Between my mental health issues, Christmas, and having too much fun playing S/V, this one is a short chapter today. I really could have made this one longer, but head open thoughts empty okay?

How has literally everyone else found a shiny at this point except for me?

Happy 80th chapter! I'm more surprised than anyone else that I've gotten this far. I said hopefully Ignite wouldn't extend past 2022, but uh... oops? I'm really bad at keeping promises aren't I?

Reviews are appreciated!

It was after sunhigh by the time Bramblestar led his cats back into their camp. Most of the cats were stretched out in the clearing, trying to warm themselves in a few pale gleams of sunlight that pierced the ragged cloud. Many of them were giving Firestar cautious glances, though Bramblestar didn't need to know why. Squirrelflight, who was talking to Brackenfur near the tunnel entrance, sprang to her paws as soon as she spotted the returning patrol.

"Great Starclan!" she exclaimed, bounding over to them. "What happened?"

"The kittypets happened," Bramblestar responded briefly.

"But . . . you're so badly hurt!" Squirrelflight's green gaze was filled with horror as she turned and raced back to the tunnel. "Jayfeather!" she yowled. "Come here! You're needed!"

Immediately the medicine cat popped out of the tunnel. His jaws parted to taste the air; Bramblestar realized he would recognize the reek of blood at once. "I knew this was a mistake," Jayfeather mewed as he approached the patrol and began to sniff at their wounds. "No wonder Firestar roared so loudly!"

Bramblestar glanced at the dragon, who was intensely running his eyes down Bramblestar's battered pelt.

Frankie bounded across the clearing to Jessy, looking shocked when he saw the blood welling from the scratches on her shoulders.

"Wow, I can't believe you actually fought!" he exclaimed. "Did you chase off the kittypets?" meowed Frankie. Bramblestar listened while Jessy described the battle, apparently relishing the danger and pleased that they had defeated Victor and his friends.

Frankie looked more impressed than scared. "I wish I'd been with you."

"It was great!" Jessy's eyes glowed with the memory. "I know we got hurt, but it was worth it to teach those arrogant kittypets a lesson!" She then gazed around the camp in confusion. "Hey, where's Minty?"

Frankie's ears flicked nervously. "She dove back into the tunnels when Firestar started roaring. She seemed pretty scared."

Bramblestar's ears drew flat on his head. 'We worked so hard to get Minty used to Firestar too. Now she's scared of him all over again,' he lamented.

Bramblestar realized that while the kittypets were talking, Brackenfur had padded up to his side. "Are you sure you weren't settling kittypet scores?" he murmured.

For a heartbeat, Bramblestar wasn't sure. 'No,' he told himself firmly. 'Jessy was only trying to help.'

Before he could reply to Brackenfur, a groan from Lionblaze distracted him. The golden-furred warrior staggered and flopped over on his side. "The pain..." he gasped.

"I told you so!" Cinderheart shrieked as she ran to his side. "When will you learn that you're not invulnerable anymore?" She nudged Lionblaze to his paws while Jayfeather helped to support him on the other side. Together the two cats half carried, half dragged him into the tunnel to have his wounds treated. The rest of the patrol followed.

"Mouse-brain!" Jayfeather muttered angrily as he went. "You're all mouse-brained. And all over a bunch of kittypets!"

Discouraged, Bramblestar watched them go. He could sense the depression among the clan, the sense that although they had won the battle, it was a hollow victory. Only the kittypets seemed to be happy. "Come on," he meowed to Jessy, touching her shoulder with his tail. "You need to go to Jayfeather and have your wounds treated."

As she turned away from her friends and followed him to the tunnel, he added, "Thank you for your courage, Jessy. I know the battle was harder for you than for any of us."

Jessy halted, gazing into his eyes. "I just copied what you did," she mewed. "I had the best teacher."

Bramblestar braced himself for a yet another scolding from his the fiery she-cat, ready to defend himself. But to his surprise, Squirrelflight's gaze was sympathetic. "You had to do something," she meowed. "We can't have Shadowclan hunting in our territory, and this was a way to stop them."

