#bc thunderclan and riverclan both had sets of cats at that point

[yuridovewing]

current connundrum over "are ivy and dove both biologically hollywillow babies or is it only dove?" is idk how to explain why dovewing would get a power and not ivypool if the tunnel spirits like to give powers to all of the halfclan cats

[leporellian]

how i would rewrite warrior cats: into the wild

rewriting the entire series is a big Thing in the warrior cats fandom, and i don’t have the time to do that. however i have been having Ideas about what i would do if i rewrote the books, and the changes are... drastic, to say the least, so i figured i would write them down in a bullet-point style List Thing to see what happens.

- we open on henry, an old wise sage-type kittypet, telling two kittypet kits- rusty and smudge- about the forest cats and their legends, primarily that of how the clans were born

- there were always little groups of cats in the forest, and they were originally very hostile- except for a lush spot full of prey, herbs, just about anything needed for survival. this spot has had many names and is referred to by a different name for each clan but universally, it’s called fourtrees, because there are four grand oaks that guard the area. this spot was something of a truce area where all the groups could get along

- however tension slowly boiled throughout the forest until there was a massive war at fourtrees. lots of cats dead and even more wounded. their spirits joined together to form starclan, who told the cats to unite or die- and as punishment for breaking the fourtrees truce, they set the whole thing ablaze. it’s no longer the survival spot it was

- however, the spirits say, the four oaks will grow from their charred remains again, as will the rest of the area. everything will be as it once was in time. starclan themselves cannot last, and must be reborn every 600 moons (or some other large number) from the midst of celestial battle. however, every time this happens, the spirits say, the coming of the ‘end of the stars’ will always and only be heralded by a heroic cat in a flame-orange coat, as a nod to the fire that started the clans to begin with. so it’s kind of like an avatar thing

- anyway 6 moons later there’s a battle at sunningrocks that kills redtail and oakheart. bluestar and spottedleaf, while discussing who will replace redtail, see a comet across the sky

- every falling star means a warrior has faded in starclan, and it means they are to be reborn- and something wonderful is on the cusp of beginning, says spottedleaf. spottedleaf also notes that according to the calendar system kept by the medicine cats the ‘fire alone’ cat should have arrived about 6 months ago, so everyone’s worried about what’s going on w/ that, Where Are They. she does note however that a lot of cats think the calendar had a miscalculation at some point and that the ‘fire alone’ cat is shadowclan’s new leader

- anyway rusty, the kittypet, decides to enter the forest. the twoleg nests here are Not A Good Place for cats to live, bc there’s constant fighting between the kittypets and everyone has their own boundaries and it’s very chaotic. there is a group that tries to monitor it called the blood brothers, but they’re usually in the city so their guidance isn’t often There. so both rusty and smudge want to Get Out and join the clans

- like in the original books he meets graypaw, who’s always interested in outsiders, and then bluestar, lionheart, and tigerclaw. lionheart is graypaw’s mentor, bluestar is thunderclan’s leader, and tigerclaw is bluestar’s nephew who is kindly yet determined, and has become deputy after redtail’s demise. again like in the originals he’s accepted into thunderclan fast

- smudge feels Betrayed. for some reason the writing takes special note of the glimmer in his striped collar- it’s all kind of colors, purple, red, blue, yellow. it’s very distinctive...

