A/N; WELL IT ENDED UP NOT BEING OVER 8K WORDS. Sorry about that guys! this chapter is just about 7700 though a lot happens at once here. i know there was a bit of a wait, spring break is approaching meaning classes are increasing in intensity whooooh. also side note graypaw calls darkstripe dickstripe at least once and im honestly so proud of him. it took me an hour to decide whether or not to let him do that but let's be real here, graypaw could and would curse up a storm if this book series wasn't strictly pg.
Now to answer some asks!
HarceusMjalga: thanks! i have nothing against marysue fics actually lololol! most of them are kids still getting the hang of writing and such but i'm glad you like this fic!
Clear Water: this isn't much of a spoiler, dustpaw and firepaw are growing closer i'll admit! firepaw's still bff's with graystripe but he and dustpaw have a weird sort of friendship thing going on, it's steady. and the panther will stay a secret ohoooooh :3c
Yellow Paws: aww hey thanks! i was surprised by how much i actually loved writing them, the two have a lot of potential. dustpaw totally just rants to firepaw about random events after this. character development has been something i wanted to play around with because the erins did a whole lot of world building but no actual effective use of certain characters which disappointed me. like with spottedleaf, i saw her more as a middle school fleeting crush that was born out of admiration and if given more time, would just dissolve into a really cool and healthy friendship. that's what i wanted to convey here :D
OK U GUYS HAVE BEEN WAITING ENOUGH LOL
Throughout the travel back home, Barley and Whitestorm struggled with carrying Bluestar across such a long stretch of travel. Eventually they breathed a sigh of relief when they recognized markings of ThunderClan territory. Sandpaw, the talented hunter of the group, suddenly paused, "Wait, does anyone hear that?"
The distant shriek of cats filled the air, sirens of battle. Bluestar immediately pulled herself out of Barley and Whitestorm's carry and sprinted towards camp, despite the party's protests. There was no other option than to sprint back to camp with her, and assist in the battlegrounds.
And a battleground it sure was.
Yowls cried in dissonance while cats whether from ShadowClan or ThunderClan brawled, tooth and claw. Bluestar huffed, a rat bite above the ridge of her eyes reopening and leaking blood into her left eye, eventually trickling down her silver muzzle, "Just as StarClan said."
"Bluestar, you're heavily injured. Take it easy!" Barley protested. Rather than heed his advice, Bluestar began to plunge into battle; she was taking names and kicking ShadowClan to bits. Groaning, Barley followed her into battle in an attempt to prevent her from getting too injured. Again.
The queens hissed outside of the nursery, clashing with a large ShadowClan tom. Power in numbers was used as their strategy, eventually wearing down the intruder. Darkstripe yowled in triumph over the injured body of another ShadowClan warrior as it hobbled away and out of camp. Firepaw spotted a quiet elder, Rosetail, being watched over by Ravenpaw. The two friends made eye contact, nodding to each other and once more diving into their respective fights. Tigerclaw was…
Well.
He was actually… protecting Lionheart?
Blood slowly rolled off of his fur, his breaths indicating exhaustion. Tigerclaw's overpowering and intimidating form created a wall that separated several enemy warriors from the limp form of Lionheart behind him. Firepaw let out a shaking breath when the slight rise and fall of Lionheart's chest was still visible. It was too soon to celebrate however; Tigerclaw was still being chipped away at by several incoming blows from ShadowClan cats.
With a split second internal debate, Firepaw growled and set aside his hostility for reluctant compliance. His quick legs allowed him to burst through the group of attackers and skid to a halt next to the tabby.
"What are you doing here?! An incompetent apprentice such as yourself should be helping the elders!" Tigerclaw snapped while slashing at a nearby warrior. Firepaw's eye twitched slightly, frankly tired of Tigerclaw's annoying attitude that he could really do without at the moment.
"Whatever Tigerpelt, stop being stubborn and just accept the help." He heard Tigerclaw hiss at the purposeful use of the incorrect name as he batted away a smaller ShadowClan cat that seemed to be one of its premature apprentices. The ground was swept away from under him as a warrior managed to sink his teeth into one of Firepaw's legs, dragging him onto his back and raking his chest. Firepaw yelped, twisting his body around and flipping their positions. With a swift bite to his shoulder, the ShadowClan warrior was sent shrieking. They worked side by side, Lionheart being the only connecting goal between them.
As time passed, the grueling battle was soon reaching its end. Firepaw tiredly heaved breaths, his ginger pelt splashed with deep red (his blood or someone else's, he doesn't know). Graypaw delivered a final blow to another warrior, sending them off in a panic before joining Firepaw.
"What's up, buttercup? You're back early."
"Tell me about it." Firepaw's eyes drooped slightly as his body wobbled. Graypaw steadied him, concerned. Dismissing the momentary exhaustion, Firepaw stretched despite his muscles screaming in protest and set off to find Bluestar. On the other end of the clearing, she was tired but otherwise okay. Her gray fur was relatively messy and sticking out at awkward angles much akin to a kit. Barley waved his tail in greeting. Unlike literally every other cat in the clearing, he remained unharmed other than the occasional shallow scratch.
