Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors series!

Title: Deep Dive

Summary: In a world where ThunderClan absorbed ShadowClan seasons ago, young warrior Weaselface is tasked to rebuild the fourth Clan and take her place as leader. But how can she betray all she's ever known and loved, all on the word of one ghost with a grudge?

Chapter Title: And I know that you mean so well, but I am not a vessel for your good intent

...

Something cold registered on Weaselstar's scruff as she slowly awoke. It took her a second to realize it was shaking her gently, and a second more to realize that wet thing was a paw. Thunder warbled in her ears.

Weaselstar's jaws split into a yawn as she stretched, eyes gooey. "What time is it?" she mumbled, taking the extra second to groom her face. "Ratfoot?"

Ratfoot sheepishly waved his tail. The new warrior was soaked and shaking.

"Has it been raining all night?"

He nodded.

Weaselstar sucked in a breath. What a horrible way to spend your vigil! "Alright, let's go get Bumblestorm."

She stood, wincing as Featherkit's head fell from her side to the moss. The kitten snored on. A flash of lightning showed Weaselstar her clearing had become what could gently be labeled as a bog- and this close to Leaf-bare, she held no doubt the rain was cold. She shuddered, claws kneading the relative dryness of the nursery. Hunting and patrolling is going to be a nightmare.

Ratfoot plunged into the open with one last glance. The shock of cold water destroyed any chance of Weaselstar falling back asleep as she took off at a dead sprint for the entrance, slipping and sliding. Bumblestorm peered up at her through the drizzle, soaked and muddy from a fall.

"Go clean yourselves up," she instructed, pressing her nose to their heads. "No patrols today, alright? You need to stay warm."

Bumblestorm let out an explosive sigh. "Oh thank stars. If you tried to put me on dawn patrol, I'd've probably mutinied."

"That'd've been fair," Weaselstar agreed. "If you want, you can grab first off the pile. Or you could wait for the dawn hunting patrol to come back and get something a bit less... soggy."

Ratfoot pushed his nose under Bumblestorm's elbow. "Sleep," he urged the black molly. She nodded, stood up, and trundled off towards the warrior's den. Weaselstar winced at the thought of their fresh nests getting destroyed with rainwater. Shaking herself out (it did exactly as little as she expected), Weaselstar trotted towards the fresh-kill pile. Better get some food in me before I go on patrol.

"Weasel!" cried Sweetshine, slipping and sliding on the mud. The usually white-furred warrior was quickly turning a squishy yellow as she came to stop at Weaselstar's side. "Go back to bed. I'll do dawn patrol."

Weaselstar blinked at her, surprised. "What?"

"It's time I got back into the swing of things! It's only two moons until our kits'll be apprentices, you know." Despite the terrible weather, Sweetshine managed to look surprisingly chipper about the whole thing. "Adderpelt and I decided we'd take some of the load off you today and work on sharpening our claws a bit."

A surge of anxiety struck Weaselstar as she realized both her friends had plans to work that day. "I've never been alone in the nursery before."

Sweetshine's face went flat. "Weasel, you birthed most of them."

"But what if I'm not entertaining enough? Sweets, what if I bore them?"

"You're their mother. They just want to spend time with you." Sweetshine tilted her head up to trail a long lick across Weaselstar's cheek. Her pelt went from ice cold to too warm in an instant. "Take the morning off, fluff-for-brains. You need it."

"Ah," said Weaselstar, dumbfounded. She slowly nodded. "I, uh... I can do that."

"Good! Go get dried off."

Adderpelt met her at the nursery entrance, muzzle wrinkled as she shook off her pelt. "That bad?"

"How am I supposed to go back to bed like this?" she whined, desperately licking her hindquarters.

"Relax. By the time you wake up, the nest'll be soggy anyway." It was Adderpelt's turn to give her a lick to the cheek, purring. They spoke in low tones to avoid stirring the kits. "We'll be back by Sunhigh. I'm sure Ashpaw will appreciate the sleep."

Weaselstar shot him a suspicious look. "This feels planned."

He laughed and shook his head. "Not really. We've been planning on getting back into the swing of things for a couple of days. Today just felt like a good day to give you a break. You haven't had one since you kitted."

"Oh, yeah," she meowed. It honestly hadn't occurred to her that it'd been that long. "I guess that makes sense."

