River (Book 1) A Warriors Fanfiction

Chapter 5

•Brackenstar•

Brackenstar woke, dazed and bruised, in a den smelling of herbs. "Sedgefur? Bloomshade?" He croaked. A pale brown she-cat appeared above him.
"My name is Willowleaf. I'm ThunderClan's medicine cat. This is Barkpaw." She said, nodding to a brown tabby tom next to her. He mewed his hello. Brackenstar blinked hazily.
     "What am I doing here?" He asked. Just then, a white tom ducked into the medicine den. He stopped beside Brackenstar's nest. The small, orange tom dipped his head.
     "Greetings, Lightstar. What am I doing here?" He repeated weakly. Lightstar shooed the medicine cats away. Willowleaf growled, but obeyed her Clan leader. He leaned down and began to groom Brackenstar's pelt.
     "How are you, brother?" He queried, purring. Lightstar curled up next to Brackenstar. Brackenstar managed to give a faint purr.
     "As well as I can be, considering that I was attacked by an Advisor." He reached out to give Lightstar's fur a few licks. Lightstar laughed.
     "That's more like the littermate I used to talk to at Gatherings." He shook his head. "I miss those days, when we were so carefree." Brackenstar nodded in total agreement with his brother. Lightstar cleared his throat.
     "Now, brother, to answer your question. I brought you here last night because I couldn't bear to leave you. I saw how battered and torn you were, so I asked Eaglefall if I could take you home." Brackenstar smiled.
     "Not my home," he mewed. "Besides, you had better be careful calling me 'brother.'" Lightstar washed his forepaw.
     "You're right. We don't want our secret to get out." He rubbed his muzzle over Brackenstar's back.
     "Squirrel-chaser with fish-breath," Brackenstar whispered. Lightstar swiped a paw at him, his claws sheathed.
     "Fish-faced tree-climber." He retorted, his voice hushed. They both fell over, purring. Brackenstar laid back down in his nest hurriedly when he saw Willowleaf arrive at the mouth of the den.
     "We have a visitor, Lightstar." He murmured. Lightstar sat up and turned around like he hadn't acted like a kit just a few moments earlier.
     "Just a few more minutes, Willowleaf." He said. She dipped her head and padded away. "Do you know anything more?" He hissed as soon as the medicine cat was out of earshot.
"No," he mewed, "not since the Gathering when we were apprentices." Lightstar growled in frustration.
"Me, either." He stated. Brackenstar sighed.
"I can't imagine Stoneclaw taking a mate from another Clan. Ashclaw, Stormheart, and Dewkit are the only other gray cats in the Clan. Ashclaw and Dewkit are younger than us, so they can't be our father. Besides, Dewkit is a she-cat." The white tom tilted his head thoughtfully. He snorted. "Obviously. That means it's either Stormheart or Stoneclaw." Brackenstar nodded.
"Stoneclaw's too loyal, and Stormheart has a mate." He observed.
"We could confront one of them." Lightstar offered.
"What if we talk to the wrong one? Then what-" The orange tom broke off as he spotted a golden colored apprentice outside the den. He nodded for him to come in. The small tom stepped gingerly inside.
     "I was sent to talk to Willowleaf, but apparently she isn't here." He turned around to leave the den. Lightstar called to him. The young apprentice whipped around, as though startled to be addressed by his leader.
     "Did you hear us talking?" Lightstar asked. The apprentice hesitated before shaking his head.
     "Nothing important," he mewed. Lightstar raised his head quizzically.
     "So you did hear something, then?" He pressed. The golden tom nodded guiltily. "What did you hear?" The white tom demanded.
     "I arrived when you said 'so they can't be our father.'" StarClan, no! Brackenstar gave a look of horror. Lightstar glanced at the apprentice disapprovingly.
     "Sunpaw, I have a feeling that you are going to be picking the elders' ticks off for a while." He sighed, suddenly looking weary. "So, how much do you know?" The apprentice—Sunpaw—looked at his paws, clearly embarrassed.
"Well, you and Brackenstar are brothers," he began. Brackenstar sighed. Sunpaw knew enough. Too much, in fact. Lightstar beckoned for the young tom to go on. "And your father is ThunderClan. You think he's either Stormheart or Stoneclaw. That's all I heard." Lightstar shook his head in dismay.
     "You might as well know the whole truth," he said. Brackenstar nodded in agreement.
     "We don't want you to live with half the story your life. But you have to swear that you will never tell anyone, got it?" Sunpaw's eyes were round. He nodded solemnly at the small, orange tom's words.
     "Brackenstar, our brother, Rockkit, and I were born many moons ago, on the night of the full moon." Brackenstar snorted at his brother's words.
     "We're not that old," He interrupted. Lightstar ignored him.
     "We had no idea who our parents were. I was given to ThunderClan, and Brackenstar was gifted to SkyClan. Rockkit was taken to the Advisory. He became the Advisor for ThunderClan and SkyClan. His name was Rocksplitter. He died of greencough."
     "Oh," came the soft voice of Sunpaw, "I'm so sorry." Brackenstar dipped his head.
     "Thank you," he meowed.
