Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tigerclaw had always been an ambitious warrior.

He was the only surviving kit in his litter, and from his first step he made great plans for himself. All he wanted was to be leader. He was never told of the awful prices he would have to pay.

Tigerclaw only realized this price as his claws sunk deep into the struggling deputies throat.

The action, nevertheless, had already been done. A final fidget came from Redtail’s body before he laid still in a pool of his own gathering blood. Tigerclaw stepped away from the mess, and an unusual a wave of sickness washed over him like he had never felt before. Absolute guilt swelled in him, and he felt like he would die on spot as he broke into a nervous pant. He turned away from the body, not wanting to see the corpse anymore.

He had expected it to be easy, no more to it than he would have felt killing a squirrel. All this time he had repeated to himself that Redtail was an obstacle to his success, but looking at his body, all he could see was his clan’s slaughtered deputy. Tigerclaw’s own claw and fang marks sunk into him. 

Tigerclaw knew he'd have to come up with a plan, something that would prove his innocence. Maybe it was luck on his side that Oakheart decided to rush over, it didn't feel like that to Tigerclaw.

The RiverClan deputy looked at Redtail's body and then at Tigerclaw. A fear welled up in his eyes, a knowing fear. He backed up, towards the river bank. Instinctively, the blood stained tabby trailed after. 

Oakheart quickened his pace as he climbed on the highest jutting boulder of Sunning Rock. Tigerclaw’s paws scraped the hard stone platform as his claws knocked away loose rocks.

"RiverClan,” Oakheart stared warily down at Tigerclaw with accusing amber eyes, “retreat!”

As Tigerclaw continued to prowl along the Sunning Rocks, nearing Oakheart, the RiverClan deputy teetered on the high point. As Tigerclaw reached the stone right before his, Oakheart was cornered. He growled at the ThunderClan tom as he watched as his own clan follow his order to retreat. Tigerclaw laid a warning paw onto the rock he stood on, his striped tail lashing. Oakheart reared back on his hindlegs as he watched Tigerclaw suddenly begin to jerk, however, the tom was pulling himself away. Ears flattened to his head and claws sheathed, Tigerclaw fell onto his side. 

Oakheart’s balance had already been thrown off, and the brown tom slid down the side of the rock. Claws grasped for any clutch to keep himself from the dangerous river, he kicked his legs to climb back up the rock. But he couldn't get a hold. His claws sunk into a patch of moss as he struggled to lift himself back up. 

As Oakheart stared upwards, Tigerclaw’s scarred face appeared for a second before a cascade of rocks fell onto the RiverClan tom. He ducked his face towards the boulder and clung on as the rocks bounced off him.

”Reach Oakheart!” Tigerclaw hissed as he extending a large branch over the ledge. For a moment he hesitated, unsure of his real motivations, before Tigerclaw urged again, “Reach!”

As his white tipped paw hit the branch and he could get a claw hold on it, Tigerclaw readjusted to make his other paw be able to reach it as well. As he turned the awkward branch in his mouth, he casted down more stones.

In desperation, Oakheart swung his other paw to grab the branch, but the unexpected added weight tripped Tigerclaw, his front legs collapsed under him. His claws extended into the log as far as he could sink them, but after a heartbeat, he felt no more weight on the branch at all. 

When he yanked the branch up to the rock once again, it was empty, but now bore jagged scratches down the length. Tigerclaw peered into the water below, but could hardly bare to look at it for more than a second before his nerves got him again. 

Sluggishly, he came to Redtail’s body. Ravenpaw, the young apprentice, sat wide-eyed at the tom’s side. 

“Did you see what happened to him?” Tigerclaw tried to keep his composure as he barely managed to sit without collapsing at Redtail’s side. 

“I, was uh, I...” Ravenpaw stuttered, avoiding looking at Tigerclaw entirely. 

Tigerclaw froze where he sat, perched over Redtail. Though he glared up at Ravenpaw as he often did, the sickness in his doubled. “You know what, a good warrior never tells stories of the death of his own clanmate. We’d best both keep quiet for his honor.” 

“Maybe it was Oakheart,” Ravenpaw stood and turned an awkward step towards camp, waiting for Tigerclaw to lift Redtail onto his back. 

“Yes. Oakheart,” Tigerclaw shivered as he felt Redtail’s battle-roughed fur against his own. 
‘StarClan help me.’

Chapter Text

Tigerclaw took a step towards Ravenpaw, but the black apprentice was already running. He took off as fast as a shooting star across the sky, giving Tigerclaw no time to catch him.

The large tom sighed but gave no chase. He couldn't just leave Redtail. The least thing he could do was bring his body back to camp.

He gave one last glance around the clearing and then up at silverpelt. He prayed his clan would have mercy on him.

The trip back to camp seemed to take a whole moon since dragging a full grown warrior by his scruff isn't an easy task. Even for Tigerclaw.

As he reached the camp walls he heard several shocked yowls. Ravenpaw had beaten him back. He snarled and pulled harder on Redtail. No apprentice would lead to Tigerclaw’s exile.

He pulled the body into camp and into the center of the clearing. All eyes were on him, his fur bristled as he adjusted Redtail.

"How did this happen, Tigerclaw?” Bluestar asked from her position on high rock.

Tigerclaw blinked confused for a moment, wondering if she was playing some game with him. Maybe Ravenpaw didn't expose him.

He released Redtail’s scruff and stood up as tall and proud as ever and answered as calmly as he could.

“He died with honor,” his amber eyes searched the crowds for a sign of doubt, but saw none and continued, “struck down by Oakheart.

“I couldn't save him, but I managed to take Oakheart’s life as he was gloating over his victory.”

Tigerclaw’s voice was once again deep and confident, “His death was not in vain, for I doubt we’ll see any RiverClan hunters in our territory again.”

As he finished others came forwards to share tongues with Redtail for a last time. He quickly moved away from the crowd and searched the clusters of cats for Ravenpaw.

No one knew his secret yet apparently, so something must have stopped Ravenpaw. It was obvious what stopped him as he saw in the medicine cat den, Spottedleaf over the black apprentice.

His tail lashing behind him, Tigerclaw stalked over. Spottedleaf was focused on her work but flicked her tail as a greeting.

Tigerclaw put up his usual attitude and looked over the apprentice. His shoulder was bleeding bad, but Spottedleaf seemed to be doing plenty to stop it.

“So, Spottedleaf,” He addressed her confidently, “How is he? Do you think you'll be able to save him? Redtail spent a lot of time training him up, and we wouldn't want his efforts to be wasted at the first battle.”

“Yes a pity, after all your valuable training, he dies in the first fight.” Spottedleaf mewed in a teasing tone. Redtail would often talk to her about how Tigerclaw tried to co-train Ravenpaw. Claiming something like, ‘an apprentice can never have too much training.’

Redtail thought it was because Tigerclaw wanted to appear like a good leader.

Spottedleaf’s face dropped as she thought of her brother. But she had work to do and couldn't mourn yet.

“Will he live?” Tigerclaw repeated.
“Of course. He just needs rest.”

Tigerclaw nodded, “Sure. Let the apprentice get his rest, he'll need it.” The tabby turned to leave as a wave of kittypet scent hit is face.

He almost sneezed as he turned to face it source. Some apprentice he had never seen before, orange as the sky at evening, beside Graypaw, a very well named apprentice who had thick gray fur.

“Who’s this?” He asked Graypaw.
“He's the new apprentice.”

“He smells like a kittypet!” Tigerclaw stated.

“I was a house cat,” The new apprentice finally spoke up, “But I'm going to train to be a warrior.”

“Ah yes, I remember Bluestar told me of some stray kittypet," He recalled with interest, "So she's actually going to try you out, is she?"

"That's right." The younger cat replied, puffing out his chest.

"Then I shall watch your progress with interest." Tigerclaw meowed and strutted away. Graypaw and the new apprentice chattered as he walked away, but they could say what they wanted. At his point, Tigerclaw was ready to sleep for a moon.

As he walked away, Darkstripe quickly caught up to him.

If Tigerclaw had any friends he supposed Darkstripe would have to be included. Ever since Tigerclaw had gotten Darkstripe as an apprentice, he had never left his side.

Darkstripe was the most loyal warrior Tigerclaw knew. Tigerclaw thought he was too loyal, every cat should have some personal goal.

"Are you okay, Tigerclaw?" The dark tabby asked.

"It wasn't my first skirmish." Tigerclaw answered and laid down by the camp wall.

"It wasn't Redtail's either," Darkstripe sat beside him.

"I wonder who Ravenpaw's new mentor will be, now that Redtail," Darkstripe paused, "is dead." He attempted to put it lightly.

Tigerclaw shuttered as he thought over the days events, "It doesn't matter to me."

Darkstripe didn't have anything else to say so he laid down. Tigerclaw scooted away from him and laid his head on his paws.

As he closed his eyes Bluestar yowled to summon a clan meeting. He sighed and sat up.

"She must be announcing the new deputy. I think you would be an obvious choice."

Tigerclaw stared at high rock and felt a heavy weight in his chest. Deputy was the last thing he wanted to be.

Chapter Text

“A new deputy must be appointed,” Bluestar called to the clan, her eyes still dark with grief. “But first, let us give thanks to StarClan for the life of Redtail. Tonight he sits with his fellow warriors among the stars.”

Tigerclaw felt a cold breeze rustle his fur as the camp sat quiet for a heartbeat. He wondered if Redtail was actually watching them now, what could he be thinking.

“And now I shall name ThunderClan’s new deputy,” Bluestar interrupted the silence, “I say these words before the body of Redtail, so that his spirit may hear and approve my choice.”

The dark tabby held his breath and felt like the whole clan was staring at him. Big, strong, Tigerclaw would be a great deputy. He had overheard plenty of cats saying that. That only added to his nervousness.

“Lionheart,” meowed Bluestar as she glanced towards the new deputy and away from Tigerclaw, “Will be the new deputy of ThunderClan.”

In a moment of relief, Tigerclaw stood up and almost knocked Lionheart over with a congratulatory nudge. Momentarily the weight was lifted and Tigerclaw relaxed.

Bluestar continued, “Redtail was also the mentor of young Ravenpaw. Since there must be no delay in the training of our apprentices, I shall appoint Ravenpaw’s new mentor immediately.”

Hesitantly she looked over the crowd before her eyes landed on the sleek black tabby, “Darkstripe, you are ready for your first apprentice, so you will continue Ravenpaw’s training. You had a fine mentor in Tigerclaw, and I expect you to pass on some of the excellent skills you were taught.”

Darkstripe nodded excitedly, unable to preform the usual ceremony of touching noses since Ravenpaw still rested in the medicine cats den.

“I shall keep a vigil with Redtail’s body tonight, before we burry him at sunrise.” Bluestar concluded and ended the meeting by jumping off of high rock and lied by the old deputies body.

Other cats joined her in a vigil, others went to their dens to sleep, and Tigerclaw sat where he was, unsure of what to do.

“Shame you didn't get chosen as deputy,” Darkstripe said as he reapproched Tigerclaw. But a satisfied and happy look still spread across Darkstripe's face.

“But at least you got an apprentice,” Tigerclaw responded, wanting to change the subject from the deputy position.

“It's about time too, but Ravenpaw won't be able to train for a few days.” Darkstripe mewed and sat down. “Lionheart would have been my second choice though,” The dark tabby thought out loud.

“If only you were leader, Darkstripe.” Tigerclaw said as he began grooming his fur. “Darkstar,” Tigerclaw mused, “You'll have to finish training Ravenpaw first.”

Tigerclaw glanced over at Darkstripe. The smaller tom stared at the sky and his eyes shone with pride. Tigerclaw decided he must still be overjoyed by the new apprentice, and that he probably hadn't listened to anything Tigerclaw said.

“I think I'm going to go lay down,” Tigerclaw stood up. Darkstripe nodded, “See you tomorrow.”

Tigerclaw padded away and towards the dens.
‘Tomorrow Ravenpaw will be better and he will tell what you did.’
The brown tabby frowned as the thought flooded into his head. He had to deal with Ravenpaw tonight.

He scanned the camp, it was mostly clear except for the vigil and small clusters of cats chatting. No one saw him as he slipped into the medicine cat den.

He loomed over Ravenpaw, almost doubling in size, he would be a lot easier to kill then Redtail was. He slid his claws out and looked for his best shot. He had to make it look like Ravenpaw had died of previous injury, he didn't want anyone to be suspicious.

He heard a snap of a twig somewhere in camp and snapped his head around to see what happened. He was too nervous to do this and doubt swallowed Tigerclaw as he looked at the dark apprentice.
Would StarClan watch him kill another cat? How could he get into StarClan if had murdered two of his own clanmates. He turned towards the sky.

“Tigerclaw, is that you?” A voice called out of the medicine cat den. Then, from the darkness emerged Spottedleaf. “Come to check up on Ravenpaw?” She sounded doubtful.

“Sure,” Tigerclaw mewed and sheathed his claws.

“Tigerclaw what's going on?” Spottedleaf asked and stood between Tigerclaw and the sleeping apprentice.

“I came to check on him.” Tigerclaw said with a whip of his tail. “Can't I be weary for my clanmates safety?”

“I should have checked up on you too,” Spottedleaf walked around her den, gathering and piling up different herbs.

“I'm fine, no one landed a scratch on me.”

“Expect the mark down your shoulders.” Spottedleaf mewed as she chewed up a goldenrod flower. “And you're acting strange, did you hit your head on something?”

“No, and I'm not acting strange. I'm just a bit,” he thought of an excuse, “disappointed I didn't get picked for deputy.”

“Oh,” Spottedleaf mewed as she rubbed the poltice onto Tigerclaw’s cut.
‘What an odd place to get cut. You'd have to be strangling someone for them to be able to claw like that.’
"There, now it won't get infected.”

“Great, now I'm going to get out of your fur, I'm sure you want to go sit vigil with Redtail.” Tigerclaw made his way to the den’s exit.

Spottedleaf nodded and followed him out. As she stepped into camp she took a deep breath and sighed.
“Thank you for avenging Redtail, Tigerclaw.”

Tigerclaw shook his head and padded to his nest in the warriors den. The medicine cat caught a strange look In his eyes.

“Something is definitely wrong. But the only cats who would know are either injured or dead.” She mewed to herself.

“Luckily,” she looked at the stars, “I can reach the dead.” A bright idea popped into her head. Avoiding the vigil, she left camp through the dirt place tunnel so no one would question her.

She padded through the forest, taking in the night air. After a day stuck in the medicine cat den, fresh air cleared her head.

She determined it would take her all night to reach moonstone if she walked, so she picked her pace to a run. She couldn't even remember the last time she ran, she didn't run to often as a medicine cat.

