Chapter Text
The stream marking the ThunderClan/ShadowClan border ran crisp and cold this time of year. Brambleclaw hopped over it with ease, taking care not to splash cold water on his pelt. As he crossed into the other Clan's territory, he did his best to avert his eyes from the fox trap he had torn out, which had been left hanging free and unusable. The blood in the area had long dried up and disappeared, but he still felt as though he couldn't look over to it without seeing Thornclaw and Hawkfrost's dead bodies cooling in pools of their own blood.
He paid no mind to the two fox-length border that would allow him to walk freely through ShadowClan's territory. The cat he was looking for could only be found in the heart of the territory, likely in the camp, and he didn't care if he was stumbled upon by a patrol.
He padded into the pine forest a ways before he caught the scent of a ShadowClan warrior. He fought back the urge to go on the defensive, knowing he would never get his way if he attacked a ShadowClan cat in ShadowClan territory. Instead, he ducked under a nearby juniper bush, hoping he would see them before they saw him.
No luck. As the pawsteps grew close enough to hear, the warrior stopped and scented the air. "Do you ThunderClan cats think you're allowed to traipse about on any territory you please?" he heard them ask, and realized with a start that it was the very cat he had been looking for. "Brambleclaw, I know you're here. If you come out here and explain yourself I might let you keep most of your fur."
He stepped out of the juniper bush. "I was looking for you," he said, looking up and down at his sister, Tawnypelt. Her fur was sleek and shiny. "You look healthy."
"You look like you've seen better days," she said in response, her voice both teasing and concerned. "What's wrong? Prey running too fast in ThunderClan for you to keep up?"
"No," he protested, lashing his tail. "I- Hawkfrost is dead." Tawnypelt closed her eyes.
"That's very sad for RiverClan. He was a strong warrior." She opened them. "Why are you telling me?"
"I killed him." Tawnypelt was obviously taken back by that. She sat down with a tilt to her head, silently asking why. "I was so blinded by my own ambition that I fell right into his trap. He killed the deputy, Thornclaw, and he would have killed me too had I not killed him first. He's been guided by our father, and-"
"I told you not to listen to him," she interrupted, voice angry. "I told you that nothing good would come from taking his advice and training with him."
"I- I-" he stuttered, then shook his head. "I wanted to get stronger on behalf of-"
"That's what you wanted to believe," she said. "But you were taking the easy way out. You wanted to be leader so badly you lost sight of the reason to become a leader in the first place."
"I felt like I was living under his legacy, and I wanted to-" he protested.
"So you decided to train with him? To become more like him? Instead of doing it on your own merits? This is the lake. You could have left the forest behind. You could have been seen as Brambleclaw, the leader of the sun-drown patrol. Brambleclaw, the cat who helped all four Clans find a new home in their hour of need. Instead, you're bringing Tigerstar along with you, and letting him loom like a shadow behind you forever."
"You moved to ShadowClan to be with him," he shot back, ears flat.
"And I stayed in ShadowClan because they saw me as Tawnypelt. Tawnypelt: the cat who found ShadowClan their new territory. Tawnypelt: loyal warrior of ShadowClan. Tawnypelt: Rowanclaw's mate. ThunderClan could have, and likely does see you that way too."
"You have a mate?" Tawnypelt looked to the side.
"I was intending on telling you at the next Gathering. I know you've fought in the past, but I love him, and he's a loyal warrior. He really is." She shook his head. "But that's not important. I told Tigerstar that if I was ever made deputy or leader, it will be because I earned it myself, and that my Clanmates and StarClan wished it to be. I meant it. Twisting the warrior code to get your way is no way to live. What does a Clan gain from a leader who doesn't deserve it? You can't serve your Clan honestly and faithfully if you didn't get to that position with honesty and faith. It's a shallow, selfish thing to do, and your Clan will be worse off for it."
Brambleclaw wanted to protest, but instead he sighed. "You're right. I've been a mouse-brain."
"I usually am, and you usually are," she said. "Now, I need to get back before Rowanclaw comes looking, and you really ought to get off ShadowClan's territory." She readied herself to leap on him. He took off towards the two fox-length border, and the two chased their way to the edge of the territory.