Chapter 37: Needing Help
"Come in Tigerclaw."
The deputy brushed past the lichen into the leader's den. It's about time that Bluestar knows about this kittypet's traitorous acts.
"Well?" Bluestar prompted, licking and drawing a paw over her ear.
Tigerclaw sat down. "At the battle with WindClan, I saw Fireheart leap onto some RiverClan warrior, before letting her go with out a scratch."
When the she-cat didn't reply, he added, "I have been doubting his loyalty ever since."
Still, Bluestar said nothing, so the deputy went on. "I certainly don't want to, for he is a good warrior," —Tigerclaw nearly spit in disgust at the words— "but I wonder if we should be concerned that he is a little too friendly to our enemies?"
He waited for Bluestar to speak. At last, she meowed slowly, "Are you certain what you saw was clear?"
"Yes." Tigerclaw assured her firmly. "Darkstripe told me he saw it as well, which of course made me more certain that I hadn't misunderstood what I had seen."
"Mmm, really..." The leader murmured. "Well I trust Fireheart and have never doubted his loyalty, but this news does contradict my certainty. I will, however, continue trusting him until he shows more reasons for me not to."
Frustration crackled through Tigerclaw. Fox dung! You believe too much in second chances, and you are much too trusting. You need to give proper punishments with tooth and claw, not some soft—
"We have more troubling things to worry about." Bluestar's voice cut through his thoughts, sounding much more business-like. "The freshkill pile is growing low, and with, I think, more snow on it's way, prey will be even harder to find."
Tigerclaw dipped his head. "Of course." Understanding that he was dismissed, he stood up. "I'll try a hunting patrol toward the Snakerocks," he meowed over his shoulder as he padded out. "No cat has hunted there for a few days."
Bluestar stepped out with him. "Good idea." Her tone warm and approving. "Prey is still scarce. May StarClan grant the thaw comes soon."
He gave a low grunt of agreement. How can StarClan control the thaw? Ridiculous.
Leaving his leader behind him, he headed towards the warrior's den, about to get a couple cats to join him on the hunting patrol, when he stopped.
I can get some cat else to lead the patrol. This is the perfect chance for me to go off and try to find some cats in the Twolegplace!
Once he reached the den, the deputy crouched down beside a sleeping bundle of fur.
"Hey, Longtail." Tigerclaw prodded the sleeping warrior with a paw.
He stirred and lifted his head, blinking groggily. "Yes?"
"I would like you to lead a hunting patrol near Snakerocks." The deputy ordered. "You can choose the cats that are to go on the hunt with you."
Longtail got up and stretched. "Right, of course Tigerclaw."
Exiting the den, the dark-brown tabby warrior padded casually out of the gorse tunnel, ready to head to the Twolegplace.
• • •
Ugh.
Tigerclaw let out a low growl in disgust. The Twolegplace had long, winding Thunderpaths with many monsters zooming past, making it seem like there were metallic blurs everywhere. The acrid scent of the shiny things stung his nose as Tigerclaw took a catious look around.
I'd better start looking. He saw cats prowling around, their ribs showing and their coats muddy. Tigerclaw tensed, ready to cross the Thunderpath. But there seemed to be no stop, the monsters went on shooting past him with no break between them.
Finally, after many long heartbeats of waiting, there were none of the shining creatures in sight. Heart pounding, Tigerclaw raced across, urging his legs to go faster in fear that another monster would come and hit him.
An image of Cinderpaw splayed on the ground after the monster hit her flashed in his head, but he pushed the picture out of his head determinedly.
Panting, he stopped on the other side of the Thunderpath. The ground was certainly rough, but it didn't hurt his pads a lot.
Tigerclaw padded on cautiously, looking over his shoulder every now and then. It made him rather uneasy, being in the unknown territory.
Stop it. Nothing is going to leap at you. Gradually his heartbeat slowed, and he continued on more boldly.
The dark tabby tasted the air, and he picked up the scent of cats faintly through the strong smell of the monsters and crowfood. He started towards them, letting his nose guide him.
He finally came across a dark alley, with dirty silver and green bins around. Most were circular, but one was large and rectangular. The objects stank of rotting things, and several cats were talking amongst themselves.
Aha. Those are the cats I'm looking for. Some of the cats, however faintly, smelled of ShadowClan.
"Hey, who are you?"
One of the cats had risen to their paws, bristling. His companion got up as well. "Clawface, wait. He smells like the forest."
