ARGH NO WHY I GOT THE TIMELINE WRONG GOLDENFLOWER IS SUPPOSED TO BE CARRYING TIGERCLAW'S KITS SOON AFTER SWIFTPAW WAS MADE AN APPRENTICE AHH FORGIVE ME DX
Chapter 30: The Goal
"Did you find WindClan? Are they safe?"
Most of the clan came up to greet them. It was Mousefur who had spoken.
Tigerclaw ignored all his clanmates questions and meows of welcome. The happy purrs quickly faded away when they saw from their faces, realizing something grave had happened. He headed straight for Bluestar's den, dismissing the rest of the patrol except for Fireheart and Greystripe.
"Come with me." Tigerclaw hissed. Fireheart nodded. He and his friend Greystripe followed the tabby warrior to the leader's den.
Beyond the lichen of the den came a cordial meow. "Welcome!" Bluestar purred. "Did you find WindClan? Did you bring them back?"
"Yes, Bluestar," Fireheart murmured, not meeting her blue eyes. "They are safe in their camp. Tallstar told me to thank you."
Might as well tell Bluestar it was only Fireheart's idea to go through RiverClan territory. Tigerclaw felt no guilt in trying to frame the warrior.
"Good, good." Bluestar turned to Tigerclaw, and her blue eyes narrowed as she saw his grim expression. "What has happened?"
"Fireheart decided to return home through RiverClan territory." Tigerclaw growled.
"It wasn't just Fireheart who decided-" Greystripe rasped, but Tigerclaw quickly interrupted him. Shut your mouth Greystripe!
"They were found by a RiverClan patrol. If my patrol hadn't heard their yelps in time, they wouldn't have made it home at all." Tigerclaw spat.
"So you rescued them." Bluestar relaxed, not seeing what they were so worried about. "Thank you, Tigerclaw."
"It's not that simple. They were fighting beside the gorge. A RiverClan warrior who was battling Graystripe fell over the edge." Tigerclaw snarled.
Greystripe hung his head. Fireheart looked like he wanted to protest.
Bluestar's breath hitched. "Dead?"
Fireheart instantly defended Greystripe. "It was an accident! Graystripe would never kill a cat over a border fight!"
Foolish kittypet! "I doubt Leopardfur sees it that way. Tigerclaw rounded on the ginger warrior. "What were you thinking? Traveling through RiverClan territory! And with WindClan cats. You've sent a message that we are their allies, which will only drive RiverClan and ShadowClan closer together."
"WindClan was with you in RiverClan territory?" Bluestar looked shocked.
"Just two warriors. Tallstar gave us an escort home; we were tired..." Fireheart mumbled.
"You should not have been in RiverClan territory, especially with WindClan cats." Tigerclaw hissed. He was too fired up to care that Bluestar was listening a tail-length away.
"It wasn't an alliance. They were escorting us back home!" Fireheart argued. Idiot!
"Does RiverClan know that?"
"RiverClan knew we were going to find WindClan and bring them back. They agreed to it at the Gathering. They shouldn't have attacked us—it was a special mission, like the journey to Highstones."
"They didn't agree to let you travel through their territory!" Tigerclaw snarled. "You still don't understand Clan ways, do you?"
Bluestar stood up, stepping in between the two bristling warriors. "You should not have entered RiverClan's hunting grounds. It was a dangerous thing to do."
Yes Bluestar! Exactly. Now, if you would just give him a good punishment I would be much more happier.
Bluestar sat back down tail flicking. "At the same time, you did well to find WindClan and bring them back. But we will need to prepare ourselves for an attack from RiverClan. We need to start training more warriors."
Tigerclaw opened his mouth to say he could do extra training with the warriors, when Bluestar spoke again.
"Fireheart and Graystripe, Frostfur tells me two of her kits are almost ready to begin their training. I want each of you to take a kit as your apprentice."
NO. WAY. Tigerclaw stood rigid, fury and hatred roaring through him.
"But none of Frostfur's kits are six moons yet!" Greystripe raised his head, astonished.
"It won't be long before they are." Bluestar assured him. "The divisions at the last Gathering troubled me, and today..." Greystripe returned his gaze to the floor again.
Tigerclaw tried not to look too hostile, and addressed his leader, trying to keep his voice level and calm. "Wouldn't it be better to ask more experienced warriors like Longtail or Darkstripe to take on another apprentice? These two are hardly more than apprentices themselves!"
"I did consider that." Bluestar replied. Oh did you?! You thought it would be a brilliant idea to let extremely new warriors train new apprentices?!