Adderpelt nudged her to her paws, then towards the nest. "Go. Nap. This place'll still be gross and muddy when you wake up."

"Yeah," Weaselstar repeatedly, sinking slowly into the moss at the edge of their conjoined nest. Almost immediately she was swarmed by sleepy kittens, climbing and curling and snoring in their pursuit of bodily warmth. She blinked at them, then the camp, and it finally sunk in that things weren't going to fall apart. She didn't have to do everything right this second. She really could take a nap. "I guess it will."

Weaselstar woke to the sound of retching. She reluctantly pushed herself up by her front paws, yawning. Fuzz clung to her eyes as she smacked her lips. "Kits? What's..."

"Not us," Spottedkit reported. She had her little head poking out the front. "Gramma found the pukey-plant."

A sting of worry twisted her stomach as she heard how nonchalant the kitten sounded about it. "She ate something?"

"Yeah. The pukey-plant."

Weaselstar tip-toed over the rest of the litter and peered outside. The rain had drizzled out for the moment, but the tumultuous clouds heralded more to come. Just outside the medicine den Dew was plopped back on her haunches, heaving bile into the mud. Scraps of plants surrounded her.

"Mom?" she meowed, worried. She motioned for Spottedkit to stay back and went to her. Dew held up her paw, retched one last agonizing time, and settled in with a groan. "Mom, are you-"

"Sortin' herbs," Dew grunted. "Found the one that makes you hurl."

Weaselstar awkwardly sat down beside her, surprised when Dew leaned on her for support. The molly took in deep breathes. "Are you- are you eating them on purpose?"

Dew shrugged. "How am I supposed to know what the damn things do otherwise?"

"That's dangerous! You could eat any number of-"

"Fine. Give me the one that stops my stomach hurting. Go on. Pick it out."

Weaselstar opened her mouth to breathe in all the smells. It was all bog water and mud. Shreds of green and berries surrounded them. She recognized, distantly, that there was some poppy seeds and juniper berries, but neither of those were for stomachache. "Um," she said.

"'Xactly." Dew snatched a pawful of small green leaves out of the pile. "It's these, by the way."

She grimaced, watching her chew and swallow. I never realized how hard it'd be to learn medicine from scratch. Weaselstar couldn't help but feel a bit silly. Of course it is. I can barely tell a seed from a root! "Briarstar talked to me at the last Gathering about a training program. Maybe we should-"

"I can learn on my own!" she snapped, stamping a paw into the mud.

"Not if you kill yourself in the process."

Dew looked away, ears flat.

Weaselstar sighed. I'm not going to get anything more out of her. She touched her muddy paw and stood. "Just- think on it, okay? If you need me, I'll be with the kits." The sky grumbled in agreement as she stood and walked away, only to stop mid-step at Dew's voice.

"Have you told them about Antpaw?"

The name instantly sent shudders up her spine. She whirled around, fur along her back rising. "What about him?" she demanded, claws digging into the soggy ground. She doesn't know, does she?

Dew blinked at her. "He died in front of you. That's not easy to get over."

She thinks this is about the battle. Weaselstar forced her pelt to lie flat. She didn't know if that was better or worse. "I'm not telling my kids about the time I watched my friend bleed to death, Dew. That's just- so fucked up. Why would I do that?"

"I told you about Mudcloud," she replied, shrugging.

The molly snorted and rolled her eyes. Of course. It always goes back to Mudcloud. "And look where that got us! Why is it so hard for you to understand that he doesn't matter?"

The air felt hot as Dew's eyes settled on her pelt. She looked haunted. "I lied."

"...What?"

"I told Spiderstar I didn't know he was going to take them. But I did. I... I helped him."

Blood roared in Weaselstar's ears. "My littermates?"

"They're out there, somewhere. Living happy little house cat lives." Dew swallowed heavily. "I couldn't give you that life, Weasel. I tried. I tried so, so hard. I turned Mudcloud in- he was muttering weird shit in his sleep and blathering about plans when he was awake. I wanted to run away with you while he and Spiderstar fought. And he... I didn't know he had you. I swear."

"Stop. Just. Stop." Weaselstar felt her teeth clack on each word. Dew flinched back. "Look. I know this means a lot to you. But, to me, it doesn't change anything. Spiderstar is a bad leader. Dad died. I'll probably never meet my littermates."

