Chapter Three:

TIGERHEART

"He can't be," Jake whispered, his voice cracking, "No...not Rusty!"

Tigerheart bowed his head and stepped away. He would leave Jake to mourn now, he decided. Padding away, he headed back inside the hollow.

"Wait," called Jake's voice, thick with sadness. "I want to know."

Tigerheart stopped. He glanced back at Jake's old, grieving face and leaned against the walls of the stone. "What do you want to know? You can live the rest of your life not knowing,"he added helpfully. "It would spare you the pain."

"No,"Jake said firmly. He gazed into Tigerheart's sad eyes directed ferocity into them. "I need to know...how did he die? What did he do with his life?"

"I-" Tigerheart paused. He flicked his tail, letting it flop back onto the ground. "I'll start at the beginning," he decided, his voice hoarse with sadness of bringing bad news.

"Firestar was a kittypet, which you already know, but what you don't know is that he joined a Clan called ThunderClan-the very Clan these herbs come from." Tigerheart gently picked up the herbs and set them down in front of them. "He joined ThunderClan when Graystripe, a young gray apprentice, met him in the forest along with the great ThunderClan leader, Bluestar, and a warrior, Lionblaze. Bluestar proposed that she had seen him stalking prey, and was impressed with his skill, though he was a kittypet. Then, she invited him to join her Clan, because ThunderClan was running out of warriors to feed and fight for the Clan. Rusty agreed, of course, and the next day he met Lionblaze and Whitestorm, another ThunderClan warrior, at the edge of the ThunderClan border. That day, he was named Firepaw by Bluestar, and accepted by StarClan. The Clan that he joined, though…." Tigerheart paused and reconsidered telling Jake this;he didn't want the Clans to seem unaccepting, but he had to tell the truth. "The rest of the Clan didn't think he could ever be great. He proved them wrong, though.

Firepaw made friends with most of the Clan cats by the time he was warrior-but something was troubling him. A warrior in his Clan...had killed another Clanmate, and Firepaw brought him to justice. The cat's name was Tigerclaw, and he wanted to be leader of ThunderClan. When everyone found out that he was a traitor, he was banished from the forest and Firestar became deputy, and...well, the warrior code explains the rest. He became leader of ThunderClan, and soon the forest was being destroyed and...It's a really long story,"he paused, uncomfortable. "I'm not ThunderClan...I shouldn't explain this to you, I don't know enough."

"How did he die?" Jake insisted. "I need to know."

Tigerheart sighed. "He was killed by a fallen tree..The Dark Forest..Okay, let me explain. StarClan is where dead cats go, you know that..But cats who have done wrongly go to the Dark Forest in death… The cats in the Dark Forest decided to destroy StarClan and put the Clans in their will. Firestar and the four Clans went against the Dark Forest and defeated them, but not before Firestar died." Tigerheart gulped. "That's all I'm going to tell you for now," he decided,"Really, you should get some ThunderClan cat to tell you. I didn't know Firestar like his Clan did."

"Firestar," Jake murmured,"Not Rusty. Firestar." He laughed, a loud, husky laugh. "Well, at least I know now. Thank you for telling me."

Tigerheart bowed his head respectfully, and padded out of the hollow. "I'm going to hunt some more," he mewed to Jake,"Do you want some more fresh-kill?"

Jake looked confused for a second;then comprehension stole into his eyes. "I forgot-that's what you Clan cats call 'prey', huh? Well, I think I'm full for today." He tucked his muzzle in his pelt in bundled into the nest, giving his ruffled fur a lick before drifting off to sleep.

Tigerheart couldn't help feeling as if Jake had taken his son's death extremely well. He was obviously mourning, but he accepted the fact and was able to listen to what had happened without flinching. Tigerheart knelt, catching sight of a sparrow, and raised his tail straight out, tensing. He felt his nerves tingle involuntarily at the sight of more prey. Stiffening, he pounced, his paws raised to cuff the prey to the ground, but just as he swung, a streak of black ran past him, and the sparrow fell to the ground, dead.

Tigerheart turned, bristling. "That was my-"His protests stopped mid-yowl. "Crowfrost?" He stepped forward; his fur stopped bristling and he let out a friendly purr. "How is ShadowClan?"

Crowfrost growled, no hint of friendliness in his stance. "What are you doing so close to the ShadowClan border?" His muscles were tensed, his whiskers tingling uneasily.

"I-"Tigerheart shook his head, astounded. "Crowfrost-You're speaking as if I'm not from ShadowClan! I'm a Clan cat just like you-"

"You're nothing like me,"Crowfrost spat, revulsion in his words. "Ever since you betrayed our Clan to-"

"I'm telling you, StarClan told me to attack him!" Tigerheart screeched, outraged. "How can you not believe me? Don't you remember those times when we were such good friends?"

"I believe in Blackstar," Crowfrost snarled, "And he believes that StarClan is turning on us. Why have you sided with them? They let Toadstep die. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"I'm siding with the truth," Tigerheart anger grew with every syllable, "And what I have been taught. Are we all going to go against our ancestors?"

"Maybe we are,"Crowfrost spat, revulsion pulsing in the words,"StarClan didn't stop Toadstep from dying. They should have saved him." He clawed the sparrow towards him and backed away disgust in his voice,"It just serves you right if you want to side with cats like them." He padded away, the sparrow hanging limply in his jaws.