"But Longtail will be busy enough with Swiftpaw, and Darkstripe is getting Dustpaw ready to become a full warrior."
"What about Runningwind?" Better some kind of experienced and clan-born warrior then a piece of kittypet dirt!
"Runningwind is a fine hunter and a loyal warrior." Exactly! So why not-
"But I don't think he has the patience for mentoring. ThunderClan has better use for his skills."
"And you think these two have got what it takes to train ThunderClan warriors?" Tigerclaw was breathing heavily, glaring at the flame coloured warrior who flinched under his furious gaze.
"We shall find out. Don't forget, they brought WindClan home." Bluestar meowed. Any cat could do that! "And of course, Tigerclaw, I am relying on you to oversee the training." She added.
"Get something to eat, then rest. We'll have the naming ceremony for the kits at moonhigh." Bluestar dismissed the two of them with a wave of her tail.
Moonhigh? So soon? Tigerclaw turned to Bluestar, prepared to argue with her but she flicked her tail at him, "Go get some rest and food too, you have done well today."
Her praise didn't give him the prick of satisfaction like usual. He simply gave a stiff nod and padded out of the den.
• • •
Tigerclaw sat down, not wanting to watch as the two warriors he found unworthy to be mentors step forward when Bluestar summoned them.
The two apprentices to-be were Frostfur's kits, Cinderkit and Brackenkit. Cinderkit was a dark grey, clear blue eyes flashing in excitement. Brackenkit, a golden tabby tom, was looking calmer than his sister, but still looked eager.
"From this day forward," the leader began, "until she has earned her warrior name, this apprentice will be called Cinderpaw."
"Cinderpaw!" The new apprentice meowed loudly in delight. Frostfur shushed her.
"Fireheart, you are ready for your first apprentice." Well I don't think so!
"You will begin Cinderpaw's training. You are fortunate, Fireheart, to have had more than one mentor. I expect you to pass on everything I taught you to this young apprentice and share with her the skills you learned from Tigerclaw and Lionheart."
Cinderpaw and Fireheart stood side by side, waiting for Bluestar to announce Greystripe's apprentice. He's still not used to clan-born ways! You're supposed to touch noses!
"And this apprentice," Bluestar turned to Cinderpaw's sister, "will be known as Brackenpaw." The tabby apprentice didn't say anything, but his eyes shone.
"Graystripe, you will train Brackenpaw. Our lost friend Lionheart was your mentor. I hope that his skill and wisdom will pass through you to your new apprentice."
Greystripe stepped forward to touch noses with Brackenpaw. Fireheart looked surprised, as did Cinderpaw, and they quickly copied the other two.
Hmph. Still not a clan born cat. Tigerclaw, eyes gleaming, met Fireheart's gaze as he looked at him.
Cinderpaw was looking very energetic. She has a fine spirit... You don't deserve to mentor such a nice apprentice Fireheart. Bluestar and the rest of the clan might think you're the best warrior around now but you will not soften me.
• • •
Tigerclaw settled into his nest, bracken shifting underneath his weight. Mapleshade will visit me... Tomorrow. Could I get into the Dark Forest anyway?
Tigerclaw shut his eyes, trying to visualize the dank forest and black sky, and glowing fungus...
"Pinestar! You came back!"
Tigerclaw realized he was in a very small dark tabby body, with fluffy brown kit fur. "Pinestar!" He found himself saying in delight.
The reddish-brown tom padded up to him. "I've missed you my dear Tigerkit." He purred. "I promise I will never leave, I'll make up for my mistake."
Tigerclaw's eyes gleamed and meowed, "where did you go?" Pinestar looked mildly surprised. "Don't you remember? I went to be a kittypet. I've got to take this collar off..."
Tigerclaw froze. Struggling back to reality, he looked around. His mother was there, Leopardfoot. So was Thistleclaw, Bluefur, and Snowfur.
I'm dreaming! What am I doing?! Regaining control of his real self, he unsheathed his claws.
"You traitor!" He shrieked at Pinestar. "Going off to be a kittypet I've never heard of anything so pathetic in my life! Stuffing yourself with twoleg food! If you were a real father you would've stayed for your clan! For me! Your only son!"
Every cat seemed to have stopped everything. Snowfur had froze mid-lick, about to groom Thistleclaw. Bluefur had stopped mid jump and hung in the air. His mother was staring at him, and Pinestar still had the sickly sweet smile on his face.
