LEPER MESSIAH

"Spineless from the start, sucked into the part,

Circus comes to town, you play the lead clown,

Please, please,

Spreading her disease, living by her story,

Knees, knees,

Falling to your knees, suffer for her glory,

You will."

Anxiously, Firestar waited by the thorn tunnel for the patrol's return. They had been gone for some time now and if they were following his orders then they would be scouring the territory. No stone would be left unturned.

He knew that the likely reality of the situation was that the patrol would come back unsuccessful. But the ThunderClan leader couldn't give up hope; he had to keep it burning bright. In his own personal opinion, that had been how he was able to lead his Clan through trail after trail.

Firestar wanted this time to be no different.

The patrol, made of only senior warriors, soon entered ThunderClan camp. The leader of this group was his new deputy, Brackenfur. "Did you find her?" the tom nervously asked him.

The golden-brown cat shot him a sympathetic look. "We didn't. Sorry, Firestar." he replied.

He sighed. With less enthusiasm, he asked again, "Did you find any of them?"

Silently, Brackenfur shook his head.

The ginger tom lowered his head, walking off. He could feel the sympathetic eyes of his Clanmates boring into his pelt. He knew he should be keeping a strong face, like he had at first. But day after day of coming back to the same report was wearing him down. Firestar supposed he was holding onto a slim chance that they would return, especially now that they were in a new territory.

It had been a few moons since all four Clans had made the arduous journey from the former home to their new territories. Just before they left, during the destruction of the forest, twolegs had abducted several cats. Among them was his own daughter, Leafpaw, along with his best friend and deputy, Graystripe, and his nephew, Cloudtail. Other cats from ThunderClan had been taken too, but his mind couldn't prioritise them over those closest to him.

It was only natural, Firestar knew that, but it didn't stop him from feeling selfish and guilty. There were a lot more cats hurting, longing for a patrol to return with their loved ones, only to be greeted with disappointment.

But the hardest part of this routine was still to come.

Firestar approached the warrior den, swallowing the lump in his throat and tried to ignore his aching heart. "Sandstorm? Squirrelflight?" he called into the den. Three cats emerged; his loving mate, their daughter, and her own mate.

Sandstorm looked at him. She had always been such a strong cat, even in the darkest of times. During the battle with BloodClan, the destruction of the forest, when badgers attacked ThunderClan camp, each time she held a determined look in her eyes. There was nothing of that sort anymore, only a bleak pessimism.

Squirrelflight didn't look any better. She was leaning into Brambleclaw whose amber eyes were glimmering with worry. His tail was draped over her small frame in a gesture of comfort.

"Well?" croaked Sandstorm. Sorrow tugged at the ginger tom's heart, the hollowness in her voice was killing him.

For a moment, Firestar couldn't speak. It was as if the desperate look in his daughter's eye combined with her mother's defeated look stole his ability to talk. "They didn't find anyone." he finally responded, his voice hoarse.

"Who did you send?" Squirrelflight demanded. Her dark ginger bushy tail lashed behind her. Brambleclaw went to soothe her, but the she-cat shot him an intense glare. Anyone who had been around her for long enough knew that look meant stop talking.

Firestar tried his best to stay calm. He wanted to snap at her, to tell her they were doing the best they could to find the missing cats, to tell her that she wasn't the only one hurting. But he restrained himself; a shouting match wasn't the answer. "I sent Dustpelt, Brackenfur, Thornclaw, and Rainwhisker. Please, Squirrelflight, we're doing the best we can." he soothed.

"We should have found them by now!" his daughter protested.

Sandstorm mumbled, "What's the point? We're wasting our time."

Squirrelflight spun around to face her mother while Firestar could only stare at his mate in shock. "Don't say that!"

The pale ginger cat snapped in response. "Be realistic! It's been moons since they've been taken, if they haven't found us now then they'll never find us - especially since we moved territory!"

The ThunderClan leader tried to respond, but his words fell flat. But what could he say when his mate was right? As much as desperately held on to hope, like an apprentice sinking their fangs into the pelt of a larger warrior, he was starting to let go. Perhaps he had always believed that they were lost to ThunderClan but denial had kept him searching.

Perhaps it was time to stop living in a fantasy and face reality; their daughter was gone, his best friend was gone, their Clanmates were gone. Firestar gave a solemn sigh. "You're right, Sandstorm. Tonight, anyone who wants to can sit vigil for the missing cats."

There was no response from either his daughter or mate. Instead, Brambleclaw spoke up. "Do you want me to tell Cinderpelt?" he offered.

The ginger cat flashed him a saddened, but grateful, smile. "Please." he responded. He couldn't bare to tell Cinderpelt they had given up - he couldn't even look her in the eye anymore. A few moons ago, badgers had raided ThunderClan camp and during the commotion a queen named Sorreltail had began giving birth.

