Warriors: If Things Had Changed

If Brackenfur was Deputy - Part 3

Brambleclaw's body ached as Tigerstar attacked him again, and he winced as three new scratches appeared on his shoulder. 

"You need to be faster! How can you expect to defend your clan if you're so slow!" Tigerstar hissed and reared up to attack him again. 

Brambleclaw rolled to the side, barely dodging this attack, it had been three moons since Brackenfur had been made the deputy, and it felt that Tigerstar had made his training even more vigorous since he had received Berrypaw as an apprentice. 

Tigerstar aimed a strong blow at Brambleclaw's side, knocking him over, and hissed, "That's enough for you, Hawkfrost, your turn." 

Brambleclaw padded to the side, panting as he sat down and started licking his wounds. For the past moon, Tigerstar had been more aggressive, and more demanding of both his sons. Mistyfoot had been injured in a fight against WindClan, and Brambleclaw knew Hawkfrost was using this opportunity to the best of his ability. Brambleclaw had recently received an apprentice, giving him the full qualifications to become the deputy. 

Brambleclaw's head snapped to attention as he saw Hawkfrost landing a strong blow on Tigerstar's shoulder, and Tigerstar was knocked over. It was very rare that any cat could beat Tigerstar. 

"Yes, Hawkfrost. You're ready," Tigerstar said with satisfaction as he got up, "You know that you can beat any RiverClan cat in a fight, and now, you need to get rid of Mistyfoot. She's half-clan crowfood anyway." 

Brambleclaw snarled and said, "Mistyfoot's a strong and loyal warrior." 

Hawkfrost snorted and said, "You only think that because she's friends with ThunderClan, but she makes RiverClan weak, and her loyalties will always be divided thanks to her ThunderClan heritage."

Brambleclaw curled his lip but kept his mouth shut. Having just witnessed Hawkfrost defeat Tigerstar, he didn't want to feel Hawkfrost's claws on his own body, and he didn't want to risk angering Tigerstar. 

"Enough talk about Mistyfoot. Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, I expect to see you both tomorrow. You must leave now, the sun is rising," Tigerstar said. He then turned and left, his body quickly being enveloped in darkness. 

"Have you created a plan yet Brambleclaw?" Hawkfrost asked him. 

"No, I'm too busy training Berrypaw to have time to plot Brackenfur's downfall," Brambleclaw said the last part sarcastically.

"It's lucky you have an apprentice right now. Train him to be loyal to you, and eventually, you will have a group of strong cats who follow every word of yours," Hawkfrost said before fading away. 

Brambleclaw opened his eyes and winced as he got up. The blow to his side still hurt, and he would need to sneak into Leafpool's den later to get another poppy seed. 

"Brambleclaw, there you are. Can you take Berrypaw to the training hollow? Dustpelt and I were planning to teach Hazelpaw and Mousepaw the half-turn belly rake today, and it would be great for Berrypaw to join them as well," Spiderleg said to Brambleclaw. 

Brambleclaw nodded curtly and was about to agree when he heard Brackenfur's voice from Highledge, "Brambleclaw,  you lead a hunting patrol to abandoned Twoleg nest. Take Ashfur, Rainwhisker, and Brightheart with you." 

"Take Berrypaw training, I need to lead a hunting patrol," Brambleclaw said to Spiderleg. The young warrior nodded, and went to the apprentice's den, presumably to wake up the apprentices. 

Brambleclaw gathered the warriors he needed for the hunting patrol, and at the abandoned Twoleg nest, he scented a mouse. He went into the hunting crouch and caught it quickly before burying it under the earth to pick up later.