The Autobiography of Brightstar (Yay Updates)

Out of the Nursery At Last

"Ow. Stop it!" My paws struck out, hitting something soft and warm.

"Come on, Brightkit! We're going out of the nursery!" Hot breath blasted into my face as thorn-sharp claws pricked my fur. "Get off," I mumbled, rolling into another warm body. This one was much larger, and the familiar scent told me it was Rippleheart, my mother. Her soft flank rose and fell steadily beneath my head, deep and slow. The sharp claws returned, and this time it was Otterkit's voice that hissed into my ear, "Come on! Quick, when Mother is still asleep." Aspenkit's voice trilled, "We're gonna be warriors!" That got my attention. My eyes opened slowly, blinking as a pair of a green eyes swam into view.

Maplekit was the one who forcibly dragged my sleepy self outside for the first time. I thought the nursery had been huge; but the camp was even bigger! It was dawn (it had to be, because the sunlight wasn't that strong yet), and earth was rough under my soft paws. It was so different than the moss and feathers I was used to. Curiosity aroused, I blinked the blurriness from my eyes and stumbled ahead of my littermates, leading them directly to the pile of slender, silvery creatures in the middle of the camp.

"It's fish!" Otterkit chirped. His tabby fur was sticking up all over the place, I noticed. "I heard Amberflare talking about fish with Rippleheart. Her paws always smell like this." He jabbed his paw toward the fresh-kill. Amberflare was the other queen in the nursery. Her kits, Pikekit and Minnowkit, were a moon older than us.

I ventured closer to the fish, mesmerized by how they caught the sunlight and made the silver shimmer. My tongue peeped out of my mouth as I tasted it warily. Not bad... "I'm going to be the best hunter ever!" I declared, my wide eyes fixing on the biggest fish in the pile.

"Ha, you don't even know the hunter's crouch yet!" A deep voice made me spin around, almost crashing into Aspenkit in the process. There was Pikekit-- looming above us, his black fur sleek and smooth. I glanced at my own fur. It was fluffy and messy. My gaze returned to Pikekit and his sister, having to tip my head back to stare into their eyes. "I will soon!" I retorted.

Pikekit laughed, mimicking my higher voice. "Stop being a jerk," Minnowkit complained. Her blue eyes were bright and full of compassion as she stared down at us. "Does Rippleheart know you're out here?" Where my eyes blue too?

Maplekit answered for me. "We snuck out," she mewed, lifting her chin proudly. Pikekit snorted, "You're so proud of that aren't you?" Anger pulsed through me and I jutted out my jaw, glaring at him. "As proud as you are arrogant!" I spat, bristling. We hadn't done anything wrong!

"What's going on here?" Aspenkit let out a surprised squeak that made me whip around again. I stepped on Otterkit's tail on accident and bumped heads with Maplekit. I really needed to stop moving so fast on my first day. The voice belonged to an even bigger cat, so large he put Pikekit to shame. And I was only the size of his head! Flinching when the warrior's sharp yellow eyes met mine, I ducked down beside Otterkit when he spoke again, "I'm Graystorm. Does Rippleheart know you all are out here?" Compared to his scary appearance, Graystorm's voice was surprisingly gentle.

Still, I was annoyed that so many cats were asking us if Rippleheart knew we were out of the nursery. "Why?" I challenged. "Are we not allowed to come out?" My defiance was effectively ruined by Pikekit muttering, "Yesyesyesyes," behind me.

"Shut up!" Otterkit hissed, jumping to my defense. I shot him a grateful look, but Graystorm's next words wiped the satisfaction from my face. "That's enough," he meowed. "I'm sure it's exciting to be out of the nursery for the first time, but Rippleheart will be worried to death if you're not there when she wakes up."

My mouth opened for a swift retort, but a yowl of, "My kits!" came from the nursery, right on cue. Rippleheart's tabby head appeared from the woven reeds that made the nursery. Unused to looking so far, I squinted. The moment my mother’s face became clear, I immediately wish I hadn’t bothered. She looked furious, relieved, and irritated, those expressions all rolled into one.
Our little adventure had clearly come to an end.

Come On, We're Basically Apprentices!

Yum. My belly was flattened to the soft earth, the reeds tickling my back as I stared at Leopardheart’s form bent over the water.

The golden spotted warrior had just been made a warrior two days ago, and she was my idol, of a sort. She was the one who had enough patience to teach me and my excitable littermates the hunter’s crouch, to swim in the shallow area of the river. But she wouldn’t teach us how to hunt!

