Contains minor spoilers

I have finally made another chapter for this story. Sorry for not updating any of my stories in a long while. I've been busy doing other things and I just never feel like writing that much.

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Chapter 9

Brackenfur lay on his mossy bed staring out into the camp's clearing. Things have been normal, nothing new. He heaved himself up and slowly moved towards the fresh-kill pile. His tail and head drooped down and his eyes seemed dull and upset.

He watched as Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw passed by. The two newly made apprentices. He missed training Tawnypaw and was a bit upset when she left the clan. He wished he could've completed her training so he could be proud of himself. He sat near the fresh-kill pile and looked at a plump mouse. He kind of lost his appetite but maybe he'd share with Cinderpelt.

He hasn't talked with Cinderpelt in a few days. He picked up the plump mouse and trotted over towards the medicine cat's den.

"Hey Cinderpelt." He meowed. He lowered his head and dropped the plump mouse in front of her den. Cinderpelt took a few moments to respond, she was probably organizing her herbs. After a while she walked out of her den with a mouthful of herbs.

She looked over to Brackenfur and purred with delight. "I'll be right back, Dappletail has a stomach." She meowed, it was a bit unclear since her mouth was stuffed with herbs. She dashed over towards the elders den and disappeared into it. Brackenfur sighed and stared at the plump mouse.

"Brackenfur?" a voice called out to him. He looked up and saw Cloudtail and Firestar padding side by side, making their way towards him.

"Hello Cloudtail. Hello Firestar." He dipped his head politely. The white tom and the ginger tom sat down in from of him. They both glanced at each other before speaking.

"We both knew how you felt after Tawnypaw left the clan. You must have been quite upset." Firestar began.

Cloudtail cleared his voice and continued. "So, I've been searching for the perfect mentor for my only kit since she's almost six moons. I knew that you would be the perfect cat. You're experienced, you've fought in many battles and been on many patrols. Firestar said that you'd be perfect for the job." He finished with a slight purr.

Brackenfur's eyes widened. "Really? Is it true… you want me to be Whitekit's mentor?" he asked.

Cloudtail nodded. "Graystripe said you were a great apprentice. You were patient and you learned quickly." The white tom added.

Brackenfur couldn't believe was he was hearing. "That's wonderful." He meowed aloud. Then he quieted down and politely dipped his head. "Thank you Cloudtail and Firestar. I promise I'll train her well." He mewed.

"Great!" Cloudtail meowed then he turned away and trotted to the nursery to visit Brightheart and tell her the news. Firestar slowly made his way to Sandstorm near the warriors den, he quickly glanced back and gestured a good-bye with his tail.

Soon after that Cinderpelt returned with her ears flattened to her head and her tail dropping low. Brackenfur glanced at her curiously. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She sighed and glared at the elders den. "Dappletail won't stop complaining, she's driving me crazy. She's like Yellowfang but ten times worse. She's not a medicine cat so she can't tell me what to do." She hissed. Brackenfur sat beside her and wrapped his around her.

"She's just being an elder." He mewed comfortingly. Cinderpelt looked down at her paws and sighed again.

"Thanks for calming me down. I just feel so alone right now. I really miss Yellowfang, all the elders sort of remind me of her. The way they tell stories to apprentices and the way they rasp and complain when they want something to be done right away." She muttered. "Yellowfang used to tell me stories about her being a medicine cat apprentice." Her voice became quiet and she still stared down at her paws.

Brackenfur could sense her sadness and pain. "Yellowfang is watching over you right now. She'll always be with you and you're never alone. I'll be here for you." He purred. Cinderpelt looked up at him with sorrowful eyes. They started to brighten up though. His sister leaned against him and closed her eyes.

"I have some good news too." He said with a soft voice, not trying to ruin the moment.

Cinderpelt looked at him curiously. "Oh? What is it?" she asked.

"I'll be getting an apprentice." He said proudly. Cinderpelt straightened and started to purr.

"That's wonderful!" she said excitedly. The two sat next to each other for a little while until they had to return to their duties. Brackenfur left to attend his duties, hel took a quick glance back and watched Cinderpelt return to her den. He wish he could be closer, he wished he could fight along side with her in battle and hunt with her. But he knew… he knew that they had to different destinies to fulfill. They were never meant to hunt together or battle next to each other. Never…

A plump vole crawled out of the shrubs and came into the clearing. It looked around for danger but sensed none at all. After a few moments it began to dig around for things to eat and started chewing on twigs. Suddenly two white paws came flying out of the tall grass with its claws unsheathed. Those two paws landed right on top of the plump vole making it squeal in fear. Then large white fangs dug into his neck creating an everlasting silence.

