"I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone." — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring.
One thing that the books hadn't prepared her for was the Gatherings. Unlike the books, the Gatherings dragged on and on through the moonrise, the Clans' leaders provided plenty of time for cats to intermingle and chat. Ironically, the leaders often spent the least time talking, and the warriors the most.
It had once been a time to socialize, scheme, and make allegiances during Littlestar's warrior sunrises, but now she sat heavily on the Fourtrees, mostly alone with sweaty paws and a sour grimace on her whiskers. It was an appropriate look for ShadowClan's leader, but even still, Littlestar felt like everyone could see her frown was gloomier than usual.
"ShadowClan will not be leaving," she meowed, tired but resolute from her perch. This Gathering had already been long and grueling. "My ShadowClan is ready to die for their home, and so am I."
She ignored the hissing and yowling from the crowd and brandished a growl at Firestar's and Tallstar's disapproving side-eyes. She leaned over the throng of cats beneath her and yowled: "Silence!" The hissing and yowling became mumbling and whispers. "Where has all your courage gone? Are these not the same cats who fought BloodClan outnumbered to two to one? When did you forsake yourselves? Our home is under attack! The swamp and forest have already fallen; the grasslands and riverland shall be next! You may think this is hopeless, but it has been hopeless before! The Clans are stronger than they've ever been. You have Firestar! Greystripe!" She looked down for the ThunderClan deputy, but he was nowhere to be seen. No matter. "Sandstorm! Stonefur! Tallstar! Me! Ask my ShadowClan warriors what I have done to the twolegs! The monsters I have slain! The twolegs, I've fucking murdered! Ask them, and they will tell you what I have done! I shall bring the fight to the twolegs in the swamps, the forests, the plains, the riverlands, and wherever they tread their dirty paws! ShadowClan will never fuck—"
"It is madness! We must listen to Tawnyspirit and her companions!" yelled a ShadowClan traitor from somewhere in the mob. "I have seen Littlestar fight, and at great cost, she has merely slowed the twoleg advance! I will not see ShadowClan destroyed for pride!"
The crowd erupted into angry mumbling. The Clans split between fighting and running, undoubtedly leaning toward the latter.
Littlestar looked down to Russetfur for support, but her deputy ignored her, instead deciding to be a bitch and practice her silent ShadowClan glare, which she had gotten very good at in the last couple of seasons.
Her love had been silent since the events in ThunderClan's camp. They had not talked about the difficulties between them. It was on the list of things to do, but Littlestar had not found the time since the fog of stupor had lifted from her.
There had been simply too much to do in this time of crisis.
Littlestar ignored the ache in her chest and turned her ear to Tallstar. "WindClan will listen to Crowpaw's wisdom and will vote to leave," he said.
"As will ThunderClan," Firestar said next. "Brambleclaw's message from StarClan of the Lake and the Clans' new home has been deeply appreciated."
Littlestar hissed and turned to Leopardstar. She had been another poor soul under the yoke of TigerClan; she would understand that they had to fight or forfeit everything. The RiverClan leader looked to Littlestar's dour whiskers and stormy-grey eyes, which had paralyzed some of the most feared warriors ever to walk the forest, and hesitated.
Cowards. They were all mouse-hearts.
They couldn't leave. They just couldn't.
In the distance, on the distant thunderpath, Littlestar saw a large van roll up and come to a soft park. She narrowed her eyes. It was too far to make out details, but it was probably more workfolk.
"Please, Littlestar! As an old friend, see reason and vote to leave," Firestar meowed. "StarClan has already shown the way forward, and now it is up to us to take it."
Before Littlestar could reply, a cry went up from the back of the mob. "The apprentices are gone!"
Littlestar and the rest of the leaders' eyes snapped to an agitated Greystripe, who had returned from who knows where. He hadn't sat with the rest of the deputies for some time. Had Firestar sent him on some mission? "Firestar! The twolegs have taken Leafpaw and some of the other apprentices! Littlestar's warning was correct!" he cried from beneath them.
Littlestar's eyes snapped over to Firestar. She hadn't given Firestar any warnings recently, but after a heartbeat of racking her memory, she remembered the info dump she had given him shortly before leaving for ShadowClan. She supposed that this was when Greystripe got captured, rescuing Leafpaw, but she didn't remember it going precisely like this in the books.
It didn't matter. It had been a long time, and a lot had changed, anyhow.
She hit the ground shortly after Firestar. "Russetfur, you're on the Fourtree! Blackfoot, Nightwing, Dawncloud, Rowanclaw, and Snaketail, you're all with me! We're helping rescue the apprentices!" she called out.