Cinderpelt, StarClan bless her, had to fight off a badger that had wandered into the nursery on top of helping Sorreltail. Fortunately, she had lived through the ordeal - but at a price. Like her sister, Brightheart, one side of her face was left horribly scarred. The medicine-cat was the only one who knew what to do in that kind of situation.

So Firestar had done his best to heal her, having to learn how to make basic poultices from Cinderpelt when she wasn't delirious from poppy seeds and asking any cat he could about which herbs did which. The tom remembered spending days and sleepless nights by his former apprentice's side until she recovered.

Cinderpelt didn't deserve any of what happened to her.

As Brambleclaw left to inform the medicine-cat, Firestar retired to his den. He wanted some peace and quiet. The Clan couldn't see that he had given up hope, that he was grieving. ThunderClan had to see him as a strong leader, one who put on a brave face in times of hardship or they would lose faith in him.

All Firestar wanted to do was give up, wishing that the fox trap Hawkfrost put him in had actually taken all nine lives. The ThunderClan leader was dreading the announcement he would have to make later. In his mind's eye, he could already see the distraught and outraged faces of his Clan.

"StarClan help me." he mumbled, burying his face between his paws. What was he supposed to tell his Clan? That he had given up on finding the lost cats? He could tell them that they had to focus on keeping ThunderClan strong and well instead of looking for the last cats - StarClan will guide them home if they weren't hunting with their ancestors already.

Nothing Firestar thought of was going to satisfy anyone. It was times like this where he longed to be a warrior once again, never having to worry about his choice of words when addressing his Clan. Suddenly, Brackenfur excitedly scrambled into his den. "Firestar! Firestar!" he yowled. "It's Leafpaw! She found ThunderClan!"

The dark thoughts and worries in the ginger tom's mind seemed to melt away. He stared at his deputy, his green eyes wide and his ears pricked. The ThunderClan leader said nothing, swiftly exiting the den. He didn't bother to climb down from Highledge, opting instead to leap down. He landed with a grunt.

A group of ThunderClan cats had gathered with excited and joyful murmurs, surrounding who was most likely his daughter. Firestar couldn't see her, but in his heart of hearts he knew Leafpaw had come home. He pushed by warriors and apprentices, queens and elders, and made his way into the inner circle. In the centre, he found his daughter, mate, and Brambleclaw. But his attention wasn't on them, rather Firestar was staring at the she-cat before them.

She was small and skinny, practically skin and bones. Her fur was primarily a brown tabby pelt, but she had a white chest and paws. Said fur was horribly matted and messy, making her look more like a rogue than a medicine-cat apprentice. There was also a strange twoleg thing in her ear. Her eyes, StarClan her eyes, were so hollow and tired. The she-cat's scent was pungent of twolegs and other strange smells, but underneath it all was the scent of Leafpaw.

Firestar couldn't say anything, only letting out an overjoyed yowl as he bounded over to his long lost daughter and gave her a love nuzzle, giving a throaty purr all the while. The rest of his family joined him while ThunderClan celebrated her return. He didn't noticed, but Leafpaw didn't purr in return.

The broke away, massive smiles on their faces. "We missed you so much!" Sandstorm cried.

Their daughter flashed them a small smile. "I missed you too." she mewed. The tabby-and-white she-cat went off to greet each ThunderClan cat, nuzzling them and sharing tongues with them all. Firestar felt hope return to him, like a blazing inferno in his heart. Maybe the others could be found too.

Over the next few days, Leafpaw was given time to recover and settle back into Clan life. Firestar had so many questions he had to ask, but he would happily wait now that his kit was home. After a quarter moon, he had invited Leafpaw into his den along with Sandstorm and Squirrelflight.

Leafpaw looked much better now, her pelt now groomed and the twoleg stink gone from her fur. However, the twoleg thing was still in her ear.

"Having trouble getting that thing out?" the ThunderClan leader asked. Suddenly, he felt a bit fuzzy but tried to ignore it.

"This?" Leafpaw replied, twitching her left ear. "I've tried getting it out, but I think it's stuck in."

Sandstorm commented, "it's a strange collar. Usually they put them around your neck."

Their daughter's fur suddenly bristled. "I-I wasn't made a kittypet." she responded quietly.

The den went quiet. Firestar could feel his blood running cold as if it had been replaced with ice. He saw how upset and uncomfortable his daughter had become, just what had happened to her? "Leafpaw..." he softly mewed, "what happened to you?"

The medicine-cat apprentice steadied herself, averting her kin's gaze. "When I was taken by the twolegs, I was brought to this place with other Clan cats," she started, "I-I still don't know what that place was, but they did. . .horrible things to us."

