Brambledusk sat on the crown of a hill that marked the entrance to WindClan territory from the Twolegplace. His eyes were shut, and he was focusing on his thoughts, hoping that the gods would send him the strength he needed to make a decision – a decision that would set his future in stone. It would be the one that dictated if he lived or died that night. Even though he couldn't stop the trembling in his paws, it didn't mean it would stop him from making the decision that would change his life.
Adderstripe had been his best friend since they had been kits. Brambledusk had grown up with him, and had seen the tom struggle with himself about his status in the Clan as Swiftstar's son and legitimate heir. But Brambledusk had also heard the whispers from his own Clanmates that Adderstripe may not have been Swiftstar's son. Even though Adderstripe had struggled in his Clan because of his father's coldness and the rumors around him, did that give him the right to harm his Clanmates? His only enemy was Swiftstar, so why was he willing to recruit cats from other Clans, putting their own lives at danger, and attacking his own Clanmates to take down Swiftstar? Who do I side with?
I hate Swiftstar, too. Swiftstar had caused his father's death, and Brambledusk couldn't find any sort of warmth for Scorchclaw, either. Scorchclaw blindly agreed with everything his father said, and didn't have the spirit like Adderstripe did to stand up to his decisions. He's not innocent in this, either, but he doesn't deserve to die. Brambledusk unsheathed his claws, a jolt of pain pounding through his head as he considered his options. Then, he took a deep breath.
Could he support the murder of his own Clanmates? Could he fight against them? Would he be able to live with himself if he harmed one of them, or even killed them? Did he want to fight alongside ShadowClan and ThunderClan cats for a cause they had nothing to do with? Did he want to end up on the losing side?
His father's words echoed back to him.
"Defend your Clan. Do the right thing. Fight for justice and truth."
Justice and truth, Brambledusk thought. I once thought justice would be fighting to avenge Oakcloud. The dead cannot cry out for justice, and it is the duty of the living to do it for them. I see it now. But that doesn't mean killing other cats can right a wrong. He thought back to his Clanmates – cats who would be caught in the crossfire of the fight that was just between Adderstripe and Swiftstar. It is better to risk saving a guilty cat than to condemn innocent ones.
Brambledusk hitched a breath. He had made his decision. A decision that he would hate himself forever with. Swiftstar had hurt him so much by taking away his father, and now he planned on attacking the cat who had the power to do something about it. But that's what my heart is telling me to do.
Adderstripe is not worth dying for. He is the enemy. Even if… he is my best friend. I hate Swiftstar, I always will, and I will never forgive him. But I'm content to wait until he dies to have a deputy replace him. I'm not okay with killing him. The pale tabby tom looked up, the wind drifting around him, bringing with it the scent of war, tinged with death and danger. The pale morning sun began its lazy ascent into the sky, dappling the world with rays of orange and pink, signaling the arrival of a new day. The sun did not know how lucky it was that it would not be involved in the coming tragedy.
If I leave now, I should be able to get there in time, Brambledusk thought. Regret tinged at his paws – he didn't want to hurt his best friend. Not at all. But a promise he made to his mother, moons ago, rang through his mind.
"I'll do everything I can so that my little brothers will live in a world full of peace, where the only thing they need to worry about is what piece of prey they're going to eat next. I won't let anything hurt them. I promise."
That means keeping my Clan from breaking out into civil war, Brambledusk thought. Oh, Adderstripe. Please understand why I'm doing this. His pale tabby fur fluffing out, Brambledusk got to his heels and shot off as fast as he could, breathing rapidly as he pushed himself farther than he ever had before. The wind guided his paws, as if urging him onwards, assisting him into where he had to be. The sun was rising ever-so-slowly, and every moment Brambledusk was running was another moment that Adderstripe was leading his patrol into WindClan's camp.
The crown of the hollow finally made its way into Brambledusk's vision, and Brambledusk took a moment to stop, to gather his breath. The sun's soft orange rays illuminated the tip of the hollow, and he had to squint to make out the round, ragged shape of the camp. He tensed his muscles and ran again, each stride faster and longer until he finally reached WindClan's camp. He looked down over the hollow, and his fur rose. I'm too late! he thought, his heart sinking in his chest. As he leaned closer, he hitched a ragged breath as he realized that, even though there was a mass of cats in the clearing, no cat was fighting. Instead, their attention was focused on two cats, in front of their own separate patrols, both of them with striking ginger-and-white pelts. Adderstripe and Swiftstar.
The two toms were facing off, but they were too far away for Brambledusk to make out what they were saying. The time for talk seemed to conclude, just as Adderstripe rose his tail and snarled at the top of his lungs, and Swiftstar lunged towards Adderstripe. A dark red figure shot across the clearing and leaped on top of Adderstripe, forcing him to the ground and grabbing his throat as if he was a piece of prey.
