#and also the thunderpaths outside of the territories

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

what if

we pushed the ancients moving to the mountains by like a year

fallen leaves still died in the tunnels, but everyone saw that as a fluke/bad luck/"it's sad, but it happens" (and also he should've waited until after the rain but he was too impatient, it could've happened to anyone that wasn't paying attention to the weather or was too impatient to wait)

Jay's Wing has been getting bad feelings about the tunnels, and the territory in general ever since just before Fallen Leaves died because twolegs had been building a couple of nests in the territory. He keeps getting these strange feelings that the cats need to move and so has been trying to get the ancients to form an actual comprehensive group for moons and leave the territory, but no one really listens and brushes him off, except for his friend Half Moon who tries to help if she can, but also tries to chill Jay's Wing out so he doesn't seem entirely crazy to every other cat.

Lion's Roar, who even though he was barely an adult was considered one of the strongest cats of the group, barely survives his sharpclaw assessment in the tunnels because even though the weather was clear and it hadn't rained at all in a couple of days, the tunnels suddenly flooded.

Jay's Wing and Half Moon do some snooping and they find out twolegs have been taking water from the lake, using it for something that neither of the cats could comprehend, but it had something to do with giant monsters that had shown up in the forest, and then later twolegs dumped water, which leaked into the tunnels and caused the sudden flooding.

There had been more monsters than ever before on the thunderpath and now they weren't just on the thunderpath, they were in the forest! And a bunch of twolegs with them, even setting up camps and marking a chunk of territory out with weird sticks, rocks, and vines.

On the far side of the territory, where the forest thinned into moorland, there were even more twolegs and monsters and more thunderpaths were being made. The twolegs had also been cutting down the trees that dotted the area, marking an even larger chunk of territory with their borders, and building a few more nests.

When Jay's Wing and Half Moon told the cats this, Furled Bracken brushes them off saying that there's plenty of territory and they can simply stay closer to the lake and avoid those areas. This infuriates Lion's Roar, saying that the twolegs dumping their water nearly got him killed. Not to mention his brother and sister had been killed before they could even become sharpclaws because of the monsters in the forest, and his other brother had been captured by the twolegs. Dove's Wing brings up how her and Jay's Wing's mother had been killed by a monster moons before, when monsters were just starting to become more common, and now things had become even worse.

Lion's Roar allies himself with Jay's Wing and Half Moon and he quickly becomes closer with them. A few days later the three cats go to where there were giant monsters in the forest, bringing Furled Bracken and Stone Song to show them the severity of what was happening. They find that the situation had become even worse, and that the twolegs and monsters had torn up the terrain and were now using monsters with massive jaws and teeth to dig into the rock and earth itself.

The cats are appalled by the destruction, but Furled Bracken insists that even though the noise and disruption had driven all of the possible prey, they simply must avoid the area. Stone Song asks what would happen if the twolegs and monsters never stopped and just continued doing this to every part of the territory. Furled Bracken replies that there was no proof that that would happen.

Lion's Roar is infuriated at the leader's passiveness and decides to take matters into his own paws. If the twolegs were taking over and the monsters were going to eat at their territory, but the group wouldn't leave to find a new home, then that meant that they would need to fight for their territory! Lion's Roar was the biggest cat in the group and one of the best fighters, he would protect his kin, his friends, and his home!

The other cats try to stop Lion's Roar, but the young sharpclaw pushes past them, letting out a fierce yowl as he charges into the clearing. Twolegs turn their heads toward the cat as he faces one of the monsters with giant teeth, its neck stretching up to take a bite out of the rocks above it. The twolegs start shouting as Lion's Roar pounces at the monster's paw and bites it, but reeling back at the acrid taste, as well as from the pain of trying to bite and grip onto the strange, hard material.

The twolegs start running towards the cat, but Lion's Roar has no time to figure out his next move, because as soon as he leaps off of the monster's paw, a shower of dirt and rocks comes crumbling down on him. The cats, and the twolegs, can do nothing but watch in horror.

When the cats return to the rest of the group, shaken and grieving, they tell the rest of the cats what happened, how Lion's Roar tried to fight to reclaim their territory from the monsters and twolegs. That night is when the group of grieving cats cast their stones, voting to leave the lake.

[tidalclan]

TidalClan Territories

Map of TidalClan's territory and the neighbouring Clans!

More details about the different Clans and landmarks can be found below the cut

*Friendly Note: Any Clans that share names with existing ClanGen comics/runs are completely coincidental.

TidalClan

TidalClan’s Camp is made up against the furthest cliff point along the coastline. Surrounded by a rugged ring of stones, the cliff face holds two small caves, one being the Medicine Den and the other being the Elder’s Den, providing a dry spot away from the wind. The Nursery is nestled outside the Medicine Den, protected by tall stones and bound reeds. The Warriors and Apprentices’ Dens are on either side of the entrance, made of moss and seaweed. The Leader’s Den is a hollowed out tree jutting out of a cluster of stones. It’s also used by the leader to call for meetings. At the center of camp is a shallow tidepool, allowing kits to play and get used to water early.

Most of the territory consists of sandy beaches and shallow ocean waters. The cats that live along the coast often take whatever the ocean offers, be it seaweed for bedding or medical uses, fish for prey, or shells and the like for decoration. Along the west side of the territory is the river run-off, where the river flows to the sea. Beyond it is a small camp used by Twolegs during Greenleaf and early Leaf-Fall. Groups of visiting Twolegs come in monsters off the Thunderpath, build great fires and remain on the beach until midnight before returning. Beyond the sand is grassland below the Thunderpath and the cliffs overlooking the sea. The cliffs are patrolled with caution due to its steep fall.

See This Link to see the layout of TidalClan camp (Not Available Yet)

CycloneClan

CycloneClan’s Camp is made up on the side of a small hill, bordered by thick bushes and thickets. Most of the dens consist of dug-out burrows. The Leader’s den is a dug-out hollow directly underneath the Low Stone, a flat stone where the leader makes their meetings.

CycloneClan’s territory consists of a flat valley with long grasses. CycloneClan cats have adapted to using the long grass to hide themselves during hunts or battles. East of camp is a well-known flower patch that blooms each year called The Sun Patch. It provides the medicine cat with some flowery herbs and decorations for CycloneClan cats. Additionally, CycloneClan cats know flowers attract bees, and the bravest of them follow the pollinators back to their hive to collect honeycomb for kits. Their territory stretches beyond the Thunderpath to the top of the cliffs overlooking the coast, but the territory is rarely used due to the obvious dangers. To the west is the river, where interactions with RumbleClan are common.

RumbleClan

RumbleClan Camp is made out of an eroded sinkhole. Gaps in the hard earth and thick bushes allow for dens for the nursing queens, apprentices and warriors. A ring of thickets and pine trees make it difficult to attack the camp from above the sinkhole, making it one of the most protected out of the other Clan camps.

RumbleClan territory consists of shorter grasslands, forests, and rocky terrain. The range of different areas makes for various hunting skills, with some warriors preferring the open terrain while others hunt in the undergrowth. To the northeast of camp lies the Rabbit Hills. Apprentices are taken there to learn how to hunt rabbits in the abandoned burrows, and taught how to tell if a predator has moved in. The Sun Stones are a cluster of stones near the river in the east. They make for a relaxing spot during the warmer seasons, and a good place to find small prey. Like CycloneClan, they also have a patch of territory past the Thunderpath to the south, but it is patrolled with caution.

Miscellaneous

The Gathering Tree: A tall, gnarled oak tree that stands close to the river, surrounded by stones. The Clan cats have used this place as a gathering site for generations, discussing clan news under the truce of a Full Moon.

Star’s Rest: Star's Rest is a small meteor crashsite. The meteor is still there, nestled in the earth. Cats who come to Star’s Rest press their nose against the warped stone before falling asleep close to it, where they then meet with their StarClan ancestors. The Elders share many different tales as to what the meteor is and how it got there, ranging from the meteor being a piece of the moon carved by StarClan themselves, to an exiled StarClan spirit imprisoned in stone

The Thunderpath: A long stretch of road that cuts through RumbleClan and CycloneClan’s southern territories. Monsters don’t pass by often, so cats don’t completely avoid it. However, it is no less dangerous and has taken more than one life in the past.

The Burn: The former territory belonged to BlazeClan. In its prime, it was a lush, green forest filled with undergrowth and strong trees. Perfect for BlazeClan cats, who were adept climbers and stalkers. However, a fire had mysteriously started in the forest, and spread quickly. BlazeClan was swallowed up in the flames, and all that remained were ashes. While the forest is starting to regrow in time, the damage is severe, and there will be less tree cover than there used to be. CycloneClan has been eyeing the territory as of late…

[forestclan-clangen]

Some ForestClan fun facts:

- Talonpaw and Morningpaw both have outsider roots; they were found on the territory by the Clan when the snow started to melt.

- Redstar was a part of a two-kit litter, but her sibling was taken by the woods at birth.

- Windfur was a single kit brought to camp by Lucifer, then Ferncreek. Ferncreek refused to speak of his origins, but did say he was his father.

- ForestClan isn’t friendly to outsiders, but not for their origins. ForestClan are hostile to outsiders for the same reason nuclear waste facility staff would be hostile to tresspassers intending to vlog. They percieve outsiders wandering by themselves to have a deathwish. Either they leave ForestClan territory and never come back for their OWN personal safety, or they can join ForestClan if they want to feel like they’re upholding the culture and ways of Clans long forgotten. But they know it isn’t an easy life - they wouldn’t blame an entrant for changing their mind after the first feed, and are typically treated as “temporary members” until they’ve proven they can steel their nerves.

- ForestClan’s official borders are more rigidly set around the Thunderpath. When it comes to further out in the woods and closer to the lake, those are less rigid, and adventurous cats like Cloudthunder tend to explore further out. The only reason they’re more loosely set is because stray cats tend to come from the Twoleg camp anyway, and patrols out in the uncharted woods are less border patrols, more hazard checks for new Woodcrawler nests or Nature’s Mockery.

- ForestClan have their own trail info markers based using claw marks. They also pay attention to the occasional colored circle markers Twolegs nail onto trees - usually, if there’s a Twoleg marker, that means the area is unlikely to have any Deep Root entities nearby.

- ForestClan, unlike the Clans in Warriors canon, DO realize that Twolegs do things for a reason. If they don’t understand it, it’s simply because they haven’t figured out the purpose yet. They understand that Twolegs cut down trees to build their nests nearby, for example, and may tear up entire areas in order to make room for more nests. Talking to Twoleg-friendly cats and the occasional kittypets traveling with their housefolk tend to widen their missing knowledge gaps.

- ForestClan steals a LOT of Twoleg equipment if they can manage it discreetly - it’s not unheard of for them to steal match boxes or lost arrows. Hopechase is quite popular for snagging lost tennis balls and badminton birdies for kits to play with!

[wtclangen]

Newtclan territory map! This is just for the early years (moons 0-50), but past that it's essentially just more hunting ground so this is the only map I forsee myself doing outside of the entire clan territory map! KEYS BELOW THE CUT

Location Key:

Camp, burial place, and dirtplace- this is self explanatory, but this is where the heart of newtclan resides!

Vulture's spine- this is a large, dead tree where a committee of turkey vultures nest! The cats try to avoid this place because they fear the large birds, but some of either the most brave or most reckless go there to either hunt or collect feathers.

Young-hoof season- this is the time when new deer and elk are just born! Large hunting parties take this opportunity to hunt newly born fawns.

Thunderkill stretch- a small stretch of land where the cats go to collect any roadkill! (Out of their knowledge, there's a rabbit Warren pretty close to the path. The Warren's scent is covered by the exhaust of the thunderpath. This is also why the roadkill is so plentiful here). They usually only go here during lazy days or hard winters.

Sunning flats- a relatively decent sized area of flat rocks on the shore of the Minnow Still, one of the most popular sunbathing spots.

The Minnow Still- the lake separating Newtclan and Milkclan territory. Some cats fish out there, but it's not the most popular choice.

Mediator's/fisher's path- the path that leads to the Minnow Still, and branches off into Milkclan territory (going to milkclan camp)

Spikedrop fields- the places the cats go to to celebrate the holiday Spikedrop. Spikedrop is essentially a day long scavenger hunt where the cats go to these fields to try and bring back shed antlers.

Spikeless season- when the deer and elk around don't have their antlers/are shedding!

Lichen maw- a cave that healers go to to collect moss, cobwebs, and other kinds of herbs that grow around it! There's also a small spring of water down there.

Finally, the Apple orchard- this is where half of the founders were living before Brackenstar asked them to join her! It's also a place hunting parties regularly return to, since the owners of the orchard know that the cats keep mice and other pests out of their farm. Healers also occasionally go there, sneakily snagging herbs from either around the orchard or the twoleg's garden. (Note, Apple leaves are poisonous to them due to the cyanide. This may or may not be used for lore far in the future)

Note- all the solid lines are commonly used paths!

Key for the second map:

The lightest green is the highest elevation the terrain gets. The darker the green the lower you go.

Overall terrain- newtclan lives in a hilly oak forest! Their territory (and most of the WTC territories) sits in a big valley.

Note- I envision that WTC takes place in a different world as a whole, but if I had to say, the climate very much looks like the northwestern US! (I model all of the cultural stuff like herbs and cooking spices off of specifically northern Idaho)

[winnyswings]

Stardew Valley x Warriors Crossover AU [part 1]

Yeah. Because, why not? Let's dive into it!

ᅠCinderclan (after Cindersap Forest) is an ancient cats' settlement in a rich forest, bordering the Rumbleclan (after Thunderpaths in Zuzu City) near the rock town of the twolegs, and several other clans. It is also surrounded by neutral territories of loners and vagabonds. ᅠUnfortunately, Cinderclan has been in decline for the last many moons. The camp is long overgrown, there are hardly any cats left, and no one is particularly interested in keeping the place alive. Cats come and go, leaving no legacy behind. ᅠThe last clan leader, Pelicanstar (Lewis), seems to have even begun to forget about praying to the Starclan. It seems to the cats that even the ancestors are no longer interested in watching the decline of the ancient place of many moons history. ᅠSometimes desperate loners come to the clan, and other days even the cats of the Rumbleclan, tired of twolegs' presence, escape into the wilderness to start life anew. Yes, it's harsh and cold here, but it's better than living in constant fear of being killed on the Thunderpath. Pelicanstar welcomes everyone, hoping that one day the clan will return to normal. ᅠBut hope comes out of nowhere. Young medicine cat apprentice, Skyeye (Maru), runs into her mentor, Herbwing (Harvey), one night with real terror in her eyes.

When they (farmers) come, the whole world will come after them. They will shatter the shadow with the light, shatter the light with the shadow, shatter all our lives and fates, and leave behind them a great legacy of an abyss of sorrow and joy. ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ — «Big scary white cat ᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠᅠ with stars in his eyes»

ᅠThe prophecy terrified the little apprentice, and even the adult cats were unable to interpret it. The only thing left to do was to keep silent in front of the rest of the clan and hope that the huge furry ancestor had come to them with good intentions.

Cinderclan

part 1. made on closed line by СОМЗА (VK)

ᅠAt the moment, Cindeclan consists mostly of outsiders and their families, but there are still some natives left. Let's look at some of them!

Today we talk about bachelors!!!

ᅠStrongpaw (Alex) — really strong, as named, young warrior, ready to defend his clan single-handedly. Fascinating both in appearance and in his skills, he trains day and night, inventing new techniques and methods. He had to come to Cinderclan after his parents' death abroad, and now he is even glad to have found his family again. ᅠᅠ— Strong: after Alex's strength and persistence; ᅠᅠ— Paw: his arms are kinda... You know. ᅠParents: unknown ᅠGrandmother: Primrose (Evelyn) ᅠGrandfather: Grumpy (George)

ᅠRaincry (Sebastian) — shy young warrior, son of fire and shadow, afraid of his own origins. He was just a kitten when his loner mother came with him to the clan to seek refuge. His father, an unknown vagabond, left Frogkit with only a name….. And as much as he loved frogs, he decided to give it up, to give up the past completely. ᅠᅠ— Frog: he was given this name by his father, as Frogkit was born in a swamp; ᅠᅠ— Rain: the mysterious sadness, the moisture of night and the merciless cold; ᅠᅠ— Cry: he surely loves Frozen tears. And after the pattern under his eyes. ᅠMother: Mapleheart (Robin) ᅠFather: unknown ᅠStep-father: Shroombloom (Demetrius) ᅠHalf-sister: Skyeye (Maru) ᅠMentor (as apprentice): Stoneheart (Clint)

ᅠSunstorm (Sam) — young mischievous warrior who really knows how to have fun. He is altruistic, willing to help, but also willing to destroy everything around him, rattle and seek risks in his life. More often than anyone else, he gets punished, and there was even talk of cancelling his initiation as a warrior… ᅠᅠ— Sun: for his bright golden fur and sunny personality; ᅠᅠ— Storm: RUSH AND BREAK AND ROCK AND SING. ᅠMother: Softpaw (Jodi) ᅠFather: Hawkeye (Kent) ᅠBrother: Lightkit (Vincent) ᅠᅠ— Later as Lightstorm after brother.

ᅠMentor (as apprentice): Hopberry (Shane)

ᅠHerbwing (Harvey) — the beloved medicine cat of Cinderclan, who once dreamed of becoming a warrior, but realised that Starclan had prepared a different fate for him. He is assertive, determined, and incredibly kind to the other clan cats. ᅠᅠ— Herb: medicine... and fresh green eyes; ᅠᅠ— Wing: he dreamed of planes but was afraid of heights.

ᅠHopberry (Shane) — skilled warrior that the clan doesn't even seem to know about. He doesn't show up at meetings, he's always missing, and he doesn't take part in the clan's life. Although someone spread rumors about his unique fighting skills… ᅠᅠ— Hop: i couldn't name a cat as beerkit or smth; ᅠᅠ— Berry: soft side. ᅠParents: unknown ᅠAunt: Wheatmuzzle (Marnie) ᅠGoddaugther: Rosekit (Jas)

ᅠWavemane(Elliott) — elegant warrior who likes to spend time away from camp. He is poetic and beautiful in his statements, sometimes even helping to interpret omens. He remembers the history of the clan and preserves it. ᅠᅠ— Wave: the beauty of the ocean; ᅠᅠ— Mane: the beauty of his hair.

That's all for Part 1! Comment who I should draw next and what to tell about! ^^

(12 years in warriors fandom into what)

also sorry for mistakes

[ravenclan-arc]

"A Raven's Calling" Chapter Eight: Weeping Willow

Chapter Eight: Weeping Willow (Eveningshadow) [Greenleaf, moon 15+17]

Caution! This chapter contains themes that may be unsettling to some readers, please read the disclaimer in the pinned post before proceeding!

Eveningshadow bounded through the junkyard with prey clamped in his jaws, avoiding puddles and dangerous twoleg objects that littered the camp. He hated it here. He was only here for one reason, then he could leave.

Greenleaf had arrived, and with it, good news. It had been a few days since Eveningshadow had left Ravenclan with the intentions of convincing his mate, Willow, to return with him. However, upon arriving at the junkyard, she announced that she would be having kits. He had been absolutely overjoyed and assured her that she would get the best care and their kits would be safe and happy in Ravenclan. Unfortunately, Willow still didn’t seem convinced about leaving the junkyard.

When he first met her, she had been on the edge of Ravenclan territory. He thought she was a loner living near the twoleg settlement across the thunderpath until one day she invited him to the junkyard. Eveningshadow would leave Ravenclan every once in a while to visit Willow at the junkyard, and every time he went he tried to convince her to join Ravenclan. However, Willow was persistent on staying, to the point where she seemed almost fearful. He couldn’t understand it, but in the end he decided to let her choose when she was ready. That is, until their kits' lives were brought into the mix.

Eveningshadow couldn’t sit idly by anymore. His mate and future kit’s health were at risk. The junkyard was a disgusting, disease-ridden place. There were rats, cats with infestations of fleas and ticks, sickness, hostile cats, and only Starclan knows what else. He would not let his kits grow up in a place like this, but he also couldn’t bring himself to force Willow into leaving. So, he just had to keep trying and hoping that she would leave sometime before the kit’s birth.

Eveningshadow sidestepped a cat who walked past, an awful stench hit his nose and he wrinkled it, trying not to gag. The cat wandered past him in a daze, their skinny frame wobbling as they walked. Eveningshadow stopped and thought about sharing his prey, but the cat was already wandering away. It hurt to see so many cats suffering.

The she-cat who ruled the junkyard was a cat called Nirvana, a slender black and white she-cat who had a powerful influence on the place. Cats respected her… or perhaps they feared her? He’d only met her a few times and preferred to keep his distance. He definitely didn’t agree with her leading skills, but with how many cats where living in the junkyard he also couldn’t blame her. Every day he ran into a new cat, some healthier than others. He wasn’t quite sure how the junkyard functioned. Perhaps there wasn’t a system at all, it wouldn’t surprise him.

As he continued making his way towards Willow’s den her voice rang out, “Eveningshadow! Over here, please!”

He turned and saw Willow sitting in the giant clearing of the junkyard. With her, was Nirvana. He cursed internally and began making his way over to them, dropping his prey at his paws and dipping his head politely, “Nirvana.”

“Eveningshadow, so sorry to pull you from your duties dear but I’m afraid we need to have an important chat,” Nirvana meowed smoothly, her whiskers twitching. “You see, Willow here has been keeping me updated on your relationship and well with you being an outsider I wanted to take some precautions to ensure you weren’t a danger to our group.”

Eveningshadow looked around the clearing, all the cats who had previously been visible had vanished leaving only Nirvana, Willow, and himself. “Okay… Have I done something wrong? I assure you I have no ill intent here and I’d actually like to head back to my home soon,” Eveningshadow explained carefully.

“Oh no, dear! You’ve done nothing wrong! Quite the opposite in fact,” Nirvana purred. “You see, ever since you’ve arrived I’ve been doing some digging on who you are. Call it intuition, but I couldn’t help but feel some sort of… connection,” Nirvana said excitedly. “I wanted to be absolutely certain before bringing it to your attention, but now it is without a doubt!”

Eveningshadow titled his head, “I’m sorry… I’m not sure I follow…”

“Eveningshadow,” she said standing up and stepping forward. “I am your mother,” she meowed with tears in her eyes.

