Broken Warrior

Broken Warrior
Feather looked at the human holding her hatefully. I’m a rogue and proud of it! In two
quick paw swipes, she broke free and made the dash across the yard.

The human chased after her relentlessly. Feather laughed to herself. “Here kitty,
kitty,” he called. He held out some slimy round thing.

“I would rather eat mouse dung!” she hissed. In a mad sprint, she found herself at a
river. “Time to get your paws wet, Feather.” She told herself. Eyes clutched shut, she
dived in.

Loving the way that the river current felt against her long fur, she paddled carelessly
for several minutes. The multiple scents drove her crazy. Then there was a noise.

“Rogue! Deal with her.” A sleek, grey cat dove into the river. Feather chuckled.

“Why would you want to hurt a poor defenseless little thing like me? I’m only here to
talk to CrookedStar.” Feather drug herself onto the bank. Several cats surrounded her.
One was a great grey tom. She felt herself unable to look away.

“He died. LeopardStar is our new leader. I’m StoneFur. The cat that’s in the river right
now is MistyFoot. I’m clan deputy and I’ll tell LeopardStar anything important.” StoneFur
looked at her wet fur. “You’re a rogue aren’t you?”

“How very observant of you! Not that I like formal introductions or anything, but I’m
Feather,” she said sarcastically. The she-cat twitched her tail and walked past the three
cats.

StoneFur leaped after her. “This is RiverClan territory. Being here gives us a hundred
reasons to kill you. Why are you here?”

Feather paused, “Oh, I was irresistibly drawn to you,” she mocked, “Yeah; I just love
cats that annoy a poor, innocent little she-cat that wants a word with a big, bad clan
leader.”

StoneFur hissed at Feather, but she’d already left the spot. “Please, I’m rogue. I care
only for me, myself, and I. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get out of here by next
moon.”

MistyFoot got to the bank where she was walking. Feather carefully stepped on the other
she-cat’s paws. MistyFoot spat and ran after her. “I’m a warrior! I demand respect from
all clans!” she sputtered.

Feather rolled her eyes, “I’m not from a clan, am I, Misty? I’m Feather; a rogue! I don’t
have to respect a little mouse-brained she-cat, do I? I’m of no clan and I’d prefer if it
stayed that way.” She shook off some water from her pelt.

“You’re going to be part of StarClan in a moment if you don’t shut up.” MistyFoot hissed.


Feather grinned, “Oh please, someone help! She’s going to hurt me! StoneFur, please, save
me! You wouldn’t dare fight me, Misty,” Feather strutted some more, “I’d fight you any
time, any day, rain or shine.” Feather gloated.

MistyFoot lunged at her. StoneFur hissed at his sister, but Feather didn’t need help. She
easily moved out of the way as StoneFur swatted MistyFoot. “When I need the help of fox
dung and a kittypet, I’ll call it quits on life.” The other two cats that had previously
been standing with StoneFur chased after her.

“Stand down or we’ll fight you.” A silver cat and a black cat with white paws blocked
her. The other two RiverClan cats rushed to join them.

Feather cocked her head, taunting the cats bound by the warrior code. “I’d fight each of
you. It would be like a match. First I go up against the little grey one right here.” She
twitched her tail towards SilverStream, “Then I’ll fight big, old WhitePaw right here.”
She gestured to the cat with white paws. “Then I’ll fight Misty and Rocky.”

SilverStream bowed her head to the rouge. “RiverClan has no need for any lost warriors at
the moment. However, I’ll ask you one more time to leave or tell us what you need to tell
Crook,” the she-cat’s eyes filled with tears, “I mean, LeopardStar.”

“I need to speak with her in private. She’ll be quite happy with what I have to say. It’s
vaguely important for your clan’s safety.” Feather walked past them and none of them
stopped her.

As the rogue cat entered the RiverClan camp, she received several very hostile looks.
Surprised that she hadn’t been attacked yet, she turned and saw StoneFur walking at her
side. The tom was amazing. Why did he protect her?

Finally they reached a bunch of reeds. “This is her den. I wouldn’t go any farther than
this. LeopardStar isn’t very friendly.”
Feather laughed. “CrookedStar wouldn’t have wasted much time talking to me either, would
he? I know these clans just as much or more than your ordinary clan cat. ShadowClan
would’ve killed me on spot. WindClan would give me a decent chance if their warriors
permitted me to reach camp. ThunderClan, well BlueStar would have taken my warnings with
an open mind. I was in a hurry,” Feather laughed loudly, “to get here though. I was being
chased by a stupid human.”

