Briarlight

Briarlight is a dark brown she-cat with a broken lower spine.

Eclipse

 * Briarkit is born to Graystripe and Millie, along with her littermates, Bumblekit and Blossomkit. During the battle between ThunderClan and WindClan, Briarkit and her siblings stay with Mousefur, Rosekit, Toadkit and Longtail in the leader's den. Millie later catches whitecough, which eventually gets worse, and soon Briarkit starts showing signs of also having it.

Long Shadows

 * Leafpool and Jaypaw start to worry for her as she begins to catch her mother's cough. It gets worse and Briarkit and Millie move into the medicine cat's den. After Poppyfrost and Jayfeather bring back all that is left of the catmint, Millie insists on giving it all to Briarkit. Leafpool refuses and says that Millie already has caught greencough.


 * While Millie is getting some fresh air, Briarkit weakly tries to play with Jaypaw, asking him if she can act like a mouse so he could catch her. She ends in a bout of coughing, and Jaypaw tells her that he has brought fresh bedding that she can have a nice sleep in, but Briarkit protests that she doesn't want to sleep.


 * Later, she fears that her mother will die, wailing that if Millie does die, she will never see her again, because she doesn't know the way to StarClan. Leafpool reassures her that Millie will come get her when it's time. They move to the abandoned Twoleg nest with the other cats who had caught greencough. As Millie is getting close to the edge of death, Briarkit is seen trying to find milk. Honeyfern attempts to encourage the kit to eat a mouse, but Briarkit refuses and wails that she wants her mother.


 * Near the end of the book, she looks much healthier as she plays with the other kits.

Sunrise

 * In the beginning of the book, Jayfeather comes in to check her and her denmates for ticks. He finds one in her fur and spears it with his claw.


 * Briarkit is seen playing with her siblings when a snake begins to stalk her. Honeyfern, who is lying besides Berrynose, sees the snake and dives in front of her before it can strike Briarkit. The snake then bites Honeyfern instead, and she dies from the snake's venom. Afterwards, Leafpool gives Briarkit a poppy seed to calm her, for she is very shocked at this event. When Leafpool lays a trap for the snake using deathberries, she shows the kits the berries, telling them to never eat them. Briarkit and the others agree and are cautious of the poisonous berries.

The Fourth Apprentice

 * Briarpaw has been apprenticed to Thornclaw. Jayfeather briefly remembers how a few days ago, Briarpaw had raced into camp to announce that Firestar had been attacked by a fox. Without thinking, Jayfeather sends her out to find Leafpool before hurrying over to the ShadowClan border. By the time Briarpaw has tracked down Leafpool, Firestar has already lost a life.


 * When Lionblaze tries to test Dovepaw's abilities, Sandstorm appears along with Leafpool, Bumblepaw, and Briarpaw, carrying bundles of moss. When they are on their way back to camp, she complains of being covered in mud.


 * She is seen several times on patrols or with her two siblings, Bumblepaw and Blossompaw. She tells Ivypaw to stop being so grumpy, but tries to be friendly to the new apprentice, volunteering to help Ivypaw with battle training, proudly stating that she would be having her final assessment soon. Her mentor, Thornclaw, reminds her that she still has three moons to go, but Briarpaw refuses to be put down.


 * She, along with her siblings and Ivypaw, are given a lesson on herbs by Jayfeather. She asks if cobwebs would be needed if you stepped on a sharp stone. Jayfeather replies that you would only need them if the skin has broken.


 * She is play fighting with her siblings when Lionblaze and Dovepaw return from their quest, and later shows Dovepaw how the apprentices had fixed up her nest with gray feathers to make it extra comfortable, stating that she was a hero.

Fading Echoes

 * Towards the beginning of the book, she and her littermates have their assessment, and Bumblepaw, Briarpaw, and Blossompaw pass.