Eveningshadow’s mind came to a complete stop. He blinked in confusion and took a step back, his mind spinning, “That– that’s not…”

What? She must be mistaken– or– what if she’s lying…?

“I truly thought it was impossible,” Nirvana began. “I had given up all hope when you and your sister were stolen away from me. I searched everywhere for you both, and to think, you’ve been so close by this while time!” Nirvana cried, stepping forward and brushing her cheek against his. “I thought those disgusting scoundrels who stole you away had killed you, or worse–!”

Eveningshadow pulled away, “What–?! No! Ravenclan– they–! They saved me and my siblings!” Nirvana stood there blinking at him, “Shadowstar– he told me we were saved from a group of rogues… that we…”

Could she be right? How does she know about Sycamorekit? Shadowstar never told any of us where we came from… just that Ravenclan saved us from rogues…

“Oh, my dear,” Nirvana meowed gently, moving toward him and wrapping her tail around him. “I’m so sorry, but– well, I’m afraid they lied to you.”

Eveningshadow swallowed hard. He felt like the ground was spinning around him and he sank to the ground, “It can’t–” his voice cracked. “It can’t be true! I– I have to–” his whole world was coming down around him.

Nirvana crouched down beside him and pulled him closer, lovingly brushing him with her tail, “I’m afraid it is,” she whispered. 

Nirvana raised her head and waved her tail at Willow, dismissing her. Willow seemed to hesitate but in the end she turned and walked away. Eveningshadow was staring at the ground in front of him, his claws dug into the dirt.

“My little evening star,” Nirvana meowed gently. “Please let me explain,”

Eveningshadow had no choice but to sit and listen as his mother recounted the event that occurred all those moons ago when he and his siblings were kits. Nirvana explained that a small group of cats had arrived at the junkyard looking for sanctuary. Their leader, Shadow, now Shadowstar, after staying for many moons, had decided he wanted to take over leadership in the junkyard. He tried to instigate a revolution and take over, but when none of the junkyard cats participated, the group agreed to leave in peace the next day. However, during the night, the group had slipped out to leave and as an act of rebellion broke into the nursery and stole four kits. Two of them, Eveningshadow and Sycamorekit, belonging to Nirvana herself.

It can’t– it can’t be true… I need to talk to Shadowstar and… and figure this out.

Nirvana explained that she sent scouts out to search for all of them, but in the end she was afraid that the group had gone too far away or had been killed by the clans. “If I had known you and your sister were living in clan territory this whole time,” Nirvana growled. “There would have been nothing to stop me from storming in and taking you both back by force! In fact, now that it has been confirmed, there is nothing stopping me from saving your sister!” Nirvana cried, and jumped to her paws. “We must make preparations! Come Eveningshadow, you will help us make a plan to take down Ravenclan and save your–”

Eveningshadow raised his head, “N–No! You can’t!” he pushed himself to his paws. “Nirvana– please! Let me go back! Let me talk to Shadowstar and–”

“And let them steal you away from me again?!” Nirvana screeched. “Never! They are lucky you are safe and sound, my justice will be swift and merciful if they cooperate. My demands are more than fair; returning my children unharmed along with the other two kits who were taken. That is more than they deserve for–!” she shouted, marching her way towards her den.

“Please!” Eveningshadow cried. “My sister–! Sycamorekit… she– she died to a snake when she was a kit and… and Mallowlarch and Falconflame… they’d– they’d never leave Ravenclan, it's our home.”

Nirvana had stopped and turned back to him, a look of growing fury spreading across her face, “Then there will be no mercy.”

Two moons had passed since Eveningshadow had left Ravenclan after discovering the truth, at least, according to Nirvana. He couldn’t bring himself to go back and face Ravenclan. He also feared that if he went back there would be nothing stopping Nirvana from attacking Ravenclan and killing them for taking her children. He had been able to talk her down for now, persuading her to make a plan before going through with anything. He told her the clans had numbers that far outweighed her own, which was probably true, but what wasn’t true was that those same clans were allies with Ravenclan. In reality, Ravenclan wouldn’t stand a chance if she decided to attack, they were severely outnumbered and the other clans were against them. No clan would come to aid Ravenclan, they’d probably welcome the clan’s downfall.

Not only was he stuck in the junkyard trying to control Nirvana’s anger, but Willow had begun to show signs of illness as she got closer to kitting, growing weaker as each day passed. Nirvana had assured him that she would be taken care of and that no harm would come to her and his kits, but Eveningshadow couldn’t help but doubt their healers' abilities. He often thought about sneaking out and taking Willow to Fidgetbark or perhaps even another clan medicine cat. Instead he opted for helping the healers in the junkyard.

Eveningshadow trotted through twoleg territory, hunting for any prey or herbs he could find. The early morning had not brought any luck to his hunting and he found himself staying away from the clan territories, mostly out of fear of running into a cat from Ravenclan. He was spiraling, unsure about what to do. The only thing keeping him from completely losing control was his love for Willow and their unborn kits. He couldn’t lose sight of that. Once Willow and the kits were well enough to travel, they’d leave.

But where will we go? I don’t know if I can return to Ravenclan knowing what I do now. Maybe… maybe for Willow and my kits’ sake I could… They’d be much safer there.

He wandered up the slope outside of the junkyard, reaching the silverpath. He stopped and listened carefully, looking up and down the long path that went past the junkyard before crossing. He hadn’t had much luck hunting and herbs were scarce in the twoleg settlement. He picked up his stashed mouse and continued.

On the other side of the slope, there was a ditch that separated the path from the junkyard. He slide down the rocky slope into the ditch and bounded up the other side, making it to the long silver fence that contained the junkyard. He walked along the edge of the fence until he found the opening he often used and slid through carefully, the silver fence rattling slightly.

Eveningshadow walked through the junkyard keeping his head down. He wanted to avoid drawing attention and get to his mate as quickly as possible to check on her. She hadn’t been out of the den for most of the moon. He hopped over some silver scraps and crawled through the small tunnel leading to the nursery den.

Once through it, the area opened up and Eveningshadow could see two cats sitting near Willow, one of them was Fogtangle, a queen who’d recently lost her kits, and one of the many healers in the junkyard. He walked up to them quickly and dropped the small mouse he had brought back. Fogtangle eyed it and dipped her head in greeting.

“How is she? Is she doing any better,” Eveningshadow asked out of breath. Willow raised her head at his voice and smiled weakly. He stepped forward and licked the top of her head as the healer moved away from her.

Fogtangle let out a growl, “Tell him what you told me.”

The healer shot Fogtangle an angry look before letting out a sigh and turning to Eveningshadow, “There’s nothing else we can do. We’ll just have to wait and see if she makes it through her kitting. It’ll be any day–”

“Wait and see?!” Eveningshadow cried, outraged at the healer’s suggestion. “Nirvana was confident in your ability to keep my mate and kits safe! What’ll happen to my kits?! Will they even be healthy?!”

“Eveningshadow, my dear, please…” Willow meowed weakly.

“No, he’s right,” Fogtangle croaked. “You healers are useless, Willow needs proper care and herbs. She NEEDS someone who’s competent at their task!” she snarled.

“Is there anything I can do?” Eveningshadow begged. “I’ll do anything to ensure their safety, please just tell me what she needs!”

The healer shook their head nervously, “There– there isn’t anything else!”

A rising growl came from Fogtangle who finally snapped. She jumped to her paws and stumbled forward, swiping at the older she-cat and letting out a yowl of anger. The healer let out a scared screech and ran for the tunnel, racing through it as Fogtangle chased her out hissing.

“Oh, Fogtangle… I wish you wouldn’t be so mean to them…” Willow meowed sadly. “They’re only trying to do their job.”

“Not well enough!” Fogtangle spat and stumbled her way back to her nest. “I’ve never seen them be useful…” she growled as she sank back into her nest.

Eveningshadow sat with Willow, gently brushing her with his tail until she fell asleep. He looked over at Fogtangle who was curled up in her nest, tail twitching with anger. Eveningshadow had met the queen when he helped Willow move into the nursery. He’d learned her sad story while caring for Willow. 

The sandy-colored she-cat was originally from the clans, she wouldn’t say which, fleeing from an abusive relationship with her unborn kits. Unfortunately, while trying to get away she was hit by a monster resulting in trauma to the side of her head and side. The junkyard cats offered her shelter and healing but the damage had already been done. Fogtangle’s kits were stillborn from the trauma. She had refused to leave the nursery in her depression, especially when Willow joined her and was struggling with a similar problem.

Once Willow had drifted off to sleep, he sat up and gave her a few licks on her head before making his way to the tunnel. He was determined to help his mate. By any means necessary.

I won’t let anything happen to them…

Fogtangle raised her head, “Where’re you off to now?” she meowed in a hushed voice.

“I have to do something,” Eveningshadow answered in a whisper, looking slightly over his shoulder at her. “I’m going to talk to Nirvana. Maybe–”

“Don’t trust her,” Fogtangle suddenly stated. “I fell for their promises too when I came here. It’s nothing but lies,” she hissed. “You be careful, Eveningshadow.”

Eveningshadow just nodded and continued out the tunnel. He liked Fogtangle, but he also knew she was full of rage because of what happened to her kits, she partially blamed the junkyard rogues for the death of her kits. However, Eveningshadow found himself questioning if perhaps there was some truth to her words and not just hatred. He’d felt it since the day he’d joined the junkyard rogues, his mother was hiding something.

He walked through the junkyard with urgency, heading for Nirvana’s den in the middle of the junkyard. When he reached the clearing he saw her making her way down the pile of twoleg scrap in the center.

“Nirvana!” Eveningshadow shouted. “I need to speak with you, it's urgent!” he explained, racing over to the pile.

“Hello my little evening star, what can I do for you?” Nirvana said smoothly, hopping down from the scrap.

“Willow’s condition is worsening!” he gasped. “I’m afraid if she doesn’t get the help she needs soon I’ll lose her and my kits! I need to–”

“Oh my, poor dear,” Nirvana meowed, giving him a concerned look. “Well, I’m so sorry to hear that, but I assure you our healers know what they’re doing and I–” she moved to step around him.

“Mother, please! Just listen to me,” Eveningshadow snapped, stepping back in front of her. “The healers have nothing else they can do! They’ve told me themselves and they want to just wait and see if she survives! I need to do something, I can’t just sit and wait to see what happens.”

Nirvana was standing in front of him, her expression unreadable, “First dear, it is extremely rude to interrupt your mother. However– Viper!” Nirvana suddenly called, making him jump slightly. 

A small black she-cat appeared beside Nirvana, she narrowed her eyes at Eveningshadow and turned to Nirvana, “Yes, mother?”

“Be a dear and fetch that tiny kitty, what’s his name? The little calico, the smart one who came here not too long ago. Bring him here for your brother,” Nirvana meowed, waving her paw. Viper seemed to hesitate before walking off in the other direction. Nirvana continued, “Fine, I will send someone to help Willow.”

“Thank you, we’ll leave as soon as possible,” Eveningshadow began to say, ignoring his mother’s distracted mind.

“Oh no, dear! You won’t be going!” Nirvana insisted, snapping out of her daze. “It’s far to dangerous to be wandering out there and I need you here so that we can begin planning on how to save your– siblings– from those vicious clancats!” Nirvana turned. “Oh good, Viper, you’ve found him,” She said snapping her attention towards the little calico tom beside her.

“What?!” Eveningshadow cried. “That’s who you’re sending?! He barely looks six moons old!” he gasped in shock. “Let me go instead! I’ll be much safer on my own, I just need to know what I’m looking for.”

“I’m afraid–” Nirvana paused and looked down at the little cat, “What’s your name again?”

“Newt,” the little tom squeaked.

“Newt here will be going out to help Willow. I unfortunately cannot spare to send anyone else. Plus,” Nirvana continued before Eveningshadow could argue. “Supposedly, he already knows what’s wrong with Willow and how to help her. Isn’t that right?” she asked, staring down at the small tom who was looking up at her nervously.

“Oh, umm, y–yes,” Newt stuttered nervously. “I believe I m–may know what’s wrong with Willow. You see,” he began, turning to Eveningshadow. “I’ve been helping Marsha, the other healer, and I think Willow may be suffering from some internal bleeding. I’ve seen it before in another queen,” Newt explained to Eveningshadow.

Eveningshadow listened carefully. While the tom was very young, he obviously knew what he was doing by the way he explained things. In fact, Eveningshadow couldn’t help but think of how useful Newt could be living in Ravenclan as a medicine cat apprentice.

“Anyway, I think what Willow needs is goldenrod,” Newt meowed confidently before looking back to Nirvana and ducking his head. “The problem is… well it's not exactly easy to get. B–but I know where some is! Marsha just wouldn’t let me go get any,” Newt huffed.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Nirvana meowed, waving her paw at Newt. “You see, he knows what he’s doing and I’m sure he’ll be able to bring back the herbs you need. So, that’s that. Newt will go and find this herb, Willow will be cured, and we can continue our plans.”

“By myself?” Newt squeaked, his eyes widening. “B–but–”

“I’m going with him,” Eveningshadow demanded. “He’s too young to be out there on his own and I will not be putting his life at risk for my own needs.” His tail twitched as he watched his mother.

Nirvana let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, “You’re not going to let this go are you? Fine,” she growled in annoyance. “I will let you go, but once you return we will be discussing plans on how to act on Ravenclan. Is that understood?” Nirvana asked, a look flashed in her eyes that left Eveningshadow feeling slightly unsettled. “I will not be losing another kit,” she growled.

Viper, who was still standing next to her with Newt, looked away angrily. He knew how his half-sister felt about him. She hated him for taking all of their mother’s attention away from her. He wished he could give it all back and return to a life where he knew nothing of Nirvana and the junkyard rogues, but that wasn’t going to happen at this point. 

I’ll deal with Nirvana when I get back. I may not trust Ravenclan anymore but I won’t let her harm my family.

All Eveningshadow could do was nod. Nirvana had made it clear to him that she wanted justice for what Ravenclan did. However, she had seemed to be open to a reasonable compromise as long as Ravenclan complied with her demands. Plus, the threat of her being outnumbered had seemed to scare her enough that she was in no rush to make these demands. None of that mattered right now, Willow was his top priority.

“Come on, Newt,” Eveningshadow meowed softly. “We need to hurry, you can tell me where to go and I’ll lead the way,” he said, briskly walking past Nirvana and Viper and beckoning the young tom with his tail.

Eveningshadow struggled with the thought of going to the nursery first to say goodbye to Willow and warn Fogtangle, but in the end he decided it was best to focus on his task. They were already losing daylight and every moment wasted was a chance that Willow could start kitting or worse.

They both headed for the other side of the junkyard and found a way over the fence. Newt bounded up behind him and watched as Eveningshadow climbed a pile of scrap and jumped over the fence, landing roughly on the other side. Newt began clumsily climbing the pile, his paws slipping out from under him. When he made it to the top, Newt overthought the jump and ended up missing the fence completely, falling face first into the ground below in front of Eveningshadow.

The poor tom let out a stifled cough and sniff, stumbling to his paws. He wiped his scraped nose and looked up at Eveningshadow. Eveningshadow’s heart tightened as he looked down at the young tom.

He’s not much older than six moons… I shouldn’t be bringing him out here. No responsible warrior would take an apprentice out on such a dangerous expedition. 

Eveningshadow sighed and quickly brushed him off with his paw and gently beckoned him onwards. They both began heading further into twoleg territory, further from the clans. Newt was confident that he knew where to find goldenrod. He told Eveningshadow about how he had learned the ways of a healer from his mother who had died not too long ago from an illness.

“On our way to the junkyard, my mother taught me the different types of herbs and their uses. I remember a queen back at our old home had given birth and had internal bleeding,” Newt recalled as he trotted ahead of Eveningshadow. “My mother gave her goldenrod and she healed from her injuries. I’m certain it’s what Willow needs!”

“Alright, so where is this place we need to find it?” Eveningshadow asked. Doubt hummed at the back of his mind as he watched the young tom stop and begin surveying the area.

“Well.. you see, that’s the difficult part. It’s near the trains, you know those big long scary things that rumble and bellow,” Newt explained nervously. “But we won’t have to go into their den! Just around the outer part, but we may have to cross some tracks to get there.”

“Trains? Are you talking about the thundersnake nest nearby?” Eveningshadow asked, stopping in his tracks. The mission to find herbs for Willow had just become even more dangerous. Eveningshadow had been over that way a few times and learned very quickly why Ravenclan had warned them about thundersnakes. They were bigger, scarier, and more dangerous than a monster, but there was one difference they couldn’t deviate from their path.

“Don’t worry, we can stick to the outskirts!” Newt assured.

“It’s not just that,” Eveningshadow meowed, frustration rising in his voice. “Not only do we have to worry about the thundersnakes but there are other dangers this way as well. We’re sitting ducks out here,” he growled, scanning the area. “If it’s not the thundersnakes, it's monsters, if not them it's twolegs, dogs, foxes, you name it! Nirvana was right about one thing, its dangerous…” he began to wonder if perhaps he should send Newt back and look for the goldenrod by himself.

In the end, Newt convinced Eveningshadow that he still needed him to find the goldenrod seeing as Eveningshadow didn’t know what he was looking for. They both agreed that they would avoid the thundersnake nest and try their best to not cross many tracks, leaving only the dangers of the twoleg place left.

Newt led Eveningshadow to the edge of the twoleg place. The dens were scattered and further apart in this area than closer to the lake. Abandoned dens, barns, and other buildings were more common out this way which meant less twolegs wandering around. Newt ran around checking different herbs as they traveled, giving commentary on what they were and what they were used for. Eveningshadow was beginning to lose hope when suddenly Newt yowled in triumph and went running down a small hill toward a small twoleg den.

Eveningshadow watched from atop the hill as Newt crossed the open field and bounded up to an overgrown patch of plants, a tall golden flower looming out of it. He scanned the surrounding area while Newt stood up on his hindlegs and began snipping off pieces of the goldenrod with his teeth. He froze when a familiar scent hit the roof of his mouth making his fur bristle.

Dog.

“NEWT! GET OUT OF THERE!” Eveningshadow screeched as he realized the dog’s den was close by.

Newt sank back down to his paws, his mouth stuffed with goldenrod. Nearby, a growl rose up from the small mimic structure of the twoleg den. A large white and brown dog suddenly lunged from the den toward Newt. Newt let out a screech of terror, dropping the goldenrod and tumbling backwards away from the dog. The dog hit the end of a silver vine only about a rabbit-length away from Newt. It bayed in frustration as it pulled against the vine, its jaws snapping.

Eveningshadow sprinted down the hill, “Hurry we have to get out of here!” he grabbed the goldenrod off the ground and quickly began making his way back toward the hill. He looked back over his shoulder to see Newt still frozen to the spot, the dog still barking and pulling hard at its tether. An ominous creak of the wood from its den warned of the old wood giving way.

Fox-dung! MOVE.

Eveningshadow dropped the goldenrod with a growl of frustration and raced back to Newt, pushing him to his feet. “Move it! We have to get out of here, now–!” A loud crack broke through the noise of the dog followed by the clattering of the tether falling away. Eveningshadow only had a split second to react, headbutting Newt out of the path of the dog as it lunged.

Luckily, the dog had seemed to be slightly thrown off by the sudden release giving Eveningshadow a chance. He ducked down as the dog stumbled forward, the large predator tripped over Eveningshadow sending them both sprawling to the ground. They both leaped to their paws but Eveningshadow was faster.

Eveningshadow let out a yowl of rage and launched himself at the dog, aiming for its face. He latched onto the dog’s head and began slashing out with his hindlegs, his claws tearing at its face. The dog swung it’s head around, howling and yelping from the pain, Eveningshadow released and was flung to the side. He landed on his feet and immediately raced to Newt.

“GO!” he yowled, shoving Newt forward. Newt finally snapped out of his terror and began sprinting up the hill back towards the way they had come. Eveningshadow snatched the goldenrod off the ground, his jaws catching grass and dirt as well in his rush to escape. 

Behind them, the dog had recovered from the shock and it’s loud baying seemed to alert nearby dogs in the twoleg place. Howls and barking rose up from the surrounding twoleg places, echoing all around them as they ran for their lives. The dog from the twoleg den crested the hill and let out a long howl, calling all the other dogs to it’s location, and began chasing after Eveningshadow and Newt.

“What do we do?!” Newt cried as they sprinted back towards the way they had come down a dirt twoleg path. “We’ll never make it back to the junkyard before they catch us and it's all open out here!”

Eveningshadow kept pace with Newt, the young cat slightly slower than he’d like him to be. He couldn’t speak to give his advice, his jaws clenching tightly to the precious goldenrod. In the back of his mind, a dark thought pulled at him urging him to leave the young tom behind.

No way. We’ll make it out of this… we just have to–!

“Eveningshadow! This way, towards the trains!” Newt screeched as another large dog appeared in front of them. They had no choice but to flee towards the thundersnake nest in hopes of losing the dogs, there was too many of them now. They veered off the twoleg path, the dogs howled with excitement from the chase.

They raced into thundersnake territory, the silver paths wove around making the terrain difficult to navigate. Eveningshadow shot a look over his shoulder to see at least four dogs closing in behind them. They bounded over the tracks as quickly as they could, Newt struggling to keep pace with Eveningshadow.

“Here!” Newt cried suddenly veering the other way, he was heading for a sleeping thundersnake. “Hurry!” he shrieked as he scrambled underneath the thundersnake. 

Eveningshadow dove beneath it to follow him, scattering rocks as he crawled underneath the belly of the thundersnake. Behind him a dog slammed itself up underneath the thundersnake and was barking viciously, pulling itself further up underneath it after Eveningshadow and Newt. Its jaws snapped wildly in the air, drool dripping from its jowls. The other dogs barked wildly, running up and down the side of the thundersnake trying to find a way through.

Eveningshadow pulled himself out and pushed Newt forward who was waiting for him. The other dogs had already discovered an opening further down and were now heading straight for them again. 

Shouts rang out through the air as multiple twolegs appeared and spotted the dogs. Newt shot through one of the twolegs legs, Eveningshadow dodged another as the twolegs seemed to be trying to block their way. A loud sharp sound rang out from one of the two legs and some of the dogs seemed to stop in their tracks, only two dogs continued after them.

