Another new chapter! Me and my Beta hope that you've all been enjoying our collaborative AU!! Just let us know!!
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Fireheart crouched in the nursery, watching a litter of kits suckling their mother. For a moment she was filled with excitement to see the tiny creatures who were the future of the Clan. Soon she would be in this position!
Then something stirred in her mind. ThunderClan had no kits as young as these. Where had they come from? She let her gaze travel from the kits to their mother, and saw nothing but a rippling pelt of silver-gray.
The queen had no face.
Fireheart choked back a cry of horror. As she stared, the silvery shape of the queen began to fade, leaving nothing but darkness. The kits squirmed and let out squeals of terror and loss. A bitterly cold wind rose and swept away the warm scents of the nursery. Fireheart leaped to her paws and tried to follow the sound of the helpless kits, lost in the windblown darkness. "I can't find you!" She wailed. "Where are you?"
Then a light appeared, soft and golden. Fireheart could see another cat sitting in front of her with the tiny kits sheltered between his paws. It was Rock.
Fireheart opened her mouth to speak to him. He gave her a hard look, as if she should know what this meant, before the image vanished, and Fireheart found herself scrabbling among the mossy bedding in the warriors' den.
"Do you have to make so much racket?" Darkstripe was grumbling. "No cat can get a wink of sleep."
Fireheart sat up. "Sorry," she mumbled. She couldn't help glancing behind her, where Tigerclaw slept. She was hoping to get some reassurance, but the deputy was nowhere to be seen.
The flame-pelted she-cat couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. She had wanted to confide in him about her dream.
Fireheart could see from the light that filtered through the branches that the sun was already above the trees. She gave herself a quick wash, trying to hide from Darkstripe how much the dream had shaken her. Frightened, lonely kits…kits whose mother faded away. Fireheart knew this, Fireheart knew this, Fireheart knew what was coming and she didn't think she'd be able to stop it.
Darkstripe passed by her with a final glare as he pushed his way out of the warriors den. Fireheart looked around, seeing Longtail and Runningwind still fast asleep. She shook her head, deciding to go out of the den herself.
She decided to go to the fresh-kill pile and chose a squirrel and settled down in the nettle patch. The jade-eyed warrior wasn't feeling particularly hungry at the moment, as her typical morning nausea made it's appearance again, much to Fireheart's dismay.
So she decided to occupy herself with figuring out what to do with Cinderpaw today. They'd been doing a lot of battlefield training recently. Perhaps it was time to have a chill day and just freshen up her hunting skills.
Fireheart was drawn out of her musing when she saw Graystripe padding up to her, surprising but also intimidating her. They hadn't chatted in forever. Was he going to yell at her? Was he going to apologize to her? Was he going to pretend like nothing ever happened and that they still had their friendship? She didn't know, and she was nervous.
The dark-gray warrior stopped in front of her, and clawed the ground in front of him nervously without saying anything.
Fireheart waited for what felt like forever when in reality it was probably only a few seconds, and was about to speak up when Graystripe spoke up. "I'm leading a border patrol, Bluestar said I should ask you to come. Do you want to?"
The flame-pelted warrior felt a sting that the only reason he was inviting her was because Bluestar said to, but quickly shook it off. This was her chance to fix things and hang out with Graystripe again!
"Yeah sure!" Fireheart meowed. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"
Graystripe shrugged. "There's nothing left."
Fireheart visibly brightened. "Then we can share!"
Graystripe narrowed his eyes, looking unsure. "What do you want for sharing your prey?"
"Graystripe, I don't want anything. Just eat." Please, I don't want to argue with you. Fireheart just wanted a day where both she and Graystripe could get along. Act like they used to, when they were best friends.
Fireheart also hated that Graystripe ate his food quickly. Then began impatiently kneading the ground, as though the way Fireheart ate her own portion slowly was a personal insult to him. No doubt watching the rate she ate. There was nothing worse than being watched while eating. It made one self-conscious and uncomfortable.
But Fireheart refused to rush eating. It would only upset her stomach even more. Ignoring when Graystripe stared at her. Fireheart eventually finished her meal. It seemed like that's all the permission Graystripe needed before calling out to gather today's border patrol.
The cats that were called besides Fireheart herself, were Runningwind, Willowpelt, and a very disgruntled Dustpelt.
