So I saw your “Frostfur has had enough” AU and I raise you a “Fireheart has had enough AU”.
This was mostly born from the quote in A Dangerous Path when he says “Do you think I haven’t tried? If I’m any more sympathetic, my fur will fall out!” in reference to Bluestar’s belief that WindClan has been stealing their prey.
So I was thinking, wouldn’t it be interesting if Fireheart suddenly snapped at Bluestar?
Like maybe the stress of acting as the leader of the Clan while hiding Bluestar’s debilitating mental state finally gets to him. He’s young, inexperienced, and he doesn’t really have anyone to guide him. Whitestorm tries his best, but knowing how to make leadership decisions is something that requires experience to know how to teach to others. And that’s not even to mention the fact that he’s not the most popular cat with several of his Clanmates for various reasons. The elders and Darkstripe are still displeased about the fact that he’s deputy, there are tensions between him and Goldenflower because of his leeriness of Bramblekit, and Longtail is pissed at him because he can’t convince Bluestar to make all of the older apprentices into warriors. Even his relationship with Sandstorm is rocky, and since Graystripe is still in RiverClan, he doesn’t have a best friend to confide in.
And one day, it just becomes too much to handle. Bluestar makes a remark to him, and where he’d normally brush it off or try to reassure her, instead he completely blows his top.
He calls her a deadbeat Clan leader and asks her why she even bothers staying in the Clan anymore if her warriors mean so little to her. He says he knows it’s not her fault that she’s ill, but it’s impossible for him to be around her without resenting her because she’s sitting around in her den all day, accusing everyone around her of being traitors while he has to hold everything together on his own. As low as it is, he also points out the fact that if she’d just listened to him when he told her about Tigerstar’s treachery the first time instead of completely dismissing his claims, it’s likely that none of this would be happening. He finishes off his rant by telling her that he’s considering not even assessing the older apprentices again because it’s easier to do that than to continually get their hopes up about receiving their warrior names, only to be disappointed every single time because they have a leader that doesn’t care about them.
When he’s finally finished, he leaves and doesn’t speak to her for days afterward. Not only that, but he goes out of his way to avoid having any contact with her at all. He won’t go on patrol with her, and Whitestorm has to act as a go-between to update her on Clan news. Deep down, Fireheart knows he’s being immature, but he’s too bitter and resentful to realize it consciously.
Meanwhile, Fireheart’s rant serves as a bit of a wake-up call to Bluestar. He’s never been one to lose his temper in the past, and to have it suddenly happen, directed at her no less, shocks her. It takes her a few days, but eventually she starts to consider his words towards her. She realizes that he’s right, as harsh as his delivery was.
However, it’s not until Swiftpaw dies and Brightpaw is mauled that she finally decides to start correcting her mistakes. This time, Swiftpaw is just barely alive when they find them, but dies shortly after returning to camp. Before he dies, however, Bluestar gives him a warrior name-perhaps Swifttail or Swiftrunner-to take to StarClan and performs the same ceremony with Brightpaw, naming her Brightheart. Later, when Brightheart survives her wounds, she confirms her warrior name with a proper ceremony.
It’s bittersweet, especially since Swifttail/Swiftrunner will never have the honor of fighting as a warrior. He will only ever be a warrior in memory. But for the rest of the Clan, it’s a sign that Bluestar is at least trying to fix her mistakes and learn how to trust her warriors again. And for the first time, there’s hope that she can become the wise leader they once knew.
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