StoneFur looked at her, “Human?”

“Twoleg,” she explained.

StoneFur purred. “You should be in a clan. You’d make a very fierce warrior,” he bluntly
stated.

“Time hasn’t healed all scars and those left prefer to hide.”

StoneFur looked at her, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“Only time will tell, or maybe time won’t tell. How should I know? I am no medicine
cat.”

StoneFur begged her to explain it, but she ignored him. Eventually, LeopardStar came out
of the reeds. “Who is she? She smells like a loner. Why didn’t the patrol kill her on
spot? You’re my deputy; don’t make me sorry to have appointed you, StoneFur.”

StoneFur’s lip twitched. “We thought she was rather too amusing to kill, LeopardStar. She
claims to have very important information.”

LeopardStar flicked her tail, and both cats followed her. “StoneFur and I are going to
get our medicine cat. Stay here.” She growled.

“You’re very persuasive. Okay.” Feather sat down and began grooming herself. As soon as
she saw the back of the cats, she nearly fell over in exhaustion.

It had been not too long ago that she’d tried to help TallStar defend WindClan. She’d
heard ShadowClan’s plans and rushed to warn them. When she got there, ShadowClan was
already attacking. With all the strength she had, she fought.

There was one particular battle she’d never forget. She’d been cornered by two oversized
warriors.

“Do they deserve this? They’re one of the four clans of the forest; leave them alone!”
Feather pounced, knocking one warrior down. In a sudden confusion, she realized the
warrior in front of her was none other but the notorious BrokenStar.

“Leave them, BrokenStar! They don’t deserve this!” Feather pounced and clawed and him.
He’d given her a few week scratches, but then when he tried to break from under her, he’d
exposed his throat.

Feather wasted no time. She clawed his throat until he stopped moving. Even then, she
raked her paws down him one last time.

Feather didn’t remember anything else. Three ShadowClan cats tried to corner her, but she
ran. BrokenStar had lost a life! She was happy and upset at the same time. She hadn’t
meant to kill him. Her aim had been for him to leave before she got to that point.

He hadn’t shown any signs of leaving, she counseled herself. She had every right to kill
that black hearted cat. Anyway, at least he had one less life to live. It was different
if he hadn’t had nine to start with.

StoneFur tapped her slender shoulder with his nose. “We’re back. What did you have to
tell LeopardStar?”

“A lot.” The little she-cat that had looked so strong and sure had broken down.
“ShadowClan will create immense damage. Clans will be destroyed. Cats will be lost. I
killed a cat. I’m not a rogue. I’m a ShadowClan Warrior!”

Broken Warrior: Chapter 2




The words she’d just said echoed in her ears. “I’m not a ShadowClan warrior. I am a
rogue. I killed BrokenStar when he attacked WindClan. I’m lucky I wasn’t killed. I exiled
myself. ShadowClan would’ve killed me anyway.”

StoneFur tapped his nose against Feather’s shoulder. “BrokenStar died. He’s gone. You can
go back to ShadowClan. TigerStar is leader.”

Feather gasped. “No! He’ll destroy the forest! We have to kill him.” The young she-cat
fell limp and the last thing she saw was StoneFur looking down at her sadly.



Feather woke up slowly. “I’m not here. I’m only half here. The other part of me is in
StarClan because I’m dead, but I can’t pass because I killed BrokenStar… No, I feel my
paws. Oh, I’m alive!” she muttered. Then she started to feel things.

Without opening her eyes, she felt a warm flank against hers. And there was that scent.
Oh, she would have stayed there forever if she had the choice! Then StoneFur moved.

“Feather, Feather! Are you awake? Can you hear me?” he asked. She couldn’t help but feel
something because of the emotion in his voice. He was… worried? Excited? Concerned?
Relieved? It was some of all of them. The she-cat purred in satisfaction.

“Oh thank StarClan! What happened, Feather?” StoneFur asked.

Feather thought for a moment, “Oh StoneFur, can I ask why you’re here?”

He was shocked. “Well I just thought that you might need to, you know, you were so upset.
I came in here to check on you. You were asleep for nearly three days.” He stuttered.
Feather smiled naturally.

“Thanks StoneFur. Will you tell the patrol you were with that I’m sorry for all the
stuff I said? Especially MistyFoot; I wasn’t exactly fair with her. I’m sorry about all
the stuff I said to you, too.” Feather rested her head on some moss. He liked her. He
wouldn’t have been in there if he didn’t.

