Disclaimer: Of course these characters and the forest and such belong to Erin Hunter, but obviously most of this plot belongs to me.
Hope you like it! Please review.
Chapter One
The wind blew hard over the tops of the trees. The sounds of fighting, screeching cats echoed through the forest. A battle was raging on.
In the midst of it all, hissing and tussling with a big, spotted she-cat, was a muscular tabby. Beside him, his leader, a flame-coloured tom, was fighting as well.
"Brambleclaw!" a mew squeaked behind him. "Watch out!"
Brambleclaw dodged Leopardstar's paw, which had missed his belly by an inch. Brambleclaw turned quickly and acknowledged the apprentice who had given him the warning, and kept fighting. Leopardstar snarled angrily as he clawed her ear and tore it grandly, crimson blood dripping out over her face.
Brambleclaw had almost finished her off. With one last swipe on her belly, she ran away yowling into the bushes, followed by a few of her clan mates. But others wanted to stay and fight, and Brambleclaw was ready to battle once more.
He turned to the next one, who was standing in the shadows, heaving a breath. This one should be easy, Brambleclaw thought, and yowled victoriously as he landed on top of the cat. The RiverClan cat he was fighting was too tired to even protest, and they pawed each other easily, until Brambleclaw thought of a fighting move Firestar, his leader, had taught him when he was apprenticed.
"Firestar!" meowed a voice urgently behind him. Brambleclaw froze for a second, hoping his beloved leader was alright (he was on his last life), but he kept his eyes on the RiverClan cat. The enemy cat sat gazing at him, rasping, "No, Brambleclaw, no—"
"You scared?" taunted the young tom, his amber eyes narrowed. "I bet you a piece of fresh-kill that you are!"
And he jumped on the cat, tearing at his throat, and they moved into the dim light of the moon. There, Brambleclaw could see the flame-colored pelt of the cat he had attacked.
"Oh no!" he howled. "Not Firestar!"
But the cat was too injured to be saved even by the most skilled medicine cat, and Brambleclaw sat next to his fallen leader, taking care to lick his cheek before he fell away.
"Brambleclaw, I exile you from this Clan while I am still leader. I trusted you!" Firestar's voice was filled with desperation and sadness. His eyes flared at Brambleclaw and as other ThunderClan cats began to gather around, hearing what Firestar had to say, they began to give Brambleclaw the brush-off, and he padded away, shaken. How could he have done that? Why didn't he recognize that the cat he was fighting was not a tired RiverClan warrior but a worn-out leader? Brambleclaw knew there was no hope for him to stay in ThunderClan. He had to leave, he was an outlaw now. Firestar had proclaimed it while he was still alive. Brambleclaw watched the cats gather around Firestar, giving their good-byes and taking him back to camp. The RiverClan warriors, seeing the sudden death of Firestar, padded away slowly back to their own territory. Hawkfrost, Brambleclaw's half-brother, acknowledged him with a flick of his tail before disappearing into the bushes. They had been fighting on Sunningrocks, the place where the two Clans fought regularly, for RiverClan wished they had Sunningrocks on their territory, and ThunderClan wouldn't let them take it.
"Brambleclaw!"
Brambleclaw grew more sober as he realized the familiar voice. It was Squirrelpaw, Sandstorm and Firestar's daughter. Her orange pelt was a reminder of her father, and he squinted at her, waiting for more jeers, as she usually gave him.
But this time it was different.
"Hey, Brambleclaw. Sorry about your accident," Squirrelpaw meowed sympathetically, licking his ear roughly. "Any cat could've made the mistake in the shadows of the trees."
"It doesn't matter any more, though, Squirrelpaw! I'm exiled! If I'm still here by dawn I'll probably be chased off the territory. Everything is over for me. And Firestar's joined StarClan! He'll never forgive me! You don't know how disappointed in me he was when he died, Squirrelpaw. I'll keep that burden forever, and I will never live to be a successful warrior of ThunderClan. I'm sorry. I must leave."
Squirrelpaw, who hadn't had a chance to get a word in, watched Brambleclaw stalked away in the direction of RiverClan territory. Would Brambleclaw really join RiverClan? He wouldn't! It was enemy territory!
