Welcome to the latest fic in the Just A Dream series! If you clicked on this story first, please go back and read the other four, Enter Darkness, Burning Water, Secrets and Shadows, and Brewing Chaos, in that order. This fic has spoilers for those stories and the Warriors series as a whole. If you've already read those, welcome back! I hope you enjoy me putting Firestar through the wringer once more!
CHAPTER ONE
Firestar was tired. He did not want to deal with Tigerclaw becoming Tigerstar and interrupting a Gathering for the second time in what appears to be twenty lives, though so far he's only lived ten of them. But it looked like he would have to. At least he wasn't alone. The whole Clan, all four Clans, in fact, knew that Tigerclaw was a traitor. They knew exactly what he'd attempted to do to Bluestar, at least, even if Redtail's murder never got revealed.
"You are not welcome here, Tigerclaw. Whatever you decide to go by. You have been exiled from ThunderClan and cast from all Clan territory. So by extension, any group that hosts you is also not welcome. Whether they know they've hosted a murderer or not." Firestar uttered the words flatly and bunched his muscles, ready to leap off the rock. Crookedstar's tail slowly wrapping around one of his back legs stopped him from doing so.
"Bluestar is dead?"
"No, Tigerclaw, I am not dead!" Bluefur called. "But you murdered Redtail and Nutleaf lost one of her kits due to your wretched schemes. You will never be welcome here, you miserable excuse of a rogue!" She roared.
The cats below Firestar burst into an uproar. Many of them had no clue what happened to the ThunderClan deputy or that Nutleaf had lost a kit. Either one would be unacceptable, but both combined were horrific! And for the blame to be laid solely on Tigerclaw by such a respected cat, it had to be true!
The newcomers were pushed to the edge of Fourtrees and quickly found themselves surrounded by a group of angry forest warriors.
"Leave while you can." Someone yowled loudly.
The newcomers, BloodClan, or so they called themselves, scattered and ran off, each cat in a different direction than the one next to them.
"See them off our territory!" Blackstar snarled. Cats of every Clan burst forward to follow the ShadowClan leader's call. Everyone was eager to see the backs of those cats!
Firestar exhaled roughly and deflated. Crookedstar's tail moved from his leg to touch his back in a comforting gesture.
"You handled that well." He murmured. His bulk warmed Firestar's side, and for a second, all the ginger tom wanted to do is throw his head back and wail as Crookedstar or Tallstar or whoever reassured him that things would be okay.
But he couldn't do that.
He hadn't been an apprentice in a long time and what's more, is that he's ThunderClan's leader now. They looked to him for guidance.
"If you need a different point of view, we can meet at Fourtrees." Tallstar mused, as if reading his mind. "A cat who would attempt to end a bloodline so callously is a threat to every cat, no matter what group they belong to."
"Tiger will never be welcome here, but it looks like the friends ShadowClan had among the Bloodless are in danger as well. We are more than willing to work with you to keep our friends and allies safe." Blackstar pledged.
"Mudfur is rather fond of Nutleaf. He'll be spitting up trout scales, he'll be so angry. If nothing else, you have my support through him." Crookedstar assured Firestar.
"Thank you… thank you all so much. Any help you can give is accepted and hopefully, ThunderClan can return the favor."
"This Gathering is over! If you wish, some of us will be staying to see our Clanmates' safe return. The youngest and those who wish to turn in for the night can head back to their camps!" Tallstar ordered, taking charge easily. Firestar remained rooted to the Great Rock but nodded when his cats looked for his permission.
Sandstorm weaved through the crowd and stopped before the leaders. Firestar jumped down to meet her. They pressed themselves together from nose to tail-tip and he breathed in her scent. It helped, he found. It didn't solve every problem he had, but it helped him to know that he wasn't alone. That he wouldn't have to make decisions on his own, that the cats looking to him for guidance had their own opinions but were willing to work with him.
"So, that's a badger-sized problem come back to bite us." She grumbled.
"We'll get everyone up to speed when we get back to camp." Firestar assured her. "This is going to be a lot, but it's kind of what we trained for."
