#squirrelbramble

Neither he nor Squirrelflight were with their kits, and that was fine. Squirrelflight was out hunting with Sandstorm, getting some mother-daughter time and stretching her legs, but they would be home as soon as Birchfall told them about the attack. And Brambleclaw—Brambleclaw was taking care of the clan, just like he should be. The kits were with Daisy. Safe in the nursery, guarded by Sorreltail and Ferncloud. Their stomachs were no longer round with milk, and though they were still small enough that even an apprentice would find it easy to bat them around, they didn’t need Brambleclaw beside them.

He’d already been to visit them anyway. He’d stolen just a few moments with them after he and Firestar had sorted everyone into their positions, wound his tail around them to pull them tight against his stomach, till Lionkit and Hollykit scrunched up their little pink noses at a face-full of his fur and Jaykit tried to fight his way out with tiny kitten claws.

Then Brambleclaw had bent down to nose at them one by one and to inhale their scents before leaving for battle. Lionkit’s fur had spiked up, making him look even bigger than usual. Jaykit had leaned into his touch, ears flat against his head. And Hollykit had looked at him with wide green eyes before asking what would happen if WindClan broke into the nursery.

Brambleclaw had only been able to say, “It will be ok. They’d have to go through me.” Then he’d had to stand and leave them there, to go be deputy for their clan, and only the knowledge that he would never leave if he looked back had kept him looking forward.

Brambleclaw hissed in frustration, but forced himself to keep his body language composed as he turned to Mousefur and Longtail. The two cats nodded to him from their position just inside the elder’s den; while technically elders, they were the feistiest elders Brambleclaw had ever known, and he knew they were prepared to fight for the lives of not just themselves, but any other cats.

Brambleclaw nodded back, took a breath—and almost jumped when a tail tapped his shoulder.

“Yes, Hazelpaw?” he asked, looking down. The apprentice had been running messages since the first report of a fast approaching WindClan patrol, but still had the energy to shift from paw to paw, claws already out and scraping against the stone.

“They’re here!” she said.

Brambleclaw tensed, his own claws unsheathing, and whirled to face the tunnel entrance. Two caterwauls rose through the air, one high and thready, the other low and long: Onestar and Firestar.

“Go to Dustpelt,” he told Hazelpaw, and she darted away. Her, Dustpelt, Brackenfur, and Brambleclaw himself were responsible for the inner hollow, making sure that if any WindClan cat slipped past the tunnels, they didn’t have a free shot at the nursery or elders.

Brambleclaw stalked around the hollow, ears swiveling, tail swinging low, searching for any sign of trouble. He could make out fighting from both tunnels now, angry screeches and pained yowls, but no calls for help.

The sharp scrape of claws on rock made him look up—but it was just Leafpool, peering out of the healer’s den towards the nursery. She startled when she saw him looking, and he twitched his tail at her. He wished he could do more to calm her, but his entire body was tense from nose to tail tip. She twitched her ears back at him, though, and then turned back into her den. Probably checking on herbs and other supplies. He didn’t know how she could stand waiting for the battle to end before doing anything when just waiting as the rear guard put him on edge.

Another scraping sound came, this time from the opposite direction, and Brambleclaw whirled around, stomach dropping at Dustpelt’s angry yowl: “They’re coming down the sides!”

Whitetail and Weaselfur bared their fangs at them, even almost upside down as they were, claws dug into the stone walls and tails carefully balanced, and then jumped the last fox-length into the hollow. More WindClan fangs glinted above them, but Brambleclaw didn’t bother paying attention to them—he’d already leapt at Weaselfur, crashing into the orange-and-white tom. 

From the corner of his eye, he could see Hazelpaw lashing out at Whitetail, only for her to be sent rolling by a spiteful paw to the head.

“Fight someone your own age,” the deceptively small she-cat hissed.

In retaliation, Dustpelt yowled and barreled shoulder-first into Whitetail.

The sounds of battle, once limited to the tunnels, filled the hollow. Claws threw torn tufts of fur into the air, and blood spattered against the stone. Bodies writhed around one another, rolling and standing and falling, all the fur patterns blending into one another until it was hard to tell one cat from another, ThunderClan from WindClan, though Brambleclaw did see the distinctive sight of Cloudtail and Whitewing fighting back to back, father and daughter a mirror image of one another with their long-furred white pelts, Berrypaw a fluff ball of cream beside them.

Cloudtail was supposed to be with Firestar. Whitewing and Berrypaw were supposed to be with Thornclaw. Were any cats left in the tunnels, Brambleclaw wondered, or were they all in the hollow? Had ThunderClan retreated, or had they run to the rescue when Brambleclaw’s patrol was overwhelmed?

Was there any difference, when the end result was the same: ThunderClan once again fighting for their camp, while the camp itself stood hard and unmoving, stone walls pressing in on them.

Blood dripped from scratches and claw marks along Brambleclaw’s body where cats had gotten past his guard. The wounds throbbed in time with his heartbeat, and his lungs worked overtime to try and catch his breath even when there was no time to rest.

