This may or may not be the last chapter, since the real Sunset comes out in THREE DAYS, WOOT. I'll see if I can get the next one out in time, but I probably won't continue this fic after the real Sunset comes out. Maybe I'll do a Power of Three one, depending on what we know about it based on Sunset.
Also, Shellpaw, I'd love to reply, but you didn't leave me an email address to reply to!
Bramble's POV:
"Yes, but what did he mean?" Brambleclaw tucked his tail nervously around his paws. "Something big is coming? What?"
"If we needed to know, our father would have told us," Hawkfrost replied patiently. He was sitting across from Brambleclaw on the outskirts of the island, where their conversation was sure not to be overheard. The RiverClan warrior's bright blue eyes were calm. "I suppose we'll know when the time comes. And we must be ready then."
Brambleclaw nodded, though his fur was bristling. He hadn't been able to forget his most recent dream with Tigerstar lately. He had hoped that speaking to Hawkfrost about it would have helped, but his half-brother didn't seem at all bothered by what had happened.
"What do you think he meant, though?" Brambleclaw pressed. "Danger? Or just some great change? I don't know how much more change I could stand, what with the new forest and all."
"I could do with some changes," Hawkfrost growled. His head was turning, and when Brambleclaw followed his gaze he saw he was watching Mistyfoot, the RiverClan deputy, who was standing with a group of other cats. Hawkfrost twitched his tail in her direction. "She's too soft," he meowed, very quietly so that only Brambleclaw could hear. "She thinks more of keeping everyone happy than what RiverClan needs. If she ever became leader we'd all starve waiting for her to decide which hunting grounds didn't belong to the foxes and badgers, first."
Brambleclaw's ears twitched. Hawkfrost's voice was carefully disapproving, not menacing, but he couldn't help thinking that Mistyfoot was Bluestar, the former ThunderClan leader's daughter, and a much more experienced warrior than his brother was. But did that make her a better deputy? He didn't know.
"What would you do in her place?" he found himself asking.
Hawkfrost lifted his head. "First off there'd be more border patrols," he meowed. "And I wouldn't let cats from other Clans enter our territory, either. Did you know that Mistyfoot persuaded Leopardstar to keep letting Barkface come into our swamps to get healing herbs?"
Brambleclaw blinked. "Barkface is a medicine cat," he pointed out. "The rules are different for him- and besides, it isn't as if he'd be planning an invasion."
"He should still follow the warrior code," Hawkfrost replied. "And who knows what WindClan is doing now? I agree that StarClan wanted Onestar as WindClan leader- they've proven that. But he's an unstable leader, isn't he? Didn't you say that a heartbeat after the battle with Mudclaw he was refusing to acknowledge ThunderClan's help?"
"Yes." The memory of that meeting still stung Brambleclaw- Onestar had acted as if Firestar, who had always been one of his closest allies, hadn't ever come to his aid. "You're right. Maybe-"
He broke off as he heard cats crashing through the undergrowth towards them. A moment later Brook and Stormfur appeared. The former RiverClan tom raised his tail in greeting. "Hello, Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost." He nodded to his old Clanmate. "How's the prey running in the new territory?"
"As good as it used to be," Hawkfrost answered. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Brambleclaw said you were visiting ThunderClan territory. Are you staying there permanently?"
"No." Stormfur exchanged a look with Brook that Brambleclaw didn't understand. "We'll be leaving soon, but we thought we'd see some friends at the Gathering before we did. Do you know where Crowfeather is?"
"I haven't seen him tonight," Brambleclaw meowed, "but I'll help you look for him." He was curious to see the WindClan warrior again after his affair with Leafpool. He still couldn't believe that the two had run away together. He certainly couldn't think of a more unlikely pair- and what about Feathertail? Brambleclaw had thought Crowfeather had been damaged beyond repair at her death.
The ThunderClan cat looked back towards Hawkfrost, but his half-brother shook his head. "You go ahead. I'll see you later." He nodded, and then set off in another direction. Stormfur looked after him. "That cat's always been too ambitious for his own good," he commented quietly.
Brambleclaw turned on him, feeling his claws unsheathe. "He only wants the best for his Clan," he meowed sharply. "And that whole thing with Mudclaw, that wasn't Hawkfrost's idea-"
"Calm down Brambleclaw, I didn't mean anything by it." Stormfur put his tail on his old friend's shoulder, a comforting gesture. "I only knew Hawkfrost when he was a new warrior, after all. He was bound to be more ambitious then."
