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Chapter Text

“Was this part of your plan?” The Don of BloodClan sarcastically asked. He and several caporegimes, as well as his underboss Bone were glancing over a large map of Chelford.

The Clans’ front against BloodClan was no longer split or scattered. In fact, it had only consolidated.

The Clans had even gained new allies in the form of Chelford natives, who had apparently taken to calling themselves the “New SkyClan Republic”, a name which frustrated Scourge to no end.

Before Scourge, Fury was on her knees. “Forgive me, Don Scourge. I overpromised and delivered inadequately.” She looked up, an eager gaze in her eyes. “But! If you could still give me this one chance-“

“The prisoner you sent us was hardly special,” Scourge flatly pointed out. “He is merely a pawn. Hardly our first prisoner of war- besides, he has no intelligence value.”

“He-“ Fury felt her voice catch in her throat.

“Oh, Fury, Fury, Fury.” Scourge sighed mockingly. “I trusted that you would resolve this quickly. Remind me what your goal was.”

“My goal is to drive the Clans out of Chelford entirely,” Fury said, her voice quavering.

“Not only have you failed me entirely, you have also proven rather unforgiving when it comes to failure of your own subordinates. I know how many experienced soldiers you have executed,” Scourge growled.

Fury failed to find words within herself.

“Unlike you, I believe that failure builds experience. Your blatant disregard and intolerance for failure means you cannot nurture more loyal troops… and that means we are short of replacements for caporegimes.”

“Does that mean then-“ Fury was hopeful.

“Know your place and let. Me. Finish.” Scourge warned without raising his voice. “This failure is a setback. Specifically, your failure sets us back. So, the underboss and I have been discussing what to do with you.”

Fury froze, and fear permeated her gaze. The last time she had failed, Scourge had her left eye put out.

“I would like for you to step down. Retire. You no longer have a place in BloodClan.” Scourge said, his tone still even.

Fury’s voice shook. “I- surely you can’t, I’ve been nothing but loyal to you, at most demote me, please!”

To not be a part of BloodClan almost guaranteed starving to death.

“If I just demote you, your former subordinates may not be so forgiving,” Scourge snarled. “Consider yourself lucky that I haven’t treated you as a traitor, or punished you for your last major setback.”

Fury swallowed nervously, then nodded. If she lost her one remaining eye she would be a pariah, left to die. “Where… where do I go?”

“I don’t care,” the Don dismissively answered. “Anywhere but my territory. Effective tomorrow morning, you are nothing but an exile.”

Bone, however, glanced at Scourge, whispering something into his ear. The Don seemed to think for a moment, then nodded as his chilling gaze stayed fixed on Fury.

“It seems that the Underboss thinks you have use to us yet. Not to mention that letting you leave would mean the Clans might capture you…”

“I won’t say anything to ‘em,” Fury pleaded.

“No. You won’t,” Scourge agreed. “Fury, from now on you are a prisoner here. Snake? Ice?” He casually instructed to her horror. “Take her away.”

“I guess now it’s my turn to sit around all day,” Moosestrike sighed as he rested in the hospital back at ThunderClan’s base camp. It had been three days.

Of course, they were hardly alone. Several other Clan soldiers were present in the original Clan field hospital. Mousefur was currently asleep, though Moosestrike had been able to talk to her once more.

Given the nature of the war, the ThunderClan base camp had actually been expanded, with trees just outside the camp being cut to make way for an extension to the Clan hospital. Between the trees there were also tents arranged in little circles for troops rallying here in the forest.

“Look, personally I never thought I’d get to come home again,” Ridgewing contentedly remarked.

“Don’t get too comfortable, now.” Chief Surgeon Runningnose stood over him. “Your Clan’s medical officer is currently at SkyClan’s base camp.”

“Hey, why can’t we receive any visitors?” Ridgewing asked sleepily from the bed next to Moosestrike’s.

Runningnose rolled his eyes. “They have places to be, don’t they? We’re still at war.”

“Chief Surgeon,” a familiar voice greeted above the murmur of patients and field medics.

“Rowanclaw,” Runningnose happily said, turning to meet the commando. “Has Leaf approved your temporary leave?”

“Yes. I won’t be long.” Rowanclaw offered, and Runningnose nodded, filing out the door.

“Rowanclaw? Is everyone okay? How’s Tansysong faring without me?”

Rowanclaw’s immediate response was to smirk. “I was right.”

Moosestrike frowned. “Huh?”

“You really do care about her, don’t you?”

“She’s a good friend.” Moosestrike felt his face go warm.

“Man, what are the historians gonna say next,” Ridgewing called over. He adopted a mysterious, husky storyteller’s tone. “ And they were good friends… ”

“Not funny,” Moosestrike blankly said, and Rowanclaw let out one sharp “HA!”.

