Chapter 4

Bramblestar stood up. He was in a clearing surrounded by trees. The moon shone brightly in the sky. A familiar bright, orange tom was standing in the middle of the clearing, frost glittering at his paws.

"Firestar!" Bramblestar yowled with delight, as he ran up to Firestar.

"Greetings Bramblestar, You are doing a great job at being leader, yet a breeze will blow through before final peace is established" mewed Firestar. It sounded like a prophecy. Bramblestar noticed Firestar starting to fade.

"Wait! Don't leave!' he mewed desperately.

"You don't need me Bramblestar" Firestar mewed.

"I do, you're the greatest leader to have existed!" said Bramblestar.

" Just figure out the path of your true destiny, fufill it and all will be peaceful" mewed Firestar before he disappeared. The moonlit clearing started to fade around him.

Bramblestar woke up. He thought about the new prophecy Firestar had just given him-yet a breeze will blow through before peace is established- I wonder what it could mean he thought. Daylight started to filter into the den and Squirrelflight roused herself. Bramblestar padded outside and noted that the dawn patrol had already left. He had just settled himself down when Mousewhisker came racing into camp with scratches across his muzzle.

"Quick! Graystripe, Sandstorm and Berrynose are busy fighting off a mother fox with her cubs!" Mousewhisker yowled.

Bramblestars fur bristled; a fox hadn't been seen on ThunderClan territory in moons.

"Squirrelflight! Stay here and guard camp. Lionblaze, Foxleap and Cloudtail! Follow me' he commanded.

Cinderheart pressed her muzzle into Lionblaze's fur. "Be careful" she murmured gently.

"I will!" promised Lionblaze.

Bramblestar purred with amusement then turned towards Mousewhisker. "Where are they?" he asked.

"Near, the Shadowclan border!" replied Mousewhisker.

"Ok, follow me Lionblaze, Cloudtail and Foxleap" said Brambleclaw. He hurried through the undergrowth, soon he could hear yowls of distress and anger.

"Ok ThunderClan, attack!" yowled Bramblestar, as he leaped into the fray. The mama fox was big and menacing. It had took all of Mousewhisker, Graystripe, Sandstorm and Berrynose's strength to stop her from going towards camp. Bramblestar noticed that there was a deep gash down Graystripe's side and he was limping.

"Go back to camp to get that fixed up!" commanded Bramblestar.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" growled Graystripe, breathing heavily.

"No you're definitely not! Now go back to camp and that's an order!" Bramblestar mewed. So Graystripe gave one of the foxes one last scratch before limping back to camp. Bramblestar leaped towards the mama fox; landing on her back. He unsheathed his claws and scratched her flank violently. The mama, with a great burst of strength, threw him off her. Bramblestar went flying through the air and smashed into a tree trunk. The wind taken out of him, Bramblestar was detained briefly, yet that was all the mama needed. She advanced menacingly, snarling. Trapped, Bramblestar stood his ground bravely. Lionblaze, who was winning his fight with one of the cubs, saw that his leader needed help. So he quickly dodged to one side as the fox tried to claw him, and with all his might Lionblaze leaped through the air and landed on the cub; knocking it to the ground. Holding the fox down Lionblaze dealt the deathblow then ran over to help Bramblestar. Pain seared through Bramblestar as the mama raked her claws down his side. He quickly looked around and saw that everyone was busy fighting to the death, one fox was dead but there were still two more. Suddenly the fox jumped on top of Bramblestar Out of the corner of his eye he saw a golden pelt hurtling towards the fox. Lionblaze! Bramblestar thought with relief. Yet the mama was too quick and grabbing Bramblestar in her jaws, his neck snapped. He heard Lionblaze yowl in anguish before giving way to a dizzying sense of blackness that contained no pain.

Bramblestar's eyes fluttered open and he realized that the starry pelts of StarClan surrounded him. Frost glittered at their paws. A calming sense of peace washed over him as Firestar stepped forwards. Without a word Firestar pointed his tail towards the faint outline of a dark brown tabby tom, sitting next to Bluestar.

"Bramblestar, you have lost your first life, you now have eight left. In just a little while, your energy will be restored" mewed Firestar. Bramblestar nodded, so this is what it's like to be dead, he thought. Suddenly he remembered the prophecy.

"Wait, Firestar! What does the prophecy mean?" Bramblestar asked, but realized that StarClan normally left this sort of thing for you to figure out. Firestar smiled knowingly. Bramblestar felt a great surge of power flow through him as he awoke. The first thing he saw was a huge golden head looming over him.

"Great you're awake!" mewed Lionblaze. "Let's help Sandstorm, and Berrynose chase off the last fox cub!" he mewed.

" Where did the mama, fox go and the other fox cub?" asked Bramblestar.

"Well, the mama is dead cause me and Cloudtail sorted her out" said Lionblaze flicking his tail towards a body.

"And… the fox cub ran off so Cloudtail, Foxleap and Mousewhisker went to try and chase it over the ShadowClan border to keep it out of ThunderClan territory" mewed Lionblaze.

"Well done!" said Bramblestar approvingly. He followed Lionblaze to where Sandstorm and Berrynose were fighting the last fox cub. Leaping into action he bit the fox on the ear while Sandstorm raked her claws down its side. The fox yowled in pain as Berrynose jumped onto its back and dug his claws into the fox's back. Lastly Bramblestar bit down hard on it's leg, dripping with blood the fox shook Berrynose off and running as fast as it could with a sore leg, raced over the border. Soon Cloudtail, Foxleap and Mousewhisker came back and were pleased to find the foxes gone.

"Lets go back to camp" mewed Bramblestar. As he trudged along he noticed how tired and hurt everyone was. Cloudtail's white fur was drenched in blood and he limped along, wincing with each step. Blood was dripping into Sandstorm's eyes and Foxleap had a ragged torn tail. Bramblestar realized how obvious it was that there was not a mark on Lionblaze. Yet everyone was too exhausted to notice. Once they walked into camp Briarlight, who was getting some fresh kill for her and Jayfeather gasped loudly.

"Come to the medicine cat den, all of you, now!" she said. Following Briarlight, they all walked into the medicine den. Bramblestar breathed in the sweet smell of herbs. He saw Graystripe in a soft bed of moss, with cobwebs covering his gash.

"Did you scare off those foxes?" asked Graystripe.

"Yes"-replied Bramblestar. "I lost my first life" he added.

"Oh" said Graystripe.

Jayfeather who was getting some cobwebs for Sandstorm's ear said impatiently " Graystripe, quit chatting you need to rest." He walked over to Sandstorm.' Briarlight, chew some comfrey root into a poultice then apply it to Sandstorm's ear" Jayfeather mewed briskly.

"Yes, Jayfeather!" mewed Briarlight. She then chewed up the comfrey root and applied it too Sandstorm's ear. She put cobwebs on it to stop bleeding. Bramblestar watched Briarlight treat the patients and decided that she was a good choice as an apprentice. Feeling extremely exhausted from the fight Bramblestar waited for the other cats to choose a moss bed, Then when they had all decided he got into the last moss bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Thank 4 everyone who reviews the people who will have their character featured as one of Cinderhearts kits are The Ghostly Raven & Icefang of Thunderclan! Keep reviewing!

Icyclaws:D