Into the Wild (25 page)

A glimpse of gray fur on the other side of the clearing told Fireheart that Bluestar had emerged from her den—alone. He scrambled to his paws, but the ThunderClan leader leaped straight up onto the Highrock and called to the Clan. Fireheart lashed his tail impatiently.

Graystripe's ears flicked excitedly as he heard Bluestar's call. “A naming ceremony?” he meowed. “It must be Longtail getting his first apprentice. He's been dropping hints for days.” He bounded over to join the cats gathering at the edge of the clearing, and, still itching with frustration, Fireheart followed.

A small black-and-white kit padded into the clearing. His soft paws made no sound on the hard earth. He walked toward the Highrock with his pale eyes lowered
and Fireheart almost expected to see him tremble—there was something in the slope of this kit's shoulders that made him seem too young and timid to be an apprentice.
Longtail won't be impressed!
Fireheart thought, remembering Longtail's scorn when Fireheart had arrived at the camp for the first time. The warrior had taunted him viciously on his first day with the Clan, mocking his kittypet origins. Fireheart had disliked him ever since.

“From this day forward,” Bluestar meowed, staring down at the kit, “until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be called Swiftpaw.”

There was no flash of determination in the eyes of the black-and-white kit as he looked up at his leader. Instead his amber eyes were wide with anxiety.

Fireheart turned his head as Longtail padded toward his new apprentice.

Bluestar spoke again. “Longtail, you were Darkstripe's apprentice. He taught you well, and you have become a fierce and loyal warrior. I hope you will pass some of these qualities on to Swiftpaw.”

Fireheart searched Longtail's face for an expression of disdain as he looked down at Swiftpaw. But the warrior's eyes softened as he met his new apprentice's gaze, and gently the two Clan cats touched noses. “It's okay, you're doing fine,” Longtail murmured encouragingly.
Yeah, right
, Fireheart thought bitterly.
Just because he's Clanborn. Longtail sure didn't welcome me like that.
He glanced around the rest of the Clan and felt a pang of resentment as they began to murmur congratulations to the new apprentice.

“What's up with you?” whispered Graystripe. “That'll be us one day.”

Fireheart nodded, suddenly cheered by the thought of getting his own apprentice, and pushed away his resentment. He was a part of ThunderClan now, and surely that was all that mattered?

The next night brought the full moon. Fireheart knew he should be looking forward to his first Gathering as a warrior, but he was still determined to find a chance to tell Bluestar everything he knew about Tigerclaw, and the thought of it lay like a cold stone in his stomach.

“Have you got maggot-gut or something?” meowed Graystripe beside him. “You're pulling some very weird faces!”

Fireheart looked at his friend, wishing he could confide in him, but he'd promised to leave Graystripe out of it. “I'm fine,” he meowed. “Come on. I hear Bluestar calling.”

The two cats trotted over to the group assembling in the clearing. Bluestar dipped her head to acknowledge their arrival. Then she turned and led the cats out of the camp.

Fireheart paused while the other cats scrambled past him up the steep trail that led to the forest above. This journey might give him just enough time to speak to Bluestar, and he wanted to gather his thoughts.

“Are you coming?” Graystripe's voice called down.

“Yep!” Firepaw flexed his powerful hind legs and began to leap from boulder to boulder, leaving the camp behind.

At the top, he paused to catch his breath, his sides heaving. The forest stretched away before him. Beneath his paws he
could feel the crisp crackle of newly fallen leaves. Silverpelt glittered in the sky like morning dew scattered on black fur.

Fireheart thought of his first journey to Fourtrees with Tigerclaw and Lionheart. He felt a pang of sadness as he remembered Lionheart. Graystripe's mentor, and ThunderClan's deputy between Redtail and Tigerclaw, had been a warmhearted, golden warrior. He'd been killed in battle, and Tigerclaw had taken his place. On Fireheart's first visit to Fourtrees, Lionheart had taken the apprentices on a roundabout route, through Tallpines, past Sunningrocks, and along the RiverClan border. Tonight Bluestar would lead them straight through the heart of ThunderClan territory. Fireheart could see her already disappearing into the undergrowth, and he charged after the party of cats.

Bluestar was at the front, next to Tigerclaw. Fireheart ignored Graystripe's surprised meow and caught up with the Clan leader. “Bluestar,” he called, panting, as he drew up beside her. “May I talk to you?”

Bluestar glanced at him and nodded. “Take the lead, Tigerclaw,” she meowed. She let her pace slow, and Tigerclaw bounded past her. The other cats followed the dark tabby without question as he raced on through the undergrowth.

Bluestar and Fireheart dropped into a steady trot. Within a moment they were alone.

The path emerged from the thick ferns into a small clearing. Bluestar leaped onto a fallen tree and sat down, curling her tail over her front paws. “What is it, Fireheart?” she asked.

Fireheart hesitated, suddenly struck by doubt. Bluestar was the cat who had encouraged him to leave his kittypet life and
join the Clan. Since then she had trusted him time and time again when other cats had questioned his loyalty to a Clan whose blood he didn't share. What would she say when Fireheart told her that he had lied about Ravenpaw?

