Chapter 7
Makoto watched as Rootpaw and Dewspring returned to camp from their training. From what she saw, Rootpaw seemed saddened, which was usually the case as of late. Poor Rootpaw. All this stuff about Bramblestar's ghost has him distracted from his training. I wish we could just explain what was going on to every cat, but I doubt many of them would believe us. We need to do something…but what? We have no idea what our next plan of action should be.
"Is something wrong, Makoto?" The brown she-cat saw that it was Blossomheart.
"I'm okay, Blossomheart. Just worried about Rootpaw, that's all."
"Is Lelouch worried about him, too?" She wondered. "You both have seemed attached to him ever since you started staying here. Do you know something about him?"
"It's nothing like that. It's…a bit hard to explain." Makoto replied, hoping that the she-cat wouldn't press more about the situation. "Sorry if I'm sounding too vague, Blossomheart."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure whatever it is about Rootpaw that has you interested must be a good thing." She responded. "Oh, if you're not busy later, I'd love for you to join me on a patrol with some of the others."
"I'd be glad to. Thank you for inviting me." The red-eyed she-cat meowed with a smile before Blossomheart left. She turned her attention back to the leader's den and saw Rootpaw, Dewspring, and Leafstar exit the den. The apprentice made his way over to her, his ears flat. "Is everything okay, Rootpaw?"
"Not really." He sighed. "I can't stay concentrated when I see Bramblestar everywhere I look. I'm supposed to be getting my warrior name soon, but I can't at this rate. Dewspring and Leafstar both think I need to train harder, and I want to, but there's so much on my mind."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's not your fault, Makoto. I think my concentration was at its worse this time because Bramblestar wanted me to do something that could get me in serious trouble."
"What does he want you to do?"
"The other day, he asked me to send a message to Squirrelflight saying that the Bramblestar in ThunderClan is an impostor. There's no way I can do something like that without getting in some sort of trouble." He told the she-cat.
"This could be the step we need to get closer to stopping him, though." Makoto stated. "Maybe I could ask Ren or one of the others in ThunderClan to tell her?" Rootpaw let out a sigh of relief.
"Why couldn't I think about that earlier during my training? That makes things much easier, Makoto." The she-cat let out a smile.
"Glad I can help." She swiped a paw down to open the MetaNav and swiped to the right revealing her video chatting feature. "What do you want them to tell her?"
"That Bramblestar says he has no idea who the cat in his body is."
"Got it."
"Wait!" Before Makoto could do anything, she stopped and looked at Rootpaw. "I was wondering if…I could tell my dad about everything that's been happening. He knows about talking to spirits more than any cat. I think he'd be someone who could help us in the future."
"I think that would be a good idea. We could use some more cats in SkyClan to help us when the time comes." She said. "Would you like to tell him before we tell the others?" The young tom nodded. Tree was just nearby eating a mouse, the yellow tom watching the two for the most part. They approached him together, Tree now pushing his mouse aside before they were in front of him.
"Is something going on here? Will I finally know why you and Lelouch are interested in Rootpaw, Makoto?" He asked.
"It's been more than obvious, hasn't it?" The she-cat asked rhetorically.
"I-It's more of my secret that I told them when they arrived here." Rootpaw meowed.
"I see. Do you want me to get Violetshine?"
"Mother won't be much help with this one." The tom told his father. "Can we go outside of camp to talk about this?"
"This must really be some secret, huh?" Tree meowed. The tom got up and took the lead, crossing through the ferns at the SkyClan camp entrance, Makoto and Rootpaw trailing behind him. They walked for a few more seconds until Tree finally turned around. "Is this far enough?" His son nodded. "So, what's this secret that you've been hiding."
"Well…a bit before Lelouch and Makoto came to SkyClan, I started seeing Bramblestar's ghost. I've been seeing him around our territory almost every day, and he's been asking me for help. I was relieved when Lelouch and Makoto came here because they know that Bramblestar's ghost is here because some evil cat is in his body in ThunderClan." Tree looked over at Makoto, the she-cat nodding.
"He's telling the truth. My other friends and I were sent here to save the Clans from whoever's controlling Bramblestar." She told him.
"This is…strange, and that's coming from me." Tree meowed. "All the cats I've seen are ones that have died, but you're saying that Bramblestar's ghost has been following you?" Rootpaw nodded. "This would explain why Bramblestar's been acting strange lately." He turned his gaze towards Makoto. "Do you and your friends know how to stop this fake Bramblestar?"
"Yes. We've found out that we're able to enter the dreams of cats. If we can enter Bramblestar's dreams and fight the evil cat controlling him, we might be able to stop him."
"I see. And are you sure that this'll work?" Tree asked, Makoto shaking her head.
"We've only been able to test this theory with Nightheart. She was being haunted by nightmares, but now they're gone."
"That makes sense, but in this case it's a whole different cat in control of Bramblestar, not just him having some sort of nightmare." The yellow tom stated.
"That is true…" Makoto sat in thought. Technically the darkness inside of Nightheart was another cat entirely, but if Bramblestar isn't even in his own body to begin with, will fighting the imposter in his dreams actually do anything? "The least we can do is hope that Ren, Futaba, and the others can try to fight him."
