Chapter 11: Executing the Plan of Destruction

Blizzardsnow arrived in Thunderclan a little past sunhigh, with three squirrels in his jaw hanging by their tails. He laid them at the pile and chose a plump pigeon to bring to his mate, Beechnut. Beechnut is a russet/brown she-cat with green eyes. Her fur smells sweet, like you were smelling a rose. He padded into the nursery to find his kit, a white and brown she-kit with blue eyes with a fluffy tail. "Blizzardsnow!" mewed the white and brown kit. "Hey there, little one," mewed Blizzardsnow to his daughter. "I'm not little!" protested the she-kit. "Yes you are, Patchkit," purred Blizzardsnow. Beechnut let out soft, quiet mews of laughter at the pair.

"Can you guys stop it, I'm trying to get some rest here," hissed a yellow tom kit with blue eyes. "Oh yes, oh great Dandlelionkit," mewed a light yellow she-kit with green eyes. The light yellow kit then bowed to her brother, who snorted and tucked himself deeper into the moss beside a she-cat with dark yellow fur, who's blue eyes looked at the trying to sleep kit. The light yellow she kit then whispered, "Sorry about that Blizzardsnow, my brothers just grumpy because mother wouldn't let us out to play this morning, because the ground was really cold," "I understand Applekit," whispered Blizzardsnow, then he padded out of nursery leaving his daughter and mate behind him. 'The plan will go smoothly, it has to! Starclan didn't give us the soon to be old warrior code for nothing!'

He then spotted his true clanmates, cats who don't want the warrior code to change. "Hi, I got our mission details," A russet she-cat with amber eyes whispered, "Good. What are the details," Blizzardsnow whispered, "The mission details are train up our battle moves, and attack the day before the full moon, Berryleaf," Berryleaf whispered to the others, a brown tabby she-cat, a black and grey she-cat, a yellow tom, a russet tabby tom, a ginger tom, and a tortoiseshell tom. Blizzardsnow padded away from the group to find Squirrelflight. Blizzardsnow looked around and saw Squirrelflight nowhere. Blizzardsnow sighed. 'Since Squirrelflight is gone, I can't go on any patrol, guess that means I should go out to training hollow with some cat to practice my battle moves with'.

But, just then Squrrielflight bowled him over and landed on top of him. "Sorry, I just have to get to Bramblestar, which is why I'm in a hurry Blizzardsnow," She got off him and ran towards highledge, her paws skimming over the grass. 'Weird, only Harestar should know about some cats who are planning on stopping the changes that are going to be made to the warrior code' Blizzardsnow thought as he saw bloodied cats enter into the camp. Their fur is soaked with blood, and they looked as though they may have been in a fight.

He shook his head, then opened his amber eyes and saw that the blood had disappeared off the cats somehow. He tilted his head in confusion. 'Was what I saw a vision, does Starclan not approve of our attack, or do they? Starclan! You are so frustrating sometimes!' thought Blizzardsnow as he saw the cat's head toward highledge.

Bramblestar didn't appear oddly enough, unless Squrrielflight discovered him dead, and that's why she wanted to make sure that it's not true. But who could have done it? Blizzardsnow noticed that some of those cat's in the group were ones who joined the rebellion. 'No! We never agreed to kill off the leader's who wanted the code to change, unless he died accidentally, he was getting old, but that still doesn't mean that he lost all of nine lives in the seasons that he has been our leader, right? The medicine cat's Jayfeather and Alderheart would know how many lives he had left,' as Blizzardsnow tried to make sense of it all, Squirrelflight announced, " Bramblestar is dead! I am your new leader now, if all of you will accept me," Everycat cheered their yes, even the ones who don't want the code to change.

"Then I will travel to the moonpool, to receive my nine lives in the evening, then when I come back I will sit vigil for him," Squrrielflight jumped down from highledge and went to the medicine cat den. Blizzardsnow stood in shock, 'How could Bramblestar have died? I must find out and maybe enlist the help of Duskspirit, since he is known to solve problems with his thinking, and hot headed attitude. I will find out how he died, and if he was killed by some cat, I want them to explain themselves. Because we, as the rebellion never agreed to kill our leaders, only to show them our strength and make them decide not to change the code. So whoever did it is going to be in big trouble.' Blizzardsnow raced to find Bramblestar's body.

The sun was just a little bit hidden by the oak, and birch trees as the sun slowly made its way to sunset. Blizzardsnow was close to camp after trying to search for Bramblestar near the Windclan and Skyclan border.