ThunderClan chased out the last of the ShadowClan cats and began to gather near the Highrock, sharing news and taking count of the living. Frostfur wove her way back through the crowd, followed by Yellowfang. The white queen stepped forward and addressed them. "Our kits are all safe, thanks to Yellowfang. She fought off a ShadowClan warrior in the nursery to protect them."
"It was no ordinary ShadowClan warrior either," Firepaw put in. He was determined to help Yellowfang gain the acceptance she deserved, "It was Blackfoot."
Murmurs of shock and disbelief traveled through the crowd. Firepaw leaves them to an awkwardly nodding Yellowfang and makes his way toward Lionheart, whom Spottedleaf is intensely tending to. Her paws are in constant fluid motion, from applying cobwebs to applying poultices and licking blood and fur away.
He hesitantly asks, "Is- is he…?" She sends him a look that nearly gives him a heart attack.
"He's pretty bad in shape, the injuries were extensive," Spottedleaf shook her head, "But the geezer is still kicking. This dumb, death defying cat. Lionheart's going to be out of commission for a while, but he'll be fine."
He'll be fine. It takes all of his willpower not to sob right there and then. Forcing himself to avert his gaze, as if letting Lionheart out of his sight would automatically kill him, Firepaw soon joins his friends and Yellowfang.
Graypaw mewled, "My mentor nearly gave me a heart attack, but I'm glad he's okay." His tone practically overflowed in pride and adoration. Firepaw's tail waved, near estatic.
After Lionheart was relocated to the medicine den, Bluestar was finally receiving proper treatment for her wounds. She chuckled as Spottedleaf scolded her for overexerting herself, slapping poultices over wounds and spitting words between the leaves she was chewing, "I can't believe you'd dive into battle directly after being attacked by rats! If you weren't so injured already I'd be tempted to kick your leaderly behind all the way to Fourtrees."
Spottedleaf huffed, applying the last few cobwebs to Bluestar's wounds and grumbled, "You're lucky Firepaw knew some basic medicine aid! Who knows what state you'd be in if you let those bites go untreated!"
Yellowfang, who had been the recipient of several thanks and praise before, was healing alongside Spottedleaf nearby. She flicked an ear at the news, "You were the one that dressed Bluestar's wounds?"
A hesitant nod. Yellowfang fixed Bluestar's injuries with a scrutinizing look, "Well, it wasn't terrible. I'll give you that."
"Aw. Awwww! You're praising me?" Firepaw joked, considering how strict Yellowfang usually was with him. He still took the compliment to heart, though. She recoiled immediately.
"Hey! Don't push your luck!"
"Oh, I would never." He did almost every day and both of them knew that.
Seeing the camp slowly settle down, a sense of peace washed over him and his bones. Also a wave of exhaustion. Definitely feeling the fatigue and physical pain of battle now that the mid-battle adrenaline was finally wearing away. Cats had simply become moving blurs while Firepaw groaned, wobbling and unsteadiness returning. Without Graypaw to steady him, his legs gave out from under him and he collided with the ground.
"Firepaw? H-hey, Firepaw! You mousebrained kit, why didn't you get any treatment for those wounds?! I'm going to punt your fluffy tail to ShadowClan territory by the time you recover!" Yellowfang growled furiously while licking his wounds clean, though the slight wobble in her tone betrayed genuine worry.
Forgetting to treat himself after the rat battle and then battling ShadowClan without sleep sucked the energy out of him. Firepaw mumbled near unintelligibly before closing his eyes, "Don't kick me to ShadowClan," he groaned, "I can't stand your son."
The last thing he heard before passing out was the sharp intake of breath.
Above him, a crack in the medicine cat's den allowed for the smallest sliver of light to hit Firepaw's eyes. His nose twitched, irritated by the sudden brightness. Eventually he squeezed his eyelids closed tightly before reopening them.
"Rise and shine, mousebrain. You've been in here for a good two days." Yellowfang's annoyed voice greeted him. In an attempt to greet her back, Firepaw struggled to sit up before she bounded across the den and stopped him.
"Quit it! Do you want to make your wounds even worse? Just rest there and I'll fill you in." His apparent caretaker began to update Firepaw on recent events in the clan that he had missed. Yellowfang was now a welcomed member of ThunderClan, the news causing Firepaw to purr happily. Lionheart was still unconscious, but seemed to be showing signs of improvement. Firepaw glanced at the golden warrior's sleeping form deeper inside the medicine cat's den, snoozing peacefully. Apparently Barley was still in camp until things began to settle down between ThunderClan and ShadowClan so that he'd be granted a safe escort back home. Their weary clan had thankfully suffered no casualties and reconstruction of their camp was taking priority.
At one point the former medicine cat threw her head back and laughed, "Oh, this is rich, y'know what else has been going on since you've been knocked out?"
Curious, he tilted his head. Taking that as a notion to keep going Yellowfang continued, "So I absolutely have not been bragging about your treatment skills for Bluestar lately, but since your little trip to the moonstone, a good amount of warriors and even a few apprentices have come by; they ask me and Spottedleaf for quick lessons!"
She paused, "Oh, by the way, Whitestorm is even worse at patching up wounds with cobwebs than you are, and I think Runningwind is just naturally scatterbrained. He tried to give me dock leaves for a bellyache!" Firepaw laughed along with Yellowfang, even though he didn't quite remember the right herb for a stomach ache either. It was the thought that counts. Mostly.
