BranchClan’s Rebirth

‼️‼️NOTE: The rest of this side moon will be written instead of fully drawn with a guest artist next part! Please enjoy‼️‼️

The white tom’s ear flicked anxiously. The greenleaf sun beat down upon the forest, the only salvation being the lush trees above. Weed stood before them, head tilted. Why hadn’t winterberry said much when he came. Wasn’t he going to ask about ajuga’s condition? With a claw, he opened the leaf bundle, watching the contents spill onto the dirt. Red gleaming berries gleamed in the sun, the telltale black hole staring back at the loner like eyes.

Deathberries.

Weed’s smile faded as he took in the sight. Poison. That was poison. He looked up, confusion etched on his muzzle. “Winterberry what- what is this? This better not be what I think you mean.” The medicine cat averted their gaze, taking a breath. “I’m sorry, weed. I really am, but when I had that dream from starclan…they told me there is nothing I can do. All I can do is to just..” a gesture to the damned poison . “Make it quick.”

It felt like the world had gotten colder. Weed’s voice caught in his throat as he tried to reason with what he was told. No, no there had to be another way! Winterberry jolted as the loner leaned forward, jaws moving quickly. “No- no there has to be something I can do! Maybe starclan- didn’t know of a cure here, but there would be one somewhere else! Somewhere they didn’t check!”

His mind ran a million miles an hour, winterberry tried to speak up. “Weed-“ and was quickly interrupted. “No! Why didn’t they send me a dream?! I could have looked farther, I know traveling healers, they could know!” The grey tom paced in place, occasionally looking up in desperation only to meet the medicine cat’s saddened eyes. “I did the work! I learned the herbs! I even listened to your code and stuck to it! Why didn’t they send me anything-“

“Weed I-“

A step forward, begging almost. “are they ignoring me?!”

“Weed-“

“What can I do better that-“

The medicine cat reared up, fur fuzzed up on his back, eyes burning with a emotion weed couldn’t read. He flattened himself down, eyes wide.

“BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT A MEDICINE CAT WEED!”

The words came out more aggressive than he wanted. Weed stopped talking, eyes wide and hurt. Winterberry flinched. The clan cats ears pinned back, and he cowered down a bit. He bowed his head, apologetic. “I-I mean- you never did the trials! The- the moonstone, you never went to it. I didn’t mean-“

His words were cut off with a snarl, as the larger scruffy tom was suddenly above him, glaring down with his teeth barred. Almost as if he wanted to tear them apart with their eyes alone.

“I know what you MEANT. You meant..” Weed paced, holding back. Despite his rage, despite his pain he could not, WOULD not harm his mate over this. “You meant the clans, that starclan doesn’t want a Mangy loner for a healer. Someone who’s not, pure of blood. That it? They don’t wanna taint their stupid CODE?!”

Winterberry stared up, trembling. The warm air suddenly felt smothering, suffocating. A bird chirped overhead, a single noise among the panting of weed’s angered breaths. “..I don’t think you would taint it weed..” A soft admission that he truly meant. The loner stepped back, eyes harsh as he snarled an accusation. “But your clan would. That’s why they gave you the berries? Less loners to deal with?”

“No! Stars no weed, even if they did I would never do that! This sickness, foam fever, it’s not able to be cured! We can’t do anything!” Winterberry pleaded, voice cracking in sadness. “Please….” Weed stopped, fur still spiked on his back. Claws digging into the dirt, itching to tear the stars themselves from the sky just to spite the clans. His voice lowered, grave and harsh. “Fine. If the clans want to sit and do nothing. I’ll fix him myself.”

Winterberry stepped forward , but was met with a paw to the muzzle. His head jerked back, claws instinctively flexing out- only to realize the paw had no claws. He had simply been shoved back. He opened his muzzle to speak, but was cut off once again by weed snarling. “Maybe it’s for the damn best the clans don’t have me! If starclan wants him dead, he’ll have to pry him from my cold dead claws!”

The birds above fled the trees as the yowl rang out. A rustling somewhere far behind winterberry startled them, and they looked back to see a small patrol from their clan coming their way. His ears pinned back and he looked to weed. And weed knew the look. The ‘I don’t want to be seen with you’ look. The patrol ran over and a large grey tom weed never saw before hissed out as claws came out. “Who are you- stay back winterberry! This is Apple clan territory, get off our land!” The medicine cat stammered, eyes flicking back and forth from the warriors, to weed.

But he never spoke. He just looked down, ashamed. Weeds heart broke, it felt like the ground had been dragged from under his paws. He wasn’t even going to defend him? Of course he wouldn’t. What they had, what winterberry did, and what weed had been....was forbidden. According to these stuck up bastards, weed thought bitterly. With a hiss, he turned away and began down the path. “Don’t worry. I’m not coming back.”

