A chilly leaf-fall wind buffeted through Brambledusk's thin tabby fur as he sat down in the training clearing, with Iceheart and Wildheart by his side. Brambledusk watched with narrowed eyes as Turtlepaw and Seedpaw circled each other, their tails lashing, but their claws sheathed as they leaped at each other, disappearing in a whirl of fur and paws. Wildheart's yellow eyes were narrowed as she assessed her apprentice's moves, while Iceheart winced as Turtlepaw hit the ground.
"It's okay, Turtlepaw!" Iceheart called out as the tortoiseshell she-cat pulled herself to her paws and shook out her paws. "I think I saw what you did wrong. You weren't fast enough when Seedpaw unhooked your paws. Just—"
Iceheart's words were lost to Brambledusk as he walked over to Lilystream. His heart ached painfully as he saw Lilystream trying to communicate with Mintpaw through facial expressions – narrowing her eyes, twitching her whiskers, opening her mouth, but Mintpaw was completely unresponsive to all of it. Brambledusk walked over to Lilystream.
"What are you trying to teach him?" Brambledusk asked.
"The hunter's crouch," Lilystream said. "But he keeps breathing too heavily when he's crouched down. I don't know how to tell him to stop that. I've always been able to move him around when something else was wrong – when his hackles were too high, or his paws were too stretched out, but I don't know how to tell him to lower his breathing."
"Have you tried reenacting it?" Brambledusk inquired.
Lilystream shook his head.
"Let me try." Brambledusk turned to Mintpaw and crouched down, copying Mintpaw's position, including the heavy breathing. He started to breathe loudly, in front of Mintpaw, and then slowly started to curb his breaths.
"He can't hear how loudly you're breathing," Lilystream pointed out. "Or how loudly he is."
"Then point to my chest with your tail," Brambledusk said. "Show him how far it expands when I'm breathing heavily, and how short it expands when I'm breathing lightly."
"All right." Lilystream looked hesitant, and Brambledusk repeated Mintpaw's heavy breathing. Lilystream used her tail to point to Brambledusk's throat, but her gaze never left Mintpaw's. Just as Brambledusk steadied his breathing, Lilystream's tail brushed down his throat once more. Mintpaw watched the two cats with a blank gaze, but then, after several moments, his breathing began to slow. Brambledusk straightened his back, quietly impressed.
Lilystream gave Mintpaw a nod, alongside a warm smile. Brambledusk could see Mintpaw visibly beam, and for a moment, Brambledusk wondered if he had been wrong about Mintpaw. Could Mintpaw become a good warrior, despite his hearing impairment? I don't know, Brambledusk thought. Learning the hunting crouch is one thing, but fighting? He sighed – he didn't want Mintpaw to get hurt. He was young and small, easy prey for predators or other Clan cats. I guess I just have to hope for the best.
Even though Mintpaw had been able to understand Brambledusk's instructions, he clearly was struggling more with Lilystream's tactics. She was trying to show him how to chase a rabbit, and every time she demonstrated, Mintpaw was able to chase after her, but his technique was wrong. Brambledusk watched with a heavy lump in his throat. Oh, gods… this can't end well.
After a short training session, Mintpaw was out of breath, staring at his paws and nearly slumping to the ground. Lilystream nudged him up.
"It's time to go home," she meowed to him. Mintpaw gazed at her, not comprehending what she said, and the soft-furred gray she-cat led the small apprentice out of the clearing. Brambledusk was about to follow them when he heard Turtlepaw's voice.
"Why is Mintpaw leaving?" Turtlepaw asked. "He hasn't even been training for an hour!"
"You know your brother needs special training," Iceheart told Turtlepaw.
Seedpaw sighed. "He needs special everything. He's the only kit our mom cared about when we were in the nursery!"
Wildheart lashed her tail. "That's enough, Seedpaw! You must support your brother, not mock him!"
