ωåтєɾfåℓℓ ➳ warriors fanfic

| chapter 2 |

Brackenstar's body lay on the side of the road, his paws twitching. A chestnut-brown tom shot forwards, quickly dipping his head to peer down into his leader's still face. His stormy-grey eyes scanned over the red-brown tabby's pelt, one large wound staining his fur red on his side. The rest of the patrol stood at the edge of the cliff, staring over at the two toms.

"Is he breathing, Swiftstorm?" Branchshadow questioned, narrowing his cold amber eyes. Swiftstorm's ears twitched and he nuzzled Brackenstar and all hope drained from his face as the tom didn't respond.

"I-I don't know," Swiftstorm replied. After a moment of silence, Brackenstar's eyes shot open and he stared up at Swiftstorm, his eyes glowing. 

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I didn't lose a life, luckily," Brackenstar grumbled, slowly rising to his paws. 

Bluemist let out a sigh of relief and slowly crept forwards, Cinderpaw following on trembling paws. A dark grey tabby she-cat stayed where she was while the patrol stood at the edge of the Thunderpath. Cinderpaw noticed and looked over her shoulder, tilting her head. Ferngaze didn't notice but kept her dark green eyes elsewhere.

"Ferngaze? We're going over to the field," she said, staring.

"The kits passed through here," Ferngaze said coldly, "they must be over at the field." She flicked her tail and joined the rest of the patrol, staring sharply at the white-and-chestnut-black apprentice.

Glancing curiously over his shoulder, Brackenstar led them across the Thunderpath, the sun beginning to sink down behind the mountains to the left. A deep navy started to chase the rays of light away, sending them down to disappear. As the cats crossed the field, the stalks of grass quivered in the slight breeze, the almost-full moon rose into the perfectly silver-dotted sky. Cinderpaw parted her jaws to taste the air, but she couldn't pick up any scent of kits as much as she tried. 

Although Ferngaze could. Many cats respected her and knew her for being one of the best trackers and fighters in TideClan. Of course every TideClan cat was skilled at swimming, like how LeafClan cats were skilled at climbing trees. Brackenstar paused when the dark grey cat did, waiting patiently. She lowered her head in concentration before it flicked back up.

"They're over here, I can scent them, it's everywhere over here." Ferngaze led them over to a patch of flowers and vines. That's when they heard the pitiful cry for help.

"Bramblekit?" Branchshadow narrowed his eyes and stared into the patch, but nothing could be seen. His amber eyes glowed in the light of the dying sunlight, stars and moon, his dark brown tabby fur ruffled. "Bramblekit, is that you? Where's Quietkit?"

There was no reply but Bluemist began carefully searching through the flowers with a soft paw. Cinderpaw waited anxiously, sitting down and curling her tail neatly around her front paws. What if he's dead? she thought hopelessly, kneading the dirt with a paw. It seemed that the whole patrol was holding their breaths, waiting for Bluemist to sigh in relief. But that sound of relief never came, only a gasp of surprise. Brackenstar padded forwards to stand at Bluemist's pelt.

"Great StarClan!" he gasped, the fur rising on his spine. Cinderpaw moved forwards with Hawkpaw beside her and what they saw shocked them.

Bramblekit was tugging against a thick vine around his hind leg, desperately trying to tug it off, but it looked as if he was pulling it tighter. Beside him lay Quietkit, her pale silver tabby fur ruffled. A patch of blood stained her neck fur, where a thorn appeared to be stabbing into her. Her side was moving but barley. Bramblekit winced, his whiskers drooping with pain and sorrow. Ferngaze tugged at the vine and bit down with her fangs, but it wouldn't snap from his leg. The dark grey cat began scratching at it, until it finally fell from his fur and let him move around.

Quietkit was almost silent. Bramblekit didn't pay attention to the small injury in his hind leg, he only cared for his litter-mate for the moment. Ferngaze ripped the thorn from the she-kit's neck and picked her up by the scruff. Brackenstar motioned for Swiftstorm to take Bramblekit and the patrol bounded away swiftly, racing across the Thunderpath without even checking for monsters. Cinderpaw felt fear stab in her chest, what if they were too late? What if Quietkit didn't wake up?

Before Cinderpaw could stop herself, she realised she had bumped into Mossleaf, back at camp. Her mind had obviously been straying off. Mossleaf let out a chuckle before turning and bounding into her den, following Ferngaze and Swiftstorm. Cinderpaw sighed and hung her head low. If Quietkit didn't make it, how upset would Brindlepool be? A tabby pelt brushed against her's and purred reassuringly.

"They'll be fine," Amberpaw whispered.

"But they're only a moon or two old!" Cinderpaw protested snappishly.

"What in StarClan has gotten into you?" Amberpaw narrowed her eyes, her ears pinning down to the back of her head, a scared expression taking over her face. Cinderpaw only just realised what she'd done and gasped.

"A-Amberpaw, I'm sorry," she sighed, looking down.

Amberpaw's ears flicked up and she shook her head. She turned away from her and stalked away, dragging her paws along like she had just been in battle. The sun was almost completely gone, casting the last shadows of the day over the camp. Cinderpaw hung her head low and let herself relax on her hind legs, kneading the ground with her front paws. The she-cat sighed and quickly got up, not wanting anyone to see her like this. Bluemist went to rest her tail on her back, but Cinderpaw kept walking. Curious, Bluemist followed her into the apprentice hole, a few small bushes surrounding the outside. 

Bluemist stepped inside, her paws sinking into the softer sand in the entryway. Cinderpaw curled up in her bed of moss, curling her tail over her nose to try and push everything of that day away. Her paws prickled with an itch to train with her mentor, but she'd have to wait until the next morning at sunrise. Bluemist's voice entered her thoughts.

"Cinderpaw, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she answered quietly. "I'm fine," she added more roughly.

"You need to concentrate on other things beside friendships. Of course, it's good to have friends, but right now, whatever is going on with you and Amberpaw, you need to push that out of your heart and focus on your training. Tensions are rising between us and LeafClan, you need to be ready," Bluemist hissed softly, her shadow blocking out the last of the sunlight for her apprentice to rest in.

When Cinderpaw's head shot up, Bluemist was gone. 

The apprentice hole was empty, all apart from Cinderpaw. Her nest suddenly felt cold and empty, like something was missing. A small shriek of happiness caught Cinderpaw's attention, and she realised it was the soft voice of Brindlepool, the queen that'd lost her kits, Bramblekit and Quietkit. The white-chestnut-black apprentice rested her chin on her paws, staring out of the hole at the entrance of camp and the rising stars. She spotted Ferngaze staring at her, sitting on her dark grey haunches. Cinderpaw lifted her head and gazed curiously at the warrior.

Ferngaze's ears twitched before she quickly glanced away and slowly walked out from Cinderpaw's view. Strange, she thought absentmindedly, why was she staring at me like that? 

"Quietkit!" a voice yowled in distress, causing the whole of camp to fall silent. Cinderpaw lept from her nest and bounded out from the apprentice den, her heart pounding in her chest like it was about to burst. The horrible noise had erupted from the medicine den. Cinderpaw padded over and glanced inside, her stomach knotting up as she thought about what she would find inside. That's when she saw Brindlepool leaning over a motionless shape, her head tilted to the roof, letting out wails of grief.

Was Quietkit dead?