Grousestar's Brother

[The Cannibal]

“You know, no one really knew I had a brother, aside from me and my mom and dad of course. I mean he was a quiet one, a real quiet one, never made any friends, maybe a few queens remember him, but other than that he.. Was never really known.”
Grousestar sighs a bit with a smile, looking towards his paws for a moment before looking back at you as he recalls the memory of his brother. “His name was Wrenkit, my mom, she had a thing for birds. She made a vow to name her first litter after her favorite ones. Maybe that’s where I got my liking for birds.” His smile seemed to brighten for a moment before he shook his head, this wasn’t what you came here to talk to him about.
“Sorry. Er Wrenkit, he looked a lot like me, the only thing different was that he had blue eyes. They were stunning really, and they always seemed to sparkle with life even though he didn’t have the courage to talk much. It was like he could talk to you just by.. Looking. You could read his emotions like an open book. I was technically the first born, a few seconds older than him and I always liked to tease him about it but he never really seemed to mind.”
The leader’s eyes focused past you, towards the entrance of his den where the sun’s rays could be seen clearly, dancing across the Skyclan clearing, seeming lost for a moment, before looking back at you.
“Oh yes, yes, sorry. What you were asking. Why did my parents never talk about Wrenkit, what happened to him, yes ah. My apologies, just recollecting. Ahrm.” Clearing his throat, the leader shifted in his bedding, looking away from you again.
“My parents were very kind cats. They didn’t like others feeling sorry for them, they didn’t like it when others tried to help because they believed that there were other cats that needed help more than them, whatever it was. So when.. When Wrenkit disappeared, I say this loosely, I.. I know what happened, he didn’t just disappear and I’ll get to that in a moment. But when he disappeared, they didn’t want others to surround them with pity, they didn’t want others to feel bad for them and worse of all, they were scared that if he was found, he wouldn’t be found alive. So they spent their grief alone, with each other, though acted as if nothing happened, like he didn’t even exist. Like I was their only son. They felt that if they talked about him, it would only reopen their sorrow and they would be stuck in an endless rut of sadness. So they moved on, or at least did their best to do so. I’m sure they still remembered him, even with their last breath. Perhaps they’ve joined him in Starclan, or perhaps they’re watching over him. Whatever the case may be, because even I’m not sure if he’s alive or dead.”
His emerald eyes glance to yours for a moment and for a second, there seems to be a heavy sadness there before it’s swept away by him blinking, the look replaced my a polite and happy one.
“Now back to what I said, yes.. He didn’t just disappear, no, I was there when he was taken away. I’ll try and tell it just as I remember.. It was a pretty sunny day-”




It was greenleaf, the best season that the old Skyclan territory had to offer, the sun hot but the thick canopy of the mountain forest blocking out most of the harsh rays of sunlight. Prey was plentiful, there had been little illness in the past leafbare and everyone was in good spirits.
At the time Grousekit and Wrenkit were approximately 5 moons old and were very mobile little youngsters. Everywhere Grousekit went, Wrenkit was right behind him, and when he wasn’t right behind Grousekit, he was safely tucked away in their mother’s nest either sleeping, or just enjoying her company. Now even though in his older years Grousestar strictly followed the warrior code and rules, when he was a kit his curiosity often got the better of him. And since he was so active, he often liked to venture outside of the nursery when his mother was sleeping. Sometimes Wrenkit followed, sometimes he did not, though when he followed he was often a nervous wreck and never really liked it.
On a particularly sunny day, Grousekit woke up around noonhigh after playing all morning to find his mother and Wrenkit asleep. Grinning, the young brown tabby would pounce on his brother to wake him up, whispering excitedly, “Wrenkit, you should come bird watching with me! Mom’s asleep and it’s a nice day out!” The other brother would mew sleepily and wriggle a bit till Grousekit got off of him.
“Okay okay, but.. But are you sure we won’t um.. Get in trouble?”
“I told you, mom’s asleep, and look no one’s looking, we’ll be back before she’s awake anyways! Come ooonn, I bet we can see some grouse if we get out there soon enough!”
Uncertainly, Wrenkit would look at his brother before slowly getting up to his paws, his blue eyes showing clear distress and nervousness, but they were always like that when Grousekit invited him to come out with him into the territory. It was against the rules for kits to leave the camp, and both of them knew it, but Grousekit wanted to watch the birds, he always did. So like the plenty of times before, the brown tabby kit with green eyes led Wrenkit to his secret escape hole in the nursery, occasionally peeking over his shoulder to make sure that his brother was with him, escaping through another small hole in the camp wall until they stood in the territory, Grousekit looking up and around excitedly. He always loved coming out here!
“Come on, let’s go!” With excitement in his paws, the technically older brother went speeding off into the forest, his tail held high with his exhilaration, Wrenkit being forced to go bounding off after him in fear of being left behind, fear still prickling in his belly, but he trusted his brother.
It only took them a few minutes to get to the spot where Grousekit liked to go for birdwatching, a tall pile of rocks that overlooked a small clearing in the territory, sometimes there were snakes that basked there, but only in the early morning.
Climbing up to the tallest rock, he’d look down at his brother with his bright green eyes, barely panting at all while Wrenkit was heavily out of breath. “Slowpoke, you’re going to miss all of the birds!”
As his younger brother began slowly, carefully, making his way up the rocks, he would turn around and lay down, looking out at the clearing with excitement running through him, a bright, eager grin on his muzzle as his eyes searched for the silhouette of a bird. After a little bit of straining, he could see a robin pecking at the ground near the shade, another one flying down to meet it. They almost seemed to talk with each other before both began their usual pecking for worms. Wrenkit flopped down beside him with an exhausted wheeze, his sides heaving heavily.
“Y-You know how-how hard it i-is for me t-to run so muh-hutch..” The blue-eyed kit panted out to his brother, his eyes now focusing on the clearing Grousekit was looking out into.
“Shh, you’ll scare them away Wrenkit..”
Eventually the slightly younger brother caught his breath back and seemed to relax the more they sat there and watched birds in the warm sunlight. They had seen a good variety of birds pass by in the hour they stayed out there, robins, ravens, blackbirds, even a cardinal. After the last bird in view flew off, Grousekit would lift his head with a bright grin. “Wow, there sure were a lot of cool birds today! But we should get back, mom might be waking up soon.”
Wrenkit nodded his head in agreement, his anxiety of getting in trouble slowly beginning to creep back into him. The two kits slowly got up and were turning to climb down the rocks when they heard a sudden, new voice.

