Plan to divert the dogs

The plan to divert the dogs was carried out in A Dangerous Path, in which a trail of dead rabbits were carefully placed to lead to ThunderClan's camp by Tigerstar, for dogs to follow and kill the cats who resided there. After the rabbits were placed, Fireheart found out what the plan was, and began to develop a plan that would stop the dogs from arriving to the camp.

Premise

 * Several cats, including WindClan and ThunderClan, had reported scenting dogs around ThunderClan's border, alongside dead rabbits. Eventually, this led to accusations against WindClan from stealing prey. However, Fireheart stopped a battle between the two Clans, and assured both Clan leaders that dogs were at the center of the prey stealing, not WindClan. Fireheart ended up leading a patrol towards Snakerocks, where dog scent was fresh, and he and other cats figured out that Tigerstar had been killing rabbits to create a trail towards ThunderClan's camp.

Overview

 * Fireheart had managed to stop a battle between WindClan and ThunderClan by assuring the respective leaders, Tallstar and Bluestar, that dogs had been stealing the prey that they accused each other of. After, two apprentices, Swiftpaw and Brightpaw attempted to investigate what was stealing all the prey, but they end up encountering dogs, who kill Swiftpaw and severely injure Brightpaw. Fireheart then investigates the area in which they had been attacked, and realize that dogs are indeed hiding there, and that there is a trail for them to follow.

Pack pack, kill kill

 * Both Bluestar and Cinderpelt had received dreams of a "pack pack, kill kill" message, in which leaves Fireheart puzzled. He cannot figure out the meaning, but believes it may have something to do with a disaster that will enfold the forest.

The attempted battle

 * During a Gathering, Bluestar accuses WindClan of stealing rabbits from their territory, due to the fact that only WindClan eats rabbits. Tallstar denies the accusation, but turns it around, saying that ThunderClan was stealing prey from WindClan. Bluestar plans to attack WindClan, but Fireheart, believing that it is an unneccesary and hopeless battle, manages to infiltrate WindClan's camp in order to speak to Tallstar. He tells Tallstar of Bluestar's plans, and arranges a meeting at Fourtrees. Tallstar tells Fireheart that they would need a messenger to get the invitation to Bluestar, and Fireheart organizes Ravenpaw to send the message to Bluestar.


 * Bluestar ends up agreeing to meet with Tallstar. Fireheart assembles a patrol to accompany her, and they travel to Fourtrees, where they meet Tallstar. Bluestar, at first, is suspicious that it is an invading party, but still asks Tallstar what he wants to talk about. Tallstar asks Bluestar if they can make peace, and Bluestar snaps at him how they can make peace with prey stealers and rogues.


 * Mudclaw attempts to spring forward, but Onewhisker stops him. Fireheart pleads with Bluestar to do what Tallstar said, and Bluestar walks forward to Tallstar. Tallstar swears by StarClan that WindClan had not hunted on their territory, and Bluestar sneers at an oath by StarClan means nothing. Tallstar, although visibly perplexed, swears on other things that Bluestar may hold sacred. He swears that WindClan had not stolen prey, and brings up that it may be dogs or rogues, but not WindClan cats. Eventually, Bluestar accepts Tallstar's words, and sends her cats back to camp.

Swiftpaw and Brightpaw

 * Jealous that their denmate, Cloudpaw, had been made a warrior prior to them, the two apprentices decide to investigate the true source of the prey stealing. They believe that, if they found the true thief, Bluestar would have to make them a warrior. Sneaking out in the middle of the night, they encounter dogs, in which they are attacked by. Swiftpaw is killed fighting savagely, and Brightpaw is severely injured.

Finding the apprentices

 * Once learning of the apprentice's disappearance, Fireheart assembles a patrol to look for the apprentices. They find them at Snakerocks, but Swiftpaw is killed, and Brightpaw is hardly alive. Brightpaw manages to whisper out, "pack pack, kill kill," which was the message Bluestar and Cinderpelt had received.

The true source

 * Longtail reports to Fireheart that he had scented Tigerstar at Snakerocks, three times. He again had returned there, to see what Tigerstar had truly been doing. He adds that he found something that the deputy needed to see, and ass him to accompany him to Snakerocks. Fireheart believes that this is a trap for Longtail to corner him with Tigerstar, and he shoots down Longtail's idea. Longtail then goes to Whitestorm to report what he had found, and Fireheart overhears him saying that dogs were living at Snakerocks.


 * Fireheart walks over and asks if he had seen them. Longtail asks him if he is going to accuse him of plotting again, and Fireheart apologizes, but asks him to elaborate about the dogs. Longtail tells him that there is an entire pack of dogs, and when he had scented Tigerstar, he thought he should warn him about the danger, and wanted to know what he had been doing there. He adds that he found out, and Fireheart asks him to go on. Longtail tells him that he had seen Tigerstar dragging a dead rabbit, and leaving it outside a cave entrance at Snakerocks. He then says that he saw a creature, the largest dog he had ever seen, and much more savage looking than dogs Twolegs kept, snatch the rabbit and drag it into the cave. He then had heard barking and growling, and he had managed to understand the words as "pack pack, kill kill."


 * Fireheart is horrified, as that had been the words in Cinderpelt and Bluestar's dreams, and the words Brightpaw - now named Lostface - had uttered out. He realizes that the dogs must have been who attacked Lostface, and they must have been what StarClan had been warning Bluestar and Cinderpelt about. Fireheart realizes that this is not a single dog, but an entire pack of savage creatures which would cause destruction and risk the balance of life in the forest.


