I've noticed that I've started updating on Fridays instead of Thursdays... probably because I'm trying to give myself time to polish chapter instead of writing everything all at once on Wednesday night :P
Am I ripping off the Erin's writing again? Please don't sue me. :(
Might not update next week. Nothing's definite yet, but I've got projects and stuff that have to be completed that are due in two weeks and of course my teachers love giving stuff out even though it's Thanksgiving.
Reviews are appreciated!
Brambleclaw stood out in the chilly air, off to the side by the leader's den. His eyes were staring intently at the nursery, where he could hear the muffled groans of Brightheart as she labored to bring her litter of kits into the world. Other cats stood around within the camp, casting glances at the nursery, wishing and hoping for Brightheart's and her kit's wellbeings. Then Poppyfrost finally poked her head from the nursery entrance.
"Brightheart has kitted!" Faces started appearing from within their dens, whiskers quivering and eyes bright.
Cloudtail was pacing outside the nursery while Mousefur hurried across the clearing on stiff legs. "How many?" the old she-cat rasped.
"Three." Cloudtail carried on pacing. "Two toms and a she-kit." He glanced anxiously at the bramble den as Cinderheart poked his head out of the entrance. "Is Brightheart okay?"
"She's fine," Cinderheart purred. "Come and see." She ushered Cloudtail into the nursery, leaving the rest of the clan to chatter about the new arrivals.
Brambleclaw could understand Cloudtail's previous trepidation, given that Brightheart was an older cat and kitting would be harder on her body.
Not to mention that it wasn't a good time for having kits. More mouths to feed during leaf-bare, and not to mention the upcoming battle that most of the warriors didn't know was going to happen, but nevertheless felt stirring within the air. Like the calm before the storm.
Mousefur whisked her tail. "Perhaps we should have sent her away to kit outside our territory." Her eyes were dark. "They'd be safer."
"Safer?" Graystripe padded toward them. "The safest place for any kit is at the heart of its clan." Brambleclaw hid a grimace, eyes glancing over their still somewhat ravaged camp.
"Safer," Mousefur snorted. "I thought it was pretty safe too until three other clans marched into our camp making demands about Firestar. Then he burned down our territory," she said bluntly.
Sandstorm exited the leaders' den and jumped down next to Brambleclaw, her eyes wistful and full of melancholy. She hadn't been sleeping within the warriors' den with the others, always sleeping in the only nest that held the faintest hint of Firestar's scent. She had missed Firestar dearly when he had been driven out, walking around and going about her day-to-day activities with an almost lost look on her face. Then Squirrelflight had left to go find him, and now Sandstorm looked even more lost than usual these days, with her having her mate and a kit missing from her life.
Brambleclaw too was lost, and he constantly found himself heading towards the leaders' den when night fell, needing to remind himself that Firestar wasn't there anymore to curl around him to exude comfort and safety.
Leafpool always had a worried look on her face, wondering where her father had gone and if her sister and daughter were okay. All three of the took to sleeping in the leaders' den, hoping every night for the safe return of Firestar and the search party.
"Feeling down?" he inquired.
"Firestar and I should have had more kits," she murmured wistfully. He briefly wondered what would have happened if Firestar and Sandstorm decided to have more kits with the way Firestar was now. He could see it already: little scaled kits flapping their tiny wings, trying to emulate flight, breathing little puffs of fire from their maws.
'Although, got to wonder if Sandstorm could even handle having sharp scales and claws inside of her for that long.' That couldn't be healthy. What if they all ended up like Squirrelflight? Who could mentor such rambunctious kits?
He supposed it would be amusing watching the clans lose their collective minds over Thunderclan having such strong warriors though.
Cloudtail slid out of the nursery, bright-eyed. "They're lively!" he purred. "Fighting over who gets to be closest to their mother's belly." The thorn barrier rustled and Jayfeather hurried into camp. The blind medicine cat immediately opened his mouth to scent the air, making his way towards Brambleclaw while casting a glance at the new, milky scents within the nursery.
"What's going on? Did something happen when you went to the Moonpool?" Brambleclaw asked him, guiding the medicine cat underneath the Highledge.
"Incredibly. Starclan's been united," Jayfeather meowed. "The medicine cats have agreed to set up a meeting between the leaders at the Gathering Island at sunhigh today in order to unite the living clans."
Brambleclaw raised an incredulous eyebrow. "All the medicine cats? You managed to convince Kestrelflight?"
"I had to pound it into his head that we all either unite or the Dark Forest could kill us all," Jayfeather said, rolling his eyes. "But I can't guarantee that any Windclan cat will show up at all."
"Of course," Brambleclaw murmured. "And I can't guarantee that Firestar will have returned by sunhigh," he muttered sarcastically.
"Well you're deputy of this clan aren't you? Time to step up. For all you know, it might be good practice for when you become leader in the future," Jayfeather commented, nostrils flaring as his sightless eyes searched the camp. "We need to bring Dovewing and Lionblaze though." Brambleclaw's tail twitched, before calling out to Dovewing, who was standing around also talking about the new kits, to bring herself and Lionblaze to him.
