Thunder walked across the clearing towards Thistlestar, yawning. He shivered as his big paws crunched through the snow. Longtail waited beside him.
Thunder reached the two older toms. Thistlestar acknowledged him with a nod.
"Let's go."
He led the way out of camp, heading toward the RiverClan border. Thunder wondered if he was planning to pick a fight with them.
Thistlestar halted at Sunningrocks, the big boulders covered in snow. "Soon we will take back these rocks," he announced darkly. Thunder shivered.
The three toms walked about, scouting around for ways to attack~Thunder assumed~when the bushes nearby rustled.
As soon as he turned around, a gray-and-white she-cat emerged around a thicket.
"What are you doing?" she snapped. "Get out of here!"
For a moment, Thunder only stared at her, intimidated by her aggression.
"Go on." Thistlestar growled at him. "You know what to do."
Thunder dropped into an attack crouch, ready to lunge at her, but at that moment the she-cat landed a blow on his ear, throwing him off balance.
"Leave this to me!" Longtail scoffed and flung himself at the she-cat, and the two fell to the ground, clawing at each other. Their cries echoed around the forest.
Thunder shook himself and watched nervously as the two fought viciously. He hoped the she-cat would just give up and run away.
Thistlestar watched with a smirk as if he were enjoying it all. And he guessed he did.
Thunder didn't like this.
Longtail had managed to pin his opponent. The she-cat squirmed beneath him, her green eyes hard with rage. Both were bleeding badly.
"This is our territory," Longtail growled. "Get out of here and we won't hurt you."
"Fat chance, fool!" the she-cat shouted. She heaved herself up, pushing Longtail off and pinning the tom. She swiped at his ears, nicking one, and he screamed, kicking his legs into her belly.
Thistlestar rushed forward to intervene. He pushed the she-cat aside. The two toms managed to pin her again. Thistlestar had his jaws locked around her throat.
"Stop!" Thunder gasped. "Give her a chance to leave!"
Thistlestar ignored him and bit down on her throat. The she-cat's paws scrabbled at his chest, trying to get him off, blood gurgling from her mouth and then she fell still, eyes wide open, staring at nothing.
Thunder felt tears rise to his eyes and quickly looked to the side to blink them away. He didn't want to appear weak in front of Thistlestar or his plan to keep his Clan safe would be over.
He just needed a little longer to figure out ThunderClan's weaknesses.
But at what cost? To appear as some murderer like them?
Suddenly, tiny squeaks sounded from behind the brambles and Thunder froze. Surprisingly, Longtail was the first to move forward and peeked around. "Um, she has kits."
So that's why she fought hard to stay. Thunder thought, feeling sick. We killed a mother and left her kits alone!
He followed and peeked over Longtail's shoulder to see a ginger tom-kit with white circles around his closed eyes and a mottled brown-gray-and-white she-kit.
What have we done?
Gray Wing stretched in his nest. He'd just finished the last bites of the hare Fire Heart had brought him, proud of his former apprentice.
The Clan had done just fine while Gray Wing was ill. And he'd done even better at taking care of himself.
If only it didn't make him feel so useless. Tall Shadow and Fire Heart had started advising Skystar as if they would be the next deputy.
When he stepped out of his den, he spotted Lightning Tail entering camp with a squirrel. It reflected what a good hunter the young tom was becoming.
Gray Wing walked over to Lightning Tail to congratulate him on a job well done. They were in the center of camp, where most were gathering around to eat.
Acorn Fur sat beside her brother to eat, and the others dug in as well. Gray Wing noticed Turtle Tail watching him from the other side of camp with Owl Eyes. Sparrow Fur, Cloud Tail and Pebble Heart must still be asleep.
She said he wasn't fit to lead, and Gray Wing agreed. At least she wasn't mad at him anymore.
He shook his head. His breathing was getting better. He'd be able to hunt again. And he knew Turtle Tail had only been angry out of tough love.