Eveningshadow bounded across the tracks, his paws stinging from the sharp stones beneath his paws. Suddenly the dogs furious barking was drowned out by a haunting roar, the sound was still a bit distant but was still loud enough to make the dogs stop in their tracks and Eveningshadow’s fur bristle at the sound. He looked down the tracks to see a large thundersnake heading their way, it was moving fast.

Which way is it going?! There’s too many paths!

Eveningshadow sprinted ahead, “MOPHVE!” his cry muffled by the goldenrod. The thundersnake was closing in on the nest, another ear-piercing bellow rose up around them, making Eveningshadow whimper in fear as they fled. The ground around them began to rumble. He jumped over another set of tracks, he could see the end in front of them.

“Eveningshadow!” Newt's cries were drowned out by the roaring bellow of the thundersnake.

We can make it! Almost there!

Eveningshadow lept across the tracks, the end in sight. The looming thundersnake appeared in the corner of his vision. His whole body shook with fear as a sharp screeching sound came from the monster. His paws hit the ground on the other side of the tracks.

We made it–!

“EVENINGSHADOW!” Newts terrified screech came from behind him. He turned in time to see Newt racing across the tracks.

“NO, NEWT–!” Eveningshadow screamed, dropping the goldenrod and looking back towards the tracks. Before he could make a move, an earth-shaking rumble roared past him in a blur, taking Newt with it. He wasn’t completely spared either.

A loud clanging rang out as the thundersnake stampeded past him, he didn’t move fast enough as suddenly a flash of silver swung out and sliced through his right hindleg. The blow sent him tumbling to the side and down the small slope of the tracks, rocks scattering as his body rolled down the hill and hit the ground. The world went dark.

When Eveningshadow came to the everything was dark. He blinked up at the starry sky above him, the world now peaceful around him. He couldn’t understand how a place so terrifying and chaotic could now be so peaceful and quiet. He groaned as he slowly rolled himself over.

He carefully pushed himself onto his front paws, his hind legs felt heavy and painful behind him. He hissed in pain and looked back at his haunches. His right side had a large gash on it and was oozing blood. He grunted through the pain and pushed himself to his feet, he put pressure on his bad leg and whimpered. It was definitely either broken, dislocated, or severely bruised.

He shook himself off, slightly losing his balance and stumbling. That’s when he began to remember what happened. His eyes widened and he looked up the slope towards the thundersnake tracks.

“Newt!” Eveningshadow cried, he began climbing up the rocky slope. His paws slipped out from under him multiple times, hissing through the pain he forced himself to climb. Once at the top he gasped for breath and limped over to the tracks. He froze when he saw the scene.

Blood smeared the tracks, bloodied clumps of fur were scattered over the rocks. He forced himself to stumble his way down the tracks a bit further but stopped when up ahead he saw multiple small silhouettes lying on the tracks. The silence of the nighttime was cold and haunting as he stood there staring at the unmoving silhouettes. Bile rose up in his throat from the smell and horror he felt, he swallowed it down and stumbled backwards. His back paw stepped on a soft bundle and he looked down to see a slight shimmer of moonlit-gold from the goldenrod. He stared down at the goldenrod and he began to wonder if it was worth it.

It has to be…

He shook his head and snapped out of his daze. Picking up the goldenrod, he began limping back down the slope and towards one of the twoleg paths that would lead to the junkyard. He stumbled his way back to the junkyard, the thought of seeing his mate and their unborn kits the only thing keeping him going.

The moon was rising higher in the sky as he made it back to the junkyard. He slipped underneath part of the silver fence and limped his way through the junkyard. The place was empty and silent, if he didn’t know better he’d also believe that the place was completely abandoned. He stayed far away from Nirvana’s den, not wanting to draw her attention. Willow was the only cat who mattered.

Eveningshadow began pushing his way into the nursery when the metallic scent of blood touched his nose. The same fear he’d felt at the thundersnake nest shot through him and he scrambled into the den. He froze at the entrance as he saw Fogtangle’s head rise from her nest, her face was tired and sad as she stared at him. Neither of them spoke as Eveningshadow stumbled his way forward.

Willow’s nest was covered in blood, the overwhelming scent of it spread across the nursery. It wasn’t until he saw her unmoving body that his heart felt like it shattered. The tattered and ripped goldenrod drifted to the ground. It took everything in his power not to wail, he stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground and burying his muzzle into her cold fur. He gasped for air as grief constricted his heart. The nursery was cold and silent, death hung over the air.

After some time the silence was broken by a soft squeak. Eveningshadow slowly raised his head at the noise and looked over. Soft mews came from Fogtangle’s nest. He scrambled to his paws and limped across the nursery to the queen who was curled up in her nest with three little kittens sleeping against her belly. He gasped and felt his throat tighten with relief and love as he looked down at the three tiny kits.

“They’re alive,” he croaked. The grief in his heart eased slightly when he saw them. His heart would always mourn for Willow, but now, his kits needed him. He had to stay strong, for them.

“She named them before she passed,” Fogtangle meowed, brushing a paw over the kits. “She wanted to wait for you, but…” she sighed sadly and continued, “The black and white one, she looks just like you, she named Shinekit. The black one here is Gladekit and the gray and white one that looks like Willow is Nimblekit. Their all female,” Fogtangle purred as she stared down at them lovingly.

Eveningshadow sank down onto his haunches and watched his kits. “Thank you– thank you so much for watching over them and taking care of them… I know how hard it must be–”

“Mouse-dung,” Fogtangle hissed. “It doesn’t matter how hard it is. I’m not going to sit by and watch kits suffer without their mother. The world is a cruel place!” she cried, tears welling in the corner of her eyes. She paused for a moment, “You can’t stay here.”

Eveningshadow looked up at her with tired and sad eyes, “I know,” he whispered.

“Go home, Eveningshadow,” Fogtangle meowed roughly. “Go home to Ravenclan. These kits deserve a safe and healthy place to grow up with their father. This place brings nothing but death and sorrow! Take them and go!” she hissed, the kits at her belly mewed in confusion. “Leave now before Nirvana discovers them, I’ll tell her they all died during birth. If she hasn’t already seen you, she’ll never know you returned–”

“I can’t,” Eveningshadow began.

“You can!” Fogtangle cried.

“Fogtangle, I can’t because my kits will have no one to nurse them,” he meowed sadly. His eyes brightened slightly and he looked up, “Come with me. You can help me care for my kits, you’ll be safe and welcome in Ravenclan! I know you feel betrayed by the clans but please, Fogtangle. I can’t go without you,” Eveningshadow begged.

She looked down, her face twisted in an internal struggle. She watched as the kits nestled into her belly and kneaded her with their tiny paws. Her eyes softened, “Alright… we leave now then.”

They wasted no time coming up with a plan to escape the junkyard. Eveningshadow placed the goldenrod lovingly on his mate’s body before gathering up two of his kits, Fogtangle picking up the other. The journey would be difficult with both of them being wounded and traveling with the kits.

Eveningshadow led the way, ignoring the searing pain growing in his hindleg. Fogtangle followed closely behind him, her paws unstable. They slipped out of the nursery unseen and began sneaking through the junkyard. The kits were silent, almost as though they could sense the urgency of the journey ahead. At one point they almost ran into a scout who was patrolling the junkyard.

Once they had made it to the silver fence, Eveningshadow hooked a paw through it and pulled it back to make the opening larger while Fogtangle slipped through. It rattled loudly in the silent night and Eveningshadow’s heart pounded in fear of being caught. The alarm never came and the two of them headed for the woods towards clan territory.

The plan was to cross the thunderpath and head straight for Ravenclan. Unfortunately, if they went straight across the thunderpath from the junkyard they’d end up right on the edge of Vultureclan territory as well. Eveningshadow figured the risk was worth it to get away from the junkyard rogues as quickly as possible, not to mention there was little possibility of them running into a Vultureclan patrol at night.

The acrid scent of the thunderpath hit Eveningshadow’s nose as they drew closer to the path. The two kits in his mouth, Shinekit and Nimblekit, squeaked in protest and wiggled in discomfort from the smell. Fogtangle made a muffled cough and shook her head gently. He pushed through the brush and held it aside for Fogtangle as they stepped out into the small clearing beside the path.

Eveningshadow set the kits down beside Fogtangle and limped up to the path, looking both ways and listening. The path was dead, only the sounds of nighttime insects and animals echoed through the forest. He turned back to Fogtangle who had pulled all three kits close and was soothing them quietly.

“We should be able to cross without a problem,” Eveningshadow’s voice broke the calm night. “I’ll go first, you should follow close behind–”

“No,” Fogtangle meowed. “I’m sorry Eveningshadow, but… I just can’t bear the thought of crossing the path with one of your kits and…” she winced.

He understood, “Okay, I’ll cross first with the two kits and then come back for the third. Then you can cross whenever you’re comfortable, okay?” he explained.

She looked down at her paws and nodded hesitantly. Eveningshadow limped back over and picked up two of the kits and prepared to cross the thunderpath. When he was confident there were no monsters, he moved across the path quickly, limping to keep his right hindleg off the ground. Once across he found a little dip in the ground with cover and nestled the two kits inside of it, giving them both a lick to reassure them before turning back. He did the same with the last kit and looked back to see Fogtangle sitting on the other side of the thunderpath.

She forced herself to walk up to the path, her paws barely touching the edge of the rough ground. She looked down the path multiple times before finally beginning to cross. She moved quickly, her paws unsteady beneath her. She swung her head back and forth, scanning for monsters, but they never came.

“Good work, let’s keep moving…” Eveningshadow said tiredly. “We should make it to Ravenclan before dawn.” They both grabbed the kits and headed deeper into the forest.

They weren’t far from the thunderpath, passing on the edge of the Vultureclan border, when the sound of something pushing through the brush sounded near them. Eveningshadow set the two kits down and Fogtangle quickly pulled them closer to her protectively. He blocked them, bristling his fur and letting out a threatening growl as three cats stepped out of the brush.

“What do we have here? A trespasser who thinks they can sneak in to our borders this late at night?” a brown speckled tom meowed threateningly. “We should teach you a lesson–”

“Knock it off, Flipfern,” another tom growled. “Pay attention would ya? They’ve got kits for Starclan’s sake!” the silvery-cream tom hissed and smacked Flipfern with a sheathed paw.

“Aw, poor babies,” the strange colored and patterned she-cat behind them cooed. “Their newborns! Have a heart Flipfern, you're starting to act like Bitterndawn!”

“I’m only doing what Darkstar told us, Heavystep!” Flipfern hissed. “I didn’t see them…”

“The name’s Gullsnap,” the tom meowed. “We’ll let you off with a warning, alright? Looks like you’ve all been through one hell of a night and I don’t plan on making it worse for ya.”

“Th– thank you,” Eveningshadow meowed hesitantly. He didn’t trust Vultureclan, but something about these cats seemed different from the ones he’d met in the past. Less hostile. “We’ll be going,” he said, picking up his two kits and ushering Fogtangle to keep going.

“Good luck!” Heavystep suddenly called after them, Flipfern nudged her and hissed something.

Eveningshadow’s heart was still pounding after the encounter. Not only that, but his leg was starting to throb and he felt heat coming from the wound site. At some point he began to stumble when they were about halfway through Ravenclan territory.

Fogtangle stopped him and set Gladekit down, “We have to stop. The kits are getting fussy and if you keep going the way you are you’ll collapse before we even get there.”

He looked up at her with tired yet determined eyes, meeting hers and seeing the same tiredness and grief. He gave in, she was right, they couldn’t keep going like this. They’d take a break here and continue in the morning. He nodded and began making his way over to a tree with large roots that would be a safe shelter for Fogtangle and his kits. Once they were settled in, he let himself sink to the ground with exhaustion. The moment he closed his eyes he let himself slip into sleep, exhaustion overwhelming his feelings of grief, fear, and determination.

By the time he woke up, it was early morning. His eyes flickered open and he slowly realized he could hear someone or something approaching them. He tried to get to his paws, his back leg set down on the ground and he hissed in pain. It was stiff and throbbing from the deep wound but he ignored it. Once again bristling his fur with a low growl and preparing for a fight.

His anger and protectiveness quickly faded as an orange she-cat stepped out into the clearing with herbs in her mouth. Her eyes widened and she dropped them, “Eveningshadow! Oh thank Starclan you’re back!” Fidgetbark cried. “Look at you! What happened?!” she fussed as she walked around him inspecting his wound and unkept coat.

Behind them Fogtangle pulled herself up from the makeshift nest, the kits mewed in protest as she got up. “What’s going on?” Fogtangle asked tiredly.

Fidgetbark shifted her attention to them and gasped, “Oh my… we need to get you all to the medicine den. May I?” Fidgetbark asked, nodding her head at the kits as she headed that way.

“Oh… of course. Their– their not mine, so that’s up to Eveningshadow,” Fogtangle meowed hesitantly, lowering her head slightly and looking towards Eveningshadow.

“Ah, my apologies! I thought… Well anyway, we must get you all back to the medicine den,” Fidgetbark ordered. “You all look as though you need a check up and rest and these kits need a proper nest. Come, I’ll help you both.”

Eveningshadow nodded without a word, too tired to explain much less argue with a medicine cat about how things should be done. The three of them each grabbed a kit and began heading for Ravenclan camp. Eveningshadow lagged behind the others, the little silver and white kit in his jaws, Nimblekit, squeaked at him in protest at once again being picked up and moved.

At this moment he didn’t care about the junkyard rogues or what Nirvana had told him about Ravenclan. All he cared about was the safety of his kits and giving Fogtangle a safe home where she could help him raise them, even if they weren’t hers. He had completely zoned out on the walk until they reached the entrance of the grotto.

A loud angry yowl came from inside, snapping him out of his daze and making Fidgetbark rush inside. He listened and realized it was Wolfe, the tom was yelling at someone. When Eveningshadow stumbled inside the camp alongside Fogtangle everyone in the clearing froze. Fidgetbark had set the kit down and was scolding Wolfe and Falconflame, but when they saw Eveningshadow everything stopped.

“EVENINGSHADOW!” Mallowlarch yowled in joy and bounded through the camp. He set his kit down and bumped heads with her, taking in her familiar and safe scent, realizing just how much he missed all of them. “I missed you so much!” she cried before pulling back, “You had us worried sick!” she scolded. “And look at you! You–” she gasped loudly as she looked down at the tiny kit at his paws. “You brought kittens!” she squealed, all of her outrage forgotten.

He chuckled tiredly at his sister’s change of tune as she dropped to the ground and began cooing lovingly at the little kit. He looked up and met eyes with Wolfe who was staring at him, an unreadable expression was etched across his face and then turned away. When Falconflame finally snapped out of his shock, he raced over to his brother.

“Come now! Everyone out of the way!” Fidgetbark called out. “I understand your excitement but Eveningshadow needs to be treated and his kits need care! Mallowlarch! Take our visitor and the kits to the nursery, I’ll be there in a moment to check on them,” she barked, giving everyone in the camp orders. “Hillmoon! Go find Shadowstar and bring him back here, please. Falconflame, you help me get your brother settled in the medicine den.”

“On it, Fidgetbark!” Hillmoon meowed as she raced past them and out of the grotto.

Mallowlarch and Fogtangle got the kits and began heading towards the nursery. Falconflame brushed up beside him and gave him support as they began walking toward the medicine den. His eyes shimmered with worry, but Eveningshadow could tell his brother desperately wanted answers but didn’t dare ask them while Fidgetbark was trying to care for him.

Eveningshadow collapsed into a nest with a heavy sigh, exhaustion once again overwhelming him. Fidgetbark was telling Falconflame to clean the wound while she made preparations to dress it with herbs. He felt his brother sit down beside him and begin cleaning the wound. While the pain from his wound was agitating, he found himself drifting to sleep from the care of his brother and the feelings of comfort and safety being back in his home.

“I’m really sorry for leaving you,” Eveningshadow meowed. “It was really selfish of me, I’m seeing that now… I understand if you’re still mad at me.”

“Nah,” Wolfe meowed. “I mean, sure, I was mad at ‘cha for a bit but I could never stay mad at my best friend! Besides, look at these little fluffballs, they’re gonna be little menaces. Especially this one,” Wolfe joked as Shinekit grappled with his paws. “I can’t wait to be able to train one of them. Ain’t that right, monster?” he growled playfully and rolled the kit over.

Shinekit let out a furious little growl and attacked Wolfe’s giant paws again. She kicked out with her back legs and squeaked with determination. Her two siblings were sitting in the back of the nursery with Fogtangle, watching her.

“Yeah… It’ll be nice to have more apprentices. I’m sure you’ll make a great mentor, Wolfe,” Eveningshadow remarked. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness as he thought of Willow and how she’d never get to see the kits grow up to become warriors.

“Alright you!” Wolfe rumbled, getting up with Shinekit still attached to his leg. “C’mere I wanna show you how to use those claws of yours!” He crouched down at the entrance of the den and began shredding moss with his claws, Shinekit watched intently before bouncing to her paws and trying to mimic him.

Eveningshadow chuckled as he watched Shinekit try to mimic Wolfe and making exaggerated movements with her claws. She ended up completely shredding the moss and getting it all over herself before turning her attention back to Wolfe and pouncing on his paws.

“Eveningshadow?” Fogtangle called softly. “ Can I talk to you?”

“Of course,” he answered, getting to his paws and moving further back into the nest. He laid down in front of Fogtangle and flicked his ears to show he was listening intently. Below him, Gladekit had waltzed over to him and made herself comfortable between his paws while Nimblekit stayed exactly where she was, observing.

She’s so much calmer than her other two siblings, and mature. I wonder if perhaps she’ll become a medicine cat…

“Have you told Shadowstar?” Fogtangle asked abruptly, skipping the small talk.

“I– I told him about the junkyard rogues. Yes,” Eveningshadow meowed carefully.

“And Nirvana? Eveningshadow, I know you want to keep the peace but you can’t just keep ignoring the problem,” she sighed. “One day this’ll all come out into the open, it’s better to be truthful and straightforward. I know I’ve only been here for a very short time but I think Shadowstar will understand and–”

“I know. I know, it’s just– I need everyone to get settled here first, okay?” Eveningshadow explained. “I warned him about the junkyard rogues, he said he’ll keep an eye out for anything. That should be enough until I’m ready to ask him for the truth about Sycamorekit and I.”

Fogtangle sighed heavily, “Okay, I suppose you’re right… As long as Ravenclan is aware of the danger then I suppose that doesn’t have to come to light yet. But Eveningshadow, don’t wait too long,” she meowed strictly before getting to her paws. “I’m going to grab something to eat, watch them please.”

“Da,” Nimblekit suddenly meowed.

“Yes, darling?” he answered, lowering his head down to her.

“It be okay,” she mewed softly.

He tilted his head in confusion, “What’ll be okay?” Eveningshadow asked. He began to wonder if he was misunderstanding.

“It just be okay.”

-> Next

[the-owl-tree]

can you imagine snowfur dying on the thunderpath because she attacked bluefur

chasing her sister and snarling with her (unknowing) last breath before being struck dead mid-stride.

or chasing oakheart who’d snuck over to see bluefur, freezing in shock on the thunderpath when bluefur shows up/or she sees her with him and the monster gets her.

bluestar has a lot of tragedy in her life but the idea that this one is on her? god that would be a punch in the gut. would also be cool if tiger in this au who is thistle and snow’s kit resented blue for his mother’s death if he ever learned and vowed to kill her in revenge.

idk “power hungry” is a cool motive and all but he was also massively xenophobic and a purist. clan culture is already bad enough but to have personal reason to hate cross clan relationships would have been interesting. not saying they need a reason to be worse I just like giving characters more depth. and it’s not like any of these cats ever learn hating outsiders are bad anyway. you’d think with how the halfclan cats were sentenced to death and how tigerstar did riverclan more cats would say “no, we’ve seen this before, this thinking. this is wrong.” and learn the consequences of unchecked hatred. it gets people killed.

sorry this ask is all over the place ajhfdfhd just!! thinking about what could have been if I existed in the writers room when warrior cats was being written

OOOOHH YOU'RE ONTO SOMETHING!! the last time snowfur was on that road, she was chasing trespassers out of their territory....but this time, she's chasing her own sister. bluefur won't fight back, at that point she'd given up her children- she wasn't going to hurt her only sister. it's an accident, of course, but the guilt destroys her inside and out.

and thistleclaw is there to stoke the flames of tigerkit's anger. tigerclaw grows into a warrior and he learns two things very quickly: two honorable warriors died in the glory of battle, and it was the coward who became leader. that was a wrong that he had to right.

and man. the half-clan executions were so fucked you'd think it would have more of an impact on the series, but asc is....ough.......it was all tigerstar's fault eh. the only bad thing that happened was joining the two clans together eh writing team.

[bluefury5]

ThunderClan Loredump

So ig I will do a rewrite- and honestly I can say I've warmed up to the idea ^^

I'm not sure if I have a title for the rewrite yet, it might just be called Blue's Rewrite or something till I can come up with something :'D

This loredump is all about ThunderClan's territory, special ranks, extra practices, and other things :)

Presenting ThunderClan's territory, shown in yellow!

Old-forest ThunderClan territory shares borders with RiverClan and WindClan, and a Thunderpath border with ShadowClan. ThunderClan has the biggest territory because when SkyClan was kicked out, they collected what was left of SkyClan territory.

ThunderClan's forest is full of trees and bushes everywhere, so cats have to get used to closed spaces and prickly bushes, along with dappled sunlight. ThunderClan cats have several kittypet features, because they have encountered them in the past.

ThunderClan cats have strong fur that doesn't scratch easily, and rather wide, round eyes. They have strong paws and long tails, and their claws are slightly curved and are very sharp.

ThunderClan cats have pelts of all colors and cats of all sizes, and colors run wild. Some cats have curled or folded ears from kittypet parents, some have dark tabby fur like their rouge fathers, and occasionally a cat will be born extra small or extra large.

Foxes and badgers aren't a problem for ThunderClan unless the animals are rabid or really, really desperate, so when ThunderClan fights, its typically with another Clan or a hostile loner.

ThunderClan's main quarrel is with the forest itself: medicine cats have to pull thorns out of paws daily. Scraped pads, bruises, and dislocated limbs are common in the ThunderClan camp.

