#Stormpaw's Demon

[bonefall]

how much of Stormpaw’s demon are Maple’s curse vs just things that happen (cause in canon it’s really vague about whether Maple causes all those tragedies or has the ability to see his future for some reason)

EVERYTHING that happens in Stormpaw's Demon involves her. It's not being so dramatically renamed for nothing, she's a major driver and cause of the plot! Crookedstar's young name is in the title; but really, his demon is driving the misfortune.

That said... It's been a while and I'm heavily considering retooling the narrative.

Since I last REALLY worked on it, BB has changed in the sense that I'm a lot more willing to alter canon than I used to be. While my driving mindset used to be "telling a better version of the original story," and that IS a value I still hold... I've lost patience with the misogyny within the original work.

I've spoken at length about the way Crookedstar's Promise grinds my gears (PLEASE follow this link for a full breakdown of why), but in summary; it desperately tries to keep every male character likeable when they shouldn't be, saying nothing about the fact they are complicit in or even enabling abuse, while giving Crookedstar TWO flatly evil maternal figures. Even Brambleberry, who's heavily praised for being "like a mom instead," has a weird moment where she starts giving Crookedjaw the cold shoulder because she finds out he's chatting with a demon.

So like... I'm not sure if I want to make the "better version" of that story. That was the one that I already had, which had Mapleshade be acting entirely out of just the malice of wanting to hurt a child, while Hailstar and Shellheart are the excellent people canon wanted to see them as.

(not that it's even a BAD super edition, it's actually a really good one, but if it's my kitchen that's not what we cook here. Man I really do always massively overhaul my favorite SEs LMAO)

I think, specifically, I want to make Mapleshade slightly more morally gray and Hailstar more of an enabler. Shellheart is getting significantly retooled to make him more of the heartwarming parental figure I think he should be; someone loving to help balance out a very heavy rework.

And of course Brambleberry, I'm going to tweak her some. Try to make her flaws more consistent, get rid of that odd cold shoulder moment.

Old regulars will remember an old AU which is also still a massive favorite of mine; it was called Better Call Mapleshade, and it was kind of a commentary on how an environment can shape a person. Mapleshade, as a demon in heaven, was essentially their best prosecutor and defense attorney.

You can actually see how a lot of ideas from that AU ended up in Better Bones with the expanded trial system! I'm thinking of taking another page out of it, by making Mapleshade more aware of "the game" of Clan culture's structural unfairness, while also using it like a weapon against people she wants to hurt. A powerful demon of revenge.

Under the cut, what won't be changing, the way it was, and Draft 2 of Stormpaw's Demon.

(MASSIVE CONTENT WARNING FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE including ableism. BB!Rainflower is WORSE than canon.)

WHAT WON'T BE CHANGING;

These are major details of Stormpaw's Demon that are different from canon. I'm working with these as givens and won't be changing between drafts.

Mapleshade does have a bone to pick with Appledusk's lineage specifically. One option might make her more discerning when it comes to her targets, but no matter what, she is going to have her eyes on this bloodline. She Haunts Applekin.

Rainflower is Hailstar's deputy. And I will make her downfall spectacular. If you were worried I was going to make her more sympathetic then you have no idea who I am LMAO

Shellheart is not Crookedstar's biofather While I want Hailstar to maybe be worse; I do want to fix Shellheart by making him a good parent. I've decided a good way to do this is to make it that Shellheart adopts Storm AFTER he's been abused by Rainflower. He didn't have authority over him before then. In general, I do want him to have a bigger positive role in this narrative. DEPENDING ON WHICH VERSION: Oakheart might also not be his bio-brother.

Crookedjaw is not a cruel name; it's an Honor Title. I've ALWAYS been frustrated by how canon treats scars and injuries as bad things. It's a BATTLE culture. Surviving brushes with death is their WHOLE THING. There is no "crookedkit" or "crookedpaw," he was Stormpaw until he earned his warrior name, with "Crookedjaw" commending the massive lengths he's gone to in order to survive, adapt, and honor StarClan.

Mentor change: Goodbye Cedarpelt, hello Magpiesky! I decided to repurpose one of the Barn Cats! Magpie from the books is a daughter of Perchshine-- the cat who killed Mapleshade. She joined RiverClan long ago. She's actually the one who points him in the way of the barn, and has to train him "as a punishment for teaching him disobedience" when he comes back. I actually have a couple of minor reasons for making this change but I'll spare them for now. He might start with Cedarpelt, but then run to the barn when Cedarpelt is basically refusing to train him properly.

Some family tree shuffles I need to update this tree to show Crookedstar's new situation with Shellheart (and also reflect some other changes I made like confirming Hallowflight fully being Lizardtail's honor title and Robinpaw being the apprentice who gets eaten by Ripwater), BUT, overall this tree is solid.

The ableism Storm faces is going to have a different flavor I have built BB in a way where him surviving his injury would be very respected, but he'd get badly coddled and pushed into early retirement. Him running to the barn is because he suspects he wouldn't have gotten training otherwise.

He kills a fox there because it's Cool. I might give him the tail to wear as a trophy of the kill because that's also Cool. The fox was very old and feeble at that point, which was why it was attacking chickens, but shhh

The Way It Was (Very Evil Mapleshade)

Darkstar's Commandment creating the Queen's Rights, that no queen would ever have to reveal the other parent of their kittens, wasn't enough to appease Mapleshade.

Nor was the damning of everyone that Mapleshade killed. In a fit of irrational fury at all the death, StarClan sent all her victims into the Dark Forest.

But she can't chase them. In the Dark Forest, you don't see someone unless you WANT to see them, not unless you're hanging out in a "land mar" (a sort of personal hell that all demons get).

on the off-chance she does see them, Frecklewish usually rips her to shreds...

Which is the next problem.

You can't DIE in the Dark Forest if you're a demon. You poof back into existence the next day, no injuries, no scars, nothing.

she's bored.

And vengeful. In spite of the wrong being righted, she still thinks she deserves MORE revenge, because what she wanted was really Appledusk.

She finds it unfair that HER legacy is snuffed out, that it's Darkstar's Commandment and not hers, that her babies were destined for greatness and by extension SHE should have been great.

So she takes up a hobby in tormenting Appledusk's descendants. She wants to eradicate them completely, but is spiteful enough that she'll just settle with hurting them.

The first one she managed to kill was Applefrost, Reedshine's son. Just by accident. She didn't know she had such power over the mortal plane.

After that, she managed to drown Duskwater. The daughter.

But she couldn't wipe out HER daughter in that storm... and she brought two more Applekin children into the world.

Stormkit and Oakkit.

So, naturally, Mapleshade turned her sight on the little fuzzball.

He would be an easy kill, in theory. She smashed Stormkit's jaw on the rock, but Oakkit pulled him out.

From there, it's similar to canon for a bit. His recovery is long and painful.

Rainflower is disgusted, and wants absolutely no part of helping him through this process.

That wasn't an injury gained in battle-- it's because he's careless and didn't listen to her. He's going through all this suffering, and for what?

To never become a warrior?

She's cruel to him, begins to neglect and distance herself from him. Discourages him from suckling.

Mapleshade LOVES this. It's worse than she could have imagined. Rainflower is horrible.

Gleefully, she realizes that Stormkit dying now is what Rainflower wants.

So, she kills two other kits in the nursery.

Fallowtail's only survivor is Willowkit, so she has plenty of milk. She starts suckling Stormkit.

(Graypool is now an older sibling! She's actually an apprentice at this time! Later, she encourages Willowkit to visit their father, who decides to just kidnap them completely)

Eventually, being the deputy, Rainflower had some kind of conversation with Hailstar.

During that conversation, she asked him to do something very cruel to Crookedkit.

And Hailstar LOST IT

He's the successor of Volestar, who was appointed by Darkstar herself to uphold the Queen's Rights and protect children.

How DARE you try to turn RiverClan into a place of disrespect?? To use my power this way?!

So, her power was stripped, and Oakkit and Stormkit were taken from her.

From there, Storm eventually goes to the barn as discussed, and Mapleshade continues to do things to hurt him.

