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The smell of rotten wood and decay filled Brambleclaws lungs. He fought the urge to spit out the disgusting scent from his tongue as he fumbled to his paws. His gaze was hazy as shapes resembling trees and rocks began to warp and bend around him. Frightened, Brambleclaw curled in on himself and let out a startled hiss. Struggling to catch his bearings, it felt as if his mind had fallen asleep but his eyes were wide awake. His movements were sluggish, uncoordinated, and no matter how hard he tried to stabilize his surroundings it remained a foggy haze.
A shock of fear ran through him as a clear figure peeled itself out of the fog. A cat with ice-blue eyes, long black claws, and tiger-like stripes stepped out of the haze.
“Hawkfrost!” Brambleclaw gasped, arching his back defensively. “Where am I? How are you still alive?”
“Don’t you remember the Dark Forest, brother? Did you really assume I wouldn’t bring you back to where it all began?” Hawkfrost snarled. Brambleclaw startled at the anger seething out from just his voice alone. He had grown so used to Hawkfrost’s mellifluous tone he had forgotten what Hawkfrost’s voice sounded like when he was angry. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all of our training. I always felt like we had bonded best in these dark woods.”
“But you’r- you’re dead!” Brambleclaw felt stunned. He had never realized Hawkfrost could force his way into his dreams. Tigerstar had done it only once; every time after that Brambleclaw himself had to dream his way into the Dark Forest.
“Where do you think dead cats go, fool?!” Hawkfrost spat. “To Starclan? Why would I waste my time with those mangy fur-brains when I could be with my father? You delivered me right to him!”
Hawkfrost lept at Brambleclaw and tackled the tom on to the ground. The two brothers rolled around for only a moment before Hawkfrost quickly pinned Brambleclaw onto his back.
“Why? Why did you do it? Does kin mean nothing to you?” Brambleclaw shrunk back as Hawkfrost screeched directly into his ear. His once pure form had begun to disorient itself as well. His features sunk into themselves until Brambleclaw couldn’t understand what was holding him down.
“Does blood mean nothing to you? Why even waste all your nights with us if you were just going to betray us in the end?! What did that kittypet give you that Tigerstar and I couldn’t?!” Hawkfrost's harsh scorn had reached a crazed shrill as his claws sunk deeper into Brambleclaw’s fur.
“Get off of me!” Brambleclaw hissed, kicking his hind legs into Hawkfrost’s white underbelly. Usually, his powerful hind legs would have sent Hawkfrost sprawling across the clearing. Now they only fumbled uselessly against his attacker's large frame.
“You think you're so safe in your precious clan? You have no idea what’s coming for you.” Hawkfrost’s figure finally gave up and fell apart. Brambleclaw’s mouth quickly choked on a disgusting, black liquid. The warrior fumbled forward, unable to figure out if he was drowning or being crushed by some unmoveable object before he felt a sharp nip in his ear.
Brambleclaw startled awake with a gasp and sprang up to his paws.
“Whoa!” Brambleclaw recognized the new Thunderclan apprentice, Berrypaw, jumping back in front of him.
“Ber- Berrypaw what are you doing in the warriors den?” Brambleclaw asked, struggling to control his breathing and regain his composure.
“Control your apprentice, please.” Cloudtail growled from a nest close to Brambleclaw. He had been on guard duty during the night and was usually ill tempered afterwards.
“Uhm.” Berrypaw paused for a moment, looking confused. “You're usually the one who wakes me up in the morning. I thought I’d do it to you. Are you okay? Your fur’s all ruffled.”
Brambleclaw whipped his neck around to look over his body. His fur looked messy and his sides were heaving but… no wounds.
'If I was really attacked I would have some injuries. It was just a nightmare.' Relief flooded through Brambleclaw. Fears of Hawkfrost and Tigerstar haunting his dreams had remained constant but the nightmare seemed to come and go. Whenever Brambleclaw began to believe they were gone for good they’d always come back with full force.
“Sorry.” Brambleclaw bent forward to lick Berrypaws ears. “I’m glad you seem so eager today. Ready to catch your first mouse?”