StoneFur hesitated. “Feather? How do you feel about the warrior code? Did you uphold it
when you were a warrior?”

Feather was in dream state. “Yes. I wanted ShadowClan to have lots of warriors and the
best hunting grounds. I didn’t want to hurt any other cats for them though. I couldn’t
stand BrokenStar’s rules. I killed him. I said that WindClan didn’t deserve what we were
doing to them. He fought me and I won. I fought to kill. In my opinion, I did something
good. He deserved to die, and I killed him. There’s nothing else to it,” she was nearly
asleep when she murmured, “StoneFur, will you do me a favor when you come back?”

“Sure, anything,” he agreed quickly.

“Come back and lay here just like you were. Please.” Feather drifted off to sleep just a
StoneFur nodded.

Minutes later, Feather felt a warm flank against her and purred.


“LeopardStar! LeopardStar, can I have a word with you?” When the spotted she-cat nodded,
Feather stepped into the reeds.

“I want to ask you for a huge favor.”

LeopardStar narrowed her eyes. “Yes?”

“I want to be a warrior for RiverClan. I just don’t want you to say anything about it at
gatherings or to any other cats. I don’t want to start problems for the clan that fed and
took care of me while I was sick. I’m in debt to this clan and I promise to serve and
fight for you on my life. I’ll do anything a regular clan member would, just don’t
announce me at gatherings, don’t bring me to gatherings, and tell your warriors not to
say anything about me. Please LeopardStar, I want to belong in the forest again,” she
promised shakily. LeopardStar paused for a moment.

“I’ll expect you to take on nearly twice regular warriors duties to prove your loyalty.
When the time comes that you can finally come out of hiding, we’ll be proud that you are
one of our warriors.” LeopardStar nodded for her to leave.

“What about my name?”

The she-cat rolled her eyes, “Am I responsible for everything? Keep it Feather for all I
care.” Feather grinned. She and LeopardStar were very alike.

Feather raced out of the reeds. “StoneFur, I’m a full RiverClan warrior!” She felt
shivers go up her spine when he pushed his flank against hers.

“That’s great!” StoneFur ran over to her, “Let’s go to the river bank. It’s always good
hunting there.” Feather knew better. If he wanted to hunt, then he would’ve sent out a
patrol. He wanted to be alone with her and quite honestly, Feather felt the same exact
way.

She followed him through the reeds to the sandy bank. There were smooth pebbles scattered
around. She stretched out on the sand and they began sharing tongues. At first, they both
just sat there, soaking in the silence and beauty of it all. Then StoneFur broke the
silence.

“Do you miss ShadowClan?”

“I had friends there. I liked YellowFang a lot, but,” she purred, “I’ll never feel the
same way about anyone there as I do about you.” She waited for what StoneFur would say.

“I love MistyFoot because she’s my sister. I love GrayPool because she’s my mother. When
I see you, it’s a different love. Something else. I love you, Feather.”

The words she’s always wanted to hear were unleashed. The longing that she’s felt to here
those three words was satisfied. Feather once again wanted to stay touching StoneFur
forever. When he began to get up, Feather stopped him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said
that.”

“No, StoneFur. It’s okay. I love you, too. I want to say here forever. I’d be happy to
never, ever go back to camp and just stay here for a million moons.” StoneFur sat back
down quietly.

“What happened to the you when I first met you? The disrespectful, mean she-cat that
didn’t care about the clans was a really fierce warrior. She’d shred BrokenStar for kit
bedding.”

Feather curled into a ball. “All of that was an act. I felt bad afterwards, didn’t I?
Back when I was in ShadowClan, we were trained really hard. We had no kits. You know how
BrokenStar forced us into things before we were ready. I was one of the very few kits to
make it to their warrior naming ceremony. All of my brothers and sisters died and my mom
died in birth.”

“Oh,” StoneFur said, unsure of how to take in all the secrets she was revealing to him.

“I think I’m going insane, StoneFur. I can’t help but have visions of horrible things to
come. I keep drifting off into this dream world where I see shadows taking over the
forest and then there’s a storm. There was this one where a tree was struck by lightning
and there was suddenly a great fire. The fire sweeps through the forest and it destroys
the darkness, but now we’re left with nothing. The river is gone, the forest is gone, and
even WindClan’s mores are just a barren burnt wasteland. ShadowClan’s swamp is nothing but
a patch of dirt and burnt trees. His name shouldn’t have been BrokenStar; it should have
been Warrior Breaker. That’s what he did to me. He’s dead and he’s still driving me
insane. I don’t know why; I just always have these nightmares and thy all remind me of
ShadowClan. Oh StarClan help us if it’s true, I don’t know what I’ll do!” Feather
silently cried into StoneFur’s coat.