"Your other friends, I assume?" The she-cat nodded. "Well, as long as they don't get hurt." Tree meowed.
"Right, which is why we're still doing something in our world if they can't do anything in his dream world." Rootpaw meowed.
"Which is?"
"We're going to send a message to Ren from Bramblestar telling him to tell Squirrelflight that the Bramblestar in ThunderClan isn't him." The red-eyed she-cat meowed.
"That could be dangerous. What if she doesn't believe him and tells Bramblestar? Obviously that'll leave a huge target on his back."
"We have to try. It'll be much safer than having Rootpaw go and tell Squirrelflight himself."
"Or, what if we have you tell them, dad?" Rootpaw told his father. "You are Clan mediator, after all."
"Right, but if I were to do that, it'd look like I'm trying to start trouble and give SkyClan a bad reputation." He meowed. "It looks like we'll have to ask your friend to tell her, Makoto. Unless Lelouch can think of something better."
"Let's go talk with him. He should be back from his hunting patrol already."
When the two returned to camp, they saw the violet-eyed tom sharing a piece of prey with Needlepaw. When they saw the three, Needlepaw looked at them with a smile.
"Hi dad! Lelouch was just telling me some stories!"
"What kind?" Her father asked.
"Just little ones about Swiftfrost when she was younger. She reminds me of her." Lelouch meowed. "Actually, I needed to talk to you three. Can I leave the rabbit with you here, Needlepaw?"
"I'll keep it safe, Lelouch!" The four cats moved to a vacant area of camp, Lelouch looking at the three.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" He asked them. "Can I assume Tree knows about our problem with Bramblestar now?"
"There's a reason you're known to be one of the smartest cats in the Clans." Tree said with a chuckle. "On a more serious note, Rootpaw says that he needs to send a message to Squirrelflight telling her that the Bramblestar in ThunderClan is an imposter."
"At first, Bramblestar suggested that he go tell her himself, but I thought about telling Ren instead."
"Right, but if Squirrelflight tells Bramblestar about what Ren told her, he'll be in trouble." Lelouch told them.
"Which is what my dad thought of, too." Rootpaw meowed. "We were going to go with telling Ren, but we wanted your input in case you had a better idea." Lelouch stood in silence for a while, but shook his head.
"To ease any trouble, telling Ren to deliver the message would be our best bet." He stated. "We don't want to get any other Clans involved yet because it'll just give Bramblestar a reason to divide us even more. Makoto, do you think he'll be up for it?"
"I'm positive. I'm sure he wants to do anything to get us closer to saving the Clans."
"Great. Let's send him the message."
/\/\/\
"That was a great catch, Ren." Nightheart praised the tom as he picked up his freshly-killed mouse. "That makes four pieces of prey in total. Hopefully it'll be enough to please Bramblestar."
"It's better than bringing nothing. I think he'll like this mouse enough to not complain." He replied. "Nightheart, Mapleshade isn't bothering you anymore, right?"
"Yes. Thank StarClan she isn't." She meowed. "Do I seem bothered by something, Ren?" The brown-and-cream tom shook his head.
"I just wanted to make sure, that's all."
"Is that Molewhisker or you talking?" The black she-cat let out a small giggle.
"Ren." The tom meowed. "Sorry if I sounded worried, it was a dumb thing to ask." Nightheart shook her head.
"It was sweet, if anything, Ren. Thank you for being concerned about me." The violet-eyed she-cat assured him. "I've really been fine lately. I'm content with just having to worry about Bramblestar than having to worry about him and Mapleshade."
"I'm sure Molewhisker agrees, too." The tom said with a laugh. In front of him, a transparent screen appeared, telling him that Makoto was trying to call. "At least we're out hunting." He answered the she-cat's video call, the screen now growing wider as the call began to connect. In a few seconds, Makoto appeared on the screen in front of them. "You got better at timing your calls."
"Thank goodness. I was worried you might be in camp." She stated. "Oh, hi, Nightheart."
"Hi, Makoto. How's everything in SkyClan?" The violet-eyed she-cat asked.
"Great. No trouble here yet." Makoto replied. "Oh, here, let me move a bit…" Makoto moved to reveal that Lelouch, Tree, and Rootpaw were with her.
"Father!" Nightheart smiled at the sight of the tom. "Rootpaw and Tree too. Hello!"
"Wait, so we're actually speaking to Nightheart and Molewhisker from here?" Tree meowed. "Do cats from different worlds all have strange powers?"
"Geass and Noctis' powers are much stranger than a video call, believe me." Lelouch told the tom. "Is everything alright, Nightheart? How are you doing? How's Ivypool and your brother and sister?"
"We're all okay. Foxstripe is still sticking to Bramblestar's good side. Oh, and Honeyfur now knows about everything going on."
"The more help, the better." He replied.
"So, what's going on?" Ren asked.
"Right. We need you to tell Squirrelflight something, Ren." Makoto meowed. "You need to tell her that the Bramblestar inside of ThunderClan isn't the real one."
"Got it…but are you sure about this? It's more likely that she won't believe me at all."
"We know, but we have to try. Can you do that for us Ren? Please?" Rootpaw asked.
"Yeah. I'll tell her when we get back to camp." The tom meowed.
