Hello Internet! Thank you for choosing to read this oneshot. This is a challenge for my forum, EveningClan, which I would invite you to join!
Basically, this is a oneshot about what would have happened in Bluestar's Prophecy if Bluefur hadn't been able to give up her three kits. I hope you enjoy reading!
Disclaimer: I am not one of the Erins and I do not own Warriors, or have any rights to it.
When Thistleclaw Was Thistlestar
Bluefur trembled.
Her three kits, Stonekit, Mistykit and Mosskit, sat in a row in front of the gathered Clan cats. Their pelts were shining, their heads were held high, and they could hardly sit still with their excitement. The Clan watched, witnessing this all important day for these cats. In a way, all was as it should be. Everything was perfect.
But it wasn't.
The crowd of cats was small and lacking. So many had been lost in all the battles of the last few moons. Rosetail, Lionheart, Thrushpelt, Poppydawn, Stormtail, White-eye, and so many others were gone, joining Snowfur and Moonflower in StarClan. Even worse than those was the loss of Whitestorm. Bluefur had watched him die, unable to tell him that it had been her fault. She was the one who was to blame…
Sunstar had been the first to go, of course. Now Thistlestar took his place on Highrock. Tigerclaw, his ever loyal deputy, sat at the base of the giant rock, watching over the Clan with a glinting eye. His missing one had been scratched in a battle. Normally, such a small wound wouldn't have affected him.
But Goosefeather had passed away from age and Feathertail had fallen in battle. ThunderClan had no medicine cats. The tiny scratch that normally wouldn't have been a problem had turned into an infection that ended with Tigerclaw only having one eye. Not that he had taken a break from fighting.
These were the two that leered over Bluefur's kits.
They'd leered over them for far too long. Bluefur dragged her gaze back to her kits. Though their pelts shone, the cleanliness was broken by long scratches. Mosskit, in particular, had a deep gouge that had made her limp for the past moon and a half.
Thistlestar and Tigerclaw had trained them personally for a short while. Then they'd sent them into battle. They would have been injured far worse without Bluefur and Thrushpelt to watch over them.
Thrushpelt had been like a father to the kits. He had never complained about keeping Bluefur's secret. Oakheart had watched from a distance, never speaking to Bluefur again, not even after Thrushpelt died from his wounds.
Bluefur swallowed, hard, as Thistlestar began speaking.
"These three kits are ready to become apprentices," he said. He glanced up and sneered at the sky. "With my own power, I change their names to Stonepaw, Mistypaw and Mosspaw. I will be their mentor." He jumped down from Highrock, and cats scattered before he could get mad at anyone for getting in his way.
Bluefur stayed in place, staring at her kits.
Moons ago, she'd tried to flee the Clan with them. But Thistlestar had stopped them. He'd attacked Bluefur, right in front of her own kits. Their terrified faces were permanently seared into her mind.
Others had tried to flee ThunderClan too. After Thistlestar had tracked down and killed Jake, the cat who had taken in Pinestar, Twolegplace was labelled as too dangerous. The other Clans weren't an option either.
ShadowClan had fallen at the combined pressure of ThunderClan and WindClan. Then WindClan had mostly fled, either to RiverClan territory or elsewhere. RiverClan was the only other Clan that remained. And although the highly trained ThunderClan warriors could easily defeat RiverClan warriors in skill, they were outnumbered. So the two stood at a standstill, waiting to see who would lash out first.
In the meantime, Thistlestar was training his cats harder than ever.
He passed his newly-appointed apprentices off to Tigerclaw and moved into the forest, brooding. He did that a lot lately.
Bluefur watched, her heart nearly breaking, as Tigerclaw started to teach her barely six-moon-old kits an advanced battle move. He corrected them with sharp claws.
The three supported each other too. They hardly had anyone else now. They were still the youngest in the Clan. What other mother in her right mind would bring more kits into ThunderClan? After Bluefur's example, her kits had been alone.
She watched them, shaking and wanting to step in more than anything. But Tigerclaw and Thistlestar refused to see her now.
A comforting tail smoothed down the ruffled fur on her back as Snowfur rubbed against her.
"You shouldn't be here," Snowfur said. "It's not healthy."
"I had to see their ceremony," Bluefur said softly. "And not from StarClan. From here."
"Why?" Snowfur said. "You know there's nothing you can do. They're on their own now."
Bluefur heard a trace of bitterness in her tone and flinched. "I made one mistake! I was selfish! There has to be some way to fix this!" She sounded like a kit, even to her own ears.
Snowfur licked her ear. "Come on. Let's go home." She led Bluefur away from her kits, and back into the rotting wasteland of StarClan, which looked more and more like the Dark Forest every day.
"I'm sorry," Bluefur said to her kits, though her words would never reach her kits. "I'm sorry I couldn't let you go." She took a deep breath and stared at the ground as she followed her sister deeper into StarClan.
"I'll see you soon."
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