“Did you just laugh?” Ridgewing asked, caught off-guard by the apparent presence of emotion within the overly logical brain of the ShadowClanner.

“You heard nothing,” Rowanclaw dismissed. “Where was I?”

“You were gonna tell me how everyone was.” Moosestrike blankly remarked. Rowanclaw smiled.

“Well, I suppose I could start with Tansysong first. She’s currently got a new job as a liaison in SkyClan now.”

“Wait, who’s the liaison from ThunderClan?” Moosestrike distantly asked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. Sergeant Brackenfur’s just an interim liaison for the next few months.”

“Wait, interim?” Moosestrike was momentarily confused. “Hey, at least my old mentor’s here to help. I trust him.”

“Yeah, well. You’re the official liaison to SkyClan. I thought I’d deliver the news myself,” Rowanclaw kindly said.

Moosestrike smiled, and it wasn’t just because of his assignment as a liaison.

Rowanclaw was close to bursting with laughter. “You still gonna deny it? You’re happy that she’ll be waiting for you?”

Moosestrike blushed.

“Uh,” Ridgewing paused. “I thought that was against the Code of Mercy. You know, cross-Clan romance?”

Moosestrike glanced off to the side. “Well, uh...”

“Oh, I got it!” The ThunderClan soldier smirked. “After the war, you’re not planning on leaving soldier life alone, are you?”

“Well. It’s not just that, either,” Moosestrike admitted, changing the subject. “What about Leaf? How’s she holding up in terms of leadership? And how are Billy and Snooky?”

At that last question, Rowanclaw groaned, opting to sit on the bed.

“I insisted that Billy and Snooky transfer to WindClan country,” the ShadowClan commando grumbled. “Guess what Billy said.”

“He refused, didn’t he?”

“Yes!” Rowanclaw seemed frustrated at that. “I told them SkyClan’s base camp was close to the front, BloodClan could attack at any moment , and Billy basically just told me that he would be there to defend it.”

“Now he sounds like a SkyClan patriot,” Moosestrike chuckled. “What about Acornheart and his friends?”

Rowanclaw gave a small smile. “Well, Acornheart as you probably guessed is the liaison from RiverClan.”

“Sheesh, did Leaf pick all the liaisons?” Moosestrike chuckled. “What about you? Aren’t you busy with your commando business?”

“My work demands isolation, so unfortunately yes.” Rowanclaw remarked. “So the Chancellor reassigned me. I’m to report to my new task tomorrow. The new liaison is Deerfoot. That aside,” the commando changed the subject. “Someone needs to provide security for the new logistics network in the subway. Marshal Leopardstar offered Reedwhisker and Weldtail a place guarding SkyClan’s piece of the trail, and given that Acornheart’s there as a liaison… she dotes on them a bit much,” Rowanclaw remarked.

“I agree. After all, Acornheart was Leopardstar’s trainee.” Despite this, Moosestrike couldn’t say that he minded one bit. “Hey, uh, Rowanclaw. How’s Tawnystone?”

“She transferred to the regular army,” Rowanclaw calmly told him.

“Oh. Uh… I’m real sorry.” Moosestrike chose to say.

“What for?” A vicious glint could be seen in Rowanclaw’s eyes.

“It’s just, well…” Moosestrike paused.

Rowanclaw managed to maintain the standard ShadowClan poker face this time. “I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

“Okay, you’ve got me there,” Moosestrike admitted, raising his hands before his face.

Rowanclaw patted his friend on the shoulder, grinning. “Glad we have a mutual understanding.”

Rowanclaw decided that he preferred taking the subway instead of having to walk to SkyClan’s base camp.

“Rowanclaw’s back!” Reedwhisker giddily shouted from his posting at the entrance of SkyClan’s underground base camp.

“Shut up,” Weldtail barked. “We’re supposed to keep it professional!” He snapped to a salute as Rowanclaw scaled the steps from the collapsed subway tunnel into the larger room.

“You can’t keep professional forever,” Rowanclaw said flatly. “You’re trained to fight, not look pretty.”

“I- no, wait,” Weldtail seemed to be in deep thought at the commando’s words.

Leaving him to it and patting Reedwhisker on the shoulder, Rowanclaw continued up the steps into the main SkyClan base camp.

A lot had changed the past couple of days ever since the Clans had set up shop underground. There were a lot more soldiers from the other Clans mingling with SkyClan, especially given that this place had basically become the logistics hub for the whole war effort.

Lanterns hung from the walls, giving the place the same impression as a camp clearing at night (despite it being daytime outside). A lot more crates of jarred food could be seen, as well as SkyClanners being trained by several different Clan soldiers.

