#And sometimes it's Nightcloud

[bonefall]

I think Nightcloud's Thaw (assuming you keep that title) is a great idea not only because your Nightcloud is so interesting and because she as a character deserves more spotlight, but also because it would be interesting to see Crowfeather begin to change from her perspective. After all, you said it was a surprise he offered to help save Breezepelt at all- and what better way to show that than for us to not be inside his head when he makes the decision to offer to help?

I'm feeling more and more confident about it. I think BB!Nightcloud is absolutely the best choice of a character to observe the events of "Crowfeather's Trial," now Nightcloud's Thaw.

Nightcloud's Thaw is an okay title for now, but I want to bat around some more names.

It's meant to invoke the way her life begins to turn around, after Crowfeather's exile; beginning with that reveal, how Crowfeather's behavior reaches a breaking point in the Clan, her reputation turn-around, and finally accepting Crowfeather's help in aiding Breezepelt.

So "thaw" is one way to put it... but if I could capture something more related to the change of seasons or time, that would be good too. Nightcloud's Daybreak, Nightcloud's Horizon.

We can go through Nightcloud's process of unlearning with her.

The dread and fury at the reveal, the shock when Crowfeather actually sees a consequence, and the way that suddenly the Clan is sympathetic towards her in a way they'd never been

How this newfound empathy feels somewhat insulting to her, but, how it helps her start to realize that she DOESN'T deserve how Crow treats her.

Makes it easy to truncate most of OotS, can quickly be described as "they stayed together slightly longer, but if it wasn't dead, their relationship was quickly dying."

And really get to the meat of the story with how Crowfeather deflecting the blame of their son's Dark Forest training on her was the LAST straw. For everyone. Including Crowfeather himself.

(I think I'll actually change around the fight in the BOTTE to be Breeze attacking CROW, and Lionblaze STOPS him. Because killing his pathetic dad, in the end, wouldn't fix anything and would ruin his life forever. Really change it to stress that no one likes Crowfeather because of how he keeps treating people. If Crow wants to turn that around, he has to CHANGE.)

(Plus, something just feels nice about letting the two have a bond. Something about how they were both pulled out of the dirt at the Kitty Olympics and washed clean by Nightcloud, starting this deep, brotherly bond somehow. I'll have to revisit this.)

Nightcloud alone can link the way that Crowfeather is trying to change himself, AND the way Breezepelt is getting worse, in the way I want

She's cautious of Crowfeather, for good, obvious reasons. He hurt her, and has only ever used her good faith as leverage against her.

And she's charitable to Breezepelt, because she knows exactly what pain is behind his rash, emotional behaviors.

SO I can frame them both in the way I want through her eyes.

Plus, I need a place to put her childhood. If it's not here, I wouldn't have a good spot to put it.

I could link all the flashback segments with having Addersong pass away, since he would be VERY old at this point. It could be very bittersweet for her

She spent so much time away from her beloved mentor, who taught her so much.

She could have had so many wonderful years with him, his advice, and his songs. But now he's an elder in his last moons

All because she let her heart be hardened after the death of her family. Pain lead her astray so many times...

I'll probably rework a LOT of the stoat stuff. I know right away there's a lot of actions in CT I want to rip away from Crowfeather and hand over to Breezepelt; a lot of the loud, openly argumentative moments he has with Onestar for example. SHOW the way that Breezepelt interprets Harespring/Darkseeker's diplomatic responses as "sniveling and traitorous" to him.

Have Nightcloud be trying to bridge this gap between Breezepelt and his Clanmates with her new reputation, and it just not working.

Maybe shuffle Nightcloud's disappearance near the end of the book, around the time that the Kin appears. Show that his mother being suspected dead was a BIG reason Breezepelt made such an emotional choice to join the Kin, and bring his other allies with him.

[lesbikill]

oh you don’t think crowfeather was abusive? right, got it, what a revolutionary take! is it because you don’t think abusers can have positive traits and start out as good people, because you think abuse can only be constant insults and physical violence, or because you got attached to him and are desperate to throw a female character under the bus for the sake of your emo deadbeat dad?

[blacksols]

crowfeather will literally say multiple times that he became mates with nightcloud just to prove his loyalty to windclan and people will still somehow blame it on nightcloud

nightcloud genuinely actually loved him at one point 😭 but then she realized he’d never actually reciprocate and got bitter about it but also cared about breezepelt and windclan too much to leave him while they were raising a kid together there’s literally multiple books about this how do people still misinterpret it

“nightcloud only wanted crowfeather for kits” crowfeather only wanted nightcloud to prove windclan he wasn’t a whore.

[wc-confessions]

I don't understand people who react to far fetched AUs or role reversal AUs or any kind of AUs that take characters and make them OOC with "at this point just make it an OC story".

Sometimes it's just interesting to take a character with a specific background you don't want to change, and wonder what could have happened to them if the writers took their character development in another direction (or gave them one at all in a lot of cases).

Nice Ashfur? Why not! After his trauma from Tigerclaw using his mom as a pawn in his plan, he could have a deep respect for a she-cat's independance and not get so controlling over Squirrelflight.

Evil Graystripe for some reason? Sure, his half brother's Darkstripe, he could have very well been taken under his wing young and been under Tigerclaw's influence.

Brackenfur leaving on a journey of self discovery with with Stormfur, Nightcloud and Russetfur, even though none of them have ever interacted with each other in canon or have anything in common? Why not, it's an AU after all! Have fun.

The rule of thumb of creating fan content is to have fun. And even if it's messy or far fetched or barely hangs on a thread of canon, if you enjoyed creating it with the media's characters in mind then you're all good and you shouldn't let anyone bring the mood down saying that it should be OCs because it doesn't make sense with canon. Fun doesn't always make sense!

.