"Great. Be safe, Ren." With that last message, Makoto ended the call. Nightheart looked over at the tom, the she-cat unsure of their given task.
"We have to tell Squirrelflight that the cat controlling Bramblestar isn't her mate? Isn't this dangerous?"
"Yeah. It's a low chance that she'll believe us, but as deputy, getting her on our side would be great."
"I understand, but if she tells Bramblestar…who knows what he might do to you, Ren."
"This whole thing about saving Bramblestar was going to get risky eventually. This'll just be one of the first of many times." The tom replied. "I'll be fine, don't worry about it." The she-cat nodded, but Ren could tell she was still uneasy about the whole scenario, but he couldn't blame her. If Squirrelflight were to tell Bramblestar, their whole mission could possibly be compromised, but at the same time, having Squirrelflight on their side would bring them a bit closer to stopping Bramblestar. "Let's get back to camp so I can talk with her."
When the two cats returned to ThunderClan, they dropped their prey off at the fresh-kill pile. Ren looked around for Squirrelflight and saw her near Highledge.
"Good luck, Ren." Nightheart meowed before she left the tom. Ren looked around now for Bramblestar. The last thing he needed was for him to hear any of his conversation with the deputy. There was no sign of the leader. He saw Foxstripe near the camp entrance and padded over to him.
"Ren, did you need something?"
"Do you know where Bramblestar is right now?"
"He went to the dirtplace. Why?"
"I need to talk with Squirrelflight without him hearing anything. I'll explain later." He quickly meowed before walking over to Highledge. Squirrelflight looked up at the tom when she heard his pawsteps approaching her.
"Molewhisker, can I help you?"
"I just wanted to come and tell you about a message that I've received." The deputy tilted her head in confusion.
"From who?"
"From Bramblestar's ghost." He began. "He wanted me to tell 'I don't know who that is in my body, but it's not me'."
"And you said Bramblestar's ghost told you this? In a dream, I'm assuming?" Ren nodded. The deputy scoffed. "What nonsense. You must've eaten a bad piece of prey to think of something as delusional as that." The tom's ears fell flat. "At least you were smart enough to not say anything while Bramblestar was around. You might've ended up like Lionblaze." Lionblaze…that's it!
"But Squirrelflight, I know what I dreamt. Bramblestar would never do something like exile Lionblaze, you know that! Something is off about him!"
"Molewhisker, I've had enough of this conversation. You can believe it all you want, but don't go spreading it around ThunderClan." Ren let out a sigh.
"Yes, Squirrelflight." The only good thing seems to be that she doesn't seem keen on telling Bramblestar what I told her. I definitely dodged a bullet there…but now what? If we try and fight him, we'll expose the truth about us, and it's too soon for that. We need to be patient…but for how much longer?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Asuna, Shadowsight, and Puddleshine made their way down the stony path leading to the Moonpool. It had been three days ever since Antfur had died, and as those days passed, Asuna noticed that Shadowsight seemed more off about something. She hadn't brought it up at all with Puddleshine because he didn't want to worry the medicine cat, or the Clan as a whole.
"There you three are." Jayfeather meowed when he caught scent of the cats from ShadowClan.
"I hope we didn't keep you all waiting too long." Puddleshine apologized. "Let's go share with StarClan now."
"Do we even think that they'll share with us?" Frecklewish wondered. "I don't mean to sound harsh, but I'm expecting silence again tonight."
"Well, we won't know unless we try, right?" Alderheart replied. The other medicine cats agreed and inched closer to the Moonpool. Before they could touch the water's surface, Shadowsight broke away from the group.
"I think I know why StarClan's not speaking with us!" With every cat's attention on the medicine cat, Shadowsight began. "A few moons ago when we were here, a voice spoke to me. It said that the Clans had forgotten about the code. The code has been broken time and time again, and because of the codebreakers, every Clan must pay the price."
"Suffer? Did StarClan really tell you that, Shadowsight?" Asuna asked. "That doesn't sound like something they'd say."
"Right, but they aren't the type of cats to abandon us, either." Kestrelflight replied. "Is that all they told you, Shadowsight?" The ShadowClan medicine cat shook his head.
"They showed me visions of the codebreakers, too. I saw Crowfeather, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather—."
"Me? Why?" The blind medicine cat wondered.
"I don't know. I also saw Lionblaze, Twigbranch, Mothwing, and…my mother, too." Puddleshine looked at the tom, anger in his eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I couldn't. My father wanted me to keep it a secret to protect my mother and the other cats."
"Well there's something he's done right. Bramblestar's been calling for punishment to any cat who breaks the warrior code." Jayfeather stated.
"But…maybe he's right. There have been a lot of injuries in ShadowClan recently, so maybe if the codebreakers atone for what they've done everything will be better."
"There's no way that can be right." Asuna meowed, her hazel eyes looking at the others. "Would StarClan ever purposefully hurt Clan cats for the sake to prove a point?"
"We really don't know what StarClan is doing to us at this point, anyway." Willowshine replied. "Whatever's going on has to have some sort of cause, and Shadowsight's the only link we apparently have to them."
