Onestar's Confession released, I got yelled at by a Karen at work of which said encounter stuck with me for at least a day, and the Queen of England died; all in the same week. o.O
Oh, and the Warriors section of fanfiction? Absolutely swamped with trolls. Literally there are two pages of nothing but "RAID2" "RAID 15" "RAID6" and a few where one of the trolls is promoting someone getting r*ped. Not only that, but they're flooding some of the fic's review sections with such awfulness that I actually reviewed a fic myself to give the author some positivity, but they deleted the fic anyway.
If one of them actually comes onto this fic and tells me to delete this/kill myself, I'll actually laugh. Just warning everyone that does go onto fanfiction to not feed the trolls.
The timeskips in OC are all over the place. Not even going to show One and Fire meeting for the first time? Not going to show the Eclipse battle? No Gorsepaw?!
Firestar deserved a better friend is all I'm going to say on it.
Reviews are appreciated!
As Tawnypelt emerged from behind the bush, Bramblestar was aware of Jessy stiffening, her claws sliding out and her neck fur bristling as if she was ready for a fight.
'Of course,' Bramblestar thought, 'she's heard all about how hostile Shadowclan is, and she saw the Windclan intruders for herself.'
"It's okay, Jessy," he meowed. "This is Tawnypelt, my sister. Wait here while I speak to her." He padded forward the few paw steps that brought him close to his sister. Tawnypelt was looking very thin, her tortoiseshell fur ruffled and her eyes wide. "Is Rowanstar okay?" Bramblestar asked.
"He's as well as the rest of us," Tawnypelt replied. "But…oh, Bramblestar, Shadowclan is in big trouble. We've lost our camp and nearly all our hunting grounds. Our territory is so low-lying that the water has covered nearly all of it."
"You're right, that's bad," Bramblestar mewed. "Thunderclan is struggling, too. We've started hunting beyond the top border; has Rowanstar thought of doing that?"
"Yes, but our patrols ran into some trouble..." Tawnypelt lowered her head, looking uncomfortable, and scrabbled her paws in the grass.
"What kind of trouble?" Bramblestar prompted her.
Tawnypelt took a deep breath. "There are kittypets who seem to think that part of the forest belongs to them," she told her brother. "They attacked our patrols."
"Kittypets?" Bramblestar blinked in surprise. "Not the ones who live in the Twoleg nest in your territory? I thought we'd taught them a lesson."
Tawnypelt shook her head. "No, they went off with their Twolegs when the water started to rise. These are different cats."
"And they managed to chase off Shadowclan warriors?" Bramblestar found that hard to believe.
"There were a lot of them!" Tawnypelt protested. "And we… we're so hungry all the time, we're not as strong as we were." Bramblestar could understand that. Compassion for his sister clawed at him; he could see she was torn between pride and the desperate need for help.
"What do you want me to do?" he meowed. "Do you want me to give you some of our fresh-kill? That could be difficult..."
Before Tawnypelt could reply, Jessy bounded up to his side. "Hi!" she mewed to Tawnypelt.
Bramblestar wished that the kittypet had stayed where he left her. "This is Jessy," he told his sister. "She's staying with us for a while."
"I live with my housefolk over there," Jessy added with a wave of her tail across the lake. "But they left when the floods came."
"You're a kittypet?" Tawnypelt's eyes stretched wide as she gazed over Bramblestar's shoulder. "And there are more of you?"
Glancing back, Bramblestar saw that Frankie and Minty had appeared from the trees with Dovewing.
"Are you completely mouse-brained?" Tawnypelt yelped. "Giving food and shelter to kittypets at a time like this?"
"They would have died if I'd left them in the flood!" Bramblestar growled, aware of Jessy bristling by his side.
"That's hardly your problem," Tawnypelt retorted. "Well, I guess I can't expect you to help us if you're too busy feeding kittypets."
Bramblestar forced himself not to get angry. 'She's not usually this short tempered. It's only because she and her clan are in trouble.'
"Firestar showed me that compassion is a sign of strength," he responded calmly.
"Compassion?! From Firestar?!" she cried out. "Firestar is a giant, fire-breathing, winged lizard that no longer cares about the clans! The moment we put one paw-step out of line, whatever that line may be, he'll burn the lake to the ground!" She paused at the furious look he was giving her.
"Careful, his hearing has gotten much better after he fully transformed," he said calmly.
Her fur bristled at the implication that Firestar had been listening into their conversation. She turned and stalked away, then paused to look back over her shoulder. "Forget I said anything, Bramblestar," she hissed. "Rowanstar will figure out a way to save us."