"I'm not mocking him!" Seedpaw protested. "Skyheart loves him. Not us. He was the one who got all the attention, while Cinderfall and Brambledusk were the ones who took care of us!"
"You know why that is," Wildheart growled. "Stop complaining and try that move again."
Brambledusk winced at Seedpaw and Turtlepaw's outrage. Brambledusk had visited the kits every day, since they were Cinderfall's children, and his kin. He played with Turtlepaw and Seedpaw when Skyheart had been so focused on Mintpaw, but he gave his fair share of attention to Mintpaw as well. It was not as if Brambledusk didn't care for Mintpaw – Mintpaw was his kit, also. But he had to prioritize the young tom's safety.
When they traveled back to the hollow and entered camp, Brambledusk could see Harewhisker murmuring something in Scorchstar's ears. Behind Scorchstar were Hawkfire and Redmoon. The two siblings exchanged hushed words, and then disappeared out of camp. Brambledusk wondered what they were doing. Hawkfire hadn't caused trouble in quite some time – she had seemed to clean up her act when she became a warrior. But if they don't come back by sunhigh, then I'll be worried.
Brambledusk walked over to Cinderfall, who was chewing a rabbit in the clearing, his amber eyes wide with worry. Buzzardwing sat next to him, clearly trying to assure the tom. Brambledusk sat down on his heels, his amber eyes narrowed. "What's the matter?"
Buzzardwing looked up at Brambledusk. "Cinderfall is just worried about Mintpaw," he said, glancing back at his brother with shadows in his green eyes.
"How did training with him go?" Cinderfall asked.
"Erm…" Brambledusk wrapped his tail around his pale paws. "We were able to get him to learn the hunter's crouch."
"Just the hunter's crouch?" Cinderfall scoffed. "He mastered that when he was a kit!"
"Cinderfall…" Buzzardwing murmured. "They're really trying their best."
"He can't be a warrior, Buzzardwing!" Cinderfall flashed at his brother and then whirled on Brambledusk. "I know it. You know it. Scorchstar knows it. But it'll break Skyheart if I tell her that. I can't convince her out of it! I don't want Mintpaw to be killed on his first patrol. What do I do?"
"Maybe you'll need to have an open conversation with Skyheart about it," Brambledusk suggested.
"You were there in the nursery, every day, playing with our kits," Cinderfall pointed out. "You saw how determined Skyheart was to make Mintpaw a warrior, and how much she taught him."
"Brother…" Buzzardwing touched his nose to Cinderfall's shoulder. Conflict was written all over his expression, and even Brambledusk had no idea what to do. Raising Iceheart and Frostpetal had been fine, and Brambledusk was determined to be involved in Cinderfall's kits' life, especially Mintpaw's, but he didn't know how his life would turn out to be. He couldn't hear, and that was one of the senses a warrior needed to serve their Clan properly. But Cinderfall had a point. Telling this to Skyheart would break her. Cinderfall didn't want to break Skyheart's heart, and Buzzardwing clearly didn't have the heart to do it, as well. Is it… is it up to me to tell Skyheart that? From the way Buzzardwing and Cinderfall gazed at her, he received his answer.
"Why don't we just wait for a bit?" Brambledusk suggested.
"What do you mean?" Buzzardwing asked.
"Let's see how Mintpaw fares in his training. He hasn't been an apprentice for very long, and this is the first time we've focused on anything other than communication," Brambledusk explained. "I think we should wait and see."
Cinderfall sighed. "That sounds like a reasonable idea."
Buzzardwing nodded. "But Brambledusk… what happens if it's clear he can't be a warrior? Cinderfall can't tell Skyheart, and neither can I. So…"
"I'll tell her," Brambledusk told Buzzardwing.
Cinderfall winced, and Buzzardwing gave a silent sigh. Brambledusk wondered if maybe Sandfall or Aspenstep could do it, but he doubted that Skyheart's parents would want to give her the sad news. So, I guess it's up to me. Cinderfall lowered his head. "I wanted him to be a warrior."