[a-kinda-boring-writer]

🟧🟨⬜️🟦🟪Hey, there!🟧🟨⬜️🟦🟪

I'm not pro-ship nor anti or whatever. Both sides sound very silly to me. I frankly care very little about any of that discourse. May throw out some takes for shit and giggles, but I won't debate people on anything related to that. I just don't care enough. I'm only here for the funnies.

I can be a bit of a negative-nancy sometimes? So, like, expect me to have very critical takes about stuff on occasions. Oh and I'm a bit trigger happy when it comes to blocking. Just so you know <3.

Anyways... look at this cat! :D Not fully sure what to do with her character yet, but isn't she precious :3 (ignore what she has on her mouth 😉 don't worry about it 🙌)

(This is a commission I got from Sparklehounds. Go check her out!)

Also, I'm an adult (You should probably be one too if you're planning to keep reading any further 👇👇👇).

I write fanfics sometimes.

📖🐈Warrior cats fics!🐈📖

Rated between T-ish to M. Editing and spell-checking are against my religion lmao. And I think mildly suggestive humor is hilarious, so you'll find plenty of that in there, but no outright smut. They're still kinda boring, tho. And unnecessarily long. On the flip-side, there are lots of gay kitties in them too.

So... yeah. You'll find them here, if you wanna check them out, for whatever reason. Mind the tags, tho. PLEASE mind the tags.

[-----------]

Getting into specifics, my main thing is a Power of Three in RiverClan AU/Rewrite. This includes:

-the Three being Feathertail/Crowfether kits, raised in RiverClan (duh) -Med cat Hollyleaf, Warrior Jayfeather, and Lionblaze... well, he's there too, doing his best. -a bunch of headcanons (both personal and popular fandom stuff) -community jokes taken seriously (exactly what it says on the tin) -complete lack of interest in making a "better" arc than the original, just the desire to have fun and explore whatever theme is in my head at the time. -actually, I kinda take the canon and make it worse tbh.

Here is the link to the series. Again, please, mind the tags. It gets heavy at times.

[-----------]

Some one-shots I've written:

-And tender was the flesh: Hollyleaf being a cryptid and also a cannibal, but Cinderheart is into that. -Vamos a punguearle a esta vida amarreta un ramo de sueños: An AU of the RiverAU, in which Jayfeather and Pouncetail get their happily ever after. -Mercy is ruthlessness upon ourselves: Stonefur x Blackfoot. Sad and doomed old man yaoi 😔 -Heathertail's Harem: Pretty self-explanatory. The princess of WindClan gets her well-deserved harem 🙌. Not serious at all. -Why should we try to rebuild our broken bridge, if all we have is rotten wood?: This one is hard to explain. The jest of it is that Holly and Squilf try to reconnect after the former returns from the tunnels, but their relationship soon turns quite unhealthy. What I mean is Squilf x Holly. Sorry 😔😔😔.

[-----------]

Also participating on the Year of the OTP 2025. I'm writing 12 one-shots featuring Frostdawn x Whistlebreeze! It's one per month and all of them will be here. Ratings and themes will vary substantially.

[-----------]

And some WIP one-shots that I'm currently workshopping and/or working on include:

-Squirrelflight x Mothwing x Leafpool. (A soldier and a nun abandon their religion and become Farm Girls for pu-... for love, of course) -Lionblaze (PPD, yay!) -An epilogue for Ravensight (oc. He just keeps getting worse) -Mothwing x Icestar (Very old woman yuri) -Jayfeather x Kestrelflight (Bird bois deserve to be happy) -Leafstar x Firestar >>> Leafstar x Squirrelflight (bit unhealthy) -Tawnypelt x Nightcloud (fuck it) -Ivypool x Hollytuft (Hollytuft and sibs are CinderHolly kits!) -There's a Ashfur Mpreg one too (that one is hard to explain...) - Something with Spottedleaf (it`s the ciiiiiircllleeee of... abuse...)

[-----------]

That's all for now.

<3

[grossrottie]

Can you give any of your favorite Proship Crowfeather ships?

Or just your favorite ships for him in general?

Hellooooo!! I’d love to!!

However first off I should mention that Proship doesn’t stand for ‘problematic ship’, as I think you’re using it in that manner.

Proship is a mindset of Kink Tomato (Your Kink is Not My Kink and That’s Okay/YKINMKATO), Ship and Let Ship, and Don’t Like/Don’t Read. It means that you believe that what people do in fiction doesn’t matter, and that it’s what you do in real life to real people that matters.

However if you’re asking about Crowfeather ships that include age gaps, shipcest, power imbalances, etc (aka things that sometimes are often considered a ‘Dead Dove, Do Not Eat’ topic, aka things that require tags in order for people to be aware of what they’re reading and so that it can be searched for or avoided, depending on someone’s comfort level), then I do have some!!!!!!

My absolute favourite Crowfeather ship is:

Crowfeather x Breezepelt. Age gap and shipcest with an abusive element.

When I was reading Crowfeather’s Trial (was that his novel’s name???), I was so thrilled to read about how eager Breezepelt was to get respect from his father and how angry Crowfeather was with everything to do with Breezepelt. Breezepelt wants a daddy father so badly and yet Crowfeather doesn’t even look at him. If he does, it’s to glare and insult and swat at Breezepelt with an unsheathed paw. Nightcloud gives Breezepelt some mother’s love but Breezepelt still wants Crowfeather. He wants to be needed, to be wanted, to be loved, to be appreciated, to be something more than just a second-best attempt at glue for a failing relationship. He knows that Crowfeather and Nightcloud don’t really love each other like they both wanted to. He knows that he isn’t the son that Crowfeather wanted. He tries his best but he is always lesser than he should be. That’s why he went into the Dark Forest’s ranks; finally given a chance to be respected, finally looked at with something other than disdain. But he still missed his father. He still wants his father’s love.