There was some grumbling, but she had taken the beaten, trodded-upon ShadowClan after TigerClan and whipped it into a disciplined, strong machine, so her warriors listened to her with one exception.
"I'm coming with you," Russetfur meowed. "If you say otherwise, you're sleeping in the nursery for the rest of your life." Russetfur probably couldn't fulfill her threat, but Littlestar didn't want to argue with her, so she let it go.
"Okay," she said. "Follow me." She barked commands and yowled up to Leopardstar and Tallstar, descending the Fourtrees as the Clans got worked up. Everyone was noticing the shift in the Gathering. Firestar and Greystripe were already leaving, a small army from ThunderClan on their paws, as they began to head to what Littlestar knew were the twolegs she had seen earlier. The real question was what they would be walking into. Would the twolegs be more or less prepared than in canon? Had Littlestar's earlier attacks changed anything? Littlestar began to follow their trail as her thoughts began to spiral and race.
They were walking into a trap, for sure.
"What's the plan?" asked Blackfoot from behind her.
"Not sure," Littlestar said. "I'll need to see what we're dealing with first. I'll figure something out and let you all know."
Her entourage approached the thunderpath silently in standard ShadowClan formation, the Gathering and Fourtrees behind them, and saw the yowling cats.
Firestar and the ThunderClan army surrounded and nibbled at the twolegs, but the twolegs had come prepared with large catcher poles and complete rubber suits. The large van they had come in was parked, idling with its engine on, and the back doors were open wide. Cages filled with tuna and kibble were laid out around the area, and Littlestar had a bad feeling about this.
Firestar had at least considered her warnings, ordering his warriors to stay just out of range of twoleg's catcher poles, but Littlestar could already see the losing battle. She heard the yowl of "Dad!" from the van, and Littlestar knew that Leafpaw had already been captured.
"What's the plan?" asked Russetfur this time. "You said you'd have a plan."
Mistyfoot leaped onto a twoleg, biting and scratching, but they were for sure wearing insulated rubber because her claws and teeth slid right off the twoleg. Then, with horrifying ease, a catcher pole came down hard onto the RiverClan warrior. Mistyfoot yowled but was quickly dragged off to a cage that snapped shut with finality.
"I…" Littlestar muttered, watching the chaos, "I'm working on it."
"Work on it faster then," Russetfur replied.
Littlestar couldn't resist a sarcastic reply. "Thanks, Russetfur. That's the life-changing advice I needed. I just need to work faster!"
"I just thought 'War Hero Littlestar' would have a plan by now, but I guess the stories are a little inflated," Russetfur said, biting back a heavy snarl.
Littlestar narrowed her eyes and took in the scene again. The twolegs were covered in rubber hazmat suits, probably to protect them from the aggressive cat colony they had heard about, and someone had probably reported all the yowling cats from the Gathering. She couldn't remember how this scene played out, but she didn't have any dynamite to destroy the van, nor a practical way to deal with the twolegs. The thought of crawling into the engine again and chewing through wires until something broke crossed her mind, but a glance over at Russetfur, who had moved into the fray without prompting, shot down that plan.
Could she seize control of the van somehow?
She opened her mouth to issue commands and have her warriors join the fray for now, but all that escaped her mind when she saw Graystripe jump into the back of the van, followed shortly by Russetfur.
"No!" she cried, realizing the danger they were in. "You fools!"
Littlestar didn't pay attention to the rest of the chaos. Firestar was barking orders, cats piling onto the twolegs as they tried to force the walking hazmat suits to retreat. It was working, the twolegs realizing they weren't prepared for such a massive cat colony, but Littlestar didn't care as she made her leap into the back of the van. There were cages everywhere on racks and shelves, demented tools hanging on the walls, a pair of blankets up high, and incredible danger.
Greystripe had already unlatched multiple cages, Russetfur following suit as cats began to pour out of the back of the van. Littlestar followed suit on instinct, prying open a cage for some kittypet that she felt should've distantly recognized. This was the moment where the doors closed shut on Graystripe, something she had told Firestar and Graystripe about seasons ago, a moment that Littlestar had been mentally prepared for seasons, but they were still here in the chaos.
"Okay," she yowled, "we've done good, but we need to get out of here!"
"Brightheart!" Graystripe cried. "Hang on!"
"Up here, Graystripe!" the ThunderClan warrior replied, her cage stuck on a high shelf and Littlestar cursed.