Winterberry cried out, startling the patrol and trampling the deathberries. “Weed- weed I still love you! Please I..” weed stopped. His head raised as if he was going to turn and respond..but he simply vanished into the bushes. Winterberry crumbled to the ground, paws in his face as he sobbed. The warriors voices faded as Weed ran, and ran, and ran.

Weed ran for what felt like eternity, until he stopped next to the water. He couldn’t smell the Appleclan border anymore, and assured himself he was out. The realization of what happened came crashing down on the loner all at once. He sat, tears rolling down his muzzle as he yowled, clawing angrily at the dirt. “Why- DAMNIT WHY!” His choked sobs smothered out the sound of the babbling creek.

Eventually, he stood. Crying would get him nowhere, and certainly wouldn’t help. He had to get back to the barn, to help ajuga. He stared up at the sky, and despite the stars not being out, he hissed to them. “Please! I did everything you wanted! Show mercy to Ajuga! Show me how to fix him!” The sky did not respond.

Hopelessness set in, which turned to anger. He swiped at the dirt, running along faster. “Fine! I don’t need you! Screw off!” He screamed at the sky, bounding off rocks to cross the river. As his paws carried him further and further home as the sun began to set, a odd smell caught his nose. Metallic and smokey. The usual smell of a monster parked.

As he climbed the hill, peering down at the barn and farm below, his blood went cold. The barn was open, and he could hear the panicked yowls of kudzu inside. A monster was sat in front of it, and the lady and the farmer stood next to it, talking to another twoleg holding a odd object. It was the cutter. His mind snapped out of the panic to hear a few words that kudzu screamed, sending him fleeing down the hill faster to get to them.

“AJUGA STOP!”

He was running out of time.

LYSSAVIRUS

Moon intermission 3/?

The Night Before…

The air felt tense after Doecall made the announcement.

The silence stretched for what felt like hours, and Doecall was very aware of the pounding in her heart. She shifted, staring at Wolfstep, taking in his rigid posture, his slightly narrowed eyes, and his…Well, his everything.

Nobody spoke. After a pause that felt far too long for both of them, Wolfstep exhaled through his nose.

He shook his head. “You’re joking.”

“No, I’m serious.” Doecall insisted. She laughed, using her front paw to lightly bat at Wolfstep’s shoulder. “I’m gonna be having kits in…What, two moons? Is that how long it takes?”

“Yeah, it is.” Wolfstep rumbled in reply. He responded to the shoulder batting with a huff, though it didn’t seem to be of annoyance. “But…You’re being so, so incredibly stupid, Doecall.”

“How? A lot of cats in this clan have outsider mates!” Doecall chirped.

Wolfstep’s eyes narrowed. “And those cats don’t come home nearly in tears in the middle of the night. Those cats don’t tell me that their mates treat them like…Like dung!”

Doecall flinched, feeling a jolt of hurt at the older tom’s tone. Her ears laid flat against her head, and she felt the fur on her back start to bristle. The smile on her face faltered, despite her struggle to keep it.

“Wolfstep, you’re my best friend,” she said, voice low. “I thought…I thought you’d be happy for me.”

“It’s not that I’m not happy for you! I am!” Wolfstep insisted, holding up his front paws in a gesture of defense. “I’m just…I’m more worried about you than I am happy. Can’t exactly give congratulations when there’s a little voice in the back of your head going, ‘hey, Wolfstep, your best friend, who you care about so much, is being taken advantage of and won’t listen to you’!” 

Doecall fell silent. Wolfstep took that as invitation to continue his rant.

“He’s mistreating you,” the gray tabby grumbled, ears flattening. His claws unsheathed and sheathed over and over, subtly clawing into the ground where they were sitting. “I’ve seen it. I’ve heard about it. Mates aren’t supposed to make you cry the way he does, Doecall. He’s going to kill you one day, you know. Those kinds of relationships never end well.”

Doecall looked away. Shame burned through her, but she forced it down, instead replacing it with defiance. “...I wanted someone to love me.”

“I love you, Doecall!” Wolfstep exclaimed. “Your littermates love you! Stars, your FATHER loves you!”

“I don’t want that kind of love!” Doecall snapped back, standing. Her tail was lashing violently behind her, her pupils narrowed into slits of black. “I want the kind of love that everyone else has! I want to be cuddled and have a family and…I want someone to look at me as if I put the stars in the sky myself.”

Her voice broke, and she took a deep breath, looking away so Wolfstep didn’t see her tears. She took a second to compose herself, then looked at Wolfstep. “I wanted you, Wolfstep, and you didn’t want me.”

“I did- No, I do want you, Doecall.” Wolfstep confessed. “I just…What would the clan think? I don’t want anyone to think I’m a monster.”

