Brambleclaw goes about his duties as deputy. He tries to talk to Ashfur about Birchpaw, but Ashfur coldly blows him off saying his apprentice is his responsibility and that he is going to do an assessment with him today. As Ashfur leaves Brambleclaw thinks he probably could have done that better but Ashfur's attitude isn't helping. He suddenly remembers his meeting with Hawkfrost. As he goes to leave camp Squirrelflight offers to go with him. As he tries to think of a way to leave without her Daisy's kits start to make a mess and she goes off to deal with that. Brambleclaw heads to the lake where he finds Hawkfrost. Hawkfrost smells of ShadowClan, which Brambleclaw thinks is odd, but Hawkfrost said he did it purposely since he was traveling through their territory. Brambleclaw tries to tell Hawkfrost how he thinks making two clans is the wrong thing to do but Hawkfrost keeps insisting things are different now and what matters is strong leadership. As they talk Brambleclaw hears someone crying out. Hawkfrost tries to tell him to ignore it but Brambleclaw won't. He finds Firestar trapped in a fox trap, badly wounded. Firestar manages to gasp out that Birchpaw told him Blackstar was here waiting for him. Brambleclaw realizes that Hawkfrost did this and that is why he smells of ShadowClan. Hawkfrost admits his guilt and tells Brambleclaw to finish Firestar off so he can become leader of ThunderClan instead. Brambleclaw hears Tigerstar whispering in his ear that no cat will ever know his guilt.
Leafpool is in the nursery checking in in Sorreltail and her kits when she suddenly knows that something is terribly wrong. She stumbles out and races blindly across the clearing, startling everyone. Squirrelflight asks her what is wrong and Leafpool asks her for her help. As they go to leave Ashfur comes across them, upset. He says that Firestar is trapped in a fox trap but he couldn't save him because Brambleclaw and Hawkfrost are there and he couldn't take on both cats at once.
Looking down at Firestar, Brambleclaw realizes that there are only six lives between him and becoming clan leader. He wonders if this is actually what Hawkfrost and Tigerstar want him to become. Hawkfrost speaks of Brambleclaw taking revenge for their fathers death and Brambleclaw thinks how Tigerstar chose his own destiny and his own fate. He suddenly realizes that loyalty to the clan isn't just loyalty to the clan - it is loyalty to the leader as well because the leader is the clan. Brambleclaw refuses to kill Firestar and starts to dig out the fox trap so he can free him. Angry, Hawkfrost attacks him. Brambleclaw shoves Hawkfrost off and goes back to the trap but Hawkfrost won't leave him alone. He tells Brambleclaw this was just a test of Tigerstar's and he failed it. That if he truly wanted power he would do anything to obtain it. Hawkfrost tells him that he and Tigerstar knew all along that Brambleclaw would not be able to go through with it and now he is no longer needed. Brambleclaw realizes that Hawkfrost is going to kill him. He tries go stop Hawkfrost, telling him he doesn't want to fight since they are brothers. Hawkfrost doesn't care, saying power is more important then kin. He attacks and Brambleclaw tries to defend himself, killing Hawkfrost in the process. As he dies, Hawkfrost tells Brambleclaw this isn't over, that he had help from within Brambleclaw's own clan. Brambleclaw desperately asks him for more information but Hawkfrost dies. Brambleclaw turns to Firestar, expecting to be banished, but instead Firestar tells Brambleclaw that he did well. Firestar tells Brambleclaw that he always had a hard path before him, but he made the right choice in the end, and ThunderClan is lucky to have him for deputy.
Squirrelflight tells Ashfur to get some help and Leafpool races off after Firestar, worried that Tigerstar's dark influence is too much for Brambleclaw. Leafpool and Squirrelflight arrive and the smell of blood is overpowering. Seeing Brambleclaw covered in blood, Leafpool thinks at first that he killed Firestar. But then Firestar speaks. He tells Leafpool that Hawkfrost set a trap for him but Brambleclaw saved him. Leafpool realizes that Brambleclaw is also covered in mud from digging up the fox trap. Squirrelflight thanks Brambleclaw for saving their father but Brambleclaw doesn't look happy, just horrified. Leafpool finds Hawkfrost's body and sees the lake is red with his blood. She realizes the blood spilling blood meant that the brothers would fight. Peace has finally come, and Brambleclaw brought it.
