This story is about what would happen if Brambleclaw decided to kill Firestar and conquer the clans with Hawkfrost in Sunset. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
Brambleclaw felt as if his lungs were filled with ice, freezing all of his emotions inside him. Could I really do this? Brambleclaw asked himself, Can I really kill my own leader? Firestar lay with his neck caught in the trap, the life fading in his eyes with every second.
"Well? What are you waiting for? I don't want to become leader when I am an elder!" Hawkfrost spat beside him. Before Brambleclaw could respond, a voice whispered in his ear, "This is what I have been training you for, my son. Power over everything, without any pitiful loyalties to stop you." Tigerstar's voice echoed like rumbling thunder in Brambleclaw's mind, and Brambleclaw thought of all he could be capable of. Exiling or killing any cat that dared question him, having the territories under the rule of his claws.
Brambleclaw smirked at the thought and stepped forward. Quick as a flash, he tightened the trap around Firestar's throat. Firestar gasped and coughed up blood, the shock and betrayal in his eyes cut short as the life evaporated from his body. After a long moment, Firestar finally stopped twitching, and Brambleclaw swore he could see Firestar's lives rise out of him like a fine mist, until vanishing into nothingness. Even Firestar's once awesome coloured pelt seemed dull, his once bright green eyes defeated.
Hawkfrost stood still for a moment, his expression blank, then he yowled his joy to the gray sky.
"You did it, Brambleclaw! The clans is ours!" Hawkfrost was almost bouncing up and down like a kit.
"But it isn't over yet. The other leaders are still alive. Quick, you need to get Firestar out of that trap and make his death look like an accident." Tigerstar's voice was so urgent Brambleclaw felt like his head would burst open. Hawkfrost slowly stopped his escastic victory dance, and Brambleclaw knew he heard Tigerstar's voice too.
The two half brothers never worked faster before in their lives. As Hawkfrost wrestled the knot out of Firestar's neck, Brambleclaw rinsed the blood of his paws in the lake. Once Hawkfrost tossed the fox trap into the lake, he helped Brambleclaw scratch his pelt into a nearly shredded mess.
Before they knew it, paw steps approached, and Hawkfrost dived into the lake, quickly swimming away from the shore and under the surface.
Ashfur, Squirrelflight and Leafpool burst out of the bushes, and Squirrelflight and Leafpool gasped in unison.
"What happened? Oh, Firestar, please wake up!" Leafpool sobbed, crashing to her father's side.
"Hawkfrost killed him. I tried my best, but he was too strong." Brambleclaw explained, doing his best to make his voice sound sad.
Squirrelflight sniffed the air, and her eyes stretched wide with horror.
"I knew something was wrong with that flea bag, but why would he do this?" Squirrelflight mewed, her usually strong and confident attitude shaken.
"I am sorry Squirrelflight." Brambleclaw whispered, surprised at how convincing his voice sounded.
"It's not your fault, Brambleclaw. I can tell you tried." Squirrelflight said, licking the mock wounds on his flank.
After a moment of shocked silence, Ashfur finally spoke.
"I guess we should get him back to camp."
"We'll carry him, Ashfur. Sandstorm will want to hear the news from us first." Leafpool offered, and without a word, she and Squirrelflight began to drag Firestar's body back to camp.
Once they were out of earshot, Ashfur grinned evilly.
"So the plan went well, I assume?" Ashfur asked, unusually polite.
"It did." Brambleclaw responded, careful not to say anything more. Ashfur may have been happy to help them here, but he was still loyal to ThunderClan, and that meant he wouldn't like what was going to happen next.
“Are you sure you don’t need a patrol to accompany you?” Squirrelflight fussed, licking a healing wound Hawkfrost inflicted on Brambleclaw’s flank.
“It’s tradition for the deputy and medicine cat to travel alone to the Moonpool; trust me, we’ll be fine.” Brambleclaw said, but he felt strangely empty. Squirrelflight would never have been so clingy on him before, and her loss of spirit disturbed him. When Brambleclaw stared into Squirrelflight’s dull green eyes, he felt his own confidence drain into a black pool of infinity. Firestar’s death must have affected Squirrelflight and the clan more than Brambleclaw thought.
“Brambleclaw, we should get going.” Leafpool mewed. Brambleclaw turned to face the medicine cat and nodded, and without another word, followed her out of the camp.
