If Tigerclaw won in the Forest of Secrets

Chapter 19

"Time for some hunting." Russetfur said. A few days have passed since Nightstar had joined StarClan and the clan had been slowly getting better. Runningnose seemed more confident in healing his sickened clan and Fireheart started getting use to ShadowClan life.

The patrol of cats, consisting of Fireheart, Russetfur, Cedarpaw, and Wetfoot, headed straight to the Thunderpath. Suddenly, Russetfur stopped. The patrol followed. "Come and show yourself," Russetfur said, "I know your there."

Littlecloud, a ShadowClan cat who disappeared before Fireheart join popped out. "Russetfur," the small tabby said, seemingly out of breath, "I need help." Before he could finished, Littlecloud collapsed. Wetfoot and Cedarpaw panicked. Fireheart looked at the warrior's body. Bruises and claw marks were all across his body.

"Quick," Fireheart said, "support him. Let bring him back to camp." The cats followed his orders and quickly brought Littlecloud back. Cedarpaw quickly ran to Runningnose's den and brought the medicine cat out. Blackfoot was close behind. "What happened?" the white tom asked.

"We found him close to the Thunderpath." Russetfur spoke, "He smells of ThunderClan." Blackfoot looked at Fireheart and hissed, "What did this to him?"

Fireheart went over to the tabby and tried to find a scent. He was shocked to find Cinderpelt's scent. But the scent of herbs cleared any suspicion of the medicine cat hurting the warrior. Fireheart took another sniff. He found another scent of other ThunderClan cats, and a faint scent of ShadowClan. "Tigerstar and Darkstripe." Fireheart looked at ShadowClan and asked, "Is any cat missing from your clan?"

"Whitethroat went missing about when Littlecloud left too." Boulder stated, "Why so you ask?" Fireheart signaled his tail for the warrior to scent the tom. "That's Whitethroat alright." As the gray tom spoke, Littlecloud slowly became conscious. "W-Where am I?" the tabby asked.

"ShadowClan." Fireheart spoke. Littlecloud seemed shocked. "Don't mind me asking," Fireheart said, "but what happened to you?" Littlecloud seemed dumbfounded. "Well." the brown tabby started, "Whitethroat and I got the sickness. Runningnose had already exhausted his supplies, so we decided to ask for ThunderClan's help. Tigerstar rejected us when Yellowfang mentioned how badly the sickness was. As we were leaving the territory, Cinderpelt told us she would try and help us."

Littlecloud stopped. Fireheart felt sickened with worry. Would Tigerstar hurt Cinderpelt? Littlecloud continued, "Cinderpelt told us she was washing away our scent in a small stream nearby. while Cinderpelt was away, Whitethroat and I did the same, in case we were found out and get Cinderpelt in trouble. We found a stream and cleaned her scent off."

"You were caught by a patrol, weren't you?" Russetfur asked. Littlecloud nodded, "I only escaped because Cinderpelt showed me a way back to the Thunderpath."

"Did any cat know who you were?" Fireheart asked. Littlecloud shook his head. "I was hiding in some bushes when they got Whitethroat. I was pinned by a dark gray tabby but he was called away. That's when I ran for it."

Fireheart still didn't feel like Cinderpelt. "What about Cinderpelt?" the fiery tom begged to ask. Littlecloud looked at Fireheart. "She is fine." the brown tabby said, "before I left, I overheard the parol talk about her strong loyalty in ThunderClan and how she made sure no warrior got our sickness. She wouldn't be chased out if Tigerstar tried." Fireheart felt relief wash over him.

"What happened to Whitethroat?" Rowanberry asked. Littlecloud looked at his paws. Fireheart understood. "He didn't make it." the fiery said. Runningnose finally showed up and brought Littlecloud to the medicine den. Blackfoot jumped onto clanrock. "Cats of ShadowClan," the white tom stated, "Whitethroat's death may be a shock, but let that not stop us. We are strong."

Blackfoot was interrupted by Applefur bursting into camp. "ThunderClan is hunting in our territory."