*Sighs* Late again... but at least it's still Saturday. But I guess I have a good reason to be late, because this is being updated on Ignite's birthday/anniversary! It's been 3 years since I started this... *looking awkwardly at last year's note* I hoped last year I'd be able to finish Ignite before 2023 started but uhh...
Yeah this is awkward. I'm not even going to bother with a timeframe this time T.T
Reviews are appreciated!
Two sunrises had passed since their expedition to help Shadowclan, but the excitement of their victory still bubbled up among them like springs of pure water. "You should have seen Lionblaze fighting!" Amberpaw mewed. "He was like three cats, all on his own."
"And Jessy was brilliant," Frankie added. "She wasn't scared at all!"
Bramblestar couldn't share in their cheerful talk. A dark mood had settled over him as he wondered if he had been right to take his warriors to fight Shadowclan's battle. Rowanstar's white-hot anger had forced Bramblestar to question the risks he had taken for an ungrateful rival.
He wondered if Rowanstar would go to Windclan and Riverclan about how Thunderclan had interfered again. No doubt he would claim that Thunderclan's help had been unnecessary, and how much of a threat Firestar was to all the clans.
'What if they decide to leave one day? There can't be three clans! And Thunderclan can't just live at the lake alone…'
It would mean more territory and food for his clan. But the thought of the other clans leaving left an uncomfortable pit forming in his stomach.
A joyful yowl from the direction of the lake distracted Bramblestar from his gloomy thoughts. A moment later Jessy and Millie rushed out of the trees. "The water has gone!" Millie announced. "We can get into the hollow!"
Several cats sprang up and crowded around the two she-cats. Their excited voices echoed around the clearing.
"Is it really dry?"
"We can go home!"
"No more sleeping in that horrible, dark tunnel!"
Brackenfur rose more slowly. "Calm down," he meowed, thrusting himself into the enthusiastic throng. "It'll take a lot of work to rebuild the old dens. I'll come down now and take a look at the damage."
"We'll come with you!" Snowpaw bounced up and down. "We'll all help!" With the apprentices scampering ahead, all the cats ran into the trees and headed down the slope.
Bramblestar fell in behind them, and found that Jessy had waited for him at the edge of the trees. "Isn't this great?" she cried, bouncing up to him. "At last I can see your home!" Then she paused, tipping her head on one side. "Are you worried about how much damage has been done?" she asked more gently. "You don't seem as excited as the others."
Bramblestar shook his head. "No, I know we can repair our dens. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Together they followed the rest of the cats down to the hollow. The lower slopes, where the water had just retreated, were still wet and slippery. Bramblestar watched Amberpaw lose her footing and roll down, tail and paws waving, until she managed to stop herself by grabbing a tuft of long grass. She sprang up again, slicked with mud but not at all bothered by the fall, and pelted on after her littermates.
Bramblestar padded into the hollow and looked around. The thorn barrier at the entrance had been almost completely swept away; that would need restoring before they could feel safe. He was relieved to see that he could identify all the dens, though some of the branches and all of the moss and leaves that plugged holes in the roofs and walls had vanished. The nursery roof was sagging and washed-up branches blocked the entrance to the medicine cats' den.
Walking farther into the camp, Bramblestar had to pick his way among debris and a few surviving puddles. Scraps of bark, twigs, and leaves littered the ground, and there were even a few dead fish.
"Look, a fresh-kill pile already!" Berrynose joked as he padded past.
Poppyfrost wrinkled her nose and winced. "Not all that fresh," she muttered.
Brackenfur was moving from den to den, followed by Cherryfall and Mousewhisker as he inspected the damage. "We'll need a lot of brambles to patch that up," he warned, waving his tail at the roof of the warriors' den, which had a jagged hole in the middle. "Dustpelt, do you think-" he mewed, then broke off, flinching. "Sorry, I forgot," he mumbled. "I guess I'll have to take this on without him."
It hadn't been easy trying to move Dustpelt back to Thunderclan territory. He had already been in critical condition at the battle's end, and moving him could have potentially killed him. In the end, it had taken multiple warriors carefully maneuvering him onto Firestar's claw. The dragon had to fly slowly as to not jostle Dustpelt around too much, even with Jayfeather keeping watch on the tom's injuries the whole flight back.
The senior warrior wasn't doing anything until he was fully recovered.
He noticed all the apprentices giving Jessy, Minty, and Frankie a tour of the camp.
"This is where we sleep," Dewpaw announced, waving his tail at the wreck of the apprentices' den. "You can go in if you like."