"Climb!" Russetfur yowled.
Graystripe jumped up rickety ledges full of empty cat cages. He was up quickly, his claws latching onto the lock mechanism as he began to fiddle with the cage.
A twoleg stepped into the back of the van with them, an eager catcher pole reaching out just as Graystripe unlocked the cage, an eager Brightheart jumping onto the van floor. They were the last four cats in the van, having made short work of the cages and all the twolegs' work.
"Run!" Littlestar yowled.
Brightheart bolted, the twoleg crying out as Brightheart slipped between its legs. Littlestar made to move, the rumbling of the van making the floor hard to run across, and then the twoleg turned around and slammed the doors behind it closed.
Littlestar watched as a horrified Firestar and an assembly of cats watched the trio get locked away in the monster's belly.
Out of options, Littlestar immediately attacked the twoleg. Her claws slipped from the rubber, but she saw Russetfur and Graystripe doing the same. "Rip this rubber from the twoleg's body! We have—" The catcher pole came down onto her neck.
Her breath was ripped away as the twoleg dragged the ball of fury into an empty cage. Littlestar distantly recognized Russetfur yowling and Graystripe hissing a battle cry - a battle cry that was soon silenced when the twoleg kicked him. Steel bars surrounded her, and then the cage clicked shut.
Russetfur and Graystripe were similarly subdued. The former cursed violent ShadowClan insults at the twoleg, and when she ran out of those, moved onto violent twoleg insults that Littlestar had taught her that made her blush through her fur and chaos.
Littlestar, not one to give up, started to fiddle with her cage lock from the inside, but the twoleg noticed her, whipped a gloved hand out, and smacked Littlestar's paw from the lock. Littlestar hissed but could do nothing as the twoleg lifted her cage and slotted her onto one of the shelves. Russetfur and Graystripe faced similar fates, Russetfur below her and Graystripe across.
"Fuck!" Littlestar yowled as loud as she could.
"Any more cunning plans, oh glorious leader?" purred Russetfur from below condescendingly.
"Any more plans! Any more plans? What were you thinking? Never jump into the back of a monster! Did I give you an order?" Littlestar growled, ignoring Graystripe's peanut-gallery comments.
"Well, I didn't see you doing anything!" Russetfur meowed.
"Did I give an order?" Littlestar asked.
"I-"
"Did I give a fucking order? I asked you a question, Russetfur!" Littlestar asked again, this time seething.
"I didn't need any orders to realize you were out of your depth!" Russetfur cried. "You're not the only cat—"
The twoleg, who they had forgotten, whipped his hands onto their cages with a clatter. Littlestar jumped, quieting down, and then watched the abusive twoleg step away. The twoleg walked to the secondary door in the back of the van, which almost certainly led to the driver's seat, and stepped through. The door latched tight behind the twoleg, and then they were alone in the back of the monster.
The earth began to whirl beneath them, and Littlestar noticed with dread that the van was starting to move. They were being taken away to become kittypets.
"If you two would stop arguing, this is really bad," Graystripe meowed across them.
"Oh!" Littlestar retorted, looking at her old friend. "Thanks, Captain Obvious! I didn't realize this was really bad!"
Graystripe's ears fell to the side of his head. "You don't have to be mean about it. We need to escape somehow!" he meowed.
Littlestar was a roll, though. "Mean! You think this is mean? What in StarClan's name were you thinking of jumping into the van? I told you! I told you seasons ago this would happen! You still did it!"
"Leafpaw was in danger!"
"We're all in danger! I've died four times in the last couple of sunrises!"
"Those were all your fault," Russetfur muttered from beneath her.
"Oh, that's it!" Littlestar cried. The cage lock was impossible to mess with from the inside, so Littlestar began violently shaking her cage. She slammed into the cage door, kicked back at the seams of the cages, tied together with screws and bolts, and felt the whole thing bend as she writhed. She spun, pushing against the cage's opening with her hindlegs, her muscles straining. The metal bent outward - Littlestar felt a kindling of hope - then the metal snapped back as Littlestar's strength proved insufficient.
She collapsed and felt like weeping. Great StarClan! It was hopeless. She wasn't strong enough to break the cage. Her tiny, runt body wasn't built for this kind of physicality. When the twolegs opened the van again, they'd be hundreds of miles away. They'd be neutered and sprayed. She'd be separated from Russetfur, and they'd all become kittypets. She'd need to kill herself! She had five lives left, so she'd need to kill herself five times so that whoever was the next ShadowClan leader would get their entire nine lives.
