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Post by mocatstar on May 18, 2019 0:18:48 GMT -5
Chapter One
An unsettling silence fell over the camp, as it always was at night. Inside the dens the faint rumble of snores seemed to be trapped inside the walls of leaf and bramble, hiding away from the black silence of night.
The only thing that moved was the body of a young kit, breathing silent as he watched the moon cross the camp, bathing the world in silver alien light. His eyes were amber spots in the shadows, flickering in the blades off grass as they danced to the rhythm of the wind. It gave a sense of secrecy to the cat, his frozen form like a shadow among shadows, the light from his eyes the only thing betraying him. His thick fluffy tail was curled around his paws, never betraying everything like the rest of his body. he, like the rest, never moved, only he’s fur swayed in the black. Nothing gave he away, except the eyes. Always the eyes.
He did this every night, he slept outside every night. Away from his clan mates, away from the rustling into the padded silence of darkness. Every night his eyes watched the moon until it reached moon high, and every night he went inside with disappointment. He couldn’t remember when he started to, all he could remember was him waiting for something to happen. He couldn’t remember what, all he knew was that he had to wait outside for something, someone. And he knew that every night he would turn up nothing.
Night was comforting for the kit. There was no one to yell at him, there was no one to cry, no one to be dragged in bleeding with blood from a skirmish. No one to tell him to stop. He desperately wanted to stop, go back to what was before, but he couldn’t remember what that was, so he didn’t. He had nothing of his past, nothing before the incident, except for one thing. He let himself fall into a memory, the cool outside replaced with pitch black. The stems brushing at his sides replaced with the soft fur of a cat, a cat he knew by heart but seemed so far away.
It was burned into his memory, the scent of lilacs filling through his nose that filled him with such warmth that he felt content, happy, something he seemed to only find in this memory. A tongue lapped at his head cleaning him of dirt, then the smell faded, the fur melting into stems and the twilight replaced with the light of moon-high that shone above the kit. He sighed, getting onto his paws and headed inside, feeling a wave of sadness waft over him.
Though he didn’t know why. - Bramblekit felt a patch of warm, glossy sunlight egnite the short fur on his nose, rousing him from his sleep. He blinked, stretching his paws to the walls of the den to later get up on them. The den was empty, as it usually was when Bramblekit woke up, the dappled sunlight proving patterns of light to see his way through the den. He could hear the murmur of life from outside, but the silence of the warmly lit nursery basked Bramblekit with a strange contentment that made him linger for a while longer.
Bramblekit blinked as he stuck his head outside the den, the harsh summer light blinding him, though he bravely took steps forward. He stopped, letting the yellow haze slowly melt away, letting him recognize the camp and the cats that inhabited it once more.
How he hated the looks of pity.
They were everywhere, the warriors, the apprentices, the elders. How the cats fell silent as he walked past. How the cats whispered behind him. He didn’t know why, all he had ever known was the whispers, the stares. He was used to it, expected it, and he hated it. It was a routine. Bramblekit ducked between the stems of the grasses, emerging into a cave that smelled of herbs and blood. But he was unaffected by the smell, stepped forward into the coolness of stone and asking the same question every day.
“Is father here?” The ripped up pelt looked up from its post, his pale yellow eyes shining in the half light.
“He just left.” That was the reply, it was always the reply. He always came here, and by the time Bramblekit arrived he was always gone. He sometimes couldn’t remember his pelt, he’d know it was a flame orange but what color were the stripes, the eyes? He’d rarely hear the sound of his voice, as he was always out with his duties.
Bramblekit had always dreamed of a day with his father, playing moss ball or even just sharing a piece of prey. But that never happened, he woke to find the nest empty and he went to bed to see a pale orange shape in the moss, resembling a hill more than a cat.
“Have you remembered anything?” Shredpelt’s gaze was on him, hopefully shining in the blackness.
“Nothing. Only the she-cat.” Shredpelt sighed, nudging a pile of dry leaves to Bramblekit’s paws.
“Take this to the sick den, please.” Bramblekit rolled the leaves up, padding out of the den and into the blinding light. He let himself get adjusted to the harshness, weaving his way through the stems of the footpath to the secluded den among some brambles. He could hear the faint groaning of the cats from beyond the sheave, and with a breath he allowed himself to enter.
Bramblekit visited the medicine cat regularly, and each time he was asked if he could remember anything, and each time he had said no. Then he’d be asked to take herbs to the sick den, and he would drop them just by the entrance where the bloodied paws of wounded cats would drag the herbs in, fighting for them like rats. Bramblekit hated it, he didn’t understand why the cats were kept here. He could hear the starving groans from the den, the retching of the cats behind the thorns, the sounds of claws ripping fur. Bramblekit could have gagged at the smell, the smell of pus, blood, death and the rotting of those who had spent their final days in that cage.
He backed out of the den, shaking his head free of the gurgled pleads for food, for water. He couldn’t tell how many cats, whose paws belonged to who and whose voice wailed for more. He trudged along the path, taking deep breaths through his nose to try to rid himself of the haunting smell that seemed to terrorize his dreams.
“Move, kit!” Bramblekit darted to the side, hiding among some trees of grass as he watched the patrol flood by. Three cats held up a brown tabby, it’s short fur blackened with sickening blood that threatened to make Bramblekit retch. He could see the faint trickle of red seep from a wound on the back of its neck, and it created a path of crimson that sparkled in the sun. As they passed, the tabby’s eyes lolled open, its pupils settling on Bramblekit. He blinked, his jaw going slack as if he was about to say something, then eyes closing again as they were past. The four disappeared into the den, and only three returned.
If you were attacked by ShadowClan, you never survived.
They were vicious cats, their minds clouded with rage who attacked any cat near their territory alone. Their bite with hard enough to kill, and they were so quick that by the time the rest of the cats came, the cat would be dead or dying. Those who lived were taken to the sick den, as cats who had lived grew ruthless just like ShadowClan and would attack themselves. That was the story, and those who was brought in by patrols never left.
Bramblekit sighed softly, following the patrol back down into the camp. The camp belonged to his clan, ThunderClan, and if ShadowClan got their hands on their camp they’d all be dead, or savage. Which was why they had to isolate those who were in attacks. But Bramblekit still hated it, and he wished there was a different way. But that was the will of the leader, and therefore he must follow it.
He stalked among the grass, his pelt brushing the stuff that laced the walls of the camp like vines. His amber eyes followed the movements of the cats, trying to train himself to see through the bright fog, to make out the distant shapes he could hear from the blurriness like it was a mirage. But there was nothing, only the quivering silhouettes like the trees he was told laid beyond that haze.
Bramblekit sucked in a breath through his nose, settling down among the stems to watch a sour-cream tom scamper from behind a den. He disappeared into the blinding light, the other cats a haze in his mind at they continued their daily affairs. His gaze drifted over them as they chattered with each other, letting his thoughts run silent as he watched them.
He wished father would come home. Chapter Two
Oh God, how he hated noon.
The sun was so bright, casting a blinding yellow on the ground that made it seem like Bramblekit and the grassy stems around him an island in a dandelion sea. His eyes watered if he kept them open, and Bramblekit certainly didn’t want his clanmates to think he was crying when, truly, the light that captured the world as he knew it was trying to take his eyes next. So he kept him closed, deciding to rely on his hearing instead. And with the gift his ears had given him, he was able to imagine so much more than he could see in the yellow haze of the day. He could just imagine the smaller kits in a constant tussle with each other, rolling across the ground in a tumbleweed of paws and fur as they screeched while they played.
He could image the mothers of those kits, basking in the sun with small smile on their faces as they enjoyed what little peace and quiet they've been blessed with. He could imagine the elders sitting quietly by the den, small little flicks of cotton floating past them as they accounted on the days when they were just as carefree as the little kits a few tail-lengths away. He could imagine the warriors coming in from patrols, they jaws laden with warm prey, they eyes glowing with the yellow light but also with the pride that they had provided for those who couldn’t. He could imagine all this, only with the sounds and smells of everything around him.
But everytime he opened his eyes he was reminded that it was only his imagination that supplied for these daydreams. That to him, his day-light world was just a place of yellow that took his sight only to replace it at night. He only knew pelts by their silvery moon-light counterparts, his knew eyes by the faded light of the stars, and he knew it was a cat not by mirage-like silhouette but by the smell he had grown all too familiar with.
It was this fundamental principle that surprised Bramblekit when he opened his eyes to a forest.
He could hear the faint birds chittering in the background, their songs adding to the mystical feel of the forest. The branches stretched overhead in a roof of green leaves, in which the canopy let small patches of light filter through to the floor. The light was soft, gentle, as if it wouldn’t even dare to hurt him. Leaf litter tickled his paws, summer-spring smells filled the clearing with the scent of dying flowers and blooming leaves. But, despite the sweetness of the forest, dark still tinged the edges of the clearing he stood in, the trunks of the trees fading into the black background.
Bramblekit took a quiet step forward, his sap-colored eyes filled with wonder. The tips of his ears brushed the stream of light, his fur illuminated as if it was the real source of the light. He stepped more into the clearing, his nose twitching and his tail still as he smelt a smell so familiar yet so far away. Then, he realised, it was lilacs that bloomed in his mouth, his veins pumping with so much warmth he flinched. But, with a newfound determination he padded forward, his paws sinking in the leaves, and his eyes trained on a bush that seemed to radiate that smell. But instead, his head bumped into something hard. Bramblekit stumbled back, blinking rapidly as he tried to shake himself of the building pain in his head.
The forest was gone, replaced with the wall of the camp and a yellow haze surrounding him on all sides. His eyes watered, fear spiked in his chest as he pressed himself against the one thing that seemed to exist with wide eyes. When he felt jaws sink into his scuff he sighed, closing his eyes and letting the mystery cat take him away. When the light behind his eyelids faded, he opened them to see Shredpelt’s paws below his own. He let the medicine cat drop him to his feet, then spun around to stare at those pale yellow eyes looking at him in hope.
Or was it something else?