With the cold wind in her fur as she ran along the border, she felt like a warrior. At times like these she wishes she was one. But the life of a medicine cat isn't a bad one.
If she wasn't a medicine cat she couldn't talk to Redtail.

As she reached the thunderpath, the last obstacle to the moonstone, she listened for monsters before skipping over. This late at night, even monsters slept so she had little worries about being caught.
She thought StarClan must have been on her side since she had run into no trouble on the way over. With a last breath of a cool night air she slid into the shadows of the mothermouth and let the stars guide her way to the moonstone.

Chapter Text

Her paws ached as she padded further into the dark cave. Tiredness tore at her, but as she saw a slight glimmer of light from the MoonStone the tiredness washed away. She moved swiftly and burst into the cavern. Relieved she finally made it, she laid down by the shining stone and exhaled softly.

A cold breeze swirled in the open and empty chamber. Usually she was accompanied by the other medicine cats, but now she sat alone. She shivered and stared out of the open gap in the top of the chamber.

Deciding to not waste anymore time she pushed her nose to the cold boulder and let herself drift to sleep. Everything faded away as she felt the familiar feeling of entering StarClan.

When she opened her eyes again she was welcomed by the heavenly forests. She stepped around in a circle as she adjusted and washed away the numbness of sleep. Once fully awake, she scented the air for anything familiar.

“Plenty of prey and,” She paused to take another take, “Someone around here.” She thought out loud and began following after the scent.

As she walked, leaves blew in the light breeze, prey scurried around, but nothing helpful to her. She sighed and took another scent test. This time with got more promising results. The scent of a cat from earlier was stronger.

She gazed around and padded forwards a few steps before she saw the glow of two amber eyes. She opened her mouth to call to them before she was tackled to the ground.

“Redtail, I've been looking for you!” Spottedleaf purred.

“Why? Did he get you too, Spottedleaf.” Redtail hissed and leapt off his sister. He landed with a soft thud, set slightly off balance. Spottedleaf had noticed StarClan cats seemed weightless and Redtail was no exception.

She helped him get his balance back, she was worried and intrigued, “Who? What happened Redtail?”

Redtail blinked in surprise, then his face changed to one of anger, “That traitor Tigerclaw!”

---

“Tigerclaw?”

The burly tom looked up from his nest. He stifled a yawn and answered half awake, “Yes?”

“Lionheart said you might want to come on patrol with the new apprentices.” It took Tigerclaw a heartbeat to release who had spoken, but to his surprise it was Bluestar who stood in the den entry way.

“Well I,” Tigerclaw sat up, he didn't mean to oversleep, usually he was up before sunrise. He tried to sputter out a comprehensive respond but Bluestar cut him off.

“It's alright if you want to stay in today.” The lithe leader mewed. “Yesterday’s events had a toll on all of us.”

Tigerclaw then noticed how tired Bluestar looked. She usually stood tall and proud and her eyes blazed with passion, now her eyes were dark, her pelt messy and ungroomed, and she was hunched over. Tigerclaw then supposed he probably didn't look to different.

He began to refuse the offer but decided he could actually use the day off, “Thank you, Bluestar. I'll be back to my duties as soon as-”

“Don't worry about it, Tigerclaw.” Bluestar padded out of the den. A empathetic look on her face.

Tigerclaw laid his head back on his paws and sighed.
‘Get up, you have a job to complete.’

He shook his head and buried his head deeper into his paws, extending his claws slightly in frustration.
‘It's your own fault you weren't more careful.’

“Hardly my fault that apprentice couldn't go mind his own business.” He argued with himself. After a heartbeat he sat up, “Fighting with yourself now? You're losing it Tigerclaw.” He growled to himself and padded out of the den.

As he stepped into camp, he blinked at the sun-high light. He didn't think he had slept that long. As he adjusted to the brightness, a familiar tom bounded over.

“You're finally awake, Tigerclaw.” Darkstripe greeted, “I thought you'd sleep all day.”

“I thought you were supposed to be training your new apprentice?” Tigerclaw sat and groomed down his fur to make himself seem more casual.

“Spottedleaf wasn't in her den and Ravenpaw was still asleep,” The dark tabby mewed, “so I thought he probably needed another day of rest.”

Tigerclaw straightened up, “Spottedleaf isn't in her den?”

“No, it doesn't seem like she's been in for the whole night. And I didn't see her anywhere in camp or at the burial.”

“Hey,” Tigerclaw couldn't pass on this opportunity, “Can you go grab me something to eat? I'm starving.”

“Sure, what are you in the mood for?” Darkstripe agreed and promptly stood up.

“Actually, can you catch me something fresh?” Tigerclaw asked as nicely as he could.

Darkstripe glanced at the forest and nodded, “I'll be as fast as I can.”

Tigerclaw watched his black tail slide out of the gorse tunnel and he hastily stood up. He had to hurry, once Ravenpaw was dead, his secret was his own. He would be safe.

Ravenpaw shrunk down in his nest as he watched the large tabby tom stalk over. He buried his face into the nest and pretended to sleep, but any cat could see how terribly he was shaking.

It seemed all he could do was say his prayers to StarClan as Tigerclaw blocked all the light as he stood in the entrance of the den. Ravenpaw could sense the anger and determination in Tigerclaw.

“Tigerclaw, visiting Ravenpaw again?” A voice asked sternly, it was hardly even a question.

The black tom sighed with relief at the voice, he'd been saved,he peeked up. Spottedleaf was giving a warning glare at Tigerclaw.

He hissed and back away, “Of course. He seems much better now, huh?” His voice laced with unseen malice.

Spottedleaf moved in front of Ravenpaw, “Ravenpaw why don't you go talk to your friends, you're well enough to get out in camp.”

He wobbly stood up, still shaking and limping on his front paw, and hurried out of the den. He spotted Graypaw and Firepaw chatting on the other side of camp and rushed over.

Spottedleaf took a step back from Tigerclaw, her glare weakening, it turned to a look of grief and betrayal.

“We have to talk, Tigerclaw.”

Chapter Text

The world around Tigerclaw seemed to grow darker as he stared into Spottedleaf’s grief filled eyes. His gaze shifted to the ground, onto his paws. Unable to look her in the eyes, but he could feel her staring daggers at him.

He jerked his head up and back to Spottedleaf, “Talk about what?” He played arrogant.

“I don't want to believe him, Tigerclaw. I thought we were friends,” she mewed softly.

Every word twisting and stabbing into Tigerclaw. He felt faint and could hardly manage a response, “I didn't do it to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt anyone.”

“Yet you did.” Spottedleaf spat, “You killed him, and StarClan knows what you were planning to do with Ravenpaw.”

Tigerclaw stepped away, his ears flat to his skull, no words seemed to be able to explain what he was feeling. He glanced around camp, cats were getting ready to leave for the gathering. Darkstripe padded towards the den with a crow in his mouth.

“Let's chat in private.” Spottedleaf demanded and padded out of the den. She flicked her tail for him to follow her.

Hastily Tigerclaw followed, ignoring Darkstripe. From the corner of his eye he saw the dark tabby tom give him a confused and hurt look.

The sun set as the padded through the thick forest terrain. It getting darker and darker as time ticked on. Soon they arrived under the OwlTree, Spottedleaf sat down on a root, Tigerclaw stood and faced her.

“He's buried here.” Spottedleaf broke the thick silence, “Brindleface told me he would be, since I couldn't attend the ceremony myself.” Her voice was as calm.

“Spottedleaf-” Tigerclaw tried to speak but she waved her tail to silence him.

“I went to StarClan and spoke to him myself. But he doesn't have to full story. Tell me the full story, Tigerclaw.” She urged.

Tigerclaw hesitated, the thought of Spottedleaf spilling his secret to the hold clan frightened him to death. But her face was calm and he could tell they wouldn't leave till she got the full story.

Tigerclaw swallowed down his guilt, ”Ravenpaw, Redtail, and I were all on patrol, then a RiverClan patrol jumped us at Sunning Rocks.

“Redtail wanted to retreat. That's all he'd been doing, even though we deserve the sunningrocks. I was angry at his decision. I had reasoned I would make a much better deputy and something clicked in my mind.

Tigerclaw looked at his paws and said hardly a above a whisper, “I released what I was doing when I felt him go limp. I felt sick, the image is still in my mind.”

“If this got out you'd never become deputy.” Spottedleaf tried to feel empathy for Tigerclaw, but piercing pains of grief prevented it.

“Good. I don't want to be deputy or leader.” Tigerclaw sat down, defeat and guilt succumbed him and he couldn't stand.

“Sometimes I don't think it's even a good idea for me to be a warrior anymore..” Tigerclaw thought of Redtail’s blood splattered on his fur and the image of the clan finding out. “Maybe I ought to try something.”

Spottedleaf stood up and faced him, her green eyes contrasting against his yellow, “Changing your role is a big decision ,Tigerclaw.”

“But I think-” He stepped closer, but Spottedleaf took a step back.

“Think some more about it.” She broke eye contact and turned away, “I'll give you a taste of the medicine cat life, and you can see if you really want to go through with this.”

“Thank you, Spottedleaf.”

Spottedleaf turned towards the sky, “I'll make sure you're protected. As a medicine cat and a friend.”

As Tigerclaw padded through the gorse tunnel to camp, Darkstripe nearly ran him over when he ran over.

“Can I help you?” Tigerclaw asked and pushed by him.
“Where have you been?” Darkstripe trailed after him.
“I thought you went with the gathering patrol?” Tigerclaw didn't answer him as he slid into the warriors den.
“We’re already back. I thought you'd be asleep but you weren't in your nest,”

Tigerclaw laid down in his nest, “Spottedleaf and I went for a walk, if you want the story go ask her.” He flipped over to face away from Darkstripe.

“Why were you out with Spottedleaf? She's a medicine cat you know.” The dark tabby laid down in his own nest, which was beside Tigerclaw’s.

“What are you trying to say Darkstripe?” Tigerclaw sat up straight, his head brushing the top of the den and his eyes narrowed. “If you're trying to accuse me of something say it to my face.”

Darkstripe shrunk into his nest, “No, no, of course not. But you have been going to the medicine cat den more often.”

“Hold your tongue before I cut it out of your head.” Tigerclaw hissed and flopped back down in his nest. Exhaustion washed over Tigerclaw, blocking out whatever Darkstripe was mewing about.

Chapter Text

Tigerclaw opened his eyes to a lightless, dank, and gloomy forest. Smells of mud and rot filled the air. He had been here many times before.

His eyes flickered around the dreadful place in search for signs of movement. But the forest stood dreadfully still.

Suspicious of how calm everything appeared to be, he moved forwards, alert for anything. He covered a few fox-lengths till he reached a clearing. He slipped into the open, his eyes gazed up to the starless sky.

“Tigerclaw,” A hoarse voice slurred, from the shadows emerged his old mentor, Thistleclaw. “I've been watching you. You have made some bold moves lately, I'm impressed. I should have thought of it when I was alive.”

Tigerclaw stood stiff, aware of what the old gray tom was talking about, “It was an mistake.”

Thistleclaw tilted his head and stared at Tigerclaw for a heartbeat, until he burst into laughter. “Of course!” He paused to catch his breath, Tigerclaw didn't laugh. “You accidentally murdered the only cat keeping you from deputy. Except for Lionheart I suppose. You'll have to deal with him next.”

“It was a mistake.” Tigerclaw sternly stated, “One I'll never make again.”

Thistleclaw stopped laughing, the light mood in the air dropped, and the gray tom held a emotionless, if not disappointed face. “You're not going soft, are you?”

Tigerclaw’s eyes fell to the ground.

“Mouse-heart!” Thistleclaw hissed in Tigerclaw's face, “You need to finish what you started, I didn't train a softbellied kittypet.”

Tigerclaw opened his mouth to retaliate, but the world around him began to fade.

“I'll see you tomorrow, Tigerclaw. You'd best drop this soft act you've put on. I know you, Tigerclaw. I know what you want.”

Again, he opened his eyes, this time he woke up in the medicine cat den. Spottedleaf laid in her nest, some herbs still laying in front of her that she had been showing Tigerclaw the previous evening. Despite the peaceful of the den, Thistleclaw’s words echoed in his head.

‘I know what you want,’

Tigerclaw shook his head, he didn't know himself what he wanted, how could Thistleclaw.

“Tigerclaw, are you in here?”

The large tom sat up and yawned, still tired from his sleepless night in the Dark Forest. He let out a wordless conformation, “Mmhm.”

“Oh good,” Willowpelt mewed, “You're coming on patrol, Bluestar’s orders.”

Willowpelt nodded for him to follow her out into the camp. Once they both were out there, they joined Bluestar and Darkstripe by the gorse tunnel.

“We'll just go on a border patrol.” Bluestar mewed to the patrol, “Watch out for any apprentices, I sent a few out for solo assignments and we don't want to disturb them.” When she concluded, they headed out in the forest.

Darkstripe padded alongside Tigerclaw. Words swirled through his head, as he tried to think of something to break the growing silence. The dark tabby wondered what he did to drive Tigerclaw away.

“We haven't spoken in a while, huh.” Tigerclaw instead spoke first out of awkwardness between them.

“We haven't! You've spending more time with Spottedleaf.” Darkstripe mewed slyly.

Tigerclaw frowned, “Can I not talk to my friends?”

“You haven't spoken to me in half a moon, aren't I your friend too?” Darkstripe stared at Tigerclaw.

“Sure,” Tigerclaw said, not looking back at him, “But we can always talk on patrols.” He tried to make excuses.

“It's hardly the same.” Darkstripe replied.

“Hush you two, do you smell that?” Willowpelt asked, sniffing the air. Bluestar scented the air, and snarled.

“Smells like ShadowClan.” Bluestar responded.

“And some fresh ThunderClan scent.” Willowpelt added.

Bluestar took another scent, “This way. I'll have no ShadowClan crowfood on my territory.” She padded confidently along the trail. The rest of the patrol followed after her.

Tigerclaw spotted two figures ahead of them. The patrol quickly reached them. Tigerclaw smelt the thick scent of fear and ShadowClan in the air.

“Hi, Firepaw!” A voice called from behind him as they came across the two cats. Tigerclaw turned and saw Graypaw.

“Silence,” Bluestar snapped at Graypaw, “Firepaw? What are you doing with an enemy warrior-and recently fed by the smell of you both.”

Firepaw lowered his head, “She was weak and hungry.”

“And what about you? Was your hunger so bad you had to feed yourself before you gather prey for your clan?” Bluestar paused, her voice soft and angry, “I assume you have a very good reason for breaking the Warrior Code.”

“Once a kittypet, always a kittypet.” Darkstripe hissed, Tigerclaw just watched everything unfold. The orange apprentice seemed to lower himself down, putting up no fight against Bluestar’s authority.

