Firestar emerged from his den, his dull orange fur turning grey in the shaded afternoon light.
His green eyes, once sharp and clever, were now rheumy and bloodshot, as though he had not slept for suns. Indeed, slumber had been hard to come by. His leg, now completely immobile, woke him at all hours with strange sensations, although as of yet they were painless.

But sickness was not the only thing that roused him from sleep. His heart twisted with grief at the thought of Squirrelflight. His beloved daughter. Dead. Gone forever. Thornclaw had stumbled into camp, his amber eyes shadowed with exhaustion and haunted with memory. He had told them the news. Squirrelflight and Spiderleg were dead, and Lionblaze had suddenly gone mad and decided he was a Clan leader. SunClan! What had possessed the young warrior? He wasn't experienced enough to lead a battle party, let alone control a Clan, even if it was only the tattered scraps of others. Tigerstar would approve, the ThunderClan leader thought dryly.

A wolf on the loose. From the way Thornclaw had told it, SunClan had gone in search of it, which was essentially suicide. Firestar had never met a wolf, but he had heard of them, and he had experienced first-paw the danger of a dog pack. Brightheart would forever bear the scars of them. Wolves were supposed to be worse.
It's my fault, really, Firestar thought to himself. I should have sent Brambleclaw. Lionblaze and Squirrelflight would have listened to him.

And as if all this wasn't enough, there was the small matter of a murderer on the loose.
Firestar's eyes narrowed at the thought of him, and made a decision. He couldn't send a warrior out to knock some sense into Lionblaze, any more than he could raise Squirrelflight from the dead. But Sorreltail's killer was an issue he could solve. And he would do it now. Anything to resist against the apathy he was sinking into, swelling in his veins like the growing mass on his leg. Without asking himself if what he was doing was wise, especially as the cat in question was a strong warrior belonging to another Clan, he called for Brambleclaw. The tabby warrior padded out from his den, and Firestar limped over to meet him. The deputy seemed oddly small, hunched down by grief and worry. He had not spoken since Thornclaw's return except to organize patrols.

"Br-Brambleclaw." The stutter was the worst thing, Firestar decided. Every time it happened cats would get an odd mixture of pity and horror on their faces. Brambleclaw merely dug his claws into the earth and inclined his head. "Yes?"

"I'm g-going on p-patrol." Firestar mewed through gritted teeth. Forcing himself to speak more slowly, which made him sound like an idiot but helped control the stutter, he continued, "It's been too long since I went out into the f-forest. I need to d-do something or I'll go m-mad."
Brambleclaw's amber eyes travelled down to his leg. Firestar managed a smile. "It d-doesn't hurt, you know. Just…unc-comfortable."

The deputy tilted his head in thought, then shrugged. "As you wish, Firestar. Who do you want to take with you?"
Firestar hesitated. Who would he take? They had to be loyal cats. Ones that would never breathe a word of it to any soul. And ones that weren't as fiercly code-abiding as Brambleclaw.
"C-Cloudtail. And Poppyfrost."

Brambleclaw nodded again. "Okay. Do you want me to call them, or-"
"Yes, p-please, Brambleclaw. I n-need to speak with J-Jayfeather before I leave."
The deputy looked a little relieved. "Don't tire yourself out, Firestar, and don't go too far."
Firestar narrowed his eyes. "I am not a k-kit."
The tabby's face became expressionless once more. "Take care of yourself. The Clan still needs you."
He probably thinks I'm going to drown myself in the lake or something. I only hope he doesn't have me followed.

Firestar padded into the medicine den, his tail flicking with impatience. "Jayfeather!" he called out.
The grey tabby stepped neatly over to his leader. "Firestar. How are you feeling?" he mewed, a reasonably diplomatic way of asking if he was any worse. Once it became clear how serious Firestar's growth was, Jayfeather had tried increasingly odd combinations of herbs, all with no effect. They had considered cutting out the mass, as they did before, but after an apprentice searched through his leader's fur for ticks they had discovered that there were other growths already piercing through his skin.

