#book four

“You sure about this?” Brick asked, expression between pleasantly surprised and baffled. “I know I helped y’all out, but would they greet an outsider in this, uh, what I hear is a pretty sacred meeting?”

Firestar’s eyes creased. “They welcomed me when I came here as a kittypet. If nothing else, you have an interesting story to tell about how you joined us.”

Brick didn’t look convinced, but he slanted his head and sighed in an exaggeratedly put-upon fashion. “I suppose it would be educational. Just don’t let them skin me any more than I’m already bald. The back is bad enough.”

“Hey, actually, you never did say how you got that scar,” Cloudnose remarked, the Gathering patrol crowding together to leave camp.

“And it’s a big one.” Brackenfur caught up to Cloudnose, trotting with him. “It looks too wide for just a cat’s claws to make.”

Teaselfoot tapped Brick’s haunch with his tail. “I’ll bet you pissed off a molly and she sicced her brothers on you.” He winked at Cloudnose, who suddenly looked very nervous.

“Or a fox grabbed you by the scruff and peeled off the skin when you got away,” Tawnypaw offered flatly.

“Or you fell backwards onto something on fire,” Brackenfur suggested. “But then the question is how the rest of your fur didn’t burn—”

“Guess all you want,” Brick said, curling his tail. “You’re not getting that story out of me.”

“Why not?” Tawnypaw asked.

“It adds to the mystery.”

Brackenfur and Cloudnose snickered chuffs under their breaths, trading tickled looks.

“Yeah, you’re mysterious, alright,” Teaselfoot said indulgently. “The real mystery is how long you’ll be here until you get a proper Clan name.”

Brick rolled a shoulder. “Never said I was staying forever.”

“Firestar?” Teaselfoot gave his leader an innocently inquisitive face. “Is that acceptable to you?”

“His call,” was all Firestar said, and he kept walking.

Teaselfoot’s face shifted to unease now, and he clammed up.

Conversation continued behind Firestar while he silently studied the forest they walked through. If it weren’t for the complete lack of leaves on the burned branches, one would think the fire had never happened. The ground had been reclaimed by grass and flowers, and even a few ferns. Life had spat out a tooth and charged forward again, even if the trees stood as charred ghosts.

Perhaps it was just Firestar’s mental state over the past month, but it was nice to feel inspired by something, even just a little bit.

They reached the end of the forest soon after that. From here, Fourtrees seemed to have WindClan and ShadowClan present. If Firestar looked to his left, a white-patched group of colors could be seen trotting across the bridge. He knew it wasn’t his imagination that his Clan started to move a little faster, reaching Fourtrees first.

ThunderClan was greeted with blessings and monotone comments as they spread out and filtered through the crowd. Firestar walked slowly, looking around for two specific faces…

“Firestar!”

Thank the Three. He stopped as a familiar lanky brown tabby and a petite grey tom approached from his right. He genuinely purred and bumped heads with both of them.

“Blessings, it’s been such a long time since we’ve talked!” Rainpath said, bony tail curling and waving around. “How are you?”

Stars, he was sick of that question. He forced a happy face and said, “Tired, mostly. That’s nothing new, of course. Fine, otherwise. What about you two? Are your apprentices here?”

“Dustpaw’s at home,” Wrenwhisker said.

Rainpath puffed out his hollow chest. “Badgerfang is here. Likely telling about how well she fought in the battle.”

“Oh!” Firestar perked up. “I didn’t know she was named. How long ago was that?”

Rainpath’s chest immediately sank back again. “…A couple months ago. I thought Blackstar announced it? Did you forget?”

“Oh,” Firestar said again, much less enthused. “He must have. Yeah. I forgot. I’m sorry.”

A slightly uneasy silence hovered over them. Wrenwhisker and Rainpath looked at each other, sharing some mental conversation, before Wrenwhisker broke the quiet.

“You’re off,” he said.

“Wrenwhisker—” Rainpath flapped a paw to quiet him.

“He is,” Wrenwhisker said with a roll of his shoulder, saying to Firestar now, “Sorry. You look like you haven’t slept in a month.”

“I have,” Firestar defended weakly. “Just… not as well. Since the battle. I’m fine. It doesn’t matter.”