Brambleclaw looked into the Tribe cat's yellow eyes for a long moment before he nodded, though his claws didn't slide back into their sheathes. It bothered him greatly that Stormfur knew how ambitious Hawkfrost was, and not just for his half-brother's sake. Was it that obvious in himself, too? Could Squirrelflight see it? And what about Firestar?
"Crowfeather!" Stormfur's sudden meow shook Brambleclaw out of his thoughts. He looked up to see the gray-black WindClan tom staggering across the clearing. He wasn't moving in a straight line, and though he lifted his head at the sound of his name, his gaze was dazed and confused, as if he didn't recognize who the speaker was, or didn't care. Then he realized who it was.
"Stormfur?" He leaped towards the former RiverClan cat, his tail raising in greeting. "Have you come back? Tribe life too difficult for you?"
"I'm only visiting, I'm afraid," mewed Stormfur, twitching his whiskers. "Graystripe was sighted in the mountains and I came with Brook to tell Firestar."
Crowfeather nodded, but he didn't ask anything more on the subject. Brambleclaw stared at him. The Crowfeather he knew would have been a lot more interested by this information, if only because it may help WindClan in some way. What was wrong with Crowfeather? Was it the effect of his relationship with Leafpool? Or- and Brambleclaw's eyes narrowed- was he still in contact with the medicine cat, and she had told him everything about Graystripe already?
He turned his head, scanning the crowd for Squirrelflight's sister. He found her sitting with the other medicine cats, talking to Mothwing. Her back was to him, so he couldn't see her expression, but she was gesturing energetically with her tail as she spoke, certainly looking more alive than he'd seen her in a moon. Because she'd seen Crowfeather tonight?
He wanted very much to cross the clearing to confront her about it, but he knew that all he'd earn for that was a reprimand from Firestar- the Clan leader was still careful towards his daughter these days, thinking she was still fragile from her failed relationship. Not to mention what Squirrelflight would do to him if she found out he'd been interrogating her sister...Brambleclaw shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth it.
Stormfur's wide yellow eyes were on Crowfeather. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Crowfeather jerked his head up. "Why wouldn't I be?" he demanded roughly. "I'm not an apprentice anymore, you know. I don't need you looking after me."
"I wasn't trying to," Stormfur retorted hotly, betraying the dislike for Crowfeather he had tried to bury, ever since Feathertail had died. Brook laid her tail against his shoulder and the tom took a breath. "Where's Tawnypelt?" he asked. "I'd hoped to see her, too."
"I thought I'd recognized that pelt." The cheerful meow came from somewhere behind Brambleclaw, and he wheeled to see Tawnypelt, striding across the clearing to touch noses with Stormfur. She purred. "It's good to see that you haven't fallen off a cliff yet- though I've heard from Squirrelflight that you aren't staying for good."
Stormfur shook his head. "Brook and I leave for the mountains again tomorrow," he meowed.
Brambleclaw's ears shot up at this unexpected news. "Firestar hasn't-" he began, but Stormfur widened his eyes at him. "You'll hear the rest tonight," he promised.
Brambleclaw wanted to press for more information, but at that moment Blackstar's yowl rang across the clearing, and he sat down beside Tawnypelt as the leaders began the Gathering. None of them had interesting news- only a few new apprentices, and the first newleaf litter of kits in WindClan. Firestar came up last, and as he saw his leader vault to the highest tree branch to give his news, Brambleclaw thought that he raised his head and tail particularly high- to prove that ThunderClan hadn't been weakened by the badger attack, he thought.
"Almost a moon ago now," Firestar meowed, "badgers invaded ThunderClan territory, intending to drive all four Clans out. We fought them, but we still would have lost if it had not been for WindClan and Midnight the badger, who came to warn us and then to fight alongside us." He nodded at Onestar beside him, who raised his head proudly. Brambleclaw felt his claws unsheathe, sinking into the ground. Did Firestar really have to make it sound as if ThunderClan couldn't have managed at all without WindClan's assistance?
"Also, directly after the fight, we were visited by Brook and Stormfur of the Tribe of Rushing Water," Firestar continued. "They have stayed with us for the past moon, and are visiting friends in other Clans tonight. They will depart for their own home soon."
