Thunder rolled in the sky. The first storm of Greenleaf had arrived quickly. Though lasting only for a few days, Bramblegaze didn't care as she weaved through the tall apple trees, memories of her dead son, MoonClan, her Clanmates, and her grandson, Rootclaw, flooding her mind, making her dizzy with tension.
As she slowed and sniffed the air, she realized she was quite hungry, and had last eaten when she reached her Clan's borders to the unknown territory beyond all four Clans.
She paused beside a small river and lapped up the water, thinking of where to hunt. She sniffed the air once more, and instead of just damp rain air, she scented vole.
Dropping into a hunched crouch, she weaved through the grass and pounced, grasping a plump brown vole between her jaws, and, biting down, she killed it and smiled.
After chewing hungrily and eating big gulps one at a time, she gathered nearby moss, patting it down beside a tree nearby the river. She cuddled up in a ball, her fur brushing her nose as she fell deeply asleep.
After the storm passed and the sun rose, a twig nearby snapped and Bramblegaze opened her eyes in caution. Sleep long gone, she growled and bared her teeth only to see a black tom come out from behind a bush.
She sprung off the ground in alarm with hostility; her growl fiercer and her eyes filled with the excitement to fight again. But, the tom only shriveled to the ground in caution.
"Please! I don't want to fight!" he yowled out. His black fur was ruffled and his deep blue eyes were worried.
He isn't a threat, Bramblegaze realized, he's only a dumb, stray kittypet. "I'm sorry," she mewed roughly, "But I was in the middle of sleeping, so go away to your Twoleg or something."
The black kittypet backed away, and Bramblegaze smelled something wrong near him. "You sick, kittypet?" she asked, wrinkling her pink nose, "If so, get away from me!"
"No! Please! It's not me; it's my mate, Rose! She's sick!" he yowled desperately, "Can you help her?"
Bramblegaze scoffed. Whatever she smelled, it seemed like a fever. Maybe I can help this Rose she-cat and he'll be out of my way, Bramblegaze thought stretching her paws against the soft soil.
"Where is this Rose? I was a medicine cat's helper for a few moons, so I can help." she mewed. "She's in my cave, resting." the kittypet whined, "She coughs and feels warm."
Bramblegaze yawned and nodded. "Show the way, kittypet," she grumbled. "My name is, um, Oblio." The kittypet, Oblio, mewed quietly, lowering his head, "And I don't live with Twolegs."
Bramblegaze didn't answer, and Oblio finally arrived at his massive cave, which was covered in moss and cobwebs.
"Rose is in there." Oblio mewed.
As Bramblegaze peered inside, she realized a golden ginger cat with a red ginger stripe running down its back. "Rose?" Oblio called out to the cat, "I brought somebody who can help you!" The cat, Rose, lifted her head and sighed.
"Huh, who's here?" she asked sleepily.
"What's your name, rogue?" Oblio asked in a whisper only Bramblegaze could hear.
"Bramblegaze of MoonCl-" Suddenly Bramblegaze realized she didn't live in MoonClan anymore, and frowned.
"Bramblegaze." she finished.
Oblio nodded and yowled, "Bramblegaze."
Rose stood up and sniffled, her bushy tail drooping, her lean body shivering and sweating. Bramblegaze walked up to her, eyes cautious. She did not want to catch Rose's fever. "How long?" Bramblegaze asked with a grumble.
Oblio thought for a second, his face confused for a moment. He raised his head. "Ever since last night's storm." he replied.
"Did she go out?" Bramblegaze asked briskly.
"Um, yes, but, um, she went hunting for herself." Oblio mewed, his tone sorry for what he did.
"You let her go?" Bramblegaze snapped, angry.
Oblio lowered his head and Bramblegaze sighed with helplessness, her head shaking from side to side. "Why in StarClan would you ever let anybody hunt in the rain?" Bramblegaze snapped at the black tom, her teeth clenched in anger.
Oblio looked up at her and saw her furious gaze, cowering to her deep green eyes. "What's StarClan?" he asked so quiet, Bramblegaze barely heard him.
Bramblegaze relaxed slightly and sighed.
"Oblio, do you know places to get feverfew and borage?" Bramblegaze asked quickly, not answering Oblio's question.
"Sure." he mewed, "I saw both downriver, near the Twolegplace. The Twolegs have an apple forest nearby there. I'll go to fetch some for her."
Bramblegaze nodded as he trotted out of the cave, and then ran after him with confusion. "How do you know your herbs?" Bramblegaze asked with curiosity, her eyes questioning. "My daughter." He mewed roughly.
Before Bramblegaze could ask more, he left towards the river, not looking back, and Bramblegaze walked back to the cave.
She decided, though she frankly didn't know why, or why she cared, to ask Rose who her daughter was. They seemed her age, nearly old, and thought about the scenarios.
They were mean to the daughter, so she left, Bramblegaze thought at first.
The daughter decided to leave for no reason, Bramblegaze thought this time.
The daughter died from sickness or hunger or something, Bramblegaze thought lastly. But finally, she had reached Rose by then, and was set for questioning and finding out who she was.
"Rose?" she mewed softly, "My name is Bramblegaze. I'm helping you get rid of this cold of yours." Rose lifted her head and looked at the stranger that was Bramblegaze, her caretaker and healer. "Oblio spoke to me, and I was wondering who this daughter of yours is." Bramblegaze went on.
Rose twisted her body around to look at her. "What did he say?" she croaked. "Well, I asked him who taught him his herb skills, and he replied, 'my daughter', so I was curious who that was." Bramblegaze replied slowly.
Rose sighed and stifled a mrrow of laughter.
"I'm guess I could tell you about her." she sighed again, "So I'll tell you about my daughter to get it out of my mind. I was only three years old then, and Oblio was two years old. Our daughter was named Cream, and she was the prettiest she-cat from the apple forest to Twolegplace."
Bramblegaze stiffened. She knew who Cream was. She was her stepdaughter.
"Brambleraise?" Rose mewed, noticing Bramblegaze's sudden stiffness near her, "Hello?"
"It's Bramblegaze,Rose." Bramblegaze mewed roughly, her eyes filling with tears.
Not wanting Rose to see her cry, she sat up and walked outside of the cave, gasping for air as she sobbed silently to herself.
As she started to stop, her tears fewer and her breaths normal again, she went out to hunt the rest of her memories away.
