Warriors: The Unknown Threat Series Book #1: ShadowClan's Threat

Chapter 7: Bramblestar

BRAMBLESTAR

            Five sunrises had passed since Bramblestar’s kits’ naming ceremony. ShadowClan had continued to hunt in ThunderClan’s territory, but Bramblestar had tolerated it due to Tawnypelt’s pleading. “The Gathering is only a half-moon away. After that, ShadowClan must stop hunting in our territory,” Bramblestar had told her.

            Tawnypelt hadn’t looked completely happy about that, but she hadn’t said anything. Instead, she had merely nodded her head and padded back to the warrior den. Now, Bramblestar was beginning to regret that decision. The fresh-kill pile did look slightly smaller and Bramblestar wondered how much prey ShadowClan was taking.

            He would keep his word though. But the Gathering couldn’t come soon enough for him. The stench of ShadowClan near the Twoleg path was nearly unbearable, and the prey in that area was growing scarce. How much closer to camp would ShadowClan come now that the prey near the border was disappearing?

            It wasn’t a matter of sympathy. Bramblestar was concerned about the black liquid, but that didn’t give ShadowClan the right to steal ThunderClan’s prey. What would Firestar do if he was still alive? Bramblestar asked himself. Well, he would go talk to Blackstar, which was never very effective. It’s not as if asking Blackstar nicely not to steal our prey would work.

            He decided to ask Squirrelflight what he should do. His mate was eating a thrush when he walked up to her. “Squirrelflight,” he meowed as he sat down beside her. “I don’t know what to do about ShadowClan. Could you help me?”

            Squirrelflight looked up at him, her green gaze burning his fur. “I don’t need to help you, Bramblestar. Just follow your heart,” she replied.

            Bramblestar sighed. “I don’t even know what my heart wants me to do these days,” he said. “Everything is so hard. Firestar would have known what to do. Firestar would have fixed this problem already.”

            “You’re being too hard on yourself. Take a deep breath and relax for a moment,” Squirrelflight meowed.

            “Help me, Squirrelflight, please,” he insisted.

            “If you really want guidance, I’m not the cat you should be asking. Go to the Moonpool tonight and ask StarClan,” she said. “And go quickly. It’s past sunhigh now. You should take Shadepaw. Jayfeather is a good medicine cat, but he might slow you down a bit.”

            Bramblestar nodded and headed towards the medicine cat den. As he walked over there, he noticed Tawnypelt lying miserably outside the warrior’s den. He stopped beside her and licked her fur. She looked up. “You’d rather be with ShadowClan, wouldn’t you?” he asked her.

            “Yes,” Tawnypelt meowed after a moment’s hesitation. “You’ve been very nice and all, but I don’t feel like this is my home.”

            “I understand,” Bramblestar said. “I wouldn’t want to live with ShadowClan, or RiverClan or WindClan for that matter. Just imagine you’re in ShadowClan’s camp, sleeping on the nice marshy ground.” He shuddered inwardly at the thought.

            Tawnypelt nodded. “Thank you,” she meowed. “You’re a true friend.”

            Bramblestar dipped his head. “Any time,” he replied.

            He trotted into the medicine cat’s den. Shadepaw was there, alone, studying some catmint leaves. Bramblestar meowed a greeting and she spun around, startled. “We’re going to the Moonpool tonight.”