Chapter 15

Bramblepaw had been very nervous the past few days since the incident with the dogs. He never confronted Tigerstar about his plan or told anyone in Shadowclan about it. Not even Cedarpaw or Rowanpaw.

He would always keep quiet; he knew Tigerstar had killed cats in the past. So, he was afraid that if he confronted him, he'd be killed too. He had killed cats to achieve power, so he had a feeling even his kin wouldn't be safe if it sounded like they were against him.

So, he always acted like nothing had happened, he acted like he didn't know what was going on.

Tigerstar had spent the whole morning and most of the afternoon teaching Bramblepaw fighting moves and how to track scent trails.

Bramblepaw noticed his hunger, he hadn't eaten anything since that morning. So, he went to the fresh kill pile and got a robin.

He was enjoying his dinner when Tigerstar called him.

"Bramblepaw, come here please."

Bramblepaw gulped down the food in his mouth nervously. Was Tigerstar going to question him about why he followed him to Thunderclan?

Taking a deep breath he walked over to Tigerstar's den.

When he walked in the entrance, he saw Tigerstar looking at him with a grin. Bramblepaw stopped quickly knowing he wasn't alone.

Behind him was a black tom that he'd never seen in the clan before. But he quickly calmed down when he recognized him as the cat who had escorted his sister to the boarder to meet with each other.

"You remember Darkstripe don't you Bramblepaw?" asked Tigerstar.

Bramblepaw nodded.

"Darkstripe has left Thunderclan," explained Tigerstar. "So, he's joining Shadowclan."

"Tigerstar is an old friend of mine," added Darkstripe. "And now that Firestar is leader of Thunderclan, I realized that my loyalties are to him, so I left Thunderclan to join Shadowclan."

Bramblepaw wasn't entirely convinced. Firestar had told him that Tigerstar had killed cats in the past to become leader. He wondered if Darkstripe had been involved in some of the killings and Firestar found out and exiled him.

But he didn't want to reveal his awareness of Tigerstar's past, so he nodded respectfully at his father and Darkstripe's choices.

…

The next night, Bramblepaw was more cheerful, it was the night of the gathering and Bramblepaw has one of the cats chosen to go to the gathering.

Maybe he'd get to see his sister there.

When he arrived at the gathering place, cats were gathered around. Bramblepaw noticed Tigerstar going to the high ledge to join the other leaders. He felt relieved to get some time away from his father. So, he went to look for his sister.

As he looked for his sister, he noticed Tigerstar talking with Leopardstar the leader of Riverclan. Bramblepaw remembered Tigerstar talking to Blackfoot about her. Sometimes, he even told Bramblepaw that Tigerstar sometimes went to Riverclan to talk to her.

Bramblepaw never asked Tigerstar or Blackfoot about his meetings with Leopardstar, he always assumed he would talk about alliances or boarders.

He also noticed that Firestar was in place of Bluestar on the high ledge.

"Bramblepaw," said a voice. "Is that you?" he turned around and saw his sister Tawnypaw. Like Bramblepaw, she had grown a bit too, she didn't look as broad as her brother, but she also looked half the warrior he'd be.

"Hey Tawnypaw, it's true, we're both apprentices now!" Bramblepaw cried happily nuzzling his sister's chin.

Bramblepaw looked at the leaders, then back at his sister. "You remember Darkstripe, the leader who brought you to meet with me? He moved into Shadowclan yesterday saying he left Thunderclan."

Tawnypaw was surprised.

"He didn't leave," she whispered. "Firestar exiled him."

Bramblepaw didn't seem so surprised, he had a feeling that since he was loyal to Tigerstar, that he'd get banned from Thunderclan. "Why?" he asked softly.

"One of the kits claimed that Darkstripe was talking with Tigerstar," explained Tawnypaw. "And Darkstripe tricked her into eating death berries so she wouldn't tell anyone about it."

Bramblepaw was shocked, he couldn't believe a cat would go so far as to kill a kit. He wanted to tell Tigerstar, but since he knew Darkstripe was loyal to his father, and the fact that Tigerstar had killed cats in the past himself, he wouldn't care that one of his followers did.

He wouldn't be surprised if Darkstripe had even helped Tigerstar with the murders. Or at least knew about them.

Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw then looked up to see Tigerstar standing on the high stone. He was standing in front of the other leaders, Bramblepaw realized that he was going to speak.

Tigerstar opened his mouth to make his announcement.

Author's note; what do you think is going to happen?