Yep new chappy I apologize for the wait.
Chapter 14
The patrol reached the camp without any incidents; they came charging through the camp entrance. Snowfall, Squirrelfur and Smokecloud were waiting in the clearing, the two queens were lying in the clearing looking distraught until the warriors came charging into the clearing. Firestorm, Runningstream, Grayfeather and Mapletail released the kits they were carrying and watched them run toward their mothers. The two queens purred in delight and carefully picked up the kits ushering them back into the nursery. Goldenstar raced over to the patrol, the clan began to gather in the clearing. Fallowpelt raced from her den and began to treat the patrol's injuries.
"Ashstorm what happened?" Goldenstar asked looking over all the warriors that had been in the patrol.
"We were able to make it into ShadowClan territory without problem and we ran into a ThunderClan rescue patrol, apparently ShadowClan had stolen their kits as well; and there was also a group of ShadowClan rebels who no longer followed Brokenstar, we combined our strengths and took down the ShadowClan camp, Brokenstar is no longer the ShadowClan leader." he reported calmly. The camp murmured in shock. Goldenstar nodded in understanding.
"ThunderClan's medicine cat Spottedleaf, was killed when their kits were stolen, Yellowfang , ShadowClan's former medicine cat has agreed to stay in ThunderClan as their medicine cat." The clan screeched in horror and Fallowpelt looked to Firestorm as if questioning him if it was true. Firestorm gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement before returning his gaze to Goldenstar.
"What kind of Clan would support killing a medicine cat?" hissed Sootpelt, others growled behind him in agreement.
"I don't think they were aware that it had occurred they seemed as surprised that she was dead as we were." Firestorm explained as he looked at Goldenstar.
"Firestorm's right, the ShadowClan cats seemed aggrieved when they heard the news of her death, my guess is that the cat who stole their kits, killed her by Brokenstar's orders or because she got in the way." Silverwind meowed quietly. His words seemed to sooth the Clan's fury toward ShadowClan, but they still were greatly troubled by the news of Spottedleaf's death.
"I told ShadowClan that we would leave them in peace for this moon," Ashstorm told Goldenstar. She nodded her head in understanding.
"ShadowClan has suffered much these last few moons under Brokenstar's reign."
"ThunderClan has as well," spoke Fallowpelt, her eyes were glazed and unfocused.
"Indeed they have, we shall leave both Clans in peace for this moon. We will see how they are at the next gathering, for now let us thank StarClan that our kits are safe and for the patrol that saved them, we will eat in honor of them." Yowled Goldenstar, the Clan called back in answer. Firestorm yowled as well, but he wasn't feeling up for celebrating. He was worried about Scorchpaw; he didn't know how his friend was taking Spottedleaf's death. From the way his friend talked of her he had suspected that Scorchpaw had liked her, maybe more than a friend should, and he couldn't help but wonder how her death was affecting his friend. He cleared his mind of these thoughts as he felt soft fur brush his flank. He turned expecting to see dark blue eyes and soft white fur, but instead he saw sky blue eyes and light golden fur. He purred softly at the young she-cat.
"Hello Sunkit, how are you?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine; I was wondering if you were okay you seemed worried. Is it about Brokenstar?" she asked quietly. Firestorm paused and considered her question; it was a valid reason to be worried, since none of the patrol had any idea where Brokenstar and his elite warriors had gone.
"Yes I am a little worried about Brokenstar, we have no idea where he went he could still cause trouble." Firestorm answered finally feeling it was best not to mention his worries about Scorchpaw. Sunkit nodded her head and she paused suddenly. Firestorm noticed that it seemed like she wanted to tell him something; but before he could ask her, Redflower called her into the nursery. She meowed a quick goodbye and dashed into the nursery. Firestorm watched her go with curiosity. He then felt a paw prod his side and looked to see Dovefeather watching him with a quail in her jaws. She placed the quail on the ground.
"Hey, do you want to share this with me?" she asked, Firestorm nodded and picked up the quail carrying it over to where Longclaw, Runningstream and Ravenpaw were talking.