"Russetstripe!" Brambledusk exclaimed. No! The pale tabby tom, every muscle braced, fear making his paws slippery and his instincts sharp, slipped down the walls to the clearing and raced over to where the fight had gone on. Russetstripe dropped Adderstripe's dead body on the ground and spun to stare at Brambledusk, her green eyes wide with shock as he raced over to his best friend's corpse. He could hear Swiftstar snarl, but couldn't feel the tom's claws on his back – he assumed someone had stopped him from leaping on him.
Brambledusk pulled his friend's body over, his chest heaving as he stared into his lifeless, unseeing eyes. He dragged his gaze down to the teeth marks on his throat, the killing blow that had ended his life. No… Brambledusk staggered back, horrified. His best friend. The cat he had lived his life with. And I was going to betray him. He looked up at Swiftstar, who met his gaze with wrath and hatred.
"Show any sign of grief over that spoiled insect, and I will have you killed just as I have had dozens before you," Swiftstar snarled.
"He was my best friend!" Brambledusk snapped at Swiftstar, rising to his full height. Hatred for his ruthless, cruel Clan leader fueled his anger and gave him courage to speak against the Viper of WindClan in a way no WindClan cat – maybe except for Russetstripe and Adderstripe himself – had been.
"Yes, and that's why you plotted with him!" Swiftstar snarled at Brambledusk. He lifted his claws, ready to slash them down Brambledusk's throat, but Russetstripe grabbed her father's paw in her teeth and wrestled him away. Brambledusk watched the ginger she-cat callously, and even though the tip of his paws were numb as he realized that he had been seconds away from death, he couldn't find it in his heart to thank the ginger she-cat. She killed Adderstripe. My best friend. My brother.
"Deal with him later!" Russetstripe pleaded with her father. "We've got to get all these cats out of here!"
Swiftstar's eyes blazed with anger as he stared at his daughter, but he gave her a small nod and stepped over Adderstripe's body as if he were a pebble in his track. His cold amber eyes raked the patrol Adderstripe had brought to fight for him. "Your leader is dead!" he yowled. "So is your cause! Take one step closer, and I will slaughter all of you and send your heads back to your leaders as gifts!"
Peartuft exchanged a nervous glance with Leafshade. Leafshade pressed his lips together, and Winterfall glanced at his paws. Briskheart licked the blood off his chest, and Lightpebble unsheathed his claws. Clearly some cats wanted to fight on, but Winterfall lifted his tail and nodded to Swiftstar. Then, the silver tabby turned on his heel and walked away, his blood-splattered pelt shining in the greenleaf sun.
The rebellious cats slowly filtered out of the clearing, one by one. Swiftstar watched them go, being held back by Russetstripe and Heathercloud. Brambledusk assumed that if it wasn't for the two she-cats combining their might to stop the fury of the WindClan leader, he would've lunged forward and cut down the cats he would. Like the cruel monster he is.
Brambledusk looked at Adderstripe's limp body. Grief for his best friend misted his eyes and choked his throat, and for a moment, he couldn't function. The sun was still shining, but the world was empty, and the claws of grief dug into his heart and tore a chunk out. As he stared down at his best friend's body, he heard the growl of his leader.
"Get away from that cat, before I have you killed where you stand," Swiftstar hissed at the pale tabby, clenching his teeth. When Brambledusk didn't move, Swiftstar shoved him aside with a mighty paw, sending him hurtling to the ground. Swiftstar leaned over his son's body. "My son, Adderstripe. You fool. Victory… is mine."
The Viper got what he wanted, Brambledusk thought, heaving as watched Swiftstar from the corner of his eye. The pale tabby tom tried to pull himself up, but his paws were shaking and his muscles refused to obey him. His son, dead. Finally, Brambledusk was able to get to four paws, and he focused his gaze on Russetstripe, who was staring at her half-brother's corpse, her body shaking and her breath coming in ragged gasps. She did it. She killed my best friend. The best friend I was about to betray. Oh, gods, why?
"Someone get his body out of here and throw it to the crows," Swiftstar ordered his Clan. "I must check on my real son." The ginger-and-white tabby tom limped to the medicine den, but before he entered, he skidded to a halt and looked over his shoulder, meeting Brambledusk's gaze. "Oh… and you. I'll deal with you like I promised."
Brambledusk let out a low growl in his throat as he faced his leader. "I'm not afraid."