Bluestar looked to Yellowfang, “Well, well, Firepaw! It seems you have captured us a ShadowClan cat. And one I know well, you are ShadowClan’s medicine cat, aren't you? What are you doing so far into our territory?” She snarled.

“I was the ShadowClan medicine cat. Now I choose to travel alone.” The scruffy ShadowClan cat meowed.

“Looks like you have fallen on hard times if you can be beaten by an apprentice,” Darkstripe mocked, he looked to Bluestar, but his eyes stayed on Tigerclaw, “This old cat is no use to us, let's kill her now. As for this kittypet, he has broken the warrior code by feeding an enemy warrior. He should be punished.”

“Keep your claws in, Darkstripe.” Bluestar purred calmly, “All the Clans speak of Yellowfang’s bravery and wisdom. It may help us to hear what she has to say. Come; we’ll take her back to camp. Then we'll decide what to do with her-and with Firepaw. Can you walk?” She asked Yellowfang, “Or do you need help?”

“I've still got 3 good legs,” She snapped and limped forwards.

Then, the patrol headed back to camp. Bluestar padded alongside Yellowfang, Willowpelt behind Firepaw and Graypaw, as the two apprentices spoke softly to each other, Tigerclaw lead the patrol and Darkstripe followed a pace behind him.

After a long and quiet walk back, they arrived at the gorse tunnel. Bluestar broke off to Lionheart, Willowpelt stayed and guarded Yellowfang, Tigerclaw walked off. Darkstripe followed after him, but got distracted by Firepaw trying to take prey from the fresh kill pile.

“That is Yellowfang, isn't it? What's she doing here?” Spottedleaf asked as Tigerclaw entered the medicine cat den.

“We found her in our territory. That kittypet apprentice was feeding her, but Bluestar seemed awfully interested in her.” Tigerclaw explained and laid down in the shady den.

“I thought you would be ecstatic to find someone trespassing,” The she-cat teasingly meowed.

“Hardly matters.” Tigerclaw said gruffly, “It's not like she has done any harm. And it looks like Darkstripe is being angry for me. He wanted to kill her.”

Spottedleaf looked surprised, “What a bold thing to suggest, murdering a medicine cat!”

“No, she's a loner now. Probably got exiled her all the fleas she was spreading.”

“What do you think Bluestar will do about it?”

Tigerclaw shrugged, “I don't kno-”

He was cut of by Bluestar yowling to announce a clan meeting. Tigerclaw groaned, “She always seems to time them just when I'm about to nap.”

Spottedleaf let out an amused laugh and nudged him, “Come on, this should be important.”

Chapter Text

“Let all those cats old enough to catch their own prey join together for a meeting of our Clan.” Bluestar sat solely atop of highstone, her piercing stare scanned the camp as cats filled into the clearing. Tigerclaw strolled into the camp out of the medicine cat den, Spottedleaf on his tail; they took a seat at the edge of camp.

Anxious energy swallowed the clan and made Tigerclaw’s pelt stand on end. ‘Yellowfang has just arrived,’ he thought as he looked at his clanmates around him, ‘Surely no rumors have already spread?’ But by the way many warriors looked suspiciously on at the old gray medicine cat, he was given his answer.

“I’m sure you have all heard about the prisoner we brought back with us today,” Bluestar’s gaze scanned the camp before landing on the older she-cat. “Can you hear me from there?” she called down.

Yellowfang spat back a reply, “I’m old but not deaf.” her fur prickled slightly as all of ThunderClan stared at her as an intruder, and a very hostile one.

Bluestar nodded and ignored Yellowfang’s tone, “I’m afraid I have some very grave news. Today I traveled with a patrol into WindClan territory. The air was filled with the scent of ShadowClan. Almost every tree had been sprayed by ShadowClan warriors. And we met no WindClan cats even though we journeyed deep into their heartland.”

Tigerclaw looked over at Spottedleaf, her expression of alarm didn’t help Tigerclaw swallow his own fears. But it seemed, by the confused yowls that erupted from the clan a heartbeat later, the feeling was a widespread reaction.

“Do you mean ShadowClan has chased them out?” An elder, Smallear hesitantly asked, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

“We can’t be sure,” Bluestar in a calming manner, to ease the clan out of panic. “Certainly the scent of ShadowClan was everywhere. We found blood, too, and fur. There must have been a battle, though we found no bodies from either Clan.”

“Drove from their own hunting grounds,” Tigerclaw gasped at the unheard of idea, “has ShadowClan lost it?”
The tortoiseshell she-cat looked just as shocked, “It’s madness, surely StarClan has not allowed such a thing.” she choked out. “And if they have taken down WindClan, who's next?”

Bluestar waved her tail for silence, “It is well known that ShadowClan has recently appointed a new leader, following the death of Raggedstar. Their new leader, Brokenstar, gave no hint of any threat when we met him at the last Gathering.”

Tigerclaw forget all his worries in favor of cringe as Darkstripe sprung up and snarled, “Perhaps Yellowfang has answers? After all she is of ShadowClan!”

“I am no traitor! Nothing would make me share the secrets of ShadowClan with a brute like you!”
growled Yellowfang, glaring aggressively at Darkstripe. He retaliated by hissing and taking a warning step forward, his ears flat, eyes slit, ready for a fight.

“Stop!” Yowled Bluestar, her tail lashing in aggravation, Darkstripe backed away and Yellowfang gave a hiss of victory, her eyes blazing,

“This situation is too serious for us to be fighting among ourselves. ThunderClan must prepare itself. From this moonrise onward, warriors will travel in larger groups. Other Clan members will remain close to the camp. Patrols will travel the boundary edges more frequently, and all the kits must stay in the nursery.

“Yellowfang will be allowed to stay here until she has recovered her strength. We are warriors, not savages. She is to be treated with respect and courtesy.”

“Maybe we’re not savages, but she certainly is. That is true of all ShadowClan warriors.” The dark tabby hissed, drawing a snarl from Yellowfang, but the stoic leader ignored him.

“If we be more careful and ready in coming days, we will be fine. ThunderClan will survive.” Fury blazed behind Bluestar’s words, encouragement was what the clan needed.

Tigerclaw stood up, flicking his tail to Spottedleaf, making his way over to Darkstripe. The she-cat sighed and padded back down the tunnel that led to her den. The green leaves swayed in a gentle breeze, a welcome to her as she made her way back to the doctor dungeon. Passing by her stoney den, she laid down in the open grassy entrance, her eyes closing shut to rest before she was alerted to a shuffling from someone coming down the tunnel. With one eye open, expectted Tigerclaw, she instead was greeted by a young ginger tom, Firepaw.

“Yellowfang wanted some herbs for her leg,” he explained peering around the secluded den.

Spottedleaf stood up, “Of course, they’re just in my den. I know just what she needs,” she turned to the entrance, “Uh, wait here.”

Tigerclaw walked over swiftly to Darkstripe, his dark gray pelt still bristling, “What was that, Darkstripe?” he asked to his former apprentice.
“Well, we can’t afford to have some dangerous ShadowClan rogue in our clan,” he hissed and began to lick down his fur, “she is probably a spy.” Darkstripe then winked at Tigerclaw.

The older tom frowned, “If you ever want respect, Darkstripe, you’ll have to learn to watch what you say, Yellowfang looked like she was a heartbeat away from tearing your throat out.”
The gray tabby rolled his eyes “She could beat me in a fight when hedgehogs fly.” he turned away from Tigerclaw’s disappointed gaze, “And if I did get into a fight, you’d have my back wouldn’t you? You still remember that we’re friends, right? Or have I been replaced by Spottedleaf now.”

Tigerclaw sighed, “How many times do you have to whine about this Darkstripe,”
“Just until you have a full conversation with me again.” Darkstripe turned back, his dark eyes hurt.

The large brown tabby plopped down beside Darkstripe, “Fine, I’ll spend some time with you if it makes you feel better. What shall we talk about?”

“We could talk about my apprentice Ravenpaw,”
Tigerclaw winced, “Sure.”

Darkstripe’s face lit up, “You wouldn't believe how talented a hunter he is. As silent as night; he even sneaks up on me in the mornings when we meet to go train.”

“He has had plenty of training, because of his two different mentors.” Tigerclaw responded, hiding his uncomfort with the subject. “How is his battle training going?”

“Well, he’s not the worst, but he’s no-,” Darkstripe searched for the right metaphor, “He’s no you, Tigerclaw.” Even after seasons of the dark tabby being his own warrior, he looked up to Tigerclaw as perfect.
‘He’s going to be disappointed.’ The brown tabby nodded his head.

“But he has plenty of time to learn.” Darkstripe mewed cooly as to lead into his proposition, “In fact, you could see him for yourself. Bluestar wanted a Ravenpaw, Firepaw, and Graypaw to have an assessment. You should come, I mean if you’re not busy eating leaves or whatever with Spottedleaf.”

Tigerclaw frowned, “Can’t I have more then just you as a friend, Darkstripe? Are you going to throw a fit if I spoke to Lionheart or Mousefur?”

“Are you going to come or not.” Darkstripe dodged the question, his ears flat against his head, all the confidence in his voice now lost to Tigerclaw’s sharp words.

‘If I don’t, other cats might be worried about the time you’re spending with Spottedleaf too.’ The larger tom thought to himself, “Okay. I suppose I’ll see you then.”

Chapter Text

“Tigerclaw, you down here?” Lionheart called as he padded down the medicine cat den tunnel. Behind him was a path of ginger tufts of fur that clung onto the brambles, the large warrior could hardly avoid bumping against the walls of the cramp tunnel. He couldn’t imagine how Tigerclaw could fit down there, but Darkstripe said this is where he would be.

“Tigerclaw!” He meowed again as he reached the end of the tunnel. The cat he was in search for sat in a small clearing, studying leaves with Spottedleaf.
“Weird,” The senior warrior said to himself as he padded towards them. When the tall brown tabby and medicine cat turned towards him, Lionheart nodded a greeting, “Good moring, Spottedleaf, Tigerclaw. Darkstripe said you’d be down here and I’ve been sent to come get you for the apprentice’s assessments.”

“That was today?” Tigerclaw stood up and left the tall grass clearing. “I assumed it’d be in a few days, Darkstripe only asked me to join last night.”

“If you’re busy, I understand.” Lionheart looked nervously as his gaze flickered from Tigerclaw to Spottedleaf. “But others might not.”

Tigerclaw rolled his eyes and pushed past the golden warrior, “No, just caught me off guard. I was just chatting with Spottedleaf, but warrior duties come first.” He started up the tunnel, looking back to give the tortoiseshell molly an apologetic expression.

“Good to hear,” Lionheart followed after him, “And have a good day, Spottedleaf.”

“Thank you, you as well.” She said her goodbye and sighed. As the two disappeared from sight the young she-cat stood up and stretched, yawning loud enough for the whole forest to hear. ‘Not like anyone would even notice.’ she joked, padding off to her den.

After pushing into the cracked entrance and coming into the cold stone den she began organizing her herbs. She shivered, when Tigerclaw hung around that provided extra body heat, she didn’t realize she had become accustomed to it. Tigerclaw also provided conversation, which was clearly lacking in the silent den. All that she could hear was chirping of song birds.

The she-cat thought of a time when she wasn't ThunderClan’s only medicine cat. She thought fondly of her old mentor, Featherwhisker. Evenings with the gray medicine cat, often joined by his own old mentor Goosefeather. She’d take his crazy ramblings over silence, even when he’d make off comments about her.
“Foolish lover,” She mumbled to herself, cringing slightly.

It didn’t take long for her to finish cleaning up, the den was very small. She peaked her head outside, not even midday yet. Instead of crawling back into the den she climbed out and made her way up the tunnel. She squinted her face as tufts of ginger fur fell onto her nose, “What in StarClan?” She asked to herself, pulling the fur off her. Despite her efforts, when she strolled into camp she seemed to grown more ginger patches. Luckily for her, it seemed most of her clanmates were on patrols and wouldn’t be there to witness her.

She chose a sunny spot and began to groom out her fur, but just as she started she heard a voice call to her from somewhere in camp.
They laughed at first, “You look like you’ve been hit by a ginger wave.” Goldenflower, a queen, approached the medicine cat from the fresh kill pile. “I’ll bet it was when lionheart made his way to the medicine cat den. He must carry his own weight just in excess fur. I worry about letting him see my kits out of fear they’ll get smothered by him.” She joked, laying down beside Spottedleaf.

The medicine cat gave a chuckle, “I’m sure your kits will probably have thick fur of their own, I could have easily bathed in your fur if you had to come visit me.”

“Speaking of that,” The queen licked down some of her fur in embarrassment, “do you think you could help me out? I’ve been a bit more.. swollen as of late because of these kits. I can’t reach my back to groom.”

The tortoiseshell nodded, “As long as you catch me up on any gossip, nothing reaches the medicine cat den.” Goldenflower laughed and shook her head in agreeance as Spottedleaf began to run her tongue over the golden she-cat’s tangled pelt.

“Well, I can’t say I keep up on drama myself.” Goldenflower admitted, “After Bluestar’s last meeting many warriors refuse to go on patrols around the ShadowClan border. And some have started to believe that maybe it was good WindClan was ran off. To be honest I’m glad I’m a queen. Those ShadowClan cats might be more than we can handle at our current state. But luckily we’ve got some good kits coming soon, hopefully they’ll be as strong as Tigerclaw.”

Spottedleaf tilted her head, as Goldenflower looked hesitantly around the camp, “He is their father, but I’m not sure if I’ll reveal that to everyone though. Only you and Speckletail know right now.”

Spottedleaf spat out a clump of fur then stuttered, “Doesn’t Tigerclaw know?”

“No.” Goldenflower twitched, uneasy by her reaction, “We had a wild run a moon ago, I haven't told him yet. He seems to always be busy, and I’ve been confined to camp. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”
The golden queen was getting nervous, ”But I feel bad about not telling him, can you tell him, you two always seem to be chatting and down in the medicine cat den.”

“I-”
“I understand if you won't, it’s a lot to ask,” She interrupted, “I’m sure you have your own issues. You are just calming to talk to. The nursery seems so compact and hardly anyone ever visits, I miss running in the forest.”

Spottedleaf gave Goldenflower a gentle nudge, “I know how you feel.”

Tigerclaw squinted his eyes, pausing for a moment to adjust, “It’s really dark down there.” He commented.
“Yeah, Spottedleaf lives in a hole down there, like a mole.” Lionheart mewed, nudging Tigerclaw to move out from the exit.

The golden warrior took Tigerclaw to the side of the camp as they waited to greet Bluestar. The leader was busy talking to Firepaw, inviting him to join the assessment and chatting about Yellowfang, Tigerclaw overheard.