"Good job!" a voice praised the young white cat. "You did a wonderful job for your first hunt."

"Thank you Brackenfur." The young white she-cat turned towards her mentor and raised her head up proudly. Brackenfur lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

"What do you smell Whitepaw?" he asked his apprentice. She lifted her small pink nose and took a big whiff. She paused to think for a moment then answered.

"I smell mouse and fox but it's stale." She mewed. Brackenfur nodded roudly.

"Great job. Now let's return to camp. You take that vole to the elders, I'm going to fetch the prey I caught earlier." He mewed. Whitepaw nodded and bounded off with vole between her jaws.

Brackenfur watched his apprentice proudly as she bounded off excitedly with the vole in her mouth. He sighed and turned away to fetch the prey he had caught earlier. He loved to have a mate and have his own kits. He wished to teach them what he knows and show them important things. He wanted to watch them grow, like Whitepaw. Cloudtail must be so proud. He wished he could feel the same. Then he thought of his sister, she could never have kits. Why did they have to be so different?

Suddenly he saw a gray cat a few fox-lengths away from him. It was Cinderpelt. She noticed him and came trotting over with a mouthful of herbs. Her lowered her head and dropped the herbs and sat next to her brother.

"What're you doing out here?" she asked. Brackenfur lookede at her and sighed again.

"Just collecting prey. Aren't you supposed to be tending Sorrelpaw's wounds?" he asked.

Cinderpelt looked at the herbs and nodded. "Yeah, I cam out here to collect some more herbs for her. Leafkit said she would look after her while I was gone. I have a feeling Leafkit may be my new apprentice!" she mewed excitedly. "My first apprentice!"

Brackenfur purred with delight. "That's great." Then he wondered is Leafkit became a medicine cat, wouldn't that affect the relationship between Squirrelkit and Leafkit? He noticed that those two kits were always very close with each other. He only wished he could be closer with his sister... but for some reason something's always is pulling the two away from each other. THey never have that much time to spend with each other. He has an apprentice now and she is a medicine cat with a future apprentice and he had a feeling that their relationship would drift farther and farther apart. Brackenfur looked into his sister's eyes and only so pride. Did she feel the same way?

"Ummm... Cinderpelt..." he began. Cinderpelt pricked her ears to listen. "Did you ever wish you could have kits?" He looked up. He saw a stunned expression on her face. Did he say something to offend her? "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" he asked.

"No..." she mumbled. "Remember when we were kits, Brackenfur?" she asked. Brackenfur nodded his head. "We wanted to be the greatest warriors. Then that accident happned." she looked at her forever injured leg. "I knew that StarClan chose a different path for me. I don't mind not having kits, I'm here to take care of the whole clan. I was never meant to be a warrior and now I have accepted it. I know you wish I could be one, we would have been closer. I do too... but you have to understand that we have two different roads to follow." she finished and took a deep breath.

"I was thinking maybe one day I could have my own family, and I would be so happy if one of my kits would follow in your footsteps." he purred happily. Cinderpelt purred as well. "I guess now we have to follow our destinies. We were never meant to be together and become the two greatest warriors. But to me you are the greatest medicine cat there is. You saved ShadowClan from that horrible disease, you follow in Yellowfang's footsteps and you helped Sorrelpaw's injured leg and you've done much more things." he touched noses with his sister. "I better get going."

Cinderpelt nodded. "Me too." She stood up and grabbed the herbs and slowly made her way back to where she had found all those herbs to collect more. The two cats took a long pause to look at each other. Brackenfur's stomach began to ache, there was something he could feel, it wasn't a good feeling either. He felt like he was leaving his sister. He had finally accepted that they would never follow the same path. He knew that his heart was now following a different road, a seperate one from his sister's. He knew now was the time to move on and accept his destiny. A destiny he could not share with Cinderpelt.

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There are probably quite a few typos, sorry. My computer keeps freezing so I had to rewrite this chapter a thousand times. (it would always freeze when I save... so it never saved) so I'm too upset and lazy to re-read it. Well I'm finally done with it. This chapter mostly talks about Cinderpelt and Brackenfur and how their relationship starts to fade and how he has to move on because he knows that he and Cinderpelt will never follow the same path. OMG, I read Twilight and I was so upset at the end for what Erin Hunter did to... well I'll try to avoid major spoilers for those who haven't read Twilight yet. I would be glad to talk about twilight with anyone, just PM me. Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed this chapter, Twilight inspired me to start writing my fics again. I'll be updating! Reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you for reading!