Last chapter I said that this current chapter would the one that was prewritten. Well, I miscalculated a few things. The prewritten chapter is coming, but not for a couple more chapters. Still getting the ball rolling though.
My previous story, History Rewritten: Brokenstar is up for adoption still. Considering how many people read and enjoyed it, it would be a shame to let it die. So if you read it back in the day and liked it, consider taking it up.
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Dawnflight let her paws crash onto the marshy grass. Pebblepaw trotted behind her, carefully sniffing the air around them. Several moons had passed since Pebblepaw had become an apprentice. He was growing fast. The day of the ceremony, the gray dappled tom barely reached up to her shoulder. Now, he was just as tall as her. Dawnflight thought he was shaping up to be a warrior quite nicely. His hunting skills were the best out of all his siblings. Mossclaw seemed impressed with his progress, stating that his hunting assessment might be sooner than he first thought. Waterstar, however, took little notice of any of the three apprentices, much to Dawnflight's chagrin. Dawnflight's busy schedule didn't allow for her to keep track of Thunderstorm. The tom made himself scarce by joining lots of hunting and border patrols. Embersoul and Stoneheart seemed to have little care about their son's whereabouts, as per usual. Dawnflight stopped caring about how her parents saw her brother, deeming it a lost cause.
The clan had lost a few lives in a short, but sharp wave of green cough. Mooneyes, Brightstep and Willowfur were lost to the disease. The clan mourned and life moved on. As what seemed like a normal occurrence to Dawnflight, Waterstar blamed herself for the death of Mooneyes, since the tabby she cat was relatively young.
Timberclaw and spent as much time with her as he could. The two briefly discussed trying for kits again, but Dawnflight wasn't sure she was ready for kits in her life again. But she tried being open to the idea in case she changed her mind.
What if I lose them again? What if I'm just unable to have healthy kits?
Dawnflight kept walking straight till the overwhelming ShadowClan smell hit her nose. She wrinkled her silvery face and stopped. Pebblepaw stopped a few paw steps behind her, tilting his body slightly to peer over her shoulder.
Dawnflight blinked her dark amber eyes a bit to see a brown she cat sitting at the border. Her long tail sat over top her paws and the tip parted the grass like a small garden snake. Dawnflight recognized her as her friend, Applepaw.
The silvery she cat approached the border, though Pebblepaw remained guarded and padded up to his mentor's side, wary. Applepaw smiled a bit and parted her jaws to speak.
"It's good to see you, Dawnflight," she meowed, "how have things been in RiverClan?"
"Applepaw! I haven't seen you in moons! It's been good, actually. This is my apprentice, Pebblepaw."
At mention of his name, Pebblepaw gave the medicine cat a curt nod, to which Applepaw returned.
"Ah, I was wondering when Waterstar would give you an apprentice. Also, it's Applestem now."
Applestem's red-amber eyes glinted with a small bit of pride. Dawnflight purred at her.
"Congratulations! You were an apprentice for a long time." Dawnflight mewed. Applestem twitched her long whiskers at her friend.
"Yes, I was. I thought I'd never get my full name. Anyway, I was actually waiting for you, Dawnflight."
The silvery gray she cat glanced over at her apprentice. Pebblepaw's eyes widened slightly, alarmed. A few strands of fur on his shoulders stood up.
"Waiting for her? Why?" Pebblepaw demanded. Taken slightly aback, Applestem leaned back, eyes widened in surprise at his tone. Dawnflight shot him a hard glare.
"Pebblepaw! Where are your manners? She's a medicine cat!" Dawnflight hissed before issuing an apology. Pebblepaw narrowed his eyes at Applestem. The skinny brown she cat didn't seem too bothered though.
"It's ok, Dawnflight. It's understandable. My brother didn't really like people talking to his mentor either. It's kind of a private talk though." Applestem said simple. Dawnflight sighed. She turned towards Pebblepaw, whose bright golden eyes still smoldered a bit.
"Pebblepaw, go back towards the rest of the border and back to camp. Get Timberclaw to practice battle moves, please."
Pebblepaw got up onto his paws, but didn't turn to leave.
"But why can't I stay with you?" He asked his mentor. Dawnflight pursed her lips and frowned.