The journey to the moonpool was silent; even the birds seemed to have stopped their singing to grieve in the gray, still evening. The only sound in the forest was Brambleclaw and Leafpool’s paw steps, their eyes blank as they each turned inward to their own thoughts.
After what seemed like a lifetime, they arrived at the moonpool just as the sun disappeared over the horizon. After Leafpool’s brief instructions, Brambleclaw crouched on the rock and dipped his nose in the icy water, and was swept into sleep immediately.
This is StarClan? Brambleclaw thought as he looked around. This is kind of a dump for StarClan territory. The forest around him was dark, the trees gray and twisted with sickness. The bushes seemed to reach out at him like enormous claws, and the dwindling sunlight above was strangely cold on Brambleclaw’s fur. Brambleclaw looked left and saw a much darker forest, and the scents blowing from it’s depths betrayed it’s identity right away to Brambleclaw.
That’s the place where Tigerstar visits me! So this must be the border between this forest and StarClan! Brambleclaw thought.
He turned his head in the other direction to head into StarClan for his nine lives, only to find Bluestar in his way. Bluestar looked furious, his fangs curled back in the fiercest snarl he’d ever seen.
“You.. you traitor!” Bluestar spat.
Before Brambleclaw could respond, Bluestar swiped at him, and Brambleclaw stumbled backward.
“I thought you were the worthy choice to find a new home for the clans, but now you.. you expect us to give you nine lives just to fill our clans new homes with.. with.. blood?!” Bluestar growled, advancing on Brambleclaw.
Terrified and confused, Brambleclaw backed away from Bluestar, going further and further into the dark forest.
“I can’t belive you betrayed yourself and your clan so much.” Bluestar snarled.
“How, how did I betray me!?” Brambleclaw yowled in fear.
“Your whole life your own clan looked down on you because you were Tigerstar’s son, and you proved them right!” Bluestar spat, raising her paw, claws fully unsheathed.
“Wait! Bluestar, I can deal with this.” Another cat appeared, his bright orange pelt badly standing out in the black undergrowth.
“Firestar!?” Brambleclaw gasped, ashamed of himself that he was quickly losing control of the situation.
“You killed me, why are you surprised I am here?” Firestar hissed, raking his claws across Brambleclaw’s face.
“Get your claws off my son!” A voice roared, a brown blur slamming Firestar against a tree. Five other cats Brambleclaw didn’t recognize surrounded Bluestar, and Bluestar’s eyes quickly filled with fear.
Wait, Brambleclaw thought, I recognize one of those cats. That one is Darkstripe!
The cat that attacked Firestar pinned him down, digging his claws into Firestar’s scruff. Brambleclaw saw the V- shaped scar on his ear, and knew it was Tigerstar.
“Don’t even try getting away, Firestar. I’ve always been more stronger than you.” Tigerstar said as Firestar struggled weakly in his grasp.
Being smashed into that tree must have left him weak. Great technique! Brambleclaw concluded.
“You can’t do this!” Bluestar yowled, and Brambleclaw tilted his head in confusion. What did Bluestar mean?
Tigerstar narrowed his eyes and smirked powerfully.
“You’re trespassing on our territory, I think that’s a good enough reason to… keep you here for awhile.” Tigerstar said smoothly.
Bluestar’s eyes widened with panic and she tried breaking away from her captors, but a cat with a crooked tail chased her back in, hissing fiercely.
“Darkstripe, wait at the StarClan border and tell them that if they want Bluestar and Firestar back, they won’t warn the medicine cats at what were up to.” Tigerstar ordered, and Darkstripe dashed off.
Bluestar wailed in terror, and Brambleclaw woke with a start.
“Brambleclaw-er, star! You were yowling in your sleep! Did something go wrong?” Leafpool’s mew was dripping with concern.
“Er, no. Everything’s fine. Come on, let’s get back to camp.” Brambleclaw said.
No. I don’t care if StarClan refused my nine lives, it’s Bramblestar
now. Bramblestar thought, smiling to himself.
Chapter 2
Squirrelflight listened to the crickets in the distance. There was no signs of any clouds in the sky, so it would probably be a good night for a gathering.
Two quarter moons passed since Bramblestar became leader, and ThunderClan was preparing to go to the gathering soon. Leafpool was still tending to the last of Bramblestar’s wounds, so Squirrelflight knew ThunderClan would be the last to arrive.