Firepaw tries to stand once more. Yellowfang snaps at him to stop before inspecting his wounds gently, nagging at him for his horrendous sense of self care, "I swear to StarClan you can take moons off of my lifespan sometimes."
Snickering at the comment, Firepaw responded, "It's a talent of mine."
"Yeah, a terrible one."
Throughout the rest of their conversation he was half paying attention and half zoning out. During a particularly quiet lull in their talk Firepaw asks, "Yellowfang, do you miss ShadowClan?"
That seemed to catch her off guard. Yellowfang hesitates, "I.. I miss what it used to be. Before, well-"
"Brokenstar became leader?"
"Yeah," She admitted softly, her prickly and usually cranky demeanor dropping and being coupled with a more tired and affectionate tone, "He changed the clan. Always knew how to give a good speech."
Yellowfang snorted and continued, "Could make you believe a mouse was a rabbit if he set his mind to it. Maybe that's why I couldn't see just how corrupt he'd grown. If I had just noticed sooner. If I were just a better mother."
She stared into the distance, out of the medicine den and into the camp clearing where cats were milling about sharing tongues as the sun was directly overhead, "Then again, you already know all of this, don't you?"
Firepaw shrugged, "Telling me about this for the purpose of me knowing isn't important, anyways. It's you getting to finally vent about what's been hurting you that's important. Talking about what's troubling you can make life just that much easier sometimes, believe it or not."
"Cheeky kit."
"Stubborn oldie."
"You're one to talk."
Firepaw allowed there to be a quiet moment of silence, letting the leftover tiredness wash away. Of course, he had to break this silence when he remembered a particular cat at the last Gathering, "Hey, you'll never guess who the new ShadowClan medicine cat is."
"No freaking way."
They gossiped amicably for a good amount of time. Enough time for the sun high in the air to be traded with the moon's cool light. Firepaw somehow managed to convince Yellowfang that he could sleep in the apprentices' den that night. Reluctant to allow him out of her sight, as if the moment he wasn't physically nearby he'd be able to injure himself again (which wasn't actually all that exaggerated to be fair), Yellowfang suggested he at least roll in wild garlic before he left.
"Your friends might hate you for a few nights, though!" She snickered as Firepaw left the den with Graypaw there to help him. Graypaw sent him a look that basically screamed, dear StarClan no.
As they walked together towards the entrance of camp, Darkstripe slid in front of the ravines, effectively blocking them, "What do you two think you're doing?"
"Well Yellowfang told me-"
"Oh no, you don't take orders from that rogue!" The word "rogue" rolled off of his tongue similarly to how one would hiss a slur, fully intending to mimic one. Firepaw narrowed his eyes, fully intending to protest before Graypaw led him away to avoid an altercation.
"Don't worry about Dickstripe over there, he's just pissy. There's a hole in the back of the apprentices' den because of ShadowClan; It's not too fortified yet."
Firepaw walked beside him pelt to pelt, thankful that Graypaw prevented him from trying to rip Darkstripe a new one. Bluestar likely wouldn't take kindly to that, after all. He spared a glance at his friend, wondering how he got this mature over the span of the few days he was gone. Maybe he'd never know.
Ravenpaw was patching up the walls on the apprentices' den when they arrived, his ears tilting slightly at the sounds of their footsteps before he turned around excitedly, "Firepaw! You're awake!"
He purred while nuzzling Firepaw, careful not to jostle or bump any wounds while he eagerly greeted them. Graypaw scoffed at the display playfully, though seemed a millisecond away from joining in himself before pausing, "Wait! Onion!"
"Uh, onion…?" Ravenpaw stared questionably.
"Yellowfang told Firepaw to roll around in an onion patch to help his wounds. Look forward to a smelly den for the next few days." He gently cuffed Firepaw around his untorn ear as the ginger batted the paw in retaliation, "Darkstripe is being annoying, per usual, so we're gonna sneak out through the hole in the den. Wanna come?"
Ravenpaw gave it some thought, "Wish I could, but who would keep watch while you're away?"
Firepaw shrugged, "I should be okay by myself, as long as I take it easy."
He was immediately met by two unimpressed stares. Yikes, really guys? Graypaw shook his head as if he were about to scold a kit and Ravenpaw sent him a sympathetic glance, "What? I mean, I can walk just fine."
"Dude, you literally had to lean on me to walk across the clearing. Give it a rest and take the help." At Graypaw's last comment, Firepaw nearly laughed at the irony of it. That's what he told Yellowfang and Tigerclaw before. Stubborn cats sure flock together in this clan.
"Alright, alright!"
Forgetting about a lookout, the three apprentices slipped out of the den and into the forest. When they neared the large patch of wild garlic, Firepaw quickly paused, "Quick, hide, I think I smell Darkstripe!"
Graypaw groaned, "Oh no, I don't want to listen to another clan lecture. C'mon, we can grab some garlic and make it back into the apprentices' den."
A shifting gaze between the three, and they all knew that the troublesome trio wouldn't be doing that. Instead, Ravenpaw, Graypaw, and Firepaw dove into the nearest bush and eavesdropped on the approaching three cats. Darkstripe, Longtail, and Tigerclaw!
There was a feeling of tensing muscle coming from next to Firepaw. Eventually the other cats neared their hiding spot so the three could hear their hushed conversation.
