Disclaimer: I don't own the Warrior Cats series!

Title: Berry Paint

Summary: Sandkit wants to look pretty for his apprentice ceremony, so he wears berry paint; Lightkit feels alone in RiverClan for her messy pelt and gruff demeanor, save for two elders, and strives to outdo Rosepaw; Hoptail's known who they are all along, but they're hesitant to tell their mate, Mintpelt; and Smallkit of ShadowClan is scared to face who he really is- is it a tom at all?

Chapter Title: Sandpetal (So Long)

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Stormbreeze- Thanks! I regret not writing more Hoptail tbh.

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Every single hair on Applekit's ginger pelt prickled with fear as the sound of barking in the distance reached his ears. He pressed closer to his brother, Huskkit, whose ash gray pelt practically melted into his. Applekit prayed their parents would be okay- he knew that Pinefoot and Brownfur were strong ThunderClan warriors, but he'd never heard of them facing a dog before.

"Shh, shh, shh." A familiar bushy yellow tail wound around them comfortingly, but Applekit noticed Sandpetal didn't dare take his eyes off the entrance of the camp. "It'll be okay, little ones. Nutstar and Rowantooth will keep us safe."

Applekit caught a flash of a black and white pelt, then of a gray one- Brackentail and Fernheart- as they sprinted out of the camp to join the battle. He swallowed, trying not to think too hard about the fact there were no warriors in camp now. Just kits and elders. Huskkit was shaking really bad.

The trio of ThunderClan cats listened in heavy silence as the shrieks and yowls of fighting reverberated off the trees, filled with yapping. Sandpetal, ears pricked, told the kits that he thought there might be two dogs. Applekit saw the elders- Clawpelt, Smokewhisker, Rocknose, and Milkpelt- shifting about in their den, peering out restlessly. Graystep murmured a few comforting words, but she was too far away to be heard.

"We're gonna die," Huskkit wailed, overwhelmed.

"You're not gonna die," Sandpetal chided. "Your parents are counting on me to keep you safe, and that's what I'm gonna do."

Applekit gave his brother a few licks to calm him down, trying to steady his own rapid heartbeat.

There was a sickening crunch! sound, followed by a brief, solitary moment where they all sat still, holding their breath, and then the bramble barrier was crumbling to pieces, and a smaller dog was rolling right into the middle of camp, yipping in agony. Sandpetal's claws slid out.

"Applekit, Huskkit," he whispered. "Stay in the den."

"Don't go!" Applekit pleaded. Who'll protect us if you're gone?

The nursery warrior didn't reply. Sandpetal's pelt fluffed out as he stalked into the clearing, lips drawn back in a snarl. The dog rolled onto its paws and growled at him, eyes flashing with pain. It was covered in bramble thorns.

"Go back to your Twolegs!" he hissed, digging his claws into the dirt. "You're outnumbered, flea-breath!"

The dog barked, not understanding what the warrior was saying, then lunged at him with a snarl. Sandpetal ducked out of the way and dug his teeth into the creature's scruff, clawing at its eyes. The dog threw him off with ease, slamming a paw down on the warrior's back. He visibly flattened, air knocked out of his lungs. Applekit watched with horror as sharp teeth sunk into his spine. No!

Rocknose let out a battle cry, flinging herself onto the dog's back. Clawpelt and Smokewhisker were close behind, clawing at its flanks and paws. The dog twisted and turned, trying to get at them, but the elders were faster, spurned on by adrenaline. Sandpetal struggled to his paws, bleeding profusely, and latched onto the creature's throat, hanging like a dead weight. He clung even when the elders didn't, the dog flopping onto its back and rolling in an attempt to shake him off. It was impossible to tell if the blood sticking to their pelts was the cat's or the dog's.

Finally, with a yipe, he shook Sandpetal off, sprinting back from whence he came. The yellow tom landed on his side with a hollow thud. Huskkit winced and half-stood, wanting to go to him, then remembered he wasn't supposed to leave the nest and hunkered down. Applekit's eyes were glazed over with fear.

The elders swarmed Sandpetal, who slowly got to his paws, legs shaky. He bared his teeth in a grimace as he shoved through them, toddling back to the nursery without even bothering to clean himself. Blood oozed from his back and belly, and brambles stuck out of his pelt in every direction. Indeed, even Sandpetal himself seemed surprised by his mobility, however lacking it was, as he slumped into Pinefoot's nest for a breather.

"That was amazing!" Huskkit cried, crawling onto his side. "Sandpetal, you gotta teach me those moves!"

Sandpetal winced. "Don't talk so loud," he pleaded in a whisper, pulling the gray tom closer. "Here, let me clean you. You're all bloody."

Huskkit wriggled in his grip. "It's not me. You've got blood in your eyes."

"Oh," he meowed, and let go. Sandpetal turned his head away from them, setting it down with a haphazard thunk. It sounded like he was having trouble breathing as he went on, taking in big gulps of air. "Go... find your folks... kits..."

"Sandpetal?" Applekit asked.

The thudding of pawsteps drew the kits attention away from the wounded warrior. Rowantooth lead the charge into the camp, followed close behind by Grayscreech, Fernheart, Pinefoot, and Blackspots. The brown and black tom scanned the clearing with a pained look across his muzzle. "Is everyone okay?"

"We'd be better if we didn't have a dog busting in on us," Clawpelt growled, tail twitching irritably. "I thought the whole point of retiring was to get some peace before we died."

Rowantooth flinched. "I'm sorry. It got away from us."

"Mom, mom!" Applekit yelped, running to Pinefoot's side. He pressed his nose to her leg and relished in the warmth. "Is the dog gonna come back?"

