Disclaimer: I don't own the Warrior Cats 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: That's a lot of 'paws
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Clearsight1010- Thanks so much!
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"There's not much I can teach you right now," Ravenwind meowed. "Once the territory warms, however, you'll have your work cut out for you."
Brightkit tipped her head to the side. "Doesn't most sickness happen in Leaf-bare, though?"
"It does," she agreed, shoving some flowers back into a hole. "But there's very few herbs. I can't rightly teach you anything when I don't have the plants for you to memorize." The medicine cat straightened with something like a friendly smile. "Don't worry too much about that. There's always use for apprentices."
"Is that a yes?"
"It is a yes." Quicker than the eye could follow, a paw wrapped around Brightkit, pulling her closer. Ravenwind laved a lick to her head. "I'm glad it was you, Brightkit. You remind me of someone I miss very much."
"Really?" breathed Brightkit.
"Really." Ravenwind's eyes softened. "She was yellow, like you, but she had spots instead of stripes."
Brightkit opened her jaws to ask more, but before she could Alderstar's gruff voice echoed through the medicine den. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey meet me at the Clanrock for a Clan meeting!"
All at once, the moment was ruined. Ravenwind pulled away with her typical distant air. "Let's go find ourselves some seats."
Smokestripe was so close to the Clanrock she could have hopped over to Duskspring without trouble, and Stonebreeze wasn't far behind. Brackenkit, Berrykit, and Flamekit surrounded her, Brightkit quickly joining the fray. Hawkpaw, Flowerpaw, and Graypaw were near the back with their mother, Hawkpaw eagerly craning his neck to see better. Rainpaw and Barkpaw sulked beside their mentors, looking displeased at the notion of sharing the already cramped den with more cats. Leafleg and Addershine were joking around towards the middle; despite the latter not having an apprentice, the cream yellow tom barely glanced at them. Badgerthroat and Mossyear sat with their tails intertwined. Briarspots was murmuring to Mossyear, the very tip of his tail twitching.
"We almost have as many apprentices as we do warriors," said Alderstar as he hopped up. "It's a bit perplexing, I must admit. But just imagine how strong we'll be when they're all powerful warriors!"
"WindClan will quiver like kittypets," Badgerthroat growled. Though her face had healed, the bright pink scar was almost impossible to miss.
"If Ravenwind's right, and this whole thing is StarClan's will, then there's no time to waste," Mossyear added, leaning up to nose her cheek. "We'll get them for what they did to you."
She leaned away. "I don't care about that. I care about Birchpaw and Puddle."
Coughing broke into the moment. Duskspring was hunched over, fur spikey with pain as he hacked. The whole clearing fell silent as he shook himself and sat up, eyes dull. "Sorry, sorry. Proceed."
"You'll proceed right to my den, Duskspring," Ravenwind meowed. "As soon as the ceremony as over."
Alderstar stared at his deputy, concerned, before reluctantly turning back to the crowd. "Brackenkit, Berrykit, Flamekit, and Brightkit. Please step forward."
Brightkit flinched as she moved closer, ears flat against her head. Coughing like that must hurt, and she didn't want whatever Duskspring had.
"Brackenkit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Brackenpaw. Your mentor will be Fallingfeather. I hope she'll pass on her patience and sense of responsibility onto you."
Fallingfeather stood and padded forward, looking surprised about being picked so soon after leaving the nursery. Regardless, she met Brackenpaw with her head high, purring loud enough to be heard from the front as they touched noses.
"Berrykit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Berrypaw. Briarspots, you are young, but you're kind and sensible. You will make a great mentor for Berrypaw."
Berrypaw all but sprinted across the snow to meet up with Briarspots. Unlike Fallingfeather, he seemed fully prepared, probably having been asked first by Alderstar, as he was one of the youngest warriors in ShadowClan.
"Flamekit, from this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Flamepaw. Addershine-" the tom jumped up- "You've proven to be a great backup mentor to Graypaw, and I know you will be just as great with Flamepaw."
Brightkit stared in awe as her siblings sat down in a row with their mentors. None of them had changed in any way, but there was a more grown-up air to them as they watched her pad forward to get her name.
Alderstar's gazed fixed on her. "Brightkit, do you accept the post of apprentice to Ravenwind?"
Excitement fizzled through her pelt. "I do!"
"Then I name you Brightpaw. At the half-moon, you must travel to the Moonstone to be accepted by StarClan before the other medicine cats. The good wishes of all of ShadowClan go with you."
Ravenwind angled her head slightly to bump noses with Brightpaw. There was something intense in her stare that made her want to shy away, but she dug her claws in.
