A/N: Deepest regards, reviewers!
Chapter Twenty-One
"Hello, Sunfire."
Turning, Sunfire nodded in greeting to the tom who stood behind her. Foxtooth, ShadowClan's deputy, had fur such a dark ginger as to be nearly brown, and his upper canine fangs extended down to just below his lower lip, impairing his speech somewhat and giving him a sinister appearance. Sunfire, who had seen him at Gatherings for moons, knew his vicious looks were in sharp contrast to his gentle manner.
"Any trouble with ThunderClan?" Foxtooth always spoke slowly, making sure he could be understood.
"Nero in our territory a few dawns ago, but she left quickly."
His eyes darkened. "She'll be back. She never leaves without taking something: a new cat, a slice of territory, a life..." he trailed off.
Sunfire started to say it was Nero's cats who killed, not Nero herself, but Lightningstar's yowl signaled the Gathering's official start. Nodding farewell to the ShadowClan deputy, Sunfire slipped between two WindClan elders to settle beside Icestorm and Raintail.
"Should be interesting," Sunfire muttered to them, "to see what the other leaders think of Alexander's offer." Raintail murmured agreement.
Lightningstar began speaking. "Cats of WindClan and ShadowClan, I bring news of help. For all of us." He glanced at Hickorystar and Reedstar, then plowed on. "A loner by the name of...Alexander," he hesitated before saying the name, getting his tongue around the strange syllables, "has offered his services to the Clans. He is offering to join the Tribe and become our eyes, our ears." He looked over to the other leaders, waiting for their opinions.
"Has ThunderClan already accepted this offer?" growled Hickorystar, the dark brown tom who led ShadowClan.
"No. We have postponed our decision until you make yours. May I just say that unless we all agree, it seems pointless to accept his helping paw."
Reedstar shifted, his golden-brown fur turned silver in the moonlight. "We–WindClan, that is–have been discussing what we would do if something like this came up." He paused, glanced at his cats as if reassuring himself, then said, "We have hurt badly by the Tribe. We have been ready for moons to accept any offer of aid." He met Lightningstar's gaze. "I agree."
Hickorystar snorted. "You are willing to put all your faith in one cat you have never met before? You never think for a moment he will turn on us? Learn our secrets and use them against us? I refuse to accept help from any cat. ShadowClan will stand alone."
Evidently, many of his cats disagreed with him. Observing them closely, Sunfire noticed half-healed wounds on many of them, and some were looking harsh-leaf-bare thin.
"We can barely defend ourselves as it is!" snarled a tabby she-cat. "They steal our prey, kill our kits remorselessly!"
"Suffering makes us all stronger," said Hickorystar in a cold voice.
A black ShadowClan apprentice shouted a retort so filthy Sunfire's eyes widened; Raintail and many of the elders gasped. She wouldn't have thought a cat that young would know such profane language. "That's the attitude that got my brothers killed!" he hissed at his leader once he finished cursing.
"He'll be in trouble after the Gathering," commented Icestorm.
Lightning flickered overhead.
"Settle these things back at your camp!" snapped Lightningstar. "We need to know tonight, Hickorystar,if ShadowClan will accept the offer!" Sunfire felt a twinge of fear in her belly; she'd never seen Lightningstar lose his temper.
Thunder cracked.
"StarClan are angry," whispered Sorrelflower.
Hickorystar looked close to murderous. His pride, which far surpassed that of Sunfire's, refused to let him accept help from any cat, much less an outsider. In a flash, Sunfire remembered something the brown tom couldn't deny.
"A Clan leader must follow the wishes of their Clan," she called. All eyes turned in her direction. "If the majority of your Clan say they need help, you are bound by the warrior code to satisfy that need, or risk all-out mutiny." She looked squarely into Hickorystar's burning eyes, which, as a full minute passed in tense silence, dulled and he lowered them to the ground.
"Alright," he muttered, so quietly that Sunfire, right at the base of the tree, barely caught his words. "I accept." Lightningstar and Reedstar nodded; the WindClan leader relaxed his bristled shoulder fur with relief.
Lightningstar wasted no time describing what Alexander looked like, having heard a detailed description already from Sunfire. "At our first opportunity," he was saying, "We will tell him the Clans have accepted his offer. From there, we will determine how often he will visit the Clans and where."
A ripple of agreement went through the crowd, and Sunfire was surprised how readily the warriors around her had agreed to work with her father. Random stroke of luck. Dimly, she heard Lightningstar announce the birth of Nightwhisker's kit, the news of the two new ThunderClan apprentices. The other leaders relayed similar news afterwards; Sunfire tuned them out. Letting herm mind wander, it was only when Icestorm nudged her to her feet did she realize the Gathering had ended.