     "When Brackenstar and I were apprentices, we overheard the RiverClan medicine cat and a ThunderClan tom talking. Brackenstar, then Brackenpaw, saw the RiverClan she-cat had a brown tip to her tail, like him." Brackenstar held out his tail for Sunpaw to see.
"So, we are the sons of either Stoneclaw or Stormheart, and whatever her name is." Lightstar concluded.
"Birdtail," Brackenstar mewed drily. Sunpaw blinked.
"Oh," he said again. "Well, I'll just wait here for Willowleaf then." Lightstar got up to leave.
"I expect I won't see you until the next Gathering then, aye?" Brackenstar nodded.
"I'll see you then," he responded. Willowleaf walked in as Lightstar padded out.
"I heard Sunpaw needed to talk to me." She said seriously. "What is it?" Sunpaw shrank into the corner by Brackenstar's nest. He purred and comforted the young apprentice.
"Briarpool told me to come here because of a dream I had." Brackenstar sat back to listen to the golden tom's story. Willowleaf nodded for him to tell his story. "It wasn't exactly a dream, more like a vision. There were two cats—a golden she-cat and a dark brown tom. They seemed like they were old friends, or I think mates. Then Firestar showed up with my father behind him."
     "Was this StarClan?" Willowleaf asked. Sunpaw nodded.
     "Foxcatcher and the two cats were chatting when a ginger she-cat came up to Firestar. Sandstorm, I think her name was. They walked away, and then an orange tom walked up to them.
     "He introduced himself as Jake, the father of Firestar. Then Tallstar and Bluestar were there. Tallstar went and fetched Crookedstar, Leafstar, and Blackstar. Then Blackstar had a big argument with Firestar. It all happened so fast, so I forget the details." He licked his chest fur, embarrassed. Willowleaf seemed intrigued now. Brackenstar thought a moment.
     "Has this happened before?" He asked. Sunpaw nodded.
     "Once before, the day my mother died."
     "Do you know who the she-cat and tom were?" Willowleaf queried.
     "I don't know who the tom was, but the she-cat was Foxcatcher's sister." She exchanged a glance with Brackenstar.
     "We had better consult Lightstar about this." Brackenstar nodded in agreement. I can't believe that this young apprentice saw Lightstar's former mate in his vision! He thought.
"Lightstar!" He called, "Come back to the medicine den!" A few moments later the broad-shouldered tom appeared by his side.
"What do you need?" He asked.
"Sunpaw had a vision concerning Honeydew." Lightstar's eyes grew wide at the SkyClan leader's words.
"Honeydew, as in my Honeydew? Well not mine..." He said, his voice trailing away.
"I'm sure that Vinestripes regrets his decision," Brackenstar mewed fiercely. Lightstar shook his head sadly.
"I know that he has never regretted loving her, even though he took her from me. Knowing he apologized doesn't ease the pain of living without her. Every beat of my heart is a moment without my dear Honeydew." Brackenstar, Willowleaf, and Sunpaw dipped their heads respectively as he went on. "StarClan even took all four of our kits from me. Why, oh, why?" He wailed.
"What were their names?" Sunpaw asked quietly. Lightstar turned to look at him.
"Bullkit, Clearpaw, Nettlewhisker, and Lakestar." Sunpaw's eyes widened.
"I've heard about Lakestar! I had no idea that he was your son." The young tom mewed incredulously. Lightstar nodded.
"Now, about your vision. Tell me all about it." Sunpaw proceeded to repeat what he had told Brackenstar and Willowleaf. Brackenstar itched to get out of the nest he was lying in. He twitched several times before Willowleaf turned to him irritably.
"Would you stop moving, for StarClan's sake!" She huffed, before turning back to Sunpaw and Lightstar. "To me it sounds like you are cut out to be a medicine cat." She said when Sunpaw finished relaying his story for the ThunderClan leader. Willowleaf was the only cat there who seemed not to notice Sunpaw's look of horror.
"But-but-I..." He spluttered. "I want to be a warrior!"
"You'll have to accept your destiny sooner rather than later." She snapped. "I'll formally take you to meet StarClan at the half-moon." Brackenstar could practically feel Sunpaw's dismay like a thick pelt covering the medicine den. He noticed Lightstar shooting sympathetic glances at the young apprentice. He had a feeling that Sunpaw was not going to have fun training under this prickly lump of fur.
"How will he train if Barkpaw isn't a full medicine cat yet?" Lightstar asked, voicing Brackenstar's thoughts.
"I suppose Barkpaw is going to get his name earlier than expected, then." The grumpy she-cat growled. "Just don't tell him, please." Lightstar looked concerned.
"Is Barkpaw ready for that?" He inquired. Brackenstar could sense Sunpaw's resentment at training with Willowleaf.
"At least Barkpaw is friendly enough," he whispered in Sunpaw's ear. The golden tom nodded.
"Yes." Came the medicine cat's short reply. Lightstar sighed.
"If this is what StarClan wishes, then let it be so. Willowleaf, you have my permission to train Sunpaw as a medicine cat. I will announce it at dawn."
"Please don't tell any cat about my visions." Sunpaw pleaded.
"I won't," mewed Lightstar, "but you're still going to train to heal your Clanmates instead of fight for them." Brackenstar felt frustration on Sunpaw's behalf over his brother's unfair decision.