Doecall stared at him. “They don’t judge Burnetgoose and Glintshade. Or…Any of those other cats.”

Another stretch of silence, this one heavier. Doecall waited, watching Wolfstep’s expression. The gray tabby tom finally let out a sound that was both an exasperated groan and a sob, his shoulders slumped.

“Dammit, Doecall…” He muttered. “...This is hard for me, you know.”

Doecall waited. Wolfstep closed his eyes for a minute, then opened them.

“Tell you what,” he grumbled. “You leave that tom. Don’t go talk to him, don’t go looking for him, don’t even think about him. And I…I will consider being your mate officially, but in the meantime I’ll step up. I’ll be a father for your kits. Raise them the way my dad didn’t get to raise me. Does that sound fair?”

“...I want him to know.” Doecall said.

“No.”

“He deserves to know. What if I disappear and he comes looking for me?”

Wolfstep ran a paw over his face as if to symbolize his agony. “Fine. Fine! You go tell him, but you better be careful. Take Lionfoot with you. He’ll protect you.”

“Okay.” Doecall sat next to Wolfstep again, their pelts brushing, and leaned against him. Wolfstep leaned down and gently licked the top of her head.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The Morning After.

It was cold. Too cold.

Wolfstep’s mind had been racing with thoughts since he heard the news. 

Doecall was dead. She was gone, her wound too infected to fully recover.

He’d already yelled at Lionfoot. He blamed his brother for what happened ever since he saw that gash in her throat and the way she had forced herself to smile about it. Lionfoot had insisted it wasn’t his fault- He was too fast, too strong, he had said, but everything just sounded like an excuse.

Now Wolfstep would never see Doecall again.

His best friend was buried. The vigil last night had been somber. Wolfstep didn’t like thinking about it, repressing the thought until it was a blurred image in the back of his mind.

He didn’t want to remember Doecall like that.

“Stars damn it…” He hissed, as an ache began to settle deep in his joints. His condition was manageable most days, but on days when he was stressed it always seemed to heighten. Today was absolutely one of those days.

He’d been pacing since he woke up, his paws burning a hole into the camp grounds at this point. He was restless, and agitated, and trying so hard to suppress the feelings…But he couldn’t anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Wolfstep turned and stalked out of camp. He was blank, his mind forcing all of  the thoughts away until he reached his destination. The burial grounds.

He stalked around, looking at all of the mounds of dirt, until he found hers. The dirt was still fresh and slightly damp, his paws sinking into it a little as he approached.

Someone had placed white flowers on her grave. Wolfstep swatted them away, hissing. “She likes blue. Not white.” He growled, though he didn’t know who he was talking to.

Then, he looked at the grave itself- No, not the grave. He was staring through it, at wherever Doecall was buried.

“I told you,” he scolded, taking a step closer. Then another step. Then he was in front of the grave. His legs were shaking. “I fucking told you not to go, Doecall. Why couldn’t you just listen to me? Why do you have to see the good in fucking everything? Now you’re dead. Look at you…Maybe it’s my fault. I should’ve went. I should’ve protected you. I’m sorry.”

He sighed heavily, sinking down until he was lying on the grave. The tears he’d been trying to hold back started to fall, and all he could let out was one final sentence before breaking off into a fit of sobs.

-To answer your BIG question: Doecall's kits were sired by her outsider mate. Doecall was extremely trusting and naive of others, and met a much older tom when she was younger. The two got together fast, and Doecall told him she was expecting. He panicked, worried that he'd get in trouble for fooling around with a younger cat, and attacked her. Doecall ran away, and tried to recover in the clan, but her wound festered fast and resulted in her death. I still have to draw her mate. 👀

-As for info on Doecall and her littermates, here's some facts about them! I actually REALLY like them myself:

Doecall was ALWAYS smiling. Even when sad or in pain most cats can report that they've never seen her frown.

Stagstripe is selectively mute! He talks in a very low, very soft voice when he does speak.

Fawneye was named after Fawnspring. Moonsong knows how much she meant to Violetstar and wanted to appease her by naming a kit after a cat she liked.

Stagstripe is a gentle giant. He's also one of the most attractive cats in the clan according to everyone else.

Doecall, Stagstripe, and Fawneye all like Specklepaw and Marshpaw and see them as their brothers. They also still like Moonsong despite the affair.

Doecall had a crush on Wolfstep, Pearfur's son. He was her best friend. He rejected her because of the age gap between them being a personal squick of his but now he deeply, deeply regrets it. He feels like if he'd said yes he could've kept her safe.

In Moon 80, a lot of people assume that Frozenbeam made the "amazing genes" comment to Pearfur. However, if you look at the shape of the dialogue box, a FEMALE cat said that. Which one? I dunno.