Rainpath’s large eyes grew deeply sad. “We heard about the state Scourge was in. I—”

Abruptly, Firestar couldn’t stand another heartbeat of this. With a quick and curt, “It was nice seeing you two,” he walked past them and didn’t look anywhere but straight ahead until he was at the leader’s boulder.

“Evening,” Rookstar said, as Firestar leaped up and landed beside him.

Blackstar nodded his head.

“Good evening,” Firestar said to both of them. “Is Leopardstar—”

“Right here.” The golden calico was on the boulder before Firestar had time to blink. She was frowning, as usual, but her eyes were not tense and her jaw was relaxed as she dipped her head to the other three leaders and sat down.

The four of them sat together in silence, watching the crowd’s chatter and chuffs.

They were so happy. At peace. Nothing to worry about.

How was that fair?

Firestar’s eyes drifted away from the warriors and apprentices and caught a lone, dark ginger tom sitting a body-length outside of the crowd. Brick was watching the conversations buzzing about, his tail curled tightly around himself, ears visibly forced to stay perked. He looked like he was trying to avoid being noticed, or like he was studying how interaction worked. Firestar was tempted to call to him and tell him to join the cats he was observing. That wouldn’t be a good idea, of course—isolating him with unwanted attention would just make him feel awkward—but it was hard to see someone be so alone, whether or not it was by choice.

“I didn’t expect to see that loner here,” Leopardstar said, after she’d followed Firestar’s line of sight.

“He’s been staying with us,” Firestar explained. “It’s a long story. I’m sure you don’t care.”

That last sentence was not loud, but it was unwarrantedly cooled. He hadn’t even meant to say it; it just escaped him. 

Why was he acting like this tonight?

The other leaders blinked in surprise, but were polite enough to say nothing. Leopardstar, even, knew not to respond. She just turned her head forward, and after a long, uncomfortable pause, asked, “Are we ready to start?”

“That’ll be best,” Rookstar said.

Leopardstar’s call for attention rang out, and all conversation ceased. When all eyes were on her, she stood up and began, “Welcome to the first Gathering since the battle.” She paused, like she wasn’t sure what to say, before adding, “As we can see, the moon is white again. Suriin’s anger has passed.”

Soft murmurs and sighs of relief answered her, with a few cats even looking up at the moon as if to make sure.

“RiverClan will start, since we’ll be quick.” Leopardstar’s half-long tail stood tall and straight. “Aside from two rogues that tried to sneak onto our field to hunt, we’ve suffered no problems. That’s all.” She stepped back and sat down, offering an inviting look to Rookstar.

Rookstar stood, his voice quiet but clear. “WindClan is fine. We’ve seen a pack of rogues wandering out past the territories, but they haven’t come close to us. Haven’t had the chance to check the weather, but I’m pretty sure it’ll stay warm.” He sat down again with no flair.

Blackstar next, and he sounded more enthusiastic than normal (that is, he wasn’t speaking in his usual short and dour tone). “ShadowClan has returned to our hunting places in the Aulmir.” Congratulatory voices responded to him. “We do not go farther than before, but there is plenty to eat—more than we’ve ever seen. It is a miracle.”

“It’s not,” Firestar said quietly, again without intention.

The leaders—well, everyone, really, looked at him, surprised and puzzled. The ThunderClan cats’ mouths tightened.

“…I assume ThunderClan has news, then,” Blackstar said after a moment, stepping back and sitting down.

Firestar took his place, inhaled, and tried to speak loud enough for everyone to hear. “We’re dealing with a group of rogues trying to take revenge on us for the battle.” For the murder you committed, a nasty voice hissed in his head. “We did some investigating and found out that humans have been trapping the cats of the Aulmir, and in the Houses, where some of them fled.” His voice went brittle. “They take kittens away for good, and if a molly is pregnant, her kits are cut out of her and she’s thrown back into the streets, altered so she can’t have any more.”

In a very, very dark way, Firestar felt a sense of satisfaction at the horrified gasps and shouts from the rest of the Clans. Leopardstar flinched and even Rookstar’s eyes were wide in alarm.