- next morning, lionheart and tigerclaw lead rusty to the thunderclan camp. all is well and good until longpaw and sandpaw roll up

- longpaw and sandpaw are twins and look exactly alike. they’re also the children of redtail and are both very competitive with everyone and each other (although they are very close) because they want to be Like Their Dad. both are taking redtail’s death hard

- longpaw is like ‘i wanna beat him up’ and given these are two 10 year olds basically everyone’s like ‘well rusty can fight too so Bet.’ it’s an even fight, longpaw gets his ear torn and rusty gets his collar ripped off

- this fight proves rusty is capable of being in thunderclan, and he’s renamed firepaw, which is a nod to the ‘fire alone’ thing as a ‘hey isn’t it funny he came right after the clock lined up for a fire-cloaked savior? strange lol’

- anyway firepaw is introduced to some Other Characters besides everyone i’ve mentioned thus far: - ravenpaw, medicine cat apprentice. he was a loner kit found abandoned on the territory and he’s constantly nervous and jittery. he’s also kind of clingy and a tad annoying because he’s constantly worried of being abandoned again, but he Is endearing - graypaw and darkpaw, twins similar to longpaw and sandpaw (although unlike them they have an ‘opposite twins’ kinda thing). both are the sons of willowpelt and a shadowclan tom, but both deal with it differently: graypaw is a dreamer who constantly is interested in cats from outside thunderclan ‘like him’, and darkpaw wants to try and overcompensate for it by being nothing but loyal- especially to his mentor, tigerclaw, who’s a father figure to him. dark isn’t mean but he is very sardonic and sarcastic, and it’s also made increasingly obvious that he Knows Something and is very nervous about it. weird - (yes, longpaw and sandpaw are annoyed that they’re the only ‘fully clan’ cats in this batch of apprentices.) - spottedleaf, thunderclan medicine cat. kind of a ditzy aunt type, it’s joked that she acts like a stoner bc she’s inhaling all the Herb Scents all day. fully enables all of the kids to do Dumb Things - the elders, who dislike all these new apprentices bc besides long and sand none of them are fully clan-blooded. the most vocal about this is thistleclaw, an elder always trying to start shit, and tigerclaw’s father (altho tiger is embarrassed by thistle’s outbursts). - and finally, cinderkit, who always tags along w/ the apprentices although she isn’t supposed to. she is however very smart and the apprentices don’t mind her tagging along. she’s made an apprentice like 1/2 way through here

- anyway at the gathering windclan is MISSING and NOBODY seems to know what is going on, but both riverclan and shadowclan are acting shady about it. 

- also brokenstar, The New ShadowClan Leader, seems like a nice guy, a Poster Boy type. his fur is bright orange so everyone’s like, ‘yea he’s the fire that’ll herald feline gottdammerung’ but nobody wants to THINK about feline gottdammerung yet because like, That’s An Upsetting Thought! it’s also noted that he’s way young for a leader

- anyway the apprentices (and cinderkit) are like. ‘we gotta know what's happening and why windclan vanished’ and everyone is involved (although sand and long keep their distance). it’s a very ‘up at midnight at a slumber party’ kind of aesthetic. everyone in shadow and river also has a motive, and at points there’s even evidence that something caused windclan to die out. lots of red herrings

- eventually yellowfang comes into the picture like she does in canon and they figure out shadowclan drove windclan out and that windclan is Alive and Out There somewhere. the evidence is enough that spottedleaf and tigerclaw (who's like the Cool Resident Dad) agree about it and so a spy patrol is sent to sneak in on shadowclan

- anyway everyone discovers how fucked up shadowclan is behind the curtain (what with the elder abuse and child warfare) and is like ‘holy shit we gotta stop these guys’ so there’s a big fight like in the original book and brokenstar is dethroned like he is in canon and brought to thunderclan

- thunderclan saves the day, yellowfang joins spottedleaf in the med cat den, and the apprentices all get names (save ravenpaw who’s a med cat apprentice)- firepaw is fireheart, graypaw is graystripe, darkpaw is darkstripe, longpaw is longtail (in honor of redtail), and sandpaw is sandstorm. it’s noted darkstripe looks super uncomfortable when tigerclaw is mentioned to be deputy. long and sand have a humorous argument abt their names and who got the Cooler One 

- however everyone’s like ‘ok so brokenstar wasn’t the Fire Savior so who IS’ and fire is dismissed out of hand bc he’s a kittypet and all the past fire saviors was clanborn. ravenpaw however tells fireheart in private that he believes fireheart is the Fire Alone, and that Shit Is About To Go The Fuck Down

- meanwhile, darkstripe asks if he can see fireheart alone, and fireheart obliges. darkstripe sits down and, very quietly, says ‘i have to tell you about what happened to redtail.’