“Did you remember anything?” Those yellow eyes shone, like the light spilling in from outside. They were eager like his voice, but that eagerness was cold. As if they were a cheat, as if he was a cheat, and they held more than he let on.
Bramblekit looked at the yellow eyes and replied, “No, only the she-cat.”
-
Amber harvest moons shone from the darkness, eclipsed by an iris that was wide in the shadowing darkness. Silvery scales made up the ground in the moonlight, the faint buzzing of cicadas played the moonlit serenade for the small kit curled in the black.
Bramblekit’s nose twitched, his amber eyes were wide as he stared intently at the ferns that supplied the entrance to the camp. The trees above creaked in the small breeze, the dancing shadows soaring over him in a ballay of epic proportions. But he paid no attention to the show that the night played for him, his attention was solely on the softly crafted ferns that was the door to the outside world. His eyelids drooped slightly as fatigue overwhelmed his senses. I guess if I just rested my eyes..
As he opened them again, the forest rose around him.
He lifted his head in a snap, scrambling to his paws as fast as he could. Once he was balanced, he was able to properly assess that yes, this was the same place. The trees stretched tall above him, the faint streams of golden light created trunks of their own, and that same welcoming lilac scent which flooded around him like a tidal wave. Just like before, he stepped forward, following the enticing smell of purple flowers that led him forward like instinct.
But, unlike before, he didn’t run into the camp wall.
Instead, he stepped through the bushes into another clearing, this one having a trail that winded through the trees like a stream of dirt and rocks. The leaf litter now emerged into coarse grass that tickled his paw-pads, somehow making him sneeze. His amber eyes glittered, staring into the nothingness that shrouded the trail. And somewhere from the gloom came a heavenly voice, a voice that sounded soft and calm like the petals of lilacs.
“Hurry up Bramblekit!”
His eyes brightened, he felt his lips curl into a smile and his tail danced behind him in a frenzy. He bunched up his muscles, leaning low, ready to leap onto that trail and catch up with whoever was calling him. He readied his paws, and-
“Hey, it’s time to wake up.”
Bramblekit froze, his ears back with confusion. He felt himself blink, he felt his eyes close fully, before he was greeted with the early-morning haze and pale eyes on a shredded face.
-
“Weaselheart, you have proven your courage and bravery, and I hope you will pass this onto Milkpaw.”
Bramblekit listened with envy, his nose buried into the fur of his white paws. The yellow jaws closed in on him, his eyes watering as he heard the apprentice ceremony take place.
“Milkpaw! Milkpaw! Milkpaw!”
The chants of his clanmates echoed around him, dancing in circles and taunting him why he wasn’t up there with the newly named apprentice, while he would never be a real cat, a real warrior.
He was just the maggot of Thunderclan.
He looked up, seeing the faint line of milk that gave him the new apprentice’s paws. And with a flick of fury and hate, he swiped the milky paw from under that cat, reveling in the sound of him tumbling to the yellow ground.
Bramblekit placed his head on his paws again, staring blankly into the yellow haze.
Chapter Three
The good thing about being ignored is that nobody minds when you listen in on conversations. This is exactly what Bramblekit was doing right now, having sat himself outside the entrance of the medicine den. He was situated in between two large ferns that were doing numbers in blocking out the harsh sun from shining into his eyes, and Bramblekit was just about to fall asleep when the soft paws of who he believed to be Creamfeather came by.
Bramblekit sat up a bit, sniffing the air and finding himself confused when he smelt no blood or the sick stench of illness. While there was a good chance that Creamfeather simply had a headache or something of the sort, it’s well known that Shredpelt didn’t have that much patience when it came to problems like that so most cats never go to him about those kinds of pain. So it was a bit more confusing to see her to be waltzing into the medicine cat’s den for seemingly no reason.
Bramblekit slowly slid in between the ferns until he reached the edge of the clearing that served as the medicine den, the light that filtered in from the ferns not being bright enough to send the den into obscurity. Bramblekit’s eyes knitted in confusion as he saw the two cats clustered together a little bit aways from the center, Shredpelt’s herbs abandoned in favor of stuffing his nose into the thick fur around Creamfeather’s neck.
Bramblekit’s eyes furrowed, and he strained his ears forward to try and hear any words the pair might be saying.
“This clan is all to hell,” Bramblekit could just barely hear Shredpelt’s words, murmured in an intimate way that made him feel like he was trespassing on something important.
“What can we do?” Bramblekit’s eyebrows furrowed at the comment, but he decided he’d been here too long and slowly backed away into the darkness of the ferns.
Bramblekit stood at the edge of the clump of ferns, staring down at his paws that sat on the edge of the yellow haze. His head hurt from the exchange and all the light and heat didn’t help, so he was quick to decide that turning in early for the day would probably do himself some good. Bramblekit slowly shook his head, and traversed the edge of the camp to finally reach the nursery.
His eyes blinked at the light filtering harshly into the den, swerving to avoid the patches of blinding yellow to his nest. It was really his and his father’s nest, but with the very noticeable absence of the second user it was really just a nest for him. With the intent of waking up before nightfall, Bramblekit let his head crash into the broken moss as he slowly went to sleep.
The forest stretched before him again.
The darkness that shrouded the edges of the forest was still there as ever, the leaflitter that created the floor for his paws still crunched under his claws. The trees stretched above him like the roof of a den with little patches of light that decorated the ground below it like it was a twoleg pine tree. The bushes filled the gaps in between the trees, framing the clearing like how the lilac scent he had grown to love framed the air.
Bramblekit let his paws take him forward, following that scent through patches of soft bright and through the large leaves of a bush into the other clearing. The grass melted under his paws, the leaves balancing precariously on the stems of grass that happened to stick straight up to the sky. The stream of dirt and pebbles cut through the grass, leading away among the bushes and into the darkness that surrounded the clearing on all sides. He let his ears perk up, listening for the soft call from a voice of lilac petals.
“Hurry up Bramblekit!”
He complied with delight, his paws spurring on the grass and sending a shower of grass and the occasional leaf behind him to settle among the fresh vegetation of the bushes. He leapt forward, settling on the trail and racing along it to find whoever had called out to him. He rounded a corner, sending a cloud of dust and rock into the grass as he skidded to a stop in front of white paws.
“There you are Bramblekit, I was starting to get worried about you.”
Bramblekit stood there gasping for breath, his head hung to the floor as he regained his strength. Finally, he was able to relent his eyes the view of the dirt below him to stare at the face of whoever called out to him. He looked up, then screamed with wide eyes at the sight before him.
The cat had no face.
Bramblekit woke in a gasping mess, his breath coming out in uneven spurts and his heart running a race with the panic pressing through his body. He scrambled out of his nest in a rush, stumbling out of the den with black edging his vision and the feeling of the den’s walls closing in on him. Once he had managed to get outside he scrunched his eyes tight, taking in deep gulps of air in order to get his breathing under control.
Bramblekit was surprised to see it was already nearing moonhigh.
The moon shone overhead, the sky clear of clouds but not clear of the thousands and millions of stars that cut into the night sky. Bramblekit let his head fall back, his amber eyes silvery reflecting the canvas that encapsulated the world above the world. The moonlight highlighted the slight mottles in his brown fur, his white legs glowing with a ghostly light like a twoleg pathlight. His whiskers floated in the silver, and for once Bramblekit didn’t feel blind like he did during the day. At night everything was visible, and he could see that the camp stretched far overhead and that the Highrock was a darker gray. He could see, and Bramblekit assumed that was why he preferred night over day.
Bramblekit padded freely across the camp, moving to settle down among the light silver that faded into a deep grey as it blended into the darkness. But, when he stepped forward into the stems, he felt his paw land in the fur of a skinny tail. He jumped back as a quiet yowl left the grass, and was even more surprised when he came face to face with Milkpaw.
“What are you doing here?” He growled, stepping forward. Bramblekit noticed that he shrank back, away from him. “Trying to ambush me?”
“N-no!” Milkpaw squeaked. “I-I was just waiting for my mom!”
Bramblekit blinked. “Your mom?”
Milkpaw nodded, his large eyes reflecting the moon in the sky. “Y-yeah, she didn’t come into camp this evening. I hope Shadowclan hadn’t gotten her.”
Bramblekit let his shoulders drop. “Yeah.”
Milkpaw sat up in a sitting position, shaking out his fur. “Kinda reminds me of what happened to your mom.”
This had gotten Bramblekit’s attention. “What do you mean Milkpaw?”
Milkpaw flinched at his tone, scooting away a bit. Bramblekit could see the cobwebs loosely hanging on his ear. “W-well, I overheard my dad talking with your dad. He said that y-you and your mom had gone out for a walk, but when you stumbled into camp crying they went out to look for her. But th-they had never found her.” Milkpaw sighed, his pelt was the color of dirty sand in the shadow he was in. “D-do you remember what happened?”
Bramblekit shook his head. “I can’t even remember what she looked like.”
Milkpaw cringed, his ears flattening against his head. “O-oh. S-s-sorry.”
Bramblekit shrugged. “It’s cool.”
The moon had neared its peak, and was now falling towards the other end of the sky. The stars, he now noticed, moved with the moon too, and would soon move into day. Bramblekit sighed, settling among the grass. He felt tired, but hopeful, as he now had an idea of who he was waiting for every night.
“Sleep out here. If your mom comes she’ll be able to see you.” He heard the apprentice settle beside him, which really had a few paw-lengths between each other but it was beside nonetheless. Bramblekit let his head fall onto his paws, his eyes trained on the entrance of the camp, and let himself fall asleep and Milkpaw do the same.
Chapter Four
A screech of terror woke him from his slumber, his eyes shooting open at the sound of fear filled screams. He scrambled to his paws, ready to wake Milkpaw up only to find him missing. In a fit of panic he glanced around the camp, the dawn light making the camp seem like the middle of noon which only forced Bramblekit to squint.