This was my first draft, and now having thought about it a lot, I feel like it's not super cohesive. A demonic Mapleshade who's entirely malicious is neat, but I feel like this makes her flat. Shellheart's not tied in super well either, and Hailstar's stand feels kind of hollow because Rainflower hasn't actually used or leveraged the new authority I've given her.

But most egregiously? Rainflower's abuse being so close to canon tastes kind of bland. I feel like I can make it sooo much more intense, complicated, and painful.

Draft 2 of Stormpaw's Demon (Demon of Revenge Update) Essentially an outline for the first few chapters establishing Mapleshade by dealing with Rainflower and then fragments for the rest.

Mapleshade's still malicious, but this time, there's more to it.

Darkstar's Commandment, and the damning of her victims, DID appease this Mapleshade.

But is she satisfied? No.

She doesn't feel like she was wrong at all, actually. Without her killing those three in revenge for her kittens, StarClan's anger probably would have subsided.

She can't hunt her victims down again though, because, they don't want to see her. She fights Frecklewish every now and then but what's the point?

She WON already. She already GOT the euphoria of dragging them all down with her.

Punishing everyone who had ever wronged her was the highlight of her existence... but now it's done.

She's in Hell and she's bored. Her punishment is never seeing her kits again, but more importantly, her punishment is eternal shuffling through the leaf litter when she's SO GOOD at getting revenge.

Problem with revenge is, when you get it, it's gone.

She probably messed with Duskwater and Applefrost a bit, but if she killed one of them, it was accidental. It made her realize that revenge without a motive is just boring.

The prologue would probably open up with establishing her as a character. Who she is, what she wants.

Because the first chapter would dive RIGHT IN to Stormkit. The only child of Rainflower, the deputy.

Right along with Stormkit, you only learn in hindsight that he was born in a storm that killed his grandmother. It's clear that Rainflower reminds him of this often.

And that she's nasty to him. Giving him unclear instruction and finding things to critique, telling him to jump and then barking at him that he didn't ask how high.

She has great expectations for him, and reminds him of their family lineage often. Of who killed his great-grandfather, of what a fantastic pair of warriors Applefrost and Duskwater were

"I lost everything the night you were born. You'd better be able to make up for it."

Unfortunately, Stormkit is not the sort of child who's good at listening to those sorts of orders. He's stubborn and defiant; angry and oppositional.

When he doesn't understand why you do something, he doesn't want to do it

He "embarrasses" her a lot, and gets hurt for it.

In public, these are swats and whacks. The things you're "allowed" to do to discipline your child. In private these are a lot more severe.

So when Stormkit is given an order or a command, he obeys completely out of fear rather than respect. And sometimes he forgets his fear.

The other cats in RiverClan? Well... Stormkit is a problem child, and Rainflower is a fantastic, organized, respected deputy.

Hailstar especially, unfortunately. He feels bad... for Rainflower.

"It must be so hard for her to have such a little brat as a son. He never seems to learn his lesson. When will he stop wandering off? What's wrong with him? He certainly didn't get that from her."

His best friend, Oakkit, gets in the SAME trouble he does.

He's mischievous, fearless, and outgoing, and... never gets punished for it.

There's times where Oakkit does something and Stormkit physically recoils, just imagining what Rainflower would do if HE did something like that. Especially in how Oakkit talks to his dad, Shellheart.

For example, Shellheart will come to get his son for suckling time and Oakkit will tell him to his face things like, "I don't want to! I'm HAVING FUN!"

and shellheart doesn't flip out. He just. explains why it's important to eat on time.

"I know. But Fallowtail wants to go have fun too! She's waiting for you to come and suckle so she can go play."

"Well why can't she just play now and I suckle later?"

"When a suckler is full of milk, it makes their belly very itchy. She's uncomfortable when you don't come and eat on time."

"nnnh"

"Tough sell? How about I sweeten the pile with a badger ride back?"

"Hm. You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Dad."

Stormkit doesn't know why he hates it. He's all angry inside when he sees them acting friendly. He's polite because Oakkit's his best friend and Mr. Shellheart is really nice, but he just...

He's too young at the time to know he's envious. He wants what Oakkit has so badly it hurts.

Sometime after an exchange like that, Stormkit is visited by Mapleshade for the first time.

And they talk about Stormkit's anger and resentment. Stormkit lets it slip that he HATES his Mi.

Waits for Mapleshade to stop him and tell him, like everyone else does, that "she's still your mother."

...but she doesn't.

Besides Oakkit and Shellheart, she's the first person who doesn't tell him that.

She just lets him talk. Lets him go on. Starts making nasty jabs, which make him laugh.

"She says she lost everything the day I was born!!"

"What?! That's crazy! She got you that day!"

"Right?! It's like she's saying I'm nothing! Maybe she SHOULD lose everything, then she'd know what she's got!"

And then she asks, "Do you want her to die?"

Suddenly, there's a chill in the air. He's really shocked by the suggestion of that. He didn't... he didn't mean it to go THAT far. That's not what he meant... is it?

But she's fading back into the shadows, just her eyes visible in the dark. Tells him that she can see he's unsure. That's ok.

Holds up a budding sprig of sycamore, the maple she's named for. Its buds grow in a "deer hoof," with one large bud in the middle and two "toes" sprouting on its sides.

Teaches him that if he needs someone in his corner, all he has to do is call.

(to summon her, a bud is plucked off the sprig and thrown in the river.)

He wakes up with the sprig in his paw, panics, and shoves it under the nest he shares with his mother.

The experience shakes him. He probably ran to Brambleberry for the first time, who explains very seriously that he was contacted by a demon.

From the description... Mapleshade. The cat who killed his great-grandfather.

He BEGS her not to tell Rainflower. PLEADS with her. He can barely hear her already saying yes under the throbbing sound of his heart in his ears.

When he calms down, he hears her saying yes. On the condition she will need to smoke the nursery with sage and cedar, and that he will be needing a bath as well.

When he's still concerned that Rainflower will question him, she makes a plan to distract her for a day, long enough for him to do his cleanse and the smell to fade.

And, of course, that he will not follow any instructions that Mapleshade left him. He agrees. But does not tell Brambleberry about the sprig.

For a while he's very "well behaved." But it's not about him, never has been.

It really doesn't take long at all for Rainflower to get worse. Kids who are defiant like that are usually exercising a defense mechanism-- if they're not aggressive about their boundaries, their limits are pushed to a breaking point.

And after a big blowout like this, which was probably a public spectacle, Stormkit runs back to his nest and digs out the sprig, runs to the river, and throws a bud in the river.

Having calmed down from his shuddering fury, the dread begins to set in as a dead-smelling wind ruffles his fur. He can't help but feel like he just did something very stupid out of anger.

Looking at his reflection, he sees no cuts or swelling. The blows weren't "bad enough." He doesn't have the kind of injuries that anyone would do anything about. Equal parts guilt and frustration swell in him like a tide at full moon. How could he be sitting here wishing she hurt him worse?

So he tries to soften it, "I don't want her to die, I just, I... I just want her to lose everything like she says. Please..."

The wind whispers in his ear, "it will get worse before it gets better."

"I can handle that," he sobs, "I can do anything. Please. Make it stop."

After that, Oakkit probably runs to come find him. Stormkit doesn't want to be found. He makes up a childish plan, on the spot, to run away and join ThunderClan.

Oak says that's mousebrained, but Storm has DEVOTED himself to this plan he made just now.

And is crossing the stones.

Oak sighs, but if Storm's going to ThunderClan, he should really go with him because then they could totally fight off a small fox (Childish hubris)

Unfortunately, Rainflower found them. asks Exactly What He's Doing.

The kids freeze. Stormkit in particular has that horrible, twisting anxiety that you get when you hear The Tone that means you're in for an absolute wallop when you get home.

He's about to start running, but then the voice tickles his ear-fur again. Mapleshade tells him to go back. It'll be ok. She's on his side. She'll make her pay.

Oakkit is still frozen in place when, as if possessed, Storm's body stiffly returns to his mother.

There's a silence. The river trickling through the stepping stones. Storm looking with fear and anger up at her.

