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Firestar was angry. No, he was livid. Absolutely furious.
He loved his daughters more than anything in the world, and Starclan had the gall, the utter audacity to play with them like twoleg toys?!
He stalked his way away from Thunderclan, fur bristling with rage. Sandstorm was silent at his side, wary ears at attention for any passerby, but he wasn't fooled. He knew she was just as angry as he was.
He was so, so glad their daughters came to them. They might not always be able to fix their kits' situation, but they could listen. All their lives he and Sandstorm had supported them, loved them, lent their ears to their kit-struggles and warrior issues and medicine cat problems and they love their children and he is furious that Starclan thinks they can jerk his family around as if their thoughts and feelings don't matter, as if lying to them about what they could do or be didn't at all affect them. This trend, this pattern, this uncouth behavior their ancestors display boils his blood.
His sweet Leafpool, distraught at her love-affair and the kits she bore; his darling Squirrelflight, raging at the stars for forcing her into relationships she didn't even fully want; his beloved mate Sandstorm, battle-fury in her lovely face and righteous rage in her heart. He loved his little family. And he would do anything to protect them, even if in the eyes of the world and stars they're beyond help, redemption.
Maybe it's because he wasn't born to the clan and indoctrinated to the seemingly unconscious, automatic hatred for rule breaking that so many of his clanmates growing up had detested him for, that his poor kits' situation upset him so, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe it just didn't matter; Starclan needed to learn the meaning of stop, and he would be their teacher.
He had understood Bluestar's rage at them, back in the forest. Her denouncement of their ancestors had shocked him at the time, had shocked all of Thunderclan, but it wasn't surprising. After all they had put his leader through, after all they had put Thunderclan, all the clans, even Skyclan through, he felt now that they more than deserved it, deserved his rage. No longer would be allow them free reign with his family's hearts, their minds, their choices. No longer would he be their chosen warrior, good for nothing but doing their bidding and allowing them to wreak their havoc. His daughters were fully capable of deciding their own fates.
Starclan would learn.
______
Word got out, somehow. Every single clan knew Thunderclan had "code-breakers", as they called it, by the time the next gathering drew near.
Thunderclan was none too eager to rush to the lake, but needs must, Cloudtail figured. No matter how divided (or not) they were about their sole medicine cat galavanting off with an outsider and her sister definitely covering for her, they were determined to not show the other clans their feelings on the matter, to not make the clan seem weak; not after the badgers' horrific attack and their not-insignificant losses.
Their fiery leader and new deputy took the lead as usual. Unusually, however, Thunderclan was silent. No chatter through their territory, no lighthearted jabs, no feigning pushing someone off the tree-bridge, nothing. It was unnerving.
Cloudtail trailed behind his cousins with Brightheart, trading glances with her at the hushed muttering from the other clans the second they caught his clanmates in their sights. He walked right into Squirrelflight, not noticing she had stopped in her tracks to watch as some random warrior accosted his uncle on his way to the leader-tree.
"-ould be banished! Revoking the code like that, how could you let-!"
"You will be silent!" Firestar snarled, bristling pelt like silver flames in the glowing moonlight, his eyes burning into the hapless warrior for daring to speak so, especially to his face, as if they had the right.
Cats stilled. As Thunderclan's leader for seasons upon seasons, Firestar had never raised his voice against the gathered warriors in such a way. Had never looked at them with thinly veiled disdain, fur bristled and claws unsheathed and ready to attack anyone who so much as looked at his family wrong.
He gave the warrior (who even was it? Cloudtail couldn't tell) a last harsh look before violently clawing up the massive tree. Cloudtail smothered a snort at the collective shock he saw in the faces around him; as if Firestar would take anything like that lying down! As much as he'd been playing nice with the other clans, Cloudtail had not forgotten what kind of cat his uncle was. Seemed to him like everyone else had forgotten what Firestar's warrior name was, what it had meant.
Brightheart jabbed him in the side, but her sly smile told him she had had similar thoughts. He rolled his eyes fondly at her. Motioned to his kin to sit by them with a low apology to Squirrelflight for running into her. Auntie Sandstorm crouched nearby, tense and near-hissing at anyone who looked at them all for a bit too long. Cloudtail brushed his cheek against Leafpool first with a short purr, then Squirrelflight. His poor cousins, he thought. Such fierce, loyal cats they were. It annoyed him greatly that they had to put up with all of this unwarranted vitriol.
A sharp yowl from their leader caught everyone's attention, halting any and all burgeoning conversations immediately.
"I would like to begin, if you please," Firestar mewed coldly into the silence, staring narrow-eyed at the gathered cats, then their respective leaders. His chilly formality was odd, almost out-of-character, but all nodded for Firestar to start the meeting, trading wary glances. Cloudtail saw him take a deep breath, and settled in to watch the show.
"As you may already know, there was an attack on Thunderclan recently. We lost our Cinderpelt, stars bless her, and Sootfur, may he rest easily. We will miss them greatly, and we welcome Leafpool as our sole medicine cat in Cinderpelt's stead. Sootfur is survived by kis kin and littermates, and Cinderpelt her littermates. Our clan is recovering well, and we thank Onestar for the timely assistance." He paused, bristled tail twitching. His voice, usually full of life and passion, was hollow. Dead. It drew a shiver down Cloudtail's spine. "If there is a debt to be repaid for helping us avoid more unnecessary death, I should like to know."