Firestorm awoke to a paw prodding in his side; he growled softly a little, annoyed at being woken up. When he opened his eyes he came face to face with a beautiful dark tortoiseshell she-cat. He recognized her instantly.
"Spottedleaf? B-but you can't be here, I thought you were…" Firestorm trailed off not wanting to speak the truth. She purred softly in amusement, but then took on a more serious look. She rose and headed out of the warrior's den. Firestorm was on his feet quickly and padded after her. As he stepped outside the warriors den, he expected to see the clearing; he was surprised to see unfamiliar surroundings.
Suddenly he heard yowling and screeching and the scent of fear filled the air. Firestorm's eyes widened in horror as he listened to the yowls that seemed to come from all around him; the scent of fear began to mix with the scent of blood. Firestorm shut his eyes as he could almost feel the cats rushing around him in obvious pain and terror. His whole body tensed as the sound seemed to increase all around him.
And then it stopped. Firestorm opened his eyes and before him stood a group of cats standing behind a blaze of fire; their eyes glowing eerily from the light. He suddenly felt Spottedleaf's presence behind him but couldn't take his eyes off the cats.
"Fire alone will save our Clan" she whispered softly.
Firestorm jolted awake after feeling a paw jabbed into his side.
"Wake up you noisy fur ball, what were you dreaming about?" hissed Longclaw, Firestorm looked at him strangely; He recalled the dream and ominous yowling that filled the strange clearing.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you were yowling like we were being attacked by ShadowClan, I wouldn't be surprised if you woke the entire Clan up. Firestorm flattened his ears and licked his chest a little in embarrassment.
"It was nothing; just a bad dream." Firestorm murmured.
"Well come on its time for the gathering." called Longclaw, as he headed out the warrior's den. Firestorm stretched out of his nest and followed quickly after his friend. He knew that this gathering would be important, it had been several days since the fight that had taken place in the ShadowClan camp and it would be the first time they had seen how ShadowClan was doing after evicting Brokenstar, it would also be the first time they would have to see if WindClan would come back to their territory. Goldenstar stood waiting at the entrance to camp with the other chosen cats to the gathering. Among them were: Longclaw, Runningstream, Dovefeather, Lightningstrike, Thrushfur, Silverwind, Sootpelt, Owltalon, Spiderfang, Fallowpelt and Ashstorm. Finchflight was left in charge of the camp in her absence. Once they were all assembled, Goldenstar led the group out of the camp.
By the time they reached Fourtrees the moon was higher in the sky, and currently RiverClan and ShadowClan were the only Clans present. Goldenstar crouched low looking down the slope at the present Clans, she then paused and turned to her present clanmates. She fixed a stern glare on them as she spoke.
"None of you will speak of Ravenpaw, Is that clear?" she hissed to them, the SkyClan cats looked puzzled at her and at one another, Firestorm watched her with curiosity. 'Does she know? Did Ravenpaw tell her?' he wonder remembering that Goldenstar had led Ravenpaw to the SkyClan camp by herself she could have easily spoken with him during that time. Without speaking another word, Goldenstar rose from her crouched position and led the Clan down the slope. Once they had reached the bottom the cats dispersed and began to speak with the other cats in the clearing. Firestorm looked around and recognized some of the ShadowClan cats in the clearing. He moved to talk to Wetfoot and ran into a cat. Firestorm looked into the eyes of a pretty silver tabby she-cat he had run into. The scent from her told him she was from RiverClan.
"Sorry I didn't see you" he meowed softly, she looked amused
"It's okay, just be more careful next time" she answered.
"My name is Firestorm, I'm from SkyClan, and you're from RiverClan right?"
"Yes, my name is Silverstream, if you'll excuse me I was on my way to speak with a Clanmate of mine" she told him
"Of course, it was nice meeting you Silverstream," Firestorm meowed.
"You as well" she replied as she made her way over to a gray she-cat.
"Wow, for a RiverClan cat, she was very easy on the eyes." murmured a voice behind him. Firestorm rolled his eyes at Longclaw.
"Don't let Goldenstar, here you say that." Firestorm murmured back as he padded off to speak with other cats. Longclaw shrugged
"I doubt she would mind, she didn't when Snowfall got pregnant." Firestorm whirled on his best friend, His eyes were wide.