"I know," Brambledusk murmured.
"Then I saw him grow up. I saw how he couldn't hear the simplest things – how even when Turtlekit and Seedkit begged for him to play, he had no idea what they're saying. When that… vicious cat… came into camp, I called for Mintkit to come back, but he couldn't hear me. Brambledusk, you were the cat who risked your life to lunge and bring him back."
Brambledusk shuddered at the memory. When Hotaru's brother had invaded camp, with the strength of a thousand warriors, as he cut down cat after cat, Mintkit had been playing in the center of the camp – this had been the day Sedgefall declared him deaf. Cinderfall had called desperately for Mintkit to return to the nursery just as Hotaru's brother was attacking, but Mintkit hadn't heard. It had been Brambledusk who threw himself in the line of fire to rescue Mintkit and bring him back into the nursery.
"He could've died that day," Cinderfall went on. "And there will be so many days that he will be put in danger. I'm so, so scared. I don't want to lose my only son." Fear clouded Cinderfall's yellow eyes. "But I have to admit that he is at a higher risk of death than his siblings."
"Oh, Cinderfall," Buzzardwing whispered. "If it helps, he's my kin. I'll put my life at risk to save his."
"I know that, brother." Cinderfall blinked gratefully at Buzzardwing. "And I know that Brambledusk – and even Lightningtalon – would, too. I guess he can never be alone on patrol. But what kind of life is he going to live?" He let out a sigh. "I know what Skyheart would say, if she was here. She would get mad at me because I have no faith in him. But it's not as easy as that. It's not that I don't have faith in him… it's that I'm scared for him."
"I know, Cinderfall." Brambledusk let out a low sigh. "I know. But we'll figure something out, don't worry."
"I sure hope so." Cinderfall got to his paws and stretched out his limbs. "I'm going to go see him. Looks like he's already eaten." The gray tom walked away from his brothers to meet Mintpaw at the fresh-kill pile. He nuzzled his son and whispered something to him, but Mintpaw only bounced around him. Skyheart joined the two cats and shot a glare at Cinderfall. Cinderfall gasped and stepped back.
"Poor thing," Buzzardwing muttered. "I hope that Mintpaw can find his place in the Clan."
"Me too," Brambledusk agreed.
"Brambledusk…" Buzzardwing turned to face him. "You helped Waspberry raise Iceheart and Frostpetal, and you helped Cinderfall and Skyheart with Turtlepaw, Seedpaw, and Mintpaw. You also helped raise me, Cinderfall, and Lightningtalon when Mother died. Isn't it time that you started a family of your own?"
"You all are my family," Brambledusk pointed out. "Iceheart and Frostpetal are like daughters to me."
"Like," Buzzardwing repeated. "But they're also your kin. So it doesn't really count. Don't you want a mate? Children of your own? You've helped raise so many, wouldn't you like some that are yours?"
Brambledusk shifted his paws nervously. "I… haven't really had time for that. You're beginning to sound like Scorchstar. He's been bothering me about that, too. But the thing is, Buzzardwing, I have a family. It's you, Cinderfall's kin, and Lightningtalon's kin. You are the cats I am investing my time in. There's nobody else but you all."
Buzzardwing gave him a faint smile. "All right, Brambledusk. I just wanted to know."
"Yeah, I get it." Brambledusk nodded. "Maybe I should be asking you that question, Buzzardwing. When are you going to have kits that I'm going to help raise?" He butted his brother affectionately.
The ginger tabby shifted his paws nervously. "Well, I've been seeing Lilystream lately…"
"Ha." Brambledusk grinned. "I should've known." His gaze drifted towards Lilystream who sat near the fresh-kill pile, her gaze focused on Buzzardwing. But when Brambledusk caught her eyes, she looked away quickly, the tip of her ears turning red. "Now I see it."
