Anyone read Guardians of Ga'Hoole, nine through eleven and the parts about Coryn? This is sort of like it—andnot like it. This is the story of Bramble, a young tabby tom (like Bramblestar) raised by his father and uncle, Snake and Ice, respectively, in BloodClan. Anyone who has read the Ravenpaw's Path comics should know who the are. This is my first story :D
Enjoy!
LEADER OF THUNDERCLAN: Squirrelstar (after Bramblestar), DEPUTY: Cloudtail
LEADER OF SHADOWCLAN: Rowanstar
LEADER OF WINDCLAN: Ashstar
LEADER OF RIVERCLAN: Reedstar
Bramble's Journey
"Bramble! Hussle up and get over here!" a voice snarled.
Bramble opened his eyes. All around him was Twoleg barriers made of stone. He sighed. Last night, he had dreamed of the forest, the lush trees, the crystal clear river waters. Bramble had sat down beside the BloodClan senior cats and listened to them tell each other about almost invading the forest, back when ThunderClan and the others were still there. He huffed. Why didn't they just invade the forest? Then his life would be much better. There were more prey there, so maybe his father wouldn't be so stressed and dislike him so much. The water was cleaner, and more cats would be healthy and alive.
"BRAMBLE!" the voice yowled.
"Coming, father," Bramble murmured, clambering up and stretching. He slowly padded to his yellow-eyed, furious and impaitient father, head down, ready for onslaught.
SMACK! The swipe came as expected. "Why, why why do I have such a lazy son? Why do I even have a son?" Snake sighed. "Whatever. I'm stuck with you now. Go with Basher and Brick and see what you can find."
Bramble found Basher first, the scarred tortoiseshell tom gnawing on a bone. "Basher, I'm supposed to go with you and Brick to find stuff."
Basher grunted, and spit out the bone. He got up and shook himself, and sharply turned away, beckoning Bramble with a flick of his stick-thin tail. Leaf-fall was settling in, and every cat was skinny and scrawny. Bramble's stomach always grumbled, and he had learned to ignore the sound.
Brick was a black-and-white she-cat. She glared at Bramble and followed Basher out of the Twoleg alleyway. The two walked quickly, and Bramble lagged behind, his mind full of the forest. The green trees, the water, the prey…..
A loud and angry bark jolted him out of his daydream. It was a monster… headed straight towards him. He was on the Thunderpath!
With a yowl, he sprang to the side, only to be blocked by another monster. Help! He thought. Bramble made a dash for the other side and landed safely on the grass. He laid on his side, breathing hard. Awhile later he sat up… but where were the other two?
"Basher? Brick?" he yowled. Uh-oh. This wasn't good. He looked around. Trees surrounded him, and his paws stepped on soft grass. The forest! He let out a happy yowl, and ran deeper into the woods. Maybe he could find a large piece of prey and bring it back to BloodClan. Snake would be so proud!
"The forest! It's the forest! I'm finally he—" he skidded to a stop at the sight before him. He was standing on a cliff, over looking…. A Twoleg monster. Many monsters, actually. Weird stuff containing what looked like miniature suns hung above his head, and a large Thunderpath lay beneath.
Realization sunk in. "This isn't the forest," he whispered. "This is just another Twolegplace." He flattened his ears and curled up. "There is no forest. Twolegs have taken everything. Everything…."
The grass crunched. Bramble straightened up. Who was it? He made a mad dash back to the trees and scaled up one, his practice climbing Twoleg walls making it easy.
Two cats walked out of the tall grass, two toms: one black-and-white and another pure black with a white tail tip. Who were they?
Bramble dropped down and peered closer. The black-and-white tom was Snake! He pressed his stomach close to the grass, hoping that Snake didn't smell him. The two cats walked closer, and Bramble could hear them clearly. He looked up.
"Remember the days when Firestar was still here?" asked the black tom.
"Oh yes," said Snake. "He was a great friend."
Bramble frowned. That black-and-white cat didn't sound like Snake at all, nor his uncle, Ice. Then who was he? Barley, his mind said. Barley! His other uncle! He had nearly forgotten about him, as anyone was forbidden to talk about any outside relationships.
"Barley?" Bramble stood up. The two looked up from their talk in surprise.
