Bramblestar gives Starclan the proverbial bird

So yesterday my family took me out to eat at a restaurant I wanted to go to for my birthday. We couldn't do it on my actual birthday, and yesterday was the best time to do it. We had to eat outside cause, you know, Covid. It wasn't bad, except the waiter messed up my dessert order and got me a milkshake instead of ice cream... This is why you shouldn't have two things under the same name on the menu. He thought I wanted the milkshake version and didn't think to ask me... for the record I had no idea it was even a milkshake, I thought I was ordering ice cream ;-;

As usual when we go out for extended periods of time, I got a headache. Headaches don't make me usually want to write, and I struggled thinking up of what to update. I couldn't really think so I decided to go for the second part of the Alt. Ending in which events play out as Canon.

Well, the Chapter Index is about to look completely messed up. Darn.

Please review!

Firestar waved Blackstar over with a flick of his tail. Blackstar gave him a relieved look and joined him by the starry lake. Blackstar had gone down fighting a bunch of badgers that had attacked Shadowclan during the flooding.

"Even though the welcome hasn't been all that good, not that I don't deserve it, but I'm glad that I didn't need to deal with all the flooding. Too much water to step around."

Blackstar had been even less received that Firestar had. It wasn't just because he was a mercat, but there were cats judging him for past actions, back when he had been Brokenstar's and Tigerstar's deputies. The only one who talked to him was Russetfur, and when a cat tried pulling her away from Blackstar she hissed at them and told gave her best cat version of telling one to screw off.

Blackstar himself had been awkward around her, still blaming himself for her death and wondering how she had taken to him being a mercat. She had swatted his ears and told him bluntly that she didn't care about the latter and that the former wasn't his fault. They had gone back to their tsundere routine together, even though Blackstar was adamant that they weren't into each other like that. At the very least, Blackstar had a friend who cared, not including Firestar himself.

Lately Firestar's friends had gained a boost in confidence. Cinderpelt snuck around to see and talk to him and left before anyone missed her. Their talks were short, but frequent. Yellowfang didn't take any nonsense from cats trying to stop her from seeing Firestar and proved that her warrior skills hadn't dulled during her time as a medicine cat. Bluestar and Ravenpaw made time to see him as well, not happy with how he was treated. He wondered how many cats actually were okay with him and were just too scared to go against the majority. He couldn't blame Ravenpaw at least for acting like that; all his life he was scared of speaking up.

There were still a lot of cats that hated him and Blackstar, purely because of the power they held that surpassed that of Starclans'.

Blackstar nudged him, casting a glance at the water, a mischievous look in his eyes. He nodded and they both jumped into the water. He gave a meow of surprise as Blackstar tackled him and shot off into the water. He gave a mock glare before swimming off after him, intent on chasing him down in their little game of tag. The lake was filled was their joyful laughs, knowing that nothing could hurt them in the water.

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Bramblestar glared down into the Moonpool, before his body was wracked with shivers and he gave a big sneeze. He hated having whitecough, but it had actually been a big boon for him this time around. Jayfeather had insisted for him to stay in camp, even though it was the night of the gathering. He gave some protest as to not appear suspicious; what leader would want to stay in camp during a gathering? He didn't want to be seen as weak, but this time he was happy to stay in camp, so he let Squirrelflight take his place at the Gathering.

He had waited moons for this moment. He was glad that he waited though. The lake had flooded and he watched as all the leaders struggled to stay away from the water, trying to keep their secret from being found. Blackstar had unfortunately died, but he hoped that Firestar had a companion up in Starclan now. He hadn't found the right time to go the Moonpool at this very specific time, and then his kits had been born. He had to watch Dandelionkit grow weaker and weaker until she died, which tore him apart on the inside. It had only been a moon since her death.

His kits were currently sleeping away in the nursery and the cats still in camp were dozing off or asleep. He would have been stuck in the medicine den if Briarlight had still been awake. But she wasn't, and it had been so easy sneaking off and getting out of the camp to get to the Moonpool.

He recalled Firestar's stories of Mako and hoped they would be true here. He waited for moonhigh, fur fluffed up against the cold. He watched in anticipation as the moon came overhead and shined its light onto the Moonpool.

His jaw hung open in shock as the water started bubbling, water particles rising into the air. His breath hitched; he had been right about the Moonpool! If he jumped in now, there would be no going back. He would become a creature of the water if he did this. He would be possibly angering Starclan in the process even.

Angering Starclan didn't seem so bad actually. If they had a problem with it, then it sounded like it was their problem not his.

He entered the water slowly, trying to keep himself afloat. He stayed in the water until the moon had passed by, the bubbling stopping as if it had never happened. He got out of the Moonpool, shaking his body and flinging water everywhere. He shivered, knowing that he was definitely getting greencough for this.

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True to his word, he had gotten greencough from his little dip into the Moonpool. Thankfully he had been careful in sneaking back into camp, and Jayfeather and Leafpool had suspected nothing. He made a speedy recovery, not losing any lives to the sickness.

He laid down at his and Firestar's secluded spot right next to the river, wanting to see if the Moonpool had really done it's magic. His body trembled in excitement as he dipped his paw into the water and waited. He felt a strange tingling sensation go through him before it stopped and he gasped excitedly as he felt his hind legs feel bound together into a single appendage. He didn't need to turn around to know that he had a tail now, but craned his head around to see anyway.

He had a dark brown tail, black stripes lining his sides. It was beautiful, but in his opinion, nothing was more beautiful than seeing Firestar's tail light up in the sun.