Scenting mice, she crouched and pounced, but Cream, lovely, sweet, and merciful Cream, stayed in her head.
It was almost so long ago, when Deerstar was newly made leader, and still expanding his options to grow his ambition. Bramblegaze remembered how Deerstar had caught a loner on their territory, and it was a pretty cream-colored she-cat. Her name was Cream.
Deerstar had chased her off his territory, but was drawn back to her by her beauty and sweetness. After a while, they got to know each other and saw each other at night when no one was around.
After three moons, Cream announced to Deerstar that she was having kits, but Deerstar didn't know how to be a father and told her that the kits would never know their father, but to tell everyone that it was just the kittypet across the river's kits. But when the time came to kit, she was across the river herself, near the dangerous Badger Rocks.
When Deerstar went to see her again, the kits were born, and Cream was dead, killed by blood loss. The kits were unaware that badgers smelled the blood nearby, and Deerstar only got to save one kit, out of four, which was Bramblegaze' s grandson, Rootclaw.
Ever since, Bramblegaze blamed Deerstar for her death in secret, as the only cat knowing that Rootclaw was his and Cream's kit by his shaped head and his mother's cream-colored fur.
When Bramblegaze entered the cave later on, Rose was sleeping, and Oblio had gotten the feverfew and borage, but was also resting his eyes. Not wanting to talk to Rose for a while after her embarrassing crying over Cream, she gathered some more moss from outside and laid them down.
Lying away from the others, she cuddled up in a ball and drifted to sleep, her head cleared.
Blinking, Bramblegaze realized she was in a damp aired forest, with tall pine trees and marsh, similar to MoonClan's territory. Rising, she looked around for signs of other cats, or dangers. Looking straight ahead, she saw a lone holly bush, and shivering, she saw it rustle, and wondered what was lurking inside of it, and why it was hiding.
Walking a little closer, dark green eyes, sharp with hostility, poked out of the bushes, white fur around it.
A flash of white and red, along with an agonized yowl, filled the air as Bramblegaze snapped her head up, awake with terror and fear.
Oblio was beside her, his eyes scared.
"Are you okay Bramblegaze?!" he mewed, almost a yowl of panic. He stared at Bramblegaze with fear.
Rose was awake too. She yawned and outstretched her paws.
Deep sleeper, Bramblegaze thought, trying to delete the dream from her head, better than me.
"Who was that? I heard a yowl…" Rose yawned, looking at Bramblegaze accusingly. Bramblegaze hung her head as Rose walked up to her, her eyes misty with sleep still. "Go. To. Sleep." Rose growled so softly, Oblio didn't hear.
Bramblegaze raised her head and looked into Rose's eyes, confused and shocked. Is she angry with me? Bramblegaze thought. Rose backed up and stalked off, probably back to her den, which Bramblegaze saw had feathers. "Bramblegaze?" Oblio mewed softly. Bramblegaze snapped her head in his direction.
"What?" she mewed back with an edge to her voice.
Oblio stared at her flank.
Bramblegaze followed his gaze and gasped. Last time I had been hurt in a dream was when… Bramblegaze shook her head. She wasn't Acornfall's little helper anymore. She was a good for nothing rogue, with a sharp tongue and a clawed open heart.
Acornfall, the medicine cat before Owlgaze and Sootpelt, was Bramblegaze's best friend as a kit, and she taught Bramblegaze, who was Bramblekit at the time, the basics of healing and StarClan history. Even though Bramblekit wanted to be a medicine cat at the time, her mother, Goldenstrike, the senior warrior, wanted Bramblekit to become a warrior like her before she retired. But even after she became Bramblegaze, dreams from the so called Dark Forest, an ancient and evil StarClan, haunted her dreams, and told her warnings of her kin. Only later on did she realize the dreams were about Deerstar. And even after kitting Deerstar and loving Kesrelwing, sometimes she wonders if she could have gone back and became medicine cat before she retired, despite her mother's words.
Bramblegaze looked at her wound a second time and started to lick it roughly.
Oblio backed away and pelted outside.
Bramblegaze looked at Rose for help, but Rose only glared and shook her head. She scowled, glaring back at Rose, who was resting her head on her paws.
Suddenly, Oblio burst into the cave, panting, holding cobwebs and a few plants. He sat next to Bramblegaze closely, and she flinched, moving her head so Oblio could apply what looked like dock and goldenrod. First applying the goldenrod, he chewed it until juice was scented and rubbed it against Bramblegaze's flank.
Bramblegaze winced for a second, but clenched her teeth as Oblio then applied some chewed up dock leaves, their tangy, sharp smell filling her nose. Bramblegaze then lay down, and closed her eyes, not noticing Oblio lick her head soothingly and Rose's dark glare.
As the morning came, Bramblegaze opened her eyes drowsily, the sun's beam filling the cave with light.
Rose was gone, probably hunting, Bramblegaze thought, but as Bramblegaze tried to stand, her flank sent a sting of pain through her.
Looking over, she realized someone beside her.
"Oblio!" Bramblegaze screeched as she leapt up from her den of moss, some flying towards the sides.
Oblio, who had been laying on Bramblegaze, leapt up from where he was sleeping, yawning and stretching.
"Huh?" he mewed sleepily, his black fur ruffled and dotted with patches of dirt and some of Bramblegaze's herb juice.
Bramblegaze backed up and raised her paw, swiping it at Oblio's nose, her claws unsheathed. He yowled, clutching his nose with his paw, now drizzled with some blood.
"Hey!" he screeched, backing away from the angry she-cat, wincing as his nose drizzled some more blood.
Bramblegaze growled, and Oblio stared at her like she had grown two tails.
"Why-" Oblio started, a whine in his mew.
"Why were you sleeping beside me?!" she growled fiercely, her fur bristling with anger and surprise. Oblio's cheeks flushed, a light red under his fur. He drew his paw back and forth against the ground, looking downwards.
Bramblegaze suddenly did the same, but noticed herself doing it, becoming angry. Rose then entered the cave, carrying two mice and a vole, a hop in her step.
Noticing Bramblegaze's anger and Oblio's embarrassment, she dropped the prey and growled at Bramblegaze, baring her teeth.
"What are you two doing?" she yowled, her growl gone, but a glare kept on Bramblegaze.
"Oblio was sleeping next to me!" Bramblegaze complained, "I think he fell asleep on me!" Rose sighed, but then looked at Oblio.