Clawface's hostility died down, but suspicion still showed in his narrowed eyes as he took a sniff. "Hmm... He carries the scent of ThunderClan. Who are you, and what do you want?"
This is it. "My name is Tigerclaw," the deputy began, "And I need your help."
Clawface sat down, and so did the white tom. "Help, eh?" Turning to the cat beside him, he asked, "What do you think, Blackfoot?"
Blackfoot licked a jet-black paw and began to wash his face. "Well it depends, doesn't it? Go ahead and explain more before we drive you out..."
Tigerclaw sat down. "You were Brokenstar's followers."
More of the cats pricked their ears. "Do you know where he is?" A ginger tabby spoke for the first time.
"Yes. He was taken prisoner by my clan." The dark tabby told him. There were some threatening hisses at this and Tigerclaw flicked his ear, "My leader made this decision, not me, and though I argued against it I had no choice but to go with what she ordered."
"Snag," Blackfoot spat to the thick furred ginger tom, "I told you we should've gone back for him!"
"You were the one who said we should wait a little bit!" Snag snapped. "And look now! I w—"
"Shut it!" A brown tabby with a rather short tail cut through his words. Looking back to Tigerclaw, he meowed, "You still haven't told us why you need our help."
Maybe because all of you keep interrupting. He thought irritably. "Brokenstar is now condemned to his warrior name, as my leader sees him as no leader anymore. Brokentail is blind now, but otherwise he is quite able."
"ThunderClan's current leader, Bluestar, is getting old and weak. I am deputy, and if she dies, I will take her place as leader. But I can't just wait for sickness or old age to kill her. Leadership needs to be in my paws as quickly as possible, and to do that, I need more cats to overthrow her."
Blackfoot and the short-tailed tabby began whispering, too low for Tigerclaw to hear. "So you want us to join you? To attack the clan? Well, Stumpytail here—" he jerked his head to the tom beside him, "And well, all of us frankly, want to know why. What do we get in return?"
Tigerclaw had his answer ready. "The forest has much more food than this place. It is teeming with birds and mice, squirrels and rabbits."
He had their full attention now. He saw Snag lick his lips and Blackfoot even closed his eyes as if he were remembering the prey there when he was ShadowClan deputy.
The dark tabby continued. "You will be much better fed there, but you will never be let back in there without being back in a clan. And there will be no way for you to get into the clan— unless you help me become leader, where I will let you in."
"Well, well, well..." Stumpytail murmured, and Clawface nodded slowly. Only the brown tom sitting beside Clawface hadn't said anything, his green eyes staring intently at Tigerclaw.
That's it, that's it... Come and join me... "Brokentail will be welcomed into the clan not as a prisoner, but an honoured and courageous warrior."
"Warrior..." The green-eyed tom murmured.
Blackfoot laughed, twisting around to look at the cat who and spoken. "Ay, Mowgli! You'd be able to live the noble life in a clan!"
Mowgli's eyes flashed with an eager determination. "Yeah... Go on, Tigerclaw."
An eager cat that wishes to see the life as a warrior. His enthusiasm will make him strong and faithful... Tigerclaw mused. "Yes, of course." He replied. "All you need to do, is to fight alongside me. You will all get to experience for the first time, or perhaps the second," —he indicated the former ShadowClan warriors— "the life of warriors. We will live by the warrior code, which keeps us strong and loyal to our clan, which we fight bravely to protect."
Mowgli's eyes were positively shining now, mouth half open. Blackfoot and Clawface looked at each other, eagerness showing plain in their eyes. Stumpytail and Snag too had similar expressions on their face.
"Bluestar had made many bad decisions, making our clan weak. I have tried to steer her to make better choices but without success. Our clan will thank us for killing such a unstable leader, and you all will be looked up to."
Should I mention the deal about Fireheart now?... No. It will get swept up by all the other information, and I need them to remember that very clearly. I can tell them just before I leave...
"Join me," Tigerclaw implored. "Fight beside me, kill Bluestar, and ThunderClan will look up to us to lead them instead. Brokentail will be honoured, as he should be, and we will make our Clan stronger than any other. Our new clanmates will thank us for getting rid of their frail and mistrustful leader, and we'll have food and shelter for the rest of our lives."
Tigerclaw watched them carefully. Blackfoot, Stumpytail, and Clawface were all whispering to each other, while Snag seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.
