Starlight

Chapter 14

Cool grass swept against Brambletuft's pelt as he prowled through the undergrowth. He could hear the scuttering of tiny creatures underneath the bushes, and his senses were flooded with the scent of prey.

Before he could make a catch, he emerged into an open space. An almost-full moon hung in the clear sky, outlining every grass stem and leaf with pale silver rays. Just in front of him the ground fell away into a cleft, with rocks jutting from its steep sides.

Brambletuft stared in astonishment. This was the ravine leading down to the old ThunderClan camp. He lifted his nose and sniffed cautiously. There was no harsh tang of Twoleg monsters in the air, no noise louder than the gentle rustle of the wind in the trees. Their home was safe! The destruction of the forest, the fear and hunger, the long journey through the mountains, had been nothing more than a dream.

Brambletuft pelted down the ravine to the gorse tunnel at the bottom, his heart nearly bursting with happiness. In a few heartbeats he would see all his Clanmates again: Graystripe would never have been captured by Twolegs; all of the kits and apprentices would still be alive; the elders would be in their den, querulously ordering the apprentices to get rid of their ticks.

Trembling with excitement, Brambletuft pushed his way through the gorse tunnel into the camp, his jaws parted to let out a yowl of greeting. Then he stopped dead. The clearing was completely empty, except for one cat laying in the middle of the open space.

It was Graystripe.

The gray ThunderClan deputy was looking sightlessly at Brambletuft, laying in a pool of his own blood. Above him, the once clear sky erupted in thunder and lightning as a storm seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Graystripe's body hardly shifted with the sudden gusts of wind, too stiff with death to shift even a little.

This was it! Brambletuft nearly jumped out of his fur in excitement. Skystar will have to make him deputy now that Graystripe is dead! This was the proof that they needed, and now Skystar needs to appoint a new deputy to stand at her side. Sure, his temper had gotten the better of him a couple of times, but he had led the Clans from the old territories and proved himself as a natural leader enough times for Skystar to take notice. Not even Brackenfur would be a problem. Skystar was Brambletuft's mentor, so she would obviously pick him over Brackenfur when the time came so he didn't need to worry about the golden-brown warrior.

Ambition flooded through Brambletuft's blood, making him stand taller and stretch his tail straight up toward the thundering sky. Out of all the warriors of ThunderClan, he was the most obvious choice of deputy, and once Skystar chose him he'd be able to convince Squirrelflight to be with him, especially now that Crowfeather was gone. She'd choose him since he was deputy, and they'd be the strongest pair in all the Clans, and he'd choose her when he became leader of ThunderClan to stand beside him as his deputy.

He turned away from Graystripe's body. Instead, his attention was taken by the Highrock calling his name across the camp. He had wanted to stand on it ever since he became Skystar's apprentice after Brindleface's death at the paws of his father. Only Bluestar, Skystar and Graystripe had stood on it in his whole life, but now he was taking his chance as the future leader and bounded across the clearing toward it. He leaped up the rocks eagerly, stopping only when his forepaws were on the very edge. He looked down on the camp, imagining his Clanmates bustling around in the usually busy clearing. He imagined Cloudpaw and Spiderpaw practicing their fighting moves, Birchkit and his sister bugging the elders for stories, and Squirrelflight. He imagined the dark ginger she-cat would look up at him, her green eyes filled with love for him and him alone. Crowfeather was only a little crush due to the disappearance of the borders, so she'd see who she was truly meant to be with now.