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Chapter Text

  “Fire alone can save SkyClan.”

  Fireheart felt his blood freeze; all the fur along his pelt spiked up at once at the StarClan cat's words.

  SkyClan? There's only four Clans though…..isn't there?

  As Fireheart stared, the gray and white tom began to speak again.

  “The fifth Clan was driven out of our territory when the twolegs began building their dens in our woods. They tore down the trees, and with them our home!”

  He flattened his ears angrily; his tail swayed side to side like a snake ready to strike. A growl rose from deep within his throat.

  “The other Clans took no pity on us! They cast us out to die! To starve and watch our kits wither away!” He spat the last words, hackles raised like he was facing an enemy.

  Fireheart's eyes grew wide in shock. He'd thought when the SkyClan tom had said they were driven from their territory that they'd simply joined the other Clans. He could never imagine something as cruel as turning his back on a pleading Clan and telling them to leave.

  His warrior ancestors had allowed it, had done it. They were heartless if they could turn away a Clan in such a terrible situation.

  He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw began to hurt.

  Then they had the nerve to cover it up and act as if it never happened.

  “But how can I save SkyClan?” Fireheart was still confused, his heart was beating like a hare running across the WindClan moors.

  “Go, bring together the scattered descendants of SkyClan! Rebuild my Clan,” he paused for a brief moment and looked somber, “you may be the only cat who can.”

  “I'm just one cat! At least with bringing WindClan home, I had Graystripe's help! Not only that, WindClan wasn't that far away; who knows how far I'd have to travel alone!” His eyes grew wide as he realized what a journey lay in front of him.

  “But when you took down Tigerclaw, you were alone,” the gray and white tom noted, “yet you fought him like you had the power of an entire Clan. You have a heart that burns with a desire for justice, and what happened to SkyClan was anything but just.”

  Fireheart couldn't deny that, he realized. His hate for the mutinous tabby had fueled his claws, he had felt like a whole Clan when he'd subdued him. He had been driven to protect Bluestar and his clan; now he was feeling driven to set right what had happened to SkyClan, but he was still just one cat.

  The starry cat took a step towards him, his head held high.

  “You can save SkyClan!” He paused before saying much more gently, “you must save my Clan.”

  Fireheart's head spun with the idea; he was just a warrior. A former kittypet at that!

  He sat on his haunches as he thought. His ears straight up, and his tail twitching.

  “What would I even do if I found them?”

  “You would bring them back. There have been only four Clans in the forest for far too long now!” The tom announced, his brow furrowing.

  Fireheart dipped his head low, then remembered a question he'd had as the starry tom began to fade.

  “What's your name!”

  A pause greeted him, then in a powerful voice:

  “Cloudstar, of SkyClan!”

—

  Fireheart awoke next to the Moonstone with a chill running along his pelt. The cold stone of the cave floor felt like ice on his paws.

  As he got up, he felt invigorated by Cloudstar's passion. He felt it in his own heart, a painful twisting at the injustice of what had happened to SkyClan all those seasons ago.

  “To drive out an entire Clan,” he threw a disgusted glance at the towering crystal, “what kind of heartless bastards the old clans must have been; that we still are.”

  He lowered his head as he remembered that it was only a few seasons ago that ShadowClan had driven WindClan from their home.

  His pelt pricked with slight unease; perhaps that was a disloyal thing to say about his warrior ancestors.

  “But it's true! You all allowed kits, elders and warriors to starve and die far from their home and did nothing!” His voice felt raspy as he yelled out his anger.

  He heard his own voice echo back at him, but he didn't care.

  “If you all are our ancestors, then so are they! You’re nothing but cowards when it truly counts; otherwise you'd have helped them!” he screeched.

  Fireheart was left gasping as he caught his breath; turning, he padded out into the open air of dawn.

  His eyes grew wide as he looked out into the orange and pink sky; a few warriors of StarClan still littered the dark purple of the receding night.

  He looked away in shame; perhaps they had been wrong for what they'd done, but who was he to call them cowards.

  Then he shook his head, They were cowards when it came to SkyClan at least! Regardless of what else they did in life.

  Looking at the sky once more, he remembered suddenly that he would be looked for.

  “I'm the stars-damned deputy! Of course they'll be looking for me!”

  But he couldn't force his paws to run to his forest home; a slow, sluggish step-pace dragging him towards the trees was all he could muster.