Minty peered over the waterlogged ferns that edged the den and drew back with a twitch of her whiskers. "Er... very nice," she murmured. "But I won't go in just yet, if you don't mind."
"Oh, I know it looks awful now," Amberpaw responded cheerfully. "But when it's dried out, and the floor covered with moss and bracken, it's so cozy and comfortable!"
They were interrupted by the sound of beating wings, leaves and debris being blown away by Firestar's wing-strokes as he landed at the top of the hollow.
"On second thought, I'd love to see the inside!" Minty squeaked, ducking into the apprentices' den in a hurry.
"How's your clearing?" Bramblestar inquired.
"Wet, muddy, destroyed," Firestar huffed. "I could probably use my fire to dry the ground out faster…" he mused.
Bramblestar's fur bristled. "I think it would be better if we waited for it dry out naturally," he offered.
If he saw another fire, it would be too soon.
.
.
Bramblestar fell asleep in his nest that night, and woke up to a restored camp, standing on firm, dry ground instead of the thick mud that was currently covering it. The dens were repaired, and a thick barrier of thorns stretched across the entrance.
Light brown flashed at the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Leafpool pushing her way into camp. He bounded across the camp to greet her.
"Leafpool!" he meowed. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to be here," she responded. She shook out her leg. "It's also good to have a night where I'm not squished to death…"
"I usually visit Father in his dreams," she explained at his inquisitive look. "He means well, but…" she trailed off. He knew the feeling of Firestar's new overprotective nature all too well.
"But you've done well."
"Really?" Bramblestar found that hard to believe. "Even by fighting Shadowclan's battle for them?"
"You did what you thought was right," Leafpool told him.
"I don't know that for sure," Bramblestar meowed. "Rowanstar is angry with me. He'll tell the other clans for sure, and then everyone will be angry with Thunderclan. I wouldn't be surprised if the other clans didn't feel safe around the lake anymore."
Leafpool let out a sigh. "So few cats understand how important it is for us to share dangers between all the clans."
Bramblestar was puzzled. How could that be reconciled with keeping each clan safe and independent, the way the clans had lived for season upon season? "But each clan leader is responsible for their own clan, right?" he checked. "It's not up to us to make decisions for other clans."
Leafpool sat in the middle of the clearing and gestured with her tail for Bramblestar to sit beside her. "I've gotten to know Thunderstar more ever since I joined Starclan. He told me about a terrible mistake that the four clans had made a long time ago: that they allowed a fifth clan to leave the forest."
Bramblestar stared at her in astonishment. "A fifth clan? But there isn't a fifth clan!"
"Once there was," Leafpool continued. "They were called Skyclan, and their territory in the old forest lay next to Thunderclan's. Their skill was hunting aboveground in the trees, snatching birds from the air. They were strong and well respected. But the Twolegs began to build more dens, and they destroyed Skyclan's territory to make room for them."
Every hair on Bramblestar's pelt prickled. "Just like the Twolegs did to us," he breathed, "when the old forest was cut down and we had to make the Great Journey to find a new home by the lake."
Leafpool nodded. "Exactly like that. The leader at the time asked the other clan leaders to change the borders of their territories so that they would still have somewhere to live. The other leaders refused. Skyclan had no choice but to leave the forest and travel until they found somewhere else they could settle."
"What happened to them then?" Bramblestar felt like a kit begging the elders for a story.
"They settled in a gorge somewhere, supposedly. Something must had happened to them, because the ancestors of Skyclan came to Firestar and sent him to rebuild the clan, so I've been told."
'He left one day with Sandstorm and didn't come back for moons. So that's where he was.'
"Mother and Father could tell you more about them more than I could. But I think the warriors who lived back then when Skyclan were driven out realized that they were wrong. The clans need each other." She looked up as the sun began to rise over the treetops, amber eyes gleaming. "I'm proud of Father. He could have easily let his rage overtake him, but instead he's trying so hard to not hurt anyone, even though it's probably more to not upset us," she emphasized, tilting her head. "Even though he's changed, I believe that he's still the same cat, deep down, wanting to help others.
"I just wish the other clans would understand that," she meowed the words seemed to come from an immense distance as the last glimmer of her amber eyes vanished.
.
.
Firestar was gone by the time he woke up, though he had a feeling he knew where the dragon had flown off to. Following his clanmates out of the tunnel, he padded over to Rosepetal, who was starting to organize the first patrols. "Don't put me in a patrol just yet," he meowed. "There's something I have to do first."