"You did what?" she growled at the tom.
"I'm so sorry! I was just treating her wound, but… it was the middle of the night! I was tired!" Oblio mewed, "She was just resting, and I guess I just…"
Rose nodded briefly, her anger still coming off her in tiny ripples of air.
As the day went on, the sun now high in the sky, its heat overwhelming and tiring, Bramblegaze hunted and treated Rose, who was starting to cough again.
"Oblio, fetch me some more feverfew please? No need for borage this time. Rose is coughing again." Bramblegaze mewed to Oblio as he came back from a forest stroll. Oblio nodded and trotted out of the cave.
Bramblegaze, seeing the time to hunt while he collected feverfew, walked out of the cave, scenting mouse from some walk away, near the tall oak tree, home to an owl, in which Bramblegaze called it the Owl Oak.
Treading slowly, she caught sight of a shrew, which was nibbling hungrily at a nut.
Dropping slowly into a crouch, her hips a little stiff, she raised her paw and took a step forward. The shrew lifted its brown head and Bramblegaze pounced on it, biting its spine.
She walked away, the shrew dangling from her jaws.
Suddenly, a cat jumped near the Owl Oak, and Bramblegaze growled.
Why didn't I smell that before? Bramblegaze thought.
The cat, a mottled blue-gray tom by Bramblegaze's eyes, ran into Bramblegaze, causing her to drop the shrew.
"Hey!" Bramblegaze yowled, "Who are you?"
The tom looked at Bramblegaze with surprise.
"Who are you? I've never seen you in the Heart Woods." The tom mewed with question, ignoring Bramblegaze's question. "I'm Bramblegaze. I am currently tending to Oblio's mate Rose. She has a fever, so stay away, rogue." Bramblegaze mewed deeply.
The tom scowled and shook his head.
"My name is Aqua Eyes of Fern Pelt's camp. Um, nice to meet you Bramblegaze. But, um, I have to hunt for my camp, sorry. Bye!" Before he trotted away, Bramblegaze noticed Aqua Eyes had two different colored eyes.
One was blue and one was green. Bramblegaze then thought of what he had said of where he came from, picking up her shrew.
I wonder where Fern Pelt's camp is… she thought as she walked very slowly back to the cave. I could be a part of a community again! She thought some more, and I could be named Bramble Gaze.
She saw Rose, who wasn't coughing at all. Oblio must have treated her. Bramblegaze padded in and sat down, ripping a hunt of flesh from the shrew and gulping it down.
As she finished her shrew, licking her chops, her hips started to feel stiff again. I'll have to go and get some daisy and fennel, she thought, wincing at the pain in her hips.
As the sun went down slowly, Bramblegaze curled up and slept. A foxtail away, Oblio was sleeping beside Rose, and as the moon rose and fell beneath the moor, which was not so far away from the oak forest Bramblegaze slept in now, a new day awaited the three.
Bramblegaze yawned as she woke from her slumber. Remembering her task, she got up and this time ignored the pain and inflammation from her stiff hips. I'll have to add some marigold to the list, Bramblegaze thought, noticing the inflammation.
As she walked outside of the cave, mist rolling through, the sun's heat not awake with mischief yet, she decided to hunt, since places to get the herbs she needed were not as close, except for the daisy, which could be found really anywhere.
Catching a stray mouse, she wandered farther out, near the thin oak trees and the moor. Knowing that fennel was near riverbanks and shores, Bramblegaze headed near the direction of the moor, remembering that it had a steep gorge, and a thick river nearby.
She finally reached the moor, tall grass and rabbit holes to watch out for. Stepping carefully, Bramblegaze then came up to the gorge, fear in her eyes, hoping she wouldn't fall in drown, or fall and break her spine on the rocks below.
Looking around, Bramblegaze searched the gorge for fennel, and possibly some marigold.
"Aha! Fennel for my hips." she yowled, trotting carefully down the gorge and near the roaring river.
As she grabbed a mouthful of fennel, the gorge's roar in her ears, she wondered about the so-called Fern Pelt's camp that Aqua Eyes had told her about.
She walked around some more, passing the gorge and going upwards, spotting marigold flowers perched beside the river.
Grabbing some of the golden daisy-like flowers in her already full mouth, she turned her paw and settled for the cave.
Arriving from the cave, Bramblegaze's mouth watering for some of the herbs, she spat them against the ground, counting how much she had in stock. Now for daisy, she thought, exiting the cave once more for the next and last herb she needed.
In exiting the cave, she saw some of the white flowers near the Owl Oak, and she pulled it out of the ground, roots and all.
"Done." Bramblegaze mewed softly.
Walking back, she sniffed the air. Mouse… squirrel… and… Cat! Bramblegaze stiffened and dropped the daisies, baring her teeth, her back and hips arched in an attack position. Her hips sent a sharp warning to her body, and she winced, trying to ignore the pain.
Suddenly, a dark brown she-cat entered the area, her belly swollen and huge. A queen! Bramblegaze thought in surprise.
The nearby queen stumbled, and Bramblegaze saw her belly wobble as she fell.
Seeing Bramblegaze, she backed away two steps and weakly growled, her body shaking. Her flank was scratched, her left eye missing, and her pregnant belly was dangerously close to kitting.
"I can help you! Don't be afraid! I won't hurt you or those unborn kits at all!" Bramblegaze called softly, her growling long gone and her eyes soft. The queen walked closer, fear in her eyes.
"What is your name, queen?' Bramblegaze greeted.
"Pine Fur of Fern Pelt's camp. And you are…?" the queen, Pine Fur, asked quietly.
"Bramblegaze. I live in the cave over there for now. I'm treating a cat of fever." Bramblegaze replied.
Pine Fur flinched slightly at hearing the word fever, but Bramblegaze ignored it and stared into the queen's eyes.
"Who told you to leave this camp of yours? Did they let you leave, knowing you could deliver at any moment?" Bramblegaze questioned, her tail raised high in confusion and questioning. She pushed her nose forward.
The queen sighed, heaved her body away from Bramblegaze, and slowly trotted away.
Bramblegaze scoffed started to walk away at fist, but then felt guilty about leaving Pine Fur. She sighed, shook her head, and kept walking. It was only then she remembered that she forgot her daisies near the Owl Oak.