  “...Do I even want to be the deputy of a Clan that could cast another out so easily?” He was quiet with his musing, stepping out onto the thunderpath without looking.

  He was halfway onto the hard path when a loud sound blared in his ears.

  He swiveled his head and saw a massive monster careening towards him.

  Every instinct told Fireheart to run, but his paws were rooted to the ground in fear. His pelt was bristling and the stench of the monster overwhelmed his senses.

  A colorful flash bolted towards him as the monster came in a tree's length of him. He felt it crash into him and push him back, the wind of the giant monster tore at his fur as it whipped past.

  Then teeth fastened in his scruff and dragged him onto the opposite side of the thunderpath. He heard another, smaller monster rush by and felt a sharp pebble hit his side.

  He looked up at the calico figure as she licked where the pebble had drawn blood.

  “Morningflower!”

  She looked up from her washing and hummed.

  “You really should be careful around the thunderpath; one of those big monsters can flatten a deer, much less a rabbit-brained cat,” she wasn't being unkind but Fireheart's pelt felt hot; he had been distracted and that was something even an apprentice knew not to do. At least it had been a friend who saved him; he shuddered to think what would've happened if some cat like Darkstripe had seen him like that.

  “Thank you for saving me,” he dipped his head politely, “it was a bit stupid of me to just pad out onto it like that. But in my defense that monster was running full speed!”

  “It was loud as thunder,” she deadpanned at him, “I'm sure even the oldest cat over in twolegplace could hear it.”

  She got up and stretched, her lean muscles rippling under her colorful calico pelt. A big yawn parted her jaws and she shook herself as she stood straight again.

  “Anyways, what were you doing coming from Highstones? Where's Yellowfang or Cinderpelt?” She looked behind him to the other side of the thunderpath for the medicine cats.

  “It's just me,” he stretched out his own stiff muscles, “I needed to see about an odd dream I had…”

  He trailed off as he remembered she was a loyal WindClan cat, he shouldn’t share too much about his dream and burden her with the knowledge he now had.

  “But don't worry about it, I got my answer,” technically he wasn't lying, it just hadn't been something he'd wanted to learn, “I'd best be heading back before I'm missed, thanks again for saving me!”

  He waved his tail and ran off as she dipped her head and sprang away back to her own territory.

  He slowed to a trot as he rounded Fourtrees, the scents of all four Clans mixed at the meeting point. 

  There should be five scents, he thought bitterly. The springy grass underpaw and the faint rustling of trees made him stop in his tracks.

  “Where would SkyClan even fit?” He mewed quietly to himself, turning around to gaze at the territories of the remaining Clans. The missing clan had lived in less dense woodland than ThunderClan; where the cats needed powerful back legs to spring into the trees, and could move around in the branches of the trees seamlessly.

  His eyes fixed back towards Highstones, the territory around it wasn't barren of either trees nor prey. Perhaps the cats could adapt to a mix of rock-strewn hills and light woodland.

  “I suppose I've already agreed to help if I'm already picking a place for them,” he mused to himself.

  Looking at the other territories once more, he realized Highstones was really the only option if SkyClan was truly going to be close with the other Clans again. Any other spot and they'd be cut off from one or more of the Clans.

  “Highstones it is then,” he muttered as he continued his pawsteps on the familiar way back from Fourtrees.

—

  Fireheart nosed his way through the gorse tunnel as the sun crawled higher and higher in the sky. Sunlight filtered through the trees, dappling the dusty earth of the camp floor. The light morning breeze rustled the leaves overhead, though it could hardly be heard over the clamoring voices of his clanmates.

 “Something must have happened to Fireheart! He wouldn't be mouse-brained enough to wander around when Tigerclaw could be ready to ambush him!”

  Fireheart winced as Frostfur's voice echoed her worried support for him.

  He hadn't thought of that actually; he'd been too preoccupied with his dreams of SkyClan's exile to realize he was a prime target for his old enemy if the fox-heart was able to catch him off guard.

  “Fireheart?”

  Damn, he silently cursed as Runningwind’s voice caused every cat to turn towards him. His pelt felt like it was blazing under their questioning gazes.

  “There you are, Fireheart!”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Did you see Tigerclaw?”

  “Did you kill Tigerclaw?”

  So many voices all coming at him at once! He shook his head violently and hissed to shut them up.

  “I still need to make patrols, so don't worry about where I was-”

  “I already made the dawn patrols in your stead since you weren't here earlier,” the solid, steady voice of Whitestorm cut him off.

