#SO Hollylark is now the reason Nightheart is Firekin

[bonefall]

How come you decided to make Hollylark and Sparkpelt mates?

I know they’re not related in this au but they are in canon

The most important reason is that because Sparkpelt is not related to Firestar in this rewrite (Bramble x Jessie), it would have borked ASC when it finally comes because Nightheart wouldn't be Firekin.

So I went to grab a Fire-descendant, but I'd already squished the plothole that half of the Clan is directly descended from Firestar by trading many of Lionblaze's children (Spotfur, Sorrelstripe, Fernsong) to other litters. So Hollytuft was the most obvious choice here

Especially since they just never did anything with her name and legacy. It's weird that Nightheart is having this arc about being reminded of someone he never met, while canon Hollytuft is casually sitting in the background. I think it makes more sense that his other mother was dealing with similar feelings before she died.

So at this point, I was ready to wrap up, but then I realized it wasn't obvious that something large had changed here. So I decided to combine Hollytuft's name with Larksong's, to make it clearer that this is a combination character taking the canonical role of Spark's mate. That's how we got to Hollylark.

And even if I wanted to just use Larksong, I already nipped that one by pruning Lilyheart's kids AND her mate. There's no Snowbush, Leafshade, or Honeyfur anymore, so there's not much space for Canon Larksong either.

[bonefall]

Is Sparkpelt not Squirrelflight's daughter in this? Also, do you have anything planned out for DOTC yet?

Nope! She's not!

Sparkpelt is the child of Brambleclaw and Jessie. Jessie leaves the Clan while her kittens are still young, taking Alder with her in the kitty divorce. She was a very talented crafter, who helped to improve Briarlight's mobility device so she could explore outside of camp.

Sparkpelt has a very complicated relationship to her dad, and develops a deep bond with her mentor, Squirrelflight. When Alderheart returns he also joins the Frustration Pile.

This little family is SO complicated now that they would be getting their own "SE" running concurrent to AVoS because they would hog the whole thing.

Sparkpelt's mate becomes a composite character named Hollylark, who is the child of Lionblaze. ALL Firestar descendants now come exclusively through Lionblaze, and he has three children; Hollylark, Dovewing, and Ivypool.

Sorrelstripe and Spotfur have been traded to Whitewing and Birchfall. I completely cleaned up the fact that half of the Clan is descended from Firestar.

Accounting for all the deaths, the full list of Firekin by the end of Bonefall TBC is;

Squirrelflight (Beloved ThunderClan deputy and defacto leader) Lionblaze (Respected warrior) Jayfeather (medcat) Ivypool (Clan Hero) Flipclaw (idiot tbh but loved) Thriftear (competent and uprising warrior) Finchlight (Prodigy and rebel warrior) Dovewing (Saved Clans from Dark Forest) Shadowsight (Light in the Mist, medcat) Lightleap (ALMOST a Light in the Mist) note: pouncestep may be eliminated Aaaaand Nightheart, resident crybaby extraordinaire!

It fixes the MASSIVE plothole in ASC that Nightheart feels like he has to live up to a legacy that, for some reason, doesn't apply to anyone else in the Clan half-descended from the Fireman himself, and is full of normal people. All of the cats in his family ARE special...

except Flipclaw, but he's. He's fine. He's beautiful. He's Flipclaw.