Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Brambleclaw’s eyes pried open before the light of dawn cracked the sky. Squirrelflight was buried in his fluffy side, Sandstrom and Leafpool curled together near the base of the scaly tail surrounding them, still sleeping, sides rising and falling in near perfect harmony. The tabby unwound himself from his mate, glancing upwards, towards the face of the enormous creature surrounding them. Smoky snores billowed from the massive nostrils as the great beast slept, and as the former Thunderclan warrior got to his paws. The claws twitched when the brown tabby leaped upwards, attempting to peek over the mound of scales.

Mountains?

He jumped up again. Endless peaks and valleys, stretching far.

Were they near the Tribe?

He hopped a third time.

No, couldn’t be. He couldn’t hear or see a waterfall.

Then again, who could hear anything over the loud snoring? He stole a small glare at the dragon towering above him. No way Firestar could’ve taken this whole kidnapping thing into consideration without knowing how much they’d miss the Clans. That’s where all of their friends and family were… even in his dragon form, he couldn’t have forgotten about that!

The tom became too busy pondering, pacing, to notice when the heavy snores ceased.

Tawnypelt was still there, her and all of her kits (and Rowanclaw, he guessed, he’d eventually start to miss as well). If Stormfur decided to return for a visit or something of the sort, he’d have no idea where he was. Jayfeather, Hollyleaf, and Lionblaze were still stuck in Thunderclan, without a leader and a grandfather, a deputy and a father, and their grandmother and their mothers. This was just WONDERFUL, wasn’t it-

He paused when a deep rumble sounded from the scaly chest behind him. His tabby fur lifted off his spine before he turned to face the huge eyes staring down at him.

Thankfully, they weren’t red. The green glimmered down on him, reflecting the soft sunlight of dawn. Slitted pupils roamed over his ruffled pelt, and a smoky breath entered the widened nostrils, causing the scaly chest to swell.

Was… was he sniffing him?

Brambleclaw swallowed, edging away from the reptilian creature.

“Uh… good morning?”

The pupils blew wide with happiness. Before Brambleclaw could protest, a forked tongue slid out of nowhere and washed his face in one long swipe, causing all of the fur there the stand upwards all on its own.

“Hatchling,” Firestar’s pleased murmur rumbled the nest. “You’re awake…”

“Yep… I’m awake…”

They sat for an awkward moment blinking at each other before Firestar looked away, off towards the horizon. Brambleclaw dug his claws into the fir branches of the nest when the dragon shifted. The rows of scales unwound from around them with a surprising quietness when the dragon got to his feet, perched awkwardly on the mountain peak. The three she-cats remained sleeping, although Squirrelflight twitched a little. A bit of ginger flashed through the black scales in the sunlight when Firestar lowered his head to stare down at the tabby.

“Come walk?” His scaly snout bumped Brambleclaw gently – so softly that it was barely even a touch.

“…Sure.” Brambleclaw’s gaze dashed between the stone, now so small in the huge chest, and Firestar’s eyes. Neither changed.

With ease, a claw sank down beside him, just a bit bigger than he was, leading the tabby up to Firestar’s paw. It was a little amusing how the former Thunderclan leader still had toe beans despite the transformation… Brambleclaw thought as he climbed on, a smirk flashing over his muzzle.

The dragon tiptoed off of the mountain as silently as he could, large paws crossing distance that would tire most cats out in one step. Grass shivered before them in the grassy clearing, the portion of it closest to the mountain lit up in in sun, glistening with dew.

Firestar eased himself into a long stretch, jaws gaping in a huge yawn. Yep, Brambleclaw would never want to be caught in those teeth.

“I missed you,” Firestar purred sunnily once all of his stretching was done, plopping his treasure to the ground. “Now that you’re here and I’m not alone, we can do fun things!”

The tabby gulped, tail uneasily flicking to and fro.

“What… what fun things…?” Hopefully nothing that would end up with him being trampled to death…

“Like playing!” Firestar’s green eyes sparkled in the sun. “Let’s play hide and seek! You have to find me!”

Confusedly, the tabby tilted his head. How on earth was he not supposed to find a huge dragon like that?

“You’re supposed to cover your eyes!” Brambleclaw slid a paw over his eyes obediently. This would be an easy game anyways. “And start counting…”

“I know how to play hide and seek!” The tabby snorted good-naturedly. “Hasn’t been that long since I’ve played, you know!”

“Just in case you forgot, Scramble,” And the ground trembled beneath his feet, in harmony with the thumps of what sounded like huge feet stamping away. “Bet you can’t find me!”

“You have a mouse to bet on that?”

“There’s plenty of mice!” Firestar chirped brightly before his tone darkened. “But soon, there’ll only be one winner.”

Well, that was comforting.

However, since he simply couldn’t let Firestar get away with that, he closed his eyes and began to count slowly.