He turned his burning amber gaze onto Mowgli, as if he was trying to light a fire in him by using the sheer force of his stare. The rouge sat a little straighter, eyes blazing.
Blackfoot stood up. He, Stumpytail, and Clawface had apparently finished whatever they were discussing about.
"We accept your offer." Blackfoot announced. Snag nodded, when Mowgli rose to his paws. "I will fight along side you!" He meowed loudly. "You will not regret my service!"
"Thank you all." Tigerclaw dipped his head courteously. "But I'll need more than—" He quickly counted. "Six cats, including me, that's seven cats, to attack almost all of ThunderClan."
Clawface snorted. "That's an easy problem to solve. Brokenstar had much more cats than this. They're most likely around the Twolegplace scavenging for food."
Stumpytail nodded. "We'll tell them about this, don't worry."
Tigerclaw glanced up at the sky. It was almost past Sunhigh. "I've got to get back to my clan," he told them, "But I'll tell Brokentail about this, and work out a plan with him. I will be back by... Tomorrow at the earliest, or the day after that to bring you news."
He stood up, ready to leave, when he purposely paused with a paw in mid-air, giving a rather dramatic effect.
"I almost forgot." Tigerclaw meowed slowly. They won't forget this in a hurry.
"The cat who kills the flame coloured warrior Fireheart will have a special place in my clan." Setting down his raised paw, he turned around and looked straight at Mowgli, whose mouth was still half-open. "Destroy him, and you will walk beside me as my deputy."
Then with a flick of his tail, he raced away, out of the alley and headed back towards the forest.
• • •
Tigerclaw awoke in his nest. The sun hadn't come up yet. Good, no cat will be up yet... And if there are, I can sneak out through the dirtplace.
He still hadn't worked out how he would be able to talk to Brokentail. The guard would likely be there, and since he had his jobs as deputy to keep him busy, it would be a while until he was allowed to watch him.
I'll find an opportunity sometime. Meanwhile...
He stepped quietly around the sleeping cats, pausing for a heartbeat as he felt dislike run through his fur as he passed Fireheart.
It's a shame I won't be able to kill him myself, under my own claws... But getting rid of Bluestar is more important..
No cat was in the clearing, except for Brokentail and his guard, Longtail.
He won't question me. Tigerclaw padded to the gorse tunnel, flicking his tail to acknowledge the tabby warrior standing guard. Exiting the camp, he turned to the direction of the Twolegplace.
• • •
"...then when Bluestar has been rid of, I can tell them that Fireheart has murdered her, and therefore the cat who has killed him will be accepted instantly into the clan as my deputy."
Tigerclaw was explaining his plan in more detail to the new cats. Blackfoot had found Boulder and Russetfur together hiding behind twoleg rubbish, and Clawface had brought Tangleburr. A couple other rouges had joined them as well out of curiosity and interest.
"So, will you join me?" Tigerclaw inquired. The new cats that had come looked at one another, murmuring amongst themselves.
Heartbeats later, the quiet voices died down, and all the cats began to nod, meows of agreement rippled through them.
Only one or two shook they're heads, though they still looked politely intrigued.
"It... Sounds interesting." A light grey she-cat glanced at her black and white brother. The tom flicked his white-tipped tail. "Yeah. Especially because we're quite short of food... But we're not sure we would like all the fighting."
Fine. I have enough cats anyways... Be polite and respectful towards them, and maybe they'll remember that. I can still get them one day.
"Of course." Tigerclaw dipped his head. "I respect your decision. Any other cat who does not wish to join me, you may leave now."
Around five cats nodded hastily, stood up, and padded awkwardly past the others.
After watching them go, Tigerclaw turned back to the rest of the cats. "Now. You've all had your chance to leave. Now that you have made your decision, you are going to stick to it. No exceptions."
There were a little more nervous glances, but otherwise the expressions before him were set and determined.
"You all know the plan. You all know what you will get in return. And you all know the consequences." Tigerclaw's expression darkened, and he flexed his long claws.
"Now, I want you all to come and meet me at the edge of the Twolegplace at Sunhigh. I will show you a bit of the territory, and what type of undergrowth you will be expected to fight in."
He swiftly looked up at the sky. He would need to get to camp back soon if he wanted to be unnoticed that he had been away.
"I must go. Remember, meet me at Sunhigh. Good bye." Tigerclaw stood up, and the cats parted to let him pass. As he glanced back one more time, he saw the cats beginning to talk amongst each other in excited voices.