“You’ll be watching over Firepaw,” Lionheart whispered to him as the two older warriors waited for Bluestar to conclude their conversation. The dark brown tabby warrior nodded, some part of him was hoping to get to watch over Ravenpaw and maybe end his problems. He pushed that part away, thoughts like that made him shiver.

‘You've done enough solving problems with your claws.’ He thought to himself as Firepaw padded over to the other apprentices, Graypaw and Ravenpaw, who waited by a stump.

Lionheart watched Firepaw walk away and quickly strided over to the noble looking leader, Tigerclaw followed after him quickly to catch up.

Bluestar tipped her head to the warriors, “I expect good results from this, ThunderClan needs good hunters, and quickly.” She then added, taking a swift look around the camp,” And watch for anything unusual.”

“They are sure to please you, Bluestar,” he continued, “and with Tigerclaw and I, only a mouse-brained fool would mess with us.”

“Your confidence is promising,” The she-cat meowed, flicking her tail to send them off. “Bring me back good results.”

With her sign, the two made their way back to the apprentices, beside them sat Darkstripe, who stood when they arrived.
“We’re all here, let us head out.” Lionheart mewed, “Come along, Firepaw, Graypaw, Ravenpaw, we’ll start off at the training hollow.”

Chapter Text

The full moon casted pale light down to the forest that rested upon the trees and warriors who padded under them. Those warriors belonged to ThunderClan as they headed towards Four-Trees for the gathering. Bluestar lead the group, behind her Lionheart followed closely, then more warriors and apprentices, and finally Tigerclaw and Spottedleaf who strolled in the far back. Spottedleaf enjoyed the seclusion that gave her the chance to look up at the stars without being interrupted. Right now, the seclusion wouldn’t give her a chance to look at the stars but instead, her and Tigerclaw could speak. Although she had plenty of time to plan out her words while Tigerclaw was on the apprentice’s assessment, she found herself unable to convey what troubled her. He was totally oblivious to that his kits would be born to Goldenflower in two moons.

Pressure was what medicine cats were trained for, but not like this. What she did next wasn’t what would determine whether a cat would live or die, this would determine the rest of their lives. If she told him, he’d stay a warrior and follow a path Spottedleaf could predict was destructive; if she didn’t tell him he’d become a medicine cat, but after he came out as the kits father, he could blame her for not telling him. Her anxiety about the issue must have been clear as Tigerclaw interrupted her thoughts.

“Spotted, you doing okay? You look like you need to lie down.”

“Oh yeah,” She broke her concentration to look up at him and show she was fine. After a moment of hesitation, she continued, “We all have our secrets, right? Things that could hurt someone if they came out.”

Tigerclaw frowned, “Yes, I have some pretty big secrets.”

“My secret is basically the opposite of yours.” She mewed, mostly to herself.

“You have a secret? I thought you were as open as the sky.”

“I have my gray clouds.”

“Of course. What, did you eat two mice once?” Tigerclaw joked and gave her a nudge, but she still seemed unnerved, “I’m sure it's nothing, at least you haven't killed anyone.”

His joking helped relax the she-cat as the group reached the clearing, the other clans, except WindClan, had already arrived. There was no trace of the meadow mongering clan, but they had been late before. Apprentices ran ahead, warriors spread out to socialize, and Tigerclaw followed Spottedleaf to the other medicine cats.

As the other medicine cats gave Spottedleaf questioning looks about Tigerclaw, Lionheart called to the tabby warrior, “Tigerclaw, come tell the story about Ravenpaw catching those adders!” Tigerclaw, obviously having no other choice, said goodbye to the she-cat and padded off to join the other warriors.
“What was he doing?” Asked Runningnose, the ShadowClan medicine cat in a wheeze. “Can’t imagine why some warrior would spend his time listening in on our conversation.”

“He and I had just been talking.” Spottedleaf explained simply, settling down among her fellow medics. “He has quite the interest in healing.”

“Obviously not that interested.” Chimed in Mudfur, his tail flicking over to the tabby tom who was enjoying himself telling stories with other warriors.

Spottedleaf swallowed down her worries that were only increased by their comments, “So any news on new herbs?” She croaked to change the subject.

On top of the rock, Bluestar stepped forward. Gray fur glimmered in the moonlight; her eyes shone but hid emotion. “Cats of all clans, welcome.” Her voice echoed around the suddenly silent hollow. “It is true that WindClan is not present, but Brokenstar wishes to speak anyway.”

The mentioned tom slid forward as Bluestar gave her spot, leaving him at the center of the rock and the point of attention. “Comrades, I come to speak to you tonight about the needs of ShadowClan--”

Quickly he was interrupted by panicked voices, questioning him about the missing clan. Loud accusations with whimpers of worry were stopped just as quick as it started, with the mighty leader’s hush. The dark brown leader stared down the crowd with his dark yellow eyes, at his full height he towered over any other warrior, including Tigerclaw. His tail lashing behind him appeared to a warning of his irritation.

“As the leader of ShadowClan, it is my right to address you here.” He yowled before settling down, “With this hard leaf-bare we have been left with little prey in our hunting grounds. But we also know that WindClan, RiverClan, and ThunderClan lost many kits in the freezing weather that came so late this season. ShadowClan did not lose kits. We are hardened to the cold north wind. Our kits are stronger than yours from the moment they are born. And so, we find ourselves with many mouths to feed, and too little prey to feed them. Our needs are simple, in order to survive we must increase our hunting territory. That is why I insist that you allow ShadowClan warriors to hunt in your territories.”

After a moment of silence and then realization, panic broke out among the clan cats. Yowling and spitting flooded the air. Their objections only continued with the news from Crookedstar he gave up RiverClan territory.

“And what of ThunderClan? Bluestar, have you too agreed to this outrageous demand?” A ThunderClan elder called to the leader.

The blue furred leader scanned the crowd, outwardly unfazed, “I have made no agreements with Brokenstar except that I shall discuss his proposal with my Clan after the gathering.”

Although the tabby leader seemed unsatisfied by the ThunderClan leader’s response, he nodded. After a moment of silence, he continued on, his voice loud and raspy, almost unaware of the unease that had settled over the gathering, “I also bring news that is important to the safety of your kits. A ShadowClan cat has turned rogue and spurned the warrior code. We chased her out of our camp, but we do not know where she is now. She is a mangy old creature, but she has a bite like TigerClan.”

Murmurs spurred up, but Brokenstar mewed on, “She is dangerous. I warn you- do not offer sheltered to her and,” he paused and seemed to be pleased by the shocked looks upon the other warriors faces, “until she is caught and killed, I urge you to keep a close eye on your kits.”

With his speech delivered, Brokenstar and the other ShadowClan warriors quickly left from the hollow. Almost immediately, there was an uproar from the ThunderClan cats who had gotten a clear idea of who this mystery rogue was, and she sat back at camp unguarded.

“I tried to tell you she was a danger to us,” hissed Darkstripe.
“She’ll eat our kits!” cried an elder, who was silenced by other elders and senior warriors.

“She seemed harmless enough,” Spottedleaf who had joined her clanmates after ShadowClan left, looked to Tigerclaw, “perhaps we’ve been tricked?” Fear sprouted in her and in the rest of the cats.

Tigerclaw tilted his head above the crowd to voice his opinion but everyone was outspoken by Darkstripe.
The dark gray tom lashed his tail and stared down Bluestar, “You have to listen to reason now and get rid of her before she harms any of our young!”

With a sideways glance and a thoughtful look, she led the group over the hill and straight to camp, wasting no time in walking. Under the moon, they all rushed home to face this apparent unknown danger.

Through the gorse tunnel into camp came the cats- Bluestar first, Lionheart not a fox-length behind her, Frostfur and Willowpelt who raced after the deputy, then the others. Frostfur charged past all other cats into the nursery, her silver fur stood on end from alarm.

Tigerclaw funneled in camp, Spottedleaf at his side. “I’m going to go keep Darkstripe from, well, being Darkstripe.” The tall tabby told her, breaking away.

She watched as the entire camp burst to life, cats who once were asleep woke in the commotion. In a glance she caught Firepaw emerge in the cluster from a den and go to his friend, he was the most unnerved by the whole situation.

“Brokenstar has demanded hunting rights for ShadowClan in our territory!” Longtail yowled in response for some question the medicine cat hadn't caught.

“And he warned us about a rogue cat who will harm our kits!” Added Willowpelt. Her fur was bristled as she cried, “It must be Yellowfang!”

“Silence!” Ordered Bluestar who stood upon the high stone, her icy look halted the outbursts and instinctively cats gathered around to hear what she would say. As she began a loud yowl interrupted her as Darkstripe pulled the elderly she-cat from her nest into camp, being yelled at by Tigerclaw with every yank. She shrieked furiously as she was dumped in front of Highrock. The meeting was tense and silent except for Yellowfang who swiped at the dark tom and released several yowls of warnings before calming and turning to Bluestar.

“What is going on.” Demanded Bluestar, with a few leaps she landed next to the gray she-cat, her gaze of anger did not settle upon the ‘danger’, but on her own clanmates. “I gave no order to attack our prisoner.”

Darkstripe backed up a few paces, “We need to throw her out.” He said sternly, unleashing his claws as cats around him whispered their agreements. “We should kill her now!”

The leader squinted at him, “And what has she done?” her voice was as calm as the river on a clear night but as icy and cold as the frost.

Despite his rebuttals, Bluestar was prepared for each one, the leader made it clear there would be no hostility towards Yellowfang. The kits were safe and she had not committed any crime. ThunderClan stood alone against ShadowClan and the word of Brokenstar could hardly be trusted.
Finally, the leader announced, “I shall travel to the MoonStone tomorrow. The warriors of StarClan will give me the strength I need to lead ThunderClan through this dark time. Rest now, as daylight comes, we will have a lot to do.”

Chapter Text

“All clans are entitled to safe passage to the Moonstone, but ShadowClan seems to have no respect for the warrior code anymore, so be alert.” Warned Bluestar to the two apprentices who she and Tigerclaw traveled with. The brown tabby thought her words were in vain, however, since the young cats were hardly more than a ginger, gray, and black blurr further ahead in the tall WindClan grass. Despite what he thought, she carried on, “We mustn’t hunt outside our territory, though. We’ll follow the warrior code, even if ShadowClan doesn't.”

They had set out before the sun rose, taking the bitter traveling herbs which Tigerclaw could still taste. Before that, he had spent the night again with Spottedleaf, taking in more herb information. He never thought there could be so many different plants in the forest. It was overwhelming and gave him a new respect of Spottedleaf and all she knew.

“Tigerclaw?” Bluestar mewed loudly in his ear, “Are you listening?”

“Oh, sure.” He responded slightly stunned, not realizing how easily he got lost in his own thoughts.

“Well, do you smell any ShadowClan?” She asked impatiently, clearly having to repeat her question for the distracted warrior.

He took a moment to scent the air, “Yes,” he scanned the area, “they’re up wind, if we move quickly we’ll miss them.”

She nodded and picked up her pace, “Let’s go then.” Tigerclaw padded after, matching her strides. Reflexively, his claws extended and scraped the rough ground as another wave of ShadowClan scent hit them. Hopefully they would miss the patrol, he knew it would probably start a skirmish if they met. His mind flickered back to his last battle and a knot formed in his throat.

A loud pounding started in his ears and his legs trembled slightly. His claws still pressed into the dirt he wondered if he could really fight. A voice whispered to him that of course he could, he was Tigerclaw. It all made him want to lie down.

ShadowClan scent faded behind them as the ThunderClan cats carried on. The sun bathed them in unforgiving heat as they traveled on the border of WindClan. Tigerclaw cursed his ancestors for giving him such a thick pelt, but it made him appreciate being ThunderClan and having a home in the forest. He longed to be under the trees again, relaxing in Spottedleaf’s cool den and learning about what comfrey and goldenrod does.

Dreams of soft breezes and dappled shade from the tree leaves came to an end as the smell of twolegs and smog flooded the air. They had reached the Thunderpath, something even worse than the hottest days. Scattered twoleg nests surrounded the path, including a nest with howling and barking dogs.

“Let’s hurry, if we keep pace we can be there by moonrise.” Bluestar confidently crept closer to the Thunderpath. “Watch closely,” She mewed back to the apprentices. The leader scanned the road for oncoming monsters, staying perfectly still as one roared by. Again she checked before bounding across. In a few paces she had made it safely to the other side, where she peered back at them.

“Well,” Tigerclaw moved closer to the hedge, “Ravenpaw, you first.” He motioned for the apprentices to go. “We’ll be following right after you.”

Ravenpaw gave a wide-eyed looked at Tigerclaw before rushing to the edge of the path. His eyes flickered up and down the path before bolting over to join Bluestar, a monster, not five heartbeats after, storming down where he was.

‘So close,’ the same voice whispered to Tigerclaw again.

“Graypaw,” Tigerclaw called. He took it more bravely and after scanning made it over with no trouble. “And Firepaw.” The ginger apprentices moved more cautiously.

Taking a second to check for monsters, Tigerclaw darted over. “Let’s keep moving, I can’t stand the smell of twolegs.” His voice quivered slightly, unease still rang in his mind.

Bluestar lead them on further, the grass underfoot being coarser before it disappeared altogether and was replaced by sun scorched dirt. The sun no longer pounded on the group, now it was setting being the large wall of rock. Coming down one last hill, Bluestar paused and waited for everyone else to stop with her. “Mothermouth.” She stated.

The group used the last light of dusk to travel up the steep rocks and onto a platform at the entrance of the long and dark tunnel. “Graypaw and Ravenpaw will wait out here to guard, Tigerclaw and Firepaw will accompany me.”

Tigerclaw felt a weight drop in his stomach, “Sure.” He agreed.

Bluestar wasted no time and disappeared into the shadows, Firepaw and Tigerclaw on her tail. With each passing step, he wanted to turn around and run. No one would even notice, but still, he padded along. He felt the nervous swishing of Firepaw’s tail as the apprentice walked in front of him. He could say he got lost or confused and only managed to make his way outside. What an example that would set, if Bluestar was suspicious of him missing duties before what would she think of leaving the mothermouth.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t force his paws to turn. Soon enough, the darkness was interrupted with light and Tigerclaw’s escape plans slipped his mind.

The she-cat took her place by the large crystal, her paws placed beneath her as she took a seat. A moonbeam shot into the cavern from above and illuminated the stone further. She muttered a quiet prayer and placed her nose to the stone.

Tigerclaw sat back, standing at the entrance with Firepaw. He felt his own legs quivering, like they couldn’t stand his weight. He laid, or collapsed, onto the ground. His own fear scent wafted into the air and he hoped the apprentice couldn’t smell it.

