Return and Vigil
The clan waiting there the whole night, wondering and worried. The cats chosen to lead astray the dog pack came to the trees, relief. The clan asked question, but even the runners did not know much. The clan could only wait.
After awhile, a gray streak of fur rush to the Sunningrocks. Graystripe padded on the rocks, yowling. "The dogs are gone! We can go back to camp! We can go back home!"
The clan turn to each other, skeptical to the gray warrior's claims. Nightfrost and Whitestorm climb down the trees, where Graystripe padded to meet them.
"Are the dogs truly gone?" Whitestorm asked.
Graystripe nodded. "Fireheart, Ravenwing and I checked for dogs around the territory. The scent is gone."
"What of Bluestar?" Whitestorm's mew quivered.
Graystripe bowed his head in sorrow. "Dead."
Whitestorm nodded and turn to the trees. "The dogs are gone! Fireheart have already check for them. We are free to return home!"
The clan, slowly one by one, climb down the trees. Soon, Thunderclan surrounded them. Whitestorm let out a cry after making sure every cat is ready. Nightfrost grabbed Redkit's scruff and nodded to Mousefur in thanks.
The clan followed Whitestorm, fearful of their forest home. At every tree and bush, cats look out warily, waiting for a snout to poke out or one of the dogs to leap out and attack them. The forest was quiet, frighteningly so, almost as if the danger have never ended.
Thunderclan padded down the ravine and though the tunnel. In the clearing, was Fireheart and Ravenwing, waiting patiently for them. Fireheart padded to Sandstorm, pressing his muzzle againt her flank. Nightfrost dropped Redkit with Willowpelt's three kits. The four bounced together, unaware of the crisis.
Nightfrost turned to the clearing, appearing just as the clan left it. He turned back to his brother, who was checking the clan. Deep inside, the black warrior wondered if he would have been like him if he had never meet those rogues from the forest. Maybe Bloodclan would have been different.
"Having second thoughts?"
Nightfrost ignored the voice in his head. He perk his ears just as Swiftfoot ask the one question the clan was wondering about.
"Fireheart, is it true that Bluestar's dead?"
Fireheart nodded. "Yes, it's true. She...she died saving me and all of us." The deputy swallowed hard before continuing. "You all know thag I was the last cat on the trail to lead the dogs to the gorge. When I was almost at the edge, Tigerstar leap out at me and held me down so that the pack leader caught up to me. He would have killed me, and the dogs would still loose in the forest, if it hasn't been for Bluestar. She threw herself at the dog, right on the edge of the gorge, and...and they both went over."
"What happen then?" Frostfur asked quietly.
"I went in after her, but I couldn't save her." Fireheart closed his green eyes briefly, before opening them. "Mistyfoot and Stonefur from Riverclan came to help me when we had been swept clear of the gorge. Bluestar was alive when we got her out but it was too late. Her ninth life was over and she left us to join Starclan."
A yowl of grief came from the crowd. Fireheart raised his voice. "Bluestar isn't gone, you know. She's already watching over us from Starclan...her spirit is here with us now."
The clan became silent. A mew broke the silence.
"I would like to see Bluestar now," meowed Speckletail. "Where is she-in her den?" She turned toward the entrance, flanked by Dappletail and Smallear.
"I'll come with you," Frostfur offered, springing to her paws.
Alarm rippled though his brother's pelt. Fireheart began shouldering his way to them. "Wait-"
A snarl sounded from the leader's entrance.
"What are you doing here?"
Fireheart bounded to them as Speckletail spun to face him.
"There are two Riverclan cats here," she growled. "Mauling our leader's body!"
"How dare they! What are two fish-eaters even doing here?! They don't belong here!" Cloudtail yowled, snarls of rage filling the air.
Fireheart whirled to face the circle. "Keep back!" He ordered. "It's alright! Mistyfoot and Stonefur-"
"You know they're here?" Darkstripe thrust his way though the crowd, facing Fireheart challengingly, nose-to-nose. "You let enemy cats into our camp-into our leader's den?"
Fireheart took a deep breath, calming his ruffled fur. "Have you forgotten what I told you?" he asked. "Mistyfoot and Stonefur helped me to pull Bluestar out of the river."
"So you say!" Darkstripe spat. "How do we know you're telling the truth? Why should Riverclan cats help Thunderclan?"