Onestar seemed thrown; his jaws cracked open, but no sound emerged. Firestar's dark stare bore into his pelt, almost daring him to come up with something. It would have made Cloudtail laugh if he wasn't so uncomfortable.
"Didn't she leave you?" Leopardstar asked, tone oddly careful.
Firestar abruptly stood, bristling fur and tail almost at odds with his flat expression. His eyes suddenly narrowed, and Cloudtail could see his muzzle trying to pull into a snarl; only Firestar's will kept his teeth shielded, but who knew how long that would last.
"She came back. I'm grateful she decided to, but to her, not Midnight, and certainly not Starclan, who also, if I'm understanding this right, told your medicine cats what happened, as if they needed to know! As if any of you needed to know!"
Firestar paced back and forth on his tree limb, claws gripping hard enough for the bark to crack every time he lifted a paw.
"Tell me, how is it any of your clans' concern if my cats decide to leave? How is it Starclan's concern? What gives you the right to judge us so? What my warriors do is my business. That my daughter chose to come back is wonderful, yes, but I would be happier knowing she's happy! At knowing Starclan had not lied to her! To all of us! Our ancestors!" Firestar's voice broke with the force of his fury. He paused on his branch, tail whipping back and forth, claws ripping up bark. Cloudtail could hear the snarl building in his chest; his fur lifted in an unconscious response.
"I have had enough. I won't stand for it anymore. And I will not listen to another word from them until they learn to stop sticking their noses in my clan's business and stop lying to my face."
Silence.
Nobody dared to say a word, nothing but wide eyes abound; to some, and most definitely to the older generation, this was a harsh reminder of Bluestar and her well-known, public disdain for the stars' meddling. To those in Thunderclan, they remember Firestar, then Fireheart, advocating for her non-stop and doing the work of five cats, shadow-leading his clan through Tigerstar's ruinous plots, faithful to their ancestors despite it all. (Not like most of them knew what was happening before the coup, Cloudtail thought darkly. His uncle had had to shoulder so much alone.) Cloudtail had no faith in the stars himself, but he could understand why others did, and why such a betrayal could sting so harshly. He had seen it, in Bluestar. And now, Firestar. He could even understand the shock of seeing a devout believer suddenly denounce those they held such high esteem for. But this time, there was no outcry from the other clans. Just silence.
He pressed a shoulder into Leafpool, who was shaking slightly. Was she upset- ah. She was angry. As she should be! He peered at Squirrelflight next, the same vindicated rage in her gleaming eyes, and sat back with a satisfied nod. He'd figured they'd be on Firestar's side about this whole publicly renouncing Starclan thing, but it never hurt to make sure. Auntie Sandstorm huffed a short laugh at her mate's declaration, love in her eyes despite her angry sort-of-smile. Cloudtail thought it looked more like a grimace, a halfway-snarl, but who was he to say, really.
"That is all," Firestar muttered eventually, tail flicking. He sat back down.
Everybody else was still struck silent; Cloudtail could laugh at the look on Blackstar's face, he looked like a gaping fish! Brightheart muffled a snort into a paw, and he loved her so much when she got mean. It was a shame Whitepaw was back home; she would've enjoyed this as much as they were.
"...alright," Leopardstar began haltingly, amber eyes wide. "I suppose I shall share Riverclan's news next, then..."
Cloudtail tuned her out; he didn't care, honestly. As long as nobody was planning on attacking Thunderclan again for (stupid) reasons, he really couldn't care less. Their problems didn't concern him. Auntie would tell him the important details later anyway, she always paid attention. Thus, he was completely free to chat quietly with his other family members.
"You guys okay?" He murmured, bending to look between the littermates.
"Never better," Squirrelflight whispered back with a vindictive smile. Her fluffy tail curled over her paws elegantly.
"We're fine," Leafpool added. Her smile was tooth-baringly wide, a dead ringer for her mentor, but her eyes were cold. "Father has it handled, don't you think?"
"He certainly does!" Brightheart chimed in softly, giving the two an encouraging eye-smile.
"See?" Squirrelflight nudged her sister into Cloudtail's side, "I told you it'd be fine, what did I say?"
"Oh, hush."
Cloudtail snorted fondly at them both. Not that he disagreed with them; Firestar had made it overwhelmingly clear to the other clans that his kits were off-limits, that was for sure. He remembered back when he was just an apprentice and Firestar doing the exact same thing for him against any nay-sayers about his kittypet origins. It was funny to him that, no matter how much time passed, at least that protective instinct stayed the same.
He relaxed into a comfortable crouch, intent on ignoring the rest of the gathering in favor of his family, and perhaps getting a good groom in to pass the time, or even playing "what's that cat thinking?" with Brightheart. (It was one of his favorite games- one time she had said "that cat looks like she's exploding Leopardstar with her mind" and it broke him so badly he had had to leave.) He thought about what he could do with his younger cousins the next time they were all free. Maybe a hunting party? Leafpool wasn't too bad at it either, even if it wasn't her specialty. It couldn't hurt to at least ask, he figured. Maybe he'd even get Whitepaw to come along.
He let the meeting wash over him, thinking of his family and of home. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.