The cage below her snapped open as Russetfur busted out of her cage.
"Right," the ginger shecat muttered. "Let's get out of here." She jumped, ignoring the shaking van as it seemed to pick up speed, and began to mess with Littlestar's cage. It opened with a faint click.
Littlestar numbly jumped onto the van floor as Russetfur jumped across the shelves to free Graystripe. "Thank StarClan!" Graystripe meowed. "What's the plan?" he asked, looking at Littlestar.
"I guess we unlock the back door and jump out," Littlestar said, looking up at the locked door. These kinds of vans always had an emergency release. So that people wouldn't get stuck in the back. Probably.
StarClan seemed to favor them as the lock appeared to have a standard handle that any of them could reach with a quick, precise jump. "There," she said, "that… latch will open the door."
Greystripe jumped, not doubting her for a heartbeat, and hit the door handle right on. He gripped it tightly, suspended in mid-air, and then gravity took hold as he fell. The handle swung down, and Littlestar, for a heartbeat, thought she was wrong and that the door would stay closed.
Then the door swung open, and her stomach dropped like a rock.
"That's not good," Russetfur meowed with a grimace.
They were on a highway. The thunderpath beneath them whizzed by at what seemed like incredible speeds as the doors whipped wildly in the wind. The highway was thankfully empty on this moonrise, but they must have been moving at least seventy miles per hour. It dashed all hopes of just jumping out of the moving monster.
Littlestar sat down.
"It's hopeless. ShadowClan is doomed. It'll take…. It'll take seasons to get back. The Clans will be gone. I… I don't remember the way to the lake. I don't remember. Barley is also gone, so… so… foxdung!" she muttered.
"And who's fault is it that ShadowClan is doomed again?" Russetfur hissed from beside her.
"Shut up, Russetfur. You jumped into the monster!" Littlestar hissed back.
"You jumped in as well!"
"Was I supposed to let you get captured?" Littlestar replied.
"If necessary! Apprentices were in danger!" Russetfur meowed back. "You would've done the same if you had moved first!"
"I would've been fine!"
"And I wouldn't have?"
"Yes! I mean, no! I mean…" Littlestar whirled to face her mate. "I can take more than you! I would've figured something out. I can die and come back to life! That's a superpower!"
Russetfur reared back and then hissed, the wind whipping her fur into a frenzy of tangles. "So eager to die! There's the same cat who would electrocute and blow herself up for meaningless victories!"
"They weren't meaningless!"
"For your pride as the legendary Littlestar? Still trying to catch up to Firestar's legacy?" Russetfur growled back.
"You think this about my pride?" Littlestar replied, shocked.
"Isn't it? I've never seen a cat so eager to die for her Clan!" Russetfur yowled. Her scruff spiked, and Littlestar smelled her anger.
"It's my job!" Littlestar meowed. "My job—my duty is to give my life to defend ShadowClan!"
"Your duty is to live!"
"I am alive! I am-" Russetfur smacked her across the cheek, drawing blood.
"I've seen you die four times! I've dragged your corpse out of the mouth of a monster. I've watched pieces of you reassemble from being scattered into meaty chunks! I've seen you have your spine split in two! I've seen you crushed! I've seen it all mean nothing in the face of these monsters! What possible reason could you have for such a fox-fit?" Russetfur cried. "What compels—"
Littlestar grabbed Russetfur by the breast, shaking and whining, and cried: "I'm afraid, okay! I'm afraid!" She sagged. "I can't lose you. You don't know what's coming. You don't know the danger of The Great Journey. You don't know what's coming. The dangers. The forces that work against us. If I can't protect ShadowClan from the twolegs, I can't protect you from what's coming!"
There was a solemn pause before Russetfur spoke: "I'm still here despite your inability to protect me, and ShadowClan needs to leave with the rest of the Clans." Her paws reached up to hold Littlestar's own, and her love looked at her in the eyes. "Please believe in us even if you can't believe in yourself."
Littlestar let out a little breath and gave a slight nod. "Okay," she mewed weakly.
"This is sweet and all," Graystripe meowed from a frog-length away, wholly forgotten in the lover spat, "but we have another problem."
Littlestar turned to look and noticed another car had pulled up behind them. The twoleg, driving what looked like some small sedan, openly gawked at the trio of cats yowling at each other. With the open van doors and the cat cages scattered all over, it must've looked like quite a picture.
It was a picture that Littlestar couldn't appreciate as the car behind them, both monsters roaring at least seventy miles per hour, blocked any means of escape.