For the countless time, Brambleclaw’s gaze slid past the cat he was fighting to the nursery entrance. Ferncloud and Sorreltail still stood strong, backs to each other and facing out, dappled gray beside tortoiseshell—but even as Brambleclaw watched, they slid apart just enough to leave a space between their hind quarters, a small space, but big enough for a lean WindClan cat to slip through.

Tornear latched on to Brambleclaw’s shoulder with his fangs, but Brambleclaw barely felt it, tearing himself free, uncaring of the way that ripped the wound and made it larger, focused more on the beat of stone beneath his paws as he launched himself across the hollow, between the two queens, into the nursery, and—

Conflicting instincts hit Brambleclaw all at once. All six kits—Honeykit, Poppykit, Cinderkit, Lionkit, Hollykit, and Jaykit—were squeezed into one nest in the corner. Daisy stood in front of them with her hackles raised, fangs bared, and fur fluffed to twice its usual size. The usually gentle queen looked ready to send dogs yelping for their twolegs.

And before Daisy, half-turned back towards Brambleclaw and calm as death, stood Crowfeather. The same cat who Brambleclaw had traveled with for moons, braving thunderpaths and teasing each other on long walks. Huddling together in the cold, the thick-furred Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, Stormfur, and Feathertail on the outside while Squirrelpaw smothered the lone short-furred Crowpaw in the middle. Fishing each other out of rivers when the RiverClan cats tried to teach them how to fish. All the arguments, and all the times they had shared food and tongues.

Brambleclaw had been happy to make it back to the old forest, but he had mourned the little family they had created together.

And now Crowfeather faced him in ThunderClan’s nursery, Brambleclaw’s own kits hiding in the corner, and Brambleclaw’s heart longed to share tongues again, to ask how his old friend was doing, while knowing neither of them would sheathe their claws.

Not while Crowfeather stood between Brambleclaw and his kits.

“Why are you here?” Brambleclaw rasped. He took a step to the side, trying to get between Crowfeather and Daisy, but the other tom stayed put, cocking his head to the side.

“My clan is attacking yours.”

“No,” Brambleclaw growled. He swiped a paw across the ground, claws scoring through the soft dirt. “Why are you here? In the nursery?” He could think of only two reasons a warrior would invade the nursery, and he couldn’t believe Onestar would stoop so low. Couldn’t believe Crowfeather would go through with it. But—

Crowfeather straightened, tail twitching. “Too few kits have been born since we arrived at the Lake. But ThunderClan is strong.” His gaze turned towards the kits, and Brambleclaw didn’t wait for him to turn back.

He leapt on Crowfeather, bowling the smaller cat over and rolling him away from the kits. Daisy’s cream-colored legs darted about in his peripheral vision, but Brambleclaw focused on the narrowed, cool blue eyes a single claw’s length from his face, on the furious hiss that cut off when Crowfeather snapped at him, missing only when Brambleclaw pushed himself free to stand, finally, between Crowfeather and the kits.

Except he was too close, Brambleclaw realized. His back paws brushed against the feathers and moss of Daisy’s nest, and Daisy herself stood by the nursery entrance.

Brambleclaw had gotten where he wanted to be, but Daisy had been forced to move. They’d just switched places.

Brambleclaw crouched lower, readying himself for whatever Crowfeather’s next move would be, and his tail fur brushed against soft kitten ears. Lionkit mewed, quieter than he had ever heard him, and the noise burrowed into Brambleclaw’s heart. All his aches and pains faded away.

His kits were only three moons old; they shouldn’t have to hear the sounds of battle yet.

“Coward,” he spat, and leapt upon Crowfeather again.

The lean cat jumped to the side and out of the way of Brambleclaw’s bulk. He lashed out with a front paw, but Brambleclaw’s side was only exposed for a moment before he whirled around, putting himself back in-between Crowfeather and the kits.

On the journey to and from the sun-drown place, all the cats had sparred with each other—both to complete Crowpaw and Squirrelpaw’s teachings, and to keep their own fighting instincts intact. Brambleclaw was well-used to Crowfeather’s strategies and weaknesses.

That also meant Crowfeather was used to his.

Brambleclaw took one step to the side to get a better look at Daisy and the nursery entrance, gaze sliding past Crowfeather, and the WindClan warrior pounced, battering his face with an outstretched front paw twice before Brambleclaw blocked the third strike with his own paw.

The move put all his front weight on the side of his injured shoulder, and Brambleclaw staggered at the sudden pain. Instead of being able to retaliate, he opened himself back up to another strike from Crowfeather.

Brambleclaw swore he saw stars before he shook it off. He couldn’t give Crowfeather the chance to get the advantage. Couldn’t give the other warrior time to plot.

Brambleclaw reared up on his hindlegs, revealing his soft belly but taking the weight off his injured shoulder, and hit Crowfeather upside the head, knocking him to the ground. He loomed over him, eyes narrowed to slits and fangs bared in a snarl.

