Brightheart's Revenge

An Unforgiven Grudge

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     I woke up and the sun was shining brightly. I squinted my eye; it burned like fire, taking my sight and water from the last eye I had. I had been planning on keeping this one, too.
     I looked away and blinked, a tiny purple dot in the middle of my vision. Soon it faded and I finally decided to stretch my legs out, padding into the cool air. All I could think of was 'What did that dream mean?' I felt a rush of relief when I saw Squirrelflight sitting in the camp, cleaning her fur while my fellow Clan cats started waking up to eat.
     I padded by and stretched my back, unsheathing my claws and feeling the sudden crack in my spine. I fluffed out my fur and began cleaning it, getting rid of a tick and a few fleas. 'I haven't cleaned my fur thoroughly in days...' I realized, itching my ears. I groaned and kept itching my ear until it hurt, picking out a few fleas.
     "Looks like you haven't cleaned your fur in days! You might need to go to RiverClan and take a swim!" Thornclaw purred. I gave him a look and went back to cleaning my ginger and white fur. 'I just had a devastatingly bad swim in the lake, I'm fine.' He kept purring and he sat down, dropping a mouse in front if my paws.
     I dipped my head when I looked up, eating a bit of it. He took the rest when I finished, licking my lips and feeling satisfied. "Well, well, well. Look who actually woke up before I set out the patrols!" Squirrelflight pointed out, purring. I rolled my eye and purred too. "I guess I went to sleep at the right time," I murmured. She nodded a few times and hopped away.
     "I would like Brightheart to take Spiderleg, Sandstorm and Icecloud to ShadowClan, then to WindClan and back to ShadowClan for a border patrol. Hunt in between. When you are done, make sure to come find the mentors and apprentices and warriors so we can practice fighting," she explained and I nodded, standing up.
     Spiderleg, Sandstorm and Icecloud followed behind me and I waited at the entrance to the camp. Squirrelflight kept talking, so I waited. "Brightheart, tell Sandstorm, Icecloud and Spiderleg whats going on and why they'll be the only one going out for a patrol. I dipped my head and headed out of camp. "Whats going on?" Icecloud prompted, curiosity at the edge of her tone.
     "We are attacking ShadowClan in 4 days, at night. We will be fighting for 3 of those days, as much as we can," I explained briefly, padding to ShadowClans border. "Meanwhile, I will be the patroller who checks ShadowClan for any signs of trespassing, and getting the day's hunt in as well."
     "Well, I guess that's a good thing for you, since you lost Cloudtail and all. But shouldn't they be your problem, not ours?" The mention of Cloudtail's name made me stop. Grief flooded over me and I fought the urge to cup her ears and yell at her. "Because, Sandstorm, they attacked us and went into our territory. They have threatened us and we have to show them we can't be thrown around like a squirrel." I hissed, whipping around and glaring at her with my one good eye.
    Her ear twitched and her eyes narrowed to slits. I dipped my head and we kept going, silence ebbing between all four of us.
     We padded up to ShadowClan's border line and I growled. 'Oh, StarClan, how much I hate these fox-brains.' "Lets remark the territory line and then go to WindClan -" I meowed, mumbling the next part to myself, "and get this over with..." We covered the territory line with our scent they headed away. I glanced into their territory for a heartbeat, then took the lead again.
*****