"Still…there are some issues here." Kestrelflight meowed. "Like Dovewing being listed. Tigerstar's responsible for breaking the warrior code as much as she is, so why isn't he one of the codebreakers, too?"
"The same goes for my brother and I." Jayfeather meowed. "Is StarClan really going to punish us for what our parents did?"
"We have to obey whatever StarClan has said." Frecklewish said, causing the tom to scoff.
"That's easy for you to say; no SkyClan cats were named at all!"
"Regardless of if SkyClan was mentioned or not, the timing of this is all strange. Why punish every codebreaker now instead of before when they made their mistake?" Alderheart wondered.
"No cat can say for sure…but we need to act now!" Shadowsight responded. "We need to tell our Clans about this vision."
"That's a definite 'no'. Can you imagine what Bramblestar would do knowing the names of the codebreakers?" The blind medicine cat said.
"Maybe you won't, but the rest of us should." Kestrelflight looked at the other medicine cats. "The sooner we get this all fixed, the better."
"So that's it then? We'll go tell our leaders about the codebreaker vision Shadowsight had?" Frecklewish said, most of the other medicine cats nodding. "Very well. The next time we see each other should be the next Gathering." One by one, the medicine cats began to leave the Moonpool.
"Asuna?" Shadowsight called out to the cream she-cat. "Are you coming?"
"You and Puddleshine go on ahead. I'd like to speak with Alderheart and Jayfeather." The tom nodded, leaving the three cats alone beside the Moonpool.
"So, now it looks like Bramblestar will get exactly what he wants." Jayfeather said. "I know I said we wouldn't tell Bramblestar, but maybe we'll have to, especially since my name's listed. Holding this away from him would make whatever punishment he's going to give me worse than it would originally be."
"I just hope you both will be okay after he finds out. I'm already worried about every cat in ThunderClan as is." Asuna meowed. "We haven't found out anything in ShadowClan yet."
"But maybe you will soon." Alderheart said, his voice filled with confidence.
"Do you think so?"
"I know so." The dark ginger tom replied. "I don't think StarClan's the one sending Shadowsight those messages at all. Whoever's sending him those visions has to be linked with the cat who's controlling my father."
"That makes sense. He obviously can't just go out blindly accusing cats, so he'd need some way to justifiably blame them, which is where Shadowsight's list of cats comes in." Jayfeather added. "That might also be why he punished Lionblaze, the fox-heart."
"Still, we have no idea about the main issue: who these cats could be that want to destroy the Clans." Asuna stated. "Could it be cats from the Dark Forest?"
"That's a possibility, but we've never heard of a cat being able to control another cat's body before. Our enemy could be someone completely new." Alderheart replied. "Let's just get back to camp now. I'm sure everything will become clearer slowly."
"If only 'slowly' could be 'quickly'. I was fine dealing with land disputes and rogues, but I'm not fine with cats possessing our leader and some group possibly masquerading as StarClan."
"I think we all feel that way. This is definitely much darker than what we've dealt with in the past." Asuna agreed. "Just promise me that you'll both be safe." She gave the toms a quick lick to the ear. "I should catch up with Puddleshine and Shadowsight. I'll see you both at the next Gathering." Asuna climbed up the stony path and left the Moonpool, following the ShadowClan medicine cats' scent trail. I can't let anything bad happen to any of those cats Shadowsight listed. I need to make sure to tell Kirito and Suguha that we need to watch over Dovewing as much as we can.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The frigid night air blew across Foxstripe's fur as he and his Clanmates sat down on the island, Bramblestar calling for an emergency Gathering a day after the medicine cats' meeting at the Moonpool. Now was the time the imposter's plan would progress. He had a list of codebreakers now at his disposal. Foxstripe could only hope that the other leaders stayed vigilant.
"Let this meeting begin!" Bramblestar's voice echoed across the island. "I'm sure you've all heard by now about the vision Shadowsight was given regarding the codebreakers. Now that we have a list of them, they all must atone for what they've done!"
"Atone? What do you mean by that?" Tigerstar asked.
"That the codebreakers must be punished, of course!" He retorted. "StarClan won't return to us unless they atone for breaking the warrior code!"
"Are you sure about this? They said all the Clans must suffer, so maybe we must do so together other than pinning it only on the codebreakers." Squirrelflight suggested.
"We've been given the names of the codebreakers!" Bramblestar spat. "Why else would they be given to us?" He gazed across the island. "We must decide how they are punished.
"We? The only one who wants to punish them so badly is you! It's always been you since the beginning!" Tigerstar growled.
"I've only been following the will of StarClan! Is there anything wrong with that?" He asked. "Actually, we've already been doing so lately. You all may notice that Lionblaze isn't with us at the moment. For breaking the warrior code, I've sentenced him to exile! I'm sure this will be the first right step of many to appease StarClan." He told them. "Now, does anybody have any other suggestions on what we should do to the codebreakers?" Bramblestar looked back at the other leaders. "Nothing?"
"Well, how can we be so sure that this is what StarClan wants?" Mistystar asked.
"Of course! Shadowsight can speak to StarClan, can't he? Or is your son lying, Tigerstar?"
"He'd never lie about something as serious as this!" The ShadowClan leader responded.
"There. Now, are you going to deny a medicine cat's vision given to him by StarClan?"