  The large white tom had come from the middle of the crowd of cats and turned to face them.

  “Alright alright, let's let him have some space,” he shooed away the incoming queries with a sweep of his tail and a stern, “go about your duties now!”

  Fireheart mentally thanked the senior warrior, it had felt like every cat was talking directly in his ear all at once and he couldn't hear his own thoughts!

  Some leader I'll be, he winced as he remembered, after this I very well may never become a leader.

  Shaking his head of the thought, he nodded at Bluestar's den to let Whitestorm know where he'd be, then pushed himself pawstep by pawstep to the lichen that hung in the entrance to her dark and uninviting den.

  “Come in, Fireheart.” Her voice came from the awaiting darkness and he stepped inside.

  Instantly, he was taken back to the fight with Tigerclaw in this very place. Dried blood that had splattered the floor when he'd tackled and torn at the huge tom was still in the very center of the den.

  She didn't have someone clean it for her? He supposed she may have just been too busy to realize it was there. But then, it had been a few moons since then; surely she didn't want it to just stay there-

  “Fireheart!” Her frustrated yell shook him from his musings, his eyes finally followed the blood splatter up to where she crouched in her nest, glaring at him.

  “Ah! Bluestar, right.” he said lamely, his paws shifted on the dusty floor and his pelt pricked as he realized fully what he had come here to do. She wouldn't like it at all.

  Breathing in deep he explained to her about his dreams telling of SkyClan: the destruction of their territory, the exile from the clans, and finally their slow, bleak death after finding the gorge.

  He watched her as he finally finished, her unreadable expression made his pelt twitch.

  “Why tell me all of this?” She genuinely sounded confused, but there was something else in her question, as though she was testing him.

  Here goes nothing.

  “Cloudstar asked me to rebuild SkyClan and bring them back to the forest…he said I'm the only one who can.” 

  At some point during his speech, he had closed his eyes.

  Opening them was a mistake.

  In her brittle nest, he saw her shaking in fury. Her ice blue eyes burned into him with so many emotions: rage, betrayal, confusion and exasperation.

  “I forbid it” she spoke so quietly, he could barely hear her.

  “But Bluestar-”

  “You will not betray me, too!” She bellowed.

  “Bluestar, I need to go and do this!” He tried.

  “I will not have another deputy die, or betray me, or go galavanting off to StarClan-knows-where because he feels like it!” She screeched as she clawed at the old bracken lining her nest.

  Her breathing was ragged as she spit out each word like venom. Her ears were pulled back and her eyes were wild with anger.

  “Bluestar, you need to let me do this! If I don't, SkyClan will never come back! They don't deserve that!”

  His throat felt raw from having to shout back at her like this. No doubt the rest of the clan was able to overhear what they were saying.

  “Get. Out. Now,” she hissed “I will not hear anymore of this- this stupid drivel!” 

  “...” Fireheart felt his heart beating as loud as thunder.

  “And if I find out you've tried to go behind my back about this: your deputyship and your clan status will be revoked, so I would think very long and hard before I act,” she threatened with a light voice laced with barely hidden anger. 

  “Now get out of my sight” she turned her back on him, and he padded out of the stuffy den.

  He was right: practically every cat in the clan had been listening to the argument, though most tried to act as though they hadn't been.

  To his surprise, even cats like Longtail and Dustpelt looked concerned.

  “What was all that about?” He turned to see Sandstorm padding towards him with Cinderpelt and Cloudpaw following just behind the light ginger she-cat looking at him worriedly.

  Sighing, he took his two friends and his nephew out into the forest and told them of the request.

  Sandstorm and Cinderpelt shared a look as he finished with Bluestar's threat to him. 

  “You're still gonna go through with it?!” Cinderpelt asked, shocked that he'd risk everything like this. Cloudpaw's jaw gaped as he took in his uncle's words.

  “Not to be heartless, but it sounds like these cats are long gone… How would you even go about finding them to ‘rebuild’ this ‘SkyClan’?” Sandstorm asked directly, her eyes were betraying nothing but genuine concern.

  Fireheart hung his head; he knew it was insane, risking himself for a clan that hadn't existed for longer than any living cat knew.

  “I'm going to do it, I have no choice,” he paused to breathe in, “Cloudstar told me of a prophecy, ‘Fire alone will save SkyClan’, it sounds like it's been set to happen.”