I would KILL for Breezepelt to confront Crowfeather or to try to suck up to him. Doing everything he can to be loved or for Crowfeather to look at him and smile. Ooooh maybe Crowfeather realizes and can’t decide whether to reject it or use Breezepelt’s affection for something. Filling a void, perhaps, or using his own son for pleasure and relief after a hard day. Maybe even making it more toxic by continuing to swat and hit Breezepelt despite their growing relationship. Being extra cruel to Breezepelt in public while finally giving Breezepelt what he so desperately needs in private.

Crowfeather isn’t a very upstanding tom, and I could very much see him bowing to the urges and desires of a toxic single father without a partner or person to relieve his stress with. Feeding into Breezepelt’s desires and offering him just enough to keep him close. Maybe making gradual comments about how much Breezepelt reminds him of Nightcloud. Maybe even using feminizing language to coax Breezepelt to be something Crowfeather would prefer.

My next fav Crowfeather ship including common ‘dead dove’ elements would be…hmmmm.

Honestly, I think that any element of Crowfeather x the Three would be delicious.

Whether or not the Three are aware of their relation/heritage, I could see it being pretty neat!

Perhaps they see Crowfeather at gatherings and begin to admire him from afar, noticing the way that Crowfeather watches them. Careful, slightly squinting, but with a prideful glint to his eyes that the Three feel a deep urge to see more of. They don’t understand why they feel that odd connection, but some part of them wants more.

Perhaps Hollyleaf is curious of Crowfeather and wants to know if there is some Starclan connection that ties them together.

Maybe Jayfeather detects the weird energy and thoughts of the strong Windclan cat across the clearing. He’s clever, and he has the added benefit of being able to dip into another cat’s thoughts to see their intent. But he can’t detect the details. He can’t detect why Crowfeather is so interested in him. He’s wary but curious. Maybe he meets Crowfeather one day and Crowfeather praises Jayfeather/paw for something. Complimenting his talents, appreciating how good Jaypaw is at his job and with his clan. Giving Jaypaw a bit of positive reinforcement that he really needs during his apprenticeship. Jaypaw’s clanmates underestimate him constantly. But this odd Windclan cat looks at Jaypaw with respect and consideration, admiring his good qualities and not dismissing him just because of his temper or his blindness.

Lionblaze might totally jump at the chance to prove himself to an older, more experienced warrior—even if he isn’t from Thunderclan. He has the desire to get respect from Crowfeather and he doesn’t know why. But yet something calls him to that makes him want to prove himself.

Crowfeather is very aware of their relation and he isn’t sure how to deal with it. Maybe he keeps it a secret and gets to know his kits in more…personal ways. Withholding their heritage so that he can get closer to his kin…perhaps in an inappropriate way. After all, they all seem to crave his attention, so why not indulge them?

…he doesn’t stop to consider that their blood-relation is what draws them towards him.

ALSO hmmm I bet I can think of another Crowfeather ship. But nothing is coming to mind just yet!

What about you, anon? What are your fave Crowfeather ships?

[situationshipper]

that au I wrote about leafpool using mugwort to induce miscarriage and unmake the prophecy has created a whole alternate universe in my brain and I need to like sit down, organize my thoughts and write this. which is crazy because I'm not really a person that does AUs.

fic ideas context: the original story is standalone and grounded in the mundane. the material world and leafpool's isolation. however- 1) fallen leaves perspective as a companion piece, introducing fallen leaves and the liminal space of the tunnels as an otherworldly purgatory - an underworld with fallen leaves as charon or anubis. where leafpool sees her kits as stillborn, fallen leaves sees the kits as liminal - changing, shifting - forms from kit, apprentice, to adult - echoes of their canon timelines. 2) this introduces the idea that while in the original AU she "unmade a prophecy", it wasn't exactly that. the prophecy exists. it just shifted. she, unwittingly, became a mother of gods - who I will be referring as the stillborn three. and as the kin of your kin prophecy says, they have the powers of the stars in their paws, greater than starclan. leafpool unmade unborn/stillborn kits who were supposed to be demigods and in unmaking them they became deities themselves - able to exist between domains cats of the dark forest/starclan/fallen leaves are not privy to. 3) leafpool, mother of gods, as a creator and destroyer but also entirely mundane. 4) the three stillborn gods still have their powers: jayfeather is the god of dreams. still a cynic, intrusive and lacking boundaries. lion still has powerful polydactyl paws and he's the only one that's able to breach the liminal purgatory of the tunnels because he's a deity of strength. and then holly - who was never part of the three - is now my hag goddess. a deity of bitching (affectionate) or righteous fury and unseen venomous truths brought to light. 5) the three are gods without followers. without purpose. fallen leaves is less a father and more of a lonely, socially awkward steward who now has to wrangle three restless kits that don't know what life is. 6) the three are chaotic and sometimes cruel because they never lived and they don't have the understanding to grasp social nuances because they lack mortality. but their domain is the tunnels as a womb-tomb - which means kits on the threshold of life hear them as well as warriors, the sick, or elders close to the threshold of death. 7) finally, imagine a satirical small gods like journey ala om the forgotten turtle god, but it's hollyleaf trying to wrangle her aimless brothers into getting power and followers. but she only gets ivypool who comes to visit the tunnels to bitch about dovewing. ivypool as a cleric of bitching (still affectionate). and dovewing as a poor remnant cat that is left with sensory overload because the stillborn deities are always pulling her into their domain and she didn't ask for that! 8) mothwing fic where both she-cats discuss agnosticism/atheism, choice/agency, and discuss the uses of mugwort as an abortifacient - but the original au still stands on its own. but idk i wanna write some gay she-cat solidarity. this would take place before and would inform leafpool's original choice to induce miscarriage. 9) almost forgot: crows in the dark. an exploration and meditation on crowfeather's grief as a father. the stillborn gods comfort him when he seeks solace in the tunnels and finds kit bones instead. this urges him to remember he has a living family in the present, and move on from the fleeting love he has for leafpool. they will always love each other, but she made a choice, and crowfeather's neglect is not fair to nightcloud and breezepelt. so he realizes he has to live for the present. ok if you read all that that's my mythic warrior cats au about unmaking the power of three. also like none of this shit centers moralistic themes, it's character and narrative driven and deals with social politics and tensions, but all these characters are complex in motivations and i, as an author, am nonjudgmental observer first. also all my female characters are bitchy, bc i'm a bitch.