He watched as Bluestar called Firepaw over, speaking in a low tone as she spoke to him about the moonstone. Then she stopped talking and the cave was plunged into darkness. Tigerclaw buried his face in his paws and waited for Bluestar to wake.

“Hey Tigerblossom, wake up,” a voice hissed with a harsh nudge at his side, it was that voice, Tigerclaw realized. “I thought I trained you better,” Thistlelcaw snarled.

“You don’t-” Tigerclaw began, but Thistleclaw motioned for him to stop.

“Such disappointments, you and Spottedleaf.” The dead warrior croaked. “You’re making a fool of me and yourself out there.” His dark eyes formed into slits, “You cannot deny your fate.”

“What fate?” Tigerclaw asked, despite towering over the gray warrior, he sat and did not dare to make a stand.

A smile spread on Thistleclaw’s face, “To lead those who were wronged against those who consider themselves mighty. To be a figure looked up to for ages. The greatest leader in the forest, Tigerstar. You’re giving all that up for some leaves.”
“You act like you have no choice, but you always have had one. The one you were born to complete,” His voice grew louder, “One apprentice can’t stand in your way, a whole clan couldn’t defeat you!”

“It’s not just about Ravenpaw!” Tigerclaw yowled above what Thistleclaw was saying, “And it’s not that I don’t think I could. If I follow this path, will I not just end up like you, Thistleclaw. A bit of dirt along ThunderClan’s legacy?”

“Watch your mouth,” Thistleclaw hissed, “Do what I say or die a failure.” The gray pelt of the warrior faded from sight. For a last heartbeat his yellow eyes lingered and froze Tigerclaw in his place.

Suddenly he was jolted back into action as a terrible pain spread across his throat. His eyes flickered down to the blood flowing over matted brown tabby fur.

“Has it been worth it, Tigerstar? All the hate? All the death?” Faint words called to him.

In front of him stood a ginger tom, Firepaw? He sputtered out, “Every moment.” And with a furious lunge he aimed for the tom’s, Firestar’s, throat. Instead, he landed short and was tackled down by the other. Tigerstar kicked his back legs wildly, after a moment he wriggled his way out and back to his paws.

Again, Tigerstar pounced and aimed for his flank, tearing at the ginger, he was caught by his side and torn away. In the pouring rain, his paws slid and he toppled to the ground. In a blurr, pounding strikes were inflicted on his head.

Tigerclaw sat back up, squinting at the difference in light. He stood a fox-length above the scene as he watched Firepaw collapse and a burning tree limb crash down.

“This is your destiny,” Another voice mewed. Appearing beside him sat Redtail, “Yeah, I’m sure it’d be fun for a while, but is it worth it Tigerclaw?”

“No!” Tigerclaw cried, backing away from the scene. Terror gripped Tigerclaw as he looked upon the battlegrounds and the cat who he killed.

“Your story has been written this way, but I don’t think you’re that Tigerclaw, or Tigerstar.” The tortoiseshell mewed softly, “I don’t know how your story will end, but it has to be better than this one right?”

“I’m sorry,” Tigerclaw choked out. Redtail faded from his sight, “Please, I-”

“We must return to camp immediately,” Bluestar mewed quickly, waking Tigerclaw. The warrior staggered to his feet, and followed her closely as the exited the Moonstone’s cavern. Daze replaced the pounding in his head. Darkness again swallowed the warriors as Bluestar swiftly headed for camp.

Chapter Text

Dead on his white dipped paws, Tigerclaw padded along in the back of the patrol. His head hung low and his eyelids drooped, but the urgency in Bluestar’s speed walking made it clear they were not stopping anytime soon.

She seemed to be aiming to get back to camp before they could even take a breath— or before Tigerclaw could wrap his head around what his dream had been about. As far as was concerned, that was a good thing.

Sunlight peeked over the distance oak trees as the patrol had returned to the old WindClan territory. The place reeked of ShadowClan, putting each of them on the edge. Even as they entered their own forest, the swampy smell continued, Bluestar began to run. Crouching low, the leader stood on the edge of the ravine, her eyes slits, “It is as StarClan warned me. Our camp is being attacked!”

In a heartbeat, they pushed through the camp entrance and into the invaded opening. The large brown tabby paused in the middle of camp; claws and teeth tore and yowls echoed, disorienting him. The urge to battle that once would have left him thoughtless, was gone. His claws were still sheathed and thoughts of going to the medicine cat den were in his head as he was thrown to the ground. ShadowClan claw’s ripped at his side as a black she-cat stood over him and bared her teeth. Tigerclaw snarled back and launched her off with his back legs.

Amber eyes blazed as he tackled her, biting and ripping fur from her hanches. She spat and flipped over, kicking him in the face. Faltering back for a moment he felt his neck bristle, and then he lunged forward, his teeth latching into the ShadowClanner’s exposed neck. With a muffled yowl, she squirmed and pushed, unable to break away.

Tigerclaw sank his fangs in further, but after a second, released. The she-cat hissed, raising a paw to smack him as a threat and scooted back. He watched as she ran off, the black molly joined by others as ShadowClan fled from the camp. Once every intruder was chased, his legs dropped below him.

Stale moss crinkled under his nose and familiar scents comforted him. His aching was not as bad as before but still prevented him from too much movement. As he adjusted himself in the nest, a sharp pain shot through his upper leg and he noticed a tightly wrapped patch of cobweb and what smelled to be chevil and horsetail.

‘Chevil for wounds and horsetail for infections,’ he thought mindlessly as he pulled his weight off his injury.

“Tigerclaw!” Mewed worried Spottedleaf, “Good StarClan, if you didn’t feel up to going to Mother Mouth why didn’t you just tell Bluestar?”

“What?”

“You’re overexerted, and then you choose to fight, like yeah that helps.” Spottedleaf circled his nest and checked his wound. “It’s a miracle I was able to get you down here.”

“How did the battle end?”

The molly medicine cat grew quiet, “We won, I guess.” Her gaze flickered to other nests in the den which were filled with warriors. “Two casualties on our end.”

Tigerclaw looked over the their clanmates, “Who?”

“Rosetail and Lionheart.”

Tigerclaw buried his face into his paws, the she-cat did what she could to give him some comforting licks. A boulder had been dropped upon his back and it hurt much more than any injury inflicted.

“Lionheart was a noble cat,” he mewed and stood up, “he will not die in vain.”

“Tigerclaw,” Spottedleaf looked hesitant, “what are you going to do?”

The tall brown tabby limped on his leg as he walked on, “I don’t know, first I guess I’ll go sit vigil.”

Light flooded into camp as the morning edged on, it dappled through the trees and onto the mourning cats in the clearing. By Lionheart’s side was Speckletail, Goldenflower, Whitestorm, and Frostfur. Tigerclaw had gone up to say his goodbyes and a silent prayer for the warrior and now lingered on the edge of camp. He watched the others, most going and saying short blessings and joining him along the outer walls. Bluestar laid beside Rosetail, her face buried into the still she-cat’s side.

“A sad sight,” Darkstripe said in a tone not as sympathetic as it should have been, “ShadowClan will soon realize what a mistake they have made.” He nudged Tigerclaw’s shoulder. “Especially with you in charge,”

“Huh?” Tigerclaw half listened to what his former apprentice chatted on about.

“Now that Lionhearts, uh, gone,” the dark tom put lightly, “you’re next in line for deputy. It's a guarantee.”

“Sure,” Tigerclaw blinked and walked off.

Chapter Text

Bluestar sat solely on highrock, her fur was a mess and a small cut at the base of her ear was slowly dripping blood. However she did not take notice, instead she was thinking. 

‘StarClan had warned me too late,’ she looked to silverpelt, ‘they have taken Rosetail and Lionheart.’ 

‘What have they left me?’ 

“Bluestar,” 

‘ They have left me a clan to run.’  

“I know you need your time,” 

‘ With no hope.’

“But it is almost sunset, and then moonhigh.” 

“Yes, you’re right, Whitestorm.” Bluestar broke away from her thoughts. Her dark eyes struggled to focus on her nephew in the dark. “ThunderClan has been hit, now we need some recovery, a cat who could put up a challenge to Brokenstar.” 

“No seriously!” Darkstripe padded after Tigerclaw, “Who else could she chose?”

“Whitestorm,” He grumbled, “Willowpelt, Mousefur,” 

“Oh StarClan, we would collapse under anyone else but you.” The sleek tom mewed and nudged the muscular tabby. 

“Please, Darkstripe,” Tigerclaw pulled away, “I need some rest. It’s been a difficult day.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Darkstripe nodded and sat down, “but you just have to consider it all. This is the perfect chance.” His eyes glew a mischievous yellow.

Tigerclaw bristled, “Lionheart died today, Darkstripe.” 

“I’m aware,” he squeaked, “but Redtail died a few moons ago, too. Deputies and friends come and go. Opportunities do not. They would want you to be deputy, to be leader.” 

“Why don’t you become deputy.” The broad shouldered tom ignored Darkstripe. The last thing Redtail wanted was for him to become deputy, that would just be giving into what Tigerclaw was trying so hard to bury. 

“Bluestar would never pick me, I’m not like you.” Darkstripe wrapped his tail around his paws, “I’m no strong and honorable warrior.” 

“Don’t speak so lowly of yourself.” ‘It’s annoying’ 

“Yes, well, it’s true.” Darkstripe concluded, “All I’m asking is that you aren’t foolish. Think of your future, of ThunderClan’s future.” 

“I have though plenty on the topic,” Tigerclaw stared down his past apprentice and with a flick of his tail, padded towards the medicine cat tunnel. 

“Have you thought it all over?” Spottedleaf mewed to the tom who was creeping down the path. “Of,” she paused to lower her voice to a whisper, “your future choices?” 

“Not enough,” he admitted, joining her in the clearing. “I have things I still need to consider.” 

“It’s no easy choice, but would you change your mind this far into your training?” 

It seemed to Tigerclaw she meant to ask, ‘ Would you betray Redtail again?’ Sighing he set his head on his outstretched paws. 

“You have excelled beyond my expectations,” Spottedleaf continued, taking her own place next to the warrior. “I couldn’t have had a better apprentice.” 

“Kind of you to say,” he mumbled, it was the first time he had considered himself her apprentice. 

“And after all of this, you have changed.” She filled the silence of the den, “Do you really think you could go back to being a warrior?” 

“Ugh,” Tigerclaw bristled, “I think I need some sleep. It’s been a rough day.” Repeating what he had told Darkstripe. Everyone was bothering him today. “I don’t need to hold the future of the clan on my shoulders.” He hissed. 

“But you have to hold your own.” The tortoiseshell remained in her spot, letting Tigerclaw walk away. 

“Cat of ThunderClan,” Moonlight shone heavy on the gathered clan. The bodies of the dead warriors had been buried at dusk and now night had taken full effect. 

“She almost missed her deadline,” Darkstripe’s gaze was focused on the moon, almost in full moon-high position. 

“She has a hard decision to make.” Spottedleaf retorted. 

“Ha! Hardly. You do you expect to become deputy?” The almost invisible dark tom meowed snarky. 

“Hush,” Tigerclaw gruffly interrupted. “I need to listen.” 

“StarClan guided me home in time to stop any further damage,” The tabby listened to Bluestar, “but loses we still faced. Rosetail and Lionheart have become warriors of StarClan.

“With Lionheart’s death, it is my duty to announce the new deputy. So, with StarClan’s approval, Tigerclaw, will you accept the honor of becoming ThunderClan’s deputy?” 

Tigerclaw stood up- behind him he could imagine, Darkstripe would look like he was surprised, but his eyes would give away how smug he was, Spottedleaf would be looking at him with her big green-yellow eyes, pleadingly, either with the warrior who could not see them or with StarClan- and padded forwards. 

“I cannot accept.” 

Chapter Text

Goldenflower felt her jaw hang ajar as Tigerclaw rejected Bluestar’s offer. Around her erupted her clanmates outraged and confused responses’, ranging from quiet murmurs whispered to shocked yowling. The queen remained silent, her mind unusually blank. 

She had known Tigerclaw for more moons than she could remember, why would he now have such a change in character? 

“Hush!” Bluestar hissed to quiet the clan, “Tigerclaw has made his choice,” she hesitated, pausing for Tigerclaw to leap up and change his mind, but to no avail, “and we must respect that.” 

Her silver-blue eyes peered over the crowd as she continued, “Under StarClan I declare my next choice, Whitestorm, do you accept to become ThunderClan’s deputy and be willing to give yourself for your clan?” 

“Imagine if he said no too,” mewed Frostfur with a snicker from the other nursery queens. 

“He wouldn’t say no! Whitestorm is no coward.” Brindleface snapped, her fur fluffed up in defense of her mate. 

“Oh I’m only playing, Brindle.” Frostfur wrapped her tail around the other molly, a cheeky smile spread across her face. “It still would be so funny.” 

“It’s not funny!” Brindleface hissed, “What kind of cat refuses being deputy? I’d think he had his loyalties lying somewhere else.” 

“He had his loyalties lying with Goldenflower till he started hanging with the medicine cat,” Speckledtail, stretching in her nest from the back of the nursery. “What’s her name again?” 

“Spottedleaf?” Frostfur answered, “You really are getting up there, Speckles. Soon you’ll be out of here and right into the elder’s den.” 

“What do you mean his loyalties are with Spottedleaf?” Goldenflower pricked her claws into the soft dirt. 

“A joke, mousy,” The elderly queen quipped as she gave a playful cuff to Frostfur. “I’ve heard he even sleeps in there now.” 

Goldenflower sat disgruntled as she watched her fellow queens shake their heads disapprovingly. 

“Don’t be silly,” Goldenflower explained, “Tigerclaw couldn’t accept because he knows I’m pregnant.” 

“Does he know it’s with your kits?” Brindleface asked. 

“Yes!” Goldenflower hissed defensively, “Spottedleaf was supposed to tell him. He wouldn’t risk his life when I needed him.” 

“I would keep your hopes up,” Speckletail laid back down into her nest, “Many toms, especially ones like Tigerclaw, may get a little carried away with other she-cats and forget another one is already carrying his kits.” 

“If worse comes to worse you can always deny that they’re his.” Mewed Frostfur, giving her a lick on her forehead. 

“This is ridiculous.” Goldenflower spat, jerking away from Frostfur. “I’m going to see him.” 

Tigerclaw had slunk his way down the medic tunnel, his fur standing relentlessly on end. Behind him rushed in Spottedleaf. At the end of the tunnel, they met each other and the warrior stood silently for a moment to collect his thoughts. 

“That doesn’t mean you’re a medicine cat.” Spottedleaf tilted her head towards Tigerclaw, “If you still wanted to-“

“No.” Tigerclaw interrupted and pressed his forehead against hers, “I know what I need to do. I’ve made my decision.” 