  Glancing at each other, the two she-cats sighed knowing that they could never dissuade him. Cloudpaw remained silent for once, his shock was still too much.

  “So, you're telling us this is goodbye?” Cinderpelt's clear, blue eyes grew watery as he nodded.

  Sandstorm held the dark gray she-cat with her tail, she couldn't be angry at him, he was hurting as much as they were. At least he was giving them forewarning that he would probably never be able to return and be with them how they were.

  “I just wanted you three to know that I'll always care for you,” he felt tears well up in his eyes as he looked at them, knowing that after he set out, he may never be their clanmate again.

  Cloudpaw finally shook himself enough to speak, his voice coming out strained.

  “How much can you really care for us if you'd go run off on the word of some dead cat from your dreams!” He shouted.

  “Better yet, you're planning to do this alone?! You could die! You probably will die! Those SkyClan cats didn't stand a chance at whatever attacked them, why would it be any different for you?!” Cloudpaw unleashed his fury and fear.

  “And besides, with you gone, who'll be my mentor?!” He was shaking even worse now.

  Sandstorm looked up at this, her eyes shining as she stared at him.

  “I'll take over as your mentor!”

  Cloudpaw sniffed as he regained himself, he didn't seem too opposed to her being his new mentor; he was still upset that his uncle was leaving, though.

  “I guess this really is happening…” Cloudpaw trailed off as he came over and headbutted Fireheart gently.

  He nuzzled the fluffy, white apprentice affectionately. Sandstorm and Cinderpelt joined in and they all purred their goodbyes.

—

  As he finally padded away, he allowed his true heartbreak to show on his face.

  I'm leaving everything I worked for in ThunderClan, for a future that I can barely see. 

  He shook his head; if he kept allowing himself these doubts, he'd never be able to go through with saving SkyClan. He knew if he allowed himself to look back, he'd never be able to follow the prophecy.

  Focusing on where his paws were taking him, he realized he was once again on the WindClan border.

 Only this time as a clanless cat.

  He looked up to the sky, seeing the last light from the sunset still painting it a rosy color with Silverpelt just becoming visible. A few StarClan warriors were glittering overhead.

  “Fireheart? What are you doing here again?”

  Fireheart started at the voice; whipping around, he saw its owner again.

  “Ah! Morningflower!” He stared wide eyed at her. Thankfully she was patrolling by herself and seemed relaxed, confused but relaxed.

  She tilted her head as he seemed nervous to tell her of his reason for being on the moor.

  The fading sunset glowed warmly on her pelt, lighting the ginger patches a rose pink color and the black patches became purple.

  More than that though she smelled of the many flowers that dotted the moor. It made him more nervous, but he mustered up his voice. She had helped him several times since he brought WindClan back and they'd gotten close; he felt he owed her an explanation for why he would be gone.

  He finally explained it all to her.

  “...You mean you're not ThunderClan's deputy anymore? You aren't ThunderClan anymore?!” She stared with barely hidden shock as he finished.

  He bristled slightly at the idea he wasn't ThunderClan, but then remembered, he wasn't. 

  Not anymore at least.

  Morningflower had gone quiet, she looked as though she was contemplating something.

  Fireheart tilted his head as he waited for her to say something, his pelt felt oddly anxious and twitchy at the look in her eyes.

  “I'm coming with you,” she said at last, turning and running back towards her camp while yelling over her shoulder, “wait right there!” 

  He sat back on his haunches while trying to understand what she'd just said. His mind was stalling so hard he didn't know if he'd remember how to talk after this.

  She's gonna help rebuild SkyClan? She trusts my word that much? … What about Gorsepaw? Won't she miss him?

  As he watched the horizon where the sun was finally completely gone, she came back with Tallstar in tow.

  “Taking one of my best warriors to ‘make a new clan’, eh?” Tallstar broke into his stupor with a small smirk, “That's a bit too forward I'd say.”

  Both young cats spluttered as the WindClan leader let out a hardy laugh.

  “So you aren't mad at the request?” Morningflower asked tentatively.

  “Hm? No no, believe me I know how important it is to let young cats do what they feel is right for them,” he paused and looked on with a wistful expression, “you know, I went on a wander when I was a young warrior.” 

  Fireheart and Morningflower looked at each other shocked; the older tom seemed so wise, it made no sense he'd ever have left his clan for anything.

  “I give you my blessing, Morningflower,” he said, dipping his head to her, “may you both return safely and with this SkyClan.”