[mothmans-wedding-photographer]

If I see one more bad Nightcloud take I am biting someone.

She did like one bad thing (grabbing Crowfeather roughly, NOT drawing blood like some MAPs portray). There's no in-book proof of her "coddling" Breezepelt. She in fact scolds him when he says something xenophobic about ThunderClan, whereas Crowfeather encourages this attitude and actually joins in, glaring at his ex while talking about mixed blood.

Same thing with the idea that she was keeping Crowfeather away from Breeze. She literally encourages him to take his son on a journey with him?? And Crowfeather is the one who doesn't want Breezepelt with him?? He's just straight up lying when he says to Breeze that Night turned him against Crow during the Great Battle lmao

Crowfeather is the one acting cold or outright hostile to Breezepelt in almost every interaction they have during PoT and OotS. He literally HITS him. Crowf fans will call Nightcloud physically abusive but ignore Crowfeather smacking his son. Also! During the gathering reveal Nightcloud does not yell at him like MAPs portray sometimes.

Also I think it's kind of fucked up to bring a child into the world that you don't want to care for just to prove your loyalty but I digress

[daily-whistlebreeze]

daily whistlebreeze until pi becomes PoV day 1440

when out gathering herbs in twolegplace Whis meets other cats sometimes, including Nightcloud's friend that one time, Pickle

[theanoninyourinbox]

New Longstar AU - A Journey and A New Land

Between Books

Brambleclaw asks for his suffix, claiming it as his way to claim power over his dishonorable Sire.  That night, he wakes in a familiar place – the clearing where Tiger”star” was killed, and Bloodclan run off.  Brambleclaw bows as his father, belly leaking red and black and thorny vines, approaches.  Tigerstar’s grin is all teeth and menace, and he congratulates his kit for keeping the Clan’s trust in him…but this is only the start of their plans.

In Riverclan, Feathertail and Stormfur make their way.  The siblings notice that the former loners Hawkpaw and Mothpaw bear a small resemblance to Tiger”star”, but agree that even IF they were somehow his kits, that the blood of their sire makes no difference on who they will be. 

In Shadowclan, Tawnypelt feels the weight of her sire’s sins around her neck.  With the help of Runningnose and Rowanclaw, she begins to heal.

In Windclan, Hopfoot announces his retirement, and Mudclaw is promoted to Deputy.  Hopfoot’s adopted son Crowpaw and niece Nightcloud prepare a nest especially for him.

In the Hope’s Rest Clowder, Darkstripe and Sasha have been noticing more signs of Twolegs around their Camp, and begin making plans to move the Clowder entirely.  A few cats express wishing to live in a forest.

In another place, an elderly cat named Skywatcher gathers Kittypets and Loners under his wings, hoping that others will come to take his burden and delight of a Clowder, and make them a Clan, before he passes away.

The Quest

In Thunderclan, the three kits of Longstar and Flamewish are being apprenticed.  Tactician Graystripe has deduced that Swiftpaw’s anxiety would lead to her being a terrible Hunter or Brawler, and suggests Nursery Guard, which she happily accepts, apprenticing to Goldenflower and Brackenfur.  Foxpaw wants to be a Warrior, and apprentices under Brightheart as her lead Mentor, with other cats there to help her learn other skills. Darkpaw asks to be mentored in the art of Healing, and apprentices under Fireheart and Cinderpelt.

Foxpaw is annoyed that Brambleclaw keeps interrupting her training sessions to give advice and tells him so to his face.  He sputters, and gives a non-apology, but does back off.  Brightheart thinks that he must be trying to be a better cat than his father, but Snowthorn just thinks he’s trying too hard.  Shrewpaw makes funny faces behind Brambleclaw’s back during the non-apology and makes Foxpaw laugh.

Swiftpaw and Foxpaw tell their parents that they can sometimes talk to each other in their minds, and Historian Mousefur assures the worried parents that twin births sometimes Do That – it might be a Star Blessing, but that’s not always the case.

Darkpaw beings trying to figure out how to heal minds, as his father sometimes freezes up around the smell or sounds of dogs, and some cats are terrified of thunderstorms and even a hint of smoke on the wind.  Fireheart asks Starclan for guidance on how to best help his nephew, and the Spirit of Goosefeather begins showing up with Yellowfang to build this new kind of healing.

Foxpaw begins having dreams about distant salty waters and a badger with starry eyes, with the sun drowning, and talks to Fireheart about it. He suggests it may be related to the sightings of Twolegs around the forest, and takes Foxpaw and Longstar to the Moonstone.  They have a collective vision of the Clan lands being torn up by yellow Monsters, and of the Hope’s Rest Clowder being chased out of their camp by Twolegs with long silver looped sticks, and Longstar immediately starts making plans.

He sends a warning with Graystripe to the Hope Clowder, and warnings to the other Clans.  Riverclan denies that anything like that could happen, Windclan starts making preparations, and Shadowclan admits that Twolegs have been marking some of their trees with orange markings.  Hope Clowder is already mid move to a new Twoleg Den, one with more Twoleg decorations on it, but agree to be prepared to evacuate if Twolegs are sighted.

After some time has passed, Yellowfang appears to the whole LongFlame family one night, and says that Foxpaw needs to go on a Quest for a new home, as the Twolegs are planning to turn their territories into more Twoleg Dens.  Flamewish makes Yellowfang promise to keep an eye on Foxpaw, and Yellowfang says that there are other cats from the Clans coming too.  Foxpaw says goodbye to her family, her mentors, and Shrewpaw, before leaving.  She meets Tawnypelt, Crowpaw, and Feathertail and Stormfur at the border, but is bothered greatly when Brambleclaw shows up, saying he’ll keep her safe.