"It's a private conversation."
"But Timberclaw always beats me in a fight!"
"He always won when I trained with him too."
"I want to hear what the ShadowClan cat has to say."
"Pebblepaw, the message is meant for me."
At the final meow, Pebblepaw seemed like he was about to retort, but close his jaws. Defeated, the gray spotted tom turned and bounded away. Dawnflight sighed, slightly embarrassed. Applestem did a small giggle.
"Normally he isn't like that." Dawnflight said quietly, finally looking towards her friend. Applestem shrugged and continued with what she wanted to say, twitching her tail back behind her.
"I saw Breezepaw yesterday. Things in Thunderclan aren't going well, I guess I could say."
Dawnflight cocked her head to the side slightly.
"What do you mean?" Dawnflight asked, feeling the worry slowly rise into her chest. Applestem's brown furred face turned serious. The normally bright medicine cat frowned.
"I think you should ask Breezepaw yourself. She's by the lake shore on ThunderClan's land."
The two cat's paused for a few heartbeats. Dawnflight stood up on her white paws and turned her head to face the lake. The sun was high in the sky and the quiet breeze brushed softly onto the surface. She could see ThunderClan's forested territory in the distance. It looked peaceful and she could hear bird calling from the deciduous trees. It looked normal. Turning back to Applestem, Dawnflight nodded.
"I'll swim over there right away, make sure no patrols see me."
With her last word, Dawnflight leapt across the grass and over onto the sandy lake shore. She took one final glance at her friend, who was leaping back into ShadowClan lands. Satisfied that Applestem was on her way, Dawnflight waded into the lake. The water felt surprisingly warm, a pleasant welcome to Dawnflight's white paws. Taking a tentative step forward, feeling the stones and lake bottom beneath her claws, the silvery warriors swam. She kicked her powerful legs through the water, making soft splashing noises as she moved. Dawnflight looked to her side at a view of ShadowClan's pine forest territory. Thick, tall pine trees lined the lakeshore, making the woods seem crowded and suffocating. If she squinted, Dawnflight swore she could see warrior darting in and around the pine trees. The silvery she cat swam faster, hoping ShadowClan cats wouldn't see her swimming across the lake to another territory. When the musty, sharp scent of ShadowClan faded, Dawnflight swam towards the shore. She brought out her claws and lifted herself out of the water, grabbing hold of the soft earth beneath the waves.
Dawnflight took a deep breath in as she padded out onto the pebbly banks. The air felt fresher and less of heavy pines and more of fresh bracken and moss. ThunderClan territory was just ahead. Making sure no patrols were around, Dawnflight trotted up the sloped banks and into the trees. The grass felt dry and stringy beneath her pads, but Dawnflight sniffed the air for the ThunderClan scent marker anyway. Near a clearing in the trees, ThunderClan scent invaded her nostrils, telling her that the border was where her paws were. Dawnflight sat down on her haunches and waited at the border, listening for any signs of cats approaching. Much to her surprise, there was nothing. Only birdsong and distant squirrel calls echoed in her ears. Despite blatantly ignoring the Warrior Code, Dawnflight slowly padded forward, following a sudden sound of soft gasps and cries.
Is that a cat crying over there?
Even though she tried her best to make quiet paw steps, Dawnflight felt as though every vine, bush and bramble were in her drying paws' way. Her wet fur and loud stomps made swooshing sounds against the brush and weeds, causing squirrels and mice to scramble away from her. Frustrated, Dawnflight settled for noisily stepping though ThunderClan lands, getting closer and closer to the crying sounds. The gray and white she cat stopped suddenly when she couldn't detect the direction in which the sounds were coming from anymore. Cocking her ears forward and back, it sounded like the noises were coming from right in front of her, but where? Dawnflight took a whiff of the air, but all she could smell was ThunderClan and forest scent. She poked her head around a nearby tree, but found nothing but a large clump of borage plants. Then, Dawnflight took her forepaw and pushed a small bush out of the way, revealing a long, fluffy silver striped tail! Alarmed, Dawnflight pawed at the tail, causing the owner to yelp and leap out of the bushes onto her. Dawnflight fell backwards with a soft "thump" into the grass. Dazed, she looked upwards into the bright blue eyes and silver tabby face of Breezepaw! Dawnflight flinched a bit when warm tears fell from her friend's eyes onto her cheek fur. Breezepaw quickly moved her body off of Dawnflight and sat down into the brittle forest grass. The silvery tabby she cat sniffled, letting more tears fall freely from her pretty face. Dawnflight approached her friend and embraced her gently, letting Breezepaw push her face into her chest fur. Dawnflight licked her friend's forehead.