He dipped his head, sweeping his tail to break up the formal part of the Gathering- with no mention of Graystripe, Brambleclaw noted. He suddenly remembered the possibility of Firestar leaving to find his friend. Was that why he hadn't announced Brook and Stormfur's true reason for coming? He didn't want the other Clans to think he might be leaving to find his deputy?
"That was a short Gathering," Tawnypelt meowed, falling into a stretch before springing up to touch noses with her brother, and then Stormfur. She wrapped her tail affectionately about the gray cat's neck, and blinked in a friendly way at Brook. "It was good of you to stop by to see the Clans' new home. You know we couldn't have found it without you, right?"
Stormfur dipped his head, scuffing his paws on the ground. "It's more thanks to Feathertail than me," he murmured, and Brambleclaw saw Crowfeather flinch at the she-cat's name. His confusion about the WindClan tom deepened even further. Clearly Crowfeather hadn't moved on from Feathertail...but what about Leafpool? He had been willing to leave the Clans with her. Did that mean he was slowly getting over his first love, or just feeling even guiltier about her death?
Tawnypelt flicked her tail once more in farewell, and then padded back in the direction of the other ShadowClan cats. Crowfeather waited until she had disappeared, and then dipped his head wordlessly and made to turn away. The former RiverClan warrior darted forward, intercepting him and leaning down to touch noses, mewing a few words that Brambleclaw couldn't hear. Crowfeather gave Stormfur a long, measured look, and then stalked away.
Stormfur looked after Crowfeather for a moment, his eyes reflecting his sorrow. "I don't know if there's anything we can do for him," he meowed softly.
Brook touched his muzzle with her nose. "He is strong," she mewed. "Strong to have survived within the Tribe, and strong to have survived among the Clans."
Though Brambleclaw nodded in agreement, he doubted whether Crowfeather's physical strength would be enough to carry him through all this. How could he have been so stupid, to fall into two forbidden loves?
"ThunderClan!"
The tabby warrior heard Firestar's yowl and turned his head to see him and Sandstorm standing in the middle of the crowd, cats of their Clan slowly gathering around them. Brambleclaw leaped up to join them, Brook and Stormfur behind him. On the way he saw Leafpool, mewing a good-bye to Mothwing and padding over to her father. Brambleclaw narrowed his eyes and increased his pace, wondering if he could find some way to ask her about Crowfeather now. Before he had a chance, however, Squirrelflight crossed diagonally in front of him to meet her sister, her pawsteps deliberately slow as she passed Brambleclaw. She pressed her shoulder against Leafpool's and walked the rest of the way towards Firestar with her. The look she threw over her shoulder at Brambleclaw was cold and calculating, and he felt his claws unsheathe. What had he done to tweak her tail tonight?
She must have seen me with Hawkfrost.
Firestar began to lead the rest of ThunderClan across the log and back towards their camp. The pace he set was quick, Brambleclaw thought, and his head swiveled constantly from side to side, as if he were searching for something. Several times he turned completely around, his eyes meeting Stormfur's as something Brambleclaw couldn't understand was conveyed between them.
The tabby's heart gave a sudden jolt as he remembered: Brook and I leave for the mountains tomorrow. Was that why Firestar was looking so nervous? He was finally giving up his last chance of rescuing Graystripe? Or could it be that he really was planning to go with them?
He can't be. All the way back to camp, Brambleclaw struggled with several different emotions. There was a part of him that wanted to run to Firestar and beg him to stay, as if he were a kit again. How could ThunderClan survive without its leader? And yet, what happened when- if- Firestar did leave? Ambition made Brambleclaw's fur bristle with anticipation. What if he was put in charge of camp? A temporary deputy, so that if Firestar came back without Graystripe he would see how worthy Brambleclaw was?
"Hi." Brambleclaw jumped, and it was several heartbeats before he recognized Rainwhisker beside him, and managed to stammer a reply. Rainwhisker blinked at him. "You look as if you've just been told you're leading the patrol to find the badgers again," he commented. "What's wrong?"
"You'll see," Brambleclaw mumbled, his eyes on Firestar. They had just passed through the thorn entrance, and instead of leaping up the Highledge to his den as he usually did, Firestar settled himself on the rocky peak and called out the familiar summons for a Clan meeting. The cats coming back from the Gathering settled themselves in the clearing, craning their necks up at their leader curiously, while the warriors that hadn't attended appeared from their dens, yawning and blinking sleep out of their eyes. Goldenflower appeared out of the elders' den, leading Longtail, while Mousefur followed them, a grumpy expression on her face.