 * When the tree falls into the clearing, Mousefur wants a mouse, thinking she should try to not waste prey because she believes that it will make StarClan angry. Longtail races back into camp to get the mouse, and Briarpaw follows, calling for him to come back. Briarpaw and Longtail become trapped while the rest of the Clan gets out. Lionblaze finds Longtail dead, but Briarpaw is still alive. Her hind legs had been bruised by the tree. Along with Lionblaze's help, they are able to move the tree and pull her out. However, she is unable to move or feel her hind legs, even though they aren't broken. As the camp is being repaired, she stays in the medicine cat den. Her mother, Millie, stays with her most of the time, always curled around her. Jayfeather, confused as to why Briarpaw's legs don't work, goes to Littlecloud for advice, as he once had a similar case.


 * Littlecloud says that his patient, Wildfur, was injured when a burrow caved in on him. His hind legs were bruised, but he couldn't move them because his backbone had been broken. Wildfur had later died, not from his injury, but because he had a severe cough and his lungs filled up with fluid from sitting in his nest all the time. Jayfeather needs to test whether Briarpaw's backbone is broken, he does this by nipping the skin near her backbone, starting at her neck and slowly moving down until she cannot feel his nips behind the break, and Jayfeather realizes that Briarpaw would never walk or ever feel anything in her legs again. Jayfeather tells Briarpaw and Millie of Wildfur, and Millie is horrified. But Jayfeather said that they could keep Briarpaw alive, and that she didn't have to die. Briarpaw brightens a bit at this, clueless about the hard work it would take.


 * Later, she receives her warrior name, Briarlight. Her brother and sister become Bumblestripe and Blossomfall. She takes medicine to help her breathing and she and Jayfeather work on exercises every day, to help her forelegs get stronger and to keep her lungs from filling with fluid. Briarlight insists that she can go and fetch her own prey every day, and plays with Cherrykit and Molekit whenever she can. When Ivypaw talks to Bumblestripe, Briarlight is mentioned. Bumblestripe says, "Briarlight would have loved this." She is said to drag herself around with her front paws, her hind legs splayed out behind her. However, Briarlight manages to remain positive through all her suffering. It is thought by Dovepaw that the kits and Jayfeather are Briarlight's greatest allies.


 * Near the end of the book, Briarlight begins coughing, though it's not as severe as Wildfur's cough was described. Yet she begins to feel angry for her broken spine and yells, condescendingly, that everything is too difficult feeling guilty for the trouble she caused.

Night Whispers

 * Briarlight continues to stay in the medicine cat's den with Jayfeather, still recovering from her cough with Millie popping in quite often.


 * When Jayfeather is checking Sorreltail's battle wounds, Sorreltail comments that Briarlight's breathing sounds rough. Jayfeather tells her that she has gotten a chest infection and doesn't know whether to let her exercise harder, or to let her rest. Once Sorreltail leaves, she wakes up and she and Jayfeather talk about the battle. As Jayfeather and Lionblaze are talking in the back of the den, she begins coughing again and Jayfeather comes to massage her flank.


 * Later, Jayfeather and Millie hear Bumblestripe call Jayfeather over to the medicine cat's den and they both are worried something's happened to Briarlight. Nothing is, and Bumblestripe shows them some webs he found climbing up on the Great Oak. Briarlight comments on how brave he was. Jayfeather then tells her to do some exercises but Millie tells him that she looks too tired. Briarlight replies by saying it keeps her from getting bored.


 * After Millie and Jayfeather's argument, she comes out of the medicine cat's den and looks at Millie, asking if she's getting better. Millie rushes over and licks her cheek saying that she is. Briarlight promises to do all of her exercises and tells Millie that they make her tired, but do not hurt her.


 * She later begins to feel guilty, knowing that her Clanmates continue to bring her prey although she didn't do anything, when her mother Millie brings her a mouse. She refuses to eat, but after a talk with Jayfeather, he tells her that her Clanmates bring her prey because they want to. He then says that if she wants to feel worthy, then she can be his helper and check the moss brought in for thorns, pile it back by the pool, and help keep the medicine cat's den clean. Briarlight agrees and seems to feel better.

Sign of the Moon

 * Briarlight is getting stronger in the medicine den, eager to teach her exercises to Icecloud, who is injured when she fell in the tunnels. She and Icecloud end up playing with a ball of moss, and Jayfeather and Brightheart amusedly warn them not to get out of hand.


