Warriors: Brindleclaw's Hope

by FlamingChicken1

Years after Firestar's death, ShadowClan in thriving. Brindlekit, a curious & jumpy kit, is miserable. Her sister is becoming distant and her father has flat out rejected her. Meanwhile, danger looms in the distance and the Clan is swirled into a new age of darkness. Can one cat keep hope in a hopeless Clan, or will she crumble along with ShadowClan?

4. Chapter 4: The End is coming

Chapter Four: The End is Coming

Brindlepaw cringed. "Laurelpaw? Brindlepaw?" Larkwing's questioning mew came from behind them. Both apprentices turned around, heads bowed down. Brindlepaw saw the three RiverClan warriors waiting patiently, Gravelfur by their side. Larkwing was heading towards them, her gaze unforgiving. "I told you not to follow us," she said, her voice vexed

"But we wanted-"

"No excuses." meowed Larkwing, interrupting Laurelpaw's attempt to protest. "You," Larkwing turned her steely gaze on Laurelpaw. "Make sure you think before you act. Get used to following orders or it will get you into a lot of trouble." Brindlepaw flinched, guilt churning inside her as her mentor changed ways, her eyes boring into Brindlepaw. There was an unbearable pause before Larkwing sighed. "I expected much better from you, Brindlepaw." Brindlepaw felt horrible; a piece of used moss, thrown away and rejected. Her first day, and she gets into trouble. Brindlepaw reminded herself that this was Laurelpaw's idea, but it was too late to say anything now. "I expect you two to go straight back to camp and I will make sure to have a talk with you when I come back." said Larkwing sternly.

"Will you talk with Oakfang too?" asked Laurelpaw innocently. Brindlepaw almost purred; the young, unruly warrior needed a few stern words. She felt Larkwing soften just a bit. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I will talk to Oakfang."

From the apprentices den, Brindlepaw watched Larkwing's silhouette make its way towards the leader's cave. Through the light drizzle, the grey apprentice could see her talking to the Hawkstar, probably about the encounter with the RiverClan cats. The leader nodded gravely and answered, but by then, Brindlepaw had stopped paying attention. The rain slowly got heavier until large droplets were falling onto the overflowing ground. It was cold and wet and all the apprentice wanted to do was sleep,, but she forced her eyes open and waited patiently for her mentor. Except her mentor took longer than expected, and her eyelids felt as heavy as the rain and she was lulled to sleep by the rhythmic plops of the thundering rain.

Darkness greeted her. "Hello?" She called. Whispers surrounded her, echoing and sweeping past her ears. She walked forward, her feet meeting with wet ground, dew covered blades of grass tickling her paws. Brindlepaw somehow knew there was a pool a few feet away. When she closed her eyes she could see it, but when she opened them, there was only darkness. She walked towards the silvery water, eyes closed. She could see StarClan warriors in its reflection, staring up at her. This must be the Moonpool, she thought to herself. It was beautiful, as if it was stealing the moonlight. It shone. It reflected not only her, but who she was inside. She reached towards it, not even trying to resist the urge to touch the shimmering pool's glassy surface. Her paw sent a ripple through the water, making the starry warriors waver.

Then the pool started overflowing.

First subtly, then the water grew and grew. She saw darkness grow in the eyes of StarClan cats.

She ran. There was something within her that was screaming. It was screaming as if her life depended on it.

She ran.

It followed.

It followed like a tidal wave, and it was not only water.

It was a tidal wave of blood, carrying screaming, screeching, bleeding cats.

Kits, warriors, elders, they all pawed feebly at the wave, wounds and scratches covering their body's. The worst part of it was that she recognized some of the faces. Hawkstar, Frostfur, Otterfall, Copperwhisker, … Her mother. Their eyes glazed in pain, their faces nearly unrecognizable.

They were all screaming her name.

They wanted her, and they were going to get her.

Not even StarClan stood in the way.

The wave was too fast. She turned to face it, seeing the StarClan warrior's hollow eyes, just before the screaming, clawing cats fell upon her, raking her shoulders and back.

She was drowning in blood.

Their screams got louder.

"Brindlepaw!"

"Brindlepaw!"

"Brindlepaw!"

"Brindlepaw! You're dreaming! Wake up!" Larkwing's voice pierced through her nightmare. She jerked awake. She looked down at herself, expecting to still be covered in the blood of those tortured cats. Larkwing stared at her frightened face, her mew laced with worry. Brindlepaw thought she was going to faint, but then she got hold of herself. She stood, rigid, for a few moments, until she got her heart to stop beating as fast as a rabbit's.

"What was that?" Larkwing asked slowly. Brindlepaw had almost forgotten about the startled deputy. She turned to her mentor, eyes still dull. "The end," she spoke softly.

