River (Book 1) A Warriors Fanfiction

Chapter 14

•Brackenstar•

Brackenstar opened his eyes. Where was he? What had happened? Then he remembered the battle. Why didn't his wounds hurt? He then remembered something else: he had submitted to the darkness. He looked around. He was in a soft nest of feathers and bracken. He glanced at his pelt. There was no blood or sign that any wound had ever been there. A cat purred behind him.
     "Oh, Brackenstar." A voice said. Brackenstar turned around. Ashflower and Dawnmist sat there. Between Dawnmist's paws was a small, cream-colored tom. Brackenstar looked at the small body of his son in horror.
     "Is that Wolfkit?" He asked in disbelief. Dawnmist nodded.
     "He is not fully here yet. He is very weak, but he is not dead yet." She replied. She curled her tail around the small kit's body protectively. Brackenstar stared at her.
     "Save him. Please, Dawnmist. Please, Ashflower. Save my poor kit. No kit should have to die at such a young age. Please." He begged. Ashflower said nothing, instead looking very worried. Dawnmist looked slightly confused.
     "Don't you want Wolfkit to be here with us? Do you really want him to grow up with no parents?" She asked incredulously. Brackenstar shifted his paws.
"Does that mean I'm truly dead?" he asked, "because I'm not done with my life just yet. I have so much more to do. I'm not ready to come live here for good. Please. I need to live a little bit longer. I need to spend time with my kits. All of my kits. That includes Beepaw. Please. He needs me and I need him. I love you both, but I don't think it's my time yet. Please." He pleaded. "And let Wolfkit live." He added with a glance at his son's pale, almost transparent body. Brackenstar saw hurt in Dawnmist's eyes, but he knew he needed to be in SkyClan right now.
"Brackenstar, not many get to do this." Ashflower began. She tilted her head thoughtfully. "If it is truly your wish, you can go back to living world. You'll have to deal with the pain, though. You'll have a long journey to navigate before you are fully healed. Do you really want to experience that pain again?"
"I'm not a coward." Brackenstar nearly hissed. "It is my wish to go back to my Clan." He dipped his head to his first love. He looked around and realized that Dawnmist and Wolfkit were gone. "Please save Wolfkit." He added. "Dawnmist doesn't understand that Wolfkit has his whole life ahead of him. If he dies now, he'll never have a mate or become a warrior. Don't you understand Ashflower?"
Ashflower nodded. "I do understand, Brackenstar. I was afraid you would request this. The Elders of StarClan -Tall Shadow, Wind Runner, River Ripple, Clear Sky, Thunder, and Gray Wing- have only granted me permission to save one cat. I can risk saving you both, but the consequences might be quite harsh for you and for me. They said that it would be too much for me, both physically and mentally to save both of you. Do you want to risk it?"
Brackenstar shook his head. "I would love to, but I don't want to get you in trouble." He said. Ashflower pressed against him. She let out a slight purr.
"I suppose you'll want to say goodbye to Dawnmist and Wolfkit – well, what's here of him anyway – before we go?" She looked at him with her bright green eyes. He looked back at her.
"Ashflower, if you're going to save one cat, let it be Wolfkit." He closed his eyes for a moment. He felt her tense.
"Oh, Brackenstar. Are you sure?" He nodded. A few tears welled up in his eyes, making everything look blurry. One rolled down his face.
"At least let me say goodbye to Mistkit, Patchkit, Wolfkit, Beepaw, Mossypaw, Sunpaw, and Riverstorm." He mewed. Ashflower nodded.
"I think the Elders will allow that. We call them the Elders because they were the first ones in StarClan and they were the founders of the Clans." She replied. Brackenstar tilted his head and looked at her.
"If the tales they told in the nursery when we were kits are true, then I believe that the first cats in StarClan died in the First Great Battle. The first StarClan residents were not any of the Clan founders." He corrected her. Ashflower nodded again.
"The first cats here are so transparent that you can hardly see them at all." She said. "The only reason they are still here is because the Advisory is taught all of the history of the Clans. They are taught to always remember the names of the first few generations in StarClan." She nuzzled against him quickly before pulling away. He scooted closer.
"May I say goodbye to my kin and my friends?" He asked. Ashflower jumped to her paws.
"Yes! Come with me!" She said. "I'll teach you how to make a living cat have prophetic dreams." Brackenstar jumped up to follow her. She led him to a small cave. When they stepped inside, something shimmered and glowed. Ashflower walked over to a pile of feathers. Each feather had something different about it, whether it was the color, size, shape, pattern, or any number of things. No two feathers were the same. Brackenstar stared around in wonder.
"What is this place?" He asked. "What are those feathers for?"
"There is a feather for each cat in the living world. Well, each cat in the Clans, anyway. Each feather is different and is somehow etched with something related to the cats name. Like this one is a jay's feather and its pattern is kind of stormy-looking. This must be Jaystorm of RiverClan's feather." Ashflower explained.