- and it ends there lol that’s book one.

[mallowstep]

(Leopard AU with Reed AU) Reedpaw blinks when Featherpaw comes to him and apologizes, telling him that she's sorry that Mistyfoot picked her over Reedpaw when Leopardstar rescued them and took them to Thunderclan.

Reedpaw shakes his head, and nuzzles his sister. "Feather," he meows softly. "I was safe. You weren't. If I'd had to make the decision for us, I'd have picked you over myself too. You weren't safe here. Tigerstar and Shadowclan didn't know I was Mistyfoot's kit. To be honest, I think they thought I was one of Skyheart's."

Featherpaw blinks at him, eyes wide and she whimpers. "But Reed...he could have killed you..."

"But he didn't. I'm still here--we're both still here. He failed. We're going to be okay, Feather. Let's go try that hawk Greystripe caught you and Stormpaw. I'll go rip off it's feathers for your nest."

oooh i love this so much.

y'know of course she feels guilty. she didn't know if he was alive or dead or worse than dead. and he looks alive and whole but -- that's not the same as being okay.

they all feel guilty, don't they.

(The three of them sit by the river.

"Anyone want to bet on what our names will be?" Stormpaw asks, his tail flicking lazily.

Featherpaw snorts. "I've got loads of options. Hope she's creative about it."

Stormpaw flicks his ear. "Nah, she'll name you -- Featherheart, probably."

Featherpaw sighs. "I don't..." She shakes her head slightly. "Bet she names him Reedheart."

"I didn't do anything," he says. "Besides, we don't know what Leopardstar names cats like." He licks his paw, dragging it behind his ear. Mistyfoot would never let him forget it if he showed up to his own warrior ceremony ungroomed. "If it was Crookedstar, then it'd be easy. Stormfur, Featherpelt, and Reed..."

"Reedfoot," Stormpaw supplies. "No, he'd do Stormfur, Featherfoot, and Reedpelt."

Featherpaw snorts, and then giggles. Reedpaw purrs. It's nice to hear her laugh -- nice to just be around them again. "Well, I bet Firestar would name us..." She pauses. "I'm not sure, actually."

"He'd name you Featherheart," Stormpaw insists. "No question."

Reedpaw puts his head on his paws. He can't speculate on what Firestar would name them. Featherpaw catches his eye. "I'm glad we're all here, together," she says.

Reedpaw purrs.)

(He's still surprised that Leopardstar named Stormpaw Stormheart. But she had given him a tiny nod when she lifted her muzzle off his head, and Reedwhisker had decided to ask him about it as soon as their vigil ended.

"I feel okay," Feathertail whispers, flicking her tail impatiently.

Mistyfoot still looks worried, and she licks Feathertail's shoulder. "Sit between them, then, and if it gets colder--"

"She'll be fine," Stonefur calls. "Stop encouraging her to break vigil."

Feathertail's ears fold softly, and she sits next to Reedwhisker, beckoning Stormheart with her tail. They're supposed to sit at different places in camp, but even if Feathertail looks unimaginably better than when she left RiverClan, Reedwhisker knows she's still in recovery. He wraps his tail around her, watching the way the moonlight distorts on the river.

Reedwhisker thinks she falls asleep at some point, her head on his shoulder, but he doesn't wake her. She'll yell at him in the morning, but her breathing slows, and Stormheart licks her head, nodding at Reedwhisker. Best to let her sleep.

When the sun rises, Feathertail turns her face into his pelt, blinking blearily.

"Your vigil is over, you know," Stonefur says. "As soon as the sun hits the horizon. You better make sure Mistyfoot didn't assign you to any patrols."