"Let all those old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath me!" Hawkstar's call almost got lost under the voices of the already gathered cats. Brindlepaw bounded forward followed slowly by her mentor. As they sat, they exchanged a knowing glance. Neither of them would speak of the dream that Brindlepaw had had. It would only distress the Clan.

"By now, you might've heard a few rumours," started Hawkstar. Instantly, murmurs of cats rippled underneath, like the low buzzing of a bee hive. Brindlepaw caught a few pieces of conversations from cats nearby.

"I heard RiverClan cats came to steal territory! Putting their disgusting scents all over, thinking they can actually do that." said a warrior named Frostfur.

"I heard that they tried to attack Gravelfur's patrol, but failed," said Spidereye.

All those aren't true, thought Brindlepaw glumly. Why don't they ask someone who was actually there? Brindlepaw felt her annoyance disappear as Hawkstar regained control and everyone was silent.

"As I was saying, rumours have been flying around the camp. Some may be true, some, complete lies. The RiverClan cats were found starving and desperate, with limited options. The river and the lake are overflowing in their territory, so prey is very scarce and herbs are hard to get. They ask for us to help them survive this flood and-"

"Is the RiverClan camp flooded as well? Do they need to come to our camp?" asked an incredulous elder, Moletail. Hawkstar shook his head. "Sadly, yes. Their camp is flooded, but RiverClan has found a temporary place until they regain what has been lost. We need to act now. RiverClan needs an answer. I ask you as a Clan, are you willing to hunt and catch for RiverClan as you would your own?"

Yowls and protests were heard, so loud that Brindlepaw wondered if the Other Clans could hear. She picked out cats who disagreed, cats like Spidereye, Frostfur, Gravelfur and Copperwhisker. Brindlepaw noticed that most cats looked unsure; she couldn't blame them. This kind of thing goes against the warrior code, even if it's for a good cause. ShadowClan helping another Clan? Would the other Clans think we've gone soft? Like ThunderClan? These questions swirled through Brindlepaw and she couldn't help but feel a dent in her pride.

"We must go now, the Gathering will soon start!" said Hazelfur. Hawkstar nodded her head. "We will hopefully come to a conclusion after we have heard what kind of hardships the other Clans are facing." Hawkstar started picking cats out of the crowd for the journey to the Gathering. "Frostfur, Lichenheart, Hazelfur, Laurelpaw, Brindlepaw, Copperwhisker and Hedgeclaw." Brindlepaw jumped at the sound of her name. My first Gathering! She thought proudly. She scanned the clearing for Hawkstar's chosen cats. Frostfur was at the entrance, waiting for everybody else. Lichenheart was finishing up a shrew, licking his paws. This made Brindlepaw wish she ate before she was chosen, but her hunger was invisible compared to the anticipation in her belly. She saw Laurelpaw talking non-stop with Oakfang, questions upon questions spewing from her mouth. Brindlepaw purred as she heard their conversation.

"What's the Gathering like?"

"Well, it's-"

"What kind of cats are there? Are they all mean? Are the leaders big or small?"

"Um, well the leader of ThunderClan is-"

"Why is there a truce at the Gatherings? Do the other Clans hate us? Or like us?"

"Of course that depends on what the Clan-"

"Why didn't Hawkstar choose you?"

This made Oakfang blink, thinking whether to answer or not. After a pause, he answered. "Well, I'm pretty sure that Larkwing reported my 'behaviour' to Hawkstar. I know she wasn't happy about what I said. I bet Hawkstar isn't either. But really, what's the harm in helping others?"

The harm is the risk of starving ourselves, Oakfang! thought Brindlepaw, as she looked at Laurelpaw, whose face was filled with wonder and curiosity. Brindlepaw's eyes narrowed, staring at Oakfang. His beliefs are not dangerous now, but as Laurelpaw keeps learning from him, would she get influenced by Oakfang in the future? Oakfang's kindness and interest with other Clans could make his loyalty waver across borders. Laurelpaw doesn't realize she's in danger. But since I'm her sister, I'll make sure Laurelpaw won't get her head filled up with nonsense by Oakfang! Feeling very proud, she padded to her sister and Oakfang. "It's time to go, Laurelpaw," meowed Brindlepaw. Laurelpaw looked at her and nodded, saying farewell to Oakfang. "I promise to tell you all about the Gathering!" Laurelpaw called to Oakfang. Both sisters padded to the group of cats going to the Gathering.

