Chapter 25: King with No Forethought
I soon found myself grouped up with Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw. The storm raging above made the meeting all the more morose. Ravenpaw looked terrified, his fur clinging tightly to his wiry form in the pelting rain. Firepaw had a look of urgency, but it also mixed with a look of resolution. Even Graypaw looked serious for what was to come.
"Ok. Bluestar asked us to go and find Yellowfang and those kits. We need to know if Yellowfang abducted them." Spoke Firepaw, who was the obvious choice for this raid patrol.
"What about Tigerclaw? He'll kill her if he finds her first." Asked Ravenpaw timidly.
"I can probably talk him down if needed. Lionheart isn't in good condition, and as unfortunate as it is, we can't be picky about medicine cats. Worst case scenario, I talk him down to keeping her a prisoner." I replied quickly.
With that, Firepaw signaled for us to follow, only to be interrupted at the entrance by Darkstripe. "Where do you apprentices think you're going?" He asked in his semi threatening tone.
Darkstripe tended to adopt this tone whenever he inquired about something, but most cats were put off by it enough to believe he was just a violent cat. I knew him a bit better than that. I gestured to Firepaw that I'd speak to Darkstripe to prevent a conflict right here.
"Bluestar is sending us out together on a mission pertaining to our empty medicine den. It's all four of us because we don't know if and when we'll encounter Shadowclan again. There might be stragglers waiting to ambush those who leave the camp like Spottedleaf was. If you want to know, you'll have to ask Bluestar. She asked to keep it hush." I responded like it was a report.
Darkstripe nodded and moved out of the way. I did notice Bluestar nearby in case she needed to intervene. I saw her faintly nod at me.
"You stay safe out there. If you encounter Shadowclan, remember what I taught you." Darkstripe mewed as we departed.
After a couple minutes of us tracking, Graypaw broke the silence. "I don't think I've seen anyone get Darkstripe's respect like that except Tigerclaw. How did you do it?"
At least the question broke the tension in the air, so I decided to humor him. "Darkstripe isn't as bad as you think. He's just prideful and antisocial. He doesn't know how to do small talk and reacts at foreign things with aggression. Once you get past the walls, you'll find he's far more attentive than you'd think. He's also a sucker for compliments. Kinda tells you a lot about how he was trained."
Ravenpaw's ears dropped at the implication. He knew how Tigerclaw was. I knew he had to be pondering Darkstripe now. Honestly, if Tigerclaw hadn't murdered Redtail in front of Ravenpaw and if Ravenpaw were even the slightest bit more recklessly brave, he could have easily become Darkstripe two.
I let the silence drag on as we approached the border. The storm seemed to have dissuaded people from driving tonight. I let Firepaw and Ravenpaw work as they tracked the kit scent over the border. I played lookout in the meantime by climbing a nearby tree. I gave the pair a minute of tracking over the border before I jumped down to follow. Graystripe stuck close to me so none of us could get singled out.
"Do you smell that? Kit blood!" Mewed Firepaw rapidly.
"Yellowfang can't be far now. The marsh scent is dispersing the kit scent, so she's going to have to slow down to keep on track." I replied.
With a nod, Firepaw took point again with Graypaw by his side. Ravenpaw decided to hang back beside me. It wasn't long until Firepaw finally spotted her. Of course, both Firepaw and Graypaw overreacted and bowled her over. He still had some growing up to do.
Apparently I'd not been paying attention because the first words out of Yellowfang's muzzle I heard were, "Spottedleaf is dead?" The honest shock in her eyes told it all. She'd just been tracking the missing kits. How she missed Spottedleaf's corpse in the process is a mystery I could not solve.
While Firepaw continued to hash out the details with Yellowfang, I played lookout again. They weren't exactly talking quietly. It was then I heard a voice hiss about how much they detested mud, Darkstripe, did I intervene.
"A Thunderclan patrol is here. I'll intercept with Ravenpaw. You three try to come up with a plan of action. Shadowclan is going to be as defensive as possible if Brokenstar is even the slightest bit intelligent." I ordered. I think I actually heard Yellowfang suppress a laugh in response. Regardless, we had work to do.
I approached the coming patrol loudly with Ravenpaw by my side. It was coming to be both a familiar and comforting occurrence. The Thunderclan patrol clearly heard us and hunkered down in case they could get off an ambush.
"It's Smudgepawn and Ravenpaw. We need to talk." I mewed loud enough for the patrol to hear.
Darkstripe, Whitestorm, Runningwind, and Mousefur emerged from their hiding spots.