Things would be better soon.
A pelt brushed his. He looked down to see Pebble Heart, eyes wide with trouble.
"Is something wrong?" Gray Wing asked. He noticed Pebble Heart was shivering.
"I had another dream," the kit whispered.
"What kind?" Gray Wing crouched down to be eye level with Pebble Heart. "Was it the fight? Or the starry cats?"
Pebble Heart shook his head. "No. There's something near Sunningrocks. Something bad. I think someone needs to go look."
Gray Wing studied his son. Pebble Heart believed every word he was saying, but Gray Wing wasn't sure a dream was enough of a motivation to go near other Clan land.
"What was~" he was cut off as Wind Runner and Gorse Fur ran into the camp. The others gathered around them.
"What's going on?" Skystar emerged from the crowd. "Wind Runner?"
"I was hunting near ThunderClan land yesterday and Darkstripe and Longtail attacked me!"
The Clan started to murmur. Ravenpaw stared at her with huge eyes while Fire Heart growled at the mention of Darkstripe, who had tormented him on his first outing into the forest.
"What'd you expect? It's ThunderClan," Fircone muttered.
"Thunder was there, too, but he just stood there and watched," Wind Runner continued.
Gray Wing and Skystar gaped and Leaf looked dismayed.
"Thunder would never!" Hawk Swoop gasped.
"This isn't good," Tall Shadow muttered.
Gray Wing looked at his brother and knew he was thinking the same thing. Thunder had become one of the foxhearts.
"Are you sure?" Turtle Tail asked.
"If you want, I can show you where we buried Misty's body."
"Who's Misty?" Jackdaw's Cry asked.
"Misty was another rogue," Wind Runner explained. "She lived at the edge of the forest near the Sunningrocks. Gorse Fur and I found her body with a bite wound in her neck. We also found a nest where kits had been sheltering."
Shouts of outrage and distress sounded through the clearing. Jackdaw's Cry and Shattered Ice had leaped up, along with Frost and Nettle. They spoke to each other with shock. The meeting was breaking into small groups.
"There's more!" Wind Runner shouted. "Misty had two kits. We searched around Misty's shelter, but couldn't find them. Either Thistlestar has killed them, too, or they wandered off when their mother died." She paused for a moment, overcome with anger and needing to get it back under control. "Thistlestar will do anything to gain more power, and he doesn't care who he hurts. If we don't act fast, he might come after SkyClan next! We can't trust anyone in his Clan~not even Thunder."
"He's my son! Those foxhearts turned him against us!" Skystar growled. Beside him, Air Leap, Ash Blaze and Ivy Breeze looked horrified.
"I know," Wind Runner sighed almost regretfully. "But it's too late. He's with them."
"But what can we do about it?" Shattered Ice asked.
Gray Wing turned back to Pebble Heart, trying to tune out the shocks of panic and anger.
"Is this the bad thing you dreamed about?" he asked.
Pebble Heart looked terrified. "No," he responded. "I'm not sure what the bad thing is, but this isn't it."
Suddenly, Turtle Tail walked up, "Cloud Tail and Sparrow Fur are missing!"
"Where's Bumble?" Cloud Spots suddenly appeared from his den, looking worried.
Turtle Tail looked ready to faint.
Skystar led the patrol with Gray Wing, Fire Heart, Turtle Tail, Gorse Fur, Wind Runner, Petal and Cloud Spots.
For some reason, Petal looked conflicted and a bit sad. Fire Heart dropped back to walk beside the yellow tabby.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Yeah…it's just…I knew Misty from when I was a kit," she began. "When Fox and I had lost our mother, she refused to help us."
"Oh. That sounds lonely," Fire Heart murmured sympathetically.
Petal nodded. "But now that she's dead…I worry about the kits. Now they'll be…just like us, y'know?" Fire Heart nodded. "I want to help them if we can."
"You'd do that even if their mother left you?" Fire Heart asked.
