Bramblestar’s Storm

Bramblestar let Graystripe lead the way along the fence-top while he brought up the rear, just behind Minty. He wanted to be close enough to help her if she slipped. But to Bramblestar’s surprise she trotted along more confidently than the Clan cats, not at all fazed by the narrowness of the fence. Of course, she must have done this often, visiting her friends in the other dens.

When they reached the corner of the fence and Graystripe turned toward the Thunderpath, Minty halted and stared at the vast stretch of flooded ground. “There’s so much water!” she exclaimed. “Parsnip and his housefolk are gone, and my housefolk, and all the housefolk and the cats! I’m the only one left!” She sounded lost and small, as if she hadn’t realized the extent of the disaster until now.

Graystripe glanced over his shoulder at her. “It’ll be okay,” he comforted her. “They’ll come back and look for you when the flood goes down.”

Minty nodded, but Bramblestar wasn’t sure whether she believed him.

Finally they arrived at the end of the fence where they had first heard Minty’s cries, opposite the drowned monster on the Thunderpath. Here the water still reached halfway up their legs, and Minty was starting to look scared again.

“We can’t go any farther,” she mewed.

“Yes, it’s fine,” Bramblestar told her. “We have to swim over to where you can see that drowned monster, then get onto the fence, and that takes us to dry ground.”

Minty turned to him with her blue eyes wider than ever. “Swim?”

Thornclaw let out a hiss of annoyance. “Don’t tell me you can’t swim!”

“I don’t know,” Minty replied. “I’ve never tried.”

Bramblestar took a deep breath. “Graystripe, you go first. Dovewing, swim on that side of Minty, and I’ll swim on this side. Thornclaw, follow us. Minty, I promise we’ll get you across, okay?”

“Okay… I guess.”

Graystripe launched himself into the water, powering toward the monster with strong sweeps of his paws. Minty clung to the fence until Dovewing gave her a shove. She plopped into the water with a startled squeak. With Bramblestar on one side and Dovewing on the other, the kittypet splashed furiously, wasting far too much effort, but somehow she managed to propel herself forward.

“Hey, I can swi—” she squealed. The last word was cut off as water slopped into her mouth. She started spluttering, and Bramblestar steadied her with a shoulder underneath her until she caught her breath.

Bramblestar knew that he was getting tired, and guessed that his Clanmates felt the same. The swim to the drowned monster seemed twice as far as it had on the way out. If we hadn’t stopped to help Minty, we’d be back on our own territory by now. He was exhausted by the time they stood safely on ShadowClan territory. It was an effort to make his paws move along the waterline, beside the drowned pines.

“Is this where you live?” Minty asked, and added politely, “It’s… er… very nice.”

“No, this is where ShadowClan lives,” Graystripe told her. “We’re ThunderClan.” He waved his tail toward the other side of the lake. “We live over there.”

“What?” Minty screeched. “I can’t walk that far! My legs will fall off!”

Bramblestar looked at her. “You’d better hang on to them,” he teased her. “Or Thornclaw might find he has a taste for kittypets after all.”

Minty let out a yelp and raced ahead, glancing back over her shoulder at Thornclaw with a look of terror in her eyes.

“What did you say that for?” Thornclaw looked bemused. “When did I ever eat kittypets?”

“Just show your fangs,” Dovewing muttered. “At least she’s moving!”

Minty waited for them to catch up, though she stayed as far from Thornclaw as possible, and padded beside the Clan cats as they headed toward the open stretch of grass.

“How many cats live by the lake?” she asked. “Do you all live together? And do you really eat mice and squirrels and yucky stuff like that?”

“I don’t know exactly how many cats there are,” Bramblestar replied. “Lots. Each Clan has its own camp, where they live together. And yes, we catch our own prey and eat it. You will too, while you’re staying with us.”

Minty shuddered. “Never!”

Bramblestar exchanged a glance with Thornclaw, guessing that the golden-brown warrior was thinking the same thing. Wait until she gets hungry!

“It’s really dark under these trees, isn’t it?” Minty chattered on. “I wouldn’t like living here. Is it dark in your territory, too?”

Graystripe shook his head. “ThunderClan territory is more open than this.”

“I can’t wait to see it!” Minty mewed with an excited little skip. “Ooh, look, a squirrel! Are you going to catch it?”

“No,” Bramblestar told her. “We’re allowed to cross ShadowClan territory, but not to take prey here. The ShadowClan cats would be furious.”