“Born ready!” Berrypaw darted out of the den as Brambleclaw padded after him.
——-
“Berrypaw!” Brambleclaw snapped again. He had sternly said the apprentices name so many times he was afraid his tongue was going to get sore. Berrypaw jerked his paw away from the falling leaf he was batting at and whipped back around to face Brambleclaw.
“Sorry,” Berrypaw said half-heartedly.
“Any enemy clan would think I was training a kit instead of an apprentice.” Brambleclaw meowed. “Can you please just show me your stalking without trying to hunt every moving leaf or twig?”
Berrypaw rolled his eyes but fell into a crouch. He began to stalk forward slowly, hunting whatever imaginary prey he had in his mind.
“Better. I know it's harder to find your balance with your tail gone but you're leaning to your right side more than you should.” Brambleclaw pressed his muzzle against Berrypaw’s hind to push it gently into place.
“Is that a mouse?” Berrypaw darted forward, rushing out of the small clearing and into the bushes that bordered it. Brambleclaw’s heart seized in panic as he rushed after him. Thunderclan patrols were still locating and springing foxtraps all over the territory. Luckily, no two-legs had ever come back to replant the traps.
Still! You’d expect the one out of two cats to get caught in those traps to be more aware!
Brambleclaw jumped into the brush, wincing as sticks and thorns poked into his fur. Berrypaw was tangled up in the shrub and his continuous struggles only seemed to bind deeper into his fur. Brambleclaw let out a hiss of annoyance as he sunk his teeth in the shrub and began peeling it away just enough for Berrypaw to wriggle out.
“Ha! Who would have thought I’d get caught in a bunch of brambles. It’s almost like the bush had… claws…” Berrypaw’s joke trailed off as Brambleclaw's glare deepened.
“Are you completely mousebrained or do you enjoy making a fool of yourself? You know you shouldn’t be running off without my supervision! You’ve been an apprentice for a quarter-moon now it’s not like any of this is fresh.” Brambleclaw hissed. To his shock, Berrypaw’s fur fluffed out in irritation and he let out his own angry hiss.
“I was trying to hunt! Isn’t that why we're out here? To hunt?” Berrypaw scoffed.
“No, we're out here to work on your stalking. So far the only apprentice skills you have is how to change bedding and how to pick ticks off elders. With the complaints I've heard from Mousefur lately you might need further training there as well.” Brambleclaw’s voice had grown stern. While he had never struggled performance wise as an apprentice he had always strived for Firestar’s approval. He couldn’t remember a moment where he had back-talked much less argued with his mentor.
“I thought I saw a mouse so I went to hunt it!”
“But you didn’t stalk it like how I was trying to show you.” Brambleclaw forced himself to take a deep breath. Maybe Berrypaw was just worried. He hadn’t been able to catch any prey as of yet, only his sister had. Mousepaw and Berrypaw’s hunting skills were only just beginning to form.
'Which is fine.' Brambleclaw reminded himself. Some apprentices take a moment to get the hang of things. With his kittypet ancestry Brambleclaw could sympathize with his need to exceed expectations. But with Berrypaw’s constant attitude, Brambleclaw couldn’t tell if he felt like he had to be this stubborn or if he just was.
“Do you want to go back to camp and change out Firestar’s bedding?” Brambleclaw threatened. Berrypaw parted his jaws but must have thought better of it as he slowly shut them.
“Good. Now let's work on your crouch and we can try again.” Brambleclaw jumped up and began leading Berrypaw back towards the clearing. Berrypaw gave an unenthusiastic, mumbled “okay” as he followed. Brambleclaw frowned at the tom’s change of tone as he flicked a twig off of Berrypaw’s back with his tail.
'I know he doesn’t enjoy those duties. But how else can I get him to listen? He has a comment about everything I say.' Brambleclaw sat down and let his tail curl around his paws. Berrypaw positioned himself in front of Brambleclaw and quickly dropped into a hunting crouch.
Withholding a sigh, he bent forward again to fix Berrypaw’s lopsided posture.