“From what we hear, some cats just disappear along with the born kits,” he continued, and looked at Blackstar. “The reason you have more to eat is because there are less cats to fight for food. They’re terrified of the Clans now. I assume that would lead to you not having to deal with many loners on your trips, right?”

Blackstar’s mouth, agape, moved a few times before he managed to respond. “That… we’ve not seen many at all, no.”

“Now you know why,” Firestar said flatly. He sat down. “ThunderClan has no other news.”

A long, uneasy and awkward silence hung over Fourtrees, smothering any thought to start a conversation again. Firestar waited for one of the other leaders to speak, and when they didn’t, he said, “Talk. The news is over.”

Gradually, voices rose with the enthusiasm of one about to be forced to jump the Gorge. Firestar watched without actually paying attention, listening more to the noise of chatter than what was being said.

“That is…” Blackstar said at last. “I did not know what was happening in the Aulmir. I just thought…”

“It’s happening,” Firestar replied bluntly.

Leopardstar stared at him long enough that a sudden flash of anger blazed in Firestar’s chest, completely unprompted.

What? he wanted to snap. Got something cruel to say? Shift the blame somewhere else, so you don’t have to feel bad about what we’ve done?

She eventually turned away, but her face stayed greatly disturbed.

Firestar’s eyes went to his paws, and he kept them there. He needed to get himself under control. Breathe, just breathe, focus on something nice…

He was being stupid and overdramatic. No reason to take that out on anyone else. 

“Hey, you!” an unfamiliar voice called.

He looked up again, half-expecting someone to be talking to him. Instead, Brick was staring at a tortoiseshell-and-white molly from RiverClan, who had stepped out of the crowd and approached him.

“Now, what are you doing out here on your lonesome?” she asked. “You’re that Brick fellow, aye?”

Brick, as always, responded with swift smoothness. “I am. I was just observing how you Clans function, is all—”

“Oh, no, come along.” The molly beckoned him with a paw. “You’ve got the dirt on exactly what’s happening in the Aulmir, don’t you? Come, come, we’re all curious for more.”

She walked along with Brick, practically pushing him into the crowd before he could protest. Several other cats from the other Clans were waiting for them, craning their necks to watch Brick uncertainly follow the molly and sit down in their circle.

“You’re with the Clans now, we hear?” the molly said. “Fascinating stuff. How did that come to pass, I’d like to know?”

A ShadowClan cat, seemingly an apprentice, spoke next, and eagerly. “Did ThunderClan ask you to join? It is ThunderClan you’re with, yes?”

“Well—” Brick looked thrown off, but he settled quickly and responded. “I was actually having a bit of a rough time in town, after that whole ‘helping the Clans take down our only source of authority’ thing.”

The molly gestured grandly. “Well, do tell! You have the floor.”

Firestar’s ears fuzzed out after this, but it was nice to watch Brick grow a little more confident as he shared. He had a good audience that started to grow, as a couple other cats overheard and turned to listen. Brick’s eyes darted to them, even as he kept up his casual tone.

“He doing fine with you?” Rookstar asked, startling Firestar.

He must have seen him watching. Firestar sat straighter. “He’s working hard and by our rules. He and Squirrel are a good addition to our Clan.”

“Squirrel,” Rookstar echoed.

“A kit we took in at her mother’s request,” Firestar elaborated. “The molly that got our allies’ group started.”

“Ah.” The senior leader nodded.

“And is that molly with you, too?” Leopardstar asked dryly. “Since we’re adopting everyone who comes along the border, it seems.”

Firestar snapped his jaws shut on a snarky response before it could even formulate in his mouth. Calmly, he replied, “We think she’s dead.”

Leopardstar wilted a little. “Oh.”

He couldn’t help a bit of barbing. “She had seer powers, too. Would have served under Cinderpelt, I’m sure. She knew I was coming to find help and begged me to take her daughter, since her son had died working for the Blood.”

Leopardstar looked away, tail stiff and puffed out. “I see.”

He shouldn’t have gotten any satisfaction out of shutting Leopardstar down, but he supposed he was being a prick tonight. He returned his attention to Brick, still not quite listening, and watched the cats listening to him react with shock, or amusement, or sympathy, depending on whatever it was he was saying.