She's waiting for an apology, groveling. He doesn't give her one.

So she raises her paw and gives him an awful, hard blow.

His little body twists, flung off balance, trying to correct himself, and he can swear he felt paws pushing him a second time, whipping him downwards.

The feeling of falling fills his stomach, the water sloshes into his ears before there's a ring of a sound like CLUNK-CRUNCH, and then the river floods his nose and mouth.

It all goes dark.

When he wakes up, it's with a throbbing pain in the side of his jaw so intense that he can feel it all the way down in the tip of his tail. He learns from Brambleberry that Oakkit rescued him-- jumped right into the water to pull him out. And then Rainflower pulled him out. That was when Shellheart came and found them.

There's a LOT of arguing outside, but Storm can't ask what it is because it hurts to move his mouth at all. Brambleberry hushes and soothes him, telling him it's nothing he needs to know about.

(MEDICAL INFODUMPING: i do actually have a medical reason I want his injury to come from someone hitting him which causes him to fall. The injury he'd get in canon would actually be a really simple and common split in the front of the mandible, which wouldn't cause his mouth to have a dramatic twist and would heal very easily. He needs to come down on the rock at an angle to shatter the joint like that.)

From here, the tune about Stormkit starts to change.

Oakkit was distraught when they got back, telling everyone that Rainflower smashed him against a rock.

Rainflower's story is that he was running, and she chased after him. EVERYONE knows that he has a habit of doing this.

Then HE slipped and fell and hit his face on the rocks. His fault.

Oakkit was running away with him, he's lying.

Shellheart is FEROCIOUSLY taking the side of his son, furious that she would imply he raised a liar.

Hailstar is taking the side of Rainflower. It's two troublemaking kits against his deputy.

Yes, Rainflower's disciplined him before, but that's no indication she'd do something like this on purpose.

Brambleberry weighs in that the injury that Stormkit has isn't the sort of injury a kitten gets from hitting his jaw. The bone is shattered.

probably does some kind of visual to go along with it, using a stick and a stone

"The bones of a kitten are like the young shoots of a tree. When they fracture," she takes a young twig and snaps it in her paws. The fibers in the center are bent but unbroken, with the bark splintered around them, "they flay but don't snap."

She places the stick on the ground, "So for the injury that Stormkit has," and violently smashes the rock down onto it. It's shattered and pulped, the fibers flattened, "there would need to be a great force."

Shellheart hisses, saying that THIS is the evidence. Oakkit's story is consistent but Rainflower HAS to have lied.

Several cats are now on his side.

...But more are on Rainflower's.

"She's his mother. She loves him. Oakkit has to be mistaken."

"Why would she chase down her own son just to smash his face on a stone?"

"She wouldn't pull them out of the river if she really wanted to hurt him!"

Hailstar prompts if there's ANYTHING else that could explain this?

It comes up that Brambleberry cleansed the dens the other day.

She says that it's possible there is a demon's influence at work. She can't know for sure which one it is-- but it may have a grudge against Rainflower.

She allows them to reach the conclusion that it's probably Mapleshade on their own. She will be talking to Crookedkit when he's able, but she's not about to tell anyone about his dream yet.

She doesn't want him to have the extra scrutiny when he needs to rest and heal, but if she'd shared that an unnamed cat had a demonic dream, it would set off panic as cats accused each other of dark magic.

Rainflower manages to escape consequences by pointing out that it was likely Mapleshade that injured her son.

Oakkit is still trying to tell everyone SHE did it, he SAW it, Stormkit walked back and she hit him and smashed his jaw on the rock

But he's hushed. It's decided there's not enough evidence. And not enough reason to doubt the noble deputy.

She's never done something like this before, after all. It's more likely it was an accident.

There is a group of cats that are dissatisfied about this, though, and it only grows when Brambleberry explains that Stormkit's prognosis is not good.

There is a very high chance he will die. Even adult warriors can wither slowly from this sort of injury.

Recovery will be slow and it will be painful.

...but after that incident? Rainflower gets bolder. She got away with it in public. She got a taste of the leverage she has, how much they trust her.

Stormkit spends a lot of time floating in between his dreams and his living-world pain. There's at least one interaction where he speaks to Mapleshade, screaming at her that he TRUSTED her, he KNOWS she's the one who hurt him! How could she?!

She can't say much, kept at bay by a hazy smokescreen of sage. "You must live! You must survive!"

Her old words echo in his head; It Will Get Worse Before It Gets Better.

Throughout the recovery, Rainflower grows more cruel and more distant.

In public she likes to talk about how difficult this is for her, but he's strong, he will survive.

In private, she'll do things that hurt him, like repositioning his head in a way that "his jaw will heal better in." When he cries, she's unsympathetic.

"You brought this on yourself. This is for your own good."

Her definition of "private" is also changing. She's getting more comfortable with snapping at him in front of limited groups of people.

Since she's deputy, the other two parents in the nursery, Shellheart and Fallowtail, do their best to care for Stormkit while she's away. He's pulled away from them when she gets back, any ideas or suggestions they have vetoed.

When they try to go to Brambleberry about this, she shakes her head with frustration and tries to make them understand she knows... and she's just as unhappy with it as they are.

She tells them she keeps going to Hailstar, but he's still hesitant. Even though she's trying to tell him that Stormkit's recovery is being undermined.

"Rainflower's son has always needed tough love. She's his Mi and knows him best... she's still taking care of him. Give her a warning before suggesting anything drastic."

In the other draft, I had Mapleshade kill two of Fallowtail's kits to free up milk for Stormkit. I'm not sure I need that anymore honestly, plus, this rework's heavy enough! She can just have Willowkit without any deaths, while Graypaw remains an older sibling.

When Brambleberry informs Rainflower and Stormkit that the jaw isn't healing straight and it will probably be at an angle forever, Rainflower reacts with disdain.

"His first scar and it's nothing he earned?!"

She's reminded he might not even survive. He's lost weight. He's eating less. Stormkit curls up quietly. He hates how they talk about him like he can't hear them.

"Surviving is the bare minimum," she scoffs reflexively. There's a silence so thick you can cut it with a claw. After an uncomfortable heartbeat, she continues, "What kind of a life will he live if he-"

"a life," Brambleberry cuts in, "he'd live a life. And it can be a good one"

Rainflower growls, spitting that the twisted jaw is a disfigurement. He'll never be able to open his mouth all the way. He can't chew and he can't suckle forever. Stormkit will never become a warrior if he can't even dispatch a fish with a killing bite.

"Scars are the sign that StarClan has mended our bodies after fighting a good fight, making any Clanborn cat worthy of being an elder" Brambleberry preaches, "Names are what mark us, calling upon our ancestors to look down at us and witness our actions, Rainflower. Don't say anything you wouldn't want them to see."

Rainflower flicks her ear, seething, a rumble in her throat, "was that some kind of threat? As if I've said something wrong?"

"If you feel threatened, look within."

Stormkit resents all of this talk. He can feel his mother tensing up next to him, hears the low rumble progressing into a growl. When adults play stupid games with his mom, he's always the one who ends up dealing it. Why don't they get that?

It's only Shellheart who seems to have it click, "Hey, this is the nursery. Can you take it outside, please?"

As Brambleberry and Rainflower leave, Stormkit lays curled up in his nest, cold and alone. Oakkit leaves Shellheart's paws to curl up around his best friend.

Shellheart stares at them, shifting, but ultimately stays where he is.

There's a lot of words I could write there, between Storm and Oak. Ones where Storm speaks about how he just wants the pain to be done with. Others where Oak comforts him, tells him how much he means to him. More where they end up running into the wall that they're just two little kids and they've both learned the truth that they have no control over what happens when Rainflower comes back into that den.

But I think it would be good to end there, at the lowest point. Because it gets better.

Pissed off by being gently confronted, after her warning from Brambleberry, this is the moment where Rainflower goes too far.

Hailstar is gradually losing his patience. Every time this issue comes up, he's making some kind of new excuse for her.

She's still a competent deputy who holds the Clan together, but this has taken a toll on her reputation.

