Warriors: The Forbidden Fruit - Chapter 9
This chapter is from Briarlight's point of view just to make you guys all mad at me. XD Hope you like it. I have a poster that says something similar to the snail shell thing. :) Briarlight's dream is very important and will be mentioned over and over throughout the story.
I do not own Warriors, it belongs to Erin Hunter.
Chapter 9
"Save me from my superstitions
Now I'm free from this old condition
Wait just a while
And I'll greet you with a smile
Hold me cause I'm sure I hated
Promises they are overrated
Wait just a while
While I'm drowning in denial
Turn me into someone like you
Find a place that we can go to
Run away and take me with you
Don't let go I need your rescue"
-"Save Me" by Muse
Briarlight
Jayfeather hadn't been gone for even a moon-shift when Brightheart, Cloudtail, and Bramblestar entered the medicine cat den. Briarlight sat up abruptly. Are they here to talk to me about my training? Well, they sure took long enough! she thought, but then tried to push her indignant feelings aside and try to be optimistic. "Can I help you?" she inquired casually, as if she were not about to explode with joy.
Bramblestar sat down and wrapped his dark brown tail around his paws. "Brightheart tells me that you want to start training again."
Something about the way Bramblestar said "again" boosted Briarlight's confidence. Maybe he still considered her a warrior, or an asset rather than a burden. "Yes, I would like to," she mewed. "I wouldn't mind learning some more battle moves to help defend the medicine cat den. I remember Brightheart told me that she and Cloudtail were able to invent a special fighting style for Brightheart and her one eye, so maybe they could help me."
Bramblestar nodded. "I understand, but the medicine cat den shouldn't have to be defended. Medicine cats are meant to be neutral when it comes to Clan politics."
Biting back a sharp retort, Briarlight looked down. "I want to help my Clan!"
The leader's tone softened immensely as he replied, "Briarlight, you are helping the Clan by being in here and helping Jayfeather."
"You could live without me," she muttered in response.
He nodded. "Perhaps we could, just as we could live without the warriors outside asleep in the warriors' den, but it does not mean that they do not help. They protect this Clan, and keep these cats fed—"
"But I'm not doing any of that, am I?" Briarlight demanded, cutting him off. "I'm not protecting the Clan, or hunting for them! I am just a waste of space! I want to help!"
"Maybe you should consider becoming Jayfeather's apprentice," Brightheart suggested suddenly. "I'm sure he would appreciate the help."
Flattening her ears against her head, Briarlight let out a hiss. "Oh, so you think that because I can't walk, and I have a disability I should be a medicine cat? That might have worked for Jayfeather, but not me!"
Everyone was silent. Bramblestar sighed and shook his head. "Briarlight, I admire your dedication, and your desire to help this Clan, but there is nothing you can do that would help us."
Refusing to show her pain, Briarlight stubbornly looked away. "I don't believe that, and if you all won't help me, then I'll find a way to do it myself!"
Briarlight closed her eyes and heard the paw steps of her Clan-mates fade away. I am not a helpless kit, and if everyone in this stupid Clan is going to treat me like Millie does, then maybe I don't want to be here anymore! she thought angrily.
Hearing more paw steps approach, she opened her eyes reluctantly just as Leafpool stepped into the medicine cat den. "Briarlight…"
"Yeah, I know you probably heard," she snapped. "I don't need another lecture. My words from before still stand—nothing you say will change my mind!"
Sighing, Leafpool rolled something across the floor toward Briarlight that caught her attention. It was an empty snail shell that appeared to have been abandoned long ago. Briarlight just stared at it in confusion. What in the name of StarClan does this mean?!
"Everyone must carry with them the world in which they choose to live. Your destiny is a complicated one, but you don't need to make it more so. The choices you make will influence your life. One mistake—no matter how tiny it may be—can have massive repercussions. I am trying to help you, Briarlight—you and Jayfeather both. The time to be young and foolish is gone now. There is no room for mistakes like mine. You don't understand the importance. Please, Briarlight, I implore you to listen to my words," Leafpool meowed. There was a desperate, pleading look in her eyes that Briarlight could not ignore.
Maybe she is right… Maybe it would be best if I stopped this nonsense with Jayfeather before it gets out of hand… but I love him, Briarlight thought sadly. "I understand what you are saying, Leafpool," she replied at last.
The medicine cat exhaled in relief.
"But I can't change what I feel," she added after a moment. "I love him."
Leafpool hung her head. "I figured as much… I just pray to StarClan that you don't lose him like I lost Crowfeather in the end."
It took Briarlight ages when she fell asleep, but once she did, she had a foreboding dream. She awoke in a dark place with thorns and brambles enclosing her in a tight space. In her dream, she could feel her back legs and tail—a feeling she now cherished greatly—and could feel the pain as the thorns dug into her rump. It seemed as if the briars were closing in close around her.
Without giving it too much thought, she let out a yowl and charged forward, desperate to escape. Brambles snagged her fur, and thorns dug into her side. It wasn't long before she reached an open space. She expected the air to be fresh and clean now that she was in the open, but it was still musty and almost damp-smelling. Silver moonlight slanted through the tangled, gnarled tree branches that towered above her head, making the grass of the clearing appear a dull, ghostly shade of green. In the center, on a tiny mound covered in grass lay a jay's feather.
Tentatively, Briarlight padded forward toward the feather. A breeze ruffled her fur and blew over the feather, but it only swayed in the breeze as if held down to the ground. Paw outstretched, she poked at it once, and the feather immediately shriveled up as if it were a dying flower. It turned black, and lost all softness. Briarlight stared at what was now a pile of ash in shock. Another gust of wind blew the remnants of the feather away, leaving Briarlight alone.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Did you like this chapter? Leave a review and let me know! If you've liked what you've seen here, then click on my username to see more! :D