  With that, he bounded back to the heather and gorse that surrounded the WindClan camp.

  Morningflower turned back to Fireheart, her eyes shimmering in the last lights of the sunset.

  He nodded to her and turned to start padding away from the WindClan border, “We should probably rest at Barley and Ravenpaw's barn for the night." 

  With that, they ran through the long grass as it turned to tall wheat stalks; shuffling under the wood fence, they made their way through the small field and found the two toms walking back into the large red barn.

  “Well ain't this a nice surprise!” Barley's warm greeting echoed in the dusty air as Ravenpaw smiled at the two newcomers. “What're y'all doing here? Off on another ‘mission’?”

  “You could say that,” Fireheart smiled crookedly, feeling slightly awkward. He didn't know if he wanted to tell the two all the details, but figured it would be best if he got it over with.

  “...So Bluestar doesn't know you've left?” Ravenpaw's tail twitched as he shared a look with Barley in their nest.

  “I'm sure she's figured it out by now; probably sent out patrols to hunt me down…” He trailed off sadly, eyes slightly wet. “But she'll have to understand eventually that it's my life and I can do with it what I want!”

  Nodding, Ravenpaw got up and stalked off to catch them some mice while Barley made them nests for the night.

  Ravenpaw and Barley shared their mouse by one of the hay bales, tails twined together. Getting up afterwards, they set off to take a small walk around the farm before sleep. Fireheart’s eyes followed them as they padded off; the faint glow of moonlight painting the two toms in a calm silver.

  Fireheart smiled to himself as he finished his mouse; he was happy his friend was enjoying being with Barley. The black tom had told him that they were officially mates now, and Fireheart and Morningflower had congratulated them both.

  Now as he watched their shadows disappear he felt a slight worry settle in his heart. 

  Sandstorm and I were shaping up to be like that, but now that I've left it's definitely not gonna happen. He'd noticed her change in demeanor towards him from apprenticehood; he'd miss that closeness greatly.

  Wonder who she'll end up with, if anyone, he began to wash himself as he thought of the cats he'd left behind and who might take interest in his friend.

  Brackenfur? No, he's too young for her and hadn't shown any interest in that way. Runningwind wasn't interested in anyone, Mousefur either. He swiped his tongue over his paw and washed his face, smoothening the fur on his forehead with a small flick.

  Dustpelt? He shivered, for her sake I hope not. The brown tom had gotten a tad bit more agreeable and he had to commend him not following Tigerclaw. But he'd been so hostile towards him and Sandstorm for her feelings for Fireheart, and he couldn't see her looking past that jealousy.

…Longtail? The name made him stop for a moment. He had been getting more friendly with us before I left, he thought quietly, perhaps he was beginning to feel something for her. He's not all bad: refusing to join Tigerclaw, and before that he saved me when Tigerclaw tried to let me drown. The pale tabby had his good qualities and even Fireheart could acknowledge them.

  Shaking his head lightly, he started to lick his tail. It's not like it really matters who she takes for a mate anyway, I just hope she ends up happy.

  He absentmindedly turned to look at Morningflower as she took bites of her mouse; he wondered what her mate had been like, who they were. 

  “Still hungry?” Her mew jolted him from his thoughts and he realized he'd been staring at her half-eaten mouse. 

  “Ahh no,” he waited a moment, “actually I've been wondering about something, if it's alright to ask.” At her nod, he continued, “Of course I really appreciate you joining me on this, but what about Gorsepaw? Will he be alright without you there?”

  She stilled for a moment, but shook her head slightly with a small smile. 

  “He'll be alright, he overheard about this when I spoke with Tallstar and was excited that his mom was ‘brave enough to go on such a cool quest’.” She bent her head to finish off the mouse. “Besides he's got Ashfoot and Onewhisker to keep an eye on him, as well as the rest of the clan.”

  “Hmm? Oh, so Onewhisker is his dad?” Fireheart let his curiosity win as he blurted out the question.

  Morningflower stared at him in shock for a second.

  Then she burst out laughing.

  “Ha! No no no, Onewhisker is my brother and Ashfoot's my sister, we're littermates!” She calmed down and shook out her pelt, “Gorsepaw's father died when WindClan was driven from our territory…” She trailed off.

  “Ahh, I'm sorry.” Fireheart dipped his head, Well it certainly makes sense now why she's so okay coming with me.

  “Nothing for you to apologize for,” she countered briskly, “we should get ready to sleep, we have a long way to follow the river if this gorge is at the very end of it.” With that she curled up in her nest facing away and went quiet.