“One… two… three… four…”

More trampling followed, off to the right as far as Brambleclaw could tell. When the trampling stopped, the tabby sped up his counting, finishing swiftly, drawing his head up to take a glance around.

Worry fluffed his pelt then.

Firestar… he was gone!

Chapter Text

Dear Starclan, someone that humongous shouldn’t be that hard to miss! And how on earth could he have hidden so quickly?

Brambleclaw’s amber gaze scanned the nearby treetops, searching for the black feet and tail that could be sticking out from the leaves, but… nothing. Had Firestar gone farther? His footsteps didn’t sound as if they went that far, and there was no beat of wings either. His cinnamony scent still hung heavy in the air as Brambleclaw set forth, paws leading him to the opposite mountain that was not too far.

He certainly wasn’t aware of the tiny chuckle that sounded from behind him.

The search continued. The sun sailed past, bright and hot in the cloudless sky. The day was passing and passing, and Brambleclaw kept looking and looking, but he couldn’t spot the former leader anywhere. He’d resorted to scaling the mountain himself to get a better view of the territory surrounding them, only to be met with Squirrelflight at the very top of the peak.  Honestly, he would’ve been better with her seeing him simply with morning fur, but the aftermath on morning fur and running around everywhere probably didn’t look too great on him right about now…

“You look like you’re dying,” The ginger she-cat blinked down at him sleepily, one white paw swiping at her eyes. “What on earth have you been doing?”

“P-playing… h-hide and seek with F-Firestar…” He gulped in a breath of air, broad shoulders slumping in exhaustion.

“And you can’t find his big tail?” Her green eyes flashed upwards, taking a swift survey of their surroundings. “Holy foxdung… how far did he go?”

“I have no clue! I’ve been searching practically everywhere, and I can’t find him!”

“…Well, that’s a shame.” Her cheeks puffed as she pursed her lips. “Anyways, good luck finding him all by yourself!”

The tabby’s tail gave an irritable twitch. Wasn’t she the least bit concerned about where her father was?

Leafpool’s head popped out of the nest then.

“Hey, where’s Papa?”

“Off somewhere hiding from Bramble. They’re playing hide-and-seek, and Bramble can’t find him.” Squirrelflight explained, and no, he didn’t miss the smug twitch of her whiskers.

“Aw… I was planning doing some checkups on him today. Maybe next time.” She dropped back into the crater the branches were collected in. “Just don’t try to escape, okay?”

Guiltily, Squirrelflight’s green gaze dropped to her paws then. Eyes narrowing, Brambleclaw nudged her.

“You were considering it, weren’t you?”

“Well, who wouldn’t be? He kidnapped us and put us on some random mountain…” Her ears flicked downwards as well. “And we had lives back home.”

“Yeah, I know… but you know we can’t leave. That stone might make him do something he shouldn’t and then…” He trailed off. “Let’s just… not upset him? Besides, this isn’t… that bad…”

“I don’t care how bad it is! There were cats depending on us!” Her claws raked the stone desperately, and her voice rose. “And I miss my clan!”

“I miss them too,” But the glance she sent him delivered the message that she was unconvinced. “Our family’s there. But we can’t just… leave him.”

Also, she didn’t seem to take into consideration that her father was a dragon. She just seemed eager to leave, forgetting that Firestar could more forcefully hinder any attempts at escape. The tom left those words unspoken for now, ignoring the nervousness swirling in his stomach.

Squirrelflight only flicked her tail, beckoning Brambleclaw to follow as they scrabbled down the mountain.

“So, where do you think he would hide?” The tabby inquired quietly.

“Remember, he would usually hide under or behind somebody-” She paused, looking the slightest bit smug. “Oh wait... that was when he was smaller than you.”

“You’re still smaller than me.” The striped warrior grumbled to himself with a pout.

“Cherish that while you can, Scramble.” She trotted ahead of him, fluffy tail tickling his chin. “Never know when another rock might fall, huh?”

The tabby suppressed a shudder at the thought. Starclan, that would be awful, wouldn’t it? Two huge dragons trampling about the place could mean more unintentional danger.

He shook his head, digging his claws into the soft grass once his paws landed below the rocky terrain. No, it was wrong to think that way. Dragon or fish or fox, Firestar would always be Firestar. He’d always be the same cat underneath all of the outside changes. Speaking of outside…

Brambleclaw surveyed the area around them one last time, scanning the trees, the grassy lands and the peaks of the other mounts. Nothing. But his nose twitched, still detecting that the former leader’s scent remained close by.

“Better get looking,” Squirrelflight purred, since she must’ve realized the same thing. “I’m going to hunt for a bit.”

“But-” She skipped off before he could finish. He sighed. “Fine… guess I’ll have to get Leafy to help me…”