Nothing moved. Tigerclaw was the only one glaring and lashing his tail, stuck in his kit body, scraping the earth with his claws, breathing heavily.
"You aren't my father! You have shamed me. A kittypet for a father, I hate you!" The clan spun around, colours whirling.
"There isn't much hope of him being a warrior. He's probably going to become a kittypet like his father. It must be in his blood. The blood of a kittypet."
"Following Pinestar's pawsteps? Perhaps."
"He was always the weakest of the litter."
Tigerclaw leaped forward, claws unsheathed to slash at the blurred shape that seemed to be speaking but it fell away like water through his claws.
"Kittypets, and Clan cats should never mix together!" He snarled. "I am not a weak twoleg toy! ThunderClan must never be shamed like this again!"
A flashing blur spun in front of him, morphing into a russet tom with bright green eyes...
Pinestar... Fury raged through him. The red-brown pelt changed into a orange one, and the same green eyes shone, forming the cat he had loathed from almost the beginning.
"Fireheart!" He roared. He launched himself at the ginger tom. The warrior disintegrated in a flash of flame.
"I... Have been scorned for becoming a weak kittypet just because my father was one!" He growled at the flaming bits of what was left. "Now you, born a twoleg pet, is allowed to have the praise, trust, and achievements of a senior clan-born warrior like me without effort?!"
Hatred, a pure, burning hatred for Fireheart boiled up in him. "However long it takes... I will prove to every cat... I am not my father. I am strong, I can, I will prove to every single cat in the clans and beyond! I will not stand for cats with wavering loyalties, and for kittypets like you Fireheart!"
• • •
Tigerclaw opened his eyes, pelt prickling. He looked around to see that the sun hadn't even risen yet, though it would soon.
He settled himself back into his nest, until he realized he was too worked up from his dream to sleep again.
Rolling onto his side, he stared at the branches of the warriors den. I just wanted to get to the Dark Forest but nope, just into a crazy dream instead.
Mapleshade's words echoed back to him once more. "Tell me your objective. Your goal in life and death."
Tigerclaw remembered his dream, how the raging determination to prove, to show, every cat, he was worthy, vowing to make the traitors, kittypets, cats with divided loyalties, soft-hearted cats, all know it would not be tolerated.
My objective! I know now! Tigerclaw felt the hard blazing realization shoot through him.
Never, never again will I see soft kittypets, traitors, half-clan, any of those stupid cats, be declared as a clan warrior! The strong, worthy, like me, can, and will, be victorious once I'm finished and have succeeded my goal!
• • •
The sun was dropping lower beneath the treetops, light growing dimmer through out the camp. The sky was turning a darker blue, grey clouds floating around the air.
Fireheart and Greystripe had taken their apprentice's out hunting. They'd better not mess up, or I'll see to their punishments.
Tigerclaw was sitting in the clearing, and had just finished off a finch, licking a paw and drawing if over his ears.
There was a rustling of ferns and he looked up to see Fireheart, Greystripe, and their apprentice's, walk into the camp. Greystripe was shivering, droplets of water slowly dripping from his whiskers, tail, and pelt, falling to the ground.
Tigerclaw turned immediately to Fireheart. "No fresh-kill? I thought you were meant to be teaching these two how to hunt today." He flashed a look at Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw.
"You look half-drowned, Graystripe. You must have fallen into a river to get that wet." Just as he said the word 'river', he unsheathed his claws angrily in suspicion. "Don't tell me you've been into RiverClan territory again!"
Fireheart looked slightly guilty, raising his head to meet his gaze. He looked like as if he was about to speak when-
"It's my fault, Tigerclaw."
Tigerclaw looked down to see Cinderpaw's defiant gaze, unfazed by the deputy's menacing stare.
"We were hunting on the frozen stream by the training hollow, on the bend by the deep pool. Even that bit was frozen." The grey she-cat's clear blue eyes didn't turn away from Tigerclaw's amber ones.
"I slipped and Graystripe came to help me,but the ice wasn't thick enough for him and it cracked and he fell into the water. It really is deep there. Fireheart had to pull him out."
Tigerclaw considered her story. Everything she said made sense, yet he couldn't feel completely satisfied with the explanation for some reason.
Glancing at the apprentice once more, he couldn't help but grudgingly admire her bold and bright personality, however much he despised her being Fireheart's apprentice.
"You'd better get yourself to Yellowfang before you freeze to death." Tigerclaw meowed at last to Greystripe, who nodded, and sneezed.
He headed to the warriors den, prepared to meet Mapleshade tonight. Hopefully she'll stop treating me like a kit!