As Bramblegaze entered the cave, her hips now aching and inflaming, she walked to the end of the cave, where Oblio greeted her and saw her limping.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his mew confused.
"My hips are stiff." Bramblegaze mewed back, lying down beside the back of the cave, where she had dropped off the other herbs for her hips. Oblio hesitated, but laid beside her, grabbing a piece of fennel and breaking the stalks in two.
Bramblegaze flinched a bit as he was suddenly beside her, but opened her mouth so Oblio could squeeze the fennel juice into it. The fennel was also bitter in taste. She then grabbed the marigold and stripped them of their leaves, chewing them into a poultice and rubbing it carefully around and on her hips. And so, Oblio got up quickly and backed off a few foxtails away, his face embarrassed.
Bramblegaze's cheeks flushed for a moment, but she stopped and lightly growled. Oblio got the message and trotted quickly away.
"Ugh, what a day."
Bramblegaze raised her head and saw Rose. She smelled of the Twolegplace, and Bramblegaze glared at her secretly from the back of the cave.
Oblio sniffed as Rose walked up to him.
"Did you go to Twolegplace?" he asked calmly. Rose stiffened for a second, but licked Oblio's shoulder in greeting. But he noticed her muzzle damp with liquid, and took a step back and bristled.
"Did you-" Oblio started.
"I drank from the river." Rose cut in, her tone of voice sweet as heather nectar.
"The river is the opposite direction of the Twolegplace. And it's farther away from the cave." Bramblegaze mewed, a growl deep in her throat, "Why are you lying?"
Oblio started to speak, but closed his mouth.
Rose glared at Bramblegaze, her teeth bared and her back arched in an attack move. She leaped into the air, landing on top of Bramblegaze, who was now standing up, her fur bristling.
Bramblegaze slipped out from beneath her and bit her shoulder, her teeth breaking Rose's skin, and blood staining her teeth and muzzle as she leaped away.
Oblio stood away from the quarreling two, his ears flattened and his eyes worrying.
Rose charged after Bramblegaze, but Bramblegaze dodged away from her, clawing her side as she scrambled away. But Bramblegaze saw her chance and tackled the ginger she-cat, pinning her down by her chest, her claws going deep into Rose's fur and skin.
She raised her paw from Rose's chest, claws long, fury coming off of the two she-cats in waves.
"STOP!" Bramblegaze snapped her head towards Oblio's direction and saw his eyes.
Fire.
Anger.
All of these in the Oblio's glare towards the two.
"You." he growled sternly, his glare landing on Rose, "Why were you in Twolegplace? Why did you lie to me?"
Rose lowered her head and cowered under Oblio's anger, but Bramblegaze seemed surprised.
"I met a cat before I got sick." Rose mewed, tears in her eyes, "His name is Jackdaw. He saved my life once by pushing me away from a monster that was going to hit me, and… he said to meet him again soon. I told you how I went to explore Twolegplace, remember Oblio? I tried to see him when the storm hit and told you I was hunting, but I got sick and came back. I tried to meet him again today, but I still didn't know if you would let me, so I left when you were asleep and when Bramblegaze was hunting. He was so nice, and he even let me drink his milk. I'm sorry Oblio. I should have told you."
Bramblegaze scoffed and licked her shoulder.
Oblio, ignoring Bramblegaze and Rose, ran out of the cave, his black fur matted in the wind as his paws thudded against the soil. Rose crumpled onto the floor, crying her heart out. But Bramblegaze ran after him, her hips now flaming with pain after the fight. But she ignored the pain and sprinted after the angry tom.
"Oblio!" she called out after him, "Come back! Where are you going?!" She looked back as she ran, but kept going. And finally, Oblio slowed, but stumbled onto the grass.
Bramblegaze gasped and crumpled beside the tom.
"Oblio? Are you okay?" she mewed into his ear, giving it an affectionate lick.
Oblio groaned, but sat up. "Rose lied to me, Bramblegaze." he mewed, "Ever since she left to go explore the Twolegplace, the night she was saved by that tom, she didn't acknowledge me being around her. She would always stare into the distance whenever I tried to love her. Jackdaw likes her. And Rose likes him."
Bramblegaze cleaned his shoulder, which was smeared with dirt and mud, and sighed.
"I used to love someone that much." she mewed softly, "His name was Kestrelwing. A feisty brown tabby. I met when I was a kit. He was a moon younger than me. When we became apprentices, I… I became pregnant. I birthed one kit. But Kestrelwing didn't exactly feel comfortable with a kit, so I gave the kit to my sister. But… after a while, she raised him wrong and he killed for ambition. So I tried to have another litter. But I failed and had to live with the fact that a kitted a mad murderer. He killed Kestrelwing and I swore to never take another mate. But my kit grew up and became deputy, then leader. He's dead now, I killed him, but Kestrelwing was gone."
Oblio stared at Bramblegaze.
"You swore?" he mewed.
Bramblegaze was surprised at his question, but ignored it. She sighed and nodded.
"Let's go." Oblio mewed as he sat up and walked on towards the Twolegplace apple forest. Bramblegaze nodded slowly, confused, but followed him farther away from the cave.
"I have a friend that could help us." Oblio mewed seriously as the oak trees disappeared and apple trees grew above their heads, reaching out to the sky.
Bramblegaze, who was shocked and confused and worried about where she was going, nodded briefly.
Suddenly, a cat jumped out and growled. Seeing Oblio and Bramblegaze, he stopped.
"Oblio! How good to see you again!" the tom greeted, dipping his head in respect.
"Hello Ash Breeze!" Oblio greeted back, "I need to speak to my friend please."
Bramblegaze looked at Ash Breeze and remembered the two other cats she met near the Owl Oak. Aqua Eyes and Pine Fur, Bramblegaze thought.
"Is this…?" Bramblegaze trailed off. Oblio turned his head and nodded. This is Fern Pelt's territory! Bramblegaze thought.
As they ventured deeper, one big oak tree stood out, surrounded by apple trees. Behind it were a few small caves, a clearing, one more oak tree, and many cats. At the end of the clearing, where the second and last oak tree stood, a she-cat was sitting down, her white and gray tabby fur slick and well-groomed,
"Fern Pelt!" Oblio called out to the she-cat.
Fern Pelt raised her head and smiled at Oblio.
"Oblio! How good to see you again! Are you okay in the cave?" Fern Pelt asked, her voice curious.