The rest of the cats chosen to go were already waiting; Ashfur, the new deputy, waited near the entrance. Ferncloud, Dustpelt and Daisy sat outside the medicine cat den, chatting about the recent gossip in the clan. Whitepaw and Birchpaw ran circles around Brackenfur, Brightheart and Spiderleg while Stormfur, Rainwhisker and Cloudtail sat by the entrance in silence. After what seemed like a whole season, Bramblestar emerged from the medicine cat den, closely followed by Leafpool.
“Come on, were going to be late.” Bramblestar ordered, and the cats rose to their paws and followed their leader out of the camp.
As Squirrelflight had predicted, ThunderClan was the last clan to arrive. The ThunderClan cats shot hateful glares towards RiverClan, and the other three clans soon started whispering in confusion.
The other clans are still blind to the murder, huh? Squirrelflight thought angrily. Just wait until Bramblestar tells them everything!
But when Squirrelflight looked up at the branch Bramblestar was sitting on, he shot her a sharp glance.
I guess he doesn’t want to start a war over it.. the stupid furball. Squirrelflight thought.
It wasn’t long before the last leader climbed up the tree. Squirrelflight couldn’t see him through the shadows, but when he stepped out to sit beside Bramblestar, Squirrelflight felt her heart stop for a moment.
“Hawkfrost!?” She cried, and ThunderClan instantly erupted in outraged yowls and screeches.
This has to be a mistake, Leopardstar has to be around her somewhere. Squirrelflight looked through the crowd where RiverClan was sitting, but she couldn’t find the distinct spotted coat of Leopardstar anywhere.
Leopardstar and Mistyfoot died around the same time as Firestar? Something is wrong here…
As WindClan and ShadowClan made their announcements, Squirrelflight listened with a heavy heart, unable to shake off the feeling that there was a terrible thing happening in the clans. She felt like she was going to be sick when Hawkfrost-or Hawkstar- stood up to make his announcements.
“Tragedy has befallen RiverClan. Both Leopardstar and Mistyfoot died under some awful mysterious circumstances-”
Hawkstar’s words jumbled into noises as Squirrelflight closed her eyes, the last three words repeating over and over again in her mind.
He’s fine with telling us that both his leader and deputy are dead, but won’t tell us how they died? This has to be all in my head. Squirrelflight thought, but she felt a horrible pain in her heart, subconsciously knowing that what she suspected was all true.
Squirrelflight was so wrapped up in her own suspicions that she didn’t notice that the strong, muscled warriors started moving to the back of the crowd, and that Bramblestar and Hawkstar often exchanged quick glances, until Bramblestar flicked his tail.
“Attack!” Hawkstar suddenly screamed, and warriors randomly started attacking anyone around them.
Squirrelflight sat in her spot for a moment, frozen in shock. Her deepest fears were unfolding around her as some of her own clanmates started attacking the apprentices, queens and elders, and Bramblestar was helping them.
All of the sudden Squirrelflight felt as if a thousand bolts of lightning jolted through her. What if they go after the medicine cats?
Squirrelflight leaped to her paws and ran as fast as she could through the quarrelling cats, and made her way to the tree roots, where Leafpool crouched in terror.
“What is happening?” Leafpool yowled when she saw her sister.
“I don’t know, but we need to get out of here!” Squirrelflight mewled, pushing Leafpool to her paws. Together the two sisters rolled and slid their way toward the trunk that connected the island and their way to freedom.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Rainwhisker snarled, blocking Squirrelflight and Leafpool’s way to the trunk.
“Rainwhisker, what are you doing?” Squirrelflight snapped, the overwhelming sense of betrayal threatening to make Squirrelflight break down into sobs.
“Bramblestar and Hawkstar offered us plenty of power if we supported them in their takeover of the clans.” Rainwhisker spat.
“Who’s ‘us’ ?” Leafpool demanded, her voice taking on an uncharacteristic tone.
Another tom emerged from the shrubs, and Squirrelflight recognized Blackclaw from RiverClan.
“Oh, I don’t think you need to know that. What you need to know, are the rules of this battle. If you surrender now, we’ll be happy to keep you in our new way of Clan life. But if you don’t, be prepared for your first words to your ancestors.” Blackclaw growled menacingly.
