Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors!

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: Finding Strength

...

"Don't," whispered Alderstar, sensing Brightfur's muscles bunching. "This isn't your fight."

"I'll make it my fight," she snarled. She knew that he couldn't hold her back. Even living and breathing, Alderstar had become someone who hated violence more than anything after the death of his son, and now all he had was a bunch of stars to give him form.

The ex-leader lashed his tail at the disrespectful tone she'd taken. "Think this through, dear," he said through grit teeth. "If you run across that Thunderpath, you'll be giving him more than enough time to run- and even if he doesn't, he's got enough ammo to make you stop."

Brightfur exhaled in a frustrated hiss, digging her claws in the dirt.

"Where are they?" Scrap repeated, his face barely a mouse-length from Parsnip's. "I know you know."

The kittypet regarded him like a kit regarded a slug- a bit of curiosity, but mostly just disgust. "Why? Doesn't your little group of thugs know?"

"Want me to call them? I'm sure they'd love to tear your pelt to pieces."

Parsnip laughed. "Don't be dumb, Scrap. We're too close to forest cat land for any of them to show."

"Maybe," he admitted, raising a claw. "But I'm not afraid to do it myself, either."

"Look away," Alderstar urged.

Brightfur didn't look away. She couldn't.

Scrap's claws collided with the side of Parsnip's face, over and over again. Blood speckled across the gray tom's muzzle as the molly shrieked underneath him, digging her back claws into his stomach. The pain didn't even seem to deter him. Finally, something round and squishy rolled out onto the grass, kicked away by one of Scrap's bloody paws.

It was one of her eyes.

Brightfur dry-heaved.

"You're scum," Parsnip whimpered, her earlier bravado gone. "You're horrible and disgusting and no one will remember you when you're gone."

Scrap was panting. He sneered down at her. "You'll remember me. Now, tell me; where are they?"

The molly fell silent. She's probably in shock, Brightfur thought. Again, she went to move forward, this time in an instinctive need to care and heal the cat who'd housed her. Alderstar's fluffy, star-filled tail stopped her.

Brightfur, eyes narrowed, glared at him. "If she dies, I will never serve StarClan again."

"Do you serve us now?" Alderstar asked, head tilted.

There was a long, low sigh from Scrap. "Why did you have to make this harder than it has to be, Parsnip?"

Cold water ran down Brightfur's spine, extinguishing her anger in a millisecond. She took a step back almost unconsciously, remembering a horrible day long, long ago, when the same words had been said to her.

Parsnip spoke. She sounded a million miles away. "You'll never have them, Scrap. We made sure of it. Even if you find them one day, they'll be stronger and more vicious than you'll ever be. They'll be warriors."

Scrap bared his teeth in a smile that would haunt Brightfur's dreams for many nights to come. "So was Berry. Didn't matter then, won't matter now."

The medicine cat sucked some air in through her teeth. Before, it had been push and pull, moving towards or away, but not she was stuttering off to the side. The sharp branches of the bush dug into her. Brightfur couldn't feel them.

In a fit of what could only be adrenaline, Parsnip lashed out, leaving deep lines in his gut. The tom's grip must've weakened, and within moments Parsnip was on top of him, her claws digging into his throat. Blood dripped down her face, landing in his eyes. He squeezed them shut with a hiss.

"I should kill you now," she growled. "But it wouldn't be fair to the cats who've earned that right more."

"Smithy'll have your other eye for this!"

"You're gonna tell him that a little purebred pet managed to pin you? Doesn't sound very wise to me, hotshot." The molly's ear twisted to the side. "Someone's coming."

She must mean me, Brightfur thought, a little shaken by the turn of events. She didn't move. She was too scared. The bush had protected her. The bush kept her safe. The bush didn't pin random cats and gouge their eyes out.

"Hey!" screeched a new voice, and out of the shadows came Tigerpaw, her tabby fur on end. "What's going on here? We could hear screaming all the way in camp!" The molly came to a stop, taking in the scene with flattened ears. "Holy frog-guts."

"Lay off!" Scrap replied, still firmly pinned. "We aren't in your little land of forest and death. Leave us alone."

Behind Tigerpaw came Lionpaw. The golden tom was almost double her height, bulky, with plenty of thick fur. He was easily the more intimidating sibling, in spite of his passive nature. "Do you need help?"

"I'm going to faint," said Parsnip, swallowing. Tigerpaw immediately went to her side, holding her up as she stepped away from Scrap. The rogue rolled and got to his paws, shaking himself. "Don't. Just... leave, Scrap."

Scrap stared at her a moment. Something like pity entered his eyes, as if her disfigurement was caused by a blunder and not a vicious attack. "They're my kits too, Parsnip. I just want to be a dad."

Parsnip turned her head away. Lionpaw cleared his throat. "You should go."

The gray tom hocked a loogie at him. When the ShadowClan cat didn't move, he turned and ducked away. Brightfur thought she could see his tail tucking neatly between his legs.