From the forest comes snakes, which are ThunderClan's biggest fear. Tales of Mapleshade the Haunted warn kits away from Snakerocks, and specially-trained warriors are always on the lookout for snakes and adders around camp.

ThunderClan is a very organized Clan. They have ceremonies and rituals for nearly every event in Clan life. I will briefly describe them here:

The Naming Ceremony: a standard warrior ceremony. If an entire litter lived through apprenticeship, the ceremony is followed by a feast.

The Kithood Ceremony: Once a queen's litter can open their eyes, the kits are led outside and officially welcomed by the Clan leader . For example, Bluestar's kitting would begin with these words: "I, Pinestar of ThunderClan, welcome these kits born of Moonflower and Stormtail into ThunderClan. May StarClan accept and protect Bluekit and Snowkit as they are raised in our Clan."

The Apprenticeship Ceremony: Standard kit to apprentice ceremony, in which the leader decides what mentor the kit will have. There are no special additions to this, as the apprenticeship ceremony can also be a time of mourning for kits who passed on.

The First Catch Ritual: This one is exactly as it sounds! When a new apprentice catches their first prey, it is celebrated. The cat who caught it gives it to their parent or guardian to eat, and is typically praised for it.

StarClan's Blessing Ritual: After catching prey a cat offers thanks to StarClan. It is bad luck and misfortune if a cat forgets to do this.

The Retirement Ceremony: When a cat retires from any rank, whether it be deputy, medicine cat, leader, or warrior, the Clan chants their name much like a Naming Ceremony and escorts them to the elders' den. Leader retirements are different and are usually followed by a trip to the Moonstone.

The Kinship Ceremony: Kind of like a family reunion! Kin is important to ThunderClan, so every full moon all the cats around camp will take a day off from duties and spend time in camp with their familes, whether that means listening to a grandparent's stories or playing mossball with cousins.

The other Clans have different ceremonies and rituals of course, but those are ThunderClan's!

ThunderClan doesn't value Clanborn blood as much as the other Clans because ThunderClan has always been so small. For a while, kittypets, rouges, and loners have been siring ThunderClan cats. It's kept a secret, and is seen as shameful to the other Clans. Unfortunately no one has done anything to stop it because the Clans need more members. also this is how I fix the family tree mess

ThunderClan isn't too hostile, but when they need to fight ThunderClan is quite vicious. They know all the other Clan's territories really well for some reason, and can easily find an advantage.

ThunderClan warriors have more work to do than other Clans, and there are little mini-careers with their warrior duties. I have listed them here.

Code Warriors: These guys are what you see in the books- they hunt, fight, and patrol.

Den Warriors: Den warriors stay in camp and fix things up. They reconstruct den, drag leaves and brush outside of camp, maintain the fresh-kill pile, and defend camp in times of trouble. Den warriors can also be called to fight in emergencies, like the Battle of BloodClan.

Noble Warriors: Noble warriors live in the nursery, taking care of kits and helping with all the queens/kings' needs. Noble warriors jobs also are to prepare kits for any event: a snake in camp, invasion, flooding, fire, or kit-napping. Noble Wariors weren't very common in the old forest and each clan only had one or two of them.

A warrior apprentice chooses one of these paths to take, and then once they reach warriorship they are given another role. The secondary role is picked by the leader and deputy.

Here are some secondary roles:

Remember the specially-trained warriors? Those are called Adderclaws! Adderclaws are trained on how to kill snakes and their job is to patrol around camp and snakerocks to kill any snakes. Adderclaws must be nimble and fast. Ravenpaw would have been an Adderclaw had he stayed in ThunderClan.

Bravehearts are big, strong warriors with a knack for fighting. Bravehearts are in charge of creating new battle moves. There is a council of Bravehearts from all the Clans that meet at Gatherings and discuss things. ThunderClan's current Bravehearts are Lionblaze and Whitewing.

Darkleaves are warriors dedicated to keeping the Clan safe by knowledge. Their job is to discover and maintain any dangerous plants on the Clan's territory, whether it be deathberries, water hemlock, and nightshade. Darkleaves take the bad herbs and destroy them. Darkleaves also teach kits the dangers of deathberries and poisons. ThunderClan's current Darkleaf is Finleap.

That's all the ThunderClan lore I have for now! This will most likely be revised or changed. Here's some miscalleneous stuff I couldn't fit in naturally:

ThunderClan cats were very easygoing around Twolegs, at least until they wrecked the forest. Young apprentices often sneak out to Twolegplace to get some milk or belly rubs.

ThunderClan cats named after animals (like Squirrelflight or Eaglewing) are said to get lucky if they catch their namesake animal. Often apprentices with an animal suffix will try to catch their namesake for their assessment, so that they'll have good luck and be more likely to pass.

ThunderClan medicine cats are more involved with warrior life and hunt for themselves when they can.

Please leave feedback/questions in the comments or send me an ask!

[bumbleclan]

2, 10, and 18 for the clan asks!!

2. What kind of habitat and location do your clans live in?

OatClan and OrioleClan both have their territories in mainly grassland! they share a forest between them, but those woods are a common hiking area for Twolegs, so only the bravest of cats hunt there.

Next to OatClan is the mountains, where HushClan's main territory resides, they also own a forest on the other side of the thunderpath that they have access to through a series of tunnels, they hunt in the forest, and sometimes use the abandoned Twoleg nest in the woods as a camp when the weather is especially harsh on mountain dwelling.

down the thunderpath alongside OrioleClan's grasslands, there's BumbleClan's forest! dense with a variety of oak and pine trees, perfect for climbing and keeps them plenty dry during the stormy seasons.

10. What sets this clan apart from the others around them?

Oat and Oriole are two peas in a pod when it comes to clans, both in sharing similar territories and their willingness to bend the rules. Both Clans don't care about where their kits come from, as long as they're raised right in camp, they'll accept the kit as a member of the Clan. OrioleClan is more of a bleeding heart, however, and is more likely to take on a cat for any reason.

HushClan is the sneakiest of the Clans, their series of tunnels in the mountains making traveling from one side of their territory to the next undetected easy. OatClan and OrioleClan have their tunnels and burrows in the fields, yes, but none as elaborate as HushClan's. it's their biggest strength in war, but also makes them look suspicious most of the time.

BumbleClan are the main tree-climbers of the Clans! While Hush does known the Old Forest, they rarely scale the trees like they do the rocky cliffs of their main turf, it was one of BumbleClan's earliest leader's that had to help teach the other's to scale the Lover's Willow for gatherings, but now that training is saved for deputies or children of leaders outside of BumbleClan. They're also the closest to the Kittypets in the area, and have a decent access to herbs like catmint because of it, so long as they keep good relations with the owner of the Twoleg nests that house it.

18. What are the camps like?

OatClan has dug out their camp under an old, dead oak tree that rests alone in the far reaches of their territory, safe from the harsh weather such an open landscape exposes one to. The entrance to their tunnels is lined with pockets to catch water in case of rain, but should there be risk of flood, an escape route is dug between the branches of the leader's den. Clan gatherings are held outside of the tunnels, with the leader resting atop the lowest tree branch.

OrioleClan's consist of a set of abandoned fox burrows and a badger sett in a rocky circle, the badger sett, being the largest of the burrows, was made into their medicine den. It's the most exposed of the camps, but the tall grass helps hide it from most potential dangers.

HushClan's camp resides in a hollow cavern in the center of the mountains, disconnected from their many tunnels. Moss covers the cave and the frost from the nights always results in a pool of fresh water by the medicine den every day, making dehydration little trouble for the Clan.

BumbleClan's camp rests in a small clearing in the woods, under a great oak tree where the leader's den is made. most other dens are dug carefully under tree roots or crafted under old fallen logs from trees long before, the grass in the clearing is soft, with dirt paths made from common movements around camp.

[myrtleclangen]

Myrtleclan Moons 6-10

Moon 6

Bored of his life as an elder, Whisperingleaf decides to become a mediator. He isn't half-bad at it, either, much to the shock of the clan.

Just as Cliffdapple recovered from her illness, the harsh leaf-bare wiped the medicine cats' herb store.

Fallingpaw has received her warrior name after a successful assessment. She is named Fallingfang. However, on one of her first walks through the territory as a warrior, she gets her leg caught in a Two-leg trap.

Not too long after, Thymeflare and Pinestar discover an injured cat near the Thunderpath. They take the molly, named Rainbow, into the clan to heal.

Friendstripe is seen walking around camp, chest puffed out, wearing pink and red petals. Speculations that these were a gift from Murkdrizzle are almost proven true as they eat their meals together every day.

Moon 7

Cliffdapple has developed a little crush on Burrowspirit and follows him around often.

On a hunting patrol, Jollybramble saves Friendstripe from a dog, but is badly injured herself.

However, Friendstripe is also badly injured after challenging Pinestar's ability to lead the clan. With the help of Burrowstripe, Pinestar shuts down Friendstripe, though all parties are injured.

Thymeflare and Fallingfang are killed by a pack of rogues. Murkdrizzle is subsequently named deputy.

Friendstripe asks Murkdrizzle to be his mate, but is shut down. Rainsplash comforts Friendstripe saying that, despite his past romantic failures, Murkdrizzle is simply too stressed about his new position to take a mate at the moment.

Moon 8

Whisperingleaf convinces a few other clanmates that Murkdrizzle has been rather stuck-up and rude since becoming deputy.

While Burrowspirit quickly heals from his wounds in the scuffle with Friendstripe, the latter's becomes infected.

Cherrydream and Whisperingleaf are seen returning from a midnight stroll!

Moon 9

As Pinestar's and Friendstripe's wounds remain infected, and Burrowstripe sustains an injury on a border patrol, Murkdrizzle is the only warrior who can hunt. Food is scarce as-is, and rations are put in place to ensure no one starves.

Moon 10

Pinestar's wounds are still infected, but the infection left Friendstripe's still-healing wounds. Burrowstripe, though, is perfectly healthy now.

Jollybramble and Rainbow, still quite injured, enjoy some gossip with Cherrydream. The two previous-outsiders love learning about the clans through one of their favorite pass-times.

Murkdrizzle approaches Friendstripe and asks him to be his mate. Friendstripe, obviously and excitedly, says yes.

[raisans-art]

OKAY SO

How does warriorcats work? I didn't grow up on the series so how's the universe work?

BOY HOWDY IT'S DUMP TIME

Please read under the cut for the explanation because this gets long.

Ok so: The crux of Warriors is cats living out in the wild in Clans. In the original series, there are 4 Clans living in the same area (5 if you get later on in the series) called ThunderClan, ShadowClan, RiverClan, and WindClan (the 5th being SkyClan). They are all supposed to have different skillsets, territory, diets, etc which makes them different from the other clans. That's tossed out the window for HermitClan tho, so forget all that. Just remember that some cats live in Clans.

Clan cats believe in something called StarClan, the place where good cats go when they die. Kitty heaven. "Good cats" is a very loose term in the WC universe and it's supposed to mean cats that follow the warrior code (see here for the warrior code I'm not writing it down). Really it's just where protagonists or neutral parties go in the books. They are the Warrior ancestors, helping their clan from the afterlife by giving signs and prophecies to help them.

The Place of No Stars or The Dark Forest is where the bad cats go. Basically serial killers, unashamed murderers, and other such villains. (Yes, there are serial killers in WC)

Clans have a Clan hierarchy. If you look at the allegiances that I made for HermitClan, you can see them all listed there.

Warriors are the workforce. Just your average cat hunting for the clan, patrolling borders, fighting intruders, and mentoring apprentices. They have a full warrior name, both prefix and suffix (Little-wing, Bark-scar, Doe-spot).

Queens are cats who have or are expecting kits.

Kits are just that and will have a suffix of -kit (Littlewing was Littlekit when he was born).

Apprentices are warriors in training. They have the suffix -paw while they are in training (Barkscar was Barkpaw when he was an apprentice).

Leaders are the head of the clan. According to the warrior code, their word is law. They are granted 9 lives by StarClan to better serve their clan for longer. They get the suffix -star (Voidstar used to be Voidstep before he became leader).

Deputies are the second in command. They are chosen by the leader to be their successor when they die. They are required (generally) to have trained at least one apprentice before they are eligible to become a deputy.

Medicine Cats are the doctors. They train for longer in their apprenticeships to learn how to heal their clanmates and how to identify herbs and use them. They are also supposed to be the closest to StarClan alongside leaders. They take a leadership role in the clan, and are trained to receive and decipher prophecies from StarClan.

Senior Warriors are the veterans of the clan. They hold a lot of respect and responsibility and the Leader will often consult them on decisions due to their wisdom.

Elders are cats who have retired. They usually stay in the clan camp and are respected for their service.

Cats outside the clans are cats like rogues, kittypets, loners, and even different cat collections. In WC, living in clans isn't the only way cats can and do live. There is stuff like The Tribe of Rushing Water and The Sisters, but that's generally irrelevant to this AU.

WC has a lot of special vocabulary to boot. The most important to know are kittypet (pet cat), twolegs (people), thunderpath and monsters (road and cars), and moons (how they dictate age (it's basically a month)). There are other stuff like cat swears, measurements, and whatnot but like really not that important.

Now, on how HermitClan works.

I'm doing a bit of a rework. HermitClan is different because it's not really a self-sustaining clan that keeps generations going with queens, kits and suchlike. They are a collection of clan cats that left or were exiled from their clans for whatever reason with a few kittypets and loners joining in for the fun of it. So, they don't really have queens or kits (because I'm not about to do hermitshipping) and apprentices are rarer. A few came by when they were apprentices like Redflash and Aspenwool though.

They still believe in StarClan but it's like... StarClan adjacent. Since HermitClan doesn't really have ancestors, and StarClan already works on a bit of a prophecy pipeline (seriously this is a thing in the books StarClan gets prophecies and passes them on to the Clans) HermitClan gets their prophecies from the source. It's vague and even they don't understand what they're communicating with, but they know that they're still connected with StarClan in some way. Voidstar got his 9 lives somehow.

Uhm. So yeah. That's a... basic (can this be considered basic???) rundown of what Warrior Cats is!

[troutfur]

As an uncultured person trying to gather as much information to understand this au, how much has changed with the fox au?

Is the fox groups just family groups or are their others as well?

How much does TPB or TNP change with this?

A lot has changed, a lot, mostly to do with how fox social groups operate. And that's precisely what the fun in it is, trying to figure out how to make the drama still work within this world and figuring out the adaptations necessary to make this work.

This is a crossover between Warriors and Hunter's Moon/The Foxes of Firstdark by Garry Kilworth, so I'm borrowing a lot of elements of the later's worldbuilding for this.

The thing that grabbed me about the idea of the fox AU is the fact it is based on nuclear families. So while every family of canon ThunderClan has territories relatively close to each other, the fact they don't interact much outside from their individual family lets me laser focus on certain groupings of characters, mostly Leaf and her children.

TPB is A LOT different. It's the arc that relies more plot-wise on the social structure and politicking of the Clans so it's hard to retain a lot of elements.

The most important events to keep are, I think: Rusty venturing into the wild and finding Graypaw, Cinderpaw's injury on the Thunderpath and subsequently training under Yellowfang (Kilworth's world has the role of fox mystic which is kind of like medicine cats but they charge for their services, all payments in food), Graystripe ditching Fireheart for Silverstream, Fireheart and Sandstorm becoming a couple, and maybe the battle against Bloodclan? I'll have to think about that last one.

TNP goes much more smoothly. The journeying cats can all still go on a quest to the Sundrown place, but now it has more significance since in the worldbuilding of The Foxes of Firstdark, the first fox is said to have become all the water in the world upon death. So it makes more sense why they'd venture into the ocean to receive instructions on how to save the foxes of the forest.

OH ALSO! Leaf encounters the journeying cats halfway across their journey. I've decided that Cinderpelt's thing was that after she broke her leg, Fireheart took pity on her and helped her make the journey to a famed fox mystic (Yellowfang) in hopes she would recover. Like in canon she doesn't fully regain the use of her leg and ends up as the assistant of Yellowfang and later a fox mystic in her own right.

When the autumn comes, The Time of the Dispersal as the foxes call it, Leaf makes the journey in hopes of finding Yellowfang and isn't aware until she arrives that she's died and Cinderpelt replaced her. When the foxes make their journey, they take a stop at Cinderpelt's place and this is where the CrowLeaf romance happens.

Fox mystics still have the celibacy rule so when Leaf learns she's gotten pregnant she ends up resigning her position in shame. And what's worse, Crowfeather ditched her so now she's a single mother raising her first litter all on her own.

[skeptycats]

The Fourth Descent - THUNDERCLAN

ThunderClan are based in the deciduous woodland in the northeast of the moor territory, though their territory stretches out to meet the low moorland and the high heathland. They are neighbours with WindClan to the west and ShadowClan to the south. 

ThunderClan’s camp resides in a natural dip in the forest, surrounded by large, moss-covered rocks. They make their nests in the roots of a gnarled, ancient oak, and the leader makes their announcements from Mossbranch, a jutting branch.

Click below for more information on TFD ThunderClan!

BASIC DESCRIPTION

ThunderClan are thought to be named for the Thunderpath that divides them from RiverClan’s territory, though many ThunderClan warriors also claim the legend that Thunderstar gave them the boulders unique to their territory by sending them crashing down from a distant mountain. 

Much like their neighbours in ShadowClan, they generally pride themselves on being self-sufficient in spite of their small and hazardous territory. However, this can also manifest as pride to the point of stubbornness when they enter hard times. Perhaps due to the natural barrier that is Mosswood, they are a defensive Clan by nature, not prone to starting conflict but keen to strike out when they feel threatened.

The Clan’s main prey includes mice, voles, squirrels, rabbits, and occasionally bats, as well as birds such as pigeons, jackdaws, blackbirds, thrushes, finches and others.

ThunderClan takes advantage of thick undergrowth to hunt, and are proficient at stalking prey until the very last minute, catching them from close up.

NOTABLE TERRITORY FEATURES

Mosswood - the heart of the forest that makes up most of ThunderClan’s territory is dominated by a tangle of stunted oaks, covered in mosses and lichens, rarely frequented by Twolegs. The ground is rocky and treacherous to outsiders, thus making it an easily defensible place to camp for ThunderClan.

Sky Oak - amid the tangling branches of stunted oaks, a tall oak towers above them all. From the top of it, a cat can look out onto the moor and sight even the river that divides RiverClan from the other Clans.

Snakerocks - though all the rocky ground in Mosswood can prove a dangerous hiding place for adders, a tall pile of rocks southwest of camp boasts the most abundant population of the venomous creatures. Much like the Snakerocks in the forest territory, it is a valuable yet risky source of herbs and prey.

The blue hollow - a low clearing in a sheltered part of Mosswood forms the ideal area for battle training. The hollow is littered with bluebells in the spring and summer, earning it its name. Beyond it, the tangled forest is used to practice ThunderClan’s unique hunting skills.

ThunderClan’s camp is located in a natural dip in the forest, and surrounded by brambles and mossy boulders, making the clearing incredibly well hidden. The official entrance is located through a small gap in the brambles, though it is deliberately difficult to pass through, and instead a number of secret entrances are more frequently used, including a gap in the roots of a tree, and several cracks in the boulders. In the center of the clearing is a giant oak with deep roots that form dens.

The leader’s den is located at the base of the tree, beneath Mossbranch, the announcement point. The warriors sleep in one of two alcoves on either side of the tree. The medicine den is located in a deep cave within the boulders with a wide entrance and stone roof, draped with moss and lichen and grasses for shelter. The apprentices sleep in a smaller cave on the far end of camp. The nursery and elder’s dens are located at the back of camp beneath bramble bushes and reinforced by boulder walls. The boulders around camp provide natural den walls, but in winter dens are often insulated with dried ferns.

LEADERSHIP HISTORY

Thornstar - first leader of ThunderClan, one of the founding leaders of the moor Clans, though obviously not remembered as such. Authoritative with an eye for his own idea of tradition. Best remembered for defining the warrior code as it exists today, and creating the seventeenth rule which outlaws nepotism.

Stemstar - second leader of ThunderClan. She was somewhat of a daughter figure to Thornstar, and so respected the things he put in place and emulating his leadership style though in a relatively inoffensive manner, leaning more toward defensiveness. She died in a freak lightning strike, empowering Violetseer’s coup.

Violetseer - an unofficial leader of ThunderClan, a keeper who believed himself to be blessed by StarClan, took Stemstar’s death as a sign and elected himself leader, ending the deputy succession and creating a brief theocracy. He was very quickly ousted by ThunderClan warrior Silverpelt, who first exiled and later killed him.

Silverstar - third leader of ThunderClan, taking over officially after Violetseer’s death. She was never Stemstar’s deputy, but her Clan put their faith in her due to her decisive action. She became the strongest leader known to the moor Clans, but not without her own wars - a prolonged war with ShadowClan eventually resulted in her death.

Loudstar - fourth leader of ThunderClan. She rose to leadership after Silverstar’s death and fostered peace with ShadowClan. Despite her brash and exuberant personality she is remembered as one of the most actively peace-seeking leaders of the moor, mediating many conflicts. She was the first to advocate action to countermand the blackcough disease, which she herself ultimately succumbed to while delivering aid to WindClan.

Fernstar - current leader of ThunderClan, rising to the position after Loudstar’s death to sickness. He is an insecure leader, seeking advice from the more experienced and basing decisions solely on what makes him feel at ease. He knows he must perform as a strong cat, but his leadership is weak and will cause problems down the line.

ALLEGIANCES

FERNSTAR -  he/him - 89 moons Fernstar is a dark reddish-brown tom, and the current leader of ThunderClan, taking over from Loudstar after she succumbed to blackcough. He is roughly 7 years old, and is the son of deceased ThunderClan warriors Frostfeather and Thunderfoot, alongside his littermate and deputy Sparrowsong. Their half-sibling is WindClan leader Applestar, sharing the same mother as Frostfeather left her birth Clan to be with her new mate.