Rosepetal nodded. "No problem."
A paw poked Bramblestar in the side, and he turned to see Jessy. "Hey," she protested. "I thought we were going hunting this morning."
Bramblestar dipped his head. "I know. But this is important. We'll go later, okay?" Jessy gave him a light flick with her tail, and bounded off to join Frankie, Cloudtail, and Millie.
He couldn't find Sandstorm in the throng of cats, so he figured she was at the same place Firestar was. He bounded off into the undergrowth until he found his way toward's Firestar's clearing. The ground was still muddy in a wet way, but then harshly transitioned into cracked, dusty mud that caked his paws in dust. He grimaced, resolving to dip his paws in the nearest river away from mud after he was done here.
Sandstorm looked up as he approached. "Figured you would be here," he said. "What happened here?"
She snorted. "This mouse-brain thought he could dry everything up faster by heating up the ground," she purred, tapping her tail against Firestar's hide.
"I thought we were going to let the ground dry naturally? Without any fire?" he pressed.
"It was a light torch!" Firestar argued, but held the expression of someone who wasn't exactly thrilled with the results.
He decided that since nothing had been burned down, it would better if he cut to the chase. "Leafpool visited me in a dream last night," he announced as he sat down beside them.
Joy glowed in Sandstorm's green eyes. "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.
A puff of smoke escaped Firestar, eyes melancholy.
"She sent me to talk to you."
"Oh?" Sandstorm's whiskers twitched. "What about?"
"In my dream, she told me about Skyclan. I wanted to know more, and she said that you were the ones I should ask."
"Skyclan... oh, yes." Sandstorm reached out with her forepaws to give herself a good stretch. "That was an amazing time! So scary... but it was fun, too, and what we did was important."
Firestar gave a hum. "Wonder how Leafstar's getting on as leader," he mused.
"Tell me about it," Bramblestar urged them.
The dragon and cat pair took turns as they told Bramblestar about their journey to the gorge, how they lost each other and needed help to get back together, how they met the last remnant of Skyclan, Skywatcher, how they recruited kittypets and loners and fought a whole den of rats that drove out the original Skyclan.
He was shocked to find that the Prophecy of Three had come from Skyclan, even before Squirrelflight and Leafpool had been born.
"So why didn't you tell all the clans about Skyclan when you came home?"
"There was no point," Firestar claimed. "Starclan made amends by sending me to help. There was no need to continue shaming and guilting cats for something they were trying to help fix. Even then, we doubted the clans would even believe us," he explained.
Gently, Sandstorm added, "There's always a time where the guilt and shame needs to stop."
Bramblestar sighed. "I hope I can stop feeling guilty about the badger attack," he confided to them. "I almost lost Dustpelt and I angered Rowanstar." Unfamiliar emotion surged through him, and more words spilled out of him. "I was just trying to do what you would have done. You would have rescued the kittypets and helped Shadowclan not once, but twice."
Firestar lowered his head and nudged him gently. "I didn't appoint you as my deputy so you could do your best to try to fit your paws into my footsteps, hatchling. Just like Bluestar didn't appoint me so I could do everything she would want. I've been trusting you to make your own decisions based on your own judgement and you've been doing wonderfully."
Tucking her paws underneath her, Sandstorm added, "Tell me honestly, if there was no Thunderclan, no Firestar, no expectations, would you still have helped the kittypets? Interfered with Shadowclan?"
Bramblestar thought about how he had made those decisions. He had felt compassion for the kittypets, unable to abandon them to drown or starve in the flood. His bond with Tawnypelt had led him to save her clan.
He took a deep breath. "Yes, I would."
Sandstorm's eyes narrowed in approval. "You are the leader of Thunderclan now, Bramblestar," she mewed. "Not this one," she meowed, tapping Firestar with her tail. "You need to learn to let Bramblestar fight his own battles. You won't always be around to change the tide of battle."
The dragon huffed, a cloud of smoke arising from his mouth. "Watch me," he grumbled.
She turned back to Bramblestar. "Be the leader that you want to be. No cat- or dragon, expects anything else."
Won't they be surprised to find Firestar is still alive but also a giant fire-breathing, winged lizard. That'll scare Leafstar's fur right off.
If Firestar had his way, Leafpool would have to be visiting him every night and sticking around longer than the allotted 20 dream-minutes would allow.
Since these words seem to anger people so much, I'll say them again! :D
TeLl mE HoW i diD