Warriors: Air (Warrior Cats Fan Fiction Book Three)

Chapter Six

Briarclaw watched from the medicine den as his sister went over to each cat in the clearing and whispered to them.

What is she planning? He thought.

After Lightfrost had left Brownstep's side, Briarclaw walked over to her.

"What are you up to?" He demanded.

Lightfrost's brown eyes stretched wide. She was clearly trying to look innocent. "Can't I talk to my fellow Warriors in peace?" She asked.

"Of course you can!" Briarclaw grumbled. His wounds still hurt from the day before, so he was tired and still in pain. "But you seem... I don't know, like you're planning something."

"What do you mean?" Lightfrost asked, tipping her head to one side. "I'm only talking to everyone about what we're all thinking! In case you hadn't noticed, Bloodclan just threatened us! We need to act!"

"Take it easy!" Briarclaw insisted, lashing his tail. "Marshstar doesn't want to attack yet..."

"So the rest of us have to sit around and wait to get ambushed?" Lightfrost growled, all pretenses dropped. "I don't think so!"

"We can't go behind Marshstar's back!" Briarclaw growled.

"Just because you're her medicine cat now, doesn't mean you speak for all of us," Lightfrost snapped. "Besides, Bloodclan isn't our only threat."

"What do you mean?" Briarclaw asked, surprised. Is she talking about Firenose's prophecy? He hadn't thought about it for some time now. The Pool of Lightness and Darkness will destroy the Clans... He wondered, not for the first time, if the "Lightness" was referring to his sister...

"Flightbreeze told me that Bonestar is our father," Lightfrost said, the name of the Airclan Leader like venom in her mouth. "You knew this?"

"Yes," Briarclaw said, shifting his paws awkwardly. "But I barely had time to process it before Firenose died. I've been so busy, I..." he trailed off. He knew that he had failed his sister. He barely spent any time with her, and she was still grieving, just like he was.

"Well, I want nothing to do with him!" Lightfrost continued, narrowing her brown eyes. "He abandoned us! He never visited us!"

"He didn't even know we existed!" Briarclaw snapped. He was surprised that he was defending the father he didn't know.

"Well, I'll make him know that we exist!" Lightfrost hissed, and she turned around and marched away.

Briarclaw watched her go, too shocked and sad to go after her.

Lightfrost was clearly planning something, and even though she was going through a lot, he didn't want to let it slide. If she has something to do with the prophecy, he thought, this will end badly for all of us...

But he didn't want her to get hurt, even if she was capable of hurting others.

Is that so wrong?

Before he could think about it anymore, Marshstar was standing next to him.

"Hello, Marshstar," Briarclaw meowed, dipping his head to the orange-brown she-cat.

"Briarclaw," Marshstar greeted him. "I wanted to consult you about Bloodclan."

"Of course," Briarclaw said. As the only medicine cat now, it was his job to talk to the Leader about things. I don't know what I'm doing, he thought, but she doesn't need to know that!

"I know we can't ignore them," Marshstar sighed, sitting down and sweeping her tail around her paws. "But I don't want to lead my Clan into a trap, or worse, a massacre. We lost so many cats recently... I don't want to lose anymore."

Briarclaw nodded, thinking. "Maybe we should send out a scout mission," he suggested. "Like Thornstar did with the wolves. We don't know where Bloodclan's camp is... maybe they even moved on?" He knew they didn't, but one could hope.

"That's a good idea..." Marshstar said slowly. "But what if the patrol is attacked as they're scouting out the area? We wouldn't want to send too few, but then again, what if Bloodclan attacks the camp when the patrol is out?"

"Hmm," Briarclaw mumbled. He didn't know what else to say.

"I'm sorry," Briarclaw," Marshstar said suddenly, looking at him with sad blue eyes.

"Why?" Briarclaw asked, surprised.

"You're so young," Marshstar said. "You've been through so much... you should still be an apprentice, serving Firenose. I know that your role is a lot for you, but I want you to know that you're doing a good job."

"Tha-thank you!" Briarclaw stammered, surprised at Marshstar's praise. "Ah, it's not easy, but I'm adjusting... Firenose taught me well. I miss her a lot, I really do."

"Me too," Marshstar sighed.

"She was your sister, wasn't she?" Briarclaw asked timidly. Firenose had never mentioned this fact to him, but he had seen Marshstar's reaction to his former mentor's death.

"Yes," Marshstar said sadly. "We were close as kits, but drifted apart as we took different paths. She never approved of my relationship with Hilltail... When I became Leader and she became my advisor, I thought that we could patch up our relationship, but it was all professional. And she died before we had the chance..."

"I'm sorry," Briarclaw said thickly. He looked over at Lightfrost, who was now sharing tongues with Brownstep. He knew what it was like to be distant with his sister... And he had already lost one, he didn't want to lose Lightfrost too.

"Marshstar," Briarclaw spoke up suddenly. He knew he needed to tell her the truth.

"Yes?" Marshstar asked, her eyes glossed over in sadness as she looked off into the distance, clearly thinking about the past.

"I... I think you should keep an eye on Lightfrost," Briarclaw said thickly. "She's been acting out lately, even since she became a Warrior. I don't know if she's stirring up trouble, but she's been talking about attacking Bloodclan behind your back... yeah, I just wanted to let you know."

"Thank you for telling me," Marshstar meowed after a moment. "I'll keep an eye on her. But back to that point... should we attack Bloodclan?" She turned her head to look at Briarclaw, and he could see that she was just as confused and scared as he was. Even though she was Snowclan's Leader, she clearly didn't know what to do.

"We should," Briarclaw said at once. It would kill two birds with one stone: Lightfrost would get her wish before she could do anything rash, and they would attack Bloodclan instead of waiting around. Briarclaw continued: "We should send out a large patrol, not just to find Bloodclan's camp, but to attack them in their own territory. Catch them off guard. Keep some of the Warriors here in case Bloodclan attacks us first, but I do think that we should fight them."

"Very well," Marshstar said, although she didn't look too pleased. "I'll announce the plan, and we'll attack at dawn."

As Marshstar walked away, Briarclaw couldn't help but feel suddenly unsure. If Warriors died in the attack, it would be his fault.

Starclan, please watch over us, he begged.

There was no reply.

As Marshstar announced her plan to the Clan, Briarclaw made up his mind. He was related to some of the Bloodclan cats, including their Leader, Burn. He decided that he would leave the camp right now and scout out the area by himself, to see what they were facing in the attack tomorrow.

I can't let us be unprepared, he thought as he slipped out of camp. If we're going to fight Bloodclan tomorrow, we need to know what we're up against.

And maybe, just maybe, he could save at least one cat from dying.

The Clan couldn't lose anyone else.

I can't lose anyone else.