'Did she come to me just to rant then?' he thought to himself incredulously.
"Wow!" Minty exclaimed, watching Tawnypelt vanish into the bushes. "She's really fiery! I can see why you don't get along with Shadowclan."
"That's Bramblestar's sister, Tawnypelt," Dovewing informed her. "She's okay."
Bramblestar was torn between anger and worry for his sister. 'Things must be really bad in Shadowclan if she's coming here to ask for help.' He knew how proud Tawnypelt was of her adopted clan. 'I'm sure Rowanstar knows nothing about this.' There was no way Rowanstar would have allowed any of his warriors to ask Thunderclan for help especially with Firestar's threat hanging over their heads.
'Didn't stop Windclan from trespassing into our territory though,' he thought cynically.
"Is everything okay with Tawnypelt?" Dovewing asked him.
Bramblestar hesitated, not sure how much he wanted to give away. "Not really," he replied at last. "But she's no worse than the rest of us, struggling to survive the flood."
Bramblestar led his patrol back to the camp, pausing to pick up Jessy's thrush on the way. When they reached the tunnel, Frankie headed straight for Millie, who was helping Briarlight with her exercises near the entrance. "Look what Dovewing and I caught," he meowed, laying the shrew proudly at Millie's paws.
"Very good!" Millie's eyes glowed as she gazed at the kittypet. "You see, it just takes a little while for you to settle in here."
"And Jessy caught a thrush all by herself," Minty added as some of the other cats gathered around to look. "She climbed up the tree and leaped through the branches just like a real forest cat!" Minty sounded as pleased as if she had caught the thrush herself.
He left them to their own devices as they started discussing joining in on battle lessons next, Minty hastily shaking her head and declaring that she would stick to hunting.
He made a beeline for the dragon sitting nearby the tunnels, trying his best to scrape off mud and dirt from his claws. Firestar looked up suddenly, noticing him, his eyes glowing. "What's wrong hatchling?"
He paced in front of the dragon restlessly as he told the dragon about his meeting with Tawnypelt, as if Firestar didn't have the ability to hear everything that went on in Thunderclan territory. "What would you do?"
Firestar had listened quietly, neatly curling his tail around his claws. He noticed that the metal tip at the end of his tail was half caked in mud. He briefly wondered if the mud had dulled its sharpness any.
"I think the correct question is what you would do, not what I would have done," he said, green eyes fixed on him.
"I don't know," Bramblestar confessed. "That's why I'm asking for your opinion."
'This could actually end up killing a cat this time. I don't want that to happen,' he lamented.
Firestar gave a rumbling hum. "Well, I would have paid Rowanstar a visit and ask if he needs help. Then he can make a decision of whether to accept that help or not," he mused.
Bramblestar sagged with relief. "You're right," he meowed. "Why didn't I think of that? What kind of leader am I if I have to ask you what to do all the time?"
He felt Firestar's muzzle brush his pelt, his ears tingling at Firestar's hot breath behind him. "You don't ask for my help all the time, hatchling. You're still new at leadership and you're doing well for yourself. You'll get better in time," he breathed.
.
.
He found Rosepetal talking with Squirrelflight, who had just convinced Purdy that the elder didn't need to be on patrol like the other warriors to be useful. She had successfully talked him into looking after the sick cats, like Sandstorm, whose cough had gone down but still spoke with a raspyness in her voice.
"I'm thinking of going over to Shadowclan to have a word with Rowanstar," Bramblestar meowed. "Just to see how he's coping."
Both Rosepetal and Squirrelflight blinked in surprise. "I don't think Rowanstar will appreciate another clan muscling in," Rosepetal told him. "Especially us," she whispered, casting a glance over at Firestar.
He could understand her point. "Blackstar was generous to me when I first became clan leader," Bramblestar responded. 'Well, as generous as he could be anyway.'
"I'd like to return the favor."
He didn't tell Rosepetal or Squirrelflight about his encounter with Tawnypelt. Squirrelflight didn't look impressed, nor did Rosepetal lose her apprehension but neither of them argued any more. "Then I'll stay here and keep an eye on the camp," she mewed.
Bramblestar glanced around to see which cats were free to come with him. For a moment, he contemplated bringing Jayfeather with him, but the tom was clearly busy sorting herbs for the sick cats in his care. He was needed in camp far more than he was needed in this patrol. "Spiderleg, Cinderheart!" Bramblestar called.
The long-legged black warrior came bounding over, while Cinderheart, who had been talking to Lionblaze under a nearby elder bush, followed more slowly, with Lionblaze still at her side.
"Can I come too?" Lionblaze asked when he heard where his clan leader and the others were going.
