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: Flowers

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A Warrior at Heart- The concept of Hawkpaw and Brightpaw getting crushes on each other completely skipped my mind until your comment tbh, so that's a thing now lol.

Somerandomperson (July 2nd)- Yeah, Ravenwind is pretty interesting to write, but she's Bad NewsTM all the way around.

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Brightpaw sunk her teeth into a lizard, killing the prey with one quick twist of her head. It was ridiculously scrawny, but most everything was during Leaf-bare, herself included.

Hawkpaw padded up, tail curling with pleasure. "Good catch!" he purred.

She blinked at him affectionately. Brightpaw scraped some snow over her catch before moving on, Hawkpaw close behind. With Ravenwind busy and Duskspring ill, the two apprentices had come to spend a lot of time together, hoping to stave off worry for their mentors. At first, Brightpaw had been concerned she was holding the older apprentice back, but Hawkpaw didn't seem to carry any of those fears himself. He'd already given her lessons on correcting her pounce, and she could do a mean front swipe.

They returned to camp with prey in jaw. Hawkpaw had caught a sparrow, chin raised proudly as he trotted over to the elders' den. Brightpaw watched him go, then turned and went into the nursery. Mossyear's kitting had come as a great surprise to ShadowClan; the gray molly hadn't shown any real signs until the very end, when the tiniest bit of belly poked out. Badgerthroat had moved into the den with her mate, and now assisted her in taking care of their single kitten; a tortoiseshell she-kit named Maplekit.

As Brightpaw set the lizard down, she took a moment to study the kitten, fast asleep against Mossyear's belly. Maplekit was only a moon or so old, but she was already sizing up to become an impressive ShadowClan cat when she got older. She had broad shoulders and legs, with a sleek but thick coat. It wouldn't be easy for her enemies to dig their teeth in, that's for sure.

I should've been here when she was born, Brightpaw thought rebelliously, exiting without so much as a hello. I can sort of understand why Ravenwind doesn't want me around Duskspring, but Mossyear is perfectly healthy! I'm a medicine cat! Confusion threatened to swallow the 'paw whole as she grumpily plopped down next to Berrypaw, who was munching on a mouse. Doesn't she want me to learn?

"Isn't it cute?" Berrypaw meowed, breaking into her reverie.

"Is what cute?"

The black molly angled her ears toward Flamepaw, the sandy yellow tom offering Rainpaw his vole. "I'm pretty sure he's got a crush," she whispered deviously, whiskers twitching. "I hope Rainpaw isn't too mean about it, though. If she doesn't feel the same way."

Brightpaw tilted her head to the side. Flamepaw and Rainpaw were pelt to pelt now, chowing down with relish. "I don't see it," she admitted. "They're acting the same way Hawkpaw and I do."

Berrypaw laughed and shoved her shoulder playfully. "Hey, you said it, not me."

Ears burning with embarrassment, Brightpaw grabbed her sister's scraps of leftover mouse and dug her teeth in. I don't have a crush on Hawkpaw, she sneered internally. Even if she did, it wasn't like it mattered. Medicine cats couldn't take mates. He's been so nice to me, even though he probably has better things to do. I want to keep that kind of relationship between us. Best friends 'till the end!

A paw tapping her shoulder made Brightpaw shift over, leaning on Berrypaw. Graypaw hovered anxiously above them, a flower clutched in his jaws. For a brief, uncertain moment, Brightpaw thought it was a show of affection. But then she caught the gleam of fear in his eyes, the slight shaking in his paws.

"Are you okay, Graypaw?" asked Berrypaw, concerned.

Graypaw's response was to spit the flower out at their paws, nudging it closer pointedly. The 'paw shrunk as they stared, quivering, his ears flat against his skull.

Brightpaw sniffed delicately at the stem. I don't think it's a herb. Maybe it's a sign from StarClan?

Brackenpaw came up behind Graypaw, eyes narrowed. "Did something happen to Flowerpaw?"

Flowerpaw! Brightpaw and Berrypaw sat up, immediately worried. Flowerpaw was a fairly quiet she-cat, disappearing by herself often. She found it hard to tell what was going on in the black molly's head half the time, but she was still her denmate. "Is she hurt?"