"What's going on?" Dovewing asked. She eyed Jayfeather as the medicine cat bit back a yawn. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
"There is plenty of time to rest before sunhigh, Jayfeather," Brambleclaw murmured.
Lionblaze pricked his ears. "What happens at sunhigh?"
"We meet with the other leaders and medicine cats on the island," Brambleclaw said. "Starclan has been united, and now we have to unite the clans."
Dovewing stared at them before letting out a gasp. "Brambleclaw is the Fourth?" Brambleclaw blinked, not sure what she meant by that.
Jayfeather gave a snort. "Brambleclaw isn't the Fourth. He's just filling in as temporary leader. The Fourth just so happens to be the one cat who can't help us at the moment."
"Please don't tell me the Fourth is Firestar," Lionblaze groaned. Jayfeather nodded, and Lionblaze closed his eyes, breathing in deeply.
"Moons of Starclan telling me that they didn't know who the Fourth was, and suddenly they came out with it last night acting like the answer was obvious," Jayfeather meowed bitterly. Brambleclaw just stared at the three aggravated cats, feeling lost. He had been recently filled in about the prophecy regarding the Three, but now there was a Fourth?
"We'll fill you in on it later," Jayfeather muttered tiredly, sensing Brambleclaw's confusion.
.
.
.
.
Apparently three cats gifted with powers weren't enough to combat the forces of the Dark Forest. Even though the prophecy had been known by Starclan since the beginning of the clans, there was a sudden need for another cat to step in to help. That Fourth cat happened to be nowhere near the clans, because he had been driven out by the very cats Firestar was destined to protect.
Brambleclaw quickly decided that he hated prophecies.
"Hear anything?" Lionblaze asked Dovewing as the group of four trekked along the shoreline towards the island. She strained her ears, listening to voices too far away for any other cat to possibly hear.
"They're all scared. I think they know that something big is going to happen if the leaders need to gather now," she meowed. "Windclan though... they think this is a trap," she scowled. "They think we're going to make demands of them like they did us."
"Mouse-brains," Lionblaze muttered. "This is serious." They continued to walk in silence until they reached the fallen tree that lead to the island.
"I still don't think I should be here," Brambleclaw said anxiously. "I'm not Firestar."
"Well someone has to lead us. You've done a good enough job already Brambleclaw, you can go further," Jayfeather said.
Blackstar suddenly emerged from the grass. Littlecloud padded after him, chin high. The Shadowclan leader's gaze narrowed when he saw Lionblaze. "Why have you brought warriors?"
"Everything will be explained when Mistystar and Onestar get here," Brambleclaw said, trying to look strong. He hoped that the other three leaders didn't think that he had gained nine lives.
Blackstar glanced over his shoulder at the trembling grass. Mistystar padded out, leading Willowshine. "Willowshine insisted I come," she growled. "She says the Dark Forest warriors are planning to invade Clan territory." Her eyes glittered with disbelief. "Has she gone mad?"
Mothwing nosed her way from the grass. "Willowshine has never been wrong before."
"But how can the dead threaten the living?" The RiverClan leader halted in the middle of the clearing.
"Do you know if Onestar is coming?" Brambleclaw asked. The other two leaders pulled a face at the mention of the Windclan leader, before shaking their heads. Then the grass started shaking again, and they all turned their heads to see Onestar and Kestrelflight step out into the clearing, the leader's body tense with reluctance. Blackstar sneered at him and Mistystar huffed, averting her gaze away from the Windclan cats. Onestar ignored the two entirely.
"This better be good, Bramblestar," Onestar growled.
"Claw. Brambleclaw. I'm not leader. I'm only standing in because a certain clan drove our actual leader out," Brambleclaw hissed.
"Alright, we don't have time for you all to fight about Firestar," Jayfeather meowed angrily. "The cats of the Dark Forest have found a way to cross into our territories."
"That's impossible." Onestar growled.
Jayfeather's tail whipped from side to side. "How dare you question a medicine cat?" His gaze swept like fire over the leaders. "Do you think we'd lie? Especially about something like this? We didn't gather you all here because we thought this was funny!"
Mistystar shifted her paws. Onestar flattened his ears. Only Blackstar replied. "Starclan and the Dark Forest have always been beyond our reach. Now you tell us we are part of a war between them?"
"Not just between them," Brambleclaw growled. "They want revenge over every clan, not just Starclan. We have to unite against them." The other three leaders narrowed their eyes at him, and then at each other.
Blackstar scowled. "Is that why you brought warriors with you? To force us to join you?"
"I brought them here because these three cats are part of a prophecy," Brambleclaw began. "Firestar was told long ago that the kin of his kin would be born with the power of the stars in their paws. For a long time no one knew what that meant. Now we do." He nodded toward Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Dovewing. "Those three cats would be them. They each have a special power that will lead them to fulfill the prophecy."
The leaders were silent, processing all the information given to them. "So where does Firestar fit into all this?" Mistystar suddenly asked. "Willowshine told me something about a Fourth. So if these cats are the Three..."
