If Tigerclaw won in the Forest of Secrets

Chapter 35

Boulder and Firestar weaved through alleyways in the twolegplace. Firestar was slightly fatigued from doing the night patrol, but he knew this was too important. Boulder stopped. Firestar followed. He trusted Boulder, so he followed his body movements. Firestar didn't want any of them to get killed.

The scent of a few cats made Firestar nervous. Then, a large black and white, battle scarred tom, followed by a few other cats. Firestar stared in shock as he realized what Boulder meant by trophies. They had collars that were stubbed with cats' teeth and claws. "Hello, Bone." Boulder said to the black and white tom. The black and white tom sneered, "I can't believe you came back, Boulder. Did the forest life not suit you?"

"We came with a message for Scourge." Boulder said calmly. Bone looked at Firestar. Firestar knew not to size the tom up, but rather raise his head slightly. Bone twitched his whiskers and said, "You better have a good message for him."

Bone led the cats through a few alleyways. Boulder whispered in Firestar's ear, "Scourge is surprisingly powerful for his size. Don't intimidate him." Firestar nodded. He turned to his warrior and said, "I am going to do something crazy. Just a heads up." Boulder didn't have any time to respond, because Bone stopped. "Scourge. You have visitors." Bone called to a small, black tom. Firestar couldn't help but notice Scourge's claws and collar. They were stubbed with dog teeth.

Scourge sat on top of a large twoleg carrion bin. Firestar stepped forward and introduced himself, saying, "I am Firestar, leader of ShadowClan. My warrior mentioned your cats. I came here to ask if you heard anything from a clan called ThunderClan." Scourge didn't seem surprised. "I heard a few of my cats discussing it." A gleam in the rogue leader's cold blue eyes scared Firestar.

"You seem awfully scared if my cats join ThunderClan." Scourge said coldly, "What will you give me if I refuse to join them?" Firestar looked at Boulder then back at Scourge. "I'll give one of your cats a fair fight. If I win, you cannot and will not join ThunderClan in their cause." Scourge perked in interest as he asked Firestar, "and if you lose?" Firestar thought cleverly. "You will have the body of a forest clan leader and have the freedom to choose to join ThunderClan." Firestar responded. Scourge was more than happy to agree to Firestar's terms.

Rogues made a circle around the alley. Firestar sat next to Boulder. "Are you crazy?" Boulder said. Firestar wasn't surprised Boulder would call him crazy. "They would have to kill me nine times to beat me. StarClan will protect me." Firestar responded. Boulder said nothing more.

Firestar sighed and stepped into the ring of cats. As he did, Firestar saw Bone step into the ring. Firestar felt his stomach turn as he realized what he had done. He would have to kill this cat to win. Firestar and Bone circled each other for a few heartbeats. Bone then lunged at Firestar. Firestar saw it coming and dodged it, barely missing him. Firestar jumped onto the big tom, sinking his claws and teeth into him. Bone rolled onto his back, almost crushing Firestar. Firestar let go and jumped back. Bone immediately threw himself at Firestar, hitting a blow on his shoulder. This blow was painful. This was far worse than Firestar thought it would be.

Firestar and Bone fought each other hard. Firestar didn't know rogues could fight so hard. What made the situation worse was Firestar being fatigued from doing a night patrol. Bone seemed to see Firestar slowing down, because the rogue fought harder. Firestar tried to keep up, but it was no use. Bone tripped Firestar and knocked him to the ground. Firestar struggled to get away from Bone as the rogue prepared the deathblow. Firestar prayed to StarClan one last time as Bone landed the blow.

Firestar closed his eyes, then opened them. He was at Fourtrees. Bluestar was there, sitting in front of him. "So I'm dead." Firestar said. Bluestar shook her head and replied, "No. Just your first life." Firestar sat for a few heartbeats, waiting to go back. "Was that life a waist?" Firestar asked. Bluestar shook her head, responding, "You wanted to prevent something that would have been catastrophic for many clan cats. So no, it wasn't a waist, Firestar. Every life is not a waist." Firestar felt slightly relieved. He suddenly felt like he was being brought back. "Good luck, Firestar. StarClan is watching you." Firestar heard Bluestar say before waking up.

Firestar tried to keep his eyes closed. He wanted Bone, who still had him pinned, to be surprised. As Firestar came to his senses, he felt Bone yowl in triumph and release his grip. Firestar then used his back legs to throw the rogue to the ground and pinned him. Firestar held the rogue's neck to subdue, but not to kill. As he looked around to rogues, Firestar was surprised to see fear. Then it dawned on him. Scourge may be leader of the rogues, but Bone was the most feared. Scourge only stayed leader because Bone was at his command.

Firestar heard Boulder step next to him and told Scourge, "We promise you this. If you stay out of the forest, we will stay out of your alleys." Scourge hissed, "I will do you better." The black tom looked at all of his cats as he hissed, "If any of you see or scent any forest cats, kill them. If I even hear cats talking about them, I will kill you personally. If I ever see you, Boulder, or your leader, I will kill you, how many times it takes."

Firestar let go of Bone and spoke to Scourge, "And to you, Scourge. Stay out of the forest. That is my request." Scourge agreed. Firestar felt pride. He had avoided a potential threat. "Now," Scourge said coldly, "get out of my territory." Firestar nodded in respect before following Boulder home. He was ready, too.