River (Book 1) A Warriors Fanfiction

Chapter 16

•Sunpaw•

     Sunpaw trudged along. His thoughts were only of what would happen once he was, well, home. He was afraid. What if he was punished for running away? What if he had to go back to being a medicine cat apprentice? What if-if...anything? There were so many thoughts and questions running through Sunpaw's head, that he forgot to keep walking several times. Each time, Beepaw and Moonpaw asked him if he was okay. He wished that they would stop. Moonpaw walked close to him. Sunpaw wondered if Moonpaw's thoughts were anything like his own.
     "What are you thinking about?" Moonpaw whispered. Sunpaw hesitated.
     "I was thinking about what might happen once we're-er-home. What if they punish me? What if I'm stuck as a medicine cat apprentice? What if-what if..." He trailed off.
     "What if nothing, Sunpaw? What if they welcome you with open paws, and purrs, and 'we missed you so much'es? What if everything is as it was before-before..." At this, Moonpaw trailed off too. They both knew what he meant couldn't happen. What if everything is as it was before Snowtail died? Well, it couldn't be, because Snowtail was dead and they were apprentices now. Sunpaw knew that his brother meant the happiness, but that couldn't happen either. No one could bring back Snowtail, not even the Elders of StarClan, and he knew that.
     Sunpaw would give anything to see Snowtail again. He knew Moonpaw would too. Suddenly, as Sunpaw looked around, he smelled the familiar, yet almost strange scent of ThunderClan. Finally, they were at the border. The moon was still high in the sky, and the sky itself was still dark. Stars twinkled, seeming to mock Sunpaw. He groaned.
     "Here we are," said Mossypaw.
     "And we're early!" Beepaw said, he gave one small little purr of excitement, before he saw the look on Riverstorm and Sunpaw's faces. Moonpaw was the first one to step over the border, Sunpaw, the last.
     "When we reach the camp, it might be better for me and Sunpaw to go first. We'll tell Lightstar about you guys, and then we'll come and get you, okay?" Everyone but Sunpaw nodded their heads.
     "I'm not going in with you, Moonpaw. I'll stay with the others. I'll make sure a patrol doesn't come across them." Moonpaw made eye contact with him; they both knew the real reason he wasn't going first. They nodded at each other before they all set off for the camp. Sunpaw kept an eye out for patrols, and he knew Riverstorm was, too. Riverstorm was smart, however weak he might be right now. Along the way, Moonpaw said he thought he had heard a patrol, but it was just a couple of squirrels. Beepaw wanted to catch them, but Riverstorm reminded him that this was ThunderClan's territory.
     At last, the entrance to the camp was right in front of them. Sunpaw attempted to take a deep breath, but he just ended up gulping. Moonpaw took a step forward. He looked back at the group. "Well. This is it guys. Remember the plan." Everyone looked at each other. It was a funny thing to see, a motley assortment of cats from three different Clans. Sunpaw drew in an actually deep breath this time.
     "Good luck." He said to his brother.
     "Good luck."
     "Good luck."
     "Good luck," the others echoed. Moonpaw dipped his head and turned around to face the thorny entrance. He walked straight through the brambles. Sunpaw couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard low murmurs. Then he heard an exclamation of, "Moonpaw! MOONPAW!!" Sunpaw snorted. Beepaw purred slightly. Suddenly, Sunpaw heard this:
"You did WHAT? You brought cats from WHERE? SKYCLAN AND RIVERCLAN??" Sunpaw was pretty sure that this was his own father, Foxcatcher, screeching at Moonpaw. His brother's plan hadn't worked as well as they thought it would; of course it had to be Foxcatcher who first heard the news. The whole Clan must be up by now, what with that racket. Sunpaw rolled his eyes as Riverstorm gave him a questioning look.
    "My father," Sunpaw said, "does not take things very well. Especially when it involves other Clans and his son—me and Moonpaw. Believe it or not, that went quite well, from the sound of it." Riverstorm nodded.
     Finally there was silence in the camp. Moonpaw came bursting out of the thorn barrier, grinning. He beckoned with his tail for them to come in. Sunpaw waited for the others to go before he did. Moonpaw gave him a worried glance.
     "I know you're worried, Sunpaw, and I hate to worry you more, but...I kind of didn't tell them that I have you with me."
     Sunpaw felt sick to his stomach. He gulped.
     "Thanks for everything, Moonpaw. You're a great brother and a great friend." He nuzzled his brother quickly before Moonpaw pulled away to go into the camp. Sunpaw took a deep breath and walked through the barrier after him.
     As he pushed, through, he looked around. Nothing had changed in the few days that he had been absent. For a moment, each cat was completely silent, their eyes focused on the foreign cats from RiverClan and SkyClan. Then, one by one, each head turned toward Sunpaw. Finally, Lightstar stepped forward and dipped his head to Sunpaw.