"No, kiddo, it won't." She nosed his back. "Are you hurt? You're covered in blood."

"Oh, that's not mine," he meowed. "It's Sandpetal's. He got bit."

Pinefoot stiffened. The brown she-cat bent down and picked Applekit up, warily padding over to the nursery.

They found Huskkit nudging Sandpetal over and over again, shaking his side. The nursery warrior shifted with the movements but didn't lift his head. "Come'on, Sandpetal. You gotta show me that move. The dog is gone now, see? You and the elders chased it off."

Applekit found himself on the floor of the den. Eyes wide, Pinefoot crept over, placing a shaking paw over Sandpetal's side. She instantly recoiled. "Oh, honey, move away."

Huskkit backed off with a pout. "But he promised!"

She shook her head, voice empty. "He's dead, Huskkit."

Applekit felt his whole world shatter as he stared at the body of the warrior who'd been by their side since they were born. That can't be right. He promised he'd be there to try my first catch, and chant my name... His ears fell as Pinefoot grabbed Sandpetal by the scruff, dragging him out of her nest. Did he die... because of us?


The clearing got quiet in a different way as Pinefoot laid Sandpetal out in the middle of it, stepping back so the older cats could bunch in close. Rocknose let out a faint, quivering cry, burying her nose in his fur. Smokewhisker and Clawpelt came and stood by her, and Applekit heard the former murmur, "You were here for me when Brownstep died. Well, now I'm here for you, so just let it out. I get it. No mentor should ever have to live long enough to see their apprentice die."

Rowantooth sat with Sheepfang on one side and Graystep on the other, eyes wet with unspoken grief. "He helped me raise my daughters."

"He helped raise me," Pinefoot meowed, tail curling around her kits. "And I thought he'd be around to help me raise my own."

Fernheart touched the top of Sandpetal's head with his nose. "He was my mentor. When Tallclaw and Skyfur died, he stayed by my side until I was okay." Brackentail mumbled a similar sentiment, nose buried in his chest.

Blackspots nudged Brownfur over to Pinefoot, the brown tom pressing his pelt to his mate's in search of comfort. The destroyed barrier hardly seemed to matter to any of them, barring the odd glance.

"Rowantooth!" Nutstar called, leading the second patrol through the hole. "What in StarClan happened here?"

"What do you think happened here?" Silverblaze asked, rolling her eyes. The scent of death seemed to hit the group like a wall, stopping them all in their tracks. "Oh, no."

The deputy straightened, nodding to Nutstar. "It's Sandpetal."

Nutstar jolted, and in the blink of an eye she was by Rowantooth's side, her misaligned jaw gaping open. "Oh, no, no, no..." she whispered, crouching down. The ThunderClan leader looked at Sandpetal's body with disbelief. "You can't leave me. I already lost Brownstep. I can't lose you too."

As is responding to her words, Applekit saw Sandpetal give a jerk, and for a brief, blindly hopeful moment thought he was alive all along, but then the yellow tom stood up from his body, covered in purple berry paint and stars. He glanced around, but no one reacted except for Graystep, who straightened, watching the newest StarClan warrior with awe.

One by one, Sandpetal padded around the circle, stopping at every warrior. He touched Rowantooth's ear with his nose; nuzzled Sheepfang and Graystep, though only the latter responded. He pressed against Nutstar a long moment, silently watching her, before moving on. Eventually, he'd gone all the way around back to Cryowl, quietly mourning next to Rowantooth.

"Don't worry," Rowantooth was meowing. He, too, knew how hard it was to lose a mate. "I'm here for you."

Sandpetal wrapped himself around the gray-ish brown tom, wrapping his tail around Cryowl's. The warrior couldn't feel or see him, but closed his eyes, as if soothed in some way. He stood there a long moment, fur brushing.

A paw touching Applekit's back startled him into looking up. Graystep had moved over to him at some point, taking note of how he'd been watching the scene as if memorized. Pinefoot glanced questioningly at the medicine cat, but she merely shook her head. When Applekit looked back, he realized Sandpetal was watching him curiously, pelt glimmering with more stars than the ginger kit thought existed in the whole world.

Thank you, he thought, hoping Sandpetal might hear. I'm so sorry the dog got you.

Sandpetal gave Applekit a dazzling, happy smile, and then he was gone, and all that was left was a broken barrier and the body of the cat who'd saved him and his brother. Applekit turned and buried his face in Graystep's fur, filled to the tips of his ears with grief.

Author's Note: Whoo boy, welcome to the end times ya'll. This hurt like a son of a gun to write, lemme tell you. But this is a story about the lives of these warriors, and that includes joining StarClan.

Okay, so... stuff that changed for Sandpetal... hmm...

Well, I originally planned to make Rowantooth and Brownstep, like, the perfect couple. Never fought, never were anything but loving and happy. But I realized pretty quick that that really didn't do their characters justice. They're cats. They're not perfect. (Also, I always saw Clawpelt, Smokewhisker, and Rocknose as a lowkey poly couple, but that's up to interpretation)

I also had a brief thought to name Graystep "Grayfoot", so it would go with how Sheepfang is named after Rowantooth, but their suffixes are slightly different, but I decided nah and went with Graystep.

I always knew Nutstar was gonna be deputy, but I wasn't sure if Barkstar was gonna kick the bucket. Turns out he did.

As for After:

Applekit will become a medicine cat after a brief stint as a warrior, and Huskkit will continue to be a warrior. Nutstar and Rowantooth will help keep the peace alive for many seasons, until finally the deputy retires. After that, who knows! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Next chapter, we're off to Lightstripe!

-Mandaree1