SPARROWSONG - she/her - 89 moons Sparrowsong is a speckled brown molly, and Fernstar’s littermate and deputy. Her mate is the warrior Waspfang, and they’ve had three litters together: Ravenwatcher and Gorseclaw, Timbertail and Perchpaw, and Featherkit, the youngest of which is nursed by the den queens. Sparrowsong’s apprentice is her grandson Amberpaw. TIMBERTAIL - he/him - 13 moons Timbertail is a slight brown tabby tom with a wiry brush of a tail, and ThunderClan’s current keeper. He became a full keeper at a mere 9 moons old after former keeper Darkleaf passed away and the Clan was forced to elect a new one from the warrior apprentices, and he has since been receiving supplementary training from WindClan’s Dapplemane as per an agreement between the leaders, though RiverClan’s Cedarglint has also shown an interest in the young cat. Timbertail is the son of Sparrowsong and Waspfang, and the littermate of Perchpaw. Though he is reluctant to take an apprentice before he is ready, he has been watching his infant sibling Featherkit with interest.

WASPFANG - he/him - 104 moons Waspfang is a solid black tom and mate of Sparrowsong. Born openly half-clan as the son of RiverClan’s Cinderstorm and ShadowClan’s Whitebranch, he chose to move to ThunderClan to escape his familial ties entirely. Roughly 8 years old, he has had three litters with Sparrowsong, and hopes to mentor his youngest Featherkit when he is of age. Though he seems devoted to his mate, there are questions raised about his fidelity, though he openly spurns these rumours as prejudice against his half-Clan heritage.

CHERRYSHADE - she/her - 96 moons Cherryshade is a huge blue-gray molly with large paws. She is the only daughter of deceased warrior Eeltail, brought into the Clan at a young age as rumours proliferated that her mother was a rogue. Nonetheless, she is a strong and devotedly loyal warrior, and at 8 years old her allegiances are no longer questioned. She is the mentor of Vinepaw.

CLAYPOOL - he/him - 60 moons Claypool is an energetic red tom and Gorseclaw’s mate. He is also the father of their kits: Halfkit, Shadekit and Nutkit. Before settling with Gorseclaw, he was originally the mate of her sister Ravenwatcher, but backed out of the relationship barely a moon after their kits were born due to his criticisms of Ravenwatcher’s personality and perceived idleness. He is not ignorant of his older kits, but does not treat them as kin. He is also the mentor of Perchpaw.

PERCHPAW - he/him - 13 moons Perchpaw is a reddish-brown tom with dark tabby stripes, and part of Sparrowsong and Waspfang’s second litter. After the former medicine cat Darkleaf died, he and his brother were brought to the Mooncave by the other medicine cats, for StarClan itself to make its choice. Perchpaw does not resent his brother being chosen as medicine cat, happy to be a warrior apprentice under Claypool, but he ponders the reasons behind the outcome every day. After his brother is threatened by a mysterious wraith-cat one night, he goes on the search for answers.

AMBERPAW - he/they - 7 moons Amberpaw is a creamy brown tom, and the son of Ravenwatcher and Claypool, his littermate being Vinepaw. Having been apprentices only a moon, he and his sister are eager to prove themselves and help rejuvenate ThunderClan’s numbers in the wake of the blackcough plague. Amberpaw has ambitions of one day being leader, due to his familial connections and apprenticeship to his deputy grandmother, who he is much closer to than his birth parents.

VINEPAW - she/her - 7 moons Vinepaw is a dusky brown tabby molly with bright green eyes, and Amberpaw’s littermate. Just as eager and ambitious as Amberpaw, she has a lot to learn from those who lived through the plague. She is fiercely close to her mother Ravenwatcher, not fully understanding other cats’ perspective on her.

GORSECLAW - she/her - 39 moons Gorseclaw is a dark brown molly, and a nursing queen. She is currently caring for her and Claypool’s three kits: Halfkit, Shadekit, and Nutkit. She is also nursing Sparrowsong’s son Featherkit so Sparrowsong can continue her duties.

RAVENWATCHER - she/her - 39 moons Ravenwatcher is a brown molly with dark eyes and a torn ear. Though her kits with Claypool are well into apprenticeship, she remains in the nursery as a den mother, caring for the kits part-time and only occasionally joining hunting patrols. She appears to other cats as a standoffish sort, talking rarely to other cats outside her mother and her younger brother Perchpaw. Her mate was formerly Claypool, though they seemed to have fallen out due to his criticisms of her perceived idleness, and he now pursues her sister Gorseclaw.

HALFKIT - she/her - 5 moons Halfkit is a russet molly with a stumpy tail, which was partially amputated after an infection. She has a weak constitution but is resilient and risk-taking. Daughter of Gorseclaw and Claypool.

SHADEKIT - he/him - 5 moons Shadekit is a dark red tabby tom, and is the more measured among his siblings. Son of Gorseclaw and Claypool.

NUTKIT - she/her - 5 moons Nutkit is a red molly, and seems to share her father’s energetic and boisterous personality. Daughter of Gorseclaw and Claypool.

FEATHERKIT - he/him - 2 moons Featherkit is a smoky black tom. He is curious and solemn, drawing comparisons to his brother Perchpaw. Son of Sparrowsong and Waspfang.

TRIVIA

ThunderClan practices ‘cadent’ naming, and cats are often named in a way that is satisfying to pronounce, whether due to alliteration, sibilance, or other such quirks.

ThunderClan’s territory, Mosswood in particular, takes inspiration from Wistman’s Wood, an oak wood in Dartmoor known for its abundance of boulders and mosses/lichen.

ThunderClan have a unique belief about the season of one’s birth reflecting a cat’s personality. Leafbare is the season of hardiness and survival, newleaf of vitality and peace, greenleaf of energy and abundance, and leaf-fall of tranquility and calm.

[sotcwcrp]

What's New in the Roleplay:

Gosh, lots has happened, hasn't it? Let's catch up!

Thunderclan:

★ — Tulipblaze, Owlrose, Buzzardsoar and Raptorfall have graduated and become full hearthbourn warriors.

★ — Merlinheart as graduated as a full healer. Rainpaw has started training as a healers apprentice.

★ — Dandelionpaw, Squirrelpaw, Flippaw, Tractorpaw and Ryepaw have started their apprenticeships.

★ — Daisyfangs kit, Orchidkit, has been born.

★ — Fallencrown, Hazenight, Canyonburst, Chestnutrise, Torchvalley, Appleflower, Roostercall and Witherose have left to restart their lives outside of the clans territory.

★ — Etherpool and Shiversight have left Thunderclan to join Riverclan.

Riverclan:

★ — From a sudden wave of kit births, Riverclan welcomes eight small additions to the population!

★ — Cypresskit was born to Nettlefrost and Honeysplash.

★ — Valleykit and Granitekit were born to Turtlemoon and Quartzsnow.

★ — Mumblekit and Howlkit were born to Cloudcurl and Sweetbite.

★ — Squirrelkit, Burnetkit, and Rookkit were born to Hopeheart and Inktide.

★ — Two kits were found during territory patrols and welcomed into families of their own! Nettlefrost and Honeysplash have taken in Cedarkit, while Adderstrike and Wormbelly have taken in Duskkit.

★ — Frostburn and Prince have found a home in Riverclan after living their lives as outsiders.

★ — Etherpool and Shiversight have left Thunderclan and safely joined the ranks of Riverclan. ★ — Teadawn has graduated from her apprenticeship as a healer, taking on the name Teaflight. ★ —Riverclan places its trust in Whisperstar and Shrikestorm to put a swift end to Windclan's incidents at the border. ★ — Riverclan makes forward progress in a treaty with Hawkstar of Thunderclan.

Windclan:

★ — Windclan's deputy was demoted after an attack on a Riverclan cat at the border; retaliation it seems for the defense of their borders against her interloping kit moons prior. Her warrior name has been taken; now known as Snail.

★ — Shrikestorm is named Windclan's new deputy.

★ — Windclan publicly announces that they do not condone nor support the recent attacks some of their warriors have been apart of. And vow to try and return to peaceful relations with Riverclan. ★ — Songkit; at first an unnamed Wild cat kitten is found after a lone twoleg monster roars across the silent thunderpath. It appears that the kit fell from the monster. He now joins the kits of Windclan in the kitden.

Shadowclan:

★ — Duckstar stepped down as leader, replaced by Russetfox, now Russetstar. ★ — North, a former Riverclan warrior, has joined the clan's ranks. ★ — Two wildcats found near the territory's outskirts, Adder and Falcon, have also joined ★ — Houndecho, Dovecloud, and Cypressash have left the clans to pursue distant paths. ★ — A fox attack killed Ravenpaw and Bearclaw, injuring Longspurshadow, who is still in recovery.

What’s New on the Server:

★ — Thyme and Vani have joined Thunderclan Staff!

★ — Rouge and Hop have joined Riverclan Staff!

★ — Milo and Tom have joined Windclan Staff!

★ — Manny has re-joined Shadowclan Staff!

★ — Our next big plot is into it's final stages of talk, almost ready to begin!

Opening News:

★ — SOTC is currently closed for any new members. Keep an eye on out tumblr/ join our discord for any updates!

[needlewind]

About halfway through Suntrail rn and here’s how I would rate the traveling cats (from favorite to least favorite)

Jagged Peak - He is baby, can do no wrong, annoying in the best way, peak little brother

Gray Wing - Peak older brother, also I find him really relatable in the way he shoulders guilt like he was born to do it and feels overly responsible for everything

Moon Shadow - He’s the fucking worst and I love him for it, Berrynose kinda annoying, like I want to put tape over his mouth but I love him you know?

Tall Shadow - There’s not much for me to say about her yet but I like the change in her that happens after she ends up in charge, you can feel her desperation and frustration while fighting with Moon

Shaded Moss - I think his relationship with Rainswept was really sweet and he was a really kind and steady leader while he was around, there isn’t much to say in him but he was pretty great

Quiet Water - I think her bit about hating water is really funny and that little moment she has with Jagged after he freezes on the Thunderpath was really sweet

Dappled Pelt - Fish lesbian! She’s super sweet, there isn’t much to her but I like the way she always seems to look out for everyone and her friendship relationship with Falling is super cute

Falling Feather - Another fish lesbian! She kinda gives me golden retriever energy? Just like- idk, very sweet and generally happy, her scenes with Dappled are super sweet and I like how eager she is to be in water, admittedly when I think about her I just picture Feathertail

Turtle Tail - admittedly she hasn’t stood out very much to me until the last like two chapters I’ve read, she’s sweet and I like her eagerness but she doesn’t have much in terms of actual character yet, it’s mostly just about Gray Wing, though I find it interesting how she specified multiple times how much she’d hate a boring life

Clear Sky - I don’t have much to say about him? I mean, it feels wrong to judge his character rn when I’ve basically only seen him grieving (though I know he’s an asswipe most of the time anyway) but he yelled at Jagged so... he’s really only here because he’s got more to him then the others

Rainswept Flower - Her relationship with Shaded Moss was really sweet and her reaction to his death made me sad, I also liked that scene with Gray helping her across the gorge-thing, again not much to her yet but she’s cool

Cloud Spots - Our other healer! Again, not much to her, but she seems to know even more about herbs then Dappled even though Dappled is supposed to be their herb cat? I’m really curious how she knows all of it, did Dappled teach her?

Bright Stream - She admittedly didn’t have much character outside of Clear Sky but I still found her very sweet, the fact she died because she was helping Gray Wing is really upsetting

Shattered Ice - Not much to say on him, the only scene I remember of him is when he takes charge of crossing the thunderpath right before they reach the territories, and I mean- he does well there ig

Jackdaw’s Cry - now, listen, I don’t dislike him, but I legitimately can’t remember a single thing he’s done, so by default he’s at the bottom

I’ll redo this list once per book from now on, just to see how my opinions change over time

[canon-notcanon-warriorcats]

Decatssi: A Warrior Cats Re-write Arc I

-dustpaw is mentored by tigerclaw and ravenpaw is mentored by redtail, both apprentices witness redtail being killed by tigerclaw, though ravenpaw wasn’t supposed to

-redtail and runningwind are sandpaw’s dads and she has a breakdown over her dad’s death

-sandpaw is still mentored by whitestorm, graypaw is mentored by mousefur, and ravenpaw is given to lionheart to finish his training, firepaw is juggled between all of them for a couple days but runningwind and bluestar end up dual mentoring him

-bluestar makes lionheart deputy as usual, ravenpaw is still scared of tigerclaw, but since he doesn’t have to be constantly around him and has the protection of lionheart and his friends, he doesn’t leave thunderclan and fake his death

-sandpaw gets close to firepaw before she’s a warrior because she realizes that dustpaw is a big jerk wad and firepaw isn’t even that bad and her dad is his mentor and he likes him and she knows that redtail would’ve liked him as well, so dustpaw, tigerclaw, darkstripe, and longtail are probably the wrong ones

-brokenstar was already the leader when firepaw joins and has been for like a year and now he’s ran out windclan and yellowfang

-firepaw finds yellowfang and instead of everyone being like “we should kill her” they actually have brain cells and are like “something’s not right, also yellowfang you can chill here, but firepaw you still have to take care of her because you brought her here” tigerclaw, darkstripe, and dustpaw are the only ones pissed at yellowfang existing in thunderclan

-brokenstar attacks thunderclan while most of the warriors are out on patrol (hmmm tigerclaw, lionheart, firepaw, ravenpaw, and runngingwind are the only cats trained and healthy enough to properly fight while this attack is going on, interesting) because they want more babies to make into murder machines, spottedleaf, who doesn’t have any weird feelings for firepaw and instead is sandpaw’s cool and wise aunt who she loves, is killed, rosetail is killed, thrushpelt is killed (he was an elder, he didn’t die yet before firepaw came to the forest) and lionheart are killed

-bluestar losing her girlfriend, boyfriend, medicine cat, AND deputy gets hit very hard and refuses to name a new deputy because she’s lost two in like a month and a half “if starclan keeps taking my deputies, then they can be the one to choose them!”

-she goes to the moonstone with all the apprentices, whitestorm, mousefur, and runningwind and gets killed by a rat but she’s better now and still has two lives so she’s fine

-ashkit and fernkit are now born to brindleface and their dad is darkstripe, but he wants nothing to do with them and is an asshole to brindleface for no reason, also it should be mentioned that darkstripe’s dad is thistleclaw who was killed by redtail and whitestorm when he was an apprentice and his mom is willowpelt, and now willowpelt and whitestorm are mates so now he has a grudge against both of them and is angry because his family is weird now (no one besides whitestorm and willowpelt know it was him and redtail who killed thistleclaw)

-snowkit is born to speckletail and unknown tom, she won’t say and no one cares, also oh no snowkit is deaf but speckletail’s sister, one-eye, who is going deaf, helps them learn a kind of sign language, and a bunch of thunderclan, including the kits, wanna learn too

-firepaw decides that windclan being chased out for almost 3 moons is too long so him, ravenpaw, graypaw, and sandpaw go save them, not dustpaw though because dustpaw said it was stupid and windclan should stay gone

-they succeed! and bluestar is so impressed she makes them into warriors: fireheart, graystripe, ravenpelt, and sandstorm, dustpaw gets pissed off that he isn’t made a warrior too, he’s older than graystripe and fireheart and his brother got made a warrior, but bluestar tells him to shut up, cats become warriors when they act like warriors, not when they become a certain age

-brokenstar attacks thunderclan again, but this time bluestar captures him and kills him once and also blinds him, everyone takes a moment to remember exactly why she was made leader

-everyone’s nervous that bluestar still hasn’t chosen a deputy yet, they all know it’s between whitestorm or tigerclaw, but bluestar’s still scared they’ll just die as soon as she makes one of them deputy, redtail had only been deputy fro a few moons (one-eye was her deputy before she retired) and lionheart had been deputy for like what, a month and a half before he was killed? also bramblekit and tawnykit are born to goldenflower and tigerclaw

-tigerclaw is weirdly close to brokenstar “theywere friends when they were apprentices and warriors together” everyone says, but is that really what’s happening

-shadowclan is glad to be rid of brokenstar and his followers and they choose nightpelt as their new leader, who actually does get eight lives and becomes nightstar, but they’re pissed that thunderclan is keeping brokenstar because if they had just killed him one last time by now nightstar could’ve had 9 lives

-bluestar makes brightpaw, cinderpaw, brackenpaw, and thornpaw apprentices and give them to sandstorm, fireheart, graystripe, and ravenpelt respectively, it’s been like a moon and dustpaw is still an apprentice because he’s a little turd head

-except graystripe has been going off on his own a lot lately and is like barely mentor, turns out he’s dating silverstream who saved his life while coming back from saving windclan, sandstorm gets angry because she’s had a crush on her for moons but i guess she didn’t like her back

-brokenstar’s rogues attack to free him, but they’re actually being led by tigerclaw now and in the flurry of battle, tigerclaw kills bluestar onces, but she beats him out of her den with the help of whitestorm and fireheart before he can take another one

-yellowfang feeds brokenstar deathberries as she tells him she’s his mom in the midst of battle so the rogues attacking only comes to his death

-what a surprise, tigerclaw had been conspiring with brokenstar and took over his rogues, bluestar banishes him and he’s chased out, but dustpaw follows him because he’s more loyal to tigerclaw than thunderclan and he’s pissed that bluestar didn’t make him a warrior, darkstripe stays to everyone’s surprised because he was tigerclaw’s first apprentice and they were super close, longtail is shocked and angry at tigerclaw and revokes any and all respect and loyalty he had towards him

-bluestar finally names whitestorm as her deputy and orders to keep a watch out for tigerclaw and dustpaw

approximate amount of time that passes during all of this: 5 moons

-graystripe is whitestorm and willowpelt’s son (kiiind of) and so darkstripe also has a super grudge against him, also graystripe gloats that his dad is the thunderclan deputy a LOT now, he also sometimes calls bluestar grandma

-it’s the beginning of leaf-bare now

-while out on a patrol-date, fireheart and sandstorm find old tigerclaw scent by twolegplace so they try to track where he’s been, but when they find a brown trabby it’s actually fireheart’s long lost sister princess!

-fireheart has vague memories of her, but she recognizes him immediately and is so excited and tries to get him to follow her to visit their mom, nutmeg, fireheart declines saying that thunderclan is his home now, sandstorm leaves them to catch up and hunt, tigerclaw’s sent was too old anyway

-they talk for quite a bit and princess tells fireheart that she’s afraid her twolegs will take away her 5 kits who are a moon old now and after fireheart has told her about the clans she wants one of them to come live with him

-fireheart is hesitant, but princess doesn’t really take no for an answer and brings out a white fluff ball she named cloud and really how can you say no to that

-fireheart brings fluffy back to camp and everyone’s kind pissed, but bluestar’s just like “you really like bringing cats outside of the clan to us don’t you” but she has a soft spot for white cats because her sister was white, her first apprentice, frostfur, was white, and her nephew-son-deputy is white, she also has a soft spot for fireheart so how can she say no, “okay, but you have to be his dad now”, brindleface offers to take him because her kits, ashkit and fernkit, are the closest in age to cloudkit, darkstripe gets extremely pissed off that his “mate” is nursing a kittypet and his son and daughter are now being raised with a kittypet, but brindleface puts him in his place and basically officially breaks up with him, if they were ever considered a couple in the first place

-a few days later a patrol of whitestorm, runningwind, fireheart, and cinderpaw are patroling the shadowclan border, suddenly there’s some rustling and it’s not until then that runningwind catches tigerclaw’s scent (he’s one of the best trackers in the clan, no one else could scent it yet over the stench of the thunderpath) tigerclaw jumps at whitestorm, but runningwind zooms between them, saving whitestorm and getting killed by tigerclaw instead, who runs across the thunderpath into shadowclan territory, his two rogues following behind him (they were fighting fireheart, whitestorm, and cinderpaw)

-cinderpaw goes after them even with her mentor and deputy yelling at her to not and she gets hit by a car, her left back leg being almost cleanly torn off from below the knee, whitestorm carries runningwind and fireheart carries his apprentice back to camp

-sandstorm has another breakdown because now both of her parents are dead and tigerclaw is the one that killed them both, runningwind’s parents halftail and one-eye, his sister, mousefur, his former mentor, bluestar, and his former apprentice, fireheart, all grieve immensely for him as well and sit vigil

-frostfur, thornpaw, brightpaw, and brackenpaw are all also terrified for cinderpaw, fireheart is caught between grief for both runningwind and his apprentice, but yellowfang removes cinderpaw’s barely hanging on leg and she miraculously survives, yellowfang thinks this is the first time in clan history a cat has lost a leg and survived

-a week later cinderpaw is back on her paws, or trying to be, she asks yellowfang if she’ll have to be a medicine cat, but yellowfang tells her that she’s too much of a fighter to be a medicine cat, she has to become a warrior, fireheart vows to train cinderpaw to be the best warrior she can be and so she can become a warrior alongside her littermates, all while also basically training brackenpaw because graystripe keeps sneaking away, and helping to raise cloudkit, this is when sandstorm falls in love with him, they had been friends kind of crushing before, but now it was evident that they were falling madly in love with each other

-a terrible sickness starts in shadowclan, it’s so bad nightstar has already lost two lives to it

-fireheart visits windclan with cinderpaw to get tips from the deputy, deadfoot, on hos to become a warrior with only three fully functioning legs

-at some point both yellowfang and tallstar call fireheart their son

-a rare thunderstorm happens during leaf-bare about a moon after cinderpaw’s accident and a fire starts close to thunderclan’s camp, they flee over the river and stay the night in the riverclan camp until the fire has stopped after being put out by the falling snow

-yellowfang and fireheart save bramblekit, but speckletail sadly dies from smoke inhalation while saving her son, snowkit, smallear reveals that he was snowkit’s father, goldenflower asks if he was also her’s and lionheart’s father, but he says no, their father had been sunstar, thunderclan’s leader before bluestar “why didn’t speckletail tell anyone” “because she was honorary and didn’t like other cats knowing her business, neither sunstar or me had ever actually been her loves anyway”

-bluestar talks to mistyfoot and stonefure a /lot/ and seems to take an interest in mistyfoots new kits, primrosekit, pikekit, perchkit, and reedkit

-graystripe does a terrible job at hiding him and silverstream being mates a secret and hangs out with her and mosspelt, who’s pregnant, a lot, silverstream reveals to everyone that she is ALSO PREGNANT but she refuses to tell who the father is

-thunderclan returns to their territory the next morning, the camp needs rebuilding, but luckily the fire didn’t damage an especially large amount of territory, darkstripe is fidgety

-also this is around the time littlecloud decides to become a medicine cat, him and cinderpaw become good friends at the first gathering she’s back and he gets inspired to take a path of healing, a path that brokenstar had refused him, he also has his boyfriend, whitethroat with him

-a couple nights later, goldenflower screams that her kits are missing and soon darkstripe comes back with them, saying they had tried escaping the camp and he had found them on his way back from getting some fresh air, he’s also weirdly taken interest in his own kits, like he wants to become an actual father to them

-willowpelt is pregnant with whitestorm’s second litter of kits!