The island in the middle of the lake was slowly but surely being engulfed by the flood water. The log that connected the small ile and RiverClan territory was slick with mucky water. Brindlepaw and the other apprentices had to walk excruciatingly slowly so that they wouldn't slip. Brindlepaw shuddered as she remembered crossing RiverClan territory to reach the island. She saw the river and lake overflowing. Brindlepaw saw the Twoleg bridge that led into the water. It was completely submerged, water lapping close to the group of cats. "The lake is stretched farther than usual," remarked Lichenheart, as they crossed the Thunderpath to get to RiverClan territory. "It is." said Hawkstar, worry laced with her mew. The group steered away from the water and reached their neighbours' territory. They then proceeded to jump across stones to cross the river that connects to the lake. Even though Brindlepaw has never seen the river in it's usual form, she could tell the river was beyond it's traditional perimeters. As she and Laurelpaw and jumped back to solid ground, their eyes widened in awe. Cats from all clans, all shapes and sizes. Brown, white, grey, you name it, they were all there in a large muddle of mingling warriors, even though the Clans mostly kept to themselves. As they waited for the rest of their Clan to make it across, a brown streak ran towards the two sisters. "Hi!" squeaked the light brown apprentice that had stopped running when she was just nose to nose with Brindlepaw. The apprentices could feel the other cat's hot breath on her face. She backed up just a bit. The foreign cat slumped down, her white paws sprawled out in front of her. Her tail flicked excitedly. The she-cat only looked a few moons older than Laurelpaw and herself. "You must be new! I'm Deerpaw, from the mighty ThunderClan!" The brown apprentice puffed out her chest proudly. Brindlepaw answered while Laurelpaw held back a snigger, looking away shyly. "Yeah, we only became apprentices a half-moon earlier. I'm Brindlepaw and this is my sister, Laurelpaw. ShadowClan. Nice to meet you too?" The last part sounded more questioning than Brindlepaw had intended. This made the other cat burst out laughing. Brindlepaw couldn't hold back a smile. This apprentice was like an overgrown kit. Her giddy personality was enough to make a cat grin. "C'mon! The ceremony is about to start!" Without even waiting for a reply, Deerpaw sped off. Laurelpaw and Brindlepaw followed more slowly. As they approached, Deerpaw gestured to the spot next to where she herself was sitting. The two sisters gingerly sat down. Brindlepaw was very aware of the mixture of scents filled the atmosphere. Brindlepaw realized that they were the last to come. ThunderClan, RiverClan and Windclan, all already here. Brindlepaw wrinkled her nose; she felt very overwhelmed by ThunderClan's forest smell, WindClan's prairie smell and RiverClan's fishy smell. She saw Laurelpaw studying each cat around them curiously. Brindlepaw glanced up at the sky and she saw the full moon shine brightly down at them. Brindlepaw wondered if StarClan was watching their Gathering. Movement caught her eye. A cat climbed up the large tree, their tortoiseshell fur dyed silver in the moonlight and his amber eyes glinting. "Who's that?" asked Laurelpaw. How would I know? Thought Brindlepaw.

"That's Seedstar of WindClan." answered a slightly familiar voice.

Both sisters turned to see a large orange tom with dark spots decorating his body. His tail was striped black. Something triggered in Brindlepaw's memory. She knew she'd seen this cat before...she just couldn't place a paw on it.

"Sunfur?" exclaimed Laurelpaw. Sunfur nodded solemnly. "Yes, that's me. I bet you recognize me because of my visit into ShadowClan territory," Brindlepaw nodded, noticing beneath his large frame were the signs of malnutrition. "So that's Seedstar? How about that tom?" continued Laurelpaw, looking at a white, skinny tom sitting at the base of the tree trunk. His pelt was bright against the dark background of the night. "That's WindClan's deputy, Breezeclaw." answered Sunfur. "They say he'll retire to the elders' den soon." Brindlepaw switched from listening Sunfur to gazing at another cat reaching the branch and positioning themselves next to Seedstar. This cat had white fur and a pattern of orange and black decorating his pelt. "And that tom?" asked Brindlepaw. "Ripplestar of RiverClan," said Sunfur.

"That's Cypresstar, leader of ThunderClan," continued Sunfur, his muzzle pointed to a caramel-coloured she-cat dappled white. She gracefully leaped to the branch and took her place next to Ripplestar. "The ginger tom with long whiskers is Troutwhisker, deputy of RiverClan, and the light grey tabby she-cat next to him is Swiftdawn, deputy of ThunderClan." ended Sunfur. Brindlepaw made sure to remember those cats and their names. "I really hope I can remember all these names…" meowed Laurelpaw worriedly. "Shh! The leaders are speaking!" hushed a white she-cat with a black muzzle. Brindlepaw hastily turned her attention to the leaders.

