chapter 4

viperfoot

~~~

"BRIARLIGHT." 

The large gray tom approached Briarlight with a firm air of confidence. He had questions, Briarlight had answers, and he wanted them now. He was no longer a new, timid warrior who just happened to overhear the conversation of an aunt that hardly cared for him. Now he was trying to solve this whole war and get ShadowClan back to where they were supposed to be.

The tortoiseshell she-cat glanced over her shoulder at him, her yellow, calculating eyes scanning over his figure. "What do you want?"

And all of a sudden, that newfound confidence was gone; still, Viperfoot refused to back down. "Can we talk somewhere?"

Briarlight twitched her tail-tip. "I'm about to take Lionpaw on a hunting patrol, the prey pile is dreadfully low-"

"Frozenlight's on that right now, actually," he meowed, pressing a fake smile onto his face. "So you have a few moments to spare, right?"

Briarlight looked displeased, but she complied all the same. "Alright, fine. But be quick."

Viperfoot nodded. That was all he needed. "Follow me."

He padded over to a boulder by Snakestar's den. Though ShadowClan's young leader was inside, Viperfoot figured that the rocks between them and the roaring wind was thick enough to block any sound. Plus, he'd rather this conversation be overheard by Snakestar than any of his other Clanmates.

"So?" Briarlight flicked her ears impatiently. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I-" Viperfoot opened his jaws, then closed it, wondering how to phrase this question. He thought about his kithood. The cold, unwelcoming parenthood of Clearfrost; drawing closer to Snakestar simply because Mintberry was isolated from them; the status of the siblings' relationship now. Finally, he took a deep breath. "I want to know about my parents."

As soon as she heard this, Briarlight barked a laugh. "Your father's a RiverClan cat. What else could you possibly want to know?"

"Everything." Viperfoot felt the words spilling out of him. "How did they meet? How did they get together? How did Rainstar find out about the prophecy? Just..." He trailed off. "What happened?"

Briarlight eyed him, and for a moment of horror, he was worried she wouldn't answer. But after a long draw of silence, she twitched her pelt. 

"My sister and your mother, Lilylight, was a rulebreaker." Those words came out as a statement, a fact, and though Viperfoot felt a rush of defense rise inside him, he kept silent. "Ever since we were kits, she and her friends would sneak out of camp - to the Burnt Sycamore, no less. 

"Even as apprentices, Lilylight and I hardly spoke. Our friend groups simply didn't mix. My best friend, Blazelight, hated her best friend - at the time, Ivorystorm."

"Ivorystorm?" Viperfoot folded his ears to his head, testing the word out. "You don't mean-"

"Oh, I do." Briarlight's eyes glinted. "Your mother and Ivorystar were best friends."

The large gray tom shook his head, recalling the conversation he'd overheard from Briarlight earlier. "But you said Lilylight and Ivorystar had bad history."

"They do." The tortoiseshell wrinkled her nose. "They were as close as could be, until Icestrike came into the picture?"

"My father?"

"Yes," Briarlight mewed, sweeping her tail. "Ivorystar, Lilylight, and Icestrike all met as apprentices during a Gathering. They hit it off, and Icestrike and his sister decided to invite them to RiverClan's territory for a tour. Those mousebrains accepted - Great StarClan, can you imagine how much trouble they got into?

"Anyhow, Lilylight and Icestrike started to fall in love. And since he'd invited her to tour his territory once, wasn't it only right to do the same? She had that ridiculous tom sneak through WindClan's territory just to reach ours. And once he got here, she had to show him her favorite landmark - the Burnt Sycamore."

Viperfoot shivered, remembering that night at the Burnt Sycamore with Aeolus. 

"Obviously, Ivorystar wasn't happy about that. She couldn't have her best friend breaking the Warrior Code. She snuck out one night to stop them, but ended up getting caught and getting in trouble with her mentor. After that, she and Lilylight were on shaky terms." 

"But it all ended up alright, right?" Viperfoot mewed. "Icestrike joined ShadowClan in the end."

"Yes, well..." Briarlight's eyes narrowed. "In the battle against RiverClan, the one where Icestrike died, I was there. He died to the claws of his sister. I don't suppose she's ever forgiven him."

The large gray tom puffed out a breath, trying to comprehend all the new information he'd just been given. "Right." He paused. He'd never expected Briarlight to actually open up to him like this. Then, before he could stop himself, he blurted, "The Great Secret is about me, Snakestar, and Mintberry."