"Now that Lionheart is injured, you've practically been acting as deputy! You're perfect for the job- don't get me wrong, Lionheart is a decent cat, but he's just so soft!" Darkstripe readily indulged Tigerclaw. It didn't seem as if the obvious flattering was effective, however.
He snapped quickly, "Who would want to be deputy? I'm just filling in until Lionheart is well enough to run this clan with Bluestar; why else would I save him?"
Darkstripe visibly recoiled, as did Firepaw and Ravenpaw. Tigerclaw… doesn't want to gain leadership power? Is that why he's been so off-beat lately? Firepaw gritted his teeth, willing his body not to burst out of its hiding place to question the cat right there and then. Maybe later, but for now quiet was key. Darkstripe seemed to recover quickly, laughing the matter off, "Y-yes, being a deputy is just so much work, isn't it? And you'd become such a target to other clans."
Tigerclaw's amber eyes narrowed angrily, "I have to agree with you, Darkstripe. What about you, Longtail?"
The unusually quiet tom glanced up from his stupor and nodded defaultly, "O-of course, yeah! It's such a, ah, pain." Once the attention had seemingly averted from him, Longtail zoned out of the conversation once more. His posture and stiff tail displayed obvious discomfort.
"StarClan and the warrior code too, they're both…!" Tigerclaw snarled, seemingly furious about something yet a quick glance between Graypaw and Ravenpaw indicated that neither knew what he was aggravated about. Before getting carried away, Tigerclaw stopped himself. He sniffed the air.
"Funny… Darkstripe, you said no one would be out tonight, yes?"
And that was their cue to scramble out of there. As quietly as possible, Ravenpaw, Firepaw, and Graypaw snuck back to the apprentices' den and completely forgot about collecting the garlic. Out of the three, Graypaw spoke first once in the comfort of their own den.
"LionClan above, what the heck was that?"
Ravenpaw trembled, wanting to be anywhere but there at the moment, "Oh StarClan, I don't understand! I thought he'd want to be-!"
"Not to interrupt the group nervous breakdown over there, but some of us are trying to rest." A quick jab from Sandpaw shut the cats up quickly, yet there was an unspoken agreement between the three of them.
We'll talk later.
No one was able to sleep quite properly after that. Instead of resting, Firepaw assisted in patching up the apprentices' den despite his friends' protests. Ravenpaw's nerves were still slightly haywire, but he managed to settle down soon enough. In the middle of passing twigs to to him for sealing up any loose spots, Ravenpaw spoke, "Firepaw, now that you're awake and stuff, can I- can I just see you for a sec?"
Quizzically, he nodded and allowed himself to be led to a more secluded and hidden area of the camp. Ravenpaw took a quick glance around and leaned in, whispering, "I know this is pretty late, but you said something. At the gathering, I mean."
Firepaw laughed, it seemed surprisingly genuine for how much he forced it out, "Oh, you mean that! I just didn't want you to get caught up in your story when the leaders were speaking."
Instead of accepting this as a fact and letting the matter go, Ravenpaw narrowed his eyes and flattened his ears slightly. He didn't look hostile, but instead emitted more of a demanding feeling. Firepaw was proud that his friend was confident enough to confront his companions about whatever was bothering him, but also nervous considering that one of said issues involved his greatest deniability.
"I know I'm jumpy and I'm anxious, that causes everyone to think I'm dumb. B-but what I lack in confidence I make up for with my mind! Firepaw you're my friend, so don't lie to me, okay? I know you know something big."
"Firepaw, jeez, settle down! You're causing my bones to ache by just looking at you pacing. So you're telling me that Ravenpaw is catching onto you?"
He nearly screeched in frustration but held back the gross noise, "Oh man, oh no, Yellowfang what do I do? He's going to figure out and then- and then, I dunno- something! I shouldn't have thought he'd just forget, Ravenpaw's always been really smart! Of course he'd suspect something-"
Firepaw's restless padding was halted by a swift paw batting his forehead and forcing him to sit down. In the seclusion of the clearing after dark, Yellowfang was currently subject to the unfortunate panic of a ruffled up apprentice. He had asked Ravenpaw for a bit of time before answering his questions and immediately burst into the medicine cat's den for help. Turns out he just ended up waking a groggy Spottedleaf, and Yellowfang was actually still sleeping in her usual spot.
"Well kit, like they say in ShadowClan: You've one too many toads on a log."
Firepaw paused, "Wha- ShadowClan actually says that?"
"Nah, I was trying to quiet you down and see if you'd actually believe me," Yellowfang snickered at how gullible her favorite apprentice was, "Listen, Ravenpaw is your friend, right?"
She rolled onto her side, comfortably watching Firepaw's thought process through his facial expressions and tail twitches. He immediately nodded.
"Of course, he's really important to me." Memories of fighting side by side and reluctantly saying goodbye to Ravenpaw when he joined Barley at the farm filled Firepaw's thoughts. They didn't have nearly as much time together as they should have.
Yellowfang sighed, resting her tail tip on his shoulder in a knowing gesture, "Then give him some faith. You trusted me, right? And have you regretted that since then?"
Firepaw deadpanned, "You literally ask me what the weather is going to be like every day."
"Other than that!"