Her biggest mistake was becoming more open with her abuse after being emboldened. And I think Hailstar is beginning to feel like he's got "egg on his face."

After standing up for Rainflower several times, getting heat from Brambleberry, and now the Clan also starting to murmur...

It's getting very difficult to justify why he's sticking his neck out.

and maybe, part of him is starting to feel a little self-conscious about the way that his deputy is acting about her injured child.

When she comes storming up on this fateful day, interrupting whatever he was doing to make a proposition, it's the breaking point.

Her suggestion: "I've realized that there's only one way to ensure my son survives his injury. He's being haunted by our demon, which only started threatening him when he disobeyed me for the last time. WE need to teach him a lesson, and make sure StarClan gazes down upon him to acknowledge his mistakes."

"...how do you intend to do that?"

"Stormkit must be given a Dishonor Title."

A Dishonor Title, one of the greatest shames that a leader can put onto one of their warriors. A punishment that ranks just below exile in terms of severity.

"you want to put a dishonor title... on your child? one with a life-threatening injury?"

"One that acknowledges his carelessness. To protect him from the demon."

Protect him from the demon. "I see now what must be done."

Previously, I'd thought of Hailstar as someone who would be loud and merciless when he does this. Now I'm thinking it was something he put a lot of thought into. He stands up, brushes past her, and goes to talk to some of his most trusted cats. Brambleberry, his mate Echomist, an experienced warrior such as Piketooth or Ottersplash, and lastly, Shellheart.

So it's not a surprise to anyone but Rainflower herself. He doesn't want this to be dramatic. He doesn't want it to be another big scene. Stormkit has gone through enough.

When he eventually has this Clan meeting, he calls it quietly. In his address to the gathered cats, a crowd that Shellheart and his family are missing from at his request, he says that his greatest regret is that he didn't do this sooner. He even doubts that Mapleshade is haunting her at all-- now having seen her behavior, he says it's more likely that Rainflower bashed her own child against a rock and simply lied.

First, he announces that Stormkit will be removed from her care. He will no longer be of the Applekin bloodline.

She is banned from the nursery at the request of Fallowtail, and will only see Stormkit when supervised by his new Mi, Shellheart.

Brambleberry has already agreed to this necessity, and is performing a ritual so that StarClan may approve of this choice.

He also strips her of her deputyship, and appoints Ottersplash instead. (I might change this to a different deputy eventually)

Not everyone agrees with Hailstar. There's an uproar from Rainflower's supporters.

She was a VERY popular deputy.

More that are just uneasy, feeling that this was a BRUTAL punishment that she didn't deserve.

Lots are happy and optimistic, though. But the mixed reception is exactly why Hailstar asked Shellheart not to be here.

This isn't something Stormkit has to deal with right now.

When Darkstar herself, who created the Queen's Rights, was on her last life, she appointed Volestar to uphold the law as her legacy knowing that Oakstar might try to break it again.

Volestar appointed Hailstar, in the hopes that he would uphold her legacy in turn, to protect kittens and those who can't protect themselves.

He was late, and can only hope he was not too late. He hopes that Volestar can forgive him for that.

Meanwhile in the nursery, Shellheart, Oakkit, and Stormkit are alone, far in the back, where the padded moss keeps out arguing voices.

Oakkit, bless his little heart, is babbling with excitement because his best friend is his BROTHER now. And it's gonna be THE BEST.

He's talking about how it's fine he can't chew because now they can have soup, and they're going to make the nest bigger, and they can stay up later because they can whisper quieter if they're this close together

But Storm doesn't really hear him. His head's swimming, thinking about the dull ache in his jaw, how MAD his mom's going to be because he can't imagine her not finding a way to hurt him, how this is all his fault because he called Mapleshade.

He can't stop it anymore and starts sniffling, which turns into weeping. Still, he's TRYING not to bawl, knowing, knowing he looks stupid when he does that

Shellheart just pulls him in close, so he can bury his face in his fluffy chest. Tells him it's going to be ok. He's safe now. No one can hurt him there.

Not on his watch.

Unfortunately, it's not the last he sees of Mapleshade. After this...

Mapleshade shows him everything she did for him. Yes, she did smash his jaw-- but it was to get him away from his mother.

And she planted an idea here and there, just little whispers into Rainflower's ear. Nothing she wouldn't do all on her own.

And now... Mapleshade believes she's earned some respect.

Stormkit can't disagree... she did exactly what she told him she'd do.

And now that he's not Applekin anymore, they can be Real Friends. They could even strike up a partnership, of sorts. After all, what did StarClan do to help him?

It wasn't StarClan that answered his prayers.

I'm still figuring out what, exactly, she's going to want from him. I have a scintilla that she wants to give him a life, maybe as some kind of bridge to StarClan to see her kits?

Some strange "attempt" at redemption, perhaps? Which she ultimately doesn't get.

Not that she didn't enjoy doing all that for love of the game, mind you. She's very good at getting revenge and it's fun and exciting to pull it off.

But hey, if you're good at something, never do it for free.

What causes Mapleshade to ultimately turn, and begin haunting the bloodline again + Oakheart, is Crookedstar rejecting her in some way.

She comes to collect on her end of the bargain and he refuses, breaking their partnership. He chooses StarClan.

And then from there, it's ON again. Now she has another EXCUSE to do what she wanted to do, and take out her boredom and malice on his family.

This time, it includes Oakheart as well-- because he was Crookedstar's brother.

It was also her curse that harmed Willowbreeze and eventually Silverstream. She's on the warpath.

Maybe she actually helped make him leader on purpose. Like he explicitly asked so she helped him by making the squirrel omen, instead of just doing it for him unprompted. Still figuring it out.

Shortly after the scene where Stormkit cries, he needs to have a confrontation with Brambleberry about Mapleshade I think. She needs to explain why Dark Forest demons are seen as bad.

She's biased, of course, but it's not like she's TOTALLY wrong either. Cats like Mapleshade ARE vengeful, in ways many other spirits are not.

If you're curious, Crookedstar's dishonor title from Rainflower would have been something comparing him to a parasite and referencing his ""accident"" like Fleaskip or Midgefall.

The point she's trying to make with the Dishonor Title is that her son is an annoying bug who didn't listen, as well as subtly erase she fact she knocked him off that rock.

She wanted his name to say "everything that happened was my fault and my mom did nothing wrong"

Not that Hailstar got as far as even asking lmao

[furry-monster-trash]

Stonefur Lives AU

What if Stonefur killed Blackfoot and Darkstripe during the conflict at the Bonehill?

Also note: I had to ‘create’ a few characters for this AU due to the allegiances for both RiverClan and ShadowClan being slim in the books.

Stonefur refuses to kill Stormpaw, telling Tigerstar that he is loyal to RiverClan, not TigerClan. “I will take orders from Leopardstar, who would never order me to kill a fellow RiverClan cat.”

Darkstripe is ordered to kill Stonefur but is easily defeated by Stonefur. Stonefur spares him at the moment.

Tigerstar sends in Blackfoot, a much larger warrior, who has a fierce battle with Stonefur. Blackfoot and Stonefur battle in front of all of TigerClan, and Blackfoot almost kills Stonefur before being knocked off balance by Stonefur’s thick tail. Stonefur claws out Blackfoot’s chest and stands over him as the TigerClan warrior bleeds to death.

Darkstripe dies of his injuries and goes to the Dark Forest. Blackfoot goes to StarClan.

“You fight well for a half-clan mongrel. Maybe you do have a place in TigerClan after all.” Tigerstar is pleased with the battle and doesn’t seem affected by the deaths of his two most loyal followers.

Stonefur is kept as a prisoner.

The new ShadowClan deputy is Jaggedtooth.

Tigerstar dies during the gathering due to Scourge. Leopardstar also loses a life during this conflict.

Leopardstar tries to wrangle together TigerClan and releases Stonefur from his prison. He helps her to lead the clan and also urges her to disband TigerClan. “Once BloodClan is dealt with, ShadowClan must return to their own territory.”

TigerClan joins forces with WindClan and ThunderClan.

During the battle against BloodClan, Stonefur kills Brick, one of the highest-ranking members of BloodClan.

