Thank you for the previous reviews. And legendaryhero, we as readers can not always except another writer's story to turn out the way we want it to be, otherwise it wouldn't be interesting. And yes, I did ruin the whole story with that one single sentence in the end of the previous chapter; that's the amazing power of cliffhangers X3

Chapter 11

It was a cold day in Thunderclan. The beech tree incident that crashed in Thunderclan during that rainy day reshaped the whole camp. But in a way this was a good thing. There were much stronger boughs for the new dens, and shelter within the trees against enemy attacks. Far more stronger than the brambles previously used.

The price to pay for this new shield of protection, however, was the death of Longtail and Briarpaw's... no, Briarlight's!... legs.

Thornclaw watched from afar as he used-to-be-apprentice dragged herself from the medicine cat's den to grab some prey from the pile. She was chatting happily with her siblings Blossomfall and Bumblestripe. He blinked, staring as the siblings talk together for a moment. As quietly as he could Thornclaw left camp.

As he padded through the forest, Thornclaw's mind wandered to his apprentice. He was not usually one to blame himself for incidents. But Briarpaw was his apprentice. He had responsibility over her safety during that day. And somehow he failed that. But it was Briarpaw who payed for it with her legs while Thornclaw walked on. He didn't like the exchange at all.

Ever since Briarlight's been made into a Warrior, Thornclaw couldn't stand to look at her properly anymore. Like Mousefur, he felt it was his own fault for what had happened to her and Longtail. He should have stopped her when she ran to get the elder; in fact, he should have stopped Longtail before the elder decided to run back to camp. He was happy for Briarlight to have become a Warrior though.

But not like this...

"Thornclaw?"

The golden tom turned. A gray cat stood behind him.

"What do you want, Cinderheart?" Thornclaw sighed tiredly.

She shifted her gaze. "I... I wanted to know if you were alright."

Thornclaw stared levelly at Cinderheart until the she-cat looked up to stare into his amber eyes.

"Sure," he murmured before padding away.

"Thornclaw!"

He didn't answer her.

Cinderheart padded beside him. "I know you're not fine," she mewed.

Still Thornclaw did not acknowledge her. Maybe if he hunted alone, or attempted to pick a fight with one of Windclan's border patrols it'd take his mind off his troubled thoughts. But it wouldn't matter, since they still had a bit of work to do before the camp was securely finished with its new renovat-

"I'm not going to tell you to stop blaming yourself," Cinderheart mewed sharply, cutting off Thornclaw's thoughts. "But I just want to tell you that Briarlight does not blame you for what happened to her."

"She should!" Thornclaw snapped without thinking.

They faced each other, Thornclaw breathing heavily while Cinderheart looked at him with sad patience.

"She can't even be a proper Warrior anymore!" he continued. "At least the other cats in the clan were still able to go on despite their injuries. Brightheart had lost an eye and half her face when she was an apprentice, and Berrynose his tail while still a kit. But they still became Warriors. Cinderpelt-" Cinderheart's eyes widened alarmingly "- had a crippled leg and Jayfeather's blind, but they were able to become medicine cats to feel useful. What can Briarlight do? I've been her mentor, I can tell she's not happy the way she is-she's struggling to try to even move, let alone anything else!"

Silence.

Thornclaw was breathing heavily. Cinderheart's eyes were narrowed.

"Do you really think she feels that way?" she finally asked.

Thornclaw looked away. "I know she does."

He left, leaving Cinderheart to stare after him.

"Well, look what the forest spat out!" taunted a voice.

Thornclaw did not give the slightest hint that he'd heard.

"What's the matter, bees got your tongue?" sneered another voice. He ignored that one too.

Thornclaw was in his favorite spot by Thunderclan/Shadowclan border over-looking the lake. He was laying on the ground, head on his paws.

Unfortunately he chose the time for a Shadowclan patrol to come along and re-scent their borders. Of course, Thornclaw not breaking any rules meant they had to find fault in him either way for just being near his own border.

Crowfrost sneered. "Sheesh. You must really be sick today. I've never seen you this down before, or let another clan cat get away mouthing off to you."

"What happened? Someone take away your precious ego?" Another voice, Pinepaw, mewed scathingly.

Thornclaw sighed as an answer.

"What are we doing even wasting our time with him for?" mewed someone that sounded horribly like Russetfur. "He's obviously too stupid to even know what we're saying."

Thornclaw dug his claws on the ground but he kept his eyes straight ahead to stare at the lake.

"Listen you," the Shadowclan deputy continued. "If we find just one whiff of Thunderclan scent on this side of the border, you'll be our number one suspect. Understand?"

That's it!

Thornclaw leaped to his paws to turned to face them. But before he could do anything else a new voice yowled, "Leave him alone!"

