Like Father, Like Son.

Chapter 1

Like Father, Like Son
(Italics: dreams, night terrors, or thoughts.)
("Quotation marks: someone is speaking.")
(Bold: flashbacks.)

Chapter 1...

Bramblestar's heart raced in his chest. He was paralyzed, not able to move. He stared at the set of ice-blue eyes that were surrounded by a dark grey, almost black pelt, spotted with inky flecks. The eyes seemed to glare at him, looking straight through him into his soul. Bramblestar could feel terror rising in his chest, but no matter how hard he tried, his body would fail to move.
The eyes watching him narrowed and the creature bared its teeth, showing a row of sharp daggers that protruded from its dark frame.
Bramblestar's breath hitched in his chest as the creature's stare hardened into a hateful glare.
"I know what you are, Bramblestar," it snarled. "You can never escape your father's legacy... if anything, you will keep it alive."
No... You're wrong! I'm nothing like my father, Bramblestar thought to himself.
"I'm wrong, hm? Well, I suggest you take a deep look inside yourself, or else you will never live it down," the entity growled maliciously. Its voice grated in his ears, and it had a higher pitch to it, making it sound unpleasantly familiar...
"You will see what you become in time, Bramblestar. For now, just wait... and watch, watch your life crumble away before your very eyes." The being cackled loudly before disappearing with a poof. Bramblestar took a deep breath in, not even having realized he's stopped breathing in the first place.
———————————————————————
Bramblestar awoke with a start. He looked around his den frantically, seeming to search the stone walls for an enemy, but he found none. Blinking the bleariness out of his eyes, he stood up from his nest and stretched before heading out of his den into camp, where Squirrelflight was assigning patrols for the day.
He padded out into the clearing and gazed up at his mate as she organized the day's work. Ivypool, Lionblaze and Birchfall were sent on a hunting patrol near the old Twoleg den, and Bramblestar noticed a few cats missing from camp, most likely having been sent on border patrol.
As the last patrol hurried out of camp, Squirrelflight seemed to notice Bramblestar for the first time since he'd arrived in the clearing. She jumped down from the Highledge and hurried to greet him.
"How's patrol organization going?" Bramblestar asked once she sat down in front of him.
"It's going fairly well," Squirrelflight responded. "Though, the hunting patrols haven't been doing as well as I'd like them to be."
"That's not a big deal, is it? I mean, we did just defeat Ashfur, it might take a while for everything to go back to normal," Bramblestar assured her. "After all, Ashfur had everyone on edge, and a forest that could hold unknown enemies isn't very easy on the mind."
"That's true," Squirrelflight murmured. "I still feel as though part of him is still with me, but I saw him fall in..." She trailed off. Bramblestar knew she was remembering, and still grieving over Bristlefrost's death. Everyone was, especially Ivypool, her mother, and Rootspring, the SkyClan cat who she had fallen in love with.
"Are you alright? You seem troubled," Squirrelflight queried.
Bramblestar shook himself. "Yes, I'm alright," he responded with a sigh. "I think the whole Ashfur situation has done a number on me. I mean, I lost a life, he put my soul through all of that torment, he put all of the Clans through horrible things... and I've been having nightmares."
"Nightmares? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Squirrelflight said anxiously.
"I didn't want to worry you," he murmured. "You've got so many things going on at once, and you have better things to do than worry about me having a few measly nightmares."
"Bramblestar, you're my mate," she scoffed. "If something is up, you need to tell me or else it'll just keep pestering you and get worse. What have your nightmares been about?"
"Well, I haven't exactly been having nightmares about Ashfur specifically..." he muttered. "There's always something whispering to me in my dreams, but I know it's not a message from StarClan. It can't be. It keeps telling me over and over that I'll never live his legacy down... if you know who I'm talking about."
Squirrelflight gave him a sympathetic look. "After all you've been through, you've definitely proved to everyone in every Clan that you are nothing like your father. He died moons and moons ago- you don't need to keep worrying about it. It's probably just your paranoia about becoming like him from when you were a young warrior resurfacing because of everything Ashfur did. But Bramblestar, I assure you, you will never be like him. You are your own cat and what your father did does not mean you are the same way. You were mentored by Firestar, and you were his deputy. You can handle anything StarClan- or angry jealous demon cats- throw at you. I know that because I know you better than anyone. You are nothing like him, Bramblestar. And you never will be."
Bramblestar's gaze softened. He seemed to be content with Squirrelflight's words, as if they had reassured him that everything would be all right.

But he knew better.

(871 words)