Warriors: The Unknown Threat Series Book #6: Howling Wind

Chapter 6: Bramblestar

BRAMBLESTAR

            Rowanstar sat in front of Bramblestar, glaring at the ThunderClan leader. “You captured the ThunderClan leader? And no one was injured?” Rowanstar asked.

            Toadfoot nodded. “Good job,” Rowanstar meowed. “Now go and organize the night patrols.”

            Applefur cleared her throat. “Where is he going to stay?” she asked, pointing with her tail towards Bramblestar.

            “He’ll stay here for now. I want you and Nightwhisker to stay here and make sure he doesn’t escape,” Rowanstar meowed. “Meanwhile, I have an announcement for the apprentices.”

            “What is it?” Nightwhisker queried.

            “We have a special form of entertainment planned for our apprentices tonight,” Rowanstar meowed, before leaving the den.

            Bramblestar listened as Rowanstar summoned the ShadowClan cats. “Tonight, we have something special planned for our apprentices. I want all the apprentices to meet us in the training hollow at sunset. Don’t be late or else you’ll be punished,” the ShadowClan leader meowed.

            Time passed slowly. After what felt like an eternity, Rowanstar re-entered the den. “Come with me,” Rowanstar ordered. “And I’m taking a patrol of warriors with me, so don’t even think about trying to escape.”

            Rowanstar forced Bramblestar to follow him through ShadowClan territory. The marshy ground felt strange under Bramblestar’s paws and he struggled not to fall down on the strange, slippery surface.

            Finally, they reached a part of the forest where the ground was dry. “Where are we?” Bramblestar asked finally.

            “The training hollow,” Rowanstar growled.

            Slowly, the apprentices entered the training hollow. “Today, we have a wonderful activity prepared for you to help you practice your battle skills. We have a ThunderClan intruder on our territory,” he meowed, stepping off to the left to reveal Bramblestar sitting behind him.

            “That’s the ThunderClan leader, isn’t it?” a young black-furred apprentice meowed.

            Rowanstar nodded. “Yes, Stonepaw,” he meowed. “It’s up to you guys to kill him.”

            A cream-colored she-cat spoke up. “Kill him?” she asked with uncertainty in her voice.

            “Yes, Rosepaw. Are you too scared to do it?” Rowanstar sneered.

            “N-no, Rowanstar,” Rosepaw stammered in reply.

            Bramblestar quickly counted the number of apprentices. There were five of them in total. Bramblestar felt sick. He didn’t want to fight these innocent apprentices!

            “Then, attack!” Rowanstar cried.

            The apprentices hesitated for a moment before charging towards Bramblestar. Bramblestar remembered a trick Snowpelt had used against him in battle. He backed into the nearest pine tree and used his hindpaws to send himself sailing over the apprentices’ heads. He swung his paw at Stonepaw and tried to hit him on the head so that the apprentice would faint. But the apprentice tried to dodge out of the way and Bramblestar’s paw hit his neck instead. A large gash opened on his neck from Bramblestar’s claws and he fell to the ground.

            Bramblestar felt sick with horror, but he couldn’t stop to help the young apprentice because he would be killed if he did. The biggest apprentice dashed forward. Bramblestar sidestepped and raked his claws down the apprentice’s side.

            Bramblestar noticed Rosepaw wasn’t doing anything. One of the other apprentices was crouched beside Stonepaw and the only other apprentice was climbing the tree behind him.  The biggest apprentice charged again. Bramblestar faked like he was going to sidestep to the right and then slid to the right at the last instant. He leapt onto the apprentice’s back and jumped back onto the ground. The apprentice tumbled onto the ground and Bramblestar placed one forepaw on his side. For a moment, he forgot that this cat was only an apprentice and his anger overwhelmed him. He began to claw mercilessly at the apprentice’s belly. Then, shock flooded over him as he realized he was killing the young tom. He stepped back and looked around the hollow. Rosepaw was still frozen in shock, staring at Stonepaw’s unmoving body. A brown-furred tom crouched beside Stonepaw, gently licking his matted black fur. The apprentice who he had just fought was lying on the ground. His breaths were ragged and his belly was oozing blood. Where was the other apprentice?

            Bramblestar looked up. The tom was just leaping out of the highest branch of the tree, plummeting down towards Bramblestar. Bramblestar rolled out of the way, and the tom hit the ground with a sickening thud. Rosepaw screamed in horror.

            The brown tom rose slowly to full height, puffing out his chest fur and staring angrily at Bramblestar. “Rosepaw, he killed my brother and he also killed your brother! We must kill him!” the tom shouted.

            Bramblestar turned his head to stare at Rosepaw. She hadn’t still hadn’t moved at all. While Bramblestar was staring at her, the brown-furred tom leapt onto his back. And before he could throw the tom off, the apprentice had sunken his teeth into Bramblestar’s neck. The ThunderClan leader fell to the ground, and everything turned dark.