“Drop dead, you traitors!” Squirrelflight roared, tackling Blackclaw to the ground. Rainwhisker was about to drag Squirrelflight off his comrade, but a dark gray cat slammed into him, knocking the breath out of the ThunderClan tom. Squirrelflight was unaware of her assistant as she fought Blackclaw. The black tom hissed and head butted Squirrelflight in the shoulder, sending her flying until she landed painfully on her back. Blackclaw leaped into the air, aiming to land on Squirrelflight’s belly and rake out all of the soft fur, but instead Squirrelflight kicked the black tom even higher into the air. Blackclaw somersaulted in the air until he hit a broken stump where a tree branch used to be. As he fell, Squirrelflight saw splinters sticking out of his belly as he landed on his side. Squirrelflight could see his belly still rising and falling, but when she saw just how big the splinters in his belly were, she realized he wasn’t getting up in quite a while.
“Well done.” A voice said behind her, and Squirrelflight whipped around and raked her claws against the next traitor’s face.
“Hey! I keep Rainwhisker off of you and that’s how you thank me?!” Stormfur wailed, and Squirrelflight cringed when she saw the blood pouring from her friends cheek.
“I am sorry, Stormfur! I thought you were another traitor!” Squirrelflight meowed apologetically.
“I guess that’s fair. Come on, I left Leafpool under a shrub. I am not sure if anyone’s found her yet.” Stormfur said, leading Squirrelflight to the east side of the island.
“Where’s Brook?” Squirrelflight asked, but Stormfur didn’t respond. Squirrelflight hoped Stormfur didn’t hear her.
Soon they came to a lone shrub, and Stormfur called out.
“Oh, thank goodness your both okay!” Leafpool said, her eyes stretched wide.
Before Stormfur or Squirrelflight could respond, a tortishell she cat tackled Squirrelflight to the ground.
“Say goodbye, you fool.” The she cat hissed. Squirrelflight struggled in terror, but the tortishell was too strong. Stormfur was gazing at something in the distance, his eyes clouded with grief.
“Get away from her you piece of foxdung!” Leafpool suddenly screeched, and she slammed the cat’s head into a tree with her two front paws. The she cat collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Squirrelflight stared at her sister in wonder and suspicion.
“What, medicine cats can’t be strong, too?!” Leafpool hissed.
Stormfur was still staring blankly at something, his shoulders sagging and his ears flattened.
“Stormfur! Stormfur! “ Squirrelflight shouted, and the second time Stormfur’s head whipped around.
“Stormfur, we need to get out of here. Where’s Brook?” Squirrelflight said in an authoritve tone.
“She’s… she’s… done for.” Stormfur said through gritted teeth, his amber eyes pale with sorrow and inner fury.
There was a moment of silence as Leafpool and Squirrelflight gazed at the grieving tom in shock, before it finally sunk in that Brook was dead.
“Those greedy, fox hearted, crow food eaters are going to pay for what they done!” Squirrelflight screamed to the night, charging into the mass of fighting cats.
“No!” Stormfur said, pulling Squirrelflight back.
“It’s no good. We can only save ourselves now.” Stormfur said.
Squirrelflight struggled in Stormfur’s grip, but she soon calmed when she stared into Stormfur’s amber gaze.
“Alright. Come on, let’s get to the tree trunk!” Squirrelflight ordered, but Stormfur shook his head.
“I checked it already. There’s dozens of cats there, already blocking the exit. We need to swim to shore.” Stormfur said.
Stormfur led the way out of the undergrowth to the beach. Leafpool went in first, then Stormfur, and last Squirrelflight, who regularly looked over her shoulder for followers. It wasn’t long before Leafpool was panting and started sinking, and Stormfur, being the best swimmer of the three, pressed his shoulder against Leafpool’s, keeping her afloat as they made slow progress towards the shore.
What’s up with Leafpool? Squirrelflight thought, she shouldn’t be tired yet.
Thankfully, the traitors were focused on the cats on the island, and the three refugee’s made it to shore and cleared clan territory without any pursuers. Once they crossed the RiverClan border, they slowed to a walk, and Leafpool leaned heavily on Squirrelflight, utterly exhausted. Stormfur stared darkly ahead of him, wrapped up in his own thoughts. After awhile, Squirrelflight lifted her head and looked at Stormfur.
“I guess we should have seen this coming. Wasn’t it suspicious that two clan leaders and a deputy all died around the same time, without any greencough outbreaks or scarcity of prey?” Squirrelflight said.
“That would explain the day Hawkstar went missing for awhile, but came back soaked. Why would he need to swim in the lake to get back when he could just walk around?” Stormfur added.