Graypaw shrugged helplessly. He nudged Brackenpaw over to the apprentices' den. The dark tabby tom disappeared a moment, then poked his head back out. "Her scent is stale," he reported. "She must not have come back last night."

"What?" They all flinched as if struck at the quiet terror in Hawkpaw's voice as he approached, head low. "Flowerpaw's missing?"

"It looks like it," Brackenpaw meowed grimly. "I say we all take a quick sniff around the territory for Flowerpaw. If we can't find her, then we'll tell Alderstar." His green eyes swept over them. "Sound good?"

"It'll go faster if we split up," Rainpaw volunteered, having overheard. "Groups of two sound good?"

They all mewed agreement. Brightpaw watched quietly as Berrypaw moved to press comfortingly against Graypaw, quelling his shakes. Flamepaw glanced at Rainpaw; the blue molly's eyes blazed as she impatiently led him into the territory, tail flicking with unspoken frustration at having not noticed their missing Clanmate sooner. To her surprise, Hawkpaw didn't seem to mind not being paired up with Graypaw- rather, he leaned on her, winding their tails together like Rainpaw had. His normal pine and bog odor was almost blotted out with fear-scent.

"We'll find her," Brightpaw promised. "She couldn't have gotten far."

"I'm not worried about finding her," he whispered, voice cracking. "Brightpaw, what if WindClan-"

Her pelt prickled with fear, forcibly reminded of Birchpaw. There was an uneasy peace between WindClan and ShadowClan for now, but they all knew it wasn't going to last. "Come'on," she meowed, forcing her tone to sound a little cheerful. "Let's go check the Carrionplace. Flowerpaw probably just got caught up sniffing out some rats." StarClan, please, let that be all it is.

The Carrionplace wasn't somewhere Brightpaw visited often. True, ShadowClan relied on its rat population during Leaf-bare, but it was too dangerous for two apprentices to go by themselves. Unlike most prey, rats were vicious, and more than a few warriors had lost their lives to them over the seasons. Brightpaw didn't see Flowerpaw as the type to try sneaking in alone, and was soon proven right. There wasn't even a whiff of the missing molly's scent on the breeze. In fact, the Carrionplace was almost deadly silent, as if even the rats knew something was wrong.

"That's enough pretending." Hawkpaw whipped around. "We're wasting time. Let's check the Thunderpath."

"I wasn't pretending!" Brightpaw hissed, but followed obediently.

Snow crunched under their paws as they made their way through the territory. She caught a whiff of Slatestep on the breeze; the mentor was probably out looking for her apprentice as well. Panic began to grow more and more steadily in Brightpaw's throat as they moved. We should've smelled some newer scent by now, she realized. In this time of the season, all the apprentices were out hunting. There was no plausible way Flowerpaw could have been out and about and not been spotted by one of them.

Berrypaw's wailing seemed to confirm her suspicions. Pelt bristling, Hawkpaw sprinted off towards the black apprentice's call, Brightpaw close behind. The noise led them to a half-frozen river, gushing sluggishly in the cold. Graypaw was crumpled by the shore, whiskers dragging along the waves. Berrypaw was out on the unstable ice, clawing at a thin layer of ice covering a bundle of black.

For a moment, Brightpaw forgot how to breathe. No. It can't be. She gave a great leap onto the ice, which cracked a little under her paws. It couldn't have frozen over that long ago. Her claws clacked painfully against the ice as she dug next to Berrypaw, unveiling the bundle bit by bit. By the time it broke surface, there was no denying any longer; it was Flowerpaw, soaked to the bone. Her amber eyes stared blankly ahead.

"She drowned," Brightpaw said. Her throat felt like sand. She dully nodded to her outstretched and bloody paws. "Look. She must've gotten caught under something."

"We're too late," Hawkpaw growled. He tilted his head back and let out a mournful yowl, eyes squeezed shut. Graypaw slumped closer to the ground, his chin soaked by the cold waves that had taken his sister's life.

"StarClan, how could you?" Fallingfeather screeched as she draped herself across Flowerpaw's body. "What did my baby do to deserve this?"

Smokestripe moved to sit next to the grieving warrior, pressing their pelts together supportively. "These things happen, Fallingfeather," she murmured into her scruff. "It's not anyone's fault."

