Bramblestar’s Storm

Chapter 22

Bramblestar whirled around. Rowanstar stood a fox-length away, flanked by Pinenose, Ferretclaw, and his apprentice, Spikepaw. The fur of all four cats was bristling with rage, so that they looked twice their normal size. Their furious gazes were fixed on the ThunderClan cats.

“How dare you come here?” Rowanstar hissed.

Bramblestar was aware of the kittypets slinking away. He took a pace forward, trying to find the right words to defend himself and his patrol. Fox dung! I’d hoped we could get away without ShadowClan knowing we were here.

“What makes you think you have to fight our battles for us?” Rowanstar snarled. “This is our hunting territory now. What gives you the right even to set paw here?” He dug his claws hard into the ground as if what he really wanted was to rake them across Bramblestar’s face. “You came to offer us help, and we refused. Why couldn’t you take no for an answer?”

“I thought—” Bramblestar began.

“Thought!” Rowanstar spat. “That was Firestar’s problem, too. He always thought he knew what was best for every Clan.”

Stung, Bramblestar forced himself to stay calm. He didn’t want other cats to think he viewed himself as superior to the other leaders, interfering when it wasn’t needed. “I found out Jessy had inside information,” he meowed, angling his ears toward the brown she-cat. “She knew where these troublesome kittypets lived.”

Rowanstar stared at Jessy. “Because she’s a kittypet herself, right? So ThunderClan is taking in kittypets now?” he sneered. “What a surprise!” He lashed his tail. “Stay out of our business, Bramblestar, and concentrate on your own Clan.”

At a word of command from Rowanstar, the ShadowClan cats encircled the ThunderClan patrol and began to drive them back toward their own territory, keeping them tightly bunched together. Bramblestar felt as though they were being escorted back to the border like trespassers. Whatever Rowanstar says, we saved their miserable pelts, he thought furiously, but he remained silent, recognizing that nothing he could say would help matters.

They crossed ShadowClan territory and reached the ThunderClan border near the grassy clearing.

“Now get out and stay out,” Rowanstar growled. With a nod of his head he gathered his patrol and headed back into his own territory.

“The ungrateful, mange-ridden furballs!” Snowpaw’s words exploded from him as soon as the ShadowClan cats had vanished into the undergrowth. “We were helping them! They should be thanking us!”

“Hmm…” Ivypool flicked her ears. “Maybe we should have waited to be asked before we helped.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have helped at all,” Thornclaw mewed.

“I can’t believe they were so angry,” Jessy murmured, her eyes still wide with shock. “I’m sorry, Bramblestar. I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.”

“It’s not your fault,” Bramblestar told her. “I made the decision, and if it keeps ShadowClan patrols out of our territory, it was the right one.”

I wish I was really convinced of that, he thought to himself. Gazing at his battered warriors, he wondered if he had gone into battle for the right reasons, or if he had allowed himself to be swayed by Jessy’s bold ideas.

It was after sunhigh by the time Bramblestar led his cats back into their camp. Most of the cats were stretched out in the clearing, trying to warm themselves in a few pale gleams of sunlight that pierced the ragged cloud. Squirrelflight, who was talking to Brackenfur near the tunnel entrance, sprang to her paws as soon as she spotted the returning patrol.

“Great StarClan!” she exclaimed, bounding over to them. “What happened?”

“The kittypets happened,” Bramblestar responded briefly.

“But… you’re so badly hurt!” Squirrelflight’s green gaze was filled with horror as she turned and raced back to the tunnel. “Jayfeather!” she yowled. “Come here! You’re needed!”

Immediately the medicine cat popped out of the tunnel. His jaws parted to taste the air; Bramblestar realized he would recognize the reek of blood at once.

“I knew this was a mistake,” Jayfeather mewed as he approached the patrol and began to sniff at their wounds. “Especially when Leafpool is still in the ShadowClan camp. I need her here!”

Oh, StarClan! Bramblestar thought. I hope Rowanstar isn’t taking out his anger on my medicine cat!

Frankie and Minty bounded across the clearing to Jessy, looking shocked when they saw the blood welling from the scratches on her shoulders.

“Did you really fight?” Minty asked, her eyes stretched wide.

“Did you chase off the kittypets?” meowed Frankie.

Bramblestar listened while Jessy described the battle, apparently relishing the danger and pleased that they had defeated Victor and his friends. Frankie and Minty listened breathlessly.

“Wow!” Frankie looked more impressed than scared. “I wish I’d been with you.”

Minty shuddered. “I don’t.”

“It was great!” Jessy’s eyes glowed with the memory. “I know we got hurt, but it was worth it to teach those arrogant kittypets a lesson!”

Bramblestar realized that while the kittypets were talking, Brackenfur had padded up to his side. “Are you sure you weren’t settling kittypet scores?” he murmured.

For a heartbeat, Bramblestar wasn’t sure. No, he told himself firmly. Jessy was only trying to help.

