Work Text:
I awoke, cold and shaken. I was the only one awake, and unusually, there were no patrols out at moonhigh. I guessed that it was because everyone was exhausted from the Gathering the night before. I couldn’t remember my dream, but I felt like StarClan was trying to lead me somewhere; somewhere outside the camp. I crept outside the warriors’ den and into the camp clearing. It was quiet out. The only thing I could hear was cats snoring and crickets chirping. I was only a few tail-lengths from the outside of the gorse tunnel when I smelled someone behind me… Graystripe!
I spun around. “What are you doing here?”
“I should ask you that question!”
“I’m not doing anything!”
“Then why are you creeping out of the camp?”
Graystripe is my best friend, but sometimes he is really stubborn. “Fine, I’ll tell you,” I paused. “I think StarClan wants to take me somewhere. I know it sounds crazy, but…” Graystripe let out a purr of laughter.
“You’re sneaking out at moonhigh because you're dreaming about Spottedleaf?” he joked. “That’s new. You’re not going alone!" I was about to say something until I heard another voice from the bushes say:
“Spottedleaf?”
It was Sandstorm. Her fur glowed under the moonlight, and it looked like she was following me, too. Sandstorm slowly stepped out of the bush to stare at us both, her eyes full of questions.
“What are you two doing out here? I saw you two leaving the camp, so I decided to follow along,” Sandstorm said calmly.
“I was going to wherever StarClan calls me,” I began, “ but this mouse-brain said I was 'dreaming about Spottedleaf.’”
Sandstorm responded, “If Whitestorm finds out we were out of camp without being patrolled, we’re crow-food because of how paranoid Bluestar is about letting any of us out of the camp after Tigerstar’s exile. Whatever, I’m coming with you two.”
I didn’t have a problem with the two of them coming, really. I was just planning on going alone… but I guess not. We were aimlessly wandering around the forest for what felt like a moon. Not long into our walk, something felt off. I thought it was just me being nervous about what StarClan was trying to tell me, so I didn’t say anything. When we were near the Thunderpath, Graystripe spoke.
“Do you guys smell that?”
I sniffed the air. The scent was fresh. It smelled like a ShadowClan cat’s scent, but with a twinge of some other scent that stung my nose a little. I couldn’t remember it, but it seemed so familiar. The three of us stopped in our tracks, looking for the scented cat. A pair of glowing eyes emerged from the dark pine trees nearby. My breath stopped. My claws dug into the damp ground beneath my paws. You could hear a whisker bristle in this silence. Nothing could have prepared us for who it was.
Tigerstar.
I felt my heartbeat stop as we saw him looming over us. It was as if he could eradicate us with one movement.
“What are you doing on my territory?” he spoke with his booming voice. None of us could say a thing. After he attempted to murder Bluestar not long ago, we were sure he’d do the same to one of us.
“We were just trotting around,” Graystripe said, his voice trembling.
Sandstorm sniffed the air, and her eyes widened. We were on ShadowClan territory, and we didn’t even notice because we forgot to check for scent marks! It was so mouse-brained for us not even to know that we’re not in our own territory, especially as grown warriors.
Tigerstar growled as more ShadowClan cats appeared from behind him. “Take these cats in as prisoners,” he demanded. Tigerstar glared at us as the ShadowClan warriors surrounded us and took us to the camp. There was no anger in his eyes. No disappointment. Just pure satisfaction. I felt like this was StarClan’s calling, bringing me into the forest… but the call was not from them.
While we were being led there, I realized why Tigerstar didn’t kill us immediately. He wanted us to die a slow and painful death, being tortured. I pushed the thought away. The three of us weren’t going to die like this, right? Soon, we got taken into the center of the camp, and every ShadowClan cat stared at us.
“These cats are now prisoners of ShadowClan. Feed them just enough to keep them alive; do to them what they deserve. Show them what we do to trespassers,” Tigerstar announced. All the ShadowClan cats looked nervous; no cat ever thought he’d want others to be tortured. Afraid to disobey their leader, they all dipped their heads reluctantly.
Hearing everything Tigerstar said, Graystripe and Sandstorm exchanged terrified glances with me. We were more than crow-food.
We were sitting in the quiet prisoners’ den for a while without a word. I could hear Sandstorm whisper, “StarClan, help us,” under her breath a million times. None of us spoke to each other. We all just drowned in our own thoughts.
Graystripe finally spoke. “What are we going to do?”
“Is there any option we can take without getting in trouble?” I asked.
Sandstorm grumbled in disapproval. “This was such a mouse-brained idea.”