"Nice to see you too Fern Pelt… no. Nothing is good right now. Rose tried to meet another tom. His name is Jackdaw. Do you know him?" Oblio mewed, concern in his mew.
Fern Pelt stiffened and stared at Oblio with wide sea blue eyes that deepened at the mention of Rose's name. "Jackdaw was a friend of mine." She mewed roughly, "He used to be my best friend. But he left camp one day and I never knew why he did. He was called Jackdaw's Flight. After he left, I only saw him once, and he called himself Jackdaw."
"So he was your best friend… and he left for no reason?" Oblio mewed with surprise.
"Yes. He was my sister's mate, too. My two best hunters, Apple Shine and Swift Bird, were his kits." Fern Pelt mewed with concern, "They never met him though, because he left the night they were born. The mother, Pine Fur, who is also my sister, just had a litter of three last night, too."
Bramblegaze only listened as Fern Pelt spoke to Oblio, but lowered her head as Pine Fur's name was spoken.
"What are the kits' names?" Bramblegaze asked softly.
Fern Pelt turned her head towards Bramblegaze. "Um… Oh yes! I remember now." Fern Pelt mewed, "Their names are Blue Water, Shrew Foot, and Rabbit Leap. I named the first one." Bramblegaze smiled and Oblio dipped his head.
"Well thank you Fern Pelt for your time and information." he mewed as he backed away.
"You're welcome Oblio! Bye!" Fern Pelt yowled as Oblio walked away from the camp, the apple trees blocking her view of him, and the moon slowly rising from behind the Twolegplace.
As Oblio and Bramblegaze entered the cave, an eerie silence greeting them, the moon had now reached the top of the sky, and Rose was gone.
"Fox-dung!" Oblio spat under his breath, his claws unsheathing and then sheathing again.
Bramblegaze growled and looked around, expecting Rose to jump out and hurt Oblio and her.
He didn't deserve this, Bramblegaze thought.
Oblio sighed finally and lied down onto his feather bed. "I'm sorry about Rose and us fighting." she mewed softly to Oblio as he rested his head on his paws, "But she was lying to you and you didn't deserve that. You're a good cat. And you should know you did nothing wrong. It was her fault. She shouldn't listen to the other toms, because she knows she would lose you. I lost my head back there. I'm so sorry."
Oblio looked at Bramblegaze and smiled weakly. "I don't need her…" Oblio yawned, "I have you…"
Bramblegaze stared at Oblio, but he had fallen asleep.
Last time anyone had ever said that was when Kestrelwing loved me, Bramblegaze thought sadly, but happily at the same time.
Bramblegaze shook the thought, but dreamed of Kestrelwing as she fell asleep beside Oblio.
As the sun rose high above the clouds, its heat piercing the air, Bramblegaze hunted with Oblio. A mouse already in her jaws, she dug a hole and saved it for when she went back to the cave.
"Hey! I'm going to go near the apple forest, okay!" Bramblegaze yowled to Oblio.
He nodded and Bramblegaze trotted away from him.
Suddenly, her eye caught a tiny piece of metal in the grass, to her left side. It glinted in the sunlight and Bramblegaze stared at it from where she was. Taking a step closer to the glinting object, Bramblegaze was trying to figure out what it was.
Metal! She thought, pricking her ears and taking another two steps closer. Suddenly, a weird, tangy smell filled Bramblegaze's nostrils, and she wriggled her nose.
Twolegs!
A large brown pelted Twoleg with a strange tool with strings attached came out from behind an oak tree and raced towards Bramblegaze. She turned around to run, but the Twoleg grasped her leg and plopped her into the tool of strings.
"Help-" she yowled out, but the Twoleg grasped her muzzle and clamped it shut with its powerful paws. It seemed to laugh at Bramblegaze as it walked in the direction of the Twolegplace.
Coming up to a narrow Thunderpath, or, a road as kittypets and loners called it, the Twoleg let Bramblegaze swing at its sides, the tool of strings hurting her legs and joints.
It walked up to a sleeping monster, which kittypets and loners called cars where they lived, and opened the monster's backside, shoving Bramblegaze in what she knew was a cage of some strong material, possibly metal.
Before her head was trapped in the cage, she spotted three other cats, one mottled gray tabby tom, one small dusky brown she-cat, and one dark brown tom with one eye, each in other cages.
Bramblegaze's body slammed into the back of the cage, her head spinning and brimming with pain. Whispers echoed in the monster cages, making Bramblegaze's head spin faster.
"Poor thing!"
"Is she okay?"
"Another cat for the Catcher to collect…"
And finally, Bramblegaze moaned, and fell to the cold, hard, ground; her head banging against it. Hushed voices filled the monster as Bramblegaze blinked her eyes open.
"Huh? What's going on?" she moaned, her leg soar and her eyes misty with sleep.
"She's awake!"
"Hopefully she's not hurt…"
"Ugh. Another thing to rescue with us."
Bramblegaze looked to her left.
The small brown she-cat she had seen before was staring at her, the she-cat's eyes wide with curiosity and fear. "Hello?" she mewed softly, her brown amber eyes now as soft as her voice, "I'm Mousy. My friend bellow me is Jay, and my brother next to him is Ashy. And you are…?"
Bramblegaze sighed and looked around in the milky white cage she was at Mousy. "I'm… Bramblegaze." she said woozily.
"Well Bramblegaze," Mousy mewed dully, "Welcome to the Catcher's collection. The Catcher is that Twoleg that shoved you in here. There are different Catchers all the time, though. Jay here was caught twice. This is his second time. This is my first time. I was caught near hear. And this is Ashy here's second time also." Mousy lowered her voice, "He was taken away from his Twoleg and mate. He says her name was Amber. She was expecting kits. But here he is. Poor Ashy."
Bramblegaze stared at her. Three other cats here, she thought, two of which have done this before and one of which is acting like this is some sort of happy trip for the four of us. "This is my first time. And my last."
Bramblegaze growled, "Now, Mousy, how in StarClan's name are we gonna get off this monster?"
Mousy flinched, but looked into Bramblegaze's blue eyes, her gaze staying there. "Ashy has a plan. And you are going to follow it." Mousy growled back as she snapped her head to the other side of her cage.
Surprised at the small she-cat's ferocity, Bramblegaze looked ahead, where the Thunderpath continued to guide the monster of the Catcher's.