Suddenly he tripped over a rock and tumbled into a ditch area. That's when he saw Bramblestar's body. It was bloody and matted. There are thorns and brambles tangling around his body, his eyes are open and look glazed in fear. His throat has a huge gash where blood dried up. He looked up and saw a rock that has blood on it and could be what caused Bramblestar's throat to have a gash wound, but it looked too neat and clean for that to be the case. Blizzardsnow shuddered, some cat obviously wanted to make Bramblestar's death as painful and long as it looked to have been. There are thorn scratches all over his body, signaling that he was struggling against the thorns and brambles that has him entangled. No wonder Squrrielflight was in a hurry, unless you were really close to the corpse, you couldn't tell if it was Bramblestar or not, since the body was so matted, and bloody and entangled in brambles and thorns.

'Who could be so messed up to design this gruesome death, and hate Bramblestar so much?' Blizzardsnow thought as he climbed up the ditch. He washed his fur and went to the Windclan to the Windclan/Thunderclan stream and got the mud off his white fur,since it tasted awful. The cool stream also soothed his thorn/rock scratches that he got from tumbling down into the ditch. He got out of the stream once he couldn't feel his paws, and walked towards camp. "Hey!" Blizzardsnow stopped in his tracks and looked out towards the stream. A cat was standing near the bank. He walked back to the stream and stopped at the bank's edge. "What are you doing at the stream at this hour, it's close to sunset," mewed the cat. Blizzardsnow replied, twitching his ear, "I fell into a ditch near my camp, so I came here to get the mud and dirt out of my fur and pads," The cat seemed to relax at that, and mewed, "Well, I'm sorry that I thought you were doing something bad. I hope you have a safe return back to your camp," Blizzardsnow mewed awkwardly, "Thanks, I'm Blizzardsnow by the way, in case you were wondering," The cat mewed, "I'm Duskspirit. Bye Blizzardsnow,"

"Wait!" Blizzardsnow yowled. Duskspirit stopped, turned and faced him. Cocking his head, Duskspirit mewed, "What do you want?" "I want to show you something on Thunderclan land. Can you come with me? Also disguise your scent by rolling in some fern clumps, or dunk your whole body into the river," Duskspirit looked confused, but his curiosity got the best of him. He led Duskspirit to where Bramblestar's body lay. Duskspirit looked around the body, a calculating look in his green eyes. The tom mewed, "I can see something that looks off about the murder scene, but I need time to think about it," Blizzardsnow nodded, understanding what Duskspirit meant.

They left the ravine and Duskspirit mewed, "I have to get back to Windclan. I'll see you later, Blizzardsnow," The tom ran away into the direction of the Windclan forest, leaving Blizzardsnow alone. He turned around and headed back to camp. 'Shoot, I don't have any freshkill to bring back with me to excuse my behavior! Oh, well," Blizzardsnow sighed, he returned to camp to find that almost every cat was out of camp. "Blizzardsnow, there you are," mewed Alderheart the medicine cat of Thunderclan. "Oh, Hey there Alderheart," "I see that you're back from mourning Bramblestar by yourself. It seems that every cat was distressed at Bramblestar's death, that they all went to be by themselves before the vigil begins," Blizzardsnow mewed, "Yeah," Alderheart mewed, "Look, there comes almost every cat back from being alone sulking about Bramblestar's death," Blizzardsnow looked and saw almost every cat come bustling in, they looked dejected and sad.

'Well that's understandable. Brambelstar was a great leader for Thunderclan after Firestar died in the great battle. Which was a ridiculous battle, between the dark forest and live cats. I still can't understand why the dark forest cat's wanted to destroy the clans, or maybe they just wanted to settle old scores with some living cat's or descendants of cat's who hurt them and made them the cat they were.' Blizzardsnow took his place in the circle and every cat went around speaking about how such a great leader Bramblestar was. When his turn came he mewed, "Bramblestar led Thunderclan through many hardships, and gave us peace for a long time. May Starclan light his path," he sat back down and the rest of the circle continued giving their thoughts about Bramblestar.

Squrrielflight returned when the last cat finished speaking. She mewed, "He was a loving mate and a wonderful leader, I hope to live up to his legacy that he left behind. May you find swift running, shelter for you to sleep in and prey for you to eat. May Starclan light your path," Then she climbed up to highledge and yowled, "Starclan has accepted me and has given me my nine lives. I hope to be the best leader I can be for Thunderclan," Blizzardsnow and every cat yowled, "Squrrielstar! Squirrelstar! Squirrelstar!," The cheer's died down eventually, and Squrrielstar went to sit vigil for her mate, leader and friend. Blizzardsnow and the clan also sat vigil for the fallen leader, whose body is in a cold ditch, and the murder probably already covered up his body up, or they would do it tonight or tomorrow. Blizzardsnow noticed the sun rising above the treetops and yawned. He and some others padded into the warriors den to get some rest.