I've left a good impression. Leadership will be mine soon enough. And that kittypet will be nothing but a tick on my pelt; annoying, but easily killed, and nothing but a faded memory once he's gone.
• • •
"Tigerclaw!"
Brindleface leaped towards him as he brushed past the bracken into the camp. Her eyes were wide with fear.
He unsheathed his claws, eyes shooting upwards around the camp, wondering if there was any cat attacking the camp. But there was no enemy cats there, only more cats then usual in the clearing, evidently searching for something.
"What is it?" He asked, sheathing his claws and glancing around the camp.
The queen's tail flicked anxiously from side to side. "It's Cloudkit." She meowed worriedly. "He's gone missing!"
"Anything I could do to help?" Tigerclaw asked, padding into the camp with Brindleface at his side. What a waste of time, looking for some kittypet gone lost.
"Well I was wondering if he sneaked outside so if you could take a couple cats including me to go find him?..." She inquired.
Tigerclaw nodded. "Of course." Ugh. "Runningwind, Dustpelt!" He called. The two warriors looked up. "Cloudkit's gone missing, I'm leading a patrol with Brindleface to go find him."
"Alright." Runningwind agreed, going up to join him. Dustpelt walked up too, a flash of annoyance in his eyes unnoticed by any cat except Tigerclaw.
He doesn't want to search for some lost kittypet either hm? "Let's go."
Brindleface walked briskly forward, then stiffened. "Cloudkit!" She wailed, whisking noisily out of the camp. Tigerclaw took a quick sniff. The kit's scent was right just outside the camp.
Runningwind and Dustpelt followed close after her, and Tigerclaw did the same after the two cats. He saw Brindleface was licking Cloudkit frantically, mewing between gentle strokes: "Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere! You shouldn't run away like that."
"I didn't!" Cloudkit insisted.
Tigerclaw glared at Fireheart, who was behind the kit. Sandstorm and Brackenpaw were with him. Of course he's involved with it. "What's going on?" He growled.
"We found Cloudkit cornered by a badger." Fireheart explained. "We drove the badger off. Brackenpaw was very brave." He added, giving the apprentice an approving look.
Why wasn't Brackenpaw's actual mentor with him? Tigerclaw continued to look hostilely at the ginger tom, before glancing at Brackenpaw.
"You'd better go to Yellowfang and have that leg seen to." He told the apprentice shortly. "As for you..."
He towered over Cloudkit threateningly. "What were you doing, putting yourself in danger like that? Do you think that warriors have nothing better to do than rescue you?"
"I'm sorry, Tigerclaw. I didn't mean to get into danger." The fluffy kit mumbled.
You good for nothing kit! "Didn't mean to!" He spat. "Has no cat taught you any better than to go wandering away like that?"
His amber eyes flickered to Fireheart, wondering if he caught his hidden threat to him.
"He's only a kit," Brindleface looked up anxiously at the deputy.
"He's caused more trouble already than all the rest of the kits put together. It's time he learned a lesson." He snarled. "He can do some real work for a change."
"You can go and look after the elders. Clear out their dirty bedding and fetch clean moss. Make sure they have enough fresh-kill, and go over their coats for ticks." The deputy ordered.
"Ticks!" The kit spat indignantly. "I'm not doing that! Why can't they see to their own ticks?"
I've never seen such disrespect you stupid kit! "Because they're elders. You need to start understanding a lot more about the ways of the Clan, if you ever want to be an apprentice."
Cloudkit glared mutinously at him.
"Go on." Tigerclaw snapped. "And keep at it until I tell you to stop."
The white kit hesitated, before dashing into the camp, Brindleface following him.
The dark tabby looked at Dustpelt. He had been silent throughout this whole exchange. What do you think of my punishment? Do you think it should have been worse, or do you think I was to hard on him?
"I always said bringing kittypets into the Clan was a bad idea." Tigerclaw growled, gaze flicking to the warrior. Dustpelt didn't seem to want to say anything in front of the former kittypet, Fireheart, who's eyes narrowed at the deputy's words.
He's not ready to say it in front of him yet, but I know he dislikes Fireheart. Good, good...
• • •
Tigerclaw came back into the camp. Fireheart was padding out of the medicine den and heading towards the elder's den. Probably going to check on Cloudkit. Cinderpaw and Yellowfang were in the medicine cat den, the latter tending to Brackenpaw.
He looked at the sky. It was nearly Sunhigh. Time to go meet the rouges.
