Author's Note: I might slow down my update rate on this story because I'm writing another as well. It's called Mother of the Darkforest. An AU of Mapleshade in the Darkforest.

Chapter 46: The Flames of Change

Darkstripe had mostly recovered from his panic attack from seeing Tigerclaw again. He mostly was the same, but an uneasy feeling of paranoia plagued him. Tigerstar had power. He knew Tigerstar was not the type to let things go. Some time soon Tigerstar would launch an attack. Despite every other cat's reassurance that Tigerstar wouldn't do anything soon, Darkstripe didn't believe them. They didn't know Tigerstar like he did. They didn't truly know the cruelty he could inflict.

Darkstripe's vigilance paid off in a different way. Two days after the Gathering, there was a storm. The sky was black with angry clouds despite it being midday. The promise of rain would be a boon to all clans, but it had not begun raining yet. Instead, the storm started as a dry thunderstorm. Flashes of white arcing lightning would be fallowed by the familiar boom of thunder. One flash was blindingly bright and its boom was instant. It made Darkstripe's fur stand on end. Lightning never thundered immediately unless it was close. Most cats fled into their dens to avoid the coming rain. Darkstripe could not. Something was wrong. He could feel it. A faint orange glow could be seen past the camp barrier. Darkstripe tasted the air and immediately was panicking. The air tasted of smoke.

"Fire! There's a fire coming from the direction of Snakerocks!"

All cats in camp were immediately on their paws. Fire was a force feared by all cats. They were lucky enough to get a warning. Yellowfang and Cinderpaw rushed to bundle up whatever herbs they could while warriors moved to grab anything they felt they couldn't afford to lose. Fireheart moved to address the camp.

"We'll have to retreat over the Riverclan border. The river will stop the fire from crossing. Queens, grab you kits! Sandstorm, Dustpelt, help Yellowfang and Cinderpaw grab as much as they can. Longtail, scope out the fire and give me an estimate of how long we've got till it gets here. Darkstripe, I want you to be one of the first at Riverclan. We'll need you for negotiations. Make sure all kits are accounted for. Warriors with nothing else, assist the elders and grab a piece of freshkill. We don't know when we'll have good hunting after this."

The camp was a mess of running cats. The elders, Bluestar, and a couple warriors were pushing their way out the camp entrance. Darkstripe, meanwhile, looked for his sons. Cloudpaw had two large mice in his jaws and seemed to be settling the nerves of the other apprentices. Bramblekit was following Goldenflower who had Tawnykit in her maw. He rushed over and grabbed Bramblekit.

Though muffled, Darkstripe managed to speak out his order. "We have to move now! The fire is almost here. The glow is almost on top of us!"

Priorities changed on the cats who heard him. They tasted the air and realized he was right. The medicine cats and their assisting warriors stopped making bundles and grabbed what they could. The camp entrance was choked as each warrior hastened to leave. He managed to get through the entrance in the middle of the swarm of panicking cats. Bramblekit mewed uncomfortably as he was swung about. The kit was a bit too large to usually choose to carry, but he was too small to keep up if he was allowed to run.

Darkstripe ran with as much speed as he could muster. The heat of the fire could be felt as it raced across the forest. Unfortunately, an old gnarled root tripped the warrior whose downward vision was obstructed by the kit he was carrying. He went sprawling with some wounds from the border fight reopening. Bramblekit was clearly distressed from just having been slammed on the ground from Darkstripe's fall. Thankfully, Longtail had been nearby and saw the fall. The old wounds made Darkstripe's legs sting. They had a sudden slight unresponsiveness like they were stiff. He'd likely torn a muscle from wrenching his paw, but there was no time for that. He set the kit down expecting to have to keep a kit's pace, but Longtail came sprinting up.

"Are you ok?"

"I think I twisted something. Can you carry him? I don't think I can run with his weight."

Longtail scooped up the kit and took off running. Darkstripe followed at a slower pace. The fire was on top of him now. He could no longer outrun it, but he could choose slower burning paths. He weaved through the undergrowth taking whatever bare earth paths he could take, but his balance was off since he'd hit that root. He clipped a tree in his haste and went tumbling again, but it was downhill. He tried to right himself, but before he could, his head struck a tree. He was out.

When Darkstripe came to, his lungs felt like they were on fire. His vision swam, but he could make out an orange color. Initially he feared it was the fire, but the tugging on his scruff as he was dragged across the ground let him know it was something else. Taking a second to settle himself, his vision cleared to see Fireheart dragging him. The usually bright orange cat was covered in ash.

"I'm awake. Let me get up."

Fireheart hesitantly let go of him. With some difficulty, he stood. He could see the river from here. The fire was still close, but somehow Fireheart had put some distance between themselves and it. Fireheart looked at him like he was going to collapse.

"Let's go. It's not far now."

The two not so much ran but briskly walked to the river. The smoke in their lungs wouldn't let them exert themselves more. Thankfully they were as a shallow bend of the river. They could walk through as long as they didn't slip.

"Fireheart. Can you walk on the downstream side of me? I wrenched something earlier so I might fall."

Fireheart looked happy to assist as he pressed himself close. It was like that one day in training. He could feel Fireheart's muscles move and the soft warmth of his body. They stepped into the river together. Despite the river being low, the current was swift here. The riverbed was smooth rocks which made walking more difficult. It took about a minute to cross the river that was only three tail lengths wide at this section because they'd have to root their paws beneath the pocks of the riverbed. Finally, they were across. Darkstripe collapsed with relief. He could see Riverclan and Thunderclan cats rushing over to assist them. Then the skies finally let loose the rain.

When Thunder Clan was finally settled to wait for the fire to die, Bluestar looked upset with Darkstripe.

"I told you to be the first across the border, but instead, you are the last to cross and hurt yourself. Why did you defy my orders?"

"I couldn't leave my kits behind. Cloudpaw was fine, but no cat was carrying Bramblekit. I had to grab him and run."

"But I saw Longtail with him."

"That was after I tripped on a root. He grabbed him, but I twisted something. I tripped down a hill after and knocked myself out. Thankfully Fireheart found me and dragged me here."

"You know he was worried about you. As soon as he didn't see you here, he ran back into that burning forest to look for you. You're lucky you fell in such a baren spot because if you didn't, I fear I might have lost both a deputy and a fine warrior."

Really? Fireheart was willing to die for him. Did he really care for him that much?

Darkstripe's thoughts were interrupted by Bluestar speaking again. "We'll owe Riverclan for this. I hope you can make a favorable deal."

Owing a deal to Crookedstar would be highly unfavorable, but they had nothing to give. He'd have to offer himself as a worker to work off their debt. He rose to his paws and began padding his way over towards the Riverclan cats who stayed to watch Thunder Clan and the fire. Suddenly, he was stopped by Greystripe.

"Darkstripe. A heartbeat please."

"What is it Greystripe? We're not your clan anymore."

"I know, but we're still family. Take this."

Greystripe pushed forth a familiar stone. It was the favor stone from River Clan.

"You never gave Crookedstar this?"

"I hid it to see if he'd take me without it. You never know when a favor might be handy."

"You sneaky cat. I knew you were related to me. I owe you one."

"No, you don't. You gave it to me in the first place. I'm just giving it back."

Darkstripe strode confidently to Crookedstar to make their deal.

"We've helped you in your time of need. What is Thunder Clan willing to pay?"

Darkstripe produced the favor stone.

"I believe this is a favor paid. We're even now after we helped you with the flooding."

"I'd kind of hoped you'd lost that. No matter. We are even now."