"What do you mean? What happened with Snowfall?" But he didn't get his answer due to the arrival of ThunderClan. Thoughts of Snowfall faded from his mind as he caught sight of Scorchpaw. He was happy to see his friend made it to another gathering. Scorchpaw moved over to speak with him.
"Hello Firestorm, how are you?" asked Scorchpaw
"I'm well and yourself?"
"Yes I'm okay as well, in fact I'm a warrior now, and I'm now called Scorchblaze" he answered. Firestorm purred in excitement for his friend.
"Congratulations, I'm sure Yellowfang was thrilled," Firestorm meowed sarcastically.
"Of course I was, it's only right that I be proud of a cat I helped train to become a warrior." rasped a familiar old voice. Firestorm blinked teasingly at Yellowfang, he was happy to see the old she-cat.
"I never got the chance to so I'll say congratulations to you Firestorm for becoming a warrior, I trust Ravenpaw is well?" she spoke the words softly so only Scorchblaze, Firestorm and herself could hear them.
"Yes, he is, Goldenstar told the Clan not to speak of him here," Scorchblaze looked at him questioningly.
"Did he tell her? Or did you tell her?" Firestorm shrugged
"I haven't told her and Ravenpaw didn't tell me he told her, but maybe he was asked by Goldenstar not to tell me."
Suddenly a yowl came from the Great Rock telling the start of the gathering. Scorchblaze followed Firestorm and sat beside him as he sat beside Longclaw. Firestorm was surprised to see Nightpelt standing on the Great Rock with the other leaders and realized that ShadowClan must have chosen him to be their new leader. Bluestar stepped forward to address the cats below.
"ThunderClan has welcomed Yellowfang as our new medicine cat." She meowed giving a pause while the other cats turned to look at Yellowfang. Firestorm was a little amused that Yellowfang looked a little uncomfortable under the gaze of the other cats, but she kept her head up and met the gaze of every cat that looked at her directly.
"We also have two new warriors in our ranks, Scorchblaze and Graystripe." Bluestar continued. The cats all turned to see the two warriors and yowled in congratulations. Scorchblaze kept his head high, and met every cats gaze; Firestorm could see the fur along his spine tingle with uneasiness. Once they had turned back to Bluestar, she quickly told the cats about ThunderClan's newest apprentice and how well ThunderClan was fairing, and then backed up so that Goldenstar could take her place.
"SkyClan is proud to announce that we have five new warriors in our ranks: Lightningstrike, Runningstream, Dovefeather, Firestorm and Longclaw" Once more the clearing was filled with yowls of congratulations as the cats turned to get a good look at the new warriors. Firestorm could see Lightningstrike puff up his chest arrogantly. Scorchblaze snort at the display.
"He acts like he StarClan's gift to she-cats and his Clan." He muttered. Firestorm purred in amusement and nodded in agreement.
"Everyone knows I'm StarClan's gift to she-cats." Murmured Longclaw, Scorchblaze choked back his laughter. Sootpelt turned and looked back at them.
"Shh, the leaders are speaking." He hissed turning and facing forward. Turning their attention back to the Great Rock they saw that Nightpelt had taken Goldenstar's place. Nightpelt told the Clans about ShadowClan driving out Brokenstar and that he had not yet been given his nine lives, but was to travel in the morning to highstones, before he let Crookedstar take his place.
"We are all pleased to hear that Brokenstar is no longer a threat to the forest and RiverClan no longer have to share our prey with ShadowClan." Crookedstar meowed, RiverClan cats responded with loud cheers and happiness, but the ShadowClan cats including Nightpelt all looked very displeased.
"ShadowClan still has a lot of mouths to feed" meowed Nightpelt turning to look at Crookedstar, who was beginning to look frustrated, to speak directly to him. "The deal that was made was for all of ShadowClan, not just Brokenstar" meowed Nightpelt. Crookedstar's growl could barely be heard above the murmurs from the cats below. Firestorm glanced around and saw that the ShadowClan cats were beginning to flex their claws and glare at RiverClan cats whose fur was beginning to rise along their spines. Crookedstar growled lowly and Nightpelt began to flex his claws. Fireheart watched in surprise as Bluestar stepped between the two leaders. She reminded them both that ShadowClan had less mouths to feed and that Nightpelt had yet to receive his nine lives and asked the ShadowClan leader if he really wanted to make these claims on RiverClan's land when he didn't have nine lives to back him. Both leaders begrudgingly backed down afterward.