"No…" The RiverClan leader averted her gaze. "I'd just like to be sure what we're doing is acceptable."
"They've broken the warrior code. What's the point of having one if we don't enforce it?" He responded. "Again, does any cat have an idea of a fitting punishment for these codebreakers?" The group of cats fell silent, the howling wind easily being heard as no cat spoke.
"We should think about this first before doing anything." Lelouch spoke. Whatever we can do to stop anyone from being punished.
"Yeah. Every Clan should talk it over." Kirito added. We'll need as much time as we can to stall this out.
"Your former Clanmates are right, Bramblestar." Mistystar stated. "This is a serious step we're all going to take. We should talk about it more first. This Gathering has come to an end." Bramblestar let out an annoyed growl as he looked out in the crowd for any sign of the two cats who halted the progress on the codebreakers' punishment.
As the cats began to talk amongst each other, Foxstripe looked over to where the medicine cats were and saw Shadowsight. He wanted to speak with him again. He waited at the base of the tree for them to come down, but saw Squirrelflight quickly descend the tree and head towards him.
"Foxstripe, where's Molewhisker?" The deputy asked.
"He should be with the other ThunderClan—." The she-cat didn't let him finish and pushed her way through the crowd of cats. What was that about? He wondered as he watched the medicine cats descend from the tree. He saw Asuna, Puddleshine, and Shadowsight make their way towards the other ShadowClan cats and ran after them. "Shadowsight!" He called out to his cousin. The three cats turned around once he got their attention.
"Hi Foxstripe. How are you?" Asuna greeted the tom.
"I'm okay. Can I speak with Shadowsight quick?" He asked.
"We'll be with the rest of ShadowClan." Puddleshine meowed before he and Asuna left them alone.
"What did you want to talk about?" Shadowsight asked the tom.
"It's about your vision." Foxstripe began. "Do you…really think what you've been hearing was from StarClan?" The medicine cat let out an irritated growl.
"You too? You're like everyone else!"
"W-What?"
"No cat thinks I can be sharing with StarClan. I know I'm the least experienced medicine cat, but I'm just doing what I can to protect everyone!" He spat. "I thought we were going to save the Clans together, Foxstripe."
"That's what I'm trying to do! Can't you see that the talk of punishing codebreakers is wrong? Your own mother is one of the codebreakers, too! Do you not feel any regret about this at all?" The silver-and-black tabby asked. "I'm just trying to help you, Shadowsight."
"I just…I…you wouldn't understand!" The ShadowClan medicine cat turned around and ran towards his Clan. In that instant, Foxstripe felt the Geass in his right eye react, a dark shadow looming over Shadowsight resembling a cat. There's a shadow over him, too? Shadowsight's still himself, so his body's not being controlled…but his visions…is some cat manipulating him to further Bramblestar's own plan?
Ren, Futaba, and Nightheart waited amongst the ThunderClan cats for the signal from Bramblestar to leave the island. They were relieved that Mistystar was able to cut the Gathering short before Bramblestar did anything. From the base of the Great Oak, they saw Squirrelflight rushing over to them.
"Oh no, is one of us in trouble?" Futaba fretted.
"It's just Squirrelflight…but she seems to be in a rush." When she got to them, her green gaze looked towards Ren.
"Molewhisker, were you telling me the truth about Bramblestar's message?
"I was." He responded. It took a while, but it looks like telling Squirrelflight will pay off after all.
"Why should I believe you? Why would Bramblestar come to you in a dream, anyway?" She asked him.
"Maybe we should tell her the truth?" Futaba said.
"You know too, Swiftfrost?" The deputy asked. "What exactly is going on? Quick, we don't have much time!"
"The truth is that Rootpaw's the one who told me about Bramblestar's message. I didn't have a dream about him at all." Ren told her.
"Rootpaw? Why does he know about Bramblestar?"
"Let's go see him!" Nightheart quickly suggested. The four cats now began to deftly pass through the groups of cats until they finally reached Rootpaw, the tom talking with Lelouch, Makoto, and Tree.
"What's going—." The apprentice asked.
"Prove to me that Bramblestar sent you that message!" The deputy spat.
"W-What do I say?" Rootpaw wondered. Bramblestar's ghost appeared next to the apprentice.
"Tell her about—."
"G-Ghost!" Futaba screamed when she saw Bramblestar's ghost.
"Futaba, knock it off! We don't want to draw any attention!" Ren told her.
"Is she actually seeing Bramblestar?" Nightheart wondered.
"Swiftfrost can see me, too?"
"They both can. That's Futaba. I don't think you've seen her in any of our video calls before." Makoto told him.
"I'll give you three seconds before I leave. Swiftfrost is screaming about ghosts, and you're apparently just talking to thin air, Makoto!"
"No! Okay, tell Squirrelflight that after the battle with the Sisters, we sat in this clearing, looking at the stars wondering which one was Leafpool. She said it didn't matter because she'd always be watching over ThunderClan." Bramblestar told him.
"H-He told me to tell you that…"
"Bramblestar said that you and him were in this clearing and looked at the stars, wondering which one was Leafpool. You said it didn't matter because she'd always be watching over you." Makoto told her. Squirrelflight looked at the red-eyed she-cat in shock.