Squirrelpaw hissed in disgust as she watched Brambleclaw walk across the stepping stones toward the territory. He was probably going to go to his half-brother, Hawkfrost. Leopardstar would surely let him into RiverClan—after all, he was kin with one of RiverClan's best warriors. Squirrelpaw went the opposite direction, to ThunderClan's camp, staring back at the old ThunderClan warrior and sighing. Then she disappeared into the trees as well, not looking back so she wouldn't feel any more sorrow than she felt now.
Leafpaw watched the cats return from battle as she sorted the herbs Cinderpelt needed. Leafpaw noticed her sister pad in to camp, looking defeated and sad. Leafpaw felt her sister's sadness deep in her belly, and abandoned the herbs to chat with the flame-coloured she-cat.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Firestar's dead!" Squirrelpaw blurted out, her green eyes somber. "And Brambleclaw's been exiled."
Squirrelpaw briefly explained what happened. Her face flashed with an emotion, tender but angry, as she spoke of Brambleclaw's mishap.
There was no more time to chat. Graystripe, the deputy of ThunderClan, was at the Highrock, calling a Clan meeting.
"Firestar was killed in a battle at Sunningrocks, buy none other than the former ThunderClan warrior, Brambleclaw!"
There were yowls and hisses of protest from the crowd of cats sitting by the rock. Squirrelpaw's face was hidden, but Leafpaw could sense her hate for Brambleclaw. Yet there was a strange force, caring and tender, that kept her from yowling with the others.
"I will be your leader," Graystripe announced, "and will serve you the best I can. I will travel to Mothermouth shortly with a chosen apprentice, and chose a deputy the next moonhigh."
The meeting broke out and Squirrelpaw turned to Leafpaw, looking enraged.
"I was nice to Brambleclaw when he murdered my father," she hissed. "And what does he answer? 'I must leave.' Not even a good-bye! Brambleclaw was about as useful to this Clan as a dried piece of fox dung! We should all forget about that mouse-brain."
With that Squirrelpaw flounced away, leaving Leafpaw to think about what Squirrelpaw had said. The truth was, Brambleclaw was a strong, skilled warrior, and he was one of the Clan's most valuable members.
"Leafpaw!" Cinderpelt's mew sounded desperate. "We've got a case of the white-cough on our paws! Sorreltail, the newest warrior, is dangerously sick. She hasn't been to ill until today."
Leafpaw blinked. White-cough! She quickly put together the herbs she needed and joined Cinderpelt in the warriors' den, where Sorreltail lay, deathly quiet. Leafpaw and Cinderpelt carried her into the medicine cats' den.
"Go wash your paws in the stream, or you'll get sick as well," urged Cinderpelt.
"But you will too!" objected Leafpaw.
"I have to handle her again anyway, and I'll be fine. Now go!" Cinderpelt snapped, already starting to chew up some herbs.
Squirrelpaw didn't see her sister leave, because she was talking with Graystripe.
"You want ME to come to Mothermouth with you?" squeaked Squirrelpaw, forgetting about Brambleclaw for a moment.
"Yes. To become a warrior, you must go to Mothermouth, so why not go now?"
"Alright, I'll come!" Squirrelpaw mewed. She was excited at the prospect of becoming a warrior.
"Good. Grab some traveling herbs for us from Cinderpelt. She's too busy with this case of white-cough to come, so she said to take an apprentice along with me."
Squirrelpaw dipped her head respectfully and streaked to the medicine cats' den.
"Traveling herbs!" she yowled into the darkness, excited to go to Highstones.
Once she had collected the herbs from Cinderpelt, she went back to Graystripe, who ate his, a disgusted look on his face as he chewed. Squirrelpaw almost choked before swallowing up the disgusting herbs, but her excitement was too great to be ruined by the bitter flavour.
"We're not going to Fourtrees. Instead we're going through RiverClan," Graystripe explained as they exited camp, followed by a few yowls of good-byes.
"Why?" asked Squirrelpaw. Going through Fourtrees was the faster, easier route.
"No reason." Graystripe was lying—Squirrelpaw could see the guilt etched across his face. "I need a walk."
"Oh."