  She's right, he nodded as she turned away. Getting comfortable himself, he heard Ravenpaw and Barley quietly enter the barn and snuggle up in their nest, purring.

  Cloudstar, cats of SkyClan's StarClan, please give us the strength to right the wrong done so long ago, and bring back SkyClan. 

  Fireheart let out a quiet sigh as sleep overtook him.

Chapter Text

 Fireheart awoke to a gentle prodding in his side; his ears twitched as he stretched in his hay nest. Jaws gaping in a yawn, he remembered the dream he'd had that night. 

 Rolling hills had stretched out before him and he watched the sky reach out past the horizon; its deep black had been littered with starry warriors, he'd heard them whisper to him.

 “Save us…” 

 “Fire that burns for the sky!”

 “We will guide your paws now!”

 He had felt his heart lift as he looked into their bright eyes. They had crowded around him and he could feel the warmth of their belief in him coursing through the cluster.

 His eyes now opened to a fat mouse being dropped in front of him. Morningflower stood over him, giggling slightly.

 “You really do sleep like a rock! I thought Ravenpaw was just kidding, but it took three tries to get you up!”

 Fireheart's ears burned in embarrassment. He'd never had it easy waking up in the morning, he usually had Graystripe or Sandstorm prod him up. Still it was more embarrassing having Morningflower know about his lazy streak!

 “Yeah yeah, have you had something to eat yet?”

 She nodded, pointing with her muzzle at a small pile of bones.

 “I was gonna offer to take yours out of the barn too when you were done. Ravenpaw and Barley showed me where they put them.”

 They both looked over as the two toms padded past them waving their tails in greeting.

 “Mornin’! Looks like you're finally awake!” Barley gave a hardy laugh at Fireheart's sigh.

 “We were just about to go on our morning walk, but we wanted to see you before we head out in case you were leaving early!” Ravenpaw drew a paw over his whiskers and washed his face as Fireheart finished his mouse.

 “We probably should head out…” Fireheart looked out into the morning sky; it was cloudy and somewhat cold, but still early enough that it would warm up a bit after they left. “Looks like it won't rain but we should still be careful.”

 Morningflower had padded next to him, her yellow-green eyes reflected the cloudy gray of the sky. Ravenpaw and Barley weren't far behind, their tails twined together.

  “Well if this's bye for now just know we wish y'all luck. You'll be needin’ it if ya plan on gettin’ a whole damn extra clan o’ cats in this forest!” Barley nodded at them kindly with a crooked smile. 

 Turning to Ravenpaw, he let out a small laugh, “Guess we'll need to clean the barn n’ get more mice!”

 Ravenpaw nodded his agreement, “Just know we're rooting for you! Make sure you come back safe!” His eyes brimmed with pride as he nuzzled Fireheart and stepped back, nodding at Morningflower in equal respect.

 Fireheart felt his heart was ready to burst as he watched the toms walk away chatting about this and that.

“It's wonderful that they're so close” Fireheart turned as Morningflower spoke beside him, “after what you told me about Tigerclaw and what he'd done, I’d always felt sorry for Ravenpaw. But now, seeing him so happy and loved, I just feel relieved that Tigerclaw wasn't able to ruin him.”

 “Yeah…” Fireheart turned back to watch the black and white toms as they mostly disappeared in the light fog that had settled around the farm.

 Shaking himself in the morning chill, he started towards the fence closest to the river. Morningflower padded at his side, her fur slightly spiked up in the cold.

—

 As they reached the very end of the farm’s fencing, the two cats wriggled under the wood and out to the edge of the field. The river went a ways until they reached the edge of a cluster of thunderpaths.

 “Looks like the river goes under and through this mess…” Morningflower trailed off while looking at the massive trunk-like pillars holding one of the thunderpaths high above them.

 Fireheart shared her apprehension. They would be going through even more of these paths here alone than when he brought back WindClan!

 He shook himself out and laid a paw on the hard surface of a small wall jutting from the ground to look over where they needed to go. The walls seemed to keep monsters from going off the paths.

 “Looks like we'll need to make a few sprints to get there but once we're past this bunch of paths, we're safe for a while,” he lowered himself as a line of monsters whipped past him. The disgusting smell of their fumes choked his nose and throat.

 “Got it, though I wish we could just go around,” she sighed.

 They couldn't, there wasn't any way around without them spending the entire day just getting there. 