"Same as yestersun. C-could be better. B-but I'm not here to talk about me." He sat down. Jayfeather immediately understood what Firestar was getting at.
"You mean…him." They did not often speak the killer's name aloud. Which was odd, especially as the fact that he was capable of murder was not a surprise to them at all. Just another sad fact adding to a list that was almost too hard for the lake cats to bear.
Jayfeather sat down and sighed. "What can we do, Firestar? Nobody would believe us if we accused him at a Gathering. His scent's faded from the burrow. We have no evidence except for the word of a blind medicine cat."

"T-there's the RiverClan cats. They m-met the badger. Saw the c-clawmarks."
"That's the most impossible bit about the story. A cat defeating a badger on his own?"
"I k-know. You're r-right. Which is why I'm not g-going to take it up at the Gathering. We'll p-punish him ourselves."

Jayfeather became oddly still. "That's…" he began.
Firestar cut in front of him. "W-we won't kill him. J-just give him a v-very clear message that w-we know w-what he's done. It'll still b-be j-justice, it just won't start a war."
Jayfeather hesitated. He said in a very quiet voice, "Firestar…he's my kin."

The ThunderClan leader sighed. "All cats choose the path they w-walk. B-blood means n-nothing when it comes t-to justice. W-would StarClan let an evil w-warrior into their dens just because h-he was related to them? Of c-course not," he mewed before Jayfeather could reply. "C-come or don't, Jayfeather, but it'll be b-better if you do."
The grey tabby nodded. "Sure. Fine. Let's go."

Firestar assembled his features into one of annoyed resignation as he padded into the stone hollow with his medicine cat at his side. Cloudtail and Poppyfrost were waiting for him, their whiskers twitching with apprehension. Brambleclaw seemed relieved when Jayfeather announced that he would go with the ThunderClan leader to ensure there were no difficulties.
As the camp disappeared into the trees, Firestar quickly brought his warriors up to speed with the plan. As expected, Cloudtail nodded enthusiastically, while Poppyfrost's eyes hardened with determination.

They approached the burrow of the forsaken badger, leading into the secret tunnel, and disappeared into it. Jayfeather led the way with confidence-light or darkness, both meant little to him-but Cloudtail and Poppyfrost were less happy with the enclosed space around them. Firestar merely limped silently along, his ears pricked for dangers.
Eventually they all emerged from the tunnel with relief and looked around. The new burrow they were in was surprisingly large and well-aired. Through the entrance the sweet scent of heather drifted through, and Firestar relaxed slightly. The burrow was really a perfect hiding spot-who would look for them here?

I need to remember this tunnel, he thought. If there was another fire, it could be a bolthole across the stream.
"Hey, Firestar, Jayfeather," Cloudtail mewed uneasily. "What are these?"
At his paws lay a collection of strange objects. Firestar nudged them with a foot. They were shaped like perfect claws, feeling cold and sharp to his pads. Jayfeather touched them too, then sniffed. He nodded. "They're the attachments he used to kill Sorreltail and the badger."
Poppyfrost let out a cold hiss. For a moment Firestar thought she was expressing her anger, but then a new scent floated through the walls of the den. "Q-quickly," he muttered softly. "B-back into the t-tunnel."

His warriors nodded and edged backwards down into the yawning mouth of the circular shadows.
Firestar flicked his tail when he was certain that they would not be seen, and the four ThunderClan cats stopped.
There was absolute silence except for the heavy breathing of the warrior above them. His scent drifted towards them, laden with unease as he registered their own musk. Firestar felt the fur on his neck stand up. Sorreltail's murderer. What luck!
"I know you're there!" came the deep voice of the tom as his pads rasped against the sandy floor. "Come out and face me!"