"Don't tell her!" Buzzardwing batted Brambledusk gently with his paws.
"Go talk to her!" Brambledusk nudged his brother to his paws and pushed him towards Lilystream. As Buzzardwing glanced over his shoulder and chuckled, Brambledusk met his brother's gaze, a rush of affection for his family passing through his body. I don't need a mate or kits. I've got my family. Brambledusk got to his paws, suddenly remembering what he had told himself earlier in the morning. He had expected Hawkfire and Redmoon to be back by sunhigh – but now that he looked at the camp entrance, a frown crossed his face. No sign of them.
Brambledusk walked over to Scorchstar, who was watching the camp with piercing amber eyes. Scorchstar looked over at him and gave him a quick nod. Brambledusk sat down with his tail wrapped around his paws.
"Yes, Brambledusk?" Scorchstar asked.
"I saw your kits leave camp earlier this morning," Brambledusk told him. "Shouldn't they be back by now?"
"They left camp?" Scorchstar jumped to his paws. "I told them they were on guard duty!" Anger blazed in his yellow eyes. "Why do they insist on disobeying me at every turn?"
"What's the matter?" Wildheart walked up towards them, and Scorchstar turned to her.
"Hawkfire and Redmoon left camp when I told them they had to guard camp!" Scorchstar hissed.
"What?" Wildheart's yellow eyes turned round. "Really?"
"I can go get them," Brambledusk offered.
"No." Scorchstar shook his head. "I'm going."
"Scorchstar…" Harewhisker walked over to the cats and gazed pleadingly at his leader. "You need to stay with us. We need you in camp."
Scorchstar glared at Harewhisker, lashing his tail. Brambledusk remembered a similar time when this had happened – he had to retrieve Iceheart and Hawkfire from ThunderClan's camp, but now it was Hawkfire and Redmoon. Brambledusk waited until Scorchstar let out a sigh and nodded to Brambledusk. With that permission, Brambledusk quickly scampered away, not giving Scorchstar time to change his mind.
Brambledusk ran through the moorland as he caught a trace of Hawkfire and Redmoon's scent. It was leading towards the marshland, and that was when Brambledusk heaved a heavy sigh as he raced down the hills towards the scent lines with RiverClan. Just as he had expected, Hawkfire and Redmoon's scents drifted over the scent line and into the marshes. Damn it, you two. Brambledusk padded towards the scent lines and searched for a strong taste of RiverClan. When he couldn't catch a trace, he quickly threw himself across the marsh and briskly ran through the peaty ground, holding tight onto Hawkfire and Redmoon's scent.
Their trace danced across the marshland and over the streams and rivers. Brambledusk held his breath tightly in his throat as he crossed through RiverClan's territory and came across the small, abandoned Thunderpath that made the border with ShadowClan. Brambledusk leaped over the Thunderpath and entered the dark pine forest. Soft pine needles gathered under his paws, but the scent of his Clanmates were still fresh. What in all the hells are they doing in ShadowClan territory?
As Brambledusk continued his descent into ShadowClan territory, the fur on the back of his spine rose. It had been years since Talonstar agreed to help Scorchstar in the battle against RiverClan, and he wasn't quite sure what their status was – were they allies, enemies, or simple acquaintances? In the world as it was now, every Clan were enemies. Brambledusk skidded to a halt when he spotted two pelts of red fur.
"Stop right there," Brambledusk growled. The two cats skidded to a halt and turned their heads over their shoulder. Brambledusk sighed when he recognized Hawkfire's triangular face and Redmoon's fluffy cheek fur. "What are you two doing?"
"I…" Redmoon's voice trailed off. "Um… we…"
"Uh…" Hawkfire was also silent.