Blizzardsnow found himself unable to sleep so he left the den quietly and chose a mouse from the pile and dug his fangs into it's juicy flesh. He noticed that Squrrielstar was pacing in the clearing. He went up to her and mewed, "Squrrielstar are you alright?" Squrrielstar replied, "No! My mate dies, and I am the leader of Thunderclan now, and I have to choose Thunderclan's new deputy by moon high and I don't have a clue about who to choose," Blizzardsnow mewed, "Choose a cat you know has leadership qualities and cares about the well being of the clan, and has had an apprentice. Also, you could choose a cat who also knows what's it's like to be a father or mother, since it will help them with argument's in the clan, since they know how to stop a fight," Squirrelstar mewed, "Thanks, I'll tell the clan who is the new deputy before sunset, since every cat will probably be awake by then," "Have you already decided?" asked Blizzardsnow. "Maybe," Squrrielstar mewed.

Blizzardsnow watched as Squrrielstar padded away to the camp entrance. 'She must be going to see Brambestar's corpse. Which I don't think she should do. That cat who murdered him could be around there, and she could get herself killed,' He sighed knowing he couldn't stop her, even if he wanted to. So instead of following her he hunted. He opened his mouth to let the scent's hit his scent glands. He could smell nothing but snow.

So Blizzardsnow kept sniffing around for any scent of prey. He found a pigeon scent, and followed. Sure enough, he could see the pigeon trying to peck into the snowy, frozen ground. He slithered like a snake, trying to trick the bird into thinking a snake was around. Good thing his pelt was white, because it made winter hunting easy for him. He got into the hunter's crouch. He leapt onto the bird, it made a struggle, but luckily he killed it before it gave out an alarm chirp. He buried it in the frozen earth and concentrated on finding more prey.

He couldn't find another scent until he reached the ditch where Bramblestar's body lay. He could smell crows, and the scent went into the ditch. He stealthily creeped on them while they were picking at Bramblestar's flesh. He managed to keep sneaking up on the three crows. He chose to go after the fattest one. He leaped and managed to kill it because it was fat, and couldn't fly away fast enough. He got a second one, but the rest of the crows disappeared. He took the two crows and unburied his pigeon and brought his fresh kill to camp. The pile was empty when he got there, so he laid his catch down and took a crow that he caught to his mate. But before he could he was interrupted by Berryleaf.

"Can you come practice battle moves with me?" Blizzardsnow mewed, "Sure, just let me give this crow to my mate and I'll meet you at the entrance," Blizzardsnow entered the nursery and mewed, "Beechnut, I've brought you a crow for you eat," Beechnut mewed, "Thank you, Blizzardsnow." His daughter was nuzzled against his mate, sleeping. "Well, I have to go, I'll see you later Beechnut," Blizzardsnow whispered. Beechnut nodded her head and let him go. He found Berryleaf waiting for him at the entrance. "Let's go," mewed Berryleaf. Berryleaf and Blizzardsnow padded silently through the snow covered ground. Blizzardsnow looked at Berryleaf when they arrived at the training hollow.

"I overheard the schedule for the training hollow, we have to leave before sun down when the dusk patrol heads this way to check on the Skyclan border," mewed Berryleaf as Blizzardsnow blended into the snow. Berryleaf looked around and couldn't see Blizzardsnow anywhere as Blizzardsnow carefully crept up on her. When he launched himself into Berryleaf, Berryleaf faltered and let him land on top of her. He felt her go limp, so he relaxed his grip. Berryleaf took advantage of his weakened grip and kicked him off of her. He landed into the soft snow. He took advantage of the pile of snow and carefully slithered and dug into the snow pile. He turned his body around and closed his eyes just a little bit so he could see Berryleaf jump into the snow where he had been. She hissed in frustration as she couldn't feel his body anywhere in the snow. Blizzardsnow waited for her to turn her back, then he leaped onto her back and planted his paws as best as he could with his claws sheathed on her back. He felt her turning her body so that she could plant him under her back. So he got off her back and she landed with a speak of surprise that his weight was off her now. Then he pinned her to the ground before she could get up to attack him back. Berryleaf mewed, "Alright, you win Blizzardsnow. I give up. Fighting you in the snow is much harder than I thought it would be," Blizzardsnow purred, "Well, let's go at it again, and maybe you could find ways to counter my snowy moves," Berryleaf mewed, "Alright," She got up and she and Blizzardsnow play fought until the sun was threatening to go down.