The Questers make their way through the Twoleg Territory, skirting past Hope Colony’s old home, and eventually meet an old tom named Purdy. He guides them the rest of the way, becoming the Quester’s Grandpa, and they are sad to see him go.  Crowpaw, Foxpaw, and Feathertail become close friends, with Tawnypelt and Brambleclaw bonding a little.  Tawnypelt notes that her brother is a little distant, but chalks it up to their separation. Stormfur thinks Foxpaw is cute, but she’s also not an adult so he shakes it off.  Crowpaw talks about how his parents found him – on the edge of the territory, sopping wet and terrified of unclear water.  Ashfoot spoke of seeing a ghostly cat running from him, and assumed that was his sire or queen.

(They will never know it was a cat named Pine, who once walked the world in Thunderclan.  He refused the gifts of Starclan for ages, and once he saved the innocent kit, he finally entered the fields he had abstained from.  For once, he did the right thing for a kit of his bloodline.)

They meet with the starry-eyed badger Midnight, who confirms that their home is to be destroyed, so they must Journey past the great mountain to find their new home.  As they leave, Midnight catches Brambleclaw by himself, and warns him that the path he walks leads only to a sudden sharp end.  He shakes her off and continues on his way.

The group goes up the great mountain, and are stopped by a patrol of cats wearing mud and berry paint in swirling patterns. They are escorted to the Coldstone Clowder camp inside of a cave, with a great waterfall, a wide floor, and great stone teeth hanging from the ceiling.  Feathertail shivers as she looks up, noting that they look so fragile.  One of the cats that escorted them in, Brook, states that they are the teeth of the Sky Cat, which protect them from evil.  The Questers meet with Stoneteller, both Leader and Seer, who advises them that he has Foreseen a silver cat stopping their Punishment - a Sharp Clawed Spirit that has tormented them for ages.  When Stormfur asks what their Clowder was being punished for, Stoneteller sighs, and tells them that the Clowder has forgotten their crimes, though they must have been great.  Foxpaw disagrees, this Spirit sounds like a Geist, and decides they must free the Clowder from their torments.

A plan is set – some freshkill is used to lure the massive Geist into part of the cavern, and then the Hunters, Stormfur, Brambleclaw, and Tawnypelt will leap on it and batter it.  Crowpaw, Foxpaw, and Feathertail will distract it, along with some of the faster Hunters and Scouts.  The plan starts perfectly – the great Geist comes into the cavern, its birch-bark pelt curling and jagged, its eyes dripping river weeds and mud.  Foxpaw streaks over its paws, dodging slime and tree sap, and the attackers jump on its back, peeling the bark back farther to release murky water.  This is what sends the plan reeling – Crowpaw sees the water and freezes.  The hunters are battered, and Brambleclaw curses Crowpaw for cowardice.  Feathertail sees a starry cat with silver fur, and sees what she has to do.

She runs for a craggy path, up to the stone teeth, and

She

   Leaps

      And

         F

           A

               L

                     L

                         S

                               Taking the largest stone tooth with her

It CRACKS into the Geist’s back, pinning it to the cave floor, sending sap and water and mud out in a wild wave, soaking Crowpaw and Foxpaw, who had leapt to Crowpaw’s defense.    The Geist scrabbles at the ground, and slowly whisps away like fog in a beam of sunlight, leaving only the clawmarks and the stone tooth, embedded in the floor as if it had grown there.  And atop it, Feathertail, silent and still.

Stormfur wails, rushing to the limp body of his sister, as Stoneteller and the other Coldstone Clowder cats gather incredulously.  Crowpaw leaps up to his friend, and screams. SHE’S STILL ALIVE!!!!!

Stormfur and Stoneteller carefully leverage the fallen cat to the softest nest the Clowder has, and Crowpaw lays at her head, apologizing over and over.  Stoneteller shoos him, and Crowpaw weeps against Foxpaw, who assures him that it wasn’t his fault, that any one of them could have freaked out.  Stoneteller declares that Feathertail will live, but he is unsure of what the damage to her back will do.  Brook comforts Stormfur, and Foxpaw makes Crowpaw laugh a little by joking about Brook making moves on Stormfur.

After a day, Feathertail wakes, but she can’t feel her hindquarters at all.  She stops Crowpaw from apologizing, and assures her friends that she will do her best to heal, but they have a job to do.  Stoneteller promises to take care of Feathertail like one of his own Clowder, and Brook swears to personally keep Feathertail cared for.  After a tearful goodbye, the five remaining Questers head down the mountain.  They break through a fog bank, and behold the vista below them.

A grand lake, surrounded by woodland and marshland and moorland and a winding river.  Birds fly past the group unafraid, and Crowpaw spies deer feeding in the distance.  A small Twoleg Den sits on one side, with a Barn and strange creatures dotting the Twoleg Territory there.  Near where the river meets the lake, another Twoleg Den sits, with a structure jutting out into the lake.  It gleams with the rising sun, and it’s as close to perfect as the Questers will ever find.

The group heads back to the Coldstone Clowder, and after transporting Feathertail to see the view, the five Clan cats head back the way they came.  Foxpaw tries to send Swiftpaw good vibes, but gets a strange feeling – like anxiety creeping up her tail and rooting in her spine.  Something is terribly wrong. And as they come into view of the Clan territories, and see the devastation that the Twolegs have wrought, and understand.

The Time Between

While the Quest was going on, the Twolegs had begun their attack on the territories.  All the Clans were under threat of starvation.  Windclan found themselves poisoned by prey.  Shrewpaw was nearly killed by a Monster – only saved by a shining Swiftspirit pulling him out of the way.  His leg was still broken, but he would live.  And worst of all, the Twolegs had set traps!  The Clans would have lost so many, save that Sandstorm led a rescue mission – at the cost of the Monster holding the prisoners stealing the brave molly away.

The Hope Clowder had better luck at least – their new home was safe, as their old camp had been destroyed by Monsters as well, but at least they had a place to stay! 

Preparations were made to move.  Seers chipped pieces of the Moonstone away, to bring with them to their new home.  Herbalists gathered their plants into carriable containers.  Queens and Kings worked with Crafters to make kit-carriers.  Hunters and Trackers took down every prey they found, and butchered the meat into transportable parcels.

And then the Questers returned.

The Journey

Foxpaw fell into her family’s embrace, crying with joy.  Goldenflower held Brambleclaw, who reassured her he was FINE MA.  Stormfur informed Leopardstar of Feathertail’s injury, and was welcomed back by Hawkfrost and Mothwing.  Tawnypelt rushed into Rowanclaw, holding him like he was a treasure.  Crowpaw ran into camp calling for his parents, and was swept up in their embrace, Nightcloud and her mate Gorseflicker dancing around them as Tallstar watched.  Foxpaw was named Foxflight for her swift return, and she congratulated Swiftpool on her calm name.  And Crowpaw requested he be named for the bravest cat he knew, and became Crowfeather.

Within three days, the dens were dismantled, the histories gathered, and every cat accounted for. But some of the Elders were too tired and weak, and Mudfur is recovering from an illness.  As the Clans walked through the Twoleg Territory, a group of Hope Clowder cats stopped them – their leaders wanted to talk to the Leaders of the Clans before they left. 

The Leaders, and the Elders so they could rest, were led to Darkstripe and Sasha, and Longstar asked what they wanted.  Sasha explains that some of their more spiritually sided cats have had visions of a distant Clan of cats that need help – do they know anything about this?  As she speaks, stars fall through a crack in the wall, and Willowpelt emerges.  She greets the tearful Darkstripe, and confirms that the records are missing something – there once were five Clans. 

The fifth, Skyclan were banished after the Leaders decided the fifth Tree at what became Fourtrees meant that Skyclan needed to leave.  They were forced to split, some joining the Coldstone Clowder, others became Kittypets or Loners, and some joined the remaining Clans. The Leaders then forbid the Historians from ever speaking of Skyclan, leading to everyone forgetting them  This was terribly wrong of the past Leaders, and now some of their descendants needed aid.  Mudfur raises his head – I can do this.  Frostfur agrees, followed by Loudbelly, and a Windclan Elder named Hollowback, then a Shadowclan Elder named Yewtail.  Their Leaders confer, and agree as well, so long as the Hope Colony cats going along understand they’ll have to care for these treasured Elders.  The Colony cats are brought in, and fervently agree, one tom named Macguyver vows to see them to Skyclan if it’s the last thing he does.  The Elders say goodbye to the Clans, and the mass of cats departs.

As the Clan cats go up the mountain, an apprentice named Smokepaw almost falls off of a cliff, but is saved by Russetfur.  This sets off a chain reaction that leads the Clans to become closer.  Queens and Kings huddle together, their kits becoming friends.  Apprentices chatter with each other, sharing tongues and stories. Historians compare notes, and Crafters compare techniques.  Hunters and Trackers share notes and bring down prey together.  Swiftpool finds herself becoming enamored with Crowfeather, and Crowfeather begins getting a crush on Swiftpool.  Foxflight is not blind and needles them cheerfully, with the help of Shrewleg.  Notably, Onewhisker keeps close to a slowly wilting Tallstar, and seems to be brown-nosing, at least according to Nightcloud.  He only leaves the elderly Leader’s side to talk with Brambleclaw.

When the Clans reach the Coldstone Clowder, they shelter for a night in the cavern, Graystripe being reunited with Feathertail.  She gets teary at Crowfeather’s name, and she and Stormfur decide to stay behind in the Coldstone Clowder, feeling more at home there.

The Clans marvel at the sight of the New Territory, but some cats wonder if Starclan came with them.  These doubts are erased when every Senior Seer AND Healer get similar visions of past Seers or Healers, assuring them Starclan reaches as far as Silverpelt.  As the cats bed down for the night, Barkface summons the Leaders to meet with Tallstar.  When they enter the bush where Tallstar lies, it becomes very apparent what is happening. 

Tallstar is dying, for the last time.

Mudclaw and Onewhisker stay at the entrance, Onewhisker shooting glares at the Deputy.  Tallstar weakly asks Leopardstar, Longstar, and Blackstar to help his chosen Deputy guide his clan, and as he passes, names…Mudclaw.  Onewhisker storms off, and Mudclaw lowers his head, mourning.

As this is happening, Hawkfrost and Mothwing meet with Brambleclaw and Tawnypelt, having deduced that the four share the same sire.  As they’re talking, Foxflight and Crowfeather trot over to say hello.

And the Riverclan siblings freeze.

Foxflight asks if they sat on slugs, and Mothwing shakily says that she’s seeing a Spirit, Hawkfrost’s wavering voice rising.  It’s our brother.  Tadpole.  We lost him when he…drowned… Crowfeather tilts his head.  I’m not named Tadpole, but…you look familiar…and tells his story.  Mothwing tears up – it’s you – oh Tadpole you’re ALIVE!!!  Hawkfrost is blubbering, beaming hopefully. Crowfeather, shaking a little, smiles weakly – I think I remember you, oh Moth, oh Hawk!  The three tumble into a teary embrace, with Foxflight and Tawnypelt cheering.  Brambleclaw looks…angry, that the attention is off of him, but hides it quickly. Of COURSE he would be excited about another sibling, he’s just shocked!

The next morning, as Windclan mourns Tallstar, many wonder how Mudclaw will gain his nine lives, with no Moonstone.  Darkpaw wonders as well, but is distracted by a tortie molly with a starry pelt.  He grabs Sorreltail, and they follow the cat until she leads them to a pool of clear, shining water.  With familiar shining stones at the bottom.  Darkpaw and Sorreltail race back to the group excitedly, and when the Healers come to the pool, they collectively agree that this will be their new Moonstone.  The Moonpool.  Darkpaw is given his Healer’s name on the spot by Cinderpelt – Darkmoon.

Settling In and Blood Spilt

The Clans settle into their new camps, and it’s busy for quite a while.  Camp Guards working with Crafters to weave new Dens, Herbalists and Healers planting their medicines and locating more, and Trackers and Hunters finding and tracking the lives of the new prey groups.  Foxflight finds herself bothered by Brambleclaw, finding solace in her pseudo-uncle Ashfur and his mate Flyshadow, and her best friend Shrewleg.  Eventually, they are forced to work together to drive off some Rogues that were harassing the border patrols of Thunderclan and Shadowclan.  Blackstar is furious that Longstar stepped in, but comically backtracks when Flamewish steps up. She had recently helped dive out a badger, and is Not Amused by Blackstar’s nonsense. We help each other, Moronstar!

Unfortunately, Onewhisker leads a revolt against Mudstar, claiming that Tallstar named HIM Deputy on his deathbed, and that Mudstar is a False Star.  This accusation brings Shadowclan supporters, and a fight breaks out, with Riverclan and Thunderclan supporting Mudstar.  As Onewhisker yowls angrily against Mudstar, a tree falls upon him, and he is crushed.  His body is retrieved, and the tree becomes the bridge to the new Gathering Place.  (Brambleclaw seethes, as his ally falls.  But he still has the Foxflight plan)

After some time, a Barn Cat named Daisy meets a patrol exploring the edge of the Twoleg Den.  She asks if they protect kits, which Cloudtail affirms.  She brings her three kits, Berrykit, Hazelkit, and Mousekit, to Thunderclan, saying that the Twolegs took her last litter, and she refuses to lose another to them.  Longstar welcomes her, and asks if she wishes to have a Clan name.  She passes, stating that she was named to honor her mother, and joins Thunderclan.  Cloudtail is attentive to her, which bothers Brightheart.  Thankfully, she communicates with her mate, and the three cats come to a romantic agreement.  The kits are delighted to have three parents!

Swiftpool and Crowfeather begin having a secret relationship, though not quite as secret as they think.  Hopfoot and Ashfoot exchange glances when their son looks so cheery, and Snowthorn pawspeaks jokes to Darkmoon about Swiftpool being obvious as a snowfall in Greenleaf.  Eventually, they decide to run away together, thinking that their Clans would never let them be together.  But that night they are stopped by Midnight, who tells them that her kin are attacking Thunderclan Camp.  The pair split up, Crowfeather running to Windclan for backup, and Swiftpool rushing for home.

She enters camp to pandemonium.  There are at least a half-dozen badgers, and she leaps at the one atop of Sootfur, saving his life.  As she helps drive them off, she hears Darkmoon scream in anguish, then sees him pin a badger with a bloody face.  Behind him, in front of the Healer’s Den, is a downed Cinderpelt.  Suddenly, a Windclan Battle Patrol bursts into camp, finishing off the badgers.  Swiftpool mourns the Healer alongside Darkmoon, Fireheart, and Flamewish, as Longstar confers with Mudstar.  Eventually, she and Crowfeather are called to meet with their leaders, and they confess their affair, waiting for their punishments.

But instead, Flamewish whoops delightedly, Mudstar sighs and mutters about idiots not talking to their Leaders, and Longstar pats them gently, you are not subtle kits.  Right there, Windclan and Thunderclan create a cross-clan relationship rule – so long as the Clans are at peace with each other, cats may be in relationships.  The moon remains bright and clear, and Swiftpool and Crowfeather have official permission to date.  The rule is added to the code at large, though Leopardstar seems somewhat iffy about it.  But if the Stars approve, then who is she to deny them?

After some time, Brambleclaw keeps trying to flirt with Foxflight, even though she’s mates with Shrewleg.  Eventually Fireheart steps in, and gives Brambleclaw a talk about consent, and taking NO for an answer. This is interrupted by Cloudtail rushing into camp with an injured Berrykit, who snuck out and got his tail stuck in a Twoleg snare.  He loses the tail, but lives, and is scolded for leaving camp by himself.  Brambleclaw gets an idea.

He meets every so often with Hawkfrost on the border, the pair complaining and training together.  Hawkfrost admits to once having a dream of Tiger”star” calling him, but denied it after seeing a moth float by. It reminded him of the one time that he tried to fake a sign to make Mothpaw a Healer, but there was already a moth’s wing at the Healer’s Den.  The pair both wish to be Deputies, and plan to become Leaders together.

On the evening of their last meeting, Hawkfrost feels a sense of unease.  As he approaches the meeting place, he hears a commotion, and finds Longstar trapped by a Twoleg snare on his neck, Brambleclaw standing over him.  Hawkfrost is horrified as Brambleclaw speaks, help me kill him, and Whitestorm when he makes me Deputy, and I’ll help you kill your opposition.  We will rule TOGETHER!

And Hawkfrost?

Says NO!

The pair clash, with Hakfrost getting knocked around by the Miretrees-trained Brambleclaw, eventually being thrown next to Longstar.  He sees the snare-thorn, and as Brambleclaw leaps at him, grabs the snare-thorn in his mouth

                                                                               And

                                                                                        Stabs

Brambleclaw falls on Hawkfrost, and the Riverclan tom shoves his half-brother off, the snare-thorn lodged deeply in the Traitor’s throat.  He frees Longstar, who coughs weakly, and thanks Hawkfrost for helping him.  Blood spills into the lake. Hawkfrost vows to never become Leader – he will support his clan, but the shine of Leadership has been forever tainted by hot blood and shocked amber eyes.

(Brambleclaw wakes, coughing up blood and black ooze.  His father sneers, what a failure…but we will try again)

And Swiftpool realizes she’s pregnant.

(Crowfeather denies that he fainted, it was a Manly Swoon. Foxflight disagrees heartily)

[troutfur]

One more question about Forest’s Echo - if the journey hasn’t happened yet in this timeline, does that mean Feathertail is still alive and Stormfur never left RiverClan? How does their presence play into the current AU state of RiverClan? Also with Feathertail and Crowfeather not having known each other, how does that change Crowfeather’s dynamics with Leafpool, Nightcloud and Breezepelt?

I'm sharing this mostly because I don't know how much of it is gonna come up and it's a fun bit of backstory, so here goes: Feathertail and Hawkfrost drowned together after she prevented him from making an attempt on Stormfur's life. He was beloved by Mistyfoot and generally seen as a more qualified and competent candidate for deputy and, without an incident that would remove Misty, he was on Hawkfrost's crosshairs first.

Stormfur currently is the RiverClan deputy under Mistystar, and he even got to mentor Curlfeather. That way she has a connection to one of the original journey cats, which if you notice it's a fun pattern that emerges with all our chosen cats. Tawnypelt is Needlepaw's mentor, Bramblestar and Squirrelflight are Alderpaw's parents, and Crowfeather is Smokehaze's grandfather.

The dynamic I have in mind for them is that while Curlfeather does admire her mentor as a warrior and authority figure with good judgement (he's a practical and down-to-earth tom, in her own words), they also clash in how he's more relaxed in contrast to her compulsively hard-working self. (In this way she tends to clash with RiverClan culture more generally, actually.) He just wants to take it easier sometimes.

That last one though, you can generally assume that, with the exception of the TNP era being less eventful, things up to the beginning of The Apprentice's Quest have close enough to canon as the forest territories setting allows. But if you want more specifics regarding Crowfoot, that's less my province as it is @mothdapple who's been tasked with writing our upcoming Smokehaze chapter.

[bonefall]

Bones someone made a "Squirrelflight is worse" document on Twitter and people are defending him because "evil squilf fans" or whatever I feel like I'm going mad

Can't say I'm surprised. Bramblestans are so whiny they could rival Italy's yearly chianti exports.

Honestly I'd just dismiss them as contrarian. Especially when they're young, people feel special for arguing their unpopular opinions. Add that to a mix of this fandom being pretty notoriously sexist against female characters (like when they just make shit up about Nightcloud) and I think this sort of discourse becomes predictable.

Let me guess though; the claim is, "Squilf is rude sometimes which means she deserves to be abused by her husband/boss?" I wouldn't expect much better from a document that can't even think of an original title.

[gayleafpool]

i like her with hawkfrost and mothwing and sol and nightcloud and curlfeather and sometimes crowfeather or ashfur if i want it to end really badly. she can have everyone

[bramblewhisker]

As the BreezeCrow anon, if we are being honest, a significant part of BreezeCrow would be spent with Breezepelt convincing Nightcloud to not drop a cinder block on Crows head.

Sometimes the best parts of thinking about some proships is imagining being a fly on the wall of whatever conversation is going on between the characters involved, because, boy, there would VERY fun talks to be had.

Laughing thinking about Breezepelt trying to find the proper euphemistic language to explain the situation to her.

"No, Nightcloud, he's not 'manipulating' me, it's... I'm... I'm in control of the situation okay?"

[wc-confessions]

I don't like how this fandom treats toxic couples. Like- you can have relationships where both characters are bad to each other.

Nightcloud and Crowfeather? Crowfeather was a deadbeat dad and mate, and Nightcloud wasn't considerate of the fact that Crowfeather had seen shit (such as watching his romantic interest die in front of him).

Bramblestar and Squirrelflight? Squirrelflight was controlling and possessive at times, and Bramblestar had a tendancy to overreact to certain situation.

Everyone has their own trauma that they process in different ways. In relationships like the two i mentioned above, people can relate to either cat in the relationship as an abuse victim because its their trauma. They're dealing with it in their own way, and will relate to different characters.

Not all relationships are as black and whute as one character is a victim and the other is an abuser. There are relationships like this, but not all relationships are like that. Sometimes you can both be hurt by someone but also hurt them. It happens. Its not good or ok.

Couples can both be mean to each other in different ways, so people may not relate to the same character as you. Get over yourself.

.

[dragoneyes613]

I was tagged by @leseigneurdufeu

Rules: Make a post and list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

It was cold in the mountains.

-

The Obscurial was a problem.

-

Officially, queens stayed in the nursery most of the time when their kits were very young, being brought food by their mates and sometimes siblings or parents, but Crowfeather had never been the most attentive of mates in the short time they'd been together - he'd been even more distracted than usual of late, which was really saying something - and Nightcloud wanted some fresh air anyway, so she tucked moss around the sleeping Breezekit to keep him warm and went to probe the fresh-kill pile.

-

The sky had always called to Vonni.

-

Eventually, in between questions about embroidery and painting and magical gifts, they talk about destiny.

-

"I hear through the rumor mill that CJ's gotten her license?" Mal asked.

-

"Thanks for cooking breakfast for me." Dolores kissed Mariano on the cheek.

-

Archie and Mims had befriended each other pretty quickly, once everything had died down. Mims had been wary of Archie at first, what with him being a ghost and all.

-

"I'm not telling him. You tell him."

-

"Harriet!" The voice was quiet, yet persistent. It found its way inside her dreams like smoke, and slowly dragged her out of their comforting embrace.

Tagging @hannahhook7744 @panthera-tigris-venenata @cleverqueencommander @toaverse @idontliketomatoesleavemealone @kanzakurawrites @shouldwemaybe