With a jolt, he realized that Brokentail was left unattended. Where's the guard?
Darkstripe was talking with Longtail several tail-lengths away, apparently not noticing that he had left the prisoner unattended.
I can just go over there and talk to him quickly!
No cat was paying much attention to him. I can always say I was threatening him to not try and attack some cat if any cat sees me.
Padding casually and quietly towards Brokentail, Tigerclaw crouched down and whispered, "It's me, clan deputy, Tigerclaw.
He jumped, but didn't say anything.
"I have met up with your followers." Tigerclaw murmured, keeping his voice low and sentences fast and short. "Got some other cats too. I want them to help me overthrow Bluestar. I will become clan leader, and I will let you into the camp as an honoured warrior."
Brokentail blinked his useless eyes. "What? Really?" He hissed. Tigerclaw nodded, but remembering the cat couldn't see, he whispered, "Yes. No lie. Will you accept to join your followers again?"
The former leader shifted in his nest. "Alright." He agreed, a little warily. "Where are they now?"
"Twolegplace. I have told them to come to the edge of the Twolegplace so I can show them some of the territory. I can tell them you've agreed to my plan."
Brokentail nodded. "Do so." He paused. "What's the plan?"
Tigerclaw looked around the camp. No cat was paying any attention to him, but he felt very vulnerable to be spotted. "Can't tell you now. No other cat must know. I will have another chance to speak to you more about this. I must go now."
With this abrupt dismissal, he stood up and stalked to the entrance, before sneaking into the forest. His heart was still pumping fast over the fear of being caught talking to Brokentail, and his anxiety didn't abate until he was well on his way to his meeting place.
Soon enough he came to the fences that separated the forest from twoleg territory. The rouges were there, waiting for him. "Greetings." He meowed.
Blackfoot dipped his head. "Hello, Tigerclaw. We are here as you wished. Shall we get started?"
"Of course. But first, I must tell you all— I have managed to communicate with Brokentail. I have told him of my plans, and he agrees to them. I will fine tune the details with him and all of you when I have time."
Some cats looked more relieved and confident now that their original leader approved of what they were doing. Now that their old leader has accepted me, I will have total control over them!
He spent some time telling them about the brambles they had to watch out for, some useful quick battle moves, and fallen trees and other obstacles they would need to look out for. Rocks they could dislodge to crush cats, and plants like staining nettle or prickly thorn tendrils that could injure an opponent for them.
The snow was scuffled around the group and claw marks and pawprints etched onto the cold white canvas. Tigerclaw looked at the sun. Some time had past, and he should be getting back to camp...
"That's enough." His deep voice commanded. The cats stopped tussling and scrabbled to their paws. "Good work, but there is definitely room for improvement. I will see you another time, I must go."
His words were met with meows of "Right", "Of course", and "Thank you Tigerclaw"'s, before the other cats split into their own little groups, and headed back towards the Twolegplace.
Tigerclaw watched them go, before heading back to the ThunderClan camp.
He had been walking for only a little while when he padded around a fallen tree and collided with a mass of ginger fur. Fireheart!
He reared back, shocked. "Mouse-brain!" He hissed. "What are you doing here?"
Was he following me?! He eyed the former kittypet suspiciously.
"I...I came out to show Cloudkit a good place to find bedding." Fireheart stuttered. "And then I thought I might as well hunt for a bit."
"I don't see any prey." Tigerclaw meowed skeptically.
The warrior jerked his head in the opposite direction. "It's buried just back there."
As if. How many hunting excuses are you going to make? "Show me."
Anger flashed in Fireheart's eyes, before he turned and began to lead him back the way he came. Soon he came to a patch of snow that had been clearly overturned. The ginger tom dug around for a moment, before revealing a brown mouse.
"Satisfied?" Fireheart asked almost haughtily.
Hmph. Tigerclaw glared at him, but there was nothing to accuse him of. "Get on with it then." He snapped, before marching irritably in the direction of the camp.
I just know he was following me. His annoyance abated as he thought about his plans. A sinister smile appeared across his lips. An image of the strong force of cats he had behind him flashed in his head.
A picture of Fireheart dead on the ground, Bluestar unmoving beside him, and his tall, powerful figure on the Highrock as leader of ThunderClan flickered to the forefront of his mind as well.
His smirk widened, sharp teeth showing, amber eyes glinting maliciously.
You don't even know what's coming.
Check out my other Fanfiction, Raining Feathers!