It takes a moment, but Yellowfang eventually squeezes an honest response out of him. With a breathy giggle he replies, "No, I haven't."
She laughs, it's full of scratches and graveled with age, still managing to be genuine and pleasant to hear, "Then I think you already know the answer, kit."
He purrs. Yeah, he did.
Morning arrives and Firepaw stiffly wakes up, feeling obvious discomfort in his muscles from falling asleep outside. He stretched before wincing. Looks like it's time to visit Spottedleaf again. Making his way to her den, he was pleased to see Lionheart finally awake. The golden tabby was resting outside the medicine den's entrance, catching the sun's rays in his pelt and nodded his head in greeting, "Firepaw! Good morning, my boy. I've heard stories from Spottedleaf about you and Tigerclaw's actions the other night."
His pelt fluffed up slightly, flustered with the praise, "Oh, thanks. Also congratulations on a full recovery, it's nice to see you awake."
Lionheart chuckled, "Likewise. You're on your way to see Spottedleaf, right?"
Firepaw nods.
"Well, when you're in there, can you talk to her? She seems awfully restless today. I would myself, but the truth is that I'm quite terrible at offering comfort when I don't know the other very well." He admitted, surprising Firepaw. In his eyes, Lionheart was always such an admirable warrior with little fault. Sort of like those warriors kits hear stories about in the nursery.
"I will, thanks Lionheart!" He mewled, waving his tail as a quick parting gesture and bounding inside of the den. True to his word, Spottedleaf was pacing around in her space. She occasionally stopped and attempted to sort her herbs before realizing that she had already done so. Firepaw frowned.
"Spottedleaf? Are you okay?" At first she froze, whipping her head to face Firepaw in surprise before realizing who was speaking to her. She laughed, though it seemed too breathy and shaky for it to be in any sort of form a comfort.
"Firepaw! What do you need?"
He frowned, unwilling to divert the subject so quickly when it was obvious that Spottedleaf was this upset, "Uh, just asking if you were okay. You seem really jumpy and distracted."
Instead of bothering to deny his claim, the medicine cat simply sighed in resignation, "I think StarClan is trying to communicate with me, but their messages are more frantic than usual. It all ends up in this big jumble and my head hurts." She winced, apparently overstimulated by the distressed warnings and messages, "Either way, I think it's bad, but none of it is making sense."
Disheartened by his lack of ability to help, Firepaw opted to give support, "Spottedleaf, you'll be able to figure this out. It'll be okay!"
Despite this, he himself was unsure of what to do. He wanted to help her, but what should he do? What could he do? Being so useless in his previous life had been one of Firepaw's greatest regrets. It seems as if Spottedleaf noticed the conflict in his voice and gave him a dubious stare.
"I appreciate your efforts, but this is just something I have to figure out on my own." She sighed, distancing herself from the apprentice's attempts, "Now, what did you need help with? Poultices?"
Throughout the treatment of his wounds, Firepaw remained deep in thought as did Spottedleaf, generating a quiet and somber environment. She patched him up and sent him off before freezing.
"Wait! Before you leave," Firepaw winced unconsciously, was Spottedleaf going to tell him about his own failed prophecy again? Apparently not, "Before you leave, I need a quick favor."
Confused by the change in pace, Firepaw tilted his head, "What's the favor?"
She was quick to provide, "So obviously you and I both know Bluestar isn't going to force you to go to training today. Since the battle with ShadowClan, my herb stores have become pretty pathetic too. I need a helping paw in carrying herbs!"
Pausing and letting a certain silence hang in the air, she added, "Plus, I think we both could use a day out of camp."
His answer was pretty predictable.
So was the expected taste of herbs in his mouth. Outside of ThunderClan fortifications, Spottedleaf snorted at Firepaw's scrunched up face that twisted in distaste, "What did you expect? Stuff's gross."
In his jaws were just about twenty marigold leaves and dock stalks. In this state, Firepaw couldn't talk without risking accidentally choking on the herbs. So instead, he narrowed his eyes as much as possible to the point of the other cat laughing at the comicability. They continued to gather herbs in a similar fashion, taking several trips back into camp. Spottedleaf rambled throughout their trips, Firepaw attempting to convey as much as he could without the use of his voice.
At one point, Spottedleaf was gathering cobwebs from an old bush, carefully wrapping them around a stick clenched around her own jaws. Despite this, she still attempted to speak anyways, "Y'know I'm happy you wanted to be friends with me."
Firepaw, who currently also had a stick of cobwebs in his teeth, indicated that he was listening by lifting his head. She continued, "ThunderClan is amazing, and I love our clanmates and I love my job as a medicine cat. It, well, wasn't my first option at the beginning, but I grew to love it."
She set the stick against a tree once it was fully wrapped and began to wrap another, "But there aren't many cats who really go beyond that weird level of medicine cat and warrior relationship- And not that kind of relationship, I mean the sort of respected acquaintances kind of relationship. Like, I want to know about the dumb thing that happened earlier in the warriors' den too, and I want to be able to make inside jokes with my clanmates too!"
He didn't know she felt so strongly about wanting to be- "I just want to be seen as a potential friend instead of some higher deity. It sounds silly, right? And in the grand scheme of things I suppose it's irrelevant too. But.. have you noticed ThunderClan growing a little more disjointed lately? It's like no one wants to trust each other. I want to sorta mend that."