"It's okay, Breezepaw, let it all out." Dawnpaw mewed quietly. Breezepaw didn't respond. She sniffled some more and sobbed into Dawnflight's pelt. The gray and white cat sat down and pressed her fluffy pelt against Breezepaw's, patiently waiting for her friend to stop crying. For what seemed like a million heartbeats later, Breezepaw finally lifted her head out of her friend's chest and faced her. Her blue eyes looked tired and sad, as though she were mourning something. Perhaps a family member or friend died recently, but Dawnflight was too afraid to ask. Taking a few deep breaths, Breezepaw finally spoke.
"It's not ok, Dawnflight," she meowed slowly, "everything is falling apart."
Dawnflight looked at Breezepaw in the eyes, awaiting for her to continue. The RiverClan warrior titled her ear in confusion. "ThunderClan is in trouble, Dawnflight. We're having an epidemic of diseased prey! Warriors and queens are falling ill, a kit died yesterday, two elders are sick and half the apprentices are unfit to train. Spiderstar lost a life and my warrior ceremony was cancelled because I failed an assessment!"
Breezepaw let a few more tears fall before taking the next few heartbeats to breath. Dawnflight blinked at her friend sympathetically, unsure of what to say.
"Leafstep and Blackwing would be happy to give ThunderClan herbs! I could ask them for some when I get back." Dawnflight offered. Breezepaw gave a small, sad smile.
"Thanks, but that only solves half of the problem. At last the cure is really easy to find. The cure is raspberry leaves. But Finchdapple is running out of supplies and with so many sick cats, he barely has time to get more and no cat has any energy to go and find some."
"I'll be sure to get some-" Dawnflight said, but Breezepaw cut her off.
"I'm not a ThunderClan cat!"
Breezepaw half yowled. A few nearby birds scattered at her loud voice and Dawnflight was afraid a patrol would come running at the sound. The silvery queen stared wide eyed at her friend. Shaking her pelt a bit, Dawnflight made a face.
"What?" Dawnflight blurted out. Breezepaw shuddered.
"I'm not a ThunderClan cat," Breezepaw meowed again more quietly, "all my life I thought Tigerface and Rosemoon were my parents. But they never were. They just took me in and raised me like I was their kit. They lied to me this whole time!"
Dawnflight widened her dark amber eyes, aware that her jaw sagged open. Breezepaw took in some ragged breaths, rippling her pretty silvery tabby flanks. Dawnflight stayed silent, unsure of what to think or say to her friend.
"D-did they tell you where you were from?" Dawnflight asked genuinely. Breezepaw nodded at her.
"Yeah," the silvery tabby she cat paused for a moment to sniffle back a tear, "yeah they did. At first, I thought they were going to say I was some abandoned rogue kit. But I'm actually half WindClan and half RiverClan."
Dawnflight bolted upright as though a lightning bolt struck her.
"Half WindClan and half RiverClan?" Dawnflight mewed, mystified. Breezepaw nodded at her again.
"Yeah, I was pretty shocked too," Breezepaw let out a hoarse, cynical laugh, "h-how did someone like me end up in ThunderClan then?"
Dawnflight didn't answer, but in her mind, she had a pretty good idea of how.
This is getting pretty familiar.
Breezepaw continued to talk while Dawnflight thought about it.
"Turns out, Rosemoon can't even have kits. She's infertile and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it," Breezepaw mewed, her voice betrayed her depression, "Tigerface brought me in from some WindClan queen who had a forbidden stint with a RiverClan tom. Turns out, neither of the birth parents could keep me."
Dawnflight's thoughts were interrupted at Breezepaw's words at the realization. She was about to speak, but Breezepaw beat her to it.