"Brackenpaw! Berrypaw! Flamepaw! Brightpaw!" ShadowClan chanted. Smokestripe looked pleased, but a tinge regretful, bowing her head slightly. There should be a Darkpaw too.
"Come with me, mister," Ravenwind meowed as soon as they were finished. Duskspring hung his head like a scolded kit. "You better pray to StarClan that little spectacle wasn't a sign of Greencough, or we're all in trouble." Brightpaw took an important step towards them, hoping to help, but the medicine cat shook her head. "Go with your littermates, Brightpaw. I'm not going to risk you getting sick so young."
"Oh," she replied, feeling cheated. "Um. Yes, ma'am?"
"Brightpaw!" Berrypaw called, eyes glowing. "Come on, slow-slug! We're gonna get to the see the borders!"
She scrambled to follow after them, stumbling a bit over her own paws. Ravenwind hardly gave her a second look, herding Duskspring into the medicine den. Where's all your 'you remind of someone I care about' talk now?
"You'll think he'll be okay?" asked Hawkpaw, coming along her side. The gray and black tom hesitantly met her eye. "He's not gonna die, is he?"
"I don't really know." Brightpaw tried to find the words to comfort him. "But Ravenwind didn't look that worried, so I'm sure he'll be fine."
He suddenly flinched. "Oh, man, I'm being terrible, aren't I? You just lost Darkkit, and here I am-"
"Darkkit died almost four moons ago," she cut him off. "It still hurts, but it's behind us. Duskspring is now."
"Thanks, Brightpaw." Hawkpaw's whiskers twitched. "C'mon. Let's see if a couple of mentorless apprentices like us can't make it through a patrol."
"Show-off!" Berrypaw accused, shoving Hawkpaw's shoulder. "It was just a border patrol, but nooooo. You just had to nab that mouse."
Hawkpaw carried his fresh-kill by its thin tail. He smiled around the appendage. "Don't worry. Only your mentors saw me."
Flamepaw snorted, shaking his head. "Don't get too worked up about it, sis. It's not even a mouthful."
"You'll be thankful for a mouthful soon enough," Briarspots warned, smiling just a little. "Leaf-bare sucks."
Brightpaw recalled Rainpaw and Barkpaw's thinning pelts with a shudder. She quietly padded away from the congregation of 'paws and mentors, moving hopefully towards the medicine den. Maybe she'll need me now!
But it wasn't to be, however. Ravenwind gave a quiet warning hiss as she neared. "Not now, Brightpaw. I'm not sure if this is Whitecough or Greencough, and I really don't want to toe that line." She paused, eyes raking over her disappointed form. "I'm sorry, dear. It's not that I don't want to teach you. Darkkit's immune system was so weak, and it's hard to tell if your's is weaker too. I won't take that chance- not until you're older and stronger."
Ashamed of herself, Brightpaw dipped her head. "Yes, Ravenwind."
"I'm keeping Duskspring under observation for the night," she continued. "You might as well pull up a nest in the apprentices' den, okay?"
"Yes, Ravenwind," she repeated, already backing away.
The apprentices' den was more crowded than she'd expected. In the wake of so many cats, the older 'paws had decided to spread moss across the entire floor of the den rather than make individual nests. Graypaw was curled up in a tight ball, while Hawkpaw and Flowerpaw were sprawled out side-by-side. Rainpaw and Barkpaw were already snoring, wore out from their tasks. Her own littermates were flopped together in a slapdash pile, poking fun at one another.
As the only medicine cat, Brightpaw felt very, very out of place.
Thankfully, Hawkpaw seemed to notice her hesitation, waving her over with a paw. "There's plenty of room over here," he reassured her as she languished on her back like him. His voice softened. "Don't worry so much, okay? It's only until Duskspring gets better."
Brightpaw swallowed and nodded. She didn't imagine the underlying worry in his voice at the thought of his mentor getting ill. "Yeah. Yeah. Okay." She closed her eyes and tried to get comfortable. "G'night."
"G'night, Brightpaw."
Author's Note: Yay for the kiddos! Now things can start heating up, since Brightpaw is officially Ravenwind's apprentice (even if she's not quite ready for her yet)
I try my best to make Ravenwind's actions as double-sided as possible- by which I mean you can read them in a good or bad way. Ravenwind offering Alderstar prey in the first chapter could very well have been her trying to poison him, or maybe she was apologizing. Ravenwind could be concerned about Brightpaw's health, or manipulating her to various ends. That type of thing.
-Mandaree1