I'm so sorry for my lack of updating, but my laptop is broken, so I can't type from there. My updates won't be as frequent until I get the problem fixed, just so you all know. But here's the next chappie, Brambleclaw's POV...
Brambleclaw was prodded awake by Graystripe a few nights before the next Gathering. He had slept late, which was not unusual for the warriors these days- the easy routine of newleaf had lulled them all. Only Leafpool's prophecy and Brambleclaw's own dream hung over the tabby warrior, a cloud in an otherwise clear sky. Leafpool still hadn't told anyone about either dream yet. Brambleclaw shared her want for secrecy; his meeting and advice from Lionheart, Bluestar, and Redtail seemed private, somehow. But Leafpool was the medicine cat. Wasn't it her duty to share what she learned from StarClan with them all?
But Brambleclaw didn't dwell on it too much, if only from the realization there was nothing he could do. He let himself join the rest of the Clan in the quiet joy that they were finally back to normal- no traveling, no Twolegs, and no murderous, plotting cats behind them.
"Brambleclaw, wake up, you lazy furball!" Graystripe growled good-naturedly. "I'm to get all the rest of you on your paws before I head off on the morning's patrol. Sootfur, Rainwhisker, are you coming?"
The brothers lifted their heads instantly and nodded. As they got to their paws to join the deputy, Brambleclaw asked, "Will you take Birchpaw with you? It'll be good experiance for him."
"And a good workout for us," groaned Sootfur. "From what I hear, he's an enthusiastic little cat."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Graystripe twitched his ears at him. "It's nice to have someone around here that doesn't think that lying in your nest all day is part of the warrior code."
Rainwhisker rolled his dark blue eyes. "Sure, Brambleclaw. We'll take him."
They padded out of the den, Graystripe leading, Sootfur and Rainwhisker behind. The brothers were rarely apart, despite how different they were. Sootfur was sharp and swift, a great warrior, if a rashly thinking one. Rainwhisker was more careful, and he had an experianced wisdom about him reminiscent of his father Whitestorm, who had died when he had been only a kit.
Brambleclaw nodded after them and then glanced around the den. He caught sight of Squirrelflight's bright ginger fur in the other corner. He padded over and brushed her ear with his muzzle to wake her up. "Hey," he meowed. "Want to go hunting together? Birchpaw's out on patrol."
Squirrelflight jumped up at once, her green eyes flashing with eagerness. Brambleclaw wondered if she'd been feeling a bit neglected lately, since he'd been so busy with his first apprentice. Brambleclaw had been spending a lot of time with Birchpaw, helping him to perfect his stalking and hunting. They'd be starting fighting training soon, and Brambleclaw felt a prick of pride to think that he may fight beside the young cat one day in battle.
"Let's go," Squirrelflight meowed, shaking the moss off her pelt. "Unless you want to sit around and wait for some stupid mouse to come walking into camp."
Brambleclaw flicked her with his tail. "We'll grow cobwebs in between our claws if we wait that long.."
Squirrelflight twitched her whiskers. "Well, we'd better get going then."
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Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight raced each other through the forest, towards the ShadowClan border. They skidded to a halt as they neared the pines, their breath coming in short puffs. Squirrelflight recovered first, and her orange fur bristled as she looked around. "Right, where's the prey?"
"It's as if you think the voles are going to amble over and sit down on your paws," Brambleclaw teased, and she reached over and tugged his tail with her paw before falling into the hunters' crouch. Brambleclaw mirrored her stalk, his tail lashing around his legs as he scented the air. His amber eyes flashed as he picked out the fresh smell of shrew, and the hunt began.
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The two young warriors were tottering under their catch of prey when they came back into camp at sunset. Brambleclaw dropped his catch in the pile, and Squirrelflight did the same, keeping a rabbit for herself. Brambleclaw chose a sparrow for his meal and then followed her over to a cleared place of the hollow- flat stone that the sun reached, so it was always pleasantly warm. It was a favorite place for the warriors to eat, and Cloudtail was already there with Whitewhisker and Brightheart.
"Good hunt?" asked the white tom.
"You bet," Squirrelflight purred.
"It's good that newleaf's finally here," Brightheart commented. Her one good eye looked over her daughter Whitewhisker as if imagining that she was still a kit in the nursery. Brambleclaw was reminded of how much fear they had all gone through, between the Twolegs and the trouble of settling in their new home. It must seem like a miracle to some of them that they were all still here, able to fall back to old routines.
"And Sorreltail's kits will be born before too long," Cloudtail meowed. "StarClan knows we could use some more warriors."
"They'll be kits before they become warriors," Whitewhisker mewed, her green eyes wide with pleasure. "I love kits. I can't wait for my own litter!"
"Wait a little while yet," Cloudtail told her, suddenly sharp, and Brambleclaw bit back a purr of amusement to see the impudent white warrior acting like a father.
Whitewhisker ignored him. "What about you, Squirrelflight?" she meowed eagerly. "Do you want kits?"
Squirrelflight's claws dug into her fresh-kill and she looked down, uncharacteristically awkward. "I dunno," she mumbled.
Brambleclaw looked at her, feeling his own pelt prickle at the thought of her having kits one day...his kits, maybe?
He shook himself. He was thinking too far into the future, he knew. There was no way of knowing that would ever happen. There was a small part of him that felt excited at the thought. But a greater part of him almost dreaded it. What did he know about being a father?
If we ever did have kits, he realized, they would carry Tigerstar's blood. Just like me. And I wouldn't wish that legacy on any cat.
As his eye caught Squirrelflight's flame-colored pelt, something else occured to him, too. His and Squirrelflight's kits would carry Firestar's blood, as well as Tigerstar's. How could the children of two such bitter enemies ever work out together?