"They've helped us often enough in the past," Fireheart reminded him. "More of us would have died after the fire if Riverclan hadn't given us shelter."
Before Darkstripe could spat out a retort, Mousefur mewed. "That's true. But's it's no excuse to leave them alone in the den with Bluestar's body. What are they doing in there?"
"We are giving honor to Bluestar," Stonefur mewed at the entrance with his sister, their fur bristling.
"We wanted to say goodbye to her," Mistyfoot meowed.
"Why?" Mousefur demanded.
"She was our mother."
The clan fell silent, shocked in that one fact. Nightfrost flicked his ears deep in thought. No wonder Bluestar when to the Riverclan border when she was heading for the Mothermouth. He wonder if Jake sometimes feel the same way for his kits or if Princess is too for Cloudtail.
"Your mother?" growled Speckletail. "I don't believe it. Bluestar would never have allowed her kits to be raised in another clan."
"Believe it or not, it's true," Stonefur retorted.
Fireheart stepped forward, warning Stonefur to stay silent with a flick of his tail. "I'll deal with this now. You and Mistyfoot had better go."
Stonefur nodded at his brother and lead his sister to the tunnel.
"The thanks of the clan go with you!" Fireheart called after them, his voice echoing from the Highrock. The Riverclan warriors didn't respond, they did not look back as the clan sent hisses at them. The clan turn back to Fireheart, who dipped his head to Yellowfang and leap up the Highrock.
He look to address the clan and his chest expanded as he took a deep breath. "It's true that Mistyfoot and Stonefur are Bluestar's kits. Oakheart of Riverclan was their father. When her kits were born, Bluestar gave them to him to be bought up in his Riverclan."
"How do you know?" snarled Frostfur. "Bluestar would never have done that! If the Riverclan cats said so, they're lying.
"Bluestar told me herself," Fireheart replied.
The white she-cat glared, teeth bared. "Are you telling us she was a traitor?"
One or two cats yowled in protest. Frostfur spun around to face Whitestorm, yellow eyes blazing with anger to the white she-cat's accuse.
"Bluestar was always loyal to her clan."
"If she was so loyal," Darkstripe put in, "why did she let a cat from another clan father her kits?"
Whitestrom turn to the dark tabby, looking as if he would claw him to shreds right in the clearing. Nightfrost stepped in front of his friend, shaking his head.
Whitestorm hissed out a small 'I know', but if looks can kill, Darkstripe would have died right then and there.
"Things happen," Fireheart finally replied. "When the kits were born, Bluestar would have brought them up to be loyal Thunderclan warriors, but-"
"I remember those kits," Smallear interrupted. "They disappeared out of the nursery. We all thought a fox or badger had gotten them. Bluestar was distraught. Are you saying that was all a lie?"
"No," Fireheart replied, "Bluestar was devastated at the lost of her kits. But she had to give them up in order to become clan deputy."
"You're telling us her ambition meant more to her than her kits?" asked Dustpelt, puzzled.
"No," Firehear told him. "She did it because the clan needed her. She put the clan first-just as she always did."
"That's true," Whitestorm agreed quietly, "Nothing meant more to Bluestar than Thunderclan."
Mistyfoot and Stonefur are proud of her courage-both now and then," Fireheart went on. "As we should be."
There were no more open challenges, though the tension among the Clan cats did not die away completely. Mousefur and Frostfur were muttering together, casting suspicious glances up at Fireheart. Speckletail, tail-tip twitching, stalked across to join them. But Whitestorm moved from one cat to another, clearly backing up what he had said, and Smallear was nodding wisely, as if he respected the hard decision Bluestar had made.
Then a single voice rose clearly out of the hum of conversation. "Fireheart," Tawnypaw piped up, "are you going to be our leader now?"
Darkstripe sprang to his paws. "Accept a kittypet as clan leader? Are we all mad?"
"It's not a question, Darkstripe," Whitestorm pointed out, raising his voice above shocked exclamations from Sandstorm and Graystripe. "Fireheart is Clan deputy; he succeeds Bluestar. That's all there is to it."
"But a kittypet!" Darkstripe protested. His yellow eyes glared balefully up at Fireheart. "Stinking of Twolegs and their nests! Is that what we want as our leader?"
