fire and ice: part seven

Fireheart pleads a case to Bluestar that both Dustpaw and Sandpaw should be made warriors for defending the camp. Bluestar agrees and names them Dustpelt and Sandstorm. Fireheart realizes that he is beginning to develop feeling for Sandstorm. Cinderpaw stills feels worthless after the fight and is unsure of her new role in the camp, but Yellowfang clearly sees the young cat as an apprentice. Bluestar asks Fireheart to make up with Graystripe by going hunting together but Graystripe is still angry. He goes, but only when he found out Bluestar is expecting him too.

After arriving back at camp Brindleface tells Fireheart that her kits are missing. Fireheart cannot find Graystripe but Sandstorm goes with him instead. They find the missing kits, with Cloudkit carrying some fresh kill. They return them to the camp to a stern but proud Bluestar. But Bluestar warns Fireheart that Cloudkit must respect the warrior code or he will not find a home with them.

Fireheart dreams of a grown Cloudkit hunting beside him and of Spottedleaf whispering a warning that a battle comes and to beware a warrior he cannot trust. After he awakens Onewhisker of WindClan arrives. They are under attack by ShadowClan and RiverClan. The warriors all leave, Bluestar staying behind after Yellowfang hints to her that she should.

The warriors all leave only to find themselves followed by Cloudkit and his siblings, much to Fireheart's embarrassment. He sends the kits back with Brackenpaw and the warriors push forward. He also fears that because of the fighting between him and Graystripe, the dream is about him. As the fight goes on, though, he comes under attack by Leopardfur and calls out to Tigerclaw for help. Tigerclaw coldly ignores him and he realizes the dream was about his deputy, not his friend.

In the heat of the battle Silverstream attacks him without realizing who he is. Graystripe calls her off but then Fireheart attacks her in response. Seeing the horrified look on his friend's face causes Fireheart to let Silverstream go. Unfortunately, Darkstripe sees this. After the battle is over Tigerclaw angrily demands to know why he let an enemy cat go without a scratch. Fireheart mocks Darkstripe, asking if he actually chased the cat down to see if she was unscathed. Tigerclaw is angry and responds that maybe Graystripe knows since he was seen chasing after her. Fireheart is unruffled by Tigerclaw's threats because he has decided that Ravenpaw was telling the truth.

Privately, Graystripe admits to Fireheart that things were harder then he realized but he loves Silverstream and cannot let her go. The two cats rest together as friends once again, unsure of the future but facing it together.

To me it was pretty clear the warrior who could not be trusted was Tigerclaw. I will chalk Fireheart's poor judgement up to his stress over Graystripe. But it is interesting to note how Fireheart keeps receiving dreams from StarClan. In this one Cloudkit is all grown up so it leaves the reader with a sense that one day everything will (hopefully) be okay there.

But Graystripe and Fireheart did make up. It could not have been easy to see that Fireheart was right. And while Graystripe is refusing to let Silverstream go, he is starting to question how to do the right thing.