Warrior Cats Fanfiction: The Changed Clan #1: The Dark Leadership

Chapter Seven

The out casted warriors met a black-and-white cat ahead of them, whose head rose into the air at their arrival. His eyes were not full of hostility, but friendliness.

"Hello, Fireheart and Greystripe!" the cat greeted, much to Cinderpelt's surprise. This could be Barley though, she told herself as if she had doubt about who the cat was.

"Hello, Barley," Fireheart returned the greeting. The loner's pelt was soaked as if he had been out in the rain for long.

"Would you like to come into my barn to stay out of this weather?"

"Of course," Fireheart replied. Barley flicked his tail for the cats to follow as he began walking into a big barn. As Cinderpelt stepped in, it was completely dry. The barn was full of stacks of hay, and it was pretty big. Barley must feel pretty lonely here.

She stared at a mouse Barley pushed with his paw in front of her paws. It was plump and must have been recently caught. "You can have it. I assume you cats must be pretty hungry."

"We sort of are," Greystripe replied. "This is like a Clan with a never-ending supply of fresh-kill."

"Sometimes there can be few mice than usual," Barley answered. "It doesn't really matter because there's always a mouse or two lurking around. Why, may I ask, are you out in the rain? Shouldn't you be back in your Clan, ThunderClan?"

"We were exiled," Sandstorm meowed. "Tigerclaw-star-exiled us all from Thun-TigerClan. We were staying in WindClan for a bit but Tallstar felt he had no choice but to kick us out because Tigerstar said not to have us in any Clan."

"That's too bad," Barley sighed. "You are always welcomed to stay here, if you wish."

"We were thinking of doing that," Cinderpelt replied. I'll never be able to return to my medicine duties for as long as Tigerstar lives. I wonder if Fireheart knows something I don't, she thought.

Cinderpelt looked to Fireheart, who was staring around at the barn. She began walking over to the ginger tom. "Is there something about Tigerstar we don't know?" she curiously asked. "You seem to be troubled whenever you look at him."

"I guess you should know some things Tigerstar has done," Fireheart replied, letting out a sigh as he sat down. "Redtail, the deputy of the Clan before Lionheart, was not killed by Oakheart of RiverClan."

"I thought he was. I mean, that's what I've been told as a kit-or at least what I can mainly remember." Cinderpelt was surprised and waited for Fireheart to continue.

"Ravenflight saw what happened when Tigerstar sent him away. He actually hid and watched what happened. He said he saw Oakheart being killed by a falling rock and that Redtail had survived, much to Tigerstar's annoyance."

"Tigerstar attacked Redtail and killed him, knowing Bluestar would make him the next deputy," Greystripe continued for Fireheart. "That's when Ravenflight was threatened not to tell any cat or else he'd be killed."

"But Bluestar made Lionheart deputy until he was killed by Brokenstar's rogue followers from ShadowClan," Cinderpelt put in. "That's when Bluestar made Tigerstar her deputy."

"Tigerstar really killed Bluestar and blamed it on me so TigerClan would cast me out," Fireheart went on. "I assume he killed Runningwind, too, and he was who stopped you from becoming a warrior."

"Tigerstar did that?" Fireheart nodded. And because of him my dream was crushed, she thought bitterly.

"It was meant to be a trap for Bluestar but you were the victim instead. I really wished I could have stopped you from getting hurt because then you'd be a warrior."