There were a lot of both. Stockpiles of weapons, helmets and other articles of gear made it obvious that this was being doubled as a supply base.

“Cloudtail, I swear to StarClan!” Longtail yelled. “We’re supposed to be meeting with Prime Minister Tallstar in a few minutes, and- HEY!”

Cloudtail and Brightheart were currently making out at the far wall of the base camp. Firestar’s nephew had sent a profane gesture towards Longtail while he was at it.

Rowanclaw shuddered internally, and decided that he was never gonna be like that.

“Leutnant,” he called.

“Huh? Oh, it’s you.” Longtail turned to greet the commando. “Are you looking for Leaf? She’s typically at the hospital or the command tent. JUST LIKE WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE,” he pointedly shouted behind him, causing Rowanclaw to cover his ears, “RIGHT NOW.”

“Okay, okay!” Cloudtail yelled back. He whispered something to Brightheart, who had doubled over laughing.

Longtail rolled his eyes as Cloudtail gave her one last peck on the cheek then ran over. By then, Rowanclaw was already scaling the steps to the hospital, which was closer.

When Rowanclaw, he found Echo standing before a table of surgical tools. Next to her was, of all people, Medical Officer Cinderpelt.

“Now, scalpels have their uses as a surgical precision tool. Gets past the skin, more cleaner than a bonesaw,” Cinderpelt continued. “I’d practice with the feel of both, by the way. Different weight, different application.”

“Yes,” Echo agreed, clearly happy to interact with someone who truly knew what it meant to have these visions as of late. She picked up the bonesaw, studying it. “I heard from Acornheart that his medical officer, Mudfur, could saw through a femur in less than 30 seconds.”

“Hmm. That’s a bit advanced,” Cinderpelt admitted. “But amputation is a must if a wound gets infected. My mentor, Chief Surgeon Yellowfang, had me put under while she amputated my leg. It had to be done because it was already infected.”

“Hey, uh. Do you know where Leaf is?” Rowanclaw asked steadily.

“You couldn’t even knock, huh?” Cinderpelt asked, turning around and seeing Rowanclaw. “ You. ”

“I- huh-” Rowanclaw was confused.

“Your girlfriend breached intelligence because of you.” the medic growled.

“Tawnystone’s merely a friend, can we talk about the breach of intel later?” the commando meekly asked, cowed by the ThunderClan healer. “I need to report to Prezes Leaf.”

“Oh, you bet we’ll talk about it later,” Cinderpelt muttered. “Leaf’s probably already talking with Tallstar in the command tent.”

“ Vielen dank, ” Rowanclaw hurriedly said, eager to look for Leaf instead of allowing Cinderpelt to unleash her wrath.

Rowanclaw found Leaf and Tallstar discussing logistics along the front over rosemary tea.

“I agree, surface logistics are slower,” Leaf was saying from her chair, gently stirring her own cup. “But we haven’t totally explored the subway yet.”

“I could always provide security aboard the subway cars with more of my troops,” Tallstar suggested. Next to him, his liaison to SkyClan, Tansysong, stood guard. “Commando Rowanclaw. How nice of you to join us,” Tallstar greeted.

“How’s Moosestrike?” Tansysong asked, an eager shine in her eyes.

“Yes, how is he?” Leaf asked. “I just dismissed Brackenfur, I’ll pass on the news to him soon.”

“He’s recovering. Has a bed next to Ridgewing’s,” Rowanclaw explained. This was no surprise to SkyClan, who had since learned that Ridgewing had managed to evade BloodClan patrols, despite getting wounded.

“I should visit sometime,” Tansysong suggested.

“If you find someone else to take over while you are gone, perhaps,” Tallstar agreed.

“I’m not opposed to it. Though Tansysong’s proven herself very capable by far as a liaison, and I’d miss her.” Leaf admitted.

“My reports say that her time as a liaison in RiverClan were very exemplary,” the Prime Minister affirmed. “You too, Commando Rowanclaw.”

“Just Rowanclaw, sir.”

“May we come in?” Firestar’s voice called from outside.

“Come in,” Leaf offered. At once, Firestar and Longtail entered. Behind them were Graystripe and Cloudtail, with the latter standing guard opposite Tansysong.

“Should I stick around for this?” Rowanclaw asked.

“Yes,” Leaf agreed. “Do you remember SkyClan’s planned assault on neighboring subway stations to Fury’s old base?”

“The one we turned into an outpost for Scratch?” Firestar inquired.

“The same. Billy’s spearheading a joint attack on BloodClan Outpost 27 by now, using some new weapons Macgyver’s been making...”