Obligatory disclaimer that I don't own Warriors because I took from the books again and I don't want the Erins to sue me. Especially cause it's my birthday tomorrow and a lawsuit would be the worst birthday gift ever.
Happy 2nd anniversary to Ignite! It's been 2 years since I started writing for this thing and I'm amazed at how much I've done for this fic alone. I never imagined that I would write a fairly serious multi-chapter fic. Now I just gotta... make sure we don't reach a 3rd year of writing this...
Thanks to everyone whose journeyed with me so far.
Reviews are appreciated!
Bramblestar and his patrol trekked up to the ridge, then trudged along the top toward the swollen stream. Once out of the shelter of the trees, the wind blustered around them, flattening their pelts to their sides, and rain flicked in their faces. Though he kept halting to look and listen for Windclan cats, Bramblestar couldn't pick up any trace of them, not even a whiff of their scent. But from here there was no clear view down to the lake. 'That patrol could be anywhere.'
When they reached the stream, Bramblestar detected Windclan scent along the bank; it was fairly fresh, as if it might have been left by the patrol he had seen earlier. "They came this way," he meowed. "So they must have crossed farther up. Let's go."
Before they had traveled many more fox-lengths, they crossed their own border scent markers. Bramblestar's paws tingled as he led his patrol out of clan territory.
"This is the way to the Moonpool," Snowpaw informed Jessy, pattering along beside her. "I wish I could go there. It sounds so cool!"
"What's the Moonpool?" Jessy asked.
"All the medicine cats go there," Snowpaw told her. He seemed delighted to be teaching a cat who knew even less about the forest than he did. "That's where they meet with Starclan."
Jessy opened her jaws to ask another question, but Snowpaw forestalled her. "Starclan are the spirits of our dead ancestors," he informed her. "They tell medicine cats omens and stuff."
Jessy blinked and shot Bramblestar a glance full of confusion. "Starclan? Dead cats?"
"Shh." Bramblestar raised his tail to silence them. "There might be Windclan cats about."
The patrol's pace slowed as the ground became rockier. The stream was still fast flowing and overfull, but narrower here as it cut through a deeper channel. Bramblestar began to think it might be possible to leap over it. 'Though I wouldn't want to try it,' he thought with a shiver as he watched the roiling water.
Ivypool had bounded ahead of the rest of the patrol. Suddenly she turned back, gesturing with her tail. "Come and see this!" she called.
Bramblestar picked up the pace until he reached Ivypool's side and saw a fallen tree wedged across the stream. The flood must have washed it down from the mountains, he realized. The current had thrown debris against the tree on both sides of the stream, and water was breaking over the top, but Bramblestar had no doubt that this was the crossing place. The whole area reeked of Windclan scent.
"Those impudent rabbit-chasers!" Ivypool exclaimed. "Now what are we going to do?"
"We'll have to dislodge the tree," Bramblestar mused, examining it carefully. He couldn't imagine how they were going to manage that; the trunk was firmly wedged among the rocks on both sides of the stream.
"I'll take a closer look," Jessy meowed, leaping onto the trunk and running confidently along it.
Bramblestar admired how light-pawed and nimble she was, realizing she must have had practice walking along the fence-tops by the Twoleg dens. He was one of the biggest cats in all the clans, taking after his father; he would never be that agile. His clanmates looked a bit startled, though they said nothing.
"Can't we have Firestar destroy it? All he would have to do is step on it," Foxleap joked.
It didn't sound like a bad idea. But Bramblestar had a feeling that the dragon wouldn't be too receptive of the idea. Firestar was constantly telling them that the clan couldn't rely on him for everything, or they wouldn't learn anything.
But if removing the fallen tree proved too difficult for the clan, then was it too much of a stretch to ask Firestar for help? He considered Bramblestar his hatchling; he would have to at least listen to him.
He loved him.
He immediately banished the thought from his head. Manipulating Firestar's feelings, amplified by the stone, wouldn't be fair to him.
"Bramblestar!" Foxleap jolted him out of his thoughts. "I can smell Windclan cats. They're coming this way."
Turning away from the tree trunk, Bramblestar parted his jaws to taste the air. Foxleap was right. He drew in fresh Windclan scent, growing stronger with every heartbeat. And it was on their side of the stream. "Hide!" he ordered. "Jessy, get back here!"
While the brown kittypet ran back along the tree trunk, Ivypool and Snowpaw dived into the shelter of the rocks. Bumblestripe flattened himself underneath a low-growing thorn bush, and Bramblestar shoved Jessy in beside him. She peered out at him, wide-eyed with excitement at the sudden crisis.
"They'll see my white fur!" Snowpaw gasped from behind a rock.
"No, they won't." Bramblestar threw himself down on top of the apprentice, who wriggled underneath him and stuck his head out, gasping for breath.