"We don't need RiverClan's fish we have the uplands to hunt in now that WindClan is gone." Crookedstar nodded in agreement. Bluestar shook her head and proclaimed so all cats could hear
"WindClan must return for the good of all Clans." meowed Bluestar, as she looked at both Clan leaders.
"Why must they return that couldn't defend their own territory." hissed a voice from ShadowClan. Firestorm looked and saw the formidable dark tabby pelt of Tigerclaw as he stood and faced every cat giving them a hard stare.
"Bluestar, is right WindClan must return." He meowed loudly. Goldenstar stood to stand beside Bluestar.
"I agree with Bluestar, WindClan must return." She called to the cats below. Firestorm looked curiously at Bluestar and Goldenstar and wondered what they would do to convince the other leaders that WindClan has to return. He watched in bated breath as both leaders seemed to have turned their hostility at the SkyClan and ThunderClan leaders. He was surprised that they paid no heed to their anger. Goldenstar turned to address Nightpelt
"Nightpelt, Brokenstar drove out WindClan and ThunderClan along with SkyClan had to assist you in driving him out we, know you and your clan has suffered an that is why we have left you in peace." She meowed calmly. Bluestar then spoke to Crookedstar.
"Your Clan has always been well off with the fish in the river, why do you need the uplands?" she asked calmly. Crookedstar wouldn't face her. Nightpelt stared at her for a long time before sighing and agree with them.
"Very well then WindClan will be found." Bluestar meowed before ending the meeting. She turned and spoke with Goldenstar briefly before jumping down to collect her Clanmates. Longclaw murmured to Firestorm that he was going to find Runningstream and Dovefeather, and then disappeared into the sea of cats.
Firestorm looked back up toward the Great Rock where the other leaders were still standing. He noticed the looks that Nightpelt and Crookedstar seemed to share. ' Nightpelt doesn't appear to agree with Bluestar after all.' He thought to himself before glancing over at Scorchblaze who seemed to have noticed the exchange also.
"Do you think they'll let WindClan return to the forest?" Scorchblaze asked softly.
"We won't know for sure until their found." Firestorm answered back. He was about to say goodbye to his friend when the familiar face of Graystripe appeared.
"Hey Firestorm, did you enjoy the gathering?" meowed the newly made gray warrior.
"Yeah it was interesting, congratulations on becoming a warrior Graystripe."
"And you as well, we should probably go now, Bluestar's waiting on us," Graystripe replied.
"Yeah I need to get going to, I guess I'll see you at the next gathering." He waved them goodbye with his tail then raced over to join is clanmates beside Goldenstar. Longclaw came over to him with Dovefeather and Runningstream behind him
"There you are I was looking for you during the gathering" Dovefeather purred softly.
"Yeah I was sitting with some cats I knew in ThunderClan." He explained to her.
"Oh I see; what are your thoughts on WindClan returning to the forest?" she asked
"I'm wondering if Nightpelt and Crookedstar will let WindClan return, they seemed like they were planning something." Firestorm explained
"Well we have ThunderClan on our side, if they decided to attack us." Longclaw pointed out.
"But, ThunderClan has already had several losses already do you think they would be willing to risk starting a battle with RiverClan and ShadowClan even with our support." questioned Runningstream. Silence met her answer. As they continued on toward the camp, his mind was brought back to his dream of the group of cats standing near the fire. 'Could those cats in my dream have been WindClan? Could they be the fire to save the Clans?'
Okay I know this took forever and I'm sorry for that
I have a new dilemma though
Who should be Firestorm's apprentice?
Leafkit or Sunkit?
I'll let you decide who gets the privilege. The reason why I ask is because I have to morph the story around who becomes his apprentice so choose carefully.
Review and let me know what you think.