was pathetic.

Mousebrain! Foxheart cursed himself, You had to go and blow a whole day on a bunch of stupid apprentices!

But then again… I do need to look like the caring ex-mentor.

I'd rather die.

Well… If it means being leader… I gotta do what I gotta do.

Ugh.

"Whatcha doing, Fireheart?" Sandstorm cut through his thoughts cheerily.

Fireheart perked his ears in a dashing fashion, "Oh, you know, just pondering my duties as deputy." Big words impress dumb cats.

"Wow! That's really impressive!"

"Thanks, Sandstorm. What are you doing?"

She shrugged, pawing at the ground nervously, "I… well… you know…" Fireheart tried to look reassuring. Sandstorm finally stopped mumbling and mewed, "Do you want to go hunting together? You know... just… hang out?"

Fireheart nodded, "That sounds great!" Kill me now. "When do you want to go?"

Their green eyes met, and Sandstorm nervously squeaked, "How about tonight?"

"Sounds great. I've got to go organize patrols now. I'll see you tonight!"

Why did this patrol have to take so long? It was sunhigh, and Fireheart's patrol of apprentices and medicine cats was moving along slowly. Every few steps Yellowfang would stop to sniff something, or Swiftpaw would show off a fighting move to Brightheart and Cinderpaw. It was taking all of Fireheart's willpower not to roar at them to get a move on. But a good deputy would think that it was fun. So Fireheart continued to trudge along, regretting with all his being that he had agreed to go.

Suddenly, he stopped, "Yellowfang, do you smell that?"

The grizzled medicine cat sniffed the air, "It smells like dog. I didn't know the twolegs brought dogs to the abandoned nest." They don't. The medicine cat shrugged and continued on her way.

Fireheart was about to follow when Cinderheart mewed, "Could I take to you, Fireheart? In private?"Fireheart inwardly groaned, but on the outside his emerald eyes glowed with concern.

"Of course," he replied. Then he mewed to the rest of the patrol, "You all can go on ahead. We'll be there in a minute."

Yellowfang glanced at Cinderpaw and seemed to understand, leading the two apprentices towards the abandoned Twoleg nest.

Once they were out of sight, Fireheart turned back to his ex apprentice, "So… What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

Cinderpaw shifted her weight from paw to paw nervously, "Well, Fireheart, you seem different lately. More upset."

Alarms went off in Fireheart's head. Maybe this wannabe medicine cat was smarter than she looked. Maybe she was too smart.

"It's nothing," he mewed with a shrug, "I'm fine."

Her blue gaze scanned him intently, "I don't think so. I just wanted to say… Don't blame yourself for what happened to me. I'm fine being a… a medicine cat."

Inwardly, Fireheart breathed a sigh of relief, but he dropped his gaze, "You always wanted to be a warrior. It's my fault that you'll never be one. I wish there was something I could do…"

"There is something you can do," The look in Cinderpaw's eyes would have melted any other heart, "Stop blaming yourself. You can fix the forest Fireheart. I don't want to be the apprentice who stopped you."

Than a bloodchilling howl rang through the trees.

The two cats froze.

"What was that?" Cinderpaw whimpered.

Another howl tore through the eerie silence, followed by a screech. What in StarClan was that?!

Cinderpaw's eyes widened, "That was a cat!"

The pair of them took off towards the source of the sound. Fireheart leapt over a log, his heart pounding. Had Tigerclaw returned already? Was this some kind of twoleg trap? Was a badger or a fox on the loose? When he burst into the clearing, he found that the reality was far worse.

The scent of blood overrode Fireheart's senses, causing him to rear back. The green grass was torn up, speckled with clumps of dirt and crimson streaks. This was worse than even the exaggerated stories of badgers some of the elders told. Foxdung, Fireheart shuddered, This is something new. Something bad.

He glanced towards one corner of the clearing and froze. Lying there was the body of Yellowfang. The corpse was most definitely dead. The she cat's head was twisted at a bizarre angle, and the throat was torn to shreds. Long, deep scratch marks ran down her flanks, and the pool of blood she lay in was too big for any cat to survive. Fireheart felt queasy.

There was a rustle of foliage as Cinderpaw finally caught up, panting, "I'm here, Fireheart, what was…" Her voice died away as she saw the clearing. Then her gaze fell on Yellowfang's body.

She blinked, "Y-Yellowfang? Yellowfang!" Cinderpaw sprinted to the dead cat's side, "You'll be fine! I just need some, uh, cobwebs and, and-"

Fireheart wasn't in the mood for this, "She's dead, Cinderpaw. There's nothing you can do."

Cinderpaw shook her head, "No, no she's not dead. She can't be dead. Just get me some poppy seeds and she'll get better."

"Cinderpaw, she's dead!" The forcefulness of Fireheart's mew made Cinderpaw flinch. The young apprentice sat down hard, her eyes staring into space. Fireheart took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Cinderpaw, but that's just the way it is. We can't waste time mourning because…uh… We need to find Brightpaw and Swiftpaw. They could be hurt."

She nodded dumbly and followed Fireheart as he scanned the clearing. It didn't take long to see the dark streak of blood trailing into the trees. Whoever, or whatever, had attacked had dragged one of the wounded cats into the trees. Good thing I'm not prone to all that heroic foxdung, or I'd chase after them and get myself killed.

"Brightheart!" Cinderpaw's desperate meow made Fireheart spin quickly. The remaining apprentice was easy to miss. Her bloodstained body was partially hidden by the ferns behind Yellowfang, which was probably why she wasn't torn to pieces. Fireheart cursed himself. Three cats dead under his watch? That doesn't exactly inspire confidence. But then, these forest cats also trusted Brokenstar, so maybe this isn't so bad.

"She's alive!" Fireheart sighed with relief. Now it'll be Cinderpaw's fault if she dies.

He rushed to Cinderpaw's side as she kneeled beside Brightheart. Long gashes had been raked across her flank, but they didn't look fatal. Then he saw what had happened to her face.

"Great StarClan!" he hissed.

Cinderpaw glared at him, "At least she's alive, okay? Now go get help, I'll protect her."

Protect her? A lame medicine cat isn't my first choice as bodyguard.

Instead he mewed, "What if the… They come back?"

Her blue gaze caused Fireherat to take an involuntary step back, "I hope they do come back, Fireheart. I really do."