~~ ANNOUNCEMENT ~~
This book is ending! The second one will be coming out soon, I feel like this one is dying though, and that's completly my fault. Thank you to all who have stuck with me, I'll post another chapter in this one when the other one's out, but it may take some time. I've got a lot more stories on my mind.
If anyone wants to do a collab with me, feel free to shoot me a PM or comment. I've got many ideas bouncing around, and I'd be happy to write a story with someone!
Blazeheart was mad. Mad at Firestar. Mad at StarClan. But most of all, mad at MoonClan. Lunafur just had to go on that quest, didn't she? And so Blazeheart sat in a tree, overlooking the ThunderClan camp, brooding and complaining about life. Petty? Yes. But he didn't have anything better to do. He unsheathed a claw and carved a line in the bark of the old oak tree he was sitting in. Then another. And another. He kept scratching lines until it resembled a cat he knew. "I can never get away, can I?" The tom grumbled. The claw marks looked like-
"Lunafur." A voice mewed.
The ginger tom whipped around to see Firestar hauling himself up besides Blazeheart. The NightClan cat flicked his tail in greeting. Firestar mumbled something, and Blazeheart could swear to MoonClan that it sounded like; "I wish I was more like a SkyClan cat. Climbing trees would be so much easier."
Then Firestar raised his voice. "I didn't know you could do that."
Blazeheart must of looked confused, because Firestar let loose a small chuckle. "Do what?"
"That." Firestar lifted his muzzle to Lunafur's image inscribed on the tree.
Blazeheart's eyes dropped to his paws. "It's nothing, just a habit I do when I'm bored."
The ginger leader purred. He leaned forward and studied Blazeheart's work. "Yes but the detail is incredible. I've never seen a cat do that before."
Blazeheart shrugged, but he could feel his fur heating up. He wasn't very good at taking compliments. He felt his hot knot of anger towards Firestar melt away. "It's just some scratches in tree bark."
Firestar rolled his eyes. "It's more than that. But I didn't come up here to compliment you. I came to ask-"
"About MoonClan and the others. Yeah yeah, I know. What's your question?"
The ginger leader shifted his paws and studied the tree bark for a moment. At last he lifted his eyes to look at Blazeheart. "Where do you share tongues with MoonClan?"
Blazeheart closed his eyes, savoring his memories of LightningClan, his home. He opened his eyes and murmered. "There's a tree, it has a star engraved on it. Once a moon, it glows bright blue. We- They have built a barrier around it, so that any passing animal or Twoleg, as you call it, can't see it and just assume the light is moonlight or something."
Firestar nodded. "When will you go back?"
Blazeheart blinked as if he'd been struck. "I-I- well, um-"
A hiss interrupted his stuttering. "Oh please. I an see it in your eyes. I know you don't feel like ThunderClan is your home. Trust me- I felt it before. But you always go back to your home. It doesn't matter how far you stray. You always feel it, a slight tugging, if you ignore it, fine. But it turns into something more." Firestar's voice cracked ever so slightly. Just to enough to be sure it was there. "It turns into more."
Blazeheart looked stunned. He wanted to feel anger. He wanted it to be there. He wanted so much anger, at Firestar, at Lunafur, at his traitorous mother. At MoonClan especially. But he couldn't. In fact, he felt... Peaceful? The ginger LightningClanner looked straight at Firestar. When he answered, his voice was clear and strong, stronger than it had been in moons. "When Lunafur gets back from her quest- no, she is not going to go back. She did a bad thing, she... She" Blazeheart's words froze in his throat, but he forced himself to keep going. "She killed a rogue's kits."
Firestar's eyes widened. "I offered shelter to... A murderer?"
"No! Er, yes? Um, maybe?"
"Explain."
Blazeheart took a deep breath. "It was an accident. She was hunting alone when... Me and a friend found her fighting with a rogue she-cat who was furious. She said that Lunafur had killed her kits. We drove the she-cat away, but we reported the incident to our leader and Lunafur was banished. I went with her."
Firestar's head tipped to one side. "Did Lunafur say she had killed the kits?"
"No..."
"So she was banished on the word of a rogue."
"Yes."
"I shall question her when she gets back. Until then, she is innocent." Firestar concluded.
"And-"
"What about you? You may go back to your Clan whenever you wish." The ginger leader mewed.
Blazeheart sighed with relief. A huge weight was lifted off his broad shoulders, and he downright purred. "Thank you, Firestar."
"Just being a fair leader." He joked, his green eyes bright.
The ginger tom opened his mouth to respond to Firestar but a screech of fear cut him off. Both russet Clan cats whipped around to see a huge black cat sitting calmly in camp. Blazeheart risked a glance at Firestar. The leader looked grim, his lips pressed together in a straight line. "We better go see what that's about."
Firedstar sat on Highrock, his eyes burning into the black cat's. She had introduced herself as Ebony, and Blazeheart was not envious of her. Sitting under Fireheart's fiery green glare... He shuddered.
The leader straightened and cleared his throat. "Why are you here, Ebony?"
Ebony shifted her paws and flicked an ear, obviously uncomfortable. "I shall put this in terms you will understand." The she-cat talked with an accent, strong and soothing at the same time. Her words were formed very formally, Blazeheart really admired the way she spoke.
"My 'Clan' is in deep, deep, trouble. We are at war with another 'Clan', and they are winning, unfortunately. I believe that smaller, more agile cats will be able to infiltrate the enemy's camp and sabotage them." Ebony continued. She looked up at Firestar, waiting for his permission to proceed.
Blazeheart respected her for that, some cats he knew would keep going, not caring what the leader thought. The tom redirected his attention to Firestar, who's nod was laced with permission.
Ebony gave a little cough and started to speak again. "Would you do me a favor and lend me your warriors?"
Firestar looked appalled, and the gathered cats gave jeers or cheers. At last Firestar's eyes cleared, and he gave his answer. "We shall fight. The warrior code says to help a clan when in need, correct? This one may not be apart of the original four, but we must help them."
A weak agreement rumbled from the crowd of cats while Dustpelt sat near the nursery, looking lost in thought.
Ebony's ears laid flat against her head. Blazeheart could tell she needed something else, something big. "I need more than just ThunderClan."
Firestar seemed to understand. "I will go to the other clans to plead for aide." For a moment, Ebony looked terrified. It passed so quickly, Blazeheart could've imagened it. But he could swear to MoonClan that a flicker of fear flashed through the she-cat's eyes. Then Firestar continued, and she relaxed. "Tomorrow I will take a patrol to WindClan."
Ebony sighed with relief, but Blazeheart could tell it disappeared as a piercing yowl rang through the crowd of cats.
"What!" It sounded outraged. "How can we trust her?"
I hope you liked it! I know Firestar was just a tad OOC, but I really wanted to show Blazeheart's other side and Firestar needed to be the one to bring it out.
QOTD- What do you think of Blazeheart's drawing skills? Should I add more?
Riddle- What has cities but no houses? Forests but no trees? And water, but no fish?
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Mist has jumped up to 3rd place! Not much else is happening, and Mist is looking to win! Will it actually happen? Find out next time on... Riddle Races!
The answer to the last riddle was an Echo! Congrats to all who got it right!