 * After Jayfeather returns from a tunnel exploration, soaking wet, Briarlight seems genuinely worried and offers to treat him immediately, saying he would do the same for her. As she licks Jayfeather dry, he drifts off to sleep, he feels a longing for a cat that he can express his feelings with, like Lionblaze has Cinderheart, but he doesn't think Briarlight is that cat.


 * When Bumblestripe is being chased by a dog, which is quickly distracted by Lionblaze and Toadstep, he warns Lionblaze to head in the other direction, away from where Briarlight is supposedly walking. It is revealed afterwards that he was taking his sister out for a walk against the Clan's will, and he expresses deep concern for her well being.

The Forgotten Warrior

 * Briarlight is first mentioned in the book when Jayfeather first wakes up. He thinks of her as a problem, and remembers Lionblaze telling him how Briarlight was so frustrated being stuck in the hollow, she had her brother carry her to gather herbs in the forest. He also recalls the conversation he and Lionblaze shared, and how he refuses to take her as his apprentice.


 * Briarlight snaps Jayfeather out of his deep thoughts, asking him if he was okay after tossing and turning all night. He replies that he is fine, and Briarlight reminds him that they were running low on marigold after using it up on Dovewing's wounds.


 * Briarlight then finds a tuft of black fur in the back of the herb storage. She asks if Jayfeather could throw it out when he passes the dirtplace, and wonders who would put a bit of fur in the herbs. Jayfeather realizes that it belonged to Hollyleaf. Briarlight jokes that she thinks the kits must have gotten into the nursery and hid it, while Jayfeather ponders why his sister's fur would be in the back of the medicine den. Jayfeather then buries the piece of fur in the moss of his nest when Briarlight isn't looking.


 * After the apprentices' first day, they come into the medicine cat's den covered in cobwebs. As they bounce in, Briarlight bursts into laughter. She states that the two are "walking cobwebs." Molepaw boasts that they found a lot, and Briarlight instructs them to come over so she could untangle them, warning them not to step on the pile of burdock root. Jayfeather hears her drag herself to meet the apprentices. Cherrypaw asks if her legs hurt, and if it's tough not being able to move them. Briarlight tells her it's tough, but it doesn't hurt. Molepaw recalls Bumblestripe calling her the bravest cat in the clan, and at that, Jayfeather feels Briarlight's embarrassment. She mutters, and tells the apprentices to stay still so she could get the cobwebs off.


 * When Sandstorm states that Jayfeather should think about getting an apprentice, he meows that Briarlight is very useful.


 * When Jayfeather calls in Sorreltail to check her over, he checks her heartbeat and Briarlight drags herself closer to him to watch. She asks if she'll be okay, and Jayfeather tells her everything is fine.


 * During the fox attack, Briarlight drags herself to the entrance of the medicine cat's den, and asks what's happening. Jayfeather instructs her to get the supplies ready, and she drags herself over to the storage. When Jayfeather brings in the apprentices to look over, he finds that Briarlight has already treated the injured warriors. She reports to him the injuries, and Brightheart comments that she did a great job. She goes on to tell him that Foxleap was bitten, but she didn't know what herbs to use for bites. Jayfeather tells her how to fix the poultice, and how to keep it on the wound. She makes his poultice while Jayfeather tends to Rosepetal's wounds.


 * Once Jayfeather sends Rosepetal and Foxleap out of the den, he tells Briarlight to do her exercises and get fresh air.


 * When Yellowfang tells Jayfeather that ThunderClan must recruit another medicine cat, he doubts that it is Briarlight or Brightheart. After he wakes up from his dream, Briarlight asks him if she can go speak to Sol, who has just been brought to camp. He snaps at her that he cannot mend her back, and she replies that she wasn't hoping for that, and states that she's just curious about the loner. Jayfeather tells her not to be, but she reminds him that Sol saved the apprentices from the fox.


 * Briarlight is mentioned when Leafpool tells Jayfeather not to tell Cinderheart about her past life. She suggests he take Briarlight on as an apprentice since she was already doing such a good job. Jayfeather replies sarcastically, "Yeah, one blind medicine cat and one that cannot walk, Thunderclan would be invincible!"


