yOOOOOO two chapters in two days i'm on a roll. also i might have called Fireheart Firestar in this somewhere so sorry :/ this chapters also shorter so sorry.
-break-
For a moment Fireheart had simply stood there dumbstruck while his clanmates cheered around him. He had been certain that the moment Tigerclaw became Tigerstar would be the end of Fireheart, but here he stood still alive and well. What was Tigerclaw's—or Tigerstar's, now—game this time? Was this some ploy?
"Hey, Fireheart! Calm down! You look like you're about ready to claw your own ears out!" Graystripe purred with laughter. Sandstorm snorted at the tom. Fireheart continued to worry. Tigerstar had gone out with Yellowfang to receive his nine lives not long ago and just the thought of Tigerstar getting his nine lives made this all too real. Made the fact that Bluestar was dead all too real.
"Fireheart," Said tom looked up to find Whitestorm padding over to him followed by a couple other warriors, "What now?" What now? Panic maybe? Tigerclaw was leader and Fireheart was his deputy and everything the Fireheart knew had flipped. Oh Whitestorm was probably talking about the rogues.
"We should send out cats to each of our borders to make sure those rogues were chased out completely. Whitestorm," Fireheart spoke, trying not to look at the pride in Whitestorm's eyes, "You take Sandstorm and Longtail and go by the RiverClan border until twolegplace." Fireheart looked over Whitestorm to see who else was with him.
"Mousefur, you take Graystripe, Dustpelt, and Runningwind by the ShadowClan border. And I'll take Darkstripe and Brackenfur to go through tallpines." the group of cats separated into three and before heading out, Fireheart went to check on Cinderpelt.
"Can you handle the 'paws while we're out?" He asked jokingly and Cinderpelt gave him a tired smile and nodded. Fireheart gave one last once over of the camp before motioning for Darkstripe and Brackenfur to follow him. Fireheart quickly noticed the bitter rage painted on Darkstripe's face and briefly wondered what could've caused him to become so angry. Perhaps he had expected to become deputy? It would make sense with his and Tigerstar's dynamic.
At the border with twolegplace Fireheart and the other two tom's looked and sniffed down the entire border but found almost nothing, until…
"Fireheart!" the orange tom looked up at Brackenfur, replying "What is it?" As he walked over to Brackenfur he noticed a small tuft of pure white fur caught in some bushes. He leaned down and sniffed at it. That was Cloudpaw's scent.
"What do you think Cloudpaw was doing out here? Were you with him?" Brackenfur asked, continuing down the border. Fireheart thought for a moment. It was likely that Cloudpaw had gone to visit his mother, Fireheart's sister. But why go alone?
"Yes I was with him. We were hunting at tallpines and strayed to close to the border." Brackenfur let out a hum of understanding. Fireheart felt a little bad for lying, but knew that Cloudpaw and his constant visits to twolegplace were against the warrior code. The trio continued along the border until they reached the thunderpath and met up with the group patrolling the ShadowClan border.
"We found scent of the rogues crossing the Thunderpath, but found no rogues themselves." Mousefur reported. Fireheart nodded saying that they had found nothing by twolegplace. The two patrols walked together back to camps where they found Whitestorm's patrol which reported that they found no scent of rogues. Once that was done, Fireheart sent the cats to their dens, dragging Graystripe away from the group to stand guard at the front of the camp.
"But Fireheart!" Graystripe whined, "I want to check on my kits!" Fireheart rolled his eyes at his friend.
"Featherkit and Stormkit are probably asleep. You can check on them in the morning." Graystripe whined some more but soon gave up on convincing Fireheart. It was then, as the cool night air breezed around him, that Fireheart had time to think on today.
Tigerstar had definitely killed Bluestar no matter how he made it look. But what was the point of making Fireheart deputy? If Tigerstar wanted Fireheart dead he would have either killed Fireheart then and there. And yet Fireheart was deputy? Perhaps this was some ploy to gain the loyalty of his clanmates.
Just as the sun started to cast its first light on the forest, Fireheart heard a sound from just past the entrance of camp. And surely enough, a moment later Tigerstar and Yellowfang emerged and while Yellowfang continued towards the medicine den, Tigerstar stopped and turned to Fireheart. A tire amber gaze gave Fireheart a once-over.
"Organize the dawn patrol and possibly a hunting patrol and then come see me. We need to talk."
-break-
well now that that's done, 'till next time! let's hope that's not a year later or smth *sweats*