Rising Storm/Chapter 9

Chapter Summary
Fireheart's PoV


 * Fireheart and Sandstorm investigate the mysterious tunnel the ShadowClan warriors slipped into. Fireheart suggests that it was how ShadowClan journeyed to Fourtrees every Gathering, and Sandstorm agrees, saying it was easier than crossing the Thunderpath. They race back to camp to tell Bluestar of their finding.


 * Bursting into his leader's den, Fireheart breathlessly tells his leader of the ShadowClan tunnel beneath the Thunderpath. Bluestar harshly asks if he followed it, and Fireheart, taken aback by her tone, tells her they hadn't. She goes on to tell him it was to much of a risk entering ShadowClan territory and possibly provoking them. He tells her his doubts about the other Clan's strength, and reports that the two warriors had left. She sends him away, warning Fireheart not to tell any of the others about the tunnel.


 * Fireheart leaves her den and Sandstorm rushes over, demanding to know what Bluestar had said. Fireheart wearily tells the she-cat to keep the tunnel a secret, and that he didn't know why Bluestar would keep it from the Clan. She then worriedly asks him if he was alright, and Fireheart realizes he had been showing his anxiety about his leader. Changing the subject, he tells Sandstorm that he had to take Cloudpaw out hunting that afternoon. She offers to join them and comments that he needed the exercise, comparing the white apprentice to Willowpelt. Fireheart declines her offer, saying he had been neglecting his nephew as of late. He offers to hunt with her another time, and she agrees.


 * Fireheart pads up to Cloudpaw and asks of he had been out that day. When he replies that he hadn't, Fireheart suggests they go hunting, saying that Cloudpaw must be hungry. Cloudpaw tells his mentor he wasn't actually that hungry, so Fireheart suggests they practice fighting instead. The two run to the training hollow, and train for a short while. Cloudpaw soon loses interest, and asks if they could go hunting. Fireheart, slightly irritated, agrees, and they set off.


 * At the bottom of the ravine, Cloudpaw scents a rabbit, and attempts to catch it, but misses, much to Fireheart's annoyance. The apprentice' hunting skills had worsened greatly, and Fireheart is suddenly relieved that Sandstorm hadn't come with them. He mews angrily at his apprentice, and Cloudpaw, for once, doesn't argue. He instead asks if he could hunt by himself. Fireheart agrees, but secretly plans to track his apprentice to see how he hunted when alone.


 * Cloudpaw sets off, and Fireheart follows. The white tom passes through Tallpines, passing up the rich offerings of small birds, confusing and worrying Fireheart. He continues to track his apprentice to the fence that separated Twoleg gardens from the forest. Fireheart wonders if Cloudpaw was visiting his mother, but instead continues past Princess' fence to another Twoleg garden. He climbs into the garden, and Fireheart, a sinking felling in his stomach, climbs into the birch to watch. Cloudpaw then, to his uncle's horror, wails pitifully at the door to the Twoleg nest.

Major

 * Fireheart

Other

 * Fireheart discovers Cloudpaw visiting a Twoleg nest.