Bramblestar shook his head. "I'm not expecting trouble," he meowed, "so I don't want to take too many warriors with me. Besides, Lionblaze, you have a habit of bringing trouble to Shadowclan all by yourself."
"Okay," Lionblaze agreed without protest. He touched noses with Cinderheart. "Take care," he mewed softly. "You don't know what you're going to find over there."
Cinderheart gave his ear a lick. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." He wouldn't be surprised if they have some new kits in the clan soon. 'Kits!' Bramblestar thought happily. Then he let out a sigh. 'I hope they aren't born outside the hollow, in this cold, damp tunnel.'
As Bramblestar's patrol was getting ready to leave, Jessy looked up from where she was sorting herbs with Jayfeather and came racing over to them. "Good luck, Bramblestar," she meowed. "You're being a good brother to do this."
Squirrelflight looked puzzled. "What does she mean, 'a good brother'?" she asked, her tail-tip twitching. Rosepetal rose an eyebrow, gazing at Bramblestar quizzically. Bramblestar began to regret that he hadn't told Squirrelflight or his deputy about his meeting with Tawnypelt. 'But it's too late now.'
"Oh... uh... I guess Jessy knows my sister is in Shadowclan, and that I'm worried about her."
Squirrelflight didn't look convinced by his reply, her green gaze flicking from Bramblestar to Jessy and back again. "Well, isn't Jessy learning quickly," she commented after a moment. For a moment her expression twisted into something like she had swallowed something sour, but it was so quick he almost didn't believe he had saw it in the first place.
He tried his best to keep his irritation down. What was wrong with Jessy knowing something that was common knowledge to the rest of the clan?
Bramblestar led his patrol out of the camp and through the trees to the Shadowclan border. 'I can't let whatever is bothering Squirrelflight bother me right now.'
When they reached it and saw the extent of the flooding in their rivals' territory, they halted in shock at the waste of water. "I had no idea the lake had stretched so far!" Bramblestar murmured.
"It's pretty bad." Cinderheart, who had seen this on her previous patrol, was calmer. "Life must be so hard for Shadowclan now."
"Life's hard for all of us," Spiderleg mewed unsympathetically.
Bramblestar had no idea how to find Shadowclan's temporary camp, so he led his patrol along the border, staying on the Thunderclan side, his ears pricked for the sound of cats and his jaws parted to pick up their scent. Eventually a whiff of Shadowclan scent reached him and he heard the swish of long grass as cats brushed through it.
"Hey, Shadowclan!" he called out, stopping. "Over here!"
He waited, his clanmates bunched around him, until Crowfrost appeared around a bramble thicket with Tigerheart and Scorchfur a pace or two behind. All three cats looked desperately thin, their ribs showing beneath their pelts.
"What do you want?" Crowfrost growled as he stopped in front of Bramblestar. "You have no business being here."
"We haven't crossed your border," Bramblestar pointed out mildly. "But we'd like to visit Rowanstar. I want to welcome him as your new leader."
"I think they just want to find out where we've made our new camp so Firestar knows where we are to eat us," Scorchfur put in, glaring over Crowfrost's shoulder.
Bramblestar's eye twitched involuntarily at the slight.
"Well, we don't have to take them there," Crowfrost responded. "If that's really what you want," he added to Bramblestar, "then we'll bring Rowanstar to you here."
Bramblestar would have been prepared to settle for that, just to keep the peace, but Spiderleg broke in. "Look, we're all suffering from the floods," he snapped. "The last thing we want is to attack your camp or have Firestar attack you. Just take us there!"
"That's enough!" Bramblestar warned him, raising his tail.
Before he could say anything to the Shadowclan cats, Crowfrost's shoulders sagged. "Okay, then, come on," he meowed, sounding too weary to argue anymore.
The Thunderclan patrol crossed out of their own territory and followed the Shadowclan cats, heading toward the top border. The ground began to rise steeply and a cold wind whipped their fur the wrong way and rattled the tops of the spindly trees. Crowfrost came to a halt in front of a dense bramble thicket. There was a strong reek of Shadowclan, and Bramblestar could hear sounds of movement and muted mews coming from deep within the brambles. 'It looks like they camped as high up as they could because they were afraid the water wouldn't stop rising,' Bramblestar observed.
"Wait here," Crowfrost ordered. "I'll bring Rowanstar out to you." Pressing himself to the ground, he wriggled his way inside. Scorchfur and Tigerheart remained outside on guard. 'Ready to spring if we put a paw wrong,' Bramblestar thought.
