SandClan's Destiny Book 1: A Flame is Lit

Chapter 3: The Realization

Firepaw's heart pounded against her chest, her eyes shining prompt, and her legs struggling to push herself forward so she can see Bigstar speak.

"They are believed to be in Starclan, however... and.. that's all." She sat down, staring at her deputy who was sat beneath her, who met her saddened gaze with a shrug.

Rockpaw's eyes widened in astonishment and Firepaw glanced over at him, uttering in a concerned whisper, "Are we Sandclan?" She turned back to stare at Bigstar with interest when her littermate was too engrossed to respond, scrutinizing the leader's features and counting the similarities.

A flash of green shimmered in the corner of Firepaw's vision. She turned to face it. Birchstar was staring right at her, or so she thought, and she froze in horror to stare back at him. His eyes were like fire, but that might've been her imagination.

Wait. Did he know we were Sandclan the whole time? And never returned us!? Firepaw then became angry.

Bigstar finished speaking and some of the other leaders consoled her gently. Birchstar stood abruptly after and began, "We have new apprentices. Maplepaw, Shrewpaw, Firepaw, and Rockpaw."

Bigstar looked over, her head tilted. Her eyes seemingly looked into the past. She suddenly spoke, quietly, but enough to hear, "I never remembered Oakclan having so many kits, Birchstar. I thought you only had Maplepaw and Shrewpaw? You introduced them moons ago as kits, but never once mentioned a Firekit and Rockkit. I thought Skyfeather was barren?"

Firepaw yowled out, but her brother's tail slapped her mouth and the noise was cut off. Only a few cats perked their ears.

Bigstar spoke, "Birchstar. Does Firepaw and Rockpaw have anything to do with the missing kits?"

"No. Coincidence." He replied calmly. He lapped at his paw as if to close the conversation with his nonchalance.

Cats furs began to bristle, cats of all clans. Firepaw hissed through her brother's tail, and he even began to growl.

However, evidently, there was no battle happening at the gathering, and no clouds wandered across the moon or any of the stars. The gathering ended with tension, but all was fine. No other leaders shared their news to many other cats dismay, Firepaw saw, but she was just relieved to leave in time to sneak back into her moss. She was also winded from the news.

Rockpaw and Firepaw made their way back from behind their clan. They returned after a while, their eyelids drooping and their paws aching. They entered camp in what they thought was secrecy, but as Firepaw lifted her tired eyes, she saw Birchstar settled on his perch.

He spoke in a sonorous and condescending way, "Firepaw. Rockpaw. Where were you? You should be sleeping." 

"Hunting." Rockpaw quickly replied.

Mouse-brain!

"Where's your prey?" His tail looped. Cats were watching with curious and suspicious eyes.

"We never got any." He answered, swallowing, "We're bad hunters, remember?"

Birchstar leapt from his perch and slowly padded to the two cats. He sniffed them. "I smell other clans on you." His mouth curled into a grin, his teeth too near to Firepaw's face for comfort.

Nightwing lunged forward and stopped short of the two, her pelt bristling and her eyes glaring into the cat's pelts. "They were at Sandclan, planning an ambush against us! They were spies the whole time!" Birchstar raised himself, contemplating that sarcastically.

Proof they were Sandclanners, Firepaw supposed. She just kept quiet, but her littermate besides her was bristling.

"Sandclan spies... Funny. They weren't at Sandclan, however. They were at the gathering." Birchstar corrected the accusation of Nightwing's in a sly tone. His green eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Firepaw and Rockpaw, as if trying to see through their physical bodies and read their minds.