“Speak,” Bluestar ordered as the pawsteps of the other ThunderClan cats faded into the distance.

Fireheart took a deep breath. “Ravenpaw's not dead.” Bluestar's tail twitched in surprise, but she listened silently as Fireheart continued. “Graystripe and I took him to WindClan's hunting grounds. I . . . I think he may have joined Barley.” Barley was a loner, not a forest cat but not a kittypet either. He lived on a Twoleg farm that lay on the route to Highstones, a sacred place for all the cats in the forest.

The ThunderClan leader stared past Fireheart into the depths of the forest. Fireheart searched her face anxiously, trying to read her expression. Was she angry? But he could see no anger in her wide, blue eyes.

After several long moments, Bluestar spoke. “I am glad to hear that Ravenpaw is still alive. I hope he is happier living with Barley than he was in the forest.”

“B-but he was born into ThunderClan!” Fireheart stammered, taken aback by his leader's calm acceptance of Ravenpaw's departure.

“That doesn't necessarily mean he was suited to Clan life,” Bluestar pointed out. “After all, you aren't Clanborn, yet you've become a fine warrior. Ravenpaw may find his true path elsewhere.”

“But he didn't leave ThunderClan because he wanted to,” Fireheart protested. “It was impossible for him to stay!”

“Impossible?” Bluestar rested her blue gaze on him. “What do you mean?”

Fireheart looked down at the ground.

“Well?” Bluestar prompted.

Fireheart's mouth was dry. “Ravenpaw knew a secret about Tigerclaw,” he croaked. “I . . . I think Tigerclaw was planning to kill him. Or else turn the Clan against him.”

Bluestar's tail flicked from side to side, and Fireheart saw her shoulders stiffen. “Why would you think that? What was this secret that Ravenpaw knew?”

Fireheart answered reluctantly, meeting her stern expression as boldly as he dared. “That Tigerclaw killed Redtail in the battle with RiverClan.” Redtail had been the ThunderClan deputy before Lionheart. Fireheart had never met him, but he knew Redtail had been deeply respected by all the Clan.

Bluestar's eyes narrowed. “A warrior would never kill another of his Clan! Even you should know that—you've lived with us long enough.” Fireheart recoiled at her words, flattening his ears. It was the second time tonight she'd referred to his kittypet roots.

Bluestar went on. “Tigerclaw reported that it was RiverClan's deputy, Oakheart, who killed Redtail,” she meowed. “Ravenpaw must be mistaken. Did he actually see Tigerclaw kill Redtail?”

Fireheart nervously flicked his tail, stirring the leaves behind him. “He said he did.”

“And you know that by saying this, you are questioning Redtail's honor, because he must have been the cat that was responsible for Oakheart's death? One deputy would never
kill another in battle, not if it could possibly be avoided. And Redtail was the most honorable warrior I have ever known.” Bluestar's eyes clouded with pain, and Fireheart felt a pang of dismay that he should have hurt her memory of her former deputy, even if unintentionally.

“I cannot account for Redtail's actions,” he murmured. “I only know that Ravenpaw truly believes Tigerclaw was responsible for Redtail's death.”

Bluestar sighed and relaxed her shoulders. “We all know that Ravenpaw has a vivid imagination,” she meowed gently, her eyes sympathetic. “He was badly injured in the battle, and he left before the fighting was over. Can you be sure he didn't fill in the parts he'd missed?”

Before Fireheart could reply, a yowl echoed through the forest, and Tigerclaw bounded out of the undergrowth. His eyes flickered suspiciously over Fireheart for a moment before he addressed Bluestar. “We're waiting for you at the border.”

Bluestar nodded. “Tell them we'll be there in a moment.” Tigerclaw dipped his head, turned, and raced back through the ferns.

As Fireheart watched him disappear, Bluestar's words echoed in his mind. She was right; Ravenpaw did have a strong imagination. Fireheart remembered his first Gathering, when apprentices from every Clan had hung on Ravenpaw's words as he described the battle with RiverClan. And he hadn't mentioned Tigerclaw then.

Fireheart jumped up as Bluestar stood. “Are you going to bring Ravenpaw back to the Clan?” he asked, suddenly afraid he had caused even more trouble for his friend.

Bluestar gazed deep into Fireheart's eyes. “He is probably happier where he is,” she meowed quietly. “For now, we will let the Clan carry on believing he is dead.”

Fireheart stared back at her, his eyes wide with shock. Bluestar was going to lie to the Clan!

“Tigerclaw is a great warrior, but he is very proud,” Bluestar went on. “It'll be easier for him to accept that his apprentice died in battle rather than ran away. And it would be better for Ravenpaw, too.”

“Because Tigerclaw might go looking for him?” Fireheart dared to ask. Was it possible that Bluestar believed him, even just a little bit?

Bluestar shook her head with a flash of impatience. “No. Tigerclaw might be ambitious, but he is not a murderer. Ravenpaw will be better remembered as a dead hero than a live coward.”

Tigerclaw's call sounded again, and Bluestar jumped down from the log and disappeared into the ferns. Fireheart cleared the tree trunk in one leap and raced after his leader.