My green eyes were as round as moons as Leopardheart’s paw suddenly shot out, flinging silver droplets of water into the air as another minnow was added to the growing pile beside her. I want to be able to do that! I wriggled in excitement, making the reeds tremble and prickle Maplekit’s nose.

“Hey, stop it!” My sister hissed, rubbing her muzzle frantically. “You’re so gonna make me sneeze!” I slanted her an apologetic look, and turned back just in time to see Leopardheart dragging a trout from the water!

“Whoa!” I squealed, bouncing, completely forgetting about stealth. Technically we were supposed to be in the elders’ den with Otterkit and Aspenkit but… Pure curiosity drove me scrambling out of the reed bed toward Leopardheart. “Teach me how to do it! Teach me! Teach me!”

If I had been older and if I had possessed more common sense at the that age, I would’ve noticed that the trout was bigger than I was.

Leopardheart stared at me in surprise, and then frowned as Maplekit bounced after me, looking equally awed. "Are you two supposed to be-?" I interrupted her with a torrent of excited questions, "How do you fish? How come they don't see you? How can you be fast enough to catch them? I've tried getting minnows— but they always avoid me! Why is that? How come you can do it so easily?"

Maplekit raced over the river bank, peering to the crystalline water below. "I see minnows!" she announced. One brown paw dangled out, splashing water as she made a desperate swipe toward the flash of silver scales. Before she could try again, Leopardheart dragged her back by tail.

"You're not apprentices yet!" she reminded us sternly. She sounded nothing like the indulgent apprentice that had tutored us before. "When Mistystar makes you two apprentices, your mentors can teach you." Leopardheart then promptly shooed our indigent selves back toward the elders' den.

I sulked, tail whisking back and forth through the air. "Oh come on," I grumbled. "We're five moons old!"

Maplekit agreed, "Basically apprentices. I can't see why we should learn hunting earlier. After all, we're going to be the best warriors the Clans have ever seen!"

Best Apprentice

“Brightpaw! Maplepaw! Otterpaw! Aspenpaw!”

The chant didn’t seem to carry on as long as normal. Or maybe it was just because there were too many names to call out. Either way, I was too proud and excited to care.

“We’re gonna be the best apprentices ever!” Otterkit—Otterpaw now—whispered over the noise of enthusiastic congratulations, jostling me in that playful way of his, eyes sparkling as he spoke.

Maplepaw glanced over, and made a hefty swipe at her brother’s ear. “Forgot apprentices! We’re going to be the best warriors.”

“I second that!” I mewed.

Aspenpaw’s narrow face popped up from behind Maplepaw. “Me too!”

“As if,” sneered a irritatingly familiar voice from behind, “any of you could beat me.”

Pikepaw’s going to wake up with a fire ant in his nest someday, I thought, and swung around, ready to deliver a vicious retort. Before I could even open my jaws, a large paw bigger than my head swooped over my back and gave me a shove, herding me away from the knot of cheering warriors.

It was Cedarpelt. My mentor gave me a reprimanding look and said, “Now, now. It’s not the time to go insulting older apprentices.”

“But—“

“No buts. We’re going to go tour the territory.”

My heart soared at once, but just as quickly, it plummeted. I could see Rippleheart heading over towards my littermates, no doubt ready to deliver her special congrats.

“But Rippleheart hasn’t—neither has Hailstrike—“

Cedarpelt followed my gaze, but kept on herding me forwards toward the reed entrance. “You can get your parent’s praise later, Brightpaw,” he meowed, before giving me another strange look. “One would think that you’d be more excited to explore the territory before any of your littermates.”

I gave the gray tabby warrior a scowl, indignation flaring through me. “I am. But can’t we wait so I can go with them? It’ll be more fun!”

Cedarpelt gave me another shove with his paws, and shook his head. I had to scramble desperately for balance before I tripped over my own tail and went for a headlong dive into the stream. “Nope,” he said cheerfully. “You’re getting a head start. Under my training, you’ll be the best warrior of all your peers. Just you wait.”

Like a Shadow

The sun was shining directly in my eyes, and I could barely make out Cedarpelt’s figure as he crouched. “Pay attention, Brightpaw!” he called, clearly mistaking my fidgeting for distraction. “This is a rather complex move for you right now. Let’s see if you can it right, first try!”

Before I could protest, he moved, feinting to one side before swiping with the other paw. His dark gray fur was just a blur as he ducked forward in a compact roll, flinging his back legs out in the mimic of a powerful kick straight in his invisible opponent’s face.

Whoa.