A warrior held onto Milkpaw, their claws digging into his flank in a desperate attempt to keep him at bay. Milkpaw screeched again, tearing out of clumps of fur to rid himself of the claws only to find them stuck in his fur again. Bramblekit raced forward, scrambling to a stop beside Milkpaw’s head. He leaned forward and gripped his scruff with his teeth, shaking him a bit to subdue the thrashing kit. But when he looked up to see what the commotion was, what he saw almost made him drop the apprentice.
There were three warriors pulling back a she-cat who Bramblekit realised by the short but fluffy fur and yellow eyes that she was Creamfeather herself. Her flank was dripping with short clumps of fur, blood oozing among the thick wounds that enclosed her sides like stripes. Her tail was ripped bare of fur, little scratches proving she wasn’t born that way. Exhaustion clouded her eyes, but she still pulled against the warriors, her paws stretching towards Milkpaw.
He could hear clearly now the words coming from their mouths, a mixture of ‘mama’ and ‘Milkpaw’ that was thrown back and forth between the two cats. But the faint cries of Milkpaw were slowly fading, as despite the warrior’s determination she was still being pulled away from them. A quick glance above their heads confirmed Bramblekit’s suspicions about their destination.
She was going to the sick den.
In his observations he weakened his grip, allowing Milkpaw to tear himself away and race forward. He pounced on one of the warrior’s legs, only to be kicked away by that warrior. “Stay back, Milkpaw!” He growled, snapping his neck to pull the now thrashing mother back an inch.
“Why? You-you don’t have to do this, you c-can try to save her! She-she’s still alive!” Milkpaw’s ear were flat against his head, his skinny tail was thrashing back and forth wildly. Bramblekit took this chance to race forward, gripping his scruff again and pulling him away from the group. Milkpaw tried to stand up and get away, but he forced him to sit down.
“She’s gone,” he growled. Milkpaw shook his head, his eyes wide in denial and disbelief.
“Sh-she’s right there! We-we can still save her!” Milkpaw tried to stand up, but Bramblekit once again forced him down on the ground.
“She’s gone, for good,” he mewed, changing his tone to be softer. “There’s nothing we can do.” Bramblekit felt Milkpaw quit fighting, so he let go to sit down beside the apprentice. He watched the she-cat get carried down the sickened path, her eyes were pleading but she too knew there was nothing left for her. He felt Milkpaw’s nose being pushed into his shoulder, and he wrapped his tail around the tom as he could feel him cry. Bramblekit let his shoulders fall, focusing instead on comforting the apprentice instead of the she-cat disappearing into the growing yellow haze.
-
Bramblekit was enjoying a good-sized mouse when two pitch black paws suddenly appeared in front of him. Freezing, his gaze slowly and comically rose up to become face to face with the leader herself: Copperstar. To most, Copperstar was a distant but powerful leader. People really only saw her when she had done her duties on the highrock, and she never was seen without a few of her trusty group of warriors by her side. However, according to Shredpelt Copperstar was Bramblekit’s grandmother, so suddenly he had to give her so much more respect.
“Bramblekit,” Copperstar said, and Bramblekit gulped. “Do you mind if I speak with you?” He nodded fearfully, and watched with a rapidly beating heart as Copperstar slowly lowered herself right next to him.
“I know you watched that spectacle that happened today,” Copperstar said bluntly, and Bramblekit looked away to stare briefly at the yellow haze before being brought back to Copperstar out of necessity. “I want you to know that it was, er, necessary for Creamfeather to be taken away like she was.”
“But why?” Copperstar’s eye twitched as he asked, as if she either wasn’t expecting or not wanting Bramblekit to ask. “Why do we even have the cats in the sick den? They seem just fine when I take herbs to them!”
“That is because you don’t see the truth about the cats inside that den!” Copperstar snapped, and Bramblekit shied away from her from the sudden outburst. She sighed, then continued in a more softer voice. “The cats in there have been.. Infected by Shadowclan, who I’m sure you know has been terrorizing our clan for as long as we can remember. They’re violent and unpredictable, and if we didn’t lock them away they would murder our entire clan.”
“Why can’t we just- kill them?” Bramblekit asked, and he watched as a strange gleam appeared in Copperstar’s eyes.
“We don’t know how to kill Shadowclan cats, believe me I’ve tried. Since we don’t know how to kill Shadowclan, we don’t know how to cure our own cats.” Copperstar sighed, standing up and passing her tail along Bramblekit’s tiny back. “If we had a cure, I assure you that the sick den would be no more.”
As Copperstar padded away to the Highrock, Bramblekit sat there in silence, his mouse forgotten. As he went back to eating, he thought over the state of things, and suddenly he had an idea.
-
The yellow haze faded quite considerably when afternoon came around, and this made finding his way around camp a lot easier for Bramblekit. For this reason, finding Milkpaw wasn’t as hard to find as it would’ve been if he had tried during noon. The camp was awfully quiet after the scene at dawn, the only hint to clan life was the small murmurs that passed over the conversing groups of cats. As for Milkpaw, he was huddled in the shade that was between the nursery and the apprentices’ den.
Milkpaw’s eyes were cast downwards, the yellow orbs staring blankly at the vibrant green stems underneath him. His pelt was ratty despite his shortness, and Bramblekit sighed as he settled down next to the younger tom. After asking the tom if he was alright and receiving no response, he leaned over and began to gently groom through Milkpaw’s pelt.
“I-I’m never going to see her again,” Milkpaw choked out, a cloud casting over his eyes as they filled with tears. Bramblekit looked down, unsure of what to say. “She-she’s gone, all because of those no good Shadowclan monsters!” His voice died down, that sad dejected look casting over his face again.
“It’s not over,” Bramblekit said suddenly. Milkpaw looked at him, confusion falling over his gaze.
“W-What?” Milkpaw said, his tail moving slightly from it’s spot. Bramblekit jumped up, his tail flailing around in fury, his eyes reflecting that same passion.
“Don’t you get it? The only reason any of this happened was because of Shadowclan! It’s the only reason why I can’t remember anything, the only reason your mother is in the sick den with the others, the only reason the whole clan lives in fear!” Bramblekit drew in a breath, blinking to clear the red color of rage from his sight. “If we can figure out how to cure the sick cats, none of this will happen again!”
Milkpaw jumped up from his spot, fear dancing in his figure. “That’s insane! We’ll surely die out there!”
Bramblekit shook his head wildly. “Not if we go by day, they’re only out by night, right?” Milkpaw nodded, a flicker of hope flashing in his eyes. “If we can get inside and observe their camp, we can bring back that information and then we can plan to kill one! After that we could find a cure!” At the mention of cure Milkpaw’s eyes lit up, and a grin stretched onto his face.
“O-Okay, okay, I’m in. But how are we going to do it? You-you can’t see at day.” Mikpaw looked at him again expectedly.
“But you can, right?” Milkpaw nodded. “Then you’ll lead me around, I’m stronger than you and I can protect you.” Milkpaw nodded again, the grin growing even wider.
“W-When are we leaving?” He mewed.
Bramblekit looked up at the sky, which was slowly clearing of light. “Tomorrow, at dawn.”
Chapter Five
Bramblekit blinked open his eyes, faint streams of dawn light filtering in from the bramble stems of the nursery. They striped across the floor, faltering in its path as it passed over nests and mounds of sleeping fur. His eyes settled on a flame colored tail that rested nearby, the tail belonging to his father. Bramblekit was surprised he was still asleep at dawn, as he was usually out doing patrols by now. Bramblekit sighed, pushing himself to his wobbly paws before he teetered to the exit of the den.
He poked his head outside, blinking rapidly as the bright sunlight blinded him for a brief moment. Finally he was able to see, and after a quick check around the brightly illuminated camp he scampered across it to the clump of ferns he knew was the apprentice’s den. Bramblekit skidded to a stop at the wall, stalking around it until he was able to make out Milkpaw’s scent. He pushed his paw past a few ferns, coming into contact with short, slightly knotted fur. He shook the pelt with fever, then backed out of the ferns when he heard rustling from the other side.
“W-What..? Who’s there?” Milkpaw seemed a bit dazed, and he could hear him shifting in his nest.
“It’s me, Bramblekit,” he hissed. “We have to go, come on.” Milkpaw stayed silent, and Bramblekit wondered if he had fallen back asleep before seeing him emerge from the den a few seconds later. Bramblekit waited impatiently as he stretched before making his way to him and clamping his jaws down on the fur at the end of his tail. He felt him flinch, then finally accept it.
“W-Where are we going?” Milkpaw said briefly, Bramblekit could faintly see his head moving from side to side.
“Main entrance. The guards should be switching out by now.” Milkpaw let out a sound of agreement then started to move forward, jolting Bramblekit from his place in the now unbelievably bright camp. Bramblekit followed Milkpaw, holding his tail in his mouth as they made their way across what seemed like a never ending desert. He sighed as darkness wafted over them as they padded through the grass tunnel that marked the camp entrance, but grumbled as a much softer light brightly illuminated the forest. “Go to where the safest border to cross is. You know where one is, right?”
He saw Milkpaw nod. “Yeah, the-the river. It’s less dangerous than the thun-thunder path.” Bramblekit nodded in return, letting go of his tail so that they could maneuver the forest properly. He once again let Milkpaw lead the way, understanding that he still was an apprentice and knew the territory better than he did. Eventually, the sound of rushing water began to make its way to his ears, the sound growing louder until it seemed like the river was right below their noses.
As the two broke through a layer of bushes, Bramblekit gasped at the sight that lay before him.
The river was wide, its banks stretching impossibly far from each other like each wanted nothing to do with the other. The bank they were on was shrouded by the trees, allowing Bramblekit to see the dappled deep blue that flowed in between that great expanse of water. Little bits of foam surfed the waves of the river, crashing into each other and shape shifting as they floated along. Right in front of them, he could see a single gray blotch that broke the river, the water avoiding the center leaving it dry.
“B-Beautiful isn’t it?” Bramblekit flinched at Milkpaw’s voice. “I’m al-almost surprised that we-we share a border with Shadowclan whenever I’m here.” Bramblekit nodded wordlessly, still at a loss at the beauty of the scene before him. Bramblekit watched Milkpaw step forward to stand at the bank, then look back at him. Bramblekit stared briefly at his yellow eyes before stepping forward to stand beside the apprentice. He glanced fearfully at Milkpaw who had leapt onto the first rock then clamped onto his tail almost on reflex. He heard Milkpaw giggle in front of him, and he resisted the urge to tackle him into the water. “C-Come on, this-this is the only way across.”
