#happy late tdov! i meant to have this up yesterday but i was out super late

[oldwarriors-fireandwater]

Chapter Nineteen

The sun had set when Leopardfur and the other RiverClan cats returned. Firepaw was eating just outside the apprentice den when he heard the border reeds rustling and low voices from within them.

“Crookedstar is furious,” he heard Voleclaw inform Leopardfur.

Leopardfur kept a level gaze with the large tom. Without so much as a word or even a grunt, she stepped past him and continued into camp. Others filed in behind her—all bedraggled and bloody.

Firepaw gulped quickly, nearly choking on his mouthful of carp. They really attacked ThunderClan, he thought. I hope everyone’s okay, at least.

Sedgestream hurried for Crookedstar’s den. She returned outside a moment later, the leader behind her.

Crookedstar fixed Leopardfur with a furious glare. He was bristling from nose to tail tip. “Get. Over. Here. Now.”

To Leopardfur’s credit, she didn't show a trace of fear or anxiety. Her expression was cool and composed as ever. “You're back,” she said.

“What exactly did you think would happen?” Crookedstar demanded. “Did you think you would all sneak out to ThunderClan and make it back, then keep it a secret you had attacked them without my orders?” His voice rose in volume with each passing moment.

Cats began to creep out from the warriors’ den and nursery to observe. The others who had left exchanged glances, but no one said a word. It was clear the issue was between leader and deputy.

“Not really,” Leopardfur replied. Her voice remained even. “But what would you have me do? I had two warriors raving about attacking an enemy Clan. Beetleclaw decided he would fight with or without my permission.” She flicked an ear. “If I had left him and Frogleap to their own devices, they would have single-handedly gotten themselves both killed and RiverClan would be shamed. What kind of Clan would we look like if neither leader nor deputy had given them orders to fight?”

Firepaw listened, his meal forgotten. He had never heard Leopardfur speak at such length—she was a cat of few words, but it was clear she had thought through her reasoning.

Crookedstar parted his jaws, but the tom was clearly caught off-guard by her composed reply. After a moment, he curled his lip. “Either way,” he snarled. “You allowed—no, encouraged—an attack against a strong enemy, all while I was consulting our ancestors for guidance on our next steps against them. You could have confined them to a den, punished them—”

Leopardfur cut him off. “—And we would still have two enraged warriors fighting off their own Clanmates to get revenge for the death of Sunwhisker.”

Beetleclaw took a step towards them. “Crookedstar, let me explain—”

Crookedstar jerked his gaze in the warrior’s direction. “You—” he spat. “Do not speak. You will be punished, be sure of that. Frogleap, too.”

Frogleap only bowed his head, but Beetleclaw narrowed his eyes defiantly. “I am a senior warrior,” he growled. “I am the son of Hailstar. I—”

“You are neither leader nor deputy,” Crookedstar snapped. “Yet you have been a thorn in my side since before either of us were warriors. But never have you shown such blatant disregard for my leadership, for the warrior code, or for the safety of your Clanmates!” Crookedstar’s tail lashed. “You want to fight for your kits, but your foolishness will get them killed if this leads to war!”

Beetleclaw flinched. “But, Crookedstar…”

“Enough,” Crookedstar growled. “Go to Mudfur’s den and get yourself cleaned up.” He turned back to Leopardfur. “As for you, I will be seriously reconsidering your position as deputy.”

Now Leopardfur’s eyes darkened with anger. “I did the best I could considering the situation,” she growled. “I either let a couple fools run off to their deaths and make it clear neither of us have a grasp on our warriors, or make a show of unity and fight. But this is all irrelevant.”

Crookedstar’s scowl only deepened. “How, exactly, is this ‘irrelevant’?”

“Because ShadowClan was already attacking them when we arrived,” Leopardfur said.

Firepaw blinked. What are the odds of that?

Crookedstar looked surprised. His look of anger began to fade. “They what?”

Leopardfur nodded. “I would have pulled our warriors out quickly if it was just ThunderClan. But their Clan was in the middle of a battle when we reached their ravine. You didn't see how they fought—they were attacking queens. I saw a cat drag a kit from the nursery and kill it.”

That's horrible! Firepaw sat up quickly. How could any cat do that? His stomach swirled at the thought.

Crookedstar grew very quiet. “My dream was right… I was warned we had a greater enemy than ThunderClan.”

Leopardfur’s tail twitched. “The thing was, I couldn't recognize half the cats fighting for ShadowClan. They didn't smell like them, either. They're recruiting rogues and getting them to kill. The ShadowClan warriors fought as any other warrior would, but the rogues… they were ripping apart nests, going for killing bites… I don't think ThunderClan’s medicine cat survived, either.”

Rogues fighting for ShadowClan? Firepaw thought. But why?

