Bramblestar’s Storm

Sandstorm shook her head. “No, but his mother’s mother was born into the Clan. She passed down the warrior code to her daughter, who passed it down to Sky.”

“And he kept the memories alive…” Bramblestar murmured. “What happened next?”

“Firestar thought that all he needed to do was find SkyClan, but the old cat Sky didn’t agree. He wanted to see SkyClan restored… So that’s what we did, though it wasn’t as easy as that makes it sound.”

“Where did you find enough cats?”

“There were rogues living in the forest around the gorge. We had to rescue one she-cat and her kits from a Twoleg who was starving them. We scared him out of his fur! And there were two young kittypets who became our first apprentices: Cherrypaw and Sparrowpaw. They were a pawful, and no mistake! They took Firestar into the Twolegplace nearby to see if any other kittypets wanted to join.”

“And did they?” Bramblestar asked, surprised.

“Oh, yes.” Sandstorm’s eyes glimmered with amusement. “Echosong, who became the medicine cat… She was a kittypet.”

Bramblestar blinked in surprise.

“In the end,” Sandstorm went on, “we discovered what had destroyed the original SkyClan. There was a huge Twoleg den that was full of rats. The rats started attacking the new Clan in the gorge, so we had to go and fight them.” For a heartbeat her gaze became shadowed. “Firestar lost a life there.”

Bramblestar pressed himself against her side. “It was hard for both of you. SkyClan owes you a lot.”

Sandstorm dipped her head in agreement. “Yes, but they repaid us, in a way. Skywatcher—that was the warrior name Firestar gave to Sky—died while we were there, but before he died, he made a prophecy.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “‘There will be three, kin of your kin, who will hold the power of the stars in their paws.’”

Bramblestar felt his heart skip a beat. “The Prophecy of the Three came from SkyClan!” he murmured. “Everything is connected.”

The two cats shared a few heartbeats of silence, until Bramblestar meowed, “Why didn’t Firestar tell all the Clans about SkyClan when you came home?”

“I asked him that once,” Sandstorm replied. “He said that the burden of guilt didn’t need to be carried on. StarClan had done its best to make amends by sending Firestar and me to build a new SkyClan.” Gently she added, “There is a time for guilt and shame to stop.”

Bramblestar sighed. “I hope I can stop feeling guilty about the badger attack,” he confided to Sandstorm. “I lost Dustpelt and I angered Rowanstar.” Unfamiliar emotion surged through him, and more words spilled out of him. “I was just trying to do what Firestar would have done. He would have rescued the kittypets and helped ShadowClan not once, but twice.”

Sandstorm’s ears flicked up in surprise, and she fixed a compelling green gaze on Bramblestar. “That’s not what you’re supposed to do!” she exclaimed. “StarClan knew you would be a good leader in your own right. That’s why they led your paws along this path. Firestar didn’t appoint you to be his echo, but to be yourself. He trusted you to protect ThunderClan, to make decisions for them based on your own judgment and instincts.” Tucking her paws underneath her, she went on, “Tell me honestly, if there was no ThunderClan, no Firestar, no expectations, would you still have helped the kittypets? Interfered with ShadowClan?”

Bramblestar thought about how he had made those decisions. He had felt compassion for the kittypets, unable to abandon them to drown or starve in the flood. His bond with Tawnypelt had led him to save her Clan.

He took a deep breath. “Yes, I would.”

Sandstorm’s eyes narrowed in approval. “You are the leader of ThunderClan now, Bramblestar,” she mewed. “Not Firestar. Be the leader that you want to be. No cat expects anything else.”

Chapter 33

Repairs to the hollow progressed rapidly in the sunny days that followed. The Clan still lived in the tunnel, but their hunting and border patrols had to be fitted around the task of rebuilding.

Just before sunhigh, Bramblestar headed for the hollow to see how the work was going. He was tired after an early hunting patrol, but he shared with all his Clanmates the sense of jubilation that their home was being restored. As he approached the camp, he spotted Squirrelflight in the entrance helping Rosepetal and Bumblestripe, who were dragging brambles and tendrils of ivy to form a new barrier. She broke off when she spotted Bramblestar and padded up to him.

“It’s going well,” she mewed, looking exhausted but determined. “Come in and see.”

Bramblestar followed her into the camp. The hollow was swarming with cats, and for a moment he couldn’t make any sense of all the activity. Then he noticed Brackenfur moving from den to den, pausing to direct the building work with a great deal of calm meowing and waving of his tail. He looked confident, as if at last he was comfortable alone in the role he had once shared with Dustpelt.