StoneFur tried to reassure her. “It’s okay; it’s just that you were scared of BrokenStar
and his warriors. You had every right to be. The visions you’re having are just that;
dreams. They’re not going to come true.”

Feather continued to cry. The silence was only broken when StoneFur would lick the little
she-cat by his side to comfort her.

Broken Warrior: Chapter 3
A dark cloud spread over the lush green forest. Feather felt her muscles stiffen. It was
something; she couldn’t identify it, but it smelled of evil. When she opened her mouth to
cry out, it choked her.

“StoneFur!” she yelled. No big grey tom ran to her though. “Please, someone!” she choked.
A feline shape appeared through the mist. Feather started to mew pitifully.

It wasn’t StoneFur or even and old ShadowClan clan mate. It was BrokenStar. He raked her
sides until she pleaded for him to stop. Finally, he took the one swing through her
throat. Just as his claw was about to swipe her, he turned into StoneFur.

Instead of StoneFur killing her, he brought the claw down on himself. He fell over, his
blue eyes empty.


Feather woke up, startled. She gazed around the warriors’ den. Oh, StoneFur was lying
right next to her. She curled back up, and slept until it was time for patrol the next
day.

LeopardStar had kept her promise. Feather was expected to do at least a hunting and a
border patrol each day. Fortunately, StoneFur tried to go easy on her since he was
deputy. Still, up at dawn for a border patrol and a hunt at sun high was tough on the
little cat. She brought home just as many fish as a senior warrior. Sometimes she even
caught one or two of the fat water vole near the river.

She was still plagued by the freakish nightmares and they still had no idea what caused
her to break down on her first day in RiverClan. It sent shivers up her spine just to
think about it.

On one of her rare moments alone with StoneFur, she’d told him about the dream she’d had
in the warriors’ den. It was the one where BrokenStar appeared in all of that evil, and
suddenly he turned into BrokenStar and killed himself. When she’d told him, he reacted
very strangely.

“Well, what if I ever did have to make that choice? I would easily choose you over my own
life. You could become so great. I’m already a deputy and LeopardStar is very young.
She’ll live well past me. You’ve been through so much anyway. You deserve a chance to
really live. I’ve seen that.” StoneFur gazed out on the river. “Want to go for a swim?”

“You’re crazy! I’m a cat; I prefer not the wet my paws. I’m not born and raised
RiverClan.” Truthfully, she loved going swimming, but she should be hunting or working
right now.

StoneFur yawned lazily, “You are ShadowClan. Sorry, I can hardly remember what it was
like when you weren’t here. What are we going to tell the clan?”

Feather drifted off in silence. The clan reacted neutral towards her, but there were a
few cats that couldn’t stand a former rogue feeding them, defending them, and living with
them. In the warriors’ den, she was pretty much confined to a small corner while the other
cats slept half a tail length away. When StoneFur realized what they’d done to her, he
came over and slept next to her. MistyFoot was very friendly. The other she-cat that had
been there when she climbed out of the river was SilverStream. She hadn’t really seen
much of her since that day. She didn’t go to meetings when LeopardStar called them and
hardly followed on any of the gossip.

The first night she’d been there, she’d slept in MudFur’s den because he was the medicine
cat. MudFur constantly asked her questions like, “Are you feeling faint?” or “Have you
eaten enough prey?” and “Do you feel like you’re running a fever?” Feather always shook
her head and thanked MudFur for his concern. Still, he made her swallow borage leaves
every two days.

She sighed. “StoneFur, I’m a danger to this clan,” she admitted, “When the clan goes to
the gathering tonight, some apprentice will say, a rogue cat joined our clan, just to
have an interesting piece of gossip. Then ShadowClan will attack, LeopardStar will hate
me, and your clan will exile me just like ShadowClan did. I feel like a rogue again.”

StoneFur’s ears twitched. “Feather, hide in the reeds. We can’t let another cat find
out.” Feather didn’t ask about what, she crawled into hiding just as a figure came out of
the bushes.

“Oh, MistyFoot! What are you doing here?” StoneFur asked. His tail twitched back and
forth nervously.