Cautiously Bramblestar craned his neck to see around the rock. The Windclan patrol he had seen earlier was heading up the stream, panting and scrambling over the stones. Rosepetal and her patrol were bounding after them, screeching. Harespring skidded to a stop beside the tree trunk and turned to face the pursuing Thunderclan patrol while the other three Windclan cats ran across the log. All of them looked disheveled, as if the Thunderclan cats had given them a few swipes, but no cat was seriously hurt. Once his clanmates were across safely, Harespring sprang after them, with a final hiss at Rosepetal and her warriors.
Bramblestar waited until the Windclan patrol had vanished downstream, heading back toward their own territory, then emerged from hiding. The rest of his patrol followed to meet Rosepetal and her cats beside the stream. To his relief, all of Rosepetal's patrol seemed unhurt, except for Thornclaw, who was dabbing at a scratch on his muzzle. Actually, they looked better than they had for days, energized by the skirmish that had driven off the rival clan.
Now that Windclan were back on their own territory, the next problem they had to solve was how to remove the fallen tree so that Windclan didn't come back. To Bramblestar's surprise, Ivypool and Jessy already had their heads together, thinking of ways to shift the temporary bridge.
"We can't break the tree trunk, or chew through it," Ivypool muttered.
Jessy nodded. "Suppose we dislodge all this rubbish that's piled up against it," she suggested. "Then the extra force of the current might wash the log away."
"That might work. . . ." Ivypool sounded doubtful. "But where would we stand to do it? Besides, that would mean at least one cat being stuck over the other side."
"Then we have to dislodge just one end," Bramblestar meowed, padding over to join the discussion. "That way, the whole thing might fall into the stream."
"Okay, let's give it a try," Cloudtail mewed impatiently.
All the cats clustered together and tried to push the end of the log. But there wasn't enough room on the bank for all of them to reach and add their strength. The log didn't move.
Jessy leaped down onto the collection of twigs and debris washed up by the stream, to try pushing from there, but it rocked alarmingly under her paws. Panic rushed through Bramblestar as he saw her stagger, about to lose her balance and fall into the torrent. In that moment, he remembered Lilypaw and Seedpaw almost drowning, and he had been helpless to stop it. He remembered Poppyfrost almost drowning in their quest for a measly blanket for Seedpaw and Lilypaw. Leaning over precariously, he grabbed her by the scruff and hauled her back to the bank.
"Thanks!" Jessy gasped.
"I won't lose any cat to these floods," Bramblestar meowed grimly, though he was sure there was real panic showing through his eyes.
"Actually, that was a good idea," Rosepetal told Jessy, turning away from the tree trunk. "If we could strengthen that twiggy stuff so we could stand on it, then we could give the log a bigger shove than we can from the bank."
"Then let's look for something to do that," Bramblestar mewed. As the group of cats scattered in different directions, he added to Jessy, "Stay close to me, just in case."
"In case of what?" Jessy asked with a gleam in her eyes.
"Anything," Bramblestar muttered. He could feel his heart still pounding wildly in his chest.
They managed to find a large hawthorn bush with prickly branches further upstream. Besides almost sliding past the fallen tree and Cloudtail gaining a few thorns lodged in his pelt, pushing the bush into the current so that it firmly hit the fallen tree went smoothly for the most part.
"It worked!" Poppyfrost exclaimed.
"Let's hope so," Bramblestar muttered. "There's still a long way to go."
Balancing carefully, Rosepetal ventured out onto the bush. The branches sagged under her weight, but she stayed on her paws. "I think it'll be okay," she reported. "But we'd better have the lightest cats out here, and the rest should stay on the bank."
Poppyfrost leaped forward, but she was a bit too eager. The bush shifted under her weight and she almost slid backward into the stream until she dug in her claws and hauled herself into position beside Rosepetal. Bramblestar let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, remembering how Poppyfrost had fallen from the tub and almost drowned-
"Not you," Bramblestar suddenly turned to Snowpaw as the apprentice got ready to follow the two she-cats. He wasn't going to risk losing an apprentice, not so soon after Lilypaw and Seedpaw's near death experience. The young cat looked disappointed, so Bramblestar added, "I need a cat to keep watch. Let us know if you see any warriors coming up from Windclan."
Snowpaw brightened up immediately. "Right, Bramblestar!" He puffed out his chest and stood on the bank just downstream of the tree trunk, his ears pricked and his gaze fixed on the Windclan side of the torrent.
The plan worked wonderfully, and Jessy, Rosepetal, and Poppyfrost had managed to land on solid earth before the current took the bush away like it had the fallen tree. Every cat was spattered with mud, their pelts soaked through and torn by the prickly bush, and yet the light of triumph shone in their eyes.
"We did it!" Ivypool yowled. "Windclan can't get across here anymore."
"They might find another place higher upstream," Bramblestar pointed out, "but Thunderclan should be safe for a while. Great job, all of you."
Rosepetal nodded. "Let's get back to camp."
Bramblestar felt worn out and battered as he led the way down the hill, back onto Thunderclan territory. But success had set his paws buzzing with new energy, and for the first time since the storm had broken he began to feel hopeful that they might get through this.