Another nod. She laughed, "I'm rambling, huh? Well either way, I think it's just about time to make our last trip back to camp anyways. We have enough supplies to last us a million moons, the sun is already setting!"
Firepaw saw Spottedleaf gather the rest of her supplies and begin trekking back to the direction of camp, flicking her tail for him to follow. She purred, "This little herb hunt was really helpful for clearing my head, thanks for doing this for me, Firepaw. I know I talk often, and maybe I spill a little too much of what's in my head, but sometimes you just have to!"
She turned around once and gave him an appreciative glance that said, 'Thank you for listening to me.' Knowing what was to come, the little apprentice grew a massive determination.
Spottedleaf, I'll make sure you'll be okay.
He felt like he could keep this promise.
Dusk washed the camp over in gentle purple hues. Progress was being made to the stronger camp, den walls nearly complete in repairs and preparations. As they entered the ravines and dropped their things off, Firepaw was slightly disappointed by the lack of fresh kill in the pile.
Passing by, the preparing evening patrol which included Dustpaw and Sandpaw approached. Dragging along behind the patrol, Dustpaw fixed Firepaw a look before muttering lowly, "Just check behind the apprentices' den. I didn't say anything."
With a confused glance at Spottedleaf, who shrugged back, he bounded to the spot in question. Lo and behold, a saved mouse. The medicine cat peered over his shoulder and let out a little 'ooooh!'
Firepaw picked it up, surprised at Dustpaw's consideration. Looks like he was getting through to him after all. It smelled amazing, "Feel like sharing a mouse?"
That got her excited, "Thanks, I was starving!"
While they ate, Spottedleaf purred, "He's totally sweet on you."
Firepaw paused, "Who?"
She rolled her eyes, "Dustpaw! Did you finally beat him into his senses on that trip to the Moonstone? It doesn't take a genius to know that you two had some hostility towards each other before, but now it seems like you guys are closer," Pausing to take another bite, "Or at least, you're not going for the other's throat anymore."
He snorted, "Maybe."
"Oh, speaking of apprentices, Ravenpaw's looking pretty anxious at you right now. Did you do something?" At this comment Firepaw scolded himself. He had totally forgotten to talk to his friend!
"Ah, mousedung! It slipped my mind while we were getting herbs! You can have the rest of my mouse Spottedleaf, I have to go talk to Ravenpaw about something."
Hearing her mewl goodbye, Firepaw skidded to a halt next to Ravenpaw, fur sticking up. Before he could speak, the ginger apprentice let the words spill out of his mouth.
"I'm sorry for avoiding you! I've been gathering herbs with Spottedleaf all day but I promise I'll answer all of your questions right now." He practically word vomited his regret until Ravenpaw effectively shut him up. Though, it was Ravenpaw, so he shut him up in the most gentle way possible.
"Firepaw you don't have to keep going, I understand. Can we talk somewhere outside of camp?" With a relieved nod, Firepaw followed him to a more secluded area.
After a quick look around, both cats confirmed that there was no one else there to eavesdrop. Sitting down, Ravenpaw nervously shifted sand between his paws, "So, what's up?"
A very unimpressed look from Firepaw later he huffed, "Well, how else would you want to start this type of conversation? Singing?"
StarClan, it was so tempting to burst out singing about how he knew Tigerclaw was evil, but just about 99% of himself knew that Ravenpaw wouldn't really appreciate that. Also, Firepaw sucked at singing. Instead, he opted to start with a more reasonable claim and let trust work its magic from there.
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain right off the bat. Y'know, uh, tree branches?"
His rambling about his travels to an entirely new timeline stretched into the death of dusk, moonlight shining on the two cats. One who's main problem was finding a way to convince the other and one who's main problem was finding a way to believe him.
"So what I'm picking up from this is, uh, you're sort of Firepaw number two?" Ravenpaw's inflection of voice was one of dubious questioning which Firepaw himself couldn't blame him for at all. It was surely a lot to take in, and Yellowfang hadn't really believed him until just a few days ago.
He gently shook his head, "No no, I'm still me. Just the same me in the past." Realizing this was just proving to be more confusing, he rethought his wording and explained again. Silverpelt shined above them as even more time passed between different explanations and different attempts to understand just what the heck Firepaw was trying to convey.
It took just about an hour or two until Ravenpaw finally stopped him, "I think I understand now, sorry for making you go through that so many times. So what you're saying is… you know Tigerclaw killed Redtail. But only because you found out in a previous timeline? And because things ended so badly in that last timeline, you're back here again to prevent that?"
"It sounds really dumb, but yeah. The only proof I have is what I know and how much you choose to believe." He admitted, doubtful in how trustworthy he sounded. Even Ravenpaw seemed uncertain, more comfortable in asking Spottedleaf to give his friend mental treatment than readily accepting this proposition of such things as time travel and direct StarClan intervention. If he were Ravenpaw, he'd be feeling the exact same.
"I'm going to be honest, I don't really believe you," Part of Firepaw deflated though he understood, "This story is sort of insane. There are three ancient cats in StarClan? You know the future, and how we're all gonna die?"
In retrospect, even more of his story seems silly. He opened his mouth but Ravenpaw interrupted him, "O-oh, sorry were you gonna speak-? Wait, no, I cut you off for a reason!" He took a breath, "I can't believe you, not yet at least. But how else would you have known about how Redtail really died?"
He hesitated before persisting, "And who else would I talk to?"
The progress was tentative, but Firepaw was appreciative that Ravenpaw was able to accept this much. He didn't expect the other to so readily believe something like this anyways; if so he'd probably be concerned. But it was the little steps that built trust to mountains.
With a better grasp on their friendship, the two cats tread back into camp. It was far too late, and they had enough sleep to catch up on.
… So of course, a mere two hours later, four idiot apprentices sprint out of their dens in the middle of the night.
It happened suddenly; Firepaw, Ravenpaw, Graypaw, Sandpaw, and Dustpaw practically dead to the world through sleep. A single large spider managed to creep its way onto Ravenpaw's nose, causing him to sneeze and blearily wake up.
Looking around the den, he closed his eyes once more before realizing the source of his irritation was currently resting on his face. With a scream, he jolted fully awake and jumped around the den, shaking his head wildly to dislodge the spider. The rest of the apprentices woke easily enough, groggy and annoyed by the sudden waking. Graypaw in particular groaned, "Ravenpaw? What's up, it's super late."
His answer came from a spider hurtling into Firepaw's side. Eyes resembling large moons, he scrambled up from his nest, "Dear StarClan-! Mousedung! Every apprentice for themself!"
"Wait, no! Graypaw don't leave me!" Firepaw cried out, shaking his pelt from the spider.
"Sorry, buddy!" Was the only response.
Dustpaw grabbed his scruff and both clambered out of the den, Firepaw heaving a breath, "I owe you my life."
"Don't make it weird."
"Okay, half a life. Also, did you just abandon Sandpaw?" It seems that Dustpaw just realized that for himself as he whipped his head around to face the apprentices' den. While the group made a racket, ThunderClan began to slowly wake. Yellowfang and Mousefur in particular were nearly rolling on the ground, holding absolutely no laughter back from the temporary chaos.
"What on earth is with all this noise?" Tigerclaw growled, stomping towards the four loud apprentices, "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"It was a matter of life and death!" Graypaw protested, Ravenpaw and Firepaw offering him immediate support. A short rustle from the den revealed an absolutely furious Sandpaw, safe and sound with the large spider in her paw. Her gaze screamed murder and caused her denmates to shrink back slightly.
"Uh, no? No, it wasn't. It was a big spider in the middle of the night and it seems like I'm the only apprentice here that actually isn't a baby kit."
After a short break in conversation, Dustpaw mewled, "Last night you needed Runningwind to tell a story for you to fall asleep-"
"Watch it, Dustpaw. I'm the one with the spider." She waved her paw, effectively shutting him up.
Tigerclaw simply stared, "You're all baby kits! Regardless of who did it, every single one of you foolish apprentices played a part in waking the entire clan at this ungodly hour! Do you have any idea how juvenile these antics are? Each cat here is going to face punishment in the morni-"
Sandpaw threw the spider at Tigerclaw. He immediately hissed, jumping and hopping in an attempt to throw the spider off of his body. She sighed, "Since we're all awake and since my denmates are idiots, let's go visit Brindleface's new kits. If any one of you causes another commotion, I think I'm going to use your fur as bedding."
A unanimous agreement caused five apprentices to approach the nursery. Firepaw was excited, evident through the little skip in his walk. Kits were so cute!
Whitestorm sat outside of the den, guarding the entrance, "You five here to see the new kits?" He laughed at the response of nods, all eager to see the little kittens.
"Well one at a time only, guys. Bluestar's in with them right now and she's- oh wait, there she is." Bluestar emerged from the den, nodding her head at the apprentices and Whitestorm.
"I heard quite a racket earlier. Was that you five?"
Whitestorm guffawed at their sheepish expressions, "You know it."
Their leader sighed, yet it sounded more like a laugh than anything, "Well, you're lucky that you didn't wake the kits. They're sleepy enough." She bid them farewell and walked back into her den.
Eventually the group decided Firepaw would enter first, being the one most anxious to see them. He squeezed through the nursery entrance after receiving permission from Whitestorm and was greeted by the sleepy faces of four healthy kittens.
"How are you feeling?" He greeted Brindleface, the queen startled as if just seeing him. She settled down easily enough.
"Tired, but the kits are strong and healthy." She beamed at them in pride. The little bundles of fur squirmed slightly, flopping in their bedding.
"Have you decided on names?" Firepaw asked, receiving a nod in response.
Brindleface touched her nose to a kit with dark gray flecks on ashen fur, "This is Ashkit," A kit with a similar pelt but with a more streamline pattern in dark gray, "Finchkit," A kit with a solid dark pelt, "Smokekit," And the last kit who was similar to Ashkit yet was the only she-kit in the group, "And Fernkit."
Firepaw waved his tail, happy to finally put names to the kits, "ThunderClan's lucky to have them."
A single wandering kit, Smokekit, strayed from Brindleface and moved towards Firepaw. As he reached down to say hello, the queen flinched and nudged him back to her with her tail. Taking the hint, Firepaw dipped his head in thanks and emerged from the den; anxiety growing in his stomach.