I thought that since this was only twenty pages it would be a short post but holy cow there was a lot packed into these twenty pages!
So, first of all, Brambleclaw's foolishness is over with. He now sees his father and brother for what they really are. He also made the right choice just like I knew he would. I was shocked that it took him so long to make it, though. Tigerstar really did a number on him. And Hawkfrost too with all that talk of them being brothers - when clearly it meant nothing to him.
It is a little sad that Hawkfrost turned out just like Tigerstar. I feel like Sasha failed him a bit here. She only focused on the good of Tigerstar. She should have warned her children about the bad as well. Instead she left him open to Tigerstar's evil influence - which allowed Hawkfrost to think his father was unfairly painted as the villain.
Lastly, Hawkfrost's help had to have come from Ashfur and/or Birchpaw. No other cat was mentioned - and I would assume it is Ashfur. Ashfur and Birchpaw were supposed to be out training together. Birchpaw's actions led Firestar to the trap but he is just an apprentice and would just be following Ashfur's - or anothers - orders. It could very well be that Hawkfrost gave him the order but either way I don't think he is in on the plot. Like I said, he and Ashfur were supposed to be training but Birchpaw raced to deliver a message to Firestar, Firestar gets trapped, and then Ashfur goes looking for help because he was outmatched? That timeline does not add up. The moment Birchpaw was neatly disposed of Ashfur would not question why Hawkfrost was there? And then Firestar would have arrived and been attacked by Hawkfrost but Ashfur does nothing to help Firestar when it is just Hawkfrost there? And then even more illogically somehow in all of this Ashfur does not actually see what goes down - but assumes Brambleclaw is a part of it? When Brambleclaw arrives long after Firestar is injured? Why would Ashfur not help from the start.
Hawkfrost said a cat from ThunderClan helped him. I am convinced that Hawkfrost was meeting Tigerstar behind Brambleclaw's back all along. And as far as I am concerned Brambleclaw was expendable from the start. Brambleclaw rejected Tigerstar when he was a kit and Tigerstar told him that he would die then. Brambleclaw constantly picked Firestar over Tigerstar but now suddenly Tigerstar wants a relationship with his estranged son? Tigerstar does not believe in sharing power. He believes in one cat ruling all. I think the plan from the beginning was to use Brambleclaw and then kill him too so Hawkfrost could rule - and Hawkfrost trying to kill Brambleclaw really kind of proves it. He even said to Brambleclaw that he and Tigerstar felt that Brambleclaw was too weak. Brambleclaw was given a test and failed it. In the end Tigerstar might very well have favored Brambleclaw over Hawkfrost - especially since Hawkfrost's mother was a kittypet - but only if Brambleclaw would become more like him, which clearly Brambleclaw would never do. I think the end result was for one cat to rule all, and I think that cat was Hawkfrost.
And I think Ashfur was offered something in exchange for helping Hawkfrost. Something like being Hawkfrost's deputy, perhaps? Ashfur was furious that Squirrelflight chose Brambleclaw over him. He was furious that Brambleclaw was made deputy. Brambleclaw got everything he wanted and here was a way to help pave the way for Ashfur to get his revenge. If Firestar died then Ashfur was there to accuse Brambleclaw of murder. And if that didn't work, well eventually Hawkfrost would take over - and Ashfur would be there to sow the seeds of discontent in ThunderClan just like Hawkfrost had been doing in RiverClan. And Hawkfrost already lied about his involvement in the WindClan take over. If Brambleclaw did kill Firestar there was nothing to stop Hawkfrost from turning on him there. And when Ashfur arrived with reinforcements Hawkfrost could talk about how he tried to save Firestar from his evil brother but was too late.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. Maybe Hawkfrost had no help. Maybe Ashfur and Birchpaw hadn't started training yet so they weren't together. Maybe Hawkfrost sent Birchpaw on to camp alone. Maybe Ashfur really did stumble upon the scene like he said. Maybe seeing Firestar dying with Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw standing over him, Ashfur really was unsure what was going on.
But then again maybe not. Maybe Ashfur was in on it.
All I know is since Tigerstar has the power to reach out from beyond the grave I believe Hawkfrost's promise that this isn't over yet.
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