• • •
Tigerclaw soon found himself in the Place of No Stars. Mapleshade was padding towards him.
"Welcome." She muttered. "Welcome back. You know your objective."
It wasn't a question, but a statement, confirming she knew. "How do you know?" He growled.
Mapleshade rolled her eyes. "I can tell, you arrived with a sense of... Oh, it's hard to explain, you'll understand once you are truly one of us."
Like dead?... Tigerclaw didn't ask the question aloud. Mapleshade sat down, and Tigerclaw was able to see the drooping trees behind her as she was quite faint.
"You were always striving for that goal. Your stupid father made a foolish and idiotic choice, but it turned your paws onto the path that has made you more focused on teaching all those traitors, kittypets, soft clan codes a lesson, and turning them all into nothing." Mapleshade smiled maliciously, sharp teeth showing.
Tigerclaw flicked his tail impatiently. "So what am I supposed to do about that?"
Mapleshade looked incredulous and angry. "Mouse-brain!" She spat. "This is your journey, your quest for power and vengeance! Mine has yet to be complete, but that isn't important! I am here, to help you, so you can avoid the mistakes I made in my living life!"
"So what am I su-" Tigerclaw repeated furiously, but Mapleshade interrupted. "That is for you to decide! I, am simply here to guide you. So smarten up you mouse-brain and start thinking for yourself!"
Stung, the dark tabby didn't reply immediately.
Mapleshade seemed to be calming herself down. "Okay." She whispered steadily. "Your way to achieve your goal is to become leader. That, is the highest point of power in regular clan hierarchy."
"Duh." Tigerclaw growled. "Why do you think I killed Redtail for?"
Mapleshade ignored him. "You must keep striving to become leader then." Tigerclaw, feeling very annoyed and frustrated, unsheathed his claws. He almost asked, "how?" In his temper but remembered her words about asking her what to do.
"So, I'm deputy now. If Bluestar can be killed..." Mapleshade's eyes glinted in triumph. "Exactly!" She hissed. "And you, you will do all you can to make sure that moment comes as soon as possible. No delay Tigerclaw!"
Tigerclaw nodded, sheathing his claws.
"But..." Mapleshade's sharp yellow eyes reflected the glow of the fungus, giving a strange shining blue look to them. "You have to consider your failure."
"My- What? Failure? Are you saying my plans will be doomed?!" Tigerclaw spat.
"You must have backup plans you fool, or you will be doomed to fail!" Panting, Mapleshade took a breath, and then her voice smoothed into a silky tone.
"Now Tigerclaw, I know you fell apart with that cat, Goldenflower, seasons ago."
Goldenflo-?! "What does Goldenflower have to do with a back-up plan?"
Mapleshade unsheathed her claws, and although they looked nearly transparent she slashed them over his ear and hit her target. Tigerclaw hissed in surprise and anger as she drew blood.
"Listen to me and stop whining!" Mapleshade snarled. "Now as I was saying... You really should get a mate."
Why?! "Goldenflower would be perfect," Mapleshade continued. "It would be easy to charm her, ask to get back together, and become mates."
"But why?! I thought the Dark Forest isn't a lovey-dovey place." Tigerclaw growled.
"You have a narrow-minded way of thinking." Mapleshade sneered. "I wasn't talking about it like that. I mean, that if you fail, you will want to have cats to learn from your mistakes, and carry on what you have meant to do."
Tigerclaw's amber eyes met Mapleshade's yellow ones. "And what better cats to do that than your children, where they will get the most influence from their parents, or in this case, you will do your best to get them to do it."
Tigerclaw considered this. That's actually a pretty good idea...
"Yes. Yes, I'll do that..." Tigerclaw muttered half to himself. Mapleshade smirked. "Of course. Do it as soon possible, the sooner the better. Your children can end what you will start."
Tigerclaw thought he saw a flash of jealousy in her eyes for a heartbeat, but it vanished.
"You'll be waking. Go now." Mapleshade meowed. Tigerclaw nodded, closing his eyes tightly as he saw the fungus glow more brightly than before, filling the whole dream, as he felt himself leaving the Place of No Stars.
Why do Tigerclaw's most passionate times come when he's dreaming? XP
PLEASE don't kill me for getting timeline wrong again I PROMISE GOLDENFLOWER WILL HAVE TIGERCLAW'S KITS IN NEXT CHAP. AHH don't hurt meeeee...
Check out my other Fanfiction, Raining Feathers!
Review!