"Lucky they all agreed," said Raintail, her eyes shining with worry; she always feared a fight would break out at a Gathering. Sunfire grunted assent, her mind now fixed on more pressing matters: Icestorm. She had a choice: tell him about the prophecy, let him work out her suspicions on his own, and wait in fearful apprehension of his reaction; or never tell him why she was occasionally tense around him and just wait to see how things went. Everyday now she saw, in her mind's eye, Icestorm turning away from her, midnight eyes glittering with mixed emotions. Sunfire admitted to herself that she felt sick with worry over losing him; she could very well be erroneous in her guess that he was involved with the Tribe.
Firestar, help me. You know I'd never beg unless I truly couldn't work it out on my own.
She looked upwards, hoping to see a reassuring twinkle of starshine, but the sky was completely overcast.
;-;-;-;
Sunfire blinked awake, her mouth uncomfortably dry. Reluctantly uncurling from the tight ball she was in, she stood, picked her way around the other warriors, and emerged into the night. A stripe of sky was paler than the rest, hinting at the approaching dawn. Half-asleep, having gotten to sleep later than usual because of the Gathering, Sunfire padded towards the stream near Lightningstar's den. Bending her head, she lapped up the water, which brought her to an unwanted alertness due to the cold. Snorting, knowing she'd never get back to sleep now, Sunfire turned and headed back to the den. A flash of movement caught her eye.
Turning, half-expecting one of the Tribe, she peered into the predawn shadows and saw the mottled pelt of Pinefur hovering at the foot of the slope. Her friend's posture, flat ears, low body, and rapidly twitching tail, told Sunfire Pinefur hadn't been keen on seen. Frowning, Sunfire headed over to her, inexplicable apprehension twisting in her belly.
"What're you doing?" she asked Pinefur.
The former RiverClan warrior twisted her ears, looking shifty and unsettled. She sighed. "I'm leaving. I'm putting ThunderClan in danger by staying here. D'you know why Nero came a few days ago?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Because she knew I came here. She's berserk that I slipped past her guards, and she's going to keep coming back until she's killed me."
"That's stupid. She'll come back whether you're here or not," Sunfire scoffed, but she saw a measure of truth in Pinefur's words; Nero didn't like anyone getting the better of her.
Pinefur shook her head stubbornly. "I'm going. Nobody here should die because of me." She paused, looked at the pale stripe of sky. "You're in danger because I'm here, Sunfire. I'm leaving."
Sunfire was perturbed at the thought of Pinefur going on the run, endangering herself more. "What if a whole Tribe patrol finds you and attacks? You can't take them on yourself."
"I'll be fine," insisted Pinefur.
"You'll be dead."
"Very direct, aren't you?"
"Bluntness is preferable to beating around the bush."
Pinefur didn't reply, only stared at the sky. Then she turned her head, and Sunfire nearly flinched at the fierceness and determination that burned in her pine-green eyes. "I'm going," she repeated, her tone unexpectedly steely. "I can make my way as a loner. I'll cut along the old RiverClan border, way on the far edge of the territory where hardly anybody goes. I'll keep going until I find unoccupied land."
Sunfire's chest hurt at the thought of having a friend far away, beyond easy contact. Both of them knew how far Pinefur would have to go to find empty land; loner territory was often almost as expansive as a Clan's. Neither mentioned this, though, and at length Sunfire nodded. "Go, then." She could see Pinefur was adamant about leaving. Not normally one to give up so easily, Sunfire noticed Pinefur looked slightly confused at her sudden agreement. Far in the back of her mind, something told Sunfire letting Pinefur go was the proper thing to do–that it would be for the better that way.
Pinefur nodded slowly, her eyes darkening. "Good hunting, Sunfire. This won't be the last time we talk; I'll be sure of that. I'll see you again someday." She hesitated. "I know it seems wrong to leave when the Clans need every last warrior fighting for them, but this...isn't my time." She touched her nose to Sunfire's and walked up the slope, out of sight.
Sunfire sat still. Her chest ached with the pain of losing a friend; Pinefur, despite her optimistic words, could very well be killed before Sunfire saw her again. StarClan keep her safe.
Tension was mounting within Sunfire; leaf-fall had come around, bringing with it a frosty chill that rarely struck this early; one of her friends had just abandoned the life of a warrior, abandoned the beliefs she once fought for; and much of her energy went towards her decision about what to tell, or refrain from telling, Icestorm. She wanted to love him, but that would be impossible unless she could fully trust him. Given what the prophecy said, she just couldn't.
StarClan, I'm going to break soon.
;-;-;-;
Which would be worse: not knowing anything of the future, or knowing bits of it but not knowing when they'll happen? –BG