Bramblekit jumped onto the rock with him, feeling him flick his tail before leaping onto the next rock. Thankfully his tail was long enough to stay with Bramblekit, and he leapt on after him hitting the next rock. The sun was blinding in his eyes, making him close them shut tightly before a flick of Milkpaw’s tail he held on tightly too brought him to the present. He leapt forward again, straining to keep him eyes open to focus on the pale milky body that stood against the hazey light around them like a sore paw. Bramblekit felt a tiny bit of fear claw its way up his stomach, but he pushed it down so they could get past this awkward part of the journey and keep moving. The two kept it up, Bramblekit sighing in loud relief as they hit the last rock before the bank. He scrambled forward, collapsing on the sand at the other side with a loud huff as Milkpaw followed to stand near him, waiting for him to quit pouting and get up. Bramblekit was relieved that they had made it through all that, as for the whole time be could barely even see where he was going.
Finally, he decided that was enough waiting and fooling around and scrambled to his paws, shaking sand from his thick pelt. Milkpaw stood too, clearly eager to get on with their mission as well. But when Bramblekit smelt a foriegn smell of cat he froze, his growing wide. Milkpaw’s eyes went wide too, the two seemingly frozen in place. As the bushes behind them started to rustle, Bramblekit whirled around to face the sound. When two large cats emerged, each with sleek fur broken by a few battle scars, Bramblekit felt a spike of fear travel down his spine.
They were caught, and now they were going to die. Chapter Six
Bramblekit felt horror trap him in place, the sudden appearance of the two cats freezing up his mind until one of them spoke.
“Who are you?” It was the slimmer one, her pelt silver with hints of gray mottling the shiny color.
The words broke him out of his stupor, and Bramblekit somehow managed to swallow the panic that was rising from his stomach to his throat. He scrambled to move in front of Milkpaw, a growl escaping from his throat as he bushed up his pelt, his claws sliding out to sink into the ground.
“If you want Milkpaw, you’re going to have to get through me first!” He snarled, his eyes flashing with amber hatred.
“Bramblekit!” Milkpaw’s fearful wail had nothing on him, he still stood his ground ready to claw the cats if need be.
The two cats looked at each other, confusion dancing through their gaze. They then returned to the two small cats in front of them.
“We won’t hurt you.” The reply came from the more bulkier gray tom, who looked like they had the power to fling Bramblekit against a tree. He didn’t care.
“You’re Shadowclan! Shadowclan hurts everyone!” He hissed, not fooled by their blatant lies. But he then noticed that their eyebrows were furled, eyes watching him like he was insane.
“We’re.. Riverclan.” Mewed the tom, sending a spike of confusion through Bramblekit. He’d never heard of Riverclan in his life, and although his memories were small he was sure that if there was another clan the other cats would be in a buzz about it.
Bramblekit felt a small swoosh of air beside him, alerting him to the presence of Milkpaw who had moved to stand at his side. He was also in a defensive position, but without the claws that Bramblekit had.
“May-maybe they’re a rogue grou-group,” Milkpaw murmured to him, his breath tickling his ear. It was a possibility, but rogue groups don’t name themselves after clans. Hell, they rarely even named themselves anything.
At the idea of another clan besides Shadowclan, his chest filled with a sense of hope. If the two clans could unite, they’d be able to have a huge adv foantage over the evil clan and might be able to destroy it. This is what we’ve been looking for! They have finally found the secret to getting rid of Shadowclan, it wasn’t a secret about the clan at all. It was a secret clan that was going to help get rid of Shadowclan once and for all. No more deaths, no more sick den, no more fear.
“Can you take us to your camp?” Bramblekit looked up them, sliding in his claws and letting himself relax. The two cats seemed surprised by his answer, but they nodded and started to lead their way into the undergrowth. Bramblekit followed them, a new kind of excitement flowing through his veins as he dodged reeds. Milkpaw was silent for a moment, then he heard the crunch of leaves as Milkpaw raced to catch up.
“Are-are you insane?” He hissed once he had fallen into place, his voice slightly breathless. The river sparkled into view, the Riverclan cat leading them up a now pebble bank upstream. Bramblekit glanced up at them briefly, then turned to Milkpaw as they sidled through reeds.
“If this really is another clan, then they can help us!” He mewed excitedly, careful to keep his voice down. “Milkpaw, this is the secret we’ve been looking for!” Bramblekit ducked under a large leaved bush, stopping when he reached the other side. There, in the river, was a small island. A shallow stream protected the island from the mainland, a wall of reeds preventing him from looking inside. A small hole in the reeds faced the land, and the two cats were wading their way to that hole. Bramblekit jumped forward, dipping his paws briefly in the water before following behind the cats. The sound of splashing behind him gave him confirmation of Milkpaw’s presence as he pushed his way into the camp.
He squinted as light glared into his eyes, stumbling back into Milkpaw. He felt his nose on his shoulder, leading him into some shade that he was internally grateful for. The she-cat stayed with them, glancing at the two briefly while her partner scampered off to disappear in a den that seemed to have been made into the roots of an ancient willow tree. Then the gray cat emerged with another much larger cat behind him, radiating a leader kind of vibe as they strolled over to them. By now cats were starting to appear from the dens, staring at them in wonder as if Thunderclan was new to them. The leader stopped in front of them, Milkpaw bristling but Bramblekit stood still, staring steadily at the cat before him.
“My name is Pebblestar, the leader of Riverclan.” He began. His pelt was grey, but his brown eyes stared him down with authority but as well as wonder. Bramblekit nodded, his own amber eyes meeting the cat’s brown gaze. “As leader, I welcome you to our camp. What brings you here?”
Bramblekit looked at Milkpaw, brushing against him slightly to calm his jittery nerves, then turned back to Pebblestar in front of him. “I am Bramblekit, and this is Milkpaw. We’ve come to propose an alliance.” The cats around them broke into whispers, but a flick of Pebblestar’s tail silenced them. “We’ve had constant attacks from a clan called Shadowclan, and we think you might have too. Our clan doesn’t know of your existence, but we think that if we work together we can take them down once and for all.”
The clan went strangely silent, each cat staring at them with wide eyes. Even Pebblestar seemed surprised, his tail beginning to lash in thought. Finally, it seemed that the leader had made up his mind, as his tail stopped it’s movement and hsi surprised expression faded.
“Shadowclan, and no clan for that matter, has seen or heard from Thunderclan for ages.” He meowed softly.
“What..?” Bramblekit was in shock. That can’t be right! So many cats have died to Shadowclan!
Pebblestar nodded. “They went silent moons ago, never coming to gatherings or even medicine cat gatherings. None of us never even saw a border patrol, though somehow their borders still remain intact.”
Bramblekit let his gaze fall to the ground beneath him. No, that’s not true, that’s.. Then, he thought about it. It was always the same cats who brought them to the sick den. Cats who began to question Shadowclan’s existence conveniently seemed to get attacked. They never guarded the sick den, so any insane cat could run out and attack the others at any time. But they never have, it seemed they just stayed in there forever.
Great Starclan..
“They-they lied to us.” He heard Milkpaw whisper beside him, echoing his thoughts. “They lied to us for our entire lives.”
Chapter Seven
It was as if his whole world was falling apart.
Bramblekit could feel static swallowing his ears, preventing him to hear the frantic mewing from Milkpaw beside him. The sound of the rushing river around them slowly faded into obscurity, the bright yellow light that filtered through the reeds and the willow branches melting into the rest of the scenery. His mind felt a bit hazy, and it was almost in slow motion when Bramblekit blinked.
The world seemed to shake around him, jiggling as if something was shaking it like the tail of a rattlesnake. It took a few good seconds for him to realize that the shaking was himself shaking, not the Riverclan camp. And when he did realize, a surge of denial quenched the growing resentment towards his clan. He stepped back from the Riverclan cats, his ears pinned to his head as anger flashed through his vision and made the yellow fog that caked the clearing turn red.
“No, you’re-you’re lying!” He snarled, white teeth flashing as he bared them at the cats. “Thunderclan would never do that! You-you must be Shadowclan too!” Rage shot down the attempts logic made to tell him he’s wrong, all he knew was the same rage feeding his denial until it became a large hulking dog that tore up his insides and stained his vision red.
“Br-Bramblekit wait-”
“No!” He hissed. “Milkpaw, you’re one of them! You’re the liar, not Thunderclan!” His rump was pressed to the reeds behind him, the faces of the other cats blurring and blending until they melted into the yellow-orange haze. Bramblekit then turned heel, darting through the entrance and messily splashing through the small creek that separated the island from the land. Once he had reached the bank he was soaking wet, and he ran soaking wet down the pebble shore to wherever the path may lead him.
Bramblekit slowed to a panting walk as a twoleg bridge appeared on the short horizon. He scrambled up the wall of the bank to land on a twoleg trail that led straight to the thing. He padded across the bridge to the other side, his dripping self creating a wet trail specked with pieces of dirt and mud that he happened to pick up on the way there. The thick fur on the end of his tail dragged along the flat pieces of wood that made up the bridge, no matter how far he lifted it above the ground.
Bramblekit paused, wet pools forming around his paws as the sodden fur melted against them. He was surrounded by yellow light, the wood the only thing he could see clearly. With the anger slowly dissolving he could feel reason rise from the depths back to the surface, taking the wheel away from the red sea that once filled his mind.
Were they telling the truth? Bramblekit closed his eyes briefly, the bright light making them hurt. His eyes weren’t the only thing that hurt, his head also ached as the new information swirled around in whirlpools making his head feel like it was submerged undersea. Bramblekit shook the water out of his mind, effectively blocking out the clear evidence against his own clan. He took up walking again, making it to the other bank and into the twilight of Thunderclan territory.
Of course they weren’t.
