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: Oh Ana

...

She wasn't sure how long she sat there. Time didn't seem to matter anymore; only the blood slowly soaking up her forearms as Clover gasped and wheezed. Brightfur wasn't even certain if she spoke- hoped she did, in fact, hoped she at least said I'm sorry- as the night ticked onwards. The stench of death was overwhelming.

Brightfur always assumed it would feel better than this. That she would rise from Ravenwind's corpse like a lion and roar her freedom. All she felt was sick. The poppy seeds were still in her system despite the purge, and sleepiness tugged at her like a siren's song. She considered just letting it happen- sinking her body weight onto Clover's throat and letting nature decide if either of them lived to see morning- but that felt like giving the medicine cat one last win, so she didn't.

Ravenwind had taken enough from her. She couldn't have Clover too.

"StarClan's kits," someone whispered.

No, thought Brightfur, delirious and peeved about it all. Clover's kits.

"Brightfur? Brightfur!"

There's a paw on her shoulder. Brightfur tore her eyes from the wound to meet Slatestar's gaze. There was a buzzing in her ears- buzzing she could only just barely recognize as screaming. Her gaze traveled over to Ravenwind's corpse and beyond, to Badgerthroat and Addershine holding Brackenclaw back with their broad shoulders. His mouth was open, ears flat. His eyes burned as he stared at her. Even as out of it as she was, she could register the fury in them.

"Brightfur!" Slatestar tried again, giving her a little shake. She slowly blinked at her. "What's going on? Who is this?"

Brackenclaw was still screaming. Slatestar's ears swiveled back to listen. Brightfur couldn't decipher any of it. "I need cobwebs. She's- she'll bleed out if I don't-"

"Brightfur," she repeated. It was starting to get annoying. "What happened?"

She swayed a little, unsteady. The reek of blood seemed permanently etched into his nose. "Ravenwind."

Slatestar started to say more, then stopped. She slowly nodded. "Can you walk?"

What did that have to do with anything? "Probably."

"C'mon. We need to get you and whoever this is to camp."

"Clover," she explained. Brightfur got the feeling Slatestar had heard her name by now- Brackenclaw's anguish was probably saying plenty. Is she trying to judge how with it I am? "Her name is Clover."

"We don't have time for semantics," Slatestar meowed gently. She was right. Clover needed cobwebs. "We need to be quick about this." The gray molly dipped underneath her blood-stained paws and shuffled her onto her back. Brightfur felt nauseous. "We can't sit around and wait for you right now."

"Okay," Brightfur replied, going limp.

A golden blur was sniffing at the pile of kits. Oh, stars, is that Lionmask? He shouldn't be here. Her nephew didn't deserve to see all of this. He lifted one tiny bundle out of the group- she could barely make out the ginger and white fur on its tiny body. "This one's alive!"

Brightfur felt a surge of relief. Ravenwind didn't get all of them. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she was out cold.

The wave of unconsciousness didn't last long. Brightfur woke as they sprinted into camp, jostling and bumping along. The clearing was full of cats again- Tigercloud's pelt was bristling with fear as Barkfall herded her into the warriors' den. Newtfrost dropped his fresh-kill and started over, cut off by Briarspots' shake of the head. Dewpaw poked his head of the den, eyes wide. His hair rose as he ducked back inside- hopefully to get the proper herbs.

"Okay," she slurred, patting Slatestar's thick shoulder. "Lemme down. I can walk."

Slatestar didn't seem convinced. She made Brightfur lean on her shoulder as they entered into the medicine den. Dewpaw was frantically yanking cobwebs out of their hole in the dirt, a pile of horsetail already waiting. A distant part of her felt pleased that her apprentice knew what to gather. Brightfur pushed past Slatestar to grab some others- lamb's ear for strength (it's a bit rare, even this time of season, so she liked to use it sparingly), poppy seeds for pain (the smell alone made her gag), and thyme for shock (that was admittedly for Clover and herself).