All the trouble Squirrelflight and I have had...is it a sign from StarClan that we just aren't meant to be?
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"Graystripe, Sandstorm, Cloudtail, Whitewhisker, Brambleclaw, Squirrelflight, Dustpelt, Ferncloud. Leafpool and Cinderpelt, of course. And Birchpaw. You're to go to the Gathering." Firestar's call from the Highledge made Brambleclaw prick up his ears. He would get to see Tawnypelt again tonight. And Hawkfrost, too. He hadn't seen his half-brother since the incident with the rogues, and he looked forward to seeing how he was doing now.
Squirrelflight padded beside him on the way there. Despite his recent misgivings, Brambleclaw decided that it would be mousebrained to dismiss his feelings for her entirely on the whim that he wasn't even sure was true. Their pelts brushed as they leaped off the log onto the island. The scent of WindClan and ShadowClan was on the air, though not RiverClan yet.
"I'm going to look for Crowfeather and Tawnypelt," Squirrelflight meowed. "Are you coming?"
Brambleclaw opened his mouth to reply, but he was broken off by Birchpaw's excited squeak. "That's ShadowClan scent, right? Does that mean that Toadkit and Marshkit and Applekit are here?"
Brambleclaw looked down at his apprentice. He had secretly harbored the hope that Birchpaw would forget his friends in ShadowClan, but it was clear that he hadn't. "They might be," he meowed. "I'll help you look for them." He glanced over at Squirrelflight. "I'll catch up with you in a bit."
She nodded and disappeared into the throng, leaving Brambleclaw to pad beside his apprentice. Birchpaw's light green eyes were very big as he looked around. "Wow! Look at all the warriors! Is that Tornear, Brambleclaw? And Russetfur?"
"Yes." Brambleclaw gave his ear a quick lick. "I wouldn't go rushing up to some of them, though, if I were you. Older warriors are known for their sharp tongues!"
Birchpaw didn't seem fazed, but he walked along a bit more carefully after that. Brambleclaw lifted his nose to the air, wondering where RiverClan was. It was late already, and he would like to see Hawkfrost before the meeting began.
"Birchpaw!" The young apprentice pricked up his ears delightedly at the call, and a moment later a small tom with long, mottled fur came rushing out of the crowd, bowling over the ThunderClan cat. Birchpaw tussled with the mottled cat for a moment before leaping back up. "Marshkit!"
"Marshpaw now," corrected Marshpaw with pride. "Toadpaw and Applepaw, too."
"Are they here?"
"Yeah! Applepaw's been dying to see you. And all three of us wondered how you were getting on." Marshpaw's yellow eyes widened. "But you look all right. For a ThunderClan cat."
"And you look fine too. For a frog-eater." Birchpaw purred with laughter, and Brambleclaw felt his tail curl up in amusement. That was the first time he had ever heard a cat deliver a poke at the ShadowClan cats' habits without getting their ears ripped off.
"Hey, Birchpaw!" Now Toadpaw and Applepaw scrambled out to meet the ThunderClan cat. Brambleclaw watched as the four friends circled each other, meowing eagerly, showing far more affection than he had ever seen between the Clans- except for how it had been for him and the other questing cats, on the journey to the sun-drown place.
Was this a good thing or a bad thing, though? He knew that ShadowClan wouldn't welcome such a connection with ThunderClan, and Firestar wouldn't bound to be happy to hear that Birchpaw had such good friends in ShadowClan. But Brambleclaw couldn't help being pleased with the whole thing. Was this a sign that the Clans had indeed come together at some point, and they wouldn't forget it?
"Brambleclaw!" He turned around when he heard Squirrelflight calling his name. The ginger she-cat's eyes were wide with excitement, and Tawnypelt was beside her, as well as Crowfeather, who looked distinctly embarrassed.
"You'll never believe it, Brambleclaw!" Squirrelflight purred. "Crowfeather's the new deputy!"
"Deputy?" Brambleclaw repeated blankly. Crowfeather jerked his head up, a familiar defensive look in his eyes. "Hard to believe, isn't it? Onestar chose me!"
Brambleclaw ignored the cold tone to his mew. "That's...that's great!" he meowed, hishappiness for his friend hitting him at last. "You must be pleased."
Crowfeather ducked his head, but not before they all caught the gleam of pride in his expression. Tawnypelt nudged him. "Don't get too excited, why don't you?"
"It's just...hard to believe," Crowfeather confessed. "There are a lot more experianced warriors- like Moonfrost and Robinwing. They've been warriors much longer than I have."
"Older, maybe," Squirrelflight meowed, "But who could be more experianced than you, who made it all the way through the mountains with your tail still intact?"
Even Crowfeather's whiskers twitched at the light statement. Brambleclaw purred with laughter for a few moments, and then realized that Squirrelflight's statement was almost the same as what Hawkfrost had once said to him. But she wouldn't fancy to know that. She accepted that he was friends with his half brother, but he knew that she still didn't trust him, and probably never would.
"But Ashfoot must be dead, then," Tawnypelt meowed to Crowfeather. "I'm sorry."
Crowfeather lifted his tail. "She was a great warrior," he growled stoutly. "And she was my mother. I'll never forget her."
Brambleclaw touched his tail to his shoulder in a gesture of comfort just as RiverClan appeared, some of them swimming, some of them on the log. Brambleclaw turned his head to look for Hawkfrost, but as he did he caught Crowfeather's eye one more time. The guarded look fell away for a heartbeat, revealing a confused, guilty stare. Brambleclaw blinked, and when he did Crowfeather was the same old Crowfeather again, all traces of that helpless, worried gaze washed away. But Brambleclaw was sure that he hadn't imagined it.
That doesn't make sense, he thought, perplexed. What would Crowfeather- who tried harder than any of us to stay loyal to his Clan- have to hide?
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