Eventually there was movement among the brambles and Rowanstar appeared, followed by Crowfrost and two or three other Shadowclan cats. To his shock, Rowanstar looked incredibly tense, judging by the way his shoulders were drawn taut.
"Greetings, Bramblestar," the Shadowclan leader mewed. "Crowfrost, thank you for bringing them to see me. Crowfrost is my new deputy," he added to the Thunderclan cats, who murmured congratulations.
"And of course we congratulate you on receiving your nine lives, Rowanstar," Bramblestar meowed. "We know you will be a strong leader for Shadowclan. I see that you've managed to find a good place to camp while the water is high."
Rowanstar gave a brief nod. "Yes, we've had to move, just as you have, no doubt. But the water will soon go down, and meanwhile we're surviving."
For all his brave words, Bramblestar could see the panic in the clan leader's eyes. His tucked-up flanks suggested that he had been giving all the fresh-kill to his clanmates. But Bramblestar knew there was no point in challenging him directly about the trouble he was in. 'There's no way he would ever admit it.'
Suddenly Pinenose and Pouncetail padded up from the direction of the lake, struggling to drag dry bracken fronds behind them. Bramblestar exchanged a surprised glance with Cinderheart that warriors were fetching bedding; then he recalled that Shadowclan had so few apprentices that some of the everyday tasks would have to be carried out by warriors.
"Great, you found some!" Scorchfur exclaimed, looking pleased, as the two cats approached.
"We'll take this straight to the nursery," Pinenose mumbled around her mouthful of bracken. "Snowbird and your kits will sleep warm tonight."
"I can help you carry it in," Cinderheart suggested, stepping forward.
"I'll come, too," Spiderleg added. The warriors who were struggling with the bracken looked willing to accept help, but Rowanstar lashed his tail.
"Shadowclan can manage without Thunderclan's interference," he snapped.
"No cat doubts that," Bramblestar mewed, keeping his voice calm. "But equally it's not a sign of weakness to accept help sometimes."
Rowanstar's nostrils flared, while Pinenose and Pouncetail quickly started dragging the bracken into the camp before a full-blown argument developed. The Thunderclan warriors stayed where they were.
With a twitch of his ears Bramblestar beckoned Rowanstar a little way from the bramble thicket, so that they could talk privately. "Look," he began, deciding to get straight to the point, "I know about the kittypets who have been stopping you from hunting beyond the border. If you want, I could send some warriors to help you defeat them, just like we did when you first moved into the territory."
Rowanstar lashed his tail and his shoulder fur bristled up into spikes. "Who told you?" he demanded. His eyes were widened in fear.
As if his words had summoned her, Tawnypelt appeared from the bushes, carrying a scrawny blackbird in her jaws. The rest of her hunting patrol followed with a few more puny scraps of prey. She halted at the sight of Bramblestar standing beside Rowanstar.
Understanding flashed into Rowanstar's eyes. "Tawnypelt!" he snarled. "Over here-now!"
Tawnypelt gave her blackbird to another member of her patrol and padded over.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Rowanstar challenged her. "You told a cat from another clan that Shadowclan needed help. Thunderclan at that! Are you out of your mind?!"
Tawnypelt gave Bramblestar a glare as if to ask him why he had come blundering in. "Yes, it was me. Of course I'll ask my brother for help if I need it."
"And you call that being loyal to Shadowclan?" Rowanstar demanded.
"You've never had reason to doubt my loyalty." Tawnypelt's voice was scathing. Then she softened, taking a step toward Rowanstar. "Please let Thunderclan help us," she begged.
Rowanstar lifted his head proudly. "Never. This is my clan, and we will stand alone." He turned to Bramblestar. "We've kept to our side of the border just like you all wanted! But that doesn't give you the right to barge into our territory and start making demands!" he growled, almost hysterically.
'Demands?' Bramblestar felt a sudden rush of sympathy. 'I didn't expect that Rowanstar would just fall at our paws and beg for help. Especially since it's clear that he's still scared of Firestar.'
"Cinderheart, Spiderleg, we're leaving," he meowed.
'In making sure we stay safe, the other clans have closed themselves off to an even greater extent than ever before,' he thought. 'Would it be different if Firestar had never changed?'
The beginnings of a very paranoid Shadowclan, because I gotta make Rowanclawstar even more flawed than he already is. None of the clans really want Thunderclan's help... or more like they're trying their best to avoid them.
Except Windclan. After Onestar's Confession it really isn't out of character for them to do little things to spite Thunderclan as long as Onestar is leader.
I'm anticipating at least 15 more chapters. I think. Maybe I'll just let Shadowclan do their own thing and change canon significantly. Gotta think a bit on that one...
Tell me how I did.