“StoneFur, what are you hiding? You have loyalties to RiverClan before you have loyalties
to anyone else! I can’t let keep seeing her.” MistyFoot mewed. If she’d been hostile with
Feather on the day she met her, then she wanted to kill StoneFur.

“How many times have you spied on us?” MistyFoot knew what ‘us’ met. Feather swallowed as
her hair stood up on her back.

“Only the first time and this time. There’s more? I can’t let you and Feather star
together. You’re putting her before the clan. She probably doesn’t even love you. She’s
rogue; she cares for me, myself, and I. Don’t you remember?”

StoneFur looked at his sister sadly, “I’ll stand by her, no matter what.”

MistyFoot twitched her tail impatiently. “You of all people I thought I could trust. I’m
telling LeopardStar; you and your little rogue friend can have fun in exile!”

StoneFur nearly fell back. “MistyFoot, you know I’m trying to be loyal to the clan and
her. I won’t stop. I’ll be a rogue if I have to. Just look at poor SilverStream! You
haven’t told LeopardStar on her, did you? You were fine with that! Old GrayStripe didn’t
exactly get on you nerves, did he? Stop being a hypocrite. I’m deputy of the clan and
I’ll defend it to the death.” Feather didn’t know who GrayStripe was.

MistyFoot had trapped him, “Would you defend it against Feather? Would you fight your
beloved ShadowClan warrior? Would you fight her if rogues attacked our camp?”

StoneFur swallowed. He twitched his tail back and forth. He was trying to stall answering
the question. “It’s not like that, she’s a RiverClan warrior. LeopardStar has accepted her
into the clan. She’s no longer a rogue, a loner, or an enemy warrior. She’s works as hard
as you do. I send her out on hunting and patrols. I go no easier on her than I do on you.
Feather deserves a place in our clan.”

MistyFoot snarled, “That’s not the question I asked you. If she was an attacking warrior,
what would you do?”

“Nothing! If she attacked me, I’d let her. I’ll never hurt her.”

MistyFoot had heard everything needed to hear. “You’re foolish. I’ll let it go for now,
but I don’t want you to mess up again. I will tell LeopardStar.” The grey she-cat
disappeared into the weeds and Feather breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped out of the
reed and pushed her nose against StoneFur’s neck.

“StoneFur? I’m not a rogue. I don’t only care for me; I had a clan and when RaggedStar
was leader, I would’ve defended it with my life. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be allowed
to join RiverClan. MistyFoot is wrong, isn’t she?”

But StoneFur just stared at the place where his sister had stood moments before.


Feather knew what she had to do. In the silent camp, she crawled through the borders.
When she’d left the den, she whispered a few words to StoneFur. “I’m sorry. My scars will
never heal and those that are left are going into hiding. If you love me, I’ll see you at
moon high tomorrow. You know where… the spot where…” Feather choked. She couldn’t get the
last words out. She’d rushed out of the den and down to the river.

Feather didn’t remember which path she took. She found herself in the same spot where
she’d first seen StoneFur, MistyFoot, WhiteClaw, and SilverStream. She dove into the
water, enjoying the warm Greenleaf weather. “Oh StoneFur, I’m so sorry. I can’t hurt this
clan anymore. I won’t hurt you.”

In the warm river, everything seemed so much simpler. She wanted to be like the current;
always flowing, everything the same, never changing. She knew that wasn’t for her though.
Soon the cats would return from the gathering with news on ShadowClan and on all the other
cats. They might come home with claw marks from ShadowClan though. Feather dragged
herself on to the bank where she’d shared tongues with StoneFur so many time’s before.

“I’m not really a cat. I’m more complicated. I’m something else. I’m a warrior; a warrior
for StarClan. That’s what happens to warriors when they snap. They become broken warriors.
Broken warriors are the warriors for StarClan. I’m not an exile cat, I’m not a RiverClan
or a ShadowClan warrior; I’m StarClan’s warrior. I’m not a mortal cat exactly. I’m not
like a leader with nine lives or a medicine cat that can talk with StarClan and save
lives.”

“I am of StarClan.”

With that Feather drifted from her body. When she looked down, she saw a little orange
cat. Out of the bushes, she saw a great, gray tom. “I’ll miss you, StoneFur.” Her voice
pierced only his ears.

“I loved you… and I’ll give you all the strength you need.” With that, the broken warrior
drifted off into Silverpelt.

Epilogue




Feather was there the day that StoneFur was killed. She was the one to greet him to
StarClan and congratulate him for not killing the half clan apprentices. She gave him the
courage to do just that.