“Tigerclaw?” A voice weakly called from the top of the hill. The warrior turned to see Goldenflower making her way down urgently, her eyes in angry slits and claws extended. No matter how angry she appeared it was hard to take her as a threat when she struggled to make it down the tunnel, swollen with kits. Spottedleaf quickly jumped to assist her, but was brushed off by the agitated molly. 

“What is this?” She asked standing close enough now to Tigerclaw so he could see the hurt in her eyes. “What are you doing down here and why aren’t you deputy?”

“I’ve found a higher calling.” He answered sharply. 

“A higher calling than your own kits?!” The queen snapped. 

Tigerclaw stood gawking, “My.. my..” he gulped, “My kits? Are you sure?” 

“Yes I’m sure! I'm no mousebrain, though apparently you are!” 

“Goldenflower,” Spottedleaf butted in, “please settle down, I...I never got around to telling him..” she admitted. 

“StarClan!” The sun colored tabby exclaimed, “You couldn’t even help me with that! I'm sure you both had much more important things to talk about down here than the queen who is carrying your kits!” 

“It wasn't like that!” Tigerclaw denied, not liking Goldenflower’s accusatory tone. 

“What else could it have possibly been,” She collapsed to the ground is a whirlwind of emotion, “Just tell me the truth, Tigerclaw.” 

“I came down here to practice to be a medicine cat after I killed Redtail.” 

Goldenflower stared blankly. Spottedleaf couldn't watch and had to turn away from the quarrel. Tigerclaw stood completely still and the den seemed as quiet as it could possibly be. “I'm almost done too.” 

“I,” Goldenflower finally stammered out, “What about me and the kits?” 

“That was when I was a warrior,” He placed his head on her shoulder and lapped down some of her pricked fur. “They’ll be my kits, but you cannot be my mate.” 

“I didn’t suppose we’d be even if you were a warrior.” She leant against him. 

“While you’re down here, let’s check you out, huh?” Spottedleaf lightheartedly suggested. 

“Not here, let’s head to the nursery. I'm tired after all of this.” She stood hesitantly for a heartbeat, “We’ll talk later, Tigerclaw.”  

Darkstripe watched as a crowd formed around Whitestorm to congratulate him. Brindleface and Frostfur had left the nursery to go celebrate. He poked his head in, after the attack on the camp, a large gash in the back of the den had yet to be repaired. The only witness to be seen was Speckletail, who laid motionless and asleep, if they could work quietly it would all be according to the plan. 

Appearing suddenly from the gash were two amber eyes and in the light of nursery as they stepped inside, it became clear who it was by the large scars across his muzzle. 

“Darkstripe,” he spoke softly, standing low, “You have your mission, take two kits and I’ll get the other two.” 

“Yes Clawface.” The midnight tabby sifted through Frostfur’s moss nest and plucked easily two small kittens. “See you at the camp.” 

Carefully avoiding all noise makers as he padded along the trail Clawface had taken into ThunderClan, Darkstripe lashed his tail in anticipation. Just as he had made a few good yards from the camp he heard a clamor from the nursery. It seemed to end with a heavy thud and Clawface quickly rushing to join him. 

“No time to spare,” he hissed and pushed his way in front of Darkstripe. “Brokenstar expects these kits immediately.” 

Darkstripe held his gaze to the nursery for a moment longer before slowly turning to catch up, the mewling kits clamped tightly in his jaw. 

Chapter Text

“He..did he.. could he actually have.. why would he..” Goldenflower stuttered, using Spottedleaf as a crutch to return to camp from the medic den. “It doesn’t make any since. How can you even stand to be around him?”

“I don’t know,” Spottedlead admitted, unsure of how to answer. “Tigerclaw came to me for help and I felt obligated, I guess. He’s my friend.”

“He killed your brother.”

“When he told me,” Spottedleaf began slowly, “he had this look in his eyes. I had never seen it before, not from him. I knew it wasn't an accident, but I also knew he could have never predicted what would happen afterwards. He was willing to give up everything to serve as a medicine cat, so how could I deny him?”

“You should have just told him no. What if news comes that he was the cause of other deaths? If he conspired to have Lionheart killed, I don't think I could maintain your empathy and composure.” Goldenflower concluded with a wheeze, “Everyday these pains are getting worse.”

“That means your kits are due soon.” The medic mewed, happy to change the subject.

“It means I can't move,” the queen panted, “give me a heartbeat to have them pass.”

“Oh yes,” Spottedleaf nodded, “You stay here and I’ll run ahead to prepare your nest extra soft, call if you need anything.”

Goldenflower stood for a couple of minutes, catching her breath and then losing it. She knew she wasn't ready yet, just some pregnancy pain, like what she had with her previous litter. After it had passed, she concluded it wasn’t anything serious.

“Spottedleaf was much too eager to leave my side,” Goldenflower said hushly to herself, continuing her slow journey to the nursery.

“I’m okay now,” Goldenflower peaked her head in, “passing pain,” she scanned the eerily still den and huffed in confusion, “She wasn’t that eager to get rid of me.”

From the gash in the wall shone two eyes that froze Goldenflower, the glaring ambers kept her paws latched to the ground where she stood, the figure was unseeable in the dark, “Tigerclaw?” She asked weakly.

The shadow did not respond and instead dashed out, a mewling noise accompanying them. With a deep and anxious breath she stepped into the den, in the corner opposite of the gash laid Speckletail, asleep despite the fact she was supposed to be on guard. Stepping around her, Goldenflower halted as blood pooled around her paws, still warm. “Spottedleaf?”

“Bluestar!” Goldenflower moved as quickly as she could to the leader’s den, her pregnancy seemed more and more like a curse. Summoned by the shouts of the worried queen, Whitestorm came down from highrock.

“Breathe, Goldenflower, Bluestar is preoccupied currently, tell me what’s wrong?”

“I need to speak to her,” The queen demanded, the small scene had gathered the attention of the cats in camp.

Whitestorm with a nervous lash of his tail restated, “Tell me.” trying to avoid the watchful eyes of their clanmates.

“Whitestorm I cannot climb up there to talk to her myself and this is an urgent matter.”

“She’s speaking to Firepaw,” Whitestorm explained, hoping that would calm the queen slightly and prevent a clan uproar.

“The nursery-”

“My kits!” Frostfur barged into camp, her white fur standing on end and eyes wide with alarm, “Someone has taken my kits!”

Goldenflower flinched away as Whitestorm stood to give orders, “They must be in camp, warriors are to patrol the boundary and apprentices, check every den!” In a moment the camp was in a flurry in search of the missing kits, Goldenflower felt herself in shock even though she was well aware of the news.

Tigerclaw, left alone in the medicine cat den, began to organize the herbs. Spottedleaf had told him sometime back when she got stressed she would arrange and straighten up the herbs, it helped her feel like she had done something worthwhile instead of moping around. Down in the den alone, it was easy to understand what a solitude she must have always been in, he thought that was probably the real reason she helped him.

“This is chamomile,” He meowed to himself, “eases the mind and goes with the traveling herbs. I could probably use some.”

“And this is coltsfoot, no wait, these are dandelions.” Having the knowledge to be able to correct himself gave Tigerclaw a quick feeling of pride. Life as a medicine cat was what he needed, he decided.

There was no better time to decide, the tom told himself, his thoughts could not be any clearer. “Goldenflower, Bluestar... Thistleclaw, they’ll all understand.”

As he packed away the dandelions, he heard a yowl from beyond the tunnel, he whipped his head up to see and caught glances of the unusually active camp. Setting aside all the herbs, he scurred up the path to get an explanation.

“Yellowfang is gone!” Cried some cat buried in a camp wall bush.
“Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and taken my kits!” Screeched Frostfur.

“Killed Spottedleaf?” murmured Tigerclaw, suddenly unable to stand up.

The flurry of panic continued, emerging from the crowd came Longtail who nudged Tigerclaw. The brown tabby’s eyes were set on the other tom, but he could not be bothered to hear what he was rambling on about. Rather, he took to getting up on his wobbling legs and checking the nursery for himself.

The den was dark and rain droplets dripped down from where a sudden storm had brewed. Thunder crackled over head, accompanied by lightning that shone a brief light on the strewn corpse of Spottedleaf.

“If Yellowfang has killed Spottedleaf and stolen Frostfur’s kits, she will be hunted down without mercy.” Bluestar’s voice echoed softly through the den’s walls. Tigerclaw couldn’t be bothered to focus on the rest, instead allowing her voice to become a soft droll of orders.

Mousefur stepped into the den, followed by Longtail, after a moment of shock, they dipped their heads and hurriedly carried Spottedleaf to the clearing. Again Longtail turned to say something, but this time remained silent.

Stranded alone, Tigerclaw bowed his head to her death site, preserving all the scents he could gather before the rain swept them away. “ShadowClan.. and….” he hesitated, in his grief and the thick scent of the nursery must deceive him. Darkstripe had no business in the nursery.

As he tracked along, making a strong and quick effort against the rain, he found his nose had not tried to fool him and the stench of ShadowClan was paired with Darkstripe. And the ThunderClan nursery which he supposed must have been the missing kits Frostfur wailed about.

His suspicion about the kits proved true as he smelt kitscent, and it seemed Frostfur’s theory rang true as well as the tom picked up on Yellowfang’s scent. Slowing his pace, he carefully approached a stump baring his fangs, but the elderly she-cat had already moved on. Confusingly, he also caught the scent of Firepaw, Graypaw, and Ravenpaw, but they were nowhere to be seen either.

In the mix of all the scents, the rain washing half of them away, Tigerclaw huffed and took a rest. He couldn’t even begin to think of what he was doing. Going to go save those kits? Going to go kill Yellowfang? His ears lowered to his head and he took a deep breath.

“Borage is to lower fevers, broom is to bend broken bones, burdock root is for rat bites, tansy is for,” his mind blanked and he looked to the clouded sky, “I don’t know that I can do this without you, Spottedleaf.”

“Tansy is for curing coughs.” Croaked an old voice, in his daze, Yellowfang had managed to make her way right in front of the tom. “Tigerclaw,” she continued, apparently having not having just shown up to help him with his herb knowledge, “I’ve seen a lot. You must get up and help us,” Behind her approached more ShadowClan cats, not fine warriors, Tigerclaw could tell, but some outcasts.

“A ThunderClan patrol approaches, I am innocent and so are you. So I urge you to come along.”

“Of course I’m innocent?” The tabby got to his paws, “What do you mean?”

“Maybe you were told your path would be simple, good or evil. I’m sorry to tell you that way is long and difficult and rumors linger yet. Your scent hung heavy on Spottedleaf and in the nursery.”

“Ridiculous,” He padded after the she-cat and her comrades, “I could never.”

“Never is a stretch, huh.” She spoke curiously, “I must go meet with the other ThunderClanners, Dawncloud will lead your way.”

After Yellowfang finished, she quickly headed off, leaving Tigerclaw and the ShadowClan queen. “Hurry along now,” The dark molly nodded, “There really is no time to waste.”

Chapter Text

Ferns crumpled and the muddy ground sunk slightly under Tigerclaw’s paws. His long belly fur brushed the soggy ground as he and ShadowClan queen, Dawncloud, crouched hidden outside of the ShadowClan camp. Unease prickled along his neck fur as they peered in. 

“What held you up?” Tigerclaw heard the faint conversation between Darkstripe and a ShadowClan warrior. The bulky brown tom, Clawface, as Tigerclaw recognized, sneered, “Nothing, some she-cat. Where are the kits?” 

“There,” Darkstripe pointed off somewhere obscured to Tigerclaw. 

“I ought to tear his tail off.” Hissed Tigerclaw, “That traitor.” 

“ShadowClan feels the same about Brokenstar,” Dawncloud frowned, she lifted her nose and took a moment to scent the air, “More ThunderClan are coming this way.” 

“Yellowfang said they would be,” The storm crackled overhead the forest as Tigerclaw looked to spot any of his clanmates, “I can’t see how close they are-“ 

Tigerclaw was tackled to the ground, a tight grasp on his neck toppled him over onto his side. Quickly, he scrambled to push himself away from the attacker. On the marshy ground it was difficult to get a grip, his claws sank deeper into the soil as he was bombarded from above. With a swift twist, he knocked off the attacker with his hindlegs. 

“Tigerclaw.” His attacker hissed. 

“Firepaw.” Tigerclaw regained his footing, noticing how the other ThunderClan warriors gathered behind the young ginger tom. No one bothered to stop the apprentice. 

“ThunderClan,” Dawncloud stepped forward, “Your kits are inside the camp,” 

“They know,” Yellowfang pushed past the crowd to look over the barrier. “They’ll scent us any second now.” The other ShadowClan cats followed behind her. 

“So it's all simple, right?” Runningwind spoke up, making his own way through, “We just drop into your camp, snatch the kits, kill your leader, and go home.” 

“You will not meet as much resistance as you think.” One of the ShadowClan elders murmured. 

Yellowfang’s words faded away as she introduced her ShadowClan friends. 

“ Has it been worth it, Tigerstar? All the hate? All the death?” Tigerclaw felt cold, sitting in the continuously pouring rain, Firepaw’s claws still left a sting in his throat. ‘Did Firepaw think he was a ShadowClan cat or was he really aiming to-‘ 

The young apprentice sat closely by Yellowfang, his pelt prickled slightly. 

‘ What does he know?’ 

“Settle in that toadstool,” ordered Yellowfang, “It’ll hide your scents for a heartbeat longer.” The patrol, including Tigerclaw, hunkered down as Yellowfang and her comrades padded around to the camp entrance and pushed their way through. 

Tigerclaw spotted Ravenpaw crouching next to Graypaw. 

‘Who would notice in the middle of a battle if he...’ 

A yowl summoned for ThunderClan to come out of hiding. Tigerclaw hesitated for a moment, standing alone in the toadstool. He leaned out into the clearing, chaos had quickly erupted. Darkstripe stood by the kits, unnoticed in the battle. 

With a deep breath he leapt out of the underbrush with a snarl, his agile paws carried him weightlessly over the muddy ground. 

“Get them in the den, mouse-brain!” Clawface snarled and raised a paw to swipe at Darkstripe. 

A loud warning hiss alerted Tigerclaw, he snapped around to see Ravenpaw cornered by two warriors. He was restless, Spottedleaf would want avenged, that’s what he was here to do. He could leave Ravenpaw and kill Clawface, that was what she wanted. 

‘ That’s not what she would want.’ He turned sharply, slipping in the mud, knocking into one of the warriors. His claws grasped for a leg and yanked down the warrior, giving the ThunderClan tom time to bounce back to his paws. 