After the battle, Leopardstar tells ShadowClan to return to their camp. Jaggedtooth is the leader of ShadowClan and takes the name Jaggedstar, but never receives his nine lives due to his lack of belief in StarClan. Jaggedstar’s deputy is Flintfang, a dark gray and white warrior.

NEW PROPHECY ARC

Stonefur remains the deputy of RiverClan. He convinces Leopardstar to make the Great Journey to the new lake territories.

Stonefur becomes mates with Rosecloud, a light ginger she-cat. Rosecloud and Stonefur have two kits, both toms. Stonefur names the darker tom Blackkit, after Blackfoot. “Blackfoot never deserved to die. I never should’ve killed him. He was a loyal warrior to ShadowClan and would’ve made a great leader one day. I owe this to him.” The other kit, a white and ginger tom, is named Sunkit.

Stonefur is the mentor to Hawkpaw and tries his best to curb Hawkpaw’s aggression.

Hawkpaw has a natural talent for fighting and it doesn’t take Stonefur very long to realize that he is Tigerstar’s son. 

Once it is publicly revealed that Hawkpaw and Mothpaw are Tigerstar’s kits, Stonefur tells Hawkpaw the truth about Tigerstar. “Tigerstar was called Tigerclaw when he was a warrior of ThunderClan. He was a brave and loyal warrior and wanted the best for ThunderClan, but his ambition got the best of him and he turned dark. A shadow fell over Tigerclaw, one that he couldn’t escape. He ended up killing Redtail, the previous deputy of ThunderClan, and then was made deputy once Lionheart died during a ShadowClan raid. Tigerclaw attempted to kill Bluestar but was stopped by Firestar, who was Fireheart at the time. Tigerclaw ended up becoming the leader of ShadowClan a while later and when he was new to his leadership, he tried to destroy all of ThunderClan by using a pack of dogs to shred them. His plan failed, but Bluestar died to save her clan. Tigerstar joined forces with RiverClan to create TigerClan. He tried to kill me when he found out I was half-clan. Bluestar of ThunderClan was my mother and Oakheart of RiverClan was my father. Tigerstar died after a fight with Scourge. He was a brave and strong warrior, but blind to his own demons and in the end, he destroyed himself.”

Hawkpaw shuns his father in the Dark Forest, refusing the extra training. Brambleclaw also refuses the training since Tigerclaw couldn’t use Hawkpaw as an incentive. “You haven’t changed a bit Tigerstar. You couldn’t get Hawkpaw to side with you, and you won’t get me.”

Leopardstar loses her second life with a battle against WindClan, and her third life from an infected wound.

Stonefur kills Jaggedstar when the two cats clash over a border issue. Flintfang is now Flintstar and earns his nine lives. Russetfur is his deputy.

Hawkpaw earns his warrior name: Hawkfrost. Stonefur is proud to have such a new strong warrior in RiverClan.

When Mistyfoot is stolen by twolegs, Leopardstar loses another life trying to save her and Stonefur is part of the patrol to rescue her.

Firestar never gets caught in the fox trap. 

Blackkit and Sunkit, Stonefur’s sons, become apprentices and Blackpaw is mentored by Leopardstar and Sunpaw by Mistyfoot.

Blackpaw is stronger and a better fighter than Sunpaw, but Sunpaw proves to be faster and a better hunter.

ThunderClan and RiverClan clash due to Leopardstar not agreeing with Firestar over certain drought-policies. Mistyfoot is slain during this battle, killed by Rainwhisker and Spiderleg in an accident. “She slipped on blood while defending herself against Rainwhisker and Spiderleg. It was then that Spiderleg lashed out, aiming for her legs at the time, but as she fell, he clawed out her chest. It was an accident Stonefur.”

Stonefur vows revenge against ThunderClan, saying they are to blame for the death of his sister. Reedwhisker is the new mentor to Sunpaw.

POWER OF THREE ARC

In between “The New Prophecy” and “Power of Three” Leopardstar loses two more lives. She has four more lives.

Sunpaw and Blackpaw are now warriors: Sunstreak and Blackeye.

Stonefur is on a patrol when he sees Spiderleg on a border patrol with ThunderClan. He remembers that Spiderleg is the one that killed Mistyfoot. He leaps over the border and tackles Spiderleg, scoring him across the cheek and shoulder. Stonefur is pulled off by Blackclaw, Voletooth, and Birchfall.

Thornclaw, who was leading the ThunderClan patrol, agrees to forget the incident. Spiderleg says that he never meant to kill Mistyfoot, that that would go against the warrior code. “I’m sorry Stonefur. She was a brave and loyal warrior. She never deserved to die like that.”

Stonefur apologizes for attacking, realizing that Mistyfoot wouldn’t want to have been avenged.

Rosecloud has a second litter of kits, two she-cats, and two toms. Stonefur boasts to everyone about his strong mate and large litter. The kits are named Leafkit, Cherrykit, Lizardkit, and Rockkit.

During the battle of all four clans on ThunderClan territory, Stonefur battles against Lionpaw from ThunderClan. Stonefur is beaten by the apprentice and shocked when Lionpaw almost kills him, only to be stopped by Rainwhisker: “Warriors don’t kill Lionpaw! He’s beaten, now let’s go!”

During the eclipse, Stonefur watches as Sol tries to take credit for the act. He doesn’t believe the loner.

Firestar banishes Sol from ThunderClan territory.

Flintstar, the leader of ShadowClan, doesn’t fall for Sol’s tricks and banishes him from ShadowClan territory.

When Sol shows up in RiverClan, Leopardstar orders Stonefur to attack him. Stonefur very easily beats the loner and is ready to kill him when Leopardstar says that Sol had learned his lesson about messing with the clans.

Sol never tries to control WindClan and instead leaves the clans alone for the time being.

It is revealed that Leopardstar lost another life during the battle. A ShadowClan warrior was the cause.

Sunstreak dies in a fox trap.

Hawkfrost saves Rockkit and Leafkit when the two kits wander off. Stonefur gives Hawkfrost Leafkit to mentor when she is an apprentice.

Rockpaw is given to Rippletail, Cherrypaw to Dawnflower, and Lizardpaw to Pouncetail.

When Hollyleaf reveals the truth about Crowfeather and Leafpool, Stonefur defends half-clan kits.

Leopardstar loses the rest of her lives when a tree falls in RiverClan camp and crushes her.

Stonefur earns his nine lives. Hawkfrost is the new deputy of RiverClan.

His nine lives: Mistyfoot - loyalty and devotion

Mosskit - a mother’s love

Bluestar - clear sight

Blackfoot - bravery

Leopardstar - honesty, compassion, kindness

Oakheart - strength to overcome anything

Feathertail - always knowing what is the right thing to do, even if it doesn’t benefit your own clan.

Crookedstar - selflessness

Shellheart - a father’s devotion spread beyond just kits, but to every member of your clan

OMEN OF THE STARS

Rosecloud died during the time between the two arcs. Stonestar mourned for moons. Hawkfrost took command during the first moon of his mourning.

When Stonestar sees Lionblaze again, he comments about how strong and large the ThunderClan warrior is: “He’s a force to be reckoned with, but I’m glad he seems to have a clear mind.”

Stonestar recognizes a shift in some of his warriors: Minnowtail and Icewing. Two warriors being trained by the Dark Forest. He tasks Hawkfrost with watching them closely.

Hawkfrost has proven to be a great deputy and a loyal warrior. He mentored Leafpaw to be one of the best hunters in the clan.

Leafpaw, Rockpaw, Lizardpaw, and Cherrypaw are all warriors: Leafwhisker, Rockstorm, Lizardbite, and Cherryspirit.

Stonestar loses his first life by drowning trying to save a kit.

During the Great Battle against the Dark Forest, Hawkfrost and Stonestar managed to keep Icewing and Minnowtail on the side of the Clans.

Stonestar loses a life during the battle, defending a pair of WindClan apprentices. Bluestar and Mistyfoot kill the Dark Forest warrior that killed him. Bluestar, Oakheart, Mistyfoot, and Stonestar all team up and dive back into the battle.

