Chapter 1
Brambleblaze dug his claws into the bark of the tree, trying to haul himself up. Gorse watched a fox-length away with wide eyes.
For the first time in the five moons he'd been in twolegplace, he made it higher than a mouse-length off the ground. Yes! But he soon crashed to the ground.
Gorse let out a yowl of laughter. "You made it a tail-length off the ground!" He joked, rolling onto his back in laughter. Brambleblaze hissed under his breath. Why don't you try, fleabag?
In the next instant, he was happy he didn't say it out loud.
"Come on." Brambleblaze sighed. "Let's go inside."
Gorse pushed through the flap on the wall of the twoleg den, and the brown tom shuffled through after his brother.
The scents of twoleg and fish filled Brambleblaze's nose, and he wanted to gag. A twoleg was sitting on a tall nest, staring at a wall with moving colors. It made him dizzy just to look at it.
"Hello." Echo wandered over to her brothers, licking water from her whiskers. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Brambleblaze hissed. Gorse snorted in laughter.
"We should-" Echo started.
"I'm going to sleep." Brambleblaze interrupted, pushing past his siblings to his climbing tree. Quickly finding a crevice to sleep in, he curled up and closed his eyes.
"Brambleblaze!" Gorse clawed at the tree, shaking the stem.
"Go away!" Brambleblaze put his tail over his eyes. "Can a cat get some privacy?"
"No." Echo pointed out. "We're in a twoleg den full of living beings. It's impossible to get a moment to yourself."
Brambleblaze groaned. "That's not what I meant!"
"That's what it sounded like." Gorse mumbled.
"Just leave me alone!" Brambleblaze suddenly leaped up, his claws swiping the air, and Gorse's muzzle. The dark brown tom leaped backward, yelping in pain.
He landed hard on his hind leg, screeching in agony. Brambleblaze jumped down from the tree and raced over to his brother, who was limp on the ground.
The twoleg still stared at the moving wall.
"Outside!" Brambleblaze began to drag Gorse by the scruff. Echo nudged the injured tom's flanks.
"Gorse," Brambleblaze meowed, "you're going to be okay, just hold on."
A grunt responded to his words.
"We need to hurry!" Echo fretted.
Gorse stay with me. Brambleblaze pulled harder. In a moment that seemed to stretch for moons, Gorse was hauled through the flap and into the patch of forest.
"Find a stick!" Brambleblaze instructed. "A sturdy one."
Echo dashed towards the bushes.
And I'll find some cobweb. Brambleblaze ran to the other end of the yard, rummaging around the tree's roots until he came up with a wad of it.
Fast as a fox, he dashed back to Gorse's side. Luckily, Echo was already there.
The two worked to straighten the hind leg with the stick, then wrap it in cobweb to keep it in place. The extras were used to patch his nose.
"I'm sorry." Brambleblaze rested his head on his brother's chest. "I'm so sorry."
"I'm okay." Gorse rasped. The tom tried to get up, and he did, only his hind leg dragged behind him.
"Echo." Brambleblaze turned to his sister. "Thank you."
She waved her tail back and forth. "He's my brother too."
A smile spread across his face.
"We should go inside." Gorse was limping into the den. Echo and Brambleblaze followed close behind.
The twoleg was up now, nowhere to be seen. Brambleblaze guessed it went to meet its Clanmates like it did most days.
"How did you-" Gorse flopped down, scanning his leg.
"What?" Echo urged.
"How did you know what to do?" Gorse looked up, straight at Brambleblaze. "How did you do this?"
"Buckoflight taught me." Brambleblaze responded.
"Buckoflight." Gorse said the name mystically. "That's a weird name, even for a Clan cat."
"Reedfeather named him." The curly tom sat next to his brother. "Who was one of the Six."
"One of the… what?" Echo chimed in.
As Brambleblaze told the story of the Six, he found himself missing his Clan.
He missed the way Hollypaw teased him.
He missed Blizzardstripe's stories.
He missed Lizardpaw stirring in her sleep, right next to him.
He missed all of it.
"Brambleblaze." Echo stopped him when he was telling them about Ruststone and Lioncall. "Who's that?"
Brambleblaze turned in the direction of Echo's gaze, and his heart leaped into his throat when he recognized the smell.
"Petal!"