"Good thing we know something of what's coming next." She groused. "Fox-hearted rat-faced miserable excuse of a murdering bastard!" Sandstorm howled to the skies.
"Fox's butt!" Lightpaw called in response.
"Traitor!" Splashpaw added cheerfully. "You ruin everything, Tiger!"
"You never deserved me as a mate and you never deserved to have kits!" Goldenflower snarled.
"Wretched piece of fish-dung thought he could just do whatever he wanted and I'd be okay with it!" Bluefur howled. "He killed my friends!"
What would later be dubbed 'the Screaming Gathering' ended after every cat had time to air their grievances with the former deputy, and it was quite informative. Apparently, ThunderClan wasn't the only place Tiger had made trouble during his tenure as deputy, or even as a warrior in general.
The cats who ran off returned to the Gathering space and were welcomed back with cheers and high tails.
LINE BREAK
Getting back to camp was filled with the angry chatter of his Clanmates, who streamed around him. Sandstorm was on one side of him and Goldenflower stopped by with Swiftclaw to check on him.
"You did well, speaking as you did. Letting the other leaders have their say. Letting us speak when we needed to. I'm proud of you, Flame."
"Yeah, Fire, you were all ready to jump on Tiger and rip him to shreds as much as the rest of us, but you showed some serious restraint. That takes a lot out of a cat!" Swiftclaw crowed.
"The screaming helped." Firestar snickered and Swiftclaw was happy to join him. "Besides, the other leaders were up on the rock with me, and I'm pretty sure Crookedstar would have lost his tail if I'd tried to jump. He was doing his best to hold me back."
That got even louder laughs from the cats around him, and Firestar reveled in the joy his Clanmates brought.
"I bet all the mice on the freshkill pile, Dustpelt is gonna be so mad he missed this! I can't believe that's the cat everyone hates. He looked so skinny!"
Ashpaw's whine had the whole Gathering patrol burst into laughter.
LINE BREAK
The forced lightheartedness came to an end as the ThunderClan Gathering patrol returned to camp.
"What's the news?" Cloudpaw called out excitedly.
"It's way past time for you to be asleep!" Goldenflower scolded playfully. "But we've got news, as I'm sure your denmates will tell you."
"Not if I get there first." Firestar groused as he and Sandstorm went to sit under the Highrock.
"Get out here if you're old enough to leave camp alone!" He announced. The clearing filled quickly enough, with cats stumbling out of their respective dens and staring at the new leader like he had thorns for brains.
"Tigerclaw is back." He informed the crowd grimly, not bothering with small talk. "He showed up with some friends of his instead of the cats that were helping ShadowClan. Apparently, he's in a different part of the same group."
His explanation was smothered by yowls and angry spitting.
"I'll claw him!" Lightpaw snarled from where he sat by his mother. Nutleaf shook quietly and squeezed her eyes shut.
"We need to work out a thorough patrol schedule tomorrow, but for now, no one is to leave camp alone. In fact, I want each cat who does leave camp to take two other cats with you. Preferably the same cats every time, but if not, let it be someone who knows when to start looking for you."
That prompted a round of shivers.
"Stay away from the Thunderpath, Firestar!" Whitestorm snapped.
"I'd be a hypocrite not to." Firestar snorted. "My friends in other Clans do not come before the cats I am sworn to protect in this one. We will have a deputy and a battle plan before the quarter-moon ends. We are not helpless, ThunderClan! We must prepare for what comes next."
Firestar's speech was accompanied by the cheers of his Clanmates.
Well, Redtail, he thought grimly as the future combined with his past. bet you didn't see this coming.
Firestar had. Firestar knew exactly what was coming next. And he would prevent it to the best of his ability, even if it killed him.
Firestar's gaze raked over the current apprentices of the Clan.
Lightpaw, Fernpaw, Ashpaw, Cloudpaw, Splashpaw, Patchpaw.
Which one of them felt left behind?
Who would be brave enough to go after the dogs like Swiftpaw and Brightheart had, both of whom were now warriors in their own right?
Who did he fail?
Who would get left behind this time?
No one, Firestar vowed.
He had the entire Clan on his side. No one would be left behind this time.
No cat would be forgotten.