"Let's get out of here. Now." Brambledusk felt his tail lash and turned around, walking away. He didn't hear any paw steps behind him, and the fur on his spine started to bristle when he imagined them not following him. He turned his head over and saw that they were behind him. The forest floor must hide their paw steps, I guess. Brambledusk padded through ShadowClan territory and towards the small Thunderpath that made the way towards the RiverClan border. Brambledusk swallowed.
"Hey!" There was a voice booming from RiverClan territory. Brambledusk bunched his muscles, clenching his teeth. "Who's there?"
Just as Brambledusk saw it fit to turn away and start running, a massive ginger-and-white tom leaped out of the marshland and stood on the Thunderpath, green eyes blazing. Runningflame! The fire left his eyes when he locked gazes with Brambledusk. Runningflame stepped back, frowning.
"What are you doing on ShadowClan territory?" Runningflame asked.
"Bringing back two runaways." Brambledusk gestured towards Hawkfire and Redmoon. "I have no ill intent. If you'll please let us go…"
Runningflame sighed. "Geez, Rippleheart is leading a patrol a fox-length away. If you want to be safe, follow me." The ginger-and-white tabby tom plunged into the marshland. Brambledusk hovered for a moment, then he remembered how the tom had helped them in their mission to find Iceheart and Hotaru. Brambledusk followed him, crossing the Thunderpath. He looked over to see Redmoon and Hawkfire hesitating.
"What are you waiting for?" Brambledusk asked them. "Come on."
"Can we trust him?" Hawkfire asked.
"Yes." Brambledusk followed Runningflame's long pelt and heard the marsh squelch behind him. Hawkfire and Redmoon were on his heels. Harsh reeds and the cold leaf-fall winds made Brambledusk wince as Runningflame bounded through the marshland, crossing streams easily until he approached the edge of the marshland where it sloped into the moorland. Runningflame skidded to a halt.
"You're home," Runningflame said, pointing towards the scent lines with his tail.
"Great. Thanks, Runningflame." Brambledusk gave the tabby a nod before turning to Hawkfire and Redmoon. "Meet me by the patch of flowers, a few fox-lengths up the hill. We've got some… things to discuss."
Hawkfire and Redmoon swallowed lumps in their throat and raced away towards the hills. Brambledusk was aware of Runningflame's green gaze burning into his back. He has a question. Brambledusk turned his head over the shoulder. "What is it?"
"Where's Russetstripe?" Runningflame asked. "It's been a while since I've seen her. Is she all right?"
"She's in ThunderClan for the time being," Brambledusk replied.
"ThunderClan?" Runningflame looked astonished. "Why?"
"She and Scorchstar got into a fight, and ThunderClan came into our camp needing some assistance. So Russetstripe went to go help them." Brambledusk felt his paws itch with uneasiness. He had to go talk to Redmoon and Hawkfire. "The Gathering is in a half-moon. You can talk to her, then, if she's able to go. See you, Runningflame. And thanks." Giving a nod to the RiverClan tom, Brambledusk climbed the hills and plunged down the rise to see Hawkfire and Redmoon sitting where Brambledusk had asked them to.
"Why didn't Runningflame rip our throats out?" Redmoon asked, green eyes wide.
"Yeah, and why did you stay behind to talk to him?" Hawkfire added.
"That doesn't matter." Brambledusk sighed. "The bigger question is… what were you doing in ShadowClan territory?"
"Tell him, Redmoon!" Hawkfire grumbled at her brother.
"All right, all right…" Redmoon sighed. "Nightfire was a huge jerk to me at the last Gathering, so I wanted to teach him a lesson, okay?"
"What?" Brambledusk's yellow eyes widened. "That's why you went all the way through RiverClan territory into ShadowClan? To pick a fight?" By all the gods, what is wrong with these cats? He turned to Hawkfire. "Why did you go?"
"I didn't want him to go alone so he could get ripped apart," Hawkfire said, staring at her white paws. "So…"
"I admire your loyalty to your brother, but surely you see that this is possibly the worst plan on earth." Brambledusk let out an irritated sigh as he hit his face with his paw. "Let's go to camp."