"But what if you did?" she urged. "Don't take this from them. From me. Don't let these strangers into this place. They could be-"

"I'm not- are you serious?" Weaselstar felt like someone had cuffed her across the face. "I'm not risking ShadowClan's future on your mistakes."

Dew shook her head. "It was never a mistake. And I don't regret it."

"That's because you got to live," she snarled. The change was instant. Dew shriveled under her, looking older than the trees. Wrinkles and gray hairs were prominent on the rogue, squished in some mud with sick hardly a whisker-length beside her. "Look, Dew. Nothing is forcing you to stay here. If you hate this place that much, leave. Please." Her voice broke. "I'm trying so hard not to be Spiderstar. But if you hate it here, and you won't leave because of me, doesn't that mean I'm doing exactly what he did?"

"I'm not-" she started, stopped, and stared at her paws. "Leave me alone."

Weaselstar grit her teeth against the newest wave of frustration. "Fine."

The rest of the kits had begun to stir as Weaselstar pushed inside, holding the fattest, soggiest shrew she'd ever seen. "Morning, kids. Anyone want a soggy appetizer while we wait for breakfast?"

"Mom," Spottedkit moaned, rubbing her eye. "No one's gonna eat that."

She set it down. The tang of blood hardly registered against the pounding in her head. "That's exactly why I'm gonna eat it, miss missy. You're welcome to join if you're thirsty. It's more of a drink than food by now."

The shrew squished out slightly. Honeykit cringed. "Ew! Is it gonna rain like this all the time?"

"Not all the time. It snows in Leaf-bare."

"What's snow like?" Featherkit asked, eyes wide and curious. "You said we got to be apprentices when it came, right? So what's it like?"

She took a bite to compose herself. She didn't think she and Dew had ever fought like that before. Granted, that's because we only saw each other like once a moon. Even if she had felt right to say what she said, it made her feel like she'd swallowed a bad piece of fresh-kill. Only the shrew was wet, not diseased.

"It's soft like rabbit fur," she decided, swallowing. "Only cold, and it falls on your head. Then it melts and it's wet."

Willowkit sighed dreamily. "I like rabbit fur."

"It's not all fun and games," Weaselstar warned, whiskers trembling. It was hard to keep a bad mood up around the kits; even as the worried thoughts haunted her, she found herself trying to entertain them instead. "There's not much food in Leaf-bare. There's no leaves, and no birds to chirp."

"Why don't they chirp?"

"They go away somewhere. You'll see; soon bunches of birds will fly in the sky together, all going the same way. I don't think any cat's ever followed them."

Elmkit snorted. "Yeah, right. When we start hunting, we'll catch so many birds there won't be any bunches left."

"Tough talk." Weaselstar found herself purring. "Lemme see your hunter's crouch."

The brown and white tabby did a little bounce and crouched. Her front paws were close to the ground, ears pricked, eyes alert. Her little claws had slid out. Elmkit bared a little teeth, as if trying to intimidate an imaginary squirrel.

Weaselstar tilted her head a little. "Your tail's sticking up. And, uh, so is your rear."

"Your butt," Honeykit snickered.

Elmkit squeaked with indignation. "I'm preparing a pounce!"

"Bunch your legs under you. It helps your pounce get air-time."

"I know, mom," she grumbled, but dropped her haunches. Her tail stuck up straight regardless.

"Sweetie. Tail."

"What's it matter?"

Weaselstar grabbed the moss nest and rucked it up over her front paws. "Am I hidden?"

Spottedkit snorted. "No!"

She ducked her head and ears inside. "How 'bout now?"

"Sort of?" Honeykit squeaked. "Your butt's sticking out."

"Rear," Willowkit corrected absentmindedly.

Weaselstar did a little hop and let her bottom legs stretch to their usual height, tail- and, well, butt- in the air. "Do I look like a rock?"

She heard assorted giggling and returned to the surface. "Prey won't know you for a rock if you crouch. But they can tell a tail for a weed."

Elmkit blew a raspberry, crouched properly, and pounced. "I'm gonna get you!"

And Weaselstar, glad for the distraction, gladly rolled onto her side to play.

Author's Note: This was actually gonna be a more chill chapter! But sometimes my characters act out on their own, and the talk between Dew and Weasel went out of control. That said, I love writing Weasel and the kid interactions, and I'm definitely gonna have more soon! But next time we're gonna get some new(?) friends.

-Mandaree1