"Oh great, so Firestar has another great destiny or something," Blackstar drawled. "Must be hard to fulfill it when he's not here. How do you expect us to defeat this threat when we don't have all the cats in the prophecy?"
"We sent out a few cats to find him and bring him back-" Brambleclaw started, before Onestar's angry growl cut him off.
"You're bringing him back?! The cat who burned down Thunderclan territory to a crisp!"
"I don't see how the state of our territory is any of your business," Lionblaze growled.
"Speaking of," Blackstar cut in. "I recall that I said that I didn't want to be making an alliances with Windclan after they messed everything up last time," he sneered at Onestar. He turned to Brambleclaw and the Thunderclan cats. "You want us to unite when none of the clans want anything to do with them?" he gestured to Onestar and Kestrelflight, both looking affronted.
"And suppose we believe you about this prophecy- what powers do these cats even have?" Mistystar asked. An interrogation followed, the leaders accusing Thunderclan of spying on them once Dovewing explained how her power worked. Brambleclaw was afraid that the whole meeting was falling apart and that these cats had no interest in staying alive, until Willowshine convinced Dovewing to try to reach out and access the Dark Forest.
Brambleclaw's tail twitched nervously as Dovewing and Jayfeather described what was going on within the Place of No Stars, letting out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding in.
"You're doing well," Lionblaze murmured next to him, his tail stroking down his back. "I don't think Firestar could be doing much better here," the golden tom tried joking.
"Is that a clan cat?" Mistystar suddenly exclaimed, and Brambleclaw's attention was back onto that of the leaders.
"Why would a clan cat be in the Dark Forest?" Onestar snapped.
"They've recruited clan cats," Lionblaze sighed.
"I would never have any traitors within my clan!" Onestar exclaimed.
"Well believe it, because they've recruited cats from all the clans. They believe they are training for the sake of their clan. They don't realize they are being prepared for our destruction." Jayfeather explained. Brambleclaw wasn't a mouse-brain; it certainly wasn't thorns causing such bad injuries when those certain cats got up in the morning. It was easy to see who was training in the Dark Forest, especially because he himself had trained there before.
"Fools," Blackstar muttered, claws digging into the soft earth.
"So what do we do against the Dark Forest?" Mistystar demanded.
"We need to stand together," Brambleclaw said, stepping forward.
"I'm supposed to trust anyone here? It's not like any of you trust me right now!" Onestar hissed. "Not to mention that I would have to work together with Firestar."
"Not like we want to work with you either," Blackstar muttered crossly.
"Well you can fight with us, or you can let the Dark Forest cats tear you and your clan down, Onestar. Your choice," Brambleclaw growled. Onestar's ears pinned themselves flat onto his head, but otherwise said nothing.
Silence gripped the clearing, broken only by the fretful song of a sparrow high above them.
"We don't have a choice," Mistystar sighed after a few moments of silence. She dipped her head. "Riverclan will join Thunderclan in this battle."
"Shadowclan will join, but on Shadowclan territory, Shadowclan is in charge of any warrior from any clan." He scowled at Mistystar, Onestar, and Brambleclaw. "Even a clan leader or deputy."
Brambleclaw nodded, knowing that this was the only way for Blackstar to join. "Okay." He turned to Onestar expectantly. The pale brown tabby was averting his gaze, stubbornly refusing to speak.
"Windclan is the reason why our leader was set off, why our territory is burnt to a crisp, why we have little prey and shelter when leaf-bare is right around the corner, and why Thunderclan's leader is gone. The least you can do is fight with us. You owe us that much, Onestar," Brambleclaw said angrily.
Onestar lashed his tail angrily. "Fine! Windclan will join your alliance, but only for this battle. After this, Windclan will stand alone."
'Fine, be that way. We only needed to unite for the Dark Forest anyway. Not like you'll have any allies after this is over,' Brambleclaw thought snidely. At least he got the stubborn Windclan leader to agree.
"Starclan will be pleased," Jayfeather meowed as the other medicine cats murmured their approval, Kestrelflight murmuring his approval half-heartedly.
"Alright, we're going to need a battle plan," Brambleclaw declared. It was decided that each clan would send three warriors to the other clans, and two cats from each clan would be chosen to be the messengers between the clans, in case news or reinforcements were needed. As Brambleclaw and his cats left the island, the heaviness in his chest lessened. He and the others had successfully united the clans together against the Dark Forest! Onestar had been difficult to work with, making his... disdain for Firestar very clear through the making of the battle plans.
'But I don't think we'll be able to win this without you. Please come home soon Firestar.'
I'm debating whether to write out the battle because I'm trash at writing fights and I'm not sure how to write newer stuff. But I don't want to skip to the very end either... decisions, decisions.
I'm still seeing people that are jumping with joy at Bramblestar possibly dying for good at the end of TBC and I just-
Like literally I saw someone say that the only thing that could save the series was Squirrelstar but even then it wouldn't be enough for them to come back to the fandom like what- Ok, bye then.
I think the next chapter to this will be an interesting one... if I decide to go for that idea instead of pushing it another chapter. We'll see.
Tell me how I did.