-
Bramblekit padded into camp damp and with his fur full of captured twigs and leaves that refused to escape even as he tried to shake them out. He paused once he had squeezed through the entrance, attracting a few strands of grass and the stares of the nearby clanmates who were close enough to be alerted of his presence. His ears twitched as the camp fell silent, the only sounds being the buzzing of birds in the canopy above. The sky had started to grow dark, allowing Bramblekit to see the large silhouette of his father pad towards him until he could make out the orange tabby markings in his fur.
“Where have you been?” He growled.
“Uh-” Bramblekit shrunk back, and he saw Flamefur’s mask of anger break at his flinching. “I was-”
“Quiet,” Bramblekit flinched again at the sound of Copperstar’s voice. He watched the long-legged she slowly stalk forward, her eyes just as cold as the rest of her composure. “Bramblekit, you have gone against both mine and your father’s orders and went outside the camp to Starclan knows where, and you have gotten Milkpaw strangely missing.” Bramblekit hung his head at that, feeling guilty that he wasn’t able to get Milkpaw out of Ri-Shadowclan’s clutches. “Go to your nest.”
Bramblekit slowly padded to the nursery, collapsing into his nest and resting his head on it’s mossy edge. He found it hard to sleep as he stared blankly at the nursery wall, though he looked up when he heard the tell-tale sound of the entrance to the den rustling. He watched as Shredpelt swiftly made his way to the edge of his nest, and sat up as he sat down by the nest.
“How are you feeling?” He asked softly, and Bramblekit sighed as he shook his head.
“Is-Is Shadowclan real?” Bramblekit said in a small voice, and he noticed Shredpelt stiffening a bit before relaxing again.
“Of course they are,” Shredpelt continued in his soft voice, but it seemed a bit strained now.
“Are you sure?” Bramblekit challenged again, and he watched as Shredpelt sighed and placed a paw on his back.
“Bramblekit,” he said stiffly, his voice suddenly turning serious. “Trust me when I say this, but sometimes it’s best just to keep your mouth shut.”
Bramblekit sat there frozen as he watched Shredpelt get up and squeeze out of the den, a sense of dread washing over him.
-
Milkpaw’s paws fidgeted in the moss nest, his tail swung from side to side in his restlessness. Despite how many times his eyelids drooped he just couldn’t seem to fall asleep, worry was gnawing at his soul and it took him everything he had to try to ignore. But despite this, it just couldn’t go away.
He had talked with Pebblestar after Bramblekit ran off, the two discussing what they should do next. If Thunderclan had been attacking its own members in order to keep this-this illusion alive, then the other clans should know about it. Since tomorrow was the full moon Milkpaw was going to go with Riverclan to the gathering to speak with the other clans about Thunderclan. What will come after that, however, will be left to be decided by the other clans.
Milkpaw still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there were more clans than just Thunderclan and Shadowclan. He’d never seen Shadowclan, but he had seen Riverclan and apparently at the gathering there was to be a fourth clan called Windclan. It boggled his mind that for his entire life he’d been living a lie, that he’d been living in fear of something that didn’t exist.
However, now that he thought of it, it seemed that he did have something to fear: Thunderclan itself. Or, perhaps, the people who have been carrying on this lie for the longest time: the leader, Copperstar.
Copperstar has been leader for as long as anyone could remember. Even the old elders couldn’t remember a leader before her. To everyone, she had been the face of Thunderclan since the beginning of time. This immortality showed too, her once golden-cream muzzle now almost entirely gray. Gray hairs lined her pelt, cutting through the black spots on her coat and sticking out in tufts among her paws. Despite her age however she still possessed a sort of grace and menace to her, her long legs making her easily tower over any cat and her giant ears allowing her to hear every minute sound.
In short, she was respected, but she was terrifying.
The cat who held the deputy title was her son Flamefur, a beast of a cat. The two were nothing alike when it came to appearance, Flamefur boasting a thick rusty red pelt that was dappled with mahogany stripes and a large stocky frame; an incredible contrast to Copperstar’s slim shape and short haired cream fur with large black spots. However, something the two cats did share was their ideology, and the iron grip they held over the clan.
Then there was Bramblekit. Flamefur’s son.
Bramblekit had the pelt of his mother, long and soft with brown fur dappled with light brown and white spots. He also had the body of his father, large and stocky and seemingly made to fight.
What kind of mind he had, however, was unknown to Milkpaw.
Suddenly a wave of fear passed over him, making him shrink into himself in an attempt to make it go away. Around him the gentle sounds of the swaying willow and the soft murmurings of sleeping cats slowly calmed him down, but that lingering spike of fear remained.
Did he know about what was happening? Is he gonna start singing to Copperstar and Flamefur and the rest?
Please Starclan, if you’re out there, don’t let Bramblekit tell them.
Please..
Chapter Eight
That night Bramblekit’s regularly scheduled programming was on again, and he wasn’t surprised to wake up in that forest again. What did surprise him, however, was the new tone the forest had taken in his absence. What was once warm light filtering through soft deciduous leaves was replaced with a much colder daylight, the beams sharper from being filtered through pointy maple leaves. The forest litter stung his paw pads rather than tickle them, and the heavenly lilac scent was muted by the smell of rotting leaves.
Still, Bramblekit pushed on, determined to get to the bottom of this recurring dream and the strange she-cat who resided in it. The coarse bushes scraped against his pelt as he shouldered through them, immediately following the trail and ignoring the drier than usual grass.
“Hurry up Bramblekit!”
Bramblekit did hurry up, immediately racing along the trail until he once again skidded to a stop in front of those white paws. He took a second to catch his breath, staring at the paws that were so reminiscent of his own. He looked up just as she spoke.
“There you are Bramblekit, I was starting to get worried about you.”
Bramblekit expected to once again see a faceless she-cat, but was once again surprised to see a warm, motherly face staring down at him. It only took Bramblekit a second before he recognized the she-cat in front of him.
Mama?
Bramblekit’s eyes darted off to the side to just catch a pair of amber eyes hiding in the shadows before the she-cat collapsed in front of him with a shriek. The cat that had attacked her was efficient in sinking their fangs into her neck, and Bramblekit watched frozen as the she’s flailing slowly died down to nothing.
The shadows that the cat had come from began to swallow the small clearing they were in, curling around her tail and Bramblekit’s paws like mist. Bramblekit slowly looked up from the she-cat’s blank face to the cat standing above her, and was treated to Copperstar’s bloody and snarling face before a rock came barreling into his head.
Bramblekit awoke with a startled gasp, digging his claws into his nest as he struggled to breathe. The den was pitch black, the lack of moonlight being a mystery that’s unable to solve in his frazzled state. Bramblekit was able to calm himself down to the point where he could somewhat think clearly, and Bramblelkit stared at the darker shadow of a cat as he tried to make sense of what he just dreamed.
“Bramblekit.”
Bramblekit jumped at the sound of his father’s voice, whisking around to stare at the figure in the entrance to the den. In the darkness his father looked like a mountain against the night sky, his face invisible and his large frame blocking Bramblekit from seeing outside. Suddenly a drop of some thick unidentifiable liquid fell from where his father’s muzzle would be, and Bramblekit shook his head in an attempt to clear that vision.
“Come,” the tom said briskly, and Bramblekit obliged with shaky legs. He followed his father through the camp, the various dens and other objects being reduced to black silhouettes against an even blacker background. Bramblekit took a quick glance up at the sky, and he noticed that despite the new moon the stars were dim.
The sudden feeling of ferns brushing up against his pelt confirmed to Bramblekit that they were in the medicine den, and he caught a quick glimpse of Shredpelt hunched over something before being shoved roughly into the clearing. He scrambled to his paws, not bothering to shake himself off as he felt his father move directly behind him.
He shakily glanced around the clearing, recognising one other figure that sat in the deeper shadows of the medicine den. Copperstar’s amber eyes just barely gleamed in the darkness, and the heavy twilight managed to cloak her pelt to where she was only a menacing silhouette with almost scarlett eyes. As he was staring at her, he heard behind him the sound of paws retreating, and he didn’t need to turn around to know that Flamefur had left.
Bramblekit’s eyes widened as Shredpelt’s pale form turned around, refusing to meet his gaze as he dropped a fat leaf roll. As they touched the ground they unfurled to reveal three bright red berries, the small things seemingly the same color as Copperstar’s eyes. Bramblekit’s face paled, his subconscious recognizing the danger even if his surface mind did not.
“Eat them,” Bramblekit stiffened as a low growl sounded in his ear, and he quickly shook his head as his stomach fell. “Do as I say,” the voice growled, its even tone succeeding in making Bramblekit shiver. “Or else you’ll meet the same fate as your mother.”
Bramblekit let out a small sob, bending down to eat the berries but jumping when a loud yowl sounded from behind him. He whirled around to see that Shredpelt had launched himself onto Copperstar’s back, and in accordance with his own name Shredpelt was clawing up the black spotted pelt of his grandmother.
The moment didn’t last long, because just then two warriors had stormed into the medicine den and had pulled Shredpelt off of his leader’s back while a third one lifted Bramblekit by his scruff. Both of them were being pulled out of the den, Bramblekit catching a glimpse of his father telling the clan a story about how Shredpelt was trying to poison Bramblekit and attacked Copperstar as he tried to intervene.
Bramblekit’s mind was in shambles, and in him trying to process the situation Bramblekit didn’t realize where they were heading until that horrible stench hit his nose. Suddenly they were being thrown to the ground, and Bramblekit looked up from the crushed herbal leaves to face the pairs of crazed eyes staring back at them.
They were in the sick den.
Chapter Nine
Trigger warning for depictions of decay. Just skip the first paragraph if you feel uncomfortable with that.
Bramblekit sucked in desperate breaths through his mouth, trying his best not to gag at the wretched smell that wafted around them in waves. Even that didn’t help, as the organ that sat on the roof of his mouth was sending signals to his brain that screeched the word death until Bramblekit felt as if he could hear it himself. As his eyes began to adjust to the small amount of lighting in the den, he noticed what looked to be a half-rotten corpse. Its eyes were cloudy as it stared wide eyed at the dirt ceiling, seemingly unaware of the spill of bloated organs that sat next to its stomach.
