Charred Legacy: Chapter Fifty-Two
(AO3 counterpart here.)
That night was painfully long and alarmingly short all at once.
Once everyone had eaten, the bodies were carried outside, the entire Clan following Fireheart into the woods. Even Goldenflower left with them, letting Aspenpaw take charge of the kits. Fireheart dimly reflected on the humor of an apprentice barely older than the kits themselves being their guardian. Goldenflower didn’t comment, simply helping carry Bluestar alongside Frostfur.
Every path to and from the burial sites stretched on and on, ending in a heartbeat of digging, placing, and refilling in silence, then returning to an eternity of walking. It was a marvel that the final hole was dug and filled by midnight.
After that came the return home. With the forest completely lacking dog-scent, cats were more willing to spread out to hunt on their way back. Fireheart, to his own surprise, managed to focus enough to catch a shrew. He waited for everyone to come to him, whether or not they had prey, before leading them to camp. It was still silent.
The Clan came home together, Fireheart giving Cinderpaw his shrew and heading straight for the meeting stump. He hopped onto it, standing and waiting for everyone to deposit their prey and look up at him attentively.
“Is everyone doing alright?” he asked first. Some surprised and mildly amused nods and verbal confirmations replied to him, and he fought to keep his ears from going back as he said sheepishly, “Just wanted to check before I said anything else.
“I won’t pretend to be gifted in speech, and I know I should have done this before we went out, but… I thought I should say something in honor of our leader, deputy and seer before we continue on for the night.”
Darkstripe made a face out of the corner of his eye, but everyone else, weary though they were, did perk up a bit. Many curious eyes were on Fireheart as he took in a breath, sorting his thoughts briefly.
“First, Whitecloud,” he said. “He saved my and Cinderpaw’s lives, but beyond that, he saved all of us by taking charge when he was appointed after Speckletail.” Speckletail died saving you too; seems to be a pattern with you, a nasty little voice whispered in the back of his mind. He ignored it for now. “He was our leader when Bluestar couldn’t be, and he still took care of his aunt while taking care of us. I have a legacy to live up to, and I’m honored to bear that task.” He looked up to the sky. “Whitecloud, I hope you’ve made it to StarClan by now, but if you haven’t and you’re still here… we owe you more than we could ever hope to give back.”
He looked back down to saddened faces. He restrained a sigh of sorrow himself and continued.
“Yellowfang…” He twitched his whiskers. “Well, I know she wouldn’t want us to get overly poetic about her. She’d probably slap me if I tried to be anything but honest, no matter how rude the rest of us would find it.” A few small titters. “She was crass, cranky, and courageous. She saw the world from a practical perspective, and she wasn’t afraid to test her ancestors’ patience by being blunt and ready to fight at the drop of a feather.” His eyes slowly drifted downwards. “I feel lucky that I got to take care of her when she first came to us. She was unlike anyone I’ve ever known, and there’s no replacing that cursing, grumpy ball of fur from the marshes.” He looked at Cinderpaw. “But she made sure to leave us with an apprentice that she loved more than anyone in the world, one that she was eager to fight and die for. And, Yellowfang, if you’re here, I promise we’ll take care of her in your stead. Your fool girl couldn’t have been trained by a better mentor.”
Cinderpaw swallowed a lump and blinked her wet eyes gratefully at Fireheart.
“And Bluestar,” Fireheart said, returning his attention to the rest of ThunderClan. Everyone’s gaze immediately turned even more unhappy. He fought a lump in his throat himself as he carefully considered what he needed to say.
“It wasn’t fair,” he said after a pause. “It wasn’t fair for her to grow ill and alienated from us after leading for so long. It wasn’t fair for us to avoid her or be angry with her for it. I only saw the end of her reign, but even then I could see how great she was from how eager all of you were to follow her. She was noble and dignified and wise, and…” His voice trembled now. “And to have that ripped away from her by something she couldn’t control is unbearably cruel. I watched her forget me and her nephew, and all of you. It… it was like watching her die over and over again. We lost her a long time ago.”
Many heads bowed, and many eyes shut painfully.
“We can take comfort in that her pain is over,” Fireheart continued, fighting to steady his voice. “But we shouldn’t forget that pain. Nor should we forget who she was before: regal and intelligent and confident. Those two things can exist together, and they do whether we want them to or not.” His breath was shaky. “She was my mentor, the one who practiced what she preached and took me in to live in ThunderClan. I owe everything to her, even more than I owe Whitecloud. If you’re still here, Bluestar…” He returned his attention to the sky, throat tight enough that he had to force his words out, and even then, they came out quiet and taut. “…Thank you.”
When he looked down, everyone’s faces were miserable. He resisted the urge to shake his pelt and simply stood tall.
“We will survive without them,” he said. “We’ll make them proud and let them rest in peace, knowing that in their absence, ThunderClan stands strong and keeps moving forward, no matter how many blows we take.”
The aura of camp brightened up and eased. Cats sat straighter or murmured agreement, expressions relaxing.
“That’s about all I have to say,” Fireheart said, a little awkwardly. “Let’s rest up for the Gathering tomorrow night. If you want to go, let me know.”