"What are you doing out here?" Asked Whitestorm, the patrol leader of the small patrol.
"I told Darkstripe we were on a mission about the empty medicine den. I never said anything about herbs. Bluestar sent us to get Yellowfang, willing or not. She seems semi-willing, but she wants to help return the stolen kits." I responded calmly.
"Didn't she steal the kits?" Asked Darkstripe.
"As far as I can tell, no. At the very least, we can confirm she did not kill Spottedleaf. Right now, Graypaw and Firepaw are with her trying to come up with a plan of action."
It didn't take long for Ravenpaw and I to lead the patrol back to Firepaw and Graypaw. Strangely, Yellowfang was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd she go?" I asked, trying to keep myself from lecturing them.
"She said she can get some unhappy Shadowclan warriors together to help with the raid. Apparently, Brokenstar has forced the elders out of the camp."
The Thunderclan patrol gasped, but I could only shake my head in disappointment. "With all that I'm hearing Brokenstar doing, I honestly believe Shadowclan would function better with a rock as leader. It's like he's actively sabotaging his clan." I mewed in exasperation.
"Well put Smudgepaw." I heard a voice say from the bushes. I mean I knew Shadowclan was known for their stealth, but I hadn't expected them to creep up on me so easily. I'm supposed to be the observant one.
Yellowfang and two other Shadowclan cats emerged from the marsh grass. "This is Nightpelt and Ashfur. They also want to see Brokenstar gone."
"And what's in it for you?" Whitestorm asked, signaling me to remain quiet and not answer for them. It was kind of obvious. With kit warriors comes death, not to mention the mistreatment of elders. Their clan's morale was crushed and this was their chance for a revolution.
Firepaw explained the details of Yellowfang's plan, but I had to put in my input. "Ok. Besides the guidelines of the plan, how do we want our initial engagement to work?"
Most cats present tilted their head in confusion, but notably Whitestorm did not.
"I mean, who do we want on point? I'm thinking Whitestorm and I since we are both bulky cats. Firepaw and Ravenpaw will have to go on support since their both agile enough to do it. Graypaw… I honestly got nothing for you. I don't know you well enough to tell where you'd fit. Darkstripe, Runningwind, and Mousefur can play it by ear. Get the kits if you can. Otherwise, focus on Brokenstar's elite." I mewed tactically.
"Graypaw will also be on point. He's a brawler according to Lionheart." Added Whitestorm.
It was surprising Whitestorm let me set the plan. Maybe he was in on whatever Bluestar seemed to be doing to me. Maybe he was just used to being second in command. I did not know.
The fight begun exactly as planned. Whitestorm, Graypaw, and I easily spearheaded the charge. I broke in a bit deeper than the other two because of my bulldozing tactic. Unfortunately, I was still the weakest fighter among our patrol, so I was getting overwhelmed. Thankfully, Ravenpaw must have seen me and moved to support. It was surprising how few of Shadowclan's cats actually fought us. I guess their morale was more crushed than I thought. I was fighting what was clearly a rogue, given his fighting style and his propensity for lethal yet predictable attacks, when I heard Brokenstar start a monologue. He had to be the biggest fool in the entire forest.
Of course Brokenstar revealed he murdered Raggedstar and murdered a couple of kits. Not only had he revealed it, he'd yowled it. He had no concept of planning ahead. It gave him a momentary advantage over Yellowfang, but Firepaw leaped in to save her.
I kind of stopped caring for what that mad cat said given the circumstances. It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic. It was only when he threatened Firepaw did I step in.
"I'd gladly kill you nine times over if only to get rid of your filth, but sadly, I think some other cats have first dibs." I mewed smugly gesturing to the Shadowclan cats now eyeing up their leader like a piece of prey.
After Shadowclan chased him and his band of rogues out, Whitestorm approached Nightpelt. "We'll leave your clan alone to recover. Hunt in peace for two moons."
"But you'll owe us a favor in the future." I added quickly.
Whitestorm looked back at me with a bit of anger, but I decided to explain it to him once we left the camp.
"Shadowclan will honestly be happier knowing they owe us a favor instead of leaving the debt hanging over them. Think of it this way. If you were starving during leafbare and some cat went out of their way to catch you something, wouldn't you want to return the favor? Now what if they kept refusing you afterwards? This gives them peace of mind since they only owe us one instead of a nebulous amount of favors."
Whitestorm pondered my idea before nodding. "It's not like we can change it now. I'll inform Bluestar of the owed favor. Maybe it'll be useful in the long run."