Bramblekit lost the battle, spitting bile onto the floor beside him as all at once his closed off senses were bombarded with decay.
Shredpelt looked no better, the few bits of skin that was showing on his face looked paler than the pale-white fur itself. The medicine cat’s ears were pinned back, his face showing a mixture of grief and disgust- and was that guilt? Suddenly Bramblekit was alerted to the shuffle paws in front of him, and he turned to see that Milkpaw’s mother had stepped forward from the darkness. Her pelt was covered in knots, her eyes were tired and the smell of decay hung to her like the last few leaves on a late-fall tree.
“Shredpelt,” she growled, her tail lashing. The tinge of guilt that sat in his eyes suddenly over took his face.
“Cr-Creamfeather,” he responded, gulping after that embarrassing stutter.
“Are you happy Shredpelt?” She asked, and Bramblekit had a feeling that it wasn’t supposed to be answered. “Are you-are you ecstatic to be in the same hell that you sent your-your mate to?”
..Mate?
“It wasn’t me,” Shredpelt choked out, and Bramblekit’s eyes widened at the emotion pouring from the older tom. “I-I tried to tell Flamepelt not to, but he wouldn’t-” Creamfeather hissed menacingly, and Shredpelt’s mouth closed with a click as he realised she wasn’t done speaking.
“Look at what your damn game for power has created!” Creamfeather snarled, stepping forward until she was nose to nose with Shredpelt. “Your ‘leader’ has ordered the deaths of hundreds of cats, and has sent the rest of us to be stripped of our dignity in the dark!”
“She what?” Bramblekit piqued up, and Creamfeather’s eyes blinked as if she was just realising he was there. Suddenly dainty paws had pinned him to the dirt floor of the den, and Bramblekit was too stunned to struggle.
“Oh don’t act like you don’t know what your dear grandmother has been doing Bramblekit!” She spat, and the dim lighting was somehow able to capture the crazed look that shone in her eyes. Bramblekit’s eyes widened as he spotted blood on the corner of Creamfeather’s mouth, her breath smelling suspiciously of the rotting body nearby.
The weight was pulled off of him just as quickly as it came, and Bramblekit scrambled away to press his back against the den wall. Creamfeather ripped herself out of Shredpelt jaws, and Bramblekit flinched when her claws added another wound to the short fur on his face. “Don’t you touch me!” She snarled, and Shredpelt shrunk back to stand in front of Bramblekit.
Now that Bramblekit was over the shock of the corpse in the den, he allowed himself to observe everything else that was in it. The den was almost absent of moss, tiny little scraps lying here or there that clearly were once much bigger but had been ripped to shreds. The only other greenery was the discarded herbs that littered the floor, Bramblekit noting that none of them looked used at all.
The corners of the den were crowded with cats, and the few that he could see clearly he recognised as cats who had been dragged in by his father’s posse. A quick breath in through his nose gave some scents that weren’t distinctly Thunderclan (aside from the scent of death), and Bramblekit concluded that these cats were from the other clans that had been forgotten.
Creamfeather was slowly stalking towards them, her eyes so dark that Bramblekit could barely see them in the gloom. He could see, however, her stained teeth as she bared them, and Shredpelt stepped back in time with her. The cats that hugged the corners were moving forward to trap them, and Bramblekit could feel his mind racing frantically as he searched for a way to live.
“Wait!” He cried, and Creamfeather faltered in surprise. “I-I have an idea!"
“Yeah?” Creamfeather hissed. “What’s it for?”
“I think I can set you guys free!” Creamfeather faltered again, her eyes widening in hope for a split second then narrowing in suspicion.
“That’s a load of fox dung,” she snapped, but Bramblekit shook his head.
“My-my friend is in another clan,” Bramblekit explained shakily, his words tumbling quickly from his mouth. “A-a new clan, and there’s two more! If you let me go find him, I bet you we can get those clans to break you out!”
“Who’s your friend?” Creamfeather snapped.
“M-Milkpaw!” Bramblekit cried out, and Creamfeather paused, her jaw falling slightly. “Please, I promise I’ll help you escape, just-just let me go get him!” It was silent for a while, the only sounds being him and Shredpelt’s heavy panting and Creamfeather’s claws scraping the dirt ground as she thought over the idea.
“Fine!” She snapped. “Go ahead and try! You won’t get far!”
Bramblekit could feel the blood fleeing his face, but he swallowed his nerves and watched as the cats parted to form a clear path to the entrance. He kept his head down as he walked, feeling the burning stare of invisible eyes on his pelt. As he reached the entrance the path melted into a solid wall of fur and glinting eyes, and Bramblekit took a breath before quickly darting out of the den.
Bramblekit could hear cats shouting behind him and paws thundering on his trail, but he pushed himself to go faster as he raced for the camp entrance. For once his brightened eyesight came in useful, as he was able to see the camp clearly and could see all the cats rushing to catch him. Sucking in huge gulps of air, he began to make little changes in his direction in order to make himself a harder target to track. It seemed to be working, as the cats weren’t trying to pounce.
Bramblekit bolstered through the grass tunnel, not pausing for breath as he began to madly scramble up the logs. He yelped as he felt teeth sink into his back leg, his claws digging into a rock as he kicked his hind legs hoping to shake off his assailant. Bramblekit winced as his claws jammed into the cat’s eye, but thankfully it made the cat let go and allowed Bramblekit to continue clawing his way up.
He finally made it to the top, the adrenaline in his veins being the only thing pushing him to continue running. Bramblekit felt weightless, paws barely touching the ground as he darted between trees and over branches and roots. He had no idea where he was going, but relief washed through him as the river began to reveal itself from the treeline. Bramblekit slid down the bank, stopping at the water as he tried to decide what to do next. The sounds of approaching voices and paws kicked his instincts back into place, and Bramblekit quickly dived into the water.
Bramblekit lifted his sodding head out of the water to take in a deep breath before going under again, flattening himself against the pebbles as he dug his claws in so he wouldn’t float away in the current. Though his vision underwater was limited, he could just make out the patrol of cats stop at the top of the bank. They looked around wildly, sniffing around for a second before trotting off towards the stepping stones where Bramblekit and Milkpaw had crossed.
He lifted himself from the water, his burning lungs taking in so much air Bramblekit was worried he’d swell like a balloon. Walking on shaky limbs to the bank, Bramblekit collapsed against the wet pebbles like a sack of flour, coughing horribly as his lungs bit off more than they could chew.
He was free.
Chapter Ten
The full moon shone brightly over the tops of the trees, two darker spots on the moon’s surface seeming like eyes that were watching Milkpaw like an owl. Even though the night was warm he still shivered, and he brought his thin tail closer to himself in order to keep himself warm. He watched Pebblestar begin to rouse cats that were going to accompany them to this gathering, a traditional meeting between the other clans where him and Pebblestar were going to share the news.
In his mind he went over what he was going to say. The plan was to brief the other clans in what was happening in Thunderclan, from the precise murders to the cats who were kept in unethical conditions in the sick den. Then, he was going to convince the other clans to lend cats in an attack on Thunderclan, an attack that’s main goal was to drive out Copperstar and her gang of cats out of the clan.
Hopefully, they’ll be able to free his mother as well.
Milkpaw’s fur rose as he thought of his mama. She had always been a strong she-cat, though losing his sisters and having to raise a son alone while greiving must have had something to do with it. He hoped that once he freed the cats trapped in the sick den that she would still be the caring mother he remembered her to be.
Milkpaw remembered that cold leafbare night like it was yesterday..
It was so cold that Milkkit thought his paws were going to fall off. Despite the cold, it wasn’t like any leafbare he had been through before. There wasn’t any snow covering the ground, the frozen mud that sat at the bottom of the camp replacing the white blanket that Milkkit had become familiar with. The ferns of the medicine den were dry and frozen in place, the brambles of the nursery were covered with a permafrost that had been there since the end of leaffall, and the few scraps of prey that was in the freshkill pile looked like they were pulled from a block of solid ice.
The mention of prey in his mind made him momentarily remember the rumbling in his stomach.
The ferns rustled, and Milkkit turned to see the haunted face of Shredpelt. Even though the medicine cat was quite young he looked moons old in the shadows of the frozen ferns, and Milkkit’s stomach dropped at the expression on his face. Ignoring Shredpelt’s pleas to stay put, Milkkit pushed into the clearing.
His mother was situated in a mossy nest underneath a thick clump of ferns, her head laying limply by her belly. Her eyes looked glossy, like ice, and Milkkit’s stomach dropped even further to the point where he believed he would puke. Two tiny kits were stretched out next to her, their nose crusted with snot, their eyes closed, and their scents muted with sickness. Even though he didn’t understand it, Milkkit knew what happened right away.
He let out a tiny wail, and this seemed to catch his mother’s attention. She weakly raised her head, and she slowly but surely smiled at her only son.
“It’s okay Milkkit,” she whispered, and although Milkkit could barely hear he didn’t move. “Starclan gives us so many challenges, but Starclan will give us blessings too..” Her head fell back against the nest, and Milkkit immediately rushed forward to curl up next to her face.
The next day Shredpelt came stumbling into camp, his leg bleeding profusely from a dog bite that looked to have torn both the fur and the skin on his leg to shreds. His jaws, however, were so full of fresh catnip Milkkit thought that his jaw must be broken.
Milkpaw sighed, glancing upwards to the inky heavens that watched over the camp. As his eyes flitted among the tiny stars, he wondered if any of them belonged to his sisters.
Don’t worry mama, I’ll set you free. I promise.
Milkpaw brought his gaze back to the world below him at the sound of Pebblestar making his way towards him. He noticed the large group of warriors and apprentices following him, and Milkpaw moved to stand.
