Journey of a flame (Book 1 of A step in the wild direction AU series)

Chapter 5

Firepaw stepped out of the apprentice's den, shaking out his pelt. He let his jaws open in a yawn and stepped forward only to bump into something. He shook his head and looked. Longtail looked down at him, tail swishing back and forth behind him.
"Have you seen Ravenpaw" he glared at Firepaw, flicking the ear that Firepaw had torn moons ago in their fight when he'd first joined. It suddenly felt like there was a stone lodged in his throat. He looked past Longtail where he could see Tigerclaw and Darkstripe sitting in a corner of camp, both staring in their direction with harsh glares. Firepaw couldn't understand how anyone trusted him as deputy. He turned back to Longtail who was still staring at him. Firepaw shook out his pelt.
"Yes. He's still in his nest" The tip of Longtail's tail flicked.
"Can you get him?" Longtail's voice softened slightly. Firepaw, not wanting to risk getting snapped at by the older warrior turned and entered the den. Graypaw was still curled up in the nest beside his, legs spread out and brushing against the branches behind him. In the furthest side was Dustpaw, who was flicking his ear but not much else. Sandpaw was next to him, she shifted a little but Firepaw couldn't see her eyes. In the nest on Firepaw's other side was Ravenpaw who was curled up where his pelt would brush against Firepaw's while his nose was tucked under his tail. He crouched next to him, shaking Ravenpaw with one paw. The black and white tom stirred, lifting his head and blinking his eyes sleepily. 
"Longtail wants to speak to you" Ravenpaw's ears pressed to his head but he got to his paws and trailed out of the den, tail dragging in the dust. Firepaw followed, sitting right next to Ravenpaw. The tom leaned into him, twinning their tails together. Longtail's gaze softened a little at the sight of Ravenpaw. Firepaw's ears twitched. That's right. Longtail and Ravenpaw were brothers. Of course Longtail would have a soft spot for his younger brother. He turns to him with a glare and a tail flick. Ravenpaw leans in closer, silently communicating to his older brother that he wanted Firepaw to stay. Longtail seemed to get what Ravenpaw was implying and sat down in front of the two. 
"Ravenpaw. You saw the fight with Riverclan right?" he asked. Ravenpaw's ears swivelled back. 
"Well yes but why do you ask now? That was moons ago" Firepaw tilted one ear back at the sound of movement at the entrance to the apprentice den. Longtail looked over his shoulder to where Tigerclaw and Darkstripe were sat, the fur on his shoulders prickling. Firepaw blinked, just barely catching it before the older tom used his tail to flatten his fur and turned back to the two of them.
"I wanted to ask if you knew what was going to happen" Longtail stared at Ravenpaw. 
"What? Of course not...... I didn't know any of it was going to happen" Longtail flicked his ear before getting to his paws and turning around. He said nothing else, just walking away from the two apprentices. Ravenpaw ducked his head, staring down at his paws. The branches of the apprentices den rustled and Firepaw turned. Sandpaw had left the den with a flick of her tail. She was staring at Ravenpaw with a sharp gaze as she passed, heading towards the fresh-kill pile. A wind brushed against Firepaw's fur, causing him to shiver. He watched Longtail return to his friends, tail dragging behind him. When he reached the two, Tigerclaw said something to him before walking over to the highrock to begin sorting patrols as cats began trailing from their dens and surround Tigerclaw. Ravenpaw nuzzled into his fur one last time before getting to his paws and approaching Tigerclaw with his ears pinned back and his tail dragging behind him. Firepaw felt something in his chest. He had to do something or Ravenpaw would be like this for the rest of his life and it wasn't fair for him.

A/N: I had a timeskip to around chapter 18 because nothing really changes. I'll do this a lot if its something that already happens with no changes because then I'd just be copy pasting the chapters and that would be boring.