Conflagration [A Warrior Cats AU]

Chapter Twenty

"We're home," Bluefur sighed, walking to the middle of camp. The water reached up to her paws, but they'd have to deal with it. She gasped as she saw a body in the middle of the camp and almost vomited as she saw bits of the flesh torn off as if the crows had been eating them. Hailstar. And nearby was Brambleberry, looking the same. 

"If you're squeamish, you must not help with burying Brambleberry or Hailstar. We will not sit vigil next to their bodies," Bluefur announced.

Petaldust gasped. "What?! But they were our leader and medicine cat!"

"The crows got to them first," Bluefur retorted. "Oakheart, could you get cats to bury them? Then organise who will rebuild the camp."

Her mate nodded, looking at her sadly. He turned and started ordering who would bury Hailstar and Brambleberry. Bluefur turned and padded off in the direction of the warriors' den, her eyes dull. She flinched as a paw prodded her side. "Mossdapple," Bluefur greeted.

Mossdapple dipped her head. "You don't sleep there anymore. We should get going, by the way," she purred.

Bluefur realised once more she was now leader of ThunderClan and would have to get her nine lives at the moonstone. She nodded to Mossdapple. "We're going together, I guess," she murmured. Then she rose her voice. "Mossdapple and I will be heading to the moonstone now. Oakheart will look after the camp while I am gone."

As the two left, Bluefur heard murmurs of her mate becoming her deputy and the trust she was putting into him. 

-

The two she-cats travelled through RiverClan territory, not saying a word. After a while, Mossdapple looked sideways at Bluefur. "Bluefur," she murmured. "A few nights ago I had a vision."

Bluefur looked up, interested. "Yeah?"

Mossdapple's looked around nervously, then turned to Bluefur. "There was a fire, a horrible fire. Then I saw a strange white she-cat who looked like Whitestorm, and-"

Bluefur gasped. "Snowfur! She was my sister. How was she?"

Mossdapple smiled. "She's well, I think. But she said everything will only get worse from here on out," she meowed, anxiety showing in her eyes. 

Bluefur rested her tail on her daughter's shoulder as they walked. "I'll make sure it doesn't, no matter what Snowfur says, alright?" She promised, speeding up her pace. Mossdapple trotted over, looking awkward.

"What was Snowfur like?" she murmured, looking at her paws.

Bluefur purred. "She was the bravest and the kindest. She made a bad choice in a mate though," she meowed wryly. When Mossdapple didn't reply, she sighed. "She loved Thistleclaw. I saw the evil in him and she didn't. We argued about it once, and she ran off, and-" Her voice cracked. "Ran right next to the thunderpath."

"Did she run onto it?" Mossdapple asked. "Because of an argument?"

Bluefur snorted. "Of course not. There were ShadowClan warriors stealing our prey and she chased them off. But they made it to the other side, and she didn't," She meowed simply, trying not to betray her emotion.

Mossdapple twined her tail with her mother's. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah," Bluefur replied. "Guess it made Thistleclaw hate me even more. But when she was living, she was the best warrior you'd ever meet. I loved her."

Mossdapple smiled warmly. "She sounded amazing. Does it help to talk about her?"

Bluefur had gotten used to the tight jaws of grief around her chest, but now they began to loosen. She'd never talked much about Snowfur after her death until now. "Yeah," she sighed. "It has, and she was."

The two didn't talk until they crossed the border and walked through WindClan territory.

"Oakheart saved you," Mossdapple observed with a twitch of her tail. "In the flood."

It had never truly occurred to Bluefur that the two might be making up until she thought about it. "Yeah. I think I want him to be my deputy."

Mossdapple's ear twitched. "Some cats might think of that as favouritism," she pointed out.

Bluefur shrugged. "And that matters how?" She retorted.

Mossdapple smiled. "I didn't mean it like that at all. Choose whoever you feel is right."

Bluefur didn't reply. She heard a voice in the distance. Easy to see, a black and white tom sprinted over to her, eyes wide with concern and yet hostility. "Bluefur, Mossdapple," he hissed as he drew closer. "What are you doing here?"

Bluefur dipped her head. "Talltail. We're going to the moonstone. Hailstar died a few sunrises ago in a flood. We've been sheltering in ThunderClan's camp."

Talltail nodded. "Tallstar," he corrected. "And I am sorry for RiverClan's loss. You'll be a good leader, Bluefur."

"Congratulations," Bluefur meowed with a smile. "We'll be on our way."

"Goodbye, and good luck," Tallstar meowed, watching them walk away. 

Bluefur looked at Mossdapple in surprise. "Tallstar, huh?"

The medicine cat nodded. "I wonder how Heatherstar died?" She wondered.

Bluefur shrugged. "Maybe we'll hear at the gathering tomorrow?" She suggested, speeding up. They were almost there! She looked back at her daughter with shining eyes. "We're almost there, right?" 

The medicine cat nodded with a purr. "Yeah, we are. Let's have something to eat and then go inside."

Bluefur nodded, walking off to catch a mouse or a fish. She began to feel anxious, getting distracted when trying to catch a blackbird and missing a squirrel. Would StarClan even accept her? What about after she was the leader? Would she be a good leader? 

She walked back to Mossdapple, hungry and tired. "Didn't manage to catch anything," she sighed.

Mossdapple looked at her sympathetically. "This is a first for me too," she encouraged. "It'll be fine.  Let's go!"

Bluefur followed Mossdapple into the dark cave, her whiskers brushing the sides of the tunnel as they walked. "It's dark," she whispered, her ears flattened.

Mossdapple giggled. "Not for long. It's so beautiful once the stone lights up!"

Bluefur abruptly stopped as Mossdapple did. She looked up and saw faint light and the moon. She watched as the moon moved and the light of it lit up the cave brightly, the light making her shut her eyes. When she opened them again she saw the beautiful moonstone, lit up by moonlight and shining. She closed her eyes shut, and touched her nose to the moonstone, ready to become Bluestar, leader of RiverClan.