“Are you ready to go?” Pebblestar asks softly, his spotted brown fur turning silver in the moonlight. Milkpaw nodded, and followed the tom as he led the way out of the camp. Milkpaw found the serenade of crickets and frogs comforting, helping him wash away his nerves as they got closer to their destination. He could hear the distinct rustle of prey trying to escape the parade of predators marching their way through the forest, and somewhere far off the sound of an owl hooting.
They crossed the river via a twoleg bridge that Milkpaw had somehow never noticed before, the group then opting to follow the river instead of possibly going into Thunderclan territory. As they walked the trees began to thin into long, windswept grass, and Milkpaw paused when he smelt a new group of cats on the wind.
“Windclan,” Pebblestar mewed in his ear. “It’s okay, keep moving.”
Milkpaw felt his fur rise as they neared a group of four, very tall trees, the strong mix of cats scents wafting down from it putting him on edge. As they began to break the wall of bushes that protected the clearing, Milkpaw began to hear the chittering of voices as cats mingled with each other, and he paused once again to take a breath before breaking into the clearing.
The cats seemed to welcome the Riverclan cats warmly, cats standing up to greet friends and apprentices tackling each other into the bushes. The elders were gossiping to each other at the foot of one of the great oaks, and Pebblestar and his deputy moved to the great rock in the center where two other pairs were waiting. He jumped when Pebblestar suddenly called him over, and he ignored the stares as he joined the leader.
“I’d like you to stay here until I call you up onto the rock,” Pebblestar explained, and Milkpaw nodded as he began to make himself comfortable. Ignoring the weird looks of the other two deputies, he forced his back to be straight as he stared out at the crowd of rowdy cats. Once the leaders jumped onto the rock, however, the cat’s noise slowly died down til it was silent.
The first half of the gathering consisted of the leaders sharing good news about their respective clans, things like new warriors or apprentices, or how well the prey is running in their territory. Milkpaw could tell it was time when Pebblestar spoke again, and the cats murmured to themselves in surprise.
“I think we all know the silence we have experienced from Thunderclan for many moons,” he began, his tail lashing as his tone undertook a grave seriousness. “Many of us have wondered what has been going on inside their closed doors, and if there was even a clan left. I was fortunate enough to get in touch with a member of Thunderclan, but the news he gave me wasn’t exactly pleasing. Milkpaw?”
Milkpaw closed his eyes, slowly sucking in a breath before jumping onto the rock beside Pebblestar. His fur bristled as the whispers of the other clan cats wafted up to the rock, but Pebblestar quickly silenced it with a flick of his tail. Steeling himself, he thought for a moment then began to speak.
“Cats, I understand that the affairs of another clan shouldn’t affect you at all. But this is a situation where we must put aside our differences for the greater good of cats around, as if we don’t the cats in my clan are doomed to suffer.” Milkpaw refrained from grinning at how professional he sounded. “The leader of Thunderclan, Copperstar is her name, has oppressed her clanmates at every angle. She scares them with a mythical clan called Shadowclan that attacks and sometimes murders cats in the middle of the night, and uses this clan as a cover up to get rid of any clanmate who opposes her. She has also made the clan believe that cats attacked by Shadowclan go crazy, which allows her to lock up any surviving cats away from the rest of the clan.” Milkpaw felt his hope rise as he looked at the shocked faces of the cats below, and he continued once more. “I-I have never been in the sick den myself, but rumor has it that cats who die in there are never removed.”
The whispers of the crowd rose in volume, and Milkpaw let the cats talk before silencing the cats himself. “I only ask one thing of you all, and that is volunteers. The only way to save Thunderclan is to drive out Copperstar and her goons so a true leader can be put into place. I can’t do this alone, so I beg of you! Help me restore Thunderclan to its former glory!”
The crowd was silent, no one daring to make a sound or even move. Milkpaw felt his hope fall, and his head hung in defeat.
“I will.”
Milkpaw looked up to see a Winclan cat stand from the crowd, a look of uncertainty passing over his face before setting into determination. Soon a cat from Shadowclan stood as well, then one from Riverclan. Eventually there was a good group of cats ready to fight for Thunderclan, and Milkpaw smiled brightly as his hope rose up to the moon above them.
“Thank you so much!” He said brightly, looking among the faces of the volunteers. “We will attack tomorrow, at Moonhigh, and we’ll meet at this clearing.” Milkpaw jumped down from the rock, making sure to stand tall as he addressed the cats. “Thunderclan will forever be in your debt.”
Suddenly a rustle of bushes alerted the cats to the edge of the clearing, where an apprentice sized cat was desperately trying to squeeze through the bushes. Once they succeeded the cat stood there panting with wide eyes, before falling forward and collapsing among the roots of one of the oak trees.
“Bramblekit?”
Chapter Eleven
Bramblekit’s head swam with exhaustion, his vision blurring as he faintly registered cats crowding around him. The different scents that bombarded him overwhelmed his senses, causing his eyes to close in hope that blocking out his sight would relieve the feeling. It did little to help, as the cats around him began to murmur to themselves about his sore state, and Bramblekit found that he was too tired to lift his paws to cover his ears as well.
“Bramblekit!”
The sound of a familiar voice forced Bramblekit to open his eyes, and he looked up to see a cream cat push his way through the crowd to reach him. He blinked once, then twice, and after a third time he was finally able to recognise the cat as Milkpaw. Smiling shakily at his friend, he rolled heavily onto his side to try and get up to his paws. A dainty white paw gently pushed him back to the ground, and Bramblekit offered no resistance as he fell back onto the ground.
“Good Starclan, what happened to you?” Milkpaw murmured, smoothing the ruffled fur on Bramblekit’s neck with his paw, causing Bramblekit’s eyes to flutter shut.
“I..” Bramblekit shook the drowsy feeling from his head, trying to focus his thoughts again. “They- my father, Copperstar, she put me in the sick den.” Bramblekit felt Milkpaw’s paw stutter, and he coughed slightly before continuing. “Your mama, she-she’s alright, but they don’t have much time left..” Bramblekit felt the heat drain from his face as he remembered the fallen cat that had been left in the sick den to rot.
“Oh thank Starclan..” Milkpaw whispered, continuing to stroke Bramblekit’s neck for a few more seconds before turning to someone else in the crowd. Bramblekit was unable to discern their conversation through his tired haze, but soon he was being lifted onto the back of who seemed to be Pebblestar; at least, judging by the smell. He was faintly aware of Milkpaw walking in pace with the larger cat, but he drifted off to sleep before he could thank him. ... Bramblekit groaned when he felt the heat of the sun pressing against his eyelids, and he turned in his nest to avoid it. Groggily opening his eyes, Bramblekit’s first thought was how colorful the den looked, the ground mottled with different shades of white and even pink. A quick glance at the woven reed roof showed that the various holes had been patched with shells of all sorts of shapes and sizes, and with the light shining through they had turned what would’ve been a dark and gloomy den into a work of art.
Bramblekit’s next thought was him remembering that Thunderclan had neither reeds nor shells, which resulted in a fit of panic that lasted for about two minutes.
Bramblekit’s third thought was him remembering the horrors that had happened last night, and his escape from it all to run to Milkpaw.
His thoughts were interrupted by a rustle behind him, and Bramblekit turned to see that Milkpaw had pushed into the den with a mouse dangling in his jaws. Bramblekit sagged with relief as his friend settled beside him, pushing the fresh-kill to his face.
“Eat,” Milkpaw said softly, and Bramblekit didn’t complain as he practically tore the mouse apart in his hunger. Milkpaw giggled from his side, and Bramblekit was quick to send him a glare. Once the terrifying ordeal of getting some proper nutrition was all said and done, Bramblekit settled his head on his paws with a sigh.
“What now?” He murmured, it was hard to talk with his jaw pressed against his white paws but Bramblekit found that he didn’t care. “We found the secret, so what’s next?”
“We bring down Copperstar,” Milkpaw growled, and Bramblekit glanced up at him in surprise.
“That’s impossible,” he whispered, a shiver passing down his spine as the mental image of Milkpaw failing in an attack on Copperstar passed through his mind. Milkpaw responded by shuffling closer to his friend, hoping that his warmth would bring comfort.
“I don’t care,” Milkpaw whispered back, seemingly content to keep the quiet tone they had established.
“You won’t win,” Bramblekit tried again, feeling the familiar sensation of fear settle into his stomach.
“No,” Milkpaw whispered, and Bramblekit felt Milkpaw sit straighter as confidence seeped into his bones. “We will.”
... Bramblekit was silent as Milkpaw explained the plan outside the den, the two sitting comfortably underneath the shade of one of the large willows that lined the camp. He could see cats padding in and out of dens, depositing fresh kill onto a flat rock that sat right next to what Bramblekit assumed was the nursery. The camp had a very bright tone to it, the shadows that did exist were few and far between, but Bramblekit found himself missing the ravine even though it was corrupted with evil.
Volunteers from the three clans were going to meet up in that large clearing in the middle of the clans, then Milkpaw was going to lead them to the ravine. Milkpaw would take the Riverclan group to act as a distraction, then Shadowclan would come in from behind to surround the other cats. Windclan would take the job of bringing the sick den cats away from the camp, as well as pick off any runners.
Bramblekit was amazed at the level of strategy Milkpaw had put into the plan, but he wasn’t going to let him run into danger alone. No matter what Milkpaw said Bramblekit insisted that he go with him, and Milkpaw had no choice but to relent and let him go. He had gotten up a while ago to go and inform Pebblestar of the news, which left Bramblekit alone to his thoughts. He could practically sense the sun rising further away from the horizon and towards the center of the sky, and Bramblekit’s claws sunk into the spongy ground below him.
He didn’t know if he wanted moonhigh to come sooner or later.
Chapter Twelve
The clearing was once again washed in silvery light, the oaks looming over Milkpaw like tall cats of judgement watching his every move. He could feel their invisible eyes trained on him, he could hear them whispering to each other about him in the song of their creaking branches, and the idea made Bramblekit shiver. The cold rock did no better to help his sudden chills, but the warmth of Milkpaw beside him was helping, if only slightly.