“And Firestar’s injury. Their was strain marks on his neck, but when we got there, we were told he was killed.” Leafpool said.
The three cats were silent for a moment, the horrible truth slowly descending on them like a fox.
“Do you mean to say that… Bramblestar was involved in Firestar’s death?” Squirrelflight whispered, her heart breaking in two.
“He turned against his own clanmates too. Who’s to say he didn’t kill Firestar as well?” Stormfur said solemnly, and the three cats fell into silence again, what they thought they knew about their friend shattering like the lost pieces of a bittersweet memory.
The next day there wasn’t a cloud in the sky to stand in the way of the bright sunshine, but to Stormfur, Leafpool and Squirrelflight, they wouldn’t care if it was raining blood.
Squirrelflight was trying to hunt, her mind barely focused on a finch, when a splatter of blood caught her eye. Squirrelflight walked over to the splatter and saw a bloody patch of fur attached to a thorn bush.
One of those traitors followed us; but he’s probably badly injured. No threat to us. Squirrelflight thought, snapping the branches to get to the center of the large bush. But when Squirrelflight did see a cat, she let out a horrified wail rather than slicing his throat. Stormfur and Leafpool came running immideatley, and once they saw what Squirrelflight discovered, they fell silent in shock. Squirrelflight dragged the cat out of the bush and lifted up his head with her paw.
“D-Dustpelt?” Squirrelflight mewled. Under the thick layers of blood, both dry and wet, he would be unrecognizable to any other cat, but Squirrelflight knew that it had to be him.
Slowly, Dustpelt opened his eyes, and their rapidly fading colour chilled Squirrelflight to the bone.
“Squirrelflight.. I found you..” Dustpelt wheezed, closing his eyes again.
“Dustpelt, what happened? Why did Bramblestar and Hawkstar attack their own clans?” Squirrelflight said.
Dustpelt opened his eyes again, but only narrowly.
“They, wanted to control all of the clans. They bribed our own clanmates with the promise of power, and now Bramblestar controls ThunderClan and ShadowClan, and Hawkstar controls WindClan and RiverClan.”
“But.. they would have been so outnumbered!” Squirrelflight exclaimed.
“That’s why they were attacking the queens.. and… apprentices. They knew they wouldn’t fight back with some of their most important.. members at stake.” Dustpelt broke into a fit of coughing, and blood clots scattered across the ground.
“That’s enough, Dustpelt. You need rest. Leafpool will fix you right up. Right Leafpool?” Squirrelflight looked hopefully up at her sister, but there was only pain in her eyes.
“He’s beyond help now. Nothing can stop that amount of bleeding.” Leafpool’s whisper was barely audible, but it seemed louder than thunder to Squirrelflight.
Squirrelflight felt rage build up in her throat, but she forced herself to swallow it.
“Dustpelt..” Squirrelflight trailed off, her words scattering into nothingness as she gazed down at the dying warrior.
“They’re was so… many of them,” Dustpelt said, his voice thick with pain, “I tried getting to Ferncloud, but they pinned me down and… drawn out so much blood… I escaped and somehow managed to get to the mainland. I…tried so hard to reach you… but everything was getting so blurry when you scent finally stayed in one place…” Dustpelt broke into coughs again.
“Quick, Dustpelt. Tell me, who’s still alive?” Squirrelflight said urgently.
“So many… are dead.” Dustpelt paused as he struggled to breathe. “They were all loyal in the end, and paid for it in their blood. There’s a few left, but their spirits… are broken.” Dustpelt paused and slowly lifted his head to look strait into Squirrelflight’s eyes.
“You.. you and your friends are the last ones with Clan heart. Keep the heart.. of our lives….” The last word echoed in Squirrelflight’s ears as Dustpelt’s eyes slowly closed and he went limp in Squirrelflight’s paw. Squirrelflight was silent for a moment, staring in shock at the dead warrior. After what seemed like a life time, Squirrelflight’s shock melted into determination. “Goodbye Dustpelt. You were a true warrior.” Squirrelflight said, and she slowly lowered her paw to let Dustpelt’s head rest on the grass.
The three cats stared down at Dustpelt’s body until nightfall, then Stormfur lifted Dustpelt’s body by the scruff and started dragging it to a tall hill.
Where he’ll be closer to the stars, overlooking the clan territories. Squirrelflight realized, and she knew what Stormfur’s gesture meant.
The clans would see them again before they were dead.
