Bramblestar’s Storm

Thornclaw snorted. “You realize we’ve got to go through all this again on the way back? You’ve still got a chance to grow fins and scales.”

Farther up the ridge, as it curved toward the far corner of the field, there was a clump of low, leafless bushes. Bramblestar spotted a flash of movement underneath. He tensed, and stopped to taste the air. Beneath the now-familiar tang of the sun-drown-place, he thought he could detect RiverClan scent. Signaling with his tail for his patrol to keep close to him, Bramblestar crept forward. As they approached, two RiverClan cats rushed out of the thicket and halted in front of the ThunderClan patrol with fur bristling and eyes glaring. Bramblestar recognized the Clan deputy, Reedwhisker, and the black she-cat Shimmerpelt.

“Stop!” Reedwhisker growled. “What are—” He broke off, relaxing. “Oh, it’s you! We thought you were rogues.”

“Thank StarClan, you survived!” Dovewing gasped.

“Only just,” Shimmerpelt mewed with a shudder.

Now that he was closer, Bramblestar realized the bushes were heaving with mews and scuffling sounds. The scent of RiverClan was much stronger here.

“I’ll tell Mistystar you’re here,” Reedwhisker meowed, vanishing into the brambles.

A moment later the RiverClan leader emerged, with Mothwing, the RiverClan medicine cat, just behind her. In spite of everything, Mistystar looked calm and sleek, her blue-gray fur neatly groomed.

She dipped her head. “Greetings, Bramblestar. It’s good to see you. You must have had a struggle to get here.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Bramblestar agreed. “But we were worried about you. Is RiverClan safe?”

“RiverClan is fine,” Mistystar replied with a slight edge to her voice. “We knew the lake was rising, so when it reached our new dens we left and kept going until the water stopped chasing us.” Her voice shook a little, and it was clear that she and all her cats had been more terrified than she wanted ThunderClan to know.

“And Petalfur’s kits are okay?” Bramblestar pressed.

“Of course. Three warriors carried them. How are things in ThunderClan?” Mistystar asked.

“Not good,” Bramblestar told her. “The hollow flooded, but all of us survived, and we’ve found a safe place to stay for now.”

Perhaps it was Bramblestar’s admission that ThunderClan had lost their home too, but Mistystar seemed to soften. She padded forward to stand beside Bramblestar, and together the two leaders looked out across the flooded landscape.

“I wonder if things will ever return to how they were,” Miststar murmured. “The Great Battle, and now this… Doesn’t StarClan have the power to protect us anymore?”

“We can protect ourselves,” Bramblestar insisted. “The water won’t stay like this forever.”

“But what if it does?”

Bramblestar turned to face Mistystar. “Then we will all make new homes. We did it before; we can do it again.”

He saw warmth in her blue eyes. “Thank you for coming,” she purred. “It helps to know that we’re not suffering alone.”

Bramblestar touched his muzzle to the tip of Mistystar’s ear. “None of the Clans are alone,” he murmured. “Good luck, and may StarClan light your path.”

The RiverClan cats said good-bye with more friendliness than before, and Bramblestar led his patrol back the way they had come. There’s no way of going through the marshes to reach WindClan territory. It’s just floodwater as far as I can see.

They waded through the flooded field and with an effort, jumped back onto the fence. The water seemed even colder and murkier than before, whipped into splashy little waves by the breeze. None of the cats spoke; they just trudged along the submerged fence in concentrated silence.

Reaching the flooded Thunderpath, Bramblestar was bracing himself to swim for the drowned monster when a shriek split the air.

“Help! Oh, please help me!”

Chapter 11

Bramblestar froze. Behind him, his Clanmates bristled.

“What’s that?” Thornclaw spat.

“It’s coming from over there,” Dovewing mewed, pointing with her tail farther up the flooded Thunderpath. At Bramblestar’s startled look she hissed under her breath, “I can hear the same as you! I’m not deaf!”

“It’s a she-cat, and she sounds terrified.” Graystripe was staring in the direction of the sound. “We have to go help her.”

“I don’t know…” Bramblestar stalled, anxiety rising inside him like a flood. “With all this water, it could be dangerous.” He knew that he had to put his Clanmates’ safety above rescuing a strange cat.

“We should at least see if we can spot the cat,” Dovewing suggested. Her fur was fluffed up with anxiety and her blue eyes were huge.

The Twoleg fence where they were standing led right up to the wall of the den. Ivy covered the den wall.

“If we climb that,” Graystripe meowed, angling his ears toward the densely growing green leaves, “we should get a better view.”