Goldenflower rose to her paws and stepped forward to face the dark warrior. "You're wrong, Darkstripe," she growled. "Fireheart has proved his loyalty to the Clan a thousand times over. No clan-born cat could have done more."
"Fireheart, don't listen to Darkstripe," Swiftfoot added his voice to Goldenflower's. "Every cat here wants you as leader, apart from him. You're obviously the best cat for the job."
A murmur of agreement rose from the cats around the Highrock, and Swiftfoot turn to Nightfrost. The black tom nodded, purring as Swiftfoot had shown what he was taught.
"And who are we to go against the decrees of Starclan?" Mousefur added. "The deputy always becomes clan leader. That is the tradition of the warrior code."
"Which Fireheart seems to know rather better than you do," Graystripe hissed, flicking his tail contemptuously at Darkstripe.
Fireheart gestured with one paw to his friend for silence before addressing the whole clan. "I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life striving to become the leader that Thunderclan deserves. And with Starclan's help I will succeed."
Fireheart's gaze wandered to Sandstorm, before turning heatly to the dark tabby.
"As for you, Darkstripe," Fireheart spat, unable to hide his anger, "if you don't like the thought of being led by a kittypet, you can always leave."
The dark warrior lashed his tail. The warrior went on staring at him for a few heartbeats more, before whipping around to stalk away. But he did not head for the gorse tunnel; instead he vanished into the warriors' den.
"Right." Fireheart raised his voice as he turned back to the rest of the Clan. "Tonight we will hold the mourning rituals for Bluestar."
"Hang on!" Cloudtail sprang to his paws, tail fluffed up. "Aren't we going to attack Shadowclan? They led the dog pack to our camp! Don't you want revenge?"
Yowls of agreement broke out. His brother lifted his tail for silence. "No," he meowed. "This is not the time to attack Shadowclan."
"What?!" Cloudtail stared at him disbelievingly. "You'd let them get away with it?"
"Shadowclan didn't lay the trail for the dogs. Tigerstar did. Every rabbit on the trail had his scent on it and no other cat's. We can't be sure that Shadowclan even knew what their leader was planning."
Cloudtail let out a snort of contempt. Fireheart gaze at his former apprentice, deep in thought, and turned to the whole clan.
"Believe me, Tigerstar will pay. But Thunderclan has no quarrel with Shadowclan."
The clan calmed, some cats with relief, some holding their anger in. Fireheart look to the sky.
"We must pay our respects to Bluestar. Are you ready, Yellowfang?" Fireheart asked the medicine cat. The elderly she-cat nodded.
"Graystripe, Sandstorm," Fireheart went on, "can you bring Bluestar's body out into the clearing so that we may share tougues with her in the sight of Starclan?"
The two warriors got up and vanished into Bluestar's den, reappearing a moment later with their leader's body supported between them. They carried her to the center of the clearing and laid her gently onto the hard-packed sand.
"Sandstorm, round up a hunting patrol," Fireheart ordered. "When you've said goodbye to Bluestar, I'd like you to stock up the fresh-kill pile. And Mousefur, when you have finished, could you lead a patrol out toward Snakerocks and the Shadowclan border? Be careful though-don't take risks."
"Sure, Fireheart." The wiry brown tabby got to her paws. "Goldenflower, Longtail, are you coming?"
The cats she had called went to join her to share their last tougues with Bluestar. Sandstrom stood nearby with Dustpelt and Cloudtail. Yellowfang stood by Bluestar's head and gaze at the indigo sky, a few stars starting to show.
"Bluestar was a noble leader," Yellowfang began, "Let us give thanks to Starclan fo her life. She was dedicated to her clan and her memory will never fade from the forest. Now we commend her spirit to Starclan; may she watch over us in death as she always did in life."
The warriors Fireheart had chosen to go out on a patrol went first, pressing their noses and murmuring. They stepped away, allowing others to share their last tougues. Nightfrost padded to the great leader. He pressed his nose against her cold fur.
"Thank you for saving my life. If it weren't for you, I...would never have meet my father. I would never had the chance to prove other cats my own strength. I won't...have meet my other family. Thank you for saving me from that time, Bluestar. May you rest with peace, away from the chaos of life and with the relief that your clan will be well cared for by my brother."