Bramblestar’s Storm

Leap and slash… leap and slash… At first Bramblestar was impressed by the unspoken closeness between the two young cats, the natural rhythm they shared as they drove the badger back into a bramble thicket. But after a moment the sight began to trouble him. Where did they learn to fight together like that? Any cat would think those two had known each other for moons, and trained together.

But Bramblestar had no time to think about that. The sounds of battle were beginning to die away. Some of the badgers had already fled, and the others were yielding, ready to be chased off. Bramblestar allowed himself a sigh of relief.

It’s almost over!

A heartbeat later he realized he had allowed himself to relax too soon. The biggest, most ferocious badger hadn’t given up. Bramblestar gaped with amazement at its speed as it lumbered across the clearing away from the main throng of battle. He realized that its target was two small ShadowClan cats—apprentices by the look of them—who were crouching together in the shelter of a clump of ferns, licking each other’s wounds. They looked up with horror in their eyes as the badger bore down on them.

Bramblestar launched himself forward, but he was too late to stop the creature. He raced after it, then spotted Jessy hurling herself at the badger from the opposite side.

She waved her tail when she saw Bramblestar. “With me!” she screeched.

Jessy shot straight in front of the badger, distracting it from snapping at the two young cats, who plunged deeper into the undergrowth with squeals of terror. Jumping up and down in front of the badger, backing away so that she was always just out of reach, Jessy lured it toward the edge of the trees.

“Come back!” Bramblestar yowled.

“No,” Jessy responded. “I know what I’m doing!”

Terrified for her, Bramblestar streaked across to her side and kept pace with her as they pelted ahead of the badger. Tree roots tripped them and bramble tendrils reached out to snag their fur. Exhausted from the battle, Bramblestar knew he was too slow. He imagined he could already feel the badger’s hot, stinking breath on his fur and braced himself for the sting of snapping teeth.

Suddenly the leaf-strewn ground vanished, and the two cats lurched to a halt at the edge of the stream on the far side of ShadowClan territory. The water had gone down, but it was still far too wide to jump across. And there was no hope of swimming across the swift-flowing current, which snatched debris and branches downriver in front of them.

“Great StarClan, we’re trapped!” Bramblestar gasped. “We’ll have to fight our way out.”

Jessy ignored him; she was frantically scanning the water. “It’s here somewhere,” she muttered.

“What?” Bramblestar panted, aware of the badger crashing through the undergrowth, getting nearer with every heartbeat.

Jessy began running downstream, her gaze flicking back and forth. Suddenly she halted and turned to Bramblestar, balancing right on the edge of the surging black water. “Follow me,” she meowed.

“We can’t swim across that!” Bramblestar protested.

Jessy fixed her amber gaze on him. “Trust me.”

Bramblestar hesitated, then touched his nose to hers. He nodded. “Lead on.”

The badger broke out of the undergrowth and covered the open ground between them with massive strides. Bramblestar flexed his claws as it loomed over him and Jessy and he looked up into its tiny, malignant eyes.

Jessy gave one more glance around, took a deep breath, and jumped into the stream. Bramblestar flinched, waiting for her to be swept underwater, then realized that she was still standing, fighting the current, but with water only reaching up to her belly.

For a moment Bramblestar stood still, gaping in astonishment.

“Quick!” Jessy screeched.

Knowing that he was trusting her with his life, Bramblestar leaped into the water beside Jessy. His paws struck something hard just beneath the surface, but before he could get his balance he started to slip. Jessy grabbed his scruff in her teeth and hauled him back before he could fall into the stream.

“There’s a tree trunk crossing the stream just here,” she panted. “It’s underwater now, but I remembered where it was.”

I can’t believe this! Bramblestar thought, stunned. Every hair on his pelt rose in alarm as he stood on top of the turbulent current. There was no way of seeing the tree beneath the surface, but it was definitely there, solid and steady against the flow of water. Bramblestar sank his claws into the perilously narrow trunk and braced himself. With Jessy beside him he stood firm as the badger let out a roar and lunged toward them.