The Beginning Prophecy: Firestarter

Chapter Two

Yowls of shock erupted from the Clan cats.

Spottedleaf flattened her ears against her head. Ravenpaw must have misspoke. He must have mistaken another cat for Redtail. Her brother couldn't be dead!

Ravenpaw staggered, his balance uneven thanks to a deep gash on his shoulder that spilled blood down his foreleg. "The fighting was so vicious, it w-was hard to see what was happening. I saw Tigerclaw had Oak...Oakheart pinned, but then Tigerclaw let him go to help Mousefur. Oakheart ran off behind the rocks and then..." Ravenpaw's words were cut off as his eyes rolled in his head and he lurched sideways. He slithered off Highrock and fell to the dusty earth below.

A gray brindle queen, her belly swollen with the promise of kits, bounded toward the unconscious apprentice and crouched beside him. She gave his cheek a brief lick. "Mossfall!"

A blue-gray and white patched she-cat trotted over to Ravenpaw. "Stand back, Brindleface." She mewed. She rolled the black tom over with her small pink nose and inspected the injury. "All is well. His wound is far from fatal. I'll need cobwebs to stop the bleeding."

Brindleface began to knead her paws nervously against the hard-baked earth as Mossfall sprinted back to her den. "He wasn't supposed to be in the battle. I swear to StarClan..."

All eyes were drawn to the gorse tunnel at the sound of pawsteps. The injured warriors filed into camp, a small black tom with a single white paw at the head. Bringing up the rear was a massive dark brown tabby. He staggered as he carried the lifeless body of another cat into the center of the clearing.

Shock swept through the Clan like a cold wind. Spottedleaf's heart was pulled into her throat by a bramble tendril. "Redtail!"

"Tinyice. Tigerclaw. How did this happen?" Bluestar demanded from Highrock.

The black cat stared back steadily at Bluestar while the tabby let Redtail's scruff fall from his mouth and moved beside the other tom. He towered over his Clanmate. "We won the battle."

No cat cheered.

"Oakheart died when one of the rocks fell on him, and RiverClan retreated. We had started to head back. I thought Redtail was behind me, but I heard Tigerclaw spitting..."

Tigerclaw picked up the story. His voice was strong and deep. "Redtail was to follow me. I turned back when I realized he was missing. That's when I saw a RiverClan warrior over Redtail. I could not save him and that fox-heart was already in the river by the time I raced over."

A moment passed before Spottedleaf slowly crept toward to press her muzzle against Redtail's ragged pelt. It was still warm.

Another cat settled beside her and Spottedleaf noticed the pale gray pelt of her other littermate. The gray she-cat's unusually blue eyes glistened with grief. Beside the sisters settled a black-and-white tom, his muzzle gray with age.

Tinyice brushed his tail over Spottedleaf's spine as he passed. His own expression was one of sorrow. "I'm sorry." He offered quietly, slinking off to Mossfall's den behind his wounded Clanmates.

Bluestar had not spoken while the cats stepped forward to pay their respects to their dead deputy. She leapt down from Highrock and slowly approached Redtail's body. Those who were not kin or close with Redtail retreated to watch the leader share tongues with her old comrade.

When she finished, she raised her head and spoke. The Clan listened in a grief-stricken silence. "Redtail was a brave deputy. His loyalty was never in question. I relied on his judgment, for it bore witness to the needs of ThunderClan, and was never swayed by pride or self-interest. Redtail would have made a fine leader."

She then lowered herself onto her belly with her head bowed and her paws stretched neatly before her as she grieved for her lost friend. The retreated cats returned and laid beside her, their bowed heads and hunched backs echoing their leader's own mournful pose.

Spottedleaf had no idea how much time had passed by the time Bluestar arose and returned to her position on Highrock. She barely had enough energy to draw her eyes from Redtail's body which had become pale gray in the fading light.

"A new deputy needs to be appointed," the leader meowed. "But, let us give thanks to our ancestors for the life of Redtail first. He sits with his fellow Clanmates among the stars tonight."

All the cats fell silent and looked up to the sky, watching it darken as evening crawled over the treetops.

StarClan, welcome him with open paws and honor. May you have swift running, plentiful hunting, and shelter where you sleep, Brother. Spottedleaf prayed.

"I shall now name ThunderClan's new deputy," continued Bluestar. "I say these words before the body Redtail and all of ThunderClan, so that his spirit and every cat may hear to approve my choice. Lionheart. You will be the new deputy of ThunderClan." She meowed.

"Young Dustpaw was training under Redtail." Bluestar spoke again. "I shall appoint Dustpaw's new mentor immediately to avoid delay in the training of our apprentices. You are ready for another apprentice, Darkstripe, so you will continue to train Dustpaw. Tigerclaw was a fine mentor to you, and I trust that you will pass on all that you know to this young cat."

Spottedleaf's grief was too raw for her to care about the passing of mentorship. She had barely even heard the leader's announcement or the scattered murmurs of congratulation.

Bluestar's raised voice brought the tortoiseshell's attention back to the blue-gray she-cat. "I shall keep a vigil with Redtail tonight before we bury him at dawn." She leapt down from Highrock and approached Redtail's body to lay beside it once more. Several of the other cats joined her, Dustpaw and four additional apprentices among them.