They all turned. A small gray and white she-cat burst through the last of the brambles to stand beside Thornclaw.

The golden tom bit back a retort that he could handle himself. That would not look wise in front of a patrol of Shadowclan cats.

"What's it to you, kittypet?" Crowfrost leered.

Hazeltail raised her head. "Three Shadowclan cats taunting one Thunderclan cat. All I see are a bunch of cowards."

That made Pinepaw curl her lip. "Watch what you say you filthy little vermin."

"Look who's talking," Thornclaw growled.

"The tom's so frightened that he needs a small cat like this one to help him," Russetfur taunted.

They stood facing each other, Thornclaw and Hazeltail growling at Russetfur and Pinepaw while Crowfrost licked his lips in anticipation.

Russetfur broke the silence.

"Come on. We can't waste our time here. We have other borders to mark." She flicked her tail for the others to follow. "Stay away from our territory!" she called behind her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Your smell's more than enough to keep us at bay!" Thornclaw called back.

They glared at them over their shoulder the whole way until the trees blocked them from view.

Hazeltail snorted. "Good riddance to those lousy furballs," she mewed, turning her head- only to find that she was talking to air. Thornclaw had lain back on his spot over-looking the lake.

Hazeltail hesitated for a moment. She padded over and sat tentatively beside Thornclaw. He flicked an ear, but otherwise ignored her too.

They both stared at the lake together. The cold Leaf-fall wind ruffled their pelts and made the trees behind them sigh. Thornclaw shivered. Perhaps being out in the open was not a good idea, regardless if it was by his favorite spot.

All of a sudden he felt a warm pelt brush his. Hazeltail was sharing her body heat with his. Thornclaw did not move away but allowed her warmth to mix with his.

"Why are you here?"

Hazeltail did not answer right away. Thornclaw, however, was not patient. He flicked his tail from side-to-side, waiting.

"I was hunting," she mewed.

That's a lie.

But he did not bother to question her true intentions. He already suspected Hazeltail of trying to make Cinderheart jealous by using him. But the thought seemed so trivial to his already depressed state that he couldn't muster the energy to tell her so.

"... Briarlight was asking for you."

Thornclaw felt the familiar sharp pain in his chest that a mentor feels for their apprentice. He listened twice as hard, but kept his jaw shut.

Hazeltail shifted her gaze to the golden tom before looking in front of her again. "She wanted you to know it was not your fault this happened to her," she mewed hesitantly. When Thornclaw still said nothing she continued. "Briarlight, though stuck in the Medicine cat's den, noticed how quiet you've been lately. She made her own choice to try to rescue Longtail, and she didn't regret it."

Hazeltail raised a paw and placed it on Thornclaw's shoulder. "If not for yourself. Do it for Briarlight. She needs all the friends and support right now. She shouldn't have to worry for her own mentor too."

It felt like an eternity for Hazeltail's words to reach a meaning. Yes, it was true. All Thornclaw did was mope and feel sorry for himself while Briarlight continued to fight and survive every day. Though personally Thornclaw couldn't see the point in Briarlight's life, he never felt more proud of his apprentice and her determination than he did now. He slowly nodded.

The gray and white she-cat sighed in relief.

"... this isn't the first apprentice I had that was harmed," Thornclaw murmured. He narrowed his eyes as distant memories came flooding through his brain. It was like looking at lightning. The images appeared briefly and disappeared as a whole new fork of memories piled high upon each other. It made him feel slightly queasy and regretful.

Beside him Hazeltail fidgeted. She tentatively licked the top of Thornclaw's head to reassure him. "Let's head back to camp," she mewed. "The wind's picking up. And it'd be saf-"

"Oh!"

Thornclaw and Hazeltail both turned, breaking apart their body contact. Standing beside the brambles with a freshly caught vole in her jaws was Blossomfall.

What is she doing here? Thornclaw thought wildly.

The tortoise-shell she-cat lowered her ears. "Uh, sorry for interrupting," she mewed out of the corner of her vole. She began backing away. Hazeltail tensed.

"I'll just... be going now." And before either of them could say a word Blossomfall turned and leaped into the brambles.

The two warriors continued to stare blankly at the clump of brambles for a few moments. Hazeltail snapped out of it first. "Hey!" she called as she ran a few paces. But it was no use; Blossomfall was far gone.

"That's going to be the start of a gossip," Hazeltail muttered peering through the brambles.

Thornclaw sniffed and flicked his ears. "What is?"

Hazeltail gave him a sly look. "You'll see."

I'd like to get better at writing, but the only way I can do that is if you critique my work. So long as it's not flaming, I don't care what you type about this story. Is it good, or not? And if so, why? Are there parts in the story in which I'm very bland with my description?

Thank you for reading