"Do we jump for it?" asked Graystripe.
"Thundercat! The fall will break every bone in your body if the monster behind us doesn't flatten you first!" Russetfur hissed. She turned to Littlestar. "What's the plan?"
Littlestar looked up at the twoleg behind them. She made eye contact with the woman driving the sedan, unsure what she was looking for, and then, with the grace of StarClan, something passed across the woman's face. She spun the driving wheel, and the sedan peeled away, changing lanes. The thunderpath behind them was free and clear.
Graystripe muttered something, but Littlestar's mind began whirling, and she spun to rake her eyes again across the back of the van they were trapped in. Her eyes flittered up to the thick, fluffy blankets she had distantly spotted earlier.
They were out of time, and she had no better ideas.
"Graystripe, grab those blankets from the top shelf. Those warm, soft things you see lying up there. Russetfur, help me grab three of the cages! We'll… We'll get in the cages, wrap the blankets around us, and ride the cages down onto the thunderpath," she said.
"Do you have fleas for brains!" Russetfur replied as she began dragging cages to the edge of the monster. "This won't work."
"The blankets will protect us," Littlestar said, trying to convince herself that this would work.
With a soft thump, Graystripe finished pushing the blankets off the top shelf. The blankets rolled to her paws, bundled up in a light chewable string, and Littlestar realized with dread that there were only two of them.
"You and Graystripe will each take a blanket," she meowed, now resolute about the plan.
"It'll kill you," Russetfur meowed from beside her. "The drop will kill you without one of your blankets."
"They're not big enough for two cats," Littlestar replied honestly.
"So I'm supposed to watch you die again for ShadowClan!" Russetfur hissed, angry and upset again.
"You love ShadowClan," Littlestar meowed. She dragged the third cage to the edge of the van. She looked down to the highway – thunderpath speeding below them. She gulped.
"You're a fox-hearted thundercat, Littlestar," Russetfur replied. "Don't make me say it in front of a bleeding thundercat!"
"Say what?" Littlestar meowed. Graystripe chewed through the thin string, keeping the blankets in their bundles, then dragged his blanket into his chosen cage. He muttered something under his breath, but at least her old friend still seemed to trust her judgment and plans without questions.
Russetfur grabbed one of Littlestar's whiskers. She yanked Littlestar until they looked into each other's eyes again and then said, "I love you more, Littlestar. I can't keep watching you kill yourself in thundercat schemes. ShadowClan, no, I need you alive!"
"Russetfur, I," Littlestar paused, trying to find the right words. She found them. "I love you to Russetfur. I think I'm done with thundercat schemes. I'm tired of dying for a war I can't win, but I can't give you a promise. To live is to risk. I'll do my best, but in this heartbeat, I don't see another way."
Her love looked into her eyes, sharp emerald eyes piercing her storm-grey, and Russetfur closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. Then she nodded.
Slowly, Russetfur climbed into her cage, the sight strange in the whipping wind and silence, and wrapped herself in the twoleg blanket. "Well," she meowed impatiently, "let's get this flea-brained plan over. If this kills me, I'm haunting both of you for the rest of your lives!"
"I wouldn't expect anything less, Russetfur," Littlestar chirped and then trotted over to Graystripe. "Sorry," she muttered.
"Don't be sorry. Silverstream and I… it seems like you have a good relationship," Graystripe meowed within his blanket. Then he did his best shrug. "Besides, I probably would've been stuck if it wasn't for you and Russetfur. This would've been the end of the legendary Graystripe!"
"You'd be surprised," she replied with a soft smile. Millie wasn't going to become a warrior in this universe, apparently. "Protect your head!" She pushed Graystripe off the edge and ignored his screams.
The cage tipped and seemed to hang in the air for a heartbeat before slamming violently onto the thunderpath. The cage rolled, bolts and bits of metal flying violently as Graystripe disappeared into the distance. The blanket would protect him. Probably. She hoped.
She turned to Russetfur. "Are you ready?" she asked.
"Just get it over with," she meowed. "I'll find you once I reach a safe spot. If it's necessary… I'll do it. Just like we promised each other seasons ago."
Littlestar nodded. "I'll see you on the other side. I love you," she purred.
"Don't make me repeat it," Russetfur meowed, wrapped in her blanket and cage. "This is already embarrassing en—"
Littlestar pushed her over the edge.
Her cage hit the thunderpath hard, spinning and thrashing as Russetfur disappeared. Then, Littlestar was alone in the van.