Cedarpelt leaped to his paws and shook the dirt from his back. “Your turn.” He beckoned me over to the middle of the training clearing. Not needing any more encouragement, I shot forward to stand in front of my mentor.

I concentrated on Cedarpelt’s shoulders as I crouched, tail flicking in anticipation.

“Remember,” he rumbled, “don’t rush into moves. Wait until you’re—“

I pounced before he finished speaking, relishing in the surprise that flared in Cedarpelt’s eyes. Feinting towards the right, I followed it up with a quick swipe of my left paw, brushing his shoulder. If my claws had been out, you’d be yelping in pain, I thought, and ducked forward for that finishing front roll.

Instead of being in the exactly right position to kick Cedarpelt, I found myself lying almost on my head, my back landing with an awkward whomp right on his chest. “…Ouch.”

“You forgot to make yourself roll up tight,” Cedarpelt said, reprovingly. He lifted one paw and rolled my back onto my feet. “Pay more attention next time, alright? You have to put your head between your forelegs like this before you roll.” He demonstrated.

“Oh.” I hadn’t done that. “But you can’t blame me,” I protested, determined to prove that I had been paying very close attention. “The sun was in my eyes!”

“Excuses, excuses,” sang a familiar voice. Otterpaw bounced into the clearing, with his mentor Lilystep close behind. He waggled a paw in my face. “Mm, you know making excuses is bad for you?”

Lilystep flicked my brother on the ear with her tail, but her eyes sparkled with amusement. “It was very good, Brightpaw,” she praised, turning to me. “Especially for a first try. I’m surprised that you’re even this far into battle training, a moon in into being an apprentice.”

I beamed, puffing out my chest in pride. Otterpaw stuck out a tongue at me, but I ignored him, feeling even more satisfaction when I heard Cedarpelt agree. “She’s a natural at combat,” he purred. The look he gave me said, I told you you’d be the best.

My tail flicked back and forth in excitement, and a sudden impulse had me tucking myself into a compact roll—the right way this time—and leaping out into the face of an unprepared Otterpaw. I bowled him over and started tickling him, batting my paws on his ears and shoulders.

“Stop it!” Otterpaw flailed desperately and knocked me off my victory perch on his stomach. I scowled at him and poked his nose. Not fair. He was bigger and stronger in build than me! I’d gotten Rippleheart’s lean and wiry-strong figure, while Otterpaw had gotten Hailstrike’s powerful, broad-shouldered look, complete with the same brown tabby fur.

“Alright, alright,” Lilystep wove between us, breaking the scuffle apart. “Time to go back to camp, it’s almost dark.”

Cedarpelt led us out of the training hollow and gave me an appraising look. “You can have the pick of the pile tonight, Brightpaw. For your hard work.”

“You too, Otterpaw,” Lilystep mewed from behind us. “You’ve got that fishing down.”

My stomach rumbled and I quickened my pace until I was racing past Cedarpelt, pelting up the slope towards camp. Now that Cedarpelt mentioned it, I was really hungry.

Otterpaw chased after me, his pawsteps loud and thumping. A sudden thump-crash followed by cursing brought me to a stop though, but I only burst out laughing when I saw Otterpaw sprawled on his back by the tree root I’d leaped nimbly over.

“That’s not right,” Otterpaw groaned over his mentor’s frantic fussing. “RiverClan cats aren’t supposed to run that quiet or fast through forest. You’re like a shadow, Brightpaw. And I’m gonna eat you!”

I yelped in surprise when Otterpaw heaved himself onto his paws and lunged towards me, barging straight past Cedarpelt.

With yowled, playful threats behind me, I ran for the safety of food.

Inside Tears Fall Faster Than Rain

I was exhausted and every single point of my body was sore. Even my claws. I could barely walk without tripping over my own paws and tail, much less carry--wait sorry, drag-- three fish by their tails.

Cedarpelt definitely hadn’t been kidding when he worked me from sunup to sundown to make me the “best.” Sometimes I was shaken awake even before the dawn patrol set off. Simply say, I was so, so tired.

My fighting skills excelled, and I was the best out of my littermates. Pikepaw was even better though, much to my annoyance.

Minnowpaw was alright, except she was more of the swimmer, lightning fast in water and as silent as a fish. Otterpaw was well-rounded, good at everything he tried, but never being excellent at any certain skill either. Tree-climbing was never a RiverClan thing, but Aspenpaw was like a squirrel on the oaks. She was the only reason why tree-prey like birds showed up on the fresh-kill pile from time to time. Maplepaw was the best hunter though. She was so good at it, it wasn’t even fair. It was like an inborn ability.