—------
The sun had begun to head towards the horizon as Brambleclaw and Berrypaw walked back into camp. Despite improvement on his crouch and stalking, he had been unable to catch a single piece of prey. Every failed attempt only seemed to wilt him until he had plainly told Brambleclaw he was tired and wanted to go back to camp. Brambleclaw had wanted to encourage him but… he had an evening patrol to send out and he needed to assign of the warriors night guard duty. Brambleclaw blinked at Berrypaw sympathetically and pressed his side against him.
“I know this day might not have gone like you wanted it to.” Brambleclaw began carefully. “But your technique definitely improved. I’m sure by tomorrow you’ll be bringing back your own prey.”
“Yup.” Berrypaw mewed.
“I’ll take you out early tomorrow. All the prey in the forest will be just waking up so it’ll be easier.”
“I need to hunt easy prey?”
Brambleclaw pulled away from Berrypaw at that. If he wanted to be difficult then so be it. Brambleclaw nodded to Rainwhisker as he pushed through the entrance with Berrypaw at his heels.
“Why don’t you grab yourself from prey. I’m sure some of the other apprentices already fed the elders.” Brambleclaw said gently.
“With prey they caught I bet.” Berrypaw growled as he made a beeline for the fresh kill pile. Brambleclaw couldn’t help but frown at the sharp feeling of hopelessness that stabbed his insides. Mentorship had been nothing like Brambleclaw assumed. He had imagined forging a lifelong bond and a skilled warrior out of Berrypaw. But all he got was backtalk and attitude and every day seemed to start with hope and end with defeat. Brambleclaw scanned the camp to see Berrypaw settling down with Birchpaw, Hazelpaw, and Mousepaw. Only a fox-length away lay Spiderleg, Ashfur, and Brackenfur sharing tongues.
Brambleclaw dipped his head to the three of them as he settled next to Brackenfur. He didn’t particularly enjoy Ashfur and Spiderleg’s specific companionship, but it was normal for mentors to become more social with one another while they trained their apprentices.
“How was training?” Brackenfur asked as settled on the other side of him.
“Fine.” Brambleclaw would go into more detail but with Ashfur and Spiderleg near the last thing Bambleclaw wanted to do was confess his shortcomings. He hadn’t forgotten both of the warriors' outburst at the meeting where Brambleclaw had been appointed deputy nor the judgemental looks Spiderleg had given him all his life. Ashfur’s dislike towards him was relatively new but he felt at this point it should have faded away by now.
Do you think I did this alone? Hawkfrost’s words rang in Brambleclaw’s mind. Could Spiderleg or Ashfur be Hawkfrost’s accomplice? Spiderleg and Ashfur had never given a reason to doubt their loyalty but they certainly shared no love for Brambleclaw. But then why attempt to try and make Brambleclaw leader if they mistrusted him?
“You caught that?!” Berrypaw’s voice was laced in jealousy. Brambleclaw turned his head to see Mousepaw ripping the feathers off a sparrow.
“He caught this mouse too.” Hazelpaw added, mouth muffled with the prey she was chewing. “Did you catch anything yet?”
Berrypaw mumbled something he couldn’t hear before turning his back on the three warriors. Hazelpaw and Mousepaw shared a
worried look as they situated themselves on either side of Berrypaw and began whispering with one another.
“Berrypaw still hasn’t caught anything yet?” Ashfur looked surprised.
“He only just became an apprentice.” Brambleclaw said defensively.
“Not everyone can be a natural hunter like you were Spiderleg but I don’t remember you taking keenly to battle training. We all have our own strengths.” Brackenfur huffed.
“Still, it’s been enough time, wouldn't you say? The only reason Mousepaw took this long was because I wanted him to memorize the entire territory layout before we even started training. I only properly began to teach him how to hunt yesterday.” Spiderleg mewed. Brambleclaw’s ears flattened against his head.
“Well… Berrypaw’s overconfident is all. I’m sure he’ll get the hang of hunting soon.” A ripple of embarrassment coursed through Brambleclaw’s fur. Would Berrypaw ever get the hang of hunting? What would happen if Brambleclaw was unable to train Berrypaw into becoming a warrior. Would Firestar take away his role as deputy?