He watched from atop the rock as the volunteers began to trickle into the clearing, and Bramblekit felt Milkpaw stiffen as the younger tom sucked in a breath. The attackers had been cut to about two thirds of what Milkpaw was promised, but Bramblekit felt Milkpaw let out a slow exhale before he stood up to address the cats beneath him.
“Thank you for coming,” Milkpaw said, his wavering voice quickly vanished with a clearing of his throat. “It may seem daunting to go against a leader with an iron grip on her people, but I assure you it is worth it. For we are becoming Starclan in this moment, and by fighting we are breathing new life into so many cats.” Milkpaw smiled as the cats began to straighten themselves at his words, and Bramblekit felt confidence flood into his bones as well.
A natural leader..
“We’ve got no time to waste,” Milkpaw murmured, glancing up at the slowly falling moon. “Let’s go!” And with that Milkpaw jumped off the rock and stalked along the long shadows of the trees, Bramblekit and company following closely behind him. The moon was falling behind, and Bramblekit worried for a second that they would be fighting in complete darkness. But as they crossed the bridge and into Thunderclan territory, he realised that twilight would be more of use to them than it would harm them.
Bramblekit’s ears flattened against his head as they began to creep closer to the ravine, fear beginning to settle once more into his stomach. The night was absolutely silent, as if the forest was bating it’s breath to see what would happen between the two groups of cats. Every snapping twig and crunch of leaves scared Bramblekit more than he’d like to admit, and he pressed himself against Milkpaw in search of comfort.
When they finally reached the camp the ravine seemed like an endless pit that was waiting to swallow them whole, and Bramblekit swallowed as Milkpaw slipped away to explain the plan to the cats behind him. After a soft round of mews confirmed their agreement the cats began to get into position, and Milkpaw returned to his side once more.
“I want you to go with Windclan,” he murmured in Bramblekit’s ear, and Bramblekit repressed a shiver. “The sick den cats will trust you the most, and you know the back way into the camp.” Milkpaw paused, then quickly licked the shell of his ear before moving away. “I’ll be with Riverclan, take care Bramblekit.” And with that he was off to lead his cats into battle, and Bramblekit sent a silent prayer to Starclan before joining with the Windclan and Shadowclan cats.
He beckoned them with his tail, and the cats began to silently traverse the secret path single file until they had gathered in the clearing that sat behind the camp’s gorse wall. Bramblekit motioned for a few cats, and they began to silently tear open the gap in the wall to something big enough for cats to easily slip through. He turned around and directed a bit of the Windclan cats to surround the camp, and the few that were left he backed into the darkness to wait for the attack.
Bramblekit jumped at the sound of a loud yowl coming from where he presumed was the entrance of the camp, and then the sound of warriors waking and scrambling out of their respective den. Peering through the entrance, Bramblekit watched the Riverclan cats as they stormed into the camp with Milkpaw leading the charge. He felt himself stiffen as one of the apprentices barrelled into Milkpaw and they grappled for a second before a few words were exchanged and the apprentice retreated to the den.
As a matter of fact, quite a few of the cats were falling back from the fight, especially those who had lost someone to Shadowclan. Bramblekit noticed that the young warriors were absolutely terrified, but still fought against the Riverclan cats. He sighed, then signaled in Shadowclan once the cats had managed to scramble together a solid line against the attackers, and Bramblekit as the fighting descended into absolute chaos.
Once the attention was focused on the grappling felines Bramblekit began to lead the Windclan cats along the shadows of the den to the sick den, his heart pounding in his chest as he stalked along. The path to the den was devoid of any guards, and Bramblekit sighed in pure relief as they got to the entrance of the den unbothered.
“What’s going on?” Bramblekit looked up to see Creamfeather staring at the battle behind them, her eyes wide with something akin to either surprise or fear.
“We’re breaking you out,” Bramblekit said with a grin, signaling to the Windclan cats to get ready. Creamfeather looked at him surprised, then shook her head and nodded to the cats that had crowded behind her. They started down the path once more, Bramblekit constantly checking behind him to make sure the others were following him. Bramblekit stood to the side of the exit to make sure everyone left, and once he was sure everyone had gone through he turned to go through himself.
Suddenly claws clamped onto his hind legs and pulled him back, Bramblekit letting out a yelp as he felt his fur rip. Bramblekit flipped around to see who had him in their grasp, and he let out a gasp when he was met with Copperstar’s livid face.
“So this is what you’ve been up to?” Copperstar roared, her paws moving to press down onto his shoulders and Bramblekit sucked in a shuddering breath at the pain. He tried to flail, but it only seemed to make things worse so he stared fearfully into the raging eyes of his own grandmother. “Conspiring with the enemy, and then leading them to our camp? I thought Flamefur raised you better!”
Bramblekit felt one of the paws lift from his shoulder, but he wasn’t given that much time to flail before the other paw was moving to pin him by his chest. He sucked in a breath as he glanced at Copperstar’s silhouette, looking like a twilight beast with wild amber eyes that was backdropped by the very dim moonlight. Bramblekit let out a cry of fear when claws slowly extended themselves from the raised paw, and his heart stuttered as Copperstar’s lips slowly stretched into a grin that seemed blinding by the sheer whiteness.
“I should have done this moons ago,” Copperstar growled, her eyes gaining a crazed spark in them. “I should have murdered you when I got rid of your mother!”
Bramblekit felt tears gather at his eyes, so he turned his head and shut them tightly, waiting for the end.
Chapter Thirteen
Suddenly the weight of Copperstar was lifted off of him, and Bramblekit opened his eyes in surprise as he realised he was free. Rolling over onto his side, he watched in amazement as Flamefur and Copperstar rolled around in the sand. After a bit more scuffling Flamefur ended up on top, pinning down Copperstar’s lithe shoulders to the ground.
“I had known this was going to end up in chaos!” Flamefur snarled, his claws digging to the fur they found there. “I should’ve known that you were crazy when you went after my own family!”
“Your family had to die for the sake of the clan!” Copperstar screeched, and Bramblekit was frozen in horror as he watched her back legs bunch up. “And if I have to kill you to preserve Thunderclan’s integrity then so be it!”
Bramblekit cried out as her back claws dug into Flamefur’s belly, his eyes widening in shock before glazing over as Copperstar swiftly tore up the light orange fur and the flesh underneath it. Bramblekit raced forward as Flamefur collapsed in a heap of fiery fur and blood. Copperstar was nowhere to be seen as he skidded to a stop at his father’s side, and Bramblekit watched in fear as his head slowly lolled to face him.
“It’s okay.. Shh..” Bramblekit murmured as Flamefur tried to speak but instead coughed up a good amount of blood. He placed a paw on top of Flamefur’s, and when he dragged his gaze to Flamefur’s he watched as the emotions flickering through his father’s eyes finally settling on a look that was purely apologetic and loving. Then, Flamefur went limp, and his eyes clouded over.
Bramblekit stood there, his hearing fuzzy as the only thing he could focus on was the dying warmth in Flamefur’s paw.
“Bramblekit!” Bramblekit jumped, looking up to see Milkpaw standing in front of him, the younger tom’s eyes filled with worry. Bramblekit held out for about ten seconds before he was letting out a sob, and he felt himself being pulled into Milkpaw’s chest (which, mind you, was quite awkward considering that Bramblekit was taller than Milkpaw) as he cried. He could hear faintly the shouts of Copperstar’s posse as they were most likely being herded through the back of the camp, and he felt Milkpaw shift with restlessness.
Bramblekit was able to suck down his sobs enough to assure Milkpaw, and Milkpaw laid a few licks to the top of Bramblekit’s head before getting up and joining the leaders. Bramblekit’s eyebrows furrowed as Milkpaw was very quickly sent back, but he jumped when suddenly screeches erupted from the far entrance of the camp.
“What’s going on?” Bramblekit asked Milkpaw when he stopped in front of him, and Bramblekit stiffened when he saw the haunted look on Milkpaw’s face.
“The leaders are get-getting rid of the worst ones,” Milkpaw murmured, and Bramblekit felt the blood drain from his face once he realised the implication of those words.
“This makes us no better than them!” Bramblekit’s voice rose slightly, but Milkpaw only shook his head.
“It’s for the best,” he murmured, looking around as the cats began to slowly trickle to Flamefur’s body. Bramblekit watched the back entrance to the camp, a cat poking out his head and requesting for a few more warriors to help with ‘the digging.’ Looking up, Bramblekit realised that the sky was slowly lightening up, the stars slowly turning in for the day as blue crept from the east horizon.
“Milkpaw!” The aforementioned tom whirled around only to be smothered by Creamfeather, both seeming uncaring of the she-cat’s stench as they embraced. Bramblekit could tell that Milkpaw was on the verge of tears from seeing his mother again, and he debated in his mind whether or not he should go and comfort his friend despite the smell.
“Cats of Thunderclan!” Bramblekit jumped, looking up to the highrock to see Pebblestar balancing on the very edge of the rock. The brightening sky set the most wonderful backdrop like he was the performer for Starclan themselves, and Bramblekit felt his breath hitch. “I understand that you are just coming out of difficult and confusing times, and I understand that the presence of foriegn cats certainly isn’t helping. But, before we leave you to figure out your way again, I ask to do one thing first. Bramblekit, step forward.”
Bramblekit was confused, but stepped forward anyways as Pebblestar jumped down to meet him. “Bramblekit, you have shown bravery over and over in these past few days, bravery that led to your clan being freed from oppression. And though I would very much like to make you a warrior, you are still young and have lots more to learn.
“Bramblekit, you have proved your worth to your clan, and now it is time for you to be properly apprenticed. From this day forward, you will be known as Bramblepaw, and your mentor will be whoever is decided for you once we have gone.”
Just then the sun decided to make its appearance and the camp was flooded with orangey dawn light, and out of instinct Bramblekit- no, Bramblepaw shut his eyes tightly to avoid it. But the sound of the four clans chanting his name coaxed him to open his eyes again, and Bramblepaw realised with pure, unadulterated joy that he could finally see in daylight.
With the knowledge that he and his clan is finally free from the shadows, Bramblepaw smiled. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, that smile felt right.
The end.
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