"You should be," Swiftstar hissed. Then, he turned his head away and entered the medicine den, his ginger-and-white tail disappearing into the shadows of the rock. The WindClan cats, bloodied and beaten, looked confused on what to do. Brambledusk watched as they all stared at Adderstripe's body, clearly unsure on what to do with it. Brambledusk walked over to the corpse, grabbed his scruff, and hauled him on top of his broad back. Flashing his Clanmates a burning look of distaste, Brambledusk exited the camp, his run coming in strides as he left the hollow.
His best friend's body was deadweight on top of him. Brambledusk ran and ran, not sure where he was going. Just as he raced over the crown of the hill, he skidded to a halt, spotting a bundle of white fur and a familiar stubby gray striped tail. "Rabbitfur!" Brambledusk yowled at the top of his lungs.
Rabbitfur looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide as he caught Brambledusk's gaze. Immediately he began to run. Brambledusk shoved Adderstripe's body off him, and with fury giving him the speed no cat could dare to rival, the pale tabby tom ran, blood rushing in his ears. He caught up to Rabbitfur in seconds, wrestling with the tom until he pinned him to the ground.
"What happened?" Brambledusk demanded the white-and-gray tom. "Where were you? How come you didn't help Adderstripe? You could've stopped Russetstripe from killing him!"
"Funny coming from you," Rabbitfur growled, "since you never bothered to show up in the first place."
"I didn't know who to fight for!" Brambledusk exclaimed. "But at least I came back!"
"Not in time," Rabbitfur hissed, churning his back paws into Brambledusk's stomach, but the pale tabby tom barely felt it. "Let go of me. Now."
"I refuse," Brambledusk growled, sinking his claws into the tom's pelt. "Tell me why Adderstripe failed."
"I thought he wouldn't," Rabbitfur replied. "But it seemed like I chose the wrong cat to help me win WindClan."
Win WindClan? Brambledusk's vision turned into a red haze. "So, that's all he was to you? A pawn? Someone you could trick? Was he your real son?"
"I cared for him like he was!" Rabbitfur snapped. "He was the one who was having doubts about Swiftstar! I encouraged him because I knew he was meant to be the true leader of WindClan, and I always knew that Swiftstar was going to choose Scorchclaw instead! I thought that if he was able to be leader, we'd rule WindClan together. But he failed. Just like I was supposed to be deputy instead of Swiftstar, now Scorchclaw is going to be deputy. Adderstripe is a failure!"
Fury whistled in Brambledusk's ears, and before he knew what he was doing, his teeth were clamped tightly in Rabbitfur's throat. Rabbitfur's yellow eyes were wide with horror as he stared into Brambledusk's eyes, and just as Brambledusk heard the snap of bone, his head fell, limp to the ground. Brambledusk got off the WindClan warrior, his head pounding with horror. What did I just do?
Terrified, Brambledusk leaped off Rabbitfur and shot away, his paws skimming over the grassland. His gaze caught the glimpse of Adderstripe's dead body, in a lump where he had dropped it while he was chasing Rabbitfur, but Brambledusk passed it, unable to obey his heart when it begged him to stop. Instead, he listened to his mind, which told him to keep running. But where am I going? What do I do now? What path am I supposed to take?
Brambledusk skidded to a halt, trying to catch his breath. I just killed Rabbitfur. I just killed my own Clanmate. I just killed the cat Adderstripe thought was his father. Oh, gods. I've messed up so bad. I can't do anything right! Fury coursed through Brambledusk's body and he clawed at the air, wishing it was himself. I'm a horrible cat! I caused the death of my best friend and the cat he loved the most! Why does a cat like me have the right to exist?
"Father!" Brambledusk screamed, looking at the sky, where the sun hit its highest peak, lacking the stars of the night sky. But maybe, if he yowled loud enough, his father would be able to hear him. "Tell me what to do! Do I go back to WindClan? Or do I run away? I cannot live with myself! I am a horrible cat! I betrayed my best friend to defend a tyrant that caused your death!"
Brambledusk tore up the moorland grass in shreds with his thorn-sharp claws, but after moments of waiting for an answer from his father, he heard nothing. The only thing he was able to listen to was the erratic beating of his own heart, threatening to burst out of his pale colored chest. I… I don't know what to do. Running away was a coward's act – although Brambledusk would be lying if he said he didn't consider himself one.
He had been about to betray his best friend for the cat that had harmed him so deeply, an act that could never be forgiven. But, in the end, his best friend's goal had been to save WindClan. Maybe I should go back to WindClan. I've got to face judgement for what I've done And… and maybe…
An idea hit him, lighting up his mind and making him jump to his paws.
Maybe I can make the WindClan Adderstripe dreamed of. I can do what he couldn't. I could help him finish his dream… to make a great WindClan. Excitement coursed through Brambledusk's veins as he thought of a way to redeem himself to his deceased friend. But there was still one thing that stood in the way of a WindClan Brambledusk could be proud of.
Swiftstar.