"That was quick. Were they cute?" Graypaw mewed, only gaining a clipped 'yes' in response. Rather than sticking around, Firepaw made himself scarce. A stone suddenly dropped in his gut. Speaking of scarce, where was Spottedleaf? Frantically searching around, he soon grew into a state of near panic. Luckily it seems as if no one was behind the nursery yet.
He soon found that his answer was currently stretching, padding out of her den. Firepaw skidded towards her, stopping in front of the surprised cat, "Spottedleaf!"
"Uh, yes Firepaw?" She responded. Internally he let out a breath. In the midst of the earlier events, he nearly forgot about this day's events.
"Do you want to go hunting?" He blurted, looking for any excuse to avoid the possible confrontation with Clawface in camp. She was momentarily stunned.
"Now? Before dawn?" Upon searching his face, she must have found something that had convinced her, "Well, alright. Just tell someone where we're going, okay?"
He beamed, alerting Runningwind that they were going hunting before rushing himself to the camp entrance. Spottedleaf laughed, still mildly puzzled but otherwise amused, "Slow down! The mice won't abandon the forest."
Firepaw laughed, embarrassed. It was true, but he was just nervous. Spottedleaf stretched her legs comfortably, purring, "I haven't been hunting in ages! Where do you want to start?"
Before he could respond, the expression on Spottedleaf's face changed. She quieted his inquiries with a gentle lift of her tail and narrowed her eyes into small slits. The forest roared from rolling gusts of wind, lifting leaves and carrying scents along with its breeze. One familiar yet hostile scent made itself more apparent than the rest.
Turning to face Firepaw once more, she was horrified, "ShadowClan is sneaking into camp."
As she began to sprint back into camp, Firepaw yelped, "Wait!"
Spottedleaf whirled, lashing her tail in impatience, "Firepaw, what do you mean by wait?! Those scents were fresh; they could be attacking right now!"
"Because it's not safe there!" He blurted, soon regretting his poor choice of wording. When he finished the sentence, Spottedleaf fixed him with a look of disbelief.
"Firepaw, you're better than this," She hissed, "It will never be safe! That's what clan life is about and that's why we have to protect each other! Because none of us are ever really safe!" Without waiting to hear Firepaw's response, she sprinted into camp.
He followed as fast as his legs could possibly push him forward.
Stumbling over his feet, Firepaw heaved as he went around the camp entrance, towards the break in the walls where the back of the nursery was unprotected. Sure enough, Spottedleaf and Clawface hissed, aimed to strike for their opposer at any given moment. The ShadowClan warrior carried the scruffs of Frostfur's kits in his mouth, whose eyes were wide with fear.
Thoughts flew through Firepaw's mind at a rapid pace before he settled on direct action, jumping on the enemy's back and refusing to let go. In his struggle, the kits were taken away by Spottedleaf who quickly looked back and forth, fumbling to alert another warrior yet her mouth was occupied by carrying the fragile bodies of Frostfur's kits.
Clawface's sheer size was enough to dislodge the apprentice, spinning and slamming his back onto the ground to immobilize Firepaw. He yanked Spottedleaf back by the scruff and away from the possible view of her clanmates into the shadows of the space behind the nursery. Firepaw struggled to his feet, reaching his claws towards Spottedleaf from where she frantically raked her own against the flank of Clawface. In an attempt to alarm the other ThunderClan cats, he was suddenly dismayed by his inability to speak; his throat closed up from the harsh blow.
Before either ThunderClan cat could take a breath, a sickening snap accompanied the silence.
Clawface growled, dropping the body onto the ground and stepping over it to inspect the clean break, "I don't have time for this. Just two are good enough." He grabbed the two kits that Spottedleaf had dropped from her mouth and barged past Firepaw, dragging him by the neck until his smaller body rolled onto the forest soil.
Slowly the smell of ShadowClan faded in strength. Firepaw remained on the ground for a moment longer before choking, coughing up last night's food onto the ground. He shakily stood from the soil and in a stunning moment of clarity, suddenly registered the single realization of 'I failed.'
He knew what would happen yet he still wasn't able to change it.
Blood roared through his ears, frozen to the spot yet heart pumping quickly and harshly like it was about to beat itself into freezing completely. He distantly acknowledged the faint cries of Frostfur.
"My kits! Someone has taken two of my kits!"
"Quick, search the camp!"
"Yellowfang is gone!"
He broke his promise. Surprisingly, his face remained incredibly still, mind blank from the haze of grief overwhelming him. If he were just a bit smarter and less selfish; instead of solely focusing on saving Spo- his friend, and was more focused on keeping everyone safe and Clawface away from the camp entirely. The wind picked up its gusto, cutting through his pelt and into his skin as thunder clapped and roared from overhead. Firepaw trembled, suddenly feeling like a freezing kit again; utterly exposed and vulnerable- but vulnerable to what he was unsure. Kicking the internal whirlwind of unease and blame aside, he shook his head. No, there wasn't any time for that sort of thing anymore. Especially not right now.
Yowls of outrage were left behind him as Firepaw struggled towards the ShadowClan border in an attempt to preserve what he still could.
.
A/N:
firepaw, speaking to shadowclan cats at a later gathering: uh so haha y'know what they say! too many toads on a log!
shadowclan, also laughing: hahaha yea of course.
later in shadowclan: do they actually say that in thunderclan. am i missing something.