He wanted to test out his powers, but for now he was going to enjoy what came next as he slid into the river. He gave a short gasp at the feeling of the water caressing his scales. That felt good. He could see why Firestar and the other mercats loved the water so much.

He was still angry at Starclan though. There was no reason for them to hate Firestar so much and he couldn't think up of a reason for why he should be hated. He clenched his paws and he felt the water heat up around him. He blinked and clenched his paws again, focusing on his anger. The water in front of him started heating up and bubbling up to the surface. He had the same powers Firestar had!

'Firestar, I'm just like you now!' he thought happily. He twirled around in the water, letting his tail do the work for him. Swimming around like this was liberating.

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"What have you done Bramblestar?" He opened his eyes to see Firestar in front of him, amused yet worried.

"You know that Starclan is furious with what you've done right?" Firestar sighed. So Starclan did become mad at him for becoming a mercat? He couldn't have cared less about what they thought though.

"I just wanted to be like you. Give you one more companion that understands how you feel. You're right, the feeling of the water, swimming, the whole thing with the tails, it's all amazing!" His voice held an air of reverence, not understanding how anyone could hate such a thing. He gave Firestar a slow blink, "I waited for the right time and turned myself into a mercat for you."

Firestar gave him a purr. "You did this for me?" he breathed. "That's sweet of you, but you know that you're in the same danger of being rejected from Starclan because of what you've done? We were turned into mercats by accident; you turned yourself into one willingly. In their eyes, they have more of a reason to keep you out."

Bramblestar lashed his tail, fully understanding what he had done. He knew Starclan would be mad. Firestar wasn't upset that he was mercat, or that he had turned into one willingly; he was upset that Starclan's chances of rejecting Bramblestar were even higher now.

"I know what I did. I've had moons to think over this," he looked Firestar in the eye, "and I don't really care what Starclan thinks. I don't care about a bunch of cats I've never met, I just care about the cats I do know, like you. I didn't want you to be lonely," his tone turned desperate, as if he was trying to convince Firestar that what he did was right.

Firestar sighed and laid his head on Bramblestar's neck. Bramblestar relaxed, knowing that Firestar wouldn't stay mad on him for long. He looked over Firestar's shoulder to see the starry lake where he received his last life next to. He trembled with excitement and gave Firestar a pleading look. Firestar purred amused and gave a nod, and they both jumped into the lake together.

They swam together leisurely, Bramblestar enjoying that fact that he was swimming as a mercat with Firestar. He always had wanted to do this with Firestar! His excitement got the better of him and he playfully tackled Firestar. Firestar gave a playful growl and the two spent the rest of the dream playing in the lake. He could see Firestar was more relaxed than he had ever been.

He gave a disappointed sigh as he woke up, wishing he had had more time to be with Firestar. He didn't need Starclan, all he needed were cats who cared about him.

His eyes glinted as he spotted Sandstorm outside the elders' den, watching her grandkits play fight with each other. He signaled to her, and she looked up at him with questioning eyes. He gestured outside the camp and the two exited the camp, Bramblestar leading her through the territory to the river.

"You remember how I told you about the mercats?" She nodded, remembering asking Bramblestar what Firestar had wanted to tell her so badly before he died. The story didn't seem real to her, but it fit in with Firestar's weird behavior. She wasn't sure if she believed it though, with her having no proof that it was real.

Bramblestar couldn't catch the other leaders alone so that they could show her. But now he had proof for her.

He laid down and touched the water, and Sandstorm's eyes widened as his hind legs were replaced by a scaly fish tail. She sat down on her haunches, shocked. "The mercat stuff is real?" she whispered. She had seen Bramblestar touch water before, and he hadn't turned into this.

"I've seen you touch water before. How are you suddenly a mercat?" she asked suspiciously. He grinned at her, "While I was stuck in camp during the Gathering, I snuck off to the Moonpool. Once the full moon's shine hit the water, I jumped in and now I'm like this!" he meowed cheerfully. She blinked; of course no one would be at the Moonpool during a full-moon because everyone would be either at the Gathering or be at camp, waiting for news from the Gathering.

"Why tell me how to become a mercat though? Shouldn't this be a secret?" She felt like she was intruding onto something she shouldn't know of.

"Don't you want to be like Firestar? Be like him in this sense?" She was taken aback by the seriousness in his eyes and voice. She mulled over her thoughts, if Firestar was truly a mercat, and if she became a mercat as well, she could actually be with him, neither one separated by land or water.

"He's there you know, in Starclan. He's really lonely Sandstorm, the other cats ostracize him for being the way he is. His friends can't even talk to him without being pulled away. Don't you want to help him?" She frowned, her poor mate was alone... If she became a mercat as well, no one could stop her from being with her mate.

Bramblestar smiled, clenching his paw at his body, steam arising as he did so. He marveled at his new powers, happy that he had watched Firestar enough to know what to do. "You can stay at camp during the next Gathering. It's up to you if you wish to go to the Moonpool though." He flicked his tail happily as her gaze hardened, a determined look in her eyes.

I honestly think there will a part three to this. In H20, there are multiple Moonpools, and we only know that there are at least two of them in that universe. Why can't the Warriors Moonpool be a mermaid Moonpool then? So Bramblestar's a mercat now, and that's his version of giving Starclan the middle finger.

Sandstorm was told the full story, and now knows that mercats are real and that Firestar is in Starclan, very lonely because of the mercat business. She might be the next one to flip Starclan the bird. And when she dies in the Apprentice's Quest? Just means that she gets to give Firestar company a lot faster.

Tell me how I did.