That’s why Cedarpelt had been concentrating on my hunting skills the past few days. I’d gotten better, but not amazingly good at catching those slippery fish.

It was only a quarter past sunhigh at the moment, but the only reason Cedarpelt had allowed me to stop was because I had barely caught anything since morning. My movements were jerky and too slow because of my poor aching muscles. Forget fishing. I couldn’t even walk right.

Cedarpelt must’ve finally noticed my discomfort because he reached over and took the carp from my jaws to carry himself. I didn’t even complain. He was silent for awhile as I stumbled wearily after him, finally reaching the camp entrance after what seemed like a trip from the Moonpool and back.

“Okay Brightpaw,” he said finally, after depositing the catch onto the pile. “You’ve been working really hard this moon, so I’ll let you off on a break. Do whatever you want for the rest of the day, and rest up tomorrow too. We’ll start back up after that. Sounds good?”

I bobbed my head and winced at the movement. “Yes,” I mumbled, then repeated myself in a louder voice. “Yes! Thanks, Cedarpelt.”

About time I got a break. I think I would’ve died.

“Awhh, poor little Brightpaw got exhausted from hunting again?”

“Get away from me, Pikepaw,” I snapped, hobbling over to my nest. “Leave me alone. Not now, okay? Or I’ll rip your ears off!”

A mocking chuckle was the only reply as the black-furred tom wandered away to find one of my other littermates to torment. Good grief. I collapsed into the pile of moss and rolled over, throwing a paw over my face as I closed my eyes. A moment later, I was asleep.



The next time I woke, I could tell it was sometime around moonhigh. It was dark outside, and the air had that typical musty smell of night. It was kind of different right now. Extra-humid, like it was going to rain. Not surprising though. Clouds had been gathering since dawn.

But the extra moisture in the air wasn’t what woke me. I opened my eyes and rubbed the bleariness from them to focus on Otterpaw. He was getting up from his nest, moving as slow as a caterpillar. “Otterpaw?” I hissed.

His head jerked up, so fast I was afraid he pulled a muscle. “You’re awake? I thought you were dead to the world.” There was still that hint of humor in his tone, even though his greenish-blue eyes were dark with something like guilt.

My heart sunk as I gazed into his face. Surely Otterpaw wasn’t doing something against the warrior code? “Where are you going?” I asked hesitantly. My muscles screamed as I scrambled to my paws, but I ignored it. That wasn’t important right now.

My brother must’ve seen the alarm on my face because he hastened to assure me, immediately guessing where my thoughts were going. “I’m not meeting up with someone from another Clan! I promise, Brightpaw. I wouldn’t break the warrior code. Promise. It’s just that.. I need some extra practice.”

“Practice?” I echoed. “Practice with what? You’re pretty good at everything.”

“Not hunting,” he said miserably. “Lilystep was working with me on hunting the whole day yesterday. And I caught nothing. Nothing but a few measly minnows. You should’ve seen her face. She’s so disappointed with me. She didn’t even let me go on the evening border patrol I was supposed to go on. I was to practice hunting.”

I stared at him, my jaws open in surprise. It was surprising enough to me that my persistent, strong-willed brother wasn’t a good hunter-- he was definitely patient enough--but the completely deadbeat echo of his voice as he explained to me...

You had to know Otterpaw to understand. He was never, ever pessimistic or negative. His sunny lookout on life was his own special trait. No one could ever rain on his parade.

“But why now? Why can’t your practice in the morning?” I was spluttering, and in danger of waking up someone else, but I didn’t care. Otterpaw wasn’t a nocturnal kind of cat either. He liked his sleep.

“Because.” A shutter came over his eyes, and he turned away, ready to push past me, but I stopped him.

“No. Wait. Something happened. Someone told you something. Was it Pikepaw? Or maybe Hailstrike is...” That was typical enough of that annoying piece of fox dung apprentice. And our father was never pleasant to my sisters anyways, only showing favor to Otterpaw. He was never around for us when we were kits.

The look on Otterpaw’s face was enough to tell me that I was right on both accounts. “Don’t listen to Pikepaw, you know he’s always trying to make us look stupid. And Hailstrike doesn’t deserve anything from us. He was never there as a real father,” I pleaded.

“But he’s right. They’re both right,” Otterpaw snapped. “I’m terrible at hunting. The pressure of Lilystep trying to make me get it right just makes it worse. She thinks it’ll be good for me to have Pikepaw standing beside me and giving me encouragement.” The last word was spat out, and he pushed past me, disappearing into the darkness.