She pushed the third cage as close to the edge as possible, considering whether it would be better to jump for it since she didn't have a blanket, but it didn't seem good either way, so she slowly crouched down and backed into the crate. She felt immensely vulnerable. Once in, she closed her eyes and breathed. She wasn't afraid of dying. She wasn't.
This was no different from the times before.
She slammed her flank against the cage, and then it tipped over.
She seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. The terrifying thunderpath seemed to taunt her, and Littlestar, without a blanket, almost wet herself in fear as the pavement approached. Contact. The cage slammed down hard and slammed Littlestar down harder; it twisted, and the world became a blur of pain and nausea.
She realized immediately that she should've just jumped.
Instead of just her legs breaking, she was thrown around violently as the cage rolled and bounced down the thunderpath. She hit her head against a bit of metal, and she tasted blood. One of her legs twisted unnaturally as it got caught outside the cage, and then she felt her pelt get shredded. She blacked out and came back a moment later in screaming pain as the cage shattered. Her fangs, which she had been named for, shattered on a particularly nasty spin, torque, and impact, and Littlestar shook in a thousand agonies.
She stopped rolling, somehow still alive, on the side of the highway. There was silence, and her vision was blurry. She tried to move but realized she couldn't. She breathed, content that she could at least still do that, and quietly suffered. The world smelled like blood and twoleg rot.
Time distorted as she slowly bled out.
After what felt like a lifetime, she heard movement and chattering. "Yo-look-li—crow-ShadowClan. It-really-suits you. Th-I-bad." It was Graystripe and Russetfur.
A paw took one of her own, and with blurry vision, she looked up at Russetfur. "Russetfur," she whispered weakly, unsure if the shecat could hear her. "It-hurts so-much. Th-others-were quick. Why—is-so slow?"
"I-love you," Russetfur meowed.
Littlestar opened her mouth, quietly suffering, and then Russetfur bit into her throat.
"Were you scared?" she asked. She was on her back again in another field of stars. "Leaving it all behind?
"Absolutely terrified," Gray Wing replied.
"Then why?"
"Love, of course," the old tom replied. "Everything is about love in the end."
"I thought you would be more upset about it all. This was your home that is now being destroyed by the twolegs," Littlestar meowed. She closed her eyes and rested while Gray Wing healed her body.
"Home, Littlestar, is the cats you chase and love. Tall Shadow's ideal, our ideal, is still alive thanks to cats like you and Firestar," Gray Wing meowed. "That endures."
"The Clans are a mess," she whispered. "The ideals of the founders failed."
"Did we?" he purred. "I suppose… that remains up to you."
"I think I'm ready now," she muttered after a while.
"I know," Gray Wing meowed.
"Will I see you again?" Littlestar asked, her voice vulnerable and strong.
"Every moonrise if you know where to look."
Littlestar curled into a ball and gently fell asleep. A drop of water hit the great sea. Gray Wing did not disappear.
Littlestar got up.
They were still beside the thunderpath, and Russetfur was licking her ears and grooming her. Littlestar purred and returned the favor, sharing tongues with the ginger shecat. They cleaned each other, getting rid of the nasty twoleg grime. Russetfur was covered in tender bruises, but otherwise, she was fine. Littlestar muttered small sweet mumblings into Russetfur's ears and purred.
Graystripe coughed.
Russetfur and Littlestar pulled away simultaneously. They couldn't show ShadowClan being weak in front of an outsider! "Right," she spoke. "Where were we?"
"Getting back to the Clans," Graystripe replied with a cheeky, blushing grin. "Sorry for interrupting you, lovebirds, but we are on a time crunch."
"Lovebirds?" Russetfur meowed at Graystripe with a hint of malice. "Be careful with your words, thundercat! I don't care if you're an old friend of Littlestar; I will shred your ears if you speak of this to anyone."
Graystripe pulled his ears back, about to fire back with his response when Littlestar interrupted them. "Enough," she spoke, looking down the thunderpath where they had come from, "it shouldn't take more than two sunrises to get back to the Clans. Let's do this properly."
"Oh, now you want to be an all-serious leader," Russetfur meowed with a crinkled nose, "when a heartbeat ago, you were whispering dirty words into my ears."
It was Littlestar's turn to pull her ears back as Graystripe began to laugh. "Stop undermining my authority," she meowed.
"Never," Russetfur replied with a cheeky grin. "ShadowClan had a lot more dignity before you showed up."
Graystripe laughed even harder, and Littlestar sighed.
She started the long walk back home.