Chapter 72: Deicide

Firestar was already preparing his clan for war. According to Darkstripe's information, things would come to a head at the next Gathering where Tigerstar would offer his ultimatum. Firestar found himself with a growing sense of uneasy anticipation. He knew the final showdown was approaching. Despite Sandstorm's efforts to keep him calm, he couldn't help being anxious with one of his mates in a hyper dangerous location and his enemy preparing a final strike not all that far away.

Whitestorm, despite his best efforts, was not a good deputy for Firestar. Their methods of thought were too similar and some minor duties ended up being forgotten by the two until their clanmates brought them up. Mainly the dealer system and medicine cat needs kept slipping their attention. It wasn't that it was deliberate. It was more that the two had deep rooted experience in being warriors that duties outside a warrior's were easily missed. Often when these situations sprung up, Firestar would wonder what Darkstripe would do. Darkstripe was terrible when it came to standard warrior duties, but these jobs outside standard warrior duties were his forte.

Cloudtail finally made his approach on Firestar after Firestar failed to acknowledge is gesture requests for a meeting. "Firestar. You've failed to see me asking in the dealer way for a private meeting. I know you have a lot on your mind, but Darkstripe taught me that noticing the signals of a dealer are paramount for a leader."

Firestar slightly hung his head at the reprimand. "I know. I'm just not good at picking that stuff up. I'm sorry."

Firestar had to bite back on lamenting Darkstripe's lack of presence. His mind briefly flashed back to his nights where despite having Sandstorm by his side, his nest felt all too empty, how when he talked to Sandtorm, his eyes always searched for the all too familiar snarky warrior to throw a jibe in, how whenever Cloudtail approached he could always hear phantom footfalls in that all too familiar rainlike uniformity of Darkstripe. In truth, Firestar missed his mate horribly. Firestar's attention finally shifted out of his thoughts back to Cloudtail or as he was presenting himself Lightning.

"Tiny wants to meet you again to discuss something. He said it was pertinent involving the survival of the clans. He instructed me to bring you to a specific location at moonhigh. Do we trust him and go tonight, or do we reject his invitation and invite retaliation?"

Firestar pictured the icy-eyed tom in his mind before answering. "I think we should go. Its better to be safe than find out whatever other danger is coming to the clans later. If I remember how far Twoleg Place is, we'll have to leave at sundown."

Cloudtail nodded and padded out leaving Firestar to ponder his thoughts. Everything was moving so fast and the cat he would bounce his thoughts off of was so far away. It left him with a disorganized maelstrom of uneasy thoughts. He could only relieve a few by revealing them to Sandstorm, but Sandstorm didn't have the right kind of insight or experience to alleviate the more political and dealer specific thoughts.

The setting sun snapped him out of his thoughts. He stretched himself out feeling his spine pop from having been laying for so long. He briefly took the time to groom himself before signaling to Cloudtail that it was time to head out.

Instead of heading towards the Bloodclan camp, Cloudtail guided Firestar out to a garden bordering the forest. It was one Firestar knew from his kithood which used to house an old molly. He remembered her as a somewhat disturbed molly. She lashed out at her two kits who she repeatedly called killers. He'd heard something about her once having three kits, but then there were two. The molly in her confusion and madness had died from a monster sometime shortly after Firestar left into the woods.

Firestar spotted the small but imposing tom sitting on the edge of the garden's fence. Firestar leapt up to sit next to him. Tiny seemed to be gazing into the garden caught up in a memory.

In a tone that seemed impossible for such an aggressive cat, Tiny gently mewed, "you know, this used to be my home."

It was shocking to Firestar that Tiny's origin was so close to his own.

"I was born here with my detestable brother and sister. My mother, gone far too soon, was loving and kind, but she was a terrible mother. She lacked the patience and attention to raise kits correctly leaving my siblings free rein to torment me. I understand now that they were just seeking attention and felt neglected, but I can't forgive how they tormented me. I was just as much of a victim as them. My mother only cared for my weakness. She never saw me as me, just the runt to protect, and I hated it. Is it wrong to both hate her and love her?"

Fireheart responded with his signature empathy. "I don't think you're wrong to feel that way. You love your mother, but she never seemed to have seen any of her kits as anything more than objects. I can't say what made her that way, but kittypets are all to familiar with letting the Twolegs settle all their issues. Likely she didn't even realize she had a responsibility. It's up to you if you want to forgive her or not."

Scourge stared blankly into space before finally adopting that familiar commanding posture. What Tiny's decision was was unclear, but regardless, Tiny looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"Alright. Let's get on to what I actually called you out here for. Before I tell you what has me concerned, tell me, do you know what the difference is between a leader and a god?"

The question seemed simple, but Firestar could feel there was more to the question than was on the surface.

Firestar cautiously replied, "a leader is mortal while a god is not."

Tiny shook his head. "Gods aren't immortal. They can fall the same way any cat can, except they're presence remains. They become a martyr of an ideal. They survive in a nontraditional way. The only way for a god to truly die, they have to be slain by another divinity."

The conversation seemed to be telling, but somehow it also didn't make sense for them to be talking about.

"What are you getting at?"

"Gods aren't allowed to be fallible, change their mind, or change their ways. Bloodclan sees me as a god, one of battle and rage. I can't change their path. Their only hope is for me to die to another ideal, another divinity, your Starclan. Bone will have to die too since they see him as a demigod, my right hand and power manifest."

Firestar's eyes widened in shock. "You mean…"

Tiny nodded before finishing what Firestar started. "The clans will have to fight Bloodclan. It's a path I cannot change. It's far too late. I don't plan to die despite how I care for my clan. Strangely enough, Thunder managed to give us an out a while ago. If you can truly defeat Bone and I, we can fake our deaths. Unfortunately for you, my clan knows our fighting styles too well, so we can't afford to hold back. I truly hope you can win, but if you fail, I'll try to keep as much of your clan ways alive as I can. Unfortunately, they'll still see me as a god, and I'm known as the embodiment of mercilessness, a trait I now regret encouraging."

The two remained on that fence silently until the sun started peaking up on the horizon. Tiny silently left as mysteriously as he appeared. Firestar's now weighed heavily on him now guaranteed a battle waiting on the horizon. How and who would die for all these complex and unwanted actions? A storm was brewing. Could the clans weather the coming storm as they had so many times before?