As the monster stopped in what seemed like a bigger and dirtier Twolegplace, Bramblegaze lifted her head from where it was sitting on her paws. The monster's roar slowed and stopped, and the Catcher hopped out of the side.
The Catcher reached the backside of the monster, and opened it revealing the cages. It first opened Jay's cage, and Jay ran willingly to the Catcher's huge paws.
Jay lay in the Catcher's arms, and Bramblegaze noticed he was ready to spring. The Catcher then opened Ashy's cage, and then Mousy's.
Suddenly, Ashy growled and bit the Catcher, blood dotting the tooth marks. It immediately dropped all of the cats, and they looked back, smiles on their faces. But Bramblegaze was left behind.
Bramblegaze was still there. Yowling and screeching filled the air. Bramblegaze tried to claw at the Catcher's arms and paws, but it always failed in it grasping her muzzle and shutting it closed until it reached a room of cages.
Shoving her in a silver cage, unlike the milky white ones that Bramblegaze was shoved in before, the Catcher seemed to laugh once more, and then it walked away. The entire room of cages waved off panic and fear around Bramblegaze, and she growled at every movement.
Bramblegaze looked sideways. A snow-white she-cat, a queen, was sleeping, her tail twitching a bit.
Bramblegaze gazed downwards. Four wheezing little bundles of life were wrapped by the she-cat's bushy tail. The one large kit yawned and its black fur shivered on the cage floors, huddling up against a mottled gray she-cat, a brown tom, and a small white she-cat. The mother slept beside them, her bushy white tail warming the kits beside her.
Bramblegaze smiled warmly and slowly fell asleep herself, huddled just like the white queen was.
Bramblegaze awoke, confused, but then remembered that she had been captured.
Suddenly, a light turned on by the Catcher's paw. A Twoleg kit walked inside, its purple-colored pelt flowing to its tiny covered paws. It looked around, its brown, beady eyes searching each cage and each cat inside of one. It reached out its paws to Bramblegaze's cage, but then locked its eyes on the white queen's kits.
The queen hissed as the Twoleg kit opened the cage and swiped her paw. But the Twoleg kit grabbed the queen's kits, and walked away, leaving the queen to scramble out.
Bramblegaze growled deeply at the Twoleg as the queen was swooped up and shoved back into her cage, her kits now taken by the Twolegs. She stated to sob, and Bramblegaze looked sympathetically at her through the cage bars, her eyes soft.
"I'm sorry about the kits," she murmured, looking into the queen's smoky blue eyes, "I should've fought with you."
The queen was confused.
"You don't even know me," she whispered to the ground, a tear running down her cheek. "I know you had kits, and that is the most precious thing in the world in which we live in." Bramblegaze mewed.
"Thank you. But my kits are gone. Always will be." The queen started to sob again.
Bramblegaze sighed. "What is your name?" she asked.
The queen looked up at Bramblegaze. "Lovely."
"Well Lovely, I'm going to help you get out of here, just you and me." Bramblegaze mewed.
Lovely beamed. "Really?" she breathed.
Bramblegaze nodded.
Suddenly another Twoleg, a half-grown one, came inside the room of cages, its pelt blue and purple. The Catcher greeted it.
The Twoleg smiled, and then looked at row of cages, paws searching the doors of the cages, until its gaze landed on Lovely, whose eyes were wide with fear.
"What happened to that one?" the teenager said sympathetically, "Why is it trembling and scared?"
The man beside her sighed.
"A little girl came in about ten minutes ago, looking for kittens to adopt. She took a litter of four away from the cat your referring to." The man said roughly, "I don't even think the kittens were old enough to go yet…"
The teenager looked at the trembling white cat.
"I'll take her." she said happily, "And her little friend!"
The teenager laughed as she gazed at an older white cat, which seemed to be soothing the younger cat through the cage bars, its tongue lapping at the younger cat's forehead.
Bramblegaze panicked as the Twoleg opened Lovely's cage, the Catcher beside it. She stopped licking Lovely's head, even though Lovely stretched her paws to reach Bramblegaze as she was pulled into the Twoleg's arms.
"Help!" she yowled to Bramblegaze, her eyes brimming with tears, "Don't let me be taken away like my kits!" Suddenly, the Catcher opened Bramblegaze's cage, grasping her by the scruff and pulling her out of the silver cage.
Bramblegaze's heart leaped as the Twoleg scooped her in its arms and placed her beside Lovely.
Suddenly she thought about Oblio. The Oblio who had confessed his liking for her. The Oblio that had given her shelter in her exile. Her eyes filled with tears for a second, but she shook them away and sighed as she still hadn't decided if she liked him back.
As the Twoleg brought them outside in the blazing sun, Lovely beamed and looked at Bramblegaze. "We're going to live together!" she squealed, "I hope this Twoleg is nice and happy to us."
Bramblegaze nodded and the Twoleg placed them inside of a bright red monster. She shivered and remembered when the Catcher had violently shoved her inside of a monster with cages, where her leg had been sprained. But she didn't say anything as the Twoleg awoke the monster and controlled it over the Thunderpath.
Lovely yawned and lay down on the soft pelt inside of the red monster.
Bramblegaze looked at her with a horrified face.
She can sleep in a moving monster?! Bramblegaze thought as Lovely snored softly. But she shook her head and sighed, laying beside Lovely, and noticed how sleepy she was.
Letting her eyes droop slowly, Bramblegaze yawned softly and slept soundly next to the she-cat.
Suddenly, the monster bounced and slowed. Lovely and Bramblegaze both snapped awake and looked outside of the clear sides of the monster. Flat moorland stretched far into the horizon, and a patch of trees lay to left side of the moor.
A large wooden Twoleg nest blocked out the sun, and the monster stopped on a small gray Thunderpath in front of the nest. Lovely beamed. "A space to run!" she mewed excitedly; gazing at the long, flat moor. The Twoleg opened the side of the monster and the two she-cats leaped out.
Bramblegaze looked to the right. A fenced off sandy area lay near the nest, along with a fenced off grass field. She gasped at what roamed inside of the fenced grass field.
"Horses." Lovely mewed to Bramblegaze, "I guess our Twoleg rides them. That's what my old Twoleg used to do." Bramblegaze looked at her. "You used to have a Twoleg?" she asked. Lovely nodded.
