Bramblestar’s Storm

Bramblestar’s ears pricked and he felt an unpleasant hollowness in his belly. “Where?”

“Across our top border,” Millie replied. “Just at the edge of ShadowClan’s forest. There were at least two of them.”

“I’d better go take a look,” Bramblestar meowed. Glancing around, he beckoned to the two most senior warriors. “Brackenfur, Graystripe, you can come with me.”

Jessy pushed herself to the front of the group. “And me!”

“No,” Bramblestar responded. “Remember that you and Frankie and Minty are due for a battle-training session. Brightheart,” he added, turning to the ginger-and-white she-cat, “will you take that over for me, please?”

Brightheart dipped her head. “Sure.”

Jessy looked disappointed. “I’ll learn a new move, so you’d better watch out when you come back!”

As she turned away, Bramblestar touched her shoulder with his tail-tip. “We’ll take a walk together later on,” he mewed. “Maybe up to the ridge at sunset?”

Jessy’s eyes sparkled. “I’d like that!”

Bramblestar headed out of the clearing, with Brackenfur and Graystripe flanking him.

“You know,” Graystripe murmured as they headed for the ridge, “not all kittypets are bad news. After all, Millie was a kittypet. She settled down well in the Clan, and we’ve been very happy together.”

“Yes, of course…” Bramblestar wondered where Graystripe was going with this subject. Besides, it seems harsh to be discussing mates when Brackenfur is still grieving for Sorreltail. “I’m worried about these badgers,” he meowed. “I wonder if they’re the same ones who attacked us before in the hollow.”

“I thought we taught that lot a lesson,” Graystripe growled.

The patrol crossed their own top border and headed for the woods beyond ShadowClan territory. As they drew closer, Bramblestar began to pick up the strongest badger scent he had smelled yet, mingled with the scent of terrified cats. He exchanged a glance with Brackenfur and Graystripe. “Something’s seriously wrong here,” he muttered.

The scent grew stronger. Determined to find out more, Bramblestar risked venturing into the trees above ShadowClan’s border, his Clanmates treading warily behind him. Thrusting through a dense patch of ferns, he halted on the edge of a clearing and stared in horror at the scene of destruction.

Grass and bracken were trampled down over a wide area. The reek of blood hit Bramblestar in the throat, and he spotted streaks and splotches of it on the grass. Tufts of fur lay scattered, most of it from cats.

“Oh, StarClan!” he whispered. “Did any cats die here?”

Brackenfur gave him a hard prod in the side. “ShadowClan’s coming!” he hissed.

Bramblestar hadn’t heard the approaching patrol. Rapidly he backed into the ferns and crouched down with Graystripe and Brackenfur beside him, hoping that the stench of battle in the clearing would hide their ThunderClan scent. Peering through the arching fern fronds, Bramblestar watched the ShadowClan patrol cross the clearing, heading deeper into the woods. Rowanstar was in the lead, with Tigerheart, Ferretclaw, and Tawnypelt. All of them looked battered and scarred.

That must be from fighting with the badgers, Bramblestar thought.

As the patrol disappeared into the undergrowth, Tawnypelt, who was bringing up the rear, suddenly halted. She looked around, her jaws parted to taste the air. Then she ran across the clearing toward the ferns. Bramblestar rose to his paws and stepped out into the open to meet her.

“We’re not trying to cause trouble,” he meowed before she could speak. “We never meant for you to know we’d been here.”

“You’re my brother,” Tawnypelt responded. “I’d recognize your scent anywhere.”

Bramblestar winced when he saw fresh cuts across his sister’s muzzle and a clump of fur missing from her shoulder. “We were tracking the badgers,” he explained. “Have they moved into your territory?”

“Not our usual territory,” Tawnypelt mewed. “But there are some old sandy sets in these woods. It looks like several badgers have moved in since the flood. The water must have driven them out of their original homes.”

“Well, the floods are going down now,” Bramblestar mewed, trying to sound hopeful. “Maybe they’ll go back where they came from.”

“And maybe hedgehogs will fly,” Tawnypelt growled. “Bramblestar, my Clan is suffering so much… The kittypets have stopped bothering us since you fought them, but now the badgers are making it impossible for us to hunt here. And most of our old territory is still underwater.” She lowered her head, and her voice was full of shame as she continued. “I was too harsh with you before,” she confessed. “Rowanstar and I—and all of ShadowClan—should have been more grateful for your help with the kittypets.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Bramblestar murmured, touching his nose to her ear. “I know we should never have interfered. It won’t happen again.”