"How can you tell if it's a 'star, 'paw, or kit?" Brackenstar inquired.
"A leader's feather is kept in a pile in that corner, where there is a hole in the roof so it's 'near the stars.' Medicine cats are kept in that corner where the bioluminescent moss grow. Apprentice feathers are in a heap in the corner nearest to you. Kit feathers are in the only remaining corner. Warriors and elders are in this big pile in the middle of the cave." Ashflower pointed with her tail and showed Brackenstar each of the five piles of feathers.
"Should I start looking for my kits' feathers, then?" was all Brackenstar could say. Ashflower nodded.
     "You'll know them when you see them. I'll look for Riverstorm's first." She mewed. Brackenstar began to sort through the pile of kits' feathers. He almost immediately picked up one that was patched. This must be Patchkit's, he thought. After a few minutes, he found a feather that was pale gray, like mist. That one had to be Mistkit's feather. He set it aside with the patched feather. It took him a few more moments, but then he finally saw a feather that was cream-colored, but the edges looked as though they had been dipped in blood. The feather was quite pale, as though it would fade away at any moment. Wolfkit's, thought Brackenstar.
Ashflower nodded to him. "Go look for the apprentices' feathers." She said. "I'm still sorting through this massive pile for Riverstorm's feather."
Brackenstar went to the apprentices' feathers corner. He started to sort through the feathers when suddenly a thought struck him: "You said we are going to give them dreams, right? Does that mean I don't really get to be with them?" He asked. Ashflower shook her head.
"We are—well, I am—going to give each of them a dream telling them that they all need to meet at the same place. There, you will get to say goodbye to them." She explained.
"Okay." Brackenstar mewed. He continued his search for the feathers. He soon found a feather covered in moss (Mossypaw's), a feather yellow-and-black striped (Beepaw's), and a feather that was golden and shone like the sun (Sunpaw's). There was a pure white feather like the moon that kept sticking to Sunpaw's feather. "Oh get away!" Brackenstar exclaimed, pulling the white feather off for what seemed like the thousandth time. Ashflower looked over curiously.
"I wonder whose feather that is..." She commented. She held up a dark gray feather that on half it looked like the course of a river, and on the other half it looked swirled by a storm. "Definitely Riverstorm's feather." She decided. Brackenstar nodded.
"What do we do now?" He asked. "We have all the feathers."
"I'll show you," Ashflower replied. She walked into a small cavern at the back of the cave. She took Riverstorm's feather and put it on top of a rock glowing with the weird glowy moss. The moss shone even brighter for a moment before the whole room fell away. Ashflower turned to look at Brackenstar.
"Because I was the only one touching the feather, Riverstorm will only be able to see me. You will be invisible to him." She explained. Brackenstar just before they appeared in some kind of clearing. Riverstorm seemed to be running from Cranestar and Darkmist. He was getting slower and slower. The RiverClan leader and SkyClan Advisor were catching up to him. Brackenstar shuddered.
Ashflower stepped in front of the dark gray RiverClan warrior. He skidded to a halt. His enemies chasing him faded and disappeared.
"Ashflower, right?" Riverstorm said, dipping his head his head to the pale yellow she-cat. Ashflower nodded back, seeming to be quite surprised.
"How do you know my name?" She asked, her tail twitching. Riverstorm laughed and his blue eyes twinkled. Brackenstar watched in silent merriment. He remembered that Riverstorm's first Gathering as a 'paw was the one where Brackenstar had announced Ashflower's death. Riverstorm said as much to Ashflower.
"Well, Riverstorm. Are all the others with you?" Ashflower sniffed slightly haughtily. Riverstorm tilted his head.
"What 'others'? Like Beepaw, Sunpaw, Mossypaw, kind of others?" He queried. Ashflower nodded. Riverstorm nodded back. "Yes, they are here.
"Good. Take them to the ThunderClan camp. There Brackenstar's kits and bro- and Lightstar will meet you. Be there by dawn." Ashflower commanded. Riverstorm dipped his head and padded away. Ashflower turned to Brackenstar. "Well that was easy." She said. Brackenstar nodded.
"You almost said 'brother.'" He commented. "You know that's dangerous, Ashflower."
"Yes, Brackenstar. I know." She replied. Brackenstar nuzzled her cheek. Ashflower purred contentedly. "Now we need to get to the ThunderClan camp quickly."
"Are we going to give them another dream?" He asked. Ashflower shook her head.
"You are still breathing in the living world since you haven't officially made your decision to die." She said. Brackenstar winced at her last words. She flicked his ear with the tip of her tail. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. You can still go back into your body. You'll have to deal with the pain all over again, though." She warned him. Brackenstar nodded.
"It's okay. I'll be alright." He answered. "What do I have to do?