The leaders turned to the WindClan leader to start, and so he did,

"WindClan is well-fed, the winds are blowing harder, and the recent rain we're having is very frequent. If this rain continues, we'd have to learn how to swim from RiverClan!" A ripple of purrs echoed throughout the crowd of cats. Brindlepaw liked this cat immediately. She wondered if he was lying; gazing at the WindClan cats, they seemed a little starved. After the purrs died down, Seedstar continued. "We have a new warrior, Heatherfur!" Cheers for the newly appointed warrior erupted, all calling out this Heatherfur's name. Brindlepaw saw the grey she-cat farther away, dipping her head, embarrassed. Seedstar stepped back, not having anything else to report. Ripplestar stepped forward. He let out a sorrowful sigh. "Since you have all seen our camp now, there is no reason to hide the fact that the camp in flooded and we've been forced to move to higher ground and fishing has become more difficult, as you can probably tell, and we may need help from other clans if this weather continues." Meows of dismay and pity echoed through the crowd. "Though, we do have some good news," continued the RiverClan leader. "We have a new kit, Mudkit! Also we have two new apprentices, Sedgepaw and Skypaw!" Two skinny apprentices stood up proudly. Cheers of congratulation erupted. Ripplestar stepped back. Brindlepaw looked up to this great cat, putting his Clan first before his pride. It was something some cats were incapable of. Cypresstar stood forward. "ThunderClan is doing well, as the flood is not yet affecting us, though our prey is evasive, most of the time not even exiting their burrows. When they do exit, they act very peculiar. We have yet to understand why these strange occurrences are happening." Cypresstar looked down at her deputy. "Swiftdawn, you may say what you need to say."

Brindlepaw stood a little straighter to see the deputy of ThunderClan over the heads of cats. Swiftdawn cleared her throat.

"Earlier this morning, our patrols have caught and driven out a fox. We found it very close t our camp." Swiftdawn paused. "We know this fox lives near the little river that divides ShadowClan and ThunderClan. With all this rain, we can only guess the fox's den flooded and it was forced out, finding it's way to our camp. ThunderClan's patrols have driven it towards ShadowClan's territory, so we warn you to keep an eye out, Hawkstar." ShadowClan's leader nodded thoughtfully. "We have scented this fox, but thank you for the consideration." She replied, dipping her head. Just as Hawkstar was about to start her report, Cypresstar interrupted. "Please excuse me Hawkstar, but I have one more thing to add." Everyone turned their attention to the ThunderClan leader. "We have scented WindClan warriors along with thrush blood in our territory." An eery silence fell on the crowd at this accusation. "I will assure you, Cypresstar, that we have not hunted in your territory." Seedstar said calmly. "Then how do you explain the scents? The blood?" Cypresstar hissed. "There can be more than one reason to this odd occurrence," Seedstar replied raising his voice a little. "Well you're just a fountain of lies today, aren't you Seedstar? Don't think I haven't noticed how skinny your warriors have become! Or how you wouldn't look anyone in the eyes when you said your Clan was thriving!" The ThunderClan leader snarled. ThunderClan cats were shooting hostile looks at their WindClan neighbors. The sleek WindClan cat's met their gazes with equally bitter looks. "I promise you that my warriors have not touched your prey. We are doing perfectly well!" argued Seedstar. Brindlepaw looked in awe and shock as the tension grew and the events unfolded in front of her. Cats started yowling with fury, accusing each other, denying assertion and just spitting vulgar remarks out at each other. Hawkstar tried to stop the two leaders from nearly slashing each other's eyes out. Brindlepaw looked on in horror. Is this what Gatherings were like?

Suddenly, it turned almost pitch-black. Brindlepaw looked up and saw clouds covering the full moon. The sky turned dark, the stars seeming to dim. "Look at what you've done! You made StarClan angry!" hissed Seedstar. Cypresstar was about to snarl something back when a harsh breeze swept through the island. It was like StarClan was sending warnings. The Clans were breaking the truce! "Stop," snarled Hawkstar. "Both of you. You will bring StarClan's wrath upon us all!" Ripplestar nodded, eyes dark. "This Gathering must end now. Seedstar, you may leave first." The WindClan leader reluctantly jumped from his perch and waved his tail, motioning for his Clan to follow. The rest of WindClan followed in silence, still shooting piercing glances at the ThunderClan cats. As soon as they were gone, the tension had lifted from the crowd of gathered cats. Slowly, one by one, the Clans left the island. ShadowClan was the last to go. Brindlepaw shuddered, haunted by the scene of angry cats, the sense of mistrust and tension. She sighed; this was not a good first Gathering. "What am I supposed to tell Oakfang?" wailed Laurelpaw. "Tell him the truth," answered Brindlepaw. Arriving at the fallen tree, Brindlepaw carefully climbed on and hooked her claws to secure her chances of not falling. She glanced at Hawkstar, who was in front of her, The leader's features were troubled and Brindlepaw couldn't blame her. She even wondered if she could fall asleep tonight .

Okay, so this was a quick update. Thank you all for your reviews, and we will see if we can teach Laurelpaw to me less of a clumsy fool. Though this will be difficult, we will surely attempt it.