Cherryspirit dies during the battle. Hawkfrost and Brambleclaw team up to help drive away Tigerstar, when he is then killed by Firestar.

Firestar ends up surviving during the battle due to Mothwing being near the area where Firestar and Tigerstar had fought. Mothwing saved Firestar’s life.

Conclude: Stonestar leads his clan for many, many seasons. He ends up losing his last life by saving Rockstorm’s kits. Hawkfrost becomes Hawkstar and leads RiverClan with sharp claws and wise words, Hawkstar is a fierce leader with a compassionate side for those within his clan.

[the-cryptid-is-loose]

Au where Jim has a pet cat

Jim groggily blinked the foggy vision from his eyes.

The blunt to the head still left his ears ringing and there was an intense throbbing in his skull.

Memories came flooding back and the realization dawned on him.

He was propped up on a chair. He tried to weakly move his hands, tied.

Of course they are!

The panic set in as his friends probably didn’t even receive that text, his mom was probably still in danger!

Merlin straightened himself, poised as if preparing to offer a business proposal. Or in Jim’s experience, Strickler about to boast about that connection curse.

‘You won’t be able to escape your binding, I made sure of that.’

He gritted his teeth in anger, trying to bite back the slur of insults.

I just need to stall, this guy likes to talk so I gotta keep him talking til my friends come!

So he started, demanding explanations, which was responded with a stress inducing lecture.

‘You need a hold of both worlds.’

Stormpaw, the family pet, leapt onto the kitchen counter where a mysterious jar of a sickeningly glowing toxic looking liquid was. The name had been a bit of a joke, they were originaly going to name them “Toothless,” however after discovering that they were a girl they decided on the next best option.

She was usually quite a social cat, loved Claire and Toby especially. However the moment Merlin set foot in the door she decided to become a demon from hell towards him.

And this was going to be another one of her petty moments.

Jim decided not to try and call her off.

Stormpaw meowed insistently.

Merlin turned around just in time to see;

The cat place a paw on the mason jar,

and swiped it.

The jar sailed straight off the countertop in a glorious fall, all the while Stormpaw stared at Merlin, unblinking and unyielding of spite.

The shatter of glass rang throughout the kitchen, as well as the shatter of whatever the wizard had planned for Jim as Merlin was tearing his grey hair out in fury. Only the likes he had seen in seniors who lost whole projects to corrupted files on their computers.

[bonefall]

if rainflower was given a dishonor title, what would it be?

also is mapleshade still killed by crookedstar in the BOTTE?

Definitely something related to animals they disrespect. I don't see him going as far as to hit her with "Cuckoo" but he'd want to center her cruelty and lack of compassion. "Lamprey" makes a fine choice, and there's also a disrespectful word in Clanmew for egg-laying animals that don't care for their young.

But, he would certainly not do it because Rainflower is popular. Hailstar is a smart cat, in spite of how long he spent denying the problem and justifying it (sometimes intellect just makes you better at making excuses). He knows full well that something like that could backfire politically.

There's a portion of the Clan who thinks he was wrong to punish her at all, and more who are in that nebulous state of not being totally sure if his response was justified or not. He took her child and stripped her of all status. If he went further than that, it would look like retribution... which it would be, and in another, more furious Clan, would have appeased the angry mob.

But this Clan isn't furious. The reception is mixed. Hailstar's goal isn't to make a big point, it's to protect Stormkit the way he should have done a long time ago.

The best plan of action is the action that makes this transition go smoothly. Rainflower does not need to wear a name like Lampreypool right now, to draw attention to her, to have the whole Clan be looking at her while she plays the poor, besieged victim of a cruel and unusual leader. She needs to be kept out of power, and away from Shellheart's son as the poor child recovers.

(Also Mapleshade didn't die in the Battle of the True Eclipse! Not in BB and not in canon's The Great Battle either, lmao. She's still around, chilling in the Dark Forest, haunting Applekin.)

[bonefall]

I love the new retool of Stormpaw's Demon because it so neatly slots into what happens later on. Of COURSE Hailstar made Crookedjaw deputy. Even ignoring the fact of Crookedjaw being a great warrior, he's got the ghosts of Volestar and Darkstar by extension breathing down his neck. Of COURSE Mapleshade gets Silverstream later on. After the way Rainflower treated him, Crookedjaw would want to break the cycle of abuse any way he could. Going through his daughter is the best way to punish him. I could sit down and think about it for a few minutes and come up with ways that the consequences of all this echo through Riverclan to this very day. (They still seem to not be super great at believing young cats standing up to abuse, if the whole Frostpaw debacle is any indication)

ASC is ALMOST done we're ALMOST there, the idiot plot's life ENDS on November 5th. I'm holding a VERY large mallet and waiting patiently

I've always seen RiverClan as the Clan that does the most gossip. ThunderClan might be famous for their group-wide arguments, but that's just because the people aren't aware of the absolute psychological warfare that's going on in every RiverClan meeting. Mousefur's Bigotry Ballyhoo has absolutely NOTHING on the Long Island Housewives Tier bullshit that can kill a grandma on the stump where she stands.

So when it comes to how I handle RiverClan's political drama, I approach it with a vibe that their culture is very "cliquey." I won't be completely removing the way that a lot of RiverClan took Splashstar's side, but I will be dividing the social groups into actual alliances. Not EVERYONE in RiverClan turned on Frostpaw.

Just like how here, in Stormpaw's Demon, not all of the Clan felt any one way.

There's cats who are more inclined to take Rainflower's side. There's a growing clique of cats who made a stand with Shellheart. Because Rainflower was the deputy, which comes with a lot of social capital, many warriors don't quite know how to feel because they don't want to update their mental image of a cat they greatly respected.

You might say that compared to ThunderClan, RiverClan is more individualist. When the tide turns on an idea in ThunderClan, cats are a lot more likely to "get on board" with popular opinion without examining it. Especially if they're shocked by something (like Tigerclaw's reveal), they can shift pretty quickly if they're rallied by a cat with enough passion, like Firestar and Goldenflower managed to do. That's not the case in RiverClan, if they're surprised by something, they'll gather into their clique and talk about it.

BB!Splashstar, for as much as an edgelord as he is, has an idea of how this works. He's no master manipulator, just clever.

Anyway. Glad to see it's noticed that everything's connected in BB. I ALWAYS try to make sure that history and culture trickles down to the current events!

[bonefall]

Are there any cats with smoke/shaded fur (that is, fur thats only pigmented at the top and not the base) in bb? I always thought it was an interesting look and dont really see it used as often in designs

If I can draw it LMAO, it's surprisingly difficult to capture in a design when you're like, not a super fantastic coloring god like what others in the fandom can cook up. I'm better with blocky, almost toylike designs rather than cool shading tricks.

I will be making an effort when Echomist is relevant though, she's a character who canonically has whispy shaded fur. I think about her a lot more than such a small character really warrants, but that's the power of a cool design for you. She's a late Crusade/early-to-mid Campaign Era warrior, the mate of Hailstar.

EchoMIst (Emi) is a huge sweetie, I imagine she's considered absolutely gorgeous because of how striking her fur is. Her mateship with Hailstar is as strong and as unbreakable as the thick ice of deepest winter.

I imagine he goes to her a lot for advice, she's calm and merciful in a way that he is absolutely not. Maybe I'll give her a better role in Stormpaw's Demon-- maybe have her be the reason why Hailstar finally does something about Rainflower, who is his deputy in BB.

Also just a recap because it's been a while since I talked about this; Shellheart's not the biodad of Oakpaw and Stormpaw in this AU. He's their adopted dad. I'm going to be doing some stuff VERY differently from canon between Crookedstar's Promise and its BB equivalent, Stormpaw's Demon.

(I just had a thought to actually make her name in Clanmew especially interesting; instead of Echo as in "the echo of a cave," her name is echo as in "the echo of cracking ice." Cats have a much better sense of hearing, so they can hear those strange, otherworldly noises that thick ice makes when it cracks easier than humans can.