 * The flame colored tom asks Longtail to confirm that if Tigerstar was indeed feeding the dogs, and Longtail confesses that he does not know - he only saw Tigerstar dropping the rabbit and jumping on top of the rock. Fireheart realizes that the dark tabby is linked to the dark force in the forest, and asks Whitestorm what he thinks. The white warrior replies that they must investigate, and adds that he wonders how much Darkstripe knows about this. Fireheart then decides that he will take a patrol to Snakerocks at dawn the next day, and would find up what Tigerstar was doing.

The patrol

 * Fireheart takes Whitestorm, Sandstorm, Longtail, Cloudtail, and Graystripe to investigate Snakerocks. He sees a dead rabbit in a clump of bracken, and Longtail assumes that the pack had been killing, but Sandstorm notices ShadowClan scent. Fireheart concludes that Tigerstar was killing the prey, but had left it there. He orders Cloudtail to go back the way they came, and search for dead rabbits. Fireheart sees another rabbit a little way from where he had seen the first one, and Graystripe finds another one as well.


 * After asking, Longtail tells Fireheart that the dogs lived in the cave. Fireheart muses that the dog would leave the cave, and see the rabbit in the bracken. Then the dogs would see the second one he had found, and then the one Graystripe had found. Realization hits Fireheart as he realized that Tigerstar had led a trail of rabbits straight to camp, and both Sandstorm and Longtail are horrified. Fireheart exclaims that they must break the trail, and Cloudtail comes back, reporting that he and Whitestorm had found two more rabbits.


 * Fireheart suggests that they dump the rabbits in a stream, but Whitestorm points out that the scent will still stay - which meant, regardless if the rabbits were there or not, the dogs would still follow the trail and still end up in ThunderClan's camp. Fireheart still says that they will move the rabbits, and hopefully, that would slow the dogs down. He adds that they must go to camp and warn them so that they can evacuate.


 * Sandstorm suggests that they leave the rabbits in one place, thinking that the dogs would pause and eat them. Whitestorm says that it might be better to keep them closer to the cave, which would maybe stop the dogs from coming to camp. Fireheart says that there is not time, and that the dogs could be on their way already. As they run back to camp, Fireheart fears that they may be too late in stopping the dogs.


 * Once they enter the ravine, Cloudtail sees a dead body in front of the entrance, which they realize as a cat, Brindleface. Distraught, Cloudtail asks Fireheart why the cat was killed, and Fireheart replies that it was because Tigerstar wanted the pack to get a taste of cat blood.

Evacuating the camp

 * They bring Brindleface's body to camp, but there is no time for mourning rituals, as they must evacuate every cat as soon as possible. Cloudtail hisses that he will flay Tigerstar, but Fireheart warns them that they need to deal with the dogs first.


 * Fireheart reports to the camp what they had found, including Tigerstar's plan in his statement. He tells his Clan that they must evacuate to Sunningrocks, and once they are there, they must climb the tallest tree they can find. He explains that if the dogs follow them, they will think they lost the scent on the rocks, and they would not look for them.


 * Dustpelt asks what they will do about the pack, and Fireheart realizes that the pack was too strong for them to attack directly. He gets an idea quickly, and exclaims that they will steal the trail. After being asked to elaborate, Fireheart tells him that they would let Tigerstar lead the dogs to the camp, but they would be there, waiting to take them to the gorge - due to the fact that any animal could drown there.


 * Fireheart goes on, saying that they would need to lure the dogs over the edge. He collects Graystripe, Sandstorm, Mousefur, Longtail, and Dustpelt, along with Fireheart himself. Fernpaw and Ashpaw go up to Fireheart, asking the flame colored deputy if he would allow them to come, as Brindleface was their mother and they wanted to avenge her. Whitestorm agrees that they should come, as their anger would make them fearless.


 * Cloudtail asks if he can come, and Fireheart tells him that he has to look after the Clan, to make sure they survive. Cloudtail eventually obeys, assembling the cats to go to Sunningrocks. Fireheart sees Darkstripe, with Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw after him. He races up to the three, demanding what Darkstripe is doing. The dark tabby explains that he does not think Sunningrocks is safe, and was taking the two to better place. Fireheart, furious, demands what better place, and if he knew one, why he did not share it with the rest of his Clan. He accuses Darkstripe of taking the two apprentices to Tigerstar, adding that the ShadowClan leader would not want his kits to be eaten by the dog pack. He adds that Darkstripe was taking them away before the dog pack could get there, and that he and Tigerstar had arranged this at the last Gathering.


 * Fireheart goes on, saying that Darkstripe disgusts him, as he had obviously known about the dog back, and he never said a word to any cat. He demands if Darkstripe has any loyalty to his Clan, and Darkstripe protests that he did not know about the dog pack, only that Tigerstar asked him to take his kits to him. Fireheart asks the two apprentices what Darkstripe had said to them, and Bramblepaw tells him only to go with him, as he knew a good place to hide. Fireheart demands why they obeyed him, if he was Clan leader now, or maybe their mentor. He orders the three cats to follow him, and tells Brackenfur to keep an eye on both apprentices, and Whitestorm to look after Darkstripe.


 * The Clan deputy explains to Bluestar, who had woken up, the entire situation, including the plan he had devised. Bluestar says that StarClan had sent Tigerstar to destroy the Clan, and Fireheart tells her that they will not give in. Bluestar finally agrees to lead her Clan to Sunningrocks, and Fireheart asks Whitestorm to look after her.


 * Fireheart looks back at the warriors who stayed, and is reminded of the last time the Clan had to evacuate camp, when the fire came. Three cats had not come back, but he realizes that these thoughts would only lead him to panic. He knows that he has to be strong, for the sake of his Clan. He asks his cats if they are ready, and orders them to go.