The moon had finished one and a half cycles as Brambleclaw stepped out of the camp. His paws felt heavy below him, almost as if there were weights attached to them. Mentally, there were. He had not told anyone about the dream. During the last gathering, Brambleclaw noticed an unusual grouping of four cats. Stormfur, Feathertail, Crowpaw and Tawnypelt were near the edge of the clearing, discussing something that seemed important. Brambleclaw padded up, but with a flick of his sister's tail, he realised that outsiders were not welcome.

Throughout the gathering, Brambleclaw felt an anxious pull at his stomach. It was odd to see those cats together, but he couldn't think any more of it.

Brambleclaw sighed. It was obvious to him that bottling up his thoughts was a mouse-brained idea, but he knew of no one he could confide in. Squirrelpaw came to his mind. The clingy and annoying apprentice always seemed to want to pick a fight with someone. She always complained when put on patrol with Brambleclaw, or anyone else she disliked. Although Brambleclaw knew it wasn't worthy of a warrior to join in a quarrel, her strong language and disapproval of him was hard to ignore.

Tawnypelt would have been an obvious choice, but she was a ShadowClan warrior; it would be highly suspicious to see a ThunderClan tom sneak off to meet a ShadowClan she-cat. Moreover, it was clear that Tawnypelt did not want to speak to him.

That left the tabby tom in a pit of despair. He had no idea who he could talk to. His Clanmates were settled in camp behind him, and to his surprise, Firestar was busy checking in on all of them. It wasn't something he usually did, but it was a kind thought. Brambleclaw entered back into the camp, feeling slightly calmer. Firestar must've sensed that he had done so, because he padded up to his former apprentice.

"Would you like to join a patrol?" He asked, a slight edge to his mew. Brambleclaw nodded, hoping it would help him take his mind off the dream.

"Alright. I'll go gather the rest of the cats I had in mind." The flame coloured leader pranced off, towards the secluded warriors den. It lay under a small bush, just big enough to shelter the Clan's warriors. He saw Snowhawk, Mousefur and Thornclaw exit the den at Firestar's heels.

Brambleclaw's mind flittered to Snowhawk. The white ThunderClan warrior had suffered a rough past, especially as a kit. When he was only a few moons old, a hawk had snatched him and tried to fly away. He remembered being distraught at the fact he might lose his friend. However luckily enough, he had managed to scramble free out of the vicious beast. A faint memory of Speckletail hauling the snow-white tom back into camp came to mind.

Most of the Clan knew he was deaf; however, they were unsure if he knew. Brambleclaw felt pity for him, not being able to hear the sounds of the world. Some warriors even speculated that he might as well move to the elders den. Speckletail fought against this. She was convinced her son would become a warrior; no matter his condition. In the end, she was right. Snowhawk proved that he could do his duties as a warrior. He may not have been the best hunter as an apprentice, but he still passed his assessment.

The four cats collected at the tunnel, carefully built out of gorse and surrounded by brambles. It held up quite well during the harshest seasons.

"Let's head off," Firestar announced. "I'd like to patrol around Treecutplace and Twolegplace."

The patrol did as they were told, and followed their leader to the destinations.

It appeared to have had rained overnight, as the bushes and grass were wet to the touch. Brambleclaw tensed as a low rumbling sound cut throughout the forest. It wasn't unusual to hear a sound as such, but this one shared no qualities the others had. It was louder, more fierce, and had a sickly underlying threat. He whipped around; making sure it wasn't a pack of dogs or some trespassing cats. Fortunately, neither were to be scented or seen. It sounded again, sending a chill down his spine. Mousefur, Snowhawk, Thornclaw and Firestar stood impatiently ahead of him.

"Did you hear that?" Brambleclaw meowed. Snowhawk dipped his head, as if to signal that he didn't understand. Of course, Brambleclaw remembered. The others looked at him in confusion. Brambleclaw gazed, confusion glinting in his eyes too.

"Hear what?" Firestar asked. Brambleclaw was equally, if not more confused than his friends. He couldn't start to describe what he heard. His mind raced to tell him it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He perked his ears up, hoping to pick up a trace of the rumble. Nothing.

"It must've been my ears playing tricks on me," He replied, and finished with an awkward smile. The patrol continued on, making their way to the edge of Twolegplace. Brambleclaw noticed Firestar become skittish near the edge of the Twoleg nests. He wondered the leader had been sneaking off to see his sister.

The sun had reached the highest point in the sky as the patrol finished checking across the Twolegplace border. Brambleclaw recalled Firestar explicitly pointing out his old Twoleg nest, where he used to live as a kittypet. It seemed empty, nothing like the items that usually cluttered the sides of the nests. Even the leader picked up the small detail. His eyes carried a homesick look, but he knew far too well firestar was a loyal leader, and would never leave his Clan to become a kittypet once again.

Brambleclaw brushed up against Mousefur, the pale brown she-cat giving an awkward glance at the tom. He hurried forward, eager to be first to look out at the Treecutplace. His amber eyes contrasted with Firestar's deep, forest green eyes. The young warrior burst forward, and let out a gasp in return to what she saw.

Four huge yellow monsters were actively tearing at the surrounding foliage. Trees came crashing down onto the earthy ground. They seemed to drop like flies against the power of the monsters.

Brambleclaw stopped abruptly, and cast himself to the ground. He flicked his tail across the grass, an order for his Clanmates to do the same.

"What are they doing?" Thornclaw whispered. His mew was barely loud enough to hear over the howling of the monsters. Suddenly, a low rumbling caught Brambleclaw's attention.

"That's the sound I heard before! I wasn't imagining it," He stated. "It's the monsters over there. They're tearing down all the plants across the Thunderpath." Firestar stood up, and motioned forward with his tail. Brambleclaw followed him, weary of what he was doing. One step too close and they could be crow-food.

"They're ought to start removing the trees around the forest too," Mousefur pointed out. "In the next moon, I bet they'd be into our territory." The words she spoke sent an eerie chill around the group. Snowhawk looked around, clearly unsure what to do. His ocean-blue eyes shimmered in the sunlight. They were the only happy thing there.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to leave reviews below ^^

Question of the week: Who would you like to see me include in this story? It can be a StarClan cat, living cat, cat not yet born, or one from the Tribe!

Have a good day!

- Artist