“Well howdy there little ones..”
Looking down at the bottom of the pile of rocks they stood on, Grousekit saw a brown and white tom, he couldn’t which warrior it was, but he knew they were likely busted. Flattening his ears, he glanced at Wrenkit for a moment before looking back at the cat.
“Oh um.. We were just.. Getting back to camp! We didn’t do anything, I swear, we were just watching birds!”
“Don’t fret, just come down here so I can see you two better.”
Lowering his head, the green-eyed brother glanced again at Wrenkit before slowly beginning to make his way down, Wrenkit’s heart thundering in absolute fear, he followed, paws trembling.
Reaching the bottom, Grousekit nervously looked up at the tom. He was large, muscular and he had a strange scent to him. Wrinkling his nose, he couldn’t quite place what it was. Maybe had just been to the medicine cat’s den?
“Can you promise not to tell our mom? She would lose her mind over this..” Shuffling his paws, Grousekit could feel his brother trembling beside him, pressed up against him. Wrenkit stared up at the large tom in absolute terror, his brother hadn’t caught on, but this wasn’t a Skyclan cat they were dealing with. This was an intruding loner.

“Oh sure, sure, I won’t tell your mom. Say uh, you’re a little far from home aren’t you?”
“Yeah, this is just the um.. The spot we like to come to for birdwatching… We can um.. We can go back to camp now.”
The brown and white tom flattened his ears and shook his head.
“No. Hah, no you’re not going back to camp. You’re going to come with me. You see bad kits that break the rules don’t go back to camp.”
Confused, Grousekit looked up at the tom with bewilderment. “Wha-What do you mean? O-Of course they do!”
“No they don’t, they come to live with me on the mountain. And if they don’t come with me, then I kill them!” Growled the tom, his originally friendly yellow gaze now harsh and threatening.
Grousekit squeaked in fear and lowered himself with wide eyes to the ground, Wrenkit frozen in place, staring up at the monster of a cat.
“Now look, I don’t want to hurt you, I really don’t. You know what, I’ll even make a deal with you, I’ll only take one of you with me and I’ll leave the other alone. And if you can’t make a decision, I’ll make one for you.”
Sitting in stunned silence, both of the young cats just looked up at him in terror, not one of them making a sound.
“Tick tock you two..”

A few more moments of silence passed before the large tom hissed out in frustration and shook his head.
“Fine, then I’ll just take you!” His head lurched down to firmly clasp his jaws over Wrenkit’s scruff, hoisting the young cat into the air, dangling from his jaws. Grousekit screeched out a terrible noise, trying to leap for his brother or claw at the older cat as he turned to go. Grunting as the green-eyed kit latched onto his leg, biting and clawing, he simply gave a good kick and sent Grousekit flying backwards, skidding and tumbling in the dirt, leaving him dazed as the brown and white tom went bounding off with his mewling, terrified brother.
“Wrenkit, no, Wrenkit!” He wailed, trying to get to his paws to chase after the tom, but he was gone, and to make matters worse he tripped over his paws and went tumbling into the dirt again, sobbing. Grousekit wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, sobbing, but he eventually made it back to the nursery to quietly tell his mother.




“It was.. It was my fault that he was taken. I shouldn’t have brought him out of the nursery, or I should have spoken up, had the tom take me instead. I should have done something besides sitting there scared. I-”
For the first time in a long time there were tears in Grousestar’s emerald eyes, his gaze fixated on the ground. Hissing out a quiet breath, he flicked the tip of his tail and shook his head.
“It was my fault he was taken away.”
At this point, the leader refuses to look at you and speaks in a much quieter tone now.
“Sorry, excuse me.. But yes… That’s. That’s what happened to my brother. I’m not sure if he was ever killed by the tom, or if he escaped, or if he was raised with him. I have no idea.. I’m sorry, but I’d really like to leave it at that. If.. You’ll excuse me.” Slowly the brown tabby leader stood and padded past you, exiting the den and likely heading out into the territory for a walk.

[Momotaro]

woah. Thats interesting....

I smell plot were Wren comes back.

[The Cannibal]

It's a not a definite, but it is a possibility c;

[Crow]

i thought wrenkit was going to be hannibal for a second there hahaha

[Static]

This is so sad.very nicly told though.Iwish iI had a good story like this for my charecters.

[The Cannibal]

@Crow

Nah, they don't look alike and their backstories don't match so xD

@Swiftheart

Aww thank you, I appreciate it <3

[SuspiciousMindz]

Very unique o; poor grouse is hurting inside

[The Cannibal]

Poor grouse is always hurting but nobody knows

[wren]

That's actually one of the most depressing back stories to a leader I've ever seen/read how many more of your characters are secretly hurting and nobody knows!!