He expected some huge eruption, but Briarlight's eyes only widened mildly in surprise, before they returned to their normal state. "I figured about much," she muttered at last. "That would explain how RiverClan knew."

Viperfoot's ears stood up. "Wha- what do you mean?"

But the tortoiseshell ignored him, and instead pushed through with her own question. "What did Aeolus look like?"

Viperfoot stared at her blankly. "Huh?"

"Aeolus. I heard some descriptions, of course, but I just wanted to make sure..." Briarlight flicked her tail. "His eyes, especially. An odd shade of green, are they not? Viridian?" 

The large gray tom's mouth opened then closed in wordless surprise. Finally, he managed to stutter out, "Yeah. How did-" He shook his head. "How did you know?"

"Rumor has it that Aeolus is Berryfern's kin. That particular shade of green for eyes has always been a distinctive feature in her family."

Viperfoot twitched his ears. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. I know Berryfern quite well. After all, Berryfern was my best friend Blazelight's older sister."

Viperfoot narrowed his eyes, his tail-tip twitching with surprise. How was it all connected? "You're not serious?"

Briarlight gave him a meek smile. "I am."

"But wait, I've never heard of a Blazelight," Viperfoot protested, making a face. 

The tortoiseshell sucked in a breath. "As I mentioned before, Ivorystar hates ugly history. And she only ever had that with Blazelight."

Viperfoot shuffled his paws. "So... What happened to her?"

"Ivorystar." The answer was simple, and there was a spark of pain in Briarlight's eyes that warned Viperfoot not to ask any further questions. Deeming the conversation finished, the tortoiseshell she-cat pushed herself to her paws and started to pad away. 

However, Viperfoot had one last thing that wouldn't leave his mind. "What did you mean by 'That would explain how RiverClan knew'? Clearfrost told Rainstar the prophecy, right? Because my siblings and I are half-Clan."

Briarlight turned around and blinked slowly, her calculating yellow eyes boring into Viperfoot's soul. "No. I remember the night Clearfrost snuck out of camp to tell Rainstar the Great Secret. It was about a moon after she turned cold and distant. After she heard about the prophecy, I figure. Anyways, Ivorystar was furious when she returned the next morning. 

"But the funny thing is, RiverClan had launched their first attack a week before that. Rainstar already knew before Clearfrost told her."

The gray tom shook his head, unable to process it. "How?"

Briarlight hummed. "Icestrike had a better relationship with his littermate than I did with mine, I'm afraid. My guess is as soon as he found out about the prophecy, he ran off to tell his sister. Trying to make amends, I suppose."

Viperfoot's mouth fell open. "You mean-?"

"Yes." Briarlight flicked her tail. "Icestrike gave her that lame leg, you know. It happened in the battle where she killed him. No matter how many times Rainstar was reborn, she'd always have that leg. A forced memory of the brother she killed."

Viperfoot recalled Ivorystar's eye. She'd said rogues had given it to her, but even after she lost a life, her eye was still clawed over. Ivorystar had killed Clearfrost, and Clearfrost had given her that eye during the struggle.

Then, Briarlight twitched her pelt, as though all that information he'd just received was nothing. She turned sharply and padded away, back to the fresh-kill pile.

~~~

ahh so sorry that i just keep dumping new info!! this chapter and the last one - please tell me if any of it is confusing, because i'd be more than happy to clear it up or rewrite it so it's easier to understand! also let me know if you'd like a family tree or something. like all these relationships are completely understandably confusing.

also!! i mentioned some of ivorystar's past in this chapter. i'm working on a novella for her after this book is finished, and i think i have most of it planned out! i'm really excited! if you were interested in the ivorystar stuff, i have a little excerpt written and published in my book of stuff! it's under writing contest ii! characters mentioned in this chapter (blazelight, lilylight, icestrike, etc) will be in that excerpt! i think this ivorystar novella will honestly be my favorite fanfic i've written so far!

also as i was writing this chapter, someone commented on my salt in the wound & primrose fanfics and said that i use the same suffix a lot which is COMPLETELY true! i just thought it was funny because i saw that as i was writing this chapter, in which i overuse the suffix light so so so much! i don't even do it purposely haha, and i didn't even realize until i was writing this chapter XD

anyways, sorry for this long author's note! remember to drink water, and have an amazing day!

~ lily



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