Disclaimer: None of these characters are owned by me.
Also, spoilers!
Sitting under the trees in StarClan Brackenfoot watched. He watched the Clans with sad eyes. Knowing all too well the destruction was never done.
The ginger tom sighed, when he came to StarClan he wasn't prepared to see what would become of Brokenstar's leadership. He knew what Brokenstar was doing and how it was wrong. But seeing the future play out was devastating. Seeing the innocence of Yellowfang hurt him.
He believed that his own daughter killed her sisters, and now he believed he failed at being a parent. When he came to StarClan he discovered something that shocked him down to his core. Brokenstar was his grandson.
He knew that Yellowfang had loved his former apprentice, Raggedstar. But after seeing her change her route to being a medicine cat, Brackenfoot had hoped she left her love for him behind. On the inside, he knew that she wouldn't let go of him.
Coming into StarClan gave him a whole new insight into the Clans. Seeing the troubled pasts and futures made him pity others. Seeing the future of a certain long clawed and brown tabbied warrior made him think back to his own past. When he first met Tigerclaw.
He had been on a normal hunting patrol with Archeye and Hollyflower. Hollyflower noticed a fox on ThunderClan's territory. When he first saw the small trembling figure, he saw fresh-kill, as did Archeye. Hollyflower realised what it was, she had raced away to save the now identified kit.
He had hesitated about saving the kit but ran in to help. They fought the fox with the tiny kit cheering them on. After defeating the fox, he remembered clearly what the kit had said.
"Wow! You were great!" Called the kit. "The way you sliced his nose! And swiped his ears! I wish I could fight like that!" The kit continued.
Brackenfoot padded forward. "What's your name?"
The kit gazed up at him with huge amber eyes. "Tigerkit," He mewed.
"Well, Tigerkit, one day you will be able to fight like us, if you listen to your mentor and train really hard. But you shouldn't even be out of your camp. What if we hadn't seen you? That fox would've made fresh-kill out of you!"
"But he didn't!" Tigerkit gloated, bouncing on his toes. "Because you saved me!"
Brackenfoot realised there was no talking sense to this mous-brained tuft of fur. "Just be careful from now on," he growled. Then, nodding to his Clanmates, he led them back across the Thunderpath.
The kit watched them go, stretching his neck to keep them in sight. "May StarClan walk your path!" He squeaked. "Thanks for rescuing me! ShadowClan will always be my friends! One day I'll help you, too!"
Brackenfoot now realised that the kit would keep his promise. Slowly siding with Brokenstar and ShadowClan, then becoming leader after his treachery was found out about in his own Clan.
Brackenfoot shook his head sadly. He only hoped things would work out for the Clans. He hadn't seen too far into the future. None of StarClan had. As the future was still cloudy, still unknown.
Brackenfoot's ears pricked as he heard paw steps. Turning his head, he saw the starry dark grey and white pelt of Cedarstar. Brackenfoot dipped his head in respect and greeting to the old ShadowClan leader.
"The Clans are in troubling times," The tom said grimly as he settled down next to Brackenfoot.
"They are," Brackenfoot agreed, "Though we can't do much about that. We can only visit in dreams and guide others along."
Cedarstar nodded. "That's the thing with StarClan. We can only watch and guide."
Brackenfoot let out a sigh, "I fear for ShadowClan's future."
"I think we all do," Cedarstar murmured.
The pair sat in silence, letting their thoughts wander. Brackenfoot turned to Cedarstar, "Did you always see Yellowfang as a loyal cat?"
Cedarstar's face turned to confusion, "Are you doubting her loyalty?"
"No, no. I'm just wondering. She… Well, she wanted to be a warrior so much but had to be a medicine cat. Did that change her view?"
Cedarstar looked to the sky, "Her view on what? Her Clan? Her family? I could tell Yellowfang would've been a great warrior, but StarClan had a different path for her."
Brackenfoot nodded and looked away slightly, "It's just that she's ThunderClan's medicine cat now. She's shifted Clans… And I feel responsible for that. I turned on my own kit when she was innocent!"
"You were blinded by a lie, Brackenfoot. It's not your fault. Plus, she's fine now, isn't she? She has a new Clan where she feels she belongs."
Backenfoot shifted his paws, "I suppose."
Cedarstar's whiskers twitched with amusement. "Do not doubt her. She's strong and capable of anything. She also has Firepaw behind her."
At the mention of the ginger kittypet turned apprentice Brackenfoot turned to Cedarstar. "That cat's destined for something great, isn't he?"
"Changing the subject now, are we?" Cedarstar chuckled, "And yes. Firepaw is destined for something great."
"Like what?"
"It's still unclear. All we know is he's vital to the Clans," Cedarstar stated.
The ginger tom nodded, understanding what Cedarstar was saying. It was troubling to know that the Clan's future was so… bad. But Firepaw was hope.
Cedarstar smiled warmly, "Don't fear, Brackenfoot. We know he's going to help save he Clans. Why else was the prophecy sent to Bluestar and Spottedleaf? The Clans are strong. They'll survive."
"You're right." Brackenfoot stated firmly.
Cedarstar nodded to the other tom, glad that Brackenfoot had opened to him. Cedarstar touched Brackenfoot's shoulder with his tail and smiling one last time, he disappeared into StarClan's territory.
Brackenfoot smiled after the tom. He was left to his own thoughts again.
He knew the future was uncertain with WindClan gone, Brokenstar's leadership and Tigerclaw's lies. Yet he also knew that something great was going to happen. He felt a flicker of hope in his chest. Brackenfoot only hoped the young apprentice would help the Clans. For they were in grave danger.
Small little oneshot I know, but I felt inspired to write this. I had always wondered what Brackenfoot had thought of Tigerclaw in the future. So, I wrote this!
Not sure why I included Cedarstar, I guess I needed Brackenfoot to talk to someone. Plus, I don't have a lot of information about other characters Brackenfoot knew.
I also had a lot of fun writing about StarClan and how they know the future. I like the idea that StarClan does know what's going to happen, but they have a hard time depicting their own prophecies and that the future is unknown to them to an extent.
A character called Crowclaw was with them while fighting the fox, but they only had one line and weren't mentioned again in the story. So, I didn't include them.