 Her ears flattened as she leaped onto the wall, balancing herself and watching a huge monster scream a deep bellowing roar as it flew past.

 Fireheart leaped beside her, it seemed like the line of monsters would never end.

 Then there was an opening on the first path; they both tore across the hard path to the next wall.

 Then the next, and the next. Until they'd made it to the final path.

 Heaving, they both steadied themselves on the wall to spring out; when a deafening wail cried out. They both started at the sharp cry. The monster sounded horrifying, like it was in pain!

 There was another that joined in with an even louder roar. Massive and red, it streaked past them and pulled at their fur with the sheer speed.

 Fireheart nearly fell as he watched the massive creature speed away; Morningflower held out a paw to help steady him as another shiny, normal- sized blue monster sped past.

 In the lull of monsters, they both sprung out; landing on the hard ground, Fireheart felt his paw pads rip slightly. It felt like fire as he ran to the final wall.

 A small, gray monster was hurtling towards him at full tilt. The pain in his paws made him slower, the monster gaining even more ground towards him.

 A hard nudge from behind sent him into the wall as Morningflower caged him against it with her body, their pelts pressed together. He panted and crouched as the smaller monster went by them.

 She helped him up over the small, hard wall and over into the thin grass.

 Fireheart bent his head to lick at his raw paws, tasting blood mixed with the gunk of the thunderpaths.

 Morningflower caught her breath beside him, sides quivering with the effort. She shook out her fur and flopped over.

 “Oh I could sleep for a moon after all that!”

 Fireheart grunted in agreement, he felt his heart beating out of his chest as he tried to relax a bit.

 Looking up into the sky, he saw that the clouds had only gotten darker. His ears flattened as he thought he felt a few drops on his fur.

 She must have felt them too as she jumped up and shook her pelt out again.

 “Oh great, it's gonna rain…” She looked up at the clouds with an unamused look. “Welp, we'd best get under some trees or shelter to wait it out.”

 StarClan only knows where she gets that energy from! Must be part of being a WindClan cat. He thought with a small sigh. But she's right, we need to beat this rain before it gets us sick.

 They padded away from the thunderpaths and found the river again. 

—

 For a few days they did nothing but hunt, follow the river while trying to stay out of the rain, and rest when they found any shelter.

 Fireheart set his eyes on the horizon where the river was headed. Most of the time he would just see fields, sometimes a small thunderpath they would have to cross but nothing too much for the two of them.

 Five days into the journey, he started to feel a little bit dizzy and his paw pads were burning more and more from overuse. The rain hadn't stopped since they left the cluster of thunderpaths.

 “Okay, Barkface said Dandelion and Feverfew were good for fevers…” Morningflower chattered to herself as she rounded up some feverfew from alongside the river and brought it over for him.

 Thank you Barkface for having the foresight to teach your cats some medicine while you all were ousted from WindClan territory! Fireheart thought with a yawn as Morningflower came over with a small bundle of the leaves for him to chew and swallow.

 After a short rest under a bush, the two set out for the river again.

 Unfortunately the rain decided to evolve into a downpour, soaking the two to the bone. The river was once again winding through a short, grassy plain. They followed it down a small hill and out.

 It seemed to be headed towards a small forest: they could wait out the rain there!

 They walked through the small bunch of shrubs at the edge of the forest as the rain continued to fall. The sound rang in his ears as Fireheart listened to the thrumming of rain on the leaves overhead.

 “We should keep going, this stretch of woods seems to go on for a while and gets thicker further in.” Morningflower flicked the rain from her whiskers as she spoke.

 Fireheart followed her as the two padded through the ferns and bushes dotting the ground. His paw pads didn't hurt as much in the soft grass under them.

 He nearly walked into her as she stopped, pointing her muzzle a little ways ahead of them.

 “An abandoned twoleg den! That'd be perfect to keep from the rain: plus we can probably catch something and rest a little while we wait out the rest of this stupid storm!”

 Fireheart felt his pelt prickle when she said that it was a twoleg den. He scowled slightly, he knew he should be over all the kittypet taunts - but they still wormed into his head at the thought.

 “We should just wait it out out here; there's plenty of prey,” just sniffing, Fireheart could tell that was a blatant lie, but he couldn't stop himself.

 If even she just sees me as a kittypet, how the hell am I going to make it through this journey with her! His ears went back in annoyance as his tail flicked. I shouldn't get so hung up on it, but I hate that even my friends outside of ThunderClan might just think I'm some kittypet who got lucky.

