Conflagration [A Warrior Cats AU]

Chapter Forty-Five

Bluestar flicked her tail and once again, cats of RiverClan streamed into the gathering place. She led them down, eyes narrowed. She bounded across the hollow and with a mighty leap made it onto the great rock. Redstar, Brokenstar and Tallstar sat next to her. Bluestar dipped her head to Redstar. "Interesting looking at it like this, Redstar?" 

Redstar nodded. "It really is, Bluestar. Wait-" He broke off with a snort. "Bluestar and Redstar! What a great time to be alive," he purred, tail waving happily. 

Bluestar chuckled. "Is ThunderClan recovering alright?" She asked with a tip of her head. "And... Fireblaze is still being kept as a prisoner?"

Redstar nodded firmly. "ThunderClan is fine and Fireblaze is being guarded heavily. And Thistleclaw...?"

Bluestar looked away. "Should we start the gathering now?" She asked.

The leaders nodded. First of all, Tallstar stepped forward. "WindClan is doing well and we have been healing after an unprovoked attack from ShadowClan. We thank RiverClan for helping us with driving them out of our camp, and we hope Brokenstar won't attack us again."

Brokenstar narrowed his eyes at the challenge in Tallstar's voice and then stepped forward. "ShadowClan is well. We have not much to report, only that our cats are well and prey is fine."

Mudclaw of WindClan snorted loudly. "Yeah right, prey is fine in leaf-bare!"

Brokenstar looked like he was going to leap at the WindClan warrior, but he barely managed to control himself. He ignored the tom, not replying and looking expectantly at Redstar. "You may go next."

Redstar dipped his head and stepped forward. "ThunderClan has been recovering from the damage Thistlestar, or Thistleclaw, has done. Whitestorm, Spottedleaf, Tigerclaw and Darkstripe have disappeared and have probably left the Clans. We are also keeping Fireblaze a prisoner in our camp. He is heavily guarded and will not escape. I am now Redstar and my deputy is Runningwind. Our medicine cat apprentice, being trained by StarClan, is Brightpaw."

"Redstar! Runningwind! Brightpaw!" The clan cats cheered.

Bluestar smiled warmly at Redstar, stepping forward. "RiverClan has been doing well. My new deputy is Whiteclaw and we have a new warrior, Reedheart."

"Whiteclaw! Reedheart! Whiteclaw! Reedheart!"

Bluestar looked down at her paws guiltily. "But... While we were helping WindClan, Thistleclaw escaped. We don't know how, but he took a kit with him. I followed his scent and found Lionkit and him. He found Tigerclaw, Darkstripe and Whitestorm. I managed to get Lionkit and found out what he was doing. He will be... coming back with them soon."

Yowls started erupting from the crowd. Bluestar looked at the other leaders. Redstar and Tallstar looked scared and Brokenstar had a smile on his face. "I'm glad that Clawface managed to succeed," he meowed calmly with a glint in his amber eyes and a grin on his flat face.

Yellowfang, the medicine cat of ShadowClan, got to her paws. "How dare you?!" She yowled. "He will try to destroy the Clans again!"

Blackfoot, the deputy of ShadowClan, stared at the medicine cat, getting her to sit down. "Maybe Bluestar should have guarded her camp more. It was strangely easy," he meowed innocently.

Bluestar's eyes blazed. "Pardon me?" She snarled.

Blackfoot met her gaze unflinchingly. "You heard me," he meowed coolly.

Bluestar sunk her claws into the ground. She glared at the tom. Blackfoot looked back nonchalantly. "I'm just saying, how guarded is your camp if a ShadowClan warrior could stroll in and take a murderous prisoner?"

Bluestar's eyes narrowed. "Why would ShadowClan be trying to take a murderous prisoner in the first place?"

Blackfoot didn't reply, a scowl on his face. He looked away.

Redstar looked at Brokenstar curiously. "Yes, why did you take Thistleclaw?" He meowed in a low voice, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Brokenstar examined his claws. "Because I believe it'd be more fun," he meowed simply. 

Tallstar looked like he was on the verge of leaping at Brokenstar and tearing out his throat. He inhaled deeply to calm himself. "You let loose a murderer because you thought it would be more fun?"

Brokenstar didn't seem at all bothered by Tallstar's question. "Yes. He made life fun and interesting. I liked the drama."

Tallstar's eyes flashed. "So you didn't care about cats dying, family members losing their kits or siblings or parents. You just thought it fun?"

Brokenstar yawned. "Yes, of course." 

Bluestar snarled. The way Brokenstar talked made it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Her claws sunk into the rock. "What if he kills you?"

Brokenstar looked at her in surprise. He chuckled. "Oh, of course he won't," he let out a mrrow of amusement. "We have an alliance. Only a fool would betray me. I'll be on his side. With him and his rogues and maybe even cats of the other Clans who agree with him!"

Cats in the crowd began to look at each other warily, looking paranoid. Bluestar snorted. "None of RiverClan's cats will join you or Thistlestar. We are loyal!"

Brokenstar grinned. "How do you think that we obtained Thistleclaw so easily?" He responded with a smirk.

Bluestar's mouth went dry and she found herself unable to reply. She stared at Brokenstar in surprise, suspense in the air. "B-But, my Clanmates would never..." she stammered, her words drifting away.

Brokenstar's crooked tail lashed. "All I'm saying," he purred. "Is to keep a close eye on your Clanmates."

Bluestar backed away as Brokenstar walked towards her and felt her leg slipping off of the highrock. Pebbles and grit tumbled down to the bottom and she looked down with a horrible lurch in her stomach. Ignoring the anxiety, she turned and met Brokenstar's malicious, intense gaze unflinchingly.

The two stayed glowering at each other before Brokenstar stepped back. Bluestar's ears pricked and she heard a rustle in the bushes nearby. She nearly turned and looked, but realised that she would probably slip and break her neck if she stopped focusing on staying in place. She got up as Brokenstar padded off, a smug look on the tabby tom's face. "He's here!" He chirped in a rather sing-song voice.

The rustle grew louder and Thistleclaw strode out of the bushes, followed by Whitestorm, Tigerclaw, Darkstripe, Spottedleaf and a bunch of other strange cats with kittypet collars Bluestar didn't recognise.

"Hello, everyone," Thistleclaw boomed.