Fireheart swallowed and braced herself. "Good morning, everyone."
The flame-pelted she-cat waved her tail in greetings to today's patrol. Her Clanmate's returned her greeting, although Dustpelt's were grumbled as he shot Graystripe a glare. It made Fireheart wonder what Graystripe had done to get so far under Dustpelt's skin this early in the morning.
"Let's go." Graystripe meowed, not giving any more warning than that before shooting off into the gorse tunnel. Leaving everyone else to scramble to follow as the dark gray tom didn't bother to wait for them to be ready.
"Graystripe sure seems eager this morning." Willowpelt meowed as the very pale gray she-cat warrior kept pace with Fireheart at the back of the patrol. "I wonder what got into his prey this morning."
"I don't think it's the prey." Fireheart replied, noticing that they were heading in the direction of Sunningrocks. Which filled Fireheart up with dread.
"I swear everyone's so caught up in themselves lately." Willowpelt meowed, though there wasn't any heat behind her words, just a simple observation. "Graystripe is always off on his own and leaving Brackenpaw to fend for himself. Luckily Sandstorm set him straight. Mousefur and Whitestorm are off with their new apprentices. Longtail is always busy with Swiftpaw since his evaluation is coming soon. The nursery is full and will soon be fuller--" Willowpelt unsubtly nudged Fireheart's side as they moved quickly through the melting snow. "And the warriors are working harder than ever now that we're in the final stages of leaf-bare. I bet Tigerclaw has it the hardest though."
"He does." Fireheart replied softly, thinking of how much work it took to be deputy, along with being so attentive towards Fireheart as her pregnancy progressed, he was juggling so many responsibilities at once that Fireheart felt a bit guilty for contributing to the workload.
As if sensing Fireheart's dismal thoughts, Willowpelt bumped Fireheart's shoulder once again, this time reassuringly, "If any cat can handle all those things it's Tigerclaw."
Fireheart knew that Tigerclaw was able to easily tackle all these responsibilities alone. But Fireheart didn't want him to do those things alone. Fireheart wanted to be there for Tigerclaw as much as he was for her. Fireheart needed to be there for Tigerclaw so that she could prevent him from going astray.
"I think we're nearing Sunningrocks." Willowpelt meowed, and the pale gray she-cat warrior was right, they had arrived at Sunningrocks.
"How about we--"
"Who died and made you leader?!" Dustpelt's sudden yowl drew the two she-cat's out of their private conversation, making them turn to where Dustpelt and Graystripe were standing nose to nose, hissing and spitting at each other. Runningwind was of course trying to separate the two, the senior warrior looking beyond annoyed by the two younger toms behavior.
"Last time I checked, Bluestar made me in charge of this patrol." Graystripe snapped back, and Fireheart could hardly recognize her laid back and playful best friend.
"Doesn't mean that you have any right to boss us all around." Dustpelt growled, looking seconds away from lunging at Graystripe.
"That's enough out of both of you!" Runningwind hissed, but the senior warrior went ignored.
"Why start caring now about your warrior duties?" Dustpelt demanded. "You've never cared before! All you've ever done was laze around and be useless!"
"I haven't been lazing around!" Graystripe retorted. "I've been hunting for the Clan, more than you've been doing, I've noticed you're preoccupied with following Sandstorm around!"
"Me and Sandstorm are friends!" Dustpelt fired back, looking scandalized and a bit horrified. "We've known each other for our entire lives! I'd never ruin our friendship over something that will never happen between us!"
"Yeah right!" Graystripe retorted, rolling his yellow eyes.
Dustpelt let out a threatening growl. Truly looking as though he was one step away from snapping. By this point Willowpelt and Fireheart were quickly making their way towards the three toms, coming to aid Runningwind in separating Graystripe and Dustpelt.
"Graystripe, that's enough!" Willowpelt meowed sternly, coming forward to cuff her son over the ears and forcing him away from Dustpelt. "What's gotten into you lately?"
Fireheart stepped forward and tried to reason with her friend, "Graystripe, maybe we should just calm down, maybe you should go on a walk-"
Graystripe whipped his head around to glare at Fireheart with such hatred in his eyes that Fireheart would've mistaken him for an enemy warrior if it wasn't for the fact that this was her friend that she's known since she joined the Clan. "Stay out of this, Fireheart, it's none of your business."
She flinched back at the aggression laced in his words. "I'm just trying to help! You're angry right now, so you should take a walk, away from every cat, before you say something you'll regret!"
"Well maybe you should stop always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong! You're always intruding on everyone's business! You can't keep to yourself! Why don't you go somewhere your actually wanted?"
Fireheart froze. Too stunned to speak. She felt sick again, but for a completely different reason. Did he really just say that to her? Did he actually mean it like that?
The flame-pelted she-cat didn't speak. She just looked down at the ground in front of her. Sure, Graystripe and her haven't been on the best of terms lately, but she couldn't believe he would ever say anything like that to her. They were friends!
"Well she's more wanted here than you!" Dustpelt growled, coming to Fireheart's defense.
Graystripe just huffed and stalked away. Going to sit by the edge of the river and stare off into RiverClan's side of the border.
"Why don't we all split up." Runningwind suggested, sounding tired. "We can all pick a side to start on and then meet back up at the Sunningrocks."
"Sure," Fireheart mumbled. Runningwind sent her a look of pity.
"How about Fireheart, Dustpelt, and I go this way, and Willowpelt you can go check the other side with Graystripe?"
Willowpelt nodded, and gestured with her tail for Graystripe to come with her; they were about to go their separate ways when Dustpelt suddenly let out a shocked yowl.
"Wait!" He exclaimed. The group paused and looked at him curiously. "I smell RiverClan here! They've been on our territory!"
Graystripe immediately looked panicked. "Well, maybe it's just their scent blowing over from RiverClan's side? We are quite close to their border, and the wind is quite strong today."
Dustpelt glared at him. "There's hardly even a breeze coming this way, you mouse-brain! It's most definitely on our territory."
"And fairly recent." Runningwind hissed, sniffing an area around Sunningrocks.
"Those Fishfaces!" Willowpelt growled, her hackles rising.
"We should tell Bluestar at once!" Dustpelt declared.
Graystripe sent Fireheart a horrified look as the rest of the patrol eagerly agreed. Fireheart herself was feeling a bit queasy at the thought of reporting this new find. Because Fireheart knew that scent. It was Silverstream's.
The soon-to-be mother also knew what the Clan would want to do once they found out that a RiverClan warrior had been on their territory.
Fireheart sent a grimace of disapproval at Graystripe and hissed under her breath. "Maybe you should listen to me more. I might stick my nose into other cat's business, but it's because I care, though I'm starting to think I shouldn't."
Fireheart began following the patrol back to ThunderClan without looking back at Graystripe, though she was starting to feel guilty. How could she say that? She couldn't just not care for him! Stupid pregnancy hormones.
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The patrol arrived back at camp in record time, and Dustpelt immediately ran into Bluestar's den to tell her about Sunningrocks.
Fireheart wasn't sure what to do, and she was still feeling a little ill. She just decided to visit the medicine cat's den. Where she found Spottedleaf sorting out herbs outside her den.
"Fireheart!" Spottedleaf purred a greeting. "How are you doing?"
"Feeling a bit nauseous since this morning." Fireheart huffed. "It usually goes away by now! I didn't realize being pregnant would be so hard."
Spottedleaf sent her a look of pity. "At least you're not throwing up every hour of the day. I've had to deal with pregnant cats before who've done that. But yes, nausea isn't fun. Do you want some chervil to try and help relieve it?"
"I'm up for anything that will help." Fireheart replied honestly.
Spottedleaf nodded and then turned and disappeared into her den. Eventually coming out with the curly, delicate leafed herb carefully held between her teeth, as well as some borage.
"Borage?" Fireheart inquired.
Spottedleaf gently set the herbs down. "You're expecting kits, Fireheart. Borage is used to help she-cat's produce more milk. It's about time you should start taking it."
Fireheart grimaced. The other queens hadn't had a lot of good things to say about borage. At least for the taste. But the flame-pelted she-cat knew that this was just another sacrifice for the sake of her future family.
She reluctantly ate both herbs, and almost gagged at the sour taste of borage, but her stubbornness and Spottedleaf's stern gaze made her swallow every bite of it.
When Fireheart had just about finished. Bluestar yowl echoed throughout the camp. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Spottedleaf looked confused but Fireheart was filled with dread, she knew what Bluestar was going to say to the Clan.
She padded out with Spottedleaf and sat next to her outside the entrance to the fern tunnel, noticing Tigerclaw near the front, a cloud of anger in his amber eyes as he stared up at the Highrock.
"The patrol that went to the RiverClan has brought back some interesting news. There has been a scent of a RiverClan cat on our territory at Sunningrocks." Many cats yowled out at that in anger. Bluestar raised her tail for silence.
"We should attack them, and teach them a thing or two!" Tigerclaw yowled.
Runningwind backed him up. "Those rotten fish-brains will learn not to mess with ThunderClan after!" Many more yowls of agreement rose from the other surrounding cats. Fireheart spotted Graystripe off to the side, looking panicked but attempting to hide it.
"Please, everyone!" Bluestar called. "We shall not declare war on them." There were many shouts of protest.
"Why not?" Tigerclaw demanded. "They've been on our territory, stealing our prey! We can return the favor."
"I shall question Crookedstar about it at the next Gathering, but we will not be rash. It's leaf-bare, every cat is hungry. I will not risk any cats for an unnecessary battle. However, that is to say, if any patrol sees any RiverClan cats, or any other Clan cats on our territory, I give full permission to chase them away." Bluestar mewed, seeming to satisfy everyone.
Tigerclaw didn't seem to like Bluestar's response but was appeased for now.
Bluestar leaped down from the Highrock, signaling that the meeting was over.
"RiverClan seems to have been stepping over our boundaries quite a bit." Spottedleaf mused.
Fireheart turned towards her. "What do you mean?"
"Well, lately when I've been gathering some herbs, I've always smelled a RiverClan scent near the border, particularly at Sunningrocks." She replied.
"And you haven't reported it to Bluestar?" Fireheart asked, eyes wide. She thought Spottedleaf of all cats would be most inclined to keep as much of their territory as possible!
But alas, Spottedleaf simply shook her head. "I saw no point, my personal opinion is that we should share Sunningrocks, all the fighting. It's not worth it for something both Clan's could benefit from."
Fireheart hummed in reply. So Spottedleaf would be one of the cats who wouldn't necessarily mind if the Clan's shared territories.
"Spottedleaf, I need you to help me get cobwebs!" Yellowfang's voice called from inside the medicine cat's den.
"Coming! See you later, Fireheart." She disappeared inside the fern tunnel.
Fireheart turned back around to see an angry deputy stalking towards her. She was temporarily startled before realizing he was probably still irritated about Bluestar deciding not to attack RiverClan.
"Hey," Fireheart called in greeting. Tigerclaw settled beside her with a huff in response.
The jade-eyed she-cat shrugged off his annoyed behavior and instead set her tail on his back in comfort. "So, what's this about Graystripe saying that you're unwanted?"
Fireheart looked into his amber eyes, alive with flames of anger. That's why he was mad. "Oh, that." She awkwardly shrugged it off. "It's not a big deal, I pushed a little hard on something, and it was just the heat of the moment. I'm sure he didn't mean it."
"Even if it was the heat of the moment, words come from somewhere, and often it's not from nowhere. They had to have stemmed from somewhere." The dark-brown tabby hissed under his breath.
The mother-to-be didn't respond. She couldn't. She couldn't believe it.
Tigerclaw laid his tail on her shoulder. Their friendship couldn't be over, could it?
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Graystripe's a little something. Co author does not approve, especially not in this fanfiction.
Fun facts:
Tigerclaw loathes Graystripe a little more each day. - Ashe
Dustpelt at one point did have a crush on Sandstorm. But those feelings have faded and he is very supportive of Sandstorm's developing relationship with Brackenpaw!
Big misunderstandings going on with RiverClan and ThunderClan and it's all thanks to Graystripe and Silverstream!
Me and my Beta have decided to incorporate more characters into the story that originally got sidelined!
Willowpelt is Graystripe's mother it seems and I don't know how to deal with that. (She's raised a failure! Well two failures. Dirtstripe is also her son.)
Poor Willowpelt, can't believe she's raised such traitors. F in the chat. - Ashe
All for now!
lolishipfiregrey -- oh, we have the whole Gray x Silver situation all planned out! Tigerclaw's reaction is just how you'll imagine it being!