Four Moons After

Chapter One:
Dawn’s light was just beginning to creep over the horizon and shed its rays across the lake. A light breeze picked up and ruffled Bramblestar’s fur. Despite the cold air, the breeze whispered hints of new-leaf.

Four moons had passed since the Great Battle, and life in ThunderClan was oh so similar, yet drastically different. Throughout all the Clans and across borders brave warriors fought and died. The memories of their fallen clanmates still grieved the new leader like a thorn embedded in a pad. ThunderClan had lost Firestar, their leader, who was also a mentor and father figure to Bramblestar. Mousefur also joined the ranks of StarClan, as well as Ferncloud. Hollyleaf, Bramblestar’s foster daughter, was slain by his half-brother, Hawkfrost. The pain of the memory was still sharp. And lastly, Sorreltail died of injuries before the sunrise after the battle.

On top of all the deaths, several cats in the clan had serious injuries. Thornclaw wrenched his shoulder so badly that it was beyond what Leafpool and Jayfeather could mend. Unable to keep up with patrols, Thornclaw took an early retirement into the Elder’s den. Dustpelt and Sandstorm also trickled in to join Thornclaw. Both of them were getting up in their moons, but Bramblestar suspected it was the death of both of their mates that really set them on a different path. Mousewhisker also obtained an injury to his hind paw. He now had a permanent limp and could no longer keep up with border patrols; however, he could still manage hunting patrols.

“I thought I’d find you here.” A voice interrupted his thoughts. Bramblestar jerked his head up. Upon recognizing the cat, his let his fur lie flat.

“I wanted some fresh air,” Bramblestar murmured.

“I don’t blame you,” replied Squirrelflight. “The camp is so crowded!” Bramblestar let out a quiet purr while his deputy continued. “I feel like we’re expanding the nursery once a moon! I cannot believe the number of kits we have!”

“We’re blessed to have so many.”

Squirrelflight let out a huff but Bramblestar knew her exaggerated exasperation was all in good fun. “It’s like, as soon as the Dark Forest warriors left, every she-cat in ThunderClan decided to have kits!”

Bramblestar nodded his head once and blinked warmly at Squirrelflight. What she said was nearly true. Brightheart has her kits just before the Dark Forest warriors invaded, and they would be apprentices in less than two moons. When Sorreltail died, Brightheart and Daisy took care of Lilypaw and Seedpaw. Five kits was already a full nursery.

But then Blossomfall announced that she was expecting kits, and soon gave birth to Sparrowkit and Cloverkit. Thornclaw was the father but Bramblestar felt that there was awkwardness in his and Blossomfall’s relationship. The kits were thriving, though, especially with the help of Daisy and Brightheart.

And a little more than a moon ago, Icecloud birthed four kits: Frostkit, Robinkit, Barleykit, and Ryekit. The litter was born too early, much to everyone’s worry. Leafpool and Jayfeather were keeping a close eye on the bunch. The combination of that they were born in the middle of leaf-bare, there’s four of them with other kits in the nursery, and the fact that they were born early cause plenty reason to worry. ThunderClan’s two medicine cats are in the nursery multiple times a day. Jayfeather has been giving low doses of strengthen herbs to Ryekit and Robinkit, who are the smallest and weakest, respectively.

And most recently, just a few sunrises ago, Cinderheart moved into the nursery.'' More like forced into the nursery'', Bramblestar thought to himself. She was carrying Lionblaze’s kits, and Bramblestar was not surprised by how Lionblaze reacted. His foster son – no, son – was fearless on the battlefield, but when it came to kits and giving birth… well, not so much.

“I had an idea,” prompted Squirrelflight. She licked her paw and brought it over her ear. Still gazing out over the lake, Bramblestar just flicked his tail. “Why don’t we create another Warrior’s den?” Bramblestar turned and looked at her. “It would take time, of course. But there are plenty of other dens in the hollow. None of them as big as the Warrior’s den as it is now. But if we could create two, say, one for the senior warriors and one for the younger warriors, it would make the Warrior’s den less crowded. And then the younger warriors won’t have to sleep with the apprentices.”

Before she had even finished speaking, Bramblestar was nodding in agreement. “You always come up with the best ideas,” he meowed, and flicked his tail over her shoulder. “We can bring it up to the senior warriors and see what they think. Not that it should be a problem,” he added on fast. “And that would be one problem solved.”

“What are your other ones?” Squirrelflight asked. “We can expand the Nursery without too much difficulty—“

“It’s not the nursery that’s worrying me,” Bramblestar cut her off. Squirrelflight paused to let him expand. Kneading the dead grass beneath him, he sought the words to explain his main concern.

“It’s something that’s been on my mind for a few seasons now, actually.” Squirrelflight flicked her ears in encouragement. “Have you noticed how much ThunderClan has expanded since we’ve come to the lake?” Not waiting for an answer, he continued. “ThunderClan has been blessed with many warriors. And I feel that we’ve been growing and growing. Which is a good thing. And now that the threat of the Dark Forest has passed, I think now we are in an era of peace and tranquility. Jayfeather told me that ThunderClan will thrive and prosper for moons to come. And going by the number of kits in the nursery, how much longer do you think we have until we need a third warrior’s den?” he teased.

Squirrelflight turned her head, slightly confused by where he was going with this. “Okay … I understand what you’re saying. But what do you mean by it?”

Bramblestar took a deep breath, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to take back what he said and prepared for his muzzle to get wacked, “I think we need to expand our borders.”

Instead of his muzzle getting wacked, Squirrelflight stuck her muzzle right up in his face and growled, “What did you just say? You want to take territory? Are you completely mouse-brained?”

“No, not take territory—“

“I can’t believe you’d even suggest something like that --!”

“Squirrelflight, just listen –“

“After all we’ve been through –“

“I never said I wanted to take someone else’s territory—“

“Now you want to take someone else’s territory – oh…”

“I never --- I never said that.”

“Well, how can you expand our borders without taking territory?” Squirrelflight shook her head.

“Not all of our borders have neighbors,” Bramblestar meowed simply. Letting that sink in, Squirrelflight let her fur drop back down, and the fire in her eyes simmered down to a low simmer.

Before she could ask, he said, “For the sake of the Clan, we are going to need more territory. The kits aren’t going to stay kits. Plus, I’ll bet my tail that we’ll have more in a few moons. Just in order to feed ourselves, we need more territory. And we don’t have to go to WindClan or ShadowClan to get it. Behind our hollow there’s more woodland and some hills. The only reason we didn’t take that as our territory when we first came to the lake was that we didn’t need it.” And he added softly, “but now, I think we do.”

After a moment, Squirrelflight said, “I have to think about it. And if we do expand, I think we have to be careful about how much…” she trailed off, not saying words that should be left unspoken.

“I know,” Bramblestar replied.

The two of them sat there for a little while longer. It wasn’t until half of the sun was visible over the hills when Bramblestar said, “Squirrelflight.”

“Mm?”

“Don’t you have a dawn patrol to organize?”

“Oh, foxdung!” Without another word Squirrelflight tore off back to camp, tossing up snow and dead leaves in her wake. Bramblestar let out a mrrrow of laughter to himself before following her back.