"Well, Berryleaf this was a nice session of training. The sun is about to lower more, so I suggest we catch something and head back to camp," Blizzardsnow mewed to Berryleaf. "Oh alright. We should hunt together, since I bet cat's saw us go out of camp together," Berryleaf huffed as she shaked the snow off her russet pelt. Together they caught two mice. When they went back to camp they saw Squrrielstar go up onto highlege and yowl, "I have chosen my new deputy. May Bramblestar hear and approve my choice. It is Ivypool!" Everycat erupted in cheers saying Ivypool's name over and over again. Berryleaf mewed, "Ivypool is a good choice, she'll help us not change the code at the gathering, if some cat can convince her,"

Blizzardsnow nodded in agreement. "Plus, she has had experience with a code breaker before, which will help us. Since she knows some good battle moves," Berryleaf purred in agreement. Then he padded to the fresh kill pile, dropped what he caught and after he took a while to decide he chose his own mouse. Blizzardsnow finished eating and went to the nursery to visit his kit. He saw Dandlelionkit and Applekit playing moss ball with his daughter and he couldn't be more proud.

Beechnut is watching the kit's game with little interest, and mews, "Blizzardsnow! Come look at the kit's playing moss ball. Aren't they cute?" Blizzardsnow replied, "Yes they are," Dandlelionkit apon hearing that protested, "I'm not cute, I'm a hardened, rough warrior, not a cute little kit!" Patchkit mewed, "Well you're a kit right now, so that automatically makes you cute," Dandlelionkit lowered his ears in shame and embarrassment. Applekit strode up to her brother and mewed, "I don't think you're cute, I think you're a tough little kitten," Dandelionkit looked at his sister gratefully. "Anyway who's the new deputy?" asked a dark yellow she-cat. "Ivypool,'' mewed Blizzardsnow. "Good choice, although with everything that's happened, I would have chosen a cat who is compassionate towards others. Especially since most cat's are still grieving for Bramblestar," Blizzardsnow mewed, "You're right Yellowrose," Beechnut added, "Yes, strange, although Ivypool cares deeply for her clanmates and has had to deal with a lot of decision making trials. Which means she can make tough decisions if necessary. Like when she spied in the dark forest before the Great Battle took place,"

Blizzardsnow nodded in agreement. Ivypool popped in and mewed, "Blizzardsnow, I want you and Berryleaf to see if Bramblestar's body is anywhere on the territory so we can bury him," Blizzardsnow gulped and mewed, "Sure, but we should wait for sunrise," Yellowrose mewed, "You should take this conversation outside, away from the kits," Blizzardsnow and Ivypool went outside of the nursery and went into the woods and walked to the lake. "So why do you want to find Bramblestar's body? Is it the way Squrreilstar acted by suddenly announcing Bramblestar's death?" Ivypool nodded. "She must have seen his body, that's the only way she could tell that he is dead. But why didn't she want cat's to see his body?" Blizzardsnow mewed, "Ivypool I found Brambelstar's body while out hunting before Squrrielstar chose you as her deputy and it's not a pretty sight," Ivypool's eyes had fury blazin within them. "Look, Ivypool I did not think any warrior could lift him out of that ditch and the sight was ghastly to look at, and….." Ivypool cut him off, "You should have told some cat anyways, that way we can bury him the proper way." Blizzardsnow sighed, "I'll show you where I found him." He led Ivypool to the ditch where Brambestar's body lay. Ivypool's jaw dropped wide open, her blue eyes showing pure shock at Bramblestar's tangled body. "You were right, this is an awful sight," Blizzardsnow placed his head on her shoulder, looking down into the ditch.

Their beloved leader for so many seasons, dead. And a gruesome death at that. He led us through the great flood, and the time when Skyclan came to the lake. "Let's get him untangled and give him a proper burial," mewed Ivypool. Blizzardsnow sighed, but nodded in agreement. Blizzardsnow carefully walked down the ditch and grabbed the vines holding Bramblestar with his jaw and snapped them in half. Ivypool did the same thing and once all the vines were cut, Blizzardsnow lifted Bramblstar onto his back with the help of Ivypool. They then carefully trekked up the steep incline, mud and snow made the ditch slippery. Blizzardsnow dug his claws into the ground to keep himself from slipping. Ivypool helped him out of the ditch. Blizzardsnow panted as they walked to camp with Bramblestar's body on his back. Ivypool mewed, "Go into the bushes and wait for me to come out with Squirrelstar," Blizzardsnow nodded, too weak to speak back to her.

