Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors series!

Title: Red Pearls

Summary: Brightfur just wanted to be a medicine cat. Her mentor, Ravenwind, has very different ideas on what that means- for her and for ShadowClan. With Ravenwind controlling her every move and more than willing to kill to keep it that way, Brightfur will need more than just luck to live to tell the tale.

Chapter Title: Playtime

...

"Rawr!" Brackenkit squeaked, pressing Berrykit to the snow. He dug his tiny teeth into her scruff. "I got you!"

"Oh nooooo!" Berrykit flopped onto her side, tongue hanging out jokingly. "I'm dead now."

"Speaking of dead." They all turned to find Rainpaw and Barkpaw trudging through the snow towards them. Flamekit was clutched in Barkpaw's jaws. "You mind telling me why your brother was following us?"

"Flamekit!" Brackenkit sounded mortified. "We're not old enough to leave camp!"

Barkpaw dropped Flamekit to the ground. The snow was up to his chest as he shuffled over to his littermates, tail dragging. "I just wanted to see them train!" he wailed. "It all looks so cool! And it's way better than sitting around in the cold and going hungry!"

"We're hungry too, you know," Rainpaw snapped. "I wish I could curl up in the nursery and wait until patrols came back with fresh-kill."

"Mossyear got me up before dawn to catch prey," Barkpaw added, though he looked far more sheepish than his sister. "I still haven't gotten a bite to eat, and it's almost Sunhigh."

Brightkit stared up at the two young apprentices, feeling a dash of sympathy. They'd just been made 'paws. They'd lost their mother, and now they were starving like regular warriors, all skin and bone. She padded forward to touch Barkpaw's foot. "Wanna play with us?"

Rainpaw and Barkpaw exchanged an uneasy look. "Newtfrost would have my tail," Rainpaw growled, her eyes glowing with excitement. "But it'd be worth it."

The kittens started to run, but the apprentices were faster. Rainpaw scooped Flamekit up once again, poking him in the back before pronouncing him 'dead'. Brackenkit and Brightkit ducked between their legs, nipping at their tails. Barkpaw slumped to the snow with an overdramatic yowl, whilst Rainpaw's tail slithered under her stomach as she whirled around. The gray-blue molly gave a great leap, kicking up snow under her paws, and tackled Brightkit to the snowy ground. Brightkit wailed and went limp, sticking her tongue out to show she had been taken down. Brackenkit hissed and wrapped his jaws around Rainpaw's back leg. The apprentice flopped down next to Brightkit with a cackle.

"I won," Brackenkit panted, staring around the fallen cats. "But at what cost?"

Barkpaw snorted. "Can I get up now?"

"Kits!" Smokestripe's harsh meow made all of them jump and hunch over, ashamed, as the queen padded up to them. Worry glowed in her eyes. "You shouldn't be playing in the snow like this. You could get sick!"

"We're fine, mama," Brackenkit grumped, kicking out his paw. "Rainpaw and Barkpaw were watching over us."

The black molly's attention shifted to the two young apprentices. "Are Newtfrost and Mossyear aware where you are?"

"Yes, ma'am." Barkpaw dipped his head. "They let us come back for a short break."

Smokestripe's features softened as she took in their battered and snow-flecked forms. "Go get yourselves something off the pile. You've earned it." She reached out to hook Berrykit by the scruff, leading the others to the nursery with her tail. Ever since Darkkit had passed a moon ago, the young warrior had proven to be very touchy with how her kits were handled, Berrykit especially, as the molly shared their dead brother's black pelt.

Brightkit's tail twitched with barely contained irritation as she crawled into their nest to get warm. They were used to Stonebreeze taking their mother out of camp early in the morning, leaving Fallingfeather to look after them- she was just barely younger than Smokestripe's ex-mentor, and spent the majority of her time sleeping. Now that she was a warrior, she was allowed to stay full-time in camp with her litter, and the sudden dynamic change was grinding on all their nerves.

We're three moons old, she thought rebelliously, setting her chin on her paws. We can take care of ourselves.

"It was half dead! How could you have missed that?"

Brightkit jolted awake. She hadn't even felt herself falling asleep. Smokestripe had moved slightly, sitting near the entrance of the nursery, her head just poking out. She's never gotten to be a warrior, Brightkit realized suddenly, padding over to sit next to her. She's probably as bored of this place as we are.

Smokestripe didn't speak, just angled her nose toward the opening that led out of camp. Flowerpaw was carrying a half-frozen chaffinch in her jaws, eyes darting around uneasily. Hawkpaw had a scrawny vole. Graypaw had nothing, staring at his paws as Leafleg scolded him.

"Enough, Leafleg," Slatestep growled. "It was just bad luck."

The brown warrior pretended not to hear, hackles raised. "Your littermates both caught prey. You should have too. If anything, you should be twice the hunter they are! It's not like you can make a lot of noise!" Graypaw flinched. "A cat who doesn't bring home fresh-kill is a cat who starves. That's a lesson you need to learn. No food for you tonight."

Duskspring shoved between Leafleg and the rapidly withdrawing apprentice, teeth bared. "It's not up to you to decide who does or doesn't eat, Leafleg."

"But-" the warrior tried to argue.

The deputy cut him off. "This is no way to treat your apprentice. It's harassment, plain and simple. As such, you are not to eat tonight or tomorrow morning- you will know the harsh reality of how you wished to punish Graypaw." Leafleg opened his jaws to complain, but Duskspring cut him off with a glare. "You may go, Leafleg."

Leafleg's ears flattened as he mulled over his options. Finally, tail lashing, he stomped off, growling under his breath.

Brightkit felt sick to her stomach at the scene. "Mama, will my mentor be like Leafleg?"

Smokestripe's eyes widened. "Oh, no, not at all. That's now how a true mentor acts." She sighed. "I just don't know why Alderstar is so fond of him. He's nothing but a bully."

"He looks like Birchpaw," Brightkit meowed before she could stop herself. "I mean, a little bit."

Her mother stared at her. "You know what Birchpaw looked like?"

Brightkit flinched at the wonder in Smokestripe's voice. Did I do something wrong? "He was all brown, like Leafleg, with white on him," she replied, crouching a little. "I met him in my dreams once."

Smokestripe laid down so they were muzzle-to-muzzle. "Oh, honey," she breathed, pulling her closer. Brightkit welcomed the nuzzling with a purr. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think anyone would believe me," Brightkit mumbled into her fur. "Am I... in trouble?"

"Not even a little. You have a gift, Brightkit." Smokestripe licked a spot between her eyes. "You could be a great medicine cat, if you wanted."

"I could?"

"Mmhmm. Medicine cats heal, but they also speak with the dead. Just like you did."

Something warm settled in Brightkit's stomach as she glanced out at the snowy clearing again. Addershine was talking quietly to Graypaw, touching noses with the apprentice before leading him out of the camp once again. A great medicine cat...

Author's Note: This one is shorter and fluffier, but I wanted to show that not every day in Brightkit's life is murder and mayhem, y'know?

-Mandaree1