"That's what I wanted to do," Bramblestar responded.

"The trouble is," Squirrelflight went on, "it could be seen as interfering, insulting to Shadowclan, and a stupid risk to our own warriors."

Bramblestar sighed. "You're right," he admitted.

Squirrelflight leaned toward him and gave his ears a brisk lick. "It's behind us," she told him. "We need to focus on our own clanmates now."

As she finished speaking, Sandstorm padded up with a mouse dangling from her jaws. "Come on, Bramblestar, you need to eat."

Bramblestar realized that his belly was growling with hunger. The warm scent of the mouse made his jaws water, but he hesitated for a moment, looking around until he had checked that all his patrol had headed into the tunnel to have Jayfeather deal with their injuries. Then he crouched down and bit into the mouse.

"Thanks, Sandstorm," he mumbled around his mouthful.

While he was eating, Graystripe appeared, giving him a friendly nod. "I know you're worried about whether you did the right thing," he began. "But you shouldn't. Firestar would have done exactly the same," he said nodding towards the dragon. Then his whiskers twitched, both sad and amused. "Well, if he were his old, cat self at least. I'd like to think that he still feels the same."

Bramblestar winced. "That's what Rowanstar said."

Graystripe was quiet for a moment, while Bramblestar gulped down the rest of the mouse.

"I don't see it as interfering. I used to believe in helping those in need, whether they were of the clans or not."

"Not according to the warrior code. My loyalty should be to my own clanmates, no other cats," Bramblestar pointed out, swiping his tongue around his whiskers.

Graystripe snorted. "There's such a thing as basic decency," he pointed out.

"What would you have all done?" Bramblestar asked.

"Followed Firestar," Graystripe replied without hesitation. The dragon let out an appreciative rumble, and Graystripe blinked back warmly at him.

Bramblestar finally turned to Firestar. "Why did you roar? I thought something bad had happened! I thought-" he tried articulating. He eyed the stone, hardly noticeable in its duller state, blending within Firestar's black scales. The inner glow of fire within its dark depths alerted him to its location. "Did you roar because of the stone?"

Firestar only stayed silent, eyes narrowing in guilt. His stomach dropped, the mouse he had just eaten making him feel nauseous. The stone hadn't made Firestar roar for Bramblestar. It hadn't anything to do with influencing Firestar this time.

"It did awaken," he admitted, though it did nothing to ease Bramblestar's nerves. "It goaded me into roaring."

"You mean you could have controlled yourself?"

Firestar shuffled in place a bit. "I'm sorry."

Bramblestar's whiskers twitched into a frown. "I thought you said that you couldn't help all the time? That I needed to stand up on my own paws eventually?" he growled accusingly. "How am I going to do that if you continue this way? Don't you trust me?"

Firestar looked taken aback. "Hatchling, of course I trust you. What was I supposed to think when I hear one of my treasures yowling in pain? Did you want me to stay away?" he asked him, sounding and looking distressed at the idea.

His head was spinning, between his clanmates getting hurt in battle and Firestar's interference. He thought that Firestar would take up more of an advisory role, which he had been doing, but…

"Bramblestar," Sandstorm's gentle meow drew his attention away from staring at his paws in frustrated confusion.

"Why did you want to help Shadowclan with the kittypets?"

'Because it's what Firestar would have done before he changed,' he wanted to say, but it didn't feel like the right answer.

His responsibilities weighed as heavy on his shoulders as if he were trying to carry the whole forest.

He shirked away from Firestar's tail as it tried bringing him closer to the possessive dragon. He felt guiltier than ever when Firestar's eyes glistened with hurt.

'I still… love you but… I need to figure out how to be true to myself first.'

Why do I keep doing this to my bois

I scared Minty out of future chapters. Well, it's not like she was staying until the end anyway if canon is anything to go by...

Tell me how I did.