"It would take me near the horses." she squeaked, "One time, it placed me on top of one. The horse stood still and looked back at me! But by then I was taken off and put back inside of the nest with Prince."
Bramblegaze raised her brows at Lovely and smiled. "A mate, Lovely?" she mewed slyly.
Lovely sighed and nodded, but gazed off into the distance, far away from Bramblegaze.
"Yes." she answered back, "But he never accepted my first litter, and betrayed me."
Bramblegaze stared at Lovely, her eyes filled with concern and confusion. "He what?" Bramblegaze mewed roughly.
"My first litter was a small amount of two kits. They're names were Heather and Holly. Both she-cats." Lovely mewed sadly, "I loved them so much. But before they were born, I told Prince I was expecting them. He started to ignore me and sleep far from me.
Finally, I gave birth and he told me the truth." Bramblegaze stared at her. "My Twoleg was going to give them away to other Twolegs." Lovely sighed, "I ran away with the kits. I never spoke to him again. But a Catcher caught the kits and threw me away to the wild forest, where I met a tom named Hawk Claw. He said he was apart of some sort of camp, and I fell in love with him after a while."
Bramblegaze remembered Fern Pelt's camp and opened her mouth to talk.
"Was it Fern Pelt's camp by any chance?" she asked. Lovely shook her head, "I think he said Daisy Petal's camp. Nothing with a 'Fern Pelt' or anything." she replied.
Bramblegaze nodded slowly and Lovely went on.
"So, I had another litter with Hawk Claw, but he said he was breaking his camp's rules and never spoke to me again, even after the kits were born." she mewed sadly, "I never really thought Hawk Claw would reject me like that. The litter taken from me in the Catcher's nest was his litter with me."
Bramblegaze licked her shoulder.
"Well, if anybody ever hurts you again, I'll claw him or her!" she mewed playfully.
Lovely smiled and licked her chops.
"You'll claw them and I'll eat them!" Lovely mewed back playfully, smiling cruelly and laughing evilly.
Bramblegaze looked at her for a moment. Suddenly they both burst into laughter and the Twoleg called them inside.
Bramblegaze looked up and saw that the Twoleg had come outside, and was holding containers of food in each front paw, which smelled of fish, but good fish, much to her surprise.
The Twoleg walked into a large room inside the nest with the food, making soothing, soft voices.
Once inside, Bramblegaze munched down happily, and Lovely explained that the good food was 'tuna', a Twoleg version of fish, only better smelling and less salty.
The Twoleg left the room.
"What is this place?" Bramblegaze asked, her tuna stuck to her whiskers and muzzle. "A kitchen, I think." she mewed, "My Twolegs used to make food in a kitchen back where I came from. Looked just like this, only the floor was white and hard, unlike this dark brown wood we're standing on."
Bramblegaze looked around.
"Do you know all of the nest's rooms, or just the kitchen?" she asked, now wiping tuna off her face, her container empty and wet with tuna water. Lovely nodded and beckoned Bramblegaze to follow her outside of the kitchen.
"This," she pointed her tail towards a huge space with soft, furred stumps, "is the living room. It's where they just lay around and sometimes sleep."
She walked into another room filled with tons of shiny gold objects. An opening led outside. Lovely cocked her head.
"My Twoleg never had this room, but I know I've seen these gold things before…" she mewed.
Bramblegaze nodded and Lovely walked into a small, compacted creamy white room.
"Bathroom." she mewed roughly, recoiling in disgust, "Its where the Twolegs make dirt."
Bramblegaze backed away and quickly moved on.
As Lovely showed Bramblegaze the rest of the nest, or 'house' as she had called it, the sun went down slowly, and the Twoleg led them to the bedroom, which Lovely said was the place Twolegs normally sleep.
Two beds lay on the floor in front of the two she-cats. One was blue, and one was green. Bramblegaze curled up into the blue one, as Lovely did the green one. They both drifted off to sleep.
As the sun rose into the sky, its rays soft and the wind aplenty, Bramblegaze and Lovely outstretched their paws. The Twoleg served them tuna again, and the two she-cats munched hungrily on it.
As they both walked outside after devouring their meal, the sun now high in the sky, Bramblegaze thought of Oblio.
Suddenly, a yowl broke the air's calm state and Bramblegaze pricked her ears. Forgetting this was another Twolegplace, only smaller, Bramblegaze knew there had to be more cats, so she went to the front of the house with Lovely, seeing three cats, two toms and a she-cat, tumbling in the soft grass in front of the house, their tails waving playfully.
The one she-cat, a tortoiseshell with soft blue eyes, looked up from tackling the second tom and smiled at Bramblegaze and Lovely. She bounded up to them.
Bramblegaze looked closely at the she-cat. Her face flat, her fur fluffy, and her left ear nicked, the she-cat smiled wider and opened her mouth.
"Hi!" she mewed loudly, "I'm Marshmallow! Are you new here? What is your name?"
Bramblegaze was taken aback. Lovely stepped up.
"I'm Lovely," she mewed sweetly, "And this is Bramblegaze. Yes we live here now."
Marshmallow beamed and flicked her tail, walking towards her friends and looking back. Lovely followed and Bramblegaze slid behind.
"Hey guys! I met these two she-cats! Come meet them!" marshmallow yowled to the two toms.
A black tom walked up. "I'm Bert. Nice to meet you." the tom mewed roughly, curtly nodding.
The second tom walked up, a sleek gray tabby. "Hi! I'm Pirate! Nice to meet you!" he yelped happily.
A long, pain filled yowl split the air.
Bramblegaze looked at the three new cats and raced across the Thunderpath to another large wooden house.
Bramblegaze gasped. It was Oblio.
"Bramblegaze? What-" Oblio started. "How did you get here? I was a bit worried…" Bramblegaze cut in, her blue eyes blazing. "I was taken by the Catcher too." Oblio replied, coughing and looking at Bramblegaze with misty eyes.
"You're sick!" she gasped looking closely at him, "You have an infected cut on your chest…"
Bramblegaze looked sternly at him. "How did this happen?"
Oblio looked downwards. "I went to confront Jackdaw." he mewed roughly, "I tried to tell him to back off from Rose, but… he tackled and fought me. I lost… and then Rose said she didn't love me and 'adored' Jackdaw… so I did it."
Bramblegaze stared at Oblio, confused.
"Did what…?" she mewed slowly.
Bramblegaze looked into his eyes. Blood and torture filled the green eyes and Bramblegaze licked his ear.