He stood in front of the dark apprentice, “Go get those kits.” He snapped, Ravenpaw flinched but followed the command. 

A paw smacked at the side of his face, dangerously close to his eye. He jerked back and reared on his hindlegs to tackle the ShadowClan warrior. The other warrior had taken off after Ravenpaw, leaving Tigerclaw to knock down the remaining cat long enough to give himself time to chase after. 

Ravenpaw had grabbed one of the kits, Firepaw reaching to grab two others. Even from a few fox-lengths away, Tigerclaw could see Firepaw shaking as Clawface cornered them, by his furrowed brows and bared teeth he could tell it was not out of fear. Whitestorm swooped in and snatched the remaining kit, knocking Darkstripe down in the process. 

‘ Can this apprentice go a heartbeat without being cornered?’ He thought gruffly, hurrying over. 

“Tigerclaw!” Darkstripe scrambled to his paws, still standing behind Clawface, “I did what you were too much of a coward to do.” 

“Oh?” Tigerclaw crouched, the other ThunderClanners lingered behind him for a moment before Whitestorm urged them away. 

“I made an alliance with cats who aren't afraid of themselves. ShadowClan knows what they're capable of. They don't go hiding down in the medicine cat den.” 

“You friends with medicine cats, huh Tiger?” Clawface snarled and stepped forward, “You must be awfully lousy at picking your alliances, a traitor and a dead cat.” 

“You say one more word and I’ll— I’ll” 

“A bit late to be getting choked up,” Clawface snapped, Darkstripe dashed off, Tigerclaw turned to see Whitestorm and the apprentices fighting off any attackers as they stood protecting the kits. “A whole group of warriors or one little calico molly, you ThunderClan cats are useless at protecting your kits.

“She was the easiest kill I have ever made.” 

In a heartbeat, Tigerclaw was on the brown warrior and slammed his own side against him to shoved him back. Clawface sneered, taking the opportunity to jump onto Tigerclaw’s exposed back, snapping and tearing at his neck. 

Tigerclaw thrashed to throw him off, before collapsing down onto his side, where now on the ground, Clawface ran his claws across Tigerclaw’s back. 

“I was hoping you’d put up a challenge!” Clawface released his grip to snark. 

Tigerclaw rolled the opposite way, propping himself half-way up to slash at Clawface’s throat. The other tom wheezed and slunk away, Tigerclaw got to his paws. 

Clawface slid back onto his paws, remaining crouched to the ground. The broad tom with a shove of his paw pinned down Clawface to the dirt. Tigerclaw’s claws sank into the brown tom’s face, his teeth were bared. Clawface was unable to protect his throat, thrashing as he did, he was defenseless. 

Tigerclaw drug his claws across the tom’s face and backed away. He dropped his snarl and retracted his claws.  

“Get out of here, coward!” Darkstripe reappeared, his thin pelt was standing on end as he snarled at his former mentor. “You’re not the Tigerclaw I know.” 

“Good; you’re still the cowardly tom I always knew you as.” The brown tabby glared at the dark tom. In a heartbeat, Tigerclaw felt claws slice past his chest fur. He staggered back, mouth agape as blood poured down his fur.

Darkstripe had blood pooling at his paws, “Leave.” He repeated.

Chapter Text

Warm sunlight trickled through the slim entrance of the medic’s den, shimmering onto the sleeping Tigerclaw. The morning light turned his tabby fur into a glistening soft brown, speckled with the bright particles in the beam. The light lulled Tigerclaw awake. Stretching out his legs, he was released from the stiff grip of sleep. 

“Hiya Tiger,” Spottedleaf squeezed into the den, momentarily blocking out the sunlight. “You look like you slept well,” she laughed and pawed at his ruffled fur. 

Frowning, Tigerclaw sat up, casting his gaze away from Spottedleaf, “...I’m sorry, Leaf,” he sighed, “I should have known better by now, I should have listened to you more. I almost killed Clawface... I could have killed him,” his claws pressed into the nest. 

“But you didn’t,” she smiled and cocked her head to the side, “That’s got to count for something.”

Swiping a paw over his face to do some grooming, he shook his head, “It can’t count for much if I thought about doing it though.” 

That made Spottedleaf’s soft face sour into a frown, hidden partly as she lapped down some of Tigerclaw’s messy neck fur, “It would have taken a lifetime to teach you everything. I can teach herbs just fine, but being good, that comes from you. But so does being bad… and so does just kinda being in the middle. Maybe you’re not the best, but at least you're getting better. I'm proud of you for having done that much. 

“We can’t always control what we think, sometimes it’s just part of us, you already had a lifetime thinking like that.” 

“I still have a lifetime to get better, I guess.” The tom looked up at the tortoiseshell with a smile, but it was quickly lost as he saw her expression when she pulled away from him. 

Looking almost in shock, her eyes were wide and her mouth hung a little open, “Don’t you remember that battle, Tigerclaw?” Her gaze was not meeting his eyes, it was on his neck. “How it ended for you?

“I'm of course still proud of you for all you’ve done but—“ 

Piercing pain shot through Tigerclaw, the spot that Spottedleaf had lapped down was pulsing. His amber eyes flickered down to see blood flow steadily from an open wound that stretched from his chest up his neck. As he had his head tilted down he could feel more blood pooling in the back of his throat. He gagged to spit it out, scrambling to his paws. As heavily as blood oozed from his neck, it leaked out of his mouth. 

“You know, I’m proud of you too, Tigerclaw.” Laughed a raspy voice from behind him. “Even after all that nonsense in the medicine cat den, you’re still you. You’re still a warrior at heart.” Thistleclaw started up a new cackle and circled around the gagging tom, “You’re still my apprentice.” 

“Nowe Iahm” Tigerclaw sputtered, the blood clogging his mouth, “Noo ‘m” he tried again. 

“Now hush,” Thistleclaw sneered, “You listen to me again. You did your deeds and no amount of leaf picking and star praising saved your pitiful soul.” 

Tigerclaw shook his head, splattering blood on the rough dead ground, and backed away from the gray tom. In the harsh light of the forest, tall shadows casted down on Thistleclaw and displayed his ragged and unwashed fur with coarse patches that looked to be black with rot. If he was any skinnier his bones would surely be breaking out of his skin. Even his face held a hollow expression, like it was practically a skull. 

“We’ll be making our plans of revenge till the day we’ve both turned to dust!” As he laughed, his whole body shook, dust flittered into the air. 

“Noa! Noo! No!” Choking, Tigerclaw swiped at his old mentor as he backed away. 

“Yeah you get in your practice shots, we have a lifetime to train!” Thistleclaw fell and rolled with horrid laughter, his body—his bones— clanking against the ground as he howled, “A lifetime!” 

“Leef! Leaf! Spottedleaf! Spottedleaf!” Tigerclaw gagged, in trying to continue moving away from Thistleclaw, he felt his paws sink into the muddy forest ground. In a heartbeat he was up to his stomach in thick mud, “Leaf!” 

“Spottedleaf isn’t here to help you.” 

“Spotted...leaf.” Tigerclaw repeated, his eyes slowly adjusting to the new light to see the gray cat who stood above him was not the decaying corpse of his old mentor, but Yellowfang. Quickly, Tigerclaw recognized the scent of the medic’s den and the rough patient's nest he was currently settled in. 

“If you keep calling for her you’re gonna wind up meeting her in StarClan because your wound will reopen.” The ShadowClan molly snapped. 

“I’m… sorry.” He said softly, being cautious to speak as his throat felt as if he had been eating sand in his sleep, “Water, please?” 

With a grunt she turned and left the den, returning a few moments later with a wad of semi-soaked moss. She set it in front of him and surprisingly to Tigerclaw, took a seat near the edge of the den. 

“Am I the only,” he involuntarily paused to wheeze, “only one down here?” 

“Besides me, yep, everyone else was out of here yesterday or earlier today, not too many serious injuries all and all. Whoever you pissed off to get clawed so bad must have really had it out for you.” She spoke in a joking tone but neither of them laughed.

“Yeah, I don’t need to know about it,” Yellowfang faced towards the den entrance, “Thank the stars that they didn’t kill you, surprising I know, but even the great Tigerclaw could be killed.” 

“That’s not such a surprising concept.” He croaked a dry answer. 

“Gone through some personal developments lately? From what Firepaw says about you, I never could have guessed you were the reflective type.” 

He lapped at the last drops of water in the moss, “Something like that.” He had briefly been confused why Yellowfang was still hanging around, after all, ShadowClan had now been cleared of those who had exiled her, but he considered she was most likely invited to join ThunderClan, now that they were missing a medicine cat. Another sting of pain made him gasp slightly and have to contain his ragged breathing. 

Yellowfang, turning back towards Tigerclaw, opened her mouth before shutting it quickly in hesitation. 

“I don’t need advice or anything.” Tigerclaw propped himself up on his front legs, “I don’t need anything right now… except maybe more water.”

Yellowfang obliged and resoaked his moss ball. “I also noticed all the time you spent with Spottedleaf,”

“Did Firepaw tell you about that too?” He turned his head away from Yellowfang to hide his deep furrowed brows and eyes he was sure were filled with sorrow at even the mention of her name. 

“No,” she scoffed, “I can see.” She paused again, “Maybe you think you’re impenetrable, but I have a sort of knack for seeing the truth in cats.” 

The warm sun turned cold, as if a cloud had blown over it suddenly. Tigerclaw could feel himself shaking in the nest, Yellowfang could most certainly see it too. Yellowfang did not need a knack to see the truth if Firepaw had spilled the tabby’s secret to the old she-cat. 

Darkstripe got a good hit in, but Ravenpaw at last would deal the final blow. 

“You’re not what you seem to be, Tigerclaw.” She carried on as Tigerclaw got unsteadily to his paws. “I see the good in you that you’ve hid away.” 

He blinked at the medic and it seemed for the first time, met her eyes. ‘ It’s a trick you mouse-brain, ’ shouted a voice in his head, ‘ Maybe, but shut up.’ He thought in reply. 

“Nobody is born with evil in their heart,” her yellow eyes looked far away and clouded, “even if it feels like it’s your destiny.” 

“Have I missed the vigils yet?” He meowed quickly and took shaky steps towards the exit. 

“No, they’re to be held at sunhigh.” Yellowfang answered, still deep in her own thoughts. 

“It looks to be sunhigh now.” He shook his head and gazed back at her. 

“Oh.” She gave a curt response, not looking to meet his gaze again. 

The walk up the medic tunnel felt like the long hike to the moonpool, each step making him take a gasp of air. He was tempted to stop along the path and tighten his bandages to see if that may help, but he decided against it. ShadowClan may do a different kind of wrap than ThunderClan and he could not risk the walk back down to ask Yellowfang to fix it. As quickly as he could manage, he poked his head into the clearing. 

There was a quiet hush around the camp, only the scurrying of cats repairing dens and the whispers of clumps of cats chatting amongst themselves. Tigerclaw could even pick up on birds chirps outside of camp, he took a heartbeat to gather a large breath and take in the serenity. 

The vigil had not started yet, obviously as no meeting had been called nor did Spottedleaf’s body lay in camp. Tigerclaw’s usual resting frown, deeping at the thought and he thrust his head away from the sight where she soon would be. 

Luckily enough, he didn’t feel any eyes looking upon him as he padded along the outskirts of camp. For the first time, he had made his way across the entire clearing without being trailed by Darkstripe. ‘ He must have stayed in ShadowClan, good riddance.’ Still, he felt a pang of unexpected sadness. 

‘ All he ever did was look up to me.’ He thought grimly, ‘ I did the same thing to Thistleclaw.’

Being swept away in thought made it easier to trek along camp, he soon arrived at the nursery. 

For a moment he watched the queens all bunched together in their nests, sitting up and chatting about whatever queens chat about. Peering in, he was quickly noticed by Frostfur, “Tigerclaw, if you’re looking for Goldenflower, she’s off in the leader’s den with Bluestar and Brindleface preparing Spottedleaf for the vigil.” She spoke between her lapping at her kits, especially licking at one that whined softly. 

“Oh, okay,” he nodded, “are your kits alright?” 

Frostfur shrugged, “I suppose, Yellowfang said they weren’t harmed any. Well expect for this one,” she nudged the whining kit, “They got a knick in their ear.” 

“Afterwhile, go ask Yellowfang for some raspberry leaves and marigold, they should help the kit.” He instructed. 

“What, was Spottedleaf teaching you herbs down there?” She tilted her head at the tom. 

“What else would she have been doing?” Tigerclaw grimaced and turned to walk away. 

“That’s not we thought she was doing, huh Speckletail,” Frostfur spoke in a tone like a whisper, but still at a pitch where Tigerclaw could hear her clearly. Speckletail did not reply, Tigerclaw guessed she was asleep, but it didn’t matter to him too much. 

“Tigerclaw,” meowed a friendly voice as the tabby laid against a wall of the camp waiting for the vigil. He had planned on talking to Goldenflower, but he couldn’t imagine bringing himself to see Spottedleaf so soon. 

“Whitestorm.” Tigerclaw greeted back. 

“That’s just like you Tiger,” he smiled, “back on your paws in no time. ShadowClan really thought they could take down ThunderClan’s greatest warrior? What a pack of smart-ears. Yellowfang did a very good job in clearing you up too.” 

Tigerclaw listened to the deputy ramble, Whitestorm usually only spoke so much when he was nervous, and he was only nervous when Bluestar was nervous. 

“Couldn’t save them all though,” Whitestorm meowed in a grimmer tone. 

“Yes, it's a shame what happened to Spottedleaf.” Tigerclaw dipped his head, “We were very good friends and she was-“ 

“Uh,” Whitestorm interrupted, “I meant it was Ravenpaw who died in the battle. We couldn’t even find his body, but Firepaw and Graypaw both said they were ganged up on and Ravenpaw fought bravely and practically sacrificed himself. I know how closely you were watching his progress.” 

Ravenpaw….dead.  

“How awful.” Tigerclaw shook his head and spoke in his deep monotone voice. “Truly awful news.” 

“I know, he didn’t even get his name—“ 

“All cats who can catch their own prey, gather for a clan meeting.” Bluestar summoned. All the drama of the past few moons had taken their toll on the leader, but now she seemed more like her usual self, presentable, strong, judging . 

“Battles never come without their losses, and in this case, betrayals. We have lost clan members, but also gained them. Let us not despair in the past, but look to the times that are to come as is the duty of any cat in ThunderClan. We honor today, Fireheart and Graystripe who have earned their warrior names and sat vigil, Spottedleaf and Ravenpaw, who died in the great fight to serve their clan, and Yellowfang, our newest member of ThunderClan.” 

Yowls echoed through the camp, of joy and loss and overall celebration. Tigerclaw sighed and for a moment, smelled the sweet scent of Spottedleaf linger in the air.