Before he could reply to Brackenfur, a groan from Lionblaze distracted him. The golden-furred warrior staggered and flopped over on his side. “The pain…” he gasped.

“I told you so!” Cinderheart shrieked as she ran to his side. “When will you learn that you’re not invulnerable anymore?”

She nudged Lionblaze to his paws while Jayfeather helped to support him on the other side. Together the two cats half carried, half dragged him into the tunnel to have his wounds treated. The rest of the patrol followed.

“Mouse-brain!” Jayfeather muttered angrily as he went. “You’re all mouse-brained. And all over a bunch of kittypets!”

Discouraged, Bramblestar watched them go. He could sense the depression among the Clan, the sense that although they had won the battle, it was a hollow victory. Only the kittypets seemed to be happy.

“Come on,” he meowed to Jessy, touching her shoulder with his tail. “You need to go to Jayfeather and have your wounds treated.” As she turned away from her friends and followed him to the tunnel, he added, “Thank you for your courage, Jessy. I know the battle was harder for you than for any of us.”

Jessy halted, gazing into his eyes. “I just copied what you did,” she mewed. “I had the best teacher.”

For a moment Bramblestar didn’t know what to say to her. But before the silence could stretch out, Squirrelflight came padding up. Jessy dipped her head to Bramblestar and headed inside to see Jayfeather.

Bramblestar braced himself for a scolding from his deputy, ready to defend himself. But to his surprise, Squirrelflight’s gaze was sympathetic.

“You had to do something,” she meowed. “We can’t have ShadowClan hunting in our territory, and this was a way to stop them.”

“That’s what I wanted to do,” Bramblestar responded.

“The trouble is,” Squirrelflight went on, “it could be seen as interfering, insulting to ShadowClan, and a stupid risk to our own warriors.”

Bramblestar sighed. “You’re right,” he admitted.

Squirrelflight leaned toward him and gave his ears a brisk lick. “It’s behind us,” she told him. “We need to focus on our own Clanmates now.”

As she finished speaking, Sandstorm padded up with a mouse dangling from her jaws. “Come on, Bramblestar, you need to eat.”

Bramblestar realized that his belly was growling with hunger. The warm scent of the mouse made his jaws water, but he hesitated for a moment, looking around until he had checked that all his patrol had headed into the tunnel to have Jayfeather deal with their injuries. Then he crouched down and bit into the mouse.

“Thanks, Sandstorm,” he mumbled around his mouthful.

While he was eating, Graystripe appeared, giving him a friendly nod. “I know you’re worried about whether you did the right thing,” he began. “But you shouldn’t. Firestar would have done exactly the same.”

Bramblestar winced. “That’s what Rowanstar said.”

Graystripe was quiet for a moment, while Bramblestar gulped down the rest of the mouse. When he spoke again, he seemed to be aware of exactly what Bramblestar was thinking. “You know, Firestar wouldn’t have seen it as interfering. He truly believed that if another Clan needed our help, it was our duty to give it.”

“But it’s not,” Bramblestar pointed out, swiping his tongue around his whiskers. “Not according to the warrior code. My loyalty should be to my own Clanmates, no other cats.”

Graystripe snorted. “There’s such a thing as basic decency,” he pointed out.

“What would you have done?” Bramblestar asked.

“Followed Firestar,” Graystripe replied without hesitation.

While Bramblestar was thinking that over, Purdy ambled out of the tunnel and settled down beside him. “Y’know, this reminds me of when I was a young cat, livin’ with my Upwalker,” he began.

Bramblestar suppressed a sigh. Purdy, this isn’t the time for one of your long-winded stories. But there was no stopping Purdy, who embarked on a complicated tale of how he had helped a cat in the den next door deal with his Upwalker’s new dog, and how the cat had then crept into Purdy’s den and stolen his food.

“Well, I said to myself, I’m not puttin’ up with that, so I…”

Bramblestar stopped listening as a clump of fern at the edge of the clearing shivered and Leafpool emerged. Her fur was ruffled and she had an agitated air.

Bramblestar bounded across the clearing to her side. “Leafpool! Are you okay?”

“Rowanstar asked me to leave!” Leafpool’s eyes were sparkling with indignation. “He said he’d had enough of ThunderClan interference. Bramblestar, what have you done?”

Ivypool and Cinderheart appeared from the tunnel at that moment, their wounds treated with cobwebs and poultices of marigold. They helped Bramblestar explain to Leafpool what had happened in the battle with the kittypets.

“How could you be so mouse-brained?” Leafpool sighed, shaking her head. “The medicine-cat code extends to helping other Clans, but not the warrior code. You should stop trying to imagine what Firestar would have done, and be true to yourself.”

“And Lionblaze is badly hurt,” Cinderheart added.

“What?” Leafpool paused for a heartbeat, her eyes stretched wide with shock. Then without another word she raced to the tunnel and vanished inside.

Be true to myself? Bramblestar thought, looking after her glumly. His responsibilities weighed as heavy on his shoulders as if he were trying to carry the whole forest.

I wish I knew how.