There was no conversation between the older, wiser deputy and the confident, headstrong apprentice as they padded along, winding through unfamiliar paths to avoid the RiverClan patrol whose scent seemed to be following them. Unfortunately, the moment before Squirrelpaw's pad hit the ground on WindClan territory, a rough, stern voice meowed, "What are you doing on our territory?"
Squirrelpaw turned and grimaced when she saw a small group of a familiar cats. There was the bluish grey pelt of Feathertail; the sharp blue eyes of Mistyfoot, the RiverClan deputy; Hawkfrost, his dark pelt shining in the dim sunlight; and Brambleclaw, staring guiltily at the ground.
"You should know why we're here," she snapped at Hawkfrost, shooting a menacing glance toward her former Clan mate. "He's the one who caused this whole thing anyway."
She flicked her dark ginger tail towards Brambleclaw.
"Ah, Firestar's death. A pity," meowed Hawkfrost. "Traveling to Highstones, are we?"
"Why are you on our territory?" asked Feathertail gently. Squirrelpaw knew she would never attack them, for Graystripe was her father.
"Why not go through Fourtrees?" added Mistyfoot.
"We needed a walk," yawned Graystripe. "Now we must be going.
I bid you good hunting!"
They paraded across the WindClan
border, leaving the RiverClan warriors alone. Squirrelpaw was
surprised and angered by the fact that they had not taken a moment to
grieve for Firestar, a brave and noble leader, and she also became
worried as she realized that there hadn't been a proper burial for
the orange-furred leader. She hoped they hadn't angered StarClan by
waiting, but the shock of Brambleclaw's treachery had numbed their
sense. ThunderClan would grieve for their fallen leader when their
new leader returned from the Moonstone.
They didn't get caught by a patrol on WindClan territory, even though there was the fresh scent of WindClan cats close by. Soon the two had reached Mothermouth, and they laid down to rest and wait until the moon ascended into the indigo sky.
"My father was your friend, right?" asked Squirrelpaw, trying to strike up a conversation. She groomed her matted, wind-blown fur.
"Yes." Graystripe gave a small mew of laughter, shadowed by the grieve her must've felt. "I remember the time he ate a piece of fresh-kill when the Clan wasn't fed.. and how he was so against me and Silverstream getting together… and a few moons ago when Firestar, Ravenpaw and I saved my kits from TigerClan."
"Wow," Squirrelpaw mewed. She wished she could say more, but right then the moon appeared in the middle of the sky, and Graystripe nudged her up from her sitting position.
"Follow my scent."
It was completely black in the tunnel when they entered. Squirrelpaw stayed close to Graystripe, not wanting to get lost in all the twisting, turning tunnels. It seemed like hours before they reached the cavern where the Moonstone lay.
As the stone made contact with the moonlight, a dazzling white light filled the room and almost blinded Squirrelpaw. She could see everything clearly: Graystripe was lying down, his nose touching the magnificent stone. By a sudden urge, Squirrelpaw knelt beside him and touched the stone with her nose, its dazzling light becoming completely black. She felt horrendously cold and shivered, opening her eyes into slits. They flew open right away, for Squirrelpaw was no longer at the Moonstone. She was in the leaders' den at the ThunderClan camp! Her father, looking troubled, was there as well.
"Firestar!" she yowled, and threw herself at him, licking his glittering flank.
"Squirrelpaw, listen closely."
"Okay."
"Alright…"
Firestar looked at her closely and meowed, "Sometimes the seemingly innocent are so very, very guilty…"
Well! It was obvious that he was talking about Brambleclaw.
"Tell me more!" she yowled, but he sighed and vanished into thin air.
She was being shaken awake. Groggily opening her eyes, she realized it was Graystripe nudging her awake.
"Did you get your name and receive your nine lives?" she asked him innocently, yawning and standing up. There was little light left from the Moonstone. Graystripe's yellow eyes blazed angrily as he nodded. That meant his name was now Graystar.
When they exited the cave Graystar burst out screeching.
"Squirrelpaw, that stone is used by medicine cats and leaders, not little apprentices too mouse-brained to do anything right!" he hissed.
Her curiosity fading, Squirrelpaw snapped, "You're not my mentor! Don't tell me what to do!"
She flounced off in the direction of WindClan territory, not bothering to tell her leader of the odd prophecy she had just heard from her beloved, dead father.