"Who is this?" Barley tensed, the black tom doing the same. "I smell BloodClan!"
"It's me, Bramble!" Bramble meowed hopefully.
"Who's Bramble? You look awfully young," the black tom growled, narrowing his eyes a little.
"I-I'm from BloodClan, yes," said Bramble in a small voice. Barley didn't seem friendly either. "Except I hate it. There's so much fighting and hatred."
"How do you know me?" Barley hissed, ears flat.
"Father told me about you. You were a disgrace to the Clan or whatever and you and Violet were punished. Father said that he and Ice did the punishment."
"You're Snake's son?" the black tom said in surprise.
"Y-yes."
"Why have you come here?" Barley asked.
"I got lost. But I don't ever want to return." Bramble meowed, hoping he didn't sound too scared.
"You can come stay in the barn for the night. I'm Ravenpaw," said the black tom in a friendly tone. "And you are…?"
"Bramble."
"Come along, Bramble." Ravenpaw turned and led Bramble and Barley through the tall grass and into a large Twoleg structure that smelled of birds and dirt.
"This is a barn," Barley explained as Ravenpaw slipped off to somewhere.
"There's birds here," Bramble commented, sniffing the air.
"Yes, but we don't touch them, they are the Twolegs'. They will beat us if we do eat them."
"Oh." Bramble blinked. Ravenpaw suddenly returned with a large mouse in his jaws and dropped them at Bramble's paws.
"Eat. This is for you. We'll go find something else," Ravenpaw meowed.
"All of it?" asked Bramble, surprised. Back at BloodClan, all the cats ate and caught their own food. Bramble usually got remains.
"Yes," purred Ravenpaw. He padded away to another place with Barley, leaving Bramble with the mouse. Awkwardly, he bit into it. It tasted wonderful, and he devoured it as Barley and Ravenpaw returned, each with their own food.
Bramble swiped his tongue around his jaws. "Can you teach me how to catch mice?"
"Sure," Ravenpaw mewed thoughtfully. "I could teach you about the Clans. I still remember a bit of their moves."
"Great!" Bramble exclaimed. "Where are they, though?"
Ravenpaw settled into a crouch. "Sit down, youngster, and I'll tell you all about them."
"….and the four Clans briefly united as one to travel together to a place StarClan picked for them. And they're still there, to this day," concluded Ravenpaw.
"Wow!" Bramble exclaimed, amazed. "I wish I could travel there and meet them!"
"You can, and you will," Barley purred. "But for now, you shall rest." He angled his ears to a pile of dried up grass. "You can sleep in that hay pile there."
Bramble, full of food, staggered to the pile and soon fell asleep. In his mind, a scene slowly formed before his eyes. A mystical forest shimmering among the stars slowly came into view.
"Wow! Where is this?" Bramble murmured.
A sturdy flame-colored ginger cat with emerald green eyes emerged from the trees and dipped his head to Bramble, towering over him. "Greetings and welcome to StarClan," he purred in a deep voice full of wisdom. "I am Firestar, former leader of ThunderClan."
"Firestar? The one and only? Destined to save the Clans?" Bramble gasped.
"Dear Ravenpaw and Barley have told you a lot about me, as I've seen," purred Firestar. "I watch over you, young Bramble. You have a great destiny, one that will help the Clans."
"H-how?" Bramble asked. "Aren't they at peace? Ravenpaw has told me that he heard you saved the Clans from the Dark Forest."
"That is true," Firestar meowed, puffing out his chest a bit. "But that was only four Clans."
"Ravenpaw may have told you four, but there are six," murmured Firestar. "Tommorrow, you set off, to meet the fifth."
"What about the sixth?"
"You will find out after the fifth."
"Where do you go to meet the fifth?" asked Bramble eagerly.
"Look carefully," whispered Firestar. The forest suddenly dissolved scenery flashed past him. A path. Miles and miles of trees. A river. A run-down Twolegplace. And finally, a beautiful gorge. "You must travel
"What do I do there?" asked Bramble.
"The original four live together by the lake in peace. The fifth and sixth are rejected, living alone with no way of getting help if needed. You must bring the fifth and sixth together. We will meet again…. Tomorrow."
So what does Firestar want Bramble to do? And who are are the fifth and sixth Clans? Find out!