His vehemence scared me frozen, and I didn’t dare go after him. I’ve never seen him like this.


Looking back, I should’ve stopped him. I should’ve run after him and dragged him back by the tail.

But now it was too late.

Otterpaw's Missing in Action

The next time I woke, it was a different situation entirely. Aspenpaw was shaking me, shrieking above the sound of raindrops drumming the roof of the den.

“Wha--?”

“Flood! Flood!” Aspenpaw wailed, cutting me off and dragging me out with surprising strength. The second I was out of the protection of the apprentice’s den, I realized that I could hardly just describe the raindrops as drumming.

It was a downpour. A torrential rainfall. Like someone had taken the river and emptied it out over our heads. The rain fell like a sheet in front of us, weighing us down, slamming into our backs with enough force to us stumble. Could someone even drown in rain? If there ever was a time, it was now.

I choked on the water and slipped twice before we finally reached Mistystar. She seemed like she was the only cat left in camp, other than Aspenpaw and me. “Hurry!” she hissed, herding us before her.

There was only one place where the Clan could escape the flood. There was a cave deeper into the territory, set high on a hill with surrounding pine trees. It was far from the river, so it wasn’t used much, except for apprentice exploring. I assumed that was where the rest of the Clan was, and only Mistystar had stayed behind to wait for Aspenpaw to get me.

As we passed the river, I took a quick look and almost tripped. The river used to be behind the willows, but it was well past it now, almost reaching the oaks. It was at least seven tail-lengths above the normal water-line.

No one would be fishing for awhile. Not even Maplepaw, with her hunting skills.

Hunting. “Otterpaw!” I screeched, skidding to a stop. It was impossible to tell what time it was, with the rain and the clouds, but even I knew that it wasn’t even dawn yet. I could hope that Otterpaw had returned before then, but I knew that he was the stubborn type, always refusing to stop until he got it right. “Otterpaw!” I screeched again, pushing myself away from Mistystar as she tried to shove me forward.

Aspenpaw was staring at me, puzzled. Mistystar had an identical expression, except she looked more cross. “Brightpaw, what about him? He’s probably already at the cave.”

“No!” I stood my ground even as the rain fell faster. “He went out hunting last night, to practice. I let him go, s-since he wasn’t going to let me stop him. Has he come back? Has he?”

The RiverClan leader stood like a rock, a tense look on her face, worry in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she said finally.

I swung towards Aspenpaw, but the horror on her face told me that she hadn’t seen him. “I was one of the first to wake, and he wasn’t in the den!” she wailed. “I didn’t think much of it then but--”

“Enough!” The steel was suddenly back in Mistystar’s voice as she shoved both of us forwards. “I’m sure Otterpaw is safe. He knows where to go if a flood happens.” When I kept struggling to turn back towards camp, she grabbed me by the scruff and started carrying me. “Have faith in your brother, Brightpaw,” she growled.

Aspenpaw stumbled after me, whipping her head from side to side to search for Otterpaw through the rain as we ran

Surely he would be at the cave. Surely. He knew where to go. Right? I squeezed my eyes shut and wallowed in my own misery. My fault, my fault.

Eternity, it seemed, passed before we reached the cave. I kept my eyes closed, but I heard Aspenpaw scrabbling past me, probably searching for Maplepaw. Mistystar set me down, but I just huddled there, whispering Otterpaw’s name over and over under my breath.

Graystorm nudged me once. I could smell his presence over my shoulder. A couple other warriors, like Reedwhisker, the deputy, crowded around me and tried to get me to stand up, but I refused. Finally Rippleheart appeared, still dripping wet, and coaxed me step by step deeper into the cave.

When I was finally allowed to collapse beside Maplepaw, I curled into a tight ball and threw my paw over my eyes. Rippleheart licked my ears soothingly, but I didn’t respond. She’ll blame you, an insidious voice whispered in my head. Everyone will blame you.

It was obvious Otterpaw was nowhere to be seen in the cave, because Maplepaw kept pressing against my sodden fur, muttering reassurances in my ear. “I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

I didn’t respond.

“He’s not stupid.”

No reply.

“I bet he’s hiding in a tree or something.”

Silence.

Even Pikepaw left me alone. But it was probably because Aspenpaw was sending death threats. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to torment me even now.

My whole body felt sticky and gross, but it was my heart that hurt the most. It ached, like someone had bruised it with a kick.

Otterpaw might be dead or seriously injured because of me.

Coward.