He jumped down from the stump, the only tangible thought in his head being, Well, that could have gone worse.
He spent the rest of the night checking on everyone, answering their questions with very little confidence, offering comfort with much more, and finally retiring when the stars started fading. Before he could leave camp, Cloudpaw came up to him with his tail curled eagerly.
“Me and the other apprentices cleaned the leader’s den and got you new nesting stuff,” he said, proud but still peeking at Fireheart, seeking approval. “You don’t have to sleep with all that rotten prey anymore! Or– well, you didn’t before, but now you definitely don’t have to.”
Fireheart purred. “Thank you. I appreciate that. Where is Frostfur’s litter?”
“Oh, they already went to our den, I think.”
“Well, when they wake up tomorrow, I’ll thank them too.” He ruffled Cloudpaw’s head-fur. “You did me a big favor.”
Cloudpaw puffed out his chest in delight. Fireheart kept a happy face on until he left camp and went to his new den alone. He limply collapsed into the soft, fresh moss, staring absently at the wall. It took him a long time to fall asleep, barely able to get past the feeling of being the only cat in the whole forest. How had Bluestar tolerated this?
The next night came, and Fireheart (with some help, to make sure he didn’t bring the wrong number of cats) selected Ravenwing, Teaselfoot, Sandstorm, Lizardtail, Cloudpaw, and Frostfur’s sons. Brightpaw adamantly refused his offer to take her, and he didn’t push her on it, just gently reminded her that she was welcome to come whenever she was ready. It mildly surprised him to see her remaining fur smooth down again with his soothing tone.
The party set out warily, heads constantly turning and noses in the air. The dog never did appear, even as they reached the neutral grounds. The other Clans had already arrived, looking no worse for wear. Fireheart breathed slowly to steady his hammering heart, which did absolutely nothing as he padded through the crowd, his Clanmates dispersing and curiosity wafting off everyone else as they watched him walk along. He nodded politely to as many cats as he could, dreading reaching the boulder. Thank the stars that he managed to jump up onto it without any trouble, but the other leaders were staring at him with puzzlement.
“Fancy seeing you here,” Rookstar said flatly.
“Er…” Fireheart bobbed his head to him, chuffing awkwardly. “It’s been a pretty crazy month for us.”
Crookedstar purred and tilted his head, peering down at the much younger tom. “Bluestar’s still not well, I take it?”
Fireheart resisted the urge to sag in grief. “You could say that.”
The leaders fell silent, all exchanging questioning glances but not being rude enough to pry.
Fireheart watched the crowd, mourning his place in it. I’ll never get to just…talk to other cats again, will I? I’m going to be “the leader”, and I have to sit up here, watching everyone else have fun conversations. Will cats be afraid to talk to me? I’m still just me…
“Think we’re about ready,” Rookstar said after a lengthy pause, the warriors and apprentices’ conversations quieting down.
“I’ll do it,” Blackstar said, and stood, calling out with the same loud, elongated cry that Bluestar had used so many times before. Everyone immediately fell silent and looked forward, though some of the other Clans’ eyes were very closely focused on Fireheart.
As usual, Crookedstar began. “A night of peace to you all, and hopefully many more peaceful nights past this!” He grimaced about as well as a crooked-jawed cat could. “We’ve all scented or seen that one dog by now, I gather.”
“The other ones were killed or carried away,” Fireheart said. “They’ve been invading ThunderClan for a while now.”
Lizardtail winced and gave Fireheart a “don’t tell them that” gesture with his paw. Fireheart ignored him.
Crookedstar looked down at Fireheart. “Well, then, I assume you have a great deal to tell us!”
“A very great deal,” Fireheart confirmed. He stood up, took a step forward, and breathed in deep, mindful of every stare he was getting.
“Good evening,” he started, at least getting his voice to be a little louder than at home. “My name is Fireheart, and I’m here to speak for ThunderClan. We’ve…” He trailed off, shivered, and willed himself to keep speaking. “We’ve lost pretty much all of our senior warriors and our seer to the dogs, and illness in the case of Bluestar.”
ThunderClan’s warriors opened their mouths, looking mortified. The rest of the cats gasped or spoke to each other in surprise, followed by sympathetic murmurs as they looked back up at Fireheart.
“Bluestar wasn’t able to make any decisions on her own,” Fireheart went on. “We relied on our deputies, Speckletail and Whitecloud, to lead us. When Whitecloud succeeded Speckletail, he had two cats in mind to be his deputies when he went to the Mother to become a leader. That was me and my friend, Dustpelt.” Fireheart’s tail wanted to cling around his back leg, but he forced it to stay straight and tall. “Whitecloud was killed very suddenly, along with Yellowfang, who left behind Cinderpaw as our only seer. And Bluestar died right after them, only two nights ago. The Clan…” He braced himself for derision and bafflement. “The Clan has accepted me as the new leader.”
There was a heartbeat of a pause, then several loud voices cheered from the crowd, making Fireheart jolt. He caught sight of the tortoiseshell Mosspelt standing beside Pansyheart, both of them with shining eyes and curled tails, shouting excitedly.