He nudges them all gently, pushing them towards their den.

"Go get some sleep." He touches his nose to Feathertail's shoulder. "Proper sleep, that is."

"I was awake all night," she says, but her voice is still heavy from sleep, and Stonefur just purrs.)

and you know. i don't know. i think i just wanted to write siblings being together. whoops.

(They all have nightmares. It would feel like the set up to a joke, if they all have nightmares didn't mean Reedwhisker seeing blind panic in Mistyfoot's eyes, or Feathertail cowering in her own den, or Stormheart barely sleeping as he looks over the rest of them, making sure everyone is accounted for.

He's not really sure what his look like. He knows what they feel like, but he's pretty sure he's gotten good at shoving down his reactions. Waking Tawnypaw because he missed his mother would have gotten him killed. Now, he thinks he just doesn't want to disrupt anyone else's sleep.

Still, he finds Mistyfoot wrapping her tail around him, purring like he was a kit. He doesn't ask, but she still answers his question. "i'm your mother. Of course I know.")

hm. it appears i've swung to fluff bc i keep trying to do angst and i just. i don't know. appeal. i was writing the mistystar kills bramblestar during the "sexy slow" part of the playlist (it's called sexy because it's got songs like "take me to church" and "nfwmb" but specifically i was listening to "river" by bishop briggs), and now i'm in the "sad slow" part, but it's like. shrike by hozier. a song that makes me cry really easily but isn't that sad.

("I'm sorry," Reedwhisker says, dipping his head towards Feathertail. They haven't talked about it for a moon, but Leopardstar is kitting and Mistyfoot and Stonefur are with her and all he can think is, "If Tigerstar knew I was Mistyfoot's kit, he never would have treated you like that."

Feathertail scowls. "He would have just treated us both terribly, Reed. It wasn't like it was all that much better when Stonefur and Stormpaw were with us."

But they both know that's a lie.

"I'm still sorry," he says.)

there we go that's some proper angst. thank you "all of my goodness is gone with you now," which is The Line, of course, but -- it's such a good line. there are a lot of good lines, really. the whole song is good lines.

anyway.

(The kits leave Leopardstar's den. She watches them anxiously, and Stonefur sits next to her.

Feathertail looks excited to see them, crouching in front of them and purring. Mistyfoot is watching Mudfur's den. He won't leave it, Reedwhisker doesn't think, because he barely does. Shadepelt visits him daily, but Reedwhisker can't bring himself to ask his previous mentor why.

"Frogkit, no!" Leopardstar cries, bolting forward. She grabs him by his scruff. "You can get closer to the water when you're older."

Stonefur pads forward slowly, giving Leopardstar space, but staying close to her side.

"He wasn't that close," she says softly, as Frogkit rejoins his siblings. "That was -- unnecessary."

"They don't know how to swim yet," Stonefur says. "Keeping them away from the river is reasonable."

Leopardstar makes a sound between a cry and a whimper. Too late, Reedwhisker realizes how private a moment he's witnessing.

"Do you want to take them back in?" Stonefur asks.

"I--" Leopardstar pauses. "We only just left."

"And I'm sure they're already tired." Stonefur watches Leopardstar carefully. His posture is soft and open, and Leopardstar brushes her tail against his.

"Let's go back," she says.

"Alright.")

there we go now i just got through the Sad Sad part of my playlist. i don't know how long i've been writing. or how many words. i just. anon you really got to me. you made me feel and think and This is the end result of that.

hm. let's shoot for something fairly happy to end.

(Stormheart wades in the water. Feathertail is helping teach Leopardstar's kits to swim. "I'll teach you too," she said, giggling, but Stormheart turned her down.

Reedwhisker stands with him now.

"It's strange," he says, "because when I'm in the water, it feels familiar. But as soon as I--"

Stormheart huffs in frustration. "I don't know. I'm a RiverClan warrior. This is supposed to be easy."