Chapter 3
Greenleaf eventually gave way to leaf fall as Squirrelflight, Leafpool and Stormfur continued to build their solitary life. After living around other cats their whole lives, every day seemed silent, the only other voice being the wind over the treeless plains.
Squirrelflight and the others only spoke when they had to; most of the time they just read each other’s facial expressions. It pained Squirrelflight to do this, because every time she looked at her friend’s faces, their eyes were full with pain and grief, and the ginger warrior knew that they had never recovered from Dustpelt’s death.
When the leaves on the shrubs started turning a vibrant red, Squirrelflight called a meeting to gather around Dustpelt’s grave. As Squirrelflight led the way up the hill, she could hear Leafpool panting for breath.
It had only been a half moon before Leafpool announced that she couldn’t do any of the labour anymore, saying that she was “unfit” for the job. Despite the little prey they caught, Leafpool was always getting fatter, and both Squirrelflight and Stormfur knew that there was something Leafpool wasn’t telling them.
Once the three cats reached the top of the hill, Squirrelflight sat behind Dustpelt’s grave and faced her two friends.
“Stormfur, Leafpool, if were ever going to keep living, we need to move on from our pain.” Squirrelflight began.
“How can we possibly move on? We made a vow to return someday, and we owe Dustpelt to keep that promise.” Stormfur protested.
“That’s not what I meant. We need to focus on the future instead of the past if we have a chance of clinging to any hope that we can return to the clans, and set them free.” Squirrelflight explained, trying to hide her desperation. She wanted Stormfur and Leafpool to understand this badly, because this life of grieving and sorrow was breaking her heart.
Stormfur and Leafpool exchanged a glance, then nodded.
“I am not letting RiverClan die just because I couldn’t get past the memories of that awful day.” Stormfur declared.
Squirrelflight sighed in relief and flicked her tail to dismiss the meeting. But before anyone could move, Leafpool stood up, a look of urgency in her amber gaze.
“I have an announcement to make too.” Leafpool began, and Squirrelflight and Stormfur looked at her silently, waiting for her to continue.
Leafpool took a deep breath, then spoke, “I thought about saying this for a long time, because I wasn’t sure how you would react. But I know now that you need to be aware of this before it happens.” Leafpool paused again, closing her eyes. Then she opened her eyes and said, “I am expecting Crowfeather’s kits.”
At first, there was silence. This was not a big surprise to Stormfur and Squirrelflight, but soon outrage and anger boiled in Squirrelflight’s stomach.
“How dare you betray me and ThunderClan like this!” Squirrelflight screeched, leaping to her paws. “It’s not bad enough that you abandoned the clan when we needed you most to be with Crowfeather, but now your bringing another half clan litter into the world too? We can barely catch the rabbits on this moor and now you expect us to feed more hungry mouths?” Squirrelflight hissed, not holding back her fury on her terrified sister.
Stormfur jumped inbetween Squirrelflight and Leafpool, his eyes wide with shock.
“Squirrelflight, how could you lash out on your own flesh and blood?” Stormfur mewed.
“She betrayed me, ThunderClan, and her own kits! What will they say when they find out that they’re half clan and the offspring of a medicine cat?!” Squirrelflight spat.
“You need to calm down. If we turn against each other, we have nothing.” Stormfur said.
“Why?! Everyone else has turned against me!” Squirrelflight screamed, and then she lost control. She tore at the ground, shredding the cold dirt between her claws.
Suddenly she felt a weight press down on top of her, and Squirrelflight struggled uselessly.
“Let go of me!” Squirrelflight screeched, trying to claw Stormfur, but it was useless.
“Squirrelflight, do you really believe that your own sister meant to hurt you?” Stormfur said slowly and deeply, and after a few moments, Squirrelflight sighed. Stormfur was right. Leafpool would never intentionally betray her; and while Bramblestar and most of her clanmates had turned their backs on her, Leafpool or Stormfur never would.
“No. I am sorry, Leafpool.” Squirrelflight said, and she felt Stormfur jump off of her.
Leafpool relaxed a bit, but her pelt still stood on end.
“There’s a bit more to that announcement too..” Leafpool mewled, and Stormfur and Squirrelflight exchanged glances, hoping the news didn’t get any worse.
“I received a sign from StarClan. I saw three stars shining by themselves in the middle of the sky, and I can feel three kits in my belly.” Leafpool admitted.