"Turns out, my real mother is Wolfheart, a WindClan warrior and my father has been dead for moons."
"W-wait. I know Wolfheart."
Breezepaw twitched her whiskers.
"Of course you do, Dawnflight! You're a RiverClan cat! Surely you must have heard about this happening one day, since your clanmate was involved and all. But I didn't figure that out from Rosemoon or from Tigerface. I learned it from Wolfheart herself."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that WindClan is sort of at war with ThunderClan. They're trying to take some stretch of moor that officially belongs to ThunderClan, but we can't afford to lose territory with how sick we are. I was well enough to fight so I went into battle and almost fought my own mother! She refused to hit me back. That's when it hit me. She didn't want to fight her own kit."
The two she cats stared at each other for a moment. Finally, it all made sense to Dawnflight. Wolfheart had initially looked familiar because she shared the same body type and form with Breezepaw. When she looked over Breezepaw's body, Dawnflight noticed that her stripes were the same color as Blackwing's and Darkfang's and all three cats had identical looking eyes! Breezepaw's face told her that she came to the same conclusion.
"I'm sorry," Dawnflight said simple. Breezepaw's gaze softened.
"It's not your fault." The tabby she cat responded. The two shared a comfortable silence for a few heartbeats.
"Hey, I have an idea," Dawnflight started; Breezepaw perked up a bit, "I could train you so that you pass your assessment."
Blue eyes brightening, Breezepaw let out an audible purr.
"You'd really do that? For me?" Breezepaw asked her friend, seemingly dumbfounded. Dawnflight nodded.
"Of course! You're my friend. I'd do anything for you. When I bring the raspberry leaves to you, we can train. That way, you'll pass your assessment for sure!"
Breezepaw leaned forward to embrace Dawnflight. The two cats' pelts pressed against each other, feathery fur almost tangling together.
"Oh, Dawnflight, how did I deserve a friend like you?"
1 separating line goes here, brief intermission 1
"Wait a second, you're not even a ThunderClan warrior?!"
Sandkit's tiny, high pitched mew echoed off the stony walls of ThunderClan's elders' den. Breezestorm let out a hearty chuckle, causing the small, sand colored kit to shrink down in alarm.
"Of course I'm a ThunderClan warrior! A cat isn't a warrior based on blood alone. Clans are all bound together by bonds! Don't you remember Firestar, Cloudtail, Daisy, Blackwing, Leafstep and the countless other warriors and medicine cats who were loner and kittypet descent?"
Looking down at the den floor in shame, Sandkit quieted himself. Breezestorm stopped laughing at the poor, embarrassed kit. She brought her silver striped forepaw out from underneath her chest fur and gently prodded at Sandkit, who jumped up in surprise. His tiny, leaf green eyes shone with panic, but then relaxed when he realized Breezestorm wasn't mad at him.
"I understand, Breezestorm." Sandkit meowed respectfully. Breezestorm purred.
"I know you do, young Sandkit."
Breezestorm settled back down and tucked her paw neatly under her chest again. Her feathery silver fur fluffed out against her flanks, making her appear plump. Sandkit, unable to resist the urge to play, batted at strands of fur that stuck out near Breezestorm's shoulders. His tiny claws caught the striped strand, but his awkward sense of balance caused him to tumble over and crash into Breezestorm's flank. Sandkit let out a meow of shock. Breezestorm chuckled softly and nosed the kit back up. Sandkit sat up and looked at her intently, eager for her to continue.
"What happened next? Did ThunderClan win the territory war with WindClan? Did Applestem keep her word and keep Dawnflight's passage a secret? Did Dawnflight ever swim back to RiverClan? What happened to Pebblepaw?" Sandkit pestered. Breezestorm purred in amusement at his questions.
"Settle down and I'll tell you. All your questions will be answered in time. Dawnstar's story is a long one so be patient." Breezestorm chided. Sandkit made a pouty face, but Breezestorm just smiled at him. "Don't give me that look. Let the story tell itself. Now, where did we leave off?"
Sandkit's face lit up as he let out a squeak in response.
"Dawnflight was going to train Breezepaw!"