"No!" Hawkfire and Redmoon gasped at the same time.
"Our father is going to be so mad at us!" Hawkfire exclaimed.
"He'll rip us apart," Redmoon whined.
Brambledusk flicked his tail irritably. "You can't hide from him forever. You're going to have to face him. Come on." With those words, Brambledusk pelted away from the hills and towards WindClan's camp. He could hear the two cats running behind him, but their steps were hesitant, and they weren't as fast as they usually were. In any case scenario, Brambledusk would comfort them. But he had no idea how to excuse trespassing into ShadowClan's territory to attack a single warrior.
The WindClan warriors approached the hollow that made the camp, and Redmoon and Hawkfire stepped back nervously. Brambledusk felt a flicker of sympathy – Scorchstar was not an easy cat to apologize to, especially for such a foolish move. But, as he stated before, they couldn't hide from him forever. Brambledusk plunged down the hollow and into the clearing, with the two young cats behind him. As he entered the camp, he could see Scorchstar pacing in circles, cursing under his breath. When Brambledusk cleared his throat to announce their arrival, Scorchstar swung his head to glare at the two cats. Wildheart joined him.
"Where were you two?" Scorchstar demanded furiously as he raced over to his kits. "Explain! Now! Explain why you left camp when I specifically told you to guard it!"
"Well… I…" Redmoon glanced at his paws. "At the last Gathering… well, Nightfire clawed me." Redmoon pointed to the scar on his cheek. "So…"
"So what." Scorchstar glared at his son.
"I kinda… wanted to give him another scar in return." Redmoon crouched down in shame.
"You went to ShadowClan territory to attack one of their Clanmates?" Scorchstar's furious voice rang through the hollow, and Brambledusk winced from the intensity of his anger. Wildheart's tortoiseshell ears flattened as she glared at her children. "How stupid are you? Hawkfire, why did you go with him?"
"I didn't want him to get hurt!" Hawkfire exclaimed.
"But you still went with him!" Scorchstar's yellow eyes blazed with fury. "You didn't tell me what he was planning! You're just as complicit in this as he is!"
"Father—" Hawkfire tried to defend herself, but Scorchstar didn't let her finish.
"Unbelievable." Scorchstar's fur bristled. "Redmoon and Hawkfire, you two are on apprentice duty for the next moon. That means you're changing nests, helping Nick, and performing maintenance duty in camp."
"What?!" Redmoon and Hawkfire gasped at the same time.
"And you're not going to the next Gathering," Scorchstar added. Horror crossed both the faces of the warriors, but Scorchstar was firm in his fury. Brambledusk couldn't blame him. If Redmoon had really ended up attacking Nightfire – which, he was sure was possible – Talonstar would not let that go. At all. Redmoon trembled with fear and Hawkfire's green eyes were blazing with rage.
"You need to learn your lesson," Wildheart added. Her voice was softer and calmer than Scorchstar's, but there was no doubt it held the same fury. "You need to think before you do things. How could you possibly think trespassing on ShadowClan territory to attack one of their warriors was the smart thing to do?"
"I didn't…" Hawkfire's voice was small.
"I know it was wrong," Redmoon sighed. "I'm sorry."
"You can prove how sorry you are to me by doing what I told you to." Scorchstar turned his back on his kits, still shaking with outrage, and stalked away from them. Wildheart followed him to his den, casting a look at her kits before disappearing into the tree. Hawkfire and Redmoon looked at the ground as if their world had ended.
Brambledusk couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy at their distraught expressions, although he felt the punishment was fair. He didn't have anything to say to them, so he turned on his heel and walked away. He just hoped that the punishment wouldn't add to Hawkfire's continued quality of trying to push back against her father, and the rules of WindClan. She was feisty, fierce, and independent. She constantly fought what Scorchstar said and disregarded the rules. Would this rebellious streak of hers ever end?