The three warriors must have quickly caught on to Brambleclaw’s changed demeanor. Ashfur began slowly eating his shrew again but his ears were perked up towards the conversation while Spiderleg had begun grooming his fur.
“I’m sure Berrypaw will get the hang of it soon.” Brackenfur said, repeating Brambleclaw’s words back at him. Brackenfur leaned forward to begin grooming Brambleclaw’s fur but he pulled away.
“Thank you, I'm sure he will. Sometimes these things take time.” Brambleclaw said before quickly makinghis escape. He had better ways to spend his evenings than being silently judged by three of his fellow warriors.
'I miss Squirelflight.' The thought had become a constant in his mind just as much as Hawkfrost had. He really was lonely without her by his side. Camp felt too quiet without her fierce personality bringing it to life.
“Brambleclaw!”
Brambleclaw quickly stopped in his paw steps as Mousefur began walking up to him. He held back the instinct to run away at her disapproving scowl. Since the she-cat had retired into the elders den it was as if she only had the energy and time to complain. Firestar had taken the brunt of it, but with the wound from the fox-trap beginning to fester again he had to spend much of his time resting. Since then, Mousefur had diverted most of her complaints to him.
“Didn’t I tell you that the elders' den had a draft going through it? Longtail and I won’t be able to sleep with tonight's chill! You promised me yesterday it would be handled.” Mousefur spat.
“I…” Brambleclaw was momentarily starstrucked by the waves of anger rolling off of Mousefur. He had always been intimidated by her and now, even as a deputy, she was still a bit terrifying to him.
“I ordered Dustpelt and Brackenfur to have the den fixed.” Yes! He hadn’t forgotten! He could distinctly remember asking the two of them to repair the loose brambles back into place.
“How was I supposed to fix it when you assigned me onto dawn patrol and then I had to train Hazelpaw later in the day? Fixing a den takes time.” Brambleclaw startled at Dustpelt's voice coming from behind him. The senior warrior was scowling at Brambleclaw and quickly Mousefur turned her ire back onto him.
“Why even issue orders if you’re going to make them impossible to complete? How about Longtail and I sleep in your nest tonight while you sleep in the elders den and see how you like it!” Mousefur growled, her ears pinned against her head.
“Where was Brackenfur?” Brambleclaw asked, doing his best to ignore the angry ball of fur besides him.
“How should I know? Besides that, just because Brackenfur and I fix dens the most doesn’t mean we need to do it every time a den has a leak.” Dustpelt exclaimed.
Brambleclaw held back the fury bubbling inside of him. He was the deputy of Thunderclan! One evening where Hazelpaw would have to be brought out later in the day wasn’t going to harm her! Also, why was Dustpelt suddenly acting like fixing dens was such a chore? He has personally designed each of the new camp dens himself. Was he just supposed to assign the two warriors to zero patrols for the day because they had to fix one of the dens?
“Look, Mousefur. I’m sorry Dustpelt and Brackenfur didn’t come by today. Can you show me where the hole in the den is and I’ll fix it myself before nightfall.” Brambleclaw said earnestly. Mousefur twitched her ears and began leading Brambleclaw towards the elders' den.
He ignored whatever fierce glare Dustpelt was probably sensing at his back as he followed the elder. He had thought being a deputy would have become the pinnacle of his life. He had been chosen by Starclan themselves to lead all four clans to a new home, had helped defeat Mudclaw and Hawkfrost, and had even been chosen by Starclan to be deputy. What was the point of it all if his own apprentice was falling behind, his orders were conflicting among themselves, and his mate was off on some quest with Leafpool for an undetermined amount of time?
Brambleclaw did his best to ignore his swirling thoughts as he examined the hole in the elders' den. It was so small only a beetle could fit through it.
'This is really it for me.' Brambleclaw thought as he pulled one of the branches on the den and easily fixed the hole. 'The journey is done, the clans have settled, and now I can enjoy spending the rest of my days like this.'