If Tigerclaw won in the Forest of Secrets

Chapter 36

Firestar and Boulder silently went through the twolegplace. Firestar's paws were heavy, but went on. He suddenly looked up and recognized one of his old haunts when he was a kittypet. A brown and white tabby she-cat looked scared and alone. "Princess?" Firestar called. The tabby looked up and her eyes filled with joy. "Fireheart. Oh, my brother. You look awful." Princess said as she padded up.

"Why are you here? Why are you not at your twolegs? These alleys are dangerous and filled with nasty cats." Firestar said in concerned. Princess looked at her paws. "Cloud went out last night without telling me. I went to go find him. I got lost. I tried to be brave like you." Firestar touched her nose and said, "I saw Cloud. I sent him home. There is no need to worry about him. I trained him myself. You never need to worry about him. He's probably home right now."

Princess nodded. Firestar looked at Boulder. "You know how to get home from here." the gray tom said before heading for ShadowClan. Firestar turned ro Princess and brought her to his former home. As they jumped onto the fence, Firestar saw Cloud frantically looking for Princess. Cloud quickly ran to Princess when she was spotted. "I'm so sorry for leaving you, Princess. I had to talk to Firestar about something from ThunderClan."

"It's fine, my kit. I'm just glad you're safe." Princess said. Firestar stepped in and said, "for both of your safety, Cloud tell her when you leave." Cloud nodded and brought Princess home before coming back to Firestar and said, "You look awful. What happened?" Firestar sighed and said, "I mentioned what you told me to my clan. One of my cats mentioned a group of rogues in the twolegplace that were really dangerous. I went to talk to them."

Cloud nodded and said, "I'll try and keep some kittypets from going into the alleys and forest." Firestar nodded in thanks before leaving to ShadowClan. As he got to his camp, exhaustion hit him hard. Goldenflower led him to the leader's den. He immediately curled into his nest and fell asleep.

Firestar woke up with scent of a thrush in front of him and herbs on his wounds. Boulder must have told Runningnose about his lost life, because Runningnose came in and checked his neck. "I'm fine." Firestar said. Runningnose still checked. Firestar knew he only worried. Firestar sighed as Runningnose finished. "I hope it was worth it, Firestar." Runningnose said. Firestar nodded. Runningnose sighed. Firestar looked at the medicine cat and said, "I only wanted to make sure our clan was safe from outside cats."

Runningnose sighed and said, "I know. Just don't do something stupid like that again." Firestar nodded and grabbed the thrush. With a bit of worry, Firestar watched as Runningnose walked out. Firestar wanted the medicine cat to not worry so much. Firestar finished his thrush and came out of his den. Wetfoot was setting up morning patrols. Goldenflower was talking to a few cats before following Applefur and her patrol. Speckletail was telling stories to Rowanpaw as he looked for ticks.

Firestar yawned and walked over to Wetfoot. "So, you let Goldenflower go on a patrol?" Firestar asked. Wetfoot nodded and said, "She's been wanting to go on a border on ThunderClan's border. I think she's still worried about her kits." Firestar nodded in understatement. "Have you decided to go to the Gathering?" Wetfoot asked.

"We are going." Firestar said, "Being in war doesn't mean we can't go to the Gathering." Wetfoot nodded and said, "I'll lead a border patrol along WindClan to tell them." Firestar nodded in thanks. When Wetfoot left, Firestar sat, not knowing what to do. Applefur and her patrol suddenly burst through the camp. "Tigerstar sent a message through Dustpelt." Applefur said, "He wants to make an announcement the morning of the Gathering concerning every clan."

Firestar turned to Rowanpaw and told him, "Find Wetfoot's patrol. Tell him this before he finds WindClan." The apprentice quickly followed his orders and ran as fast as he can. As the apprentice left, five cats came through the entrance. It was Brackenfur with his apprentice, Fernpaw, Whitestorm, Sandstorm, and Russetfur. Goldenflower ran to her clanmates.

"Hello, Firestar." Whitestorm said, "We have come to help." Firestar was enthusiastic. "How did you get here without getting caught?" the ShadowClan leader asked. Whitestorm laughed and said, "Tigerstar went to stay in RiverClan with some of the warriors. It was almost to easy."

"You must have run into Dustpelt's patrol." Applefur said. Brackenfur shook his head and said, "We went through the twolegplace. Cloudpaw told us not to go deep within the twolegplace and showed us how to get here." As Brackenfur explained how they got there, Littlecloud gave Russetfur a checkup. "I'm fine," Russetfur said, "Just tired." Firestar knew she was being stubborn, so he said, "Take her to get rest."

Littlecloud nodded and brought the deputy to the warriors den. Runningnose was waiting for her. Firestar turned his attention back to his ThunderClan allys. He noticed Fernpaw was acting very awkward. "Are you ok, Fernpaw?" Firestar asked kindly. Fernpaw shook her head and said, "things have changed. I just want ThunderClan to be safe." Firestar understood.

He looked at Whitestorm and said, "Tigerstar might be planning an attack. Would you like to join us?" Whitestorm looked at his group. They all nodded. "We will join you for the battle." Whitestorm said. Firestar felt a bit of relief. Whitestorm was a great cat. Firestar prayed to StarClan that he lived through the battle.