"How would you know?" she snapped, eyes blazing. "Your son didn't suffer!"

She winced at the reminder. "Perhaps not, but now neither of them are suffering."

The fight seemed to leave Fallingfeather. She leaned dully on the black she-cat with a shudder. "My baby, my baby," she moaned.

Across from them, Slatestep lifted her head from her dead apprentice's scruff, turning to Alderstar. "Do we know how this happened?"

"She fell in and got stuck," he replied wearily.

"Stuck on what?" she meowed, this time to Berrypaw. "You said the ice was too thin to have been there long."

Honeyflower stood up from the back. "May I say something?"

Alderstar nodded his head in ascent.

The elder warrior made sure to choose her words very carefully. "I don't intend for this to be an accusation, or for any suspicion to be thrown," she started. "But I saw her with Ravenwind last."

Ravenwind, who had been quietly counting how many juniper berries she had, straightened, meeting the tabby head-on. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Flowerpaw was a smart cat," Honeyflower explained calmly. "I know that river. It's not fast enough to drown a cat- not without ice or debris, neither of which could have done it."

"The debris could have washed away."

"You're right. It could." She looked thoughtful. "I was simply curious if Flowerpaw had seemed alarmed when you spoke to her. Was there something going on that could have clouded her judgement and led her to slip in?"

Ravenwind clearly seemed displeased by the sudden attention, shifting her paws. "What cats tell me in private isn't my place to reveal," she meowed finally.

"Please," Fallingfeather whispered, staring at the medicine cat with such desperation it made Brightpaw want to look away.

The black she-cat glanced at Alderstar hopefully, only to find the leader staring back at her with a quiet intensity. Ravenwind sighed. "She asked to be my apprentice," she meowed begrudgingly. "I told her no."

Brightpaw stared at Ravenwind, floored. Flowerpaw wanted to be a medicine cat? It'd explain why she tried to avoid regular training so much. She could've told me! I would've gone with her to talk to Ravenwind about it!

Honeyflower sat back down, sniffing derisively. "Maybe she wouldn't have been so certain you'd say yes if you paid your 'paw even the slightest bit of mind," she grunted.

"I don't need advice from a cat with one paw in StarClan," Ravenwind snapped, before stomping into the medicine den. Brightpaw collected the juniper berries and followed. Duskspring slept in his nest, completely unaware. She could hear his chest rattle with every breath. "Rancid-smelling dung-eater."

Brightpaw blinked at her, surprised by the viciousness in her voice. She sounded far more angry than when she'd confronted Alderstar. "Honeyflower doesn't like you very much, does she?"

"No," said Ravenwind curtly, taking the berries from her. She set them back in their hole with little regard, undoubtedly smashing a few from the drop. "You ever notice how she limps around at the end of the day? Her joints are getting bad. But she's refused to even consider asking me for poppy seeds. It's going to get her killed."

"Why?" Brightpaw ventured, and immediately knew she'd gone too far when Ravenwind tensed. "Never mind, I mean-"

"It's fine." Her voice was flat and dead. "Honeyflower and I share a father."

She tilted her head to the side. "...I thought she was older than you?"

"Different litters." Something like amusement crept into her eyes as she went on. "He passed not long after I was born. Honeyflower never quite forgave me for it." Ravenwind turned around, nosing her forehead. "Hey, I'm sorry about ignoring you. I know you just want to help. Why don't you swing by in the morning, and I'll give you some herbs to memorize? That way, you can hunt and heal."

"Sounds good," she meowed without any real enthusiasm, dampened by Flowerpaw's death. "Ravenwind, why didn't you say yes to Flowerpaw? She could be a great medicine cat. And she had a strong immune system, too, so you wouldn't have to worry as much!"

"Nonsense," Ravenwind sniffed. That eerie light in her eyes was back. "I've found my replacement, Brightpaw. You."

Author's Note: I feel pretty bad about killing Flowerpaw off with all of like two bits of dialogue, but it wouldn't have fit into the storyline any other way. Originally, I'd planned on having her body stay frozen for the entire Leaf-bare and getting found when it got warmer, but there's no way they wouldn't have found it before then.

On the bright side (pun not intended), we're learning more and more about Ravenwind's backstory!

-Mandaree1