Brightfur bit into the thyme and felt her senses start to come back to herself. Slatestar was watching her like a hawk. She sighed, stressed and still tired despite passing out twice now. "If you're not going to leave, you can help."

The molly didn't argue. Together, they wrapped Clover's throat in cobwebs and horsetail (it only really stopped bleeding for small wounds, but it was better than nothing), parting her misaligned jaw to pour a chewed poultice of the other herbs into it. Dewpaw was using his tiny paws to his advantage, cleaning and wrapping the kit's neck. He reported the wound was deep but missing the vitals- but just barely. She got sloppy at the end. I guess I should take that as a blessing.

"It's a she-kit!" he added, forcing himself to purr. "I wonder what her name is?"

"I'm sure our new friend can tell us when she's better." Slatestar once again put a paw on Brightfur's shoulder. "Are you able to explain what happened now?" Brightfur grimaced and went to do so. "No, not here. I need to call in the senior warriors."

She swallowed, nervous. "Are you sure?" What if they still don't believe me?

"There's a pile of corpses in ShadowClan territory," she reminded her, making Brightfur flinch. "Of course they have to know."

"Right. Sorry."

She'd never seen the medicine den this populated in her life. Brightfur took count of every warrior that came in, as if reassuring herself that no one new had magically appeared. Briarspots, Newtfrost, Badgerthroat and Maplenose, Barkfall and Grayfeather, Flametuft, Addershine, Rainblaze, and finally Hawkflower. Brightfur was pretty sure this was more than just the seniors. "Where's mom?"

Briarspots shook his head. "You passing out was stress enough. We don't want her to have issues with the kits."

"And Brackenclaw?"

"Not stable enough for... this."

Brightfur accepted that with a nod. That made sense. His angry gaze felt seared into her fur. He hates me. Good. I deserve it. "I'm not sure where to start." It all seemed so nebulous. How does a cat explain why the stars glimmer, or why the sky is blue? It was just nature. Some things were too big for words.

"Start wherever feels natural," Slatestar suggested, tucking her paws underneath her. "We have all night."

Oh, stars, she thought, burdened with the knowledge. We have all night.

She started with Leafleg. It just felt like the best choice- Leafleg wasn't exactly popular as is, and everyone kind of suspected that his death was suspicious. Brightfur explained with as much detail as she could remember in her addled state; the catmint, the 'secret mission', the missing cat at the gorge, and Grayfeather placing a tiny leaf at her paws. How scared she'd been. How she'd had no proof. Addershine was trembling.

Slatestar was keeping herself neutral, but Brightfur noticed her tail start to twitch.

Brightfur moved on to Berry. That came next, after all. How she'd tried desperately to explain her concerns to her sister, only for Ravenwind to overhear. How they'd been forced apart. How she didn't exactly know the details, but they all knew what she'd done to Burnstar. How she'd been banished to avoid further questions. Brightfur reluctantly tacked on finding her body in the greenhouse, reassuring a horrified Flametuft that it wasn't Ravenwind's doing. He seemed even more unsettled, however, with the idea of two murderers wandering around. She never was all that good at comfort.

"Good news!" she tried, not realizing just how much deeper she was sinking herself into a hole. "He's dead too."

"And Leafleg was the first?" Slatestar probed.

Brightfur's muzzle twitched anxiously. "He's the first I saw. I... heard about others."

She made a go on motion with her paw. She awkwardly backtracked to Dustfeather and Thistlestone- two cats she only knew of from Ravenwind's stories. She decided apropos of nothing not to mention Bristlepelt; he was an enabler, not a murderer, and Brightfur didn't want to revive tensions between ShadowClan and WindClan.

"And Flowerpaw-" she went to say.

Slatestar got to her paws, eyes blazing. "What about Flowerpaw?" she snapped. Brightfur had completely forgotten that Flowerpaw was her apprentice. "She drowned in the ice! She didn't..."