Was the feeling ever from StarClan? Was I misled? What if this was all a trap led by Tigerstar to try and kill us all? What kind of punishment would we get once—no, if we made it back home alive?
The next morning was rough. At dawn, we got dragged out of the den and set in the middle of the camp clearing. We were all half-asleep when Tigerstar lied to his Clan, saying that we were being imprisoned because we had tried committing crimes against the warrior code. The three of us were too tired to try to defend ourselves; that’s exactly what Tigerstar wanted. I could tell that no ShadowClan cat believed him.
Later that day, I sat in the den with Sandstorm and Graystripe. We were all tired and hungry when I suddenly blurted out;
“What if this is all a trap?”
The two of them looked at each other and then looked at me. They seemed confused, as if I had said complete gibberish.
“What do you mean by ‘trap?’ Graystripe questioned.
I started to explain. “Tigerstar hates ThunderClan now that he’s been exiled. He hates me the most since I saved Bluestar from being killed by him. What if he decided to plan this out by leading us here?”
Sandstorm looked at me, and I could tell that she was starting to understand. “He’s got a point,” she said. “The scent marks weren’t renewed last night. That’s why we couldn’t tell where we were!”
Graystripe got up on all four of his paws, pacing around the den. “Tigerstar appeared behind the trees when we first set our paws into his territory. It was as if he was waiting there…expecting us.”
My head spun with all the things they just said. There was no denying it; Tigerstar planned this. “We need to think of an escape plan.”
“How are we supposed to,” Graystripe asked, “if Tigerstar would kill us if we left this place?”
He wasn’t wrong about that either. ThunderClan had probably recognized our absence around now, and we couldn’t tell them where we were as a cry for help.
Meanwhile, in ThunderClan, Bluestar was panicking, wondering why three of her warriors had not been seen all day.
“Maybe they’re out hunting,” Whitestorm said, attempting to comfort his leader.
“They never hunt all day! They are usually back at camp by sunhigh! Or maybe they've all run off to become traitors! They all ran off to join him!”
“Maybe they’re at Ravenpaw and Barley’s barn?”
She stayed quiet. She looked up at Whitestorm and commanded, “Take a warrior and tell them to go to Ravenpaw and Barley’s barn. Tell them that Fireheart, Graystripe, and Sandstorm need to come back to camp now. I’m not letting one warrior out of my camp without my permission. Especially with that murderous traitor roaming the forest.”
Whitestorm dipped his head and padded out of Bluestar’s den. He chose the young warrior Cloudtail to bring us home.
Before Cloudtail arrived at Ravenpaw and Barley’s barn, he searched the ThunderClan territory first. Just to check if we were near the camp or not. Obviously, we were not there. Once he made it to the barn, he asked, “Where are the three ThunderClan warriors? They need to…”
“What ThunderClan warriors? They didn’t stop by,” Ravenpaw said. He realised that it was not a good thing that they weren’t here, judging by the surprised look in Cloudtail’s eyes.
Before Cloudtail could say something, Barley said, “We’ll help you find them.”
The three of them searched all the way to Fourtrees. They came across a WindClan patrol, but once they heard that Fireheart and his friends were missing, they got worried too. They let them pass in their territory. Soon enough, they met the Thunderpath. They did not want to cross it, but Barley had a feeling they must check on the other side.
“Do you really think they’re in ShadowClan territory? I mean, why would they be anywhere near there when they know that Tigerstar is leading it now?” Cloudtail asked, trying to hide his subtle fear.
Barley replied, “They could be somewhere over there…” He raised his head and sniffed the air, trying to smell something besides the stench of the Thunderpath. “I smell a mix of fear-scent and ThunderClan scent, but they’re both stale.”
“That’s them! They’re most definitely in ShadowClan territory,” Ravenpaw exclaimed. “I don’t want to be anywhere near that murderer, though…”
“We have to. We need to help them get back to camp before they’re ripped into pieces!” Cloudtail persisted.
“Maybe they already have been,” Ravenpaw nervously said under his breath.
“Let’s go,” Barley commanded. Ravenpaw had to face his fears. “Do you think we should get more cats to help?” Barley asked. Cloudtail and Ravenpaw dipped their heads, eager to help Fireheart and his friends.
The three of us were being attacked. I felt claws snag into my pelt, ripping out chunks of my fur in the middle of the clearing, just as Tigerstar wanted. I hated to hear my friends screeching from pain. Claws glistened everywhere, and the smell of blood surrounded me. Something felt off. Every scratch, claw, and bite felt hesitant. Even if the hesitation lasted for a heartbeat, it wasn’t like a real battle. We were too weak, and it was useless to try to fight back. It was the three against a whole Clan.