“Congratulations!” a familiar voice called—Fireheart looked to see Rainpath standing beside his apprentice, tip-tapping joyfully in place. Badgerpaw added in a high pitch, “Blessings!”
“ThunderClan made a good choice for once!” a black tom yelled, receiving a wave of chuffs. Fireheart recognized him as Silverstream’s old friend, Privetclaw.
“How about that,” another familiar voice said, just barely above the normal volume. Wrenwhisker’s eyes were slightly crinkled, his long tail curling behind him. “Well done, buddy.”
“You’ll do fine,” Rookstar said, and he dipped his head respectfully.
“Ha!” Crookedstar nearly slapped Fireheart on the back, but caught himself and just tapped him with a broad paw. “Yes, you certainly will. Young to lead, but we’ve got your back if ever you need us, lad.”
“ShadowClan offers their well-wishes and support,” Blackstar added, his sour face ever-so-slightly warmer. “Our seer can come to assist Cinderpaw whenever she needs it. Even give her her name, if she accepts it.”
Fireheart’s gaze swept around, from the other leaders to the cats below him, all nodding in support or beaming for him. His heart warmed in his chest, and he couldn’t fight back a beam of his own, legs almost wobbly from relief.
“Thank you,” he said when it got quiet. “I– I’m very grateful for your support. All of your support.”
Cloudpaw, in the center of the gathered cats, was flaring out his fur in pride. Fireheart read his lips as he whispered to a brown-and-white apprentice beside him, “That’s my uncle!”
“I hope that’s the worst of your news,” Crookedstar said to Fireheart. “The dogs are mostly gone, save that one?”
Fireheart nodded. “We haven’t scented it anywhere else around the forest. The last time it was seen was here, in the neutral grounds.” He paused, then realized what he was supposed to do next and added, “That’s all from us.” He stepped back and sat down quickly, tail now wrapping tightly around his front paws.
“Well…” Crookedstar stood up now and took that usual step forward. “We’ve seen that bloody big dog too. It’s running all over the place, but it’s mostly been in the fields, chasing after rabbits and horses, and then disappearing for days. I’ll freely admit that we have no idea what to do about that.” He shuddered. “It’s been awful enough just having to constantly keep an eye on it and stay hidden.”
“You are not the only ones to watch something carefully,” Blackstar said. “We in the marshes have seen a human with a rronakrak walking our borders.” He scowled. “And the dog has been spotted in the far distance of the north, too.”
“And by our border, too,” Rookstar said. He let out the faintest sigh. “Humans are walking our land. Perhaps to find the dog.”
“I’m sure they are,” Fireheart said. “They were the ones to trap the other dogs and take them away. We haven’t seen those ones since.”
“Interesting…” Blackstar tilted his head, thoughtful. “Then you suggest they’d take this one too?”
Fireheart rolled a shoulder. “Or just kill it, if they’ve got a rronakrak. One car killed a dog in front of us. Those humans are the only reason we’re all alive right now.”
The crowd did not quite growl at this, but their chatter was less than friendly at the notion of humans being spoken of in the positive.
“They’re taking their sweet time killing this last one,” Crookedstar said, his joviality a poor cover for his anger. “We need it gone as soon as possible.”
A voice piped up. “Maybe we could speed it along?”
Fireheart was startled to hear Ravenwing, and even more startled to see that he didn’t look particularly afraid as everyone turned their heads to him. He flinched a tiny bit, but his voice stayed steady.
“When it was pel dogs, we couldn’t do anything, even as an entire group,” he said, loud and clear. “But we have just one left, and the humans are already seeking to kill it. If they show up at the right time, and the dog is led over to them or something, maybe they could kill it quickly.”
The crowd murmured at this, ears pricked and heads tilted.
“That’s not a bad idea you have there,” Crookedstar said contemplatively. “I don’t really see us taking it down ourselves. But how to pass it off to humans?”
“We’d need to find a location to bring it to, if we had someone lure it,” Rookstar said, tail tapping the boulder. “WindClan’s fastest could outpace it easily.”
“And RiverClan’s fields are flat and very open,” a round-faced patched molly called. “Humans are on the walking path all the time, and they’re always trying to get close to us.”
“Then that’d be a perfect spot.” Blackstar’s face was still dark, but his front paws kneaded in place. “ShadowClan always has its eyes on the Aulmir. We can locate a human with a rronakrak and alert the rest of you.”
“If we can get this to work…” Crookedstar’s short tail started wagging. “We ought to discuss it more. RiverClan’s territory will be open to all the Clans, if we work on this as a team.” He spoke to Fireheart. “ThunderClan’s staggering right now, I take it. You don’t have to be a part of this; you’re free to rest and recover.”
Fireheart twitched his whiskers. “Like blazes I’m not trying to help. I’ll speak to the rest of the Clan about it, but I’m sure we’d all want in. For those we’ve lost, if nothing else.”
“As you like,” Crookedstar said, eyes warm with approval. He turned to the crowd. “Now, let’s chat. We have a dog to kill.”