 “Huh? Why?? There’s no reason to catch our deaths out here and judging by smell alone, that’s all we’d be catching.” She sounded genuinely confused and sort of pissed.

 He hated being so defensive but he couldn't stop.

 “If we wait in the den, we might fall asleep and waste time! We should just wait out here!” As he argued, a fat droplet smacked him in the head from above. He felt even more embarrassed.

 “Like I said, we could catch cold or worse if we sit out here in the rain!” She shot back. “Why are you being stubborn about this?!”

 He simply shook his head and lowered it angrily.

 She let out a ‘hmph’ and he heard her stalk away. Shuffling his paws, he looked back up just to see her tail disappearing as she padded through the broken door to the abandoned nest.

 Fireheart huffed in annoyance as another few fat droplets smacked into his head and back.

 Fine!

 He slowly padded over to the old home, the outside walls were being overtaken by ivy and moss. As he poked his head inside he sneezed harshly at the amount of dust that flooded his nose.

 Flattening his ears against the roar of the storm outside, he slunk in. He could see her pawprints in the dust covering the floor. 

 He was about to call out for her when he saw her stepping back into the entrance room. She had a fat vole in her jaws and a mouse she held by its tail.

 Another rush of embarrassment went over his pelt; she'd been entirely right that there was more than enough prey in this house - twoleg den - he mentally corrected.

 “Here,” she tossed him the mouse and swept away some dust from the floor with her tail to sit down and eat her vole.

 “We're going to eat in here?” He already felt uncomfortable just being in here, besides they were right by where the twolegs would have prepared food to eat - the kitchen - he remembered. He couldn't stand doing all of this in a twoleg den where twolegs would have eaten, and some little kittypet would have eaten along with them.

 “We need to be going!” He picked up his mouse and stepped away from the kitchen.

 Fireheart turned back when he realized she hadn't moved. She was staring at him with an unreadable expression.

 His fur twitched under her gaze, he felt too self conscious about this! 

 Morningflower twitched an ear and opened her jaws to speak, but the sound of the storm cracking a massive branch in the distance stopped her and they both glanced outside.

 Both flinched at the loud splash that followed it.

 She looked back at him. He shrunk back slightly as he realized she was giving him the option to stay inside.

 No! I'm not some kittypet that's afraid of some wind and rain!

 Her eyes widened as he picked his mouse up again and strutted out with his chest puffed up.

 He deflated at the sight of the rain.

 It wasn't just pelting anymore, it was almost like a river falling onto them.

 He was not about to lose his pride though! He bit harder into the mouse and pushed forward against the rain and wind as it tore at the trees above them.

 Morningflower simply pushed forward behind him, growling as the downpour blinded her. He could see her lean muscles as her drenched pelt clung to her.

 He shook his head, he couldn't afford to be distracted in such a harsh storm.

 He saw the massive branch that had fallen, it would make a perfect bridge across the river. And looking at the other side, it was going to be much better than being over where they were.

 “Pleh!” Fireheart spun around at the sound of Morningflower spitting out her soiled vole. “This is stupid, Fireheart!”

 She shivered from the cold and the force of her annoyance.

 “Are you really so stubborn about resting in a twoleg den that you'd risk this?!”

 He was about to drop his mouse and shoot back at her, when a wave drenched his legs from the river: it was flooding!

 He spit his mouse onto the ground and opened his jaws to call back to her when he was hit by another, higher wave.

 Spluttering as he coughed up water, he whipped his head around to see Morningflower heaving up a stream of water.

 “We need to get across that huge branch!”

 “We need to go back to the damn twoleg den!” She called back over the deafening storm.

 He was already leaping onto the massive branch.

 I have to prove that I don't need some twoleg house, I'm not some kittypet anymore!

 “Fireheart?!”

 He was halfway across when the river began to flood out of control. Fireheart could hear Morningflower calling for him to come back.

 Then a cracking noise from underneath his paws drew him from his stupor.

 Another flooding wave swept over the branch and tore it and Fireheart under a rushing current.

 He felt the powerful river force him along as he tried feebly to swim against it. His paws churning the water did nothing to help him as the river rushed over his head.

 He couldn't even break the surface of the water to breathe as the torrent raged with him being dragged along like a scrap of fur.

 Fireheart's eyes closed as he felt his head fog up and his thoughts went blank.