"All of ShadowClan better be charging straight for our camp," she muttered. "What's Firestar thinking, waking elders from sound sleep in the middle of the night...?"
"It's important," Stormfur assured her, from where he and Brook sat at the edge of the group. Brambleclaw looked after him, his suspicions confirmed. How else could Stormfur know about this?
"Do you know what Firestar called the meeting for?" Rainwhisker hissed in his ear. "Did something happen at the Gathering? ShadowClan, maybe? I thought Blackstar looked a bit shifty..."
Brambleclaw's whiskers twitched humorlessly. "It's worse than Blackstar," he whispered back, and then turned his head as Firestar cleared his throat, pricking his ears as his leader spoke.
"You all know that Brook and Stormfur came to the Clans almost a moon ago, with news of finding Graystripe in the mountains." As he spoke he turned his head, meeting every cat's eyes in turn. When he looked at Brambleclaw that dark tabby stared determinedly back at him, trying and failing to see some fear or even apprehension in his leader's eyes.
"I asked them to remain with us in ThunderClan while I considered what to do," Firestar went on. "And now I've come to my decision."
He paused, and Brambleclaw could hear the intake of breath from the cats all around him and see the fur bristling along their spines, waiting for his next words. Firestar lifted his tail, and his eyes were on Silverpelt above him when he announced, "I am going to travel back to the mountains with Stormfur and Brook to find my deputy."
Firestar tried to speak again, but his meow was lost over the thundering objections that rose from all around. Cats leaped to their paws, yowling protests, their claws unsheathing in their astonishment. Beside Brambleclaw, Rainwhisker jumped up, his blue eyes very wide. "What?" he cried. "He can't just leave ThunderClan!"
On the Highledge Firestar waved his tail, signaling for silence, but the warriors ignored him, still trying to each be heard. Finally he reared up on his hind legs, letting out a caterwaul that shook the stone beneath him. His Clan fell back; their mouths still open as they were drowned out mid-word.
"Silence!" Firestar hissed. "I am not leaving ThunderClan for good- I chose to leave tonight so that I have as much time as possible between now and the next Gathering. With a bit of luck the other Clans won't even know that I'm gone. Brackenfur and Sandstorm will be joint leaders in my absence."
Brackenfur and Sandstorm. Brambleclaw couldn't conceal the disappointment that slammed him from the side. He was not to be one of the cats in charge while Firestar wasn't here. Some rational part of him had been expecting that, but he still felt his heart plummet. He was not Firestar's most trusted warrior, and certainly not the next in line to be deputy.
"But we are still weak from the badger attack!" Mousefur meowed hotly. "What chance will we stand against an attack without our leader?"
"The only good thing that came from the Twoleg invasion was that the Clans grew closer," Firestar replied. "There have been no battles within the Clans since Mudclaw's death, and it will most likely stay that way through the next moon."
"Fat chance of that, with Hawkfrost still prowling around," Ashfur meowed, unnecessarily loudly, to Spiderleg. The black tom's eyes narrowed spitefully in Brambleclaw's direction as he nodded. White-hot anger replaced the disappointment inside Brambleclaw, but Rainwhisker spoke before he could.
"I don't think you should leave, Firestar," he meowed up at the Highledge, his eyes wide with innocence. "I'm worried about Ashfur- once he steps outside the camp and the hedgehogs get a whiff of him, I don't think they'll be able to hold back."
Ashfur glared at the gray tom as mrrows of laughter broke the tension in the crowd and Brambleclaw nudged his friend gratefully.
"I still don't know about this, Firestar," Longtail meowed, ignoring the younger toms' argument. "What do the senior warriors think? And Leafpool?"
Heads turned towards the young medicine cat, crouched in Cinderpelt's old place just beneath the Highledge. For the first time, Brambleclaw thought, since the badger attack, Leafpool didn't start at the sound of her own name. Instead she pricked her ears, her amber eyes gleaming with moonlight. "I agree, ThunderClan will be weakened with our leader gone," she meowed. "But no cat can expect Firestar to leave his deputy to die, not after all Graystripe has done for his Clan. My own life was saved in the fight with the Twolegs that we lost him in. And after all-" and she lifted her gaze to her father, staring down at her- "if things were reversed, and Firestar was the one the Clan had lost, Graystripe would do anything to rescue him. How can we ask Firestar not to do the same?"