“Spottedleaf is dead?” Crookedstar asked. He let out a sigh, then fell silent for a few moments. “How did the battle end?”

“ShadowClan eventually retreated,” Leopardfur said. “ThunderClan are mange-pelts, but they know how to fight. Brokenstar promised me he would do the same to us if we didn't ‘fall in line’. I assume he’s decided to extend his demand for hunting rights to other Clans.”

Crookedstar looked uncertain. Leopardfur’s news had clearly caught him off guard. “Did Thistlestar say anything to you?”

Leopardfur shrugged. “We all… more or less left the reason for our appearance unspoken. Even he wouldn't have insulted us for helping, regardless of the fact that we intended to attack them.” She twitched her whiskers. “He did say he might pay us a visit. It didn't sound like there was a threat implied.”

“I see,” Crookedstar replied. “Well. Tomorrow I will call together the senior warriors and we will discuss this matter. For now, you all need to see Mudfur or Yellowfang.” He fixed Frogleap with a hard stare. “Neither you nor Beetleclaw are to leave camp until I decide on your punishment.”

Frogleap had the decency to look ashamed and nod silently. The tabby tom quietly crept away towards the medicine cats’ den.

Crookedstar flicked his tail. “I suppose that's all. Go get some rest.” The large tom turned and retreated back to his den.

Firepaw watched as the patrol slowly made their way to Mudfur’s den. He caught a glimpse of Beechpaw and Silverpaw at the back of the group, so he abandoned his meal and rose to pad towards them.

Beechpaw twitched his whiskers in greeting. “Hey,” he meowed. “How was the trip?”

“Seriously?” Firepaw replied, eyes wide. “You went off to fight ThunderClan and you wanna know how my trip was?”

Silverpaw glared at him. “Go away, kittypet. You’re bothering the real warriors.”

Firepaw scoffed. Another time, Firepaw would have been bothered by the comment, but he hardly cared. Silverpaw’s pelt was a mess and he was missing a tuft of fur from his cheek - it was impossible to take the tom seriously. “You’re not even a warrior, Silverpaw.” He flicked his tail dismissively and looked back to Beechpaw.

Beechpaw rolled his eyes. “I didn’t really decide to go, I just got dragged along. It was crazy, though. Who would’ve thought ShadowClan wanted to attack them at the same time we did?”

Firepaw shrugged. “It seems really weird.” He frowned and lowered his voice. “Is it true they were killing kits?”

Beechpaw sighed. “I didn’t see it, but apparently so. I’d like to get my claws on the mange-pelt who did.”

Firepaw unsheathed his claws for a moment. “So would I.”

Beechpaw let out a yawn and arched his back in a stretch. “StarClan, I can’t wait to sleep. I’m beat.”

In the excitement of everything, Firepaw had nearly forgotten his own exhaustion from the trek to Highstones. “Me too. You coming to the den after you see Mudfur?”

Beechpaw nodded. “You bet. See you there?”

“Sure.” Firepaw turned away with a flick of his tail and headed back across camp towards the apprentice’s den. He ducked inside. Firepaw quickly headed for his nest, circled around it a few times, and let out a soft sigh as he settled down in it. I want to sleep for a moon, he thought.

Grasspaw’s voice made him open his eyes. “Hey, Firepaw?”

Firepaw lifted his head. Grasspaw was sitting alone in the back of the den. He looked a bit nervous—the apprentice’s tail kept twitching. “Yeah, Grasspaw?”

“I… I wanted to ask you something,” Grasspaw meowed. “It’s… er, it’s about me.”

Firepaw frowned. He rolled over in his nest to face him. “What’s up?”

“I - well, I… I wanted to ask if you could call me ‘she’ from now on.” Grasspaw’s eyes darted to the side.

Firepaw blinked, feeling a bit confused. “What?”

“You know…” Grasspaw’s ears flattened. “Instead of ‘he’. I… sort of lied about my dream… I didn’t dream about hunting. I met some cat and we talked and, well… she made me think I could actually do it. Not be a tom anymore. And then I was talking to Minkpaw about it and she said there’s this cat over in ThunderClan that’s a tom even though he wasn’t one when he was a kit and I think he’s one of Sandpaw’s fathers or something and…” Grasspaw shook himself a bit. “Now I’m rambling. Anyway, the dream and hearing about him got me thinking… That it would be okay to ask. I just think it would make me more comfortable and... I dunno. Would you?”

Firepaw was quiet a moment. He wasn’t sure he really understood entirely what Grasspaw was going on about. But if it’ll make Grasspaw happy, it can’t hurt to do it. “Sure, Grasspaw. I can do that.”

Grasspaw purred loudly. “Thank you!” The apprentice settled down in her own nest and continued to purr.

Firepaw rolled back over and tucked his nose under his paws. He was awake long enough to see Beechpaw return to the den, and he fell asleep not long after his friend laid down nearby.