After the events of The Start Of A Storm, Stormberry struggles to live on after facing so much loss. When she meets a few new cats, and an old foe, will things change for the better? Or will everything fall apart once more?
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As the cats of Riverclan stood up from their spots in the clearing to head to the gathering under the light of the full moon, Stormberry couldn't help but wonder about who she would be meeting. The warrior had deduced that the cat clearly was one that Hawkfrost knew rather closely from another clan, judging by how excited he seemed that the pair would soon meet.
Stormberry had befriended many cats from different clans during the great journey, but the ones she grew closest to included Tawnypelt, of Shadowclan; Ferncloud, Dustpelt, Brightheart, and Sorreltail of Thunderclan; Crowfeather of Windclan; and most recently, Daisy of Thunderclan. She often made sure she got to see her friends on gathering nights because in the new territory Riverclan and Thunderclan no longer shared a border.
As she walked alongside many of her friends from Riverclan, Stormberry couldn't help but marvel at the forest around them using her one good eye. The other one had a deep scar over it, given by a cat named Tigerstar, that she had received many moons ago. The eye was healed, but she was blind in it now. When they first arrived in the lake territory Hawkfrost, Mothwing, and Mistyfoot would often help her navigate to get used to the new surroundings. Stormberry hoped that one day she would be able to walk the territory without having to wonder if she would trip over a tree root or crash into a bush first.
That day, however, was clearly not happening soon. As Stormberry walked, she tripped over a tree root.
Hawkfrost stifled a purr from beside her, "Next time, I'll warn you." He said with a grin as he kept along the trail beside her.
A while later as the pair were chatting as they walked, Stormberry's head was turned in the direction of Hawkfrost so she could see clearly when he quickly grabbed her scruff and pulled her towards him.
Once he let go Stormberry just looked up at him with an extremely confused expression as their clanmates walked ahead.
"Bush, Mousebrain. You're welcome." He said with a purr of laughter once more.
Stormberry looked behind her to see the thorn bush she almost walked into. With a slight smile and roll of her eye, the pair kept walking towards the gathering island.
The rest of the walk was uneventful for the traveling cats, and thankfully Stormberry hadn't crashed into or tripped over anything in her path.
As Stormberry and Hawkfrost set foot on the small island full of cats from everywhere around the lake, Stormberry asked, "So where's this mysterious cat you wanted me to meet?"
"You'll see." The tom responded as they began to walk through the crowd of cats.
As the pair of friends walked through the island they said their greetings to the friends they saw along their path. Until finally, they arrived at the base of a small tree, sitting there was a muscular-looking tom with dark fur.
"Hey, Brambleclaw!" Hawkfrost calls out.
The tom looked over at the pair of approaching cats, "Hi, Hawkfrost!" the tom greeted.
So, this must be the cat we're meeting. Stormberry thought.
"So, uh, Brambleclaw, this is the cat I was telling you about, Stormberry. Stormberry, this is Brambleclaw, my half-brother." Hawkfrost introduced.
The two cats approached each other, and seemed to look over and examined each other. The first thing Stormberry noticed were his eyes, they were a shining shade of amber. Then she took note that he was tall for a tom, or at least for any tom that she'd ever seen, and he had fur that was the darkest shade of brown she'd ever seen. She did, however, think that she'd seen some of those features before.
After she took in his appearance, she began to wonder what she first noticed about her. Was it her scar? Her stormy blue eyes? or was it her pale, yet dark, fur?
Why am I focusing on what he is thinking? Stormberry thought in all her confusion. I've never thought like this before.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you." Stormberry greeted.
"It's a pleasure meeting you as well," Brambleclaw responded.
"So, how's life in Thunderclan going?" Hawkfrost asked his half-brother.
The rest of the gathering was pretty much uneventful, there wasn't really any significant news. And Stormberry got in a few quick chats with some of her other friends in the other clans.
Towards the end of the gathering, she looked over to see Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost talking very quietly a great distance from the rest of the cats.
That's a bit... peculiar of them, Stormberry thought to herself. At this moment as she thought about it more, Hawkfrost had been acting a bit odd lately. He seemed tired often and had scars that clearly could not be explained as just having a thorn in his nest, as he often said.
I'll keep an eye on him. Stormberry decided that this was for her friend's own good. What if there was something going wrong and he needed help? It would be the noble thing to do as a friend.
As the rest of the cats began to clear out and head back to their clans, Stormberry quickly raced over to Brambleclaw to say goodbye for the next moon.
"Hey", she began, "I just wanted to say that it was really nice to meet you, and I hope we'll be able to talk again soon."
"As do I," Brambleclaw responded, "See you next gathering?"
"See you next gathering." She confirmed with a nod. As she began to walk off in the direction that her clan was heading, she looked over her shoulder and meowed, "May Starclan light your path!"
"May the prey run well for you!" Brambleclaw responded with a smile.
And with that, the pair went their separate ways.
A/N
Hi readers!
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
Below is what Stormberry would look like, but with a scar over her left eye:
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