Lionpaw turned to Parsnip. "That looks pretty bad, ma'am. We should get you to a medicine cat."

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. If I don't get home soon, the other cats'll make sure I never do." Parsnip regarded them with warmth. "Thank you for helping me."

"Always happy to freak out living bags of dog dirt," Tigerpaw chirped, whiskers twitching. "We could walk you home, if you'd like. I mean, we're all heading the same way."

Lionpaw heaved a sigh. "Our Aunt and Uncle decided it'd be a bright idea to go running off. Everyone's starting to get worried."

They're... looking for me?

A flicker of stars registered in her peripheral before the ghost of Alderstar forcibly shoved Brightfur into the open. The trio jumped, twisting to look at her with something akin to awe.

"Hi," Brightfur said, trying to catch her balance. "The others'll be here soon. They got... busy." There was no salvaging her stride as she propelled onto the Thunderpath. Thankful that no monsters were coming, the medicine cat trotted across, feeling more and more self-conscious by the second. Brightfur knew how bad this looked, stumbling out into the open after such a horrible attack, but did they have to stare? "Are you okay?"

"How long were you there?" Parsnip asked, deadpan.

Brightfur flinched. "Long enough."

"I guess I shouldn't be shocked. You've always felt a bit mouse-hearted to me," she responded, giving Tigerpaw and Lionpaw an appreciative look. "At least there's some good forest cats out there."

"Lionpaw and Tigerpaw are pretty amazing, aren't they?" Brightfur asked, surprised when the littermates froze and snuck looks at each other. "What? What'd I say?"

Tigerpaw cleared her throat. "That's not- I mean, you missed our ceremony, so you didn't know, but..." She gestured to themselves with her tail. "I'm Tigercloud now, and he's Lionmask."

"Oh," said Brightfur, hit with a flash of shame. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Tigercloud shrugged. "It didn't really matter."

That hurt worse.

The thrill of seeing StarClan clung to the other cats like dewdrops as they found their way over to them, not even vanishing when they saw the state Parsnip was in. The kittypet had eventually agreed to letting her wrap her eye, making sure that she wouldn't bleed out on the way home. Parsnip refused to even second-glance Brightfur, who felt that was fair, if hard to accept. She'd been so friendly before the difference was jarring. About as jarring as losing an eye.

Dewey and Huey were the most alert as they wound between Parsnip's paws. Kittens tended to accept the forces a lot more easily than adult cats. Clover, meanwhile, was in a daze, stumbling into and over things with a strange new glint in her eyes. Brightfur wondered, idly, what she had seen. StarClan, or a different entity all together?

"Auntie?" Huey asked, a droplet of blood having dripped on him. "Where's mom?"

Parsnip heaved a long sigh. "Mabel's safe back home. Aunt Clover and I decided to split up and confuse Scrap and his friends." She lowered her head to nuzzle them. "Now, do you remember what we talked about?"

Dewey's ears flattened. "But I don't wanna go!"

"I don't want you to go either. None of us do! But you can't be housecats with Smithy in charge. You need to be big, strong warriors."

"Can't you protect us?"

"I think I've proved I can't," replied Parsnip steadily, far more steadily than Brightfur could imagine being after suffering half the things the kittypet had the past moon. "Just think; when you're old enough, you can come home and teach us to be warriors too! They'll wish they'd never messed with us."

"Um," said Lionmask, looking very confused and very out of his depth. "I have no idea what's going on, but you can't just- Clan cats don't just... let cats in."

Parsnip raised her head to meet his eye. "Will you vouch for them, then?"

"It doesn't quite work like that, either," Brackenclaw admitted. "But they're kittens. The warrior code says we can't turn down kittens. So... maybe?"

Brightfur felt her heart quicken all over again. This was dangerous in a completely different way than Smithy. Ravenwind was in ShadowClan. Ravenwind might be protective due to their similar backgrounds, or she must poison their fresh-kill the moment Brightfur's back was turned. There was no real way of telling. "Parsnip-"

Parsnip cut her off. "If you only do one good thing in your life, let it be this," she urged. "Be brave, just this once. Do it for me. It's the eye you owe me."

She flinched and looked away.

Parsnip bent down again to give each kit a solid lick, cleaning Huey while she was at it. "I love you. We all do. Be good, okay? And eat all your food."

Clover had shaken herself out of her stupor at this point, coming up on Parsnip's side so the molly could lean on her. "Remember, kiddos; you'll always have a home with us." She stared thoughtfully at Brackenclaw. "Who knows? Maybe we'll end up finding a home with you."

I'm not half that brave, Brightfur thought, watching the family part ways. But I should be.

Author's Note: Yay, more angst, and a little character on Parsnip! She's generally pretty nice, but finding out you just stood to the side while getting tortured Does Things to a cat. Huey and Dewey are coming to ShadowClan! On a side note, 'mask' is a really cool suffix that doesn't get used nearly enough lol.

Srry for the delay- some major plot points are coming up soon, and I've been wanting to plan them out s'more before I dive on in.

-Mandaree1