Living next to the water and having the river be such a big part of their lives, it would be SUPER fun if they had a dedicated onomatopoeia for it. Maybe even a few for some fun river words. Hmm... I'll put that in the notebook for the next Clanmew Day.)

[bonefall]

Hey! Are you ok with people tagging you in fanart they do/making fanart of your rewrite? Your Crookedstar rewrite has me in SHAMBLES and I need to make fanart for it like. Right now

I'm more than ok with it! I try to collect it as I get it over here on this post, which is also linked on my pinned. You should also check out the TVTropes page that @halogenwarrior maintains, I look at it myself time to time because she updates it pretty frequently and I like learning about tropes that way lmao

You can also feel free to ping me as you please on whatever thing you're making that I inspired! That thing on my pinned post asking people to not ping me on OTHER people's posts refers to people going to the personal works of others and making comparisons, asking me questions about my au in other people's replies, etc. Stuff that wasn't considerate to the OP.

All of BB's concepts are free to use and change as you'd like! Credit's not necessary, but I do like seeing what people are up to.

I only ask that you do not steal drawn art to pass off as your own, as I have collaborators you need to be respectful of, and would also personally like to consider doing commissions or adopts at some point. I don't want any mishaps about people thinking those would be free to use.

ALSO BONUS APPLEKIN MARKING SYMBOLISM:

I stopped writing the draft where I did because I had written a lot and had wanted to share at that point, but with the new update on BB!Oakheart being BB!Crookedstar's adopted brother I've already accounted for the apple-leaf-shaped markings that are on his eyes.

("Applekin" cats come with these very subtle eye markings that aren't particularly noticed in-universe, as an artsy visual sign of them all being part of a family. They're going to show up on everyone from BB!Appledusk all the way down to BB!Frostpaw.

You can see them okish on this chibi I did of Silverstream, but unfortunately last time I drew Oakheart he was dadly weaning sunglasses so they're not visible. Here is a picture of the crabapple leaf it's supposed to look like)

They begin to develop the moment that Crookedstar betrays Mapleshade. Slowly, subtly, over the course of moons. So slowly that no one seems to notice it except Crookedstar.

At first, he thinks he's just crazy. Worrying too much, seeing things that aren't there. But his brother's previously creamy eyerims start to sharpen. At the back corner, a streak lines the lashes back. The smooth edges of the color spike, as if needle-sharp trout teeth are carefully being planted, one prickle, one week at a time.

No one else seems to notice it but him. But he gets the message. Mapleshade "gave" him this family-- and she wants him to know she's going to take it away, too.

So please, feel free to do with that as you will~

[bonefall]

Rainflower being deputy first and then losing it to Shellheart sounds fascinating. Like, she thinks she’s untouchable and hot shit because she’s next in line to be leader, maybe she abuses her power sometimes (we support women’s wrongs), or she’s incredibly popular and her mistreatment of Stormkit is a complete shock to those around her. Plus Mapleshade over in the corner cackling like “damn I didn’t even do that one that’s all you”

Thinking about it... this does seem like the best choice, actually. It explains a lot, and immediately recontextualizes the story in the exact way I want.

Now instead of it being a generally powerless woman grabbing at status by mistreating her son and having it backfire, she has it already. Her actions can make waves in RiverClan. Hailstar is reluctant to do anything because Rainflower helps RUN the Clan. Shellheart is going to be going AGAINST power to help these two kids.

And no wonder Stormpaw wants to get away from RiverClan, if his shitty mother is the deputy, or even WAS the deputy but got demoted and people are torn about it.

Plus, with Rainflower as deputy, Mapleshade is BOILING with anger. She doesn't want Applekin leading RiverClan, she wants to ruin this bloodline. She'll do anything to tear them all down, even after Oak and Storm are taken from the Applekin family in the eyes of StarClan; it's certainly not the case in her eyes.

Let's DO it, deputy swap time, Rainflower was the deputy of RiverClan when her kits were born. We'll figure out the details as it goes, but this feels much stronger.

[bonefall]

regarding shellheart and rainflower, maybe rain asked shell to be an honor sire (would fit with her personality of everything wanting to be perfect bc what better honor sire than the clan deputy?), and when stormkit’s accident happened shell could have stepped up from there?

It fits Rainflower, it works out genetically, but there's one reason why I'm not sold on it;

I think it's a stronger story if Shellheart isn't biologically related at all. Just a really good guy who stepped up for these two kids who need a parent. Adopts the kiddos just out of pure goodness.

In Clan Culture of course, honor sires (without discussed co-parenting) are NOT parents and don't have claims to the kits any more than a gene donor does. So it would be functionality the same if he was just Some Guy. But still, from a meta context, I would love to be able to include more adoption messaging to spite canon.

[bonefall]

i personally was always confused as to how shellheart and rainflower, two very gray cats, had two brown kittens?? like i understand warriors doesnt really try with genetics but. Huh?

i tried to use your riverclan tree as a reference when seeing which cat could have honor sired and. Not caused later issues when it came to future kits/relationships and the only one I see who could possibly be viable is probably... timberfur? it would explain the sudden brown kittens, unless youve changed colors around?

i would suggest rainflower mightve used queens rights and had an honor sire (i guess) from outside the clan (passing loner or a barn cat or something) but rainflower's character comes across to me as someone who'd never do that.

You guys know that Honor Siring doesn't just have to be a rogue or loner, right? She could have gotten a leader. Like Raggedstar.

That's a fine solution to her seeming like a sort of person who wanted her kits to come from greatness. She wouldn't be able to openly brag that her kids belong to the deputy, but that seems less important than her just having very valuable kits.

But also PLEASE understand that 75% of the time, I don't pick an "actual" father in honor siring cases. It's only when it's plot relevant to a character's motivations, like now.

Anyway, I could also do deputy shuffles.

Rainflower could be the new deputy instead, and get a fiery demotion when she starts mistreating her son

I could make Timberfur the deputy instead, and have Crookedstar choose someone else as his first deputy (or just make Oakheart his first)

Stormpaw is also going to get a new mentor-- a cat called Magpiesky. She's over on the family tree, a cat who comes from the barn repurposed into a RiverClan warrior. She also brings Storm there when he's threatened by early Eldership because of his inability to hunt at first.

[bonefall]

It would be funny if people channeled aither Appledusk or Frecklewish for protection against Mapleshade SPECIFICALLY. They protect cats that are haunted by her for no other reason then petty spite.

I lean towards Frecklewish on a more general level because she is spiteful in the dark forest

With Apple I got the idea that it is a sort of unspoken dark secret in river clan since that's where his bloodline is. It just exists as an old ghost story that is told "If you are ever haunted by a ghostly Calico Cat, go to the old apple tree and say a damned man's name three times." And everyone just thinks it as a weird folk story.

Anyways, main point is that ghost curse horror movie Mapleshade is a really good idea

Frecklewish would RELISH the chance the beat the snot out of Mapleshade. Mostly the thing that would stand in the way is that Frecklewish shares no relation to the Applekin and even has a bit of a grudge of her own, but she is totally the sort of person who would put that aside for the chance to beat Maple's face in.

Appledusk could probably be channeled easily, just find a crabapple tree and strip its bark at sunset, but BB!Apple is kind of a pushover. He has a lot of regrets about his life, and hopes for atonement so that he may one day join StarClan. He may have mixed feelings on granting requests.

I'd say that he's good for undoing Maple's curses, but not going to town with her.

Frecklewish is DEFINITELY hard to get ahold of for some reason. You probably need something that adders produce... but if you call for her, she's there immediately.

Not to mention, though, the StarClan cats who are open for invocation. Maybe I should give Stormpaw's Demon a bit of a theme of "information loss" between generations as a result of neglect... Duskwater taught Rainflower how to cope with her curse, but Rainflower did not pass on the information to her own children, and they have to "re-discover" the wisdom that she should have given them.

Will make for a pretty awesome moment when one of them is able to get the attention of Petalstar.