Brightfur's whiskers twitched, scrambling for a nice way to put things. "Ice forms after something stands still. Flowerpaw was dead when the ice came."

She wobbled a little and flopped back on her haunches. "StarClan's teats," Slatestar groaned. She was starting to shake a little. "Is there anyone she didn't take from us?"

"Darkkit," she answered honestly. Brightfur cast her mind out to recall others. "Duskspring and Honeyflower. Flowerstrike. And, uh... probably Skyberry?" She'd never gotten a super close look at her; but Ravenwind hadn't shown any interest, either.

Slatestar slowly raised her head, eyes misty with grief. "Mossyear?"

Brightfur hesitated at the mention of the leader's sister. That seemed to be answer enough. She moaned low in her throat and put a paw over her face.

The guilt and shame threatened to swallow Brightfur whole as her Clanmates watched her every movement with scorn, with horror, with pity. She'd been so caught up in the idea that no one would ever listen that she'd never considered how they would treat her if they did. "She was already dying. Ravenwind put her out of her misery."

"Why didn't you do anything?" Badgerthroat exploded, jumping to her feet. "How could you stand by and do nothing while cats died?"

"I was a kit!" Brightfur reminded her sharply. "What was I supposed to do? No one would've believed me if you didn't see!"

"I would've."

Bile crawled up her throat as Hawkflower stood. He didn't even seem mad; he was staring at his paws pensively, nodding like something suddenly made sense. "You were drenched at my warrior's ceremony, remember?"

"How could I forget?" she rasped. "She almost drowned me."

"I knew something was wrong then, but you never told me what." Hawkflower glanced up at her. "Didn't you trust me?"

Brightfur felt a thousand old wounds open at the pain in his eyes. They'd been in love, once. Back then especially. He'd put his heart and faith in her; and now, seasons later, he was learning she'd stomped all over it after his sister died. "I didn't trust Ravenwind. She would've gutted you like a fish. I just... I couldn't lose anyone ever again."

"So screw us?" Maplenose interjected. She looked so much like Badgerthroat when she was angry. "You didn't want to hurt us, so you let her wander around camp and kill us instead? How is that fair?"

"I did everything I could!"

"You let her around my kits!" she snarled. "She murdered my mother and you let her touch my sons!"

Brightfur tail lashed. She had a point, but it hurt so much it made her defensive. "I taught them about deathberries! They knew what not to eat! What more could you expect from me?" She stuck a bloody paw in the molly's face. "What more could I have done than this?"

"Enough!" Rainblaze stepped between them. She gave them both a pointed glare. "Ravenwind's dead. That's the best outcome any of us could hope for."

"You wouldn't say that if she killed your mom," she muttered mutinously.

"She did," she responded blandly. Brightfur jolted- she'd forgotten completely about Puddle. Rainblaze noticed and gave her a look of chagrin. "I'm not a fucking idiot, Brightfur. Once you started listing off cats, I knew."

"She gave me poppy seeds," Brightfur whispered. "I barely even remember... I'm so sorry."

"Oh, shut up. You were a baby. What could you have done?"

What could I have done? It ate at her like a curse. Rainblaze was right, technically; but so was Maplenose, and she had to live with that. Forever.

"Slatestar?" Addershine probed. "What... do we do now?"

"I... I don't know."

Everyone's heads turned as Slatestar spoke. Her paw swiped down her muzzle, tucking underneath her. She was still shaking, and Brightfur felt a pang of sympathy. She knew how hard it was to realize just how cruel Ravenwind had been. It didn't help that she'd killed Slatestar's sister and apprentice. "I just don't know," she meowed dully. "I knew it was bad, I just... didn't realize how bad."