Tigerheart's muscles were still tightened minutes after Crowfrost left. Was this really how the Clans thought of him? Of StarClan? The truth was, after Toadstep's death, StarClan hadn't spoken to him either, which was to be expected. He was no medicine cat, or leader. But he couldn't stop the feeling of wishing they would at least contact him for all he had sacrificed to help them.

Groaning, Tigerheart saw the sun reach the hills and headed back for the hollow. It had been a very unsuccessful hunting trip, but at least he had learned how the Clans were coping with prior incidents. He had discovered something.

DOVEWING

Dovewing pounced on Ivypool, then let go. She flicked her ears playfully. "I'm getting better at fighting against the moves you learned from Hawkfrost," she purred, batting at her sister's ear.

Ivypool clawed at her pelt, trying to get up. "Mouse-brain!" she teased, rising to her paws and shaking out her fur to brush the dust away."You couldn't send a mouse running." She flicked her tail and backed away. "Anyways, aren't we supposed to get back to camp?"

Dovewing nodded, her gaze solemn once again. They had been patrolling the ShadowClan border since dawn, from Bramblestar's orders. Dovewing couldn't help feeling that he was trying to avoid the inevitable-as if securing their borders against the cats that had stopped believing in StarClan would change everything. It was impossible. ShadowClan had lost their belief in StarClan, and, with ThunderClan sharing a border with them, it was a matter of time before everyone realized-Tigerheart could be prowling along in their territory anytime, his scent now probably hidden by the scent of being rogue. Dovewing shivered, and pushed Ivypool forward. Come one," she purred, scenting mouse,"Let's go. I can smell prey." She bounded forward, Ivypool stationed opposite her. Undoubtedly, Ivypool had scented the mouse, too, for her eyes brightened, and she crouched so low, her fur was close to brushing the undergrowth. Dovewing nodded at her as they both spotted a streak of brown, and Dovewing yowled, herding the mouse forward. It shrieked, heading obviously between Ivypool's paws. Clamping her paws together, Ivypool struggled to catch it. But the mouse ran out from her paws and screeched away, hopping into a bundle of roots somewhere. Ivypool sighed,"Mouse dung! I would have caught it, too." She pulled herself up and headed back towards camp. "Come on. I want to get away from this foul ShadowClan scent immediately."

"I don't sympathize."

Dovewing jumped, catching a faint smell of ShadowClan, mixed with something else...something more..wild. She turned to Ivypool, confusion in her eyes. Ivypool crouched on the forest floor, hissing in anger. "Tigerheart," she spat.

Whirling around, Dovewing immediately saw the familiar dark tabby pelt, the strong rise of the muscles. Her eyes met his, and she quickly looked down, her pelt burning.

"Ivypool. How nice to see you."From where he was crouched, right inside the ShadowClan border, he licked his paws and swiped one behind his ear, almost lazily. "How's ThunderClan?"

"As well as always. " Ivypool didn't elaborate, just turned on him, spitting in fury. "What are you doing here? Do you want to get ThunderClan into this mess?"

Tigerheart's gaze faltered for a second, then he maintained his composure. "Of course not… ShadowClan has enough troubles already without ThunderClan trying to help." He meant no offense as he said this, but Dovewing and Ivypool's fur bristled. "Honestly, though," he murmured, "what do you think about what's happening? Do you agree with my Clanmates?"

Ivypool snarled and gripped the ground with her sharp claws. "No. Not a cat in ThunderClan will lose loyalty in StarClan." Her eyes, smoldering like coals, met his. "Unlike your Clan,"she snapped, and turned away. "Come on, Dovewing."

Dovewing followed her sister through the weaving trees, looking back at Tigerheart for a second. He was gone.

TIGERHEART

Tigerheart slit the pidgeon open and let the scent drift into the air. He leaned back, feeling the wind brush his fur as he handed the fresh-kill to Jake. "Here."

"I've got to thank you,"Jake murmured quietly, flashing a grateful glance at Tigerheart. "I wouldn't have survived this long without you."

Tigerheart shrugged uncomfortably. "'S all right," He mewed, grabbing another mouse for himself. They sat in companionable silence until Jake had finished the last of the pidgeon. "Are you ready?" he mewed, excitement clouding his eyes.

"What?"Tigerheart started as Jake pulled the mouse away from him and put it back in the hollow.

"We're going to meet with your Clan!" As he said this, he was equally pulling Tigerheart up, vainly.. Tigerheart brushed himself off and got up, annoyance sparking in his eyes.
"Why would we-" Before he could continue, Jake ran down the hill, screeching."We're going to bring justice to this forest!"

Tigerheart groaned and followed him, grudgingly. The old cat would see, for himself, how firm the ShadowClan cats were. He dragged his reluctant paws after him.

When they reached the ShadowClan border, Tigerheart paused the determined Jake and lept in front of him. "No screeching,yowling, or loud sounds of any sort. We'll probably get caught by a border patrol, which is okay, but getting caught will take time. We'll have to sneak to the camp." Tigerheart squeezed under a bush and crawled out the other side. He pulled Jake along, through the forest, making sure to keep out of the way of other cats. They finally reached the ShadowClan camp, and Jake, relieved, collapsed in a bundle of nerves as they neared the entrance. "Er, what are these-ShadowClan cats like, anyways?" he asked nervously as the entered the camp.

"Just like any other cats, you'll see,"Tigerheart stepped out of the entrance, ready to see his home.

What he saw, instead, was darkness.