Warriors AU: Blackfoot's Reckoning

Chapter 7

What kind of leader ceremony is this? Blackfoot thought dully as she watched Rosetail walk away. This feels like a punishment, not a reward. If I'm this terrible, why are they giving me the chance to be leader?

But what other cat was there? After the battles of Brokenstar and Goldenstar's reigns, and the illness that had ravaged the Clan between them, Shadowclan was only an echo of its former self. Some cat would have to hold the Clan together while it healed. If she gave up, would Starclan even allow another cat to lead? Nightstar had taken over after Brokenstar was driven out, but Starclan had never given her nine lives, not while Brokenstar still lived. The sickly, gentle cat had died once and not returned.

As Blackfoot brooded over Nightstar's death and what cat, if any, Starclan might find worthy to lead Shadowclan, another cat stepped forward from the crowd. A she-cat with long dark reddish-brown fur and amber eyes. "Hello, Blackfoot," she meowed calmly.

"Hello, Oakstar." After so vividly relieving the raid she'd led on the Thunderclan camp, it was a relief to not see hostility in the former Thunderclan leader's gaze. Brokenstar had hated Windclan, and Goldenstar had loathed Sandstar with every hair on his pelt. The conflict between Shadowclan and Thunderclan had gotten... personal. But maybe Oakstar had no real reason to hate Blackfoot. Except for the time I tried to steal her Clan's kits. And the demands to hunt on Thunderclan's territory. And the time I attacked her camp. And the many other battles between our Clans. And when I helped Goldenflower try to kill her.

She winced as she got closer, but she merely touched her nose to hers. As the cats around her faded again, Blackfoot remembered the choice that both she and Oakstar had made at different times—and how much it had cost all the Clans.

Goldenstar. He'd been Oakstar's deputy. And then he'd been Blackfoot's leader.

"We almost had her back," Blackfoot growled. They'd been so close to rescuing Brokenstar from the Thunderclan camp. Then everything could have gone back to normal.

Shadowclan had driven Brokenstar out because of the lie Thunderclan had made them believe—that Brokenstar had killed her own father. Blackfoot didn't understand how any Shadowclan cat could believe that, after having followed Brokenstar through so many battles, but they had. And then Thunderclan had taken Brokenstar prisoner.

Blackfoot was sure that once Brokenstar was free, she would be able to explain everything. Shadowclan would take Brokenstar back—take them all back. During the moons that she and the rest of Shadowclan's most loyal warriors had been in exile—forced to be rogues, even though they had been the only cats to stand by their leader—the thought of Shadowclan had made Blackfoot's chest ache with longing. She just wanted to go home.

"If only those Riverclan warriors hadn't shown up," Tangleburr meowed mournfully. He was lapping at his brown and gray fur, trying to soothe a nasty bite on his flank. "We were beating those snake-hearts in Thunderclan easily."

He was right. Yesterday's battle had been going so well, before the Riverclan warriors had charged into camp. But now they were here, huddled in a thornbush on the edge of the Twolegplace, driven out of Clan territory entirely. There were only a few of them left—almost all the rogues that Goldenflower had helped them to recruit had fled during the battle. Cowards. Only Clan cats were worth trusting. Blackfoot took a deep breath. "It doesn't matter. We'll just have to try again."

"Why?" Snag, the only rogue still with them, shook her thick ginger pelt irritably. "She's blind now. She can't lead your Clan."

"She can!" The fur on Blackfoot's spine rose. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tangleburr and Stumpytail exchange doubtful looks. "She's still strong. She fought well yesterday, even without being able to see."