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: Shhh

...

Lulurocks01- I don't really think of cat names like that tbh. I don't really prescribe to the naming systems (they're cool, just not for me), but there's a few I like, like 'face' for an attractive warrior or 'blaze' for a super feisty/strong warrior. Rainblaze was named the way she was because she's feisty and brave.

The Showers in April- Thanks! I do my best to write my kitties as 3d as I can.

...

"Little lower," growled Skyberry, her eyes fluttering shut with pleasure as Brightpaw pressed the mouse bile against the tick in her shoulder. "Ahhh, there we go. Kill that nasty bug for me, will you, dear?"

"That's why I'm here, ma'am," Brightpaw meowed politely around the stick the bile-infused moss hung from. "Brackenpaw, you check Flowerstrike. It's easier to de-tick when I know where to aim."

Brackenpaw sniffed dubiously. His claws were clogged with the old moss he'd been collecting into a ball. "Fine," he grumbled, padding over to nose the elder's strange pelt. "Shouldn't Flamepaw be helping us?"

Flowerstrike let our a mrrow of laughter. "I think two apprentices are more'n enough for two elders, kiddo."

"Oh, I dunno." Skyberry tipped her head to the side, her eyes still closed. "I think we might have another set of paws very soon."

Something sharp fastened into Brightpaw's tail. The medicine cat let out a screech- more out of shock than any pain- and jumped, falling onto the silver and white tabby and squishing the gross moss between their pelts.

"Hello, Maplekit," Flowerstrike meowed plainly. "Nice weather we're having, ey?"

Brightpaw skittered off Skyberry, muttering so many apologies they became mush in her mouth. She turned, pelt fluffing up, on Maplekit; whom, despite only being a kitten, was already above her chest level. Maplekit was turning out to be all long legs and broad shoulders, giving off the appearance of being older than she actually was. "Careful! I could've squished poor Skyberry!"

"Oh, you did, dear," Skyberry purred. "But I don't mind. It's nice to have things so lively in here."

Maplekit's eyes glowed with excitement as she took in the gathered moss and tick repellent. "Can I help? I bet I could find the most moss!"

"You won't be finding any moss," Brackenpaw said sternly, scraping the scattered scraps back together. "You can't leave camp."

"Uuuuuugggghhhhh," the tortoiseshell groaned, flopping back on her haunches in a pout. "It's not fair! I'm almost as big as any apprentice."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Brightpaw warned, looking over her stained pelt with a grimace. "Washing this out is going to suck."

Flowerstrike perked up. "Maplekit, would you be a dear and get some wet moss from Ravenwind?" he meowed gently. "Skyberry's too old to go rolling in the river."

Maplekit was already half out of the den. "Sure!"

Brightpaw resisted the urge to say she'd do it, biting her lip. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel comfortable with her mentor being around Maplekit. I don't know why. She was perfectly nice to me when I was a kit. The vague memory of StarClan's smiting clawed at her. She shook it off. I'm just overreacting. "Skyberry, Flowerstrike, can I ask you about something?"

Skyberry cracked an eye. "What's up?"

She lowered her ears slightly, already feeling ashamed, though she didn't know why. "Did you know... Leopardpoppy?"

There was an immediate effect on the two old cats. Skyberry let out a long, sorrowful sigh, while Flowerstrike bared his front teeth, eyes narrowed. It was the molly who responded. "Has some youngster been talking smack to you at the Gathering?"

"No, ma'am. I just... heard it somewhere."

Brackenpaw spat out some dry dirt. "Who's that?"

"Ravenwind's mom," Skyberry answered.

"Adopted mom," Flowerstrike added. "I should note that I don't say that to mean that she was any less of a mom to Ravenwind. She was. But the other Clans are bound to talk 'bout Nightclaw's transgression, so it's only fair you know."

Brackenpaw had ditched any attempt at looking busy now, sitting down next to Brightpaw. "Transgression?"

"Ravenwind's half-kittypet, isn't she?" Brightpaw asked, green eyes burning into Flowerstrike's white-spotted pelt. Her dream had made it pretty clear, but somehow it felt more real now, speaking to a living cat.

He nodded. "Eyup. The other Clans have never let her forget it, neither."

Her brother's ears had fallen flat at the news, eyes wide. "How can someone with kittypet blood commune with StarClan?" he asked, sounding anxious. "Is that why StarClan's mad at us?"

Skyberry shrugged. "StarClan calls who it calls. It chose Ravenwind. If it was angry with us because of her, it would've been angry seasons ago."