Before Firestar could say or do anything, Cloudtail and Poppyfrost had leaped forwards, Jayfeather on their paws. Cursing his slow reactions, the ginger tom limped after them.
The tom cat seemed bewildered by their presence, even though he had challenged them. Instead of galloping out of the burrow entrance and to safety, he lunged for the odd stone claws. Unfortunately for him, Cloudtail was already there, sweeping the claws into the tunnel with a back paw while grabbing hold of the killer with his front. Poppyfrost leaped onto his hindquarters, snarling fiercely. The tom lay still, his amber eyes bright with fear.

"B-Breezepelt of WindClan," spat Firestar, rage heating his belly. "W-what do you h-have to say f-for yourself?"
Breezepelt hissed and bristled, a move that would look more intimidating if two large senior warriors had not been practically sitting on him. "I don't answer to cripples!"
Firestar raised a paw to strike him, but Jayfeather stopped him. "If we visibly hurt him, WindClan will know," the medicine cat whispered, but not quietly enough.

"That's right," sneered the WindClan warrior. "You lay a claw on me, and WindClan will be at war with you for generations." Despite his brash words, his paws were slippery with sweat.
Firestar leaned forwards. "I kn-know. So d-don't worry, th-there won't be m-marks. B-but you'll be in p-pain. More p-pain than in y-your entire l-life." He nodded to Jayfeather, who dropped the burden he had been carrying the whole trip. The grey tabby stepped forwards.
"Do you know what this is, Breezepelt?"
"Do I care?"

"This is the fang of a snake. It killed one of our warriors, Honeyfern. There's not much poison left in it, but still plenty for this task, I think." Breezepelt's eyes were horrified. "Don't worry…brother…it won't kill you. It needs to get into your blood to do that. But it will still burn your skin. So if you don't answer us truthfully, we'll wash you with this." He took a few steps back and Firestar moved in again.
"D-did you kill Sorreltail?"
"No." Breezepelt said defiantly, but with more than a trace of terror.
Firestar clucked his tongue, and Jayfeather traced the snake fang across Breezepelt's side. The black tom screamed in agony as the venom seared his skin.

"Did you kill S-Sorreltail?"
"Every Clan around the lake will wage war on you for this! Your own Clan will turn on you!"
"Did you k-kill Sorreltail?"
"Yes!"
Firestar pushed Jayfeather gently away. "W-well, there's a start," he mewed, almost kindly. "W-why?"

Breezepelt writhed. "I needed to-argh-test out my claws."
"Your cl-claws. How did y-you make them?"
"River stones, mostly, then I carved them from that-"
"W-what were you p-planning on d-doing with them?"
Breezepelt flashed him a furious glance, and the fang came down again.
"Aaaah! Please stop, please stop! I wanted to prove myself to the Clans, prove that I was better than all of them. I was testing them on the badger. I didn't mean to kill Sorreltail, I swear! She was just-in the way-"

Poppyfrost let out a screech of hatred and lunged for the tom, until Cloudtail pulled her back. "You-you-" she hissed.
Firestar leaned in. "W-was Sorreltail the only ThunderClan cat y-you killed?"
Breezepelt nodded repeatedly. "Only one, I swear by StarClan-"
Jayfeather interrupted him. "Don't you dare talk of StarClan, you murdering scum!" He dragged the venom across Breezepelt for a third time until the howls became unbearable.
"Alright!" Firestar yowled. "Enough."

He leaned over Breezepelt. "G-go. Scramble b-back to your c-camp with tales of t-torture. No-one w-will believe you. B-because you're nothing t-to anyone. T-this is your p-punishment. And if my c-cats see you in our t-t-territory, we w-will rip your h-heart out. Y-you are outside the w-warrior code. It al-allows us to d-do this." He nodded to his two warriors. "L-let him go."
They did, reluctantly. The black tom climbed to his paws and shook dust off his pelt. He gave them all looks of searing hatred, but they met his gaze coldly. Finally he held his head up high and turned to his stone claws. Something in Cloudtail's eyes made him decided otherwise, and he padded out of the den entrance, and fled.