Chapter 51: The Calm Before A Storm

Darkstripe was finally cleared to leave the camp, but he was also told to not do anything strenuous, or he'd be on tick duty until Bramblekit was an apprentice. Despite Darkstripe being headstrong, threats of punishment always seemed to work on him. It was a subtle trauma that was a result of his upbringing. It didn't help that he was over imaginative and often saw the potential punishment as worse than it was. Thankfully, Darkstripe could still work. He couldn't teach the River Clan leader since that might open something up again, but other dealer work was fine. Cloudpaw was covering the Wind Clan deals today, so he didn't need to worry about that front. Instead, another dealer came to mind that he'd been away from for far too long.

Darkstripe made his way over to the Twoleg Place and slipped through its streets. He was looking to finally update Tiny on the Tigerstar situation. Things were escalating and he knew that some of Tigerstar's rogues were reject Blood Clan members. Tigerstar wasn't the type to leave cats as brutal as Blood Clan be. Darkstripe had to act first. Older deals always had priority in the Dealer's Code. If he could create a deal to have Tigerstar dealt with or lied to, he could be sure Tiny wouldn't harm the clans. Even though Tiny was a known threat and one of the most dangerous cats he ever knew, the cat was always true to his word in dealer affairs.

Darkstripe found Blood Clan's camp with tribute as always. He carried with him a rabbit supplied from Wind Clan since he couldn't afford to give a tribute as scrawny as Thunder Clan's currently available prey. Big gave him his customary greeting and waved him back to meet Tiny.

"Thunder. It has been too long. You usually aren't the type to keep me waiting."

That icy stare was as piercing as always. Fortunately, Tiny's tone implied more curiosity than malice. Darkstripe steadied himself because Tiny was efficient at prying information when he wanted it.

"Sorry about that. I've been laid up for a while due to a fight. I hadn't recovered yet when the fire happened. I'm sure you saw the smoke. Securing food was too important after that, and I managed to reopen a lot of wounds. I'm only allowed out here on light duty."

Darkstripe tried to keep his situation vague. Tiny was the type to capitalize on weakness. He couldn't afford to make it sound like his clan was struggling despite how much it had gone through.

"Ah yes. The fire. It must have been quite the tragedy."

There it was. Tiny had this cold way of speaking that always prompted a response. Those icy eyes would accept nothing less. At least Darkstripe was used to responding to a terrifying cat because he was able to reply calmly.

"We all survived. There are always problems with living life in the forest, but we are strong, and the forest is beginning to regrow. It'll recover stronger as we have."

Tiny nodded. One of the few things he respected about Thunder was his ability to keep a level head when talking to him. There usually were only two types of cat when he gave implied questions. There were wimps who spill everything, and there were brutes who responded with hostility. Thunder was refreshing. Tiny treated him as an equal because of his professionalism. No other dealer brought tribute every time and could maintain a conversation without it becoming one-sided in Tiny's favor. His cool gaze softened a bit so he was no longer demanding answers.

"Let's move on to news about Tigerclaw. I'm sure something has happened to that cat by now."

"I have bad news then. Tigerclaw was exiled from Thunder Clan after he attempted an assassination on our current leader. Afterwards, he made an appearance on our border with Shadow Clan and led a fight against us where I received most of my currently healing wounds. Now he has taken possession of Shadow Clan as its new leader and is now Tigerstar. I don't know how he managed it, but I am guessing he got the last leader killed on the Thunderpath since they died on one, and he attempted that method before."

Tiny was not happy to hear that Tigerclaw had gained power. He'd been reining back his own ruthlessness to emulate the forest clans a bit, but the idea that Tigerstar became a leader meant killing him would be that much harder. He had endless fury inside him, but he kept his exterior stony in expression. His dealer persona was meticulously skilled at maintaining a front of calm.

"I see. This does complicate things."

Darkstripe saw right through Tiny. He knew how angry the cat was. It was a risk, but he was willing to capitalize on it.

"I have another piece of information that may be to your benefit. As you know, Tigerstar is ambitious beyond reason, so he's likely to make another power grab soon. His target will obviously be Thunder Clan since he's always been the type to clamber after revenge. I've also seen the rogues he's leading. Some of them are former Blood Clan. I suspect he'll try to get your clan on his side. He'll be wide open when he feels he's assured to win."

This was exciting news to Tiny. If Thunder was right, Tigerstar would soon be right in his claws. His whole reason for founding Blood Clan was starting to come to fruition. He could almost feel his claws sinking into that cat's neck and watching his most hated enemy bleed out.

"I will take that under advisement."

"Another tip. I won't explain why, but if you do decide to kill him, try to rip him in half or gut him."

Tiny had always known Thunder had once been Tigerstar's apprentice. He'd spied on him and was what the cat had done to him. They were similar on that front. They were victims of Tigerstar's malice. He'd only initially accepted the dealer position because it meant getting more information about his enemy, but he soon found purpose in the job. He owed Thunder for giving him something besides revenge to live for, so he was willing to grant the request. It wasn't like gutting the cat was too different from the simple kill he wanted to give before.

"Since you were so willing to give extra information, I have some for you. Recently a Housefolk nest brought in some very large dogs. These dogs are vicious and run straight off their instincts. Their owner's are largely negligent of keeping track of the dogs, so they could get loose into your forest very easily. When you've healed up a bit and providing you have something of enough value, I'd be willing to teach you a method to instantly kill a dog of that size."

Tiny was spelling it out for him. Soon there would be a dog threat, and he couldn't afford to be complacent. Given how despondent Bluestar was currently, he'd need the edge Tiny could provide. The question was at what cost?