[bonefall]

Are there any Rainflower/Crookedstar family traits they have. Always been fond of them having a storm family things based off the hc that Rain and Hail were siblings passing it on to Stormkit, and then stripping it away from him. I know this doesn’t follow the same canon idea of his name being a bad thing but I am curious about the idea

Appledusk's lineage is cursed with very subtle apple-leaf eyeliner. You can see it in the drawings I did for Mistystar and Feathertail. Since this AU actually has RAINFLOWER as the Apple-descendant, she had the mark instead of Shellheart.

Appledusk and Reedshine had two kits-- Applefrost and Duskwater, both named after their dad. Duskwater had Rainflower and lost her mate and a few kits to Mapleshade’s meddling. Rainflower lost her mother in the same storm her twins were born in.

And yeah, Crookedjaw is an honor title for him finding out how to be a fierce warrior with his injury. He even fought a fox to help the Barn Cats! BB!RiverClan would NEVER allow an abusive renaming on a child, let alone one mocking such an injury.

Such things are to be celebrated, a mark of survival, not shame. Hailstar would have shredded Rainflower for even suggesting that he sully his Clan like that.

[bonefall]

In your rewrite, does anything change about Rainflower’s treatment of Stormkit? I know you’re changing how he got his name, but is she still abusive towards him? And do cats actually care that she’s abusive towards him this time?

Unfortunately yes, Rainflower still turns away from him.

This time, Rainflower is actually the Appledusk descendant, and Mapleshade is doing everything in her power to make the lives of these two cats worse. The redux title of Crookedstar's Promise is Stormpaw's Demon; much more emphasis on the evil spirit that haunts his bloodline.

At first, Mapleshade just wanted to hurt Stormkit by pushing him off that rock, but then she sensed an opportunity. Rainflower was upset and uncomfortable that Stormkit was suffering from such a horrible injury and tried to prevent him from eating, so he would die. Mapleshade realized Stormkit would be an EXCELLENT pawn, and killed 3 of Fallowtail's kittens so there would be enough milk.

(Graypool is now an older sister to Willowbreeze. Willow is the only survivor of that second litter, which was what prompted Reedfeather to try and kidnap his children)

Rainflower's rejection would never have worked, for the record. RiverClan was going to step in either way; the previous leader, Volestar, was the successor of Darkstar of the Queen's Rights herself. They pride themselves, at this point, of being the kitten-protecting Clan.

Darkstar chose Volestar who chose Hailstar, exactly because this chain of leaders feels so strongly about the death of Mapleshade's kittens.

So put simply they're ALREADY ANGRY at Rainflower for how she's treating Stormkit.

But, there's nothing they can actually do besides socially shun her, which doesn't help, and was actually Mapleshade's goal. In Stormpaw's Demon, Mapleshade wins. I've never really liked how the original book tried to frame it like Crookedstar actually overcame Mapleshade in the end by... doing everything she told him to.

This redux is not a hero's story. It's a tragedy. It's about pain and living with it, the joy even in lives that are hard.

I've written a bit about Stormpaw's Demon in the past if you'd like to go down the rabbit hole!

[bonefall]

Do you have any changes planned for Crookedstar?

I know you're changing most of the injury-names into honor titles, and I wasn't sure what that meant for him.

Just a few!

The most noteworthy being that Storm's renaming is an honor title to begin with, Rainflower neglects him but there is no such thing anymore as a "cruelty" renaming based on a cat's physical appearance.

Surviving the injury was deeply respected by RiverClan, such a scar is a point of pride and a sign that StarClan is shining on you. Even Brightheart's "Dishonor Title" is being changed to 'Swifthound', to remind her that her actions got her friend killed brutally. It has nothing to do with her face.

There's also no way in Hell that Clan authority would EVER allow an abusive parent to force a name of evil intent on a child. If Rainflower even suggested the idea, Hailstar would have raked her ears and accused her of disrespecting StarClan itself.

"How DARE you try to make a future warrior's name an insult before our ancestors?? If I see you anywhere near the nursery again, corrupting our future warriors with your poison, I'll send you down the River myself!"

And ESPECIALLY because this is RiverClan, and Hailstar is Volestar's successor, who was herself the successor of Darkstar. This is the Clan of Darkstar's Commandment, the Queen's Rights, protecting kits from flawed mortal judgement. You might just get a dirty look and a firm no in another, but RiverClan?

She'd be lucky just to have her kits taken. The whole Clan would be FURIOUS.

So!

Stormkit becomes Stormpaw, and leaves RiverClan to avoid the Elder's Den. They do love and respect him for surviving, but unfortunately, he does face some patronizing abelism as he's failing his training, unable to hunt for himself. Going to the barn is like self-imposed training.

While he's there, he meets the barn cats just like in canon. They teach him how to do a modified killing bite, and he develops his own fighting style. This culminates in him killing an old fox, as a favor.

There's also a Perchpaw cameo! He's an extremely old cat who lives in the barn, and his name is Perchshine.

You can check out my initial thoughts for this redux here!

Tentatively, I'm calling it Stormpaw's Demon

[bonefall]

will leafstar and billystorm be reconciled by the time they reach the lake? or will they be exes for the rest of time

I wrote an entire thing and the tab crashed OTL

Basic answer: Yes. They will be.

Longer answer summarized:

Billystorm chooses to bring his kittens to his human, believing this is where they will be safest. In spite of his good intentions, his children are in grave danger and he has a lot of shame related to this decision.

(Harry/Cinders also somehow encouraged Billy to think this would end well-- still a WIP)

The human does not want these random kittens. One of two things happens here, but I'm still deciding if I want it to be the Darker Choice, or the Lighter Choice.

Lighter Choice: He brings them to a shelter immediately, separating them from their father. Darker Choice: Rock, sock, river.

(If it is the darker choice, the kits have a phobia of tight spaces and water for the rest of their lives.)

Leafstar and SkyClan rescue the kittens in either case. Billystorm is not exiled, but he has a lot of shame about this and does not go back to his human. It's something that alters Leafstar's ability to trust him and he understands this, but wants to prove he isn't his worst mistake.

He gets a redemption moment later; attacking Harry when he steals the kittens to sacrifice to Sol. He saves Firefern and Harrybrook, but isn't able to recover Stormkit. Harry becomes the vessel of Sol.

It's this action that allows Leafstar to forgive him. They have a shared grief and love each other endlessly; they have two kits they want to raise together and assure they're finally safe.

SkyClan and the Stranger reduxed/Sol's Game is a pretty dark book. A cat involves an entire Clan in a cruel game for the amusement of a chaos god. But I want its ending to feel like they're finally rid of a horrible nightmare, and have to begin the road to recovery.

[bonefall]

tbh it makes no sense that mapleshade would ally with tigerstar considering the way he canonically wanted to murder stormpaw and featherpaw for being halfclan kits…you’d think she’d want to beat his ass for pulling that shit

Honestly I feel like Mapleshade's motivations as they follow through the books always feel wonky. She doesn't feel like a character with a consistent narrative, her personality and actions seem to wobble all over the place.

Unfortunately the most consistent trait about her, across multiple books, is that she is a Girl Villain. She makes a lot of comments about her looks, motherly pain, and romance. Her strengths are also not established, she's an active general-type in OotS, a bloodline curse in Crookedstar's Promise, a satan-like bad influence in Tigerclaw's Fury, and a minion desiring a young molly's pretty body in TBC.

I like the Mapleshade's Vengeance story and characterization of her above all the others, but I do feel like it's not super consistent with ANY of her alliances going forward in the timeline.

Her pain is that she lost her children, so it feels kind of odd she's tormenting Crookedkit. I can accept it as part of her grudge against Appledusk, though.

After all, the idea she's a vengeful spirit haunting his bloodline is super fun as a gimmick. Like she's blinded to the morality of it all at this point, dogged in her goals.

But still, it seems downright unfitting she'd be whispering into Tigerclaw's ear as a demon if that's the case. You'd think she would only start to get close when she realizes Tiger can be used to torment an Applekin (which storm and feather are through their mother's side) directly, not playing the long game.

Plus, mixed blood was the reason her kittens died. With the backstory they gave her, you'd think it would set her off more. Even if they are Applekin.

But a lot of the time they don't seem to know what to do with her. Like when she attacked Sandstorm, of all people, for having a husband. Felt absolutely random.