 * When Sorreltail is giving birth, Jayfeather tells Dovewing to run back to camp to get chervil root. Dovewing doesn't know what the herb looks like, and hopes Briarlight does. When she gets into the medicine cat's den, Briarlight is seen in the back of the den with her head inside the storage. She turns to ask how Sorreltail is coming along, but Dovewing cuts her off and tells her they need chervil root, Briarlight points to the herb Dovewing came to her for, and tells her to take some fennel as well. It is noted that she has herbs spread out across the floor.


 * Later, when Dovewing and Ivypool go missing, she is moving around in her nest. She gasps in pain, stating that she is stiff. Jayfeather decides to be helpful, and massages her muscles. She frets over Dovewing and Ivypool, but Jayfeather comforts her, saying they've probably gone for a hunt. She soon falls back to sleep.


 * The next day, when Hollyleaf visits Jayfeather in the medicine cat's den, Briarlight greets her, and says she's Jayfeather's assistant. When she goes to wake him, Hollyleaf realizes she can't walk. Briarlight says that she can't, but that doesn't mean she can't be useful. When Jayfeather gets back from talking to Hollyleaf and Lionblaze, Briarlight says that it's great that Hollyleaf came back, and asks why she was away for so long. He states that she should go ask her, and then tells her to sort out the herbs and take borage to Sorreltail. Briarlight agrees, and Jayfeather tells her that afterwards she needs to do her exercises.


 * After the Gathering, Briarlight greets Jayfeather when he returns and asks him questions about the Gathering. Jayfeather lists his answers, and collapses in his nest. Briarlight is puzzle by his wariness, and drags herself over to him and begins drying his fur. She talks him into letting her look after him for once, and continues to dry him. When he wakes up the next day, Briarlight brings him a mouse to eat, and prompts him to eat it. He thanks her, and she tells him she heard about the Gathering. She apologizes to him, and asks if any cat believed Dawnpelt. Jayfeather replies sarcastically, but Briarlight defends him, and he is touched by her loyalty. He tells her to go visit the nursery.

Trivia

 * It was confirmed in the seventh Erin Hunter Chat that Briarlight will live a little longer.
 * She has SkyClan blood, because her grandparents, Willowpelt and Patchpelt, are Spottedleaf's siblings.
 * In Eclipse, she is mistakenly mentioned as a tom.
 * She has kittypet blood, as her mother, Millie, was born a kittypet.
 * It was revealed by Vicky that Briarlight's injuries are permanent.
 * She was mistakenly said to be Brightheart in The Forgotten Warrior.

Members
Mother:
 * Millie:

Father:
 * Graystripe:

Brother:
 * Bumblestripe:

Sister:
 * Blossomfall:

Half-Sister:
 * Feathertail: Deceased, Verified Tribe of Endless Hunting and StarClan member

Half-Brother:
 * Stormfur:

Grandmother:
 * Willowpelt: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Grandfather:
 * Patchpelt: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Half-Uncles:
 * Sootfur: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member
 * Rainwhisker: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Half-Aunt:
 * Sorreltail:

Great-Grandmother:
 * Swiftbreeze: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Great-Grandfather:
 * Adderfang: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member

Great-Aunts:
 * Leopardfoot: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member
 * Spottedleaf: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Great-Uncle:
 * Redtail: Deceased, Verified StarClan member

Cousins:
 * Nightkit: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member
 * Mistkit: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member
 * Tigerstar: Deceased, Verified Place of No Stars member
 * Sandstorm:
 * Bramblestar:
 * Tawnypelt:
 * Hawkfrost: Deceased, Verified Place of No Stars member
 * Mothwing:
 * Tadpole: Deceased, Residence Unknown
 * Leafpool:
 * Squirrelflight:
 * Tigerheart:
 * Flametail: Deceased, Verified StarClan member
 * Dawnpelt:
 * Lionblaze:
 * Jayfeather:
 * Hollyleaf: Deceased, Verified StarClan member
 * Molepaw: Deceased, Suspected StarClan member
 * Cinderheart:
 * Poppyfrost:
 * Honeyfern: Deceased, Verified StarClan member
 * Molepaw:
 * Cherrypaw: