#Ripplecloud

[nettleclanstale]

Moon 61

torture

[qsmpcensusbureau]

what would each egg’s warrior name/design be? for purposes /nf

Sorry for the long wait on answering this ask! I've got some art the eggs here:

Bobby is Twigpaw, his warrior name would have been something like Twigstep or Twigskip.

Chayanne is Skullpaw, which is already an unusual name in itself, but his warrior name would be Skullmask, like his father Missa who is Silvermask.

Dapper is Nightpaw, his warrior name would be something like Nightbreeze. He would have a very elegant-sounding name.

Pomme is Applepaw, her warrior name would be something like Applebranch or Appleleaf, something that really just screams nature-loving and beautiful.

Tallulah is Sparrowpaw, her warrior name would be Sparrowsong. In my past AUs Wilbur has always had the name Swansong, since she is his little girl it's just natural that I named them both after birdsong.

Leonarda is Ripplepaw, I know in a past comic Dapper says her warrior name is "Ripplecloud", but it would actually turn out to be something like Ripplepool or Ripplewing.

Richarlyson doesn't have a name yet. I was thinking something like Specklepaw or Spottedpaw. 'Cuz he's got spots.

RAMON!!! aka BROWNPAW. aka BROWNNOSE. he's a cutie pie!! much like his twin brother dapper he's a longhaired cat. it's funny because fit is bald

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Cover || Allegiances || Prologue || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

============= ALLEGIANCES =============

(characters marked with a * are trans and are described with their preferred gender/pronouns) 

============= THUNDERCLAN =============

Leader: Tinystar – very small black tom with ice-blue eyes and one white paw (Sandstorm’s mate, father of Nightfrost and Shadepool) 

Deputy: n/a 

Medicine Cats:  

Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom 

Shadepool – very dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws 

Warriors: 

Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat (Spiderpaw) 

Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes and a long tail, blind * 

Graystripe – long-furred gray tom with a dark stripe of fur down his spine (Silverstream’s mate) 

Silverstream – sleek-furred silver tabby she-cat, formerly of RiverClan (Graystripe’s mate, mother of Feathertail and Stormfur) 

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom (Cinderpelt’s mate) 

Cinderpelt – smoky dark gray she-cat (Dustpelt’s mate, mother of Spiderpaw)  

Cloudtail – white she-cat with ginger tabby patches and a fluffy white tail (Swiftfoot and Brightheart’s mate) 

Brightheart – pretty white she-cat with ginger patches, missing an eye and ear (Swiftfoot and Cloudtail’s mate, mother of Whitewing) 

Swiftfoot – stocky black-and-white tom, missing his tail (Cloudtail and Brightheart’s mate) 

Ashfur – pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes (Larchpaw) 

Snowstep – snowy white tom, very blue eyes; deaf (Ferncloud’s mate) 

Sootfur – light gray tabby tom, amber eyes  

Rainwhisker – dark gray tom 

Sorreltail – thick-furred tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat 

Mistyfoot – long-furred dark blue-gray she-cat, blue eyes 

Nightfrost – very small black tom with a thick, plumy tail and white paws 

Whitewing – white she-cat with a ginger tabby rump and a ginger tail 

Sun That Scatters on Water (Sun) – pale ginger tabby she-cat with white dappling and sharp yellow eyes, formerly of the Tribe of Rushing Water * 

Apprentices: 

Spiderpaw – leggy smoky gray she-cat * 

Larchpaw – white tom with gray tabby patches, bi-colored eyes, half deaf 

Queens: 

Ferncloud – pale gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (Snowstep’s mate, mother of Larchpaw)

Elders: 

n/a 

============= WINDCLAN =============

Leader: Mudstar– mottled dark brown tabby tom with a limp 

Deputy: Crowflight – smoky gray, almost black, tom, blue eyes 

Medicine Cat: Ryewhisper – very small brown-and-white tabby tom with bright green eyes 

Warriors: 

Webfoot – dark gray tabby tom * (Weaselpaw) 

Tornear – tabby tom with a ripped ear (Thistlepaw) 

Poppyfoot – tortoiseshell she-cat 

Softbreeze – very pale gray she-cat, former loner (mother of Weaselpaw and Thistlepaw) 

Smokewillow – lean pale gray-and-white tabby tom (Robinwing’s mate) 

Whitetail – small white she-cat 

Emberstep – smoky black she-cat 

Duskwhisker – sleek black she-cat  

Thorndusk – golden-brown she-cat 

Apprentices: 

Weaselpaw – pale gray tom with a dark stripe down his spine

Thistlepaw – gray tabby tom 

Queens: 

Bramblefur – pale brown tabby she-cat, amber eyes (mother of Thorndusk) 

Robinwing – light brown she-cat with blue eyes (Smokewillow’s mate, mother of Blizzardkit, Galekit, Sleetkit, and Ashkit)

Elders: 

n/a 

============= RIVERCLAN =============

Leader: Leopardstar – dappled golden tabby she-cat with a scarred muzzle (mother of Falcontail and Mothwing) 

Deputy: Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with broad shoulders, green eyes (mother of Goldenpaw, Reedpaw and Rosepaw) 

Medicine Cat: Mothwing – lovely golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes 

Warriors: 

Ripplecloud – gray tabby tom with white paws (Goldenpaw) 

Brackenflight – golden brown tabby she-cat 

Heronleap – lean smoky gray-black tom * 

Heavystep – thickset tabby tom (Reedpaw) 

Leafwhisker – small brown tabby tom (Rosepaw) 

Falcontail – smoky tabby tom with yellow eyes 

Frostsplash – white tom, former loner 

Mackerelshine – tabby-and-white she-cat, former kittypet 

Apprentices: 

Goldenpaw – broad-shouldered golden tabby tom

Reedpaw – black tom 

Rosepaw – ginger-patched white she-cat

Queens: 

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Willowkit) 

Dawnflower – pale gray she-cat (mother of Frostsplash’s kits – Minnowkit, Pebblekit, and Tumblekit)

Elders: 

Blackclaw – smoky black tom 

============= SHADOWCLAN =============

Leader: Russetstar – dark ginger she-cat with scarred shoulders (Pansytail’s mate) 

Deputy: Blackfoot – large, sturdy white tom with black face, paws, and tail 

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud – very small brown tabby tom 

Warriors: 

Oakfur – small brown tom 

Cedarheart – dark gray tom (Finchsong’s mate) 

Orre – golden-brown tom (Tallpoppy’s mate) 

Pansytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, brilliant green eyes, former BloodClan cat (Russetstar’s mate) 

Wolftooth – thick-furred gray tom, former BloodClan cat (father of Finchsong) 

Rowanclaw – ginger tabby tom * (Stoneheart’s mate) 

Stoneheart – thick-furred pale blue-gray tom, blue eyes (Rowanclaw’s mate) (Rushpaw)

Pinewhisker – scarred dark brown tabby tom, former loner (Nightwing’s mate) (Willowpaw)

Skipnose – black-and-white tom with a black tail, former kittypet 

Talonstripe – dark brown tabby tom 

Smokeflower – a dark gray tom 

Redclaw – ginger she-cat, former kittypet 

Apprentices: 

Willowpaw – dark gray tom with faint tabby stripes

Rushpaw – pale gray tom

Queens: 

Tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat (mother of Orre’s kits – Talonstripe, Applekit, Toadkit, and Marshkit) 

Finchsong – very pale gray she-cat, former BloodClan cat (mother of Willowpaw and Rushpaw) 

Nightwing – black she-cat (Pinewhisker’s mate, expecting)

Elders: 

n/a 

============= CATS (AND OTHER CREATURES) OUTSIDE THE CLANS =============

Midnight – stargazing badger that lives by the sea 

Smoky – bulky gray-and-white tom, barn cat (Floss and Daisy’s mate) 

Daisy – long-haired cream-colored she-cat, barn cat (Smoky’s mate, mother of Berry, Hazel, and Goose) 

Floss – very small white she-cat with a gray-spotted nose, barn cat (Smoky’s mate) 

Root – golden tabby tom (father of Goldenpaw, Rosepaw, and Reedpaw) 

Jaques – large, scarred, black-and-white tom, kittypet 

Susan – lean light brown tabby she-cat, kittypet

[eduarda-dee-paula]

Ripplecloud ☁️ • • • [ T A G S ] #medibang #originalpainting #art #digitalart #artistsoninstagram #brazilianartist #arte #artedigital #medibangpaint #medibangpaintpro #medibangart #oc #warriorcats #warriorsoc #warriorcatsoc #personagemoriginal https://www.instagram.com/p/B_dVqFVHxbU/?igshid=b52e2fkcfdm6

[themurphyzone]

Phineas and Ferb Warrior Cat Names

Ok so I’m actually using a naming guide this time.

Phineas: Russetpelt. 

Ferb: Birchroot. I think he’d be named after a plant. Though since green isn’t a natural fur color he’d most likely be brown.

Candace: Redstorm.

Isabella: Lilyshine. She’s got a bright personality.

Buford: Stonefall. 

Baljeet: Beetlefrost. The Baljeatles. Beetles. Get it?

Linda: Sorrelflower. Though she doesn’t usually know what her kits get up too...

Lawrence: Ripplecloud. Ok this one gave me issues. His head is in the clouds though. 

Heinz: Panthertail. I can’t use Ocelot unfortunately. 

Vanessa: Nightfang. “Cute black kitten with a nasty bite.”

Monogram: Whitewhisker. 

Carl: Copperfur. Cause he’s red.

Roger: Eaglestar. Well an eagle is the king of birds. His mom would probably give him a really majestic name. 

[vafarmwifelife]

This morning ❤️ #vafarmwifelife #breakfast #rippleclouds #farm #gratefulforthislife

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Cover || Allegiances || Prologue || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

============= ALLEGIANCES =============

(characters marked with a * are trans and are described with their preferred gender/pronouns)

============= WINDCLAN =============

Leader: Tallstar – aging black-and-white tom with a very long tail

Deputy: Mudclaw – mottled dark brown tabby tom

Medicine Cats:

Barkface – short-tailed brown tom 

Ryewhisper – very small brown-and-white tabby tom with bright green eyes

Warriors:

Onewhisker – brown tabby tom 

Webfoot – dark gray tabby tom * (Weaselpaw)

Ashfoot – gray she-cat (mother of Crowflight) 

Tornear – tabby tom with a ripped ear (Thistlepaw)

Poppyfoot – tortoiseshell she-cat

Robinwing – light brown she-cat with blue eyes (against Mudclaw)

Softbreeze – very pale gray she-cat, former loner (mother of Weaselpaw and Thistlepaw)

Smokewillow – lean pale gray-and-white tabby tom (Thornpaw)

Whitetail – small white she-cat

Emberstep – smoky black she-cat

Duskwhisker – sleek black she-cat  

Crowflight – smoky gray, almost black, tom, blue eyes

Apprentices:

Thornpaw – golden-brown she-cat  

Weaselpaw – pale gray tom with a dark stripe down his spine

Thistlepaw – gray tabby tom

Queens:

Bramblefur – pale brown tabby she-cat, amber eyes (mother of Thornpaw)

Elders:

n/a

============= THUNDERCLAN =============

Leader: Tinystar – very small black tom with ice-blue eyes and one white paw (Sandstorm’s mate, father of Nightfrost and Shadepaw)

Deputy: n/a

Medicine Cat: Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom (Shadepaw)

Warriors:

Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat (Spiderpaw)

Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes and a long tail, blind *

Graystripe – long-furred gray tom with a dark stripe of fur down his spine (Silverstream’s mate) (Whitepaw)

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom (Cinderpelt’s mate)

Cinderpelt – smoky dark gray she-cat (mother of Spiderpaw)  

Cloudtail – white she-cat with ginger tabby patches and a fluffy white tail (Swiftfoot and Brightheart’s mate)

Brightheart – pretty white she-cat with ginger patches, missing an eye and ear (Swiftfoot and Cloudtail’s mate, mother of Whitepaw) (Sun)

Swiftfoot – stocky black-and-white tom, missing his tail (Cloudtail and Brightheart’s mate)

Ashfur – pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes

Snowstep – snowy white tom, very blue eyes; deaf (Ferncloud’s mate)

Sootfur – light gray tabby tom, amber eyes  

Rainwhisker – dark gray tom

Sorreltail – thick-furred tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Mistyfoot – long-furred dark blue-gray she-cat, blue eyes

Nightfrost – very small black tom with a thick, plumy tail and white paws

Whitewing – white she-cat with a ginger tabby rump and a ginger tail

Apprentices:

Shadepaw – very dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws; medicine cat apprentice

Sun That Scatters on Water (Sun) – pale ginger tabby she-cat with white dappling and sharp yellow eyes, formerly of the Tribe of Rushing Water *

Spiderpaw – leggy smoky gray she-cat *

Queens:

Silverstream – sleek-furred silver tabby she-cat, formerly of RiverClan (mother of Feathertail and Stormfur)

Ferncloud – pale gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (mother of Larchkit)

Elders:

n/a

============= RIVERCLAN =============

Leader: Leopardstar – dappled golden tabby she-cat with a scarred muzzle (mother of Falcontail and Mothwing)

Deputy: Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with broad shoulders, green eyes (mother of Goldenpaw, Reedpaw and Rosepaw)

Medicine Cat: Mothwing – lovely golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Warriors:

Ripplecloud – gray tabby tom with white paws (Goldenpaw)

Brackenflight – golden brown tabby she-cat

Blackclaw – smoky black tom (Mackerelpaw)

Heronleap – lean smoky gray-black tom *

Heavystep – thickset tabby tom (Reedpaw)

Leafwhisker – small brown tabby tom (Rosepaw)

Falcontail – smoky tabby tom with yellow eyes

Frostsplash – white tom, former loner

Apprentices:

Mackerelpaw – tabby-and-white she-cat, former kittypet

Goldenpaw – broad-shouldered golden tabby tom

Reedpaw – black tom

Rosepaw – ginger-patched white she-cat

Queens:

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Willowkit)

Dawnflower – pale gray she-cat (mother of Frostsplash’s kits – Minnowkit, Pebblekit, and Tumblekit)

Elders:

n/a

============= SHADOWCLAN =============

Leader: Russetstar – dark ginger she-cat with scarred shoulders (Pansytail’s mate)

Deputy: Blackfoot – large, sturdy white tom with black face, paws, and tail

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud – very small brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur – small brown tom (Smokepaw)

Cedarheart – dark gray tom (Finchsong’s mate)

Orre – golden-brown tom (Tallpoppy’s mate)

Pansytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, brilliant green eyes, former BloodClan cat (Russetstar’s mate) (Redpaw)

Wolftooth – thick-furred gray tom, former BloodClan cat (father of Finchsong)

Rowanclaw – ginger tabby tom * (Stoneheart’s mate)

Stoneheart – thick-furred pale blue-gray tom, blue eyes (Rowanclaw’s mate)

Pinewhisker – scarred dark brown tabby tom, former loner (Nightwing’s mate)

Nightwing – black she-cat (Pinewhisker’s mate)

Skipnose – black-and-white tom with a black tail, former kittypet

Talonstripe – dark brown tabby tom

Apprentices:

Smokepaw – a dark gray tom

Redpaw – ginger she-cat, former kittypet  

Queens:

Tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat (mother of Orre’s kits – Talonstripe, Applekit, Toadkit, and Marshkit)

Finchsong – very pale gray she-cat, former BloodClan cat (mother of Cedarheart’s kits – Willowkit and Rushkit)

Elders:

n/a

============= CATS (AND OTHER CREATURES) OUTSIDE THE CLANS =============

Midnight – stargazing badger that lives by the sea

Smoky – bulky gray-and-white tom, barn cat (Floss and Daisy’s mate)

Daisy – long-haired cream-colored she-cat, barn cat (Smoky’s mate)

Floss – very small white she-cat with a gray-spotted nose, barn cat (Smoky’s mate)

Root – golden tabby tom (father of Goldenpaw, Rosepaw, and Reedpaw)

Jaques – large, scarred, black-and-white tom, kittypet

Susan – lean light brown tabby she-cat, kittypet

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Allegiances || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || From the Beginning || Patreon & Ko-fi >>

Chapter 7

“Heavystep, take Leafwhisker and Stormfur out hunting. After that, Leafwhisker, do you mind taking out the evening patrol?”

“I don’t,” answered the tabby tom.

Brackenflight nodded in understanding. “Take whoever you like. Who wants to take the evening hunting patrol?”

“I’ll do it,” offered Dawnflower, raising her tail in the crowd.

“Good,” Brackenflight agreed. “I’ll come with you. Maybe we can try near the outskirts, past the small Thunderpath? We haven’t hunted there in a few days – we need all we can get in this weather.”

Leopardstar had to agree. She shivered from where she sat, watching Brackenflight. Leaf-bare had taken hold of the forest again, and snow had piled up in thick, fluffy layers outside the shelter of the willows. The river was all but entirely frozen, and the fish were sleeping in the water’s depths.  

She scanned the crowd of warriors and tried to keep a frown from her face. If they saw her worry, they would worry. This leaf-bare was already proving to be colder and harsher than the last. RiverClan always struggled during leaf-bare – every Clan did, but no other Clan had their main source of food become utterly inaccessible for three or four whole moons.  

“You have your duties,” Brackenflight meowed on. “Get going.”

As the cats dispersed, Brackenflight glanced back at Leopardstar, her gaze questioning. “How did I do that time?” she wondered.

“Fine,” Leopardstar meowed. “Just fine.”

Brackenflight nodded, looking pleased. The senior warrior had taken over for Tawnypelt when the Clan deputy took herself into the nursery to have her kits two moons ago. Tawnypelt had enough worries - what with having three kits to care for during the Clan’s hardest season - that Leopardstar had insisted she appoint some cat to take her place until the kits didn’t need her constant attention.

“Oh, yes,” Brackenflight mewed, breaking into Leopardstar’s thoughts. “It’s Falconpaw and Mothpaw’s assessment today, isn’t it?”

Leopardstar’s ears pricked. She hadn’t forgotten. “Yes – I’ll be there most of the day. Will you be all right?”  

“Of course,” Brackenflight insisted. She lifted her chin. “The Clan can function without you for a few hours.”

Leopardstar twitched an ear. She knew Brackenflight – a cat at least two seasons her senior – didn’t like the way Leopardstar watched her, but Leoaprdstar wasn’t about to let up. In these cold, unforgiving moons, the last thing Leopardstar wanted was a slip in leadership. The promise of a full belly and safety had led her into Bluestar’s claws, after all. I will not have RiverClan become so desperate, ever again!

“I’ll be heading out after I stop by the nursery,” Leopardstar told Brackenflight. “Have Blackclaw and Ripplecloud meet me in the training area.”

Brackenflight nodded, getting to her paws. As she strode over to the mentors and their eager apprentices, Leopardstar trotted herself over to the nursery.

Every Clan leader ought to take an interest in the Clan’s kittens, but Leopardstar herself hadn’t been known to visit the nursery often, aside from when she had Falconpaw and Mothpaw. However, with her deputy and closest friend nursing… Leopardstar felt herself drawn in, anxious to see to Tawnypelt’s well-being.

The nursery was far warmer than any other part of RiverClan camp, and it was tempting to stay there as Leopardstar felt the cold melt from her pelt. Mosspelt’s nest was empty – the queen preferred to stay in the nursery, but she’d gone out on the dawn patrol this morning to stretch her legs. Leopardstar was grateful for that – Mosspelt never forgave Leopardstar for LionClan, but she was still willing to do her part regardless.

Tawnypelt was the only queen with kits in RiverClan at the moment. She was lying on her side, grunting as a golden tabby kit scrambled over her to get to his sister. Rosekit wailed as Goldenkit’s giant body tumbled down onto her, trapping her in the moss.

Leopardstar stepped over to the warring kittens, gently taking Goldenkit’s scruff in her jaws and lifting him off of his sister. Goldenkit wriggled, trying to throw his weight around, but he was only two moons old. Leopardstar put him down beside his brother, Reedkit, who was huddled up at Tawnypelt’s side.

“Thanks,” Tawnypelt breathed. She pulled Rosekit over to her with a paw, licking down her daughter’s fur. “They’re getting stir-crazy in here.”

“It’s too cold for them outside,” Leopardstar pointed out, sitting down on her haunches. “Think you can last another moon?”

“StarClan, I hope so,” Tawnypelt sighed. She tucked Rosekit in with her brothers, and the three kittens began to fuss and nurse.

Leopardstar looked over the three kittens. Their father was Root, the loner that had helped Tawnypelt and Blackclaw avenge the death of their daughter Thrushflight several moons ago. Leopardstar hadn’t been totally surprised when Tawnypelt told her – the two had grown close on that journey, and Root had lingered near RiverClan territory for some time after.

“Goldenkit looks like his father,” Tawnypelt meowed, as if she could guess Leopardstar’s thoughts. “He has Tigerstar’s shoulders, though.”

Leopardstar had to agree. “He’ll be a bully if he keeps growing so much,” she mewed.

Tawnypelt sighed. “I certainly hope not!” She adjusted herself, laying her head down on her edge of her nest. “Speaking of kits… how are Falconpaw and Mothpaw?”

“They’re well,” Leopardstar answered. “They have a combat assessment today. Ripplecloud says Mothpaw is more than ready.”

“Good,” Tawnypelt mewed. “I’d hate for her to fall behind because of me.”  

“Ripplecloud was an excellent choice,” Leopardstar agreed. “He was a good mentor for Stormfur.”

“Well, once these three are weaned I’ll be able to take over again,” Tawnypelt insisted. “I love them to bits, but I can’t wait to get out of here!”

Leopardstar purred.

“Will we see Root when leaf-bare is over?” asked Goldenkit. He’d lifted his head from his mother’s belly, his ears pricked. Rosekit and Reedkit, curious, sat up as well.

Tawnypelt answered, yawning, “Maybe. He did say he would come back in newleaf.”

“Great!” Rosekit squealed. Her patchy fur was bristling with excitement. “I want to show him all around camp!”

“Me, too!” Reedkit agreed, his eyes bright.

“Now, now, only if that’s all right with Leopardstar,” Tawnypelt insisted. “Root isn’t a Clan cat, remember? He doesn’t live with us.”

“I wish he did,” Rosekit sighed.

Tawnypelt licked her daughter’s ear. “I know you do, dear one, but Root simply doesn’t like being around so many cats. He’s much happier being a loner. You’d rather he be happy, right?”

“Right,” Rosekit agreed, nodding her head firmly.

Leopardstar felt an uncomfortable prickle. They don’t seem bothered at all that a loner is their father, she thought, glancing at Tawnypelt. The tortoiseshell queen had told her kits about their father at the earliest opportunity. The loner had even stayed in the Clan a few days when the kittens were born, leaving before the snows made it too hard for him to travel. Root had even mentioned wanting to be around for their warrior ceremony!  

Leopardstar couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. What kind of father would Darkstripe have been, had he lived? Had he known? Leopardstar could only imagine him trying to stick his ugly head into her nursery, or trying to teach Mothpaw and Falconpaw violent fighting moves. The thought of him anywhere near her kits made her want to retch.

“Leopardstar,” urged Tawnypelt, “you don’t want to be late for the assessment.”

Swallowing, Leopardstar murmured her agreement. “I’ll leave you four be, then,” she said. Touching her nose to Tawnypelt’s forehead, she promised, “Fresh-kill should be coming soon.”

Leopardstar turned away from her friend and her family, heading out of the nursery and trotting towards the camp entrance. As she pushed her way through the reed tunnel and out into the snowy world, Leopardstar couldn’t keep her mind off of Tawnypelt’s kits.

They still cared about their father, even if they couldn’t see him constantly. They seemed alright with the idea that Root just didn’t want to be part of Clan life. Leopardstar couldn’t help but think back to when Falconpaw and Mothpaw asked about their own father, moons ago.

What would they think now, if she told them the truth? I’ve kept it from them for so long already…

Leopardstar didn’t have all that long to think on it – the smooth clearing where RiverClan did their training wasn’t far from camp, marked by a tall old willow that threatened each year to fall, yet never did. There was a cluster of old rabbit warrens just over the nearby hill for hunting practice – and holding half-Clan prisoners, Leopardstar thought bitterly – and the river wasn’t too far away for swimming lessons.

The snow had been mostly swept away; the slush pounded down to rough earth by cat’s paws to make a smooth, even surface for training. Blackclaw and Ripplecloud were there already, Mothpaw and Falconpaw sitting before them.

“There you are!” Mothpaw mewed, eyes brightening as she caught sight of Leopardstar. “Mother!”

Falconpaw’s eyes met Leopardstar’s, and she lifted her chin. She didn’t need her kittens thinking she was worried – they were more sensitive to that sort of thing than the Clan. She shook away her worries as she slipped into the clearing, taking her place off to the side and towards the edge.

“I’m sorry for being late,” she meowed, curling her tail around her paws. Leader first, she told herself, mother second. To Ripplecloud and Blackclaw, she nodded her head and stated, “You may begin.”

Mothpaw went first. She demonstrated her fighting skills against Ripplecloud, and Leopardstar smiled to herself. Her daughter was as graceful as any RiverClan cat, and Leopardstar knew that Mothpaw’s natural beauty would make other cats underestimate her easily. Any warrior caught distracted would feel Mothpaw’s heavy blows.

When Mothpaw was done, it was Falconpaw’s turn. He demonstrated the same moves, but where Mothpaw had flair and fancy, Falconpaw was all efficiency. He was leaner than Mothpaw, and slightly smaller, which made his techniques come faster than his sister’s. He’ll be a strong warrior when he’s older, Leopardstar thought proudly. Nothing at all like his father.

“Next is the mock battle,” Blackclaw announced. Both he and Ripplecloud stepped away, moving to sit on either side of Leopardstar.

Mothpaw and Falconpaw moved to the center of the clearing, staring one another down. Mothpaw’s fur was fluffed, her stance wide. Falconpaw was more reserved, only his tail-tip flicking. Leopardstar could tell he was taking this very seriously – perhaps too seriously.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Ripplecloud meowed.

Falconpaw moved first, dirt scattering under his paws as he flung himself at his sister. Leopardstar’s ears pricked, concern flickering through her as she saw Mothpaw’s shock. Falconpaw was moving like a snake, ducking and weaving in the space between himself and Mothpaw, thoroughly confusing her before he moved in to tackle her from the side.

“Where did he learn that?” Leopardstar wondered to Blackclaw. His approach vaguely reminded Leopardstar of a ShadowClan fighting technique. Mothpaw and Falconpaw were wrestling on the cold earth, now, pummeling one another with their paws. We haven’t fought ShadowClan in seasons!

Blackclaw shrugged. “He came up with it himself,” he meowed. Eyes sparkling with confidence, he went on, “He’s a very bright apprentice.”

“Mothpaw is, too,” Ripplecloud offered as a counter. Mothpaw had finally managed to get the upper paw, using her weight to unbalance Falconpaw and put him on the defensive. Falconpaw’s paws passed harmlessly through her thick pelt. Ripplecloud grinned, crowing, “She’s slick as a minnow!”

Leopardstar watched, curious, as her children battled. It was so different from watching them play-fight as kits – now they knew warrior’s techniques, ways to cause real damage not just to others, but to one another. If claws were unsheathed… Leopardstar could easily imagine their blood spattering the earth, and her stomach turned over.

I can’t think about this as if I’m their mother! She insisted to herself, again. I’m their leader above all!

Mothpaw and Falconpaw battled until sunhigh. They parted, panting, their pelts covered in snow and dirt. Falconpaw had been the clear winner, but Leopardstar knew that this wasn’t that kind of assessment.

“Both of you did well,” she announced. Mothpaw beamed, and Falconpaw did his best to look indifferent. Leopardstar looked back at Blackclaw and Ripplecloud. “I think they’re both clear to learn more advanced techniques.”

“They’ll be a force to be reckoned with,” Blackclaw promised, raising his chin proudly. Ripplecloud nodded in agreement.

Turning back to the apprentices again, Leopardstar meowed, “Go back to camp and get yourselves a piece of fresh-kill – you’ve earned it. Keep up the good effort, and you’ll both be warriors before greenleaf.”

“Hear that?” Mothpaw breathed. She looked at Falconpaw, eyes shining. “Before greenleaf!”

Falconpaw scoffed. “You, maybe. I want to be a warrior before newleaf!”

“As if!” Mothpaw meowed, whiskers twitching. She mussed the fur between Falconpaw’s ears. “There’s still so much for both of us to learn! Why rush?”

Falconpaw bristled, eyes flashing, and wrapped his forelegs around Mothpaw’s neck, tackling her to the ground again.

“The assessment is over,” Ripplecloud meowed sternly, stepping forward. His eyes were hard. “No more of this.”

Leopardstar got to her paws. The look in his eyes… That flash of annoyance in her son’s yellow gaze had looked so cold. Falconpaw and Mothpaw wrestled for a moment more before they separated, Mothpaw kicking Falconpaw off of her with her hind paws.

“Sorry,” Mothpaw mewed, huffing in the dirt.

Falconpaw didn’t meet Ripplecloud’s eye. “Sorry.”

“You can use that extra energy to clean out the elder’s den, before you’ve eaten,” Blackclaw decided. Both Mothpaw and Falconpaw groaned. “I’m sure they would appreciate it.”

Leopardstar sighed. Apprentices! Always looking to pull at the whiskers of their seniors. “Head back to camp,” she ordered.

Mothpaw and Falconpaw got to their paws, the idea of passing their assessment tempered by their punishment for being so overzealous. They headed for the trail back to camp together, passing by their mentors and Leopardstar on the way.

“At least they don’t have ticks right now!” Mothpaw decided, her tone chipper.

Falconpaw only grunted.

Leopardstar touched her nose to Mothpaw’s, then reached out for Falconpaw, only to see him pull away. Her pelt prickled as she watched him go. Blackclaw and Ripplecloud took off in the opposite direction, announcing that they intended to hunt on their way home. Leopardstar absently waved them off with her tail.

She thought of the look in Falconpaw’s eye, and his coldness. Leopardstar had hoped her son would warm up to her with time, but… Perhaps it’s just too late for that, now, she thought. He’s been cross with me for what feels like forever.

Again, she thought of Tawnypelt’s kits. None of them seemed so unreasonably upset with their mother. Was it because they knew about Root? Would telling her kits about Darkstripe be what it took for Falconpaw to come around? Leopardstar always felt so wretched when he looked like he was looking past her.

It has to improve with time, she thought. She recalled a phase of her life where everything Mudfur had done embarrassed her. It didn’t matter that whether she knew her parents or not, that attitude had faded away.

Why should this be any different?

———————————————————

“Are you certain everything will be all right while we’re gone?” Leopardstar asked, looking levelly into Tawnypelt’s eyes.

The Clan deputy raised her chin. It had been half a moon since Tawnypelt’s kits were weaned, and she was able to resume her duties as Clan deputy. Tawnypelt had wasted no time filling in her old position and taking over Mothpaw’s training again – she still slept in the nursery and took care of her kittens with every spare moment, but no cat doubted her ability to shoulder the burden of both mother and deputy.

“Everything will be fine,” Tawnypelt insisted. Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “But I’m going to have a talk with Dawnflower today – she's been late to patrols and distracted while hunting these past few days, and I’ve just about had enough of it.”

Leopardstar glanced across the clearing, spotting Dawnflower creeping out of the warrior’s den. The pale she-cat stretched, yawning. If one warrior’s laziness was the only problem in the Clan right now, that was all right with Leopardstar.

Tawnypelt twitched an ear. “Feathertail is bad enough,” she muttered. “I don’t need her attitude traveling to the rest of the Clan.”

Leopardstar had to agree there – ever since Feathertail had come back from the fox-hunting mission in newleaf, she’d been noticeably distancing herself from her Clanmates, choosing to hunt on her own and preferring her own company. Such isolationist behavior was unusual in a Clan cat.

Feathertail preforms her duties well enough, though, and she doesn’t disrupt things like Dawnflower has been, Leopardstar thought. Perhaps an apprentice might change her mood? Leopardstar questioned herself, though; was it worth rewarding Feathertail’s aloof behavior with an apprentice? The only kits in the Clan right now are Tawnypelt’s - we’ll have to see if she earns the right.

"Do what you think is best,” Leopardstar decided in the end. Her stomach churned, hunger clawing at her belly. “I need to be off, if we’re to make it to Highstones before sundown.”

“Good luck,” Tawnypelt offered, touching her nose to Leopardstar’s ear. “I know you’re going to see StarClan and all, but have fun!”

Leopardstar twitched her tail at Tawnypelt. She looked to the apprentice’s den and found that Hawkpaw and Mothpaw were swallowing down their traveling herbs – it seemed like Mothpaw was having a better time of it than Falconpaw. Leopardstar saw her son’s face twist at the taste, and she stifled a purr. I remember my first taste of traveling herbs!

She crossed the clearing in long, confident strides. “Let’s get moving,” she announced to her kits.

Mothpaw and Falconpaw got to their paws, both licking their lips. Mothpaw’s eyes were bright and excited, but Falconpaw looked unenthused. He had questioned why apprentices needed to bother going to the Moonstone with leaders at all the night before:

“It just seems pointless,” he had muttered. “It’s not like we can see StarClan.”

“But StarClan sees us!” Mothpaw had said.

“Mothpaw is right,” Leopardstar had purred. “StarClan watches over us all, and making the trip to the Moonstone is a rite of passage for every Clan apprentice. You may not commune with StarClan the way Mudfur or I do, but every Clan cat is connected to our ancestors. This journey is about exploring that connection, and what it means to each individual cat.”

Falconpaw’s muzzle had twisted into a thoughtful frown. “I guess,” he had finally conceded.

Putting her mind to the present, Leopardstar led the way out of camp, tail up, her kits following. Stormfur’s patrol paused at the camp entrance, dipping their heads as they passed and offering good-byes as the three cats slipped out into RiverClan territory.

“We’ll make our way first to Fourtrees,” Leopardstar announced. She put her paws on the path to the Twoleg bridge that spanned over the river. She looked up at the sky, measuring the sun. “We’re a little late in setting out,” she determined, watching the clouds pass over the sun, “but we’ll get there on time if we keep a steady pace.”

The three of them walked in relative quiet, picking their way down the gentle slopes that led to the river. Leopardstar’s stomach twinged as the smell of the water hit her scent glands, and she pushed the feeling away – a cat who intended to speak with StarClan could not eat beforehand.

“Keep an eye out for Twolegs,” Leopardstar meowed as they approached the Twoleg bridge. It was a structure that had been in RiverClan territory for as long as Leopardstar had been alive – several long, flat pieces of wood that formed a path over the deep water below. She paused at the verge of the bridge, glancing back at Mothpaw and Falconpaw. “What do you smell?”

Falconpaw opened his jaws obediently, while Mothpaw gave the old wood a sniff. Leopardstar herself couldn’t scent Twolegs at all – they hardly used the bridge, or the trail it was on, during leaf-bare. If they had more fur, maybe!

“Nothing,” Falconpaw reported.

“Good,” Leopardstar agreed. She brushed her muzzle against the wood to leave RiverClan scent there. “Mothpaw, lead the way across.”

Mothpaw lifted her tail and trotted ahead, fearless of the water below. Leopardstar took up the rear as they crossed, her pads scraping against the smooth wood. She took a moment to look at the frozen river below between the slats of wood that lined the bridge’s edges. No Twolegs have been on the water yet this season, she thought.

That was both a blessing and a curse. Twolegs on the frozen water didn’t just mean Twolegs on their territory – it also meant that they would cut holes in the ice. Though Twolegs used those holes for their own strange way of fishing, they also served as a way for RiverClan to hunt fish during the frozen moons.

Leopardstar stepped off of the bridge, taking the lead again as the trail to Fourtrees wound close to ThunderClan. She took a moment to sniff the borders, asking Mothpaw and Falconpaw to keep an eye out for enemy warriors. The Twoleg path was clear, though, and the border was freshly-marked on ThunderClan’s side not long ago. Leopardstar took the chance to mark RiverClan’s side, just on the edge of the Twoleg path.

They passed the Owl Tree and, soon enough, Fourtrees loomed ahead.  

Leopardstar relaxed a little as the three of them entered the neutral territory. She took a deep breath, scenting faint traces of all four Clans, leftover from the last Gathering. Snow had gathered in the clearing since, burying the roots of the four Great Oaks that encircled the little valley. Though they were leafless right now, their old, spindly branches reached for the sky just as proudly.

“Oh, wow!” Mothpaw gasped. “This is so pretty!”

“I guess,” Falconpaw muttered.

Mothpaw looked at the Great Rock, and her haunches wiggled. “I want to go up there!” she decided. Looking up at Leopardstar, she begged, “Can I?”

Before Leopardstar could reply, Falconpaw grunted, “Of course not – we can’t waste time playing around, Mothpaw!”

Leopardstar flicked an ear. She didn’t like Falconpaw’s tone, but... “He’s right,” Leopardstar conceded, feeling a pang of guilt as Mothpaw’s face fell. “Perhaps on the way back?”

The compromise seemed to satisfy Mothpaw. “Okay! Don’t forget!”

Leopardstar’s whiskers twitched. “Why so eager? Does my daughter aim high?” She wouldn’t be surprised if either of her kittens wanted to be leader like their mother one day – in fact, she hoped that was so.

Mothpaw’s eyes shone. “Well, Feathertail said she went up there once – she said the view was amazing!”

Falconpaw rolled his eyes.

Leopardstar’s tail twitched. “Oh, did she, now?”

Mothpaw nodded her head. “I’d like to see it, too!”

“Only because Feathertail did,” Falconpaw mocked, curling his lip. “If she jumped into the gorge you’d run right after her!”

“I would not!” Mothpaw protested hotly.

“Would too!”

Leopardstar blinked, confused. She studied Mothpaw’s stance, how defensive and fluffed up she was. There was no mistaking it. Does she... have a crush on Feathertail? Leopardstar wondered. When did that happen?

“And why not, then?” Mothpaw contested. “Feathertail is a brave warrior!” She puffed out her chest. “And she thinks I’ll be a good warrior, too!”

“So does Tawnypelt, but you don’t look at her like a moonstruck hare!” Falconpaw countered, lashing his tail with frustration. He glanced up at Leopardstar and added, “You should hear her in the apprentice’s den – Feathertail this, Feathertail that! It’s so annoying!”

A pebble of discomfort settled in Leopardstar’s belly. She didn’t mind that Mothpaw had a crush, no, but was it really Feathertail? Not only was she the most standoffish warrior in RiverClan right now, but she was half-Clan – and worse, her father, Graystripe, was Darkstripe’s half-brother.

But the kits don’t know that. If they did, Leopardstar had no doubt that Mothpaw wouldn’t be bickering with Falconpaw about her crush, or looking up to Feathertail with such admiration. Leopardstar hoped the snow at her paws would hide the way her claws sank into the cold earth. And now is a bad time to tell them...

Bitterly, deep down, she knew that this was yet another problem that Tawnypelt’s kits would not have to face. But the idea of telling her children now felt like leaping from the very top of one of the Great Oaks. Why had it been so easy for Tawnypelt?

Because Root isn’t a name used to scare kittens. Root didn’t work with a cat who tried to destroy the Clans. Tawnypelt had made it seem so simple, but it just wasn’t, not for Leopardstar. How could Mothpaw or Falconpaw ever trust her, or themselves, if they knew that she had been lying about it for so long?

“Enough,” she decided, lifting her chin. “We need to keep moving – we'll be entering WindClan territory from here, so the chatter must be minimal. Give nothing away.”

Falconpaw tossed Mothpaw an almost victorious look, while Mothpaw mutinously shut her jaws. Leopardstar sighed and passed between them, raising her tail for them to follow as she padded up the far slope.

I’ll tell them when I’m ready! She thought stubbornly, as they crossed the border into WindClan territory. Between them and Highstones lay hilly, treeless, snowy moorland – but it might as well have been the Twolegplace as thoughts of how best to broach the topic of her kits’ parentage buzzed through her mind like hornets around their nest.

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Cover || Allegiances || Prologue || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

============= ALLEGIANCES =============

(characters marked with a * are trans and are described with their preferred gender/pronouns)

============= SHADOWCLAN =============

Leader: Russetstar – dark ginger she-cat with scarred shoulders (Pansytail’s mate)

Deputy: Blackfoot – large, sturdy white tom with black face, paws, and tail

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud – very small brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur – small brown tom (Smokepaw)

Cedarheart – dark gray tom (Finchsong’s mate)

Rowanclaw – ginger tabby tom * (Stoneheart’s mate)

Nightwing – black she-cat

Orre – golden-brown tom (Tallpoppy’s mate)

Stoneheart – thick-furred pale blue-gray tom, blue eyes (Rowanclaw’s mate)

Pansytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, brilliant green eyes, former BloodClan cat (Russetstar’s mate) (Redpaw)

Wolftooth – thick-furred gray tom, former BloodClan cat (father of Finchsong)  

Pinewhisker – scarred dark brown tabby tom, former loner

Skipnose – black-and-white tom with a black tail, former kittypet

Talonstripe – dark brown tabby tom

Apprentices:

Smokepaw – a dark gray tom

Redpaw – ginger she-cat, former kittypet  

Queens:

Tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat (mother of Orre’s kits – Talonstripe, Applekit, Toadkit, and Marshkit)

Finchsong – very pale gray she-cat, former BloodClan cat (mother of Cedarheart’s kits – Willowkit and Rushkit)

Duskflower – black she-cat (mother of Smokepaw)

Elders:

Brick – very skinny, scarred dark ginger she-cat, former BloodClan cat *

Boulder – silver-gray tom

Runningnose – small gray-and-white tom, former medicine cat

============= THUNDERCLAN =============

Leader: Tinystar – very small black tom with ice-blue eyes and one white paw (Sandstorm’s mate)

Deputy: Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes (mother of Shadepaw and Nightpaw)

Medicine Cat: Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom (Shadepaw)

Warriors:

Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat (Spiderpaw)

Graystripe – long-furred gray tom with a dark stripe of fur down his spine (Silverstream’s mate) (Whitepaw)

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom (Cinderpelt’s mate) (Nightpaw)

Cinderpelt – smoky dark gray she-cat (mother of Spiderpaw)  

Cloudtail – white she-cat with ginger tabby patches and a fluffy white tail (Swiftfoot and Brightheart’s mate)

Brightheart – pretty white she-cat with ginger patches, missing an eye and ear (Swiftfoot and Cloudtail’s mate, mother of Whitepaw)

Swiftfoot – stocky black-and-white tom, missing his tail (Cloudtail and Brightheart’s mate)

Ashfur – pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes

Snowstep – snowy white tom, very blue eyes; deaf (Ferncloud’s mate)

Sootfur – light gray tabby tom, amber eyes  

Rainwhisker – dark gray tom

Mistyfoot – long-furred dark blue-gray she-cat, blue eyes

Sorreltail – thick-furred tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Apprentices:

Shadepaw – very dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws; medicine cat apprentice

Whitepaw – white she-cat with a ginger tabby rump and a ginger tail

Spiderpaw – leggy smoky gray she-cat *

Nightpaw – very small black tom with a thick, plumy tail and white paws

Queens:

Silverstream – sleek-furred silver tabby she-cat, formerly of RiverClan (mother of Feathertail and Stormfur)

Ferncloud – pale gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (mother of Snowstep’s kits – Hollykit, and Larchkit)

Elders:

Oakheart – red-brown tabby tom, amber eyes (father of Mistyfoot and Stoneheart)

Frostfur – beautiful white she-cat, blue eyes (mother of Brackenfur, Cinderpelt, and Swiftfoot)

Speckletail – pale tabby she-cat (mother of Snowstep and Brightheart)

Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes and a long tail, blind, recovering from an eye injury *

============= RIVERCLAN =============

Leader: Leopardstar – dappled golden tabby she-cat with a scarred muzzle (mother of Falcontail and Mothwing)

Deputy: Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with broad shoulders, green eyes (mother of Goldenpaw, Reedpaw and Rosepaw)

Medicine Cat: Mudfur – long-haired light brown tom (father of Leopardstar) (Mothwing)

Warriors:

Ripplecloud – gray tabby tom with white paws (Goldenpaw)

Brackenflight – golden brown tabby she-cat

Blackclaw – smoky black tom (Mackerelpaw)

Heronleap – lean smoky gray-black tom *

Heavystep – thickset tabby tom (Reedpaw)

Leafwhisker – small brown tabby tom (Rosepaw)

Feathertail – silvery tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Frostsplash – white tom, former loner

Falcontail – smoky tabby tom with yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Mothwing – lovely golden-brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes; medicine cat apprentice

Goldenpaw – broad-shouldered golden tabby tom

Reedpaw – black tom

Rosepaw – ginger-patched white she-cat

Mackerelpaw – tabby-and-white she-cat, former kittypet

Queens:

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Willowkit)

Dawnflower – pale gray she-cat (mother of Frostsplash’s kits – Minnowkit, Pebblekit, and Tumblekit)

Elders:

Shadepelt – very dark gray she-cat

Loudbelly – dark brown tom

============= WINDCLAN =============

Leader: Tallstar – aging black-and-white tom with a very long tail

Deputy: Mudclaw – mottled dark brown tabby tom (Crowpaw)

Medicine Cats:

Barkface – short-tailed brown tom

Ryewhisper – very small brown-and-white tabby tom with bright green eyes

Warriors:

Onewhisker – brown tabby tom

Webfoot – dark gray tabby tom * (Weaselpaw)

Ashfoot – gray she-cat (mother of Crowpaw)

Tornear – tabby tom with a ripped ear

Poppyfoot – tortoiseshell she-cat

Robinwing – light brown she-cat with blue eyes

Softbreeze – very pale gray she-cat, former loner (mother of Weaselpaw and Thistlepaw)

Smokewillow – lean pale gray-and-white tabby tom (Thornpaw)

Whitetail – small white she-cat

Emberstep – smoky black she-cat

Duskwhisker – sleek black she-cat (Thistlepaw)

Apprentices:

Crowpaw – smoky gray, almost black, tom, blue eyes

Thornpaw – golden-brown she-cat

Weaselpaw – pale gray tom with a dark stripe down his spine

Thistlepaw – gray tabby tom

Queens:

Bramblefur – pale brown tabby she-cat, amber eyes (mother of Thornpaw)

Elders:

Morningflower – tortoiseshell she-cat

============= TRIBE OF RUSHING WATER =============

Tribe Healer: (leader and healer of the Tribe)

Stoneteller (Teller of the Pointed Stones) – skinny dark brown tom with a graying muzzle and sharp yellow eyes

To-Be Healer: (Tribe cat in training to become the next Tribe Healer)

Snow that Drifts From Clouds (Snow)– long-furred white she-cat

Cave-Guards: (sharpclaws sorted into defending their Tribemates from hawks and other dangers)

Crag Where Eagles Nest (Crag) – dark gray tom (Talon’s mate)

Cloud That Covers Moon (Cloud) – black she-cat *

Talon of Swooping Eagle (Talon) – dark brown tabby tom (Crag’s mate)

Jagged Rock Where Heron Sits (Jag) – dark gray tom (Bird’s mate)

Sun That Scatters on Water (Sun) – pale ginger tabby she-cat with white dappling and sharp yellow eyes *

Prey-Hunters: (sharpclaws sorted into hunting and feeding their Tribemates)

Gray Sky Before Dawn (Gray) – pale gray tabby tom *

Brook Where Small Fish Swim (Brook) – brown tabby she-cat

Red Sun on Horizon (Red) – bright ginger tabby tom (father of Sun)

Rock Beneath Still Water (Rock) – brown tom with a stumpy tail

Wing Shadow Over Water (Wing) – gray-and-white she-cat

Softpaws: (otherwise known as to-bes – young cats in training to-become sharpclaws)

Flight of Startled Heron (Flight) – brown tabby she-cat

Kit-Mothers:

Bird That Sings At Dusk (Bird) – gray tabby she-cat (expecting Jag’s kits)

Night of No Stars (Night) – black she-cat (mother of Boulder’s kits – Hawk, Swoop, and Ice)

Elders:

Yarrow Growing Between Stones (Yarrow) – boney golden brown tabby tom

Cold Air Whistling Through Ravine (Cold) – gray-and-white she-catPage Break

============= CATS (AND OTHER CREATURES) OUTSIDE THE CLANS =============

Midnight – stargazing badger that lives by the sea

Barley – black and white tom that lives on a farm close to the forest (Ravenpaw’s mate)

Ravenpaw – sleek black cat who lives with Barley (Barley’s mate)

Cody – tabby kittypet with blue eyes

Tucker – tabby-and-white tom with a soft face, kittypet

Branch – very large, thick-furred dark brown tom with brilliant yellow eyes, kittypet

Root – golden tabby tom

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Allegiances || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || From the Beginning >>

Chapter 3

The early buzzing of cicadas woke Mothwing. She blinked sleep from her eyes, the sunlight filtering in through the willows just a bit too harsh for her right now. The air was pleasantly warm in her thick fur. She yawned, stretched, and got to her paws, shaking off the last of her sleepiness.

Mothwing felt a little sad. I had been having the most wonderful dream… Chasing butterflies outside the RiverClan nursery like a kitten again, without a care in the world, only worrying that Mosspelt or Leopardstar would call her in from her game too early. Still, it was comforting that even adult cats still dreamed of kithood.

She picked her way around Mudfur, who was still dozing. Her mentor had been sleeping in a lot lately, and it was beginning to concern Mothwing. She’d only been his apprentice for a few moons – though she had learned a lot, there was still so much more that Mudfur needed to teach her… and beyond that, he was her grandfather; she didn’t want to see age take him yet.

Mothwing gave his forehead a sniff. No fever. Perhaps he had just stayed up late last night, watching the stars. He would be grumpy if she woke him, so Mothwing headed for the edge of the medicine cat den and stuck her head through the reeds to lap at the shallow stream that flowed just beyond. The cool, clear taste chased the dryness of sleep from her mouth.

After, Mothwing busied herself with sorting out the herbs she’d picked yesterday. Today was proving to be a sunny one, perfect for drying the various plants she and Mudfur used to heal RiverClan. I can set these out to dry and grab a meal for the both of us before Mudfur wakes, Mothwing figured. One less thing for him to be worried about.

Her paws worked themselves into an easy rhythm, placing alike leaves with one another and pushing away the ones that were too old to use anymore, wrapping them up with thin bits of reed for easier carrying. Proper herb wrapping was one of the hardest things to learn, Mothwing reflected, but she hadn’t lost any leaves or berries from her bundles in a moon. The sun was still climbing when Mothwing was done wrapping leaf piles and she twitched her whiskers, impressed with her efficiency and the amount of herbs she had gathered.

Not fighting with the other Clans helps, she thought, gathering several leaf bundles in her jaws. She tucked two beneath her chin and awkwardly made her way out of the den, leaving Mudfur’s snoring shape behind.

RiverClan’s camp was open, tucked between two small streams that branched out to the river the Clan was named for. Three huge willows, allegedly older than the Clan itself, sheltered the open clearing from winds and rains or the harshness of the sun, while the whole clearing was rimmed with thick reed beds that had been bent and twisted and packed with mud to form a formidable barrier against claw and rain. The medicine cat’s den was off to the side, tucked into the back of the camp, close to the nursery and the elder’s den. The warriors, apprentices, and the Clan leader slept opposite the camp, their eyes always secure on the reed tunnel that made the camp’s only entry point.

Just outside the leader’s den, beside one of the gnarled willows, Leopardstar and Tawnypelt were sitting on the Clan Root – one of the old willow’s thick roots that had burst through the ground and clawed at the air, covered with generations of RiverClan leader’s claw marks. Mothwing could hear the buzzing of their chatter – patrols, probably, or other Clan business – as she headed for the sunning-stone.

The large, smooth rock just outside of the medicine cat’s den that the elders used for sunning, but its other main use was to dry out herbs. Mothwing unpacked her leaves carefully, laying them out delicately on the stone. As she went she murmured their names and uses, to keep her mind fresh.  The elders would have to sun themselves elsewhere today.

Warriors were passing by, heading to the Clan Root for their assignments. Mothwing nodded a greeting to Falcontail, her littermate – but he ignored her. Mothwing frowned, turning back to her work – Just like him! She thought, pushing down her annoyance. Falcontail had always been a very focused cat; it often caused him to overlook even Mothwing.

Tawnypelt and Leopardstar stopped their chatter to greet the warriors, turning themselves to their daily task. Mothwing’s ears twitched, listening:

“…Heavystep, take Reedpaw out for training,” Tawnypelt mewed. “Make sure to go over safe swimming practices; we have no idea when another storm will come and flood the river like it did last moon, and we need to make sure our apprentices know what to do if they’re caught in a crisis.”

“Of course,” Heavystep grunted.

“Frostsplash, take Ripplecloud and Heronleap to patrol the Twoleg border,” Leopardstar ordered.

Mothwing looked up in time to see Frostsplash twitch his ears in surprise. The white tom had been a loner for some time, only earning his full name and Clan status three moons ago after the Clan learned of his fathering Dawnflower’s kits. This would be his first time leading a RiverClan patrol.

“I’ll do my best,” Frostsplash meowed, certainty in his voice. “Thank you, Leopardstar.”

Leopardstar nodded curtly, moving on. “Blackclaw – take Falcontail and Mackerelpaw along the ThunderClan border. Do some fishing afterward, and keep an eye out for ThunderClan.”

“Of course,” Blackclaw grunted.

Mothwing frowned. The warriors of RiverClan looked so tense and restless; she was tempted to give each of them a few sprigs of thyme. She didn’t blame them – the last full-moon Gathering had ended before it could even begin as every Clan watched bright yellow Twoleg monsters destroy Fourtrees and topple the Great Rock. It had been horrifying, and it was clearly on every cat’s mind. StarClan had been worryingly silent about the whole event, and no cat knew what it meant for the future of the Clans.

“… keep an eye out for WindClan,” Tawnypelt was telling Leafwhisker. Mothwing’s thoughts made her miss the deputy assigning the small tabby warrior and his apprentice the WindClan border patrol. “They’re skinnier than ever this season and that will make them desperate to cross the border.”

“Of course,” Leafwhisker agreed. Other warriors rustled, flexing their claws at the idea of a WindClan incursion. Mothwing frowned – WindClan had asked a favor of RiverClan during the drought two moons ago, but they had tested the bounds of that agreement, even when rains had brought back the moorland streams. Mothwing fidgeted, hoping that WindClan knew better than to instigate a fight, especially if they were so skinny right now.

Two more hunting parties were assigned before the duties were all handed out. “And don’t forget…” Tawnypelt raised her voice. “Keep an eye out for signs of Stormfur and Feathertail, or any of the other Clan’s missing cats.”

Mothwing felt a pang of sorrow. Feathertail… The two littermates had gone missing before the last Gathering, and no cat had seen them since. Their scents had been tracked to Fourtrees before they were lost among the scents of missing cats from the other Clans. Mothwing hoped they were okay. At least they have each other, we think.

I wish she hadn’t left... a minnow of guilt nibbled at Mothwing’s tail, and she swished it to shake off the feeling. It doesn’t matter now, she told herself firmly. We chose our paths. She has to accept that!

Ripplecloud’s tail kinked in annoyance. “Why bother?” he huffed. “They’ve been gone so long there’s no hope of finding them anymore.”

Blackclaw nodded in agreement. “We’re probably more likely to see them in a ThunderClan patrol by now.”

Tawnypelt bristled with indignation, curling her lip at her former mate. Mothwing blinked as others began echoing their sentiments despite their deputy’s clear annoyance. Was no cat really bothered by Stormfur and Feathertail’s absence anymore? Had they been bothered in the first place? Is it because they’re half-Clan?

“Enough,” Leopardstar snapped. At her tone, the clamor died down. “Based on what we know, all the Clans are missing cats right now, and none of them have returned. It does no harm to keep an eye out for them on our daily patrols.”

No cat seemed inclined to disagree with their leader. Leopardstar nodded, satisfied. “Be on your way, then. Good hunting.”

Mothwing watched the warriors drift off to their duties, whiskers twitching. She sent a silent prayer to StarClan that none of them returned with injuries before setting back to work laying out the leaves. Mudfur is definitely awake by now, she thought, recalling her initial plan with a grimace. And probably grumping about being hungry, too…

“Missing life as a warrior?”

Mothwing looked up, her tail fluffing as she realized she hadn’t even heard Leopardstar’s approach. Her leader sat beside her, whiskers twitching with amusement.

“I was wondering if I ought to assign you to a patrol,” the spotted she-cat went on wryly. “You seemed quite intent on the conversation.”

Mothwing twitched her ears. “I’m a medicine cat, Mother!” she explained hastily. “I should know what’s going on in the Clan!”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Leopardstar purred. “Mudfur, on the other paw, might be offended if his apprentice spends more time listening to warriors than sorting herbs.”

Mothwing felt her pelt prickle, and she tried to spy between the reeds to see if Mudfur was awake yet. The old brown tom was normally patient, but Mothwing had definitely seen his snappier side more than once. She knew where Leopardstar got her temper from. She sighed when she realized she couldn’t tell a thing through the well-woven walls and focused herself on placing more herbs on the sunning-rock.

“Do you think the Twoleg situation has to do with WindClan’s prey problems?” she asked, glancing at her mother as she lay a bit of chervil up to dry.

Leopardstar frowned, her eyes hardening. “If WindClan can’t survive a little Twoleg interference, it’s not RiverClan’s problem.”

Mothwing hid a grimace at her mother’s sharp tone. Leopardstar had always been shrewd, more inwardly focused than other Clan leaders. It made her seem mean and cold at times, though Mothwing and every RiverClan cat trusted her with their safety.

“But what if the Twolegs start affecting us, too?” Mothwing wondered, looking worriedly at her mother. “We have no idea what they’re doing, or how long they’ll be here.”

Leopardstar raised her muzzle. “Every Clan has to deal with Twolegs in one way or another,” she stated simply. “We deal with them every greenleaf, with their kits playing in the river or stealing our fish with their weird cobweb-sticks. We adapt. We make do. There’s no excuse to blow it all out of proportion.”

“But they destroyed Fourtrees!” Mothwing breathed, heart beating in her ears. She lowered her voice, not wanting to be heard by her Clanmates. “Mother, you can’t ignore that!”

“She’s right, Leopardstar,” Tawnypelt added. The tortoiseshell she-cat was padding closer, her eyes flickering with alarm. “I’m sorry for butting in; but something feels wrong in the forest lately and I think the Twolegs have a lot to do with it. We can’t have proper Gatherings anymore! Isn’t that enough to worry?”

Leopardstar sighed. “Not even StarClan can stop the Twolegs,” she stated, her voice low so that no other cat would overhear. “What can we do but wait and see what comes?”

Mothwing shivered.

“Right now my concern is RiverClan, as it’s always been,” Leopardstar swept on. “And right now, RiverClan has had little to do with this Twoleg mess. I’ll do everything in my power to keep it that way until something changes. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” Tawnypelt murmured. Mothwing had no choice but to nod.

“Good,” Leopardstar sighed. “I won’t have my Clan panicking; that won’t make things any easier. Keep your eyes sharp, both of you.”

“I will, Mother,” Mothwing promised, her voice barely a murmur. Tawnypelt grunted in agreement.

Leopardstar nodded, satisfied. She licked Mothwing between the ears – a gesture that should’ve made Mothwing feel like a kit again, curled up in the nursery… but it didn’t. She was far too old to be wishing for kithood, and even if she dreamed of her nursery days she was far too responsible for her Clan now to linger there. Leopardstar turned and padded across the clearing, heading for the fresh-kill pile.

Mothwing sighed, watching her mother pick up a trout and head for the elder’s den. She wished she had her mother’s single-minded confidence, but that seemed to be something inherited by Falcontail, not Mothwing herself.

“Have you seen anything?” Tawnypelt asked quietly, catching Mothwing’s attention again. “From StarClan, I mean. Have they spoken to you or Mudfur about the Twoleg situation?”

Mothwing swallowed, eyes widening at the conviction and hope in Tawnypelt’s eyes. Perhaps the hardest thing to get used to about being a medicine cat was that every cat looked at her as if she held all the answers, somehow – even Tawnypelt, who had once been her mentor. I’m only an apprentice medicine cat! She thought. I still find it hard to tell some flower petals apart! How am I supposed to know a sign from StarClan if I’m not at the Moonstone?

“I… no,” Mothwing answered, honestly. “No, neither of us has seen anything.”

Tawnypelt sighed. “I’m sure they’ll say something when we need them to,” she meowed, reassuringly. “I wish Leopardstar could go to the Moonstone right now, but after what happened last moon I’m reluctant to let any cat go anywhere near Fourtrees…”

Mothwing swallowed. That means only RiverClan’s medicine cats will be speaking with StarClan, she thought, unless they come to Leopardstar in a dream…

She felt the pressure on her shoulders and hoped that Tawnypelt couldn’t see just how worried she was. Mothwing had no idea if StarClan had meant for Fourtrees to be destroyed, or for the Twolegs to come and do… whatever they were doing. Mothwing certainly hadn’t seen anything that looked like a sign from StarClan outside the Moonstone since her apprenticeship began. The terrifying question crept on up on her like a hunter stalking a water vole…

… Why hadn’t the Clans been warned?

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Allegiances || Chapter 16 || Chapter 17 || Chapter 18 || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

Chapter 17

Mothwing’s stomach roiled as she looked down at her meal. She knew she should be happy that the squirrel was so fat, that her Clanmates were full and happy and sharing tongues around her in the evening light to the loud buzzing of cicadas and Twoleg monsters – but she could only stare at the squirrel and think of it as the rabbit that Barkface had split open days ago, its poisoned entrails spilling out for all to see.

How are they surviving? She wondered, staring down at her fresh-kill. No rabbits, and with their territory in shambles…

The more she thought about WindClan, the less hungry she became. Mothwing pushed the squirrel to the side and forced herself to look away, her stomach feeling like stone.

Beside her, Mudfur sighed. “It will be all right, Mothwing,” he assured. “StarClan will provide.”

Mothwing looked over at her mentor. His eyes were glassy and tired, and his pelt lay half-groomed. She busied herself with picking out the stray dead leaves from his thick fur.

“Do you think StarClan can save WindClan?” she wondered as she worked, hoping for Mudfur’s guidance. Her mentor had always found strength in StarClan.

Mudfur’s whiskers twitched in thought. “If they can’t, then who can?” he rasped. “WindClan has always had a strong belief in our ancestors. They will end--” He broke off into a fit of coughing.

Mothwing’s heart sank into her stomach as she watched her grandfather hacking his life away. “I’ll get you some tansy,” she decided.

She got to her paws and darted for the medicine cat’s den. Tansy was easy enough to find in the storage log, brought out towards the front so that Mudfur’s coughing never pained him for too long. Mothwing grabbed a few petals and was back at Mudfur’s side in a heartbeat, coaxing him to lap up the medicine from her paw.

He chewed the petals gratefully and with little difficulty. Mudfur licked his lips as his coughing subsided. “Thank you, Mothwing,” he sighed. “I’m grateful for you…”

Mothwing butted her head against his shoulder. “You’re growing weaker and weaker,” she meowed quietly, conscious of her Clanmates. No doubt that they saw Mudfur’s coughing fit. “Do you plan on retiring?”

Mudfur snorted. “Want to be rid of me so quickly?” he chuckled.

Mothwing lifted her head. “Of course not!” she insisted. “But how long can you possibly go on…?”

“I’m not going anywhere ‘till your training is done.” Mudfur’s eyes shone with affection, and Mothwing lowered her shoulder fur. “You’ve got the makings of RiverClan’s greatest medicine cat, Mothwing.”

Mothwing’s heart warmed, and she purred, “Thank you so much, Mudfur. It’s only thanks to you.”

Mudfur’s tail flicked. “Some cats are born with the talent – I think you were,” he meowed on. “That’s all there is to it.”

Mothwing curled around her mentor, rasping her tongue along his pelt. His words did a lot to soothe her worries, but… If I have the talent, then why can’t I think of a way to help WindClan?

The reeds rustled around the camp entrance, and Mothwing lifted her head. Ripplecloud padded in, followed by Goldenpaw and Frostsplash. All three had a strange look on their face, and Mothwing’s whiskers twitched at the tension the patrol had brought with them into camp.

“Go on,” Mudfur rasped.  He nudged her to her paws. “I can groom myself, you know…”

Mothwing twitched her whiskers. Normally it would be Mudfur who saw to worry about such things, but lately Mothwing knew it had become her job… just as being medicine cat to the whole Clan would be, sooner rather than later. Ripplecloud led his patrol over to where Leopardstar was eating, and Mothwing met them there – she kept herself within hearing earshot but not too close that she offended the warriors.

“What is it?” Leopardstar wondered. By now, the whole Clan had seen the returning cats and felt the unease they had brought with them. Mothwing blinked, watching as her Clanmates slowly began to gather around, ears pricked and eyes darting about with curiosity.

Ripplecloud knew it, too. He shifted his weight and reported, loud enough for every cat to hear, “ThunderClan has moved to Sunningrocks.”

Shock rippled through the Clan, and Leopardstar got to her paws, abandoning her trout. Her eyes were wide, and her tail stiff. Mothwing shivered. Sunninrocks had forever been a piece of contested territory between ThunderClan and RiverClan – was this some sort of show of dominance?

“What do you mean?” Leopardstar wondered.  

“I mean exactly as I say,” Ripplecloud went on, looking nervous as the bearer of this news. “All of ThunderClan was at Sunningrocks – elders and kits, too – and they were gathering up moss and bracken for nests.”

Frostsplash added, “I spotted their medicine supply; I think they mean to stay for some time.”

“How dare they!” hissed Falcontail. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, his tail lashing. “Sunningrocks is ours!”

A murmur of agreement rose, but Leopardstar cut it off with a lash of her dappled tail. She raised her chin and meowed, “Everyone, stay calm.” To Ripplecloud, she asked, “Do you know why they’ve done this?”

Ripplecloud frowned. “I spoke with Tinystar by the stepping-stones,” he admitted. “He said that the Twolegs came too close to his camp, and he decided to move his Clan until the Twolegs leave, or a more suitable place can be found.”

“Huh!” Blackclaw huffed. “Next he’ll be in our rushes, claiming that to be ‘more suitable!’”

“Typical ThunderClan,” agreed Leafwhisker.

Mothwing frowned. “Why would he move elders and kits if he were planning an invasion?” she reasoned. “Not to mention having Brackenfur move all his supplies!” She looked to her mother. “There’s no doubt to me that he’s telling the truth – if the Twolegs could destroy half of WindClan’s territory in a moon, they can do the same to the forest.” After all, the monsters had thought very little of the four massive oaks at Fourtrees.

Leopardstar met her eyes evenly. “You don’t think there will be an invasion?” she asked.

Mothwing shook her head. “Not at all,” she insisted. Her heart fluttered, conscious of her Clanmate’s eyes on her. “Tinystar just isn’t the type to risk his entire Clan like that. If he’s moved them to Sunningrocks, it’s because that’s the safest place for them right now.”

Falcontail frowned. “Don’t claim you know their intentions,” he meowed, his voice low. “If their territory is being taken by the Twolegs, then they’ll need more room to hunt eventually – and where does that leave them?”

“RiverClan!” answered Blackclaw. “They’ll be taking our prey in a quarter moon!”

Mothwing swallowed. Despite knowing in her heart that Tinystar wouldn’t normally instigate… what would he do when his Clan began to starve? We thought the same of Tallstar, but his warriors were stealing our prey as the Twolegs advanced. If Tinystar faced the same problems… he might have no other choice.

“We should double our patrols,” insisted Falcontail. Several cats nodded in agreement. “We can’t risk ThunderClan setting one pawstep over the river – not when WindClan is already pushing our borders!”

“What if they’re working together?” wondered Brackenflight. “They’ve done it before!”

“Maybe ShadowClan is in on it, too,” suggested Frostsplash. “We’ve heard nothing from them for moons, and you know they’ll take territory if they think they need it…”

Mothwing sank her claws into the earth as she watched her Clanmates ripple with speculation. Nothing good can come from letting this go on! She glanced at her mother, begging for her to say something.

Thankfully, it seemed like Leopardstar wasn’t having it. She raised her voice above the others: “That’s enough, all of you!”

When she had their attention, Leopardstar curled her tail around her paws, holding herself tall and confident. “I agree with Mothwing; I don’t think an attack is imminent – but that doesn’t mean we won’t prepare ourselves. The Twolegs are upsetting the balance in the forest, and RiverClan will rise to defend what’s ours – when Tawnypelt’s patrol returns, we will formulate a plan.”

Mothwing sighed with relief. Finally! Maybe now that Leopardstar was acknowledging the Twolegs as some sort of threat, the rest of RiverClan might stop ignoring the issue too. Maybe then we can all figure out what to do!

“Where is Tawnypelt’s patrol?” asked Dawnflower. The young queen had come from the nursery to sit with Frostsplash. “They’ve been gone a long while…”

Leopardstar frowned. “Has any cat seen or heard from them?” She looked to Ripplecloud. “Have you?”

Ripplecloud shook his head. “We were patrolling Sunningrocks – Tawnypelt took the WindClan border.”

As if StarClan had sent the answer, the reed entrance rustled again – but it was only Heavystep and Reedpaw who appeared, and both looked far more anguished than Ripplecloud’s patrol had. Mothwing’s heart was beating in her ears as she looked at Reedpaw – the apprentice was dragging his paws, his eyes downcast.

“What happened?” Goldenpaw wondered, pushing forward. His littermate, Rosepaw, followed him. “Where’s Tawnypelt?”

Reedpaw looked helplessly at his siblings, then back to Heavystep. The big tom gave him a sympathetic look before addressing the rest of the Clan: “We caught a WindClan patrol on our side of the border, near the Twoleg bridge. Tawnypelt gave chase to one of them – we followed, but then…”

“Then what?” Leopardstar demanded. Shoulders stiff, she pushed through the crowd to stand before Heavystep. Mothwing’s heart ached as she saw the panic rise in Leoaprdstar’s eyes. “What happened? Where is Tawnypelt?”

Heavystep bowed his head. “Both of them ran into some strange Twoleg things. Like nests, but they were walled in…”

“We tried to get them out,” Reedpaw whimpered, “but we couldn’t.”

Mothwing’s heart sank. The entire Clan was stuck in a rapt silence, all eyes on Heavystep.

“Twolegs came and took the nests away,” Heavystep finished. He hung his head in shame. “Tawnypelt is gone, Leopardstar. I’m so sorry.”

In the silence, Mothwing could hear the loud roar of the Twoleg monsters as they advanced through the land of the Clans. Swallowing, she raised her head to a sky feathered with clouds. The warriors of StarClan weren’t out yet, but she knew they were still there. They had to know what to do.

Tell me! She pleaded. Please! We need your help!

There was no answer.

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Cover || Allegiances || Prologue || From the Beginning >>

============= ALLEGIANCES =============

(characters marked with a * are trans and are described with their preferred gender/pronouns)

============= RIVERCLAN =============

Leader: Leopardstar – dappled golden tabby she-cat with a scarred muzzle (mother of Falcontail and Mothwing)

Deputy: Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with broad shoulders, green eyes (mother of Goldenpaw, Reedpaw and Rosepaw)

Medicine Cat: Mudfur – long-haired light brown tom (father of Leopardstar) (Mothwing)

Warriors:

Ripplecloud – gray tabby tom with white paws (Goldenpaw)

Brackenflight – golden brown tabby she-cat

Blackclaw – smoky black tom (Mackerelpaw)

Heronleap – lean smoky gray-black tom *

Heavystep – thickset tabby tom (Reedpaw)

Leafwhisker – small brown tabby tom (Rosepaw)

Stormfur – dark gray tom with amber eyes

Feathertail – silvery tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Frostsplash – white tom, former loner

Falcontail – smoky tabby tom with yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Mothwing – lovely golden brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes; medicine cat apprentice

Goldenpaw – broad-shouldered golden tabby tom

Reedpaw – black tom

Rosepaw – ginger-patched white she-cat

Mackerelpaw – tabby-and-white she-cat, former kittypet

Queens:

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Willowkit)

Dawnflower – pale gray she-cat (mother of Frostsplash’s kits – Minnowkit, Pebblekit, and Tumblekit)

Elders:

Shadepelt – very dark gray she-cat

Loudbelly – dark brown tom

============= THUNDERCLAN =============

Leader: Tinystar – very small black tom with ice-blue eyes and one white paw (Sandstorm’s mate)

Deputy:  Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes (mother of Shadepaw and Nightpaw)

Medicine Cat: Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom (Shadepaw)

Warriors:

Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat (Spiderpaw)

Graystripe – long-furred gray tom with a dark stripe of fur down his spine (Silverstream’s mate) (Whitepaw)

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom (Cinderpelt’s mate) (Nightpaw)

Cinderpelt – smoky dark gray she-cat (mother of Spiderpaw)

Cloudtail – white she-cat with ginger tabby patches and a fluffy white tail (Swiftfoot and Brightheart’s mate)

Brightheart – pretty white she-cat with ginger patches, missing an eye and ear (Swiftfoot and Cloudtail’s mate, mother of Whitepaw)

Swiftfoot – stocky black-and-white tom, missing his tail (Cloudtail and Brightheart’s mate)

Ashfur – pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes

Snowstep – snowy white tom, very blue eyes; deaf (Ferncloud’s mate)

Sootfur – light gray tabby tom, amber eyes

Rainwhisker – dark gray tom

Mistyfoot – long-furred dark blue-gray she-cat, blue eyes

Sorreltail – thick-furred tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Apprentices:

Shadepaw – very dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws; medicine cat apprentice

Whitepaw – white she-cat with a ginger tabby rump and a ginger tail

Spiderpaw – leggy smoky gray she-cat *

Nightpaw – very small black tom with a thick, plumy tail and white paws

Queens:

Silverstream – sleek-furred silver tabby she-cat, formerly of RiverClan (mother of Feathertail and Stormfur)

Ferncloud – pale gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (mother of Snowstep’s kits – Birchkit, Hollykit, and Larchkit)

Elders:

Oakheart – red-brown tabby tom, amber eyes (father of Mistyfoot and Stoneheart)

Frostfur – beautiful white she-cat, blue eyes (mother of Brackenfur, Cinderpelt, and Swiftfoot)

Dappletail – once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat, oldest cat in ThunderClan

Speckletail – pale tabby she-cat (mother of Snowstep and Brightheart)

Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes and a long tail, blind, recovering from an eye injury *

============= WINDCLAN =============

Leader: Tallstar – aging black-and-white tom with a very long tail

Deputy: Mudclaw – mottled dark brown tabby tom (Crowpaw)

Medicine Cats:

Barkface – short-tailed brown tom

Ryewhisper – very small brown-and-white tabby tom with bright green eyes

Warriors:

Onewhisker – brown tabby tom

Webfoot – dark gray tabby tom *

Ashfoot – gray she-cat (mother of Crowpaw)

Tornear – tabby tom with a ripped ear

Poppyfoot – tortoiseshell she-cat (Bristlepaw)

Robinwing – light brown she-cat with blue eyes

Smokewillow – lean pale gray-and-white tabby tom (Thornpaw)

Whitetail – small white she-cat

Graytail – long-legged gray tom with white paws and a white tail-tip

Emberstep – smoky black she-cat

Duskwhisker – sleek black she-cat

Apprentices:

Crowpaw – smoky gray, almost black, tom, blue eyes

Bristlepaw – thick-furred brown tabby tom

Thornpaw – golden-brown she-cat

Queens:

Bramblefur – pale brown tabby she-cat, amber eyes (mother of Bristlepaw and Thornpaw)

Softbreeze – very pale gray she-cat, former loner (mother of Weaselkit and Thistlekit)

Elders:

Morningflower – tortoiseshell she-cat

============= SHADOWCLAN =============

Leader: Russetstar – dark ginger she-cat with scarred shoulders (Pansytail’s mate)

Deputy: Blackfoot – large, sturdy white tom with black face, paws, and tail

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud – very small brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur – small brown tom (Smokepaw)

Cedarheart – dark gray tom (Finchsong’s mate)

Rowanclaw – ginger tabby tom * (Stoneheart’s mate) (Talonpaw)

Tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat (mother of Talonpaw)

Nightwing – black she-cat

Orre – golden-brown tom

Stoneheart – thick-furred pale blue-gray tom, blue eyes (Rowanclaw’s mate)

Pansytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, brilliant green eyes, former BloodClan cat (Russetstar’s mate) (Redpaw)

Wolftooth – thick-furred gray tom, former BloodClan cat (father of Finchsong)

Pinewhisker – scarred dark brown tabby tom, former loner

Skipnose – black-and-white tom with a black tail, former kittypet

Apprentices:

Smokepaw – a dark gray tom

Talonpaw – dark brown tabby tom

Redpaw – ginger she-cat, former kittypet

Queens:

Finchsong – very pale gray she-cat, former BloodClan cat (mother of Cedarheart’s kits – Willowkit and Rushkit)

Duskflower – black she-cat (mother of Smokepaw)

Elders:

Brick – very skinny, scarred dark ginger she-cat, former BloodClan cat *

Boulder – silver-gray tom

Runningnose – small gray-and-white tom, former medicine cat

============= TRIBE OF RUSHING WATER =============

Tribe Healer: (leader and healer of the Tribe)

Stoneteller (Teller of the Pointed Stones) – skinny dark brown tom with a graying muzzle and sharp yellow eyes

To-Be Healer: (Tribe cat in training to become the next Tribe Healer)

Snow that Drifts From Clouds (Snow)– long-furred white she-cat

Cave-Guards: (sharpclaws sorted into defending their Tribemates from hawks and other dangers)

Crag Where Eagles Nest (Crag) – dark gray tom

Sheer Path Beside Waterfall (Sheer) – dark brown tabby tom

Boulder Falling Down Cliffside (Boulder) – massive dark gray tabby tom (Night’s mate)

Cloud That Covers Moon (Cloud) – black she-cat *

Spray Dappling Cold Stone (Spray) – gray-and-ginger she-cat

Prey-Hunters: (sharpclaws sorted into hunting and feeding their Tribemates)

Gray Sky Before Dawn (Gray) – pale gray tabby tom *

Brook Where Small Fish Swim (Brook) – brown tabby she-cat

Swift Wind Through the Gorge (Swift) – slender silver tabby she-cat

Red Sun on Horizon (Red) – bright ginger tabby tom (father of Sun)

Claw of Hungry Wolf (Claw) – fluffy pale brown tom

Softpaws: (otherwise known as to-bes – young cats in training to-become sharpclaws)

Sun That Scatters on Water (Sun) – pale ginger tabby she-cat with white dappling and sharp yellow eyes *

Wing Shadow Over Water (Wing) – gray-and-white she-cat

Flight of Startled Heron (Flight) – brown tabby she-cat

Kit-Mothers:

Night of No Stars (Night) – black she-cat (mother of Boulder’s kits – Hawk, Swoop, and Ice)

Pale Dawn Light On Clouds (Pale) – sleek white she-cat with bright blue eyes (mother of Sun)

Elders:

Yarrow Growing Between Stones (Yarrow) – boney golden brown tabby tom

Cold Air Whistling Through Ravine (Cold) – gray-and-white she-cat

============= CATS (AND OTHER CREATURES) OUTSIDE THE CLANS =============

Midnight – stargazing badger that lives by the sea

Barley – black and white tom that lives on a farm close to the forest (Ravenpaw’s mate)

Ravenpaw – sleek black cat who lives with Barley (Barley’s mate)

Cody – tabby kittypet with blue eyes

Talon of Swooping Eagle (Talon) – dark brown tabby tom

Jagged Rock Where Heron Sits (Jag) – dark gray tom

Rock Beneath Still Water (Rock) – brown tom with a stumpy tail

Bird That Sings At Dusk (Bird) – gray tabby she-cat

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Cover || Allegiances || Prologue || From the Beginning >>

============= ALLEGIANCES =============

(characters marked with a * are trans and are referred to by their preferred pronouns)

============= THUNDERCLAN =============

Leader: Tinystar – very small black tom with ice-blue eyes and one white paw (Sandstorm’s mate)

Deputy: Oakheart – red-brown tabby tom, amber eyes (father of Mistyfoot and Stoneheart)

Medicine Cat: Brackenfur – golden brown tabby tom (Shadepaw)

Warriors:

Mousefur – small dusky brown she-cat (Spiderpaw)

Graystripe – long-furred gray tom with a dark stripe of fur down his spine (Silverstream’s mate) (Whitepaw)

Dustpelt – dark brown tabby tom (Cinderpelt’s mate) (Nightpaw)

Sandstorm – pale ginger she-cat with green eyes (mother of Shadepaw and Nightpaw) (Sorrelpaw)

Cinderpelt – smoky dark gray she-cat (mother of Spiderpaw and Shrewpaw)

Cloudtail – white she-cat with ginger tabby patches and a fluffy white tail (Swiftfoot and Brightheart’s mate)

Brightheart – pretty white she-cat with ginger patches, missing an eye and ear (Swiftfoot and Cloudtail’s mate, mother of Whitepaw)

Swiftfoot – stocky black-and-white tom, missing his tail (Cloudtail and Brightheart’s mate)

Ashfur – pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes

Snowstep – snowy white tom, very blue eyes; deaf (Ferncloud’s mate)

Sootfur – light gray tabby tom, amber eyes

Rainwhisker – dark gray tom

Mistyfoot – long-furred dark blue-gray she-cat, blue eyes (Shrewpaw)

Apprentices:

Shadepaw – very dark tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws; medicine cat apprentice

Sorrelpaw – thick-furred tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Whitepaw – white she-cat with a ginger tabby rump and a ginger tail

Spiderpaw – leggy smoky gray she-cat *

Shrewpaw – pale tabby tom

Nightpaw – very small black tom with a thick, plumy tail and white paws

Queens:

Silverstream – sleek-furred silver tabby she-cat, formerly of RiverClan (mother of Feathertail and Stormfur)

Ferncloud – pale gray she-cat with darker flecks, green eyes (mother of Snowstep’s kits – Birchkit, Hollykit, and Larchkit)

Elders:

Frostfur – beautiful white she-cat, blue eyes (mother of Brackenfur, Cinderpelt, and Swiftfoot)

Dappletail – once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat, oldest cat in ThunderClan

Speckletail – pale tabby she-cat (mother of Snowstep and Brightheart)

Longtail – pale tabby tom with dark black stripes and a long tail, blind, recovering from an eye injury *

============= RIVERCLAN =============

Leader: Leopardstar – dappled golden tabby she-cat with a scarred muzzle (mother of Falcontail and Mothwing)

Deputy: Tawnypelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with broad shoulders, green eyes (mother of Goldenpaw, Reedpaw and Rosepaw)

Medicine Cat: Mudfur – long-haired light brown tom (father of Leopardstar) (Mothwing)

Warriors:

Ripplecloud – gray tabby tom with white paws

Brackenflight – golden brown tabby she-cat

Blackclaw – smoky black tom (Mistlepaw)

Heronleap – lean smoky gray-black tom *

Heavystep – thickset tabby tom (Reedpaw)

Leafwhisker – small brown tabby tom (Rosepaw)

Stormfur – dark gray tom with amber eyes

Feathertail – silvery tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Frostsplash – white tom, former loner

Falcontail – smoky tabby tom with yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Mothwing – lovely golden brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes; medicine cat apprentice  

Goldenpaw – broad-shouldered golden tabby tom

Reedpaw – black tom

Rosepaw – ginger-patched white she-cat

Queens:

Mosspelt – tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Willowkit)

Dawnflower – pale gray she-cat (mother of Frostsplash’s kits – Minnowkit, Pebblekit, and Tumblekit)

Elders:

Shadepelt – very dark gray she-cat

Loudbelly – dark brown tom

============= WINDCLAN =============

Leader: Tallstar – aging black-and-white tom with a very long tail

Deputy: Mudclaw – mottled dark brown tabby tom (Crowpaw)

Medicine Cat: Barkface – short-tailed brown tom (Ryepaw)

Warriors:

Onewhisker – brown tabby tom

Webfoot – dark gray tabby tom *

Ashfoot – gray she-cat (mother of Crowpaw)

Tornear – tabby tom with a ripped ear

Poppyfoot – tortoiseshell she-cat (Bristlepaw)

Robinwing – light brown she-cat with blue eyes (mother of Ryepaw and Bristlepaw)

Smokewillow – lean pale gray-and-white tabby tom (Thornpaw)

Whitetail – small white she-cat

Graytail – long-legged gray tom with white paws and a white tail-tip

Emberstep – smoky black she-cat

Duskwhisker – sleek black she-cat

Apprentices:

Ryepaw – very small brown-and-white tabby tom with bright green eyes, medicine cat apprentice

Crowpaw – smoky gray, almost black, tom, blue eyes

Bristlepaw – thick-furred brown tabby tom

Thornpaw – golden-brown she-cat

Queens:

Bramblefur – pale brown tabby she-cat, amber eyes (mother of Bristlepaw and Thornpaw)

Softbreeze – very pale gray she-cat, former loner (mother of Weaselkit and Thistlekit)

Elders:

Morningflower – tortoiseshell she-cat

============= SHADOWCLAN =============

Leader: Russetstar – dark ginger she-cat with scarred shoulders (Pansytail’s mate)

Deputy: Blackfoot – large, sturdy white tom with black face, paws, and tail

Medicine Cat: Littlecloud – very small brown tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur – small brown tom (Smokepaw)

Cedarheart – dark gray tom (Finchsong’s mate)

Rowanclaw – ginger tabby tom * (Stoneheart’s mate) (Talonpaw)

Tallpoppy – long-legged light brown tabby she-cat (mother of Talonpaw)

Nightwing – black she-cat

Orre – golden-brown tom

Stoneheart – thick-furred pale blue-gray tom, blue eyes (Rowanclaw’s mate)

Pansytail – tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, brilliant green eyes, former BloodClan cat (Russetstar’s mate) (Redpaw)

Wolftooth – thick-furred gray tom, former BloodClan cat (father of Finchsong)

Pinewhisker – scarred dark brown tabby tom, former loner

Skipnose – black-and-white tom with a black tail, former kittypet

Apprentices:

Smokepaw – a dark gray tom

Talonpaw – dark brown tabby tom

Redpaw – ginger she-cat, former kittypet

Queens:

Finchsong – very pale gray she-cat, former BloodClan cat (mother of Cedarheart’s kits – Willowkit and Rushkit)

Duskflower – black she-cat (mother of Smokepaw)

Elders:

Brick – very skinny, scarred dark ginger she-cat, former BloodClan cat *

Boulder – silver-gray tom

Runningnose – small gray-and-white tom, former medicine cat

======== CATS (AND OTHER CREATURES) OUTSIDE THE CLANS ========

Midnight – stargazing badger that lives by the sea

Barley – black and white tom that lives on a farm close to the forest (Ravenpaw’s mate)

Ravenpaw – sleek black cat who lives with Barley (Barley’s mate)