“Are you saying that your kits could be the one’s to save the clans?” Stormfur whispered, and Squirrelflight blinked in wonder. One side told her not to believe it, but Leafpool was always very accurate in reading omens from StarClan.
“I think all we can do is wait, and take them back to the clans when they’re ready.” Squirrelflight remarked, and with that, the three cats began the descend down the slope, the sky rumbling ominously.
Squirrelflight lost track of time as the days passed without much event. The cats settled into a routine; the first half of the day would be focused for hunting. At Sunhigh, they would eat the prey they caught, then Squirrelflight and Stormfur went on a patrol to look for sticks and leaves to shelter the small hollow they used for shelter. At nightfall, Leafpool, who always stayed near the hollow, would watch for intruders until early dawn.
Leafbare had added a frosty nip to the air one day when Squirrelflight was returning from hunting with Stormfur. All of the sudden they heard a faint yowl in the distance.
“What was that?” Squirrelflight muttered through a mouthful of shrew fur.
“What was what?” Stormfur said, who hadn’t caught anything.
Squirrelflight flicked her ear in the direction where she heard the noise, and sure enough, another yowl sounded.
Horror stopped the blood flowing in Squirrelflight’s veins.
“It’s Leafpool!” Squirrelflight dropped the shrew she was carrying and dashed through the deep snow ahead, Stormfur following close behind.
The ginger she cat struggled through the snow, her thick winter coat weighing her down, and she felt her heart beating faster with every second she wasn’t at her sister’s side.
Squirrelflight heard Leafpool yowl again, and Squirrelflight cater wauled in response, “Don’t worry, Leafpool. I am coming!” Squirrelflight leaped through the snow. Stormfur, who was struggling just as much as the she cat, copied her tatic, but wasn’t very graceful at it.
After what seemed like a life time, Squirrelflight bounded out of the deep snow and slided across a huge patch of ice. Terrified, Squirrelflight dug in her claws to slow herself down, but all she succeeded at was wearing down her claws and causing them to ache painfully. The ice dumped Squirrelflight just outside of the hollow, and Squirrelflight ducked under the bramble tunnel.
“Leafpool! What’s wrong?” Squirrelflight meowed.
“The kits are coming!” Leafpool panted right before yowling again,.
“Is there anything we can do?” Stormfur had caught up to Squirrelflight and crawled into the hollow beside her.
“Just guard the entrance and make sure no hungry foxes come by.” Leafpool said.
Squirrelflight nodded, regretting that they didn’t take the time to look for herbs, and crawled out through the entrance.
Leafpool’s yowling seemed to go on forever, and Squirrelflight and Stormfur often had to rub their ears against the ground. It was a long time since they had to deal with she cats in labour yowling through the night.
When the first silver rays of dawn started slicing away the dark night, Squirrelflight noticed that Leafpool’s yowls were starting to subside. Once the sun just started climbing over the horizon, Squirrelflight heard tiny mews.
Squirrelflight immediately turned and crawled into the hollow.
Three kits were nursing from Leafpool’s belly. One was jet black, another one was light gray and the biggest one was golden.
“Two toms and one she cat!” Leafpool boasted proudly, her glowing eyes making up for her tired voice.
“They’re adorable! What will you name them?” Squirrelflight exclaimed, overwhelmed with joy for her sister.
“This one is Lionblaze, ” Leafpool rested her tail tip on the golden kit, who mewled in protest. “This one is Hollyleaf,” Leafpool tapped her tail on the black she cat, who ignored Leafpool’s tail. “And this one is Jayfeather. ” Leafpool’s voice went soft as she laid her tail on the gray tom, and Squirrelflight knew that she named the kit after her former mate.
“But shouldn’t we start with naming them like normal kits? We do want to keep clan tradition alive.” Squirrelflight questioned.
Leafpool’s eyes clouded with worry.
“I am not sure if they’ll have enough time to earn their warrior names Squirrelflight. I could smell ThunderClan recently at night.” Leafpool warned.
Instantly the hollow took on a grave emotion. Squirrelflight nodded in understanding, then crouched to get a better look at the kits.
Jayfeather must have felt that something was over top of him, and the gray kit squeaked in alarm and batted Squirrelflight on the nose.
Squirrelflight mrrowed with laughter. “Welcome, little warriors.” Squirrelflight purred, but secretly she wondered if Bramblestar already knew about his possible downfall.
WOW! How did you do this all? This must have taken a while! Its really good
Iceclaw 
Silverstream 
Congratulate them 