"I got it!" Maplekit cheered, breaking effortlessly into the somber moment. Despite her size, the tortoiseshell was forced to waddle around the sheer amount of wet moss in her jaws. Brightpaw got the impression Ravenwind had given her as much as she could, simply to make her go away. "Did I do good?"

"You did great!" Skyberry meowed. The elder sprawled herself out on her side. "Why don't you help me, hmm? The smell is starting to give me a headache."

"Sorry again, ma'am."

"Not your fault, young'un. Not your fault."

Maplekit set the wet moss on her side without delay, then turned to the two apprentices. "I saw Flamepaw leave Alderstar's den," she meowed in a hush, eyes darting around. "Is he in trouble?"

Brightpaw exchanged a look with Brackenpaw. Alderstar? "What would grandpa want with Flamepaw?"

"Why not go ask?" Flowerstrike suggested, nudging the tom's haunches. "We won't be going anywhere."

Brackenpaw fixed him an uncertain look. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

"He's a bit of a gossip," Skyberry told them, eyes twinkling. "He'll drive himself mad if he doesn't know what's up."

Brightpaw and Brackenpaw slipped out of the elders' den. Flamepaw had stomped out of camp in a huff, or so Slatestep told them as she passed, her jaws clamped around a sparrow. Together, the two apprentices followed his scent into the territory beyond. Newleaf had left the ground muggy and slushy as they padded through it, their paws getting more and more dirty by the step. Hunting had become easier as the moons dragged on, but warriors left ShadowClan pristine and returned without more mud than fur.

"It's not fair!" Flamepaw grumbled as they neared. Brightpaw and Brackenpaw found him sitting in a relatively dry clearing, shaded by the pine trees. Across from him sat Rainblaze, listening patiently. "Grandpa said I was too young for my name!"

"You are too young," she pointed out. "Technically speaking, I shouldn't even have mine, and I became a 'paw when you were still a kit."

He sighed, resting his head against her burly chest. "I need my name. How can they respect me without it?"

"That's fluff-brained," Rainblaze meowed bluntly. "Are you saying you didn't respect Smokestripe when she was a 'paw?"

"Of course not! She's my mom!"

"There you are. All they'll care about is that you're there, and you're loving, and you're a great tom." The blue molly nosed his forehead. "Nervous?"

"A little," Flamepaw admitted sheepishly. "But mostly excited. I... hope you're the same way?"

"Absolutely. Why wouldn't I be?" Rainblaze puffed her chest out. "It's better for our litter to come now anyway. We can raise them and still have plenty of moons to patrol and hunt for our Clan."

Surprise tingled from Brightpaw's ears to her tail. Flamepaw's gonna be a father! Suddenly, Rainblaze pulling Flamepaw to the side during their final assessment made sense. She must've told him then!

Brackenpaw, shocked, slipped on some mud, falling flat on his side. Brightpaw crouched closer to the ground, wary of being spotted.

"Did you hear something?" Flamepaw asked.

"Sniff the air," Rainblaze replied. "It had to have been a mouse."

He did so, then gagged. "Ulgh, that's awful. Why can't mice have a dirtplace like we do?"

Brightpaw looked at the mouse bile stain on her pelt, burning up with embarrassment. She nudged Brackenpaw to his paws and frantically gestured for him to get a move on. He awkwardly led the way, half his body glistening with mud. A quiet understanding passed between them as they turned towards the nearest river, rolling in the chilly water to get clean.

"Brightpaw?" Brackenpaw meowed finally. "I'm sorry about what I said. About Ravenwind."

"Ravenwind?" she echoed. "Oh, the kittypet thing. It didn't bother me. I was a little worried myself when I first found out."

"It just sunk in," he said. "Rainblaze is all rogue, right? So that means their kits will be half-rogue. I can't imagine loving or respecting them less because of that. Well, I mean, I can't imagine loving and respecting them at all- they're not even born yet." He paused, eyes growing misty as he thought of the coming tiny bundles of fur. "Okay, that was a lie. I already love them to bits."

Brightpaw laughed, nudging Brackenpaw as they climbed out of the water. "You really like kits, huh? Maybe you'll have your own one day."

"I sure hope so," he told her, tail curling. "Someday."

Author's Note: Yaay for secret/surprise news! Flamepaw kind of followed in Smokestripe's pawsteps lol. I went from no real enthusiasm for writing to All the Enthusiasm and wrote this chapter in like two hours last night asdkdmcolcdocudhc.

-Mandaree1