"He really is a ghost then…"
"Yes. Lelouch, Ren, Futaba and I are able to see him too, but we believe it's thanks to Rootpaw."
"Lelouch, is this true?" The deputy asked. Out of the cats around her, she trusted him the most. The tom nodded.
"I know it's hard to believe, but right now, there's some cat who has taken control of Bramblestar's body. The cat leading ThunderClan isn't the one you know. We can't let him have his way regarding the codebreakers. You need to work with Ren, Futaba, Nightheart, and the others to protect ThunderClan from the inside."
"Ren? Futaba? I have no idea who those cats are!"
"That would be us." Futaba meowed. "Hiya. Ren and I are in control of Swiftfrost and Molewhisker for the time being."
"Squirrelflight! Nightheart! Molewhisker! Swiftfrost! We're leaving!" The imposter called out.
"You both can explain everything to me back at camp. We need to get going." As the ThunderClan cats left, Rootpaw let out a sigh of relief.
"I wasn't sure this was going to work at all! Thank StarClan Squirrelflight believes us now."
"Right. It's a small step in getting your body back, Bramblestar, but we're at least somewhat closer now than we were before." Lelouch told the ThunderClan leader's ghost. Hopefully Squirrelflight's able to remain close to the imposter. She was one of the codebreakers listed, after all.
/\/\/\
"Okay, explain everything to me again." Squirrelflight meowed as she Nightheart, Ren, Futaba, and Foxstripe walking at the back of the group of ThunderClan cats.
"Right now, Swiftfrost and Molewhisker's bodies are being use as disguises for Makoto's friends Ren and Futaba." Nightheart meowed. "You remember how Bramblestar banished all cats not from this world. Spottedleaf thought that would happen and Swiftfrost and Molewhisker volunteered to help."
"So not all cats who can possess others are bad? That's a relief." She meowed. "But then how did Bramblestar get controlled?"
"I think he's been fighting this cat mentally before he died in the clearing." Foxstripe stated. "Remember when you saw my Geass activate before? Well, my Geass has the ability to let me see the darkness inside of cats. When I'd look at Bramblestar, I'd see this dark, shadowy figure looming over him. It was worse when he came back to life."
"You've known for this long? Why didn't you say anything?"
"You didn't believe me at first when I told you Bramblestar was possessed." Ren reminded her. "Everything that Foxstripe's seen would be hard for any cat to believe." The deputy sighed.
"I guess you're right about that." Squirrelflight let out an irritated growl. "I should've known something was wrong! I know how Bramblestar acts. He's my mate after all…"
"It's not your fault." Futaba assured her. "I bet it's not everyday cats get possessed by some evil cat trying to destroy all the Clans for some reason." The she-cat's blue eyes gleamed. "Oh! I just realized we now have a new member of the Phantom Thieves ThunderClan squad!"
"Phantom…what?"
"The group Futaba, Makoto and I are a part of in our world. We didn't really agree that our group here would be called that, though." Ren explained.
"Well, we have to be known as something!" She responded, but got empty looks from the others. "Fine, no team name it is. Boring, but I'll ask the others and see if they agree, too."
"More cats know about what's going on with Bramblestar?"
"My mother, Jayfeather, Alderheart, Lionblaze, and Honeyfur all do." Foxstripe told her.
"The four we spoke to earlier know as well, and so do Kirito, Asuna, and Suguha." Nightheart added.
"This is…beyond what I was expecting." Squirrelflight stated. "Is there some sort of plan on how we're going to get Bramblestar his body back?"
"We wish we could say yes, but if Bramblestar finds out that cats know the truth about him at the wrong time, it could lead to trouble." Ren told her. "We need to wait for a more opportune time, but who knows when that could be." The deputy gave the tom an understanding nod. Whoever's controlling Bramblestar is slowly starting to abuse his power. If we can't figure something out soon, every Clan could be in danger.
When the cats returned to camp, they all retreated to their dens. As Nightheart made her way over to the warriors' den, she heard a cat calling her name. She turned and saw that it was Spotfur and Stemleaf. Curious, she approached them.
"Hi you two. Is something wrong?"
"Other than Bramblestar? No, not really." Stemleaf meowed. "Listen Nightheart, we know out of everyone in ThunderClan, you're definitely against what Bramblestar is doing." The violet-eyed she-cat nodded.
"We were going to plan a secret meeting three nights from now at the Greenleaf Twolegplace. We want to stop Bramblestar from punishing so many cats." Spotfur explained.
"I understand. Did you invite any other cats from ThunderClan?" She asked, the two shaking their heads.
"We only started really inviting cats at tonight's Gathering. We spoke with some from RiverClan and WindClan. We were hoping you might be able to get the message to your father and Kirito and the others in ShadowClan."
"I should be able to. Giving the message to father and Makoto will allow her to tell Kirito, Asuna, and Suguha."
"This is great! This meeting might be successful after all!"
"Yeah. Thanks, Nightheart." Stemleaf meowed, dipping his head in thanks. The she-cat let out a hopeful smile. This meeting might be just what we need. We'll finally be able to see how many cats actually are against everything this imposter is doing.