     We finished patrolling WindClan and ShadowClan; no trouble either places. We caught a squirrel, two mice and a dove and headed back to camp to drop them off. Rosepetal had told me and my patrol to go near the edge of our territory and we'd find the patrol of warriors training, so we went there.
     Rain fell lightly from the grey clouds and we pushed through the wind as it whipped against our faces. I had to dig my claws into the water-soaked dirt to keep myself from blowing away. I hadn't been eating as much as I used to when Cloudtail had been alive, but hey, grief gets you and everyone changes. For better or for worse.
     I looked back at Spiderleg, Sandstorm and Icecloud and they were struggling like me. The wind rushed against us, chucking rain drops at our bodies as hard as rocks. It felt like hail but when it hit the ground it splashes, creating puddles everywhere, so I knew it was rain.
     The leaves on the trees were being stripped from their branches and being tossed in the air. Leaf-bare was defiantly coming quicker then it should be. The wind was becoming colder with the rain pelting at my akin, soaking me to the bone.
     Finally, we came to the training centre where everyone fought uncontrollably. If I hadn't seen Bramblestar watching, I would've assumed this was a real battle.
     Toadstep leaped at Cinderheart, arms extended and mouth open. Cinderheart dodged out of the way and just before his paws hit the ground, she rammed into his ribs and rolled through the clearing with him. "Good job, Cinderheart! Keep up Toadstep!" Squirrelflight called as cats tumbled around at her paws.
     Brackenfur was stalking up behind Millie - who was hitting Lilypaw with full blows - and as he leaped at her, Toadstep jumped at him and pinned him. They batted at each other with sheathed claws while Millie and Lilypaw stood on hind legs, hitting at each other with hard blows to the face and chest.
     Lilypaw seemed to be growing tired of just hitting and she smacked her paws into Millie's chest, shoving her onto the ground. "Way to go, Lilypaw!" Squirrelflight praised, walking around the clearing where the cats rustled around. I looked at where Bramblestar had been sitting and saw that he was gone. I looked around and saw him stalking quietly behind Squirrelflight. I purred low and watched as he pounced on her. 'What a cute pair of mates...'
     "All right, Brightheart. Quit staring, we have to get practicing before the session ends!" Spiderleg insisted, padding into battle. "What team are we on?" I asked Icecloud, turning to face her mid-question. She shrugged, "I guess just find someone to attack and you'll be on the opposite team." I dipped my head and rushed in, keeping my claws sheathed.
     I looked around as I kept my body low, searching for a target through the half-tail length grass. I narrowed my one amber eye and eyes Molepaw. He was batting at Snowpaw harshly and I purred evilly to myself, stalking closer to the apprentice.
     I stalked up close enough to touch his tail with my nose and wriggled my haunches quickly and pounced on his shoulders. At my weight, he fell face first into a drying mud puddle and Snowpaw started purring so loud, I thought everyone could hear her. I jumped off Molepaw and he yanked his muzzle free of the mud and breathed out of his nose until mud was being sprayed everywhere. "Aw, gross!" He whined, whipping his face with his paw.
     I dashed away, my whiskers twitching in amusement, and rammed into the first cat I saw, Poppyfrost. She yelped in surprise as I shoved her, head first, onto the ground. Pain throbbed in the top of my skull from the force of my head hitting her ribs, but I pinned her down and forced myself to focus on battle training. She pawed at my chest hard and I smacked her around with one paw.
     Before I knew it, we were exhausted and barely able to fight. The sun was already going down and most of the cats had stopped at least twice for a break. I, for one, had stopped only once.
     "Okay, that's all for today. Head back to camp and eat. Get rest and we will come back to hunt. Remember, Brightheart -" at the mention of my name my head snapped over to Bramblestar. I hadn't been really listening, just pawing at the ground, "- you're taking cats out for patrols first thing in the morning and just before you go to sleep. Take Sandstorm, Icecloud and Spiderleg out again." I obeyed and stood up. My legs were shaky and weak but I carried on anyway, feeling eyes burning into my pelt as I led the three warrior out. I was out of breath and tired. My eye was starting to shut when I came across a puddle, probably the same one I had coated myself in. I put my face in until I was awake again, the cool watery-mud caking my face.
     I took my head out of the puddle and the cool night air whipped onto my face and I squeezed my eye shut and shook my head, water spraying around me. "What in StarClan's name are you doing?" Spiderleg asked, and Icecloud nodded. "I am going to fall asleep and if I am cold enough, I will stay awake long enough to patrol these territories." I answered, yawning. 
     After giving me another look or two, I led the way again and checked ShadowClan's border. There was nothing but the fresh scent of them, they must have just left from border patrolling. Quickly heading to WindClan's territory line, we checked and nothing was there. The stale scent of WindClan covered my tongue and made me gag. 
     "I'm surprised ShadowClan and WindClan aren't working together to destroy us." Sandstorm muttered. "I bet they are, who said they weren't?" Spiderleg snorted and nodded in agreement. I kept moving, heading toward ShadowClan's territory again. "They don't have the brains to destroy us, anyway." Sandstorm snickered and Spiderleg purred in agreement. Sandstorm and Spiderleg chatted about WindClan and ShadowClan and how pointless their battles were and why they're hatred toward us was just because of deep envy while Icecloud and I preyed on a few blackbirds. 
*****

     Trotting into camp with a blackbird and a mouse while Icecloud held a blackbird in her jaws and Spiderleg and Sandstorm with nothing, I happily set it down in the fresh-kill pile. 
     The moon had risen fully and my muscles and bones were so tired I almost collapsed into my nest. I didn't bother to eat - I'd do that tomorrow morning - I just settled down in my nest of dried up moss and almost as soon as my eyes closed, my mind shut down and I was in a deep sleep.
     I woke up in a field, a peaceful field. The hills were different, not like WindClan's. The smell of heather bathed my tongue and I felt home-sick. 'Where am I? Why aren't I in my nest?' I wondered, looking around. The view of endless white heather and green grass made me start to panic. 'Am I dead? Has WindClan taken me away?' I ran through the field, my paws whipping against the hard stems of the long grass. 
      I dashed, heading in no particular direction, just where ever my paws took me. I rushed forward, the wind pushing against me, pushing me back. I stopped, looked around and saw cats coming. 'Who are they?' I wondered, narrowing my eyes. 
     I felt a presence behind me and I whipped around. Cats with blacked out faces surrounding me. I tried to speak but no voice came out when I tried to ask them questions. "Brightheart," One began, stepping forward so I could see him better. His voice was just like Swiftpaw's, and I feared he was going to tell me I was dead.
     "This battle isn't worth the blood you'll lose, stop it now before its too late." Swiftpaw ordered, but when I tried to speak in defence, I couldn't find my voice again. "This isn't you, I fell in love with the sweet Brightheart that was never looking to fight. But you've changed, changed into a monster." It was Cloudtail, his fluffy, strong body standing pround. 'I will show them! I will get revenge and they'll all see. They'll all see that I changed for the better.' 
      "Change your ways, Brightheart, before the Bright in your name turns to Dark." Firestar demanded and I looked around to see the blackened faces of the once who've died in ThunderClan begin to fade away. Within a few heartbeats, the starry StarClan warriors were gone and I was in the quiet fields again, surrounded by the soundless wind and dark sky. 

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