“Today is a new day,” Yellowfang spoke up from under high rock, “I am glad to call ThunderClan my new home, but I must admit, I am old and weary. That shouldn’t come as a shock to any of you,” she laughed, “For the clan’s sake and for my own, so I may retire before I join StarClan, I ask to mentor an apprentice to help ThunderClan after I am gone.” Her eyes pierced into Tigerclaw’s as she unblinkingly looked straight at him. 

“Yes of course, Yellowfang,” Bluestar dipped her head, “we can certainly-“

Tigerclaw stepped a pace towards Yellowfang, who in return nodded her head, “Bluestar,” he interjected, “I have spent these past few moons training under Spottedleaf, now she is gone, I would like for it to be continued with Yellowfang so that I may receive my full medicine cat name under StarClan.” He felt his mind go blank and if he didn’t stop himself he would ramble on too long. His paws were numb, but he could still feel himself standing on shaky legs, waiting for Bluestar’s reply. 

Everyone in the clan was looking at him. He would rather die on spot than turn and face them, what could they be thinking about him. 

The heartbeat of silence quickly turned to a tension filled pause. If Bluestar refused him, he gulped, “Bluestar I-“ he started again and took a crooked step back. 

“Very well Tigerclaw. If Yellowfang accepts, it shall be. ThunderClan has been through wilder changes.” 

“I do not dare dishonor the memory of Spottedleaf by refusing her apprentice,” Yellowfang padded to Tigerclaw, who was frozen in place, and pressed her nose to his. “Here is your first step to change,” she whispered to him, “it wasn’t learning herbs and wallowing, it was admitting what you need.” 

“Sure.” He quickly licked her shoulders to conclude the ceremony. “But it’s not just about going to StarClan.” 

Yellowfang raised an eyebrow. 

“I really do think being a medicine cat will be good for me, I liked learning herbs and all that.” He padded back to the edge of camp, Yellowfang a pace behind him.  

“That’s good,” she chuckled, “you still have a lot more learning to do. Frostfur told me to give her raspberry leaves and marigold, and I told her what kind of toadstool for brains told her to mix those together.” 

“Sorry maybe my memory isn’t so sharp right now,” he twitched his ear awkwardly, “I’ll do better I promise.” Brief visions of Thistleclaw flashed in his mind as he remembered what it was like to be an apprentice. Shivering, he shook his head to forget the thought. 

“It’s not that bad of a mistake,” she broke his concentration, “both would do the job to help, but together it might be too much for just a kit.” She explained with a slanted smile. 

“Of course,” he sat up, “being partially right has to count for something, yeah?” 

“Maybe in practice,” Yellowfang looked up to her apprentice, “but let’s keep you from treating patients solo for a little while longer, you’ve got my whole life to learn what you need.” 

“I thought you said you wanted to retire?” 

“I think I’ll have to change my plans if I have to mentor you, making a fighter into a healer is more than teaching herb combinations.” 

He puffed out his chest and watched the meeting continue on. Even with a large wound in his neck, he felt he could finally breath again. He couldn’t predict how everyone would view him from now on, and in for this moment, he wouldn’t let it matter. Worries could be put off just until he set his vigil for Spottedleaf and his training would really begin. “I think I’ll do well.”

“That’s some gross optimism,” Yellowfang shook her head, “you get it from Spottedleaf.” 

Chapter Text

Frigid air nipped at the muscular tabby’s nose as Tigerclaw felt his way through the familiar dark tunnel of Mothermouth. He had grown accustomed to the cramped chilly entrance to the Moonstone, having had traveled to it for several moons now. Unlike what Yellowfang had predicted, he adjusted very accordingly to the medicine cat life. 

Sometimes, he yearned to join a patrol for something other than just herb picking, but he controlled himself. He would take walks around the territory just about whenever he pleased and with whoever he pleased, however, no matter what, his mind always seemed to focus on the flora. On long strolls with Whitestorm or Goldenflower he found himself absentmindedly picking needed herbs and carrying them along. 

Adjusting to a medicine cat’s social life was another thing. At gatherings, when he sat by the other medics, he was a very prominent cat. His large muscular figure and numerous battle scars were something unseen on the others. Though he might have scared the odd apprentice, he was a novelty to the warriors. 

The first gathering he trained under Yellowfang, he was constantly bombarded with questions: ‘What made you make such a drastic change? ’, ‘Why leave when you were so respected?’, ‘ThunderClan must be desperate for a medic if their options are a ShadowClan exile and ex-warrior.’ He was reluctant to comment on any of them, luckily they were quickly stopped by Yellowfang. Tigerclaw soon found that she was more feared than he had been. 

Tigerclaw could never focus on those trivial questions anyway, at gatherings he couldn’t help himself from trying to spot Darkstripe. It was odd, he knew that, couldn’t even imagine what he would do if he did see his ex-clanmate. He could never brush off his insatiable desire for revenge against the traitor tom, yet he still couldn’t convince himself that’s what the deep feeling in his chest meant. 

Whenever Tigerclaw asked Runningnose about it, the ShadowClan tom shifted his weight on his paws and shook his head, claiming there has been no trace of Brokenstar or any of his followers. The awkward air of the answer made it hard for Tigerclaw to believe, but he had no other choice. 

“Tigerclaw,” Yellowfang’s steady voice echoed as they came closer to the Moonstone’s cave, “I hope you’re ready.” 

He gave a gruff nod and then quickly added, “Yes, I am.” after he realized she wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark. 

The ground they treaded felt like rough gravel under paw until they reached the cave, where it smoothed out. The dim light aluminum subtle features of the gathered medics, he wouldn’t be able to make them out until the moon had reached its peak. 

Though he often traveled to the cave, he scarcely went inside and had yet to try and reach StarClan. He remembered all too vividly his dream of Thistleclaw and was reluctant to experience it again, even if it meant he hadn’t seen or spoken to Spottedleaf in many moons. 

Yellowfang’s head was tilted upwards towards the gap in the cave, she planned to begin his ceremony at just the right moment. Tigerclaw had hoped he would get a few more heartbeats to compose himself, but Yellowfang quickly interjected and began, to Tigerclaw’s dismay. 

“I, Yellowfang, medicine cat of ThunderClan,” the old she-cat croaked, “call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this urm apprentice.” she flashed a glance to Tigerclaw, beckoning him to come closer. “He has trained hard to understand the ways of a medicine cat, and with your help and guidance, he will serve his clan under your protection.” 

The broad shouldered tom padded up and stood facing his mentor. The moon was nearing being directly over them, its cascading light shimmered against Yellowfang’s dull fur and bent whiskers. 

“Tigerclaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of a medicine cat, to stand apart from rivalry between clans and to protect all cats equally, even at the cost of your life?” 

“I do.” 

Yellowfang gave a wide satisfied smile, “Then by the powers of StarClan, you are reborn and we welcome Tigerclaw the medicine cat. StarClan honors your dedication, and will watch and guide you as a full medicine cat of ThunderClan.” 

The other medicine cats meowed a soft approval chant of his name as he tucked his head into Yellowfang’s shoulder to conclude the ceremony. She had made perfect timing as pale light glimmered down onto the new medicine cat. His amber eyes shone with pride as he looked hesitantly to the moonstone, now lit in its full effect. 

Shuffling around in the cave, the other medics gathered around the stone, each pressing their nose against the glistening rock. Yellowfang stepped to join them, giving Tigerclaw an inviting look. “Come on, Tigerclaw, StarClan doesn’t wait for too long.” 

“Right.” He took a deep breath and joined his rank, crowded beside ancient pillar. Squeezing his eyes shut, he pressed his nose to the cold, hard surface and forced his body to relax. After a moment, he felt no change. 

‘Foxdung,’ he thought, closing his eyes tighter, ‘ I missed the opening. Or worse, I’ll open my eyes and come muzzle to muzzle with that fleabag Thistleclaw.’ 

“Tiger?” A voice interrupted, “you can open your eyes now.” she chided with a light laugh. 

“Spottedleaf.” He meowed softly, seeing his friend dappled with bright stars that complimented her tortoiseshell pelt. 

“You can actually have your eyes open the whole time, it doesn’t-“ she took a few steps towards him, but she had not made it a fox-length before he lunged to her and practically knocked her down in a sweeping embrace. 

“It doesn’t affect anything.” She finished, holding her head above the tom’s thick fur that threatened to suffocate her if she wasn’t already dead. 

“I missed you Leaf.” Tigerclaw smiled and gave her some breathing room, but he was uncertain if she actually needed breathing room at all. Shifting on his paws, he watched as she lapped down some of her now ruffled fur, and stood still as she leaned to neaten his too. 

“I missed you too.” She tilted her head and gave her familiar warm smile, “I see Yellowfang wasn’t so hard on you. If she was, she would’ve run you off.” 

“I would have gone through the worst mentor in all the clans just to become a full medic.” He shook his head still in disbelief of really being the presence of Spottedleaf again. 

“I wish I could stay and talk,” Spottedleaf sat, wrapping her tail over her paws. “But time is so limited.” 

“Let’s not waste it then.” Interjected a new voice who quickly revealed themselves, pushing through the bushes with ease. “You both had your little moment, nice,” Redtail rolled his eyes, “but we have some important matters.” 

“We do?” Tigerclaw pressed, flickering a glance to Spottedleaf. 

“Yeah, we could have talked about it sooner if you ever bothered to actually come inside MotherMouth.” 

“Redtail,” Spottedleaf nudged her brother, “limited time.” She was right, already the two began to diminish ever so slightly. 

“Why couldn’t you have told anyone else?” Tigerclaw asked, shaking his head, eyebrows furrowed. “If it’s about the clans, I don’t know why it had to be me to relay a message-“ 

“It’s important for you to know, Tigerclaw,” Spottedleaf stood between Redtail and the dark tabby tom, bristlingly slightly as neither of them were listening. 

“It’s about ThunderClan.” Redtail stepped around Spottedleaf. 

“Yellowfang is going to retire so soon and she can’t-“ Spottedleaf explained but was cut off. 

“ThunderClan is going to need your help most of all Tigerclaw.” Redtail’s frown prevailed on his face, his piercing gaze focused on Tigerclaw. 

“What is it?!” The new medic asked frantically as the two were hardly more than the stars that outlined their forms. 

“It’s Darkstripe he—“ 

Before either of them could utter another word, Tigerclaw woke, his face still pressed against the cold Moonstone, but now the cave had gone dark again. 

“Yellowfang, we have to get back to camp. Quick.” 

“No one has heard anything about any of them?” Tigerclaw spoke quietly, he and Yellowfang had arrived back to camp much sooner than anyone had expected. Tigerclaw had refused a big ceremony in front of the clan, opting instead to have a simple welcome and acceptance from Bluestar. 

He had half expected to return to see the camp ravengended in an attack, much like when he traveled back with Bluestar and the apprentices many moons ago. Whitestorm curiously informed him there had been no sign of any kind of attack and then promptly invited him to share a squirrel. 

“No, not that I’ve heard of,” Whitestorm answered, swallowing down a bite of the prey. “No scent of any of them. Darkstripe has a very distinct smell, I would recognize it.” 

Tigerclaw took a small bite of the squirrel. Though he hadn’t eaten all day, he could hardly bring himself to take more than that with his stomach in knots. 

“Is something troubling you, Tigerclaw? You can be quiet and stoic around everyone else, but you’re usually more interactive with me.” 

He looked away from the fresh kill to the deputy, who in earnest, looked back at Tigerclaw. 

“I know what it is.” Whitestorm gave a sly smile and flattened his ears against his head, “you’re worried about Goldenflower and her kits, huh?” 

“Yes, yeah.” He internally sighed in relief. Whatever this issue was, Tigerclaw really hoped to have a few more days to work it out himself before involving the whole clan. 

‘ If I immediately accuse Darkstripe,’ he thought, ‘ cats will just think I’m desperate for revenge.’ The large gash in his chest had healed fine, but it still scarred very prominently. 

“I wouldn’t worry, they’re all doing just fine. Brindleface says they’re causing a real racket, but that’s just Brindle, I think she likes the idea of kits more than actual kits.” Noticing he had strayed off topic, Whitestorm continued, “But they have their eyes open, ears open, everything. I think Goldenflower is even ready to name them.” 

“Really?” Tigerclaw asked, a little surprised. He supposed it was reasonable, the kits were over a moon old. They had been alive long enough to get permanent names. “Maybe I should go talk to her.” 

“Couldn’t hurt,” Whitestorm nodded as he tore another bite off the squirrel. 

“Goldenflower,” Tigerclaw poked his head into the nursery. The once gaping hole had long since been patched with a new weaving of brambles. The golden queen laid stretched in her nest, two tufts of fur by her side, Tigerclaw presumed they were asleep. 

“Tigerclaw,” she glanced up at the father of her kits, “Or, um, did you receive a new name? Tigerleaf?” She dipped her head, raising an eyebrow at the medic. “Congratulations anyhow.” 

“Thank you and it’s still Tigerclaw. When a warrior becomes a medicine cat they usually just keep their old names, and I wasn't exempt.” 

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Goldenflower passively looked down at her kits, amusement in her tone, “the apprentice she did name is Runningnose, so maybe she’s not the best at choosing.” 

Tigerclaw laughed and curved around other sleeping queens to come to her side, “I suppose I am lucky,” he paused, “but I came to see the kits.” 

Goldenflower scrunched up her face in a tired smile, “Ok,” Swiftpaw’s father had never come to visit him, so it felt strange the father of her new kits would come. 

“Have you named them yet?” He asked, settling down beside the nest, nudging the kits gently with his nose. 

“No, not yet.” She admitted, watching him get a closer look at the kits. “I believe I’m ready though.” 

Tigerclaw nodded, prompting Goldenflower to go on. 

“Well, I was thinking, for this little one,” she tapped one of the kits with her nose, “Tawnykit, on account of her beautiful fur.” 

“That’s lovely.” Tigerclaw gave Tawnykit a quick lick. 

“And well,” Goldenflower looked at the other kit, “I was thinking Bramblekit, but I don’t know, do you have any ideas?” 

“How about, Spottedkit?” He suggested. ”The little tom does seem to be developing a nice spotted tabby pelt, it could suit him quite well,” he explained. 

“It’s ok Tigerclaw,” she blinked, dismissing his need for an explanation, “Tawnykit and Spottedkit, that’s just fine.” 

“It’s great.” He smiled, laying his head on his paws, content watching the kits. As a medicine cat, he was never supposed to be a father, but he would like to see StarClan try and take these two away from him. 

‘ These two won’t need a mentor to look up to .’ He thought, wrapping his tail around Goldenflower’s, ‘ they’ll have me. ’