/\/\/\
The next morning, Foxstripe stood at the entrance to camp, monitoring the Clan as per Bramblestar's request. How long do I have to listen to him? The tom wondered. He turned around when he heard the ThunderClan leader call for him. He padded over to the base of Highledge, where he stood.
"Yes, Bramblestar?"
"The other day, Sparkpelt didn't return with any prey, correct?" The tom asked.
"Sparkpelt? I don't remember."
"You don't?" The tom nodded.
"I was focused on sending patrols out and monitoring the Clan like you said." He replied. "I'm sure she at least caught something. She's a great hunter, after all."
"Right, but Berrynose was out on that same hunting patrol. He said that she wandered off. I was just wondering if his accusation would come in line with anything you may have saw." Worry filled Foxstripe. He really wasn't sure if Sparkpelt returned with prey or not, but he was the one who set up the patrol. Anything that would happen to Sparkpelt would be on his paws, all because he put Berrynose on the same patrol. "Sparkpelt!" The Clan leader called for his daughter. From the warriors' den, Sparkpelt walked out and approached the two.
"Yes, Bramblestar?" She turned to look at her mother, worry in Squirrelflight's green eyes.
"Don't look at her. I'm your leader!" He spat. "Berrynose told me that you disappeared during your hunting patrol yesterday. Where did you go?"
"Um, I went off to hunt?" She retorted. "We've all gone hunting by ourselves before. I just wanted to cover more territory. Is that such a bad thing?"
"Well it is now." He replied. "StarClan's angry with us. We must stay with our Clanmates."
"How will that make them happy?"
"It'll make me happy. StarClan blessed me with nine lives. I'm the last cat they ever spoke to. I'm their voice in this forest!" He brought his face closer to his daughter's. "Do you think you know better than StarClan?"
"N-No."
"Good. So then, where did you go?"
"I went out hunting!"
"And you came back to camp without any prey to prove it?" Sparkpelt stayed silent, avoiding Bramblestar's intense amber gaze. "Where did you go?"
"I went to find Lionblaze, okay?" She confessed. "His exile was over a few sunrises ago, and I was worried about him. You did just say yourself that we must stay with our Clanmates. I was trying to make sure one of ours was alright." Squirrelflight got to her paws and padded forward.
"She was just trying to make sure her Clanmate was okay. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Yes! She left her patrol without permission and looked for a cat I banished!" He answered.
"Okay, I'm sorry! Is that what you want to hear?" Sparkpelt asked. "It was wrong of me to break your rules and I'll never do it again." Foxstripe could sense fear in the she-cat's voice. "Please don't exile me from camp. I can't leave my Clan, and my kits are still apprentices." The silver-and-black tabby's stomach churned at the sight of Bramblestar looking down at his daughter. It seemed as though he enjoyed tormenting her, like he was having fun impersonating Bramblestar and hurting his family.
"Fine. Alderheart!" The leader turned his gaze towards the medicine cat's den. "Are we running low on catmint?"
"Catmint? It wouldn't hurt to have a bit more, but it'll be better to harvest it in a moon." He responded.
"We should probably check up on it. Sparkpelt, why don't you go look by the abandoned Twoleg nest?"
"If that's what you want." The tom's daughter meowed before she left camp.
"Bramblestar…I don't mean to question your authority, but Sparkpelt's your daughter." Foxstripe told him.
"I know. You see, Foxstripe, no matter what, I have to treat my warriors as equals. Unfair treatment would lead to trouble amongst the rest of the Clan. Besides, her punishment could've been much worse, don't you agree?" Foxstripe gulped before silently nodding. "I'll be in my den. Keep watch of the Clan for me. I'm counting on you." As Bramblestar left, he motioned for Squirrelflight to follow him back to the leader's den, the deputy reluctantly following.
Foxstripe glanced over at the camp entrance. It had almost been an hour ever since Sparkpelt left to check on the catmint, but she had yet to return.
"Do you think Sparkpelt's okay?" Honeyfur asked the tom, the two sharing a mouse.
"I hope so." He replied before taking a bite of the prey. "Still…how can no cat see that there's something wrong with Bramblestar? Do they all really believe in this prophecy about the codebreakers so much that it justifies how he's been acting?"
"It's not exactly easy for everyone to see. It's a message from StarClan, after all." Foxstripe then remembered the shadow he saw over Shadowsight the night before at the Gathering.
"I don't think Shadowsight's been talking to StarClan at all." The white-and-yellow she-cat tilted her head in confusion.
"What do you—." Foxstripe and Honeyfur turned their attention to the camp entrance and saw that it was Lionblaze. The tom looked thin; his eyes seemed almost lifeless. He approached Bramblestar, but the Clan leader didn't seem joyous or relieved that he returned safely.
"My quarter moon exile has passed. I'm here to return to my Clan and to my duties as a member of ThunderClan."
"Before you do that, we learned from StarClan that you are one of the codebreakers."
"What?" The golden tom looked at the leader in shock.
"Shadowsight had a vision that listed all of the codebreakers. They must atone, or the Clans will never be at peace!"
"So you're going to believe a ShadowClan cat over your own Clanmate?"
"Don't forget why you were exiled!" The leader retorted.