-there’s dog scent by snakerocks, and also dead rabbits, what could be happening, better go to windclan and interrogate them

-tallstar denies any windclan activity in thunderclan territory, but they still haven’t SEEN any dogs at snakerocks and it might be too dangerous to check it out, even though it’s leaf-bare, adders could still come out of their dens

-brackenpaw is anxious that graystripe has hardly been around for his training and thinks that maybe graystripe doesn’t think he’s good enough to be a warrior, so he asks his littermates to help him fight off the dogs at snakerocks, if he does that graystripe will HAVE to recognize him as good enough, but only brightpaw agrees to come with him, and only because it’s a stupid idea and he shouldn’t go alone

-the next night they go to get rid of the dogs and brackenpaw and brutally murdered and brightpaw is found staying alive by a thread, without an eye and a torn ear

-frostfur is devistated, just after her one daughter was healing, her other daughter was barely alive and one of her sons was dead

-thornpaw tells fireheart, sandstorm, and ravenpelt why they went to drive out the dogs and they get justifiably angry at graystripe, who walks back into camp only after brackenpaw’s body was laying in the middle of the clearing

-sandstorm is so angry at him she swipes at his muzzle, cause droplets of blood to appear and graystripe, in fear, anger, and grief runs out of the camp again, fireheart and ravenpelt run after him, knowing exactly where he’s going, and when they reach sunningrocks they find silverstream giving birth far too early to her’s and graystripe’s kits

-yellowfang is too far away and will still be busy trying to save brightpaw, so, defying silverstream’s and graystripe’s wants, retrieves riverclan’s medicine cat, mudfur, but it’s sadly not enough as silverstream dies shortly after both of the kits are born and she barely utters names for them, featherkit and stormkit

-crookedstar, being by his daughter’s side as she died just as her own mother had died giving birth to her and her siblings, is extremely angered and upset at graystripe, but when graystripe asks to live in riverclan with his kits, crookedstar hesitantly allows him, ravenpelt and fireheart object, but graystripe tells them he’d do better with his kits in their mother’s clan than he’s been doing in thunderclan as a warrior, leaving with crookedstar and mudstar, mosspelt, who had just given birth to two kits, dawnkit and shinekit, two days earlier, turned out to have also been silverstreams mate, and those two kits had been surrogated by a tom for her and silverstream to raise together, graystripe knew this was happening and gladly agreed to mosspelt nursing his kits

approximate time that has passed between part 1 and now: 4 months

-with the news that graystripe has moved to riverclan to be with his kits bluestar and whitestorm just kind of quietly accept that their family can’t have a normal relationship ever

-frostfur is pissed because it seems like graystripe is running away from his actions causing his apprentice’s death, but she doesn’t want to be and tries to hold it in, hoping that the bigger reason why he left was because he wanted to be with his kits and if so she can respect that and makes her very slightly less angry

-with everything going on, bramblekit and tawnykit “sneak out” again and darkstripe “finds them” outside of camp /again/

-it takes brightpaw over a day to regain consciousness, but the bleeding has finally calmed down and she’s going to be okay

-bluestar wants to make thornpaw, cinderpaw, and brightpaw warriors now because thornpaw’s ready, cinderpaw has gracefully caught up and is doing really well adapting, and brightpaw will need help adapting to hunt and fight with only one eye but before this she was basically ready to become a warrior, but thornpaw and cinderpaw want to wait for their sister to be healed

-bluestar agrees, though she didn’t want almost as many apprentices as there are warriors, but it’s close to when ashkit, fernkit, snowkit, and cloudkit should be apprenticed

-bluestar wanted to give snowpaw to willowpelt but she’s gonna have kits any day now, so she gives him to frostfur instead, gives ashpaw to whitestorm, decides to finally trust longtail and gives him his first apprentice in fernpaw, and even though he’s technically still mentoring cinderpaw, bluestar gives cloudpaw to fireheart because who else could mentor this fluffy idiot

-darkstripe is overly mad that his son is being mentored by whitestorm

-willowpelt gives birth to sorrelkit, rainkit, and sootkit hooray

-a few days after silverstream gives birth, crookedstar loses his last life to greencough and leopardfur takes his place as leader and is now leopardstar and she names stonefur as her deputy, graystripe is afraid she’ll kick him out, but luckily she tells him that as long as he’s loyal, he may stay

-meanwhile, dead rabbits keep appearing closer and closer to the thunderclan camp, seriously, in THIS leaf-bare

-patchpelt just keels over and dies because of “stomach pain”

-in the midst of mourning and darkstripe going “at least we’ll get more food” because fuck you darkstripe, brindleface is found murdered close to camp, her scent is covered in rabbit scent and wet moss, everyone correctly guesses that tigerclaw must have killed her and is probably the one killing the rabbits and slowly training and leading the dogs to the camp, but he’s been hiding his scent so no one can tell it’s him, darkstripe says that that’s reach it couldn’t possibly be tigerclaw, but no one believes him and why isn’t he angry that the mother of his children has been brutally murdered and almost made into dog food

-”hey at least it wasn’t willowpelt” he says ominously

-everyone agrees that the dogs need to get out of their territory because they’ll know where their camp is now, so they make a plan to trick them into jumping off of the cliff over the riverclan waterfall

-ashpaw, fernpaw, and cloudpaw want to be in on it but since they’ve only been apprentices for like half a moon bluestar obviously says no, whitestorm also tells bluestar to not be a part of it because he doesn’t want her to die for the final time

-before they go bluestar names frostfur’s children warriors, naming cinderpaw cinderpelt, thornpaw thornclaw, and brightpaw, who’s been starting to leave the medicine cat den, brightheart, she also gives a naming ceremony for the dead brackenpaw, saying that she would have named him brackenfur after his mother

-a patrol of thornclaw, fireheart, sandstorm, whitestorm, and longtail take turns having the pack of dogs chase them through thunderclan territory until they reach the waterfall, but instead of slipping in they manage to stop

-bluestar had been hiding there the whole time and attacks the leader dog, both her and the dogs falling into the waterfall

-thornclaw and longtail run back to tell everyone else what happened while sandstorm, fireheart, and whitestorm run to help bluestar

-the dogs are dead, but they soon find stonefur and mistyfoot pulling bluestar onto sunningrocks

-mistyfoot presses onto bluestar’s chest and she coughs up water, looking up she’s extremely happy at how brave and talented her children are and she’s so glad they’re such great and respected warriors

-”wait you’re our real mom???” “wait they’re bluestar’s kits that disappeared???” whitestorm nods

-bluestar tells them that she wished she could’ve raised them, but she’s so glad they have a happy life in riverclan and she’s so thankful to graypool and oakheart for raising them and loving them, and she is glad that all her living kits, including whitestorm and fireheart, are all finally together with her, she whispers that she wished that they could’ve raised them all, together, before passing away for the final time,

-whitestorm elaborates through grief that bluestar had given up her kits so she could become leader instead of his father, thistleclaw, who was an evil and bloodthirsty cat who would’ve had thunderclan dive into an era of nothing but war and death, and that mosskit died on the journey to riverclan, bluestar had never fully forgiven herself, and that she wished that her, graypool, oakheart, and thrushpelt could have all raised them happily together

-mistyfoot and stonefur nod and are understanding, mistyfoot saying she had sometimes thought they were born in thunderclan because she had vague memories of the thunderclan camp even though she had thought she had never been there, and her and stonefur both felt like they had met mousefur and runningwind before they were apprentices, as it turns out they had once been den mates in the nursery

-they decline sitting vigil for bluestar though, as mistyfoot has to get back to her kits and see how her son, perchkit, is doing as he is very sick, along with many riverclan cats, crookedstar dying of greencough was only the beginning. and stonefur must get back to his duties as deputy

-everyone mourns greatly for bluestar and whitestorm realizes this means he is now leader of thunderclan, but he takes a full day to mourn for his adopted mom and aunt before leaving for the moonstone with yellowfang

-after him and yellowfang leave, sorrelkit secretly follows darkstripe as he sneaks bramblekit and tawnykit out of camp, she wants to go too “hey where are you going?” she squeaks, darkstripe tells her to come with him and roughly grabs her by the scruff, but bramblekit and tawnykit, being almost 6 moons old now yell at him to stop and goldenflower and willowpelt run to find their kits, darkstripe drops sorrelkit, dazing her and willowpelt scoops her up to get her away, goldenflower demands to know what was happening, fireheart, longtail, and sandstorm come to see what’s happening and everyone goes back into camp, darkstripe tells everyone that bramblekit and tawnykit were trying to go see their father because they want to see him again and they want to look up to him and be like him and they were trying to take sorrelkit with them, tawnykit calls his bullshit as well as goldenflower, saying that they’d never be anything like their father no matter what anyone says

-tawnykit and bramblekit tell everyone that darkstripe has taken them to see tigerclaw multiple times, always meeting in shadowclan territory, but they were told not to tell anyone, and darkstripe had been telling tigerclaw everything that was happening in thunderclan, sorrelkit mews that she had just wanted to see what they were doing and followed them

-everyone agrees to put a guard on darkstripe until whitestorm and yellowfang got back, mousefur and longtail offer to be the first guards and darkstripe is made to stay in the old elders den that got charred in the fire

-whitestorm, now whitestar, and yellowfang get back the next day, with bad news, they came across a patrol lead by deadfoot while in windclan and he said that shadowclan had been acting very weird for a long time, and many cats have apparently gotten sick and they believe nightstar might have recently died, and they don’t know who his new deputy was because the former deputy had died of the illness, and now they keep finding shadowclan scent on their territory, whitestar tells everyone they need to be on extra guard since shadowclan had been so secretive and barely attending gatherings since nightstar had been so sick

-goldenflower is the one to inform whitestar about what darkstripe did- and has been doing, whitestar is infuriated at his half brother and his first act as thunderclan’s leader is to banish him, he tells him that if he is still so loyal to tigerclaw that he can go join him, darkstripe is chased out, sandstorm and longtail chasing him off into twoleglace, surprisingly, but before he goes darkstripe admits that it was him and tigerclaw who set the camp on fire and that all of thunderclan will die as soon as tigerclaw gets his way

-after darkstripe is chased off, whitestar decides that before he names his deputy he must make bramblekit and tawnykit apprentices, he gives tawnykit to cinderpelt and is about to give bramblekit to thornclaw when bramblekit speaks up, he doesn’t want to become a warrior, he wants to become yellowfang’s apprentice and become a medicine cat, he’d wanted it ever since she and fireheart saved him from the fire, and he wanted there to be no way that he could follow in his father’s pawsteps and instead make up for what he’s done by healing

-yellowfang gruffly agrees that perhaps he will make a good medicine cat and comments that she needs an apprentice because she’s not getting any younger

-whitestar then names goldenflower as his deputy, everyone is shocked, including goldenflower, because they expected fireheart or sandstorm to be chosen, but goldenflower humbly accepts her new role, tawnypaw and bramblepaw are ecstatic that their mother is now deputy of their clan

-two nights later is the gathering, shadowclan and riverclan were the first to be there, because they came together, cats from both clans intertwined under the four great oaks, with tigerclaw, now tigerstar, sitting on top of the great rock, leopardstar and blackfoot sitting underneath where deputies usually sit, and darkstripe and dustpaw not too far away, along with brokenstar’s/tigerstar’s group of rogues, which had even more members now than ever before

-Thunderclan is immediately angry and windclan is very very confused, Whitestar refuses to jump onto the Great Rock because he will not share it with Tigerstar and what the heck did he do with RiverClan? Tallstar, seeing the tension and realizing something’s gone down jumps off as well, trying to get answers from Whitestar, who announces that Tigerstar killed Redtail, tried to kill Bluestar, killed two other ThunderClan warriors directly, set ThunderClan on fire, and tried to lead dogs to ThunderClan’s camp

-ShadowClan goes “nooo he was with US, he brought our warriors back and helped us get rid of the illness, he’s been making us strong again” they won’t believe tigerstar could do all that

-tigerstar continues to go on that he is now also strengthening riverclan by ridding them of their illness and joining them with shadowclan to make TIGERCLAN, the riverclan cats seem to shrink and be embarrassed, especially leopardstar, it is then that whitestar notices that riverclan’s deputy, stonefur, was not at the gathering,  nor was mistyfoot or graystripe or any of their kits, who would be new apprentices by now and should be attending their first gathering

-tigerstar continues that leopardstar’s and mistyfoot’s son, perchkit, died of the illness but since then the sickness had cleared after he isolated the half-clan cats in riverclan, including mistyfoot and her kits, stonefur, and the unloyal graystripe and his half-clan kits, the sickness had also killed graypool, who had tried to defend mistyfoot and stonefur from being imprisoned because she had raised them as her own when they were brought to riverclan (tigerstar actually killed her/had her killed and said it was the sickness that took her)

-tigerstar explains that it was the half-clan cats that had died from this illness because they were inherently weaker then pure blooded clan cats because their loyalty, and therefore their strength, was split no matter what they said or did, tigerstar says that the only way to get rid of this weakness in the clans is to become one clan, under him, to become as strong as they can be, riverclan already did it, and now he was proposing for windclan and thunderclan to join, even with their “difficult” past

-thunderclan and windclan obviously object and refuse, which tigerstar angrily retorts that then whoever doesn’t join tigerclan in the next three days will be killed by his clan and that windclan and thunderclan would be destroyed either way

-the gathering ends with windclan and thunderclan leaving first, when thunderclan gets back to camp they’re greeted by a half starved graystripe, who says that with less of tigerstar’s followers in camp he managed to escape, he trembles in fear, agony, and embarrasment as he begs for forgiveness and for help to save his kits and mosspelt, as well as mistyfoot and her kits and stonefur

-fireheart and ravenpelt immediately agree, as well as willowpelt who covers graystripe in licks and gives him a mouse to eat; sandstorm, taken aback by her cousin’s state, agrees that it would be wrong to not try to rescue his kits

-whitestar pretends to think on it for a moment, but then fully agrees that thunderclan will help in any way they can, and will take in graystripe’s kits, mosspelt, mistyfoot and her kits, and stonefur as refugees,  it would be wrong to not try to help any cat, especially since most of these cats were thunderclan’s kin (he pretended to think, but we all know he would have killed tigerclan himself to save his grandkits and his cousin-siblings and niece and nephew-cousins)

-a rescue party of graystripe, ravenpelt, fireheart, and sandstorm is sent to rescue the cats: graystripe to guide where they’re being held, ravenpelt because he’s small and sleek so he can hide easily and be sneaky, and fireheart and sandstorm because they’re fast and can hopefully fend anyone off just enough to escape. They roll in river mud to hide their scents and pelts, especially fireheart’s

-they hide in the bushes bordering the riverclan camp by the nursery where the cats are being held hostage and they’re met with the horrifying sight of blackclaw and dustclaw shoving graystripe’s kits, stormpaw and featherpaw, into the middle of the half-wrecked camp and mosspelt yowling in distress as two black and white toms (snake and ice) block her way of escaping through the nursery entance, stonefur is being held guard by darkstripe and blackfoot on the other side of camp as tigerstar growls that the new apprentices’ father cowarded away like the thunderclan cat he is to leave his kits to die without him and that they must pay for their father’s disloyalty and cowardice, while stonefur must prove his own loyalty to tigerclan by being the one to kill them, especially his own apprentice, stormfur, yowls of objection can be heard through the nursery by mistyfoot and her kits even though they can’t be seen

-leopardstar, looking miserable and defeated, looks up to tigerstar and asks him why stonefur must be so cruel, he’s already proven clan loyalty, he was her deputy, he was a brave, strong, and loyal cat even if he was half-clan, he shouldn’t have to murder to prove his strength, and the apprentices hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves yet, but they were crookedstar’s grandkits of course they would be strong and loyal to riverclan-

-tigerstar interrupts her there, hissing that their riverclan loyalty didn’t matter, that riverclan no longer existed, only tigerclan, and she had allowed graystripe  to stay even though she knew he was a disloyal thunderclan cat, and therefore she had no say and no power in this decision, which made her bristle and a glint of her old stubbornness returned to her gaze, but she said no more ase she glanced around at the glares of tigerstar’s cats and even a pawful of her own cats, who supposedly her own cats, like blackclaw who she had once seen as her brother since they were nursed and raised together

-ravenpelt presses graystripe to the ground as he almost let’s out a full growl in the bushes of the camp and sandstorm and fireheart start thinking of a plan, perhaps making a distraction and getting as many cats out as possible, graystripe and fireheart start vigorously digging a hole behind the nursery that maybe mistyfoot, her kits, mosspelt, and her own birth kit, dawnpaw who wouldn’t leave her foster littermates or her mother, could squeeze out of while ravenpelt slinked away to make some sort of distraction, sandstorm whispers into the nursery that they’re there to save them, mistyfoot says that she will not leave her brother, and mosspelt says that she will not leave stormpaw and feather, sandstorm says that once ravenpelt makes the distraction that she needs to call to stormpaw, featherpaw, and stonefur to run to the nursery as fast as possible

-blackfoot shoves stonefur forward to be in front of the young apprentices who look half starved like graystripe and trembling, stonefur bends down and quickly whispers something into stormpaw’s and featherpaw’s ears and touches his nose to stormpaw’s head and gives him a knowing nod before turning to tigerstar who’s hissing to “prove your loyalty already, no more soft heartedness” stonefur raises his head up high and proudly states that he would never kill an apprentice, especially not innocent ones who are also his clanmates and kin

-tigerstar growls “of course” and flicks his tail to darkstripe and blackfoot who immediately run toward the apprentices only to be blocked by stormfur’s body, still strong with being half starved, there’s no more time, the hole has to be big enough and ravenpelt’s yowl can be heard from the opposite side of the camp where he lays hidden several fox lengths away, mosspelt yells out to stormpaw and featherpaw to run back, and with cats running to go see what the howl was, the fight bloody fight between stonefur, darkstripe, and blackfoot, and mosspelt’s howl, ice and snake are confused enough to be pushed through by the apprentices, who even though are young and starved still have the bulk of their father to push through and daze their guards, dawnpaw slithers through the hole first, then featherpaw, stormpaw, and mosspelt after them. Mistyfoot shoves her kits toward the hole and is about to run through the entrance to help her brother until snake and ice crash through the entrance instead with growls and hisses “THE HALF CLAN CATS ARE GETTING AWAY” ice yells, but two of mistyfoot’s kits have already gotten out of the nursery and reedpaw is almost through, snake smacks mistyfoot down with giant paws, but as reedpaw escape sandstorm slips through and pounces on the black and white tom, knocking him over into his brother and she pushes mistyfoot towards the hole, yelling at her to leave now, but she leaves through the nursery entrance instead, where she’s met with blackfoot’s jaws snapped shut around stonefur’s neck, his blood covered body gone limp and his eyes glazed over with death as blackfoot drops his body like a piece of rotten prey

-tigerstar order his cats to catch the escapees, but there are only a few left that didn’t go after ravenpelt’s yowl and weren’t on patrol, leopardstar yells, begs, mistyfoot to run, which snaps her out of her daze and she turns around and dashes away, pushing through the walls of the camp, sandstorm slashes and kicks at the cats that try to get in her way and mistyfoot leaps into the river, where the rest of the escapees are farther ahead, because most of the cats following tigerstar can’t swim like riverclan cats, the only way they can follow them is one by one across the stepping stones, where whitestar planted a patrol of longtail, mousefur, thornclaw, and himself as back up, and trapping the tigerclan cats so they can only head back to riverclan or get clawed at with no where to escape

-blackclaw; however, was still raised riverclan and also now follows tigerstar, along with beetlenose, voleclaw, and sunfish and they swim after the escapees, sandstorm, graystripe, and fireheart reach sunningrocks and continue to run to meet them, dawnpaw, featherpaw, and stormpaw are the first to make it to shore where graystripe immediately warms them with licks, mosspelt and mistyfoot’s kits make it soon after, but blackclaw is almost caught up to mistyfoot and as she gets onto shore he hooks her back leg with a claw, but fireheart and sandstorm bat him away, and whitestar’s patrol joins them, fighting the former riverclan cats who flee, being outnumbered

-the 8 riverclan refugees are quickly taken to thunderclan camp and made nests, fed, and made warm, featherpaw, stormpaw, and dawnpaw sleep in the apprentices den, and with graystripe insisting that he stays with his kits it’s quite cramped but warm, reedpaw, primrosepaw, and pikepaw stay with their mother and mosspelt in the nursery

-that night the cats of both riverclan and thunderclan sit vigil for stonefur, graystripe, mistyfoot, mosspelt, whitestar, mousefur, and one-eye stay up all night to mourn him, graystripe and mosspelt thanking him for protecting and saving stormpaw and featherpaw, stormpaw stays up as long as he can to sit vigil with them, but is pressed by his sisters to come to sleep

-whitestar spends the whole night thinking about his lost cousin, hoping that him, mosskit, oakheart, and bluestar can finally be a family in starclan, and asks them to watch over and protect their kin and clans closely in the coming days

-Whitestar wakes up the next morning only being able to think about what the future of the clans was, what the future of his kits were, and also there was barely enough warriors in thunderclan to mentor all of these new apprentices, not to mention his own kits would be apprentices in just over a moon

-Goldenflower knocks sense into him saying that it’s more important to stop tigerstar and hopefully the riverclan cats would be able to go home soon enough, whitestar agrees and yellowfang mentions the prophecy that she and whitestar got at his leader ceremony “Fire alone will save the clan, but there needs to be proud wind and honorable thunder to summon the storms that will clear the shadows.”  and that means that thunderclan and windclan need to stand together to be able to defeat tigerstar and his “clan”