"Well, it's not," Reedwhisker says. "So, it's not. That's all there is to it."

Stormheart flicks his tail in frustration.

"Okay," Reedwhisker continues, "what's stopping you, then?"

"I can't--" Stormheart takes a shaky breath. "I keep thinking about -- slipping. That's why Featherpaw got caught. Because I slipped and Greystripe had to save me. And then I found Stonefur and..." He shake his head. "I just can't."

"So you don't," Reedwhisker says. "You don't need to swim to fish. And you can still jump out of camp, it's been a dry newleaf. So you don't, and we try again when you can."

Stormheart sighs, and Reedwhisker presses his temple against his brother's.

"Frankly," Reedwhisker says, "I'm not terribly keen on the river either."

Different reasons, same result.)

well. that's the best you're getting for an ending. good night everyone, this anon made me feel a lot of things.

<3

[mallowstep]

(Reedwhisker anon) Reed just gives me Misty FEELS. Like, if he's from a second litter, (likely, hopefully) Misty has healed enough to love and want to raise kits again. And it likely that he's either a kit still or a really new apprentice when Feather and Storm go missing, so I can see Misty being extra protective? Especially once Storm returns without Feather in Canon. (I can also see her thanking Leafpaw personally if she found out/knew Reed nearly drowned.)

Misty AU....same thing about if he's a second litter, only one kit....I can see THIS Misty being extra protective. Or if it's because of a Head Injury, I can see her and Feather camping/stopping by his nest in the medicine den constantly to check on him, Feather keeping him entertained maybe while Misty interrogates Mudfur, wondering what's wrong with her son, why has he forgotten bits and pieces of his life, how has he forgotten how to walk, just--

(Mistyfoot watches as Feathertail helps Reedpaw re-learn how to walk, the silver she-cat gently guiding her brother. Reedpaw is frustrated with how he stumbles and twists, his paws falling out from underneath him. Feathertail gently purrs, telling him he's doing much better than he was before, and the memory of having Reedpaw wake up, and NOT remember her, or his siblings, or who he even was...it's one of the things she will never forget. The utter confusion in her kit's eyes as he looked at her, wondering who he was and who she was to him. Hatred of Tigerstar burns I her throat as the memories come rushing over her.)

Or

(Feathertail is looking at her wide-eyed, shock glimmering in her eyes at Misty's announcement. Stormheart feels the same kind of shock, but thinks...maybe this is a good thing? He remembers Perchkit, Pikepaw and Primrosepaw, and how Mistyfoot used to playfully play with all of them in Riverclan's nursery. Perhaps Mistyfoot willingly wanting and having another litter is a good thing. Perhaps some wounds Stormheart thought would never heal in his mother actually are. He remembers how distant she was with Hawkpaw, Mothpaw, and Frogpaw, and thinks...yes, maybe this is a good thing.)

Leopard AU, Reedpaw sobbing and just telling his mom and uncle what happened in Riverclan during those three days before the Bloodclan battle, him resting between her front paws, Misty gently making sure he eats--she noticed how he wouldn't touch Thunderclan's prey, and had gone and caught him a trout, but he hadn't eaten that either. That's when even more worry had bubbled up. Out of all her kits, Reed had always been the one who enjoyed eating. Him not...was concerning.)

Reed just breaks down and spills everything to Misty after she and Feather had escaped, everything that happened...Cinderpelt giving him poppy seeds to help sleep, the grey medicine cat gently telling Misty that Reed's wounds were more mental then physical.

Like...Misty you deserve to watch your son grow older and to die before him. You've been through so fucking much.