"You two can set scent markers along the bank of the stream," he told Ivypool and Poppyfrost. "We'll make it clear to Windclan that we're taking back our territory."
"I'll help too!" Snowpaw chirped.
Bramblestar watched with satisfaction as his clanmates left enough Thunderclan scent to swamp the remaining traces of Windclan. 'Let's hope they've learned their lesson. After all, it's not like they can't drink from the stream on their own side.' He then thought of Firestar, and wondered how much pushing from Windclan it would take for the dragon to make good on his promise to the clans. 'If anything, we're helping them.'
"You know," Cloudtail meowed as he padded along beside Bramblestar, "it feels weird to be completely cut off from Windclan like this. Back in the old forest, Firestar and Tallstar were such good friends. It's a pity that's all changed, now that Onestar is leader."
"I know." Bramblestar sighed. "Especially since Onestar got on well with Firestar when he was Onewhisker."
"I appreciate that we're separate clans," Cloudtail went on, "but these days the Windclan cats look at us as if they want to rip our fur off. It still bothers Firestar, too. Or rather, angers him."
"Tell me more about Firestar," Jessy begged, bounding up to join them. "You all seem to respect him so much, even though he's a giant lizard with wings. How does something like that end up being surrounded by a bunch of cats anyway?"
The two toms exchanged an amused glance. "Actually, Firestar used to be a cat," Bramblestar purred in mirth.
Her eyes stretched wide in surprise. "Wait, seriously? How did that happen?"
Bramblestar hesitated for a heartbeat, unsure if sharing prior events was really his to tell. "Have you seen a small red dot in his chest?"
She contemplated the question. "I think? I thought I saw something glow back when I first met him," she mentioned.
He nodded in confirmation. "When it first appeared, it entered Firestar's body and started slowly changing him into what you see now." His tail lashed involuntarily, not able to keep his anger over the stone out of his voice.
"And I was there for it!" Cloudtail chimed in. "It was a pretty looking stone that chipped off from this huge rock that fell from the sky."
"A huge rock that fell from the sky?" Jessy asked incredulously.
"Yeah, it formed a big crater and everything." He turned to Bramblestar. "Think it's filled up with water by now?"
"I think everything in the forest is filled with water at the moment," the leader said bluntly. Somewhere behind him, he heard Thornclaw snort in amusement.
They walked in silence for a few more heartbeats. "It must have been hard then, having your dad become something else entirely," Jessy stated.
He tripped on his paws, stopping to a halt as he tried stabilizing himself, his ears turning red as Thornclaw and Cloudtail laughed uproariously at his expense. One for the mighty leader of Thunderclan tripping over nothing, and again for the 'dad' comment.
Jessy for her part, looked confused. "He's not really my father," he said through gritted teeth, glaring at the two senior warriors, who had calmed down but were still snickering at him.
"But he calls you his hatchling. Isn't that just another word for kit?" Cloudtail sputtered in laughter again.
"He… considers me his son, I suppose," he whispered to her. Starclan, he really hoped that Firestar was off hunting by those mountains he liked to frequent so much. Otherwise, the dragon was probably hearing every last bit of the conversation. For once, he cursed Firestar's hearing.
"You don't consider him your father?"
The question made him pause. Firestar certainly acted like his father over the last couple moons. He remembered back to when the tom said he had been more of a father to him than Tigerstar had been.
'But that was just the stone manipulating his feelings and thoughts for me, right?'
Finally he turned to Jessy. "He makes me feel… safe," he answered.
He loved him.
It was more than a feeling of safety. He hadn't felt so loved in moons, not before Firestar's changes set in.
He was thankful that the conversation had switched to Jessy asking about the warrior code, before her stream of questions were silenced and satisfied.
He could have keeled over in embarrassment once they reached the temporary camp, with Firestar's unmistakable figure in view.
"I'll go and sort out the nests and sleeping places for everyone," Rosepetal said as she brushed past him. "Meanwhile, you can go greet your father," she snickered teasingly. The rest of the patrol, barring Jessy purred in mirth. His ears flattened themselves to his head, pelt ruffled in embarrassment.
Firestar's gaze had bored into him as soon as he and his patrol had stepped foot into camp. He averted his eyes away from the dragon as he slowly made his way over, feeling soreness set in from pushing the fallen tree.
A scaly black tail lashed out and wrapped around his body and brought him to Firestar's claws just as quickly. He finally looked up to face the dragon.
He was floored by the sheer pride and love and possessiveness that Firestar was exuding.
He resigned himself to doing nothing else for the day. Firestar wasn't going to let him go anytime soon, and no one had the heart (or bravery) to ask the dragon to release their leader.
I'm making poor Bramble think. Also he was witnessing cats drown or almost drown left and right during this time but never showed any problems in the book? He might have some PTSD in my version...
Poor Rosepetal has a lot on her plate because Firestar is a very clingy, very possessive dragon.
I hate ending these chapters because they feel so awkward. But there needed to be some Firedad and Brambleson in there because 2nd anniversary and all that. And because I say so.
Tell me how I did.