There was a moment of stunned silence as her words echoed through the hollow- no doubt that was the most any cat had heard Leafpool say since her days as an apprentice. Then Goldenflower nodded. "Firestar is doing the right thing," she mewed.
"And ThunderClan can last a moon without a leader," Dustpelt growled. "We are strong enough."
Brambleclaw heard murmurs of agreement and shuffled his paws thoughtfully. He knew that Leafpool was right- no cat was going to be able to change Firestar's mind now that he'd made his choice. And he was doing the right thing, wasn't he?
Yes, for himself, whispered a voice inside Brambleclaw. But for ThunderClan? Is he doing what is best for ThunderClan?
Firestar's tail twitched as he looked down from the Highledge. "Are there any more protests?" he asked.
There was a pause before Mousefur spoke. "What happens if you can't find Graystripe?" she meowed, almost hesitantly, as if afraid of her leader's reaction, but Firestar only nodded his head calmly. "Then we must give him up as dead," he replied. "ThunderClan will mourn him, but I will return and announce a new deputy."
"And if you don't come back?" Brambleclaw heard his own voice asking, but couldn't believe that he had dared. Rainwhisker turned to stare at him in shock, and a ripple of fear passed through the gathered ThunderClan cats. Firestar gazed down at him for a long moment before he answered. "If I am not back in two moons, then Brackenfur will travel to the Moonpool with Leafpool to be made a proper leader," he meowed.
The ginger tom started nervously at Firestar's words, but it was only a heartbeat before he lifted his head determinedly, blinking over at Sorreltail and his four kits sitting around her.
"Firestar," Stormfur broke in. "If we are to make it back to the Cave of Rushing Water by next sunset, we will have to leave now."
The flame-colored tom nodded. "All right."
Firestar leaped from stone to stone to the floor of the stone hollow. His movements seemed slow to Brambleclaw, and as the cats parted to let him through, he paused by several of them, brushing his face against Sandstorm's, giving each of his daughters a lick on the head, and resting his tail-tip on Brackenfur's shoulder for a moment. When he reached Brambleclaw the dark tabby gave a start of surprise as he leaned in to touch noses.
"You are a brave warrior, Brambleclaw," Firestar meowed quietly. "You saved the Clans once. Use everything you learned on that journey to defend ThunderClan now."
Brambleclaw stared into Firestar's green eyes and saw the sorrow and certainty there. For the first time he thought he might understand Firestar's decision to rescue Graystripe.
"I will, Firestar," he mewed. "I'll give my life for ThunderClan, if I have to."
"Let's hope you won't have to," Firestar replied as he moved on. Stormfur dipped his head to his father's friend as he reached him, and Brook gave the odd respectful gesture of the Tribe cats, extending one paw with her head down.
"Stoneteller was told by the Tribe of Endless Hunting that we may return home with help," she meowed. "Though he did not think that they meant help in finding your Tribemate."
"StarClan is difficult to understand sometimes, too," Firestar meowed, and Brook nodded, turning around and sliding through the thorn barrier. Stormfur followed, waving his tail to the ThunderClan cats one last time, and then finally Firestar, who gazed around his Clan's home for a long while before he followed the two Tribe cats.
For a while the cats of ThunderClan watched where their leader had disappeared, and then they began to depart for their dens to sleep away what was left of the night. But Brambleclaw did not move. He knew he couldn't sleep, and he didn't want to dream, for fear of what the jumbled thoughts in his mind might appear to him as in sleep. He did not want to visit Tigerstar tonight, not when Firestar's praise was still warm inside him.
He thought he was alone, but then he felt fur brush his shoulder. Brambleclaw jumped and turned his head to see Leafpool. Her wide amber eyes were sad- but then Brambleclaw felt a touch on his other shoulder. He turned, though he already knew by scent who it was.
Squirrelflight's head was bowed, and her ginger fur was dusky gray in the moonlight. Brambleclaw didn't know if she had even realized that she was leaning against him. Perhaps she didn't care.
"He'll be safe," Leafpool whispered. Her eyes were closed as she lifted her head, as if to pray to StarClan.
"He has to be," Squirrelflight mewed. "What will ThunderClan do without him?"