"Of course, because the kits never did me wrong. And now that I know what it's like to be them, I'll look after them."
"Wow, you're a nice cat," Fire Heart murmured.
Petal smiled before shaking herself and dashing ahead. "C'mon, we're falling behind."
They reached the Sunningrocks and Turtle Tail gasped. In front of them lay Bumble, blood pooling under her body.
Fire Heart closed his eyes, angry. Another innocent outsider down.
"Bumble!" Turtle Tail wailed and raced to her friend, curling around her. "It's okay, you'll be okay!"
Cloud Spots had reached the two tortoiseshells and started to examine the kittypet.
Meanwhile, Skystar was sniffing around for the kits. Fire Heart and Petal followed suit and opened their jaws to taste the air.
Petal found the nest first and rounded a thicket. "Behind here," the yellow tabby called. "They sheltered here."
Fire Heart and Skystar followed to see an empty mossbed with the faint scent of kits. They must have disappeared earlier that day.
"Have you found Cloud Tail and Sparrow Fur though?" Gray Wing asked. "It looks like there'll be a snowstorm soon, we have to hurry."
"And before Thistlestar catches us," Gorse Fur muttered.
"Too late."
They all jumped and whipped around to see the sneering gray-and-white leader. "What're you SkyClan kitties doing here?" He growled mockingly. "Here for your little spy? Or did you lose some squealing kits again?"
"Where are my babies?" Turtle Tail snarled, moving away from Bumble's obviously dead body, looking like she would charge the spiky tom if Fire Heart and Cloud Spots hadn't held her back.
"I haven't seen those kits," Thistlestar scoffed. "Whoever you're even talking about."
"But you know where Misty's kits are, don't you?" Wind Runner growled, taking a step towards the spiky tom.
"What's it to you?" Thistlestar sneered.
"Where are they? Have you killed them, foxheart?" Petal snapped.
Thistlestar stared her down for a moment before he launched himself at her. Petal was quick though and dropped and rolled away. Thistlestar slipped in the snow as he turned, but Skystar was already slamming into him and sent him skidding away from them.
"Enough!" He snapped. "At least tell us where Turtle Tail's kits are!"
"I told you, idiot, I dunno!" Thistlestar snarled. "Now get off my land before someone gets hurt," he ended in a menacing growl before stalking away.
"Dad?"
The patrol looked up to see Cloud Tail and Sparrow Fur in a tree above them, clinging onto a branch.
"You two are in so much trouble!" Turtle Tail yowled.
"Hurry, we must leave!" Gorse Fur muttered.
"What about Misty's kits?" Petal asked, worried.
"We don't have time to search. He could be bringing back-up, let's go!" Wind Runner snapped.
Skystar had gotten Turtle Tail's kits down while Cloud Spots and Turtle Tail herself, dug a grave for Bumble.
"Rest in peace, my friend," the tortoiseshell whispered. "You didn't deserve this."
"What was she doing out here anyway?" Petal asked.
"She was talking to Thistlestar while a strange black she-cat helped us escape," Cloud Tail piped up.
"What?" The group said simultaneously.
"Yeah, she looked scary, but was very nice."
"The mysterious she-cat Bumble mentioned…" Fire Heart murmured.
"Wait, wait, what's so special about some random rogue again?" Gorse Fur asked.
"Nothing," Gray Wing sighed and turned to his kits. "So Bumble came to get you back and Thistlestar came along, right?" The kits nodded. "A random she-cat snuck you up the tree to hide and then…?"
Sparrow Fur gulped. "He attacked Bumble and hurt her badly." The little tortoiseshell trembled and Cloud Tail pressed against her, comforting.
Gray Wing and Skystar exchanged one of their many grim looks. "Let's get outta here." The pale gray leader led them away from Sunningrocks.
Fire Heart's fur twitched, feeling as if they were being watched, but he didn't dare look back.
RIP Bumble and Misty.