"I… I killed him Bramblegaze… I killed Jackdaw."
Bramblegaze gasped and backed away from Oblio. "What- how-" she gaped, lost for words.
Oblio got up and stepped towards her.
"Rose hates me now, but I don't care." he whispered softly, "I only care about you. You always kept me up when Rose acted a fool. You were the one who liked me… and now, I like you back. Please understand I was angry, and his neck was close to me. Please Bramblegaze…"
Bramblegaze understood perfectly. She had killed out of anger twice. She knew what it was like. First Flowerblaze, Bramblegaze thought, and then Deerstar.
Bramblegaze nodded at Oblio.
Oblio took another step forward and licked Bramblegaze's shoulder softly.
"Ow!" Oblio stumbled and hissed at himself. "We need to treat that." Bramblegaze mewed urgently, "Come on, let's go… slowly."
As they slowing walked away from the house and trotted past the Thunderpath, Lovely, who was staring at them both, became scared and worried. "I-" she started, but Bramblegaze rushed past her and into their home.
She yowled crazily and the Twoleg trotted to them. It covered its mouth with its paws and rushed to the wall, a white object perched on the wall.
The Twoleg tapped on it eleven times and held it to its ear, gazing back and forth at Bramblegaze and Oblio. After a few minutes, Bramblegaze yowled again and the Twoleg put the object back onto the wall. It came over and briefly pet Bramblegaze, when it sat onto the floor and soothed Oblio with soft noises and stroking.
Suddenly, the front door burst open, and another Twoleg strut through the doorway.
"How is he?" the vet asked sternly.
The teenager pointed at the black cat, whose chest was bleeding out slowly, pus lined the scratch.
The vet walked towards the tom, holding his big bag of tools and medicine. "Hey buddy, I'm here…" the vet soothed, opening his bag and pulling out a bottle of fluid. He grabbed a glove and put it on both of his hands, grabbing the bottle, opening it, and rubbing the fluid onto the tom's infected chest.
Bramblegaze took a step back as the white-pelted Twoleg rubbed a liquid onto Oblio. Lovely appeared beside her, along with Marshmallow, Bert, and Pirate.
Marshmallow sniffed the air and cringed her nose, her flat face even flatter with her nose bunched up. She took a step back and sat near the door, gagging and facing the grass outside.
Bert and Pirate followed, but Bramblegaze and Lovely sat near Oblio, holding their breaths and waiting for Oblio.
Bramblegaze blinked her eyes open. Oblio was beside her, sleeping on his back, his chest raw but smothered with liquids and medicines. Bramblegaze smiled and yawned.
Suddenly, Bramblegaze felt a kick to the chest and sat up quickly. She coughed, and the pain vanished instantly.
Huh, she thought, I'm old, no surprises there, I think. She trotted to the kitchen, licking her chops. The Twoleg was there, drinking out of a brown cup. It stood near all of the tuna containers, and looking at Bramblegaze's face, she opened one and scooped it into her pink colored bowl.
Suddenly Oblio was beside her, the same hungry expression on his face, which seemed to be scratched on the cheek. After chomping up the tuna, Lovely awoke, ate beside Oblio (who got his own leaf-green bowl), and then the three cats basked in the morning sun outside. Lovely got up soon after to sleep in her bed instead.
"Oblio." Bramblegaze mewed drowsily, the heat warming her soft belly, "Do you really like me?"
Oblio twisted his body on the grass to look at Bramblegaze, his amber eyes warm like the sun on her belly. "Yes." he mewed back, flicking his tail, "I liked you ever since you came to treat Rose. The fire I saw in your eyes made me think about us together, but Rose was our barrier."
Bramblegaze blinked.
"Not anymore." she mewed softly. Oblio sat up and lay besides her, wrapping his tail on her shoulder.
Suddenly a spasm of pain ripped through Bramblegaze like a fire, every muscle in her body screaming with pain. She leaped up and screeched, falling onto the grass, her paws, ears, and tail twitching. Her chest was bursting with fiery pain, and Bramblegaze looked up at the calm blue sky. All went black.
Bramblegaze blinked her blue eyes open.
Stars brightened the dark blue sky, fresh meadows of flowers and grass beneath her white paws.
One word hit her head with shock. StarClan.
Bramblegaze gasped, leaping to her paws, her eyes filling with tears, searching the area for Oblio and Lovely.
"It's okay." a voice whispered in her nicked ear.
Bramblegaze twisted around, seeing a tall, brown tabby tom, his fur ruffled like feathers.
"Kestrelwing!" Bramblegaze cried, shrinking twice her size and smiling weakly.
Why am I hesitating? Bramblegaze thought, feeling stupid, yet confused at the same time. "Because your heart belongs to someone else." Kestrelwing mewed into Bramblegaze's ear once more, a smile on his face.
Bramblegaze flinched and stared at him. "I-um-" she started, but Kestrelwing raised his paw. "It's okay. I knew our love was too strong to be in the living world. My own son killed me. But this tom-" Kestrelwing gestured to the ground, "- has captured your heart with not only love, but also protection, and I respect that."
Bramblegaze stared at the ground he had pointed at with his paw and gasped. An image of Oblio reflected onto the misty floor, making Bramblegaze stare at it.
"I'll be watching from above… your time is not yet now, but later on…" Kestrelwing whispered, disappearing into the mist.
Bramblegaze looked up from her bed slowly, Oblio and Lovely sobbing to themselves, facing the opposite direction.
"Oblio… Lovely…" she rasped.
Both Oblio and Lovely's head snapped around and stared at Bramblegaze. Oblio stared for what seemed like hours, but smiled warmly and ran into Bramblegaze, knocking her over and laughing.
"I love you." he mewed. Lovely smiling and blinking off tears, "And I'll never leave you."
Bramblegaze smiled and a tear ran down her cheek. A vision of her and Oblio walking down the Thunderpath filled her eyes, and she noticed Oblio disappear for she knew what her fate was.
More tears ran down her cheek as Oblio licked her ear.
"That's all I needed to hear…" she mewed as Kestrelwing appeared beside her. "Your fate is sealed…" he mewed softly.
Bramblegaze gasped, but as her vision blurred, one last sight of Oblio made her smile, rivers of tears matting her cheeks.
Lightness blinded her eyes, but she didn't flinch.
She knew she was gone.