-whitestar agrees, but the only way to get to windclan would be through fourtrees and tigerstar definitely has patrols patrolling at all times, so it would be hard to get through without being noticed, and perhaps that was part of tigerstar’s plan, either way he decides that he’ll go to windclan and talk to tallstar and decide what to do, thornclaw asks what will happen if tallstar decided to join tigerstar but whitestar retorts that tallstar would never, mistyfoot approaches and says that she will go with him, and yellowfang says she will go as well, perhaps if they come with cats who were raised in all of the other clans then it will be easier to persuade windclan to fight together, whitestar chooses longtail and thornclaw to come with them as back up in case they ran into a tigerclan patrol

-once the patrol makes it to fourtrees, tense and nervous even in their own territory, dustclaw suddenly appears on top of the Great Rock from behind it, snidely welcoming them and ask them what they’re planning on doing there, blackclaw, sunfish, clawface, and jaggedtooth come out from behind the great rock

-yellowfang snarls at the two former shadowclan cats, telling them that she watched them grow up and she thought they’d be good shadowclan warriors and here they are now, jaggedtooth spits at her, saying that they were better warriors then she ever was and ever could be, and twice as loyal than she was to anything

-mistyfoot hisses at blackclaw and sunfish, blackclaw replies that even her hiss is weaker since she’s a half-clan cat and he threatens to claw her until she begs for mercy, mistyfoot retorts that he’d be dead before he could even touch her

-longtail tries to appeal to dustclaw, asking him what their parents, robinwing and fuzzypelt would think of him, and what would their four dead siblings would think of him, and if he came back now maybe he could be an honorable thunderclan warrior again

-dustclaw snarls at him saying that longtail’s become kittypet soft just like the rest of thunderclan and would never recognize his greatness or tigerstar’s and that’s why thunderclan must be destroyed, whitestar growls and tells dustclaw that he wouldn’t let him back into thunderclan anyway, and that thunderclan’s business was none of his own, clawface snears that they both have 5 cats, but one of the thunderclan patrol was an old medicine cat and another was a weakened and frail queen, yellowfang and mistyfoot hiss and sunfish and jaggedtooth visibly flinch

-just as the patrols were about to clash, a hiss is heard from windclan’s side of fourtrees and tallstar and a patrol of onewhisker, whitetail, and tornear appear and they run down to fourtrees and meet the thunderclan patrol, the tigerclan patrol have a moment of worry until dustclaw shakes it off and asks tallstar “oh, are you looking for a couple of your warriors tallstar? icetail, eaglefoot, and hedgepaw?” “no, i’m pretty positive of where they are, dustpaw, i know they joined tigerstar’s group of rogues!” dustclaw’s fur bushes up and he gets defensive “i am dustCLAW now, tigerstar named me a warrior as soon as he became leader because at least appreciates me as a warrior!” tallstar sniffs and replies “he’s using you like he uses all of his other rogues” dustclaw snarls and seems to be about to pounce until he realizes again that the two patrols together almost doubled his patrol, even with an old medicine cat and worn out warrior, and claims that they’ll have the chance to tear them apart in time, until then they had to go report to tigerstar. The warriors are about to attack as dustclaw leaps down from the great walk and strides off towards shadowclan territory with his patrol, but whitestar tells them to halt, they needed to conserve their fighting energy and couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt right now

-tallstar asks if the patrol was coming to visit thunderclan and whitestar nods, tallstar says that barkface received a prophecy from starclan and yellowfang says it’s the same one that she and whitestar received, whitestar asks if this means that thunderclan and windclan will fight side by side then, and tallstar says that of course they would. The leaders decide that the two clans will meet the next morning at fourtrees just after sun has peaked over the horizon so tigerclan won’t have time to attack individually, but two clans being at fourtrees will definitely grab their attention and they would take on tigerclan from there

-once the patrol gets back to thunderclan whitestar starts explaining the plan to everyone, he offers goldenflower to stay in camp to protect his kits and the elders (mostly because he knows it must be hard for her knowing they would be fighting her ex-mate), but goldenflower refuses saying that she must battle alongside her clanmates

-whitestar asks willowpelt if she wants to fight, to avenge redtail and brindleface, but willowpelt says she wants to stay and protect the camp, to protect their kits, frostfur steps forward and says that she will fight as well, for lionheart, for her sister brindleface and her son brackenpaw, as well as the injuries tigerstar had caused her daughters

-rainkit and sorrelkit star calling saying that they want to go fight too, they don’t need to be protected they’re NEARLY apprentices, whitestar adors his little kits but tells them that they need to stay in camp and maybe willowpelt will teach them some fighting moves, mosspelt steps up and says that she’ll stay in camp as well, featherpaw says that she wants to fight in the battle and stormpaw says that if she fights he wants to fight as well, but whitestar refuses them as they had just become apprentices the day before tigerstar took over riverclan and hadn’t gotten enough battle training, primrosepaw says that they had been apprentices for a quarter moon longer than them, so they had gotten some battle training, whitestar thinks and then tells them that they need to guard the kits and elders, dappletail then retorts that she and the rest of the elders would rather die protecting the clan than die needing to be protected, so if anything were to happen the elders would fight till the end, halftail, one-eye, and smallear all heartily agree. Whitestar thinks about how the last time the elders had to battle to protect their clan that rosetail and thrushpelt had been killed, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop them, and if it came to it they wouldn’t have a choice anyway.

-Whitestar is about to tell tawnypaw to stay behind too, but she insists on fighting, she won’t sit in camp while her father tries to destroy the clans and featherpaw insists again and her fighting as well, whitestar decides that tawnypaw can join, but stormpaw and featherpaw will not fight, he gives them to responsibility of being runners, fetching injured cats and bringing them to yellowfang and bramblepaw who will be just outside of fourtrees to attend the injured and they will assist the medicine cats as needed, ravenpelt offers to help them and make sure they don’t get hurt

-whitestar starts worrying about how brightheart or cinderpelt would do in battle, as well as snowpaw, he asks brightheart first, telling her he’s unsure if she’s ready to fight when she had just recovered for about a moon, cloudpaw interrupts and says that brightheart could fight anyone and beat them and she’s been working will hard to train, cinderpelt, sandstorm, and fireheart agree, saying they’ve all been training very hard together and brightheart or cinderpelt could fight just as well as anyone, whitestar asks cloudpaw to fetch snowpaw and he comes back with both snowpaw and fernpaw, whitestar, using sign language, asks snowpaw if he felt comfortable fighting or if he’d rath stay and protect camp, snowpaw shakes his head and signs for “fight” and points towards fourtrees and then signs for “speckle” and “tail”, meaning he wants to fight for his mother, who died saving him from the fire that tigerstar and darkstripe started in thunderclan, fernpaw agrees that snowpaw can and will fight, and she’ll be with him and they’ll protect each other, cloudpaw agrees that he won’t let anyone hurt his clanmates, ashpaw chimes in that he will fight to avenge their mother and whitestar says that he had no doubt his apprentice was ready to battle

-whitestar realizes just how wide tigerstar’s wrath had spread, everyone in the clan had been personally effected, and decides that willowpelt, mosspelt, mistyfoot’s kits, and the elders staying behind to protect the camp will have to be enough, he leads a hunting patrol of longtail, mousefur, cinderpelt, and tawnypaw, and besides that patrol they take the rest of the day to rest and prepare, though most of the clan was too restless to truly rest, yellowfang was teaching bramblepaw the different healing herbs and making leaf bundles that they and stormpaw and featherpaw would carry to the battle, the warrior apprentices trained together with thornclaw and brightheart, whitestar gives ashpaw some last minute battle tips

-before the sun had risen the clan silently pelts to fourtrees, the wind is sadly against their back and when they arrive they see two pelts slink into the bushes, one towards riverclan and one towards shadowclan, whitestar signals for his clan to fan out and they line out in front of the thunderclan border so it would be harder for anyone to try to run into thunderclan and attack the camp, whitestar is suddenly very relieved to have goldenflower standing beside him, strong, proud, and ready to fight, frostfur, mousefur, mistyfoot, and longtail stood beside her, on whitestar’s right flank was sandstorm, fireheart, graystripe, and ravenpelt beside her, thornclaw, brightheart, cinderpelt, and the apprentices created a second line of defense behind them, the apprentices close behind their mentors. Whitestar checked behind him for ashpaw, he could see fear in his eyes and his scent, but his stance was strong and confident

-pink started lining the horizon and whitestar was starting to fear that windclan wouldn’t get there in time, or maybe not at all, he knew tigerstar would be aware of thunderclan being at fourtrees by now, he must be preparing and even on his way, but as soon as he thought that the bushes on windclan’s side of fourtrees started rustling and tallstar sped down the slope into the clear, a stream of windclan cats followed him and lined up in front of their border like thunderclan. Tallstar walked forward to the middle of the clearing and whitestar joined him, they both bowed their heads respectfully to each other. “I’m sorry I couldn’t greet you as a leader for the first time in a better situation, Whitestar. I know your leadership has already been hard, but I am positive Bluestar chose the right cat, and I am sure she is very proud of you and her clan and will be protecting you all, just as the rest of StarClan will watch over us.”

-Whitestar suddenly felt on the spot and guilty that he didn’t know tallstar as well as he should, “I know your leadership has not been easy at all, especially the past few seasons, I’m honored to be a leader with, and to fight alongside you and your warriors. Do you have warriors staying in camp to protect your camp?”

-Deadfoot steps forward and goldenflower suddenly pelts forward to be besides whitestar again, they both nod to each other respectively and then bow to the other leader, “Ashfoot is with our kit, crowkit in the nursery, Webfoot is also heavily pregnant with his own kits, and Robinwing just gave birth to Tornear’s and her daughter, Nightkit, yesterday. They’re all in camp with the elders, Morningflower has also stayed behind to protect them. Tigerstar’s rogues killed her son, Gorsepaw a moon ago in a border scuffle, but she’d rather be there to defend the kits and queens just in case. Whitestar apologizes and asks where their other apprentices were, he only saw warriors in their battle formation and tallstar says that as they had learned yesterday, hedgepaw and two warriors had joined tigerstar and tigerclan, and their other two apprentices were staying back outside of fourtrees with barkface to assist him and to fetch injured cats. Whitestar nods saying that they had two apprentices to help Yellowfang and Bramblepaw as well as to assist injured cats. In big battles like this it was a standard practice, but Whitestar was still glad that the two leaders had made the same strategies.

-Whitestar dips his head to his fellow leader and raises his voice so the rest of the cats could hear him, “May our clans fight alongside each other and lookout for each other. And may StarClan guide us well.”

-As soon as he finishes speaking the wind suddenly changes and a rush of ShadowClan and RiverClan scent swamps the clearing and soon countless pawsteps can be heard and then bushes on RiverClan’s side of the border start to rustle and Blackfoot steps through, Leopardstar close behind him, with many cats, most riverclan but with several shadowclan cats and rogues, following them. Then the bushes on ShadowClan’s side start rustles, shadowclan, riverclan, and rogues streaming forward into the clearing, and then finally, Tigertstar strides out from within his group of cats, darkstripe and dustclaw close behind. The large dark tabby stares down the leaders, not even looking at his former mate, who’s green eyes are now narrowed and her fur bristling, her claws already unsheathed and she’s obviously keeping in a snarl. “So,” Tigerstar oddly purrs, “Have the great leaders of ThunderClan and WindClan made their decision on joining my clan?”

Finale

“We already told you our answer, Tigerstar, our answer is no,” Tallstar responded cooly. Whitestar quickly glanced over all sides of the clearing, almost all the cats of every clan were there, including all of Tigerstar’s rogues and even ShadowClan elders; ThunderClan and WindClan were greatly outnumbered. Whitestar realized that Tigerstar had fixed his gaze onto him.

“And you? Great ThunderClan leader, Whitestar, the one I considered to be like a brother,” his eyes widened to look innocent.

Whitestar’s pelt bristled, “You are no brother of mine! ThunderClan would never join you. WindClan and ThunderClan will defend ourselves until the last breath!”

Tigerstar’s amber eyes narrowed and his claws unsheathed as he growled, “Then die.”

Before Tigerstar could wave his tail to signal his warriors to attack, a yowl came from RiverClan’s side of Fourtrees.

“No!” It was Leopardstar, her eyes filled with anger, her pelt bristled, and claws unsheathed. Tigerstar paused to look over to her, his eyes like fire and his teeth bared.

“Leopardfur!”

“No!” she repeated, her teeth now bared as well, “I am Leopardstar, and I am the leader of RiverClan. We will no longer be a part of TigerClan, I never should have agreed to it in the first place. We will night fight with you Tigerstar! You killed my deputy and dear friend, you held my mate, kits, and clanmates hostage! You brought rogues into my camp! You’ve disrespected and harmed my clan. We will night fight with you, but we will fight against you!”

Shock flooded through the RiverClan cats, as well as several hisses from the rogues and a few warriors, but most of the RiverClan warriors seemed to stand taller and confidently behind their leader. Relief flooded over Whitestar even as snarls, hissing, and yowls erupted from Tigerstar’s followers and rogues, but to his surprise many ShadowClan cats were looking confused or disheartened.

Whitestar had to do something, “ShadowClan! You don’t have to fight with Tigerstar. You can fight for what you know is right and you will be even more of a loyal ShadowClan warrior for it!”

Tigerstar’s lips drew back in a snarl, “You do not tell my clan what to do! They follow my orders and my orders alone, that is the warrior code!”

“You don’t care what the warrior code is!” Sandstorm hissed. Agreement rang across the clearing.

“Enough!” Tigerstar yowled, “I will no longer be merciful, you will all die for your betrayal to StarClan’s wishes and to destiny! TigerClan, attack!”

In an uproar cats from ShadowClan and RiverClan’s sides erupted into the clearing, clashing into WindClan and ThunderClan. Whitestar tried to keep track of where Tigerstar was, but in the flurry of battle, he could no longer spot his dark pelt.

I’ve been in plenty of battles before, but none like this.

Suddenly Whitestar’s breath was struck out of his body as a dark gray body slammed into him and claws sank into his fur. While Whitestar was trying to assess the battle, Darkstripe had taken the opportunity to attack.

“Finally,” Darkstripe’s breath was hot on Whitestar’s muzzle as he struggled to turn towards the striped tom, “I get to do what I’ve been wanting to do for moons!” Darkstripe’s claws raked down Whitestar’s side and he hissed in pain. Whitestar was a pretty decent fighter, but the surprise attack and the fact that Darkstripe was his kin and a former clanmate was making Whitestar struggle to fight back as hard as he could. He swiped at Darkstripe’s muzzle and beads of blood appeared, but Darkstripe was ruthless bit down into Whitestar’s shoulder, but barely missing his neck as Whitestar dodged. Darkstripe sunk his teeth deeper into Whitestar’s shoulder, blood running down his white pelt. Darkstripe wasn’t letting go and instead started thrashing his head. Whitestar yowled in pain, hardly able to combat the tom’s dirty attack.

Suddenly Darkstripe’s teeth were relieved from Whitestar’s shoulder and another thick gray pelt was beside him, a single thick darker gray stripe running down the back. Graystripe had tackled Darkstripe away from Whitestar and was now battering him with heavy blows. Graystripe, being bigger and heavier than Darkstripe easily overwhelmed him with blows.

“Get away from my father!” he yowled. Darkstripe hissed and lunged for Graystripe’s throat, but instead Graystripe’s unsheathed claws landed on Darkstripe’s and in one heavy slash, Darkstripe’s throat was sliced open and he fell to the ground. With his yellow eyes wide, he desperately tried to push himself to his paws, but before he could stand he fumbled back to the ground, soaked in blood. His eyes glazed over, empty with death. Whitestar tensed as he recognized his father’s dying eyes in the gray tom. They were exactly the same.

Though Whitestar was relieved, he couldn’t help but grieve for his half brother. If only you could have been better than our father. Graystripe stood over Darkstripe’s body, blood and scratches on his pelt. Whitestar realized he had never seen his son so injured, no battle in his life had been this hard and suddenly his grief moved to his son, who had never killed another cat in his life and had already lost so much, to now have killed his own kin, his own half brother.

To save my life. He saved my life.

Whitestar flicked his tail down his son’s pelt, “You didn’t have to do that, I have more lives than you, you could’ve been hurt,” Whitestar hesitated, suddenly feeling warm pride in his son, “But you saved my life anyway. You were so brave, my son you are a great warrior.”

Graystripe let out a loud purr, “I could never stand by and watch someone kill you!”

“And I would give all my nine lives for you,” Whitestar purred back.

Graystripe’s whiskers twitched in gratitude, and maybe a little embarrassment, then turned around and rushed back into battle.

I need to find Tigerstar. Whitestar thought, refocusing back to the battle surrounding him. Featherpaw and Stormpaw were rushing a RiverClan cat to Yellowfang and Bramblepaw. Mistyfoot slashed and grappled with Blackfoot across the clearing. She raked Blackfoot’s ears with her claws then grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground, mercilessly finishing him by ripping open his throat.

And as he deserves. Why should she show mercy when he didn’t when he killed her brother.

Leopardstar fought Blackclaw a few fox lengths away, slamming his shoulders into the ground. Suddenly Deadfoot was thrown a few tail lengths away from Whitestar; the ShadowClan warrior, Jaggedtooth, jumping to pin the older tom to the ground. Both cats were covered in blood, but Deadfoot was in much worse condition. Whitestar immediately threw himself at the ginger warrior, his search for Tigerstar would have to wait. Jaggedtooth stumbled away from the black tom as Whitestar’s weight knocked him aside. Whitestar hooked his claws into the tom’s shoulders, there were already wounds there and the ginger tom yowled in pain and tried to tear himself away. Whitestar slashed at his muzzle, Jaggedtooth went low to attack his underbelly, but Whitestar quickly spun around and kicked the tom directly in the skull. Dazed, heavily bleeding, and his jaw possibly broken, Jaggedtooth turned tail and fled from Whitestar and the battle.

Whitestar quickly turned his attention to the WindClan deputy, still heavily bleeding. He crouched down, trying to evaluate his wounds, “Don’t worry, old friend, the medicine cats will get you patched up,” Whitestar tried to gently purr and grazed his muzzle across Deadfoot’s. His one twisted paw seemed to be even more twisted than usual.

Deadfoot twitched his ears, “I know, I trust our medicine cats with my life. As well as StarClan,” he breathed heavily. Suddenly another black pelt, Ravenpelt, ran to Whitestar’s and Deadfoot’s side.

“Deadfoot!” Ravenpelt yelped and immediately started to move Deadfoot onto his back, “All the runners are already busy, I’ll take him to Barkface,” and with determination in his eyes, Ravenpelt dragged Deadfoot to the edge of the clearing. Whitestar felt such deeply imbedded pride in the young warrior who had once been the most timid kit he’d ever seen. Even though he still might not be in love with fighting, Ravenpelt was a truly courageous warrior of ThunderClan and Whitestar was extremely grateful to have him as his clanmate. He kept a watch to make sure no one attacked the two black cats before plunging back into the heat of battle.

Though things were simmering down; many bodies lay limp and lifeless on the floor of Fourtrees and very few of Tigerstar’s followers remained. A dark brown tabby pelt appeared at the top of the Great Rock. His amber eyes fiery and bright in the bright morning sun.

“Tigerstar!” Whitestar hissed, fury heated his pelt as he charged forward. No one got in his way as he halted in front of the Great Rock, “Tigerstar! Come down he and face the consequences of your war like a warrior!”

Tigerstar crouched down, almost as if he were bowing to his enemy, “As you wish, Whitestar,” and with a glisten in his eye he leapt off of the Great Rock and before Whitestar could realize-

The large tabby landed directly on Whitestar’s neck.

~~~

Whitestar awoke in a grassy field and immediately pushed himself to his paws. He anxiously looked around, expecting to see Fourtrees and countless cats fighting, but instead he was met with the starry figures of his late loved one: Bluestar and Snowfur stood in front of him, and Lionheart, Redtail, and Spottedleaf stood beside him.

Of course, he was in StarClan. Tigerstar had killed him, but Whitestar had a sudden rush of emotion and love seeing his mother, aunt, and friends once again.

“Mother! Bluestar!” Whitestar stepped forward and both of his mothers lovingly nuzzled him. He turned and Lionheart and Redtail both touched their noses to his, Spottedleaf licked his ear. Though he was overwhelmed with joy of seeing his loved ones, the feeling was soon washed away with anxiety, “I’m happy to see you again, but I need to go back. I still have eight lives, correct? Please, send me back, who knows what Tigerstar could be doing right now!”

“Please, Whitestar,” Snowfur mewed, “Your neck was just broken, please stay for just a few heartbeats as your body heals. I promise it will be okay, my love,” she began to lap at his ears as any mother would do to calm her kit.

His mother’s words calmed him a bit, as well as hit him with a wave of grief that he hadn’t been able to grow up with her to teach him and comfort him.

Bluestar nodded, “I know that it may feel like you’re here for a long time, but that’s only because you’re anxious, you know that when a leader loses a life they come back to life in just a few moments. No matter how long it feels here, in the living world you’ll only have been dead for a few heartbeats,” she purred.

Redtail twitched his whiskers, “You’re always patient for every cat except yourself!” he flicked his tail tip over Whitestar’s face, just as he’d done when they were warriors together and Redtail would tease him.

Whitestar jokingly cuffed his old friend’s ear, “But Redtail, you know better than anyone else how dangerous Tigerstar is!”

“Yes,” Lionheart answered, “but most of his followers are dead or have ran away, it is only him against all of the clan now,” he shared a playful and proud glance with Redtail, “You should know better than anyone else that your clanmates, and the other clans cats, are very capable and defending themselves.”

Redtail raised his head high, purring as Spottedleaf nodded and returned her gaze back to Whitestar, “You should be proud, Whitestar. You should be proud of everything you’ve accomplished, and everyone you’ve touched the hearts of,” she mewed.

“And not to mention you picked a great deputy!” Lionheart added triumphantly. Whitestar purred at Lionheart’s obvious affection and pride for his sister.

Redtail stepped closer to Whitestar again and touched his nose to his, his green gaze, which looked exactly like Sandstorm’s, now calmer and serious, but still full of affection, “Thank you, Whitestar,” he purred, “for everything you’ve done for me and my kin.”

As Redtail stepped away, Bluestar stepped forward and pressed her forehead to Whitestar’s, and Whitestar drew in her warm scent, just as it was when she was alive, “It’s time for you to go back Whitestar. Remember to trust your choices, to trust yourself and your clanmates. And remember that I named Sandstorm after you for a reason.”