"Bramblestar, please." Squirrelflight stepped in between the two. "I was name as a codebreaker, too, and so were Jayfeather and—."
"Jayfeather? He's our medicine cat! He's one of the most helpful cats in this Clan! Why would StarClan want him to be punished?"
"I think it's because of me." The deputy meowed.
"Because of what you and Leafpool did? That was moons ago! Why is this just coming up now? Did StarClan just finally become fed up for some reason?"
"If this is the will of StarClan, we must follow it." Bramblestar meowed. "I want all of ThunderClan's codebreakers to swear an oath to atone for their wrongdoings!" Relief filled Foxstripe when he heard the leader's proclamation. Is that all? At least for now I hope it is.
"Is that all? If it'll help me atone for being a codebreaker, that's fine with me."
"I-I'll do it too." Twigbranch meowed as she left the crowd of her Clanmates and stood next to Lionblaze.
"Jayfeather!" The leader called. The blind medicine cat left the den and tasted the air.
"Is it Sparkpelt? Is she finally back?" As he tasted it again, he realized that it was his brother. "Lionblaze!" He ran over to the golden tom. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, there's nothing to worry about."
"Well I'd at least like to check on you. Come on."
"Not so fast." Bramblestar stopped him. "You all must first swear an oath."
"Oath?"
"To atone for being codebreakers." Lionblaze told him. "Just do it so everything can go back to normal." As they waited for Bramblestar's next order, Squirrelflight stepped forward.
"Should I take an oath as well? I'm one of the codebreakers, after all."
"Nonsense. You spoke with StarClan before when you could've died and they brought you back to us. Clearly they have forgiven you." He turned his gaze to the other three cats. "Now, repeat after me." The leader began to create his oath for Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Twigbranch to repeat, making sure that they stayed loyal to their own Clan. At the end, Bramblestar's gaze seemed to intensify. "If I break the code again, I will be exiled from my Clan to protect them from StarClan's anger." Every ThunderClan cat looked at each other at the leader's last statement of the oath. "Say it." As the Clan went silent, a groan of pain could be heard at the camp entrance coming from a she-cat. Slowly, Sparkpelt entered camp, her fur tattered and splotched with blood.
"Oh no!" Squirrelflight ran over to her daughter to support her as she struggled to stay on her paws. "Jayfeather, come help!" The blind medicine cat ran over to the two, quickly turning his blind gaze back towards the medicine cat's den.
"Alderheart, we need cobwebs!" He called out. Every cat began to group around Sparkpelt and help her towards the medicine cat's den.
"What happened?" The she-cat's mother asked.
"T-There were…dogs at the abandoned Twoleg den." Sparkpelt muttered. Foxstripe had noticed that Bramblestar was nowhere near his daughter, as to be expected. He looked down at her coldly and simply washed his face as cats helped her over to the den to get medical treatment. There was no reason for a group of dogs to be there at all.
"Honeyfur, let's go."
"Go? Where?"
"To the abandoned Twoleg den. Quick, before Bramblestar sees us." The two cats rushed out of camp, Foxstripe breaking out into a run.
"Foxstripe, wait!" Honeyfur called out to the tom. "Dogs just attacked Sparkpelt! It's suicide to go there!" The tom ignored her plea, but slowed down as they neared the den, Honeyfur finally able to catch up to him. "Are you mouse-brained? We could get hurt being here!"
"It's okay, Honeyfur. The scent is stale. There's gone." The she-cat tasted the air and let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay then. Let's keep going." As the two got closer to the den, they heard no sounds of pawsteps nearby, telling them that the dogs really were gone. "What are we looking for?" Another scent suddenly touched their nose, one that they were both familiar with. "Is that prey?" The two left the forested area and walked towards the Twoleg den. They noticed that one of its stony walls were coated with blood.
"It's definitely blood from prey, that's for sure." Foxstripe meowed.
"Right, and from the looks of it, it must've been some sort of fresh-kill pile."
"It couldn't have been rogues." Memories flooded Foxstripe as he remembered the rogues who were here that attacked him and Suguha while he was still an apprentice. "Yeah, it definitely wasn't rogues."
"Then who could it have been? It just smells like dog-scent." Honeyfur replied.
"Bramblestar." The tom softly meowed.
"How? It doesn't smell like cat at all." She replied. "Unless…he placed this prey here sunrises ago. His scent would've been swept away." Foxstripe nodded in agreement.
"He also chose this place specifically to send Sparkpelt to." Foxstripe could feel his stomach being to churn, his paws beginning to tremble as he realized that this all was most likely Bramblestar's doing. "He tried to kill one of our Clanmates…Bramblestar's daughter no less."
"How could he be so fox-hearted?" Honeyfur meowed in disbelief. "We need to do something about him now before more of our Clanmates get hurt!"
"What can we even do?" Foxstripe meowed. "No cat will believe us if we tell them that Bramblestar planted this prey here and tried to kill Sparkpelt. We can't say anything either or we'll suffer the same fate that Sparkpelt did, or even worse." Hope seemed to leave the tom as he gazed back at the blood-stained wall of the Twoleg den. When will we be able to do something? This impostor has already attempted to kill one of our Clanmates, and all we can do is stand by while he leads ThunderClan! We need to act quickly before things get worse.