     "Greetings, Sunpaw. Welcome to the camp. I hope that you are here to stay this time." His greeting would probably seem cold to the rest of the Clan, but Sunpaw saw the warmth in it. Lightstar was sort of his uncle—his former mate was Sunpaw's aunt. He stared straight into his leader's eyes. He nodded, not meaning that he would stay, but that he understood. He was pretty sure that Lightstar got the message.
"Greetings, Lightstar. Thank you. My friends and I have a message from StarClan. We were told to be here by dawn." Sunpaw saw a stony look in Willowleaf's eyes in the moonlight. Riverstorm limped forward.
"I was the one who had the dream. I was told to meet you and Brackenstar's kits here along with Sunpaw, Moonpaw, Beepaw, and Mossypaw. I was told we would all receive a message here." He dipped his head to the ThunderClan leader. Lightstar looked curious.
"Mossypaw and Beepaw, you are from SkyClan, yes?" The SkyClan apprentices nodded. Lightstar turned to Stormheart, the deputy, next to him and whispered something. The deputy turned to the rest of Clan and said something quietly. All the cats turned back to their dens. Soon, they were all alone in the clearing with the ThunderClan leader. Lightstar cleared his throat and continued. "May I ask what you were doing out of your territory with two ThunderClan apprentices and a RiverClan warrior?" Mossypaw and Beepaw exchanged glances. Beepaw nodded and began to speak.
"After we were here with Brackenstar to drop off his kits, Brackenstar said he needed to take a little walk before going back to camp. He told us to go back to camp, but we insisted on going with him, for safety reasons. We found a little stream-" Sunpaw fidgeted uncomfortably. "-and there, Brackenstar rescued Sunpaw from drowning." Lightstar raised an eyebrow at Sunpaw. Sunpaw shook his head. Not now, he mouthed. "We were then 'taken hostage' by these she-cats who called themselves the Descendants. There, we met Riverstorm. Then Cranestar showed up and he tried to kill Riverstorm, but Brackenstar fought him. Brackenstar-Brackenstar-he...he-" Beepaw broke off.
"He died there." Mossypaw said bluntly. Beepaw nodded. Lightstar looked at them in horror.
"No!" He cried. "No, no, no. It can't be. Tell me it's not true. No..." Lightstar's voice broke on the last words. He was wide-eyed. Tears slid down his face and stained his pure-white fur. Sunpaw had never seen his leader like this before. Then he remembered the conversation only a few days ago, when he and Brackenstar had told Sunpaw that they were brothers. It was no wonder why Lightstar was so devastated. "No...no..." Lightstar kept saying. "No..." He finally looked up, wet tracks smearing his snow-like fur. "Go on." He choked. Beepaw hesitated before continuing.
"Riverstorm was—is—battered from fighting Cranestar and a dark tom that none of us had ever seen before. He almost died."
"I might still." Riverstorm interrupted. Beepaw purred slightly. He went on.
"Then he told us that he had had a dream from StarClan, as he told you. So we came here." He finished. Lightstar sniffed slightly.
"Thank you." He half-whispered. "But where is Brackenstar's body?" He asked. Sunpaw shifted. It was Moonpaw who answered.
"We never got his body. The Descendant she-cats took him, and I think they were going to take care of him. We had to run away, because of Cranestar and that dark tom." He bowed his head. The sky was lightening overhead.
"It's almost dawn." This phrase seemed to echo around the group of cats sitting in the clearing. Suddenly, Riverstorm jumped to his paws, a little unsteadily.
"We need to have Brackenstar's kits here with us!" He exclaimed. Lightstar nodded. He practically ran to the nursery. Sunpaw heard scuffling from inside, and a moment later, three kits came stumbling out, blinking sleepily. He heard Lightstar murmering to them. They were unsteady on their small paws. They must be brand new, Sunpaw thought, watching their trembling, lopsided gait. Lightstar brought them over.
"This is Wolfkit," he said, jabbing his tail in the direction of the cream-colored tom. Wolfkit seemed to be the runt of the litter. "Patchkit," Lightstar continued, moving to the patched ginger kit; "And last but not least, Mistkit," he pointed to the last kit, who was a fiery orange, like her father. Sunpaw purred; her personality seemed to be as fiery as her pelt. She tried to bite Lightstar's tail when it came close to her. All of the sudden, they heard a rustling outside the camp. Every single cat sitting in the clearing gasped.
     The cat who came limping through into the ThunderClan camp was someone who should have been dead. It was someone who was supposed to be lying dead in the Descendants camp. It was someone who had once been SkyClan's leader. It was someone whose two mates were sitting in StarClan, where his own spirit should be lying. It was someone who had broken the laws of the Elders of StarClan. It was someone who was somehow alive, and yet his son was, too. It was someone whose brother sat watching him with disbelief.
     It was Brackenstar.