I thought it was the end for us. None of our allies knew where we were… until I looked up. My pain felt lessened, even if only for a second. Everything seemed to go quiet. It was all calm. There was finally an ending to all this pain. I stared at three recognizable cats standing at the entrance with Whitestorm, Dustpelt, Longtail, and Mousefur behind them.
They were here.
To save us.
Barley walked up to stand next to Ravenpaw. Then, Tigerstar turned around and hissed at them.
“Get out of my territory!” he snarled.
“Free our cats. If you choose not to, then we will fight,” Whitestorm declared calmly.
Tigerstar refused to free us. Sandstorm looked weary, but hopeful that our allies would succeed in saving us from torture. Graystripe had a look of determination; even if he was bleeding, bruised, and exhausted, he would try his hardest to fight for his freedom.
I watched the ShadowClan warriors stare at the ThunderClan cats in fear. They had no choice because they were forced to harm us, as commanded by Tigerstar. I struggled to stand on my paws, and I unsheathed my claws as ThunderClan ran into the camp clearing. There were scattered cats everywhere. Several ShadowClan cats hid, refusing to defend their corrupt, abusive leader. I couldn’t tell who was a friend or an enemy. Too many ShadowClan cats fought with us.
Cats were screeching and fighting in the camp. Graystripe and Sandstorm refused to give up. Even if they were injured. I was shocked to see Ravenpaw face-to-face with Tigerstar, the cat whom he had feared for moons. I couldn’t let him fight alone, so I stood next to him to help take down our worst enemy.
“Lay a paw on me, and I’ll flay you both!” Tigerstar threatened.
“I’d like to see you try,” I snapped back.
Ravenpaw and I pounced on Tigerstar and unsheathed our claws. We fought and screeched angrily. After what seemed like forever of tackling him, we got off of each other and stared with rage in our eyes. ShadowClan surrounded him, and they all looked at him with disappointment.
Tigerstar stopped glaring. “What are you all staring at? Fight!” he demanded.
The cats could no longer stay quiet and blindly follow their leader.
No cat spoke. Soon, one voice broke the silence.
“No.”
The voice came from Blackfoot, the deputy.
Tigerstar snarled at him. “No? I am your leader! You must do as I say!”
Slowly, more voices spoke up.
“This goes against the warrior code!”
“They did nothing wrong!”
“They don’t deserve this!”
The corrupt leader was enraged with his whole Clan. “Traitors! All of you!” he spat. The ShadowClan members closed in on him with defiance in their eyes. One cat started attacking him. Then two. More and more cats fought against their own leader, and my Clan and I stared at each other with surprise and shock.
They soon stopped attacking Tigerstar, and they all glared at him. Were they going to exile him? The only thing I could hear was cats panting and blood trickling. ThunderClan stood next to the ShadowClan cats.
Tigerstar snarled at us, but we didn’t hesitate to speak up against him.
“Get out of our forest,” Blackfoot demanded.
The ShadowClan leader said his last words before his second exile.
“You all will regret this. Soon, you’ll all be flayed. Mark my words.”
We all stayed silent as he ran into the bushes, and we watched him leave the forest.
I felt a lot of things after he left. Pride, success, freedom… Blackfoot, the deputy of ShadowClan, would become the new leader. He stood in front of his new Clan and promised,
“I will do whatever it takes to repair this Clan and fix everything Tigerstar did.”
We all celebrated Tigerstar’s departure. Graystripe, Sandstorm, and I looked at each other with pure joy in our eyes as we walked back to camp.
“Finally, he’s out of our forest!” Graystripe meowed happily.
“I’m just glad we don’t have to see his ugly face anymore,” Sandstorm laughed.
I laughed with her. “Maybe Bluestar won’t be so paranoid now that he’s gone,” I said.
The three of us walked into Bluestar’s den, nervous about what she was about to say. She was sitting there, facing the wall, and she slowly turned to face us when we entered the den.
“Where were you three?” She asked, with anger in her throat.
“Tigerstar imprisoned us,” Sandstorm said quietly.
“He’s exiled now, so we no longer have to worry about him being in the forest,” Graystripe added.
Bluestar was quiet. She still had that look of slight anger in her eyes, but I knew she was glad that we were home.
“Go to Cinderpelt’s den,” she said. “You’ll need herbs for those scars.”
Her voice was stern but caring. I blinked at her gratefully, and I was glad to be home with my best friends.