~~~

When Whitestar opened his eyes his head and body pulsed with aches. He immediately stood and quickly took in the scene. What had he missed, how long was he in StarClan before he continued on his next life? Where was Tigerstar? But before he could get a clear focus his legs started to give. Goldenflower was quickly by his side and steadied him before returning a cold gaze down at her former mate.

Before Whitestar could give his deputy thanks, his vision finally cleared and he followed Goldenflower’s gaze. A few fox lengths away was Tigerstar. Fireheart’s claws were dug deep in his back and shoulders; the ginger tom’s green eyes were filled with more ferocity and anger than Whitestar had ever seen in them before. In front of Tigerstar was Sandstorm, fur risen, tail lashing, and her eyes full of hatred, spitting at Tigerstar. For a moment Tigerstar struggled to get out from Fireheart’s grip before seeming to give in, even though his expression still showed nothing but unwavering brutality. Howls, hissing, and growls filled the clearing. Cats closed in around the the fighting cats in a circle to get closer, some trying to get in their own swipe, but there wasn’t enough room.

“Kill him!”

“Slash his throat!”

“He’s a traitor among the clans!”

“And the warrior code!”

“Disgusting,” Tigerstar spat, “To be pinned by a kittypet and be guarded by a cat I once thought could be a fierce warrior. Allying yourself with the kittypet made you soft, Sandstorm. You can’t even kill me like a warrior can you? You’re just like your fathers! Weak, fragile, and too soft-hearted to be true warriors!”

Sandstorm bared her teeth, and with a yowl, reared onto her hind legs and slashed her unsheathed claws down Tigerstar’s eyes. Blood sprayed from his face as he let out a howl. Fireheart struggled to keep Tigerstar pinned down as he lurched upwards in pain.

“Don’t you ever talk about my fathers like that! They were better warriors than you could ever be in all your nine lives!” Sandstorm hissed.

Tigerstar snarled in her direction as he attempted to open his eyes, but there was nothing but blood, streaming down his eyes and face. He suddenly lurched to the side, tearing Fireheart’s claws off him and knocking him over with a roar. Sandstorm lunged for Tigerstar and snapped her jaws down directly on his throat. Tigerstar gagged as blood spilled onto the ground and down Sandstorm’s chin. Then she let go. Tigerstar’s body thumped onto the ground. Sandstorm stared down at his body. Her ferocity and hatred quickly faded into horror as she realized what she had just done.

Whitestar felt a wave of grief and sorrow. Not for the death of Tigerstar, but for his former apprentice. Sandstorm… You didn’t deserve any of this. This shouldn’t have been your burden to bear.

Whitestar glanced next to him at Goldenflower. He was steadier now so he took his weight off of her, but she didn’t move away. Her gaze was somber, but steady as she stared down at the ground in front of her paws. Whitestar knew that she didn’t want to look at her former mate’s dead body. And he also knew that she knew that it wasn’t over yet.

Fireheart rushed to Sandstorm’s side and Ravenpelt paced behind them. Sandstorm’s gaze cleared as she caught her breath and raised her head high.

“He’s dead!”

“StarClan couldn’t have possibly given someone like Tigerstar 9 lives, right?”

Leopardstar stepped forward from the crowd, her fur battered and bloody, matted onto her neck. She must have lost a life at some point during the battle.

“No. He was definitely given lives,” she addressed above the murmurs of the crowd, “I know because I killed him once. I took one of his lives trying to reclaim my clan,” She paused and gritted her, “His followers then took one of my own lives in revenge. And then when both Tigerstar and I came back he killed me again for his own personal revenge.”

Leopardstar stood strong against the eyes of the clans, but Whitestar heard the cracks in her voice. Some cats narrowed their eyes in suspicion, some murmured pity, and a couple growled or hissed in anger.

“How could StarClan give him lives!?” Bramblepaw’s yowl echoed across the clearing.

“Maybe he lost his last one, he hasn’t come back to life yet.”

“Yeah, Whitestar got back up almost instantly!” Ashpaw blurted, running up beside his mentor.

Runningnose pressed through the crowd. He looked older and sicker than usual. He stood beside Leopardstar and he opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Tigerstar’s pelt rippled. Cats gasped and Fireheart pressed himself in front of Sandstorm and snarled, his claws unsheathed and ready to defend his mate.

Tigerstar let out a cough and blood spat out of his mouth. He rose to his paws, some wounds healed, at least enough, but blood still dripped from his face and mouth. He gritted his teeth and snarled, snapping his head from side to side. He kept his torn up eyes closed. He was blind. Cats yowled and hissed, some trying to move forward to get to Tigerstar, but before anyone reached him Tigerstar turned to face Whitestar and opened his eyes.

“Whitestar!” Tigerstar charged and then leapt for the ThunderClan leader, giant, unsheathed claws outreached. Whitestar was taken by surprise, but instinctively met his former close friend with his own outstretched claws. As Tigerstar’s claws sank into Whitestar’s shoulders, Whitestar’s forepaw slammed into Tigerstar’s still-wounded neck. Whitestar felt the strength of the entire forest rush through his legs and paws as his claws sank into Tigerstar’s throat and he slammed his body onto the ground. He felt and heard a crack as Tigerstar choked. Then his amber eyes went dull and blank as Whitestar stood on top of him.

The cats stayed quiet as Whitestar caught his breath and stepped away from Tigerstar’s body. He looked to Goldenflower, her lips drawn back in a snarl and claws unsheathed. Her face showed nothing but anger looking down at Tigerstar. Tawnypaw ran up from the crowd to press herself against her mother; Bramblepaw followed behind her more cautiously.

“I’m sorry,” Runningnose sniffed shyly, “I should have spoken sooner…” The cats around murmured, some even twitching their whiskers in amusement at the old medicine cat. “But I have an explanation. And I know I should have told ShadowClan sooner, I should have told anyone sooner. But I don’t think Tigerstar received his lives from StarClan.”

“What!?”

“How does he have lives then?”

“Who gave him lives?”

Runningnose cleared his throat and tried to speak above the chatter while also repeatedly glancing over to Tigerstar’s body nervously, “We never made it to the Moonstone. Tigerstar said that the entrance to Mothermouth was far enough for him, I tried to persuade him, but he just got angry. He fell asleep, but I couldn’t sense the presence of StarClan at all! But he kept twitching and grunting in his sleep, sometimes hissing and snarling. I was hoping that he was just having a bad dream instead of getting lives, but he apparently did, and they definitely aren’t from StarClan.”

“He would have been almost completely healed if they were from StarClan!”

“And he was dead way longer!”

“Why wouldn’t you tell us immediately!”

“Why would you keep a secret like that from your clan!”

“Wasn’t Runningnose raised with Brokenstar? How can we trust him!”

“What kind of medicine cat would do that?”

Runningnose shrank back in guilt and shame and was about to slink back into the crowd when Littlecloud ran up and Flintfang stepped forward.

“Runningnose is a great medicine cat!” Littlecloud defended his mentor, “No one would’ve been able to do anything! If he had said something Tigerstar would have banished him or even had him killed!”

“Littlecloud is right,” Flintfang growled, “Nothing like this has happened in anyone’s memory. Runningnose has done as much as he can just to keep ShadowClan alive! No one one would’ve been able to do better than he has!”

The cats all started murmuring and chattering again as Yellowfang walked through the crowd to stand beside Whitestar and her former apprentice, “I’ve only heard stories of this when I was a kit and my old mentor had mentioned it maybe twice in passing. But there may be something other than StarClan; a place where the worst cats go where they die instead of StarClan. A place of no stars, where light can barely filter into the forest. I believe the elders called it the Dark Forest. It could be entirely possible that they have the power to give lives just like StarClan,” she looked down at Tigerstar, “but perhaps are not as good at healing.”

“I remember that name!”

“I’ve heard some stories about that, but isn’t it just a nursery tale?”

“That’s why he didn’t want to go to the Moonstone!”

In the din Tigerstar’s pelt rippled once again. His wounds were crusted over with dried blood as he struggled to return to his paws. He couldn’t open his eyes. Whitestar took a step back. How many more times do we have to do this? Six? Do we have to just keep killing him over and over? What if he has more than nine lives from the Dark Forest?

“I’m not afraid to die! I’ll come back again and again. I’ll outlast you, I’ll outlast your kits and your kits kits! The clans will never be rid of my claws!” Tigerstar roared.

Goldenflower nudged her kits backwards into the crowd and then stepped forward. She stood in front of Tigerstar, her expression unreadable. Whitestar wanted to tell her to get back, but he had never seen Goldenflower like this and the words seemed to get stuck in his throat.

Tigerstar faced his former mate; his ears and whiskers twitched, “Goldenflower,” he purred, “Have you decided to join me? To choose your mate over your clan? I saw Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw before too. I’m glad you’ve all come to your senses.”

Goldenflower stayed quiet, her green gaze burning into the dark tabby. The rest of the clans had fallen silent, no one was sure what was going on or what to do.

“I’d die before I joined you,” Goldenflower murmured, “I’d die before I let my kits be influenced by you,” her lips pulled back in a snarl, “And I’d die before I let you, my former mate, the one I used to love and respect so much, hurt my clan, or any clan again!” She lunged forward, tucking her head under Tigerstar’s chest and shoving him backwards. Before he fell onto his back, Goldenflower aimed her strike, hooking her claws into Tigerstar’s throat and slamming him to the ground with full force. Tigerstar’s scabbed eyes shot open in shock as he choked in pain, blood gurgling out of his throat. Goldenflower then swiftly raked her claws from his throat down his chest and exposed belly. She stumbled backwards, bloody fur stuck in her claws as blood spurted from Tigerstar’s belly. His eyes had already gone blank as blood continued to spill from his body.

No one spoke. The entirety of Fourtrees was frozen except for the pool of Tigerstar’s blood. Tawnypaw and Bramblepaw stared in shock from the crowd. Ashpaw coward behind Whitestar. Leopardstar, Littlecloud, and Runningnose stood shocked, but Leopardstar looked vaguely impressed. Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Ravenpelt pressed against one another. Whitestar could only glance at Goldenflower before staring at Tigerstar’s corpse. His amber eyes flashing back to life, his pelt rippling and mouth gasping and choking before growing dull and lifeless again. Over and over again. Until he finally lay still forever.

Epilogue: After The Battle

Death Count:

A bunch of Tigerstar’s rogue and former kittypet followers

ThunderClan:

-Tigerstar: killed by Sandstorm and Fireheart, Whitestar, and Goldenflower

-Darkstripe: killed by Graystripe

-Whitestar lost a life

WindClan:

-Hedgepaw: Killed by one of Tigerstar’s allies when he tried to run away

-Icetail: Killed by his sister, Whitetail, and Onewhisker

-Deadfoot: he made it back to WindClan’s camp but died shortly after

-Tallstar lost a life

RiverClan

-Blackclaw (Tigerstar’s ally): Killed by Leopardstar

-Sunfish (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Beetlenose (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Leopardstar lost a life

ShadowClan

-Blackfoot (Tigerstar’s ally): Killed by Mistyfoot

-Clawface (Tigerstar’s ally)

-Nightwhisper (Tigerstar’s ally)

-probably a couple elders since Tigerstar made them fight

-couple of other warriors i don’t feel like finding names for

~~~

-It’s not even sunhigh when the battle is over, Whitestar sees Onewhisker carrying Hedgepaw’s body to the group of WindClan cats and prays to StarClan that unless he truly had darkness in his heart to allow him to hunt with them in their hunting grounds because he was too young.

-Tallstar approaches Whitestar and tells him that WindClan will be returning to their territory now, he wants to see how Deadfoot is doing and that he wants to make sure any injured can be treated by Barkface, and that they were glad to have help, Whitestar apologizes to the WindClan leader for his clan’s loses today, but Tallstar replies by saying that it was an honor to fight for the sake of the clans and to be allies with him and ThunderClan, he turns around, gathers his warriors, and leaves.

-Whitestar sees Graystripe leave Darkstripe’s body and ask Leopardstar if he can take Darkstripe’s body back to ThunderClan, he wanted to tell Willowpelt himself what happened. Leopardstar agrees as long as Whitestar is okay with it, she glances over to him “But I don’t think there’s any doubt he’ll let you.” Graystripe bounds over to Whitestar and before he even asks, Whitestar says yes, he may, and offers to help him carry their half-brother’s body, which Graystripe answers with a nod.

-Goldenflower, Tawnypaw, and Bramblepaw are gathered around Tigerstar’s corpse. Whitestar is about to go to them when his apprentice, Ashpaw, speaks up “Who’s going to take his body?”  Whitestar says that ThunderClan will take Tigerstar’s body, as he was born and raised in ThunderClan, but he will be buried outside ThunderClan’s border. Flintfang steps forward and says that ShadowClan will take the bodies and bury them outside of their territory by Twoleg Place. Russetfur objects saying that he doesn’t have the right to make that decision for the clan and that there are almost as many dead rogues as there are ShadowClan cats. Flintfang says that they were technically ShadowClan cats at one point, so they will be taken away by ShadowClan. No one else objects

-Tawnypaw stands up from her father’s corpse and says that she wants to help ShadowClan bury the bodies, that she has decided that she wants to join them. Goldenflower is shocked and objects and Bramblepaw cries saying that he thought she wasn’t actually going to join ShadowClan like she once said she would in private. Tawnypaw looks to her mother and then to ShadowClan and she says that she felt like it was her duty as the daughter of Tigerstar to help heal ShadowClan and put her strength into them, helping them to be strong and become stronger.

-Russetfur and several others spit that they don’t want some ThunderClan brat joining them, that they don’t need ThunderClan’s help, ShadowClan was strong on its own. Littlecloud runs up and stands by Tawnypaw though, saying that any apprentice of Cinderpelt’s would be a strong and honorable warrior. Whitethroat agrees and Rowanpaw, from the back of the crowd, yells that if she joined that they could beat her up whenever they wanted to. Cinderpelt meets with Tawnypaw and Littlecloud and asks if this is really what she wanted to do and with grief in her eyes, Tawnypaw says yes. They all look to Whitestar and he says that she would basically have to start her training all over again, which Tawnypaw says that she knows and understands. Whitestar then says that if it’s truly what she wants then she doesn’t need his permission, it’s ShadowClan she needs to get the permission from.

-Flintfang hesitates, but then nods and agrees to take her in, and makes a remark, “And Russetfur, you can be her mentor; you know what it’s like being an outsider of ShadowClan coming in.” Whitestar thinks to himself that Flintfang would make a good and noble leader for ShadowClan. Several cats flinch, no one usually dares mention that Russetfur was once a kittypet that joined ShadowClan, but after a hiss at the gray tom, Russetfur only motions to Tawnypaw, “Fine, then earn your keep now and start helping to carry one of these bodies.” But before she runs off, Tawnypaw turns around and nuzzles her mother, brother, and now former mentor. She promises that they’ll see each other on patrols and at gatherings, and that maybe she’ll see Bramblepaw when he’s out gathering herbs by the ShadowClan border.

-Cinderpelt leans over to Littlecloud and asks him to please watch over Tawnypaw and thanks him, touching the tip of his ear with her nose and Littlecloud says of course, touching his nose to CInderpelt’s. ShadowClan, with all the bodies gathered, leaves for their own territory, the last thing that can be seen is Tawnypaw’s fluffed up, golden and brown tabby tail.

-Mistyfoot approaches Leopardstar, a wary awkwardness between them. Leopardstar’s eyes soften for a moment, a rare sight to see. Mistyfoot says that she’s going to fetch their kits and Mosspelt. Leopardstar’s eyes harden again, as if she’s suddenly aware that she had let herself soften and responds, “No. I want to fetch them,” them softens her tone, realizing that she started to harshly, “Mistyfoot, please take RiverClan back to camp for me.”

-Mistyfoot is shocked as well as the cats who were in earshot, but she nods and agrees, but then whispers to Leopardstar, “Only if they want to come back, Leopardstar.” Leopardstar shifts her paws and says of course.

-Stormpaw and Featherpaw say they want to come get them as well and Leopardstar hesitates and then agrees. Mistyfoot collects the RiverClan cats and they begin to leave as Leopardstar walks to Whitestars, slightly nods and tells him to take the lead. Whitestar says that Goldenflower can lead with Bramblepaw as they carry Tigerstar’s body and he and Graystripe will follow behind with Darkstripe’s. Leopardstar walks in step with him, Stormpaw and Featherpaw trotting behind their father. “Come, ThunderClan, we’re going home,” Whitestar says, he notices that Fireheart, Sandstorm, and Ravenpelt take the back, just behind Ashpaw, Fernpaw, Cloudpaw, and Snowpaw. Whitestar takes not on how brave all four of them had to be today, and notices with sadness that they all have blood on their pelts.

-On the way to camp, Leopardstar admits to Whitestar that she saw the cat, Sasha, running towards RiverClan territory, and that she expects she will be in their camp when she gets back. She says that she was Tigerstar’s mate and one of his closest cats, which Goldenflower, overhearing, visibly twitches her tail at. Bramblepaw’s fur raises. Whitestar asks her what she’ll do with Sasha if she is and Leopardstar replies that Sasha is a good cat and i snothing like Tigerstar, and that she believe she is expecting his kits, she would never turn away an expectant queen. Goldenflower is heard swallowing a growl and her ears are pinned back, while Bramble seems to shrink in his own fur.

-They reach camp and lay the two bodies in the clearing, the cats who stay behind swarm around the group of cats, Primrosepaw quickly asks where Mistyfoot is, fearfully. Leopardstar consoles them that their mother is fine and took RiverClan home and that everything should be back to normal soon. Or as normal as it can be. Pikepaw says he wants to go home right away, his siblings and Dawnpaw agreeing.

-Graystripe tells Willowpelt what happened with Darkstripe and then steps away to let her grieve over her older son. Whitestar can tell that he feels worried about something when Graystripe cautiously approaches him. They go under the Highrock and Graystripe asks Whitestar if he can rejoin ThunderClan. His kits are apprentices now and he trusts Mistyfoot, Mosspelt, and whoever will train Stormpaw next to take care of them. He says that he has never felt like a RiverClan cat and that every moment he’s in RiverClan he misses ThunderClan. It doesn’t feel like a home, he can’t be a good warrior there.

-Whitestar feels both pity, joy, and worry. He would take his son back in a heartbeat, but he looks over to Frostfur and her kits, then Sandstorm, and then back to Graystripe. Would they ever be able to forgive him for neglecting Brackenpaw and that leading to his death? If I show that I trust him, they will.

-Whitestar nods, but warns that he’ll have to work twice as hard to gain the rest of his clanmates’ trust back, but Graystripe gleefully says of course and then bounds over to Willowpelt and his younger brothers and sister to tell them, then, more solemnly heads towards the RiverClan cats.

-Stormpaw and Featherpaw are absolutely dejected. Mosspelt’s face turns hurt and sad and says that she had a feeling he would decide this. Leopardstar says that she knew he would decide this for moons now. There is hesitancy and side eyes from a few ThunderClan cats. Graystripe confronts his kits and tells them that they don’t need him anymore, they’re apprentices and are RiverClan through and through, if he were to stay in RiverClan he would just be a reminder that they’re half ThunderClan to their entire clan and he felt like they wouldn’t get the respect they deserve. He says that he’ll always be there for them if they need him though and that he’ll always be their father and that he loves them so much and he knows that so does their mother who will always watch over them in StarClan. Mosspelt rubs her muzzle to his and whisper to him that he’s a good cat and a good father, giving him a look with a glow of love in her eyes. Graystripe says thank you and then presses his muzzle against both of his kits and licks them both between the ears before turning back to Mosspelt and asks her to take care of them. They both say of course.

-The apprentices all say goodbye, Stormpaw and Featherpaw especially take a moment to say goodbye to Willowpelt and her kits. Leopardstar walks over to Whitestar and whispers her thanks for taking care of them all and tells him that he’s a good leader. Whitestar nods and says of course, and that she’s a good leader as well. Mosspelt says her thanks as well and then the RiverClan cats leave to return to their home.

-Fireheart and Ravenpelt pounce onto Graystripe in a welcome back. Sandstorm staying more to the side, but affection for the gray tom can be seen in her eyes and she nods to him. Rainkit and Sorrelkit jump onto Graystripe’s back for a badger ride. Graystripe can hardly stand up with both of the kits on his back.

-The elders, Willowpelt, Goldenflower, and Bramblepaw all take Tigerstar and Darkstripe to be buried just outside of ThunderClan’s border and Whitestar sends a patrol of Longtail, Mousefur, Thornclaw, and all four of the warrior apprentices to go hunting. After the burial patrol returns, the hunting patrol returns with jaws full of prey. Newleaf is surely almost here.

-After everyone eats their fill and Yellowfang and Bramblepaw were able to treat everyone’s injuries, Whitestar calls for a clan meeting. He tells everyone that he’s so proud of ThunderClan and all of the clans for their victory over Tigerstar and that he hopes that after this their can be peace in newleaf. He says that in celebration, their warrior apprentices are ready to become warriors. He calls on Ashpaw, Fernpaw, Snowpaw, and Cloudpaw. He says that they were all so brave during the battle and then to come home and almost immediately go out and bring back fresh-kill for their clan. They were true warriors. He turns to Ashpaw first and says that he was so proud to be his mentor, and names him Ashfur. Then asks Longtail if Fernpaw was ready to be a warrior and when he says yes, says that Fernpaw is graceful and compassionate and names her Ferncloud. Then he asks Frostfur if Snowpaw is ready to be a warrior and when she says he is Whitestar says, while also signing to Snowpaw, that he is patient and intelligent and from this moment forward he will be named Snowears. And then finally Whitestar asks Fireheart if Cloudpaw is ready to be a warrior and after Fireheart says yes Whitestar says that Cloudpaw is passionate and confident and from this moment forward he will be named Cloudtail.

-ThunderClan chants the new warriors’ names, and some even sign the names for Snowears.

-Whitestar apologized to Bramblepaw since he’ll be the only apprentice now, but then Sorrelkit announces that she and her brother can be apprentices with him, but Whitestar refuses, saying that they still have to wait about another moon.

-The sun sets on the clans. They are rid of the evil that was Tigerstar, and are full of promise for a happy future.