He set down Bramblestar in the bushes beside him. Blizzardsnow made him and Bramblestar's body hide in the snow covered bushes. He waited for Ivypool to come out of the camp entrance, but she didn't show herself until the forest is covered in darkness. Ivypool mewed, "Blizzardsnow, Squirrelstar is coming so bring his body out of the bushes," Blizzardsnow dragged Bramblestar's body out of the snowy bushes. He sees Squirrelstar walk towards them. Squrrielstar mews, "Bramblestar," The ginger she-cat placed her muzzle into the dead body's fur. Tears dropped from her face as she laid down beside Bramblestar's cold body. Blizzardsnow teared his gaze away from Squrrielstar grieving for her mate. Ivypool rested her tail tip on Squirrelstar's shoulder. Squirrelstar meowed, " We need to bury him and send him off to Starclan," Ivypool mewed, "We can't just bury him! Our clanmates might want to see him buried, or join in the ceremony of sending his soul to Starclan! And…." "They already said their goodbyes and already did the ceremony without his body!" argued Squrrielstar. Ivypool stood back, shock and hurt showing in her blue eyes. Blizzardsnow looked at Squirrelstar, then at Ivypool and sighed, "Our clanmates don't need to grieve more than they have already. We three can give him a good burial on our own. Bramblestar knows that his clanmates love him, even if they don't give him a traditional burial," Ivypool sighed and nodded in agreement. "Then let's start digging his grave,"

Squrrielstar and Ivypool placed Bramblestar back on his back and they started trekking to a good place to bury him. Once they reached the perfect spot, they laid Bramblestar's body down onto the snow covered ground. The place they chose is surrounded by oak and birch trees and holly bushes. Blizzardsnow watched as Squrielstar and Ivypool dug into the snow covered dirt, to dig Bramblestar's grave. 'I wonder if Squirrelstar and Ivypool are wondering who the murder is? I mean they have to be a pretty smart cat to design this death trap.' Ivypool's mew broke his thoughts, "The grave is ready for him," Blizzardsnow helped them put Bramblestar's body into the grave. His paws pushed the dirt on top of Bramblestar burying him forever in the cold dark dirt. He wanted to scream, 'This shouldn't have happened. But I can't say that, or else Squirrelstar and Ivypool will ask me why. And I can't say why, because I would be betraying my fellow clanmates that want the warrior code not to change.' Ivypool mewed, "It's time we made it back to camp,'' Blizzardsnow nodded wearily, grief flooding over him like a clash of waves. His amber eyes betrayed to Squrrielstar and Ivypool that there was something going on behind the scenes. Squirrelstar stopped in her tracks and asked fiercely, "Blizzardsnow is there something I should know?" Blizzardsnow lifted his head, his grief filled amber eyes looking into Squrrielstar's fierce green eyes. He sighed, "No, I am just really sad about what happened to Bramblestar," Ivypool looked at Squirrelstar and mewed, "Is that all? Your eyes tell a different story,"

Blizzardsnow meowed, "That is all, now if you excuse me. I'm going back to camp," His white body sprinted away from them. His mind swirled with questions that he couldn't answer. Blizzardsnow eventually came back to camp. The moon is in the middle of the sky brightening the clearing in a wave of moonlight. He walked into the warriors den and curled up into his nest. Hot tears fell from his eyes and onto his cheek. 'Why Bramblestar, he still had so much to do as a leader. He could've seen the error of his ways, but instead he was killed in cold blood.' Blizzardsnow's face is soaked in tears as the first rays of the sun begin to appear in the warriors den. 'I didn't get any sleep, well I must persevere through the day, and hopefully I can find a nice place to nap after doing some hunting or a border patrol,' Blizzardsnow stretched out his tired limbs, then climbed out of his nest. The sun bathed his fur in warm light as he walked to the fresh kill pile. He chose a mouse and took it to the nursery. Beechnut and his daughter are sleeping soundly. He dropped the mouse in front of her nest and walked back outside. Then he took a mouse for himself. He dug into the mouse flesh, the savory taste bathed his tongue.

Blizzardsnow noticed Ivypool telling the warriors gathered around what patrol they are in for the day. Blizzardsnow quickly finished the remains of the mouse and walked towards the group crowding Ivypool. He sighed as Ivypool didn't give him anything to do. 'I want something to do. It will make the thoughts I have disappear. Oh, maybe if we didn't go against what the majority of cats want then we wouldn't be in this mess,' He turned around and went back into his nest letting his thoughts and emotions swirl around him, until darkness dragged him into sleep.