Morbid curiosity forced Firestar to speak. "W-what like?" he inquired.

"Firestar!" Sandstorm gasped.

The tom quickly added, "You don't have to talk about it if it's uncomfortable for you." He felt hot with shame. How insensitive could he be?! The ThunderClan leader was beginning to feel ill at the thought of his daughter being treated like some twoleg plaything.

Leafpaw, without a word, rolled onto her back. Firestar felt shock surge through him as his eyes fell on the large scar running from her chest to the bottom of her belly. It reminded him of the wound that Scourge had killed Tigerstar with. However, this scar was much more cleaner, like it had been caused with such careful precision. The she-cat rolled back onto her belly.

"They put strange thorns in me to make me sleep and when I woke up I had strange cobwebs keeping the wound shut. I-I don't know what they put in me, or what they took out," Leafpaw meowed. "The thorns weren't just to make me sleep, either. Some were being put in me to take my blood or put things in me. I couldn't even fight back because twolegs were pinning me."

Squirrelflight rushed over to her, giving her a reassuring nuzzle. "That's awful!" she gasped. "But we're-" the dark ginger she-cat stopped mid-sentence, her body wracked by a vicious cough.

"Maybe you should go to the medicine-cat den, Squirrelflight. That's an awful cough." Leafpaw meowed.

Firestar frowned; she didn't need to be so passive aggressive. Suddenly, he was hit by a wave of nausea before he developed the same brutal cough as his daughter. "Make that two of us." he heaved. There was a trickle of blood falling from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away using his tail, feeling concern flow through him. The tom might be in trouble.

"Before you go, I want to say something," the tabby-and-white she-cat meowed, getting to her paws. "I waited for moons in that awful place, hoping that ThunderClan would come save me from being treated like some plaything - but nobody came, did they?"

Despite how ill the ThunderClan leader was beginning to feel, he had to comfort his daughter. "Leafpaw, I'm truly sorry about the awful things the twolegs done to you and you have every right to be angry, but you need to see that-" another fit of coughs came, rougher than the last. He nearly collapsed, feeling the strength drain from him.

"Shut up!" Leafpaw hissed. "If you were really sorry then you would have looked for me! For the ThunderClan cats! But they're all dead now and I was violated by twolegs worse than any sick rogue could hope to!"

Firestar could hear a 'thud' from behind him, even in his sickly state he knew that Sandstorm or Squirrelflight had just collapsed like he had. "L-Leafpaw, s-stop it!" he protested. He was too weak to do anything, he could only endure the agony in his lungs and hope that the blood leaking from his mouth and nose didn't choke him.

"You left me to rot!" the medicine-cat apprentice spat, "you left us all to rot! Because you didn't rescue us, they were ripped open like prey and tossed away like crowfood afterwards. But don't worry, I'll send you to StarClan for judgement."

The ginger tom tried to force himself to his paws, but his limbs were erratic. It was like he wasn't in control of his own body anymore. His vision was going blurry. All he wanted to do was apologise to her from the bottom of his heart.

"The twolegs; they done something to me," Leafpaw mewed, "whatever it was, it turned me into a walking illness. They put me in Brightheart's cage and she died exactly like you and the rest of ThunderClan are." she explained, lowering her head so that her breath was hot in her father's ear. "Just being near me is enough to give you it - and it works quickly. I call it Redcough."

Firestar couldn't see a thing anymore, his vision had gone black. He couldn't feel anything anymore. Barely breathing, he felt as if he had been swallowed up by a void. The tom was unable to fight against his daughter and her disease so he would die with the knowledge that she blamed them all for her trauma. With all of his strength, he muttered a single sentence.

"I-I'm s-so sorry, Leafpaw."

Leafpaw looked down at her father and the rest of her kin. Blood was pooling around their faces, their eyes unfocused and sickly. Their chests were barely moving, Redcough eating them from the inside out. She could hear panic from outside the den as ThunderClan cats were beginning to suffer from her disease. No cat would be spared and they would waste away just like they allowed her to.

Leafpaw whispered harshly, "You're not as sorry as StarClan's going to make you. All of you."


This was a fun one to write. Honestly in canon if Leafpaw hadn't escaped from the twolegs I'd imagine that she would have been put in a sanctuary or a cattery, but this is Dark Worlds and nothing good happens here.

I made some minor changes to the song lyrics to fit the oneshot better, just changing masculine pronouns to feminine ones. Should I make minor tweaks like that in future? Let me now.

Next up is The Drowned: Holy Diver or maybe The Spurned: Phantom Limb. I haven't really decied yet haha - maybe I'll do both of them!