I literally had my heart in my throat when Reed was captured by Darktail and was prisoner. Like... was he going to kill Reed? Was Misty going to find her son's body tossed away like it was nothing? Just the thought of her reuniting within and seeing how skinny he'd gotten, his ribs showing through his pelt, infection scent rising from scratches and wounds on his pelt. Like...fuck. if that didn't bring back PTSD I don't know what would. Especially if he is a second litter, (third in Misty AU, (and Leopard AU too, maybe??))

Like. She'd probably seriously start to doubt her ability to be a mother/queen at that point. Her sixth son (?? Think that's the right number, idk) has basically gone through nearly the exact same shit she, Feather,cStorm and Stone did.

Like...fuck, just let Misty have her last fucking kit and be happy.

yeah...like i should be clear...i have 0 feelings for him but 100 feelings about him. finding out mistyfoot had a kit was such fucking whiplash that it took several weeks for it to set in, which is when i wrote a primrosepaw lives excerpt, which is...how we got here. in a very convoluted way. but i digress.

ohhh yeah mistyfoot would be Hella protective. i do Know she is like -- in canon, because she's the one who's like "mothwing why aren't you doing anything" and it's like mistyfoot babe i know you're upset (valid) but you're not helping the situation.

and oh -- okay so. as a second litter yeah. she has -- i mean there's a Reason mistyfoot does not have more kits in the misty au. she's not really. ready to be a mother. she's got a lot of trauma around the whole concept. but -- oh. yeah. she would be extremely protective of him.

and oh like -- okay stonefur and feathertail both already have memory problems, so now they're just Memory Problems Gang.

(stonefur has persistent word issues; feathertail has a lot of gaps in her memory, mostly during tigerclan, but also some before and after.)

very Good. i like that.

and mistyfoot is just -- so tired. god. she's trying to do so much and she's trying so hard and. feathertail keeps forgetting things and reedwhisker has forgotten so much and they're both -- oh. yeah. good stuff right there.

and -- she's split, right? there's so much. because feathertail doesn't want to be in mudfur's den even though that would probably be better for her but reedwhisker is in mudfur's den and she's trying to be deputy and. god. and she did so much to protect featherpaw and reedpaw got hurt and it's not her fault but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel like it's her fault.

Fun Times.

on the other hand like -- fuck if I Know with Whom mistyfoot had kits bc i'll tell u it ain't blackclaw but. okay mix of feelings but mostly positive from the Crew.

feathertail is Happy if very Surprised and a small bit worried mistyfoot was coerced into this,

stonefur is just -- you know. he's happy, but it's really bittersweet.

and stormheart is being angry that his sister raised three kits and now mistyfoot is having kits again but he eventually settles on happy. shadepelt might have to yell at him again.

and yeah -- it's good. everyone is good, it's good. because mistyfoot -- before everything, she was proud of being a mother. and it's such a terrible thing, to have that taken from you. so yeah, yeah. it's good.

and god yeah. mistyfoot and reedpaw reuniting and just. hnng. realizing -- you know. god. god god god. there's so much -- leopardstar and mistyfoot and i don't even know what to say except yeah

and like -- i don't even -- feathertail is on the No Poppy Seeds list because they tend to cause more harm than good and i-

like cinderpelt tries and then he has the Worst nightmares and she feels bad and it's like -- what is she supposed to do? what can she do?

misty really does. i don't want reedstar. i want mistystar to die and reedwhisker to die before he gets nine lives but still after her and for riverclan to have a leadership crisis. that's what i want to happen. because i don't want reedstar but mistystar deserves for at least one of her children to outlive her.

and yeah? oh my god the ptsd? like? fuuuuuuuck. and i think -- hnng. reedwhisker being held, thinking about what mistyfoot went through and i. god.

like. you know. reedwhisker is the last kit mistyfoot has. and she feels -- okay. i'm okay. he's safe and whole and a warrior and i'm okay.

and then he gets taken and all of her children have been harmed and i-

i don't-

god. mistystar my beloved <3 i hope the erins mercy kill you <3 but i hope riverclan's time in isolation was full of family bonding and happy times.