Brightfur took a deep, steadying breath. It was her turn to put a paw on the molly's shoulder. "We do what you decided before," she murmured. "When Dewpaw is a full medicine cat, I'll retire. He'll be an amazing medicine cat." She seemed uncertain, so Brightfur pressed on. "Even if everyone could trust me- which they can't-" she glanced at Maplenose and Badgerthroat- "I don't want to be a medicine cat anymore. I've lost my connection to StarClan."

Her eyes grew wide. "Even StarClan has turned its back on us?"

"No," she promised, gesturing to Dewpaw with her tail- the tom was so tightly packed with nerves he was almost hidden amidst Clover's bright pelt. "StarClan flows through Dewpaw like water down a creek. It's kind of ridiculous."

"And what will you do? You're not even three seasons old. I can't justify letting you lay around camp."

Brightfur shrugged. "Not heal cats, I'll tell you that. I'm done."

Flametuft pushed through the throng of cats to pad over, setting his nose on her head. It was cold and damp. "We'll figure it out," he said. "Things are so crazy right now, I don't know where we'll go, but... we'll still go, you know?"

She forced herself to smile and return the affection, grooming his chin. "Thank you."

There was a low mutter of acceptance around the group. Maplenose and Badgerthroat quickly regrouped, muttering to each other in low voices. Brightfur knew they'd never forgive her- how could they, when she sat by while Ravenwind ruined their family? Hawkflower gave her one last long look before going to stand by his mate, winding their tails together. Grayfeather and Barkfall leaned on each other. Newtfrost and Briarspots shared a few quick words before going to help Slatestar stand. The molly looked more exhausted than ever before, like the world had fallen on her shoulders during a vigil.

"We should go," Slatestar meowed finally, after gathering her wits. "All this noise isn't productive for healing."

"Shouldn't someone stay?" Badgerthroat replied, shooting Brightfur a suspicious glance.

"I can," Flametuft offered.

"You're kin. How can we trust you anymore than her?"

His eyes grew soft and sad. "Do you really believe that? Just because she's my sister?"

Badgerthroat looked away. "I don't know what to believe anymore."

"I'll stay," Rainblaze meowed, bumping noses with Flametuft. "Lionmask and Tigercloud need your support right now."

Flametuft dipped his head and left, tail dragging.

Brightfur felt her body start to ache as her Clanmates left her with Clover and the unnamed kitten. Her chest felt lighter than it had in over a season, but she was more tired than ever before. Spilling the entire story was like scraping out her heart with tiny teeth and leaving it out to dry- it was empty now, lacking any emotion, yet it was hard work. She slumped against the den wall, wondering with all her heart where to go from here.

Lionmask and Tigercloud were pushing into camp. She wasn't sure when they'd gotten the molly into all of this- how much time had passed since they gathered? Ravenwind had always seemed so large in life; but now, draped across Lionmask's burly back, she looked so small. She was barely the size of an apprentice. Flametuft walked up and said something to them. Lionmask nodded, glanced around, then shrugged the medicine cat off of him. She landed in a heap in the clearing. No burial herbs. No vigil. No one gathered around her corpse- warriors scattered instead, leaving her alone and lifeless.

"Oh, Ravenwind," she uttered, fighting against an innate welling of grief. She didn't deserve anything. "What did you do to me?"

Brightfur sobbed for the first time since Darkkit died.

Author's Note: Surprise! I'm back much sooner than I expected lol. Also, it turns out I was wrong- there's one more chapter in this bad boy. I was originally planning on it being a prologue for the next part, but it'd make the allegiances weird if I did it that way, so we're gonna have a little epilogue type deal instead.

If you've read this far, thank you. I appreciate it so much. The support I've gotten for this story is amazing, and I love and appreciate all of you! As a little gift, I threw together a playlist for this story! Unfortunately, I cannot link it on a doc, but I'll be adding it to my profile!

Brightfur has always been embodied by the song "Oh Ana" by Mother Mother. The song helped me create her, edit her, and make her who she is. I always intended to make a chapter titled after that, and this felt like the right time to do it!

-Mandaree1