“You really thought we’d just let you take our kits? Use them as hostages, raise them as your own—”

Pain split through Brambleclaw’s stomach, and he let out a cry and staggered. Only the worried shriek of his name from his kits let him keep his feet to face Crowfeather, who had rolled over and found his own feet again, one back paw gleaming.

Brambleclaw knew that even though he couldn’t see the blood against the black fur, that Crowfeather had ripped into his stomach with a single strong blow.

Despite being the cat to do it, Crowfeather’s gaze seemed almost sorrowful, ears tipped back and tail low—and then Daisy crashed into his back in one giant, hissing, spitting puffed up ball of fur. Crowfeather hissed back, and his claws scrabbled in the dirt, but Daisy was set firmly out of his reach, claws dug into his shoulders and haunches.

For a moment, Brambleclaw thought that might be how he died: Braced on shaky legs, blood dripping from his stomach, watching his old friend be torn apart by a furious queen. He wanted to move, to do something, anything, so that they could all live—him and his kits, Daisy and Crowfeather—but he was barely keeping his feet while standing still. He wasn’t sure he even had the energy left to do more than just breathe.

Then the thistle boundary rattled, and Sorreltail and Ferncloud burst into the nursery. Crowfeather crashed to his side, hurling Daisy to the ground, and then tore himself loose to dart between Sorreltail and Ferncloud once more and out into the center of camp.

None of the queens bothered chasing him. Ferncloud ran right to Brambleclaw and shoved her shoulder under his, while Daisy staggered past him, breath shaky, toward the kits. Sorreltail ran out of the nursery, but Brambleclaw could hear her calling for Leafpool.

“WindClan?” Brambleclaw asked. One of his paws slipped, but he caught himself. “Are they—?”

“Gone,” Ferncloud said. “That tom was the last. Lay down, Brambleclaw, it’s alright.”

Brambleclaw started to nod, but his vision blurred, so he settled for just following her directions instead. His legs folded over themselves, clumsy as a newborn kit, but with Ferncloud’s help he didn’t just fall down. She had even, he marveled at the softness, landed him in a nest. He inhaled the scent of lichen, poppyseeds, and oak.

“Squirrelflight will be upset her nest is bloody,” he said, but couldn’t stop himself from purring. He was in his mate’s nest, and his kits were—his kits were safe, right?

Brambleclaw fought to get his paws underneath himself again, when three little bundles hurtled into his chest one after another.

“Your kits are right here,” Ferncloud said. “Stay still. Leafpool! He’s right here.”

Pawsteps hurried his way, but not even the following flash of pain from pressure on his stomach could bring Brambleclaw to open his eyes. When had he closed them? Maybe—maybe when he laid down?

“Will Brambleclaw be alright?” a tiny voice asked. Hollykit.

Another voice scoffed. “He’ll be fine. The WindClan cat is gone, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.” Jaykit. Unsure, no matter how firm he tried to be.

“He’ll be fine,” a third voice echoed, more firmly than the second. Lionkit.

And then—“Brambleclaw?!” a fourth voice cried, and pawsteps thudded in the dirt beside him. “Kits?!” Squirrelflight.

Brambleclaw sighed, and the last of his fear left him as he slid into sleep.

<line break>

“I’m sorry,” Squirrelflight whispered. “I should have been here.”

<line break>

Cold seeped into his bones, and bodies pressed into his. Brambleclaw curled into himself, chin tucked around three kitten-sized pockets of warmth.

<line break>

A paw slipped wet moss into his mouth, and someone nosed his forehead. “Thank you,” they breathed. “Thank you.”

<line break>

Brambleclaw’s chin shifted up and down in a steady rhythm, and when he opened his eyes and looked down, a rusty purr rumbled through him. A pile of orange-gray-black kittens slept against him, their little stomachs rising and falling with each synchronized breath. Occasionally, Lionkit would let out a snort, joining in the chorus of Jaykit’s snores and Hollykit’s whistles.

An orange muzzle speckled with white freckles leaned into his view. Brambleclaw looked up into forest-green eyes, and he leaned up to meet his mate’s nuzzle with one of his own. The simple move drained him of more of his strength than he expected, but he didn’t regret it. Not when Squirrelflight laid down in front of him so they could stay eye-to-eye.

Not when she repeated, “I’m sorry. I should have been here,” and he could finally reply:

“You’re here now.”

Not when he fell asleep again with his family safe around him, and knew they would still be there when he woke again.

<line break>

He didn’t know that through the forest and across the moor, Crowfeather lay alone. Thinking not of his own kit and mate in the nursery, but of a different litter. Of one kit with his black fur, and one with his long legs, and one with Leafpool’s golden stripes. Of an old friend bleeding into the dirt to protect them.

Of his own leader demanding he prove his loyalty.

Crowfeather squeezed his eyes shut, and knew no harm would come to his kits.

Not if he or Brambleclaw had any say in it.

<end fic>

We're all going to ignore I just wrote another fic where I gave Brambleclaw a gaping stomach wound, right? Right?

Anyway, I loved writing this mix of hurt Brambleclaw and Bramble!Dad kitten fluff (and blatant "the queens are BAMF" propaganda), and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Please comment and/or reblog if you did!